Suche:end to end

Nice 1 Records launches with a sublime slice of deep house geared towards tender moments in the dance. We Are Syd's "Gently" in its original form is a smoky downtempo cut riding on a laid back broken beat, honey-coated keys and a powerful vocal turn from accomplished singer Shea Seger. The emphasis on this record is on the two stellar mixes from Baby Ford & Dazmos, leading on the A side with the hazy, old-school groove of the "Backroom Mix". Seger's husky delivery lingers in a mellifluous bed of pads and a classic, understated drum machine funk. On the flip, the "Frontroom Mix" bring the rhythm section to the forefront, letting the undulating bassline carry the track and splashing dubbed out flourishes in the mix for a spellbinding, club-ready end result.

Heady, deep dive into techno's more psychedelic spaces, true to form, "Dimensions Doors" EP kicks off with the rolling kicks of "Portal Opening", a trippy exploration of shifting ambiances and rhythmic noise, punctuated by a siren tone. AWB steps up with a broken beat remix of "Portal Opening", layering Clotur's ambiances over low-slung percussion. "Hyperspace Travel" brings up the energy with galloping kicks and rippling resonant synths. BLNDR follows up with a pounding remix, building Clotur's sweeping textures into trippy loops circling over a monolithic kick. "Irregular Frequencies" pulls even further into the portal, with a relentless, rubbery synth squelching along over driving, percussion. Clotur lays a gentle, but uneasy atmosphere over this trippy tool. He brings us back down with "Forbidden Level", another complex rhythmic track featuring glitchy percs and robotic warping over a tough low-end workout.

Ukrainian born and New York-based artist Matuss is delivering anotherinstallment of Absence Seizure. This time she is teaming up with
Norwegian but could be Berlin depending on the time of year
basslines that are pulsated by some intricate synths.


The Absence Seizure imprint is run by none other than Matuss herself along with Abe Duque and they focus on limited edition vinyl with a
nose for deep and meaningful house and techno. The last release saw the two bosses’ team up on Absence Seizure 11 to deliver some
pulsating beats and orgasmic synths. Expect a deeper cut this time around with the two artists verging more to the house side of the
electronic music spectrum on this project. Karina’s ‘Acid Meow’ is the first track on AS012. Karina is one of The
Zoo Project Ibiza core residents a player of all things vinyl with releases on the likes of God Particle and Cymawax. ‘Acid Meow’ has a
fearless acid-tinged bassline that gives the track a motivating drive. Reminiscent of 90s minimalism she’s kept the beats simple
putting all emphasis on the merciless acid sequence. Tip! Real energy to the dancefloor!


Matuss takes over the EP after the initial cut starting with ‘Travel High’. It has a long build to begin with these quizzical keys that
create anticipation. It discharges with an old school funky bassline that is slowly pushed. It’s accentuated by a ghetto vocal belting out
the title of the track and ends with some punchy percussions and bongo drums. She follows up with ‘Ninja Moves’. A more secretive and sultry number.
It tingles out a smooth bassline and revolves some nice chatter claps and snaps to add a certain silkiness to it. A bit of a floater
it has some beeping 80s keys on it that just add to the sway. If you want your mind to drift
you can get lost in this. Last but as always not least is ‘People Like You and Me’. The track starts with that fun festival horn that makes nostalgia exude out of
your prefrontal cortex. It divulges into these rolling clicks and toms that is carried by this dubbed bassline. Eventually
a bright and sunny synth emits light over the track as the vocals invite you in. The juxtaposition of the synth and bassline just work in harmony and
really make this cut hit home.

Ross Alexander first came to our attention with Memorias Vol.1 - Bugandan Sacred Places, released back in 2017 on Sucata Tapes, it featured a mind altering mix of recorded sounds from a series of visited sites considered sacred within the Bugandan kingdom and session recordings with Ugandan musicians Albert Sempeke and the Nilotika Collective layered with his own original composition using the Yamaha DX7 and programmed FM synthesis. The result being an unique reconfiguration of new age vocabulary with East African traditional sensibilities. The tape quickly sold out and the new Volume of Memorias presented here arrives now on the mother label Discrepant, on Vinyl with an expanded sound palette appropriate to the format.

Memorias Vol.2 - High Atlas To The Sahara Desert is the logical progression of Volume 1. - based on a series of field recordings Alexander made during a trip through the High Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara Desert in 2018. The aim of the trip was to visit a gathering of nomadic musicians at an oasis close to the Algerian border. Like Memorias Vol1. the recordings made on the trip were then later processed, layered and arranged with original compositions. Where Vol1. had clear nods to New Age music this volume explores the more ambient side of 80’s Industrial sound.

Should you find yourself taking a Thames-side stroll in the shadow of the City of London, keep an eye out for the headphone-clad figure of Ilan Pdahtzur. While be-suited bankers and frustrated office workers scurry home to their families, Ilan can frequently be found casting admiring glances towards the blinking lights of towering skyscrapers while filling his ears with the synthesizer-driven sounds of lesser-known 1980s dance music.

Ilan, an avid but little-known record collector best known for sharing the artwork of obscure and under-appreciated early-to-mid ’80s club cuts on his popular Instagram feed, has been digging for vibrant, kaleidoscopic records since his teens. Now, thanks to Spacetalk, he’s been given a chance to offer a glimpse into his neon-lit nocturnal musical world.

The result is Night City Life, a killer collection of 1980s synthesizer songs inspired by Ilan’s admiration for the glow of London’s late night skyline. Over the course of 13 essential tunes, Ilan escorts us on a vibrant sprint through rare Italo-disco, steamy South African synth-boogie, fizzing American freestyle, oddball Austrian electrofunk and so much more.

There are naturally a fair few sought-after cuts present, but also a fine selection of under-appreciated gems that for one reason or other have been all but ignored since they were released three and a half decades ago. In fact, some selections are so obscure that barely any information exists about them online.

Check for example Preludio’s “Mysterious Nights”, an evocative fusion of slow electronic grooves, dreamy chords and twinkling piano motifs previously buried on a lesser-known album of unremarkable German synth-pop, or the dollar-bin brilliance of Fragile’s sweet synth-pop gem “We’ve Got Tonight, Boy”, a cut that Ilan says is capable of “wrapping itself like tendrils around your soul”. He’s not wrong.

At the other end of the scale you’ll find the ultra-rare Italo-disco breeziness of Friend of Mine’s incredible “Just Your Pride” and Mac & Monica’s soulful 1986 South African synth-boogie cut “You’re So Good To Me”, copies of which regularly change hands for hundreds of pounds online. Ilan originally reached out to the men behind the record last year to tell them how one of their other forgotten gems had been played on a Boiler Room session; naturally, they were thrilled.

