Search:22 20’s

Four albums in, the convenient and generalized catchphrase for Here Lies Man’s erudite sound — if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat — might seem a little played out. But Ritual Divination is perhaps the best rendering of the idea so far. Particularly on the Sabbath side of the equation: The guitars are heavier and more blues based than before, but the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave remains a constant.
“Musically it’s an opening up more to traditional rock elements,” says vocalist/guitarist/ cofounder Marcos Garcia, who also plays guitar in Antibalas. “It’s always been our intention to explore. And, as we travelled deeper into this musical landscape, new features revealed themselves.”

The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly following their breakout 2017 self-titled debut. Their second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both followed in 2018. Third album No Ground To Walk Upon emerged in August 2019. All of them were crafted by Garcia and cofounder/drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) in their L.A. studio between tours. Ritual Divination is their first album recorded as the full 4-piece band, including bassist JP Maramba and keyboardist Doug Organ.
Ritual Divination continues with an ongoing concept of HLM playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. “It’s an inward psychedelic journey, the album is the trip,” Garcia says. “The intention and purpose of the music is to create a sonic ritual to lift the veil of inner space and divine the true nature of reality.”

Likewise, musically and sonically, the album is self-reflexive. “On this album the feel changes within a song,” Garcia says. “Whereas before each song was meant to induce a trancelike state, now more of the songs have their own arc built in.” Similarly, the guitar sounds themselves herein eschew the fuzz pedals of previous recordings, going for the directness of pure amp overdrive and distortion using an interconnected rig of 4 amplifiers. And, here, the well-versed live band is able to record as a unit, giving it much more of a live and dynamic feel.

Rough Trade named the band’s self-titled debut in their prestigious Top 10 Albums of 2017. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises. Each subsequent album furthered the band’s reputation for genre-smashing rhythmic experimentation, topping many year-end lists as well as earning features from countless metal and indie rock outlets, plus cover stories in weekly papers.
“We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” Garcia explains. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”
Ritual Divination will be available on LP, CD and download on January 22nd, 2021 via RidingEasy Records.

Four albums in, the convenient and generalized catchphrase for Here Lies Man’s erudite sound — if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat — might seem a little played out. But Ritual Divination is perhaps the best rendering of the idea so far. Particularly on the Sabbath side of the equation: The guitars are heavier and more blues based than before, but the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave remains a constant.
“Musically it’s an opening up more to traditional rock elements,” says vocalist/guitarist/ cofounder Marcos Garcia, who also plays guitar in Antibalas. “It’s always been our intention to explore. And, as we travelled deeper into this musical landscape, new features revealed themselves.”

The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly following their breakout 2017 self-titled debut. Their second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both followed in 2018. Third album No Ground To Walk Upon emerged in August 2019. All of them were crafted by Garcia and cofounder/drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) in their L.A. studio between tours. Ritual Divination is their first album recorded as the full 4-piece band, including bassist JP Maramba and keyboardist Doug Organ.
Ritual Divination continues with an ongoing concept of HLM playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. “It’s an inward psychedelic journey, the album is the trip,” Garcia says. “The intention and purpose of the music is to create a sonic ritual to lift the veil of inner space and divine the true nature of reality.”

Likewise, musically and sonically, the album is self-reflexive. “On this album the feel changes within a song,” Garcia says. “Whereas before each song was meant to induce a trancelike state, now more of the songs have their own arc built in.” Similarly, the guitar sounds themselves herein eschew the fuzz pedals of previous recordings, going for the directness of pure amp overdrive and distortion using an interconnected rig of 4 amplifiers. And, here, the well-versed live band is able to record as a unit, giving it much more of a live and dynamic feel.

Rough Trade named the band’s self-titled debut in their prestigious Top 10 Albums of 2017. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises. Each subsequent album furthered the band’s reputation for genre-smashing rhythmic experimentation, topping many year-end lists as well as earning features from countless metal and indie rock outlets, plus cover stories in weekly papers.
“We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” Garcia explains. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”
Ritual Divination will be available on LP, CD and download on January 22nd, 2021 via RidingEasy Records.

A gentle descent into washed out shoegaze memories, swallowed by windswept drones and distortion.
March 2020, lockdown No. 1 ''I don't believe that this music was actually created by myself. In fact isolation established the environment for its appearance.
Instead of thinking about music, as i went pacing the floor, I fell to counting my footsteps until I felt about to go mad.
A body needs at least three points of support, not in a straight line, to fix its position.
A body does not tip over when the force holding it upright in place is stronger than the force pushing it over. Lawfulness of the material.''
(She Was A Visitor, November 2020)

'Available exclusively on Disney+ beginning Dec. 25, 2020, Disney and Pixar’s feature film “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher with a serious passion for jazz music. The story is particularly relatable to the artists behind it. For Jamie Foxx, who lends his voice to Joe, it begins with jazz. “Like Joe, I hear music in everything,” said Foxx. “When you’re a jazz artist, man, you talk a little different: ‘Hey, cat!’ I got a chance to go to a few jazz fests and meet Herbie Hancock, Chick Correa—hang out with those guys. They have a way of talking, a way of dressing—everything funnels toward their music, toward the jazz."

'Available exclusively on Disney+ beginning Dec. 25, 2020, Disney and Pixar’s feature film “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher with a serious passion for jazz music. The story is particularly relatable to the artists behind it. For Jamie Foxx, who lends his voice to Joe, it begins with jazz. “Like Joe, I hear music in everything,” said Foxx. “When you’re a jazz artist, man, you talk a little different: ‘Hey, cat!’ I got a chance to go to a few jazz fests and meet Herbie Hancock, Chick Correa—hang out with those guys. They have a way of talking, a way of dressing—everything funnels toward their music, toward the jazz."

- Limited edition, 180g heavy, weisses Vinyl, extra-großes, gefaltetes Booklet, Cover Sleeve mit Mittelloch auf der Rückseite

Die Geschichte Von Lambchop Ist Die Der Steten Veränderung Und Weiterentwicklung. Was Vor Fast 30 Jahren Im Keller Von Kurt Wagner Begann Und Von Ihm Selbst Scherzhaft Als most Fucked-up Country Band In Nashville' Bezeichnet Wurde, Hat Sich Inzwischen Nicht Nur Als Eine Der Dienstältesten Sondern Auch Innovativsten Bands Der Us Amerikanischen Musikszene Etabliert. Seit Jeher Verbinden Lambchop Unterschiedlichste Genres Wie Folk & Country, Mit Soul Und Urban Electronica Zu Einem Ganz Eigenen, Unnachahmlichen Sound. Kein Lambchop-album Klingt Wie Das Andere, Aber Jedes Klingt Immer Unverwechselbar Nach Lambchop. Nach Ihrem Wegweisenden Album - flotus (2016) Hat Die Band Aus Nashville Jetzt Ein Neues Album Für Den 22.03.2019 Angekündigt. Für this (is What I Wanted To Tell You)' Arbeitete Kurt Wagner Mit Matthew Mccaughan (bon Iver, Hiss Golden Messenger) Zusammen, Der Ihn Auch Als Teil Des Lambchop Live Ensembles Im April Auf Tour Begleiten Wird.

Im Sommer 2017 Machte Sich Wagner Auf, Über Die Blue Ridge Mountains In Richtung North Carolina, Zum Geburtstag Seines Langjährigen Freundes Und Chef Des Merge Labels: Mac Mccaughan. Dort Traf Er Auf Seinen Jüngeren Bruder Matt Mccaughan, Der Das Letzte Jahrzehnt Als Schlagzeuger Für Bon Iver Und Hiss Golden Messenger Verbrachte. Matt Und Kurt Kannten Sich Schon Viele Jahre, Aber Erst An Diesem Abend Beschlossen Sie Zusammen An Musik Zu Arbeiten. Wagner Schickte Mac Neue Songideen Und Mccaughan Schickte Wagner Synthesizer-stücke Zur Inspiration. Schließlich Gingen Beide Gemeinsam In Nashville Ins Studio, Pedal Steel Und Piano Und Der Harmonika Von Nashvilles Legende Charlie Mccoy, Die Diesen Schwarz-weißen Skizzen Leben Einhauchte.

