quête:deep cabaret

Renowned for his visceral work with HIGH-FUNCTIONING FLESH, Greg Vand dives deep into the experimental proto-industrial with his solo project NEWBOY, revealing a darker, looser, and more hypnotically unstable side of the music machines. “The Color of Everything” is a transmission compilation with cracked circuitry, lysergic funk, warped tape hiss, and urban hallucinations.Think Cabaret Voltaire jamming with Bourbonese Qualk, Ike Yard, and Esplendor Geométrico: a mutant rhythm ritual for abandoned clubs and alleyway rites. This is rhythm as both weapon and escape. A dystopian groove engine primed for fans of the avant-garde, the unstable, and the underground, all tuned into the fractured future of dance music.presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl.

Essential repress of the perennial DJ favorite now available on wax again for the first time since the original press in 2021!

The music is compiled from two rare 12" releases dating back to the early 90s produced by Jason Adkins (who we sadly lost in 2024), and co-produced by Tony Boninsegna (whose work the labels covered extensively in the 4xLP anthology Notes From Underground), and finally remastered by Thomas P. Heckmann.

The production team shared many musical inspirations, most notably Detroit techno, jacking Chicago house, EBM, the industrial funk of Cabaret Voltaire and the pioneering bleep sounds of Warp Records' earliest releases. As a result, the tracks they made brilliantly blurred the boundaries between contemporaneous electronic music styles while also adding layers of technical polish so often missing from British club tracks of the period.

The completed, released version of 'Tone Float' remains an overlooked UK classic – a gorgeous mixture of squelchy acid bass, sharp TB-303 lines, ethereal chords and whispered spoken word snippets – while the accompanying remix, which is also featured on Garden of Eden, brilliantly re-imagines the cut as a funk-fuelled, deep electro beast.

Step onto the dancefloor and relive the golden age of club culture with the revival of Jon Pleased Wimmin’s iconic anthem “P.A.S.S.I.O.N,” brought back by Full Circle in a brand-new package of remixes. Following the success of the Tin Tin Out Mix reissue in 2023, this release features fresh reinterpretations from some of today’s most exciting names, including the legendary Demi Riquísimo and a brand new remix from Jon himself with Paul Morrell, a triple platinum selling remixer, for the likes of Ava-Max, Kelly Clarkson, All Saints & Troye Sivan.

Jon Cooper, universally known as Jon Pleased Wimmin, became a defining figure of the UK scene thanks to his flamboyant presence and finely tuned knack for getting the party started.

From his beginnings as a face on London’s late-80s dancefloors, Jon made the leap from clubgoer to DJ in 1991 with his Cabaret act The Pleased Wimmin, catching the eye of Danny Rampling and securing sets at the legendary Milk Bar. His unmistakable style, fearlessness behind the decks, and sheer love of music led to him touring the world, being voted 6th in DJ Magazines' Top 100 DJ poll and reaching Top 30 with the original release of P.A.S.S.I.O.N. He is still playing out weekly across Europe & the U.K.

With Full Circle’s revival, P.A.S.S.I.O.N bridges past and present, paying tribute to Jon’s legacy while propelling the track into a new dimension. Alongside Demi’s deep, groove-heavy rework, the package also includes a brand-new Jon Pleased Wimmin & Paul Morrell Remix, road tested by Jon this summer at Pikes & 528 Ibiza, which injects fresh energy and an edge while staying true to the spirit of the original.

This isn’t just a reissue; it’s a chance to own a piece of dance music history, reimagined for today’s floors. Grab your copy, feel the groove, and let these remixes guide you back into the feeling of where it all began.

Dark Entries release 'A Boy Alone', a double LP set from Manchester electronic music pioneer Eric Random. Best known for his early recordings for New Hormones and Les Disques du Crépuscule and collaborations with Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks), Cabaret Voltaire and Nico.

As an original member of The Tiller Boys with Shelley, Random injected a healthy dose of Krautrock into the dour Manchester post-punk scene in 1978/79 before going solo the following year. Random's first 7' 'Subliminal'/'23 Skidoo' was released in 1981 via Les Disques du Crépuscule and explored ominous sonic surrounds. That same year also saw the release of a second 7" single on New Hormones, 'Dow Chemical Company'/ 'Skin Deep'. Both tracks offered bubbling, rhythmic sound patterns, and were the first to feature other musicians that would become know as The Bedlamites. Consisting of Lynn Walton on vocals, Ian Runacres and Andy Diagram of Dislocation Dance, and bassist Wayne Worm, aka Wayne Sedgeman. Their debut 12' single 'Subliminal Seduction'/'Bedlam-a-Go-Go' was released in 1982 through Plurex, mixing arid funk textures and sparse melodies. That same year the group contributed proto chill-out track '6.55' to Plurex compilation 'Hours' and the highly filmic track 'In Cassette Conference' to the Touch cassette package 'Feature Mist'. In 1983, Random spent several months in the Himalayas with a group of musicians from the Kulu Valley and studied non-Western instruments such as tabla. On returning to Manchester, Random convened a new group of Belamites including Walton, Sedgeman and drummer Graham Dowdall aka Dids of Ludus. They released the 12' single 'Mad As Mankind'/'Dream Web Of Maya' in 1984 on Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision, embracing electronic, industrial and dub styles. In 1985 they contributed the soothing 'Pure Power' to Food Records' 'Imminent Episode One' compilation.

Our reissue also includes 4 unreleased bonus tracks from Eric's archives recorded between 1981-1984. The whole set adds up to 115 minutes of sinister, somnambulant Random music. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each copy is housed in a gatefold jacket designed by Eloise Leigh featuring a spread of ephemera, photos with liner notes by James Nice of LTM.

NYC dance music legend Joey Longo has been a part of the dance music soundscape for those in the know from way back when, his first records surfacing in 1989 under a variety of monikers and on a slew of labels out of NYC. Some (Cabaret, Loop d'Loop, Foot Stompin') were his own, others (Underworld, Maxi, Minimal) not, but the they always came bearing the credit 'produced by Pal Joey'. Joey hit the heights early on, as one of his earliest records, Dance (as Earth People), went big in dance music terms. If you were raving in the early '90s chances are you will be getting flashbacks from 'Dance', as it was played across a number of scenes. A deeper 'beats' mix features on this gem of an album, his first in over 10 years, along with a perfectly selected blend of classic cuts, new versions and remixes and unreleased wonders. Mastered to perfection, but keeping his raw New York style.

• Following on from the highly successful first two editions
of Dance Masters featuring the classics mixes from
maestros Shep Pettibone and Arthur Baker the spotlight
turns to another remix legend, John Luongo.
• Boston born, John is one of the truly legendary DJ's and
remixers of the Disco era. John got his break at Epic by
overdubbing percussion from salt shakers and spoons
onto a promo and then passing them back the tape. This
resulted in him being flown to New York, and put in a
studio (of his choice) to mix and produce Melba Moore`s
“You Stepped Into My Life”. From this point everything he
touched was a hit. He went onto remix Disco classics by
Jackie Moore – “This Time Baby”, Dan Hartman “Vertigo
/ Relight My Fire” and Patti Labelle “Music Is My Way Of
Life”.

• John, however was not afraid of remixing artists that
didn’t fit into the disco genre and this attitude is borne out
by the tracklisting of this compilation on which Gladys
Knight and The Pips rub shoulders with ZZ Top and Billy
Idol, and Baltimora appears alongside Bill Nelson and ILevel.
• “…if you played this whole thing, just put it on and
didn’t tell anyone it was me, they’d say ‘boy, what a great
group of songs this is!’” - John Luongo
• The collection is housed in a beautiful lift-off-lid box, with
a 16 page booklet featuring foreword by Arthur Baker, an
in-depth essay written by Alexis Petridis (Rock and Pop
reviewer for The Guardian) and complete with rare photos
from John’s personal collection plus a limited signed insert.

