Search:the music circle

At home, in the islands of Cabo Verde, there was grog, or grogu, a strong sugarcane moonshine not dissimilar to Colombian aguardiente, copiously consumed at Funaná parties. In the diaspora, in Europe, there was leite quente (hot milk). "I can still remember the taste of the first leite quente I drank in Lisbon," says Antonino Furtado Gomes, Pilon's drummer and current band leader.

Synthesize the Soul, Ostinato Records' second compilation, revealed chapter one of the Cabo Verde cultural story in Europe, zooming in on visionaries like Paulino Vieira who made Lisbon the headquarters spearheading the musical revolution taking place within Cape Verdean emigre communities across Europe in the 1980's. Musicians from across the diaspora would eagerly travel to the Portuguese capital to record.

Grupo Pilon represents the second chapter of the Krioulu diaspora story. In smaller pockets, second generation musicians were independently contributing to one of the most lush periods of cultural innovation by immigrants in Europe. In Luxembourg, in 1986, a group of teenagers formed the largely unknown (outside of Cape Verdean circles) but consistently brilliant band named after the blunt instrument used in the islands to pound corn for Cabo Verde's national dish, cachupa.

With only five members, Pilon combined searing estilo Krioulu drumming and the hybrid ColaZouk style with blissful synth work and rugged guitar licks, creating a stripped-down, addictive sound that masterfully straddled two worlds, a seductive electro-Funaná carnival born from the first few sips of hot milk.
The band drew from the inspiring political changes of the day: the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The right to democracy became a constant theme in Pilon's songs.

With access to better opportunities than their parents' generation, Pilon's roster were part time musicians. Music was not part of their academic upbringing nor a full-time gig. Their rhythm and style were wonderfully imperfect, made out of rawer skills and inexperience. Pilon did not follow the templates established by revered Cabo Verde bands. Keyboard player Emilio Borges played off beat and the band preferred arranging their songs to start from the beat normally heard in the middle of a composition rather than the beginning.

These two elements made Pilon's music simple, unique, and inimitable. From 1997-2015, a lack of concerts and professional musicians proved near fatal. Today, Antonino and what remain of the original quintet are slowly piecing back together the puzzle of their once mighty outfit from an unlikely pocket of Europe. In it's heyday in the 90's, Pilon serenaded audiences in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lisbon, Rotterdam and Frankfurt, securing their reputation as a respected and unifying cultural force.

This LP, drawing from the six most powerful songs from Pilon's three-album catalog, is the serving of still fresh leite quente to spice the summer and maybe even fuel the next generation of musicians in the Krioulu corners of Europe.

When Air’s Nicolas Godin released his debut solo album, Contrepoint (2015), he channelled the influence of Bach into a rich, resonant and hugely rewarding spread of musical explorations. One soundtrack (A Very Secret Service) later, Godin builds on equally fertile conceptual foundations for the follow-up. Released through Because Music on 24th January, Concrete and Glass is an exquisitely crafted set of variations on architectural reference points: mounted with minimalist precision and delivered with an abundance of pop warmth, it finds Godin in his element, working seductive wonders with poise and style to spare.

For Godin, the album circles back to his formative work as half of ground-breaking French electronic group Air. Revered modern architect Le Corbusier was an influence on the young architecture graduate’s music, notably on his 1997 debut “Modular Mix”. Twenty-plus years later, Le Corbusier featured on a list of modernist architects Godin was invited to compose tributes for, tributes intended to be heard as the soundtrack to site-specific installations around the world.

In its soft ambient pulse and melting minimalism, lead track “The Border” is a perfect entry-point to Godin’s hymns to buildings, arranged and co-produced with Pierre Rousseau. Its levitating synths, vocoder vocals and scudding bass hove into view with understated elegance, all the better to accommodate the discreet slow-build of delicate details within. As with Air, Godin makes gorgeously light work of every angle: this is music that seems entirely unperturbed by gravity, occupying an elevated atmosphere of its own.

Elsewhere, the title-track’s clean synth lines, crisply apportioned arrangements and tender timpani offer another inviting entry-point, sculpted with architectural clarity. While Godin’s vocoder vocals also hark back to Air’s early work, the album accommodates a diverse spread of guest vocalists elsewhere. Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor guests on the falsetto-soul dream-pop of “Catch Yourself Falling”, one of Godin’s sweetest melodies yet. Oxnard singer/activist Cola Boyy brings soul to the righteously engaged “The Foundation”; the squelchy synths and buoyant grooves burn slow, allowing the stealthy arrangements and message room to resonate. Psychedelic soul singer Kadhja Bonet sings with measured serenity over tremulous synths on “We Forgot Love”, while Russian experi-pop artist Kate NV brings a gracefully aching romanticism to the blissful swoon-pop of “Back to Your Heart”.

Additionally, Australian conceptual provocateur Kirin J Callinan contributes a vocal of restrained drama to “Time on My Hands”, a midnight-drift soft-pop ballad with a silky allure. One of the quickest tracks to record for the album, it emerged in collaborations between Los Angeles (”During some lively sessions in Mac DeMarco’s studio,” notes Godin) and Paris. After he missed his flight home, Callinan stayed in France for a day as the guitar solos were recorded, complementing the song's air of sleek luxuriousness.

Between its title-track and the sultry, smoky jazz stylings of closer “Cité Radieuse”, Concrete and Glass is an album that truly travels, in tune with its global pitch. For Godin, it marks another milestone in a musical journey that began when Air’s 1998 debut album, Moon Safari, became the sublimely weightless soundtrack of its time. For Concrete and Glass, Godin builds on his storied past with tremendous finesse, charm and fluency, opening fresh windows of perspective at every lovingly executed turn.

Italian cult combo CALIBRO 35 release their highly anticipated 7th studio album "MOMENTUM" on January 24th 2020. "Momentum" follows "DECADE" their previous studio album released in 2018 that had marked 10 years of Calibro 35 and it stands out as a new starting point for the project. In the last 10 years Calibro 35 have dug the golden age of soundtracks and they had been to the future with "S.P.A.C.E.", "Momentum", as the band stated: "represents a look at nowadays and a reflection about making music right in the time that we're living".

Inspired by the work of artists such as Tortoise, Jagajazzist, Dj Shadow, Budos Band, Stelvio Cipriani, Ennio Morricone, Sandro Brugnolini, White Noise, Comet is Coming, JPEGMafia and DJ Signify, compared to the previous Calibro 35's full lengths on the 10 tracks that make up the new album, band's instruments and sounds have increased in number and complexity as well as reality.

The music palette is further extended by incorporating even more synths and electronic sounds, but keeping everything true and 100% real, with all the instruments played live and with no presets or programming. The two featurings on the album serve the cause as well. On the first single "Stan Lee", they collaborated with rapper, producer and songwriter Illa J a former member of super group Slum Village and younger brother of the late legendary hip hop producer and rapper J Dilla.

On "Black Moon", the combo from Milan provided the groove for London-based artist MEI. "If Decade was the sum of everything that the band had felt in the previous ten years", Calibro 35 says, "Momentum is the prequel of what you will hear in the next ten".
To mark the new beginning and come full circle, the recordings took place under the expert hands of usual suspect Tommaso Colliva, in the same studio where Calibro released their self titled debut album twelve years ago.

March 2017: Alessandro Alessandroni's 'Afro Discoteca' is released on a blasting 12'' containing 4 cosmic/disco tracks drawing influences from African music – never published before these incredibly powerful and evocative recordings were rescued from an old dusty tape found in the Maestro's vaults.

The EP became an instant classic for diggers and worldwide tastemakers, bringing the name of Alessandroni to new audiences,
far beyond the circle of film scores and library music aficionados.

