Buscar:sy

Dark of Groove

Light Splitting is a love letter to the purest of sonic signals, to curiosity and to the way we interact with sound.

Based out of Berlin, Germany, electronic music composer and performer Hainbach creates shifting audio landscapes THE WIRE called "One hell of a trip". His music has been released on Opal Tapes, Seil Records, Spring Break Tapes, Limited Interest and Marionette. He has been fascinated with sine tones, noise and FM since he discovered the dial on the radio. Never losing his childhood wonder, he still searches for the sounds in between on modular synths and other devices.

Through his YouTube channel Hainbach brings experimental music techniques to a wider audience. He creates videos on the composition of experimental electronic music, esoteric music equipment and avant-garde music techniques. His live A/V show, performing with tape loops, modular synths and test equipment, accompanied by the visuals of Nani Gutiérrez aka Orca, was presented at venues such as Kantine am Berghain, Uebel & Gefährlich, Acud Macht Neu and Arkaoda Berlin.

2022 Repress

2x12", high gloss photo like gatefold sleeve, 180g Vinyl , WAV&MP3 Download code included
Following their debut EP with 'Ezra Was Right' and support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Grandbrothers are presenting their debut album 'Dilation". Twelve modern Experimental / Ambient / Piano pieces, whose sounds are generated completely out of a grand piano using small electromagnetic hammers. Grandbrothers are Erol Sarp and Lukas Vogel. After meeting at university in Dusseldorf, Erol and Lukas formed Grandbrothers to tie together their respective musical backgrounds and disciplines: Erol is a trained jazz pianist, while by day Lukas constructs synthesizers at Access Music. Together, they create a sound that combines classical composition with modern, experimental production and sound design. Their first song, 'Ezra Was Right', earned an early supporter in the esteemed Gilles Peterson, who included the track on his Bubblers 10 compilation and played it numerous times on his Worldwide radio show for BBC Radio 6 Music, with the song eventually being voted #7 by listeners in his end-of-year poll in 2013. A full EP on FILM followed - backed by remixes from legendary Manchester DJ Greg Wilson, Optimo's JD Twitch, and Kim Brown - which sold out its initial run within ten days. Now, Grandbrothers present their debut album, Dilation. The product of two years work, Dilation builds on some of the ideas established on 'Ezra Was Right' while exploring further elements of minimalism, ambient music, IDM, and techno.

New York electronic experimentalist Nicky Mao's 4th full-length, Silvercoat the throng, emerged against the backdrop of lockdown, compelled by an intuitive directive: “resist the urge to fill the space.” Compositionally this translated as a simmering, shadowy energy, veiled but variable, traced in a composite of strings, synthetics, rhythm, and voice. The title alludes to a poetic notion of “possibility, rescued from darkness,” which aptly evokes the shape-shifting, devotional feel of these ambitious and elegant sound designs, crafted in defiance of impermanence, driven by the pursuit of becoming “more and more articulated, differentiated.”

Collaborations with travis from ONO, Speaker Music, and Muqata'a further expand the album's lyrical, liminal palette, meshing elements of experimental techno, spoken word, neo-classical, and industrial noise into a fluid, encrypted dialect all its own. Mao speaks of creative strategies of solidification and reification, encounter and transformation, pure being and punctuation – a multitude

of sparks, fuses, and forking paths leading across fresh thresholds and twilit terrain. Taken as a whole, Silvercoat captures Hiro Kone at the peak of their powers, alchemizing disruption and decomposition into regenerative interior worlds: “Within the darkness and absence is an opportunity for discovery.”

Demon are proud to release “Eddie Piller Presents British Mod Sounds Of the 1960s”, the follow up the “The Mod Revival”. This 2LP set serves an introduction to 'British Mod Sounds of the '60s’ and features 34 tracks.

Curated by Acid Jazz Records and Modcast founder Eddie Piller, this collection features the stapes of the British Mod scene including Small Faces, The High Numbers, The Action, The Fleur De Lys, The Kinks, Spencer Davis Group, The Creation, Rod Stewart, The Yardbirds, and The Love Affair.

"Be in with the In Crowd once more."
Every great youth cult deserves a great soundtrack, and when the '60s Mods adopted classic American R&B, with a side order of hip Jazz, they undoubtedly found the right music for their exuberant and stylish way of life. And yet, buying expensive imports, hoping for a local release or praying for a rare visit from overseas talent was never going to be enough to satisfy British youth with a thirst for the latest sounds. Certainly not those on the dancefloor and definitely not those with their own musical ambitions.

It was a music scene that began with imitation, before skill and imagination lead curious minds to innovation, a scene that evolved from average (at best) copies of releases on the Chess, Motown and Stax labels, to become something more sophisticated,something quite unique, something very British.

Labyrinth is dark, brooding, beat-heavy, melancholic mood music courtesy of Ian Carr and the Nucleus crew. A favourite of Madlib, it goes without saying that this is one magnificent record. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, Labyrinth was never re-pressed and of course those original copies are now very tricky to score. Like all the Nucleus records, it’s aged ridiculously well and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.

Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. And the music has kept relevant. To steal a line from a recent review of our re-issue of Roots, when it comes to anything Nucleus “it’s basically already hip-hop”.

At this point Carr had parted ways with guitarist Alan Holdsworth and as a result the Nucleus sound found itself returning to the core elements of groove and melody. Carr had become bolder and more self-confident in his compositions and it shows in the sheer ambition of Labyrinth. Composed by Carr, and with lyrics written by his wife Sandy, Labyrinth was the result of a commission from the Park Lane Group and funded by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Originally a live performance by an augmented Nucleus, some of the expanded cast were brought back for the recording sessions, including vocalist Norma Winstone. So as the front cover of the finished album says, this is literally “Nucleus Plus”.

Labyrinth is presented as a suite, based on the ancient Greek legend of the Minotaur with musical instruments representing the various elements of the mythology. According to the LP’s original sleeve notes, the bass clarinet represents the tragic element, the trumpet represents the heroic element and the voice represents the human element. The rest of the musicians represent the two societies of Athens and Crete and their comments on the story as it unfolds.

The album opens with the experimental, sumptuously dissonant “Origins”. Teasing strands of atmospheric bass clarinet introduce the first theme before swiftly fading out with a startling blast of staccato fanfares and big drums. Heavy. The album soon finds its rhythm as it alights on the spell-binding and groove-friendly “Bull-Dance”, showing off the best Nucleus has to offer: subtle trumpet melodies, compelling rhythms, a psych-rock vibe and tight soloing. And of course there’s Norma Winstone’s stunning wordless vocals, that also take the lead in the next track “Ariadne”, a spacey-jazz song with beautiful piano, flute and clarinet, and the only recognisable lyrics on the album. You might recognise a snatch of it being looped by Madlib on Quasimoto’s “Astro Travellin”. The first part of the improvised “Arena” closes out the first side of the album, a short experimental piece with piano and horns.

Over on the flip-side, the powerful second part of “Arena” introduces a new theme. It swiftly builds, with vocal melodies, piano and horns all pronounced over the thick drums snapping your neck. It comes on like an alternate take on “Bull-Dance”, noisier, with a looser rhythm. The triumphant, shuffling Latin-jam “Exultation” leans on more scintillating vocals from Winstone, and a chunky counter melody from the rhythm section. It’ll get you moving.

The final track, the haunting, twelve minute “Naxos”, is an incredible way to close out this remarkable record. A circling bass guitar loop inspiring the group to a meditative psychedelic jazz rock improvisation in a silent, Miles kind of way, with a great flugelhorn solo from Carr and an ace synth climax.

This Be With edition of Labyrinth has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. Another great Keith Davis sleeve has been restored in all its airbrushed Golden Age of comics, gatefold splendour. Complete with Minotaur of course.

"My debut album "Leidenzwang" is the consequence of boundless obsession" apostrophizes Kenji Araki with stoic calm. An obsession in the most positive as well as in the most negative of all senses, involving a wide variety of media. Kenji, in his early 20s, is known to be a digital and interdisciplinary artist from Austria with roots in Japan whose work is primarily influenced by the deconstruction of music and contemporary art.

"Leidenzwang" (in English: Suffering compulsion) is confrontation. Confrontation with the world. Confrontation with oneself. A confrontation that can be productive and cathartic. However, until Kenji Araki was able to get into this pattern of thinking, it was necessary in the process of creation to leave his very own sanctuary which he cultivated over the years. Escapism in the rear-view mirror of the past. "Leidenzwang" as a natural hybrid of passion (probably the most beautiful feeling a creatively active person can experience) and dangerous self-flagellation plus constant unrest. The result and musical core of Kenji Araki's debut album is an experimental, emotional post-club exploration with pop sensibility that deliberately ignores genre boundaries.

12 tracks spread over 50 minutes in fast forward: It starts with the adequate intro "Avant" - a primal scream. Next with "Matter" where Kenji collaborates with Thomas Mertlseder and constructs the sound world of a dark fashion film. Emotional highlights for the vividly vibrating club floor as well as for the digital terminals of Planet Earth delivers "Nabelschnurtanz" with its amalgamation of human sound waves. Followed by "Gel & Gewalt" - a combination of 90s Grunge, IDM and exponential rhythms - the fierce "SINEW" with its distorted double bass recordings and "Monomythz" which is Kenji's interpretation of a club banger with a combination of 2000s Eurodance aesthetic and hypermodern off kilter beats.

A moment to take a breath is offered by the spherical track "Milieu" which was written during an emotional low and thus naturally has a dark note. At position 8 is "lluviácida" - inspired by the "rave scene" observed from afar. Closely followed by the album's title number "Leidenzwang" with its granularized piano melodies while nature sounds can be heard in the background.

The album finale is formed by the polyrhythmic fireworks "Deathless Mess", the piece "Isan 世襲" (in Japanese heritage) which symbolizes the own inner turmoil and at the same time acoustically illustrates the relationship to his origin. And the conclusion is marked by the heartbreaking "Au-Dèla" as the epitome of a closer. Kenji Araki: The time is now.

"What took you so long?" might be a valid question concerning the ten year gap between Zanshin's new album "In Any Case By Any Chance" and his first album "Rain Are In Clouds".

Of course it is a question that the Viennese musician has asked himself quite startled in his usual self-critical manner, just to realize at a closer look that it has not been a lack of creativity or laziness at least. He used the Zanshin moniker on four EP releases and several remixes, plus a game soundtrack. Not to forget all his output as one half of producer duo Ogris Debris (the album "Constant Spring" from 2016 and roughly two dozen singles and remixes) and the many, partly award-winning audiovisual installations and performances with Leonhard Lass as DEPART (depart.at). Furthermore he has also built two sound installations in 2021, "I Gong" at Elevate Festival and "Cymatic Sands" at Ars Electronica. In addition, Zanshin performs with the Max-Brand-Synthesizer from time to time as part of the compositions by Elisabeth Schimana, and together with label mate Dorian Concept he has also composed and performed the piece "Half Chance/Music for Moogtonium" for this unique instrument, built by Bob Moog himself.

Not spared by certain global developments of recent years, but rather invigorated by exploring his own resilience, Zanshin had a talk with Affine Records Operator Jamal in the beginning of 2021, speaking of future ideas and releases. And what was initially a single release spawned into a whole album in seemingly no time. An old skit ("Polar Polychrome") on the Roland MC-505 groove-box that had never really been forgotten, but was rather waiting patiently somewhere in the back of his mind, suddenly proved to be the initial spark for the album.

The term "Zanshin", roughly translated as un-focussed attention, is in fact more than just a pseudonym but rather a directive in the artists life. Zanshin really likes to go in several directions at once, kind of according to Wittgenstein's claim that "The world is everything that is the case.", to find out where his love for music might lead him this time. He also somehow went back to his roots with this album. Not necessarily in the sense of certain musical influences or genres, because then the album would be even more eclectic than it already is. More like a focus on the core values in the fabrication process of the music itself, the freedom to rather follow the structures and sounds than to shape them in a completely predetermined way. Somebody once called it, "to weave what the music demands."

In this regard, Zanshin often feels more like a sculptor and tries not toadhereto strongly to the rules of specific sub-genres of electronic music. Searching for sounds and designing them is one of the energies that fuels his interest the most, thus at the beginning of a lot of tracks there are small skits and ideas that have the freedom to grow in whatever direction.

Hence this album has no elaborate story to tell, there is no extensive "narrative" or big time "storytelling" at work. "In Any Case By Any Chance" is not a novel but rather a collection of short stories (which are certainly dense and have complex plots nonetheless). The result is a long-player where playful electronica, skillful songwriting, extrovert dance music and symphonic film music enter into a symbiotic relationship. Returning to another Wittgenstein quote, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent", the emotional impact of music is the main focus and the results can be quite solemn at times, but around the corner always lurks the next bone-breaking rhythm pattern and gnarly sound design.

The infamous saying, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture", is another brick in the wall of sound in Zanshin's approach to music. He rarely roots himself in traditions or uses them too overtly, he really likes to agglomerate sounds, to challenge the listeners. It seems like he tries to avoid classification on purpose, because he knows that everyone has their own perception anyway. The only thing that this music demands implicitly is a willingness to listen attentively.

Very dense, at times really heavy and massive, then again airy and playful. "Music for clubs that don't exist.", might be another fitting caption to describe this album, which lasts for a little more than an hour.

The opener "Heatseeker" rushes to a sudden head start with its steel pan extravaganza, tropical vibes meet a bass line drenched in electro funk, and electrified synth stabs support the declaration of love in the lyrics. Kind of Jamie XX meets Electro meets Diva House. The monster that is "Bronteroc Brawl" is up next, a serious test for the speakers and a wild ride with metallic, growling sounds. The aggressive sound design reminds of suspense ridden shark chases, vicious dogs and cunning dinosaurs, in any case a track for people who love a proper bass stomper.

A new approach for the "indie discotheque" brings the emotional roller-coaster "In Gloom" with snappy drums and hypnotic synth motives á la Alessandro Cortini, creating an epic atmosphere together with the multi-layered vocals. A psycho-acoustic treat is position 4, the crisp instrumental "Polar Polychrome", you could even go as far as calling this a Zanshin signature track. Like mentioned before, the roots of this track go back to 2002 and you can hear the unmistakable influence of beat wizards like Photek, a piercing bass line is supported by poly-rhythmic drums, while dense pads try to escape the claustrophobic lockdown mood of winter 2020/21.

Another round of intense pathos waits for the listeners in the ensuing track "In Search Of". Moderat say "Hello", a melancholy piano melody is rushed to a climax by a wild bass arpeggio and forceful drums, the desire for a perfect sunrise at the next after-hour to the max. Initially just an appendix to the preceding track, "Time After Thought" swiftly developed from a mere improvisation to an ambient epic with a croaking alien piano, as if Keith Jarrett were on his way to Alpha Centauri.

Up next is the first single "Because Why", a breakbeat driven, synth-heavy track with winged vocals and a popular film quote. The title refers to the movie "Alphaville" by Jean-Luc Godard, a dystopian science fiction film noir, in which an omniscient computer system named Alpha 60 is ruling society and humans can only say "because" but never "why". As if the gears of a galactic mechanism were spinning into motion sounds "Identity Slices". A raspy chord structure finds its counterbalance in a kind of stumbling, wonky beat, and Zanshin would never deny the huge influence that Autechre's sounds and structures always have had on his music. Micro- and macrocosm meet on the same level and this friction is also a metaphor for questions of identity and self-awareness, without using voices or lyrics.

