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Jon Tye and Pete Fowler have been making music as Seahawks for a decade now. Given the sounds they’ve been exploring over those ten years it was a cosmic inevitability that they would be asked to contribute to the catalogue of the legendary library label KPM.

They replied with Island Visions, an exploration of sound for vision where they construct “audio micro-worlds to explore and inhabit”. A way to transport the listener away from the everyday without the bother of getting on an aeroplane. Mind travel is space travel after all, and much better for the environment.

Mostly recorded at The Centre Of Sound in Cornwall, with additional recording at Studio 34 in London, Jon and Pete’s travelling companions on this particular trip were boogie wunderkind Sven Atterton on fretless bass and keys, Nick Mackrory on percussion and the Seahawks live team of Dan Hillman and Alik Peters-Deacon.

From the grooves of Brian Bennett to the moog vibrations of Mike Vickers, the lush textures of Les Baxter to the experimental sounds of Delia Deryshire and David Vorhaus, this new music channels sounds and moods from across the KPM universe.

The spacious “Hot Sand Shuffle” opens the record with some of Seahawks’ familiar “deck-shoegaze”. The slinky digi-dub of “Sky Blue Sky” follows, gently encouraging us to lay back and relax. “Mystic Beach” is a refreshing ocean spray of a synthetic groove that clears the head, priming a pathway to receive “Crystal Forest”, a new age house groove of birds and flutes.

Dense, deep and dreamlike, “Distant Shore” is ambient rainforest house with a 90s vibe, its dense foliage clearing to let us bask in the shimmer and shine of “River Run”. Hang drum, electric gamelan, flute and loon close side A.

Side B bounces into being with “Catch A Wave”, an upbeat beach groover of synthetic guitar, effervescent synth and snappy drums. Equatorial bubbler “Paradise Bird Bath” soon glides in with marimba, crisp beats and fat synth bass. Fender rhodes, space echo and fretless bass make “Smooth Runnings” a laid-back poolside groove.

“Spirits Have Flown” conjures a hazy vibe with marimba, sax, synth funk bass and chilled beats before “Rolling Deep” serves up a light cocktail of sultry rhythms, refreshing textures, cooling sax and fretless bass. Almost-title track “Island Blues” brings the horizontal poolside feels with melodic chimes, oboe and more fretless bass for maximum vibrations. The marina drone of modular electronics, celestial trumpet and jungle ambience pay the album’s final respects to the cosmos on “Sun Salute”.

Like many KPM suites, this is a record of two distinct sides. The sunrise of side A brings a deep meditation, a journey within to renew the jaded self. Side B refreshes with cocktails by the pool and a chance to groove away the evening at some sunset beach party before dancing under the stars in the house of dreams.

Pete’s front cover for the LP is part map, part postcard: “the record has five different sections and I wanted to reference those in the worlds they created, musically and physically. From beach campfire, to poolside hanging and nighttime dancing. A kind of portal to those places and the pictures they inspired in my mind. All places we’d like to be in this turbulent year”. The track descriptions on the back help guide the way.

2020 marks 10 years since Ocean Trippin’, the first Seahawks release, and Island Visions is the perfect distillation of the sounds, sights, textures and moods that Jon and Pete have been exploring over the last decade. Sunrise to sunset condensed to two sides of an LP. The normal rules of space and time don’t apply here.

This is the first time Be With has worked with Seahawks, but individually Jon and Pete have been members of the extended Be With family since forever (Pete did those posters for our Ned Doheny tour and we worked with Jon on the vinyl version of Hatchback’s Colors Of The Sun). Of course we were going to put this out on vinyl.

Mastered by balearic engineer of choice (and Be With’s regular audio co-pilot) Simon Francis, cut by the legendary Pete Norman and pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry, the sonic frequencies of these Island Visions have been precision tuned and encoded for optimum travelling conditions. Take the trip.

We’ve worked with Ian Willson to reissue his insanely good, self-released West Coast classic “Straight From The Heart”. Privately pressed and originally released in 1985, this is the only album Ian ever put out. A magical blend of AOR/sophisticated funk/synth-boogie/spiritual jazz and modern soul, it’s a spellbinding record of many colours.

