Search:episodic

As WARNING prepares to release Rituals of Shame - their first new music in twenty years,vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker is self-effacing about what led to this moment. Over the last two decades he continued to write and release music, satisfied that he had achieved what he set out to do with WARNING. In those intervening years, interest in WARNING swelled, organically gathering an ardent fanbase. In particular, the 2006 album, Watching from a Distance, has gained a cult following. In response to a transformative period in his life, Walker turned towards writing new songs, and it soon became apparent that these belonged to WARNING. In early January 2025, he started with a completely blank canvas, and piece by piece, he started to fill it with ideas that evolved to become the songs that make up Rituals of Shame.

His immersion in the project became a full-time pursuit. After successfully demoing the five songs, Walker retreated to a remote house on a hill outside Florence, Italy, to refine the lyrics. Recording took place at The Arch Studio, a 140-year-old former church in Southport, UK. Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver) handled the recording and mixing. Walker's lifelong musical inspirations can be traced through Rituals of Shame. The ambitious structural arrangements harken to Marillion’s complex but soaring episodic songs. They retain a sparsity that is reminiscent of June Tabor’s economic arrangements; thick with melody but with a diaphanous air to them. Citing John Brenner of Revelation as an enduring inspiration, Patrick credits him with introducing the idea of how to infuse heavy music with significant emotional depth. Often reluctant to discuss the minutiae of his lyrics, Walker does acknowledge that making this album was a direct response to the immediate concerns of his current life period. Rituals of Shame also echoes the enduring themes and fixations that have marked most of his work: guilt, shame, personal failure, obsession, longing, and separation, but, most of all, he says, love. Short: WARNING return with Rituals of Shame - the pioneering Doom band's first new music in 20 years! FFO: My Dying Bride, Candlemass, YOB, Black Sabbath, 40 Watt Sun, Pallbearer, Pagan Altar

As WARNING prepares to release Rituals of Shame - their first new music in twenty years,vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker is self-effacing about what led to this moment. Over the last two decades he continued to write and release music, satisfied that he had achieved what he set out to do with WARNING. In those intervening years, interest in WARNING swelled, organically gathering an ardent fanbase. In particular, the 2006 album, Watching from a Distance, has gained a cult following. In response to a transformative period in his life, Walker turned towards writing new songs, and it soon became apparent that these belonged to WARNING. In early January 2025, he started with a completely blank canvas, and piece by piece, he started to fill it with ideas that evolved to become the songs that make up Rituals of Shame.

His immersion in the project became a full-time pursuit. After successfully demoing the five songs, Walker retreated to a remote house on a hill outside Florence, Italy, to refine the lyrics. Recording took place at The Arch Studio, a 140-year-old former church in Southport, UK. Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver) handled the recording and mixing. Walker's lifelong musical inspirations can be traced through Rituals of Shame. The ambitious structural arrangements harken to Marillion’s complex but soaring episodic songs. They retain a sparsity that is reminiscent of June Tabor’s economic arrangements; thick with melody but with a diaphanous air to them. Citing John Brenner of Revelation as an enduring inspiration, Patrick credits him with introducing the idea of how to infuse heavy music with significant emotional depth. Often reluctant to discuss the minutiae of his lyrics, Walker does acknowledge that making this album was a direct response to the immediate concerns of his current life period. Rituals of Shame also echoes the enduring themes and fixations that have marked most of his work: guilt, shame, personal failure, obsession, longing, and separation, but, most of all, he says, love. Short: WARNING return with Rituals of Shame - the pioneering Doom band's first new music in 20 years! FFO: My Dying Bride, Candlemass, YOB, Black Sabbath, 40 Watt Sun, Pallbearer, Pagan Altar

Their episodic EP Shoganai displays the bands sonic evolution - a fusion of Asian popculture, contemporary metalcore, and a dash of Spanish heritage

Playing further in the conceptual universe of Ginger Root came Nisemono EP. In the universe, Cameron is now writing and producing for a new Japanese Idol named Kimiko Takeguchi. At the last minute before Kimiko debuts on national TV, she quits and Cameron is thrust into the spotlight to perform the song ‘Loneliness’ which launches him into stardom.
This cycle included music videos for each track on the album and narrative videos of a fake news station “Juban TV” which reported on the story of the rise of Ginger Root. The episodic rollout on Ginger Roots YouTube was filmed in the same 80s noir style of the City Slicker videos with a much bigger narrative undertaking to provide a creative backdrop to the EPs storyline. The EP was lauded by old and new fans for its captivating storyline and nostalgic visuals. Ginger Root went on to tour the US, Europe, and Japan for the first time where he sold out every show. Nisemono was ranked by music critic Anthony Fantano as his #1 EP of 2022.

