quête:b base

Mark Hawkins readies ‘Venn Diagram’ album for Aus Music this May.
Mark Hawkins’ early releases on labels such as Djax Up Beats and Ugly Funk lit flares in the world of
underground techno, with a sense of humour and tougher-than-thou sonic palette enforced via his jacking live
sets. Across the following decades, Mark has delivered razor sharp cuts that encompass pretty much
anything that has an electronic heart - leaving his own unique trail for others to follow via his work for labels
as diverse as Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Sonic Mind, Mistress Recordings, Houndstooth and Aus.

With his latest album, it feels like Mark has pushed ahead with a change of direction he started with 2021’s
‘The New Normal’. ‘Venn Diagram’ carries on this journey into uncharted lands; molten, distorted drum
assaults weave around glistening melodies, kitchen sink soul glides below fractured sound pools. Opener
‘Verblex Oscillos’ immediately demands your attention grabbing, with a so-happy-it’s-sad melody spiralling
around a cascade of tough-as-fuck dance floor destroying beats, along with ‘Isolated’s urgent combination of
strings, acid and chicago-tough electro beats.

Other cuts on the album share a similar approach, ‘Maladayfun Friction’s restless energy derives from a fusion
of skittering drums and deranged synths and ‘Still Have Time’s dreamy super saw pads and plaintive vocal
espouse a kind of wasted elegance, roaming the city nightlife in a Gucci dress and Doc Martin boots.
‘Nlasckhdsjk’ and ‘Frederikalstublieft’ propel forward with such a sleek and effervescent aesthetic, recalling
fast drives along picturesque European highways or heady take-offs to unknown urban territories. The
aesthetic becomes more elegant on the album’s centrepoint tracks ‘Rebula Conundrum’ and ‘Nlasckhdsjk’,
where optimistic bleeps, bass and 707 drums underpin jazzy chords and soaring leads.

Other tracks show the arc of Mark’s direction of travel, with soulful vocals that share a well of deep-rooted
optimism that was so evident on his breakthrough 2016 Social Housing album. ‘L.O.V.E.’ breaks into
post-Sophie territory with a catchy modulated vocal joyfully two-stepping across to the nightclub bar and
‘How Do I Know’ providing a heart rending torch song for 6am kicking-out-time refugees to help them find
their way back home.

Coherence is overrated. Especially if keeping things hazy, and not smoothing away all the rough edges, and allowing all the seeming contradictions to find their own unique harmony with each other in their own time can result in the heady magic of Lock Eyes & Collide, the second EP from South London-based quintet Moreish Idols. Across these four tracks, Moreish Idols deal in tangles of hyper-melodic guitar, sleepy-eyed murmurs glowing with unassuming poetry, blossoms of wise saxophone, rhythms that pulse and purr to their own inarguable logic. You could spend days trying to define what exactly it is they are doing over these fifteen or so minutes, but you’d be wiser to just lose yourself within Lock Eyes & Collide’s laser-guided twists and turns.

Pulling into focus. They passed tracks from initial collaborative song-writing sessions along to Dan Carey, who signed Moreish Idols to his Speedy Wunderground label and produced their first release on the label, the Float EP, in the summer of 2022 (they’d released a pair of self-released 7”s before lockdown). Restless, jerky, jagged and rhythmically centred, many of Float’s energetic pleasures bore the influence of their earlier flirtation of post-punk, but the ruminative When The River Runs Dry spelled deeper treasures lay within, while the erratic, wonderful Speedboat spoke to Moreish Idols’ essential gift for mystery. Lock Eyes & Collide is something else altogether, though – a looser constellation of ideas, a clearer hint of the group’s future.

The elements that compose the EP – swooning tremolo guitars, prickly melodic riddles, erudite saxophone improvs, loose and flexible rhythms – make perfect sense together, on vinyl if not on paper, sounding like Watery, Domestic-era Pavement one second and some bucolic Canterbury Scene prog the next, but always, always like Moreish Idols most of all.

The future that is undefined is limitless. If Lock Eyes & Collide captures Moreish Idols’ present, what do they see in their future? “If we’d just made Float II for our second EP, people would be, ‘Oh, they’re the band that does that,” says Tom. “I’m so glad we’ve made this weird alter-ego of our first EP; now we feel we can do whatever we want.”

"Westerman — the London-born, Athens-based pop maverick — has returned with his new album, ‘An Inbuilt Fault’.

The album's nine songs took shape throughout the depths of the pandemic and soundtrack Westerman’s reckoning with two years of intense isolation, loneliness, heartbreak, and dread. The phrase “an inbuilt fault” itself is an examination of the inherent and innate flaws that make us human – a visceral response to Westerman’s disillusionment with AI and social media during this time period.

Through it all, the album is visceral and live-sounding, full of the sound of breath and the idiosyncratic gestures of acoustic instruments. It creates a spatial feeling, sounding like musicians assembled in a room, passing evolving ideas back and forth. Co-produced with producer and percussionist James Krivchenia (Big Thief), and featuring an extended crew of Los Angeles associates, 'An Inbuilt Fault' exhibits music that is heavier and more sonically daring than Westerman’s previous releases, and it is the most adventurous and unselfconscious songwriting of Will Westerman’s career.

‘An Inbuilt Fault’ follows Westerman’s acclaimed 2020 debut ‘Your Hero Is Not Dead,’ a graceful and self-reflective project which earned him a spot as one of the most talked about new artists of the year thanks to profiles from Pitchfork (‘Rising’), Stereogum (‘Artist To Watch’), and Rolling Stone (‘Artist You Need To Know’)."

