Beats News

Complex melodic motifs grow and cover your brain like kudzu as swarms of insects gather to witness.

The music was composed entirely on Bana's personal Make Noise System, which is a Modular synthesizer you could learn more about here: makenoisemusic
Pressed to 12" Clear (140gm) vinyl and inserted into a black inner dust sleeve
and Matte Jacket w/ photography by Bana Haffar and layout by Sean Curtis Patrick.

Recorded during two days of extreme weather, ELEH's Snoweight conveys the mesmerizing force of a winter storm with sonic realism and romanticism. These two new compositions evoke both warm security and wild, blanketing intensity in ways that are both emotionally arresting and time stopping.

Following on from the deranged machine mulch of the Cru Servers we proudly announce the second record on the label to emerge from our native south side of Glasgow. Lo Kindre is the solo project of Irish/Luxembourgish bedroom producer, amateur footballer and award-winning bartender Daniel Magee. Crawling out from the undergrowth at the speed of a snail with dreadlocks this six track EP builds upon his previous venture for Optimo Music and manages to enchant in many of the same ways. Chlorophytum ticks all of the right boxes, sitting somewhere between a budding sci-fi homage, drum machine escapism and a fascination with the motorik styles of West Germany and the wider On-U continuum. Lo Kindre's sound has recently developed by way of countless hours spent twiddling with delay units alongside vintage Italian football commentary and murky casks of Tennents, and has culminated here in the following six tracks. The seventh 12th Isle now ecstatically morphs from our galaxy into yours.

WRWTFWW Records is profoundly enchanted to announce the full official reissue of Somei Satoh’s magnificent Avatamsaka Sutra inspired Mandala Trilogy with one additional never-released piece, sourced from original masters and available on double vinyl in heavy 350gsm sleeve with liner notes by passionate Japanese music connoisseur/collector/critic/dj Masaaki Hara.

Deep deep deep into the abyss…

The Mandala Trilogy blends Somei Satoh’s own slowed down Buddhist chant vocalization and early electronics to create a radiant and meditative atmosphere conveying serenity and timelessness. It includes three pieces recorded separately. "Mandala" was recorded at the NHK Studio of Electronic Music in 1982 and was included on the album Mandala/ Sumeru, released on Kojima Recordings’ ALM. "Mantra" was a NHK commissioned work, recorded at the same studio in 1986. "Tantra" was recorded at Victoria University of Wellington’s Lilburn Studios for electronic music and recording in 1990.

Included as a bonus is the 20-minute "Mai", a composition commissioned by harpist Ayako Shinoza-ki and recorded at the Kioi Hall in Tokyo on November 11th 2004. The piece was conducted by Tetsuji Honna and performed by the Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo. Satoh says: "The harp is one of my favorite instruments. Also, by combining my affectionate percussion instrument, the chromatic gong and steel drum, with the harp’s most beautiful tone, I attempted to bring out a mystical sound." Alt-hough it is not an electronic music piece, the stunning composition elegantly complements the deep mystical world that Satoh expresses in his Mandala Trilogy.

Mandala Trilogy + 1 is reissued in conjunction with Somei Satoh’s Emerald Tablet / Echoes LP, also available on WRWTFWW Records.

Ltd Black Vinyl Gatefold edition + 32 Page Booklet + Download Code

The LP contains original compositions by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pascal Comelade, Laurie Spiegel, Lyra Pramuk, Chassol, Nicolas Godin and Pierre Rousseau, Pedro Vian and Pierre Bastien, Visible Cloaks, Kelman Duran, Raul Refree, Lucrecia Dalt, Lafawndah.

+ a booklet with writings by contemporary thinkers like Shumon Basar, François J. Bonnet, and pictures by, Araki, Juergen Teller, Elizaveta Porodina, Dani Pujalte, P Jack Davison, Zhong Lin, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Adrià Cañameras, Javier Tles among others. Lacquer cut by Josh Bonati & Mastered by Rashad Becker

'PRSNT' is a unique global artistic project combining the input of artists across the worlds of music, video and written word which acts as a statement on how we, as consumers, engage with music in the 21st century. Vital electronic musicians including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Lafawndah, Lyra Pramuk, Lucrecia Dalt and Visible Cloaks have each contributed tracks, which are approximately 32 seconds long.

The concept was devised by Created By Us and the Barcelona-based label Modern Obscure Music. They read a study which identified that the overwhelming volume of instantly accessible information online is shortening attention spans and altering how audiences engage with music digitally. Their curiosity about the state of online consumption developed further on discovering that around a third of all listeners using digital platforms skip to the next track, within the first 30 seconds of playing.

