Beats News

A world in flux; temporal and metaphysical realities questioned. The unit - us and self - entering a new phase. With two dark, discordant EP's of eccentric and kinetic music - the aim is connections conceived. Avidya is experience, seeing the ignorance and understanding in one.

002 starts with Aphonia, L.A. based producer and sound designer Matia Simovich's new solo (ad)venture. As part of Inhalt (Dark Entries / Emotional Especial), he pushes new wave and dark synth-pop for the future. Exploring rhythmic, long forms of ritual, Burning Fields' jacking schematics were conceived of and from the severity of the California wildfires.

Industrial, metallic, lo-fi Angels Of Pompeii are a by-product of Montreal's Italian diaspora, an assemblage of Matt D'Alessio (Temple Records) and Anthony Gallati (Solitary Dancer), who pay homage to the motherland's electronic pioneers like Kirlian Camera and Victrola. Moscow's sons, Odopt (Discos Capablanca / Hivern Discs) explore cavernous, virulent techno and soporific atmospherics and tonality in Athma. Finally, St Petersburg's Linja offers Retreat, a brooding aura of slo-mo-proto trance to wrap within the first essence of Avidya's crown.

It takes great courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still love it.

2022 Repress

Medical continues it's exploration and admiration our beloved Severed Heads. Long overdue and much needed reissue of their1989 album "Rotund For Success". Special expanded 2LP version including alternate versions and remixes. "Rotund" is a treasure trove of hits including "All Saints Day", "Greater Reward" and "Big Car". Includes deluxe gatefold heavy duty full color jacket featuring the iconic pineapple and pine cone featured on the singles. Remastered by Mr. Ellard himself. Double 160gm black vinyl. Limited Edition.

Focusing exclusively on 7"s, Ferry Lane Records launches its first release with the debut of Leona Jacewska AKA Charlie. Having garnered a following with her DJ and live performances, the record sees the Polish producer merging seamlessly Italo, synthpop and wave.

Limited to 200 copies, hand-stamped labels, download code include

HAAis Debüt-Album ist die bisher energetischste und lebhafteste Zusammenstellung an Songs der in Australien geborenen und in London lebenden Produzentin. “Baby, We’re Ascending” ist ein 13-Track-starkes Klangabenteuer, das die Zuhörenden mitnimmt auf eine Reise – von harten, echo-dominierten Beats zu schwungvollen, farbenprächtigen Synthesizer-Lines und hellen, verzerrten Gesangs-Samples. Die Stimmen auf dem Album sind vielfälig und eklektisch – von Jon Hopkins und Alexis Taylor von Hot Chip über den Sänger Obi Franky bis hin zum Spoken-Word-Poeten und Aktivisten Kai-Isaiah Jamal.

Dutchman PTDD has boarded the Pleasure Express with a cleverly crafted, hard-to-pin-down 4 track EP. While each track is unique in it’s own refreshing way, his secret recipe clearly contains all of the dancefloor essentials: snappy break-ish drum designs, hypnotic (r)evolutionary synths & intergalactic basslines.

Pye Corner Audio releases a new album, Let’s Emerge!, for Sonic Cathedral. It’s his first studio outing for the label following the acclaimed live recording Social Dissonance, which came out earlier this year, and it features Ride guitarist Andy Bell playing on five of its ten tracks. From the first glimpse of the artwork to the first note of the music it’s a marked deviation from Pye Corner Audio’s more traditional shadowy sounds. Whereas his last outing for Ghost Box (2021’s Entangled Routes) was inspired by the underground fungal pathways through which plants communicate, this one is very much above ground, bathed in sunlight and acid-bright psychedelia.

“This is a departure to sunnier climes, but a departure nonetheless,” says Pye Corner Audio, aka Martin Jenkins. “It’s something that I’d been thinking about for a while. I try to tailor my work slightly differently for the various labels that I work with, and this seems to fit nicely with Sonic Cathedral’s ethos.” Designer Marc Jones’ bold and ultra vivid artwork consciously references the likes of LFO, Spacemen 3 and the early output of Stereolab. “I think it mixes together many of my earliest influences,” explains Martin. “I’ve been a long-time fan of Spacemen 3 and Stereolab.

Their moments of repetition and drone have always seeped into what I’ve tried to create.

“I was living in a small apartment and I’d stripped down my studio set-up when I was recording this album. This enabled me to focus on a few key pieces of equipment and explore them fully.” The recordings were fleshed out by Andy Bell, who Martin first met at the Sonic Cathedral 15th birthday party at The Social in London back in 2019 – the same show that became the live album Social Dissonance.