All Quiet On The Western Front (Im Westen Nichts Neues) is a 2022
German epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. All Quiet on the Western Front received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards its tone and faithfulness to the source material’s anti-war message.

Set during World War I, it follows the life of an idealistic young German soldier named Paul Bäumer. After enlisting in the German Army with his friends, Bäumer finds himself exposed to the realities of war, shattering his early hopes of becoming a hero as he does his best to survive. The film adds a parallel storyline not found in the book, which follows the armistice negotiations to end the war.

All Quiet On The Western Front received a leading 14 nominations at the 76th British Academy Film Awards (winning seven, including Best Film and Best Original Score) and 9 at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Feature, and Best Original Score.

The score of All Quiet On The Western Front is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on smoke coloured vinyl. The package includes a 4-page booklet with movie stills.

The 5th release in ROD's 1 take hardware only sessions. No nonsense Techno tools for the sweaty basements out there.

Sophomore album from Tenerife based trio, LAGOSS (Gonçalo F. Cardoso, Mladen Kurajica and Daniel García).

Moving away from their megamix vignette based first volume, the trio now experiments with a more song based approach whilst still keeping their trademark jam infused tropicalia and electronic freak outs with an offering to their 1970’s sci-fi masters – enter the lift to the stars.

First proposed by Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and taken to mystical literary heights by Arthur C. Clark in his 1979 book Fountains of Paradise, the concept of a space lift takes a spiritual turn here, with LAGOSS chronicling its construction, right here and there on a near future version of their Island of Tenerife, in the Canary Archipelago.

The album moves freely through ideas and moods akin to the world imagined by Arthur C. Clarke. It conveys a new story by sonically imagining future civilizations in a faux ethnographical exercise whilst exploring current ideas of technology, religion and alternative history by creating its own particular insular sound world.

The album counts with the participation of dear friends such as a synth solo by Spencer Clark (Monopoly Child Star Searchers et all.) and a punchy, full blown remix by Muqata’a. Altogether creating a unique collection of eerie musical moments made of sub tropical moods and cyber exotica jams from a band that keeps growing and evolving into their very own personal sound.

Enter Tenerife in the late 21st Century, meet the Aquachachos and Guayechi, and ascend!

One of the most notorious hatemongers in movie history is Captain Ahab from John Huston’s 1956 classic Moby Dick. His manic monologues cast a spell on generations of viewers. Berlin based musician and sound artist Jan Jelinek has now turned the voice of Ahab into a musical instrument.

Faitiche presents Jan Jelinek's soundtrack for SEASCAPE – polyptych, an audio-visual software developed in collaboration with Canadian new media artist Clive Holden in 2022.

SEASCAPE – polyptych is based on image and acoustic source material from Moby Dick. While Holden works on manipulating film sequences, the voice of Ahab plays a central role in Jan Jelinek’s soundtrack. The dynamic volume and tone of the captain's speech control a synthesizer system that turns Ahabs voice into ten abstract soundscapes.

In this production the voice gives the impulse and controls things but is not the sound of spoken word itself that we hear. Only occasionally can snippets of speech be heard so that syllables or sounds are recognisable. Instead we hear compositions made of hissing, soundscapes and eruptive sounds. The atmosphere is dark and sinister. Still every piece has a clear sonic structure and follows an understandable dramatic composition. This music is abstract but not overwhelming. Quite the opposite, SEASCAPE – polyptych is an invitation to listeners to let themselves be carried by the stream of sonic events. Although part of a media art work, the soundtrack can be enjoyed without any of this connecting superstructure. It works with no previous knowledge. But what happens when one does know that it’s the sonic waves of a human voice that is controlling a network of synthesizers?

If you want to hear Ahab, you will hear a choir of Ahabs in every piece of sound. The subliminal threatening as well as the conjuring Ahab. Finally the Ahab who whips up his crew and tears them with him into their downfall. The majestic „on the quay now, waiting and watching“, the oppressive “drawn towards the whirlpools center” - they are all music as well as sonic discourse.

Tor.Ma in Dub’s bass-quaking Terra and it’s fierce flipside Terra Dub drop on 7” this May 5th.

Terra’s pulsating bassline is complemented by sparse tribal percussion and disembodied vocals, creating a grounded and meditative vibe.

Terra Dub is straighter and heavier, with a punchy bass and a relentless steppers rhythm, guaranteed to lively up the dancefloor.

Both tracks are taken from the Solve et Coagula album, which focused on alchemy and transformation, with the elements presented in pairs. Downbeat dubs morph into uptempo steppers, all crafted with the unique blend of roots and psychedelia that are the hallmarks of the Mexico-based producer’s style.

"Akuphone is proud to present the Jerusalem-based improvisational trio Leviot and its hypnotizing debut album. Leviot (Hebrew for “Lionesses”) is a brainchild of multi-faceted musician and composer Yael Lavie, who’s joined by classically trained percussionist and music teacher Cnaan Canetti, and synth enthusiast Yishay Seroussi. The project is a result of Lavie’s ongoing explorations beyond the restraints of classical kanun playing and fascination with electronic sound and modern composition. Initially started following her experience performing and recording with Spiritczualic Enhancement Center, in Leviot, Yael gives up rehearsed pieces in favour of improvised sets, based on virtuous interpretation by Cnaan and Yishay. The three have been active since 2019, playing their immersive shows in a wide variety of settings, venues and festivals. The trio’s debut release is a live session, recorded in late 2020 at Mazkeka Studios (Jerusalem) for the lockdown edition of the annual Zikuk Festival. It’s a meditative improv piece in five parts that combines and melts boundaries between the traditional and the experimental, the primal and the futuristic. With setup as the foundation of the piece and Lavie’s graphic score as the road map, Leviot takes off on a cosmic journey between deep drones, whispering chimes, mesmerizing Arab melodies, pulsating rhythms and iridescent ambient patterns."