Each musician was given a fascinating challenge to create engaging compositions with real artistic merit, inside the confines of this shortened span. Akin to Brian Eno's famous Windows 95 start-up music, the time constraints are crucial, and the compositions are deceptively complex and more substantial than expectations of their nano nature would suggest.

'PRSNT' acts as a critique of flighty feed culture, but is simultaneously constructive, providing something which is either proposed solution, or "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" resignation. Every artist has interpreted the brief differently, resulting in an intriguing blueprint for the potential future of digital music. Could abbreviated micro compositions satisfy, inspire and nourish like their longer counterparts? They certainly take up much less of listeners' busy lives, which are often spent tackling ever-increasing workloads.

For the first time ever, Harald Grosskopf (Synthesist, Ashra, Klaus Schulze) and Eberhard Kranemann (ex-Kraftwerk, Neu!, Fritz Mueller) transmit their cosmic sonic visions of today, tomorrow and beyond.
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The golden children of the genre, Harald Grosskopf and Eberhard Kranemann, have united to celebrate the genre's reign as Krautwerk. Originating from the German cities Berlin and Duesseldorf, Krautrock dominated the musical field from 1969 - 1975. Its influential force impacted rock and techno. Lose yourself in the trippiness of Krautwerk's psychedelic soundscapes and celebrate a movement that changed music as we know it. Kranemann and Grosskopf did not know each other until they met for the first time in 2016 on a festival where they both performed their solo projects. They decided to merge the different sounds of Duesseldorf and Berlin school of electronic music together, resulting in energetic, contemporary new sounds.

Speed For Lovers release debut album 'Hot Yoga Emoji' on society Records / Ubishi Recordings
Originally from Sheffield, Liverpool & The Forest Of Dean, the three lovers met in the network of little mesters music studios on John Street in Sheffield.Initially engineering, producing and playing on each other's projects, they subsequently teamed up to form Speed For Lovers in 2010.
The past eight years have been spent wearing out rave trainers, building studios in their attics and sheds, geeking out with Sound on Sound articles and faffing with tech.
With two members who came and stayed and one who couldn't leave, 'Hot Yoga Emoji' is the band's ode to Sheffield.
Field recordings of late nights out and early stumblings home link tracks together and place their moments of creation in the city.
Spurred on by Sheffield's Kabal nights and trips to The Electric Chair in Mcr, 'Hot Yoga Emoji' mixes live drums and bass guitar with pocket sound generators, old synths and vocals to create an album of irresistible live dance music.!

Galcid - Hope and Fear is the long awaited sophomore album of Japanese techno-artist galcid. Although completed in 2019, the release date of the album was delayed by COVID-19. This was due to both practical and artistic reasons—the titles and identity of each composition reflect various ways in which galcid reflected upon the pandemic.

Music is by galcid
Produced by Hisashi Saito

In the 4 years that have passed since galcid’s debut album hertz (2016), galcid worked on various EPs and albums as SAITO. Juxtaposed to the black and white minimalism of hertz, the palate of Hope and Fear is decidedly more colourful, laden with emotional undertones. The depth of the sound created by galcid’s exclusive reliance on analogue machines invites the listener to follow their own journey along the resulting soundscape

'The Works and Days: The Black Sections' is a sound collage album that emerged out of the production material of the film, The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin). The film — winner of the Encounters Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2020 Berlinale — is the second feature of C.W. Winter & Anders Edström. It is an eight-hour fiction shot for a total of twenty-seven weeks, over a period of fourteen months, in a village population forty-seven in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic description of the work and non-work of a farmer. A portrait, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a sound space, and of a duration. The film was named one of the Ten Best Films of the Year by critics at: Artforum, Cargo, Cinema Scope, Desistfilm, Filo, La Internacional Cinéfila, Mubi, Nobody, Senses of Cinema, and Sight & Sound.

The film is accompanied by this LP, TheWorks and Days: The Black Sections, by C.W. Winter, and the photo book, Shiotani, by Anders Edström. The album features musical excerpts from Tim Berne & Bill Frisell, Tony Conrad, Graham Lambkin, Mary Jane Leach, Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Folke Rabe, Éliane Radigue, and Akio Suzuki. Producing, editing, and recordings by C.W. Winter. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu.

Winter & Edström’s first feature, The Anchorage, won a Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival and won the Douglas E. Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It was named one of the Ten Best Films of the Year by critics at Cinema Scope, Film Comment, Senses of Cinema, Variety, and Indie Wire and was named Best First Film of the Year by The New York Times. Their first film, a documentary short called One Plus One 2 was made in collaboration with the late British guitarist, Derek Bailey. Their film/video work has shown at such venues as the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston), Centre national de la photographie (Paris), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Fotomuseum Winterthur, NRW-Forum (Düsseldorf), the Harvard Film Archive, Anthology Film Archives, the Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), Centre de cultura contemporània de Barcelona, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto).

