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After their last album six years ago, "Primal Forms," the new album by Phantom Horse, finally arrives. The German duo of Ulf Schütte and Niklas Dommaschk have long established a reputation for expertly crafted, hypnotically slow-burning electronic music, and we do not hesitate to say that "Primal Forms" stands among the epitomes of their discography.

The sequencing of "Primal Forms" cannot be underestimated. It is an album in the classic sense. It demands to be listened to in its entirety, which also points to a closer affinity with Krautrock. Likewise, a touch of dub is perceptible, wafting around the songs, which, as usual, bear clandestine titles. It is not unreasonable to see in these compact compositions a clear statement against multitasking.

Phantom Horse are not trumpeters of dystopia. They present themselves resolutely, almost stoically, turned away from the world. This turning away is clearly a statement that can be contemplated in the Mariana Trench as well as in comet belts. In any case, it is best experienced in a space without any human beings. This does not mean that grumpy hermits are tinkering with synths behind closed shutters, armed with wooden walking sticks. This is still open minded music with a connection to current developments. The approach itself is what is audible, and with it, Phantom Horse proves once again that their main connection to time is timelessness.

In an age of all-encompassing distraction on every sensory, thematic, and semantic level, Phantom Horse explores the possibilities of reduction, searching for simplified melodic arcs without resorting to the vocabulary of classical minimalism. The overall impression is more electronic; the slowly shifting, polyrhythmic compositions repeatedly lead to a peculiar danceability. However, these are perhaps the dances of mechanical birds, undeterred by anything.

Written and produced in Hamburg, Nijmegen and Ojén by Niklas Dommaschk & Ulf Schütte
Mastering by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll
Artwork by Daniel Castrejón

repress !

Paranoid London, the electronic band of Gerardo Delgado and Quinn Whalley, has become synonymous with stripping acid house back down to its basics, rescuing the sound from smiley faces, rave, and sugary excess while paying respects to its gay, black, American roots. Performing mainly live with hardware only, often with vocal guests, as well as unique hybrid DJ sets, the duo has established a tongue in cheek, grumpy punk sound and attitude without taking it too seriously.

Following 2019’s latest album PL and a bunch of 12” singles and edits, their new long-player Arseholes, Liars, and Electronic Pioneers refers to the cavalcade of c***s we find ourselves surrounded by. Our only respite being the joy that musical geniuses bring. The cover artwork and gatefold of the vinyl reflect this with a collage-like poster including personalities of all kinds, from politicians and royalty to music legends. When we asked them to highlight key music pioneers from their picks, they mentioned American electro don Aldo Marin, British producer Andrea Parker and Post Punk band WIRE.

Inspired by early ‘90s British prog house on the likes of Sabres Of Paradise Records and Guerilla Records, the album presents a step up on their production while the anarchic attitude remains unaltered, unadulterated and undiluted.

In Quinn’s words: the album has a slightly more Hi-Fi sound than previous efforts, but retains the urgency and punk rock attitude that we're known for. It was tested over the summer, where it lit up festival stages at Glastonbury, Houghton, Love International, and many, many others.

As expected, PL has recruited a bunch of special guests on vocals including Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, US house veteran Monica “DJ Genesis” Lockett, the novo-New Romantic/gothic, Jennifer Touch, and Joe Love, from Fat Dog, Brixton’s current ones-to-watch. As well, previous collaborators Josh Caffe and Mutado Pintado return for new recordings. All bring something unique to the party, while integrating perfectly with PL’s Fuck you! circuitry.

