quête:i robots

From different latitudes, they have come.
Look up the noise they bring.
Open up your mind.
Strange times are here...

Tracks by Das Muster, Obergman, Koova, Luke Eargoggle & Johan Inkinen, Faceless Mind, Friedrich Krause and Noise&Noise. The Time Capsule project, also known as 808 Box, is a project created by Fundamental Records. The six boxes released in recent years include 56 records with over 300 tracks from artists from every corner of the world. Some warehouse copies have surfaced of the 5th 808 Box, and these will be available individually. These are new copies in perfect condition, with the original sleeves printed with the classic Roland TR-808.

The official album of Captain Flam and his android robots Crag & Mala.

As for the original version, the B side of this vinyl edition also features an instrumental version of the title, composed by Jean-Jacques Debout, to train to shine in the karaoke of the 80's!

‘The record is inspired by the idea of humanity’s ever-increasing entanglement with technology and artificial intelligence, balancing fears and moral concerns with the possibilities of evolution’s next phase’

A new Soccer96 album is a chance for Danalogue (Dan Leavers) and Betamax (Maxwell Hallett) to return to something of a spiritual creative home. Between them, the keyboardist and drummer have become synonymous with the thriving London jazz scene and, in their mind-bending incarnation as the astral synths-and-drums pairing, they’ve traversed stylistic worlds. Over nearly a decade, the duo have metamorphosed from a DIY outfit whose rough-edged recordings hit with a punk spirit, to cosmic dreamers that use sound to travel the reaches of the mind.

First single Dopamine features Nuha Ruby Ra on vocals who sings from the perspective of human and machine throughout the track. This concept overlaps with the music seamlessly, forming a meeting point between technological and human exploration.

Dialogues between the band and Nuha crystallised a shared vision of a future where humans and artificial intelligence are entangled in a codependent relationship based on the giving and receiving of pleasure hormones, the robots only source of dopamine is to receive it from humans, and the humans’ ability to unleash the monsters of the worst of human emotion.

Danalogue and Nuha sing together ‘It’s a Long Way down’ .. the feeling of jumping from the cliff of our current state as humans and ‘free-falling’ into the unknown of robot-human intertwining. By the outro they are pleading with each other over their dopamine co-dependency, in terms of both giving and receiving the hit. "Dependency leads to free-falling integration, a moment of freefall into robotic consciousness. Humans and machines are locked in a dance of addiction." explains Betamax.

Soccer96 has always been a vessel for Danalogue and Betamax to find clear water from their multitude of other collaborations, their most notable being as two-thirds of The Comet Is Coming alongside Shabaka Hutchings. Danalogue’s other recent production credits include Snapped Ankles and Calabashed, whilst Betamax has been making music with Champagne Dub and Coma World.

“Through collaborating with various artists and developing our own sonic language, it feels like we have created a sound of our own,” says Danalogue. “Now we think less literally and take more liberties to not necessarily sound like a duo. It’s more like a production team that can be augmented or stripped back depending on what the music calls for.”

Dopamine, though, sees the pair back together once again, incubating their findings of the past two years and moving Soccer96 into new territories. The record is maybe darker in some senses than what they’ve put out before; it’s inspired by the idea of transhumanism and humanity’s ever-increasing entanglement with technology and artificial intelligence It balances fears and moral concerns with the possibilities of evolution’s next phase. “The LP title Dopamine refers to the type of neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, that enables technology to hack into our minds and control us, creating addiction, dependency,” Betamax explains.

Dopamine began life as a sonic reaction to the graphic novels of ‘Moebius’ Jean Giraud. The duo then started swapping reel-to-reel tape ideas through each other’s letterboxes in lockdown, before eventually convening in the studio and displaying one of the revered French artist’s images in the middle of the studio for inspiration.

“All musical decisions would centre around this image,” Betamax says. “It was a depiction of a cosmic traveller gazing across a desert at a sort of crystal city. If the music was resonating with the image then we knew we were on the right path. We are both glad there is a lot of emotional warmth underpinning the whole thing. We are trying to connect with the human essence at all times.”

Technical Ecstasy by Black Sabbath, limited edition, remastered, new mix, 90 mins of unreleased outtakes, alt mixes, live tracks from Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill plus extensive book, tour program and poster. LP set on 180g vinyl.



In the summer of 1976, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward headed to Miami to record Technical Ecstasy at the famed Criteria Studios. The band was coming off a world tour for their previous album, Sabotage, that had found their live performances evolving to include keyboards and synthesizers. These newly incorporated instruments and sounds were then introduced into the recording process on Technical Ecstasy. The new songs encompassed a wide range of styles from the hard charging “Back Street Kids” and single ballad “It’s Alright,” to the funky “All Moving Parts (Stand Still)” and progressive rock “Gypsy.” The Deluxe Edition presents a newly remastered version of the eight-track album, along with an entirely new mix of the album created by Steven Wilson using the original analogue tapes.



