Pop & Rock News

Hailing from Paris, Mikado featured singer Pascale Borel and instrumentalist Gregori Czerkinsky. As well as cult debut single Par Hasard, issued by Crepuscule in October 1982, the remastered collection includes subsequent singles Naufrage en Hiver, Carnaval and La Fille du Soleil as well as debut album Mikado from 1985, executive produced by Haruomi Hosono of Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Bonus tracks include b-sides, jungles, and several demo songs for an unfinished second album. There is also an English language version of Par Hasard (Romance), Christmas album track Noel Sous le Soleil, plus a previous unreleased cover version of the theme from Night of the Hunter.

Cover photography is by Pierre et Gilles, the famous French artists celebrated for creating a world where painting and photography meet. The 2xCD edition is housed in a 6 panel digipack with a 12 page booklet. The double vinyl set comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a free digital copy.

Welsh electro wizard OSHH releases his debut album on 6th October on Blinc Records.

The tremulous vocals and the creeping tectonic plates of reverb and synth, make OSHH's debut an unlikely piece of euphoric pop. Yet from windswept shores of Anglesey, via a studio in rural north Wales, OSHH has built an album of futuristic slow burning hooks and ambitious arrangements. From the opener Hen Hanesion, the interplanetary communique Used to Fly featuring Casi, the big beat drama of Birds and the beating electronic heart of You Were Wrong and You Were Right, this is a distinctly modern album with a strong dose of mysticism.

A music graduate from Bangor University, Howells crew up in the village of Star on the island of Anglesey off the Welsh coast. Having made a name for himself in Wales as a founder member of pop band Yr Ods, Osian Howells began releasing his own material on Blinc Records in 2014. The tracks All Mistakes, Lleisiau'n Galw and Dal i Frwydro. Another of his songs, Rhywbeth Gwell featuring on the Welsh language compilation O'r Nyth.

His live performances have included Huw Stephens' Swn Festival in Cardiff, and Gwyl Gardd Goll on Angelsey, with a live band consisting of Gwion Llewelyn (Villagers, Race Horses), Griff Lynch (Yr Ods), brother Guto Howells (Yr Eira) and Ioan Llewelyn.

The Blow Monkeys release their 10th studio album The Wild River' on October 6th on Monk's Road Records.

The Wild River' was recorded in Spain and produced by mainman Robert Howard. The 10 new tracks deliver a funky soulful extravaganza with added sugar from the sweet soul strings of Ben Trigg and the inimitable iconic saxophone of Neville Henry. Also joining the band for the first time on record is ex Galliano sticksman Crispin The Pump' Taylor. Add Dr Robert's spiky guitar and distinctive vocals and Mick Anker's snaking bass lines and there you have it. A simian soul stew with biting but poetic lyrics designed to make your feet move and your mind wonder...

Frontman Robert explains: The title song was inspired, if that's the right word, by that shameful poster Nigel Farage stood in front of during the EU referendum . The one he copied from the Nazis. Thousands of desperate people crossing borders fleeing persecution and hunger. A river of people just like you and me. Just like our ancestors. And here he was using them to spread his hate filled and divisive bile. It shook me. It's not the country I recognized. Things were changing and we needed to fight back. We are all immigrants. None of us is pure. Humanity has traversed the globe for all ages and we need to spread the positive message loud and clear. No fear, no bigotry and no blame.' So we do it the only way we know how. Just like Curtis Mayfield told us to all those years ago. With love and sweet soul music. Soul music is our default. We've been all sorts of places as a band but we've come back home'. The opening track Crying For The Moon' will be the first single taken from the album and released on August 25th. 'Crying for the Moon' was recorded completely live with only the strings added later and oozes the influence great garage soul records by mavericks such as Darondo and Shuggie Otis.

The Blow Monkeys will be touring in October starting with the 100 Club, London, on Saturday the 7th - more dates to be announced shortly. The Blow Monkeys were formed in 1981. Initially delivering a post-punk slant the band quickly moved into a more soulful sound, reflected in their seductive live performances, which brought them worldwide chart success. Hits such as Digging Your Scene' and It Doesn't Have To Be This Way' saw them conquer the charts, and their cover of Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me' found its way onto the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing. After several albums, the band called it a day in 1990, with frontman Dr.Robert pursuing a solo career that included, amongst others, collaborations with Paul Weller and Beth Orton. Dr.Robert had previously tasted solo success with the dance track Wait", which featured Chicago House diva Kym Mazelle. In 2007 The Blow Monkeys reunited their original line-up of vocalist/guitarist Dr. Robert (Robert Howard), saxophonist Neville Henry, bassist, Mick Anker and drummer Tony Kiley. The last 10 years have seen the reinvigorated quartet release 4 albums and play hundreds of live shows reconnecting with old fans and a new audience alike.

