Search:time horizon

Universe Room is the eighteenth Guided By Voices album in ten years and packs a vast mix of energy levels and sounds into seventeen diverse tracks in less than forty minutes. The new record ventures into truly surprising territory, where barely any song segments and choruses are revisited and fidelity daringly shifts between lo-fi and hi-fi.

“I wanted to create, hopefully, an experience, kind of a wild ride, where the listener would want to hear it multiple times in order to grasp all the sections and fields of sound to discover something new with each listen,” says Robert Pollard. “I trimmed down the songs so that there wasn’t a lot of repetition, so you get a lot of sections that happen only once or twice.”

Universe Room embodies a realm of new horizons for Guided By Voices, who continue to redefine and expand as they blast off to unpredictable worlds.

Wer Lacuna Coil kennt, weiss, dass jedes Album ihrer beeindruckenden Karriere mehr als nur einen typischen Bandsound liefer-te: Jedes Album ist ein reichhaltig strukturierter Soundtrack zur jeweiligen Epoche und zu einem bestimmten Ort. Bei "Sleepless Empire" ist dieser Ort düster, cineastisch und verströmt unverkennbar die Stimmung, die Lacuna Coil zu einem so gefeierten Eintrag in die Chronik der harten Musik gemacht haben. Ohne ihre spezielle Art von Gesang, Gitarrensound oder Schlagzeugarbeit wäre "Sleepless Empire" - der orchestrale Teil - ein cineastischer Soundtrack. Von den kolossalen Refrains des Album-Openers "The Siege" über das verrucht eingängige "I Wish You Were Dead" bis hin zum unbändig klassischen Feeling des Titeltracks von "Sleepless Empire" - die Souveränität von Lacu-na Coils neuestem Werk ist unüberhörbar, und doch hat es auch einige Überraschungen zu bieten. Sie erscheinen in Form zweier ganz besonderer Gastauftritte von niemand Geringerem als der New Years Day-Banshee Ash Costello auf ihrem Epos "In The Mean Time" und einem ohrenbetäubend überdrehten Beitrag von Lamb of God-Sänger Randy Blythe auf "Hosting the Sha-dow". Und wenn "Sleepless Empire" etwas Besonderes ist, dann ist es mehr als nur diese gesangliche Kreuzbefruchtung. Wie Sänger Andrea Ferro erklärt, liegt der Schlüssel zu Lacuna Coils ewig jugendlicher Ausstrahlung in ihrer Neugier und ihrer Fähigkeit, kreativ auf neue Inspirationen zu reagieren, ohne dabei die langjährigen Qualitäten aus den Augen zu verlieren, welche die Band zu dem machen, was sie ist - und er zählt Sleep Token, Spiritbox, Bad Omens und Bring Me The Horizon als Beispiele für andere Bands auf, die dasselbe tun, um die Szene und ihren eigenen Sound lebendig zu halten. Dieser unabhängige Geist ist der Schlüssel, um Lacuna Coils künstlerisches Vorrecht gegen das Gewicht der Erwartungen abzuwägen, und Ferro beschreibt mit Nachdruck, wie diese seltsamen Zeiten eine Fülle an Material hervorgebracht haben, die die gewichtigen Texte und die Stimmung von "Sleepless Empire" beeinflusst haben. Der Sound von Lacuna Coil ist düster, er spiegelt die Gesellschaft wider, in der wir leben - er ist ein Porträt unserer Zeit. Er zeugt von der Veränderung unserer Gesellschaft, dem "Sleepless Empire", in dem jeder immer am Handy ist, immer scrollt, immer et-was tut - von morgens bis abends, es hört einfach nie auf. Eine Philosophie, die sich in jedem Aspekt von "Sleepless Empire" widerspiegelt.

Wer Lacuna Coil kennt, weiss, dass jedes Album ihrer beeindruckenden Karriere mehr als nur einen typischen Bandsound liefer-te: Jedes Album ist ein reichhaltig strukturierter Soundtrack zur jeweiligen Epoche und zu einem bestimmten Ort. Bei "Sleepless Empire" ist dieser Ort düster, cineastisch und verströmt unverkennbar die Stimmung, die Lacuna Coil zu einem so gefeierten Eintrag in die Chronik der harten Musik gemacht haben. Ohne ihre spezielle Art von Gesang, Gitarrensound oder Schlagzeugarbeit wäre "Sleepless Empire" - der orchestrale Teil - ein cineastischer Soundtrack. Von den kolossalen Refrains des Album-Openers "The Siege" über das verrucht eingängige "I Wish You Were Dead" bis hin zum unbändig klassischen Feeling des Titeltracks von "Sleepless Empire" - die Souveränität von Lacu-na Coils neuestem Werk ist unüberhörbar, und doch hat es auch einige Überraschungen zu bieten. Sie erscheinen in Form zweier ganz besonderer Gastauftritte von niemand Geringerem als der New Years Day-Banshee Ash Costello auf ihrem Epos "In The Mean Time" und einem ohrenbetäubend überdrehten Beitrag von Lamb of God-Sänger Randy Blythe auf "Hosting the Sha-dow". Und wenn "Sleepless Empire" etwas Besonderes ist, dann ist es mehr als nur diese gesangliche Kreuzbefruchtung. Wie Sänger Andrea Ferro erklärt, liegt der Schlüssel zu Lacuna Coils ewig jugendlicher Ausstrahlung in ihrer Neugier und ihrer Fähigkeit, kreativ auf neue Inspirationen zu reagieren, ohne dabei die langjährigen Qualitäten aus den Augen zu verlieren, welche die Band zu dem machen, was sie ist - und er zählt Sleep Token, Spiritbox, Bad Omens und Bring Me The Horizon als Beispiele für andere Bands auf, die dasselbe tun, um die Szene und ihren eigenen Sound lebendig zu halten. Dieser unabhängige Geist ist der Schlüssel, um Lacuna Coils künstlerisches Vorrecht gegen das Gewicht der Erwartungen abzuwägen, und Ferro beschreibt mit Nachdruck, wie diese seltsamen Zeiten eine Fülle an Material hervorgebracht haben, die die gewichtigen Texte und die Stimmung von "Sleepless Empire" beeinflusst haben. Der Sound von Lacuna Coil ist düster, er spiegelt die Gesellschaft wider, in der wir leben - er ist ein Porträt unserer Zeit. Er zeugt von der Veränderung unserer Gesellschaft, dem "Sleepless Empire", in dem jeder immer am Handy ist, immer scrollt, immer et-was tut - von morgens bis abends, es hört einfach nie auf. Eine Philosophie, die sich in jedem Aspekt von "Sleepless Empire" widerspiegelt. Sleepless Empire ist erhältlich als Ltd. Deluxe CD Box mit Symbolwürfel-Orakel, als Ltd. CD Digipak, als schwarze LP + LP-Booklet, als limitierte farbige LP + LP-Booklet sowie als digitales Album.

Miki Yui is a musician, artist, and composer, originally from Tokyo, who has been based in Düsseldorf since 1994. Her whose work has long explored multiple forms of media, while documenting liminal zones of perception. On her latest album, As If, Yui creates a subtly connected suite of electronic music, drawn from improvisations and randomised processes that she has engaged with modular synthesis. Deeply poetic in its expression, even at its most minimal, the six pieces on As If have a curious tenor – they are, each of them, intensely sensuous, almost haptic listening experiences, as though the laser focus that Yui displays towards her compositions allows her to engage them as almost physical presences in the world.

One of the keys that unlocks the intimate complexity-in-simplicity of As If was Yui’s encounters with the Amazonian rainforest in Manaus, Brazil in 2018. Finding that the sounds in the rainforest both shadowed and echoed the music she had been making for two decades, she embraced the possibilities of modular synthesis, the sounds of which she discovered “have astonishing similarities to the sounds I experienced in the rainforest.” There is, indeed, something natural about the way these sounds bloom in real time; in their dedicated focus to the subtle development and mutation of several discrete parameters of sound, they grow slowly, gradually, their rhizomic structures suggesting that we are always situated within the middle of sound.

Sometimes, the material here has a kind of febrile energy, as on the ticking, clacking electronics of “Generativ”, a track that seems to rotate in the air in front of the listener, the light reflecting off its multiple surfaces as we catch the intricacies of its micro-patterns. Elsewhere, we slide into a cooled but welcoming environment, like the late-night fire-fly horizon of “Song 4”; there’s also the humid, dripping tropical sunset that’s documented on “Summernight”. It’s a music that’s hard to locate external coordinates for, though there are, perhaps, some parallels with the work of Laurie Spiegel, Eliane Radigue’s Vice Versa, and Pauline Oliveros’s “Roots of the Moment”. But As If is an extraordinary collection of naturally developing, rich studies for slowly mutating, enveloping, elemental electronics.

This sense of speed, this sense of elation. The man who knows no end, Takeshi Inomata, breaks through the limits of groove with his ever-changing stick work.

Another masterpiece released by Takeshi Inomata, a great drummer who has always kept his eye on the times and opened up new horizons, during the golden age of jazz rock. It is a so-called instructional record produced as one of the "Method" series, but its musicality is fiercely funky and groovy, as if provoking the listener. Leading the famous group Sound Limited, which played a part in the development of jazz rock in Japan, he breaks through the limits of groove with his ever-changing stick work. From cover songs such as "Runaway Child" and "Smack Water Jack" to "Sleeper" and "Seven Four" composed by his close friend Norio Maeda, who also participated in the arrangement, and the overwhelmingly powerful drum solo ""Drum Concert"", the diverse selection is filled with a flawless, high-density groove.

In his second EP, Scott Avery takes us on a journey through the life of MK2680—a fictional android, Martian, and human hybrid living between Earth and Mars in the year 3000. A young historian traveling through space and time searching for ancient African music traditions, MK2680's time machine malfunctions on a routine trip to Earth, leaving him stranded in Detroit in 1992. Techno, a genre he had yet to encounter, dominated the dance floors and airwaves during this time. Blown away by its emotional depth, futuristic sound, gritty textures, driving rhythms, and minimal yet hypnotic arrangements, MK2680 endeavored to make music to find a place in the universe. The result is the Dark Side of Mars.