You might already know “Straight From The Heart” for the dubby-disco paranoid-balearic anthem “Four In The Morning”, and it’s easy to assume this is probably just another one of those one-track LPs. But trust us when we say it’s definitely not. This is an impressively slick record from start to finish, just ask those modern soul DJs and AOR collectors who’ve managed to find a rare copy in the last 35 years. It could’ve (should’ve?) been number 1 all over the world back in 1985.

Album opener “Think About It” is all sorts of right. It’s emotional. It’s tops-off. It’s funk in its purest form. And take the proto-modern-funk of the title track (half Dâm-Funk / half Dâd-Funk).

The shimmering, spiritual Bossa-Jazz of “If I Were You” serves as the album’s soaring centrepiece. A gorgeous suite of Cosmic vibes to get Gilles frothing, it sounds like nothing else on the record which makes sense given that it was recorded a couple of years earlier, and is the only track on the LP that wasn’t recorded in Ian’s own studio.

Side B opens with the propulsive ode to love that is “Two Is Better Than One”. Wonderfully sparse when it needs to be, it’s also richly percussive and that special kind of California-warm. Frenetic, speaker smashing synth and horn workout “Funk Invasion” dares you not to dance and “A Game Called Love” is heavily indebted to Prince with its lush, deep funk stylings. The sweeping sax-drenched instrumental “Song For Katelyn” is head-nod, beat-heavy AOR for that melancholic magic hour we spend our days longing for. It all adds up to the ultimate BBQ record.

Almost all of “Straight From The Heart” was recorded over a few months between 1983 and 1984 on Ian’s brand new Otari 8 track in the Oakland, California studio he built just the year before. Only “If I Were You” was recorded elsewhere, at Bay Sound in 1982.

A “full time poor musician” at the time (and he says he still is), Ian produced the album himself and played all of the instruments, except for guitar. That’s Peter Fujii you can hear, his good friend from growing up together.

Tower Of Power, Average White Band, Earth Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder was the list of influences Ian gave us when we asked. No wonder the record’s just so easy on the ears.

And why did he put the record out himself? Simple, he had no idea how to go about getting a record deal.

When we first got in touch with Ian he had no idea that “Straight From The Heart” had become something of a cult record, let alone that there were those of us out there that thought the album deserved to be pressed again. The original tapes have long since been lost so this re-issue was only made possible by remastering Ian’s one and only pristine copy of the finished LP.

The end results have been worth the work, including reproducing the original’s unmistakeable sleeve. Ian Willson’s “Straight From The Heart” is yet another Be With release that will find an easy home on the shelves of those of you who up to now have only dreamt of finding a copy and also those of you who who never knew it even existed.

Following on from an excellent debut in 2019, with ‘Karoussel’, Mow Records unveils its second album. A further exploration of label head Mowgan’s penchant for house music and authentic African sounds, ‘Soya’ features percussion and vocals from Solo Sanou, an artist whose roots lie in Burkina Faso - though he’s based in Toulouse, where the album was recorded.

Comprised seven Afro house cuts that utilise organic instrumentation and Solo’s raw, emotive voice, the album is the second installment in a series of five long-players recorded by Mowgan in the space of a year. This new LP goes deep into the heart of Africa’s rich musical culture, delivering contagious rhythms, rousing atmospherics and a pure, organic, unadulterated sound that has been cultivated through electrifying jam sessions at Mowgan’s studio. Also featured on ‘Soya’ are Yoan Hernandez and Yaya Dembele who play guitar, Gauthier Djalate on bass, alongside Mamadou ‘Madou’ Dembele, a multi-instrumentalist who plays flute and ngoni, while also handling backing vocals with Adama Coulibaly aka Demsi and teaming up for a duet with Solo on ‘Badenya’. Another vocalist, Fanta, was intrinsic to this LP. The granddaughter of renowned Malian performer Kandia Kouyaté, Fanta appears on ‘Fatanya’ and is a crucial component of the album’s conception…

The story goes that Mowgan was making an album with Fanta when he realised he needed a percussionist. Fanta brought in Solo Sanou, who was very timid to begin with. Mowgan liked his style and decided to work on some music with Solo separately. As the relationship blossomed, and they recorded more music, Solo brought more and more instruments to Mowgan’s studio. During those sessions Mowgan gently encouraged Solo to try using his voice, eventually he did and, when he heard how good it sounded, ended up singing across the whole LP. So, the beauty of this album, beyond the wonderful instrumentation, is the fact that you’re hearing Solo Sanou sing for the very first time.