Gary Numan is one of the founding fathers of Synth-Pop. His
seminal track 'Cars' was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic and
helped usher in the synth pop era on in the US and UK. The peak of his mainstream popularity was in the late 70s and early 80s, but still has his cult following and tours to this day. Numan is known for his distinctive voice and androgynous persona.

On the 26th of October 1989, Gary Numan performed the London
show from his 'The Skin Mechanic Tour 89' at the Hammersmith
Odeon. This legendary performance included the hit songs Cars,
We Are Glass & I Can't Stop. Released for the first time on
heavyweight coloured vinyl.

Richard Davis is a gentleman with a proper musical history moving from London to Berlin in the late 90s and having some spectacular releases under his belt as a producer, composer and a singer. As a vocalist Richard has collaborated with, among others, Swayzak, Trentemøller and Bomb The Bass. On his new EP 'Safety Net' he is turning his composing skills back to the future and his voice and songs are sounding quite like Post New Wave meets 1980s Scott Walker. Alongside with fantastic remixes by Hamburg´s one and only Ada as well as Norwegian Berlin dude Jarle Bråthen this massive EP is a masterful piece of modern pop music.

B/E/A/T/B/O/X is a primer, to be sure, but it's a strong one beset with an LP's length and signifiers (an intro, strong sequencing, the penultimate instrumental). Glass Candy's previous false starts can now be dismissed as pulled punches, or a band in its genesis, either way, this record marks a flat-out improvement. B/E/A/T/B/O/X informally dashes Glass Candy as "OMG punks w/ synths" and officially announces Glass Candy: aggressive, formidable beat-mongerers. - 8.1/10 Pitchfork

* Coming together over three years since his critically acclaimed last album, Hyetal completes his transformation from off-kilter dance music producer to futurist pop visionary on Youth & Power. 'Previously my approach to writing music was very rooted in escapism,' says David Corney aka Hyetal. 'I began experiencing a sense of detachment in my life which led me to question how healthy this approach was. I wanted music to help me feel connected again.' Wrenching his music free from the 'confines of computer grids' and pushing melody to the forefront, Youth & Power's texturally rich, psychedelic palette is littered with live played synths, electric guitars, drum machines, processed noise and 'some under-loved 70s home keyboards' recorded at Hyetal's South London home studio.
* 'I'd describe it as experimental pop music,' says Hyetal. 'the sound is in part a return to music I was listening to as a kid, more song- and instrument-based.' Youth & Power is Hyetal's debut as a vocalist, also scrapping samples in favour of live instrumentation and hook-laden songwriting laced with myriad influences. 'I took some time out to teach myself how to sing using an app on my phone. At first I found my vocals worked best for me when there was some distance from the natural sound of my voice so everything was abstracted through a few different processes.' he explains, 'As I became more comfortable singing I decided I wanted to contrast this approach and use some natural sounding vocals that embraced the imperfections'. The album strikes a balance between robotic Kraftwerkian simplicity and soulful organic pop, contrasting the various pitch-shifting and abstracting vocal effects with sharply concise lyrics. Semblances of Hyetal's origins in Bristol's early dubstep movement are still present too, deep inside the album's meticulous rhythm beds. Elsewhere chiming retro keyboard notes and drum machine beats at times recall the likes of Yellow Magic Orchestra contrasting against waves of guitars and noise which bring to mind the influence of Bauhaus and other post punk experimentalists.
* Written as a form of catharsis for Hyetal in his search to return his music from detachment, Youth & Power seeps a sense of hope. 'I found from a distance the most immediate workings of humanity can appear extremely brutal', says Hyetal, 'but when looking through this lens you miss the beauty that happens in the moment.'

Includes the singles "Beautiful Ones" & "Ready To Go". Radio support across R2 & ILR. Video plays at Vevo & MTV. Live UK dates in December. Ads, features, interviews & reviews across all press. TV promo TBC. Online & social media activity. Poster campaign.

There are many ways for a band or an artist to compile an album: some make it in a week and some let the process go on longer. The latter approach does often mean that that the record will not be better than had it been recorded and mixed within a short amount of time, rather the contrary. However, there are those albums that just could not be made within in a week or a month, those compilation of songs that needed the time to melt together to form an album. Fontans third album titled 'Fontan', released on Hoga Nord Rekords is that kind of an album. Put the opening track 'Mangsebung' on, then stay with the record until the closer 'Shadows' rings out and you will go clear, sharp, and mildly messed up by the listening experience because this is an extremely well directed trip in mind-altering music! This album needed time to reach such heights.
The width of range in influences has become somewhat of a trademark for Fontan. Magma, Pink Floyd, Bhutanese and Nordic folk music, Manuel Gottsching and Ashra, Robert Fripp and King Crimson, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Talking Heads, DJ Shadow, Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, are some of the music that has made a mark on the psychedelic duo. One of the main differences though between Fontan and other bands with a similar setup of names to drop is that many cannot transform those musical traditions into timeless and boundless songs like those in Fontans catalogue. With Johan Melin's and Jesper Jarold's love for music and non-sentimental creative approach, this album proves that the band never gets hung up on trying to sound like the past masters, but to develop what they once started.
2017 will be the year when Fontan once again challenges the framework for genre bending music. 'Fontan' captures the inspired and unafraid feeling from their releases in 2016 but is managed and even more refined on this album.
This is Fontans evolution.