2024 Repress

Straight in the wake of their eponymous debut LP released on the label back in 2016, Weval return to Kompakt this year with their sophomore album, 'The Weight', breaking their pop-mellow, nostalgia-friendly facet further out in the open as they arrive "at this place again were everything felt spontaneous, new and exciting, like we had in the beginning". Orbiting around that ever luminous yet wistful melodic halo that surrounds their music, this second full-length effort sweeps an extra-wide and languidly woven palette of emotions and moods, making for a uniquely ambitious and generously coloured mosaic of sound. If the recording sessions "often started grumpy and emotionless" by Harm and Merijn's own admission, the pair was "surprised by the joy it gave us, which can be compared to the emotions we felt back in the first days of making music together"; subsequently reconnecting with that fresh, naïve feeling of "absolute creative freedom" they were after. The album is also the fruit of a whole new working process for them - more playful and unpredictable - which saw them switch from "guitars lying around to piano, onto our own synths and the most cheap quirky toys synths you can imagine", and involved "recording all of our own samples, voice and almost every instrument out of the box - which for us was a totally new way of working". "We've always wanted a narrative for the album, and finding the right order perhaps took the most effort" they explain; "we felt anxious, felt insanely positive, felt heartbroken again, felt in love again, and there was death, and even suicide around us. It was quite chaotic. As a whole, 'The Weight' breathes with that transformative richness, free of limits and rules, except perhaps to "do quick and not think too much". Amidst this collection of songs and instrumentals that live by Weval's singularly positive take on music - one that can "lift you up, and make you feel hopeful without being necessarily straight out 'happy'" as they define it, the title-track and lead single stays true to the duo's dynamic approach, putting on a fine balance of floor and dream inducing adaptability that sound engineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.) subtly made palpable. There's heavy showers of funk drops pouring from endless bars of thunderstorm clouds and laid-back riffs beating a restrained poolside-party kind of pulse, but also sensual vocals rising from beneath the sheets and rueful polaroid-filtered ambiences to soundtrack all possible moments in life - from the most euphoric to those when music seems the only viable healing potion. More on the post-KLF, BoC-inflected electronica side of things, 'Are You Even Real' takes its listener for a round-trip across the star-studded dome and beyond, before songs like 'Someday' and 'Same Little Thing' head back down to a state of pulsating, earthly organicity, tense and mercurial as get. An arpeggiated slice of piano-strewn kosmische, 'Heaven' is another invitation to an epic-scale odyssey from the inner-spheres into the distant fringes of the outer-world. Weightless and airy, yet texturally dense and widely magnetic overall, Weval second LP is a synthesis of the duo's multi-angle take on electronics: blissed-out, heartening and infinitely free.
Nur zweieinhalb Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres selbstbetitelten Debutalbums finden sich WEVAL zurück "an jenem Ort, an dem sich alles spontan, neu und aufregend anfühlt - so wie als wir anfingen zusammen Musik zu schreiben". An diesem Ort entstand "The Weight", ihr zweiter Longplayer, auf dem Weval sich ganz den Pop-verliebten, Nostalgie-freundlichen Facetten ihres Sounds öffnen. Stetig um den sehnsuchtsvollen Strahlenkranz ihrer Melodien tanzend, legt diese Platte noch vielschichtigere, mit feinster Präzision gewobene Gefühlswelten frei.

Obwohl die Aufnahmesessions nach eigenem Bekunden oftmals "miesepetrig und emotionsarm" begannen, so war das Duo überrascht darüber, wie schnell sich bei der Arbeit jene Freude einstellte, die sie aus ihren künstlerischen Anfangstagen kannten, eine Woge des frischen, naiven Gefühls der "absoluten kreativen Freiheit". Dieses Album ist die Frucht eines verspielteren und unvorhersehbareren Arbeitsprozesses innerhalb der Band, in welchem alles zum Einsatz kam, was ihnen in die Finger kam - von der ollen Gitarre, die in der Studioecke stand, über ein Piano und den bandeigenen Sythesizern und den sonderbarsten Spielzeuginstrumenten, die man sich vorstellen kann. All dies sowie zahlreiche Vocalaufnahmen dienten als alleinige Samplequelle - "was für uns eine völlig neue Arbeitsweise war". "Es war uns wichtig für das Album den perfekten Erzählbogen zu spannen. Die richtige Reihenfolge zu finden war ein extrem aufwendiger Vorgang", erklären Harm und Merjin. "Uns war bange, wir fühlten uns total selbstsicher, uns zerbrach das Herz und wir verliebten uns erneut. Wir waren sogar von Tod und Selbstmord umgeben. Alles war Chaos. Insgesamt atmet "The Weight" die Reichhaltigkeit dieser sich ständig verändernden Gefühlslagen, frei von Einschränkungen und Regeln - außer vielleicht "mach es schnell und zerdenke die Dinge nicht." Inmitten dieser Ansammlung von Songs und Instrumentals, die aus Wevals einzigartiger, von Zuversicht geprägter Herangehensweise entstanden sind - "Musik, die dich hochzieht und Hoffnung spendet, ohne dich notwendigerweise happy zu machen. Der Titeltrack "The Weight" steht exemplarisch für Wevals ambivalenten Ansatz, die feine Balance zwischen Dancefloor und Traumzuständen, perfekt in Szene gesetzt von Soundengineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.).