With all the songs recorded in his native languages, Bobo and Bambara, ‘Soya’ is an exhilarating blend of electronic production and African influences that emanates a feeling of authenticity throughout. From the opening cut ‘Adamine’, which is about Solo’s first meeting with Mowgan, to ‘Badenya’ which refers to family bonds - “There may be quarrels, but it will never catch fire,” Solo says.

There is social commentary, such as that featured on ‘Fantaya’, which is about poverty - “While some people worry about what they will eat at night, others have fun without worrying about them,” he says.

A soul-nourishing, vibrant and utterly contagious collection of raw, authentic Afro house, ‘Soya’ marks another step forward for Mow Records and a triumph for all the artists involved. Look out for further installments…

Seb Wildblood readies his first new release of 2020, the ‘Hazy House’ EP. After a year that saw Wildblood releasing his landmark LP, ‘sketches of transition' – which received a glowing 8/10 review in DJ Mag and made it into Mixmag’s of Albums of 2019 round-up – his new two-tracker is set for release via his London / Los Angeles based label, all my thoughts, on April 17th. Along with his recently released edit of Rosalia’s ‘A Palé’ for charity, the EP marks the DJ/producer’s return to a more dancefloor-focused sound, having ventured further into the worlds of downtempo electronics, R&B and Balearic-imbued house on his introspective and accomplished debut album.

‘Hazy House’ is an encapsulation of what a Seb Wildblood DJ set sounds like in 2020, fusing tough house rhythms with electro’s futuristic atmosphere and an ear for emotive melodic hooks. With dreamy flourishes and subtle complexities, the EP retains much of the depth that ‘sketches’ emphasized, despite being his most club-ready work since 2018’s ‘Grab The Wheel’ EP. The resulting release is one that showcases Wildblood’s considered, painterly technique, and his capacity to create thoughtful soundscapes even when focused on mobility and energy.

‘Hazy House Vol. 1’ on the A-side is buoyant and lush, with a warm synth bed hovering on top of its bouncy beat before a soft, chiming arpeggio motif floats into the mix, tying everything together in a silky deep house bow.

‘Vol. 2’ is similarly inviting, if a little more robust. With a sharp beat, angelic choral synths, and a subtle vocoder, the track is one for the depth of the night, when the last push of energy carries you through, right into the warmth of the afterglow.

Inspired by moments experienced throughout his second world tour in 2019, which saw him playing DJ sets everywhere from Australia and Japan to the UK and across North America, the title ‘Hazy House’ is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the assumptions some may have about Wildblood’s sound. But as the EP highlights, there’s a subtle intricacy at play in the producer’s work that further establishes him as a distinct voice for both club-driven sounds, and for those more suited to headphones.

Throughout the ‘REFRACTIONS’ EP, Close Counters further signify their skills in blending house, soul, funk and broken beat and to create their own blend of insatiable and infectious grooves through a polished comb-i nation of electronic and organic instrumentation. The duo harness the spirit and energy of the Melbourne soul scene and raise it to new levels in the four polished, dance-floor-ready tunes in REFRACTIONS.