March 2019: Four Flies asks to a rock band (CALIBRO 35) and three amongst the most brilliant and visionary Italian DJs and producers (Jolly Mare, L.U.C.A., pAd) to rework the original tracks, giving them new life for refined modern dancefloors.

The result is a stunning collection of electronic/cosmic/balearic reworks, which respects the spirit of Alessandroni's compositions, projecting them into our present

A record to be enjoyed to its very last second AM Jazz is set to place this songwriter where he just might, finally, receive the recognition he deserves; from unsung hero to a truly worthy candidate for being called up to join the City of Manchester’s ranks of great musical icons. Whether you prefer to know him as Mr. Roberts or simply call him Al, it’s time to become acquainted with the real Jim Noir.

Tossing his bowler onto the hat stand and sliding on his slippers, AM Jazz sees ‘Jim’ putting his feet up whilst Alan Roberts takes the lead. A creative masterpiece for the record player and the mantlepiece, it’s a multi-layered album that features close friends including those dearly departed, and is his truest record to date, by a songwriter painting his own hypnotic Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

“I haven’t 'felt' like Jim Noir for a long time. I’m not sure I ever did; it was a construct of other people’s imaginations,” reveals Al. “AM Jazz is definitely the kind of music I make generally. It harks back to when I started making music years ago and didn’t worry about capturing a particular style. It will be nice to show people more of that.

It's the best album I've written; real hypnotic minimalism, the good stuff!” 15 years since he recorded the first ever 'Jim Noir' EP, AM
Jazz is the record all Noirheads won’t be surprised Al had inside him.

Letting the Beatlesesque stylings of his most recent album Finnish Line be (5 years ago no less), AM Jazz suits the Noir repertoire of his catalogue so far and is another homegrown offering which sees the Daveyhulme composer tinkering in his suburban Manchester studio once more, with the magic of his computer work sorcery, analog and tape recordings.

“For this I went back to the slightly more haphazard way I wrote my first album, Tower Of Love, wherein I’d use things in front of me, or a bit wrong like headphones for a microphone, to make the most Hi-Fi Lo-fi album ever.”

Whilst a brief disappearance of Jim’s online persona may have provoked bleak theories as to his whereabouts, Al had little time for digital distraction. Whilst writing and creating with friends, he has worked on electronic pet project, FAX with former Alfie guitarist, Ian Smith, and the vintage analogue house meets electro sound of his own solo EP Granada Personnel Recovery, as well as producing local band, Shaking Chainsor, and helping long-time musical colleague, Aidan Smith with his long-awaited 'The Planets' project; “I’ve been writing in dribs and drabs when I feel like it,” Al says. “I used to write all day everyday but it’s a lot harder now I’m (feeling) over 100 years old.” Never not sonically exploring or being inspired by the sounds around him, there was even a red-carpet moment when he appeared as a film premier guest after a couple of his songs were selected for the OST of director Jason Wingard’s film Eaten By Lions.

Performing all AM Jazz’s instrumental parts himself but also, at the right moment, bringing in present and past pals along the way, sexy lounge song, ‘Hexagons’ features 'Phil Anderson' and Mark Williamson singing and playing “legendary OTT guitar solo” respectively. Meanwhile the orchestration of ‘Peppergone’ waltzes like a beautifully romantic ode to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – a tribute to dearly departed best friend 'Batfinks' who originally wrote the chords in his song 'Peppercorn.' “I hope he doesn’t think it’s shit,” Al jests. Listen closely and you may even find a few unsuspecting celebrity guest appearances as, perhaps, it could be the very first album to feature soundbites of podcasts sneaking onto the recordings. “I will have a podcast on if I’m recording; Adam Buxton, Athletico Mince, Frank Skinner or Richard Herring… I’m sure some mics will have picked them up, like in the old Tower of Love days,” he says referring to his breakout debut.

Culled from around 50 tunes AM Jazz moves like the time of the day, from dawn to night, stirring from the pop of ‘Good Mood’ and ‘Upside Down’s Beta Band groove. “As the album was playing, I imagined this smoky backstreet with all those neon signs outside clubs at about 4am,” Al says. Mellow ‘TOL Circle’ is like Percy Faith’s Theme From A Summer Place synthesized, capturing the style of TV library music or movie soundtrack obscurity that has always stirred Al’s curiosity, and the album plunges into a vast chasm of instrumental exploration with ‘Mystermoods,’ visiting Japan’s funky synth whiz duo Testpattern and Hakabashi Sakamoto. Darkening and deepening in intensity, ‘Eggshell’ is like an undiscovered gem from Angelo Badalamenti’s cutting room floor, the Panda Bear shimmer of ‘Lander’ is where blissful positivity and sadness meet, about another of his friends who left the world too young. “By the album’s close, its nearly time to let go and enter the ether,” he says of the album’s story. “Like one would do when they take their final sigh on this earth.”

Transatlantic legends Fast Eddie and Liquid in their debut release.
If you can remember that feeling of opening a brand-new, shrink-wrapped piece of USA house music vinyl then you are going to love this new release from Music Mondays.

Full circle, from Chicago to London and back again, the absolutely legendary hip house and acid pioneer Fast Eddie (think Acid Thunder, or Yo Yo Get Funky) has teamed up with UK rave stalwart Liquid (think Sweet Harmony, or Liquid Is Liquid) and they've produced an absolutely massive new EP... a limited release in December 2019 on Billy Daniel Bunter's label.

From the 21st century hip house slab that is Get Straight, b/w the more house vibes of Clout Chasing, this unique piece of collectable vinyl will delight trans-Atlantic house and rave connoisseurs alike. Get involved. Step to this, because when they're gone... they're GONE!

This debut album, by prodigious keys player, composer and producer Joe Armon-Jones, is buoyant, celebratory and welcoming. With a background in jazz, he draws from influences in dub, hip-hop and soul. Different traditions are infused and commingled together. Soulful brass arrangements are coloured with carefully-tuned atmospherics, individual flashes of brilliance are bound into the album's bigger picture.

He's part of London's young, jazz-influenced music scene. Drawn from that same close-knit circle, the album features the likes of Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia and Oscar Jerome. It's playing with those - along with Ezra Collective, which he co-founded, and touring with the likes of Ata Kak and Pharoahe Monch - which has honed his playing and grown his ideas.

It's made for a record with an unmistakable depth. He draws on deep musical understanding, making music which is warm and has a feeling of joy. A document of his vision for bringing together his different influences, it's also a testament to hard-earned, head-turning musical virtuosity.

Early Days maps out Nine Circles interpretation of Cold Wave and Minimal Synth. Unbelievably the tracks are mostly from a brief time period, ’80—’82. Alienation and uncertainty course through the 2LP with heavy Yamaha chords, metallic machine beats and brittle vocals.

Nine circles was formed in the early 80s by Peter Van Garderen and Lidia Fiala. In 1980 there was a band called Genetic Factor. This band split up when their three members got girlfriends and they started to make music together with their girls. So at that time there were 3 bands living together in one house.

One of the couples were Peter van Garderen and Lidia Fiala. Lidia had been writing lyrics since she was 15 years old. Nine Circles was born. Within 2 years they wrote about 60 songs.

Also living in the house was Richard Zeilstra, who had a job at the VPRO radio, hosting a show called „Spleen“ where he gave New Wave bands a chance to play. He asked bands to send tapes to him and the best bands had the opportunity to play live at the radio and also got the chance to be on the „Radio Nome“ compilation. Peter and Lidia sent their tape to him and were the only ones from this house to be on the show. Richard knew their music was special. Nine Circles never played a live show on stage, only one concert live at the radio which is also featured on this LP.

