The mysterious Urban Inc producer that gave chills to many with its first release “pleasure planets” is back 4 years later with a HUGE LP ! (the first one on WAX CLASSIC). And honestly we are proud to say that this one of the best release we've ever done. ESSENTIAL ! SKYLAX RECORDS 4 EVER
Buscar:that s
We've reached a pivotal moment for Local Talk.
What better way to celebrate a centenary of forward thinking releases than to present one of the best kept secrets out there, MLiR aka Modern Life Is Rubbish this time joined by Arnau Obios.
After making a serious impact with their remarkable 'Swedish Lo-Life' and 'Trans-World Junktion' releases on fellow Swedish label Studio Barnhus, we're thrilled to have them onboard for our 100th release on Local Talk.
Yes, that is correct, we’re celebrating the big 100. Since the very beginning we've covered everything from the deeper shades of house to the jackin' and the gritty club jams, released some slower BPMs and also the uplifting, vocal and organic house.
As you probably noticed - we love it all.
The 100th release main track 'Lajbans' is one of those sublime tunes that is bridging the gap between all styles of dance music and got the MLiR trademark, it's epic and manages to offer plenty of subtle details to keep you locked for the full 9 minute experience.
Accompanied with the original is a masterclass in dub 'Lajbans (Bellaterra dub)'.
You got the versatility of the original carefully stripped back but also absorbing layers upon layers of seductive sonic moods, it's a trip for sure and you don't want it to end.
Once again MLiR proves why they will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come...
Artwork by Leolyxxx
Mastered by Sasse at Blackhead Studios
Future Times is very pleased to announce that our next release will be a 7" single from Oakland's Motoko & Myers! This duo is made up of Wonja & DJML, both of whom have blessed electronic music in numerous ways recently together and individually, via releases on Jacktone, DJing together for their Herzog Hideout radio transmissions, and their amazing album from 2018, Basis Key, released via Bass Clef's digital imprint Open Hand Real Flames.
M+M make music from a really special place, wild tones, drum-machine-breaths and weird, pitched synth space combine with a sense of rhythm that folds in on itself. B-Side "Whimbrel" represents this perhaps best of the two songs, with a loping, wandering-on-the-beach sense of synth space and not-quite-dancehall drums. "Plover", however, is a perfect set-starter for the techno freaks, with the lightest drums coming in halfway over a thick, shifting loop of perfect glass techno for the DJs. Tip!
Razen celebrate their 10 yr anniversary with “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, an album that takes a paragraph from CG Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections as a reference point to set off a journey that goes from light to dark, from day to night, from life to death, and back.
As much a reflection of primal imagery and rituals of knowledge as a way of coming to terms with anxieties about the chaos of the night, the album concerns itself with the question: who - or what - are we in the moments before (re-)birth, before waking up, in the state inbetween darkness and light?
On “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, the wind instruments and organ stabs of band leaders Kim Delcour and Brecht Ameel are expanded with Pieter Lenaerts’ five string double bass and sarangi, Jean-Philippe Poncin’s bass clarinet and chalumeau, and Paul Garriau’s hurdy gurdy.
The album sees the group explore new straight-to-the-gut emotional territory, while simultaneously showcasing Razen’s intuitive, continuous investigation of the acoustic properties and resonant possibilities of churches and chapels in the countryside around Brussels; after “Remote Hologram” (2014) and “ The Xvoto Reels” (2017), this time the St Agatha Church (St.-Agatha-Berchem) functions as the conduit for Razen’s acoustic sound jolts.
With the past ten years entirely devoted to the search for archetypical timbres and connotations by improvising on Early Music instruments, it’s no wonder that the world of Razen would one day collide with the world of CG Jung and take his writing as an inspiration.
A sonic hex tour de force from this unique ensemble, “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk” is a present-day, nocturnal emitter of the Coleridge quote that opens Jung’s Memories:
‘He looked at his own soul with a Telescope. What seemed all irregular he saw and shewed to be beautiful Constellations and he added to the Consciousness hidden worlds within worlds’.
An entire decade has passed since the release of Nosaj Thing's critically acclaimed masterpiece of an album, Drift. In listening to how effortlessly this album has held up over the past 10 years, it is evident that Jason Chung is nothing shy of an exceptionally talented
record producer, composer, and DJ.
Coming from the Low End Theory beat scene in Los Angeles, one of the most influential hubs of experimental music, Jason has worked alongside some of the most prominent figures in the industry.
Having produced and made remixes for the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Philip Glass, and Flying Lotus, it is clear that his production skills are unparalleled and stretch across countless facets of the music sphere- ranging from ambient, to hip hop, to club music.
Created during the harsh winter nights of 2019 at a home studio in the outskirts of Seoul. “Disfiguring Echos” is the first full length album of Korean artist Suggun Jang.
Mesmerizing ambient soundscapes soaked in Jang’s own environment recordings, are subtly layered with contemporary minimalist compositions to form a powerful work that reflects the harsh yet beautiful surroundings and captures the imagination.
Suggun Jang has been making music for more than 15 years, from noise and doom metal beginnings to complex and detailed sound designs for soundtrack projects, and a passion for capturing his surroundings with unique environment recordings.
DE presents the first window into the world of Suggun Jang.
Returning to his original Electro disguise Electro Nation, Thomas P. Heckmann returns with fresh and brand new material after 20 years! All that you love in original funky Electro is there, Robot voices (done with an ultra rare Texas Instruments Magic Wand), fat Bass, spacey effects and smooth as silk pads ! Enjoy the ride and stay tuned for more to come !
Electrocute Soundplates was never gone, but waiting in dark shades of the distopian underground...
There's a distinctly UK thread throughout Off Grid; from the broken drum machine workout on Isit and the acid bass line on New Levels to the jungle- influenced breaks on High And Mighty and Turnin', Romaal Kultan has produced a compelling EP that will provoke plenty of gun fingers as well as nodding heads.
Koralle is the new moniker of Lorenzo Nada, a musician, beatmaker and producer from Bologna, Italy. Nada is best known for his project Godblesscomputers, which kicked off a couple of years ago while he was living in Berlin. After releasing four albums / EPs and touring Europe with a four piece band Nada is heading into a new direction as Koralle. Firmly rooted in hip-hop Koralle is taking his jazz crates and field recordings to the studio. Equipped with an array of synths, rhodes and bass he creates deeply textures tracks that touch mind, body and soul. Early 2019 Koralle signed with Melting Pot Music where he released his first first project “Collecting Vol.1”. The 6-track EP was an instant success amongst beatlovers worldwide and has accumulated more than 2 million streams to date. “Collecting Vol.2” Koralle is a seamless continuation of Vol.1 only better! “Collecting Vol.2” will be available on all digital platforms. We are also releasing a limited edition LP, simply titled
“Collecting” which summarizes both EP's on one record.
„Collecting it’s an eyes closed journey throughout memories, a collection of some everyday little stories, still paying a tribute to my hip hop musical background. Every beat is like an object found at the bottom of the sea, every sample emerges from my record collection, turning into something new, like corals of the Ocean.“ as Koralle writes in the linernotes.
DJ Oonops presents Volume 2 of his extensive compilation covering genres from Dub, Jazz, Funk, Soul to Beats and Hip Hop featuring pretty well known artists as well as zooming newcomers. He spent more than one year to select artists from around the globe who reflect the sounds of his "Oonops Drops" broadcast on Brooklyn Radio (NYC).
Be that jazzy beats or virtuoso live jazz drums, keys and guitars from Japan by Kazumi Kaneda, RF and 45 a.k.a. Swing-O, a first-time- on-vinyl dub remix by Great Britain's Coldcut or a brass cover version of Rihanna's "Stay" by Sly5thAve out of the US. Most of the tracks are exclusives or first time available on vinyl for this compilation, like the song "Measly Peace" by Magic In Trees out of Nashville, German beatmaker Twit One with an ill Jazz instrumental or London based rapper and singer Amy Tru featuring Nubya Garcia.
Also you gonna hear a unique and rump-shaking cover version of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" by T Bird & The Breaks, John Turell's powervoice over some heavy beats by Soopasoul, Kinny with a catchy tune, Igor Zhukovsky from The Soul Surfers & MRR Drumetrics with an exclusive, pumping psychedelic drum track and Schemes from Montreal who take all the credits at the moment from the web by Vice, Okayplayer, Music Is My Sanctuary and many more. For the artwork Oonops collaborated once again with San Francisco based artist Lindsey Kustusch who mirrored the atmosphere of New York City on point with her oil painted artwork.
Be sure to get your hands on this limited peace of work before it's gone like Volume 1. About Oonops: beside his vinyl only show on Brooklyn Radio he is spinning banging club sets to relaxed mixtures for vernissages, museums or theaters. And furthermore he works as a product designer and he's listed in the top 50 of Germany's best table tennis players and focuses all his skills in an event which will bring all this together.
Raised in the multicultural and mind-broadening London borough of Enfield, Loraine James grew up hearing everything from steel pan music to Metallica, from jazz and electronica to drill and grime, and the results of this exposure can be heard on ‘For You And I’. In part the album explores the complexities of being in a queer relationship in London - “I’m in love and wanted to share that in some way … to make songs that reflect layers of my relationship.” – and as a whole ‘For You and I’ is rhythmically free flowing and sprawling, with melodies that evolve into rippling keys, feeling like a live jam session with a jazz mentality, contrasting the delicate and abrasive. Opener ‘Glitch Bitch’ is a warm ear-worm, brandishing swirling textures with undulating keys and compressed percussion, with an introspective theme revisited soon after on third track ‘So Scared’, whose glitched percussion and syncopated dub bassline build to a frantic meltdown melody. On ‘London Ting // Dark As Fuck’, inspired by Dizzee Rascals's ‘Boy In Da Corner', James explores the darker side of her production with her frequent collaborator Le3 BLACK laying verses over the skeletal track. ‘Hand Drops’ is an instrumental, about public displays of affection in a queer relationship. ‘Sensual’ reflects on intimacy with vocals by UK singer Theo, who's lyrics capture love and gentleness over a soft, minimal production of ethereal keys and scattered glitches. The albums’ title track is also the most colourful, it’s ecstatic and effusive chaos driven by fervent synths expressing elation and the joyful side of her relationship, while ‘My Future’ is a more reflective moment, where warping synths wash in and out with compressed kicks, as the artist considers the dangers that may come with her relationship : “I wanna tie the knot / But the rope is dangerous”. ‘For You And I’ is a deeply intimate and personal offering, expressing happiness, anxiety, joy, sensuality and fear through a vivid sound palette and an experimental sense of rhythm.
With the release of their first two albums and live shows supporting Snarky Puppy, Roy Ayers, Marcus Miller, Larry Mizell & the Blackbyrds, Butcher Brown, Yellowjackets and more, Resolution 88 have already established themselves as one of the UK's leading exponents of funk jazz. Their music is synonymous with the silky, buttery sound of the Fender Rhodes. They're also a bona fide band, a refreshing change in a musical world increasingly occupied by online collaborations and viral videos. They're best mates who love to hang out, play together and make their own music - that sincerity is evident in their songs and their chemistry on stage.
'Revolutions' represents a lot of firsts - the first time Resolution 88 have recorded to multi-track tape, the first time that they've included a real string and brass section, the first time they've included special guests on record and the first time they've pressed an album on vinyl. Imagine a combination of an undiscovered Herbie Hancock album from the mid' 70's, rare-groove samples from the golden era of hip hop (ATCQ, Pharcyde etc) and the new London sound of bands like Yussef Kamaal.
Every track on'Revolutions'represents an aspect of music on vinyl. On'Pitching Up'you hear the DJ pitch the record up from 33rpm to 45rpm.'Out Of Sync'simulates a clumsy attempt at beat-matching. The hypnotic, circling sax line that opens the title track'Revolutions'(echoed by the strings at the end) evokes the mesmerizing sensation of watching the record label artwork whirling as it spins on the platter.'Runout Groove'fades in and out; the drum beat mimics the distinctive, perpetual rhythm tapped out by the stylus as it reaches the runout groove. On the second side,'Sample Hunter'unexpectedly deviates from the main section into Rhodes-drenched interludes; the type of moment that producers searched high and low for back when hip hop was great.Marcus Tenney's (Butcher Brown) lyrics on 'Dig Deep'are all about the thrill of digging for records and'Matrix'is inspired by the hidden messages sometimes left in the matrix markings on record pressings. On'Tracking Force', you can hear the beat twist and morph as the stylus skates over the record. Finally,'Warped Memories'closes out the album with a wistful, melancholy melody. Sit back with a glass of Japanese whisky and a Cuban cigar (or whatever your chosen poison is), stick the album on and enjoy it from start to finish - although if you're listening to it on vinyl, you'll need to get up to turn it over to the B-side ;)
The Juan Maclean return to DFA with a compilation LP of 12-inch singles they’ve amassed over the past six years – re-edited, re-mastered, and ready for fans who may have missed the tracks the first time around. From the dub house sway of 2013’s “You Are My Destiny” to the high-energy stomp of this May’s “Zone Non Linear,” and featuring two never-before-released tracks, “Quiet Magician” and “Pressure Danger,” The Juan Maclean once again justify their longevity as a musical force that is more than capable of repurposing club tracks for every setting.
The Brighter The Light is put together in a way that lends itself to appreciating the sheer banging quality of the songs while simultaneously being able to dance to them in your living room. For example, take “Feel Like Movin,’” which Pitchfork called “gloriously beatific” and “pure DFA gold.” In the new remastered version, the fullness of the keys and the kicks takes over, unfurling across the listener. Deep house rhythms, sparkling synths and a certain spaciousness are what’s emphasized across the record. Gone is the slow-motion melancholy disco from their recent full-lengths – The Brighter The Light is all fierce enthusiasm and dance floor missives, perfect for those who aren’t quite ready to let go of summer.
Juan Maclean is a DJ and producer who has been a mainstay of the New York club scene, as well as maintaining a rigorous international touring schedule, since the release of his first records on DFA in 2002. Vocalist Nancy Whang is his longtime collaborator, best known as a founding member of LCD Soundsystem and a busy touring DJ. Together, the two artists have released an extensive catalogue of 12” singles and full-length albums for DFA, including 2014’s seminal In A Dream LP. The proper follow-up studio album will follow in 2020.
Autre left the lab and brought his science to the people. This is his second offering for the ESP Institute. On side A we have a silky slice of electro aimed straight for our hearts, LA Funk, incorporating stanzas of jazz chords and Autre’s signature meandering string lines, all thickly layered atop an up-tempo more-bounce-to-the-ounce bassline that will receive the nod of approval from even the most serious funk heads. On the flip side, the artist uses a similar broad brush of synthetic strings, but ventures into an emotional sweet-spot built on glorious chord changes and cascading arpeggios, sprinkling delicate percussion throughout like a flurry of phosphorescent dust particles. Wig Teleportation is a complicated looping narrative that ebbs and flows, snaring the soul with melancholy yet keeping your interest piqued with intricate layers of rhythm. These two songs will heal through the power of bodywork.
"Celebrity clouds" is compiled of four songs, which have been produced and recorded in 2018. It's an online collaboration of Alexandre Kordzaia (kordz) and Natalie Beridze. These two came up with the concept of the record uneventfully, after recording their first track "Celebrity clouds". Beridze's lyrics came out completely irrelevant to Kordz's music, that adopted a flair of humor and sarcasm to it. After that, they decided to stick the line of weird lyrics on top of synth, piano and ambiance recordings, played live by kordz. Musical ideas belong to kordz. Beridze would complete the tracks, adding few instruments (or none, in some cases), wrote lyrics and recorded vocals.
The artwork of the vinyl, made by Georgian artist Thea Djordjadze, resembles the concept of the music nonetheless. As though having nothing to do with neither celebrities, nor their clouds, it shows the sadness and the beauty of half-molten candle.
Alexandre Kordzaia aka kordz is a Georgian composer. After moving to Switzerland at a young age, he professionally studied piano and drums, audio design and recording acoustic music. shortly after he started producing electronic music.
Kordzaia is currently studying in Hague, Netherlands, where he is accomplishing his master's degree in composition. He releases on labels such as: Prrrrrrrr Records, Medschool Records, Hospital Records, Majestic Casual Records. Kordzaia also writes for acoustic instruments and orchestras with live electronics: for the Junge Norddeutsche Philharmonie, the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra (The Hague), the Dortmunder Philarmoniker, the Zagareli String Orchestra, the Nieuw Ensemble (Amsterdam) and Kluster5 (The Hague). To pack his music into popular categories is not easy: "His music is a mesh of carefully balanced oppositions: deliciously snappy transients punctuate shimmering soundscapes, gently morphing into funk; a melancholic post-soviet feel pays sentimental homage to a private vision of the 80s. Acoustic instruments sit side by side with analogue synthesizers and drum machines; field and foley recordings blend the recognizable into the fuzzy and surreal.
Natalie Beridze (tba) is a Georgian music composer and songwriter, considered a pioneer of Georgian electronic music. She has released over 10 records on labels such as Cologne based Max.E, Berlin based Laboratory instinct, CMYK, Chainmusic, CES Records and Berlin's Monika Enterprise, which has become her main label. Beridze's collaborations include: Thomas Brinkmann, AGF (Antye Greie), Gudrun Gut, Joerg Follert, Marcus Schmickler, Nika Machaidze aka Nikakoi, Sonae, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Gacha Bakradze, Alex Kordzaia.
Beridze works on music for acoustic instruments, orchestra and choir.
Her recent work - "Mapping Debris" was written for Swiss "Mondrian Ensemble" piano and string trio and electronics, performed in Zurich, in 2019.
Beridze collaborates with a Georgian string ensemble "Zagareli and strings", composing pieces for electronics, strings and viola.
- A1: Strictly A Vibe Thing
- A2: Nostalgia
- A3: Just A Matter Of Time
- A4: Feel Good Factor
- B1: Concrete Jungle
- B2: Props
- B3: Free Spirit
- B4: There For Me
- C1: For Your Love
- C2: Until You Come Back To Me
- C3: Together
- C4: Paradise
- D1: Higher Ground
- D2: Until You Come Back To Me
- D3: Down To Business
- D4: Just A Matter Of Time
Twenty years ago the duo HIL ST SOUL released a groundbreaking debut album SOUL ORGANIC.
Zambian-born vocalist Hilary Mwelwa and producer/musician/songwriter Victor
Redwood-Sawyerr (VRS) had been working away in a North London studio creating a unique blend of neo soul, jazz and R&B that had critics on both sides of the Atlantic in raptures.
Billboard magazine enthused: “Brimming with R&B/hip-hop/jazz-flavoured rhythms and image-rich
lyrics….Even Aretha’s Until You Come Back To Me glows again under Hil’s touch”.
And talking about the lead single Strictly A Vibe Thang, US magazine Radio & Records were
smitten: “You can’t sit still on this one. While listening to this infectious tune you got to move something – even if it’s just your big toe!” In the UK Echoes magazine called it “one of the best UK soul albums ever”.
Strictly A Vibe Thang charted on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, following in the footsteps of Loose Ends, Soul II Soul and Brand New Heavies, while Hil’s acoustic take on the Stevie Wonder-composed Until You Come Back To Me came out of nowhere to be a sensation at America’s Smooth Jazz radio format It ended 2000 as the most-played vocal track of the year across US Smooth Jazz radio stations, and in the ensuing two decades it has been the most-downloaded - and one of the most-streamed - tracks on the Dome label. Also heavily played: the joyful mid-tempo groove of For Your Love
This 20th Anniversary Edition of the album – now in a gatefold sleeve – includes three bonus tracks not included on the original vinyl release: the acoustic version of Until You Come Back
To Me, the VRS Remix of Just A Matter Of Time, with its insidious groove, and Down To Business.
Hil is still very active, playing several UK shows this autumn, including one at London’s Jazz Café, where she first performed 20 years ago.
Our Danish secret weapon ANTN is back on Counterweight with his new monstrous release. Four original tracks with his very own and distinctive vision of techno.
Fast, straight, raw and pretty industrial, but without loosing the groove, that's our boy. If this wasn't clear for you yet, now you know why you should keep an eye on this excellent producer.
« Hôtel Costes presents... » is a collection of exclusive music recorded or mixed at Studio HC, the hotel studio, and composed by Adrien de Maublanc guests. This unique studio with exceptional gears craft the sound of MidiMinuit.
The second opus, Round the clock, by Midiminuit, is a modern album where classical and jazz music meet modular synths.
MidiMinuit is a collaborative project between pianist Julien Quentin, bass player Yonatan Levi and electronic musicians Cesar Merveille & Adrien de Maublanc. Four experts in their respective fields are harmoniously combining their music creating a new entity.
Three days, twelve hours of music per day, from 12pm to 12am. This was the primary rule of the jam sessions, giving the band its name. This was the first time all four musicians came together. In those three days, there was no rehearsals. Every piece was improvised, recorded and it was moved on to the next track. Bringing those world-class musicians together had the potential to create something unique. And so… ROUND THE CLOCK was born!
Cesar Merveille is known for his collaborations with labels such as Cadenza and Visionquest, and has been a major player in the electronic scene for the past 15 years touring extensively as a DJ, and has now started his own imprint Roche Madame. He started early on collaborating with musicians from different backgrounds. Combining electronic music with acoustic instruments has been part of his defining style since the early days. His love for modular synthesisers brings a unique colour to the sound and groove of MidiMinuit.
Julien Quentin – Born in Paris, graduated from the Juilliard School in New York, pianist Julien Quentin performed in all major concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie or the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Julien’s interest after 20 years of classical music on the road is opening up to projects ranging from improvisation to producing electronic music and could be heard live at Sonar Off and Amsterdam Dance Event, or in Berlin clubs where he is now based. His remarkable depth of musicianship and distinct clarity of sound coupled with flawless technique bring its distinctive classical influence to MidiMinuit.
Yonatan Levi – Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Yonatan Levi first started with classical guitar and switched to classical stand up bass studies from the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv. He then got a full scholarship at Berkley College of Music. He has been playing alongside some of Jazz greats like Avishai Cohen and Eddie Henderson. In the past few years, since moving to Berlin, Levi has ventured into the vast electronic music world, becoming an avid vinyl collector as well as collaborating with electronic music producers who are known for their cross-genre, multi disciplinary approaches. Bringing all that jazz to the band.
Adrien de Maublanc – Adrien is well known as a producer and sound engineer as one half of the Masomenos duo which is a productive partnership with graphic designer and DJ Joan Costes. They have a long collaboration with the Hôtel Costes music history. In fact, they have been in charge of the Costes presents serie, a minimal electronic oriented serie of albums by glacial, seuil and themselves. Since two years now, they have located their studio in the Hôtel Costes extension that have been on works, and named the place Studio HC. It is in this unique studio that MidiMinuit has been mixed. Maublanc is now part on his own several bands that like midiminuit will be released on Hotel Costes Presents label.
In celebration of 5 thrilling and inspiring years of work, we've gathered well-known artists, Goldmin regulars and emerging talents for a new compilation of Various Artists 12s". It was really important for us that the compilation express the elusive nature of the Goldmin sound. Over the past 5 years, we've had the chance to meet most of these artists in person, and follow their very own creative paths, as well as share thoughts and ideas. They've all had their own part to play in crafting the sound of the label. What it comes down to is a genre defining selection devoid of any specific standard or norm. The compilation reflects the unique sound which has grown throughout our whole catalogue, since the label's birth 5years ago. That's why, picking this selection of tracks, that we feel illustrate Goldmin Music's essential freedom was one of toughest things we've ever done. It was also important to pick only the most original and iconic tracks from each artist. In the end each track had to be their most Goldmin one and they've all been tried in all types of situations, in club at 1 and 5 AM, on the highway at night or even staring at the ceiling during a sleepless insomnia session, and they all fullfilled their duty!"
“Bandiera Di Carta” represents the ongoing collaboration between instrument builder and composer Pierre Bastien and the
London based experimental duo Tomaga (Valentina Magaletti and Tom Relleen).
Bastien has been called a “mad musical scientist with a celebrity following” by The Guardian (UK) having collaborated with the
likes of filmmaker Pierrick Sorin, fashion designer Issey Miyake, singer and composer Robert Wyatt as well as Aphex Twin,
who released three of his albums on his label Rephlex.
Tomaga have made more than a dozen records since forming in 2014, pursuing a path of fearless experimentation and sonic
brinksmanship that has won them fans and plaudits from far and wide, including Thurston Moore, with whom they collaborated
on the CAN Project with Malcolm Mooney, Deb Goodge and others in 2017, as well as Wire, Silver Apples and Stereolab, with
whom they toured extensively in summer 2019.
The artistic collaboration between Pierre and Tomaga began with two commissions: from Fructose Festival in Dunkirk and the
revered underground festival Supersonic in Birmingham UK. Recording initially at a studio in the industrial port of Dunkirk, the
uneasy bond between borders and states seems to have been a theoretical motor to the collaborative sessions, as well as the
bleak landscape of the seaport frontier. This inspiration found further manifestation in the cover image for ‘Bandiera Di Carta’.
Resembling a white paper flag, it is, in fact, a photograph of Bastien’s paper and air sound machine installed on stage at
Teatro Carignano in Turin as part of the trio’s performance there. This charged, ambivalent image of a blank flag evokes the
transcendence of the national, a prescient visual motif that meditates on the contemporary uncertainty around notions of
national identity and borders but perhaps also a ‘carte blanche’ for the artists involved, in which they can deviate from the
confines of their usual practice into new and strange territories.
For each piece, Bastien’s unique sonic style: by turns his kinetic mechanoid motors, capriciously arrhythmic pipes, or the
peculiar susurrus of paper, creates a world in which Tomaga introduce their musical palette. Magaletti’s percussion anchors
these sometimes chaotic forces into beguiling syncopations, with Relleen’s synthesizer and organ work creating harmonic
counterpoints and interruptive provocations, to which Bastien responds with lyrical turns on prepared trumpet, rubber band, tin
foil and bass ocarina.
