quête:tom ze

This one is highly recommended for fans of Khruangbin, Lord Echo, Leon Bridges or Fat Freddy's Drop.

Open is the sixth studio album from acclaimed composer, producer, filmmaker and multi-instrumentalist, Kutiman. It is an addictive & irresistible twelve-track trip taking in elements of classic soul, Middle Eastern psychedelia, Afrobeat, Thai funk, jazz fusion, cosmic library soundscapes and more.

The uptempo “Vanishing Point” opens proceedings, recalling both Abstract Orchestra’s 2017 Dilla tribute and the lounge OST/library music flips of Tosca and DJ Vadim fame.

My Everything introduces prominent guest & frequent Kutiman collaborator, Dekel, whose soul-pop vocals coupled with jangly acoustic guitar riffs tip to contemporary indie artists such as Michael Kiwanuka and SAULT. “A Day Off passes through” Anatolian psych and Khruangbin-esque Thai funk whilst the afrobeat/jazz fusion “Confetti” pays tribute to Kutiman’s other namesake, Fela Kuti.

Dekel rejoins for the beatdown, lilting dub-soul “Believe In You” with hints of Lord Echo and the sun-inflected New Zealand dub-soul sound. The Tuareg-leaning guitar lines on “Canoe” travel across the Saharan desert easterly towards Sudan and Ethiopia by the end, whilst meditative and Coltrane-adjacent album closer “Ripples” provides a final moment of reflection from a truly global excursion of soundscapes.

The first in a four-volume retrospective of Kuduro and tarraxinha pioneer DJ ZNOBIA. Incoming unto the world for a very long time from the musseke of Rangel, home of Casa da Mé&e Ju, in the Angolan capital o Ldanda, one if not the pivotal visionary of his country’s music electronic and digital modernism DJ Znobia, o/fum/an inventor. Usually considered the first purveyor of the fluency regarding tarraxinha (drinking in its foundational slow shuffle from the city of Benguela), as well as a main player in free thinking, spontaneous, funny, depressive, silly, melancholic, hilarious all encompassing beats within kuduro, batida, techno and beyond, his influence as a producer, DJ, MC and public fiuce has had a great imprint in Angolan culture for the better part of the last three ecades. This venture went through over 700 tracks of his archive (more than double are lost in the meantime between his and the NNT library) in order to collaboratively select a fiercely representative albeit balanced affair from his production, between instrumentals for sung kuduro, instrumental kuduro/batida, sung and instrumental tarraxinha, and other creative styling from the late 90’s to the mid 2000’s. Forms now heard around the world which started here, with Znobia a decisively influential contributor, along with several of his peers and collaborators, which will be also in evidence in this four volume retrospective. His story is way too far flung for this endeavor to try and make a simple narrative out of it. You have to be him, you have to be within this territory, and we ask of the people who will approach to ask him what has happened with the history of this music and what is the current reality at ground zero Luanda, as he is a mirror and visionary of its streets, in a country with such complicated dynamics and brutal treatment of its citizens. To try to put in a clean slate for this conversation, let’s talk to a genius of street music. Your question. First, here's the opening collection of what we have to share with you.

A Mountain of One return with their second single from eagerly awaited forthcoming album "Stars Planets Dust Me".

"Dealer" sees them push further into the Cosmos with a modern take on the electronic disco pulses of Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder mixed with organic sensibilities, Electric sitar and reverse guitar akin to the heady moments of The Beatles track "Tomorrow never knows". Criss crossing Balearic, psychedelia, disco and electronica.



”Dealer” shows the band, made up of musical soulmates Mo Morris and Zeben Jameson, have lost nothing in the past decade. Recorded over Skype during the coronavirus pandemic, with Mo now in Bali and Zeben in west London, a shimmering, modern classic, experimental but accessible, melodic and adventurous. As ever, it is utterly unique, made in a musical universe all of their own.

When A Mountain Of One first started performing, they quickly became one of the most- acclaimed bands out there, with the likes of i-D, Sunday Times Culture, Pitchfork, NME and more raving about them and their inspired and original approach.