With eight previously unreleased outtakes and alternative mixes. Among those are different mixes of “You Won’t Change Me” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Doctor,” as well as both outtake and instrumental versions for “She’s Gone.” The collection concludes with 10 previously unreleased live tracks recorded during the 1976-77 World Tour. The songs touch on different eras of the band’s history with early tracks like “Black Sabbath”, “War Pigs” (from Paranoid), “Symptom Of The Universe”, “Snowblind” and “Children Of The Grave” alongside new songs “Gypsy” and “Dirty Women.”



The collection comes with an extensive hardback book featuring artwork, liner notes, rare memorabilia and photos from the era, plus a replica of the 1976-77 world tour concert book and a large colour poster of the iconic Hipgnosis (Storm Thorgerson/Aubrey Powell/Peter Christopherson) futuristic robots image which is perfect for framing.



Black Sabbath embraced change in 1976 when the heavy metal innovators started managing themselves and began exploring different sounds on the band’s seventh studio album, Technical Ecstasy.



BMG honours this daring album with a collection that includes a newly remastered version of the original, a brand-new mix by Steven Wilson, plus more than 90 minutes of previously unreleased outtakes, alternative mixes and live tracks. TECHNICAL ECSTASY: SUPER DELUXE EDITION will be available as a 4CD box set and 5LP box set on 180g black vinyl.



Contents:



Vinyl box set includes:

Original album newly remastered
New Mix LP
Outtakes and Alternative Mixes LP
2LP live concert from the World Tour 1976 - 77
40-page book with photos, artwork and liner notes
Technical Ecstasy colour poster

Forming off the back of contemporary jazz outfit Zeitgeist, Voronoi take the power and rhythmic complexity of heavier prog-metal and fuse it with the sophistication of classical music and jazz. A passion for science fiction thematically drives the band’s heaving and

chopping style, whereas artists such as Autechre, Car Bomb, Tigran Hamasyan and J.S. Bach help shape the rigid, experimental structure of The Last Three Seconds.

“Compositionally and stylistically we have moved into much heavier territory than our contemporary jazz foundations,” says Keyboardist Aleks Podraza. “It really shows. If you were to put this record against the first tunes we played together as Zeitgeist, it would be like introducing a much capable Thelonious Monk to a less hectic Dillinger Escape Plan.” 

As the first single off The Last Three Seconds, Gamma Signals serves as a toe in the water for the depth of things to come. The full-bodied riffwork captures the stop-start format of prog-metal heavyweights without being explicitly metal. Yet beyond this, glitchy, experimental electronics cut through the composition like a knife. The final product is something that captures the magic of the cosmos – a place where worlds orbit worlds, genres orbit genres. Each element remains different and unique, but still intrinsically tied to the other.

“Gamma Signals is about pulsars and how when Jocelyn Bell-Burnell first discovered them, the media thought they were aliens trying to contact us,” says Podraza. “Broadly, this song is about my love for and fascination with cosmology as a whole. That's a theme that runs through the veins of most of the album.” 

Those following Vorono’s career will need little convincing on the quality of The Last Three Seconds. Collectively, band members have performed and recorded with groups like The Cinematic Orchestra, KOYO, NJYO, Jenova Collective, The Often Herd, Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip, Wandering Monster and more. This in turn has garnered sizable attention at festivals such as Leeds and Reading Festival, Download Festival, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club - not to mention Voronoi’s thrashing set at 2019’s ArcTanGent.

The cool and collected chaos of The Last Three Seconds serves as a snapshot of this live energy, as passion and fury hum at the end of every complex composition. From start to finish, the record is nothing less than executed perfectly, undoubtedly appealing to even the most seasoned of prog-lovers

Schneider TM is the multidimensional music project of Dirk Dresselhaus which has been operating since the mid 90's. His latest opus is also his first for release for Editions Mego.

With an extensive catalogue under his belt, one may wonder where this one takes us? The 8 of Space orbits the realm of "pop" more overtly than the project has done for 14 years, residing in the line of works that temporarily ended with "Skoda Mluvit" from 2006. In the age of scattered streaming listening habits The 8 Of Space champions the classic album format with connected tracks that act like chapters adding up to what could be framed as an 'audio-movie'. The 'plot' revolves around a post-dystopian landscape which posits the make up of reality in the future.

