Suche:its a musical

Following a run of local transmissions from A Sagittariun, Crump, Rob Smith and Atki2, Idle Hands turns its attention to Berlin and the straight-up, no-nonsense techno thrust of Johanna Knutsson and Hans Berg. Both respected artists and DJs in their own right, the pair have been turning out 12"s together for The Free Spirit Society, Klasse and Crime City Disco over the past few years, but most importantly they've been steering the excellent UFO Station Recordings as a vessel for their punchy, primal techno tracks.

The sound on this EP taps into the pure form of stern, dark dancefloor tackle favoured at Idle Hands - no extraneous filler, plenty of space in the mix, but equally built with warmth and personality rather than monochrome functionality. If you need further proof, just look to the fact the EP is named after a Swedish soap opera from the 90s.

The bleeps and bass tones that pulse through "Taggen" are so finely crafted they need not skip and dance around the arrangement. The melodic interplay on "Klimax" is subtle but ultimately uplifting and optimistic where so much techno concerns itself with oppressive gloom. "Bimbo" finds the pair embracing a more psychedelic approach, but even here the modulating effects processes are kept within certain boundaries so as to not dilute the impact on the floor. After all, this is music to dance to, to be felt over a large system (where possible).


Moving from leftfield bass excursions to minimalist 2-step, UK techno and now onto this much more continental sound, theMälarviken EP continues to widen the range of Idle Hands' musical tastes without losing sight of the complete picture.

For the label's 50th release, Emotional Rescue returns to the music of Woo to close a trilogy of reissue collaboration albums, in A La Luna. Following Whichever Way You Are Going (1982) and Into The Heart Of Love (1990), their opus A La Luna (1991) was the last of the bands song based albums and represents a wonderful way to close this association.

Reworked, re-ordered and remastered especially for this first time vinyl release, brothers Mark and Clive Ives again present their unique, ground-breaking and at the time, heart-wrenchingly overlooked music, that seems to fit the folk-new age-electronics of today as well, if not better, than when first released.

Across 20 plus songs Mark's guitar, clarinet and vocals are as ever drenched in Clive's mixing desk mastery. Echo and reverb shimmer as the short pieces rise and fall like the wind blowing across nighttime trees. With no song going much beyond three minutes, A La Luna flows as one piece. The unmistaken sound of Woo wraps itself around you in an essence, warmth and glow that is addictive, meditative and uplifting.

Featuring the original vocal performance of Mark's love ode, Magic In The Dark stands as a centerpiece where, as with all their albums, vocals appear at a minimum, as part of the musical journey.

The underlying somber nature of the album comes as the band ended more than a decade of recording with little critical or commercial success. The fact they did not release a full album again and moved towards a more meditation outlook was a loss, however, their recent rediscovery and the excellent releases by Drag City and Palto Flats included, has finally given the Ive's brothers not just a place in appreciation, but has shown that there really is no one like Woo. Enjoy the magic.

Between the end of the 70's and the early 80's, a new sound appeared in London and its surroundings, a unique mix of Funk, Jazz-Funk and Disco labelled as Britfunk. Characterized by its raw energy that can put the needle In The Red, this up-tempo sound was a match for the UK's dancers and Jazz-Funk clubs.

This first release by French label Chuwanaga features some of the most exciting, rare and powerful tracks from that era compiled by the Parisian DJ and activist Saint-James, with bands such as Equa, Potion, Inch by Inch, Congress, Index and Spookey. It features also an insert with an in-depth focus on this musical era.

These young British musicians were equally inspired by the American Jazz-Funk productions and by Dub music and Reggae pushed by the Afro-Caribbean community who were at the heart of Britfunk's development. They gave Funk a unique British flavor. However, more than just a music genre or an enclosed expression of black Britishness, it was part of a genuine musical and social movement with its own dedicated labels, fashion sense and most importantly its own set of values that fueled the whole scene. Britfunk built itself within a multicultural evolution: black people, white people, straight and queer, all dancing in the same room to the same loud sound.

Pittsburgh-born Phillip Ballou's earliest years were spent in the gospel field, after he moved to New York City in the '70s, he teamed up with Bennie Diggs and Arthur Freeman, founding members of The New York Community Choir and singer Arnold McCuller to form the group Revelation. The quartet recorded for RSO Records, scoring some R&B success in the US with tracks like Get Ready For This' and You To Me Are Everything,' touring the Bee Gees among others. Phillip also sang on albums by NYCC recorded for RCA Records and continued with Revelation until 1982.Frequently hired for sessions in and around New York, Phillip teamed up with UK soul music journalist David Nathan (who he'd met in 1974 during Nathan's first US visit) and John Simmons, formerly a member of The Reflections, another New York vocal group to write a series of songs for his own proposed solo record deal. Although a contract did not materialize, one of the songs - Ain't Nothing Like The Love' - got some interest from famed Philadelphia producer Thom Bell who presented it to The O'Jays. Ultimately, the tune was turned down by Kenny Gamble and John Simmons, by then musical director for Stephanie Mills, recorded his own version for a small independent label in 1981.Phillip continued his own musical journey, touring and recording with James Taylor and Todd Rundgren. In addition, Phillip's name graced recordings by George Benson, Billy Ocean, Kashif, Nona Hendryx, Jonathan Butler, Teddy Pendergrass and Melba Moore, in 1981, he began recording with Luther Vandross and became a part of Luther's touring band for many years, as well as singing on productions by Luther on Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and others, continuing his association with him until Luther's 2003 stroke. Phillip returned to his gospel roots in 2004 as Minister of Music at a Brooklyn church and passed away in March 2005, aged 55. Thanks to renewed interest in the John Simmons' 1981 recording on YouTube, David Nathan has uncovered several tracks from the 1978 and 1979 he did with Phillip and John including Phillip Ballou's original version of Ain't Nothing Like The Love,' gaining its first ever worldwide release as a 7' single on Nefer Records in association with Super Disco Edits

Clergy returns for its 9th instalment with a club ready EP of serious weapons from label mainstay, and one half of Works Unit, Reflec. The four track release opens with 'Acid Response', in which Reflec has combined a tough rhythm section with a growling 303 to create a high energy roller guaranteed to keep the dance floor moving. Continuing on this trend of heavy hitting rollers, 'Osmosis' is a drum track through and through, which incorporates dark and sweeping atmospherics into the groove true to Reflec's form.

The B side see's host to 'Canyon', a peak time Clergy anthem with heavy, driving drums complimented with a spacey and emotional pad on the breakdown. Clergy 009 is rounded off by a broken edit of 'Canyon' which exchanges the driving kicks for a fragmented rhythmic style, a nod to the UK roots of Reflec's musical style. .

Marco Bailey's 5th full-length album, one that he personally claims to be the best overall representation of his sound. With seventeen tracks comprising almost an hour and a half of music, he has ample room to stretch out and to give listeners an excellent portable version of his potent live show.

By maintaining a consistently high-quality output that does not merely ride the wave of current trends, multi-faceted producer Marco Bailey has managed to survive through decades of mercilessly shifting adjustments to popular taste in dance music. From his beginnings in the late '80s spinning eclectic sets comprised of everything from punk to old school hip-hop, to his present interest in pure unadulterated techno, the Belgium-based DJ and producer has won over audiences with his keen knowledge of how to squeeze the greatest physical and emotional impact out of a few well-placed elements, along with his instinct for seeking out the most innovative and resilient kindred spirits (his impressive number of professional friendships includes artists as diverse as Markus Suckut, Jonas Kopp, Alex Bau, Edit Select, Speedy J, Steve Rachmad and many more). These combined talents have led to his formation of several different labels: MB Electronics in 2001, the 'limited edition' label MBR in 2013, and lastly the new Materia Music label begun last year. His similiarly named event series, Materia, has also been a truly worldwide 'state of the art' summit for advanced techno artists.