C.W. Winter was born in California. In 2020, he completed his DPhil in Art Practice & Theory at The Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford. He received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts where he studied closely under Thom Andersen, James Benning, and Allan Sekula. His writing has appeared in Cinema Scope, Moving Image Source, Purple, and Too Much. He lives in the United Kingdom where he is currently a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art and a Lecturer at the University of Oxford.

Side A excerpts:
“Thursday, May 5, 1977 & Friday, May 6, 1977: Part 4” Performed by Tony Conrad. Used by arrangement with The Tony Conrad Estate
“Sethwork” Performed by Phill Niblock. Used by arrangement with Phill Niblock
“What?? (Second Version)” Performed by Folke Rabe. Used by arrangement with the Folke Rabe Estate
“Pipe Dreams” Performed by Mary Jane Leach. Used by arrangement with Mary Jane Leach
“What?? (Second Version)” Performed by Folke Rabe. Used by arrangement with the Folke Rabe Estate
“2011” Performed by Tim Berne & Bill Frisell. Written by Tim Berne. Published by Party Time Music BMI. Recording courtesy of Minor Music Records/Screwgun Records

Side B excerpts:
“Ceremoniolose” Recorded by Graham Lambkin. Used by arrangement with Graham Lambkin
“Kugiuchi” Performed by Akio Suzuki. Recorded live for TheWorks and Days Used by arrangement with Akio Suzuki
“Music on a Long Thin Wire (Side A)” Performed by Alvin Lucier. Used by arrangement with Alvin Lucier
“A Third Trombone” Performed by Phill Niblock. Used by arrangement with Phill Niblock
“Triptych: Part 1” Performed by Éliane Radigue. Used by arrangement with Éliane Radigue

Pauline Oliveros' Tara's Room has long been a favorite in the Imprec office and it's a great honor to be able to release it on LP for the very first time. Tara's Room was cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI in order to achieve a quiet, dynamic pressing. Originally released on cassette in 1987 following the 1986 release of "Sounding / Way" with Guy Klucevsek which is also available on LP via Imprec.

"Both pieces are intended to aid the listener in times of spiritual change, but are just fine for 'everyday' use as well. Highly recommended." Charles S. Russell, Ear Magazine

This LP features two long sides of infinite depth and sensitivity. Oliveros performs these pieces using a Just Intonation accordion and her Expanded Instrument System in order to bend both time and pitch.

Pauline Oliveros, composer, performer and humanitarian is an important pioneer in American Music. Acclaimed internationally, for four decades she has explored sound - forging new ground for herself and others. Through improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation she has created a body of work with such breadth of vision that it profoundly effects those who experience it, and eludes many who try to write about it. Oliveros has been honored with awards, grants and concerts internationally. Whether performing at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in an underground cavern, or in the studios of West German Radio, Oliveros' commitment to interaction with the moment is unchanged. She can make the sound of a sweeping siren into another instrument of the ensemble.

"On some level, music, sound consciousness and religion are all one, and she would seem to be very close to that level." John Rockwell

"Through Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening, I now know what harmony is. It's about the pleasure of making music." John Cage

Tape

Pauline Oliveros' Tara's Room has long been a favorite in the Imprec office and it's a great honor to be able to release it on LP for the very first time. Tara's Room was cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI in order to achieve a quiet, dynamic pressing. Originally released on cassette in 1987 following the 1986 release of "Sounding / Way" with Guy Klucevsek which is also available on LP via Imprec.

"Both pieces are intended to aid the listener in times of spiritual change, but are just fine for 'everyday' use as well. Highly recommended." Charles S. Russell, Ear Magazine

This LP features two long sides of infinite depth and sensitivity. Oliveros performs these pieces using a Just Intonation accordion and her Expanded Instrument System in order to bend both time and pitch.

Pauline Oliveros, composer, performer and humanitarian is an important pioneer in American Music. Acclaimed internationally, for four decades she has explored sound - forging new ground for herself and others. Through improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation she has created a body of work with such breadth of vision that it profoundly effects those who experience it, and eludes many who try to write about it. Oliveros has been honored with awards, grants and concerts internationally. Whether performing at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in an underground cavern, or in the studios of West German Radio, Oliveros' commitment to interaction with the moment is unchanged. She can make the sound of a sweeping siren into another instrument of the ensemble.

