Hip-Hop News

Creeping Out Of Torino's Longest Dark Winter Nights, Isolated And Shrouded In Mystery Just Like The Cities' Deep Connection To Black Magic, Here Comes Sabasaba, The Newest Addition To The Maple Death Family. Western Esotericism Converting Pagan Mystic's One By One!

The Trio Of Tommaso Bonfilio (tape Loops, Drum Machine, Organ), Andrea Marini (electronics, Flute, Guitar, Bells) And Gabriele Maggiorotto (drums, Percussion, Effects) Is A Rare Beast, Night Phantoms Embarking On A Digital Dust Adventure Set In A World Punctuated By Ballard's Dreams And William Gibson's Visions. Sabasaba's Self-titled Debut Is An Industrial Cinematic Dub Scorcher That Is Not Afraid To Mix Dark Isolationist Off-kilter Machines, Tape Recorders And The Earthy Beat Of Primordial Dancehall Dub Productions (king Tubby, Horace Andy). Album Opener Bells Sets The Tone Right Away, A Pulsating Horror Tempo And Crowley Cadence Symbolically Uniting The Disques Ocora Catalogue And The Ambient Droning Of Nurse With Wound. Magma Is A Witch March Advancing Slowly Into Kosmische Lands, Drops Is An Opium Induced Hyper Dub Ballad Where African Head Charge's Sun Is Eclipsed By Coil's Black Moon. Peradam Inspired By René Daumal's 'mount Analogue' Ascends And Weaves Ideally Upstream Across The Po River While Red Nights Sees Italian Occult Legends And Co-conspirators Father Murphy Spreading Their Cathartic Chanting. Eden - Olympia Is The Perfect Closer, A Calming Distant Tribe Of Percolating Bells Awakening The Spirit.

This Is Not Wishy-washy Psychedelic Music, This Is The Real Deal, A Voyage Into Mind Alteration Through Sound, A Chariot Proceeding East, West And Everywhere In Between, Hands Turning Digital Knobs, Feet Raising Dust And Grain While The Heart Beats Analog To The Pulse Of Mother Earth.

Feat “Now, Jazz Ramwong”, an enticing modal piece inspired by a Thai folk dance and “Three Jazz Moods...”,a jazz adaptation of music by sitarist Ravi Shankar

Collaboration Project Of Jochen Arbeit, Guitarrist Of Einstürzende Neubauten And Experimental Post-punk Band Die Haut, With Huan (viktor Lux Crux, Mastermind Behind Ordre Etern, Qa'a And Sporadic Collaborator Of Nurse With Wound).

Armed With Guitars And Drum Machines They Move Between Epic Ascendent Passages, Ambient, Walls Of Noise And No-wave Dissonance To Create A New Germanic-catalan Psychedelia.

"arbeit & Huan's Collaboration Feels Purposeful, Departing From The Merely Ambient & Moodscaping, Sustaining Interest By Providing Variety & Detail Of Timbre, Range, Development, Motif & Dynamics.... "

Recital publish the newest record by Canadian composer Sarah Davachi. Currently working on her PhD in Musicology at UCLA, her trajectory has been unorthodox. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, which, if you've never been there, doesn't really scream "Avant-Garde" (Calgary is the rodeo capital of the world). From a young age, Sarah was a driven pianist (and figure-skater, although that's a story for a different time). It is important and interesting that she chose to study esoteric music, as Sarah could have easily been a cowgirl or a concert pianist had her ingrained love of synthesis and sonic phenomenology not taken the wheel.

Sarah is a considered person. I find few people that have the diligence and resolve to take their time with music... especially in a live context. I respect that about her. The first time I saw Sarah perform, I presumptuously told her that her music reminded me of my favorite Mirror albums (the exceptional project of Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann). Sarah was not familiar with Mirror, so the compliment was initially lost on her. Years back I was in the same situation when a review compared my music to Andrew Chalk, who was unknown to me at the time. So I felt a kinship in our magnetic drift towards unspoken and clustered beauty.

Let Night Come On Bells End The Day follows the release of her "sound-wheel" LP All My Circles Run, which examines the isolation of different instruments. Let Night Come On..., recorded mainly with a Mellotron and electronic organ, feels like a return to the nest. Burrowed in the studio, Davachi was the only performer on this album. She both splays her compositional architecture and re-contextualizes the essence of her early output. She chiseled careful and shadowed hymns, anchors of emotion.

Two pillars of this album are "Mordents", which to my ears drops hints of her love for Progressive rock music - and "Buhrstone," comparable to a sombre funeral march of piano and flutes. These two examine punctuations of early music, gently plucking melodies and movements. The three other compositions are tonal works, blowing slow jets of lapping harmonics.

Writing this description now, I find it hard to separate "At Hand" from filmmaker Paul Clipson, who made a melancholic film for this piece of Sarah's. A fitting title for Sarah and Paul's relationship - frequently working in orbit of each other, meticulous and tactile. I cherish this track as a memory of Paul.

This is a lovely album to fill an evening living room with. A blanket, a cup of wine, a dim bulb, a wide window.

Three beautiful photo-prints by Davachi are included with Let Night Come On Bells End The Day. Frames are not included.

- Sean McCann

Für die Aufnahmen arbeitete Dave Holland erneut mit Saxophonist Evan Parker, einem langjährigen Freund aus ihren gemeinsamen frühen Jahren in London.
Craig Taborn am Piano und Ches Smith an den Percussions waren ebenfalls mit von der Partie.
Neben den klassischen Quartett Improvisationen gibt es auch die verschiedensten Kombination als Duo oder Trio zu hören. Die Gruppe nahm auch zwei Kompositionen von Smith und eine von Holland auf.
Das Resultat sind 23 Stücke tiefgehende, vielschichtige Konversationen zwischen den Musikern, von denen ein Teil zum ersten Mal miteinander interagiert haben.

Aaron Hemphill veröffentlicht unter dem Namen Nonpareils sein Debütalbum "Scented Pictures"! Die Tracks des seit 2015 in Berlin lebenden Hemphills strotzen vor poppigen Ideen und üppigen Farben, doch ihre Strukturen zielen darauf ab, der Logik zu trotzen und die Songs in seltsame und neue psychedelische Ecken zu führen. Dafür begann Hemphill mit der Arbeit an "Scented Pictures", indem er stapelweise akustische Instrumenten aufnahm, während er in seinen Worten "die dümmsten Dinge tat". Er spielte Schlagzeug ohne Klickspuren, ermutigte seinen Toningenieur ihn abzulenken und spielte Klavier, während er schlecht aufgestellte Mikrofone vom Instrumentenkörper fallen ließ. Letztendlich wuchs die Klangpalette weiter und wurde durch einen breiten Sound von virtuellen Instrumenten ergänzt. Herausgekommen ist ein spannendes und nicht alltägliches Avantgarde-Werk.

