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Fresh out of high school, Hannah Jadagu released her debut EP, What Is Going On?, a collection of intimate bedroom pop tracks recorded entirely on an iPhone 7, which was, at the time, Jadagu's most accessible mode of production. An off-the-cuff approach to music making and instinctive ability to write unforgettable hooks belied the intensity of Jadagu's subject matter. What Is Going On? confronted some of the nation's most urgent struggles through Jadagu's compassionate perspective. What Is Going On? built on the small online fanbase Jadagu had developed by releasing music on SoundCloud for years as she realized her growing passion for songwriting. Now, Jadagu is releasing Aperture, her first LP and most ambitious work to date. Written in the years between graduating from high school in Mesquite, TX and her sophomore year of college in New York, Aperture finds Jadagu in a state of transition. "Where I grew up, everyone is Christian; even if you don't go to church, you're still practicing in some form," Jadagu says, laughing. "Moving out of my small hometown has made me reflect on how embedded Christianity is in the culture down there, and though I've been questioning my relationship to the church since high school, it's definitely a theme on this album, but so is family." As a kid, Jadagu followed her older sister - a major source of inspiration - to a local children's chorus, where she received choral training. "I hated it," Jadagu admits. "But it taught me how to harmonize, how to discover my tone, how to recognize and write melody." The aching single "Admit It" is dedicated to Jadagu's sister, whose love and impeccable taste have been a constant since Jadagu was a kid. The siblings were raised on mom's Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom Hannah credits her love of vocoder) but it was in the sanctity of her sister's car that Jadagu discovered the indie artists who inspire her work. With Aperture, Jadagu faced the challenge of finding a co-producer capable of complementing her work without dominating it. Enter Max Robert Baby, a French songwriter and producer who captured Jadagu's attention with his take on Aperture's lead single "Say It Now." The duo worked remotely, sending stems to one another via email, before meeting in-person for the first time at Greasy Studios on the outskirts of Paris. "When I recorded my EP, it was all MIDI, but in the studio Max and I worked with a ton of analog instruments," Jadagu says. "Every track on this album, except for 'Admit It,' was written first on guitar. But the blanket of synths throughout helps me move between sensibilities. There's rock Hannah, there's hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn't want any of the songs to sound too alike." An aperture is defined as an opening, a hole, a gap. On a camera, it's the mechanism that light passes through, allowing a photographer to immortalize a moment in time. For Jadagu, the word perfectly encapsulates the mood of her debut album. In the years it took her to complete, she faced moments of darkness, sure, but the process of making it was ultimately a cathartic experience, one she now shares with you. Let the light in.

Tape

Fresh out of high school, Hannah Jadagu released her debut EP, What Is Going On?, a collection of intimate bedroom pop tracks recorded entirely on an iPhone 7, which was, at the time, Jadagu's most accessible mode of production. An off-the-cuff approach to music making and instinctive ability to write unforgettable hooks belied the intensity of Jadagu's subject matter. What Is Going On? confronted some of the nation's most urgent struggles through Jadagu's compassionate perspective. What Is Going On? built on the small online fanbase Jadagu had developed by releasing music on SoundCloud for years as she realized her growing passion for songwriting. Now, Jadagu is releasing Aperture, her first LP and most ambitious work to date. Written in the years between graduating from high school in Mesquite, TX and her sophomore year of college in New York, Aperture finds Jadagu in a state of transition. "Where I grew up, everyone is Christian; even if you don't go to church, you're still practicing in some form," Jadagu says, laughing. "Moving out of my small hometown has made me reflect on how embedded Christianity is in the culture down there, and though I've been questioning my relationship to the church since high school, it's definitely a theme on this album, but so is family." As a kid, Jadagu followed her older sister - a major source of inspiration - to a local children's chorus, where she received choral training. "I hated it," Jadagu admits. "But it taught me how to harmonize, how to discover my tone, how to recognize and write melody." The aching single "Admit It" is dedicated to Jadagu's sister, whose love and impeccable taste have been a constant since Jadagu was a kid. The siblings were raised on mom's Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom Hannah credits her love of vocoder) but it was in the sanctity of her sister's car that Jadagu discovered the indie artists who inspire her work. With Aperture, Jadagu faced the challenge of finding a co-producer capable of complementing her work without dominating it. Enter Max Robert Baby, a French songwriter and producer who captured Jadagu's attention with his take on Aperture's lead single "Say It Now." The duo worked remotely, sending stems to one another via email, before meeting in-person for the first time at Greasy Studios on the outskirts of Paris. "When I recorded my EP, it was all MIDI, but in the studio Max and I worked with a ton of analog instruments," Jadagu says. "Every track on this album, except for 'Admit It,' was written first on guitar. But the blanket of synths throughout helps me move between sensibilities. There's rock Hannah, there's hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn't want any of the songs to sound too alike." An aperture is defined as an opening, a hole, a gap. On a camera, it's the mechanism that light passes through, allowing a photographer to immortalize a moment in time. For Jadagu, the word perfectly encapsulates the mood of her debut album. In the years it took her to complete, she faced moments of darkness, sure, but the process of making it was ultimately a cathartic experience, one she now shares with you. Let the light in.

Jean-Luc Mocard met Jean Ronde in September of 2009, while working at the CASIO Palaiseau factory, near Paris. Before, they were both active musicians with a particular taste for synthesized music, touring extensively through European and Asian underground venues and clubs. Eventually, their furious passion for collecting 80’s keyboards brought them together to become the fabulous duo Vive Les Cônes.

Presently based in Porto, Portugal, by a matter of pure chance, Vive Les Cônes is a CASIO explosion, the fuel of a dancing machine that never stops and cherry picks moments from dance and pop music culture along the way. Their live concerts are non-stop hit parades featuring their very own local cult classics, such as “Bonaparty” or “Brocoli-Rave”, and medleys of pop-culture classics ranging from video-game soundtracks, to dance hits, to classical music.

“De France”, their debut album, is the product of years of playing live, training and mastering the perfect CASIO technique. Every track in this album is played live using only pure unmodded Casio PT-380 and Yamaha PSR-37 keyboards, thrift store fx pedals, bringing to the recorded form the meticulously crafted tracks that set dancefloors on fire all throughout the world.

The album is an eclectic journey through electronic and dance music on cheap keyboards, from traces of House Music in “Maillon” and the instant hit “Je Ne Sais Pas”, fumes of vaporwave in “Machine à Vapeur”, and, of course, baguettes of French electro in “Brocoli-Rave”, the track that usually andeuphorically ends Vive Les Cônes’ set.

The Quietus has referred to the duo as a “weird John Shuttleworth take on house music”, but them being French, a better comparison would be something like “Daft Punk lost all their gear on tour and had to play a gig using some old keyboards”. But could they even do it? Maybe a “Pascal Comelade on molly live set for Boiler Room” could make thembetter Justice. We’re not really sure what to compare them to though, and probably there’s no need to compare them to anything, as the best thing you can do is to give them a go and check them out for yourself.

Jean-Luc Mocard met Jean Ronde in September of 2009, while working at the CASIO Palaiseau factory, near Paris. Before, they were both active musicians with a particular taste for synthesized music, touring extensively through European and Asian underground venues and clubs. Eventually, their furious passion for collecting 80’s keyboards brought them together to become the fabulous duo Vive Les Cônes.

Presently based in Porto, Portugal, by a matter of pure chance, Vive Les Cônes is a CASIO explosion, the fuel of a dancing machine that never stops and cherry picks moments from dance and pop music culture along the way. Their live concerts are non-stop hit parades featuring their very own local cult classics, such as “Bonaparty” or “Brocoli-Rave”, and medleys of pop-culture classics ranging from video-game soundtracks, to dance hits, to classical music.

“De France”, their debut album, is the product of years of playing live, training and mastering the perfect CASIO technique. Every track in this album is played live using only pure unmodded Casio PT-380 and Yamaha PSR-37 keyboards, thrift store fx pedals, bringing to the recorded form the meticulously crafted tracks that set dancefloors on fire all throughout the world.

The album is an eclectic journey through electronic and dance music on cheap keyboards, from traces of House Music in “Maillon” and the instant hit “Je Ne Sais Pas”, fumes of vaporwave in “Machine à Vapeur”, and, of course, baguettes of French electro in “Brocoli-Rave”, the track that usually andeuphorically ends Vive Les Cônes’ set.

The Quietus has referred to the duo as a “weird John Shuttleworth take on house music”, but them being French, a better comparison would be something like “Daft Punk lost all their gear on tour and had to play a gig using some old keyboards”. But could they even do it? Maybe a “Pascal Comelade on molly live set for Boiler Room” could make thembetter Justice. We’re not really sure what to compare them to though, and probably there’s no need to compare them to anything, as the best thing you can do is to give them a go and check them out for yourself.

Irish-born, Manchester-based Kerrie is a multi-disciplinary artist, incorporating live sets, DJing, producing and running her label Dark Machine Funk across her repertoire of work. Now, Kerrie follows up last year's 'Raw Regimen' (BP063) with a second EP for James Ruskin's seminal Blueprint Records.

Having garnered a rich musical education through working at and holding a DJ residency for one of the UK's most respected record shops Eastern Bloc, Kerrie's in-depth knowledge and unwavering dedication to music shines through her notable back catalogue and bolshy, unforgiving DJ and Live sets. Honing her craft for over a decade, Kerrie has played worldwide in celebrated venues such as Tresor, Berghain, fabric, FOLD, Elsewhere NYC and festivals including Freedom Medellin, Freerotation, Drift and Basilar.

First learning to mix via her brother's turntables in the early 2000s, it wasn't until 2009 that Kerrie invested in her own set-up and built an extensive record collection, covering everything from ambient, electronic, house, EBM, acid, electro, and her go-to genre, techno. Kerrie delivers tough moods from the turntables, as conveyed in her mixes for Reclaim Your City, Bassiani, SLAM and Crack, where she carefully blended high-energy styles of UK, Detroit, and European techno, many of which stem from the 90s and the 00s. It's frequent to hear Kerrie weave broken elements into her mixes too, chopping up the 4/4 groove at just the right moment to keep things propulsive. Kerrie's Live sets are fast becoming renowned for their trippy motifs and high impact on the dancefloor, applauded by Berlin's long-running club Tresor, where she made several appearances with her Elektron machines. Kerrie's Live set at Freerotation in 2019 was one of the festival's most talked-about debuts, and this year, Kerrie will return to and debut at multiple festivals and clubs across Europe and the Americas.