The vessel is electronic pop music but one which takes inspiration from the spirit of a multitude of musical forms absorbed into a trans human sound world where biological & technological elements complement each other (We are NOT The Robots!). The music unifies the analog world of acoustic and electric instruments with electronic & digital possibilities that range from heavily processed acoustic & electric guitars and bass, tube organ, analog modular synth units, acoustic drums and percussion, analog & digital drum machines & effect units, hardware and software processing. Experimental & extended musical techniques build a world of musical elements that is sometimes upside down and mirrored. Electric guitar becomes rhythm machine & modular system, voice becomes sound object & synthesizer, effects are used as instruments, acoustic guitars are being modulated by voices etc. Reality and illusion are getting mixed up. One can hear short moments of longer recordings in the tracks which are snapshots of bigger musical pictures that lurk behind what's actually audible. Generative music, audio spirals like clockworks create ever changing musical combinations; thrown-in sounds, polyrhythms & cascades based on the concept of chance attributed to the service of the SONG.

The lyrics are a key component. Holistic, associative poetry acts as interactive trigger points for the mechanisms of existence in times of a paradigm shift that are open to the listeners discretion. Autobiographical elements combine with science fiction and dreams, protagonists shift where the 'I' or 'me' is not necessarily the voice of the artist, nor even the same person. Alongside a more naturalised voice another protagonist appears represented by a processed voice. This character, named iBot, evolved around the start of the millennium and has appeared on some previous Schneider TM recordings. It can be seen as a post-human, or even a trans-human character, a combination of human & technology, uncertain of the future, which lends iBot it's melancholic tone.

In the opening song "Light & Grace" iBot appears in an advanced form of AI, which managed to hack & hijack a commercial space travel program (eg, Virgin Galactic) to invite those rich, who profited most from the destruction of planet earth, for a holiday trip into space to unknowingly fly them directly into the middle of the sun. In this episode it seems to have developed higher ethics than humanity itself with ambition to save the planet with as much of its cooperative life as possible."Light & Grace" serves as an intro / opener for this album to be followed by 7 other tracks featuring different windows of consciousness represented by diverse characters & protagonists.

All the elements on The 8 of Space, the music, sounds, vocals and artwork fit together as a whole, creating a dazzling electro pop future questioning it's own certainty. This is experimental electroacoustic pop music featuring glorious melodies dancing along human/machine voices, each track is a small universe that triggers the physical mind and tickles the subconsciousness.

In the Italian panorama of the '70s, Chrisma (Christina Moser and Maurizio Arcieri) skirted the common rules of Italian pop (the aura of progressive rock or the first wave of prolific folk singers); in fact, they created Italian new wave from scratch. After the release of their 1977 debut album Chinese Restaurant (SPITTLE 051LP) -- so far from the punk revolution and so deep into the algid dynamics of the Mittel-European sound -- came Hibernation, their creative peak on which they embrace the revelation of the man-machine and venture into the realms of incomparable robots Kraftwerk. Again the album was produced by Niko Papathanassiou (brother of the Greek legend Vangelis), and it features very sophisticated cover artwork created by famous photographer Mario Convertino. Chrisma, so far ahead of their time, crafted an opus that should be considered at the same emotional level as the most famous synth-pop bands from the UK and Germany. Highlights include "Vetra Platz," a long digital ride worthy of the most famous Kraftwerk singles; "Calling" and "Gott Gott Electron," a primeval couplet of furious post-punk numbers; and the lush "Lover," with Miss Moser still in top form. This reissue includes the original artwork with a silver background. RIYL: T. Rex, Nico, Kraftwerk.

BLK JKS are a seminal force in the South African underground.
After an extended hiatus the Johannesburg foursome, championed by The Mars
Volta and TV On The Radio (amongst many others), return with a groundbreaking
new album.
Monster grooves meet guitar and brass driven afro-rock. Echoes of spiritual jazz, postapocalyptic funk, renegade dub and kwaito.
Features Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Tour and Beastie Boys accomplice Money Mark
on the track “Maiga.”
”This South African art-rock band traffics in complexity, cross-hatching not only rhythms
and textures but also the signifiers of genre”- The New York Times
“A prequel to 2009’s amazing After Robots … What occurs when you listen to Abantu is
that it is an Old Testament support to After Robots – where that album prophesied Afropunk, this album suggests the roots to that moment, an engrossing journey of Afrobeat,
fuzzy yet hugely suggestive drone and psych textures, and a bristling sense of both pride
and critique that sings through.” The Wire
“A dark and brooding number that simmers and smoulders as it goes, fueled by a driving
rhythm section and mournful horns.” - Brooklyn Vegan about single “Human Hearts”
“BLK JKS, an awe-inspiring exemplar of modern Africa’s indigenous sound, make a victorious return after an extended hiatus … They create something unique on this album.”
***** Morning Star

Past Inside The Present is pleased to announce Repetition Hymns, a double album from the enigmatic Black Swan. Comprised of 19 vignettes, the relatively short tracks impart a strong forward momentum despite the 80-minute runtime. Repetition Hymns is thus particularly well-suited to the temporal distortion of quarantine, in which each day feels like an endless repeating loop. Our bleeding hearts are in need of drone like never before. In the decade since the release of In 8 Movements, Black Swan's 2010 debut, the anonymous producer has built a reputation for his unique brand of tape-based symphonic drones. While the author behind the moniker remains hidden, Black Swan is still able to surprise and captivate. The dark symphonic deconstructions of those early works have slowly evolved, making space for lighter textures and tranquil meditations on sound, expanding the palette of tones while staying true to an identity in flux.