"On some level, music, sound consciousness and religion are all one, and she would seem to be very close to that level." John Rockwell

"Through Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening, I now know what harmony is. It's about the pleasure of making music." John Cage

Pauline Oliveros and Guy Klucevsek's "Sounding / Way" was originally released on cassette in 1986 and has been out of print ever since. This LP was cut by John Golden and pressed at RTI in order to achieve a quiet, dynamic pressing.

The Sounding / Way concept was simple. Each artist would write a piece for two accordions and then they would perform them together. Thus, side A contains Guy Klucevsek's Tremolo No. 6 performed by Guy Klucevsek and Pauline Oliveros. Side B contains Pauline's composition The Tuning Meditation, also performed by both Pauline and Guy.

This is the second release in an on-going effort between Important Records and the Pauline Oliveros Trust to maintain and promote the music, philosophy and legacy of Pauline Oliveros.

Guy Klucevsek is one of the world’s most versatile and highly-respected accordionists. He has performed and/or recorded with Laurie Anderson, Bang On a Can, Brave Combo, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, Rahim al Haj, Robin Holcomb, Kepa Junkera, the Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Present Music, Relâche, Zeitgeist, and John Zorn.

Pauline Oliveros, composer, performer and humanitarian is an important pioneer in American Music. Acclaimed internationally, for four decades she has explored sound - forging new ground for herself and others.

Through improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation she has created a body of work with such breadth of vision that it profoundly effects those who experience it, and eludes many who try to write about it. Oliveros has been honored with awards, grants and concerts internationally. Whether performing at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in an underground cavern, or in the studios of West German Radio, Oliveros' commitment to interaction with the moment is unchanged. She can make the sound of a sweeping siren into another instrument of the ensemble.

"On some level, music, sound consciousness and religion are all one, and she would seem to be very close to that level." John Rockwell

"Through Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening, I now know what harmony is. It's about the pleasure of making music." John Cage

Penny Records presents the vinyl version of the soundtrack from the TV Series "Anna" written and directed by Niccolò Ammaniti. Fueled by Niccolò Ammaniti's passionate and immersive creative style, the score for 'Anna' was approached almost as a character study. 'Anna' exposes a world of extreme conditions where the essentials of human existence flourish in a wide range of emotions and sentiments tainted through the eyes of children. Striking brutality and primal savagery go hand in hand with the beauty of innocence and hope. Rauelsson's musical language for 'Anna' includes tense and spare textures that blend seamlessly with intimate ambient minimalism; classical elements that coexist with electronic drone experimentation and tribal rhythms, candid piano melodies buried in tape loops and otherworldly rituals of wordless voices. To arrive at this music landscape, Rauelsson enlisted an international cast of collaborators including Finnish percussionist Tatu Rönkkö, German cellist Anne Müller, American multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick and Oslo-based vocalist Simin Tander. With this ensemble, Rauelsson's music documents a journey of survival that highlights the power of imagination and love.

Credits:

Music by Raúl Pastor Medall except A3 (Salvatore Cardillo, lyrics by Riccardo Cordiferro), A5 (Raúl Pastor Medall, Peter Broderick and Anne Müller), B3 (Raúl Pastor Medall and Anne Müller) and A2, B1, B2 (Raúl Pastor Medall and Tatu Rönkkö)

Played by Peter Broderick (Violin), Anne Müller (Cello), Raúl Pastor Medall (Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizers, Electronics), Tatu Rönkkö (Drums, Percussion) and Simin Tander (Voice) with additional contributions from Christoph Berg (Violin), Aisha Burns (Violin) and Giulia Dragotto (Voice)

Recorded in 2020 at Rockaway Studios (Castelló, Spain; engineered by Raúl Artana), Niu (Benicàssim, Spain; engineered by Raúl Pastor Medall), Old House at Galgeberg (Oslo, Norway; engineered by Olav Torget), Tanum Church (Bærum, Norway; engineered by Olav Torget) and Indigo Studios (Palermo, Italy; engineered by Fabio Rizzo)

Additional recordings by Peter Broderick (Co. Galway, Ireland), Anne Müller (Berlin, Germany) and Tatu Rönkkö (Helsinki, Finland)

Produced by Raúl Pastor Medall and Niccolò Ammaniti. Mixed by Raúl Pastor Medall and Adam Selzer at Niu and Type Foundry (Portland, OR). Mastered by Adam Gonsalves and Adam Selzer at Telegraph Audio Mastering (Portland, OR). Lacquer mastercut by Andreas LUPO Lubich at Loop-O (Berlin, Germany). Artwork by Emiliano "Stand" Cataldo.