‘The songs were written over the last couple of years following our move from Hobart to Melbourne and was made possible with the help of a number of collaborators, including our live band members Elle Shimada, Lucky Pereira, Paul Bender (Hiatus Kaiyote) on bass, and featuring vocalists Laneous and Wallace.’ – Close Counters

Alien Recordings was born in the late 80's by Andy Panayi and
Alec Stone, out of a love of music and DJing. They also ran a
night around London called Alienation, playing a mix of house,
electro, breakbeat and techno. They're back as (An) Alien with
new material for your listening pleasure; alongside music by
legend Terry Francis as well as Panayi and Stone themselves
(A²), the likes of Stopouts (Rob Collman + Navigator) were
staples of the imprint and they front up for "Tales From The
Archives Part 2.2". There's the brooding Drexciyan electro funk
of "Kill All Humans" originally from 1998, a remastered version
of "Sandstorm" from their release on Robin Ball's
Groovepressure imprint in 1999 and on the B side is the
underwater cybernetic epic "Freaks" by A².

Something is stirring in downtown Tucson. That's no great surprise perhaps: Calexico have been sending out missives from the desert for 20 years now, Giant Sand for even longer than that, and the Green on Red revival is surely overdue. Let us remind ourselves that this isn't a big city in the American sense, but that its hinterland is indeed as big as it gets. For an hour south, Mexico starts. And this is where things get interesting.

Born in Nogales, Arizona, raised in Nogales, Sonora, multi-instrumentalist and band-leader Sergio Mendoza grew up listening to the Mexican regional styles jostling for headspace in a young, music-mad mind - cumbia mainly, but mambo, rancheras and mariachi too. The border is always a fierce arena of exchange, both commercial and cultural, and so there was American music too. At one point 'rock and roll, the classics', as Mendoza himself deadpans, seemed to win out and he stopped playing those 'Latin styles' for a good decade and a half.

The return to those sounds was a strong one in 2012's Mambo Mexicano, co-produced by Mendoza and Joey Burns of Calexico - a band for which Mendoza has become an increasingly integral touring and recording member. While that record had a studied air, tentative in parts (as befits the renewal of an old love affair), ¡Vamos A Guarachar! is another beast entirely: by turns raucous ('Cumbia Volcadora', featuring Mexican electronic pioneer Camilo Lara), tender ('Misterio', surely Salvador Duran's finest moment with the band so far) and plain serious fun, as in 'Contra La Marea' and 'Mapache', it also bears a robust electronic edge, a keen pop sensibility and all the hallmarks of Mendoza's love of 60s rock, with the closing track, 'Shadows of the Mind', sure to be included if anyone decides to update the Nuggets collection for the 21st century. This is roundabout way of saying that it appears to have everything, but never too much of anything. Focused, fierce and beautifully executed by a superbly drilled set of musicians, it is a record that fully matches the band's explosive live performances.

You could, of course, take the trip to Tucson yourself, to the home of this essential set of field recordings. The scene hangs out together, so ... if the stars align and their frantic tour schedules permit, you might see any number of folks from Calexico, Giant Sand or up-and-coming cumbia rockers Xixa deep in conversation somewhere in town with a quiet young man in black. That's Sergio. Right now, in this endless game of Tucson tag, Orkesta Mendoza are IT.

Sergio Mendoza (a longtime member of Calexico) grew up on both sides of the US/Mexican frontier. On the band’s 3rd album, “Curandero,” His musical melding of that experience explodes from the speakers. Boogaloo, cumbia, ranchera & rock’n’roll.

During a karaoke-fuelled haze in the seedy parts of Oslo, Legs 11 was formed based on a shared love of synth pop, post-punk, new wave and house music. Drawing on these influences, the band has created a diverse musical universe, ranging from dark repetitive guitar driven tracks, via infectious pop gems, to deep yet melodic dancefloor-orientated grooves. After exploring the indie-dance themes on their debut album "Another Wave" (2017), it's now time to dive into the world of (electro) pop!

Legs 11 have drawn on many different influences throughout their 15 year history. Still, at the heart of the band's musical universe, there has always been a deep love for pop-music! On their new ten-track album "The Colour Of My Heart", Legs 11 show us ten shades of their brightly pop-coloured heart.