File the Fontan album under: psychedelic rock, electronic, leftfield

'The references are very fleeting and hard to pin down, which gives the feeling of never quite getting your bearings. This is a good thing. Goblin, Pharaoh Sanders, Alexandro Jodorowsky, psyche folk, even the Incredible String Band, present cosmic vibes with precision.' GoldFlakePaint.

Coloured LP in reverse board heavyweight sleeve, edition of 300.

Memnon Sa return with 'Lemurian Dawn', a cosmic journey through space, time and myth. Black ops missions witness the binary sunrise on a forgotten world. Pan dimensional spacecraft hover over ancient pyramids on worlds undreamed of.

The guitar driven doom metal sound of the acclaimed debut 'Citadel' has been replaced here by a myriad of analog synthesisers, ancient world instruments, throat singing and strings.

'Lemurian Dawn' channels New Age meditational works, film soundtracks and cosmic jazz from the 70s and 80s. The result could be the soundtrack to a lost 1970's European animation sci-fi film, warm analogue sounds that hint at cosmic foreboding and sinister forces unseen.

The album was recorded over a month and a half at Misha Hering's Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, London, and mixed using almost exclusively analog equipment to 1/2 inch tape.

It was mastered by legendary mastering engineer Dave Cooley at Elysium Masters in LA.

Total time: 36.42 Coloured LP in reverse board heavyweight sleeve, edition of 300.

Soulwax protégées Hong Kong Dong return with their second album. Synths, synth and more synths, Bolis Pupul, Sarah Yu & Geoffrey Burton bring you strage sound that will seduce you

About Hong Kong Dong:
Hong Kong Dong is a quizzical synth-electronic band from Ghent formed by three distinct minds. Together they evoke a very peculiar and twisted sound. One of the gang members is Bolis Pupul, who has released two EP's on Soulwax' DeeWee label. He is the band's synth guru and singer with a unique and delicate voice that flows like a horny tai chi master. He's also involved with other bands like The Germans, Charlotte Adigéry and wwater. Sister Sarah Yu is the furious female singer and illustrator artist who brings with her the playful vibe of a child tossing around a Play-Doh microphone. The man behind the tweaked beats and guitars is Geoffrey Burton, the maestro guitar player/producer who prefers to make his guitar sound like a synth or a cracking bird. He's been around for some time now, earning his place in bands as Arno, Daan, Alain Bashung, Sophie Hunger and Misia.

Auf ihrem Debütalbum beschäftigten sich die beiden Zwillingsschwestern Lisa-Kaindé und Naomi Díaz noch mit ihrer Vergangenheit. "Ibeyi" brachte dem französisch-kubanischen Elektro-Soul-Duo 2015 viele Fans ein und zog Kollaborationen mit prominenten Künstlern wie Beyoncé und Alvin Ailey nach sich. Dagegen präsentiert sich "Ash" als aktuelles politisches Statement, das die beiden ganz im Hier und Jetzt zeigt.
Themen sind unter anderem Polizeigewalt und Rassismus. Bei ihren Lyrics waren die Schwestern nie schüchtern, persönliche Wahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen sind der Gradmesser. Diesen geben sie auf Englisch, Französisch, Yoruba und nun erstmals auch Spanisch einen Ausdruck. Dabei ist Naomi für die Percussion-Instrumente Cajón und Batá verantwortlich, Lisa spielt Piano und einige elektronische Klangerzeuger. Sie übernimmt auch den Großteil des Leadgesangs. Hinzu kommen Gastmusiker wie Chilly Gonzales, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kamasi Washington am Saxophon und die Rapperin Mala Rodríguez.
Abgerundet wird das Ganze durch raffinierte Samples, zum Beispiel die meditativen Stimmen des Frauenchors Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares oder Auszüge einer Rede der ehemaligen First Lady Michelle Obama. "Ash" wurde mit Richard Russell, dem Chef von XL, in dessen Studio produziert.

Nisantashi Primary School are Vlad, Lucy and Mykhaylo from Kiev. This electronic-pop trio embraces weird sounds and holds omnivorous but clearly discerning appetites for mixing disco, funk and dub grooves. Their debut EP is a mix of snappy and moody synth sounds, vintage-tinged bass lines and gritty rhythms.

