Buscar:the elephant

Über den Zeitraum von mehreren Wochen während des Lockdowns entstanden, präsentieren Nick Cave & Warren Ellis in dieser Woche ihr neues Gemeinschaftsalbum: Carnage – was zu Deutsch so viel wie Blutbad oder Gemetzel heißt. Cave beschreibt das Gemeinschaftswerk denn auch als „eine brutale, aber wunderschöne Aufnahme, eingebettet in eine gemeinschaftliche Katastrophe.“ Obwohl die beiden schon viele Soundtracks zusammen komponiert und aufgenommen haben, und Ellis zudem seit geraumer Zeit Mitglied von The Bad Seeds ist, handelt es sich bei Carnage tatsächlich um den ersten Longplayer, den sie auch offiziell als Duo eingespielt haben.

„Die Arbeit an Carnage war eine komprimierte Phase intensivster Kreativität“, sagt Ellis, „denn es dauerte gerade mal zweieinhalb Tage, bis diese acht Songs in irgendeiner Form standen. Dann erst sagten wir uns: ‘Ach komm, lass uns doch ein Album machen!’ Das alles war also nicht sonderlich geplant.“

Das Klangspektrum der neuen Aufnahmen reicht vom düsteren, elektronischen Puls des Stücks „Old Time“ bis hin zum sehnsuchtsvoll-wunderschönen „Albuquerque“, einer klassischen Ballade, die auf einer kreisförmigen Klavierfigur basiert, überzogen mit hypnotischen Streicherparts. Insgesamt hat das Album eine etwas rastlose Energie, die Perspektive ist im Vergleich zum gefeierten Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds-Vorgänger Ghosteen eher nach außen gerichtet – wobei die beiden auch dieses Mal versuchen, die Grenzen des Songformats zu verschieben, immer wieder neu auszuloten, was ein Song eigentlich alles sein kann…

Während die eigentlichen Aufnahmen in recht kurzer Zeit stattfanden, waren die Songs von Carnage schon davor länger herangereift, in den ersten Lockdown-Wochen, die Cave damit verbracht hatte, „zu lesen, regelrecht zwanghaft zu schreiben und einfach nur auf meinem Balkon zu sitzen und über die Dinge nachzudenken.“ An ein Album dachten die beiden denn auch gar nicht, als sie zusammen ins Studio gingen, um zu jammen. „Das Album“, so Cave, „ist dann einfach so vom Himmel gefallen. Es war ein Geschenk.“

Carnage ist die Fortsetzung jenes kollektiven Improvisationsansatzes, auf den die beiden schon für Ghosteen gesetzt hatten – was Cave zugleich erlaubte, das klassische, eher narrativ strukturierte Songwriting hinter sich zu lassen. Als Rohmaterial dienen ihnen Textideen, die Cave zuvor über einen längeren Zeitraum verfasst und verfeinert; sie handeln zumeist von wenigen Kerngedanken und -themen, einzelnen Bildern und Metaphern, die er mit Worten umkreist. Die eigentlichen Songs entstehen dann in ausgedehnten Improvisations-Sessions im Studio: Anfangs sehe das so aus, wie Ellis berichtet, dass „da zwei Menschen im Raum sitzen und sich etwas trauen, indem sie erst mal einfach passieren lassen, was gerade passiert“. Ihre endgültige Form bekommen die Stücke daraufhin erst durch intensives Editieren und Filtern, wenn Musik und Text zu einer Art Klangcollage zusammenkommen. Das Element der Überraschung spielt bei jedem dieser Schritte eine zentrale Rolle, und mal geht alles ganz schnell – „Shattered Ground“, zum Beispiel, sei, so Ellis, „gleich im ersten Take fertig“ gewesen, während andere, wie beispielsweise der Titelsong, „sich erst kurz vor dem Abschluss der Mixing-Phase zu erkennen geben sollten.“

Wenn man bedenkt, dass Carnage in relativ kurzer Zeit entstanden ist, wirkt die enorme Bandbreite an Themen und Stimmungen um so beeindruckender, denn das Resultat klingt einerseits absolut eindringlich („Old Time“), andererseits auch zutiefst kontemplativ („Lavender Fields“). Wie sich die Stimmungen und Energien verschieben und überlagern, erkennt man auch daran, wie die beiden gewisse Zeilen, Refrains und flüchtige Bilder auf immer neue Weise in den verschiedenen Songs wieder auftauchen lassen, was dem Album insgesamt etwas Kaleidoskopisches gibt. In Songs wie dem aufrüttelnd-aufgebrachten „White Elephant“ und dem fast schon fiebrig-psychedelischen „Balcony Man“ kollidieren surreale Bildwelten, so dass die Zeilen nicht mehr wörtlich zu verstehen sind und an ihre Stelle etwas Suggestives, Impressionistisches tritt.

Die einzigartige kreative Chemie zwischen Cave und Ellis basiert auf einer langen gemeinsamen Geschichte, die sie als Kollegen und Solokünstler verbindet: Erstmals begegneten sich die zwei schon 1993, als Ellis die Geigenparts für einige Songs von Let Love In einspielen sollte, das achte Album von Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Wenig später schaute Cave bei einem Konzert von Ellis’ Band Dirty Three in Brisbane vorbei – und landete schließlich auch selbst auf der Bühne, wo sie gemeinsam Interpretationen von Neil Youngs „Helpless“ und Roy Orbisons „Running Scared“ zum Besten gaben. „Damit fing das alles an“, erinnert sich Ellis, der schließlich selbst festes Mitglied von The Bad Seeds wurde. Auch beim 2006 gegründeten Bandprojekt Grinderman arbeiteten sie zusammen, was laut Nick Cave ein Ventil für „die beste Midlife-Krise war, die sich ein Mann wünschen kann“. In dieser Konstellation sollten sie zwei Alben aufnehmen, Grinderman 1 und 2, bis sie die Band dann 2011 wieder auflösten.

Seit 2005 haben Cave und Ellis zudem an etlichen Soundtracks für Film, TV und Theater gearbeitet – u.a. für The Road (2009) und Lawless (Die Gesetzlosen; 2012), beide entstanden unter der Regie von John Hillcoat, sowie für David MacKenzies Hell or High Water (2016) und Taylor Sheridans Wind River (2017). Das gemeinsame Erschaffen derart atmosphärischer Instrumental-Scores, wobei oftmals elektronische Loops von Ellis als Ausgangspunkt fungierten, über denen Cave am Klavier improvisieren sollte, hat ihre Arbeitsweise und ihr Songwriting nachhaltig geprägt.

Mit Carnage legen sie das nächste Kapitel ihres musikalischen Abenteuers vor: Ein Album, das quasi aus Versehen entstehen sollte, während des langen, weltweiten Stillstands der Pandemie-Monate. Die verschiedenen Stimmungen und auch das Rastlose an diesen Aufnahmen spiegelt die existentielle Ungewissheit wider, aber zugleich flackern auch immer wieder Momente der Ruhe auf, Augenblicke der meditativen Selbstbesinnung. Unterm Strich ist es ein Album, entstanden in und gemacht für diese unbeständigen Zeiten, das durchsetzt ist mit Augenblicken konzentrierter Schönheit. Aufnahmen, die ihre unumstößliche Zuversicht fast schon trotzig zum Ausdruck bringen.

