The legendary Tony Cook, one of the most influential artists of Funk music, and James Brown’s drummer, has produced many great records since the early 80’s, from Boogie, Electro Funk, and House Music.
This EP showcases the versatility of Tony Cook’s creative repertoire and is a testament to his very unique style of production with unreleased songs.
Lost Tapes is a monthly release of rare B-sides, exclusives - & even some previously unreleased tracks. Now the first 10 tracks from the series are released on limited heavyweight + numbered vinyl, CD and cassette for the first time. Röyksopp on the Lost Tapes series: Upon renovating our arctic chateau here in the desolate north, we came across an old sea chest containing an abundance of rare B-sides, exclusives - & even some previously unreleased tracks. We thought the only right thing would be to make these «hard-to-find» tracks available for those of you who prefer to stream music. So therefore we’ve created a playlist called ‘Lost Tapes’. The Playlist will be updated as we go, make sure you subscribe. All obscure tracks will eventually see the light of day.
Die südafrikanische House-Variante Amapiano geht bei ATFA mit "Teenage Dreams" in die dritte Runde. Nach TENO AFRIKA und DJ BLACK LOW schnappte sich das in New York beheimatete Label das 2019 gegründete Produzenten-Duo NATIVE SOUL, die mit "Teenage Dreams" ihr Debüt geben. Der Titel ist passend gewählt, schließlich sind Kgothatso Tshabalala und Zakhele Mhlanga (DJ Zakes) mit 19 bzw. 18 Jahren sozusagen selbst gerade erst den Kinderschuhen entwachsen. Obwohl die beiden in Pretoria aufgewachsenen Jungproduzenten zur Generation 'Ma2000' gehören, also nach Beginn der Demokratie geboren wurden und die Apartheid nie erlebt haben, überzeugt "Teenage Dreams" mit einer künstlerische Reife, die das jeweilige Alter der beiden Soundtüftler weit übersteigt. Die zwölf Tracks auf dem Debüt sind überwiegend moody, instrumental und mit Drums "made from basslines which stick out like a pocket turned outside of pants" versehen. Für Fans von BURIAL und MR. FINGERS!
Ephat Mujuru exemplifies a unique generation of traditional musicians in Zimbabwe. Born under an oppressive colonial regime in Southern Rhodesia, his generation witnessed the brutality of the 1970s liberation struggle, and then the dawn of independent Zimbabwe, a time in which African music culture - long stigmatized by Rhodesian educators and religious authorities - experienced a thrilling renaissance. Under the tutelage of his grandfather, who was a respected spirit mediumand mbira master, Ephat showed an early talent for the rigors of mbiratraining, playing his first possession ceremony when he was just ten years old. By then, guerilla war was engulfing the country and his grandfather Muchatera tragically became a victim of the violence, a devastating blow to the young musician. In the midst of the liberation struggle, mbira music became political. Eventually, the Rhodesians were defeated, but rather than return to the past, the nation of Zimbabwe was born and a new future unfolded. Ephat threw himself into the spirit of independence, singing of brotherhood, healing, and unity: crucial themes during a time when the nation's two dominant ethnic groups, the Shona and the Ndebele, were struggling to reconcile differences. Ephat's band would eventually follow the popular trend and add electric instruments. But before that, he and Spirit of the People released two all-acoustic albums, and they may well be the most exciting and beautiful recordings he made in his career. Mbavaira, the second of these albums, was released in 1983. As the independence years moved on, there would be fewer and fewer commercial mbira releases. But for the moment, Ephat had the required stature and reputation. Also, with the energy and drive we hear in these recordings, the album could easily rival the pop music of its day. Within a few years after the release of Mbavaira, it and albums like it became harder to find in Zimbabwean record stores. Ephat adapted to the times and formed an electric band. They recorded more albums over the years but none of them have the particularly delicious energy of Spirit of the People in the first years of Zimbabwe's independence.
Erased Tapes debut. Wait, what? How? Anyone who has seen
the trail blazing sonic pioneer live will know Nils likes to
deadpan a joke. Graz is in fact the first studio album he
recorded for the label back in 2009, that somehow remained a
secret… until now.
Nils Frahm has quietly changed the musical landscape,
reincarnating the centuries old figure of a pianist-composer for a
new generation of music fans. As Nils’ word-of-mouth popularity
grew and grew, so did the pop-culture profile of his instrument. He
founded Piano Day with a team of like-minded friends in 2015 to
help that process, some years releasing an album of piano
recordings to celebrate one of humankind’s greatest inventions.
Graz is one such record; an unheard snapshot of a young Nils
recorded at Mumuth, the University of Music and Performing Arts
Graz, in 2009 as part of the thesis Conversations for Piano and
Room produced by Thomas Geiger, which received an award in
the Classical Surround Recording category at the 127th AES
Convention in New York.
Whilst at the time it was decided to keep the grand piano
recordings from the Graz sessions locked away and instead focus
on his close mic’ed, dampened piano explorations which would
become his acclaimed studio album Felt in 2011, two of the pieces
— most notably Hammers — lived on as part of his live set, and
were expanded on and re-recorded as part of his breakthrough
2013 record Spaces (a collage of field recordings from concerts
which broke the Fourth Wall and included audience coughs). Over
his mercurial career, Nils has pushed and pulled at the boundaries
and parameters of his prolific work like that. He’s physically
changed his piano (the softened prepared strings of Felt) played
with a modified body (Screws recorded with 9 fingers and a broken
thumb) played with scale (Solo recorded on the 3.7 metre high
Klavins M370) and with the different layers of formats (last year’s
Tripping with Nils Frahm nested his studio setup inside a live
performance, concert film and live album). Now with Graz he has
found the final frontier for play: time itself and his own discography.
Graz is a moment of time at the very beginning of Nils’ quiet
revolution. The essential genius is already evident; the harmonic
language of classical, and the immediacy of jazz. Nils seems to
pull down each idea moment by moment, gently, to not scare away
the muse. He describes: “sometimes when you hear a piano, you
might think it’s a conversation between a woman and a man. At
the same time, it can hint at shapes of the universe and describe
how a black hole looks. You can make sounds that have no relation
to anything we can measure.”
Tape
"Precision ambient might be a suitable genre description for metra.vestlud's work. Every element has a clearly delineated meaning and purpose, and the precise interaction between these elements makes the musical pieces seem more like songs rather than Eno-style ambiences. From flowing water, to nervous birds and rich emotional textures, ∞ sends us onto a deep and thoughtful sonic journey about the flow of life and the many springs therin."