The results are curiously evocative of free jazz by the likes of Sun Ra or Art Ensemble of Chicago paired with the percussive
sound worlds of artists like Francis Bebey or Muslimgauze along with unique and sometimes bizarrely exotic tonal landscapes
of composers like Catherine Christer Hennix, Carl Stone, or Egisto Macchi. All three musicians seem to find space to bloom in
ways that are markedly different from their individual work and the resulting album is a strikingly original and powerfully bold
affirmation of what can happen when venturing beyond the normal in pursuit of the other.All tracks written & produced by Tomaga (Tom Relleen & Valentina Magaletti) & Pierre Bastien.
Mixed and mastered by Rashad Becker.
Amsterdam based imprint Taped Artifact welcomes Erik Anthony to their label. With only one contribution to the Dynamic Reflection label back in 2017, very less is known about the young Amsterdam producer. But here he makes a stellar techno debut with his first solo EP backed with a Vril remix.
On the a-side things kick off with 'Board Walk', haunting vocal chops combined with droning kick drums combined making it a serious big-room techno jam. 'Oclose' brings more soul to the game, subtle basslines and dreamy synths create an uplifting and joyful playground for endless dancing. Vril then stirs things up, his take on 'Oclose' has more punch, a different energy and his trademark hazy dub-techno twist. Last track 'Separate' is an emotive yet powerful techno workout that closes the four track affair that can be seen as a promising allround debut release.
After S3A's "Pages" double album earlier this year we asked some of our friends to re-interpret and re-construct their favorite original track off the album and deliver these fine remixes. We aimed to have a nice variety in styles on this record and hope you enjoy these tunes as much as we do!
Starting off with the live disco funk of "Lorenz Rhode" who sets the tone for a class dance floor EP and followed by the soulful deep house vibes of French master "Art Of Tones" aka "Llorca" who delivered 3 different mixes to this release. The main mix is on the vinyl and there are two bonus mixes added to the digital release, a "Beats" and a "Dub" version. Ending this brilliant first side is London's newcomer "Dampé" with that deep and jazzy electronica approach we got to love him for on his first debut Dirt Crew Recordings release.
On the flip we pick up the pace and present you the faster dancefloor tracks of Amsterdam's "Nachtbraker" with his freaky hallucinating sounds placed atop of one of these irresistible bass lines only he can come up with and leading towards an "end with a bang" in best Detroit ghetto house style by our own Icelandic fire "Felix Leifur".
Each artist perfectly transported his own unique styles into these tracks and we hope this release with its broad approach will serve any dance floor to its best!
An outstanding artist since his earliest productions, Pablo Mateo now fully joins the ranks of Figure for his first album. On this versatile LP finally expands his complete creative vision of what techno music truly means to him.
Weird Reflections Beyond The Sky is an album that is accessible to all audiences. When engaged with actively, it holds narratives deeply connected to personal experience, going beyond what words or even images can describe. Confronting the listener with their own complexity and emotions is both its feat and feature. A beautiful use of technology and synthetic sounds as a means to journey far within.
An open invitation to drop all expectations and simply let the mind wander, creating an immersive soundtrack for each individual to explore.
- A1: D-Day - Sweet Sultan
- A2: Roots - Time 2
- A3: Vangelis Katsoulis - Whispers Of Heavenly Wilderness
- B1: Mauro Sabbione & Maria Cinzia Bauci - Boungainvillea
- B2: Human Software - Soft Sequence
- B3: Raphael Toine - Bizness À Bangkok
- C1: International Noise Orchestra - Gimme More Lovin ( Instrumental Muezzin Mix )
- C2: Meo - Alturas
- C3: Manuel Wandji - Pourquoi Pas !
- D1: Astral Dance - Transcendant Waveform
- D2: Individual Sensitivity - Greece Ambientale
- D3: Büdi Und Gumbls - Hmm - Tanz Der Körperlinge
Magic Carpet" is the first Compilation of the German Label "Harmonie Exotic". Jose Manuel selected 12 experimental ambient tracks from the 1982 to the 1994. They are combined by the same feature, namely the magic and mysterious character. Even though all the (remastered) tracks released in different countries, such as Japan, Italy, and France, they are all combined in being rare and obscure songs. In most of them it is possible to verify the oneiric melodies mixed with the different drum machines, typical of that year.
For this reason, they show how the magic has been developed over the chosen years, as they were all enveloped from the same carpet. Starting from this idea the Compilation's title plays an important role in anticipating the dreamlike listening experience.
Netherlands-based LA producer, Diego Herrera returns to the Melbourne party
imprint, Animals Dancing for its seventh release; this time under his Suzanne Kraft
alias. Across three tracks, Herrera showcases his method in the madness, expertly
fusing glistening pads, warm synthesis, razor-sharp percussion & frenetic bass lines
Free Love, the artists formerly known as Happy Meals return to Optimo Music with ‘Extreme Dance Anthems’ a phantasmic mini album from their hearts to yours.
They say – “We recorded EXTREME DANCE ANTHEMS in our recently moved studio, ‘Full Ashram Celestial Garden’ which is now situated in a building that holds both a church below us and a sex club next door. Most of the tracks were formed from late-night sessions that we started to kind of ritualistically hold inspired from a particular thought or idea that we later cut down and did a live mixdown of. The music is about physicality and the metaphysical – it is about a recontextualisation of the ineffable as a centre point of existence which in turn influences how we engage with everything around us. A celebration of the unquantifiable, unspeakable, indivisible EXPERIENCE as the throne from which all ideas are derived. Even though the world is fucked- we are here.
On the face of it – I realise that this description might just seem like apolitical hippy bullshit but fuck that – as a deliberate result of the modern political landscape, our societies’ individual and collective disengagement with the metaphysical has led us to treat other humans, animals and our environment like resourceful statistics rather than something that actually holds any inherent value. An Inner Revolution of the foundations of our reality in a way that reintroduces the essence of existence, and not merely its describable derivatives, into the conversation of how we should live our lives INFORMS our perception of the world in a way that demands us to ACT. The record is about a kind of gradual awakening between the two of us – a reconnection with the magic around us.
The ineffable is not without moments of illumination- mostly in the form of immediate absurdity: ONE DAY WE WILL ALL BE DEAD BUT HERE WE ARE ALIVE INSTEAD.
The record is called EXTREME DANCE ANTHEMS because it made us both laugh”.
Sometimes you know it’s coming, sometimes it’s unexpected, but the time to hang your boots will always come. It’s better when you have total control, even better if you end up on a high (or on a low). After seven years of sonic interferences, calibrating the soundscape of field recordings and helping to recreate the old sounds of today, Gonzo is retiring from music. It’s a goodbye, yeah, and a well-crafted one.
But “Ruído(s)” doesn’t sound like an intentional one. You won’t listen to it on any of the thirteen tracks that scavenge for a solution in the space between ambient music and field recordings. You won’t feel it in the intense connection between human and natural sounds and how sometimes everything oscillates in opposite states of mind. You won’t even read it in the intense, but subtle, humor present in some of the pieces. You won’t, because it’s not an intentional goodbye. You only know it is, because you’re reading this.
What is it then? It’s a celebration of random sound. How can you experience something scholastic and, simultaneously, deeply hilarious? Just think about the amazing triad formed by “A Fuga dos Grilos”, “Degredado(s)” and “Cantiga Parva”. First, you’re blessed with six minutes that build up on the idea that sound can be an intense religious experience, echoes going back and forth to create a fantastic Boiler Room feeling (one populated with raving Gonzos doing dabs in front of the camera) that eventually ends up with a cinematic touch: someone saying the title of the song out loud. One second after we are into the Flying Lizards world, with two songs that shake any pretentious seriousness of the previous track.
Is it serious or not? It is. But it doesn’t have to be. In “Ruído(s)” Gonzo recounts pop/electronic history through field recordings and weird-soft beats. More than compiling his seven-year history, Gonzo is more worried to understand where he’s leaving his ideas, Caretaker style. Speaking of Caretaker, Leyland Kirby should think about reviving Caretaker and do a whole album around “Brilhante Cortejo”: it’s haunted ballroom in a ‘cracked’ nutshell.
As the album progresses and the need to revisit it grows, it becomes clearer(?) that “Ruído(s)” is more than an artist self-indulging on his work – in a very good manner. It’s also a condensed catalog of Portuguese music and its sounds, a circular trip down the memory lane of a forgotten country and its landscape. “Ruído(s)” is a goodbye to a country and its traditions. It does it without sulking but with the most respectful loud laugh - the Gonzo way.
Johnny Clarke is one of the great vocalists that ruled the Jamaican Dancehall scene from the mid – 1970’s to the early 1980’s. While Bob Marley was out conquering the world, Dennis Brown, Gregory Issacs and Johnny Clarke were winning the hearts of the Jamaican people .Johnny Clarke’s use of the ‘Flying Cymbal‘ sound took the Island by storm and produced a run of hit singles few could match.
Johnny Clarke (b.1955, Jamaica, West Indies) cut his first record ‘God Made The Sea and Sun’, after winning a local singing contest in the Bull Bay area of Jamaica. Although the single was not a hit, it led to two follow up tracks for producer Rupie Edwards, ’Everyday Wandering’ and ‘Julie’ that fared much better, both on the island and oversees in England and Canada. These tracks also brought the singer to the attention of producer Bunny Lee and a working relationship that would go on to produce a prolific catalogue of music. Johnny Clarke’s Dread Conscious / Love Song style were to grace many hits around this time in 1974. Such tunes as ‘None Shall Escape The Judgement’, ‘Move Out of Babylon’, ‘Rock With Me Baby’, ‘Enter The Gates With Praise’ to name but a few. All new songs added to a host of cover tunes, recommended by Bunny Lee, many taken from the singer John Holt’s catalogue, that suited Clarke’s vocal style. The rhythms were cut at various studios around the Island. Randy’s Studio 17, Channel 1, Treasure Isle, Dynamic Sounds and Harry J’s, by a group of musicians loosely called the Aggrovators and some tunes incorporating the ‘Flying Cymbal’ sound again introduced by Bunny Lee, working the Hi-Hat in fine style. The tracks were then taken to King Tubby’s studio where Johnny Clarke’s vocals would be voiced.
Another phenomenon that was happening in the early 1970’s, was the version cuts to vocal tracks. This is when the tunes were cut back to the bass and drums and the vocals were dropped in and out in a dubbed style, and reverb and echo and various effects were added to these tracks. The main exponent to this style was King Tubby himself, and as was the fashion at the time, each vocal track would carry a version as its B-Side. Producer Bunny Lee lead this style working closely with King Tubby and all of his singles from then on would carry a Dub cut on its flipside. As Johnny Clarke was one of Bunny’s main singers at the time, we would hear a great selection of popular songs getting the dub treatment and in many cases the single was purchased for its more exciting dub cut, again made popular at the various dances where the dubplates were played out. We have compiled some of the best of these dubs from the time and put them together for this release, hope you enjoy the great voice of Johnny Clarke alongside the productions of Bunny Lee and the creative genius of King Tubby, a great combination we hope you will agree….
Secretsundaze welcomes Eliphino to the gala relaunch of their imprint for a thoroughly satisfying mini album of contemplative jacking and dulcet breakbeats.
Eliphino's most recent 'Realistic Sex EP' on the hotly tipped Meda Fury label boasts thunderous breaks, 303s and serious sub-bass pressure which has gained praise from tastemakers such as Jon K, Carista, Josey Rebelle, Moxie and Gilles Peterson.Having flexed with this darker edged EP after a long lay-off from releasing, while sharpening his skills and reconnecting with his musical inspiration, Eliphino is now ready to really cut loose with 'Breaking Up Is Hard' - a statement longplayer that dreamily investigates the dusty spaces between house, breakbeat, ambient, hardcore and acid. Tom This album came about as way of focussing my energy in the wake of a significant break up. I tried to experiment with melody and texture to convey some of the range of emotions that come with such a testing time. That being said, the B-side bangers are more dedicated to abandon and forgetting your worries.
Hailing originally from the Leeds, but with time spent in both London and Berlin, 'Breaking Up Is Hard' lands somewhere between the Hessle Audio crew, Joy O and Selected Ambient Works era Aphex.
Having previously released heaters for Brownswood and Hoya Hoya over the years, Eliphino stepping up for the debut artist LP on the reactivated Secretsundaze label feels like a natural fit as James Priestley explains:
""We've collectively had a connection and friendship with Tom that goes back several years and in fact it was receiving this work as demos that really spurred and inspired us into getting the label rolling again. It feels totally right to be working with him on this and for this mini-LP to herald the relaunch of the label as it moves towards a more artist led as opposed to EP driven approach.
Celebrating the 50th release on the Nonplus label, Instra:mental return with their sophomore album Timelines. A long awaited record that finally uncovers the unreleased gems of the legendary Autonomic Podcast series. This eleven track album features five, previously vinyl only cuts, with another six unreleased tracks from the vault. This is an album that will feel nostalgic to some but new to others. Classics like Photograph and Pacific Heights transport the listener back to a time where Instra:mental started to blur the boundaries in a pool of multiple genres, allowing artists to dip their toes with creative freedom. This release is mainly rooted in 170bpm (with the exception of “More Than”) but effortlessly feels like its spanning multiple tempos. With the techno infused Encke Gap to the slow pulsings of Deep Night. Timelines represents the embodiment of the Autonomic “Drum & Bass” movement, a slice of time that sounds modern despite being more than a decade in existence. Timelines is a collectors piece that will sit happily in your physical or digital collection, an essential record that highlights the golden era of Instra:mental’s illustrious career.
Comic book artist, graphic designer and free jazz improviser are only some of the many talents from Beirut born Mazen Kerbaj. After appearing as part of various ensembles on the label, Ariha Brass Quartet (CREP46) and Johnny Kafta Anti-Vegetarian Orchestra (CREP22), Kerbaj finally lands a solo outfit of his own onto the Discrepant dancefloor of insubordination.
14 years after his first (and only) solo album "Brt Vrt Zrt Krt" (Al Maslakh, 2005) Mazen returns with a series of subtle compositions of his own with not one but two(!) solo albums of prepared trumpet that further cement his international position as a serial trumpet botherer.
Whilst Vol. 2.1 showcases his (almost) (un)familiar arsenal of squawks, cackles, howls and squeals, Vol. 2.2 goes deep into the nether regions of waltzing drones and bell tweaks so deep that would make most cetaceans loose their concentration. The notion of being transported to a luring mutant underwater alien community is still present on these long(er) trips with the added meditative pieces being occasionally pierced by noise creepers, nothing is what you want or expect and that’s the way it should be.
If Vol. 2.1 is the classic follow up LP, this one is the beast from the deep, it comes surging and screeching from a deep oceanic sink hole, only to hypnotize you with perverted dance moves before diving back into the sinking, wettest and darkest cave in the world. Vol. 2.2 is a summons album; it shatters any bar there was with its intentional use of everything Vol. 2.1 was denied. It grabs you by wherever available way and it only releases you when you’re ready to listen to it again. Listen to both albums back to back, in no particular order and you’ll know that there’s nothing you can do but come back to it like a doped up seal stranded in a phantom island – appearing and disappearing as the music dictates it to.
Zodiac, a new collaboration between Brendon Moeller and Monty Luke, present a heady brew of sci-fi dub and deep rhythms on a full-length album, ‘Serengeti By Night’.
With meditative roots music at the very heart of ‘Serengeti’, experimental ideas are excavated over ten tracks. Vivid atmospheres are conjured up, as tribal trance, voodoo dub and otherworldly electronics are deployed over rock steady rhythms.
With influences that lie in the musical endeavours of African Headcharge to Rhythm & Sound, Public Image Limited to Cybotron, Zodiac keep the flame burning for exploratory dub-leanings, and deliver an album from the space station above that administers sophisticated braindance sounds that will command repeat listens...
When two dudes collide in a cosmic paradise, very special things happen. Black Spuma, otherwise known as regular transcendental misfits Phillip Lauer and Fabrizio Mammarella, come correct with a new EP of enchanted grooves for Futureboogie.
Breaking their run of EPs for the International Feel Recordings label, a trio of cuts are lined up on the ‘Crunch Level’ EP.
Title track, ‘Crunch Level’, is a throbbing, pulsating, bit-crunching beast of a track, a full mind and body workout that evokes the darker shades of early acid and new beat. ‘Agguato’ also packs a punch, with drums so big that Stock, Aitken & Waterman would most definitely approve, whilst a waves of hedonistic tones cut through feint melodicas and space invader tropes for a mind melting moment.
Never to end on a whimper, Adamantine goes out with a bang, with an ecstatically buoyant rhythm section and glacial melodies that’ll be transporting you back to the bright neon lights and dry ice of some long forgotten 80’s sweatbox.
Back in stock!
Extracting a rich sense of emotion from an evolving analogue set-up, Hammer follows up his previous FMB outings Dahlia and C-Space with a similar tone and sound palette as he lays out a new EP with 3 tracks that capture the Feel My Bicep sound perfectly, striking the balance between delicate melody and power with aplomb. This EP follows what has been a heavy 2019 gig schedule, with stand out sets at many top festivals and clubs such as Glastonbury, Panorama Bar and Parklife, along with both an Australian and Indian tour under his belt. The lead track ‘Parabola’ manifested as a slow burning percussive experiment that, as Hammer explains, ‘quickly got fired up by an extra 10bpm for the dance floor effect, turning itself into an acid led epic’ and as a consequence accidentally becoming the A1 at the same time. ‘Parabola’ is followed by ‘Panoptic’ and ‘Entropy’; all three track names inspired by his recent love for physics podcasts. He describes how ‘they are based around types of curvatures and levels of order that, in my head, are the visualisation of the 3 tracks inside workings; the engine room of the time machine.’ All three tracks were created with Hammer’s much loved Yamaha CS1-X, ‘a spaceship in its own right’, he explains. ‘A Xoxbox and a Roland SH-2 did the rest of the hard work. Time to enter the twilight zone with this one’! Bicep continue to add substance to what has now become a distinctive and singular label with this new 12" courtesy of their long term friend and blog contributor Hammer. With their previous offering from James Shinra still in many roving record bags and with a release catalogue full until the end of the year, the development of the label has reached a certain zenith and here - as head strong and highly effective as ever - Hammer makes a welcome return to the label with another batch of machine-driven dance tracks.After 12 years of promoting parties in Glasgow, The Hammer Hits goes on tour inviting guests such as Sally C, Jennifer Cardini and fellow FMB signee Cromby across the UK, Ireland and Berlin.
- A1: I Like Your Embouchoure
- A2: “Bam-Bam” Is Taking A Beating
- A3: ب ن یعك نویز (Noise Bni‘ak)
- A5-: Unplugged Modular Synthesizer
- A5: Just Before The Flood
- B1: Insufficient Creative Input
- B2: Lass Uns Kämpfen
- B3: Please Choose Another Pedantic Title For This Track
- B4: Pour Michel (In Memory Of Michel Waisvisz
Comic book artist, graphic designer and free jazz improviser are only some of the many talents from Beirut born Mazen Kerbaj. After appearing as part of various ensembles on the label, Ariha Brass Quartet (CREP46) and Johnny Kafta Anti-Vegetarian Orchestra (CREP22), Kerbaj finally lands a solo outfit of his own onto the Discrepant dancefloor of misdemeanour.
14 years after his first (and only) solo album "Brt Vrt Zrt Krt" (Al Maslakh, 2005) Mazen returns with a series of loud oozes (entirely) of his own with not one but two(!) solo albums of prepared trumpet that further cement his international position as a serial trumpet botherer.
Showcasing his very own and singular arsenal of squawks, cackles, howls and squeals the notion of being transported to a luring mutant underwater alien community is only occasionally dispelled with the sporadic passages of fluctuating tones and pulsations, like a restful humpback whale puffing on a hookah pipe at the ocean’s deep end. Mazen pulls out all the proverbial stops here, displaying a unique mastering of the instrument and its improbable add-ons creating various vignette like episodes rich in texture and variations - unlike anything else out there – not that you’d knew anyway.
Where Vol. 2.1 shows an astounding use of the instrument without recurring to cuts, overdubs or electronics, Vol. 2.2 raises (or shatters) the bar with its intentional use of everything Vol. 2.1 was denied. And Mazen is right about advising us, the sounds emitted on each record are beyond the limits of believable. Either he is using tricks or just prepared techniques the results go far beyond the reach of a normal or casual listener. Listen to the albums back to back and you’ll know what we mean.
Keiji Haino,Jim O'rourke,Oren Ambarchi
In the past only geniuses were capable of staging the perfect...
- A1: In The Past Only Geniuses Were Capable Of Staging The Perfect Crime (Also Known As A Revolution) Today Anybody Can Accomplish Their Aims With The Push Of The Button Part 1
- B1: Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously Decorously To Make Something Beautiful And Then To Smash It Decorously
- C1: Head-On Collision If It Still Has Bones It Shall Move Forward (Which Is Different To Progress)
- D1: In The Past Only Geniuses Were Capable Of Staging The Perfect Crime (Also Known As A Revolution) Today Anybody Can Accomplish Their Aims With The Push Of The Button Part 2
For its 50th release, Black Truffle presents the 9th album from one of the label’s core ensembles, the power trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi. Drawn from a November 2015 performance at Tokyo’s now-defunct SuperDeluxe, the record’s opening piece drops us immediately into the maelstrom, abruptly cutting into an extended episode of Ambarchi’s pummelling drums, O’Rourke’s fuzzed-out 6 string bass and Haino’s roaring guitar and electronics. Eventually settling into a hypnotic bass and drum groove over which Haino unleashes some almost Ray Russell-eque skittering atonal screech, these opening 13 minutes act as a potent reminder of the trio’s power. Alongside showcasing the steady development of a unique language for the guitar-bass-drums power trio, the group’s succession of releases over the last decade has demonstrated a constant experimentation with new instruments, which continues here with O’Rourke use of Hammond organ (played at the same time as his roaming, sometimes knotty basslines). On the album’s second piece, the organ plays a key role, furnishing a harmonically rich shimmer over O’Rourke’s angular 6 string bass chords, Haino’s distant, chirping electronics and Ambarchi’s crisp cymbal work; arriving somewhere halfway between Albert Marcoeur and Terje Rypdal, this piece is undoubtedly a highlight in the trio’s catalogue so far. Sides two and three are given over to slow-burning, multi-part epics that range from spacious reflection to furious tumult. Where the trio’s previous 2LP set (This Dazzling, Genuine “Difference” Now Where Shall It Go?, 2017) was primarily instrumental in focus, here we find Haino’s voice taking the spotlight on the expansive third side, intoning, wailing and exhorting in Japanese and English over a backdrop that moves from hushed bass and organ atmospherics to rolling toms and cymbal crashes before arriving at an ecstatic finale of searing guitar, tumbling drums and reverb-saturated bass. The fourth side returns to the hypnotic grooves of the opening piece, fixing on an relentless riff and riding it into oblivion under Haino’s roaming psychedelic soloing and jagged chordal slashes.
The idea of this records came out of a book called The Metamorphosis of Plants, written by Goethe in the 18th century. I was also triggered by a greek friend, who explained me the etymology of the world ""metamorphosis"", that is such an interesting greek concept.
""I cannot tell you how readable the book of nature is becoming for me: my long efforts at deciphering, letter by letter, have helped me; now all of a sudden it is having effect, and my quiet joy is inexpressive."" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to Charlotte von Stein, 1786
- A1: Shockwave
- A2: Track 2
- A3: Track 3
- A4: Track 4
- A5: Track 5
- A6: Track 6
- B1: Track 7
- B2: Track 8
- B3: Track 9
- B4: The River
- B5: Track 11
This month has seen Liam Gallagher make a typically full-throttle return. Super intimate sold-out show at Hackney Round Chapel? Biblical. Premiere and release of the long-awaited ‘As It Was’ documentary? Completed. Featured on the cover of Q, who described him as “rock’s finest frontman”? Naturally.
Liam wrote lead single ‘Shockwave’ with two of the key collaborators behind the all-conquering ‘As You Were’ album: Andrew Wyatt, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Song as co-writer of ‘Shallow’ from the film ‘A Star Is Born’, and the multiple Grammy-winner Greg Kurstin who also produced the track. It was recorded in Los Angeles.
Liam Gallagher’s debut solo album ‘As You Were’ was a critical and commercial smash. It debuted at #1, out-selling the rest of the Top 10 in the process, and was soon certified Platinum. Liam was back where he belonged, selling out huge outdoor shows and earning major awards from Q, NME and GQ.
More details regarding ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ will be revealed imminently. “It’s a better record than As You Were,” promises Liam. “Which is saying something, as that was epic, wasn’t it?”
Liam’s next double-bill of huge UK shows comes at the end of the month. He’ll play a sold-out Eden Sessions show on the 26th before hitting Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on the 29th.
Official remastered limited edition of Cellophane project from 1984 produced by Alessandro Novaga, one of THE major influences on Chicago House Music with his trio of releases -Drums-, -Electronic Drums- and -Faces Drums-, all essentially EPs of tough electronic bonus beats, creating the blueprint for many early Windy City productions. He was also behind other such hugely influential cuts as Stopps -Im Hungry- and -Ali Shuffle- by Camaros Gang. Here on his Cellophane album, which came after the huge -Gimme Love- single, we get what I guess you could describe as his magnum opus. The album consists of just two long tracks (or suites perhaps?) that take the listener of on an epic psychedelic italo /space disco trip like no other. Heavy use of synths and drum machines expecially on the part 3 !
audioMER. is honoured to announce the release of a new LP; Make Visible the Ghosts with music by Aki Onda (US/JP) and artwork by Paul Clipson (US). This album is the follow-up of Aki Onda’s Cinemage project Lost City—with Loren Connors and Alan Licht—released on audioMER. in 2015.