"We are Honeypuppy. Your worst nightmare. Sleep tight." Born from the liminal space between the head and pillow of Songwriter Josie Callahan, Athens Georgia's Honeypuppy interrupts your regularly scheduled programming with an exciting and fresh one-time TV offer: a sparkly new album for your listening pleasure. Experience the bliss and despair, anxiety and indifference, and present yet absent-minded glee of this episodic saga in Honeypuppy's glowing new sonic collection, DIRTY TV. A nostalgic and poppy delight complete with twists, turns, and plenty of surprises, don't miss a second of DIRTY TV. Honeypuppy formed in 2020 as Callahan (lead vocals, guitar) recruited friends and roommates Adam Wayton (bass, vocals), and Will Wise (lead guitar) to help bring her songs to life. The group released "Nymphet", their soft and brutal debut EP, in January of 2024.

Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few return with a new musical journey, "The Almighty". The first quartet offering since 2021's Cosmic Transition.
Collier's compositions and lyrics focus on using music to communicate deeper principles that are part of everyday. Isaiah showcases these principles through sounds that evolve within the titles: Love, Compassion, & Perspective. These principles once taken fully in are arranged to deliver the message that there is a Divine energy connecting through us all and is seen within all things. The album opens up with LOVE, featuring the legendary Chicago vocalist Dee Alexander channeling her energy to deliver the message of love to the human family. With lyrics written by Collier specific to Alexander's qualities as a maternal figure to him and other musicians, the message remains strong within the music throughout the album. Searching deeper to share more sincerely through our interactions with others, is the albums objective. Collier & The Chosen Few showcase those Principle with Musicianship and an unyielding commitment to put their all into each breath of this episodic journey. The album features the legendary Saxophonist Ari Brown, who has mentored Isaiah for over a decade in their native Chicago. The conversation between student and master evolves on the song "Compassion". Collier's steps into the vocalist roll on the infectious, Perspective (Peace & Love) which serves as Collier's acknowledgement of Pharoah Sanders for his musical contributions, that features percussive sounds that connect the ancestors of the diaspora. Throughout "The Almighty" the group explores elements heard on 2021’s Cosmic Transitions and 2022’s Beyond by I AM (Isaiah Collier and Michael Shekwoaga Ode), and streamline the sound with laser focus in this incarnation.

Toronto-based producer and DJ Ciel is renowned for a style of dancefloor material that’s as heady as it is visceral. The Xi’an-born artist’s ascendant profile has seen her cutting- edge and club-ready EPs released on UK labels Peach Discs and Coastal Haze, as well as Stateside imprints Spectral Sound and Mister Saturday Night.

As a member of the renowned collective Discwoman and the creator of femme-forward party Work in Progress Ciel’s thoughtful narratives are clear, running in parallel to the perception-altering sounds that are consistently woven deeply into her wide-ranging sets, beloved mixes and inventive collaborations. Now the Parallel Minds label co- founder is crystallising her imaginative and omnivorous sound with her !K7 Records debut, ORLANDO.

Written during her emergence from an uncharacteristic bout of writers’ block, the three original tracks of Orlando chart a return to the musical self, spurred along by a cinephile’s embrace of film, a love of classic literature, and a curiosity for the oddest corners of popular culture. “SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE” might share a name with the episodic series, but is rather a nuanced critique of the modern rite of union, moving through structured chapters, and mirroring the un-static nature of longtime love.Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s radical novel, and its superphysical protagonist, “ORLANDO” considers the cult literary figure who lived from the renaissance to the modern age, and embodies both sides of the sex binary.

The thrown sounds and aural illusions of “EL CALIFA” create the effect of a beckoning, beguiling psychedelic experience. To complete the EP, Ali Berger, Ciel’s recent collaborator on the Jacktone Records’ release Damn Skippy! repurposes the mind-bending flourishes of “El Califa” into a noodly and spacious deep house production, replete with pillowy, gauzy pads.