Off we go into the IDM bubble bath of "Enzyme Enigma", the bass drum is stomping and a fizzy acid-line is twisting in all directions behind rolling dub-techno chords. "Corrosion Creak" is a kind of acoustic degradation process, the rave dogs are finally let loose and everything happens at once, funky synths shred, string sounds wail and then there is this bass that sounds like smashing a rusty metal plate in the junk yard with a vengeance.

Towards the end everything slows down a bit, the beat in "Whatever Words" is Warp school cerebral hop at its best and therefore loads of glittery, creaky sounds swarm out until the synapses are overloaded, cumulating in a mighty bass ending. Last but never least, "Rebus Redux" guides us into the limitless night sky, with long indulgent pads dotted by an aimlessly wandering piano, while a compact net of tamed resonances and meandering sub frequencies unfolds in the background, enticing navel-gazing imagination.

Mit ihrem Berlin-Umzug Mitte der 1970er Jahre wollten David Bowie und Iggy Pop nicht nur für einige Jahre den Lebensmittelpunkt ins Zentrum Europas verlegen, sondern auch musikalisches Neuland erkunden. Auf ihren Trips nach Paris oder Warschau ließen sie sich von neuer, europäischer Musik inspirieren die so ganz konträr zu der grassierenden Disco-Welle in den USA war. 16 dieser Tracks sind nun von St. Etienne's Bob Stanley und Jason Wood (u.a. 'English Weather') zu einer Compilation zusammengestellt worden, die einen Einblick in die europäische Elektronik- und Krautrock-Szene gibt, von der sich vor allem Bowie inspirieren ließ. Passend benannt nach einem von Bowie's Liebelings-Bars in Berlin, kommt 'Cafe' Exil' mit Tracks von Amon Düül II, Faust, Michael Rother, Brian Eno, Soft Machine, Cluster oder auch der Jan Hammer Group! Die Doppel-Vinyl kommt mit dem Edgar Froese-Bonustrack 'Epsilon In Malaysian Pale'! Natürlich mit umfangreichen, sehr informativen Liner Notes zu allen Tracks!

Dinah Washington has been cited as “the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s”. The jazz vocalist passed away in December 1963 at the age of 39. Just a few months after, in February 1964, Aretha Franklin released her fifth studio album Unforgettable - A Tribute to Dinah Washington. Aretha never personally met Dinah, but she was a good friend of Aretha’s father. Washington always had a major influence of the blossoming style of Aretha. Several covers are, to this day, considered as some of her greatest hits due to Franklin’s timeless voice.

The album was recorded at New York’s Columbia Studios. The recordings were made with the assistance of a small and sympathetic accompanying group for which producer Bob Mersey supplied minimal written guidance.

There is a moment on Sides, the new album from Richmond, Virginia-based duo Lean Year, in which a hospital room floor is filled with white chrysanthemums. This imagery, based on an opiate-induced hallucination experienced by vocalist Emilie Rex's mother as she recovered from surgery, is a perfect encapsulation of the band's second album: dreamlike and beautiful, yet burdened with cold, stark reality. Sides is a harrowing journey through realms of grief and memory, a meditation woven into a tapestry of synth pads, woodwinds, and Rex's instantly recognizable voice. The duo of Rex and Rick Alverson - who also works as a film director (The Mountain, Entertainment, The Comedy) - originally set out to write an album about conflict, but during the writing and recording process, they were confronted with a number of personal tragedies. Alverson lost both of his parents in rapid succession, Rex's mother received a cancer diagnosis, and the couple's beloved family dog, Orca, died. These events transformed the album into an exploration of loss - an attempt at processing the painful, complex, and private emotions that bubble to the surface when confronted with death. "We thought we'd do a concept album called Sides where we could reflect on all of the division in the world, and some in our own families, but then COVID transformed everything / everyone, and we suffered our own specific losses. The record became about loss and grief," Rex explains. "In this way, the title Sides was still appropriate: our individual grief and collective grief, the margins of before and after, the act and feeling of during and enduring. It felt like straddling a threshold between two opposing sides - the moment before conflict and the moment after it passes, life and death, the act of living and the memory of the act. Grief feels like a contention between what you knew and what you now know, and often both feel real and unreal at once." Sides - produced by Alverson alongside Erik Hall (In Tall Buildings) and featuring contributions from Elliot Bergman (Nomo, Wild Belle) and Joseph Shabason (Destroyer, The War on Drugs) - as a distinctly cinematic quality, perhaps due in part to Alverson's other career. Moments of jazz, slowcore, and dirgelike R&B find their way into the sorrowful, ambient suite, lulling the listener into a state of calm while the lyrics speak of ghosts, childhood, and mortality. Despite the gravity of the subject matter, Sides succeeds in mastering a balancing act between pathos and pop. Each song is indelible and haunting, with melodies that have the kind of broad appeal reminiscent of Karen Dalton, Aldous Harding, and FKA twigs.

Nach zwei überzeugenden Alben erscheint mit "Sauropoda" nun das dritte Album der Electro-Funk Band L"ECLAIR. Die fünf Songs sind absolut dancefloor-tauglich und groovy. Zwei Jahre nach dem Debüt "Cruise Control" (2017) und ein Jahr nach dem erfolgreichen zweiten Album "Polymood" (2018) erscheint nun das dritte Album der Genfer L"ECLAIR. Auch auf "Sauropoda" setzt die Band eine Vielfalt von Vintage-Equipment und Synthie- Sounds ein. Die Tracks sind allesamt sehr warm und erinnern an elektronische Songs aus den 1970ern. Eine Art spaciger Grundteppich durchzieht die Songs, während Bass und Drums einen unwiderstehlichen Groove über das Ganze legen. Aber auch experiementelle Kraut-Elemente lassen sich in den Songs finden. "Proto-Prog-Groove" nennt die Band ihren Sound und trifft es damit genau auf den Punkt.

Middle Eastern groove masters Sababa 5 take on the unthinkable for Batov Records. "Popcorn" and the "Birdie Song" are reworked into psychedelic dancefloor smashes laden with synths, surf guitars and Hammond licks.

As pockets of new jazz scenes emerge around the world, it's apparent that New Zealand's bubbling microcosm in Wellington interprets the genre through a unique lens. Clear Path Ensemble bottles the energy of that burgeoning movement and distils it into moody morsels of differing styles. From electric jazz to ambient, experimental, house and funk - it's a DIY, jam-session attitude towards composition, as the band members freely cherry-pick from a vast orchard of influences. Citing inspiration from 70s ECM catalogue, the ensemble channels the "expansive and astral" elements of electric jazz, with an introspective dynamic. At times it's fused with catchy synth hooks, smooth basslines and shuffling beats, while other tracks morph into moody electronic soundscapes, and even Sun Ra-esque free jazz. Led by percussionist Cory Champion, the band released their debut self-titled album in 2020, followed by a headline performance at the 2021 Wellington Jazz Festival. Champion has played drums alongside some of New Zealand's most revered contemporary musicians (Lord Echo, Lucien Johnson and Mara TK to name a few), and also produces leftfield deep house and techno under the name Borrowed cs, which partly informs the ensemble's electronic production.

Over the course of the last two decades, of Montreal’s creative force, Kevin Barnes, has been wowing fans with their vast catalog of endlessly fascinating pop and mesmerizing live shows. Barnes’ songwriting and production aesthetic has since become iconic in the industry and has garnered massive critical acclaim in publications such as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, NPR, and Pitchfork, who described the band’s album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? as “ceaselessly fascinating and inexhaustibly replayable,” as well as ranking it as the #5 album of the year. Barnes’ influence on pop music is undeniable, with multiple late night TV appearances, including The Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, as well as brilliant collaborations with the likes of Solange, Janelle Monáe, Jon Brion, and others. The band has also performed across the globe, with festival appearances at Coachella, Sasquatch!, Pitchfork Music Festival and others, as well as hundreds of millions of streams worldwide.

On of Montreal’s latest album, Freewave Lucifer f ck, Barnes continues to push the boundaries of what pop music can be. On songs like “Marijuana’s A Working Woman,” Barnes revisits themes of psychedelia using pulsating synths

Released on the Amsterdam based label Q1E2 Recordings, the “Move On” EP is Papi Gaba’s modern take on old school- and Lofi House. Papi Gaba's music takes a surgical and alternative turn from conventional House and pushes the genre into a new direction. The EP is the result of Papi Gaba's first experiments with tape recorders
and cassette tapes, and characterised by warm, melodic, melancholic, and crunchy sounds. Papi Gaba’s tracks are suited for the club, while at the same time perfect for any old dusty living room sound system.

Across 6 tracks the Noods Radio resident Gareth Psaltis AKA Barking merges dub, ambient and menacing downtempo.

Having released on Deep Seeded and OpenTheNext, the Berlin-based producer returns to the label after his appearance on the A Call Too Close compilation.

Mastered by Alden Tyrell.
Edition of 200 copies.

After the 2021 Re-Release of “Schwingungen” (MG.ART612) and together with “Seven Up” (MG.ART613) we proudly announce “JOIN INN” as Part3 of the authorised 50th Anniversary “A.R.T.” Re-Edition Series.
“JOIN INN” is the fourth album by Ash Ra Tempel. It was recorded at Studio Dierks and originally released on LP by Ohr Musik-Produktion, catalogue number OMM 556032. Each side of the LP comprises one long track.
In 1972 ASH RA TEMPEL teamed up again with Klaus Schulze during the recording of Walter Wegmüller's Tarot album, and after one of the recording sessions, ASH RA TEMPEL members: Enke, Göttsching and Rosi, together with Klaus decided to "play it again" in a late night session. This recording led to the birth of the “JOIN INN” album, as well as two legendary last concerts in February 1973 in Paris and Cologne.
Manuel Göttsching recalls Hartmut Enke on bass and Klaus Schulze on drums being a dream-team rhythm section for him to play his guitar, especially here to hear on “Freak'n' Roll”, that was ingenious and not to replace ever since.
It was the last recording ever where Klaus Schulze (who sadly passed away this Year) played the Drums and also Hartmut (the Hawk) Enke soon after quit the Bass and music forever.
Join Inn marks the end of the collaboration with Klaus Schulze.
However, together with Ash Ra Tempel, their eponymous first album, which will be released in 2023 as the final edition of our Series, it is considered a highlight of the Krautrock movement.
As for the music itself we again refer to Julian Cope´s review from his book “Krautrocksampler” (published by Head Heritage, 1st ed. 1995):
""Freak’n’roll” fades in like it never started - just was always there from the beginning of time, a dry wah-guitar freerock riff-out unlike any of the other Ash Ra Tempel LPs, and not much like any other music. Yes, there are bluesy riff but none of them have a blues context. Manuel Gottsching’s guitar is so confident that he sometimes drops down to a simple major chord groove, whilst the Hawk pushes that round woody bass into strange overlapping rumbling melody. And ... it’s the return of Klaus Schulze on drums which propels “Freak’n’roll” to its height. No-one but Klaus has the ability to
transcend rock’n’roll in such an on-the-beat non-groove-y way and still send sparks of light into the cosmos as he does it.
-> continued on page 2“Freak’n’roll” is so egoless that it even works at a quiet volume as meditational music. Themes rise from the high tempo pulse beat, then are carried along the muscles of the song into the main area where the riff actually becomes real and expressionist for just long enough before slipping back into the musical fabric of the song.
As usual with Ash Ra Tempel, the other side is an enormous drift piece called “Jenseits (The Next World)”, a beautiful Klaus Schultze meditation of haunting synthesizer chords over which Rosi Muller tells the story of the Cosmic Couriers’ meeting with Timothy Leary. Gradually, the pulsing guitar becomes increasingly intense and turbulent, but Rosi never sounds less than freaked out. Essentially, “Jenseits” is a precursor to Klaus Schulze’s later spacey minor-key grooves.
Unfortunately, this was the last Ash Ra Tempel album in its particular ‘series.
(…) After “JOIN INN”, Manuel Gottsching took over the Ash Ra Tempel mantle alone.”

After the 2021 Re-Release of “Schwingungen” (MG.ART612) we proudly announce “Seven Up” as Part 2 of the authorised 50th Anniversary “A.R.T.” Re-Edition Series.
“Seven Up” is the third studio album by Ash Ra Tempel and their only album recorded in collaboration with American Ph.D. in psychology, Dr. Timothy Leary. The Coverart for “Seven Up” was designed by famous Swiss Artist Walter Wegmüller. Recorded in August 1972 at Sinus Studio in Berne, Switzerland, remixed September 1972 at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, Germany. First release in spring 1973 by OHR Musik - the first release on the new sub-label "Kosmische Kuriere", Kat-Nr. KK 58001.
We release “Seven Up” in a Re-Cut carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself, on September 9th 2022, also being Manuel Göttsching´s 70th Birthday. Our Edition features the full original text for the “7 levels of consciousness” by Timothy Leary in English, i.e. “Instruction Manual for Pleasure Panel” plus a previously unreleased glimpse view of the original scripts incl. notes and mark ups as well as partly unreleased photos from the recording session. ->continued on page 2->continued on page 2 As for the music itself we again refer to Julian Cope´s review and remarks from his book "Krautrocksampler” (published by Head Heritage, 1st ed. 1995):
“When the Leary Mob met the Kaiser Gang, the sparks flew ever Up-wards... 7up is a stone classic in every way. Yes, it is unlikely to find Timothy Leary singing lead vocal in a cosmic group, but even weirder that he chose to sing a wild yelping freaked out blues !
Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke had begun their careers in The Steeple Chase Blues Band back in the mid-'60ies, and they quickly felt their way through what Barritt and Leary were aiming for. They reconciled it all as a kind of West Coast chordless psychedelia, where blues riffs sparkle out of nowhere and the sheer weight of synthesizers renders everything with an unreal Pere Ubu/early Roxy Music quality.
The greatness of Ash Ra Tempel burned so brightly on 7Up that there is really nothing else like it. Hartmut Enke and Manuel Gottsching here returned to their riffy roots. It can hardly be called a retro act, though, as the context of music is everything. And with Dierks at the controls, even the New Kids on the Block would have sounded psychedelic.
7Up is like a late night radio show glimpsed through a shattered tuner where all but the most truly dangerous sounds have been allowed to stay, to drift and to dance around the performers.
The result is an extreme gem, a flash of hysterical white lightning, and a pre-punk Technicolour yawn in the grandest of traditions.
In typical Ash Ra Tempel style, the record is divided into two pieces, “Space” and "Time”. Within this, though,
Timothy Leary’s ideas are allowed to free-flow and the two sides are therefore divided into mini-songs all segued together. The highlight of Side 1 is “Power Drive”, a West Coast burn-up that transcends any W.
Coast music I ever did hear. Leary and Barritt present the greatest twin-vocal of all time, coming on like Jagger and Morrison but too caught up in their own maelstrom to be anything less than Heralds of the Punkfuture still five years away.
In chaos it was conceived and in chaos it was recorded. Yet Dieter Dierks, the great Aural Architect of the Cosmic Couriers, turned 7Up into a personal triumph and a Kosmische dream.”