After last years excellent discoveries from Volume 1, another batch of 'lost' and unreleased Dutch (cassette) material is coming back to the future. For this sequel we dug deep into the Dutch lowlands and again found some independent music that's still relevant today. In the process we met even more amazing musicians and heard great stories from a distant-not-so-distant past. Expect a wide palette of DIY and experimental sounds by artists from Groningen, Zwolle, Arnhem, The Hague, Rotterdam, Tilburg and Deurne. Volume 2 will also feature a beautifully designed inlay with liner notes in Dutch and English.
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Mastered by Wouter Brandenburg, designed by Steele Bonus and compiled by Mark van de Maat.

Mick Harris is one of the world's greatest compositional treasures. Starting his career as the energy dynamo behind the drum kit of the UK's Napalm Death, he made the term Blastbeat a household reference, wrote the band's music on his mother's one string guitar, and joined the Guinness Book of World Records for composing the world's shortest song. In the decades succeeding, he has re-inventedmusic several more times, from the wild abstract jazz of Painkiller with John Zorn and Bill Laswell, to the drowning ambience of his Lull project, all while continuing to build a world that he can truly call his own - the dark post-dub of SCORN. "Reaching 54 this year - this won't stop the challenge, driving me more so now than ever" - says Mick Harris, commenting on the recent phase in his creativity. The pandemic isolation and lockdown pushed the work of the maestro more than anything else could have. In 2021, his output is ever-increasing, releasing the newest collabs with Justin K. Broadrick and the single "Distortion", featuring one of the most outstanding voices of hip-hop - Kool Keith - his closest collaborator, Ohm Resistance founder - Submerged. Commenting on the release of "Distortion", Mick Harris said to mxdwn: "I enjoy collabs - they bring something different to the swim." Working on his own and collaborating with everyone from Sleaford Mods' James Williamson, on the previous SCORN release or with Kool Keith and Submerged on "Distortion", Mick Harris never had problems with putting energy into beats and sound landscapes, combining various surreal elements with three basic elements that always push Harris further, that are extremely crucial for both Mick Harris and SCORN as a project - frustration, anger and anxiety. Combining the signature soundscapes of Scorn with tartareous textures, the newest album "The Only Place" reaches a psychedelic groove, based on what Harris calls "Pushing an original idea further" with his own shades of light and dark and celestial electricity of what SCORN is. These 10 new tracks add elements unheard in Scorn since Evanescense and Gyral - ethereal ambiences and floating, near-melodic-but-not-quite moments, a signature of Harris' abilities to generate feelings in a lost world of his own creation. 2024 vinyl version on orange coloured vinyl!

RESET arises as a wake-up call to the situation all of us are living through. A way of leaving a record of a fateful and paradigmatic moment in history. A backward glance serving as a way to face the future collectively and as a community. A manifestation of creativity and commitment. A reset to the habits and customs that we had internalized.

39 tracks by: Oscar Mulero, Francisco Lopez, Paul Prudence, Boris Divider, Fraction, Novi_sad, Barbara Ellison, Suso Saiz, Murcof, Estrato Aurora and more.

‘Thema’ was recorded in 2018 by Alexi Baris from Vancouver, BC Canada. This LP features depictions of micro organisms squirming under the lens as well as the interior (travelling?) world of the person looking into it, so like “lives in relief”.

Beyond the mechanically lurching, magnified phytoplankton – glimpses of satisfaction, natural harbour echo, a creaking research boat bow cutting waves, transitory sounds.

Picture Vinyl

"Oscillation associations

This album is titled Os. When I look at the shape of these two letters, O and S, I realize that they are a rotation and an oscillation.

Os is Dutch for Ox. An ox is a castrated male bull. The primary benefit of castrating bull calves is to temper their tempers, making it easier and cheaper for people to handle them. Os is also an abbreviation of oscillation, -cillation being castrated off. Oscillation means a movement back and forth in a regular rhythm, like breathing, push-ups, tides, swinging or sound. For this album Lyckle was not dealing with oxes or bulls, but with oscillations, guiding them through synths, handling their tempers. If I look at the etymology of oscillation, I learn that it stems from the term Oscilla, which were ancient disks depicting a face or animal on each side. Oscilla is a diminutive of os and means ‘little face’. They were hung in trees during religious feasts honoring various deities, as well as being thought of as purifying the air as they swung in the wind.

The wind chime with its little sunny face, smiling on the cover of this record was hanging in the windowsill of Lyckle’s studio, behind his back, where the wind would make it jingle, averting the Evil Eye according to apotropaic magic. In ancient Rome, wind chimes named Tintinnabulum were decorated with a phallus, which was also seen as a good luck charm. Phallic charm also appeared as objects of jewelry such as pendants and finger rings. It has been suggested that some types of phallic pendants were designed to point outwards in the direction of travel in order to face any potential danger or bad luck, nullifying it before it could affect the wearer.