The full-length personal releases by Marco Bailey, which stretch back to his mid-'90s period as a trance producer, have been gracefully arcing and anthemic affairs composed of individual tracks that follow that same blueprint. He is now about to drop his 5th full-length album overall, one that he personally claims to be the best overall representation of his sound. With seventeen tracks comprising almost an hour and a half of music, he has ample room to stretch out and to give listeners an excellent portable version of his potent live show. Of course, an epic running time alone is not the marker of a great audio experience, but an epic running time in which one loses track of time completely is - Bailey accomplishes this feat by never rushing the payoff; by organically building up each track until listeners are fully immersed in his alternate universe.



This skill can be heard on banging, sweat-saturated tracks like 'Ash', 'Genetix' and 'Hasai,' but also on comparitively gentle pieces like 'Klauth' (which straddles the line between disciplined electro and something more dreamlike and weightless), or the blissed out 'Suoh,' which feels like a fresh snowfall in audio form. Low-key cuts like 'Rex,' driven by echo FX and other windswept sounds, form natural counterparts to busier tracks like 'Ruth,' with its spring-loaded sequencer attacks, or 'Reboot That Device,' which is ingeniously driven by a psychedelic organ whose sound evolves with various filter settings. Minimalist vocals are occasionally injected into the mix - i.e. on the 'The Darkness' - to impart a subtle message of constant, ongoing expansion into unexplored galaxies without and within. It's as good a definition of the artist's musical mission as any.

2022 Repress

HQ Gatefold, 3x12 140g Vinyl, black innersleeve, download code
EXTRAWELT are back! Although in fairness, they were never gone. On the contrary, since their first release on James Holden's Border Community Label dropped in 2005, Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe have been responsible for a plethora of classics including "Schöne Neue Extrawelt" and "In Aufruhr", their two seminal albums on Cocoon Recordings. The duo are one of the most booked live acts worldwide, commanding a huge fan base. Their performances are the stuff of legend, making them the absolute highlight at every club and festival they play. So it's with great pride and respect, that we can announce the release of Extrawelt's third album for Cocoon Recordings. "Fear Of An Extra Planet" completes the Cocoon trilogy and the excitement growing among their fans represents a new high in the history of EXTRAWELT!
Musically, of course, there's enormous pressure on EXTRAWELT to deliver, but this is dismissed with a playful disregard and they are clearly focused on the job in hand. The album title "Fear Of An Extra Planet" sounds cinematic, like some art-house science fiction film, without giving too much away.
However, from the first seconds of the opening track "Superposition", the album title makes 100% sense and sets the scene for the rest of the trip. We are immersed in wide open spaces and invited to explore dark and dusky worlds that transport us back to their Border Community years. Timeless and elegant, "Superposition" perfectly captures the epic, dream like quality that made James Holden's label so influential.
New Release Information Second up, "Gott ist Schrott" takes a much more minimalist approach with its retro 80s drum programming, monster bass lurking in the breaks and playful Rhodes/synth riffs that span the divide between early German techno and deep Detroit electro with a distinctive film soundtrack aesthetic. "Oddification" continues this theme, adding extra spice reminiscent of the techno-synth vibe of Detroit with a punchy, almost Prodigy-style breakbeat complete with shredded vocal samples that gives us a taste of what's in store. "Gentle Venom" then takes the breakbeat motif to the next stage. The main focus here is the classy sprinter of a bassline, peppered with a flurry of intricate and subtle effects and modulations, that immediately trigger an intense, movie-like 'in pursuit' feeling.
With - Das Grosse Flimmern" we cautiously approach the album's high point. It's still in keeping with the soundtrack aesthetics, but faster and with more urgency. Almost hypnotically, Extrawelt invade us with an energy and impetus that always radiates from their music. Next in line is "Silly Idol" and here Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe opt again for a more minimal tack, focusing even more intensely on the dance floor to reveal a pulsing, twisted heart to the album.
"Punch The Dragon" is the hidden gem of the collection, utilising and melting together the most bombastic and playful elements. This one is totally off the hook, a sensory overload in an acoustic widescreen format! Then we have the title track "Fear Of An Extra Planet" which perfectly sums up the album concept. It opens up like a film score, with minimal passages following dark sequences that morph into dreamy melodies, all grounded by cool, constantly alternating analogue drum patterns. If you're not listening closely, you might get the impression that three or four different titles are mixed together; such is the effortless flow of the album.
As we near our destination, "The Friendly Coroner" really does honour its name. The morbid charm of the title is captured by a fluid bassline and melodic arrangements that border on the absurd, until the funky drum beat finally drops. In our mind's eye we see a cheerful medical doctor removing his bloody gloves, hanging his smock in the closet and vibing out in his neon drenched workspace. And there we sit, glued to our cinema seat, submerged in the different textures EXTRAWELT have conjured up on "Fear Of An Extra Planet". Over the course of the last title, the strings usher in the final acknowledgments as the credits roll. The dramatic end of "2084" leaves us transfixed in front of a black screen in a large, dark room safe in the knowledge that we've just witnessed a science fiction epic.

Professor Rhythm is the production moniker of South African music man Thami Mdluli. Throughout the 1980's, Mdluli was member of chart-topping groups Taboo and CJB, playing bubblegum pop to stadiums. Mdluli became an in-demand producer for influential artists (like Sox and Sensations, among many others) and in-house producer for important record companies like Eric Frisch and Tusk. During the early '80s, Mdluli projects usually featured an instrumental dance track. These hot instrumentals became rather popular. Fans demanded to hear more of these backing tracks without vocals, he says, so Mdluli began to make solo instrumental albums in 1985 as Professor Rhythm. He got the name before the recordings began, from fans, and positive momentum from audiences and other musicians drove him to invest himself in a full-on solo project. It was the era just before the end of apartheid and house music hadn't taken over yet. There wasn't instrumental electronic music yet in South Afric a. As the '80s came to a close, that was about to change. Professor Rhythm productions mirror the evolution of dance music in South Africa. They grew out of the bubblegum mold - which itself stems from band's channeling influences like Kool & the Gang and the Commodores - into something based on music for the club. His early instrumental recordings First Time Around and Professor 3 mostly distilled R&B, mbaqanga and bubblegum grooves into vocal-less pieces for the dance floor. Musically, these were a success and commercially the albums all went gold. There were countless bubblegum albums flooding the marketplace, with nearly disposable vocalists backed by mostly similar-sounding rhythm tracks. Most of the lyrical content was light and apolitical. But the keyboards used formed the musical basis for what would come next. By the time Professor 4 and this recording Bafana Bafana - the name references South Africa's national soccer team - were released in the mid-1990s, k waito had fully emerged. Access to instruments and freedom of expression helped its rise in influence among youth. According to Mdluli, "Once Mandela was released from prison and people felt more free to express themselves and move around town, kwaito was becoming the thing." Lyrically, kwaito championed the local township lingo while adapting "international music," house music, into the local context. "International Music," as house music and early kwaito were interchangeably known, in many ways reflects the sounds coming from America. But South Africans made it their own. Today, the largest part of the music industry is occupied by house music and its relatives.

Excise is a vinyl-focused label based out of San Francisco, California. Each release pairs a regional Californian techno artist and a local visual artist, thus serving as a platform to fuse the two local creative scenes. Its first release features label co-owner Muon with 3 hypnotic raw analog tracks. Many of these tracks received heavy play time in the San Francisco underground, and now are seeing a broader release for the first time.

Artist biography:

US based artist, Muon (real name Marc Kelechava) spent his formative musical years in Brooklyn, NYC, but has resided in Northern California since 2013. His initial release on Excise is an attempt to combine hypnotic synth work with heavier dance floor elements: music to get lost to.

