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The 888 Miles E.P. includes two original tracks, 888 Miles and 777 Miles, which both develop a psychological tension that leads to moments of euphoric liberation where the synths soar and allow the mind the wander, accompanied by a rhythmic groove. There is a slightly different sensitivity between the two tracks that you'll can easlyer constat. Then, don't forget, even if the approach sounds different, the soul remains the same. The other original track, 000 Miles, places you on a spacecraft, with ambient musicality sounding like it could have been generated by hydraulic pipes or air conditioning. This E.P. release also includes '888 Miles XXX Reshape', a deep techno remix by none other than the awesome Francois X. He's probably the best person to describe it: "I've known David & Kevin (Klash Point duo) for a while now and when they suggested that I produce a remix for them, it was natural to say yes. It's funny how this piece of music saw the light, as it has a completely altered tone from the original. It's definitely one of my funkier tracks, with trippy and bluesy vibes - like a trip deep into the wild."

A survey of Moondog’s earliest recorded works - many of them unreleased until now - through a collaboration by Mississippi Records and Lucia Records. From 1954 - 1962 eld recordist Tony Schwartz frequently checked in with Moondog, his favorite street musician.

Tony Schwartz made recordings of Moondog’s earliest com- positions as they were coming into focus. Sometimes these recordings were made right on the street as Moondog busked, sometimes they were made in Schwartz’s studio, and sometimes they were made on NYC rooftops. The resulting recordings, many of which had never been released, were deposited at the Library Of Congress as part of the Tony Schwartz Collection in 2006 when Schwartz passed away, and this record was culled straight from these original tapes.

Side one kicks o with an unreleased version of Moondog’s classic composition “Why Spend The Dark Night With You?” fol- lowed by the rst ever complete recording of his “Nocturne Suite,” a beautiful piece of classical music performed with members of the Royal Philharmonic. The side ends with the complete “On The Streets Of New York” 7” EP, which was released on Mars records in 1955 and subsequently re-released by Honest Jon’s Records in 2004 on their excellent Moondog anthology. Side B features sketches of Moondog compositions never released, many with the man himself howling and chanting over his homemade percussion set.

Moondog’s music is as universal as it gets - part classical music, part Native American, part European folk, and part something completely unique. Moondog is one of the towering gures of 20th century music. This record comes with liner notes featuring never before released interviews with Moodog by Tony Schwartz and is housed in an old school “tip on” cover. All tracks fully licensed from the Library of Congress.

A multifaceted and detached balancing act between
electronica and breakbeats, with a touch of minimalist
elements and spherical sounds, describes the first release on
NL by the currently living in Leipzig, Natalie Luengo. In her
early youth infected with house and techno, she simply never
gets tired of this long-standing double relationship. A touch of
breaky grooves and acid with a breeze of electro and provided
with melodic elements define their mixes and productions.

'Agartha Stories' is a record we were looking forward to release for quite some time. Hailing from the Venice area in Italy, Bruscagin & Visnadi are representing a specific sound from that region, a certain type of melodic techno but with its very own sound design we have rarely heard before. Hear the interesting story behind it. As half forgotten legends from ancient civilisations like Celts, Aztecs, Vikings and Incas say, there is a mythical place located in the centre of our planet. This enchanted place is called Agartha and only accessible through hidden gateways under different places on our Earth's surface, like the Pyramid of Giza, Mato Grosso or Mount Epomeo. Agartha is populated by an ancient civilization that survived Atlantis. What diversifies these inhabitants from our society is the respect and the love they feel for the nature and the fundamental elements that are substantial for the progress of human beings. Following their 'Indian Stories' release on Lost & Found, Bruscagin & Visnadi dedicate their second episode of the saga to the mysterious civilization of Agartha
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Trinidadian Deep is back on Visions Recordings with 2 new deep house club tracks. On the A side NATTY DREAD takes us on a deep dub house journey in his favourite own signature style with percussions, sub bass, organ solo and lush pads while on the B side ELECTRIC BOOGIE is a sunny house cut with a “latin” house drumbeat keeping the deep house elements for a summer vibe groovy number. This is another great single from Trinidadian Deep for Visions Recordings.

Bristol’s Sydney returns to Black Acre with two Jazz infused cuts featuring saxophonist Guy Hobley and emerging guitarist Charlie J-W. One of Gilles Peterson’s Future Bubblers, Sydney is a live artist and traditional instrument enthusiast who debuted on Black Acre with a Swaziland inspired debut mini-album entitled ‘Ode to eSwatini’ earlier this year, showcasing an eclectic mix of broken beat and Jazz.

Now the Bristolian returns with two collaborations featuring two vibrant Jazz and Blues musicians - Guy Hobley on the saxophone and guitarist Charlie J-W. “With the record being South American influenced the titles and artwork are based on a garden in Mexico named Las Pozas. Paraíso meaning paradise and Dahlia being the native flower toMexico found in the Las Pozas garden" – Sydney Conceptualized during Sydney’s first session as a Future Bubbler using one distorted PA speaker in a room full of the new generation year 3 bubblers with Gilles Peterson present, ‘Paraíso ft. Guy Hobley’ flutters into place with shuffling percussion, reverberating piano fills and smooth sax melodies from Guy Hobley whilst underlying world instrumentation operates throughout, including bongos, claves and shakers.
Created in one afternoon alongside fellow band member and friend Charlie J-W, ‘Dahlia’ gives a warming aural experience with a Nina Leão vocal sample, cantering south American drums, a mix of traditional guitar strums, pedal hits and accordion strikes, all glued together with stylish synth stabs.

Support from:
Gilles Peterson,Jamz Supernova, Bradley Zero, Moxie, Horse Meat Disco

With EXHIBITION's second performance, RICO PUESTEL proudly presents the new series-within-the-series "SOLLING", conceptually fulfilling the "triad of A" throughout the canvas of this record: Acid, analogicity and anachronisms.

After recently telling a vast and mesmerizing story on Adana Twins' TAU label, RICO PUESTEL now immerses into his defining habitat roots and creates the long-planned first soundtrack chapter of SOLLING: A central German uplands area in Lower Saxony, spreading into the North of Hesse, shaped by mixed forests, its rural imprinting, a widespread range of regionally varyiing cultural idiosyncrasies and a century-extending history, including the shattering throughout the welters of the Thirty Years' War.
Being the first of several planned chapters, pre-production mostly takes place there while the music is traversed by sound recorded in that area, leading to an existence irreversibly connected to its birthplace.

The impetuous opener "Tilly", characterizing the essence of Johann T'Serclaes von Tilly who commanded the Catholic League's forces in the Thirty Years' War, overrunning the SOLLING throughout 1624 and 1625, culminates in one retro-futuristic affair, building into a overwhelming storm of percussion tapestry and intertwining layers of acid.
The A2 follow-up "Clava" takes the initial impetus to a superior level, overriding itself with an unpredictable enigma-melody after laying the foundation of a high-density groove architecture - all of this representing the almost intangible chasms of a unicum street and its geographical expanse, filled with Rico's far-reaching primordial retrospections, seemingly connecting several contingent coordinates of mysterious happenings over two decades while anticipating the future.
Ultimately, the AA-flipside delivers the groundbreaking SOLLING composition "Pro Foreste Sulgo", presenting an ancient-like struggle of dark and light as told by the principles of nature with two melodic themes, circling around themselves, bound to collide and meld like atoms - all placed within the treetops, shaken by the wind, overlooking a future that might already has been...

“Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Different strokes for different folks. To each their own. Osondi owendi.