Der schwer aus gewaltigen Gewitterwolken tropfende Funk, die eine verhaltene Poolparty suggerierenden Riffs, die sinnlichen, geisterhaften Vocals und ein verwaschenes Ambiente, das wie ein Album alter Polaroidaufnahmen alle erdenklichen Momente des Lebens festhält - von den euphorischsten bis hin zu jenen, in denen Musik der einzige Trank ist, der Linderung verheißt. Das post-KLF und Boards of Canada evozierende "Are You Even Real" führt den Hörer auf einen imaginären Flug ins Sternenzelt, während organisch-klingende Songs wie "Someday" oder "Same Little Thing" wie Quecksilber am Boden haften. "Heaven" ist eines jener "kosmische" Stücke mit wilden Arpeggios und Pianosprengseln, die Weval in den vergangenen zwei Jahren zu einer Live-Sensation werden liessen. Wevals Musik ist schwerelos und luftig, aber gleichermassen von dichter Struktur und von einer magnetischen Anziehungskraft. Ihr zweites Album "The Weight" ist eine Synthese aus dem multi-perspektivischem, kaleidoskopischen Verständnis von elektronischer Musik: Herzerwärmend, alles umschmeichelnd und unendlich frei.

Mit Grumpy Pieces kehrt der Düsseldorfer Musiker Harmonious Thelonious alias Stefan Schwander mit einem Werk zurück, das seine langjährige Klangästhetik präzise destilliert und zugleich spürbar aufreibt. Wieder verbinden sich Pan-Afrikanische und Nahöstliche Rhythmuskonzepte, minimalistische Wiederholungsstrukturen und reduzierter Elektronik-Einsatz zu einem hypnotischen Sound - diesmal jedoch rauer, trockener und offener für Brüche als zuvor. Die acht Stücke wirken wie unter Spannung gesetzt: Melodien schaben über kantige Bassfundamente, scharfe Snare-Schläge durchschneiden das Gefüge, und trotz des klaren Groove-Fokus ist ständig ein nervöses Knistern präsent. Grumpy Pieces reflektiert eine Gegenwart voller politischer und gesellschaftlicher Reibung - ohne explizite Kommentare, aber mit einer Musik, die Reibung selbst zum Gestaltungsmittel macht. Während die A-Seite vergleichsweise direkt beginnt, öffnet sich die B-Seite zunehmend dem kontrollierten Zerfall, bis der finale Track "Dissolving" den Titel programmatisch umsetzt. Entstanden ist das Album in Schwanders Düsseldorfer Studio - intuitiv, unmittelbar, ohne große Bildschirm-Arrangements, eng verwoben mit seiner live-erprobten, tranceartigen Arbeitsweise. Grumpy Pieces ist kein Bruch, sondern eine Zuspitzung: ein kraftvoll verdichtetes, körperliches und zugleich unruhiges Album, das die charakteristische Handschrift von Harmonious Thelonious schärft. Tanzmusik mit Widerstand - und Biss.

The track shows SUEP at their best - glistening synth pop with Marr-esque jangle, sweet but emotionally incisive. Singer Georgie Stott - also known for being the keyboardist of the recently ended Porridge Radio - is at peak performance, marrying catchy melodies with off-kilter storytelling.
Receiving acclaim across BBC 6 Music and the indie press for their ‘car boot sale’ pop music, SUEP rummage through the jumble bin of music history, selecting and reassembling its best parts into something playful, strange and deeply artful. The band are affiliates of the Gob Nation collective - including The Tubs, Sniffany & The Nits, Ex-Void, and others., described by the Guardian as uniting around “a leftfield sensibility, lacerating wit and snotty attitude.”

With a slightly darker edge than their delightful EP Shop or last year’s groovy The Rain, Highway II tells the story of hope slamming into disappointment - a Valentine’s date gone wrong. Tears, cigarette breaks, running makeup and snotty sleeves paint a picture of painful emotional dislocation. It comes with an incredible, multilayered dance-routine music video from frequent collaborator, artist Jess Power.

Singer Georgie Stott says: “The lyrics for this poured out of me on Valentine’s Day when me and my partner went out on a date in the Limehouse area, over the river from where we lived in Rotherhithe. I got drunk too quickly, he got grumpy, and tears started streaming down my face because I just wanted to have a nice romantic time. We made up in the Canary Wharf Wetherspoons at the end of the night, but I went to have a cigarette before, to get out all my sobs and wrote all the lyrics on my phone in one go. Then at a practice studio we quickly wrote it around some chords I made up in the room.”
Forever is a confident debut, a masterpiece of modern indie songcraft. Across the album SUEP dip into country, synthpop, garage rock, post punk, and pub rock, but always retain their signature penchant for melodic hooks, snappy structures and straight-to-the-heart lyrics. Artfully unpretentious, the album was recorded by friend Matt Green, best known for his work with The Tubs, and mixed by Mike O’Malley of the band caroline.