Das Ergebnis Ist "this (is What I Wanted To Tell You)", Ein Album, Ergreifend Ehrlich, Atemberaubend, Wunderschön Und Überraschend. Aber Lambchop Sind Nicht Immer Nur Für Eine Überraschung Gut, Sondern Überraschen Immer Wieder Mit Verdammt Guten Songs. Wenn Kurt Wagner Etwas Zu Sagen Hat, Hören Wir Natürlich Hin, Das Sollten Sich Alle Zu Herzen Nehmen. Diese Platte Muss Man Einfach Hören!

Heute Gibt Es Die Erste Single Aus Dem Album: the December-ish You' Eine Verblüffende Mischung Aus Bewährt Emotionalen Slide-guitar Und Pianoflächen Alter Lambchop-schule Und Effektiven Pvc Pop Beats, Claps Und Samples, Über Die Kurt Wagner Die Melancholischste friday Night Fever' Ballade Der Dekade Croont.

First Word Records are extremely proud to welcome aboard Allysha Joy and her first EP

for the label, 'Light It Again'.

Well versed in poetry and performance, Allysha Joy's potent lyricism, unique musicianship and killer vocals have garnered legions of attentive fans the world over. She's an integral member of the Melbourne soul jazz scene, known as part of the acclaimed 30/70 Collective and for her own equally revered solo work.

'Light It Again' is a 4-part expedition across a variety of grooves and deep lyricism that marks a defiant statement of intimacy and hope. Produced and engineered by twice Grammy nominated artist Clever Austin, the EP features accompaniment from an all-star set of Melbourne artists; Horatio Luna, Ziggy Zeitgeist, Danika Smith and Josh Kelly. This EP marks a new sound for the young artist, transmitting her honest and raw expression through the signature crunch and sonic landscape of Clever Austin.

Allysha is already well established across Europe, performing on the live circuit alongside the likes of Sampa the Great, Matthew Halsall, Ezra Collective, Bradley Zero and Children of Zeus, as well as currently hosting two regular radio shows, on Worldwide FM and Reform Radio in Manchester respectively.

Her 2018 debut album 'Acadie : Raw' on Gondwana Records won 'Best Soul Album' at the Music Victoria Awards, was nominated for a Worldwide Award, and featured in many an end-of-year list, including Bandcamp's Top Soul Albums, whilst she's also featured on releases on UK labels such as Rhythm Section, Total Refreshment Centre and now an EP for First Word, 'Light It Again'.

The EP touches on love, shame, mental health, grief & spirituality. 'Watercolours' sets off on a mid-tempo neo-soul jazz tip. Allysha says "I wrote this in the hope that maybe we could all feel the beauty that is present in the every day - in nature, in art, in each one of us mirroring each other so intrinsically. Then maybe we'd all start to live out a message of love."

'Better' follows on an uptempo vibe influenced musically by The Senegambian Jazz Band, who Allysha would watch regularly at Bar Oussou in Melbourne. Lyrically the song explores the external and internal struggles that occur trying to create a more inclusive and compassionate world. "It's about catching myself pointing the finger outwards to challenge social / political systems and certain individuals, then coming to the realisation that I must turn that finger back on myself to ask, "how can I do better, how can I know better?"

Lead track 'Light It Again' begins with Allysha's keys gliding a steppa-like rhythm - head-snap snares and punchy bass accompany ethereal harmonies and delicate vibes on an ever-evolving groove before switching entirely mid-track. This time the subject matter is mental health and "the cycle of addiction and pain, the coping mechanisms that hold us back from reaching our true potential".

The EP closes out with the beautiful 'Mardi'; deep Rhodes, sax and synths build ahead of deliciously slushy percussion and jilted drums. Named for her grandmother, 'Mardi' is a tribute to the spiritual connection they shared before her passing. Allysha writes, "it's about the connective forces of the matriarchal lineage and the drive to step into my own sense of self, in all the beauty and pain which that entails".

Allysha's lyrics weave together a heartfelt mix of love, power, desire, wonder, anger, faith and hope for change. An artist that presents a palette of intricate grace and optimism, whilst unafraid of adding uncomfortable truths. Allysha is an incredibly powerful live performer; her husky vocals sonically synced with her formidable Fender Rhodes playing, whilst her influences are a solid base of jazz, hip hop and R&B; all glazed with the unique special sauce the Melbourne soul scene has become known for globally. A gloriously meditative, raw soul, we are delighted to be able to share her music with you.

'Light It Again' is released on vinyl & digital worldwide, November 20th 2020.

Following the extraordinary response to the online streaming event in July, audiences will have another chance to experience Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace as it screens in cinemas globally via Trafalgar Releasing from 5 November. The cinematic release of this remarkable and compelling film will be followed by an album on 20 November, available on vinyl, CD and streaming services worldwide.

Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace was recorded in June 2020 as the UK slowly emerged from lockdown, and was conceived as a reaction to the confinement and isolation of the preceding months. Initially imagined as an online only event, fans will now be able to see the film in cinemas as an extended cut featuring four unseen performances.
Two weeks later on 20 November, the music will be released as a double album of the same name featuring all 22 songs from the original film on vinyl, CD and streaming.
In Idiot Prayer, Cave plays his songs alone at the piano in a rarely seen stripped back form, from early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, right through to the most recent Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album, Ghosteen.

The performance was filmed by award winning Cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Favourite, Marriage Story, American Honey) in Alexandra Palace’s stunning West Hall. It was edited by Nick Emerson (Lady Macbeth, Emma, Greta). The music was recorded by Dom Monks.
Idiot Prayer is the fourth film that Nick Cave has released in collaboration with Trafalgar Releasing, following 2018's Distant Sky - Live in Copenhagen directed by David Barnard, 2016's One More Time With Feeling directed by Andrew Dominik and 2014's award winning 20,000 Days on Earth directed by Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard.

Live at Alexandra Palace, 2020

Leroy Smart the self-proclaimed ‘Don’, carries much respect in the Jamaican musical community. His attacking vocal style gives his lyrics and tunes that extra meaningfulness.

Born in Jamaica and orphaned as a young child, Leroy was sent to Maxfield Park children's home and educated at the famed Alpha Boys School. The school was run by nuns who encouraged musical talent and would provide the world with the cream of Jamaica’s artistic talent. Such legends as Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Johnny’ Dizzy’ Moore, to name but a few, all learnt their musical trade in this strict environment.

Leroy worked with many Jamaican producers, but seemed to find his feet working with Bunny ’Striker’ Lee. With whom he cut many of his greatest tunes. It is from this period that we have compiled this album. Featuring lost to now dubs to many of his classic tunes, like ' Wreck up my Life’, featured here as ’Dub Wrecker’. ’God Helps the Man’ Help yourself to Dub, Pride and Ambition If I should Dub. Fittest of the Fittest Dub for the Fittest and the title track of this selection his self-affirming Mr Smart Mr Smart in Dub.

These work alongside less known cuts that he also puts his musical stamp on .’No Love’ No Love In Dub. which sees him working over the ‘Zion Gate’ rhythm, made famous by Mr Horace Andy. The ‘My Conversation’ rhythm originally cut by Slim Smith but made into Leroy’s own ‘Jah Jah Forgive them’ For They Know What They Dub. All portrayed in his enviable style.