• All tracks remastered by Nick Robbins at Sound
Mastering.
• A 43-track 4CD edition is also available, along with a 2LP
vinyl edition featuring 16 highlights.

Gramrcy and John Loveless return to Phantasy with a double-A single, ‘Lucid / Feel So’. Three years on from their festival-rupturing hit ‘Highdive’, which found regular rotation in the sets of 2ManyDJs, Peggy Gou and Daniel Avery alongside soundtracking shows for Moschino and Hugo Boss, two new tracks expand the sound of the Berlin pair’s studio partnership.

‘Lucid’ features a unique vocal turn from Tony Morris, a former teacher, taxi driver and contemporary cult figure in Glasgow’s underground scene. Having begun DIY production only in his late sixties, he has since released on the city’s peerless Optimo Music and has been profiled by the BBC and NPR, alternately described by The Scottish Herald as “Scotland’s most unlikely pop sensation” and by himself as “a deviant cabaret artist”.

Morris’s hypnotic repetitions prove to be an earworming anchor for Gramrcy and Loveless’s pressure-cooker arrangement, a bubbling concoction that represents their most formative influences, combining the sheer bassweight of FWD-era UK dance with the ISDN-line scramble of the most out-there electroclash. Rich in rhythm and textural weirdness, ‘Lucid’ captures the sound of a deeply satisfying intersection of rave outsiders.

Eschewing the dreamy psychedelia of its counterpart, ‘Feel So’ instead tips the scales back toward the outright ecstatic. The influence of esoteric disco and post-punk percussion rides on a throbbing bassline that builds toward supreme dancefloor release, paying tribute to a legacy of hi-NRG, spanning Chicago to Rimini.

Gramrcy & John Loveless - ‘Lucid / Feel So’ will be available to download & stream on October the 10th via Phantasy There will also be a limited-edition run of just 200 hand-stamped 12” vinyl records, including the instrumental cut of ‘Lucid’, available to pre-order from Bandcamp and the Phantasy store.

Denmarks leading outlet for fresh, forward forward-thinking jazz, April Records, proudly presents the debut release from award award-winning Danish vibraphonist Viktoria Sondergaard. With wide ranging influences from jazz, chamber music, cabaret, pop, rap and SukumaSukuma-inspired grooves, as well as the hymns and melodies of the Danish Hojskolesangbog traditional/folk songbook, the music is grounded in collective expression and responsibility. The album s bold, boundary boundary-pushing sound was built on a strong sense of musical community, as well as Sondergaard s desire to integrate spoken word and lyrics into her practice to convey her thoughts and feelings on the world around her on a deeper, more personal level. Composing with her four collaborators in mind, Viktoria imagined her quintet playing each note as she composed, making the music inseparable from their presence. The album integrates spoken word, rap, singing, screaming, and whispering - a shared sonic tapestry that expresses joy, wonder, questioning and celebration. It s a band built on inspiration, joy, dreams and love, Viktoria says. For me, one of the most beautiful things in art is that we have a platform to say something about the society and world around us. This album is an attempt to do just this. this." Balancing warmth and intimacy with tension and exploration, the music weaves rich instrumental textures and spacious soundscapes with intricate vocal arrangements - intertwining voices that move between comforting folk folk-like harmonies and angular, avant avant-garde expression. The quartet s deep listening and intuitive interplay are evident throughout, shifting fluidly from open, exploratory passages to tightly locked grooves. The result is a sound that feels both grounded and searching: a sonic conversation inviting the listener into a space of vulnerability, curiosity, and connection. With a sparkling tone, emotive improvisation and refined control over her instrument Viktoria is recognised as a fearless explorer and bold musical voice. A recipient of the Aarhus Jazz Talent Prize, Tivoli Jazz Prize and the 2025 Carl Prize Honorary Award presented by Marilyn Mazur, she balances adventurous writing and collective invention with melodic immediacy and emotional power.

LTD BRIGHT GREEN VINYL W/ 4 PAGE INSERT** **JEWEL CASE CD W/ 12 PAGE BOOKLET** A gloriously off-kilter yet deeply personal record that mixes absurdist punk theatre with an unexpectedly tender dive into mental health, Catholic guilt, and the surreal poetry of everyday life. “It’s more personal than the previous ones,” frontman Pete explains, “but not in a heavy way – more like Mortimer & Whitehouse than The Bell Jar”, succinctly summing up the Dinner Ladies’ approach: taking the kitchen sink, giving it a saxophone solo, and letting it spill over with charm, wit, and a fair helping of existential unease. Parody and poignancy runs through every song. Tracks like ‘Is There Life in Rhyl?’ and ‘Holy Pictures’ explore personal trauma and social conditioning through an unmistakably British filter; Catholicism, childhood fear, seaside holidays, and haunted toilet trips included. For fans of: The Fall, The Kinks, John Cooper Clarke, X-Ray Spex, Madness, cabaret, collage, chaos, and joyfully honest punk.

Dana Schechter: Lap Steel Guitar, Bass, Electronics. - Paul Wallfisch: Piano, Organ, SOMA Pipe, Guitaret. Music from the Vienna Volkstheater production of Wolfram Lotz's play "Die Politiker" directed by Kay Voges; performed live in the theatre, spring 2022. These 2 beautiful exiles travel limbic landscapes and underwater dreams with a map that disintegrates instantly when viewed. Their fractured sounds dissolve and reconfigure endlessly in our cochlea and infest our imaginations with spiked armies of ultra-vivid, sentient and carnivorous coral predators, atavistically intent on devouring the sweet meat hiding deep in the center of the amygdala. Michael Gira (SWANS). Wallfisch has played in bands like Firewater and Little Annie, while Schechter has logged time with American Music Club, Angels of Light and her own Insect Ark, among others; both spent time touring and recording with SWANS. They've been friends since meeting in New York in the 1990s. Years later they forged a stronger connection as bandmates in Botanica. They renewed their artistic partnership in 2021, when Paul invited Dana to Vienna to develop the music for a theatrical spectacle called Die Politiker written by Kleist prize winner Wolfram Lotz. The music from the production provides the foundation for the duo's first album, The Heart of A Whale. Across its six intense tracks one can detect a subtle homage to storied Berlin musical traditions, as the pair puts a raw, often brutal veneer on songs steeped in Weimar cabaret (a la Tom Waits) but updated with a visceral mixture of noise, post-punk, and industrial elements. Performed on a panoply of instruments from bass, organ and lap steel to SOMA Synths, Guitaret, a variety of electronics and a grand piano hammered with a shoe, the music reflects the New York- Berlin nexus they've both been part of for decades. Echoes of Swans, Einstürzende Neubauten and The Birthday Party, but also hints of Throbbing Gristle, Eno and even William Basinski and Michael Gordon. The music can't be contained by any single tradition, with a decidedly experimental bent that ruptures the fixed rhythm of rock for something more theatrical and emotionally harrowing.

Sophia Kennedy, the Baltimore-born, Hamburg-based artist, returns with her new album in May. Known for her genre-blending innovation and distinct vocal style, she has collaborated with DJ Koze and earned praise from The Guardian, Iggy Pop, and Resident Advisor.

Following her self-titled debut (2017, Pampa Records), a radiant dance between the glamour of the Great American Songbook, electronic textures, and clubland influences, earning her international acclaim, Kennedy released her second album, Monsters (2021, City Slang), and delved deeper into surrealism and transcendence. Now, on Squeeze Me, Kennedy and her long-time musical collaborator and co-writer Mense Reents sketch a more disillusioned commentary on the status quo of the world at large. The complexity of interpersonal relationships, questions of power dynamics, and the quest for self-determination—longstanding themes for Kennedy—run as a cohesive narrative throughout the album.
More minimalist than her previous works, Squeeze Me brims with Kennedy’s gift for catchy melodies with a certain pop appeal and psychedelic hues. The first single, "Rodeo," features hypnotic piano chords, shimmering synth basses, and glimmering choirs. 2025 will see Kennedy back on tour in Europe, supported by an international PR campaign to expand her global presence.