First appearing on TV screens in September 1968, Joe 90 was a unique nine year old boy with the ability to absorb the brain patterns of top experts

enabling him to become the most special agent of W.I.N. (World Intelligence Network).

Whilst there are arguably better-known scores amongst Barry Gray's sublime catalogue of work with the Andersons, the composer's work for Joe 90 is in many ways

the most consistent and inventive selection he ever wrote. Developing a theme for the new series was always the musician's starting point, and for Joe 90, the pop charts breezed into Gray's studio,

with an opening tune featuring a genuine groove. Mixing Gray's inventive electronics with 60s "surf rock" guitars was an inspired decision.

It is no wonder that this piece has gone on to enjoy a second life as a Northern Soul disco floor-filler.

For episodic incidentals, Gray was freed from the detached unearthly premise of Captain Scarlet and able to bring back a playful sensibility

and a more mature musical palette which are amply illustrated in this 24 track collection.

Emil Amos (Grails, OM and podcaster plus) decommissions pieces originally bound for the KPM library. A personal interpolation of "music for films (& television)" expounds upon diverse sounds: synthy 80s soundtracks, contemporary hip-hop beatmaking, ambient music, and The Hulk"s "Lonely Man Theme". Emil"s dark visions are full of noirish shadows and eerie neon glow - mood music for drug trips spent dreaming up new soundtracks to take drugs to! Emil Amos" forthcoming Zone Black album is a fully inhabitable world, its episodic narrative divided into an improbable balance between morbid ambient anthems and insouciant hip-hop instrumentals. Emil hadn"t heard it done quite this way before, so he took it upon himself. And it sounds real! Straight out of Madlib"s kitchen sink, and with a sense of brooding dread, "Jealous Gods" features throbbing beats, low synth paired with high vocal melody, layered together into something even more impossibly bizarre than the sum of their parts - like say, monks singing from on high, over a battleground littered with remnants of the old guard. Emil warps evocative tones, taking familiar sounds into new dimensions, reaching for the kind of depth and resonance that defines moments with an almost invisible touch.

The atmospheric aquatic adventures of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASPs) provided the perfect grounds for the evolution of Barry Gray’s own musical odyssey. After navigating otherworldly vistas with experimental minimalism in Fireball XL5, Gray anchored Stingray’s underwater exploits with a cannon of earth-bound incidentals. Employing flutes and gentle woodwind sounds to set the scene, Gray’s music drew attention to the wonder of the series premise, employing lush heavenly strings for the series’ closing theme, ‘Aqua Marina’ (a croon brought to life by in-demand vocalist Gary Miller). The off-duty exploits of the WASP characters also allowed Gray to return to his jazzy routes, with the production team adding a loving reference to the composer in the episode Tune of Danger with a ‘Graystein’ Piano. Episodic melodrama was once again brought to life with bold brass, and driving military marches would establish the WASPs’ base, Marineville, and an unforgettable Match of the Oysters (in The Secret of the Giant Oyster). The DNA of the which would foreshadow the iconic theme for the Andersons’ next series…

A year and a half ago, THE MFA returned to the fore once more, when we released their "Oranges and Lemons EP".

Their new album, “Lights Out”, which could be described as a long time coming, is definitely THE MFA’s most ambitious work to date.

As they put it in their own words: “The album is very special to us. It’s a long ambition brought to fruition. It’s an album that is at home on the dancefloor or at home. We’ve always been influenced by 90s rave culture and the club scene of that era and the explosion of creative freedom through electronic music that happened back then.”

The album sums up what THE MFA stands for; their love of electronic music intertwined their love of songs and melody, sometimes banging, sometimes pensive, sometimes longing, occasionally up-beat and happy. Melodic techno-pop-rave then.

The album opener "My Desire" pins down the essence of the album, showing some pop sensibility and a healthy dose of that early 90s spirit with longing vocals by Rhys Evans. The track shows from many angles of the intensity of what club culture was about. The track has, for sure, that pop quality which sets it apart - it is a very complete and rounded and in the true sense, a hit.