Two years later Peter and Lidia split up and Nine Circles disappeared. In 2009 Lidia’s son googled her name just for fun and found a lot about the band Nine Circles. Lidia was surprised, she never knew how popular Nine Circles have been over the years. She got herself on Facebook and since then she got in touch with many people and decided Nine Circles should come back! Peter was not able to join the band these days, he had a different life but he was supporting Lidia and liked that she enjoyed doing music again. Peter still had all the old recordings and sent Lidia a lot of the music they made together back in the days. The best tracks are collected on this 2LP.

Together with Per-Anders Kurenbach Lidia revived Nine Circles. They recorded new material (released on the album „Alice“) and played live until Lidia had to stop playing live for health reasons in 2016. Nevertheless they‘re working on a follow-up album called „Emerge“ which is planned to be released in 2020 and hopefully Lidia will be able to go on stage again soon.

• Detroit blue-eyed soul from The Flaming Ember, a band who signed to the then newly created Hot Wax
Records (founded by the prolific hit making Motown team Holland Dozier Holland)
• Features the hit single ‘Westbound #9’ (24 US Billboard) alongside ‘Mind Body and Soul’ (26 on US
Billboard)
• Recognised for their contribution to music and inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1999
• The first reissue of this 1970 album on 180g heavyweight black vinyl with printed inner sleeve, and original
artwork

The soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino’s heavily anticipated music laden film Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, personally curated by Tarantino himself, the soundtrack is a love letter to the music of 1960s era Hollywood. The Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood soundtrack features over 20 standout tracks from artists such as Paul Revere & The Raiders, Deep Purple, and Neil Diamond, as well as vintage radio advertisements, creating a true time capsule of a golden era of filmmaking.

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer/director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in atribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino. Georgia Kacandes, YU Dong and Jeffrey Chan serve as executive producers. The film also stars Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate plus Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Lena Dunham and more.

WRWTFWW Records is insanely happy to announce the first ever vinyl reissue for both volumes of Yoshio Ojima's superb environmental music project Une Collection des Chaînons I and II: Music For Spiral, originally released in 1988 on CD only. Each volume is sourced from original masters and comes as a double vinyl LP with liner notes in English and Japanese . This marks the inaugural release from the ESPLANADE SERIES by WRWTFWW Records which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima and friends.

Une Collection des Chaînons II (along with its complementary predecessor Une Collection des Chaînons I) gathers selected music pieces conceptualized and produced for sound-designing the Wacoal Art Center in Aoyama (Tokyo) also known as Spiral, a hub for a wide range of sophisticated cultural proposals spanning visual arts, theatre, music, design, fashion, and lifestyle.

Named after its superb curled-shaped structures laid in a vast atrium, Spiral is a monumental work of architecture by Fumihiko Maki, designed according to the principles of Metabolism, a movement advocating the fusion of the notions of megastructures and organic biological growth - in essence, evolving designs and constructions, adapting to human needs naturally.

Evolving, organic, adapting, these are notions that perfectly describe Yoshio Ojima's divinely designed brand of environmental music. Continuing, embellishing and bringing the Collection des Chaînons (which translates as collection of links) full circle, this second volume approaches sound design in relation to various contexts, sizes, and shapes. The nanoscopic neoclassical lullaby "Les Trois Grâces" brings attention to the importance of small details, "Pulse at Soothe" starts with the minimalism of a Satoshi Ashikawa piece and slowly drifts into mystical landscapes and cavernous echoes, "Entomology" and its melancholic artificial forest feels like a Twin Peaks mirage, and "Atrium" literally feels like a floating visit of a gigantic open space structure. With each timbre selected with extreme precision, each element placed in space with the utmost care, and textures worked to allow a wide canvas of emotion for the listeners, Yoshio Ojima's music is the constantly transforming connecting point between humanity and architecture.

Sitting alongside Midori Takada's Through The Looking Glass, Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way, Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green, or Yutaka Hirose's NOVA, Une Collection des Chaînons is a pivotal work of Japanese environnmental/ambient/minimalist music.

A note from Yoshio Ojima: "Please listen to this album at around the same volume as daily life sounds such as air conditioners and refrigerators."

Recital publish the newest record by Canadian composer Sarah Davachi. Currently working on her PhD in Musicology at UCLA, her trajectory has been unorthodox. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, which, if you've never been there, doesn't really scream "Avant-Garde" (Calgary is the rodeo capital of the world). From a young age, Sarah was a driven pianist (and figure-skater, although that's a story for a different time). It is important and interesting that she chose to study esoteric music; as Sarah could have easily been a cowgirl or a concert pianist had her ingrained love of synthesis and sonic phenomenology not taken the wheel.

Sarah is a considered person. I find few people that have the diligence and resolve to take their time with music... especially in a live context. I respect that about her. The first time I saw Sarah perform, I presumptuously told her that her music reminded me of my favorite Mirror albums (the exceptional project of Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann). Sarah was not familiar with Mirror, so the compliment was initially lost on her. Years back I was in the same situation when a review compared my music to Andrew Chalk, who was unknown to me at the time. So I felt a kinship in our magnetic drift towards unspoken and clustered beauty.

Let Night Come On Bells End The Day follows the release of her "sound-wheel" LP All My Circles Run, which examines the isolation of different instruments. Let Night Come On..., recorded mainly with a Mellotron and electronic organ, feels like a return to the nest. Burrowed in the studio, Davachi was the only performer on this album. She both splays her compositional architecture and re-contextualizes the essence of her early output. She chiseled careful and shadowed hymns; anchors of emotion.

Two pillars of this album are "Mordents", which to my ears drops hints of her love for Progressive rock music - and "Buhrstone," comparable to a sombre funeral march of piano and flutes. These two examine punctuations of early music, gently plucking melodies and movements. The three other compositions are tonal works, blowing slow jets of lapping harmonics.

Writing this description now, I find it hard to separate "At Hand" from filmmaker Paul Clipson, who made a melancholic film for this piece of Sarah's. A fitting title for Sarah and Paul's relationship - frequently working in orbit of each other, meticulous and tactile. I cherish this track as a memory of Paul.

This is a lovely album to fill an evening living room with. A blanket, a cup of wine, a dim bulb, a wide window.

Three beautiful photo-prints by Davachi are included with Let Night Come On Bells End The Day. Frames are not included.

- Sean McCann

The two collaborators, known separately for contemporary electronic music & free clarinet experimentations team up to create the delirious trip, Footfalls.

Two scenes are presented here, seemingly taken from different sides of the same desolated seaside setting, loosly inspired by poet and novalist T.S Elliot and Samuel Becket. In Towards the Door, Gareth Davis´ bass clarinet breathes slow, wave-like tones that merge with the oft-rythmic electronic textures from his counterpart. A third of the way in, Robin Rimbaud´s synth erupts into a Blade Runner-esque epic harmonic section that disappears as suddenly as it arrives - leaving ripples of oscillation in its wake, slowly unfolding into the sound of waves, as it arrives back where it begun : as a full circle, drawn in echo´s of sound.

Smokefall begins with the words „Invisible choirs“, subtly spoken by a woman’s voice among a blurred distant conversation, as textural sound effects creep forwards to the point where a slow progressing but steady LFO rhythm enters. Water, metal & smoke are absorbed into a creeping tribal passage, acompanied by long clarinet tones. The piece expands further and further into a state of ecstatic harmonic noise that fulfills all parts of your body – if played loud. Both artists from here on move into full on crushing electronics, all while Rimbaud´s Kilpatrick Phenol synth drives the background with its pulses and repetative bassline. The piece has an ellipse like rotation that makes one feel a sort of blissful vertigo that reverberates in your mind after the piece has ended.