Mit "Mr Dynamite" erscheint über Bella Union das Debütalbum von Creep Show. Hinter dem Namen verbirgt sich das düstere, analoge Electronic-Trio Wrangler, bestehend aus Ex-Cabaret Voltaire-Frontmann Stephen Mallinder, Phil Winter und Benge, sowie John Grant, der die Creep Show als Quartett komplettiert. Aufgenommen wurde das Experimental Pop- und Surreal Funk-Projekt in Cornwall, UK unter der Zuhilfenahme einer schier endlosen Sammlung von Synthesizer-Modellen.

At the beginning of the 70s, in Italy, the revolutionary surge of 1968 was beginning to turn into something grimmer (and definitely not linked to left-wing ideology) but the concept of factory' still had a key role in the economic and social life of the country. It was not just an alienating workplace, where you often spent your whole life, but also - and overall - the place where demands were made and political struggles took place. Therefore, a feasible imaginary soundtrack for the factory was the daily noise of machines, tools, hammers: an idea that, years later, would be embraced by dozens of industrial bands all over the world. But, in 1972, that reality was documented by Gerardo Iacoucci: We went into factories and workshops and recorded the noise of the machines, then we put on it special musical effects and did an accurate mix', he tells in the liner notes. Industria N.1, divided in Fabbrica on the A side and Impianti meccanici on the other side, is an amazing work mixing field recordings and experimental music, proving how you can combine political commitment, art, avant-garde and pioneering noise music in a brave record.

'The Reverend Eddie Bones' is esteemed American composer, pianist and instrument builder Cooper-Moore's collaboration with the songwriter and artist Ed Pettersen.

These two fresh interpretations of gospel songs are both featured in the new Norwegian TV thriller pilot 'The Green Jersey' which is directed by Øystein Karlsen, the cult director of 'Dag, Lilliehammer' and was recently broadcast twice in
Norway.

This release is the second in a series of totally valve mastered recordings featuring Gearbox's vintage Decca valve mixer in association with their Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, Westrex 3DIIA cutting head and Telefunken
U73B tube limiter. The first release was by NTS Trio (Basement Jaxx and Gearbox Records presents).

First ever reissue of this impossible to find artefact from the Swiss underground avant-garde scene of Geneva, originally released as a private boxset limited to 150 copies in 1973, only sold at art galleries.

A unique, instrumental mix of free-jazz, classical, psych-rock, folk, improv, kraut, funk and musique concrete with tape effects...

In the late 60s, musician / guitar player Christian Oestreicher, a savage in the era of twist and free jazz', met artist and painter Richard Reimann - famous for his optical art -, at the Aurora art gallery in Geneva. Fuelled by the artistic creativity from this underground scene, where jazz and rock musicians rubbed shoulders with artists, poets and painters, Christian ideated the Mouvements project, enrolling his friend Richard to create the artwork.

Christian was a trained guitar player with diverse influences: Ornette Coleman, Chuck Berry, Zappa, Soft Machine...He envisioned Mouvements as a concept album and he asked some of his musician friends from the jazz / rock scene to join in for the recordings: among them, Jean-François Boillat (of Boillat-Thérace), Blaise Català, Jerry Chardonnens...

The album sessions took place at an occupied mansion during 1972, using three Revox machines. The musicians played standing in a circle and there was lot of room for improvisation. Tape effects and a small portable synth were also used.

The result was released in 1973 as a hand-numbered, deluxe boxset limited to 150 copies, including a series of Richard Reimann's lithographies and inserts. For this, the first ever reissue, we've created a new, more affordable edition with new artwork, including an insert with liner notes and previously unreleased photos.

LP edition comes housed in a silver-mirrored sleeve.

LP version come with a digital download coupon including all the tracks from the LP/CD plus another four bonus tracks taken from the album sessions.

Highly recommended if you're into avant-garde psychedelia, free-jazz, free-rock, psych-funk, kraut...

Think Staff Carpenborg, Zappa, Soft Machine, Bo Hansson, The Feed-Back, Mahogany Brain, Semool, Pierre Schaeffer, the BYG and Futura labels...

*Master tape sound
*Insert with liner notes and rare photos
*Digital Download Coupon including nine previously unreleased bonus tracks

Digital-Only Bonus Tracks: Largo Pour Trompettes - Mouvement Pour Guitare B1 - Mouvement Pour Guitare B2 - Hard-Rock Ouverture (Take 2)

Sun Ra's legendary 1978 Italian studio sessions, now available together for the first time ever on vinyl! Long sought-after by collectors, these extremely rare studio sessions were originally released in 1978 as two double LPs (New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues) on the mysterious Italian jazz label, Horo Records. They have never been reissued on vinyl (and only partially reissued on CD) until now! With the help of trumpet player, Michael Ray, drummer, Luqman Ali and saxophonist John Gilmore, Ra kicks off the quartet sessions with the classic "My Favorite Things", which features some superlative playing by Gilmore, while Ra pounds away on an old upright studio piano. In fact, for the first two sides Ra plays mostly piano, while on sides C and D, he sticks more to his new Crumar Multiman, an Italian-made synthesizer that Ra had purchased during the tour. These sessions are also interesting because they give listeners a chance to hear Ra concentrating on primarily his own compositions-many of which (i.e. "Rome At Twilight" "Along The Tiber") were inspired by his time spent in Italy-but in a more intimate / Arkestra-less jazz setting. Fans will be clamouring to get their hands on this before it disappears again for another 30 years.

And so, steadily, Roberto Musci's works are being made available for our listening pleasure. Soave's edition of 'the complete sessions' of The Loa of Music, Musci's debut album from 1984, is now flanked by Urban and Tribal Portraits, another milestone from 1988, a key collaboration with fellow sidereal world traveler Giovanni Venosta, whose essential and amazing debut album Olympic Signals was also recently repressed. While a number of the recordings that comprise this particular work have been (relatively) available --through a ReR anthology that also included tracks from the other Musci/Venosta collaboration, Water Messages on Desert Sand as well as some integrated in the Music From Memory compilation, Tower of Silence, released under Musci's name only—this is indeed the first time one can listen to this fundamental work as it was meant to be heard. Not a minor detail for a work that was obviously conceptually and narratively rigorously conceived by Musci and Venosta.