Following well-received releases on labels such as Don't Be Afraid, Cultivated Electronics, I Love Acid and Symbolism, Kerrie launched her imprint Dark Machine Funk DMF in 2020. The label homes her distinctly raw aesthetic and honours her love for dark, gritty, metallic and industrial sounds melded with elements of funk, heavily influenced by second-wave Detroit artists, UK techno and music by some of her favourite artists; James Ruskin, Blawan and Surgeon. Kerrie's first release on DMF, 'Inner Space PT1', was praised by Resident Advisor, who credited her ability to make "lean, fierce techno that knows how to groove."

2022 was a watershed year for Kerrie's productions. She debuted on the monumental UK techno label Blueprint with her EP 'Raw Regimen', which landed acclaimed reviews. Truly welcomed to the Blueprint family, Kerrie shares her second EP on the label in May and joins the crew at Blueprint showcases around the globe. This year marks the release of Kerrie's 10th EP on vinyl, and considering her consistent output on DMF, Blueprint and many more labels, the producer shows no sign of slowing down.

Coming to international prominence in more recent years, regardless of her decade-long tenure in Manchester's vibrant scene, Kerrie is deeply invested in the culture of electronic music, starting from her teenage era as a raver in Ireland up to her innovative projects today. In 2017, she founded Eastern Bloc's in-house event space to nurture local talent, which remains at the heart of Manchester's music community. Having ended her 11-year stint at the shop in 2023 to fully commit to the studio and accommodate her increasingly busy tour schedule, Kerrie is forging a long-lasting path fuelled by drive, passion, authenticity and a community-first way of thinking.

Tom Trago returns to Rush Hour after 10 years with a wonderfully accomplished mini-album, tip!

During the years he spent living in Amsterdam, when his DJ career seemed to become an unstoppable juggernaut, Tom Trago was a regular visitor to Deco Sauna, a local institution that helped him “decompress” and de-toxify his body. Eventually, a more extended period of “decompression” was needed, with Trago moving to the coast to reassess his priorities and spend more time with his young family.

‘Deco’, his sixth album and first for Rush Hour in a decade, was recorded following an extended absence from club dancefloors, as Trago cut back on DJ commitments to prioritise family life. When he returned to the studio, often with his daughter by his side, Trago initially struggled to get back into the groove. The desire to make dancefloor-focused music had – temporarily, at least – deserted him; instead, he found himself drawn towards a desire to create “electronic lullabies” and music that reflected his more pastoral environment (his home backs on to a patch of woodland in which he would walk every day).

Returning to his most familiar synthesisers – and specifically the first synthesiser he bought, on credit, as a young DJ and wannabe producer – Trago set about navigating different musical routes without the straight-jacket of club-focused dancefloors. Occasionally, old friends from Amsterdam would join him in the studio – Tracey and Maxi Mill, both of whom are part of his Voyage Direct label roster, contributed to tracks on the album – but for the most part the production process was a solo endeavour: musical therapy for an artist determined to do things differently after years spent making club hits and sweat-soaked peak-time workouts.

The results are rarely less than spellbinding. Trago sets his stall out with opener ‘Dark Oak’, a gorgeous, colourful, sun-bright scene-setter co-produced by Tracey that layers tumbling lead lines, chiming melodic motifs and kaleidoscopic chords atop the gentlest of bubbly beat patterns. Maxi Mill lends a hand on ‘Central Park’, a deep and hypnotic excursion marked out by rhythmic bleeps, minimalistic beats and layered melodies, and the summer sun-down rush of ‘Never Peace a Puzzle’, where kaleidoscopic synth sounds, meandering solos and looped electronic stabs rush towards a dancefloor of the mind.

Trago’s desire to create “electronic lullabies” for his young daughter comes to the fore on ‘To Be Left Unlocked’, a hypnotising fusion of spacey electronic motifs, Steve Reich style (synth) marimba melodies and slowly building musical intensity, while the echoing Fender Rhodes riffs, squelchy synth-bass, glistening guitar notes and sparse, snappy post hip-hop beats of ‘When The Sky Is Watching Us’ doff a cap to the producer’s roots as a bedroom beat-maker.

Given the project’s genesis, it’s perhaps fitting that Trago chose to conclude proceedings with ‘It Might Be Forever’ and the digital only ‘Blue Dope’, the album’s most rejuvenating, immersive, and vibrant moments. Both feature sustained chords painted with vivid aural brush strokes and come blessed with the merest hint of a rhythmic pulse – a thread that subtly runs throughout Trago’s most mature and musically rich album to date.

Matt Anniss

London’s own Trev appeared on our first release, Body Music Vol 1, as well as other key releases on CoOp Presents and Local Talk. We’ve been fans from the start and, after Trev joined the family, his music went from strength to strength. It was already out-of-this-world production, with serious attention to detail, and this EP is nothing short of excellent! He told us 'there’s no hiding that this EP is, in essence, a long love letter to Brazil', but that it’s also written to 'Iran, London, Lisbon, Japan, probably more - too many to remember!'. Trev described his process as 'listening, learning, combining my favourite elements of all this music that has brought me so much joy over the years'. Right on!

This EP is fresh, different and sonically on point. It’s Bruk, it’s Brazilian, it’s Bass, it’s… all-round-really-good dance music! Trev is a real modern musician, an awesome keys player as well as a producer. He understands the importance of musicality and originality, together with weighty beats and bass, working just as well on the dance floor as they do at a house party… or dinner party, for that matter!

'Nightjar', the title track, draws you in with hypnotic plucks like crickets on a hot summer’s night. Eerie pads float in building tension before the beat drops - Pandeiro and Caxixi serving broken-beat with the kick - pumping the sonic palette and pumping the dancefloor. Deep sinister chords pulse in and out, percussive melodies bring love from the middle east, and we reach a beautiful jazz-harmony break - then it’s straight back to the body movement - this time letting loose with the cowbells and the shakers. Think Brazil, think Persia, think Jazz, think dance-floor, it’s all in there!

'Late Flip' pulls us into a more ethereal intro, with the Koto and skate sounds laying our dream scene. Morphing out of flutes, modular synth plucks pay tribute to the sounds of Lisbon as we drop - a rolling broken beat punch, playful Rhodes and distant vocal chops ring out with the Koto dripping in warm echoes. A truly amazing composition and arrangement that leaves you wanting more!

'Beijo' is one of our faves on this EP. We’re straight in with a kiss - MWAH! - a classic Baile rhythm gets a warm Bruk embrace. It’s passionate and dark and tells a story as old as history. Get lost in the movements between drums and percussion, in the flutes and cicadas, until the organ bass calls it - time to get moving. This really is Trev’s signature dance floor style. A banger with a naughty-yet-subtle bassline, and its own game of perspective - feel this rhythm in more ways than one. Vocal chops and Tamborim place São Paulo’s influence front and centre.

'Grey' takes us on a dusty House/Bruk journey with filtering chords that grow patiently until the beat drops - getting your feet moving and neck bopping! Burning slow, Trev is playful with the harmony, keeping the fun with a roller of a bassline that pulls it all together. It’s a six-and-a-half-minute rich musical journey that feels more like half that time!?

Complete your Dance Regular Vinyl collection with this absolute killer EP from the one called Trev.

Ace Records is proud to announce the purchase of the Shrine label and Eddie Singleton’s independent productions.
To celebrate we have compiled an album of the very best dance recordings the label made in 1965 and 1966, primarily in Washington DC.

The business’s failure made this music incredibly hard to find for record collectors and Shrine is rightly known as the rarest soul label.

It is much more than that though. The music was made by some one of the original founders of Motown, Raynoma Liles Gordy and her Motown-schooled cousin Mike Ossman, New York music business luminaries Eddie Singleton and Harry Bass and the up-and-coming talents of Washington’s Keni St Lewis and Maxx Kidd. The acts included the hugely respected Ray Pollard and fellow New Yorker J.D. Bryant, talented and established Washington and Baltimore acts Eddie Daye & The 4 Bars, Bobby Reed and the Enjoyables. Importantly, they discovered and developed the local talent of the area in the shape of the Cautions, Les Chansonettes, the Prophets and Shirley Edwards.

It took decades for UK Northern Soul fans to realise the significance of the label. It finally clicked for Stafford’s Top Of The World all-nighter DJs who searched out the incredibly hard to find later releases and played them to the cult-following of the rare soul scene. The scarcity was caused by Shrine pressing up a batch of fourteen future singles but only getting a handful released before they folded. The vast majority of the later releases were destroyed in a warehouse fire or simply binned as stillborn commercial failures.

Such was the scarcity that when the first Shrine compilations were issued in 1990, the Prophets tracks from Eddie Singleton’s master tapes were assumed to be unreleased - until Shrine sleuth Andy Rix later obtained one from a group member.

GAB002 sees Gimme A Break Records keep things local with a rowdy EP from Leeds-based DJ and producer BEERUS. Over the last six months, BEERUS has demonstrated his production power through two bodacious releases on Gunfinger Food’s new sub-label, Booty Frooty Records. Fusing UK styles including hardcore, acid and jungle with US staples such as electro, juke and footwork, BEERUS has established a playful sound primed for the dancefloor.

BEERUS’s “9000” EP opens with a hardcore weapon which combines rave stabs with Dragon Ball samples and an acid line threatening to spiral out of control at any given moment. “Play This Shit” sees the EP take a sensual turn as BEERUS channels the sounds of Chicago with an enticing juke number. “Booty Acid” follows suit, offering up a particularly self-explanatory track title: luscious electro meets 303s. “Love4U” is BEERUS’s love letter to the happy hardcore scene as a thumping 4x4 bassline collides with melancholic vocals and piano lunacy. Finally, BEERUS rounds off GAB002 in style with the junglist mediation “DO U WANT ME”.

Troekurovo Recordings is a production team made up of Toki Fuko, Vadim Basov and Evgeny Vorontsov and they have been hidden away deep in some enchanted Russian forests recording music. Now they are putting out the results on this superb double pack. This project started back in 2016 as a live experimental jam and is now an annual tradition made on loads of analogue gear on the banks of a canyon that was formed many years ago by a melting glacier. The locale provides inspiration - from the fresh country air to the meteor showers often visible overhead - for the music making which is strictly "no preparation, no pre-programming - hardware, friends and live improvisation only."

