Pop & Rock News

The artist from Utrecht, called Solotust, makes his debut on the Soil records label with a 6 song mini Lp. All of them are loaded with dark melodies that move between minimal synth, dark krautrock and synth pop. Harmonic voices linked with synth lines that will make you transport yourself to the space directly.

Reissue (originally released 1980 on SKY records)Music for the apocalyptic eighties Deutschland state of mind. When Serge Blenner left his native France for Hamburg, West Germany, neither he nor anyone else could have guessed that he would inadvertently compose a soundtrack for the Cold War. But his dark, monotone synthesizer album La Vogue (1980) turned out to be just that.

Ltd. 1000 W/W One Green & One Blue Vinyl.

In the latest of a series of albums that have mirrored the exceptional story of the band itself, Cornershop return with a new album ‘England Is A Garden’ on March 6th 2020 on Ample Play Records. It is an album that strides in an upbeat fashion, to deliver a full listening experience, bringing songs of experience, empire, protest and humour, steeped in the way only Tjinder Singh would come with.

Listen to a first taste of the album now, ‘No Rock: Save In Roll’, that is to say that there is not one without the other, that rock, for all its focus on death is the saviour of life.

The anvil here is music itself, and a celebration of Tjinder’s birth place - The Black Country, which also gave birth to heavy metal that has gone on to influence the world to dirty rock, whether the streets are lined with pylons or palm trees, the Black Country has allowed us to see things differently.

So the sound here goes back to Englands’ Midlands with two thumbs up to the feeling of hearing heavy metal from the back of a stage, as we all ride on and await the female backing vocals of our song to come in.

Ltd. 1000 W/W One Green & One Blue Vinyl.

In the latest of a series of albums that have mirrored the exceptional story of the band itself, Cornershop return with a new album ‘England Is A Garden’ on March 6th 2020 on Ample Play Records. It is an album that strides in an upbeat fashion, to deliver a full listening experience, bringing songs of experience, empire, protest and humour, steeped in the way only Tjinder Singh would come with.

Listen to a first taste of the album now, ‘No Rock: Save In Roll’, that is to say that there is not one without the other, that rock, for all its focus on death is the saviour of life.

The anvil here is music itself, and a celebration of Tjinder’s birth place - The Black Country, which also gave birth to heavy metal that has gone on to influence the world to dirty rock, whether the streets are lined with pylons or palm trees, the Black Country has allowed us to see things differently.

So the sound here goes back to Englands’ Midlands with two thumbs up to the feeling of hearing heavy metal from the back of a stage, as we all ride on and await the female backing vocals of our song to come in.

Lyra Pramuk’s debut Fountain explores a post-human, non-binary understanding of life Lyra Pramuk fuses classical training, pop sensibilities, performance practices and contemporary club culture in what may best be described as futurist folk music. While the American operatically-trained vocalist and electronic musician is perhaps previously best known for her work with musical collaborators such as Holly Herndon and Colin Self, she is set to release her debut album, Fountain, via Iceland’s Bedroom Community label in March 2020.

Created entirely from her own voice, although often shaped and structured by electronics, Fountain is an emotional, sensual, and devotional journey. The title is derived from her family name, Pramuk, which translates from Czech as ‘well spring’ or ‘fountain.’ Often wordless, these songs evoke a new wholeness sustained by the ritual force of drowning, immersion, cleansing, and bathing – also referred to in the album artwork by acclaimed visual artist Donna Huanca. Fountain plays with the perception of music, rhythms, speech, body, and the relation between technology and humanity, exploring a post-human, non-binary understanding of life and the fragile ecosystems it depends on. The work documents a healing that is still in process, and a full circle-moment that reunited Lyra with her sound engineer twin brother, Ben, for the final mix, which they completed in tandem.

As a vocal activist and member of the queer community, Fountain’s creation also coincided with a personal rejuvenation for its author. Its completion culminated in the live premiere of the album material at Unsound Festival in Krakow in 2019, where she performed through a multi-channel array designed by Ben Frost, opening for Sunn O))) and Roly Porter. A closer collaboration with Frost on a soundtrack for a new film project will be announced later in 2020. Her performance at Berghain on 30 January for CTM Festival in her hometown of Berlin promises an even more confident and joyous realization of the album’s song cycle.

Lyra moved to Berlin in 2013 as a DAAD postgraduate study scholarship recipient, following her degree at the Eastman School of Music in New York. Since then, she has also been awarded residencies at Elektronmusikstudion EMS Stockholm, Open Port Club Residency in Tokyo and Sapporo, and Future Music Lab of the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine. Her interests also encompass writing, poetry, and fashion, where she is sometimes called upon as a model. As a performance artist, she has collaborated extensively with Donna Huanca and at events such as Glasgow International and the Rochester Fringe Festival.

