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Nearly a year after his acclaimed debut EP, 'Every Inch of You', a musical project meant as an ode to the memory of a once great man, his Grandfather, the enigmatic, Rosas Nievas, steps up to the plate with a sophomore outing for Scissor and Thread, Going Away Soon' On the A-side, the bombastic opener, wastes no time getting its feet moving with charged up percussion, guitar licks, and playful sampling with a clear ode to the likes of Matthew Herbert. Nearly Lost You, Though' sees Rosas Nievas pair up with the singer Poppy Roberts on an emotional house jam primed for a peak time lovers rave . A rock steady kick and shuffling percussion are the anchor, as smooth pads and ethereal, hypnotic vocal snips swirl around the listener before the singer's voice emerges forward with a heartfelt, soulful ode. The b-side takes things down several notches with the funky and loose, Roses are Dead, Violets are Blue,' a hypnotic rhythm cycle flanked by a powerful bass line a reverb-laden piano and a sax ensemble emerging as we are lead with eyes closed on a euphoric early morning dance ritual. The closer, Edge of Keys", continues the shuffling rhythmic patterning of the latter track, but couples with a loose form Rhodes piano, finishing off the EP on a gentle tone, as if coming to terms with loss, bittersweet and full of joy.

You can call them a »supergroup«, but Moderat understands that it's the »group« aspect that makes them interesting.

Gernot Bronsert, Sebastian Szary (aka Modeselektor) and Sascha Ring (aka Apparat) have been working together as a trio almost as long as their two separate projects have existed. We've seen their collaboration grow from »laptop boy-band,« (as Ring playfully puts it) in 2003—with computers synched using software Ring himself had written, because at the time, »there was just no live performance software around.«

Ring confesses that Moderat wasn't »really meant to be a recording act ,« with Bronsert agreeing that, »it was really just about fun.« This maybe explains the six-year break that followed Moderat's first EP before they finally returned in 2009 with their selftitled debut album. Intent on creating something that contrasted with their own projects, the group started the cycle which blossoms on their second album, aptly titled II, culminating now in the trilogy's completion, III. Whereas I was the combination of two separate entities, II brought the members closer together, and in III, the final chapter in the trilogy, Moderat sounds like one band.

Both Szary and Ring will tell you that Moderat moved progressively from making tracks towards a more traditional writing approach of making songs - a process more fully realized on III. That's partly why the vocals have become more prominent. Mostly, you hear Ring singing (there are no guests this time), as he so often does as Apparat, but listen closely to »Ghostmother« to hear Bronsert and Szary backing him up. Stepping out of their comfort zone is the kind of thing that helped create their interplay between pop and electronics; doing it right won them the Resident Advisor Best Live Act honor as early as 2009, and they continue to gain popularity while remaining independent and underground.

Szary describes the idea behind Moderat as, »imagin(ing) yourself sitting in the cinema and watching a movie with an incredible soundtrack.« This is true with Moderat in general, but III in particular pairs an emotional pull with sensual imagery, creating dynamic sound and depth with lyrics such as »the calming scent of lavender fills the air,« or »burning bridges light my way.« You'd have
to ask them whether they're intending to manipulate the listener in the same way that John Williams or Hans Zimmer might with traditional orchestras.

One of the best parts of Moderat is their use of electronics to achieve orchestral diversity. They update the songwriting tradition with an intriguing palette, borne of careful attention and skill, informed by their »experiences with sounds of nearly 25 years of suband club culture.«
Let's not forget that these three were brought together by Berlin's now legendary rave scene. With this as their common foundation as individuals, III signifies Moderat's maturation in modern pop — an achievement shared under their collective belt.

Bronsert explains that, »the new album isn't based on jams. We went into the studio and knew exactly what we needed to do.« This is reflected in the sophisticated themes explored in the music. Take »Ghostmother,« which ponders inner peace, acceptance, fear of the unknown and how facing that fear often reveals something not so scary. Or »Running,« which is about being part of a mass that constantly needs to move to function, but doesn't have the power to decide the direction of motion. Or how about the wisdom of »Reminder,« which recognizes the world for its flaws and our role we've each played in that, but choosing to act differently and light the way to something better.

Given that, it's a bit of an understatement when Bronsert says, »I'd say our music has definitely matured.« Successful in their own endeavors, now they've mastered the »group«. It doesn't mean the end of Moderat, but it does mean they'll have to find something else to excel in.

Wenn du jemandem erklären willst was genau eine drückenden Bassline' ist, spiel ihm oder ihr einfach diese beiden Nummern der Vogelperspektive vor. Mighty Fat' ist untenrum nämlich so fett wie es nur sein kann. Umso verblüffender zu hören, wie fluffig und beweglich sich die Atmosphäre in den Mitten und Höhen gestaltet - hier ist schwebende Vogelperspektive vom Feinsten angesagt. Die energetischen Breaks, aufputschenden Filter-Sweeps und lässigen Synthie-Akkorde von Noise No Girls' erinnern an klassische House-Nummern, klingen aber extrem frisch und modern. Das reicht dir noch nicht, du willst noch mehr Abwechslung Dann sei ergänzend zum 10' Vinyl noch die Digitalversion empfohlen. Stephan Zovsky gibt Mighty Fat' einen deepen, hypnotischen Anstrich, ohne jedoch die housige Leichtigkeit des Originals über Bord zu werfen. Zusammen mit Pophop und J.Patterson hat er aus dem Track außerdem eine jazzige Downbeat Nummer mit verträumtem Trompeteneinsatz gezaubert.

Michael Ludwigs, 45 RPM Audiophile — 'Atlantic 75: Genesis, Bad Company, Phil Collins Against the Original Pressings.' YouTube video.

On his first solo album, 1981's Face Value, Genesis drummer-singer Phil Collins showed that he wasn't about to be left behind in the mire of classical-rock sludge. That LP boasted shorter songs and demonstrated that Collins had a true pop sensibility. Hello, I Must Be Going! continues that trend, with some familiar patterns emerging, wrote Rolling Stone's John Milward.

"First, there are the dramatic rock dirges that use drums as a lead instrument; 'I Don't Care Anymore,' with Collins' one-man band playing alongside Daryl Stuermer's atmospheric guitars, wins in this category. Then there are the buttery ballads, of which "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" is the best by virtue of a Beatles-like melody that buoys Collins' anonymously sweet voice. Both of these styles were already Genesis staples; it was Collins' uptempo soul tunes on Face Value and Genesis' Abacab that surprised old fans and found new ones. 'I Cannot Believe It's True,' with Earth, Wind and Fire's Phoenix Horns casting out clean lines, clobbers the other soul contenders on Hello, I Must Be Going!, especially his remake of the Supremes' 'You Can't Hurry Love.' Collins took the golden-oldie route on that song and the result isn't soulful, it's superfluous. Despite its trend-bucking boast of an 8-track recording, the album's rich luster is of the old classical-rock school. In fact, the LP sounds like stripped-down Genesis, ornamental but not too ostentatious. — John Milward, Rolling Stone (3 Stars)."

This Analogue Productions (Atlantic Series) reissue of Hello, I Must Be Going! has the essential elements that make it a standout for your collection. First, we turned to Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering to cut lacquers from a 1/4" EQ'd Dolby tape copy of the original master. Pressing on 180-gram vinyl is by Quality Record Pressings, and the album is housed in tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing.

Hello, I Must Be Going! was a triple-platinum-selling hit in the U.S. for Collins in the 1980s and it stayed on the U.K. album charts for more than a year, peaking at No. 2. For the fans it is a drummer's album, a record that expresses rage and desperation as well as loneliness and longing. Not an album for every day, but one that really speaks to you when you need it, wrote Martin Klinkhardt.