Such was Mr Leroy Smart’s stature in his homeland Jamaica, that when the ‘One Love’ peace concert line-up was put together for the 22nd of April 1978. The best of Jamaica’s Reggae stars was picked to play alongside Bob Marley & the Wailers. Such greats as Dennis Brown, The Mighty Diamonds, Peter Tosh and Inner Circle were chosen alongside the Don himself, Mr Smart. Whose stage shows were always colourful and to say the least eventful..

Mr Smart has continued to release music during the 80’s & 90’s, most notably with ‘She Just a Draw Card’ & ‘I’m the Don’. But as a set we feel this stands up with the best of them. Hope you enjoy the ride...

Respect Jah Floyd.

• This is Gene’s second studio album released in 1997
• Singles include ‘Where Are They Now?’ (no.22 UK Charts), ‘Speak To Me Someone’ and ‘Fighting Fit’
• Double LP pressed on 180g Heavyweight vinyl, with original artwork,
presented in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves
• Inspired by the songs of The Smiths, The Jam and The Faces, Martin
Rossiter’s literate vocals and Steve Mason’s fluid guitar lines were perfectly complemented by the intuitive rhythm section of Kevin Miles and Matt James. They released four studio albums and a collection of B-sides and radio demos between 1995 and 2001, were named Best New Act at the inaugural NME awards in 1995, and went on to score 10 Top 40 hits.

Cameroonian Joe Bisso's earliest musical influences didn't come primarily from his homeland, but more from the neighbouring Congo, where the kind of early 60's Congolese Rumba played by the likes of Franco / TP Ok Jazz, and Tabu Ley Rochereau was establishing itself as a musical force in the region.

Alongside this exuberant, swinging, jazz influenced sound, the growing impact of the all conquering US soul titans became inescapable, and sprinkled with a bit of Johnny Halliday & Co's smooth chanson over the top, we get a snapshot of where Jo Bisso and friends post school musical experimentation was headed in the late 60's.

As that decade drew to a close, the single minded Bisso headed off to France to begin his quest for the future, and by 1972 could afford the journey to the US that he'd long dreamed of.

Enrollment at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston soon lead to a new band coming together, and by 1974 the all conquering, multi faceted approach that marks Bisso's musical career, meant he'd written, produced and sung on his debut single for the mighty Decca Records. 'Flying To The Land Of Soul' drew heavily from James Brown's propulsive dancefloor funk, whilst wearing it's African colours loud and proud via 'African Express' chants, and drums front and centre.

At the same time, Bisso and friends had started to immerse themselves in the fast emerging disco sound pulsing outwards from Downtown NYC into the Boston nightclubs, and by the time his debut album 'Dance To It' was released on France's influential Le Disques Esperance in 1976, it was the driving, 4/4 floor power of disco that was to define Bisso's sound on that, and the following two albums.

Whilst Bisso's immersion in Disco was based around it's energy and musicality (rather than any associated hedonism), 'African Disco Experimentals (1974 to 1978)' paints a picture of an artist dedicated to the underground club side of the scene, rather than focused exclusively on the fast emerging pop potential of the sound at the time.

The album's tone is set by 3.20 mins of building, tribal percussion and rolling rhythms of the opener 'Love Beat', a 'strictly dancefloor' approach mirrored in the near 11 mins of 'Love Somebody', building from soulful keys to deep bass funk, extended percussion breaks, joyous squelchy Moog licks, breathy vocals and more (interesting footnote : Bisso is credited as Producer / Writer / Arranger, but 'Recorded by' is attributed to Joe Chiccarelli, better known in recent years for his work with The White Stripes, Shins, and Broken Social Scene.)

Still clocking in at a healthy 6 mins plus, "The Mystery With Me" (1978) makes a nod towards more radio friendly waters with it's hooky, floaty choruses and tight structures (a then 22 year old Arthur Baker is credited as sole writer on Discogs - Bisso himself doesn't seemed convinced by this idea, but that's another story...)

'Let's Keep it Together' (1977) loops the song title over a slower groove, with free form electric guitar licks adding new textures, whilst 'Disco Madonna' (1976) showcases Bisso at his most playful, combining spoken word Hispanic vocals, rattling percussion and more of the always welcome Moog, switching up keys at the end for an unselfconsciously camp finale.

And if anything sums up the ambition of Bisso's work in the field at the time, 'Play Me' (1978) can lay claim to being the magnum opus. It's presented here as a continuous 16 minute extravaganza (as opposed to the 4 parts it came in originally) : lush strings, hypnotic vocal sections, irresistible basslines, crisp drums, the odd Barry White style interjection, disco moans, the occasional nod to a chorus vocal. None of it seeming in much of a hurry to go anywhere in particular, choosing instead to joyfully revel in the expansiveness of the form.

Black 7" dinked centre hole vinyl. Fully remastered reissue with replica artwork of this super sought after slice of 1980’s disco, 'Rockin – Poppin Full Tilting' celebrating the 40th anniversary of it's original release.

A classic in it's own right, Midland brought it back to the forefront of people's minds, expertly sampling it in the 2016 summer anthem ‘Final Credits’, leaving many scrambling to find an original copy of the 7 inch. And with prices in excess of £125 it's high time an official reissue came around.

Returning to Opal Tapes after the highly lauded ‘Royal Dungeon EP’, Medellin, Colombia’s Filmmaker issues a damned statement in the form of ‘Late Stage Earth’ a 4-tracker of scorched electro and slamming EBM. Perfectly poised and composed dance music formed over pointillist electro melody and swung out druggy drum programming replete with wheezing pained pads. Filmmaker continues a tear through 2020 with some of the most tuneful and memorable song writing in electronics

We met Franck Vigroux for the first time years ago at Berlin's Berghain during a soundcheck. At that time he performed with Mika Vainio, with whom Vigroux often worked together.

The first track on »Ballades sur lac gelé« dates back to that time. It was created under the impression of this collaboration and friendship with Mika Vainio. This album is dedicated to him.

Vainio's oeuvre is also significant in connection with the history of raster, so it was only logical and our wish to release this album by Franck Vigroux.

With the beginning of the corona pandemic, Franck Vigroux took up this early material again, he continued to formulate it and completed the present album »Ballades sur lac gelé«. The title already defines the theme of the ballad, a "song/poem with very minimal structures" (quote Vigroux).

"Ballade" is also a play on words with the French word "balade", in this sense a ramble, a ramble over a frozen lake. The reduced, cool structures reflect this. But at the same time, under the surface, the (often distorted) sound carpets steadily increase to immense power. Like ice that grows and tectonic forces that have to erupt, glacier-like.

Vigroux is very skilled at creating music in this minimalist setting. The intertwining of very few musical elements creates a kind of soundtrack that is multi-layered and at the same time universally intelligible.

»Ballades sur lac gelé« will be released on June 26th, 2020 as a digital pre-release exclusively on our sites. The physical formats, i.e. CD and vinyl, can be pre-ordered. The official worldwide release date will be announced at a later point in time.

Between Christmas 2000 and New Year 2001 producers Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu recorded an album of warm, soft, delicately crackling electronic music in the space of that week. It was christened with the ambivalent title "Heroin" and was released on CD via the label Brombron in 2001 and later in 2003 re-issued on Kit Clayton's Orthlorng Musork on double-LP with remixes the pair had commissioned as expansions.

17 years later Heroin sees its first vinyl release to include all 13 tracks from the original CD track-list on this LP + 12“ set. The centerpiece "Herz" finally receives its long deserved vinyl treatment (side C, at 45rpm) and on the flip side Thomas Brinkmann contributes a mirror in a magnificent remix of that very piece on side D.