“New alliances were formed and friendships made in that basement in Little Portland Street,” recalls Martin. “When I met Andy, we agreed that we needed to work together in some way. After I’d remixed a few tracks from his album The View From Halfway Down, he kindly repaid the favour.” The end results – mastered in New York by acclaimed engineer Heba Kadry – are incredible, from the first stirrings of opener ‘De-Hibernate’, via the glorious ‘Haze Loops’ and ‘Saturation Point’, the album slowly but surely awakens, blinking and feeling its way into the light. It all culminates in the epic closing track ‘Warmth Of The Sun’ which, with its vocal harmonies and acid breakdown, is seven and a half minutes of pure release.

“That one’s about life’s simple pleasures,” concludes Martin. “The Beach Boys, tremolo guitars, infinite drones, Spacemen 3. Let’s emerge from this darkened era and feel the ‘Warmth Of The Sun’. “The last few years have seen huge changes, both personally and in a wider perspective. The album title is a reaction to this, a collective (tentative) sigh of relief. Here’s to new beginnings and a sense of hope.”

The singer and composer makes his debut on Illegal Alien Records with a fantastic Album titled ‘Mercurio Rosa’ and we are extremely happy to be the platform to release this Masterpiece. ‘Mercurio Rosa’ will be release on a limited double 10′ Vinyl, Cassette Tape edition and Digital format.

Haze - released via Ki Records - is Greek producer and composer, Hior Chronik's latest creation. Aligning with his previous critically acclaimed album, Descent, Haze creates an electro-ambient world which accentuates modern classical minimalism. It is an album which deeply embodies tranquility, fulfilment and meaningful connection, aspirations born out of Hior Chronik's past in Athens, and realised by his relocation near to a forest in Berlin, where he can truly feel at-home, surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of nature. Through 15 tracks, Hior Chronik guides his listeners in an immersive journey which features magical soundscapes built using DX7 and Roland synthesizers, beats from the Lofi drum machine and Volca samples. Inspired by the best of his previous work in moody electro soundscapes, alongside his own history as a listener and lover of early 90's electronic music, artists like, Lali Puna, Solvent and Remote Viewer, this album demonstrates a new dimension to Hior Chronik's artistry which exudes light optimism.

10x12inch bundle + book

What is going on here then? Well, digging through the ever shrinking tunnels in the cave system that is our warehouse we come across many forgotten ore and metal deposits that silently beg to be unearthed. Since we are not the beroerdste, we reckon it's about time to put some of these on offer to you, the unsuspecting consumer. And we have hit the jackpot in this case! For a limited time only (and as long as stock lasts) we offer 10 (yes TEN) records from the vast Creme Organization back catalogue + a copy of the glorious Godspill Artwork Book for just 50 (yes FIFTY) Smackeroonies! Which titles you will get will be a surprise, so take a chance take a chance boys & girls and all shades inbetween, cause here's a breath of fresh air in these times of inflation and global uncertainty! Love, the management.

»Music for Shared Rooms« is B. Fleischmann’s eleventh solo album and his first since 2018. It is also not an album, or at least not in the conventional sense of the word. These 16 instrumental pieces provide a kaleidoscopic glimpse of a forward-thinking musician at home in many different musical worlds, including experimental and abstract music, pop and more classically-minded compositional forms. These pieces were culled from an archive of roughly 600 compositions for theatre pieces and films written throughout the past twelve years. The Österreichischer Filmpreis-awarded composer, however, aimed for more than simply documenting his extensive work in and with different media. To do so, he edited and re-mixed the individual recordings for this release, taking them out of their contexts and reworking them for an audience who can experience them in a different setting. »Music for Shared Rooms« makes it possible for its listeners to engage with the sounds and to fill the spaces they open up with their own imagination.

Roughly speaking, music for theatre or film can serve two functions: it either takes the lead, or underscores what is happening on stage or screen. The marvelous thing about these pieces is that they manage to do both. Fleischmann’s work as a prolific producer has always drawn on contrasts, at times combining pop sentiment with rigid experimentation, the seemingly naive with the intricate and complex. This approach also marks the tracks collected here: bringing together acoustic elements and electronic sounds, at times working with conventional structures but always de- and re-contextualising them, Fleischmann constructs a vivid dramaturgy out of discrete singular compositions, letting them interact across the record.

Take, for example, the opener »Träumerei« and the following »Brenne«: after the soothing acoustic sounds of the former, the latter quickly picks up speed with hard-hitting drum machine rhythms. It’s a stark contrast sonically and stylistically, however both tracks are tied together by a certain harmonic sensibility. This sort of dramaturgical interconnectedness of varied musical materials is the thread that runs through »Music for Shared Rooms«. A droney piece for string instruments like »Sehnsucht« is followed by a trip-hop beat, before »Schock« lives up to its title with skittering beats and piercing high frequencies. The differences between the pieces may be striking, but the progression from one to the other is subtle. It goes on like this through different moods and tempos. There’s soothing-yet-eerie piano pieces like the »Für Elise«-inspired »Der Lärmkrieg«, gentle house grooves, joyful synthesizer excursions and, finally, »Die Erde ist mir fremd geworden«, a collage of abstract textures and concrete sounds.