There's more than a hint of ambition on the double LP sophomore effort from Sam Austin Rabede, the producer known as DJ Black Low. Pretoria, South Africa-born and based, the young man makes amapiano with new ways of expressing this local- turned-global style of dance music. In DJ Black Low's musical imagination, the songs manage to smoothly vacillate between dreamy and firmly-grounded. Adorned with vocalists across most of the twelve tracks, there's a new dimension to Black Low's now-signature approach to abstract, angular deconstruction of the rhythmic developments in his songs. The album references influences and ambitions in its song titles and lyrics while the music itself is anthemic in its sonic and structural aspirations. On many of the songs a slow-burning tension transforms into something unexpected until you're somewhere else as the track concludes. There is an emotional and compositional maturity that builds on his earlier work. Vocals and lyrics are in focus. Production collaborators among Black Low's Gauteng Province circle add to the constantly churning array of ideas that populate this consistently surprising release. Despite being a relative newcomer, DJ Black Low is onto something here.

The roots of JuJu started in San Francisco after Plunky had met his musical mentor, Zulu musician Ndikho Xaba, helping to form his band Ndikho and The Natives. Three members of The Natives (Plunky, bassist Ken Shabala and vibes / flute player Lon Moshe) then joined Marvin X’s theatrical production The Resurrection Of The Dead, joining local musicians Al-Hammel Rasul (keyboards), Babatunde Lea (percussion) and Jalango Ngoma (timbales).

When the production ended, the six musicians formed Juju. “We had high-energy rehearsals that lasted for hours and, as a band, we became powerful and began gigging around the Bay Area,” remembers Plunky. Although orientated towards Black Nationalism, the

band fed off the Bay Area’s culturally diverse communities as Plunky shaped an inclusive worldview based on collective political, social and artistic activities. During this time, the Soledad Brothers case and Angela Davis were prominent and the band supported Professor Davis and the cause. Juju’s music matched the fire of their activism. “As a band, we blew, pounded and stroked our instruments like there was no tomorrow, like our life’s work was wrapped up in each session. We approached our performances like religious rites and the music mesmerised, informed and awakened people.” The band’s first album, a Message from Mozambique, was intentionally political. While the anti-war movement focused on Vietnam, Juju looked towards wars being waged in South Africa, Angola and Mozambique over issues of white supremacy and control of natural resources. A second album, ‘Chapter Two: Nia’ would follow before the birth of Oneness Of Juju during the mid-‘70s. This definitive reissue is fully remastered by The Carvery from the original tapes and features original artwork and a new interview with Juju bandleader James “Plunky” Branch.

CVC (or Church Village Collective in full) hail from a sleepy village 10 miles north of Cardiff, nestling atop a hill in the Welsh valleys.

 CVC is comprised of singer Francesco Orsi, bassist Ben Thorne, drummer Tom Fry, keyboardist Daniel ‘Naniel’ Jones and singing guitarists David Bassey and Elliott Bradfield. (It’s worth noting that the latter two, despite never having met them, are related to Welsh royalty Dame Shirley Bassey and Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield.)

 Maybe owing to genetics, Bassey states “I don’t think I’d be able to not do this, I don’t actively choose to, I’m just drawn to it.”

 Their lush three-part harmonies echo the music they grew up on - contemporary pop’s building blocks: the Beatles, Neil Young and the Beach Boys - rich, melodic and pristine music that’s steeped in rock’s history.

 ‘Get Real’, CVC’s 11-track debut album, brings a touch of Laurel Canyon to the valleys. Made over four sun-baked weeks (once their time was up, Ross Orton Arctic Monkeys mixed the finished product), they kept it local by recording it in Bradfields’ living room.

For a quarter of an hour, Zürich was the navel of the world. Let's look back: at New York's CBGB's, pre-punks were shredding away, Malcolm McLaren, as a man with a fine-tuned taste for the hip, imported the sound to London, where his sweetheart Vivienne Westwood dressed the test-tube band The Sex Pistols. A few pop magazines later (we are in an analog world!) punk bands sprouted everywhere, like shiny pimples on poorly fed teenagers. Contrary to legend, even back then, it was often those with a musical background who were the most successful. One such example, Henrich "Wüste" Zwahlen, who had learned the violin, attended a jazz school and went into prog-rock before joining the Nasal Boys, one of the first punk bands in Zürich. The scene included the female band Kleenex (cover: Fischli of art heroes Fischli/Weiss), whose minimalism was praised by the London music press, while the world's most important rock theorist, Greil Marcus, wrote an ode highlighting Zürich's role as the birthplace of Dadaism. A fertile ground for the militant youth movement that exploded in 1980 and stirred up the city of banks, protestantism and boredom with raw wit and expressive violence. Gathering at concerts of local bands and fueled by endogenous and artificial substances - they paid homage to exuberance and self-indulgence.
The mantra of "everything-is-possible" was driven forward on the musical front by progress in terms of means of production: analog electronic instruments were no longer reserved for hippie nerds, who sat in front of large plug-in boards like autistic-psychedelic switchboard operators connecting cables for their sound carpets. Now snazzy stage personnel elicited fast-paced sounds from handy devices often made in Japan. Kraftwerk was fashionable, the Zurich duo Yello experimented with new synthetic sounds, and the groundbreaking album "Alles Ist Gut" by the Düsseldorf based duo D.A.F. (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) was released, which chanted its program of provocation times danceability with lines such as "Tanz den Jesus Christus, tanz the Mussolini, tanz the Adolf Hitler." In England meanwhile, electronically backed New Romantic bands were replacing New Wave. The Human League, Heaven 17, Duran Duran, OMD, Depeche Mode or Visage stormed the charts.
In Zürich's underground, the duo Aboriginal Voices caused a stir at that time. A couple, good-looking, styled, looking cool into the cold neon light, with a danceable beat and sequenced electro sounds, to which Micheline gave a very unique touch when she sang in French and English. Micheline had a classical piano education, had left home early, worked as a lighting technician in a strip joint and at Booster, the hottest boutique in town (one of the relicts that still exists). Voilà: a musician who was as stylish as she was tough. She was already playing with Wüste in the band "Doobie Doos", a band where everyone played an instrument they didn't master. In 1980 the Aboriginal Voices were formed, initially with vocalist Magda Vogel (of later UnknownmiX fame), who was trained as a classical singer.

Frustrated by organizational friction and constant hassles with band lineups, Wüste and Misch decided to do everything as a twosome: self-mixed, self-styled, self-produced. With the top-of-the-line Linn drum machine clocking the beat, Wüste's guitar and Micheline on the Yamaha synthesizer created a unique sound of danceable electronic music. Whereby the Aboriginal Voices acted as a kind of proto-influencer, receiving the latest equipment to try out, especially since they made it a point not to work with tapes, but to design everything for live shows. They had an interface built for the legendary Roland MC-4B, who sequenced the modular Roland System 100M but where one output controlled a light show synchronized with the sound. A pioneering act that fit well into the DIY spirit of punk, with its self-distributed tapes and fuck-you attitude towards the cretins of the music industry. Consequently only two cassettes and an EP were released. There was something futuristic about the sound, the vestiary style and the electronics, while the attitude remained rebellious. Of course something so deeped in the Zeitgeist wasn't meant to last. Wüste moved to New York, Micheline stayed in Zurich, both still active in the music scene to this day.

Sven Regener, head of the band Element of Crime and one of Germany's most successful pop writer said a few years ago when asked if he knew of any Swiss music: "Of course! In 1983, a Swiss band called Aboriginal Voices played with us at a festival in Zurich. Great, avant-garde electro-pop. That was my first encounter."

If you ever saw them live, you never forgot them, and so over the years you belonged to a teeny-tiny circle of insiders, happy to be joined after all these years by new aficionados who appreciate the sound of that quarter-hour, when Zurich was ravishing, creative and exciting.

- Thomas Haemmerli

The Mothership has come! It has arrived in the form of the strictly limited collection box “Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe”, containing all singles released on the label between 2019 and 2021. The Höga Nord – galaxy resounds of all good between strict electro and loose jams, fluffy krautrock and moist world music to underwater techno and space funk. Although, what it is that defines the Höga Nord sound is not genres, instead it is, to cite Mathias Nilsson, founder of and boss for the label, music “strongly connected to fantasy, to the creative world.” Creativity over profit!

The collection is an overview on Gothenburg’s underground music and on an international scene that breathes similar air as the local Swedish acts that Höga Nord Rekords has chosen to highlight. The kinship between Jesse’s 80’s varnish sports car-electro and Purple Desert Rain God’s more traditional mountain sound can appear distant but the artists come together in their free spirited approach to their own productions – what all acts on this collection has in common is that they move toward something new, something beyond the genre they are in.

“Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe ” mark the closer for Höga Nords first run. The 2010s are over and the 2020s lies open for further investigation of the cream of the Swedish and international of underground scenes!

Gondwana Records announces 'Goodbyes' the debut album from Estonian pianist and composer, Hanakiv, a deeply beautiful, meditative piano album featuring special guest Alabaster dePlume

"This is an album about healing. It is about saying your goodbyes to everything that doesn't serve you anymore. Each of these songs has a little goodbye in it. So, these are very beautiful and necessary goodbyes".

Hanakiv is a young composer and musician from Estonia (now based in London) who creates meditative piano-based ambient music with elements from classical and electronic music. 'Goodbyes' is her debut recording and draws on influences as diverse as Tim Hecker, Björk "Vespertine", Kara-Lis Coverdale, Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Aphex Twin as well as her own cultural heritage. Music has an important part in Estonian culture, especially choir music and its traditions, but Hanakiv also draws on her love of nature – the beautiful Estonian seaside and forests - and on her time in Iceland. However, it was moving to London that gave her the freedom to make her own music: "London gave me the freedom and courage to really be who I am (as a person and musically)" and her heritage and her new home both offer inspiration to Goodbyes, as Hanakiv moves between these two opposite places, a bustling metropolis and a small country full of nature, drawing inspiration from both as she sculpts her own voice.

Hanakiv had an unconventional music education – she started studying music at a school for handbells when she was nine and was part of a handbell ensemble for eight years. Starting on piano at the same time she went on to study composition at high school, and later at the Estonian Academy of Music. Eventually switching to electroacoustic composition, she studied in Reykjavik, and did internships in Malmö, and again Reykjavik before moving to London. She grew up in a musical family and her grandmother was a piano teacher and choir conductor.

"I would always ask her to take me to her choir rehearsals. I remember sitting under the grand piano, listening to the choir and just being mesmerised by the sounds. She also teaches in a local music school in the south of Estonia with about ten pianos, and I'd spend a lot of time there as well. I believe this was the starting point for me to get to where I am now. The last two pieces on the album (Home II and Home I) are composed in this same music school, so it feels like a full circle.

