Jimi Tenor's mind will travel where his body can't go. Living in isolation in east-Helsinki suburb he picks mushrooms and has exotic musical fantasiesin the calmness of the endless. He has made a quantum connection in Berlin with rhythm geniouses Ekow Alabi Savage and Max Weissenfeldt to create his latest tour de force "Order of Nothingness".
Mind travel is easy and music is a perfect way to illustate the possibilities. Using historical failed experimental keyboard Extravoice from Hammond organ company has opened the floodgates of Jimi's creative passages. Philophon studios in Berlin has a plethora of exotic instruments and they have been extensively used in making this album. JIMI likes to switch between wind instruments and keyboards to get a creative edge.
Is there any meaning in Mysteria Did Salvador Dali design the Chupa Chups logo Was Finland part of the Soviet Union Order of Nothingness might not aswer these question, but instead will confuse you a little bit more.
"The art of the future, therefore, will not be poorer, but infinitely richer in subject-matter. And the form of the art of the future will also not be inferior to the present forms of art, but infinitely superior to them. Superior, not in the sense of having a refined and complex technique, but in the sense of the capacity briefly, simply, and clearly to transmit, without any superfluities, the feeling which the artist has experienced and wishes to transmit." - Leo Tolstoy, "What is Art"
This statement can be made of Lucky Brown's attempt to "briefly, simply, and clearly" capture the feeling of the sound, soul, smoke and soil of the Texas Hill Country with his upcoming album "Mesquite Suite".
A little more than one year after the release of his firebrand "Mesquite Beat/Justice" single on imprint "Tramp Tapes" (TR-1040) Lucky Brown offers us here another glimpse into the sound and concept of the Mesquite Suite.
Saints & Beggars is a rustic pentatonic horn-led 6/8 anthem that builds upon a simple primitive melody assembled from two opposing figures set against two repeating figures. Brown conceived the motif while in meditation in a yoga-turned-composition studio in San Marcos, Texas. He later delicately draped the parts around it like woodsmoke. The overall effect of the composition is one of economy and restraint - nothing could be added or taken away. The horns, guitar and vintage electric combo organ begin in unison and then the figure brazenly explodes like a flock of white winged doves from a pecan tree in humid dusk. Here are featured extemporizations from Jason Cressey - trombone, Peter Daniel - saxophone, Colin Higgins - guitar, and drummer Ollie Klomp, with an exposition of open horns in the climax. The tune is drenched in shitty reverb which engenders a mysterious dimension begging the record diggers' favorite questions: "...when is this from", "...where is this from".
'Bout To Blow, remaining uncompiled in the upcoming "Mesquite Suite" (exclusively released on this single only), is a specimen of the generic Deep Funk on 45 that lit a fire in Lucky's heart more than 20 years ago. The use of the word generic here is not meant to be derogatory. Rather, it is to transmit the sense that this tune falls squarely within the confines of the so-called Deep Funk canon. 'Bout to Blow offers classic dancefloor essentials: driving bassline, hard drum beat, chanky guitar, and outrageously distorted horns fiercely executing a devastatingly primitive horn line. Also, for devout followers of Lucky Brown's recorded work, there is hidden in the bridge an easter egg in the form of a self-referential quote: the bridge of 'Bout To Blow is also the head of T.D. & The Jimmy James 3's "Jalapeño Pep" (TR-1025)!
It has been Lucky Brown's aim to paint for the world a picture of the vernacular jazz that America's neighborhoods once crafted as their own homegrown cultural heritage. Lucky Brown's music is a rejection of the elitism, classism, and status of the music industrial complex and is an antitoxin to it's resultant homogeneity. He wants with his heart and his art to transmit an everyday people's sound, made by everyday people, dedicated to the upliftment of all people. Could this be the "art of the future" that Tolstoy wrote of in 1904
Key-selling points:
- "Bout To Blow" is available on this 7" release only
- "Saints & Beggars" is taken from the forthcoming album "Mesquite Suite" (out september 2018)
Norm De Plume has been quietly making a name for himself the last eight years with remixes for Tornado Wallace and Ben La Desh and EP's for Kolour LTD and his own vinyl only imprint Plumage winning him a solid fol- lowing along the way. His passion for all things disco and deep, dubby, un- derground house inspired by his musical hero Ron Hardy feeds through into his production style as well as his recently formed Peaches & Prunes party which boasts an audiophile sound system and vinyl-only sets from the DJ's. So when the opportunity arose to do a full EP with Norm we jumped at it. Here we present you with the Castlecrag EP, a nod to the Londoner's new adoptive home of Sydney, Australia, and whilst his sound may be more akin to the recent musical movements of Melbourne, the laid-back sun-kissed melting pot of The Harbour City certainly shine through in the two originals and Folamour remix on offer here.
Title track Castlecrag leads the charge with a deep mood-setter driven by a cowbell riff and filtering pads. The spacious mix and less is more arrange- ment ensures that the drums and rolling bassline punch through making for a track that sounds both unique yet accessible and demonstrates Norm's sense of musicality as well as DJ instinct for setting the right mood on the dancefloor. Next up we have Whole In One which treads a similar path whilst dropping the BPM's a touch and building up layers of synth strings to create a subtle yet engaging track to immerse yourself in. Finally, man of the moment Folamour gets busy on the remix of Whole In One working his magic by upping the tempo and going heavy on the jazz- inspired drums. By laying down a driving groove and pushing the string stabs to the fore, the Lyonnais producer behind the wonderful Moonrise Hill Material label has delivered a fresh-sounding take that will work like magic on discerning dance floors out there.
NICO FIDENCO Eternal Anguish / Come Back! Rhythm
taken from the movie Emanuelle - Perche´ violenza alle donne - The Degradation of Emanuelle (1977, Joe D'Amato)
7'' Limited Edition 400 copies
At last available on 7" two of the more danceable tracks of the wholeBlack Emanuellemusical canon, written by the celebrated dream team Nico Fidenco (composer) and Giacomo Dell'Orso (arranger and conductor) for legendary cult director Joe D'Amato.
Sensually haunting synths, hypnotic drums, and mellow and persuasive bass lines. A unique disco sound that will have DJs around the world rejoice!Funky Emanuelle for your pleasure!
In 2006 Salvador Breed and Stijn van Beek met while studying Sound Design and Music Technology at the Utrecht School of the Arts. Ever since then the pair have been beavering away behind an arsenal of blinking banks in Amsterdam. The musical fruit of this twelve year friendship Breek. A partnership that smears the boundaries of styles and sounds with festive flare. For their vinyl debut, a candy coloured cornucopia of elements are swirled and whirled. Braindance, electronica and neo-classical are festooned with dubby tones and underground grit in a unique sound of diverse textures and deep tones. Faster works, like the swooping joy of "Yokai", are countered by more contemplative "Ama." "Hang" is a whimsical dreamscape of squirming acid lines, crisp drums and angular notes that combine to produce a brilliantly bright piece. "Mu-Onna" and "Oiwa" are more abstract works that melt vocals with sweet strings before the final piano swells and ambient rains of "Burabura." A daring and dynamic vinyl debut from this eccentric duo with stunning artwork from Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones (Massive Attack, Bjork en UNCLE).
First record of the Jamn Ensemble.The record features 3 unique sounding Deep House cuts. The tracks are composed of subtle acid bass lines, Rhodes chords and Roland TR series beats. Idylle melody is played by vibes. Jamn Ensemble always keeps in mind acoustic instruments legacy.
- Death In Vegas Return With The Single 'honey', Its Second Collaboration With Sasha Grey. 'honey' Is A Slow, Seductive Serenade, With An Organic, Psychedelic Tone: Dreamy And Dripping With Intensity.
