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Too many people sleep on Tougher Than Leather, Run-DMC's fourth album. But hear us out as we plead the case for this amazing LP. By 1988 there was a lot more competition in the rap game - Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Ice-T and many more had given Hollis, Queens' prodigal sons lots of competition. But Joe, Darryl and Jay were still at the top of their game, and hip-hop fans should never let this classic - chiefly produced by their Queens neighbor, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Davy D(MX) - get lost in their crates. For starters, the album's first single, Run's House' b/w Beats To The Rhyme' is arguably the most powerful one-two punch of the trio's career, showing contenders to the rap throne that they could still destroy a beat, tag-teaming with power at any speed. Not to be lost in the shuffle, fans were also reminded on both sides that Jam-Master Jay remained one of the world's best DJs, flexing the pinnacle of what would be called turntablism' a decade later. Both songs show a musical telepathy between all three that has rarely been equaled. The second single, Mary, Mary,' driven by an infectious Monkees sample, took a different approach, shrewdly ensuring that pop fans who jumped on the Raising Hell bandwagon had something to chew on. But, like Walk This Way,' the song wasn't just bubblegum - there was an edge to it, and the lyrical gymnastics were very real. It wasn't selling out, it was allowing fans to buy in. Papa Crazy,' driven in concept and by a sample from the Temptations' Papa Was A Rolling Stone,' followed a similar pop-leaning path. Overall, the lyrical content on the album was a step up from the group's first three LPs. It's easy to infer, looking back, that they were feeling the heat from their younger competitors in the rap game. The genre was changing fast, and they were up to the challenge. On cuts like Radio Station' they bring substance to the grooves, by attacking Black Radio for its continual denigration of rap. Tougher Than Leather' reminds the world that they were still the Kings of Rock, with hard guitars to drive the point home. And They Call Us Run-DMC' and Soul To Rock And Roll' both bring things back to their early days, with sure-fire park jam rhymes and killer cuts. Tougher Than Leather, which went platinum up against a lot of competition, perfectly bookends the '80s output of one of the decade's most important groups. It encompasses the full range of the trio's capabilities, and reminds us that Run-DMC should never be forgotten as both pioneers and party-rockers. And so, we say, long live Joe, Darryl and Jay!

Swat's third release & DETROIT is in the house !

There are times in which you can clearly mark a producer's evolution.
When they stop inching towards growth and make a bold statement of change in capability and vision.
Such is the case with this EP from Detroit-based disco guru, Pontchartrain.

After a few years of steadily pushing out some significant pieces of work that have increasingly straddled the line between originals and edits, and nearly a decade of studio experience, his long overdue official house music debutante has arrived.

Featuring Detroit local soul artist, Coko Buttafli laying down some blistering vocals with a clearly positive house music message, on top of live percussion and keys, and bold analog drum rhythms, pontch has created a solid diva-house gem.
The sneaky festival-ready banger, 'Loose', performed, mixed, and overdubbed live, provides some fantastic contrast and versatility to the release.

A Mr. G-esque remix by DJ phenom Just Alexander and the musical journey of Topher Horn's evolving and deep version on the flipside make this a well rounded record that will undoubtedly stay in your bag for a good long while, and will find its way back in for years to come.

Dark Entries and Serendip Lab have teamed up to release 'Prototech', the first vinyl retrospective by German electronic trio Hypnobeat, recorded 1984-86. James Dean Brown and Pietro Insipido formed Hypnobeat in 1983, but it was the addition of Victor Sol only a few months later that found the project reaching, as Brown puts it, "the desired level of technical sophistication." In time, Tobias Freund also lent his talents (and equipment) to this loose-fit sonic scheme, where the protagonists sought a new, electronic manifestation of mankind's tribal music roots. Two cassette releases surfaced - 1985's "Huggables", and "Specials/Spatials" the following year. By this point the Frankfurt-based group had already explored fiercely mechanical creative expression through various configurations of hardware and personnel, revolving around core ingredients such as the TR-808, TB-303 and MC-202. The project lived on in spirit as Brown activated Narcotic Syntax in the 90s. While a more modern, digital concern, rooted in the Perlon label family, NS still channeled the Hypnobeat concept of a "new tribalism", not least on their "Provocative Percussion" double 12" released in 2006. For all the punky veneer, there are instances where these tracks reach staggering levels of sophistication, not least on "Slash! Buffalo Eats Brass" with its intricately programmed 303 lines and nimble beats that sound a far cry from most machine music made in 1986. Prescient "Can God Rewind" is also dazzling in the complexity of its percussion and the richness of its synth lines in C as they throb out a bastardised version of acidic Disco straight out of the rhythm collider. Elsewhere, some tracks are more primal in their execution. Visceral opening track "The Arumbaya Fetish" was a cathartic venting of Brown's least favourite sound on the 808, the iconic cowbell, while the astounding proto-Acid miniature "Moon Jump" places limber 303 lead lines in a hail of thunderstruck patterns. "Kilian" has a stripped down quality that speaks more to the industrial era that Hypnobeat was conceived in, and "Mission In Congo" is a raw, reverb-soaked drum workout that captures the percussive-obsessive nature of Hypnobeat perfectly. Six of the seven tracks selected on this collection were primarily powered by two 808s. "I am amazed that the release sounds like we really had a plan back then..." states Brown, but this accidental magic is in fact the raison d'etre of Hypnobeat. They weren't the only ones prefiguring the next big revolutions in electronic music in the mid 80s, but there certainly weren't many artists stumbling across modes of expression that sound so relevant today.

All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a jacket featuring cave engravings by Pietro Insipido of an archer and animal printed in a wallpaper pattern style designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes an transparent insert of an x-ray photograph from 1984 of Romulus Cœurque holding the circuit board of a BOSS DR-55 rhythm machine.

Double vinyl edition of the Portico Live/Remix album

Portico Quartet still sound like nothing you ever heard before. The Mercury nominated East London based outfit's unique music has expanded to embrace new sonic territories, drawing on the inspiration of electronica, ambient, classical and dance music as they take their strange, beautiful, cinematic, future music to exciting new vistas.

Their new album 'Live/Remix' is a double album offering a unique insight into two distinct parts of the band's personality.