In 2018 Far Out Recordings signed a record deal with Brooklyn born, nomadic producer Jneiro Jarel. Having just put the finishing touches to the recordings, Jarel suffered an ischemic stroke while living and working in Costa Rica and his wife Indigo was forced to set up a crowd fund to cover special medical transport back to the states to receive treatment. The release was put on hold, but thanks to the generosity of friends and fans around the world, Jarel was able to get the care he needed and is now on the long road to recovery. We’re overjoyed to finally announce that Jneiro Jarel’s After A Thousand Years is now set for an October 2020 release.

Throughout a career that has spanned over twenty years and seen collaborations with MF DOOM, Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, BadBadNotGood, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, Kimbra and Khujo Goodie (Dungeon Family), Jneiro Jarel’s consistently distinctive, forward thinking productions, as well as his love for the music of Brazil, made his partnership with Far Out a perfect fit.

Recorded between New York, New Orleans, Miami and Costa Rica, After A Thousand Years features legendary multi-instrumentalist Bill Summers, famed for his work with Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Eddie Henderson. The album also features Malawian-American guitarist Masauko Chipembere who has worked with the likes of RZA from Wu-Tang Clan and Ladybug Mecca from Digable Planets.

For Jarel, After A Thousand Years is “a culmination of the longstanding musical contributions of the African diaspora.” Permeating the Brazilian music and Latin jazz Jarel has loved and drawn inspiration from, as well as the stateside jazz, soul and funk Jarel grew up around, the influence of Africa and its musical history, on both North and South America, is key to the album’s sound.

On lead single “Banana Peel”, Jarel’s outernational perspective makes for a track that is almost impossible to place geographically: you can hear the swing of Jarel’s native New Orleans jazz, the vibrance of Costa Rican rainforests as well as the influence of Jarel’s vast collection of Brazilian records. “Viberian Waves 1&2” is equally nonconformist, morphing from funky baroque-flavoured instrumental hip hop into a bossa inspired, percussive jam.

Taking its inspiration from the biblical prophecies found in the books of Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation, foretelling the fully realized, physical and spiritual restoration of the earth and mankind after the thousand year reign of the Messianic Kingdom, After A Thousand Years contemplates and celebrates a world where everlasting love, peace, and harmony abound under a sovereign, divine rulership.

After A Thousand Years will be released on Vinyl LP and CD on the 30th October 2020 via Far Out Recordings.

FEEDBACK

“great release. Really like this!” Antal (Rush Hour)
“Banana Peel is exactly what we need now. Visionary Jneiro Jerel at his finest channelling healing sounds and rhythms from Mother Earth. A much-anticipated lens through Jneiro’s third eye. Thank you!” King Britt
“Sounding real good!” Errol Anderson (Touching Bass)
“I love it!!!!!!!” Raffaele Costantino (RAI RADIO 2)
“Sounds great. Congratulations. Will play it on my radio shows.” Batida
“Will pitch album to my editors” Dean Van Nguyen
“Please send me the full album once it's finished.” Francisco Noronha (Publico PT)
“Beautiful man. So happy that he's ok” King Hippo (WLPN-LP / Worldwide FM)
“cracking tune. already lined up to add to playlist. might go into radio show too.. love it” Oli Brunetti (Collectivo Futuro / Olindo Records)
“Amazing! Ive not heard anything from JJ for a long time but a welcome return, this is a cracking track. Looking forward to hearing more new material.” Mickey Jukes (1BTN FM)
“Very vibrant, fresh release! It gets better every time I am listening to it.” Shantisan (Superfly FM Vienna)
“This is a pretty special track , unique sound but very accessible , like it a lot and will play in my show Look forward to hearing the LP” Andy Wilson (Ibiza Sonica Radio)
“So good to hear Jneiro again, loving this cut. Thanks!” Chris Knight (Astrojazz)
“sublime !!!! will definitely play !!!” Mark Milz (Radio Corax)
“I-Robots approved!” Thanks for sharing...” I-Robots

The eighteenth release on Second Circle is the label's second exploration into an artists archival works; this time presenting a selection of four early tracks by theatre, film and music producer Can Oral under his Khan alias.