Super Flu has crafted a unique and special track with a fresh reinterpretation of Cher’s legendary Grammy Award winning song “Believe.” Infusing raw electronic beats and atmospheric soundscapes, this track reimagines the classic in a way that resonates with the burgeoning underground dance community, but at the same time retains the essential melodic elements of the tune that gave it such universal appeal. Experience the haunting allure and hypnotic rhythms that only Super Flu can deliver, redefining a timeless anthem for the next generation of listeners.

Early support from Keinemusik, Black Coffee, LP Giobbi, Blondish, Desiree, Adam Ten and more

“My introduction to “noise” came from a record shop in Lake Worth, Florida ran by a musician named Kenny 5. Kenny had left Detroit sometime in the mid nineties and had begun selling used records and CD’s from the downtown strip of this tiny southern Florida city in a humble shop sandwiched between a deli and a dog grooming business. Kenny previously was on labels like Amphetamine Reptile and timeSTEREO, and the records and videotapes that would be on repeat at his shop were a vast sonic expanse that spoke to the eclecticism of his experience as a touring musician participating and adjacent to American noise culture through the early to late 90’s. In 1998, I was eleven years old and I would order a pizza with him and watch VHS tapes of Japanese noise and deathmatch bootlegs, as well as any other sonic and subcultural rarities that far outstripped my age to comprehend (notably the RRR “Journey Into Pain” compilation and various Vanilla Tapes videos). This widecast net of information formed an introduction to a reality that did not fall deaf on me, but it took many years later for me to reorient the specific freedoms of what this dense and cathartic sound culture had imparted on my life and would continue onward to.

What does this have to do with this selection of choice recordings from the Secret Boyfriend catalog for the enmossed label? For the uninitiated, Secret Boyfriend is the long running moniker of Ryan Martin, North Carolina musician and label proprietor of the Hot Releases imprint. For over a decade from this writing I have watched Secret Boyfriend, and Hot Releases by extension as a curatorial and archival effort, embodying the multiplanal capacity that noise loosely functions from as an umbrella ideology and formalist avenue for sound creation. For anecdotal purposes, from (before) 2006 until roughly 2023 the East Coast of the United States showcased a vibrant network of eclectic regional festivals that saw wide swaths of artists addressing and negotiating the notion of what qualified “noise” from a conceptual and ideological perspective. Some festivals honed in on particularities in aesthetics and tropes, and others had a kind of “catch-all” implementation that allowed for a salvation of the sort of alienated and singular artistry that was amassing throughout these territories. While clear guidelines had been set from regional predecessors as to how noise with a capital “N” should maneuver, Secret Boyfriend is emblematic in the spirit of fluidity that was either implicitly coupled to the notion of the genre, or grew to evolve towards or devolve from.

Within Secret Boyfriend performances, I have seen and admired a mirroring from a ravenous appreciator of this culture at large back towards itself. Typical of a Secret Boyfriend set is an interchangeable narrative arc wherein blistering feedback laden scrap metal improvisations are forayed into naive ambient or “pop” songs, or skipping CDs, or mixer feedback play, or delayed Roland 707 drum workouts all at once and in a unique hegemony. Secret Boyfriend's stylistic mastery of each endeavor is at once an homage to a history of loving listening and enacting, while a brave step into the realm of actualizing the unique fluidity of his own practice. In performance and the action of network engagement, Secret Boyfriend operates a survey of that which he sought to hear and that which he cultivates around his work. His operations are mirrors, and the project (alongside his other peers) is a reflection on the ethos of his time.

Conversely his recording practice narrows in on these moments and allows for a different kind of intimacy or alienation for the non live listener. This record of selected “pop songs” (let's call them that) is particularly poignant at a time when the culture Martin mirrors is at a strange crossroads with itself. The aforementioned festival networks necessarily change and shift. The onlookers become the artists, the artists find new horizons, and the spaces for these cycles fade into locales of a distant memory. It seems, from my perspective, that audiences currently yearn for a more bottlenecked experience, searching for some ontologically vetted manifestation of an idea, of a sound and less for an experience that functions in opposition to our collective banalities. This makes sense in the face of general global catastrophism that plagues us. We need certainty of what something is somewhere, don’t we? Noise as an idea has expanded and contracted to so many iterations of itself it is hard to tell what it even is, and it is particularly difficult to identify in the absence of solid network activations a moment to reflect on its own complexities and nuances. In the face of so much change, I argue that the language of noise culture at large has on one hand become increasingly didactic and predictable, and laughably inclusive and non linear on the other. Probably has always been this way, but now we are in the midst of a moment of extreme access and indexicality, which somehow cauterizes expansion and naivety and chance.

This record highlights the Secret Boyfriend that obscures didacticism by highlighting output that opens up for more challenging catharsis and emotive signal processing. It provides an entry to the materialism of a cultural field full of ecstatic complexity and beautiful inconsistency. In these muted moments Secret Boyfriend has given us over his career we have an argument for evolving languages that further challenge our notions of what is supposed to happen and how it is supposed to be presented. In his more song oriented expansiveness, we can punctuate the ability to think in new modalities. Listening to these recordings reminds me of the polarity of sitting in the record store as a kid and understanding that His Name Is Alive is on 4AD and (gasp!) timeSTEREO. This trite early impression that nothing is really as different as our imaginations might want them to be, and that we can do whatever we want mostly within the creative realms we work through is an important filter to look through Secret Boyfriend as a project and a vessel. If we can achieve abandon and vulnerability through our artistic endeavors, then we have a sound model for, maybe, new potentialities. If that’s too much projection, or just complete liberal bullshit, I am fine with that. Secret Boyfriend's oeuvre at best offers us moments of reprieve to ponder these complexities, or at least a moment to zone out on a drive through North Carolina Highway 54.

You have one pocket of life that you must do whatever you want to inside of. Secret Boyfriend does it affectionately, in a variety of forms, and always with deep sentimentality. These recordings are a wonderful set of songs to begin further investigation from. Thank you Ryan for allowing as many avenues as possible to continue a broad cultural exchange and conversation that intersect and refract while being the kind of artist that is brave enough to not phone in the effort.”

- Nick Klein , May 2024

First time on LP worldwide / New liner notes by Graham Parker / Includes the fan favourites "Blue Horizon," "I'll Never Play Jacksonville Again," and "Socks 'N' Sandals" / Packaged as an LP with bonus 7" single / Remastered for vinyl by the album's original co-producer and engineer, Dave Cook / Graham Parker has been pre-promoting this upcoming LP release from the stage/ Graham Parker's fifteenth studio album, Deepcut to Nowhere, was first released by the independent label Razor & Tie in 2001. Parker recalls, "Within weeks after the release date of Deepcut to Nowhere, I was up early driving from New York State to Boston on what seemed like the most beautiful day in the history of autumn, to rehearse with the Figgs for a festival in Oregon, slated for a few weeks later, followed by a tour to support the album. That day was September 11th, 2001." In the aftermath of the attacks, Parker comments, "The press members I spoke to could barely get past the first track on Deepcut to Nowhere, 'Dark Days,' asking me if I was some kind of 'seer,' or had a mysterious crystal ball. Followed by 'I'll Never Play Jacksonville Again,' the opening salvos of the album seemed to capture imminent trauma, but of course, I was just writing songs." As the 12-song set progresses, Parker's focus expands to include the nostalgic "Blue Horizon" ("as emotionally rich a song as I'll ever write"), a dark-humoured take on the evils of colonialism ("Syphilis and Religion"), and the indignity of wearing socks with sandals. Taken together, Deepcut to Nowhere is among Parker's finest and most varied collections of songs, several of which have gone on to become setlist staples. Deepcut to Nowhere, originally released on CD only, finally makes its worldwide LP debut.

The seeds of composer Rafael Anton Irisarri’s latest LP were first planted during his 2016 tour in Italy, months before that Autumn’s unexpected presidential election. The linguistic glitch of an innocuous diner in Milan named “il Mito Americano” – meant as “The American Dream” but translated literally to English as “The American Myth” – sparked a series of ideas, both conceptual and musical.

Amid the chaos of 2020, while exploring the stark world of brutalist architecture and inspired by the false fronts of Potemkin villages, a vision started to take shape: FAÇADISMS. Composed over three years, it’s a late capitalist lament of simmering electric despondency.

Irisarri’s obsession with repeating motifs mirrors the cyclical nature of our tumultuous political history. The album’s eight tracks heave and storm like a tempest being drained of its rage. This is the sound of majestic dissipation, of morning afters, fashioned from a mournful haze with cavernous guitars and granular twilight. A euphony of a receding tide as one sifts through the remnants of what remains: dust, delusion, and memory.

Opening with the somber gauze of “Broken Intensification," FAÇADISMS moves fluidly between moments of absence and abandon. Ashen swaths of electronics billow above smoldering embers of melody, guitar, and scattered streaks of processed strings and voice, as on the rapturous doom of “Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom,” featuring Julia Kent on cello and Hannah Elizabeth Cox on vocals. "The impoverished peoples of the Americas have known all along that 'freedom' is a cruel illusion crafted by the elites, akin to Potemkin's fake villages designed to impress Catherine the Great," Irisarri indicates. "FAÇADISMS illustrates a twisted inversion where the rulers deceive their subjects with illusions of safety, democracy, and free speech to create a grotesque mirage of control over their own lives.”

Elsewhere, Irisarri leans into passages of hushed oblivion (“Hollow,” “Dispersion of Belief”), while ragged drones rumble and disintegrate into wind-battered ambient wreckage. One has the sense that it’s all too late. The hour of fury has passed. The beauty has come and gone. Irisarri’s muse has become the crack in the façade of the unraveling myth.