An early influence was Regina Spektor "the first artist who made me really want to play piano" alongside dream pop and Sigur Rós' as well as Estonian contemporary composers such as Erkki-Sven Tüür and Arvo Pärt. Later her studies took her to Reykjavík: "There is this amazing record shop called 12 Tónar in Reykjavik where you can drink espressos and listen to all their vinyls. I spent quite a lot of time there. There is something about Icelandic music that really excited me (the mixture of contemporary electronic sounds with melancholy, emotionality). This is when I started getting more into electronic music, and experimenting outside of classical music". Following a year long break from studying and inspired by making an electroacoustic soundtrack for a friend's abstract video, she was inspired to complete a masters in electroacoustic composition, diving fully into the worlds of sound recording and mixing and focusing on surround sound and how to position and move sounds in space, eventually doing an internship with composer Kent Olofson in Malmö, who works with multi-speaker systems for theatre productions. "I learnt a lot from him and he introduced me to some of my favourite plugins I've used a lot on this album as well."

Hanakiv moved to London just as the pandemic hit and found herself trapped, in a big new city, without any network or family and so just concentrated on making music. "I stayed in my room with my basic equipment - keyboard, Korg minilogue, SM 58 and Rode nt1-a microphones, laptop and speakers. I was reading about mixing, and trying out different things and listening to a lot of music to get the sense of the mixes and production and finishing a commission piece for 5.1 multi speaker system at that time so I set up four speakers for quadrophonic surround sound in my room!". She also found her way back to piano - my instrument – and started practicing again, playing the pieces she used to play, but also just improvising, and this was the beginning of what would become her debut album, 'Goodbyes'.

"I started appreciating everything about music again (even melody!), and everything just came together naturally, and I arrived to a point where I finally found my voice, and I had something that I wanted to say and share. I composed "Meditation I" first and started with "Goodbye", and all the other pieces are derived from that. Without "Meditation I" there wouldn't be this album. If you listen closely, "Meditation I" starts where "Goodbye" ends; "Meditation II" is born from "Meditation I".

But it was meeting Fi Roberts, a sound engineer based at the legendary Strongrom Studios in Shoreditch, London in December 2020 that really brought the album into focus. The pair bonded over an interest in prepared piano and a similar approach to production ideas (a balance of not overdoing it, and letting the songs speak for themselves, but being open to explore) and Fi became a friend but also a confidant and eventually co-producer

"Fi has a big impact on this record but I don't know how to really explain that properly. Of course, this album is sonically stunning thanks to her amazing mixes and recording skills, but she also believed in this music so much and it created something very special - that's difficult to measure with words. She just works with heart, and I really appreciate that"

This then is 'Goodbyes', the first offering from a major new voice, who offers us a meditative work full of space and tranquillity but also life and friendship and meaning. And we are very proud to welcome her to the Gondwana family.

Clear Vinyl

Kate Fagan took the Chicago punk scene by storm in the early 80's with her self-released single "I Don't Wanna Be Too Cool", which became the best-selling single ever by a local artist at the legendary Wax Trax! Records. Today, Captured Tracks is thrilled to present an expanded, re-mastered edition of I Don't Wanna Be Too Cool as a full-length vinyl album. Fagan wrote "I Don't Wanna Be Too Cool" after moving to Chicago from New York in the late 70's. The track is a critique of the emergent "hipster" attitude of the disco crowd and the posturing she was witnessing among her peers in New York. With its surf-inspired drum machine, irresistible melody, and defiant lyrics, "Too Cool" was immediately embraced by club DJs, radio stations, and independent record stores. Its b-side, "Waiting For The Crisis," also gained notice for its raw musical style and politically charged Reagan-era lyrics, which still resonate today. In the years that followed, Fagan continued to break new ground In 1980, she co-founded the enormously popular ska band Heavy Manners (whose dance parties are still legendary), and with them opened shows for The Clash, Grace Jones, Peter Tosh, The English Beat, and many more. The "Too Cool" single became a sought-after rarity among record collectors for decades after its initial release, until Manufactured Recordings gave it a proper reissue in 2016. Captured Tracks' expanded 2023 follow-up features four unreleased songs, which encapsulate the gutsy, new wave energy that pulses through the original single. The final track, the reggae-tinged "Say It", features production from the reggae legend Peter Tosh and Bob Marley's guitarist Donald Kinsey, who flew in from Jamaica to record with Heavy Manners after witnessing their impassioned live show. While the 2016 reissue re-established Fagan's cult-classic status for a new audience, this new expanded release solidifies her place in a tradition of trailblazing, powerhouse frontwomen.

Skins is a producer/DJ based in Leeds with an active history in dance music that goes back over 10 years. He cut his teeth DJing regularly at the legendary former Oxford nightclub The Cellar. He played here as part of the Subverse Radio collective as well as for other favourite local promoters, alongside a regular radio show on the aforementioned station which he co-founded. After moving to Leeds in 2016, Skins focused his attention on music production and self-released a string of white-label techno EPs which garnered support from artists such as Djrum, Jane Fitz and Mike Schommer of Deepchord.

More recently Skins has moved away from the dub techno sound with which he had become associated, with an EP from speed garage newcomers Spin City on heavy rotation with DJs including Evan Baggs, Andrew James Gustav and Sugar Free. His latest explorations have found him returning to the futuristic jungle stylings which originally drew him into the world of electronic music in his teens.

Whether it’s in the studio or behind the decks, Skins draws on a wide range of influences from hip hop, deep house and techno through dubstep and grime to jungle, with a preference for playing vinyl over three turntables. He has performed alongside the likes of Willow, Batu, Answer Code Request, Levon Vincent and Ben UFO.

Local Action is proud to present Cyclorama, the long-awaited debut album by Ariel Zetina.

A resident DJ at Chicago’s iconic Smartbar, a long-standing Discwoman family member and a key part of the city’s dance music and LGBTQ+ communities, Ariel has established herself as one of the most exciting electronic artists operating today - through releases such as 2020’s acclaimed MUAs at the End of the World and 2017’s Organism, and her meticulous approach to DJ mixes - as recently evidenced on Sestina, her 2020 contribution to Mixtape Club.

Written across 2021 and honed this Spring, Cyclorama is Ariel’s most impressive and all-encompassing work yet, showcasing her as a producer, vocalist and also curator, pulling together an ensemble cast of her peers in Chicago (Cae Monāe, Mia Arevalo, DANNN) and some of the most exciting names in contemporary club music (Violet, Bored Lord).

Conceptually, Cyclorama draws heavily from Ariel’s background as a theater writer and producer. Popularized in 19th century German theater, a cyclorama (or cyc) is a large curtain, placed on the back wall of the stage. This creates an illusion of extra depth in the background, and often is used to represent the sky. In Ariel’s words, “I imagine all the tracks on this as the lights and action projected onto the cyclorama. The whole album is like the cyc, a representation of the sky. Or an imagined sky. An imagined dancefloor. An imagined theatrical production.”

As well as drawing conceptually from Ariel’s background in theater, the album draws on a personal level from Ariel’s journey as a trans woman of color - most directly on Cyclorama’s three vocal tracks, ‘Gemstone’, ‘Slab of Meat’ and lead single ‘Have You Ever’.

On ‘Have You Ever’, Ariel collaborates with Cae Monāe, a dear friend and fellow trans woman of color. “‘Have you ever been with a girl like me before?’ and all the lyrics refers to the fear and anxiety that cis men who are attracted to trans women feel, and also any woman that doesn’t fit the mold of a stereotypical woman”, Ariel explains. “Cae and I - and many trans women - have been in so many situations where society tells cis men they cannot be with trans women and this explores that and gives power to all trans women in this situation. The techno reflects that, as well as the “Spell my name” section at the end, showing the true power of trans women.”

On ‘Slab of Meat’, Ariel delivers a hypnotic solo vocal performance that builds in intensity with each line (“I am treated like a slab of meat both emotionally and sexually sometimes, especially one left in the freezer on the back burner. Why did you bring this meat home from the market? For what? You’re wasting meat!”), while ‘Gemstone’, a collaboration with Mia Arevalo, continues the empowering themes of ‘Have You Ever’ in a different context:

“‘Gemstone’ is a call for trans women to take time with your transition because it will all happen eventually. As two girls who have started our transition almost a decade ago, I think we have both seen that we have always needed to take our time to take our time. Reminders not to rush or compare yourself to other girls. I love the metaphor of gemstone months representing different periods of transition. I’ve been so many different women in recent years, and I'm excited to continue my journey.”

It’s immediately followed by album closer ‘Tropical Depression’, the title of which is a reference to Ariel growing up with tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes affecting her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida as well as her family in Belize City:

“This track for me is about living day to day and continuing while dealing with my really intense clinical depression. The sample comes from “Why can’t you let me go?” but is supposed to be transformative and not necessarily legible. How we hold on to our trauma and depression like a protective shell. This is an attempt to deal with it in a different way.”

The Cyclorama album cover, directed by Dylan Bragassa, stars Ariel alongside Monāe and Arevalo in an imagined theater production. In Ariel’s words, “a theoretical performance starring only trans women of color - I wanted an ensemble shot to represent the ensemble nature of this album! Love how Dylan combines so many ideas to create a very unique image that asks so many questions.”

A stalwart of the Leeds music scene for the best part of 3 decades, Tony Burkill has so far maintained a low profile nationally, choosing to favour continued study and development of the instrument over the attainment of success or recognition within the music industry. Working as a sideman for hire on the local circuit, he has impressed audiences with his powerful and gutsy approach to improvisation and has been a well-kept secret amongst both musicians and audiences in the north of England since the 1980s.Recently featuring as a guest soloist on the debut album by The Sorcerers, Tony has been on the radar of ATA Records since the inception of the label. Impressed by his exuberant and earthy performance style they decided to embark on the writing and production of what was to become "Work Money Death", choosing to frame his playing in the context of the performers that have helped to shape his sound, most notably the spiritual jazz of the 60s and 70s.

"Work Money Death"explores the foundations laid by the great Tenor players of the 60s & 70s: Gato Barbieri, Pharoah Sanders, John Klemmer and John Coltrane, taking inspiration from their work and using it as a springboard for Tenor Saxophonist Tony Burkill's improvisation. Co-written with Bassist Neil Innes, the album attempts to frame Tony's playing within the context of that which has been most influential to him over the span of a 20+ year long career. Featuring on the record are Drummer Sam Hobbs (The Electric Doctor M and Producer of Matthew Bourne's Moogmemory), Bassist Neil Innes (The Sorcerers, Eddie Roberts' Roughneck), Pianist George Cooper (Abstract Orchestra), Percussionist Pete Williams (The Sorcerers) and features a guest performance from Pianist Matthew Bourne on the track "Beginning and End".