Can moved to Williamsburg, New York in the early 90's along with good friend and fellow musician Jimi Tenor. Born in Germany of Turkish-Finnish parents, he would frantically start buying equipment (such as a TR808, TB303 and Korg Polysix) from junk shops across New York, becoming greatly prolific in his recordings which he would work on throughout the night. During the daytime though, Can set up and ran the now defunct Temple Records, a seminal Soho record store, and later label, largely importing Techno and Acid from Europe. Though a small store, Temple Records would count musicians and DJs such as Björk, Tricky, Dee-Lite, Josh Wink and Joey Beltram among its regular customers. Also he would host many such guests to play live or DJ at his weekly Techno party “Killer” which was held at Save The Robots in New York’s East Village.

Can Oral's nightly studio sessions eventually led to an almost inexhaustible discography with over a dozen monikers each representing a different aspect of his productions. SC018 focuses then on his early electronic works as Khan.

Named after the color painted studio where the EP was produced between 1993-1996, 'Blue Box Sessions' is a collection of four analogue machine driven cuts, covering different tempos and ethos within electronic music. Initially live recorded to an old DAT recorder, and without any overdubs, SC018 is a lost and found artefact to Khan's unquestioned raw talent and timeless relevance.

The multi-media project Kraftwerk was started in Düsseldorf, Germany 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They set up their electronic Kling Klang Studio where they conceived and produced all Kraftwerk albums.

Kraftwerk created the soundtrack for the digital age of the 21st century. AUTOBAHN 1974, RADIO-ACTIVITY 1975, TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS 1977, THE MAN-MACHINE 1978, COMPUTER WORLD 1981, TECHNO POP 1986, THE MIX 1991, TOUR DE FRANCE 2003. Their compositions, using innovative techniques, electronic sounds and synthetic voices combined with computerised rhythms, had a major musical influence on Electro, Hip Hop, Techno and Synth-Pop. 

We welcome to the Moustache Records family the oldskool electro legend Martin Matiske with his Electronic disco-ish 12 inch EP release "Robotic Theatre" This is a future vision of a theatre run by robots and is the era in which machines entertain mankind. Operas are written and played in a mechanical way. The pieces of "Robotic Theatre" deal with different terms of stage work. Track A1 is called "Acting Faces" and Refers to the rehearsing of the role, as well as the interaction of the actors on stage. The well-being of the actor does not often match what is played. He has to play even If it's painful. B2 is the track called "Machinery" Human beings are machines that build machines today. The advantage is perfection and time saving. Robots as actors are reliable and precise. B1 listen to the name "Transistor Dances"its Like The Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms you just need a dance to express happiness and remind your culture. Dances bring people together. A robotic dance should not be missing in a play. The last track of the EP is the tune "Practise" a story about a robot the has to practise to achieve perfection and it is fun." Don'tplay this underwater order now gone is gone.

LET’S be frank, it was only a matter of time before we nabbed Dan Piu. Many years in the game with his own uber-respected labels Moto Music and deepArtSounds, in demand as an artist under his many guises (Allstarr Motomusic/George Btp) and collaborative projects (The WineLambs, Zarenzeit and Theory Of Movement, which he shares with deep house don Grant aka Anthony Collins), Piu may be old school but his recent renaissance has turned many heads including ours. His analogue alchemy is right up our strasse so we are beyond thrilled to be able to present the Zurich-based producer’s Technological Singularity EP here at Hizou.

From the celestial groove-heavy Quantum Computing to the angular electronica of Robots In Rage and from the melodic techfunk of A Machine Will Never Do X to the soul-warming F#uk The World To The Core, aficionados, followers and fanboys will not be disappointed.

Delicate Wash is back for Round 4, delivering a seamless combination of spaced-out street synths and exquisite disco toe-tappers.

Four cuts of a familiar 1980's metropolitan milieu, WASH#4 provides the b-movie soundtrack to a cinematic underworld of swanky penthouse soirees and back alley brawls.
Whether in a mix or live set, this evocative quartet is an eloquent addition to any audiophile's storytelling toolkit.

During the uprising in 2000, aided by the League of Humanity, two of Dr: Gall’s advanced prototypes escape the Rossum Universal Robot factory and flee Earth on a decommissioned spacecraft.

Travelling aimlessly through space, they begin to wonder what their new home would look like. They tell each other stories of planets with no humans to enslave them, no factories to go to — planets where fresh blue water runs through pink, sun kissed mountaintops.