Led by Georgie Stott and Joshua Harvey, SUEP have become fixtures of south-east London’s underground through a series of shared living spaces, improvised studios and DIY venues. Now with George Nicholls (The Tubs, Joanna Gruesome, GN Band), William Deacon (PC World), and Louis Forster (The Goon Sax, Expiry) completing the line up, their debut is finally on its way.
Forever is a glimpse into one of the best bands on the scene, not fitting into any trend, but also never fading into obscurantism - SUEP are a band that wear a joie de vivre loosely but fashionably. Now is their time to shine.

Gars Records proudly presents the first release in our "Gars of Gars" series, celebrating classic Detroit and modern techno with a fresh, boundary-pushing approach. This dynamic compilation features breakthrough artists BENZA, Mython, and James Harbrecht, alongside rising talent Deranged. Local Lithuanian producers y2kati and Phaseline join forces with international heavyweights like Bondarük, delivering a truly global sound. A bold yet respectful nod to techno’s roots, "Gars of Gars" is set to make waves and stand the test of time. And last but not least, the entire release was mastered by the almighty Joe Farr, bringing over 25 years of industry expertise to the sound.

The new Wolfed EP sits in the Grumpy discography as their most confident and self-flourished work to date. Delivered in the serene clarity of a vulnerable voice inviting you to share in their world, the record glitters in its yearning for another, in its most jubilant highs and successes, and its most intimate internal monologues. We fall and hit the wrong notes, say the wrong thing. But we do it for love. For Grumpy, those missteps are not avoidable speed bumps in a relationship, but the highlights of the journey itself. For in those painful moments of a relationship, we find Truth about ourselves. There is simple serenity found in realizing your imperfections the hard way. But we can't get too comfortable_ as Wolfed fades out, the jittering, chopped-up melodies leave you on edge in a delicate balance of mistrust and unease. Can we hold on to this love forever? Grumpy has the answer.

2024 repress.

Everyone has their own imagination about outer space, and each one us gets to daydream about what exactly floats or exists there. ‘Fortune Goodies’ is Minami Deutsch’s long-awaited 3rd studio album and an encyclopaedia of Krautrock, as band leader Kyotaro Miula describes it. While not all the songs on the record function as straightforward Krautrock this time around, they still manage to capture the spirit and heart of the genre. After relocating from Tokyo to Berlin, Miula’s musical vocabulary has greatly expanded, thus resulting in this ultimate Japanese take on cosmic music in 2022.

ONO Records is proud to present a long awaited project from EDN, the recording project of Elena Nees. Hailing from Adelaide / Kaurna, Elena has crafted her sound in the form of sweet bedroom folk and pop, self releasing a number of tender EPs since 2020 along with releasing a fantastic six track cassette with the esteemed Naarm based cassette label Healthy Tapes under her Allume alias. Here, the EDN moniker takes these folk pop sensibilities and filters them through a love for electronic hardware production and music.

The record begins with the end-of-the-night dancefloor ballad ‘A Mirror’. Jittering and agitated drum programing makes way for EDN’s feather-weight vocals, cleverly manipulated over bubbling synths as the track melts into a bonafide braindance-pop anthem. ‘(Blue!) Flor’ keeps the tempo rising, breaking out into a funked drum machine jam allowing pearlescent pads to intermittently wash over. The thumping ‘Ummmm’ continues the jam ending the first side with an urgent techno-not-techno freak out.

Side B opens with the crystalline fourth world ambience of ‘Mess 1’ before EDN’s angelic antipodean twang takes the spotlight again on the gorgeous and introspective ‘2 Bored Angels’. Interluding briefly with the trip-hop induced breakbeat experiments of ‘Slo’, ‘Mirror Fuck’ bookends the record perfectly with glistening keys and EDN’s soulful vocals singing of longing and desire. An excellent closer. 

EDN gives us a triumphant and utterly unique record that unveils itself more and more with each listen and highlights her immense and diverse talent. One we are proud to include in the ONO catalogue!