On Make Visible the Ghosts, New York-based musician Aki Onda composed the soundtrack for the images of the San Francisco experimental filmmaker Paul Clipson, who suddenly passed away on February 3, 2018.
In 2009, Clipson and Onda met at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for the first time and shared a ride to the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where they presented audio-visual works in the same bill. Since then, the two artists – known for their highly personal approach with Super 8, 16mm, cassette Walkman and radio – maintained a close friendship over the next nine years. Their works deal with memory, time, space, and those reflections, and they had a lot to share.
Onda and Clipson completed their collaboration work Make Visible The Ghosts—a combination of vinyl LP of Onda’s music and large-size collage artwork by Clipson—a few months before Clipson’s departure from life. The work is composed of the materials they used for their performance in New York in 2012 and developed over the three years from 2015 to 2017. Onda notes:
“The loss of Paul has left a huge hole in our mind including his friends and collaborators. Paul is no longer here, and this is a chance to remember him and his images that extended and expanded our perception of how the world can be seen and heard.”
- A1: They’re Back Again, Here They Come
- A2: I’ve Forgot My Number (Now I’m Telling You My Name)
- A3: All We Want Is Your Money
- A4: Can’t Sleep At Night
- A5: It’s The Only Way To Live (Die)
- A6: Stay Inside
- B1: Looking At You
- B2: Frivolous Disguises
- B3: Run
- B4: After All
- B5: Don’t
- B6: Screaming Dreaming
- C1: You Were So Young
- C2: Damage Your Health
- C3: Miranda
- C4: Media Menia
- C5: Surrender
- C6: Valium World
- D1: Can’t Sleep At Night (John Peel Session)
- D2: Frivolous Disguises (John Peel Session)
- D3: It’s The Only Way To Live (Die) (John Peel Session)
- D4: Valium World (John Peel Session)
180g Gatefold Double Vinyl with poster, sticker & badge
It was at the tale end of what would later be loosely termed ‘The Seventies’, in Lincoln, Merry England, that three teenagers formed, the consequencies of ther actions are captured here.
“You Were So Young” consists of everything that The Cigarettes ever recorded in what was their two year life span. From the very beginnings in the rehearsal room through to tracks recorded for an unreleased third single. It includes the two singles and their ip sides, some tracks that were included on a local compilation album, and their solitary John Peel session along with a handful that never found their way onto a record.
Their debut single ‘They’re Back Again, Here They Come’ , exchanges hands from upwards of £100 and ‘You Were So Young’ has been viewed on Youtube over 1.3m times.
The CD booklet and vinyl inner sleeves include an in depth interview with Rob and Steve, answering pretty much all there is to know about The Cigarettes
Over the years The Cigarettes have gained a wealth of interest, leaving many to scratch their heads and wonder how they slipped under the radar for so long.
In 1986, Uruguayan vocalist and musician Mariana Ingold took the advice of a storied Uruguayan composer and musicologist and recorded her first album (Todo Depende) for the now legendary label Ayuí/Tacuabé. In the early ’80s, the introduction of the synthesizer fostered an experimental new approach to traditional Candombe rhythms. Ingold’s influence on the scene looms large. Pairing elegant vocals and majestic harmonies with complex arrangements, she pushed the Montevideo-specific sound — loosely termed Candombe fusion — in new directions and thrived working collaboratively with artists including Eduardo Mateo, Jaime Roos, and Hugo Fattoruso.
With the assistance of Chris J. Morris, Left Ear Records has extracted a collection of tracks that encapsulate this period between 1986-1991, lifting from her albums Todo Depende, Cambio de Clima, and Haace Calor. Full liner notes translated in English and Spanish with archival photos included.
For the first time this massive tune by Esnard Boisdur is pressed on record..One of the standouts in the Gwo-Ka genre.. Comes with a rework on the flip by Africaine 808 (Hans Reuschl & Dirk Leyers) - they used the original stems and added drumcomputer and extra live percussion, synthlines, little dub effects.. Not the ''usual standard threatment'' here!! This is class!
“You don’t need to be a fan of Gwoka or even Antillean music in general to fall in love with the deep, expressive voices of the singers of the genre. Artists like COSACK, ANZALA and ESNARD BOISDUR have fascinated music lovers around the globe for decades. It’s not only the drumming style accompanied by their beautiful melodic intonation, but also the revolutionary spirit of these songs that make them a unique and powerful document of the culture and the history of the Antilles and the Caribbean.
Chillum Trio started out as a collective of like-minded musicians in 2002, however, after releasing an album together (which was supported by the likes of Laurent Garnier) the project slowly become the solo act of founding recording producer, Geza Szekeres.
At that time he discovered West-African music, latin jazz and the universe of soul and funk, these new directions have been shaping his musical evolution ever since.
In 2014 he turned out as one of the winners of Gilles Peterson's Havana Cultura remix contest that gave him the opportunity to travel to Havana and record music with the creme of the Cuban jazz scene.
One of his songs recorded in this session got released on Brownswood Recordings compilations Havana Cultura Mix and Havana Cultura Anthology.
Budabeats Records is more than proud to release Chillum Trio's first ever 12" single called Cosmotropica with two dancefloor friendly tracks mixing broken afro-house with tropical and cosmic influences.
.
incl. Priku & Franco Cinelli RMXS
A never-ending groove and perfectly programmed synth stabs are coming out hot from Stephan Bazbaz & Assael Weiss who happen to be in the rooster of Audionik’s latest instalment.
The label’s third release strays away from conventionalisms the A-side includes a hypnotic yet groovy remix from mastermind Franco Cinelli. Perfectly low ends and a poly-rhythmic groove make this a unique piece of music The B-Side comes from the hands of Priku. The remix is borderline minimalistic, freaky elements and glitchy effects pair with convoluted reverb sounds that come and go entering new grounds in texture and sound. Don’t miss to have this one in your record case, it will come very handy.
- A1: A Strong Move For Truth (Feat Nadine Charles)
- A2: Good Morning (Feat Samii)
- A3: Remini Dream (Feat Ivana Santilli)
- A4: I Don't Wanna Know (Feat Obenewa)
- B1: Unknown Faults
- B2: Life Can Be Unreal (Feat Sarina Leah)
- B3: Too Much (Feat Sharlene Hector)
- B4: You Are Virgo
- C1: Come Of Age
- C2: Just Leave It (Feat Lady Alma)
- C3: Ogawa Okasan Said Just Play
- D1: A Where Pringle Deh
- D2: My Standards Are (Not) Too High
After a steady stream of releases from the 2000 Black label which serve as a first course, Dego returns with his third album ; A full length LP of his contemporary adventures in modern sound. This album combines Dego's consistent forward looking musical explorations with a host of instrumental and vocal collaborators introducing us to new talents and reminding us of those we may have heard before. Dego continues to find new perspectives within the musical landscape.
Collaborating with singers and songwriters all expressing a distinct sense of where, collectively, we are now. There can be no doubt that this is a time of questions in every way, changes in the world and industry that will affect us all. How and what role music plays in this journey is explored as with any artist in a personal and pensive way from a tear to a smile. There is no preaching here, only statements and explorations. Individuality and sonic diversity combine and reflect the many inspirations and evolutions of style. Cooking up a strong and distinct genre-defying mix of soul, two step, funk, jazz, boogie and R&B, all dance music's that focus on heritage and natural rhythms.
Listening to the music is a relief and delight for lovers of groove and song-craft. It's a 21st century statement accessible and raw, whilst highly advanced in sound design and production. Holistic in breadth and deep in vision, it provides a way into this music for many, and challenges the cultural conversation about jazz without compromising or pandering. Music that utilizes a raw and sincere true openness narrative.
Hailing from Chicago, Beau Wanzer has carved out a singular voice in electronic music since debuting on the L.I.E.S. label in 2013. Wanzer’s music is not industrial, wave, electro, or techno - it’s a unique and twisted amalgamation of all that, and more. Crazy as it sounds, we at Suction Records have been sitting on this Beau Wanzer material since 2003. Back then Beau was working at Weekend Records And Soap — a Chicago hub for the city’s exploding electro scene — when Solvent and Lowfish rolled into town to perform at an Ersatz Audio label showcase. We met Beau at the shop and he gave us a 21-track CDR. We were instant fans, fast friends, and went on to the share the stage with him several times, well before he released his first records. That CDR contains these 6 tracks now released on 10”-vinyl as the “Do The Spider Shimmy” EP. This is suction049.
Had that CDR not been held onto, and recently-unearthed by Solvent, this music would have disappeared into digital oblivion; Beau had long forgotten them and didn’t even have a copy of these CDR tracks. Beau Wanzer’s trademark sound — raw, minimal electronics and effected-beyond-recognition vocals — were already in full-effect circa 2003, but what makes this material different from his contemporary output is the dry, drumbox-funk influence of Detroit’s Ersatz Audio label (Le Car, ADULT.), which is also heard loud and clear across the EP.
South east London songwriter and visual artist Jerkcurb has today announced his hotly-anticipated debut album Air Con Eden - set for release on Friday 13 September via Handsome Dad Records. The culmination of several years of intense creative focus, Air Con Eden reflects on Jerkcurb instigator Jacob Read’s recent real life events, losses and tragedies as well as more cryptic, fictitious perspectives and surreal adopted personalities. The record’s euphoric lead single ‘Timelapse Tulip’ arrives alongside today’s news - accompanied by a stunning, intricate 3D animated video courtesy of a collaboration between Read, director Gilbert Bannerman and production designer Theo Boswell. Read will tour the U.K. in October to celebrate the album's release with a hometown headline at Chat's Palace included on the run.
Having fully emerged in 2016 with the flourishing ‘Night On Earth’ - a streaming hit with 2,700,000 spins to date - and subsequent tracks ‘Voodoo Saloon’ and ‘Little Boring Thing’, there’s been a growing sense of an artist climbing into maturity with each succeeding release, video and gig laying the foundations for Jerkcurb’s burgeoning cult status. Radio and press took to Jerkcurb instantly with BBC Radio 6 Music inviting him in for a live session on Tom Ravenscroft’s show, also making an appearance as a guest on Steve Lamacq’s Thursday Round Table, while esteemed publications like Dazed, Vice, Noisey and Wonderland have all thrown their weight behind his music and art. Indeed, Read has been heavily immersed in his art and animation all the while, exhibiting at the Tate Britain and also being commissioned by them to create a promo for their installation Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One and drawing praise from It’s Nice That along the way.
There’s a near impossible richness to Read’s songwriting form on Air Con Eden, with its as-yet-unheard title track offering perhaps the clearest distillation of the record’s predominant theme: time at its malleable and fraught. Inspired by Victor Gruen - the pioneering designer of shopping malls in the United States - Read unpacks the idea of being trapped in an eternity that feels like an endless present tense, the passing of the seasons reduced to a standstill in a pristine shopping mall; a symbol of both stasis and comfort; an Eden without the possibility of an ending.
S-Type returns with his first full EP project in three years with the expansive “S-Type-Beat”: dedicated to the art of hip hop production for its own sake.
The sound of S-Type has been defined by producing massive, melodic instrumental hip hop played out in clubs as dance music - but this was always a side effect of growing up far away from the rappers he sought to collaborate with. His track ‘Billboard’, released alongside the first TNGHT and Baauer music was seminal in the genre that some American festivals mistakenly termed “trap”. But the reality has always been that S-Type’s primary inspiration is hip hop. For the online subculture of DIY producers dating back to early ‘00s Louis Den beat battles to his own releases to his co-writing, S-Type is a leader of the beat scene.
The recent term “type beat” refers to the scene of uploading your instrumentals replicating the sound of your favourite production on commercial releases, tagging the original artist in the title of the upload in the hope your track gets exposed to the fans of the original ie. “Drake-Type-Beat”. On this new S-Type ep he celebrates the booming scene of producers and affirms himself as one of the best doing it: your favourite producers favourite producer.
Basic Rhythm follows up his album 'On The Threshold' with an EP that lays out theexplicit connections between hardcore and footwork. A connection made even clearer by the inclusion of a rare remix by Chicago footwork originator RP Boo.
2 Da Core's punchy rolling drums are levelled up against rough samples and a vocal hook pitched up and down in classic hardcore style. Get Up runs a tubby bass under hazy vocal samples and weird sound effects. RP Boo's remix of 2 Da Core disassembles the track into pieces, building a stalking helicopter-like rhythm which plays hide and seek with the samples, while the closing track Nuh Ramp rounds off the EP with tumbling micro-edited rhythms and a melody built from small colourful sounds that draw on the Caribbean roots of this music.
The infamous Kiwi returns to Needwant with his second EP on the London label (home to the likes of The Revenge, Ejeca, Maxxi Soundsystem and many more) On this cut Kiwi does what he does best by incorporating emotion and grit into dance music. The EP features 3 mixes of ‘Kiya’ as well as a remix from underground hero Brian Ring.
The record opens with the original version of ‘Kiya' which features warm bass tones, spaced out synth lines, shuffling percussion and a tribal-esq vocal. The Rave mix gives ‘Kiya’ dance floor authority, introducing driving acid synth lines and a weightier low end. On the B side Kiwi delivers a deconstructed ‘Dreamscape’ mix stripping ‘Kiya' back to it’s beautiful bare bones.
‘Kiya’ will be another addition to Kiwi’s already impressive physical discography which includes releases on imprints such as Disco Halal, Future Boogie & 17 Steps. His unique approach to remixing and producing over the years has meant that he has seen a wealth of support from names such as Andrew Weatherall, DJ Harvey, Gerd Janson, Daniel Avery, Erol Alkan, Optimo, Annie Mac and Skream.
Secuund is the sophomore album from Belgian experimental electronix duo Suumhow.
This album is follow-up to last year's debut offering from Suumhow called Crash_Reports finds the pair doubling down on their blisteringly crunchy beat work and warm, humanistic melodies. While the beat-work on the album's opening track can lean toward the aggressive, making things feel as if all is about to teeter out of control, the thoughtful melodic touches in the synths keep the structure elasti- cally tethered together. Exceptions to that rule of thumb exist on Secuund with warm ambient track West Bend, the BOC-esque Bora Bora, and the durable onward animation of Cabin.
Such diversity in Suumhow's experimentation makes Secuund an excellent listen for fans of late 90s, early ought IDM, glitch & ambient.
Summhow's Secuund will be out Sept 20 and will be available on limited edition 180 gram sea blue vinyl, compact disc, and ultra-limited minidisc.
The second full-length LP from Jungle Brown, ‘Full Circle’, drops on Mr Bongo in September 2019. Featuring collaborations with Sampa The Great, Fliptrix (High Focus) and Terri Walker amongst other super-talents.
The trio – Ric Flo, MAEAR & Tony Bones – have spent the last two years redefining soulful hip-hop – the sound is bigger, more thought-provoking, and it has matured with a rich soulful underpinning. They have also entered territories fans are yet to hear from them as they glide effortlessly over Tony Bones’ productions that introduce trap and house into their repertoire. The
project is an eclectic array of their influences, twisted and blended together to create a ground-breaking release for UK music.
Jungle Brown’s debut album ‘Flight 314’ has achieved more than a million streams without any budget for marketing or promotion. They spent much of 2016 in Apple Music’s ‘Best of 2016 category, featuring on Spotify and SB.TV, were requested to curate an exclusive playlist for Tidal and attracted attention from New York with Beats 1’s very own, Ebro.
They’ve shared the stage with the likes of De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Lowkey, Akala and Donaeo, played major festivals including Glastonbury, Boomtown and Lovebox as well as a huge number of clubs shows across the UK.
Following his release on Twin Turbo, British artist R.O.S.H. debuts on Rekids with four imaginative cuts entitled ‘Thanks For Keeping It Real EP’.
Real name Roshan Chauhan, UK artist and mix engineer R.O.S.H. has a knack for blending an array of different styles resulting in a refreshing approach to club music and his next release on Radio Slave’s respected Rekids imprint demonstrates exactly that.
With its raw melodies and rough, syncopated percussion, ‘AMG (CLA45 Mix)’ is a monster destined to shake warehouses. ‘In Roll’ then combines a frenetic rhythm with a deep and atmospheric aesthetic before R.O.S.H. takes us into even murkier territories with ‘PACE’ using metallic snares, shadowy reverb and whirring synths. Tying everything together, rattling drums and echoing stabs lay the foundations for ‘Thanks For Keeping It Real’ whilst a moody bassline and soothing chords ebb into the mix. of house music littered with breathy samples and oscillating atmospherics.
Originally released in 1978 on the obscure label out of Mississippi, Commercial, Let Me Be Your Lover is now reissued and available again for this first time. This is a timely reissue of this ultra-rare LP that is fetching prices upwards of £600 online.
The album includes the absolute monster album version of the modern soul/crossover classic Gonna Find A True Love, which was reissued on Miles Away earlier this year. The album version of this track gives the 7” a run for its money.
“This album features the hit track ‘Gonna Find a True Love’. When we first heard this song, it really hit home and inspired us. The beat is uplifting and irresistible. This song is so very relatable not only to us but to others throughout the world and it’s still relevant today!! It’s hard to resist the song’s tempo! Go ahead - grove to the beat and find yourself a true love!” Estus Patterson, 2019
Let Me Be Your Lover is an album is undeniably deep, soulful and passionate and now fully licensed from Estus and Lester Patterson.
After surpassing 100k plays on Soundcloud, it became clear
that Ren Riz's disco jam Marmalade deserved an official
release. Accompanying the laid-back, sun-kissed original mix
is the “Late Night” version – a chopped up disco house
reinterpretation with a higher tempo and dance floor appeal.
Jupiter Direct locks the house groove in with its dubby filtering,
rolling bass-line and funky guitar loop. Saving dessert for last -
Pudding is a summery nu-disco tune with a choppy disco
bass-line and Rhodes chords for days. This release is all about
summer sunsets & aperitifs! Ren Riz is a Melbourne based
producer with hip-hop production roots. He began dabbling
with house & electro in the mid 2000s, whilst maintaining
sampling as a backbone to his sound. Along with a string of
remixes and popular re-edits, Riz has released 4 EPs on
various labels, with 2014 seeing him establish his own imprint
Casual Sparks
The rarest of all exotic LPs, like Eden Ahbez but with extra added death. This bizarre, rarely heard masterpiece brings together jazz, ancient manuscripts and a convicted murderer…
Issued originally in 1959 it originates from Pheonix, Arizona. The concept behind the recording was unusual - to brings together two unconnected worlds: the jazz genius of Buddy Collette with the academic oriental studies and translations of A.I Groeg.
Little can be found of A.I. Groeg, But before the LP was recorded A.I Groeg had translated several Polynesian and Japanese manuscripts. These form the basis of the dark narrations and lyrics across the album.
Sublime vocalist Marni Nixon (the voice of Maria in West Side Story) was brought in for two songs and fledgling actor Robert Sorrels (now a convicted murderer) supplied the strangely unsettling and almost otherworldly narration.
The original LP states that “Buddy was given carte blanche with the material. After six months of composing and studying with the voice soloists, the results were two instrumentals and two songs on side one, and tone poems on side two. The latter represents a new musical genre. They are musical descriptions, preceded by spoken lines, and they become tone poems or musical illustrations inspired by the islanders, their words and marvelous simplicity. The mood is complete, yet hovers strangely in the air like a vague tantalizing dream.”
I’d first heard the album in about 2010 on a bizarre bootlegged CD (edited strangely with exotic library music), and spent the next few years desperately trying to find an original pressing. About one copy turns up a year, it seems to be far rarer than the legendary Eden’s Island album and occupies a similar musical space. But this album has a little more death.
Heaven knows what new listeners will think of Polynesia, but it sure is a dark and weird musical trip. One I feel everyone should take.
Jonny Trunk 2019
Hailing from Cardiff, Elmono has previously released on Cold Recordings, launching the label with it’s first release and following up with a twisted take on Swamp 81 style UK bass 4/4 music. His debut on Tectonic shows off a different flavour altogether, combining all the classic elements of old school UK rave music - and giving them a fresh twist. Tempos run around 128-130bpm while the mood captures the essence of 92-94, as hardcore mutated into jungle.
We kick off with ‘Cooper’s Dream’ which filters upward from a muted position, dropping into a jungle-tech format, building up to a strange melodic bass line as we are taken further and further into the void of Cooper’s hallucinogenic dream space!
‘For The Future’ begins with a short, gentle intro before dropping wildly out of the blue into a tearing bass drop that will rip apart the walls of any dance. Harking back to the old school ways, the track develops with sample snippets and ‘ardcore synth stabs.
Flip then for ‘Endorfiend’ which runs with the theme of jungle/hardcore ingredients, reworked for 2019. Swooping bass hits and melodic chimes leave one foot in 1992 and the other in the here and now.
‘Shermi Paradox’ closes up the EP with splashing drum breaks, dissonant chords and synths, spinning acid like elements alongside Detroit-esque bass patterns.
Techno workhorse Dustmite demonstrates once again why he’s appreciated for his uniquely deep and diverse production styles. “Warpath”, the 6th release on Supervoid Records, is a palette of contrasting elements that are sure to strike a notable chord in listeners’ minds.
The titular track opens with determination. Heavy kicks drive a syncopated rhythm as momentous explosions decompress into oily murk. The polyrhythmic synth stabs of “Weaving” evoke imagery of complex machinery calibrated in near- perfect synchronicity. The hard offbeat shuffle of “Flares” conjures a primal response with scattered dissociative flashes. A foreboding mood descends over the listener in “Caustics.” Increasing tension and a pensive ambience.
Deliquent Delivery’s third EP titled U comes from Dublin based label head Stephen Mahoney, who contributed two tracks to the label’s last split EP.
Mahoney’s vision for Delinquent Delivery is visible on this release, showcasing his talents which range beyond A&R and delving into production. U features five untitled tracks, contrasting thumping dancefloor driven techno with spacey atmospheric ambient tones. With over twenty years experience as a DJ, Mahoney’s ear for precise, engaging rhythms and melancholic tones can be heard throughout U.
A1 sets the tone of U. A thumping kick lays the foundation for the track, with gritty, cutting melodies juxtaposed with polished, pensive tones. Rhythmic structure is a large component of Mahoney’s signature sound, with cleverly placed hats and snares audible on A1. A strong link to the sounds of Detroit sounds of the ’90s is audible here, synonymous with Zenker Brothers et. all.
A2 continues down the path previously set out, with another dance floor directed track. More subtle than previously heard, Mahoney drives the track with a glossy lead, only to break the track up and juxtapose it with a gritty, murky underlying melody. A2 also focuses heavily on rhythmic structure, with well-placed spacing allowing energy to be retracted and reintegrated with more tenacity.
A3 takes U to a different space with an ambient excursion. Mahoney here showcases that he is capable of creating lush, captivating soundscapes which transport the listener to a place of tranquillity. Dark, harrowing undertones are balanced with ethereal swells, maintaining the aura of the record established.
B1 moves back to the dancefloor, with a thumping kick and jagged, piercing tones. Mahoney’s versatility as a producer is evident here, as B1 moves in the same vein as the A-side of U but is completely different in style. Prime-time dance-floor material, this track drives forward with ferocity and grace, cleverly being broken up with sparkling synth tones only to hit back harder than before.
B2 closes out U. A bouncy kick drum sets the tone, with atmospheric, dark swells creating an engaging sonic tapestry. Sparse, delicately placed lustrous tones take the lead, with airy swells contributing to form a wonderful balance of light and darkness. Mahoney’s focus on precision within rhythmic structure is again noticeable here, with rhythmic elements forming their own melodies throughout B2.
U is Stephen Mahoney’s first full release on Delinquent Delivery and captivates the essence of his vision as a producer entirely. Versatile, engaging and polished, U contains five tracks which all compliment one another wonderfully. U is a record which is as useful in a DJ’s record bag as it is for home listening.
- A1: Rainbow Deux (6 57)
- A2: Let Love In (6 14)
- A3: Sigh (4 08)
- B1: The Darkest Night (7 32)
- B2: Surrender Now (6 08)
- B3: Summer Is Her Name (4 37)
- C1: Are You Ready (3 18)
- C2: Streets (Keep Me Runnin’) (7 00)
- C3: Samba Dreams (3 20)
- D1: Let’s Go Deep (5 27)
- D2: We Should Be Laughin’ (3 45)
- D3: Wishful Thinking (4 00)
TThe melodically adventurous soul of Leon Ware continues its expression in his final opus Rainbow Deux, released on double vinyl on September 13th. The album features new songs recorded and performed by Leon before his health turned, leading to his transition on February 23rd 2017. Co-produced by Taylor Graves, it has stellar musical contributions from the likes of Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Ronald Bruner Jr, Rob Bacon and Wayne Linsey.
Taylor Graves came into Leon’s musical family in 2002 when he, his brother Cameron and the Bruner brothers Ronald Jr and Stephen (Thundercat) were playing along with their schoolmate Kamasi at an L.A. jazz club. Taylor, Cameron, Ronald and Stephen became Leon’s band for his debut shows in Japan in 2002 and Taylor continued to work with Leon as his mentor and collaborator over the next 15 years.
“Leon was ALWAYS writing something or developing his musical palette” his wife Carol Ware tells us, so it’s impossible to pinpoint any single moment of Rainbow Deux’s genesis. Six of the songs go back to 2012/2013 and were released in 2014 as part of Sigh, a Japan-only CD collection heavy with Rob Bacon’s tasteful licks and Wayne Linsey’s piano vibes. The rest of the material comes from Leon’s sessions with Taylor.
Describing Leon’s and his process, here’s Taylor: “We’d start by having some great homemade food! Then a glass of wine ‘to slow down time’. After we’d have our fill and smoked our joints we’d go into his studio room to listen and create.”
The album was finished-up around August of 2016 in a back-and-forth between Leon and his go-to mastering engineer Toni Economides in the UK.