Berlin-based French-Irish sound artist Zoë Mc Pherson levels up on their third full-length "Pitch Blender", mangling years of experience DJing and performing live into a tight set of cybernetic soundsystem experiments that flicker between the rave and the art space. Described as a "vanguard" by DJ Mag and "fearless" by Hyponik, Mc Pherson has performed tirelessly across the world, appearing at Berlin's CTM Festival, Madrid's LEV, Malmö's Intonal and presenting installations at Berlin's Silent Green and Monom. They also curate the ambitious A/V-focused imprint SFX with visual artist Alessandra Leone and maintain creative partnerships with Jessica Ekomane and Ciarra Black (as Carbon 96).

Pulling in influence from British bass music and the outer fringes of experimental sound art, "Pitch Blender" is Mc Pherson's most ambitious album to date, splicing bold vocal performances with psychedelic modular synth flourishes, illusory environmental recordings and relentlessly abstract polyrhythmic beats. It's music that's able to balance a constant exploration for newness with a rhythmic pulse that never ignores the dancefloor, connecting the nodes between artists like aya, Elvin Brandhi, ZULI and Slikback. Cinematic and sub-heavy, "Pitch Blender" is a dizzying work of sonic fiction that's permanently in flux, dissolving breaks, beats and acidic leads into queasy, pressurized tracks that act as an antidote to contemporary malaise.

Remix EP 1 (incl. Remixes by Acid Pauli, Coldcut, DMX Krew, Shahrokh Dini, Frivolous)

After the release of Felix Laband’s highly acclaimed 5th album “The Soft White Hand” in November 2022, it’s about time to give it some extra class remix treatment. So here comes a massive package with remixes by living legends Coldcut, Acid Pauli, DMX Krew, Frivolous and Shahrokh Dini.

Felix Laband’s The Soft White Hand is the masterwork of an artist who expresses himself through musical and artistic collage acting together to reinterpret his sources and to express significant elements of his own personal story.

Released by Munich-based Compost Records, the 14-track album is Laband’s first full-length offering since the critically acclaimed Deaf Safari in 2015. It is heralded by the single “Derek and Me”, and is being pressed on vinyl for distribution globally.

In The Soft White Hand Laband works with source materials that will be familiar to those who know his previous four records – Thin Shoes in June (2001), 4/4 Down the Stairs (2002), Dark Days Exit (2005) and especially Deaf Safari which reached deep into the South Africa scene and its political culture to inspire its vocal and music sampling. However, the disengagement he felt from his homeland during his latest album’s creation – an abiding sense of untethered-ness to place and space, exquisitely rendered in tracks like “Death of a Migrant” – is perceptible in Laband’s desire to illuminate instead aspects of his own life.

Secretsundaze are back with their first label release in 2023: the follow up to Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange’s 2021’s 'Kreuzberg Kix EP 1'. The team is very much present and correct with artist Wayne Snow once again joining the party on the deep house trip 'Take Your Time'. It comes complete with a stunning remix by Secretsundaze long time fave, NYC based producer and DJ Jenifa Mayanja, and the jazzy, uptempo, instrumental 'Bleached'.

For their second release of 2023, T4T LUV NRG present the “Temptation E.P.” by breakout L.A. based producer and DJ Introspekt. Between sets at West Coast renegades, Introspekt has caught the attention of DJs the world over with her heavy and beautifully crafted UKG productions on Gimme A Break and Shall Not Fade, including a forthcoming release on Interplanetary Criminal’s compilation for Locked On. T4T LUV NRG label heads Octo Octa and Eris Drew were introduced to Introspekt through Bored Lord and eagerly signed the Temptation e.p. on a first listen, already having been fans of her music. Their imaginations were immediately captured by this U.S. artist’s fresh take on UKG, which borrows certain motifs from Ballroom culture and classic house sounds. All of the tracks on “Temptation” utterly rip in a playful way but they also have a genuine emotion and narrative that Introspekt weaves through all the swingin’ beats and bass. We can’t wait to hear these juicy tunes work the bins over the coming months!

For our 7th vinyl release, we welcome Berlin based artist ‘Lavan’ to +98.

Producing music for over a decade with a vast musical knowledge spanning funk, garage, house, hip hop to name a few. His sound is a unique blend of tastes for all ears.

Born out of East London and now living in Berlin, the talented Lavan delivers a variety of House & UKG Club tracks that will guarantee to move hips and feet on every occasion its played.

And finally, we have L&F stepping up on remix duties and hits the spot with a House & Garage romper stomper.

Kayama Japan based artist DAISUKE KONDO serves up a hearty dose of Detroit inspired soulful house, with a dash of jazzy broken beat on this 4 tracker from Chicago's JITNEY MUSIC.

This 12" aims straight at the hearts and souls of fans of labels like SOUND SIGNATURE as well as artists like DEGO.

