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The visionaries at Bethesda, Arkane and Laced are bringing the twisted ’60s soundtrack for award-winning looper-shooter DEATHLOOP to wax.

The complete 59-track soundtrack has been specially mastered for vinyl and will be pressed onto heavyweight discs. These will come in spined inner sleeves housed in a rigid board slipcase. Tracklist curation and stunning original sleeve artwork is by the team at Arkane Lyon.

This Standard Edition quadruple LP box set features traditional black discs.

Lead composer Tom Salta has built an enviable credits list, with entries in the Prince of Persia, Tom Clancy and Halo universes to his name. For DEATHLOOP’s original score, he immersed himself in the music of Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Nelson Riddle and a host of other late-’60s influences. Layers of period-appropriate organs, synths and other instruments (including Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hammond B3) help maintain the tension as Colt picks off Eternalists from the shadows. As things get dicey, or Julianna intervenes with extreme prejudice, tracks explode into furious guitar and drum grooves that propel the zany, supernaturally enhanced gunplay.

Ross Tregenza’s multi-genre diegetic cues perfectly complement the psycho-sophisticate stylings of Blackreef’s artistically aspirational inhabitants, while songwriter Erich Talaba and singer Jeff Cummings brought to life the vicious visionary Frank Spicer with catchy in-universe songs. Music agency Sencit teamed up with powerful yet soulful vocalists for trailer and credits songs, including Bond-ish banger “Déjà Vu” (featuring FJØRA), “Pitch Black” (featuring Lady Blackbird) and “Down the Rabbit Hole” (featuring Samantha Howard & Haqq.)

Empathy is the codeword when it comes to The AM’s second solo EP: The ‘Sexworker’ EP. A short story through music and art, allowing you a moment to walk a mile in another seasoned professional’s shoes… Imagine life through her eyes, her thoughts, her feelings, her actions and motivations as her work takes her from flirty fun to a much more severe and fierce role as a vigilante, fighting for justice and retribution for women who’ve been abused and wronged. As the EP progresses, the further we’re plunged into this dark nocturnal world of carnal chaos, deceit and danger.

Sat in a not-so distant neon tomorrow, downtown Detroit, this is the vivid concept and narrative conjured by Detroit native, violinist-turned-techno artist The AM (Ann-Marie Teasley) Sliding into our collections since her debut tracks last year as one half of HLX-1, 2022 has been all about The AM solo releases; in March we had ‘Black Majik’ on Tresor. Now on Deeptrax ‘Sexworker’ is another revelation from the agenda-setting artist who’s crafted a completely immersive narrative that ranges from the playful electro beats of ‘Intercosmic Lap Dance’ to the runaway juggernaut ‘Black Galaxy’ (a collaboration with Scan 7's Track Masta Lou). Each track adding layers of tension and intrigue, cutting through the late night sleaze and exploitation with raw machine soul, ‘Sexworker’ is steeped in detail… But loaded with enough space for your imagination.

Fronted by a stark futuristic city artwork, ‘Sexworker’ takes place in The AM’s stomping ground but could just as easily happen anywhere in the world… Amsterdam, London and right now, our speakers. This bumps in an exciting yet timeless way. It’s AM 24/7 right now.

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DJ, Edit entrepreneur - Record Mission Records & Record dealer extraordinaire Nick The Record continues to deliver the goods via his Natural House label...

Joining forces on this one with Jaime Read to beautifully remake an underappreciated mid-80's jam.

The A Side is all about that Natural House sound, a solid 4/4 core, hooks galore and an atmospheric vibe for maximum effect on the floor.

Over on the B, Nick turns out a classic Disco interpretation, full of tension and release it's a big, big sound & absolutely guaranteed to be a staple across the coming summer & beyond...

In the year 2909, the first naturally-born human is found with endogenous AI code built into its DNA. As we cross into the 31st century, all living humans are controlled by a decentralized master AI known as MINDFRAME: The system has access to all of human consciousness with the ability to store and manipulate the data of every interaction and thought — even operating within your subconscious mind. It becomes impossible to know when or how you’re being controlled.

During each sleep cycle, our behaviors and memories are reformatted to align with MINDFRAMES control and order programming. Some have discovered that during these cycles, there are parts of the AI’s algorithm left exposed to extraction. Through meditative states, gifted cyber-shamans are now on a mission to reverse engineer enough of the AI to escape its grip and free us all.

FRANCOIS DILLINGER (Ben Worden) glides between the two worlds of electro and techno. His journey through the genres is dark while retaining a cerebral, dancefloor-oriented quality. This stems from influences of Industrial, Detroit’s rich history of electro, minimal techno, and even Ghettotech. In the studio, he uses primarily all external hardware and modular gear, utilizing Ableton for final arrangements and editing. His Live & DJ sets lean heavily into the generation of hypnotic loops, creating long protracted mixes between elements to form an unshakeable tension.

While he grew up an hour east of the Motor City, his musical roots were firmly planted there – taking hold over decades worth of defining moments in sound. As a fan, former promoter, and DJ he’s been a part of the Detroit scene for over 20 years, having lived there multiple different times. Currently, he also works with local Detroit label Infolines to manage branding and art direction alongside his wife, Ashely.

Prior to the MINDFRAME: CYCLES LP, he had released a track on SPEC-017’s VA release, and will feature a remix on an upcoming Specimen Records project as well. Early in 2021, his second album was released on Diffuse Reality featuring remixes from Keith Tucker/K1, Detroit’s Filthiest, and Squaric. Upcoming releases from DILLINGER include a variety of collaborative projects — Machine Men EP with Lloyd Stellar on LDI Records, an LP with Cyphon and Obzerv, and a number of VA releases with artists like RXMode (via Pareidolia Recordings), CYBEREIGN (via Science Cult), ADMN (via Infolines) and others. Look for other releases coming soon on Noise To Meet You, Roulette Rekordz, and Syntek Industries.

His previous releases have landed on Blind Allies, Natural Sciences, Dionysian Mysteries, Ukonx Recordings, Fanzine Records, and ZwaarteKracht—as well as a debut album on Narrow Gauge, ‘Chasing the Red’. Support for his music has come from the likes of Richie Hawtin, Dave Clarke, Jensen Interceptor, UMWELT, and others.

All artists are well known for their outstanding sound design and mixing skills. Get carried away by pounding drums and razor sharp hi-hat patterns. Intense synth workouts, nebulous atmospheres and well-chosen floating percussion parts are desi- gned to melt the boundaries between modern sci-fi sounds and 90s techno vibes.

This release is an absolute weapon and meant to create a higher state of tension and high voltage energy on any techno dance floor. ‘Insolate – Cosmic Paranoia’. The track’s kick drum has a clear crisp knock to it while the sub-bass swells and cradles around it perfectly. The sharp acid stabs in conjunction with this make it a very stomping track while the arpeggiated synth in the background flows with the voice resonance.

‘Mode_1 – Broken Machines’ is the second track on the EP and has a bit more depth and groove to it. The massive low end grooves beautifully with the flowing synth as well as the bright variations of hi-hats.