Ash Ra Tempel – “Seven Up”
TIMOTHY LEARY - voice
BRIAN BARRITT - voice
MICKY DUWE - voice & flute
LIZ ELLIOTT - voice
BETTINA HOHLS - voice
PORTIA NKOMO - voice
HARTMUT "HAWK" ENKE - bass, guitar & electronics
MANUEL GÖTTSCHING - guitar & electronics
STEVE A. - organ & electronics
DIETMAR BURMEISTER - drums
TOMMY ENGEL - drums
DIETER DIERKS - synthesizer & Radio Downtown

Hailing from a city known for club anthems, Tha God Fahim has taken the road less traveled, channeling hip-hop’s grimy roots with complex, street-level lyricism and dusty, sample-heavy production. In the midst of his meteoric rise, the Atlanta artist released "Wide Berth", a rugged masterpiece executive produced by mysterious rap phenom Mach-Hommy. Featuring production by Camoflauge Monk along with Fahim himself, this 2018 classic is now available on vinyl for the first time ever, complete with new artwork.

International Anthem proudly presents Step on Step, a double LP collection of newly unearthed solo home recordings created by enigmatic producer, arranger, and composer Charles Stepney in the basement of his home on the Southside of Chicago during the years before his untimely death in 1976. Stepney’s signature “baroque soul” sound is known to many as it’s heard in his prismatic orchestral arrangements for Rotary Connection, Minnie Riperton, Howlin Wolf, Terry Callier, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many more. His sound has been used by countless samplers in the hip-hop world including Kanye West, The Fugees, and MF Doom. But in comparison to the post-mortem renown of his sound, or the artists he supported while he was alive, Stepney is a greatly underappreciated figure… a genius relegated to the shadows.

Step on Step is Stepney’s eponymous debut album, featuring 23 bare-bones, demo-style home recordings, most of which are Stepney originals that were never again recorded by him or any other artist. Highlights from those original works include “Denim Groove,” which hears Stepney on piano and congas alongside his first instrument (the vibraphone), and “Look B4U Leap,” one of several kinetic lo-fi dance numbers that feature Stepney having fun with an early-gen Moog synthesizer. It also features prototypical, seedling-style demos of Stepney compositions for Earth, Wind & Fire, including “That’s The Way of The World,” “Imagination,” and “On Your Face,” as well as the original version of “Black Gold,” which would eventually be recorded by Rotary Connection (as “I Am The Black Gold of The Sun”).

A collection of home recordings Charles Stepney -- the late composer/producer who worked with Earth Wind & Fire, Deniece Williams, Rotary Connection, Minnie Ripperton, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Terry Callier, and more, and was sampled by Kanye West, Madlib, MF Doom, A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, and more -- called Step On Step is coming out September 9 via International Anthem.

Last year Sacred Bones released the groundbreaking album Sounds of the Unborn which was made by using biosonic MIDI technology to translate Luca Yupanqui’s in utero movements into sound. With the help of her parents, Psychic Ills bassist Elizabeth Hart and Lee Scratch Perry collaborator Iván Diaz Mathé, Luca’s prenatal essence was captured in audio. They designed a ritual, a kind of joint meditation for the three of them, with the MIDI devices hooked to Elizabeth’s stomach, transcribing its vibrations

into Iván’s synthesizers. They let the free-form meditations flow without much interference, just falling deeper into trance and feeling the unity. After five hour-long sessions, the shape of an album began to emerge. Elizabeth and Iván then edited and mixed the results of the sessions, respecting the sounds as they were produced, trying to intervene as little as possible, allowing Luca’s message to exist in its raw form.

Riki aus Los Angeles ist das dunkle Synthie-Pop-Projekt der mysteriösen Niff Nawor, einer visuellen Künstlerin und Musikerin, die in den Deathrock-/Anarcho-Punk-Szene der kalifornischen Bay Area aktiv ist. Bevor sie 2017 ihr Solo-Engagement als Riki begann, war sie Mitglied von Crimson Scarlet. Ihr Wunsch, ihren eigenen Sound zu erforschen, manifestierte sich 2017 in den Aufnahmen der "Hot City"-Kassette, veröffentlicht auf Commodity Tapes und später auf Vinyl beim angesehenen Symphony of Destruction Label. Riki trat in der Folge mit Acts wie Light Asylum, Black Marble und Trisomie 21 auf. Für ihr selbstbetiteltes Debütalbum für Dais erforscht Riki Mut, Körperlichkeit und Romantik in acht zeitlosen Synthie-Pop-Hymnen. Produziert von der Hardware-basierten Synthesistin Matia Simovich von INHALT, werden Einflüsse und Ideen mit Stolz getragen - nostalgische Verweise auf Neue Deutsch Welle, frühe Adrian Sherwood Produktionen, klassischen ZYX Italo Disco, und New Wave/Pop wie Pat Benatar, Kate Bush und early Madonna - ohne dabei von frischem und gewagtem Elektro-Pop-Territorium abzuweichen.

Riki aus Los Angeles ist das dunkle Synthie-Pop-Projekt der mysteriösen Niff Nawor, einer visuellen Künstlerin und Musikerin, die in den Deathrock-/Anarcho-Punk-Szene der kalifornischen Bay Area aktiv ist. Bevor sie 2017 ihr Solo-Engagement als Riki begann, war sie Mitglied von Crimson Scarlet. Ihr Wunsch, ihren eigenen Sound zu erforschen, manifestierte sich 2017 in den Aufnahmen der "Hot City"-Kassette, veröffentlicht auf Commodity Tapes und später auf Vinyl beim angesehenen Symphony of Destruction Label. Riki trat in der Folge mit Acts wie Light Asylum, Black Marble und Trisomie 21 auf. Für ihr selbstbetiteltes Debütalbum für Dais erforscht Riki Mut, Körperlichkeit und Romantik in acht zeitlosen Synthie-Pop-Hymnen. Produziert von der Hardware-basierten Synthesistin Matia Simovich von INHALT, werden Einflüsse und Ideen mit Stolz getragen - nostalgische Verweise auf Neue Deutsch Welle, frühe Adrian Sherwood Produktionen, klassischen ZYX Italo Disco, und New Wave/Pop wie Pat Benatar, Kate Bush und early Madonna - ohne dabei von frischem und gewagtem Elektro-Pop-Territorium abzuweichen.

The 2018 Halloween movie has the distinction of being the first film in the series with creator John Carpenter's direct involvement since 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Carpenter serves on the new David Gordon Green-directed installment as an executive producer, a creative consultant, and, thrillingly, as a soundtrack composer, alongside his collaborators from his three recent solo albums, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.The new soundtrack pays homage to the classic Halloween score that Carpenter composed and recorded in 1978, when he forever changed the course of horror cinema and synthesizer music with his low-budget masterpiece. Several new versions of the iconic main theme serve as the pulse of Green's film, its familiar 5/4 refrain stabbing through the soundtrack like the Shape's knife. The rest of the soundtrack is just as enthralling, incorporating everything from atmospheric synth whooshes to eerie piano-driven pieces to skittering electronic percussion. While the new score was made with a few more resources than Carpenter's famously shoestring original, its musical spirit was preserved.

Ten Numero-minted, dance floor ready dive bombers from disco's all-to-brief heyday, previously swept under rug by the whitewashed glitz and glam of the era. Chugging grooves, bubbling synths, soaring strings, and sonorous voices are guaranteed to light up your night, on living room rugs and dance floors alike.

Opening with the buzz of a smartphone on vibrate, First Hate’s sophomore album Cotton Candy launches to life with “Someone New,” a synth-driven statement of intent. The Danish duo’s charged songs are rooted in a recognizable universe, but traverse a wide array of genre experiments and pop detours. Cotton Candy follows the quest of its protagonist stumbling through a crumbling world, winning and losing lovers, swinging from extreme highs to hopeless lows. The title alludes to transience and ecstasy, the surge of a sugar rush before nausea sets in, the way cotton candy dissolves into nothingness leaving only sticky fingers. Throughout, the productions glitter with synthetic detail and hypermodern finesse, effervescent but elusive. “Life is a rollercoaster and we’ve ridden the ups and downs.” During the recording sessions, a collage of Copenhagen musicians flowed through the studio. First Hate is a fixture of the city’s creative community, but ultimately exists in their own sphere, carving a niche as parallel universe pop stars, embracing sweet and bitter, risk and reward: “Sometimes the ones who love you most are the ones who hold you back.” Anton and Joakim grew up in Copenhagen and met when they were 15 through common friends on the street where they lived. “I didn’t enjoy being home so I used to stay at my friend Jakob's basement in an old church on Willemoesgade street,” says Wei. “His mom was the priest. She baptized Anton at age eight during his Jesus phase when he demanded a late baptism from his atheist parents. Jakob was friends with Elias who lived up in Anton’s end and they introduced us to each other. One summer my parents finally married after 20 years of dating. Joakim moved in for two weeks and we accidentally trashed the apartment while they were on their honeymoon. Later on Jakob, Elias, and two other friends, Dan and Johan, formed the band Iceage. Watching our friends’ growing success was a catalyst in creating our own project. At that point everybody in our friend group was making punk music, so the most punk thing we could think to do was start a pop duo.” The First Hate catalog comprises more than nine years of work, including their 2017 cult classic, A Prayer For The Unemployed, a collaborative album Dittes Bog, two EPs and several singles. All of the recordings are self-produced, until they are ready to be finished in the studio. “We have sort of a twin alliance. Like couples finishing each other’s spaghetti at restaurants, we finish each other’s music. Having people enter this sacred mix has been such a pleasure.” On stage Anton and Joakim embody the contrasting yet complimentary energies of yin and yang: Joakim pushing buttons, steering the ship, working synths and samplers with harmonious calm, while Anton’s body bullets around the stage, pounding out his kinetic dance moves. The name Anton means fragile flower, an apt metaphor for his stage presence. A fragile flower shooting through concrete. To behold a performer who consistently delivers such intense live performances is a rare pleasure. “Live means love. When everything is right. When we meet the audience heart to heart. Then the planet spins even faster.” First Hate has performed over a hundred shows across Europe, Asia, the U.S., and Russia, both as headliners and alongside fellow Copenhagen acts Iceage, Lust For Youth, Communions, Soho Rezanejad, Trentemøller and Grand Prix. “We are on a quest of love, yes it’s as cheesy as that.”

"A gang of stylish demons discover a wild animal pacing around a Berlin cellar, wearing only a hawaiian shirt and someone else’s blood. He doesn’t know what day it is, just that he went to a party several months ago and hasn’t been to sleep since. They lovingly rescue and rehouse the wretched creature in a glaas box where he’s content to howl his paranoid chants all day for their entertainment and now ours. This debut lays out a mangled inventory of fractured memories, haunted visions of broken people and places making a sacred ritual out of ruining themselves. These are hymns to so many nights gone so far wrong, from the graveyard sex to the extra bump you might have resisted had the urge to feel something not overtaken you… Employing an elevated and reinvigorated version of the ‘modern post punk with anarcho flourishes’ mode, with whirring synthesisers and creepy keys signpost into even more disorienting territory, GLAAS create a creepy and compelling soundtrack to the romantic nihilism of urban decay: disturbing lifestyle choices but make it sexy." - Bryony Beynon Featuring members of Clock Of Time, Exit Group, Cage Kicker, Idiota Civlizzatto, Lacquer and more. This is the debut LP from GLAAS. The LP comes housed in a sleeve with linocut artwork as well as an additional A2 poster from Raquel Torre and an additional lyric sheet.

The Best Old School Death Metal album from the Netherlands gets a well-deserved re-issue! Crushing, aggressive, abrasive, pounding, bone crunching... In an age when blast speed drums were still mostly used by grindcore acts (and some pioneers such as Morbid Angel) and now classic bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Deicide were still tiny demo acts, Dutch masters Pestilence released one of the best old school Dutch death metal classics ever to be unleashed upon mankind, the album that made a huge impact upon its release. “Consuming Impulse” is one intense album. one could say this album is definitely up there with classic death metal albums such as Death’s “Leprosy”, Obituary’s “Slowly We Rot”, and Morbid Angel’s “Altars of Madness”. With “Consuming Impulse”, Pestilence created their greatest, most complete album, successfully marrying the primitive brutality of their previous effort ‘Maleus Maleficarum’ with the technicality of their later releases. Whereas their debut album “Malleus Maleficarum” had some hints of thrash metal, this was gone on “Consuming Impulse” although the up tempo beat was still of course very much present. The production was heavy yet remarkably transparent. The riffs of Patrick Mameli on “Consuming Impulse” are simply mind-blowing. Even though quite simple at times they still prove extremely deadly. Try the main riffs in the verses of ‘Process of Suffocation’ and ‘The Trauma’ for starters. Speed monsters like ‘Dehydrated’ and ‘Reduced To Ashes’ were simple compositions but the intensity of this material just oozes out of your speakers. The presence of these straight forward raging death metal tracks was perfect to balance the dynamics and variety of the album. Songs such as ‘Chronic Infection’ and the classic ‘Out Of The Body’ incorporated some great interacting differentiating guitars and much more diversity in pace and riffing.

Tape



Over the course of two nights, a few weeks before the pandemic arrived in Portugal, André Gonçalves (ADDAC System) and Casper Clausen (Efterklang) recorded music from another realm, dreamy and scary at the same time, sounds complete but it seems to be falling apart at any moment. It is like an alien language or a way to process sound that sounds foreign because it is different from everything else, formally, and aesthetically. This is “Aether”, 37 minutes of constant take-off. A departure from what both musicians have done in the past.

That’s the beauty of these collaborations. You don’t know exactly the point of departure and where it leads. “Aether” masters that feeling throughout seven parts. The synthesized sounds hang in the air like clouds slowly moving, transforming into something else. Sometimes they touch each other and form something else. Or they just hang in there, waiting, just waiting. And then Casper Clausen’s voice shows up and offers a “Twin Peaks” feeling to everything, transforming that sound mass into ethereal melodies that become too overwhelming.

We think about all those Popol Vuh soundtracks from the Werner Herzog films, the fog that never goes away. The constant ecstasy of creating something magical or achieving the impossible. Or even Vangelis and his ability to elevate simple sounds into something beautiful and glorious. Both share this element of the unexpected, you’ll never know what you’ll listen to or feel during the process of active listening. It is a bizarre but comforting experience, a synthetic dream you want to be part of. Music to be touched and felt.

The music on this long-awaited solo vinyl album by legendary tape artist Jérôme Noetinger was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs. Signals were sent through tube broadcast monitors and picked up with room microphones. Produced by Tobias Levin. Cover by Meeuw.

Long-time touchstone of international experimental music presents his monolithic (and first) solo vinyl »Sur Quelques Mondes Étranges« on Felix Kubin’s Gagarin Records. Jérôme Noetinger is known to most for the audio-visual trio Cellule d’Intervention Metamkine, alongside his countless recorded & live collaborations, compositions for radio & stage, and breathtaking multi-channel diffusions in the acousmatic tradition.

