Buscar:the force

Out now for the first time on vinyl! The world first heard Pill on their self-titled cassette release on Dull Tools. And the world took note. Evan Minsker, writing for Pitchfork, says 'they are loose with form, they pack in a lot of ideas, and they successfully deliver an emotionally complex narrative where joy is accompanied by an impossible-to-ignore undercurrent of danger. The band's debut outing is enigmatic—a Dull Tools record through and through—but it's also well crafted, full of stellar performances and unflinching lyrics.'
The band then signed to Mexican Summer, releasing their debut LP. Shortly after, prolific in a way that has become a hall- mark of Dull Tools artists, they release another cassette, 2017's 'Agressive Advertising'. If one thought the self-titled cassette couldn't get more acerbic and confrontational, Agresstive Advertis- ing proved them wrong.
Now both releases are available on one LP. This LP is an important document of New York City's DIY scene and one of the best bands to emerge from it. Pill are an ever present force in NYC's scene. Playing small clubs like Baby's All Right, DIY spaces like Silent Barn and even the Museum of Modern Art. When the art and culture of New York is examined in, much in the way we examine culture from the past, you can bet that Pill will be a shining example of this moment in time.

Pianist McCoy Tyner was an acknowledged force of nature. On the aptly-named Expansions, Tyner fronts a remarkable band consisting of Woody Shaw on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Gary Bartz on alto saxophone, Ron Carter on cello, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Freddie Waits on drums. Stand-out tracks in a program of four Tyner originals and one standard include the timeless masterpiece “Peresina” and the immersive opening track “Vision.” Blue Note Records’ Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tapes, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe gatefold packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).

Limited Edition repress of Punch Drunk classic.

* Bristol music Godfather Rob Smith (Smith & Mighty) was a major force in the 1st wave Bristol Dubstep scene, not only as a huge musical influence on the likes of Pinch and Peverelist but also as a producer in his own right. This typically dubwise 12' is one of his best from that era, repressed for 2016.

Velour’s highly praised debut album on WOLF Music sees four of its standout tracks remixed from WOLF family old and new. Mainstays of the label Frits Wentink and Hulk Hodn join forces with new link ups, Footshooter and 20/10, for this crispy 10 inch.

First up to bat, German beatsmith Hulk Hodn fires up the MPC and chops ‘Tom’s Garage’ into a hazy, head nodder before South London’s Footshooter takes ‘Into The Blue’ through a synth heavy whirlwind of broken beat grooves.

On the flip, and fresh off the back of his Dekmantel release, Frits Wentink stamps his idiosyncratic expertise on ‘Pose’ for a walking bass bubbler. Closing out proceedings, Velour’s very own Vinzent Wirth, under the moniker 20/10, reworks ‘Luminate’ into a Detroit influenced, jazz tinged, sunset house gem.

The Spaces Between were formed out of creative studio sessions in the summer of 2020 and comprises of bona fide house legend Terry Farley, electronic music producer Wade Teo and renowned author and co-owner of Club Chi’ll Records, Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball. The idea for ‘Ghosts’ came from Terry’s idea to reference the Jazz greats who have gone to glory leaving behind their astonishing musical legacies. Within days of emailing a comprehensive list of jazz artists to Chicago House luminary and The It/ Jungle Wonz member, Harry Dennis, an answer with Harry’s sparse, haunting vocals was received. These were laid down over a bed of live instruments and electronic sounds and the combined talents of The Spaces Between created the compelling jacking jazz vibe of ‘Ghosts’.

Snowy ran the track past Jo Wallace at F*CLR Records – it was love at first listen. Jo suggested the track should be part of an EP with remixes from the newly reformed Black Science Orchestra. It was agreed and provided an ideal opportunity for Ashley to work with Terry once again, reinforcing the Junior Boy’s Own heritage.