The double LP edition of „Koslowsky & Faaterland“ brings Floh de Cologne’s iconic sound to vinyl in its most immersive form.

Not only does the LP deliver a richer audio experience, but it also allows listeners to fully dive into the band’s expressive music and satirical lyrics. Just like the CD version, the double LP offers a sharp critique of social and political issues, delivered with Floh de Cologne’s signature humor and musical diversity. This vinyl release takes listeners on a journey between biting satire and deep, often humorous reflections. The fusion of rock, punk, and cabaretstyle satire gives this album its own unique character – a must-have for vinyl collectors and fans of thought-provoking music.

Immerse yourself in the world of Floh de Cologne and enjoy the intricate interplay of music, lyrics, and political commentary – a true vinyl experience.

“Form itself, even if completely abstract... has its own inner sound.”
— Wassily Kandinsky

We are thrilled to announce the release of Objection To Form, a protean dispatch from the fringes of 1980s-inspired wave and raw, rugged electro. Driven by arcane machines and imbued with a melancholic urban atmosphere, Objection To Form offers a warped, modern-day response to the sonic landscapes forged by the likes of Chris & Cosey, Shoc Corridor, The Normal, and Cabaret Voltaire.

Spanning eleven tracks, Objection To Form explores electro-tinged wave that resonates with today’s creative pulse. From the lo-fi machine sounds of Alpha Sequenz’s Dawn Lines and the rugged jams of Fiume’s Haïti Market Daze, to the implacable Electro cadenza delivered by Le Syndicat Electronique, the compilation unfolds like a fragmented narrative. L.F.T.’s Inside I Was Screaming, a cavernous, electro-wave anthem featuring the mythical British band The Children Of Leir, adds a deeply resonant dimension, while the relentless drive of Beau Wanzer’s The Johnnie’s Secret Sauce underscores the compilation's protean spirit.

Objection To Form delivers a forward-looking sonic experience—a space where experimentation meets timeless resonance.

All The Hits is the speedy follow up to Myriad Myriads’ debut album, Shardcore (released on Trilogy Tapes in September 2024). 200 vinyl pressed. Myriad Myriads was FKA Bass Clef. Wrong Speed Records have released two albums by Bass Clef (the 2020 limited vinyl reissue of 2011 cassette Inner Space Break Free and 2021 album Magnetic Chapters). Both organic and beautiful, both differing takes on electronic dancefloor - from 70's Germany, late 80's UK, and 90's Detroit. Myriad Myriads closed out the 2024 Wrong Speed Fest Weekender in the back room of a rowdy pub in Glastonbury (real Glastonbury, not Pilton). To watch up close and see the physicality was rapturous, to hear this music at volume positively transformative. All The Hits, recorded in Myriad Myriad's hometown of The Hague, Netherlands, is Carl Stone meets Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era. Carl Cox meets Harmonia. It's a headphone monster. Through a PA it will destroy. At home it's a living room shuffle, a synapse burster. It's a privilege for us to somehow be in the position to release records by Myriad Myriads / Bass Clef. We've known him for a long time. He's remixed a couple of Hey Colossus tunes. Check out the recent Patrick Cowley/Jorge Socarras covers 12" You Laugh At My Face on State 51 Conspiracy. His 22-minute-long reworking is a masterpiece. We love to be connected. We love Wrong Speed Records switching from Part Chimp to Myriad Myriads and on to Deep Cabaret via Jacken Elswyth. All come from the same place, if you feel it you know. This is our record collection

"The Affectionate Punch is the debut studio album by the Scottish post-punk and new wave band the Associates. The album was released on 1 August 1980. From the album ""The Affectionate Punch"" and ""A"" were released as singles. Upon its release, The Affectionate Punch was declared ""a kind of masterpiece"" by Paul Morley of the NME, who described it as ""a passionate cabaret soul music, a fulfilment of the European white dance music Bowie was flirting with back then."" None other than Robert Smith (the Cure) can be heard doing backing vocals on ""The Affectionate Punch"" and ""Even Dogs in the Wild"". Nigel Glockler (Saxon) is the drummer on this album. The Affectionate Punch is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on turquoise coloured vinyl and includes an insert."

Though she was Stax Records' Queen of Soul (and Otis Redding was her king), there was much more to Carla Thomas. In 1967, even while being promoted by the name of her most recent album, The Queen Alone, she was expanding her sound, developing a cabaret act that showcased a mix of genres and styles and that was built around her beautiful voice. She was exploring new vistas when these two sides were recorded.
Isaac Hayes wrote "Loneliness". Carla's suave delivery evokes Diana Ross, and the shiny brass horns call out a Burt Bacharach arrangement as much as Stax. This is Carla with a nice polish on the groove.
Labelmate and friend Deanie Parker wrote "If It's Not Asking Too Much". A sparer presentation, the organ drives the tango rhythm and also—a second keyboard, I think—swells behind Carla, everything entwining and deepening the song's brooding tone. This is the kind of side that can both start your night or finish it.
Carla Thomas has got it all.

When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his latest album, Ship to Shore, the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12-track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson. There’s the rumbling, Motown-style rhythm that propels “Trust,” and the straightforward riff-rock of “Turnstile Casanova.” The drone-y “The Old Pack Mule,” an “old man’s song” that takes musical cues from 1600s-era European music, and “Life’s a Bloody Show,” an ode to “snake-oil salesmen and hucksters” that floats on a glammy, cabaret-like melody that’s “almost like a parody of a Noël Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920s,” Thompson says. “I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there,” he says. “And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”

Ship To Shore by Richard Thompson, released 31 May 2024.

This version of Ship To Shore comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Sticker(s).

Northern Minimalism 3, the latest album from Mat Handley performing as Pulselovers, is a deeply personal “love letter to South Yorkshire, or at least to Doncaster and Sheffield”, not just the urban environment but the region’s post-punk and electronic-pop legacies.

Inspired by the concept of spreading a project over multiple formats taken from Virgin Prunes’ ‘A New Form of Beauty’, this is the first full album in Pulselovers’ on-going ‘Northern Minimalism’ series following a 7” and 10” release on other labels over the past few years.

Taking a different approach than the rurally-inspired ‘Cotswold Stone’ album, ‘Northern Minimalism 3’ delivers a sprawling, genre-hopping release that is less focused on melody but explores suburban drones and industrial rhythms.

“The term “Northern Minimalism” was coined by Simon Berkovitz of Sensory Leakage, who released my “Live at Doncaster College” tape in 2020,” adds Handley.

“I loved the description and wanted to use it to pay tribute to the early electronic and post-punk sounds I was listening to in the first two or three years of the 1980s, particularly The Human League (mk1), Cabaret Voltaire, John McGeoch (Magazine) and Eric Random.”

Pieces well and truly picked up by a who's who of collectors and selectors, the TD team follow Bobby Snacks' super smash with some seriously synthy slices from good buddies Miserymix.

A collaboration born behind the Piccadilly Records' counter, Miserymix is the dark disco alias of Goth Spice (Kohl AF, dressed in black and armed with nonpliments) and Mushy P (a toothy and goofy Talking Drummer). Based a mere 192 away from Senor Snacks in the thriving metropolis of Levenshulme, this pair of disco delinquents share a penchant for pingers, Prosecco and the lesser known corners of Europe's 80's club sound.

After a mysterious appearance on one of Duca Bianco's brilliant V/As, Miserymix drop their debut EP on Drum Chums, aiming directly for the dance floor.