Artem Dultsev was born in 1993, in Revda, Russia. In 2010 he started to write music and later released under different aliases: Artem Dultsev, Moon Rabbit, Virusmoto. In 2017 he founded with a friend Daniil the label Faktura, where they began to release records from the Urals region. The history of metra.vestlud began In 2019 with the release of the album - Hydrogen Lifeforms (Faktura).
metra.vestlud began as a protest against the standard principles of sound recording and musical theory. All the rules and boundaries were shifted towards the unconscious - that something unique would emerge. But on the album ∞ - the other side of this sub-personality showed itself, the sensual side. The music of metra.vestlud is inspired by the eco-futurism and new age of the 80's-90's.
“The album is dedicated to my wife. In April 2021 we had a son.”
"Two days before the birth of our first child, I was sitting at home alone while my partner was already in the hospital. I wasn't able to visit due to Covid restrictions. Anxiously waiting for any updates, while Germany being in complete lockdown, searching for distraction, I did something I rarely do: look into the public-facing email account of my previous label. Normally, I only find spam in there, but this time there was an email that looked different, it was a demo I was supposed to consider for release. I could tell this person had listened to previous music I had been involved with and deliberately chose to send this to me. I could also tell right away that something special was being sent to me. I downloaded the music, listened to it, and to my surprise, was moved to tears. This was on a Friday night in Leipzig, around 32 hours before our child was born.
Sometimes this world can be incredibly strange but in the most beautiful way. For some reason, someone from Yekaterinburg in Russia, close to where the European and Asian continental plates meet, decided to send me an unspeakably beautiful album for release on my new label (which I technically hadn't even founded yet). The album is centered around love and birth, and it sounds like emotion-fueled beginnings, like a meta-version of spring you can visit any season you like. And I received it less than two days before the birth of our child and a couple of months before the birth of their child - what are the odds? And not just that, I had visited Yekaterinburg many years ago with my parents due to a somewhat mysterious obsession my father had with the place and it had left quite an impression on me. There are some moments in life where you think: "please just pinch me". I am just not sure anymore how much of all of this can be attributed to chance. Probably a lot, but if so, it also means incredibly unlikely and beautiful things do happen even if they probably shouldn't.
In any case, I am grateful metra.vestlud reached out to me at this very special moment in time and I am grateful we have created something that will forever document a very special time in our lives. And we are incredibly happy that we are able to share this document with the world." - kofla tapes
∞ is dedicated to metra.vestlud's wife, In April 2021 they had a son.
NNA Tapes is thrilled to present brand new music from percussionist and
composer Booker Stardrum.
Over the past decade, the Los Angeles and New York-based musician has built
a language of sounds as a solo artist, frequent collaborator, and improviser.
‘CRATER’ is the artist’s third full-length album on NNA, beginning with 2015”s
‘Dance And’ cassette, and followed up by the 2018 limited edition vinyl release
‘Temporary etc.’
The worlds of electronic music and free jazz firmly root Stardrum’s unique
musical syntax; as ‘CRATER’ unfolds, a torrent of microscopic, staccato musical
gestures collide and coalesce into a singular whole, while jagged and angular
sounds coexist harmoniously with their smooth, polished counterparts, creating an auditory balance and swaying symmetry.
Tape
Yaourt's compositions flow like water, picking us right up where we are, no preparation, no prior knowledge required. And once tuned in, they connect us to a deep sense of longing, reminiscent of 90s coming-of-age movies, to the randomness of love, to new beginnings. Chrome's music leaves us with a glimmer of hope that all we do and work so hard for indeed has meaning. For once, this release is not about its creator, it's centering your story. Yaourt will make Joghurt your official drink of 2021.
GRAZ, das Debüt Album von Nils Frahm. Was, wie bitte? Wer den Klaviervisionär und -virtuosen schon einmal im Konzert erlebt hat, wird bereits wissen, dass Nils auch gelegentlich den einen oder anderen Scherz macht, ohne dabei eine Miene zu verziehen. Die Pointe kommt dieses Mal etwas verzögert: Graz ist tatsächlich das erste Studioalbum, das er schon 2009 für das Londoner Label aufgenommen hat. Nur ist dies irgendwie unter Verschluss geblieben - bis jetzt. Nils Frahm hat in aller Ruhe die gesamte Musikwelt auf den Kopf gestellt; er hat die jahrhundertealte Figur des Pianisten-Komponisten neu definiert, sie ins Jetzt überführt - für eine vollkommen neue Generation. Während seine Musik über Mundpropaganda immer mehr Menschen erreichte und in ihren Bann zog, kehrte auch sein Instrument zurück in den Fokus der Popkultur. Eine Entwicklung, die ihn und einige Gleichgesinnte im Jahr 2015 dazu inspirierte, den jährlichen Piano Day ins Leben zu rufen. Einen neuen Feiertag im Kalender, der eine der größten Erfindungen der Menschheitsgeschichte zelebriert. Mit Aufnahmen, die den Menschen und dieses Instrument in den Mittelpunkt rücken. Graz ist so eine Aufnahme. Eine bislang unveröffentlichte Momentaufnahme eines jungen Nils Frahm, mitgeschnitten im Jahr 2009 im Mumuth, dem Haus für Musik und Musiktheater der Kunstuniversität Graz, als Teil der Abschlussarbeit Conversations for Piano and Room, produziert von Thomas Geiger, der dafür im selben Jahr den 1. Preis in der Kategorie Classical Surround Recording der 127. AES Convention in New York in Empfang nehmen durfte. Zwar wurde damals beschlossen, jene Graz-Sessions am Konzertflügel beiseite zu legen, um sich stattdessen auf die gedämpften, ganz intim klingenden Klavierexperimente zu konzentrieren, die dann 2011 auf seinem gefeierten Studioalbum Felt zu hören waren. Jedoch sollten zwei der Kompositionen - und das gilt ganz besonders für Hammers - in seinen Livekonzerten weiterleben und sich erweitern; neu aufgenommen für Spaces, jenes Album, das ihm 2013 endgültig den Durchbruch bescherte. Graz dokumentiert den Moment, der ganz am Anfang jener wortlosen Revolution steht, die Nils in den Jahren danach auslösen sollte. Sein Genie, die Essenz seiner Handschrift ist schon hier zu erkennen: der harmonische Ausdruck der Klassik, die Unmittelbarkeit des Jazz. Es wirkt so, als würde Nils jede Idee für sich aufgreifen, ganz behutsam, nur auf den Moment konzentriert, um auch ja nicht die Muse wieder zu vertreiben.
From their genesis as members of the Venus club in-house band in the early 70s, Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band were at the forefront of the musical revolution during an era where modern instruments and foreign styles superseded the traditional fare to become the staple sound of Ethiopia. No one would argue that the Walias were the trailblazing powerhouse of modern Ethiopian music. They were the first band to form independently without affiliation to a theatre house, a club or a hotel; unprecedented and risky as they had to raise all funding for expenses by themselves including buying equipment. They were the first to release full instrumental albums, considered to be commercially unviable at the time. They opened their own recording studio, with band members Melake Gebre and Mahmoud Aman doubling as technical buffs during sessions. They were also the first independent band to tour abroad. In short, they were the pioneers every band tried to emulate; some more successfully than others.