Discovering the ReVox B77 tape machine as his tool for live electro-acoustic music in 1987, Noetinger has doggedly investigated his instrument over 35 years, establishing him as a vital contemporary composer/performer of the medium. His work is radical and interrogatory, using a pan-historical array of analogue devices to construct soundworlds which sidestep digital monochrome, landing in a galaxy of simmering malfunction, dynamic physicality & rhythmic debris. Programming Le 102 in Grenoble for over a decade, as well as directing Metamkine distribution for over three, his encyclopaedic knowledge of manifold sonic traditions is on display here; unified by a staunch discipline, impressive dedication and flat rejection of empty trends.

The results synthesise his tireless timbral research into 11 striking sonic investigations which combine modern studio possibilities with years of performance experience worldwide. An ominous malaise hovers over proceedings; yet it never feels nihilistic, presenting solutions which electrify the listener with ecstatic discovery. The perceptual orchestration therein - from throwing our ears right against the body of the tape machine to flinging them into cavernous space alive with the aurally strange - is both delirious & calming. Noetinger is all too aware things are bad, but his drive for discovery and joyous belief in music somehow coruscates brilliantly through contemporary gloom.

Meticulously recorded & produced with Tobias Levin in Hamburg, Sur quelques mondes étranges presents a detailed & rich vocabulary both real & unreal: gesture & repetition, structure & collapse, familiar & uncanny all dance with each in the most pumping discothèque concrète in this universe. This is a powerful and exacting statement from an elegant composer & extraordinary musician who has humbly dedicated his life to his practice.

– Anthony Pateras

Chilean-born Francisco Allendes returns to Crosstown Rebels for the first time in six years this May. Serving up the three-track What You Do, the title number has already received global airplay via Damian Lazarus himself. Now, the full release will be made available next month and includes a remix by US-legend Harry Romero.

A contemporary dose of four-on-the-floor house, What You Do leaves few prisoners in its wake, as rampant drum patterns converge on a heady combination of kicks, synths and irresistible vocals right the way through. There’s an infectious energy to the track, paving the way for Harry Romero’s similarly up-tempo remix. It’s feel-good, club-ready dance music at its best, packed full of low-slung groove that opens neatly into the closing sequence: Maratone, a stripped-back, techy cut that bears all the hallmarks of a true Ibiza anthem.

Hailing from Chile and now based in Ibiza, Francisco Allendes is a leading light in today’s scene. Be it Loco Dice’s Desolat, Steve Lawler’s VIVA or Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels, his productions have graced some of the industry’s most well-respected labels. Such quality hasn’t gone unnoticed - he picked up the ‘Best Ibiza’ DJ Award in September 2019 and has gone on to complete several South American tours. A much loved affiliate of ANTS, Francisco has a long standing residency at both Ushuaïa in Ibiza and their affiliated tours, in addition to hosting the weekly radio show.

Seminal American house talent Harry Romero is a well-established figure on the worldwide music circuit. A prominent global DJ and producer since the ‘90s, early productions on Cutting Records and Cutting Traxx helped set the tone for Harry’s career trajectory, opening the doors to a coveted BBC Radio 1 ‘Essential Mix’ in recent years.

Made in two versions - classic black and limited multicolor vinyl. Limitied Surprise Edition was pressed in 200 copies and has got an OBI.

After a six year hiatus Twardowski returns with his fourth album on U Know Me Records. The newest outing is a retrofuturistic trip to the author's two biggest influences: instrumental hip-hop and… video games. The new album eschews Twardowski's previous synth-heavy style in favor of multiple layers of chopped and mended together samples, topped off by cuts from U Know Me's own jazz guitarist/turntablist Żyńy. The album invokes video games with the track titles, the LP's title being a homage to coin-ops and via the overall sound: wonky, heavily shuffled, almost-out-of-sync rhythms sounding almost as if the tracks were done sampler in one hand gamepad in the other, over a lengthy, laid back gaming/sequencing session. Maybe if a gamepad was a sampler and instrumental hip-hop was a game, "One Coin Clear" could have been its soundtrack.

Sympathetic Magic is an ecstatic, delirious, and deeply touching piece of music; a towering new work in Kim Myhr’s increasingly substantial output as an artist and composer. Sympathetic Magic is the follow-up to Kim Myhr’s 2017 album You | me, which was widely praised and received an honorary mention at the 2018 Nordic Music Prize. While the immersive warmth of You | me is still present, Sympathetic Magic is more expansive than its predecessor. A band of eight musicians playing a wide variety of instruments including electric 12-string guitars, drum machines, vocals, synthesizers, organs and lots of drums and percussion, has created a work of a grander scale. The shimmering, oceanic waves of You | me has been traded for cosmic currents in Sympathetic Magic. Put simply, Sympathetic Magic is a collection of song-like structures that has expanded into symphonic proportions. “With You | me, I wanted to create an ocean of sound, where the listener is surrounded by a myriad of elements that has equal importance in the music. I wanted to challenge this a bit, to push certain elements forward. The result is a more song-like kind of music than what I’ve done before.” – Kim Myhr Just before starting working on Sympathetic Magic, Kim bought an old 70s Yamaha organ (the YC45d), after falling in love with the sound of it on different recordings. At first, he thought the organ would be a subtle element on the new record, but it ended up becoming a focal point: “It’s a brilliant in-your-face sound that brought an ecstatic quality to the music. Playing around with this instrument, along with an 80s Roland Juno synth and a new drum machine took the music in new directions.” – Kim Myhr. Thematically, Sympathetic Magic circles around a longing for collectivity and togetherness. While the world was locked down in 2021, thanks to a commission from Oslo Jazz Festival, Kim had the opportunity to delve deeply into this project, working with the members of the band, one at a time: “The music created a situation of unexpected positivity. It felt like a social project even if I spent most of the time on it alone. And all this positive, joyful energy felt quite magical, arriving like out of thin air in this otherwise grim situation. It all felt like a hallucination, which fed back into the music. Sympathetic Magic is like a dream within a dream.” – Kim Myhr The title of the record is a term coined by James Frazer in The Golden Bough. He writes: “things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed”. “In a closed down world where all our connections with the outside suddenly are remote or absent, the line between the real and imaginary is blurred. I felt that the term perfectly summed up the thoughts, processes and sentiments that went into the making of this record”, says Myhr. “Kim Myhr is a master of slow-morphing rhythms and sun-dappled textures that seem to glow from the inside”. The Guardian 1/And I Thought These Are My People 2/Gifting Senselessly In Endless Lavishness 3/Move The Rolling Sky 4/Iridescent 5/Up To The Sun Shall Go Your Heartache 6/I Wonder If I Shall Fall Right Through The Earth 7/Heart Streams

White Vinyl

The 2nd release from Midlands based DnB, Breaks & Bass Label 'Something System Records' features a 140 Breakbeat track from Parallel Action & a DnB track from his alter ego ScanOne

Side A: Parallel Action 'Air' In a word.. DRUMS! Parallel Actions debut on SSR opens with this Jazz fuelled epic. The track has a real 'live session' feel with some insane drum editing. An eastern flavour compliments the cinematic overtones of this piece perfectly. A real 'Lights on' end of the night tune for sure.

Side B: ScanOne 'Unity' This time it's the turn of Parallel Actions alter ego 'ScanOne' In many respect's this is a remix of 'Air' A beautiful, rolling, atmospheric slice of Drum & Bass that encapsulates all the qualities of side A but a more peak time tempo.

HAUKE FREER'S latest offering includes two warm and moody original cuts plus an intense, bass heavy MATTHIAS REILING Remix - is that really you, SESSION VICTIM? While the duo's records usually strike a chord with a somewhat broad audience, Freer's solo output never tries to cater to the House Music masses. In fact, it feels very much tailored to please an acquired taste. ONE TINY UNIVERSE is a case in point, built upon a steady but wonky drum groove and a brizzling, retro, sci- kind of pad, eventually leading the song into an array of synth melodies that will reward you with discovering new things when listening repeatedly - showing Hauke's ability to subtly combine little bits and pieces into something that effortlessly outgrows the sum of its parts. Moving on to the ip, Reiling stripps the title track off it's warmth and beauty and replaces them with a tougher
drumset and a pressure heavy UK style bassline. You'll be reintroduced to Freer's synth work eventually, but in a less
fairytalish and, well, slightly hostile environment. MMMMM is the closing cut of the EP, a composition just as bare and raw as it feels soothing and gentle - like.... let's say beans and rice over a campre on a cold night under the starry sky of a far away tiny universe in the ngernail of some other giant lifeform.

»HD+« is a data dvd, documenting uwe schmidt's aka atomTM's visual aesthetics for the first time. the conceptual engagement with and the critical yet diverting examination of pop music that's always delivered with a twinkle in the eye is a central topic of the musician's diverse creative work and cer- tainly included in this visual presentation of it. together with the second remix ep »riding the void« to be released this summer, »HD+« marks the provisional completion of atomTM's »HD« cycle. besides tracks from the »HD« album (r-n147), the video collection does as well contain tracks from other atomTM recordings such as »streuung«, originally released on »winterreise« (r-n140), and tracks taken from external releases such as »praezision«. in order to present the video material in high resolution and at the best quality, no special format- ting was used, but for playing the videos, the following system requirements have to be met: OS: Mac OSX 10.5 or later, Windows 7 or later processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster RAM: minimum 2 GB video RAM: minimum 512 MB furthermore, we have to thank the following people who helped realizing this complex work:

Pinecone Moonshine’s Rhythm Section is breakbeat focused drum and bass with themes of jazz and funk. Rhythms range from steady rolling, drumfunk to bizarre syncopated patterns to techstep and techno-like rhythms.

Very limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies in a full colour single outer sleeve and full colour printed lyric inner sleeve, housing a 2-colour blue and yellow cosmic swirl vinyl. Full download included as well. Blacklab are back. The self-proclaimed ‘Doom witch duo from Osaka’ are set to drop their 3rd album ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ this summer. Their debut ‘Under the Strawberry Moon 2.0’ saw them taking Sabbath inspired doom, mashing it with a Japanese sensibility and a fuzzed-up groove. It certainly caused a stir, but only hinted at their potential. Album two ‘Abyss’ added to the mix. A Stooges like squalor to the riffs, dollops of lo-fi hardcore punk and loose riffing, pointing the way towards a signature sound. So what of the ‘difficult’ third album? Not so difficult at all it seems. ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ ups the ante considerably, to let rip and define what Blacklab are about. The combined talents of Jun Morino on production and Wayne Adams (Big Lad, Green Lung, Pet Brick, John, Cold In Berlin) on the mix have conspired to produce a towering beast of a record. A real step forward for the ‘Doom Witch Duo’. The drums have a humungous ‘Fugazi’ like welly, and the guitars are a boiling maelstrom of fuzz dense riffola and warped psychedelics, with added synth. Yuko’s throat shredding snarls are as mean as a pissed off Satan, and melodious, often within the same song. This is doom meets hardcore punk, hooky melodies, and killer riffs, all cranked up to the max. Japan has always had a special take on ‘noise’ and ‘heavy’ and with ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ Blacklab add their own spin to that tradition. Gone is the lo-fi approach, here is Blacklab in full effect. ‘Cold Rain’ and ‘Abyss Woods’ (debuted at their storming set at London’s Desert Fest and appearing here in its full version) are two nuggets of epic fuzz heavy doom with added screamo and a neat and canny grasp of melody at its core. Very much a Blacklab trademark. ‘Dark Clouds’ is D-beat fuelled hardcore, fierce and ferocious, with Chia’s rolling thunder drumming underpinning the distorted guitar. It’s pretty exhilarating stuff that shifts the mood perfectly. ‘Evil I’ is just that, a riff as evil as it gets, morphing into a chugging punk wig out. Then followed by ‘Evil II’ a breather, almost mellow, melancholy, with layers of dark overdrive threatening to explode beneath a sweet yet menacing vocal. Then, the mid-point of the album drops a real surprise. Yuko has said before that the band’s name is a combination of her two favourite bands, Black Sabbath and Stereolab. Odd bedfellows to be sure, but if you want to know what that combination might sound like ... here it is. ‘Crows, Sparrows and Cats’ actually features Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, no less, providing the lead vocal, adding a layer of cool over Blacklab’s Hawkwind meets krautrock sludge. It’s a stoner groove with pop at its heart ...Sludge Pop even, a surprising gem amongst the maelstrom of sound around it. The skewed, sludgecore of ‘Lost’ with its push-pull riffs and rolling thunder drumming, signals that it’s back to business as usual. And after the brief atmospheric instrumental interlude that gives the album its title, comes ‘Monochrome Rainbow’ a huge beast of a track so simple, yet so seductive, from its filtered bass intro to its massive ebb and flow groove and stomping ending. The vocals are all mystery and melody, and the music is kind of a Groundhogs meets Goatsnake ten-ton fuzz-fest, with a singalong, wave your arms in the air chorus. The new Japanese Doom-blues, and what could be the album’s defining moment. ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ closes with ‘Collapse’ verging on noise rock, complete with throat shredding vocals and a crushing wall of guitars, that switch from a stoner groove to full on punk assault, teetering on mayhem before finally ending with the sound of Yuko switching off her fuzz pedal. Perfect. Blacklab have negotiated that ‘difficult’ third album with aplomb and have created a sound that, despite their many influences, is all their own.

Trapped Animal Records are proud to present for the first time on vinyl, Stars and Rabbit's 2020 smasher 'Rainbow Aisle'. Remastered at Metropolis to lacquer and cut to 300 Purple Stripe 180GSM 12"s this is a very special package from Indonesian household names, Stars and Rabbit! // Press quotes : Alternative Fruit, UK - This fun and catchy album is laid back to back with classic numbers which each have a soul of their own. A friendly rock 'n' roll delivery mixed with classical melodies and homely closeness allows us to hear this band in person from wherever we happen to be. // Analogue Trash, UK - Reviewed (Little Mischievous) There’s a joy and innocence at the heart of Little Mischievous that is delightful and infectious, in large part down to the fun, rollercoaster vocals of Elda Suryani. Sounding like a cross between Nina Persson and Björk, her livewire performance is the perfect foil for Didit Saad’s equally electric lead guitar melody and the briskly bouncing arrangement. // Reviewed Naked King - They make up the central core of the song, as soft synths and lush strings wash in and out of perception, combining to confect a sweet sense of serenity. Though contemplative, Naked King looks outward and also seeks to engage the listener: the children’s choir and assertive guitar solo bringing the song to a euphoric crescendo, with Elda Suryani’s performance directing the song to ever greater heights. // Antenna, Japan - Stars and Rabbit were captivated by a variety of songs that sublimated 90s introspective alternative rock, mainly in Europe, such as Sigur Rós, Radiohead and Portishead. On one occasion, listeners like "Little Mischievous" show light guitar pops that can sing a long, and "Attic No.7" shows a jazzy, dark side like a trip hop. // Atwood Magazine, UK - Elda Suryani and Didit Saad make up the group and both employ signature rhythms and harmonies onto each song of theirs, and “Little Mischievous” is no exception with its slick guitar riffs and tantalizing vocal performance. // Beehive Candy, UK - Their new LP, Rainbow Aisle, a full spectrum of colors, showcasing their knack for groovy electro rock as well as intimate acoustic confessions. // Big Takeover, US - Wow, such a vocally and lyrically intriguing number! Yet again, there’s the ’90s alt-rock feeling, but the vocals are yes, mischievously impish; a teeny-tiny bit like SOAK vocally, but with a grainier, deeper timbre.