Leon worked on Rainbow Deux with life’s greatest challenge looming over him, yet it is one of his most focused and cohesive solo offerings since the 1980s. The entire record is a vibe: mellow, deep and smooth as silk. The lyrical themes are eternal, and the music is elegant, soulful and sensual.
The album opens with the hypnotic throb of “For The Rainbow”, coming on like a percussive, slow-mo house shuffle. Gilles Peterson is a fan. The exotic “Let Love In” follows, with its gradual-build Island Funk, intricate guitar picks and sassy female vocals. It explodes when it hits its stride. “Sigh” is the stylish slow jam close-out to side A. Serene guitars and polished drums create neck snapping funk, with a swaggering finger-snap strut.
Side B opens with the easy-burning broken-beaty “The Darkest Night”, the centrepiece of the album. Kamasi Washington’s lurking sax, restrained and beautiful, unfurls into the dank, sticky atmosphere of Thundercat’s signature creeping bass laid over his brother’s in-the-pocket drums. Leon’s vocals are perfect, a masterclass in seductive sax-soul.
“Surrender Now” conjures waves of vocals to swell and wash over the glossy piano, subtly bumping hip-hop drums and bubbling synth-bass stabs. It’s got the trademark Leon layers. “Summer Is Her Name” has Kamasi’s effortless, melancholic sunshine sax give way to rising tempos and propulsive rhythms.
“Are You Ready” is a total highlight (and we’ve been playing it out for ages). It’s a nimble groove of piano and synth rolling around Theo Croker’s sensual trumpet playing. Digi-soul at its finest. With lush G-Funk sensibilities “Streets (Keep Me Runnin’)” sounds like a lost Dam-Funk produced gem. All tough kicks and snares and street sounds. Leon’s hood pass will be forever intact.
“Samba Dreams” is the first of two tracks that bring a little Rio magic to Rainbow Deux. Leon created a whole body of work in partnership with Brazilian legend Marcos Valle that includes “Rockin’ You Eternally” - a hit for Leon - and “Estrelar” – a hit for Marcos. Leon channels his obvious love of Brazilian music here through more of Croker’s sumptuous trumpet, played over loose percussion. “Let’s Go Deep” is next up. A dreamy between-the-sheets quiet storm anthem and a real showcase for Leon’s vocals.
The dripping, honeyed harp-funk of “We Should Be Laughin’” marks the star turn of the brilliant Kimbra. Leon first met her on-stage to do an impromptu duet of “Inside My Love” during an open-air celebration of Minnie Riperton in July of 2014. Kimbra was working with Taylor on her music and he brought her to Leon’s house to do some writing. This was the result.
Warm synths radiate shuffling samba soul on “Wishful Thinking” as those Brazilian rhythms return to bring Rainbow Deux to a close.
During an apartment move Leon and Carol rediscovered some watercolours Leon had done years ago. One of these paintings had been dubbed “Deux Hearts” and Leon decided it should be on the cover of Rainbow Deux, getting as far as approving a draft concept for the artwork.
Carol has overseen developing that draft into the final gatefold sleeve. It brings together quotes, photographs and tributes in what is a reflection on the music, relationships and philosophy of the sensual minister.
Gerry “the gov” Brown, Leon’s long-time sound engineer, was by his side throughout the project, recording and mixing. The album was mastered by Toni Economides and Simon Francis’ additional sensitive work makes sure this double LP sounds like it should on vinyl.
Be With’s first ever release was Leon’s eponymous LP. Re-issuing that album planted the seed of a relationship that has grown to grant us the privilege of presenting his crowning achievement. We know that Leon’s fans all over the Earth will love Rainbow Deux. But we also hope that this album, the final entry in a phenomenal body of work, will reach new fans and find fresh conduits for the spirit of this oft-unsung hero of Soul.
Leon always said “they will get it when I'm gone.”
He also said that “the spirit never dies”…
Tenesha the Wordsmith, who came to the fore on On The Corner's 2018 release 'Black Noise 2084', has delivered a hard-cutting, gut-wrenching, and extremely moving spoken word album produced by Khalab that brings together different lines of black music - folkloric, jazz, and electronic dance - into an afro-futurist narrative with thunderous results.
Originally from Oakland, California, "a place where revolutionaries are born, Tenesha the Wordsmith originally began to fuse hip hop and poetry while living in Albany, New York, where she created her first collection 'Body Of Work'. Her early influences have returned with features from beatboxers and vocalists that give the album a distinctly urban hip hop vibe.
Woolfy vs Projections (aka Simon James and Dan Hastie) strike back with their new album on Permanent Vacation. “Destinations” is their fourth studio album, which makes WVP the longest running artists on the label from their debut release back in 2007. Once again, Woolfy vs Projections make California (one of the few places where endless summer isn’t just a hollow phrase) an outpost of the Balearic islands and proof that they’re truly one of the greats of the genre. Over the past decade Simon and Dan created a prolific catalogue of modern day classics with tracks like “Absynth” (described by Resident Advisor as “Air covering ?Steely Dan?"), “Neeve", “Set Me Loose” or “Set It Up". “Destinations” definitely follows suits. 10 tracks that combine the classic West Coast sound, a twist of dark disco, with a deep balearic twilight vibe.??
Related items
A Colourful Storm presents a mini-album by Kallista Kult, the newest and most shadowy members to join the label's eclectic roster. Rumoured to be comprised of a core group of modern Oz improv and DIY luminaries with ties to Brandenburg and Black Rock, the sprawling, deeply evocative tracks draw comparisons with the Ghost Box axis, that Michael O'Shea record, Inga Copeland and, dare we say, those rare-as-hen's-teeth Threshold Houseboys Choir CDR's. Edition of 150 with printed lyric sheet and insert.
Will Saul is a key figure in UK dance music. Approaching his twentieth anniversary as a DJ, producer and label founder, Saul has helped break the career of key artists such as Leon Vynehall, Midland and Dusky via his Aus Music label, has himself played some of the world’s finest nightclubs and contributed to !K7’s storied ‘DJ Kicks’ mix series, which he also curates. Finally returning to the production fold himself with his first full-length album in thirteen years, ‘Open Too Close’ is a condensed trip through the influences, discovery and sense of history that have helped shape his career and drive a forward-facing, unblinking passion for new music. The record’s concept reflects Will’s enormous skill and knowledge as a DJ, and as it’s title suggests, “"represents what I play in a club if an 8 hour set was condensed into 10 tracks.” Having held residencies and made regular appearances at some of the world’s finest clubs including The End and Fabric in London, Panorama Bar in Berlin, Trouw in Amsterdam and Robert Johnson in Offenbach, Saul is uniquely qualified but this refreshingly straightforward approach. Eschewing the lingering, almost cliched expectations for a dance artist to create an album “that sounds good at home, as well as in the club”, ‘Open Too Close’ instead draws on the timeless futurism at the heart of the music that drew Saul into electronic music culture. Simply put, futuristic, melancholic sci-fi soundscapes meets stripped back raw sample driven house music, all executed with the precision and panache of an artist who truly understands how to move a dancefloor.
Cologne’s resident conjurer Hodini steps up for his second solo EP on WOLF Music Recordings. Bringing elements from his hip hop background into this unique five tracker, Hodini dusts off long forgotten cuts, sampled with that MPC chopped graininess, blending lo-fi vocal sound bites with deft jazz loops, all adding a distinct, textured edge to his work.
‘Velved Groove’ and ‘Special Shoutout’ kick things off, snapping in funk fills and skipping guitar riffs behind a concoction of hazy spirals that transfix from the off. The former is an uptempo, twisted, jazz club house jam and the latter a bubbling voyage through the afterhours, bourbons flowing and faces flying from every corner.
A master of misdirection, Hodini also moonlights as one of Germany’s leading underground hip hop producers HulkHodn, proving he can flip styles and meld genres with ease. Featuring his alter ego, ‘Doggo Content’ is his nod to this - a crackling slo-mo trip through the intoxicated mind, soundtracked by stretched vocal snippets, wading bass notes and a crunching snare.
Two of the harder-hitting club tracks close out the EP, both focused around hypnotic bassline carousels and looping layers. ‘Where’s The Wine’ interjects Rhodes flickers with bongo rhythms and unsettling laughes, as ‘One4Fries’ marries off-kilter, piano stabs alongside jazzy flourishes and fizzing percussion.
The Transhumanism collective was born on the dance-floor at Dave Clarke's first Whip It party at the Melkweg in Amsterdam. This is the fourth vinyl release on Bass Agenda Recordings that features the four Dutch Electro artists w1b0, RXmode, Slaves of Sinus, and TFHats. The releases to date have had ongoing support from many key DJs who support the authentic Electro scene - Dave Clarke, UMEK, Helena Hauff, DJ Stingray, Maceo Plex, and Alienata to name but a few. Juan Atkins and Helena Hauff were still dropping w1b0's track from the first release this Summer (2019) at various festivals. It's no surprise that the first in the series has just been repressed, and now, the third in the series keeps the pressure up with 4 brand new tracks. As always, the brief here was simple - "be yourself and do your best to kill it". All four artists have risen to the occasion - maintaining the fundamentals of their individual sounds, evolving a little in some parts, and bringing a compilation with something for every discerning DJ with an ear for cutting edge Electro.
Emerging from the dynamic tundra north, Iceland to be exact, the newly established imprint LAHAR celebrates its launch with a fiery EP from the scene's most mythical
creature, NonniMal. Dubbed after the eponymous volcanic debris flow that swallows whatever crosses its path, LAHAR refracts in its sound the ever-changing, jagged and
entangled landscapes of a crisis-riden time.
Residing today in the company of many post-industrial wonders, from Reykjavik's semi-subterranean water reserve Gvendarbrunnar to the phallus-shaped Smaralind mall, NonniMal prefers to give salience to his environment and remain extensively unknown. In this untitled high-octane techno EP, he spurs us to imagine an uncanny coalescence of glacial disaster into the minimalism of enumeration.
After a two year break, due to the birth of the sub-label Rhythm Control Barcelona, End Of Dayz returns with a new "All Stars". This time with 4 tracks in the vinyl version, plus a bonus track in the digi version.
On the A-side, the Argentinian, now based in Barcelona, Julixo brings us his song "1990 B i t c h" very much in tune with the EP he published in ARTS under his Awdha alias, hard groove techno with 90's house pads and a cool sample. Kaiser serves us a Millsian school mental bomb direct to the dance floor: "Still Life".
On the B-side we first have "The Crown" by Spaniard Pushmann, that has already been played by Dave Clarke on his White Noise Radio Show and on his set at the Awakenings Festival 2019. To finish the vinyl, the Man From Tucuman and the Barcelona's "Depressive House" king, Fede Zerdan, with his "Soc Pell".
This four-track-EP celebrates the spirit out of which Seilscheibenpfeiler was born. It contains two unreleased 1994 productions by Sebastian Szary’s Fundamental Knowledge project, which started the label back in the day. They are complemented with present day reworks by Fadi Mohem and Skeemask, breathing new life into these 25 years old but far from outdated tracks by adding a little extra punch through modern means of production.
Fadi and Skeemask deliberately don’t apply any specific modern elements to Szary’s vintage tracks, instead they enhance their classic Minimal-meets-Hardcore-meets-Acid feel. It’s a transmission from a Golden Techno Age where all was one, capturing the sweaty, hard, yet light footed sound of post-wall Berlin, with all its associations from Tresor to Love Parade.
„1994 - 2“ sounds hypnotic and airy, while rumbling on the lower end. What a perfect opportunity for Skeemask to flesh out the track with his hefty trademark breakbeats! Fadi Mohem revamps the acidic „1994 - 21“ with equal respect and efficiency, providing the kick drum power needed for big soundsystems.
If you don’t look at the titles, it may at first be hard to discern which is which, what’s past and what’s present – a fact that honors both versions new and old.
Singer, lyricist and composer Nirox Romão aka Diron Animal was born and raised in Cazenga, Angola. Diron Animal's involvement in the music world began early: he was part of a traditional Angolan music band and capoeira group, followed by a hip hop project. 12 years ago he moved to Portugal to study, but music became more than just a passion when he landed in kuduro.
For over 6 years, he sang, danced and traveled the world with Afro Portuguese act Thoes + The Shine, mixing rock and kuduro, becoming an explosive ensemble. At one moment, Diron wanted to record a solo album to show a bit more of his own personality and in late 2017 his debut album ‘Alone’ appeared on Soundway Records, where he himself worked out the melodies, rhythm, vocals and even the guitar parts between classic funk to afrohouse and kuduro bass. Through that album he explored major festivals in Europe during 2018, such as at Paléo Festival Nyon, Trans Musicales Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event and others.
On ‘Pair’, his 2nd album and released on Brussels outernational label Rebel Up Records, he has worked hard to enhance his special formula. Inspired by the cruel death his nephew, it became a testament against oppression via the mixed sounds of afro boogie, disco, funk, afrohouse, coupé décalé and kuduro, with English and Portuguese lyrics.
The first single of the album, ‘You and Me’, is an English sung afro boogie disco song and produced by Diron with the support of musician and producer Moullinex, actor André Cabral and video made by director Vasco Mendes. In the video, featuring dancer and actor André Cabral, Diron Animal takes on the role of a gay man to express that a homosexual is a normal person who loves, feels desire, dreams, conquers, wants to be loved and desired, wants to live next to a being that completes him. With “You and Me”, Diron Animal above all wants to appeal to society, respect for the choice of people and non-discrimination of sexual choices. For in life we all deserve to be happy regardless of our sexual choice.
'Mantra Moderne' is a stunning, contemporary masterpiece that fuses Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, 60’s European pop and American jazz. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes, Cortex and co.
The duo is formed of Kit Martin, who lives between London and France and plays all instruments on the album, and Merve Erdem, vocalist and multi-disciplinary artist from Istanbul, now based in London. This is their debut album.
The album explores universal themes such as love, loss, decay, language and ideology, mixing three different languages: English, Turkish and French. Written and recorded by the duo - Kit composed all the songs and Merve wrote the lyrics - in rural France during 2018, each song was completed within a 12-hour window, pawning contemplation for spontaneity.
Dubbed by Kit and Merve as ‘lo-fi-hi-fi’ in reference to the high-end tube equipment that helped it find its way to 8-track cassette tape. The style owes its sound to narrow tape width, valve distortion, spring reverb, the mixture of high end gear with lo-fi equipment as well as a disregard to the norms of hi-fi studio techniques. All instruments were analogue and no samples were used. The instruments that are used range from tablas to darbukas, balalaikas to ouds, MS20 synths to Farfisa organs and a lot of cuica. The mixing techniques were done on-the-fly, tracking immediately to tape: compression, EQ, delay and reverb; meaning mixing could not be revisited!
Acclaimed by many as one of the greatest and rarest library LPs of all time, the album 'FEELINGS' by Jay Richford & Gary Stevan aka Stefan Torossi. With its iconic 'naked lady in the wild' cover, has been coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres. This album showcases some outstanding compositions & arrangements that explore the exciting connections between rhythmic funk and orchestral jazz - and are now for the first time issued on 7" 45 vinyl double pack!
We open with the uplifting “Running Fast” - a driving, pulsating groove laden with Fender Rhodes and swept along by lush strings. If you're not feeling it - book an appointment to see your doctor! Next follows a B-Boy dancer filled with battle floor emotion - “Fearing Much” - this one packs a heavy bass and syncopated drum groove with dramatic, stirring strings. A must have 45 DJs fave! The opening drum break to “Feeling Tense” gives way to mellow vibes with a deep bass, silky strings and charged horns that deliver the perfect slick, down-tempo groove. Last one is another down-tempo vibe heavy on the bass and strings, “Walking in the dark”.
All in all yet another MUST HAVE Dynamite Cuts 45!
The french and fresh production team Mochi Men (Young Pulse & ATN) is back on wax, releasing their 2nd official remix on Mochi Records ! After making a great impression with their previous and
sold out release (the deep house – UK jazz funk remix of Resolution 88’s "Taking Off), they return with a monster nu disco boogie nugget, remixing “Boys and Girls” from the famous french latin funk sensation, Setenta ! With a strong reputation since their first hit “Funky Tumbao”, followed by 4 LP's, a collaboration (on record and on stage) with Nuyorican legend Joe Bataan and even a remix
by Kenny Dope Gonzalez (Masters At Work), the Parisalseros of Setenta entrust their latest hit to the Mochi Men funky rascals.
The result is a heavy boogie bounce of a real party jam, that hits hard on the dancefloor
After last year’s excellent ‘Insula’ album, Proc Fiskal returns to Hyperdub with the six track EP ‘Shleekit Doss’; in his own words, “a kind of representation of the time I was running the club night of the same name in Edinburgh. These tunes represent the night’s ethos of genre-defiance and high-energy futuristic sets, ecstatic and transcendent while still being fun and stupid. I was getting my friends to play and I made all the posters on my phone - like this EP’s artwork. I also started hoarding old FM synths which crop up a lot on the EP, and was reading a lot of sci-fi like Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’, and ‘2001’. The night ran until last November when the bouncers and some punters got in a fight, the club got damaged, and unfortunately I got banned too.”
Through this mayhem and misdemeanour, ‘Shleekit Doss’ feels like an oasis of calm; light, bouncy and melodic, the EP sees Proc developing the depth and range of his music in satisfying ways. The beatless, processed male voice choirs of ‘Satan’ open the set, breaking into glitchy drums before the melodies are time-stretched into a pretty drone and gentle rolling piano. Clouds of bittersweet synths waft across cut-up voices and clattering drums on ‘Smith’s Deli’, while ‘Pico’ is a driving mix of tight, tiny micro-edits that feel like micro-house crossbred with jungle breaks. ‘2 Moros’ takes the Sinogrime developed on ‘Insula’ deeper into dense rhythmic abstraction, and on ‘4 minutes’, charming synth melodies and 8-bit bass lines are threaded through skeletal drum machine kicks and snares. ‘Prop-O-Deed’ finishes the EP, Proc Fiskal displaying his inimitable gift for heart-wrenching anthemic melody, built around tuned Asian percussion and scratchy synth violin.
In the last few years since their previous record on Low Budget Family, the Lipsky Brothers have been very busy, releasing plenty of proven dance weapons written or remixed by them, touring around the world from Ibiza to local underground parties and just living their life in the Moscow rush.NAR ('fire' in Arabic) is a simple yet crazy effective club tool, which has regularly been played at Denis Simachev Bar, home to the label and their very own parties, that is untimely gone. While original is quite housey with an irresistible bassline , Autarkic serves a more trippy take with some unexpected harmonic shifts and finally, the Inigo Vontier version offers a percussive big stage tribal killer.
Inner space centurion and local star command operative Tommy Walker III returns with a new mission directive this DATE...
Hardwiring to the Red Laser network and initiating an advanced, beta-tested programme of futuro-manctalo cybernetics, TWIII's meta-level hybridisation of Italian synth disco & northern English rave styles, combined with an expert deciphering of modernised club dynamics has resulted in a faultless system capable of withstanding the most extreme sonic test environments. RL30's eight tracks are RL Corp. operation-certified to work alongside Human2.0's electrostatic discharge profile. Universally approved usage for sentient earth dwellers offering portals into dancefloor ecstasy and inter-dimensional transcendence. This programme begins with 'Pocsy', and sees euphoric holograms burst through galloping Italo mechanics, fusing retro-tinged optimism with a nu-age release. 'Shoiab' (named after a fellow starship captain tasked to MCR and in alliance with RL Corp...) unleashes red shifted synths and carnal cowbells for the cyberotic lap-dancers to get jizzy too. 'Autopilot' allows the on-board crew to reassemble, a well automated array of arpeggios guiding the shuttle during the first phase, until reconsolidating in the latter stages for full-on interdimensional 5-D funk jam. 'Lightwork' is pure RL endorsed synth-jizz, erupting out of Tommy's arsenal like a mis-timed giant alien cumshot; minus any Manga references.
'Astral Projectile Vomit' address a common problem endemic to protectors of our star cluster; then channels a shiny, serpentine chrome sequence and thrusts it down the rainbow road for maximum belly aches.
More hydraulic collisions between electronic disc-boogie and newly mined atomic particles from passing asteroids ensures Srg. Walker has enough mainroom material to keep the Sharons and Traceys of the main hub dancing in between injections of dimethyltryptamine. Closing with a trio of humanoid hits that'll have Jonny5 ordering kryptonite margaritas for the entire ship, Tommy Walker celebrates with the cosmic conge, 'Gary Blast'.
RL Corp is confident RL30's internal algorithm is a future-proofed, cross-species platform for auditory excitement, and will continue to stimulate listeners across a multitude of environments.
FILE UNDER: jazz, modal jazz, spiritual jazz
- 2xLP gatefold- 180g pressing- free download card
With 20 years passing since his first foray into recorded jazz, Nat Birchall now ranks as one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. With several highly acclaimed albums in the locker, he now returns with his most ambitious project yet – a tribute to the legend that is Yusef Lateef.
"The Storyteller - A Musical Tribute to Yusef Lateef"
"When Jazzman Gerald first mentioned to me the idea of doing an album as a tribute to the jazz giant Dr Yusef A. Lateef, my first thought was "Where on earth do I start?" Lateef was such a colossus of music, and his scope so broad, that I couldn't hope to begin to cover his musical universe. He was a master of the tenor saxophone, a master of the flute, a master ballad player, a master blues player. Not to mention his skills as a composer and arranger and of course his exploration and use of musical methodology and instruments from all over the world."
"I've always been a great admirer of Lateef, and the challenge was intriguing, so I decided to give it go. We interpreted some of his own compositions (Brother John, Morning & Ching Miau) as well as some compositions by others that he made his own by careful arrangement and interpretation (Love Theme from Spartacus, Ringo Oiwake). I also wrote some original songs that, while certainly not written in his style, might be said to fall into his very broad approach to music making."
"I also wanted to utilise as many different instruments as possible, something I hadn't explored too much until this album. So it was a nice opportunity to finally get around to playing some of the many small instruments I've collected over the years; the Turkish zurna, the mbira from Zimbabwe, the balaphon from Mali and the arghul from Egypt. We have also tried to use varied time signatures in the music, so we have songs in 3/4, 5/4 and 7/4 time, as well as the standard 4/4."
"Ultimately the best music tells a story to the listener and takes them to places they might not have imagined themselves. Yusef Lateef certainly did that, and as such was a master storyteller."
Nat Birchall
After an intrepid new phase in the label’s history - initiated by the “Solidarity Forever” series and followed by releases from Katerina, Mujaji The Rain, Gladkazuka and also Matias Aguayo’s “Support Alien Invasion” (w/ “Crammed Discs”) - Cómeme is happy to announce a new release by a wonderful and unique artist, who chooses to walk adventurous paths beyond nowadays musical normativity, and media spectacle: JOE.
(You might already be acquainted with his releases on the ever - exciting “Hessle Audio” label) On his first EP on Cómeme, JOE invites us to “Get Centred” via fresh sounds, perfect beats, and unusual time signatures – difficult to play, and easy to dance!
A1 GET CENTRED
New rhythms inspire new dances and new ideas, and already at the very first bars you realize that this record can be both a joyfully twisted dance floor work out as also beautiful listening experience - with its shifting arpeggios and trippy crescendos. Reminiscent of minimalist milestones it crosses the artificial barriers between body, mind and soul, satisfying those in need of getting centred, in times of accelerated alienation...
A2 LINE TO EARTH
Triplets are back and here to stay! Such as in this percussive creature Joe unleashes onto the festive crowd. This very catchy jam is clever and intense drum programming at its best, with its swirling toms that seem to float in the air. We feel them activating different body parts for futuristic popping, whereas the relentless boogie rhythm that lays the foundation for this track gives us material to twist our legs in sync to the beat.
A3 RIO LEA
Joe closes this EP with “Rio Lea” - an elegantly swinging jam that smoothly and slowly builds up to a melodic meditation. Its many decorative elements seem all - necessary to make this work and are always falling rightly into place. You can imagine this a perfect fit for a long drink on a spacecraft, watching meteorites pass by, as we are sure it will also work in a bus on headphones late at night, watching the rain rolling down the windows...
The legendary Blade is back on vinyl with this limited edition 7" and digital release from Boot Records! These are 2 killer tracks from the archives, "Dark Friends" and "Make it Connect", both with cuts from Boots Jazz T. The cover art is by Stilts cementing this as a record not to be missed!
General Information
Title: DARK FRIENDS
Lyrics Written & Performed by: Blade
Produced by: The Manos
Recorded @: The Lion's Den
Mastered by: N/A
Label: 691 Influential
Catalogue Number: N/A
Recorded: 2003
Blade had met a couple of young guys whilst selling his records on the streets around 1991 and kept in touch on a regular basis as they both had a love for the creative side of music making. At this time the guys were just fans of Blade's music but one day turned up at Blade's flat to produce a beat with Blade's help and ever since then have been good friends and later went on to be called THE MANOS
12 years later and with the release of Blade's "STORMS ARE BREWING" album, his distribution company had declared bankruptcy and left him on the verge of losing his house. Not being able to provide for his family, he called up on his close friends THE MANOS to produce a couple tracks while he focussed more on just writing and performing the lyrics while doing what he needed to do to make sure the bills were paid and his house saved from repossession
The first helping of their production skills was showcased on Blade's "SOLDIERS" track which also featured LIFE MC & RESPEK BA. "SOLDIERS" was officially released in 2003 and around the same time Blade & THE MANOS hit the studio again and recorded "DARK FRIENDS"
Due to constant unexpected and sudden unpredictable changes in Blade's personal life, "DARK FRIENDS" never got to see an official release and was shelved as an incomplete demo until years later when it saw an underground release on "BOOT RECORDS". At this point the track was still missing the scratching and now again almost 10 years later and with Blade's very close friendship with DJ JAZZ T and with the addition of the scratching by the one and same, "DARK FRIENDS" now complete with sharp and to the point cutting finally sees the light of day.