Ehlers and Mathieu were both highly prolific solo artists during the period 2000-2004, and in just two years after the initial release of "Heroin" each had produced over half a dozen new solo recordings: among them the serial masterpiece Ehlers' "Plays" (Cornelius Cardew, Hurbert Fichte, John Cassavetes, Albert Ayler, Robert Johnson) released as 5 stunning LPs in a series on Staubgold, while Mathieu's 'Full Swing Edits' spread over five 10" records plus his album 'FrequencyLib' on Mille Plateaux, 'Die Entdeckung des Wetters' on Lucky Kitchen and ‘The Sad Mac’ on Atsushi Sasaki’s Headz label were greeted to critical acclaim.

Both artists were expanding their conceptual sonic approaches in the glow of developing laptop technologies which would to these times in 2020 seem quite primitive, but these two in that period used the state-of-the-art to aid and abet their conceptual visions, while at times the duo used unorthodox experimentation - yet always had a distinctively melodic and musical form at its heart and soul.

Ehlers can be seen as a conceptualist, as a meta-musician who interrogates the mediums and methods of sound production - reflecting on the conditions and possibilities of improvisation (e.g. "Plays Albert Ayler") and exploits ideas of mutation and distortion of popular aesthetics played out within a ghostly form of divine pop beauty in his project März.

Mathieu, originally a drummer and co-founder of what has come to be known as the Berlin 'Echtzeitmusik' scene. His approach could be similarly described as working a critical analyst and researcher: Subtly and precisely working in the realm of processing as a method of intervening in melodious/harmonic analog sound sources.

Ehlers and Mathieu may not think too much about their singular productions and publications outcomes, but instead concentrate on the process and musical personality that characterizes their gesture- style itself stays in the background - and they usher a music from small minimal sound sources coaching a patient music of slow intervention - much like a refraction of light than a concrete painting or a blurred photograph - beatus accident.

And indeed, "Heroin" is an album that embraces the happy accident being made up of reduced, often very catchy and very direct micro hooks which seem laser-guided into a space accepting obvious melodic beauty in what feels like an observation of musics unfolding and revealing it's DNA, embed with for a kind of yearning for innocence and naiveté - as if Satie were on the jukebox in "The Crying of Lot 49". Not to say the music is "reduced", but rather: 'restricted' and born from acceptance of limitations, and the artists allowing the sounds to just "be.." with some incremental degrees of coercion.

The album not only sounds like that of 2 producers who are both dreamers and scientists, but that Ehlers and Mathieu chose to work with these means in a dialogue together to reduce pop music to its musical/tonal core, it is not Pop music anymore, rather a ghostly pointilistic itteration of song. "Heroin" is located at this transition, around that point at which tracks, that were or could have become pop compositions, irrevocably slip into a static harmonic nirvana. We are invited to follow the arch of Heroin in a slow-motion morphine musical haze.

Heroin sounded timeless when originally released and proof is that it remains so, one wishes that Ehlers and Mathieu would convene again for a week, a month or an entire year to continue this process of slow rumination, picking affectionately over the sounds they both love - and then maybe when everything is condensed, evaporated they would write more songs with those sonic refractive elements that remain.

GES: Anthology of American Pop Music

Six great pop standards remembered: five pop songs are dissected by sampler, stretched, compressed, and re-collaged. In this way, their identity is lost. What remains is a vague concreteness: flashes of déjà vu and remote echoes that evoke the original.
GES (Gesellschaft zur Emanzipation des Samples)
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Active members: Helmut Schmidt, Jan Jelinek
Founded: 2009
Headquarters: Federal Court of Justice, Karlsruhe, Germany
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GES Glossary

Acoustic Surveillance Series

A 7-inch vinyl record series curated by GES focussing on historical methods of acoustic surveillance. Each record introduces a surveillance system from the past. Starting with Uguisubari in 2017, the series will continue with the release of Orecchio di Dionisio in 2021. GES is open to further suggestions on this subject.

Bundesgerichtshof (German Federal Court of Justice), Karlsruhe

“The use of audio samples as artistic practice may justify the infringement of copyright and intellectual property rights.” (ruling of the German Federal Court of Justice pertaining to Metall auf Metall II, 2016). The court is also the official headquarters of GES.
Circulations

What happens to copyright claims when music from a passing car is captured in a street recording? Is it legal to use this recording freely or is it necessary to obtain licensing rights? Circulations re-enacts this recording situation: audio players are placed in public spaces, where they reproduce the desired sample material. The acoustically choreographed space is then recorded, creating a field recording in which everyday noises circulate together with seemingly incidental music.

Emancipation of Sampling

Fuelled by its criminalization, the act of sampling existing recordings forfeited some of its artistic prestige (see Sampling). GES wishes to rehabilitate and re-emancipate the practice of sampling as a form of art in its own right. Strategy: 1. Name samples and sources explicitly. 2. Choose samples that are as popular and as recognizable as possible (Beatles, Carpenters, etc.). 3. The editing and manipulation of the sample must not compromise its recognizability (negotiable). 4. Use as many samples as possible. 5. Always name more sample sources than were actually used in the composition.

Field Recording

A compositional practice widely used in sound art and ethnomusicology that involves the recording of natural acoustical phenomena. Two additional requirements are usually imposed: The recording process should take place outside a studio environment, i.e. outdoors. And the person recording does not generate any of the acoustic material him/herself. GES expands this definition by introducing the concept of choreographed public space (see Circulations).

Gambling

An acoustic event favoured by GES, already used in numerous sound collages (must take place in public). The most popular option is thimblerig, a cup and ball gambling game commonly played in the street. Compositional instruction by GES: Place an audio playback device in the proximity of a thimblerigger. Play works for orchestra (by Debussy or Mahler). Move slowly towards the gamblers with a microphone.

Helmut Schmidt

Multiple identity and fictional character devised by GES. Figures variously within the semiotic system of GES as member, guest artist or public representative. Following the historical example of Subcommandante Marcos (EZLN).

Kraftwerk

The German band founded by electropop musicians Florian Schneider-Esleben and Ralf Hütter (a.k.a. Die Prozessoren) is the natural enemy of GES. Protected by computer-generated avatars, Kraftwerk operates a quote-hostile cultural hegemony. Their strategy: Install a special brand in the collective consciousness by means of a sophisticated system of quotations and references that may in turn not be quoted by anyone else. Other bands with such delusions of omnipotence: U2, Metallica.

Marcel Duchamp

As the inventor of the readymade, Duchamp may be viewed as a precursor to the art of sampling. However, the artist is appreciated above all for his sonorous qualities, as his vocal silence has often been sampled and processed. It was the inspiration for Jelinek's radio play Zwischen.

Orecchio di Dionisio

This 65-meter-deep limestone cave in the Sicilian town of Syracuse, carved out of a hillside in ancient times, has exceptional acoustics: A person standing at the cave entrance can hear every word whispered deep down inside it. The painter Michelangelo da Caravaggio gave it its name (The Ear of Dionysius) in 1608. The cave indeed resembles an ear and – according to Caravaggio – had a specific function: The tyrant Dionysius I imprisoned his political prisoners in the cave in order to spy on them. Orecchio di Dionisio will be featured in the Acoustic Surveillance Series in the near future.

Sampling

Compositional practice whereby recorded music is fragmented, turned into sound collages and transferred into different contexts of meaning. Since the advent of affordable sampling technology in the 1990s, the music industry has been trying to criminalize and/or promote the practice. Both strategies are driven by the same principle: Profit.

Uguisubari

Sound-making floorboards in Japanese temple and castle complexes, featured in the Acoustic Surveillance Series in 2017. In the Edo period, the “nightingale floor” (literal translation of uguisubari) was a popular acoustic warning system. The principle was straightforward: When someone stepped onto the boards, nails would rub against metal clamps beneath the floor, creating a tell-tale squeaky sound that was said to resemble the chirping of the Japanese nightingale.

Wind

A generator of acoustic events and an amplifier/transmitter of existing sounds. A meteorological form of energy appreciated by the GES on account of its unpredictability. A series about wind as an acoustic phenomenon is planned. Working title: Hotel Corridors.

