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First Word Records are very proud to present a brand new album from Kaidi Tatham!

'An Insight To All Minds' is Kaidi's 3rd solo album under his own name, following several EPs and two albums for First Word; 2018's acclaimed 'It's A World Before You' and the re-press of his seminal 2008 sophomore album 'In Search Of Hope' last year.

For those that don't know, Kaidi Tatham is a legendary multi-instrumentalist. Once dubbed "the UK's Herbie Hancock" by Benji B, he's a virtuoso on the keys and a true innovator in sound production as one of the original creators of the Broken Beat sound. Over the years his musical prowess has blessed numerous projects, initially with the likes of Bugz In The Attic and The Herbaliser, and more recently with DJ Jazzy Jeff (through the PLAYlist projects), Andrew Ashong (on the acclaimed 'Sankofa Season' EP last year) and with longtime accomplice, Dego. This in addition to session work for artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Slum Village, Amy Winehouse, Soul II Soul and Leroy Burgess, along with First Word label mates such as Eric Lau, Children of Zeus and Darkhouse Family. Kaidi is also a revered DJ known for rocking parties globally, whilst his solo catalogue spans tons of EPs and releases for labels such as 2000 Black, Eglo and Theo Parrish's Sound Signature.

On 'An Insight To All Minds', Kaidi says it's "not about a destination, but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going. Nothing in this world can torment you as much as your own thoughts… We are all going through it. We can all feel what the next person is feeling, believe it or not. It's learning how to tap into it".

The album is comprised of an assortment of Kaidi's unique flavours - uptempo jazz-funk bruk, laced with rhodes, flutes, live bass and delicious percussion. Using that blueprint he moves effortlessly through latin and samba, half-step, deep afro house and a sprinkle of curveballs, all presented in Kaidi's inimitable way.

'Intergalactic Relations' brings with it some 110bpm synthed-out spacey electro-breaks, 'Could It Be' sets off sounding like a Morricone film score, whilst 'Rodney' is some serious heads-down business; stark and punchy off-kilter broken beat and vocal stabs. There are a few guests too - 'Chungo' sees the return of Uhmeer (who previously appeared on 'Cupid' on the album 'It's A World Before You'); here the young Philly MC deftly rides a 9/4 time signature beat. Meanwhile 'Stro Kyat' invites in another supreme talent, Stro Elliot (The Roots), who provides a suitably crisp & crunchy riddim to accompany Kaidi's key play over a mind-bending 5/4 time signature.

With this new album, Kaidi Tatham adds further to his already impressive catalogue, a body of work that falls within the cracks of jazz and dance music, exemplifying modern British black brilliance once again; uncompromising, innovative, groundbreaking, intricately sophisticated and deeply funky. His fanbase expands on every release and it's no surprise that that fanbase includes peers such as Madlib ("ahead of his time"), Gilles Peterson ("a key part of an entire movement"), K15 ("a limitless source of inspiration"), Alexander Nut ("a true virtuoso") and Kyle Hall.

The release will be available on super ltd edition black and clear vinyl, including download code.
Up In Her Room are delighted to bring you the latest offering from Uruguay’s Las Cobras!
Emerging from the Uruguayan city of Canelones in 2017, Las Cobras introduced themselves with their debut album, 'Temporal', a 9-track release that quickly became a reference point in global psychedelia after signing with London’s Fuzz Club Records. A couple of years later, the duo—Leandro Rebellato and Sofia Aguerre—expanded to include Dario Macarín and Diego Mercadal, releasing their second album, 'Selva'.
In their debut, Las Cobras blended proto-punk and shoegaze with hints of afrobeat and Tropicalia. With 'Selva', the band amplified these elements, showcasing their evolving sound. Notably, their track "Al más Allá" is featured in the Amazon Prime series "La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta."
For their third album, 'Cárcavas', the band explores the concept of the cárcava—a scar on the earth symbolizing a period of desolation. Teaming up with London label 'Up in her Room', they present a darker, more chaotic record that reflects the tumultuous years they've endured. Most tracks were mixed by James Aparicio (Depeche Mode, Spiritualized, Throw Down Bones Grinderman), lending the album a sharper, more defined sound. Las Cobras continue to delve into their sonic palette, incorporating electronic drums, Latin percussion, penetrating synthesizers, and fuzzed-out guitars, all from a more stripped-down perspective.
Black butterfly for example is an espectrum of a lost friend. Like a ghost...Always in orbit. Diving into darker places... Traveling through the universe...

‘What makes Sex Swing so powerful is that they transcend the limitations of rock music. Their sound is so full of possibilities, violence, sexuality, sacrifice, even religion. If there was a future to look forward to for heavy guitar music, this is it’ The Quietus The locals call it Sop Ruak – eighty thousand square miles of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine. “It really is an endless seam of activity,” Sex Swing frontman Dan Chandler explains of Golden Triangle – both the title of their new album and the region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos that inspired it. To know this contradictory corner of the world is to understand fully why the cult-beloved noise-rock artisans turned to it when writing their hotly-anticipated third full-length. The real-life Golden Triangle is a groundswell of both natural wonder and drug production, and who combines beauty and narcotic brutality better than Sex Swing? For a decade now, this
collective of revered UK underground musicians, comprising members of Earth, Mugstar, The Keep and Jaaw, have been pulling audiences into drug- like slipstreams with their alchemy of pummelling rhythms, towering guitars, and unrelenting saxophone through which glimmers of light occasionally pierce through. No wonder their Golden Triangle is an album telling distortion-shrouded tales from one of the most storied, enigmatic places on the planet, with enough invention within to fill eighty thousand miles and more.
Where does this violent, hypnotic aural travelogue take you within the Sop Ruak? The seven tracks that make up The Golden Triangle see the band – completed by bassist Jason Stoll, drummer Stuart Bell, guitarist Jodie Cox, synthesist/guitarist Oli Knowles and saxophonist Colin Webster – adventure first to ‘The Confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers,’ full of shimmering orchestration and feather-light ambience. Then come stops in ‘Myawaddy’, named after a small town embroiled in bloodshed on the border of Myanmar
and Thailand, and ‘Boten, Route 13’ – sparked by stories of a seemingly endless stretch of road from Laos into China. Before long, listeners are plunged into ‘Hpakant’, one of the album’s most invigorating and singular moments, lyrically inspired by a jade mine in Myanmar, where the spoils of forced labour are exchanged for prostitution and methanphetamine. The result is a mesmerising slow-burn of sax, snaking rhythms and sinister spoken word courtesy of the Scottish-born Bruce McClure, who “took the theme and turned it into a sci-fi story of exploitation and vice,” explains the frontman. It’s a track that, like the rest of Golden Triangle, underlines the evolution Sex Swing have undertaken since forming in 2014. From the raw and primitive sounds of the self-titled debut full-length, followed up by the coruscatingType II in 2020. Sex Swing’s third effort retains those early primitive elements and adds layers of structure and complexity. Golden Triangle initial formation was that of programmed beats and bedroom recordings shared electronically in the height of the pandemic. Those ideas were then completed during intensive writing sessions at a secluded farm in Oxfordshire.
Album credits consist of recording by Stanley Gravett at Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, mixing by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, mastering from James Plotkin, and the continued aesthetic collaboration with artist Alex Bunn. Golden Triangle bristles with a rawness familiar to fans of the British sonic punishers, but adds new elements indicative of a group never resting on their laurels or sitting in one place. Why would they, after all? There’s an entire world of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine out there to be explored. The Golden Triangle, it seems, is just the beginning.