"Morphing Chinese traditional music with bass, Chicago footwork and AI-manipulated birdsong. It's quite a feat to sound this ancient and futuristic simultaneously." The Guardian

"The album presents a world where flute and guanzi find common ground with choral vocals, ambient and AI- manipulated birdsongs." Vinyl Factory

"There has never been a record that sounds like this. And, very possibly, never will be again" Bandcamp

'At once fine-grained and expansive, Lee's work combines traditional Chinese music and historical references with wild electronic experimentation" Pitchfork, 7.6

'Island Birdy' samples Bollywood vocals, 'Foreign Flowers' has hints of warped drum & bass and 'Feather Signifier' is steeped in jazz fusion....Lee's most organic work has plenty of diverse influences" Resident Advisor, Album Of The Day

Swirling layers of OST-style sound design, dreamy choir vocals and traditional Chinese folk combine across eight dynamic and transportive tracks on Birdy Island, the latest album by Beijing-based producer/artist, Howie Lee.

On Birdy Island Lee's intricate brand of traditional pan-asian exploration meets experimental bass weight sound via stripped-back UK Grime sonics and ceremonial taoist music.

ULTRADISC ONE-STEP BOX SET OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S 1973 DEBUT PLAYS WITH AUDIOPHILE SOUND: LIMITED TO 7,500 NUMBERED COPIES.

1/4" / 15 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Teeming with identifiable characters, youthful romanticism, vivid narratives, and sophisticated arrangements, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. is a personal postcard from the heart, soul, and mind of a rock ’n’ roll lifer bent on discovering his world and what lays beyond it. The 1973 album establishes many of the signature themes and sounds Bruce Springsteen would embrace throughout his unparalleled career. No wonder a majority of the songs — “Blinded by the Light,” “Lost in the Flood,” “Spirit in the Night” included — remain staples of the New Jersey native’s fabled concerts.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set is the definitive-sounding version of Springsteen’s daring debut. Afforded the benefits of SuperVinyl’s nearly non-existent noise floor, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. plays with a clarity, directness, and emotionalism that practically whisks you into the New York office in which Springsteen — accompanied by then-manager Mike Appel — played a few originals for legendary Columbia Records executive John Hammond and earned a record deal.

That solo-centric aspect of Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. — credited only to Springsteen and featuring only a handful of accompanying musicians — helps make it unique in his catalogue. So do the acoustic-based frameworks, revealed on this pressing with newly exposed detail, nuance, and immediacy. The music emerges with an openness that gives flight to the Boss’ storytelling. His words flow with unbridled, stream-of-conscious pacing and vibrant imagery; they pay homage to and update a tradition established by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Jack Kerouac. Equally important, Springsteen’s still-underrated vocal performances can now be appreciated in full-range fidelity. Earnest, transparent, and sincere, his singing comes across with an urgency that distinguishes him from the era’s singer-songwriter mold and a raw energy that underlines his unflinching belief in rock ’n’ roll.

Recorded in just three weeks, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. also stands out by way of its insightful artwork. Designed by Grammy winner John Berg, the inviting cover is appointed with images of the local landmarks, beachfronts, and geography that provide the backdrops for some of the songs. Those graphics are complemented by the beautiful packaging of Mobile Fidelity’s UD1S edition. Tucked in a sleek slipcase, the LP is housed in a special foil-stamped jacket with faithful-to-the-original graphics. In every way, this reissue is made for listeners who prize sound quality and who want to engage themselves in everything involved with this invigorating album.

An aspirational declaration by a then-23-year-old musician who was already a seasoned veteran of the Jersey Shore bar-band scene, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. can in many ways be seen as a semi-fictional autobiography released more than four decades before Springsteen penned his official tome. Elaborate, descriptive, and absorbing, Springsteen’s lyrics spark with the enthusiasm and exuberance of a wide-eyed adventurer ready for possibility, excitement, and fun — but who is also mindful of loss, pain, and disappointment. Words often tumble and collide like dice spilling from a jar; shaken and fully intact, they pour forth with purpose and without self-conscious concern.

One of two songs composed after label president Clive Davis cited the need for a radio-friendly single, the opening “Blinded by the Light” provides an unforgettable introduction. It flares with a blend of confidence, fun, and poetry that helps define Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Crackling with wiry guitars, funky chords, Clarence Clemons’ cool-toned saxophone, and action-packed lyrics, the shuffle simultaneously expands and contracts — and establishes Springsteen as a master of rhyme, alliteration, and breathless expression. The thread continues on “Growin’ Up.” Steered by ascending piano lines, soulful grooves, and frisky rhythms, the coming-of-age confessional is at once rebellious and controlled, fearless and vulnerable, honest and boastful. It is a tale to which multiple generations still relate.

Such universality has always been a Springsteen trademark. It surfaces throughout Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., as does another Boss hallmark: the importance of friendship and tight bonds. These concepts relate to the fact many of the songs — see the feverish “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?,” strutting “It’s So Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” and tender “For You,” the latter complete with brilliant Hammond organ shading — are directly tied to the friends, acquaintances, places, and happenings he knew. “Lost in the Flood,” whose cinematic drama and epic scope hint at the directions Springsteen would pursue on his next LP, extends that familiarity while addressing the kind of socially conscious issues with which he’s forever been associated.

Balancing the label’s vision of him as a folk-based singer-songwriter and his own desire to play rock ‘n’ roll with a full band, Springsteen never again made a record like Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. One of the most captivating debuts in history, it heralds the start of a legacy whose import Springsteen seemingly foretells on “Blinded by the Light”: “He’s gonna make it tonight.” And how.

repressed !