"Identify This" kicks off with blissed-out sci-fi sounds but commences with 90s rave chords that gets under your skin and creates a fantastic kaleidoscopic picture of moody UK rave with these spurts of emotional uplifting moments which are worth every penny.

"Bear Likes To Rave" takes us back to the warehouse days and reminds us of the acid warehouse parties with fanned stroboscope beams and dry ice cannons. It’s like looking down on a rave party happening from above, from a bird's eye view, which is in full swing where the euphoria spills over into the audience. "Girl Ahead" is a vocal track exclusively on the digital version of the album, again with Rhys Evans on vocal duties. Here they ponder all the possibilities of the future and the mistakes of the past. Features space toms and grand piano rave chords to evoke a housy feel within.

With "Freedom24" a Hi-NRG melody meets nightcrawler sounds ala "Klang De Familie". This is a soundtrack for the night.

"Lammas Day" has the chilling exotic quality of 808 State "Pacific State" if you grant us this comparison, paired with some phantastic Dr Who sensibilities! This track is quite a voyage!

"Warehouse"... Make Some F-...ing Noise... A TV presenter speaks about Acid house...... This is a wild mash up of impressions which nicely go together due to the melodic string composition and the 303 sequences.

"The Snapping Branch" starts with a mash up of sounds and then dives into an episodic snapshot of "happiness" when the serotonin shoots in (just before it drops). Experiencing a perfect flow that does not want to end. Every clubber knows that feeling.

"You Make Me Smile" is the third vocal track on the album featuring Rhys Evans on vocals. It has fantastic radical stark mood changes and blatant shifts, therefore throws the listener from one corner to the other. Just like the contrast of day and night. Bits here and there might conjure a Radiohead spirit, but really this is all MFA.

"Lights Out” certainly puts across the feeling you get at the end of the night - the club has closed; you are walking home. These are the sounds and feelings in your memories as you chase the vibe that is dwindling as the club becomes ever further away.

"Black Truffle proudly presents The Refrain from Melbourne-based artist Francis Plagne, whose growing catalog of collaborative and solo releases range from song-based work to abstract audio collages.

Closely aligned with Plagne's Moss Trumpet LP (released by Penultimate Press in 2018), The Refrain’s two side-long tracks mix sounds of the mundane with the otherworldly; rising, receding and overlapping. The result feels like being led through a series of scenes devoid of context or direction. Furthermore, it’s hard to define the scenes as either inviting or disconcerting, as they’re often both at the same time. As the record progresses sounds reappear and are juxtaposed so as to only hint at the familiar. A hall of mirrors, perhaps?

Completed in 2020 using material recorded from 2012-2020, the record uses tapes of shelved, unfinished, and forgotten projects that featured field recordings from various locations, domestic sounds of plastic bottles, bubble wrap, creaking chairs, voice, and instrumental recordings, including an appearance from crys cole on Casio. These pieces were re-amped, processed and edited, then additional instrumental pieces featuring synths, guitars, plastic saxophone, melodica, and percussion were added, the results shaped into drifting, episodic assemblages.

Although essentially a tape piece, The Refrain presents as a crude, non-idiomatic composition that feels both timeless and transitory. It’s a million miles from the polish and rigour of GRM, perhaps more in line with Jacques Bekaert’s eponymous Igloo LP, or Costin Miereanu’s Luna Cinese. The Refrain could be read as a psychedelic Krapp’s Last Tape; one man’s response to listening through forgotten and discarded tapes, reflecting, reconciling, and forging a new path. A potent tonic for these absurd times."