The selection of tracks is a showcase of moods and influences: from the feverish and psychedelic "Mr. Fingers" with Fumaça Preta's Alex Figueira on drums, to the nocturnal dancefloor gem Hills'. Hints of dance records from 80's NYC, synth-based disco and krautrock come through, but an eastern european immediacy and faux-débutant approach brings its own flavor to the table.

While dance music from Kiev might seem surprising, what do we really know about this city's energy From the place where so many things are happening these days, maybe it's time to see something else unfold.

St. Vincent's highly anticipated new album - the culmination of years of writing, with songs crafted from voice memos, text messages, and snippets of melodies that came to Clark while traveling the globe. Special guests on the album include Thomas Bartlett on piano, Kamasi Washington on saxophone, Jenny Lewis on vocals, and beat production from Sounwave. Greg Leisz and Rich Hinman add pedal steel, and Tuck and Patti Andress contribute guitar and vocals respectively on select tracks. Marketing: £25K TV ad spend. £5K 'New York' 60x40 postering. £17.5K outdoor spend (billboards or tube posters TBC) Digital Marketing: £10K album spend across Facebook (carousel & native ads, organic, & dark posts), Instagram (stories, vertical & native ads), Twitter (website card), GDN banners & YouTube 20' Pre roll Radio: 'New York' was a list at 6Music. 'Los Ageless' currently A list at 6Music. & was the winning track on Steve Lamaq's Roundtable Online & Press: two big features in the Guardian Weekend magazine & New Yorker have run. Across the board support from the likes of Pitchfork, Mojo, DIY, Q. Dazed, Fader, Noisey, NME, FACT, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash. Annie is on the cover of the current edition of British Airways High Life Magazine. Live: 8 date European tour starting 17th Oct with UK dates in London (Brixton Academy), Manchester & Dublin

St. Vincent's highly anticipated new album - the culmination of years of writing, with songs crafted from voice memos, text messages, and snippets of melodies that came to Clark while traveling the globe. Special guests on the album include Thomas Bartlett on piano, Kamasi Washington on saxophone, Jenny Lewis on vocals, and beat production from Sounwave. Greg Leisz and Rich Hinman add pedal steel, and Tuck and Patti Andress contribute guitar and vocals respectively on select tracks. Marketing: £25K TV ad spend. £5K 'New York' 60x40 postering. £17.5K outdoor spend (billboards or tube posters TBC) Digital Marketing: £10K album spend across Facebook (carousel & native ads, organic, & dark posts), Instagram (stories, vertical & native ads), Twitter (website card), GDN banners & YouTube 20' Pre roll Radio: 'New York' was a list at 6Music. 'Los Ageless' currently A list at 6Music. & was the winning track on Steve Lamaq's Roundtable Online & Press: two big features in the Guardian Weekend magazine & New Yorker have run. Across the board support from the likes of Pitchfork, Mojo, DIY, Q. Dazed, Fader, Noisey, NME, FACT, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash. Annie is on the cover of the current edition of British Airways High Life Magazine. Live: 8 date European tour starting 17th Oct with UK dates in London (Brixton Academy), Manchester & Dublin

'Trax Test' is the first ever survey of Italy's pioneering, visionary and influential label and mail art collective Trax, which ran from 1981 - 1987 as a network for the creation of collaborative projects. The collective included a pre-NWW Colin Potter and some of the earliest work from Masami Akita aka Merzbow, but also had deep connections with the art world; a few trax members went on to become famous designers and artists - Ettore Sottsass of hugely influential Memphis Group even guests on vocals on the last track of the compilation. The whole selection here is rare as heck and sorely in-demand by collectors, much of it now making its vinyl premiere some 30 odd years after the fact.
With credit due to compilers Vittore Baroni of Trax and Ecstatic's avowed wave fiend, Alessio Natalizia (Not Waving) - who was also behind the 'Mutazione (Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980-1988)' compilation - 'Trax Test' is a portal to the international scene which laid the grassroots for a proliferation of electronic music over the proceeding decades - a pioneering part of the infrastructure for independent music distribution which could be said to pre-echo the myriad social networks and platforms which exist for sharing music today.
As Frans De Waard astutely points out in the 16-page booklet, there were no 'templates' for this thing back then - as opposed to the forms of Soundcloud, Spotify or YouTube nowadays - meaning artists did everything DIY: from cutting, pasting and xeroxing their artwork to xperimenting with recording techniques and disseminating their work; all resulting a wonderfully daring and freeform mosaic of ideas which valued the virtues of ostensibly 'unfinished' or open-ended work, when compared with more expensive, 'proper' studio output.
Traces of disco, cosmic krautrock, jazz, electro-pop and industrial noise are all tessellated across the compilation's 25 tracks, with a number of artists and the same equipment - cheap drum machines, synths, FX and tape - cropping up in various, mutant formations.
In terms of obscurity, quality and variation, this set is right up there with the best compilations from Vinyl-on-Demand (an early supporter of this project), Light Sounds Dark (although Ecstatic guys did it legit, lol), or Minimal Wave, and likewise probably saves you the few months wages it would take to track down all the originals. Fucking bravo, we say!