All these pieces create distinct situations through the juxtaposition of diverse musical elements, but are also bound together by a single vision. Writing music for theatre pieces or film requires a composer and his pieces to engage with people and their movements in space, which is exactly what Fleischmann offers on this record. He breaks down the fourth wall and invites his listeners into his world, a wide-ranging musical panorama. »Music for Shared Rooms« is indeed not an album in the conventional sense of the word, but more like a photo album in which each page opens up a new space to get lost in; recreates different scenes in which you can immerse yourself. These are shared rooms indeed.

Platform 23 is delighted to present music from Colin Potter with It Was, a collection of tracks chosen from his 1989 cassettes Recent History Volumes 1 & 2.

After a burst of activity, mainly on his ICR label, from 1980 - 82, the tapes were the first released music in seven years and highlighted the intervening period.

While much of his earlier recordings have now been reissued by Dark Entries, Deep Distance and Sacred Summits, It Was covers the period where Potter recordings were limited while working as an engineer at his IC Studio, and pre-date his work with Nurse With Wound.

The ambience and guitar of The French Polisher leads to Diary Of A Nobody, an embodiment of Potter, sequencers and guitar against submerged, metallic percussion rising. Dense, claustrophobia follows in Solidarity At Wujeck Colliery towards the guitar refrains of Persistence.

Side two starts with Green Fields, where plucked guitars are surrounded and consumed by arpeggios. Propulsion without percussion, the layers of arps shift and redefine before the scatter of Saw with reversed synths and guitar acting as counterbalance. Nine Months, a possible centerpiece, has an autumnal atmosphere; crashing cymbals and ambulant guitar, leading to the closing Ships That Pass In The Night, a hazy drift of slowly sequenced synths & primitive voice samples.

This explosive set of 22 floor filling synth-italo-tech-disco blasts from the past charts the rise and heyday of the synthesizer in Finnish pop music. Compiled by renowned Helsinki DJ and music historian Mikko Mattlar, these 22 choice cuts from 1978 to 1992 include many cult hits and impossibly rare tracks, such as the Fenno-Italo-disco cult classic Satan in Love by Emilia and the synthetic experiments of Argon and Syntax.

As a moth of light we felt strongly gravitated to the “New Light” by Dinkis. Intensity fits closest to this composition; it is the deepest, hitherto most personal work, packed in an emotional five-part journey.

The paths... between particles shrink, often drifting apart; but they are on an endless search for the new, the one point of attachment, which with all its nuances forms its very own finite world. Don't hold back, go ahead. According to this pattern, Dinkis sounds travel to “New Light”. The unknown traveller crosses the sonic spaces in quest of variety and continuity.

A dark contrast that oscillates back and forth through slow, powerful beats and an octave bouncing bassline. We virtually breathe the restraint, the fear of emptiness of “L'Astronauta”. So close to the target, the guides emerge as bright, floating points on the horizon; as the “Butterfly Poet” over a synthetic flow of sine waves. The present chapter of this composing journey provides a passionate realization.

Suddenly, the stream of thought stops and await for new impulses begins, until gradually, very slowly inspirations just dropping away. This is exactly how it feels when the “Rain In The Desert” sets in and everything starts to live. “Fuoco Nello Stomaco” or as long as the inner fire burns, no sudden drought on any level can cause a general stop.

Ambitions, dreams and creativity never stand still, are in motion; jump from sound to sound. It's this continuous excitement that Dinkis creates in this surprisingly real-feeling EP.

Vinyl Only - Limited

In Love With a Ghost is back with a new Vinyl, Gay Story. Maybe it's time to get cute, to feel childish. In that moment, when you can drink iced tea for breakfast. The iconic sounds of In Love with a Ghost lay smoothly over layers of synthesizers throughout the album, making for an easy and endless listen.

Cabaret Voltaire’s ‘The Covenant, The Sword and The Arm of The Lord’, as originally remastered in 2013, now reissued on White vinyl. Known for being the harder, more experimental album of their “Pop” period, ‘The Covenant, The Sword and The Arm of The Lord’ was originally released in 1985 and includes the classic ‘I Want You’. The album embodys Cabaret Voltaire’s industrial electro-funk sound and their punk ethos.

Cabaret Voltaire were very much ahead of their time, harmonising dance music, techno, dub, house and experimental electronics, making them, without a doubt, one of the most influential acts in electronic music.