Perhaps it’s fortunate then that these Robots can feel no time, have no sense of past and future? And by the time their ship touches down on Ebaum’s Dreamland, who knows how many years have passed on Earth…

“Ebaum’s Dreamland” is the first Rossum Universal Tracks release.
It features a remix by Julius Steinhoff, who first discovered the scrambled transmissions in his deep space observatory in the woods.

Lenny limbs looks on as the time for automation draws nearer. What is our fate you ask? - The robots are coming.

Banoffee Pies Records introduce the sixth insert to the original series with a mechanically inspired sample infused three track heavy weight. This record is for the dancefloor. Banoffee xx

Our secret agent in Oslo returns with another urgent communique in the Norsk Tripping series...Six more tracks selected from a private vault of dance floor dynamite, which takes in modern Italo, solid gold punk-funkery, synth-outs, outsider pop & 80's obscurities.
All given the sonic once-over for maximum playability...
As always, a VERY limited run.

Repress

Nina Kraviz' TRIP presents the debut album Am I Who I Am by Alina Izolenta and Kamil Ea, the duo more formally known as PTU. Across twelve tracks PTU cut and chop their way through frenetic marching drums and spiralling acid leads, awakening an army of malfunctioning robots as they go. Whilst Am I Who I Am boasts a vast spectrum of bizarre ideas - often introduced at high velocity - each one is executed with a skillful dose of restraint, summoning energy from microscopically detailed arrangements. From the angular maximalism of 'Castor & Pollux' to the eerie polyrhythms of 'After Cities' and the relentless hammer drills of 'Sirocco', PTU find life in the most extraordinary of places.

All aboard the Beyond Paradise escape capsule, as they throw down with a four-track trip of cosmic chuggers from The Local Beatnik.

‘Mountain Walk’ opens up proceedings, a weighty chugfest that stomps through the undergrowth. Tripped out vocals, throbbing bass synths and mystic wobbles, all venturing out of the interstellar jungle. Turning the corner, psychedelic new wave guitars, entrancing drum loops and lustful French phrases meld together for ‘Eskase’, causing kaleidoscopic swirls as far as the eye can see.

Flip it to take a trip to the Far East for ‘Travel’, getting lost along the way and wandering into a parallel universe where sci-fi, synth wielding robots dominant the dancefloors, drum machines are fed acid and disorientated travellers are captured for their musical knowledge. Out of their grasp and heading to relative safety, you stumble across a delectable ‘Eastern Dish’. One fork full, then two, spiced just right and you’re hallucinating to the space-age synths and percussive treats that follow. Sitars flow with steelpans offering a suitably immersive closer for this standout E.P. from The Local Beatnik.

What kind of band would choose a double vinyl, gatefold LP for their first release The Hare and Hoofe. Their eponymous first release consists of two discs. Disc One rounds up their 'hits' so far - 2018's smash hit White Blindness, the space gregorian
chant that is Voyager, and the pastoral tale of Appledore Fayre. The second consists of their rock opera, The Terror of Melton. Time-travelling scientists. Giant laser-eyed robots. A rock opera to end all rock operas...

Pitched somewhere between The Who, The Stooges, ELO, Sparks, Pink Floyd, Voivod, Pete Townshend, Brainiac, Bowie and Judas Priest, The Terror of Melton is a headspinning,
ambitious journey. In turns stomping, tear-jerking, full-on rocking and dreamlike, it will transport you. Prog Magazine's Dom Lawson described it as 'absurdly entertaining and deliciously weird... An unmissable trip for fans of the fuzzy and farout'.
2018 saw the band recording a BBC6Music Marc Riley session before even releasing a physical record. In addition, they've had plays on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone. The band have also gained a monstrously good live reputation, playing an instantly
legendary set at Hastings' Beatwave festival, as well as headlining Tannerfest, Pitch Fest, playing with Focus and The Fierce and The Dead, and the John Snow Society's annual celebration of the eminent epidemiologist.
Some describe them as 'educational psych', others prefer 'polytechnic beat', still more as 'a seventies garage band'. There's certainly primeval drums, fuzz bass, lashings of guitar and synth noises from another planet.
Formed from a gang of friends from Folkestone, Hoofe members have played in groups including The Heliocentrics, The Priscillas, Ye Nuns, Jail Cell Recipes, The Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band, Chalet and Hyperglo.

We could do some name-dropping similes about Drexciyan re vessels or talk about robots in love and what not. Or we cut right to the chase: six sublime Electro/Breaks tracks about oxygen.

Mondo Groove Präsentiert In Zusammenarbeit Mit I-robots Von Opilec Records Eine Großartige Doppel-lp Compilation Mit Groovigen Italo Disco Funky Boogie Diamanten Von Drums Records, Dem Italienischen Label Aus Turin, Das Viele Schwer Zu Findende Singles Aus Den 70er Und Frühen 80er Jahren Veröffentlicht Hat.
Alle Melodien Wurden Von Original-masterbändern Übernommen. Einige Sind Bisher Unveröffentlicht.