And what a listen it is.


Urban and Tribal Portraits reaffirms the idea of postmodern pastiche as a multimedia multisensory experience and sound as an ecosystem that is both aleatory and concrete, ephemeral and durable. In these binary paradoxes, a radical notion of the nature of collaboration, that is both chance induced and conversely conceptually worked out, is also established. The result is a work that exposes the fixed assumptions about the constructed boundaries and flows between musical traditions and practices. On its own this is the ultimately problematic place where many of the so-called musics concerned with the world reach an impasse, incapable as they are of questioning their own basic assumptions and ultimately end up strengthening those very same boundaries and flows that they had apparently set out to challenge. Musci and Venosta go further, principally and more fundamentally, by picking away at the margins of pure sonorous events and musical material, noise and sonance. In doing so,Urban and Tribal Portraits repoliticizes the notion of pastiche, engaging as it does in a kind of ecopractice, turning the process rather than the musical object into the poetic focus of the work. Fixed categories are rendered ephemeral, temporal and spatial categories including the margins, so hard to overcome, between composition, improvisation, authorship, recordedness and live performance are deconstructed. In the end, where one would expect seriousness there is levity and where one might see some postmodern appropriative ironic juxtaposition there is intensity and respect of the magical organicness of the material sources.


Like much Italian experimental music from that magical decade of the 80s this is not your dad's fourth world music, with all of its ambiguous aestheticism of 'unifying' some not so well defined primitivism of 'world ethnic styles' with the futuristic sounds of whatever 'advanced electronic techniques' were the platter du jour. In this sound the 8-bits of the E-Mu Emax is as primitive as the Jews Harp while the electronically treated Pygmy chants turn out to be as futuristic as the multi-timbral capacities of the OB-8.


From the funk ostinatos of El Lamento de Los Ayatollah' where Venosta showcases his straight piano playing to the rarefied queer guitar arpeggios in Tamatave', the peaceful ripples in Dialogue Between a Dreamer and Others', the playfulness of Starfish & Kangaroos' or the post-punkish This Heat/Cabaret Voltaire aggression in The Fear of a Soldier' this is destabilization as praxis, a shifting of the ground. The new cover image, that replaces the ethno patchwork of the original sleeve (beautiful as it was) is indeed more to the point: Sven Hedkin's photograph of early 20th century Tibetan death masks is at once urban and tribal, surrealist in its uncanniness. Just like in surrealist praxis these sounds offer some kind of redemption: sounds used in alternative ways, distinct from their usual connections, deconstructed. A DIY bricolage: a destructuring of everyday sound objects towards new uses fed by local ecosituated experiences, transformative of performance and listening. Surrealist 'musicking' indeed.

-Peter Sarram

We are glad to announce the official repress in Limited Edition in Colored Vinyl + free CD and insert of Scorie, Tiziano Popoli and Marco Dalpane's minimal wonder from 1985. Long coveted and hunted by collectors, Scorie falls among the strange and definition resistant artifacts of Italy's remarkable avant-garde music scene of the 70's and 80's. An emblem of sonic diversity rendered through electronic sound, distilling a daunting number of traditions and ideas, while sculpting its own world of creative singularity, standing apart from the rest.

While a great many of Italy's avant-garde and experimental music practitioners began within the spectrums of popular music, slowly pushing into more explicitly ambitious and challenging realms as the years wore on, Tiziano Popoli and Marco Dalpane represent a change in the directional tide. Scorie is a part of movement toward, and the incorporation of, popular forms, within avant-garde music which swept across the globe during the 1980's. As challenging and uncomfortable as it is seductive and inviting, Scorie weaves a world without boundary, of collision and harmony. A vision of possible futures, rendered in its present day. A melodic realm, almost entirely constructed through the use of synthesizers, with subtle interventions of electronic rhythm generators, bridging the metronomic territories explored by Terry Riley and Steve Reich and the drifting harmonics of New Age, with the moodiness of New Wave and the adventurous spirit of the avant-garde.

Growing up in the bustling port city of Busan and running his own record shop there from the late '70s, Kim Byoung Duk had a front-row seat to the finest in foreign record imports and a taste for the psychedelic that naturally evolved into spiritual, ambient and avant-garde sounds. His growing interest in Tao philosophy and the meditative music that accompanied it provided a fertile environment for his audio imagination. Unhampered by limited access to musical gear, he made use of a wide assortment of self-
sourced pots of various sizes and curvature, cymbals, wooden sculpted flutes and percussion tools—each chosen for its unique harmonic vibration—to create an entirely new and unique body of work.

Experiment No. X retraces the oeuvre of Kim Byoung Duk, assembling tracks from Experiment No. 2, Pot Concerto and New Trilogy, illustrating a meditative journey from the freeness of the Tao sound, in the borders of ambient music and the avant-garde, to later groove-oriented jams which introduce rhythmic elements to the palate.

This fully licensed release is the first collection of Kim Byoung Duk',s music, remastered from the original tapes and including for the first time on vinyl songs from the very scarce CD New Morning. Includes four-page booklet with photographs and an interview from Kim',s personal archives.

All Music by Kim Byoung Duk.
A Meditative Morning, brought by Another Planet Publishing.
Daehan Electronics, 2017

Four Flies Records is proud to present the first vinyl reissue of the original soundtrack to IO EMMANUELLE (also known as A MAN FOR EMMANUELLE) - Cesare Canavari's 1969 erotic-drama starring Italian scream-queen Erika Blanc. The score was composed and arranged by maestro Gianni Ferrio, who created one of his most famous and iconic soundtracks ever, with music that perfectly follows the neurotic character of the young protagonist - from moments of intimacy and introspection, to those of insanity and madness. The result is a terrific cocktail of late 60's Italian grooves: orchestral beat, RnB, jazz, and avant garde numbers, with an essential contribution of I Cantori Modernidi Alessandro Alessandroni' (vocal and choir), and featuring Gino Marinacci on flute.

One of the rarest records from CAM archives is finally back in the spotlight, remastered from or iginal master tapes and pressed on 180gr vinyl, including an inner sleeve featuring original movie artwork by renowned Italian cinematic painter Sandro Symeoni.