“...The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord is an exercise in paranoia with anxiety coded into the jittery sample-heavy structures of the music itself.” - Spectrum Culture

Platform 23 again explores to the dense voids, this time with a touch of the funk, with a reissue of Dutch experimentalists De Fabriek and two tracks from their "Music For" cassette series, this time calling all Hippies.

Featuring both original and reinterpretations from modern-day heads, Dunkeltier and Khidja, this double-pack is something of an oddity, showcasing the bands' expansive range, moving away from the noise, drone and industrial soundscape releases they had become known for and crafting here, free flowing, groovy longform jams.

Active since the late 70s to today, De Fabriek (The Factory) have never considered themselves a real band - being also a label too - with an evolving and irregular line up centred around Richard van Dellen, they present their music and output as a kind of work-union.

With literally four decades and dozens of releases across all formats, 1988's cassette release, 'Music For Hippies', has become something of a cult curio, with the long improvisational tracks, Lullabye and Coming Down eschewing the rougher, industrial experience for something completely different.

In opener Lullabye, we go full leftfield P-Funk meets Motorik undertones. An incessant beat is laid from the start and doesn't cease for over 10 minutes, while spoken vocals call closer to the Krautrock realms of Can and hark to Liebezeit's stylised grooving best.

Analog, echo washed, with touches of glam and wrapped in simple effects pedal work, the secrets are passed to Dresden / Berlin inhabitant Dunkeltier aka Sneaker DJ aka Thomas Smorek. His darker moniker, appearing on obscure edits for Macadam Mambo and the much-missed Bahnsteig 23, his 'Hey Robot' mix adds bass, percussion, strings and synth to remold Lullabye into a late night, red light, basement denzien. This is followed by an additional, bonus reimagining, creating an all-new time piece, an ear worm of the best kind with Tik Tok Goes The Clock.

The second slab presents in Come Down, a more resembling De Fabriek werk. Edited to fit, the darkness is entered as snapshot vocal quips, oscillations and synthesised mutations are laid over a lazy, relentless ostinato rhythm where cymbals crash on the bar. Inviting, calling, De Fabriek's aptly titled downer is in fact, a joyous journey.

To complete, label affiliates, Khidja take a break from finalising their debut album to unfold their 'Psychebabble Mix', a dozen plus minutes of warped, twisted, cassette machinations that suck the listener further along the trip. Added bass propels their edit suddenly to a new direction, a hook for mind and for the open willed, the body. De Fabriek's "coming down lullabye" arriving on vinyl for the first time, with a twist and shake, calling deeper to acceptance.

Stalactite is a collaborative recording project by renown Japanese artist and multi-instrumentalist Susumu Mukai AKA Zongamin and producer Drew Brown, whose discography ranges from his own group Off World to a variety of integral productions for artists such as Blonde Redhead and Beck. Their self-titled debut for the ESP Institute is a grand gesture, a broad stroke that illustrates both singular focus and vast complexity, which is no easy feat considering the almost oppressive immediacy and availability of tools at the disposal of contemporary artists. There’s a level of creative confidence and discipline needed to work so fundamentally, and whether or not the listener has an appetite refined enough to process the tasteful subtleties throughout this production, these same subtleties accumulate regardless and land that listener in a highly considered and developed space. The deceptively naive melodic approach consistent across these nine tracks can feel transparent, familiar to a point the listener can anticipate its path, but when listening with acute focus we find a variable range of texture, temperature, depth and negative space. As alumni of the Minimal, Cold Wave, Synth Pop era, Susumu and Drew successfully personify a motley crew of synthesizers to work in concert, reduced to their core personalities and presented as their most honest selves — austere, shy, cinematic, percolating, bulbous, glistening, cantankerous, rubberized, clumsy and animated. Each masterfully paired with complimentary counterparts, these players assemble into a sound-stage we typically find in live recordings, enveloping and inviting us to the center of an acoustic cavern to wade through sonic impressions of monolithic stalactites.

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform which started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda, and continues to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. In November 2019, eight artists from Kenya, Uganda and the UK spent a week in Nairobi together exploring new tangents in soul music, the result was their 2020 debut EP 'New Tangents In Kampala, London & Nairobi Vol. 1'.

The growing collective is made up of Faizal Mostrixx (UG), Hibotep (UG), K15 (UK), Karun (KE), Labdi (KE), Lex Amor (UK), Lynda Dawn (UK) and Maxwell Owen (UK). Now with the with the addition of Itsmdnyt (UG), XL Middleton (US), Xenia Menasseh (KE), Sola (UK) and Azu Tiwaline (TUN), the collective are preparing to release their album 'New Tangents in Kampala, London and Nairobi', released 25th March.

Three years in the making, work started on the album at a writing camp in Nairobi, and was completed remotely over the course of the worldwide lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. The album celebrates the potential of collaboration, both in a physical and digital sense.