Zwischen (Between)

Radio play by GES member Jan Jelinek based on recordings of various public interview situations. From the speech of the interviewees (all of them eloquent personalities) the pauses between coherent utterances were extracted and assembled. What we hear is an archaic body language: modes of breathing, word particles and onomatopoeic turmoil. A key question for GES: Which comes first, personal rights or artistic freedom? For Zwischen, Jelinek used only recordings by public figures that were already available to the public.

Every so often Public Release takes a snapshot along their discography timeline, to pause and recognize the various artists that represent the past, present and future of where the label sits. The last such release was in 2016, and four years, twelve releases later it’s time for another marker. This EP pools together six exclusive tracks from their global family, some on the PR roster for the very first time. From the beautifully addictive melodies by Tendts and Metropolitan Soul Museum, brooding baselines and synths from Richard Sen and Tim Sweeney, to the ecstatic floor energy produced by Fran-key and Earth Boys, the range presented here is impressive. Equally enjoyable as an abbreviated album, or as singular tracks at your service.

25th Anniversary Edition !

Originally released on F Communications 2004. "Don't hide it" was an international success. Unpredictable and strong, Alexkid proved how much he knew and how to renew himself while asserting his predilection for high standards.

Rocksteady and Reggae have long been a part of the rare soul scene, since its inception in the early Sixties. It’s easy to hear the influence of early American R&B in the development of ‘Ska’ and as ‘Soul’ music took over as “the sound of young America”, in the mid-Sixties, it too tinged the sound of Jamaica. No more so than our dance floor anthem “I Feel So Bad” by the legendary JACKIE EDWARDS.
Edwards was born Wilfred Gerald Edwards in Jamaica in 1938 and by the age of 22 had already scored a No.1 record on the island. He’d had four chart-topping hits before signing to Chris Blackwell’s new ‘Island’ imprint in 1962. He became an integral part of Island Records, as a prolific artist, songwriter, producer and general helper. He wrote “Keep On Running” and “Somebody Help Me” for the British R&B band The Spencer Davis Group, both of which went to No.1 on the U.K. pop charts.
“I Feel So Bad” was released on the distinctive ‘red and white’ Island logo in 1967 and was adopted by the burgeoning U.K. underground soul scene, most notably at the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester. It has been played on the ever evolving Northern Soul scene ever since and, a half-century on, commands a price tag of £700+ for a mint original. Fortunately our devastingly good-looking “official” reissue can be bought for a more modest sum.
Jackie Edwards is also responsible for our flip-side “Baby Don’t Wake Me” which he wrote and produced for reggae singer DEL DAVIS at the turn of the Seventies. The combination of Jackie’s well-honed soul-induced musicianship and Davis’ gravelly soulful vocals create the perfect Northern/Crossover dancer.
Two fabulous reasons to make this one of the top reissue 45s of 2020!

"Minor Planets completes a trilogy of cosmically themed electro-acoustic albums by UK and Berlin based trio Twinkle3, 15 years in the making. This third installment is once again all about the unique synergies the group discover in combining free group improvisation with studio and musique-concrete techniques. The group's combined love of everything from Lee Perry to Noh Theatre via Karlheinz Stockhausen and King Sunny Ade lead them to respond musically to create a single universe where they all coexist and interact. Aleatoric analogue sequencing, chamber-like acoustic improvisation and dub treatments become distilled into a distinct and emotive narrative that takes us on an exhilarating hyperspace cruise to the outer reaches.

Clive Bell is a virtuoso of the Shakuhachi. His aesthetic takes us on a timbral journey between noise and pitch, expressed and phrased rhythmically by the contour of human breath. This creates a perfect context and focus for a music that moves seamlessly between rhythm, suspension, time modulated analogue states, dissonance and melody. Richard Scott and David Ross share a background in acoustic free improvisation and have pioneered new approaches to rhythm using self-designed analogue systems. On Minor Planets these seemingly paradoxical orthodoxies cross-pollinate in a spirit of wonder and optimism to produce original and experimental music that is both life affirming and uplifting.

Album artwork by Benjmain Kilchhofer captures the feeling of peering through the vacuum of space and catching a rare glimpse of the mysterious alien biomes, fossils, and silhouettes cast by dwarf planets, asteroids, Kuiper belt, and other trans-Neptunian objects."

A new project by Chicago-based drummer/producer Makaya McCraven. An addendum to his critically-acclaimed 2018 release Universal Beings, which The New York Times said "affirms the drummer and beatsmith's position as a major figure in creative music," Universal Beings E&F Sides presents fourteen new pieces of organic beat music cut from the original sessions, prepared and produced by Makaya as a soundtrack to the Universal Beings documentary film. Directed by Mark Pallman, the Universal Beings documentary follows Makaya to Los Angeles, Chicago, London and New York City for a behind the scenes look into the making of the artists breakthrough album, taking the viewer through the story of Makaya's life, his process and the community of musicians that helped bring this project to life. The Universal Beings documentary and Universal Beings E&F Sides album will be released on all DSPs this July 31st on International Anthem.

The Drumcode founder is measured when it comes to signing music to his own imprint, biding his time till the stars align. His last individual outing was 2015’s ‘Stone Flower’ EP, which included the thrilling label favorite ‘What You Need’.

A succession of classy collaborations followed, linking with DC’s most vital artists highlighted by ‘Your Mind’ with Bart Skils, proclaimed one of the best tracks of the last decade by Mixmag.

An EP that gives a nod to uncertain times, while remaining resolutely positive, ‘No Defeat No Retreat’ was written during Beyer’s fruitful production sessions during lock down. The opening track, ‘Park People’ sets the pace with an energetic, 80’s nu wave creating the track’s spine. Its hypnotic energy stems from a powerful synth riff and vocal sample culminating in a skillfully balanced track that neatly combines the old with the new.

The title track is a study in contrasts, deftly crafting a muted, nagging vocal hook and infectious bass line into a slice of forward-facing, edgy techno.

With its subtle, undulating layers of melody building in the background, it ushers in an understated sense of euphoria, making it a perfect end-of-set mood-maker.

A thrilling return!

Eric D. Clark
"Written in approximately 1996 or shortly thereafter & born of a night out on the town naturally!
...having been to hear Ranga Tikki (Ms. Codi from New Zealand) drop knowledge in Berlin's SO36: she'd
played the "I have a dream" speech orated by Martin Luther King;
...the mind stopped at "From every Mountain Top"! I walked back through the streets shouting that to myself
until entering the flat then started immediately on the song!
Written and produced: ERiC D. ClARk
publisher: SUBCURRENT Music lTd.

Hans Nieswandt:
Between 1996 and 2000 (and in some cases beyond), Cologne project Whirlpool Productions produced a lot
of music, both as a group and as solo artists, at the legendary Can Studio in Weilerswist, a small town about
20 kilometres south of Cologne. Much of this music has been released, most notable the international
classic „From: Disco To:Disco“; but some of the music never saw the light of day. These two tracks I
produced myself at some point shortly after my first solo album „Lazer Muzik“ and I’m super glad to get a
chance to finally release them - because there is the important cause of helping to save the Paloma Bar, a
place where I played times and always loved it - an experience I dearly hope to repeat many times more.
And because I always liked those two tracks a lot, they just never found their proper platform, for whatever
reasons. As I think they are quite fitting to the sound of the Paloma, I’m more than happy to support this
unique place with this humble contribution. Written and produced by Hans Nieswandt around 20 years ago
at Can Studio, Weilerswist. Original date unknown.