As a DJ, he now co-manages the iconic Direct to Earth crew, which started as an Oakland underground rave in 2011. The group's primary goal is to help bring international stars to the San Francisco community for the first time. This year alone they've hosted (or will host) Phase, Cosmin TRG, Yan Cook, Ansome, Marla Singer, and Ben Sims. Muon's an opening mainstay with his hypno-aggressive mixing work.

Sparse and reflective, the Chicago native's work occupies a curious space on the periphery of the Techno genre. By stripping back the music to all but its most vital elements - most notably the Sequence, but at the same time maintaining a sense of urgency in its articulation, Litüus crafts exquisite, ghostly shadows of busier, more fleshed out material. Neither intro nor outro, but rather suspended in some middling point of formation - what remains is a remarkably pure examination of minimalist, experimental synthesis.

The enigmatic producer first appeared on the label with19805.-19905 - a collection of reduced hardware sequences released on cassette and 12" in 2015 and 2236 s Wentworth ave continues in much the same vein, though perhaps exploring a marginally more traditionally 'musical' sentiment. Nods to 1970's sound designer Irv Teibel's Environments series sit alongside more overtly contemporary structures, and the mood shifts gently across the recordings - from a low slung, pulsing anxiety to a gentler serenity via heavily ring modulated bells and spring reverbs, softly warping percussion and careful bandpass filtering.

Litüus creates music that is geared neither towards home listening nor the dance floor, but that exists somewhere in between - quite where exactly remains part of the the artist's undeniable allure.

Osaka, not being Japan's capital city, has a history of producing some unique underground movements and artists. Without the attention or the funds Tokyo artists may have access to, Osakan artists over the years have had to make their own way with raw innovation.Iku Sakan, an electronic musician and DJ from Osaka, has spent most of the last decade living in Berlin. Prior to that, he was active in the underground club scene of Kyoto & Osaka. A previous unit was Sakan & Senju (with Muneomi Senju of The Boredoms). Together, they produced a 15 copy handmade edition of their music on CDr. Iku personally handed a copy to Karlheinz Stockhausen, when he was visiting Tokyo for his last festival appearance in Japan.Sakan began playing steel drum at the Görlizer park in Berlin, Tori Kudo of Maher Shalal Hash Baz then invited him to accompany the band. Immersing himself in the international DIY / noise / improv scene back in Berlin, he became active as an improviser, DJ and promoter, and has since worked with Sun Araw, Anders Lauge Meldgaard, Pekka Airaksinen, Günter Schickert, and Damo Suzuki.Playing and improvising, touring and DJing, has led to his sound, a kind of metaphysical music, with circular rhythms and an emotive, melodic feel. He combines analogue and digital devices (Omnichord, Roland MC303, and a DIY electronic doll synth. made by his friend Stephane Shibatsuji-Perrin in Tokyo), and pre-recorded materials, mixing and merging all four signals into one mixer (no MIDI sync.), through an effect pedal. When recording, he usually lets these devices run until something clicks. Then he records and starts to improvise, like he's playing an imaginary instrument, entering a timeless region where track length loses its meaning.2017 has seen some of Sakan's Berlin recordings released, initially on two tapes: 'Human Wave Music', for Natural Sciences, and 'Cepheidian' for Planet Almanac. The two track long player 'Prism in Us All' on Japan Blues' imprint is his first LP. His on/off-world sound, part kalimba, part gamelan, part E2-E4 - and at the same time, none of them. A hypnotic, musical mantra, centring the spirit, and resonating with the harmonics of the spheres.Prism In Us All' is the second release on Japan Blues' eponymous imprint, after featuring the album on his NTS show in January.300 copies only, in silk-screened sleeve.

For their second release on the label, DGTL Records asked another one of its festival shows regulars: Fort Romeau. After playing at three different DGTL editions, and an upcoming fourth during ADE, the organization also wanted to propagate his sound with an EP on their imprint. The release consists of two multi-layered compositions, Untitled II and A Familiar Place, and will be available both on vinyl and in digital stores on the 13th of October.

Fort Romeau came into the spotlight with releases on Running Back, Live At Robert Johnson and Ghostly International amongst others. The British talent gained recognition with his cultivated ear and apprehension of all genres of music, that brought him to add something unique to the widespread spectrum of electronic music, both as a DJ and a producer. In 2015 he also set up his own label, Cin Cin, releasing split EPs from established names and newcomers alike, with a diverse musical policy that reflects Fort Romeau his open minded and inquisitive approach.


'Untitled II' is a luminous house tune, with a soundscape on top that takes you on a journey, while 'A Familiar Place' adds a little bit of darkness to the EP. This B-side is made up out of raw elements, a high tempo kick and hi- hat create a sturdy flow that makes it hard to sit still. All in all, it advocates the vision of the festival and its label, in every way.

Orbis X is a sublabel of Orbis Records and will be mainly focusing on softer yet often usable as DJ material for the broader mass interested in Electronic music. This sublabel is an extension of Orbis Records softer, more melodical and experimental side.

Music will be ranging from house, dub, chicago over melodic acid and even breaks. Not any track makes it to this sublabel if it can't stand on its own and stand the test of time! We warmly welcome the Dutch duo Dennis Pors & Stephan de Bruijn to OrbisX. New fresh talent, ready to conquer the world. We feel obliged to support these
fine gentlemen to get their music spread across the globe. Dennis & Stephan know each other through their musical perspectives.
They share a similar taste for music, Detroit techno. Before they worked together, Dennis experimented with deep house through digital synths and learned the ins and outs of programming music in Logic.
Stephan was well known with the detroit techno scene. His passion goes out to well balanced electronic music with hypnotizing emotional feeling to it. Add a layer of atmospheric grooves on top of that and you have the perfect blend to potential timeless music.
Soon enough they made the switch to analog gear to be able to create a cleaner and better sound. After three years of hard work, they have reached the sound they were looking for. And this is it!
Their debut on vinyl. D&S servers a full EP called Thoughts EP. A great cocktail of dreamy and diverse electronic tunes. This EP fits well in the back of any DJ bag to warm up the place or fix the atmosphere on roof-top bar in NYC. Smooth cruising, roof down car music or background music on a spring night with a summery breeze This EP is amazing and works best on a big sounds systems and major festivals! Childs play , what s in a name. Nothing like that melody. Creating a generously opening atmosphere, but actually brilliantly mixed creating the perception of simplicity. Groovy, acid touches and funky. Can t keep still when being played. A-track for sure! Thoughts might have a dark feel to it but evolves in a very uplifting track in just a few moments, making
it very bright and fun to play. Shed light to the place, should have been a great title as well, but thoughts is the best name for this track. The story in this track is definitely there to be told and listened to. Edge Of Insanity kicks of the B-side. Goosebumps, as from the start. Building up slowly to a very melodic and yet simply track, it s the perfect translation for a sunrise at the beach. Potential
Ibiza hit if you ask us. Submission is a track straight out of a movie. Clever, nice build up, dreamy, spacey and above all so amazingly subtle. This is what falling in love should sound like. We re humble. We re amazed. We re honoured to host D&S. We hope this duo gets the attention

Swiss-based, Jamaican producer Ezikiel returns to Cadenza for his another outing, this time dropping the 'Tales Of Roots' EP. With this new EP he demonstrates his flair for the musical side of club compositions, imbibing his productions with sultry atmospherics, deep emotion and organic keys and strings. The title track 'Tales of Roots' is a 15-minute opus, which unravels slowly but surely, working from a soft yet persistent bassline and a hypnotic rhythm. Samples of tribal singers add a distinct human element, entrancing you with their organic vibrations. As the voices continue to sing out you're transported to a vibrant sub- Saharan landscape, captivated by the irresistible guitar riff... On the flip we have 'Makha Poetry', a more experimental workout with a variety of warped and twisted effects spluttering and wobbling away at its foundation. The jaunty yet slightly eerie low end gives this track a naughty allure, as those strange bleeps and whirrs continue to bounce in and out of the background. There's a controlled restraint about 'Makha Poetry' which gives it a devastating simplicity and a very unique aesthetic.

