Cerca:the makers

Music and Poetry of the Kesh is the documentation of an invented Pacific Coast peoples from a far distant time, and the soundtrack of famed science fiction author, Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home In the novel, the story of Stone Telling, a young woman of the Kesh, is woven within a larger anthropological folklore and fantasy. The ways of the Kesh were originally presented in 1985 as a five hundred plus page book accompanied with illustrations of instruments and tools, maps, a glossary of terms, recipes, poems, an alphabet (Le Guin's conlang, so she could write non-English lyrics), and with early editions, a cassette of field recordings' and indigenous song. Le Guin wanted to hear the people she'd imagined, she embarked on an elaborate process with her friend Todd Barton to invoke their spirit and tradition.

For Music and Poetry of the Kesh, the words and lyrics are attributed to Le Guin as composed by Barton, an Oregon-based musician, composer and Buchla synthesist (the two worked together previously on public radio projects). But the cassette notes credit the sounds and voices to the world of the Kesh, making origins ambiguous. For instance, The River Song' description reads, The prominent rhythm instrument is the doubure binga, a set of nine brass bowls struck with cloth-covered wooden mallets, here played by Ready.' According to writer and long-time friend of LeGuin, Moe Bowstern (who pens the liners for the Freedom To Spend edition of Kesh), Barton built and then taught himself to play several instruments of Le Guin's design, among them the seven-foot horn known to the Kesh as the Houmbúta and the Wéosai Medoud Teyahi bone flute.' Barton's crafting of original instruments lends an other-worldly texture to the recordings of the Kesh, not unlike fellow builders Bobby Brown and Lonnie Holley. Bowstern notes, Other musician / makers have crafted their own Kesh instruments after encountering the earlier cassette recordings that accompanied some editions of the book.' Both Barton and Le Guin are sensitive to the sovereignty of indigenous Californians and were careful not to trample the traditions of the Tolowa people who lived in the valley long before the Kesh. You research deeply, and then you bring your own voice to the table,' said Barton. Within the Kesh culture, the numbers four and five shape the lives, society and rituals. Barton composed loosely around these numbers, patiently listening to the land of Napa Valley for signs and audio signals from the natural elements. Todd incorporated ambient sounds of the creek by Le Guin's house and a campfire they built together. The songs of Kesh are joyful, soothing and meditative, while the instrumental works drift far past the imaginary lands. Heron Dance' is an uplifting first track, featuring a Wéosai Medoud Teyahi (made from a deer or lamb thigh bone with a cattail reed) and the great Houmbúta (used for theatre and ceremony). A Music of the Eighth House' sends gossamer waves of the faintest sounds to float on the wind.' Like the languages invented in the vocal work of Anna Homler, Meredith Monk, and Elizabeth Fraser, the Kesh songs and poems play with the shape of voice.

The Music and Poetry of the Kesh cassette was meant to accompany and enhance the experience of reading Always Coming Home. Presented in this edition as a long-playing album, where only traces of the book linger (the jacket offers some of Le Guin's illustration, and a letterpressed bookmark featuring the the narrative modes of western civilization and the Kesh valley is included), the music alone breaking the silence of what might be. It can transport—offering a landscape for imagining a future homecoming. One in which we are balanced, peaceful, and tend to the earth and its creatures. A line from the Sun Dance poem reminds us, We are nothing much without one another.' Freedom To Spend gives new life to the recordings of the Kesh people in the first ever vinyl edition of Music and Poetry of the Kesh, out on LP, and digital formats on March 23, 2018. The LP will include a deluxe spot printed jacket with illustrations from Always Coming Home, a facsimile of the original lyric sheet, liner notes by Moe Bowstern, multi-format digital download code and a limited edition bookmark letter pressed by Stumptown Printers in Portland, OR.

This past Monday, January 22, Ursula passed from this realm to another leaving a life spent building and exploring other worlds while challenging social concepts of the real word she inhabited.

Freedom To Spend had been working under Ursula's enthusiastic endorsement and with Todd Barton, her musical collaborator on Kesh, to give the music that accompanied her 1985 epoch a new life. With the Le Guin family's encouragement to move forward with our planned release, we are humbled to play this small role in sharing Ursula's work.

As Pete Swanson, one third of Freedom To Spend, stated, Ursula's legacy is her work which transformed the world, and this is another piece of the universe that her imagination birthed becoming real.' Listen to A Teaching Poem / Heron Dance' below.