The second extended EP by London synth cyberneticians 3 Electro Knights is Rave One, which is human and machine in hot synergy. If Blixa Bargeld played the synthesizer he would probably come up with something like the crazed lead on Rave One. I Move In Another Dimension is a remix of very limited lathe cut single, which Rough Trade shops described as “Electro sqwonk and clatter meet Patti Smith style beat poetry’. This, the “Mandy” remix ups the psychedelic energy, with Mandy referring to the acid drenched Nicholas Cage starring film of the same name. The flip side track, I_tense, is a 14 trip into territory somewhere between Berlin School synth and early Aphex Twin driven by perhaps the greatest synthesizer ever made, the Roland System 100m, and was recorded in one take with no overdubs Very limited copies – 250 only – on white vinyl with orange swirl. The sleeve design is by acclaimed graphic designer Asif Khan. Destroy/Exist wrote of their cassette album Sketches For Another Future: “Through krautrock, psychedelic, synthpunk, and modern electronica passages, 3 Electro Knights fully realize their analog electronic sound, exposing their warm connection with their synths.” 3 Electro Knights are Daren Pickles (Supercharger, bushpilot), Nik Clifford (Jesus Licks, bushpilot) and Ross Holloway (bushpilot).

Slyder Smith first swaggered onto the stage as lead guitarist with glam-tinged power popsters, Last Great Dreamers. After releasing four studio albums and one live album on Ray Records & having toured extensively throughout the UK & Europe with LGD, Slyder now takes centre stage leading Slyder Smith & The Oblivion Kids (Tim Emery, Bass and Rik Pratt, Drums) in an honest outpouring of grit, glamour and emotion. Stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight, the self-confessed ‘frustrated lead singer’ has been forced to delve deep into his own psyche, to carefully craft lyrics and melodies that speak from the heart. Slyder’s emotive vocals are powerful, yet melancholic, the perfect balance of light and shade sitting effortlessly within the sonic landscape of his varied rhythm guitar sounds and highly melodic & anthemic lead lines. “This album has been a real labour of love for me, I’ve really put my heart & soul into it. Over the last year or so I’ve been working very hard developing my guitar playing, music & lyric writing pulling myself in all sorts of directions, really stretching myself. I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do, create songs from the heart in no specific genre & perform them to the best of my ability on the record. I guess for years I have been a frustrated lead singer so I have relished the opportunity to showcase what I can do vocally too.” – Slyder Smith - Stage left, Slyder is joined by Tim Emery, a towering enigma, whose stylish bass lines are the only thing to outshine his impeccable apparel and at the back sits the Oblivion Kids’ powerhouse and beat master, Welshman, Rik Pratt. A man of few words but whose presence is palpable in this rock steady rhythm section. But this is no ordinary guitar-based rock album; together with producer Pete Brown (George Harrison, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Marc Almond, The Smiths and Sam Brown), Slyder has allowed the songs to dictate the direction they have gone in; discovering melodies and hook lines along the way. Making use of Hammond organ and piano with the help of Neil Scully (Richard Davies & the Dissidents), a 1950s Phillicord organ, lap steel guitar & even a bit of banjo. A chocolate box of sonic sensations offering up a little something for everyone - from heavy riffage with walloping drums akin to the brothers Young to the anticipated sleaze rock shades of Hanoi Rocks. However, this band is not afraid to step away from their rock roots, instead, with nods to the likes of The Doors, Velvet Underground, The Stranglers and The Kinks from the past and the alternative rock sound of Manic Street Preachers, The Oblivion Kids have reimagined an 80s synth pop classic and mastered singalong pop, gothic, dark Americana, and dare I say it, funk rock?! There are a few firsts for Slyder on here too in the form of an instrumental track with a western feel and to a duet featuring the ethereal vocals of Nina Courson (Healthy Junkies). The result is an idiosyncratic 14 track album of outstanding versatility. A Charming debut, I’m sure you’ll agree.

823 is a multifaceted Perth-based record label, fashion brand, and artistic community, founded by Australian producer and all-around creative, Ta-ku (846k monthly listeners on Spotify). With an ethos of attention to detail and appreciation for the everyday things in life, 823 doesn’t stick to any particular genre. 823’s releases include Cabu’s (800k Monthly Listeners on Spotify) “So Far To Go” EP, Ta-ku and matt mcwaters’s duo project “Black and White,” which featured Masego collaboration “Flight 99” (14 million streams on Spotify), their debut release with Australian producer and instrumentalist Kuzich, and multiple sold out clothing capsules. “All Things Considered Vol. 1” set off a collaborative series of curated compilations, featuring both budding and well-established artists around the world including Idealism, Wun Two, pastels, SwuM, Jinsang, Saltyyyy V, and more. “All Things Considered Vol. 2” sees the continuation of this project, this time in partnership with fellow Perth-based powerhouse, Butter Goods.

Butter Goods is a Perth clothing brand rooted in skating culture and style, but drawing inspiration from hip-hop, jazz, and music at large. Butter Goods has been featured in major publications, including GQ, Complex, and HYPEBEAST. They’ve collaborated on releases with Peanuts and Puma, and have reached international levels of popularity. Butter Goods co-founder Garth Mariano’s deep love for and eclectic tastes in music drive his creativity, and are front and center in his partnership with Ta-ku and 823 on “All Things Considered Vol 2,” where the two team up to curate a wide-ranging compilation.

Arriving on September 2nd, 2022, “All Things Considered Vol. 2” is an exploration of Ta-ku’s and Mariano’s extensive and often overlapping musical palettes in two parts. The record pays homage to the love of instrumental music and hidden gems of new school jazz and funk that act as a source of inspiration and nostalgia for the both of them. The collaboration brings together over a dozen producers and instrumentalists from Sydney to Chicago, including Jadu Jadu, Gnarly, Tenderlonius, silentjay, and more. Side A is curated by Ta-ku and 823. It’s as much a love letter to the past as it is a nod to the future of beat-making. Featuring sample heavy, drum looped beats, sprinkled with the occasional ear candy for the attentive listener, it presents cruisy soundscapes & easy listening. Side B is curated by Garth and Butter Goods. It’s a raw and eclectic companion to Side A, leaning heavily into the texture and grit of multi-layered jazz and funk-driven beats.

As with any 823 release, the project is as visual as it is sonic. The artwork and visualizers are a celebration of Garth’s love of thrift culture and old nature documentaries, fused with 823’s design aesthetic of bringing everyday inspirations to the forefront. CRT style visuals are paired with 90’s spin, slide and fade away transitions. When partnered with the music, each visualizer could easily work as the intro for an episode of a VHS series of nature docos.

1st single, “senzu bean,” arrives on July 7th and kicks off Side A, showcasing Ta-ku’s hip-hop-centric tastes. Sydney producer Jadu Jadu teams up with UK-based TAMBALA, apltn, and Makzo for a vibrant instrumental. From a head-nodding bassline beneath fuzzy synths, to soft horn licks sprinkled over electronic drums, “senzu bean” is sonically rich and multilayered.

2nd single, “Too Much” by UK producer saaaz arrives July 20th. It’s a moody and low-tempo beat that builds itself up over time, complete with cryptic vocal samples and syrupy drums and bass. Also off of 823’s Side A, “Too Much” maintains a laid-back hip-hop theme but with saaaz’s signature and definitive lo-fi twist.

3rd single, “Goodmorning” from Baro Sura and silentjay of Melbourne arrives August 3rd, kicking off Butter Good’s Side B. The track is bright from start to finish and is a sun-filled track perfect for closing out the summer with. Final single, “Fool’s Gold” by Los Angeles producer L.Dre arrives August 17th. The infinitely creative beatmaker layers soft hums and the sounds of crashing waves over crisp drums and an infectious bassline. Together, it makes for a beat that sounds like it was made outside, under the sun, and is best enjoyed in the same way.

Focus track, “Seventh Wonder” by Tenderlonius, comes off of Side B, and is a window into the ideas and palettes on both sides of the compilation. The beat slowly fades in, one sound at a time, until it reaches a full-fledged groove, soaked in synths, bass, and horns, that’s impossible not to move to.

On the whole, “All Things Considered Vol. 2” is a forward-focused, sonic journey into the minds behind two of today’s great creative brands, and is as artistically eclectic and varied as those minds are, and a proud follow-up to its first volume.

LP contains A2 poster on uncoated stock.

Das erste Ströme Album “Ströme Nr. 2” ist ein charaktervolles, wunderbar warmsensitives und dennoch energetisches Werk. Ein Hauptohrenmerk ist der ultra rare und sagenumwobene Moog IIIp Modular Synthesizer Sound. (Näheres über den einzigartigen Moog IIIp ist weiter unten im Text zu entnehmen, inclusive Fotos in der 2x LP). Darüber hinaus spielt und featured Ströme noch andere analoge Synthesizer u.a. das Modular A100 System von Doepfer. Der A100 steht auch im Mittelpunkt bei den Live Auftritten von Ströme.

Das Album birgt Clubtracks („Trang & Flinky” / “Panta Rhei”), aber auch entspannend ruhige und spacige Nummern („Wasser” / ”Niki”). “Das Modul” oder “Isolde” (mit dem Schauspieler Anton Weil aka Anton Zucker), überzeugen mit einer Portion Pop. Hinzu kommen noch einige krautige, an die 60er / 70er angelehnte Songs, die Ströme (Mario Schönhofer and Tobias Weber) in sehr fruchtbarer Zusammenarbeit mit Nick McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand) aufgenommen haben - “Right Now”, “Das Modul” und das wunderschöne “Stadlberg”.

Savage Grounds lands on She Lost Kontrol with a 7 track EP, Hidden by the Night. 

For the first time, the voice of Kleio Thomaïdes joins Savage Grounds members Florin Büchel (Synthesizers) and Daniele Cosmo (Drum Machines). The result is an attractive, intense record with some nuances that will surely make the old nostalgics of Krilian Camera and Simona Buja's voice squeak their eyes. 
 The record reminds us the heartbeat of Italian darkwave, the angularity of German basements, the youthful despair of French coldwave. But it’s more than that because it’s a very personal kind of darkness.
 The exasperated atmospheres seem to resonate on both sides of the record, with the due differences between the darker-wave elements of the record and the more proto-ebm ones.
 All these songs are almost ‘goth love protest songs’: they all have the gloominess of the pre-disappointed, of the already-disgusted, of the unrelentlessly bleak against a freezing, sparse, ethereal electronic landscape.
 The voice by Kleio Thomaïdes is so fascinating because... more credits released March 15, 2022 SLK016 Savage Grounds are Kleio Thomaïdes (Voice), Florin Büchel (Synthesizers) and Daniele Cosmo (Drum Machines). Recorded between Zürich and Geneva, 2020/2021 Composed and recorded by Savage Grounds. Lyrics by Kleio Thomaïdes and Daniele Cosmo. Mixed by Florin Büchel. Mastered by Andrea Merlini. Photography by Erika Marthins Artwork by dudegraph - Michelangelo Greco Executive producer: Giovanni Rispoli & Carmine Staiano

The 16-track album opens with “War & Wonders'' as Smoke begins his journey foreshadowing an upcoming battle featuring impassioned flows and rhymes describing the violent challenges of urban living. The track opens with a storyline of Smoke getting knocked down from his ongoing battles and a woman calling his name to wake up. The narrative then progresses with latest singles “Shame On You” and “Common Sense” featuring SiR commenting on humanity’s unique simplicity and embracing our differences. At the core of the album, “Stay True” featuring John Legend accentuates the meaning of living your best life by staying true to your authentic self regardless of what life throws your way and the hardships you may face. Then “Good Thing” featuring Ty Dolla $ign offers an upbeat, positive track bringing light to companionship and finding joy in life through many avenues. Smoke wraps the project with rhythmic, jazz infused “Free Write” reflecting on the crusade of each track leading to the end of his battles, and bringing awareness to the grieving of his city from politics to systemic racism and his influence on making the situation better for future generations. War & Wonders spotlights poignant themes, necessary social commentary, and the hurdles we overcome in order to appreciate what we have in this life. For Smoke, he showcases Inglewood’s war on losing love, being in love, and battling himself as he is always being led in different directions. It is a continuous journey of learning, growing, self-discovery, and reinventing a better version of himself.

* Tena Stelin’s ‘Wicked Invention’ is one of the most highly-sought UK digital roots reggae vocal albums,
* Produced by Sound Iration (Nick Manasseh & Scruff), essentially, this is the vocal version of the classic dub album `Sound Iration in Dub’. This vocal set, like the vocal counterpart was released on Wau! Mr Modo in 1989.
* Features the sound system belters ‘Orthodox Music’, `Jah Equity’ and the title track.

The indie dance and leftfield techno magicians Radial Gaze join the Urge To Dance family after remarkable releases for labels such as TAU, Feines Tier, Calypso and Eskimo. The Saint Petersburg-based project is accompanied by Thomass Jackson and Zombies in Miami on remix duties for the mesmerizingly exotic “In Each Other” EP.

The leading track, In Each Other, is a multi-layered and infectiously danceable combination of addictive bassline, magical Cameroonian drums, Amazonian percussions and mystical marimbas creating a mysterious and exotic track. Psych Subsidy delivers dirty, energising and somehow hypnotic emotions. Entrancing sitars loops, long pitched synthesizer and a twisted old lullaby female vocal will get you on board for an amazing psych-trip.

The B-side is where Thomass Jackson and Zombies in Miami deliver their wild and unorthodox remixes of In Each Other. The Thomas Jackson True Love Remix is emotional, hypnotising and yet so trippy, a true testament of Calypso Records Boss’ remixing skills. The second take of the leading track is by Zombies in Miami, a powerful and forward-looking track that blends the hypnotic percussions of the original with a rhythmic bassline and flawless simplicity of all elements used in this remix.

Switched On 5/Remaster

Remastered von den Originalbändern erscheinen auf 2CD und 3LP weitere 21 Tracks, angefangen 1992 in Stereolabs Frühphase bis zum Jahr 2008, darunter Aufnahmen aus superlimitierten 7inch- und EP-Miniauflagen, rares Bonusmaterial, exklusive Compilation- und Kunstaustellungsbeiträge, Kollaborationen mit Nurse With Wound und ein Autechre-Remix. Zudem gibt es komplett unveröffentlichtes Material in Form von der 2004er Live-Version von 'Cybele's Reverie' (aus dem 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' Klassiker (1996)), des ursprünglich für eine Skulptur von Charles Long geschriebenen 'Robot Riot', der Originalversion von 'Plastic Mile' (aus der Compilation 'Fab Four Suture' (2006)) sowie der Demoversion von 'Ronco Symphony' (aus dem 1993er Minialbum 'The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music').

In three club-geared tracks, Kyoto-based producer Ko Yang maps the allure of floating off-world and the joy still here on planet earth.

A founder and resident of Osaka’s long-running City Boy Lounge party, Ko Yang has been a steady contributor to Japanese party culture for the better part of a decade, hosting international and domestic artists at the homegrown CBL parties.