Im Jahr 2008 war Portugal. The Man seit etwas mehr als zwei Jahren eine Band und ritt auf einer kreativen Welle, wie man sie nur selten sieht. In den ersten zwei Jahren ihres Bestehens hat die Band drei Alben, eine EP und ein paar Singles veröffentlicht und dabei knapp 500 Shows gespielt. Die junge Band aus Alaska fuhr von Stadt zu Stadt, kaufte säckeweise Reis und gönnte sich nur selten etwas von ihrem Taco Bell-Feed The Beat-Geld. PTM waren engagiert. Sie beendeten die Tour im Dezember 2008 und anstatt eine dringend benötigte Pause einzulegen, trafen sie die Entscheidung, den Höhepunkt dessen aufzunehmen, was ihre Live-Performance geworden war. Sie fanden ein seltenes Juwel von einem Studio in den Vororten von Portland, und versammelten sich dort mit ihrem Live-Equipment und einer Handvoll Freunde mit Handkameras. Der langjährige Mitarbeiter und Filmemacher Graham (Baclagon) Agcaolli und der Tontechniker/Mixer Jacob Portrait (der später zu Unknown Mortal Orchestra stoßen sollte) halfen bei der Dokumentation. Sie spielten ihr komplettes Set einmal durch - ohne Nachvertonungen oder Overdubs - nur die Band in ihrer natürlichen Form. Ein paar Wochen später gingen sie ins Studio, um ihr nächstes Album, "The Satanic Satanist", aufzunehmen, und "Oregon City Sessions" wurde in ein Regal gestellt. Dort lag es über ein Jahrzehnt lang. Nur wenige sahen den ganzen Film. Die Band, ihr Manager oder Tour-Manager boten gelegentlich an, zu den Leuten nach Hause zu gehen und ihn für sie zu zeigen. Manchmal zeigte die Band auf dem Parkplatz eine Handvoll Songs für die lokalen Fans. Sie knüpften Freundschaften, aber wann immer sie gefragt wurden, war die Antwort: "Ja, wir werden das irgendwann veröffentlichen." Jetzt ist die Band seit über einem Jahr nicht mehr unterwegs, die mit Abstand längste Pause seit ihrer Gründung, und die Zeit scheint einfach reif. Hier ist "Oregon City Sessions", ausgegraben aus den Archiven. Unberührt, unverändert von dem Tag, an dem es fertiggestellt wurde. Es ist eine Zeitkapsel einer Band, die ihren Weg findet. Ein Schnappschuss von jungen, rohen Talenten, bevor sie Preise gewannen, bevor sie Millionen von Platten verkauften, bevor sie Headliner von Festivals waren. Nur ein paar Kids aus Alaska, die die Welt bereisen und Musik machen wollten.

The third release from Exalt Records Fallen Entertainers series is by an artist so hot right now, it's ridiculous. Having has recent releases on some of the hottest electronic music labels on the planet, this producer is certainly having 'a moment'. Electro superstar Sound Synthesis submits an incredible remix to complete the package.

It’s testament to the man they call Medlar, that you never quite know what you might get with one of his releases. WOLF Music family since the early days, his latest mini-LP on the label is no exception. Seven cuts that prove this man can do anything, taking you on an otherworldly, island tour.

First stop, ‘Aerial’, channelling that inner Wally Badarou for a cosmic, sand-stomping chuggathon, heavy on the juiced-up basslines, tripped out synth wizardry and space delay goodness. Your pace quickens, ‘Iguanadon’ rattles the world around you, shamanic echoes swirling through your skull as that acidic stab hypnotises you into a stupor.

Out the other side, you stumble across an ‘Elephant Bingo’. Cup of tea, track three. Slap bass, bongos and synth stabs lifting the spirits.

Back on the beach you drift off into a slice of sleazed up Balearic business, turning the funk dial all the way up to 11 via ‘ELV’. Suddenly things take a trippier turn. Are you dreaming? ‘CR78-108’ booms in the background, pure jungle-tinged, digi dubwise movements.

A few stiff drinks and you’re on your feet again. ‘Phoenix Lights’ New York house stylings pump you with life, even if your hazy brain is still hearing wild echoes all over the place.

How did you end up here, 10 hours later? One too many ‘Sin Prisa’ homebrews no doubt, yet you’re still stompin through, granted it’s of the slow-mo, acid-laced variety though.

What was in that welcome drink Medlar handed you at the start? Who knows, who cares when you get that kinda bang for your buck.

'Sugar Free' by Afrodisia is often regarded as soul connoisseurs as being one of the finest songs to come out of Europe in the 1980s, which has only ever been available on the Afrodisia album 'Elephant Sunrise.' That is until now when 'Sugar Free' is available on 7" vinyl. On the flip side we're treated to a uptempo fusion jam called 'Malcolm X' which is previously un-issued.

Originally released on CD in 2012, Chapter's landmark compilation of 70s gay musical pioneers gets a vinyl release for the first time ever - and on limited baby pink vinyl to boot! Strong Love explores the first wave of openly gay songwriting, emerging after New York's Stonewall Riots kickstarted the modern gay rights movement in 1969. It took just a few years for the defiant chanting and interlocked arms of early 70s pride marches to reverberate onto record, and Strong Love begins with the earliest known example, 1972's A Gay Song by London hippie collective Everyone Involved. Across 15 tracks, the compilation takes in disarmingly personal folk, uplifting soul, outsider country and dark synth-rock. But tellingly, none of its songs could be considered well-known. New York's Steven Grossman released the first major label album by an openly gay artist in 1974, and Tom Robinson hit the UK Top 20 with the fiery Glad To Be Gay in 1978, but these are the exceptions. The coy ambivalence of Lou Reed and David Bowie was about as sexually adventurous as the 1970s music industry got, and most Strong Love artists released their own self-funded recordings in very limited numbers. Unlike their lesbian counterparts, who joined forces to create long-lasting record labels, strong distribution networks and considerable sales figures, gay male musicians in the 1970s existed largely in solitary bubbles. Which doesn't mean they didn't carve out niches of their own. Chris Robison played with the New York Dolls and Elephant's Memory, while LA glam seducer Smokey saw members of the Stooges and Quiet Riot pass through his backing band. Steven Grossman was covered by Twiggy and Scrumbly & Martin are infamous for their work with San Francisco drag hippies the Cockettes. Strong Love illustrate the vision, talent and raw courage that drove 1970s songwriters to sacrifice popular careers for the sake of honesty and selfexpression. Compiled by Chapter Music's Guy Blackman, with an evocative introduction from drummer RIchard Dworkin (who played with Blackberri and Buena Vista), the album is a powerful tribute to pioneering artists whose music has been neglected for too long.