Cooper Saver is a Los Angeles based DJ and producer responsible for the Far Away party, cassette mixtape series, and radio show on Dublab. For the last 6+ years, Cooper has consistently brought unique and underrated talent from abroad for his late-night warehouse party while also regularly traveling around the world to DJ. As a producer, Cooper maintains a steady flow of remixes - recognized most for frequent remixes on DFA Records. As of late, Cooper's original music is finally starting to surface - starting with a debut full EP on Permanent Vacation. Coastal Breeze is a collection of tracks Cooper produced at home in LA over the last year or so, aimed at the late night dance floor with an injection of California sunshine. Close friend and local hometown hero Indra Dunis of Peaking Lights was summoned for vocal duty on 'The Search,' rounding off this release as the ultimate embodiment of Cooper's surroundings.

Marlon Hoffstadt releases 'Ready For Take Hoff' EP. The seventh EP on his own Midnight Themes imprint will hit stores on April 19th, 2019. After several records on Ransom Note, Rawax and his own Midnight Themes imprint in 2018, Marlon Hoffstadt continues his steady outcome with his second EP this year. Initially only produced for his sets and the dance floors of his Savour The Moment event series at Salon Zur Wilden Renate, 'Ready For Take Hoff' showcases Marlon's enthusiasm for trancy and mellow vibes. Somewhere in between of techno, disco, trance and proto house this EP includes everything you can expect from Marlon's dj sets right now.

Comprising producer-engineer Joel Krozer ((Clark (Warp), Smerz (XL Recordings), When Saints Go Machine (Escho)) and Brian Della Valle (singer-songwriter of Of The Valley) the Copenhagen based duo got together when Joel heard Brian recording in the studio below his. Their encounter led to a series of late-night recording sessions, together with collaborator Søren Holme, that quickly became the cornerstone of their partnership and the formation of Fluqx. Monolith is the exceptional debut album of Fluqx and offers state of the art production and highly creative Electronica tracks with that special something. The sound of Fluqx is distinct - a merging of deeply warped synthesizers, swirling textures and Brian’s affecting vocals. There is a versatile range of sounds and atmospheres across these twelve tracks - from the delicate arpeggios of ‘Carvings’ and ‘Ephemeral Objects’, to the massive drum sounds and cutting synth leads of ‘Monolith’ and ‘Hanami’. Della Valle’s warm falsetto navigates through this dynamic landscape with ease and hooks the listener in on tracks like ‘Feather’ and ‘Staring At The Sun’, whilst providing space to breathe on tracks like ‘Here‘ and ‘Golden Hour‘. Elsewhere, ambient, droney textures are at the forefront on ‘Mojave Booth’ and ‘Diamond Dust’, maintaining the dreamy, otherworldly nature of the Fluqx sound

Attraktors are JFlower: Antronhy: Jhon:

Former members of Six.BySeven: Bivouac: Julian Cope: The Selecter: Nectarine No9

Inspired by Minimalism: Fripp: Eno: Marcel Duchamp: Krautrock: Proto-Punk: Soundscores: Sci-Fi: Computer Science.

On »Tekkno Polo«, which was originally released on cassette and as a download by Oficyna Biedota in 2013, Jemek Jemowit addresses his Po-lish roots unsing the means of disco polo power. Disco polo is the Polish version of Italo Disco. It completely ignores everything that made Italo Disco great. It is known for its slightly bad arrange-ments, 3-tone melodies and forced rhyming, using pre-set sounds from the 1990s. On the EP Jemowit deals with total anti-patriotism (»An-typatriota«), grotesque hyper-patriotism (»Bigos») and Americanized over-patriotism (»Born in the PRL«). The EP ends with an anti-love-song (»O milosci«), using lyrics from Polish crooner Marek Grechutas’s »Będziesz moją panią« from 1970. The EP has been remas-tered by Jeans Team’s Franz Schütte in 2020 to stunning effect.

The Galleria is a project from Morgan Geist (Storm Queen, Metro Area) that ripples with echoes of the indigenous music of long-dead suburban New Jersey shopping malls and NYC radio stations: bombastic freestyle, club dubs, razor-edits and bubblegum-pop R&B. The newest single, Stop & Go, is the second release since the 2015 debut, Calling Card/Mezzanine. Vocals are once again provided by Jessy Lanza, whose two solo albums on Hyperdub were met with critical acclaim and were both shortlisted for the Polaris Prize. Stop & Go features a drum-a-pella for creative mixing, plus an extended, dancefloor-friendly dub.