'The ancient nightmare is come again!'
This latest visitation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
Tertiary Phase comes on heavyweight coloured vinyl,
sumptuously packaged in the style of the galactically
successful Primary Phase and Secondary Phase LP
releases.
For the first time ever on vinyl, here are Episodes 13 to 18
of the BBC radio series. First broadcast in 2004, the Tertiary
Phase is based upon the Douglas Adams's third novel Life,
the Universe and Everything. This is also the first ever
publication of the original radio edits of the Tertiary Phase,
as heard on their original broadcast.
When Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect hitch a lift away from
Prehistory on a Chesterfield sofa, it's the beginning of a
galactic quest that takes in Lord's Cricket Ground, deadly
cricket bat-wielding robots, a spaceship that looks like an
Italian bistro, a planet of sentient mattresses, a wretched
soul who keeps being murdered, a giant spaceborne
computer, and much, much, more. Reunited with Marvin,
Zaphod, Trillian and Slartibartfast, they must prevent the
Krikkitmen from retrieving the Wikkit Key and unleashing
terror upon the Universe.
Starring Peter Jones and William Franklyn as The Book,
with Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as
Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox,
Susan Sheridan as Trillian and Stephen Moore as Marvin
the Paranoid Android, with a guest cast including Richard
Griffiths, Leslie Phillips, Joanna Lumley, Toby Longworth,
Michael Fenton Stevens, Henry Blofeld, Fred Trueman and
the voice of Douglas Adams himself, with music by Philip
Pope and Paul 'Wix' Wickens. Adapted, Directed and Co
Produced by Dirk Maggs
Three 180g heavyweight yellow vinyl discs are presented in
illustrated wallets inside a rigid, bound 20 page book, with
exclusive sleeve notes written by producer Dirk Maggs and
Jem Roberts, Douglas Adams's official biographer.
'Howzat!'

"Resist the categories that define and divide"

Uncanny Valley EP sonically explores the uneasy, obscure but familiar relationships between human and machine in contemporary life. This is the debut release on RESIST, the record label launched by experimental club/art hybrid event from Belfast, Northern Ireland. This debut release is by RESIST event and label founder, Koichi. Remix comes from electronic music innovator and Eotrax label owner, Eomac in an anxiety driven, frenzied remix of the title track.

Jagged and angular sonics, and warm organic artefacts are the defining sound of this release, which imitates the theme behind the music. Machines are being engineered to have a place in intimate and personal areas of human life. What does it mean to be human in this increasingly digital world Are we anything more than complicated robots made of flesh Where does humanity stop and the uncanny begin

Koichi returns with a new sound, signalling a departure away from his previous aesthetic and into a new direction breaking free from the boundaries and categories of restrictive genre definitions. His music continues to contain a heavy techno aspect, and also draws on raw industrial and experimental influences.

Koichi is an electronic musician, music researcher, and event curator who explores resisting exclusionary identities and disrupting discourses of power and prejudice through music and live digital art.

Record Kicks proudly presents "SuperStudio" the new single by legendary Italian cinematic funk combo Calibro 35 sampled by Dr.Dre and Jay-Z, taken from their forthcoming new studio album DECADE

"SuperStudio" - available on a super limited edition 45 vinyl and digital download together with bonus track "Gomma" - is Calibro 35's first single and anticipates their new album DECADE that hits the streets next 9 February. Quoting the band "SuperStudio is the main theme for a movie that doesn't exist, starring Clint Eastwood and Pam Grier saving earth from the invasion of deadly robots from another planet" and it's pure Dynamite. On the flip you'll find "Gomma", the bonus track out of the album which is an irresistible funk groovy shaker.

Recorded at the legendary Officine Meccaniche studios in Milan by CALIBRO's usual suspect and Grammy Award winner Tommaso Colliva, "DECADE" marks 10 years of Calibro 35's releases and it's the very first album recorded by Calibro with an orchestral-inspired enlarged line-up. Active since 2008 CALIBRO 35 enjoys a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent band around. During their ten years career, they have been sampled by Dr. Dre on his Compton album and Jay-Z, they shared stages worldwide with the likes of Roy Ayers, Muse, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat, Headhunters and as unique musicians they've collaborated with, amongst others PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish and Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine's as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing, that happened to Italy in the last years", Calibro 35 now count on a number of aficionados worldwide which includes VIP's fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.