Lowtec & Marvin Dash:
"Es gibt ein paar Lieblingsclubs in Deutschland, kleine Clubs wie z.B. Paloma in Berlin oder Pudel in HH -
wo es nur um die pure Liebe zur Musik geht - wo keine Kompromisse eingegangen werden müssen in
Bezug auf Trackauswahl oder zu deepen Sets, weil das Publikum einfach versteht worum es geht.
Sozusagen das verlängerte Wohnzimmer... Bei gefühlt jeder 2. Platte fragt jemand nach einer Track ID, alle
paar Minuten bringt jemand etwas zu trinken...das wollen wir unterstützen." (Lowtec & Marvin Dash)
Marvin Dash – Lost in the Woods: Written and produced by Ronald Reuter in around 2010. Previously
unreleased.
Lowtec – Museum Of Natural History Of Life: Written & produced by Jens Kuhn, 2000. Previously
unreleased.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album 'Olympian', this is the definitive ‘Best Of’ Gene compilation, available exclusively on vinyl. Compiled by Matt James, Steve Mason and Kevin Miles and featuring 22 tracks, pressed on 2LP 180g heavyweight blue coloured vinyl Featuring fan favourites, plus all of the bands 10 top 40 UK singles including ‘Sleep Well Tonight’, ‘Haunted By You’, ‘Olympian’, ‘For The Dead’, ‘Fighting Fit’, ‘We Could Be Kings’, ‘Where Are They Now?’, ‘Speak To Me Someone’, ‘As Good As It Gets’ and ‘Fill Her Up’
Includes a selection of sleeve notes from the band and respected journalist Keith Cameron Inspired by the songs of The Smiths, The Jam and The Faces, Martin Rossiter’s literate vocals and Steve Mason’s fluid guitar lines were perfectly complemented by the intuitive rhythm section of Kevin Miles and Matt James. Gene released four studio albums and a collection of Bsides and radio demos between 1995 and 2001, and were named Best New Act at the inaugural NME awards in 1995, and went on to score 10 Top 40 hits.

One of Drumcode’s finest, Bart Skils returns for his first solo EP since 2018.

Bart Skils remains one of the label’s most consistent achievers going back to his debut in 2012. Eight original EPs, a stellar remix of Moby ‘Go’ and his now-classic collaboration with Adam Beyer ‘Your Mind’ have entrenched him as a DC treasure. All the while the Dutchman plays a nurturing role with the label’s nu-skool brigade, regularly playing B2B with Layton Giordani and teaming up with Weska for last summer’s ‘Polarize’ two-tracker.

His ninth Drumcode EP ‘Settle In The Sun’ delivers the first productions from his new studio after six months of preparation. The title track was inspired by an extended stay in LA over New Years, channelling the energy of Venice Beach’s vibrant skate culture to create an uplifting, big riff weapon. ‘Tropical Heat’ took influence from Bart’s experiences touring South America, as an evocative vocal sample and rave-kissed melody line run alongside a wicked rolling groove. ‘Shiva Says’ is a peak-time, brain-mangler in the best of ways, driven by a monster synth line that grows and contorts as the track progresses.

Infernal Sounds show no sign of letting up during 2020 as they present their 5th release of the year, this time with a debutant to the label, SWR. The relatively unknown artist (formerly known as Widowmaker) has been making fluctuations since arriving on the scene - his release with Cocobolo Sound receiving high plaudits as he created two tracks which perfectly paid homage to the original '06 sound. As for his Square Soulja EP for IFS022, he's plated up four cuts that showcase his vast variety in skill and sound, taking influence from grime and lacing a future sound within his productions. Whether you prefer the more surreal sounds of 'Vertigo', the downplayed filth on 'Isshin's Theme', or the more in your face skankers in both 'Square Soulja' and Cypher Zero', this is a 12" you'll want to be packing.

Having already received heavy support from the likes of Truth, N-Type, and many other reputable artists in the scene, this is an insta-bag.

Fredfades and Jawn Rice call on the extended family for a remix package. Featuring material from their sizzling 2019 LP Jacuzzi Boys, a track from their upcoming swelter Luv Neva Fades, and some previously unreleased pieces, the Norwegian House duo gets the remix treatment from Chmmr, Deep88, and Hugo LX while Fredfades & Jawn Rice goes OG on a demo version from their highly anticipated LP.
Basking in the warmth of the duo’s analogue sounds, Chmmr transports Show me How to the farthest recesses of the galaxy with some spacy synths and cool reverbs blowing through Dreamcast’s sensual vocal before Fredfades & Jawn Rice tempers Travels through Air with an OG lean on the A side.
Meanwhile on the B-side; Deep 88 carve a yawning a trench for Stimulator Jones’ airy vocal before Hugo LX puts a bounce in the step of Mutual Love to close out the exciting remix package.
The sound of Fred and Jawn peek through consistently, with each artist putting their own distinctive stamp on the originals. Elements of Jazz, Soul and Hip Hop create a heady fusion of sounds breaking loose from the House foundations for this series of heavy steppers.

Commodo returns to Black Acre for the first time in over two years with surprise new three-track EP, ‘Loan Shark’. Slated for release on May 22, ‘Loan Shark’ will land as his third release with the label, following 2018 standout ‘Dyrge’ and 2016’s blistering debut album, ‘How What Time’. A quietly elusive producer, Commodo’s recent work for Deep Medi, Bandulu and Black Acre has seen him established as one of UK bass music’s contemporary frontrunners, who continues to influence the wider landscape through the strength and imagination of his output alone. His latest EP continues this theme apace, melding together supreme bass weight, texture and meticulous sampling (‘Loan Shark’, ‘Hot Pursuit’) and vivid, sepia-tone melodies (‘Contraband’) across a record that, as the track titles suggest, plays out like a filmic, magnum-plated car chase.Tracklist : A1/Commodo - Loan Shark B1/Commodo – Contraband B2/Commodo - Hot Pursuit

Very very limited please aware

‘Hypnosis’ was one of Drumcode’s most vital under-the-radar releases of 2019. Its creator, Veerus, returns to the mothership for another top-shelf offering.

The Italian’s career is a brilliant slow burner, releasing EPs sparingly over the course of his 14-year career. There’s a narrative quality to each track too, the artist reveling in a drama-laden call-and-response dynamic. All three cuts from his latest ‘System’ EP are made for big moments.

The title track was created with Amsterdam’s holy rave cauldron the Gashouder in mind, and was completed by Veerus just a few days before ADE last year. Balancing on a knife’s edge between tension and euphoria, the track’s twisted synth lines sent an energy surge through the iconic venue.

‘Year’ is a deadly one-two combo of synapse-searing synths and sharp drums as jagged waves of sound throb with panoramic effect. It was a captivating highlight of Beyer’s set at Amnesia in Milan in February, the final session before the lockdown. ‘Pyramid’ was debuted at Beyer’s Cercle performance last September, sound tracking a blissful post-sunset moment at the Théâtre antique de Lugdunum in Lyon.

Fresh from their release on John Digweed's Bedrock Records under their more covert Techno guise 'Cypherpunx' the Brighton based duo Flip Fantazia unleash their debut album ‘The Trip’.
Touching on influences from Air to Bonobo, The xx to DJ Shadow, ‘The Trip’ guides you down a road less travelled meandering through Downtempo, Electronica & Trip Hop with a few Jazzy twists & turns.
Essentially Flip Fantazia is a meeting of two minds,
four hands, several synths, quite a few guitars, some very clever computer software with a variety of drum machines. The prolific duo spend most of their time writing, recording, producing, mixing & mastering original music down in an old bank vault in Brighton... well, Hove actually! Their real names… Douglas Horner & Tim Belcher.
Born from a project focussed mainly on music for Sync, writing for Ninja Tune PM, Cavendish Music, Delimusic, BMG PM & Deep East + more this is their first artist album to be commercially released.
Their first brief for Ninja Tune’s Production Music company was to create an authentic 60s sounding Samba song and a Boogaloo / Salsa, both of which appear on the Ninja Tune Latin Excursions album.
Along with a contemporary breaks / glitch remix of the classical masterpiece Flight Of The Bumblebee and a piece of funk with a foodie flavour for two other Ninja Tune production music albums. Another brief came in for some Australian influenced Beach House from delimusic to be used on the BBC Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018 coverage, so out came the Didgeridoo and five new tracks were born. Writing to brief is a delight & an adventure for Flip Fantazia covering many genres from authentic Samba to electro disco new-wave post modern cosmic soul funk afro-boogie punk alt+indie dance crossover and everything in between! So it was tough to narrow The Trip down to 10 original tracks which best illustrate the authentic Flip Fantazia sound.