It's the big 5! Berlin - Frankfurt based label House Is OK is celebrating its five-year long presence and has decided to mark that period with something special Label's story started with a sticker Homeboy printed in his former hometown, Zagreb, saying House Is OK'. Catchy, right It became an underground slogan of the local scene. It didn't take long for people to embrace the idea stating that it's OK to be into melodic, fresh, groovy yet, at times, a bit awkward dance music.
Just around the same time Homeboy's Frankfurt based bro's Oliver Achatz and Janis played with the idea of starting a record label. Guess what the logical choice for the name was
Ten records, dozens of original songs and remixes later House is OK continues to grow.
Literally. What was once a platform for the original three founders is now an international family affair supporting the talented artists from Frankfurt, Stockholm, Alexandria and Orlando. Nurturing the friendly approach this musical family continues to grow.
Looking back at the first five years, not only at the music that connected them all but at the bonds that deepened through the production process, House is OK crew wanted to take
create a proper reminder and thank the ones supporting them throughout the years. A double 12' pack titled Gemišt' seemed like a proper way to do that.
- Gemišt will be released as two separate EPs featuring the original music from Kornél Kovacs, Roman Flügel, Gavri & McQueen, TCB, House Of Life and the label makers themselves. Oliver and Janis deliver tracks under their known names, while Homeboy
introduces his new project with fellow Wilde Renate resident The Swift, called Longhair.
Croatian artist Ugruv Smek marks his yearlong collaboration with the label delivering yet another smashing artwork.
Mark the upcoming February when Gemišt part I' is to be released and while you're at it, move on to March just so you don't miss the Gemišt part II' release. And yeah, in case you're wondering - of course it's both 12' EP release and in digital format. House is OK's got you covered.

Deadly styles we've got many, deadly vibes we've got plenty...
45 Live is proud to welcome the new record 'Ready', a masterclass to mash up yer dance from club dub doyens The Nextmen, featuring badass Bristol babe Eva Lazarus (Mungo's HiFi/Gentlemen's Dub Club), the goddess with the golden pipes.
'Ready' is a sweet slice of dancehall that feels tightly sprung, with songbird Eva Lazarus rolling on the rhythms' rise from sweaty and soulful to saucy, priapic pop. You will want to wiggle. This joint feels infectious.
Much loved music makers The Nextmen have been busy twiddling knobs and working wires purely for people's pleasure over two decades deep, having worked with everyone from Public Enemy, Wilkinson, The Pharcyde, Ms Dynamite, Groove Armada, Plan B, Chali 2na, Tippa Irie, Cutty Ranks and a million more.
Good. Grooves.
Crate diggers quickly quickly, make it snappy to make Daddy happy, this limited edition 45 release is exclusively vinyl only.
Pressed loud on 45.
'Ready'. The whole room knows it's on...

It's the big 5! Berlin - Frankfurt based label House Is OK is celebrating its five-year long presence and has decided to mark that period with something special Label's story started with a sticker Homeboy printed in his former hometown, Zagreb, saying 'House Is OK'. Catchy, right It became an underground slogan of the local scene. It didn't take long for people to embrace the idea stating that it's OK to be into melodic, fresh, groovy yet, at times, a bit awkward dance music. Just around the same time Homeboy's Frankfurt based bro's Oliver Achatz and Janis played with the idea of starting a record label. Guess what the logical choice for the name was Ten records, dozens of original songs and remixes later House is OK continues to grow. Literally. What was once a platform for the original three founders is now an international family affair supporting the talented artists from Frankfurt, Stockholm, Alexandria and Orlando. Nurturing the friendly approach this musical family continues to grow. Looking back at the first five years, not only at the music that connected them all but at the bonds that deepened through the production process, House is OK crew wanted to take create a proper reminder and thank the ones supporting them throughout the years. A double 12' pack titled 'Gemišt' seemed like a proper way to do that. - Gemišt' will be released as two separate EPs featuring the original music from Kornél Kovacs, Roman Flügel, Gavri & McQueen, TCB, House Of Life and the label makers themselves. Oliver and Janis deliver tracks under their known names, while Homeboy introduces his new project with fellow Wilde Renate resident The Swift, called Longhair. Croatian artist Ugruv Smek marks his yearlong collaboration with the label delivering yet another smashing artwork.

Hot on the heels of the critically acclaimed 2017 LP Windswept - which soundtracked David Lynch's Twin Peaks, Digital Rain is Johnny Jewel's latest album. Jewel is known for his extensive collaborations with film makers David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Ryan Gosling, as well as for his work with groundbreaking musical groups such as Chromatics, Glass Candy, and Desire.