Sold-out shows and awesome reviews followed with “Collected Works” and “Institute of Joy”, two phenomenal globally acclaimed albums that have stood the test of time,
This heady odyssey is mastered again by Global Electronic music icon "Ricardo Villalobos", and soon to also be remixed by Ricardo on a full album of his interpretations of the forthcoming album.
Their first single "Custards last stand" from the forthcoming album had radio support from NTS radio, Worldwide FM / BBC 6.



The forthcoming album “Stars Planets Dust Me” will be released March of 2022.

Jess Holt aka. total tommy veröffentlicht ihr mit Spannung erwartetes Debütalbum 'bruises' (= blaue Flecken, Prellungen). Mit auf dem Album sind ihre bisherigen Singles 'microdose', 'REAL', 'Adeline' und 'Losing Out', die in den britischen und australischen Medien bereits auf sehr viel Gegenliebe gestoßen sind. Die letzten Jahre waren für die in Sydney lebende Künstlerin Jess Holt, besser bekannt als total tommy, eine Zeit der radikalen Veränderungen: Die Songs entstanden während einer Phase , in der sie eine Trennung durchlebte, die Stadt wechselte, sich als queer outete und ihre jetzige Ehefrau kennenlernte. Aus diesen Erfahrungen entstand das dementsprechend mehr als passend betitelte Debütalbum 'bruises': Eine Sammlung von rohen, energiegeladenen Bedroom-Rockhymnen, die Holts mutige, ungeschönte und scharfzüngige Stimme in ihrer vollen Pracht zeigen. Auf 'bruises' zeigt sich total tommy von vielen Seiten: romantisch, hedonistisch, verloren, weise, manchmal als Arschloch, manchmal liebenswert. Was alles zusammenhält, ist ein neu gefundenes Selbstbewusstsein und die Gewissheit, zu wissen, wer sie wirklich ist.

Following on the somnambulant heels of When I See The Sun, our massive, near-complete Codeine overview, comes What About The Lonely?, an eight-track LP recorded at the group's live zenith. Captured direct from the mixing board at a stop on Codeine's November 1993 swing through the Midwest, opening for Mazzy Star, this document finds Stephen Immerwahr, John Engle, and Doug Scharin running through their hits at Chicago's notorious Lounge Ax for a crowd of chatty "120 Minutes" fans. Gastr Del Sol's David Grubbs adds his guitar to two songs, slinking on and off the 24-inch stage with little fanfare, but leaving his signature indelibly on the performance.

„aboutJAZZ – Christmas“: Dieses Album vereint die schönsten Jazz-Versionen beliebter Weihnachtsklassiker und liefert damit eine stilvolle Musikbegleitung für die schönste Zeit des Jahres. Ob stimmgewaltige Titel wie Nat King Coles „The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)”, sanfte Melodien wie in Norah Jones‘ „Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)“, verspielte Töne mit Jamie Cullums „It’s Christmas“ oder eine märchenhafte Atmosphäre wie in Peggy Lees „The Christmas Waltz“ – dieses Album vereint die beliebtesten Weihnachtstitel mit dem vielseitigen Genre der Jazzmusik. Echte Klassiker und neue Interpretationen von Künstlern wie Gregory Porter, Laufey, Diana Krall, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, Melody Gardot, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald und vielen weiteren sorgen für ein rundum stimmungsvolles Musikerlebnis. „aboutJAZZ Christmas“ ist ab dem 22. November als 2LP, 2CD und Download erhältlich.

Joni Mitchell Gets Jazzy, Counterbalances Love and Trust with Freedom and Confusion on Court and Spark


Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP
Plays with Definitive Detail and Clarity: Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl Strictly Limited to 5,000 Numbered Copies
Box Set Features New Liner Notes
1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe


Court and Spark, the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell's trailblazing career, arrived after a year in which she took some time to breathe and kept a low profile. The pause led to more breakthroughs for the singer-songwriter. Marking Mitchell's increasing drift toward jazz (and affinity for Miles Davis and John Coltrane), Court and Spark garnered four Grammy nominations, earned the Best Album of the Year vote in the prestigious Pazz & Jop poll, and ranks #110 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and featuring new liner notes, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the 1974 classic with definitive detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD sets.