The release is rounded out with a remix from Alex Kassian, a major talent whose name has become synonymous with quality. Kassian has provided a cut of proggy, tribal euphoria that seems to lift off indefinitely, and is already bringing clubs to a froth internationally

Bliss Point is honored to bring you this collection of off-kilter, otherworldly club sounds from one of Japan’s most exciting talents.

Artwork and packaging by Chris Harnan

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have developed an international reputation as the #1 group on today’s soul scene. Soul Time! is an exploration of the full range of their dynamic sound through twelve songs handpicked by the Daptone Records gang, each one a precious exclusive.

The needle drops on Genuine Pts. 1 & 2, a supercharged funk arrangement that evokes the late Godfather not only with the spirited syncopation of the Dap-Kings rhythms, but also with the raw power of Jones’ voice. It is performances such as these that have earned her the moniker “the Female James Brown.” Though it has long been one of their best-selling singles, it makes it’s album debut here. Longer and Stronger, written for her 50th birthday, is a deep mid-tempo soul celebration of the strength and determination with which Sharon Jones has earned her long overdue success. It is heard here for the first time, but will undoubtedly join other Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings songs in the canon of great soul music. The theme of empowerment pushes on through “He Said I Can”, an energetic stomper belted over an arrangement reminiscent of the Isley Brothers early-seventies heyday, and “I’m Not Gonna Cry” brings us back to the raw funk intensity of Genuine with a squealing tenor solo and a fiery vocal. Side one wraps with a scorching studio performance of “When I Come Home”, long a highlight of the band’s live show but rearing its head on album here for the first time as well.

“What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?” kicks the second side off with a bang. A strong anti-war message pours over a revolutionary mid-tempo groove, accentuated by the conga work of the legendary Johnny Griggs of JB’s fame, while Settling In is a greasy rhythm and blues grinder. And who says Christmas can’t be soulful? Jones et al. make it so over their sought after holiday exclusive, “Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects.” Next is an energetic romp into Motown intensity with “New Shoes”, a walking-out-the door belter that picks up where These Boots Were Made For Walking left off. Without A Trace shows yet another dimension of the band, stretching a dreamy mid-tempo groove down the road to Memphis and back. The record winds up with a deep laid back cover of Shuggie Otis’ psychedelic soul jam “Inspiration Information.” From the first note to the last, Soul Time! confirms this band’s place at the head of the table as the world’s greatest funk and soul showband. Whether you’re a lifetime fan, or just getting turned on, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ have yet again made a record that will blow your mind. Get ready world, because It’s Soul Time!

Finely crafted contemporary electronic music. Another liminal and far-sighted project bridging electronic music, bass and sound-system culture. Destructured rhythm, low frequencies and abstract sounds. A curious juncture of rhythm studies and probing electronics.

David Sylvian describes his 2nd solo album for his own Samadhisound label as being: “A modern kind of chamber music. Intimate, dynamic, emotive, democratic, economical”. Recorded in London, Vienna and Tokyo, the 8 songs and 1 instrumental on ‘Manafon’ bring together “the world’s leading improvisors, and innovators, artists who explore free improvisation, space-specific performance and live electronics” including Evan Parker, Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Sachiko M, Otomo Yoshihide, John Tilbury and members of Polwechsel. This is the first time on 180gram vinyl for this 2LP set

5 Year Anniversary Repress of the seminal debut album, on Black Ice vinyl with special Black Foil Gatefold packaging. Original Sales Text Below: The new project from The Dillinger Escape Plan's Greg Puciato, Telefon Tel Aviv/Nine Inch Nails's Josh Eustis and programmer Steven Alexander, The Black Queen have announced details of their debut album. 'Fever Daydream' will be released on 5th Feb, supported by a couple of new live dates: one on the day at Complex LA in Glendale, California and one on 5th February at Oslo in Hackney, London. The band have also unveiled a video for featured track 'Maybe We Should' Setting down somewhere between goth soaked synth pop, shoegaze and the neon bathed desolation of the Blade Runner soundtrack, Fever Daydream showcases frontman Greg Puciato's unquaestionable artistic talent. An album of Raw Nerves, dense textures and confessional fervour for fans of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and Joy Divison. The ten song Fever Daydream was written, recorded and produced by the band themselves, with Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, M83, The Naked and Famous) executive producing and offering insight along the way. With the level of talent, innovation, and the air of mystery that surrounds the band, it is an unexpected journey through sound merging the past and laying groundwork for a hauntingly beautiful future. Band Members: Greg Puciato Josh Eustis Steven Alexander

The Globeflower Masters Vol. 1 takes its inspiration from classic soundtrack and cinematic composers such as Axelrod, Morricone, Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier and Piero Umiliani. Created during Summer 2020, this album is the product of a fruitful collaboration between Brighton-based musicians Glenn Fallows (The Impellers / Andres y Xavi) and Mark Treffel (Blue States / The Soul Steppers). These seasoned performing and recording artists have put their abundance of experience and skilful musicianship into effect with aplomb on this album. This is as accomplished a debut release as you will ever hear, and dare we say, a future classic in the making.

The Globeflower Masters project was borne from an idea Glenn had to create an album that leant on the influence of soundtrack and library composers - particularly of the late 60s and early 70s. This rich sonic palette had previously been innate in his writing and composition but, for this album, the direct inspiration was placed front and centre. After penning several sketches, Glenn contacted Mark to fulfil the vision he had for a complete sound. Mark had an arsenal of vintage synths, pianos and other fun toys which could supplement the drums, guitars and bass that Glenn had been working on. As the album progressed, the pair worked increasingly collaboratively, with each of them starting and sharing ideas to curate the final eight finished tracks.

The results are an album of lush, warm, timeless productions that are drenched in strings and classical instrumentation. Awash with atmospheric excursions, it is a listening experience that moves you through moods whilst transporting you to a world of deeply evocative settings and imagined scenarios. The Globeflower Masters Vol. 1 resonates equally as well on a dark melancholic Winter's day as it does sound-tracking a halcyon Summer day. Though influenced by 60s and 70s productions the record is not a simple pastiche, feeling both simultaneously brand new as well as authentically retro.

- Stunning debut album filled with lush, warm, timeless productions.

- Taking inspiration from classic 60s and 70s soundtrack, and cinematic, composers such as Axelrod, Morricone and Gainsbourg

LIMITED COPIES

Harlem Shuffle Records proudly presents the Symaryp's anthem covered by JUDGE DREAD: “SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP”!

4 minutes of madness for the very first time on vinyl and on 7inch single. Very much in demand.

On the flip, “Phoenix City”. This great instrumental was also never released on a 7inch single until now!

A complete album masterpiece in every sense of the word, considered by many people to be one of the greatest ever made, regardless of genre.
Recorded at Studio Somil, Rio De Janeiro in 1972, the album was produced, arranged, directed by the self-taught, Arthur Verocai.

Previously he had worked on many records in various capacities, with artists including Jorge Ben, Ivan Lins and Celia, but this album gave him the chance to do his thing in it’s most pure form.

The 29 minute masterpiece, perfect in it’s arrangement and fusion of sonics, epitomises the sound of Brazil at the time; strings, guitars, pianos, break beats, bass lines, synthesizers, vocals from the wonderful Célia, Carlos Dafe and Oberdan (Banda Black Rio), plus percussion from Pedro Santos and Paulo Moura on sax. Bossa nova, samba, jazz, MPB, psychedelics and funk sit side by side effortlessly.

The album transcends the genre of Brazilian music, and infact all genres. Highlighted in part by the number of artists that have sampled from it; MF Doom, Ludacris & Common, Little Brother, Jneiro Jarel aka Dr Who Dat?, Dibiase and Action Bronson amongst others.

The original Continental version of the album now fetch around $2000. Our definitive re-issue is an exact replica of the gatefold original LP and the source master is taken from the Continental tapes, re-mastered in 2012 under Arthur’s supervision.

Last time he brought his Emperor Machine project to Leng, via the seductive, call-to-the dancefloor that was ‘Dance Par Amour’, Andrew Meecham had vocalist Severine Mouletin in tow. On this welcome return to the label, Meecham has enlisted the help of another sublime singer: Bom Carrot 봄캐롯, lead vocalist with South Korean punk-pop outfit Tirikilatops.

Although the pair share a mutual friend, who had extolled the virtues of a potential collaboration to Meecham, it was only when Bom Carrot 봄캐롯 reached out on social media that the pair were finally connected. Meecham jumped at the opportunity to kick-start a collaboration, quickly firing over a track he’d been working on. A few months later, her vocals landed in his inbox and the rest, as they say, is history.

The resultant track, ‘춤춰 Chumchwo – Let’s Dance’, may feature many of the aural trademarks of Meecham’s Emperor Machine work – spiralling analogue electronics, vintage synth sounds, effects aplenty and infectious grooves inspired by New York’s no-wave movement of the early 1980s – but is somehow even more thrillingly wild, excitable, and exhilarating than you’d reasonably expect.

A big part of that, of course, is the inspired contributions of Bom Carrot 봄캐롯. Her freewheeling vocals – part sung, part spoken, and part improvised – are energetic, distinctive, and addictive, adding layers of post-punk abandon and a genuine sense of musical freedom. Combined with Meecham’s outrageously unpredictable backing track – there are twists and turns aplenty, as well as surprising percussive and musical touches that seemingly appear and disappear at will – the resultant song is like the unlikely sonic lovechild of Talking Heads, YMO, Pierre Henry and K-Punk.

As you’d expect given his track record of delivering freewheeling instrumental reworks, the vocal version comes backed with an extra-special Emperor Machine ‘Instrumental Dub’ version. Stripped back and percussive, with dropouts and breakdowns aplenty, this is no mere vocal-free take, but rather a reconstructed revision piled high with extra percussion, spacey electronics, echoing vocal snippets, bubbly bass and razor-sharp Tom Tom Club guitar licks –all arranged to rise, fall and rise again around Meecham’s killer groove. As the track’s title suggests: “Let’s Dance!”

Glenn Astro and Hulk Hodn (to some known as mighty Hodini) release their new full-length record “Ghosts” via Kommerz Records on August 26th.
Producers Astro & Hodn‘s first joint album “Turquoise Tortoise” in 2018 combined uptempo beats, hiphop and spaced out lo-fi slow jams effortlessly. On “Ghosts” the duo develops their exploration of new
aesthetics even further through synthesized soundscapes and numerous collaborations with young talent from all over the world. Artists such as Danish neo soul discovery AGGi, King Krule collaborator Gal Go, Kamohelo from Studio Barnhus band Off The Meds, Berlin-based voice experimentalist Yosa Peit and many more deep dived into the collaboration and transformed the album into a sonic multiverse.
New Release Information
Glenn Astro and Hulk Hodn are connected through a long lasting musical friendship. With their Detroitinspired house releases they gained wider recognition by critics and listeners alike. Nevertheless,
they’ve never been one dimensional artists. Berlin-based Glenn Astro‘s diversified approach to production as showcased on labels such as Ninja Tune and Tartelet bridges the gaps between ambient, hip-hop, techno and bass.
Meanwhile Cologne‘s Hulk Hodn gained the status of a German underground hip-hop legend. Through his records and shows with rapper Retrogott he gathered a cult-like following besides dropping high quality projects with other beat makers such as Hubert Daviz and Twit One and rappers such as Eloquent. Most recently he dropped the instrumental LP “Sparklez” on Sichtexot sub Casual Low Grind.

New Zealand-based, award-winning duo TRUTH are champions of contemporary dubstep. Back with their first studio album in over 4 years, TRUTH unveil the second and final single taken from Acceptance. The mystical title track from the LP “Acceptance” is due for release Friday, July 2 via Deep Dark & Dangerous.

Following a long, quarantined year and a string of heavily-trafficked Twitch streams, TRUTH is now back in full effect with ‘Acceptance’ - their 5th album. Combining their razor sharp synchronization and innovative flair, this 13-track opus is a dreamlike journey through lush basslines, eerie rhythms, and vintage synths. At the heels of “Pages,” the widely-celebrated lead single from the album, TRUTH unveils the album’s namesake and title track “Acceptance.” A brilliant follow up to its predecessor, “Acceptance” is at once technical, ethereal, and deeply affecting. A psychedelic musing that encompasses the kaleidoscope fractals of sound that make up the album, “Acceptance” is a cornerstone of the project it belongs to.

Boogie Angst is proud to announce Boogie Beats Volume 3; the third installment in their critically acclaimed,club-orientatedcompilation series. Known for showcasing fresh new talent as well as industry titans, Boogie Beats has become a well-lovedshowcasefor both dance floors and home playlists alike.

Kraak & Smaak - Fittipaldi

Opening track Fittipaldi is the previously released Euro heater by label heads Kraak & Smaak. Magnificent Clavinet parts sway hand-in-hand against the diced wall of electronic goodness. Classic sounds brought into the present-day. Named after the famous Brazilian 70s F1 driver, Fittipaldi is a nostalgic, nu-disco groover ready to bridge the classic-to-modern gap in any club this summer.

Steven Kimber - I Wanna Be The One (Drop Out Orchestra Remix)

Next up is a Steven Kimber song, by way of a gorgeous Drop Out Orchestra remix. Drop Out Orchestra are the reigning edit kings of the soulful disco scene. Taking on the Birmingham-based vocalist and producer Steven Kimber's I Wanna Be The One,they managed to turn it into a brilliant yacht-house infused bouncer. Beach-proof from the get go, we wouldn't be surprised to hear this one tear up some island clubs this summer.

King Mutapa - Gimme That Funk

Third in line for Boogie Beats Volume 3 is South-African producer King Mutapa with the ever so shiny Gimme That Funk. Heavily influenced by 70s Disco, Funk and Boom Bap, King Mutapa expertly sprinkles funk chops over the shiniest groove we've heard in ages. Moving through several parts of the song, it's clear to hear that Mutapa's the King of bounce and will steadily continue this trajectory into his fresh career.

Pontchartrain - Cheap Plants

Detroit-based producer Pontchartrain (of Kolours LTD., Delusions of Grandeur, Whiskey Disco, Toy-Tonics and Razor-n-Tape fame a.o.) rain steps up to the plate with Cheap Plants; a bouncy and classy house number which could only have come out of the Motor City. Exuberating percussion parts sway ear-to-ear, whilst the mesmerizing piano stabs stay ever present, providing a steady backbone for the menagerie of lively synth swirls.

FUTVRST - The Feeling

New, mysterious Californian indie-vibed and post-disco duo FUTVRST light up the night with The Feeling. Swirling disco chops under laid with an infectious bassline, all dancing around an irresistible arpeggio sequence. FUTVRST takes us back to the blog house days with this one, and we can't wait to hear what's next for them.

The five songs are rounded off with the longer, original mix of Fittipaldi, plus an extended version of the I Wanna Be The One remix—all set to suit your DJ needs.

Listening through the featured tracks it's clear to hear that the compilations are always a brilliant indicator of the label's variety and broad scope in the electronic music scene, whilst always being undeniably funky and danceable. With exciting times ahead for the Netherlands-based label, the Boogie Beats series always feel like a little homecoming.

'Various Artists – Boogie Beats Vol. 3' is out via Boogie Angst on all digital platforms on April 8, with a limited edition vinyl 12" coming soon after.