When I take the record itself out of the sleeve, I see that there are two phalluses carved into the surface of the vinyl, like little ornaments. When you start playing the record, they start chasing each other, going round and round. They point in all directions of the room, but are never able to point at each other. Finally, I am told that it is recommended to listen to this record with the window open, allowing sounds from outside to blend in with the music. "

- Bernice Nauta

For release #2 Kontrapunkt makes a journey into different fields of electronic music. French based producer Octave Diesis delivers an album full of melancholic yet thoughtful neoclassical songs. The songs live mostly from the enigmatic piano melodies paired with some well-thought synthesizer sounds he composed. Expect ambient environments and dramatic, soothing layers.

* Cassette release *

Future Times is elated to announce our next release, the album Bop 3 from Sir E.U + Tooth Choir. Sir E.U is one of the best.

He has modes aplenty, ranging from classic rap music to collaborations with DC’s dance and electronic music producers. This album finds him in duo mode, every beat by the formidable Tooth Choir, for a new classic entry. Bop 3 is a scuzzed-out rap masterpiece. Tooth Choir’s beats range from the acid house bang of “Turn It Up! (ft. Cal Rips)” to the piano dream state of the closer “Can’t Stop Thinking Bout My Baby,” in which E.U goes galactic for 20 minutes of purely-bared soul. “End Of Time” sounds like Jungle Wonz with the ions reversed, some sort of Chicago House-indebted nightmare funk. “Hey Mom” and “Untitled (2 Much)” dig into a post-punk and wave angle, evocative of everything from Robert Hood and Sleeparchive to Joy Division and other reverb scroungers. Sir E.U compliments this fully, with a surprising range of melody and bizarro hooks, as in the demented pop highlights “MUA” and “How Much Longer (Until We Go Get Em).” The sheer sonics of his voice and breadth of his expression, which he is manipulating and re-inventing constantly throughout Bop 3, are wonderful on their own, but Sir E.U is also straight up one of the greatest rappers doing it today; his styles and flows are constantly stunning, and each EP or track release via his own channels becomes a fountain of inspiration for anybody rapping right now. You can hear E.U in many rappers today, well beyond his local Washington DC. Bop 3 is a full-length exploration of the potent duo of Sir E.U + Tooth Choir, in sync to a serious degree, making some of the wildest rap music imaginable.

Pillow Person is the new solo adventure from Sarah Jones who has previously made her name in showbiz from playing traps with the likes of Hot Chip et al. For her debut solo slab on Acid Waxa however, Pillow Person's catchy-as-owt digi-singles are given the remix treatment by 4 giants of modern darnce! Those being: Bogdan Raczynski (10 releases on Rephlex, 7 bad jokes, 4 mixes, 2 game soundtracks, 1 production with Bjork & 0 bad haircuts) Lechuga Zafiro (Co founder of Uruguyan, Afro-Latin label Salviatek) IYDES (aka London based badman Joe Brooks) and cellist/composer/producer Oliver Coates, who has collaborated with everyone from Leo Abrahams to Radiohead. 2 be filed (if you must) under: haus, Latin, klasical, phuture grime, jungle, electronic pop musique and so on!

Having already unearthed three collections of archival ‘70s recordings by Catherine Christer Hennix, Blank Forms continues their annual illumination of the visionary Swedish composer’s music by turning to more recent work with this first-time vinyl edition of Hennix’s “Blues Alif Lam Mim in the Mode of Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis,” a 2014 piece first released as a CD in 2016 (Important Records).

The double album captures the April 22, 2014 premiere of Hennix’s composition by by the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, her expanded just intonation ensemble, featuring a brass section of Amir ElSaffar, Paul Schwingenschlögl, Hilary Jeffery, Elena Kakaliagou, and Robin Hayward; live electronics by Stefan Tiedje and Marcus Pal; and voice by Amirtha Kidambi, Imam Ahmet Muhsin Tüzer, and Hennix herself. Intended to reveal the blues’ origins in the eastern musical traditions of raga and makam, “Blues Alif Lam Mim in the Mode of Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis” has its roots in Hennix’s 2013 realization of an “Illuminatory Sound Environment,” a concept developed in 1978 by anti-artist Henry Flynt on the basis of Hennix’s own “The Electric Harpsichord.”