Support and airplay from Gilles Peterson (BBC6 Music, Worldwide FM), Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2). Good reviews have so far been forthcoming from the likes of Jazzman Gerald and Nat Birchall who described it as sounding "like a lost album from the spiritual jazz scene of the 1970s".

Gotts Street Park are a proud bunch of throwbacks. The Leeds-based trio - Josh Crocker (bass, production), Tom Henry (keys) and Joe Harris (guitar) - met through various music studies and friendship networks. Individually their tastes are diverse: from North Indian classical to experimental jazz, soul to alternative hip hop but their vision is united: “The idea of doing things live in one room has always been important,” remarks Josh. “That’s how they used to do it. Our identity evolved from that.”

The inception of the collective goes back to around 2012. There have been minor line up tweaks - they currently record with a rotating list of drummers - but the philosophy has stayed the same: an ongoing pursuit to capture the raw, unparalleled vibe that comes from recording music together, usually as one take, sometimes to analogue tape.

That approach is a deliberate call back to the methods made famous by legendary studios like Sun and Stax in Memphis, or FAME and Muscle Shoals in Alabama and their in-house bands. That’s why for years, GSP set up their own studio in a shared house in a tough (but, crucially, affordable) corner of west Leeds, Armley. Gotts Park (historically the home of industrialist Benjamin Gott) was close by - the group’s name was a nod to their local geography but also the fact it sounded like an area plucked straight out of some of their favourite East Coast hip hop releases.

Their work was quickly noticed, and it was from that base where they began working with an eye catching list of collaborators: Rejjie Snow, Kali Uchis, Cosima, Yellow Days, Chester Watson, Greentea Peng and Benny Mails. Tom also played keys in Mabel’s band. Early on, while performing as a band for hire for those artists, they were simultaneously honing their own sound; a deliberately retro “heavy, saturated” atmosphere that married the languid vibe of traditional soul with the pin sharp clarity of contemporary hip hop. Old leanings, sure, but upcycled with their own modern twist. “We’re constantly trying to build a catalogue,” says Tom. “Writing new stuff and sending it out to people.” That’s why after the release of their debut EP, ‘Volume One’, in 2017 the invitations kept coming; most notably from Brits Rising Star award winner Celeste, with whom they recorded two tracks on her debut EP ‘Lately’.

‘Volume Two’ once again features an impressive raft of vocalists - all female - from established names to fresh talent. This time, musically, the overall tone is lighter; less gritty, more optimistic. “It’s definitely not as gloomy,” says Josh. “Still though, there is this kind of dark, mysterious thing that we do a lot that works,” he continues. “Like the song we’ve done with Grand Pax, for example - it’s got that kind of witchy darkness to it. I think if you do a really straight male soul voice, it can be a bit cheesy and sound like you’ve heard it a million times before.”

Their collaborations might be some of the freshest of 2020 but make no mistake: Gotts Street Park are out there looking to create something timeless.

Cross the outerbridge from New York's Staten Island and you'll end up in New Jersey, Perth Amboy to be exact, home to 60s Garage/Soul group, 'The Invaders'.

Jerome James, lead singer/songwriter, and his 4-piece group reigned at the forefront of local aspiring teen musicians, playing alongside acts such as Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell when Motown hosted their east coast revue, yet only recorded once, at Super Sound Studios, NJ. The resulting songs from this session were sixties tinged instrumental 'Wildroote', but more importantly, one of the most iconic sweet soul songs, 'O Lord'.

An independent production released on the groups own label, Da Gail, served as a calling card for fans & shows alike, prior to the group rebranding as 70s disco outfit 'Hosanna'. Fun fact - hammond player, Teddy Andreadis went on to play with Guns n Roses, Carole King, Chuck Berry, and it all started with 'The Invaders'.

South African production duo of Emil Zoghby and John Galanakis were responsible for a string of high-quality disco singles in the early 80s, typically cover versions of international hits — Klein & MBO’s ‘The Big Apple’, Sly & the Family Stone’s ‘Family Affair’ & David Joseph’s ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)’ — backed with their own compositions. When Starlight hit the market with an album in 1983, it featured only one cover, the local hit ‘Picnic’, along with five of the duo’s original compositions, including their similarly styled response, ‘Picnicing’, which replaces the original’s sax with spaced-out synth stabs. Then there’s ‘Jah Jah Love’, an ecstatic disco sermon of dancefloor dynamite weighing in at over eight and a half minutes. Other tracks on this landmark album — ‘Let’s Go Dancing (Boogie Boogie)’, ‘Keep On Moving’ and an eponymous instrumental — offer a similar fusion of classic disco with newer Italo and proto-house influences: machine music with a human touch! Remastered from the original master tapes and reissued for the first time, Starlight will be available on vinyl and digital platforms from early 2023 (40 years after its initial release) via Afrosynth Records.

If, among the Afro-Peruvian music groups that have emerged in recent years, there is one that has dared to take the sound to new dimensions, it is Perkutao. Heirs to the best Afro-Peruvian tradition, they have been able to integrate Afro-Cuban elements and various contemporary popular styles, which they play with amazing with speed and precision. "Mis ancestros", is their debut album for Buh Records. Perkutao is an Afro-Peruvian percussion ensemble founded in 2005, directed by Percy Chinchilla, musician, percussionist, zapateador and teacher of young generations of percussionists. "Mis Ancestros" (My ancestors) is their first record under the production of Manongo Mujica and is the fourth title of the collection "Perspectivas de la Música Afroperuana" (Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music). Chinchilla shares the artistic direction of Perkutao with William Nicasio 'Makarito', another outstanding percussionist. Both grew up in the famous Callejón del Buque, in the district of La Victoria, a spot preferred by bohemians and known by local music partying -jaranas criollas. Both were also formed in Perú Negro, an emblematic Afro-Peruvian ensemble, and both carry in their blood the cult of percussion and Afro tradition. Chinchilla comes from a family of Afro-Peruvian musicians including Caitro Soto and Ronaldo Campos. And Makarito is the son of Macario Nicasio and grandson of El Niño, legendary Cuban percussionist in charge of introducing congas and bongo to Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Perkutao arose precisely from the merging of these traditions, Afro-Peruvian, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music, and have become one of the most sought-after percussion ensembles due to the intensity of their sound and their powerful performances that include stage movements and surprising acrobatic skills. In addition to Chinchilla and Makarito, the ensemble is completed by Edu Campos, Andree Liendo and Víctor Sánchez Pitín. "I follow in the footsteps of my ancestors, to the beat of the cajita, the quijada and the cajón, to the rhythm of a zamacueca, a festejo and a good landó". This is an excerpt of the lyrics of "Poema", the opening track of the album, the rhythmic base accompanies Chinchilla's voice and then increases in a crescendo that announces the paths to be explored by Perkutao. "Azañero Colorao", "Trucutum Kiti Pa" and "Cancha con Sabor", composed based on minor percussion (cajita, quijada), zapateo and cajón, respectively, are compositions that serve as an introduction, a tribute to the essential instruments of the Afro-Peruvian tradition. The last one in particular already defines Perkutao's style: a trepidant and orgiastic rhythm, hypnotic and hard hitting, Dionysian and cathartic. With "Madre Africa" and "Al Tayta Bukense", for djembes and congas, respectively, we find Perkutao retaking the Afro-Cuban heritage embedded to the Afro-Peruvian sounds, abakuá and festejo. "Lloraré", a version of a famous Cuban song, mirror the ensemble's fascination with Caribbean music (salsa is another genre cultivated by its members). "Mis ancestros" is an album about a tradition, but it is also a renewal. Perkutao opens a new direction for Afro-Peruvian music, its sound is an evocation and the here and now, it is deep-rooted but freely flowing percussion. Perkutao are Percy Chinchilla, William Nicasio "Makarito", Edu Campos, Andree Liendo y Víctor Sánchez Pitín. Produced by Manongo Mujica y Daniel Mujica. Recorded and mixed by Juan José Salazar at La Encía del Leopardo Estudio, Chorrillos, Lima, Perú. Mastered by Mario Breuer en Sensei Mastering, Córdoba, Argentina. Cover and Design by Yerko Zlatar.

This compilation brings together 22 sound poems, including both pioneering and current pieces, and constitutes itself as the first great overview of sound poetry from Peru. It continues a cycle that began in 2009 with the appearance of a CD called Inventar la voz: Nuevas tradiciones orales To Invent the Voice: New Oral Traditions and was followed up in 2011 with another one called Irse de lengua [To Let It Slip], both of which contributed to articulate diverse manifestations of poetry that used technological means, also in the context of intense activity in the local scenes of experimental music and sound art that opened spaces for interdisciplinary dialogues. What we know as sound poetry is the product of a technological revolution associated with the appearance of various means of recording, transmission and amplification of the voice. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices as part of a new technological context. The recordings gathered here comprise a time frame that goes from 1972 to 2021. We find poems that work with montage techniques, either because they explore simultaneity or juxtaposition, such as those by Mario Montalbetti, Frido Martín, Florentino Díaz, Carlos Estela, Luisa Fernanda Lindo, Macri Cáceres, Rodrigo Vera Cubas, Tilsa Otta, Giancarlo Huapaya/Omar Córdova, Virginia Benavides, Lisa Carrasco and Luis Alvarado. Others emphasize vocal/oral performance: we find the phonetic poems of Carlos Germán Belli and Eduardo Chirinos, as well as the concrete conceptual poems of Michael Prado, Sandra Suazo, Peru Saizprez, and the oral/guttural poem of Omar Aramayo. Finally, we find another group of pieces where the poem starts with the creation of a computational parameter or algorithm, as is the case with the pieces by Jorge Eduardo Eielson and Enrique Verástegui, eventually reaching the use of Artificial Intelligence as in the poems by Francisco Mariotti and Paola Torres Núñez del Prado. The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry is part of a series produced by Buh Records for Centro del Sonido, a website set up as a digital archive of Peruvian experimental music and sound art. The compilation has been made by Luis Alvarado and is published in a limited edition of 300 copies in vinyl format. It includes extensive notes and visual documentation. Mastered by Alberto Cendra. Art by René Sánchez.