REDNIGHT (EXCERPT)

Baba Stiltz-on-Studio Barnhus is an ongoing series of records that both define our label and constitute a sort of independent, freewheeling sidetrack to its narrative. From the tempo-bending noise-house of his 2013 label debut Our Girls to this new Is Everything EP, his eighth original Studio Barnhus release, our buddy Baba has never not amazed us with his unpredictable methods, rigorous work ethic and life-changing trax. On this particular record: Icy techno soul, actual r'n'b, the real future funk! An opportune start to '17 for us and Baba, who's looking forward to a year filled with a variety of record releases, collaborations, dj nights and live shows.

The record sleeve and inner sleeve were designed by Wolfgang Tillmans.

180g Heavyweight Vinyl inklusive Downloadcode

* PE-010 is a pretty trippy split tape between L.Zylberberg and Belia Winnewisser that should strike anybody's soft spot for esotericism.

* 'Chatter', a 15-miuntes balearic/electro-jam by L.Zylberberg, feels like a warm handshake between Manuel Göttsching and Heinrich Müller. L.Zylberberg does ring a bell Then you've probably run into her at Berlin hotspots like Sameheads, O Tannenbaum or Griessmühle.

* The other side of the tape features three synth-pop-y oddballs by Belia Winnewisser that are equally fragil, haunting and strong, and they sit somewhere between the smell of melted butter and having a nude jog. Belia is a Lucerne-based artist that is part of a=f/m (alongside Rolf Laureijs) and goth-outfit Evje, among other projects.

* The split tape marks the 10th audio-release of Präsens Editionen. Black ink printed on pink cassette, housed in a glossy cardboard slipcase featuring calligraphic designs by Kaj Lehmann - 100 copies only.

Press / PromotionPräsens Editionen was founded in 2011 to give home to zweikommasieben Magazin. Ever since a bunch of magazines, books, zines, records, tapes and oddities have been published. After the quickly sold out tape by the American experimentalist Robert Turman, PE-010 is the next opportunity to get hold of a Präsens Editionen tape.
zweikommasieben is a Swiss magazine that has been devoted to the documentation of contemporary music and sounds since the summer of 2011. The magazine features artist interviews, essays and columns as well as photography, illustration and graphics. In addition, zweikommasieben organizes concerts, parties, club nights, matinees, raves and other fun events in various cities—and started to release music with its mothership Präsens Editionen.

Print / Internet-716 La Vie (1.2k followers on Soundcloud): Track premiere and/or mix by one of the artists-zweikommasieben (print run of 1700 copies; distrubited worldwide): 1/1 page ad
Social NetworkingPräsens Editionen - Facebook = 320 likes.zweikommasieben - Facebook: zweikommasieben = 4500 likes. Twitter: @zweikommasieben = 490 followers.

Mary Ocher (Klangbad) - 'hoohoo. it's lovely '
Steve Warwick (aka Pan's Heatsick) of Birds Of Delay "Late night / early morning hazed meditations"

Deluxe limited edition, 180 gram vinyl with 24 page booklet in gatefold die-cut sleeve
Includes free mp3 download of the entire album.

This is the first proper full length from 2MR (the Omnian Music Group label run by Mike Sniper (Captured Tracks) and Mike Simonetti (Italians Do It Better).

Kedr Livanskiy is based in Russia and won the Russian Electronic Artist of the Year Award in 2016.

Moscow's Kedr Livanskiy (real name Yana Kedrina) confesses "Synthesizers help me maximally feel the present moment." Livanskiy was born into a shifting and critical time for Russia. The Soviet Union had exhausted and old values were anathematized because of reconstruction. A sense of displacement drove Kedr to find herself. She's escaped reality repeatedly in her explorations into the imagery and ideas of romanticism, mythical and fairytale themes which visibly bleed throughout her work and especially on her debut full-length 'Ariadna'. The title track which was named after the Greek goddess, Adriane, debuted via THUMP who've described it "anchors its elegantly drifting shoegaze melodies with a knocking electro beat."

'Ariadna' marks a change in her recording approach: her critically acclaimed breakthrough EP 'January Sun' was written and recorded completely in Ableton, while 'Ariadna' was written using the Roland SH-101, Roland Juno 106 and Korg Minilogue synthesizers, then mixed down in Ableton. According to Kedr, "This way, one gets into a flow of live interaction, here and now, with the instrument." There is a definite leap in production values this time around, but Kedr manages to keep true to her sound despite the greater polish and depth.