2017 Remastered and fully authorized edition !
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On the original 1965 The Magic City LP, issued on Saturn, the monster 27-1/2 minute title track sprawled across side A. Ra customarily supervised the Arkestra's improvisational process via keyboard cues or hand signals. He was always in charge—hence critic Simon Adams describing the title track as "27 minutes of controlled freedom." "The Magic City" was never performed in concert, saxophonist John Gilmore said it was "unreproducible, a tapestry of sound." Although shorter in scope than side A's magnum opus, the four works on The Magic City's flip side reflect the same improvisational approach, spatiality, and lack of structure.
One session outtake, "Other Worlds," an alternate version
of "Shadow World," is included as a bonus track on side B.
First-generation Saturn pressings of The Magic City were monophonic. A full stereo version had been issued on Sun Ra's Thoth subsidiary label sometime after 1969, however, it suffered from a technical flaw that prevented many copies of the LP from tracking cleanly through the first cut on side B. A 1973 gatefold LP reissue on Impulse featured reprocessed stereo. For this definitive reissue, Cosmic Myth Records used stereo sources which are superior to the Thoth pressing.

For this definitive edition, historical and technical notes are provided by noted jazz historian Ben Young, who restored and remastered the album with his Triple Point Records partner Joe Lizzi. Both men have been recognized for their extensive work on the Grammy Nominated Albert Ayler boxset, released on Revenant records in 2005.

Cosmic Myth Records issues recordings under license from Sun Ra LLC. The series is being co-produced and supervised by Irwin Chusid (Raymond Scott, Esquivel, Langley School Music Project) and Michael D. Anderson, who maintains the Sun Ra Music
Archive, the world's foremost collection of original Ra session masters.

A follow up to their 2015 debut with Ninja Tune, Richard and Sheila Ellis' sophomore effort, The Cleansing,' exists in the folds, shaking the categorization of a single genre or label by casting echoes of Billie Holiday and Antonio Carlos Jobim atop opaque shades of Debussy and Edgar Allen Poe. Elements of Jazz and Bossa Nova, accented by striking vocals and enigmatic spoken-word poetry, display a command of the power of contrast. Steady repetitiveness of the instrumentations throughout the record anchor haunting, and often winding, vocal melodies, lyrical themes revolve around both optimistic abstraction and stark reality. These juxtapositions are reinforced by the dual nature of the album itself: Side A, Shades of Reverie, is driven by a sense of hope plucked into existence by embers of acoustic guitar, while Side B, Tones of Clarity, is best defined by dramatic, Bernard Hermann-esque orchestration and soaring vocal performances. While the casual listener may be (understandably) distracted by the graceful marriage between instrumentation and vocal cadence, each song holds its own poetic merit. Singer and lyricist Sheila Ellis' masterful penmanship develops a crucial dimension to the album, rendering Cleansing' a deeply personal, outwardly introspective listen. Spanning thirty-eight minutes over eight compositions, the entire record is a warm, bold stroke on an aural canvas, effortlessly moving through embracing melodies and divine soundscapes.

MAGMA, one of the most influential of all French bands, will release the Retrospektï 3xLP collection, including Retrospektï Volume I & II and Retrospektï Volume III via Southern Lord .

The collection will be made available as a limited pressing of 1500 hand-numbered copies, remastered by Brad Boatright, including original artwork by Eva Nahon, also including the classic comic strip by Solé, Dister, and Gotlib depicting MAGMA's trials and tribulations.
 
The first ten years of MAGMA were celebrated on three memorable evenings in June 1980 at the Olympia theatre in Paris. This retrospective, reuniting most of the musicians who had performed in the group, was issued as two albums, the Retrospektï I & II double-LP and Retrospektï III LP. Issued first, Retrospektï III comprises three titles. "Retrovision" is a long piece in the style of the album Attahk, in which the vocalists Stella Vander, Guy Khalifa, and Maria Popkiewicz turn in a blazing performance over a driving rhythm section. There is a supercharged version of "Hhai," in which the trio of Lockwood, Paganotti, and Widemann works miracles. And finally, "La Dawotsin," where, in a more muted register, the voice of Christian Vander triumphs through its mastery and profound sensibility.

Recorded, like Retrospektï III, during the soirees at Olympia in June 1980, Retrospektï I & II is an absolutely fundamental album in which "Theusz Hamtaahk" -- the first movement of the trilogy of the same name -- is presented for the first time. The second and third movements, "Wurdah Itah" and "Mekanik Destruktiw Komandoh," were of course already well known. Although played in concert since 1974, Christian Vander had waited for years before recording it for posterity as he wanted every note to be as beautiful, magical, essential and definitive as possible. It is with the same respect for his music that he releases here the most successful version of "Mekanik Destruktiw Komandoh," considered outstanding on account of two incredible improvisation from Bernard Paganotti and Didier Lockwood. Klaus Blasquiz, who did not perform on Retrospektï III, is the lead vocalist on this version - and justifiably so, since he was indeed the MAGMA singer who first sang these two masterworks.
 
There's no doubt about it, MAGMA has left a legacy of music that defies any of the standard and convenient classifications of rock, operating instead in a realm of their own creation. Southern Lord looks forward to being part of their ever-evolving story...

Hello! Here are the Phaserboys with their full Debut on Aiwo rec. and they show up with a full equiped dance floor record including Love Mission Disco Adventures and Sequenced Breakbeat Dream Dance - be fast and take the ICE as long as you can - Winter is coming! *All rec. at Aiwo Railway-View Studios Ddorf

Trees Speak is an experimental rock band that transcend mainstream influences by incorporating elements of Avant-garde, Neo-psychedelic, Minimalism, art and electronic - along with violin-bowed guitar, Theremin and a glut of effects pedals, and it's an ear-bending rush of lush soundscapes.

Trees Speak - as much a sound laboratory as a rock and roll band - is the musical venture of acclaimed visual artist and musician Daniel Martin Diaz (formerly of Blind Divine and Crystal Radio). For the debut double-LP Trees Speak is joined by Michael Glidewell (Black Sun Ensemble), Gabriel Sullivan (XIXA, Giant Sand), Connor Gallaher (Myrrors & Cobra Family Picnic), Damian Diaz (Human Error), and Julius Schlosburg (Jeron White Acoustic Trio). The studio itself should also take top billing, because in the tradition of krautrockers Can and Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis, the band takes its winding, incandescent motoric rock and roll improvisations and edits them into coherent compositions using the mixing desk after recording. And that's where the sound lab half of the equation appears. The end result is flowing and droning ambient proto-punk reminiscent of fellow travelers NEU!, Stereolab, - Joshua Levine

Our intention is to create music with an unrehearsed minimalist approach performing simple beats, riffs, and sequences that take one inward. We attempt to create a sonic environment to set one's mind free and to become aware of the nuances of tone, melody, and structure. We organize our recording equipment with the same approach, in a transparent manner. Our recorded performances are never rehearsed. Our belief is that a brilliant rehearsal is a lost opportunity to capture a magical moment. We are chasing the mystery of music and tone. We let the musical performance sculpt its own destiny and create imperfect perfection. Our tool of creation is the anxiety one feels when they are unrehearsed or prepared for a performance. We believe this approach brings us closer to the authentic self. The result is genuine music without an agenda that captures the unfiltered spirit.
- Trees Speak


The music was recorded live in one room with no overdubs or repairs, only using edits to create arrangements. All tracks were written over a 5 day period at Sacred Machine Studio and Dust & Stone Studio.