As Hennix explains in Other Matters, Blank Forms’ 2019 collection of her writings:

“Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis presents fragments of ‘raga-like’ frequency constellations following distinct cycles and permuting their order, creating a simultaneity of ‘multi-universes.’ When two such ‘universes’ come in proximity of each other and begin unfolding simultaneously along distinct cycles, there is a kaleidoscopic exfoliation of frequencies as one universe is becoming two, but not separated—the effect of cosmosis is entrained, binding two or more frequency universes into proximity where their modal properties interact and blend, creating in the process entirely new microtonal constellations in an omnidirectional simultaneous cosmic order with phenomenologically ‘transfinite’ Poincaré cycles (cyclic returns to initial conditions).”

As with Hennix’s best work, the organic unfolding of this quivering drone belies a precision that opens onto the infinitesimal. Upon its mesmerizing ebb and flow, the vocalists incant a devotional poem written in Arabic by Hennix and featuring quotations from the Quran. Also reproduced on the album’s gatefold jacket, Hennix’s reduction of the sacred text to its most elegant formulation invites the contemplator to bring their inner knowledge to the composition for use as a prompt for meditation. Yet the piece offers depth to even the most secular listener willing to immerse themselves in music brimming with such serene intensity.

Catherine Christer Hennix (b. 1948) started her creative life playing drums with her older brother Peter, growing up in Sweden where she heard jazz luminaries, such as John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor perform from 1960 to 1967. Directly after high school, Hennix went to work at Stockholm’s pioneering Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), where she developed early tape music, incorporating computer generated speech done at the Royal Technological University (KTH), where she was an undergraduate student. After traveling to New York In 1968, she met artists Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles who invited her to stay at the Something Else Press Town House where she had the opportunity to meet, among others, composers John Cage, James Tenney, and Phil Corner. During the following years she developed fruitful collaborative relationships with many composers in the burgeoning American avant-garde, including, most significantly, Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. Young introduced Hennix to Hindustani raga master Pandit Pran Nath and she would later study intensively under him as his first European disciple. While Hennix continued to make music performing alongside Arthur Russell, Marc Johnson, Henry Flynt, and Arthur Rhames, she also served as a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at SUNY New Paltz and as a visiting Professor of Logic (at Marvin Minsky’s invitation) at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In recent years Hennix has led the just-intonation ensemble the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, which has featured musicians Amelia Cuni, Amirtha Kidambi, Chiyoku Szlavnics, Hilary Jeffrey, Amir El-Saffar, Benjamin Duboc and Rozemarie Heggen. She currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey pursuing studies in classical Arabic and Turkish makam.

Máscaras is anchored by Valdivia's deft and atmospheric production style that folds together intricate spiraling synths, balmy environments, and crisp drum programming, variously drawing from trap, footwork, early Warp-label gestures, and the digital end of dancehall reggae. Yet it's his love of organic instrumentation that truly cements his commitment to an eclectic, unclassifiable aesthetic. Although he's well-respected as a drummer—particularly in wayward rock and improvised music circles—Mas Aya often serves to showcase Valdivia's prowess as a wind player. His iterative but expressive playing on tin whistle, bansuri, quena (as well as other instruments such as the llamador, and thumb pianos) imbues these compositions with a warm, tactile quality. Lido Pimienta's vocal appearance on “Tiempo Ahora” builds upon this human presence, steering things temporarily into abstract R&B territory. Meanwhile, the sampled voices that Valdivia threads throughout the first side underscore his connection to hip hop production tactics, while referencing key figures within current and historical popular movements in Nicaragua.

Although the record is steeped in both rhythmic electronica and a wide assortment Latin American sounds both contemporary and ancient, according to Valdivia, aspects of it also reflect his training with with noted composer Linda Catlin Smith, whose lyrical quasi-stasis can be heard lurking in its mesmeric, recursive structures.

Music for the healing inspired by the Tarot, fucking up, and learning. Written and recorded by friends who love each other very much.

Iggy Pop ‘Rain’s Break’ tonight 25th June with shout out
BBC6 Music

“Magical miniature sonic worlds that modestly await discovery.”
Music OMH – interview + review now live

"Assured and promising"
The Vinyl District – 5* review
Birthday Cake For Breakfast – review

Concrete Islands – review

The Line Of Best Fit - “An incredibly exciting artist”

New 2x12" on Ear Clip Series.

E.N.M. steht fur Endlich Normale Menschen (E.N.M. stands for finally normal people, editor's note). This double opus, compiled by Low Bat, can be considered as a collection of friendships and encounters, where phlegmatism and melomania are intertwined. It includes tracks by F. Æmbient or Vamilienfa†er, two sheet metal artists from the Berlin experimental scene with their respective labels, Kashual Plastik and Bohemian Drips, as well as a track by Dame Area, a Barcelona duo that Low Bat booked during their 4 years of Berlin penitence.