A lot can happen in 15 years. Few things manage to thrive for a decade and a half, especially in music. But a scrappy, left of center, Bay Area house music label, Dirtybird, has managed to do just that. Claude VonStroke, Dirtybird’s founder, is marking this 15-year milestone the only way he knows how… working. This year, VonStroke will throw two dozen-plus parties, three festivals (including the famous Dirtybird Campout), host his traveling Dirtybird BBQ series in major cities across the US, publish a coffee table book, release a seasonal clothing line, stage art shows, produce a fly on the wall docu series...and kick it all off by releasing a new album, out February 21st.

What began as a free party, turned basement record label, has morphed into a truly thriving community whose familial, fun and welcoming vibe has won over hearts and minds across the world. And while Dirtybird has grown and evolved, VonStroke’s core focus on music remains unwavering. The new album ‘Freaks & Beaks’ is a celebration of quirky innovation and a relentless pursuit of something new and fresh, while hearkening back to the freewheeling spirit that inspired the launch of his label. This is a project that draws upon the inspirations of family, old friends, new fans and proper dancefloors.

Claude will let his flock wet their beaks while they wait in anticipation of the new album with two new singles demonstrating the breadth of the dance music landscape explored on the record. Youngblood touches on the deeper sides of Claude VonStroke, a throwback to the label’s early days, featuring local LA music house talent Wyatt Marshall, while All My People in the House is a dancefloor heater that is sure to unite new and old Dirtybird fans together.

Today, Claude also delivers fans part one of an intimate video series, shot by his sister Emily (an accomplished filmmaker), documenting the creation of ‘Freaks and Beaks’, celebrating this historic milestone and taking a deeper dive into the day to day life of Claude VonStroke on the road.

‘Freaks and Beaks’ is the fourth artist album and sixth full-length project from Claude VonStroke. He approached the album with a new process, including committing to daily creative time, experimenting with a lot of new hardware and having fun creating a huge amount of sketches. He made music on many levels of gear all the way from complex modular synths to simple drum apps on his iPad. Keeping it all DIY, he sampled his own voice and his two children on several tracks as well. He allowed himself to breathe while creating over 130 ideas, which were whittled down to the finished 11 album tracks.

Freaks & Beaks nods at the inspirations that underpin VonStroke’s world, inside jokes between him and Justin Martin (FlubbleBuddy), unused experimental live sessions (Session A), playful noodling on synths (Alpine Arpline), obscure French producers (Frankie Goes To Bollywood), championing new talent (Youngblood), irreverent self-aware humor (Birthday Messages) and genre inspirations that range from ghetto tech and drum n bass to hip-hop and breaks. This is VonStroke’s love letter to the vibrancy and genre diversity that have made Dirtybird such a singular label.

Tidal Waves Music proudly presents the re-issue for Nina Simone's 'A Very Rare Evening'. Originally released on PM records in 1979, featuring Weldon Irvine on organ, Don Allias on drums and Jazz legend Gene Perla on bass. Included on these European sessions from 1969 you'll find Nina classics & rare versions of recordings written by Aretha Franklin, Barry Gibb, Randy Newman & Pete Seeger.

One of the most sought after Nina Simone albums is now back available as a deluxe limited vinyl edition for the first time since 1979. Produced by Gene Perla, officially licensed from PM Records & featuring the original artwork created by A.M. Schnider.

"It's her first LP in years, but was taped back in 1969 in Europe with a confident, impressive organ and rhythm section backup band. Simone is an acquired taste. But, for those who appreciate her singing, these eight tracks will prove welcome." - BILLBOARD

Anything by this lady of song is welcome, especially when she's in front of an adoring audience, as she is in these decade-old, never-released sides. Simone covers all bases from Barry Gibb's "In The Morning," to Pete Seeger's adaptation from the Book of Ecclesiastes, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" She gives special meaning to such tunes as the poignant "The Other Woman," the gospel inflected "Save Me," and "I Think It's Going To Rain Today." But the highlight is her own tune, composed with keyboardist Weldon Irvine, Revolution."- CASH BOX MAGAZINE

Though the Simone catalog overflows with live recordings, this 1969 German concert outranks all others. Focusing almost exclusively on then-contemporary material--the Gibb brothers' "In the Morning" and "To Love Somebody," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," Aretha Franklin's "Save Me," the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!"--Simone is at her most assuredly earthy and intrepidly regal.' - THE JAZZ TIMES

Los Angeles based pianist, producer, and songwriter John Carroll Kirby traveled to Pietrasanta, Italy in the summer of 2018 on a self-imposed writing trip. During his stay he composed Tuscany, a two side-long solo piano exploration of this particular geographical envelope, a place where nature is shaped into form.

Kirby would cycle 12 kilometers each day to Cascata di Malbacco, a waterfall with jade pools and silver stone, and the inspiration for Side A of Tuscany. His own Cascata di Malbacco tumbles and shimmers along the piano as a gorgeous eighteen-minute-long improvised piece, some of it polished and some moments left raw.

On a ride to Sant’Anna, twenty-something kilometers away, Kirby took a wrong turn and got lost among the hills, where he encountered several monuments memorializing the victims of the Sant’Anna di Stazzema massacre. The dark history of an abandoned mill house served as the inspiration for the album’s haunting Side B, a eulogy for all of those forgotten by time.

Although Side A is inspired by the natural beauty of a waterfall, and Side B by the cruelty that people can inflict upon others, both pieces revolve around the same seven-note bassline. The idea Kirby is iterating on is the realization that darkness exists inside light, and vice versa; Tuscany is an inquiry into this duality and its consequences.

John Carroll Kirby has recently released records on Leaving Records, Outside Insight and Pinchy & Friends. In the studio and on the road, he’s produced and/or played with Connan Mockasin, Blood Orange, Sebastian Tellier, Shabazz Palaces and Solange.
He recently signed to Stones Throw Records.