Tranceonic is the duo of Carlos Perón and Boris Blank of Yello who met in 1971 in their hometown of Zürich, Switzerland. At this time Carlos studied Free Jazz while Boris listened to bands like Pink Floyd and Queen. The two bonded over a conversation about The Mahavishnu Orchestra album 'The Inner Mounting Flame' and became musical friends. From 1973 to 1976 they played in the New Wave group Urland. After the split of the group Perón founded the Tranceonic studio with his equipment in his private flat. Carlos invited Boris over to his studio and a concentrated work began. The idea was to make experimental new music with the hopes of having a hit in the United States. Everybody at this time was into punk, but Tranceonic loved industrial and electronic sounds. Their foresight and innovation created new ideas. Perón and Blank made electronic avant-garde music informed by the Berlin and Cologne schools. By 1978 the two had enough material to record an album and made a trip to San Francisco to visit Ralph Records. The Residents promised to release the music if the duo removed all the tape hiss, which never materialized.

'New Crime' is the first ever vinyl compilation of material produced, recorded, performed and mixed at Tranceonic Studio between 1976-1979. The equipment set up at the studio included a Farfisa Synth Orchestra, WERSI string ensemble, ARP Odyssey with Sequencer, ARP Quadra, Roland SH 3A, CR-78, Space Echo and Korg Minipops 120P and many effect boxes normally used for guitars. Samples were self-recorded using a Revox cassette deck and turntables. Blank and Perón experimented with manipulated tape loops, echo effects and snippets of found sounds. Blank also explored foreign near-equator exotics playing Arabesque percussion and a homemade bamboo flute. Perón experimented with CV triggering and dubbing super 8 film effects from vinyl. Both members took turns singing Carlos' lyrics. Stylistically the songs anticipate the feeling of Yello's 'Solid Pleasure' album and included here is the first instrumental mix of Bostich'. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Cover artwork features a photo of Carlos in Los Angeles taken by Boris in 1978 and design by Maycec. Each copy includes an insert featuring photos and liner notes by Carlos Perón.

Factory Benelux presents an expanded double vinyl edition of The Guitar and Other Machines, the sixth studio album by Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column, originally released by Factory Records in 1987.

The origin of The Guitar and Other Machines was the Christmas present given by Factory founder Tony Wilson to Durutti mainman Vini Reilly in 1985. He gave me another kick and bought me a load of electronic instruments,' revealed Reilly at the time. I never dreamt of getting into this electronic thing, and I struggled and fought and stayed up til half seven in the morning and really worked on it. I know that Tony's got this vision and I persevered. And I found a way of using a sequencer that isn't like New Order - it's my way, and it's my music.'

Produced by Stephen Street (The Smiths, Morrissey), the album also features percussionist Bruce Mitchell and viola player John Metcalfe. Standout tracks include Arpeggiator, Bordeaux Sequence and English Landscape Tradition.

Disc 2 features in concert versions of album tracks taped by the trio at the Bottom Line club in New York City in October 1986, as well as the WOMAD festival in August 1988.

The remastered vinyl set is housed in a gatefold vinyl sleeve which preserves the original album artwork by 8vo. A deluxe 3xCD edition is also available in a clamshell box.

«Prelude» EP is the inceptive release of Oxmose, which marks the first entry in an ongoing catalogue, and the beginning of a journey with various artists. At its heart, the «Prelude» EP is a dialogue between two composers, a conversation that traces the line between abstract, electronic experimentalism and gliterring interpretive jazz. Parisian producer Shcaa takes control of Side A with 'Core', a near 20 minutes exploration into sound, which skirts the fringes of avant-garde minimalism and experimental rhythms. The song's acute cadence lays a dense and atmospheric foundation for the EP. - Side B sees Romanian artist Traian - Chereches offer-up an absorbing - counterpoint to Shcaa's opener on 'Cage'. The energy of Chereches' rebuttal fuses organic and interpretive sounds into a deft jazz reinterpretation, revealing a wide and surprising cinematic ambience. Mastered by Rashad Becker from Dubplates & Mastering Berlin, « Prelude » will be released on limited edition 12'', 180g heavyweight vinyl - with an outer sleeve featuring handmade artwork created by graphic designer Alice Voinea. The organic materials used in her work, emphasizing the interchange of the record, adding a further layer of continuity, one that streches between the artist, the music and the listener. - Written by Tom Fenwick

Barry Adamson was an original member of post punk legends, Magazine, and a founder member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Love Sick Dick Remixed features brand new remixes / reworks from Manchester icons - A Certain Ratio, Jimi Tenor, Gazelle Twin and ADULT.

The Subversive Nature of Kindness is the sophomore effort from Thor & Friends, the avant-chamber ensemble formed by its namesake, polymath percussionist Thor Harris. The album was recorded in Albuquerque, New Mexico, produced by Jeremy Barnes from A Hawk & A Hacksaw and engineered by Barnes and Deerhoof's John Dietrich. It is hoped that the melodic meditations offered up will ease some of the terror of living in these uncertain times. The three primary members of the band are Peggy Ghorbani on marimba, Sarah Goat' Gautier on marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, organ, voice, mellotron and piano, and Harris on sundry percussion and wind instruments, including some of his own devising. The band has toured extensively over the past year and have performed live with many guest musicians. All these players have influenced the way the group hears its music and this had a significant impact on this new album. On this recording voice plays a more prominent role with the core trio being joined by several guest singers who provide wordless vocals: Stine Janvin Motland, an opera singer from Oslo, Norway, Michael Gira from Swans, Enrique Soriah, a throat singer from Oregon. It features more fully developed string arrangements by Barnes and Heather Trost. There are also contributions from similarly adventurous musicians including Jhno Delicateer on Armenian Duduk, violin improvisationist Aisha Burn, and Adam Torres, who provides finger-picked guitar. The band draws on classic Minimalist composers including Terry Riley and Steve Reich, but also amalgamateS such diverse influences as Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Moondog and The Necks. They embody utopian optimism by rooting their art and operation in both improvisation and the involvement of neighbors and friends in their process, making use of what and who is around at any given moment.