Synth-pop pioners OMD return with their dazzling 13th studio album 'The Punishment of Luxury' which sees them combine the wistful nostalgia and idealised romance of their previous work while stepping out of their comfort zone. The LP is out September 1st on 100% Records.

The follow up to the critically acclaimed 'English Electric' (released in 2013) 'The Punishment Of Luxury' is a daring collection of stylish synth pop and masterful songwriting which will certainly rank alongside their very best.

Written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD - Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys - the album is the sound of a band in their prime. 'On this album we have managed to make beautiful things out of noises and repetitive patterns', explains Andy. 'The trouble is, we just cant help but write a catchy melody!'

The album takes its name from an 1891 painting by the Italian Giovani Segantini and contains everything from the Kraftwerkian 'Isotype' and 'Robot Man' to the blue eyed soul ballads of 'One More Time' and 'The View From Here' as well as more traditional OMD songs like 'Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang' and the synth heavy title track.

Described by The Quietus as not just one of the best synth bands ever - they are one of the best bands ever', OMD's influence has become ubiquitous. The xx, the Killers and LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy have cited OMD as an inspiration, and the likes of Future Islands and Chvrches show traces of OMD's DNA.

'Say It To Me' will be available digitally and on CD single and 12" vinyl.
It includes two brand new bonus tracks, "A Cloud In A Box" and "The Dead Can Dance", and remixes by Stuart Price, Real Lies, Tom Demac and Offer Nissim.

The Gradual Progression is a transformative collection of new music by Greg Fox. The seven pieces of The Gradual Progression activate spiritual states through physical means, Fox's rigorous inner rhythms the mandalic vessel for unbound expression and arrangement. TGP signals both a reconciliation of disparate musical ventures and a new nirvanic stage in the artist's oeuvre.

Fox views TGP as an exploration of selfhood, and more specifically, the search for his true voice as an artist. Though such a journey is by nature ongoing, if not essentially elusive, the discoveries along the path are the musical riches of TGP. For his second solo album, Fox employs new methods of externalizing his polyrhythmic virtuosity into non-physical realms.

This transfer of energy is achieved through responsive environments tethered to various aspects of the performance. Sensors attached to Fox's drum kit trigger tonal palettes, or virtual instruments invented for each piece, which Fox communes with in the post-Free Jazz manner. That is, locating and emphasizing states of universal resonance in solo and ensemble settings in place of demonstrating individual ability.

This is where the album's canonic influences - and inventors - are most recognizable. Pharoah Sanders' Elevation and Don Cherry's Organic Music Society come to mind, though the guidance of master drummer and holistic healer Milford Graves ultimately made TGP possible. For Fox's astonishing 2014 album Mitral Transmissions, Graves assisted Fox in adapting software that translated output signals from biological sources to virtual instruments. For TGP, Fox again used percussion to initiate passages whose intensity and vibrancy match Fox's energetic presence and focus.

Adapting the 'intuitive gesture' of action painting, and other responsive means of art-making, Fox developed a musical language constructed to isolate its most emotional and felt states for exploration. The subjective themes that inspired these deep spaces of TGP are numerous: personal loss, self-improvement, and artistic struggle, to name a few.

Another theme, hiding in plain sight, is Fox's drumming. Years of supplying spin in collaborative bodies (Guardian Alien, Ex Eye, Liturgy, Zs) becomes a symbol of materiality on TGP, of organic animated energy seeking beyond its boundaries. Fox describes this tactile element as sensing the emotionality and physicality of the world with the senses and through mental processes--about touching the walls of a pitch black room.'

TGP includes contributions from musicians Curtis Santiago, Michael Beharie, Maria Kim Grand, and Justin Frye, all lending various voices through instrument and from within. Fox considers the power of Sensory Percussion, the software program developed by Tlacael Esparza that helped facilitate the vision for TGP, unprecedented - something akin to magic.

Though TGP tackles technical challenges, the inspirational core is the humanist goal of social progress and its parallel pursuit of self-knowledge. Fox strives for a new musical paradigm that focuses less on his drumming and more on its untapped potential as one element in a polyphonic unity. This dissolution of the self into a wider melodic abstraction signifies Fox's real artistic accomplishment in The Gradual Progression, rendering percussion's dark matter as an invisible but essential element between rhythm and life.