Blade retired in 2006 and has been off the radar since until December 2018 when he became a little more active on Facebook and has reconnected with a lot of the fans and friends, with which obvious conversations about unreleased material was bound to surface and as a result "DARK FRIENDS" now is finally released on a limited edition 7" vinyl
General Information
Title: MAKE IT CONNECT
Lyrics Written & Performed by: Blade
Produced by: Blade
Recorded @: The Lion's Den
Mastered by: N/A
Label: 691 Influential
Catalogue Number: N/A
Recorded: 1997
"MAKE IT CONNECT" is one of those rare demos that Blade just threw together in about an hour to pass time and over the years turned out to be one of his favourite tracks, but at the time being completely broke and homeless, living in the basement of a local equipment store in New Cross, releasing this was simply not possible. This track has been sat on a cassette tape for over 20 years and having been played over and over again the quality has completely worn down. Unfortunately the version on the cassette tape was the only version available so separating the channels to get a proper mix is not possible either
However, thanks again to DJ JAZZ T that only made it more interesting to make something of this gem of a track. Blade having been retired now for 13 years, it would only really take one of two things to see Blade on tracks again for public consumption
Death & Leisure is proud to announce the sophomore album from the very special Autumns.
6 tracks of raw sneering electronics. Coming out in spring.
Autumns is the solo project of Christian Donaghey, From Derry, Ireland, an outlet for electronic post-punk with a lethal pulse. After a brace of rough demos without preliminary hype, the project emerged fully formed on Karl O’Connor’s (aka Regis) illustrious label Downwards back in 2014, the youngest act in a new vanguard of artists that included the likes of Tropic of Cancer, DVA DAMAS and The Kvb.
– Extended Autumns biography here-
Autumns is the solo project of Christian Donaghey, From Derry, Ireland, an outlet for electronic post-punk with a lethal pulse. After a brace of rough demos without preliminary hype, the project emerged fully formed on Karl O’Connor’s (aka Regis) illustrious label Downwards back in 2014, the youngest act in a new vanguard of artists that included the likes of Tropic of Cancer, DVA DAMAS and The Kvb.
Preceding releases for Clan Destine Records, iDEAL Recordings and DKA Records have seen the project engaged in a rough trade of transgressive noise, dysfunctional metal dance and DIY punk angst, yet each of these milestones has represented a different proposition. 2016’s ‘A Product of 30 Years of Violence’ saw the project moving into vast glacial spaces after propulsive post-punk discord of 2015’s ‘Das Nichts’. 2017 presented a further progression into Autumns’ journey from his post-punk beginnings to producing some of the tautest and no bullshite electronic music around with the release of his debut album ‘Suffocating Brothers’ on Clan Destine Records. Gaining radio play from selectors like Trevor Jackson, Regis, Debonair and Giant Swan.
Alongside progressive appearances on cult labels the project has developed a notorious high-intensity live show, having played and toured with artists such as Silent Servant, Veronica Vasicka and Wire, performing to audiences from Los Angeles to Beirut, and Moscow to Berlin. Autumns’ has also ventured outside the typical music world by taking up projects such as performing alongside Samuel Kerridge at the 2016 edition of Paris Fashion Week for Downwards, creating a sound installation at Void Gallery, and improvising a desolate live score to David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’. Earning Autumns a fierce reputation not only as a live act, but as a multi-disciplinary artist.
Following contributions to labels such as Amok Tapes, Touch Sensitive, Veyl (Maenad Veyl) and Earwiggle (Sunil Sharpe), as well as remixes for Strange Therapy, Infidel Bodies, and Clan Destine Records. 2019 see’s Autumns’ experimentation in the studio go much deeper, with the release of his sophomore album ‘Shortly After Nothing’ on Oliver Ho’s (aka Broken English Club) innovative ‘Death & Leisure’ label, alongside a heavy touring schedule, a collaboration with post-punk legend Eric Random, the launch of his radio show ‘Dyslexia Tracks’ on Dublin Digital Radio and more upcoming releases to surface throughout the year.
This new and grainy Sbire release sees La Chaux-de-Fonds electronic craftman Gaspard de La Montagne work as per usual with Nathan Baumann. The two of them share a long history of forward thinking music projects, including EPs, videos, movie soundtracks and so on. Things have changed on this one though as Baumann co-signs the record, instead of an usual credit mention. Both artists describe these 7 tracks as a small album which average format of tunes leans towards pop music. A thoughtful and progressive tracklist bounds all titles together as a whole journey, landmarked by Baumann's ethereal vocals and minimalistic french lyrics. This new approach makes Auras a moving and bittersweet journey that will see you wander from a crowded club to your lonely bed.
- A1: Robert Arthur Moog - The Abominatron (1964)
- A2: Herbert Deutsch - Jazz Images, A Worksong And Blues (1967)
- A3: Joel Chadabe - Blues Mix (1966)
- B1: Lothar And The Hand People - Milkweed Love (1968)
- B2: Intersystems - Changing Colours (1968)
- B3: Ruth White - The Clock (1969)
- B4: Max Brand - Triptych (1969)
- B5: Paul Earls - Monday Music (1968)
In support of their forthcoming Bob Moog documentary Electronic Voyager, Waveshaper Media have produced a compilation LP of Moog recordings from the 1960s. The first compilation of its kind, Electronic Voyages: Early Moog recordings 1964-1969 contains tracks by Robert Arthur Moog, Herbert Deutsch, Joel Chadabe, Lothar and the Hand People, Intersystems, Ruth White, Max Brand, and Paul Earls. All of these tracks, released here on vinyl in an edition of 1000 copies, have been scarcely heard and difficult to track down, with all but three of them previously unreleased on vinyl.
Bypassing the Moog synthesizer’s backseat appearance on key pop recordings by the likes of the Beatles, the Doors, and the Beach Boys, Electronic Voyages aims to highlight the diverse approach of 1960s musicians and composers who adopted the Moog as their primary instrument; these recordings all feature the Moog synthesizer front and centre. Beginning with an “audio letter” (The Abominatron) from Bob Moog to his musician-muse Herbert Deutsch, demonstrating some of the first Moog synthesizer prototype’s capabilities, Electronic Voyages veers from avant-garde and electronic soundscapes, to psychedelic madness and summer-of-love pop. In the 1960s, the Moog synthesizer was a new, groundbreaking instrument, and its use was completely uncharted territory. The pioneering use of the Moog on all of these recordings sounds fresh today - you can sense the wide-eyed exploratory delight unfolding, and the disparate results range from endearingly naive (Lothar and the Hand People, Paul Earls) to downright eerie (Ruth White, Intersystems).
The musicians and composers behind these Electronic Voyages may have been among the first to adopt Moog synthesizers, but the fact that they so readily found within them expressivity, heart, and a means to translate their wondrous sense of discovery, speaks far more to Bob Moog’s visionary invention and enduring legacy.
- A1: The Future Is Yours
- A2: How We Gonna Stop The Time (Feat Stee Downes)
- B1: Good For The City (Feat Sam Duckworth)
- B2: The Upper Hand (Feat Capitol A)
- B3: Love Inflation (Feat Janne Schra)
- C1: Your Body
- C2: Where You Been
- C3: F A.m.e. (Feat. Retro Stefson)
- D1: Just Wanna Be Loved (Feat Joi Cardwell)
- D2: Don't Let People (Feat Berenice Van Leer)
- D3: Back Again (Feat John Turrell)
LIMITED GREEN AND RED VINYL WITH DIGITAL DOWNLOAD INCLUDED.
All-conquering Dutch heroes Kraak & Smaak have taken the electronic music scene by storm in recent years with a slew of killer collaborations with the like of Mayer Hawthorne, Romanthony (RIP), Eric Biddines (Golden Rules), Parcels, and many more. Their live show has seen them play every festival and club worth the mention from Glastonbury to Detroit Movement, Coachella to Space Ibiza.
After their debut album 'Boogie Angst' established them in the spotlight with heavy Radio 1 support from Pete Tong and Annie Nightingale, the band followed up with breakthrough albums – 'Plastic People' and 'Electric Hustle'. Launching them to another level, these albums featured the standout singles - 'Squeeze Me (feat. Ben Westbeech)', and 'Let's Go Back (feat. Romanthony)' which have both become ubiquitous through TV ads, funky dancefloors and tens of millions of streams.
Riding high they then released a seminal piece of work in the shape of their fourth studio album - 'Chrome Waves'. An album that is a joyous fusion of disco, funk, indie, electronica and pop all smooshed together with Kraaak & Smaak's unique sonic signature throughout. Teaming up with a crew of ultra-talented vocalists: Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly), John Turrell (Smoove & Turrell), Stee Downes, Capitol A, Joi Cardwell, Janne Schra and their very own live band singer - Berenice Van Leer , they created an album packed full of dancefloor-ready jams for all occasions…
It was received well by both fans and critics alike, picking up a coveted Mixmag tune of the month award, topping European club charts, becoming a staple on radio playlists everywhere, and of course selling out on the original vinyl pressing runs.
Well after much demand we are now reissuing this masterpiece on a 2xLP limited edition green and red vinyl and once again you can own it on wax. A present for both the fans of old who missed it the first time around, and those who have discovered Kraak & Smaak in more recent times.
2023 Repress
For over 25 years, KOMPAKT strives to bring Techno, House and everything in-between to the dance floors of generations that come from (or live) in the past, present, and future. Today, we proudly present an anthem that truly speaks to us in the spirit of what lead us to create our SPEICHER series.
ANNA returns for her third round on SPEICHER following an incredible year of non-stop touring the globe, remixing JON HOPKINS and contributing to a recent AFTERLIFE compilation. KITTIN (formerly known as MISS KITTIN) needs no introduction - she is nothing short of a trailblazer in dance music history by contributing countless times through her voice, music and DJing.
Together they are FOREVER RAVERS - dispatching a message of everlasting unity for the dance floor community. ANNA brings her most voracious production skills to date interwound with KITTIN sounding at her best in an explosive consequence that we can only describe as being a must-hear Techno hymn.
ANNA takes the original past the stratosphere with her RAVING IN SPACE MIX. Not to be misinterpreted as a dub version, ANNA keeps the potency of the original but expands the core instrumental elements that moves from suspension to release in a decisively throttling means.
Philippe Cam is the Thomas Pynchon of the electronic music world. Little is known about him and only a couple of pictures have been put online since he emerged on this planet to write his first and only album18 years ago. We know he worked as a sailor and that’s it. If you dig deeper you might find out that he worked as a DJ in the beginning of the 90ies in Brussels and began to study electronic music there and also began to write music for theaters and ballets.
The American distributor Forced Exposure once wrote that about him: „Philipe Cam is a star in his own field. He is among the few people who have succeeded to write hypnotic dance music without a conventional beat still conveying a thrilling, dramatic feel. Cam has developed an accurate, intense and complex formula of modulation-techno. Starting with music similar to Pan Sonic in 1996, his music turned towards a more elegant form of minimal music. Abstract soundtracks lead to an organic form of music, which was equally influenced by modern techno as Wolfgang Voigt's Studio 1/Gas or Basic Channel/Maurizio. Cam's music corresponds heavily to the Cologne scene, where his music is appreciated and played throughout the clubs by the likes of Michael Mayer, Tobias Thomas and various other DJs as well as experimental djs from the A-musik corner.“
So what’s new with his music? Basically the art of filtering is still his passion. Maybe he can be less associated with techno and the themes of his new tracks emerge in a more distinctive pattern? Well that’s hard to say, we would comment the energy of his early techno days in Brussels have returned here in a fierce way with some oft he tracks. The rhythmic movements are classy and stick with you. Whereas other tracks look for a distinctive relaxation of some kind.
We are releasing the album as a double clear vinyl with cover art by Yvette Klein who also designed the cover for his Philippe Cam’s album 18 years ago. Graphics for "Rotterdam" come from Cologne designer Daniela Thiel. We also would like to thank the cultural department of Cologne for supporting us to finance the album and to see the artistic value in this piece of minimalism.
The album kicks off with the mellow and soothing "Cocoa Beach". A Gentle beat that moves like bodies swaying in the hot summer sun. The clock moves a step forward and then a step backward as evolution takes a rest.
"Manga" feels like an acceleration to the moon, the contemplative moments come in spurts and hide in the intervals of the chords which are on the loose. Philippe Cam is the most energetic person in the world when it comes to core activity, this is head banging stuff for the ambient lounge.
"Short Summer" is a heavy and violent recognition. As intensive as it is it knows when to stop and disappear. In the ear and brain of the listeners it leaves an indisputable echo which lingers on for minutes. We suggest not to make a pause but jump directly into "Vermillions Sands".
What can be said about into "Vermillions Sands"? Be prepared some Terry Riley might lure around the corner to offer you some oranges on a silver plate, but don’t eat them. This is luring and beautiful at the same time. Maybe the best ambient track ever written and yet who can ever venture to say that without making a fool of himself. "Vermillions Sands" comes in waves and they could be longer we think.
"Rotterdam" the home of Philippe Cam for a long time but not anymore. He moved away. So that changes the perspective. But when was the track written? "Rotterdam" seems mechanical and rusty and spooky and divided. This arrangement is very different to all the other tracks so far and is almost dub in style but way more fractured. A steady stop and go emerges. But the longer it runs the better it gets. At minute 6 the brain resets itself and tries to grasp what has happened so far, reconstruction as a result of its own phantasmic imagination and hardly true at all, wonderful. Applause included!
Here comes "Bis", a short episode of a track and before we can comment on it, it is already over.
"The Game" is a mule of a track. It has a quiet stubborn sequence that bites and kicks you in the back without any change in near sight. We can hear a voice whispering, which sounds like a miniature vocoder featuring the voice of a child calling out - never stopping. This is treadmill to some extend but starts to breathe towards the middle of the track and slowly changes perspective. In fact there are some changes taking place here which go beyond a sound design that works heavily on the stereo image. Stick with it and the experience will be a great one.
"Ultimate Fly For Halloway" somehow orchestrates how you might feel after you climbed a 8000 meter high mountain and reached the top. A rejoicing off a special kind. Lava for the ears. No cheerleader murder plot sorry.
"Last Track" is a perfect example of a true minimalistic pice of music that manages to make contact with other genres and does this with elegance, determination and a lot of soul.
key selling points: The key selling point is the fact that Philippe Cam once was referred to as one of the main protagonists of the minimal music scene along with Wolfgang Voigt's Studio 1/Gas and Basic Channel/Maurizio. A true artist with a vision which is very rare.
Philippe Cam has picked up the sound he was famous for but has developed it further without selling out to any genre and expectation that rules our daily business.
Exactly this is the strength of the album to create a vivid world of impressions by using instruments in a whole different way than all software developers would suggest.
"Rotterdam" is a piece of art that can set off a firework when you listen to it and it owes nothing to anyone.
- A1: Jacques Thollot - Cécile
- A2: Philippe Besombes - La Plage
- A3: Igor Wakhévitch - Materia-Prima
- A4: Mahjun - Les Enfants Sauvages
- B1: Lard Free - Warinobaril
- B2: Etron Fou Leloublan - Le Désastreux Voyage Du Piteux Python
- B3: Jean Cohen-Solal - Captain Tarthopom
- C1: Z. N. R. - Solo Un Dia
- C2: Red Noise - Sarcelles C’est L’avenir
- D1: Pierre Henry - Générique (Thème De Myriam)
- D2: Horrific Child - Freyeur
- D3: Dashiell Hedayat - Fille De L’ombre
- D4: Jean Guérin - Triptik 2
After years of mythology, misinterpretation and procrastination Nurse With Wound’s Steven Stapleton finally chooses Finders Keepers Records as the ideal collaborators to release “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List, commencing with a French specific Volume One of this authentically titled Strain Crack Break series. Featuring some Finders Keepers’ regulars amongst galactic Gallic rarities (previously presumed to be imaginary red herrings) this deluxe double vinyl dossier demystifies some of the essential French feee jazz and Parisian prog inclusions from the alphabetical “dedication” inventory as printed the anti-bands 1979 industrial milestone debut.
When Steven Stapleton, Heman Pathak and John Fothergill’s anti-band Nurse With Wound decided to include an alphabetical dedication to all their favourite bands on the back of their inaugural LP the notion of creating a future record dealers’ trophy list couldn’t have been further from their minds. By adding a list of untravelled European mythical musicians and noise makers to their own debut release of unchartered industrial art rock they were merely providing a suggestive support system of existing potential likeminded bands, establishing safety in numbers should anyone require sonic subtitles for Nurse With Wound’s own mutant musical language. Luckily for them, the record landed in record shops in the midst of 1979’s memorable summer of abject apathy and its sound became a hit amongst disillusioned agit-pop pickers and artsy post-punks, thus playing a key role in the bourgeoning “Industrial” genre that ensued. On the most part, however, the list , like most instruction manuals, remained unreadable, syntactic and suspiciously sarcastic... As potential “real musicians” Nurse WIth Wound became an Industrial music fan’s household name, but in contrast many of the names on The Nurse With Wound List were considered to be imaginary musicians, made-up bands or booby traps for hacks and smart-arses. It took a while for the rest of the record collecting community to catch on or finally catch u
Since then, many of the rare, obscure and unpronounceable genre-free records on The Nurse With Wound List have slowly found their own feet and stumbled in to the homes of open-minded outernational vinyl junkies, D’s and sample hungry producers, self-propelled and judged on their own merit, mostly without consultation of the enigmatic NWW map. But, to the inspective competitive collector’s chagrin, one resounding fact recurs, NWW got there first! Via vinyl vacations, on cheap flights and Interrail tickets, buying bargain bin LPs on a shoestring while oblivious to the pending pension worthy price tags after their 40 year vintage, Stapleton and Fothergill, even if you’ve never heard of them, were at the bottom of the pit before “digging” became paydirt. And NOW at huge international record fairs that occur in massive exhibition halls (or within the confines of your one-touch palm pilot) amongst jive talk acronyms such as SS, PP, BIN, DNAP and BCWHES the coded letters NWW have begun to appear on stickers in the corner of original copies of the same premium progressive records accompanied by a customary 50% price hike to titillate/coerce the initiated as dealers extort the taught. Like “psych” “PINA” or “Krautrock” did before, “NWW” has become a buzzword and in the passed decades since its first publication The List has been mythologised, misunderstood and misconstrued. It’s also been overlooked, overestimated and under-appreciated in equal measures, but with a growing interest it has also come to represent a maligned genre in itself, something that all members of the original line-up would have deemed sacrilegious. Bolstered by the subtitle “Categories strain, crack and sometimes break, under their burden,” all bands on the inventory (many chosen on the strength of just one track alone) were chosen for their genre-defying qualities... A check-list for the unchart
Forty years after Nurse With Wound’s first record, Finders Keepers Records, in close collaboration with Steve Stapleton remind fans of THIS kind of “lost” music, that there once existed a feint path which was worn away decades before major label pop property developers built over this psychedelic underground. As long-running fans and liberators of some of the same records, arriving at the same axis from different-but-the-same planets, Finders Keepers and Nurse WIth Wound finally sing from the same hymn sheet resulting in a collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from the list, succeeding where many overzealous nerds have deferred (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). Naturally our lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium would only scratch the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities hence out decision to release volume one in a series which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of French origin, the country that unsurprisingly hosted the highest content of bands on the list. Comprising of musique concrète, free jazz, Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl School space rock, macabre ballet music, lo-fi sci-fi, and classic horror literature inspired prog, this first volume of the series entitled Strain Crack And Break throws us in at the deep end, where the Seine meets the in-sane, introducing the space cadets that found Mars in Marseilles.
Like the Swedish flat-pack record shelves that attempt to house the vast amounts of vintage vinyl that goes into a multi-volume compilation like this, its time to prepare your own musical penchants and preconceived ideas about DIY music and hear them slowly strain, crack and b
Can it really be thirty years since The Brand New Heavies first sashayed into the public eye with a romantic’s heart, a hedonist’s spirit and a Superfly sensibility?
A heady cocktail of Chic-style funk-pop, sunshine grooves and scorched soul balladry, the release of TBNH on September 6th sees The Brand New Heavies writing a new chapter in what has been an illustrious journey whilst also marking a return to their spiritual home, Acid Jazz Records.
Today The Brand New Heavies share a breath-taking version of Kendrick Lamar’s These Walls recorded with long-time associate and vocalist N’Dea Davenport and produced by uber-fan Mark Ronson. It was that line-up of the band that had originally brought the funk into his life having caught their show in New York in 1991, later inviting them to play at his 40th birthday party. Insistent once more to reconvene that line-up, successfully reuniting N’Dea and The Heavies for his production of this track for their 30th-anniversary album.
The album’s heart, both musically and physically is a friendship that can be traced back to the mid-Eighties - more specifically the shared experiences growing into adulthood on the western reaches of London for Simon Bartholomew (guitar) and Andrew Levy (bass) and a return to the formula that saw the band score sixteen Top 40 hits and three million album sales.
Refined, reimagined and revisited, TBNH was recorded under the watchful eye of producer Sir Tristan Longworth, as Andrew elaborates; “as fathers of young kids, time was important, and we needed someone to crack the whip.” Adding further with a grin; “he also makes these amazing gin and tonics with chilli’s in. The pair also decided to feature various vocalists on these tracks, not only reuniting with Heavies alumni, N’Dea Davenport and Siedah Garret but collaborating with soul legends Beverley Knight and Angie Stone alongside current singer Angela Ricci and new boy on the block, label mate Laville – to present a gilt-edged collection of songs making arguably the best album of their career. Summed up by its cover artwork- shot in the suitably louche environs of ultra-hip nightspot Annabel’s – Simon explains with a smile; “It’s a bit clubby, a little bit sleazy, with a bit of luxury and a smidgen of street.”
- A1: Penny Penny - Shilungu
- A2: Alaska - Accuse (Instrumental)
- B1: Ze Spirits Band - Tucheza (Esa Extended Mix)
- B2: Nonku Phiri - Sîfó (Feat. Dion Monti)
- B3: Os Panteras - Melo Do Anjo (Outra Edit)
- C1: Pascal Latour - Lague Yo (Boulo Edit)
- C2: Masalo - Yera (Feat. Doussou Koulibaly)
- D1: Esa - Pantsula Traxx
- D2: Narchbeats - Cheeks
- D3: Dj Spoko - #Justsnares
Esa's compilation Amandla: Music To The People holds diverse dancefloor tracks from over the world. The first compilation in 2019 for Soundway and a comprehensive picture that connects the dots of Esa’s musical journey.
Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, during the last days of Apartheid, Esa recalls the immense power that music had in resisting oppression and division. “Amandla, Awethu”, which literally means “the power is ours”, was an ubiquitous chant echoing throughout the politically charged atmosphere of the time – a call to unite, and a call from which this release derives not only its title, but its intention as well.
“Music was a crucial way of bringing people and communities together”, reflects Esa, “and it’s what I hope to achieve with this compilation, too”. For Esa Williams is not only a musical polymath but also passionate about connecting people through music – be it as a skilled DJ, an educator in production, a band leader reigniting the legendary Ata Kak band from Ghana, or a collaborator with the likes of Tanzanian artist Mim Suleiman. A firm favourite on the DJ circuit, he held a monthly residency at Phonox London for over 6 months - bringing guests such as Nu Guinea to Brixton audiences - as well as delivering memorable sets at Dekmantel, Atlas Festival, Boiler Room and more.
The last few years have seen a recent surge in interest in South African music from the 80s and 90s, including bubblegum, which was recently showcased on Soundway’s critically acclaimed 2018 compilation Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa, put together by DJ Okapi. It was only natural that the label looked to delve deeper into the country’s rich musical legacy and tap another of its esteemed ambassadors for the role of compiler.
The result is a rainbow of complementary electronic styles hailing from not only South Africa but further afield, including zouk from Brazil and the French Antilles, as well as Afro-futurism. Together, they form a comprehensive picture that connects the dots of Esa’s musical journey – from growing up in South Africa, to artists he has encountered in his worldwide travels who have helped develop his identity as a musician.
The latest addition to Furanum's discography arrives as an EP entitled "White Cold Skin" that simultaneously marks the emergence onto the scene of Beuthen OS. In keeping with the central ethos of the label, the figure behind the guise interrogates and ably materializes the industrial aesthetics of raw power and dystopic bleakness within the confines four diverse yet thematically coherent compositions.
The exploration of said dichotomy is cogently on display within the eponymous track, where an immediately evident presence of inordinate subsonic force is gradually complemented by the imposing throes of harsh yet carefully crafted analog cyclicality. Linearly hurtling toward its final destination, it relentlessly batters the listener with exhilaratory waves of cold sweat in its wake.
In contrast, "J131" and "Porobieni" present far more dispersed and unorthodox rhythmical structures as they maintain the omnipresent sense of part thrilling, part foreboding unease that permeates the record. Propelled by a pervasive pendulatory sway, the former radiates barely repressed power as it exerts its existential narrative, while the latter seems to speak to the ritualistic submission of willing bodies continually broken on the rhythmic wheel of a self-perpetuating cycle of sonic gratification.
Finally, recorded live and serving as an apt epilogue, a beatless yet by no means any less compelling droning rendition closes out the record. Whereas overt melodic content was hitherto eschewed in favor of rhythmic complexity, the piece more than delivers on this front, thrusting the audience into an ever encompassing and vividly visceral collage of throbbing textures as it progresses towards the revelatory unconcealment of a recondite core.
Mastered & cut by Kassian Troyer at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering,
Dreamin' Wild's second album Heaven in Thirty Eleven owes a lot to Footscray. The inner-western suburb of Melbourne features not only in the album title (its postcode is 3011) but goes deeper to form a central part of the record's narrative and reflection.