- The B Side Features 'witchdance Dub', Richard Fearless' Long-held Remix Of 'witchdance' Off Trans-love Energies, Featuring The Haunting Vocals Of Katie Stelmanis From Austra. Fearless Cut Three Dubplates Of 'witchdance Dub' After He Mixed This Track. Dj Harvey Has One, Prosumer The Other, And Fearless Kept The 3rd: Delicate Acetates That Have Been Played Out Sparingly But With Electric Effect. This Track Is Effortless, Minimal Dance Music Imbued With Fearless' Unique Production Sound- It's Not One To Miss.
It's been over 10 years since the release of Gui Boratto's breakthrough full length debut 'Chromophobia'. As to what its title suggests, he shook up the techno game with a contrast of lushly coloured minimal grooves and melody, whilst many will recall that the album included the highlight single Beautiful Life' which became a dance floor anthem for that era. Four albums in and countless EPs and remixes under his belt, the Brazilian producer's unique savoir-faire in carving out a functional album out of diversely routed singles and features is back at it on his fifth studio LP, 'Pentagram'. Here Gui Boratto lays down a nuanced 12-track narrative that reinvigorates his signature sound into a refreshingly different perspective that feels all too familiar - including the return of Beautiful Life' vocalist (and Gui Boratto's wife) Luciana Villanova on the single "Overload".
Through his signature kaleidoscopic approach, Boratto delivers an album built as a far-reaching hub-and-spoke system, broadly inclusive as can be. From the opening cut, 'The Walker' - hot on the trail of Tears For Fears 'Elemental' (one of Boratto's "favourite 80's bands") - to the hi-NRG euphoria of 'Forgotten' and its pounding tech alter ego 'Forgive Me'. "I was going into 2 different directions", Boratto says, "the typical indie- electronic-rock' Boratto kind of production like It's Majik' or Like You' and a much more techno approach." He goes on, "I decided to split them into two twin sister songs. When I play live I always put these two songs together."
The Brazilian Producer further embraces the pop-friendly essence of his past work on tracks like 'The Phoenix', featuring vocalist Nathan Berger, and 'Overload', both melding acidulous synthlines with laser-precise breaks, vox hooks and drops calibrated for extended radio and club use, although sieved through his distinctive rainbow-hued musical prism. For the symbolists out there, the album's pared-down closer '618' duration accidentally happens to equate the proportions of the said pentagram. "Coincidence" Boratto questions, and capsulises, "not so ufanista and supporter of Brazilian neo-concretism, but I guess the brazilian sculptor Lygia Clark also inspired me a lot. Not the meaning of her sculptures, but the shape of the hinge of most of her work. I've wanted to transmit the scientific pentagram's point of view. It's not a religious kind of thing."
Whereas 'Spur' (a field-tested 808 and 909-heavy "purist track", "very, very old school" Boratto insists) and 'Alcazar' are sheer smooth-edged four-to- the-floor epics, the album also shares its lot of startling moments, such as with the John Barry'esque 'Scene 2' (with a hint of Amon Tobin, 'Easy Muffin' style, throw in) and its refined string-laden buildup, 100% fitted for a 007 opening credit sequence, or with 'Hallucination' (feat B.T.) and the further James Holden-ish title-track 'Pentagram' (think 'The Idiots Are Winning'), "one of those exercises I did when I got my Buchla modular synth" Boratto analyses, "I think I've used more then 30 different snares, with different delays and reverbs. The whole song is alive". And so is 'Pentagram' in its entirety: alive and definitely just as manifold and hopeful as its architectonics are the stuff of science and dreams all at once.
Es ist zehn Jahre her seit der Veröffentlichung von Gui Borattos bahnbrechendem Debütalbum - Chromophobia . So wie der Titel vermuten ließ, war das Album mit seinen kontrastreichen Minimalgrooves und den üppig gefärbten Melodien ein Schocker im besten Sinne. Ihr erinnert euch sicher noch an die Hit-Single - Beautiful Life , eine Dancefloor-Hymne aus dieser Zeit. Nach vier Alben und unzähligen EPs und Remixen ist das einmalige Savoir-faire des brasilianischen Produzenten, aus vielfältigen Singles und Features stimmige Alben zu schaffen, auch auf seinem fünften Studioalbum - Pentagram zu hören. Hier legt Gui Boratto ein Zwölf-Track-Narrativ vor, das seine Handschrift auf erquickende Weise wiederbelebt. Wiederbelebt wird auch die Stimme von - Beautiful Life (die der Frau Gui Borattos gehört) auf dem Stück - Overload .
Durch seinen charakteristisch kaleidoskopischen Ansatz liefert Boratto ein Album, das gebaut ist wie die Speichen deines Fahrrads, von dem Opener - The Walker - direkt auf der Spur von Tears For Fears - Elemental (einer von Borattos - favourite 80's bands ) - zur Hi-NRG-Euphorie von - Forgotten und seinem stampfenden Counterpart - Forgive Me . - Ich bin in zwei unterschiedlichen Richtungen gegangen , sagt Boratto: - den typischen ,Indie-Electronic-Rock'-Weg wie in - It's Majik oder - Like You und den Techno-Weg. Er fügt hinzu: - Ich hab mich entschieden jedem Track seinen Zwillings-Track an die Seite zu stellen. Immer wenn ich live spiele lege ich die zwei Stücke zusammen.
Der brasilianische Produzent erschließt weiter die Pop-Essenz seiner vergangenen Arbeit auf Tracks wie - The Phoenix (feat. Nathan Berger) und - Overload . Beide kombinieren zwitschernde Synthi-Melodien mit lasergenauen Breaks, Hooklines, Drops und sind wie gemacht für die Rotation und den Club. Und für die Symbolisten da draußen: die Länge des reduzierten Closers - 618 beträgt zufälliger Weise genau die Proportionen des besagten Pentagramms. - Fügung , fragt Boratto und fasst zusammen: - Ich bin kein Anhänger des brasilianische Neo-Konkretismus , aber ich glaube die brasilianische Künstlerin Lygia Clark hat mich sehr inspiriert. Nicht die Bedeutung ihre Skulpturen aber die Form der meisten ihrer Arbeiten. Ich wollte den wissenschaftlichen Blickwinkel auf das Pentagramm übersetzen. Nicht im religiösen Sinne oder so."
Während - Spur (ein erprobter - purist track auf der Basis von 808 und 909, - sehr, sehr old school , wie Boratto betont) und - Alcazar glatte Vierviertel-Epen sind, hält das Album auch Überraschungsmomente bereit. Z.B. das John Barryschen - Scene 2 (auch eine Spur von Amon Tobins - Easy Muffin ist darin zu hören) und seinem Streicher-Aufbau, der hundertprozentig geeignet wär für eine Eröffnungssequenz in einem Bond-Film. Auch - Hallucination (feat. B.T.) oder der James-Holden-hafte Titeltrack - Pentagram (wir denken da an - The Idiots Are Winning ) wäre da zu nennen. - Einer dieser Übungen, die ich gemacht habe, als ich meinen Buchla-Modular-Synthesizer bekommen habe, war , erinnert sich Boratto, - mehr als 30 verschiedene Snares, Delays und Reverbs zu verwenden. Der ganze Song sollte am Leben sein. Und so ist - Pentagram im Ganzen: lebendig und sicher genau so vielfältig wie sein Bauplan, der auch der Wissenschaft und den Träumen zugrundeliegt.
out of Stock
Last delivered 3 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
For the second foray into past hidden gems by some of our favourite producers, brokntoys is pleased to welcome French producer Raphael Vendramini aka Automat. Known for his electro output on labels such as SCSI-AV, this 5-track EP showcases excerpts of his unique dark and atmospheric sound and includes the haunting 'Dark Days' previously released digitally on Parisian label Milles Feuilles.
LB aka LABAT is a regular cat in the french circuit with releases on Disques Solaires, DKO or recently WOLF Music. This ep highlights once again his unique style with an all inside MPC production blending samples with sharp signature beats. The opener is stone cold disco house jam in the deep Parrish tradition. Nothing New is a spacey hip hop joint taking you a ride to destination Spice Go- a detroish hip house beat. On flipside, CELESTIAL PLAN is a special party break with deep jazz samples mixed with a mpc signature that gives this track a very uncommon signature and groove. Better be ready for this one before landing to STICKY GREEN countryside.