Footfalls is an euphoric trip from two artists that – although prolific - manages to arrive at the perfect meeting point to deliver two hard to shake pieces of dizzying electro-acoustic perfection.

Born and raised in South London, Hector Plimmer is a multi-faceted producer, composer and DJ whose sound is drenched in tribal rhythms and beautifully crafted bass. Influenced by beat-makers like Flying Lotus and Theo Parrish, but with the subtleties of the classic Metalheadz era drum and bass, his second album 'Next To Nothing' is released on 25th October 2019. The album features guests Ego Ella May, Emma-Jean Thackray, Andrew Ashong, Pie Eye Collective and Alexa Harley.

After featuring on Brownswood Bubblers 11, curated by Gilles Peterson, Hector proved his talent when he was selected as a winner of the PRS Steve Reid InNOVAtion award. At a performance at ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ Record store, Hector caught the attention of Albert's Favourites' label heads Adam Scrimshire & Dave Koor. A conversation was started which led to the transfer of almost a whole album's worth of material and resulted in his debut full length record ‘Sunshine’.

'Sunshine' was met with rapturous acclaim. The record went on to be awarded Gilles Peterson’s album of the week on his BBC 6 Music show and was championed by both Lauren Laverne and Tom Ravenscroft on the station as well as Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2. Its success on the airwaves transcended to streaming with the inclusion in the top 50 viral US chart on Spotify.

"This album has been a real labour of love. I spent the most part of a year trying to make music I thought would be fitting to follow my last album, whilst not actually knowing what that might sound like. 'Sunshine' had been received way more positively than I had anticipated and although praise is a lovely thing, it was the cause of much anxiety when the time came to start on this record. I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce music and kept going down routes that felt forced or just didn’t click for me, in hindsight I realise this was me making music not for myself, but for what I imagined other people might want to hear. In a way 'Next to Nothing' is my first real album, 'Sunshine' was more like a collection of four to five years worth of music compiled into the shape of one. This is my first dedicated attempt at creating a cohesive project, something that shows who I am right now and what got me here."
- Hector Plimmer

As a DJ Hector has a monthly slot on NTS radio. He has played alongside the likes of Gilles Peterson, Kutmah, Alexander Nut, MNDSGN, Onra, Dego, Kaidi, Max Graef & Glenn Astro; Hector finds himself in the good company of those talented selectors who play genres across the spectrum of Hip-hop, Beats, Funk, Soul, Disco, Afro-beat, House and Jazz.

E-Missions co-founder P.Leone returns to Radio Slaves’ Rekids Special Projects dropping four high grade techno cuts. Known for releasing on labels such as Work Them Records and his own co-run E-Missions, P.Leone has firmly become of the most exciting artists within the inner circles of driving underground music. The Berlin-based American artist and Radio Slave collaborator is now welcomed back to Rekids, bringing his versatile sound that encompasses dark techno and groove driven house. 'Beyond Me' opens with eerie warehouse glitches, cavernous drums that ring out into a huge open space while unsettling pads and textures grab your attention, 'Hard to Find' is a rugged, relentless cut with perfectly forward moving rhythm with detailed edgy synths that keep you in suspense. 'Lenox' continues the energy with distorted drums, hitting hard beneath a blistering groove, 'The Genes is of A Flower' then takes control as an atmospheric track with structural synths.

Introspection Recordings is proud to present his new limited 300 copies series.

A four-track EP that practically oozes class, the debut offering from Italian label Introspection is nothing if not an auspicious one. Featuring four tracks from an evidently shrewdly chosen bunch of artists, Introspection001 takes on numerous different styles and sounds, with the end result one that's thoroughly uncompromising and always engaging throughout. Featuring the work of four Italian producers; E-dward!, Matthew Redden, Lorenzo Magnozzi and BCFHBH, it's a release that dazzles from start to finish.

We get going courtesy of Edoardo Scarpellini aka E-dward!'s 'Got It'. A firm fixture in discerning Italian circles, as a DJ he has played in practically all of his country's foremost nightspots, not least Cocoricò in Riccione, Spazio 900 in Roma as well as Tenax and Fortezza da Basso in Florence. Equally renowned as a producer, his sounds have brought him to a wide range of respected outlets, including Bosconi, Stardub and Apparel Music. A minimal track that's but a sum of a few parts, Scarpellini's contribution here is a dubby, weighty, emotional cut that's high on intensity throughout.

Next up is Matteo Salvadorini aka Matthew Redden. A native of Livorno, Redden's contribution here, the whimsical, curious strands of 'Melancholic Probe In A Sad Space' serves up a very different sound to what's come before. A nimble, microhouse-inspired cut that's both happy and sad while serving up a host of introspective vibes, Redden's contribution here is truly a joy to behold.

The B side kicks off courtesy of label owner Lorenzo Magnozzi and his track, the wonderful 'Acid Morning (Space Time)'. Another track on display here that's been suitably named, it's teeming with peak-time prowess, with its sporadic vocal stabs only adding to the sense of drama. A considerable move into a different sound sphere, it signals the EP's intentions with some prowess. Supported by a host of respected names such as Ricardo Villalobos, Dana Ruh, Raresh, Tobi Neumann and Nastia, his is a sound that defines categorisation but one that always follows a discerning script.

Born in Huntingdon in the UK but raised in Pisa, BCFHBH started his musical journey at the age of 11, meddling with his parent's vinyl collection, a move that would ultimately inspire a life-long love affair with all things electronic music. His deep house flavoured track, 'Kin' is a wonderfully deep number that harks back to the days when deep truly did mean deep. A classy, sophisticated and wonderfully restrained track, it signs off the release in some style.

Totally bonkers German synth punk!
"JPGRR (JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE, RINGO & RICHARD) is nobody but East-Germany’s neo-punk squeaker RICALETTO of PISSE with his second solo-record EASY LISTENING carved into this vinyl’s side A. On the flip-side you'll find central-Israel’s VICTOR, a guy named GUY and his second little big musical statement after releasing an infamous cassette w/ Lumpy Records."

The second full-length LP from Jungle Brown, ‘Full Circle’, drops on Mr Bongo in September 2019. Featuring collaborations with Sampa The Great, Fliptrix (High Focus) and Terri Walker amongst other super-talents.

The trio – Ric Flo, MAEAR & Tony Bones – have spent the last two years redefining soulful hip-hop – the sound is bigger, more thought-provoking, and it has matured with a rich soulful underpinning. They have also entered territories fans are yet to hear from them as they glide effortlessly over Tony Bones’ productions that introduce trap and house into their repertoire. The
project is an eclectic array of their influences, twisted and blended together to create a ground-breaking release for UK music.

Jungle Brown’s debut album ‘Flight 314’ has achieved more than a million streams without any budget for marketing or promotion. They spent much of 2016 in Apple Music’s ‘Best of 2016 category, featuring on Spotify and SB.TV, were requested to curate an exclusive playlist for Tidal and attracted attention from New York with Beats 1’s very own, Ebro.

They’ve shared the stage with the likes of De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Lowkey, Akala and Donaeo, played major festivals including Glastonbury, Boomtown and Lovebox as well as a huge number of clubs shows across the UK.

Concentric Circles presents ''For the Moment'', which features tracks from some of Di Stefano's early cassette releases, as well as a number of unheard explorations of Indian polyrhythms from the early 90s. Di Stefano’s prescient and unique work will appeal to fans of Cybe, Joel Graham, UnknownmiX, Zru Vogue, and provides a fascinating view of the 80s US electronic underground.

