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Benedikt Frey supplies the aid kit. Sonic remedies for the night.

4 transmissions for after-dark navigation. Remix from Carl Finlow.

For its third release, Club Blanco welcomes German producer Benedikt Frey. Aid Kit delivers three original pieces of shadowy club machinery - tense, wonky and charged with late-night atmosphere and rugged vocals. Electro veteran Carl Finlow reassembles the parts with clinical precision, crafting a remix that hums with circuitry and steel. Together they form four doses of deep club music.

Collecting Orders For 2025 Repress

Emotional Response's 10th-anniversary celebration are brought to a superb close with Benedikt Frey. He serves up a magnificently dubbed out and psychedelic cover version of Joy Division's 'She's Love Control across four different versions. The vocal version might be the best for us - it retinas that compelling dark drum funk you expect from the band with eerie synth additions and hefty bass. The instrumental is more slow and dubbed out in a traditional sense with the Lucas Croon dub doused in endless reverb. Last of all is a dub by Frey himself that is full of open space and bass bin distorting headiness.

Close your eyes and merge into Benedikt Frey’s 'Fastlane'. Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a an automobile, one with exceptional horsepower and torque, as you stare out the windshield at the red light, warping in fata-morgana a mile down the road. It’s a straight-away, a black top with two lanes, and against your better judgment you decide to floor the gas. No hesitation in your muscle, your ankle or the ball of your foot, which you now realize is some kind of universal pivot, the first point of contact fusing your body with the will of machine. In this moment you’re in awe that you, a human, an animal, grew from pond scum into something so advanced as to engineer this thing, a mechanical beast capable of overwhelming power and exhilaration. But you also feel a seductive dread, an outside force diverting you from caution toward a dangling carrot of curiosity, asking yourself, ‘How far can I take this thing?’ The dread, now a constant, is numbed, equalized by an adverse intoxicating gratification. You feel both sensations in real time, however, rather than take responsibility for yourself, friends, family and innocent bystanders, you cement your foot to the floor and lean your head back. Noise around you fades to mute. Smell the benzene-scented air, feel the wind on your face, the menacing vibration of the vessel you control beneath you and every grain of asphalt under its tires. This mile has now lasted an eternity and you’ve left your body for some objective view, as if watching climax of a film. Past the point of no return, you embrace abandon and lean into fate. The film becomes slow motion, a crawling pace so mesmerizing you convince yourself of an option to eject yourself from this madness, but as you finally let go of your last morsel of fear, you run the red light head-on into the nucleus of a fantastic glistening sculpture of torn metal, glass, oil, broken dreams and heartache. 'Fastlane' may be just drum machines and synthesizers if you’re timid, but listen harder and know the catastrophic reality of existence, a wreckage so gruesome we dare not rubberneck, but afterall it is our nature to stare.

After two remixes and a contribution to MT’s Sheva compilation, Malka Tuti is glad to welcome monsieur Benedikt Frey to the family
with his first solo EP on the label.

Recall is a 4-track dance ep, with 4 cuts of different flavour and sound.
From deep wavey dub to playful peaktime ravey sounds, Bene is taking the listener on a real journey, providing djs with an eclectic variety of tracks to pump up the dancefloor on different parts of the night....

His unique quirky and trippy sonic signature and production approach (reminiscing the sweet taste of ganja), stands out throughout the ep and it adds a fresh new direction for MT’s ever growing catalogue.

When British Airways got privatized and listed on the London Stock Exchange, somewhere in Canada the first Starbucks outside of the US opened, and the Walt Disney Company signed an agreement with the French Prime Minister to construct Disneyland Paris. In the sky above southern Argentina, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, northern Somalia, and the Atlantic Ocean a hybrid solar eclipse materialized for 7.57 seconds, whilst Margaret Thatcher performed for 45-minutes on Soviet television. Some days later, The Simpsons cartoon first appears as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, Diego Maradona wins his first Italian soccer championship with Napoli, and Eighteen-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. In the mists of the world's first conference on artificial life at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Mainland China opens in Beijing, and Prozac gets approved for use as an antidepressant in the United States. Much give way for the future, down there in 1987, the year that marks the title of Benedikt Frey’s freshest mini album, out into the world on R.i.O., the label he runs with some pals in the North of Berlin. It’s a dubby melancholic conqueror, wistfully, repetitive, drilling, absorbing, spooking. It makes you dream. Not particular of the year 1987. But it’s all there: The Red Square, the untouched land of the Val d'Europe, Diego on fuego. Six dark-ish tracks in trance, melancholic dub, downbeat heaven, journey music depths, all full of light and yet so dark. Futuristic dramas linked to a speculative past. In our dreams all might look different. The eclipse may last 27- minutes. You meet Neuromancer cyberpunks and blade running Ghost dogs, all taught to hack by Phrack. Cristal clear melodies, sampled voices, and veiled basslines, analogue scopes, and digital ropes, longing for a past that storm into the future. A time where deep listening widens the acoustics into infinity, while neon glows charm the light smog. Benedikt Frey been down there. Or maybe not. His latest music tells stories from the bygone, vested with the forthcoming. Come in and look out. There is nothing to see, yet so much to hear.