We are very excited to present the new collabo release between Cosmic Compostions and Jitwam's selftitled album " ".

Born in Assam, Gauhati, in Northeast India, but currently based in New York's storied borough of Brooklyn, Jitwam spent his formative years in New Zealand and Australia, before living in monasteries in Thailand, orphanages in South Africa, and washed out apartments in London. Of everywhere and nowhere, his music draws influence from a litany of iconoclasts including, but not limited to RD Burman, Moondog, The Velvet Underground, Yayoi Kusama, Jay Electronica, Jay Dilla, Moodymann, Leon Thomas, Madlib and Asha Bhosle.

Across " (selftitled)", he utilizes knowledge acquired through years spent digging through dusty crates, and talents honed as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist. A series of stumbling, jazz/soul-rooted beat sculptures, each buried beneath a haze of fuzzy psychedelia, broken microphone blues, and articulated through a freestyled process he describes as "first thought, best thought", " (selftitled)" solidifies Jitwam's spot as a major emerging talent.

Recalling the fourth world dreamscapes explored by oddball songwriters like Connan Mockasin, Clarence Clarity, Jai Paul, Silicon, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, it represents a time of transition and remembrance for Jitwam, while still fulfilling the core qualities he looks for in song. In his words, "Music is a refuge. A shelter from the storm. A place you can go to close your eyes."

Since he first shared his music with IZWID Records boss Kutmah at a Brainfeeder afterparty in London, Jitwam has released through Leaving Records, Cosmic Compositions, and The Jazz Diaries (the label he co-runs with Casey Van Reyk and Nigel Mphisa). He's also written with Inkswel (BBE) and Paul White (R&S), featured on Moodymann's K7! "DJ-Kicks" compilation and been championed by Gilles Peterson, Alexander Nut, Andrew Jervis (Bandcamp), and Funkineven. Mainly mixed and mastered by Matthewdavid at Stones Throw studios in Los Angeles, " (selftitled)" will be available on vinyl and digital formats.

Robert Scott Pearson's music can be viewed as surrealist, impressionist, post-industrial, mystical or avant-garde, but it goes beyond categories. His work embraces software, philosophy, poetry, visual arts, and generative algorithmic creation in general. At an early age, he began to experiment in this field, releasing his first music privately on cassette, and he was part of the undergound industrial scene in Seattle. Post-industrial but not really nihilistic, he continues nowadays to produce his beautifull music which has anticipated for more than 30 years IDM or modern ambiant for example. This first issue on vinyl and first official release of this discreet but brillant composer is truly a big joy.

Graciously welcoming the second full-length lp from Philadelphia's Jesse Dewlow, recording under the moniker People Skills. The follow-up to 2014's Siltbreeze set Tricephalic Head. Ten sunken songs, derisively adorned with rhythm and rudimentary dub effects. Bedroom elegies for the lost and irretrievable, last-ditch spells for transformation and renewal. Thurston Moore and Byron Coley likened the previous record to South Island NZ pop played inside of an armored car', and that description holds here: underneath the hoods of these wracked and weather-beaten recordings are melodies of disarming beauty and optimism, bordering on the (wilfully) mawkish, bubblegum ground underfoot. Each piece as time-stopping and evocative as an old photograph of someone who used to mean something. Whether speaking through stately keyboard pastorals ('Mint Julep'), rat-arsed rock 'n roll slur ('89¢ Public Render') or sulphurous aggro-electronics (the two-part title track),Gunshots At Crestridge exposes, then seeks to redeem, all our tiny acts of self-sabotage, all our sins against time. When to stay, when to go...you never got it right, not once.

Antigravity is a new trio album from legendary trumpeter Jac Berrocal and two fellow travellers in the French avant-garde, David Fenech and Vincent Epplay. A lugubrious mise-en-scène in which ice-cold outlaw jazz meets musique concrète, DIY whimsy and dubwise studio science, all watched over by the lost souls and hungry ghosts of rock 'n roll The Berrocal/Fenech/Epplay trio's first album together, Antigravity is a richly imagined universe combining original compositions and détourned standards. Berrocal revisits his own signature piece 'Rock 'n Roll Station', which first appeared on his '77 LP Paralleles with chain-wielding, leather-clad wildman of British rock 'n roll, Vince Taylor, singing the lead, and Berrocal on mic'd up bicycle; here, the Frenchman takes the vocal reins. A barely recognisable interpretation of Talking Heads' 'The Overload' pushes beyond the bush of ghosts into a fourth world dread-zone of stalking drum machine rhythms, humid electronics and jagged guitar phrasing, while 'Where Flamingos Fly' reroutes the Gil Evans Orchestra's classic rendition through the seamiest back-streets of the 13th arrondissement; there, as on the trio's reading of 'Kinder Lieder', the mood is romantic, but stark, isolationist: imagine Chet Baker falling through the glacial sound-world of early PiL or Scott Walker's Climate of Hunter. Originals include the agitated Iberian psychedelia of 'Spain', and 'Panic In Bali', which begins in seemingly trad-jazz fashion only to swell into a cacophony of a gurgling electronics and fevered 'Lonely Woman' quotations. 'Solaris' is a swirling, suspenseful arabesque of whiplash guitars and Black Ark FX, Berrocal's trumpet hitting deep blue notes while his vocals are sliced and diced and tossed into a yawning void of tape-delay - like Antigravity at large, the result is oblique, dissolving, forever out of reach. Despite the chilly, sometimes austere mood of the album, it is, ultimately, a deeply human and welcoming work, with a playfulness and sly humour pervading: see the anarchic cross-hatch of 'Ife Layo', or 'L'essai des Suintes ou le bal des Futaies', Berrocal's poetic disquisition on the infinite variety of female genitalia. Mischief and misdirection are rife here, and fans of Officer!, Henry Cow and the ReR axis will find much to chew on. Play, as we know, is a serious business. Put another way, and to quote Berrocal entirely out of context, Antigravity is completely crazy, completely timeless, completely out. As its title suggests, the objective is nothing less than lift-off, weightlessness, a total unshackling from earth. Sunglasses on, collar up, let's go.