The record closes with a climax of grand departure. Co-written with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, “Red Moon Tide” surges from flickering elegy to celestial disquiet, roiling waves of hymnal descent, and bristling noise. The effect is unsettling and unmooring: a soundtrack for the soul leaving the body, only to discover a void. It’s the sound of the center not holding, of shared illusions being dissolved in a tunnel of white light.

The cover photograph captures a profound sense of desolation. Taken in the historic shanty town of La Perla, Puerto Rico, where Irisarri spent his childhood, brutal colonial mysteries are lost to time. A skeletal concrete structure decays against an expansive blue horizon. Only the shadow of its shell ripples on the empty sea.

Has the American myth finally run its course?

The seeds of composer Rafael Anton Irisarri’s latest LP were first planted during his 2016 tour in Italy, months before that Autumn’s unexpected presidential election. The linguistic glitch of an innocuous diner in Milan named “il Mito Americano” – meant as “The American Dream” but translated literally to English as “The American Myth” – sparked a series of ideas, both conceptual and musical.

Amid the chaos of 2020, while exploring the stark world of brutalist architecture and inspired by the false fronts of Potemkin villages, a vision started to take shape: FAÇADISMS. Composed over three years, it’s a late capitalist lament of simmering electric despondency.

Irisarri’s obsession with repeating motifs mirrors the cyclical nature of our tumultuous political history. The album’s eight tracks heave and storm like a tempest being drained of its rage. This is the sound of majestic dissipation, of morning afters, fashioned from a mournful haze with cavernous guitars and granular twilight. A euphony of a receding tide as one sifts through the remnants of what remains: dust, delusion, and memory.

Opening with the somber gauze of “Broken Intensification," FAÇADISMS moves fluidly between moments of absence and abandon. Ashen swaths of electronics billow above smoldering embers of melody, guitar, and scattered streaks of processed strings and voice, as on the rapturous doom of “Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom,” featuring Julia Kent on cello and Hannah Elizabeth Cox on vocals. "The impoverished peoples of the Americas have known all along that 'freedom' is a cruel illusion crafted by the elites, akin to Potemkin's fake villages designed to impress Catherine the Great," Irisarri indicates. "FAÇADISMS illustrates a twisted inversion where the rulers deceive their subjects with illusions of safety, democracy, and free speech to create a grotesque mirage of control over their own lives.”

Elsewhere, Irisarri leans into passages of hushed oblivion (“Hollow,” “Dispersion of Belief”), while ragged drones rumble and disintegrate into wind-battered ambient wreckage. One has the sense that it’s all too late. The hour of fury has passed. The beauty has come and gone. Irisarri’s muse has become the crack in the façade of the unraveling myth.

The record closes with a climax of grand departure. Co-written with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, “Red Moon Tide” surges from flickering elegy to celestial disquiet, roiling waves of hymnal descent, and bristling noise. The effect is unsettling and unmooring: a soundtrack for the soul leaving the body, only to discover a void. It’s the sound of the center not holding, of shared illusions being dissolved in a tunnel of white light.

The cover photograph captures a profound sense of desolation. Taken in the historic shanty town of La Perla, Puerto Rico, where Irisarri spent his childhood, brutal colonial mysteries are lost to time. A skeletal concrete structure decays against an expansive blue horizon. Only the shadow of its shell ripples on the empty sea.

Has the American myth finally run its course?

The seeds of composer Rafael Anton Irisarri’s latest LP were first planted during his 2016 tour in Italy, months before that Autumn’s unexpected presidential election. The linguistic glitch of an innocuous diner in Milan named “il Mito Americano” – meant as “The American Dream” but translated literally to English as “The American Myth” – sparked a series of ideas, both conceptual and musical.

Amid the chaos of 2020, while exploring the stark world of brutalist architecture and inspired by the false fronts of Potemkin villages, a vision started to take shape: FAÇADISMS. Composed over three years, it’s a late capitalist lament of simmering electric despondency.

Irisarri’s obsession with repeating motifs mirrors the cyclical nature of our tumultuous political history. The album’s eight tracks heave and storm like a tempest being drained of its rage. This is the sound of majestic dissipation, of morning afters, fashioned from a mournful haze with cavernous guitars and granular twilight. A euphony of a receding tide as one sifts through the remnants of what remains: dust, delusion, and memory.

Opening with the somber gauze of “Broken Intensification," FAÇADISMS moves fluidly between moments of absence and abandon. Ashen swaths of electronics billow above smoldering embers of melody, guitar, and scattered streaks of processed strings and voice, as on the rapturous doom of “Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom,” featuring Julia Kent on cello and Hannah Elizabeth Cox on vocals. "The impoverished peoples of the Americas have known all along that 'freedom' is a cruel illusion crafted by the elites, akin to Potemkin's fake villages designed to impress Catherine the Great," Irisarri indicates. "FAÇADISMS illustrates a twisted inversion where the rulers deceive their subjects with illusions of safety, democracy, and free speech to create a grotesque mirage of control over their own lives.”

Elsewhere, Irisarri leans into passages of hushed oblivion (“Hollow,” “Dispersion of Belief”), while ragged drones rumble and disintegrate into wind-battered ambient wreckage. One has the sense that it’s all too late. The hour of fury has passed. The beauty has come and gone. Irisarri’s muse has become the crack in the façade of the unraveling myth.

The record closes with a climax of grand departure. Co-written with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, “Red Moon Tide” surges from flickering elegy to celestial disquiet, roiling waves of hymnal descent, and bristling noise. The effect is unsettling and unmooring: a soundtrack for the soul leaving the body, only to discover a void. It’s the sound of the center not holding, of shared illusions being dissolved in a tunnel of white light.

The cover photograph captures a profound sense of desolation. Taken in the historic shanty town of La Perla, Puerto Rico, where Irisarri spent his childhood, brutal colonial mysteries are lost to time. A skeletal concrete structure decays against an expansive blue horizon. Only the shadow of its shell ripples on the empty sea.

Has the American myth finally run its course?

Expected late October/early November

Scott Gilmore’s Volume 01, an Analog Synth Gem, Makes Its Vinyl Debut - Pressed at 45RPM for maximum fidelity.

Recorded on a vintage Tascam 388, the LP version of Gilmore’s alluring, easy-going instrumental electronic record arrives in the physical world via In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi Records.

Los Angeles, CA — When the Los Angeles electronic musician and multi-instrumentalist Scott Gilmore recalls the creation of the songs on Volume 01, he describes specific moments of spontaneous inspiration. “I remember sitting at the tape deck, watching the leaves outside the window as they flittered in the sunlight—a moment of stillness that became intertwined with the melody I was recording,” Gilmore recalls, speaking of the track “Song For Cate.”

This sense of simplicity and presence is at the heart of Volume 01, which was recorded entirely on a Tascam 388 using a carefully curated selection of instruments.

Volume 01, an intimate, instinctual album that mixes lo-fi digital rhythms, strummed guitar, and melodic synth layers, is a collection of songs that captures Gilmore’s magnetic fluidity and the spontaneity of his process. Initially released digitally and as a limited edition cassette, Volume 01 is set to be issued on vinyl for the first time by In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi.

The Tascam 388 is a classic mid-1980s analog machine that combines an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder with a built-in mixing console. Volume 01 exudes the kind of hazy, nostalgic warmth that only such recorders can provide. For the nine-song album, Gilmore harnessed analog synths including the Arp Odyssey, Yamaha CS-01, Korg DW-8000, Hohner Pianet T, Roland TR 606, and Roland SH 101, as well as bamboo alto saxophone, clarinet, electric guitar, and electric bass.

The album is awash in brief, propellant pieces. At just over four minutes, the relatively epic “Horizon Line” is driven by a three-note snare pattern, a two-note cymbal tap, with a humble bass-line serving as the rudder; Gilmore’s improvised keyboard runs move with an intuitive, conversational glee. The pensive "Shade" sounds like it could be a Penguin Cafe Orchestra demo. Closing track “D. Hareem” runs on a wobbly time signature but with an insistent, determined rhythm that belies genre descriptives. “I prefer to not know what I’m making as I compose,” Gilmore says. “It’s when I can’t clearly define what the music is that it’s then something that I want to put out into the world.”

In hindsight, Volume 01 was a portent. After its 2016 cassette release, Gilmore connected with International Feel, the Balearic imprint run by Marc Barrot, to release the sublime Subtle Vertigo. In 2019, Gilmore’s music caught the attention of Marc Hollander, the experimental composer and founding member of Aksak Maboul, which led to a signing with the Belgian label Crammed Discs. That deal enabled the creation of Gilmore’s solo album Two Roomed Motel and Doctor Fluorescent, a retro-futuristic, Vocoder-heavy 2020 collaboration with Eddie Ruscha V, a.k.a. Secret Circuit). Across these projects, Gilmore’s work has been mentioned in the same sentences as Stereolab, Arthur Russell, Woo, Air, R. Stevie Moore, and others, all of whom have combined synths and non-synths to memorable effect.

With the upcoming vinyl release, Volume 01 will set into wax an enduring set of works, offering listeners the chance to experience analog artistry in its most authentic, tangible form. In Sheep’s Clothing Records is honored to bring Gilmore’s work to vinyl.

A RADICAL HORIZON is comprised of a series of duets between cellist Lori Goldston and pianist Stefan Christoff, recorded on a late Fall afternoon in Brooklyn, NY. A conversation between friends, these improvised excursions reflect a willingness to be open to the spirits in the space and between the notes; a spirit of communion that, as Stefan writes, "guides and dances with our dialogue together".

Stefan Christoff is a Canadian musician, community organizer, and journalist based in Montreal, Quebec. He has collaborated with artists such as Sam Shalabi and Adriana Camacho, performs with his brother Jordan as a duo in Anarchist Mountains, and has released music on labels such as Moon Villain, Shimmering Moods, and Aural Canyon.