It’s a conventional aphorism in the Igbo language but if you utter the word “osondi owendi” in Nigeria today, the first thing that comes to anybody’s mind is the cucumber-cool highlife music maestro Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and his legendary album that takes its name from the adage. Released in 1984, Osondi Owendi was instantly received as Osadebe’s magnum opus, the crowning event of an exalted career stretching back to the early years of highlife’s emergence as Nigeria’s predominant popular music.

Stephen Osadebe first appeared on the music scene in 1958 as a spry, twenty-two year-old vocalist in the Empire Rhythm Skies Orchestra, directed by bandleader Steven Amechi. With his dapper suits, urbane Nat King Cole-influenced vocal stylings and jaunty, uptempo, calypso-scented dance tunes, he personified the frisky spirit and anxious aspirations of a young, educated generation that had come of age in the wake of the Second World War, in a Nigeria that was rapidly shaking off British colonization and marching towards an independent future. 1959 would be the year that he truly made his mark in the business with his debut solo single “Lagos Life Na So So Enjoyment.” A giddy exhortation of the music, sex, fun and freedom availed by life in the big city, the song became a sensation and an anthem, and Stephen Osadebe became the leader of his own popular dance band, the Nigerian Sound Makers.

Osadebe would ride this wave of acclaim through most of the nineteen sixties, but a change in direction would be called for at the dawn of the seventies. As Nigeria emerged from a devastating civil war, so did a new generation of youth inspired by rock and funk, confrontational sounds reflective of a more violent, less idealistic era. All of the sudden, the idioms of the post-WWII dance orchestras that nurtured Osadebe’s cohort seemed quaint, the stuff of nostalgia. Osadebe needed to evolve to respond to the new tumultuous, turned-up times.

His response? He cooled it down.

Abetted by a new crop of fire-blooded young players, Osadebe slowed his music to a mellow, meditative tempo, brought forward the lumbering, Afro Cuban-accented bass and percussion, from the rockers he borrowed searing lead lines on the electric guitar. Over this musical bedrock, doesn’t so much as sing as he dreamily muses, coos, sighs aphorisms, words of wisdom and inspiration. “When one listens to my music, all I say appears meaningful,” Osadebe explained his lyrical approach, “at times they are in the form of proverbs which provoke much thought afterwards.” The result is a blend that is both rollicking and soothingly languid. Osadebe christened the style Oyolima—a tranquil, otherworldly state of total relaxation and pleasure. Osondi Owendi represents oyolima at its finest, and possibly Nigerian highlife in epitome.

Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. In some way, the album’s title constitutes a paradox. Because Osondi Owendi is a record that it’s almost impossible to imagine being despised by anybody."

“Lugar Alto presents their very first release: the incredibly rare and absolutely stunning “Homenagem”, by Leonardo V. Boccia. This is a forgotten gem from the eighties that examines traditional Brazilian themes such as choro, northeastern folk, and capoeira with touches of eighties electronics and new age.

Leonardo Boccia is a musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer, researcher and university professor of Culture and Society at the Federal University of Bahia, whose interests include sound studies, manipulation of sound media, audiosphere and aesthetics, musical theatre, audio culture and neuromusic.

Born in Italy, this respected academic studied music in Berlin, moved to Rio de Janeiro and established himself in Salvador where he was invited to research the northeastern music of Bahia. There he created the experimental group Macchina Naturale, an eclectic combo that performed regularly during his stay. In November 1980, Boccia participated in the first Instrumental Music Festival of Bahia as a soloist where he performed works of his own.

But it was in 1983 that Professor Boccia composed, directed and produced the LP Homenagem. With photos by renowned photographer and artist Mario Cravo Neto for the front and back cover of the booklet, the album presents new and original compositions for instrumental ensembles, such as: Choro Fantasia – for guitar and berimbau -, Canção para Iracema, Homenagem and Lenda do Sertão. The LP was originally released on January 3rd, 1984, with a live performance in the main hall of the Castro Alves Theatre under the title Tribute to Brazilian Music, with the participation of vocalist Sueli Sodré, who contributes to the album, instrumentalists Zeno Millet and Onias Camardelli, accompanied by choreography and visuals.

Much of Homenagem examines the genre of Brazilian music known as Choro, or Chorinho, a genre which appeared in Rio de Janeiro in the 19th century. Choro is regarded as the first typically Brazilian urban music and, over the years, it has come to be considered one of the most prestigious genres of national popular music. Stylistically, it originates from Lundu, a percussion-based rhythm of African inspiration but also influenced by European genres. The instrumental composition of choro was based on the trinca flute, guitar and cavaquinho. Over time, other wind and string instruments were incorporated.

Here, in Homenagem, Professor Boccia deliberately mixes the old and the new, the traditional and the innovative; the album is the environment of Chorinho reconsidered and recontextualized, and its melodies and harmonies still capable of surprises. Just listen to “Terra e Povo” – it has an almost proto-acid-house quality to it, while the synth washes on “Mãe Natureza” with the ethereal vocal stylings of Sueli Sodré ushering in the progressive quality of the album.

Too long out of print, new label Lugar Alto now offers you the chance to reappraise this fascinating reissue of yet another forgotten chapter in Brazilian music.”

We are pleased to welcome the New Jersey native, Joey Anderson to The Uzuri Recordings roster after his excellent remix for the maestro - Larry Heard back in 2018. All of Joey's usual trademarks are - acid swirls, melody, cinematic textures - music by a dancer for dancers .

"The first series comprises six related movements, usually organised in pairs, electronic sounds with instrumental and more rarely, concrete sounds: Incidences/resonances brings into play controlled resonances akin to sounds of concrete origin in a process that helps to expand the variable electronic sound sources.

Here, 'incidents' are opposed to one-off 'accidents' in the second movement: Accidents/Harmoniques (Accidents/Harmonics). In the second movement, very short events of instrumental origin change the harmonic tone of the continuum they interrupt or overlap.

Moreover, the high notes are underplayed, which stimulates the attention given to other phenomena generally hidden by the melodic form applied to the instrumental play. Géologie sonore (Sound Geology) is similar to a flight over an area where different 'sound' layers come to the surface one after the other.

When seen from high above, instrumental and electronic sounds seem to fuse ... Dynamique de la resonance (Dynamics of Resonance) is a microphonic exploration of a single sound resonating through different forms of percussion. L'Etude élastique (Elastic Study) places together various sounds produced by 'touching' elastic or instrumental skins (baloons, doumbeks) or vibrating strings and a number of instrumental gestures close to this 'touch', using electronic processes to generate white noise.

Conjugaison du timbre (Conjugated Tone), the last movement in the series, uses the same substance to apply rhythmic forms onto a perpetually varying tone continuum. "The second series of movements draws its inspiration from concrete and electronic sources rather than instrumental ones. Incidences/battements (Incidences/Beatings) is a reminder of the first movement in the first series which then quickly moves into Natures éphémères (Ephemeral Natures): ephemeral play on instrumental and electronic sounds, singled out by their internal trajectory rather than by the material itself. Matières induites (Induced Matters): just as molecular effervescence triggers a changes of state, it seems that the different states of these sound materials can be generated by each other or through induction processes.

In Ondes croisées (Crossed Waves), the pizz vibrations interfere with somehow 'visible' water drops on the surface of a similar material. Pleins et déliés (Downstrokes and Upstrokes) can be listened to as the energies absorbed in the motion of bouncing bodies, while hollow 'bubbles' and points bring together some people's gravity and others' downwards movements. The work finishes with Points contre champs (Reverse Angle Points).

Here, the notion of perspective of the different sound threads weaving a kind of network, or field, traps the occasional iterative elements in the foreground and progressively absorbs them, giving more space for the angle - and the chanted sound - to grow." (B.P.).