There’s plenty to admire elsewhere on the compilation, too, from the waves of analogue synths, bubbly melodies and bobbing beats of the instrumental dub version of Brian Tatcher’s “Hot Love” – a cold-war era cut inspired by the idea of love blossoming in the midst of a nuclear meltdown – to the Bobby Orlando-esque freestyle bustle of Janelle’s “Don’t Be Shy (Dub)” and the sparkling post-boogie brilliance of Jarmaz’s “Night City Life (Disco Remix)”, a track Ilan has listened to countless times while admiring the midnight skyline of his home city.

Mekanik Kommando was a post punk / New Wave band from Nijmegen, the Netherlands founded in 1979 by Peter van Vliet and Laszlo Panyigay. The duo became a quartet with the addition of Simon van Vliet and Mirjam van Hout. The name Mekanik Kommando comes from the album ?Mekan?k Destrukt?w Kommand?h? by the French progressive rock band Magma. Inspired by a DIY ethos, Kraftwerk and Magma, the band began recording songs at home using two tape recorders. Their demo cassette was discovered by Wally van Middendorp of Minny Pops and owner of Plurex Records, who booked them for a gig at Paradiso in Amsterdam. In 1981 they were asked to contribute music on a flexidisc for the first issue of newly established magazine Vinyl. In the summer of that year the band recorded their debut album ?It Would Be Quiet In The Woods If Only A Few Birds Sing? released on Torso. In February 1982 the band secured five days of studio time at Salisbury Sound in Dordrecht. The end result was the mini-album ?Dancing Elephants? released on Torso later that year. Musically, the five songs are a mix between cold wave, experimental electronic and industrial pop. The band utilized two bass guitars plus a Korg 770, KR-55 drum machine, violin, effects, metals and plastics. Lyrics explore themes of decay and morality, hypnotically spoken on top of playfully metallic sounds. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each EP is housed in a replica of the original jacket, which features artwork by the group members, and includes a 4-page booklet with lyrics and notes designed by Eloise Leigh.

In this post-industrial, post-enlightenment religion of ourselves, we have manifested a serpent of consumerism which now coils back upon us. It seduces us with our own bait as we betray the better instincts of our nature and the future of our own world. We throw ourselves out of our own garden. We poison ourselves to the edges of an endless sleep.

Animated Violence Mild was written throughout 2018, at Blanck Mass’ studio outside of Edinburgh. These eight tracks are the diary of a year of work steeped in honing craft, self-discovery, and grief - the latter of which reared its head at the final hurdle of producing this record and created a whole separate narrative: grief, both for what I have lost personally, but also in a global sense, for what we as a species have lost and handed over to our blood-sucking counterpart, consumerism, only to be ravaged by it.

I believe that many of us have willfully allowed our survival instinct to become engulfed by the snake we birthed. Animated — brought to life by humankind. Violent — insurmountable and wild beyond our control. Mild — delicious.

2 years ago the track Still Numbers on Ekin Fil's album Heavy caught the attention of a certain Richard D. James, who under his 'user18081971' username reposted the track to his now historic Soundcloud dump.

This is also how Ekin’s work initially caught the labels attention; at first listen it sounded like a unearthed Grouper demo, a parallel that can be drawn respectfully, seeing Ekin’s trade marks are also those forlorn, muffled vocal whispers, layered under sentimental tape loops, paired with ambience and feedback.

The album itself was originally produced in 5 years ago during what Ekin Fil recalls as a down right depressing and tumultuous time during which she turned to music as a measure of rehabilitation.

Heavy was later released on tape via Lee Nobles No Kings label in 2016 and re-mastered in 2018 from the tape rips by Rashad Backer, preserving the fragile and heavy hearted auditory sensibility found in the original work, while making one of Ekin’s earliest and most personally endearing releases available to a new audience of listeners.

An artist who deliberately plays with labels, taking in contemporary and novel forms, boldly launching into experimentation (as demonstrated by her collaboration with percussionist Vassiléna Sérafimova), Chloé wanted to take the album’s tracks and transform them in front of an audience by feeding them with new textures and inspirations. Performed over a year at events such as Nuits Sonores, Sónar, Mutek (in Montréal and Mexico), The Peacock Society, and festivals such as Marsatac, Musilac and Colors of Ostrava, Endless Revisions’ live performance has evolved with every show. It was out of the question to let these new versions - replayed, recreated and restructured alongside the evolution of the performance’s very architecture - fade away without a trace Chloé’s prolific Lumière Noire label, in the wake of its first anniversary, had to produce a recording that bears witness to the work that these ephemeral creations represents. Slowly introduced by Dune, then propelled by the impulse of Because it’s There, the mix is articulated around the appropriatelytitled Outerspace, followed by Party Moonster and the bewitching The Dawn, heard here in “clubbier” versions and adapted to a context in which the audience (whose enjoyment of the performance was audibly captured in the recordings), must be kept in suspense, as if carried away in a narrative. The set leads up to Moonscape, an exclusive track created during the performance series, before the performance ends with a new version of Sometimes, Chloé’s relentless 2002 instant classic. At nearly 50 minutes, this recording is like a snapshot of a work’s vital momentum, remaining faithful to the spirit of Chloé’s Endless Revisions while detaching itself in order to conquer new territories. It is what music must also be: a moving creation that is activated and reacts in contact with its audience.

For Fans Of…Aretha Franklin, Betty Davis, Lyn Collins, Sharon Jones, Ann Peebles. Pink vinyl 45 is limited and for Indies only. 1000 copies Barbara Howard's On The Rise is more than just another rare soul LP. It's a love story. It's a dream. It was an attempt to break through. And although Barbara certainly never became a star, one song did become a staple in rare soul and funk DJ sets, keeping interest in Barbara Howard just under the surface. And as fate would have it in 2016, a sealed copy of the LP would find its way into Plaid Room Records in Loveland, OH and kick start the revival of her story and her music. In 1968, as an outgrowth of a community movement and talent search program called "Operation Step-Up", Steven Reece wanted to take his community movement to the next level. This is when the idea of founding an independent label came to mind. The idea was to self-produce quality records and through successful sales attempt to land major label distribution. Steve identified Barbara Howard as the talent and set to producing her record. The idea was to produce an LP with a variety of tracks that could be marketed to a variety of radio formats and markets (gospel, pop, soul, jazz, etc.). And while the record fizzled shortly after its release, Steve and Barbara ended up getting married shortly afterwards making this possibly the most romantic production of a record is soul music history. "I Don't Want Your Love" is the only track they produced that was NOT featured on the LP, so we're proud to get this deep funk banger back into the world at large!