A lifelong community activist, he helped establish the Musicians For Palestine project and has engaged in street-level solidarity work in Lebanon and The Philippines as well as closer to home in Montreal. This is his second appearance on Beacon Sound after 'In Sofia', an album of piano improvisations recorded in Bulgaria, was released on the label in 2023.

Classically trained and rigorously de-trained, possessor of a restless, semi-feral spirit, Lori Goldston is a cellist, composer, improvisor, producer, writer and teacher from Seattle. Her voice as a cellist, amplified or acoustic, is full, textured, committed and original. A relentless inquirer, her work drifts freely across borders that separate genre, discipline, time and geography.

Current and former collaborators and/or bosses include Earth, Nirvana, Mirah, Jessika Kenney, Ilan Volkov, Eyvind Kang, Stuart Dempster, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Jherek Bischoff, Malcom Goldstein, Steve Von Till, Lonnie Holley, Cat Power, Ellen Fullman, Maya Dunietz, Mik Quantius, Embryo, O Paon, Tara Jane O’Neil, Natacha Atlas, Broken Water, Ed Pias, Christian Rizzo and Sophie Laly, Threnody Ensemble, Cynthia Hopkins, 33 Fainting Spells, Vanessa Renwick, Mark Mitchell, Lynn Shelton, and many more.

Her work has been commissioned by and/or performed at the Kennedy Center, Sydney Festival, Cineteca Nacional de México, Tectonics Festival, Frye Art Museum, Time Based Art Festival (TBA), WNYC, The New Foundation, Paris Fashion Week, Northwest Film Forum, On the Boards, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Bumbershoot, Crossing Border Festival, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Joe’s Pub, the Stone, University of Chicago, and venues large and small throughout North America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.

Das dänische Hardrock-Quartett BLACK OAK COUNTY veröffentlicht sein drittes Album, das sie zu neuen musikalischen Horizonten führt, mit einer
breiten Mischung aus donnernden Breakdowns, eingängigeren Refrains als je zuvor, einer massiven Wand aus stampfenden Gitarrenriffs und einer
gefühlvollen Klavierballade. „III“ wurde gemeinsam mit dem dänischen Metal-Schwergewicht Nicklas Sonne (Defecto, Aries Descendant, dänische
Eurovisions-Vorentscheidungen) geschrieben und produziert, was sich als fruchtbare kreative Beziehung zwischen den beiden Parteien erwies. Das
Album markiert eine Rückkehr zur alten Form für die Band, die auf den Singles „Back For Blood“ und „It's On You“ von 2022 wieder mit
Gitarrist/Sänger Niels Beier zusammenkommt, der von dem ehemaligen Grammy-Nominierten Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Asinhell) produziert und
zusammen mit Soren Andersen (Glenn Hughes, Mike Tramp) geschrieben wurde. Jetzt, wo sowohl Beier als auch Sänger/Bassist René Kristensen in
der Band singen, haben sich für die Rocker aus Esbjerg neue musikalische Türen geöffnet. Black Oak County haben tief in ihrem musikalischen
Ideenfundus gegraben, um eine breitere Palette von Songs als je zuvor zu entwickeln und dabei brandneue Ideen mit älterem Material aus den
Anfangstagen ihrer Karriere zu verbinden. „III“ ist ein energiegeladenes Album mit der bekannten Mischung aus hochintensiven, tief gestimmten
Riffs, die eine Hommage an ihre Metal- und Hardrock-Helden darstellen, gemischt mit modernen Mixing-Techniken, Synthesizern und einer frischen
Interpretation des vertrauten Sounds der Band

Das dänische Hardrock-Quartett BLACK OAK COUNTY veröffentlicht sein drittes Album, das sie zu neuen musikalischen Horizonten führt, mit einer
breiten Mischung aus donnernden Breakdowns, eingängigeren Refrains als je zuvor, einer massiven Wand aus stampfenden Gitarrenriffs und einer
gefühlvollen Klavierballade. „III“ wurde gemeinsam mit dem dänischen Metal-Schwergewicht Nicklas Sonne (Defecto, Aries Descendant, dänische
Eurovisions-Vorentscheidungen) geschrieben und produziert, was sich als fruchtbare kreative Beziehung zwischen den beiden Parteien erwies. Das
Album markiert eine Rückkehr zur alten Form für die Band, die auf den Singles „Back For Blood“ und „It's On You“ von 2022 wieder mit
Gitarrist/Sänger Niels Beier zusammenkommt, der von dem ehemaligen Grammy-Nominierten Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Asinhell) produziert und
zusammen mit Soren Andersen (Glenn Hughes, Mike Tramp) geschrieben wurde. Jetzt, wo sowohl Beier als auch Sänger/Bassist René Kristensen in
der Band singen, haben sich für die Rocker aus Esbjerg neue musikalische Türen geöffnet. Black Oak County haben tief in ihrem musikalischen
Ideenfundus gegraben, um eine breitere Palette von Songs als je zuvor zu entwickeln und dabei brandneue Ideen mit älterem Material aus den
Anfangstagen ihrer Karriere zu verbinden. „III“ ist ein energiegeladenes Album mit der bekannten Mischung aus hochintensiven, tief gestimmten
Riffs, die eine Hommage an ihre Metal- und Hardrock-Helden darstellen, gemischt mit modernen Mixing-Techniken, Synthesizern und einer frischen
Interpretation des vertrauten Sounds der Band

2024 Repress

All in that stark contrast between ethereal spaciousness and steely, martial rhythms out the industrial spectrum, 'Far Field' takes us on a voyage across the board, from breaks-heavy machine stunts to washed-out tapestries, via EBM-laced detours and junglistic maneuvers. Investigating the nexus zone between dance functionality and limitless escapology, it extrapolates both artists' blends to further immersive, hypnotic effect. Taking over the A side, .VRIL gets the ball rolling with 'Lost Together', which sets the tone on a low-slung, nostalgia-drenched note; combining the syncopated swagger of downtempo techno with ambient-oid stasis and static-filled opacity. Like watching an all-metal sun sinking past the blazing skyline. Revving up the engines, 'Fnord' feat. RAeYN conjures up a way more muscular arsenal of big-room-ready wares, from aggro snare salvos to anthemic synth kinetics, through that replicant-hunting kinda vibe. One to have the Saturn rings go hula hoop, with all woofers and brains in the vicinity melting in XTC. Shutting the A side off, 'We Believe' returns to a lighter, more vaporous mindset but sure implements that signature heavy swing of .VRIL, flush with textured kicks and FX-soaked arps. True monster prog swell. Flip it over and there's HVL dishing out a textbook example of his vortical electronic furls with the title-track, 'Far Field' - an oneiric drift that slowly rises from its heavy-lidded slumber, ascending towards bleepin' n bloopin' experimental effervescence as bars fly by. A number bound to hack your body and mind into two distinct facets, and while one dances its way frantically across the ever buzzing space/time continuum, the other shall reach a state of healing calm and transcending ubiquity. Smoothly shuttling us off to the upper layers of the ionosphere, 'Lancet Mxi' clenches it on a trippy note, taxiing us midway zero-G UK bass territories and eerie ambient abstraction. HVL's total, widescreen vision at its most unhindered, all set at expanding your mind to yet uncharted horizons of sound and closing the gap between two distant, estranged galaxies. A fractured headspace to both dance and dream to. *Dressed in a fine piece of artwork courtesy of Daniel M. Diaz, 'RYCL021' comes pressed on 180g audiophile black vinyl for optimal playing and listening experience.

mindSET is the ninth album from enigmatic producer SW., directly following this summer’s excursion into his trademark techno, IDM and bleep soundscapes, on the myDEFINITIONS Vol II album. But with his mindSET album SW. takes a left turn, as pioneers often do, and we find ourselves on the lesser traveled side roads of electronic music history. Or in SW.’s own words: “the more abstract leftfield elements.”
It’s in these less-defined areas that SW. finds his sweet spot, building dancefloor soundtracks that defied definition. And with mindSET the sounds and the machines might have changed, the methodology remains the same.
“It draws from what was more generally seen in leftfield as a term for the slightly off-kilter house and broken beats that didn’t fit neatly into classic genres, whether that was Chicago house, French garage, drum and bass, or broken beat. It’s more about those in-between sounds that never really took off, only appearing briefly in the early to mid-90s and then quickly disappearing. There was a certain magic in that moment, which I wanted to capture. Also, the entire album was produced using classic analog equipment, with old machines that were used during that era. That’s the approach I’ve taken.”
The eight tracks on mindSET are shaped out of de-tuned techno pop synths and heavy, syncopated drums, grooving along chopped-up polymeters to create an eerie mood, as if orbiting an undiscovered planet for the first time. The harmonic movements are often bent out of shape, sometimes veering towards Gherkin Jerks or Cristian Vogel territory. But in the end, the sounds are less important than the atmosphere, and the tracks represent an attitude or an approach - to creating the music as well as experiencing it. mindSET is a nod to those dancers sharing an oddball moment, and for those of us on the same wavelength, it's a vibe we can all get inside.

Exploring late-night, after-hours meditations on sound; ‘Everything Above The Sky (Astral Travelling with Luke Una)’ is a new compilation by the titular DJ, promoter and enigmatic cultural curator. Off the back of the E Soul Cultura phenomena, this compilation comes at a timely point in Luke’s rich career as he soars the heights of playing all over the world. Avoiding any chance of his sound being pigeonholed, Luke has put together a tracklist of songs and music that have a transcendental feel, after coming off the grid, going back to source, outside the city walls .

Music has long been believed to aid out of body experiences and many of us have searched long and hard for a combination of those elusive ingredients that might alleviate some of the monotony of everyday life, our daily routines and obligations, and those things that seem to block us from the spirit of the universe. In this collection, Luke selects music with all the right ingredients in just the right quantities, allowing the listener to engage in an esoteric journey of enlightenment through sound. Being a prolific collector of music, Luke initially delivered enough tracks to compile several compilations, making the licensing process the biggest effort to date for the label. The music moves softly and slowly, never becoming too intrusive, exemplifying the wonderful elevating properties of simple songs played from the heart.