This is France in the Mitterrand years: fashions fleet as fast as governments. In the early eighties, the happy-go-lucky gather the nectar of each and every new release.
Believing in a bright future for videotex, and loosened up by the sexy talks broadcasted on the budding pirate radios, the new generation dreams of dance floors and holiday clubs. French Boogie, which preserves the spirit of these years of boodle and bunkum, is the ideal soundtrack to their dreams.

What the web now refers to as French Boogie is some synthetic funk reflecting the spirit of those days when nothing was impossible, or so it seemed. Its syncopated flow heralded the dawning of French rap. Often considered as some kind of post-disco, inspired as much by black music as by new wave, this carefree pop music with bawdy lyrics indulged in simple pleasures: holidays, swank and sun were recurrent themes. Totally in tune with its time, it incidentally glorified luxury, success, and a certain consumerism embodied, for instance, in Bernard Tapie.

In popular clubs such as La Main Bleue in Montreuil, or L'Echappatoire in Clichy-sous-Bois - where Micky Milan could be seen behind the decks - an enthusiastic audience discovered this new sonic wave, influenced as much by French pop as by Sugar Hill Gang or Kurtis Blow. The artists who first launched the movement engaged in it wholeheartedly, but as often the case with new music trends in France, humour and casualness quickly became a decoy to impose a new style. This explosive mixture, in which startling and typically Frenchy French lyrics go along New-York-style tunes, is sometimes reminiscent of the kinky comedies directed by Max Pécas or Claude Zidi. On this prolific scene, partly originating from the Jewish community, everybody was looking for success, trying to hit the jackpot with what was to hand. Famous media personalities, one-hit wonders or John Does in quest of fame, all had a go at French Boogie - more or less successfully. Apart from « Vacances j'oublie tout » by Elégance, « Un fait divers et rien de plus » by Le Club, or « Chacun fait ce qui lui plaît » by Chagrin d'amour (produced by Patrick Bruel), very few songs became hits: the story of funk in France is that of a half-baked robbery.

In this myriad of new musicians, the very young François Feldman and Phil Barney pioneered a fresh and hybrid style. Other well-known artists like Gérard Blanc from Martin Circus (Attaché Case), Richard de Bordeaux (Ich), or Jean-Pierre Massiera (Anisette, Pirate Scratch Band, Mandrake, Scratch Man...) added an eccentric touch to this sound-wave, making it often entertaining, and sometimes showy.

Capture d'écran 2015-10-26 à 12.55.43Singers like Agathe (the author of 'La Fourmi' and of the hit song 'Je ne veux pas rentrer chez moi seule') were far more than just window dressing. They even tried to give an ironic and subversive twist to this rather harmless genre. The very vindictive rebel Gérard Vincent shared in this spirit, but as a whole, French Boogie became associated with nonchalance and sauciness. Thus, Stéphane Collaro, Gérard Jugnot, Alain Gillot Pétré and other TV clowns would clumsily contribute to this French variation on funky sounds. In a few but intense years, French Boogie gave all the tips to party with style.

If some hits made it possible for the happy few to get a real house under truly exotic palm trees, the wave actually ebbed away very quickly, leaving quite a few musicians stranded on the shore. Whether they were sincerely motivated, or simply opportunistic, they had failed. In 1984, French Boogie was already breathless, and got merged with other genres: on the one hand, rap and breakdance adapted its flow to a more urban world, especially with Sydney's show, H.I.P.H.O.P, and Dee Nasty's broadcasts on Radio Nova; on the other, italo, new beat and house began to rule over dance floors, even more strongly asserting the will to develop music for clubs.

Squeezed in between the age of disco and that of modern electronic music, French Boogie was a transitional phase, but it remains an amazingly refreshing testimony to the intermingling of pop and underground cultures. The genre was hastily categorized as anecdotal in spite of its pioneering synthetic groove and matchless bass lines. An attentive ear will discover the poetry of the ephemeral beyond the eccentricities of the genre, as well as a certain unexpected avant-gardism. At the origin of major music trends, always cheerful and catchy, French Boogie is what you need to party.

Jemek was never easy to read: Is he serious or is it all a
joke
With his new album »Jemek Jemowit is Doktor Dres« the one-man
band, DJ and conceptual artist that is Jemek Jemowit moves
between old-school rap, Southern trap and EBM, skillfully
mixed by the infamous hardcore techno legend Marc Acardipane.
Jemowit's anarchistic-dadaistic and often quite explicit
lyrics (there is a sticker on the front of the vinyl record
warning the listener of »swear words«) the, to quote the
artist, »post-patriotic« Jemek sings in Polish, the language
of his parents and in German, the language of the country he
grew up in, he studied in and in which he lives today.
On his last »hyper-patriotic« (Jemowit) EP »Tekkno Polo«
which came out on the Polish Label Oficyna Biedota in 2012,
Jemowit focused on Polish culture in Poland. On the Polish
market the Pole with a German passport, presenting music that
was recorded in Italy and which had used the Polish sub-genre
»Disco Polo«, the Polish equivalent to »Euro Dance«, as
template was an exotic. Subjects Jemowit touched were
national dishes like bigos or bizarre figures of Polish pop
culture. Was he serious or was it all a joke
Until today Jemowit finds it »remarkable«, without taking
sides, that Poles in Germany »so easily adapt, they seem to
merge into German culture so quickly«. On his new album
»Jemek Jemowit is Doktor Dres« which is released on the
Berlin-based label »Martin Hossbach« Jemek embraces the role
of the Pole in Berlin. In Polish, peppered with new word
creations and grammatical mistakes, he states that his alter
ego »Doktor Dres« (Dres is the Polish word for tracksuit)
leads a better live in Berlin that he used to do in Poland.
He often switches into the German language, too. In an
interview with label founder Martin Hossbach Jemowit said:
»I'm the perfect Pole in Germany who goes shopping at the
most expensive warehouse in West-Berlin, the KaDeWe, without
reproach and my German is pretty good, too!« He has now
become the person that »Tekkno Polo« reacted against with its
»hyper-patriotic« approach. Germany is now the sacred land
and on album track »Oryginalne Adidasy« he invites his fellow
Poles to come and visit him, he who »grew up between The Wall
and Moschino«, in Berlin and have Polish dumplings (pierogi),
made by Gucci at KaDeWe. »Endlessly bragging / Style without
class / Deutsche Mark / Oryginalne Adidasy« - this is Doktor
Dres' slogan and the read threat for Jemek Jemowit's new
album.

Es ist noch gar nicht so lange her, da hat man aufwendig und wortreich seinem Gegenüber erklären müssen, von welcher Wiener Band man denn hier gerade spricht. Heute genügt eigentlich bloß ein Wort und jeder ist sofort im Bilde: - Amore ! In erstaunlich kurzer Zeit ist es Wanda nicht nur gelungen,
Band und dazugehörige Debüt-Platte in Österreich auf ein Platin-Level hochzuspielen, sondern man hat es ganz nebenbei auch noch geschafft, mit - Amore sein eigenes Schlagwort ins Wörterbuch der deutschsprachigen Popkultur zu zimmern. Und da ist jetzt noch nicht mal über die kollektive Euphorie an der Schwelle Hysterie gesprochen, die Wanda in den über 150 Konzerten der letzten 12 Monate auszulösen vermochten. Nun liegt bereits weniger als ein Jahr nach dem Debüt das zweite Album vor: - Bussi ! Die Atemlosigkeit des letzten Bandjahres findet so auch ihre Entsprechung im Veröffentlichungsintervall. Plattenregal dankt. Ausstattung: Die limitierte Vinyl-Box enthält das Album als Doppel-Vinyl incl. MP3 Code, die Single "Bussi Baby" als farbige Vinyl und außerdem tolle Fan-Schmankerl wie Beutel, Aufkleber, Postkarten und ein Schnapsglas. Die Vinyl beinhaltet einen MP3-Code.