Timeless Legend came from Columbus, Ohio. Their ‘Synchronised’ album from 1980 is one of the rarest ‘rare grooves’ and both original copies and the ‘northern soul’ single “I Was Born To Love You” still sell for over £1,000 a copy.
By 1985 music styles had changed and the group with shortened name Timelesscapitalized on the burgeoning boogie scene with the 12” double header we reissue here. Of the two sides “You’re The One” has become the most enduring and in demand, again an original reach which has been sold for £1000 on the collectors scene. The French reissue from 2011 is also extremely sought after. In this edition the release has been restored to how the original first looked and sounded on Pendulum Records artwork from Expansion.

In 1985, I started working as a sound engineer in the famed Far Studios of German hit producer legend Frank Farian in Rosbach near Frankfurt, and there had an array of gear at my disposal that not many producers could afford, and know how to use in consequence. In the center a high-end Neve studio desk, but also the finest machines created by mythic brands like Linn, Kurzweil, Publison, or Quantec. Confronted with this considerable amount of opportunities on a daily basis, I soon decided to use what I was surrounded with for my own musical ideas, and started experimenting with it in my spare time. My perception of sounds quickly surpassed what I had known before. The equipment offered me many possibilities to position sounds within a song and I learnt how to compose by filling up all the places in between the speakers. There was not only left and right but near and far as well, and even up and down. My preferred perspective grew to be that of standing in front of the speakers, "looking down" on a song from a slightly higher position. The material was recorded on analogue reel-to-reel audiotape, which I subsequently edited and deconstructed manually with a razor blade, an edit block and a roll of audio splicing tape.

Anthony Reynolds was born in South Wales in the early seventies. Between 1993 and 2004 he was founding member of the groups Jack and Jacques, releasing five albums. Since 2004 he has released various albums and also worked as a writer, publishing four biographies which have been translated into 14 languages and two volumes of poetry which haven’t been translated at all.. He has collaborated with the likes of Momus, Dot Allison, Peter Walsh (Scott Walker), Colin Wilson and Vashti Bunyan.
This new album features contributions from Robert Dean (Japan), Carl Bevan (60FT Dolls), Richard Glover (Dub War) Fiona Brice (composer/ violinist who has worked with the likes of John Grant and Placebo) and Kirk Lake.

After just 6 months since first seeing Big Yawn perform, we are thrilled to welcome them to the Research family. A compelling prelude to their debut album "No!" due out in late 2019.

Over six years the Melbourne-based group has evolved, with members of the band running various releases through label and collective Fallopian Tunes. As of 2019, Big Yawn had become a four-member music group, motivated by a history of studio production, prolific collaboration and quality hangout time.

The groups freshest effort 'Skin Rat/Thomas' captures the band performing live in the studio, and it's typical Big Yawn: fat and punchy low-end bass; drums and live drum processing; delay fx samples; thick syrupy synths. 'Skin Rat' is a hyperbolically dubbed out, tongue in cheek, magnetic blend of UK garage, footwork and breaks. And 'Thomas' takes cues from a slightly damaged post-punk sound, amplifying a brittle and sinister type of atomic porn-funk.

Limited to 200 copies. Hand numbered and housed in a screen-printed sleeve, artwork by Julian Hocking.

Juan MacLean and Man Power debut as Juan Power for Life and Death

Life and Death continue to serve up brilliantly unpredictable releases with a new one that brings together American DFA stalwart Juan MacLean with the UK’s Me Me Me label head Man Power, plus an edit from the boss, DJ Tennis.

Juan MacLean is a multi-faceted artist who has a history of everything from playing in post hardcore bands to producing some of DFA’s most celebrated releases. He does classy house bangers with synth pop and disco layers like no one else. Man Power, meanwhile, is someone who is fantastically eclectic in what he does on all fronts as a DJ, label boss and producer. He’s made corrugated acid, hands in the air house and machine disco and plenty in between on his own label, but also cult outlets like Correspondent and ESP Institute. The coming together of these two undoubted studio wizards, then, is a fascinating prospect.

And so it proves right from the off: opener ‘Crescendo’ is a nine minute masterpiece with rickety house drums making you move while the shuffling percussion builds the pressure. Gorgeously warm chords eventually join the fray and have a blissful effect that sets you off dreaming and keeps you in a trance until the end.

DJ Tennis himself then steps up with an edit of ‘Excuse Me Daddy’ that is deep and cavernous. Next to the suspensory pads is an intricate synth line that takes you in on yourself in perfectly melancholic ways.

Closer ‘Praise The Toad’ then picks up the pace with more live sounding drums and a sparkling lead synth that rises and falls to cosmic effect. Drawn out over the full length of the track, and in amongst some chattery claps and smart effects, it makes for a journey to the stars that will cast a real spell on all who hear it.

This is an innovative collaboration between two masters of their craft.

Label Quote "Turquoise Colored French Tourists are back with six pool-party essentials for your next lousy bathing event in your parents' backyard. Early support by everyone you know and your mama"

Short Info:
Turquoise Colored French Tourists release their Pöseldorf Poolparty EP, a 6 track extravaganza of high end production, House music know how mixed with Funk and a flair for live drum sounds which elevate this EP.

The artists behind this - Scharbatke and Bias joined forces having met years ago in their favourite bar Goldengrün and agreed after a few gin's to establish the live performing House music super group Turquoise Colored French Tourists. With their differing backgrounds both coming to play in this EP, adding a depth to the groove.

This record is essential for the most in the know Poolpartys, for the most exclusive parts of town - we begin the EP with the title track, motes of DamFunk and a truly groovy opener that should loosen things up nicely as the still hyper funky but more straight up and dance-able Altona im Sonnenschein carry's us onwards.

Crepes takes us deeper, Housier but still with a tweaked aesthetic that marks this out from others. A true adventure in jacked rhythm. The EP continues to turn gently into the more filtered House vibe with Spätfolgen, whilst not forgetting its funky roots with Jameson. The latter bringing a slight 80's touch to the vibe - if there is one thing this EP does well its keeping it fresh at each and every turn.

Closing the EP "Feels so good" lets the melody flow a little, warm and inviting with a little bit of everything that has come before it.

The first official reissue of ‘Good Lovin’’ – a modern soul dancer with a killer groove, heavy low-end, delectable string & horn trade-offs and the husky tones of the inimitable Al Mason, that blew up on the scene in 1980 and now commands eye watering prices between collectors. This dinked 7 inch comes backed with ‘We Still Could Be Together’ off the original promo 12 Inch, with both tracks fully remastered and officially licensed for the first time since its original release.

‘Good Lovin’’ stormed dancefloors back in the early ‘80s taking Al’s undeniable, raspy vocal prowess and stirring it up with an energetic combination of funk guitars, full frontal basslines, on-point harmonies and a perfectly arranged string and brass section. It’s been a rare treasure on the second-hand market with original copies trading hands for £400 so an official reissue will be music to many an ear.