Odds are, any Ethiopian over the age of 35 who had access to TV or radio by the early 90s, will instantly recognize the sound of Walias. What is not a given is, how many would actually identify the band itself. Barely a day went by without hearing the Walias either in the background on radio or as an accompaniment to various programs on TV.
This Tezeta album, the band’s second recording, released in 1975, is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible.
Profoundly engaging; it's an immersive trip down memory lane for those of us getting reacquainted with it, while also an enthralling and gratifying experience for fresh ears.
Virtually unknown recording outside Ethiopia.
Documents Mergia & Walias legendary early period.
Follow-up to reissue of hugely popular seminal Ethiopian instrumentals LP Tche Belew (ATFA012)
Cassette-only, released in 1975 on the band’s in-house label to fund their record store.
Beautifully-rendered instrumentals of classic Ethiopian standards.
Out now for the first time on vinyl! The world first heard Pill on their self-titled cassette release on Dull Tools. And the world took note. Evan Minsker, writing for Pitchfork, says 'they are loose with form, they pack in a lot of ideas, and they successfully deliver an emotionally complex narrative where joy is accompanied by an impossible-to-ignore undercurrent of danger. The band's debut outing is enigmatic—a Dull Tools record through and through—but it's also well crafted, full of stellar performances and unflinching lyrics.'
The band then signed to Mexican Summer, releasing their debut LP. Shortly after, prolific in a way that has become a hall- mark of Dull Tools artists, they release another cassette, 2017's 'Agressive Advertising'. If one thought the self-titled cassette couldn't get more acerbic and confrontational, Agresstive Advertis- ing proved them wrong.
Now both releases are available on one LP. This LP is an important document of New York City's DIY scene and one of the best bands to emerge from it. Pill are an ever present force in NYC's scene. Playing small clubs like Baby's All Right, DIY spaces like Silent Barn and even the Museum of Modern Art. When the art and culture of New York is examined in, much in the way we examine culture from the past, you can bet that Pill will be a shining example of this moment in time.
Grup Ses presents Program #03: A Mixtape of Rare & Unreleased Beats
İstanbul based producer Grup Ses returns with the final episode of 'Program' trilogy for Sucata Tapes. Program #03 focuses on productions of Grup Ses between 2008 and 2021.
Grup Ses project dates back to 2007 which at the time focused on v/vm style edits and breakcore infused mash ups. Starting from 2008 Grup Ses started to build a version of Stones Throw & Brainfeeder influenced beatmaking mixed with a touch of humour. A blend including all kinds of local recorded material like records, tapes, radio broadcasts etc., which became the building blocks of signature Grup Ses sound.
This hour long mixtape showcases styles Grup Ses visited last 10+ years. Enjoy!
3xtape pack
* Three Cassette pack shrinkwrapped together therefore no returns for opened items *
Three part journey into an imaginary Indian Sub-Continent from three artists working on the fringes of Field recordings. Stories of the Dotted Indian Whale features italian artist Giovanni Lami, Hannibal Chew III aka Gonçalo F Cardoso and Argentinean noise prankster Bardo Todol.
First part from Italian sound artist Giovanni Lami, entitled Soap Wolf Giovanni presents a collection of ghost recordings from several places in India.
Second part from Hannibal Chew III is a collection of re-assembled recordings and in situ jams made in Arambol, Jaipur, Pushkar, Varanasi, Thar Desert, Pondicherry & Auroville between 2009 - 2019. Re-assembled in 2020.
The third and final part from Bardo Todol contains abrasive tape and digital field recordings manipulation made by Pablo Pico in Nepal, Kolkata, Varanasi and NewDelhi in 2012.
A new weird collection of re-interpreted field recordings from artists connecting the dots between musique concrete, naive improvisation and field recordings processing.
Artwork by Pablo Picco
Giancarlo Erra Returns With Spellbinding New Lp ‘Departure Tapes’ On
Kscope. Gatefold Oxblood Coloured Vinyl Edition.
UK based Italian composer, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Giancarlo
Erra started his career in 2005 with one man studio project Nosound. In 2008
Erra signed with Kscope and released a string of albums under the Nosound
banner before recording the first album under his own name ‘Ends I-VII’ in
2019.
He now returns with a new album ‘Departure Tapes’, reflecting what has been
a difficult year with the loss of his father to cancer.
In Giancarlo’s own words “The end result is the most experimental (and darkest at times) material I ever wrote, without compromise or set plan. It contains
all the elements of my music in a very unconscious free flow way. It’s the first
album I wrote without knowing I was writing it, intrinsically linked to one of the
hardest and yet more healing parts of my life.”
‘Departure Tapes’ is an album of contemplative recordings, written while travelling between the UK and Italy. Most of these tracks have been recorded live
by Erra, so for the most part they are totally unique and hold a sincerity which
cannot be replicated.
Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm and the more electronic / ambient
recordings of Brian Eno may offer a reference point by which to enter Erra’s
world, but the depth within these recordings is truly original.
‘Departure Tapes’ is available in a gatefold sleeve on oxblood coloured vinyl and
The DVD-A/V includes high resolution stereo & 5.1 mix: DVD-V: stereo 24/48
LPCM lossless mixes, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 96/24 5.1 Surround DVDA: 5.1 Surround 24/48 LPCM lossless mixes
A bridging of minds and energies, a confluence of souls and spirits. Midnight Shift releases an exclusive collaboration between Prequel Tapes and dBridge - Ionize. Cast all genres aside, as two electronic worlds collide to produce a third sonic space.
Start your engines with 'Divisible Cause' speeding and hurtling into the great atmospheric unknown. Outlier for the freaks, 'Stray Thrills' amalgamates between the classicist EBM and futurist UK bass. Stumble through 'Pleasure Systems' with light sabres, wrangled beats and gun shots ricochetting off the walls in one heady disorientation. Then wander aimlessly into the warehouse at 170bpm with 'Mindless', led by twilight tones and menacing machines at every turn.