On Arise , Zara McFarlane returns to a buoyant UK jazz scene with a head-turning third album. Exploring the musical possibilities of British-Jamaican identity, it's a cultural exchange that's born of London's current musical climate. Released on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings, it sees her working with much-feted drummer and producer Moses Boyd. Both rose through London's Tomorrow's Warriors programme, a finishing school for many young vanguards of the live, ascendant jazz scene springing up across the UK capital. Sharing Caribbean family heritages, it's a product of their joint exploration of the meeting points between jazz and the rhythms of Jamaica, reggae, Kumina, calypso and nyabinghi, shaded with hints of the psychedelic.

Zara's breakthrough 2012 track, a jazz cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police and Thieves', provided a jumping off point to further explore the blurred, colourful territory in between jazz and roots-reggae. Covering Nora Dean's 'Peace Begins Within', she breathes a syncopated groove into a soulful, reggae classic. A beautifully poised version of the Congos' Fisherman teases out the poignant lyrical content of the 1977 classic. Meanwhile new, original compositions from Zara, like 'Fussin' and Fightin'' and 'Freedom Chain', combine a deep, reverberating bass with a steady-stepping roots rhythm. Album opener 'Ode To Kumina' touches on the kumina tradition brought to Jamaica by indentured labourers from The Congo in the later part of the 19th Century. Part of Zara's deeper research into her Caribbean heritage, it alludes to a deep-rooted culture encompassing music, dance and religion.

Similarly, 'Silhouette' arose from that same research, in this case, however, it was about how records and documents often get lost in Jamaica. It kind of came out of the idea of black history and blackness and feeling like you're trying to find yourself,' she explains. Trying to be proud of your history and who you are. And never forgetting the things that brought you to where you are.' Alongside drummer Moses Boyd on production, the album features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London scene Binker Golding on tenor sax, Peter Edwards on piano, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, Nathaniel Cross on Trombone and an unusually restrained turn on Clarinet from Shabaka Hutchings.
Shared between all of them is a tendency to find the common points between different musical ilks: from US hard bop jazz, to dub and London-rooted hybrids and permutations, the band on Arise reflect the musical diversity of their home. Boosted by new platforms, like East London showcase Church of Sound and a newly-refreshed Jazz Café, the record surfs the momentum currently propelling jazz-influenced music in the UK.

For Zara, Jamaica's musical legacy is deeply intertwined with her sense of the place itself. Spending whole summers in the hills of Jamaica, it's the sounds and smells which she most vividly associates with her stays there. In particular the local sound systems which were an everyday feature of the local area, be it in shops or bars, each of the small local shacks would have a sound system where they'd play music through the day and evening.

From where my nan used to live, in Cauldwell there's a sound system almost opposite her house,' she says. So you feel this boom of the bass, and then all the smells of the hills and the greenery of Hanover. When you land in Jamaica and you go to walk off of the plane, the heat and the smells hit you and it feels like home away from home for me. When I hear Jamaican music, these are the senses that come.'

Following some ear-catching manoeuvres across releases like last year's self-released 'Only' and 'Lagata', which gained her early fans like Bjork and Dev Hynes (who she supported in the USA), 'Tommy' marks Klein's deepest plunge yet into the deep, dark ocean' of her musical imagination on her Hyperdub debut. On 'Tommy' her vocals play with Fifties-esque melodies before switching to familiar tones akin to Brandy and Rodney Jerkins, her live voice and live piano playing filtered through hyper-glitchy and looped production with a loose, internal logic, cutting from angular atonality to pockets of skewered harmony. 'Tommy' also steps things up in conceptual terms. Its eight tracks are broken down into acts that are rooted in themes of vulnerability, sisterhood and death, threading the chaotic sonics with modern operatic undertones and a Shakespearean sense of tragedy. There's a lot of bluster about originality in contemporary UK music and what rises from the noise here is a creative voice who, by her very nature, plays with the construct of what pop is. This is Klein's world ... it's on us to get with it.

After showcasing his knack for emotive productions via various EPs throughout his career, including chart-topping singles on Hot Since 82's Knee Deep in Sound and Dave Seaman's Selador, the Swiss artist Several Definitions now reveals his first full-length album. It should come as no surprise that the artist found familiarity in what he calls the Berlin style' of electronic music and notably, that of Oliver Koletzki's Stil vor Talent. Reborn After The Road is an intense and emotional affair, consisting of 14 tracks crafted using field and live recordings, switching between analogue and digital to mould a sonic atmosphere that emblazons the artist's core ethos. Although the personal experience that sparked the inspiration for the LP is far from pleasant, Several Definitions' style is audibly resolute. Reborn After The Road, the album's eponymous track, creates a fitting intro for the healing process that is to follow. Its airy pads and majestic strings sonically stand at the epicenter of the expressive album. Several Definitions continues to explore these sounds on vaporous slices like Pontceard 32 or the more acidical Last Breath. The mellifluous, feminine vocals of LaMeduza on Learn To Feel and Her, as well as Spanish singer Goldsun's crooner talents on the introspective Trust, on the other hand, showcase Several Definitions' ability to work the human voice into his musical explorations. Taking introspection one step further towards darker realms, Senelity then feels like a rite of passage into the deeper and more intense segment at the album's core. Over You briefly signals a turning point, with its alarm-like synths and grave leads, which is then followed by the glitchy resistance on Modular Spaces. The Escape

Spiritual jazz heavyweight and Kendrick Lamar collaborator Kamasi Washington's new EP Harmony of Difference, the first new music from Washington since his universally acclaimed 2015 debut album The Epic, is out September 29 via Young Turks.
Harmony of Difference premiered as part of the Whitney Museum of American Art 2017 Biennial alongside a film by A.G. Rojas and also featuring artwork by Kamasi Washington's sister, Amani Washington. The new music is an original six part suite that explores the philosophical possibilities of the musical technique known as 'counterpoint,' which Washington defines as 'the art of balancing similarity and difference to create harmony between separate melodies.' Beyond the artistic impulse to expand the possibilities within counterpoint, Washington wanted to create something that opened people's minds to the gift of diversity.
Each of the first five movements is its own unique composition. 'Truth,' the sixth movement, fuses all five compositions into one simultaneous performance. Echoing this fusion, Amani created five paintings focused on raw shapes and colors, each inspired by one of the first five movements of the suite. Amani then combined these paintings to create a sixth: an abstract depiction of a human face.
The film, directed by A.G. Rojas, brings the metaphoric ideas found in both the music and paintings to life. While still quite abstract, it focuses on the harmony found in people from South Central and East Los Angeles and shows the beauty in their differences.
'My hope is that witnessing the beautiful harmony created by merging different musical melodies will help people realize the beauty in our own differ