The B side, ‘We Still Could Be Together’, is an emotive ballad filled to the brim with Mason’s tangible passion alongside smoky pianos, cinematic strings and velvety backing vocals. A slow stepper with a bittersweet message behind it.

Drummer/producer Teppo Mäkynen presents a new album by his lauded trio ensemble 3TM in 2019. Before the second 3TM album "Lake" comes "Abyss", a collection of 10 ambient pieces laying the groundwork for the upcoming album. This prelude album is a full-bodied work in itself, a glorious and somewhat mysterious LP which brings forth yet another shade of multifaceted Mäkynen's musical vision. The 10 compositions on "Abyss" feel like the discovery of life and movement in deep waters, where only the rare shades of light breaking through indicate that another world exists above the surface.

"Abyss" will be available as a clear vinyl edition, on tape and digitally, and both as a standalone album and as a bundle with the upcoming 3TM trio album "Lake".

Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen is a drummer/producer from Helsinki, who works at the centre of the lively jazz scene in Finland. His work includes projects such as 3TM, The Stance Brothers, Teddy Rok Seven and the new duo with sax player Timo Lassy. Mäkynen also plays drums in several highly-regarded ensembles such as Timo Lassy Band, Aki Rissanen Trio, Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, Verneri Pohjola Quartet, Nicola Conte Jazz Combo, plus many more. As a producer, his work has been highly regarded in projects such as 3TM, The Stance Brothers, and the albums of Timo Lassy and Jukka Eskola.

We adore Big Star and Alex Chilton more than words can express. Being able to present two of Alex’s staggeringly beautiful demos on vinyl for the first time (on a cute picture sleeve 7", no less) is an absolute honour for us at Be With.

“It Isn’t Always That Easy” and “If You Would Marry Me” both sound like templates for some of Alex’s best-known Big Star numbers. These demos come from the transitional recording sessions he made with Terry Manning at the Ardent studio in 1969, but were missing from the vinyl version of the wonderful Free Again compilation that was released in 2012.

Caught between the end of the Box Tops and the birth of Big Star Alex’s song-craft was already remarkable - as these demos prove - and this release represents a fascinating, exploratory period in the career of one of pop’s most enigmatic talents.

“It Isn’t Always That Easy” is the real knockout. A tender, acoustic ballad that, stylistically, could have appeared Big Star’s “#1 Record”. Yes, it really is that good. A deeply affecting, ruminative lament that explores the ravages of Alex’s short career to date, it is also one of the sweetest and most delicate melodies he ever wrote. A song this stunning shouldn’t just be kept for the Big Star completists.

Over on the flip, “If You Would Marry Me” finds Alex in earnestly romantic mode. It’s just him and a piano, albeit one that is played in a poppy, uplifting fashion to complement the optimistic mood: “I could make you feel so glad inside and so alive” he confidently declares. It’s quite the gem. It really should be mandatory for this to be played at every wedding.

Unfortunately there seem to be no photographs of Alex from around the time he was making these recordings. But luckily we were put in touch with Pat Rainer who was photographing the Memphis music scene that Alex was still part of a few years later.

Happy to be described as “a friend with a camera who was hanging around”, Pat’s candid pictures of Alex included one of him asleep on the floor of the Ardent studio. Even though the photograph was taken 9 years after the demos were recorded, we think this intimate portrait makes a fitting cover for these equally intimate songs.

Oscillate Tracks 003 is the first split EP featuring resident Johanna Knutsson and alumni Karen
Gwyer. The two performed together early last year, Karen live with her shimmering textures
before Johanna introduced her bleepy tales. Their musical affinity was easily recognisable and
our aim was to bring their dynamic connection from one fleeting experience onto the enduring
form of a record. What developed exceeded all expectations. On Johanna’s side, the Swedish
producer plays with tempo and panning, constructing vast soundscapes on the backdrop of a
dubbed-out alternating bass drum with refrains from her Nord synth rippling throughout. On the
flip we find Karen exploring melancholic ambient IDM, layering sparkling notes over lush
melodies interlaced with rapid percussions, forming utterly exquisite works of art.

Pacific Breeze is a collection of choice cuts that range from silky smooth grooves to innovative techno pop bangers and everything in between.

Long-revered by crate diggers and adventurous music heads, this music has never been released outside of Japan until now. Including key artists like Taeko Ohnuki and Minako Yoshida, as well as cult favorites Hitomi Tohyama and Hiroshi Sato, the long-awaited release also features newly commissioned cover painting by Tokyo-based artist Hiroshi Nagai, whose iconic images of resort living have graced the covers of many classic City Pop albums of the 1980s.

Many of the key City Pop players evolved from the Japanese New Music scene of the early '70s, as heard on Light In The Attic's acclaimed Even a Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973, the first release of the ongoing Japan Archival Series. In fact, you could say City Pop set sail with a champagne smash from Happy End, the freakishly talented subversives who included amongst their ranks Haruomi Hosono and Shigeru Suzuki, both featured on this compilation. As Michael K. Bourdaghs noted in his book, Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon, this music was, 'Deconstructing the line between imitation and authenticity.' Some of the best City Pop teeters in this zone—easy listening with mutant exotica, tilted techno-pop, and steamy boogie bubbling beneath the gloss.

2xLP housed in a deluxe wide spine jacket with over sized fold-out booklet, full color printed inner sleeves, and custom die-cut obi card

“Following on from Homenagem, Lugar Alto’s first critically acclaimed project, the São Paulo label's new endeavour is the reissue of another neglected masterpiece. This time, it’s “Poema da Gota Serena” turn by Zé Eduardo Nazário from 1982. This unique work gathers elements of free jazz, Brazilian Northeastern rhythms, Asian percussive instruments and electronics.

Zé Eduardo is a virtuoso drummer and percussionist with a prolific career as a musician and teacher. He was introduced to music in his youth and started playing professionally at the age of thirteen. In the late 60’s he was a regular at the famous Totem night club in São Paulo, where he performed alongside the pianist Tenório Jr. and other exceptional instrumentalists. It was there that he met Guilherme Franco, and together they formed the Grupo Experimental de Percussão. This period defined Nazário’s interest in different sonorities involving percussion, and he broke away from the more traditional genres, such as bossa nova and jazz. Over time, this distinctiveness in sound and playing allowed him to create his own path which culminated in an extensive number of remarkable works, including the colorful and psychedelic “M andala”, which examines Indian and hippie themes. He also played with Hermeto Pascoal’s group and joined him and Jaques Morelenbaum for the recording of the cult classic “Imyra, Tayra, Ypy” by Taiguara. For Egberto Gismonti’s “Nó Caipira”, Nazário performed with the khene, a mouth organ from Laos, a present from Gismonti himself.