* Emerging from the shadows are the thrills and chills of Royalston's new album the People on the Ground' LP out 30th October on Med School - the experimental sister label of drum & bass empire Hospital Records. For his second album, Sydney-based DJ and producer has ripped apart the rulebook with fifteen eccentric and exciting electronic tracks.
* The People on the Ground' LP explores through the obscure yet brilliant sounds of one of Sydney's most talented exports for a haunting and hypnotic take on drum & bass. Title track features the captivating vocals of Hannah Joy and moves through melodic, piano foundations before catapulting into a euphoric whirlwind of sounds and styles making way for mania to come.
* There are the sudden, schizophrenic switch-ups of Give Me the World' and I Saw the Face of a Person' that highlight Royalston's unpredictable style. His game of guesswork keeps things exciting and exhilarating throughout with influences of techno, house and trance all enticingly tangled into dirty drums and deep bass. The Wrath of Mr Sparkles' and Don't Give Me Up' are not to be taken lightly, unrelenting and unrestricted to any musical parameters.
* Royalston has also enlisted a number of artists to join in the fun and games. Welcoming back Victoria, from pop group MA, cousin and fellow drum & bass producer Pearse Hawkins, Sydney-based singer Emily Harkness and emerging UK hip-hop artist Lyflyk.
* When he's not writing drum & bass Royalston pursues his other passion of illustration, which he's made full use of in this project, with the intricate detail in his music replicated in the artwork he solely designed.
* The "People on the Ground" LP accelerates Royalston from his previous album "OCD", whilst keeping to his unorthodox approach to production mashing and merging genres into one crazed counterpart.

Drew McDowall's back story reads like a primer of psychedelic fiction woven into statements of the unbelievable, superhuman and outright insane. Somewhere in the chaotic madness, comes an artist such as McDowall with total control and absolute calm within his songs and artistic method.

Growing up in the gangs of 1970's Scotland, Drew McDowall started to shy away from the daily violence once punk took hold of the counterculture youth. Drew McDowall quickly scrambled to form his own punk band in 1978 with his then wife, Rose McDowall, called The Poems. Shortly lived, the Poems released a single and various tracks but more importantly, the band allowed McDowall to network with other local musicians in Glasgow, such as Orange Juice, and allowed him to travel down to London thus forming friendships with Genesis P-Orridge, David Tibet and countless others, bringing Drew into the fold of the experimental revolution happening in the UK brought upon by Throbbing Gristle and executed by bands such as Psychic TV and Current 93.

During the 1980's, McDowall found himself in the ranks of P-Orridge's Psychic TV and collaborating with the mysterious duo comprised of former Throbbing Gristle creator Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and the enigmatic John Balance who had been creating esoteric and progressive electronic music under the title of Coil. It was during his formative collaborations with Coil that McDowall saw himself shift from occasional contributor to austere full-time member of the arcane outfit. McDowall's impact on the band's sound was apparent as the releases transformed from their previous avant pop signature to a more complex and methodic electronic imprint accompanied by even more abstruse subject matter than previous years. McDowall would continue honing his compositional skills with Coil until the release of the band's two most broad-minded albums, Astral Disaster and Musick to Play in the Dark.

The past decade, Drew McDowall found himself living in New York City and re-appropriating himself within the local music scenes he found himself contributing to. In 2011, alongside his friend and collaborator, Tres Warren (Psychic Ills), McDowall found himself exploring his passion of meditative drone and abstract sound patterns in their project Compound Eye. In recent times, McDowall's production work has provided the music world with some of the most outstanding remixes for bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Azar Swan and Long Distance Poison as well as his well-received scores he composed alongside artist Tamaryn for the works of Bret Easton Ellis. Outside of his collaborative duties, McDowall formed an audience as a solo artist, playing countless performances and showcases around New York's electronic music haunts.

Dais Records approached Drew to solidify his standing as a leading electronic musician with the recording of new material neatly wrapped up in his debut album entitled 'Collapse'. Recorded in 2015 in Brooklyn, NY, McDowall's synonymous modular synthesizer compositions are augmented by obtuse sampling cut-ups and contributions from Nicky Mao (Hiro Kone / Effi Briest) rounding out the lumbering sequential knot work that has become synonymous with McDowall and craft.

Atlanta's TWINS returns with an album of club-ready synthwave for CLEAR. Nothing Left lives on the axis between Wax Trax and WBMX, generating mutant industrial pop for sweaty basement ragers. The record begins with drum machine workout "Can't Go Back", cruises past the electrifying gloom of "Treat Me Like A Freak" and drives straight through to the finale, mechanized torch song "That's What I Never Saw." Matt Weiner, the single entity behind TWINS, is also at the controls of CGI records, a dependable outpost for extraterrestrial club jams. Both solo and as half of Featureless Ghost he's released on Crash Symbols, Night People, Geographic North, Clan Destine, and more. His work has been featured on XLR8R, Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, and Decoder. Forthcoming records from Chicago's CLEAR include two twelves of mind warping techno from locals Mike Broers and Dar Embarks. TWINS may be the first out-of-towner on the imprint but Nothing Left truly echoes the vibe of the city's underground past and present.

Introverted Dancefloor is Bevan Smith, a New Zealander who has released music under names like Signer and Aspen, and who has played in the Ruby Suns and Skallander throughout the last decade. His prior output has been spread over many international labels and has touched on sundry genres (like techno, IDM, folk, ambient) while featuring restraint and sophistication as compositional hallmarks.

As Introverted Dancefloor, Smith has kept those features as guiding principles while allowing a more propulsive low end to dominate the construction of this music, winding up with understated but energetic dance tracks. Gestation, too, is a prominent attribute of this music, though not necessarily an obvious one. Smith started these songs with hundreds of layers, which he then pared down to a few core elements before rebuilding again.

For Introverted Dancefloor, Smith limited himself to the use of two synthesizers, one mic, one filter, and one effects processer. This constraint is not obvious upon listening as the album works across the idioms of electro, Detroit techno, pop house, and leftfield disco, playing with the line between fluid melody and drum machine programming. Each track has a playlist as its scaffolding, Smith's goal being to filter a certain set of varied influences through just a couple of instruments. Metro Area's Miura' (Original Mix) turned into Introverted Dancefloor's Happiness is such a mess/Pipedream.' If there can be such a thing as a subtle banger, then Smith may have earned that distinction here. Take it high' seems to be a constant ascent with its climbing bass and layers of chords, relying on no hackneyed drops or releases for its crescendo. Smith's layering practices show their precision on tracks like Even if you try' and Tiger bones,' in which disparate elements contribute to pointed melodies, an unidentifiable percussive part entering the same expressive plane as a sung line.

One of the record's most striking features is Smith's inclusion of certain elements of a song in a neighboring one (vocals from Pipedream' in Happiness is such a mess,' a synth line from Even if you try' in Always turn your head') to lend a phantasmagorical effect to the procession, blurring the distinction between a track and its reprise. The result is a song cycle wrought from painstaking labor, while nonetheless retaining core values of amorphousness and motion.