Next up we have ‘Elias the Prophet – Masochist’ which has a very bright kick and a wobbling bass that’s sure to make your chest rumble. The tight and delicate hats loosen up creating a washing of bright noise that flows over the track while the synth continues to send you into another realm.

The fourth track ‘Joton – Ziggurat’ fits perfectly due to the distressful synth. The track’s sub swells between every fourth and first beat while giving it space to ride smoothly beneath the kick drum between these intervals. The hats remain tight while the cymbals flow over the track creating even more tension.

repress

The music veers from post industrial heavy electronics with doomsday guitar punctuated with free jazz like woodwinds to ambient drone surf guitar found sound collage and back again.
One night Reuben Maher and Tony Maimone were sitting in a Brooklyn bar called Troost watching Marcus Cummins play solo soprano sax accompanied by one of those wind up toys that is a monkey playing cymbals. Several weeks later the trio met at Studio G Brooklyn and recorded several hours of improvised music. There were no overdubs. Mixes were done quickly and without much edititg. Tony (Pere Ubu) plays an old EML synthesizer which goes from pastoral clouds to industrial wreckage.Occasionally slide bass slinks through these mixes as well as a 70’s RMI electric piano playing ambient chords that cycle around and around.

Reuben Maher (FCAC) plays acid drenched psychedelic Fender Jazzmaster through pedals and loopers and two Fender Princetons, add to that Moog and Roland synthesizers all live. Throughout this weaves Marcus playing soprano, and alto saxophones sometimes individually sometime together ala Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Vexed Sphere is proud to present its first vinyl release, 'VS4 - Various Artists', featuring four techno producers based in North America. On the A side, Müzmin (San Francisco) delivers 'Acid Sag', a peak-time, twisting, mental, stomping frenzy, and JX-216 (San Francisco) provides a thunderous, percussive drum workout with 'Argenteum'. FadeFace (NYC) opens the B side with 'Dispatch', an infectious, intercosmic groove, and Sone (Seattle) closes the record with 'Serriform', a thick, tension-building, subterranean roller.

The Independent - 5 star Glastonbury set review “Making their Glastonbury review, IOW collective Plastic Mermaids are a joy to behold at the Croissant-Neuf stage.” New single 'Girl Boy Girl' Girl Boy Girl is an uncomfortable place, an unspoken awkwardness and tension. Always convoluting, never resolving. Just like this perpetual frustration when a relationship isn’t right but none has the language or understanding to fix it. And then thinking that adding a 3rd party to the mix is going to solve the problems…oh dear. We took some inspiration from the song ‘Night Call’ on the Drive soundtrack and also some of the slower Daft Punk tunes. Kinda wanted it to feel like something you’d stick on cruising in your car after dark in the 80’s. It has been two years since Plastic Mermaids released their critically acclaimed debut ‘Suddenly Everyone Explodes’, and now they return to spread some eagerly awaited blissed out joy with new single Disco Wings & b side Environmental with their second album due next year. The band have been working hard in the studio teaming up with producer Ant Whiting, who has worked with the likes of MIA, John Newman and Lana De Ray, in what proved to be an exciting mix of creative ideas.

Riding the razor’s edge between bristling electroacoustic wizardry and the constrained structures and harmonic interplay of musical minimalism, »Immanent in Nervous Activity« is Die Schachtel’s new release from the creative partnership of Giovanni Di Domenico and Jim O’Rourke.

Comprising a single long-form work, divided into two movements that culminate as a second chapter to the duo’s 2015 LP, »Arco« - an album which endeavored, on visionary terms, after the potential of waiting and patience as means toward musical form - their latest adventure - recorded in Japan with further contributions by Eiko Ishibashi on flute and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto on snare - rolls at a glacial pace, deftly weaving tension into restrained sheets of tonality, texture, and harmonic dissonance that ripple with microscopic detail and a stunning sense of structure.

After almost a decade-long hiatus, cult 6-piece MFMB announced their
return with the long-awaited album - Sugar
The followup to 2012's critically- acclaimed "Colossus", "Sugar" revives the dark
and driven alt- rock the Swedes made their name with - equal parts rigor and
finesse, wracked with nervous tension. This time around, however, a democratic
approach to the writing process was decided on, with each member contributing
equally to the sound and feel of the record. The result is unmistakably the sound
of MFMB, but reinvented for these tempestuous times. The making of the album
is a story in itself. "Sugar" is seven years in the making. It has been a bumpy ride.
They were not always the best of friends. Priorities changed. Members quit, then
joined again. It was never easy. We believe you can hear it on the album, how
every song is a result of differing opinions fighting it out until they landed. In the
end, it's MFMB, but ringing purer than ever before. MFMB have remained prolific
throughout their hiatus, which includes Joakim Lindberg becoming one of the
underground scene's most in- demand producers, working with the likes of Hey
Elbow, Spunsugar, This Is Head, and many more.

Bolam is back on Space Dust with the 'Lost In Time' EP, a continuation of the journey started with the widely acclaimed 'Suspended Animation'. Another well-rounded and diverse record dives into the wormhole with ’Moving Lights’, a high-energy affair propelled by filtering resonators and a haunting vocal. ’Ozone’ breaks through the stratosphere of a new world, a huge track with electro-inspired groove, booming kicks and a razor-sharp lead melody, creating a feeling of uncertainty and delirium with swelling pads and arpeggiators.

The B-side begins with the mysterious and epic, genre-defying anthem ’Air Tension’, enticing the listener into the strange new world with a chugging rhythm, tantalising textures and an indescribable melody that keeps you on the line between paranoia and euphoria. ’Bioluminescence’ descends into an alien jungle, with a hypnotic, dreamy, downtempo beat and iridescent synths and chords. Finally, as you lay down in the otherworldly glade, the record wraps up with the ethereal, ambient finisher, ‘2 Parsecs From Home’.

Khidja continue to develop their tripped out vision with their first full EP for Hivern since 2019's 'Impossible Holiday'. In 'Something In The Water' the Romanian duo presents three new tracks that drift between genres and moods through open minded studio experimentation. "The Future Has Disappeared" and "Back To Vid" rely on contrasting sound palettes and a smart use of the stereo field to build up tension while 'Science of Ghosts' is an expansive number of galactic electro-funk. The 12" features a stripped out mystical remix by Azu Tiwaline while the digital release includes two extra oddball dancefloor cuts. Artwork by cm-dp.

Temples is a tempting invitation into another world, full of light and movement. From the second the synth comes in this track has got us deep in its pocket. Shotter manages something that is hard to achieve - he has us floating completely, yet steadily carried by tip-toeing metallic rhythm elements and the relentless swells of bright synths. The game changer in the second half is a new, gritty bass quality, which couldn't roll in any more fiercely. At its fullest the track has us in an uncompromising trance, a relentless movement that we don't ever want to escape from. Breaking back down to pleasantly gentle hi-hat reverb-tails and inducing synth patterns Temples lets us down easy, with the unspoken promise to return.

Ueno claims the room to itself completely and immediately. The rise and fall of melodic synth lines lead us through a labyrinth at first, leaving plenty of space for imagination. Before we notice playful call-and-response rhythms are teasing our ears, until the track surrenders itself to an ever-growing wave of synth patterns and their behind-the-beat-delay. It climaxes into a haunting silence with tenuous high-pitched sounds and a clear outer space feel. Finally, all elements lock into a comforting groove, driving us forward, not too fast, not too slow - exactly right.