But it is Nazário’s work with the 1976 collective Grupo Um which is his most well-known, who, during their 6-year legacy recorded, amongst movie and ballet soundtracks, 3 albums: “Marcha Sobre a Cidade”, “Reflexões Sobre a Crise do Desejo” and “Flor de Plástico Incinerada”. The combo is considered one of the most innovative formations of its time, unusually combining electro-acoustic elements, jazz and Brazilian traditional music.

Poema da Gota Serena was Zé Eduardo's first solo project and it was financed by the legendary Lira Instrumental, a collaboration between the ground-breaking venue, label and publisher for the São Paulo avant-garde, Lira Paulistana, along with the always interesting Continental Records, home to such luminaries as Tom Zé. The album was offered as a package deal simultaneously with the production of “Flor de Plástico Incinerada”, ensuring 2 studio sessions at JV studios in October 1982.

Each side of the album explores different duets which, with its suite formated tracks, give the album the feel of a cohesive whole. The first half of the A side, “Energia dos Três Mundos”, is shared with the improvised saxophone of Cacau. Nazário delves into free jazz rhythms and plays his drums with a rolling and tumbling swing, using the kit in full, demonstrating the power of Brazilian jazz fusion. The second half of the suite takes us into a more tranquil mode. “Só Prá Ouvir”, demonstrates Zé’s mastery on the glockenspiel, and Indian percussion instruments, such as the tabla and mridangam. Cacau, on his side, switches his saxophone for more delicate dancing flute driven passages, equal parts northeastern rhythms and deep Amazonian indigenous influences. The B side, with “Prá Pensar / Prá Sentir e Prá Contar”, contrasts heavily with the A side’s more organic and natural feel. In Prá Pensar Lelo Nazários’s synth clusters and electronic blasts strangely interact with the exploring, wandering percussion. This track leads into the sublime “Prá Sentir e Prá Contar” where South Indian inspired vocals, performed by Zé Eduardo, accompany the graceful synth chords and fluttering percussion. The result is a hypnotic, otherworldly feel to the music that is infectious and takes the listener on an extraordinary journey.
With Poema da Gota Serena, it is possible to hear music that extrapolates the lines of the avant-garde and popular music. It is an album the demonstrates that Brazilian jazz fusion can be both spiritual and challenging at the same time.

All the tracks were expertly remastered by Lelo Nazário, directly from the original tapes, maintaining the high quality of production that Lugar Alto are becoming renowned for. All the artwork was reinterpreted by the São Paulo design studio Sometimes Always, including an exclusive insert and unpublished images.

It seems that Lugar Alto have managed to excavate yet another gem from the seemingly bottomless Brazilian mines. Long may they continue to do what they do so well.”

Primarily known for his work behind the boards with heavyweights; Kon, Bosq and Soul Clap, Caserta steps out from behind the console to present the first release on his new imprint...BridgeBoots.

Caserta and co. manage to source a vocal from a “blue- eyed soul” classic, usually reserved for the end of the night and craft it into a dance floor stomper.

With the aforementioned Kon holding down the flip side with a smooth reworked dub, BridgeBoots is off to a hot start!

DJ Support:

“Daymn. Loving this flip. Super smooth and that Kon Dub is tight in the pocket.” - “Love this -- both mixes are fire. Definitely in that.
Eli
Soul Clap

"Heavy warm up" sweet spot for when the room is starting to bubble or those Sunday roof-top jams! Will be rinsing this summer for sure.” –
Marc Meistro,
Sol Power Records

“A genius” - Nai Palm
“One of the most incredible live performances I’ve seen” - Gilles Peterson
“He's like a human centipede sewn out of all the greatest musicians from the past 80 years” - Liam Pieper

Emerging from Brisbane’s music-art bohemian West End in 2008, self-taught, prodigious musician Lachlan Mitchell aka Laneous, began his eclectic and colourful journey in music as the leading member of funk band KAFKA, stamping his trademark falsetto croon on an Australian music landscape that wasn’t quite ready for an artist whose standout influence was D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo’. Word of their talent soon reached UK’s perennial tastemaker Gilles Peterson who featured the band on his compilation, Brownswood Bubblers Four alongside other breakthrough acts at the time, Mayer Hawthorne, Floating Points and Lone. A world-class guitarist, vocalist, composer, visual artist and – significantly - muse, Mitchell’s unique ability to shine, create and inspire across genres was his obvious forte, even then. Regularly sought after to provide features for other bands and cover art for Hiatus Kaiyote albums Tawk Tomahawk and Choose Your Weapon, he worked diligently to support his community. But while Hiatus’ Nai Palm told media Laneous was “a genius” he often credited music and drawings to pseudonyms.

In 2016, after 8 years of humbly dominating the Australian underground art, soul and jazz scene [with ‘mutant-soul/croon punk’ cult group Laneous & The Family Yah, reggae band Kooii and improv-jazz-beat trio, Vulture Street Tape Gang] Mitchell relocated to Melbourne - a move that would instigate and inspire the long-awaited debut solo LANEOUS record that fans and peers had been craving for nearly a decade. Excited to create new music with an artist they’d previously referenced as an inspiration, Paul Bender and Simon Mavin (Hiatus Kaiyote) came on board swiftly, joined by Hudson Whitlock (Cactus Channel) on drums and Donny Stewart (Jazz Party) on vibraphone and flugelhorn - a key element in bringing Mitchell’s vision of an exotica/soul infused album to life. In classic Laneous fashion, the musical references for the record run deep, winding through an eclectic array of artists from Martin Denny, Burt Bacharach and The Beach Boys to Shuggie Otis, Wild Cookie and Wu-Tang.

The debut single Modern Romance was unleashed in October 2018 with a kinky, captivating visual accompaniment that marked the return of the Laneous legacy. After selling out the Melbourne launch of the single, the band was invited to headline Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM x Northside Records live Melbourne broadcast, teasing exclusive album cuts and drawing high praise from Peterson, stating it was “..one of the most incredible live performances I’ve seen’.

Out May 10 via Soul Has No Tempo, Mitchell’s MONSTERA DELICIOSA stands as a sublime genre work, peerless in Australia - his magnum opus bears the name that’s backed him from day one:

Elina Shorokhova aka SOELA is a multi-talented artist hailing from southern Russia who now calls Berlin her home. It is there where she continues to build her presence in the community through her live and DJ sets alongside documenting the local scene and artists through her lens as a photographer.