The 19 movements of Digital Rain are three dimensional beds of analogue warmth encompassed in raw electronic moisture. The result is an expansive pallet of soft color amid canyons of jagged oscillations. According to Jewel, "Digital Rain is a mirror image of itself designed to play as a singular liquid movement."

"After living a few years in a desert climate, I realized I was nostalgic for the constant presence of precipitation from every city I once called home. The sound of hail ricocheting off my roof in Houston...The floods crashing in from the Gulf of Mexico that would destroy my mother's house three times...The constant kiss of drizzle on the streets of Portland, and the morning rain against the windshield of Trimet city bus number 15 that I would ride home after recording all night...The snow buried row houses of Montreal where my daughter was born, and the rhythmic feel of ice cracking under my boots for six months straight."

"The desert is constant, and I love this repetitious ritual of Los Angeles so much. As moisture and humid weather seem more and more like a dream I once had or a fading memory of the places I fell in love with...I wanted to make a record without drums, without lyrics, vague in form. Each track morphing and eclipsing the next like the ever-changing movement of clouds obscuring the moon."

Cut By The Legendary Bernie Grundman In Hollywood. Recorded in Joshua Tree / Mixed in Los Angeles.

"Good Morning Midnight" is the second studio album of French MC Biga*Ranx. Driven by the unstoppable flow of the artist, this album drags us into his special universe navigating between Reggae Digital, Hip Hop and Bass Music. As he says so well, Biga*Ranx wanted to "invent his own music". This album has 20 surprising songs from the artistic melting pot of Biga*Ranx. The proof is with the title Cumbia "Buck A Shot" which transports us directly to Colombia, or "Bad To The Bone" with Reggae-Trap influences. However the Reggae soul is still present on the entire record, as evidenced by "Boogie Man Skank" or "Confession". For the composition he used different talented beat-makers like the English of Vibronics or the Danish producers of Maffi. The French scene is also well represented by Manudigital, Tom Fire, Atili Bandalero or Barbés.D. Biga*Ranx loves to sing life simply, always in a personal approach. He approaches the themes of his generation by adding a touch of positivism and fighting spirit, approaching the original message of reggae.

Following Stil & Bense`s glorious debut release - Mr. Pink' on Perlekind Records in 2016 - it came with great pleasure for the label makers Romeofoxtrott to team up & compose this fine 4-track split EP. - Bergauf / Bergab' kicks off with 2 deep, melodic and playful original tracks joined by 2 drivingly blasting remixes - indeed will be available in digital and vinyl.

First Word Records are very proud to present a heavyweight EP in collaboration with seminal groove collective, CoOp: 'Selectors Assemble'.

It's been almost two decades since a bunch of music makers, bored of the genre constraints of their time, began toying with time signature and syncopation to birth what is now known as broken beat. Summer 2017, the 'Selectors Assemble' EP is in our laps and we have a fitting reminder and long-overdue renaissance of one of London's most valuable musical movements.

IG Culture and Alex Phountzi were integral to this movement, the focal point being the CoOp club night, which ran predominantly on the famed floors of Plastic People, up until 2007. CoOp remerged late in 2015 as a Boiler Room session, in which the originators linked effortlessly with new school players such as K15 and Alex Nut. The following day, a session was inspired between an assortment of artists, and the seeds were planted for the 'Selectors Assemble'.

Here we have the first offering. The steady-paced roller of 'Gangz' (IG & Seiji), the dutty wine-ready getdown of Henry Wu's 'Substance', the heads-down low-end theory of '2nd Intention', the dominant soundclash call-out of the 'Spartan Riddim', riding out with the garage-flecked jam 'Can't Hold It', also featuring Sonar's Ghost (Domu). Five tracks deeply rooted in groove and as beautifully diverse as Bruk ever was.

Pressed up lovingly onto 140g vinyl, this release is accompanied with a fully-printed insert, featuring an extensive piece on the history of Bruk, written by Andwot (Touching Bass), classic photography by Sarah Ginn, and full-colour artwork by Mitchy Bwoy, a legendary artist to the original scene in his own right. This is an essential artefact for followers of the sound, new and old.

First Word prides itself on its ethos of musical diversity, and we're ecstatic to welcome aboard the CoOp foundation to the stable. A crew of British dance music pioneers, sound-system legends, and now-school heavyweights, this is but a taste of what's to come. Lead by the don IG Culture, the family spirit has quickly formed, the selectors have assembled.