_One of Detroit's most relevant names in modern techno "Terrence Dixon" joins the Modularz roster of producers with his debut EP that features both his Terrence Dixon name and his alias Population One on the same EP. Terrence Dixon submitted this EP to Modularz a couple months back and said to us that he had something special for the Modularz label - with the intention of releasing a well balanced EP with deep grooves, stripped down rawness and funky hypno rhythms we felt this would be a great addition to our catalog. We are very pleased to present this release and continue to show our range and our diversity in the techno genre.- the people at Modularz

Over the past few decades, there has been a seismic shift in Brazil's musical landscape. A plethora of varying musical undergrounds has developed across the nation. While Rio and São Paulo have been overwhelmed with networks of talented musicians for a long time, creative life is now bursting all over the country. Amplificador exists to document and propagate the wonderfully diverse music currently blossoming from Brazil's vivacious and geographically varied musical undergrounds. Presenting an up-to date insight into Brazilian music, this compilation draws together some of the components of 'Novíssima Música Brasileira' (brand new Brazilian music), ranging from afro-grooves to rock, to modern samba and MPB. The music reaches back across Brazil's incredibly rich musical and cultural traditions, while also taking in influence from other movements around the globe.



Having begun life in 2012 as a Brazilian music blog run by Marcelo Monteiro, Eduardo Rodrigues, Mateus Campos, and Ricardo Calazans, the aim of Amplificador is to document and propel to wider audiences, Brazilian music of the '00s and '10s generation. This is a task made more significant by obvious changes in the way music is consumed. 'People are no longer obliged to listen to what the radio and TV are presenting. There is a whole new generation that wants to listen to new bands and new sounds and we try to connect those bands with other bands, producers, fans and even the mainstream.' These changes in technology and the way music is discovered and shared have developed parallel to the proliferation of these emerging scenes. The ostensible decentralization of the music industry means the promoting and filtering work of journalists and blogs, like Amplificador, have become increasingly important, as people try to keep up with the tsunami of new music and media flooding the country on a daily basis.



Marcelo uses the example of the Mangue Beat movement to explain a trend in contemporary Brazilian music that looks both inwards, to Brazil's own musical traditions and outwards, to movements around the world to create a novel, localised identity: 'The 90's Pernambuco art-social movement was inspired by Coco, Maracatu and Forró all mixed with modern riffs and grooves. The mythical

revolutionary Chico Science, his Nação Zumbi, Mundo Livre, Siba, and many others do this blend perfectly. There are also the references to the older generations and masters - Gil, Caetano, Luiz Gonzaga, João Gilberto, Tim Maia, Jorge Benjor - as a constant inspiration for all bands.' This is very much the case for the Brazilian artists of today.



Music is unquestionably informed by place. Brazil has always been famed for its regional differences in this sense. Indeed there are still pronounced variations between the scenes of Rio, Sao Paulo, Natal, Goiânia, Belo Horizonte and Belém for example, there are also great divergences within cities and while technology has brought changes to the way musical influences are shared, there are cultural differences, rooted in folkloric traditions, that aren't going away. Expressing his appreciation for this fact, while highlighting the potential of Brazil's spread of musical flavours, Marcelo explains that 'what we have now is new ingredients to make an even better mixture.'

This compilation heavily features music from a scene in Brazil's current musical make-up, which draws inspiration from African music, particularly Afro-beat music. Abayomy Afrobeat Orchestra from Rio formed because of their shared love of the music of Fela Kuti, uniting initially in 2009 for a jam session in his honour. But what sets Abayomy apart from other groups of a similar nature, is the fact that their sound also brings with it the songs and rhythms of candomblé. In this sense, Abayomy was the first band of its kind. The thirteen members of the orchestra have a palpable current of Rio's musical heritage - its rhythms and culture - running through them. So while their sound is distinctly African, it is also inherently Brazilian. Similarly, Zebrabeat Afro-Amazônia Orquestra draw upon traditional guitarradas and carimbos from the state of Pará and fuse these with the poly-rhythms of Afrobeat to create another regional hybrid, which stays true to both its Amazonian and African roots, yet which results in a very fresh, Brazilian sound. From Belo Horizonte (capital of Minas Gerais), Iconilli are another key band on Brazil's Afro-groove scene. With influences as varied as funk, jazz and psychedelic rock, congado, mining harmonies, maracatu, coco, ijexá, carimbó, Iconilli somehow manage to balance all of these sounds in such a way that makes it impossible to pin them down. From the Northeastern city of Joao Pessao, Parayba, Burro Morto's pshychadelic afro sound leans more towards rock and funk influences, with hint of regional Brazilian rhythms such as frevo and forro. They add another flavour to the Brazilian afro-groove scene: just one of the many exciting facets of Novíssima Música Brasileira.



While African-inspired music features heavily on the compilation, it is just one of the many styles within. Ive Seixas has a fresh approach to MPB, based on traditional rhythms and instrumentation, punctuated by a pop sensibility, coupled with a powerful female vocal. As an artist she is a product of a 'Do It Yourself' outlook to creativity, taken from her love of rock growing up. In 2013 she embarked on a project of street performance: wandering, like a lonely troubadour with just her guitar. Ive and her project began to gain notoriety and shortly after, her first EP was recorded, featuring some important names of South Rio's underground scene. 'Cervejas Populares' taken from the EP, is a beautiful, sombre piece of modern Brazilian pop, with a traditional samba rhythm. Another artist of the new MPB scene is Fabricio, from the city of Vitoria, who's 'Feito Tamborim' melds rock and funk and is also clearly reminiscent of the old Brazilian masters. It's an appreciation for the national musical heritage, alongside a keen ear for melody and an acceptance of foreign influences that results in these promising new sounds of Brazilian MPB.

Sao Paulo's super group of the underground 'Passo Torto' have been at the helm of an emerging scene in the city: an innovative approach to samba which draws in and experiments with afro grooves, jazz melodies and rock structures. Their sound is naturally very Brazilian, but the nylon twang of Faira Lima Pra Ca, interspersed with ominous strings and light rolling percussion, seems reminiscent of Captain Beefheart or Tom Waits, as the band lament their frustrations with their native city through their music.



The Future of Novíssima Música Brasileira looks very bright. The main challenge (and purpose of this album) is to get the music beyond Brazil's underground and into view of international audiences. In the last 10 years this goal has become somewhat more attainable, as the Brazilian government has begun to see the internationalisation of the nation's culture as a strategic objective, with public projects gaining increased investment and backing. The continuing project of Amplificador is to reinforce this international bridge by writing, filtering and promoting the scene as a whole. There is a wealth of great music currently blooming in Brazil and using new media tools, Marcelo and the team, alongside many others, will passionately continue to get the voices of Brazil's underground heard.

Let's focus on Ricardo Tobar: Born in Chile and now residing in France, Tobar picked the "creative border crossing" as the common thread for his album "Collection". Musical experimentation and crossing musical borders - Tobar refers here directly to the style and sound of the great new-wave-bands of the 80s and 90s. With the help and influence of their new electronic instruments (that often met classic rock guitars) the post-punk-electronic-movement turned almost everything upside down. No matter if the result was moody and mysterious or romantic and hedonistic, all sounded new and different back then and paved the musical path for a whole generation - the reverberations of that episode are noticeable until today.
Tobar plays with the musical approach of the post-punk-era, he mixes, merges and experiments fearless with styles and moods. He creates a wide range of "own styles" and even dives into abstract sound fields - listening electronic in best form! Ricardo Tobar breathes the air of his own musical universe and is not refering to the typical styles of this genre - you won't find any Detroit, Berlin or Sheffield reference here. Although produced in France, Tobar's album doesn't have anything of the sweet and lovely french listening touch. It also won't beam you into the north of England and the grey and cold Sheffield winter like so many other electronic albums try to do.
"Collection" contains full compositions, sound collages, experimental sounds and even proper beat based tunes. Tobar rather creates than produces and is presenting a bigger picture with his collection. Many electronic music artists are trying to do this however Tobar delivers a collection with an impressive range and it seems he did all this in an almost nonchalant way. He plays and combines his instruments and sounds at the same time very sensitive and harmonic but also brave and dissonant without risking to be inaudible at any point. He creates atmospheres by using electronic sounds and layers. Listening to the sound of "collection" almost appears like reading an acoustic book. This album is full of interesting sounds and ideas and is far from being boring or even too demanding.