By the time ABBA played London’s Wembley Arena in November 1979, they had spent five years in the public spotlight – although it seems a short time now, they had lived several lives in that period. Comprising of writers Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, and the incomparable vocals of Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, ABBA shot to international fame by winning the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton UK in 1974. From that moment on, they had moved through the glam’n’glitter of Arrival, the megastardom of ABBA – The Album and the gloss and embracing of disco of Voulez-Vous.

ABBA’s concerts in London at the end of the 70s – the decade that they helped to shape musically – quickly became the stuff of legend. For a group that toured only a handful of times, these shows were a pinnacle, coming near the end of their touring life. Backstage they would have admirers such as Ian Dury, Joe Strummer (‘Spanish Bombs’ from the Clash’s London Calling was said to be influenced by ABBA) and Jimmy Page dropping by to catch the hottest ticket in town. John Cleese was spotted in the auditorium.

The tour had opened in Edmonton, Canada in September 1979 and was to close in Dublin on November 15th. ABBA loved being in London (Frida wore an Arsenal FC shirt one night), fighting off winter chills to deliver some of the most exhilarating performances of their career. Coinciding with the release of their Greatest Hits Volume 2 album, this was high-octane ABBA, captured forever in the legendary pictures of the event with Frida and Agnetha appearing initially in Nordic outfits that referenced ‘blue-tinged mountains and glittering waters’ before all four emerged in their blue jumpsuits, singing as if their life depended upon it.

When ABBA took the stage, their experience and professionalism showed. Audiences and critics were astounded that ABBA could reproduce their studio sound live – and sometimes it swung even more. The backing musicians were Sweden’s best and most experienced. Although principally promoting their recent Voulez-Vous album, the set covered highlights throughout their career and contained a rare performance of Agnetha’s ‘I’m Still Alive’. The concert is available once again on 180gm beautiful triple vinyl, produced by Ludvig Andersson and half-speed mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell.

3 x 180 gram heavyweight vinyl in wide spine sleeve
•Half-speed mastered at Abbey Road studios by Miles Showell
•Includes download card
•Limited Edition

Grimes releases her long awaited new album “Miss Anthropocene” on 21 Feb 2020 on 4AD. Includes the singles” So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth” & “Violence” and featuring collaborations with 潘PAN & i_o.

'A product of living in an age where texture can make you dance, and popular music innovates for an audience with ears wide open' NPR
Nearly two years have passed since Niklas Paschburg presented his critically acclaimed debut album 'Oceanic' in February 2018. Niklas' musical ideas have crystalized and become cogent through a combination of extensive live performance - playing over 100 shows in the last two years - and experimentation in his Berlin Studio.
Written between 2018 - 19, his second album 'Svalbard' will be released in February 2020 via 7K!.
Niklas' use of the piano; electronics (synth and computer) and his Grandfather's piano accordion allow him to communicate via a number of musical traditions and languages. This versatility has allowed him to work on a variety of projects ranging from an inspired reinterpretation of Bach's Preludes in C Minor ("Blooming"), to well received remixes for pop artists such as RY X and Asgeir.

For its second installment Subject To Restrictions Discs presents a split EP by two of Switzerland’s most underrated producers. First there is CCO. A modular wizard known from his involvement in groups such as Wavetest and Savage Grounds. He presents two Techno cuts that are bound in organic sounds and filled with driving energy. The three mellow cosmic wave tracks on the back are coming from Narco Marco. He’s active in Bern’s music and nightlife scene for almost 30 years. His music knowledge is legendary and shows itselfs in his productions which are filled with sparkling details.