In 2017, Benedikt Frey released his breathtaking debut album with the ESP Institute, Artificial, and now as we finally come up for air, we're more than proud to offer an eclectic collection of remixes that's nothing short of essential. Side A leads with H For Hysteria remixed by a beloved hero, Nicolas Chaix a.k.a. I:Cube, one of the most prolific and respected electronic artists Paris has to offer. His touch is considered and elegant, imbuing the track with a tasteful 303+808 backbone to support an array of patiently floating melodies and angelic vocal samples. Following this, Tolouse Low Trax of Du¨sseldorf's infamous Salon Des Amateurs remixes the same track, stripping instrumentation down to a skeletal palette of bass guitar and stabbing percussive punctuations, chopped up inna minimalist stylee that has become his beat-making signature. Side B leads with a remix by another Du¨sseldorfer, DJ Normal 4, whose re-imagination of Private Crimes takes us for an even more menacing ride, half-timing the tempo and skillfully rolling out a barrage of jungle snares from rave days of yore. Closing the release is the most aggressive remix of them all, a bonafide techno beatdown of the same track by DALO, the co-producing artist to whose haunting vocals lace the original version. Her dark vision opens with sparse industrial drums that blossom into a driving assault of raw machinery, definitely not for the faint-of-heart. An all-around solid release here, fun for all the family... more than just the tip!

Benedikt Frey returns to Live At Robert Johnson with three hypnotic cuts.

Benedikt Frey heads this latest offering from the Batti Batti label, teaming up with jonas.san for "Girl From Venus", which pair the former's signature raw drums with the latter's outtakes of muted trumpet. Complementing this, Batti Batti's own Owen Jay & Melchior Sultana lay down a typically deep atmospheric houser with a few twists and hidden melodies in the shape of title track "Tribal Roots" and the 12" is further embellished by productions from debutant Lars Behrenroth and Mexican duo Romeo C & Alhan G who have previously been featured on a digital Batti Batti release.

After a contribution to Ethereal Sound and a full-bloom debut EP on Mule Electronic earlier this year, "Running In Circles" takes the next step. Two power cuts that melt, espouse and mutate classicist Chicago school of design elements with the post-industrial take of the Live at Robert Johnson canon On a meta-level they even deal with such heavy stuff as reincarnation and the cycles of life and death. Oh, yes! How does that sound As sweet and threatening as a sugar skull, of course.

First opus of the new series is La Batterie, by the UK's Richard Podolor and Sandy Nelson in 1983 in the hypnotic shimmering disco of 'Let There Be Drums.' The music of Polodor and Nelson is being given new life by Kalahari Oyster Cult. Alongside the entrancing original are two remixes. First up is Australia via Amsterdam's very own Max Abysmal with his 'Spooky Remix.' Adopting and adapting the raw energy of the '83 version, Abysmal layers ghostly notes and spectral snares into his mechanical remake. The flip takes on a different slant with 'Shotgun' taken from the EP of twenty fives years ago. A super slick work of understated funk shot through with bold keys and powerful chants to show another side of the UK pair. The fiercely talented Benedikt Frey closes, turning his daringly able hand to 'Let There Be Drums.' He keeps the vocal line, the rest of his rework is dipped in a thick heart of darkness threat. Pulsing thumps, menacing notes and danger lurk in this jungle of Frey's own making.