The first incarnation of Black Science Orchestra began life in 1992 when Ashley Beedle joined forces with Rob Mello and their debut release, ‘Where were you’ exploded onto the global dance scene via the iconic UK house label JBO. Broken in the US by the Godfather of House, Frankie Knuckles, ‘Where were you’ entered into the hallowed halls of immortal dance music. Black Science Orchestra has become one of the most respected deep house acts of the 1990s, with the revered album ‘Walter's Room’ and the legendary genre crossing 'New Jersey Deep' track that is considered one of the top dance tracks of all time and rarely leaves discerning DJs' record boxes. Fast forward 29 years and original BSO founding fathers, Ashley and Rob decided that both they and the world needed the sound of Black Science Orchestra again and decided to reform, inviting long time musical and studio accomplice Darren Morris to join the collective now in its 6th incarnation!

When presented with the original version of ‘Ghosts’, Rob, Ashley and Darren loved it and all heard various ways it could be reworked in a true Black Science Orchestra way. Donning their pandemic production hats and remotely getting their feet back under the studio desk again, they worked together to create distinctly different remixes ranging from the deep, spacy electronic to the tough and psychedelic sleazy funk. With original BSO productions included on this EP, 'Ghosts' has helped square off the circle and the Black Science Orchestra conductors are back and mean dance floor business!

Fantas is the epic opening track on Caterina Barbieri’s acclaimed 2019 release Ecstatic Computation. The original Fantas laid out a magical path of patterns leading the listener on a journey into the sound itself. Fantas Variations maps out eight new potentials sprung from this initial path as constructed by a diverse mix of artists lending to a wide spectrum of new works extrapolated from the original work. For this project Barbieri invited friends and long time collaborators from a variety of musical backgrounds to create a more sustainable and inclusive landscape in terms of stylistic, geographical, gender and generational balance. The results are a diverse array of approaches and instrumentation which blur the boundaries between the acoustic and electronic.

Fantas Variations embraces a platform for mutual exchange and support between like-minded artists, where active and collective re-imagination is prioritised over the traditional model of remixes, which is often strategic, functional and more passive.

Longtime friend and collaborator Kali Malone rearranged Fantas to a slowed-down, austere and eerie version for two Organs. Evelyn Saylor created a piece for a vocal ensemble consisting of her, Lyra Pramuk, Stine Janvin and Annie Garlid, joining forces to express the choral, psychedelic and vitalistic nature of the piece. Barbieri’s former guitar professor at the Conservatory in Bologna, Walter Zanetti, composes Fantas for electric guitar, by translating every single gesture of the original electronic piece into a personal, nuanced and detailed interpretation. Bendik Giske’s reinterpretation for Saxophone and Voice captures the atmospheric essence of Fantas and its psychic meteorology. Longtime collaborator and along with Barbieri the other half of the outfit Punctum, Carlo Maria, resynthesizes Fantas for TR808 and MC202, bringing a more club-oriented dimension of the piece to life whilst unveiling the sonic continuum between rhythm and pitch through a sensitive timbral approach. Jay Mitta’s Singeli reinterpretation of Fantas transpires with pitched-up percussion and turbo-fast polyrhythmic patterns unleashing the frenetic, shifting, transformative matter within the piece to a higher plain of euphoric dance. Baseck’s variation is a rave fantasia, where the prismatic trance of the original is channeled into fierce, uncompromising hardcore, whilst Kara-Lis Coverdale’s take is a phantasmagoria for piano that gently, yet inexorably, captures the relentlessness chimerical qualities of the original, unveiling its spectral backbone.

Evelyn Saylor (feat. Lyra Pramuk, Annie Garlid & Stine Janvin) - Fantas Variation for Voices (7’38’’)
Composed by Evelyn Saylor. Performed by Evelyn Saylor, Lyra Pramuk, Stine Janvin and Annie Garlid. Recording, mix and additional production by Bridget Ferrill at Real Surreal Studio, Berlin 2021.

Bendik Giske - Fantas for Saxophone and Voice (7'31'')
Adapted and performed by Bendik Giske. Recorded, mixed, and produced by Bendik Giske in Funkhaus, Berlin 2020.

Kali Malone - Fantas for two Organs (10'21'')
Arranged for The Utopa Baroque Organ, The Sauer Organ and tuned sine waves. Recorded by Benny Nilsen at Orgelpark, Amsterdam 2020.

Walter Zanetti - Fantas for Electric Guitar (7'27'')
Recorded by Walter Zanetti, Bologna 2020.

Jay Mitta - Singeli Fantas (12'03'')
Recorded by Jay Mitta in Sisso Studios, Dar Es Salaam 2020.

Baseck - Fantas Hardcore (4'44'')
Mixed by Anthony Baldino, Los Angeles 2020.

Carlo Maria - Fantas resynthesized for 808 and 202 (4'29'')
Recorded by Carlo Maria, Milano 2020.

Kara-Lis Coverdale - Fantas Morbida (3'04'')
Performed, recorded and mixed at The Shop in Valens, Ontario by Kara-Lis Coverdale, January 2021. Engineering assistance from Robert Coverdale and Adam Feingold.

Analog Africa Presents Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1, available on
2xLP/Gatefold LP with 20-page booklet / CD with 36-page booklet. It was
in Benin City, in the heart of Nigeria, that a new hybrid of intoxicating
highlife music known as Edo Funk was born.
It first emerged in the late 1970s when a group of musicians began to experiment with different ways of integrating elements from their native Edo culture
and fusing them with new sound effects coming from West Africa s night-clubs.
Unlike the rather polished 1980 s Nigerian disco productions coming out of the
international metropolis of Lagos Edo Funk was raw and reduced to its bare
minimum.
Someone was needed to channel this energy into a distinctive sound and Sir
Victor Uwaifo appeared like a mad professor with his Joromi studio. Uwaifo
took the skeletal structure of Edo music and relentless began fusing them with
synthesizers, electric guitars and 80 s effect racks which resulted in some of the
most outstanding Edo recordings ever made. An explosive spiced up brew with
an odd psychedelic note known as Edo Funk.
That’s the sound you’ll be discovering in the first volume of the Edo Funk Explosion series which focusses on the genre’s greatest originators; Osayomore
Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo: Osayomore Joseph was one of the
first musicians to bring the sound of the flute into the horn-dominated world
of highlife, and his skills as a performer made him a fixture on the Lagos scene.
When he returned to settle in Benin City in the mid 1970s - at the invitation of
the royal family - he devoted himself to the modernisation and electrification
of Edo music, using funk and Afro-beat as the building blocks for songs that
weren’t afraid to call out government corruption or confront the dark legacy of
Nigeria’s colonial past.
Akaba Man was the philosopher king of Edo funk. Less overtly political than Osayomore Joseph and less psychedelic than Victor Uwaifo, he found the perfect
medium for his message in the trance-like grooves of Edo funk. With pulsating
rhythms awash in cosmic synth-fields and lyrics that express a deep personal
vision, he found great success at the dawn of the 1980s as one of Benin City’s
most persuasive ambassadors of funky highlife.
Victor Uwaifo was already a star in Nigeria when he built the legendary Joromi
studios in his hometown of Benin City in 1978. Using his unique guitar style as
the mediating force between West-African highlife and the traditional rhythms
and melodies of Edo music, he had scored several hits in the early seventies,
but once he had his own sixteen-track facility he was able to pursue his obsession with the synesthetic possibilities of pure sound, adding squelchy synths,
swirling organs and studio effects to hypnotic basslines and raw grooves. Between his own records and his production for other musicians, he quickly established himself as the godfather of Edo funk.
What unites these diverse musicians is their ability to strip funk down to its
primal essence and use it as the foundation for their own excursions inward to
the heart of Edo culture and outward to the furthest limits of sonic alchemy.
The twelve tracks on Edo Funk Explosion Volume 1 pulse with raw inspiration,
mixing highlife horns, driving rhythms, day-glo keyboards and tripped-out guitars into a funk experience unlike any other.

Snapped Ankles return to the forest, but it's not as they left it. Trees planted in neat rows. A well-ordered monoculture with access roads and heavy machinery. The smell of greenwashed money in the air. There's no sign of the ancient woodland they emerged from on debut album, Come Play The Trees. And it's far cry from the gentrified East London they found themselves hawking on Stunning Luxury. All is not well in the face of progress. Welcome to the Forest Of Your Problems. Even among the famously close-knit woodwose community there are factions forming. Meet The Business Imp, The Cornucopian, The Nemophile and The Protester. Each with their own motivations and belief systems. Their own sense of injustice: contradictions, anxieties and guilt. There are woodwose who have risen to the top in the boom and bust world of real estate and hedge funds. Grab what you can before the next crash. Others find euphoria in the absolute conviction that wealth and technology will see us through this. There are those with their recycling in order, who are well-versed in the prospect of imminent ecological and economic collapse, burying themselves in vegan cookery and extensive international holiday itineraries. And there's an increasing number angry at the state of the world, ready to take to the streets and the trees in an attempt to force real change. Forest Of Your Problems runs the gamut of modern woodwose emotions. In this neat human approximation of the forest, it's an increasingly knotted affair. Despite all of this, Snapped Ankles haven't lost their innate ability to make you want to move your feet - their Teutonic forest rhythms are still shot through with post-punk lightning. Whether they're exploring those opportunities which might arise when a Nigerian prince emails out of the blue on 'The Evidence', or referencing the crooked woodwose attempting to go straight on 'Rhythm Is Our Business', this is music to lose your inhibitions to. The moments of pure elation on 'Shifting Basslines Of The Cornucopians' are worth the admission price alone - "It's a great time to be alive!" ...apparently. Snapped Ankles outsider status has always allowed them to hold a mirror up to society. Now the boundaries are not so clear. In the four years since Come Play The Trees was released, their cult has flourished. Previous album Stunning Luxury saw the band invited to play the BBC 6 Music Festival and a KEXP session on the back of a sold-out UK tour which culminated with two nights at Village Underground in London. As those who have witnessed the shamanic ritual of their live shows will attest, they are a truly unique, communal experience. Forest Of Your Problems will see the woodwose bring their ancient forest rhythms and high-wire, multi-media live act to ever bigger stages - including Camden's iconic Roundhouse in October.

Up to kick off 2021 in the most adequately frenzied, thoroughly corrosive fashion, DDS04 serves up a quintet of chrome-tanned, hi-velocity beats courtesy of Italian hardware fetishist Anna Funk Damage (previously heard on the likes of Mind Records, Lux Rec, Lazy Tapes and more) and Austrian-Hungarian outfit Dutch Courage - alias Superskin & Új Bála - each of whom step up to the plate to deliver an exquisitely ear-wormy slice of their deranged industrial gospel.

A-side starts off to the sound of AFD's hard bouncin' "48 Hours Death" - a raw-cooked deluge of head-reducing EBM grit, flaring binary signals and Giallo-infused arpeggios out a blood-stained Suspirian tale. Fear for the deadly scalp hunters lurking in the club's darkest nooks, they've just sniffed out your trail.

Brutal churner "Youssef" picks up the torch and pulls out the quake-inducing breaks without further ado, dressed out with languorous Orientalistic melodies and steely distortions tailored to bend mind by the dozens. Forged in the furnace, the full-out punk-minded "I Come From Fire" rounds off the side on a drum and bass-heavy note, drawing as much from 60s psych-garage as it does from 80s deconstructionist tape music.

Flip sides and here's Budapest unit Dutch Courage taking the reins with the off-kilter treat "Hand Of The Sword" - navigating a weird zone of its own, floating astride post-apocalyptic Bristol bass, sliced-and-diced abstraction and overly textured yet equally bone-bruising riddims.

Wrapping up the journey with both force and serenity, "Neo-Soulmates" follows a similar path with its warped synth flexions and raucous machine cries making the rounds from one end of the spectrum to the other effortlessly, merging to give birth to something genetically contrasting from any contemporary. A most fitting finale to an EP that celebrates and encourages sonic bizarro in all its forms and manifestations.

To celebrate 20 years of the record label Jamaican Recordings,Jah Floyd has cut a track telling the story of its beginnings and the people involved. The initial meeting of legendary Reggae producer Bunny `Striker’ Lee in Jamaica and the various artists that became part of the labels catalogue. Such greats as Tapper Zukie, Niney The Obsever, Black Solidarity producer Ossie Thomas. Artists and Producers who music helped define the labels sound. A great collection of releases for all involved alongside its other label Kingston Sounds.

What would have been the labels 20th year and Bunny Lee’s 80th birthday celebrations have sadly been curtailed by the sad passing of Mr Lee in late 2020.

But makes this 500 only 7’’ all the more poignant and comes with a dub version as its B-Side,which for the Reggae label Jamaican Recordings the dub versions was its driving force.
As the track says in its lyrics… `Hope you enjoy the ride respect… Jah Floyd’.

crystal blue vinyl

South London based producer Lxury is a subtle experimentalist, pairing house rhythms with eclectic genre blending and risk-taking. Returning to Shall Not Fade's Lost Palms series for a second record, Smart Digital Life EP shows the maturity and complexity of his production while keeping the energy light and summery.

"1722" opens things up with dreamlike pitched vocals that provide a vaporwave feel, hypnotizing over stuttering synths and a wonky beat. "Spin" has an experimental sound palette, a euphoric pulse and a sweet melody, dance music doused in honey.

This sweetness spills over onto the B side; "Pad Ma" sounds like a pumping club track meets a trip to the fairground - unstoppably buoyant and headsy. The vocals in "When I Wake Up" spin around your head before a muscular beat kicks in, the most stripped back and raw sounding of the record. This one is certain to get heads down and feet moving. "Up High" is an expansive closing track, built around fuzzy drums as the clever use of vocal samples creates a melody with a loved-up feeling; it's a tour-de-force of Lxury's delicate production skills.

Nimbus West spirit jazz essential: the Creative Arts Ensemble's classic debut One Step Out. One of the most sought after and highly-regarded titles to have appeared on Tom Albach's celebrated Nimbus West imprint, One Step Out is a timeless work of spiritualized jazz. A true gem from the Los Angeles jazz underground, the album was pianist and composer Kaeef Ruzadun Ali's first recording as leader of the Creative Arts Ensemble, the only large ensemble group that emerged directly from Horace Tapscott's legendary Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra community jazz group. A Los Angeles native, Kaeef was introduced to the Tapscott circle in the late 1970s. His first experience of the Arkestra's ethos was through PAPA tenorist Michael Session, who took him to the famous "Great House" at 2412 South Western Ave., LA -- a large mansion house which members of the Arkestra had taken over as a space for communal living. Life in the Great House was a continuous stream of music, dance and community events. "When I walked in there," recalled Kaeef, "it was like this whole rush came over me, just from going in the front door -- It was like a very, very warm feeling of love. I went and I came out with 'Flashback Of Time', and that was my first arrangement." Kaeef quickly became a significant contributor of compositions to the Arkestra's songbook -- his piece "New Horizon" would be recorded by Horace Tapscott for the latter's Tapscott Sessions series. But "Flashback Of Time" would eventually appear on One Step Out, played by the new group he had put together from stalwart Arkestra members. Inspired by both Tapscott's example and by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kaeef had wanted to follow their lead by assembling a larger unit. Featuring seasoned Arkestra regulars including reedsman Dadisi Komolafe, drummer Woody "Sonship" Theus and altoist Gary Bias, with veterans Henry "The Skipper" Franklin on bass and George Bohannon on trombone, One Step Out is a key document of the Los Angeles radical jazz underground. Featuring the sanctified vocals of Kaeef's sister, B. J. Crowley, the album is a tour de force of spiritually energized independent jazz music.

A GROOVY SELECTION IN THREE ORIGINAL VINYLS TO DISCOVER THE GOLD NUGGETS OF FUNK, SOUL & HIP-HOP ! Selection by the journalist Olivier Cachin and illustrations by the artist LAZOO.

The triple threat production force of Holland-Dozier-Holland put their special touch on Freda Payne - The Unhooked Generation for Invictus back in 1969. Much loved in the sampling world for its killer guitar hook intro, most famously used in JVC Force - Strong Island, this Tom Moulton remix has never been pressed as a single before.

For his third full-length album, Jacques Renault explores his craft through the format of the classic late-night radio megamix. It's a tour de force that finds him blending his quick-cutting DJ sensibilities with his crate-digging, drum-chopping disco-chemist bonafides into one wham-bam party of pastiche. This is Renault as we know him—but at hyperspeed, tearing through twenty- three tracks in under half an hour. And while it's a head rush of his trademark funky drums, sassy horns, playful synths, it's arranged as an album, with songwriting and structure at the fore. Imagine it as a flip on the script for Renault's most loved club 12-inches of the past, which luxuriate in long-form, stretched-out grooves that burn for hours, fills that ride for days. Instead of on pulling a thread for six, seven minutes, he romps around in a bouncy ball pit, plucking out whatever captures his imagination for a moment, then diving back in to discover another buried
nugget. It's Jacques Renault as we've always known him, but this time through a suite of bite-size vignettes instead of slow-burn grooves.

Kojaque follows his critically acclaimed cult concept record, ‘Deli Daydreams’, with an
expansive, urgent debut album. In this landmark debut, Kojaque mines both his
emotional interior as an artist, and the external forces of a love triangle barrelling
towards chaos. ‘Town’s Dead’ is a mind-bending, explosive and expansive trip,
documenting a tumultuous love triangle that unfolds across New Year’s Eve in a
place where gentrification poses as much a threat as the violence of street dealers.
Sonically, the record smashes any previous expectations, stretching an aural palate
that leaps from rage to solace, from clattering musical combustions to tender
ruminations. The tremendous scope and scale of ‘Town’s Dead’ demonstrates an
artist utterly untethered to assumptions about what a particular voice or genre should
be, and instead explores radical musical territory. Dark corners of parks, bedrooms,
clubs, streets and psyches are excavated and pouring over the rubble is an artist
who refuses to conform, unafraid of the vulnerabilities that are exposed when the
voice rings true, because there’s just no point in being anything else.
Kojaque is part of a new wave of Irish artists flooding the world with blistering and
sophisticated literature, film and music - ideas and work that emerged from a social
revolution stonewalled by late-stage capitalism. Welcome to that state of mind, where
the path less travelled is the only one worth taking.
On the announcement of his debut album Kojaque has said: “‘Town’s Dead’ comes
from the potential that I see in Dublin and in the people I’m surrounded by day in and
day out. There’s nothing but talent and ambition among young people, I’m constantly
reminded of that through the art and music that I see being made but I think so often
the city grinds you down, it takes your hope and your ambition. I know that it can
change because so many of my friends express the exact same wants, desires and
frustrations with living in Ireland. If so many of us are on the same page then I know
that things can change, there just needs to be some sort of catalyst to kick start that
change and for me that’s always been art and music. Time and time again, amazing
art continues to be made in spite of the struggles and setbacks that are presented
when living here. The title track and the album is a fight against what can sometimes
feel inevitable, it’s a rejection of what people tell you is your destiny as a young
person in the city, Town’s NOT dead it’s just Dormant.”
CD housed in digisleeve containing 12-page lyric and photo booklet.
Black double vinyl housed in 5mm wide spine single sleeve with 12-page lyric and
photo booklet.
“Hints of Odd Future and its offspring... Kojaque is not your average rapper” - i-D
“Dublin’s hip-hop community are making waves right now... an intimate introduction
to the world this bold artist inhabits” - Clash
“Social realist rhymes set to silky hip-hop” - NME
“Likeable and funny” - Trench
“The Dublin MC forcing us to face real life; both the gory and the glory” - Wonderland
“Ireland’s freshest hip-hop hope, Kojaque, serves ‘soft hip hop’ with a side order of
poetry and performance art” - Notion

Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and producer Tilian releases his brand-new full-length album, Factory Reset, via Rise Records:
Earlier this week, he shared his latest single “Caught in the Carousel” along with a new visualizer. They psychedelic visual emulates the introspective and thought-provoking lyrics of the song, “Am I good enough?”