Die meisten der für dieses Album ausgewählten Tracks sind Aufnahmen, die mit einem einfachen Stereo- (2-Track) Kassettenrecorder aufgenommen wurden. Die Situation im Studio sah dann ungefähr so aus: Drumcomputer (ohne Midi) und Sequenzer waren miteinander verbunden, liefen somit rhythmisch synchron. Die darin eingestellten Tonfolgen und Rhythmen wurden dann meist manuell mit Hilfe der Tastaturen auf die jeweilige gewünschte Tonhöhe transponiert. Oft wurden während dieses Ablaufs noch weitere Instrumente dazu live gespielt. Dabei wurden mit Hilfe eines Mischpults die Summe aller Tonquellen für die Aufnahme in einer Art "Live Recording" zusammengemischt. Da man bei einem Fehler immer wieder von vorne anfangen musste, und viele der Klänge nach dem Verstellen der Regler nur mit viel Akribie wieder hergestellt werden konnten, kamen mit der Zeit viele Kassetten zusammen, oft mit endlos langen und verschiedenen Versionen des gleichen Titels. Demo Tapes 1984-86 umfasst eine Auswahl aus den Anfängen der elektronischen Musik und merkwürdigen Klangwelten von Heiko Maile
From their genesis as members of the Venus club in-house band in the early 70s, Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band were at the forefront of the musical revolution during an era where modern instruments and foreign styles superseded the traditional fare to become the staple sound of Ethiopia. No one would argue that the Walias were the trailblazing powerhouse of modern Ethiopian music. They were the first band to form independently without affiliation to a theatre house, a club or a hotel; unprecedented and risky as they had to raise all funding for expenses by themselves including buying equipment. They were the first to release full instrumental albums, considered to be commercially unviable at the time. They opened their own recording studio, with band members Melake Gebre and Mahmoud Aman doubling as technical buffs during sessions. They were also the first independent band to tour abroad. In short, they were the pioneers every band tried to emulate; some more successfully than others.
Odds are, any Ethiopian over the age of 35 who had access to TV or radio by the early 90s, will instantly recognize the sound of Walias. What is not a given is, how many would actually identify the band itself. Barely a day went by without hearing the Walias either in the background on radio or as an accompaniment to various programs on TV.
This Tezeta album, the band’s second recording, released in 1975, is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible.
Profoundly engaging; it's an immersive trip down memory lane for those of us getting reacquainted with it, while also an enthralling and gratifying experience for fresh ears.
Virtually unknown recording outside Ethiopia.
Documents Mergia & Walias legendary early period.
Follow-up to reissue of hugely popular seminal Ethiopian instrumentals LP Tche Belew (ATFA012)
Cassette-only, released in 1975 on the band’s in-house label to fund their record store.
Beautifully-rendered instrumentals of classic Ethiopian standards.
In the beginning, there was just a box of tapes and “Fate’s Gentle Hand.”
It was the autumn of 2010, and an anonymous figure known only as the Head Technician, an employee of Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services (“Magnetically aligning ferrous particles since 1970”), found himself at an auction in the village of Coldred, pop. 110. He was on the hunt for tobacco pipes when he chanced across a trio of boxes listed in the auction catalog, which described their contents only as “archived magnetic recordings.” The sole bidder, he won the lot, and upon receipt of his purchase took possession of an unspecified number of mouldering cassettes and ¼" reel-to-reel tapes. The collection contained no identifying information save for a single phrase scrawled on each box: “Black Mill Sessions.” And so, armed with razors, eyedroppers, and a bevy of solid-state circuitry, the Head Technician sat down at his machines and got to work.
Whether anyone believed it or not, this was the framing device surrounding Pye Corner Audio’s Black Mill Tapes Volume I: Avant Shards, which took the mysterious tactics of artists like Boards of Canada and Burial and raised them exponentially. Much like the narrator of a 19th century novel, the anonymous Head Technician purported merely to be the messenger of secondhand sounds. These were not compositions, we were told; they were tape transfers—“transcriptions” of an unknown author, slathered
Suburban Bases favourite duo Krome & Time rare DAT studio masters saved!
Krome & Time provided the very first Suburban Base release that launched the now legendary label, under the alias Kromozone catalogue number SUBBASE 001 set the tone for the label that became and integral part of the development of Rave and Breakbeat Hardcore into Jungle and Drum & Bass!
So who better to kick off the relaunch of such a revered brand than the legendary duo that started it all KROME & TIME! With brand new sleeve design from original SubBase illustrator Dave Nodz!
Having accessed a long forgotten storge facility and discovered a treasure trove of Suburban Base master tapes, we struck gold when we found box after box of unreleased and exclusive master recordings from some of the biggest artists within the SubBase family.
The two exclusive tracks that make up this release were huge dubplate only specials and have never been released as vinyl singles or digitally. Finding the master copy of the once thought lost 'Original Juggling' was incredible, the song is much asked after and as an album exclusive on the 1995 Telepathy Dub Plate Special was never given a full release only appearing on that project.
‘Non-Stop Rocking’ was a 1995 dubplate recorded specifically as an album exclusive for the legendary Drum & Bass selection album project and stayed exclusively on dubplate receiving extensive club and radio play whilst remaining only available within D&B selection.
These sought-after tracks remained stuff of legend never having had a digital release or full vinyl release… until now! From the original master tapes of Suburban Base we present this slamming 12inch from Krome & Time
May 28 will see prolific Japanese vibraphonist, multi-percussionist and composer Masayoshi Fujita mark a new sonic direction with his forthcoming album Bird Ambience on Erased Tapes.
Bird Ambience brings several fresh changes for the artist. Until now, Fujita would separate his acoustic solo recordings from the electronic dub under his El Fog alias and experimental improvisations with contemporaries such as Jan Jelinek, Bird Ambience sees him unite all of these different sides to his work for the first time, into one singular vision. He also makes a lateral leap from his signature instrument the vibraphone, on which he created his acclaimed triptych Stories (2012), Apologues (2015) and Book of Life (2018), to the marimba, which takes centre stage on his new album alongside drums, percussion, synths, effectors and tape recorder.
“The way of playing the marimba is similar to the vibraphone, so it was kind of a natural development for me and easier to start with, yet it sounds very different”, explains Masayoshi. “The marimba bars are made with wood and it has a wider range than the vibraphone, which gives me a bigger sound palette with more possibilities. I play the instrument with bows and mallets, and sometimes manipulate it with effects.”
Bird Ambience also marks his liberation from fastidious preparation for past solo releases to new endeavours in improvisation. “I prioritised trying to capture the wonder which happens during those occasional magic improv moments. Sometimes the mic-ing and placement of instruments was pretty rough; things weren’t perfect and everything was done quickly, but it turned out as the final recording. Overall when I
couldn’t decide between two takes, I told myself to go with the first”, Masayoshi recalls.
Arranged with a perfect Kanso-like balance, the unhurried pace of Bird Ambience allows each sound and phrase enough time to be mindfully absorbed and savoured. This subtle but affective work carries ethereal remnants of Midori Takada’s minimalism, the static atmospheres of Mika Vainio, To Rococo Rot’s organics and the bucolic electronics of Minotaur Shock. Fujita vaporises contemporary and classical, ambient and dismantled dub, controlled noise and fragments of jazz into an atmospheric, static mist, which he skilfully coerces into new forms.