For all six members - Chris Jennings (Swazi Gold, Sagamore, Sledgehammer), Sam Cooper (Crepes, Swazi Gold, Sagamore, Sledgehammer), Tim Karmouche (Crepes, Swazi Gold, The Murlocs), Sarah Quirk, Monty Hartnett (Sleep Decade, Miris, Sagamore) and James Guida (Laguna, Environments) - Footscray buoyed periods of music exploration and discovery. After more than six year of writing, rehearsing and recording in the suburb, there's no doubt that Footscray is home for the band.
Jennings adds that the album is, "a bit of a recap of the last three years for Dreamin' Wild," drawing attention to the change and growth many of the eight songs have undergone since creation.
"I Don't Disagree" is an album highlight; an almost seven-minute track that struts along calmly, taking life as it is. Quirk's soulful refrain soars atop Jennings' laconic vocals, carrying the song to its end. "Dynon Life" is another album gem, reminiscent of summer in the city, and happy seeking excess.
Heaven in Thirty Eleven is an ode to a Melbourne suburb brimming with culture and stories, made by artists who are proud to call it home.
- A1: The Tuxedo Way
- A2: You & Me
- A3: Omw (Feat. Leven Kali & Battlecat)
- A4: Dreaming In The Daytime (Feat. Mf Doom
- A5: Extra Texture (Feat. Dām-Funk)
- A6: Gabriel's Groove (Feat. Gabriel Garzón-Montano)
- B1: Vibrations (Feat. Parisalexa)
- B2: If U Want It
- B3: On A Good One
- B4: Toast 2 Us (Feat. Benny Sings)
- B5: Close (Feat. Gavin Turek)
Bonding over a shared love of Chic, Parliament and the other signs in the greater funk Zodiac, Mayer Hawthorne (Aquarius) and Jake One (Taurus), collectively known as Tuxedo, return with their third studio album, Tuxedo III released on the Tuxedo-owned and newly launched label, Funk on Sight. Their powers combined have yet again yielded a bevy of absolute slappers that are packaged perfectly for dance floors in 2019. The album includes features from MF DOOM, DāM-FunK, Leven Kali, Benny Sings, Gavin Turek and others. Tuxedo is back to remind you that the dance floor will always be there to welcome you, whoever you are.
PROPER PIC SLEEVE REISSUE OF THIS EARLY LCD 12" FROM 2004. ‘Yeah’ was the follow up to LCD's breakout track "Losing My Edge," and was kind of a sleeper that has definitely stood the test of time and is worth a revisit. LCD records seem to speak to those kids sick of the scene, who want their 12" to retain interest longer than the next trend, but without sacrificing up to the minute relevance. An impossible feat, but listening to tracks like "Yeah (Crass Version)" will make you a believer. The song writing and composition are the foundations that the track is built on, with enough rock pretentiousness and sleazy analog to keep you interested. It takes a little more to keep our jaded ears interested these days, and this is might be it. "Yeah (Pretentious Version)" is a completely alternate version, offering a cleaner instrumental take on the track. Also includes the "Clap-a-Pella." Recommended.
- A1: A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays - De La Soul Featuring Q-Tip & Vinia Mojica
- A2: Bonita Applebum - A Tribe Called Quest
- A3: Sunshine Men - The Freestyle Fellowship
- A4: Mistadobalina - Del Tha Funkeé Homosapien
- A5: What's Up Doc? (Can We Rock?) (K-Cut's Fat Trac Remix) - Fu-Schnickens With Shaquille O’neal (Shaq-Fu)
- B1: Doowutchyalike - Digital Underground
- B2: Peachfuzz - Kmd
- B3: Doin' Our Own Dang - Jungle Brothers
- B4: Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children - Queen Latifah Featuring De La Soul
- B5: O.p.p. - Naughty By Nature
- C1: Where I'm From - Digable Planets
- C2: It's A Shame (My Sister) - Monie Love Featuring True Image
- C3: K Sera Sera - Justin Warfield
- C4: All For One - Brand Nubian
- C5: Case Of The P.t.a. - Leaders Of The New School
- D1: My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style (Album Version) - Dream Warriors
- D2: The Choice Is Yours (Revisited) - Black Sheep
- D3: Age Ain't Nothin' But A # - Chi-Ali
- D4: We Run Things (It's Like Dat) - Da Bush Babees
- D5: You're Not Coming Home (Mase's Funkay Recall Mix) - Groove Garden
It wasn’t really a movement, barely even a moment, but the Daisy Age was an ethos that permeated pop, R&B and hip hop at the turn of the 90s. Playfulness and good humour were central to De La Soul’s 1989 debut album, “3 Feet High And Rising”, which would go on to cast a long, multi-coloured shadow over rap.
In Britain, the timing for “3 Feet High And Rising” couldn’t have been better. The acid house explosion of 1988 would lead to a radical breaking down of musical barriers in 1989, and its associated look – loose clothing, dayglo colours, smiley faces – chimed with the positivity of De La Soul and rising New York rap acts the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest, all at the heart of a growing collective called Native Tongues.
The Native Tongues’ charismatic, summery aura quickly spread west to the Bay Area’s similarly-minded Hieroglyphics crew (Del Tha Funky Homosapien’s ‘Mistadobalina’); Canada’s Dream Warriors (‘My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style’) used “3 Feet High”’s colour palette and borrowed Count Basie and Quincy Jones riffs; Naughty By Nature (OPP) were mentored by Native Tongues heroine Queen Latifah, while Londoner Monie Love was also adopted by the collective, resulting in her Grammy-nominated ‘It’s A Shame (My Sister)’.
It wasn’t built to last, but the Daisy Age reintroduced Multiplication Rock, bubble writing and the gently psychedelic into the charts. It was a brief, but extraordinarily warm and optimistic moment. The songs on this collection promised that the 90s would be a lot more easy-going than the 80s.
Available on CD and double LP.
The Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Joyce Silveira Moreno was born and raised in the middle of Copacabana, a short beach stroll from the epicentre of the bossa nova universe.
Her father was a Dane that had settled in Brazil, but she was raised by her mother and step-father in a typical Portuguese-Brazilian household. Since her older brother was friendly with
leading lights of the bossa nova movement such as Roberto Menescal and Eumir Deodato, she was steeped in the form at an early age and witnessed its key evolution first-hand. At the
age of 16 in 1964, she was taken to the studio by Menescal to contribute to the coveted debut album by the mythical group Sambacana, assembled to record the work of composer Pacífico
Mascarenhas when the meagre budget would not allow the vocalists he preferred. Knowing that a full-time career in music was certainly not guaranteed, she began studying journalism
in 1967, shortly before her controversial song “Me Disseram” reached the finals of Rio’s second International Song Competition. The following year, her self-titled debut album was
released by Philips, produced by Armando Pittigliani, with orchestration by Dorival Caymmi and arrangements by Gaya; along with her own compositions, the album also featured songs
by her rising-star friends, including Caetano Veloso and Marcos Valle.
Few albums have treated human voice and drone as a whole entity like ABoneCroneDrone, the third in a trilogy for Real World Records that this record closed back in 1996. In Sheila Chandra’s own words “it was about the gateways between vocal techniques from different cultures and how it was possible to cross between them within a single word or phrase.”
Indipop Recordings founder Steve Coe, probably best known for helping to popularise the term World Music in the early eighties, produced and worked with extreme accuracy along with Chandra on all drones and set a new industry standard of what was possible in the treatment of voice. With the help of bagpipes, didgeridoos and guitars, ABoneCroneDrone puts drones under the microscope and encourages listeners to retrain their ears to hear the nuances that musicians have always heard in them. Emitting low, chantlike waves, Chandra sings deep spaced atonal words while haunting chord sounds flow and drones slowly interact with listener.
This is the first vinyl pressing. It includes a fold-out insert with a new Sheila Chandra interview, original sleeve notes edited by Chandra herself and unseen pictures taken from the 1996 sessions. Limited to 500 copies, no digital release this time.
“The artistry of ABoneCroneDrone is in the attention to detail. The album is beautifully performed, mixed and compiled with intelligence and strong sense of structure. It makes good use of a listener’s valuable time while issuing a challenge to hear in a fresh way.” John L. Walters, The Wire issue 150.
Out September 6th on Dischord Records, Anthropocosmic Nest is the second full-length by Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics, who are Anthony Pirog, Joe Lally, and Brendan Canty.
Formed in 2016 the Messthetics are Anthony Pirog, Joe Lally, and Brendan Canty. Pirog is a jazz and experimental guitarist based in Washington, D.C. One half of the duo Janel & Anthony, he also performs regularly with Low Ways Quartet and James Brandon Lewis. Canty and Lally were the rhythm section of the band Fugazi from its inception in 1987 to its period of hiatus in 2002.
Since then, Canty has remained active as a documen- tary filmmaker, producer, and composer, and released a music as a member of the band Deathfix. Lally has re- leased three solo albums and toured extensively with a frequently-rotating cast of musicians.
Recorded at the band’s practice space throughout 2019, it’s an album that more perfectly captures the trio’s current live dynamic, complete with improvisational tangents, playful experimentation, and cathartic sprawl.
When The Messthetics recorded their debut album in 2017, the trio had only done a handful of shows and had yet to fully find its footing on stage. In a way, those compositions were a template for the band that Pirog, Lally, and Canty hoped would come into being through subsequent work on the road.
Since then, The Messthetics have played upwards of 200 shows across the US, Europe and Asia. Their dialog as a performing unit has necessarily focused and intensified. As a result, Anthropocosmic Nest offers a more var- ied vision of the band. It’s the loudest the trio has ever been and also the quietest.
Matasuna Records once again dug deep for its latest release and comes up with probably one of the best Latinfunk tunes. It was recorded by US band "Los Sobrinos del Juez" and released on their debut album in 1974. Matasuna Records is delighted to officially reissue two cuts from the album on 7inch single.
Founder, producer and singer of the band is Carlos Oliva, who was born in Cuba. He moved to Miami, Florida in 1961, where he had his first engagements. There he linked to other Cuban musicians and decided to move to New York with them to make music.
Some time later Oliva returned to Miami and founded his own band "Los Sobrinos del Juez (The Judge's Nephews)" in 1967. The group is regarded as one of the pioneers of musical fusion, which developed in Miami in the late 1960s and became known as the "Miami Sound". The music styles rock, blues, funk and soul that were popular at that time had an influence on their own compositions, which were enriched and spiced with Cuban/Latin American sounds. The band's first album was released in 1974 on an independent label in Miami and is a good example of this new sound. The album is much sought after and hard to find.
Oliva has released several albums with the band and toured Latin America and Europe. In the early eighties he also founded his own label. In the course of time he and his eight-man band got deeply rooted in the cultural life of Miami and enjoy attention and recognition. They are still on stage as "Los Sobrinos del Juez".
"Harina de Maiz" is the name of the song on the A-side - an uptempo latin funk monster driven by the characteristic wah wah guitar and a psychedelic sounding organ. Listening to it reveals why the song is one of the most funky Latinfunk tunes.
On the flip side it's quite different: "Corned Beef Hash" is a vibrant easy Latinjazz tune, where the talent of the musicians is audible. The perfect interaction of the piano player, the vibraphonist, the flute player and the rest of the band is a musical delicacy for its connoisseur.
a A1 Harina de Maiz clip
Welcome to our 2nd EP of Original tracks from 12tree's new label, Hot Piroski. The label is a boisterous mix of Space Disco, Deep Funk edits and Balearic Beats. The Previous EPs saw support from Radio 1 Essential Mix, Pete Herbert, Ursula 1000, Phil Mison, Justin Rushmore, Dan McKie, DNS beats, Primavera sound and more ...
A side: 'In the Sun' - featuring soulful vocals from Katty Heath over a Deep disco re-edit that morphs into a deep house-tinged groover.
On the flip: 'Magic Dust' - poolside blissed out beats on a vapour wave tip. 'Guitar Solaar' - soul-tinged groover with a wiff of Marvin Gaye.
All tracks Produced and recorded by 12Tree at his studio in Barcelona.
Phillip Mitchell only cut one single for the Spring subsidiary, Event, in 1975 and despite the beautiful ballad ‘There’s Another In My Life’ being an R&B hit, he did not have a follow-up. However, there were three songs recorded at the Brad Shapiro-led Muscle Shoals session and ‘I’ll See You In Hell First’ was the superb mid-tempo track that lay dormant until compiled on an Ace CD in 1990. It features Mitchell singing at his best on an inspired, self-penned song and is long-overdue a vinyl pressing as originally hoped for.
Singer Ray Godfrey had four 45s for the label but like Mitchell he was best known as a songwriter for Millie Jackson, Joe Simon and Act I in particular. He wrote under his real name of Raeford Gerald. He produced this song on both Joe Simon and Millie Jackson and his own reading has now been found on the multi-track tapes for the song’s recording session. It is a worthy addition to the Godfrey/Gerald catalogue.
Gilles Aiken is not short of space in which to express his distinctive ideas about fusing dancefloor minimalism with a global palette. While his more streamlined house and techno fare is generally released under his Edward alias, Desert Sky has carried some of his wilder ideas with stunning results. The first few releases came shrouded in mystery on a self-titled label, but since then Desert Sky has landed on Assemble Music and Baby Ford's iconic PAL SL. Aiken returns to the latter now with a hefty album project that gives Desert Sky the appropriate room to breathe, and Aiken sounds free spirited and expressive through every inch of tumbling percussion, deft handclaps, spooked out textures and more besides. It's a heady trip through dusty samples configured in fresh, invigorating ways, ranking among the strongest artistic statements Aiken has made to date thanks to its worldly inspiration and otherworldly end results.
Cologne-based producers Ripley and Benway aka Kitbuilders have been producing electro for many years and released their music on labels like Breakin´ Records (DMX Krew-label), Electrecord, World Electric, Television, Vertical, Ersatz Audio and many more. Their new album Reality (on Vertical/Kompakt) twist electro and dark synthpop into exciting new shapes and deals with themes of death, loss, destruction and introspection. The album combines the influence of many sources like Chris & Cosey, Devo, Aux 88, Lydia Lunch, William Butler Yeats („A Drunken Man´s…“), Suicide, Associates, dystopian 60s-songs, Mantronix and many more. The resulting music is an emotional and fresh sound tapestry that spins a vibrating web of analog Synths, 808-drums, harsh, overdriven noise, song structures and the unique vocals and lyrics from singer Ripley creating an atmosphere of tense, sinister moodiness. The album contents two remastered Kitbuilders-classics (Reality, In the Year 2525).
The English-Irish electronic/dance duo Moloko released their first album Do You Like My Tight Sweater? in 1995.
It’s one of their most experimental records, before moving on to a more mainstream approach. Roisin Murphy is carrying the album with her versatile vocals, both in range and style, while Mark Brydon created the breakbeats, sound effects and groovy disco lines.
This is electronica at its best, danceable and funky.
The album includes their hits ““Fun for Me” and “Dominoid”, besides fan favourites like “Day for Night” and “Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?”. They never slow down in their exiting music and absurd lyrics, but that’s exactly what makes this record unforgettable.
Pure joy to be danced on all night.
Do You Like My Tight Sweater? is available as a limited edition of 3000 numbered copies on turquoise vinyl.
- A1: Sunsay (Feat Richard Farrell)
- A2: Good Company Girl (Feat Ymtk)
- A3: Echo 1
- A4: I Am That (Feat Leah Vee)
- A5: I Don't Wanna Know (Feat Mickey Shiloh)
- A6: Echo 2
- A7: Force Notch
- B1: I'm Coming Home (Feat Richard Farrell)
- B2: Fight (Feat Cheshy)
- B3: Echo 3
- B4: Just Because Of You (Feat Daramola)
- B5: Let Me Know (Feat Tonyb)
- B6: Wondrous Spirit (Feat Richard Farrell)
- B7: Echo 4
Echoes is the second album by the Ukrainian producer Cape Cod, released jointly by labels Vinyla Records & Kiev House. Echoes is a comprehensive and multi-genre work in terms of sound and song creativity. On second album, dance music floats between genres, styles and mood from track to track, while Cape Cod skillfully waves the breakbeat, r'n'b of the new school, soul and hip hop into the tracks and brings his love to the disco house to the sound level.
PULP is inaugurating this year's summer season with a lengthy affair by a certain Barry Helafonte called "One Night'. Not much is known about the artist that delivers the 12th installment for the PULP series. Nevertheless, production wise the sound is mature, and the drum machines sound like they are being hit by someone with vast experience. The balanced production quality of "Keys to The City" is prominent. A squelchy bassline is dictating the rhythm whilst washes of pads and an outlandish lead come together to form a dripping whole.
"Keys to the City" resumes with friend of the label Moon B on rework duties, turning the spaced out drums of the original
Tim returns on home label Offworld Records with a classic 4-track EP of future-focused ethereal techno and electro. A-side opener Dystopia paints a bleak post-apocalyptic image that flows into the uplifting pad-driven 303 cut Enrichment. Driving electro vibes feature on title track Echo Waves, closing out with the late-night Detroit atmospheres of Form Fatigue. Essential deep techno release on limited colour vinyl!
DESCRIPTION
Absolute madness unearthed by Paul Ebhart and Florian Stöffelbauer aka Heap for Wiener Brut's third release
Chicago-meets-Vienna-vibes - music way ahead of it's time produced in the 80s by short-lived formation Aktionskunst Gerasdorf aka Athletico Kunst Gerasdorf, a project that is well known for it's contribution to the legendary Viennese sampler ‚Die Tödliche Dosis'.
808-driven beats programmed by René Radikal (R.I.P.) backing Melanie Delval's tender voice, with multiple guest musicians (e.g. Fritz Grohs) rounding things up and adding their spice to the laidback jams alongside stand-out musical heavy hitters. A composition of sound you never heard before.
An extremely rare album left by Detroit-based jazz keyboard player Johnny Griffith known for the album "Together, Togetherness" on RCA. An album covering "From The Music Connection" with Freddie Redd Quartet and Jackie McLean. The Music From "The Connection" was composed by jazz pianist Freddie Redd for Jack Gelber's 1959 play The Connection. This first recording of the music was released on the Blue Note label in 1960. It features performances by Redd and Jackie McLean Jack Gelber originally planned for the play to feature improvised music performed by jazz musicians who would also play small roles in the production. Freddie Redd, however, persuaded Gelber to include his original score. Redd re-recorded the score later in 1960 as Music from the Connection.
In 1974 The pianist Johnny Griffith, who was a member of the prestigious Motown rhythm section "Funk Brothers", covered the album "The Connection" by Freddie Red as a whole album, playing electric piano here, which really changes the vibe of the music - and the players are supposedly a host of Motown studio musicians - playing jazz here, but with a nice funky soul undercurrent. Originally released on Detroit Geneva Label.
Pianist Johnny Griffith can be heard on classic Motown sides, as well as on recordings from other Detroit-area labels. Like Motown's other pianists, Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke, Griffith's had an extensive musical background.
Signed to Motown's Jazz Workshop label, he recorded the albums "Detroit Jazz" and "The Right Side" of Lefty Edwards. When the march of the Motown hits began, Griffith started playing on sessions for their R&B/Pop acts. But rather than signing a work-for-hire contract with Motown like other musicians, Griffith remained a freelancer, doing other dates and sessions in New York and nearby Chicago.The Motown hits that Griffith played on include: Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", his celeste trills are heard on "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", adding Wurlitzer electric piano on both Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", organ on the Supremes' "Stop in the Name of Love and organ and shotgun effects on Junior Walker and the All Stars' "Shotgun.
Griffith's non-Motown hits are with Edwin Starr, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites, and Young-Holt Unlimited's "Soulful Strut" In the '90s, Griffith was still active on the Detroit club scene.
Ukrainian born and New York-based artist Matuss is delivering anotherinstallment of Absence Seizure. This time she is teaming up with
Norwegian but could be Berlin depending on the time of year
basslines that are pulsated by some intricate synths.
The Absence Seizure imprint is run by none other than Matuss herself along with Abe Duque and they focus on limited edition vinyl with a
nose for deep and meaningful house and techno. The last release saw the two bosses’ team up on Absence Seizure 11 to deliver some
pulsating beats and orgasmic synths. Expect a deeper cut this time around with the two artists verging more to the house side of the
electronic music spectrum on this project. Karina’s ‘Acid Meow’ is the first track on AS012. Karina is one of The
Zoo Project Ibiza core residents a player of all things vinyl with releases on the likes of God Particle and Cymawax. ‘Acid Meow’ has a
fearless acid-tinged bassline that gives the track a motivating drive. Reminiscent of 90s minimalism she’s kept the beats simple
putting all emphasis on the merciless acid sequence. Tip! Real energy to the dancefloor!
Matuss takes over the EP after the initial cut starting with ‘Travel High’. It has a long build to begin with these quizzical keys that
create anticipation. It discharges with an old school funky bassline that is slowly pushed. It’s accentuated by a ghetto vocal belting out
the title of the track and ends with some punchy percussions and bongo drums. She follows up with ‘Ninja Moves’. A more secretive and sultry number.
It tingles out a smooth bassline and revolves some nice chatter claps and snaps to add a certain silkiness to it. A bit of a floater
it has some beeping 80s keys on it that just add to the sway. If you want your mind to drift
you can get lost in this. Last but as always not least is ‘People Like You and Me’. The track starts with that fun festival horn that makes nostalgia exude out of
your prefrontal cortex. It divulges into these rolling clicks and toms that is carried by this dubbed bassline. Eventually
a bright and sunny synth emits light over the track as the vocals invite you in. The juxtaposition of the synth and bassline just work in harmony and
really make this cut hit home.
It’s no secret that the Irish know how to party. That energy is epitomised in the bubbling scene of homegrown talent rising through the ranks all over the island. House of Disco, having recently moved back to the Irish shores, let loose their first 4 track sampler EP in 7 years, ‘Home Turf’, showcasing the best in under-represented young Irish producers.
Taking the first slot, Dublin’s LPM hones in on that signature HoD sound with some expertly interlaced late ‘70s samples, reworked and repackaged into a bomb of a filtered, disco house, hand-raiser that’s got sunshine stamped into it’s very core. Newbridge locals, Mix & Fairbanks then offer up a deep, synth-laden gem, drenched in weighty stabs, analogue melodies and squiggling top lines.
On the flipside, the young gun from Killarney, Shee gets soulful for ‘Me You Us’ with low-slung vocal samples and hazy pads layered over the top of swirling disco loops. Lastly, Wicklow native Purple Ice signs off this killer Irish EP with a blissful, piano infused groover that’s eyes closed ecstasy from start to finish.
Bang on!
Current Age is the first vinyl release from Chicago newcomer label Tres Dias.
Label head and artist Juanne takes us on a visceral journey with three tracks that dig deep into your headspace. Taking from his experiences in the underground and its outer edges lends to create an audible sequence that manifested as the CURRENT AGE ep.
“Crops” is the intro track and invites you into a dark ethereal landscape. With a dreamy, haunting vocal, somber keys and ravenous bassline that grabs you and leads you in.
“Rivers” is the second offering and a tribute to the A.M. dance floor. Hypnotic synths, warehouse sounds and core shattering bass.
“Point of Entry”smashes in as the final track and most dance floor heavy tune on the ep. Nothing short of beating sounds all through your gutty wuts.
Artwork by Chicago's Stephen Cadiz
Mastered by the talents of New York's D.Schoenemann.
Curve Records returns for their second outing with a powerful, grooved-out, broken beat EP: ‘Planned Cities’ from Bristol’s veteran forward thinking producer Lrusse.
“I like the optimism behind planned cities because they often don't turn out as expected - humans are random and there are unintended consequences everywhere. I never set out to write a broken beat EP, so that's quite been kind of a surprise too, ha.” Fellow Bristol legend Lord Leopard (F.K.A. Lukas) remixes the A1, ‘Crep Check’, delivering a club tool that will heat to any dancefloor.
A1: Crep Check - Crunchy, half-step drums broken beat hot with searing pads and bone-rattling sub.
A2: Crep Check (Lord Leopard Remix) - A huge straight up 4/4 club tool, tried and tested on the dancefloor.
B1: Scaff - An instant classic with a distinct Bristol bass bin sound, lazy broken drums and chopped piano hook.
B2: Those Letters - A soaring broken beat journey, perfect for switching up a 5am techno set.
Lrusse is the solo project of Ed Bayling, also known for slow-mo dancefloor heaters as one-half of Bristol’s Behling and Simpson, and has found regular support from the likes of Midland and Danny Krivit to Claude von Stroke and Todd Edwards, with tracks released on iconic labels such as K7, Tsuba and Dirt Crew, as well as underground fixtures like Nite Owl Diner and Apple Pips.
White Vinyl
Lars Hemmering is back with his second solo ep on Fullpanda records.
Also known as half of Live Duo – LADA with Dasha Rush, beside his own productions on DOCK records and among few others.
“Bloody &Soul “
Vinyl version – a collection of 4 intense left-field, abstract tracks, ranging from eerie cosmic like techno, throughout harder yet abstract beats, closing with dark ambient. Plus a digital bonus track.
A1.”Bless”
Dynamically hypnotic piece, where synth dominated baseline meets broken beats with barely present percussions, if refereeing to the classic techno approach, blending with dreamy chorals on the background.
A2. “Releasing Strains “
A moody melancholic cut with atmospheric, reverberating analogue synths and poly rhythmical structures.
B1. “Lars wars”
Takes us to more rougher side of techno, frantic energy with distorted syncopated rhythms tiny bouncing sounds that respond to over all dynamics.
B2. “Artarpet”
Closing track comes towards the dark ambient, that bring us to an empty like sound fields.
Roberto Surace and Cosmin Horatiu head to Bamboleo to close August with their split EP ‘Sintonia’.
Launched in early 2019, Neverdogs’ Bamboleo Records imprint has quickly emerged as a go-to outlet for fresh productions for the industry’s biggest names within house and tech house, with support over the first four releases to date from the likes of Marco Carola, Stacey Pullen, Jamie Jones, Paco Osuna and Oxia to name just a few.