The On Board Music imprint returns with its third release this October, a five- track various artist package featuring material from Lanoche, Yugen, Serena Butler, Estrato Aurora and Vera Logdanidi.

Laura BCR’s On Board Music delivers its third release here, following two mini LP projects from Healing Force Project and Mesak. The ‘Point A’ project marks the beginning of a series of VA’s coming on the imprint focusing on both established and up and coming talents from different origins, stylistically ranging from ambient to techno and all meeting together on the dance floor. French painter Natacha Mankowski provided the artwork once again, and mastering was taken care of by Carsten Dämbkes.

Taking the lead is Lanoche’s ‘Love Fall’, an ethereal opener fuelled by hypnotic pads, wandering bass tones and heavily reverberated, shuffled percussion before Yugen’s ‘Phantom’ lays focus on pulsating arpeggios, choppy bass stabs and swirling atmospherics. Serena Butler’s ‘Fertile Fancy’ follows next, a cinematic four minute ambient cut employing subtly nuanced pads and bright voice like tones throughout.

Estrato Aurora’s ‘Icnita’ opens the flips side with murky, oscillating bass tones, gritty, off-kilter drums and an ever-present underlying tension before Vera Logdanini’s ‘VPlanet’ rounds out the package perfectly, delivering a reduced Techno cut fuelled by cavernous atmospherics, arpeggio bleeps and swirling low-end pulses.

The vitality you hear on Antique Blacks is a testament to the unique energy of the community around The Foxhole Cafe in Philadelphia, as Ra honed his unique brand of Afro-Futurism through the late 60';s and 70's. Cosmic theatre, spiritual chants, and experimental electronics make this record an essential document that was ahead of its time. Ancient to future! BIG TIP !

The 1970s saw change in Sun Ra's recorded output, and as far as we can tell, the content of his live performances. By the middle of the decade, Sun Ra's music no longer seemed comprehensible as part of the jazz New Thing – quirkier, more idiosyncratic elements were more to the fore.

At this time, 1974, every Sun Ra record still surprised, and seemed radically different from everything else he had released up to then. The musical universe proposed by free jazz had never circumscribed Sun Ra. He had been part of the movement, but was able to use the possibilities it suggested without being limited by its conventions.

The Antique Blacks illustrates this well. Recorded as a radio broadcast in Philadelphia, according to Dale Williams, it has a well defined but oddball structure. Sun Ra was a master architect, very concerned to use the unfolding of an album, a broadcast or a live performance to create a satisfying structure.

Song No 1 starts on an upbeat note, it's a lively, tonal introduction, featuring John Gilmre on tenor saxophone, Sun Ra on roksichord, Dale Williams, then aged 15, on guitar, and Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet.

Sun Ra's poetry is featured on There Is Change In The Air, a track which has on occasion been used for the album title: in its original incarnation as a Saturn LP, there was no dedicated sleeve artwork, and this record appeared under many names. Ra's poetry is allusive, elusive and paradoxical, and this was its first major appearance on a record. During instrumental passages, Dale Williams' guitar is heard, along with the saxophones of Marshall Allen and Danny Davis.

The Antique Blacks is a similar setting for a Sun Ra poem, which encompasses "spiritual men", and Lucifer as a dark angel. The Arkestra is heard in conducted improvisational ensembles, in between the sections of the poem.

This Song Is Dedicated To Nature's God has Arkestral vocals, with John Gilmore's voice in th foreground. Williams' guitar is once again prominent in the instrumental passages.

Sun Ra's poetic declamations provide the structire for The Ridiculous I and The Cosmos Me, which also has a fine unaccompanied tenor solo by John Gilmore, keyboard improvisations by Sun Ra, and closes with bass clarient from Eloe Omoe.

Sun Ra's keyboards are heard with minimal Arkestra support on Would I For All That Were – a fine synthesiser improvisation, with electric piano left hand accompaniment.

Tension is resolved by Space Is The Place, which rounds the album out in an upbeat mood, with Akh Tal Ebah, James Jacson and Sun Ra prominent among the vocalists. The closing section includes the chant Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space, often used at the close of live performances. This isn't strictly live, though: in one line the vocal is played backwards on tape!

Sound has the ability to heal. This is the primary tenet that has been driving Karma Moffett for over 35 years. Pure tones, resonant harmonics, the sounds of the earth. At the dawn of the 80’s, as the burgeoning movement of privately-issued New Age was taking hold, Karma Moffett was a pioneer. Eschewing the use of synthesizers and other increasingly-available electronic technology, Karma crafted his meditative, introspective music using ancient instruments. Primarily utilizing Tibetan Bells, and Singing Bowls, Karma Moffett crafted sounds that led the listener on an inward journey.

1982’s Sitting Still Within/Sitting Still Without s Karma Moffett’s earliest triumph. Combining the aforementioned Tibetan Bowls & Bells along with naturalistic field recordings, Karma’s first album is a testament to the power of minimalism and repetition. An ambient voyage that truly draws the listener inwardst, and outwards, Sitting Still Within/ Sitting Still Without is music for healing.

Ism opens audaciously with the spiritual mic-check “You Are Free To Choose,” a track that features bassist Junius Paul alongside Vincent Davis (drums), Justin Dillard (piano), and Corey Wilkes (horns). This is by no accident. In many ways, “You Are Free To Choose” captures the spirit of Junius Paul’s artistic roots. Corey, Justin, and Vincent were among the multigenerational cadre of Chicago musicians present when Junius chose to follow his own path of creative discovery at the storied Velvet Lounge on the South Side of the city in 2002.

Though he began learning his craft playing in church, Junius’s creative voice really developed during jam sessions at clubs like The Velvet alongside members of the AACM. It was iron sharpening iron, the most natural form of knowledge transfer. He explained The Velvet’s vibe in 2018: “It’s like in Africa.... If you had this society of diviners or medicine people, or you know, sages… The Velvet stuff is not secret; but there are certain aspects of it… if you weren’t there, you weren’t there.” The Velvet Lounge closed in 2010. But, of course, the spirit of the Velvet Lounge is not dead. “Tune No. 6,” recorded live at the Co-Prosperity Sphere in Chicago, is a sweet interlude here to remind us that jazz is alive, bristling with what’s yet to come.

As Junius pushes forward as a creative musician, he is careful to carry with him the spirit and the knowledge he’s gathered from those who have come before him. He is very literally a bridge between generations of the Chicago vanguard, currently playing in a handful of combos with Makaya McCraven (who produced several of the tracks on Ism) as well as a few of Roscoe Mitchell’s working groups – most notably the Art Ensemble of Chicago – in addition to fronting his own band.

Following a string of releases via his own bbbbbb recors, along with bodies of work on трип Recordings, February 2019 saw Bjarki debut on !K7 Records with the ‘Happy Earthday’ album.

With the album considered to be the Icelandic producers first full debut LP, ‘Happy Earthday’ offered a conceptual collection of music which Bjarki thought he would never release. Influenced by his home country of Iceland as well as the planet’s environmental issues, the album received support across the board from the likes of The Quietus, DJ Mag, Pitchfork, XLR8R, FACT and CLASH Music, along with being crowned Mixmag’s ‘Album of The Month’.

As part of the limited edition 200 copy box set version of ‘Happy Earthday’, a secret album of original music was available to hear unbeknown to listeners. Now receiving a full release this December on double vinyl and digital platforms, Bjarki will release his second full album of the year via !K7 Records. ‘Psychotic_Window’ is a further extension of the experimental artists creative vision whilst continuing to address environmental themes and nature.

Combining influences from techno, breakbeat, IDM, electronica and more across all of his studio output, ‘Psychotic_Window’ is Bjarki’s final signoff for 2019. The new 14-track album follows in line with one of his most significant years to date, highlighted by performances at major events including Dekmantel and DGTL Festival, along with pioneering eclectic new sounds via his bbbbbb recors label.