Too many people sleep on Tougher Than Leather, Run-DMC's fourth album. But hear us out as we plead the case for this amazing LP. By 1988 there was a lot more competition in the rap game - Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Ice-T and many more had given Hollis, Queens' prodigal sons lots of competition. But Joe, Darryl and Jay were still at the top of their game, and hip-hop fans should never let this classic - chiefly produced by their Queens neighbor, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Davy D(MX) - get lost in their crates. For starters, the album's first single, Run's House' b/w Beats To The Rhyme' is arguably the most powerful one-two punch of the trio's career, showing contenders to the rap throne that they could still destroy a beat, tag-teaming with power at any speed. Not to be lost in the shuffle, fans were also reminded on both sides that Jam-Master Jay remained one of the world's best DJs, flexing the pinnacle of what would be called turntablism' a decade later. Both songs show a musical telepathy between all three that has rarely been equaled. The second single, Mary, Mary,' driven by an infectious Monkees sample, took a different approach, shrewdly ensuring that pop fans who jumped on the Raising Hell bandwagon had something to chew on. But, like Walk This Way,' the song wasn't just bubblegum - there was an edge to it, and the lyrical gymnastics were very real. It wasn't selling out, it was allowing fans to buy in. Papa Crazy,' driven in concept and by a sample from the Temptations' Papa Was A Rolling Stone,' followed a similar pop-leaning path. Overall, the lyrical content on the album was a step up from the group's first three LPs. It's easy to infer, looking back, that they were feeling the heat from their younger competitors in the rap game. The genre was changing fast, and they were up to the challenge. On cuts like Radio Station' they bring substance to the grooves, by attacking Black Radio for its continual denigration of rap. Tougher Than Leather' reminds the world that they were still the Kings of Rock, with hard guitars to drive the point home. And They Call Us Run-DMC' and Soul To Rock And Roll' both bring things back to their early days, with sure-fire park jam rhymes and killer cuts. Tougher Than Leather, which went platinum up against a lot of competition, perfectly bookends the '80s output of one of the decade's most important groups. It encompasses the full range of the trio's capabilities, and reminds us that Run-DMC should never be forgotten as both pioneers and party-rockers. And so, we say, long live Joe, Darryl and Jay!

Swat's third release & DETROIT is in the house !

There are times in which you can clearly mark a producer's evolution.
When they stop inching towards growth and make a bold statement of change in capability and vision.
Such is the case with this EP from Detroit-based disco guru, Pontchartrain.

After a few years of steadily pushing out some significant pieces of work that have increasingly straddled the line between originals and edits, and nearly a decade of studio experience, his long overdue official house music debutante has arrived.

Featuring Detroit local soul artist, Coko Buttafli laying down some blistering vocals with a clearly positive house music message, on top of live percussion and keys, and bold analog drum rhythms, pontch has created a solid diva-house gem.
The sneaky festival-ready banger, 'Loose', performed, mixed, and overdubbed live, provides some fantastic contrast and versatility to the release.

A Mr. G-esque remix by DJ phenom Just Alexander and the musical journey of Topher Horn's evolving and deep version on the flipside make this a well rounded record that will undoubtedly stay in your bag for a good long while, and will find its way back in for years to come.

* Once again, providing a context for exciting new producers to release their debut 12', Cold Recordings is proud to now bring you 'Cocktail Party Effect'. Hailing from a musical family Eric Baldwin, the currently Berlin based but British pro- ducer, shows off his colours here with a diverse, rhythmical, experimental - but always dance floor savvy - EP of 4 killer cuts, all rolling out between 125-130bpm.

* The title track 'Battered' leads the EP , kicking things off with a glitching set of electronics , setting a curious mood ,be- fore dropping into a crazed rhythmical explosion, fidgety and erratic, but somehow glued together in a fluid, propelling motion. 'OOYFM' takes things into slightly more typical UK bass music territory, rolling out techno ingredients, a grimey UK bassline with broken-beat rhythmical dynamics that also hint at UK-Garage influences.

* Flip the vinyl for the second half of the EP and you'll find 'Intens' taking up a stance that sits somewhere between dancehall and techno, rolling and smashing its way as it goes along, while descending electronic motifs cascade in sympathy. Finally the EP closes with 'I Kno3' which pulls back on the instant gratification factors but hits out instead with a moody, bass driven and percussively expressive exit track.

Spatial Cues is a series of split singles sounding out main(void)'s and Kon Janson's shared musical space. Operating out of Berlin and London, the two artists join forces to showcase their mutual vision of techno music.

CUES003 explores the darker side of the series with a focus on low frequencies, echoing percussions, and vast spaces, evoking a deep introspective motion.

Diffracting a manifold of sounds around its massive kick drum, CUES003 A builds and releases tension through a dramatic sequence of smooth swells and intense surges.

Grounded by its captivating groove, CUES003 B evolves around the sinister funk of fierce FM bass stabs, leading up to a powerful break that introduces a razor-edged hi-hat.

Having made her mark on Brazil's rich musical legacy with three best-selling albums to date, Rio's original nu-bossa queen returns with a tour de force of golden-era Brazilian soul music. From the spiritual swing of the early pioneers of modern Samba, to the dizzying hedonism of Brazil's eighties disco/boogie craze, Clareia is a life-affirming journey through the rich and varied sounds Sabrina Malheiros has been immersed in since she can remember. For her most up-lifting and danceable album to date, Sabrina has (as always) enlisted her father Alex Malheiros - bassist of samba jazz-funk legends Azymuth - and visionary London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom), son of Incognito's Bluey.

Sabrina Malheiros' career has often been characterised by her place in the succession of those special Brazilian women who, with unmistakable talent and effortless grace, have encapsulated the magical energy of Brazil with their voices. Elis Regina, Astrud Gilberto, and Joyce all had it, and Sabrina Malheiros has it in spades.'(MOJO) With her debut album Equilibria in 2005, Sabrina arrived on a wave of instant acclaim, carving out her place as the pioneering voice of a new brand of Brazilian soul music, rooted in the traditions of samba and bossa, but with an edge of contemporary electronic sophistication. Sabrina's innovative nu-bossa sound would continue with the 2006 remix album 'Vibrasons' followed by sophomore 'New Morning' - declared the best album of summer 2008'(Evening Standard), before 2011's best-seller Dreaming.

Six years on, Sabrina returns with Clareia. Itmeans to clear, light, brighten or illuminate, which, after seeing Brazil and the rest of the world go through some very difficult times, is exactly what the writing of this album brought to my life.' All tracks are written by either Sabrina, or in collaboration with her father Alex Malheiros and producer Daniel Maunick. Written and recorded in Niteroi, Brazil, overlooking Gunabara Bay and Rio's beaches, mountains and forests, the music basks in its surroundings and sings of ecological beauty, peace and sanctuary. Echoing Sabrina's emphasis on clarity, Alex notes that the album's title represents an appeal to the minds of our civilization today, to clear our thoughts for good and for peace.'

This pursuit of clarity continued into the studio: It took a little longer than usual' notes Sabrina, which was good in way, as all my previous albums were recorded in rush and we usually had a week for pre-production and another week in the studio, which always gave me the feeling that I could do better. With this album it was different... we took our time.'

Sabrina's unmistakable voice has never sounded better. Packed out with high-octane swinging samba-soul, like the title-track and 'Salve O Mar', the album also features some bottom-heavy Brazilian boogie cuts, like rejoicing album opener 'Celebrar' which harks back to some of Marcos Valle's cult '80s disco output, and 'Sol Ceu E Mar' is a Tania Maria-esque future classic of scorching latin-funk. Mellower moments are found in 'Em Paz', on which Sabrina's beguiling harmonies find an anchor in the rhythmic acoustic guitar of Ze Carlos', who Sabrina heralds as being the best guitarist I have ever worked with'. Azymuth's keyboardist Kiko Continentino's deft Rhodes, piano, organ and synth playing, add ever more textures of distinctly Brazilian brilliance throughout, while tropical brass and flute arrangements on cool bossa-jazz movers 'Vai Maria' and 'Sandore', come from Brazilian saxophone legend Leo Gandleman, a man who has worked with everyone from Gal Costa to Gilberto Gil. The rhythm section combines Daniel Maunick's seamless drum programming and the organic polyrhythms of Brazilian percussion legend Jakare, all punctuated by Alex Malheiros' inimitable (occasionally slapped) jazz-funk bass, giving the album its irresistibly danceable pulse.