On October 12, 1929, Kathryn Culp and Sammie Lee Brown had the idea to name their first-born baby Napoleon. With such a vital beginning, little Nappy was already predestined to hit the mark, so from a very young age he stood out for his vocal qualities, well cultivated in gospel, which he practiced assiduously in The First Mount Zion Baptist Church run by his father.

To Mr. Brown's chagrin, after his first forays into religious music participating in vocal gospel groups such as The Golden Crowns, Golden Bell Quintet and The Heavenly Lights, with whom he recorded his first single for Savoy in 1954, the young Napoleon decided to try his hand at secular music, convinced by Herman Lubinsky, the big boss man of the New Jersey label.

In this way, between 1954 and 1962, Napoleon recorded a total of 28 singles at Savoy, clearly marking the transition from Rhythm & Blues to Rock’n’Roll, and also his subsequent jump to Soul, being the natural link between the late 40s southerners like Wynonie Harris or Big Joe Turner and artists like Jackie Wilson or James Brown, who cemented the black sounds of the 60s.

This LP includes a compilation of some of his best songs at Savoy, high class rock'n'roll, with a lot of dancefloor favourites like DON'T BE ANGRY, compiled in its two versions, or JUST A LITTLE LOVIN ', but also his more Bluesy sides, with songs like the fabulous DOWN IN THE ALLEY, which would be recorded years later by that certain singer born in Tupelo, Mississippi, that many times declared how much he dug Nappy Brown’s Rhythm & Blues.

In the same bluesy way Nappy wrote the iconic THE RIGHT TIME, one of the first stones of the Soul cathedral, originally recorded by Nappy on 1957, and revised one year before by Ray Charles. Ray’s version, renamed Night Time Is The Right Time, would be included as the main theme of the award-winning film IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. We´ve also included Nappy’s own answer to this song, recorded in 1961 and titled as ANY TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME.

Finally can´t avoid to name some of the backing musicians you´ll hear in these tracks, Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor, Mickey Baker, Panama Francis… have a look on notes bellow, oh boy! the A-Team of the mid-century New York Rhythm & Blues!

Nappy disappeared from the music scene in 1962, remaining anonymous until 1969, when he would return to Rhythm & Blues on Elephant Records with an LP whose title could not be more eloquent: THANK YOU FOR NOTHING.

Since then, Nappy was very active until his death in 2008, alternating his love for gospel and Rhythm & Blues, touring the United States and Europe and releasing no less than a dozen LPs.

Limited editon LP format with extra heavy textured jackets and metallic silver ink. LP includes 12" square insert with lyrics and images of the artist, and download. The raw inspiration for Vague Tidings came from a 2006 DIY tour of the 49th state. It was a trip that went off the beaten path-sometimes a bit too far for comfort. Now, over a decade later, listeners find Joe O'Connell aka Elephant Micah stationed at a creaky spinet piano, singing about the Alaskan sky. Throughout, his lyrics take a new angle on a pet theme: human encounters with the natural world. Vague Tidings places these encounters in the American West and, at times, in its sci-fi corollary, outer space. Its imagery draws from the allure of Alaska, the idea of Western prosperity, and the human relationship to wilderness more broadly. Often, O'Connell sings about the goal of capturing and commodifying nature. In poetic sketches of resource extraction industries and dark sky tourism, frontier lust runs amok. Pipelines catch fire and stars disappear, all to the tune of a stark, uncanny Americana. Vague Tidings is a sustained, hallucinatory rendering of this theme. In style, its eight songs follow a switchback path between foggy incantations and mountain anthems. Made with a small cohort of acoustic instrumentalists, the record is rough hewn, but easy on the ears. To put Vague Tidings down on tape, O'Connell assembled some of his favorite musicians in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area, where he's lived since 2015: Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) bows and plucks a detuned fiddle, Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) breathes life into various woodwinds, and Matt O'Connell (Lean Year) sets the pace on a two-piece drum set. Their loose, imaginative playing pushes Vague Tidings beyond the singer-songwriter genre into something richer in texture. Ultimately, this is foreboding but spacious music, with plenty of room for reconsidering life on earth. R.I.Y.L. Jason Molina, Bonnie Prince Billy, Bill Callahan, Damien Jurado.

Back in 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC broadcast of Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange’s “Inventions For Radio: The Dreams”, The Eccentronic Research Council released their own super-limited edition cassette soundtracking the recalled dreams (and nightmares) of friends, artists, actors, musicians, scientists, poets and filmmakers. The release was called “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volume 1”. Five years on, and with a large part of the planet under lockdown and with nowhere to go but within their imagination, the ERC put a call out once again to music collaborators, nurses, teachers, truck drivers, writers, journalists and shop workers to upon waking, record their dreams straight into their phones and to then send them to the ERC to soundtrack. And thus, Volume 2 of The Dreamcatcher Tapes was born!

How did you make the album during lockdown?
“We got around 26 dreams sent to us via email over the space of a couple of weeks then Dean Honer my partner in The ERC and I revved up the old analogue equipment and would record music and collage sounds to the dreams (remotely) from our home recording studios and bounce them back and forth to each other till they were done. It was a really good way to work actually, sometimes I didn’t even have to put on any trousers!” says ERC/ Moonlandingz founder Adrian Flanagan. Why a second volume of The Dreamcatcher Tapes? “I was really interested to see how the enforced lockdown and the removal of people’s basic needs such as human contact and hanging out in close proximity to friends was affecting the dreams of my friends, peers and those at the very front line of this horrible pandemic”, Adrian continues. “The Important shared experiences for people’s mental health such as going out to gigs, the pub, the cinema etc. ”It was an interesting experiment. Nurses dreaming of inadequate PPE and having to use blow up Elvis costumes to protect themselves. Teachers dreaming of zombies and lots of people dreaming about sex - where the hair of Greek sorceress’s Circe meets bouncy castle breasts and where other dreamers dream of serial killers or seeing dead family members, or taking baby elephants for a walk, or having discos for one in the middle of the ocean and so much more. I’m really proud of this record. It’s psychedelic in its truest most cerebral form”

Who’s on “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2”? Who are the dreamers?
“Although our long time collaborator Maxine Peake wasn’t on the very first tape (her dream ended up on LTD edition split 7” ERC single we did with Pye Corner Audio) - she was the first dream that we soundtracked when I came up with the idea of doing the concept record. However, on the new vinyl and tape box set - she opens volume 1. Across the 2 volumes there’s film maker Carol Morley, Andy Votel from Finders Keepers records, John Doran from The Quietus (who also wrote the albums brilliant sleeve notes), acclaimed writers Benjamin Myers & Adelle Stripe, musicians such as Evangeline Ling from the group Audiobooks, Lias Saoudi from my ‘semi fictional band’, The Moonlandingz and fat white family, Sidonie from The Orielles, journalists /writers Wyndham Wallace (he wrote lee Hazelwood’s brilliant biography) and Daniel Dylan Wray amongst a whole array of musician friends, eccentrics and people with actual proper jobs!”