Benefitting from a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible edition reproduces without compromise the textures, details, and breathtaking craftsmanship that help make Court and Spark into what many fans believe is the Canadian native’s finest hour. Notes bloom and decay as they do amid an acoustic live environment. Soundstages extend far and deep, with black backgrounds and balanced tones adding to the uncanny realism.

The reference-grade presence and openness put in transparent view Mitchell’s incisive words and unique phrasing, as well as the contributions of her prized support musicians — including Tom Scott and the L.A. Express as well as guest turns by the likes of David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jose Feliciano, and Robbie Robertson. Mitchell, experimenting with the melodic parameters of guitar and piano, is rightly found at the center of it all. The jazz-rock rhythms of drummer John Guerin, slippery guitar lines of Larry Carlton, vibrant horns and reeds laid down by Scott — crucial to the songs’ shape-shifting arrangements — can now also be heard with fresh ears.

Visually and physically, the packaging of the Court and Spark UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, both LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This reissue is for listeners who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including Mitchell’s “The Mountain Loves the Sea” painting — a picture of waves embracing and receding away from a mountain, a metaphor for the record’s lyrical themes — on the cover art.

Pitching deceptively light compositions against underlying tensions, Court and Spark witnesses the singer-songwriter finding her footing with a group of top-shelf musicians who seemingly understand her visions as well as expanding her lyrical palette and venturing further into territory no artist had dared explore. Mitchell’s accessibly complex structures, beat-propelled rhythms, and spirited interplay with Scott & Co. both give the music a different identity than her prior efforts and point in the directions she soon headed.

Lyrically, Court and Spark matches the wit, integrity, originality, and intellect of anything in Mitchell’s oeuvre — no small feat. Offsetting positives with negatives, and considering circumstances from multiple angles, Mitchell explores issues connected to love and freedom, certainty and confusion, and trust and fear with unfettered boldness and introspective empathy. She teeters between surrender and retreat, and spends a majority of the record sussing out the complications and sacrifices involved with such actions.

Mitchell addresses the transactional nature of desire (the intimate title track, the upbeat “Raised on Robbery,” complete with rock ‘n’ roll pep from Robertson and zesty sax from Scott); anticipation and disappointment of romance (“Car on a Hill,” “”Down to You); fame and celebrity (“A Free Man in Paris,” “People’s Parties”); and sanity (the dark and stormy “Trouble Child,” a satirical cover of Annie Ross’ “Twisted”). Throughout, she sings with an emotionally penetrating beauty and devastating honesty that teaches about ourselves.

Or, as Mitchell relays on “People’s Parties”: “Laughing and crying/You know it’s the same release.”

Buffalo Tom (Bill Janovitz, Chris Colbourn und Tom Maginnis) gründeten sich 1984 an der University of Massachusetts in Amherst - einer Brutstätte von Post-Punk-Gitarrenbands wie Dinosaur Jr. und Pixies. Die drei langjährigen Bandmitglieder erkennen die Leistung ihrer Langlebigkeit als kreative Einheit an. Anfänglich boten sie einen rauen, treibenden Sound, der Janovitz" imposanten Gitarrensound hervorhob, doch der frühe Ansatz von Buffalo Tom wich einem melodischeren, aber nicht weniger unverwechselbaren Stil. Die Band hat zehn Studioalben veröffentlicht, das jüngste, Jump Rope, erschien Anfang dieses Jahres. 1992 nahm die Band ihr drittes Album "Let Me Come Over" auf, auf dem sie eine Reihe von Songs, die sie zu Hause und unterwegs entwickelt hatten, mit ihrem Live-Power-Trio-Sound und einigen akustischeren Gitarrenballaden mischte. Die Single "Taillights Fade" aus diesem Album wurde zu ihrem Markenzeichen. Auf ihren ersten beiden Alben bauten Buffalo Tom gewaltige Gitarrenlandschaften und beherrschten eine naturalistische Version der Dynamik von leise zu laut. Für ihr drittes Album haben Buffalo Tom ihre Haut ein wenig, aber nicht vollständig abgestreift und ihren Charme stärker in den Vordergrund gestellt. "Let Me Come Over" ist der Sound des Trios, das sich aus dem insularen Underground in die weite Welt des "alternativen" Rocks begibt - und dabei mehr oder weniger seine besten Moves mitbringt.

Buffalo Tom (Bill Janovitz, Chris Colbourn und Tom Maginnis) gründeten sich 1984 an der University of Massachusetts in Amherst - einer Brutstätte von Post-Punk-Gitarrenbands wie Dinosaur Jr. und Pixies. Die drei langjährigen Bandmitglieder erkennen die Leistung ihrer Langlebigkeit als kreative Einheit an. Anfänglich boten sie einen rauen, treibenden Sound, der Janovitz" imposanten Gitarrensound hervorhob, doch der frühe Ansatz von Buffalo Tom wich einem melodischeren, aber nicht weniger unverwechselbaren Stil. Die Band hat zehn Studioalben veröffentlicht, das jüngste, Jump Rope, erschien Anfang dieses Jahres. "Big Red Letter Day" wurde 1993 veröffentlicht. Auf ihrem vierten Album machten sie das, was sie sehr gut können, aber mit mehr Glanz in der Produktion. Das Album wurde in LA von den Robb Brothers aufgenommen und enthält zahlreiche Publikumslieblinge, vor allem: "Sodajerk", 'I"m Allowed", 'Treehouse" und 'Late At Night". Die Band erlangte neue Berühmtheit, als "Late At Night" in einer Schlüsselszene der kurzlebigen TV-Kultserie "My So Called Life" mit Claire Danes und Jared Leto in den Hauptrollen zu hören war, die Mitte der 90er Jahre ausgestrahlt wurde. Der Song kam nicht nur in der Folge vor, sondern die Band wurde auch bei der Aufführung des Songs gezeigt. Der Rolling Stone bezeichnete den Song in einem Bericht über die Band als "inspirierte, geradlinige Power-Pop-Sammlung", und Spin schrieb: "Die Leidenschaft fühlt sich echt an und die Musik ist erhaben."

Buffalo Tom (Bill Janovitz, Chris Colbourn und Tom Maginnis) gründeten sich 1984 an der University of Massachusetts in Amherst - einer Brutstätte von Post-Punk-Gitarrenbands wie Dinosaur Jr. und Pixies. Die drei langjährigen Bandmitglieder erkennen die Leistung ihrer Langlebigkeit als kreative Einheit an. Anfänglich boten sie einen rauen, treibenden Sound, der Janovitz" imposanten Gitarrensound hervorhob, doch der frühe Ansatz von Buffalo Tom wich einem melodischeren, aber nicht weniger unverwechselbaren Stil. Die Band hat zehn Studioalben veröffentlicht, das jüngste, Jump Rope, erschien Anfang dieses Jahres. Birdbrain ist das zweite Album der Band, das mit Hilfe von J Mascis produziert wurde. Die Songs von "Birdbrain" sind zu Live-Favoriten geworden, darunter der epische Titelsong und "Enemy". Bill Janovitz sprach über den Songwriting-Prozess für dieses Album und sagte: "Ich denke, das Interessante an Birdbrain ist, dass sich das Songwriting verändert hat. Ich hatte alles auf der ersten Platte geschrieben. "Birdbrain" ist eine Art melancholischer Track, aber das meiste davon, wie "Fortune Teller" oder "Directive", das sind in vielerlei Hinsicht sehr wütende Songs. Für mich war das viel punkrockiger, aber wir haben uns in diese Richtung bewegt, und ich weiß nicht, warum. Aber Chris hat angefangen zu schreiben. Chris singt und schrieb "Baby" und die Art und Weise, wie wir schrieben - wir schrieben nicht im selben Raum zusammen - aber wir brachten diese Ideen zueinander und trieben sie herum."

Area Silenzio is eat-girls" debut record and it is both haunted and haunting. For the past four years, the French trio have been crafting their songs into little self-contained worlds with the patience of entomologists, taking them out all over the country and Europe to confront them with the wilderness of a live audience. The ten resulting tracks are a collection of electronic madrigals, groove-driven songs played on a mischievous multi-speed Victrola, ranging from languid dub drips to full-on drum machine cavalcades. Their live performances have that same ghostly, ephemeral quality. There is something other-worldy about the three of them, a suggestion of telepathy, their three voices blending together or going their separate ways like a flock of starlings. They secured opening slots with artists as different as Thalia Zedek, Exek and The Young Gods, just to name a few. It is the elusive essence of their music that allows them to feel at ease pretty much anywhere they find themselves: part no-wave disco rhythms, part post-punk throbbing basses, folk tunes and synthesizers in equal measures, with a perpetual attention to hooks and melodies. The album was self-recorded, a necessary measure to protect the delicate nature of the inner landscapes painted by the band. In this case "delicate" does not mean "soft" by any means: the industrial disco inferno of "A Kin", the ritualistic kraut stampede of "Para Los Pies Cansados" and the bubbly post-funk rhythms of "Trauschaft" will leave you gasping for air once you come out on the other side. "On a Crooked Swing", the opener, is all arpeggiated bass and stumbling kicks. "Unison" will dip you into a hallucinatory river where nothing is what it seems to be and rescue you at the very last second. "Canine", the first single off the record, will gently but firmly reach for your jugular with its vulpine Farfisa and deceptively nonchalant drum beat. The vocal polyphonies on "3 Omens" sound like a field recording of traditional music from a tiny country that has yet to be discovered. eat-girls exist on a slightly different plane from ours, where everything is teeming with secrets and hidden life. Area Silenzio is a precious polaroid shot from that world, or, as Tom Verlaine would have it, "a souvenir from a dream".

Area Silenzio is eat-girls" debut record and it is both haunted and haunting. For the past four years, the French trio have been crafting their songs into little self-contained worlds with the patience of entomologists, taking them out all over the country and Europe to confront them with the wilderness of a live audience. The ten resulting tracks are a collection of electronic madrigals, groove-driven songs played on a mischievous multi-speed Victrola, ranging from languid dub drips to full-on drum machine cavalcades. Their live performances have that same ghostly, ephemeral quality. There is something other-worldy about the three of them, a suggestion of telepathy, their three voices blending together or going their separate ways like a flock of starlings. They secured opening slots with artists as different as Thalia Zedek, Exek and The Young Gods, just to name a few. It is the elusive essence of their music that allows them to feel at ease pretty much anywhere they find themselves: part no-wave disco rhythms, part post-punk throbbing basses, folk tunes and synthesizers in equal measures, with a perpetual attention to hooks and melodies. The album was self-recorded, a necessary measure to protect the delicate nature of the inner landscapes painted by the band. In this case "delicate" does not mean "soft" by any means: the industrial disco inferno of "A Kin", the ritualistic kraut stampede of "Para Los Pies Cansados" and the bubbly post-funk rhythms of "Trauschaft" will leave you gasping for air once you come out on the other side. "On a Crooked Swing", the opener, is all arpeggiated bass and stumbling kicks. "Unison" will dip you into a hallucinatory river where nothing is what it seems to be and rescue you at the very last second. "Canine", the first single off the record, will gently but firmly reach for your jugular with its vulpine Farfisa and deceptively nonchalant drum beat. The vocal polyphonies on "3 Omens" sound like a field recording of traditional music from a tiny country that has yet to be discovered. eat-girls exist on a slightly different plane from ours, where everything is teeming with secrets and hidden life. Area Silenzio is a precious polaroid shot from that world, or, as Tom Verlaine would have it, "a souvenir from a dream".

‚Himmel‘ sind am Ende nur eine menschliche Erfindung - genau wie die ‚Hölle‘. Alle Definitionen beruhen auf dem Wunsch der Menschheit, der
Realität zu entfliehen und eine Form der Sicherheit zu finden, die als Gegenstück zu dem höllischen Leben, das wir führen müssen, fungiert. Aber
schauen wir uns einmal selbst in die Augen: „Down The Heavens“.
11 Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album „And Babylon Fell“ melden sich DISPARAGED mit einem neuen Death Metal Magnum-Opus zurück. „Down The
Heavens“ beginnt mit einem leisen Atmen, bevor ‚Among The Chosen Ones‘ mit seinen brutalen Drums und schnellen Gitarrenstrokes alles in Schutt
und Asche legt, aber das ist nur eine Facette von DISPARAGEDs Songwriting. ‚The Throne‘ macht seinem Namen mit einem mächtigen Gitarrensolo
alle Ehre, und ‚Drown In Madness‘ hält das Brutalitätsniveau weiter hoch, fügt aber einen unwiderstehlichen Groove hinzu. Während sich der Sturm
mit ‚The Bridge‘ durch akustische Gitarren und Keyboard-Soundscapes für einen Moment beruhigt, wirkt das folgende ‚Sole Survivor Of The Flames‘
nur noch eindringlicher und epischer. Auf dem Album sind auch zwei illustre Gäste zu hören: Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) und Damir
Eskic (Destruction) fügen 'Another Day' und dem Titeltrack ihre ganz eigene Note hinzu. „Down The Heavens“ zeigt, dass Death Metal unerbittlich und
vielseitig zugleich sein kann. Ralph Beier (Gitarren), Tom Kuzmic (Gitarren und Gesang), Heinz Imhof (Drums) und Reto Hardmeier (Bass) haben ein
Muss für alle Extrem-Metaller geschaffen.
TERRITORY: Deutschland, Österreich, Belgien, Schweiz, Tschechische Republik, Frankreich, England, Italien, Irland, Niederlande, Polen

The Smile haben ihr neues Album "Cutouts" für den 04.10.2024 angekündigt. Mit "Foreign Spies" und "Zero Sum" sind zugleich zwei neue Tracks erschienen, wobei der Künstler Weirdcore zu letzterem auch ein Video kreiert hat. Bereits erschienen sind "Don"t Get Me Started" und "The Slip", zwei Stücke, die Anfang des Monats als limitierte 12"-Single kurzzeitig weltweit in Plattenläden auftauchten. Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood und Tom Skinner haben einige der Songs von "Cutouts" erstmals auf der März-Tour in UK gespielt. Insgesamt enthält das von Sam Petts-Davies produzierte Album, das auf "Wall of Eyes" aus dem Januar und das 2022er-Debüt "A Light For Attracting Attention" folgt, zehn neue Tracks. "Cutouts" wurde zur gleichen Phase wie "Wall Of Eyes" in Oxford und den Abbey Road Studios aufgenommen und enthält String-Arrangements vom London Contemporary Orchestra. Das Artwork von Stanley Donwood und Thom Yorke entstand während der Aufnahmen. "Cutouts" ist bereits das zweite Studioalbum der Band in weniger als einem Jahr. Sein Vorgänger erreichte Platz 4 der deutschen Albumcharts und die Nummer 3 in UK. Thom Yorke veröffentlichte im April außerdem den Score zu Daniele Luchettis Film "Confidenza" und kündigte eine Solotour für Neuseeland, Australien, Singapur und Japan an. Jonny Greenwood arbeitet aktuell am Score zu Paul Thomas Andersons kommenden Film "The Battle of Baktan Cross". Tom Skinner hat das Album "Voices of Bishara Live at mu" veröffentlicht und tourt mit seinen Soloarbeiten im Rahmen internationaler Jazz-Festivals.

William Kiss lands on Rekids with the ‘The Beat’ EP this November, hot on the heels of a remix for Mathias Kaden’s ‘Circulate’ EP on the label in September.

The A-side starts with title track ‘The Beat’, bodied toms footing the rhythm while high-pitched percussion keeps an irresistible groove above. With an expertly sampled, playful vocal, Kiss’ ‘The Beat’ is another unmistakable club hit that will effortlessly find its way into the peak time. The B-side hosts ‘Midnight Club’, which features more organic drums mixed with a classic House vocal and zippy strobe-light-inducing synths, closing out William Kiss’ debut on Radio Slave’s flagship label in his signature drummy style.

Having won support from Laurent Garnier, HAAi, Call Super, Robert Hood, and more, William Kiss has been going from strength to strength. He previously appeared on Radio Slave’s labels via his ‘Clap For Me’ EP on Rekids sibling label RSPX, with further releases on labels like GUDU, Bush Records and Three Six Zero alongside the launch of his collaborative project, Not Without Friends, with Luke Alessi and Jordan Brando on RÜFÜS DU SOL’s Rose Avenue.

Pique is the sensational debut solo album from Dora Morelenbaum, one of the key talents spearheading Brazil’s new musical wave. A member of the Latin Grammy award-winning band, Bala Desejo, Dora showcases a new side to her solo productions on this special LP. Whereas Dora’s first solo EP, Vento de Beirada, was a leap of faith, Pique sees her soaring as one of Brazil’s standout stars, emboldened, emphatic but ever elegant. Building bridges between past and present, it’s a funkier, more groove-based affair, weaved together with those signature, slower, celestial tracks. Touching on disco, MPB, soul, R&B and jazz, the album is enriched with an indie pop aesthetic courtesy of fellow Brazilian star and co-producer, Ana Frango Elétrico.

With an ethereal, enveloping air few can match, Dora’s gift shines through both the serene and the spirited songs contained within. The blissful, sun-soaked ‘Não Vou Te Esquecer’ opens, before the funk-fuelled, feel-good ‘Venha Comigo’ and ‘Sim, Não.’ give a glimpse of the creativity bursting from the production partnership between Dora and Ana Frango Elétrico. Elsewhere, the album reclines into hazy lean-back realms via ‘A Melhor Saída’ and ‘Petricor’, virtuoso jazz funk in the form of ‘VW Blue’ and radiant MPB through the album’s title track ‘Pique’.

The drumming is tight, fresh and swung, the horns and strings deftly arranged, as funk-driven basslines and strutting guitars mesh with playful production touches that give an added vibrancy to the record. It is an album that exhibits every side of Dora and one she has been involved in from the ground up, from the songwriting, singing, arrangement and production to booking the studio time and sourcing the artwork designer, Maria Cau Levy.

An exchange of musical ideas powers every great scene and Rio’s contemporary landscape is no different - a family of interconnected musicians and friends that collaborate on each other’s productions. Pique is graced by a wealth of these leading Brazilian lights including her Bala Desejo bandmates Lucas Nunes, Julia Mestre and Zé Ibarra, as well as Guilherme Lirio, Alberto Continentino and Tom Veloso to name just a handful. This exchange crosses generations merging tradition with modernity. In a full circle moment, Dora’s parents Paula and Jaques Morelenbaum, who featured in countless recordings from Tom Jobim's Nova Banda and Ryuichi Sakamoto to Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil, join on the album through backing vocals and arrangement.

Pique sees Dora embrace a freedom through fresh forms, showcasing the depth and diversity of her creative artistry. An infinitely listenable release that nods to Brazilian greats like Gal Costa, Banda Black Rio and Lincoln Olivetti, fused with the indie pop edge of Ana’s production. The result is truly unique and sure to be a future Brazilian classic.

Yazz Ahmeds Album "Polyhymnia" (2019) feiert weiblichen Mut, Entschlossenheit und Kreativität. Im Auftrag der Tomorrow's Warriors schrieb sie 2015 ein längeres Werk für deren Nu Civilisation Orchestra, das am Internationalen Frauentag beim Women Of The World Festival in der Londoner Queen Elizabeth Hall aufgeführt wurde. In Anlehnung an Polyhymnia, die griechische Muse der Musik, Poesie und des Tanzes, schuf Yazz eine Reihe von Sätzen, die herausragenden weiblichen Vorbildern wie Rosa Parks, Haifaa Al-Mansour und Malala Yousafzai gewidmet waren. Dieses Album steht im Kontrast zu ihrem vorherigen Werk "La Saboteuse", das von ihrer inneren Zerstörerin oder Anti-Muse getrieben wurde.

In 2007 an Italian film festival invites Mouse on Mars to score a film of their choice. The organizers claim to be able to clear the rights for any movie the band chooses. Werner Herzog’s fictional documentary Fata Morgana, which merges footage of several desert explorations by Herzog and his team into one continuous association, has long been a band’s favorite. The film comes with a soundtrack by Mozart, Leonard Cohen, Third Ear Band and field recordings. Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner are sent a DVD to Düsseldorf and start working. The idea is to score the film in real time so instrumentation has to be readily at hand: guitar, percussion, electronics, mouth harp, pedals, software, tapes, samplers. Once the arrangement for the three-part film is sorted Mouse on Mars bring their score to stage. Herzog Sessions is performed twice: first when the band still thought the rights had been cleared, and a second time at London’s Southbank Center knowing that Herzog would have never approved a new score.

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Mouse On Mars – London Queen Elizabeth Hall soundtracking Werner Herzog.
By Mike Diver, 24.04.2009

Filmed in 1971, Fata Morgana is perhaps not one of Herzog’s best-known works (think Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn, et cetera…), but then Mouse on Mars have never been ones to embrace the mainstream, quietly letting their modern, experimental take on krautrock do the talking over the years, thus producing some quietly brilliant electronica that far outweighs their modest profile.

The film itself is not altogether dissimilar to the wonderful, Phillip Glass-scored Koyaanisqatsi, with sweeping landscape shots and no obvious plot or narrative, though Fata is concentrated purely in one place – in and around the Sahara Desert, switching from images of barren wasteland to desert tribes and dead, skeletal cattle.

The obvious thing to do when soundtracking such powerful imagery is to vie for dreamy electronic soundscapes which can be sustained for a long period, and whilst this ambient shoegaze approach was present and correct (also carefully constructed and highly effective), Mouse on Mars added a human element to the performance, incorporating a live dimension by using and looping guitars, harmonicas, processed vocals and even a live horn player (quite possibly a flugelhorn. Look it up if you don’t believe me) for the final section of the film.

Some of the most interesting points arose when the duo suddenly switched from solemn, ambient tones to glitchy, bouncing electro (reminiscent of their more upbeat work) whilst on the same film shot – causing the audience mood to flick from tripped-out bliss to attentive semi-wired, utterly subverting any idea of a narrative the film may have possessed. Clever stuff.

Ranging from sinister to surreal to humorous, all the moods portrayed in Fata Morgana were successfully matched by Mouse on Mars’ live rescore – no mean feat. The duo also went above and beyond the call of duty with their own soundtrack, adding a fascinating personal signature to an already unique film.

Jubiläums Werkschau des Münchener Indie Labels Echokammer. Wie kein anderes Label repräsentiert Albert Pöschls Echokammer den Sound of Munich Underground. Am Außenposten von Popmusik ist Echokammer ein Labor, in dem Schablonen renoviert oder weiterentwickelt werden. Disko wird (in Kenntnis des Sound of Munich selbstverständlich) neu zusammengebaut, von Punk werden die weiterhin verblüffend beliebten Klischees abgeschraubt, Electro wird mit scheinbar unpassenden Elementen versetzt usw. Das alles klingt nach einer sehr ernsten Angelegenheit. Tatsächlich aber könnte man auch einen langen Essay "Über die Komik in der Musik am Beispiel von Echokammer-Platten" schreiben. Wobei die Komik immer karl-valentinesk bizarr-grotesk ist und nie comedy-witzig. In etwa vergleichbar mit der Taktik, Autoritäten nicht mit Gebrüll, sondern mit Verarschung anzurempeln.