Innovators in their own fields, each artist brings unique knowledge and musical culture to the project, collectively they represent a broad spectrum of sound. The album reflects this via an inspiring mixture of beautiful soul, glitchy beats, spoken word and bumping instrumentals. Embracing the same values of the writing camp but through virtual collaborations, seeing 'soul' as much in the spiritual sense as the musical one, expanding the sound into new territories.

Atomnation marks its 100th release with Peter, Barbara, Beth & Friends, the stunning debut album from Blomfelt & Narby. The immersive nine-track record arrives on August 26th and is a widescreen listen that fuses acoustic and electronic sounds with loose field recordings and tightly programmed drums.

Finnish-born Henrik Blomfelt grew up in Gaspar Narby's homeland of Switzerland, but the pair met on the dance floor of a pool club in Peckham while studying in London. Gaspar’s indie pop solo project was rewarded with a broad sweep of tastemaker tips from new music and electronica media alike, while Henrik had co-founded Resolution, an audio-visual collective and event series. The two eventually moved in together, but it's only a couple of years later, when Gaspar visited Henrik’s homeland of Finland, that they began making music together. They wrote half of the tracks that appear on the LP there, using an old piano, a cassette recorder found on location and their laptops. The second half was finished back in London.

Tape

Danish composer, musician and producer Trentemøller announces his new studio album 'Memoria' which is set for release in early 2022 on his own label In My Room alongside the first single 'In The Gloaming' which is released September 10th 2021. Anders Trentemøller's sixth studio album, Memoria, seems to exist at the
confluence of inspiration, coincidence, and maybe even a little bit of the supernatural.
A recent, unanticipated drop of four songs, in the form of two singles (No One Quite Like You, and Golden Sun), might leave one surprised to find that a full album's worth of material was also waiting in the wings.
As with most Trentemøller releases, it's a body of songs that are thematically linked by many melodic threads.

The first single from the upcoming album, 'In The Gloaming', which is released in September 2021, implies the arc of the album might have actually begun late in the day, giving the sensation of waking in the evening. Nocturne's dawning. Stars emerge in the form of percussive arpeggios.

2019's Trentemøller album 'Obverse' was an exercise in what could be done if the prospect of performing the songs onstage wasn't a factor. It opened up some doors, and signaled a new chapter. Memoria, even considering its resplendence, almost feels like it demands to be presented live as well.

EB/Industrial/Upper Wave/Synth Punk Independent label based in Berlin/Mexico City

EB/Industrial/Upper Wave/Synth Punk Independent label based in Berlin/Mexico City

Alien Men is a 9 track compilation of abstract Dub & Synth experiments by a range of new artists coming out of Glasgow's Southside.

The idea for the compilation came about during a time of lengthy periods of isolation, where loneliness, insecurity and a willlingness to connect with other like-minded souls was challenging or near impossible. The artwork was subsequently created and the music followed, allowing each producer to tell their own story throughout this period.

The music featured, although hard to pin down to one notion, is Bass/Grime-esq, mutant Dancehall in parts with awkward, Ambient synth moments across this essential Club/Not Club record.

Cosmos 2043 is a wild, science fiction-themed library LP by French synthesizer wizard Bernard Fèvre. Released in 1977, Fèvre imagines a far future populated by space-age electronics and lush, vivid melody. This edition has also been treated to a remaster from the original tapes by Fèvre.

For an understanding of the past, you have to look to the future – or was it the other way round? No matter how you want to put it, some things are an aesthetic choice, and the meaning of style does not necessarily go hand in hand with the latest fashion fad or an incurable retromania. Chinaski’s debut (album under that name) on Running Back seems predestined to resume these discussions. Drenched in sepia colors and faded VHS tapes memories, fed by a science-fiction that never became a fact, essentially made with the ultramodern instruments of yesteryear (see back cover for further reference) that became redundant through their own relatives and a need to ensure efficiency (time, space, money), it’s either concept art, an ode to Disco Piu, a post card from the early days of Frankfurt’s Dorian Gray or the search and itch for a time machine.

All of the debate above is rendered useless by the title though: No Pop, No Fun! And those are the main musical reference points here: instrumental pop that you can dance to, pastel melodies that stick with you and fun frequencies. Downtempo ballads for video game characters in love meet cabriolet anthems and scooter songs. Perfectly composed and carefully made.

If John Hughes would have ever aspired to make a high school movie set in a post-apocalyptic Italy: this is what the score would probably sound like.

repress

Dame Area ended 2021 and has started 2022 acclaimed in the european stages with a live show praised for its power and darkness, made up of many new tracks.

Some of those have been gathered in this EP. Industrial music with a touch of EBM without ortodoxy nor cobwebs, with metallic percussions performing some atypical rhythms and Suicide's minimalist spirit overflying the scene.

