Suche:4am

To start the year 2014, Stroboscopic Artefacts bring you SA021 - a remixes selection of tracks from Lucy's forthcoming LP Churches Schools and Guns. In presenting four of the album cuts in altered impressions, SA021 helps the label keep on re-examining the timbres, tones and textures of techno.

First up is the unsettled edit of 'Catch Twenty Two' by the young Italian producer Shapednoise. The infamous Heller novel of the same name (though in numerals rather than letters) was a satirical rampage through the futility and tragedy of conflict; this is also a rampage, littered with opaque utterances of sonic thrust, stood stoutly on an unpredictable and emotional structure of aural dissonance. Following this is the Italian maestro Donato Dozzy and his presentation of 'The Illusion of Choice'. The track bounds along like a train through the jungle, powered by a distant rumble and purring synths. Skittering and melodic percussion sounds a little like birds; the drums are made of rawhide, strong, insistent, controlled. Third in line is the remix of 'Laws and Habits' by Milton Bradley. This cut is hypnosis with little regard - not an accident, but effortless. Metallic distortion buzzes like bees across your head, zipping across the top of delicate hi-hats and an elastic groove. This is a walk through the 4am night, appreciative of the glimmering streetlamps, and fearful of nothing. Last is Eomac's rework of 'The Self As Another', bringing the record to a resonant conclusion. One half of label favourite Lakker, the Irish producer begins with a melody line cut from razor-sharp cloth. The pulsating beat is dressed in metallic shimmer, confidently pursuing a dangerous course. And yet there is a pause amid this brief insistence, a moment of perspective, perspicacity. The record considers its place, and asks for contemplation.

With a selection this strong, and of such ideas and identities, this contemplation is surely a worthy vice. This may be a prelude to the full record, but it is a cut made of vehement conviction.

Lucid Express is five young dreamers who create a stunning airy blend of shoegaze and indie pop amongst the skyscrapers, mountains, and packed alleyways of Hong Kong. The name itself a modest mission statement of the band's intent: lucid in the poetic sense of something bright and radiant. The group formed as teens in the winter of 2014 in the turbulent weeks just prior to the Umbrella Movement. Vocalist/synth player Kim says "at that time it felt like we have a need to hold on to something more beautiful than before. Like close friendships, the band, our creation." Listening to their blissful, dreamy compositions, it may come as no surprise that these songs carry the mood of their times of inception. With all members of the band working late-night shifts, this led to a rehearsal and recording schedule that found the band playing between midnight and 4am and then crashing together on the studio floor before returning to work early in the AM. Debut album Lucid Express was given an extra sparkle thanks to the creative mixing of Max Bloom (Yuck), operates as the service to take the listener on a journey through the band's color-soaked sounds.

Nervous Records, the iconic label synonymous with the rise of house from the streets of New York City, will mark 30 years in the music industry by releasing the celebratory compilation LP ‘Nervous Records: 30 Years’ on October 1st (Part 1) and October 15th (Part 2).

Featuring original mixes of the label’s biggest tracks, plus remixes by some of its most celebrated acts, ‘Nervous Records: 30 Years’ is both a celebration of the past and of the future. Featuring a who’s who of electronic dance music, the long player sees names including Louie Vega, David Morales Darius Syrossian, Tensnake, Monki, Franky Rizardo, Danny Howard and more take on iconic Nervous cuts: ‘You Make Me Feel Mighty Real’, ‘Treat Me Right’, ‘Future Groove’, ‘Feel Like Singing’, ‘Get Up Everybody’, ‘Break You’, ‘Hot’, ‘End This Hate’, ‘Unspeakable Joy’, ‘Can Ya Tell Me’, ‘Jerk It’, ‘The Anthem’, ‘It Makes A Difference’, ‘Learn 2 Luv’ and ‘Don’t You Ever Give Up’.

The album marks one of the most enduring, extraordinary legacies to grace America’s illustrious music history, not just in electronica but far beyond. Founded in 1991 by Michael and his father Sam Weiss, and recognizable immediately by its distinctive character logo, the label grew rapidly, in no small part due to Michael Weiss’ practically unmatched passion for discovering new music.

“Louie Vega and Kenny Dope woke me at 4am on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning from their studio telling me they had something really different that I needed to hear,” Michael recollects. “I asked if they could play it over the phone. They said if I wanted to hear it I had to come to the studio. So of course I got myself up, got dressed and went there. That “really different track” ended up being ‘The Nervous Track’, a tune that became our signature release and was also highly instrumental in the emergency of London’s ‘Broken Beat’ movement.”

The label’s willingness to take chances on fresh sounds and innovative concepts rising up from the melting pot sidewalks of NYC ensured a body of work that has become a living musical history of the city. House cuts ‘Unspeakable Joy’ and ‘Nitelife’ (Kim English), ‘Get Up (Everybody)’ (Byron Stingily) and ‘Feel Like Singing’ (Sandy B) bump up against hip-hop anthems like ‘Who Got Da Props’ (Black Moon) and “Bucktown” (Smif-n-Wessun) and reggae cut ‘Take It Easy’ (Mad Lion); soulful flows from Mood II Swing (Kim English ‘Learn 2 Luv’, Loni Clark “Rushing”), Armand Van Helden (‘The Anthem’) and Nuyorican Soul (‘Mind Fluid’) sit alongside seminal techno singles like Winx’ ‘Don’t Laugh’. The young artists and producers who joined the Nervous Records’ family have gone on to become some of the most hallowed and celebrated dance acts of all time: Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, David Morales, Tony Humphries, Roger Sanchez, Armand Van Helden, Kerri Chandler, Kim English, Byron Stingily, Josh Wink, to name just a handful.