American-born, Japan-based composer John Di Stefano self-released a number of cassettes as part of the 80s DIY underground on his own imprint Oktron Produktions, including Klang's Drift, a collaboration with Joel Graham.
Living in San Francisco, Di Stefano had access to multiple University electronic music studios, where he had an impressive array of synthesizers at his fingertips, including both Buchla and Serge modular systems. Combining his knowledge of modular synthesis with a background in percussion, his early releases were a uniquely human approach to electroacoustic music, with flourishes of post punk in the mix. Di Stefano developed an interest in world music, studying Indian music theory and tabla, and after an extended trip to Indonesia in the mid 80s, he was particularly drawn to Javanese gamelan music. Future recordings would forever be indebted to the sounds he heard during those travels.

Following up on the 2017 debut EP 'Don't Get Me Wrong’, Dazion returns with his second release on Second Circle.

On his latest EP; 'A Bridge Between Lovers’, we hear the Dutch multi -instrumentalist take even more unexpected swerves and turns in the form of fi ve new tracks recorded in his home studio in Den Haag. Setting himself loose from any musical confines, his process develops spontaneously; a Spanish guitar connects with an Indonesian wind instrument, wood sticks are channelled through a gritty sampler, while weird drum pattErns make their way out of Alesis HR 16-B and Yamaha computers. The results of these recordings are a fluid yet familiar Dazion sound; typically utilising electronic and organic sounds in his own distinctIve way. As with its predecessor, the tracks on ‘A Bridge Between Lovers’ are heavily rhythmically fuelled as well as rich in melody. Not least during another collaborati on with the Portugese vocalist Paulo on the alluring opening track ‘Eu Ñ ao Sei’, where Dazion again radiates what he himself calls, his "musical message of love to everyone".

When the Tramp Records crew read the internet-sweeping spam/story of Nigerian Astronaut and Air Force pilot Abacha Tunde, they knew that they had to spring into action to help this unfortunate fella out. Dr. Bakare Tunde, the cousin of Abacha Tunde explained the situation as follows: "My cousin was the first African in space when he made a secret flight to the Skylab Space Station in 1979, shortly before it crashed to Earth. 19 years later he was on his second spaceflight, this time to a secret Moon Base located on the far side of the Moon. In 1999 his crew members returned to earth, but his place was taken up by return cargo. There have been occasional supply flights to keep him going since that time. Although he is in good humor, he wants to come home, now, after 20 years in space."

After this hilarious story the idea of a compilation album was born - and "Trip To The Moon" is the result. The goal to raise three million dollars to cover the cost of Abacha Tunde's return flight may never be achieved. Nevertheless, a 41 year experience in the music business is the basis for a fantabulous track listing of 11 amazing and highly underrated Rare Grooves about the Moon!

The Swinging Astronauts open the set, followed by La La Wilson's equally great rhythm & blues rocker "The Moon Man Is Back". With The Moon-Dawgs, this album makes a slight turn into the 1960s garage rock era while Hase Cäsar (backed by none other than the famous Ingfried Hoffmann and his orchestra!) contributes one of two songs of german origin. Now it's time for some funk: Rev. Jamel & Bob Johnson's "Walking On The Moon (Men Are Starving)" criticizes the US government for spending millions of dollars for their space program instead of supporting their own people. "Mars in 75" is deepfunk at its best although some may lament the lack of production. Sidney Ownen's breakbeat-laden "Sputnik" is sought after in collector's circles and needs no justification as to why it is included on this album. Ernest & D.L. Rocco's "Moon Child" is our personal favourite, closely followed by the hypnotic groove of "Mondgesicht" by legendary german saxophonist Ambros Seelos. Scott Cunningham's name should ring a bell as he was featured on several Tramp compilations over the past few years. Finally, the album closes with a psychedelic folk track titled "Voyage To The Moon".

Tramp Records is absolutely convinced that this album will surely be the best way to shorten the wait for Abacha until a rescue space mission finally brings our African soul brother back home.

Key selling points:

- deluxe gatefold LP with detailed liner notes and unseen photographs
- the vinyl LP comes with a full album download code
- most of the songs appear on a 12" album for the very first-time

Season Four of Outlander continues the story of time-travel 1960’s Claire Fraser and her 18th century husband Jamie Fraser as they try to make a home for themselves in the rough and dangerous ‘New World’ of America. The score to the series is composed by American film and television composer Bear McCreary (The Walking Dead, Cloverfield, Black Sails). The settings of the series were a challenge for the composer, because each culture and geographical location offers other potential musical influences for the score. The score supports all these different locations and he even used the banjo this time. As it was one of the most exhilarating creative challenges of his career you’ll hear the integration of both bagpipes, fierce Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and French baroque ornaments. Above all the typical folk music will set the tone for all the settings in the movie.

Outlander Season 4 is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on coloured (gold & black mixed) vinyl. The package contains an insert.

Legitimately available again on vinyl for the first time since its original release in 1983, Outernational Sounds proudly presents a major statement from a crucial figure on the Los Angeles jazz underground – pianist Nate Morgan’s spiritualised deep jazz classic, Journey Into Nigritia.

How many 16 year olds would have the confidence to walk up to a revered bandleader at a gig, and inform him that one day they’d be playing together? As improbable as it sounds, this is how pianist Nate Morgan introduced himself to the great Horace Tapscott, founder of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. The teenage Morgan had heard Tapscott’s Flying Dutchman LP The Giant Is Awakened being played by Greg Kufahamu on local Los Angeles radio station KUSC, and Arthur Blythe’s wailing sax had gone ‘straight to the heart. It was a spiritual experience.’ Morgan showed up to all the Arkestra shows he could find. He was already studying with Joe Sample and Hampton Hawes and playing in local bands, but the draw of the Tapscott’s band was too much for the gifted young pianist:

‘I could only take about two or three more concerts before I had to run up on stage. When I first introduced myself to Horace, he tells everybody that I said, “Yeah, I’m Nate Morgan. I’m going to play with you all.” Not that I want to, but that I’m going to.’

Over the next decade and beyond, Morgan would become a central figure in Tapscott’s UGMAA (Union Of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension’), bringing new figures into the fold (it was Morgan who first hipped Jesse Sharps to Tapscott’s circle; they were lifelong friends), running jam sessions, and eventually being given the task of organising the Arkestra songbook. During the early 1970s he also worked commercially, doing a stint with Rufus and Chaka Khan and appearing on Willie Hutch’s Foxy Brown soundtrack. Into the 1980s and 1990s he remained active, keeping the UGMAA flame alive in late night jams and private sessions, and working tirelessly around LA, including collaborations with Bone Thugs N’ Harmony; he was also part of the early 2000s LA jazz collective Build An Ark. A true musician’s musician, Morgan died in 2013.

Journey Into Nigritia, featuring firebreathing reedsman Dadisi Komolafe, was the first of two LPs Morgan recorded for Tom Albach’s storied Nimbus West imprint. A committed, spiritualised work that showcases Morgan’s heavy composing as well as his McCoy Tyner- influenced and technically flawless playing, Journey features dedications to Coltrane (‘He Left Us A Song’) and Cecil Taylor (‘Study In C.T.’). Surging, modal jazz from the LA undergound, Journey Into Nigritia is a crucial recording by an unsung jazz legend.

Mario Pierro aka Raiders of the Lost ARP (ROTLA) returns to Edizioni Mondo. “Trasmissioni” is his debut LP under this moniker, using fictitious TV show themes as an excuse to create his musically most eclectic record so far. Departing slightly from the Balearic and prog rock influences of the previous “Laguna” EP, in “Trasmissioni” ROTLA covers many territories: opening with the science-celebrating arpeggios of “Progressi della Scienza” (Italian for “advances in science”), to the funky, off-beat grooves of “Telemusic”, then taking a step into a disco during “Nightlife”, before programming his rocket towards eerie nordic drum machines and Hammond organs in “Esterno Neve” and “Effetto Notte”, and many planets more. A welcome edition to the ever expanding Edition Mondo universe and a record you can’t grow tired of. Eco-Friendly green artwork that shows how tiny we all are. Good listening!