Blackest Ever Black presents to youDead Unique, an album by Officer! recorded in 1995 but - outrageously, inexplicably - never before released into the public domain. This then is not a reissue or a revival; it's a new record that just happens to have been maturing in the cask for, oh, a little shy of 20 years. It also happens to be a lost classic of English art-rock, and the crowning achievement in the career of its mercurial creator, Mick Hobbs.Londoner Hobbs' roots are in the fecund RIO scene of the late '70s and early 1980s, initially as guitarist in The Work (alongside Bill Gilonis, Rick Wilson and Henry Cow's Tim Hodgkinson), and subsequent related groupings The Lowest Note, The Lo Yo Yo, and The Momes. Over the course of the decade he became closely associated with This Heat and their Cold Storage studio in Brixton, working with the likes of Flaming Tunes, Family Fodder, Catherine Jauniaux and Zeena Parkins, to name but a few. Officer! - the project that this incorrigible collaborator and connector calls his own - surfaced in 1982 with a cassette tape entitled Eight New Songs By Mick Hobbs. It marked the blossoming of a singular writer and improvisor, with a gift for plangent melody, ingenious arrangement and lyrics at once caustic and courtly, playful and profound (two songs from this tape, 'Life At The Water's Edge' and 'Dogface', have been remastered for a limited edition 7' release on Blackest Ever Black later this year). The Cold Storage-recordedOssification LP arrived a year later, followed by Cough (1985) and Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes (1988). Megaphone Records, responsible for Ossification's recent 30th anniversary reissue, rightly describe it as 'one of the most unusual, pleasurable and character-filled 'pop' records anyone has heard...a timeless anomaly in the history of recorded music.' By the start of the 1990s Hobbs had joined Jad Fair's Half Japanese (he continues to play in that group as well as Strobe Talbot, a trio with Fair and Benb Gallaher). In the early months of '95, Half Japanese were in Baltimore to record their Hot LP; Hobbs stayed on to cut the bulk of the songs that comprise Officer!'s Dead Unique - songs drawn from a rich store of material written and refined in the seven years since the band's last outing - with a talented assemblage of local and visiting musicians. Returning to the UK, Hobbs brought the tracks to producer Julia Brightly to mix at her 16-track home studio in Bethnal Green; by the end of the summer,Dead Unique had taken shape. And then Nothing. For reasons that no one, least of all Hobbs, can remember, Dead Unique was shelved, all but forgotten about until 2012, when Blackest Ever Black chanced upon it while trawling the Officer! archive maintained for Hobbs by Andrew Jacques. Finally, rightfully, on May 26th, 2014, the album will be made available to all for the very first time - on double-vinyl, CD and digital formats. A complex but thrillingly immediate avant-pop song cycle that charms and confounds at every turn, Dead Unique will give immense pleasure not only to Officer!'s existing cult following, but to anyone with an appreciation of piquant, idiosyncratic songcraft - fans of Kevin Ayers, Flaming Tunes, Art Bears, Woo, Dislocation Dance, R. Stevie Moore, Robert Wyatt, Cleaners From Venus, Lol Coxhill or The Monochrome Set should especially pay attention. It touches upon ragged-raw rock 'n roll, sumptuous chamber music, pastoral folk, blowsy prog-jazz and paranoid dub-space, effortlessly shifting from skronking abstraction to rousing harmonic refrain and back again. Dead Unique is also the culmination of Hobbs' lifelong collaborative impulse: his visionary ability to bring musicians together, galvanise them and wrestle coherence out of the collective free play of ideas, arriving at something far more than the sum of its parts. The tension between composition and improvisation is key to the LP's power, with Hobbs abetted by an extraordinary supporting cast that includes Tim Hodgkinson (bass clarinet), Pleasant Livers' Fred Collins (vocals), Legendary Pink Dots' Patrick Q (violin), filmmaker/animator Martha Colburn (vocal), Gilles Rieder (drums), Jad Fair (vocals) and Jason Willett (bass, keyboards, trumpet). Special mention must go to John Dierker, whose superbly expressive clarinet and saxophone parts are a fixture throughout, and to Joey Stack, who takes lead vocals on 'Good' and the show-stopping 'Elephant Flowers'. Nonetheless it is the voice of Hobbs - as principal writer, performer and protagonist of these songs - that resonates most powerfully. Blurring the roles of storyteller, poet and prankster, he turns memorable line after memorable line, booby-trapping them with mischievous puns, fleet-footed literary allusions, sudden digressions and shifts of register, nonsense rhymes and other wordplay. But his acute wit and flair for the absurd is moored by a deep romantic sensibility, and though it delights in the minutiae of the human comedy, Dead Uniqueultimately addresses its biggest themes: love, loss, commitment, independence, the mutability and inconstancy of all things. 'You lose, you learn, you advance...but you always go back.'

Solo acts of Paula Rebellato (RAKTA) and Douglas Leal (DEAFKIDS), members of two of the most thriving and groundbreaking bands coming out of Brazil to the world lately. The fusion of traditional and acoustic instruments with electronic and processed sounds highlights the strong characteristics of both projects, melted into a journey within timeless soundscapes. Buh Records presents "Gnose", the joint full-length by the solo acts of Paula Rebellato (RAKTA) and Douglas Leal (DEAFKIDS), members of two of the most thriving and groundbreaking bands coming out of Brazil to the world lately. Produced between 2019 and 2020 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, some of the compositions were first conceived for a live performance in late 2019 and then expanded into a full-length album, part recorded in studio and part at home during the first months of the pandemic. Inspired by the ritualistic potentials of music, "Gnose" offers a vertical and circular narrative throughout its 7 themes, exploring atmospheres that may contribute to experiences of displacement and inner silence. The fusion of traditional and acoustic instruments with electronic and processed sounds highlights the strong characteristics of both projects, melted into a journey within timeless soundscapes. Paula Rebellato is an artist based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her journey with music and sound started at young age and became a more consistent path when she co-founded the genre-bending group Rakta.