KLYNE first caught everyone's attention with their critically-acclaimed debut EP 'Paralyzed' on Aesop, as well as their debut remix - a rework of Disclosure's 'Omen' feat. Sam Smith - before signing to Because Music and going on to release their first two singles, 'Don't Stop' & 'Water Flow'. Both tracks hit the #1 spot on Hype Machine whilst garnering support from i-D, PIGEONS & PLANES, THE FADER and NOISEY as well as receiving airplay support from BBC R1, 1Xtra, 6 Music and Beats1 with 'Water Flow' racing to over 6M streams and counting on Spotify. 'mellow electronic pop that's like a long-lost cousin of Jai Paul' - The FADER 'infectious and effortless... groove-laden soulful masterstrokes' - VICE / Noisey 'minimalist vibes, captivating vocals... impeccable melodies' - Pigeons & Planes 'more fire from the young Dutch duo... the boys are off to a strong start' - i-D

Talk Talk's musical journey took them from early 80s synth-pop to early 90s post-rock resulting in a diverse and stimulating legacy. This 1982 release showcases the synth-pop/new wave side to the band. After supporting Duran Duran on their 1981 tour, they released the single Mirror Man, as well as their two UK Top 40 hits Today and Talk Talk - all of which are included amongst other great songs on the album.

Their debut album, The Party's Over was released in 1982 and produced by Colin Thurston, who was a former engineer for David Bowie but was better known for producing Duran Duran's first two albums.
A product of its time, the album is classic synth-pop teamed with lyrical depth that went on to be synonymous with lead singer, Mark Hollis.

4x140g vinyl LP set with 3' mini CD - Limited edition vinyl colours.

Includes 6 never before heard bonus tracks from the archives and several additional audio clips.

Contains huge double sided poster and liner notes by Jerry Casale of DEVO.

- Molecular Mutation = Yellow vinyl with white, blue and red marble

For decades DEVO have been working non-stop at Recombo DNA Laboratories on a new kind of research to keep up with the mutating world around us! That extensive research is now ready for public consumption.

For the first time ever on vinyl FUTURISMO present unhindered access into DEVO's labs, documenting the scientific analysis and demonstrations as conducted by the band between the years 1977-2008! This tireless research has manifested itself in Recombo DNA...an unmissable collection of studio demos and unreleased rare tracks that span DEVO's entire recording career, from their original basement days to their famed 'Freedom Of Choice' era, right the way through to unused demos from their last studio album, included as part of the six bonus tracks taken from the archives that have never been released, or even heard before.

This incredible limited edition 4xLP set is a sonic fusion of demos, alternate versions and outtakes, demonstrating the true breadth and talent of one of America's most important bands. Yet, this set doesn't stop at four beautiful slabs of mutated vinyl, oh no! also included is 'The Somewhere Suite' served up on the format it was originally intended to be back in the May of '89, although it was never actually released at the time, it's contained here in all it's glory on 3' Mini CD!

This summer FUTURISMO give every DEVO fan the release they've been waiting for, a one time pressing of DEVO's Recombo DNA! Each set includes 4x140g limited edition coloured vinyl in the choice of 'Petri Dish', 'Emergency Codes' or 'Molecular Mutation' and a 3' Mini CD. Contained within the wide spined sleeve alongside this fanatastic devolved collection of recordings and bonus tracks, is a huge A1 poster, colour inner sleeves, download code and brand new liner notes by Gerald V Casale of Devo.

DEVO's Recombo DNA is an essential addition to the collection of any science fearing spud, so grab you're lab coat and witness audio mutation in action! Only while stocks last.





















































ZZA H7 | It's Not Nuclear Bombs You Must Fear With Booji Boym

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- INCLUDING INSERT
- INCLUDING THE WORLD-WIDE HIT MOSKOW
DISKOW'

Three young Belgian musicians - Marc Moulin, Dans Lackman and Michel Moers- created a new form of music by using clever little, playful melodies true synthscapes and electronic sound waves in 1979. The legendary band TELEX was born.

Their debut album Looking For Saint-Tropez is a pop-historical album, gaining international attention in it's fun approach to the popular new wave of that time. The band mixed aesthetics of disco, punk and experimental electronic music, and released a stripped-down synthesized cover version of Twist à St. Tropez' by Les Chats Sauvages. Followed by an ultra-slow cover of Rock Around the Clock', a relaxed and dispassionate version of Plastic Bertrand's punk song Ça Plane Pour Moi', and a mechanical cover of Dance to the Music', originally by Sly Stone. The worldwide hit single Moskow Diskow' created the breakthrough for the band.

Cathy Berberian turned toward this repertory, critically, but with love. And even if she maintained a certain dose of ironical distance, she never stooped to parody. It would be a mistake to think she had any similarity to Paolo Poli in La Nemica. She had a repertory to explore according to the instructions of Proust, and she explored it with the same devotion that she had applied to the music of Berio or Bussotti. In this recital she explores the most varied vocal territories: from traditional songs to Berio and to... the Beatles. In this labyrinthine voice is a release for all vocals lovers.

