Pop & Rock News

Japanese born Shoko Igarashi's debut album Simple Sentences is a record that, not unlike a piece of luggage checking in from city to city, has managed to absorb vital influences from each place it has landed. Shoko grew up in rural Japan, she studied in the US and is currently
living in the most quintessential European city, Brussels.

Shining in its diversity, Simple Sentences carries elements from each one of those stops in her life.

The influences from Far East are more than evident and funnily enough, even unconscious, which makes them integrate in a beguiling childish and naive way that adds even more to the originality of the sound. Take for Example the lead track ’AppleBanana’ - Echoes of Chiemi Manabe, Hosono and even overtones of Akiko Yano are all seamlessly there. 'Sand Dungeon' is a little gem reminiscent of Yellow Magic Orchestra at the heights of their powers and the aptly titled 'Anime Song' could be an unreleased track from Testpattern’s infamous and sought after LP. 'Lovely Song' in its electronic pastoral vibe could have been produced by Seigen Ono, but is entirely the work of Shoko's expansive creative world.
'CASH OK' harks back to New York’s 90’s Jazz Street scene, paying tribute to her Brooklyn live gigs, and album closer 'Tsuki No Yama' goes back to her roots with a meditative folk sound quite different from the rounded pop edges that the rest of her album carries.

Simple Sentences is like its title implies: straightforward in its brilliance and simplicity, yet carefully measured with a maturity that almost makes us wonder - how did Shoko manage to absorb all these influences and bring them together into a vibrant sound collage which ultimately is fresh and timeless.

Back in stock soon

Acid Jazz presents the long-awaited reissue of The Aloof’s cult classic final LP ‘This Constant Chase For Thrills’.

 Formed in 1990, The Aloof were a pioneering electronic act, playing and touring with the likes of Massive Attack and Leftfield. After three albums with the Warner EastWest, they forged their own path, releasing ‘This Constant Chase For Thrills’ on their own Screaming Target label.

 Despite highlights ‘Doing It For Money’ and ‘Painted Face’, as well as ‘So Good’, which featured in the US version of ‘Queer As Folk’, the album didn’t get the coverage it deserved upon release.

 Within a dark and moody atmosphere, there is definite Ibiza and Balearic feel to the record, showing a band with a positive DIY spirit.

FIRELP232 is the 12' black vinyl LP, download card included. ESG's fusion of sweet soul and punk attitude with an intuitive understanding of dance music remains.' The Guardian This is still funk with an alien otherworldliness the likes of which George Clinton never envisioned, stripped to its barest essentials for maximum impact.' All Music ESG are as cool as ever.' The Guardian Pumping their way out of the South Bronx of New York in the early 80s, this rhythm and dance-punk outfit made unforgettable funk that was also unusually rooted in post-punk. This powerhouse of raw and cutting edge music ultimately made them ahead of their time. ESG enjoyed success sharing stages with PiL and Gang Of Four and have been heavily sampled as many musicians including TLC, Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys and Liars. A band-approved reissue of 'Step Off' will be released the same day with artwork from award nominated illustrator Hannah Alice, who recently gained critical praise for her work on the Bert Jansch reissue of Avocet'.

Deluxe Edition / LP+Poster

Back in 2017, Moderat announced that they’d be taking an extended break following a final concert in front of 17.000 people in their hometown of Berlin. And now they return. MORE D4TA, the group’s fourth album, arrives more than six years after its predecessor (2016’s III). Created largely during a time when touring (and most traveling) was off the table, MORE D4TA is an album that wrestles with feelings of isolation and information overload—issues that have become particularly pronounced over the past two years. The ten songs on MORE D4TA are rooted in collaboration, but long before any of its tracks were laid down, Moderat spent months hanging out and getting musically reacquainted, indulging in extended bouts of experimentation and slowly fleshing out ideas as they dove into modular composition, field recordings and other sonic oddities.
But no matter how far the band ventures into music’s outer realms, they always wind up back in their own unique soundworld, a place where emotive pop and fluttering electronic soundscapes walk hand in hand. Many of its lyrics are rooted in Ring’s frequent trips to Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie museum (often with his infant daughter in tow), where he’d seek refuge in the great paintings of the past while worrying about the future.
What they make isn’t necessarily dance music, but it is something that shines brightest in the dark of night, the group’s rich melodies and Ring’s ethereal vocals emitting a warm, almost bioluminescent glow. After spending the better part of two decades making music together, they’ve carved out a sound and aesthetic that are all their own, and MORE D4TA showcases a group that’s creatively recharged and fully dedicated to its craft.