The nine tracks oscillate between two main lines. The first record offers to discover a palette of more introspective feelings, where twilight layers cross broken rhythms and almost acidic progressions. The second, on the other hand, allows one to step by step to break away from this approach and look at introspection in a different way, alternating between unbridled joy (4K - Schabernak) and consistent melancholy (3H by Blume Attempt).

3rd tape in this proper skuzzy series on the Group A related 'NO RECORDING'. On point for those who like the grimy things in life. TIP!

"Vol.3 is an Exquisite Corpse issue!"
The feeling of social isolation during the lockdown in the winter of '20/21 led us to work collectively and collaboratively. We explored the possibilities within the limitation of the concept of NO Recording project and adapted the method of Exquisite corpse.
Featured artists: Cienfuegos, group A, Horoscope, Isabella, Joachim Nordwall, Nick Klein, Tot Onyx, Wilted Woman

This EP collects some results of fucking around with more or less cheap gear and an old computer running on Windows XP. It's full of raw and noisy mental breakdown music. The 7" record comes with a download-code of the tracks on the vinyl plus 6 digital bonus tracks!

Beautifully presented translucent blue heavyweight vinyl LP, cased in 4 panel printed outer and inner sleeves.
Subexotic Records presents our first project with talented producer Onepointwo. Konstantinos Giazlas (aka Onepointwo) hails from Thessaloniki, Greece, and sites influences from the late 50s electronic experimental sounds, motorik,krautrock, lush shoegaze melodies and modern electronica. Talking about hiscreative outlook, Kostas says: "I continually look to emulate a musical journey into space, time, memories and frequencies". This journey is conducted with the use of minimal electronics, abstract and distorted shortwave radio signals, dystopian soundscapes, all carefully wrung out from criss-crossing digital and analogue sources, fused with a passion for heavyeffects and percussive sounds. Fashioned from a collection of tracks hitherto believed to be lost to a cruel computer malfunction, Synchronization was salvaged from a final reboot. No editing, no tweaking, no second chance - these tracks have reached terminal velocity. Luck is on our side, as what remains reveals a series of intricate yet powerful soundscapes, with finely wrought motifs that repeat and build to create Onepointwo's trademark shimmering psychedelic impact. His previous discography includes Keene (Poeta Negra) / SANS (Lotus RecordShop Editions) and various appearances & remixes on domesticlabel compilations. 2020 brought about 2 album releases on highly regarded cult UK labels Miracle Pond and Woodford Halse, garnering a slew of positive reviews, including warm praise in Electronic Sound Magazine.

Conceived as a form of sonic road movie, beginning at dusk and ending at dawn the following day, Rupert Lally’s aural accompaniment to the hours of darkness effortlessly combines electronica, industrial, contemporary classical and jazz, with the resulting mix sounding akin to a soundtrack to a Wim Wenders film if composed by Jan Garbarek, Carl Craig and Max Richter. Hailing originally from England but now based in Switzerland, guitarist, percussionist and electronic musician Rupert Lally began his career as a sound designer and composer for theatre and TV, before launching his solo career in 2005. Since then his releases have blurred the boundaries between electronic and acoustic music. Lally's consistently brilliant work is always a highlight of the electronic music calendar, including recent stellar works across many labels such as Spun Out Of Control, Third Kind, Woodford Halse, and Modern Aviation.

An unexpected musical combination of two masterpieces of modern music rethought through the use of contemporary electronic instruments that marvels at lively and innovative sounds, in the version with keyboards and electronics presented at Terraforma Festival 2019.
Ricciarda Belgiojoso and Walter Prati have created several musical projects were piano, keyboards, and electronics interact in a dynamic and unusual way. Together they have participated in contemporary and experimental music reviews and festivals such as Parade Électronique 2018, Piano City Milano, Musica per Slight Agitation 3/4: Gelitin at Fondazione Prada, Festival Aperto di Reggio Emilia 2019, Città Sonora 2019, Terraforma 2019 and NU 2020. They have recorded some of their works for DaVinciClassic.

Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five full-lengths of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

The 3rd album by Scottish industrial enigma Cinder aka Cindytalk began life as the soundtrack to an experimental film by English director Ivan Unnwin entitled Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment), and was originally slated for release via Factory Records' video division, Ikon. Inspired heavily by Alan Splet's eerily disembodied sound design in David Lynch's Eraserhead, the collection's 15 pieces seethe between field recordings, wistful piano vignettes, and lurking metallic haze – a hybrid palette Cinder characterized at the time as “ambi-dustrial.” Unfortunately Ikon collapsed on the eve of the project's completion so the film was never distributed, but the Midnight Music imprint repackaged Cindytalk's score as an LP in 1990 under the name The Wind Is Strong... (full title: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky).