quête:the driver

This fourth EP in the Time Crystals series sees Troy returning to the label with a low-key driver, carried by sharp percussion and filtered chords that keep the attention locked in before Ukrainian Svarog and Ma-gooch take over, delivering their signature sound - evolving pads, dreamy soundscapes - resulting in yet another beautiful early hours piece of music.

Wonderchild Luigi Tozzi proves once again that he is a master at blending ambient-influences with dubby atmospheres, resulting in music that fits both dancefloors and living rooms. For the EP's forth track Jonas Korbl, who you might remember from his debut album in 2017 on Dynamic Reflection LTD, combines energetic percussion patterns and synth rhythms.

His Primal Grade is a seemingly perfect successor to Tozzi's Haboob, as both artists obviously take pride in their carefully arranged and modestly performed pieces of techno.

Equilibrium is part of Dynamic Reflection's 15 year anniversary celebration: Time Crystals. This is the fourth of five EP's. Own all five and an all new, visual piece of art will appear.

The Titillators became a band in 2018 and emerge from a bold
compulsion: to sound completely unlike any other musical group in
existence
On their third album to date, That's The Night , it's clearer than ever that they've
been successful in this endeavour.
It's a tuneful, mainly instrumental batch of bent exotica played by a group of
some of Toronto's most inventive and highly regarded musicians. And while
listeners will catch aural whiffs of jazz, pop, soul, electronica, and free
improvisation there's something irrefutably singular about their output.
They're led by Ryan Driver, whom you may know from his solo recordings on Tin
Angel, from groups such as Eucalyptus, and from his frequent collaborations with
Eric Chenaux. Driver provides the compositions and plays street sweeper bristle
bass, an instrument of his own devising consisting of a small tine of metal
plucked on top of an amplifed cigar box.
The ubiquitous and multitalented Thom Gill's whistling often plays a
disconcerting lead role, while both he and acclaimed jazz pianist Tania Gill play
synths. Meanwhile the trifecta of percussionists Phil Melanson, D. Alex Meeks,
and Nick Fraser offer rhythmic interplay with one crucial caveat: none of them are
permitted to play any component of a standard drum kit.
PR will be dealt with in-house at Tin Angel.
Limited edition of 300 copies on 180gram Atlantic Pearl Blue Vinyl + OBI strip

Heavenly sounds and atmospheres to travel to another dimension, always with the Techno driver channel. Includes a power remix of Electric Rescue.

Zach Bryan prepares to release his self-titled follow up record to American Heartbreak on August 25th. The album will not only showcase Zach’s incredible songwriting but will also include some very special features including Kasey Musgraves, The Lumineers & War and Treaty. The focus single for album release is “I Remember Everything (feat. Kasey Musgraves). Zach wrote & produced the entire album himself! Zach has been continuing to sell out arenas and headline festivals all over the country as he continues to rapidly grow as one of the most influential new artists of this generation. “Something in the Orange” just became the longest standing Country song on the Billboard Top 100 this Century, marking this only the beginning of Zach continuing to break records as he goes!

Produziert von Kelly Finnigan (The Monophonics) präsentieren The Sextones aus der Hochwüste Nevadas ihr neues Werk. Anspruchsvoll, höflich und meisterhaft komponiert ist 'Love Can't Be Borrowed' eine klangliche Liebeserklärung an den Soul der späten 60er und frühen 70er, eine Hommage an die Giganten des Genres, eine Verbeugung vor seinen unbesungenen Helden, mit authentischem Sound und historischer Wertschätzung. Inspiriert von Künstlern wie The Moments, Baby Huey, The Delfonics und insbesondere Curtis Mayfield klingt daie LP wie das Öffnen einer Zeitkapsel aus der goldenen Ära des amerikanischen Souls.

A 1968 British psychological horror film from the Boulting Brothers, ‘Twisted Nerve’ starred Hywel Bennett, Hayley Mills and Billie Whitelaw. The film itself has little to offer, however its soundtrack remains one of Herrmann's finest and, alongside the film, would have probably languished in obscurity but for the intervention of Quentin Tarantino who revived its main whistle theme for his 2002 film ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1’, bringing Herrmann's music to a whole new audience. At long last, the soundtrack to Elle Driver’s infamous hospital scene in ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1’ and the inspiration for countless ringtones and samples the world over comes to record stores in 2015 - when ‘Twisted Nerve’ is released in a Super-Deluxe soundtrack package by Stylotone working closely with the composer’s family, The Bernard Herrmann Estate and with a little help from director Quentin Tarantino. The complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann for the Boulting Brothers’ Production of ‘Twisted Nerve’ has been Assembled, Mastered and Cut at London’s world famous Abbey Road Studios to produce a stunning Master

Hailed by critics and clerics upon its release, and described by the band as a maelstrom full of wreckage, it is undoubtedly their most byzantine and excessive work to date. A trip through the lavish void. Comes with printed inner sleeve, 4-page insert containing previously unpublished photos, liner notes by Dan Franklin and a testimonial by Toby Driver. Incl. Poster.

Hailed by critics and clerics upon its release, and described by the band as a maelstrom full of wreckage, it is undoubtedly their most byzantine and excessive work to date. A trip through the lavish void. Comes with printed inner sleeve, 4-page insert containing previously unpublished photos, liner notes by Dan Franklin and a testimonial by Toby Driver. Incl. Poster.

Hailed by critics and clerics upon its release, and described by the band as a maelstrom full of wreckage, it is undoubtedly their most byzantine and excessive work to date. A trip through the lavish void. Comes with printed inner sleeve, 4-page insert containing previously unpublished photos, liner notes by Dan Franklin and a testimonial by Toby Driver. Incl. Poster.

A former pizza delivery driver and now self-taught full-time musician, CRi first caught the attention of tastemaker press with early single ‘Rush’ and his subsequent ‘Someone Else’ EP. Not long after, he joined the Anjunadeep roster in 2019 and gained attention from the label fanbase, and radio titans Pete Tong, Annie Mac and Jason Bentley with his ‘Initial EP’.

His debut album ‘Juvenile’ exceeded expectations, being nominated for a number of awards, including Best Electronic Album at the JUNO Awards, and three separate titles at the 2021 ADISQ Awards, including Electronic Album of the Year and ‘Revelation’ of the Year, which CRi won. Since the release of ‘Juvenile’, CRi has released three singles, an EP and remixes for Bob Moses and Lane 8; become one of the first electronic acts to headline Montréal Jazz Festival to an audience of 45,000; and performed around the world once more, writing as he went.

Since the slower days of the pandemic lockdown, and Quebec’s tentative reopening of nightlife and music venues, CRi’s life has become much more fast-paced once again; a transformation that has been infused into every beat of his new album ‘Miracles’. The vinyl release of ‘Miracles’ comprises 14 tracks, including two standout prior singles, ‘Something About’ and ‘Losing My Mind’ (feat. Jesse Mac Cormack), which, combined, have already accumulated 10 million streams between them.

The other twelve tracks on ‘Miracles’ (including 3 bonus vinyl-only recordings) showcase Christophe’s signature warming synths, in addition to an impressively wide range of sounds, from drum and bass, to indie, from electronic and chillout, making this work his most expansive to date. After the album’s release, CRi will be heading on a live tour of North America, stopping off in seven cities, including Los Angeles, Denver, Toronto and, of course, his hometown of Montréal, where he’ll be headlining at iconic venue MTelus, which regularly plays host to indie-electronic stars, including, recently, Metronomy, Jungle, Monolink, Max Cooper and Amtrac, and is a perfect spot to celebrate his rise in this scene, before he takes his live tour to Europe in early 2024. ‘Miracles’ is out 22nd September, 2023.

Mit der ersten Single „vampire“ läutete die dreifache GRAMMY Gewinnerin Olivia Rodrigo das zweite Kapitel ihrer Karriere ein – und nimmt ab sofort Kurs aufs zweite Album: GUTS erscheint am 08. September!