aja monet ist eine surrealistische Blues-Dichterin, Musikerin und Bandleaderin, deren Werk fließend zwischen Poesie, Musik und politischem Ausdruck wechselt. Aus der Spoken-Word-Szene der Lower East Side in New York City hervorgegangen, wurde sie die jüngste Gewinnerin des Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry-Titels, bevor sie ihr Schaffen auf genreübergreifende musikalische Darbietungen ausweitete, die ihre Wurzeln im Jazz, Blues und experimentellen Sound haben. Ihr Debüt-Poetry-Album ,when the poems do what they do" wurde 2024 für einen Grammy Award in der Kategorie ,Best Spoken Word Poetry Album" nominiert und etablierte Monetas als einzigartige Stimme in der zeitgenössischen schwarzen Musik- und Performance-Szene. Das Projekt verbindet Poesie mit Live-Instrumentierung und Improvisation und erkundet Themen wie Widerstand, Liebe und Freude durch einen kollaborativen, ensembleorientierten Ansatz. Als tourende Bandleaderin ist sie weltweit bei großen Festivals und in bedeutenden Veranstaltungsorten aufgetreten, darunter das Newport Jazz Festival, das North Sea Jazz Festival, das Montreal Jazz Festival, das Guggenheim, das Lincoln Center, das Barbican Centre und die Fremantle Biennale. Neben ihrer musikalischen Arbeit ist monet eine gefeierte Dichterin und Autorin. Ihr erster vollständiger Gedichtband, ,my mother was a freedom fighter" (2017), wurde für den NAACP Image Award in der Kategorie Poesie nominiert. Ihr jüngstes Buch, ,florida water", erschienen bei Haymarket Books, schöpft aus mehreren Jahren des Lebens und der Organisationsarbeit in Südflorida und setzt ihre Auseinandersetzung mit Ort, Bewegung und kollektivem Gedächtnis fort. Zu ihren Auszeichnungen zählen der Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award für Poesie, der Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award, der Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award, der EBONY 100 Artist in Residence Award sowie der Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Vanguard Award. Zudem ist sie künstlerische Kreativdirektorin von V-Day, der globalen Bewegung zur Beendigung von Gewalt gegen Frauen und Mädchen, und Schöpferin von VOICES, einem Hörspiel aus dem Jahr 2022, das die Geschichten schwarzer Frauen in der Diaspora und auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent in den Vordergrund rückt. aja monet's zweites Studioalbum, ,the color of rain", wird im Mai 2026 bei drink sum wtr erscheinen.

Alex Zhang Hungtai steht auf ,Dras" still da, aber es ist eine Stille, die jede Menge Möglichkeiten hat. Diese neun Stücke wurden 2019 in der Saint Joseph Oratory in Montreal aufgenommen (kurz bevor ein Klavier kaputtgemacht wurde) und lagen während der Pandemiejahre auf seiner Festplatte, bis endlich der Funke übersprang. Was jetzt entsteht, fühlt sich an, als würde man jemandem dabei zusehen, wie er die Konturen seiner eigenen inneren Landschaft nachzeichnet, wobei jede Melodielinie eine sorgfältige Auseinandersetzung mit dem Unbewussten ist. Dies ist nur im weitesten Sinne ein Saxophon-Album. Das Terrain hier ist taktil und unerbittlich. Im Titeltrack werden schwierige Melodien auseinandergerissen und zu emotionalen Drones geformt, wobei Dissonanzen ineinandergreifen, während Töne mit metallischem Glanz ihren Weg durch die Sinne bahnen. ,El Khela" bricht sich in spektrale Schichten, die mit ewiger Schwerkraft ziehen, während ,Estado" Trost in seiner eigenen Dunstglocke findet, mit Rhythmen, die kaum hörbar sind, aber mit ihrer Kadenz, die sich an grauen Wänden abzeichnet, vorwärts führen. Es sind kleine Momente, die zu kathartischen Klangatmen werden und jeweils neue Passagen durch die psychische Geografie offenbaren. Es liegt Schönheit in den subtilen Wiederholungen des Openers ,Erg" und in den leuchtenden Progressionen von ,White Dwarf". Zhangs Saxophon wird zu einer Wünschelrute für das Unbekannte, während Elektrizität durch die Adern des Albums fließt und sein Atem alles an etwas wortlos Menschlichem verankert. Die digitale Bearbeitung dieser Kirchenaufnahmen verdeckt nicht das menschliche Element von ,Dras". Sie verwandelt das Rohmaterial in etwas, das zwischen äußerem Raum und innerer Landschaft navigiert. Als der Schlusssong ,Mazil" kommt, lässt Alex Zhang Hungtai sein Saxophon seine volle Resonanz entfalten. Tiefe, kehlige Klänge öffnen sich wie Abgründe unter melodischen Konstellationen, die in dichter Schwerkraft schweben. Hier herrscht Endgültigkeit, auch wenn sich etwas in diesen Passagen schwerelos anfühlt. Diese Musik ist durchdrungen von innerem Dialog, einem wortlosen Zauber, der über dem psychischen Abgrund tanzt. Tonale Sequenzen zerfallen in betäubende Klänge, eine scharfe, elegante Kante, die schneidet, ohne Blut zu vergießen. Dieses einsame Werk der Erforschung wird zu etwas Gemeinschaftlichem. ,Dras" ist eine Karte, um den Raum zwischen dem, wo wir sind, und dem, wo wir hingehen könnten, zu durchqueren.

2 x 180gr Vinyl inklusive DLC im Klappcover mit Artwork von Ana da Silva, CD-Edition mit Bonustrack "Let's Eat Pasta". "Island" ist das neue gemeinsame Album von Ana da Silva, Gründungsmitglied und Songwriterin der wegweisenden Post-Punk-Band The Raincoats, und der legendären japanischen Musikerin Phew. Eine belebende Odyssee im industriellen Lärm, ist ,Island" voll von absorbierenden Texturen, taktilen Beats und einem meisterhaft dynamischen Kompositionsstil. Jede höhlenartige Spur fühlt sich an wie ein Gespräch, und aus der ominösen Dunkelheit kommt eine generative Hoffnung. Ana und Phew tragen Wortstücke in ihren Muttersprachen Portugiesisch und Japanisch bei und reflektieren über Isolation, Freundschaft und Natur. Der Alltag ist tiefgründig. Eine fesselnde Stimmung wird durch den gemeinsamen Stoizismus und die subtile Verspieltheit der beiden Kult-Punk-Ikonen erzeugt. Jeder Song wurde gemeinsam von Ana und Phew komponiert, die Dateien per E-Mail ausgetauscht haben. Manchmal erinnert ,Island" an das düstere Pochen von Phews aktuellem ,Light Sleep"-Album (das wiederum an Suicide erinnert). Die Logik von ,Island" ist eine des weisen Minimalismus. Es gibt ein Gefühl der Entdeckung, das den Raincoats-Fans vertraut sein wird - ein Gefühl von Poesie und Neugier, von Intuition und Erfindung, von neuen Sprachen, die Gestalt annehmen.