“We did a release with Josh Wink under his Winx alias entitled ‘Nervous Build-Up’,” Michael said. “It did well and it was obvious how talented Josh was. Subsequent to that release I was pretty persistent in asking him to continue to play me his new demos. During one phone conversation he said, “Mike I’m gonna play you something over the phone but don’t laugh when you hear it.” That demo ended up being ‘Don’t Laugh’, which became one of our biggest international hits and still to this day is one of America’s earliest and most impactful techno hits.”

As much a celebration of the label’s future as it is of their past, Nervous Records: 30 Years is but a marker in the imprints’ history, a clear sign of where they’ve been and also where they’re going. With 30 years behind them, the label’s determination to unearth new raw diamonds in the rough is as unwavering as ever.

“I’ve always been one to look at what others are doing (the industry at large) and think, “ok, are they doing this specific thing for a reason, or doing it because everyone else is doing the same thing” and make my decision based on that,” says Nervous Records’ General Manager Andrew Salsano. “In an age where data metrics and analytics reign supreme, I remain steadfast that they should be complementary to your decision and not the sole indicator to make one. So many songs today are written with 15 second hooks in mind for social media, and while there’s nothing wrong with that business model you will always be chasing the wave instead of carving out your own path and identity.

“My primary focus for the sound of the label has and will continue to revolve around signing good songs and music that has the ability to react at the street level first. The best results come from artists that are firstly given a bit of local love that grows into a global impact. Fresh ideas that express child-like curiosity and artists showing vulnerability in their music are also something I look for, artists and producers that are not making music with certain markets in mind, but rather their own style and signature that is unique but able to straddle the fine line of underground and overground.”

Still as raw, as underground and as finely tuned to the dance floor as they ever have been, perhaps the secret to the success - and the longevity - of Nervous Records has something to do with that hard, dogged, no-holds-barred NYC edge that runs through the veins of the label. With the next generation of producers rising from the clubs of New York, one thing is certain; Nervous Records will be there to find them, nurture them and bring them to the world at large, over the next decade and beyond.

No less than 12 months later arrives ‘Deep Blue View’ – not so much of a follow-up, as a mini-flipside moving the Jazz from AM to PM, between city and sea.
“I originally had AM Jazz down as walking around some New York backstreet at 4am, smoking in a fedora, looking for crimes to solve but it now ends as night begins,” reveals Al, of his latest tale’s gradual evolution. “Deep Blue View is the night-time album now… like losing yourself deeper in the fog, or disappearing in the sea… would someone, or some 'thing' come to save you or would they , or it , come along for the ride?”
Usually by now, Daveyhulme’s own could-be John Barry would have left distractions of success for suburban side-projects and writing with his fellow Mancunian musicians, but AM Jazz left unfinished business - and, with 50 or so session recordings leaving a litter of sonic debris strewn about the cutting room floor, one major clean-up. Deep Blue View is 6 brand new tracks crafted from its reconstructed and revived remnants, unfurling like Sinatra’s Wee Small Hours to reinforce the strangely beautiful atmosphere of Al’s now revered repertoire. “I had the urge to create something new and started playing around with different EPs and pseudonyms but when I sequenced these tracks, I was really happy how smoothly they flowed; it just needed an opener. I quickly wrote ‘Deep Blue View’ and it fell into place. It’s great, so I carried on, knowing it was time to save the best stuff for myself,” Al grins.
Just as AM Jazz was created in the spirit of his earlier working style on debut album Tower of Love, Deep Blue View fuses Al’s love of finding the ‘right’ in the odd, weird, back-to-front and everything in between, with the hi-fi meets lo-fi sounds of his crate-digging curiosity and empathy for TV themes and movie soundtracks. Guided by melody, his home-based sorcery of working with analog, tape and field recordings opposed to the lure of studio mechanics allowed his inner subconscious to tap at the door and reveal itself in new musical forms. “In the studio it’s tempting to turn everything up loud but I’ve got bad tinnitus and don’t want to write anything else in a Beatles style. I have done all that now… at home I have a computer, a microphone and just go crazy and lose myself staring at the screen. Then suddenly loads of music is written.”
Setting his inner autopilot to flight mode, ‘Peppergone’ adds to the tracks’ nocturnal narrative and appears reborn after a last-minute culling from AM Jazz’s initial tracklist. Like a beautifully romantic ode to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, it is a fitting tribute to dearly departed best friend 'Batfinks', written in the middle of a tough night. “I have no idea why or how the song came about because I was so upset to do anything, let alone record any music. But there you go. Somehow I did and it’s a really special thing. I know he would have dug me using his chords; growing up we’d both try to create the perfect chord sequence. This is his idea of that. I hope he doesn’t think it’s shit,” Al jests.
Also revived from AM Jazz’s archive is the simmering groove of ‘Night Talk Late Street’ and instrumental ‘Star Six Seven’, whilst ‘Have Another Cigar’ weaves its own semi-autobiographical fairy-tale with lyrics written and sung by long-time pal and former housemate Aidan Smith. Transformed from backing track into a cool morsel of story pop, it recalls the drunken joy of when the pair would make recordings together between singing the Everly Brothers at full volume. “I’m sure it’s about not wanting the musical party to stop and having to get on with real life,” Al says.
‘String Beat’ meanwhile, soars like a beautiful Bond theme with the shimmer of Lee Hazlewood holidaying in Palm Springs, alongside perhaps, the waltzing string-like synthonies of some long-lost rhythm and blues orchestra of Davyhulme (whose real-life origins reside with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra), introduced to him by Super Furry Animals’ Cian Ciaran. “I’ve never created anything this moody before and have always threatened to do something John Barry-esque with some slightly dark and spooky musical changes.”