In just a year of existence, Chloé's Lumière Noire has brought emerging artists and promising newcomers together - and this first compilation of 13 brand new tracks expands the roster, exposing the label's eclectic vision in full daylight. When Chloé talks about her label, she puts forward the fundamental values that informed her own musical journey, her trust in her own musical taste - and, of course, the predominance of human relationships: 'I followed
my bliss and only commissioned tracks from artists that I respect and whose music I love. That to me is Lumière Noire's musical palette.' With this 13- track, unmixed compilation, Chloé makes a case for a label aesthetic that is based in open-mindedness. Familiar, elemental Lumière Noire artists are represented, as are new faces, producing a kind of group photo presaging what's next for the fledgling label. Lyon's Markus Gibb leads the track listing with Kuru with a deep chiaroscuro matching the label's ethos, followed by other mainstays Il Est Vilaine's Farenheit 451, which evokes Ray Bradbury's retro-dystopic angst with the
band's usual electro-pop elegance. Sutja Gutierrez, who released in debut EP, The Legend of Time on Lumière Noire in April, pursues his electro Shamanism with the ceremonial Allodoxaphobia, while Iñigo Vontier (whose EP Aluxes came out on the label in late 2017) brings his C O N T R A project
online with track Taurus, a further development in voodoo house. Elsewhere, Suuns lead singer Ben Shemie, who lent his fascinating art-rock croon to Recall, a single from Chloé's Endless Revisions LP, contributes A Million Kinds, a synthy, psych-pop debut that is as brilliant as it is surprising. On to the freshman class: Dutch producer Drvg Cvltvre (who gets personal kudos
from Chloé with each new 12') brings the uncompromising dark electro of his hypnotic and claustrophobic Last Rites. Jonathan Fitoussi's airy, minimalistic Cercles Polaires brings the respite of his recent Versatile Espaces Timbrés LP (a collaboration with Clemens Hourrières): 'I met him at Xavier Veilhan's
Studio Venezia at the Venice Biennale. He's a great guy, and his universe is unique,' says Chloé. Benedikt Frey's deep techno track Iaon, is on par with his smash 2017 album, Artificial, out on ESP Institute. First-timers are also part of the recruits: Bajram Bili with the ten cerebral minutes of Restart, Théo Muller with the ultra-deep Douce Transe, and Lumi, a Basque band that fuses
electronic sounds with acoustic instruments, brings the ompilation to a close with a track commissioned by Chloé. These audacious choices are anchored down with the likes of Permanent Vacation pioneer Lauer's hooky, 80s-infused Pythor ('Just like him, I was a resident of the Robert Johnson, and he was a guest of mine at one of my Lumière Noire nights at the Rex. He is one of these people whose music I highly appreciate'); Aergeworc & Franck Agrario, half of English duo Swayzak David Brown's project, weaves an ethno* mood into Grace's techno. Bringing together different generations, genres, and styles That may not necessarily be Chloé's MO. She invokes a more arbitrary, personal logic: 'I like to mix of-the-moment tracks and more timeless one, but the rule is above all 'do I love this or not'. That was my ethos when I started Lumière Noire.' In that way, the label is definitely in keeping with its time

dj overdose is playing with matches at our local gas station. don't forget bring your cigarettes.

Dear reader,

since Ramona presented all her disciples work throughout the first Lifesaver compilation in 2013, it's now time for another episode of togetherness. Summoning all of her artists around Frankfurt and those who live around the world, Ramona is now ready to present the Lifesaver Compilation 2. 

Kicked off by one of the Frankfurt young guns, the compilation leans into a melody-driven warm-up with a slight hint of analogue soul - "Digital Revolution" by Orson Wells. Next up is the Italian-born and now Berlin-based Massimiliano Pagliara. His contribution "Phasing Down The Sea" enriches the second Lifesaver installment with some of his signature synth-lines paired with a classic chicago-driven beat. The secret weapon from Kilianstädten also known as Mr. Melody, who goes by the name of Lauer, delivers a dark-italo and wave-ish piece topped off with the famous Lauer-craziness called "Language". Roman Flügel, the man of the hour, reinvents classic UK bleep-techno with Tender Hooligan". Another member of the young-guns-club, Chinaski, brings his certain level of synthesizer-love to the table with a track called Futuresex". Portable, one of Ramona's most delicate flowers, teamed up with Lcio again - together they created a hieroglyphic and deep-driven piece of music: "Dive In". TCB, also known as the only member of The Citizen's Band, delivers "Byrdmap", a solid piece of spheric deep and broken music. "Brainwashed" by Benedikt Frey marks the end of the compilation and simultaneously shows his dimension of futuristic dark-disco acid-madness. 

The Lifesaver compilation will be released as a double 12"-vinyl. Additionally Live At Robert Johnson will release an Extension-10"-vinyl containing two brand new tracks by the infamous Hotel Lauer and Tuff City Kids end of March 2015.

Be prepared,
Ramona

Lopasura again delves into picturesque soundscapes drenched in emotion and melancholy, illustrating a typically dystopian setting for its latest offering. The A-sides opening track by Mark Forshaw is lean and mechanical in its make-up with an off-kilter combination of thick, stuttering bass stabs and percussion; creating a rather menacing undertone.
As a stark contrast, 'In the Smoke' by The Acid Mercenaries is a nine-minute tracky, steam train of clean and crisp scuttling hi-hats and razor-sharp percussion that dance around the relentless 303 acid line and beautifully soft 808 kick to devastating effect. On the flip side, a thunderous bass drum and freakish electronics stalk the discordant and arpeggiated synth that opens 'Hierarchy of Heritage', evolving it into some kind of hellish themed marching tune for the underworld. Frey then rounds off the EP with a typically rugged yet deliciously intricate piece with Gdn, effortlessly maintaining an intelligent groove throughout.
'Connect Four' is a rather fitting title for this EP, given the undeniable chemistry between all the tracks in how a story is told and tension is created; as Frey has done with the two previous Lopasura releases. The introduction of three debut artists on this release has paid off however, nestling comfortably into the label's aesthetic without compromising on the quality.

The second Lifesaver Compilation vinyl extraction including an extended version of Benedikt Frey's 'Sometimes' plus The Citizen's Band's 'Descend' and Portable's 'Nano Flower'.