100% GALCHER was by all accounts a game-changer when it landed in 2013 as an hour of original music from a relatively unknown producer ushered in by the beloved mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. Galcher Lustwerk's signature sound — a smoky stream-of-consciousness baritone shadow-boxing with beats, informed by funk, rap, rhythm, and blues — felt like an epiphany, impossibly hypnotic and complete. Resident Advisor writes, "100% GALCHER laid out a louche, lysergic and resolutely black take on deep house." Pitchfork remembers the music's immediate impact: "It's the sort of gem you felt inclined to pass around” — and by year-end list time, word-of-mouth intensified. It was Resident Advisor and Juno's mix of the year, and earned a top-ten placement in FACT Magazine's albums list, as well as Philip Sherburne's personal rundown for Spin." Since then, select songs from 100% GALCHER have seen small-run pressings, while the album has lived primarily on SoundCloud and YouTube as a low-key cult legend. The gateway into Lustwerk's now well-established catalog, known for its reliability as a late-night listen and its prophetic vision for the near future of underground dance music. RA would later name it a mix of the decade, citing its influence and imagination: “Original in every sense — unknown, unheard and unbelievably good.” In late 2022, marking ten years since he first recorded the material, Lustwerk returns to Ghostly International to release 100% GALCHER as a remastered limited-edition double LP.

Lustwerk is a product of the Midwest. Growing up in Cleveland, he'd tape over his parents’ cassettes and spend hours at his family computer recording loops and designing artwork for the jewel cases of burned CDs. In high school, he turned to Ableton Live and absorbed every electronic music magazine he could find at the local Borders Books store. In excerpts from the 100% GALCHER liner notes, Lustwerk looks back: "My dad drove me to this shop on the westside Bent Crayon, where I would get anything the blogs told you to get + whatever the clerk recommended. CDs stayed in their packaging, there was always an overflow of vinyl stacked on the floor. I was too shy to listen to anything before buying."

As a college student at RISD, he played in noise bands, plugged into Providence's DIY scene via Myspace, and started DJing weeknights at bars downtown. There he connected with Young Male and DJ Richard, who would go on to found White Material Records and offer their third release to Galcher Lustwerk, an alias realized via CAPTCHA test, a perfect artifact of its internet age. By 2012, Lustwerk had drifted to New York City and settled into a graphic design job, quickly growing disenfranchised by office culture. "Some days I felt like a token, other days I felt invisible." At night, he and his friends were carving out their own space

MILK GREY VINYL

100% GALCHER was by all accounts a game-changer when it landed in 2013 as an hour of original music from a relatively unknown producer ushered in by the beloved mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. Galcher Lustwerk's signature sound _ a smoky stream-of-consciousness baritone shadow-boxing with beats, informed by funk, rap, rhythm, and blues _ felt like an epiphany, impossibly hypnotic and complete. Resident Advisor writes, "100% GALCHER laid out a louche, lysergic and resolutely black take on deep house." Pitchfork remembers the music's immediate impact: "It's the sort of gem you felt inclined to pass around" _ and by year-end list time, word-of-mouth intensified. It was Resident Advisor and Juno's mix of the year, and earned a top-ten placement in FACT Magazine's albums list, as well as Philip Sherburne's personal rundown for Spin." Since then, select songs from 100% GALCHER have seen small-run pressings, while the album has lived primarily on SoundCloud and YouTube as a low-key cult legend. The gateway into Lustwerk's now well-established catalog, known for its reliability as a late-night listen and its prophetic vision for the near future of underground dance music. RA would later name it a mix of the decade, citing its influence and imagination: "Original in every sense _ unknown, unheard and unbelievably good." In late 2022, marking ten years since he first recorded the material, Lustwerk returns to Ghostly International to release 100% GALCHER as a remastered limited-edition double LP. Lustwerk is a product of the Midwest. Growing up in Cleveland, he'd tape over his parents' cassettes and spend hours at his family computer recording loops and designing artwork for the jewel cases of burned CDs. In high school, he turned to Ableton Live and absorbed every electronic music magazine he could find at the local Borders Books store. As a college student at RISD, he played in noise bands, plugged into Providence's DIY scene via Myspace, and started DJing weeknights at bars downtown. There he connected with Young Male and DJ Richard, who would go on to found White Material Records and offer their third release to Galcher Lustwerk, an alias realized via CAPTCHA test, a perfect artifact of its internet age. By 2012, Lustwerk had drifted to New York City and settled into a graphic design job, quickly growing disenfranchised by office culture. "Some days I felt like a token, other days I felt invisible." At night, he and his friends were carving out their own space, throwing parties in small basements, office buildings, and off-beat karaoke bars in Manhattan, influenced by series such as Mr. Sunday in Gowanus and The Bunker at Public Assembly. The lifestyle started to bleed into Lustwerk's musical vision. He remembers the night it clicked in Providence, partying and listening to tunes with Morgan Louis and Alvin Aronson. He went back to New York and pieced together his bedroom setup: a Dave Smith Tempest drum machine, a Waldorf Blofeld synthesizer, and a TEAC cassette recorder. Early snippets went straight to SoundCloud, where Lustwerk tested the crowd. Comments and messages offered instant feedback. One DM proved to be the greenlight: from Matthew Kent, an invitation to his burgeoning mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. 100% GALCHER traveled fast and far. A phenomenon he could only enjoy for a short period before discovering that nearly all the masters of the tracks got wiped by water damage to his computer. "The only copies were now on the 192kbs mp3 mix I sent Matt." Until now, after Lustwerk revived the lost tracks and handed them to Josh Bonati for remastering. "The original mix was never mastered so I hope older fans can find something new here." Hearing the enhanced set for the first time delineated by tracklist reveals this was a proper album all along. Sly synth interludes (all titled "Stem") clear the air for raspy house anthems like "Fifty" and "Parlay," the set's original breakout. Themes present across Lustwerk's catalog first materialize in this iconic run _ the link between the meditative state of Midwest driving and the solitary comedowns of nightlife. Lust- werk, the narrator, is an elusive character, a secret agent of the club, embodied by the hooks: "One minute I'm on / next minute I'm gone," he reminds us on cult-favor- ite "Put On." These narcotic, one-line refrains stick with you; look no further than the original YouTube upload of "Kaint" to know that fans can't let these phrases go. While recorded alone, 100% GALCHER was a collective moment. A decade later, Lustwerk sees the legacy as shared: "Making music can be an alienating experience, especially for DJs who travel a lot, it's all super isolating. It's easy to express lone- liness in the music itself, but when it comes down to getting things done, putting music out, you def should go on that journey w other people, friends, or maybe just a group of people online, build things with your friends then they can build to help you."

100% GALCHER was by all accounts a game-changer when it landed in 2013 as an hour of original music from a relatively unknown producer ushered in by the beloved mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. Galcher Lustwerk's signature sound — a smoky stream-of-consciousness baritone shadow-boxing with beats, informed by funk, rap, rhythm, and blues — felt like an epiphany, impossibly hypnotic and complete. Resident Advisor writes, "100% GALCHER laid out a louche, lysergic and resolutely black take on deep house." Pitchfork remembers the music's immediate impact: "It's the sort of gem you felt inclined to pass around” — and by year-end list time, word-of-mouth intensified. It was Resident Advisor and Juno's mix of the year, and earned a top-ten placement in FACT Magazine's albums list, as well as Philip Sherburne's personal rundown for Spin." Since then, select songs from 100% GALCHER have seen small-run pressings, while the album has lived primarily on SoundCloud and YouTube as a low-key cult legend. The gateway into Lustwerk's now well-established catalog, known for its reliability as a late-night listen and its prophetic vision for the near future of underground dance music. RA would later name it a mix of the decade, citing its influence and imagination: “Original in every sense — unknown, unheard and unbelievably good.” In late 2022, marking ten years since he first recorded the material, Lustwerk returns to Ghostly International to release 100% GALCHER as a remastered limited-edition double LP.

Lustwerk is a product of the Midwest. Growing up in Cleveland, he'd tape over his parents’ cassettes and spend hours at his family computer recording loops and designing artwork for the jewel cases of burned CDs. In high school, he turned to Ableton Live and absorbed every electronic music magazine he could find at the local Borders Books store. In excerpts from the 100% GALCHER liner notes, Lustwerk looks back: "My dad drove me to this shop on the westside Bent Crayon, where I would get anything the blogs told you to get + whatever the clerk recommended. CDs stayed in their packaging, there was always an overflow of vinyl stacked on the floor. I was too shy to listen to anything before buying."

As a college student at RISD, he played in noise bands, plugged into Providence's DIY scene via Myspace, and started DJing weeknights at bars downtown. There he connected with Young Male and DJ Richard, who would go on to found White Material Records and offer their third release to Galcher Lustwerk, an alias realized via CAPTCHA test, a perfect artifact of its internet age. By 2012, Lustwerk had drifted to New York City and settled into a graphic design job, quickly growing disenfranchised by office culture. "Some days I felt like a token, other days I felt invisible." At night, he and his friends were carving out their own space

His debut was recorded in the winter of 2003 with assistance from Texas
chamber pop collective The Earlies, followed by three albums of original material
and one all-covers album. In 2011, a near-fatal car crash paralyzed his arms for
months. He spent his recovery time listening to some demos he'd made before
the crash. The material eventually culminated in the darkest and most intensely
personal collection of songs from him thus far and garnered widespread critical
acclaim. (Micah P. Hinson & The Nothing). Since then, each record is a final
confrontation with himself, each song shakes with danger. I Lie To You, the new
Micah P. Hinson album, comes from five days and five nights of recording in
Irpinia, South Italy, with production by Alessandro Asso Stefana (PJ Harvey, Mike
Patton, Vinicio Capossela). Accompanying Micah and Asso are Raffaele Tiseo's
celestial strings, Zeno De Rossi metaphysic drumming and the double bass
gentleman Greg Cohen. On this new album he sings, with his weathered, husky,
prophet-like voice, eleven tales of love, loss and regret, which once again reveal
his heart as an artist laid bare.