Since forming in the din of a house party two years ago, PVA are the genre-hopping passion project of London musicians Ella Harris, Josh Baxter and Louis Satchell. The three piece traverse fistfuls of genres throughout their rapturous live sets, incorporating techno landscapes, Balearic euphoria, and industrial miasma within the same songs. The band’s unique energy combines with blocky synths, autotuned vocals and motorik drum loops to earmark the group as one of the capital’s foremost new bands.
Regularly headlining medium sized venues (Brixton Windmill, The Social among others) and winning over punters at festivals (Green Man, Knee Deep and Test Pressing Festival) alike, the three piece are a unique beast whose reputation and buzz to date is routed in the mania of their bustling live sets. With a multitude of shows planned across the UK for the end of 2019 and an appearance at Sonic City in Belgium, 2020 is set to be a year that can only see the band grow and evolve further.
Speedy co-runner Pierre Hall first caught sight of the band at Green Man Festival on the Rising Stage. ‘They completely blew me away’ says Hall, ‘I’d heard about them – but heard very little. I was won over instantly. I loved the chemistry between them. And especially with Ella (Harris). She was completely magnetic.’
The track they’ve recorded with Speedy boss Dan Carey, ‘Divine Intervention’ perfectly instils the essence of those live performances. Of the recording process/song itself the band say, ‘Divine Intervention was one of the first songs Josh and Ella wrote together back at the start of 2018. Having put it aside for a while, Louis brought it a new lease of life, adding live drums to the track, when he joined the band later on in the year. Being able to have it as our first release is very special, as it’s a song we’ve been working on and has been evolving for almost a year now - to work with Dan Carey and all the team at Speedy to capture the energy of the track onto a recording was a really great experience.’
The result is a proper bona fide end-to-end banger from the instant it starts, and a classic Carey production. ‘It reminds me of Patti Smith fronting Factory Floor’ says Hall, ‘which in my mind is no bad thing. Definitely one of my very favourites.’
Ella (Harris) says ‘Divine Intervention is about getting lost in memories and past experiences, coming to resolution within yourself and growing from these experiences to be a fuller, more rounded version of yourself. It’s very cathartic being able to contrast these personal, quite sad at times lyrics against such an upbeat track - the euphoria of dance music cures all’.

In the lead up to part two of the highly anticipated Outro Tempo compilation, MFM drops this teaser EP with the never before heard cassette madness of São Paulo's Bruhahá Babélico and Individual Industry's ethereal electro pop on the flip.

Music From Memory announces a series of Brazilian releases for this Spring that pick up where their 2017 Outro Tempo compilation left off. Circling around the musical projects that emerged out of the art world in Brazilian cities during the late 1980s and 1990s, 'Outro Tempo II: Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil, 1984-1996' takes anotherdive into the depths of the Brazilian underworld, exploring the rhythms that lurk beneath the Ipanema sunset. It shines light on more illustrious unknowns and on the genre-defying music that maintained asymbiotic, yet uneasy, relationship with mainstream popular culture.

"In 2015, it remains a rare and enchanting thing to hear a piece of convergence culture this effortless; which, after all (...) may be one reason Utakata still sounds so otherworldly." by Pitchfork 8.5 -
"best new reissue" - 25 September 2015.

The 1983 cult classic 'Mariah - Utakata No Hibi' sees it's re-release
for the first time. The long sought after final record on the legendary Better Days label, Utakata No Hibi is the culmination of composer and bandleader Yasuaki Shimizu's early 80's work, often compared to his contemporaries Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono, as well as experimental new wavers Flying Lizards/David Cunningham, all of whom Shimizu has worked with.

Recognized in Japan for the hit, 'Shinzo No Tobira,' the entire record is a masterful studio production of Japanese folk and pop idioms filtered through a chamber disco, new wave, synth production, sounding more relevant today than upon it's release over 30 years ago.

The packaging features additional artwork from Ira Okudaira, who created the original stunning jacket drawings. It retains the original double 12" 45 rpm play format, and includes a full English translation of the Japanese and Armenian lyrics on the printed inner sleeves.

RIYL: Blood Orange, YMO, Arthur Russell, Julee Cruise.
'PFRLP003' Repressed & Reissued; Limited numbers.

Minimal wave from Greece 1983. Remastered version of a lost & found demo-tape by the band.

Portuguese artist Armando Mendes makes a huge statement with his debut album 'Parallel Universe', which was written and recorded over two and half years between LA, London and Berlin with legends including Robert Owens,Ithaka from the N.W.A. crew and Defected's Jinadu.

Armando Mendes is one of Portugal's most assured artists. His rich and musical sound is informed by jazz and funk and he has played all over the world from Russia to Australia, all while picking up more than 80,000 monthly plays on Spotify for his music. His tremendous debut album ranges across the electronic music spectrum from downbeat and jazzy to deep house and electronica.

Ithaka is the guest on the album opener 'This Life's All We Got,' which is a lush downbeat song with pensive lyrics. Late night jazz house stylings define 'Things U Do 2 Me' while 'Acid Yardies' looks to the club with its serrated 303s and dub wise drums. Chicago vocal royalty Robert Owens lends his heartfelt and buttery tones to the perfectly deep 'No Regrets' and after an acid and piano ambient fusion on 'MS20 Interlude' there is more rich, spiritual and jazzy house ('Parallel Universe,' ' Khun Pui - Mae Nam' and 'The Melody Inside') as well as more synth laden and electronic grooves to get dance floors moving ('One Night in Bangkok').