Speedy Ortiz is proud to announce their sophomore album, Foil Deer, which will be released via Carpark Records on April 20th.

'Major Arcana' released in 2013 won them glowing reviews , features and several UK tours (highlights below):

- 4 PAGE NME FEATURE

- 9/10 LEAD REVIEW IN NME: 'One of the reasons 'Major Arcana' works so well is because it's addictive and fun. The guitars and bass sound incredible, like the last Deerhunter album without the Yankee Doodle Dandy'

8/10 Drowned In Sound : ' Speedy Ortiz are way too euphoric and glorious to suffer for their artfulness. Stripping away the frills, at heart Major Arcana is a mournful treasure that asks to be celebrated.'

*NME RADAR FEATURE: 'What's miraculous, though, is that Major Arcana doesn't sound at all self-pitying; it's torrid Slint-meets-Pavement rattle bolsters Sadie's relished words so that yelling along is an exercise in gleefully exorcising your own demons'

8.4 ON PITCHFORK: : 'There's the squalling, guitar-on-guitar carnage of Archers of Loaf, the grungy mysticism of Helium (Dupuis lifted the title Major Arcana from a book she was reading on black magic), and of course the deadpan wit of vintage Liz Phair ('I was never the witch that you made me to be,' Dupuis tells a burnt-out old flame on 'Plough', 'Still you picked a virgin over me').

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
Deluxe LP Is as above but with metallic gold coloured vinyl, and sticker.(200 ONLY FOR UK)
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Speedy Ortiz said they would get the flowers themselves. What a lark! What a plunge!

When considering Massachusetts' Speedy Ortiz, that line from Virginia Woolf comes to mind. Not only for the obvious echoes to DIY, a form and function that's characterized the band's nascency, but in the proto-feminist undertones driving much of their sophomore album, Foil Deer. "I'm not bossy, I'm the boss," Sadie Dupuis sings on "Raising the Skate," invoking in spirit one half of the Carter-Knowles clan and echoing the other's wordplay. And wordplay makes sense, considering Dupuis-the band's songwriter, guitarist, and frontwoman-spent the band's first few years teaching writing at UMass Amherst. She's drawn to the dense complexity of Pynchon, the dreamlike geometry of Bolaño, the confounded yearning of Plath-all attributes you could easily apply to the band's 2013 debut Major Arcana, which fans and press alike have invested with a sense of purpose and merit uncommon in contemporary guitar rock.

The group, including Mike Falcone on drums, Darl Ferm on bass, and new addition Devin McKnight of Grass is Green on guitar, have spent the last year on an almost endless cross-continental touring jag, tagging along with the likes of The Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and Thurston Moore. That shift into full-time musicianship brought with it an attendant reordering of priorities when it came to songwriting, and the band members' lives in general. They would get the damn flowers themselves.

Dupuis wrote much of Foil Deer at her mother's home in the Connecticut woods, where the songwriter imposed a self-regulated exile and physical cleansing of sorts, finding that many of the songs came to her while running or swimming alone. "I gave up wasting mental energy on people who didn't have my back," she says. "Listening to our old records, I get the sense I was putting myself in horrible situations just to write sad songs. This music isn't coming from a dark place, and without slipping into self-empowerment jargon, it feels stronger." Many of the songs deal with a similar sense of starting over, editing out the unnecessary drama. "Boys be sensitive and girls be, be aggressive," she sings on "Mister Difficult."

And while their debut album was recorded on the fly, Speedy Ortiz spent almost a month in the studio on Foil Deer. Falcone's drums are taut, mechanistic; Ferm's bass ranges from the aggressive rattle of an AmRep classic to smoother, hip-hop inspired lines. McKnight, meanwhile, lends spacier, textural riffs to complement Dupuis' wiry, melody-driven guitar style. "The demos for our songs have always had tons of small details and production experimentation, but we never had any money to pay for more than a couple days in the studio, so the songs came out very live-sounding and guitar heavy," Dupuis says. It was recorded and mixed at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room with Nicolas Vernhes (Silver Jews, Enon, Deerhunter), with the record mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, Haim, Beauty Pill), lending a more polished sound and a pop sensibility that will stand out to existing fans and new converts alike. For all the lyrical complexity and guitar-based excursions Speedy Ortiz have built their reputation on to this point, Foil Deer has a sense of light-footed fun. What's the point of doing things yourself if you're not going to enjoy the trip

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Following the recent reissues of Pop Impressions (UR000651) and
Super America (UR000651), Underdog Records label follows-up
to the series with another brilliant album by French underrated
composer and producer, JANKO NILOVIC.

JANKO NILOVIC certainly was one of the greatest studio talents of
Europe in the 70s!

He is a musician who devotes himself to music, which resulted in a
great number of published works, but most of them made for library
music labels and also not available for sale.

His oeuvre stretches from classical, jazz and funk to pop, psyche
and easy listening. And has been sampled many times by hip-hop
artists such as JAY-Z, DAFUNIKS or GUTS...

Dan Deacon, der vollbärtige Wunderwuzzi des Popgeschäfts, meldet sich mit seinem neuen Album "Gliss Riffer" zurück. Das selbstsproduzierte Werk ist ein 'back to the roots' für Dan Deacon. Nach seinen letzten Ensemble-lastigen Alben "Bromst" (2009) und "America" (2012) findet er wieder zu einem einfacheren Schreib- und Aufnahmeprozess zurück. Und obwohl "Gliss Riffer" größtenteils elektronisch produziert ist, ähnelt die Klangpalette doch auch wieder den letzten beiden Alben. "Gliss Riffer" umfasst alle gewohnten instrumentellen Spielereien und hyperventilierenden Nuancen, die wir von Deacon erwarten, aber er legt ein größeres Selbstvertrauen an den Tag, was den Gesang betrifft, wie man auf "Feel The Lightening" hört. Und ja, auch die "weibliche" Stimme ist Dan Deacon. Wie schon sein 2007er Werk "Spiderman Of The Rings" ist "Gliss Riffer" ein musikalisches Erlebnis, das vor Ekstase und Energie wahrhaftig sprührt. Der klangliche Übermut wird nur von den Lyrics gedämpft, die den quälenden Ängsten der menschlichen Existenz trotzig die Stirn bieten.