Concentric Records presents Radiant, the third compilation of its introductory release trilogy. Featuring music by ASWA, HOLOVR, Max Loderbauer, Petre Inspirescu, Supply, The Waves, William Selman, the album evokes luminous, iridescent and ethereal sonic spaces - a journey that overcomes struggles, spinning upward towards the light.

The album opens with calm, bright and assertive tonalities, evoking mental spaces prone to exploration and wondering. Molecular textures and real-world sounds bring us closer to an intimate and physical sphere, a voice. Ultimately everything dissolves into a synthetic domain of acid-like washes, in a cinematic sense of departure.

MAX LODERBAUER has been an active engineer, producer, and musician across four decades. He first came to notice in the late ‘80s as a member of Fischerman’s Friend. Known then as Daimler Max, Loderbauer’s associates included Stephan Fischer and Tom Thiel, as well as producer Thomas Fehlmann. Once the group went dormant, Loderbauer and Thiel established Sun Electric; one of the leading sources of entrancing downtempo and ambient techno through the ‘90s. During the 2000s and 2010s, Loderbauer collaborated in numerous settings, including NSI with Tobias Freund, Chica & the Folder with Paula Schopf, and Moritz von Oswald Trio with Vladislav Delay and Moritz von Oswald. Loderbauer was partly responsible for some of the most progressive and experimental electronic music released during these years. In 2011, he and contemporary Ricardo Villalobos assembled Re: ECM, a project that involved radical transformations of ECM label recordings by the likes of Bennie Maupin, Christian Wallumrød, John Abercrombie, and Arvo Pärt. More recently he consolidated the collaboration with Ricardo Villalobos via the Vilod project, and with Samuel Rohrer and Claudio Puntin as Ambiq - both described as ‘a fertile patch of inspiration, shaking up the principles of minimal techno with the loose, expressive qualities of jazz’. The album opening track - ‘Harmonic’ - feels like a glowing dream. Composed of stunning electronics in a polychromatic, blinding and shimmering light; harmonious interwoven melodies calmly wind down invoking a serene mental state and grounding peace.

WILLIAM SELMAN was the very first artist ever approached by Concentric Records prior to the label’s birth, back in 2018, following his defining release ‘Musica Enterrada’. A musician and multimedia artist currently based in Portland, Oregon, his work employs analogue and digital synthesis techniques, live percussion and instrumentation, and his own rich field recordings to create compositions and sound art focused on the ideas of place and environment. Selman's recent works have been released on Mysteries of the Deep and Hausu Mountain.

PETRE INSPIRESCU is an extremely versatile composer. As co-founder of the legendary RPR Soundsystem together with Rhadoo and Raresh, he mostly produced club-ready, heavily textured takes on tech-house and minimal techno. In 2015 he released his first album on Mule Musiq, considered a significant departure from his previous work, scoring piano, strings and woodwind instruments for the first time, resulting in a set that sat somewhere between ambient and neo-classical. Since then, he continued to explore further sonic territories, adding in vintage synthesizers and occasional nods to dub techno, resulting in melodious sequences of musical movements that relate to the work of classical composers, American minimalists and ambient legends. ‘The Garden’ is a dreamy, intimate and nature inspired composition, recorded in his home studio in Ibiza sometime in the Summer.

DJ and producer SUPPLY (youngest so far on the label) was born and raised in Gießen, within sight of the skyscrapers of Frankfurt am Main, and has been living in Berlin since 2017. Musically socialised through hip hop, he found his connection to electronic music produced in Chicago and Detroit in the 90s by moving to FFM in 2013. For almost 6 years he has hosted his own events in his hometown. His productions connect the dots between hip hop, retro futuristic movie soundtracks and techno, he recently released on YAY Recordings. ‘Inhale / Exhale’ was created during a time of stress and mental tension, partly self-inflicted, partly result of my surroundings, as it turned out in retrospect. The track tries to capture a moment of taking a deep breath by releasing that tension for a moment. I came up with the first sketch one night around 4am, the final arrangement found its way onto a C60 Chromoxid Cassette - inhale - exhale.’ - Supply

THE WAVES is a post-punk and synthwave-inspired project led by Maayan Nidam, that places her vocals at its front and centre. As a musician obsessed with sound and the technology behind its creation, her workflow places a strong focus on the studio environment. Triggering chain reactions between guitar pedals, drum machines, modular synths and acoustic instruments, generating sounds in unpredictable ways. Drum machines keep a steady groove as to give support to an array of guitars and synthesisers, all topped with The Waves own, mostly unmasked, lyrics and voice. ‘Hold On’ was written by Maayan during the 2020 pandemic as she dived deeply in studio work in Berlin. Her lyrics are featured as part of the art print insert, and have became a central statement to the LP and its narrative - the power to hold on and break through.