The Italo-noir of 'Sexy Cowboys' gets the set off to a sleazy start, its seductive synths and strangled guitars riding throbbing bass and leather-clad percussion right into the darkroom, where the yelping vocal echoes over the creak of a swing. Miserymix push the tempo for the pacey disco pump of 'Proverbial S.O.B.', a peak-time stomper dubbed senseless for the perfect tops-off groove. Subtle kalimba, cut up vocals and orchestral hits find every sweet spot atop the one note bassline, while those airy piano chords steer us straight into the sublime.

Kicking off the flip is the uber-anthemic, endorphin-laced and mid-paced dancefloor destroyer 'E Motion'. Our disco duo spend plenty of time on the foreplay, teasing every ounce of ecstasy out of the nuanced perx, rolling bassline and sparkling synths before unleashing some flawless Francophone vocals on the way to a colossal chorus. Smouldering like a Propaganda club mix, this Europop obscurity has been upgraded into an accidental pill tune of perma-gurn proportions - this one is a road-tested dance floor sure shot.

Indulging the afterglow, Miserymix sign off with the superb synth pop of 'Name Game'. Stomping drum machines play host to an insistent bassline and some slinky keys, while the cucumber cool Euro vocal serves cabaret camp and maximum vamp.

Remember folks, the TD crew (drum)rolls deep...

100% Drum Fun Guaranteed!

Neuaufgelegt - das unglaubliche Debütalbum der 90er Popgruppe RSF ist endlich wieder in seiner ursprünglichen Form auf CD und LP erhältlich. Mit den Hitsingles "Deeply Dippy", "Don't Talk Just Kiss" und dem Welthit "I'm Too Sexy" (kürzlich neu interpretiert von Beyoncé, Taylor Swift und Drake). "A cultural touchstone" Rolling Stone. UP ist das erste Album der englischen Popgruppe Right Said Fred, das ursprünglich 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album (Us Billboard # 46, UK Album Charts # 1) enthält RSFs einzigen Top-40-Hit in den Vereinigten Staaten, "I'm Too Sexy", der im Februar 1992 sogar drei Wochen lang die Nummer eins der US Billboard Hot 100 war, sowie ihren einzigen Nummer-Eins-Hit im Vereinigten Königreich, "Deeply Dippy", der sich von April bis Mai 1992 drei Wochen lang in dieser Position hielt. Neben "I'm Too Sexy" gibt's auf UP noch mehr unerbittliche Hooks, viele campy Albernheiten und niveauvollen Trash, welche sich fast alle zu Ohrwürmern entwickeln, darunter die Albumtracks "No One on Earth", "Do Ya Feel" sowie natürlich die allseits beliebten "Don't Talk Just Kiss" (#2 Deutsche Single Charts) und "Deeply Dippy" (#1 UK Single Charts).1992 Album Charts G/S/A: Österreich (Ö3 Austria) #1, Deutschland (Offizielle Top 100) #8, Schweiz (Schweizer Hitparade) #22! "If Martians tried to approximate Earth music by channeling frivolous Top 40 like ABBA's, overwrought cabaret like Liza Minnelli's, and smart disco like the Pet Shop Boys', the result might sound like Up. - Arion Berger/Entertainment Weekly, 1992 Als klassisch schwarzes Vinyl mit DLC (streng limitierte rote LP mit DLC ebenfalls erhältlich) oder CD in Karton-Klappcover!

Neuaufgelegt - das unglaubliche Debütalbum der 90er Popgruppe RSF ist endlich wieder in seiner ursprünglichen Form auf CD und LP erhältlich. Mit den Hitsingles "Deeply Dippy", "Don't Talk Just Kiss" und dem Welthit "I'm Too Sexy" (kürzlich neu interpretiert von Beyoncé, Taylor Swift und Drake). "A cultural touchstone" Rolling Stone. UP ist das erste Album der englischen Popgruppe Right Said Fred, das ursprünglich 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album (Us Billboard # 46, UK Album Charts # 1) enthält RSFs einzigen Top-40-Hit in den Vereinigten Staaten, "I'm Too Sexy", der im Februar 1992 sogar drei Wochen lang die Nummer eins der US Billboard Hot 100 war, sowie ihren einzigen Nummer-Eins-Hit im Vereinigten Königreich, "Deeply Dippy", der sich von April bis Mai 1992 drei Wochen lang in dieser Position hielt. Neben "I'm Too Sexy" gibt's auf UP noch mehr unerbittliche Hooks, viele campy Albernheiten und niveauvollen Trash, welche sich fast alle zu Ohrwürmern entwickeln, darunter die Albumtracks "No One on Earth", "Do Ya Feel" sowie natürlich die allseits beliebten "Don't Talk Just Kiss" (#2 Deutsche Single Charts) und "Deeply Dippy" (#1 UK Single Charts).1992 Album Charts G/S/A: Österreich (Ö3 Austria) #1, Deutschland (Offizielle Top 100) #8, Schweiz (Schweizer Hitparade) #22! "If Martians tried to approximate Earth music by channeling frivolous Top 40 like ABBA's, overwrought cabaret like Liza Minnelli's, and smart disco like the Pet Shop Boys', the result might sound like Up. - Arion Berger/Entertainment Weekly, 1992 Als klassisch schwarzes Vinyl mit DLC (streng limitierte rote LP mit DLC ebenfalls erhältlich) oder CD in Karton-Klappcover!

Neuaufgelegt - das unglaubliche Debütalbum der 90er Popgruppe RSF ist endlich wieder in seiner ursprünglichen Form auf CD und LP erhältlich. Mit den Hitsingles "Deeply Dippy", "Don't Talk Just Kiss" und dem Welthit "I'm Too Sexy" (kürzlich neu interpretiert von Beyoncé, Taylor Swift und Drake). "A cultural touchstone" Rolling Stone. UP ist das erste Album der englischen Popgruppe Right Said Fred, das ursprünglich 1992 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album (Us Billboard # 46, UK Album Charts # 1) enthält RSFs einzigen Top-40-Hit in den Vereinigten Staaten, "I'm Too Sexy", der im Februar 1992 sogar drei Wochen lang die Nummer eins der US Billboard Hot 100 war, sowie ihren einzigen Nummer-Eins-Hit im Vereinigten Königreich, "Deeply Dippy", der sich von April bis Mai 1992 drei Wochen lang in dieser Position hielt. Neben "I'm Too Sexy" gibt's auf UP noch mehr unerbittliche Hooks, viele campy Albernheiten und niveauvollen Trash, welche sich fast alle zu Ohrwürmern entwickeln, darunter die Albumtracks "No One on Earth", "Do Ya Feel" sowie natürlich die allseits beliebten "Don't Talk Just Kiss" (#2 Deutsche Single Charts) und "Deeply Dippy" (#1 UK Single Charts).1992 Album Charts G/S/A: Österreich (Ö3 Austria) #1, Deutschland (Offizielle Top 100) #8, Schweiz (Schweizer Hitparade) #22! "If Martians tried to approximate Earth music by channeling frivolous Top 40 like ABBA's, overwrought cabaret like Liza Minnelli's, and smart disco like the Pet Shop Boys', the result might sound like Up. - Arion Berger/Entertainment Weekly, 1992 Als klassisch schwarzes Vinyl mit DLC (streng limitierte rote LP mit DLC ebenfalls erhältlich) oder CD in Karton-Klappcover!

Foundation music are proud to present our second project with the formidable talent that is Crooked Man aka Parrot, known to his mother as Richard Barratt.

The DJ turned producer from Sheffield, founder and resident at the seminal Jive Turkey night, member of Warp’s Sweet Exorcist, musical partner with the late great Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire), producer to such maverick talents as Roisin Murphy and Add N to X, longtime Jarvis Cocker collaborator and remixer to a myriad of artists over several decades.

More recently, Parrot's project with internationally renowned Jazz singer Lady Blackbird, Athletes Of God, released two singles on Foundation Music ‘Don’t Want To Be Normal’ and the clubland hit ‘Fontella’ that were both playlisted by 6Music.