Patience is a new outlet for exploring further beyond the break than usual. Inspired by the music perpetually on rotation at HQ – with E2-E4 representing the format’s high tide mark – each release will be one artist’s deep dive down one inspirational wormhole spread across two sides of vinyl, or two side-long sojourns making full use of a round 12” piece of plastic. Set and forget, zone out to tune in.

Black Vinyl – stock is slightly limited on this one and orders might be subject to cutbacks

After asking Chloé Thévenin to collaborate on the soundtrack of her show "Static Shot" (2020), Maud Le Pladec has called upon the producer and DJ again for "counting stars with you (musiques femmes)". A new ambitious, militant and feminist creation made for the 2021 season of Montpellier Danse. The dancer and choreographer, accompanied by six dancers, uses dance and song to explore the unspoken, the marginalisation and the representation of women musicians from the Middle Ages to the present day by summoning historical and contemporary figures such as Kassia of Constantinople, Barbara Strozzi, Giovanna Marini and Clara Schuman...

“In concrete terms," says Chloé, "I composed the music by taking on board the songs of the dancers, drawing and reworking the voices from the repertoire of all the women composers who have been silenced by history. It’s a collective work, with Maud Le Pladec and Tom Pauwels (of the Ictus Ensemble), and we built on it as we rehearsed and developed the piece. The voices, their choices and reinterpretations were able to evolve into the music that I was composing.” Immersed in the creation and the work-in-progress nature of this show, Chloé has imagined a soundtrack based on song. She uses the performers’ scansions, whispers, performances

Vinyl Only

Odd Pleasures presents: Another Phunky Story by Franco Motta. The first Vinyl-Only release of the iconic Miami-based label brings a blend of minimal and house infused with jazzy chords and glitchy atmospheres. Three original tracks made for different moments of the night coexist through homogeneous sounds and arrangements. To close the EP, the Argentinian legend Franco Cinelli delivered a trippy re-interpretarion of the phunkiest track.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – Cole, Blair Cowan, Lawrence Donegan, Neil Clark and Stephen Irvine – were formed in Glasgow in 1982, where Buxton-born singer-songwriter Cole was studying Philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow -Their sound swam against the tide of shiny 80s synthesisers, offering intense, melodic, guitar-based pop, topped with droll words packed with literary references.

Given just how loved debut album Rattlesnakes was, it would have been hard for whatever followed to be received as warmly – yet Easy Pieces made a good first of it. It was to sell twice as many copies in its first two weeks as Rattlesnakes had to date, giving the group a Top 5 chart placing on its release in November 1985. Recorded with 80s super-producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, its first two singles, the brooding, gospel influenced Brand New Friend and the forever-jaunty Lost Weekend reached the UK Top 20.

This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1985 Polydor Records UK release with printed inner sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

For the second vinyl release from Driller records, Lyon based DJ and producer Constantinos delivers four driving and cinematic tracks - the real deal. Leaping from hectic basslines to razor sharp synth lines over his signature drum risers, this EP delivers everything you need for a good club night and beyond. Constantinos knows the drill.

If Susan Subtract of High-Functioning Flesh / Physical Wash personally supports this Portand based duo is because everything that should be the modern american funky ebm / minimal synth is present in “Costo Humano”. Puerta Negra delivers amazing industrial breaks covered in a very simple but extremely effective by funky bass lines perfectly finished by ensoniq style super synth leads culminated by harsh raged vocals sung in castillan language. This is for sure one of the most fresh and brilliant modern ebm work coming from the states recently. For the likes of the west coast modern ebm acts such as Spike Hellis or the mentioned High-Functioning Flesh.

Raw Culture indulges one of its trusted crazy horses for a second time. Artistically born in some seedy basement in Livorno and raised on bread, voice and DIY, Anna Funk Damage presents his album Church of the Poisoned Minds.

8 sonic artifacts resulting from the combination of a well-established Italian talent and the alternating current running through the circuits of his synths (and probably to the curses on her bills). Post-punk attitude spanning wacky grids and wild bpm’s.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Down On Darkened Meetings, the first solo release on the label from the quietly prolific Giuseppe Ielasi. Recorded at Ielasi’s studio in Monza outside of Milan over two days in February 2022, the seven pieces presented here continue the renewed exploration of the guitar that marks much of his solo work over the last few years. Emerging in the late 1990s as an improviser working primarily with prepared acoustic and electric guitars, the instrument became less prominent in his work over the next decade, ceding to loop-based constructs that would eventually split into abstracted takes on club music and hip-hop (including his work as Inventing Masks), on the one hand, and spectral electroacoustic explorations (such as the stunning triple disc 3 pauses), on the other. Returning to the guitar in recent years, he has approached the instrument as a source of shimmering metallic glissandi (Five Wooden Frames) or as the vehicle of elegiac double-tracked lines that feel almost like Frisell playing Feldman (The Return). Here the focus is on electric guitar filtered, looped, and splayed out into fields of irregular echoes through a bank of pedals. Like many of Ielasi’s releases, Down On Darkened Meetings is structured as a set of short untitled pieces (here ranging between two and six minutes in length) that single-mindedly explore a single instrument or source throughout. The opening track immediately introduced the distinctive timbral world of fizzing, heavily filtered tones, chiming harmonics, and woozy looping bass figures inhabited throughout. At points it becomes near impossible to trace these sounds to the strings of an electric guitar; at others, as on the final two pieces, the instrument is unmistakable, as Ielasi builds up his shifting loops from snatches of almost unintentional sounding half-playing that give these closing tracks a hushed, private atmosphere reminiscent of Tolerance’s Anonym. While the repeating chords and hanging melodic figures present on many tracks call to mind earlier Ielasi classics like Gesine and Untitled, here the music feels less meticulously constructed than played: Ielasi’s lyrical guitar lines obscured by a battery of effects at times come across like a dilated take on the outer-fringe fretwork of improvisers like Henry Kaiser and Raymond Boni, and the muddy, asynchronous fields of pops and hiss at times wander into areas reminiscent of the hand-played dub techno of Vladislav Delay’s Multila. Like much of Ielasi’s work in recent years, these seven pieces perform a delicate balancing act: between abstraction and immediacy, austerity and abundance. Imbued with Ielasi’s distinctive lightness of touch, considered approach to pacing, and subtly psychedelic approach to the stereo field, Down on Darkened Meetings is a major new work from a quiet master of contemporary experimental music.