After 13 years in Berlin, Masayoshi recently relocated to a new home and studio in the rural Japanese mountain village of Kami-cho, Hyogo, following his life-long dream of creating music in nature. Even though the album was entirely recorded in Germany before he left, it has this palpable sense of reverie found in the natural world. From there we can only imagine the kind of impact his new life in rural West Japan will have on future works.
For fans of AMON DÜÜL, CAN, FAUST, NEUBAUTEN, BRIAN ENO, CLUSTER, CULT OF LUNA, NINE INCH NAILS, MASSIVE ATTACK OR - Norwegian for "dizzy, confusing" - is the third album from Italian avant-rock trio OSLO TAPES, and the album keeps what the word promises: a dizzying ride through a feverish dreamscape of imaginary Norwegian highlands painted in cubistic shapes. Hypnotic basslines, repetitive drum patterns, new wave synths and psychedelic guitar textures covering the full width of the stereo room, all seamlessly woven into a gloomy Kraut - tapestry which sounds refreshingly_ modern, while paying tribute to the aged genre. Marco Campitelli, born and raised in Lanciano on the Southern Adriatic coast of Italy, founded OSLO TAPES in the early 2010s after a trip to the Norwegian Capital left him deeply impressed. Under the influence of this infatuation, he composed and produced OSLO TAPES' first record "OT (un cuore in pasto a pesci con teste di cane)" within a week in 2013. Supervised and supported by friend Amaury Cambuzat (faUSt / Ulan Bator), Campitelli's first attempt to capture the mystical vibe of Norway was released on DeAmbula Records (Ulan Bator, The Marigold, 7C). In 2015 he was joined by Mauro Spada and Federico Sergente (Zippo) and together they recorded OSLO TAPES' sophomore album "Tango Kalashnikov", also released on DeAmbula Records. "OR" is a much more collaborative effort for OSLO TAPES than the first two records. Next to Campitelli, the album was co-produced by Amaury Cambuzat (Ulan Bator) and James Aparicio (house engineer for Mute Records and mixing and mastering engineer for Depeche Mode, Mogwai, Nick Cave). During production, Campitelli became friends with Emil Nikolaisen of Serena Maneesh w h o guided him "through the Norwegian imagination". As a result, the record's title is also courtesy of Nikolaisen. During this journey spanning over eight songs, OSLO TAPES, completed by Mauro Spada (bass) and Davide Di Virgilio (drums and percussions) construct a dense and ever so dark atmosphere that is captivating, brooding and imaginative. After a spiraling takeoff with "Space is the place", we find ourselves floating weightlessly above the nocturnal Norwegian highlands through "Zenith" and "Kosmik Feels", an airy circulation of jazzy drums, pulsating bass lines and shimmering guitar clouds. We saddle up, gallop across the sky on "Bodo Dakar" and drift back into the night on "Cosmonaut". The trifecta of "Norwegian Dream", "Exotic Dreams" and "Obession Is The Mother of All" conclude this agitated fever dream journey. There is a sense of solitude in OSLO TAPES' compositions which makes it easy to imagine them as interstellar jam sessions between cosmonauts, each in their own isolated space capsule. Every spin of "OR" brings new discoveries: sometimes it is a noise that we did not notice before, sometimes a slight change in the drum groove, sometimes just a piece of the lyrics, meandering through our mental space. "OR" is a vertiginious journey to be remembered - and repeated. "The focus of Oslo Tapes is to harmonize the noise" says Marco Campitelli.
May 28 will see prolific Japanese vibraphonist, multi-percussionist and composer Masayoshi Fujita mark a new sonic direction with his forthcoming album Bird Ambience on Erased Tapes.
Bird Ambience brings several fresh changes for the artist. Until now, Fujita would separate his acoustic solo recordings from the electronic dub under his El Fog alias and experimental improvisations with contemporaries such as Jan Jelinek, Bird Ambience sees him unite all of these different sides to his work for the first time, into one singular vision. He also makes a lateral leap from his signature instrument the vibraphone, on which he created his acclaimed triptych Stories (2012), Apologues (2015) and Book of Life (2018), to the marimba, which takes centre stage on his new album alongside drums, percussion, synths, effectors and tape recorder.
“The way of playing the marimba is similar to the vibraphone, so it was kind of a natural development for me and easier to start with, yet it sounds very different”, explains Masayoshi. “The marimba bars are made with wood and it has a wider range than the vibraphone, which gives me a bigger sound palette with more possibilities. I play the instrument with bows and mallets, and sometimes manipulate it with effects.”
Bird Ambience also marks his liberation from fastidious preparation for past solo releases to new endeavours in improvisation. “I prioritised trying to capture the wonder which happens during those occasional magic improv moments. Sometimes the mic-ing and placement of instruments was pretty rough; things weren’t perfect and everything was done quickly, but it turned out as the final recording. Overall when I
couldn’t decide between two takes, I told myself to go with the first”, Masayoshi recalls.
Arranged with a perfect Kanso-like balance, the unhurried pace of Bird Ambience allows each sound and phrase enough time to be mindfully absorbed and savoured. This subtle but affective work carries ethereal remnants of Midori Takada’s minimalism, the static atmospheres of Mika Vainio, To Rococo Rot’s organics and the bucolic electronics of Minotaur Shock. Fujita vaporises contemporary and classical, ambient and dismantled dub, controlled noise and fragments of jazz into an atmospheric, static mist, which he skilfully coerces into new forms.
After 13 years in Berlin, Masayoshi recently relocated to a new home and studio in the rural Japanese mountain village of Kami-cho, Hyogo, following his life-long dream of creating music in nature. Even though the album was entirely recorded in Germany before he left, it has this palpable sense of reverie found in the natural world. From there we can only imagine the kind of impact his new life in rural West Japan will have on future works.
Unknown recording outside Ethiopia which documents Mergia Hailu & The Walias legendary early period. Beautifully-rendered instrumentals of classic Ethiopian standards, "Tezeta"is the follow-up reissue of the hugely popular seminal Ethiopian instrumentals LP "Tche Belew" (ATFA012). It was a Cassette-only release in 1975 on the band's in-house label, to fund their record store. From their genesis as members of the Venus club in-house band in the early 70s, Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band were at the forefront of the musical revolution during an era where modern instruments and foreign styles superseded the traditional fare to become the staple sound of Ethiopia. No one would argue that the Walias were the trailblazing powerhouse of modern Ethiopian music. They were the first band to form independently without affiliation to a theatre house, a club or a hotel; unprecedented and risky as they had to raise all funding for expenses by themselves including buying equipment. They were the first to release full instrumental albums, considered to be commercially unviable at the time. They opened their own recording studio, with band members Melake Gebre and Mahmoud Aman doubling as technical buffs during sessions. They were also the first independent band to tour abroad. In short, they were the pioneers every band tried to emulate; some more successfully than others. Odds are, any Ethiopian over the age of 35 who had access to TV or radio by the early 90s, will instantly recognize the sound of Walias. What is not a given is, how many would actually identify the band itself. Barely a day went by without hearing the Walias either in the background on radio or as an accompaniment to various programs on TV. This Tezeta album, the band's second recording, released in 1975, is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible. Profoundly engaging; it's an immersive trip down memory lane for those of us getting reacquainted with it, while also an enthralling and gratifying experience for fresh ears.