The name MONDO has its roots in “MONDO MOVIES", an italian movie genre born in the 60’s. Mondo movies are characterized by documentary-like content that addresses several topics from around the world ("mondo"). The Mondo label has the goal to produce music that is descriptive of concepts, images and environments. Mondo is inspired by library music, a genre frequently used as theme or background music in radio, film and television in that very same period. Production music libraries typically offer a broad range of musical styles and genres describing everything ranging from deserts to war and sports. Library music composers and session performers had no constraint at all. They typically work anonymously, have rarely become known outside their professional circle and they have produced what probably is the most creative music catalogue ever. The Mondo productions start with four releases dedicated to seascapes; scenarios range from sea fauna to poaching, from natural parks to sea dunes.

rendon Moeller is an artist that needs no introduction. The South African born living in the US, like few of his generation constantly challenges himself with new concepts and ideas, has incorporated techno, dub, jazz, ambient, sound design, to his works throughout the years. Never chased the limelight, but instead the work, one idea after the next, one project after the other, restless. He has collaborated with labels like Echocord, Third Ear, Electric Deluxe, Prologue, Mord to name some. "Materialize" is his first work for Vibrant Music.
From his early days in various bands in the 80's and 90's, Brendon liked indie, shoegaze, ambient, moody, cinematic scapes.
With Materialize he came full circle, reaching out to his early influences, but with the knowledge and experience of many years of exploration of modular synths, to create a concept space that feels intimate, and at the same time vivid evoking visual imaging.
It explores the time space through a minimalist, stoic approach.
It tells the story of how we are all linked into this tree of music we call electronic music, wherever each one is coming from.
A celebration of life through the mind of one of today's scholars of electronic music.
A liberation from the strictness of tempo and metronomes, to reach to a more creative state.
Vibrant Music continuous the quest, to bring to you unique collaborations and sides of artists that we like.

Seven Swiss artists & collectives sharing the same passion for music came together for a unique collaboration. The result is a sequence that evolves through rhythm and each contributor‘s colour of sound. Artists involved: Melodiesinfonie, Jack Pattern, Lexx, Look Like, Alma Negra, Manuel Fischer, Les Points.

If you draw a map of electronic music today, you will come to realise that Switzerland still represents a blind spot for many people. Even if you see from the inside the many talented artists romping about in such a small space, you have to admit that interest from the outside is virtually non-existent. Therefore there is only one way: Teamwork! The MEGAMIX is a statement for it.

Returning for his third appearance on Frigio, Maurizio Martinucci (aka TeZ, Most Significant Beat and permanent member of Clock DVA since 2010) introduces one of his darkest works to date. Forged in his studio/lab in Amsterdam, the Italian artist casts three works of industrial paranoia with none other than Clock DVA delivering a very special remix.

The same intensity, the same fevered energy that permeated Dusk, is plain to hear in this production. Pulsating drums are pierced by metallic groans and choking voices for the alienating assault that is “Amna.” Clock DVA take on this factory floor demon, soothing and reworking the original. Keys cascade against throbbing basslines and stuttering rhythms, vocals by Adi Newton taking the form of a poem that circles and swoops in a track of brimming with a primal force. Stalking chords introduce “Dene.” A lancing beat lashes a lone string, static and resonance building as layers of machine noise make their inhuman presence known. The end comes from the hull of an abandoned ship, or so it sounds. Aquatic echo swirls around a spread of sunken snares, shrieks and slicing through the crash and squeal of wrought iron. Primordial music from the mind of Pragma.

Aggelos Baltas is a veteran of the global electronic music scene, responsible for a handful of celebrated EBM 12”s as Dream Weapons, and a particularly heady and open-ended brand of krautrock as Fantastikoi Hxoi. His newest project, Anatolian Weapons, was conceived as a way to bring together these two seemingly mismatched concepts, with the polyrhythmic percussion and wailing tones of Greek folk music serving as their unlikely bonding agent. His output garners praise particularly around the Golden Pudel scene, such as Vladimir Ivkovic, and Phuong Dan. Lena Willikens, from the same circle, included Baltas’ track “Disillusioned” on her Dekmantel Selectors compilation in 2018.

But where much of what Baltas has released as Anatolian Weapons is instantly recognizable as dance music, To The Mother Of Gods—Baltas’ debut album for Beats In Space—is something else entirely. Created in tandem with Greek folk musician Seirios Savvaidis, it is a work of simultaneous collaboration and subtraction whose meticulous construction becomes more apparent with every listen. An album-length exploration of what happens when the principles of dance music are applied to pre-digital musical modalities. It is a record of psychedelic folk music that has more in common with Kikagaku Moyo, Minami Deutsch, and the Habibi Funk label than it does with anything else Baltas has produced under any alias. It’s difficult to imagine this music in any kind of club setting.

And yet, it’s very much the work of a DJ. Baltas initially heard Savvaidis’ music through a friend, and was absolutely amazed. “It was his very esoteric, pagan [music and] beautiful lyrics that grabbed me,” he writes. Seirios is a composer and performer of traditional Greek folk music with a growing discography of regional psych-rock gems. Baltas reached out to collaborate and the seeds of To The Mother Of Gods were sown.

Savvidis contributed stems of ten songs, which Baltas deconstructs and rearranges with appreciation of the ancestry of their lineage and of the deceptively ancient eerie, droning qualities inherent in the style. Occasionally augmenting Savvaidis’ recordings with his own, Baltas treats these elements as if raw materials for an architectural process.

To The Mother Of Gods showcases Baltas’ arrangement skills. He treats Savvaidis’ songs as landscapes, filling them with slanted, droning light and setting the singer’s vocals in dead center. His years behind the decks have given him an intuitive understanding of dynamics—drums crest and recede like tides, snippets of bassline repeat and swirl. He knows how to entrance, and when to push the music from the head to the body. Opener “Taratchi Katarratchi” (“Stormy Cataract”) is sung as a spell to ward off the fear of death, but Baltas’ orchestration demonstrates that dancing is an equally effective way of dispelling the darkness. The beat he assembles from Savvaidis’ playing recalls the late-night ecstasies of Primal Scream circa Screamadelica.

To The Mother Of Gods is a reminder that folk music and dance music are both powered by their audience as much as the musicians themselves. Savvaidis’ lyrics echo pagan Greek themes, touching on what Baltas calls “the magic of nature.” At times, as on “Kalesma” (“Invitation”), this can feel incantatory. Savvaidis chisels his vocal melodies into hard, clipped syllables, their cadence recalling Gregorian chant, and yet Baltas cloaks these details in washes of distortion. “Ston Stavraito” (“In Stavraithos”) is delivered with a lamentive tenderness that Baltas swells into a prideful stomp, immersing Savvaidis in marching drums and distant vocals that form a resilient protest-song. To The Mother Of Gods is a testament to the ongoing and innate truth that music can take us beyond ourselves. That repetition and drone can shepherd us to a liminal space beyond thought and rationality, where the wall between perception and reality does not exist. Call it spirit, if you want, and watch as it courses its way through modern-day dance music, mid-century psych, and the ancient sounds of the anatol.

Anatolian Weapons’ To The Mother Of Gods will be available from Beats In Space on June 14, 2019 in limited vinyl and unlimited digital forms.

Artist Highlights
• Aggelos Baltas is an Athenian music producer creating and Djing under the monikers of Anatolian Weapons, Fantastikoi Hxoi, and Dream Weapons.
• The Anatolian Weapons moniker is an outlet for Baltas to explore global music—from African to Anatolian and Middle Eastern, while also incorporating sounds from his home country of Greece.