After more than 20 years, Band Of Brothers is still considered one of HBO’s most important series. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the series has won major awards such as the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries. The series is a war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction same titled book. It follows the story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day

The score, composed by the late Michael Kamen, is credited as one of the essential elements in creating the realistic atmosphere of the series. Kamen was best known for scoring movies such as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and X-Men and received an Academy Award nomination for both Don Juan DeMarco and Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.

Revisit the Band Of Brothers score with this deluxe reissue on smoke- coloured vinyl, available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies. The 2LP is housed in a gatefold with a cast picture on the inside, and includes a large poster and insert.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The movie was directed by Jon Watts and the soundtrack composed by Michael Giacchino. Besides the original motion picture soundtrack by the award-winning composer, the score also features the theme from the 1960s cartoon series composed by Paul Francis Webster and Robert “Bob” Harris.

The film follows a young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, who begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man
– but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is available as a limited POP-UP edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on blue coloured vinyl with an etch on Side D. The vinyl package includes a 4-page booklet and movie poster.


[a] A1. Theme (from “Spider Man”) [Original Television Series]

Dial D for Digitalism. The return of Hamburg’s most prolific and bewitching production duo is a two-sided one. Back To Haus is their second outing for Running Back after Reality 2 in 2020. And on top of that, it does what it says on the tin. Based on the roots of house, which was the sound that Ismail Tuefekci and Jens Moelle started their DJ careers with, their modern day interpretation of it is far from nostalgic, boring or conservative.

Take the title track for instance. Now a track-id favorite, it was meant to be a sound test. It’s recipe is as simple as it is infectious. Mix some Roland drum machines with a few piano chords and expertly arrange the rest with a marathon intro and a corresponding break down. Voilá! Patience might be bitter, but its fruits are sweet.

Chicagostrasse is not only an existing street in the warehouse district of Hamburg’s harbor, but also a nod to all-time heroes Johnny D and Nicky P of Henry Street fame and their samplers-and-beats approach. Heavy hypno house.

4TH Floor sees the duo sampling themselves (again) for a fast paced and open-airy party jam the references one of their favorite New York labels, when they met at Hamburg’s late house music record store institution Underground Solution beginning of this millennium. Happiness is just a state of mind.

Closing it all off, but not winding it down is Warehaus and its convoying beat tool Empty Warehaus. Like Todd Terry visiting a Summer of Love rave in the UK. Descriptive and positively destructive. All in all, a worthy double, a DJ’s delight and a dancer’s delight.

I'm Not Your Fool is the fourth single from Norfolk based singer songwriter Jodie.
A retro soul stuck in a millennial's body, Jodie has released three Northern Soul
inspired songs over the last two years, with her debut single Pushover selling out
on vinyl in less than 24 hours.
I'm Not Your Fool is an ode to people who have been through relationships that
make them feel like they are being taken for granted. When you have finally
given up second guessing every move you make, this song will be your
realisation of your self worth.
I'm Not Your Fool is out 21st April on all streaming platforms.

Brand new Berlin based Label and Party Series "kickin' up dust" teams up with German Producer George Davis and brings out their first EP incl. a Kai Alcé NDATL Interpretation.

"Lovedancin" is the name of an event series by kickin’ up dust. Founder Tom Kutsche and his staff have dedicated their energy to bring together a diverse crowd celebrating in a field of Disco, Acid Jazz and Proto House. The bookings have the task of bringing together "from the old to the new" with dinosaur acts like Maurice Fulton, DJ Deep, Alex from Tokyo and Roy Davis Jr paired with new & local talents. Be sure to attend one of the next Lovedancin events and check out the debut release by George Davis on their freshly founded kickin’ up dust label.

Early DJ Support by: DJ Sneak, Honey Dijon, Charles Webster, Terry Farley, DJ Seinfeld, Jimpster, Horse Meat Disco, Robert Owens, Luke Solomon.

BBE Music are proud to reissue one of the most elusive and sought-after Afro-Funk LPs of all time: SON OF AFRICA, by REMI KABAKA.

Now a proud 85 years of age and enjoying retirement in America, Remi was the cornerstone of British West African music in the 50s, 60s and 70s, along with Ginger Oloronso Johnson, Fela Kuti and others. But while Ginger played mambo and cha cha cha in Soho clubland and Fela released his early ‘highlife jazz’ records on the Melodisc label, Remi Kabaka was fully ensconced in the UK Rock world, playing sessions and live shows with The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and countless others.