Luke’s Everything Above The Sky manifesto reads, “Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk, spiritual jazz, around midnight hocus pocus, cosmic psychedelic soul, magical spellbound whirling swirling love songs, Brazilian ballads of light into machine soul gospel utopia dreaming, Balearic bossa, Outer Space ancient African drum, the breath of trees, escaping the big bad modern world, gathering round winter fires, walking amongst the bracken in Padley Gorge in late summer twilight, overlooking the Hope Valley, escaping ego, detaching and finally letting go amongst the stars with the slowly floating people. It’s beautiful beyond. Everything above the Sky”.

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene. Then came Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to É Soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long-running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ cultural landscape. Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM captured imaginations and became a cult four-hour must-listen monthly journey for fans all over the world. Today, Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing milieu, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.

"A landmark in 80s experimental ambient music - previously tape-only, here released for the first time on vinyl, spread across a double LP with five additional tracks, four of which were previously unreleased. Remote Dreaming has been freshly remastered and includes an insert with photos and liner notes.

Dark Entries summons Philadelphia synthesizer scribes The Ghostwriters to rouse their ambient masterwork Remote Dreaming. The late Buchla maestro Charles Cohen and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Cain joined up in 1971 to craft electroacoustic chaos as Anomali, later renaming themselves The Ghostwriters.

Their collaborations with choreographers and visual media artists led to their singular style, straddling improvisation and composition, the oneiric and the immediate. Following their debut album, Objects in Mirrors Are Closer Than They Appear, they were approached by ambient outlet Mu-Pysch. Remote Dreaming would take shape in various studios over nine months. Jeff Cain's instruments on this project included electric and acoustic pianos, the Juno 106 synthesizer, and a Mirage sampler, while Charles Cohen used his signature Buchla 200 Series Electronic Musical Instrument. A stark departure from the tightly wound first LP, Remote Dreaming shows the duo unfurling with soothing pianos and psychoacoustic textures, its somnambulant drones just skirting the edges of the uncanny. Although ignored in its time, Remote Dreaming is now heralded as a landmark in 80s experimental ambient music.

Proceeds will be donated to SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse), a nonprofit that combats online child sex abuse and trafficking"

Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn share a common collaborative ethos, a genuine sense of musical curiosity, and a cosmopolitan eagerness to escape the conventions of genre. That shared vision first brought them together on 2022's Pigments_icy and warm, stripped-down and grand, familiar and otherworldly_and now it has reunited them for Quiet in a World Full of Noise. By turns intimate, soul-baring, spectral, and startling, Quiet in a World Full of Noise blends atmospheric and orchestral soundscapes with mellifluous soul, jazz, and journalistic vocalizing_driving it all home with stark, confessional lyricism. The new album finds Richard at her most raw and exposed. This year, Richard's musician father experienced mini strokes while being diagnosed with cancer; and last year, her cousin Cisco was fatally shot seven times in New Orleans. Richard channels the emotional impact of these traumatic experiences of loss into her lyrics and vocal performances, which are left bare and human here, raw and unprocessed across the album. Quiet expands the definitions of what constitutes progressive, avant-garde R&B by rewriting them altogether. On paper, Richard and Zahn's audacious, impressionistic musical collaborations feel like a surprising match. Richard, a New Orleans-reared visionary, has had an improbable journey from late 2000s reality television and mainstream pop with girl group Danity Kane to become one of the most prolific, experimental, and visible indie R&B singer-songwriters of the last decade and a half, with seven solo albums under her belt. Zahn is an East Coast-raised multi-instrumentalist and composer working at the intersections of jazz, Americana, classical, and ambient pop. His growing solo discography includes People of the Dawn, Sunday Painter, Pale Horizon, and Statues I & II, as well as the duo's first release, Pigments. "Pigments was one of the best projects I've ever made," Richard says, "and the furthest I've ever been pushed as an artist." The album was a critical hit, hailed as Best New Music by Pitchfork and receiving praise from Stereogum as Album of the Week, NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, The Fader, Bitter Southerner, and Edition, among many other publications. The making of its follow-up, Quiet in a World Full of Noise, began in 2023 in upstate New York. Fresh from a break-up, Zahn sat at his piano and poured himself into writing and recording instrumental compositions. "I wrote all these stream-of-consciousness pieces on piano, and they were eerie, spacious piano tracks," he said. He used a piano that had been unconventionally tuned to the room rather than to standard pitch. These oddly-tuned, eerie instrumental recordings were never intended to be an album. Six months later, he listened to the recordings again and sent them to Richard who immediately recognized their potential and said, "Oh, this is the next album." Richard went into the studio the next day and wrote and recorded melodies and lyrics to Zahn's piano recordings. Zahn brought in gifted musicians like Bryan Senti on strings (violin, viola, and violoncello da spalla) and CJ Camerieri on brass (French horn, flugelhorn, and trumpet). In some cases, like on the track "Life in Numbers," Zahn used only the original first-take piano recording and scratch vocal, resulting in an intimate close-up of both Richard and Zahn.

Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn share a common collaborative ethos, a genuine sense of musical curiosity, and a cosmopolitan eagerness to escape the conventions of genre. That shared vision first brought them together on 2022’s Pigments icy and warm, stripped-down and grand, familiar and otherworldly and now it has reunited them for Quiet in a World Full of Noise. By turns intimate, soul-baring, spectral, and startling, Quiet in a World Full of Noise blends atmospheric and orchestral soundscapes with mellifluous soul, jazz, and journalistic vocalizing driving it all home with stark, confessional lyricism. The new album finds Richard at her most raw and exposed. This year, Richard’s musician father experienced mini strokes while being diagnosed with cancer; and last year, her cousin Cisco was fatally shot seven times in New Orleans. Richard channels the emotional impact of these traumatic experiences of loss into her lyrics and vocal performances, which are left bare and human here, raw and unprocessed across the album. Quiet expands the definitions of what constitutes progressive, avant-garde R&B by rewriting them altogether. On paper, Richard and Zahn’s audacious, impressionistic musical collaborations feel like a surprising match. Richard, a New Orleans–reared visionary, has had an improbable journey from late 2000s reality television and mainstream pop with girl group Danity Kane to become one of the most prolific, experimental, and visible indie R&B singer-songwriters of the last decade and a half, with seven solo albums under her belt. Zahn is an East Coast–raised multi-instrumentalist and composer working at the intersections of jazz, Americana, classical, and ambient pop. His growing solo discography includes People of the Dawn, Sunday Painter, Pale Horizon, and Statues I & II, as well as the duo’s first release, Pigments. “Pigments was one of the best projects I’ve ever made,” Richard says, “and the furthest I’ve ever been pushed as an artist.” The album was a critical hit, hailed as Best New Music by Pitchfork and receiving praise from Stereogum as Album of the Week, NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, The Fader, Bitter Southerner, and Edition, among many other publications. The making of its follow-up, Quiet in a World Full of Noise, began in 2023 in upstate New York. Fresh from a break-up, Zahn sat at his piano and poured himself into writing and recording instrumental compositions. “I wrote all these stream-of-consciousness pieces on piano, and they were eerie, spacious piano tracks,” he said. He used a piano that had been unconventionally tuned to the room rather than to standard pitch. These oddly-tuned, eerie instrumental recordings were never intended to be an album. Six months later, he listened to the recordings again and sent them to Richard who immediately recognized their potential and said, “Oh, this is the next album.” Richard went into the studio the next day and wrote and recorded melodies and lyrics to Zahn’s piano recordings. Zahn brought in gifted musicians like Bryan Senti on strings (violin, viola, and violoncello da spalla) and CJ Camerieri on brass (French horn, flugelhorn, and trumpet). In some cases, like on the track “Life in Numbers,” Zahn used only the original first-take piano recording and scratch vocal, resulting in an intimate close-up of both Richard and Zahn.

As the 21st century was born, so Kreator underwent what was nothing less than a seismic creative rebirth. By this time, the iconic German band had released nine studio albums in the 1980s and '90s, which had established them as one of the most important metal names of these decades.In the first period, they had helped to shape and pioneer the thrash scene through such releases as 'Pleasure To Kill' (1986), 'Terrible Certainty' ('87) and 'Extreme Aggression' ('89). During the following decade, the band had opened up exciting horizons of experimentation on albums like 'Coma Of Souls' (1990), 'Renewal' ('92) and 'Endorama' ('99).
Now, though, it was time to move into a fresh era, as vocalist/guitarist Mille Petrozza explains.
“During the 1990s, we were definitely experimenting with what the band were doing. But (drummer) Ventor and I decided that for this album – our first of the new millennium – we wanted to go back to the sort of sound that we had at the start of Kreator. In other words, to get back to the reason why we began the band in the first place.”

There was also new guitarist introduced, as Sami Yli-Sirniö (who had made his reputation with Finnish band Waltari) took over from Tommy Vetterli. The latter (also known as Tommy T. Baron) had joined in 1996 and played on the 'Oucast' (1997) and 'Endorama' albums.

The producer for this album was Andy Sneap, who was now making a name for himself as one of the pre-eminent masters of this art in the modern metal world.“I had known and liked Andy since the days he had been the guitarist in Sabbat, as they were signed to Noise Records as Kreator were on that label. He was our first choice to work on this new project. I liked what he'd done for Testament on their album 'The Gathering' (released in 1999). He had given them a sound they'd never had before, and that really was what we were after. It was natural and organic, and also very modern. I remember phoning him at his Backstage Studios in England (Ripley in Derbyshire). And Warrel Dane, the vocalist in Nevermore, answered. Andy was producing their new album at the time ('Dead Heart In A Dead World', 2000). And when I heard this, again I was very impressed. So, I was delighted when he agreed to produce the new Kreator album.”