-- Nick Hamilton, August 2021

After a trilogy of spectacular explorations of relentlessly driving rhythms – Sagittarian Domain (2012), Quixotism (2014) and Hubris (2016) – Simian Angel finds Oren Ambarchi renewing his focus on his singular approach to the electric guitar, returning in part to the spacious canvases of classic releases like Grapes from the Estate while also following his muse down previously unexplored byways. Reflecting Ambarchi's profound love of Brazilian music – an aspect of his omnivorous musical appetite not immediately apparent in his own work until now – Simian Angel features the remarkable percussive talents of the legendary Cyro Baptista, a key part of the Downtown scene who has collaborated with everyone from John Zorn and Derek Bailey to Robert Palmer and Herbie Hancock. Like the music of Nana Vasconcelos and Airto Moreira, Simian Angel places Baptista's dexterous and rhythmically nuanced handling of traditional Brazilian percussion instruments into an unexpected musical context. On the first side, 'Palm Sugar Candy', Baptista's spare and halting rhythms wind their way through a landscape of gliding electronic tones, gently rising up and momentarily subsiding until the piece's final minutes leave Ambarchi's guitar unaccompanied. While the rich, swirling harmonics of Ambarchi's guitar performance are familiar to listeners from his previous recordings, the subtly wavering, synthetic guitar tone we hear is quite new, coming across at times like an abstracted, splayed-out take on the 80s guitar-synth work of Pat Metheny or Bill Frisell. Equally new is the harmonic complexity of Ambarchi's playing, which leaves behind the minimalist simplicity of much of his previous work for a constantly-shifting play between lush consonance and uneasy dissonance. Beginning with a beautiful passage of unaccompanied percussion dominated by the berimbau, the side-long title piece carries on the first side's exploration of subtle, non-linear dynamic arcs, taking the form of a gently episodic suite, in which distinctive moments, like a lyrical passage of guitar-triggered piano, unexpectedly arise from intervals of drifting tones like dream images suddenly cohering. In the piece's second half, the piano tones becomes increasingly more clipped and synthetic, scattering themselves into aleatoric melodies that call to mind an imaginary collaboration between Albert Marcoeur and David Behrman, grounded all the while by the pulse of Baptista's percussion. Subtle yet complex, fleeting yet emotionally affecting, Simian Angel is an essential chapter in Ambarchi's restlessly exploratory oeuvre. --- Oren Ambarchi - guitars & whatnot Cyro Baptista - percussion & voice Recorded by Randall Dunn, Joerg Hiller, Iuri Oriente and Oren Ambarchi. Edited by Joerg Hiller and Oren Ambarchi at Choose Studios, Berlin. Mixed by Joe Talia and Oren Ambarchi at Good Mixture, Tokyo. Cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin. Executive Producers: Konrad Sprenger & Dick Wolf. Photography by Traianos Pakioufakis. Design by Lasse Marhaug.

Nimbus Sextet are a major new talent on the UK jazz scene. Led by pianist/keyboardist Joe Nichols, the Glaswegian contemporary jazz outfit play infectiously original music that spans the musical spectrum. Nimbus Sextet’s fresh take on jazz blends instantly relatable melodic hooks with driving grooves, sophisticated musicianship and episodic compositions.
The core of the Nimbus Sextet sound comes courtesy of Joe with long-time collaborators Alex Palmer and Mischa Stevens. The trio met while studying at Edinburgh University and have continued to perform together ever since. Nimbus Sextet was fully formed in 2018 with the addition of Martin Fell and Euan Allardice joining the line-up with James Mackay arriving later.
It was around this point the band started to compose and record the first shoots of what would become Nimbus Sextet’s blend. A decidedly wellbalanced alchemy, arrived at somewhat naturally
by way of the varied musical influences and contributions from each of its culturally diverse members. You’re as likely to hear elements of
Herbie Hancock and Gil Scott-Heron as easily as The Roots and Robert Glasper.

Dropsonde was originally released by Touch (UK) in 2006. This is a reissue with seven previously unreleased recordings.

Widely regarded as one of Norwegian electronic music's most important artists, Biosphere's Geir Jenssen career spans nearly two decades, several albums, lots of remixes, various sound installations, commissions, soundtracks and even the odd Himalayan summit.

You may recognise his work without knowing it, so frequently does it crop up on TV trailers and idents. In the early 1990s he was a pioneer of so-called 'Ambient Techno', but since then, he has refined his sound into something more magnetic and enduring.

Dropsonde' isn't a soundtrack like the interwoven 'Substrata' nor an episodic journey in the way that 'Autour de la Lune' is. Here Geir Jenssen is pushing new directions towards the jazz colours of Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, whilst re-invigorating the pulse and projection of his signature sound: a hypnotic combination of pleasure and dread.