The majestic, percussive and colourful 'Tropical Affair' is just that, then things get tender and introspective on the gorgeous 'Electric 88' before a radio edit of the classy pop house that is 'The Melody Inside' feat. Jinadu closes things out in emotional fashion. This is a widescreen musical journey that makes a lasting impact from an artist who is looking set for big things.

• 180g Picture Disc in Die-Cut Sleeve • Best of Bowie’s legendary performance from the Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles • Broadcast on KMET-FM • Digitally remastered for greatly enhanced sound quality • Background liners

“Come out of the garden, baby”, and revel in the sounds of David Bowie’s spectacular Diamond Dogs Tour. Protus very proudly brings together the best of Bowie’s gig at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, 5 September 1974, broadcast live by 'KMET' radio station, which featured an extraordinary set list showcasing work from several key Bowie albums including Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane, Hunky Dory, and of course, Diamond Dogs.

One of the most expensive tours in popular music history, the tour and the album helped the star to crack the North American market.

David Bowie – Vocals
Michael Kamen – Electric Piano, Moog Synthesizer, Oboe
Mike Garson – Piano, Mellotron
Earl Slick – Guitar
Carlos Alomar – Rhythm Guitar
David Sanborn – Alto Saxophone, Flute
Richard Grando – Baritone Saxophone, Flute
Doug Rauch – Bass
Greg Errico – Drums
Pablo Rosario – Percussion
Gui Andrisano – Backing Vocals
Warren Peace – Backing Vocals
Ava Cherry – Backing Vocals
Robin Clark – Backing Vocals
Anthony Hinton – Backing Vocals
Diane Sumler – Backing Vocals
Luther Vandross – Backing Vocals

23rd January 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of The Human League’s seventh studio album ‘Octopus’.

Featuring 7 previously unreleased tracks, the 2CD format includes the original album plus a second disc of demos, singles and edits. Also featured are two bonus tracks that the band made with Yellow Magic Orchestra - “Behind The Mask” and “Kimi Ni MuneKyun”.

There is also a 140gm Black vinyl released on the same day.

Originally released in 1995 by EastWest Records, it was the first new album from The Human League in five years after the termination of their long-term contract with Virgin Records. ‘Octopus’ was the first album that presented the band as a trio consisting of the singers Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley. It was produced by Tears For Fears Ian Stanley and former band members Jo Callis and keyboard player Neil Sutton also contributed to the writing of the album.

The album's sound is notable for the nearly exclusive use of analogue synthesizers, a marked change from the band's primarily digital sound in the mid-to-late 1980s. The album saw a return to the public eye for the band, who had been out of the top ten since their 1986 album ‘Crash’. ‘Octopus’ was a commercial success.

The first single, ‘Tell Me When’ became the band's first top-ten hit in nine years, peaking at number six in the UK singles chart, with the second single ‘One Man in My Heart’ also breaking into the top 20. The album also saw similar chart success peaking at number six in the UK, becoming the band’s sixth top-ten album.

Entitled ‘My Heart Is Hungry And The Days Go By So Quickly’ Danish singer and songwriter Jacob Bellens presents his fifth solo album. Thanks to his unique voice and his talent for heartfelt melodies, over the years Jacob, also known as frontman of I Got You On Tape and Murder, has become one of the most distinctive figures on the Scandinavian music scene. Slightly darker in tone than its predecessors ‘Trail Of Intuition’ (2018) or ‘Polyester Skin’ (2016), the new album lets us see the world through Jacob’s eyes.
Somewhere between left-field pop and a classical singer/songwriter approach, the songs were recorded in two sessions with producer Mads Brinch, drummer Tobias Laust, bass player Jonas Westergaard, keyboardist Malthe Rostrup and guitarist Tobias Fuglsang. “So many good friends and amazing instrumentalists have contributed to the sound“, explained Jacob. “And mostly, people were playing what they felt the song needed, which was an incredibly inspiring way of just letting the process develop naturally, and take on a life of its own.” As such, the recordings give off a distinct light-footed and organic feel. Rich in metaphors, the lyrics deal with personal perceptions based on everyday life occurrences that at the same time hint at the meaning of life in general - or at least suggest a higher perspective. The sonical expression is timeless but also modernistic and the lyrical point of view is refreshingly diverse, never just black or white. The sad songs have uplifting, often surreal qualities, and the lighter, uptempo songs also invite to a certain darkness. A flower basket full of difficult emotions, sprinkled with magical fairy dust that somehow makes everything worthwhile.