Lady Blackbird now flies the nest, with the divine Earth Angel swooping into her place. A seminal, reclusive, heavenly voiced singer, also from Yorkshire and with deep roots in the soul and dub scenes… And no, it's not Lisa Stansfield!

A project that has its roots way back in the Sheffield’s Blues parties and Jive Turkey itself. The club being a home to all forms of exciting new Black music, from ’85 through to the early days of the UK’s dance explosion. It sees Parrot take all that he has achieved, written and learnt over the years at the cutting edge of electronic, dance-inflected, production and DJing returning to those heady days of down tempo, body moving, speaker shaking music that would move the British underground soul/funk scene in the mid to late 80’s.

Call it 'street soul', '80’s soul', 'electro soul'… Earth Angel is all of those things but it is also very firmly rooted in the NOW! Not some retro pastiche, it incorporates so much more. With elements of techno, bleep, dub and any other studio trickery that Parrot cares to employ in order to suck you into Earth Angels’ druggy, hypnotic, sexy, “Mogadon Soul”. A four songed, eight tracked vinyl EP, featuring some classic songwriting from the glory days of soul and Crooked Man’s bass heavy electronic rhythms.

Welcome to the heavenly world of Earth Angel, the journey starts here.


DJ Support:

Luke Una, Ross Allen, Sean Johnson (ALFOS) & Kebal.

In the five years since Creep Show’s acclaimed Mr Dynamite album was released it’s fair to say that we’ve all been through a fair bit. Sitting here, in 2023, things don’t seem to be getting any better. There’s the cost of living crisis and political meltdowns; we're in deep water with global warming and to top it all there’s a war on our doorstep.

Back in 2018 everything seemed less complicated. Sure, there was stuff to get riled about, but we knew nothing about what was to come. Mr Dynamite was a fairground ride into the dark corners of a world that was on the brink of being blitzed in a blender. It was a record teetering on the edge. Five years down the line you’d expect the follow-up, Yawning Abyss, would double-down and bring the white-knuckled, teeth-gritted fury of the last five years to the boil. And yet….

A quick recap? No problem. Wrangler + John Grant = Creep Show. And Creep Show? “A band of musical misfits who have found a voice or two”, says Wrangler’s Ben “Benge” Edwards, whose Bond villain studio on the edge of a moorland is Creep Show Grand Central as well as home to an analogue synth arsenal that could sink ships.

Wrangler have known each other for a while. Tunng’s electronics wizard Phil Winter and Cabaret Voltaire’s trailblazing, pioneering frontman Stephen Mallinder go way back, while Phil and Benge crossed paths in the 21st century when they seemed to be increasingly in the same venues at the same times. Meanwhile, Mal had been living in Australia since the mid-90s and when, in 2007, he returned to the UK his old pal Phil suggested he meet Benge and the three of them immediately began working together.

Wrangler collectively bumped into Grant at their soundcheck for Sheffield’s Sensoria Festival in 2014 where they were playing with Carter Tutti. A friendship blossomed and when they were invited to perform together for Rough Trade’s 40th anniversary show at London’s Barbican in 2016, well, they jumped at the chance... and Creep Show was born.

Let’s talk about the new album... What is the ‘Yawning Abyss’? You might well ask. According to Mal, it’s “a cosmic event horizon that I can see from my attic window when stand on a chair”. Yeah. Thanks.

“On this album”, offers Benge, feet firmly on the floor, “Wrangler wrangled some vintage synths, mostly Roland, Moog, and the ‘Crystal Machine’ - then John Grant joined in the fun at Memetune Studios where lots of musical experiments were carried out. Then Mal and John ran off to Iceland with the master tapes and recorded a load of madcap vocals. Back at Memetune, me and Phil were left to try and make sense of it all. Which wasn’t hard because what they did in Iceland was totally magnificent.”

Which kind of brings us back to where we began. You’d imagine ‘Yawning Abyss’ would be blowing steam out of its furious ears. Mr Dynamite but kicking a wasps nest. Repeatedly. And yet…

Opener ‘The Bellows’ comes on like a modular ‘Radio Ga Ga’, the singalong ‘Moneyback’ (“You want your money back? / I didn’t think so”) sounds like Godley & Creme’s ‘Snack Attack’ meets Prince Charles And The City Beat Band (“Pennies, pounds, dollar bills, signed agreements, death wills”). ‘Yahtzee!’ is an unhinged electro breakdance party in four minutes and nine seconds.

Where Mr Dynamite was menace, a mélange of mangled voices, with Grant and Mallinder being heavily treated, pitched up or down, rendering their contributions largely indistinguishable, Yawning Abyss takes a more direct approach. You hesitate to say feelgood, but there’s a skip in the step here for sure.

The title track plays John Grant’s vocal straight. Completely. It’s good, so very good. Like ‘Axel F’ covered by Vangelis. The delicious shimmering synths of ‘Bungalow’ also plays those Grant pipes with a straight bat. ‘Matinee’ delves into darker, very funky territory. With Mal upfront it comes on like ‘The Crackdown’. Choice lyric: “You are starting to breakdown / And it’s so fun for me to see / You should have thought of that / You should have come prepared / You can see what’s happening and you look a little scared”.

So, you know, not all feelgood. But it does feel good. It’s probably best to draw your own conclusions... This is Creep Show after all.

Following the partnership between Altrimenti and Quindi for a suite of remixes of Cabaret du Ciel, the two Italian labels collaborate once again to explore three vivid versions of tracks from Woo's exquisite album Paradise In Pimlico. The verdant, delicate musicality of Woo's original material offers an abundance of riches for remixers, and the results are true to Altrimenti's stated purpose to explore and experiment in the fusion of different approaches to electronic music.

On the A side, Joseph Tagliabue offers up a snaking, psychedelically charged dancefloor vision of 'Cadenza d'Innocenza'. Milan-based Tagliabue has developed a potent sonic signature across releases for labels like Invisible Inc. and Sound Metaphors before starting his own Blue Sea Studio as an outlet for his expanding work into the field of contemporary soundtracks. That cinematic sensibility comes through in waves on this subtly trance-licked epic - a soaring set piece for the most dramatic of party situations.

On the B side, Leeway opens proceedings with his remix of 'Even More Notes'. As the founder of Wain Records and the Scram club night, the London-based producer is fostering a culture of leftfield dance music with an organic sensibility. On his interpretation of Woo, he offers up a more experimental, dub-informed strain of 4/4 club rhythms.

Completing the set, Other Lands & Linkwood join forces for their approach to 'Gold Star'. Other Lands is also known as Fudge Fingas, and alongside Linkwood he helped shape the warm, deeply rooted house sound of seminal label Firecracker Recordings. The duo's affinity for soulful musicianship and the disco roots of house music comes through in this spiralling, hazy rendition perfectly pitched at moments when a softer, more spiritual approach is needed without losing the guidance of an insistent groove.

Once again the overarching theme on this collection of remixes remains quality - a pursuit of meaningful expression, originality and open-hearted musicality. From the source material to the resulting remixes, the pursuit was a successful one.

Future Jazzers, notorious experimentalists and outfield eccentrics stumble onto the dancefloor. In the 90s. In the UK.

From an electronic music perspective, the period 1992 to 1996 in the UK that this compilation celebrates, was one of dizzying sonic diversification.

It was also a particularly turbulent time in the UK, not only politically and economically, but also culturally too. Economic catastrophe in ‘92 was followed by widespread poverty, a cost of living crisis and countless political scandals. Meanwhile, John Major’s Tory government pandered to its political base via unpleasant, authoritarian legislation that seemingly sought to crush rave culture, alternative lifestyles, and traveller communities. The UK was not so much a ‘Happy Land’ – to quote the name of this compilation – as an angry and divided one. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Throughout, the music created by producers based across these Isles remained uniquely British, speeding up a process begun in the late 1980s through the emergence of street soul, bleep & bass and breakbeat hardcore – musical styles whose roots in multicultural inner-city communities made them distinctly different from the Black American sounds that had inspired their creators. It was here, rather than in the indie pubs of Camden, that real musical revolutions were taking place.