“After ‘Happy Earthday’, people have been asking me about the secret tracks and it made me feel that they deserve a proper release. Each track means a lot to me as I made them during a depressing phase in my life; I was pretty broke, working many shit jobs and also just being super lazy, uninterested in leaving my apartment.

Before I started touring, I had these periods where I could write so much music without thinking, pouring my heart out to comfort my thoughts and feelings without trying. I doubt that this kind of window will come back to me anytime soon, my way of music making has changed a lot after going on tour. At that time, I was listening to a lot of Coil, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti. I think every struggling artist goes through these phases of being sleep deprived, staying up and making music all night. This was my psychotic window.” -
Bjarki

Fabio & Grooverider have been at the forefront of UK dance music for over 3 decades. This is the roots of their story told through music.

The 2 London DJ's are part of the DNA of the global Jungle / D&B movement and they have remained relevant, cutting edge, authoritative and essential to this truly underground art-form since it's inception. RAGE could arguably be the ground zero of Jungle. The party was started at London's cavernous Heaven club by Fabio & Grooverider in 1988, at the height of Acid House fever that was making it's way up and down the motorways, slip-roads, fields and warehouses of the M25 and further beyond every weekend, troubling the nation, the police, your parents and the press as it went. RAGE was a different beast, it certainly channelled some of that Acid energy but pitted it against the new and exciting sounds emanating from Belgium, Amsterdam, Detroit, Sheffield, Essex and Hackney and in turn created a new style, a new sonic attitude and energy in the process. Rumbling bass-lines, narcotic synth rushes and roughly chopped and sped-up breakbeats all merged into a style that we now know as Jungle. Nothing like this had been heard before, this was a brand new style and it was coming out of London's West End and Fabio & Grooverider were the people firmly behind it.

RAGE is approaching it's 30th anniversary. It's sonic and cultural legacy is still being felt today, Fabio & Groove are still shutting down raves and festivals every weekend all over the world with their superior DJ sets and musical knowledge guided by their pioneering spirit. This musical selection you hold in your hands, the first of 4 parts, sees them delve into their prodigious memories and record boxes to select a true musical representation of the very beginning of one of the UK's most unique and influential musical movements of the last 50 years. Across 4 x 2 x 12"s compilations we are taken on the journey through the sounds of RAGE, accompanied with track by track notes from Fabio & Groove themselves. This is the sound of the underground, from the inside out.

This is a masterclass in the old-school. The roots. There is no filler here, it's simply ALL killer. Lovingly selected and programmed by the masters - 'The Living Shock' & 'The Ladies Choice'. Produced in conjunction with Above Board distribution and Fabio & Grooverider. All tracks mastered from original sources and fully licensed. Mastering by Optimum, Bristol. Artwork and design by Atelier Superplus. 2019

Yes, at last! Kinky keyboard porn! Whisper porn! Vinyl Porn! And all at the same time.! And what an ASMR treat we have for you here.
Recordings of 12 incredible bespoke mechanical keyboards made and recorded by the master of this modern art, Taeha Types. Yes, this is actual typing sounds on amazing future/retro/cutting edge keyboards. Every track different. Every keyboard different. Listen and weep - Or sleep - Or something ... An INCREDIBLE & UNIQUE listening experience. The first mechanical keyboard album EVER !!!

For the last few years a small scene has been growing. The mechanical keyboard scene. It’s now quite a big scene actually.
It makes total sense as most of us use keyboards everyday, so why not have an amazing keyboard to use instead of the total crap one you have. I mean just look down. It’s shit isn’t it. So, some people worked out that things could be improved - A lot. - So they started to make incredible, kinky keyboards, using both old and new tech: and the possibilities and options in construction are endless.

There are key cap options (GMK ABS, PBT etc etc), spring options (Cherry MX, Pandas, Alps etc etc) and even backplate options (steel, aluminum, copper etc etc), and of course case options too. And all these options make a big or little difference. And once made these keyboards are carefully lubricated spring by spring to give them that little extra smoothness and “ping”.

The results are beautiful, fetishistic, futuristic in an odd retro style, and they sound AMAZING when they are typed on. This is classic ASMR / whisper porn, the gentle click and rattle of carefully lubed springy keyboards make the hairs on the back of your neck rise. Either that or they gently woo you into a peaceful, sublime state. This is a classic and groundbreaking new Trunk album for our modern stressful times.

The recordings on this album are the first ever release of mechanical keyboard sounds. They are from a selection of (enhanced) keyboards from the 80s, 90s and now. They were recorded by the master maker of the modern mechanical keyboard, Nathan from Taeha Types.
He has a large following on Instagram, YouTube (videos of his hands typing on his keyboards hit 10K in just a couple of days after upload), and he now has over half a million views on his Twitch channel where he constructs keyboards live.

Sleevenotes on the album have been put together by Jonny Trunk and Stu London (AKA Futurecrime) from the London mechanical Keyboard scene. He knows what the fuck he is talking about. And you might not understand it, but you can catch up real quick - like I did.

- Album mastered by Jon Brooks, who also really understand these
sounds. And if you don’t, don’t worry - lots of others will.

When it comes to underground New York Disco, Donna McGhee's highly sought-after 1978 LP, "Make It Last Forever," ranks among the best in the genre, thanks to Donna’s singing and the production skills of legendary producers Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams.

Featuring five songs penned by the producing pair, it's got their quintessential Disco sound of the late 70s topped by Donna McGhee's superb vocals. These have also blessed recordings by The Fatback Band, Phreek, Bumblebee Unlimited and The Universal Robot Band around the same time.

The album has been an elusive affair since it first came out in 1978 and this is one the first times in decades it is widely available in its original form with newly remastered audio. Donna McGhee has been one of the key female singers of the New York disco scene, gracing several cult albums with her superb singing. The Brooklyn native began her career singing Gospel in her grandmother's choir from an early age, honing her skills and making a name for herself locally as a talented singer.
Her first break in the industry came when she was spotted by bass player Johnny Flippin, who invited her to join his band.
The group was none other than The Fatback Band led by drummer Bill Curtis. This was 1975 and the album was "Raising Hell."

McGhee's vocals can be heard throughout the album including the dancefloor classic "(Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop" and after this initial collaboration, she stayed with the group for a another few years recording “Night Fever” in 1976 and touring with them all around the country. Following an encounter with producer Greg Carmichael, Donna McGhee jumped ship and started working with the prolific producer and his partner Patrick Adams.
A string of collaborations followed with singles and albums that have become the stuff of legend over the years: Donna can indeed be heard singing with Bumblebee Unlimited, Universal robot Band and on Phreek's classic self-titled album from 1978, singing on the track "May My Love Be With You."
In 1978, After Greg Carmichael set up his own label, Red Greg Records, he and Adams decided to get McGhee in the recording studio and produce her first solo album. With the pair playing most of the instruments, they got five tracks out of the session. The result, "Make It Last Forever" is an all-time Adams/Carmichael classic: funky disco arrangements with a touch of synths over a pulsating groove magnified by McGhee's superb sexy singing.

All five tracks have become classics in their own right.

Beastly sounds for a zombie nation as classic 80s gaming soundtrack Shadow of the Beast gets debut vinyl edition with a recording taken from the original platform game, and new artwork from acclaimed illustrator Keith Rankin.

Composed by David Whittaker for the 1989 Amiga platformer of the same name, Shadow of the Beast sees its first ever vinyl release courtesy of the UK's Lag Records, presented in also its first mastered edition as directly taken from the original game system.