As BPMF started making techno again, he surveyed his techno friends asking them what it was about his music they found the most annoying. The answers TR-606 hi-hats and portamento.
He proceeded to focus on these aspects of his music and today the results are here: "Abide the Glide Volume 4" wherein BPMF is pushing all the right buttons to get the DJ thinking about the sounds their pumpin. Jamie Morris provides an excellent DJ freindly remix of "Even Straighter", taking BPMF's idea and going even straighter.Old Man Raver Pants" proves that a 50 year old man can still party, so long as he's wearing his raver pants and while there's been alot of talk about alternative facts, "Alt-Slacks" is a dub inspired jam that seems like it's narrative might fall apart at anytime.Schmer label head BPMF has been making electronic music since 1984. As Free World released cassettes, was entered by WFCS into CMJ's Best Unsigned Bands competition and in 1985 earned the duo a spot on an Epic Records compilation. In 1986 they released "Amagi", an eclectic collection of experimental electronica inspired by underground new wave and industrial music of the 80s.BPMF and Taylor Deupree formed Decameron and released two cassettes on Havoc Music. Some tracks would appear on early techno CD compilations under pseudonyms. Havoc Music's own compilation "Techno Criminal Sub Cultures" is where BPMF first appeared in 1991.
With Dietrich Schoenemann and Taylor Deupree, BPMF assembled classic early 80s analog gear and as Prototype 909 they released "Acid Technology" on Instinct records; performed their first live show, met Abe Duque who invited all of his techno friends to the legendary Limelight Club in NYC. BPMF brought records and gear jammed live with them. The Rancho Relaxo All-Stars would release three albums and tour Europe together even destroying the original Ultraschall in Munich, quite literally tearing the place down. With John Selway, BPMF channeled early electro and new wave sounds forming Synapse and creating Serotonin Records to bring the funk back and help give birth to the electro revival scene.Prototype 909 recorded four albums and played 70+ shows. Synapse was the first American electro group to play live in Moscow. BPMF released tracks on Serotonin, Schmer, Instinct, Analog/EMF, Tension/Rancho Relaxo Records. His approach to electronic music is hands on and experimental, so more than having a "sound" his music reflects his values: spontaneity and a sense of urgency.

DJ Harrison is Richmond VA-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Devonne Harris.

The son of a radio DJ who introduced him to the world of record collecting, Harris grew up with music, progressing from violin, to high school drum-line, to the Jazz Studies program at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also continued working with other instruments and developed an interest in sampling. His development as a producer - at first, without a computer or sampler - came first learning to replay samples on the drums, piano, bass or guitar.

DJ Harrison finds himself inspired by local musicians in the Richmond scene that's as diverse and nonexclusive as they come. Among rappers, producers, punks and bluegrass bands, he falls within reach of an expansive pool of musicians to collaborate with. He lives and works in Jellowstone, a house turned recording compound occupied by his band mates in Butcher Brown, a 'garage punk jazz funk' group.

AE Productions are please to present our latest release and latest signing Cut Beetlez, a DJ/producer duo hailing from Tampere, Finland. For their first release on AE, Droppin' Needles, they have teamed up with Soundsci MC's Oxygen, Audessey and U-George delivering an ode to the almost forgotten art of the needle drop - a turntable technique pioneered by the legendary Grand Wizard Theodore. Oxygen himself is a pioneer of the art of MCing while at the same time needle dropping - an incredibly rare and extremely difficult ability and something to behold!

The beats have been created using live turntables over a raw MPC based drum track with formidable results while the MC's drop science on the art of needle dropping. The sleeve artwork recreates Marley Marl's brilliant Droppin' Science sleeve - an idea from Cut Beetlez themselves and executed by the inimitable Mr Krum - in AE's opinion the world's foremost expert on record sleeve recreation.

The 12' includes both the main version and also a remix version created with the same methods as the main version plus instrumentals, accapella, bonus beat and DJ tool - plenty of tracks for DJ's while a limited edition cassette single release includes main and remix vocal and instrumental versions.

Looky Looky is the new project from Jeffrey Sfire and Ian Clark, both residing in Detroit, Michigan. The pair met in the late 90s when Ian was performing as one half of Le Car with Adam Miller of ADULT. Ian also recorded under the moniker Perspects, and released on Clone, Ersatz Audio and Interdimensional Transmissions. Jeffrey has released a series of singles and remix EPs with Samuel Long as Sfire on CockTail d'Amore Music and Ultramajic.
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The duo released their 8-track debut album 'Part Flamingo' in 2016. All 8 tracks represent one body of work but are presented as 2 distinct concept EP's: 'Part Flamingo' and 'Nurse Coven'. They're loose, fun pastiches of 80's movie soundtracks with accompanying imagery. For the 'Flamingo Boots' EP we chose 4 songs from the album which the pair extended for maxi 12' throbbing dance mixes. Looky Looky describe the project as equal parts light and dark, a contemporary recasting of Italo, Hi-NRG and electro. The songs infuse bright '80s sonic textures with a seedy, sweaty thump. The Motor City duo is about a year into the project, but is already known for their hardware-heavy live set after playing the Honcho Summer Campout last year and the 2017 edition of Gays Hate Techno in northern California.

After nearly seven years absent, FIRM returns with a new LP, cat. no 034.

Eric D. Clark with FIRM's founder Thomas Schaeben, of Kompakt's first hour duo Schaeben&Voss, regularly met in the Cologne based FIRM studio to create and build.

The ensuing result are seven smashing bangers between LoFi-discofunpunk and Hi NRG-hothouse gospel trancefunk without anything scrupulous in their way, no thinking, rethinking or calculating the ideas they put together: hence the moniker FREE RADICALS!

A result of numerous crazy live recording sessions with like minded artists: David Boswell, Dirk Leyers, Anita Davis and Heiko Voss!

'LoFi Hi-NRG' is supposed to be played loud and vinylized, we suggest... The Direction

Gas Grabaciones second cut it's an interesting mixture of two well known artists at their hometown.
"Eterno" is a very skilled DJ with years of experience and also with wide experience producing, from day one he's an important reference for the label.
On the other side we have "Matias Muten" track, his blasting live sets are an exquisite reference in Uruguay. When talking about live performances, Matias is a must.
This work from both artists will try to tell with their analog, eclectic, bumping sounds how's the deal down in Uruguay with experienced producers.
Ideal to play it both sides on the same DJ set, they in some way complement each other, as if the story to tell is the same.

4x12 LP, Limited to 150. Deluxe Outersleeve with Punched Out Centerpiece 'Window' and 4 Printed Innersleeves. Deltawerk is the newly Amsterdam based project of Pascal Terstappen aka Applescal and Polynation member Hessel Stuut. Together they are releasing their debut full length LP, entitled 'Passages",
Applescal has to date released on labels including Ghostly International and Traum Schallplatten, while the efforts for his own label Atomnation have seen him welcome music from the likes of Gidge, Weval, David Douglas and Sau Poler, amongst others. Voted at a very respectable #03 for XLR8R's coveted 'Best New Act' in 2015, Hessel Stuut is a member of Polynation and has significant experience not only playing live music, but as a producer, visual artist and designer too. Together, they form Deltawerk, a dynamically electronic duo whom when united create human and lucid music, which feels as much at home in an underground rave as it does in an open-air live performance. While there is a faint echo of artistic collision, the album undoubtedly provides an eerie sense of unity for both Pascal and Hessel's own discography, conserving the warm subculture of
analog and modular instrumentation.

3LP Album Move D, Jonah Sharp, Juju & Jordash build the new supergroup The Mulholland Free Clinic. Their self-titled debut LP release is the recording of their second ever improvised, allhardware live set which emphasizes the ongoing paradigm shift in live electronic music. Tracklist A Vital Signs B Boneset C Gone Camping D Ebb & Flow E The Dawgs Are Alright F1 Dr. Leary F2 Pillow Therapy Even though they've only played together on three occasions since 2013, The Mulholland Free Clinic has already been praised as one of the ultimate collaborations when it comes to underground and improvised electronic live music. Move D, Jonah Sharp, and Juju & Jordash build this so-called super-supergroup by combining their individual and mutual projects rEAGENZ and Magic Mountain High. Using an armada of analog hardware, The Mulholland Free Clinic's self-titled debut album is the product of a live set recorded at Berlin's emerging party series AWAY at ://about blank in August 2016. Consequently, the connected vinyl label Away Music is set to release its first long player following four 12-inches with appearances by Joe Claussell, Mr. Ties, Move D, Discrete Circuit, and its very own AWAY Soundsystem. Their three-hour long, totally improvised jam session was edited down to a little over

Until he was about 20, Texas-born Melvin Sparks was a rhythm & blues guitarist, backing Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye as a member of The Upsetters. But Sparks gave up his seat on The Upsetters' bus in New York City, where a chance introduction to George Benson led him to a place in soul jazz history. Melvin played and recorded with Lou Donaldson, Leon Spencer, Bernard Purdie, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Idris Muhammad, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland, Grover Washington Jr., Reuben Wilson and so many more. Even during the quietest years of soul-jazz Melvin stayed relevant through hip-hop and r&b, a quick search at WhoSampled turns up more than 150 samples of his funky chicken scratch. And Melvin's legacy is heard in contemporary soul/funk bands like The New Mastersounds, Soulive and The Greyboy Allstars, all of whom he also guested with several times before his early departure from this realm in 2011.

This release documents Melvin's final band just months before his death. Organist Beau Sasser and drummer Bill Carbone had been working with Sparks for several years, and, despite the power dynamic - they were in their early 30s, Melvin an elder-statesmen of the genre - the unit was sharp, relaxed and performed Melvin's music with a jovial spirit. The trio played the Burlington, VT club Nectar's regularly, but this night featured two "onlys." Per the recommendation of Nectar's agent they used the "Grippo Horns," the only time Sparks used a horn section in the last several years of his life, and they allowed a multitrack recording of the show. Both were strong decisions.

The tracks on this album, lovingly mixed by guitarist, producer and Melvin Sparks fan Eddie Roberts, demonstrate that Melvin played as well in the final months of his life as at any time. Sparks counts "Whip! Whop!" off at what he said The Upsetters called a "showtime tempo," and peppers it, as well as most of the album, with quotes from jazz standards, pop songs and cartoon themes, all woven effortlessly into the bebop-funk dialect he helped create. He unfolds amiable melodies, patiently and methodically, through his several-minute lead on "Breezin'." And Sparks is audibly uplifted by the Grippo Horns helping him perform his 1973 arrangement of "Ain't No Woman" for the first time in decades.

The thrid an final installment of archive material, selected by Antinote. A killer suite if you ask us. TIP!
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You can trail away with it. It is easy to enter, but hard to drop out. Tolouse Low Trax just needs an MPC, a small Synthesizer set up and some effects to create subliminal hypnotic music trips, driven by dark synthlines and drunken shuffled patterns. The primitiveness in my music is linked to something simple, and that don't have to be obligatory minimal. For me it is enough to dance rough around the core. Music you don't shape till the end contains of a moment of beauty. A veil of secrecy. I work very simply. I rather reduce my possibilities in ompass. Limitations offer lots of liberties.' He reveals about his work ethic. Even if his music sounds darker then any ever experienced night, he mostly produces it in the morning in his highly inspirational studio home. During the dark times of the day Tolouse Low Trax mostly performs live around the globe. Or hangs out in his second home: the Salon Des Amateurs club bar in Dusseldorf, which he once founded and where he held until today two weekly DJ residencies. The moments and atmospheres he inhales during these lightless moments are mirrored in his shadowy music, about which he also confesses: My art is more a cinematic, literally idea of a large to explore Megacity. This is one of the pictures I would link to my music.' On ' part one he now offers five sounding visions about that Megacity'. They listen to mysterious names like Hidden Flat' or Studies in Drama'. They are nervous. They have ephemeral pieces of dub, Industrial, wave or Italian library music. And at times strangealienated voice samples dance within his highly addictive arrangements. Words can't express their magic. But one thing is fore sure: his hypnotic dance-not-dance tracks do not only illuminate so-called freaks!

De-Bons-en-Pierre is a project from Beau Wanzer & Maoupa Mazzocchetti. Beau Wanzer spends the majority of his days sifting through paraffin embedded animal tissues and reading old issues of Fangoria, occasionally breaking his monotonous routine to record in various fits and bursts. As well as solo material, he is also in numerous projects including Streetwalker, Mutant Beat Dance, Civil Duty, and Corporate Park. He's released on many labels including; Diagonal, L.I.E.S, Cititrax, Nation, Rush Hour, and Light Sounds Dark. Maoupa Mazzocchetti is the pseudonym of Florent Mazzocchetti, a French producer based in Brussels. Florent is strictly devoted to a DIY mentality around music production and his sound revives the electro-industrial aesthetic of the late 70s and early 80s. He's released notable productions on labels such as Unknown Precept, PRR! PRR!, Knekelhuis and Mannequin Records.

While Beau was visiting Brussels he stopped by Maoupa's house to jam for a bit. All songs were recorded on April 4, 2016 between 11:00am and 11:00pm, as single live takes.'Crepes' is a 6-track EP, titled so because they ate crepes the majority of the session. Beau says, "There was a bit of a language barrier. We'd mostly just laugh and nod when something sounded cool to us." The equipment set up included a Roland TR-808, TR-606, SH-101, CR-78, CR-8000, two Syncussions and effects. Over 23 minutes of garbles, sludgy synths and leviathan rhythms. Surfing the slippery slope between industrial and electro, but never quite falling in, just a dip of your pinky toe to to test the temperature.

All songs are mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a sewage green/blue jacket featuring a crepe-masked duo reminiscent of pulpy VHS covers. Designed by Eloise Leigh and Florent Mazzocchetti. Each copy includes a 2-sided postcard with a photo taken during the recording session.

The totality of the many in one: Cologne Tape, an on and off gathering band from all over the world, did not call their second album "Welt" without reason. The collective incorporates the nucleus of the label Magazine and consists of the artists Ada, Barnt, Jens-Uwe Beyer, Jörg Burger, John Harten, Philipp Janzen, Mario Katz, John Stanier and Axel Willner. All members live scattered between Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg. They meet rarely and abruptly, but each of them always has the feeling that something relevant needs to be done. The ensemble's name represents a city and the musical recordings that are made in it.
Their "rst release, "Render", marked the start of the label Magazine in 2010 and found the way into DJ sets by famed artists like Dixon with music, which does not necessarily have the dance#oor in mind. Subsequently, little, absolutely sublime pieces of Cologne Tape appeared in the public.
Sometimes in the middle of a Magazine mix for London's online magazine Dummy, or on compilations like "My Heart's In My Hand, And My Hand Is Pierced And My Hand's In The Bag, And My Heart Is Caught" a double-vinyl sampler for an exhibition by British video artist Phil Collins.
And now, after six years of more or less overwhelming silence, "Welt" arrives and brings the world eight musical arrangements, all of which answer to the same name and only differ numerically in their title. They were performed and recorded at the Dumbo Studios in Cologne as part of a happening, during which the nine Cologne Tape members gathered in a room to play a solemn concert for themselves without a given frame.
Un"ltered emotions, which were later, re"ned with drums and synth sounds by John Stanier and Axel Willner and then arranged into a dramatic story arc under the direction of Jens-Uwe Beyer. Furthermore some of the recordings feature friends of the collective such as Mexican artist Rebolledo, the guitarist Burkhard Mönnich and the singer Isis Lace, who all happened to be close by and joined the band spontaneously during in their musical ritual. Now the recordings of their time without time will see the light of the day.
They all tell - together and alone - stories of deeply felt musical
experiences, which quickly become profound experiences too for those who listen to Cologne Tape, when they play the grand piano, synthesizer,vibraphone, organ, drums, guitar and more while celebrating afreewheeling ceremony. Panoramic music that enables the listener to enter a world of sounds and rhythms, which all re#ect in depth what Cologne Tape is as a band and a piece of art.

A regular contributor to Figure SPC, it was Jeroen Search who both started the series and also put an end to its story. With this creative chapter neatly closed, he is now bringing his ever-impressive work back to the main label. Across the EP the Dutch artist doesn't stick to one style, instead he lets his infamous machines roam about freely. They take us for a smooth ride along swaying dub chords and gentle ripples until bellowing eches slowly rise above a hypnotic groove.On the B-side Search then pulls out all the stops and barges right in with fidgety claps and whirling bleeps, leaving the track itself gasping for air. This is the renowned ferocity of his live act - carved into wax! Ensuing the sonic assault, a simple synth figure emerges stoically over an almost housy bounce as nostalgic rave strings bring the EP to an epic ending. Firmly rooted in the past while always looking forward, Jeroen Search clearly is still on the top of his game. He simply keeps coming up with timeless techno - time and time again.

High Plains is the duo of Scott Morgan and Mark Bridges.

Morgan, based in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, is predominantly known for his drifting, textured soundscapes released under the pseudonym LOSCIL.

Bridges is an accomplished, classically-trained cellist residing in Madison, Wisconsin.

The two met in Banff, Alberta while they were simultaneously there on residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2014. They first collaborated when Bridges contributed cello parts to Morgan's generative music app ADRIFT, recorded in Seattle in 2015.

In early 2016, the duo embarked on a collaborative set of compositions in the oxygen thin air of Wyoming, spending two weeks holed up in a refurbished school house in the town of Saratoga, where this album was recorded.

Inspired by Schubert's Die Winterreiseand the rolling landscapes of
their surroundings, the collaboration culminated in a collection of recordings that evoke a shadowy, introspective and dizzying winter journey.

Cinderland takes cues from classical, electronic and cinematic
musical traditions but is mostly a product of the rugged, mythic landscape; vast and sprawling with a wild, uncertain edge.

The recording was made with a portable studio and all sounds were sourced on site, most notably from Bridges' cello, the resident Steinway D piano, and field recordings collected from the local soundscape.

The results are a site specific, wide scope view of thehigh valley terrain the duo worked in, a mix of analog and digital, neoclassical and modern electronic sounds, a complemental series of tracks to become absorbed in, a truly deep listening experience.

The cover art forCinderland was created by London-based artist, Peter Liversidge.

Phonica Records is extremely proud to unveil the next release on its Special Editions imprint; the stunning debut album 'Vuduwave' by Niños Indigo.Niños Indigo is the alias of audiovisual artist Valeria Hernandez. Developed over the course of a month, the album was recorded in Hernandez's home country of Chile and recorded in a single week, resulting in a flowing, organic yet otherwordly listening experience. Valeria explains; 'This record is a compilation of influences that have been inside me a long time... they keep coming back; Afro drums, Hindu instruments, Candombe, Psychedelia in South America. The rhythm of what surrounds me; the lake, the forest near where I live, the calm that surrounds it, the love of my friends and daughter. All of these feelings are what I like to put in my songs, a reminder to value the simple, to seize the resources that I have and to try and free myself of what's on my mind.'Originally released on digital and cassette label Discos Cetaceos in 2014, it's a recording that truly deserves to be given a new lease of life on vinyl.

Art, of any kind, encompasses the unique and distinctive output of its creator: an inimitable human being. It points to a blueprint map of who this creator is, encapsulates their experiences and somehow points to how they arrive at their creation(s). This blueprint, although lending glimmer into one life, connects deeply into an unfathomable amount of other lives - lending an expression and effect. With this in mind, we go on a journey with Dowinowe - the first solo artist release for the Gqom oh! label - on his debut "GQOM004" Dominowe is a 19 year old producer from the Newlands east township of Durban, South Africa who started out making music just for his friends. This release snapshots important themes in his evocative personal journey - expressed in his own very unique style. Releasing on Vinyl in 27th of January 2017, the EP, titled SiyaThakatha', showcases Dominowe's original style in the context of the Durban electronic music scene especially when paced beside Gqom and Sghubu. The listener gets a real sense of his complexity and the variety of styles Dominowe is capable of producing. "SiyaThakatha", the EP name, is translated _black_ _magic,_ or, _we witching - _ which is right at the heart of this release: that listening to these sounds invite you into the universe of an unseen world, putting you in touch with what can only described as invisible energy - a combination of the ideal, the intangible, the unattainable and the other-worldly whilst on journey with a 19year old from Durban whose music is composed of influence and innovation. It is about gqom working its magic on the dance floor for people to move - to the distinctive beats and cultural rhythms. It features four tracks - including one skit outro - as well as three tracks on digital download. The tracks were chosen specifically as a reflection of the variety of styles Dominowe produces and the originality of his productions.

Sometimes in life you find yourselves at a point where you need to walk away and leave something behind if you ever want to go back to it. Other paths must be walked, other experiences learnt from to give you a fresh view of where you've come from. In that sense going back to the roots, rediscovering their past with fresh eyes, is the concept behind Richard Dorfmeister & Rupert Huber's new Tosca album, 'Going Going Going'.For over two decades and several albums Tosca has served as a vehicle for Richard and Rupert to express their personal moods and impressions, each release holding up a mirror to their inner lives. Now though after ten albums the journey has come full circle and once again they've returned to the kind of instrumental tracks, full of deep beats and dubbed out textures that made Tosca's name. The result is 'Going Going Going', an album that Tosca fans will immediately recognize and yet one that doesn't just trade on former glories. Hitting the ground running opening track 'Import Export' sounds like a Lee Scratch Perry version of a Ennio Morricone soundtrack, a motif reoccurs throughout the album, most notably on 'Dr Dings', their reinterpretation of America's classic 'Horse With No Name'.

East Wall was an Italian electronic dark wave band formed by Fabrizio Chiari (ex keyboardist of Kirlian Camera) and Wilma Notari in 1982. After a series of demos and live performances, the duo recruited Angelo Bergamini of Kirlian Camera to help with arrangement and synthesizers. In September 1984 they booked a recording time at Master Studio 33 in Cremona Italy. Working with produced Ray Masola, they recorded their debut single 'Eyes Of Glass', which was released on No Comment in early 1985. The equipment set up was a PPG Wave 2, Roland ProMars, Roland Juno 60, Simmons drum, and an upright piano. 'Eyes Of Glass' is an outstanding example of 1980s Italo disco full of dark, moody atmosphere and depth. Wilma Notari's coy vocals cast a spell on the listener as she weaves a story about lost love and 'bitter tears'. Included here are the original extended 12' mix and instrumental version with mid-song breakdown and dubbed out chorus.

Yellow Vinyl

Elektro Guzzi combine club music and live performance to a unique, energetic mixture. They overcome the rigid boundary of analog versus digital, unifying the human being with his machines in an unprecedented way and surprising the listener with their innovative productions. Sónar, Roskilde, Melt!, C/O Pop or Mutek are just a few stations among others, where Elektro Guzzi fascinated with their dynamic live show, without the use of computers or loops.

With their new EP - Parade , the first release on German label Denovali, Elektro Guzzi broaden their trinity of drums, bass and e-guitar. With implementing trombones as extra oscillators, dissociating them from their conventional use, the trombones become part of the human-machine-universe and are used as an additional sound source in order to modulate and explore its variety live on the stage.

The four tracks emerged from commissioned work for the Artacts Festival for Jazz and Improvised Music. They move along familiar paths, but also show some new, unusual dimensions of Elektro Guzzi. Opener - Element starts gently, bringing the trombones slowly into appearance, culminating in that driving groove, which whips the melancholic sound of the track. Title track - Parade reveals the new source of inspiration of the Vienna-based trio. From Haitian Rara music, through New Orleans brass bands to Basic Channel dub, Elektro Guzzi create rhythms beyond four-to-floor, with that special, warm vibe, which remains in the ear of the listener.

Recording, mixing and sound design results from a collaboration with sound enthusiast Nik Hummer. The - Parade -EP hypnotizes the listener with its diversity of sounds, with floating and dubby rhythms, situated in a stunning sound aesthetic, in which the feeling of its live performance is conserved.

From the whip-like crack of Yako's signature staccato vocals and impossible-to-memorize lyrics to the relentless overdrive tempo of their oneof-a-kind prog-core, Melt-Banana have long resided in a cybertopia of their own devising where the limits of technology and human capability are old-world concerns as quaint and cumbersome as bartering with a blacksmith. The demos for Fetch, their first studio album since the severely fried pop-punk of 1997's Bambi's Dilemma, were completed in March 2011, but the Fukushima earthquake changed everything, including
their ability to concentrate on recording. Which stopped completely.

Once they felt ready to return to their music, they decided to approach the songs on a sound-by-sound basis, choosing each tone with meticulous attention to detail, affirming their personal connections, being themselves naturally and openly.


Fetch scrapes glam shimmers off punk's outermost fringes and forges them into a rather intensely technical Deanscape packed with fantastical hybrids. Agata's guitar riffs, seemingly composed in tandem with skipping CD players, are more bad-ass than ever, bright and fractured like the soundtrack for a CC-Hennix-scored biker flick. The album is juiced with electronics and post-rock production, tempering what could easily be a
tiresome and predictable frenzy, yielding unexpected associations: Kate Bush climaxing on Walter White's blue meth; demos of late-period Wire playing metal run through Wasp synthesizers and Autotune; unripe wild
lychees keeping time on an Ankgor Wat tin roof during a monsoon.

They've been performing live as a duo since summer 2012, and will do the same for their '2 do what 2 fetch' tour in support of the album. After nearly 20 years of playing with a live rhythm section, their use of a PC, while opening possibilities for a variety of drum and synth voicings, does not signal a move away from the traditional live band sound, as heard, for example, via the future transmissions from downtown Noiseapolis on
2009's Lite Live: Ver. 0.0. Yako and Agata say they need to feel real band sounds onstage as much as someone in the audience. This is a group that routinely excels at several kinds of impossible simultaneously, so of course any new challenge they come up with for themselves is sure to blow the doors off your Mini Cooper. - First record as a duo expands the M-B sound
into multiple dimensions - LP includes digital download card; first
pressing on clear vinyl

TS07 is the 4th EP of the TONE SERIES project and in line with the previous three releases TS08, -09 and -10. However, while MACHINE DREAM freezes you up with its winter grooves whilst on your way to the club, KEEP THE BOMB warms you up as soon as you get inside. Whereas MACHINE DREAM unveals shamanik percussions driving a tribal acid vibe with a big amount of pads that make the track ramping crescendo up, KEEP THE BOMB establishes itself as a major dance floor tune with its killer beast, cruising vibe and staccato voice percussion. With regard to the artwork, as shown on the cover, each track has its own colour. There is neither a A nor a B-side. The same applies to the record vinyl itself. Each track stands on it own. As a result, MACHINE DREAM and KEEP THE BOMB distinguish themselves from each other through their vibes and colours, although they remain in the same spirit. In summary, TONE SERIES brings together the idea of interdependence between music and design: what colour follows on from music and, in return, which musicality comes out of colours.TONE SERIES was born from the collaboration between late Villa's former bouncer (one of the most underground clubs of Berlin) Wolfram, French music producer, live performer and DJ David K, and LumièresLaNuit's co-founder and An der Grenze's founder.

Phantom Forth were the brother sister team of Paul Luker (Guitar, Bass, Vocals), Debbie Luker (Drums, Guitar, Vocals) and Lorraine Steele (Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals). They formed in 1981 in Auckland, New Zealand. Paul began recording his own music after purchasing a 2-track from Oceania Sound. He formed a band with his flatmate and eventually met Lorraine through Debbie. With a shared love of Young Marble Giants and Cabaret Voltaire they started to rehearse at LAB Studio.

'The EEPP' was recorded in 1983 within a few weeks at Progressive Music Studios. Slated for release in February 1984, the mini-album finally appeared in November on Flying Nun Records. It contained seven moody sketches of Auckland. Their sound blends cold wave guitars, drum-machine propelled post-punk with female vocals. The core recording set up was a Casio-Tone VL, Boss DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, Roland TR-606 and an acoustic Yamaha bass. All original vinyl copies contained many clicks and pops and due to paper bits from previous jobs that pressing plant melted down. Included with this reissue are two early demos recorded at LAB in 1982, made prior to Lorraine joining the band, plus a recording from the Flying Nun live compilation 'The Last Rumba'.

All songs have been remastered from the original master tapes for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in sleeve with original artwork collage designed by Paul Lurker. Each LP includes a two-sided 8.5x11 poster with notes and photos.

A year after their impressive last album Burn It Down, Detroit techno legends Octave One are back with a nine track double EP that again shows they are masters of big hypnotic grooves.

Entitled Love by Machine, the album's name is a nod to the fact that the Burden brothers are such revered masters of their hardware. Both in the studio, where they cook up atmospheric house and techno with soaring synths and vocals and also in the live arena, where they are celebrated as one of the most accomplished and forward thinking performers in the game today. That is all the more impressive when you bear in mind they have been active since the '80s, most often releasing on their own 430 West label, which is where they appear again here.

Say Lenny: We've been exploring the theme of connection with this project. How technology gives us the illusion that we are closer to each other more than ever. At some point humanity crossed a line where the devices that we created to bring us together are the same devices that are blocking us from organic experiences.'

Technology is only a tool, which we also had in mind during the recording process.' Adds Lawrence. We decided to go back to how we used to make our records, when we didn't have so many 'sophisticated' audio devices. Back to when we interacted in the studio together as musicians.'

Things open up with the loose metallic percussive line that is In Mono, which sets the machine made tone and is filled with promise. Locator then immediately gets to action with a gallivanting techno kick and various synth lines wrapping round each other as you get sucked into the groove. Just Don't Speak (Midnight Sun Redub) is a more deep and house leaning track with big feel good piano keys and slithering synths that will get hands in the air. Proving they have real range, 7 B4 Dawn is a moody and reserved cut with subtle acid pricks, hip swinging claps and a spaced out dead of night feel.


The second half of the album offers peak time business in the form of the spectacular Bad Love II, the whirring and cosmic Sounds of Jericho and the big loops and fluid grooves of (Where) Time Collides. Pain Pressure is a wonky number with big bassline and a focus on percussive patterns as well as some vocals with real attitude and last cut 8 B4 Dawn ends things in a downbeat and sombre way with sad chords and emotive strings. It is pure Detroit, much like the whole album, and rounds out another fine release from these most revered veterans.

The first vinyl LP on our specially created Pied Piper imprint - featuring established favourites, recent discoveries and other rarities from the Detroit-based production company.

First northern soul collectors scoured the junk shops, charity shops, deletion bins and mail order lists for records by their favourite artists. Next they tried other discs on labels for which their heroes appeared. Later came the search for titles by songwriters such as Van McCoy, Popcorn Wylie and Ashford & Simpson and the work of producers, arrangers and the companies they worked for.

Pied Piper was a Detroit-based production company with a big enough catalogue to have been a successful indie label in its own right. Apart from their own short-lived Giant imprint, they were credited on another 20-plus 45s and three LPs issued on various other logos. Even more impressive was the music they left on master tapes. Around 50 finished tracks have emerged over the last 20 years and it has been Kent's honour to release them on our specially created Pied Piper label. This is our first vinyl album taken from that catalogue.

Included are perennial favourites such as 'I'm Not Built That Way' by the Hesitations, 'That's When I Need You' by Freddy Butler and Mikki Farrow's 'Set My Heart At Ease', which we've mixed with recently discovered soul sensations 'Voo Doo Madamoiselle', 'More Than A Memory' and 'We Go Together'. As a bonus, the version of the Cavaliers' 'We Go Together' is a completely different take to the one on our first Pied Piper CD, featuring a rap intro all serious fans will need. Nancy Wilcox's opening track 'More Than A Memory' is a superior sounding master taken from a recently discovered tape and there are alternative original takes of Lorraine Chandler's 'I Can't Hold On' and 'You Only Live Twice'. Classy rarities from Tony Hester, September Jones and Rose Batiste complete the collection.

Ady Croasdell

Originally released on Trojan in 1974, it was essentially a re-release of the Soul Rebels LP from 1970, with a few extra tracks. This historic release marked Bob Marley & the Wailers first collaboration with Lee Perry and the true beginning of their musical and spiritual commitment to Rastafari. This is Bob Marley and the original Wailers (Peter Tosh & Bunny Wailer) long before they became international reggae superstars with Island. The tracks found here redefined reggae music, tracks like "Soul Rebel," "Duppy Conqueror," "Small Axe" never sounded better.

**LP + Download - Bonus track 'Three Tears' on download***Natalie Mering, the being behind Weyes Blood, embeds her sublime song in a harmonic gauze of arpeggiated piano, acoustic guitar, druggy horns, & outer space electronics. Propulsive, spare drums carry us across the album's course. There is a faded California beauty to Front Row. A gentle honesty that recalls the finest folk music made on the West Coast of the '70s. The hue hangs in the sweet-spooky harmonies, the pulsing sway of the vibrato & the ecstatic chord resolves. But this beauty is scratched with shadow, with dark foreboding, alienation, & acceptance of change. Love & loss balance together in suspended alchemy, as the earthiness of the singer-songwriter tradition wears digital sounds like feathers in its hair. Mering, together with co-producer Chris Cohen contrasts live band intimacy with the post-modern electric sheen of A.M. radio atmospherics. The experimental flourishes sparkle amid the succinct, thoughtful arrangements.The closeness of this record - how personal, alone, & frank it feels - conceals its aspirations to the outside, to the "Earth" of its title. Weyes Blood harbors devastating weight while also universalizing the strange ways of identity & relationships. These are not typical love songs or protest songs -- they are painful, poignant riddles that celebrate the ambiguity of love & affirm the conflict of harmonious life within a disharmonic world.

Remember how badly we wanted to join them and be part of those sea-faring adventures: Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf, classic TV shows based on his novel The Road, on Radu Toduran’s novels... back then, a couple decades ago, the titles of these shows alone were enough to trigger some strong gusts in our hearts, salty squalls perfect for imaginary downwind journeys we dreamed of with billowing sails. We wanted to cruise alongside albatrosses, seagulls, and fellow sailors. Floating high above a three-masted vessel, we watched our own adventures unfold far below, an imagined movie scene complete with a whole crew that worked the rigging, and all the rest. Cutting waves. Amidst the storm and stress of sounds hitting our eardrums far out in the ocean. Combined with the sounds of rotors, of tropics crossed, of marimbas and cabin wood pounded, of strange music spotted in the distance. And even though it was merely for an hour or two that we were rescued by that seal-hunting ship “Ghost,” as Jack London had it, plus, even worse, often found ourselves surrounded by villains: it was a great escape, for we’d successfully set sails – to new and exciting places.

Both around their own Weilheim shores and elsewhere, brothers Markus and Micha Acher have launched various musical vessels, bands and free-floating constellations over the past three decades – and yet: amid all these other speedboats and unlikely sonic barges, The Notwist has always remained the mother ship. This new album documents the latest live incarnation of this very band, which also features Andi Haberl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Cico Beck. Recorded on December 16, 2015 on the second of three consecutive, sold-out nights at UT Connewitz in Leipzig, Germany, "Superheroes, Ghost-Villains & Stuff" indeed feels like a first-hand live experience caught on triple vinyl. That’s why it’s the definitive album of The Notwist’s career.

Although there is one song that points to the early, “louder years” of The Notwist – “One Dark Love Poem” off the album Nook –, the rest of the night’s set sees the band perform all the major hits off Neon Golden, The Devil, You + Me, and Close To The Glass. However, these are different, organically enhanced versions, new interpretations and combinations that feel much more alive; thanks to Olaf Opal’s incredible mix, they sometimes even outshine the original studio recordings. Listening to "Superheroes, Ghost-Villains & Stuff" feels like watching these songs evolve and change, moving from one frame to the next, much like a baroque triptych.

What starts out like ‘wimmelbook’ imagery, the music soon folds and unfolds like a Moebius strip: Sans bottom or top, sans inside or outside, the inside becomes the outside and vice versa. It’s all about sonic interconnection, about music as entanglement, music as reconciliation. The rather majestic, cinematic (indie) pop and experimental, kraut- infused jazz, the spirit of the enlightenment and baroque playfulness, the traces of modernism and minimal music, dub leanings, hip-hop lessons, and even hints of house music: here is where they all come together, reconciled in a sound that’s both melancholy and romantic. And ultimately, the spirit of these songs is set free – and the band has released itself, is free at last.

As for the album title, it’s lifted from the song “Kong,” and encapsulates Markus Acher’s motto. Throughout the track, the water theme first appears as a dangerous threat: a force that’s strong enough to wash away an entire house; and yet the fluid state keeps transforming and eventually releases that sense of threat into something rather hopeful, a new musical beginning, a melodic departure that ultimately leads to euphoria and a renewed spirit of adventure. These are the strong gusts mentioned above, it’s the spirit of discovery, the urge to set sail together. The crew’s back at it, working the instruments, the rigging, with sails a- billow, launching the next voyage of discovery, assuming the East in the West and vice versa. And thus the adventure saga continues.

Pico Be (Das Weiße Pferd)

Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer are creatures of habit. Every week, the two club veterans meet up at Phillip's studio and spend an entire day making tunes. And while Gerd often likes to joke that his role in the arrangement is limited to making coffee and looking at his cell phone, it's clear that the two men have forged a potent partnership, one that's been responsible for an astonishing amount of dancefloor heat over the past few years.

Incredibly, this German pair has managed to maintain a relatively low profile, despite the steady stream of music they've released via well-respected labels like Unterton, Delsin, Internasjonal, Permanent Vacation and Live at Robert Johnson. And then there are the remixes—Azari & III, Scuba, The Juan Maclean, Fort Romeau, Avalon Emerson, Massimiliano Pagliara and Sinkane are just a small sampling of the artists who've enlisted Tuff City Kids to work their studio magic.

Throughout it all, there have been whispers of a proper Tuff City Kids album, and now that Adoldesscent has arrived, it will be all but impossible for the duo to linger in the background. After all, the LP is anything but shy—thanks in part to hooky vocal turns from the likes of Annie, Joe Goddard, Kelley Polar and Jasnau—and even the album's instrumental cuts feature some clear nods to various eras of dance-pop, from the boogie-inflected funk of 'Wake People' to the breakbeat techno of 'Boilered' and the tweaky rave nostalgia of 'Nordo.' Elsewhere, first single 'Labyrinth' is an infectious bit of new wave, while the guitar-driven 'Scared' recalls the gloomier side of '80s pop and 'Tell Me' is perhaps the record's most playfully soulful moment.

DJs will likely gravitate toward the darting strings of 'Aska' and breezy vibes of 'Farewell House,' yet Adoldesscent isn't entirely focused on the dancefloor. Dreamy opener 'Ophmar' evokes the legacy of John Carpenter, while the crunchy 'R-Mancer' offers up a sort of psychedelic synth freakout.

Much like the Tuff City Kids themselves, Adoldesscent isn't about any one style or sound in particular. It is, however, a cohesive effort, along with proof that the different corners of the electronic spectrum have a lot more in common than we'd all like to admit. More importantly, it's a whole lot of fun, and isn't that what dance music is supposed to be about anyways

We're extremely pleased here at Invisble Inc HQ to be releasing this amazing new album by veteran multi-instrumentalist and ethno-musicologist Jon Keliehor.
Originally from Seattle and musically active since the 1960s Jon started out playing drums and percussion in bands like The Daily Flash and Bodine all the while becoming known as a venerable session and touring musician in his own right. Not many people can claim to have played alongside Jim Morrison AND James Brown....but Jon certainly has.
Moving to London in the '70s where he lived until the mid '80s, Jon started composing music for theatre, drama and dance. During this time his own work veered toward the more experimental and it was during this period that two of his 'cult' library music albums saw the light of day (East Meets West on Bruton and Avantgarde on Studio G).
Returning to Seattle in the early '90s Jon joined Gamelan Pacifica where he developed his knowledge of Javanese and Balinese gamelan and for whom he became a primary composer of non-traditional pieces. In the late '90s Jon moved to Glasgow with world renowned percussionist (and his then partner) Signy Jacobsdottir and they both became staple members of Gamelan Naga Mas with whom they are still active today.

Pampa is ecstatic to welcome Berlin's Mike Denhert for his label debut. Known for an uncompromising, heads-down approach to moving dance floors, whether as a producer, a DJ, or in his live incarnation, Mike has provided 2 original tracks that are as distinct as they are relentless, possessed of a cerebral quality that belies their tough and stripped back aesthetic. How Close To Be' is a stuttering march of half heard and half imagined discourse, broken by bright synthesis which disappears before it can fully form, with the disorientating sonics held in check only by the rigidity of rhythm running throughout the tracks length. It's both surprising and linear. Dark and uplifting. Me Too' is also a creature of opposing ideologies. Warped moving Jazz plays with static Motorik patterns, automation curls around repetition, and textures change position throughout. Bright keys warp, and swing ebbs in and flows out, all to an eventually breathless but ultimately compelling sum of these parts.

For their third Delicacies 12" this year, SMD take a deeper, more spaced out approach, in contrast to the strict techno of the previous two releases. "Far Away From A Distance" features hypnotic synth washes that glide slowly in and out of time with the track's rhythmic bed, stumbling over each other in a 5am haze. "Flying Or Falling" pushes into classic SMD melodies, mournful Detroit indebted warmth spilling over the groove.
Guest remixer this time is the ever excellent Lena Willikens, delivering massive club fire in the form of her own much more minimal take on 'Far Away From A Distance", stripping it back and only allowing the melody to intrude in the last third.
After a short hiatus following their modular-only, desert recorded last album 'Whorl', during which SMD's James Ford found himself on production duties for everyone and their dog, SMD are back with bunch of techno cuts on their own Delicacies label.
Over a couple of months in Jas Shaw's newly re-located synth-dense studio in leafy Kent, which saw SMD once again experiment with live jams as the basis for their production, they've pulled together a selection of eight tracks for release as a series of four singles over the coming months.
SMD fans will note that the earlier naming convention of Delicacies has fallen by the wayside - for the simple reason that we've pretty much run out of weird and wonderful food stuffs to steal names from. Instead, a semi-random automated process has been used to create the track names.

First complete Sonic Youth album is one of Thurston Moore's favorites. Includes live cover of The Stooges' I Wanna Be Your Dog'. Vinyl includes digital download. Originally slated to be a 7' to follow up their self-titled debut, Sonic Youth's Confusion Is Sex blossomed into the band's first album: a brain-bludgeoning, completely fried endeavor of dissonance and disarray, a perfect soundtrack for running from a chain-wielding gang near the SIN Club. This was the sound of 1983 New York City, nothing like the jangly roots of college radio rock starting to formulate in Athens, Georgia. It sounded like no one else on Earth, for that matter. The raw, Wharton Tiers 8-track production is dark, the Kim Gordon- scrawled cover figure art of Thurston Moore is dark, Lee Ranaldo's back cover photo-collage and Catherine Ceresole's crumpled-xeroxed images that adorned the inside are dark. It's an album that moves Sonic Youth forward from their first EP almost by devolving backwards into true ugly, lo-fi primitivity. The bareboned arsenal of junkpile guitars and implementation of alternate tunings was growing, and so were the songs that matched the individual attributes of each instrument: certain ones groan and growl a specific way that the band started to realize itself could become the compositional germ of a song. Herein is the threshold of a new explosion of the band's creativity, replacing the comparatively cleaner buzz of the Sonic Youth EP with guitars that spew fractured, uglier chunks of sound everywhere, held down by menacing minimalist basslines (actually played by Thurston on half of this LP, and for the only time ever on Protect Me You,' Lee) and the brutal-yet-controlled metronomic drumming of Jim Sclavunos, augmented with replacement drummer Bob Bert's notable bashing on Making the Nature Scene' and grotty no-fi live rendition of I Wanna Be Your Dog.' Hearing the crashedwindow intro of Inhuman' and subway-brake screech of The World Looks Red,' you can attest that while Sonic Youth's guitars are not quite yet being utilized in the totally controlled, lyrical fashion seen later on albums like Evol, Daydream Nation et al., they were well aware of the colors and tonalities that were unfolding and the possibilities presented. Also, they were getting a grasp on adding colors to the chaos with tempered, simmering moments like Gordon's Shaking Hell' and Renaldo's chimy, home-taped Lee is Free.' Making the Nature Scene' and The World Looks Red' even toss in glints of hip-hop vocal approach way ahead of its time, albeit through a blender. While its confrontationalism might have put off some critics, time has rewarded Confusion with a truly distinctive air and atmosphere in the Sonic discography, enough to have Moore declare it his fave along with the band's swan-song The Eternal. Brian Turner, WFMU.

Debut album from Pacific NW rising star, named "Best Electronic Act" in 2015 by the Seattle Weekly. ** Past Press Coverage as included: A NPR Weekend Edition Feature, Spin, Stereogum, KEXP Live in studio performce, CMJ. ** Past performance highlights: Bonarroo Decibel Festical, Bumbershoot, Capitol Hill Block Party, Sasquatch Festival, What The Festival, & Bonnaroo, as well as national tours with acts like Emancipator, Blockhead, Blackbird Blackbird, Chad Valley, Yppah, ** First single from the album "What We've Got" feat. Flint Eastwood passed 500,000 Spotify plays and 135,000 Soundcloud plays in a month's time.

Amidst the lush environs of his northwest roots, Manatee Commune has fermented an organically molded electronic sound that has been teasing the synapses of audiophiles over the last few years. While not a stranger in the Pacific Northwest, Grant Eadie's tracks have grown tentacles that stretch deep into the dance floor, fueled by natural overtones that he extracts from field recordings. Following the head-turning EP 'Thistle' on Brooklyn-based label Bastard Jazz Recordings (Illa J, Lord Echo, & others) from earlier this year, he comes to the label armed with violin arrangements, nuanced programming and pressure-sensitive LED drum breaks peppering the audio-visual experience of his participatory live performances. His debut album Manatee Commune is set for a September 16th release on Bastard Jazz, and displays the elevated confidence and deft touch of a producer truly finding his footing. Already opening for Bonobo, and recently touring with Chad Valley and Blackbird Blackbird, Manatee Commune has been featured on NPR, Stereogum, and Spin, amongst other outlets.

Eadie describes the inspiration behind his approach: "Learning how to share my creative process with my friends completely revolutionized the last of year of music for me. Inviting those I trusted and loved into my studio to spend even just an hour talking or jamming opened fountains of inventive energy for me, especially from the ones who lacked any musical knowledge. I soon found myself incredibly inspired by the originality of even the smallest interactions with people, and so I pointed my field mic at anyone who had a story, a melody, or a stumbling beat they had been absentmindedly drumming, all in the hopes of capturing their individuality and framing it with my ever expanding insight into audio production."

Reimagining his musical approach by opening his studio and microphone to friends, collaborators and loved ones, Eadie was able to release fountains of inventive energy from these deeply personal interactions, inspired by anybody who had a story, a melody or a stumbling beat to share. Key elements are amplified that get Manatee Commune audiences bouncing, while cultivating his warm and textured production aesthetic to further complexity, layer by shimmering layer.

Detroit isn't just a place. Sure, it IS a place, and those who physically live there know its triumphs and its tragedies far better than anyone else. But Detroit is also a feeling, a sound, a philosophical home for those who connect with the futuristic, dystopian sounds of Detroit techno and electro on a deep level.

Those tendrils of connection reach far and wide, bringing people from all over the world into orbit with the people and sounds of the city, connecting through the snap of a snare, the wiggly groove winding its way through the beat, the beauty in the sound of strings, the anger in a bubbling bassline.

On this label collaboration between two modern purveyors of techno and electro, Detroit Underground and Detroit Techno Militia have brought their game face and also connected Detroit with producers from elsewhere who've long been tapped into the techno and electro zeitgeist.Activating legendary techno mystery collective Scan 7 for the leadoff title track Direct Effect, they take us on a high speed chase, a desperately frenetic percussion jam crunching its way through the bass bedrock for maximum damage. DTM's T.Linder then slams down the accelerator on a brutal remix, kicking up the stomp and reversing the bass for a subtle melodic turn, while the ride cymbals cut deep enough to draw blood. Romania's Andrew Red Hand, known for his fierce electro production, does not disappoint with his remix. He drops down into the classic low slung bass and snare rhythm, letting the metallic bass bubble up like a submariner surfacing with soundsystem intact.

Rounding out with a cave dwelling minimalist stomper are extant techno legends Teste. Originally from Hamilton, now based in Berlin, Teste bring their hypnotic sensibility to a hammer beat to end the remix lineup with a bang.

Packing much sonic variety into four tracks, Direct Effect shows that Detroit's heart is still beating strong, collecting people in the path of its sound, mapping out a line between techno soldiers far and wide. It's what made the city great, and why it remains the spiritual home of techno.

Recovering from the gray decay of the winter here in Berlin, we are more than ready to push forward farther into the future. In order to do so the powers at Chronicle have aligned a new musical offering to test the palate of those who know, and those who care. We are pleased to present six tracks from the prolific Arnaud le Texier, who has made waves for years with his Children of Tomorrow imprint and renowned taste. From cosmic interludes to heavy hitting transcendence, Arnaud manages to showcase all sides of his production skills as they translate into a compelling and emotive narrative. Among them stands a tribute to one who was lost along the way that we simply do not want to forget. Only rarely in this life do we stand witness to gures that make a true impression, an imprint that continues to leave a mark long after the original has passed. Max_M was one of these gures, and it is through his music and immensely dignified curatorial prowess that his legacy will live on. Arnaud's poignant tribute stands as a personal note amongst an EP full of forceful techno suitable for deep space exploration.

Repress

Peter Zummo (born 1948) is an American composer and musician. He plays the trombone, valve trombone, euphonium, synthesizer, other electronic instruments, and also sings. He is associated with the postminimalist and Downtown aesthetics, and he describes his music as "minimalism plus a whole lot more." He's well-known for his work with Arthur Russell.
"In this project for Optimo, the listener can hear that my musical food pyramid has musicians at top, or maybe they are at the bottom. In any case, they are important. That is why, from track to track, I selected
segments in which one player or another is featured in the take. Some may think that we musicians do multiple takes to get the perfect performance, but I like to find the special interactions lurking in each excursion. Different players came forward in each of the takes, which were recorded in the studios Seaside Lounge and Headroom, in Brooklyn, and live in performances at Cube Cinema, in Bristol, U.K., as well as in Long Island City and on Staten Island, New York.
In order to escape the tyranny of the lyric, I am exploring in this release the possibilities of nonsensical and non-emotional lyrics. These kinds of lyrics bring the singing voices into the mix without an overweening message. The tracks include open-form compositions in which the duration was not specified."