Forms is the debut release from Naturalisten. Behind this name is Rado, one of the founders of the Unknown Species collective. They’ve put together some great underground parties in London through the years, giving space to new talents and sounds, and blissfully ignoring trends and fads.
Rado’s colourful and imaginative take on deep techno shines through all the six tracks here. Fans of the sounds we often hear on the likes of Delsin, Nous’Klaer Audio, Spazio Disponibile, Bitta, Animalia, are likely to find plenty to love here. Starting with the subtlety of “Release The Tension”; passing through the swampy “Against The Tide”, the bleepy minimal drum’n’bass of “Woodpecker”, the acid deepness of “Aves Acid”; and landing on the early-morning atmospheres of “Canopy Dreams”, which we find very much reminiscent of some exquisite James Holden moments from a time long gone.

The final touch to an already beautiful body of work is added by Forest Drive West with his remix of the opening track “Release The Tension”. His reinterpretation slowly creeps in and wraps you up in a wave of low frequencies, before blossoming into an epic outro.

Early support for this release came from Sunju Hargun, Sybil, Aaron J, Benedikt Frey, among others.

Serious Trouble label presents a mind bending record that brings together forward thinking jams from the early 80’s into present time with reworks of Tiffy L’Amours’ „Follow Me“ and „Film Musik“ from Die Gesunden. Both received an editorial treatment by Benedikt Frey, Menqui & Philipp Otterbach. With kind allowance by the original composers this 12“ marks the editorial spirit of Serious Trouble and waves tribute to moist cellar jams.

The A-Side „Follow Me“ Rework by Frey & Menqui is a wild extension of the original which gently adds a weird drummy cowbell intro before it introduces the chanting eccentric original. That got enhanced with an extra electronic bass recording and relooped cut & phrases emphasing you to hit the bell just one more time.

On the flip side „Film Musik“ Frey & Otterbach dived into the artists main motive and layerd it with a lyra, sh101 and external drums in an 8 hour session. It respectfully keeps the spirit of the playful original. In comparison to that though they managed to built a seamless endless „escheresque" staircase to mad mountain. An Immortal Acid exploration.

12“ 180 gr. heavy Vinyl, Limited to 300 copies. Artwork by Cid Hohner.

Limited Edition of 200 copies incl. Dolphins Remix (DALO, Benedikt Frey and Menqui).

Hot seducers. Two of them. On one 7inch. A/B Side business, hard to choose a fav, as both so fab. The A-Side is called "Happen". It comes from prolific Tokyo based DJ and producer Hoshina Anniversary. A simple drum machine groove, a manic melody, witching siren sounds, psychedelic voices, some soft chords, and soulful high-pitched singing, somewhere between Dam-Funk coolness and Ian Svenonius-The-Make-Up sixties pop longing. One for warm sexy nights under neon lights. Out there in psychic realms. The flip brings a Dolphins interpretation. Yes, that feverish trio behind R.i.O., consisting of Nadia D'Alò, Benedikt Frey and Menqui. Their freshly recorded version comes with haunting nonchalant singing, displaying the tunes core melody as a more prominent actor of the play. Michael-Mann-Pop-Nostalgia with a baroque touch, that waves dark-ish. Even some Jon Hassle feeling is in there. Hoshina Anniversary disclosed, that the original song is inspired by jazz musicians like Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Jaco Pastorius and Keith Jarrett. None of them is directly stylistically audible. But their kind of blue is all over. On the A as well as on the B. Twice soul music for the free.

Hot summer rain hits the cracked pavement in uneven rhythms. A neon sign flickers above a café that never seems to close, its warm white light reflected in the wet ground like a fever dream. The air smells of summer and the world hums with an easy tone, as if the city itself is holding its breath. A light flooded film noir-ish scene, that needs a soundtrack like "POOL JAMS", the new album of INIT, the Berlin based duo, that already caused quite a stir with their albums for Hivern Discs and Optimo Music. This time, they bring their latest creations out on R.i.O. - a label, with whom they are deeply associated. Their fourth longplayer is a playful one. One that brings trip hopping feelings. That has r'n'b grace, without catering regular trademarks of the genre. Dub, trance, drone, is all there too. Yet, nothing is present in pure definition. Rather suggested, interwoven, or newly twisted in a songwriting style, that haunts and seduces. On top the voice of Nadia D'Alò dances, steps and hums tempting to the grooves she created with her partner in crime Benedikt Frey. Together they fashioned a record, that, as INIT puts it, is "some kind of old photo from an old dry empty pool that got faded by sunlight ". A dreamy, sunny piece of song art, made for endless smoky LA freeway drives, and other adventures that seek for infinite riddance. You can dream it. You can trance it. You can't escape it, as soon as it rotates in your dream device for sound and vision.