‘What makes Sex Swing so powerful is that they transcend the limitations of rock music. Their sound is so full of possibilities, violence, sexuality, sacrifice, even religion. If there was a future to look forward to for heavy guitar music, this is it’ The Quietus The locals call it Sop Ruak – eighty thousand square miles of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine. “It really is an endless seam of activity,” Sex Swing frontman Dan Chandler explains of Golden Triangle – both the title of their new album and the region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos that inspired it. To know this contradictory corner of the world is to understand fully why the cult-beloved noise-rock artisans turned to it when writing their hotly-anticipated third full-length. The real-life Golden Triangle is a groundswell of both natural wonder and drug production, and who combines beauty and narcotic brutality better than Sex Swing? For a decade now, this
collective of revered UK underground musicians, comprising members of Earth, Mugstar, The Keep and Jaaw, have been pulling audiences into drug- like slipstreams with their alchemy of pummelling rhythms, towering guitars, and unrelenting saxophone through which glimmers of light occasionally pierce through. No wonder their Golden Triangle is an album telling distortion-shrouded tales from one of the most storied, enigmatic places on the planet, with enough invention within to fill eighty thousand miles and more.
Where does this violent, hypnotic aural travelogue take you within the Sop Ruak? The seven tracks that make up The Golden Triangle see the band – completed by bassist Jason Stoll, drummer Stuart Bell, guitarist Jodie Cox, synthesist/guitarist Oli Knowles and saxophonist Colin Webster – adventure first to ‘The Confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers,’ full of shimmering orchestration and feather-light ambience. Then come stops in ‘Myawaddy’, named after a small town embroiled in bloodshed on the border of Myanmar
and Thailand, and ‘Boten, Route 13’ – sparked by stories of a seemingly endless stretch of road from Laos into China. Before long, listeners are plunged into ‘Hpakant’, one of the album’s most invigorating and singular moments, lyrically inspired by a jade mine in Myanmar, where the spoils of forced labour are exchanged for prostitution and methanphetamine. The result is a mesmerising slow-burn of sax, snaking rhythms and sinister spoken word courtesy of the Scottish-born Bruce McClure, who “took the theme and turned it into a sci-fi story of exploitation and vice,” explains the frontman. It’s a track that, like the rest of Golden Triangle, underlines the evolution Sex Swing have undertaken since forming in 2014. From the raw and primitive sounds of the self-titled debut full-length, followed up by the coruscatingType II in 2020. Sex Swing’s third effort retains those early primitive elements and adds layers of structure and complexity. Golden Triangle initial formation was that of programmed beats and bedroom recordings shared electronically in the height of the pandemic. Those ideas were then completed during intensive writing sessions at a secluded farm in Oxfordshire.
Album credits consist of recording by Stanley Gravett at Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, mixing by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, mastering from James Plotkin, and the continued aesthetic collaboration with artist Alex Bunn. Golden Triangle bristles with a rawness familiar to fans of the British sonic punishers, but adds new elements indicative of a group never resting on their laurels or sitting in one place. Why would they, after all? There’s an entire world of mountains and mystery and unholy medicine out there to be explored. The Golden Triangle, it seems, is just the beginning.

Following the recent vinyl reissue of Manuel Tur's cinematic downtempo album "Intertextural", originally self-released during the Covid 19 pandemic, comes this package of fresh remixes featuring interpretations of four standout tracks from the record by DJ Counselling, All Is Well and Yuu Udagawa.

London-based DJ Counselling opens the EP with his energetic version of "Omina", raising tempo and hands with an expertly executed arrangement, while the newly added filtered synth chords echo some of Tur's best-known releases of the late noughties. Next up is Montreal's Frédéric Blais aka All Is Well, who after his recent LP success on Drumpoet and another brand-new album under his main moniker Fred Everything just released, turns "Flakon" into a head-nodding groove masterpiece that recalls the subtle 90s trip-hop flavor of the original version. On the B-side, Tokyo native Yuu Udagawa, who has collaborated with Tur on several occasions, unleashes two beautiful and ethereal remixes of "Slow White" and "Shadowgraph" that let us float through her signature sparkling sound.

Tamil Rogeon, the Melbourne based multifaceted jazz, classical and electronic violin & viola player firmly cemented his reputation with the critical success of his 2021 album Son Of Nyx which was released on Soul Bank Music, Impressive Collective head honcho Greg Boraman's previous label. Lauded as a modal and spiritual jazz fusion opus, Son Of Nyx found favour with Gilles Peterson, Laurent Garnier, Rebecca Vasmant, BBC6 Music's' Cerys Matthews and Deb Grant, was a Jazz FM’ Album of the Week. Building upon that highly original sound concept, Wave Theory draws from the jazz fusion movements of the 70s and 80s and conjures up textured soundscapes rich with cosmic synths, soaring vocals and deep jazz funk, and sees Tamil once again joining forces with Son of Nyx contributors Rita Satch and Daniel Mougerman, plus new collaborators and special guests including Lance Ferguson and celebrated trumpeter, friend Audrey Powne. Listeners can expect the same modal experiments, driving percussion and cosmic synths of Son of Nyx as well as new and exhilarating experiments in electric string instrumentation. Across all 6 tracks the highlights are numerous, but of particular note are the album opener "Ascend it!"; a fusion masterpiece that seamlessly blends psychedelic elements, funk grooves, intricate melodies, and improvisation. When "Doom Date" takes flight we are transported to Mahavishnu Orchestra-like territory, before finishing with an angular melody that is pure jazz-fusion inventiveness. The irresistibly funky 'Gift Of The Gab” is built upon a hypnotic bass line over drum and percussion. Laden with synth and retro keyboards reminiscent of the deep funk of Herbie Hancock’s late 70s period. "Mountain Bug' alternates between minor and major keys, a hallucinatory violin solo is followed by a dazzling trumpet improvisation. A restatement of the melody accompanied by the gunfire of the drum set and percussion. Tamil says of Wave Theory “Sometimes themes reveal themselves through creative encounters and through life experience. I wrote and recorded the album in six months. A lot happened to me and my friends during that time so, for me, ‘Wave Theory’ is like a musical snapshot of life’s relentless ebbs and flows. It’s about the sadness and thrills of endless transformation and the power of creative connection".

Carla Boregas is a Brazilian musician, composer and sound artist. By merging synthetic and acoustic instrumentation and techniques, Boregas builds up sonic scenarios driven by an invisible force, where the sensation of presence and discovery lies between density and delicacy. Her work spans composition, improvisation, performance, sound installation and radio art, and aims to transport the listener to different subjective perspectives of time and space, to invoke memories and to reflect about the nature-human relationship.

Carla Boregas writes: "Using a Tascam Portastudio 4-track cassette recorder, I invited three musicians to improvise alone with the sound recording of the sea that I did in Massaguaçu, the place where I used to live in Brasil. The recorder that I used had a defect in one of its tracks, therefore I could only invite two musicians – Vinicius Cajado (double bass) and Réka Csiszér (cello), plus the sea in another track. While listening to the tracks together, I felt a deep sense of absence ("ausência" in Portuguese). Perhaps due to their sonorous answers surrounded by the tape hiss? Because that's one of the symbolic meanings of the ocean? Maybe "saudades do mar, de estar ao seu outro lado"? Who knows – listening can be something very mysterious. Afterwards I played with and interweaved them all: the sonorous sea, Vinicius Cajado, Réka Csiszér and the absence - "Absência Tape" is the final result." – Carla Boregas, Berlin, 8 August 2024.

For a few years until 2014, Indirect’s rehearsal studio was located at the abandoned Odesa drugstore “Аптека No326”, whose stained glass window is depicted on the album cover. The many hours spent there practicing and recording have ended up as a 7” Walts and a digital LP Ab Pharmacy in 2014 on Muscut and Diskultura labels.



Indirect:

Hennadii Boichenko: compositions, organ, keyboards, synth, programming, guitar, bass guitar Anton Ostromezkii: compositions, drums

Taras Panteleichuk: compositions, bass guitar, guitar

Oleksii Volusunov: compositions, guitar

Nadiia Shoshina: flute

Vasyl Notkin: additional guitars

Composed and recorded by Indirect in Odesa Mastered by Kassian Troyer

Produced by Dmytro Nikolaienko and DJ Mavr Cover illustration by Anna Makarchuk (Waltz, 7”) Cover photo by Taras Panteleichuk

(P)(C) Muscut / Diskultura, 2014 Muscut 2C, 2024

A1 - Desire
Opening the EP in quietly epic fashion, Desire begins with a delightful beat pattern with adistinctive cymbal hit set over warm bass tones and whale song samples. A smooth, thoughtful bass melody is introduced which joyfully intersects with gorgeous piano keys while swirling strings and atmospheric vibes layer and recede like tides of the ocean, creating a truly unique journey of a track that will linger anywhere it may be heard.

A2 - Voidscaping
Instantly setting the scene with crisp, striking breaks, Voidscaping is an atmospheric treatfor the senses with serene throwback pads reminiscent of the halcyon days of Good Looking. Bringing the piece up to date for the Spatial era is the typically intricate blending of reflection and intrigue ASC conjures with his sampling and reverb work, effortlessly thickening the soundscape with memories old and new.

AA1 - Let Go
Opening with the vibrant sounds of twilight nature and metallic bongos, ASC sparinglydeploys a glorious choral vocal before the breaks take off with an energetic pattern drivenby constant, playful hi hats. As the track develops, questions are asked of the listener bythe curious atmosphere, gradually unraveling with strings, synths and trademark vocalusage, offering a new perspective with each listen.

AA2 - Meltdown
A darkly, anxious undertone floods the mix as Meltdown grips the listener from the first barwith skillfully sequenced minimal breaks, hi hats that whoosh in and out like evening crickets you can't quite track, and intense ambient padwork. A longing female vocal occasionally yearns over the various melodies which enter at will, discreetly developing the mood with purpose, unfurling a stream of aural consciousness from this incredible producer.
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

Austria band Lehnen embarks on something of a new beginning here as they unveil a new four-track work, Negative Space: Gradients, which comes on cassette via Past Inside The Present. This project was initially thought of as a four-song experiment and one that continues where the last album left off. That is to say with lots of lush synth layers and ambient textures of its parent album but all turned up a notch. It will still be familiar to fans but while the last album Negative Space funnelled post hardcore and post rock energy, this one joins things together and the result is a work full of healing compositions full of hope.

Sasu Ripatti presents the fourth volume in his "Dancefloor Classics" series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Music for imaginary dancefloors, released on Ripatti's own label "Rajaton".

”Look up, into the light” she said, while the camera shutter clicked. ”Like this? Does it look holy?” His neck felt stiff. Her reply: ”Yes, just like that. What do you mean holy? Like religious? ”No, more like trying to look very far, somewhere beyond what we can see.” ”Okay, stand still, I’m going to come close to you now. The light hits your face great.” click, click, click.

He noticed her fingernails. They were not polished. Natural. Even somewhat rugged, as if something wore out the fingers slightly. What had these hands held besides the camera? What made the edges of her fingernails drift off?

He thought it’s weird to look straight into the camera. The photographer had closed her left eye, the one not looking into the lens. Then it opened, she looked up, perusing the surroundings, then she closed her eye again, then looked up, closed, looking up, very quickly. It all seemed very professional. Maybe she calculated the light, making sure it’s close to perfect. ”What will these photos look like?” – the thought popped into his head briefly. It was liberating to think it wouldn’t matter.

”What’s that song playing?” he asked. ”Wait a sec, Ol’ Dirty Bastard?” she replied. ”Oh yeah, right. But the sample?” ”Hey, could you look up again, like that. No, lower.”

New directions: ”Look out from the window, turn left.” ”My left or yours?” ”Yours, I always try to think from the direction of my model.” How professional! This is a good shoot, so natural. Should I worry about how the photos look like? No, I don’t want to. His thoughts bounced around. What would the story be like? It’s a big newspaper, everyone will read it. Maybe someone drinks coffee and eats a stroopwafel while they do it. Will they place the waffle on top of the mug for a brief while, so that it gets hot and the syrup melts a little? Then it feels wet, and you can bend the cookie.

She broke his train of thought off midway through: ”Now turn right, but look left, and slightly up, but don’t turn your face right.” ”Umm, like this? Sounds like a set of pilates instructions.” she laughed ”You do pilates?” ”Yeah, it’s hard sometimes. Have you tried?” ”No”, she said. ”I’m not good for sports that are done in groups.” ”Yeah, but in pilates you can just be inside your mind, drowning in your private thoughts.”

”What are you thinking in pilates?” she asked, taking more photos. ”Well, mostly just which way is right. And which left.” click, click.

Q&A with Sasu Ripatti:

1) Tell us something about the EP series ”Dancefloor Classics”, what’s the idea and what can we expect?

I’ve been slowly writing these sort of dance music pieces and finally curated them together for a conceptual release. I like to create music for a dancefloor that exists only in my imagination and doesn’t try to suck up to the standardized reality.

2) Your vinyl format is 10” which is quite special (as opposed to LP / 12”). Why did you choose it?

It’s my favourite format, absolutely. The size is perfect, and you can make it sound really good @ 45 rpm. And you still can make great artwork.

3) You seem interested in sampling/repurposing, what does it mean to you as an artist to approach something already existing from a new angle? How does the source material inform you about the approach to take?

I guess i could flip it around and just say I’ve outgrown synths or electronic sounds to a great extend, and having gotten rid off all my synths already good while ago I’ve used samples as my main source material a lot. It’s obvious on this series that i’ve sampled existing music, but I also sample instruments and things in the studio and resample my own library that I have built over the years, it’s quite large. To me the end result matters, not so much how I get there. Once I have something on my keyboard and play around, it’s all an instrument, though with sampling other music it becomes a really interesting and complex one as you’re possibly playing rhythm, but also harmonic content and maybe hooks or whatever, all at once.
I never sample premeditadedly, like listening to records and looking for that mindblowing 3 sec part. I just throw the cards in the air and see what lands where, just full intuition and hopefully zero mind involved, playing tons of stuff, trying things, just recording hours of stuff. Then comes the interesting part to listen to hours of mostly crazy stuff and finding that mindblowing 3 sec part.

4) What is your relationship with the dancefloor (conceptually and/or in experiences / as a performer)?

Very complicated. I have never really felt comfortable on a dancefloor but have always wanted to. There’s something in club music, in theory, that really speaks to me. It has never really materialized for me – speaking mainly from a performer’s point of view who goes to check on a dancefloor for a moment after a concert. I never have DJ’d or felt much interest towards it. But again, I love the idea and concept of DJing. As well as producing music for imaginary DJs. Lately, as in the past 10+ years, I haven’t even performed in any sort of club spaces. So my relationship to the dancefloor is quite removed and reduced, but there’s quite a bit of passion and interest left.

All tracks composed and produced by Sasu Ripatti.
Artwork & photography by Marc Hohmann.
Mastering by Stephan Mathieu for Schwebung Mastering.
Vinyl cut by SST Brueggemann.
Publishing by WARP Music Ltd.

“Loves Love” jettisoned STÜM into 2024 and now “Beautiful Dancers” is here to take him ever higher.

As the second single off his forthcoming Essence Of Time EP, “Beautiful Dancers” is a blissful yet haunting take on techno. This track is total club rapture made up of ghostly vocal calls, static-like percussion and howling wind effects. A record of mixed emotions, pleasure and pain all blended up into 6 plus minutes.

Speaking on the tune, STÜM says “The songwriting process involved juxtaposing the organic with the synthetic weaving together contrasting sounds to mirror the duality of human emotion.”

Third in line is “Limbo”, a heaving acid hit full of hypnotic foreign instruments and vocals. This one gives off a massive street party feeling. From there we head to “Escape” a more dreamy and introspective bell-tone tune. A deliberate breather from STÜM before storming into the title track of the EP.

“Essence Of Time” is a shimmering rave piece. Dulcet piano intertwines with airy effects and hammering synths – another excellent example of STÜM’s ability to blend light and shade all at once.

Dame Area's highly anticipated fourth studio album, "Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area" ("The Whole Truth about Dame Area"), a collaboration with the renowned labels Mannequin Records and Humo Records.

Formed in 2017 within the vibrant underground scene of Barcelona's Màgia Roja club, Dame Area comprises the Italian-Catalan duo Silvia Konstance and Viktor Lux Crux. They fuse industrial-tribal polyrhythms with minimalist synth basslines, drawing profound inspiration from avant-garde masters such as Esplendor Geometrico, Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Einstürzende Neubauten, Can, Coil, Swans, Big Black, and Wolf Eyes.

This record represents a new phase in Dame Area's discography. It's a big step up in terms of sound, composition and ideas. This record it's the perfect representation of what they have been playing live the last three years and what most people know them for. Also it serves as a companion piece to 2022’s Toda la mentira sobre Dame Area ("All The Lies About Dame Area"), which had a stronger focus on melody, while this latest record is more aggressive and industrial-influenced, with a greater emphasis on percussion.

Tracks like the Suicide-influenced "Si no es hoy cuando es" and "Sempre Cambiare" are an onslaught of industrialism and experimentalism—formidable, volatile, and unpredictable avant-garde subversion. Silvia explains, "One of our biggest influences is doing what our influences wouldn't do. We're more into dynamics and structures atypical of electronic music, with changes in time signatures, starts and stops, and dynamics more typical of rock music. We use any musical idea from any genre. Some songs on the album are based on flamenco rhythms, others influenced by '60s experimental pop, heavy metal, or contemporary electronic music."

The confrontational "Vengo dall'aldilà" accelerates with heavy percussion, while "Tu me hiciste creer" builds into a rhythmic, transcendent noise of yelled vocals and hypnotic beats. Viktor adds, "This song took us more time to complete than any other we have recorded. It was a very organic process, evolving slowly from some instrumental percussive stuff we were doing live. Then we started using feedback as a rhythmic element (through a metallic sheet), and this was the first song where we incorporated this element, typical of noise-rock and experimental rock."

Elsewhere, "Esto Es Nuestro Ruido" represents a manic, eclectic form of contemporary industrial music, post-punk, and EBM. Silvia notes, "It's the first album we recorded outside a studio. Although we've been playing live with metallic percussion and floor tom from the very start, in the studio, with some exceptions, it was mostly sample-based until now. On Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area, all drums and almost all metallic percussion have been recorded live."

With a growing reputation as one of the best live bands around since their inception, Dame Area has toured extensively across Europe, performing at renowned festivals like Atonal, CTM, Nuits Sonores, Dour, and Fusion, as well as legendary clubs such as Berghain, Tresor, Apolo, and Spook Factory.

Recorded at Sol de Sants Studios and Estudio Hermetic between August and November 2023

Silvia Konstance: vocals, synths, percussions, electronics, production
Viktor L. Crux: synths, drums, percussions, electronics, production
Mixing and additional production by Guillermo Sánchez Rojo
Mastering by Paul Mac at Hardgroove Mastering
Designed by Leo Sousa
Photography by Fabio Calabretta
Photo concept by Dame Area

Senking and DYL team up again after first collaborating for a track on 2020’s »Uniformity Of Nature« EP that also featured different solo productions by the two producers. »Diving Saucer Attack« is the first full-length record by the German artist and his Romanian collaborator, released through the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk label, home to the former’s work for more than a quarter of a century. The six pieces, two of which were produced individually, both showcase the duo’s shared interests for dub-heavy, adventurous electronic music while also emphasising the productive friction generated by the subtle differences between their respective approaches.

Cluj-Napoca-based DYL, real name Eduard Costea, cites his colleague Jens Massel’s work and especially his »Ping« EP—released in 1999 through Karaoke Kalk—as a crucial point of reference for his own development. »He’s one of the producers who inspired me to start making music,« he says. Massel was already familiar with his partner’s eclectic productions when he was approached by him with the idea of collaborating for a piece in 2020. They didn’t stop there, as Massel explains »It went very well and ever since we’ve been sending each sounds and tracks.« As their first joint album, »Diving Saucer Attack« documents the multi-faceted results of this on-going process.

The album opens with a track in true Senking style. Throbbing bass frequencies, haunting synth melodies and carefully placed rhythmic elements form a slow, but driving groove. Before DYL’s »a7r380R« introduces the listener to his anthemic take on IDM, the collaborative second track »2024« showcases how well their respective philosophies complement one another: the two create a detailed soundscape in which an intricate interplay of percussive elements and melodies can unfold. The title track transforms rattling drums and growling bass sounds into a laid-back, spooky trip-hop tune with a live-jazz feel, while »Astral Project« sees the duo venture into the uncanny regions of dub techno. »Not Just Numbers« closes on an even more sombre note—a fitting closing statement to an album full of twists and turns.

»Diving Saucer Attack« is a special album on more than the musical level. Massel released his first records under different guises such as Fumble, Kandis, and Senking through Karaoke Kalk between 1997 and 2001, after which he focused on his work as Senking, putting out a string of iconic albums through raster-noton, among others. 23 years after his last Senking LP for Karaoke Kalk, 2001’s »Silencer,« his return is as non-nostalgic as you’d expect it from such a forward-thinking producer: together with DYL, he continues to explore the possibilities and outer limits of electronic music in an intergenerational dialogue.

Repress!

This EP is delicately melodic and fluid that even in its short four tracks shows a producer with different bows to their arrow. Intro is a laid back, downtempo affair with vocal samples punctuating the track’s pared down synths and gently propulsive beats.

Contrast that with Engang, which sees Jos Ma chisel all other elements away and put trust in the groove and urgency of its percussive elements. It’s something he echoes in Like Honey, although here the bright stabs of keys provide a welcome interjection - as does the chopped-up vocals that offer a further counterpoint to its kwaito-reminiscent shuffle. It is perhaps here that his respect and love of central and southern Africa’s dance forms is presented at its most bare.

The EP finishes with Mongo’s Dance, so-called after the Cuban Mongo Santamaria and driven forward by a chopped-up pachanga rhythm taken from one of the pioneering percussionist’s tracks. He then adorns it with wavy synths and flutes, each intertwining over the top as though engaged in ritual with one another. It’s a euphoric, slightly delirious end to an EP that puts Jos Ma firmly in Mas O Menos’ “neither here nor there” camp – a producer who simply follows his instincts and revels in the enthrallingly wandering music it throws up.

Limited edition 7" vinyl of "La Mujer Serpiente" on the A side and "Selam (Bass Mix)" on the B side.

La Mujer Serpiente/Cumbia Serpiente is the 1st single from Earthtones' upcoming LP on Wonderwheel. This collaboration with longtime friend & co-producer, Oliwa, features vocal delivery and heartbreakingly beautiful songwriting by Colombian Canadian artist/singer, Lido Pimienta. Behind the live cumbia rhythms, bass synths, analog keys, 808 drums & guitars, the vision of this track is one of upliftment of womxn and femmes everywhere.

Selam is a vision of peace. This collaboration between producer/DJ Earthtones and Ethiopian musician/vocalist Etsegenet Mekonnen features haunting vocals sung in Amharic.

Analog & semi-modular synths combine with 909 drums and afrobeats percussion by Earthtones, to weave grooves for Etsegenet's depth in songwriting, voice and soul. The main version has a dancehall bassline that calls one to movement, while the dub versions evoke mystery amidst long modulated leads + filtered pads.

Selam enezra ahunim (let us sow peace).

UK's Will Hofbauer, who has released on his own Third Place and other popular labels such as Wisdom Teeth, Rhythm Section International, Rinse Recordings and Aus Music, appears on Ladybug split series 'SF Traxx' These 3 dance tracks are made up of delicate rhythms and Will's unique sound.

A is Will's side, 'Cricket' transitions from breakbeats to 4/4, the experimental dance track 'Clod', and 'Cocodrilo' trips with unsettling synth and unique sound design.
All are wonderfully balanced dance floor tracks, uniquely distorted and loose.

On the flip side is Igaxx, a well-received release on Macadam Mambo and Angis Music.
It features the funky synth track '4.5 SL Trip', the floating breakbeat of 'Liquefy' and the mysterious downbeat cut with swirling bass and raspy distorted guitars 'Ray In Space'.

A split EP then, but one which highlights the individuality of both artists.

Maelstrom returns to Central Processing Unit for the fourth time, and it's the one born Joan-Mael Péneau's lengthiest drop on the Sheffield label yet. The French artist has been a mainstay in the European electro game since the 2000s, and Malestrom brings that experience to bear on new LP The FM Tapes. He goes about this album with the assurance of a seasoned pro, combining his mastery of electro production techniques with a trademark guile to craft an expertly-paced eleven-track affair.

The first section of The FM Tapes sets out the album's stall with style and aplomb - listeners are in store for a rich feast of off-kilter machine-funk which will feature no shortage of intriguing detours. On opener 'Ondes Courtes' the mix throbs with all manner of strange electronic gristle: a distorted bass hum rattles the monitors; wisps of distortion float across the mix; eerily pretty keys wax and wane before giving way to a radar pulse.

'Ondes Courtes' is an ominous slouch of a scene-setter, and it lines things up perfectly for following cut 'Alt50ser' to lock in. This track's churning, gurgling mid-tempo rattle brings to mind the wacky insistence of Modeselektor. Maelstrom repeats the slow-fast one-two again directly afterwards - 'La Vie Sociale Des', a strange nugget that sounds like an early Eski instrumental stripped for parts and blasted into the cosmos, is an ideal prelude to the twitchy space-funk of 'My Digitone'.

Maelstrom's staying power in the electro world comes, in no small part, from his ability to apply his delightfully idiosyncratic choices to some of the genre's staple production tropes. On The FM Tapes, he marks himself out once more as a pleasingly unorthodox talent by taking tracks in unexpected directions to produce surprising - and often rather moving - results.

There are multiple cuts here which channel the more cerebral end of Richard D. James' AFX/Analord output: 'My Digitone' may be a quicksilver techno-electro number, but there's still something cinematic about the synth treatment here which softens the edges; 'Suede's minor-key oscillations bring other CPU veterans like Cygnus and Bochum Welt into view; 'Res 06', one of two Fasme collaborations on the record, is full of pathos even as the beat programming bangs and whirrs throughout.

While there's a deep emotional undercurrent to The FM Tapes, though, Maelstrom's commitment to bringing the thrills surfaces time and again. If 'Res 06' had Maelstrom and Fasme getting wistful, the album's other Fasme link-up 'Trempo' is one of the hardest club joints here, a piece of old-school Detroit energy replete with some great cascading drum production. Indeed, 'Trempo' comes in the middle of a run towards the album's end where Maelstrom takes the handbrake off - there's a wild-eyed sense of fun to 'The Operator' and 'Upside Down DX7' which has one thinking of the zany cut-and-thrust of KiNK's best work.

Maelstrom's latest drop for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label is an album of leftfield electro numbers that bring both pounding beats and poignant production.

RIYL: KiNK, Modeselektor, Cygnus, Bochum Welt, AFX

As Freerange hits another landmark release with their 300th EP we see label head Jimpster join forces with Philippa who together deliver 3 original tracks which epitomise the labels’ sound over the past (almost) three decades.

With recent releases appearing on Slothboogie and Razor n Tape, remixes for Roach Motel on Faith, and James Curd and Robert Owens on Pronto, not to mention her recent Panorama Bar debut, it’s safe to say Philippa is making waves. The Berlin-based New Zealander has a sound all her own with an organic, deep and musical style winning her many fans from Terry Farley and Aroop Roy to DJ Spen and Dave Lee.

Lead track All I Wanted sees the duo pooling their influences with both producers sonic touches shining through. Chunky drums and bassline are the bedrock for pulsing synths and MON’s vocal which is chopped up and looped bringing a rolling momentum to the track.

Dreaming features the wonderful vocals of Care and goes on a floaty vibe with chiming synths and crusty Rhodes keys layering up to produce a densely textured track. The mood is powerful yet subtle and refined and will work as nicely on a chilled house playlist as it will on a discerning dance floor at 4am.

Closing out the EP we have Say What which goes on a jazzed out, UKG inspired excursion. Shuffling beats, bouncing square wave bassline and big brash synth chords all combine to form a track which sounds both retro and contemporary.

Back in stock!

Jesse Koolhaas is back with his new album Click Me. More electronic than his last album Organized, Jesse explores the use of analog synthesizers, samples and foley to create a downtempo cinematic sound. Melancholic at times and getting inspiration from various places like 70’s Italian cinema soundtracks, jazz fusion and the golden age of electronic music, Click Me is taking the listener on a journey through his inner world.

Ira James - owner and orchestrator of Vessel Recordings Group US - is treating us to plenty of newness this month and first up is Natural Rhythm with this transparent yellow vinyl 12". It's pure deep house bliss from the off with 'No Clothes' pairing rubbery and punchy kicks with some liquid synths that bring colour and depth. After the delightful '1985' comes 'City Life' which has a more dubby and bulbous low end that disappears out of sight as snappy snares power along the groove. 'Dust Redux' closes out with some sleek synth work and tech house minimalism that is pure dancing bait for the heads.

Juho Toivonen is a 25-year-old experimental musician from Pori, Finland whose debut solo tape “Lament & Rejoice” was released in 2021 and soon after that his sophomore follow up "Suurpää" came to see the light of the day. After these releases filled with deep drones and ominous ambience, Toivonen is reaching for new heights.

On his first solo vinyl "Kasveille ja Eläimille" Toivonen meditates using improvised repetitions made with untuned piano that is accompanied with occasional field recordings and sustained synthesizers.

Analog Mutants consist of Phill Most Chill on the vocals, DJ Snafu of Bankrupt Europeans fame on production and the inimitable DJ Grazzhoppa on the cuts.

Vocals: Phill Most Chill

Phill Most Chill grew up in Conecticut half hour away from Boogie Down Bronx and by the late 80s had already established himself in the hip hop scene, having released a very strongly received (and eventually highly collectible fetching amounts in the high three digits) single (On Tempo Jack/ That Girl), the preccedent setting left field Baritone Tiplove releases and writing for the seminal Rap Sheet magazine. The Arcahaelogists' Classics and Soulman's World of Beats tape series and column further established him as an elite beatmaker and sample collector, with highly acclaimed producers seeking him out to purchase records in conventions. The random rap craze brought renewed attention to Phill Most's releases in the late 90s, leading to reissues of On Tempo, the release of previously unissued Baritone Tiplove records, his return with the Lo-Fi EP, and then the highly influential Fast Rap EP on Nobody Buys Records which led to a flurry of funky uptempo releases across the globe again. The interest in Phill Most records over the whole 2010s was rabid, with further releases produced by Bankrupt Europeans, Mr. Fantastic and Chris Read flying off the shelves, and two full length albums produced by 90s stalwarts Paul Nice and DJ Format, as well as the recent Jorun-PMC album being now considered classics in the boom bap scene. Having now signed with Chuck D's Spitslam label, Phill Most continues his journey in stepping all over MC conventions, and these first two Analog Mutants release are a perfect example of this.

Produced by DJ Snafu

DJ Snafu has been part of the Bankrupt Europeans crew since 2004, co-founding Nobody Buys Records in 2012 with the other two Bankrupt Euros members. Huge collector of vinyl from the 50s ad 60s primarily, and with an interest in modular production, FM synthesis and marrying modern techniques with the love of sampling old records, the Analog Mutants project is his first without the Bankrupt Euros crew. Having produced among others for Chill Rob G on his seminal return to music with the classic Tell 'Em on the Chilled Not Frozen EP, Roc Marciano on the Goodfelons label, DITC legend AG on The 21st Day and Chicago legend MC Juice's return to vinyl after 15 years, this is Snafu's first whole album to produce since Rise of Demigodz' debut album The Cornerstone in 2006 (released in 2013). Snafu shows he's honed his skills and developed an even crazier side to his production in the 5 year that passed between the last Bankrupt Euros project and the Analog Mutants album and the first three Analog Mutants singles are a sign of things to come in the post Bankrupt Euros years.

Scratches: DJ Grazzhoppa

DJ Grazzhoppa got infected in 1983 with the hip hop virus, demolishing local DJs and winning the European DMC Championships in 1991, and taking 3rd place in the ITF World Championships in 1998! His unique and immediately recognizable style was first heard on Blade's legendary 12” Clear The Way, and caught so many ears that the list of MCs and producers who queued up to work with him is seemingly endless. From MF Doom, Ruste Juxx, Guilty Simpson and Cage to Necro, Keith Murray, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and of course the Bankrupt Europeans projects with Phill Most Chill, MC Juice and Chill Rob G! This is a short list of a page of credits spanning over 4 pages long- if you have hip hop records, Grazzhoppa is already in your collection!

Analog Mutants consist of Phill Most Chill on the vocals, DJ Snafu of Bankrupt Europeans fame on production and the inimitable DJ Grazzhoppa on the cuts.

Vocals: Phill Most Chill

Phill Most Chill grew up in Conecticut half hour away from Boogie Down Bronx and by the late 80s had already established himself in the hip hop scene, having released a very strongly received (and eventually highly collectible fetching amounts in the high three digits) single (On Tempo Jack/ That Girl), the preccedent setting left field Baritone Tiplove releases and writing for the seminal Rap Sheet magazine. The Arcahaelogists' Classics and Soulman's World of Beats tape series and column further established him as an elite beatmaker and sample collector, with highly acclaimed producers seeking him out to purchase records in conventions. The random rap craze brought renewed attention to Phill Most's releases in the late 90s, leading to reissues of On Tempo, the release of previously unissued Baritone Tiplove records, his return with the Lo-Fi EP, and then the highly influential Fast Rap EP on Nobody Buys Records which led to a flurry of funky uptempo releases across the globe again. The interest in Phill Most records over the whole 2010s was rabid, with further releases produced by Bankrupt Europeans, Mr. Fantastic and Chris Read flying off the shelves, and two full length albums produced by 90s stalwarts Paul Nice and DJ Format, as well as the recent Jorun-PMC album being now considered classics in the boom bap scene. Having now signed with Chuck D's Spitslam label, Phill Most continues his journey in stepping all over MC conventions, and these first two Analog Mutants release are a perfect example of this.

Produced by DJ Snafu

DJ Snafu has been part of the Bankrupt Europeans crew since 2004, co-founding Nobody Buys Records in 2012 with the other two Bankrupt Euros members. Huge collector of vinyl from the 50s ad 60s primarily, and with an interest in modular production, FM synthesis and marrying modern techniques with the love of sampling old records, the Analog Mutants project is his first without the Bankrupt Euros crew. Having produced among others for Chill Rob G on his seminal return to music with the classic Tell 'Em on the Chilled Not Frozen EP, Roc Marciano on the Goodfelons label, DITC legend AG on The 21st Day and Chicago legend MC Juice's return to vinyl after 15 years, this is Snafu's first whole album to produce since Rise of Demigodz' debut album The Cornerstone in 2006 (released in 2013). Snafu shows he's honed his skills and developed an even crazier side to his production in the 5 year that passed between the last Bankrupt Euros project and the Analog Mutants album and the first three Analog Mutants singles are a sign of things to come in the post Bankrupt Euros years.

Scratches: DJ Grazzhoppa

DJ Grazzhoppa got infected in 1983 with the hip hop virus, demolishing local DJs and winning the European DMC Championships in 1991, and taking 3rd place in the ITF World Championships in 1998! His unique and immediately recognizable style was first heard on Blade's legendary 12” Clear The Way, and caught so many ears that the list of MCs and producers who queued up to work with him is seemingly endless. From MF Doom, Ruste Juxx, Guilty Simpson and Cage to Necro, Keith Murray, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and of course the Bankrupt Europeans projects with Phill Most Chill, MC Juice and Chill Rob G! This is a short list of a page of credits spanning over 4 pages long- if you have hip hop records, Grazzhoppa is already in your collection!

Analog Mutants consist of Phill Most Chill on the vocals, DJ Snafu of Bankrupt Europeans fame on production and the inimitable DJ Grazzhoppa on the cuts.

Vocals: Phill Most Chill

Phill Most Chill grew up in Conecticut half hour away from Boogie Down Bronx and by the late 80s had already established himself in the hip hop scene, having released a very strongly received (and eventually highly collectible fetching amounts in the high three digits) single (On Tempo Jack/ That Girl), the preccedent setting left field Baritone Tiplove releases and writing for the seminal Rap Sheet magazine. The Arcahaelogists' Classics and Soulman's World of Beats tape series and column further established him as an elite beatmaker and sample collector, with highly acclaimed producers seeking him out to purchase records in conventions. The random rap craze brought renewed attention to Phill Most's releases in the late 90s, leading to reissues of On Tempo, the release of previously unissued Baritone Tiplove records, his return with the Lo-Fi EP, and then the highly influential Fast Rap EP on Nobody Buys Records which led to a flurry of funky uptempo releases across the globe again. The interest in Phill Most records over the whole 2010s was rabid, with further releases produced by Bankrupt Europeans, Mr. Fantastic and Chris Read flying off the shelves, and two full length albums produced by 90s stalwarts Paul Nice and DJ Format, as well as the recent Jorun-PMC album being now considered classics in the boom bap scene. Having now signed with Chuck D's Spitslam label, Phill Most continues his journey in stepping all over MC conventions, and these first two Analog Mutants release are a perfect example of this.

Produced by DJ Snafu

DJ Snafu has been part of the Bankrupt Europeans crew since 2004, co-founding Nobody Buys Records in 2012 with the other two Bankrupt Euros members. Huge collector of vinyl from the 50s ad 60s primarily, and with an interest in modular production, FM synthesis and marrying modern techniques with the love of sampling old records, the Analog Mutants project is his first without the Bankrupt Euros crew. Having produced among others for Chill Rob G on his seminal return to music with the classic Tell 'Em on the Chilled Not Frozen EP, Roc Marciano on the Goodfelons label, DITC legend AG on The 21st Day and Chicago legend MC Juice's return to vinyl after 15 years, this is Snafu's first whole album to produce since Rise of Demigodz' debut album The Cornerstone in 2006 (released in 2013). Snafu shows he's honed his skills and developed an even crazier side to his production in the 5 year that passed between the last Bankrupt Euros project and the Analog Mutants album and the first three Analog Mutants singles are a sign of things to come in the post Bankrupt Euros years.

Scratches: DJ Grazzhoppa

DJ Grazzhoppa got infected in 1983 with the hip hop virus, demolishing local DJs and winning the European DMC Championships in 1991, and taking 3rd place in the ITF World Championships in 1998! His unique and immediately recognizable style was first heard on Blade's legendary 12” Clear The Way, and caught so many ears that the list of MCs and producers who queued up to work with him is seemingly endless. From MF Doom, Ruste Juxx, Guilty Simpson and Cage to Necro, Keith Murray, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and of course the Bankrupt Europeans projects with Phill Most Chill, MC Juice and Chill Rob G! This is a short list of a page of credits spanning over 4 pages long- if you have hip hop records, Grazzhoppa is already in your collection!

Sechs Jahre sind vergangen, seit Peter Galls aufsehenerregendes Debutalbum "Paradox Dreambox" das Licht der Welt erblickte. Was als leichtfüßiges Experiment begann, wurde zu einem starken musikalischen Statement, das in der Jazzwelt auf begeisterte Resonanz stieß und erfolgreiche Touren mit einer großartigen Band nach sich zog. Nun folgt endlich das lang ersehnte zweite Album: Auf LOVE AVATAR setzt der im oberbayerischen Bad Aibling geborene Wahlberliner seine Suche nach neuen musikalischen Galaxien und Paradoxien, emotionalen Eruptionen, unwiderstehlichen Grooves sowie dem Unwirklichem, Übersinnlichem und der Liebe in der Musik fort.
LOVE AVATAR von Peter Gall und seinen Mitstreitern ist reichhaltiger, komplexer, aber auch fokussierter und konsequenter als der Vorgänger. Mystisch, heißblütig und bissig, multidimensional und vor allem mit einem großen Fokus auf mitreißenden Grooves. Ein reines Jazzalbum ist es irgendwie nicht, dafür gibt es zu viele Parallelwelten. Dennoch spielt der Jazz, das Unvorhersehbare, die blinde Interaktion und der Mut zum Risiko die wichtigste Rolle in diesem Konglomerat aus Post Bop, Fusion, Baião, hymnischem Indie Rock, melancholischen Synth-Sphären und hypnotisierenden Beats.
LINE UP:

Wanja Slavin - saxophones, flute, keys, synth solo on "Closing The Chapter"?
Reinier Baas - guitar?
Rainer Böhm - piano, keys, synth solo on "Heroes"?
Matthias Pichler - bass?
Peter Gall - drums, percussion, synth

Two seminal 12" mixes of a pair of enormous tracks from Surface. Housed in the super-rare and - until now - French-only picture sleeve of the eternal "Falling In Love", we've backed that classic with Be With's favourite deconstructed mix of the swirling electronic soul / synth-driven slow jam "Happy". These sought-after versions have never been paired on the same record before. This fresh Be With edition ensures these legendary tracks now sound, looks and feel as sensational as they deserve to. You know what to do...

American post-disco/R&B trio Surface were a New Jersey vocal group made up of Bernard Jackson, David Townsend and David Conley. The majesty of boogie ballad "Falling In Love" was their first single, released in 1983 on Salsoul Records. The mellow magic of this track is loved the world over; it's a feel-good smooth boogie jam that's forever coveted. The slick, crystal clear beat, the legendary minimoog bassline, the melody, Karen Copeland's superb vocal, the great flute solo (referenced on the cover) all of it is literally perfect and beautifully encapsulates that mid 80s international club vibe. This here is the original Shep Pettibone mix in its entirety - it's the only one you really need.

Flip for the legendary "Love Mix" of 1987 hit single “Happy". You all know the original. At least, you *should* all know it. But the "Love Mix" is a deconstructed, boldly produced mix which is the one the heads have turned to for so long. Yet, in our opinion, its hypnotic groove has flown under the radar for too many years. This killer remix begins with Jackson's spine-tingling isolated vocal, cleverly subverting expectations by actually delivering the first words of the original's second verse "You must be Heaven sent...Sent into my life...And I compliment you baby...Baby" before a heavy 808 drum kicks hard with echoey handclaps. It's super sparse and a dubbed out slow-mo boogie banger like no other. The synth bass, atmospheric synth pads and synthesized flute glide in and out with effortless style and the whole thing is a wonder to behold.

It's a slow jam, for sure, but crafted in the straight up funk tradition, using the digital tools of the day and this sparser than sparse version almost sounds like a precursor to UK Street Soul. A unique combination of undeniable funk, electro beats and an earnest, youthful tenor; it should be slamming out of every jeep forevermore.

Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 12" well and truly slaps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this incredibly sought-after treasure finds a home in many more collections, this and every year. Simply flawless.

Long time in the vaults, soon out in pop heaven: Andrea & Alexander, a handsomely nostalgic pop project by Andrea Noce aka Eva Geist and Alexander Arpeggio. Originally launched in 2014, revitalized in 2023, the project originated as a live set-up consisting of synthesizers, ePects pedals, and analogue drum machines. From there it slowly metamorphosed into a crew of songs with raw minimal-wave grooves and romantically haunting English and German pop lyrics, loosely evoking the aura of Siouxsie Sioux, Gudrun Gut or Nadine Bal. After becoming a live mainstay in the Berlin based underground club Sameheads, they went on a tour through Lithuania and soon after several unfortunate troubles led to the break-up of the band, prompting both Andrea and Alexander to focus on their solo careers. Andrea became Eva Geist and released for various international labels, played live and formed the female duo As Longitude. Alexander founded his own label Eine Welt, took over the management of the renowned underground festival Camp Cosmic and created two musical projects with Cid Hohne, Otto and Aufgang B. Now, years later, almost becoming a Soundcloud corpse some Andrea & Alexander recordings caught the attention of the R.i.O. folks and just seconds later they offer six freshly recorded cuts of Andrea & Alexander tunes that stood the test of time as authentic, soulful pop music. “What are we going to wear for tonight’s party?” Andrea Noce asks in their song “Tiney Party”. The answer is “Loved Up” a musical celebration outfit of six sincere recorded, emotionally accorded songs, who make the dance, give verve a chance, to be there, in that moment of all moments. An album for the listener that likes to dance. In his head, on the local carpet. “Loved Up” humming Andrea & Alexander tunes.

THE OMEGA SWARM, eine atmosphärische Death-Metal-Band aus Deutschland, begann im Jahr 2022, sehr bescheiden, sehr zurückgezogen. T., der bereits vier großartige Alben mit Sulphur Aeon veröffentlicht hat, hatte keinen vollwertigen Live-Act im Sinn, als er frühe Demos komponierte und das Skelett seiner - damals noch namenlosen - neuen Kreatur formte. Im Herzen ein wahrer Schöpfer, umarmt T. die akribische Arbeit an Riffs, Tönen, Klängen, den abenteuerlichen Geist des Aufbaus und der Verwirklichung von Ideen, das Experimentieren mit seinen geliebten Gitarren und Synthesizern, um erstaunliche Vibes und Songs zu produzieren, die bedeutungsvoll und doch extrem, melodisch und doch hart sind und sich in THE OMEGA SWARMs Debütalbum vereinen, einer Platte, einem Zeugnis, das der Essenz der Kunst selbst gewidmet ist.

So bodenständig T. auch ist, er ist nicht der Typ Mensch, der sich an eine Klangformel hält, er sucht nach "etwas mehr", "etwas anderem". Nachdem Sulphur Aeon mit dem monumentalen "Seven Crowns and Seven Seals" von 2023 vorerst abgeschlossen haben, was sie ausdrücken wollten, sind THE OMEGA SWARM jetzt sein Hauptaugenmerk, und das Line-up der Band, das von Sänger Christian Schettler (bekannt durch seine Arbeit bei den Labelkollegen Wound) und Schlagzeuger Max Scheefeldt (ex Misanthrope Monarch) komplettiert wird, passt perfekt zusammen. Musikalisch entstanden THE OMEGA SWARM aus T.s Experimenten mit rhythmischen Mustern, übereinanderliegenden Synthesizern, ausgefeilten Leads und etwas technischeren Riffingstrukturen.

Die wohl einzigen offensichtlichen Parallelen zu Sulphur Aeon sind die Betonung einer dichten, fesselnden Atmosphäre, epische Elemente und eine übergreifende Dunkelheit sowie die Erkenntnis nach der Fertigstellung der ersten Aufnahmen, dass auch THE OMEGA SWARM die Qualität besitzen, mehr als nur ein 'Schlafzimmerprojekt' zu sein.
Aufgenommen in den Studios von Feire Records und s/w records, gemischt und produziert von Langzeitpartner Simon Werner, wurde V. Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) für das Mastering angeheuert und sorgte für den letzten Schliff von "Crimson Demise", einem Album, das stolz und mühelos zwischen Death und Black Metal changiert und von einer herausragenden Gesangsleistung abgerundet wird, bei der Chris eine ähnliche Bandbreite an Growls, Screams und cleanen Parts erreicht wie Peter Tägtgren in seinen besten Zeiten.

Vom Konzept her verzichtet die Gruppe auf uralte Lovecraft'sche Schrecken und wendet sich stattdessen geradlinigen apokalyptischen Themen zu. Ob Viren, bösartige Bakterien, verrückte Diktatoren, Klimawandel, religiöse und politische Ideologien, korrupte Technologie, Terrorismus oder Krieg, die Menschheit hat sich selbst für den Untergang gezeichnet - in leuchtenden Neonfarben, damit selbst eine außerirdische Spezies, die Galaxien entfernt ist, erkennen kann, was für Narren wir wirklich sind. "Die Menschheit kann sich nicht auf eine gemeinsame Wahrheit einigen, geschweige denn auf eine Strategie zur Lösung ihrer mannigfaltigen Probleme", erklärt Chris, "und bildet somit überhaupt keine Einheit. Der einzige gemeinsame Nenner, der uns alle eint, ist unsere Zerstörungswut, die irgendwann die gesamte Existenz der Menschheit gefährden könnte. Die Utopie wurde durch dystopische Szenarien ersetzt. Welche Formen des negativen menschlichen Verhaltens uns und die Gesellschaft derzeit beeinflussen und letztlich in eine zukünftige Endzeit führen, ist Teil des lyrischen Konzepts von THE OMEGA SWARM."
Aber keine Angst, bevor die Weltuntergangsuhr zum letzten Mal schlägt, soll euch das Vergnügen vergönnt sein, ein abwechslungsreiches, intensives und fesselndes Stück Metal zu erleben, das das neu formierte Trio aus dem Schlafzimmer auf die Bühne bringen will!

“I am OBSESSED with the 80s. I love the loud neon colours and fashion and the kinetic energy of the music. It’s uplifting and bittersweet with a ton of keyboards, what’s not to like?” reasons Morgane when asked what it is she likes about the decade. This exuberance is brightly reflected in the mirror ball synthpop of her third album released at the end of September. It is her second long player to appear on vinyl after the release of Between The Funk And The Fear debut on the Polytechnic Youth label.

Morgane was the keyboard player in Stereolab between 1995 and 2001 during which time they released Emperor Tomato Ketchup (her favourite) and Dots And Loops. As a teenager though she first played the drums, then guitar and bass. She only learnt the keyboards one month before joining the group. “They gave me 40 songs to learn, it was a baptism of fire”.

After leaving Stereolab, Morgane first moved to New York for nine years; she’d always planned to move to America having spent a lot of time there with her parents and of course those space-pop pioneers. The warmer weather of LA enticed her though and you can hear its pulse in Day-Glo Chaos. The album’s thumping heart is pumped by the city’s night sky and when asked she cites three particular albums as her favourites: the oddball analogue electro of Jacno’s 1979 debut; John Carpenter’s ‘Escape From New York’ and The B-52’s ‘Cosmic Thing’. There’s also a strong nod to the playful computerised harmonies of Yellow Magic Orchestra whilst she’s somewhat partial to the synth prog of Yes and Soft Machine. “I actually created a synth on Ableton Live named after Rick Wakeman’. I should create one after Mike Ratledge next!”

Throughout her work (but especially on this record) you can hear the influence of computer games. “I’m an avid gamer and have been one since I was a teenager and fell in love with my Commodore 64”. Though not a fan of Hotline Miami or the GTA series (“too violent”) she liked Hang On and loved Outrun which she used to play a lot on her Sega Master System. “I just got the soundtrack reissue from Data Disc and it is beautiful” she enthuses.

You’ll see and hear such influences on the lead single from the album ‘Midnite Rogue’ the video to which pays (im)perfect juddering homage to such arcade culture. Car tyres glued to sticky tarmac, French pop music lost in the air. The title was inspired by a Fighting Fantasy book which she adored as a kid. “I love the idea of this entity causing mischief during night time”, she beams. It’s not hard to see why.

MICHELLE’s first project of buoyant R&B tracks was an ode to New York City, the city where all 6 members of the band grew up. But amid the success of that project, 2018’s HEATWAVE, and 2022’s AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS, they left home and broadened their perspective. The band travelled across the U.S. and Europe opening for Gus Dapperton, Arlo Parks, and Mitski, headlining their own shows, and playing festivals.

While writing their new album, Songs About You Specifically, MICHELLE decided to rent out a house in Ojai, California. Surrounded by lizards, the smell of ripe cactus fruit, and endless expanses of sand, they experienced a sense of solitude and closeness they hadn’t before. It shifted the tone of their work. While their earlier music channelled the churning restlessness of the city, these news songs meander and expand into starry shoegaze reveries, slick funk riffs, and lilting 80s synth pop.

Their newfound closeness also helped them write more vulnerable music. On Songs About You Specifically, the band members express their complicated desires, voice their regrets, and own up to their moments of selfishness. By slowing down, cutting out any distractions, and fostering a sense of communal closeness that necessitated honesty, MICHELLE ended up with a collection of songs that feel like the truth.

For Dutch artist Stefan Vincent, the feeling of melancholy also offers the opportunity for beauty to be found. “Decay and loneliness can serve a purpose. Depression can teach you things. To feel deep sadness also means the ability to feel profound
emotions.” he says. With this in mind, his debut album on MUSAR Recordings, “Post- Melancholy”, unpacks the twists and turns of grappling with this emotion, drawing from breaks, electro and IDM to make his most intricate work to date, after previous releases on Token, Dynamic Reflection, Symbolism, and Non-Series. Throughout “Post-Melancholy” Vincent traces the wave of melancholy and how it moves through the body, which allows for lighter moments alongside darker moods. Perhaps the lightest track on the album is its acidic-breaks opener, “Eyes Unclouded”, with its soaring acid lines and dazzling synths, which acts as a false pretense for the rest of the album. Tracks like “Poise”, “Arpeggino” and the meditative “Yonghegong Lama Temple Exit F” also break up the intensity. However, nestled between the more pacey, bass-weighted tracks on the album, these lighter openings still feel like tear-jerkers.

The more common associations of melancholy show up on tracks like “Another Skin To Wear” and “You Know This Isn’t Going To End Well”, which all create a more ominous feel via IDM and the polyrhythmic structures of drum’n’bass. Particularly on “Another Skin To Wear”, which borrows its name from a Radiohead lyric, the track's swooping motion feels realistic to melancholy’s chaotic and often unpredictable path. But, like all great storytellers, Vincent leaves the most poignant moment of the album for last with the rolling “8AM on the Train… (For Maarten)” devoted to his dear friend, Maarten, who sadly passed away at the young age of 36. This LP is dedicated to Maarten de Vries (1986-2022)

Veteran electronic music composer Jill Fraser"s new work takes stock of generations and lifetimes of memory, speculating on how the spirit of our songs might be interpreted after we"re gone. With her 1978 Serge Modular, Prism Modular and Ableton Push 3 in the circuit path, she recomposes a stack of American revival hymns, making new creations for the future. A fluent meditation upon mortality and rebirth amid numinous infinities of dimensional sound. The sound world of Earthly Pleasures accesses a seeming infinity of dimensional sound in which the human hand is always keenly felt, no matter how deep the space. It"s a breathtakingly transcendent album that suggests inclusion within a diversity of genres: Ambient, Electronic, New Age, Modern Classical, Gospel, Healing, Sacred... . It is the work of a veteran composer and synth master at the peak of her powers, meditating upon the detritus of memory, the passage of all consciousness, and the rebirth of meaning in a new era.

Black Vinyl. In Rumi's poem A Great Wagon he writes of a place of total acceptance. "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there," It is a boundless, liminal space where we can release the judgments we make and carry of ourselves, and the comparisons to others. When we think of this field, there is a sense of tranquility that only comes when we are undisturbed by the shadow self and see existence as neither bright nor dim, white nor black. But as lead singer Greg Bertens explains, arriving there is a whole different story. "This is a poem I've returned to over the years, and I love the idea of this place, but getting there is life's journey." Bertens adds "I think the longing for and elusiveness of this field is a recurring theme in our music." Field is enveloped by themes of regret, disconnection and frustration but with the space to understand that these feelings are a natural part of the struggle between reconciling the inner and outer self. The Los Angeles/San Francisco-based group have been indie shoegaze stalwarts since their formation in 2001. After two decades and a handful of line-up changes, their extensive discography presents a dynamically textural, lush psychedelic rock that has featured guest appearances by members of Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, and Snow Patrol, among others. 2021's LP We Weren't Here (Sonic Ritual) was hailed for its dense instrumental blanket, where unrelenting hi-hats and heavy kicks exist alongside dreamy drone guitar. This propulsive nature permeates Field, as members Bertens, Noël Brydebell (vocals), Nyles Lannon (guitar), Jason Ruck (synths), Justin LaBo (bass), and Adam Wade (drums) produce a kaleidoscopic sonic landscape. Patient, sprawling instrumentation builds a foundation in which Bertens' themes of endurance, perseverance and clarity can bloom with a considered poise. As a lyricist who writes in response to the instrumental arrangements, rather than a focus on a specific theme or person, Field is a testament to Film School's ability to create in the moment, and to showcase the magic that stems from when we are truly present. With over two decades in the industry, Field cements Film School as a distinct, dominant force in the shoegaze scene. Soaked in an emotionally open, imaginative atmosphere, the album is both singular and expansive, and leaves the door open for a constantly evolving interpretation. Film School have never confined themselves to the rigidity of specifics, and it's on Field that they urge us to look beyond the binary of certainty, and to take a second look.

This record is the first complete collaboration between Lefteris Volanis and Dimitris Pagidas who along with Vasilis Dokakis have formed the trio No Clear Mind over the past 15 years.

“Outside the long walls” is a musical creation whose canvas is filled primarily with a mix of electronic and guitar, organic synthesizer sound, saxophone, electric pianos bound together with drums and percussion, xylophone along with intervening soundscapes. There is a deeply melodic work with a strict sonic and timbre aesthetics that reference the new wave and post-punk outsiders, folk, progressive, space rock and world music for the past decade interspersed with tributes to the soundtracks of the 60s and 70s European cinema.

The band use both Greek and English lyrics interchangeably since the vocals are simply a means of achieving aural magic.

Recorded in Epidaurus between March 2020 until September 2023
Mastered by Richard König
Vinyl Master by Ekelon
Cover photo by Eftichia Vlachou
Artwork by Giorgos Maraziotis

Tahiti 80, the cult French group, is back with a tenth album entitled Hello Hello.

Since their formation in Rouen in the 90s, Tahiti 80 have built a substantial discography, collaborating with artists such as Cornelius, Tore Johansson, Adam Schlesinger and Richard Swift. The indie pop quintet offers us today twelve irresistible and captivating songs on a solar tenth album. With its welcoming title, Hello Hello presents itself as a desire to merge the spontaneity of live performances with the chemistry of a band working in the studio. Xavier Boyer, lead singer and songwriter, explains: “We felt a slight frustration with our previous album, Here With You, released in 2022. The pandemic had forced us to record separately at home. When we realized our new demos were going in this live direction, we looked for the perfect place to capture that spirit."

It is at the Paraphernalia studio, located in the French countryside, that the members of Tahiti 80, including in addition to the singer, Pedro Resende, Médéric Gontier, Raphaël Léger and Hadrien Grange, perfected their musical interactions for ten days during the summer 2023. Integrated very early in the process, Stéphane Laporte, aka Domotic, brought his distinctive experimental touch to the arrangements and production. The vocals and additional synthesizers were then finalized between Paris, Rouen and Montpellier in the fall

The twelve songs that make up Hello Hello form a homogeneous suite, highlighting the creativity, diversity and maturity of a group which has just celebrated twenty-five years of career. Opening the album, “Every Little Thing” subtly mixes shoegaze guitars and synth pop. It’s also one of the rare Tahiti 80 tracks that keeps the same chords from start to finish. The singer confides: “It was an exercise in minimalism, with the constraint of finding varied vocal melodies revolving around the same chords. Singing the line ‘I Love Every Little Thing About Us’ made me realize that it could also be about us as a group.” The title song also plays the simplicity card with Boyer’s unique timbre, complemented by a drum machine passed through a tape echo and a catchy recorder theme – proof that years of practice of this instrument in French schools was not in vain!

The other distinctive trend is Brazilian: “Lose My Head”, “Soft Echo” or “Poison Flower” each display tropicalist attributes: swaying rhythms, rounded bass, soft guitars, all enhanced by a reverberated sound treatment. “From Caetano Veloso to Tim Bernardes, there is a unique way,” notes the vocalist, “of linking rhythm and melody that has always inspired us.”

However, the Tahiti 80 touch is not being put aside. “About Us”, sung by guitarist Médéric Gontier who can also be heard on “1+1” and “Anyway”, marks a return to the roots of indie pop. An impression confirmed by the hit “Vertigo” and its signature all in major sevenths supported by the elastic groove of bassist Pedro Resende. The song which sounds like a quick return trip between late 70s California and Tokyo City Pop, will find its place after “Crush!” and “Heartbeat” in the Rouennais’ songbook. Xavier Boyer concludes: “ if we manage to surprise ourselves, it will also work for the listener. but when you reach the tenth album, you must also manage to renew ourselves without denying ourselves what we did previously.”

With their innovative and unique approach to indie pop, their timeless melodies and their sophisticated productions, Tahiti 80 has never ceased to resonate with fans around the world. Their latest collection, Hello Hello, should easily consolidate their status as a singular group and esteemed personalities on the international music scene.

Four of the freshest Blaze remixes come together on wax for the first time on Slip ‘N’ Slide, ‘Blaze Remixed’. The West London label is home to some of the best house music that crossed the Atlantic from the 90s onwards, and today the imprint continues to refresh Blaze’s legendary catalogue with remixes from leading industry figures. Up first, British producer Atjazz takes the cool feel of ‘So In Love’ from the minds of Kevin Hedge & Josh Milan as Black Rascals, adding his signature genre-crossing style. Jimpster’s take on ‘Wonderland’, featuring Josh Milan on vocals as Alexander Hope, stabilises the track while allowing the free-flowing feel of the OG to shine through. Brooklyn native DJ Spinna’s remix of ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ capitalises on Hope’s powerful vocals, supported by impeccable synth-laden production, before vinyl aficiando Natasha Diggs closes out this Blaze collection with her remix of ‘Breathe’; Diggs stays faithful to the original’s iconic saxophone and trumpet-led sound, sprinkling in her tasteful flair for smooth grooves and delicious synthwork at every turn.

Rob Woodward, AKA Demetae, dons his Tasteless Talk alias for the first time for the ‘Love’s Destination’ EP on La Mano’s Sound Du Jour label. Alongside the single, Woodward is joined by PBR Streetgang and 1⁄2 of PBR Streetgang, Magari, for the remixes. It follows Demetae’s recent ‘Space-time Sleaze’ EP on Sound Du Jour, which won support from Chloé, Mufti, Captain Mustache, Posthuman, and many more.

As Tasteless Talk, Demetae writes 80s-inspired Italo, Disco and Electro Funk, lacing the ‘Love’s Destination’ single on Sound Du Jour with retro synths and the passionate vocals of vocalist MILLICENT. Bodied drums hang down low, airy melodies and nostalgia-rich lyrics at the forefront before Bonar Bradberry and Tom Thorpe’s PBR Streetgang remix the track. Their version ups the energy via an organic breakbeat and layers of additional harmonies while maintaining MILLICENT’s timeless vocal. Bradberry then goes solo for the final track on the EP as Magari, his Scena Finale mix of ‘Love’s Destination’ features bold rhythms, chugging bass and an EBM-tinged feel.

The EP has gained the support of many respected artists such as Solomon, Groove Armada and Claptone. Love’s Destination is expected to be the perfect sound to serenade the closing of the summer season.

While Chicha Libre's second album, Canibalismo was inspired by the Peruvian Chicha explosion of the 70's, it also looked back to the cultural Cannibalism dear to Os Mutantes and other Brazilian tropicalists, as well as the production values of late 1960’s rock bands.

The group still pays homage to amazonian legends Los Wembler's de Iquitos, Los Mirlos and Manzanita, but mixes it up even more by combining mellotron and vintage synths with West African guitars, treated percussion, fuzztone and some R.D Burman-inspired arrangements. Originally released in 2012, this the first european re-release on vinyl.

The Flat Earth is the second studio album by English new wave and synth-pop musician Thomas Dolby, it was released on 10 February 1984 and peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart. The first single from the album was “Hyperactive!”, which peaked at No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The album charted at No. 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The album has held up very well 40 years after its release; a crisp production, brilliant songwriting by Thomas Dolby and a fantastic ensemble of supporting players makes this record a classic in its own kind.
The Flat Earth is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl and contains an insert.