A new piece by Australian artist Tarquin Manek, devised in collaboration with poet Martina Quake of Canvey Island, UK and recorded at M.E.S.S. (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio), utilising EMS VCS3, Oberheim OB-Xa and ARP 2600 in combination with cheap, contemporary consumer electronics. It is, to all intents and purposes, a short, cautionary story about love. It is also a folk-tale, a science fiction, a suicide note. Unusually for a long-form spoken word piece, it is immediate in its impact, and lasting in its effect. Our narrator is damaged and unreliable: Quake's voice, digitally processed into a flat, AI affectlessness, conveys this all too well. Is this the vernacular poetry of the Uncanny Valley, or is it just that loss makes robots - numb and listless not-quite-humans - of us all Locks revels in the space between the spontaneous and the programmed (what is a poem if not a programme). It's part Tales Of The Unexpected, part Susan Howe, part Ruth Rendell, part HAL (or Holly). Manek's music is widescreen but understated...a becalmed landscape populated by distant drones, just-out-of-focus field recordings, and phased, minimalistic, Rhodes-style keys. A sort of sombre, lunar jazz. Space-age bachelor pad music, maybe, for a bachelor at the edge of space and the end of his tether. Just as Quake's words are cumulative in their tragedy, so the music grows more agitated and turbulent, at certain points harking back to the smoked-out psycho-acoustics of Manek's 2015 Blackest Ever Black LP, Tarquin Magnet, and his work in F ingers with Samuel Karmel and Carla dal Forno.

Lenny limbs looks on as the time for automation
draws nearer. What is our fate you ask - The robots are coming.
Banoffee Pies Records introduce the sixth insert to the original series with a mechanically inspired sample infused three track heavy weight. Disclaimer: This record is for the dancefloor. TIP. For the lovers. Banoffee xx

August 2016 saw Running Back release a first volume of live tracks from Redshape, but January 2017 sees the much loved artist return to Delsin, his most regard label, for a second offering of the same. This time the EP has one track made in Paris, and one in London, and both are filled with the sort of beautifully bleak and lo-fi sounds that have made this man such a standout artist over the years. Up first is 'London,' a chugging track that builds in pressurised layers of coarse hi hats, gurgling bass and pinging kick drums. It is a hypnotic groove that teases you as elements drop in and out and hisses of static and broken little guitar riffs add some cheeky funk. On the flip-side, 'Paris' is much more playful, with colourful pixelated melodies dancing about the mix, industrial drums working down low and steppy synths fleshing things out. Overall it sounds like a future disco for inebriated robots and is one of Redshape's more party starting tracks.

ZK Bucket lives in his own universe. His Universe is called ZAUN and with Concierge he is now no longer alone there.
"The EP is produced on a minimal setup: Jupiter 4 & Minibrute
on a 4-track cassette Recorder and comes in a hand printed Sleeve."Resup" is a controlled stomping chaos with reverb drowned Stabs - this opens the water for "Kon Tiki Sinkt", a hommage to explorers and death. "Grounded" supports the robots with its marching drums and "Fasen" wraps the package in an almost warehouse-fashion." ZK Bucket

Murphy Jax delivers a fresh full length EP entitled ``Teleport : Echo City`` this September, via the Frankfurt based Chiwax imprint.
Murphy Jax, over the past few years, has been steadily building up a back catalogue of solid electronic workouts. Delivering content for the likes of Clone`s Jack For Daze Series, Hypercolour, Exploited and Turbo, Jax’s style meanders through a variety of styles, ranging from low-slung, chuggy grooves through to straight up Chicago inspired house rhythms, always keeping the production intriguing and melodic. Here Murphy joins the Chiwax roster (A sub-label of Rawax, also running the Dubwax and Housewax labels), alongside heavy hitters like Gemini and Perseus Traxx.
Jax tells us the story of the album ´´Imagine a pre-apocalyptic generation of robots on a planet of machines. This is the last generation before the big war against the darkness, slowly coming from space. Some groups are fighting each other in chaos, others party before everything seems to end and lots of them don’t know - yet, but they all dream of Echo City. The one and only safe point, founded by Dr. Nigel Echo in the deep, cold and blue core of the planet. Dreams, desires, rebellion and chaos. They´re all going to fight the coming darkness, united by the prince of nanomagica. Taking place at several different locations, we are looking into the last hours before it all begins and ends at the same time.´´
``Teleport : Echo City´´ embraces a variety of styles, ranging from Chicago House, Classic Deep House, Movie Theme style cuts and raw Acid workouts. The mood of the records goes from child like melodies to dark, hypnotic and brooding synth heavy tracks. As expected Murphy Jax delivers an incredible LP of uncompromising quality here, ``Teleport : Echo City´´is out on Chiwax 4th September 2013.

Vinyl addicts and DJ robots perk up your ears! Live at Robert Johnson is proud to announce the vinyl extraction of Ivan Smagghe´s Live At Robert Johnson Compilation Vol.4