Limited Edition to 200 copies incl. Remixes by DALO, Benedikt Frey and Nathan Dawidowicz

R.i.O. welcomes Brainwave Research Center, a NYC-based duo consisting of house/techno producer Chase Smith and documentary filmmaker Christa Majoras. In early 2023 they freed their debut album "figure 1" via their own label BRC. Two more albums followed. All documenting their love for experimental yet charming music of all kinds.

Their influences span a vast spectrum, from Steve Reich, Laurie Spiegel, and Edgar Froese to Martin Rev, John Carpenter, early Kraftwerk, or the ambient techno of Pete Namlook's Fax +49-69/45046 label. Yet, Brainwave Research Center forges a sound distinctly their own, seamlessly blending analog synthesis with electro-acoustic experimentation.

On "Psychic Antenna", the duo takes a gentle rawer approach. The tracks range from the manic verbal Die-Tödliche-Doris-like loops of "I Find Myself" to the meditative cosmic trance of "Open Your Mouth." "Orange Drop" and "Transmitter Park" toy with the dancefloor, channeling slow-motion acid trance and krautrock echoes.
The release is rounded out by three remixes: R.i.O.'s own Benedikt Frey delivers a deep, trippy groover full of inner musicality, while close companion DALO crafts a dark, echo-drenched pop rework, and Berlin's Nathan Dawidowicz injects psyched nu-disco rhythms, expanding "Psychic Antenna" into seven notions of intense neural oscillations.

ML

I was dancing when I was out, I was dancing when I was in. Is it strange to dance so late? Is it strange to dance so soon? Cosmic dancers always ball. Dancing with themselves, dancing space away. Right into the smallest hole a human brain can create: the inner cosmos, a psychedelic region, where time gets space and space turns to haze.

Berlin based producer TM Solver is such a kind of cosmic dancer. He has danced late. And so soon. Since 2008 he released yearly one, sometimes two albums via the German Berlin School dedicated label Syngate and its experimental subdivision Luna. Intensely meandering synthesizer journey music, that is pirouetting on inner universes, genuinely crafted in the tradition of Berlin School and Krautrock. You can catch the unearthly nuances of Can and the spaciously swinging psychedelic corners of Amon Dül, Embryo, Tangerine Dream, or Klaus Schulze. As TM Solver has been a lover of analog synthesizers for almost 30 years, all pulsates on analogue sound orbs under the zigzagging guidance of machines like Moog Prodegy, Korg MS20 and GRP A4, as well as state-of-the-art systems as ASM Hydrasynth and Korg Wavestate. When he got in touch with the Berlin club scene and all its propelling grooves in 2006, a new rhythmic universe joined his vast musical space of sound latitudes. “Tinkering around with sound structures is my thing. Leading the listener into a combination of music and sound spaces.“ he reveals on his emotive musical art. How affecting it works, is now displayed with four epic compositions for R.i.O., Berlin Wedding’s label of novel ways for caved rhythmic patterns. Grooving between 90 to 240 BPM, they offer a vast variety of emotional landscapes, slowing down, rolling up, drifting into genuinely layered tonality magic. Headspace music for vigilant wanderers. Utterly psychedelic and yet so clear. His R.i.O. debut “Subtraktiv Additiv“ comes with five additional remixes, fashioned by R.i.O. conspirator Benedikt Frey, Amsterdam based DJ and producer Mayo, “Die Orakel” magician O-Wells from Frankfurt, Siamese Twin Records co-runner Sunju Hargun, and the versatile club and beyond production duo Red Axes. They all respect TM Solver’s analogue zones and pitch them into the 115 to 130 BPM districts, while transcending his absorbing synth compositions into the world of nervous acid-laden ambient, slow-mo techno, industrial bass, post-trance, and all that hallucinogenic echo house. Nine subtle energy vibrations, epic and full of countless facets, shaped to turn on, tune in, and drop out.

In April 2023, Tresor Records will unveil a new EP from DALO entitled "GUM". DALO, aka Nadia D'Alo, is one of the founders of the R.i.O label and half of the duo INIT. After several years of performing as INIT with Benedikt Frey, she had her solo live debut in Berlin in 2022. This record follows releases on labels such as ESP Institute and Warning. "GUM" showcases DALO's expert mastery of rising tension through analogue sound sources, as it swings in and remains with minimal changes and accentuation.
"Woodpecker" enters a tunnel of reverberant claps, moving in a potent exercise of deftly manipulated acid. "Wavehall" draws vocal smears across expansive, droning basses and 140bpm techno rhythms. In "Bachlash", she takes inspiration from events of Iranian and Afghan women revolting for their rights, expressing hope for the rebound of control after long political oppression. Electro beats are introduced underneath the full-frontal melodic acid, while processed spoken word samples bring a new focus.
DALO takes the rebounding control and strives forward into the unknown with "GUM", its segmented vocal samples playing a
captivating partnership with acidic slides. The EP closes with "Pilot," a digital bonus track that releases some of the tension built up throughout and propels the dancer towards transcendent shapes.

Serenades returns with the continuation of a series of split-format releases that talk about living, working, creating and interacting with completely different people from different parts of the world.