Probably Dame Area's most dance-floor oriented record till the date, "Esto me pertenece" is not simply "dance music" but combat music instead. In fact it doesn't lose sight of the fact that what's most important are not the fat kicks, the unrelenting synths or the percussion, but the attitude. And in spite of the patent darkness of the record there is a clear call to arms to claim what belongs to us: the present.

An ecletic musical representation of infamous Rotterdam Jazzclub BIRD with well-known and lesser-known Dutch artists from the black music spectrum, varying from Jazz, soul, hip-hop to electronic music. Compiled by BIRD musical curators Philip Powel and Guido van Dieren.

Should you find yourself taking a Thames-side stroll in the shadow of the City of London, keep an eye out for the headphone-clad figure of Ilan Pdahtzur. While be-suited bankers and frustrated office workers scurry home to their families, Ilan can frequently be found casting admiring glances towards the blinking lights of towering skyscrapers while filling his ears with the synthesizer-driven sounds of lesser-known 1980s dance music.

Ilan, an avid but little-known record collector best known for sharing the artwork of obscure and under-appreciated early-to-mid ’80s club cuts on his popular Instagram feed, has been digging for vibrant, kaleidoscopic records since his teens. Now, thanks to Spacetalk, he’s been given a chance to offer a glimpse into his neon-lit nocturnal musical world.

The result is Night City Life, a killer collection of 1980s synthesizer songs inspired by Ilan’s admiration for the glow of London’s late night skyline. Over the course of 13 essential tunes, Ilan escorts us on a vibrant sprint through rare Italo-disco, steamy South African synth-boogie, fizzing American freestyle, oddball Austrian electrofunk and so much more.

There are naturally a fair few sought-after cuts present, but also a fine selection of under-appreciated gems that for one reason or other have been all but ignored since they were released three and a half decades ago. In fact, some selections are so obscure that barely any information exists about them online.

Check for example Preludio’s “Mysterious Nights”, an evocative fusion of slow electronic grooves, dreamy chords and twinkling piano motifs previously buried on a lesser-known album of unremarkable German synth-pop, or the dollar-bin brilliance of Fragile’s sweet synth-pop gem “We’ve Got Tonight, Boy”, a cut that Ilan says is capable of “wrapping itself like tendrils around your soul”. He’s not wrong.

At the other end of the scale you’ll find the ultra-rare Italo-disco breeziness of Friend of Mine’s incredible “Just Your Pride” and Mac & Monica’s soulful 1986 South African synth-boogie cut “You’re So Good To Me”, copies of which regularly change hands for hundreds of pounds online. Ilan originally reached out to the men behind the record last year to tell them how one of their other forgotten gems had been played on a Boiler Room session; naturally, they were thrilled.

There’s plenty to admire elsewhere on the compilation, too, from the waves of analogue synths, bubbly melodies and bobbing beats of the instrumental dub version of Brian Tatcher’s “Hot Love” – a cold-war era cut inspired by the idea of love blossoming in the midst of a nuclear meltdown – to the Bobby Orlando-esque freestyle bustle of Janelle’s “Don’t Be Shy (Dub)” and the sparkling post-boogie brilliance of Jarmaz’s “Night City Life (Disco Remix)”, a track Ilan has listened to countless times while admiring the midnight skyline of his home city.

What is Randolph & Mortimer? A folk duo, a pair of accountants, a techno act…a law firm? What started off as an ‘art project’, influenced by 80s Industrial, 90s rave music and inspired by the documentaries of Adam Curtis, has morphed into a full on New Beat / Body Music dance-floor moving machine. Their studio releases have gained support from some of the biggest underground DJ’s in the world like Ancient Methods and gone on to top various genre sales charts on Bandcamp. Whilst the R&M live shows have seen them share bills with Godflesh, Youth Code, PIG and 3Teeth.

In 2019 it was time for R&M to throw a marker down and so came “Manifesto For A Modern World”, the debut album comprised of tracks from the “$ocial £utures”, “Hope Tragedy Myths” and “Citizens” EP’s plus some additional songs. This album is basically a greatest hits of Randolph & Mortimer. A statement of intent. All killer and no filler. The original limited edition CDs and tapes sold out and it had some incredible reviews. A Model Of Control called it “An absolutely outstanding release” and super cool New York DJ Andi Harriman (Synthicide) made it one her of top 10 albums of 2019 on Post-Punk

So here we are in 2020 and the Randolph & Mortimer story has seriously stepped up a gear with this double vinyl version of the album featuring all Manifesto tracks plus the acid styled dance-floor favourite “Apply Yourself” and four brand new tracks (“Crystal Peaks”, “Stateless”, “What Are You?”, “Fantasy Land”) which make up a whole new EP.

Limited edition of 400 copies with folded poster/insert and sticker.

Get ready to warp drive on the Disco Segreta spaceship !