"New Hope Club is a British pop trio formed in 2015 and consisting of Reece Bibby, Blake Richardson, and George Smith.
Their self-titled debut album follows a huge 2019, which saw the band sell out shows across the globe from Los Angeles to Seoul, Tokyo to London! New Hope Club have amassed over 180m streams to date!

Further UK dates are on sale for Easter 2020, including London Hammersmith Apollo. TV. CBBC The Playlist (11th Feb) Blue Peter LMDS Performance (13th Feb) BBC Saturday Mash Up (15th Feb TBC) LIVE: iHeart Radio Performance (19th/20th Feb) UK Tour (April 2020) - The band will celebrate the album release with a strong of shows over the Easter holidays, including Dublin Olympia (Apr 5), Birmingham O2 Institute (Apr 9), London Hammersmith Apollo (Apr 11), Manchester O2 Ritz (Apr 14), Glasgow SWG3 (Apr 16)".

After a short mental trip to Japan, Camisole is back in France with the reissue of Kangourou by Nuts & Co. Inspired by Dadaism, ancient tribes and natural life they self-produced and released this album in 1982. The result is a blend of experimental synth-pop combined with some german spoken word and french madness.

For sure "Semite" with its shamanic percussions will get your attention but other synth oddities includes "La Vie des Animaux" , "Auf Dem Lande" and "Kangourou" too. If you're more into french arty synth-pop "Dancing","Nuit de Chine" and "Der Spiegel" will definitely convinced you.

Remastered and limited to 300 copies

Vinyl version of number 2 charting album released in January, current single ‘Rare’ is now A list at Capital and B list at both Radio 1 and 2”.

Edit Service is proud to present its 6th release, this time featuring Youkounkoun, a duo comprising of Jeff Lasson of Get A Room and Gaëtan Rossi.

After releasing on Multi Culti edits and Edits du Plaisir, the duo delivers a mini-LP with a diverse range of tempos and moods, from dancefloor-friendly cuts to weirder tracks with Gallic oddities, Dutch new wave, Spanish minimal wave and experimental Iranian music used as the source material. The unsettling post-punk, industrial and mutant kraut energy in those tracks could not be further removed from lazy run-of-the-mill disco edits. In true digger spirit, Youkounkoun picks tracks never edited before and painstakingly re-arranges them by adding a lot of additional production to completely transform these tracks for the dancefloor. The digital files for this LP will be officially released 6 months after the vinyl record is out.

A1 Qu’est-ce que je fais ici The LP opens with this plodding downtempo edit, where a cold but funky groove provides the backdrop for French lyrics about modern alienation, with a chilling result, like standing under pasty neon lights for too long.

A2 Novotel cocktail Slightly faster but still resolutely downtempo, this track features a dance-inducing rhythmic section with spot-on sequencing, understated but unsettling melodic elements and last but not least a range of vocal elements that give the tune an embodied but wholly dehumanized feel.

A3 Musique du texte More than just an edit, in this track the duo blends the French and Japanese spoken words and oriental-leaning melodies from a largely beatless track with a totally new and different rhythmic section featuring a funky post-punk bass guitar and a four to the floor groove. The result is dizzying and irresistible.

B1 Mouvement perpetuel On this particularly mutant cut, bass guitar licks, tight drum programming and dreamy 70’s synths are used with dramatic effect by the duo to highlight the weirdness of French spoken word about perpetual movement: nothing is lost and everything is transformed.

B2 Metallic waves With a much more synthetic feel than the rest of the record’s hybrid offerings, this tune immediately stands out with its heavy and compelling groove, where eerie voices and a flurry of uncanny sounds create a strange and disorienting effect to which the most appropriate response seems to start dancing.

B3 Je veux pas danser In this dissonant and neurotic track, it is highly likely that a relentless synth bassline, an uptempo groove, morbid sound effects will set bodies in motion, even when unsettling Flemmish vocals about not wanting to dance try to convince listeners otherwise.

B4 In my castle In this hallucinated edit where sounds reminiscent of oldschool Chicago house and dub music are used for completely different purposes. Dance-inducing and hypnotic, it plays on the repetition of melodic and rhythmic elements. Delightfully off-kilter, it closes the LP in style.

Japanese 3 piece electronic band “D.A.N.”’s world wide debut single on mule musiq’s sister label “studio mule”. D.A.N. is a probably most successful japanese band in a electronic music scene at the mo-ment, they’ve performed with james blake, the xx, bonobo and name a few in japan. “Sundance” is a first single cut from their 2nd album (it’s released in only japan). It’s a electric boogie track which some people bring “the xx” to mind.