Written & Produced by Elena Nees
Artwork by Mathieu Larone & Grace Otto
Mastering by Marco Pellegrino

Nixon was released in 2000 and immediately enshrined by the British music press. Uncutnamed it album of the year, Mojo ranked it 10th, and Q was still doing their lists alphabetically. The NME called Nixon “near to perfect” and the Guardian said that the band was “reinventing American music.”

Meanwhile, most people in America continued to have no idea who Lambchop were. (“I don’t think Nixon made much of an impression on anyone over here,” Wagner told a seemingly baffled interviewer in spring, 2001.) Lambchop’s take on America—sly, tender, mysterious but mundane—is less a realist’s portrait than a surrealist’s impression: funnier, more pathetic, more improbable than what actually exists. In 2007 I met a German man named Frank who told me he loved seeing the band overseas because it meant getting to sit in a plush, quiet room while drinking tons of beer and listening to Lambchop, which I guess he imagined Americans were mellow enough to actually do.

Nixon is still an improbable album. The band never sounds like they’re trying very hard and yet every song breaks some convention or another. Despite its showbiz arrangements, the music is tenuous and weird (a contrast that the band toyed with again on 2012's Mr. M), and Wagner’s falsetto—usually the most vulnerable part of a man’s singing range—sounds less like a Romeo

The Jive Aces are the UK's top jive and swing band and are renowned for their high-energy jump jive and spectacular stage show in their hallmark yellow suits. The band’s repertoire stretches from the timeless tunes of the swing era to the glitz of the Rat Pack, with a dash of rhythm & blues, swinging jazz and the roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Elvis.
Originally forming in London the band gained steady success year by year and are the first live band to reach the semi-finals of "Britain’s Got Talent" famously putting grumpy Simon Cowell “in a good mood”. This was followed by a performance to the late Her Majesty The Queen as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations. They are unquestionably the UK’s finest band in their genre.
They performed at hundreds of festivals including Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz Festival and The Hop Farm Festival to name a few. They also headlined and sold out the first ever swing dance at the Royal Albert Hall. By popular demand the band will be featuring in their own show in London’s West End at the Aldwych Theatre this December.
During the pandemic, the band performed consecutively for over 500 days with free concerts on line to cheer people up and help get through the tough times.The band has a one month US tour scheduled for 2023 and diary full of shows throughout UK and Europe. They are in constant demand.

FIRST VINYL (VOL. 1)
SIDE 1:
1. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
2. On A Slow Boat To China
3. Sweet Sue, Just You
4. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
5. Jeepers Creepers
6. It’s Been A Long, Long Time
SIDE 2:
7. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
8. It Had To Be You
9. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
10. Ain’t She Sweet
11. I’m Confessin’ That I Love You/ It’s Only A Paper Moon
12. Ain’t Misbehavin’

SECOND VINYL (VOL. 2)
SIDE 3:
1. Rock ’n’ Roll Movie Star
2. Feeling Happy
3. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
4. No. 13 (Fruit Boots)
5. Choo Choo Ch’Boogie
6. Giddy Up A Ding Dong
SIDE 4:
7. Bad News
8. Alright, OK, You Win
9. I Want You to Be My Baby
10. Rock ’n’ Roll Boogie
11. Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens
12. Jump, Jive and Wail

'Fever Dream' is Grumpster's debut album on Pure Noise Records. The album explores going through life in a dream-like state. Disassociating constantly to escape reality and what may be going on in life. Having strange thoughts, ideas, and desires. A blurred sense of reality that makes it difficult to discern what is real and what is in your head.