A prolific VGM composer, Whittaker holds more gaming soundtracks to his name than any other, with titles such as Lazy Jones to his name, as (in)famously sampled for the 1999 club hit Zombie Nation.  

Shadow of the Beast remains a prime example of his pioneering hands-on approach, programming music directly with instrumental samples of his own on a Korg M1 synthesizer. The tunes make for a singular combination of Spaghetti Western-style tension mixed with world beats. Tracks like The Plains play with harder rhythms like warped speed techno, while a hard-to-miss melancholy pervades the Underground suite.

The fiendishly difficult Shadow of the Beast itself was an interesting example of game design for its time, recorded at a frame rate to match arcade machines as opposed to monitors, and loaded with a 128 colour palette. Two sequels later followed in the 1990s, along with a 2016 remake for the Playstation console.

The soundtrack comes ready for a 2019 audience with mastering courtesy of Jerome Schmitt at the AirLab, and brand new artwork from acclaimed illustrator and musician Keith Rankin in collaboration with artist Ellen Thomas. Shadow of the Beast will also come on transparent purple vinyl, in standard LP format.

I remember the first time I read W.E.B. DuBois eclectic masterpiece The Souls of Black Folk. The way in which this Weberian scholar flowed from personal account to prose to sociological analysis to music and even political intervention has had a lasting impact on my own work as a cultural anthropologist. It made me understand that as scholars we must use different means in order to give expression to the totality of the lived experience: There is only so much in an academic text.

The experience of alienation has always been at the heart of my scholarly and artistic practice. I have used academic writing, lecturing, theatre performance and electronic improvisation to understand and represent it as a theoretical concept, postcolonial condition and lived experience. I believe, some issues need to be told like a story, some analyzed in most abstract terms and others need to be sung like a gospel. The medium changes the message.

In this sense, I guess, I’m a singing cultural anthropologist.

For some time now I have been engaged in the use of dystopian themes and sounds to paint a sonic picture of structural racism and whiteness of our present. But recently I have grown weary of this Ballardian idea of Future Now and the resulting phantasmagorian aesthetics myself and others have been invested in. The widespread availability of Digital Audio Workstations, sequencers, loopers and delay pedals has lead us into a futuristic cul de sac best described by Mark Fisher as the very absence of future.

Likewise, I am most skeptical of the “naturalist” countermovement, the return of folk. Especially in Germany, I am convinced there is no such thing as an innocent or progressive folk musical expression as it is always connected to the idea of the homeland (“Heimat”) which in turn produces the colony. It seems to me, the current zeitgeist is stuck between a “museum of a dystopian future” and a “museum of an idealized past”, but I wanted to sing about the present.

So, I involuntarily returned to pop music in its two-folded meaning of something popular and addressing not an essentialist notion of “Volk” or its woke cousin “communities”, but society as a whole.

I entered the studio just with a few lo-fi sounding melodies and rhythms from my circuit bent CASIO synthesizer. I had no clue what the finished product would sound like. But as soon as Markus started drumming, in a way strangely reminding me of CAN’s Ethnographic Forgery Series, my uptight sounds were suddenly embedded within a warmer global sound spectrum. The alien at home and abroad and the strange overlapped: We were seeing one and the same sound differently but were gently held together by Tobias’ producing.

Making music is about building coalitions. It’s about suggesting an articulation of styles, sounds and people, that hasn’t materialized, yet, but may help us in the current crisis: I wanted Amon Düül II to send their drug induced archangel thunderbird to rescue the refugees, that had tried to escape the police by climbing up a tree in Munich in 2016. I wanted Sun Ra to taunt far-right protesters in Chemnitz in 2018. And I wanted to mourn the loss of a former kebab shop cum discotheque that served as proof that there is such a thing as a minoritarian universalism.

SCHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR ME is a pop album featuring songs of alienation, not only as a tragic experience, but as a pop-cultural promise. Maybe Bill Callahan sung it best, “I am Star Wars today, I am no longer English grey”. I want those who suffer from alienation to stand in alliance with those who seek alienation, and vice-versa. A coalition, that tolerates the possibility that we are moved by the same groove for contrary reasons.

Fehler Kuti
Munich, Autumn 2019

Music by Julian Warner, Markus Acher & Tobias Siegert
Saxophone on RINDERMARKT by Franz Brunner
Trombone on RINDERMARKT and IL by Matthias Götz
Recorded and mixed by Tobias Siegert in Munich.
SONTAGSFAVORIT mixed by Dario Albiez in Dusseldorf.
Mastered by Duphonic in Augsburg.
Artwork by Atelier Grande, Munich.

Shift Imprint release #005 presents some seriously crafted House Music from one of Detroit’s true pioneers, Santonio Echols.
With a record catalog that runs back to 1987, Santonio knows a thing or two about how to make a dance floor sweat!
To complete the release, Amsterdam’s Nathan Surreal delivers his deep interpretation of a track called “The Burner”, and it just feels like the perfect vibe to wrap up this record that Santonio himself considers to be one of his best.

"The Red" EP by Dominique Fils-Aimé released on vinyl for the first time with new cover art. Special edition Black Friday 2019 pressing.

Dominique Fils-Aimé is a Polaris Music prize-nominated singer-songwriter from Montreal who draws inspiration from soul icons of the 40's and 60's such as Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Nina Simone. While her musical roots are grounded in early soul and jazz, her sound transcends contemporary urban soundscapes.

Dominique's self-produced debut, "The Red" EP, was originally released in 2015. This new version from KingUnderground has been fully remastered and includes a live version of "Love of Yours" as well as two bonus instrumentals.

Sultry vocals follow melancholy guitar and organ on "Like Mama Said." Dominique's calming voice is akin to a meld of Sade and Amy Winehouse. While the edgy 'When You See Me'' has a hypnotic, catchy groove and chorus, she shows off her versatility with a stripped down, acoustic blues-tinged piece on "Ok With You."

The songs were recorded live in the studio in only a few takes with minimal overdubs to capture the unconstrained depth of expression and natural impulse. The faintest of imperfections in the recordings were preserved in an effort to speak the truth, as the nature of her songs reflect on the vulnerability and strength in each of us and their delicate balance. Dominique unifies each song on the record with empowering lyrics, bringing such a commanding voice and precise delivery, you could almost imagine her singing the theme for a new Bond movie.

This cinematic RnB & jazz-inflected debut by one of Montreal's finest soul singer-songwriters is available for the first time on high-quality vinyl.

'Esoteric, modal and deep jazz from the undergound, 1968-77'

Jazzman Records presents the sound of the unsung musicians who – in the midst of the Vietnam War and the fallout of the Civil Rights struggle – created some of the most beautiful Spiritual and meditative music of the era. Sometimes funky, sometimes mellow, but always trying to say something about the world in which we live.
Existing completely under the critical radar and largely ignored or unknown by music fans and critics alike, most of the musicians featured in this album won't be familiar to even the most seasoned aficionado. Their records, frequently turned down by distributors and record stores, saw little attention when first released - and have seen even less since. But in this era of musical apathy, where so many music junkies look to the past for their musical fix, we have re-discovered hidden, obscure and esoteric jazz musicians who looked to the four corners of the earth - and beyond - for inspiration. Here we evaluate Spiritual Jazz – music that is a snapshot of the era after Coltrane, a time which saw the evolution of an underground jazz that spoke about the reform of the soul, the reform of the spirit, and the reform of society: a music which was local and international at once, which was a personal journey and a political statement, and which was religious and secular in one non-contradictory breath.
The music on this album reflects the social and historical forces at work during the closedown of the '60s dream; music made by close-knit collectives and individual visionaries, by prisoners and eccentrics, by mystics and political radicals. It includes music by acknowledged masters, and moments of brilliance by unsung figures known to us from just one or two recordings. It is the jazz music of America in the age of civil rights, brutal repression, political assassination and war; a music that would guarantee the survival of the spiritual dimension in a society that was angry and traumatized, but nevertheless had seen hope of better days to come.