Set for release at the height of summer this year, Clareia is an intergenerational masterclass of Brazil's soulful spectrum, led by a pioneering voice of today's scene on the very top of her game. The up-lifting compositions, which take inspiration from the stunning natural beauty amongst which the album was made, and the call for the clarity of mind needed to preserve it, are enriched by this special team of some of Brazil's most established musicians. Like the sun breaking through tropical storm-clouds, Clareia is a vessel of joy, as Sabrina puts it simply, I hope Clareia brightens the soul of whoever listens to it. That's the spirit of this album.'

If you were in the global house music scene around the turn of the century, you'll be very pleased to hear the news !

Dubtribe Sound System brought a wealth of inspiration and joy to the world's house music community with its deep, rich, thoughtful, musical and lyrical message at the height of their existence.
Sunshine and Moonbeam Jones, the prime instruments behind Dubtribe, dazzled audiences with their performances and further with their releases on home label Imperial Dub.

During an apparent long hiatus, Sunshine Jones has actually been as busy as ever, doing his own thing, as always, and touring city by city around the world to deliver his message, sound and soul in person to his legion of followers.

On the heels of the tours and shows, Mr. Jones is ready to release the incarnation of sounds that he's so eager to share.
The good time vibes are all there with a current poignant meaning for all to ingest. As they say, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
Although in the data age, this release is deeper and more meaningful than the old adage ever could imply.

Pacific Beach Vinyl is pleased to announce, Sunshine Jones - Fall In Love, Not In Line in three equally glorious renditions.

As felines usually do, TYV's latest effort and Gop Tun's fourth enterprise purrs and prances along with elegance and nonchalance. From the first elements of percussion up until the last trace of reverbed and delayed textures leave the speakers finally at rest, Miau engulfs its listeners in a powerful stream of melodic strength and rhythmic intensity. Not surprisingly all of this mojo relies heavily on very typical chromatic nuances, familiar to anyone who's acquainted with Brasil's rich musical diversity and solid foundations.

Miau is a ritualistic utterance, an onomatopoeic journey that takes us deep into an utopic place where innocence is untainted and our best memories are left untouched, but never forgotten. Features that are somehow enhanced in Tuff City Kid's own Lauer's version, which is Idyllic in its pads and entrancing in its beats, but still elegantly nostalgic in its feel.
Da Terra maintains the festive atmosphere and heats up the oven a tad more. Some earthly delights await those willing to cross the dense layering of percussive vegetation and arrive at a beautiful glade where the main hook meets the strings and chants that conjure a particular vibe of uplifiting melancholia.
This is a feast for your senses, guaranteed to overload your neurotransmitters just like our native meals.

Fresh off the back of a chart topping Unity Through Sound release Foundation Audio head honcho Chad Dubz comes correct with three sound system bangers ready for the dance!
Opener Kingdom Dub' is a relentless display of dubstep pressure with its gnarly, pulsating sub twisting and turning throughout the track to devastating effect. It has been a firm favorite in Chads sets over the past year and is certified to destroy the dance floor.
As the name suggests Space Cadet' is a wavier affair. - Its peculiar drum patterns and quirky effects combine to form a superbly strange track that retains the heavy sub sensibilities and darkness of its counterparts.
Closer Drainpipe' keeps the dubstep fundamentals in tact with heavy subs, deranged mids, sparse atmospheres and industrial sounding percussion to create a mechanical monster, rapidly building momentum until it turns into all manner of chaos on the second drop. With FAV005, Chad Dubz has created a fine display of sound system- shaking-pure-dubstep-musical-goodness with possibly his best release yet... Essential!

* As it's first full length release, Love What You Feel is proud to present Chicanismo, the debut album by Santiago Salazar. Known for his work with Underground Resistance, ICAN Productions, as well as solo releases on many notable labels, Santiago brings his working man's house and techno into the world in its most pure form on this album. His use of a variety of rhythms and beautiful melodies puts him in the upper echelon of dance music producers today, and the results here are just as satisfying at home as they are in on the dancefloor.

* By mixing his Chicano roots with his time spent in Detroit, Santiago has created a timeless musical statement on behalf of the underdogs whose contributions to house and techno are often paid lip service to, but are much more rarely realized. The groove here is just as important as the harmonies, and they work together to achieve something very special on Chicanismo. This is music that lifts the spirit to a higher plane, the true definition of soul music.

Vinyl Only

First VA Release from Delusion..Delusion started at the beginning of 2016 in Bremen, with a same-titled event series in different Venues/Spots hosting some national and international guests, Delusion now offers its own musical output. A project which isn't bound to any specific sound, moving between ambient, drone, experimental but mainly techno, Hardware based and analog influenced structures form harsh resonator sounds in context to playful arpeggiators and deep buzzing basses on sweet acid.

Delusion creates unknown atmospheres.

Species Of Fishes was created in 1993 in Moscow during the experimental home sessions of Igor Kolyadny and Vitaly Stern, which resulted in the recording of the Songs Of A Dumb World, a sampledelic album, published on the sublabel of the Dutch Staalplaat - Kormplastics in 1994. It was followed by the album Trip Trap (1996) on the domestic label Exotica, which immediately affirmed Species of Fishes as one of the leading electronic groups in Russia. It is this seminal album that marks the first release of Nina Kraviz's new label GALAXIID.
GALAXIID runs as a sub label of , illuminating the listening side of Nina's musical taste with a focus on experimental, ambient and psychedelia. As with , GALAXIID has a strong connection to art through it's visual identity, with all the cover artworks drawn by psychedelic artists.
Trip Trap was so ahead of its time upon initial release and still sounds modernistic as it is rereleased almost 20 years later. Here, Species Of Fishes explore different genres of electronics, somehow interpreting them and creating their own unique out-of-genre stylistics, marrying different styles such as breaks and experimental in 'Health 100%', electro and ambient in 'Crash Recovery', IDM and techno in 'Bfg9000 vs. Barons Of Hell'. The 10 tracks range from short interludes '(Backspace)' and (Alt+Tab) to more lengthy tracks '(The Web)' and 'Access Depth'.

Cardiff's Chain of Flowers return to Alter with their first new material since 2015's self-titled debut album. A double A sided single, 'Let Your Light In' and 'Flesh, Blood and Bone' are two tracks which see the band moving beyond the dense shoegaze sonics of their debut, bringing forward a more spacious and streamlined sound that emphasises the powerful urgency of their live performances.

Despite 'Let Your Light In' offering a more optimistic tone to what fans of their debut may be used to, the charismatic guitar hooks, hazy vocals and fist-to-the-horizon anthemic qualities of the group are no less present. On this new found optimism, vocalist Josh explains: "Relationships of all kinds keep this world moving. We live in times of profound darkness, though I somehow find myself lucky enough to be surrounded by people that pour some light and inspiration back in to my life and this is not to be taken for granted. This song is an ode to love and companionship around the world, a gratuitous nod to the better aspects of the human race. A thank you for being you."

'Flesh, Blood and Bone' on the other side appears to follow a darker and more pensive path at first with Josh singing at his most baritone and ominous. However when the chorus hits with its searing synthesiser melody, a switch is flipped. Musically it channels perfectly the bombastic new wave ambition of early Simple Minds, alongside the dramatic post-punk melancholy of the Chameleons. With this, Chain of Flowers are evidently making an effort to find a light within the darkness of the world and their own collective souls.

Post Scriptum is the latest artist to join the Sonic Groove Records roster.
Previously releasing on Function's legendary Infrastructure imprint, Post Scriptum changes gears stylistically in a very big way with his latest release entitled Until You Drop. Leaving his previous looped based purist Techno behind, Post Scriptum takes his sound exploration into the much darker cavernous world of Industrial Techno.