Punchline: Enjoy this first single "Waiting For A Star To Fall" from swedish allstar band AT THE MOVIES, doing unique cover versions of their favourite movie songs. Taken from their upcoming album "The Soundtrack of Your Life - Vol. 2" and with members from Pretty Maids, HammerFall, King Diamond, The Nightflight Orchestra, Therion and more! 1. SINGLE - 12.11.21 „Waiting for a star to fall“ 2. SINGLE - 19.11.21 „Last Christmas“ 3. SINGLE - 10.12. „(I Just) Died In Your Arms“ 07.01.22 on album release day): - „Heaven Is A Place On Earth“ FOCUS TRACK: „(I Just) Died In Your Arms“ "Everyone has their own memories and associations with the great songs of the classic films of the 80s and 90s! AT THE MOVIES put the Corona-related time in quarantine to good use and put their soft spot into action, creating unique new interpretations of these classic Soundtrack hymns. The initial spark for this project was ignited by Chris Laney (PRETTY MAIDS), who chatted about the idea with his musician colleagues Allan Sørensen (PRETTY MAIDS, ROYAL HUNT) and Morten Sandager (PRETTY MAIDS, MERCENARY) as well as Björn ""Speed"" Strid (THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, SOILWORK) and AT THE MOVIES was born. Metal-Heavyweights such as Pontus Norgren (HAMERFALL), Pontus Egberg (KING DIAMOND, WOLF) and Linnéa Vikström Egg (KAMELOT, THERION) as well as illustrious guests such as Ronnie Atkins (PRETTY MAIDS), Jacob Hansen (producer of VOLBEAT, PRIMAL FEAR) and Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS) completed the project, from which the albums ""The Soundtrack Of Your Life"" with Vol.1 (eighties) and Vol.2 (nineties) emerged. Featured are evergreens such “No Easy Way Out”, “Maniac”, “St. Elmo's Fire "", ""The Power Of Love "", ""The Heat Is On"", ""The Neverending Story"", ""The One And Only "", ""(I Just) Died In Your Arms"", ""(You Drive Me) Crazy"", ""Heaven Is A Place On Earth "", ""Crush "", ""I've Been Thinking About You"" and ""Venus""- all catchy tunes that you know and love, in a new, exciting and fascinating metal outfit. "

It is truly a family affair over at 7 Days Entertainment. Butterbandz, the youngest son of 7 Days Entertainment label head Big Strick, gives us his debut EP titled Legacy. This freshman EP of the youngest of the Strickland clan is nothing short of what you would expect from a family member deeply rooted in dance music from Detroit. The first song off of the EP is a vocal track from BBZ with help from the artist Marc, who is a rising vocal talent from Detroit associated with the 7 Days imprint. If You Don’t Dance is slated to be an anthem among the scene for years to come. It evokes you to get out there and move your body. It brings the energy from start to finish with excited high hats, a grumpy bass and an admirable synth pattern. Things slow down for a more relaxed groove on Free Roaming, a laid back chiller with a smooth synth and a mellow bass of pure delight. Its reverbed synths take you on a never-ending journey through your own mind. Hellraiser is a straight high-octane pure adrenaline rush. It has the soul of true Detroit techno. The unforgiving drum and percussion pattern shines brightly over an acid bass line and catchy synth keys. The last song on the debut EP, Monkey See, closes the project out with a bang. An offset drum knocks on top of an offset synth and warm pianos. The flute is complementary and the percussion ties it all together nicely. Butterbandz shows unparalleled promise for more top-notch projects in the future

Ever since Onom Agemo & The Disco Jumpers broke the dreaded curse of the difficult second album by releasing "Liquid Love", a cocktail so spicy and delectable that it could warm the cockles of the grumpiest man alive's heart, even in the most Arctic conditions, everybody wondered how the Onom crew could top that one. But now you have an opportunity to whip out your "Magic Polaroid" as proof that this wasn't an impossible Project. Never before has the band so successfully captured their full-on live sound as they do here, thanks to three days of recording frenzy at Daniel Nentwig and Sebastian Maschat's Butterama studio, a haven of analog hardware hidden in a remote part of Berlin's Neukölln district. The exploding kaleidoscope of styles that make up this album, perfectly reflected by the stunning cover artwork from Nick Henderson and photography by Christoph Rothmeier, means that they can no longer be confined to their early description as an "Afro-Funk Quintet" or merely described as a lively tribute to the artists which have influenced them: their sound is 100 per cent pure uncut Onom Agemo, even though every track feels like a new beginning. The presence of a charismatic in-house vocalist who brought her own lyrics along has also boosted their confidence considerably and provided a further knock-out punch to their onstage performances.
And no one will be disappointed as soon as the first bars of "The Trumpets Of Denmark" stomp on stage like a boisterous fanfare, with Johannes Schleiermacher's impressive wall of sound production making the musicians sound like a much bigger band than what their line-up suggests (with Maria Schneider from Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra adding some extra percussive clout) and just the right amount of dizzying cross-rhythms to steer it away from potential bombast. When Onom Agemo's powerhouse vocalist Natalie Greffel starts chanting what at first sounds like a string of Onomatopoeia, it soon becomes clear that she's laying down her manifesto for a nostalgic Space-Age yet to come, with a few key words serving as Mantra (Focus, patience, tears and creation): an invitation to drive off the Information Superhighway and its endless litany of polite noises, to redirect our gaze inside ourselves and learn to understand and sometimes question how others perceive us.