Minimal, elegant and supercharged with latent energy, Cop Envy & DJ Plead’s ‘Hinged’ EP consists of 3 tracks written over the course of two Melbourne summer nights. Luscious drums, sparse melodic elements and midnight-hued atmospheric flourishes are masterfully sequenced for maximum DJ enthrallment and dancefloor enjoyment. The release exudes depth and a natural balance of both artists’ respective styles that belies their long-standing friendship :) :) :) Rounding off a year that saw well-received solo EPs from both Cop Envy and DJ Plead (on Hypercolour and Nervous Horizon, respectively), their collaborative debut ‘Hinged’ will be released digitally and as a limited hand-stamped 12” vinyl on Friday 8 November.

Hot off the heels of Aluxes, his 2018 Lumière Noire debut EP, young Mexican DJ/producer Iñigo
Vontier is inviting Chloé's label on a trip to the far corners of the body & mind with an album of
demented grooves, psychedelic take-offs and imaginary comic strips of mystical rituals. A
bewitching debut full-length. Mexicans may never possess the sonic science of the Germans,
the hedonistic madness of the English or the gift for synthesis of the French, but, as proven by
Iñigo Vontier's first full-length for Lumière Noire, their universe is much more exciting than
anyone would have ever thought.
The DJ/producer fully asserts his origins by brandishing the album’s title "El Hijo del Maiz" ("the
son of the corn") almost as an emblem: "in Mexico, corn is eaten daily. It has long been defined
as 'the gold of America', and I consider all Mexicans as children of corn". A spiritual and
embodied vision Iñigo's first Lumière Noire release, the four-track Aluxes, set the tone of the
young talent's distinctive interpretation of dark disco, which creeps up on the dancefloor from its
iconoclastic side. The two tracks and two remixes (one by Flügel, the other by Inigo himself)
featured on the 12" for lead single "Xu Xu" (featuring Red Axes-affiliate Xen's irrelevant vocals)
was a full-bodied confirmation that Vontier sees the dancefloor as an arena for the occult –
whether from the peoples of the equatorial jungle, the Middle East or, even from indocile
machines. But, while the spiritual element seems part and parcel of the Jalisco native’s output, it
is in no way the only ingredient of this first long-player: "this album best reflects my own vision
and spirituality, and the way I feel it" he says.
Whether contemplative or frenetic, the collection of tracks that make up “El Hijo Del Maiz” takes
the kitchen sink and throws it out the window: languid rhythms, haunted vocals, and mysterious
percussion fuel a discombobulated house set that scrambles the listener's five senses, leaving
one disoriented and exposed to the vagaries of vertigo. Following the demented, dystopian “Xu
Xu” EP, which explored an imaginary jungle that harbored Mayan and Egyptian pyramids,
Middle Eastern accents are once more present in the off-kilter “Bo Ni Ke” and its Japaneseinfluenced vocal trickery, which Moroccan flutes à la Jajouka transform into a feverish trance.
With the following three tracks, Iñigo Vontier raises himself to the same level of excellence as
the Pachanga duo (of which pride of the Mexican scene Rebolledo, is also known as a prolific
artisan of deconstruction): “Awaken”'s slumbering voice, heard as through the veil of hypnosis,
slowly introduces a techno beat which, as in follow-up “Time”, literally brings the listener to a
levitative state. In a housier vein, yet continuing in the same psychedelic, 90s-infused spirit,
“Don’t Go Back” disrupts the genre’s usual signatures with an out-of-tune keyboard that is
becoming the artist's trademark, destabilizing the listener into a drunken vertigo, with a good
helping of sexiness: "I think the sexy dimension definitely brings a kind of magic to music," says
Vontier. “I'm sure I felt this magic during my DJ sets, and I like to think that sorcerers use this
element in their practices. I might consider myself a bit of a sorcerer when I take over the DJ
booth, by the way." A mood and sound that can once again be found – in a quieter, more
bucolic version – on “Chiquitita” (feat. the flute stylings of pioneer DJ Rocca, now a partner of
cosmic disco legend Daniele Baldelli). The more cinematic, fast-paced and dreamy beat of the
no less captivating “Little Monster” might evoke the mischievous spirit of the Mayas' minor
mythological creatures, while ode to the magical herb Marijuana (feat Thomass Jackson)
proudly tramples into the debate that such a provocative title inevitably provokes: "psychedelic
drugs are powerful tools to reach a higher level of consciousness about what surrounds us, but
we must learn how to complete this psychic journey by ourselves, notably through meditation
and love.
In the end, El Hijo del Maiz is an album-length confirmation of Iñigo Vontier's uniqueness, and
his adherence to Lumière Noire's policy of letting artists fully express their vision – while letting
their passions guide their idiosyncrasies and explorations of innovative electronic signatures

Meda Fury are buzzing to welcome Silvestre to the fold for a 6 track EP of low-slung party starters. This Lisbon native and London resident has been on several tastemakers lips for the last year now, serving up no-nonsense but seriously fun dance music, comparable to the spirit of mighty Portuguese scene labels Principe and Naive. Joao’s tracks are mind bending hybrids of breakbeat, reggaeton, R&B, rave and house. His recent artilary coming via Seceretsundaze, Diskotopia and his own Padre Himalaya, he now adds the Yeah EP to his weaponry.

The EP's title track has been the soundbed for the recent Boiler Room Festival 2019 promotional videos, sparking a huge amount of interest and ID requests, its remained secret until now. Add to this another 5 tracks of slow rave-tinted kuduro and faster baile funk blends for a truly monsterous set of club heaters!

Australian producer and multi instrumentalist Michael Di Francesco
Released debut album 'Visions' in 2017 with full visualiser Multiple gold accredited singles in the past 3 years Sold out headline 2019 Australian headline tour with 5k tickets sold nationally Debut USA headline tour with live band in July 2018

OUTRÉ comprises of Detroit natives Joshua Harrison and Joe Sousa.

Joshua Harrison has released on Psychothrill Records, Beretta Music, DeepLabs Detroit, and currently runs the digital music label NONCOM Records.

Joe Sousa has released on Blank Code Records, and worked with labels Detroit Underground and Acid Friend. He has forthcoming releases on Detroit Underground and Clan Destine Records.



OUTRÉ is an entity that has come forth since 2017. Risen from a portal into the more existential rifts in consciousness, a mirror from the abyssal realm of the minds’ eye.


OUTRÉ 01 is it’s inaugural expression. With focus on live extraction and textural abrasives, chapter one presents ominous weight and forebodeing chaos, yet embraced with melancholic atmosphere and ethereal release.

WRWTFWW Records is insanely happy to announce the first ever vinyl reissue for both volumes of Yoshio Ojima's superb environmental music project Une Collection des Chaînons I and II: Music For Spiral, originally released in 1988 on CD only. Each volume is sourced from original masters and comes as a double vinyl LP with liner notes in English and Japanese . This marks the inaugural release from the ESPLANADE SERIES by WRWTFWW Records which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima and friends.

Une Collection des Chaînons II (along with its complementary predecessor Une Collection des Chaînons I) gathers selected music pieces conceptualized and produced for sound-designing the Wacoal Art Center in Aoyama (Tokyo) also known as Spiral, a hub for a wide range of sophisticated cultural proposals spanning visual arts, theatre, music, design, fashion, and lifestyle.