Why did you chose Castles in Space for this release?
“Jim Jupp at Ghost Box records suggested them to me so I looked into them and saw they were doing loads of really great strange little bespoke electronic record releases. I think that because this is a very niche limited run release, it required a label that was willing to treat it like a piece of art and not a throwaway mass produced commodity. So making sure the packaging was special, the artwork was bang on point and the sleeve notes were written by a writer we like all were very important to us. “It was also important that we could turn it around from the finished recording to being in people’s hands really quickly as Dean and I have another ten projects between us on the boil - and so far, Castles in Space have been true to their word. It’s an artists label done with love and there’s not many of them about anymore - believe it or not.“

“The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2” is an immense collaborative achievement which makes for a thoroughly compelling, and gloriously disorientating listening experience.

It is released as a double coloured vinyl LP in deluxe gatefold sleeve w/insert and a highly limited deluxe double cassette box set. The album is released on March 19th, 2021.

classic skinhead reggae from 1972 - never reissued ever since. Import from Holland on the Blue Elephant label.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• GATEFOLD SLEEVE
• INSERT
• 2-LP SET FEATURING REMIXES OF THEIR CLASSIC
HITS “FOOLS GOLD”, “ELEPHANT STONE”, “ONE
LOVE”, “SHE BANGS THE DRUMS” & MORE
• REMIXED BY A GUY CALLED GERALD, PAUL OAKENFOLD, JUSTIN ROBERTSON, UTAH SAINTS,
GROOVERIDER & OTHERS
• BLACK VINYL

The Remixes is a compilation album by The Stone Roses, which features remixes by various producers including Utah Saints and Paul Oakenfold. Various techno luminaries ply their skills reworking some of those early classic songs, and it is immediately clear that the Roses, even beyond the genius of their songs, were a preeminent dance band.

The Remixes on black vinyl includes an insert.

Ståle Storlokken - Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, grand piano, Eminent 310, Mellotron, Continuum Nikolai Hængsle - Electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars Torstein Lofthus - Drums, percussion. After a solid run of five studio albums and 2019's two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect Arrival Of The New Elders comes as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, don't let the self-ironic (?) title mislead you, they are as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, with the longest track clocking in around the seven minute mark. Rather short, by their standards.Having built a solid live reputation even before their brilliant 2008 debut Dodovoodoo, the trio boasts what is probably the strongest rhythm section in Norway, complemented with keyboard magician extraordinaire, the one and only Ståle Storlokken. And boy, does he excel himself on this album, notably with more focus on the Rhodes than before. That said, this is nothing if not another strong group effort from what has been a very tight unit straight from the outset. Seven brand new compositions from Storlokken and one from Hængsle make way for what we consider to be their finest and most cohesive album to date. Arrival Of The New Elders was recorded by trusted stalwart Christian Engfelt, with early Dungen producer Mattias Glavå handling the mixing duties.Ståle started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Jarle Vespestad and Arve Henriksen in the 90s, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board. He's also a member of Moster! and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho. Nikolai is also a member of Bigbang, Needlepoint and Band Of Gold and have appeared on a couple of hundred records. The same goes for Torstein, an associate member of numerous bands ranging from pop and soul to free jazz. But Elephant9 has always been their special baby.

Hailing from Sunderland in England’s industrial northeast, the Toy Dolls infused their take
on punk with ample doses of working-class humour, the three-chord format a launching pad
for witty originals and clever cover tunes. 1983 debut Dig That Groove Baby captures the
group at their finest, their twisted rendition of kiddies tune “Nellie The Elephant” topping the
indie charts; the title track is an infectious singalong, while “Spiders In The Dressing Room”
and “Glenda And The Test Tube Baby” are more irreverent tongue in cheek, all delivered in
the peculiar androgynous accent of frontman Michael “Olga” Algar. Essential!

Mats Gustafsson - Flute, baritone sax, live electronics, Johan Berthling - Electric bass, Andreas Werliin - Drums with Goran Kajfes - Quartertone trumpet, Mats Aleklint - Trombone, sousaphone, horn arrangements. Fire! tracking new paths and reaching new levels of excellence, still honoring their 12 year old vow of presenting a fresh approach to improvised music. Their debut album, You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago, was released in 2009 to wide international acclaim. "The basic strategy of pairing the expressive energy of free jazz with a sturdy sense of groove has yielded something potent and self-contained" (New York Times). Between this and Defeat there's been five albums, including collaborations with Jim O'Rourke (Unreleased?, 2011) and Oren Ambarchi (In The Mouth A Hand, 2012). No two Fire! records sound the same, but with Defeat they have taken their biggest leap so far, with Gustafsson giving the flute a prominent place in the sound image, a surprising and most successful move, his both expressive and ornamental approach given ample room to breathe, especially on the two long tracks bookending the album. In places more subdued than on previous efforts, but with the distinctive bass figures and hypnotic mood fully intact. There are some lively stretches with guests Goran Kajfes and Mats Aleklint, bringing to mind their big band offshoot Fire! Orchestra, albeit on a smaller scale. For over 20 years we have made a habit of releasing music that is beyond easy classification, in later years typified by Hedvig Mollestad, Elephant9 and Krokofant, but cemented by Fire! and their exploratory curiosity and deep love of music in general. We, and many others, have tried to compare the trio to other groups, but listening to Defeat we realize how futile this is. Given the above there's no doubt there are many influences at play, but the resulting brew is in a class by itself.

As Plankton Wat, Dewey Mahood uses his considerable
guitar prowess to deliver an album that encompasses
both the wild, seeking energy of free-improvisation and
the deliberate arrangements of more traditional
composition.
With his deft and stylistically varied playing, Plankton
Wat’s ‘Future Times’ escapes psychedelic tropes and
chemical fuelled alterations and instead celebrates an
escape into the natural world.
‘Future Times’ taps into psychedelia’s counter-cultural
heritage as music for protest, liberation and imagining
new ways of being in this world.
“Pastoral drones and swirling psychedelia” - Pitchfork
Known for his guitar prowess in modern psychedelic
music, specifically with Eternal Tapestry as well as
Edibles, Elephant Factory Galaxy Research and Gärden
Söund among others.
‘Future Times’ was recorded at Mahood’s home studio
Solar Commune, with additions from Dustin Dybvig
(Horse Feathers & Edibles) and Victor Nash (Flash Hawk
Parlor Ensemble). Features Ash Dybvig on flute.
LP comes on red or black vinyl packaged with download
code and insert.
“Mahood’s lonesome universe is definitely a psych-folk
monster on the sly… Mahood’s gone far into the burrow
of psychedelia for an album that’s caustic and tender,
bittersweet and effervescent.” - Raven Sings the Blues

As Plankton Wat, Dewey Mahood uses his considerable
guitar prowess to deliver an album that encompasses
both the wild, seeking energy of free-improvisation and
the deliberate arrangements of more traditional
composition.
With his deft and stylistically varied playing, Plankton
Wat’s ‘Future Times’ escapes psychedelic tropes and
chemical fuelled alterations and instead celebrates an
escape into the natural world.
‘Future Times’ taps into psychedelia’s counter-cultural
heritage as music for protest, liberation and imagining
new ways of being in this world.
“Pastoral drones and swirling psychedelia” - Pitchfork
Known for his guitar prowess in modern psychedelic
music, specifically with Eternal Tapestry as well as
Edibles, Elephant Factory Galaxy Research and Gärden
Söund among others.
‘Future Times’ was recorded at Mahood’s home studio
Solar Commune, with additions from Dustin Dybvig
(Horse Feathers & Edibles) and Victor Nash (Flash Hawk
Parlor Ensemble). Features Ash Dybvig on flute.
LP comes on red or black vinyl packaged with download
code and insert.
“Mahood’s lonesome universe is definitely a psych-folk
monster on the sly… Mahood’s gone far into the burrow
of psychedelia for an album that’s caustic and tender,
bittersweet and effervescent.” - Raven Sings the Blues

On their Night Dreamer debut, Sarathy Korwar and his allstar “UPAJ Collective” gain brand new ground in their mission to rebalance spiritual jazz with authentic Indian classical music. “UPAJ” means “to improvise” inHindi, and recording direct-to-disc at Artone Studios with almost no preconceived directions, they truly capture the “spirit of spontaneous improvisation”, as Sarathy puts it, like never before.


Sarathy Korwar 2020

"Recording in one take, direct-to-disc is a unique scenario to be in. I feel very blessed to be presented this opportunity. I decided very early on that in order to make the best use of this scenario, the music had to be completely improvised and spontaneous. That is the only true way to record within the limitations of one take. No regrets, no mistakes, no fear and no judgement. These were the ideals. In a way, this was about creating a utopian vision of a world I would like to live in. A microcosm of the ideals that I would like to live by, in the recording studio. The vision of going into the studio with this in mind, was more important than the resulting music we created. Process over product.

Before the session we did some collective breathing exercises that I have learnt from my mother (who is a pranayama practitioner/teacher) and Wim Hof. I believe this helps centre the focus of the group and balances the mind, making it most receptive to new sounds and inspiration.

The song So said Said is a tribute to Edward Said. Intimate Enemy, a tip of the hat to the book of the same name by Ashis Nandy (Intimate Enemy: Loss and recovery of self under colonialism). A cover of Flight IC408 by State Of Bengal is on Side B, as I am a massive fan of the band. Elephant Hangover is the imagery that the tune conjures for me personally on listening to it. A beautiful remix by the brilliant Osunlade of So said Said is on side D.

Thank you to the gifted musicians - Al, Tamar, Achuthan and Giuliano for trusting and letting go. I am lucky to spend time with you."

Nach Crazy Rhythms Of Mata Hari, Shake Your Bones, dem Cool Cat Club und Born To Hula! Folgt nun der 5. Teil der DJ-Set Serie auf Stag-O-Lee. Wie auch bei den Vorgängern handelt es sich hier um einen auf 80 Minuten eingedampftes DJ-Set von einem verdienten Recken der Zunft - Keb Darge. Gaz Mayall folgt direkt mit Volume 6. Linernotes: Rockabilly didn't cross my world until the early nineteen eighties at a Dirtbox weekender in Bournemouth, until then I was a pure northern soul boy. I didn't really get stuck into collecting the stuff until a decade later, but when I did what a wonderful world of tunes opened up to me, and I went wild on it. I was very lucky to be doing a record stall in Camden market at the time just across from Boz Boorer and Neil Scott's stall. They along with other serious collectors Dave Vickers, Barney Koumis, Cosmic Keith, Jim Fox, Dave Crozier, and many others taught me all I needed to know. I only ever made one great rockabilly discovery which none of them knew, "Little Bit Lonesome" by Charles Ross, but I was happy enough buying all their recommendations as they were all new and exciting for me. I have done several rockabilly comps before, but sadly the Philippines typhoon in 2013 destroyed my village and forced me to sell the bulk of my collection. Here are some of my favourites that I never got round to putting out before that happened. Two of the aforementioned collectors are no longer with us. I therefore dedicate this comp to Dave Vickers and Cosmic Keith who both had a huge influence on my life and my musical taste.

CHAI’s triumphant single ‘NO MORE CAKE’ is released on 7” with B-side ‘Ready Cheeky Pretty’.

Artwork by Chai member Yuki.

“The planet’s most fun band unleash their best single yet: all manic intensity and haunting chants underpinned by elephantine bass and taut funk.” - The Guardian

A message from Chai: “You know how I feel about make-up? I feel like make-up has the ability to allow you to be who you want to be. It’s that
super awesome, sparkling kind of magic! Yes you can paint over with it, even recreate with it but… doesn’t that make it just like decorations? The same as a cake no? Because, I’m the original! There’s no reason to become someone else right? My color is only for me to decide! “what’s attractive to us?”, is something CHAI will MAKE ♡ and of course eat as much CAKE as possible! It’s this type
of song!”

New full length album by France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverance for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work.
Mastering by Denis Blackham.

Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve.
10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10.

Black vinyl editions of four ‘Elephant’ era singles. The four singles ("Seven Nation Army," "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," The Hardest Button to Button," and "There's No Home For You Here") feature badass non-album b-sides, 3 of which are covers of songs from some of Detroit's turn-of-the-millenium best and brightest (Brendan Benson, Jason Falkner, Dan Miller (Blanche), Soledad Brothers), and one of which is a live White Stripes medley of "I Fought Piranhas" and "Let's Build a Home," recorded at New York's legendary Electric Lady Studios.

Most of these tracks have been remastered from the original analog sources, and the artwork on all the singles has been improved upon by the Third Man Creative Hive. "There's No Home For You Here", which was originally coupled with a generic company sleeve, now has stunning new artwork. It looks electrifying! On top of looking good, these sleeves are soft as a baby, printed with an aqueous coating, so they feel like a cross between rubber and lambskin. It's nice.

Black vinyl editions of four 'Elephant' era singles ('Seven Nation Army', 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, The Hardest Button to Button' and There's No Home For You Here). Featuring badass non-album b-sides, 3 of which are covers of songs from some of Detroits turn-of-the-millenium best and brightest (Brendan Benson, Jason Falkner, Dan Miller (Blanche), Soledad Brothers), and one of which is a live White Stripes medley of "I Fought Piranhas" and "Let's Build a Home," recorded at New York's legendary Electric Lady Studios. Most of these tracks have been remastered from the original analog sources, and the artwork on all the singles has been improved upon by the Third Man Creative Hive. "There's No Home For You Here", which was originally coupled with a generic company sleeve, now has stunning new artwork. It looks electrifying! On top of looking good, these sleeves are soft as a baby, printed with an aqueous coating, so they feel like a cross between rubber and lambskin. It's nice.

The Futurists rejected tradition and introduced experimental sounds and this fact, that influenced a lot of composers during the 20th century, helped them to build a concept that started the career of Barcelona based duo Iro Aka. The evolution of their music started with this EP, fluctuating through psychedelic and esoteric influences, taking as its main references the continuous technological evolution and those new techniques to make electronic music. “Futur” is an extract of the first ideas of Iro Aka. They started the project at the beginning of the 2017 and this EP was produced then, showing the abstraction that they felt at that moment, a path drawn by different sounds that came from different people and different places.

Tapan leaves their mark on Zukunft with reimagining the original as a slowly building, tribal inspired and almost sitting in an alternative timeline. Clever use of percussive elements does not take away from the track being playable in the club.

The slightly psychedelic dance floor experience is delivered by Anatolian Weapons. Pulsating rhythms intertwine with classic drum sounds and paint a mood almost contradicting the vocals of the track. Perfect secret track for any dance-floor.

Part 2 of the compilation series sees the journey evolving, this time with a more upbeat affair. Not much has changed in terms of selection, as we continue to draw inspiration from the wider world, we bring to you the sounds of artists originating from Argentina, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil and the UK. Beyond the restrictions of this physical realm, let you ears nourish the mind & soul as they traverse the world for you…

Argentinian resident Silvio Astier introduces us to the record with the aptly named ’Santa Maria del Buen Ayre’ - the former name of his hometown Buenos Aires. Easing us in with a wonderfully atmospheric piece, carefully mixing simple percussion patterns with his own well-crafted luscious guitar work.

Next up, we have Japan native/Berlin resident Kotoe continuing the flow of downtempo sounds that slowly settle us into this compilation. ‘Ondami’ conjures up images of a distant dream… the floating vocals and echoing chimes capable of drifting the listener to a place of blissful escapism.

The tempo is turned up a notch for the last track of side A, provided by UK born folklorica maestro El Buho. Renowned for his love of merging the traditional and natural sounds of South America with modern electronica, ’Swifts’ certainly ticks those boxes with an added touch of dance-floor-ready groove.

Portuguese native duo Oxhala continue to push the sounds on the flip side into heavier territory. ’Earth Spirit’ builds from an amalgamation of stomping tribal drums, hypnotically playful keys and distorted vocals, channeling the listener to our innate primitive spirit - this is one for the body & mind.

Dutch party-starter Mytron’s contribution ’Oil’ provides the fuel for the party as he turns to fast-paced conga rhythms, cowbells and elephant trumpets. These exotic sounds bounce along with ever-persistent energy to create the soundtrack to a hedonistic carnivalesque celebration of all things wild.

If you haven’t already peaked with the previous offering, Brazilian native El Peche wraps things up nicely with track ‘Rastro De Fogo’ (ft. Mari Branco). Tripped out vocals phase in and out as the track is dominated by a tight bassline before delicate keys bring in a softer element to finish.

The Remixes is a compilation album by The Stone Roses, which features remixes by various producers including Utah Saints and Paul Oakenfold. Various techno luminaries ply their skills reworking some of those early classic songs, and it is immediately clear that the Roses, even beyond the genius of their songs, were a preeminent dance band.

The Remixes is available as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on transparent & red swirled vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Repress

MARA is the debutalbum of Munich-based jazz group FAZER. The young musicians combine African and Latin rhythms with dubby basslines and melancholic melodies. The unusual lineup with two drummers (Simon Popp, Sebastian Wolfgruber), bass (Martin Brugger), guitar (Paul Brändle) and trumpet (Matthias Lindermayr) leaves an open space for unfettered improvisation. Through the concept of repetition and finely measured dynamics, Fazer create a drawing energy that can be felt directly at their live shows and has been captured perfecty on this record.

Exciting new producer Yves Tomas releases on Rekids with ‘Pilot EP’ this May - a bold and versatile debut release exhibiting the artist’s broad range of influences.

Hailing from London but with roots in Bristol, Yves Tomas is a producer, vocalist and DJ brought up in the centre of UK club music. Since experimenting with music through his childhood and early teens he’s gone on to become an engineer, working in studios alongside some of the biggest names in grime and pop music. This has led to him developing his own unique style of electronic music as a reactionary expression to working in the meat grinder culture of mainstream music. He now joins Radio Slave
Rekids - a label known and respected for discovering many luminary figures in electronic music.

With its otherworldly melody and echoing effects, ‘Braindead’ is a downtempo track that remains beatless until the halfway mark, moving onto the beautifully arranged ‘MA1’ with its reverb-drenched breaks, quivering synths, and ever-evolving chopped and looped vocals. ‘River’ then incorporates elements of grime and jungle courtesy of its lively stabs, soulful chords and compelling rhythm built on punchy percussion. Taking things into a spiritual direction, Elephant & Snake’ meanders forward using
syncopated drums, washy chants and elevating organ keys before ‘Callout FM’ follows with its rattling snares, twisted arpeggios, and crystalline pads.

Nearing the end, ‘Pilot’ is a stripped-back affair with sporadic kicks, a fuzzy bassline, and vocoder vocals until digital bonus track ‘Birds Of The Barbican’ ties everything together by generating an uplifting atmosphere destined to elevate revellers for many years to come.

"ATA Records" is pleased to announce the release of Early Works: Funk, Soul & Afro Rarities From The Archive, a compilation of tracks that were recorded at the very outset of the label and haven't been available since the initial limited run (Released as Funk, Soul & Afro Rarities: An Introduction To ATA Records on Here and Now Recordings) sold out 5 years ago.

Since 2013 label founders and musicians Neil Innes & Pete Williams have been tirelessly fulfilling their shared dream of making the records they weren't hearing. Having spent years working in various bands both players felt the desire to break free of the constraints of working within another band and started on the slow path to creative autonomy by starting to work on the 12 tracks presented on this compilation.While deliberating their next steps they were approached by Here & Now records who licensed the 12 tracks and released them under the titleFunk, Soul & Afro Rarities: An Introduction To ATA Recordsin 2014 as a limited run of 300 copies that sold out within weeks of release.

Now in 2020, celebrating their 5th year of running successfully as a label in their own right, ATA are re-releasing these 12 tracks on a new vinyl pressing under the titleEarly Works: Funk, Soul & Afro Rarities From The Archivewith new artwork and liner notes that detail the labels birth.

The compilation features 12 tracks that include the very first 3 tracks from The Sorcerers that led to their self-titled debut LP & the first proper release on ATA, as well as the first recordings by The Mandatory Eight and The Yorkshire Film and Television Orchestra.

Mix 1 (20:00)
1.1 Don Shelley– Dance To The Music 1:24
1.2 Lee Marrow– Cannibals (Baa-Bou - Baa-Bou) 0:37
1.3 Panorama – War In Love 0:37
1.4 Brian Auger– Night Train To Nowhere 0:54
1.5 Sylvi Foster– Hookey 0:39
1.6 Mike Cannon– Voices In The Dark 0:18
1.7 Steel Mind– Bad Passion 1:15
1.8 Brian Ice– Talking To The Night 0:39
1.9 Valerie Dore– The Night 0:58
1.10 M Basic– OK. Run 0:18
1.11 Mac Jr.– Elephant Song 0:26
1.12 Scotch– Disco Band 0:56
1.13 Koto– Japanese War Games 0:34
1.14 Miko Mission– How Old Are You? 0:51
1.15 Silver Pozzolli*– Around My Dream 0:36
1.16 Baby's Gang– Happy Song 0:17
1.17 Sky Creackers– You Should Be Dancing 0:12
1.18 Marzio Dance– You Can Do It 1:09
1.19 N.O.I.A.– True Love 0:28
1.20 Kano– I Need Love 0:25
1.21 N.O.I.A.– Stranger In A Strange Land 0:33
1.22 Miko Mission– The World Is You 0:45
1.23 Torrevado– Living In The Shuttle 0:35
1.24 Electric Mind– Can We Go 0:33
1.25 Kano– Another Life 0:34
1.26 Flexx – Love Theme From Flexxy-Ball (You´ll Never Change No More) 0:49
1.27 Duke Lake– Dance Tonight 0:26
1.28 Doctor's Cat– Feel The Drive 1:24
1.29 Cheaps– Moliendo Cafe 0:42


Mix 2 (20:00)
2.1 Koto– Visitors 0:05
2.2 Ken Laszlo– Tonight 0:23
2.3 Time– Shaker Shake 0:16
2.4 Diviacchi– Waiting For Heaven 0:33
2.5 Brand Image– Are You Loving? 0:38
2.6 Fred Ventura– The Years (Go By) 0:23
2.7 Koto– Jabdah 0:28
2.8 Capricorn – I Need Love 0:56
2.9 Duke Lake– Do You 0:37
2.10 Doctor's Cat– Watch Out! 1:13
2.11 J.D. Jaber– Don´t Stop Lovin´ 0:48
2.12 Marzio Dance– Rap-O-Hush 1:13
2.13 Tommy Bow– Dance Tonight 0:53
2.14 Ryan Paris– Dolce Vita 1:03
2.15 Stopp– I´m Hungry 0:24
2.16 Baby's Gang– Challenger 0:06
2.17 Charlie– Spacer Woman 0:21
2.18 Chris Luis– The Heart In The City 0:32
2.19 Fun Fun– Colour My Love 1:05
2.20 Stylóo– Pretty Face 1:11
2.21 Faxe– Time For Changes 0:34
2.22 Scotch– Money Runner 1:32
2.23 Nico Band– Let It Show 1:24
2.24 Baby's Gang– Jamin 1:03
2.25 Den Harrow– A Taste Of Love 1:24
2.26 Baby's Gang– My Little Japanese Boy 0:55

“The combined forces of Frederik Valentin & Loke Rahbek first found a way into the world in 2017 with the album 'Buy Corals Online'. Together they now present 'Elephant', an eight-track album that composes an inquisitive space with it's parts.

The economy of movement across Rahbek and Valentin's new collaborative album makes for a gentle transmission of its abstract intimacies. This presence, which we caught glimpses of on their previous work 'Buy Corals Online', is shaped by the delicate interplay between acoustic instrumentation and synthetically rendered sounds. Hauntingly melodic at times, the album feels like a suite of uncanny lullabies that grant access to realities that can only be found in dreams.

Rahbek and Valentin are always leading us somewhere and showing us something—one piece of the scene at a time, coming and going with different parts of a puzzle that eventually settles into a complete form. And through all this we perceive an inviting restlessness on their behalf, encouraging us to stray further and further into the private space of 'Elephant'. Valentin is perhaps best known for his work in the exquisite atypical pop group Kyo, though his widereaching music and videography practices covertly underpin his flagship projects.

Most recently, Valentin has been working with Yung Lean as both producer on his 'Nectar' album as Jonatan Leandoer127 as well as on their commission for Sweden's Cullberg Ballet. As Croatian Amor, Rahbek has made similar forays into unworldly pop and his work with Christian Stadsgaard as Damien Dubrovnik has been as critical as their cofounding of Posh Isolation.

Modest interventions from processed field-recordings and semi-erupting synths invite you to zoom in enough to hear the human hand. An attention to listening, to how sounds cradle the small movements and gestures that naturally accompany the playing of guitar, piano, and viola, is acutely developed by Rahbek and Valentin.

It's in this way that 'Elephant' persuades us that even small stories unfurl into the most intricate and tremendous of sagas"

Redshape – Whoever is behind the masked face, he always has something else to say. This guy simply understands sound. And here we get the standard Redshape treatment. A no-nonsense chugger, a cold kinda-subby-but-not baseline, a nod to the break and away we go. We take no prisoners.

Eduardo – Reminiscent of the golden days of Jam and Spoon, gas-masks and fluorescent nights, trance seems to be back in the house. And what can we say but welcome it back into our hearts, minds and onto our floors. And for that we have the mighty Spaniard, Eduardo De La Calle, to show is how it’s done. Trance 2.0.

Undo – Undo trying not to piss off old people even more after Hell and Italo Brutalo? Well, good luck with that one, cause we’re pissed off. Pissed off cause we want to be young again, dancing with the Elephants, having fun. Fuck it, age is only a number, no? Alors on danse!

XDB – The sweet purr, the glacial strings, the subaquatic, the wink to the greats. A chiller on a hazy morning. A gentle awakening.

2x12"

The first LP from Scorn since 2010’s Refuse; Start Fires, ​Cafe Mor ​is Mick Harris in his happy place. Which just happens to be in studio, demolishing all standards and rules for electronic bass music, and embodying the darkest, deepest sound in dub. ​Cafe Mor ​takes risks outside of the conventional Scorn apparatus, and with these risks come substantial rewards.

The album is comprised of powerful dub excursions, from the deep dark dank of the front two tracks Elephant and The Lower The Middle Our Bit, and gaining steam towards the ultraviolence of Mugwump Tea Room to Never Let It Be Said to the CRUSHING DEATH KICK of Who Are They Which One. A quick drive under the lights with a lasered out snare on Dulce, then we come across the appearance from ​Sleaford Mods ​frontman​, Jason Williamson,​ on the standout track on the LP, “Talk Whiff”. A cruise around the Midlands sighting the Broke Fridge and Tinder Surprise, with an instant classic refrain:

“Talk Whiff // I’m a busy person // I’ve had enough of it”
Cafe Mor culminates in the all-in-one dub affair SA70, letting rip all the new mixer and fx techniques of Harris’ most recent incarnation of Scorn. The album is the official soundtrack for all smoked out backroom deals, situations and arrangments, cancelling all small tours, and mongoose rhinocharging the bass to level 24.

All tracks Created and Mixed ​by MJ Harris in the Lad’s Old Room

B14 Mastered​ by Daniele Antezza for ​Dadub Mastering Studio

Artwork​, ​Layout ​by ​MachineTM

Yoshi Wada's Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile, originally released in 1982 on India Navigation, remains one of the most remarkable flowers to grow in the rarefied air of American minimalism – akin to Terry Riley's Reed Streams and Pauline Oliveros' Accordion & Voice, yet with a wild, liberated energy all of its own.

After graduating from Kyoto University of Fine Arts with a degree in sculpture, Wada moved to New York City in 1967 and quickly fell in with the community of artists known as Fluxus. In the early '70s, he began building his own instruments and writing musical compositions, studying with La Monte Young and Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath.

Recorded during an epic three-day session in an empty swimming pool in upstate New York, Wada's first album brings together two of the oldest drone instruments – the human voice and bagpipes – to simple and glorious effect. A visit to the Scottish Highlands spurred Wada's interest in bagpipes, which the composer integrated into these sparse, otherworldly sounds heard on Lament.

"That swimming pool was quite hallucinatory," recalls Wada. “It was another world. I felt it in terms of resonance. I slept in the pool, and whenever I moved, I woke up because of the reverberations.... The piece itself is an experiment with reeds and improvisational singing within the modal structure."

This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 750 numbered copies. Comes with poster.

Soul Jazz Records’ Nigeria Soul Power 70 album showcases the influence of funk, rock and disco on Nigerian music during the 1970s. Originally released as a now-long-out-of-print collectors’ 7” RSD box, this fully expanded album release now also includes extra tracks from Sonny Okosuns, Wings, Chief Kollington Ayinla and more. While for many people the fusion of funk and jazz music with Nigerian rhythms and aesthetics began with Fela Kuti and his afro-beat sound, in fact this can be traced further back to the phenomena of the 1960s Nigerian artists and house bands in nightclubs and hotels who interpreted US soul and pop music with a local flavour and none more so than Geraldo Pino, the ‘African James Brown’ who features heavily in this collection. Other similarly inspired Nigerian funk and soul artists featured here included Tony Grey and his Ozimba Messengers and Don Bruce and The Angels. Nigeria Soul Power 70 includes a number of tracks from the group Wings originally known as BAF (Biafran
Air Force) Wings, an army band formed during the Biafran civil war in Nigeria. The groups’ heavy mixture of funk, rock and African styles was popular among many Nigerian groups at the time.
Beneath the shadow of the few Nigerian artists who signed international recording deals in the 1970s – Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Chief Ebenezer Obey – lies of vast wealth of largely undiscovered musical transmutation and cultural cross-pollination, and included here are heavy afro-funk/rock and disco tracks
from artists such as the legendary Sonny Okosuns as well as rare cuts from little-known outside of Nigeria - groups such as Colomach and MFB. Most of these obscure artists signed to major labels in Nigeria in the commercial slipstream that opened up as Philips, Decca and EMI tried to emulate the international
success of the big three international Nigerian artists. Finally featured here is Kollington Ayinla, one of the co-founders of Nigerian Fuji music, who gives us perhaps the heaviest of all tracks on this album. Ayinla is the great moderniser of the Fuji sound and in the late 1970s began adding Bata drums and synthesizers to his authentic music to create a powerful and heavy new fusion of traditional and modernist aesthetics, embracing both new technology and experimentation while rooted firmly in Nigerian historical lineage. Nigeria Soul Power 70 is released as a heavyweight gatefold double vinyl LP (+ free download code),
deluxe slipcase CD and digital album.

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.

The album starts with 'St. Fabian Tower', named after the now demolished tower block in Chingford where Anthoney used to DJ for Rude FM. The track's lush detuned synths and syncopated drums are girded by stern low end frequencies. Drum and bass, jungle and hardcore are the touchstones here, but the forms he creates make no attempt to imitate the music of those eras. Take the rolling, bubbling, almost jazz-drummer patterns of 'Yeah, I Like It' and 'I Want You' where strange pops and bubbles seem to be forced through the grid almost like they're an effect of pressure. It's an odd juxtaposition next to the soulful vocals but an effective one. 'Edge Of Darkness' meanwhile, is an intense, rough ride of sliding rhythms and elephantine bass. Elsewhere, like on 'A New Consciousness', things are tempered into a more streamlined techno-like hybrid. He lets loose in the claps and kicks banger of 'Fi Di Gyal', but even here there are neat sonic tricks that sound like nods to minimalist composition.

On The Threshold is a balance of smart and energetic, non linear thoughtfulness and makeshift experimentalism that does away with boundaries, but is very much its own self contained world.

Always one to explore, Shipwrec have set sail and discovered a new isle of musical experimentation. Phainomena is a terrain for ambient introspection, dream-filled drone and stunning soundscapes. An old friend returns to the fold to inaugurate this venture, Julian Edwardes. Seven works of abstract immersion coalesce to create "Consonance." The Dutch artist journeys into far-flung realms and worlds, sweet silken synthlines and juddering noise being his transportation tools of choice. Off-centre echo and muted delay swirl in these audio planets. Mountains, oceans, unending skies are conjured as notes bulge, expand and disperse. Wildlife buzzes, chirps and trills in this land of sonic undulations, plants are given musical form with modulated ruffles as bleeps of cloud scud across an expanse of frequencies. An album of brilliant brightness, shifting shapes and unearthed undercurrents where expression is as ephemeral as it is eternal, a sentiment captured in Rob van Hoesel's sublime cover work.

It all started with words, and a project for an art book with a CD, acronym for Corps Diplomatiques as a tribute to a special diplomatic elephant called Abul Abbas. A few mundane terms, picked randomly, then coupled with frequencies chosen in a spontaneous way for their presupposed properties or synchronicities, whether in space, orbital rhythms, color spectrum, or electro-magnetic fields. Those free associations became the foundation for a written composition, the reprogramming of recordings of computer improvisations, and a dialogue with the visual elements of the book. It is also based on the deconstruction of the first LP I did and its reconstruction under the auspices of echoes of a joyful brouhaha from a dreamed speakeasy, including the true voices behind the charade. The freedom is given to the listener to connect the dots and name the tracks according to their own state of mind, mood or interpretation. All further informations are in the book !

Tone Series Remix Series Is Back At This Beginning Of The Year 2019!

On The Occasion Of Our 4th Release, We Welcome French Dj And Music Producer Djebali, Boss Of The Eponymous Label
( D J E B A L I ) And Co-owner Of Elephant Moon, As Well As Moroccan Artist Adil Hiani, One Of The Two Heads Behind Cosmo Records,
The First Moroccan Electronic Music Label. Whereas Djebali Proposes A Groovy And Swinging Tech-house Remix Of David K's Mind-blowing Featherhand (ts09), That Came Out In June 2016, Adil Hiani Delivers A Clear-cut And Thoughtful Interpretation Of David K's Sunny Hawaiian Jam (ts08),
That Oscillates Between Breakbeat And Dowtempo.