Music and Poetry of the Kesh is the documentation of an invented Pacific Coast peoples from a far distant time, and the soundtrack of famed science fiction author, Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home In the novel, the story of Stone Telling, a young woman of the Kesh, is woven within a larger anthropological folklore and fantasy. The ways of the Kesh were originally presented in 1985 as a five hundred plus page book accompanied with illustrations of instruments and tools, maps, a glossary of terms, recipes, poems, an alphabet (Le Guin's conlang, so she could write non-English lyrics), and with early editions, a cassette of field recordings' and indigenous song. Le Guin wanted to hear the people she'd imagined, she embarked on an elaborate process with her friend Todd Barton to invoke their spirit and tradition.
For Music and Poetry of the Kesh, the words and lyrics are attributed to Le Guin as composed by Barton, an Oregon-based musician, composer and Buchla synthesist (the two worked together previously on public radio projects). But the cassette notes credit the sounds and voices to the world of the Kesh, making origins ambiguous. For instance, The River Song' description reads, The prominent rhythm instrument is the doubure binga, a set of nine brass bowls struck with cloth-covered wooden mallets, here played by Ready.' According to writer and long-time friend of LeGuin, Moe Bowstern (who pens the liners for the Freedom To Spend edition of Kesh), Barton built and then taught himself to play several instruments of Le Guin's design, among them the seven-foot horn known to the Kesh as the Houmbúta and the Wéosai Medoud Teyahi bone flute.' Barton's crafting of original instruments lends an other-worldly texture to the recordings of the Kesh, not unlike fellow builders Bobby Brown and Lonnie Holley. Bowstern notes, Other musician / makers have crafted their own Kesh instruments after encountering the earlier cassette recordings that accompanied some editions of the book.' Both Barton and Le Guin are sensitive to the sovereignty of indigenous Californians and were careful not to trample the traditions of the Tolowa people who lived in the valley long before the Kesh. You research deeply, and then you bring your own voice to the table,' said Barton. Within the Kesh culture, the numbers four and five shape the lives, society and rituals. Barton composed loosely around these numbers, patiently listening to the land of Napa Valley for signs and audio signals from the natural elements. Todd incorporated ambient sounds of the creek by Le Guin's house and a campfire they built together. The songs of Kesh are joyful, soothing and meditative, while the instrumental works drift far past the imaginary lands. Heron Dance' is an uplifting first track, featuring a Wéosai Medoud Teyahi (made from a deer or lamb thigh bone with a cattail reed) and the great Houmbúta (used for theatre and ceremony). A Music of the Eighth House' sends gossamer waves of the faintest sounds to float on the wind.' Like the languages invented in the vocal work of Anna Homler, Meredith Monk, and Elizabeth Fraser, the Kesh songs and poems play with the shape of voice.
The Music and Poetry of the Kesh cassette was meant to accompany and enhance the experience of reading Always Coming Home. Presented in this edition as a long-playing album, where only traces of the book linger (the jacket offers some of Le Guin's illustration, and a letterpressed bookmark featuring the the narrative modes of western civilization and the Kesh valley is included), the music alone breaking the silence of what might be. It can transport—offering a landscape for imagining a future homecoming. One in which we are balanced, peaceful, and tend to the earth and its creatures. A line from the Sun Dance poem reminds us, We are nothing much without one another.' Freedom To Spend gives new life to the recordings of the Kesh people in the first ever vinyl edition of Music and Poetry of the Kesh, out on LP, and digital formats on March 23, 2018. The LP will include a deluxe spot printed jacket with illustrations from Always Coming Home, a facsimile of the original lyric sheet, liner notes by Moe Bowstern, multi-format digital download code and a limited edition bookmark letter pressed by Stumptown Printers in Portland, OR.
This past Monday, January 22, Ursula passed from this realm to another leaving a life spent building and exploring other worlds while challenging social concepts of the real word she inhabited.
Freedom To Spend had been working under Ursula's enthusiastic endorsement and with Todd Barton, her musical collaborator on Kesh, to give the music that accompanied her 1985 epoch a new life. With the Le Guin family's encouragement to move forward with our planned release, we are humbled to play this small role in sharing Ursula's work.
As Pete Swanson, one third of Freedom To Spend, stated, Ursula's legacy is her work which transformed the world, and this is another piece of the universe that her imagination birthed becoming real.' Listen to A Teaching Poem / Heron Dance' below.
Enigmatic producer Waxwood has a genuinely global outlook. Born in Russia, resident in Brooklyn and a regular visitor to Los Angeles, he can often be found jetting off to far-fung parts of the World in order to make feld recordings and immerse himself in different musical cultures.
You can hear these disparate global infuences and inspirations in
Waxwood's frst single for Claremont 56, which comes on the back of a near legendary 2015 cassette for NYC's Styles
Upon Styles, Sahasraha, which magically fused tropical hand
percussion and densely layered feld recordings with lilting ambient chords, hypnotic electronic rhythms and all manner of intoxicating
aural fourishes. 'Kama' is a slightly different beast from its' predecessor, with a sunny disposition and laidback breeziness throughout. Although underpinned
by a sturdy kick-drum pattern, its chiming melodies and metallic
percussion fourishes - reminiscent of indigenous music from far-
fung nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia - combine with gentle acoustic guitar motifs and waves of acid-esque electronics to create a beguiling and life-affrming mood. It offers more proof that Waxwood is a producer with a unique musical vision. The track's inherent gentle breeziness is explored in greater detail on the accompanying remix, which has been provided by Phantom Island regulars Fuga Ronto (AKA Swiss musicians/producers Ron Shiller and Tobi Schweizer). Riffng on Waxwood's original, they've added superb new vocals and instrumentation - think dreamy harmonies, tumbling synthesizer melodies and mesmerizing guitar parts - to create a sunset-friendly Balearic revision that's both stunningly beautiful and dazzlingly sun-kissed.
Crosstown Rebels celebrate their fifteenth year with their monumental 200th release. American DJ and producer Arthur Baker reunites with Rockers Revenge for the first time in thirty years. To complete the package, dance music heavyweights Francois K and Michael Mayer take on remix duties.
On A Mission is exactly that, 'a mission of love, a mission of peace'. The positive vocals hark back to those of early 90s house tracks, which created unity through music and clubbing. The rhythmic beat of the drum is determined, as percussive layers build and the vocals bleed into the synths. Francois K provides two variations of the track. His remix features more prominent drumbeats driven by a growling bassline. On his rockers dub version, Francois goes all out and dubs us into the stratosphere. Up next is the Michael Mayer remix, with a more electronic take on the original with driving synths and a whirring, throbbing bass-line.
Created in 1982, Rockers Revenge was the brainchild of Arthur Baker and Donnie Calvin. Donnie provided lead vocals with Baker's wife, Tina B, Dwight Hawkes and Adrienne Dupree Johnson on backing vocals. Their most prominent track, Walking On Sunshine, was a post-disco hit reaching #1 in the US dance charts and #4 in the UK charts.
Three years ago Baker and Hawkes reconnected through social media with Baker sending through his original Mission idea. Baker is known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and New Order whilst also remixing the Pet Shop Boys' 1986 hit In The Night. Fast forward to 2018 and the group performed a monumental live show at Get Lost Miami, and are currently in the studio working on new material. This Summer they will shoot a new documentary and perform live at various events.
Jaar's Other People is pleased to present a new solo record of guitar and live custom electronics artist Patrick Higgins, an American avant-garde composer and producer from New York City. Higgins is known for his work in experimental and contemporary classical music, playing guitar and composing in the mythical avant-noise-jazz ensemble Zs. His solo work as a composer unites European avant-garde forms with the post-minimalist howl of New York. His upcoming release on Other People, 'Dossier,' is a four-movement piece performed live without overdubs or edits. All of the samples and synthetic patches were custom built and specifically engaged to become elements of live guitar manipulation. The sound world is post-apocalyptic in spirit but builds to an intimate and reflective end. The material was developed over a two-year period and finalized at the end of 2016. Cover art is by Alfredo Jaar.