Named after its superb curled-shaped structures laid in a vast atrium, Spiral is a monumental work of architecture by Fumihiko Maki, designed according to the principles of Metabolism, a movement advocating the fusion of the notions of megastructures and organic biological growth - in essence, evolving designs and constructions, adapting to human needs naturally.

Evolving, organic, adapting, these are notions that perfectly describe Yoshio Ojima's divinely designed brand of environmental music. Continuing, embellishing and bringing the Collection des Chaînons (which translates as collection of links) full circle, this second volume approaches sound design in relation to various contexts, sizes, and shapes. The nanoscopic neoclassical lullaby "Les Trois Grâces" brings attention to the importance of small details, "Pulse at Soothe" starts with the minimalism of a Satoshi Ashikawa piece and slowly drifts into mystical landscapes and cavernous echoes, "Entomology" and its melancholic artificial forest feels like a Twin Peaks mirage, and "Atrium" literally feels like a floating visit of a gigantic open space structure. With each timbre selected with extreme precision, each element placed in space with the utmost care, and textures worked to allow a wide canvas of emotion for the listeners, Yoshio Ojima's music is the constantly transforming connecting point between humanity and architecture.

Sitting alongside Midori Takada's Through The Looking Glass, Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way, Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green, or Yutaka Hirose's NOVA, Une Collection des Chaînons is a pivotal work of Japanese environnmental/ambient/minimalist music.

A note from Yoshio Ojima: "Please listen to this album at around the same volume as daily life sounds such as air conditioners and refrigerators."

After two compilations and a split EP, Oscillate Tracks present their first solo EP. Having played dynamic DJ performances at Oscillate events as well as releasing top-notch productions on Livity Sound and Man Band, Toma Kami seemed the perfect fit. With 3 tracks of percussive body music, sharp rhythms and precise arrangements which build to hard-drum energies as well as a confidently layered and commanding remix from atmospheric techno icon Forest Drive
West, this EP packs a patient yet satisfying punch.

The modern, avant synth/dance-pop frolics of ‘Moi’ catch Steven Warwick (Heatsick) at his impish but droll best for PAN. Returning to PAN six years after his standout Re-Engineering album,
Warwick returns to similar zones of enquiry as 2016’s ‘Nadir’ - the first release under his birth name. With ‘Moi’ (which we definitely hear enunciated with a playful pucker), Warwick further emphasises the personal, playful nature of his work with 10 melodic, danceable and pop-tart arrangements accompanied by a range of vocal personas; from his naturally droll singing voice to more alien and leaned-out styles, plus a guest platitude by Turner Prize nominee, Jo Pryde.
Bubbling up with the pickled 2-step and Lolina-esque lilt of ‘Open Fire Hydrant’, Warwick clearly draws upon a UK dance music heritage - and its Afro-Caribbean and US inspirations - with the
freshest, exceptional style that percolates throughout the album, strongly informing its biggest dancefloor highlights such as the warped trancehall bumps of ‘Salvation’ and the crooked crankshaft of ‘Kaleidoscope’, along with the the brittle boned shimmy of ‘Rush’ and the hard but elegant drive of ’Silhouette.’
But they’re only half the story, which really comes together with contrasts in the fizzy downstroke of ‘Kind of Blue’, on the Black Zone Myth Chant-like psychedelic daze and blunted vocals in
‘Consolatio’, and the album’s standout ‘Danke’, which revolves around Jo Pryde’s gentle utterance of the title weft into ominous ambient clag, connoting a sort of humility that knowingly becomes
both less and more meaningful with each reiteration

Ripperton is back with his first compilation on Tamed Musiq! Split in two vinyl parts including his favorite producers: Matt karmil, Lord of the Isles, Jackmate, Crowdpleaser, Dj Nature Iron Curtis, Mary Yalex or Andy Hart. House music with depth and warm! TIP!

Ripperton is back with his first compilation on Tamed Musiq! Split in two vinyl parts including his favorite producers: Matt karmil, Lord of the Isles, Jackmate, Crowdpleaser, Dj Nature Iron Curtis, Mary Yalex or Andy Hart. House music with depth and warm! TIP!

ATT Series is proud to present Greenbeam & Leon's first album, The Haze Of Dust.

The inspiration of this album comes from the experience of many years of work in their natural city, Tbilisi.

Sadness, fear, hostility, happiness, gratitude, hope,are some feelings obtained that have fructified in an idea after a beloved long hard work in the studio.

If one thing can be said, this work gives off essence, pure essence Greenbeam & Leon that bring you to another dimension. An extended variety of genres and references featured on this album, bringing a lot of influences and different compositions together, sometimes dark, sometimes deep, sometimes raw, sometimes melancholic, but all with essence.

A complete soundtrack that will not leave anyone indifferent.

20 years of Pop Ambient. Already? One didn’t notice. It’s an anniversary which comes quietly. An anniversary with quiet tones.
In the spirit of the special restraint of pop-elegance, it has no reason to drawn attention to itself with a big „Tam-Tam“. Or better: „Bum-Bum“. The bass drum stays outside. Nevertheless, in fast-paced, overstimulated times of moving forward, it’s a joyful occasion to look back.
What strikes most by putting or listening to 20 years of pop ambient in a row is the central theme that holds together the dense aesthetic concept like the pearls of a necklace.
Floral beauty for digital naturalists. Music like flowers, that don’t wilt. Timeless. Ageless. But with all of the conceptual unity and resolution, Pop Ambient would not be Kompakt without the break, the friction, the expansion of musical boundaries in between tradition and innovation, in between conspiracy and the openness of the discourse.
Aestheticism, escapism, acting in the spirit of „nevertheless“. Swans drifting by, clouds pass over, everything is floating and: „Boredom is a stylistic device“ (Andy Warhol).

Pop Ambient Music is medicine against illnesses, that you don’t even suffer from. It’s giving everything, demanding nothing.
Musical lotus leafs, off which the virtual wastewater of our time is rolling like the reality is dripping off the matrix.


In this sense, we’re happy about the pop-ambient anniversary greetings from new and old companions like Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco aswell as contributions from T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas and, after a long break, from friends from early days like Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner und Klimek.

Pop Ambient 2020 is released digital, as CD and of course as a chic double vinyl. Also included in the package: The whole distinctive cover-series as an art book of 44 pages. And for all of the old and young fans and collectors there is the Pop Ambient 2001 in a overhauled original version out on vinyl for the very first time.



Breath in. Breath out. Thank you.



Wolfgang Voigt, September 2019.

20 Jahre Pop Ambient. Schon? Hat man gar nicht gemerkt. Ein Jubiläum auf leisen Sohlen. Ein Jubiläum der leisen Töne. Und ganz im Sinne pop-eleganter Zurückhaltung, kein Grund, großes Tam-Tam zu machen. Oder besser gesagt: Bum-Bum. Denn die Bassdrum bleibt ja draußen. Dennoch freudiger Anlass genug, in reizüberfluteten, schnelllebigen Zeiten auf dem Weg nach vorne einen Blick zurück zu werfen. Wenn man 20 Jahre Pop Ambient Platten hintereinander legt / hört, sticht einem zunächst der sprichwörtliche rote Faden ins Auge und ins Ohr. Der Faden, der das dichte, ästhetische Konzept zusammenhält wie die Glieder einer Perlenkette. Florale Schönheit für digitale Naturalisten. Musik wie Blumen, die nicht welken. Zeitlos. Alterslos. Aber Pop Ambient wäre nicht Kompakt, wenn nicht bei aller konzeptionellen Ge- und Entschlossenheit, auch der Bruch, die Reibung, das Ausweiten musikalischer Genregrenzen zwischen Tradition und Innovation, zwischen Konspiration und Diskursoffenheit, inkludiert wäre. Ästhetizismus, Trotzdemismus, Eskapismus. Schwäne treiben, Wolken ziehen, alles fließt – und: »Langeweile ist ein Stilmittel« (Andy Warhol).