Brooklyn-based cellist Clarice Jensen’s gorgeous
sophomore album and first for FatCat’s pioneering
130701 imprint, ‘The experience of repetition as death’
was recorded and mixed by Francesco Donadello at
Vox-Ton studios in Berlin in late 2018 and mastered by
Rafael Anton Irisarri.
 Following up her hugely impressive 2018 debut, ‘For
This From That Will Be Filled’, which included
collaborations with Jóhann Jóhannsson and Michael
Harrison, all of the material on this new album was
written and performed by Clarice alone and all of the
sounds on it were created with a cello through a
variety of effects and effects pedals.
 Clarice has recorded and performed for a host of
stellar artists including Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max
Richter, Björk, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Jónsi, Stars of
the Lid, Dustin O’Halloran, Joanna Newsom, Nico
Muhly, Dirty Projectors, Frightened Rabbit and Beirut.
 Receiving glowing critical acclaim, both her previous
releases made it into Pitchfork’s End Of Year charts.
 For fans of Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hildur Gudnadottir,
Stars of the Lid, Max Richter, Pauline Oliveros, Harold
Budd, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Sarah
Davachi, Resina, Maria W Horn, Ellen Arkbro, Kali
Malone, Christina Vantzou, Abul Mogard, Galya
Bisengalieva, Richard Skelton, GAS, Steve Reich.

"NOON" One of the most prominent and widely acclaimed polish producers, returns after a two-year break with the new album called "Nobody Nothing Nowhere".

The fifth solo work of NOON was released by his own label called "Nowe Nagrania". The idea of "Nobody Nothing Nowhere" is connected to the various places in Poland and Europe: from the first sketches recorded in Gdynia, through Warsaw and London, to the final recordings in Łódź. Alan Kamiński is responsible for the graphic design of the album, based on NOON's own photos.

The atmosphere of working on "Nobody Nothing Nowhere" is similar to the aura of "Gry Studyjne" LP - NOON's sophomore album. However, this time NOON puts emphasis on much greater advancement, devoting himself to work alone with one analog beat making machine called Elektron Rytm Mk2.

Mikołaj Bugajak on "Nobody Nothing Nowhere" is accompanied by excellent musicians and also his regular concert partners - drummer Marcin Awierianow, bassist Piotr Połoz (both from polish post-punk band Psychocukier) and violinist Tomasz Mreńca. It is worth mentioning that NOON's part's contained on "Nobody Nothing Nowhere" were programmed on the machine in the shape of live performances, which gave the LP additional element of dynamism and life.

"Album called "Nobody Nothing Nowhere" is an album about escape, which turns out to be impossible. All these struggles and attempts to change destiny resemble a spiral journey. The albums consists of three parts, and is summarized by the song called "Spektrum".

My fifth album is released less than two years after "Algorytm" premiere in terms of experiences that I wanted to share with the audience." (NOON)

Introducing this debut release on Reptile Dysfunction from Aniche. A
super exciting Graduate of Doorly's Orbit DJ / Production Academy
project and new member of the Reptile Dysfunction clan.
Taking inspiration from his cultural background of old school Hindi
cinema and 90s Dance music, his sound is what happens when Eastern
philosophy meets Western electronica. This unique approach is what
makes Aniche a niche.

Nico Nightingale as "Neud Photo" has been on a tear lately and this latest offering for Mysidian shows up as his most dark and menacing.
The electro meets techno sound we know him for is still prevalent but the amnesia-inducing ‘Dreamz’ also carries thumping EBM and New Beat influences. R&S meets Subway meets Mute.

While each track plays on it’s own themes independently with tasteful vocal samples and industrial energy, the thing they all have in common is obvious. They completely satisfy aural wishes excited only during states of R.E.M. They are simply and undisguisedly realizations of wishes.

The Garden is another timelessly classic album from a seminal electronic band and an essential soundtrack to any laidback listening.

New Zealand/Aotearoa is an island known for its lush nature and unique geographical positioning: at the centre of the Water Hemisphere, its surreal blend of beauty and isolation has a distinctive effect on its inhabitants and the art that they create.

With NZ ELECTRO, INDEX:Records brings to the fore one of the genre mutations caused by this unique environment, hoping to expose the people pushing dance music deep in the Pacific.

250 limited edition 12" vinyl in white polylined inner sleeve and purple card outer sleeve.