Olafur Arnalds' highly anticipated second full-length album '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness', continues his mission to lure an indie-generation of pop and rock fans into an emotive world of beguiling electronic chamber music and delicate classical arrangements. The sense of an organic crossover recording is reinforced by the involvement of co-producer Bar?i J?hannsson of eccentric pop/rock/electronica-formation Bang Gang. Bar?i has successfully coloured the brittle minimalism of previous releases through the addition of an array of new instruments.
Those expecting a mere continuation of the minimal melancholia of his previous albums are therefore in for a surprise, as the record may be the most uplifting and richly orchestrated work of his career: "The album has a very clear theme", Arnalds relates, "which is that there is always light after darkness. To me, it has a more positive note than my previous works." When ?lafur saw how the opening scene of a Hungarian indie film metaphorically described a solar eclipse, he instantly connected it to the concept, naming the album after a key line of the film's introductory monologue. Staying true to this positive note, '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness' will herald another intense year for ?lafur Arnalds, with the album being accompanied by a world tour, starting in China in March 2010.
Born in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsb?r, a few kilometres outside of Reykjav?k, the 23-year old composer has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with both his studio work and his live-shows. His new opus is set to again challenge his fan base, which is still growing rapidly. Over the past eighteen months Arnalds has advanced from a former support-act for Sigur R?s to an internationally respected artists in his own right. He was privileged to be invited to write the 'Dyad 1909' score for award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor, aired on BBC Four and on ITV1's South Bank Show. 'Found Songs', a collection of pieces each written, recorded and released in a single day via the Erased Tapes label website, as well as the video for 'Lj?si?' have since managed to generate half a million downloads and video views.
In many ways, the new record is clearly inspired and informed by these events. Several of the pieces were, in fact, written on and off throughout his tour and benefit directly from the intensity of the live situation and the emotional roller-coaster-ride of life on the road: "The first half of 'Gleypa okkur' was written in a sound check in Munich, for example", Arnalds relates, "while the second part was scored in Braunschweig, Germany." On the other hand it is the result of meticulous studio work, of refining compositions in close co operation with compatriot Bar?i Johannsson, known for his eccentric personality and unique electro-acoustic sound: "I definitely wanted to do something a bit different this time, something more. Working with a producer was a part of that." The enthusiasm translates to arrangements displaying a new sense of sonic diversity.
?lafur Arnalds has created an even more open and spacious sound and taken his distinct style to a new level. Compared to his previous works, '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness' makes use of diverse instrumentation ? drums, guitars, voice, Rhodes, a selection of subtle synthesisers, alongside Arnalds' trademark piano as well as Tony Levin on bass. Traditional terminologies become void on his latest offering, which blends contrasting elements into an original, entirely organic new language and a sensitive ballet of the mind.
Arnalds fusion of 21st century electronics and classical vocabulary thereby continues to decisively unwrap the sealed-off world of classical music.
Prolific digi-dub recording artist Jackson Bailey heads up the new year for Research, debuting with a two track 7" of slow and melodic synth cuts. At once playful and naïve yet masterfully constructed, the pieces unravel in unison to create the drowsy headspace associated with pitched down G-funk beats or vintage Italian library. Sharing a similarly visual immediacy to Amedeo Tomassi's compositions for Biologia Marina, both 'Sauna Research' and 'Aquarium Trousers' conjure up subaquatic atmospheres of macrophytes and crill, wetsuits and snorkels. Tropical flora and fauna float by in the distance. Fittingly soundtracking the Australian summer, the new release follows on from recent daydream-like stoned outings for EM and Good Morning Tapes.
Maya Dunietz is a prodigy pianist, an avant-garde sound artist, an award winning composer and mom to four.
A dubious character, a local legend and an inspiration for a generation of musicians. This is a unique kind of jazz. Glimpses of folk lullabies, African scales and rhythms, moments that border with free jazz, and homage to the old school traditions of stride, blues and to the great Thelonious Monk. Maya blends her infinite influences into a mind expanding groovy, never-dull journey.
This EP is Maya’s first solo release; with her as the leading voice and visionary.
In many ways, DJ Black Low's debut album, Uwami, shows the signs of an artist's first offering in any musical genre. Showcasing fluency in a broad range of styles and stuffing a number of ideas to the record's brim is the 20 year-old producer's attempt to both introduce himself to a wide listenership and stamp a recognizable sound in their minds. In other ways, somewhat out of the young South African producer's control, Uwami goes against the grain. The album comes at a time when South African electronic music is being fundamentally disrupted. Amapiano, the electronic music movement which first gained popularity with a small, core group of followers, now dominates the mainstream. Well-known and pervasive, amapiano borrows from a diverse palette of musical styles which are popular in South Africa's largely Black townshipsjazz, kwaito, dibacardi, deep and afro house among them. Instead of pandering to the seemingly insatiable local appetite and growing global penchant for amapiano though, on Uwami DJ Black Low seeks out the limits of the sound du jour and tries to stretch them. On his solo productions, he uses the samples and compositional norms that make amapiano hits the bedrock on which to experiment and improvise. With collaborators, DJ Black Low improvises within the boundaries of listener-friendly grooves. The sound he creates has foundations of what could easily have progressed into captivating amapiano songs on their own. But he uses improvised but structured electronic percussion and distortion sounds to drive the tracks in a particular direction. What remains is something like a deconstructed amapiano. For a young producer living in the townships of the greater Pitori area of South Africa's Gauteng province, there were few avenues available for Radebe to pursue a career in music. His trajectory shows the vulnerability of this pursuit. "I had started producing in 2013 and it so happened that I lost my equipment in 2014. I couldn't afford to buy equipment. In 2017, a friend of mine who had been making music found a job and decided to quit music. He gave me his equipment and I was able to start producing again. That's when I started getting back to it. I tried to pick up where I had left off, with hip hop and commercial house but I found that amapiano was the popular music. I liked it, so I started producing it."
REPRESS!!