The spatial aspects some have dubbed "Arctic sound" but it summons strong feelings, or as Exclaim from Canada put it, "in order to climb higher, you must first go deeper". Jon Savage adds: "As with all of the Biosphere albums, the music draws you in and makes you want to listen and feel. Jenssen's work acts on a very emotional level, one that encourages you to drift away into a haze of images and scenes brought to you by the music, where spectacular beauty hides unseen danger. Intense and moving, but comforting and soothing at the same time."

A 'dropsonde' is a weather reconnaissance device designed to be dropped from an airplane or similar craft at altitude to take telemetry as it falls to the ground. It typically relays information to a computer in the dropping airplane by radio. The fall may be slowed by a parachute. Information collected by a typical dropsonde may include wind speed, temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure.

Formed by German prominent electro producer Boysnoize and French film director/electro producer Mr. Oizo (aka Quentin Dupieux), Handbraekes comes back with a brand EP, the third one since the mysterious episodic collaboration started in 2012. Blending Boyznoize electro maestria with Mr. Oizo's peculiar touch, '#3' will undoubtedly both startle minds and make bodies dance, creating disco riots in clubs and festivals around the world.

Here We Are Releasing The Second Album Of Cologne Born Producer Thyladomid Who Is Familiar To Many Through His Work On Hamburg Label Diynamic Which Has Lead Him To Perform Around The World, Together With Artists Such As: Adriatique, Solomun, Kollektiv Turmstraße, Hosh, David August, Stimming, And Many More. More Then 30 Minutes Playing Time, 6 Tracks And Artwork By Florian Kramer Offer A Lot To Discover. Thyladomid Is Famous For His Forward Thinking Deep Melodic Dance Music Which Earned Him Respect And Support From Many People Of The Scene And Evolved Also In Cooperations With Adriatique And The Singer Mahfoud. You Can Find Two Tracks Featuring Mahfoud On The Album. With His First Album "interstellar Destiny" In 2015 Thyladomid Has Already Changed Towards More Introspective Music And You Will Hear He Has Taken That A Step Further Here. In Comparison To His First Album, "places" Refers To Different Places Which Inspired Him To Write The Album And Offers A Higher Level Of Complexity In The Making Of Music Which Has Helped Thyladomid To Enhance The Moody Quality In A Dazzling Way Sometimes Even Spine Tingling When You Let Yourself Go To Explore The Abundance Of The Trax. As He Said In His Own Words: - the Albums Intention Was That Of An Organic Produced Album With Different Moods. Instruments Such As Piano And And Violin As Well As Field Recording Bring Alive A Special Quality. The Bouncing Of Stones On A Frozen Pond Recorded With Multiple Microphones Suggest For Example An Authentic Spacious Quality. The Self Recorded Percussion, Sometimes Quite Exotic Were Included In All Of The Tracks. The Combination Of Synthetic Sounds With Traditionally Instruments Was One Of The Big Challenges For Me. The Piano And Prophet 6 Und The Moog Sub37 Were The Main Instruments Used For The Album'. Thyladomid Started Working On The Album 2 1/2 Years Ago. His Classical Training On The Piano Helped To Quickly Come Up With A Musical Theme Which Is Based On Different Tonalities Which Were Then Linked To Each Other And Which Actually Helped To Structure The Whole Release. The Good Weather In Summer Was A Good Inspiration And Finally Led To The Idea To Dedicate Tracks To A Certain Place, A Place Which Means A Lot For Him. From That Idea The Title Of The Whole Album Derived: "places ". "a Little Church In Amsterdam" As He Says "is Such A Track Encouraged By The City Of Amsterdam I Love And Respects So Much And Actually Have Spend So Much Time In. It Is A Track I Played Outside In My Garden To Friends And Which Works Perfectly For Me.' "a Little Church In Amsterdam" Is A Track Where Melodies Bloom And Flourish. It Feels Like Zooming In On Nature Grasping A Time Lapse Symphony. "blossoming Limburg Ft Mahfoud" Was Born In The Capital Of Limburg Which Is Located In The South Of The Netherlands And Reflects The Summer Of 2017 And Was Recorded In A Warehouse. It Reflects The Intimacy And Synergetic Level Between Mahfoud And Thyladomid. The Fantastic Deep Vocal Track Is Spiced Up With Lots Of Acoustic Details Which All Happen In The Background But Effectively Surface To Pull The Listener Into His World. "night Owl" Is A Lyrical Dreamy Piano Piece With A Melancholic Note And An Ear For Details. Acoustic Finesse Presented On An Episodic Scale. We Guess The Track Was Influenced By The Works Of Four Tet Or Pantha Du Prince. "kollwitzplatz" Is A Small Park In Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg Which Was Thyladomid's Home For 2 Years . - the Cafes And Restaurants Laced By The Alleys Of The Kollwitz District Resemble A Piece Of Home For Me And Represents The Time Of My Stay In Berlin'. Musically "kollwitzplatz" Is Full Of Life. You Can Hear Children Talking While The Piano Attracts Sounds Like Moths Are Attracted To Light. The Track Offers This Richness Of Percussive Elements And Sound Sources Creating A Stunning Complexity Which Does Not Limiting Itself But Rather Creates This Free Flow Of Acoustic Signals. You Instantly Will Feel: There Is A Lot To Discover At "kollwitzplatz". "underwater Rhapsody", The Title Says It All: It Has That Episodic, Free-flowing Structure, Featuring A Range Of Highly Contrasted Moods, Color And Tonality. What It Actually Means To The Listener Is That Grande Chords Meet Dissonances Of Sound That Fly In Like Drones Cross The Big Time Melodies That Gain A Centrifugal Force At Times... And All This Leaves You Dizzy And Creates Another Big Listening Experience As The Whole Album Is Directed To Entertain You In A Smart And Distinguished Way.






