Search:the soft

This summer, Saft welcomes Dubbyman after a three-year hiatus from releasing music. He serves up a gorgeous new EP in the SAFTX series that features a remix from Detroit mainstay FIT Siegel.

Dubbyman is a master of the deep. As a DJ and producer, he explores warm and heady soundscapes that are rooted in house and techno but decorated with much more. His musical synths and compelling rhythms have resulted in countless vital EPs on labels like Ferrispark, Soul People Music and the Deep Explorer label he co-runs. Now, after a break, he is back and in brilliant form.

Opener 'En La Ciudad' is an effortlessly loose and languid house track. The hip-swinging claps and funk bass riffs bring a sunset vibe, with wordless vocals from Carlito Brigante Rojo and dreamy pads really soothing the soul. Remixing is legendary FIT Sound label head, FXHE associate and pillar of the Motor City scene FIT Siegel. His famously no-nonsense approach results in a track here that is laced up with smoky soul. The dusty beats roll deep, the twisted synth work brings light and lush pads soften the whole groove with a real sense of heart.

"Up Again" strikes another perfectly seductive pose with its jazzy keys, soulful vocals, and rough-edged beats that make you want to dance. It's a tune packed with feelings and irresistible funk, and is sure to be the soundtrack to many outdoor parties this summer. The Deep Explorer Mix is a little more direct, with dynamic house drums, sunkissed motifs and warm pads taking you straight to the Mediterranean. Last of all, "Tropic" featuring Arturo Sanchidrian on bass is a downtempo classic, with beachy vibes, gently breaking synth waves and soft-focus melodies sinking you deep into a
reverie.

This is an EP of life-affirming, heart-warming house sounds that take you to a better place.

Around the year, the sturdy red brick walls of an old Cable Factory stand there like a mountain, facing weathers of all kinds rising from the Gulf of Finland. It might be freezing winter winds whipping the whole shore line into submission, fog heavy as concrete, or the relentless sun of the summer months, softening the asphalt to a boiling point. Whatever the weather may be, the narrow courtyard of the old factory embraces those musicians, who are looking to get down. They gather from all directions, making their way towards a pair of doors that lead towards a flight of stairs, again through a few doors all the way to the last portal, where an open padlock and a loosely hangin crossbar signal that Cold Diamond & Mink are inside, locked in a groove.

Who could it be with them this time, perhaps the jazz prophet Jimi Tenor beaming out of his space ship, maybe it's the golden voiced knight of soul Tuomo "Pratt" Prättälä, the number one trumpet wielding dandy Jukka Eskola or the saxman Pope Puolitaival, who loses nothing in coolness compared to the former? The reel to reel is always there in the monitoring room, catching each analog layer of sound, even the silences and banter between takes. Seppo lays down the guitar and tries to catch the riff on organ instead, Jukka throws a rare tune on the turntable, hoping to guide their unit through that wobbly chorus, Sami waits there bass in hand, maybe already thinking about the next production.

After a whole lot of playing instruments, arranging and taking care of business, after the moon has travelled around the old industrial building for some rotations, Carlton Jumel Smith comes waltzing through those same doors. There's a handful of unnamed tracks waiting for him. He sits there listening and then starts writing, maybe echoes of soul classics from his own record collection in New York projecting inside his mind. Then the tape is rolling again. Starting with a short intro rap Carlton lets it out, singing on the edge of shouting "Woman you made me...". After the vocals are in the can, Carlton ascends out of the basement and heads out to entertain an audience somewhere. Some months later, after the mix is said and done, there's the question of the instrumentals. It seems they're pretty good as they are. And here they are.




d 04: Help Me (Save Me From Myself) Instrumental

After an impressive label debut in March this year, Swedish pair Patrick Siech & Sandra Mosh re-link for a multi-faceted follow-up. Inspired by the '90s production ethos of broad-minded genre agnosticism, the EP spans a trio of dreamy, yet functional cuts, displaying the producers’ fluid production arrangements. A fourth track bucks the sonic trend, ‘PPMV1’ a tribute to a pigeon the duo rescued but ultimately succumbed to the virus of the same name. In contrast the track is a punchy bass-led weapon, simultaneously deliciously disorientating and immersive.

Siech has been a symbol of quality in the Swedish underground techno scene going back more than a decade, collaborating with the revered Sebastian Mullaert and releasing on Minus, Parabel and Break New Soil, among others. Sandra Mosh, similarly, is deeply respected by those in-the-know, gaining wide recognition with a show on Swedish national radio P3, playing festivals and clubs including Sónar, Berghain and Kazantip and running her own label MOSH Muzik.

Arkham are an early historic Belgian 70's prog-fusion outfit that played eclectic jazz and rock mixtures in the 'Canterbury' vein, inspired by Soft Machine and Egg. Featuring keyboard player Jean-Luc Manderlier who would later join Magma, drummer Daniel Denis who would also move on to Magma as well as Univers Zero, and drummer Patrick Cogneaux.

Arkham aren't nearly as dark as Magma or Univers Zero, their jazzy overtones placing them a little closer to Soft Machine. The three musicians, who show some maturity, are obviously pouring their hearts out through out the album, which exudes an intensity that can't be ignored.

Never released before on vinyl, the recordings reproduced on this album come from magnetic tapes of some of Arkham's concerts and rehearsals, recorded at various times.

The anticipation is there in Elizabeth Stokes’ solo guitar riff under the opening lines of “I’m Not Getting Excited”: a frenetic, driving force daring a packed Auckland Town Hall to do exactly the opposite of what the track title suggests.

As the opener of The Beths’ Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 expands to include the full band, the crowd screeches and bellows. It’s a collective exhalation, in one of the few countries where live music is still possible.

The album title, and film of the same name, deliberately include the date and location, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce says. “That’s the sensational part of what we actually did.” In a mid-pandemic world, playing to a heaving, enraptured home crowd feels miraculous.

In March 2020, everything seemed on track for another huge year for The Beths. Home after an 18-month northern hemisphere tour, they had just finished recording sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers and were primed for more extensive touring. But within days, New Zealand’s lockdown split the band between three separate houses. All touring was cancelled.

“It was existentially bad,” Stokes says. As well as worrying about economic survival, they lost something crucial to the band’s identity: live performance. “It's a huge part of how we see ourselves... What does it mean, if we can't play live?”

The band found an outlet through live-streaming, returning to the do-it-yourself mentality of their early days to connect with a global audience. The album and film have their genesis in that urge to share the now-rare experience of a live show, as widely as possible.

The fuzzy-round-the-edges live-streams pointed the way aesthetically. Native birds, wonkily crafted by the band from tissue paper and wire, festoon the venue’s cavernous ceiling while house plants soften and disguise the imposing pipes of an organ. The presence of the film crew isn’t disguised: much of the camerawork is handheld; full of fast zooms and pans.

With much of the material still fresh, the band was less focused on re-invention than playing “a good, fast rock show”, Pearce says. The tempo is up on crowd favourites “Whatever” and “Future Me Hates Me” (released as a live single on its third anniversary) as both band and audience feed off the mutual energy in the room.

Certain songs have taken on special resonance post-Covid. Pearce has found “Out Of Sight”, a tender rumination on long-distance relationships, hits particularly hard with live audiences.

Album closer “River Run” visibly brings Stokes to tears as a mix of achievement and relief kicks in. “You can finally relax at that point … You play the last note, breathe out a sigh and look up - and you’re in a giant room full of people happy and smiling.”