Red Vinyl

That we live in a world changed is beyond question. Since 2015's Zenith, Berlin-based songwriter Molly Nilsson has surrendered to the world, traveling from Mexico to Glasgow, observing the changing socio-political landscape and imagining a better world. For an artist who has so successfully created her own environment and gradually let others in, her 8th studio album Imaginations sees Nilsson directly engaging with her surroundings, engendering change and allowing love in. Imaginations dreams big, recasting storming, stadium-sized pop into the internal language of the solo auteur. Imaginations is not escapism, it's a kaleidoscope and an alternative view, an agent of change.Opener Tender Surrender encapsulates Imaginations, a tango on the ruins of the past, like many of Nilsson's best songs a collision between the political and personal. Though potentially a love song, there's a glowing anger in the lines I want your ruin, I want destruction, I won't be through until we mend this...' this is rapturous transformation, order and chaos. Molly has built an almost 10 year career on perfectly summing up how we feel and this is no different... Who else could write a song about privilege (Let's Talk About Privileges) and make a heart-rending chorus of It's never being afraid of the police, it's expecting every thank you, every please.' The artist's vision on this album is perhaps more forceful than the emotionally fragile moments of previous album Zenith, at times exemplified on songs like Memory Foam, a bright, driving pop song that belies themes of nostalgia and the past, reminding us that Molly alone can make us feel so welcome in loneliness. If there's overt anger in songs like Money Never Sleeps, an anthem for a post-capitalist utopia if ever there was one, there's also seams of optimism sewn into the album's genetic code. Any revolutionary will tell you that anger alone achieves nothing - Nilsson's mission on Imaginations is to offer some alternatives we can hold close. Not Today Satan is a song about accepting love as the agent of change, Don't be sad, but do get mad at all the small men who act so tall, in the end they always fall, there ain't no sin in giving in to love, that's just how we're winning the fight.' Love can be visceral, a weapon with which to fight the power.On Imaginations Molly is recasting her interior monologue as a prism through which to see the world, a means to live differently and to reject the status quo. We can Think Pink, change our destiny together. This is an optimism about the future when we need it the most. New boys, new girls.. give me your smile and I'll give you mine' Clearly, we are living through a transformation but with alchemists like Molly Nilsson, we're never alone in the process.

Ace leftfield House excursion combining extended field recording based Ambient explorations - Tip!

R.I.O. welcomes Pieter Kock aka DJ Peacock, one of the guiding souls behind the Berlin based bar/micro club O Tannenbaum. Musically active since 1986 as singer, guitarist, drummer and noisemaker, Peter already released a string of albums under different aliases like Billie and Ballie, The Hitmachine and Taladu. Since the early 1990s he narrates haunting sonic stories as a DJ, playing a vast palette of styles - from cosmic and leftfield techno to tape experiments, sound-art, wave, world, jazz, punk, industrial, and all that weird pop music.

Eagerly awaited yet patiently bubbling under the surface, UwU dust bath emerges with its primal offering; a deeply generous and authentic sonic array from low-key prolifics Purelink. Pure, unadulterated aural alchemy. Everything has a perfect place. An evolving trademark of Purelink’s delicate, yet deliberate, chillout ecstasy.

UwU 001 is rooted in the group’s most sincere and early jams; exuding an innocent magic almost impossible to recreate, tranquil effervescence of the highest nature. An immersive sense of bliss exudes from even the initial vibrations of the A side. Each track is thoughtfully paired with a complimenting remix on the B side, preserving and echoing the ethereal essence while adding a personally inspired touch, nurturing fresh existence and perspective.