Fronted by creative lynchpin Billy Sullivan, this startling three-piece – augmented by three other musicians when playing live - have cemented a loyal fanbase since their inception some five years ago and alongside Sam Long, bassist and drummer Matt Johnson whilst initiating album sales in excess of 20k and a tour itinerary approaching nearly three hundred gigs.
Life Worth Living is a contrasting melting pot of unadulterated joy and melancholy, laughter, tears, frustration and peacefulness. Quiet and introspective moments collide with loud and angry times and no less powerful. At its heart is a sense of hope that things can be better, the title reflects that aspiration. Produced by Simon Dine, who was behind the desk for Paul Weller’s 22 Dreams and Wake Up The Nation amongst a varied CV - has harnessed the undoubted vibrancy and swagger of the band’s live show helping create an ambitious album – a vehicle for the talents of Sullivan, Long and Johnson.
From the infectious brass-infused opener, Start All Over Again, the Nutty Boys-esque title track Life Worth Living to Tear This Place Right Down bathed in soul overtones, the ballad-like wonder of How Could I Lie To You? to the ska riffage of single (Just Won’t) Keep You Down and the magnificent finale of Make It Through Each Day.

If you want a snapshot of where techno stands in any given year, and a preview of where it’s headed, look no further than Drumcode’s A-Sides compilation. Since 2012 it has marked the label debuts of countless vital Drumcode artists and affiliates, from Layton Giordani, Wehbba and Boxia, to Amelie Lens and ANNA, no less.

Every year, new names are unearthed, tried and true techno contributors serve up their best, and icons of the industry land their debut on Adam Beyer’s storied label. The 2020 edition hits with 13 tracks, eight coming from label debutants.

Part three houses Eats Everything’s searing rave bomb ‘Organico’ and Dubfire’s ice-cool electro offering ‘Deadbug’, both artists landing their maiden contributions to DC after long affiliations with Beyer.

Harvey McKay, also steps up to close out the EP with a heavyweight, head spinner in the form of ‘Find Yourself’.

Now finally, the great "Music Exists"-series by Tokyo-based duo the Tenniscoats is completed. Apart from the regular 4 volumes, there is a heavy cardboard box, beautifully screenprinted and hand-numbered by senorburns, in 12 different color-combinations. Inside you'll find an extra-LP of bonus-tracks and alternative versions, "Music Exists disc 5", which only comes exclusively with this box. Like on the other LPs, you’ll hear heartbreaking songs, beautifully arranged with acoustic guitar, melodica, psychedelic keyboards and soundexperiments. Also included is a A3-Poster with a drawing by Ueno not used within the previous album-artworks.

Limited one-time pressing of only 500 copies worldwide. There is a small amount of full boxes with all 5 LPs and Poster available, for those, who don‘t have any of the albums so far.

Tenniscoats have devoted followers allover the world, but their releases were always hard to find outside of Japan. Except for their album "Tokinouta", which saw a very limited run on vinyl, and the seminal "Two Sunsets", their collaboration with the Pastels (and a small handfull of 7"s), there were never any vinyl-releases, and also the CDs were hard to get for any-one, who doesn't speak or read japanese.

So, this is the chance to dive deep into the beautiful, unique world of the Tenniscoats and their opus magnum "music exists".

"It may even be their greatest ever music, essential plus" Monorail Music, Glasgow

"Whatever's ailing you, Tokyo's Tenniscoats have got something for that" Boomkat, Manchester

Ma Sha Ru announce the launch of Kindergarten Records with their second EP, Zer0: a chaotic blend of club-ready electro, broken UK bass and gnarled techno. Respectively based in New York and Berlin, their music is born of the intense bursts of time this transatlantic couple spend together.
Recorded in summer 2019, Zer0 finds producers Ma Sha and Rù delving deeper into the dark and trippy impulses hinted at with their debut.
Opener Slew is a bubbling cauldron of UK bass rhythms and agitational tension, while the title track Zer0 builds it’s ominous electro around a vocal sample of robot struggling with a mathematical quandary, ghosts rattling in the machine. Things get eerier still on the flip, It’s a Forest Rave paying
homage to a journey deep into the woodland near Vilnius in Lithuania, menace dripping from branches as pounding, gabber-indebted kicks propel dubby keys and a distorted video game lead. Showers rounds off the record with their most experimental effort to date, a broken 140bpm stepper that stumbles and stomps around its delicate, icy core.

The 2018 Meakusma Festival in eastern Belgium saw the first
ever joint live performance by Dman and Roger 23. »222« sees
the recorded rehearsal takes for that performance edited and
enhanced, conjuring up an album that consciously swerves in
and out of concrete and dreamlike states, updating 90s-like
ambient house and techno with a cavernous and conceptual
stance. Over the course of twelve tracks and two locked
grooves, »222« brings concrete ideas to conclusions that are
as coincidental as they are intentional. It is this dichotomy that
drives the album, its experimental nature touching upon
simplicity and complexity in equal measure. Infused by a
desire to fully execute ideas or have the ideas reach their own
conclusion, »222« has an explicit album structure, giving
space to long stretches of echo-laden experimental
soundscapes and beats that are introspective yet forward,
while its short tracks break open the mold and reset attention.
This is an album made by two forces of underground club
music in Germany. Their shared knowledge informs it with a
sense of history while at the same time updating and
commenting on that same history. It uses house and techno
as a portal into more experimental terrain. The album’s cover
image is taken from the book »Das Hohe Venn - Bilder einer
Landschaft« by Willi Filz. All track titles make explicit reference
to villages and towns in the Eifel region in western Germany
and eastern Belgium. All rehearsals and recordings took place
in Saarbruecken, exactly 222 km from Eupen. Roger 23 has
been carving out his own particular club music niche since
1998. In recent years, his production work has shown an everexpanding interest in ambient and experimental music. Dman
used to run the legendary HD800 club in Mannheim, Germany,
a catalyst for electronic club music in the south of Germany

2x12"

„Room With A View“ sees Rone returning to his musical roots and the set-up of his early albums: purely electronic, solitarily conceived without any musical collaborators. At the same time he was able to leave his comfort zone through a new kind of artistic liaison. The album was produced alongside a live show commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and developed together with choreography collective (LA) HORDE and 20 dancers of the Ballet National de Marseille. This new kind of collaborative approach allowed Rone to produce his most sincere and far-reaching music in some time. Inspired by discussions of collapsologie and climate change, „Room With A View“ offers food for thought on how to deal with one of the most pressing issues of humanity.

The Fenchman manages to let his trademark sound shine in a new light, pleasing early fans as well as every electronica enthusiast. Typically melodic beats like „Ginkgo Biloba“ nestle against tracks that exhibit classic influences from Boards of Canada („La Marbrerie“) to SAW-era Aphex Twin („Raverie“), euphoric dancefloor rhythms sit next to contemplative synth work. Tracks like „Sophora Japonica“ showcase Rone’s mastership in atmosphere, which sometimes requires no drums at all. Elsewhere, Rone is clearly reviving the club-centric vibe of „Tohu Bohu“ and experimenting with elements of dub. It all makes for and adventurous and rewarding listen.