These tracks were recorded by Kevin Low and Fiona Carlin in Kevin’s bedroom in Gayfield Square, Edinburgh, in 1986. Me and my dad, Kevin, dug out a huge bunch of his tapes over the lockdown (about 80 of the them at first). Some were…better than others, however, the Gayfield Square demos were the pick of the lot. Previously Kevin and Fiona were part of the Post Punk / indie band ‘Wild Indians’, whose first release “Stolen Courage” had come out in 1983 – released on Flexi Disc via the Edinburgh fanzine Deadbeat. Throughout the mid-1980s they performed across Edinburgh’s clubs, including at the Hoochie Coochie Club (name checked on track 7), where they played alongside bands and close friends Pop Wallpaper and Visitors. The band went on to release two 12” singles, “Love of My Life” in 1984 and “Penniless” in 1986.
After the band broke up Kevin sold his guitar amp and 7inch collection, Fiona her saxophone and they went out and got themselves a Yamaha RX-5 drum machine, Yamaha QX7 sequencer and a Yamaha DX-100. These bedroom tracks are the fruits of their first venture with this hardware, combining their experimentation with synthetic sounds (mostly the DX-100’s famous pre-sets) with a post-punk vocal style.
These eight tracks are also, in part, the fruit of the “Enterprise Allowance scheme” - a policy venture of Margaret Thatcher’s UK government that gave unemployment claimants access to an extra £40 to top up the basic dole money. Following Thatcher’s election victories in 1979 and 1983, the policy sought to reduce the figures of mass unemployment which hung over Britain well into the 1980s. This policy, according to Kevin, helped to keep up the credit payments. He notes that, “when Fiona and I turned up at the DHSS office with the sure-fire money-making plan of making a business as a ‘song-writing’ duo they signed us up. However, I still think they thought we said, sign writing as they were filling out the form.”
Kevin and Fiona stopped making music together shortly after these tracks were recorded so unfortunately, they never saw the light of day…until now!
Fiona went on to work in Film and Television sound. Kevin became a photographer, working mostly in theatre. He is now an artist/painter working in Glasgow.
When Nkrumah Jah Thomas hit Number 1 on the
Jamaican Charts in 1976 with his debut single
‘Midnight Rock’ on Alvin Ranglin’s GG label it gave the
new DJ a theme song and an entry into the world of
music. Within three years he had launched his
Midnight Rock label and, alongside more music under
his own name, he produced a series of classics by the
likes of Tristan Palmer, Anthony Johnson, Early B and
many more.
In 1997 he signed a deal with Acid Jazz’s Roots label
and since then his career as a producer has been
developed and anthologised; the release of a series of
archive King Tubby and Scientist mixes, the use of his
masters to be sampled by Nas (on ‘The Don’), Protoje
and others, plus reissues of his classic albums.
To celebrate 40 years of Midnight Rock, Thomas went
back into his tape archive to unearth another 10
tracks, either with original vocals or guest names
brought in.
Behind original rhythms recorded at Channel 1, Tuff
Gong and others, featuring the Roots Radics and The
Midnight Rock Band and mixed in places like King
Jammy’s and Tubby’s we are presented with a line-up
of stellar talent - Linval Thompson with the plaintive ‘I
Can Be Your Man’, the forthright Super Cat on ‘Me
Glad She Gone’ and Luciano on the rare ‘Good Thing
Goin’ On’. They are joined by Courtney Melody,
Pinchers and Joesy Wales, Daville and more. Keeping
the circle complete, Thomas appears on two tracks,
including the future classic ‘Sounds A Go Dead
Tonight’ with Junior Vibes.
Back in 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC broadcast of Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange’s “Inventions For Radio: The Dreams”, The Eccentronic Research Council released their own super-limited edition cassette soundtracking the recalled dreams (and nightmares) of friends, artists, actors, musicians, scientists, poets and filmmakers. The release was called “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volume 1”. Five years on, and with a large part of the planet under lockdown and with nowhere to go but within their imagination, the ERC put a call out once again to music collaborators, nurses, teachers, truck drivers, writers, journalists and shop workers to upon waking, record their dreams straight into their phones and to then send them to the ERC to soundtrack. And thus, Volume 2 of The Dreamcatcher Tapes was born!
How did you make the album during lockdown?
“We got around 26 dreams sent to us via email over the space of a couple of weeks then Dean Honer my partner in The ERC and I revved up the old analogue equipment and would record music and collage sounds to the dreams (remotely) from our home recording studios and bounce them back and forth to each other till they were done. It was a really good way to work actually, sometimes I didn’t even have to put on any trousers!” says ERC/ Moonlandingz founder Adrian Flanagan. Why a second volume of The Dreamcatcher Tapes? “I was really interested to see how the enforced lockdown and the removal of people’s basic needs such as human contact and hanging out in close proximity to friends was affecting the dreams of my friends, peers and those at the very front line of this horrible pandemic”, Adrian continues. “The Important shared experiences for people’s mental health such as going out to gigs, the pub, the cinema etc. ”It was an interesting experiment. Nurses dreaming of inadequate PPE and having to use blow up Elvis costumes to protect themselves. Teachers dreaming of zombies and lots of people dreaming about sex - where the hair of Greek sorceress’s Circe meets bouncy castle breasts and where other dreamers dream of serial killers or seeing dead family members, or taking baby elephants for a walk, or having discos for one in the middle of the ocean and so much more. I’m really proud of this record. It’s psychedelic in its truest most cerebral form”
Who’s on “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2”? Who are the dreamers?
“Although our long time collaborator Maxine Peake wasn’t on the very first tape (her dream ended up on LTD edition split 7” ERC single we did with Pye Corner Audio) - she was the first dream that we soundtracked when I came up with the idea of doing the concept record. However, on the new vinyl and tape box set - she opens volume 1. Across the 2 volumes there’s film maker Carol Morley, Andy Votel from Finders Keepers records, John Doran from The Quietus (who also wrote the albums brilliant sleeve notes), acclaimed writers Benjamin Myers & Adelle Stripe, musicians such as Evangeline Ling from the group Audiobooks, Lias Saoudi from my ‘semi fictional band’, The Moonlandingz and fat white family, Sidonie from The Orielles, journalists /writers Wyndham Wallace (he wrote lee Hazelwood’s brilliant biography) and Daniel Dylan Wray amongst a whole array of musician friends, eccentrics and people with actual proper jobs!”
Why did you chose Castles in Space for this release?
“Jim Jupp at Ghost Box records suggested them to me so I looked into them and saw they were doing loads of really great strange little bespoke electronic record releases. I think that because this is a very niche limited run release, it required a label that was willing to treat it like a piece of art and not a throwaway mass produced commodity. So making sure the packaging was special, the artwork was bang on point and the sleeve notes were written by a writer we like all were very important to us. “It was also important that we could turn it around from the finished recording to being in people’s hands really quickly as Dean and I have another ten projects between us on the boil - and so far, Castles in Space have been true to their word. It’s an artists label done with love and there’s not many of them about anymore - believe it or not.“
“The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2” is an immense collaborative achievement which makes for a thoroughly compelling, and gloriously disorientating listening experience.