Berlin based trio Keller Crackers collective likes to shape haunting esoteric sounds, in which self-built instruments dance with ritualistic synthesised rhythms, field recordings, psychoacoustic drones and poetical spoken silhouettes.

After a self-released MC and a mesmerising tune called “Anem” out in February 2019 on the custom-made Kashual Plastik 007 double-vinyl compilation, now they give birth to their own debut record “KC”, a four track EP resulting from various improvisational studio sessions, a bag full of spontaneous visionary DIY sound fashion that melts meandering serialism, foggy ‘Chris & Cosey’-ness, exoticism and freely expressed emotions. Some pieces are given time to evolve, being dragged through long arrangements and slow transitions, while others are playful and short. To close up the magic circle, the release includes a tripping Tolouse Low Trax signature remix.

The opening tune “Specialised” swings on a trance-like hypnotic bass line, while a self-made kalimba played through a tape delay and overtones from a DIY circuit bended device inject dynamics and colour to the composition. Out of the sonic depth, the spoken words of Sylvana Wickman emerge enchanting and unreal, naming a series of technical terms, assembling a deep notion on the specialised society we live in.

“Cow Tongue” follows, a fleeting composition of crackling electronic clicks jumping off a micro-modular device. They got overdubbed again by Sylvana’s voice, delightfully reciting phrases from a recipe of regional delicacies.

The A side of KC`s first strike finishes with a spaced-out synth bass and the lo-fi beats of a Yamaha RX15 drum machine. They are the gripping foundation of “Aithouses Anamonis“, which means “Waiting Rooms”. It describes the scene of a man sitting in a waiting room observing the consumerist behaviour by the folks around him.

The B-side opens with a Tolouse Low Trax remix of “Specialised”, elevating the original with the bass line of “Aithouses Anamonis“, while melting the all into a dark nebulous Tolouse Low Trax signature stripped down funk for endless nights in neon lights.

For their final track “Colours”, Keller Crackers invited a steady free member of their live shows to record with them: free jazz musician Robert Würz. He tuned his flute enthralling over a suspenseful bass line formed in a whirlwind of synth-sounds. The whole frenzy gets divine through sliding chords that rise from a self-built guitar.

A musical bouquet for open spirits, that value charming minimal wave zones, undefinable post-industrial psychedelics and hallucinogenic poetry reflections on the current state of our mechanical times.

Pale Bloom finds Sarah Davachi coming full circle. After abandoning the piano studies of her youth for a series of albums utilizing everything from pipe and reed organs to analog synthesizers, this prolific Los Angeles-based composer returns to her first instrument for a radiant work of quiet minimalism and poetic rumination.

Recorded at Berkeley, California's famed Fantasy Studios, Pale Bloom is comprised of two delicately-arranged sides. The first – a three-part suite where Davachi's piano acts as conjurer, beckoning Hammond organ and stirring countertenor into a patiently unfolding congress – recalls Eduard Artemiev's majestic soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris. "Perfumes I-III" employs the harmonically rich music of Bach as a springboard for abstract, solemn pieces that sound as haunted as they are dreamlike.

While the first half of Pale Bloom showcases Davachi's latent Romanticism, the sidelong "If It Pleased Me To Appear To You Wrapped In This Drapery" reveals the Mills College graduate's affinity for the work of avant-garde composers La Monte Young and Eliane Radigue. Softly vibrating strings rise and fall like complementary exhalations of breath. As the fluctuating pitches create overtones that pitter and pulse, the piece slowly and subtly evolves – suggesting a well-tempered stillness, yet without stasis.

Pale Bloom finds Sarah Davachi coming full circle. After abandoning the piano studies of her youth for a series of albums utilizing everything from pipe and reed organs to analog synthesizers, this prolific Los Angeles-based composer returns to her first instrument for a radiant work of quiet minimalism and poetic rumination.

Recorded at Berkeley, California's famed Fantasy Studios, Pale Bloom is comprised of two delicately-arranged sides. The first – a three-part suite where Davachi's piano acts as conjurer, beckoning Hammond organ and stirring countertenor into a patiently unfolding congress – recalls Eduard Artemiev's majestic soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris. "Perfumes I-III" employs the harmonically rich music of Bach as a springboard for abstract, solemn pieces that sound as haunted as they are dreamlike.

While the first half of Pale Bloom showcases Davachi's latent Romanticism, the sidelong "If It Pleased Me To Appear To You Wrapped In This Drapery" reveals the Mills College graduate's affinity for the work of avant-garde composers La Monte Young and Eliane Radigue. Softly vibrating strings rise and fall like complementary exhalations of breath. As the fluctuating pitches create overtones that pitter and pulse, the piece slowly and subtly evolves – suggesting a well-tempered stillness, yet without stasis.

'The Loop' is the new LP by Los Angeles based polymath Shafiq Husayn, an epic project which saw its inception in 2012 through a series of studio sessions at Shafiq's home, including collaborations with the likes of Thundercat, Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, Bilal and Anderson Paak. Amongst a close knit circle of friends and family the golden tones of The Loop were created, deeply rooted in ideas of song, story, history, guidance and spirituality. The album bumps, jumps and jangles through progressions in jazz, hip hop, soul and funk, following on from his debut album 'Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka' and adding further to his rich history of timeless, unique music. On The Loop past, present and future are brought together through a psychedelic concoction of time traveling drum machines, celestial string sections and trails of synthesizer vapour. Inflections of Sly Stone, Pharaoh Sanders and Earth Wind And Fire traverse with Marley Marl and Dilla-esqe drums making for an organic yet LA-trifying experience.

Shafiq has brought together an impressive array of LA's musical royalty, enlisting the likes of Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Kamasi Washington, Chris 'Daddy' Dave, Eric Rico, Coultrain, Computer Jay, Jimetta Rose, Om'Mas Keith, Kelsey Gonzalez, I-Ced and more to provide the backbone to his recording sessions. Drawing in features from an international cast of performers and artists like Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper, Hiatus Kaiyote, Fatima and Karen Be amongst others. Now complete and finally ready for release in 2019 The Loop is truly something to behold. The records is accompanied by a series of paintings by acclaimed Japanese visual artist Tokio Aoyama, who worked in tandem with Shafiq to create a painting for each song on the record.

French modern-classical quartet astrïd return on May 10th with the first part of a new release entitled A Porthole.

Conceptually the two records work in unison, focusing on portholes into the abyss, with part one delving into the depths of the deep sea. The tracks are named after various strains of seaweed, the artwork depicting dark waves and uncertainty. Part two will follow in a years time and will turn its attention to the night sky and constellations.

A Porthole continues astrïd’s signature style of billowing guitars, strings and woodwind. Each element intertwined with another, linked perfectly together through restrained jazz-tinged percussion. 2017’s highly-acclaimed release ‘Through the Sparkle’ with renowned pianist Rachel Grimes (of Rachels) set the bar extremely high for this release but astrïd have matched the depth, melody and quality of that record here.

Part one of this journey features some sublime compositions with Cyril Secq’s expressive and bold guitar playing carrying the pieces into chamber music territory, joined seamlessly by a variety of other instruments that swell and soar and fit perfectly into the story being told. Everything seems to have its place, nothing is overplayed or out of step here, there is an organic nature to the way this quartet plays and interacts with one another as melodies circle back and fade away in the same beautiful breath.

A Porthole is a deeply charming record, exercising glorious, nuanced refrain and offering a sort of hope rarely found in music these days.