Odopt and Dolphins have created enchanting and enigmatic pieces for different experiences – whether you’re left alone with your deep thoughts or on the contrary trying not to think about anything on a full dance floor. That’s the magic of music, in its monologue or dialogue with you, it can answer many of your questions.

Things were different when we started preparing this release and we couldn’t imagine what the year 2022 would throw us into, but we still try to remain committed to love, peace and mutual understanding.

No war!

Dolphins: Benedikt Frey, Markus Woernle, Nadia D'Alò.
Odopt: Grigory Nelyubin, Ivan Maslov.

INIT is Benedikt Frey & Nadia D`Alo. We are delighted to present their long delayed vinyl and digital album, NRGY.

Born out of various art performances and installations, INIT states a logical outcome of Berlin based duo Nadia D`Alo and Benedikt Frey. With heavy use of analogue synthesis and drum-machines, INIT rethinks its genre's sonic approach, unfolding a unique and organic, yet alienating sound, somewhere in the mysterious midst of Acid, Techno, Ambient and Kraut-Rock.

This is INIT's third album, following two releases on Hivern Discs, and performances at clubs such as Berghain, Robert Johnson and Pudel Club.

INIT say -

Module, NRGY, and Time were reverse extracted out of our live set and re-recorded and re-arranged after we realised how well they work in clubs. It is the first time we worked this way as we tend not to play our compositions live, like we produced them. Mostly we just extract loops out of our production to mess around with in a loose live project.

Snowglobe, Holes In My CV and N.O.D. were more built up from a studio jam plus a bulletproof-ish arrangement afterwards.

Tried and tested on dance floors this is a surefire hit album on the dancefloor, and at home. NRGY!

Chris Imler likes to play drums standing up. He‘s the dandy with the killer offbeat, or, as one major German newspaper once put it, the "Grand Seigneur of the Berlin Underground". He has been making his mark on countless Berlin musical affairs since long before the fall of the Wall, with The Golden Showers, Peaches, Oum Shatt, Driver &Driver, Die Türen, Jens Friebe, to name but a few. He has also been perfoming across Europe as a solo artist for the past decade.

In "Operation Schönheit" (German for "Operation Beauty"), he has recorded his most, well, beautiful album to date. But Benedikt Frey's warm production subverts its own beauty with a multitude of clanking and ingling synth sounds, making the work very much about the cosmetic surgery it performs on itself. It's all in the tradition of the more experimental and electronic side of post-punk in which Imler and his unique groove are rooted. It doesn't take insider knowledge of Berlin's post-punk underground to realise that that Imler groove consists of rhythm that sings, vocals that dance and a look that fits, as illustrated by "Disappoint Me", his latest video: https://youtu.be/YeVJ75ljjB8

Elsewhere - such as in "Movies" - the rhythm sings, less electronically reduced, into the acoustics of an old, high-ceilinged Berlin apartment; metal clatters, a zither trembles and Imler plays with the metronome. Sometimes he moves ahead of time, sometimes trails behind it. He always manages to be in his very own groove, which carries everything along. And this is precisely the essence of the Imler rhythm, which lends itself to being applied to the very rhythm of life: Stretch and compress your time and loop it according to your own groove! Optimise nothing but feel everything! And dance to it! Even when contemplating everyday information overload, as Imler's high-speed mumbling suggests in the hectic yet smooth opening track "Temperature".

But being the ultimate night owl he is, Imler manages to make even the odd bout of paranoia seem like a good thing: like some kind of krauty, groovy B-horror-soundtrack-inflected high-pressure environment, "Whip Me" is a cross between Conrad Schnitzler and Bauhaus. In the title track, whose lyrics were written together with Jens Friebe, he intones: "You want to be something greater / You break your leg / When it heals again / You break it again" and sounds like the most gleeful fatalist you can imagine. Because in his city, one can still lose oneself better than anywhere else - a night easily becomes a whole universe that can be traversed, marvelled at and played with, and one might find one's old self again only when hearing "church bells" and "small birds singing". At least that's how Imler illustrates it in "Emptiness full of stars", and it seems likely that those "stars" are the human companions of the Berlin night in question.

And so once again Imler becomes Berlin's most important cultural ambassador: that scene of the eternally, and somehow successfully, failing creatures of the night, once the envy of the international postmodern bohème, has, despite many claims to the contrary, not been completely "optimised away", and its attitude to life is perfectly summed up in Imler's groove. And, of course, his look. "Schau Hin" (German for "Look!"), he sings in the track of the same name, masterfully dubbed out with the help of Melbourne's Leo James.

Quite right! Look - and listen.

Yours, Johannes von Weizsäcker (The Chap)

NVST, part of Statement Crew, Female:Pressure and co-running the Big Science label, drops her debut EP on Serious Trouble, smashing the front door with heavy boots and a belt of sharp throwing knifes. No excuses to be made when she cuts throats, just like she does it to her drum constructions, super sharp filtered and directly forward driven arrangements. She knows how to create a nice tension throughout the record and hits the upper floor just the right time. She definitely belongs to the young artists out there who know how to shape their blades right. Better take a step back. Remix by Benedikt Frey included.