The War On Drugs announce their fourth full-length album, A Deeper Understanding, out August 25th on Atlantic Records. A Deeper Understanding is the band's first album since 2014's universally acclaimed Lost In The Dream, and their debut album with Atlantic. Following the Record Store Day release of the 11-minute Thinking of a Place,' The War On Drugs present the album's lead single, Holding On.'
For much of the three and a half year period since the release of Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs' frontman, Adam Granduciel, led the charge for his Philadelphia-based sextet as he holed up in studios in New York and Los Angeles to write, record, edit, and tinker—but, above all, to busy himself in work. Teaming up with engineer Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Weezer), Granduciel challenged the notion of what it means to create a fully realized piece of music in today's modern landscape. Calling on his bandmates - bassist Dave Hartley, keyboarding Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall and multi-instrumentalists Anthony LaMarca and Jon Natchez -- continuously throughout the process, the result is a band record' in the noblest sense, featuring collaboration, coordination, and confidence at every turn. Through those years of relocation, the revisiting and reexamining of endless hours of recordings, unbridled exploration and exuberance, Granduciel's gritty love of his craft succeeded in pushing the band to great heights.
Only those who read all the credits on record liner notes will know the full details: Areski is of course Brigitte Fontaine's partner in life, but also her creative alter ego, and the composer of the music of most of her songs. Even though it was his wife Brigitte and not him who wrote the lyrics, Areski is a poet in his own right. Furthermore, he is polyvalent: composing, arranging, singing, improvising, playing every possible instrument and even acting! Areski, to sum up, is the perfect mix of the tradition of Munir Bashir with the European sophistication' of someone like Jean-Claude Vannier, one foot permanently in Versailles (where he was born) and the maghreb. Areski, is left bank French songs without the stylistic effects, revised and updated through contact with arab-andalusian music. He is a Living Theatre style happening with a dose of cosmic free jazz, surrealist poetry viewed through the prism of Kabyle culture... All that and a lot more!
Areski honed his talent observing the stars of traditional chaâbi, testing it out in bars and dives before meeting, during military service, the singer Jacques Higelin with whom he would record his first cult album, and who would present him to his wife-to-be, Brigitte Fontaine. Between 1969 and 1980, with her, Areski would contribute an essential chapter to French underground music including classics such as Comme à la radio (with the Art Ensemble of Chicago), Je ne connais pas cet homme, L'Incendie, Le Bonheur and Vous et nous. For all that, Areski has never really tried to have a career under his own name, in spite of the wonderful Un Beau matin first published in 1970, and which it is high time to de (re)discover (better late than never). Those already in the know will not be surprised to see, especially, Jean-Charles Capon, author of the inspired L'Univers-solitude, Brigitte Fontaine of course, or Daniel Vallancien, author of a no-less inspired duo with saxophonist Philippe Maté. All contributing to an acerbic poetic universe, concerned but never militant, and open to worldwide influences long before they became a fashion.
Inspired, poetic, in a word essential: Un Beau Matin is one of the best albums of the French underground produced by Pierre Barouh on his label Saravah, alongside those by Maurice Lemaître, Catharsis, Claude Yvans, Mahjun, Barney Wilen, Cohelmec Ensemble et Michel Roques.
Dubbed by Igloo Magazine as the 'Romanian Detroit electro/techno pioneer' and by the late Aaron Carl as 'the Romanian Underground Resistance himself', Andrew Red Hand from Romania's spiritual capital of lasi stands up as an unwavering militant of the underground, a true Detroit spirit possessed as Romanian humanoid!
From his early gigs throwing parties as one of the first generation DJs in lasi since 1997, ARH continues to break boundaries as part of the Romanian resistance scene and numerous time portals as they open around Europe. His blistering, mind-bending sets such as at Berlin's Tresor and Griessmuehle see the DJ with the red hand fuse pure Detroit electro and techno with the sounds of techno-bass, raw Chicago acid house, classics and futuristic beats. His mixes for Radio UR (Underground Resistance) and The Grid (Detroit Techno Militia) remain some of the best frequency transmissions to surface to air.
Armed with a Soviet Union reel to reel Majak 203, his scorching raw analogue and searing acid productions have been picked up by foundational Detroit labels such as Twilight 76, Matrix, Detroit Underground, Databass, Detroit Techno Militia, Cratesavers Intl, Visillusion as well as around the world from Holland's iconic M>O>S Recordings to 1Ø Pills Mate (Lobster Theremin), Bass Agenda and Land Of Dance. On his remix list includes work for Scan 7, Santonio Echois, Thomas Barnett, Sean Deason, Niko Marks, Six Foe, T.Linder and more while support from Anthony Shake Shakir, DJ Bone, Dave Clarke, DJ Godfather has been garnered for our sonic warrior... Beware of the Red Hand!
Katharsis was originally a regular party organized at the infamous Contact, Tokyo, the home of the electronic music scene in Japan.
In 2017 Katharsis Recordings was launched, with the first release being touted by many in the Japanese techno scene and played by the
likes of DJ Nobu at Dekmantel.The second release will be scripted with another compilation of 4 Japanese artists.
The first on the A side, Mikuni Kaido by head honcho Masafumi Take, is a fresh track that combines nostalgic arps and analogue bass.
The other main member Kannabi's track 'Shoka' on the B side is an abstract rhythmical piece that evolves slowly.
The second track on the A side 'Kirisame' is by a new member O-Ma. A modular synth enthusiast, his unique analogue sounds are a trademark
of his tracks.
The last track on the EP is 'Yoake' by veteran Ryogo Yamamori. The rolling beat and spacey synth sound gradually build up to a climax and
makes this track perfect for the dance floor.
All 4 tracks are distinctly different showcasing the identity of each artist. This new movement represents a fresh approach to the Japanese
techno scene.
Sing a song fighter have never been more proud and happy than to finally announce and release this unissued and unheard fantastic recording South African in exile Johnny Dyani was one of the greatest bass players. Played with Don Cherry, Chris McGregor, Archie Sheep, Dollar Brand / Abdullah Ibrahim etc etc. He also made many great albums as a bandleader. And a few rare minimal albums where it was mostly him and his upright bass. He died way too early, in 1986. Karl Jonas Winqvist (Sing A Song Fighter) ranks some of Dyani's works ("African Bass", 'Witchdoctor's Son" with Okay Temiz and "Good News From Africa', with Dollar Brand) as "the most natural, creative musical force there is'. KJW investigated for years if there was more recorded Dyani material waiting to be heard. And where After e-mailing endlessly with the National Radio Museum in Switzerland he finally found what he was looking for.In 1978 graphic designer Niklaus Troxler arranged the great Willisau Jazz Festival in Switzerland. A lot of legendary artists like Max Roach, Jan Garbarek, Elvin Jones and Don Cherry were performing, and Johnny Dyani was one of them. He did this rare solo concert with some of the material that two years later would end up on his great album "African Bass". This LP contains the concert from beginning to end, showing Dyani at his very best on piano, gong, bass and vocals. Spiritual, adventurous and truly free,beautiful music.Gatefold cover, with extensive liner notes from Francis Gooding and Niklaus Troxler
Max Loderbauer, who has so far made consistently engaging contributions to the Arjunamusic family, is back to lend his unique interpretive skills to the master recordings for the Brightbird album by João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Mário Franco and Samuel Rohrer. Loderbauer has set himself up for a chal- lenge, since the original album's completely improvised flow of small-ensemble, conversational jazz feels complete enough without outside intervention. However, Loderbauer's role as electronics operator in the similarly attuned Ambiq trio has already shown that, through his mastery of tone color, he has a talent for teasing out the additional hidden details within an apparently 'complete' sonic environment. It's a task he mana- ges to accomplish without ever overriding or contradicting the cohesive message provided by his collaborators.