• Aqua blue vinyl - limited to 300 copies w/ download code

• The album was mastered by Harris Newman (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Tindersticks etc)

• The artwork is extracted from an original one of a kind monotype print by Gizeh overlord Richard Knox.

Is another EP from D.K. about to land on Antinote while the first one has been announced only a month ago
Well, this looks very much like a series and - spoiler alert - Riding For A Fall EP is the second installment in a
trilogy.

With a BPM crossing the 120 line on 2 out of 3 tracks, there's little doubt that this second 12' is also meant to be
played in a club environment. The 9:37 min long Voices sprawls over the whole A-side. Like many productions
stamped 'D.K.', the structure is linear only in appearance: it winds up and down between fantasized exotic
landscapes, digital plug-ins mimicking 'far east' instruments that are barely recognizable. It gets even snakier with
the Samurai Showdown-inspired Shoubuari (Battle): pixel swords brushing past our ears, martial drumming and
menacing synths (D.K., were you the kind of kid who owned a Neo Geo) - it's pretty obvious that we're in the
world of SNK's legendary fighting game.
Things calm down with Riding For A Fall: less button-mashing, more concentration as we're witnessing the sacred
martial art known as Street Fighter's quarter circles... But enough with these video game metaphors! No need to
be a pro-gamer to enjoy this piece of music. It's sad & slow house music with a cinematographic quality - and,
perhaps, the most moving moment in this series of 12'.
To be continued...

Considering He Was A Self Taught Pianist, Brian Auger's Progress Into The Heart Of The British Modern Jazz Scene Of The Late 1950's And Early 60's Was Particularly Impressive. He Gained Invaluable Experience The Hard Way, Paying His Dues At The Cottage Club, And The Original Ronnie Scotts On Gerrard Street, Working With Renowned Saxophonists Tommy Whittle, Dick Morrisey And Jimmy Skidmore - And Sessions In Smoky East End Pubs With His Friend, Arguably Britain's Greatest Jazz Saxophonist Tubby Hayes.

The Inclusion Of Several Of His Rare, Early 60's Piano Trio Tracks On Both Volumes Of 'back To The Beginning - The Brian Auger Anthology' Brought Long Overdue Attention To Brian's Early Jazz Career, Which Many Were Simply Unaware Of Prior To Their Release. The Enthusiastic Reaction To Those Tracks That Stuck In Brian's Mind, And Later, Fate Intervened, As He Himself Explains, "a Couple Of Years Later, Ken Greene, The Music Director Of Bogie's, Called And Told Me That He Was Starting A Project, To Whit, A Week At Bogie's With A Different Jazz Piano Trio Each Night".

The Material Brian Decided To Play Features Tracks From A Selection Of His Musical Influences, Heroes And Friends Including 'chelsea Bridge' By One Of His Favourite Composers, The Great Billy Strayhorn, Freddie Hubbard's Ever Green 'little Sunflower', The Much Loved Standard 'there Is No Greater Love' Which Brian Used To Play In His Original Early 60's Piano Trio, And His Own Composition Victor's Delight He Wrote A Tribute To The Great English Jazz Musician Victor Feldman Who He First Discovered Via His Tenure With The Cannonball Adderley Quintet.

Surprisingly, This Is Brian's Very First Jazz Piano Album Of His Illustrious And Award Winning Career, And Marks A Return To The Instrument And The Music That First Entranced And Enthralled Him As A Young Boy. His Musical Journey, Which Began In Austere Post War London, And On Which He Absorbed So Many Varied Styles Of Music, And Literally Took Him Around The World, Enrapturing Audiences Worldwide, Has Indeed Come Full Circle.

Malik Hendricks is a rhythmically inclined aesthetic enthusiast born in the 80's, and raised in the 90's. A DJ for over a decade, he has always approached music with a rigorous curiosity and views the dancefloor as the ideal arena for collective cultural appreciation, a place where the quest for knowledge meets the quest for experience. Dance is the true language of the body, and a gateway to the recognition of our shared humanity.


Money Cat Records - Round black records bringing good luck. Linking motion with emotion, dance unites the body and soul of all who participate. Music from Brooklyn to the world. Established in 2018.

Emotional Rescue announces the second EP of music from one of the label's favourites as part of a non-defined series where two of their (un)classic songs are remastered, reappraised and reinterpreted with new versions by a contemporary artist for reinterpretation today.

Thomas Leer is a respected and revered musician in both experimental and electronic circles. Having moved from Scotland to London in the late 70s, he moved away from playing in punk based bands, to debut his self-financed 'Private Planes' 7" in 1978, before releasing the cult-album 'The Bridge', with Robert Rental, the following year.

Signing to Cherry Red, he released the heralded '4 Movements' in 1981 and followed with 'All About You' in 1982, and it is from these 2 EPs that this release is sourced. The release starts with Saving Grace from the latter, a long famous "Cosmic classic"; it's mid-tempo, spacey, lifting repetition is the perfect soundtrack for those Baldelli trips straight to the stars.

This is backed with Tight As A Drum, a quintessential Leer production, where Teutonic drums is overlaid with sequencers and synth tones to elevate the song to some kind of disorientating outer-dimensional dub, while his lucid, spoken word vocals instill degradation and reinvention.

Asking Bullion to offer his own take on these two songs was the perfect pairing. A revered artist in his own time, the warmth and depth of his versions takes the originals to his own inner world; sampling, rewiring, reprogramming, resigning and replaying. An EP for the floor, the head and the heart.

For the label's second release, Amsterdam imprint yeyeh has brought together two musicians from vastly different backgrounds to celebrate the far-sighted musical potential of the Theremin on the 100-year anniversary of the instrument's invention.

'Waves' is the product of two weeks of studio collaborations between award-winning composer and Theremin soloist Carolina Eyck and Eversines, an electronic music producer who has previously released music on yeyeh's sister label ninih. It builds on Eyck's work composing for 'Theremin & Voice', with both artists playing a part in processing, modulating, layering and arranging vocal and Theremin sounds to create six breathtaking electronic compositions.

Varied in tone and execution, the album's six tracks are arguably closer to instrumental pop than academic electronic music. Some tracks bear comparison to the cyclical melodic movements associated with the greats of American minimalism, while others recall the alien, otherworldly futurism of the Radiophonic Workshop, classic ambient music and the sun-bright bliss of early '90s IDM. Yet despite these possible perceived parallels, 'Waves' sits on its own as a stunning work crafted from the simplest of musical elements.

Innershades presents a heavy and vibrant trip through electro, techno and acid on Ocular Unity, the 12th release on Berlin's Mechatronica.

Following up on his "Aalst To Charlois" rave weapon released on the label last year, the Belgian producer continues to push his signature sound in new directions, maintaining harmony and once again underlining his undeniable strength in producing hypnotizing electronic music for the floor.

From the A-side's fast paced force in "Ocular Design" and "Cycle of Life", to the introspective journey "Zuiderpark" and all-powerful slow drive of "End Life", Innershades comes full circle on Ocular Unity and adds another stellar record to his already impressive discography.

Les Points Pay A Twisted Homage To The Early Foundations Of Electronic Music Where Hard To Get Tapes, Dystopia And The Sound Of The Wretched Worker Where Present In Genres Like Post-punk, Industrial, Minimal Synth, New Beat And Wave.

It's changing, the worker searched for post-leftist solutions and got lost.
Nine circles applauded the proletariat and imagined how a community
could be congregated, while screams of violence would be filtered by boiling blood.
Exploiters of labor either find themselves rotting away in a never ending icy rain or are dragging their selfish accumulations on their chests for eternity - while the worker slowly identifies himself as a counter-commodity. Algorhythms (fraud) always mislead - once the worker gets past them only Dis will be awaiting her/him.