This time we pay tribute to the overlooked work of italian musician Luciano Zanetti. Still relatively unknown to most, he was born in Lecco, where he graduated in violin and piano at the local Conservatorio, but then focused on acoustic and electric guitar, spending most of his life as a musician and teacher.

The only recorded evidences ever published by Zanetti are incidentally just two disco-related 45s. The one presented here, “Volo Delta”, was a synth driven space disco track released in 1976 on Zanetti’s own private label Rot, before such niche subgenre found its way into disco productions.

But we discovered that “Volo Delta” was just a part of a sort of “space suite” Zanetti had been working on: a wonderfully cinematic blend of downbeat electronica, chiptune, library music and mellow synth-work recorded in 1975, sounding way ahead of its time, perfectly rendering what was the concept of “future” and “space” back in the 1970s.

The EP “Space” presents for the first time the original slightly extended version of “Volo Delta”, and three *previously unreleased* tracks: “Esplorazione”, “Incontri Ravvicinati” and “Verso Base Terra”.

As usual with our extreme quality standards, all tracks are taken from the actual analog multitrack masters and respectfully remastered.

Strictly limited edition on 180gr. audiophile vinyl.

(incl. WheelUP, Ben Hauke, SofaTalk remixes)


Rhythm ever present, melody rising and captivating, thirsting for the chance to wrap the listener around its little finger, a tantalising and ever entrancing meander through the possibility of complex percussion and heart warming keys….

The world of Re:Fill can really be summed up with two words: keyboards and drums, but to limit the their capabilities to purely instrumental elements would be a disservice to the incredible soundscapes they create. The duo, consisting of Gaetano DeCarli and Stefano De Santis, have set a very large line in the sand since their inception in 2020, with their deftly crafted blend of jazz laden polyrhythms and softly spoken melodic structures greatly admired for their ingenuity and dexterity. To ensare yourself within their music is to see two heartbeats at play, the pulse of the music inviting hearts and minds alike to swivel and turn at every given opportunity, with the depth on display all the more remarkable that it is all created by two people. Their previous releases all hint towards a number of influences, such as Tony Allen and the London district of Shoreditch, references which give the music an extra edge and allows for the possibilities to flow forth. Singles like ‘The Vinyl Session’ feel as if they contain a multitude of strands, despite the music’s short length, whilst their most recent release, ‘Districts’, has that ultra modern feel to it, as glimmering stabbing synths collide with impeccable percussive elements. if you listen to their previous efforts you see the blue print of much more ambitious things to come, and well the time seems perfect for an LP release….

It all leads onwards, a sound that feels like it could reach heights of unimaginable possibility, and with ‘Cycles’, the duo have crafted something that rises to the very top. Welcomed into the Cognitiva fold like an old friend, ‘Cycles’ reflects the groups’ evident ambition that has dissipated from their previous singles, and provides plenty of breathing room for new styles to evolve and new scales to be explored. The album consists of a number of original cuts along with some excellent remixes, with longtime Cognitiva family member Sofatalk, WheelUP and Ben Hauke invited to place their spin upon the record. What results is a wondrous unravelling of melody and rhythm, with each track opening up like a majestic flower in bloom in the early morning sun, before grabbing the listener by both hands as the groove evolves with such purpose and invention. The opener, ‘Impulse’, does just that, as densities shift perspective within the keys, creating a call and response feel with the drums that merges superbly between expansive scapes and tight, concise funks. The track has not one but two remixes, both of which break things down and rebuild the track with respect and alternative angles, and act as perfect counter balances to the effortless progression of the original. ‘Intemperance’ is perhaps the most powerful track the duo have ever released, with a thick keyboard bass line permeating hard through swirling cosmic synths and heavy hitting drums, with plenty of density found within. ‘Atomism’, ‘Radiance’ and ‘Stillness’ are different beasts, their tone and form slightly less explosive but with the transitions expertly pulled off by creative usage of instrumental shifts and percussive movements. The use of guitar should be noted, giving a very Japanese Jazz Funk feel to proceedings at times, which is always welcomed. ‘Stillness’ also receives the remix treatment, with Ben Hauke’s version doing the milage in bringing the funk into a skippy 2 step space, with looping horns and piano really doing the business as a final curtain call.

Arms open, smiles abounding, and bodies ready for a dance. Cognitiva couldn’t be prouder to release this special album, from a duo who have a very bright future ahead of them. So sit back, or stand up, and prepare to free your mind and let go of your body – this is music to live for.

Originally released in 2008 on Type Recordings, Caesura by Helios aka Keith Kenniff returns in a new 2022 edition vinyl re-release, remastered by Taylor Deupree.

Keith Kenniff had been with Type from the very beginning, and in the fifth year of the label he offered his fifth gorgeous release. In those five years Keith's style had evolved constantly, with his drifting piano compositions taking the Goldmund label and the Helios sound moving out from underneath the clipped beat-heavy electronics of 'Unomia' and into a more unique place, even incorporating vocals on the 'Ayres' mini album. 'Caesura' however was his 'proper' follow-up to the acclaimed 'Eingya', and has seen Keith return to the instrumental sound he knows so well. In fact in many ways 'Caesura' is a more electronic work than its predecessors, blending layer upon layer of synthesizer and adding his assured drumming to come up with the perfect meeting of indie-pop and ambient music. The haunting cinematic element is still present of course, but these songs are more rounded and confident than any in Keith's career to that point.

From the delicate bliss of 'Hope Valley Hill' which opens up the album with gauzy nostalgia and, as the title promised, hope, through the chunky pop of 'Come With Nothings' it is clear that Keith's music is as arresting as it ever was. Taking cues from the lilting indie-electronics of Ulrich Schnauss and the unfussy ambience of Brian Eno, Keith manages to inject this with his knowledge as a composer. The epic harmonies of 'Backlight' for instance reveal a lightness of touch rarely heard in the genre with sweeping synthesized chords buzzing alongside Keith's signature guitar.

Accompanied by more gorgeous artwork from Matthew Woodson, 'Caesura' still is a glowing record for the winter months, and a glimmer of hope to keep the seasons at bay.

From Nursery to Misery crawl back to Dark Entries with Tree Spirits, the follow up to 2017’s Pixies In The Woods. The project was founded in 1987, when producer and keyboardist Lee Stevens invited identical twins Gina and Tina Fear over to record in his home studio in Basildon, Essex. Four years of prodigious studio experimentation followed, resulting in two full length cassettes (1989’s The Oak Tree and 1990’s Equilibrium), and a split EP with Nostalgie Eternelle in 1990. Stalwarts of the Mail Art scene, they also appeared on over 22 cassette compilations, home-dubbed in true DIY fashion, before splitting in 1991.

The eleven tracks on Tree Spirits display From Nursery to Misery’s signatures: chunky drum machine patterns, playfully eerie synth melodies, and Tina and Gina’s stark, nursery rhyme-esque vocals. The lyrical content ranges from dreary to grim; they explore existential despair, sexual violence, and death through an acerbic, feminist lens. Inspired by the Bladerunner soundtrack and 4AD, Lee’s production is alternatingly warm and icy, like a glacier wrapped in analog tape hiss. Stylistically, the tracks range from charmingly miserable synth pop on “Cry Me”, to the clanging rhythmic industrial of “The Daily Raper”, and even a haunting flute driven instrumental with “A Summer Morning Trip Through The Misty Woods”. From Nursery to Misery are a pure expression of the British DIY aesthetic, which is made all the more captivating by the band’s own confession that they were just trying to make pop music!

All songs on Tree Spirits were remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The cover art by Eloise Leigh features a photograph of the twins posing dramatically in the woods. Included is a 12-page booklet with lyrics, liner notes, and an archival interview with the band, as well as a bonus 1.25” square pin featuring the band’s logo.

Synth pulsing heaven is what we all need and the new Baldocaster, Traveller CS split EP is here to aid.

Exodus: A collaborative cinematic concept EP with washes of Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre influences. Vintage hardware blasts spacey synth sounds with some beautiful melodic grounding.

Solare: A more beat driven Berlin school EP from Baldocaster. Loosely conceptualised around Galileo and his discoveries. Otherworldly synth escapism at its finest.

Debut Solo Album From John Carpenter Musical Collaborator On Very Limited Vinyl.

Daniel Davies Has Announced The Impending Release Of Events Score, An Eight-song Collection Of Otherworldly Instrumentals That Expands On The Musician's Distinct Talent For Wringing Modernistic Soundscapes From Vintage Synths. Perhaps Best Known For His Role As A Collaborator And Co-writer On Horror Auteur John Carpenter's Recent Lost Themes And Anthology Albums (as Well As A Pillar Of His Live Band's Subsequent Tours), Events Score Marks Davies' First Proper Solo Album. To Accompany The Announcement, Davies Has Shared 'shadows Alive,' A Melancholy Theme Built On A Glassy Synth Melody Arpeggio, Bolstered By A Creeping, Expansive Low End.

The Album Began As A Brainstorming Session For A Movie. 'i Was Talking With A Friend About Writing A Sci-fi Film, But I'm Not A Screenwriter So I Wrote An Album,' States Davies. 'i Could Imagine Huge Spaceships Cracking The Sky, Giant Sand-snakes Barreling Through The Desert, Or Someone Drifting Across The Bottom Of The Ocean With Just Barely Enough Light To See The Creatures Beneath. It's The Score To All That...'.