Adding to the challenge here, Loderbauer chooses to re- mix using only sounds from the original recordings. By doing so, it might seem he is willfully denying himself the chance to use his own signature tools and turn Brightbird's source materi- al into stunningly new electro-acoustic hybrid blooms. Yet Loderbauer succeeds here by becoming something more like a translator than an augmenter - he finds a way to make mea- ningful syntactical changes to the trio's rich and versatile vo- cabulary, and once again unveils a verdant world of hidden details in the process.
The A-side 'Trusting Heart/Cosmos' has an anxious tone introduced by a set of Doppler-effected piano notes that seem to melt in the sun, and is soon complemented by a va- riegated, chattering rhythm line. Here Loderbauer builds up a tactile tension between rhythmic certainty and sharp-angled, de-tuned, and occasionally scrambled instrumentation, framing a disorienting (yet engaging) virtual space where ob- jects' bright hues rapidly change as they contract and expand along multiple dimensions. For the b-side 'Noontide', Lo- derbauer switches to a more focused and streamlined idiom with an uncanny ease, riding along steady waves of sequencer patterning and silvery, resonant shiverings. Reverberating, ho- lographic piano again provides the tonal center here, and the notes ring with a forward-thinking optimism not far removed from classics of the 'Krautrock' era.
Current supporters of all the artists involved will find this to be an invigorating synopsis of their work to date, while newcomers will be treated to a soundworld where skillful fu- sion (the act itself, rather than the music genre with the same name) is constantly on display.
Twenty-eight Years Ago, Pissed-off Twelve-year-olds Around The Universe Discovered A New Planet, A Black Planet. Public Enemy's Aggressive, Benihana Beats And Incendiary Lyrics Instilled Fear Among Parents And Teachers Everywhere, Even In The Border Town Of Laredo, Texas, Home Of The Future Founders Of The Latin-funk-soul-breaks Super Group, Brownout. The Band's Sixth Full-length Album (out May 25th) Fear Of A Brown Planet Is A Musical Manifesto Inspired By Public Enemy's Music And Revolutionary Spirit.
Chuck D., The Bomb Squad, Flava Flav And The Rest Of The P.e. Posse Couldn't Possibly Have Expected That Their Golden-era Hip Hop Albums Would Sow The Seeds For Countless Public Enemy Sleeper Cells, One That Would Emerge Nearly Three Decades Later In Austin, Texas. Greg Gonzalez (bass) Remembers A Kid Back In Junior High Hipped Him To The Fact That Public Enemy's bring The Noise' Is Built On James Brown Samples, While A Teenaged Beto Martinez (guitar) Alternated Between Metal And Hip-hop In His Walk-man, And Adrian Quesada (guitar/keys) Remembers Falling In Love With Public Enemy's Sound At An Early Age. when I Got Into Hip Hop, I Was Looking For This Aggressive Outlet . . . And I Didn't Even Understand What They Were Pissed Off About, Because I Was Twelve And Lived In Laredo . . . But I Loved It And I Felt Angry Along With Them.'
Joseph Abajian (fat Beats' Owner) Must Have Sensed The Deep Hip-hop Well Lying Beneath The Versatile Band's Latin-funk Veneer. i Thought Their Sound Would Work Covering Public Enemy Songs,' Abajian Says, And, it Was Good To Know They Were P.e. Fans . . . We Came Up With A Track Listing And They Went To Work.' Despite The Band's Eagerness To Work On New Original Material (an Album Of Original Songs Is Slated For Next Year), They Couldn't Pass Up The Opportunity To Pay Homage To This Iconic And Influential Posse.
Translating Sample-based Music To A Live Band Turned Out To Be More Of A Challenge Than They Anticipated. Adrian Tried To Get Inside The Bomb Squad's (public Enemy's Producers/beat-making Team) Head In Order To Find The Inspiration To Reinterpret P.e.'s Songs: imagine The Bomb Squad Going Back In Time And Getting The J.b.s (james Brown's Funky Backing Band) In The Studio And Setting Up A Couple Analog Synths And Then Playing Those Songs.' While Some Songs Closely Follow The Original Musical Blueprint, Others Use The Source Breakbeats As Jumping-off Points Later Sweetened By Trombonist Mark speedy' Gonzales' Horn Arrangements, Synth Wizardry Courtesy Of Friend-of-the-band Peter Stopschinski, And Dj Trackstar's Turntable Scratches. But Don't Listen Expecting To Hear Paint-by-numbers Recreations Of Classic Public Enemy Jams. our Approach Is Never In The Tribute Sense,' Adrian Explains. we've Always Taken It And Made It Our Own, Whether It's The Brown Sabbath Thing Or This Public Enemy Thing.' Coming Off Numerous Tours As Brown Sabbath And Even A Stint Backing The Late Legend Prince, Brownout Is Arguably The Tightest And Funkiest Band On The Road Today And They're Psyched To Bring This Revolutionary Music To The People. For A Band Without An Overt Political Agenda, They Collectively Couldn't Resist The Opportunity To Play This Music Live, Especially Now. if There's Any Way That We Can Use The Already Political And Protest Nature (of P.e.'s Music), We Would Like To Try,' Beto Says. the Album's Title, Fear Of Brown Planet Is Definitely A Relevant Idea Today And We're Not Afraid To Put It Out There, Because We Want To Speak Out.' By Reinterpreting These Hip Hop Classics In Their Unique Style And Channeling The Spirit Of Public Enemy That First Echoed Around The World And Captured Their Imaginations All Those Years Ago, Brownout Is Doing Exactly That.
SKRSINTL Crew load up their dub boxes deep and deliver a wide-ranging, rapid-fire display of their unique vision for musical murderation. Pulling the best from their clashes and world travels They weave together a bewildering barrage inna dance leaving a soundboy downright dazed and dusted. And yet within this deadly encounter, there is deliverance When the smoke settles, unscathed, only Life remains Sekkle urself in this Infinity; tune can't run out.
We're happy to present you in the future some of the best releases from this unique catalog! Starting with Sex Trax 15 - Spank Spank - Da E.P. This outstanding release was produced by L.A. Williams, Roy Davis Jr. and Phuture founder Earl Smith Jr. who died too young in 2016.
Multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Adam Gibbons (aka Lack of Afro) is back in some style with 'Back To The Day', a beautifully produced summer sizzler crammed full of infectious hooks, top musicianship and most importantly, vibe by the bucketload! Taking a nod from classic material by artists such as The Jackson 5, Earth Wind & Fire (and more recently Vulfpeck), 'Back To The Day' is Lack of Afro doing what he does best and then some - blending the old and new with big drums and heavy percussion to come up with a crossover classic that's entirely his own, whilst all the while developing his abilities as a songwriter.
Providing a dynamite vocal once again is regular collaborator Elliott Cole. Not just the voice of the track, he also plays guitars and bass, whilst ably backed up by some stellar musicians including George Cooper (Haggis Horns) on keys, Rory Simmons (Blur, Jamie Cullum) on trumpet, string and horn arrangements and Harry Harding (Yola Carter) holding down the backbeat on drums.
Keeping the dancefloor packed and turning the party vibes right up to 11, 'Take It Up A Notch' (featuring the brilliant Wax & Herbal T and taken from the critically acclaimed 'Back In Business EP') completes what is arguably one of the strongest single packages of the year!
Lack of Afro continues to go from strength to strength. 2016's 'Hello Baby' (released on his own label LOA Records) picked up a BBC 6 Music 'Album Of The Year' nomination & appeared in the Top 10 of the iTunes R&B / Soul chart in 21 countries worldwide. More recently, Adam's music continues to be used across all aspects of film & TV by networks such as ABC, Fox, NBC, Sony Pictures & the BBC whilst he also has released music on Universal & Warner Brothers Records.
Both tracks are taken from the new album 'Jack Of All Trades', released on LOA Records in May 2018 and supported by a live band UK tour in May & throughout various festivals throughout the summer.