The track starts off with a blissfully nostalgic vintage-feel - slightly muffled, like the humbling quality you get from an old Technics playing your favourite LP. But don't be fooled, Cube March is bold. And unexpected. Stomping rhythms take over quickly and full-blown gritty synth-stabs cut the air effortlessly, like blades. An unapologetic and careless pumping bass line makes us want to move with every cell in our body. Shotter demonstrates his fearlessness in experimenting with heavy contrasts and elements from different genres here. A break with tastefully placed repetitive rhythm elements is complemented by the constant ebb and flow of melody lines. Both in volume and presence they fluctuate, one handing over the spotlight to the other seamlessly, keeping us hooked until the very end.

This remix lures you away from reality in a matter of seconds, with Definition's signature heavy hitting bass dominating. He expertly weaves shimmery fills into buoyant synth lines and brings us a skilful mix of dark minimal techno, breaks and infectious monster synth lines. Every so often, he adds a new layer, increasing the depth of the track, before letting it all crumble in a breakdown where time stops and tension grows, as we impatiently await the next rise to carry us away. The lengthy build-ups give this remix the energy to fill any room, easily. It is subtle, yet propulsive, too - a lane that Definition seems to manage regularly.

Egyptian artist Hassan Abou Alam debuts on Nehza Records. On Ice, the producer and DJ delivers a 4-track collection of unusual textures that glide through multiple soundscapes, including techno, breaks, bass and unclassifiable noise.

The opener "Shmoolaire" starts with a skittery drum pattern before descending into a squelchy bassline while squeaky vocal clips snake through the track. It's weird, wonky and the perfect dancefloor curveball. Dominated by massive drums, the title track blends a sultry vocal with bleepy percussion, conjuring a sticky atmosphere. Things get spooky on "Hollow In C#" as Hassan pairs a voice saturated in reverb with chugging drums and eerie pads. Freaky but fierce. The closing track "Lost In A Jar Of Thyme" ends on a distinct note. A warbling bassline slithers throughout the track as siren-like sound FX and hyperactive drums evoke tension. A true artist aligned with the vibe of Nehza Records.

Hassan Abou Alam has spent the last decade exploring several sound palettes and genres, from breaks to techno to bass. Today, his curiosity is unwavering. Hassan produces music with a hybrid setup of analog and digital instruments, conveying organised but compelling chaos that's won him legions of fans worldwide.

Tape
"Samples, movies and beats. That's the essence of Dead End's brand new LP titled Kino Vol.1. The Portuguese producer takes the chair and delivers a masterful performance that combines music and cinema. Kino Vol.1 is a multidisciplinary album built around samples picked from some of his most loved blockbusters and inspired by iconic movie clips. For the occasion, Saturate's Instagram profile has turned into a video gallery, featuring footage from cult movies and series such as The Office, Sicario, A Fistful Of Dollars, perfectly synched with Dead End's productions.
The album experience itself resembles that of a mini-series like Netflix's Love Death Robot or Oat Studios, where every episode is a story on its own, written and shot in a different way. The fourteen tracks, or episodes as I like to call them, range from heavy club to hip hop and halftime. Some are more colorful and atmospheric like the ending tripled composed by 'Cocoon,' 'Voyage' (feat Dj Ride) and 'Flowers Bloom'. These cuts seem to come off reflective and introspective movies. Others are way heavier, as they were made straight for fighting and chase scenes. In this group, you can count 'Melee Attack,' 'Though Break,' 'Stealth', 'Thin Ice'. My favorite instead are those which set up an ambiguous and sinister mood. 'Bullit Drift,' 'The Fog,' 'Shindeiru,' 'The Road,' all these episodes could fit very well in both mental thrillers (a la Nolan) and unconventional psycho/horror movies. They build a palpable tension that successfully keeps me on my toes as I expect a jump scare or a sudden plot twist to come in at every second given.
In conclusion, Dead Ends' Kino Vol.1 has the virtue of creating a listening experience that, thanks to its references to the world of cinema, becomes interactive and involves the listener in first person. It's impossible not to try to figure out from which films the samples are taken or to try to imagine which scene would be perfect for a specific track."

In a world hurtling towards new frontiers of horror on a daily basis, there’s precious little time for pause. For the self respecting artist, the only reasonable solution is psychic warfare. Such is the terrain of Petbrick on the titanic and transformative Liminal. Here on their second album the duo of Wayne Adams (Big Lad/Johnny Broke) and Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura/Cavalera Conspiracy/Soulwax) lays waste to all or any constrictions in its path, Blending a vast sonic landscape with a relentless compunction to break the pain barrier, Liminal is a dizzying exercise in overdrive which can take in industrial abrasions, pulverising rhythmic drive, acid-damaged freakery, cinematic tension and balladic gravitas in disarmingly coherent fashion. Other heads and personalities also came on board to add richness and intrigue to the onslaught - “I believe we got an amazing team of collaborators - from old school friends like Neurosis’ Steve Von Tilll and Converge’s Jacob Bannon to new school artists like Paula Rebbeledo from Rakta and New York doom rappers Lord Goat and Truck Jewelz” notes Iggor. This is an album birthed in difficult times and expressly engaged with raging against the dying of the light. As Iggor puts it “Liminal is an insane mirror of what being isolated feels like - madness through noise experimentations” An alchemical vision fit to both elevate the spirit and destroy everything in its path, ‘Liminal’ is the sound of Petbrick blasting their way through the boundaries of a fresh hell. Tracks: 01. Primer 02. Arboria 03. Pigeon Kick 04. Raijin 05. Lysergic Aura (Feat. Lord Goat & Truck Jewelz) 06. Damballa 07. Ayan 08. Grind You Dull (Feat. Jake Bannon) 09. Chemical Returns 10. Distorted Peace (Feat. Paula Rebellato) 11. Reckoning (Feat. Steve Von Till

Following a series of remastered gems from M-Plant's back catalogue for the "Perpetual Masters" series, Robert Hood now delivers his first new release since his 2021 Monobox album.

The release features two peak-time heavy hitters, starting out with 'Hectic' and its siren-like stabs calling out for people to join the dancefloor, while building the tension throughout; a skill for which Hood has become well known for.

Meanwhile 'Amazon Dust' takes things deeper and is somewhat reminiscent of the work on his Monobox 'Regenerate' album of last year.

Scissor Kick delivers careful introspection, experimentation, and rich conceptual development. The beatless interludes and expansive sound worlds that stuck out their heads on earlier releases are embraced in full here. It’s claustrophobic, but space is found in the right areas; tension and release to the nth degree, never becoming a trope. Percussion remains, but slowed to a crawl.

The Blackploid resurgence of recent years continues to gather steam. After laying dormant for some time, Martin Matiske's project roared back into life in 2021 with a pair of EPs for Central Processing Unit. It doesn't look like he'll be taking his foot off the gas any time soon - not only does the new Blackploid collectionPlanetary Sciencecomplete Matiske's hat-trick for the Sheffield label, but it also serves as a prelude to the full-length album which Blackploid will deliver on CPU in 2023.

If that LP is as good as the tracks we get here, then it's safe to say that we're on to a winner. This EP contains a quartet of top-tier machine-funk productions, the kind of crisp post-Drexciya joints we've come to know and love Blackploid for. Each track onPlanetary Sciencemakes good on the record's title by delivering club tackle flecked with FX which sound distinctly like spaceships blasting off into the cosmos.

There is also progression acrossPlanetary Science. While it still aims for the dancefloor,Planetary Scienceis a somewhat more textured listen than eitherStrange StarsorCosmic Traveler, Blackploid's previous CPU drops. Most notable is the increased use of synth pads, with Matiske draping chord progressions over all of these tracks in order to give his music a newfound depth.

Blackploid's subtle evolution is clear from the opening track. 'Dimension Unknown' may begin with a precision-engineered groove reminiscent of an early Legowelt joint, but things soon soften with the introduction of some rich keyboard chords. A few well-chosen bleeps and bloops flit in and out of the mix, but whereas some would use these to scuff up the track further here they are warm and playful.

The more confrontational stance of following cut 'Magnetron' makes it a yin to 'Dimension Unknown's yang. Blackploid works with similar tools here - machine-gun beat programming, chords playing off boinging bass - but there is a tension and buzz to the track which isn't apparent on its predecessor. The synths have a slight Eighties deep space thriller vibe about them, and the FX cut through the mix with more bite.

'Magnetron's energy carries through to 'Wire', the first track on thePlanetary ScienceB-side. Here a big, brutish bassline takes centre stage from the off, a chunk squarewave equal-parts Dopplereffekt and early Eskibeat. Around this swirls a queasy brew of synthesised tones, with the component parts all arranged in order to channel 'Magnetron's sense of unease.

Planetary Sciencecloses out with 'Neurotransmitter'. On this cut, Blackploid returns somewhat to where we started off, finding a midpoint between 'Dimension Unknown's more spacious feel and the livewire flavour of 'Magnetron' and 'Wire'. Tension remains, particularly when Matiske serves up one of the EP's snakiest basslines, but there's also a deftness to the synth pads here which makes 'Neurotransmitter' a little softer around the edges.

Blackploid limbers up for a forthcoming full-length on Central Processing Unit withPlanetary Science, an EP of stargazing electro joints that quietly expand the project's sonic world.

RIYL:Drexciya, Dopplereffekt, DMX Krew, I-F, Annie Hall

Repress!

Note - Sleeve says contains a bonus CD, these represses do not have a bonus CD, they have a download card.

Fire Records will be reissuing the first 3 albums by the Lemonheads, Hate Your Friends (1987), Creator (1988) and Lick (1989), featuring copious bonus tracks and many never-before released rarities and live recordings on the download card. Together, these seminal albums showcase the band's early punk rock roots and trace the Lemonheads’ transformation towards becoming one of the most successful and influential bands in indie rock. Before the 90s. Before the internet. Before Nevermind. Back when something called “independent music” first began reaching a wider audience, through college radio, word-of-mouth, and that small “underground” record store you seem to find in every town…there was a band from Boston called Lemonheads. High school friends Ben Deily and Evan Dando, Lemonheads’ primary songwriters, co-guitarists and co-vocalists, first recorded together on 4-track cassette in the spring of 1985; by the end of the decade they—together with bass player Jesse Peretz, sometimes-guitarist Corey Brennan, and successive drummers Doug Trachten and John P. Strohm—had created a body of recordings which would see them on MTV’s fledgling “120 Minutes,” beating out the Grateful Dead on college radio charts, and entering the consciousness of a generation of music fans. Cited as influences by artists as varied as Billie Joe Armstrong and Ryan Adams, these fledgling Lemonheads recordings—part rock, part pop, part unique hybrid of the 80s punk styles beloved by the band members—mark the start of the trajectory that would eventually lead to “mainstream” success and stardom for a later version of the band. But they also represent a distinct, never-repeated phase of the band’s history: one that is finally receiving the attention it deserves. Lick is the third full-length album by the Lemonheads, and the last to feature founding member Ben Deily. It was the group's last independent label-released album before signing to major label Atlantic. An odd mixture of brand-new, and considerably older, sounds, 1989’s Lick brings together the output of several distinct recording sources: six brand new songs recorded with Minneapolis-based band friend and producer Terry Katzman, and a collection of older, B-side and never-released material originally overseen by producer and engineer Tom Hamilton. The difficulties of writing and creating a new full-length album every year (Hate Your Friends and Creator were released in 1987 and 1988, respectively) are clearly in evidence on Lick. While the newest material (“Mallo Cup,” “A Circle of One,” “7 Powers,” “Anyway”) hints at promising new song writing directions for both Deily and Dando, there’s an almost valedictory sense of the past in the inclusion of versions of “Glad I Don’t Know” and “I Am a Rabbit” (from the band’s first-ever, self-released EP), and the now-classic track “Ever,” a previously-unreleased tune from the original 1986 Hate Your Friends sessions. At moments, Lick almost sounds like an elegy for itself—or an elegy for a band that has reached the end of the beginning. Also audible in the heterogeneous songs are the tensions of line-up changes—and inchoate, growing frustrations. After various band break-ups or threatened break ups (such as Dando’s brief departure to play bass for Boston band the Blake Babies), the Lemonheads convened to record new material for Lick now featured Dando on drums, Peretz on bass, Deily on guitar (and “piano,” according to the album credits) along with the addition of long-time band friend—and former member of TAANG! labelmates Bullet LaVolta—Corey Loog Brennan on lead guitar. And yet the frenzied, quasi-ironic hammer-ons of Corey’s axe provide some of Lick’s most entertaining moments—like the unaccountably-translated-into-Italian paen to 70s detective Ironside, “Cazzo Di Ferro.” (The song’s music was originally composed by Brennan for his Italian punk band, Superfetazione.) After the album’s completion, Deily opted out of the subsequent European tour, before leaving the band permanently. Jesse Peretz stayed on to record their Atlantic records debut Lovey, but left after the supporting tour in '91. Since then, Dando has been the Lemonheads' sole permanent member. BONUS TRACKS: Features bonus tracks including several never-before-released live tracks from a 1987 radio session, live tracks and an interview from the 1989 European tour, and the 4 tracks of the Lemonheads self-released debut EP, Laughing all the way to the cleaners.

Grey Marbled Vinyl

Clear water hits the surface of a grainy ball. The stream slowly dissolves and flows down the spherical structure until it finally drops on a candle. The flame extinguishes; fragile streaks of smoke ascend until they hit the rough surface of the colossal globe again.
The cover art to Marble Arch, the second long-player of Vienna- and Berlin-based artists Oberst & Buchner, depicts masterly the dramatic juxtapositions the musicians have always been reflecting in their musical outcome.
The massive density of a giant sound wall is contrasted by spacious openness. Fragile sonic details are sparkling out of colossal pitch-black clouds. The songs are filled with gentle warmth and cold roughness, bright digital clarity and deep analogue crackle, ranging in style from pulsating dark-disco over classic pop to experimental ambient.
The duo's two-week artist residency in a 250-year-old house, located in the mystic landscape of the Bavarian woods set this specific mood for the 10-track album which became a mixture of electronic synthesis, organic instrumentals and field recordings. Heavy-weight basslines in combination with bitter-sweet orchestral instrumentation and the minutiae of precise percussion recordings and drum programming are the characteristics that formed the sound of Marble Arch.
Oberst & Buchner's way to deal with tension is in how they compose their song structures as extreme arcs of suspense in a near classical manner. Their intense dynamic arrangements always alternate between rise and explosion or implosion and fall. This way the compositions pick up the motive of creation and destruction throughout the long-player in the same way as the cover-art.
Taken together, all these fragments form the duo`s signature cinematic articulation of dramatic slowed down club music and moments of surprise.

BIO
Oberst & Buchner are two friends and musicians living in Vienna and Berlin. They look back on a mutual musical journey that is as rich in variety as it is more then 15 years long. For one thing, countless high-energy DJ sets in clubs and at festivals all over Europe in recent years have earned them a reputation as a dynamic duo infernale. At the same time, their own productions draw from the full palette of moods and emotions.
Boiled down to the very essence, there's one common denominator running through the duo's musical works: colossally massive elements are masterfully set against a shimmering backdrop of incredibly detailed layers. Each so full of subtle suspense that they feel like the first raindrops before a monstrous thunderstorm. You can literally hear the calm before the storm in every break they build up, then feel the force of the wind in your face when it hits you.
Ranging from pulsating electronica over slow organic sounds derived from both nature and acoustic instruments to deep dance pop ballads, their songs are full of suspense and packed with drama. In their productions, the two friends conjure up soundscapes that are extremely dense and at the same time infinitely open and spacious. Within this framework, they play with stark contrasts of antithetic elements: repetition and improvisation, functionality and emotions, emptiness and overload, clarity and crackling.

Deep-listening organ piece from Malaysia-born, Berlin-based composer Rishin Singh, performed by Martin Sturm on the Lizst organ in Thuringia, Germany. RIYL: Kali Malone, Anna von-Hausswolff - "An endless and captivating exploration of one organ's timbres and tones. Both whispered and shouted, large and small, close and far, Singh's work is both unsettling and a balm, and has invited me to reconsider pitch, consonance, dissonance, tension and release." – Clarice Jensen, artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) In the 1850s the influential composer Franz Liszt, who was living in Weimar, Germany at the time, carried out, with the famous cantor Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg, a series of “ländlichen Orgelexperimente” (rural organ experiments) in Thuringia – investigating various instruments and their capabilities for contemporary music. They eventually settled on the organ in Denstedt because of its high quality. Many years later, award-winning organist Martin Sturm would invite the Berlin-based composer Rishin Singh to repeat these “ländlichen Orgelexperimente” with him and they again chose the organ at Denstedt, now named in honour of Liszt, as the best instrument – the most flexible and expressive – to perform and record Singh's music for organ. mewl infans is a contemporary classical piece that invites modern listeners to ponder the enduring pull of an instrument that was first conceived more than 2,000 years ago and has, in recent years, been rediscovered by a new generation of composers and listeners. Throughout the larger architecture of the four movements, melodic motifs return over and over, fractured by noise, fragmented by carefully calibrated alternate tunings, dissolving into thin air, and generating drones which then transform into new melodic variations. Over the 44 minutes of the piece the organist at times attempts to exert complete control over the instrument, and at other times relinquishes all control entirely. Conceptually rigorous and emotionally charged, mewl infans rewards deep listening and patience. At times conjuring a sense of doom, at other times suspense, pastoral drift, or aquatic submersion, the album is a universe of tiny details comprised of noise and air, of the journey each tone takes from birth to expiration. HIGHLIGHTS: – Singh has been commissioned by the GRAMMY-nominated JACK Quartet. Premiere in NYC Spring 2023 – Collaborations between Singh and Sturm are ongoing: Sturm will premiere Singh’s concerto for organ, timpani, and string orchestra later this year – Sturm is the youngest professor of organ in German history – The debut album from Singh‘s ensemble Leider, A Fog Like Liars Loving, was released by Beacon Sound in May of 2021 Bios: Martin Sturm, born 1992 in South Germany, in an International award-winning organist (ION, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Festival St Albans, Haarlem, Bavarian Culture Prize, and Keck-Köppe Foundation). He performs regularly as an interpreter and organ improviser at festivals, churches, and concert halls around the world. In 2019 he was appointed Professor for Organ and Organ Improvisation at the University of Music “Franz Liszt” in Weimar (Germany), after teaching at the Universities of Music in Würzburg and Leipzig. Rishin Singh (b. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is a composer and trombonist living in Berlin. He has been commissioned to compose for the JACK Quartet (US), Piano+ (US), Claire Edwardes (AUS), DNK Ensemble (NL), Prof. Martin Sturm (DE), the Amsterdam Wandelweiser Festival (NL), Quiet Music Ensemble (IE), and others. Upcoming premieres include “every day” a concerto for organ, timpani, and string orchestra (Martin Sturm, Thuringia, 2022), and “melancholy objects” a string quartet (the JACK Quartet, New York, Spring 2023). He is currently working on his first chamber opera and is the composer and lyricist for the art song ensemble Leider.

"Matasuna Records" returns to Mexico for a third time to dig for rare treasures. They got their hands on a special gem - two obscure Latin/Jazzfunk tunes by a band called "Colorado" from "Mexico City". The songs were released in 1976 on the Mexican label Peerless and the super rare original 7inch is virtually unavailable. Fortunately, the release is finally available for the first time as an official reissue in a remastered edition. An unjustly under-the-radar Latin jazzfunk highlight!

The song "Colorado", named after the band, opens the "A-side" of the single. The hypnotic fender rhodes puts the listener in the right mood right from the start, before the drums and percussion set the rhythm. The horns also add depth and melodiousness before the song takes a turn and reveals its funky side with guitars, synths and bass. A nice guitar solo also reveals the affinity for rock music without losing sight of the vibe of the song or tipping it a different direction. Definitely a fabulous song that comes up with a lot of ideas and inspirations, offering an unexpected richness in the under 3-minute running time.

The "B-side" also continues musically energetic in the same way with "Para Ti". Here, too, you can feel and hear the playfulness and experimentation of these extraordinary musicians. Atmospherically dense passages alternate with quieter phases and solo parts, before the tension rises again and literally explodes. As in the song "Colorado", rhodes, brass, guitars & bass offer a great and varied interplay. The secret highlight, however, might be the drum and percussion parts in the middle of the track, which will surely enchant not only the B-Boys and B-Girls.

Artist info:

The internet, a source of almost endless knowledge, offers no information about the band Colorado. All the more fortunate that one of the band's founding members, "Emilio Espinosa Becerra", provides detailed info for the reissue.

In 1968 the three brothers "Luis", "Francisco" and "Emilio Espinosa Becerra" from Mexico City started to rehearse together to play wellknown rock & pop songs at friends or family parties. At first, they played on Japanese guitars and a Teisco bass borrowed from a school friend. They saved up money to then buy guitar & bass amps and a microphone, which they always had to rent until then. However, the budget was only enough for Mexican replicas of the legendary Fender Bassman and the Fender Super Reverb. Original equipment was simply unaffordable.