Che spent her formative years living the troubadour life playing local clubs in
Vancouver, becoming embroiled in the Toronto indie music scene and touring
worldwide as a solo artist and with her critically acclaimed band 'Casualties of
Cool', a joint venture with prog behemoth Devin Townsend.
The Crowned shows a side to Che seldom seen on record before. A more
confident and determined thread runs through these songs, signalling the birth of
a new era for Che.
Inspired by her love of Trip Hop, Folktronica and Soul, The Crowned has Che's
signature all over it whilst reaching out into new sonic environments. Half of The
Crowned's tracks produced by Bob Rock pre-pandemic and half of the tracks selfproduced post pandemic, this album tells a story of an artist's evolution and
growth.
You are looking at a woman who still has a sense of individualism combined with
a drive and vision that is growing increasingly rare in this day and age. An artist in
the truest sense of the word, a product of passion and not curation.
She has previously worked with LA with hitmakers Greg Wells, David Foster and
Kara Dioguardi; performing with Michael Buble, Kim Churchill and Dan Mangan
and releasing music with industry heavyweights Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling
Stones) and Tom Sarig (Lou Reed). Most recent work includes a collaboration
with Juno nominated EDM duo Young Bombs, a darkly lit duet with the late Gord
Downey (The Tragically Hip) and a featured performance on Devin Townsend's
'Lightwork'. She also collaborated with Townsend on 2014's Casualties Of Cool.

"Have you ever had this endless feeling of unconditional love for someone or music, between virtuality and reality, which seems to be eternal for your own heart... " — Nicolas Masseyeff French DJ and producer Nicolas Masseyeff shares his first album in almost a decade on Marc Romboy’s label Systematic. The release brims with lush tones, electronica-flecked rhythms and rich soundscapes, suitable for a club-based audience and home listening. Celebrated visual artist Yann Masseyeff—Nicolas’s brother—is responsible for the artwork of the release.
Raised on the French Riviera, Nicolas Masseyeff started out as a local record dealer before purchasing his own shop, Limelight, establishing it as the most respected vinyl haunt in the South of France. Pursuing music production full-time since the late noughties allowed Nicolas to follow his true path, shaping him into the multi-genre artist he is today. Having released on Herzblut Recordings, Systematic, KD Music, Mobilee and several other esteemed imprints, Nicolas has worked relentlessly to craft a sound that transcends house, electronica, downtempo and afro house. Collaborations with Kittin, Oxia and Parallelle wind throughout his back catalogue, as well as remixes for Frankyeffe, Pig&Dan, Nikola Gala, Hot Since 82 and many more besides.
Endless offers an insight into Nicolas’ spiralling world, detailing the artist’s lithe production skills and consideration when collaborating with other talents, like the interdisciplinary singer Kittin. The collection sums up where Nicolas is at now in his career—a storied producer who continues to evolve, sharing an aesthetic rich in melody while retaining a dance-driven flavour. It’s the kind of sound that comes with years of practice, patience and perseverance.

Whilst most of the North swung to the right in the 2019 General UK Election, the North West held onto their hope and long standing heritage of voting for what imagines itself to still be the ‘Left’. It’s 2022 and there are no political choices left, but to rise up and revolt to Stop the Rot. T.S. Warspite channel their message through a unique musical recipe that answers the question no one asked: What if Bad Religion grew up in Manchester in the 2000s? Made up of some long standing and productive members of the local scene, this sounds like friendship and experience, and some refreshing as fuck hardcore. Singer Marco Abbatiello weaves expertly through scenes of pulp reality where everything is fleeting and only some things stick. What’s left is a farcical montage of things that have rushed past you with no real sense of direction. Personally and politically, it’s all the same wretched soup of societal collapse and the rise of the technocracies. Do yourself a favour, and play this through your Tesla microchip whilst throwing a molotov at No.10. Members of Violent Reaction, Payday, Firearm, Arms Race, Rated X. T.S. Warspite is Paul Morgan, Tom Howard, Marco Abbatiello, Tom Pimlott and Miles Livingstone-Todd. Recorded and Mixed by James ‘Atko’ Atkinson at The Stationhouse. Mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. Art by Chio. Photos by Meline Gharibyan

MUSTA presents an elaborate six track EP project, titled 'Tamburi
Parlanti' which translates to 'Talking Drums' in English. The body of
work marks a turning point in his career to make more than electronic
music, and delves into a plethora of live music and field recordings
recorded for the EP, ranging from polyrhythmic tribal drum-patterns to
Afro-funk bass chords, congas and jazz-keyboard, played by local
musicians as well as himself.

Musta's love for music began during his 11 years spent living in the
Dominican Republic. This encounter of Latin rhythms started the musical
genre contamination that to this day distinguishes his productions. In
this EP, like the rest of his releases, the music is diverse, tribal and
hypnotic. Respectful of the past yet constantly innovative. This love of
the past and future has led him to release edits and originals on staple
labels such as Nervous Records, Samosa Records.

Music aside the EP artwork has significant meaning, the mask shown is
that of the ancient Mamuthone icon of Sardinian folklore which goes back
further than 2000 years, defined as a representation of the collective
soul of Sardinia, the ancient ritual of the Mamuthone creatures is that
of a rhythmic dance where 12 of the creatures dance together,
representing the 12 months of the year. With this theme, Musta aims to
connect the dots of this pastime tradition into the EP, reflecting it
visually as well as through the music itself.

"Tamburi Parlanti EP is a collection of songs that I've made myself
around the world, recording and collaborating with various musicians of
many different nationalities. The music reflects my musical path in
recent years which draws strong inspiration from afro-funk and latin
disco from the 70s and 80s. My intent is to create music that presents a
journey between the hottest Latin sounds, over to more African disco
rhythms.

Emanating from a ‘prehistoric’ existence near the end of the last millennium, Andy Votel and his slightly older college mates were once best recognised in Mancunian clubs and bars as teenage vinyl nerds and bum-fluffed battle rappers under the collective name Violators Of The English Language (which in acronymic form explains Andy’s own exotic pen-name).

As steadfast supporters of the 1980s / 90s Brit-core rap scene coming out of London, the multicultural Violators’ Mancunian accents were perhaps a bridge-too-far to secure dream job contracts for humble labels like Kold Sweat and Music Of Life. An unlikely constructive meeting with Gang Starr’s DJ Premier (while Andy helped out at a radio station), plus playing warm up DJ sets for countless US rap heroes might have temporarily added inspirational fuel to the fire, but after an active period combining graffiti, rapping, scratching, obsessive record digging and beat making into their daily operations, adulthood eventually began to rear its unwelcome head.

A decade later, Andy Votel and his digging skills would begin to provide direct sample material for the likes of Madlib, Mos Def, Jay Z, Nas, Dr Dre, Ghostface Killa and Action Bronson, amongst others, and the Violators’ black book of breakbeats and catalogue numbers soon began to feed a same-butdifferent rap beast.

For a project that has taken thirty years, it would be totally inadequate to call the formation of Hypocritical Beatdown Records a lockdown-project. There’s a deep history and psychology in these records by Violators Of The English Language and their spin-off groups Magnets (Rap Group) and ProVerbs, that combines stage-fright, loss, pride, creative-schizophrenia, racial inequality, surrealism, personal politics, brotherhood, artistic-constipation, better judgment, love, anti-love, soul searching and much more.

As well as Andy Votel taking care of both production and part of the microphone duties, some might recognise fellow MC and solo recording artist Figure Of Speech as a prominent voice here. The trio of Magnets (Rap Group) sees Andy also joined by local B-Girl legend Jeni Chan aka Penny Chew, and rapper and DJ Benjamin Hatton who has previously recorded with Kid Acne, The Mongrels and Sheffield’s Invisible Spies’ long-running squadron. Widely respected visual artist Rick Myers (now living in Massachusetts) also contributed scratches for many of these recordings via file sharing and custom dub-plates to keep the Violators’ authentic line-up intact, as well as galvanising the crew’s semi-reluctant art-school roots.

Extra production credits for the label also go to Sean Canty from Demdike Stare, and the late great Dan Dwayre aka Black Lodge (Mo Wax) who sadly passed away during the completion of these recordings. The members of Violators Of The English Language who you’ve not yet heard of will quickly make themselves known as the needle drops on this long-mooted debut vinyl release.

Deaf Safari is an audio collage of subjects that interest me and speak of the world I live in. It is an album composed of sampled recordings from the media landscape that has been the soundtrack to my life over the last ten years.

The most important development in my current music and as can be heard on Deaf Safari has been my understanding of the beauty and power of the spoken word. I have experienced severe indifference to contemporary pop and electronic music as a whole over the last many years, as I have felt that social comment of any relevance has been ignored by music in general.
Deaf Safari attempts to bring sociopolitical comment into my music without taking any specific stand.
Sampled outside of musical influence directly from the news; from preacher sermons or from contemporary African documentaries.
I have finally created a story with sound that I feel accurately conveys my personal experience with the African world I live in.

My musical influences on this album lie mostly with local Kwaito house. Deaf Safari is an experiment within certain boundaries of the 4/4 genre, to create my own South African "house" album.
I am proud and inspired about the South African Kwaito house scene.
However, as with my first three albums, "Thin Shoes In June“ (2001) - "4/4 Down The Stairs“ (2002) and "Dark Days Exit“ (2005), I am still interested in making strange and evocative music.

American Roots music from the earlier periods of the 20th century has deeply resonated with me during the making of this album.
The incredible field recordings by Alan Lomax of Negro prison and chain gang work songs, and the
beautiful early recordings of artists such as Leadbelly have had a major influence on Deaf Safari.

I am truly excited to release this album and to start performing in the music world again. It has been ten years since I released "Dark Days Exit , and although I have been purposefully absent from the music world, I have none the less never stopped making music.
I feel that I have finally arrived at a mature and challenging stage in my pursuit of making emotional music of relevance .