Next up, the Italian duo welcome Rome’s ‘man of the moment’ Roberto Surace, following releases on NONSTOP, elrow and Noexcuse, and rising Romanian talent Cosmin Horatiu as each artist delivers two tracks forming their split release entitled ‘Sintonia’.
Roberto Surace’s ‘Sintonia’ opens the package as the Italian opts for slick, rolling grooves that snake amongst soft floating melodies, before easing into second track ‘Subtitle’, featuring hazy synth lines, punchy kicks and rich chord patterns throughout.
On the flip, Cosmin Horatiu’s ‘Milk & Egg’ ups the energy levels with metallic drum shots, off the wall vocal samples and bubbling bass patterns, whilst switching things up and laying the focus on organic percussion hits and sizzling hats with closing production ‘Make It Rain’.
Ever since their debut 7” landed on our doorstep unannounced, we have been captivated by the powerfully understated movements of the duo known as Undefined. Sahara (keys/bass/programming) and Ohkuma (drums) have deep roots in the Japanese dub and reggae scenes (Heavymanners, Soul Dimension) and operate their own experimental dub label, Newdubhall. Recent collaborations with Kazufumi Kodama (of dub elders Mute Beat), dBridge, and Kabuki are nudging the group further into a spotlight that they richly deserve.
Named for the 3-feel of its colossal groove, “Three” is a locked groove of pure downtempo dubwise, techno in its repetition, hip hop in its tempo and swagger, motorik in its muscularity, meditative in its clarity. Featuring the unmistakable voice of ZamFam Rider Shafique, showcased in a moment of profound introspection and vulnerability, “Three" banishes all thoughts of flash-in-the-pan “big tunes” for an incredibly deep and immersive dive.
“Three Dub,” a version in the classic sense, strips out the vocal entirely to focus on the rockstone riddim, crafted of one of the most captivatingly beautiful bass tones we’ve ever heard, combined with wicked drum turnarounds, lightning hi-hat work, and extremely subtle & sophisticated dubbing technique. A masterclass in dubwise essentialism and profound attention to detail, stripped down to the foundation yet incredibly lush and alive.
Strictly limited to 600 copies for the world. No digital, no repress. Design & screen print by Polygon Press. Mastered by Sam Precise.
Master of ambient spaces and far out places, long-time Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti (aka Vladislav Delay) blesses us once again with another release, this from his 'Visa' period of unreleased tracks.
The first track out of the gate is a recognizable Vladislav Delay piece, but instead of gently flowing rivers of sound, instead we have a series of stiff, machine-like rhythms applied to his classic infinitely deep pads and ambient environmental sounds.
It just continues to pile in more elements until becoming almost indistinguishable from his natural, organic flow.
From there we move into somewhat more familiar territory but still unusually stripped down and mechanical for a Vladislav Delay joint.
It’s fascinating to see such an intricate songwriting process laid bare in such a way, often exposing each individual, nearly bottomless sound in isolation.
Deeper into the album, things veer into decidedly more abrasive and synthetic territory, at times becoming an almost unrecognizable artist for a moment, only to be eventually subsumed under layers of shifting ambience that could only be Sasu.
This austere minimalism makes these tracks some of the most hypnotic since the early 90s excursions, but at the same time seems to have left its organic, analog roots and melded with the harsh gridlocked modern sequencer. ~Clint Anderson
Nicewon keeps thangs moving in 2019 with the 'Mood & Impulse EP' from Jeff Swiff. Three new cuts from Jeff, long-side a stellar 'Re-Jazz’ by Donnie Moustaki. Phat drums, crisp hats, snappy leads, warm pads and all that. Four moods and a different vibe- for all hours of the night, with a Digi-Only 5th cut, available on Bandcamp. Enjoy the sounds on NCWN05!
Wah Wah 45s are very proud to announce the release of Kalba, the first album from Ghanaian xylophone master Isaac Birituro and Leeds-based producer and singer- songwriter Sonny Johns AKA The Rail Abandon. The boundary crossing duo were introduced to the world via the first two singles released in early 2019, Yesu Yan Yan and Für Svenja, and the reactions to the project have been overwhelmingly warm.
There are many differences between Isaac and Sonny, but a powerful similarity -- which gives Kalba its element of relatability -- is that desire to hear the usual done unusually and play with the shared influence of the music from afar. Named after the town in North Ghana where Isaac resides, the album is a combination of differences; a magnifying glass over the Venn diagram of our lives, the unfathomable meeting of parallel lines.
“It was clear to me that, though he played a traditional instrument in a traditional way, Isaac was influenced by the Western tinged music that filled the streets of Accra - in fact his father, Edmund, introduced him with “He plays the modern way!” Partly dismissive, mostly proud,” said Sonny. “And as this Viking sat before him played the guitar, it sounded too much like the stringed instruments of Mali for it to be just a coincidence.”
There are so many stories behind each track on this album, but the common denominators are clearly the importance of community, of preserving and presenting local cultures, the ardent desire to contribute to changing the world around us, and, of course, the love and power of music created from a genuine place.
Global tracks is a mystery; browsing the name online gives nothing associated with the artist. All we really know is that Gothenburg is home base. Most points toward that this is Global Tracks first release and Hoga Nord Rekords are more than proud to be first out giving his/her music out.
With albums like 'Selected Ambient Works' by the Aphex Twin and cities like London and Sheffield as a ground for the sound, Global Tracks displays how breakbeats should sound in 2019. The music is mostly influenced by Jungle, but also by Footwork and Dancehall. The roots lie shallow but the phantom behind this music don't give up with trying to recreate the nineties straight up, instead he/she develops the legacy from all the best and most drug marinated DJ:s from England circa 1995.
Breakbeat has a new vanguard in this mysterious shadow crawler that we know almost nothing about, but rumor has it Global Tracks is locked up with the machines under ground somewhere in Vastra Gotaland in Sweden working on new broke up beats, ready to surface when the time is right for more, deep and ganja oozing dance music!
- A1: Catherine Brénot – Et Tout Est Yin Et Tout Est Yang (Club Mix)
- A2: 1 Plus 1 – Coming Up For Air (Instrumental)
- A3: Fragile - We've Got Tonight, Boy
- B1: Jarmaz – Night City Life (Disco Remix)
- B2: Friend Of Mine – Just Your Pride
- B3: Mac & Monica – You’re So Good To Me
- B4: Sala & H – Feel The Love
- C1: Alexandra – Fantasia (Fantasy)
- C2: Gioia – No Secrets (Instrumental)
- C3: Janelle – Don’t Be Shy (Dub)
- D1: Alessandro Scellino – Dinner In The Jungle (Erotic Mix)
- D2: Brian Tatcher – Hot Love (Instrumental Dub Version)
- D3: Preludio – Mysterious Nights
Should you find yourself taking a Thames-side stroll in the shadow of the City of London, keep an eye out for the headphone-clad figure of Ilan Pdahtzur. While be-suited bankers and frustrated office workers scurry home to their families, Ilan can frequently be found casting admiring glances towards the blinking lights of towering skyscrapers while filling his ears with the synthesizer-driven sounds of lesser-known 1980s dance music.
Ilan, an avid but little-known record collector best known for sharing the artwork of obscure and under-appreciated early-to-mid ’80s club cuts on his popular Instagram feed, has been digging for vibrant, kaleidoscopic records since his teens. Now, thanks to Spacetalk, he’s been given a chance to offer a glimpse into his neon-lit nocturnal musical world.
The result is Night City Life, a killer collection of 1980s synthesizer songs inspired by Ilan’s admiration for the glow of London’s late night skyline. Over the course of 13 essential tunes, Ilan escorts us on a vibrant sprint through rare Italo-disco, steamy South African synth-boogie, fizzing American freestyle, oddball Austrian electrofunk and so much more.
There are naturally a fair few sought-after cuts present, but also a fine selection of under-appreciated gems that for one reason or other have been all but ignored since they were released three and a half decades ago. In fact, some selections are so obscure that barely any information exists about them online.
Check for example Preludio’s “Mysterious Nights”, an evocative fusion of slow electronic grooves, dreamy chords and twinkling piano motifs previously buried on a lesser-known album of unremarkable German synth-pop, or the dollar-bin brilliance of Fragile’s sweet synth-pop gem “We’ve Got Tonight, Boy”, a cut that Ilan says is capable of “wrapping itself like tendrils around your soul”. He’s not wrong.
At the other end of the scale you’ll find the ultra-rare Italo-disco breeziness of Friend of Mine’s incredible “Just Your Pride” and Mac & Monica’s soulful 1986 South African synth-boogie cut “You’re So Good To Me”, copies of which regularly change hands for hundreds of pounds online. Ilan originally reached out to the men behind the record last year to tell them how one of their other forgotten gems had been played on a Boiler Room session; naturally, they were thrilled.
There’s plenty to admire elsewhere on the compilation, too, from the waves of analogue synths, bubbly melodies and bobbing beats of the instrumental dub version of Brian Tatcher’s “Hot Love” – a cold-war era cut inspired by the idea of love blossoming in the midst of a nuclear meltdown – to the Bobby Orlando-esque freestyle bustle of Janelle’s “Don’t Be Shy (Dub)” and the sparkling post-boogie brilliance of Jarmaz’s “Night City Life (Disco Remix)”, a track Ilan has listened to countless times while admiring the midnight skyline of his home city.
Moon Boots a.k.a Pete Dougherty returns with his second studio album ‘Bimini Road’ on September 6 via Anjunadeep. An ambitious and evocative follow-up to his acclaimed debut First Landing, Bimini Road combines delectable club-ready grooves with soulful songcraft into a seamlessly organic whole. Inspired by notions of mysterious lost civilizations, ancient magic utopias and the sci-fi landscapes of the mind, ‘Bimini Road’ is a joyously celebratory listen that builds off the ‘deep textures and funky melodies’ (Mixmag) of his album 'First Landing', a disco house masterpiece supported by KCRW, Annie Mac and others. Featuring familiar faces KONA, Black Gatsby and Nic Hanson among the featured vocal talent, ‘Bimini Road’ also includes new collaborators like rising US talent Niia, Kaleena Zanders and notable British sing-songwriter Little Boots. OutJuly 9, ‘Tied Up’ is the first single off the album, a sexy slice of deep house pop sure to ignite dancefloors and bedrooms alike. Moon Bootsembarks on his Live Bimini Road Tour this Fall, with dates across North America and Europe. Born in Brooklyn, Moon Boots’ musical obsession started not long after he could walk. His early love of piano lead to a passion for keyboards and synthesizers. Teenage nights lost in the work of Daft Punk, ATribe Called Quest and Herbie Hancock followed. Inspired by legends like Frankie Knuckles and Derrick Carter, he moved to the house music epicenter of Chicago, where he tirelessly passed out demos to local DJs and scoured the web for like-minded people with whom he could share and expand on his sound. Heplayed in a synth-pop trio whose demo caught the attention of Lupe Fiasco, and after a stint touring alongside the hip-hop icon, Dougherty went back to DJing with a renewed focus. The stars aligned when he had a chance encounter withPerseus, founder of an adventurous label, French Express. A fellow junkie and fan of French House and R&B-infused dance music, Perseus became a friend and mentor, the Splinter to Boots' Donatello. The label eventually disbanded but Boots has stayed true to his mission of making dance tracks that can’t be confined to one style. Pete blends the music he loves --jazz, house, funk and soul -- into songs that last longer than their runtime. Songs not just for DJs, but for everyone.
The UK's future Art Rock Stars build on recent successes with new album 'Dissolution'. The highly anticipated second record to feature the King Crimson / Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison
The CD edition of 'Dissolution' is presented in Sleevepac packaging complete with a 24-page booklet, while the single LP edition of 'Dissolution' is pressed to audiophile 180g vinyl and features a 4-page booklet. The blu-ray edition of
'Dissolution' includes a 16-page booklet of additional artwork and features the album plus bonus music in a 24/96 DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound mix and 24/96 hi-res stereo audio. It is presented in Amaray packaging.
'Dissolution' is the highly anticipated follow-up album to 2016's 'Your Wilderness' and is the band's second album to feature King Crimson and Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison, spurring The Pineapple Thief on as leaders of Europe's
experimental rock domain. Their efforts on 'Your Wilderness' produced 4m+ album streams, a #7 in the UK Independent Charts and two extensive headline European tours culminating at London's Islington Assembly Hall where the
concert was recorded for the live release 'Where We Stood'. The new material establishes The Pineapple Thief's intent to elevate themselves to new heights, with a desire to develop their songwriting and technical
capabilities, and with artwork created by iconic design agency Stylorouge, whose previous work includes Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Blur and British film Trainspotting. The album concept tells of the often dark consequences of living in
a society in which everything is played out on a public stage, a theme paralleled in the cover art, which was created by 'glitching' the original photographs. Songwriter Bruce Soord explains 'In a time when we are supposed to be bound
closer together than ever, I have never felt so apart from the world. We are living through a revolution and right now I am not sure it's a good one. Lyrically this is the most vivid I have been.'
The band recorded Dissolution independently across the UK, including at Gavin's 'Bourne Place' studio in London and Bruce's 'Soord Studios' in Somerset, sharing their ideas via instant messaging. The mixing was handled by Soord and
Harrison, and mastering by the band's keyboardist Steve Kitch. The penultimate song 'White Mist' also features experimental guitarist David Torn (David Bowie) providing a bedding of abstract, off-kilter sounds.
Spencer Parker returns to Rekids with looping techno roller ‘You’re Under My Control Now’ featuring remixes from Truncate, P.Leone, Fadi Mohem and label boss Radio Slave.
Released on last year’s ‘Dance Music’ album via Parker’s own Work Them Records, ‘You’re Under My Control Now’ is an infectious and mesmerising techno banger that’s garnered support from the likes of Midland, Len Faki, Amelie Lens and Marcel Dettmann.
One of the track’s biggest supporters, Radio Slave is now releasing it on Rekids with a medley of top tier remixes. Radio Slave’s reimagining scales back on the original’s high-octane energy, instead taking a more uplifting direction with an arpeggiated bassline, meandering synths and clattering percussion.
A regular on Seilscheibenpfeiler (alongside artists like FJAAK, Solid Blake and Kasper Marott), Fadi Mohem is next with a dark and atmospheric rendition complete with driving kicks, subterranean chords and echoing effects before Truncate serves up his cavernous ‘Mind Control’ Remix which combines tantalising melodies with robust drums and murky vocals.
E-Missions co-founder P.Leone and Radio Slave, having paired up for a remix of Deep Dimension last year, collaborate again here to provide a robust, compelling piece of house music littered with breathy samples and oscillating atmospherics.
UK underground legend Roska dons his Bakongo guise for the Reverse Livity Sound label with three DJ-geared rhythm tools of swinging degraded mechanical funk, strictly for the mix.
Originally designed as a series to run concurrently with the Livity Sound label as an outlet that shares and reflects it's ideas and aesthetics, the Reverse series has evolved in to an institution of cutting edge UK dance music in its own right, featuring releases from the likes of Batu, Bruce, Forest Drive West and Hodge.
Ivaylo is next up on his Bogota Records imprint with a pair of fresh new cuts that come complete with a remix from Hugo LX. Bulgarian native Ivaylo is based in Oslo, and has vast experience of the dance music industry, having continuously proving himself as an essential DJ and producer, most recently his release on Cassy's Kwench Records 'Ae Way'.
He delivers again here with Hausa, a deep roaming tune with a bassline that immediately lifts your energy. It makes for a back room track that is super tasteful and filled with warped synths and deft percussion that gets under your skin. Hugo LX serves up a tripe remix with tiny little sonic details, a spooky sense of late night mischief and neon melodies that really standout.
Last of all, House Moult is a busier, more bristling cut with jostling drums and underlapping bass, an inventive sense of musical warmth and plenty of fresh ideas that are finished with an anthemic vocal that will get the crowd on their toes.
This is another standout EP from all concerned, and another great chapter of Bogota Records.
In-demand deep modal jazz tune from Belgium featuring Babs Roberts!
The lesser-spotted jazz atoms that formed the fusion of Futurist Flanders! It might sound like an ambitious claim but having been a firm fixture at the top of many European jazz collector want lists over the past decade Finders Keepers wouldn’t be alone when proclaiming this extremely rare, lesser-known two-track 7” from 1969 as one of the best jazz 45s of all time! Alongside Polish pianist Krzysztof Komeda’s soundtrack 7” for the film Cul-De-Sac and ranking closely with François Tusques’ commemorative Le Corbusier exhibition 45 (featuring Don Cherry) this format-specific release known only as Brussels Art Quintet might well sit at the top of the podium while striking similarities and arguably combining the best stylistic traits of both aforementioned contenders.
This is all speculative and clearly a matter of individual opinion but it’s not often that one should find a recording from this era, comprising such high production qualities, keen compositional values and robust craftsmanship spread across two equally spellbinding individual tracks, all of which awards this record justified hyperbole albeit subject to a 50 year delay. It is safe to say that this unique release is “rare” on many levels. Like all privately pressed art projects this 45 comprises some serious outsider art trappings. However, on closer inspection it also stands as a pivotal record in the micro-genre of Belgian jazz, pin-pointing an early axis for some vital progressive jazz players who went on to become sturdy pillars of the central European happening.
Essentially as a five-piece, the short-lived Brussels Art Quintet neatly combines members of both the mythical Babs Robert Quartet (early exponents of Belgian spiritual jazz) and key players from the leading progressive jazz/rock/funk unit known as COS (formally Classroom) who would stand as close affiliates of the likes of Marc Moulin, Kiosk and Placebo through the 1970s. Reproduced in close collaboration with COS leader Daniel Schell, who, under the early guise of Daniel “Max” Schellekens, authored both tracks that make up this facsimile 45 single, this one-off single includes the only known output by the Brussels Art Quintet thus marking the essential in-road to instantly start and complete your entire BAQ collection not without reliving the early germination of the froward-thinking jazz fusion that came to shape Belgium’s truly unique movement.
The „Sans rouge EP“ is a return to Greymatter’s sampling roots reminiscent of his early works on WOLF Music. A record that sits half way between house and hip hop, in terms of style and tempo. „Sans Rouge“ epitomises that mood: starting out with a hip hop groove that drops into a beat-down house chugger. „Royale“ drops things down to an even slower motion with another tough beat down groove, chopped and driven key samples and a catchy vocal chop. The B-side start with a nice goodie: this is the first time that the full length/12” mix of „Move Slow“ has a proper release (the short version appears on the „7 years who cares?“ 2x7“ on WOLF Music). Greymatter’s most popular track of recent years - more heavy soul chops this time pitched more towards peak time. „Billy O“ finishes things off with a slamming, choppy club jam laiden with strings and vocals. Another mighty fine Quintessetnials release that shows all the talent of Greymatter!
Mekanik Kommando was a post punk / New Wave band from Nijmegen, the Netherlands founded in 1979 by Peter van Vliet and Laszlo Panyigay. The duo became a quartet with the addition of Simon van Vliet and Mirjam van Hout. The name Mekanik Kommando comes from the album ?Mekan?k Destrukt?w Kommand?h? by the French progressive rock band Magma. Inspired by a DIY ethos, Kraftwerk and Magma, the band began recording songs at home using two tape recorders. Their demo cassette was discovered by Wally van Middendorp of Minny Pops and owner of Plurex Records, who booked them for a gig at Paradiso in Amsterdam. In 1981 they were asked to contribute music on a flexidisc for the first issue of newly established magazine Vinyl. In the summer of that year the band recorded their debut album ?It Would Be Quiet In The Woods If Only A Few Birds Sing? released on Torso. In February 1982 the band secured five days of studio time at Salisbury Sound in Dordrecht. The end result was the mini-album ?Dancing Elephants? released on Torso later that year. Musically, the five songs are a mix between cold wave, experimental electronic and industrial pop. The band utilized two bass guitars plus a Korg 770, KR-55 drum machine, violin, effects, metals and plastics. Lyrics explore themes of decay and morality, hypnotically spoken on top of playfully metallic sounds. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each EP is housed in a replica of the original jacket, which features artwork by the group members, and includes a 4-page booklet with lyrics and notes designed by Eloise Leigh.
Konstruktivists is the Industrial project of Glenn Michael Wallis from Kent, England. In the late ’70s Wallis was a “control agent” for Throbbing Gristle and the Industrial Records crew. Influenced by Krautrock bands like Can, NEU!, Cluster/Harmonia as well as Tuxedomoon, Yello, Chrome, and SPK, Glenn began to record his own material. After several cassette releases, Konstruktivists’ first LP ‘A Dissembly’ was released in 1982 followed by ‘Psykho Genetika’ in 1983 and ‘Black December’ in 1984. That same year Wallis collaborated with his friend Chris Carter, of Throbbing Gristle and Chris and Cosey fame, on CTI’s ‘Conspiracy International One’.
In 1985, Glenn spent a week at Chris and Cosey’s studio recording 11 tracks that would become the ’Glennascaul’ album originally released on Nigel Ayers' Sterile Records. Produced and mixed by Chris Carter, it marked a complete change in style for the band towards a beat-orientated rhythmic sound. ‘Glennascaul’ is proto electro at its very best, with Glenn’s hallucinogenic vocals on top. A musical collage designed to invoke images in the mind. The back cover clearly states “No guitars. No Fairlights.” For this deluxe reissue we’ve added two bonus tracks recorded around the same time, now vinyl for the first time ever. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is housed in an exact replica of the original jacket featuring cover art, which is a co-production of Trevor Brown, Nigel Ayers and an image Glenn Wallis supplied. Each copy includes a double-sided 8x11 insert with liner notes by Nigel Ayers, press clippings, and photos.
What is the Inner Dance? A musically assisted trip through thought-movement. It is not a show, it is a party. The participation of a room full of individuals having their own personal experience. Like looking closer at the ground to see there is movement within, focus acutely and see the life within life.
Gene Tellem launches her own label Bienvenue Records, welcoming you to a world of sounds for all the extroverted introverts out there. With headquarters at La Rama in Montreal, we plan on assisting your journey through local & international sounds.
For this first EP Gene lays down the foundation for what is to come. Journey agent tracks for all looking to experience the music, an extended groove, more than just a drop & repeat. ‘Groove PM’ sets the scene, we play in the sun during the day and at night we smooth out the rigid edges of the hustle. ’N’ You’ is here to get you in touch with your natural swing, ride on the simplicity of moderate changes and witness just how much we have. ‘Tender As A Rhodes’ is an ode to that thing that changed it all, the universal jazz sound, dub it out, stretch it out, and watch the whole room come together. As the morning comes we get ‘Chipped’, dance ’til the next day comes and hit the streets with a little pep in your step. Crossing paths with your neighbours on the way home, they might not know but all who witnessed do, we who dance the night are the warriors that keep the light on in the darkness.
Thanks for joining us and please do stay tuned for more.
-La Rama
Formed in Bradford in 1980, New Model Army's beginnings were inspired by Northern Soul, Punk Rock and the incendiary atmosphere of the times. Since then, they have had a long, creative and eventful journey. They have been massively influential in 'post-punk', 'folkrock', 'political-rock', 'goth', 'metal' and all kinds of musical sub-cultures but they have steadfastly refused to belong to any club or style. Members have changed over the years and musical styles have evolved but at the heart of the band Justin has remained, along with a distinct and sincere belief in the power of music to inspire and effect change on both a personal and political scale, locally and globally. 'From Here' was recorded earlier on the tiny Norwegian island of Giske at the beautiful Ocean Sound Recordings studio and reflects the spectacular isolation of that environment yet has profound messages for the world we all live in and the times we are experiencing. The album was mostly written in just two months and recorded in only nine days and is the follow up on the two hugely acclaimed albums Between Dog And Wolf (2013) and Winter (2016). New Model Army decided to work again with Lee Smith and Jamie Lockhart, with whom they have developed a productive relationship over a few years and who persuaded them to leave a lot of the details of the music to spontaneity. “This album has a feel that is different to our other albums, but it still contains all the elements that characterise our peculiarly unidentifiable music – perhaps even more than ever. And “From Here” was an obvious title. The record belongs to a very special place and a particular time – what is happening in the world, where we are as a band and where we are as people.” Print ads:Vive Le Rock, Classic Rock, Record Collector, Classic Pop). Artist undertaking promotion/interviews/press (Classic Rock, Record Collector, Vive le Rock, Louder than War, Long Live Vinyl). Extensive UK live tour Oct 8th - Dec 21st.
Ascetic Limited is excited to present our seventh release returning with our VA series and a new design line from Plastica. Side A begins with Trastiber by Fabrizio Lapiana. Fabrizio's work needs little introduction, known for his ambient backdrops and mesmerizing melodies this track is a perfect fit for our catalogue and any DJ wanting to ensure a moody ambience and great for opening doors into deeper realms.
Secondly we have Journey with Castenada by Greenbeam & Leon, the duo from Georgia. The residents of Khidi club in Tbilisi, take us on a heavy set journey with their particular sound that ranges from tripped out to industrial bangers. A Journey with Castaneda is an ode to mind exploration and the psychedelic realms we can find within ourselves.
On the B side Aleja Sanchez, known for her pounding yet well thought out tracks, provides her track Sanctuary, truly mesmerizing from the Colombian mainstay. This track reflects in totality the sound we strive to provide on Ascetic Limited, pounding yet deep a perfect balance of body mind and soul.
To close it out, Cliche Morph s Sinusoid is a broken bass line heavy hitter with amazing sound design that will fit into any set, from the most moody to the deepest of selections. Overall a perfect track to close out our fourth VA selection, reflecting our concept as a label.
The legendary Tin Man takes us down, going deeper into the acid rabbit hole with his latest EP on Konstrukt. The 11th release of this Dutch label shows the influx of acid pulses that move and resonate through the liquid landscape below surface. The perfect blend between the well known eerie and soothing acid-scapes that navigate on the solid foundation of kick and hihat.