Shortly thereafter, more members joined the band. Three musicians from the school band "Tepeyac": "Marco Nieto Bermudez" (trumpet), "Raymundo Mier Garza" (tenor saxophone) and "Alfonso Romero" (trombone). Another classmate named "Carlos Mauricio Fernández Ordóñez", who studied piano, also joined the group. His father had a chemical factory in the United States and helped bring equipment (amplifiers and a Farfisa Fast 5 organ) - hidden in the back of a truck - to Mexico. In the time that followed, more instruments were acquired, including bass and guitars (from Gibson, Rickenbacher and Fender) and microphones (from Shure) for vocals and horns.

With a larger band and new equipment, they played many parties in their district of "Lindavista" in "Mexico City" and neighboring areas from 1970 to 1973, as well as gigs at various festivals and school events. The group's band name at the time was "Sound Core Brass". However, more and more often people with turntables and speakers showed up at parties, which were also able to heat up. The so-called "Sonideros", a sound system culture that was emerging in the 1960s, charged less than a multi-piece live band, so the band's performances declined.

During those years, three other "Espinosa Becerra" family members joined the band: "Jorge Rafael" (trombone), "Sergio Alejandro" (tenor saxophone) and "Felipe de Jesus" (drums and percussion).

A brother of the musicians, "Carlos Espinosa Becerra", studied electrical engineering at the University. Together with another fellow student, he designed and built a 10-channel console with a variety of functions and features that far surpassed the devices available at the time. They also went to the US again to buy JBL speakers & tweeters to build their own sound system. On another trip to Los Angeles, they bought Phase Linear amplifiers, which offered enormous power by the standards of the time and had an extremely low distortion factor. With this equipment they could turn up the volume really loud and noise-free.

This was also the time when they stopped playing music from English bands & youth groups and changed their repertoire completely. They played mambos, chachachas, pasodobles and tangos on special occasions in big ballrooms and halls. Also, every now and then they hired a string quartet of well-known Mexican violinists to provide the musical entertainment at dinner events.

During those years, classmate "Pablo Rached Diaz" joined the band, playing tenor saxophone. Pablo was very active and organized many parties. He was also the one who helped the band to record on the Mexican label "Peerless". So in 1975 they were asked by Peerles Records to record their own songs. They had recorded a total of 12 songs - six of these songs were released on three vinyl singles (45rpm). Most of the songs were composed by "Gustavo Ruiz de Chavez Sr.". The band was asked to adopt a more commercial name, and so they had chosen the band name "Colorado". In the course of the releases, the band made some promotional tours and appeared in shows on "Televisa", the most important television station in Mexico in those years.

Later, several members of "Colorado" graduated and began to pursue regular professions. They didn't stop playing at events, but priority was given to more formal duties and the band was no longer as active as it had been in its heyday.

About 8 years ago, the band got back together to play again. The next generation of musicians also joined the band: two sons, a nephew and a brother-in-law of the original band members. Currently, they are back playing at friends' parties and family gatherings in Mexico City.

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.

(Cargo Collective Title) RIYL: Silver Mt Zion, Rachel’s, Grails & Do Make Say Think. 180g LP, custom window-cut letterpress jacket with artworked 300gsm inner + DL. Esmerine presents Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, its first album in five years, following a celebrated run of Juno Award winning and nominated records throughout the preceding decade. Founded by ex-Godspeed You! Black Emperor percussionist Bruce Cawdron and cellist Rebecca Foon (Saltland, Silver Mt Zion, Set Fire To Flames), the acclaimed instrumental music ensemble and 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. Esmerine conjures a distinctive and immediately identifiable sound that consistently defies the trappings of “fusion”, forging emotive cinematic soundtracks under the overriding sonic sensibilities of postpunk grit, Wall-of-Sound, drone and dark ambient. Recorded by longtime co-producer Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes), the new album manifestly carries on in this fine tradition. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More completes Esmerine’s “Anthropocene” triptych: a series of album-length meditations that began in 2015. The album title itself has minor meme status in eco-artistic circles, appropriated from its original context Alex Yurchak’s 2005 book about the collapse of Soviet Russia by several exhibitions and works interrogating artistic production in the age of environmental crisis. (Foon is also well-known for her climate activism as co-founder of Pathway To Paris.) The album grapples with existential tensions between atmosphere and airlessness, seclusion and claustrophobia, forbearance and satiation, scarcity and abundance; it is one of Esmerine’s most restrained and wistful works. Instrumental densities ebb and flow, melding into each other with gauzy timbral warmth, sometimes tracing fleeting tendrils outwards, but always rotating around the saturnine gravitational force of a darkly glowing sonic center. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More is like a somber 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.Esmerine planted these compositional seeds before pandemic rooted everyone in place, under the auspices of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and a 2019 residency at Le Château de Monthelon in France. Lasek then began documenting the band between lockdowns in various stripped-down configurations with spartan remote equipment at the rural Québec homesteads of Cawdron and Foon, culminating in final sessions at Foon’s converted barn in summer/fall 2021, notably with extensive use of the barn’s resonant acoustic piano. Brian Sanderson appears on his fourth Esmerine album since joining in 2012, continuing to expand the ensemble’s ethnomusicological sensibility and melodic sound palette with guitars, ngoni, ekonting, hulusi, and brass horns of all sorts. Everything Was Forever… also signals the full integration of bassist Philippe Charbonneau, who joined Esmerine as a touring member pre-pandemic and plays throughout the new album, along with sound design contributions via synth, tape echo and other processing. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More features the pandemic collage artwork of Maciek Sczcerbowksi, in a second Esmerine album art collaboration following their Juno award for Album Package of the Year for Lost Voices in 2015.

When Rey Sapienz was eight years old, the Democratic Republic of Congo was plunged into the Second Congo War. The conflict last five years and was the bloodiest since World War II, leaving an indelible mark on East Africa and creating mass displacement and loss of life. But Sapienz endured, cutting his teeth as a young rapper at twelve, first performing to celebrate Congo's independence day. When he finished school, he headed to nearby Kampala to hone his craft and collaborate with local producers. But civil war broke out back home and he was forced to extend his stay in Uganda. Since then, Sapienz has established himself as a force to be reckoned with, co-founding the Hakuna Kulala label, teaching his Ableton Live skills to Kampala's young producers and releasing two acclaimed EPs. For his debut album, Sapienz embarks on an ambitious project that travels beyond the avant beatscapes of his early material. Alongside traditional percussionist, vocalist and dancer Papalas Palata and rapper Fresh Doggis, he has formed The Congo Techno Ensemble, utilizing their skills and experience to offer a statement that speaks to the past, present and future of the DRC. On "Eza Makambo", the trio channel rich musical traditions and historic tension, evolving electronic and traditional forms into boundless sci-fi mutations. The track breaks open the stories all three artists accumulated in the DRC, augmenting radioactive techno-dancehall beats with radical, open-hearted words and rhymes. "Eza Makambo" is a heady cocktail of stylistic futurism and harsh reality that could be compared with Zizou Bikaye's seminal "Noir et Blanc or Danis Mpunga & Paul K.'s genre-breaking electronic experiments. But marked by the DRC's recent scars, it's a critical work that stands painfully alone.