Protoelectronics psychedelic Mexican Holy Grail rediscovered by Glossy Mistakes. Inspired by Vangelis, Tomita or Kraftwerk, this unknown rarity gets a second life sounding fresh and pioneering today.

Tito was born in 1946 in Ciudad de México, the son of two Spaniards. Since he was a youngster, he had felt the passion for music and instruments. In the meantime, he started a career as architect. Since his early years, he joined various teen rock bands, where he played bass and guitar. Slowly but surely, his interest in synthesizers started to grow. And the rest is history. Tito defines himself as an “electronic sounds fanatic”. Quetzalcóatl is a truly authentic cornerstone in those terms: an inspired and eclectic artist gives shape to a unique sound through legendary synthesizers such as the MiniMoog or the Arp Odyssey. His passion was so embedded that he even built his own guitars and equalizers; some of which appear on this LP.

Quetzalcóatl, his debut solo album, was originally recorded in 1977 (now remastered) in his bedroom using a four-channel Sony recorder in a truly DIY way. This álbum could be considered as a rarity. But if we listen hard enough, we find a pioneering treasure. Somehow, Quetzalcoátl anticipated the sounds of future decades with simple but inspired compositions. It is a mythological trip to the Pre-Hispanic México. This album is an allegory of the Aztec world. Quetzalcoátl is the most important God for Mesoamerican cultures: it represents the inherent human dualism between the body (represented by the snake) and soul (the feathers). In the song “Profecía”, Quetzalcoátl emerges, announcing the end of the world at the hand Spanish colonialism. Limited edition, 600 copies, remastered in Amsterdam by Wouter Brandenburg.

Warok launching its third record with releasing a second Ponorogo, which is a various artists. Tracks by Arnaud Le Texier, Clotur, Unbalance and Eyth, 4 tracks with hypnotic clean cuts and an elegant grooves, dance-floor oriented. On "Ponorogo 2", the label reveal the faces of the Warok warriors.

In 2017 Brooklyn's Bryce Hackford spent a week at the PRAH Foundation in Margate (UK) recording rhythmic foundations and the environment around him. After his residency, eleven musician friends contributed their performances to what would become Safe (Exits). All of these contributions, however, were made in isolation and the task of mixing them together became the crux of the production.

Bryce's records largely explore improvisation with electronics, using recording as the compositional medium, and feature the occasional contributing musician. Eleven make Safe (Exits) more of a chance ensemble record, with players in unlikely combinations, from disparate backgrounds both personal and musical, pushing a collage aesthetic beyond sampling. The poetics of these sounds is the focus of this album.

Safe (Exits) attempts to create a rare space where rhythms get propulsive enough to make one dance yet become subtle enough to make them nod into the serene vistas of distant, contemplative waves.

Safe (Exits) is Bryce's first album since 2015 and second release with Spring Theory.

Featuring: Gabi AsFOUR, Brian Close, Matt Evans, Adrian Knight, Kiki Kudo, David Lackner, Frank Lyon, Camilla Padgitt-Coles, Bernardo Risquez, Viktor Timofeev and Justin Tripp

Tripeo raises a voice for change on his new album “Green Is the New Red“ (BASLP03). “The great thing about (electronic) music is that it’s the most universal art form there is“, says the Dutch producer. “It transcends lingual and cultural barriers more than any other cultural expression and can be a catalyst for change.“

The sound of the coming revolution is manifold: Starting off with A1 “Hope in the Dark“, a soft melody unfolds. B2 “Shifting the Overtone Window“ stands out as the most bass-heavy track, with techno as its musical blueprint. Further into the album, C3 “Fridays For Future“, the artist openly states his sympathy with the global youth movement. His vision for the protest is lo-fi in sound and courageous in mood.

Never angry, this album creates urgency without uttering a word.

Voice of the Kano project and former percussionist of Eric Clapton, George Benson and Chaka Khan, Glen White in 1982 wrote and arranged "Be Free", one of the most intriguing and elegant Italian disco / boogie song together with the producer Louis "Gigi" Figini (former member of project "Koxo" alongside the unforgettable Leonardo Re Cecconi). An overlooked gem by the West Indian artist brought back to the musical community!