Dark As You Like starts off this musical odyssey with a fierce mid tempo, broken beat groove. The rhythm emits the real feel sensation of live played drums with its hard smashing snares and deep booming bass kicks which surely will have you play the air drums! Layered on top of this beast of a rhythm track, Post Scriptum provides the perfect lyricism with a smooth spoken narrative. Very forward thinking sound design curves its way in and out of the dark negative space the rhythm and vocals provide. Without imitation or sounding even remotely retro this evokes the feel of early Nine Inch Nails and Ministry.


Drop Zone is a highly intense workout with it's pulsing staccato bassline and crackling filtered out lead line which builds into a growling beast of riff that will completely consume the listener. You Won't Find Me (Short Mix/Long Mix) takes things further into the post contemporary realm of present day Industrialized Techno with complex, bass heavy drum rhythms, slicing and dicing their way through a darkened acidic atmosphere of time, space and sound.


The joining of Post Scriptum and Sonic Groove Records is the perfect match with this beautifully crafted Techno-Industrial hybrid EP, a banger for the dance floor but also a delicious delicacy for your home turntable or music player.

2023 Back in stock!


Multi - instrumentalist with rare elegance, FKJ unveils its first album French Kiwi Juice, and invites us in his world.

Tribute to his idols, affirmation of musical maturity, FKJ goes from Jazz to Soul, with his electronic touch that makes his paw incomparable.

A warm, reassuring and sensual universe.

His children’s questions (Why are there boundaries), his joys (Blessed & Joy), his journeys (Go Back Home & Canggu), the Franco-New Zealander delivers himself in an intimate and profound album, with music as an universal language.

An opus to advise to enthusiasts, travelers, dreamers...

A stunning version of Steve Reich's masterpiece of musical minimalism Music for 18 Musicians' (1974-1976) performed live at Tokyo Opera House in 2008 by The Modern Ensemble and Synergy Vocals featuring the composer as guest performer.

In the 1960s, with Terry Riley and Philip Glass, Reich gave pulse back to experimental music, he discovered tape-based techniques of looping and phasing using recordings of fragments of speech, and then molecules of musical material.

(...)When Steve Reich released Music for 18 Musicians (ECM, 1978), it was a consolidation and major leap forward in the pulse-based music that the minimalist progenitor had been exploring on earlier compositions including Four Organs' (1969), a piece that relied on nothing more than a six-note chord, yet was a near flat-out sonic assault. 18 Musicians was an altogether more complex and sophisticated work, with a broader textural palette based largely on tuned percussion—piano, vibraphone, marimba and xylophone—but also working with maracas, voice, strings, and clarinets to create a sweeping, hour-plus long suite that was hypnotic, melodic, and eminently accessible. With the mathematical precision by which its eleven sections and wrapping Pulses' develop, it's a demanding suite to play (...)"

(en) While the last Kompakt offering from legendary Russian synthesists SCSI-9 dates back to 2008, when the duo released their album Easy As Down' (KOMPAKT CD 068), co-founder and techno/house virtuoso ANTON KUBIKOV kept himself busy cultivating his own label Pro-Tez Records - and establishing a career as solo artist with a clear penchant for dub-infused soundscapes and ambient music. WHATNESS is Kubikov's first solo full-length under his proper name, weaving airy and iridescent sonic tapestry that takes up where his excellent contributions to our Pop Ambient compilations left off.
ANTON KUBIKOV's special ear for ambience and tonal spaces was always an integral part of SCSI-9's musical DNA that would alternate between tight dance workouts and vast melodic range - but it's as a solo artist that he truly started to explore these spaces, following mysterious sonic trails into foggy, reverb-heavy territory. Kubikov's contributions to the several instalments of our Pop Ambient compilation series announced the arrival of a promising new project in our talent pool - a promise more than satisfied with the immersive sound bath of first solo outing WHATNESS.
Going from the richly layered electronic drones of LIQUID MIRROR or ENTRANCE to the lush ambient dub of OTHER THE SEA and KURT'S FOREST, or the minimalist, evocative piano of OKTOBER and PIA, the album covers lots of stylistic ground, but remains committed to its overall aesthetic of misty mountains and serene valleys. With the endearing APRIL, a true Pop Ambient classic from the 2016 compilation (KOMPAKT 345 CD 128) makes a welcome return, priming the canvas for the subtle bass throb of NORTH and its charming synth bell orchestra. Masterfully refining and extending his sonic pallet on WHATNESS, ANTON KUBIKOV can claim his spot among the very best of today's ambient composers.
(de) Obwohl die letzte Kompakt-Offerte aus dem Studio der legendären russichen Synthesizeristen SCSI-9 schon eine Weile zurückliegt - 2008, um genau zu sein, mit dem Album Easy As Down' (KOMPAKT CD 068) -, hat Co-Gründer und Techno/House-Virtuose ANTON KUBIKOV nicht auf der faulen Haut geaalt, sondern sein eigenes Label Pro-Tez Records gepflegt - und eine Karriere als Solo-Künstler mit klarem Drang zur verdubbten Tonlandschaft und Ambient-Musik in die Wege geleitet. WHATNESS ist seine erste Solo-Album-Veröffentlichung unter eigenem Namen und webt einen luftigen wie schillernden Klangteppich, der genau da weitermacht, wo Kubikovs exzellente Beiträge zu unserer Pop Ambient Compilation-Reihe aufgehört haben.
ANTON KUBIKOVs besonderes Ohr für Ambientes und tonale Räume war schon immer integraler Bestandteil von SCSI-9s musikalischer DNA, die gerne zwischen fokussierter Tanzathletik und ausufernden Melodieräumen changiert - doch erst als Solo-Künstler macht er sich daran, diese Räume wirklich auszuloten und geheimnisvollen Klangspuren in neblige, hallende Gegenden zu folgen. Kubikovs Gastspiele auf mehreren Ausgaben unserer Pop Ambient-Serie deuteten auf ein vielverprechendes neues Projekt im Talentpool hin - ein Versprechen, das mit dem mitreissenden Klangbad von WHATNESS mehr als erfüllt wird.
Von den reichhaltig verschichteten elektronischen Drones von LIQUID MIRROR oder ENTRANCE zum üppigen Ambient-Dub von OTHER THE SEA und KURT'S FOREST, oder dem minimalistischen, andeutungsreichen Klavierspiel auf OKTOBER und PIA erstreckt sich das Album über viel Stilgebiet, bleibt aber der eigenen Ästhetik dunstiger Gebirgszüge und einsamer Täler true. Mit dem überaus reizenden APRIL macht ausserdem ein echter Pop Ambient-Klassiker von der 2016er Ausgabe (KOMPAKT 345 CD 128) seine Aufwartung und bereitet den Boden für den subtil pochenden Bass von NORTH nebst charmantem Synthieglockenorchester. Meisterhaft veredelt und aufgebohrt, ist ANTON KUBIKOVs Klangpalette auf WHATNESS Grund genug ihm einen Platz zwischen den besten Ambientkomponisten unserer Tage zu sichern.

Musically and emotionally, Superpitcher's third full-length studio album, The Golden Ravedays is a one sound autobiography that exhibits the skill, feeling and style that the artist has honed over a period of twenty years, musically, and forty-plus-years, emotionally.

And full-length it is:

The Golden Ravedays is an epic album of 24 tracks that was released in January 2017 and is stretching over 12 respective chapter albums during a one-year period.
The sixth piece of The Golden Ravedays puzzle will be released on Hippie Dance in June 2017.