After the successful debut album by Roland Sebastian Faber 'RSF' on Closing the Circle records RSF is returning with a new EP. We are not Friends! Double A side vinyl release with remixes by Benedikt Frey, Kinky Roland and Keen K. Including download code.

After releasing their critically acclaimed debut LP “NOW” just last September, The people at Malka Tuti felt it was the time to continue pushing the name SHARI VARI to new realms & territories... A Remix Pack was born. For the remix pack, Malka Tuti chose a few close friends of the family to give new life and new interpre- tations to the now “instant classic” songs by the Hamburg duo.... The Ep begins with Fantastic Twins’s mid tempo, Coil inspired, break-beat groove, slowly building up in emotion with warm pads and 90’s vibe acid lines to- wards an epic catharsis. Benedikt Frey takes it from there, remixing a personal favourite - New York City, turning it into a dark trip- hop inspired journey, cleaning those distinct vocals, echoing Beth Gibbons’s smokey high tones.... On the B-side we find Black Merlin’s 11 minute trippy mid tempo dance floor banger. Cuts and slices from the original vocals of the song Dance Alone, laid carefully on top of a repetitive modular bass line, and sprinkled on top - those out-worldly sounds and FX that makes the track simply HUGE. Last but not least, Düsseldorf’s very own Lucas Croon’s Dub Version, released digitally last year, final- ly sees its day on wax. 90’s Break beat beats, gated vocals and everything else that takes to make a dance floor hit the roof.

Back in 2018, Lumière Noire celebrated its first anniversary with a compilation featuring thirteen exclusive tracks by an eclectic group of electronic musicians – a family portrait of sorts. A few months later, a second volume of From Above, compiled by the label's artistic director (and DJ) Chloé, once more brings thirteen established acts together with promising upstarts. The first compilation was the embodiment of the label policy advocating for both artistic excellence and a widening of electronic aesthetics – bopping from deviant house music to adventurous IDM and to the rigor of dancefloor techno, among other electronic explorations. Some of the artists featured are now closely associated with Lumière Noire, while others were more established performers such as Benedikt Frey, Lauer, Jonathan Fitoussi, Il Est Vilaine, Dave e Brun (half of Swayzak) and Frank Agrario, as well as upcoming artists such as C O N T R A (a side project by none other than Iñigo Vontier), Sutja Gutierrez, Théo Muller, Markus Gibb, Bajram Bili, and a sprinkling of UFOs circling the genre (Suuns' Ben Shemie, Drvg Cvltvre, and electro-acoustic combo Lumi). This group photo laid down a number of paths for a label in perpetual evolution.

Since then, the Parisian entity has continued to grow within the international electronic scene, releasing Local Suicide's Leopard Gum EP, Iñigo Vontier's first LP, and planning another slew of releases for 2020. The lineup for this second volume of From Above is once again equally intriguing, offering a crescendo-like track listing over a double LP format, which is a feat of sorts for a "Various Artists" compilation.

Marc Mélias' fascinating, unsettling Permanent Waves gets the proceedings going with a contemplative track that provides a serene opening to the odyssey on which From Above will be taking the listener. Pletnev continues on with the playful, hooky Marco O’Polo, a fundamentally techno track built over a seductive 90s-inspired breakbeat. Douglas Greed (whom Chloé remixed on BPitch a few years back, and had himself remixed track from her album Endless Revisions featuring Ben Shemie’s vocals), supplies Vancouver, a slice of ambiance à la Boards of Canada, supported by a gripping breakbeat. The rhythmic arpeggio of Israeli producer's Middle Sky Bloom makes his contribution a hypnotic, disconcerting slice of dark disco. Thomass Jackson, a safe bet in the new wave of the Latin-American electronic music blowing its sometimes hot, sometimes cold wind, proposes Mithra, a dancefloor incantation to the Antiquity's bull god. With Bells, Goldmoon delivers a track that is both melodic and nostalgic, tinged with rhythmic samples, Moog basses and solar backgrounds. Longtime friend of Chloé, Krikor, who has released two albums on L.I.E.S. Records (Pacific Alley and Saudi), offers a moment of respite with Sally Hardesty (a nod to fans of horror movies), a heavenly and bewitching track that, paradoxically, hints at the highly energetic second half of the compilation. Discovered with Confidences EP released on Lumière Noire, the young French producer Morgan Blanc asserts himself here with Werde Der Du Bist ("Become who you are"), a song with luminous chords and midtempo rhythms to start the second half of the compilation by raising the tension. Galician producer, DJ and designer Cora Novoa continues the rollercoaster's ascent with her Virtual Aesthetics, which once again brings those acid tones – this time without the vertigo. Equally corrosive, but tenser and more percussive, the uncategorizable NSDOS' AL-G attempts to give order to a chaotic electronic world full of violence and danger. Rebeka Warrior (half of the duo Kompromat alongside compatriot Vitalic), takes on a more nostalgic vibe with Ich Komme Zurück, a French/German techno chant evoking a secret dream of a track from a bygone era. Three years after the release by Lumière Noire of Moderna and Theus Mago's stroboscopic Dog Is Calling You, Theus Mago makes a solo comeback with Idealistic Stone, a most acid of club tracks, rattled by the modulations of the inevitable TB 303. French electro-rock saltwarth Yan Wagner's dancefloor alter ego The Populists' Prehistoric Lemurs gives an almost Orientalizing twist to Kraftwerk's techno-pop. To close things off, the collection's last track, the appropriately-named Instant Track by impromptu encounter between Hervé Carvalho (Acid Arab), Jacques Bon (Smallville) and Demian (Kompakt) Acid Love Triangle, releases the pressure with a long, bittersweet reverie that leaves the listener, at the end of these thirteen musical adventures, to rest languorously on an artificial and welcoming shore.