Bell Gardens combines the musical visions of Kenneth James Gibson (formerly of Furry Things, now recording as
*Bell Gardens' origins began arguably as more of an experiment than the duo's current 'experimental' projects - McBride's drone- and string-laden ambient symphonies, and Gibson's ventures in dub and minimalist techno - as they sought to manifest their mutual reverence for folk, psychedelia and chamber pop in a traditional band structure without cannibalising any particular past genre. Bell Gardens' sound is less reliant on effects and studio trickery than the pairs' independent guises, laying bare as it does vocals and live instruments with emotional sincerity, and presenting songs imbued with an almost pastoral or gospel simplicity and timelessness.
Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions was again recorded mostly at home studios, but additionally the band made use of a friend's desert cabin in Wonder Valley, California, and it seems this willingness to retreat from the city has lent an expansiveness to the tracks, in particular the spacious, ceremonial 'Silent Prayer' (written in a snowbound mountain cabin in Idyllwild, C.A.) and the crepuscular 'She's Stuck in an Endless Loop of Her Decline' (mapped out under the stars in the desert).
While the addition of strings (contributed by Lauren Chipman of The Rentals and The Section Quartet) and trumpet (Stewart Cole of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros) provides a double rainbow of tonal textures throughout, the nine tracks of Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions are united by an understated elegance belying the newly expanded, communal effort in the studio: each instrument earns its place, nothing is overwrought or conspicuous. Moreover, it is McBride and Gibson's artistry in building stirring soundscapes from the barest of materials in their other guises that lends such assurance and sophistication to these arrangements.
The band is a result of the complimentary cross-pollination of Gibson and McBride's musical tastes - borne from a late-night conversation between the two that grew wings - and it is the universality of the sentiments and their restrained, reflective approach to writing and recording that allows the music to simultaneously straddle the past and the present. The music avoids pastiche, its pedal steel, sleigh bells and harmonies giving a nod to the ghosts of musical genres past, but never overriding or distracting from the emotional content of the sum of its parts.
The album ends with the glorious 'Take Us Away' - one of the first demos Gibson gave McBride when he was on tour with Stars of the Lid - neatly bringing their work to date full circle and exemplifying the band's mindfulness of their own serendipitous beginnings: the dawning of an auspicious, unique musical force.

Bell Gardens - Take Us Away -
Harmonies alert!! Actually, this is rather lovely. Slow-tempo, just the right side of 'twee' and packed full of strings, as if Air and Midlake had been taking balloon trips over the mid-West and sprinkling good-vibes dust across the land. From L.A. and subconsciously plugged into the '60s dream-pop scene, taking in a little bit of Mercury Rev and Brendan Perry en route, stopping off at Pearls Before Swine and Big Star's house for inspiration, before getting stoned with '70s era Brian Eno and Harold Budd.

For his Carpark debut, Saint Pepsi takes a step away from the more genre-shuffling styles of his Internet releases to focus his skills on high-power pop. The title track of the "Fiona Coyne" 7-inch is an uplifting tribute to fantastical romance and the joyous dreams pop culture can provide

Third in the Fire Department series, this 12' vinyl compilation pulls together an awesome selection of smoking old skool disco funk - guaranteed party-starters every one. Kicks off with some serious squelching bass in the form of Roadway's up-tempo boogie monster 'Let's Go For It', a rare-as-hens'-teeth track released on the sought-after Chocolate Cholly's label back in 1982. Next up is General Caine's superb instrumental 'L.R.J. Pop', a relentless funk groover out of LA driven by the tightest percussion, pumping horns and some magnificent wigged-out bass and synths. Turn over for the 12' version of Clifton Dyson's brilliant bumping boogie cut 'Slow Your Body Down' followed last but not least by the über-rare 'Skate Party People' from Bobby Cash Redd, a heavy-as-hell funk jam with a fierce strident b-line, high-voltage synths and guitars originally released on tiny NYC label Duval. Red hot - don't miss!

Panik Pop are back on Grain Audio with their second EP. The main track "Beat is Law" is a real primetimer while "Lost in Paradise" is more soulful tech house introducing female vocalist Sophie Zeller.

Panik Pop kehren mit ihrer zweiten Single auf Grain Audio zurück. Während "Beat is Law" eher ein kompromissloser Primetimer ist widmet sich "Lost in Paradise" (eine Zusammenarbeit mit der Leipziger Sängerin Sophie Zeller) eher dem gefühlvolleren Techhouse Genre.

Vocal driven electronica, pop sensibilities and a touch of melancholia is a tried and tested recipe of SILENCE MUSIC cuisine. A new release titled My Holy Senses is no exception. This creative venture joins together a renown Lithuanian multi-instrumentalist and composer Vygintas Kisevicius, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter Markas Palubenka and a versatile SILENCE producer Few Nolder. Original acoustic versions come under the name of Kurak, a project which Vygintas started a couple of years ago with a goal of bringing together some of the most talented young Lithuanian singers and songwriters for something new and exciting. And indeed they managed to produce some well worthy musical material generating quite a few waves of interest and success back home. Few Nolder picked out a couple of tracks from an ever-expanding Kurak's repertoire and threw them onto the sweaty dance floor. Included in the package are two DJ friendly adaptations from David Krasemann aka Dave DK and Vidis. My Holy Senses is a short modern day Love story about Acoustics giving an adoring kiss to Electronica in a dim light of a nightclub.
- Early support from Âme, Tim Paris, Alex Barck, Michael Rainboth, Hannes Fischer and many others

Music from the documentary "I Dream Of Wires" f/several large-format modulars as well as his own Eurorack system. It doesn't revel in classicist synthpop motifs or vocoder-pop of recent years but focusses on making strange sounds sing.

Traversing with an understated technical assuredness, the ambitious shapes of Steely Dan, the popping lounge funk of McDonald era Doobie Brothers, the sweet mourning of the Stylistics and Delfonics, and the exquisite song-craft and flawless harmonising of CSNY, Daniel Collas (The Phenomenal Handclap Band), Bart Davenport and Quinn Luke aka Bing Ji Ling have recorded an absolute darling of an album under the name Incarnations. They are three friends with enough musical guises, side-projects, collaborations and production jobs to fill the annual itinerary of your average musician twice over. When three CVs like these get together on a regular basis, it's only logical they speculate and hypothecate on the possibility of an album together. But, how to make those congested diaries synchronise? Bart lives in Oakland and Quinn and Daniel are in New York, all three of them are on tour for the better part of the year. One sunny day in Madrid, Spain, a plan was hatched and a proposal was made. Lovemonk, a small, eclectic and affable Spanish label, dangled the carrot that clinched the deal; 'find two weeks between gigs/productions/recordings and head down to this little place we know in Tarifa, Southern Spain'. A family-run studio, in a house 5 minutes from a wild beach and a short ferry ride from the coast of Africa; the perfect ambience for the fleeting melody and sultry grooves of the Incarnations debut album, "With All Due Respect". Arriving with bits and bobs of half-songs, grooves and melodies, Daniel, Quinn and Bart, sketched and improvised their way to the most intensely evocative songs you'll hear this year. Punctuated by a day trip across the water to Tangiers, all 9 songs were written and recorded inside a fortnight in October 2009 and laid to rest while our protagonists jetted off to their respective diary appointments. Whether it was the beach, the soft weather, the fact that you can smell Africa from the studio, the home cooked Spanish food or the relaxed environment of the recording room, when the band returned to the songs at a New York studio earlier this year, they found an album as fresh and resonant as the moment it came into being. Quickly mixed down with no over-dubs or re-records, "With All Due Respect" captures the combined gifts of Tarifa and the three very talented friends that paid a visit. Incarnations are: Daniel Collas: DJ, drummer, organist, and one half of production team Embassy Sound Productions, the minds behind The Phenomenal Handclap Band. Plays - drums, percussion, organ and synthesizers. Bart Davenport: Collaborator with Greyboy, General Elektriks and The Phenomenal Handclap Band; Singer-songwriter with The Loved Ones, The Kinetics and Honeycut, and most recently a touring member of the Kings Of Convenience. Plays - guitar, bass and vocals. Quinn Luke a.ka. Bing Ji Ling: Part of The Phenomenal Handclap Band, one half of DFA recording artists Q&A and long time member of Tommy Guerrero's band; Solo artist on labels Ubiquity and Lovemonk among others. Plays - guitars, keyboards, vocals The band are named after Encarnacion "Nini" Sagrista, owner of the recording studio in Tarifa, who housed and fed them during their stay.