Three otherworldly originals harmoniously colluding with an intercontinental all-star cast of remixers. xphresh (special guest DJ & Ben Bondy), Low Flung and Nice Girl – each respectfully contributing to the synonymous mutual (& virtual) affiliation, kindredship and vision entrenched in the UwU ethos.

The synergy throughout this entire release reveals an unspoken affinity and divine love language between the label and artists that can translate to how we feel and absorb music, its sound and a subconscious sense of intimacy and connection.

Martina Topley Bird’s new studio album ‘Forever I Wait’, features collaborations and arrangements from Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, Euan Dickenson, Rich Morel, Christoffer Berg, Benjamin Boeldt and Tiadiad.

'Forever I Wait' is Topley-Bird’s fourth long awaited studio album and her very first self-produced and curated piece of work to date. The album, set for a digital release on September 10th, with a vinyl LP available to pre-order now, captures an extensive journey confronting, exploring, analysing and reflecting on the devastating fragilities of life as it ultimately seeks to make peace with what life is.

A sentient and sensual presence framed Tricky’s trip-hop pioneering white label debut release, Aftermath. Hauntingly unique and immediately recognisable, that voice became the defining timbre of a new music movement. Behind this voice was mysteriously soft-spoken, London-born Martina Topley-Bird, whose exquisite voice came to inspire and infuse other pioneering artists across all genres.

“It’s a trip through different emotional states and frequencies, mostly dark, from insecurity and desire, all the way through to serenity and acceptance with themes that resonate from my young teens all the way through till today. Things that I’ve seen and things I’ve felt and worked through, although sometimes I sense them trying to return”

“Forever I Wait”, as the title alludes, was written and re-written over a long period of time.

“I had to change my way of relating to music and the music industry in order to make the record I wanted to make.…and that took time. And I took the time I needed. I started in London, moved and lived in America for the first time in my life, then briefly moved back to London and finished the record in Spain.”

“After trying to work on a new record for a couple of years, I came to a realisation that in order to move forward I had to separate the concept and vision I had for this record from me as a person. I had to shift my perspective. That was a big personal win and the beginning of “Forever I Wait.”

'Forever I Wait' leans on a multitude of tense sounds, dubby atmospherics and natural instrumentation to demand the listeners attention leading to over two decades of observations, experiences and musical sacrifices. It is a bi-product of the new perspective featuring carefully selected and tailored supporting arrangements from a handful of collaborators including Robert del Naja (Massive Attack), Rich Morel (Deep Dish), Christoffer Berg (Fever Ray) and Benjamin Boeldt (Adventure).

A truthful expression of desire and heartache “Forever I Wait “Is Topley Bird’s most precise and accurate album to date.

'Following his compelling comment on the modern-day culture of call centres, Disruptive Muzak - awarded Album of the Year 2016 by Boomkat - Sam Kidel turns his analytical artistry towards the ominous gatekeepers of online communication with a rave-inspired rebel spirit to match his scientific methodology.

'Chamber music meets free-party-scene warehouse-invasion'

First exhibited at EBM(T) in Tokyo, Live @ Google Data Center trespasses in Google's data centre in Council Bluffs, Iowa to perform electronic music amongst the humming banks of servers and endless cable runs, without actually breaking in. In a process he describes as 'mimetic hacking,' Kidel used architectural plans based on photos of the data centre to acoustically model the sonic qualities of the space.

The resulting acoustics on Live @ Google Data Center simulate the sound of Kidel's algorithmically-generated notes, rhythms and melodies reverberating through the space, as though a bold illegal party was being held in the maximum security location. Kidel's manipulation of his generative direction of the music, all inspired by images of the data centre.

'Music that deafens the silicon ear'

The generative audio patch Kidel used to make Voice Recognition DoS Attack seeks to disable the functionality of voice recognition software by triggering phonemes (the smallest units of language).

The project, first developed for the Eavesdropping series of events in Melbourne, exploits a weakness in voice recognition that cannot distinguish between individual voices. When you speak while the patch is playing, the cascading shards of human expression mask your speech and thus protect you from automated surveillance, questioning our vulnerability in the face of global data giants. In amongst these displaced sounds, Kidel fed additional musical elements into his patch to create the version of the project heard on this release.'

Alex the Fairy is an artist based in Berlin producing music with an emphasis on electronic and concrete methods. Alex the Fairy is also part of the 3Ddancer trio, a live act focusing on improvisation and expression using electronics.

Alex The Fairy writes: "I had sent The Tapeworm tracks before, but I was being difficult so was asked to send a new bunch, with a deadline. I sent the new bunch, a fairly odd collection expecting perhaps some of them to be combined with the older stuff but not seeing any coherence in them. I figured The Tapeworm would find at least something. To my surprise the suggestion that came back was exclusively the tracks I had sent the second time, and, re-listening through the tracks in this new order after returning from a Christmas dinner lying on the floor of my nephews bedroom gave them a completely new context. Despite them being quite varied in terms of age (one had been flung together a few days earlier on the train while another was approaching Schulreife) they seemed to meld together in such a way that I hardly recognised them…

Last year my grandmother died. My last grandparent. I had put off seeing her during corona, as I thought it best not to put her at risk and had almost left to visit her days before her death but had delayed my departure because of a medical appointment. My failure to her weighs heavy on my mind - fates grimacing grin: too little, too late. The approaching march of death, one generation closer was a confrontation I wasn't prepared for.

While clearing out her flat in the following weeks I had kept some of my grandfathers cassettes, live recordings of jazz greats, Pink Floyd, Sade and some classical among them, none originals, several presumably from the radio e.g. a church organ rendition of Bach. At the time I wasn't sure why I was hanging on to them, other than the urge to hoard, and that it felt wrong not at least to keep some. Half a year later, half way through mixing this cassette, suffering from my first bout of COVID, I had the insatiable urge to hook up the cassette player I had received from my grandfather after his death around nineteen years earlier and had been dragging along with me since. I stuck a cassette in only to immediately return to the safety of my covers. I began to work my way into what I had saved, hearing the fruits of my grandfathers labour decades before. It felt like quite an intimate interaction with someone I had long lost contact to/was long gone. Quite a wonderful thing, these time traveling cassettes.

I returned to the tracks to mix them shortly before my corona/cassette experience, with a new mixing console at hand. I had been looking for one for several years, but nothing had ever clicked, until I found this old broadcast desk 30 minutes from my place (it also coincided with a payment from a job the sum of which matched the price identically… fates return). Installing became a massive hassle and I doubted my decision continuously, but the further it was implemented the more it made sense. The first track I recorded with the mixer is on this cassette. Shortly before the mixing I was introduced to an Effektgerät by a friend, Rapha. Another good friend Art lent me their one, and I ended up using copious amounts of it throughout mixing, alongside my usual space creators. All the tracks on this release were mixed again on this mixer and are in a sense all a bit of a dub of the originals. I wouldn't have worked this way without the mixer, and the effect gave me a dimension I hadn't had before, so, from a technical perspective, the mixer and this effect define this release, giving it a coherence, at least for me. Emotionally of course the chaos and turbulence of the preceding year and my newfound appreciation for the medium give it a meaning I will struggle to formulate." – Alex The Fairy, Berlin, 9 May 2022

Once off collaboration between Drum Club’s Charlie Hall and Subsurfing’s Obi that threads a fine line between balearic and drum n’ bass.
The perfect chill out record from a once off collaboration between Drum Club’s Charlie Hall and Subsurfing’s Obi. It threads a fine line between balearic and drum n’ bass creating something remarkably unique. Originally released as an extremely limited run on Japanese label Paratone.

A band who have never stood still creatively, EBM is a breathlessly heavy step up and Editors’ most leftfield material yet – a thrilling, unrelenting thrust of full-bodied electro-industrial rock. The album title is an acronym of Editors and Blanck Mass, but also a knowing reference to Electronic Body Music, the potent sound that originated in the 1980s and which has hugely influenced Editors’ new material, where the synths of bands like Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 and DAF hammer darkly amongst smoke machines, strobe lights and the smell of leather.

IDE003 contains 4 remixes from the release IDE002 (Jiska Huizing & Rudi Valdersnes, 2019, Ideophone Records) by well known artists rRoxymore, Yhdessa, Nkisi and newcomer JIJU. Each artist has really managed to make the original tracks their own and their unique sounds and styles really shine in this very diverse collection of remixes, which ranges from leftfield techno to experimental electronics and ambient.

Inspired from Romanian cultural heritage, be it film, dance or musical instruments, Folclor Abstract is a glance back to the roots in search of a meaningful future.

The first track is inspired from the soundtrack composed by Cornelia Tăutu for the Romanian historical adventure film “Buzduganul cu trei peceți” (1977). The film presents a politicized version of the events that led in 1600 to the unification of the three Romanian countries, in the aftermath of a victorious battle against the Ottoman invasion (Călugăreni, 1595). Dance your way through as the story unfolds.

Dans cu balans is the result of a personal fascination for the cimbalom, an instrument of high versatility, frequently used in the Romanian fiddle music. In contrast to orchestral performances, which adhere to the composer’s notes to reproduce a work faithfully, fiddling is also open to improvisation and tends to produce rhythms that focus on dancing, with associated quick note changes.

Searching for inspiration within Romanian folklore, I found Ivan Braga who was on his own pursuit of cultural heritage, experimenting with a variety of traditional instruments and rhythms from different regions of the country. Doba lu’ Braga is Ivan’s modern take on Romanian drum patterns performed on a traditional Moldavian drum (dobă) with an uplifting twist and arrangement for the dancefloor experience.

Reverie is an expression of the creator’s state of mind. Lost in thought, stolen by imagination, haunted by memories, liberated by dreams

UCC Harlo and NY Graffiti team up for the second release on Peace Anthem Records. Alternating between bleary-eyed impressions and tightly articulated expression the artists forge a path laden with plangent sound, muted color, and circular forms. Ketamine-paced grooves, baroque miniatures, hazy-humid sonics, and dub inflections populate this domain. Each delivers one original and a remix of the other’s track.

Romanian composer and DJ, Ada Kaleh, reveals a more intricate and textured side to his compositional dexterity, releasing a new album ‘Nodus Tollens’ on the legendary ambient label, Apollo Records.

Composed and recorded between 2010 and 2020, ‘Nodus Tollens’ finds Ada Kaleh departing from the confines of minimal house and techno, and instead exploring the many facets of ambient electronica and minimalism. Drawing inspiration from minimalist artists such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, four expansive compositions are offered up, each one transcending the boundaries of dance music dogma, and focusing on natural free-form rhythms; meditative and healing frequencies intertwine with special textures, resulting in soothing psychedelia.

Questioning the linear nature of time, each production guides the listener though whirling soundscapes, DMT realms and time loops, creating an aural safe space in which to explore. Propelled by a passion for 60’s & 70’s spiritual jazz, afro-beats and other psychedelic inducing textures, Ada Kaleh describes these musical endeavours as Quantum Techno.

Across two slabs of 12” vinyl, and four distinct passages and states of time (Future, Past, Present and Entropy), ‘Nodus Tollens’ is a seamless listening experience that heralds the development of the composer’s musical journey, which has to date afforded magnetic releases for labels like Dialogue, Rawax, R&S Records and his very own Ada Kaleh Romania imprint. Sleeve artwork on thew album comes courtesy of the super talented artist Anca Popa, now based in Cape Town after a move from her native Romania.

‘Nodus Tollens’ by Ada Kaleh is available on Apollo Records from 25th March 2022.

Ahead of the Meakusma Festival 2019 Don't DJ and NWAQ did an artist residency developing new music together from scratch. Their resulting performance at the festival was a mesmerising descent into the artistic perspectives of two singular artists active in off-kilter club music.Some of the eight tracks on this record were recorded live at the festival while others were recorded during the residency. All
dwell in distorted and eccentric bliss and play around with rhythmic arrhythmic and post-rhythmic tension.

Sophomore album from South London avant-groove collective Snorkel
Stop Machine
Dead Skin
Edgar's Hoover
Wet Tongue
Driller
Dark Star
Loophole
Jellyfish

tracks by add n to x, hairy butter, stereolab u. a.

After a string of diverse EPs on Swiss labels Light of Other Days & Subject To Restrictions Ethimm returns in winter 21/22 with his debut album. The record delivers snapshots of a hopeless romantic’s life packed into an eccentric mix of genres, all in the spirit of balearic. Fever dreams of Disco, New Wave, Dub and Leftfield Pop echo throughout the 32 minutes. Tales from the jet set, delusions of grandeur and the hangover that comes after, long gone love affairs and one’s raison d’être are among the many subjects Ethimm touches. Distinctly nodding towards the 80ies without falling into cliché references, the album feels familiar yet uniquely contemporary.

The cover art features a bust of producer Elisabeth Thimm’s head, as interpreted by artist Paa Joe. The 12 inch comes complete with a 180g, heavyweight white vinyl with a beautifully printed inner sleeve revealing the albums lyrics.

New World Science's Osmos (Movements) is a sincere foray into forth-world fantasy, where disparate synthesizer styles are tied together by harmonized saxophone musings. Comprised of four recordings/jams between Francis Latreille (Priori-mastermind behind the project), Adam Feingold (Ex-Terrestrial), and Emmanuel Thibau, and featuring appearances by Phoebe Guillemot (Ramzi) and Richard Wenger (R Weng), these multi-stream compositions float in the uncertain spaces between electronic and acoustic, improvisation and production, old and new. Beautiful, subtle, and entrancing compositions suited to suborbital meditations.

New World Science's Osmos (Movements) is a sincere foray into forth-world fantasy, where disparate synthesizer styles are tied together by harmonized saxophone musings. Comprised of four recordings/jams between Francis Latreille (Priori-mastermind behind the project), Adam Feingold (Ex-Terrestrial), and Emmanuel Thibau, and featuring appearances by Phoebe Guillemot (Ramzi) and Richard Wenger (R Weng), these multi-stream compositions float in the uncertain spaces between electronic and acoustic, improvisation and production, old and new. Beautiful, subtle, and entrancing compositions suited to suborbital meditations.

Some lucky folk managed to bag a copy of this when it was released as part of the Screamadelica 30th Anniversary 12" Singles Box. Suffice to say, many didn't. It's also probably a given to point out the British and global music scenes are still reeling from the untimely and sudden passing of Andrew Weatherall, a studio mastermind and club DJ icon who managed to influence everyone from ambient and techno heads to indie kids, classical fans and heads in just about any other sonic avenue you care to mention. Arguably, though, his most beloved work was around the Screamadelica era, carving out a landmark crossover album from Primal Scream's original material, making stars out of everyone involved and timeless, decade-spanning tracks from singles like 'Come Together' and 'Loaded'. 'Shine Like the Stars' brought that album to a close in spectacular, trippy, emotive style, and has never left our hearts since.

Philip Lawn is an Italian music producer, co-founder of Turbokitchen, releasing on labels such as Motek and My Favorite Robot Recordings.

In his debut EP as solo artist for Thisbe Recordings, “Ten Years of Travel”, he tells the tale of the Odyssey and his protagonist Ulysses through the use of machines (such as Nord Lead 4, Roland SPD-30, Behringer TD -3, Yamaha Reface CS & Moog sub 37) and hot grooves. Out of his secret garden, a perfect acoustically isolated walk-in closet, “Ten Years of Travel” was born. Particular to the structure of the EP is that each track has its own remix.

With a rework of “Distorted View”, Days of Being Wild deliver a dark disco classic, true to their idiosyncratic sound and original beats, mesmerizing the dancefloor straight away. Traveller and cosmic poet Pyrame rework of the single “Start” first feels like rain dropping before the storm comes and reveals an euphoric feeling as the break starts. Romain FX nails a fine remix of Ten Years of Travel, the main single of Philip Lawns´EP. His remix is a pure italo disco rework of the original, infused with pop synths and keys, that won´t leave anyone still and quiet. Banger.

“Punk’s new heroine” Louisahhh presents The Practice of Freedom, her debut album born from experiences of loss and love, told through a journey of brutally beautiful electronics, electro and techno colliding with industrial, rock and alternative sounds. Set for release on March 12th, it captures the identity of Louisahhh exquisitely, and is a record of our times, covering themes ranging from eroticism and empowerment to addiction and apocalypse, whilst finding a perfect home on the polysexual polymath label HE.SHE.THEY.

“I find typically that music is a premonition, that I think it’s about something when it’s being made and it winds up being a prayer galvanizing me”. New York born, Paris based Louisahhh describes her creative process channelling her outlook based on DIY punk ethics, inclusivity and spirituality. Set upon a path of recovery from addiction at a young age, she has transformed her life challenges into art that celebrates her rebirth and forges struggles into assets. Embracing the diverse nature of the underground, she is an active feminist and champions female and LGBTQIA+ talent in the industry. Heading up the RAAR label alongside close friend Maëlstrom, she has hammered out a reputation for bold, raw anti-establishment music.

Building on their growing release schedule, HE.SHE.THEY. founders Steven Braines and Sophia Kearney were delighted to have the Practice of Freedom as the inaugural album release, “if there was ever an album that epitomised why we started the label it’s surely this; a raw, intelligent, soul bearing and genre defying debut that never dilutes or shies away from its vision and purpose. In other words, true artistry”.

The Practice of Freedom heralds the evolution of Louisahhh as she delivers her most exposing work yet, with the album's conception coming from an exploration of the unorthodox archetype 'feminist submissive', based on the mantra “sin is not being true to yourself”. The album produced by American musician, music video director and photographer Vice Cooler sees ideas and lyrics by Louisahhh re-contextualised into revolutionary experimental sounds, formed through their shared love of American alternative rock.

Lead single Love is a Punk opens the album with Louisahhh’s powerful vocal delivery that demands attention alongside marching drums and tells a story of the disruptive, ferocious nature of love. The sound of helicopter blades combines with crunchy electro distortions on the feminist anthem Like a Shot, simmering and bubbling with dynamic energy. A swarm of bees opens Chaos, before moving into a heavy, chugging rock piece that sees influences of Nine Inch Nails and Judith Butler come to the fore.

A pounding kick and fuzzy bass hit straight to the chest on Ferocious (Contained), vocals inspired by Patti Smith melt and absorb as the intensity grows before glowing synths rise out of the darkness in an emotive climax. Master sees Louisahhh at her most honest and vulnerable, a dramatic BDSM ballad featuring compelling lyrics that cut through the listener with unique vigour, this is a new kind of love song. No Pressure is aggressive and uncompromising with steely percussion and headbanging electronics, sure to chew up and spit out any dance floor in its wake.

The pace lowers on Not Dead; murky, cold chords repeat over words of god and death to create an eerie, cinematic atmosphere. Louisahhh tells how a close bereavement shaped the album “the grieving process was new and profound, through this crack in my heart a new capacity for love was able to pour in, unexpectedly.” Unrelenting with barking dogs, gun-fire, industrial machines and demonic screams Numb, Undone is one of the hardest tracks on offer and is an all-out dystopian anthem with an accompanying video due for release in February. Corruptor carries a galvanising force where the club and punk again meet head-on with massive rave synths twisting and turning over violent crashing cymbals. Haunting melancholic techno features on A Hard No with more authentic lyrics poured from the soul. Hunter/Wolf closes the album with an anarchic, beatless track that engulfs like a thunderstorm, leaving you with Louisahhh’s unconventional spirituality ingrained in the mind as the tempest of the record recedes, a fitting, powerful finale.

As an activist who stands for and embodies female power and sex-positivity, Louisahhh, also known as Louisa Pillot, is much more than just a DJ and producer. Her career kicked off in 2011 following the success of Your Everything with Danny Daze, French techno producer Brodinski reached out to Louisahhh asking her to move to France and become part of Bromance Records. It was here that she met collaborator Maëlstrom, bonding over their love of authentic European techno and ferocious punk ethos. Together they started the RAAR label and have since released a series of sonic tornados including records Silence Is Violence, Winter and Ascender. Not content with music alone, she currently hosts a podcast series called Sober Sex with friend Rose Romain, focusing on conversations of self-integrity, sexuality and creativity. Louisahhh’s music fights for and provides a voice for others, rooted equally in the intensity of the dancefloor and the mosh pit. As an artist at the forefront of the a new dawn of musical feminism, like her uncompromising musical heroes Karen O, Siouxsie Sioux and Shirley Manson before her, Louisahhh’s powerful and fearless message is set to be unleashed on the world via The Practice of Freedom and will mark her as punk’s essential new heroine. In her words “more love in this world, please, punks”.

LTD ORANGE VINYL

GLOK is the electronic alter ego of Andy Bell; best-known as the guitarist in venerated shoegazers Ride, alongside stints in other famous groups, with a noteworthy solo careertoo. This October his first album proper as GLOK - 'Pattern Recognition' - is released via Ransom Note Records' sisterlabel Bytes. Although usually renowned for purveying the finest quality jangle, drone and general guitar-based magic, Bell's forayinto dance music should come as less of a surprise than immediately meets the eye. There are parallels between the genres within the sonically-deep layers, hypnotic sound and trance-like headspaces, or, as he puts it more succinctly: "GLOK is all about the push and pull between electronic and psych in my music." Although not a full-blown concept album, 'Pattern Recognition' has a loose thread which takes in a week of life, from weekend to weekend, with each of the vinyl's four sides capturing different mind states across that transition. Each side has a distinct feel that's different to the last but inherently cohesive - much like the changes an individual goes through over 7 days. Across the album with loving craft Andy weaves together throbbing dubbed-out acid, steamy jack trax, levitational psychedelia, sparkling Balearic, techno, Kosmische, shoegaze, art rock and Compass Point-style post punk -with just a hint of ambient, new age and contemporary classical too.

Das aktuelle Album von Beatmaker und Grammy Gewinner Knxwledge jetzt erhältlich auf grape colour Vinyl.

Feat. R&B-Star und NxWorries-Kollaborateur Anderson .Paak.
'1988' ist der Nachfolger von Knxwledges hochgelobtem Album 'Hud Dreems' aus dem Jahr 2015.

Für Fans von Madlib, J Dilla, Mndsgn, Flying Lotus, Teebs.

New Swiss label Rababoo is proud to present his first release: Marcel de Sie! Oscillating between melodic industrial and shaky psychedelic music, Mr. de Sie overcomes his first 3 tracks with a static approach of electronic low drifts – in that sense, we decided to call it a soundtrack “to schuss'', in dedication to all our skiing friends from here and there. The First 2 tracks, “Filter Seq'' and “Mezzo FM'' pitch the tone of the EP and are built as explorations of dance floor narratives, with the purpose to generate a wave state of mind through a real sound experience. While the first track is a relentless technoïd filter-driven smasher which immediately bleeps your mind and floods it with sound, the second track unleashes a cascade of sounds that bring any lost hiker and drive him into a shamanic waltz in the mountain.

The Title track “Poetic Frame” is a direct response to these soundscapes, where howling disturbing synths are at times chimera that fractures the pattern and calls you back into reality.

For his 1st release, Marcel de Sie is joined by Greek producer Anatolian Weapons (Dark Entries) and Belgian’s Victor de Roo (Stroom) for the remixes. Each one delivers a proper interpretation of the 3rd track of the EP « Poetic Frame ». While Anatolian Weapons explore a tribal trance sonic journey that can drive a dervish dancer crazy, De Roo makes use of his distinguishable style and creates the most abstracted version of this track. Not scared to apply kind of a trap snare ratcheting, he brings us to a space urban take.

Put your seatbelt on, seasons are not existing for long anymore.

This recording is dedicated to nomads, space travelers, free spirits that visits earth for a brief time to make a mark here on their way to other worlds. They leave traces on tram wagons, walls and in our minds in our cities before moving on into the unknown. Especially one.

A slow build up to a jungle crescendo is how “Iris” develops. This is a fine example of how Fontän effortlessly makes crossover music – no compromises needed in neither end of the spectrum, this music flows naturally. The dreamy music box-sounding intro of “Mast” falls into a deep half beat where warm E-bow guitars and sweeping synthesizers carries the music higher and higher away from the ground.

These two tracks are a peaceful homage to all the cosmic kings and queens that have spent time here on earth. Safe travels!