Any historians keen on the subject of "French youth in the 1980s" are holding a treasure in their hands. As a true archaeologist of this decade dedicated to disposable culture, digger-in-chief Vidal Benjamin with his newest compilation, 'Pop Sympathie', offers them a unique journey in the heart of the cyclone of emotions that struck all teenagers during the first seven years of François Mitterrand's mandate. Fifteen musical nuggets, exhumed from the dungeons of history, each and every one of them teaching us about what really obsessed the youngsters at that exact moment, i.e. what happens when the city lights come on at dusk, when irrepressible urges that stir them to get lost even more appear until the end of the night.

The artists gathered here did not have the honour of breaking into the local charts, but they all individually reached for the sky. Each song of 'Pop Sympathie' tells more or less the same story: that of a girl who throws herself into the night like one immerses one's self into the void, who rushes into a one-night adventure to become a star. And too bad if in the early morning she finds herself back at square one. In all these miniature odysseys there is neon lights, lasers, smoke machines, broken glass on checkered tiles, strangers on leather benches, celebrities in the bathrooms, stolen kisses, alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, Polaroids, venetian blinds and radioactive tubes.

If the first opus of Vidal Benjamin, 'Disco Sympathie', focused on the funky mood of songs that could have been played at Le Palace, then 'Pop Sympathie' develops itself as the imaginary soundtrack of another nightclub, Les Bains-Douches, the capital’s epicenter of nocturnal drifts. So what do we listen to, blasé, at Bains-Douches? Mainly synthesizers. The child of punk and post punk, French New Wave celebrates the matrimony of machines and lolitas under the auspices of a retro trend that revisits the atomic age. Trying to surf on that wave and hit the charts, a bunch of producers (Stéphane Berlow, Laurent Stopnicki, Bernard "Black Devil" Fèvre, Johny Rech, Jean-Yves Joanny ...) will spot their talents amongst friends, in a travel agency or at the local bar. These virtual stars are called Cecilia, Laurent, Sonia, Janou, Fabienne, Anne, Arielle or Ronan, not even 20 years old, and often leaving just an overexposed photo and their first name on a single as the only memories of their swift passage in this particular musical story. It took all the love and sweet madness of Vidal Benjamin to bring them back in the light of day.

Clovis Goux

Tempo Dischi's second release is one of electronic music’s seminal albums; 1798 Italian space disco album: Automat by Automat.

A year after the release of Oxygène by Jean Michel Jarre, a milestone for electronic music, “Automat" was released in Italy, a timeless record that has influenced the years to come. Released in 1978 by EMI Italia, the album has been produced by two veteran italian songwriters and composers, Romano Musumarra and Claudio Gizzi after meeting Mario Maggi, one of the major innovators in the manufacturing of electronic instruments in Italy. Maggi invented the first programmable monophonic synthesizer ever made: the MCS70. Its sounds have been the basis for the production of the whole Automat album. That synth was used only for this record and remained a prototype, leaving a halo of mystery behind this record.

The album moves in the furrows of an atypical space disco, with abstract classical arias alternating with more sustained rhythms, which combine electronic experiments, progressive psychedelic journeys with cinematic themes. The A Side, composed by Gizzi is an electronic disco-tinged suite divided into three parts (The Rise, The Advance, The Genius). Ater a brief spatial intro, the insistent arpeggio expands into a soundtrack theme with a sumptuous melody, which slowly fades away to make room for a progressive psychedelic journey. The B Side, composed by Musumarra, is made by three tracks, including ‘Droid‘, one of the most representative songs of the electronic music of the early eighties. A magic sequence between the bassline, the electro drums, and the spatial disco theme with a futuristic and cinematic mood. This is a record that has influenced the music of our days and after 40 years may still sound contemporary.

At the turn of the 80's, a new generation of musicians appeared who saw synthesisers not as dehumanizing machines but as musical instruments that could be coaxed into creating modern, beautiful and decidedly emotional music. It was almost as if the musicians were intentionally creating this music to prove the doubters wrong. 

Compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, “The Tears Of Technology” celebrates this brief period when scruffy synth duos from the provinces broke through and took over British pop. Like mellotrons before them, synths could project a strange and deep emotion; listen to OMD’s ‘Sealand’, or the Human League’s ‘WXJL Tonight’, and it was clear that something in the wiring had an inherent melancholy.

In the 60's and 70's, the synthesiser had mostly been regarded as either a novelty or a threat. Tomorrow’s World warned us that the cold, heartless synth would soon make orchestras redundant. But by 1980, Korgs, Moogs and Rolands were becoming affordable for all, and post-punk had created a safe place for new groups to experiment with these new toys.