Pop Ambient Musik ist Medizin gegen Krankheiten, die man gar nicht hat. Gibt alles und verlangt nichts. Musikalische Lotusblätter, an denen das virtuelle Schmutzwasser der Zeit abperlt, wie die Realität an der Matrix.

In diesem Sinne freuen wir uns über pop-ambiente Jubiläumsgrüße von neuen und alten Weggefährten wie Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco sowie Beiträge von T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas und nach langer Pause, von Freunden aus frühen Tagen wie Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner und Klimek.

Pop Ambient 2020 erscheint Digital, als CD und natürlich als schickes Doppelvinyl. Mit im Paket: Die gesamte unverwechselbaren Cover-Serie als 20-seitiges Kunstbuch. Und für alle neuen und alten Fans und Sammler, erscheint zeitgleich Pop Ambient 2001 erstmalig auch auf Vinyl, in generalüberholter Originalversion. Das Ganze gibt es zudem im schicken Jubiläumsschuber in limitierter Auflage und farbigem Vinyl, exklusiv erhältlich nur auf kompakt.fm …

Einatmen. Ausatmen. Danke.

Wolfgang Voigt, September 2019

Back with a vengeance, Cimm returns to the imprint with a highly anticipated succession to his Sentry debut from last year, stamped on a irresistible 2 x 12" vinyl release. Infernal halftime beats and top-notch Dubstep shells, firmly entrenched at the frontier of sound system music and its invaluable heritage. The London-based producer and DJ rose to swift and significant acclaim in the last few years with releases on institutions like Tempa, J:Kenzo's Artikal and Wheel & Deal as well as notable residencies at Rinse FM and the renowned Fabric night club, among other recent achievements. Now coming to a turntable near you, Cimm delivers four bespoke cuts, primed for the dance and your enjoyment, battle-tested by the scene's foremost tastemakers.

Diving into unidentified transmissions, 'Unknown Caller!!' sets the pace with eerie reverberations and filtered resonance. Amid the faint hiss of machinery, larger-than-life drums set up shop alongside subterranean pressure emissions. Hefty breaks, hold tight! Retro synth melodies keep us on track within the monstrous switch-ups and unquestionably meticulous arrangement, sure to shut down any dance in style. Cutting no corners with the B-Side, Cimm teams up with veteran vocalist Rider Shafique for a dystopian sub-bass onslaught, swaggering militant chants and the apocalyptic ambience to go with it. Steaming low-frequency oscillations bubble and hurl their weight, stripped of all restraints, coveted in freezing harmonies and ethereal atmosphere. Vibrating in a more uplifting spirit, the dedication to the Jamaican roots of sound system culture unfolds in the Londoner's signature style - dubbed out soundscapes ahead. 'Tosh Dub' keeps it a laid back, with vintage instrumentation, scattered skanks and swirling organ chimes. Taking an ultimate trip through unremitted grit and off-kilter grooves, 'I Am Jack Travis' lures us in with rainy undertones and hypnotic foley sampling. Promptly revealing its true nature with plenty of pressure and scrupulous syncopation, a ghostly heavyweight ensues and closes the deal.

Following the Stardancer EP and his remix for All I Need To Get High by Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, Ae:ther unveils his most accomplished and daring work yet on the highly anticipated debut album Me released on Crosstown Rebels. Blazing a trail with his natural aptitude for crafting emotive, captivating compositions that have landed him releases on Crosstown Rebels Afterlife and Fabric, Ae:ther presents his debut LP. The album is a painstakingly produced collection of haunting melodies and narcotic rhythms that display his love and inspiration for ambient electronica, deep underground music and introspective atmospheres, culminating in dreamlike soundscapes programmed with taut percussion. The album begins on Stardancer, setting the tone with gentle keys and space influenced licks that portray a cosmonaut ascending into the stratosphere. This moves into the glistening, atmospheric Finferli, where synths depict aliens conversing in a distant, just-discovered world. Sub-aquatic ambient fills We’ll be Together, boosts of energy and intricate melodies weave in and out of the vocal, locked to the dubby groove. Ice cold subtlety and the otherworldly electronics of Costes drip slowly like water down a pane of glass. A mood of relaxation and weightlessness continues on Tina, a tender beat combined with pattering echoed chimes. N.62, a special ethereal piece, features warm chords and reduced percussion, gradually developing like the morning sun rising. Mysterious, playful charm unfurls on Elf, progressive harmony teases towards a crescendo before dropping back into the hypnotic beat. Clark is light and airy, funky melody constructing an interplanetary anthem. Stimulating a brooding mood, fuzzy clicks and glitches dance on the deep bass of Spektre II, conveying dust spraying off the surface of a moon landing. The shimmering ripples of electronica on title track Me fuse with delicate human vocals creating a heart-warming, personal account of Ae:ther’s relationship with his instruments. Trademark bleeps and blips wash over natural broken beats in one last final call to his utopia in the album outro.

As we head towards the end of 2019, the CoOp Presents crew unleash a heater for the cold months, and a very warm welcome to the label for Danvers, with an EP entitled 'Light Movements'.

Joe Danvers has been building a diverse catalogue of dance music over the past several years, including releases on FINA Records, Boogie Cafe and Wotnot (his debut release also featured mixes from the likes of Joe Armon-Jones & Warren Xcince). Aside from his solo efforts, Danvers makes up 50% of Kassian, who in turn have dropped releases on Phonica White & Heist Recordings, as well as a series of highly-acclaimed remixes. Their debut track 'The Premise' was nominated as "Track of the Year" at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards.

These various projects have been shown support far and wide from selectors such as Bradley Zero and Detroit Swindle, whilst Danvers & Kassian have been booked for parties across Europe this past Summer. Danvers is also co-founder of Curve Records, along with Luke Campion & Mike Wilkin of Fact / Vinyl Factory.

So to the EP - 4-tracks demonstrating Danvers' flair for eclectic bruk boogie. 'Devotional' kicks off the set, featuring the soulful vocals of Natalie May atop a rhode-laden bubbler. The EP's title track 'Light Movements' follows and is a more stripped-down affair, with big kicks and synth stabs. Next comes 'The Flex', inspired by Selectors Assemble runnings - a tasty stepper with a huuuuge b-line. Finally closing out the EP on a deeper jazzy vibe we have 'Calmer' featuring the don T. Williams.

Expect more big things from Danvers and from the CoOp Presents crew in 2020. In the meantime, get this one on your speakers and watch for the movements. Standardly essential business.

This essential LP edition compiles 20 of Chuck Berry’s most emblematic and celebrated songs, taped by the Chess label between 1955 and 1961.
These recordings helped define the exact nature of early rock & roll. All-time classics such as Berry’s car songs (“Maybellene”), his calculated and carefully crafted instant smashes for the 1950s teenage market (“Reelin’ and Rockin’,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “School Days”), and his celebrations of the music itself (“Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roll Over Beethoven”), are some of the greatest rock tunes ever written.
Take “Johnny B. Goode” specifically - the intro alone is arguably one of the most iconic pieces of music ever recorded, and the subsequent hand in hand energy of both the vocal and the instrumentation not only forms a brilliantly hook throughout the track, but also creates something uniquely Chuck Berry.
This material will convince even the sceptics of Berry’s brilliance. All of these original gems, which have been brilliantly remastered to achieve the most pristine sound, are simple two-and-a-half-minute songs that convey all the sheer power and emotion of rock & roll. Enjoy!