Jimmy Billingham's HOLOVR project has racked up various releases on some of the most forward-thinking electronic music labels over the past few years, including Firecracker Recordings, Likemind, Further Records, Opal Tapes and his own Indole Records. Though best known for melodic, drifting acid techno and electronica, he's equally at home crafting textured ambient soundscapes. HOLOVR's deeply emotional synth passages and pads will take you on a journey into the outer. 'Melancholy of Time came out of a period exploring ways of producing and recording outside of the grid-based structures that I was previously working with. I wanted to strip it back to what I often find to be the emotional core of a piece of electronic music - ebbing and flowing synth pads - but to push and pull it a bit to create a slight disjointedness, unpredictability and shop-worn texture, as if it's coming apart and fraying, yet retaining a sonic clarity. I recorded it live using looped and layered synth phrases, underpinned by a layer of hiss and pin-prick textures. I find reflections on time and its passing to be a recurrent feature of my work, both in a more straightforward way of harking back to music of a certain period or pieces of equipment but also in a more abstract sense of creating a feeling where time doesn't matter - a deep feeling of now; that escape that you find in music and other ecstatic experiences. Though of course we’re always in - and running out of - time, and hence the melancholy.’ - Jimmy Billingham

Hailing from the German underground scene, ASWA aka Attila Fidan has an intricate, hypnotic style of electro, techno and ambient. Coming from visual arts and not primarily a trained musician, Attila produces under various and multiple monikers: ‘I never really start out knowing which moniker the track will be made under’. Since 2017 he runs a boutique Berlin label named ‘Tape Archive’. ‘Dust Palace’ is a synthetic piece that resonates with a cinematic vastness, closing the LP in an uplifting tone that evokes new departures and new beginnings.

Davide disanto is an amazing Italian producer born in bari, after multiple releases on excellent labels such as Let's play house, Politics of dancing or even Theory of swing, he delivers us a fabulous 12 inch which borrows as much from the heyday of the purest New-York City 90s deep house as well as the purest techno made in detroit. The 1st track from this EP seems to have come straight from an imaginary collaboration between Boo williams & Ron trent, the violence of the rhythm is counterbalanced by some airy & ultra deep pads, the aptly named Atmosfear. A banger as we rarely hear today. C'Mon, Let Me See on A2 sounds like a modern take on the awesome Jerzzey boy. On the B side, Da Love Feeling (Main Mix) & le (4am Underground Dub) revisits the 90s once again for our greatest pleasure, particularly the latter seems to have come straight out of a lost mix of the great danny tenaglia. And to end this ep in style, davide allows himself the luxury of summoning the spirit of MBG and all the best Italian deep house from the early 90s on the superb Lungomare (Ambient Reprise). ESSENTIAL ITEM !

SKYLAX RECORDS 4 EVER

'Visions in Black and White' is a collection of rare jazz and improvised themes by one of the greatest Russian film composers Mikael Tariverdiev (1931-1996). Transferred from the original tapes and beautifully remastered, these recordings manage to retain their original ambience and capture a master at work. Originally composed for cinema and TV movies of the 1960s and 1970s, it centres on Mikael playing at the piano and keyboard. Many of the compositions can be described as jazz, a genre whose troubled story in the Soviet Union meant they probably would not have existed outside the context of a film score. But, as Vera Tariverdieva, Mikael's wife, tells, it is probably more in accordance with his vision to hear them in the context of his life-long love of improvisation. "Astoundingly, he said more than once that he wasn't fond of jazz. This perplexed me, as he'd always been great at improvisation. Imagine my amazement then when I rummaged through one of our old closets and found a crumbling old tape. It was the score for the 1964 film 'Until Tomorrow'. I played it. And the realisation came: not only had Mikael had been fond of jazz - no, he'd been an amazing jazz musician." Vera Tariverdieva The pieces here are an introduction to Mikael's musical world. The tonality of individual tracks varies - they were transferred from original tapes of different eras and conditions that are kept in the Tariverdiev apartment in Moscow where Vera still lives and works.

Mr Gazmask pure style... with a nice melt of minimal trance and acidcore, acid techno and a bloody Secodn Rebirh kind of remix:) again after the Acid Night 03:)

'CYAN’ is the third full length LP from San Francisco Bay Area-based band The Seshen. Taking its name from a colour that is both strong and soft, the LP unravels the progression that has been made since 2016’s ‘Flames and Figures’, both as a band and as individuals; “Since ‘Flames and Figures’, a lot has been taking place both internally and externally.” Lyricist and vocalist Lalin St. Juste recollects, “we were on tour for the last album during the 2016 US election. There was an intense heaviness, a familiar one, one that extends generations and it just sunk in even further.”

The battle to overcome this heaviness, felt as a result of political and social issues and through Lalin’s own experiences with combating depression, fuels ‘CYAN’. “I was at the edge of myself,” she confesses. “This album is about pulling back the layers of who I am in order to push through sadness and grab onto what’s underneath”. From the opening lines of the LP on “Take It All Away”, these ideas are displayed - “I think it’s been too long that I’ve been your puppet / Cut these strings, I don’t want any of it”, she sings. Led by exposed yet bold musical endeavours from bassist/producer Akiyoshi Ehara, the album sees The Seshen delve into uncharted eclectic realms; “I think that there’s a lot more rawness on this record” Aki muses.

Anchored by Lalin’s sly, silvery vocals (which draw frequent comparisons to Erykah Badu) and cerebral yet playful rhythms from producer- bassist Aki, The Seshen’s music pulls from a deep well of electronic influences, R&B, and indie rock. Drummer Chris Thalmann, keyboard/synth player Mahesh Rao, percussionist Mirza Kopelman and sequencer Kumar Butler make the music three-dimensional, blending live and digital instrumentation for a mercurial, transportive sound. Since 2012, the Seshen’s live show has earned them critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase on multiple continents, as they’ve shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Petite Noir, tUnE-yArDs, and Thundercat.