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar : rudra veena
Annie Penta : tanpura
Concert recorded at the home of Shantha and Niranjan B. Benegal, Seattle, Washington 9 March 1986.
Recorded by Niranjan Benegal. Files obtained from Jeff Lewis.
Mastered & Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering 1117 & 0318.
Liner notes by Renaud Brizard, edited by Stephen O'Malley & Ian Christe.
Front and back cover photos by unknown.
Interior photography by Niranjan B. Benegal, Dan Neuman & unknown, Seattle 1978-1980. .
Around ten years ago, deep into a cozy and hazy night following a concert with my sound brothers Daniel O'Sullivan and Kristoffer Rygg in London (as Æthenor), they graciously introduced me to a recording of rudra veena (a kind of noble deeper bass relative to the sitar, in a way) as performed by dhrupad master Zia Mohiuddin Dagar.
Dhrupad, for those who do not know, is a branch of Hindustani classical music said to "show the raga in its clearest and purest form". It's pacing concentrates heavily on the slow, contemplative alap section and works with specific microtonal gestures and deep characteristics of resonance ... in short I was hooked on this new (to me) and ancient form of music from the first listen, and feel that a more or less continual listening & reviewing of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's recordings in the years that followed have influenced my own approach to music quite heavily (if, albeit, indirectly).
In early 2015 I was able to make contact with Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's son Bahauddin and some of his American students/disciples, primarily Jeff Lewis. Over time we developed a friendly and educational exchange, access a massive archive of recordings and developed these two paired titles for my label. It's been a long path to arrive at actually releasing them but also probably in many ways one of the most significant releases I've worked on. And I'm proud to be able to reveal these to date unreleased archival recordings of one of the masters of dhrupad, Z. M. Dagar, to the public for the first time.
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the nineteenth generation in a family tradition known as Dagar gharana, a rich lineage which continued and performed the musical form of dhrupad (Bahauddin Dagar continues the lineage as a master rudra veena dhrupad player of note today). Initially, dhrupad was a rigorous, austere, devotional genre that was sung in Hindu temples. But between the 16th and the 18th centuries, it became the preeminent genre in royal courts in North and Central India, and the Dagar gharana developed and continued publicly following the eventual loss of court patronage for dhrupad in the 19th century. The French ethnomusicologist Renaud Brizard covers the story of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's life and teaching (a long story also in Seattle, my hometown!), the Dagar family and gharana, the rudra veena and more topics in an extensive set of liner notes in this release.
Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani were recorded in a private house concert in Seattle at the home of the Benegals in March 1986 (the week before the accompanying release SOMA029 Raga Yaman was recorded). The Benegals were friends (& Shantha Benegal was also a student) of Dagarsahib who sometimes hosted Hindustani music concerts in their home. It's a rare glimpse of a more intimate, personal and perhaps different kind of performance considering the form of dhrupad.
-Stephen O'Malley, March 2018, Paris, France
Stephen O'Malley would like to especially thank Bahauddin Dagar, Jeff Lewis & Jody Stecher for their enthusiasm, cooperation, patience, insight & advice toward developing these editions. Thank you also to Laurel Sercombe & John Vallier from the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives, Shantha Benegal, Philippe Bruguière, Dan Neuman, Ira Landgarten, Renaud Brizard, Ian Christe, Peter Rehberg, Rashad Becker, Daniel O'Sullivan & Kristoffer Rygg, all for their direct or indirect cooperation, assistance & patience.
Recorded by unknown at the University of Washington, HUB Auditorium, Seattle, Washington 15 March 1986 , concert co-sponsored by the UW Ethnomusicology Division and Ragamala.
Original digitally processed audio recording made with Panasonic PV-9000 VCR, Sony PCM-F1, PZM mics. Mastered & Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering 1117 & 0318.
Liner notes by Renaud Brizard, Stephen O'Malley & Ian Christe.
Front and back cover photos by Niranjan B. Benegal, Seattle Center Folklife Festival 1979. Elizabeth Reeke & Annie Penta on tanpuras.
Inner gatefold photography by Niranjan B. Benegal & Ira Landgarten.
Around ten years ago, deep into a cozy and hazy night following a concert with my sound brothers Daniel O'Sullivan and Kristoffer Rygg in London (as Æthenor), they graciously introduced me to a recording of rudra veena (a kind of noble deeper bass relative to the sitar, in a way) as performed by dhrupad master Zia Mohiuddin Dagar.
Dhrupad, for those who do not know, is a branch of Hindustani classical music said to "show the raga in its clearest and purest form". It's pacing concentrates heavily on the slow, contemplative alap section and works with specific microtonal gestures and deep characteristics of resonance ... in short I was hooked on this new (to me) and ancient form of music from the first listen, and feel that a more or less continual listening & reviewing of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's recordings in the years that followed have influenced my own approach to music quite heavily (if, albeit, indirectly).
In early 2015 I was able to make contact with Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's son Bahauddin and some of his American students/disciples, primarily Jeff Lewis. Over time we developed a friendly and educational exchange, access a massive archive of recordings and developed these two paired titles for my label. It's been a long path to arrive at actually releasing them but also probably in many ways one of the most significant releases I've worked on. And I'm proud to be able to reveal these to date unreleased archival recordings of one of the masters of dhrupad, Z. M. Dagar, to the public for the first time.
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the nineteenth generation in a family tradition known as Dagar gharana, a rich lineage which continued and performed the musical form of dhrupad (Bahauddin Dagar continues the lineage as a master rudra veena dhrupad player of note today). Initially, dhrupad was a rigorous, austere, devotional genre that was sung in Hindu temples. But between the 16th and the 18th centuries, it became the preeminent genre in royal courts in North and Central India, and the Dagar gharana developed and continued publicly following the eventual loss of court patronage for dhrupad in the 19th century. The French ethnomusicologist Renaud Brizard covers the story of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's life and teaching (a long story also in Seattle, my hometown!), the Dagar family and gharana, the rudra veena and more topics in an extensive set of liner notes in this release.
Raga Yaman was recorded at a public concert in Seattle at the HUB Ballroom at the University of Washington in March 1986 (the week after the accompanying release SOMA028 Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani was recorded) at the end of his last tour of the United States. Yaman was a special raga for Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, one of his signature raags. For centuries, Yaman has been considered as one of the most fundamental ragas in Hindustani music and is one of the first ragas which is taught to students. A deep knowledge of Yaman gives a key for understanding many other ragas. It's filled with tranquility, contemplation, pathos and spiritual yearning. .
A near-perfect record, White Magic was the lauded CD-only debut album by Sorcerer (Californian native Dan Judd, one half of Windsurf with Hatchback). Just in time for Spring/Summer, we present the first ever vinyl issue, released as a deluxe double LP.
Back in summer 2007, this majestic set gently nestled itself into the Balearic soundtrack-to-summer slot for many, making him a household name for Cosmic Disco heads alongside the likes of Lindstrom, Metro Area, Todd Terje, Mudd, Studio and Quiet Village. In the intervening years, exceptional producers have created vibrant variations on the dreamy, dubby, melodic nu-disco theme. Happily, the emergence of such luminaries as Jex Opolis, Harvey Sutherland, Suzanne Kraft, Tornado Wallace et al has only served to make the master - Sorcerer - sound ever more brilliant and vital.
Utilising his array of guitars, drum machines, synths, and trusty MPC, the loved-up Sorcerer sound inspires halcyon memories of warm days, endless sunsets and pure youthful abandon. Influenced by surf, 80s dance pop, acid-R&B, space jazz, krautrock, disco, dub, and am radio gold, his music maps a tour through a uniquely Californian lifestyle. Yet when music so vividly captures a vibe and a feeling, it can make writing about it appear almost redundant. Instead, to glean the full colour of what your turntable will soon gratefully radiate, we prescribe the generous soundclips presented here.
And, for a unique insight into the process behind the wonderful sounds conjured up, here's Sorcerer himself:
"White Magic is a reflection of personal freedom and discovery. Having been in bands for years, this was a chance to develop music that stood alone and for me to be in full control.
I was living alone and worked on jams whenever I could. I was highly inspired by a new openness to music as a pure inspiration, not being part of any scene. I tapped into the mixes I was hearing coming out the UK where deejays were playing "cosmic" sounds that were so strangely familiar.
I was picking up all kinds of $1 vinyl and throwing bits of it into my sampler almost randomly to see what would come out.
In my mind, I was making music to be played at my friend's Broker/Dealer Pop nights where they fused golden German techno sounds with the new disco emerging at the time. Also, I took vacations and reconnected with the Pacific Ocean where I spent so much time as a kid: it spilled out into the sounds.
Lastly, I forged a partnership with Hatchback (Sam Grawe) who was working on music in the same way. I learned so much about arrangement and the colors of music. We began recording together as Windsurf and released our own stuff. It all seems like a small glorious moment in time, so I am so excited to keep the legacy alive and I continue to work on my music with these spirits inside of me."
Lovingly remastered by the esteemed Simon Francis, cut reassuringly loud on to heavyweight double vinyl and presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket with freshly commissioned artwork throughout from original designer Rich Robinson, this limited edition of 500 copies is sure to fly.
out of Stock
Last delivered 3 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
A continuation of his kaleidoscopic sun-dappled cosmic-disco, Neon Leon was the much-loved CD-only sophomore album by Sorcerer. Just in time for Spring/Summer, we present the first ever vinyl issue, released as a deluxe double LP.
A perfectly formed suite of ten tracks featuring soft guitars, subtle synths and lightly grooving percussion, Neon Leon magically evokes that elusive summer feeling throughout. The guitar-driven "Algorhythm" serves as the album opener, blasting bold, sun-drenched jazz chords atop bright synths and groove-based drum programming. "Ride The Serpent" and "Distort Yourself" are guided by a more sultry, slo-mo disco impulse whilst the staggering "Chemise" and strident "Face It" merge 80s West Coast production sheen with Sorcerer's trademark laid back, gentle disco. "Raydio"'s undeniable head-nod groove adds a rare vocal to the proceedings, joyously combining with the bubbling cosmic funk.
Since its initial release in 2009, exceptional producers have created vibrant variations on the dreamy, dubby, melodic nu-disco theme. Happily, the emergence of such luminaries as Jex Opolis, Harvey Sutherland, Suzanne Kraft, Tornado Wallace et al has only served to make the master - Sorcerer - sound ever more brilliant and vital.
Utilising his array of guitars, drum machines, synths, and trusty MPC, the loved-up Sorcerer sound inspires halcyon memories of warm days, endless sunsets and pure youthful abandon. Influenced by surf, 80s dance pop, acid-R&B, space jazz, krautrock, disco, dub, and am radio gold, his music maps a tour through a uniquely Californian lifestyle. Yet when music so vividly captures a vibe and a feeling, it can make writing about it appear almost redundant. Instead, to glean the full colour of what your turntable will soon gratefully radiate, we prescribe the generous soundclips presented here.
And, for a unique insight into the process behind the wonderful sounds conjured up, here's Sorcerer himself:
"Neon Leon's is the name of a bar in a Elmore Leonard book I was reading on a vacation to Belize with my future wife. I was soaking up his brand of noir during the making of the songs on this record, along with another favorite Ross Macdonald. We were living in a small apartment in the Mission District of San Francisco where i had my own room to jam. It was painted Orange and Turquoise and was a very inspiring place to create and focus. I could walk out of my house to any number of hole in the wall bars where people were deejaying, hanging-out, and knew about me and my music.
After White Magic I developed more confidence in my style and process so I stuck with it and I believe it shows in the tunes I selected for the record. The sounds are rich and I dug deeper into sampling from obscure dollar records and getting looser musically. I made a handful of collage videos for the tracks at this time as well, which represent where my mind was at visually. In my mind it's Cosmic Funk that rules the day and I am thankful to have the opportunity to share it with the world again."
Lovingly remastered by the esteemed Simon Francis, cut reassuringly loud on to heavyweight double vinyl and presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket with freshly commissioned artwork throughout from original designer Rich Robinson, this limited edition of 500 copies is sure to fly.
WHEN YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND THE WEBSITE, YOU CAN FIND US ON THESE SOCIAL CHANNELS
First released in 1995 on Jonah's own Aba Christos Tafari Records,Intergalactic Dub Rockis a trip. While the 90s rave continuum buried down the hole of cosmic sci-fi culture, dub's fascination turned elsewhere after 80s touch-stones like Shaka'sBrimstone & FireandCaptain Ganja and the Space Patrol(re-issued by Bokeh last year). But Jonah takes things way far on this, his most adventurous outing: let your needle cruise along these bleeps and strings of 50s space travelling dreams, and the flutes and melodicas of planet earth, hear them clang with the hardest dub FX units the UK could buy at the time. It's one of the most righteous and outward-looking steppas LPs, now liberated from the hands of Discogs-types with a previously CD-only bonus track, 'White Nile'.
Inyotef, Bongoman, Jahman Dan, Kheru - Jonah Dan goes by many names and many trades - akete nyabinghi master, vocalist, producer and filmmaker. For many years he was the go-to studio percussionist for the UK dub scene, collaborating with basically everyone: Paul Fox, Jah Warrior, Robert Tribulation, Jah Fingers, Tony Roots, Alpha and Omega. Along with Bush Chemists (stars of BKV 020...) and Disciples, he toured the continent, spreading the message of UK dub and laying the seeds for a lot of the EU scene today. At some point his Aba Christos Tafari Records morphed into Inner Sanctuary, one of the greatest 90s labels still in operation, go check.
South African Mbaqanga And Bubblegum Instrumentals For The Dance-floor. First Time Available Outside South Africa. Cult Favorite Among Collectors. Follows The Successful Reissue Of bafana Bafana' Last Year. Professor Rhythm's 1991 Recording Professor 3 Is A Vivid Reflection Of Urban South Africa As Apartheid Was Ending. Thami Mdluli's Production Project Had Young And Old Dancing To A Sound That Sought To Unite Blacks Within Southern Africa. our Music Gave Hope To The Hopeless,' He Says. Mdluli's Third Instrumental Album (which Contains Some Background Vocals, To Be Exact), Portrays The Moment When The Dominant Mbaqanga And American R&b-based Bubblegum Sounds Being Produced In Johannesburg And Other Urban Centers Were Transforming Into House And Hip-hop-inspired Kwaito. The Pop Of The 80's And All That Went With It—from The Models Of Synths And Drum Machines To The Lyrical Style—gave Way To A Changing Melodic Emphasis And New, Much Slower Tempi Using A Completely Different Rhythmic Skeleton. Upbeat, Chipper Bubblegum, Often With Double-time Breakdowns And Upstroke Syncopations, Faded And The Sounds Began To More Closely Resemble Those Of Contemporary Black America—where Hip-hop Was Slowing Down And The Bass-lines And Melodies Were Getting Moodier, Darker In General. At The Same Time House Music Had Briefly Reached Mainstream Acceptance In The States And That Popularity Continued To Feed Into Awareness Overseas. These Two Influences Blended With The Burgeoning House Music Scenes In Johannesburg And Pretoria As Professor Rhythm 3 Was Being Produced In March 1991 (the Same Year Apartheid Ended). Mdluli Explains, we Were Influenced By Foreign Bands And So People Updated Their Sound.' According To Mdluli, The Evolving Sound Was Bolstered By Widening Availability Of House And Rap Records From Abroad While, Most Importantly, An Increasing Sense That Apartheid Might Soon Be Finished Was Met With A New Positivity Vibe Society. 1991, '92, '93... Mandela Was Released. People Were Upbeat, They Were Happy, The Music Was Good.' Professor 3 Came Out On Vinyl As The Lp Business Was Dying In South Africa And Sold Around 20,000 Copies. It Was Mainly Distributed On Tape, Which Sold Closer To 100,000. With The Help Of Engineer Fab Rosso, The Recording Features Backing Vocalists From Mango Groove. After Making A Half-dozen Records As Professor Rhythm, Mdluli Once Again Shifted His Focus Musically. By The Mid-90's He Had Veered Off Gospel Music— And Left Playing In Bands And Started Making His Own Solo Recordings. His Enormous Success In The Gospel Realm In The Years Since Is A Remarkable Story In Its Own Right, But For Now We Are Only Dancing.
Following the 'Screaming Ghosts' collection highlighting the music of C Cat Trance, Emotional Rescue and Malka Tuti return with the first of two EPs where the band's music is given over to a selection of artists, friends and collaborators for reinterpretation, re-editing, replaying and remixing to provide a modern outlook on the bands mixture of East meets West musicology.
Very much the vision of Malka Tuti and close to their ground-breaking releases of the last two years, the genius is out of the bottle with a who's who representing both labels. First, Autarkic go supergroup in enlisting Tel Aviv's White Screen for a cover of Screaming (To Be With You). Totally replayed, this is the perfect opening, with wide-screen production, updated arrangement and decimal delivering vocals setting the standard.
Following comes an effusive, simple and on-point remix of Dalbouka by the inspiring ledge that is JD Twitch. Platitudes aside - enough has been said by others - but the fact Twitch is as enthusiastic and driven as ever is testament enough. The simplicity and genius of his rework, where 909 is added alongside fx to speaker shaking effect, shows that less can be much more.
In Sneaker (DJ) we have a name moving steadily from the (cult) periphery to become one to consistently check and respect. Following EPs for Rat Life and Bahnsteig 23, the singularity of his reversion is audacious and entrancing. Brevity, purity and ultimately intensity of percussion, horns, bell and guitar. Enter.
To end volume 1 comes Die Orangen. Kris Baha and Dreems' bromance of Aussie label (red) heads, united in post-industrial explorations. With a deep, expansive album incoming on Malka Tuti, their brooding, rattling, ghostly mix is one for late night thinkers, that steps up to encapsulate an EP that successfully marries old and new, bringing C Cat Trance's music present.
Written Largely In New York Between Summer 2016 And Winter 2017, 'god's Favorite Customer' Reflects On The Experience Of Being Caught Between The Vertigo Of Heartbreak And The Manic Throes Of Freedom.
It Reveals A Bitter Sweetness And Directness In Tillman's Songwriting, Without Sacrificing Any Of His Wit Or Taste For The Absurd.
These Are Songs That Demand To Know Either Real Love Or What Comes After And As The Album Progresses, That Entreaty Leads To Discovering The Latter's True Stakes.
With this new work Maurizio Abate recovers the discourse started with Loneliness, Desire and Revenge (2016) but with a different narrative sensitivity. The symbolic air that you breathe suggests a personal and universal experience in which thoughts and perceptions remain as enveloped in an eternal cosmic wheel. It's a condition that flows sincerely into an emphatic introspection and identification between the stasis of an inner soul and the flowing vitality of stagnant aquatic landscapes. In this direction the music of Abate always condenses multiple ranges of different emotional spectra evoked by profound naturalistic references. The airy openings of the strings, the distant whispers of the harmonica, cascades of phrasings more calm or more torrential can lead into the magnificent climax of the Nostalgia. The string arrangement for violin and cello by Lucia Gasti introduces in a dimension of idyll, in elegiac passages of touching poetry almost of chamber music but at the same time wet by the pastoral and bucolic moods of autumn landscapes, they are paintings imbued with different flavors and colours that recall the light and the candor of the Venetian tonalisms or the moving paintings full of meaning of Tarkoski. In the darkest and saddest moments the open chords are like suspensions of unresolved questions and torments, but the cathartic finale with a free and minimalist piano prelude to possible future glares, almost to perceiving that even where there's stasis the sun can still shine the hope for the new on the clearing of the pond. Remains the feeling with that stylistic "freedom of expression" dear to the visionaries Fahey and Basho, but also a clear interpretation of the expressive possibility of the lead guitar, absolutely lyrical and contemporary for refinement of the crystalline sound, which places this work in parallel with the basic acoustic tests of others great like Jim O'Rourke, Jack Rose or James Blackshaw.
One of the most unique albums on the Strata East label - and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the creative energies flowing through that legendary jazz outlet! Descendents Of Mike & Phoebe is a righteous little project put together by Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, and his brothers and sisters (Cliff Lee, Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorhead) - working here in a group named after their slave ancestors, who are paid tribute in a beautifully flowing batch of tunes! Lee's round, warm bass tones are firmly at the head of the group on most numbers - recorded at a similar level to his excellent work with Clifford Jordan on Strata East during the same time - and other instrumentation includes piano from Consuela, flugelhorn from Cliff, and percussion from Sonny Brown and Billy Higgins - all used in a wonderfully evocative style that's even better than some of Lee's later soundtrack work. A few numbers feature vocals from Grace - singing wordlessly and with a really heavenly sort of quality - and together, the whole group have an undeniable sense of power and majesty, yet also one that's touched by a really personal sense of poetry too. Titles include a great version of Lee's "Coltrane", which was more famously recorded with Clifford Jordan.
Field of dreams are Field Theorys Chris Kentish and DJ Al Mackenzie. Field Theory have recently had tracks on respected labels such as Futureboogie and Secret Life gaining rave reviews and even garnering plays on BBC radio 6 Music. Al has been a DJ since the late 80s, now resident at Birminghams Great Outdoors. He's made numerous records over the years but will probably be remembered primarily for his 90s band D:ream making number one all over the world and remixing for EMF and Duran Duran amongst others. Bumping into each other in the street one dayand realising they lived opposite each other, they seized upon the chance to combine their favourite passions, making music and drinking.
180g double vinyl with digital download insert.
The definitive rock 'n' roll album by the mighty Eddie Cochran, the wildest in a wild generation of rockers.
Prematurely dead at the age of 21, it took Eddie only three years and 32 titles to dynamite the universe of rock 'n' roll.
"Up next on 20/20 Vision we welcome Nathan Jonson back for his second outing on the label, and this time it's rounded off with a big remix from his brother Mathew Jonson. Business EP finds Nathan back in familiar musical territory. Serving up genre bending tracks which fuse electro, techno, house and old school rave into a melting pot of electronica which is not easy to define. 'Business' & 'Let Your Body' are unconventional, unique and original, with off kilter basslines and rave stabs reminiscent of a Luke Vibert and Carl Finlow hybrid. The release also see's the first appearance on 20/20 Vision from none other than Mathew Jonson, who turns in a killer remix of title track 'Business'. Since 2001 Mathew has constantly evolved, with a back catalogue of scene defining tracks and one of the most electric live shows in the business. It's a honour to finally have him feature on the label.
Darren Allen is back with a strong release on his Underlying Form imprint delivering four more tracks of uniquely crafted minimalism in typical trippy fashion.
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Last delivered 3 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Apollo proudly presents the return of SW, joined by partner SVN for a sublime 6 track EP. SW's lush sound design and hypnotic arrangements of 2017's 'The Album' had hearts and minds swooning following it's license from SUED to Apollo.
It's balmy glory won over Pitchfork ('deeply expressive debut album' 8/10), Rolling Stone (best electronic albums 2017) and XLR8R (Best releases 2017) amongst many others.
One year later, SW and SVN have gone into the studio, together; 'to make some original music specifically for Apollo. The results are the 6 tracks on this EP,' they share in a typically taciturn statement.Taking inspiration from the iconic house and techno of the mid / late 90s - SW and SVN combine dreamy melodies and mesmeric grooves with unfussy, focussed minimalism, their beguiling, modern take on classic sounds and rhythms remains thrillingly unique and elusive. While SW and SVN are more comfortable out of the limelight, this 6 track EP for Apollo once again proves that they are rightly worthy of the hype that swirls around them.