Max Herre hat ein MTV Unplugged aufgenommen. Das rückt ihn in eine Tradition mit Udo Lindenberg, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Jay Z. Mehr noch als ein konsequenter Karriereschritt und popkultureller Ritterschlag aber ist das Konzert eine Rückkehr zu seinen Wurzeln. Denn lange bevor er als Texter und MC einer ganzen Generation eine neue Stimme geben sollte, war er vor allem der Junge mit der Gitarre, der einfach nur spielen wollte. Das Gefühl, das er als 15-Jähriger im Proberaum suchte, hat er nun im 'Großen Saal'des altehrwürdigen Funkhaus Berlin Nalepastraße wiedergefunden.

Die Geschichte dieses besonderen Abends beginnt vor knapp 25 Jahren in einem Keller in Stuttgart-West. Dort jammte er mit Freunden zu dem Funk, Soul und Reggae, den er liebte - und legte, ohne es zu wissen, den Grundstein für das, was da kommen sollte. Zwei klassische Alben mit Don Philippe und DJ Friction als Freundeskreis zum Beispiel, die sich nicht nur weit über 500.000 mal verkauften, sondern eine ungehörte Musikalität in die deutsche Rap-Landschaft einführten. Drei Soloplatten, die den Bogen spannten von der '1sten Liebe' HipHop zu fragilem Folk im Stile eines Singer-Songwriters (und zurück). Eine Zweitkarriere als Labelbetreiber und Produzent. Und dazwischen immer wieder Auftritte, bei denen all diese Erfahrungen und Einflüsse auf fast magische Weise zusammenliefen.

Max Herre hat Rap immer in einem Bandkontext gedacht, HipHop stets in einem Kollektivgedanken gelebt. Das war Anfang der Neunziger so, als er als Kind der Kolchose seine ersten Live-Auftritte in süddeutschen Jazzclubs hatte. Das war später so, als er aus Freundeskreis die FK Allstars erwachsen ließ und mit ihnen über die größten Festivalbühnen des Landes tourte. Und das ist heute nicht anders, wenn er wie 2012 auf seinem fulminanten Gold-Album Hallo Welt! alte wie neue Inspirationen zu seelenvoller Rapmusik mit Ewigkeitsanspruch bündelt.

So ist es nur konsequent, dass für MTV Unplugged / KAHEDI Radio Show zahlreiche Featuregäste und Freunde nach Berlin gekommen sind: wichtige Weggefährten wie Joy Denalane, Afrob, Sékou, Gentleman, Samy Deluxe, Patrice, Sophie Hunger, Philipp Poisel oder US-Ausnahmesänger Gregory Porter, aber auch das 26-köpfige, eigens für den Abend zusammengestellte KAHEDI RADIO ORCHESTRA. Unter der Führung des musikalischen Leiters Lillo Scrimali kommen so mehr als 40 Musiker aus drei Generationen zusammen. Produzent Samon Kawamura und Host Fab 5 Freddy, einst erster Moderator der wegweisenden HipHop-Sendung Yo! MTV Raps, ziehen im Regieraum zusätzlich dramaturgische Fäden.

'Ich bin sehr dankbar und glücklich, dass ich für dieses Projekt mit einigen der besten arbeiten durfte: viele davon langjährige Freunde und Wegbegleiter', so Max über das mehr als zweistündige, komplett akustische Konzert. 'Sie alle haben nicht nur ihr Spiel und ihre Fähigkeiten eingebracht, sondern ihr Herz und ihre musikalische Vision.'

Den passenden Rahmen bietet das Funkhaus Berlin Nalepastraße am Köpenicker Spreeufer. In dem ehemaligen Hauptsitz des DDR-Hörfunks, in dem schon Barenboim und die Bartoli, aber auch Portishead und Sting gearbeitet haben, vereinen sich Feierlichkeit und funktionelle Strenge auf ganz erstaunliche Weise. Max Herre hat diesen geschichtsträchtigen Ort für MTV Unplugged / KAHEDI Radio Show neu erdacht, indem er seine ursprüngliche Funktion als Aufnahmeraum unterstrichen hat. Vom Publikum umgeben spielen die Musiker in einer 360°-Konstellation zueinander und empfinden gemeinsam nach, wie in den siebziger Jahren Soulmusik gemacht wurde.

MTV Unplugged / KAHEDI Radio Show ist ein erlebtes Experiment mit offenem Ausgang und maximaler künstlerischer Freiheit. Eine kollektive Verneigung vor Soul, Jazz, Funk, Reggae und Rap. Und die in Musik gefasste Botschaft, dass Zukunft stets auch ein Stück Vergangenheit in sich trägt.

Zumindest, wenn sie so klingt wie die Musik von Max Herre.

Narratives Music proudly present the debut EP of the artist Rhyming in Fives. The 'Hindsight' EP sees a well respected producer
embark on a new journey under a new alias, with an intention to breach the boundaries of Drum and Bass and the 170bpm template.
Fusing drift space ambience, glassy synths and retro drum machines with gritty warm bass grooves, Rhyming in Fives has gathered
sensibilities from the austere 80s pop of Depeche Mode and Gary Numan, the soundscapes of Cliff Martinez and Vangelis, and
transcended to something altogether more futuristic.
This highly anticipated release has already caught the imagination of DJ's across the genres with huge names such as Paul Woolford,
Om Unit, Com Truise and Zomby working it into their multi tempo sets while still finding its way into the record bags of Drum and
Bass' hottest players such as Doc Scott, Jubei.and BBC Radio's Friction.
Lead track 'Hindsight' glistens with the trademark Narratives sound of emotion and contrast. Melancholic calling synths build over
pumping kick drums and beckon the classic bass to grow and soar to an euphoric drop of arpeggiators and driving percussion. The
ability to draw the listener completely in to its immersive groove and simplicity, only feigns the depth of this beautiful track, a depth
which reveals more with each listen.
Turning many heads has been the track 'With You'. Instantly recognisable, it builds on the same retro influences as the flip but is
injected with the vocals of Hana. Bubbling basses, beautiful keys and a song like structure make this a golden addition to the
Narratives catalogue; one that evokes the summer decadence of Kavinsky's 'Drive' movie soundtrack.
The last track on the EP, 'All's Well' takes the Rhyming in Fives sound to a much more brooding and meditative place. Cavernous
bass, reverbs and FX lead this wave of haunting ambience to create a heartwrenching close to this debut EP. Sentimental, emotional
and relentlessly engaging, 'All's Well' refuses to let the listener do anything but be drawn in.
Only furthering Narratives reputation for releasing music of bold quality and longevity, this EP embraces experimentation and genre
shifting sounds whilst having relentlessly moved dancefloors and festivals over the summer months.
DJ Support includes : Friction, Paul Woolford, Doc Scott, Om Unit, Kuedo, Com Truise, Zomby