Colored LP

'CYAN’ is the third full length LP from San Francisco Bay Area-based band The Seshen. Taking its name from a colour that is both strong and soft, the LP unravels the progression that has been made since 2016’s ‘Flames and Figures’, both as a band and as individuals; “Since ‘Flames and Figures’, a lot has been taking place both internally and externally.” Lyricist and vocalist Lalin St. Juste recollects, “we were on tour for the last album during the 2016 US election. There was an intense heaviness, a familiar one, one that extends generations and it just sunk in even further.”

The battle to overcome this heaviness, felt as a result of political and social issues and through Lalin’s own experiences with combating depression, fuels ‘CYAN’. “I was at the edge of myself,” she confesses. “This album is about pulling back the layers of who I am in order to push through sadness and grab onto what’s underneath”. From the opening lines of the LP on “Take It All Away”, these ideas are displayed - “I think it’s been too long that I’ve been your puppet / Cut these strings, I don’t want any of it”, she sings. Led by exposed yet bold musical endeavours from bassist/producer Akiyoshi Ehara, the album sees The Seshen delve into uncharted eclectic realms; “I think that there’s a lot more rawness on this record” Aki muses.

Anchored by Lalin’s sly, silvery vocals (which draw frequent comparisons to Erykah Badu) and cerebral yet playful rhythms from producer- bassist Aki, The Seshen’s music pulls from a deep well of electronic influences, R&B, and indie rock. Drummer Chris Thalmann, keyboard/synth player Mahesh Rao, percussionist Mirza Kopelman and sequencer Kumar Butler make the music three-dimensional, blending live and digital instrumentation for a mercurial, transportive sound. Since 2012, the Seshen’s live show has earned them critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase on multiple continents, as they’ve shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Petite Noir, tUnE-yArDs, and Thundercat.

A record to be enjoyed to its very last second AM Jazz is set to place this songwriter where he just might, finally, receive the recognition he deserves; from unsung hero to a truly worthy candidate for being called up to join the City of Manchester’s ranks of great musical icons. Whether you prefer to know him as Mr. Roberts or simply call him Al, it’s time to become acquainted with the real Jim Noir.

Tossing his bowler onto the hat stand and sliding on his slippers, AM Jazz sees ‘Jim’ putting his feet up whilst Alan Roberts takes the lead. A creative masterpiece for the record player and the mantlepiece, it’s a multi-layered album that features close friends including those dearly departed, and is his truest record to date, by a songwriter painting his own hypnotic Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

“I haven’t 'felt' like Jim Noir for a long time. I’m not sure I ever did; it was a construct of other people’s imaginations,” reveals Al. “AM Jazz is definitely the kind of music I make generally. It harks back to when I started making music years ago and didn’t worry about capturing a particular style. It will be nice to show people more of that.

It's the best album I've written; real hypnotic minimalism, the good stuff!” 15 years since he recorded the first ever 'Jim Noir' EP, AM
Jazz is the record all Noirheads won’t be surprised Al had inside him.

Letting the Beatlesesque stylings of his most recent album Finnish Line be (5 years ago no less), AM Jazz suits the Noir repertoire of his catalogue so far and is another homegrown offering which sees the Daveyhulme composer tinkering in his suburban Manchester studio once more, with the magic of his computer work sorcery, analog and tape recordings.

“For this I went back to the slightly more haphazard way I wrote my first album, Tower Of Love, wherein I’d use things in front of me, or a bit wrong like headphones for a microphone, to make the most Hi-Fi Lo-fi album ever.”

Whilst a brief disappearance of Jim’s online persona may have provoked bleak theories as to his whereabouts, Al had little time for digital distraction. Whilst writing and creating with friends, he has worked on electronic pet project, FAX with former Alfie guitarist, Ian Smith, and the vintage analogue house meets electro sound of his own solo EP Granada Personnel Recovery, as well as producing local band, Shaking Chainsor, and helping long-time musical colleague, Aidan Smith with his long-awaited 'The Planets' project; “I’ve been writing in dribs and drabs when I feel like it,” Al says. “I used to write all day everyday but it’s a lot harder now I’m (feeling) over 100 years old.” Never not sonically exploring or being inspired by the sounds around him, there was even a red-carpet moment when he appeared as a film premier guest after a couple of his songs were selected for the OST of director Jason Wingard’s film Eaten By Lions.

Performing all AM Jazz’s instrumental parts himself but also, at the right moment, bringing in present and past pals along the way, sexy lounge song, ‘Hexagons’ features 'Phil Anderson' and Mark Williamson singing and playing “legendary OTT guitar solo” respectively. Meanwhile the orchestration of ‘Peppergone’ waltzes like a beautifully romantic ode to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – a tribute to dearly departed best friend 'Batfinks' who originally wrote the chords in his song 'Peppercorn.' “I hope he doesn’t think it’s shit,” Al jests. Listen closely and you may even find a few unsuspecting celebrity guest appearances as, perhaps, it could be the very first album to feature soundbites of podcasts sneaking onto the recordings. “I will have a podcast on if I’m recording; Adam Buxton, Athletico Mince, Frank Skinner or Richard Herring… I’m sure some mics will have picked them up, like in the old Tower of Love days,” he says referring to his breakout debut.