Factory Reset is both highly personal and wholly universal. Tilian began writing the album just a few weeks after the pandemic forced California into lockdown. “I was searching for meaning in isolation and found it in creating this album,” Tilian shares about the process. He decided to write, record, and produce the album himself, eventually remotely bringing in drummer/frequent collaborator Kris Crummett to help button it up.

Having full creative control allowed Tilian to experiment more than ever, and truly be himself in the process. “I wanted to make the album that I want to hear. ‘What would be my favorite band?’ as opposed to, ‘What is everyone’s favorite band?’” This resulted in his most thrillingly eclectic work to date: a falsetto-laced brand of alt-pop that spans everything from trippy psychedelia and heavy prog riffs to warped hip-hop beats and dembow grooves.

Recently, Tilian released two other singles from the album – “Anthem” and “Dose.” These were first offerings since the release of his 2018 album The Skeptic, which debuted on the Billboard charts at #1 Alternative New Artist, #2 Top New Artists, and #5 Alternative. To date, the project has garnered over 40M global streams and two music videos with over 1M views each, proving the excitement and potential for the burgeoning alt-pop artist. More recently, he collaborated with Marigolds+Monsters and Travis Barker on the exciting single “Falling out of Rhythm.”

Imperium Droop brings two mavericks of sweeping exploration together into new avenues of musical expression. Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner explore a liminal space between improvisation and composition, a fluid yet defined sound-space, founded on the unique chemistry of their friendship and pushing into the future. Kid Millions stands as one of the most sought after drummers and improvisers in NYC, known for his work as the drummer for Oneida, his expansive solo work as Man Forever, as well as collaborations and performances with the likes of Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Royal Trux, Boredoms, White Hills, and Spiritualized. Regardless of who he's working with Kid Millions radically redefines the drums as an instrument. Jan St. Werner has consistently remained at the vanguard of electronic music. In his work as one half of the visionary duo Mouse On Mars, as well as his acclaimed solo work both as a composer and sound artist, and in collaborations with The Fall's Mark E Smith, Oval's Markus Popp, Stereolab, and The National St. Werner constantly pushes the limits of recorded sound. Together, Millions and Werner have crafted a monument of unpredictable beauty built on breathless forays into the unknown. Werner's application of a seemingly infinite arsenal of textures unleashes colorful swaths of energy. Mats Gustaffson joins Werner on the maximalist "Color Bagpipes," unleashing torrents of swiveling melody and breathy clicks over the exponential thunder of Millions' drum kit. Pieces like "Dark Tetrad" and "Astral Stare" demonstrate the duo's mastery of space and surprise. Dark flutters flow in slow pulses across "Apotropaic" where erratic swirls of sound twist and mutate on "Sorrows and Compensations," unified as a single force by the overwhelming diversity of sounds. Millions' drums effortlessly rides each wave of Werner's prismatic deluges and channels their energy into dynamic movements. Through his singular prowess, Millions' tireless rhythms and subtle gestures mirror Werner's boundless textural palette and drive each piece towards transcendence. On Imperium Droop, Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner have combined their powers into an incomparable work of gripping and intrepid sonic fluctuations.

Death Waltz Recording Co., in partnership with Milan Records, A24, and Stage 6 Films, is proud to present the soundtrack to Saint Maud.



The score by Adam Janota Bzowski is a stand-alone work of genius, it’s minimal, restrained, claustrophobic, and unrelenting. Its minimalist approach allows Bzowski to fully explore sound design and ambient drones while still creating a mesmerizing soundtrack album full of gorgeous themes. A masterpiece.

A24’s SAINT MAUD, by director Rose Glass, is an absolute tour de force. One of the best horror films of the last ten years, it’s genuinely chilling and scary. It deserves your time, continuing the winning streak from A24 started with The Lighthouse, Midsommar, and Hereditary.

Tape

Recorded during two days of extreme weather, ELEH's Snoweight conveys the mesmerizing force of a winter storm with sonic realism and romanticism. These two new compositions evoke both warm security and wild, blanketing intensity in ways that are both emotionally arresting and time stopping.