Emotional noch intensiver und extrem abwechslungsreich arrangiert, setzt die 20-Jährige für „vampire“ auf eine ähnliche Dynamik wie bei ihrer Single „drivers license“, mit der sie 2021 den internationalen Durchbruch schaffte. Kein Wunder also, dass „vampire“ sofort als „Monster Power Ballad“ (Pitchfork) gefeiert wurde. Zeitgleich kündigte Olivia Rodrigo mit GUTS ihr zweites Album an. Zum Teil auch in den New Yorker Electric Lady Studios geschrieben, entstand das neue Album größtenteils mit Dan Nigro in dessen Garagenstudio in Los Angeles, mit dem die 20-Jährige bereits für ihr Debütalbum SOUR zusammengearbeitet hatte. Während Olivia in den vergangenen 24 Monaten selbst „gefühlt 10 Jahre“ reifer geworden sei, klingt auch ihr Songwriting sehr viel ausgereifter und selbstbewusster als zuvor: „Dieses Mal ging’s viel mehr ums eigentliche Songwriting – was manchmal auch bedeutete, dass ich mich selbst gar nicht so ernst nehmen durfte. Wir haben wahnsinnig viel ausprobiert und sind schließlich bei einem Sound gelandet, der viel mehr Rockeinflüsse hat als meine älteren Sachen“, so Rodrigo. ”GUTS” erscheint auf CD und Vinyl in diversen Formaten.

After a slightly extended break, CEP Records makes its return! This edition features a trance-inspired release by the hero Arman John, accompanied by two incredible remixes from Janis Zielinski and riko.

Kicking off this release is 'Pump That Soundsystem', a genuine trance driver infused with a hint of techno energy. The soulful pitched vocal and distinct chords add a remarkable touch, making this track poised to burn the dancefloor. Within riko's remix of 'Pump That Soundsystem,' he preserves the positive essence of the original track while infusing it with his personal signature. With rhythmic drums, an unceasing bassline, and an infectious melody, he introduces a touch of old-school sound that keeps the groove alive. For the second original piece, Arman John presents 'Like A Salt Shaker.' Powerful bassline rhythms, textured drums and a significant vocal hustle the track with intensity. The soulful synth, making a notable appearance midway, elegantly includes an unprecedented touch of elegance. Bringing the release to a close is Janis Zielinski's remix of 'Like A Salt Shaker'. A dynamic interplay of fresh chords and synths bringing the track into boundless realms. The transformed synth from the original version fosters familiarity and diversity, adding significant drive that impeccably concludes both the track and the entire release.

'Pump That Soundsystem' by Arman John drops via CEP Records on 20th September 2023.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce its first release from celebrated London-based Canadian composer Cassandra Miller. Though her body of mature work stretches back almost twenty years, many listeners were introduced to Miller through the success of her astonishing 2015 Duet for Cello and Orchestra, which sets an imperturbable two-note cello part against a series of increasingly dense orchestrations of an Italian folk melody; in 2019, it was selected by The Guardian as one of the ‘best classical music works of the 21st century’. Traveller Song / Thanksong, the first release of her music on vinyl, presents a pair of compositions for voice and ensemble that exemplify Miller’s gently absurd, strikingly beautiful, and utterly unique work.

Like many of Miller’s compositions, these pieces originate in existing music. Traveller Song (2016/2018) begins from a 1950s song of an anonymous Sicilian cart driver recorded by Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella, which Miller recorded herself singing along to, going on to then record herself singing to her own layered voices. Miller’s untutored voice is an unsteady, wavering wail that has, in her words, ‘more in common with a quasi-shamanistic keening than anything Sicilian’. Heard sometimes alone, sometimes layered, her pre-recorded voice is accompanied by a chamber sextet drawn from London’s Plus-Minus Ensemble. In the first section, Miller’s exposed warble is set to a spare piano accompaniment, somehow both faintly preposterous and magisterial. Following the voice note for note, the piano part often makes use of almost mechanical sequences of parallel chords, reminiscent both of Satie’s Rosicrucian period and the abrupt harmonic movements of a chord organ. The orchestration then opens up to guitar, clarinet, and sliding strings, a delicate environment for Miller’s voice, which, especially when it begins to be layered, generates a powerful sense of intimacy. In its concluding minutes, the folk roots of the original melody return in the form of a glorious full ensemble setting dominated by accordion, clarinet, and strummed guitar. Thanksong begins from recordings of Miller singing along to the third movement of Beethoven’s late quartet in A minor (Op. 132), the ‘holy song of thanks’ the composer wrote to express his gratitude for (temporarily) recovering from illness. Recording herself singing along repeatedly to each of the individual parts of the quartet, Miller created an aural score where each member of the string quartet listens to their own part on headphones, playing by ear. Performed on this recording by Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini, with whom Miller has a decades-long relationship, they are joined by the British soprano Juliet Fraser, who sings material from the Beethoven quartet ‘as slowly and quietly as possible’. The atmosphere of the opening of Beethoven’s Dankgesang, of hushed reawakening and thoughtful reflection, is sustained throughout the fourteen minutes of Miller’s piece, building at points almost to sentimentality before the five individual parts again fall back into a gentle burble of unsynchronised melodic gestures. Like Traveller Song, here the use of the voice is a long way from the mannered performance of much contemporary music, reaching for a human and bodily presence more connected to the reality of the everyday, albeit suffused with wonder. Presented in a stylish sleeve adorned with photography by Lasse Marhaug and liner notes by Cassandra Miller, this is a key release from a major contemporary composer whose work challenges and dazzles in equal measure. .