It is released as a double coloured vinyl LP in deluxe gatefold sleeve w/insert and a highly limited deluxe double cassette box set. The album is released on March 19th, 2021.
CLEAR VINYL
DAS LEGENDÄRE MINI-ORCHESTER AUS MONTREAL MELDET SICH NACH ÜBER 10 JAHREN MIT NEUER MUSIK ZURÜCK. House Music unfolds as one long piece, a recorded-then-sculpted improvisation that vastly expands their work, coalescing classical and electronic instrumentation in the creation of genre-defying musical worlds. With help from engineer Hans Bernhard, the band wired every corner of Sarah Neufeld's (Violin, vocals) multi-story rural Vermont house. She and the mini orchestra's other five members - Pietro Amato: French horn, keyboards, electronics; Michael Feuerstack: Pedal steel guitar, keyboards, vocals; Kaveh Nabatian: Trumpet, gongoma, keyboards, vocals; Richard Reed Parry: Bass, vocals; and Stefan Schneider: Drums - assigned themselves to different rooms. They spent two weeks together in camaraderie, creation, and focused isolation to record their improvised sessions every day, but ultimately structured a 45-minute album out of a one hour-and-a-half long improvisation.
KerenDun (Buttering Trio) returns with a new two-track single titled ‘Afternoon.’ As always, KerenDun delivers super smooth tunes laced with vibrant colorful lyrics that offer us a peak into her life.
Jazz and soul influences are very apparent in this release; the result of collaborating with drummer/jazz head/producer Yuval Garin & trumpet player/pianist Roee Hermon.
Released together on 7” vinyl, this release is packed with soul and promises a vibeful journey.
Most of the songs were recorded in my flat on cassette or digital four track recorders, although a couple were done in my much-lamented studio above a morgue in The Anatomy Rooms.
Daumenbruch kurz vor dem 30. Geburtstag? Für Nils Frahm kein Hindernis, doch noch rechtzeitig neun intime Klavieraufnahmen einzuspielen und sie seinen Fans anlässlich seines Jubeltags online zur Verfügung zu stellen. Dabei gibt es für einen Pianisten wahrlich kaum eine schlechtere Nachricht als ein Daumenbruch. Frahm, der international längst ein Star der modernen Klassik ist und mit Zeitgenossen wie Olafur Arnalds, Peter Broderick und Efterklang kooperiert, ließ sich von dem Missgeschick (Sturz vom Hochbett) nicht beirren. Entgegen des Rats seines Arztes trainierte er die restlichen neun Finger und nahm peu á peu die vorliegenden neun kleinen Lieder auf. Als der Gips ab war, war das Album fertig. Die Musik ist mal wieder "ein Balsam" (BBC Music). Die LP erscheint inklusive eines Album-Download-Codes.
Take Away re-opens after a short hiatus with two new chefs, Swedish DJ, crate digger legend and Lighthouse resident Farsta Kalle and Samo DJ, Born Free boss and more than 100 other exotic projects on his plate.
Together they've created a three course feast for your taste buds.
It's a spicy stew for those that like it hot...
Perhaps best known as the upside-down, guitar-wielding frontman of psych-legends The Entrance Band, and solo albums released under the ENTRANCE moniker, notably 2004's country blues epic Wandering Stranger (Fat Possum) , 2006's self-released cult classic, Prayer of Death ( which led to the formation of The Entrance Band) , and most recently 2017's Book of Changes (Thrill Jockey), Blakeslee has typically used his own name to release his most experimental and confounding records. Postcards From The Edge is no exception. Nearly two decades into a lifer's voyage of shapeshifting through shadowy realms of the American underground, Guy Blakeslee, poses these and other conundrums on his dramatic new album, Postcards From The Edge (Entrance Records). Recorded in New Orleans at the house studio of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with former Sonic Ranch engineer and producer, Enrique Tena Padilla (Oh Sees, Wand), and featuring appearances from singers Lael Neale, Hale May, Rachel Fannan, and drummer Derek James of The Entrance Band, Postcards From The Edge is electrified by the spirit of sonic experimentation, and the fervent desire to chart a map into unknown territory. Across the record's seven tracks, Blakeslee's questing lyrics teem with stormy emotion, his plaintive voice finding succour in richly-textured melodies that soar over lushly-produced soundscapes, always on the verge of collapse. A wandering soul who has spent the better part of his musical life on the road, Blakeslee, a Baltimore native and LA transplant currently residing in the wilds of Virginia, has supported the likes of Spiritualized, Beach House, Cat Power, Mazzy Star, Interpol, and Father John Misty to name a few. "Seven tracks of questioning, tremulous, occasionally beautiful gospel-psych" - Uncut Magazine
Two years after the release of 'Kreise' Selm have once again peered out from the torture racked enclave they call a studio. Originally conceived as two separate EP's and later stacked into an all-consuming album over 44 minutes 'TiiiER / Post-Adrenaline' pushes Selm's agenda of black dwarf techno and physically exhausting industrial churning to new levels. The opening salvo of tracks that form the 'TiiiER' disc (tracks 1-5) posit a techno minimalism coated in the incredible, almost edible crust of controlled distortion and flaking edges garnered through masterful gain staging. Opener 'Sin' accrues greater density with each iteration and pass. 'Kreise' is classic DBX style beep ran into manic filters and weight gain classes.'Moger' is a truly sinister and clinical piece of industrial sound design raising blood pressure with its stainless steel poise. 'Laus' is a real percy, syncopated just the right side of falling over and baked into the toughest compression throbs. It closes the first 'disc' and perhaps what could be considered the more straight forward tracks of the album. 'Post-Adrenaline' the second disc of the set is where Selm's love of intensely textural sound design work can be best felt. 'Nineteen Voices' opens with its disembodied conversations utterly smothered by the roiling mass of bass synth which surrounds on all sides. 'Irr' terrifies the young with it's truly OTT undulance of seismic tone, as reverential to death industrial as it is to guitar music, the riff laid bare. 'Brett' is a damp, warm environment of intelligent growth. Fermenting itself again in a stew of gnashing bass heaviness now crowned with glowing bowed metal and tuned feedback. 'Sommeil' closes the second disc with not a single positive note played, it's a dreary escalation of all the albums previous incarnations, flickering noise shaped rhythm, serpentine bass formations and no rush to please or to entertain. At just under 6 minutes, it and the album are over. Selm do not hold up on this follow up to Kreise. While the albums share ideas they are refined to a point of punishment here. 'TiiiER / Post-Adrenaline' is hyper-modern music that sounds like it's made from air, stone and rust.