LILY EP may be 4 tracks but as a collected whole, sounds and feels like an album when heard from beginning to end. The title track emits her talent as a pianist by setting a tone of gracefulness that is carried throughout the EP – broken beats float in and out of dub drenched ambience that flows with cascading vocals. CLOSE YOUR EYES echos a spirit of Detroit House with refreshing new intensities. Again, her vocals caress the track but as an incredibly catchy hook. WHITE BECOMES BLACK shows her own interpretation of dub techno and combines that into a classic house beat. I HAVE A DREAM sounds like she bridges all of the previous track elements into a single whole which makes this tune the perfect closing track for any DJ set and of this release. A steady low-end groove keeps the ricocheting snares and somber synths cruising to an up-tempo rhythm.

“He is Nigh.”
“He is? Already? How??”
When Aziraphale (Angel and part-time rare book dealer) and Crowley (an Angel who didn’t so
much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards) learn that the Antichrist has been born on present day
Earth, they agree to work together to prevent the End of Days. Eleven years later, all bets are off
when innocent Adam Young discovers he has the power to bring about Armageddon. As the stage
is set for a showdown between the forces of Good and Evil, the prophecies of Agnes Nutter,
Witch may yet come true…
For the first time ever on vinyl, Good Omens is adapted and co-directed for BBC Radio 4 by the
award-winning Dirk Maggs (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Neverwhere; Stardust; Anansi
Boys; The X-Files; Alien; Batman; Superman). It is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry
Pratchett, now the basis for a major Amazon Prime TV series premiering in Summer 2019.
Starring Mark Heap as Aziraphale and Peter Serafinowicz as Crowley, with Josie Lawrence as
Agnes Nutter, Colin Morgan as Newton Pulsifier and Charlotte Richie as Anathema Device, the
cast also includes Phil Davis, Harry Lloyd, Paterson Joseph, Rachael Stirling, Jim Norton, Nicholas
Briggs, Neil Maskell, Steve Toussaint, Simon Jones, Julia Deakin, Mitch Benn, Louise Brealey, Mark
Benton and many more including cameo appearances by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
The unique four 180g heavyweight heaven and hell split black and white vinyl — includes a laser
etched Side B — are presented in illustrated wallets inside a rigid, bound 16 page book, with
exclusive sleeve notes written by Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs.
“Heaven and Hell are preparing for war, and it’s going to be very messy.”

Daughter of the mighty George Kerr, Sandy set the scene alight in ’82 with the explosive classic, ‘Thug Rock’. Badass slap basslines, zapping synths, ethereal pads and Sandy’s iconic rap were a timeless recipe of pure ‘80s, boogie-infused power that’s blasted from many a boombox, sung on all manner of club systems and sound tracked endless open road cruises over the years.

Released on the South Carolina label Catawba Records, two prolific duos blessed ‘Thug Rock’ alongside Sandy and co. Her father, who produced for the likes of Alice Clark and The O’Jays and Sugarhill wizard, Reggie Griffin, headed up the production and arrangement, with ever-dependable M&M aka John Morales & Sergio Munzibai taking the reins on the mix. Their combined talents can be heard in the tangible weight of the track, each element getting the space it deserves to facilitate that crystal-clear clout - from the huge bass riffs and sublime keys, to the punchy drums and Kerr’s infectious rap. An earworm if ever there was one!

Take to the flip to find the much in-demand dub version, echoing out choice snippets of Sandy’s rap to focus in more on that killer boogie-funk groove. Original copies are tough to come by in the UK, so an official reissue will be music to many an ear.

The much anticipated follow up to January 2018's 'Season 1' album, which sold over 12k on vinyl and over 6.5k on CD. Formats are double black vinyl with bonus 7"and standard CD. Both formats feature 16 songs. Artists include The Who, Madonna, Howard Jones, The Pointer Sisters, Wham, REO Speedwagon, Teena Marie, The Cars, John Mellencamp, Vera Lynn, Foreigner and more (full track list still TBC). Co op advertising across Netflix. Ads, features and reviews across all press. Online/social media activity. Poster campaign and database mailout. Vinyl format released on July 26th.

Having broken a decade's silence with 2016's 'System', LA-based electronic musician Joseph Fraioli, a.k.a. Datach’i, returns this summer with his eighth album 'Bones'.
Released on Venetian Snares' Timesig imprint, 'Bones' features 12 tracks of mind expanding electronica, once again recorded on his custom-built Eurorack modular system. Much like its predecessor, 'Bones' manages to make the most of the possibilities modular systems offer, whilst avoiding their many pitfalls that can often turn such music into little more than a dry academic exercise. Indeed 'Bones' is a remarkably intimate album, written and recorded in the time following his father's death, and reflects this intense period of personal change in Joseph's life.

"Creating this music was a therapy of sorts," Joseph recalls. "It was almost like a close friend being there for me, and it's something that I hope others can perhaps utilize in the same way."

The connection to his father is something that is reflected not just in the emotional intensity of 'Bones', but in the actual production itself. "My father and I were very close," he explains. "Whilst he was sick with cancer I bought him a guitar as he wanted to learn how to play, just to have something to do while he was getting treated. After he passed away my mother gave me the guitar to have as a sort of memory of him. I had the idea to record some sounds and music on the guitar and load it onto granular sample players on the modular synth so I could make new music from those sounds as a sort of tribute to my dad. You can hear some of those sounds on a few of the tracks here like 'Arrivals', 'Motion in the Living Room' and 'Undimension'."

The resulting album grapples with the intensity of these emotions. But for all their weight, tracks like 'Saugerties Road', ‘Rockledge 3A’ and ‘Antumalal’ transform that heaviness into something warm and comforting whilst the aforementioned 'Arrivals' or ‘Wand’ ultimately achieve some kind of escape velocity and soar. Even though 'Bones' is about endings and finding closure, it also looks forward to new beginnings.

"It was something very much on my mind throughout recording this album," he relates, "ends being beginnings and beginnings being the end. Cycles of time and how time works, it's all reflected throughout the album right down to how the tracks are ordered."

Ranging from blissful ambience and guileless, starry eyed melodies, to intricate claustrophobic rhythms that forever sound close to collapsing in on themselves before expanding into bold new patterns, 'Bones' is the work of a producer who, twenty years on from his debut, continues to push the boundaries of electronic music.

This year, First Word Records celebrates its fifteenth year in the game. The year commenced triumphantly with First Word being named "record label of the year" at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2019. Over the past six months, we've seen new music from 14KT, Souleance, Myele Manzanza, Teotima, Don Leisure, Children of Zeus and a range of artists across Europe, on the 'Music! Musik! Musique!' compilation.

To commemorate the 15th anniversary, First Word has a series of releases in the works for the second half of the year which see collaborations by artists from the label's current roster. To kick off, we have this special double-AA sided 7" single featuring Darkhouse Family, Kaidi Tatham & Tyler Daley.