After 2 quiet years, Mélodies Souterraines strikes hard! A very soft opus under the sign of Europa and its Japanese reflections. Influencing the direction of "K/L" - Miyako Koda's 'Sleep In Peace' (prod. Haruomi Hosono) defined the color of the following 40min. new wave comp. Incl. music by Electrodelia, Andy Rantzen, Jan Schulte, Zmatsutsi, Tolouse Low Trax or rare-as-teeth hit 'Analyze' by TASE... Probably the most sophisticated record of the series: In-motion, elegant, nocturnal. 300ex + insert & art by french underground graphic group Bazooka.

The new album from acclaimed pianist/composer/producer. 'Grains Of Gold' is a masterful collection of ambient electronica full of epic soundscapes and softly billowing crescendos. This is his first album on XXIM Records, the young post genre label launched earlier this year by Sony Masterworks and the first of its kind within Sony Music. The record was created in Hamburg during lockdown and, according to Carlsen, reflects the city's influence, a sense of being stuck in a foreign place and a longing for his hometown of Cagliari. A 10 track album released on LP and CD.

While the world continues to be in a bizarre mixture of feelings and circumstances, we can thankfully still hark back to last fall when the sophomore LP from the elusive and innovative KAMM band, Cookie Policies gave us an opportunity to reflect on the past while fully looking toward the future.
The album presented a beautifully unique blend of listening-oriented music styles, combining the early roots of the four producers and their pre-DJ formative musical travels. It is now our great pleasure to introduce an EP set of specifically dance floor-focussed remixes that take the diverse textural arrangements and expansive sonic bliss of the LP and stretch it around some solid percussive membranes, sure to excite many DJs and dancers out there in the wild as things begin to reopen.

KAMM band members Dave Aju, Alland Byallo, Kenneth Scott, each chose one original album track to rework with a more propulsive feel and from Aju's psychedelic West Coast breaks rendition of the noir-esque "CCBPGC", to Byallo's high vibe leveled-up flight of "Bird Call", or Scott's bold section-by-section recreation of the sprawling "The Soft Glow Of Electric Sex" laser-designed for heads-down late night club sessions, the boys came through to say the least. The real A1 treat of this reinterpretation package however comes from unanimous artist choice and label favorite I:Cube, whose majestic take on "Shleem" sees the veteran producer and master remixer move the bubbling ambient piece into bumping and rich space-age deep house territory, equal parts angelically uplifting and pure 5am club-belter/mind-melter.

The Byson Family started 2021 in style, when their self-released, limited
edition debut album ‘Kick The Traces’ made a big impact from its soft
release.
It debuted at #1 on Independent Breakers; #3 on Scottish Albums; #5 on Americana Albums; and #9 on Independent Albums. Now ‘Kick The Traces’ is set for
a much wider discovery, with the release of its Expanded Edition on September
10th via their own Seshlehem Records label.
Press play on ‘Kick The Traces’ and you’ll discover rootsy heartland rock that’s
as evocative of sprawling road trips through America’s open highways as it is
soundtracking an escape into the Scottish Highlands. It’s a sound that echoes
the great bands whose music never ages: the strut of The Stones, the beatific
beauty of The Byrds, the riffs and reflection of Neil Young. But they’re also kindred spirits to the artists who extend that lineage in new ways: the joyous rush
of The War on Drugs and the alt-country adventures of Wilco, with a touch of
Calexico’s desert noir.
The Byson Family will make their long awaited return to live shows in September. They’re set to headline a homecoming show at Glasgow’s historic St. Luke’s
on September 25th. They’re also confirmed to support the resurgent Del Amitri
on a tour that includes the London Palladium and two nights at Glasgow’s Barrowlands.