Culled from around 50 tunes AM Jazz moves like the time of the day, from dawn to night, stirring from the pop of ‘Good Mood’ and ‘Upside Down’s Beta Band groove. “As the album was playing, I imagined this smoky backstreet with all those neon signs outside clubs at about 4am,” Al says. Mellow ‘TOL Circle’ is like Percy Faith’s Theme From A Summer Place synthesized, capturing the style of TV library music or movie soundtrack obscurity that has always stirred Al’s curiosity, and the album plunges into a vast chasm of instrumental exploration with ‘Mystermoods,’ visiting Japan’s funky synth whiz duo Testpattern and Hakabashi Sakamoto. Darkening and deepening in intensity, ‘Eggshell’ is like an undiscovered gem from Angelo Badalamenti’s cutting room floor, the Panda Bear shimmer of ‘Lander’ is where blissful positivity and sadness meet, about another of his friends who left the world too young. “By the album’s close, its nearly time to let go and enter the ether,” he says of the album’s story. “Like one would do when they take their final sigh on this earth.”

Skyf Connection (pronounced skAyf) was a short lived project by long time friends Anthony Mthembu and Enoch Nondala. At the time they were working for Annic Music, an independent label run by married couple Anne and Nic Blignaut. Although the label was known mostly for Zulu, Sotho, Tsonga and other traditional styles, they had a few Disco releases on the label including groups like Keith Hutchinson’s Focus and Enoch’s discovery Lena, who went on to have huge success under the name Ebony a few years later.

In 1984, when an artist didn’t show up for a booked session they decided to make use of the studio time and began working on a demo. At the time Anthony and Enoch had been playing for a year at a new club called Gamsho, located on a farm on the outskirts of Kliptown Soweto. Along with Blackie Sibisi, Sepate Mokoena and Elijah “chippa” Khumalo they made up the resident house band. Due to cultural boycotts and American artists refusing to perform in the country, locals took it upon themselves to fill the market with the American sound the crowds demanded. The demo they recorded at Blue Tree Studios was going to be their product they could use to promote their brand of the American sound. They then took the demo to Universal Studios where their friend and trusted engineer Jan “fast fingers” Smit was working. It would be here that they would polish their demo into something they could take to their bosses and have pressed. Equipped with a DX 7, Linn Drum and some Juno synthesizers they were on their way. Jan lived up to his name and programmed the drums, it is rumoured he could program in almost real time, a skill that translated to the local arcade where he held high scores on many machines. Enoch would be singing and playing guitar while Anthony would do all the Bass and Keyboards. The result was 4 funky party anthems with synth work like no other recording at the time. Their take on what they believed the crowd would want to hear at the beloved club they called home.

From start to finish the 4 tracks portray what would have been a standard night at the Gamshu. Although the club would open earlier and the standard hours of most clubs was 6 to 6 , the band would start playing at 10pm. With their standard set time and Anthony and Enoch unique view on what a Disco should be, they chose the motto Ten to Ten as the album title because those were the hours when they were the stars and Disco ruled the dance floor. To get to the club was a bit difficult, you needed to drive along an empty road where thieves waited for any patrons trying their luck walking after dark. Since there was no transport during the night, the safest way to get home was to wait till the next morning to walk home. Even though in the summer months of Johannesburg light begins to peek in just after 4am, crowds refused to leave and stayed enjoying good music and company until 10am. The lead off track “Let’s Freak Together” has powerful lyrics encouraging people to let go of their worries, put aside any differences and let the music bring everyone to freak and dance together. The whole album is about the joy we can all feel when we share the same moments and how music can bring people together in a unique way, a philosophy shared with the original nightclubs of 70s New York. This approach to music is where the name Skyf Connection comes from, translating from slang to mean the connection we create through sharing, in this case Music and good times.

Skyf Connection would go on to play at Gamsho till the club’s closure in 1986. In those years their popularity lead to being booked for private events like weddings and birthday parties, as well as gigs in some other venues like Mofolo Hall. They would share the stage with many artists through the years learning artist’s songs and providing support as a backing band. After the club closed Anthony would go on to join the house band at The Pelican, another famous club located in Orlando East, as well as dabbling with songwriting for artists like Phumi Maduna and helping Enoch on many projects through the years. Enoch would ditch live music altogether and immerse himself in studio work, starting full time as a house producer and A&R for the recently formed Ream Music. He would go on to produce hit albums for pop artists like Percy Kay and Makwerhu but made his mark discovering countless artists that would become stars in the traditional market. They would remain friends until Anthony’s passing in 2016 and although Anthony is no longer with us his spirit lives in the grooves he left on this one of a kind record. His wife Vinolia will be accepting his portion of the profits on his behalf.

Masks is New York duo comprised of Max Ravitz aka Patricia (L.I.E.S, Opal Tapes, Ghostly) and Alexis Georgopoulos aka Arp (RVNG Intl, Mexican Summer, DFA, Smalltown Supersound). The aptly titled EP2 is (yes, you guessed it!) their second release, preceded by their Opal Tapes debut Food Plus Drug (II) — which gained support from Legowelt, Mount Kimbie and Boomkat — and a compilation appearance on esteemed Beats In Space 15 year anniversary 3xLP.

On paper, it might strike one as a strange duo. Ravitz’s work leans heavily on house and techno, but his recent work has been focused towards emotive melodies of IDM. And Georgopoulos has been busy creating minimalistic classical music for RVNG and most recently made waves with his critically-acclaimed album Zebra, which combined elements of 4th World and cosmic jazz.