Darkhouse Family consists of two Cardiff beatmakers & musicians, Earl Jeffers - founder of Melange Records and producer of 'A Library Excursion' from 2018, and Don Leisure, who recently provided us with 'Halal Cool J', the beat-tape sequel to 2017's 'Shaboo'. Over the years they've had releases, solo & individually, on Fat City, Metalheadz & Earnest Endeavors to name a few, bridging the gaps between various strains of dance music, beats and hip hop, with the organics of jazz and funk. Recently making noise across the UK with their new live band, and production work for the likes of Kamaal Williams, this is their first new release since their highly-acclaimed 2017 debut album 'The Offering' & subsequent remix project which also featured DJ Spinna, and one Kaidi Tatham.

Kaidi Tatham is one of the most revered multi-instrumentalists in the game. His endless contributions have included Bugz In The Attic, Amy Winehouse, Slum Village, Mulatu Astatke, Soul II Soul, Moonchild, Leroy Burgess, Amp Fiddler and loads more. Dubbed by Benji B last year as "the UK's Herbie Hancock", his versatility as a musician is actually more akin to Prince. He can play most things, and play them well. Providing flute duties on this track, he also graces the flipside with a full "flutestrumental" version. Aside from numerous other projects, Kaidi released three EPs on First Word to date, 'Changing Times', 'Hard Times' and 'Serious Times', and an album last year, entitled 'It's A World Before You', which featured daddy of 2000 Black, Dego, son of Jazzy Jeff, Uhmeer and Children of Zeus, Konny Kon & Tyler Daley.

Tyler Daley hails from Manchester, alongside son of Zeus, MC / DJ / beatmaker, Konny Kon. Somewhat of a veteran in the game, Tyler is currently one of the most-recognisable talents in the British soul scene, also lending his talents to dance music royalty along the way, including the likes of Goldie, Zed Bias, DJ Marky & Lenzman. With Children of Zeus, the duo have had a whirlwind 12 months since the release of their debut album 'Travel Light', performing shows across the globe & gaining new fans daily. The record was named "album of the year" by Complex magazine and BBC 6 Music's Huey Morgan, amongst a number of other notable tastemakers & selectors. Hot on the heels of the 'Excess Baggage' EP, Tyler laces this one with his inimitable brand of bars and soul.

A veritable super-group amongst the First Word stable, this low-slung slinky joint sees the guys work up a unique blend of jazz, soul, beats and hip hop - guaranteed to go 'All The Way'…

'All The Way' is released on First Word Records on July 26th 2019, limited 7" vinyl & digital.

Produced & mixed by Darkhouse Family

Vocals by Tyler Daley (Children of Zeus)


b B1. All the Way (Flutestrumental) [feat. Tyler Daley & Kaidi Tatham]


[b] B1 | All the Way (Flutestrumental) [feat. Tyler Daley & Kaidi Tatham]


[b] B1 | All the Way (Flutestrumental) [feat. Tyler Daley & Kaidi Tatham]

Danny McLewin and Tom Coveney aka Psychemagik have dropped their new single, the effortlessly smooth and immediately deep ‘We Can Be One Ft Quinn Lamont Luke’.

An invigorating and ethereal slice of psychedelic funk, formed of reverberating acid rifts and the balearic vocals of New York’s Quinn Lamont Luke, ‘We Can Be One’ beautifully lays down the foundations and entry point into the endlessly unique and diverse world of Psychemagik.

DJs, producers and unrivaled selectors, Tom and Danny are known for their beautiful production work, obscenely vast record collections and transcendent mixtape journeys.
They boast one of the most impressive and comprehensive remix outputs in contemporary electronic music for names including Roisin Murphy, Noel Gallagher, Haim, Bryan Ferry, Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, Paul Weller and Metronomy.

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s return to his most spaced-out work, that marks his 2002 comeback album Jamaican E.T. The extra-terrestrial is back with some groovy reggae which creates a bridge between dub, roots and hip hop. But in the end it never ventures to far away from the traditional reggae. The album continues in showing his fascination with aliens, drugs and religion. His own voice is often multi-layered and contrasting with each other. It’s a wonderful record and it shows that even after all those years he was still capable in recording an album which stands out during the time of release.

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development of dub music and worked together with artists such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Clash and The Beastie Boys. Nowadays he’s still performing and recording music.

Jamaican E.T. is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

canadian beatdown master “eddie c” is back with fourth full length on endless flight!

this new album is his unique mixture of laid back hip hop and lo-fi house sound which is inspired from late 80’s to early 90’s and much more darker than usual.

the album kick off by old school hip hop tracks of “carbondate”,in the park” then new wave disco sound of “way uptown” it reminds us nyc post punk/new wave artist “konk”,dubby brazilian percus-sive disco track “batucada”,”berlina” is early 90’s nyc house like pal joy, probably most club friendly track “bad words” is wired new wavy vocal house madness and the album close with dreamy down tempo track “an der wedding” heavy kraut rock influenced stuff.

hope you enjoy.

“Stop here!” exclaimed Robert Oumaou as we passed a mango tree on the side of the road just outside of Point-a-Pitre, the balmy capital of Guadeloupe. He filled a plastic bag with ripe fruit, and we set off on our journey across the small Caribbean island in search of musicians he hadn’t seen in years. On the way, we shared stories in broken French and English, stopping at truck stops to eat delicious fried fish. Robert took me to his hometown, and placed a mango and a flower on the grave of his teacher and mentor, a local poet. The seeds of Vwayajé (Traveller) were sewn on this trip, but shortly after returning home, I heard that Robert was ill, and he sadly passed away in 2018. This compilation was originally intended as a way to share Robert’s brazen work with a wider global audience, but it now also serves to immortalize his indomitable spirit.

Gwakasonné is the ecstatic articulation of Robert Oumaou’s artistic and political vision, a unified expression of his interests in American jazz, pre-colonial rhythms, Guadeloupian independence, and Créole poetics. Over the course of three albums, all released in the 80s, Robert piloted a revolving cast of musicians, a venerable who’s-who of Point-a-Pitre avant-jazz pioneers, to deftly intone his creative communal concepts. The songs on Vwayajé are compiled from these three releases, Gwakasonné, Temwen, and Moun, along with an electronic mantra taken from his 2007 solo album Sang Comment Taire. Viewed from our current artistic and cultural landscape, Robert’s work is exceptionally enduring, grounded in its declarations of freedom and foundational use of the Ka (drum) and voice, and prescient in its borderless explorations of protest folk, electronics, ambient atmosphere, music from the African diaspora, and spiritual jazz. The long-form hive-mind expression of the group has parallels with similar explorations by The Grateful Dead, electric
Miles, Pharaoh Sanders, and even the Boredoms, but these are only oblique references for a truly peerless sound. Like other conceptual children of Gérard Lockel, the group was part of a progressive movement of like-minded musicians, such as Serge Fabriano, Dao, Erick Cosaque, and Gaoulé Mizik, who embraced Lockel’s modernist ideals, fusing Gwo Ka drumming and tuning systems with contemporary jazz and vanguard recording technologies. Robert’s ecstatic phrasings, embrace of electronic instruments, and daring lyrics set the group apart as the beatific expression of a sagacious soul.