After her stunning release on our deeper House focused Karakul label, we are over the moon to welcome back Swiss producer Lea Lisa on our main Phonica imprint.

The ‘Love To The End EP’ takes influence and inspiration from a particular early 90s UK Techno rarity by Mark Goddard titled ‘The End’ (The Truth EP), a beautiful and emotive take on the classic sound of UK Techno that’s been much loved and highly sought after for decades, even being a particular favourite of Aphex Twin. It’s an ode to the original, rather than a remix or cover. The two mixes re-imagine the sound of soulful and deep Techno, combining driving basslines and drum machine grooves with atmospheric and nostalgic synth lines.

On the A-Side’s ‘Manchester Club Mix’, the focus is laser focused on peaktime dancefloors with a slowly building level of euphoria matched with rolling drums until the breakdown chills the mood and the plucky, earth shaking bassline returns before the tension is released and the melodies float effortlessly around the pounding rhythm.

Over on the B-Side, the ‘Sunset Mix’ jacks up the drums with kicks and claps that shake your spine. The bassline rolls steadily throughout the mix but the melodic lines this time are more restrained, introspective and subtle, echoing and harking to past rave memories with ease...

CHARLES MINGUS (1922 – 1979)

At the end of the Fifties, hard bop was something else looking for a way out. The inexorable cycle of avant-garde trends needed renewal. These were years when both sides of the Atlantic saw wide-reaching deconstruction in philosophy, painting and music. Everything that seemed to belong to a healthy, normal, established order was seen with the most scrupulous scepticism.

In the history of art, successive pivotal years have always had an artificial aspect while at the same time they have revealed the state of an art that would define a new aesthetic. 1913… 1922 … 1959 … The Shape of Jazz to Come, Kind of Blue, Time Out, Ah Um … When creative minds decoded the structures of an art that was current, it was time to discover new ones. Charles Mingus was one of those who deconstructed, a creator and inventor who marked out a path for the other artists to come.

Long before Lina Seybold became a geologist, the singer and guitarist was already writing songs and making a name for herself far beyond the city limits of Munich with her Steve Albini-trained (and produced) quartet candelilla, before the band dispersed into new projects. During her studies, she met Moritz Gamperl and the two realised that what they learned in rock research could also play a role in rock music. Thus, the material history of the planet became both a source of existential reflections for the two and the impetus for a highly accomplished and often graceful sound, which has been expressed in the band pirx together with drummer Sascha Saygin since 2019: Technically sovereign, obstinate songs that - with Seybold now on bass and vocals - create subtle dramaturgies, cinematic aesthetics, far-reaching arcs of tension.

With Lamina, the trio now presents an excellent debut album, recorded by Martin M. Hermann, which shoots out of the earth with explosive force as hot lava, only to flow into the valley in glowing beauty the next moment, changing the earth's surface, telling of elemental forces - until it finally evaporates the water in the sea and lays a comatose fog over all existence. Or in other words: pirx make creation music, in all directions of time!

Hailing from Columbus, Ohio and bringing some of the Midwestern techno energy that makes scenes in nearby Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit so revered, Shut Off Notice means business from the get-go. The first release on the label is a debut appearance from Rarelife, who knows exactly how to elicit the kind of nerve-shredding tension that makes a deep-in-the-night dancefloor take off. 'ALONE/alone' is a taut, hypnotic workout, which gets remixed into a trippier reverb freakout by FBK. FBK also delivers a remix of 'Endo.' which gets into the realms of Rrose-flavoured psych-out gear, and then Rarelife seals the deal with the edge of the world ambience of 'Solvent Swamp'.

Cocoon Recordings presents: Cocoon Compilation T

Limited Vinyl Box Set including 6x blue vinyl & download code

Another year, another expertly curated compilation touches down courtesy of Cocoon Recordings. Somehow, the world keeps turning and with it the Cocoon universe keeps expanding, causing subtle yet persuasive shifts in the sonic soundscape that continue to
capture and captivate the imagination. In time-honored tradition the old guard and the new combine with devastating effect, to define the current state of play…
Veteran Techno producer Stephen Brown makes it clear the compilation series is back with a bang, opening things up in epic fashion with the lucid dreamscape ‘Level Steps’ - a true work of art. Another heavy-weight hitter steps straight up in the form of Claude von Stroke, who adds his own unique swagger to proceedings with those trademark shuffling beats and freaky, hypnotic bleeps scuffling for dominance on ‘Moody Fuse’. Denis Horvat then slows things down on ‘Monomono’, with post-raveNew Release Information
abstractions and disobedient synth-patches causing mayhem before the track finally unfolds in all its terrifying beauty.
Motoring on, the collection wastes no time reaching that familiar tipping point as we enter the techno phase of the journey. A very special appearance from Daniel Avery makes it all the more worthwhile amid a dense forest of chiming melodies and blistering electrical surges on ‘Your Future Looks Different In The Light’, before Jeroen Search’s aptly titled ‘Subversive Elements’ lead us deeper and
deeper, into the matrix.
Marco Bailey then kicks off a triptych of trance with some massive filtered piano action on ‘Kanai’ that’s destined to trigger a serotonin smile with everyone it touches. Revisiting the huge,
ever-growing pulsating brain of planet Orb, Damiano van Erckert continues the loved-up vibe on the gorgeously titled ‘500 People 500 Hearts 1 Love’, expertly complimenting the classic ambience with
some slick 909 snare and cymbal interplay. The melodic pull of ‘Vision99’ then signifies that the party is peaking at just the right moment as YOKTO concocts a glistening, psychedelic groove. The
emotional resonance climbs ever higher with brittle melodies endlessly circling a lush, throbbing bass drone to create the sense of something stirring out of reach.
Just when you think the acid sound is done and dusted, up pops a track like Jonathan Kaspar’s ‘CCC’ that somehow manages to offer an entirely new perspective. Riding in on a wave of expectant
arpeggios, the squelching bass and noise filter go toe to toe before Kaspar gets busy with a freaky tempo excursion that’ll be destroying dance floors all year long. ‘The Art of Electronics’ is, as the title
suggests, another superlative example of pure analogue fire, served up by UK legend, Andrew Meecham aka The Emperor Machine. The funk starts to flow as the bass drops, the machines cut loose and a swarm of cascading bleeps ride the trans-europa express to oblivion.
Electro overlord Carl Finlow, has come to define the UK take on the genre over the last couple of decades. Here, he makes his long overdue label debut, taking us into the closing straight with a
nervous sliver of dystopian futurism, complete with molten basslines and a fuzzy logic that underpins the tight, laser-guided groove on ‘Surface Control’. DeFeKT then draws this great adventure to a close
with the deliciously dark robo-disco overtones of ‘Terraform’ creating a dusky landscape that skillfully seduces the listener before the tension finally breaks in a wash of ecstatic chords.
All in all, it’s a supremely ambitious collection of tracks, generously featuring some of the most inspirational and durable artists of their respective generations. In fact, is this perhaps the best Cocoon
Compilation to date

When we can no longer move forward or look outward, some reflect and seek truth in themselves – some sharing, through the language of music, what might be impossible to say through words.