Dream Control is the collaboration of a legend of the Krautrock Kosmiche scene and a pioneer of the German electronic scene. Zeus B. Held, renowned producer (Gina X Performance and works under his own moniker) and Steve Schroyder (former member of Tangerine Dream during their formative period) team up to deliver their debut album "Zeitgeber" which celebrates their very own sound and rhythm in a cosmic journey through audio and time. The tracks are a blend of structured compositions and improvisations accented by the throat singing of Kolja Simon und Felix Monnich aka AlienVoices. The album plays like a Technicolor adventure through space with explorations of cosmic disco, dreamlike passages, vocoder lullabies, and space odysseys. Zeus B. Held began his musical career in 1972 in French progressive art-rock band Eruption before joining successful German prog rock group Birth Control, performing and writing with them 1973 - 1978. He was one of the first musicians to use the Sennheiser Vocoder VSM 201 in his live sets. Zeus' production work with cult project Gina X Performance transformed him into an electronic specialist producer settling down in London for over 20 years. In his London studio he worked with artists including John Foxx, Dead or Alive, Men Without Hats, Transvision Vamp and Gary Numan, did a series of international soundtracks and further productions with Nina Hagen and Udo Lindenberg. After numerous trips around the globe he composed and produced a collection of his own albums (which Medical released a hand-picked selection in 2015). Steve Schroyder started to develop his musical vision with an electronic organ and his own films. He founded the group Turning Free giving a string of improvised concerts in Berlin clubs before meeting Edgar Froese in 1970 to mutually further develop the vision of 'cosmic music' resulting in recording the Tangerine Dream albums Alpha Centauri and Zeit. In 1972 he left TD and joined Ash Ra Temple. Further creative collaborations and projects include Scarecrew, Augenstern, Star Sounds Orchestra, various trance productions, Anne Clark, Alien Voices and Star Sound Kontinuum. The tracks have been expertly mastered for vinyl by Zeus B. Held. Limited Edition.

It starts with a foot tapping lightly...you close your eyes, dry ice fills the room, a disco ball slowly lowers and your heart starts racing. In that moment you are victorious. From the distance you can hear the sound of 14 skateboards gliding across the smooth tarmac. Each person with their own tale, their own track. This is the setting, Cobra Man is here to deliver their stories, welcome to the soundtrack to New Driveway.

Rolling out of LA with wind in their hair and sweat in their synths, ready to set the skateparks on fire come Cobra Man's Andy Harry and Sarah Rayne. When the two crossed paths, their aim was to push their sound past the point of being comfortable. Instead of filtering out the ideas some people might consider cheesy or too catchy we wanted to own them and go with it' explains Andy We've carved out a little space for ourselves to embrace whatever fun stuff we want. There was a process between Sarah and I about choosing vibes and pacing, so in a sense the whole thing was written in different characters but under the umbrella of our personalities.'

After a move from the East Coast to LA to work in the movie business, Andy Harry met Los Angeles native Sarah Rayne (Babes) after he'd found himself with the Mull brothers (legendary skateboard guys and contributors to Thrasher) living in his bedroom, eventually they founded a DIY space and started the Worble Warehouse, a place for freedom of expression, skateboarding, music and art. First they built a stage, soon after followed their legendary parties. It started with confetti cannons, piñatas and shredded pillows' explains Andy, but when one of their collective started building wooden structures, it escalated to the point that art installations were being built and incorporated into the parties. For example, a huge Trojan horse was built with a person hiding inside throwing ice cold beers into the crowd while the parties commenced. Without intending it, Cobra Man had, with the help of a few skate kids, started their own modern day Studio 54 or The Loft, the legendary Cobra Man live performances would come to be the foundation for New Driveway.

It's a lo-fi punk journey through bastardised arpeggiated Italo-disco for the Thrasher generation, you'll hear that in tracks like 'Magic Hour'. Whereas 'Weekend Special' conjures up a pixilated streets of rage style call to arms, busting your way through the jocks with the Skatt Bros blasting in your headphones. Lazyman turns the guitars up to 11 and lays on the thick Goner sound we all know and love, but never strays from the disco and punk infused soul of Cobra Man.

The debut album is inspired by The Worble Collective and skateboarding vids (In fact many of their tunes have been used on high profile Thrasher skate vids) with bass lines being laid down on a battered old 80's Diamond bass, soaring synth melodies, Daft Punk strings and euphoric vocal hooks. It's rammed with influence ranging from Sister Sledge to Devo, Stereolab to Black Moth Super Rainbow, Ariel Pink to William Onyeabor and ELO to The Kinks.

The New Driveway Soundtrack pushes across genres as frequently as it does environments. It's the Grease Soundtrack for the Millennial generation. This infectious neon celebration will surely freshen your spirits and loosen your hips, satisfying your innate need for classic innovation and fun... Follow us as we coast further down the New Driveway.