[E b2 | Places Ft. Mahfoud

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce the first ever vinyl reissue of legendary performance and sound artist John Duncan's forgotten gem Klaar, originally released by Extreme in 1991 and partly created in collaboration with Andrew McKenzie (The Hafler Trio). Duncan is perhaps most well known for his notorious early performances pieces, which explored violence, self-denial, and the establishment of extreme psychological and physical states in both artist and audience. Alongside these transgressive experiments, Duncan began to create audio works primarily using short wave radio. Where some of Duncan's earlier recordings are composed of magnificently sculpted but abrasive walls of noise, Klaar, recorded while Duncan was living in Amsterdam, occupies a more meditative territory.
Opening with 'Delta', which layers long tones seemingly sourced from slowed down voices over a distant, watery field recording, the remainder of the first side is occupied with the epic title piece, which arranges shortwave radio abstraction, vocal experiments, and field recordings (street sounds, fireworks, monastic chants) into an episodic cinema for the ear. The second side is dominated by the long, brooding 'The Immense Room', where layers of shortwave interference and field recordings are gradually built up into a pulsing, wavering bed of sound infused with a subtly disturbing sense of psychological unrest. This rises to the surface near the end of the piece as sexual moans and ominous rumbles crisscross the stereo image before being abruptly brought to a halt.
A singular work of electroacoustic composition, Klaar is both compositionally sophisticated and infused with a sense of mystery and a vital reality often lacking in more academic experimental music; it sits proudly alongside contemporaneous recordings by Duncan's friends and collaborators Jim O'Rourke and Christoph Heemann and is a must for anyone interested in their work.
- Francis Plagne

With Contemplative Figuration we see Broshuda pushing his amorphous, impossible-to-pin-down music in exciting new directions. Stitched together in various European cities over the last few years, it is the artist’s most dynamic and ambitious release thus far, drawing equally from musique concrete, beat research, ambient, tape collage, and spoken word. Episodic in nature, the collection functions well as a sort of impressionistic travelogue, with romantic, hazy atmospheres coaxed from borrowed equipment, serendipitous recording sessions with old friends, and even a drum sequence programmed with Mario Paint, among other curios and sleights of hand. Broshuda deftly wrings bonafide cohesion and balance from these disparate source materials, tools, and locations, as on opener “Kakigori,” which allows a snaking harmonic drone the space to evolve before exploding it into a sort of seething, dubbed out pointillism. Later, “Lied Für Hase” concocts a potent, humid atmosphere of beautifully evolving acoustic piano loops and elegant narration. Taken as a whole, Contemplative Figuration is a weightless, transportive record, one that is bursting at the seams with ideas, mischief, and a restless spirit.

Mastered by Helmut Erler at D&M, Artwork by Alex McCullough and Niall Wynne Lewis.