The stage has been set for bruk's second wind. Be ready.

A A1 | Henry Wu - Substance (IG Culture & Alex Phountzi Remix)

Jam Money is the shared musical vision of Kevin Cormack and Mathew Fowler. Mathew (Bons) and Kevin (Half Cousin, Harry Deerness) first began collaborating as part of the Blank Tape Spillage Fete, an ongoing collective project of art and music which focuses on the creation and perpetuation of small DIY exhibitions, related events and limited releases that celebrates the hobbyist nature of home recording.

Jam Money revolves around a passion for the simple and sometimes restrictive nature of four-track cassette recording. Using old half-broken guitars, clarinets, charity shop keyboards, toys, family heirlooms, zithers, home-made percussion, and household objects a shared dialogue appears, involving both mark making and musical mishaps, allowing the makers to be carried along as the music finds its own way.

Genre definitions melt away in Jam Money's music as ambient dissolves into lo-fi rock, noise into fragile naive classroom melodies. Creativity beyond easy categorisation.The first recordings titled 'Blowing Stones' were self-released in 2014. The cover and insert artwork for this record featured abstract paintings by the artist Aimée Henderson whose work and process is a great influence on their music. Having played gigs alongside kindred spirits National Bedtime and Plinth, the tail end of 2015 saw the the band travel to Germany to play with the Notwist and Le Millipede for a series of 'Alien Disko' nights organised by Alien Transistor, a label with a shared kinship of both the weird and wonderful.

'A Gathering Kind' is the second album by Jam Money: a journey of sound and colour, subliminal images and narrative. The roots of this collection found Fowler and Cormack using an earthier, more instinctive language, making it a rougher-edged sibling to their other recordings, with parallels to the home-spun worlds of Flaming Tunes, Pumice, Maher Shalal Hash Baz and World Standard. Aimée's artwork features again, both paintings and music forming a collective language of dream-like adventure.

"Poignant and exploratory. Melting together acoustic and electronic elements, the narrative throughout is one of a ghostly world heading for winter. A firm fan favourite Stephen Pastel (The Pastels & Monorail Music) on Blowing Stones.

"Created in question and answer form, their songs exist like little sculptures - wayward and peaceful, sometimes whirring into automatic life under the pair's combined attention."

Comet is pleased to announce the third volume of the Afrobeat Makers Series: Nu Guinea - The Tony Allen Experiments.By re-working the original magic drum patterns from the Afrobeat master Tony Allen, Nu Guinea created a compilation of tracks which is charged by a voluminous electronic jazz-Psyche funk imprint.For this release, Comet Records teamed up with Early Sounds Recordings, the berlin label, also home to duo Berliners Nu Guinea.The Naples formed, Berlin-based duo, is a project that arose out of jam sessions, melting synthesizers with instruments, containing a handmade sound that is not aiming for perfection but genuineness. It can be understood as a steadily shaping form, always open for collaborations with other musicians.
They've previously collaborated with singer Wayne Snow (fellow berliner artist on Comet) for the vocal edit of Nu-World, also delivered a remix for Wayne Snow' Rosie Ep' both recently released on Tartelet Records.Nu Guinea - The Tony Allen Experiments LP due to be out on February 9th 2016, as vinyl LP.

He is not so easy to find. You have to follow the kilometres of pipes down and along a labyrinth of corridors, to enter in the basement den of Romain Turzi. This once cavernous space has been metamorphosised into a recording studio for the purpose of creating and completing the A & B albums trilogy with the latest LP release: C. Closed off from the world, without natural light and water supply, but full of consoles, synthesizers and old guitars, Romain cocooned himself here for several months to perfect his music and sonically construct the soundtrack that is C, with tracks entitled by nine types of birds, to glide you through this treasure hunt through the complexities of his musical mind.
After Turzi's sophomore album: B, recorded under the Corsican sun, the change of conditions is quite radical. Closing off from the world in a place where you can only do one thing, make music, Turzi was able to gain the greatest luxury within this process: time.

'A densely textured, deeply lyrical portrait of life in Long Island City's Queensbridge projects, the record signalled the resurgence of the moribund New York hip-hop scene and helped pave the way for Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z and a new generation of New York rappers.' -NEW YORK TIMES

Marking 20 years since the genre-defining release of Illmatic which sparked decades of inspiration for other young rappers and performers, comes this anniversary vinyl edition.

Nas' lyrical style and storytelling finesse coupled with some of the best beat makers and producers in the game, including Large Professor, DJ Premier and Q-Tip have ensured this release has maintained its influential status 20 years later.