All the tracks making up EP2 were made as live performances. No overdubs. Nothing "in the box". Just classic hardware and a strong vibe.

Opener "In This Room" is the sound of a NY summer sunset, pivoting on a hypnotic rotation of orange-hued chords. "Emotional Response" displays a different side of the group. Combining a 909 with a piano tug, it could provide that perfect soundtrack to a cathartic cry on the dancefloor.

On the flip side, "In Another Room" is dreamy techno par excellence, before sliding into an acid chugg for the ages. Bookworms smears the sun of "In This Room" into a 4am whirl, all purple lights and mountains of fog.

The cover artwork features the artwork of Sanou Oumar, a recent emigrant from Burkina Faso, West Africa. He graduated from the University of Ouagadougou in 2007 and moved to the United States to seek asylum in 2015. He currently lives in the Bronx and works in Harlem, New York. In 2018, Oumar had his first two-person exhibition (with Matt Paweski) at Gordon Robichaux in New York, and in 2019 (with Elisabeth Kley) at South Willard in Los Angeles, curated by Matt Connors.

Keep Your Mind Alive is the LPH debut for Rydm Sectors, an Italian duo that bridges classic New York house and UK garage and lightens the resultant hybrid with well-placed sparkly synth work, jazzy drum fills, swanky piano licks. Nightclub music that’s been genetically modified to be just as functional and fun there as it is laying on a breezy beach, soft white sand your pillow, crashing high-tide waves reminder of the nature around you.

This March, the New York City-based imprint Absence Seizure will see its joint founders Abe Duque and Matuss join forces once more to deliver 'Seizure No. 11', following up on their recent collaborative effort 'Seizure No. 10' with another four tracks of soulful, stripped-down techno.

The EP begins in quintessential Duque fashion, running quirky and soulful melodies over a throbbing bassline and emotionally charged synths, whilst tying in the acid sounds that have been a staple of his music since his very earliest releases all the way back in 1993 as a regular in the New York wave of acid house and underground techno. '22 October' presents us with a progressive and skilfully executed cut, toning down some of the more muscular techno he sometimes produces in favour of a more freeform and chilled out vibe that layers funky synth melodies over bouncy rhythms and drawn-out sonic ambient textures.

The baton is then passed to Matuss for the remainder of the EP, beginning the journey straight off the bat with 'Between 4AM and Basement', beginning as an altogether more threatening number than the release's opener. The minimalism of the stripped-back beats instantly builds a dark atmosphere, creating a compelling flow through the track that opens up into a shuffling house-tinged beat and dreamy background soundscapes that carry you gently along for the ride.
The muted rhythms of 'Meet You at the Back Door' morph and skip around from one beat to the next to forge a jumpy and infectious musical trip that will instantly catch you up in its driven grooves. The EP's finale 'Moon Guardian' then opts for a different tack entirely, starting out with a confident, breaky beat and adding layer upon layer until the track reaches an exhilaratingly multifaceted climax. Unsettling cosmic ambience, distorted vocal samples, crescendos of noise and the ongoing and constantly evolving beats are brought to a perfect balance in this track, bringing the EP to a mysterious and gripping conclusion.

For the newest L/F/D/M drop and his first for Beat Concern, Richard Smith serves up a plate full of his deepest, sizzling cuts that bring dance floor heavy workouts and run the field between acerbic Electro, off-kilter dark room EBM and woozy bass workouts.

After muscular releases on Optimo, Clandestine Traxx and Ecstatic plus regular collabs with Dom from Factory Floor as Green Gums / Bronze Teeth on Diagonal and Opal Tapes, 'Tea Ceremony' opener 'Fang' moves the L/F/D/M project forward by throwing the listener straight into the eerie fairground feels, laid over metallic acid baselines, microscopic hats and pounding kicks that seek to overwhelm as well as inform. The giddy aggression of 'Gold Foil' folds crunching distortion into 120 bpm jacking Chicago territory before closing Side A with the tight ethno-percussive jammer of 'Cylinders Vari II'.

The second side carves a path that starts at the minimal bouncing bass and hardcore of 'Ox' via heavy acid euphoria of 'Skin Slips' that needs to find itself in the golden 3-4am slot on a sticky dance floor this summer, before winding down into the Industrial machine funk of 'STR8 Thick' that clips and clangs all the way.

Seb Zito has been one of the main movers for Fuse London since the labels inception and his 'Good To Me EP' continues the producer/djs accent. 'Take No One' kicks things off, its 90s tech-house influence being worn on it's sleeve with it's no nonsense b-line driven groove. 'So Good To Me' delves somewhat deeper, pads and synth work offering up warmth for a blissful 4am ride. 'Hit' ends things with an altogether quirkier affair.

Forceful grooves and trippy soundscapes here business as usual for Junes, whose latest EP adds to a string of releases getting bagged by those looking to work the floor with tight and atmospheric rhythms. The Galdoors man's flair for unexpected combos is on parade in Circuit Rift, where a UK-style low end is flung into the mix with rough drums and 4am melodics. There's a funkier bassline and rolling groove at work in Awake, this time with rich layers of pads and blips. Brass Hand uses a different palette a sparkling, loopy riff and crisp drums though it's still signature Junes.