Beginning a new series of Remix Packs, in which favorite artists and label affiliates are remixing tracks from different Malka Tuti back-catalogue releases. The first one includes Toulouse Low Trax and Die Orangen remixing Xen & Yovav’s critically acclaimed 7” release from 2018, as well as 2 remixes of the Tel Aviv duo Plazmot by Benedikt Frey & Borusiade. All Tracks were mixed by Gordon Pohl. This record will also be the first to present Malka Tuti’s brand new specially designed generic record sleeves.

„Pitcher“ is Nadia D’Alò’s very first solo appearance on vinyl. Playful forwarding drums running hand in hand with a laid back wuthering synth line, carrying her melting voice right in it´s fountain. „Benzin“ on the flip side is a much slower, charming impish early morning jam by INIT (D’Alò & Benedikt Frey), based on a simple 808 infrastructure that leaves space for weird guitar riffs, wavy vocals and a bassy undercoat.

Keys are Benedikt Frey and Chris Cox, the front and rear covers of a lucid
narrative of an incomprehensible nature. Substance induced Hara-kiri, a human
consciousness leaving it's temporary and insignificant vessel, a motorcycle ride
through the sands of a desolate Martian desert or a twisted eternity dissolved
inside Pandora's Box. These are just a few of the scenes effortlessly evoked by
the epic yet somehow erotic omnibus of slow-motion electronica that is Voltage.
In a time dominated by robotic beat and melody, this 8 part expedition away from
the dancefloor may surprise, disorientate and hypnotise. Allow Keys to seal you
in their infinite vacuum of flirtatious melancholia.

Some try it with mouth-to-mouth insufflation and cardiac massage. Others with
psychopharmaceuticals or group therapy. Still others with divorce. By going cold turkey. With a new profile pic and a matching hairstyle. Seen it all at Robert Johnson, already endorsed everything - at least as long as it helps: as a lifesaving measure.
But since the year dot, the Offenbach-based club with its affiliated label recommends to all which are undecided or have doubts particularly one thing: Music. And dance.
Every two years, when life newly blossoms during spring, Live At Robert Johnson opens its windows widely, lets new music out and fresh air into the house. The beguiling scent of nature and aviation fuel blends with the scent of sweat and dry ice fog - and causes sundry healing confusion. As soon as the first tone of the Lifesaver Compilation 3 is heard, the swelling grunt of Vincent Feit's 'X04', the scenery of the dancefloor right at the Main river appears before one's eyes.
On Saint Monday Iconoclasts rebel against the age of self-optimization. A crack goes through the parquet of the dance floor (or the dancing party itself). The post-unambiguities era is beginning. The images become blurred. Bass case. Alternative facts. Resonance hole. No reception. And then it's only the queue answering the club emergency hotline. Finally there is a buzz on the line. 'Just drop the images!', it says.

'It's all not that tragic.' This helps.
The Lifesaver 3 Compilation, the yet most comprehensive package of the lifesaver history, sounds like electro, sharp-edged like the vault in a Hague bunker (Lauer), provides data pop with piano crescendo (Fort Romeau), brings the style characteristics of German Schlager music to the breakdance mat (Rolande Garros), lets the bulky lily-of-the-valley bells clang and sends the reverb tails away with the wind (Benedikt Frey). There are several new names to discover: Felix Strahd, Benjamin Milz, Vincent Feit; and of course there a many old acquaintances: Massimiliano Pagliara, Orson Wells, TCB, Chinaski. Roman Flügel brings us 'Good News', however: 'From Another Planet.' And Fort Romeau feels 'Lost, Again', but in such somnambulistically beautiful manner that you want to get lost with him instantly and jointly find the great joy.
Again and again there are mysterious chants. It's not required to decipher the specific words in order to get the message: Salvation is near. Salvation is here:









[)] e1 | Roman Fügel - Chang