This deep diving selection brings together some truly adventurous and original electronic music from this period, much of it very hard to find. Major label outings connect with white label oddities with ease. Perhaps it could even be argued that many of these unearthed gems fit more easily into DJ sets in 2023 than they ever did at the time. The off-kilter swing of Richard D James’ obscure and highly sought after Strider B outing, ‘Bradley’s Robot’ is joined by further rare cuts from Cabaret Voltaire and the Black Dog, and artists as diverse as Ultramarine, Herbert, Fretless AZM, and Radioactive Lamb, amongst others.

This collection has been lovingly selected, compiled and mastered for maximum sonic playback. This very special release boasts sublime pastoral themed artwork, as well as informative and passionate liner notes by celebrated music scribe Matt Anniss (‘Join The Future’).

"El Pasaje del Aumento" is a collection of syncopated rhythms for hypnotic slow dance. An accident of oppressive atmospheres with a humorous sense of rhythm and composition, which moves between downtempo, African rhythms and dub. With a certain oriental softness, it introduces you into a state of enchantment, spell... a hypnotic and mysterious restlessness, almost uncomfortable. Sentuhlà squeezes his Yamaha Rm1x on this second album, creating rhythms that you would never believe possible with a single synthesizer. He spins, twists and strangles it to the limit, til getting the last drop of frequency and oscillation.

Without too obvious references, it recalls the rhythms of Toulouse Low Trax or Wolf Müller, the experimentation of Muslimgauze, the repetition of Huerco S... But if you ask Sentuhlà himself, he will also mention Fela Kuti, Sun Ra, Can, Cabaret Voltaire, Tom Zé or Lee Scratch Perry...

Sentuhlà is one of the many aliases of musical jack of all trades José Guerrero, a long-standing figure in the already rich underground scene of Valencia. In this solo excursion, he explores the vast possibilities of mechanical repetition, the machine funk of dirtbag rhythms, and proper boogie DIY synth music, sculpting a syncopated sound that is both modern and atavistic. Coming from a deep knowledge and ability to communicate very diverse sounds, slow jams unfold into dance music for clear-eyed lounge lizards for whom sleaze comes not dizzy but focused. Whitened African rhythms beat up no-wave disco pleasure points, managing the hard task of being very cool and nonchalant, but also hot and dedicated.

Originally released on cassette in the spring of 1984 together with the 5th issue of Tribal Cabaret fanzine - included here in its original format - this is an invaluable document focusing on the obscure side of the 80’s Italian post-punk scene. A composite picture drawn by a bunch of different and often under recorded groups from various Italian regions and cities. All together they contribute to defining a prominently dark yet vivid soundscape based on different approaches and styles. All these aspects are perfectly translated through the b&w art and graphics of the beautiful Tribal Cabaret fanzine. If you want to dive deep into the fringes of the 80’s this is one of the places to start.

Frogs 11 A side 'Studios, Squats and Trucks' is an epic 'Frogs' classic. You can only wiggle and smile once the fanfare driven groove starts. This tune will take you from a cabaret gipsy step to a hektic jungle knees up banger and finally wrap its cushty dub vibes around you. This progressive yet cohesive anthem nails the definition of Clown-Step once and for all.

This huge dance floor killer is the result of the collaboration between Ed Cox (Accordion/Prog), DJ Stivs (Drum Prog), Bang Crosby (Vox), Freddyfrogs (Prog), Waynes Maslin (Trombonne), Carl Davies (Clarinette/Sax) Frogs 11 B side 'Fucked up with you' will convince any raver to stand up and dance! This hard techno banger rests on its bassline to deliver the mighty vocal 'Get Get Get fucked up with you'. The huge drop transitions from the DnB beat tand tips your rave into its darkest hours.... Frogs 11 B side 'The way to go' offers a radically different atmosphere from the other tunes on this release. Freddyfrogs explores here the tribal force of an emotional heart beat. The nagging build up reaches it's climax to fall into death itself and rebirth into the light. Let your mind wonder into its deepest corners....

AM006 is by Berlin's ML, titled 'Life always breaks your heart'. Two 30-minute pieces were written, constructed, collaged and fixed together by himself. It's an important story, so there's a copy from ML below and also ours was written by Bokeh Version Industrial to do it justice.

Hallucinated Brazilian poetry read by text to voice engines, supernatural thrillers ripped from Youtube, the clang of cutlery and distant canteen conversation, that noise wire fencing makes when you rake it with a stick, crickets chirping over odd dance emotions, a sample you think your recognise but can’t name…..

The trivial is cosmically important, the cosmically important is trivial. ‘It’s about the product’ - all of life’s a sample. You contain universes.

Alice in Wonderland, late night sessions with kosmische guitar legends, ethnographic chants from an unknown land, “There’s no monopoly of knowledge / there’s no monopoly of power”: forecasts from global political trends, China will be important they say, someone’s whistling a tune that doesn’t exist, I’m thinking of times long before I was born . . .

Growing naturally like a beautiful montage from his field recordings (a rich library of personal psychoacoustic details) and his 150 Session on NTS, ML's Life Always Breaks Your Heart is mixtape-concrète:

Gamelan of the soul, Bio-Curry-Wurst in Kreuzberg, zither overlays the booms of the squatter’s homegrade grenades…

Mark Leckey vs. Alvin Curran, Gustav Flaubert vs Cabaret Voltaire, free association flashbacks with the timestamps mixed up, with added bass guitar, OP-1, Ableton, distinguishing the ‘real’ instruments becomes unimportant….they’re absorbed by memory foam….

No country, no flag – outernational without a cause!

There is no purpose, there is only reverie.

ML -

"A useless ruin, things are falling apart, even in our deepest, we long for harmony. A hypothetical path, for obscure reasons, fades into transparency. The mediocrity of Western culture, sicken by P.R., life offers a chance, a place for enthusiasm. The texture of the world, them can read it in your eyes. In the heart of schizo-culture, distance, suddenly shortened, forms characters as symbols. Deafen by mass media, embittered by unsettled chemistry, the willing body, forever in transition. The pre-invented existence, owned by language, creates a passage towards chaos. Paragraphs of currents, amplify the feelings, while silence leaks into the new luxury of time. Gentrification of sentiments, beneath our palms, all these memoirs. A modern consciousness, stretching over years in narcissistic differentiation. In touch with another human spirit, blowing backwards, beneath dark waters. We put our hands on your body, onto a new landscape, employed by metaphysical mutations. At the edge of the cosmos, prairies and mountains hide the truth in tactical silence. Apparently so, a number of months ago, above our head, a landscape of journals. Mystical content, statistically insignificant. A new patio, them crawled through the walls."

Number 23 from Continental Drift seems to be all about the journey. These are slowly evolving groovy tracks, never staying totally loopy and often being a bit sly about the direction they're headed.

Perspectives Shift, the rst track and release namesake starts out as a oating tune centering around the Mathew Jonson-style wandering bassline melody; it gradually churns thick with rhythmic action and
counterpoint chords. Deep Summer Techno is trippy acid that plays with time and space, maybe channelling a bit of that CABARET Recordings spirit from Ospovat's time in Japan. Finally, the whole B-side is dedicated to Conoley’s rework of label co-owner and dear friend c_olvrin’s Cryogenic Freezing Of Friends, a more Chicago-house excursion, full of groove and many-textured details.

REPRESS

A stunning survey of the 1970s heyday of this great Japanese singer and countercultural icon.

Deep-indigo, dead-of-night enka, folk and blues, inhaling Billie Holiday and Nina Simone down to the bone.