*The product of a move from South Carolina to Berkeley, CA and the subsequent extended separation from loved ones, Toro Y Moi's third full-length, Anything in Return, puts Chaz Bundick right in the middle of the producer/songwriter dichotomy that his first two albums established.
*There's a pervasive sense of peace with his tendency to dabble in both sides of the modern music-making spectrum, and he sounds comfortable engaging in intuitive pop production and putting forth the impression of unmediated id.
*The producer's hand is prominent- not least in the sampled "yeah"s and "uh"s that give the album a hip-hop-indebted confidence- and many of the songs feature the 4/4 beats and deftly employed effects usually associated with house music. Tracks like "High Living" and "Day One" show a considerably Californian influence, their languid funk redolent of a West Coast temperament, and elsewhere- not least on lead single, "So Many Details"- the record plays with darker atmospheres than we're used to hearing from Toro Y Moi. Sounding quite assured in what some may call this songwriter's return to producer-hood, Anything in Return is Bundick uninhibited by issues of genre, an album that feels like the artist's essence.
*Born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Chaz Bundick has been toying with various musical projects since early adolescence. Having spent his formative years playing in punk and indie rock acts, his protean Toro Y Moi project has been his vessel for further musical exploration since 2001. During his time spent studying graphic design at the University of South Carolina, Chaz became increasingly focused on his solo work, incorporating electronics and allowing a wider range of influences- French house, Brian Wilson's pop, 80s R&B, and Stones Throw hip-hop- to show up in his music. By the time he graduated in spring 2009, Chaz had refined his sound to something all his own. Music journals across the board touted his hazy recordings as the sound of the summer, and he released his debut album, Causers of This in early 2010.
*Since then, Bundick has proven himself to be not just a prolific musician, but a diverse one as well, letting each successive release broaden the scope of the Toro Y Moi oeuvre. The funky psych-pop of 2011's Underneath the Pine evinced an artist who could create similar atmospheres even without the aid of source material and drum machines. His Freaking Out EP, a handful of singles and remixes, and a retrospective box-set plot points all along the producer/songwriter spectrum in which he's worked since his debut, and Anything In Return is another exciting offering that shows he's still not ready to settle into any one genre.

April 2013 sees the release of Norwegian Disco Viking Rune Linbaek's latest long player, on his Drum Island label

Its his first album since the 2000 release (Sondag) on Paper Recordings RePap offshoot

Last year's single 'Wonder' feat Kurt Maloo on the label was a day one sell out here at All Ears and marked a significant maturing of Rune's trademark sound.
The influence of Norway on the world's forward thinking Disco scene & beyond is more than evident, with countrymen like Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and Hans Peter Lindstrom
all leading the charge for years now. The creative cauldron of the infamous 'club in a public toilet' Skansen has much to answer for !

Krasava is a very much vocal led project, with a cast of featured vocalists which includes Norwegian popstar Anneli Drecker alongside recent collaborator Øyvind Blikstad.
The album is steeped in Norwegian folklore, visually and musically and the gentle lilt of the Norse/Balearic sound, sits comfortably alongside more Cosmic flavours, Rock and beautifully crafted pop.

Kartel is delighted to announce the 18th March release on Soundway Records of Magical Thinking by Antibalas multi-instrumentalist, Chico Mann. Tipping a genre-bending wink at 80's funk, boogie and electro stylings, with just a hint of Afrobeat spicing the mix, Chico effortlessly merges a downtempo groove with timeless pop sensibility to create a contemporary dancefloor classic. UK/European dates for March/April will be announced shortly.

With the homespun warmth of his album still keeping us toasty as the temperature drops in the Northern hemisphere, Dave Aju offers up two choice cuts from Heirlooms to receive surgical treatment at the hands of dear friends and respected practitioners in our beloved corner of electronic music. The divine boogie-fuelled electro pop of 'Caller#7' stood out as one of the most flamboyant and earsnagging tracks on the album, so who better to entrust the remix to than Seth Troxler and Subb-an Seth of course is a long-time partner of Circus Company, stretching back to 2008 when he first recorded an EP for us with Patrick Russell. Subb-an may be a new cat to us, but there's no denying the impact he has made with his releases for some of the strongest tech house labels around. In the hands of this formidable duo, 'Caller#7' gets sharpened and honed into a peak-time floor-filler. The vocals from Dave and dOP's Jaw and that inimitable bassline remain intact, with the focus switched to boosting the rhythms that propel this party-starter while a disgruntled caller drops in on Radio KAJU to speak her mind like a true soul sister should. On the flipside, we take great pleasure in inviting the maverick Swede Axel Boman to work his magic on 'Away Away'. After exploding onto the scene in a flurry of hedonistic imagination and cheeky originality, Axel has charmed all that come before him with his releases and his Studio Barnhus label. He treats us to a glorious, soaring version of Dave's track that shuns shortening days and worsening weather, and instead places you at the top of a mountain as the sun rises in a cloudless sky, gently building but never peaking in a truly life-affirming concoction of house music for the heart.

Nicht einmal der kühnste Optimist hätte Gossip vor drei Jahren einen solchen Karriereverlauf zugetraut: Im Sommer 2009 startete die Band einen beispiellosen Triumphzug. Ihr Album "Music For Men" erreichte die Top Ten der Media Control Charts und verkaufte sich alleine in Deutschland bis dato mehr als 400.000 (!) Mal. Neue Maßstäbe setzten die Drei außerdem mit der Single "Heavy Cross": fast 100 Wochen, also über zwei Jahre lang, wurde der Song in den deutschen Single-Charts gelistet, peakte auf Position zwei und fand in dieser Zeit weit mehr als eine 1/2 Million Käufer. Bei Award- und TV-Shows wie "Bambi", "Echo", "Schlag den Raab!" + "Wetten Dass..?" stahlen sie allen Anwesenden die Show. Beth Ditto und Co. vollzogen innerhalb kürzester Zeit den Sprung von gefeierten Indie-Darlings zu Multiplatin-Superstars. Im Mai 2012 ist es nun endlich soweit: mit "A Joyful Noise" erscheint fast 3 Jahre nach "Music For Men" das mit Hochspannung erwartete Follow-Up-Album. Produziert wurde es von Pop-Genie Brian Higgins, der in der Vergangenheit u.a. mit Kylie Minogue u.v.m. gearbeitet hat. Schon die 1. Single "Perfect World" überzeugt als fantastische Uptempo-Pop-Hymne mit allem Drum + Dran!

One can hardly imagine the genre-busting, culture-crossing musical magic of Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, or even the early Red Hot Chili Peppers without the influence of R&B pioneer Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can’t be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli to Ludacris have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music.



There is one testimonial about Betty Davis that is universal: she was a woman ahead of her time. In our contemporary moment, this may not be as self-evident as it was thirty years ago – we live in an age that’s been profoundly changed by flamboyant flaunting of female sexuality: from Parlet to Madonna, Lil Kim to Kelis. Yet, back in 1973 when Betty Davis first showed up in her silver go-go boots, dazzling smile and towering Afro, who could you possibly have compared her to? Marva Whitney had the voice but not the independence. Labelle wouldn’t get sexy with their “Lady Marmalade” for another year while Millie Jackson wasn’t Feelin’ Bitchy until 1977. Even Tina Turner, the most obvious predecessor to Betty’s fierce style wasn’t completely out of Ike’s shadow until later in the decade.



Ms. Davis’s unique story, still sadly mostly unknown, is unlike any other in popular music. Betty wrote the song “Uptown” for the Chambers Brothers before marrying Miles Davis in the late ’60s, influencing him with psychedelic rock, and introducing him to Jimi Hendrix — personally inspiring the classic album Bitches Brew.



But her songwriting ability was way ahead of its time as well. Betty not only wrote every song she ever recorded and produced every album after her first, but the young woman penned the tunes that got The Commodores signed to Motown. The Detroit label soon came calling, pitching a Motown songwriting deal, which Betty turned down. Motown wanted to own everything. Heading to the UK, Marc Bolan of T. Rex urged the creative dynamo to start writing for herself. A common thread throughout Betty’s career would be her unbending Do-It-Yourself ethic, which made her quickly turn down anyone who didn’t fit with the vision. She would eventually say no to Eric Clapton as her album producer, seeing him as too banal.



Her 1974 sophomore album They Say I’m Different features a worthy-of-framing futuristic cover challenging David Bowie’s science fiction funk with real rocking soul-fire, kicked off with the savagely sexual “Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him” (later sampled by Ice Cube). Her follow up is full of classic cuts like “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” and the hilarious, hard, deep funk of “He Was A Big Freak.”