Felix Laband 13.02.2015

Quotes about the previous album "Dark Days Exit“:

“Dark Days Exit is an interesting blend of latin, ambient, folk, and lounge flavors. The production and composition is top notch throughout, but check the choppy clicks of "Crooked Breath" or the eerie, melodic "Radio Right Now" for signs of true inspiration. A talent to watch.” XLR8R

“One of South Africa's most gifted electronic artists” Resident Advisor

"It has the dark sparkle of Air`s `Moon Safari`, random trippy flashes of Pink Floyd´s earlier sounds, and if David Lynch had based `Twin Peaks` in Cape Town´s City Bowl, then this would work as the soundtrack." SA Rockdigest

“An insane swirling ambient dub glitch freak show.“ Dazed & Confused Magazine

“Dark Days Exit … will ingrain itself into your psyche until you have no choice but to listen to it over, and over, and over again. Every time, it will be worth hearing.” Pop Matters

“Laband´s superbly-layered, multi-tiered soundscapes are tantalizingly tranquil and intriguingly unique – they amble like ambient and slip into the bloodstream like liquid LSD.“ rage.co.za

"An album that will bewilder due to weird electronic nature, but by the same token has the power to melt the soul. Mindblowing." Jon Freer

“For the younger generation, Felix Laband became a mythical legend.“ Below The Lion

"So gehört hat man das noch nicht - die komplett klischeefreie Deepnesss dieser verzwickt-geschickt gefrickelten Elektronik mit Suchtfaktor zehn ist geradezu beängstigend." INTRO

“Elektronische Musik, die schwerlich nur natürlicher, menschlicher klingen kann. Oder kurz gesagt: ein mehr als ausgezeichnetes Album. Tricky Chillout…“ GROOVE

“Man nimmt “Dark Days Exit” einfach nichts übel, alles scheint hier zu funktionieren.” DE:BUG

In 2003, Pisco Crane assembled a six-piece band from motivated and talented like minds in the Kinshasa slums where he grew up. Pisco had been involved with a handful of local rap acts when he was younger, but after meeting legendary instrument builder Bebson De La Rue, he was inspired to follow a new path. He set about building instruments from the discarded trash that surrounded his city: bits of old computers or oil cans were fashioned into bass guitars and drums, and keyboards were bashed together using springs, metal pipes, and offcuts of tubing. If there was a core philosophy that guided Pisco at this stage in his journey, it was that everyone should have access to instruments, no matter where they come from or what their budget might be. And following in the footsteps of Bebson, Pisco locked into a Congolese tradition that touches on the eccentric genius of globally lauded artists like Konono Nº1 and Staff Benda Bilili. Over the years, Fulu Miziki's notoriety grew in the Kinshasa underground - their utopian vision of the future was infectious. Eventually, they were joined by performance artist, sculptor and fashion designer Lady Aisha, who offered the band unique colour and a soulful central focus. Influenced by Kinshasa's street performance scene, Aisha helped the band devise vivid masks and costumes that were as electric and singular as the instruments they played, and the scene was set. In 2020, as the world was plunged into lockdown, footage of Fulu Miziki went viral and their star began to grow exponentially, with a video of the band preforming the track 'Tikanga' racking up millions of views on Facebook. The band used this opportunity to work on documenting their sound, and shored up at the Nyege Nyege studios in Kampala for a year to assemble a definitive album. Recorded by HHY & The Macumbas' Jonathan Saldanha, this record captures the band's furiously innovative mixture of industrial sonics, spiritual jazz, punk, and Congolese soukous pressure. At their best, Fulu Miziki sound almost completely out of time, curving pounding rhythms around microtonal clanks, rousing chants and spiky sonics. On 'Mutangila', there's a hint of disco in the 4/4 stomp, but it's been shifted into a post-punk ritual, adorned with complex bell percussion and overlapping vocals. 'Congo' is even harder to define; electrified buzzes form a bassline, but it's the mindboggling rhythms that shuttle the track into psychedelic realms, led confidently by Lady Aisha's limber rhymes. Fulu positively slither on the sultry, industrial-influenced 'Sebe', while 'Tikanga' reminds of Congo's rumba-derived soukous traditions, materializing the sounds into the future with tight, pounding percussion and head-melting fx. The story of Fulu Miziki is sprawling and complex and constantly evolving, with various offshoots and band iterations. Two members left the band in 2016 to form KOKOKO! with French producer Débruit. Not long after they recorded this magnum opus album, several other original members left to form a similarly named outfit currently based in Europe. This other incarnation recently released an EP of electronic productions without the band founder Pisko Crane and lead vocalist Lady Aicha, on the UK based Moshi Moshi records. Pisco and Lady Aicha currently lead a different outfit in Kinshasa made up of completely new musicians. This full-length is the remaining proof of Fulu Mziki at their most vital and most complete - it won't be repeated - and can never be recreated. It's an essential portrait of one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's most innovative contemporary outfits, and some of the most surprising hybrid music you're likely to hear.

Strut present the first ever compilation of Balka Sound, bringing together their influential 1980s recordings, Hailing from Congo-Brazzaville and led by revered vocalist and ngonfi player, Nkibi “Lusialala” Albert, Balka Sound created their own unique musical world, re-imagining traditional Congolese Balka rhythms with electric guitars, electric bass and drums, alongside the traditional 5-string ngonfi.

Nkibi Albert had risen to fame in 1972 with his solo hit ‘Ah Lusialala’ and Balka Sound was created to bring the sound of Balka, a folk style from the Beembe people, to modern life and an international audience. With its roots in slavery and colonialism rumba was dominating the music scene in Congo while the philosophy of Balka Sound was to find its inspiration directly in local country life, to associate the modern and the traditional and to revive folk traditions that were dying. Founder member Henri Nsika Nkaya explains, “it was intended to be an update, a unification and an internationalisation of Congolese cultures.”

In 1979, during a festival organised by the Centre Culturel Français, the band won a recording deal to release their first album: Le 1er son du Balka, Lusialala et ses amis, recorded in just one take. Their success led to a second LP, Tu Kine Balka, recorded in Kinshasa in 1982. A third album in 1984, Afro Musik Creation, featured a more modern studio production sound. Their songs drew from traditional folk tales and parables, life lessons and the damage caused by rural exodus to the cities. By 1985, Balka Sound were working full-time with residencies at Chez Tantine Clara in Brazzaville, a well-known tourist venue, and the Frantel Cosmos Hotel.

In 1991, political tensions were rising in the country; civil disobedience and threats of a military coup were followed by a civil war from 1993 to 1994. The band eventually regrouped and were invited to perform in 1996 at the Palais des Congrès for the Fête National. Unfortunately, on the first day of new fighting in 1997, Balka Sound’s studio was looted and the band were forced to finally disperse.

This first compilation of the band’s music is curated and annotated by Makila Nsika Nkaya in conjunction with Balka Sound and has been fully remastered by The Carvery.

If you ever wondered what ambient music of the 21st century could sound like, then you should explore the musical spheres of "ifsonever". This colorful debut-album draws a blueprint of an urban ambient club record of a parallel universe. A collage of beautifully improvised pieces, strictly recorded in "one takes". A gripping fusion that brings together the warm analog textures of classic vintage synthesizers and electronic urban ambiences.

Trying to appreciate the recent times of silence and deceleration, Daniel Helmer aka ifsonever has quickly developed a tonal language as a solo artist. With a non-compromising approach he would visit his studio, a cozy garden shed, to record one new track a day in strictly analog fashion as "one takes". His aim for this project was to capture the innocence and instinctive creative energy of the present moment. These 9 timeless pieces invite the listener to explore hypnotic and meditative atmospheres such as on the opener "transpose" or on "jonesy dreams of birds", as well as gloomy and almost mystical sounding tracks such as "total global" or "an unexpected error has occurred". ifsonever is a wonderful amalgamation of organic, laid-back sounds and electronic, club oriented elements.

Recorded at a time when social contact was forbidden and culture was at a standstill, many professional musicians felt challenged not to feel useless when performances and sessions in public were cancelled, while the need for expression, participation and communication persisted. What happens when you've read all your books, when you're tired of looking at screens, and when you're digitally saturated? Then the unbearable lightness of being will begin. Daniel Helmer decided to let his creativity flow into a picture depicting that moment in time. He gave himself the opportunity to reflect this period through the creation of music. Not always an easy thing to do when the only social interactions would be cats passing by or the sound of children playing nearby. However that can be exactly the perfect tranquil surrounding to ground oneself in the here and now and draw inspiration from the inside. This self titled album reflects a peaceful journey from start to finish.

Two old friends have been invited to contribute overdubs in hindsight. MillianX is a film composer and noise artist, a colleague from the viennese filmacademy. Both worked together on the film score for the science fiction movie "Rubikon" while the album was in its final stages. So a collaboration was an obvious choice. The creamy arpeggiated synthline created for "jonesy dreams of birds"' was extended by Millianx with some field recordings and a big cloudy synthwave that dips into a vast sea of noise.

Guido Spannocchi is a london based jazz musician. Both knew each other for several years but never had the chance to work together. When Daniel Helmer wrote "an unknown error has occured" he imagined a saxophone layer to accompany the existing synthline. But when the two musicians finally got together to record in the legendary jazz club "Porgy & Bess", Guido just let his creativity flow and jammed freely to the track with a totally unique jazz vibe.

Between film, music & sound Daniel Helmer is continuously searching for a spot to call his own. Expanding boundaries, pursuing the unheard and breaking genre definitions are byproducts of his curiosity and his drive to avoid repetition. Daniel Helmer resides in Vienna where he studied at the local film academy. He became one of the founding members of the techno-punk band "Gudrun von Laxenburg" with album releases on the legendary Skint label, collaborated with Sam Irl on "International Major Label" as the production duo "Mantra Mantra" and released an album as "Yogtze" on Gerd Janson's imprint "Running Back Incantations", together with Feater. At the moment he is focusing on his work as a film composer and is currently working on two feature films in Austria.

"ifsonever" offers a timeless ambience to help you slow down, reflect and enjoy the beauty of nothingness. It might help us to learn and accept a state of being unutilized without feeling futile and benefit from this rare silence.

The cover artwork is a collaboration between Jazz & Milk graphic designer Tim Schmitt and photographer Frank Hulsbömer. A scan of the artist's head, hand and foot was 3D printed, photographed and transformed into an otherworldly scenery that visualizes the musical atmosphere.

Aussie beatsmith, Phries, returns with his third full length producer compilation LP, Hand Cut. This 2XLP aligns the talented producer with his stateside contemporaries such as Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, The Artifacts and more. We also find Phries realigned with Mount Vernon’s Carta’ P, after previously collaborating together on their 2021 released, My Silence. Inspired by the likes of J Dilla, Pete Rock and Madlib, Phries utilizes sample-based production, coupled with thick bass lines and smacking drums, to create a body of work that epitomizes hip-hop in its purest form. To boot, all source material used throughout the album are from records that Phries discovered at local record shops in his native Perth. The two disc LP includes both the main and instrumentals, and becomes available via Regina Records in partnership with Fat Beats. TRACKLIST: 1. Love H.E.R. (Intro) 2. Hand Cut 3. Reality (feat. Guilty Simpson) 4. Bad Critics 5. The Otherside (feat. Carta’ P) 6. Just a Dream 7. Louis Feat. Phat Kat 8. Detroit City (feat. Guilty Simpson) 9. Don't Sleep 10. Flawless (feat. Artifacts) 11. Outro (The Made) 12. The One (Bonus Beat) 13. Reality (Instrumental) 14. The Otherside (Instrumental) 15. Louis (Instrumental) 16. Detroit City (Instrumental) 17. Flawless (Instrumental)