Reed Records presents the fifth single from Mohawkestra ‘Mo Heavy’ b/w ‘Buffalo Bill’ available on 7” vinyl

Mo Heavy is the first Mohawkestra single to feature one of their original compositions as the A Side and it’s a belter! Replete with the signature Mohawkestra heavy organ working alongside driving guitar chops and the percussion gets plenty of time to shine.

As the a-side is a Mohawkestra original on this one the B-Side is ‘Buffalo Bill’ which is a rather unique funk fuelled take of ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill’ from The Beatles’ White Album. The hint of the title and the melody are the only similarities though as Mohawkestra take the groove far out into the Funk spectrum and stripped back to raw elements.

Available on 7” vinyl

The fifth and final Mohawkestra 45 in this series for Reed, and for this final donut they have gone into the realms of soundtracks vibes, a lost 70s cop show theme immediately comes to mind. This is a wide open joint, a spaced-out arrangement with super tough drums n' bongo breaks that keeps building into a killer jerkin' funk burner, just needs a cop car's siren wailing at the end! Special mention to Joe Wilkins for the raw as **** guitar riffs, heavy stuff. All in all a wicked and furious 45 for B-Boys & B-Girls.

The 2 songs are remixed by south London-based artist Klein (Hyperdub), and Tokyo-based
experimental hiphop musician Killer Bong (Black Smoker Records)
Mastered by Bunsho Nishikawa, who is known for his works with goat and Tenniscoats,
among others.

The ominous clockwork nursery song “Kazega Fuitara Sayonara” (Goodbye When The
Wind Blows) was originally written by Koichi Yamanoha and released under the name of
Grimm Grimm via Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) and Charlotte Marionneau (Le
Volume Courbe)’s Pickpocket Records / Honest Jons in 2014.
London-based Tokyo-born singer-songwriter experimentalist Koichi Yamanoha has been
operating under the guise of Grimm Grimm since 2013. The project is an outlet for his
fragile, haunted, otherworldly forays into baroque folk, futurist lyricism and electroacoustic
oddities. His debut album, “Hazy Eyes Maybe”, was released by ATP Recordings in 2015. A
track “Last Word Is Mine” from the album was used over the end credits for the Aaron
Brookner / Jim Jarmusch directed documentary film “Uncle Howard” (2016), featuring
William Burroughs. His sophomore album, “Cliffhanger” was released in June 2018.
And currently the 3rd album has been mixed and co-produced by Marta Salogni.

The virtual 3D music video for Klein remix has been directed and edited by London based
film maker Kenichi Iwasa. He filmed the footage in Tottenham using Super 8, 3rd
generation iPhone and 4K Camera, and created the zero zone virtual world with glitchy SFX
work by William Cunningham. Iwasa is also known for his legendary Krautrock Karaoke
night as well as being a sought after collaborator throughout Europe.

Japanese maverick ALTZ teams up with relative newcomer IGAXX for a wonderful debut on the new LADYBUG imprint...

Having released the superb 'Permanent Vacation' on ALTZMUZICA a few years back, the two made a musical connection that has come to fruition with their celebrated Star Child parties & this collection of mesmerising cuts.

Osaka born ALTZ has forged a genre-defying career both behind the decks and in the studio, always unconventional, he combines a wealth of influences into something genuinely fresh.

He capably takes the A side here, with 'Ottie' a loose, musical and low-end heavy Theo style jam, while 'Sly' is a gurgling synth-out.

Tokyo's IGAXX steps up for the flip, with the atmospheric and intricately realised 'Sonorama' leading the charge. 'Minotaur's Dish' presents us with another exquisitely layered number, with aquatic undertones and a hypnotic appeal. Finally 'Unnn' leaves us with another beatless synth exchange, ending what has to be one of the strongest debut 12's we've heard in a while !

Exhausted Modern from Prague (Endless Illusion founder) and the techno veteran DimDJ from Thessaloniki are going together on this split EP, the fourth release on Lyon's imprint Blue Night Jungle. With their strong analog approach, they each explore the infinite possibilities of raw sound materials, going from wild acid aesthetics to classical Detroit's electro aesthetics. Two universes that are largely complementary, strengthening each other, and therefore creating a beautiful representation of what BNJ "Dance" sublabel aims to focus on. With this new release, Blue Night Jungle goes fully European by letting these two underground artist express themselves through a common way.

"AGS-022 brings to the surface a rare midtempo groover from Honolulu-based jazz vocalist Maggie Herron. The original 1984 LP has appeared only a few times on eBay.

On these songs, Maggie shows the soulful side of her jazzy chops over two mid tempo groovers that live somewhere in the great sweet spot between AOR and modern soul, with Jazz as the foundation.

Recorded right before the advent of the digital era, the organic grooves of her band lay the foundation for her impressive vocal range that she is taking to great heights at the end of the A-side.”

On ‘Ways Of Seeing’ Konx-om-Pax has switched up the mood and hit gold. He has made an album that is filled with joy and sunshine, saturated with the classic feel of Berlin Techno.

Tom Scholefield has moved on from the dark ambient and brittle rave of the first two Konx-om-Pax albums, which were a reflection of his hometown Glasgow's electronic music scenes. After a recent move to Berlin, the textures of Glasgow's musical strains have fused into an accessible and friendly mix of poppy melodic electronica built from a stricter 'less is more' sound pallete, closer in spirit to the music of his adopted city. It is also a record which was made in opposition to recent music he has been hearing, in particular the troubled, dark and noisy experimental music coming out of Berlin. Tom wanted to focus on more joyful qualities, making this a record imbued with warmth and happiness, a panacea to the darkness and disorientation all around in 2019.

Having a social scene full of producers has also influenced the album. The opening track 'LA Melody' came from staying with Ross Birchard (Hudson Mohawke) at his house in LA, hanging out in the glorious sunshine with him and Lunice working on tracks.
"Initially Ross asked me to write some melodies to use in a project he was producing, but I ended up liking it so much I decided to keep the riff. I generally write music alone, but being around other producers gave me a certain excited energy that reminded me of after-parties back in Glasgow where Ross and myself spent our youth together. Spending time in Clark's studio also helped me improve my workflow and sequencing the album by seeing the way he does things". On 'Säule Acid' he collaborates with Silvia Kastel and in 'I’m For Real' the vocals of Glaswegian DJ/producer Nightwave filter around the track.