Let Me Die Loved is now available in a limited edition white vinyl pressing. Vinyl contains an oversized 11” x 11” 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin’s role within it. Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin’s music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin’s recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7” singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia’s 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums – the first time that his music has been presented in this form. These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin’s uber-rare 7” single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Tewedije Limut gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7” single releases.

Founding member of Buffalo Springfield and folk-rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stills' first solo album, Stephen Stills, earned a gold record, is the only album to feature both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and climbed to #3 on the album charts. Stephen Stills’ single "Love the One You're With" became his biggest solo hit, peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the first track on this collection. 14 tracks from Stephen Still’s First US Tour, previously unissued and recorded Live at The Berkeley Community Theater in 1971, featuring David Crosby on two songs. In 1971 Stephen Stills embarked on a US tour, opening each show with an intimate acoustic first set, and closing each night with a riveting electric set featuring the Memphis Horns. These historic, previously unreleased recordings took place over two nights at the Berkeley Community Theater, with David Crosby joining him on vocals and guitar for "You Don’t Have To Cry" and "The Lee Shore." These recordings find Stills at peak performance in both vocal delivery and musicianship, effortlessly incorporating alternate instrumentation on his instantly recognizable tracks, including a seamless medley of “49 Bye Byes" and "For What It’s Worth” unexpectedly played on piano. Hand-picked by Stills from his personal archives, this album captures timeless and era defining performances. Fans who were lucky enough to catch his historic debut trek, dubbed “The Memphis Horns Tour,” were treated to the balladeer, the raving troubadour, the acoustic bluesman, the soul driver, and by far the most passionate music maker. Backed by a loyal cast of friends, including his usual steady rhythm section—drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels—along with keyboardist Paul Harris, guitarist Steve Fromholz, and percussionist Joe Lala, these Northern California shows were one of the most unique and intimate stops on the tour This album, rather than being an artifact from a bygone era, sparkles and stimulates. It cajoles you into thinking, feeling and—most importantly—moving. Stephen Stills Live At Berkeley 1971 is a cornucopia of priceless sound—and all of it bears the distinct and loving fingerprint of Stephen Stills.

Grain typified the sound of Rust Belt youth in the mid 90s. With slow builds, fast/ slow time signatures, dissonant guitar work with melodic, catchy undercurrents, and just enough breakdowns to keep the hardcore purists happy, these recordings are simultaneously angry, urgent and beautiful. Remastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering in Los Angeles.

Close your eyes and merge into Benedikt Frey’s 'Fastlane'. Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a an automobile, one with exceptional horsepower and torque, as you stare out the windshield at the red light, warping in fata-morgana a mile down the road. It’s a straight-away, a black top with two lanes, and against your better judgment you decide to floor the gas. No hesitation in your muscle, your ankle or the ball of your foot, which you now realize is some kind of universal pivot, the first point of contact fusing your body with the will of machine. In this moment you’re in awe that you, a human, an animal, grew from pond scum into something so advanced as to engineer this thing, a mechanical beast capable of overwhelming power and exhilaration. But you also feel a seductive dread, an outside force diverting you from caution toward a dangling carrot of curiosity, asking yourself, ‘How far can I take this thing?’ The dread, now a constant, is numbed, equalized by an adverse intoxicating gratification. You feel both sensations in real time, however, rather than take responsibility for yourself, friends, family and innocent bystanders, you cement your foot to the floor and lean your head back. Noise around you fades to mute. Smell the benzene-scented air, feel the wind on your face, the menacing vibration of the vessel you control beneath you and every grain of asphalt under its tires. This mile has now lasted an eternity and you’ve left your body for some objective view, as if watching climax of a film. Past the point of no return, you embrace abandon and lean into fate. The film becomes slow motion, a crawling pace so mesmerizing you convince yourself of an option to eject yourself from this madness, but as you finally let go of your last morsel of fear, you run the red light head-on into the nucleus of a fantastic glistening sculpture of torn metal, glass, oil, broken dreams and heartache. 'Fastlane' may be just drum machines and synthesizers if you’re timid, but listen harder and know the catastrophic reality of existence, a wreckage so gruesome we dare not rubberneck, but afterall it is our nature to stare.