The album title came from something Petrozza had read. “In a book I came across a comment that John F. Kennedy said (in 1962). This was: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”. I thought 'Violent Revolution' would make a good title for an album. So, I kept it in my mind for this record. I think 'Violent Revolution' is a title that makes a real impact.”

One interesting aspect of the track listing was that the 52 second instrumental 'The Patriarch' actually came after the opening song 'Reconquering The Throne'. Fans might have been expected that it would have opened the album. But for Petrozza, there was a logical reason for this not to happen. “We really wanted to lead off with a thrashing track, to show everyone what we were now doing musically. After 'Endorama', it was important that everyone should recognise this was a new era for Kreator.”

'Violent Revolution' is without question an excellent album. While in some ways it does hark back to the glories of the band's earlier days, nonetheless it does not sound at all nostalgic. The performances and production values are very much part of the contemporary era, and the strength of the compositions themselves are of the highest values. Rising to the challenge offered by a new generation of ambitious metal bands, Kreator proved they were far from being a spent force. Unlike so many of their peers, here was a band who still had so much creativity to offer, and were also clearly excited themselves by what they were doing. And when you hear the band themselves enjoying the entire process, then you know this is a bona fide revitalisation.

On March 24, 2023 Rob Mazurek assembled his endlessly psychedelic and explorative large ensemble Exploding Star Orchestra under the dome of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium to perform material from their recently released album Lightning Dreamers along with a number of new pieces.

A digital projection flashed an ever-changing stream of vividly colored, abstract shapes derived from Mazurek’s paintings and animations over the audience’s heads, while the Orchestra, which on this night numbered eight musicians besides its leader, transformed the stylistically disparate pieces from Lightning Dreamers into an enveloping maelstrom. Electric pianists Angelica Sanchez and Craig Taborn pushed layers of plush texture back and forth over the intricate, tripartite grooves of bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and two drummers, Chad Taylor and Gerald Cleaver. Mazurek’s trumpets and wordless cries, Tomeka Reid’s cello and Nicole Mitchell’s flute and voice periodically surfaced out of the flow, issuing sharp, energetic statements, while Damon Locks’ proclamations flickered in and out of the mix like an erratic signal from some interstellar radio announcer. Together, they reimagined the brooding sound of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew as a force for transcendent uplift.

At one point, Mitchell put down her flute, spoke into Mazurek’s ear and pointed up to toward the dome. As he looked up, his own horn came down, and for a moment, the two of them gazed with undisguised awe at the spectacle that the Orchestra had unleashed. In a time when so many forces conspire to bring people down, this concert was an invitation to look up and out past the horizon.

Dean Spunt"s all-new Basic Editions is an excursion in electronic sound that instrumentally unpacks his fascination with language - in this case, the syntax of systems and processes. By turns meditative, compulsive and consumptive, Basic Editions distills a 64 voice module through a head full of ideas - somewhat like pouring a cornucopia of possible ambient moods and EZ listening impulses backwards through a funnel, inspiring a deceptively absurd rainbow of soul to spray out the other end. With this new release, Dean IDs his process as "using sounds, rather than making sounds". This approach to music-making is a train of thought that"s been rolling out from the far horizon of the past for ages now - but for Dean, whose previous works within and without No Age depended on their making of sounds, it"s a fresh work stance. Given, however, No Age"s traditional sonic manipulations (via loops and treatments), Basic Editions delivers further unexpected hard-rights and lefts in the non-aesthetic aesthetic that has defined Dean"s path over the past two decades. Steering toward wacked digital soundscapes that bounce colorfully across the stereo azimuth, Dean creates a kind of post-ambient neo-exotica that hinges upon a giddy conflation of cosmic and comic.

In 2007, Céu debuted her self-titled album, becoming one of the select Brazilian artistsnominated for an American Grammy in the World Music category and is widely regarded as one of the most in_¼éuential Brazilian artists of her generation. With now six albums to her credit, Céu has transcended borders, captivating audiences on five continents at prestigious festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, Coachella, Roskilde, Rock in Rio and Lollapalooza. She is renownedfor her collaborations with both Brazilian and international artists like Duran Duran, Herbie Hancock, Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil and Emicida. Recorded in the USA, the album features musical production by Céu as well as Brazilian musician and producer Pupillo (drummer of Naçao Zumbi) and American multi- instrumentalist and arranger Adrian Younge (co-founder of Jazz Is Dead). Recorded at Linear Labs Studio in Los Angeles, Novela is Céu"s sixth studio album. It was captured live on tape, in a dynamic moment that demands total presence. A number of artists feature on the record: American MC and songwriter LadyBug Mecca, Franco-Senegalese singer and songwriter anaiis, American singers Loren Oden and Jensine Benitez, American DJ and producer Frankie Reyes, French artist Hervé Salters (General Elektriks) and Brazilian national treasure Marcos Valle. In Novela, ancient technologies, healing, creaminess, bolero, polished stars, echoes of soul music, things of the earth, rap, and whispers to guides emerge. Throughout the record, there is a reaffirmation of the author"sfearlessness, committed to her time, in the complexity and beauty of creative work. Always keeping the diversity of Brazilian music on the horizon.

REISSUED!!! Received an 8.1 rating from Pitchfork. "Sadly, many will hear Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt's latest LP, Made Out of Sound, as 'not-jazz,' though it would be more aptly described as 'not-not-jazz.' In a better world, it would warrant above-the-fold reviews in Downbeat, or an appearance on David Sanborn's late-night show (if someone would only give it back to him). More likely, we can hope for a haiku review on Byron Coley's Twitter timeline to sufficiently connect the various improvised terrains trodden by this long-time duo—but if you've been able to listen past the overmodulated icepick fidelity of Harry Pussy, it should surprise you not an iota that Orcutt's style is rooted as much in the fractal melodies of Trane and Taylor as it is in Delta syrup or Tin Pan Alley glitz. As for Corsano, well, it may seem daft to call this particular record 'jazz' (because duh, it has a drummer), but to me Corsano is beyond jazz, almost beyond music, his ambidextrous, octopoid technique grappling many stylistic levers and spraying a torrent of light from every direction. Corsano's ferocity has elevated many 'mere' improv records to transcendence, but here he's crafted his polyrhythms within more narrative channels, bringing to mind his 'mannered' playing in the lamented Flower-Corsano duo. It's not 'groove' playing precisely, but it follows many grooves simultaneously, much like Orcutt's own melodic musings—which is why they're so naturally lock-in-key here. Which maybe makes it all the more surprising that Made Out of Sound was in fact recorded in different rooms on different coasts at different times, and stitched together by Orcutt on his desktop. Corsano recorded the drums in Ithaca, NY, and (as Orcutt states), 'I didn't edit them at all. I overdubbed two guitar tracks, panned left/right. I'd listen to the drums a couple times, pick a tuning, then improvise a part, thinking of the first track as backing and the second as the 'lead', though those are pretty fluid terms. I was watching the waveforms as I was recording, so I could see when a crescendo was coming or when to bring it down.' Fluidity ties the tracks together. With a little more groove and a little less around-the-beat maneuvering, one could almost hear the boiling harmonic layers as Miles-oid in 'Man Carrying Thing,' but with new-found Sharrockian modalities, Corsano accentuating the tumbling nature of the falling notes. The Sharrock vein continues with 'How to Cook a Wolf,' its Blind Willie-esque melodic simplicity and repetition extrapolated 360-style in a repetitive descending riff that falls into Cippolina-isms (by way of Verlaine ) until the end crashes upon the shore. Much like Orcutt's last solo album, Odds Against Tomorrow, there's a gentler, almost pastoral flow to some tracks ('Some Tennessee Jar,' 'A Port in Air,' 'Thirteen Ways of Looking') that calls to mind the mixolydian swamplands of Lonnie Liston Smith—but unlike Odds , other tracks ('The Thing Itself') smash that same lyricism into overdriven, multi-dimensional melodic clumps that push several vector envelopes at once in an Interstellar Space vein. With the help of Corsano, Orcutt has managed to slither even further out of the noise/improv pigeonhole lazy listeners/writers keep trying to shove him into. Looking at the back cover of Made Out of Sound , we should not see Orcutt hurling a guitar into the air with post-punk bravado, Corsano toiling behind him in the engine room—we should witness an instrument levitating from his hands, rising on invisible major-key tendrils of melody, fired by percussion, spiraling into an invisible event horizon..."—Tom Carter

ERIN Collective is an ensemble of musicians from the Bologna scene born in March 2022 from an idea/project by Gionata Lazzari
shared over time by Valentino Pirino, Filippo Cassani, Andrea Lazzari, Marcello Pala, Federico Magazzeni, Giuseppe Sardina and
Francesco Antico. Their repertoire, inspired by the Afrobeat of the 70s, is composed of original songs written by Pirino/Lazzari and
arranged together with the other members of the group. The style looks to Afrobeat and some of its artists such as Fela Kuti, and
Ebo Taylor, but also focuses on contemporaneity and other artists such as Antibalas, Budos Band, Tony Allen and other sounds from
other areas of Africa. “Alternative Positive”, anticipated by the singles “Kalam Layl” and “Alafia” is their first LP, which follows the
release of the Ep “Same Blood” in 2023 and which marks the meeting between the band and the label Irma Records. The album,
strongly influenced by Afrobeat sounds with funk nuances, contains 8 original songs written by Pirino / Lazzari and arranged together with the other members of the group, three of which are instrumental, 4 sung by the Nigerian artist Devon Miles and one by the
Moroccan artist Reda Zine. The songs on “Alternative Positive” all have a social value: for ERIN Collective, music takes a stand
against inequalities and tries to break down borders and barriers, calling on everyone to commit themselves to rights for peace for
resistance to racism and inequalities of all kinds. All this requires commitment and a choice. Music makes you dance, makes you
smile, raises your spirits, creates bonds. ÈRÍN means smile, laughter in Yoruba language and it is through this attitude that one can
meet the other and that one can defeat fears, borders, cultural differences, hatred and wars. The titles and the meaning of the lyrics
of this debut album recall this horizon.

Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.
Reprint of "Quadra". The 40th Anniversary Edition will be available as 2LP - 180g Ruby Red Marble in gatefold.

Onimikìg Algonquin: (n. an.)- thunder Timothy Archambault's unaccompanied flute pieces for this album have been inspired by Indigenous brontomancy (divination by thunder). Each piece highlights a different extended flute technique metaphorically related to types of thunder sounds: claps, peals, rolls, rumbles, inversions, and CG (cloud-to-ground). An important document of new music meets contemporary musicological research via Stephen O'Malley of SUNN O)))'s Ideologic Organ. The Indigenous flute used in this recording is made of cedar respective to the traditional woods used by the Kichesipirini and other tribes who live along the Ottawa & Saint Lawrence Rivers. To the Algonquin the flute (Pibigwan) is the wind maker or essence of the wind. Unlike other tribal nations whom the majority used the flute as a courting instrument, the Algonquin generally utilized the flute for more contemplative singular usage to mimic the sounds of nature or as a signaling device during times of conflict. When love songs were required, they were usually more plaintive in character expressing sadness, loneliness, or concerning the departure of a lover. The album intro begins with the shaking of a necklace of otter penis bone, fish spine, bear claw, elk teeth and deer hide, gifted from Algonquin Elder Ajawajawesi. It is meant to focus the listener's attention before the flute pieces begin. The warble or multi-phonic oscillation prevalent in all the pieces traditionally represented the "throat rattling" vocalization of the tonic note, sometimes known as the horizon of which the melody floats from. Due to the repetition of multi-phonic oscillation the performer will breathe erratically creating an altered state correlating with similar traditional ceremonial practices.

Following last year’s Cyber Sunshine single and Vantage Point EP, plus the former’s expansion into a Deluxe Remix Pack EP just this Spring, trusty Dutch trance traders Match Box are miraculously back with their fourth consecutive glistening Goddezz release. This time, it’s a double offering whose boundless celestial charm again centres around the star we owe it all to: think of High En3rgy as the sunset daydream and Clint’s remix the sunrise epiphany.

Spanning 8 minutes and 7 seconds that slip by all too soon, High En3rgy is a lucent, dreamlike journey not easily forgotten. Layering a faintly melancholic and hauntingly simple melody over a nonetheless pulsating bassline, it accomplishes something rare: an emotive marrying of the wistful and the rousing. The effect is a plucky, heartening sound that walks a tightrope between nostalgic reflection and enduring anticipation. It’s delicate yet driving - the gorgeous sonic expression of a sunset daydream that could leave you leaning either way.

Whether you emerge from that musing trance with a lump in your throat or a fire in your belly, Clint’s remix is the impossibly ideal next step. Faithfully refracting its originator’s sound whilst instantly supercharging the mood from spirited to high-spirited, its giddy rhythm and buoyant-turned-bouncy beat inject pure, immediate, perhaps emergency enlivenment. It’s more than fun, playful or invigorating: it’s irresistibly, heroically stirring - and once its sunrise synths come scorching over the horizon, you’re passing through gleeful exhilaration into sublime elation, with no hope of holding back any tears.

Calm's superb Before album is the gift that keeps on giving as Hell Yeah serves up a collection of the best remixes from it. Willie Graff, Gallo and Aura Safari all step up on a fresh 12" that lands this summer.

Before arrived on double vinyl in 2022 after a CD-only release in Japan in 2021. Since then it has become a Balearic mainstay and go-to record for lovers of lavish downtempo sounds. Now, remixes of three tracks from it all appear on this one record with Ibirican-American Willie Graff going first. He is a deep house don who has held several key residencies around the world while dropping his sublime sounds on the likes of Leng, Music For Dreams and many more. His remix of 'I Love You' is a gloriously horizontal one with blissful piano keys rippling over the bubbly drums and bass. Yearning reed melodies add an emotional romantic edge to make this a standout in any setting. Then comes Gallo, the Balearic Gabba Sound System member and resident at Berlin Balearic nightspot Buena Onda. His 'Tropical Hinterhof' remix of 'I Love You' is expertly exotic and soothing as mellifluous keys rain down over a groove as smooth as silk. It's a heart-achingly beautiful sound that will make for truly special moments on the dance floor.

Italian collective Aura Safari then offers two different remixes. They are master musicians who have served up a superb double album Islands Dreams here in late 2023 where they showcased their escapist blend of dub, jazz, Afro-cosmic, Balearica and boogie. First up, 'Feel It' (Aura Safari Desert mix) is six minutes of oriental melody over loose drums. There's a playful feel to the dancing piano keys and richness in the percussion that makes this one a sophisticated sound for both early evening warm-ups or moments of late-night reflection. 'Kunpoo' (Aura Safari Daydream mix) has a nineties feel with its gentle breaks, hypnotic string loops, and sustained chords. They break over you in gentle rays of earth and euphoria to ensure utterly blissed-out results.

These four versions all bring sophisticated dance floor energy to the timeless originals.

Limited to 350 copies

Stop what you're doing and give us your full attention because Hell Yeah mainstay My Friend Dario's new album Senza Estate is going to define the sound of summer 2024. It's an eclectic eight-track collection that has something for everyone and is inspired by dreamy Italian soundtrack composers Piero Piccioni and Umiliani.

Curveball Italian talent Dario is a real dance floor don who collides acid, nu-disco, breakbeat and electro. His take on Balearic is unique and always sends dance floors wild, as proven with his last outing Food For Woofers Vol 2 earlier in the year. His new album is the sound of life by the Mediterranean, Balearic audio pleasure for daytime dreaming and nighttime dancing with vocal tracks written and performed by the UK's Space Echo Records associate Darene Obika.

Dario hails from Catania on the island of Sicily and his inspiration for Senza Estate, which translates as 'without summer,' was an imaginary holiday, weekends at the seaside, car journeys in the sun, relaxing sunsets and late-night dancing. 'For five years, I worked in a shop six days a week so despite living on a Mediterranean island I could never enjoy these things. Instead, I locked myself in the studio and jotted down the ideas, sensations, melodies and rhythms I had about another lost summer.'

'Keep On Cruising' is a downtempo opener with innocent synths that are filled with hope and promise for the warm months ahead. 'Zingarella' is a wide open sea view with wispy pads, seductive flutes and jazzy melodies that bristle with life and the tropical title cut gets more dancey on shuffling broken beats and radiant synth glows. There's a seductive laid-back cool to the tumbling keys of 'Marittimo' and 'What You Need' is a horizontal groove with loved-up vocals, 'Falò' pairs sensual acoustic guitar with work with pillowy drums and 'Il Pianeta Proibito' layers up sci-fi synths and stuttering bass into a bubbly sound that leads to cosmic take-off. 'Acid Panorama' is the melancholic closer which hints that the summer sun is setting one final time after weeks of carefree fun.

But the good news is, you can repeat the joys of My Friend Dario's masterful Senza Estate over and over again.

Abstrack Records is back with a new EP, putting the emphasis on instrumental music. Angers based band Auroboros, whose paths crossed on numerous time with Abstracks, largely on the occasion of infamous Freaks Pop festival, delivers twenty minutes of a progressive and cosmic, rocky jam.
«Camel» feels like a pursuit, a chase after an uncatchable vanishing point. The relentless acceleration of the tempo and the increasing power of the instruments feel like they’re leading us to an inconcei- vable paroxysm.

During the breakdown, everything strangely feels faster and calmer at the same time, we think we’re catching a glance at this horizon, even believing we’re reaching it as drums are fading away. But the ascent starts again and the trance is non negotiable. The power stream of the instrumental energies washes over the immobiles and the sceptics.

On the B side, two very different reworks complete the picture. Romain FX distills the dancefloor essence of «Camel». With a cosmic, almost oriental approach. The original piece gives birth to a proper peak-time banger, pure leg shaking material.

Mytron gives us a more playful and trippy remix. Seven minutes of a vibe that seems to be spinning and drifting, without ever breaking the patiently settled groove, filled with tribal spirit and sometimes even humour.

"Green" is distinguished by its fusion of thrash metal with progressive and technical elements. The band expands its musical horizons by incorporating more complex rhythms and innovative song structures. Sharp and precise guitars are intertwined with intricate solos that demonstrate the musicians' technical skill. Now reissued by Black Sleeves on a limited edition LP Gatefold Picture Disc. The album is a milestone in their discography and a gift for fans looking for a deeper and more nuanced thrash metal experience. With "Green", Forbidden not only defied expectations but also expanded the boundaries of the genre. It's a fantastic LP Gatefold Picture Disc edition limited to 330 copies!

Limited Yellow w/ Purple Splatter Vinyl. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has been turning heads coast-to-coast with their high-energy psychedelic funk shows for over 15 years. In 2014, the fledgling flock released their now-classic studio album, 'Psychology.' Featuring fan-favorite songs like "Horizon" and "Melting Lights," the album has produced 40 million streams on Spotify alone. Since its release, 'Psychology' has come to represent everything the band stands for, with its hypnotic hybrid of funk, rock, and infectious groove. "Recording 'Psychology' feels like a lifetime ago," says singer/guitarist Greg Ormont. "We were really just finding our identity as a band, but everything seemed to come together in the studio in a way that we all knew felt special. Looking back, the album laid the foundation for our growth, helped shape who we are as musicians, and the songs continue to be staples of our live catalog today."Ten years later, 'Psychology' still stands the test of time, and PPPP celebrates the anniversary with the first-ever vinyl pressing of their definitive studio work. Available on limited edition 180g Splatter Vinyl on July 12, 2024."We've always wanted to release 'Psychology' on vinyl, so we couldn't think of a better way to mark the 10-year anniversary than with its first-ever vinyl pressing!"