Number 6 of the series introduces two further tracks of the sound adventure that Superpitcher is taking us on this year.
Side A features Protest Song. If music is a way of transporting us to other places, Protest Song takes us to a desolate, scary and loveless environment, a burnt-down, burnt-out place where the flesh of its former inhabitants is smouldering, void of goodwill and kindness in a cloud of toxic and greedy smoke. It's all Kafka and Orwell and Suffering - the most twisted and eerie track so far in The Golden Ravedays saga. What is undeniably clear is an acute sense of regret and loss - a warning that it could have been avoided, had we only listened to our hearts and protested.
In the same vein on Side B we hear powerful Resistance. Produced after the Paris attacks of 2015 Superpitcher outdid himself with this strong message of Resistance. Where Protest Song paints a picture of under-worldly doom, Resistance's techno beat and insistent refrain sweeps us to the surface of the muck of hatred and intolerance we've politically been dumped in. A voice that seems like a trapped animal is calling out to us. What is it trying to say Is it crying out for help Is that animal all of us Resistance represents hope and encouragement and could be the perfect marching track to any demonstration against negative forces. Much needed in this age of bigotry where it seems like time has leaped backwards to a darker side of history. As for the dancefloor - Resistance is irresistible!

Conceptual Records presents you its third vinyl only release Univers Parallele written by a music producer from Canada, Montreal Claire. Inspired by her tour in Europe in 2016, Claire finally embodies her absolutely cosmically sounding ideas in three original composition: Pyjama Jazz, Sometimes I Turn Into stars (on side A) and Parallel Dimensios ( on side B) , in which she uses futuristic sounds, analog drum sections, deep bass, jazz sections from the 30 s and her own vocal. The last track of this release is a tribal dance mix from a talented modern musician of romanian origin living in Ibiza Plusculaar (on B2). Mixdown and mastering by Pheek. Covert art from Djack Arta a moldovian artist. Plunge into the fascinating musical journey to a parallel universe with Conceptual.

'Great Many Arrows' is the 6th studio album from Damien Dubrovnik, the Danish duo of Loke Rahbek and Christian Stadsgaard. It is also the 200th release on their Posh Isolation label, marking 8 years for both the label and project. The label's inception came with Damien Dubrovnik's debut album, and since then the two have been inseparable. Without Damien Dubrovnik there would most likely have been no Posh Isolation, and vice versa.

'Great Many Arrows' is undoubtedly a high point in the varied discographies of both Rahbek and Stadsgaard. It is the most realized Damien Dubrovnik recording to date, and a standout in Posh Isolation's troves.

As a record, 'Great Many Arrows' manages to translate the intensity of the duo's often unrestrained live shows in to carefully crafted studio productions. Unlike the pair's earlier and largely electronic recordings, the compositions on 'Great Many Arrows' set organs, cellos, violas, wind and other acoustic instruments against the backdrop of an electronic landscape.

The new toolset is as apparent on the surface as it is in the enclosed detail, taking the project further from its noise roots than it has ever been. This is not to say that Rahbek and Stadsgaard have traded ferocity for formal constraint. It is rather the opposite. While 'Great Many Arrows' is certainly the pair's most 'musical' work to date, its veneer of accessibility might also make it their most terrifying.

The strength of the recording lies here in the interaction between the melodic, acoustic instrumentation and the bulldozing electronics. Moments of beauty and light are transfigured into utter chaos and rage, the mesmerising change an expression of the equal and opposite form's natural sway as it beckons and slips between its own passing.

'Great Many Arrows' takes its name from a historic archery competition in Kyoto, Japan, in which archers would shoot as many arrows as possible for a 24 hour period. On April 26, 1686, Wasa Daihachiro from Kishu successfully shot 8,133 out of 13,053 arrows, averaging 544 arrows an hour, or 9 arrows a minute, becoming the record holder.

First Word Records are very proud to present a heavyweight EP in collaboration with seminal groove collective, CoOp: 'Selectors Assemble'.

It's been almost two decades since a bunch of music makers, bored of the genre constraints of their time, began toying with time signature and syncopation to birth what is now known as broken beat. Summer 2017, the 'Selectors Assemble' EP is in our laps and we have a fitting reminder and long-overdue renaissance of one of London's most valuable musical movements.

IG Culture and Alex Phountzi were integral to this movement, the focal point being the CoOp club night, which ran predominantly on the famed floors of Plastic People, up until 2007. CoOp remerged late in 2015 as a Boiler Room session, in which the originators linked effortlessly with new school players such as K15 and Alex Nut. The following day, a session was inspired between an assortment of artists, and the seeds were planted for the 'Selectors Assemble'.

Here we have the first offering. The steady-paced roller of 'Gangz' (IG & Seiji), the dutty wine-ready getdown of Henry Wu's 'Substance', the heads-down low-end theory of '2nd Intention', the dominant soundclash call-out of the 'Spartan Riddim', riding out with the garage-flecked jam 'Can't Hold It', also featuring Sonar's Ghost (Domu). Five tracks deeply rooted in groove and as beautifully diverse as Bruk ever was.

Pressed up lovingly onto 140g vinyl, this release is accompanied with a fully-printed insert, featuring an extensive piece on the history of Bruk, written by Andwot (Touching Bass), classic photography by Sarah Ginn, and full-colour artwork by Mitchy Bwoy, a legendary artist to the original scene in his own right. This is an essential artefact for followers of the sound, new and old.

First Word prides itself on its ethos of musical diversity, and we're ecstatic to welcome aboard the CoOp foundation to the stable. A crew of British dance music pioneers, sound-system legends, and now-school heavyweights, this is but a taste of what's to come. Lead by the don IG Culture, the family spirit has quickly formed, the selectors have assembled.

The stage has been set for bruk's second wind. Be ready.

A A1 | Henry Wu - Substance (IG Culture & Alex Phountzi Remix)

Inner8 is Daniele Antezza, a multi-faceted thinker and electronic music producer, member of Dadub duo, co-founder of Artefacts Mastering Studio, Dadub Studio owner and Holotone label manager, whose regular invocation of the term praxis begins to hint at his creative aims: a primary synthesis of contemplation and action that, in turn, encourages a secondary and entirely unpredictable set of syntheses dependent upon the listener's unique interpretation. Though the Inner8 moniker has been in existence for several years as a private nickname for, as Antezza puts it, his 'experimental anarchist sounds,' his recent releases are just now surfacing which will reveal just how much this project has to communicate.

Like many transplants to Berlin's pulsating sonic underground (Antezza moved there from Italy in 2009), his past work seems to communicate traces of the ecstatic with the argot of technical precision and / or scientific rigour. However, Antezza is not what one would call a 'Berlin artist' despite sharing these traits in common with the city's most visionary producers: his work gives off an impression of restless nomadism that has little to do with representing a localized scene. Rather than carrying on the territorial / parochial projects of reinforcing an arts scene's geographic boundaries (or even redefining the boundaries of a musical genre), Inner8 is more concerned with a holistic 'deconstructive approach' through which 'it's possible to reveal the paradoxes of the dominant thought, the paradoxes behind the status quo.' His fascination with concepts as diverse as asymptotes and particle physics, though often trendy among those looking for a seat at the table of the avant-garde, is a heartfelt fascination - moreover, these interests merge perfectly with his relentless theoretical questing.

Antezza's relationship with that city's Stroboscopic Artefacts techno label has been a particularly fruitful one, to the point where his sound work prior to Inner8 is almost synonymous with SA's own development. As one half of the psychonaut duo Dadub along with Marco Donnarumma, Antezza has sculpted deep and immense tracks that mesmerize with their harmonious interplay of force and ambiguity. After having co-founded and managed for years Artefacts Mastering Studio, he recently launched his brand new audio postproduction Studio (Dadub Studio), where Antezza lends his sonic signature to an eclectic variety of electronic recordings. That signature can be identified by its hyperreal sense of presence and immediacy, qualities that have become crucial to the presentation of a music that generally relies on only a few sonic elements per track to communicate its message.

Antezza also takes pride in the ritualistic quality of Inner8's live sets; a mobile laboratory of dynamic tension in which his theories manifest as massive physical vibrations (here we can also see / hear / feel just how well Daniele has absorbed the lessons of the dub 'sound system' aesthetic).