We continue THE ORB's SIN IN SPACE remix EP series with a third volume focussing on the duo's latest full-length, the highly acclaimed COW / CHILL OUT, WORLD! (KOMPAKT 354 CD 134). The spontaneous, organic vibe and sample artistry of the album is reflected in three distinct reworks from highly respected Kompakt mainstays THE FIELD, DAVE DK and JÖRG BURGER - all of them informed with surprising twists and displaying a clear lineage to the source material.
THE FIELD's remix of 9 ELMS OVER RIVER ENO takes the original's percussive part and unfolds it to a swirling, tropical epic that alludes as much to The Orb's multifaceted sound collages as it does to the hypnotic, looping flow of The Field's own output. Meanwhile, DAVE DK turns in a club-friendly revamp of 4AM EXHALE with the fittingly titled ACCELLERATOR MIX, indulging in exquisitely lyrical glitches and the magic of the straight bassdrum. JÖRG BURGER takes a shot at the beatless 5TH DIMENSIONS with the excellent DSCHUNGELOPER MIX - its loose pop jam feeling and flirty shuffle rhythm recall Burger's lush lounge core efforts under his Triola monicker.

Baby Whale doses a cross between classic Chicago house and E2-E4 with a no-prisoners boogie bassline and piano chords glistering in from Rimini. JV's signature spaced-out production assures a head-turning dancefloor banger for the 4am crew.
Adam & Eve is an intriguing mix of exotica and Arthur Russell. 'The sound of Matisse,' says the label.

Completing a quick fire trio of new EPs, Constant Sound hits release number six with a pair of new tracks from VRSION that come with a dance floor friendly remix from Persuader. VRSION is a German producer who has already made a big impact with his release on Craig Richards' excellent The Nothing Special label. Following up that in fine style is the opener here, 'Torn', which is a hurried and urgent track that sits on the divide between house and techno. It is driven and slick, rubbery and hypnotic but has plenty of nuance and funk in its well programmed drums. Some occult sounds and wordless vocals embellished the whole thing and it really is the sort of track that blows dance floors apart and will stand out in any set. 'Capricorn Meet Leo' then toys with kinked drum patterns, rattling percussion and fathom deep bass that sucks you right into VRSION's world. It's a restless place where harmonies ride up and down the scale, cause claps come at you from odd angles and dark vocals add a sense of paranoia. Remixing this one is Persuader, who does so with a stripped back sense of restrain. he retains the original's weirdness, but layers in serene pads and tripped out atmospherics that really make it ripe for playing at 4am. This is the most adventurous release yet for Constant Sound, and is sure to prove one of its bets as a result.

Streetlight Soul' is the inaugural release on new imprint Gnosis. This four track EP is the fifth Myriadd record, following 12"s for Crème organization, Pinkman and Signals. The past decade has seen releases from the artist under a variety of pseudonyms including Acid Phreex (Djax-Up-Beats), Mantra (Bunker, Abstract Acid, Solar One Music) and Monofonix (Iwari, Cataclyst). Across the EP, Myriadd remoulds the template of vintage Chicago house, acid and deep house into his vision of modern house music. Opening with 'Midnight Obsession'; working a dark hypnotic bassline into an endless groove of crisp jacking drums and soul stirring melody, all primed for maximum effect at 4AM when lost in the smoke and strobes. 'Visions Of Love' is driven by a Juno bassline, a classic palette of tumbling, infectiously funky drums, warm, enveloping synth atmospherics and elevated by lush, celestial string work which comes off like some fantasy Mr Fingers + Virgo psychedelic jam. The EP's titular track goes deeper into the night with 909 claps, off-kilter snare hits, melancholy synth and ethereal melodies that ascend and dissolve into neon clouds. Closer 'Back To Nature' is a trip into blissed out, tropical house sounding like a lost Balearic classic re-tweaked for the 21st Century..

"Between Stars" is the debut album from Barcelona based Venezuelan producer and DJ Maurice Aymard. More than two years in the making, 'Between Stars' has been a labour of love for Aymard as he travelled the globe to collaborate with musicians and singers in Barcelona, Berlin, London and Venezuela who could help to bring his vision to life. Released on Aymard's own Galaktika Records (Garnica, James Teej & more), 'Between Stars' was recorded entirely live and features contributions from the likes of Brazilian star Gui Boratto, Columbian singers Andrea and Paulo Olarte, Argentian guitarist Mariano Godoy and many more, the resulting album takes the house music template and expands it to a grandiose level. In an age when anything that isn't packed full of buzzsaw bass and 'sick' drops gets labelled as Deep House, "Between Stars" is the real deal, and from the first bars of the albums opening (and title) track, 'Between Stars' quickly establishes itself as something truly special, a 'house' album that not only works as a coherent whole but sounds as good at home, by the poolside or in a club at 4am. If 'live' house albums have in the past had a tendency to verge on the polite, Aymard's skill as a producer and experience as a DJ keeps things rooted in club culture and nearly every track off 'Between Stars' deserves to find its way into DJ sets over the coming months. Rather than smooth things out the live instrumentation instead adds an energy to the tracks and the subtle touches, that the likes of guitarist David Rondon brings to 'El Final', lift the album up to another level altogether. Since moving from Venezuela to Spain and launching Galaktika Records, Aymard has become an integral part of the European house music scene. With releases on the likes of Berlin's Moodmusic, Hamburg's Einmusika and Denmark's Tic Tac Toe Records, and remix credits for artists such as Mario Basanov, Compuphonic and Combo, Aymard has built a reputation for delivering quality underground house music and with his debut album Aymard looks set to secure his position as one of the scene's most innovative artists.