Amanaz were serious, and they made a serious stab at an album. They titled their album Africa, according to original band member Keith Kabwe, “because of how it was shared and how its inhabitants were butchered and enslaved, its resources stolen… all the atrocities slave drivers committed. “ Thus, their “Kale,” a blues sung in Nyanja, that traced the continent’s arc from slavery to Zambia’s independence closes the album. Kabwe and rhythm guitarist John Kanyepa have a winsome softness to their vocals, which sit politely aside the feral growl of drummer Watson Baldwin Lungu, bassist Jerry Mausala and bandleader/lead guitarist Isaac Mpofu. Africa’s vibe ranges from anxious (“Amanaz”) to escapist (“Easy Street”) to straight-up pissed-off. On the “History of Man,” his voice whiskeyburned, his distorted guitar buzzing like swarming hornets, Mpofu indicts his species.
There’s a darkness to Africa not found on any other Zamrock records, and a melancholy drifts throughout, specifically on Mpofu’s more restrained “Khala My Friend,” which stands as an effective, bleak situation for the Zambian everyman, the average citizen of a struggling, new nation, who might have had relatives in conflict-torn countries on the horizon, who might have been struggling to find his next meal, who might have seen a bleaker future than his president promised. Then there’s the clear Velvet Underground-influence on the nostalgic “Sunday Morning,” which, as Kabwe
recalls, was the first song written for the album, back in 1968, when Velvet Undergound and Nico was a new release - and the underground funk of “Making The Scene.” The album also tackles traditional Zambian music and early-‘60s rock – punctuated, of course by Kanyepa’s wah-wah and Mpofu’s fuzz guitars. But every time Amanaz get too deep, too violent, they come back with an accessible song and woo their listener back to the groove. “Green Apple” is a civil song, featuring Kanyepa’s sighing guitar. It is a perfectly arranged album, from the dichotomy of Mpofu’s and Kanyepa’s lead and rhythm guitars, to the vocal harmonies, to the rhythm section’s sense of space and time, which allows Africa’s funk to build. Inexplicably, Africa was given two separate mixes and two separate presses: one version is dry, with the vocals and drums mixed loud, the other slathered in reverb, with the vocals and drums disappearing into the mix, and with the guitar solos mixed much louder. We’ve presented them both here as they each have their appeal: it’s up to the listener to pick the one he or she prefers. This is a highpoint of the Zamrock scene and we hope that this can be seen as its definitive reissue.

TRANS TEHNOPOLIS EXPRESS is a sonic techno train on an international route that connects Kiev - Ljubljana - Madrid - Belgrade.
The locomotive is driven by six main drivers:
the magnificent well-known KESSELL with his uncompromising heavy groove techno bit.

A veteran of the hard extraspheric and hypnotic techno STANISLAV TOLKACHEV.

ALAVUX - which breaks the monotony between East and West and last but not least, three engine drivers, members of the underground techno movement Tehnopolis from Ljubljana: ORGANON, LXS and THON KLAND, who established an international sonic line with their original pieces.

The vinyl record has a sticker with the Bandcamp redeem code, where you can download the entire compilation (6 pieces), including Thon Kland - Edge - (ALAVUX remix) and ORGANON - HII - (Original), not on vinyl.

True to themselves and their art, as always, no matter the cost, Axe To Fall continues to push relentlessly forward, much like a shark that needs to always keep swimming to survive. Where No Heroes was a refinement and broadening of hostilities declared on previous assaults such as Jane Doe, Axe To Fall returns to the more AmRep-inspired noisecore abrasions of You Fail Me while also updating and making vital the thrash influences that defined earlier Converge efforts (Caring and Killing, Petitioning the Empty Sky) and retaining the hardcore hostilities and frantic pace so vital to their foundation.