A traditional waltz abuts Nico-style incantation; defamiliarised versions of Oscar Brown Jr and Bessie Smith collide with big-band experiments alongside Shuji Terayama; a sitar-led psychedelic wig-out runs into a killer excursion in modal, spiritual jazz.
Existentialism and noir, mystery and allure, hurt and hauteur.
With excellent notes by Alan Cummings and the fabulous photographs of Hitoshi Jin Tamura.
Hotly recommended.

To a degree, all musicians are a product of their environment, the places they record and the venues they play. For proof, check out the alumni of the n-wave era CBGBs venue in New York, Cabaret Voltaire’s Western Works studio in Sheffield or more recently London’s Total Refreshment Centre.

We can now add to that list the Constellations Workshop in Colwick, Nottingham, a project that provides employment through making studio furniture, for out-of-work musicians. It was here, after-hours, that the music on Brown Fang’s impressive and ear-catching debut album took shape.

Both members of Brown Fang, bassist John Thompson and guitarist Henry Scott AKA Henry Claude, have a long association with the Constellations Workshop. Though their musical projects are manifold – Thompson having toured with the likes of The Nectarine No9 and The Selecter, with Scott being both a mainstay of Nottingham jazz circuit and recording ambient music as Fang Jr – the work provided by the community-minded project has kept their heads above water and allowed them a space to record in when the shutters go down and the bandsaws get switched off.

Yet the music showcased on Sherwood Pines is more morning-fresh and sun-kissed than industrial and sawdust-sprinkled. Combining the pair’s brilliant musicianship – think languid bass guitars and Pat Martino-esque jazz guitar licks – with saucer-eyed electronics, occasional downtempo drum machine rhythms and plenty of glistening special effects, the set’s eight tracks are as blissful and becalmed as an early morning saunter through Sherwood Forest on a misty autumn morning.

For proof, check epic opener ‘Tracing Paper’, a slow-build ambient soundscape in which bubbly electronic lead lines and colourful chords sashay around Scott’s sparkling, laidback guitars, and the beguiling ‘That’s All You Can Think’, a subtle tribute to Steve Reich masterpiece ‘Electric Counterpoint’ in which slow-burn, stretched out synthesizer sounds wave in and out of a gradually evolving cycle of delay-laden electric guitar motifs.

The band’s love of classic American minimalism – as well as a shared love of the Duratti Column and Robert Fripp – comes to the fore on ‘HDMI I Love You’, which boasts a deliciously dubby bassline, Tangerine Dream style synths and the deepest of ambient chords, while ‘I Nearly Married a Human’ and ‘Fridgewords’ balance bespoke electronics – languid, dewy eyed and comforting – with Scott’s gorgeously laidback, slow-release guitars.

Every great album needs a triumphant conclusion, and Sherwood Pines is no different. You can hear everything that makes Brown Fang great on ‘Goodbye Donkey Jacket’, from the pin sharp, effects laden jazziness of Scott’s guitars and the fluid dexterity of Thompson’s bass, to the pleasingly spacey pulse of the synths and the gentle rhythms of the soft-focus machine drums. It’s a confident, ear-catching conclusion to a debut album that’s been years in the making.

Quindi Records returns once more to the swooning romanticism of Cabaret du Ciel, the long-running project from Andrea Desidera and Gian Luigi Morosin. After the contemporary material which made up long-player The Breath Of Infinity, Raintears heads back into the group's archives and focuses on a limited cassette release from 1991.

Originally released on Morosin's own Ionisation Tapes, Raintears is described as heralding a new phase for Cabaret du Ciel following their earlier Solarisation and Weather Colours cassettes. This revised, expanded version of the release opens with 'Raintears (Piano Version)', which originally came out on an Ionisation compilation entitled Imago Sonora 1. Truly evoking the spirit of the track and its meaning, it was recorded on a rainy Sunday afternoon when Desidera's friend and trained pianist Francesco Martignon heard the original melody for 'Raintears' and proceeded to improvise on the theme, with Desidera and Morosin embellishinbg Martignon's exquisite playing with subtle touches of synth and sampling. In its fragile, tape-worn repose, the piece is loaded with the delicate ambience a rainy Sunday afternoon implies - calm, melancholic and wistful.

'A New Day' is a piece cast in light and shade, contrasting two core melodic phrases expressed through synth and guitar, with a light touch of speech sampling adding to the cinematic poise of the track. 'Time Of The Twins' originally appeared as a single track on the cassette release, but here it's framed as two distinct parts which meet in the middle. The first half is patient, gliding ambience rich in the harmonic interplay and winding narratives which typifies Cabaret du Ciel overall. The second half opens up like a flower looking for the sun, all pronounced keys pirouetting across the fundamental chord progression established in the first chapter.

'A Delvaux Postcard', previously titled 'East Roads', takes on a spectral, spacious form as it passes by slow, rhythmic pulses and freewheeling synths, momentarily joined by scattered shards of sampled voice layered and filtered in a manner which reminded Morosin of Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux. The EP closes with the original version of 'Raintears' (billed here as 'Raintears II'), a plaintive and disarmingly beautiful ambient piece centered on Desidera's light and poignant playing. As Morosin himself describes, "Andrea is in a full state of grace, touching the listener through his fingers with the notes into their deepest emotions. The first time I listened to the basic version, I was just speechless."

strumentalist Teddy Lasry's story is noteworthy not just in regards to the music he released, but in the ways approached the craft of composing and experimenting with sounds and sonics.
Always intrigued with the capabilities of instruments, their groove and their feel, it was very much his family’s influence that helped to fuel these life long affections. As a performer in a parisien cabaret, Teddy’s father Jacques would mingle with giants like Serge
Gainsbourg and Charlie Chaplin (impressed by his ability to improvise, Chaplin wanted him to become his accompanist, but the pianist politely refused). Jacques and his wife (Teddy’s mother Yvonne), would later become members of the innovative experimental group Les Structures Sonores, and surround their children’s lives with sounds. Electronic music was still in its infancy and Les Structures Sonores, with their resonators that produced long, mysterious tones, were deemed ‘cosmic’. It was the era of the launching of the first Russian Sputnik and every time a radio or television station wanted music for their science fiction programs, they turned to one of their compositions. Showing a natural ability with multi instrumentalism, Teddy was rewarded with a spot in the band, allowing him to really explore unconventional methods of composition.
Following a brief stint with Ariane Mnouchkine's avant-garde Théâtre du Soleil after graduating school, Teddy joined the pioneering prog band Magma, with whom he would record three groundbreaking records during the early 1970s (According to former member
Laurent Thibault, their album Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh and its sound were strong influences on David Bowie during the recording
of Low and Iggy Pop’s The Idiot at Hérouville). Despite the successes with these projects, Teddy was constantly searching for new ways
of expressing himself through music, leading him into the beginnings of a solo career that would last the better part of three decades.
Teddy’s transition into his solo career came with contrasting fortunes, in that he was now becoming a music to image composer but with the unfortunate realisation that his eyesight was gradually worsening (due to being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at an early age). Nonetheless, his solo career would begin in 1975, and for the rest of the decade his sound would become increasingly mired in electrified Funk-Fusion and its endless sonic possibilities. The resulting music would serve to highlight Teddy’s love affair with the possibilities found within tireless instrumentation, with the flute and particularly synthesisers becoming a mini-obession of his (he once spent a 7,000 Francs loan, which was meant to be spent on fixing his roof, on synths).
To this day Teddy continues to record and experiment with music, a passion which in many ways has never left his sid, even at the age of 75. His career was one that was fuelled by innate curiosity and an intrinsic desire to discover new methods of expressionism, be it through the realms of Jazz-Funk, ambient electronics, Swing music or indeed through the medium of instrumentation itself. On this compilation, we look to encapsulate the essence of his innovative sound, and from start to finish a sense of his ingenious approach to composing structure and mood is made abundantly clear. The funk-jazz fusion style that embodied the majority of his 70s work is on full display here, with the vibrant flute driven "Los Angeles", the Miles Davis inspired "Blue Theme", the progressive and driving
"Chamonix", and the deeply intricate "Krazy Kat", along with one of his finest 80s slow jams, "Funky Ghost". Two cuts off the ‘Back To
Amazonia’ album are also featured (Teddy’s last album including his Prophet T8, Yamaha DX7 and Oberheim drum machines). "Raising
Sun in Bali" and the title piece both emphasise an ever present passion for synthesisers. "Birds of Space", a standout track off the e=mc2 album, closes the comp, and is a fitting way to end this journey.
Pulled together in close collaboration with Teddy and his family, this collection of songs looks to introduce new listeners to his work and we are proud to present this limited and carefully remastered compilation on vinyl, including extensive liner notes.