Most importantly, Rone is redefining the notion of „organic“ in electronic music through use of field and voice recordings. Be it his own child chattering, Aurelien Barrau or Alain Damasio debating, or the dance troupe rehearsing and discussing the show. "Because the writing process of the album was very machine focused, it seemed appropriate to feed back a human touch into the music and to still have bodies involved". Thus „Esperanza“ uses the steps of the dancers as a rhythm to start a new track, while in „Human“ they serve as a choir. This idea of extended human collaboration becomes apparent also on the album cover.

2x12" Marbled Vinyl

„Room With A View“ sees Rone returning to his musical roots and the set-up of his early albums: purely electronic, solitarily conceived without any musical collaborators. At the same time he was able to leave his comfort zone through a new kind of artistic liaison. The album was produced alongside a live show commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and developed together with choreography collective (LA) HORDE and 20 dancers of the Ballet National de Marseille. This new kind of collaborative approach allowed Rone to produce his most sincere and far-reaching music in some time. Inspired by discussions of collapsologie and climate change, „Room With A View“ offers food for thought on how to deal with one of the most pressing issues of humanity.

The Fenchman manages to let his trademark sound shine in a new light, pleasing early fans as well as every electronica enthusiast. Typically melodic beats like „Ginkgo Biloba“ nestle against tracks that exhibit classic influences from Boards of Canada („La Marbrerie“) to SAW-era Aphex Twin („Raverie“), euphoric dancefloor rhythms sit next to contemplative synth work. Tracks like „Sophora Japonica“ showcase Rone’s mastership in atmosphere, which sometimes requires no drums at all. Elsewhere, Rone is clearly reviving the club-centric vibe of „Tohu Bohu“ and experimenting with elements of dub. It all makes for and adventurous and rewarding listen.

Most importantly, Rone is redefining the notion of „organic“ in electronic music through use of field and voice recordings. Be it his own child chattering, Aurelien Barrau or Alain Damasio debating, or the dance troupe rehearsing and discussing the show. "Because the writing process of the album was very machine focused, it seemed appropriate to feed back a human touch into the music and to still have bodies involved". Thus „Esperanza“ uses the steps of the dancers as a rhythm to start a new track, while in „Human“ they serve as a choir. This idea of extended human collaboration becomes apparent also on the album cover.

ALBUM: I came up with the album title after watching a YouTube video by the channel "Watch Mojo" entitled "The Top Ten Dead Music Genres". In this video, they claimed that Synthpop is dead. Since everybody said I was a Synthpop artist, I was astonished to discover that the genre I play is considered "dead". It's relatively tongue in cheek because I don't believe any musical genre is dead and everything can be revisited and everything evolves. That being said, this is an album in which, at least musically, I am working within the boundaries of this genre, while at the same time starting to experiment with other, more modern sounds and concepts. Thematically, I tackle various topics: dysfunctional childhoods (Shortcut), heroic love in a dystopian nightmare (Billions of Years), self-destructive behaviour (Drink and Drive), unrequited, criminal love (House Arrest) and many others.

BIOGRAPHY: Glitter, glam and good vibes from the heart of Berlin! Stephen Paul Taylor (SPT) is a Canadian artist who went viral in David Bowie's old stomping grounds and has played hundreds of concerts, festivals and weddings all over Europe. He makes Synthpop-Art-Punk with undertones of New Order and Talking Heads.
Taylor was in Post-Art Synth-Folk duo, Trike, for five years before branching off into his solo project in 2014. Trike won a $20K award from "The Gong Show" (in Vancouver) in 2011, toured 22 countries, recorded an album in Denmark and Belgium and played hundreds of shows. Taylor then went solo and began playing all over Europe, from Denmark rooftops to weddings in East Germany. He gained a name for himself after achieving viral status and has continued to play all over Europe ever since. Well known for being a street musician, he essentially quit playing in the street in 2018 and focused exclusively on playing on the stage
His music is a blend of both old and new. A strong beat pulses beneath the catchy melodies and captivating lyrics float atop the whole ensemble. His bittersweet words often contrast the happy melodies within the music. He tackles unique subjects that reflect the 'ennui' our our current cultural climate. His newest album "Synthpop is Dead" is an ironic interpretation of the notion of musical genres actually "dying". Did Synthpop actually die or did it evolve? His new album also touches on other themes, from our dependance on fossil fuels to our addiction to self-destructive activities, like drinking and driving. The album uses healthy doses of humour to hammer down its themes
A year after going solo, SPT went viral with his song "Shi*t's F*cked" (His channel has 7.5 million views on YouTube) and appeared on many TV shows and well-known media outlets, from RBB to Arte to Comedy Central. He was also featured on Germany's "Das Supertalent" in 2016. He has 1.5 million listens on Spotify. He's been on the radio in Italy, Latvia, Canada and Australia, to name a few. He was also signed with Budde publishing and his racord label, "SPT Records" is a subsidiary of "Shitkatapult Records"
Dieter Bolle said his "80's influenced" music was "sehr geile" (very beautiful). Electric Six frontman, Dick Valentine, said he's "a firecracker".

Sepultura’s acclaimed 1989 album, Beneath The Remains, marks the band’s major label debut on Roadrunner. Widely regarded today as a thrash-metal classic, the album perfectly distilled the Brazilian band’s potent mix of piercing melodies and pummelling rhythms.

In December 1988, brothers Max (guitar/vocals) and Igor Cavalera (drums), Paulo Jr. (bass) and Andreas Kisser (guitar) recorded Beneath the Remains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with producer Scott Burns. Soon after it's release in April 1989, the album was hailed by fans and critics alike for standout songs like “Inner Self,” “Primitive Future” and the title track. The album has been remastered especially for this collection.

The Deluxe 2CD Edition also features nine unreleased “mixdown” recordings taken from the Beneath the Remains sessions at Nas Nuvens Studios in Rio de Janeiro. Highlights include versions of “Lobotomy” and “Mass Hypnosis,” as well as instrumental versions “Slaves Of Pain” and “Sarcastic Existence.”

The studio tracks are complemented by unreleased recordings of the band performing live on September 22, 1989 at the Zeppelinhalle, West Germany. The concert features songs from Beneath the Remains (“Primitive Future” and “Inner Self”) and the band’s previous albums (“Troops Of Doom” and “Escape To The Void”), along with covers of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom Of the Universe” and the Dead Kennedys “Holiday In Cambodia.”

Founded by the Cavalera brothers in 1984, the group recorded two full-length albums – Morbid Visions (1986) and Schizophrenia (1987) – before signing with Roadrunner Records in 1988. Since then, Sepultura’s dynamic studio recordings and intense live performances have earned it fans everywhere.

The current version of Sepultura (Derrick Green, Paulo Jr., Andreas Kisser, Eloy Casagrande) released a new album, Quadra, on February 7 and will tour the U.S. this spring. Former members Max and Igor Cavalera – who perform together in the band Cavalera Conspiracy recently completed a sold-out European tour in December 2019.












k 2) Inner Self (Mixdown) Instrumental
[l] 3) Stronger Than Hate (Mixdown) [Instrumental]


[o] 1) Sarcastic Existence (Mixdown) [Instrumental]
[p] 2) Slaves Of Pain (Mixdown) [Instrumental]

[r] 4) Hungry (Mixdown) [Instrumental]

"Halfie" is compiled of eight tracks and a bonus track, which have been written and produced in 2020 by Anushka Chkheidze, 22 years old up and rising Georgian female electronic music producer. Despite her young age , her music is well though and intelligent. Her work includes music for film and theater. Anushka is one of the participants of "Sleepers Poets Scientists". "Halfie" is her debut album where she feels her new, completely different side is born.

The photograph of artwork of the vinyl, is taken by George Zatiashvili, resembles the concept of the music nonetheless.