The album launched a lengthy, successful career for Nas with Illmatic still widely applauded as one of the most influential debuts in the world of rap. This package features the original Illmatic release in it's entirety and fully remastered with a second side of additional extras which include Nas' first ever radio performance from 1993 and eight remixes.

Dark, sexy and catchy, FIRE has inspired four distinguished remixers: house and salsoul from Clement ASWF, Hispanic and cinematic from Daniel Maloso, tropical and funky from Hypnolove, electro and dreamy from Kasper Bjørke. Fire walks with them.

Building upon the foundations laid by his stunning debut single for the label, 'Theme Park / Off Topic', Blu Mar Ten Music is proud to
present the second single from prodigiously talented young producer Frederic Robinson's forthcoming album, 'Mixed Signals'. A
natural successor to the aforementioned single, the two tracks on offer here, 'Bloom' featuring Stray and 'Shore', give a further insight
into the depth and diversity of his work and what you can expect from his debut long player when it drops later this year.
On 'Bloom' Robinson teams up with experimental electronic producer and fellow BMTM alumnus Stray, for a characteristically
forward-thinking and unique exploration of 170bpm's outer possibilities. Built around a skittering tribal rhythm, lush synths and
acoustic instrumentation weave in and out of the track's skeleton over a deep b-line punctuated by elegantly cut ethereal vocals. With
the pair fluidly building and deconstructing layers as the track evolves and effortlessly shifts grooves, the track's nuances make it as
compelling for home listening as it is fresh on the dance floor.
This is paired with the delicate percussive timbres and rich ambience of down tempo offering 'Shore'. Here Robinson's off-kilter,
organic rhythms combine with a dense patchwork of piano, strings and natural textures to create a track that is as beautiful as it is
haunting, aided by the distant call of Robinson's own vocals.
Already receiving support from revered taste makers such as Giles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs and London Electricity, the depth and
quality of Robinson's music is quickly starting to make people stand up and take notice. Quickly proving himself to be an inimitable
talent, the new single is a worthy addition to his musical canon.

Midnight Juggernauts have forged a unique path, refusing to be bound by boundaries of genre, convention, or expectation. The band are now on the verge of releasing a new anticipated album, Uncanny Valley, out on June 17th, their first output for 3 years following their previous albums Dystopia and The Crystal Axis. This EP is the first taste of their new material, which sounds uniquely Midnight Juggernauts. Situated at a self-styled nexus between genre and era, their new output may be described as warm-hearted cold wave, interstellar harmony's, early 1950's house, steeped in the darkness of dusty Giallo soundtracks, audio spomeniks at once futuristic and rustic, a bold musical future envisaged through a soundtrack to a forgotten Eastern Bloc Tarkovsky film, sifting through the ruins of LPs past.

Kavinsky is back with a first and long-awaited album, OutRun, available on February 25th. But before that, here is the first single, ProtoVision!

Red Sky Mix feat. STS (vinyl exclusive)
It was no easy job to tackle this epic instrumental. When he heard Sugar Tongue Slim's version of Nightcall last summer, Kavinsky knew he had found the man who could turn Protovision into gold. After burning up the underground rap scene for several years, STS is now one of the fastest rising artists around. He gave a big blow with this one and literally took Protovision to another dimension.

Boys Noize remix
Berlin's notorious producer put his hands on Protovision and turned it in into a nervous and elegant club hit. Get ready to rave on that sweaty bass and dark beat. 'If it's too loud, you're too old', they said

Blood Orange remix
Between producing tomorrow's pop talents (Solange, Sky Ferreira, Theophilus London) and working on his solo project Blood Orange, England's talent of note Devonté Hynes took the time to add his very own touch to Kavinsky's new release. Giving a fresh and girly feel to the original track, he delightfully transformed it into a groovy pop ballad.

Sébastien Tellier Version (vinyl exclusive)
Taste and simplicity is what it took to Tellier to create this version of Protovision ; highlighting hypnotic strings and heroic guitars, the French maestro offered a timeless reinterpetation of the original.

The EP's exorbitant success and it's makers constantly evolving sound brings their relationship into late summer 2011 as Cadenza announce their sixty seventh cut; the 'I Ching' solo EP from Felipe Venegas. The two track EP triggers with "I Ching" and its spell binding intro of thundering gong crashes and jangling bells, betraying an almost story like theme as sporadic tom's and intense brass melodies converse with one another intensely.