Amidst the budding tempest of 2020, Jeremiah Carter, hailing originally from Tennessee, found himself embroiled in a near suffocating air of uncertainty and anxious tension, mainly brought upon by the first spikes in a soon-to-be worldwide pandemic.

Only having recently relocated to the bustling city of New York, an unprecedented series of events took shape over the following months, isolating and dismaying the citizens around the globe in the process. It was during this time that Jeremiah turned his attention to music, discharging the emotional turmoil surrounding him, into a substantial wealth of newly composed work.

Beginning with the album »Rejoice«, which was completed in the wake of 2020 and released on A Sunken Mall that same year, two more albums took shape in a quasi-self-induced creative tremor, one that soon materialized a wealth of work, forming a triptych of three unique albums, produced within the span of only 6 months.

Finally, presented here is the second stage of the final triptych; »Speak, You Also«, dedicated to Paul Celan and giving us further insight into the heart of a beloved southerner, who amidst being tangled in the mesh of crisis, passion and communication, gave rise to a momentous yet equally timeless neoclassical body of work.

Limited Edition of 1,500 on Transparent Red Vinyl. The debut album from 19-year-old artist Sofia Mills, Baby Magic intimately details the most pivotal moments in her coming-of-age experience: breakups with toxic boyfriends, coming out as queer at age 16, a longtime struggle with mental illness. As shown on her breakthrough single "Coffee Breath" (a self-produced track that's amassed over 100 million streams on Spotify to date), the Massachusetts-born singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist imbues her storytelling with both startling clarity and profound sensitivity, an element echoed in her warmly textured brand of indie-pop. Written entirely by Mills and co-produced with John Mark Nelson (Taylor Swift, Allison Ponthier), Baby Magic arrives as a complex and captivating body of work, built on a potent tension between her dreamy romanticism and intense self-awareness.

New version on Solar Orange Vinyl. RIYL: Slowdive, DIIV, Electric Youth, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine. Solo project of Los Angeles based Matthew Doty (ex-Saxon Shore). For Matthew Doty, Deserta has always been about exploring a sonic universe that allows him to express a kaleidoscope of emotions, without having to say much at all. Through a patchwork of reverb-tinged textures – drone guitars, lingering synths and driving percussion – the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist weaves together stories of care, frustration and catharsis that ultimately stretch to a gentle resolve. On new album Every Moment, Everything You Need, Doty chronicles the kind of year we all fear, full of uncertainty, tension and sustained pressure, and transforms it into a celebration of perseverance. It’s an essential reminder that we have the power to shape the stories we tell. The pandemic meant that Doty had to give up his studio and downsize a lot of his gear and instead, carve out a space in his two-bedroom apartment to craft the next chapter of Deserta. Sharing the space with his wife and son, Doty and his partner are also essential healthcare workers, which meant the couple would often have to tag-team childcare, along with 13-hour shifts in PPE and people constantly calling with questions about the ever changing guidelines and protocols. Once the blueprint for Every Moment, Everything You Need was set, Doty reached out to a number of collaborators to stitch together his vision for the sonic landscape. James McAlister (Sufjan Stevens, The National, Taylor Swift) came onboard to perform and record drums, while Caroline Lufkin (Mice Parade) wrote and performed vocals on the ethereal “Where Did You Go.” Elsewhere, the LP was mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, Mogwai, Interpol), with Beach House and Slowdive producer Chris Coady engineering and co-producing, making this the first time Fridmann and Coady had worked together on a project. While the vocals are more prominent than Deserta’s previous albums, it’s their amalgamation with the instrumental aspects that secures Every Moment, Everything You Need as Deserta’s most confident and assured release to date. An affecting emotional candor teamed with persistent riffs and tenacious rhythms sees Doty unafraid to dive deeper; an unrestrained approach that ushers in a lustrous purging of agitation and anxiety. Showcasing those dark, exhaustive thoughts through crucial swells and looped, electronic soundscapes, it’s an LP that’s infinitely layered, with something new to discover with each and every enchanting listen.

First-ever release of this legendary Tangerine Dream score from 1981 (aka Dead Kids).

Gatefold packaging / Green (Streaked Lime Green) Color Vinyl. (

Please check allocation with your rep.

It's never been available on any format until now! For this release, we dug out the original tapes and had them digitized and they sound incredible.

Such an atmospheric masterpiece and we are honored to be releasing it. This has been on many TD fans' wish lists for years and years.

**Hardcore, FWD dance music from two leading sound artists. Edition of 500, Mastered and cut by Matt Colton** Mark Fell and Gábor Lázár ratchet the game with their razor-sharp debut collaboration, 'The Neurobiology of Moral Decision Making'. As promised in the wake of Gábor's acclaimed vinyl debut, 'EP16', the duo have colluded on a full set of ten tracks, ranging from short synapse bursts thru to an uncannily emotive 12 minute masterpiece on the closing side. As the 10th release on The Death of Rave, it demonstrates the distance travelled since the early '90s paradigm shift of original rave culture, effecting a radical recalibration of meter and tone conventions in electronic/dance music, and by turns, acutely probing our perception of time and space. Essentially it's incredibly "funky", if "funk" is taken to mean syncopation or a play on tension-and-resolution. By utilising the grid-morphing potential of Max/MSP software, they unlock mutant ballistic patterns cleanly weaving between and recoding the tendons and ligament of techno, garage, footwork and hardcore with muscle memory-reprogramming impact. Kicks, claps and visceral chromatic stabs land at irregular, blind-spot junctures, acutely rewiring our sense of rhythmic anticipation and offering a thrilling new freedom of expression and dancefloor discipline in the process. It's a masterful step forward from Yorkshireman, Mark Fell's Sensate Focus output and SND classics, and, likewise, a logical leap from Budapest-based Max whizz, Gábor Lázár. If you're into Mumdance, Errorsmith, Lorenzo Senni, Autechre, Actress or SND; we'd say it's as essential as they come.

A Colourful Storm presents Enteha, the latest piece by Elodie, the duo of Andrew Chalk and Timo van Luijk.

Chalk and van Luijk embody a free-spirited approach to music making whose improvisational process can be traced to a distinct period of Europe's post-industrial landscape. More than two decades of ambitious solo and collaborative work would solidify both Chalk and van Luijk as masterful craftsmen exploring the tension between composition and free improvisation: their individual lists of collaborators boasts Christoph Heemann, Giancarlo Toniutti, David Jackman and Colin Potter, to name but a few.

A figment of two imaginations, Elodie appeared in 2011 almost fully formed with each record patiently revealing glimpses into a world concerned with time dilation, the phantasmagoric and spirits of the everyday. Enteha is one of the duo's more melancholic pieces and can be seen as a human response to seasonal transition. It's one of their uniquely longform explorations of mood and atmosphere as an air of romance drifts deftly into mystery and despair. The delicate hues of autumnal haze. The deceptive optimism of morning light. A work of supremely understated beauty that will appeal to anyone who finds solace in Harmonia, Gas, Joanna