As the 60s became the 70s, Kabaka developed yet another string to his bow: the development of a UK based West African Funk scene, that found its genesis in the legendary Osibisa, but with an influence and an inspiration that spilled over into every contemporary Brit Funk band from Cymande and the Equals to The Average White Band, Matata and beyond.

SON OF AFRICA was originally released by Chris Blackwell’s Island records in 1976, to little acclaim, very few reviews, and with almost no promotion. African music was a hard sell when the 70s Black British record market wanted reggae first and foremost, and with Bob Marley on the books, Island understandably had other priorities at the time. The record disappeared. Until it reappeared in the early 2000s, as a £700-plus collectors’ item.

It’s barely 30 minutes long. But every single minute is drenched with sinuous, spare funk: no spacey psych rock, no disco, no boogie, no over-the-top production: just 90-110 BPM grooves that go straight to the body.

So: whether you’re a turntablist, a hip hop sampler, or just an honest-to-goodness African Funk lover, catch this limited reissue (with full, updated liner notes) while you can. There won’t be another chance.

Brazilian singer, guitarist and actor Seu Jorge returns with an intimate and stripped back session and album, a collaboration with his close friend and kindred spirit Rogê, for new UK based, direct-to-disc record label, Night Dreamer.

Recorded and cut direct-to-disc on Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd August 2019 at Artone Studio, Haarlem, The Netherlands. Brazilian singer, guitarist and actor Seu Jorge turns to brother-in-arms Rogê, for their first ever album recording, celebrating 25 years of friendship and companionship as part of the latest instalment on UK based, direct-to-disc record label, Night Dreamer.

From concept to completion in four days, the Night Dreamer session commits a lifetime of collaboration and companionship to record for the first time, encapsulated by ‘Caminhão’ - the first song the duo ever wrote together 25 years ago.

Similar to his breakout album and Bowie homage, The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions, the new record is stripped back and raw but with an altogether different ambition - to create a 'classic Brazilian record'. Featuring both Seu Jorge and Rogê on guitar and vocals it also enlists the additional talents of two of Brazil’s most sought-after percussionists, Peu Meurray and Pretinho da Serrinha.

The seven original compositions recall the pairs plaintive and idiosyncratic melancholy and draws on the likes of Brazilian greats like Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil and orge Ben.

From Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, Jorge’s success has been witnessed by close friend Rogê – a story which has seen Jorge go from humble beginnings in Rio to working with the likes of Beck and Bowie, and starring in major film and television productions. Well known for his acting roles in,

City of God and the current Netflix hit series Irmandade (Brotherhood), it was Wes Anderson’s A Life Aquatic film that global audiences first saw Jorge on the screen performing as a troubadour strumming Portuguese-language covers of David Bowie classics. All in all, Seu Jorge has been a pioneering force in revitalising Brazilian popular music across the globe.

A songwriter, composer and musician in his own right, Rogê has received a Latin Grammy Nomination for ‘Na Veia’, his collaboration with samba legend Arlindo Cruz. With a strong catalogue of 7 albums and countless collaborations with Brazilian and international producers, Rogê represents the new generation of artists of the Brazilian Popular Music movement and has been instrumental in the pair building an archive of unrealised songs, sketches and ideas, some of which ultimately comprise the backbone of this session.

Like eavesdropping on a campfire session, the one-take direct-to-vinyl process at Artone captures the intensity of the duo’s relationship, setting the conditions for an extraordinarily intimate recording.

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

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

DJML & Jerod S. Rivera debut Later Version project with ‘Swim Domain’ EP on Third Place

Later Version is made up of Oakland-based artists Dan Letson and Jerod S. Rivera, whose debut EP lands on London-based Third Place this April.

Across the 12”, the duo’s natural flair for hi-res IDM-tinged electronica is on full display, with four colourful and playful originals accompanied by a stellar (digital only) remix from Jacktone co-owner, Dark Entries and Tartelet Records affiliate, and Beats Unlimited member Doc Sleep.

repressed !

Breaking Greedy Creepers Powerslam

London-based artist Forest Drive West lands on superb Munich label Ilian Tape here with a new hand-stamped 12". He is someone who has mastered hi-fidelity minima bass music over the last few years, mostly on Livity Sound. This time out he offers four more of his intricate and masterfully designs cuts across two sides of vinyl as part of the ITX Series. As always there is a perfect balance between light and dark, physical groove and emotive synth work that pulls you in deep to his unique musical world. Do not sleep on this one.

Bristol-based producer and DJ 'Drone' present his album on 1985 Music. This 13-track long play, like his previous releases, continues to push the boundaries of underground dance and grime while retaining a sub-heavy, 808-laden coherence within his productions and selections, as anyone who has caught one of his sets can attest to.Since his first release on the imprint in 2020, Drone and his productions have grown from strength to strength. His debut EP ‘Evil Sky’ in 2021 received critical acclaim and support from all the leading figures in underground dance. His production work blurs the boundaries of trap, grime, and dubstep while enjoying support from the likes of Mala, V.I.V.E.K, and Kahn, it seems Drone’s inimitable sounds are becoming favoured by both scene stalwarts and club-goers: an admiration which looks set to grow as he continues to produce thoughtful and original music that promises a reaction in the club. ‘All I Know’ feat. Nottingham’s rising star Snowy kicks off the campaign and is a track that dominated the 2022 festival season. Calling on fellow production friends, this album also sees collaborations with label head honcho Alix Perez, Notion, Hyroglifics, and Deft. Kicking off 2023, Drone undertakes his first North American tour with a month of back-to-back performances and showcases of his new music ahead of release. He returns to the UK with a very special album launch party in his hometown Bristol before taking the party to the capital in early March.