Filipovich is one of a kind. The Belarus-born, Paris-based artist works in a multitude of media - found footage films, painting, silkscreening and performance to name a few. It's her musical output that has caught the attention of late, though, with Filipovich dropping a run of releases in recent years which began with 2021's Magnificat on Time Released Sound. Filipovich takes as much of a novel approach to her music-making as she does with her other artistic endeavours - Magnificat was centred around treated samples of Sergei Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil, and she's also combined classical composition with contemporary electronic techniques on her subsequent drops.

For Idealized, Filipovich's debut on Sheffield's Central Processing Unit, she maintains the gothic air which characterised her previous releases and applies it to a record of widescreen contemporary techno joints. These tracks represent something of a gear shift for CPU, a label which has long made its name by delivering top-quality electro and machine-funk jams, but such is the quality of Idealized that these superbly-executed techno productions are sure to win over label fans both old and new.

Idealized is very much schooled in the German tradition of minimal/dub techno. Tracks like 'Physical', 'Wave' and 'Dance Minor' all anchor themselves on single, steady drum pulses and delay-drenched single-chord loops. Filipovich generally lets the central idea of these tracks play out across several minutes while introducing increasingly disorientating elements into the rest of the mix - wiccan atmospherics, clashing chords, spiralling delays and so forth. It's an approach at once respectful of Filipovich's predecessors - Basic Channel, Deepchord, Ellen Allien and so on - but also full of idiosyncrasies and individuality.

Many of the club cuts here hardwire us into the moody, murky environs of the darkest Berlin Basements. 'Ultra Red' rides forward on a crisp drum machine snap, a menacing burble of bassline and an eerie single-note synth whistle in the upper end of the mix; 'Dance Minor' shows off a bit of KiNK in the brain-bending modular loop that waxes and wanes at its centre; the second-half run from 'Wave' to closer 'Small Cave' travels ever-further out into deep space - the kick drums remain insistent, yet the textural elements are delivered with an edge and flair that evidences Filipovich's ability to think outside the box.

Filipovich's unusual methods, and the influence of sound art and electroacoustic composition on her music, are drawn out further when Idealized steps away from the dancefloor. 'Hydra' comes off like a more gothic version of Pole - its central pulse draws from dub techno but never quite settles into a danceable groove, and this beat is combined with the kind of unnerving keyboard work that would make John Carpenter proud. Although closer 'Small Cave' eventually locks into another dark-room techno roller, the opening section of the track delivers a weightless soundscape of bright, tinny chords and a scene-setting field recording.

Idealized, the first drop on Central Processing Unit from Paris-based Belarusian Lina Filpovich, broadens the label's horizons with a selection of finely crafted minimal/dub techno joints.

RIYL: Andy Stott, Deepchord, Ellen Allien, Moritz von Oswald

Following a ten-year hiatus, multi-instrumentalists Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoît Pioulard return with »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, their third LP together as Orcas. Building on the electronic minimalism of »Orcas« (2012) and the Twin Peaks-inspired haze of »Yearling« (2014), the duo have expanded their sound and vision into a full-spectrum ensemble.

In the time since their last major collaboration, Irisarri and Pioulard have done plenty on their own, while also traversing significant life changes: relocation from Seattle to New York, separation and divorce, illness, hospitalizations, and the loss of siblings, parents, and friends. Yet from these tribulations, they gleaned inspiration to reconstruct their lives, creating music with new collaborators and partners. Recorded in a variety of studios and cities including Brooklyn, Cambridge, Oxford, Seattle, and upstate New York, the resulting album, under the tutelage of UK producer James Brown (Arctic Monkeys, Kevin Shields, Nine Inch Nails), is a patiently-crafted beast, equally inspired by impressionism, British new wave, and dream pop.

With Irisarri’s guidance and Brown’s encouragement, Pioulard brings his velvety voice to its harmonized peak on songs like »Wrong Way to Fall« and the Durutti Column-indebted »Fare«. Where his most recent solo albums for Morr Music (»Sylva« and »Eidetic«) navigated foggy forests of ambient pop and stacked tape loops, here his characteristic blur shifts into focus with a unique degree of clarity and confidence. »How fare against balance do I / Navigate my errors?«, Pioulard sings in a heartbreaking tenor, echoing the album’s broader themes of introspection, grief, loss, trial and trauma.

Lead single, »Riptide«, is a summary of Pioulard’s life changes and personal upheavals in the past decade, »flitting eastward toward a yen deep in the past« and learning to glide through the tumult of ocean waves, as a metaphor for the punches one takes in pursuit of grace. Its towering, key-changing midsection arrives with the monumental drumming of Slowdive’s Simon Scott, a long-time friend and cohort who appears on most songs in the set. Scott’s quintessentially English, jazzier approach offers a balance of force and restraint as the backdrop for Irisarri’s majestic guitars, analog synth lines, and Martin Heyne’s Fender Rhodes counterpoints.

Second single, »Next Life«, began as a sketch by Scott, and reached its final form in the hands of Pioulard and Irisarri, at a point that each had endured major concurrent losses, finding a commonality in the need to gaze over the horizon while acknowledging the unavoidable bittersweetness of letting go – not only of people, but of routines, places, and expectations. It’s one of Orcas’ most nuanced pieces, with a mid-tempo, sunset glow that unfolds into a sparkling, slide-guitar finale as it disappears in the rear view.

On third-act highlight, »Bruise«, Scott is doubled on the drum kit by MONO’s Dahm Majuri Cipolla, whose Liebezeit-influenced metronomy anchors a nimble bass groove from Andrew Tasselmyer (of Hotel Neon), and some of the album's most syncopated, spaced-out interplay, courtesy of Puerto Rican guitar player Orlando Méndez (a childhood friend of Irisarri’s). Originally a droney, fingerpicked guitar demo, »Bruise« is the most storied composition here, having gone through almost a dozen versions and lyrical edits, with Brown distilling hours of improvised performances into the final arrangement.

Throughout »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, Irisarri uses his deep well of production experience to paint the stereo field with meticulously designed textures, exemplified on the slow burn of »Heaven’s Despite« and the heady rush of »Swells«. As a mixing and mastering engineer with Black Knoll, he has built a client list that reads as a who’s-who of modern, forward-thinking composition, including Temporary Residence, All Saints Records, and Ghostly International, among many others.

As with previous collaborations, Irisarri and Pioulard bring disparate styles and specialties to the table, but with an interpersonal dynamic that transcends friendship into brotherhood, their open-minded workflow and mutual respect are evident at every turn. »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes« brims with tight, complex art rock songwriting, masterful production, and sonic versatility, informed by a plethora of genres and tonal hues. The title might promise answers, but the gravitational center of the album is the dawning realization that, as you reckon with the infinite whims of the cosmos, there could be none.

TIPP! :)

For the latest Cognitiva release the label present the 4th release of their Point of View series which focuses on dance floor-oriented sounds, this time they invite the marvellously talented Dr. Sud to deliver a wondrous, jazz laden odyssey, which entices as much as it delights - with some expert remixes to boot….
Dr Sud is the main alias of Gregorio Marigliano, an Italian music maker who was raised in Berlin. Marigliano’s music revolves around the principles of Jazz-meets-Dance music, drawing up the rich tradition that has come before in bringing a high level of musicality and ingenuity within his tunes. Moving fluidly between rhythms and feels, as Dr Sud he captures the imagination with thought provoking and captivating sequences, striking a fine balance between depth and danceability. Harmonies and groove play a key part within his music, such as was highlighted on his 2023 EP ‘Heading South’, coming courtesy of the Q1E2 imprint. This record really highlighted his profound abilities and deep set affection for instrumentation but also mood and tone, and it left many waiting for his next release with baited breath.

‘Point of View 4’ continues forth with the supreme feels that permeated through ‘Heading South’, with the key movement onwards being the inclusion of some killer remixes from Gary Superfly, Broke One, Turbojazz and Reekee. Two original cuts, ‘Breakfast Sun’ and ‘Desert Wind’, lead Sides A and B respectively, and do much to help create a distinctive balance and bookend kind of feel to the record. ‘Breakfast Sun’ begins with a wondrous polyrhythm to get things going, a lone vocal sample thrown in for good measure, and before long we are joined by some delicate but hyper precise melodic features. The slow drawn out chords contrast superbly with the short sharp stabs, acting in accordance with the drums, with the first breakdown providing space for the keys to really flourish and take over. The breakout back into the core rhythm allows for a lead synth line to emerge, and provide those bountiful feels we were all yearning for. The remixes do much to add flavour and some diverse alternative perpectives on the original, with the Turbojazz/Broke One remix taking things in a house-y leaning direction, with the hats and kicks shifting the rhythmic perspective towards sun kissed horizons. The Gary Superfly remix however takes things into a much more cosmic space, with a punchy acid line weaving within the underbelly of the track, providing that late night dance feel for club land scenarios.

On the B Side, ‘Desert Wind’ kicks things off, and once again the drums here start us off in a winning space. The groove is so delicate, poised and perfected, and when the first breakdown arrives the chords come into view, and its glorious to say the least. This track focuses on a much more smooth melodic sequence, with a greater emphasis placed on the lead line, but its just as impactful and soulful as the EPs opener. Delicate waterfall style keys shift in and out of view, providing an overall picture of sonic beauty that we can get behind time and time again. To wrap things up, the Reekee remix of ‘Desert Wind’ comes into view, with this track again moving into dance floor realms with a swinging garage beat that feels unstoppable, shifting and moving between the lines with a joyous ease.

Dr Sud may be a producer to keep a keen eye on, with this latest EP certainly doing that sentiment a great level of justice. This EP provides not only two beautiful original cuts from the man himself, but some imaginative remixes that honour the originals and provide us with an record that will linger long in the memory. For home use, down by the rivera, or in the club, this one has the lot…..