Debut solo album from leader of legendary psych band Föllakzoid, Available on white color vinyl! RIYL: Föllakzoid, Beatrice Dillon, Huerco S., Arca, Amnesia Scanner, SOPHIE, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Musician and filmmaker Domingæ is probably best known as the founder of experimental psych band Föllakzoid. Written whilst stranded in Mexico and Tokyo on her way to a world tour with Föllakzoid, her new debut solo album Æ has taken the decompositional system she devised for the band and added the depth of inner exploration and a symbiotic relationship with musical craft. The resulting sound is as groovy and hypnotic as the best Föllakzoid tracks but with a seductive and darkening electronic texture. She has become a channel in which the shadows inhabit. Domingæ's sounds and formats are articulated via depuration, expanding in time and space via the subtraction of shifting elements. The process of unlearning and uninstalling previously established creative softwares in order to achieve dissolution has always been a central focus in her creative pursuit. Æ is a result of said experimentation, the dissolution of preconceived notions to create a minimal sound yet rich in textures.

Composer and saxophonist Brian Brown produced some of the most refined Australian jazz recordings during the 1970s. A versatile musician whose distinct impressionist music melded modern jazz with the outer limits of free experimentation. Considered to be his greatest work was the 1975 concept album Carlton Streets, an ambitious recording that romanticised the sights, sounds and the nostalgia of this once-bohemian Melbourne neighbourhood. Differing from his eco-jazz composition Wildflowers heard on the recent Roundtable compilation Pyramid Pieces, Carlton Streets explores the polar opposite, offering jazz impressions of the urban environment. Comparable to other pioneering jazz-rock groups such as Ian Carr's Nucleus and mid-period Soft Machine, the album is a mosaic of ecstatic jazz-rock groove, spirited free improvisation and expanded experimental textures. A potent fusion that owes as much to Australian 20th-century avant-garde composers as it does to the influence of the electric jazz innovators, specifically early Weather Report and Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi. The Roundtable are pleased to showcase this important artist and offer a new edition of this landmark Australian jazz recording. Restored from the original master tapes and presented in a gatefold sleeve including liner notes and rare photos. Released for Record Store Day 2021.

In the fleeting moments between the state of being awake and reaching the doors of dreamworld lies a borderland whence comes the mood music of ancient stories told – the celestial unison of three creative souls known as AURI.
Originally born in 2011 from the special connection of Johanna Kurkela, Tuomas Holopainen and Troy Donockley, AURI was first introduced to the world as late as 2018. Now complemented by the dynamic percussive talents of Kai Hahto, the threesome carves fantastical worlds entirely their own.

Comprised by Tuomas’ keys and infinite imagination, Troy’s arsenal of flutes, other folk instruments and magical touch, and Kurkela’s youthful and tender voice full of childlike wonder – fragile and gossamer, yet powerful and moving beyond words – the flow of AURI’s celestial, uplifting mood music captures from the first notes and does not let go.

To its key members AURI is a creative outlet unconfined by the preconceptions caused by their other bands and their respective audiences. Leaning to Celtic folk and cinematic pop yet not shackled by any specific genre, AURI isn’t the kind of music that can be described by words alone. No, an equal effort of the enchanted three, AURI runs a lane of completely their own. Unburdened by anyone’s expectations but their own. This is the sort of music that taps directly into emotions.

Embrace the atmospheric auditory imagery of fantastical valleys of other fairytale dimensions and soon gone fireside bards. Dwell for just a moment in treasuries of dreamlands and ponderings that see mundane things turning into otherworldly miracles.Feel welcomed to embark on endless adventures on long roads untrodden and ships never sailed.
As if frozen in time, you’ll be captivated by heart-burstingly elating fare-thee-wells for those dearly departed.
Hear the soft words that empower those feeling inadequate and reassurance to others fearing death.AURI’s are the keys to a dimension of awe no one else sees. Only theirs to offer are the mystical, soundscapes and ethereal vocals.
Theirs to hold are the magical powers that can melt the steeliest of hearts and make grown men cry. AURI invites the listener along for journeys no other band can provide.

Come, my love – now it‘s calm enough to go.

A nice collection to relax in a warm and cosy musical atmosphere

Keplar re-issues the fourth album 'Chessa' by Dan Abrams' project Shuttle358 on vinyl for the first time. The double LP edition includes 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions back in 2004, as well as an extended artwork with unseen photographs by Dan Abrams.

While undoubtedly associated with the microsound and 'clicks & cuts' movement around the turn of the millennium, on 'Chessa' Shuttle358 left behind the classical rhythmic patterns of the genre and shifted further towards warmer territories, meandering between modern digital minimalism and the soft tones of ambient music. Counter to his microsound synthesis approach on Frame (2000), Abrams created Chessa by writing software that manipulated samples from his unreleased songs, guitar pieces, and vintage japanese films sampled from video tape. In particular, a special granulating technique was written and performed at intentionally low sample rates that gave the uniquely fragile, yet dense sound to the album. Over fourteen tracks Abrams arranges slowly evolving sonic entities of unfading elegance. Strayed and hazy melodies pulse and cascade, elongated but brittle harmonies shimmer and disappear, echoing far-off in the rounded corners of the mind. The patient and detailed way Abrams combines the broken with the beautiful in creating organic collages of sound that retain the euphonic essence of a song, makes this piece of work so powerful and timeless, sounding just as relevant today, as it did 17 years ago.

Under modern scrutiny in Abrams latest studio, he refocused the original recordings to emphasize the elements most important to the original vision. The final mastering and vinyl preparation was done in collaboration with Stephan Mathieu, vinyl was cut by LUPO.

From the original press release in 2004 by Taylor Deupree:

Without a doubt Shuttle358 has become one of the most admired artists to emerge from modern electronic music’s sea of musicians. From the humble beginnings of a demo CD in 12k’s mailbox to 4 critically acclaimed CDs, Dan Abrams is, to some, the one credited for bringing a warmth and human touch back into what has often been considered a very cold, sterile genre. It began with 1999’s Optimal.lp (12k1005), a groundbreaking debut release that immediately defined the Shuttle358 sound; a hybridization of the then-emerging “microsound” genre with Eno’s true ambient explorations. In 2000 Abrams outdid himself with Frame (12k1011) by honing his sound design and exploring production techniques at rates that made his “now” quite brief and creating what was to become one of the most sought-after CDs in the 12k catalog.

Chessa is the third release from Abrams’ Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. Like his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cover artwork. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity.

Mannequin Records is elated to present for the first time on vinyl the reissue of Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici’s first video soundtrack, originally released in 1984 as an audiotape in less than one hundred copies. Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici (literally Mundane Mechanical Youth) or GMM was one of the most unclassifiable audiovisual experiences to emerge from Italy in the 1980s. Maurizio Dami a.k.a. Alexander Robotnick, a pivotal member of GMM, was responsible for the group’s music output.

Founded in 1984 by Antonio Glessi and Andrea Zingoni in Florence, GMM was an art collective whose production represents the quintessential expression of postmodern transmedia hybridity. GMM pioneered the genre of computer comics, created video installations, developed “multiple identity” performances, and was involved in fashion, media, and music productions, and later on produced cyberdelic environments, artificial reality projects, and proto-memes.

Alexander Robotnick’s first contribution to GMM was this soundtrack for the group’s eponymous first video, the animated version of a computer comics they coincidentally published on legendary Frigidaire magazine. Restored by Dami and reissued here for the first time by Mannequin Records, the composition was also split into two “suites” and released as an audiotape distributed by Materiali Sonori, also responsible for other releases by both Robotnick and GMM.

Determining in this work is Dami’s adoption of the alphaSyntauri, also known as the first affordable digital synth (priced less than $2000 when it was released in 1980), which was playable through its own software, “alphaPlus,” on the Apple II computer. The same computer was used by Glessi to “draw” the 3-bit strips scripted by Zingoni recounting the joyrides of the Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici, three merciless cyborgs in black suit and sunglasses dividing their time between nightclubs, rapes and murders.

As Robotnick, Dami developed an innovative formula of Italo disco that was attractive to the dance floor yet at the same time highlighted the expressive properties of the instruments he used, notably Roland drum machines and Korg synthesizers. For the soundtrack of GMM’s videos and installations, he left aside the danceable synth rhythmics in favor of ambient sounds that produced rarefied atmospheres, psychological tensions, and enhanced states of consciousness.

Dami’s scores for GMM’s artworks could be associated with Italian avant-garde music of the 1970s and 1980s, ranging from composers who adopted electronics flirting with pop and songwriting to minimalist musicians exploring seriality and drones, including Franco Battiato, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Francesco Messina, and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Analogies could also be traced with the playful and humanizing approach to personal computers that characterizes the music output of Marcello Giombini and Doris Norton.

The futuristic escapism of minimal synth and ambient music’s psychological nature is infiltrated by drifting harmonics typical of new age, as if in search of a spiritual dimension of technology. Characteristic of the postmodern ethos of GMM Suite, in line with the humanizing approach to technology that is at the base of GMM’s computer comics, is the melancholic take at speculative dystopias in which human beings would find themselves increasingly trapped into identity crises: a true cyborg’s melodrama.

After the release of ‘Kuarahy’ concurred with the blast of the worldwide pandemic and all the consequences it has generated, WHITE STONES - Martín Mendez’s project (OPETH’s bass player) - are ready to launch their second record.

When WHITE STONES released ‘Kuarahy’ they became the first Spanish band signed to Nuclear Blast Records, cementing their first album as an unprecedented milestone. Now, with ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’, the band returns with a more compact sound, having been hard at work ensuring the utmost attention to every detail for a result that is even better than the first record.

The topics covered on this second album draw on the feelings that Martín himself affirms he has lived through during the lockdown imposed by the covid-19 pandemic. “I started it very calmed in March when »Kuarahy« was released and the lockdown started. I wrote the new record and it just flowed so well. It’s my point of view, of the feelings I had during the lockdown period, in this weird year. I took advantage of the moment and I feel excited about it”, reveals the musician.

The most outstanding musical elements on this new record are the disparate genres that manage to co-exist. There is an element of aggression, that can be seen rearing its head in an instrumental frenzy, as well as soft and delicate intricacies that develop an atmosphere which surrounds the listener. There are distinct dynamics among the songs, with interludes allowing the listening to take a breath and appreciate what they’re hearing.

The writing process of ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ has been pretty similar to the previous ‘Kuarahy’ but with some clear changes. Martín composed all of the instrumentals for the album but, as he says, “I’ve left sections open to the interpretation of each of the other musicians, both in the drums and in the vocals. Eloi wrote the lyrics this time and we then workshopped them together whilst working out the vocal parts to get the final result in the studio”.

WHITE STONES once again recorded at Farm Of Sounds Studios (Barcelona), owned by their singer Eloi. They were satisfied with the sound of ‘Kuarahy’ and the experience of the recording of that album and the comfort of making everything with their own tools made it all easier. “Everything has been ‘homemade’ because it’s a way of working and a philosophy I like. You have more control and you can better enforce your ideas”, Méndez explains -who also created the cover for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ together with Sandra, his partner for many years.

The final mix and mastering of this second album was done by Jaime Gómez Arellano at Orgone Studios (UK) because the band were more than satisfied with the work he did on ‘Kuarahy’ and they wanted to repeat that great experience. Eloi, as the singer and also the guy who recorded the music sent to Orgone Studios, acknowledges “the recording had more experience and a better sound quality because we made better decisions during the pre-production thanks to a higher level of self-awareness of ourselves as a band. Jaime knew us better too, so that simplified the process and in turn helped to make »Dancing Into Oblivion« as good as it can be”.