All tracks written and produced by Johannes Auvinen
Artwork by Hendrik Simons. p&c Konstrukt 2019
Like a fine 40-year old whisky, the layers on this record and influences are complex, nuanced & Layered. You might taste something different but here are my tasting notes...
The Nose - Notes of Bobby Cauldwell, Steely Dan, David Crosby a definite Sun Drenched yacht folk dram.
The Body - I can taste strong notes of Jimmy Webb and Aztec Camera not present on the nose, this a much deeper dram than initially nosed, I can see myself enjoying this in front of a warm fire.
Finish - Long finish on this one, I can taste the Miami tarmac, the Beach and salt water, the nightclubs and linen clothing, Don Johnson's dirty washing.
Whisky tasting over, both the albums this LP was compiled from were recorded at Coconuts recording Studio in Miami, notable for Miami Sound Machine recordings and Blood, Sweat and Tears. I have been into these for a long time and whilst not the rarest AOTN re-issue to date (although that may change now the words out) they deserve to be recognised for the solid LPs that they are. Just buy it and float away.
Next up on Fake's Various Artist Series we have a stellar lineup, Lee Daines leads the line with the minimal groover 'Stokkie', One of the undergrounds legends Gel Abril teams up with Berlin Based Oskar Szafraniec with a peak time track for dancefloor 'Energy Flow'. On the flip we have two stalwarts of the minimal scene, Ukranian Pharba and long time friend of fake Just_me with a super cool track that's full of energy 'ride', And to finish off we have up and coming talent Soyro with his minimalistic breaks track 'Moonset'
2 years ago the track Still Numbers on Ekin Fil's album Heavy caught the attention of a certain Richard D. James, who under his 'user18081971' username reposted the track to his now historic Soundcloud dump.
This is also how Ekin’s work initially caught the labels attention; at first listen it sounded like a unearthed Grouper demo, a parallel that can be drawn respectfully, seeing Ekin’s trade marks are also those forlorn, muffled vocal whispers, layered under sentimental tape loops, paired with ambience and feedback.
The album itself was originally produced in 5 years ago during what Ekin Fil recalls as a down right depressing and tumultuous time during which she turned to music as a measure of rehabilitation.
Heavy was later released on tape via Lee Nobles No Kings label in 2016 and re-mastered in 2018 from the tape rips by Rashad Backer, preserving the fragile and heavy hearted auditory sensibility found in the original work, while making one of Ekin’s earliest and most personally endearing releases available to a new audience of listeners.
Demon Records goes on a journey through time and space to the world of the Mighty Boosh. This is the classic BBC Radio 4 comedy that launched the careers of writers and leads Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. The series made it’s vinyl debut as a strictly
limited coloured edition for Record Store Day 2019 and is now reissued on three black 180g heavy-weight vinyl. Housed in a gatefold sleeve with original artwork by Noel Fielding and sleeve notes by Julian Barrett, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher & producer, Danny Wallace. Written by: Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding First Broadcast: BBC Radio 4, 16th October 2001
In this post-industrial, post-enlightenment religion of ourselves, we have manifested a serpent of consumerism which now coils back upon us. It seduces us with our own bait as we betray the better instincts of our nature and the future of our own world. We throw ourselves out of our own garden. We poison ourselves to the edges of an endless sleep.
Animated Violence Mild was written throughout 2018, at Blanck Mass’ studio outside of Edinburgh. These eight tracks are the diary of a year of work steeped in honing craft, self-discovery, and grief - the latter of which reared its head at the final hurdle of producing this record and created a whole separate narrative: grief, both for what I have lost personally, but also in a global sense, for what we as a species have lost and handed over to our blood-sucking counterpart, consumerism, only to be ravaged by it.
I believe that many of us have willfully allowed our survival instinct to become engulfed by the snake we birthed. Animated — brought to life by humankind. Violent — insurmountable and wild beyond our control. Mild — delicious.
2XM are back on our shores with another sun kissed and emotive EP.
Four new tracks covering 2-step garage, deep percussive house and synth laden electronic grooves with a powerful vocal performance from rising star Neil Macleod.
These two are really developing their own signature sound and we’re all in.
Enigmatic multi-instrumentalist Clive Tanaka returns after nearly a decade since his cult-classic Jet Set Siempre was released into the world with a collection of indie gems entitled ‘Pre-Sunrise Authority.’ This is an album experience ready for
summer road trips, shifting FM dials as the terrain changes and signals fade. In his words: What started as a rejection of loneliness with lyrics grew into a rejection of the ephemeral with the final musical composition. The dissonance between the mission
of the lyrics and the music is what finally satisfied me. The album, Pre-sunrise Authority, took 10 years to finish. This record is a tribute to scheduled, communal listening to music; to driving up to the bluff to get a clear signal of America’s Top 40 with Casey Kasem; to the friend that gave you Beck’s Mellow Gold on CD and said, “You have to listen to this;” and to my friend Carroll, who played all over this record, but passed away before he could every hear it… Music is not disposable.
- A1: Pata Pata (Mono Version)
- A2: Ha Po Zamani (Mono Version)
- A3: What Is Love (Mono Version)
- A4: Maria Fulo (Mono Version)
- A5: Yetentu Tizaleny (Mono Version)
- A6: Click Song Number One (Mono Version)
- B1: Ring Bell, Ring Bell (Mono Version)
- B2: Jol’inkomo (Mono Version)
- B3: West Wind (Mono Version)
- B4: Saduva (Mono Version)
- B5: A Piece Of Ground (Mono Version)
- C1: Pata Pata (Stereo Version)
- C2: Ha Po Zamani (Stereo Version)
- C3: What Is Love (Stereo Version)
- C4: Maria Fulo (Stereo Version)
- C5: Yetentu Tizaleny (Stereo Version)
- C6: Click Song Number One (Stereo Version)
- D1: Ring Bell, Ring Bell (Stereo Version)
- D2: Jol’inkomo (Stereo Version)
- D3: West Wind (Stereo Version)
- D4: Saduva (Stereo Version)
- D5: A Piece Of Ground (Stereo Version)
Strut presents an all-time classic of South African music, the definitive remastered edition of Miriam Makeba’s ‘Pata Pata’, her first album recorded for Reprise in 1966.
The album marked a significant international breakthrough for Makeba. Moving to the US after the anti-apartheid film ‘Come Back, Africa’ gained international attention and staying there in exile, she quickly built her career in New York during
the ‘60s, mentored by Harry Belafonte. Signing with Reprise after a period with RCA, she returned to one of her older songs: “I wrote ‘Pata Pata’ back in 1956, back in South Africa,” remembered Makeba in her autobiography. “It was a fun little song and I was thinking of a dance that we do at home (“pata” means ‘touch” in Zulu and Xhosa).” Originally a hit in South Africa with her early vocal harmony group the Skylarks, the new recording, produced by Jerry Ragovoy, brought a lighter uptempo R’nB arrangement, adding some English lyrics. “It was my first truly big seller. All of
a sudden, people who never knew I had been in America since 1959 were asking me to be on their television shows and play at their concert halls during 1967. In the discotheques, they invented a new dance called the ‘Pata Pata’ where couples dance
apart and then reach out and touch each other. I went to Argentina for a concert and, across South America, they are singing my song.” The track peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 12 and the album. Other songs In the album included a version of the traditional Xhosa classic, ‘Click Song Number One’ (‘Qongqothwane’), the atmospheric ‘West Wind’, later famously
covered by her friend Nina Simone, and a version of Tilahun Gessesse’s ‘Yetentu Tizaleny’ which Makeba learned on a trip to Addis to perform for Haile Selassie at the Organisation Of African Unity. Mastered by The Carvery from the original reel to reel tapes, ‘Pata Pata’ is released in its mono and stereo versions for the first time. Physical formats feature brand new sleeve notes alongside rare photos from the time of recording and session details.
The album is released on 6th September on 2LP, 1CD, streaming and digital
An artist who deliberately plays with labels, taking in contemporary and novel forms, boldly launching into experimentation (as demonstrated by her collaboration with percussionist Vassiléna Sérafimova), Chloé wanted to take the album’s tracks and transform them in front of an audience by feeding them with new textures and inspirations. Performed over a year at events such as Nuits Sonores, Sónar, Mutek (in Montréal and Mexico), The Peacock Society, and festivals such as Marsatac, Musilac and Colors of Ostrava, Endless Revisions’ live performance has evolved with every show. It was out of the question to let these new versions - replayed, recreated and restructured alongside the evolution of the performance’s very architecture - fade away without a trace Chloé’s prolific Lumière Noire label, in the wake of its first anniversary, had to produce a recording that bears witness to the work that these ephemeral creations represents. Slowly introduced by Dune, then propelled by the impulse of Because it’s There, the mix is articulated around the appropriatelytitled Outerspace, followed by Party Moonster and the bewitching The Dawn, heard here in “clubbier” versions and adapted to a context in which the audience (whose enjoyment of the performance was audibly captured in the recordings), must be kept in suspense, as if carried away in a narrative. The set leads up to Moonscape, an exclusive track created during the performance series, before the performance ends with a new version of Sometimes, Chloé’s relentless 2002 instant classic. At nearly 50 minutes, this recording is like a snapshot of a work’s vital momentum, remaining faithful to the spirit of Chloé’s Endless Revisions while detaching itself in order to conquer new territories. It is what music must also be: a moving creation that is activated and reacts in contact with its audience.
TALKING OF POST-TECH DIALECTICS,
THIS IS A TRIBUTE TO THE CYBERPUNK.
The mother of technology collapses. Ten fragments of her soul are spread in cyberspace. The last encoder composes the pieces to a manifest. A poem that is a call for the distortion of the artificial.
Manifest is an album, in which CORIN synthesizes the reconciliation of the dystopian and utopian. It is a story of manipulated time that exists out of instrumental and vocal proportions.
CORIN's debut on Bedouin Records will be released in late June. The LP includes 10 tracks.
For Fans Of…Aretha Franklin, Betty Davis, Lyn Collins, Sharon Jones, Ann Peebles. Pink vinyl 45 is limited and for Indies only. 1000 copies Barbara Howard's On The Rise is more than just another rare soul LP. It's a love story. It's a dream. It was an attempt to break through. And although Barbara certainly never became a star, one song did become a staple in rare soul and funk DJ sets, keeping interest in Barbara Howard just under the surface. And as fate would have it in 2016, a sealed copy of the LP would find its way into Plaid Room Records in Loveland, OH and kick start the revival of her story and her music. In 1968, as an outgrowth of a community movement and talent search program called "Operation Step-Up", Steven Reece wanted to take his community movement to the next level. This is when the idea of founding an independent label came to mind. The idea was to self-produce quality records and through successful sales attempt to land major label distribution. Steve identified Barbara Howard as the talent and set to producing her record. The idea was to produce an LP with a variety of tracks that could be marketed to a variety of radio formats and markets (gospel, pop, soul, jazz, etc.). And while the record fizzled shortly after its release, Steve and Barbara ended up getting married shortly afterwards making this possibly the most romantic production of a record is soul music history. "I Don't Want Your Love" is the only track they produced that was NOT featured on the LP, so we're proud to get this deep funk banger back into the world at large!
• Originally released in 1972 this is a rare LP originally released on Invictus, Hotwax label. This
release is so obscure there is little information about them online.
• This is a vocal, soul classic that features the masterful title track ‘Come On Back’ and the
monster club cut ‘Lets Change The Subject’
• Line-up includes Lorenzo Hines (lead tenor), James Isom (second tenor), Earl Jones
(baritone), and Fletcher Lee (bass)
• Reissued on 180gm heavyweight classic black vinyl
Killer 2 sider deepfunk classic from Indiana's very obscure Knap Town Records. Whilst 'Color Me' is the more "well known" track on the rare 45s scene i mostly play the instrumental flip 'Misty Shade Of Pink', the whole 45 has a cool loose psychey barnstorming vibe that just works. 500 Copies only no repress.
In 1985, I started working as a sound engineer in the famed Far Studios of German hit producer legend Frank Farian in Rosbach near Frankfurt, and there had an array of gear at my disposal that not many producers could afford, and know how to use in consequence. In the center a high-end Neve studio desk, but also the finest machines created by mythic brands like Linn, Kurzweil, Publison, or Quantec. Confronted with this considerable amount of opportunities on a daily basis, I soon decided to use what I was surrounded with for my own musical ideas, and started experimenting with it in my spare time. My perception of sounds quickly surpassed what I had known before. The equipment offered me many possibilities to position sounds within a song and I learnt how to compose by filling up all the places in between the speakers. There was not only left and right but near and far as well, and even up and down. My preferred perspective grew to be that of standing in front of the speakers, "looking down" on a song from a slightly higher position. The material was recorded on analogue reel-to-reel audiotape, which I subsequently edited and deconstructed manually with a razor blade, an edit block and a roll of audio splicing tape.
Difusion's Jamie McShane & Daniel Maunick hook up with the extremely talentented vocalist Ant Thomaz on two original killa tracks that brings their love of Jazz/Funk,Soul & House music all together.Includes a heavy remix from Daniel Maunick, producer of Azymuth, Marcos Valle, Incognito and many others! This is the first release of the newly relaunched Straight Talk Records, back after a 20 year hiatus, with 3 tracks full of soul & fire!
Soul Deep Exclusives is proud to present our latest vinyl release! This time we've recruited 4 talented producers that have created 2 tracks of musical bliss. Greek producer, mSdoS, has gone to the other side of the world to collaborate with Subsid, a Brazilian Producer, to craft up the song entitled, "Malibu". The song oozes with uplifting musicality and summer vibes, heating things up for the warmer time of the year. British producers, Payback & Conspire, team up to produce the second offering. The track offers up a more edgy sound, but is softened up by its epic pads and dreamy soundscapes. Overall, these 4 producers have created some classic music that will stand the test of time. Classy vibes!
Since completing his two-decade-long hip-hop trilogy as Dabrye in 2018, Ann Arbor-based artist and Bopside label head Tadd Mullinix has engaged his arsenal of aliases with renewed heat. First came the debut of X-Altera, a new project flexing a wildstyle hybrid of drum & bass and deep techno. Now, he returns to James T. Cotton, a moniker which dates back as far as Dabrye and helped define Spectral Sound, the dance imprint of Ghostly International. While historically tagged as Mullinix’s acid house alias, JTC has always expressed with a more pliable sense of genre, freely fusing an eclectic blend of classic electronic sounds; helpings of Chicago acid, Belgian New Beat, and the leftfield techno stylings popularized both in Berlin and Detroit. With Indigo, Flesh and Fire, Mullinix moves closer to the latter city, adopting a bright, optimistic tone informed by minimalism and futurism.
"I have been more withdrawn and introspective on a personal level, in a positive sense, and I think that fact has made my creativity reach toward feelings about peace, positivity, fantasy, wonder, and openness,” says Mullinix.
The EP is packed, but still playfully ambiguous; a club-ready set built to max out mixing boards with spacious and nuanced melodies and motorized percussion. Five tracks, each with roughly five-minute run-times, offering all but a few breaths in a quest for highly operative dancefloor hypnosis. The record wastes little time locking in; on the first track, “Innerloire Rendezvous,” a dense square kick plows through a brisk four-on-the-floor routine phasing over harmonious synth stacks of rubbery fifths and sevenths. The title track splatters a lenticular static spray between thumping kick, billowy melodic swells, and staticky clicks, snaps, and claps.
Mullinix’s distilled musical vocabulary, developed by his many years in the game, gives the set a misty-eyed quality without compromising its contemporary merit. This is music, inspired by history but fiercely forward-thinking, that feels both subterranean and airborne; in the grind on the ground and soaring above in an iridescent super-charged fog.
key selling points: - Debut release on Spectral Sound - Past releases on Firm Tracks, Nite Owl Diner, Sweat Equity, FCR, Clave - Limited to 300 copies worldwide.
The prolific Russian Black Barrel debuts on Metalheadz with the 4-track 'Elevate EP'.
Drawing from early Metalheadz influences, sounds and ideas, Black Barrel has crafted his own unique take on it all ranging from the intricate edits and soulful KSR vocals on 'Elevate With Me' to the unparalleled funk and gnarly prominence of 'Hear The Sound'. It's further proof that Black Barrel is more than adept when it comes to producing full spectrum drum and bass.
Untameable Anatolian feline fuzzy folk funk finally uncaged. A spontaneous Turkish-Norwegian-Dutch expedition, where seafaring jazz cats entangled with fugitive roadies and Tee-Set mods, makes the story of Durul Gence’s highly anticipated/ill-fated Asia Minor Mission group the stuff of lost-rock legend and remains one of Turkish music’s great “what ifs?” The black cat is finally out of the bag...
Having forged a celebrity status as one of Turkey’s premier percussionists and bandleaders, Durul Gence assembled the underground fusion group known as Asia Minor Mission (AMM) in early 1972 (with Irfan Sumer, Oguz Durukan and Ugur Dikmen) while trying to escape the constant daze of paparazzi camera flashes that followed him across Turkey. During a far-fetched post-gig brainstorm the group pondered relocating to Norway (based on fact that none of them had ever visited the country) when a local seaman who claimed to have recording studio connections in Oslo overheard them. Enlisting the roadie services of a streetwise Istanbul taxi driver friend on the run from the police AMM took the plunge, accepting the sailor’s offer of passage on his next sailing.
In these new idyllic surroundings, the same region that played host to fellow Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz, Durul found the peace he desired discovering a muse in Norway’s welcoming creative climate. Much like Barıs Manço and Mogollar in France, Cem Karaca and Gökçen Kaynatan in Germany, Gence’s relationship with Norway rekindled a passion for composition in ways he couldn’t have imagined in his homeland, opening doors thought previously unreachable. As a potential prodigal son for Anadolu pop Durul joined a wider pop-cultural diaspora alongside electronic pioneer Ilhan Mimaroglu, Tülay German (aka Tuly Sand) Kardasllar’s “Alex” Wiska (collaborator with Krautrockers Can) and Maffy Falay from the band Sevda.
Despite a blooming fan base and original repertoire the Nordic dream was not to be and after two years without a studio session, AMM called it quits during a tour of Holland after which Durukan and Dikmen went home to join Cem Karaca’s band Dervisan - Dikmen’s keyboards feature on Finders Keepers releases by Turkish singer Selda (FKR011). Retreating to the city of Delft to ponder his next move, Durul met Peter Tetteroo, former vocalist from successful Dutch psych-pop combo Tee-Set, who also found himself in a lonely boat after the demise of his long-running group. As an AMM fan, Tetteroo suggested they record two Gence penned AMM demos for Dutch Philips signed exotic songbird Sasi Naz at Peter’s home studio. A session was hastily arranged and a talented, yet unconfirmed, guitarist was enlisted. Durul maintains it was the work of Ferry Lever from Tee-Set/After Tea, something Ferry has denied, and with Tetteroo having died in 2002 the question remains. Upon entering the humble studio Durul stumbled upon a skeletal drum kit. Lacking hi-hat, toms or even a snare he cobbled together a bongo and a tambourine and set to work. Together, under the watchful eye of Tetteroo, the pair jammed stripped back versions of the AMM live staples Black Cat and Boo Song, with an added freak factor otherwise missing from their jazzier approach. Laid down in just 30 minutes, with Gence’s accomplished guide vocals and fuzzy overdubs, the rudimentary but professional recordings never made it to Philips execs and the tapes returned to Turkey under Durul’s arm as one of only two documented AMM recordings (the other being a live performance in Oslo’s Hennie-Onstad Art Centre in May 1973).
Unintended for commercial release, curiouser and curiouser, Finders Keepers proudly present these previously unheard tracks sourced directly from original tapes, which stand as a testament to the inimitable talent of Gence and the only studio document of the mythical AMM Turk jazz funk troubadours, representing a pop-psych Hollandaise holiday postcard which has taken five decades to be delivered. 45 revolutions later... The cat’s got the cream.
Music With Soul strikes again with a Double Sider Dancefloor Stormer!! You are not even 30 seconds in and you are already asking yourself what the hell you are hearing. That is precisely the effect the label wants to induce with their releases. Welcome to the Music With Soul congregation.
- A1: Theme For Us Feat Joshua Idehen & Chip Wickham
- A2: The Socials Feat Soothsayers
- A3: Life Is Valuable Feat James Alexander Bright
- A4: Before
- A5: After Feat And Is Phi
- B1: I Never Feat Madison Mcferrin
- B2: Won’t Get Better Feat Emma-Jean Thackray
- B3: Don’t Stop Here Feat Ego Ella May
- B4: Thru You Feat Georgia Anne Muldrow
Albert’s Favourites co-founder Adam Scrimshire is set to release his fourth album 'Listeners'. Musically, 'Listeners' draws from Scrimshire's passion for jazz, soul and electronic music of all styles; from an energetic combination of Afrobeat and garage on 'Won't Get Better', to the lushly orchestrated neo-soul of 'Thru You', and the harmonious jazz experimentations of 'I Never'. The album features a host of esteemed guest vocalists and musicians telling their own personal stories, including Georgia Anne Muldrow, Emma-Jean Thackray, Joshua Idehen, Madison McFerrin, Chip Wickham, and James Alexander Bright.
"With this album I wanted to get a more focused sound after six years of relearning and development in the studio. But I also struggled to find my own words, to speak about where I/we are now. So I allowed my collaborators total freedom to tell their own story and as they came back to me, they were telling the same stories I wanted to. It's resulted in some deeply personal confessional pieces: mourning family, collapsing relationships, extremes of self doubt and analysis, trying to balance public and inner persona, and a reminder that life in all forms is important.
It’s called 'Listeners' as I am a listener here, I feel like I've been given these very personal experiences to care for. Listeners because, the travesty of the last few years is that we stopped listening to each other, everyone is shouting at each other and no one is learning. And Listeners because I hope I've made something that is for other people more than I have before. I've tried to craft something warmer and more enjoyable, made for those who give me their time in listening to my music."
- Adam Scrimshire
Since joining the Wah Wah 45s label in 2007, Scrimshire has released three albums of experimental cinematic jazz, and electronic sounds. Following his 2009 debut ‘Along Came The Devil One Night’, his second album ‘The Hollow’ (2011) was a BBC 6 Music Album of the Week, with Gilles Peterson calling it “A late contender for album of the year”.
In the time since the release of his last album ‘Bight’ (“An eclectic range of influences ranging from disco to fusion to more contemporary electronic styles” XLR8R) in 2013, Adam has worked with long-time musical accomplice Dave Koor on new project Modified Man, and launched Albert’s Favourites releasing projects by The Expansions, Hector Plimmer and Jonny Drop. He has continued to gain radio and DJ support for his successful “Scrimshire Edits” series and has produced and mixed records for artist including Stac, Daudi Matsiko, Bastien Keb, Ronin Arkestra, Jonny Drop. He has also continued to develop the Wah Wah 45s label, where he is now a co-owner and director.
Preceded by singles 'Thru You' featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow and 'Life Is Valuable' featuring James Alexander Bright; 'Listeners' is set for release on LP and digital formats via Albert’s Favourites on 19th July 2019.
DJ Support / Press:
Huey Morgan (BBC Radio 6 Music)
Jamie Cullum support on BBC Radio 2
Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 1Xtra
Thru You Premiered By Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC 6 Music “So Beautiful
Called out by The Irish Times as “Ireland’s best new rock band” and named as an one of NME's “100 Essential New Artists for 2019," When I Have Fears is the debut album from Dublin, Ireland's The Murder Capital.
Produced by Flood (PJ Harvey, New Order, Foals) the album features both singles from the band so far, "Feeling Fades" and "Green & Blue", as well as the first studio recording of breakthrough track "More Is Less".
An exercise in both darkness and light, “When I Have Fears” only serves to highlight the early ambition in the band's sound. From the post-rock build and breakdowns of the two-part "Slowdance", to the tender, bruised confessional of "On Twisted Ground" and industrial pulse of closer "Love, Love, Love", there's a consistent intensity throughout that marks out The Murder Capital as a band arriving fully formed on their debut album.
Following sell-out shows on their April tour, the group have also announced a new string of UK & European headline dates for October and November 2019 - see below.
This summer fortunea head Klaus Benedek returns with a 2 track single!
The A-side features the title track „At The Shore“ and is not only a fitting piece for sunset and afterhour sessions. It brings back nostalgic memories of a simpler, laid-back and peaceful time on the beach. A smoove guitar is the key element in this track. It builds up to a break that dives into the waves of the ocean. Almost siren sounding vocal cut ups splash threw this journey and a beautiful haunting pad is giving it the icing on the cake.
The B-side -- although in a similar vibe as the title track -- has a more somber feeling to it. „South Bronx Depression“ reflects the mood of the troubled New York neighbourhood during the 70s and 80s. A pompous jazz fanfare has been sampled, filtered, chopped and transformed as the track’s hookline. Eerie synthesizer stings make their entrance, while the narrator tells his story.
Limited to 300 copies. Mastering by Patrick Pulsinger.
Support by Tensnake, Iron Curtis, Loz Goddard, Alkalino, Roman Rauch, Peletronic
Our second vinyl release ‘ABYSS 002 – Relative Disparity’ marks the next stage of our vinyl catalog and features a collection of tracks by artists that we believe contribute something unique to the ABYSS project.









































































































![Barry Helafonte - One Night [stickered sleeve]](https://www.deejay.de/images/l/2/7/938927.jpg)


























![Fabrizio Lapiana / Greenbeam & Leon / Aleja Sanchez / Cliche Morph - VA_07 [including poster]](https://www.deejay.de/images/l/0/1/936901.jpg)



