Yellow Vinyl

The first release on Optimo Music founder JD Twitch’s new compilation-focused label Cease & Desist will be a collection of pioneering turn-of-the-90s British “Bleep & Bass” techno tracks curated by author and music journalist Matt Anniss.

Join The Future: UK Bleep & Bass 1988-91 is a partner product to Anniss’s critically acclaimed book on the foundations of British dance music’s ongoing love affair with sub-bass, Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music. The book, which was published by Velocity Press in December and features a foreword by JD Twitch, documents in vivid detail the previously untold story of the Yorkshire-pioneered style and the impact it had on the development of UK dance music.

The compilation is the first to focus on Bleep & Bass since the sound’s heyday in the late 1980s and early ’90s. It features a mix of historic cuts, period classics, overlooked gems and unreleased material. It was mastered for release by Warp Records co-founder and Forgemasters member Rob Gordon, a producer, remixer and studio engineer who arguably did more than anyone else to define the sub-heavy sound of the style.

Gordon also contributed a previously unheard version of Alfanso’s “Dub Feels Nice”, a near mythical track he produced in 1991 that has never received a proper commercial release. The cut has been a secret weapon for a handful of Sheffield DJs for almost 30 years, most notably Gordon’s fellow Forgemasters member Winston Hazel. Fittingly, the compilation also includes the original unreleased instrumental version of Tuff Little Unit’s Steel City classic “Join The Future”.

Many of the other tracks on the compilation are rare, hard to find or have not been issued on vinyl or digital since their initial release. It opens with Unique 3 and the Mad Musician’s “Only The Beginning” – the 1988 A-side of the first ever Bleep record – and also includes tracks and remixes from fellow scene pioneers Ital Rockers (an early alias of dub hero Iration Steppas), Nightmares on Wax, Cabaret Voltaire and DJ Martin and DJ Homes, the previously unheralded Chapeltown duo behind the influential Leeds-based studio and record label BASSIC.

Elsewhere on the compilation you’ll find Birmingham producer Demonik’s sought-after debut single “Layrinthe”, a hard-to-find cut from Bedford-based men of mystery Original Clique, two classic cuts from the vaults of influential Midlands label Network Records and a glassy-eyed slab of Bleep/deep house fusion from 100 Hz.

Join The Future: UK Bleep & Bass 1988-91 will be released on double vinyl and digital download. The 10-track vinyl version features an insert with extensive liner notes by Matt Anniss. It also comes with a code to download the 12-track digital download version. The compilation will be released by Cease & Desist on March 25th 2020.

Cabaret Voltaire is Richard H. Kirk and ‘Shadow of
Fear’ was the band’s first studio album in 26 years,
released in 2020 to critical acclaim.
‘Dekadrone’ delves deeper into Cabaret Voltaire’s
arsenal of “harsh rhythms and threatening
detonations” (Classic Pop).
A brand-new drone album on CD packaged in a
gatefold card pack and white double vinyl in a
gatefold sleeve with full colour inner bags and high
definition audio download. (‘Dekadrone’ is
presented across the double LP as four ‘Phases’.)
“‘Shadow of Fear’ is a brash and confident
rebirth… Richard H. Kirk has chosen a good time to
revive the Cabs’ ominous industrial funk” - Uncut
(8*)
“Masterclass in shapeshifting disco… clinches these
industrial shadow-dwellers’ influence” - Mojo (4/5)
“Kirk is intent on pushing forward, ensuring that
the hints of familiarity never come with an
accompanying tang of comforting nostalgia.” - The
Guardian (4/5)
“A lot has changed in the past 26 years, but what
hasn’t altered is Cabaret Voltaire’s knack for eerie
but danceable post-punk.” - NME

Cabaret Voltaire is Richard H. Kirk and ‘Shadow of
Fear’ was the band’s first studio album in 26 years
and was released in 2020 to critical acclaim.
The single ‘Shadow of Funk’ delves deeper into
Cabaret Voltaire’s arsenal of “vocal samples, harsh
rhythms and threatening detonations” (Classic Pop).
Three brand new tracks released on Curacao coloured vinyl with digital download code included.

NEP was a loose multimedia collective formed in 1982 Zagreb, ex-Yugoslavia. The founder Dejan Krsic collaborated with various artists in a quest of re-thinking the stale concepts of art history, position of the author and the barriers between pop and elitist high culture. Heavily influenced by Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol in theory and Brian Eno and Kraftwerk in music, Krsic created NEP as an umbrella term (meaning Nova Evropa or New Europe) of diverse rule-breaking activities, covering graphic design, music, photography, video, news-media and theoretical work. Musically NEP focused on experiments in ambient and tape-music, self-released and hard to find compilation tapes like "The Cassette Played Poptones" (1988). Deeply immersed in pop-culture, politics and art theory Krsic's search for perfect pop music with cutting critical edge peaked in 1989, the year 'Decadance' track was conceived in studio. Fox & His Friends published the single in 2017 with Snuffo Remix on B-side. It received rave reviews in music press like MixMag and DJ Mag and it is still played on dance-floors around the world. But the story around the NEP is musically (as well as artistically) much wider: for the first time Fox & His Friends team compiles best cuts from unreleased and rare NEP tapes, covering the period from 1985 to 1989 on POP NOT POP abum. Dejan Krsic is now famous graphic designer and art historian in Croatia. Other collaborators include Laibach and Borghesia photographer Jane Stravs, artist and TV director Gordana Brzovic, Jovan Culibrk, now Bishop at The Serbian Orthodox Church and Anja Rupel, singer of cult Yugoslavian synth-pop group Videosex as well as the other members of Videosex, Iztok Turk and Janez Krizaj who produced some of the tracks. Other collaborators were talented producers Robert Logozar and Davor Daga Devcic, singers Linda Cooper, Natalija, Alexx Kovacs... The list of collaborations is long. Some of the memorable moments on POP NOT POP album are early demo version of Decadance 'How Do I Dance To This Music?' with blue movies samples and drum machine experiments like early Cabaret Voltaire, then Krsic's reinterpretation of legendary Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express anthem as 'Transcendance', or 'Radical Chic', where Dejan himself and Anja Rupel from Videosex make lovely couple of dandy-esque fashionistas, singing chart-friendly radio synthpop tune that contrasts the A-side (The 'NOT POP' side) - full of experiments, dark wave and industrial nods to Test Department and Cabs. B-side is 'THE POP' side that will surprise most of the NEP followers from their early experimental cassette days. Sunny, danceable, joyfull pop that reveals the many faces of NEP. As Kraftwerk today is more of a concept than a band, NEP does the same by re-writing its products (musical, graphical, theoretical, activist) and constantly puts them in permanent state of change or re-mix. In the future, only NEP logo will be enough to consider something an art piece, and NEP will be everybody who wants to, as their Art Manifest claims. Until that day comes, 'POP NOT POP' is a document of how the vivid and creative were art-scenes in socialist Yugoslavia. Some of the graphic work, cut-ups from theory and Manifesto are also included on this LP, designed by Dejan Krsic aka NEP himself. This release is made from the original master tapes and published for the first time on vinyl.