Kristian is a new anonymous project on Figure Music, exploring a different kind of sound that is based on subtly nuanced live jams and oriented towards a slightly more raw house and dubby-related style.
Opener Doubtful makes a strong first impression as Kristian weaves together lush, cheerful chords with a tight yet rolling bass momentum, carrying the track forward effortlessly. In stark contrast, Dry Dub is groove reduced to its bare essence. A straight-up drum track made of
sparse elements that confidently unfold their subliminal power over time.
The flip holds cuts that really want to spring to life. Swirly, dubbed-out sounds create a colorful and dynamic palette, rapidly changing in movement and direction. Insider riffs on heavily animated, filtered synth action, while closing track Worthiness goes deep and spacey, oozing with warm machine charm, squelching acid, and bubbly bass.

Ya está aquí la sexta referencia del sello X Erie de Horacio Cruz, un Various Artists con cuatro temazos a cargo de Filterheadz, C-System, Horacio Cruz y Wex 10.

REPRESS

Acid bass, slow funk and cosmic energy make for a mind expanding trip in the Liquid Canoe.
Load up on edibles, make it a macro-dose and let the music lead the way.

Whether you’re hard at work on a Hamburg allotment, basking in the heat of a Balinese beach or enjoying the cool waters of the Salish Sea, remember that the same sky stretches over all of us.
And if you forget your finger for a minute and soak in the heavenly beauty instead, you might just catch the cosmic vibrations of Liquid Canoe, the latest members of the Growing Bin family.

A loose ensemble, Liquid Canoe is the brainchild of Wolfgang Matthes, a lost Angelino who’s swapped the rush and push of a mega city for the space of the Pacific Northwest - and listening to this eight track offering, you’ll realise that space is the place. Armed with an array of vintage synths and programmed rhythms, Wolfgang sketched out a slew of inter dimensional transmissions, inspired by the commune electronics and space rock of 70s Germany and inhabited by the spirit of the boogie. Inviting friends to drop by and lend their own instrumental skill, Wolfgang quickly turned Liquid Canoe into a true collaboration. Finalised in a converted stable on Galiano Island, the LP is a perfect marriage of the electronic and organic, shimmering arps and spheric synth bass intertwined with American primitive guitar, nuanced hand percussion and glassy chimes. As this mind expanding collection stretches out towards infinity, you’ll hear Floyd-ian funk, cosmic dub, tangerine daydreams and micro-dosed ambience, all imbued with the memories of New York lofts, Bay Area warehouses, skyscraping pines or the world wide web of fungi. Liquid Canoe taking you on an oarsome trip.

Restock

Northern powerhouse Perseus Traxx is on spaced out form with this four-tracker celebrating ancient Greek mysticism. Basslines as deep as sunken treasure, acid that’s worthy of the psychedelic origins of its name, and synths that spin off into infinity make up an uncompromising, mesmerising EP. As the sample on ‘Star Destroyer’ proclaims, “It’s all about the soul."

Switched On 5/LtdDeluxe

Remastered von den Originalbändern erscheinen auf 2CD und 3LP weitere 21 Tracks, angefangen 1992 in Stereolabs Frühphase bis zum Jahr 2008, darunter Aufnahmen aus superlimitierten 7inch- und EP-Miniauflagen, rares Bonusmaterial, exklusive Compilation- und Kunstaustellungsbeiträge, Kollaborationen mit Nurse With Wound und ein Autechre-Remix. Zudem gibt es komplett unveröffentlichtes Material in Form von der 2004er Live-Version von 'Cybele's Reverie' (aus dem 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' Klassiker (1996)), des ursprünglich für eine Skulptur von Charles Long geschriebenen 'Robot Riot', der Originalversion von 'Plastic Mile' (aus der Compilation 'Fab Four Suture' (2006)) sowie der Demoversion von 'Ronco Symphony' (aus dem 1993er Minialbum 'The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music').

Ghent based psych jazz collective Compro Oro, are set to release new album 'Buy The Dip' on the 2nd September via the groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label. Having received critical acclaim for their 2020 album 'Simurg' - a collaboration with Murat Ertel, co-founder and frontman of Istanbul's cult psychedelic folk band BaBa ZuLa and his singer partner Esma Ertel - the band's fifth album is less ethno- and more techno-logy, both on a musical and conceptual level.

With tastemaker fans including BBC 6 Music's Gilles Peterson and Stuart Maconie alongside Jazz FM's Jez Nelson, the band's spontaneous quest for psychedelic sounds and jazz grooves has not stopped expanding since their formation in 2014.

After imaginative musical trips to Havana, Mogadishu and Istanbul for previous releases, Compro Oro went looking for sounds and inspirations from other corners of the globe for 'Buy The Dip'. Synthesizers and electronic effects spice up Compro Oro's distinctive musical marriage of vibraphones, electric guitars, jazzfunk rhythms, exotic percussions and dubby bass patterns. Band leader and composer Wim Segers created these new compositions often on piano or vibes in a more analogue way, leaving enough room for his band mates to colour each track when fine tuning the song.

Segers was inspired by the world of crypto markets and the specific concept of 'buying the dip': bitcoin diggers who play the markets at specific 'low' moments to gain higher profits when prices go up again. Are we all reduced to consuming creatures, seeking for nothing more than the thrill of pointless spending and endless profits? It's a fairly philosophical question - especially for an instrumental album - but it's key for the punchy and eclectic sounds on 'Ben Hur' and 'Bitcoins'.

Apart from those synths and fx, a fair bunch of neo-noir western vibes sprout up on this album as well - think detuned piano's, flamenco-like guitars, rattling snare drums, and imminent whistles. Add to that some laid back sunny pop sounds ('Kayak'), off-hook and swaying Turkish psychedelica ('Karsilama') and even some haunted, kraut-ish vocal parts ('Dungeon'), it's evident Compro Oro has a musical voice without any equal in Belgium and beyond.

Compro Oro released their first album 'Transatlantic' in 2015, an ode to jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader, an icon of the 1950's Latin jazz movement. The release received critical acclaim back home, lauded in the press as a drunken mix of Buena Vista Social Club and guitarist Marc Ribot's, Cubanos Postizos. Subsequent live shows have been called a celebration for the hips, the ear and the soul.

2017 saw the release of 'Bombarda', a bold EP that sailed South and East of Cuba, incorporating different ethnic rhythms and melodies in elaborate jams. No palm trees and cocktails in Havana this time, but instead dingy basements and LSD in West African cities. The critically acclaimed 'Suburban Exotica' followed in 2019 with 'Simurg', released in 2020, earning the band global success.

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce Drumming Up Trouble, the first release of previously unissued music by Alvin Curran on the label. Collecting works recorded between 2018-2021 and a side-long epic dating back to the early 80s, as the title suggests, Drumming Up Trouble focuses on a hitherto almost unknown aspect of Curran’s encyclopaedic and omnivorous musical world: his experiments with sampled and synthesised percussion. As Curran’s wonderful, wildly sweeping liner notes make clear, his fascination with drumming belongs to the radical investigation of music’s fundamental elements that has marked his output since the beginnings of MEV, who aimed (as he says in a recent interview) to return ‘in some collective way to a non-existent start time in the history of human music’. Whatever kind of music our proto-human ancestors played, he writes, ‘drums were front and centre in the mix. Drums rule!’

In a paradox typical of Curran’s approach, Drumming Up Trouble interrogates this most ancient dimension of music with contemporary technology. On the first side, we hear recent pieces performed using the sampling software and full-size MIDI keyboard setup Curran has refined since the 1980s. Two of them are wild real-time improvisations, primarily utilising an enormous bank of hip-hop samples. Building from polyrhythmic layers of drum machine fragments to wild cacophonies of clashing vocal samples, scratching, and frantic pitch shifting, these energetic and at times hilarious pieces occupy a space somewhere between John Oswald’s Plunderphonics, Pat Thomas and Matt Wand in the Tony Oxley Quartet, and the propulsive Kudoro/Grime fusion of Lisbon’s Príncipe label. They are improvisations are accompanied by two austere, minimal compositions realised in collaboration with Angelo Maria Fallo: ‘End Zone’ for orchestral bass drum and high oscillator, and ‘Rollings’, where a snare roll is gradually stretched and filtered by digital means into ‘floating electronic gossamer’.

The incredible breadth of Curran’s output makes it pretty unlikely that a listener familiar with his work would be surprised to find it branching out in a new direction. But no degree of familiarity with his work can really prepare for side B’s epic and bizarre ‘Field it More’. It’s perhaps best to let the maestro describe this unhinged and infectious offering in his own words: ‘It features an 8 bar funky minimal riff à la James Brown, played on synth and an-out-of-tune piano, synced to a pre-paid patch on the Roland drum machine. Over this is laid a heavily processed track of the voices of dancer Yoshiko Chuma and movie-maker Jacob Burckhardt discussing an upcoming performance of theirs at the Venice film festival, capped by a track of my playing an increasingly out of control blues over the top of all of the above’. Only Pekka Airaksinen’s Buddhas of the Golden Light comes to mind as a reference point that might even vaguely compare to this wild home-brew of drum-machine funk, mad improvisation and squelching electronics, which eventually dissolved into a massive, layered cluster. Ancient and modern, synthetic and human, hysterical and rigorous, Drumming up Trouble is 100% Curran.

The long-running Kompakt imprint will release an EP by German DJ and producer Sascha Funke in September. Sharing five tracks that traverse quirky house and techno, Treets marks Funke’s monumental return to Kompakt since his Zug um Zug two-tracker in 2014.

Speaking about Treets, Funke says he is "very happy to be back on the mothership Kompakt" after an eight-year break. As one would expect with Funke, the EP fits the cosmic world of Kompakt to a tee. The title track conveys a weird, tripped-out atmosphere as an alien-like vocal burbles between an acid bassline and squeaky percussion. It's a tantalising glimpse of Funke's freaky underworld. E_Plus follows a similar wonked-out vein, only this time, the vibe is ominous. Funke pairs an orchestral vocal with bleepy pads and signature acid-drenched melody — a solid offering oddball of energy. On Alles Paletti, a 2-step drum pattern and string of bright claps create a sunny soundscape, complemented by a robust bassline and ethereal synth notes. It's fairytale house music, the kind only Funke can produce. The penultimate track Haus More is subdued, as chugging drums slither between a wobbly melody. The Other Version feels futuristic, as Funke goes full-force electro. Extra-terrestrial vocals return, but the pace is cranked up by strident sound FX and thudding drums. An eccentric end to an eccentric EP.

Sascha Funke is a Berlin-based producer and DJ with two decades' worth of releases building his back catalogue. BPitch Control, Turbo Recordings, Endless Flight, Running Back, and several more esteemed imprints have released his work. Today, he continues to create sleek sounds that weave various genres from house, techno, disco, Krautrock, wave, electro and unclassified anomalies. As a DJ, Funke is just as free-wheeling as his productions. He's played E1 in London, Caos in São Paulo and Renate in Berlin, amongst others, displaying his sweeping sound to a worldwide audience. Having been exposed to euro-dance pop as a youngster, you can hear flashes from the genre stitched throughout his work but blended in a way that's quintessential to Funke. Never one to change his sound according to the latest trend, Funke stays true to his creative vision — one of the most significant challenges for producers today.

Das traditionsreiche Kompakt-Imprint wird im September eine EP des deutschen DJs und Produzenten Sascha Funke veröffentlichen. Mit fünf Tracks, die sich durch schrulligen House und Techno auszeichnen, ist “Treets” Funkes monumentale Rückkehr zu Kompakt seit “ Zug um Zug” im Jahr 2014.

Im Gespräch über Treets sagt Funke, er sei "sehr glücklich, nach acht Jahren Pause wieder auf dem Mutterschiff Kompakt zu sein". Wie bei Funke nicht anders zu erwarten, passt die EP hervorragend in die kosmische Welt von Kompakt. Der Titeltrack vermittelt eine seltsame, abgedrehte Atmosphäre, wenn eine außerirdisch anmutende Stimme zwischen einer Acid-Bassline und quietschenden Perkussionsinstrumenten dahinplätschert. Es ist ein verlockender Einblick in Funkes freakige Unterwelt. “E-Plus” geht in eine ähnliche Richtung, nur dass dieses Mal die Stimmung bedrohlich ist. Funke paart einen orchestralen Gesang mit bleepigen Pads und seiner typischen Acid-getränkten Melodie - ein solides Angebot voller Energie. Auf “Alles Paletti” schaffen ein 2-Step-Drum-Pattern und eine Reihe heller Claps eine sonnige Klanglandschaft, die durch eine robuste Bassline und ätherische Synthesizernoten ergänzt wird. Das ist märchenhafte House-Musik, wie sie nur Funke produzieren kann. Der vorletzte Track Haus More ist zurückhaltend, da tuckernde Drums zwischen einer wackeligen Melodie schlittern. “Treets (The Other Version)” fühlt sich futuristisch an, weil Funke hier voll auf Elektro setzt. Der außerirdische Gesang kehrt zurück, aber das Tempo wird durch schrille Soundeffekte und stampfende Drums angezogen. Ein exzentrisches Ende für eine exzentrische EP.

Sascha Funke ist ein in Berlin ansässiger Produzent und DJ mit einem Backkatalog von zwei Jahrzehnten an Veröffentlichungen. BPitch Control, Turbo Recordings, Endless Flight, Running Back und einige andere angesehene Labels haben seine Arbeiten veröffentlicht. Heute kreiert er weiterhin geschmeidige Sounds, die verschiedene Genres wie House, Techno, Disco, Krautrock, Wave, Electro und unklassifizierte Anomalien miteinander verweben. Als DJ ist Funke genauso freizügig wie seine Produktionen. Er hat unter anderem im E1 in London, im Caos in São Paulo und im Renate in Berlin aufgelegt und seinen mitreißenden Sound einem weltweiten Publikum vorgestellt. Da er schon als Jugendlicher mit Eurodance in Berührung kam, sind in seiner Arbeit immer wieder Anklänge an dieses Genre zu hören, die aber auf eine Art und Weise vermischt werden, die ganz typisch für Funke ist. Niemals verändert Funke seinen Sound nach dem neuesten Trend, sondern bleibt seiner kreativen Vision treu - eine der größten Herausforderungen für Produzenten heutzutage.

Following the »Minna Miteru« compilation, released in 2020, Morr Music announces a sequel, dedicated to Japanese indie music, overflowing with surprises and welcome discoveries. Like its predecessor, »Minna Miteru 2« is compiled by Saya of Tenniscoats, with the support of Markus Acher (The Notwist). It’s also another part of the Minna Miteru universe, alongside retrospective albums by The Andersens (»There Is A Sound«, 2020) and yumbo (»The Fruit Of Errata«, 2021). Taken together, these albums suggest a scene in rude health, sharing a unique vibration.

If its predecessor circled around Tenniscoats and their close friends, the second volume, though featuring a collaboration between Tenniscoats and Deerhoof as oneone, reaches far further afield, drawing from music old and new, far and wide. Consistent across »Minna Miteru 2« is a sense of wonder and a cheerful unpredictability: you never quite know what you’ll hear next. There are some gorgeous indie pop songs here, like Yuko Kono’s »Ginger« or HOSE’s »Baseball«, but there are other sounds too, like Kariu Kenji’s blue-hued electro-pop, or the wheezing pipe-organ ambient of FUJI||||||||||TA: »Minna Miteru 2« hints at new kinds of beauty.