The influence of Kraftwerk – who had made a landmark appearance on Tomorrow’s World in 1975 – is all over this collection. Big names rub shoulders with obscurities by Turquoise Days, Electronic Circus and Illustration, all highly prized recordings among ‘cold wave’ and ‘minimal synth’ afficionados. There are pioneers like John Foxx and Thomas Leer, alongside unexpected synth sadness from Simple Minds and the Teardrop Explodes.

“The Tears Of Technology” celebrates an era of electronic melancholia, synthesized intimacies and insights – even Tomorrow’s World didn’t see that coming.

Artificial Intelligence

On Laughing Gas, the third EP from Wild Nothing, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jack Tatum delves deeper into the territory where he thrives: namely, the synth and sophisti-pop of the 1980's. Working within a more mechanical and synthetic framework than his previous releases, Wild Nothing continues to delicately toe the line between the organic and the unnatural. These are still pop songs, but there’s an underlying sense of uneasiness that threads the music together.

Recorded in Los Angeles, CA and Richmond, VA with the help of Jorge Elbrecht, these five songs were originally imagined alongside last year’s Indigo and were written and tracked simultaneously with the album. When work on the full-length was nearing completion, Tatum set these ideas aside; they seemed to fit better on their own.

In spare moments between tours, Tatum began to look back and piece the songs together at his home studio in Richmond, reconnecting with Elbrecht to mix the EP. With Elbrecht in Denver and Tatum in Richmond, the two went back and forth on the final touches, molding a common thread from the Lô Borges inspired new wave of “Sleight Of Hand” to the propulsive, icy synth funk of “Foyer”.

Often considered a secondary or transitional format, Wild Nothing has always used the EP to further explore new ideas and influences. Laughing Gas is no exception.

Raül Refree - one of Europe's most innovative producers (Rosalía, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo) - meets Lina, a Portuguese singer renowned for her haunting interpretations of Amalia's classic repertoire. Analog synths and hushed sonics. Making history by breaking the rules.

M!R!M is the solo project of Jack Milwaukee, italian multi-instrumentalist based in London since 2011. Inspired by early 80's synth pop, cold and dark wave, M!R!M has been releasing on labels as Fabrika and Manic Depression. Since his debut album, he’s been touring and playing shows all around Europe building an important following and a significant name within the scene.

On January 31st, 2020, Avant! Records will release his third full-length, The Visionary. Still featuring Milwaukee at the helm along with selected collaborators as supplementation, The Visionary is a further evolution in M!R!M sound, which showcases how the musician’s vision has evolved throughout the years.

Holding firmly to the vibes that recall the most dreaming 80’s, Jack Milwaukee this time blends together that typical FM synth timbre, which has always characterized the artist, with deeper and sumptuous sounds found within the notes of Mellotron and sax; overcoming previous Lo-Fi approaches to undertake a solid, prominent and more mature path.

The Visionary is a collection of songs pieced together in a meaningful and harmonious way where the storytelling is very vivid and fundamental. Trapped between hope and melancholy each track evolves smoothly into another one until it gets to a mystical end, a point of no return. From syncopated punchy bass lines drove by solid drum beats to elegant violin quartets accompanied by almost religious choirs, The Visionary is an engaging work that doesn’t remain only inside the robes of shimmering synth-pop tunes but also explores more intimate and private territories as an ode to the most deep feelings.

Pulling from the ‘pop’ approach of mid 80’s synth-pop pioneers like New Order, The Wake, Tears For Fears to most iconic figures of the Italian 80’s era, M!R!M dialed in on a clear understanding of it's own specific sound, which has since evolved. The Visionary is the ultimate unified vision of M!R!M’s work, it’s the sweetest transition of the most nostalgic daydream.

Die schwedische Musikerin Fever Ray kündigt ein Remixalbum zu ihrem 2017 veröffentlichten Album “Plunge“ an. Das Werk versammelt Remixes von u.a. Paula Temple, Peder Mannefelt und Tami T, sowie Olof Dreijer, welcher auch als Teil von der Band The Knife bekannt ist. “Plunge” wurde 2017 nach mehr als acht Jahren Pause als Nachfolger von Fever Rays selbstbetiteltem Debütalbum veröffentlicht.

Coltan Major Harmonics is atwo tracks 7’’ by Manu Louis, which also features in an interactive Installation by Escif at MIMA Brussels.
On track A, Coltan and his catchy bass line features a cocktail of London singer Heidi Heidelberg and Manu’s voice in a groovy and outrageous song about the precious mineral. The music uses only the original material composed by Manu for Escif’s interactive installation.