The line-up has been enhanced with the participation of the multifaceted Joan Carles Marí Tur on drums (who also plays in other bands like FACE THE MAYBE). The guitar solos were the job of Joao Sassetti (who was already a member of the touring line-up of WHITE STONES). Sassetti lives in Portugal and he couldn’t be in the studio in Barcelona, so he recorded his solos and digitally sent them over for integration into the final songs. The recording of the instruments has been more organic and as Boucherie says. “The original sound has been retained as much as posible in each and every element” and it has brought a natural/raw touch for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ just as the band had hoped and expected.

Freiburg based Italian stallion Enea releases his 2nd longplayer "Overview" on his own, soulful South-German imprint, Beatalistics Records.

The 10 track album once again showcases the versatile background of the former Bass-Player, who grew up on the picturesque Lake Constance. Having been a familiar name in the international Drum'n Bass scene for more than a decade, Enea now also takes us beyond the classic 170+ bpm rhythm structures to give us a proper "Overview" of his musical philosophy.

Comprising his typical softer rolling, Liquid based tunes like "Wonders" featuring label partner MC Fava, "Earthrise" with "Freebird" or "Moon" alongside the vocal talent Vavunettha, he additionally presents various influential styles throughout the album. "Interstellar Dub" and the dub remix of "Nuh Smile" featuring Kyrad from Switzerland lead us off the beat on dubby paths, whereas the title track "Overview", "Clouds" or the remix of "Fly High" with Meks Sample & El Tronic show his affinity for smoother Trip-HipHop grooves. By the way, you might recognize an organic and pulsating bass here and there, of course played by the maestro himself! This is warm and beautiful music for sophisticated and open minded souls. Enea!

We are pleased to share the first collaborative album by Alexander Berg (Dorisburg) and Sebastian Mullaert (Wa Wu We).

As Jorum, they invite us into a fable where murky soils awaken beneath the moonlit forest dew. Currents begin to rush softly through tentacles reaching far down into the earth. Bones, buried by the sands of time, come slowly back to life along with the slumbering bloodwood woods.

With or without a drink in hand, moderate temperature, no need to jump into the wet. One night AT the pool, not inside. Palm trees or succulents - not far from here, the vegetation has adapted to the situation. A soft rustling: Possibly crickets, probably also the wind. No traffic and certainly no civilization, which right now would probably only disturb with its long agenda of responsibilities. HYPNOSIS AND MUD - Healing hypnosis, healing mud. The half-frustrating, half-liberating feeling of saturated soil between the toes. A state of inner peace. Instead of a voice, you hear primitivist percussive explorations. A groping and grasping of the bare feet, with delicate toes. Abstraction is followed by the concrete: a walk through the ORCHIDEENGARTEN RUSE, an orchid garden close to the Bulgarian town and not far from the Romanian border. Digitally, but not unreal. Perhaps even better than reality - anyone can do that. The (unofficial) soundtrack to this would not only make the Canadian composer Mort Garson happy. A lady‘s shoe kindly looks at us. If you turn around, you arrive on the other side: A LINE HAS TWO SIDES. Conundrum-like images, dissolved one-dimensionality. Candid narrative ambiance. A clarinet calls to duty. Civilization and traffic after all? SUNBEAMS ON YOUR CAR. Urgency, a clamor of voices - both in their best form. Yet again – the clarinet, the blunt reality: ONE NIGHT AT THE POOL. We are still standing here, we probably never left. A three-part journey – with delicate transitions. Three destinations: Now forever united. Dissonant and yet pensive. In the far distance the advertisement for the collected works of Meredith Monk. Hair erect, the little skin nerves contract, goosebumps - at last!

With Pierre-Jean Guidon (Moravagine, Chute Libre) as their saxophone player, Subversion (from France) played lowkey jam-orientated Progressive Rock with prominent folk and jazz flavors. However, despite the brainy exterior, their soft music had more in common with the naivety of the 60’s Yé-yé movement and lounge-pop in general. Thus they seemed to belong to a bygone era, one far removed from the upcoming punk-rock and new-wave one.