Some of the more widely known names here contribute typically gorgeous melodies – Kama Aina’s »Wedding Song«, from 2005’s »Hawaii Hawaii« CD, is a reflective tune that combines a country-ish lilt with hints of slack-key guitar. Shugo Tokumaru’s »5 A.M.« is a delirious psychedelic pop mantra, drawn from his excellent 2005 album, »L.S.T.«. Many of the revelations, though, come from artists and groups relatively unknown outside Japan. The lovely, disorienting glitch-folk of Wasurerogusa features Aki Tsuyuko, perhaps best known for her albums on Thrill Jockey and Jim O’Rourke’s Moikai label, collaborating with psych-folk legends Eddie Marcon.

There’s also the delightful synth-pop of Jonathan Conditioner; the electronic dreamscape of Chaplin, whose opening »Out Cont« runs along several parallel paths at once; the twinkling, acoustic jangle at the heart of mmm’s luscious »Blue«; and a curious collection of miniatures, from acts like tenshinkun, Daisuke Tanabe and NNMIE, that embrace a childlike curiosity, essaying a kind of toytown pop-tronica.

The twenty-six songs on »Minna Miteru 2« repeatedly catch you unawares, upending your expectations and signaling both the breadth and depth of the Japanese indie underground. It’s a compilation of play and pleasure, but also of bold experiment smuggled into the everyday through pop music’s welcoming moods, magically creating a new world for the listener, spun out of the air and woven in between your ears.

Deluxe 180gram vinyl edition comes in a foil-embossed and die-cut cardstock jacket with printed inner sleeve and additional 12x12 art cards featuring the collages of Maciek Szczerbowski. All the art interacts with the die-cut jacket framing. Edition of 300. Rooted in a distinct and immediately identifiable sound_with the cello of Rebecca Foon (Saltland, Set Fire To Flames, Thee Silver Mt Zion) and the marimba of ex-Godspeed You! Black Emperor percussionist Bruce Cawdron at its core_Esmerine has long embroidered emotive chamber works using threads of post-classical, post-rock, Minimalism, neo-Baroque, jazz, pop and a wide array of folk traditions. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson, who joined the group in 2012, has furthered Esmerine's melodic and ethnomusicological sensibility ever since, expanding the ensemble's palette as its third core member with guitars, ngoni, ekonting, hulusi, brass horns of all sorts, and more. Since 2003, six stately and filmic instrumental albums have inscribed compositional landscapes through epigrammatic miniatures, longform multi-movement chronicles, and all manner of evocative musical prosody between. Marked by an inimitably turbid yet tempered pastoralism, alternately lit by dappled dawn and disquieted dusk, Esmerine's musical narratives balance asceticism and romanticism, melancholy and hope, stillness and wanderlust. Esmerine now shares Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, its seventh full-length album and first in five years. The band surprise-dropped the full album digitally on 06 May 2022, with the CD and Deluxe 180gram LP editions hitting stores on official release date 26 August 2022. Following an acclaimed run of mid-career records on Constellation through the 2010s_the last three of which have all been finalists or winners of Juno Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year and/or Album Packaging of the Year_Esmerine began working on new music at decade's end. Under the auspices of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, and a summer 2019 residency at Le Château de Monthelon (an artist commune in France where the band has cherished long-standing spiritual, creative, and personal connections), compositional seeds were planted_and then pandemic rooted everyone in place. In between lockdown waves, at the respective rural Québec homesteads of Cawdron and Foon, longtime co-producer Jace Lasek (The Bernard Lakes) began capturing the band in various stripped-down configurations with spartan remote equipment. More fulsome arrangement and overdub sessions at Foon's converted barn during the summer of 2021 brought the album to full fruition_where a notable increase in the use of acoustic piano also poured forth, with just about every band member having a go. The record also signals the definitive integration of bassist Philippe Charbonneau_having joined Esmerine as a touring member pre-pandemic, he plays throughout the album on upright and electric bass, with turns on piano and synth, as well as sound design contributions via tape echo and other processing. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More grapples with the existential tensions between atmosphere and airlessness, seclusion and claustrophobia, forbearance and coalescence. In many ways it is one of Esmerine's most restrained records. Only a few passages are driven by full percussion. There is palpably less Sturm and Drang or overt crescendos compared to its recent predecessors. The new album roils with a different sort of dynamic intensity, where instrumental densities ebb and flow within an overtonal centre, melding into each other with gauzy timbral warmth, sometimes tracing fleeting tendrils outwards, but always rotating around a saturnine gravitational force. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More is like a dark forest lit by a closely-orbiting opalescent planet; it could be the alternate score to Von Trier's Melancholia or Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Over the past decade, the mysterious, London-based artist Moiré has perfected a syrupy, addictive brand of dance music via labels like Actress's Werk Discs and illustrious imprints like Ghostly and Rush Hour. For most of this period, Moiré seemed pramarily concerned in creating alternative universe club tracks. The beats were hypnotic, if wonky. The pads were deep before they were refracted through an oblique filter. In a discography bearing a surfeit of leftfield high points, Circuits, Moiré's latest album for the Berlin-based Avenue 66 (Lowtec, John Frusciante, Joey Anderson) is a massive creative leap that fully breaks with the strictures of a "conventional" dance music.

While there are still nods to the low-slung, slow house style Moiré's perfected in the past ("Circuit 1"), as well as the looming shadow of hardcore ("Circuit 8), Moiré's style now billows into a liminal, cinematic zone that recalls the canonical SAW albums, BOC or even Seefeel's enduring, genre-free experiments. Rhythms come and go at all tempos, from Hauntological four-on-the-floor to flickering downtempo and ambient house approximations. But the emphasis lies with the melodies. From the queasy orchestral style of "Circuits 1" to the glacial, "end credits"-style synths that close out the album, these motifs bear an uncanny familiarity, as though they always existed. You recognize them, not from a previous listen, but rather, some half-remembered dream, or, perhaps, a previous lifetime.

Joseph Thomas Escovedo, better known as Coke Escovedo, was an American percussionist who played in several genres, including jazz fusion, R&B, and soul. Escovedo played with great names such as Cal Tjader and was a member of Santana and Azteca.

In 1976 he released his second solo studio album Comin’At Ya!, which counts 11 Latin rooted tracks and was produced by the synthesizer pioneer Patrick Gleeson, who also did several successful soundtracks and worked with greats such as Herbie Hancock. The album features vocals by Courtial singer Errol Knowles and also a guest performance by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. The album became highly influential and was sampled many times, including by Eric B. & Rakim, MF Doom and Moby amongst others.

FIRST PRESSING ON WHITE VINYL*Regenerator is the fifth full-length from the Rochester, New York-based trio King Buffalo.

Written and recorded by the band with mixing and engineering by guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay and mastering by Bernie Matthews, the seven-song outing is the third in King Buffalo’s stated ‘pandemic trilogy,’ following 2021’s The Burden of Restlessness and
Acheron.

Both of those albums – like 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain, 2016’s
debut, Orion, and the various EPs and other offerings they’ve made over the last eight years – made bold declarations about who King Buffalo are as a band, and Regenerator is no different. As McVay, bassist/synthesist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson continue to explore the outer reaches of modern psychedelic
music, melding progressive rhythms, drifting atmospheres and
accompanying surges of electricity, this new collection only further establishes them as one of the brightest lights shining in underground rock today.
As the third of three, Regenerator inherently ties together the previous two LPs, and as the band unfold the leadoff title-track across nine and halfminutes, it becomes clear just how truly they have marked out their own sonic presence.

The later melodic highlight “Mammoth” – with McVay’s most confident vocal performance yet – shimmers with hope that somehow doesn’t come across as desperate; on “Hours”, the group engages classic space rock, and the closing “Firmament” acts as a summary
for all three albums, marking the final installment of this trilogy as the
essential cornerstone of King Buffalo's work to date.

Regenerator is available on 180.gr white vinyl (including download) and CD.

Option Explore, Dylan Moon’s second full-length album, is a glassy-eyed survey of pop’s playing field both past and present, and a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.

Option Explore signals a significant departure from Moon’s debut 2019 album Only the Blue s, which at its heart is a folk record from the forlorn fringes of psychedelia: a little mysterious, but ultimately lucid in its internal logic and generous with standalone, but sing- along, songs. Dylan’s 2020 EP Oh No Oh No Oh No suggested both a shift in his writing and listening habits, culminating with the 2021 compilation Moon’s Toons Vol. 1. On Option Explore, Moon willfully spins multitudes. With a careful study of synthpop, a penchant for warped yet unwavering guitar grooves, and an effortless songwriting ability, he leans into unlikely convergences, and arrives at something deeply futuristic in its disregard for genre sanctity.

A guiding principle for Option Explore was the “explore/exploit trade-off” concept, a behavioral mechanism of foraging (“the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards”) which has been employed within computational neuroscience and psychiatry. Moon uses exploratory foraging as a manifesto for song construction: music without end, without limit. Many of these songs avoid conclusive compositional conventions, and sound more like turning a radio dial than pressing preset play. Tracks begin at what feels like a midpoint and fade out with little warning, adding to the sensation of sonic melt.

Option Explore, Dylan Moon’s second full-length album, is a glassy-eyed survey of pop’s playing field both past and present, and a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.

Option Explore signals a significant departure from Moon’s debut 2019 album Only the Blue s, which at its heart is a folk record from the forlorn fringes of psychedelia: a little mysterious, but ultimately lucid in its internal logic and generous with standalone, but sing- along, songs. Dylan’s 2020 EP Oh No Oh No Oh No suggested both a shift in his writing and listening habits, culminating with the 2021 compilation Moon’s Toons Vol. 1. On Option Explore, Moon willfully spins multitudes. With a careful study of synthpop, a penchant for warped yet unwavering guitar grooves, and an effortless songwriting ability, he leans into unlikely convergences, and arrives at something deeply futuristic in its disregard for genre sanctity.

A guiding principle for Option Explore was the “explore/exploit trade-off” concept, a behavioral mechanism of foraging (“the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards”) which has been employed within computational neuroscience and psychiatry. Moon uses exploratory foraging as a manifesto for song construction: music without end, without limit. Many of these songs avoid conclusive compositional conventions, and sound more like turning a radio dial than pressing preset play. Tracks begin at what feels like a midpoint and fade out with little warning, adding to the sensation of sonic melt.

Jazz organist ‘Brother’ Jack McDuff (born Eugene McDuffy in 1926 September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001) was second only to the infamous Jimmy Smith in terms of fame and the impact he made with the King of keyboard instruments - the Hammond B-3 Organ. Self-taught on the organ, he recorded with Willis Jackson & Roland Kirk in the late ’50s and early ’60s, cutting high calibre souljazz dates for Prestige Records, and later Argo / Cadet. Blue Note and Verve Records. McDuff can also take the credit for launching the career of a particularly gifted young jazz guitarist when he recruited George Benson to his own quartet, which resulted in Benson's first solo deal in the mid 1960’s.

‘Live At Parnells’ is made up of 15 tracks selected from a week-long engagement in June 1982, featuring Danny Wollinski on sax, guitarist Henry Johnson and Garrick King on the drums. Stylistically, Jack and his group cover a lot of ground, especially for an organ quartet – from beautifully old school funky, gritty blues with tracks like Walkin’ The Dog & Blues 1 & 8, jazz standards like April In Paris, and A Night In Tunisia through to some frenetic and distinctly edgy fast paced jazz fusion type numbers - Make It Good and Untitled D Minor - and this reflects how Jack's ears were open to the newer, freer sounds that had developed in jazz and reflected in some of his recordings as ‘The Heatin’ System’ – as several tracks have modal and fusion touches that sound remarkably current. Soul Bank’s Greg Boraman explains the 23 year old back story to how this amazing release of previously unreleased music by a bona fide jazz legend came about.

“I first heard these live recordings in 1999, when I came across Scott Hawthorn’s ’s jazz organ website, where he had made available his personal recordings of Jack and his band playing at Parnell’s in Seattle in 1982. It was amazing to have this music to check out – despite the obvious shortcomings with the condition of the recordings themselves”.

The fifth full-length studio album from Vermont quartet Twiddle, Every Last Leaf is a bold exploration of the cyclical nature of life.

Propelled by constant evolution in its 18 years touring, the band —Mihali Savoulidis vocals, guitar, Ryan Dempsey keys, organ, synth, Brook Jordan [drums], and Zdenek Gubb [bass], welcomes a musical rebirth, leaning heavily on enigmatically stoic songwriting in lieu of the affably saccharine. Longtime listeners can expect an elevated presentation of Twiddle’s trademark sound, delicately orbiting the worlds of funk, jazz, rock, reggae, and bluegrass.

“Every Last Leaf is a metaphor for life,” Mihali explains. “When a leaf falls to the ground, something will grow from it. Everything is part of this grand circle. In the music, we’re exploring all of life’s sides—from the sad and angry to the proud and happy.”

In the end, Twiddle have creatively found their way on Every Last Leaf.

“When you listen to this, I hope you experience the beauty we did,” Mihali leaves off. “If you feel anything at all, mission accomplished. There are a lot of moments on this album that tie up the elements of life. It’s real.”

The background of this artist’s narrative pops out across themes, disciplines and styles. Hailing from Germany, having lived among others in Uganda and Morocco and calling Hamburg and Brussels a home, HDDDs journey can be felt and of course heard in every song on this record. Traditional folk wise percussions as well as deep synth lines unfold the makings of his sounds. Think of a Jazz Player who is into Fantastic Vol.1! Or maybe what Minnie Ripperton would play
for Jazzy Jeff. Listen to this record and you'll make the
journey yourself.

Die dänische Melodic Death Metal Band DEFACING GOD steht mit ihrem Debütalbum The Resurrection of Lilith in den Startlöchern, das am 2. September 2022 über Napalm Records veröffentlicht wird. Die
2015 von Sängerin Sandie ”The Lilith” Gjørtz und Drummer Michael Olsson gegründete Band folgt mit ihrer harschen Musik skandinavischen Metal Traditionen und im Zentrum ihrer Texte steht der Mythos um den weiblichen Dämon Lilith, der Unabhängigkeit und unbeugsamen Widerstand symbolisiert. DEFACING GOD gelingt es mit ihren Erzählungen, ihrer Musik und der düsteren Ästhetik die Hörer in ein dunkles Universum von obskuren Mythen und uralten Geschichten zu locken. Gleichzeitig ziehen sie von diesen
Mythen subtile Verbindungen zu aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Themen, wie Unterdrückung oder auch inneren Dämonen. Auf klanglicher Ebene schließen DEFACING GOD an Bands wie Cradle of Filth, Carach Angren und Dimmu Borgir an und balancieren massive Melodien, die durch die grandiose Orchestrierung von Lars Vinther untermalt werden. Anstatt diese symphonischen Melodien mit Black Metal verschmelzen lassen, werden sie bei DEFACING GOD rohem Death Metal gegenübergestellt. Produziert wurde ihr Debüt The Resurrection Of Lilith von niemand geringerem als Jacob Hansen, der für seine Arbeit mit Fleshgod Apocalypse, Volbeat, Evergrey, Epica und unzähligen anderen bekannt ist.