Seit einiger Zeit arbeitet die deutsch-brasilianische Künstlerin Gloria Endres de Oliveira, die auch als Filmemacherin (Musikvideos, Kurzfilme) und Schauspielerin (u.a."Babylon Berlin", "Die Pfeiler Der Macht", "Counterpart" und aktuell in Christian Petzolds "Undine" (Berlinale 2020)) aktiv ist, an der Verwirklichung ihrer musikalischen Vision. Zuerst gemeinsam mit spampoets im Duo Lovespells, seit letztem Jahr als Solo-Artist GLORIA DE OLIVEIRA. Nach Auftritten beim Further Festival und der c/o pop veröffentlichte sie in der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2019 die beiden EPs "La Rose De Fer" und "Lèvres De Sang" auf ihrem eigenen Label La Double Vie. Abgemischt im Hamburger Studio Cloud Hills Recordings, definieren sie Gloria de Oliveiras betörendes Soundspektrum zwischen Dreamwave, Ethereal und Goth Pop. Nun veröffentlicht das Kölner Label REPTILE MUSIC die Compilation der beiden EPs als "Fascination" (sprich Französich fa·si·na·syon) erstmals auf Vinyl und CD. Die LP beinhaltet die 10 original Songs der beiden EPs remastered und in neuer Reihenfolge, die 17-Track-CD-Version sowie das Digitale Album kommen mit zusätzlichen sieben Remixen von u.a.Gudrun Gut (u.a. Malaria, Monika Enterprises, Greie Gut Fraktion) Box And The Twins, Fragrance., Tellavision und The Wide Eye. Unterstützt wird die intime Atmosphäre ihrer Songs dabei durch eine entsprechende Visualisierung in bisher größtenteils selbstproduzierten Videos. Zur Vorabsingle "The Only Witness" erlaubt ab Anfang März der von der Hamburger Regisseurin Julia Ritschel aufwändig produzierte Videoclip einen weiteren faszinierenden Einblick in Gloria de Oliveiras universelles Kunst- und Klanguniversum. Parallel dazu wird GLORIA DE OLIVEIRA Ende März das US-Duo TEMPERS (DAIS/Secretly) bei fünf Konzerten ihrer anstehenden Deutschlandtour begleiten. Für Liebhaber von Cocteau Twins, Lebanon Hanover, Stina Nordenstam, Hilary Woods, introvertierter Marie Davidson Genres: Independent | Dreamwave | Synthwave | Ethereal | Electronica

Franky Rizardo announces the launch of his new label, LTF Records with four-track EP ‘Primrose’. The culmination of a number of years hard work, the Dutch DJ, producer, promoter and now label head proudly presents an outlet for his own music.

Encompassing an immersive feeling of energised focus, involvement and enjoyment of his journey within the industry so far, LTF Records (Listen To Flow) is Franky Rizardo’s new platform to transport its listeners and followers into a flow state of mind.

One of The Netherlands finest exports, Franky Rizardo has established himself as an international touring artist, as well as name renowned within his own country. Being an ever present on Dutch national radio station, SLAM! has provided him with the perfect platform to develop and nurture a label that is crafted with clear intentions and identity. Building a career based on strong philosophies, Franky has consistently aimed to do his own thing, keep everything in perspective and most of all, having fun.

From ingraining himself within the ANTS and elrow camps, to releasing on labels such as Strictly Rhythm, Rejected, Saved and 8Bit, Franky has become a name synonymous with deep driving house music that blurs the lines between Techno and House. The multi-faceted Dutch artist has also represented himself and his brand FLOW, at events such as Tomorrowland, Fabric – London, Shelter – Amsterdam, Amnesia – Ibiza and Soho Garden Dubai, further cementing his status as a one of electronic music’s most dynamic individuals.

Across four-tracks on the ‘Primrose’ EP, Franky focuses his energy firmly on the dancefloor, keeping people locked into his flow state. Opening with ‘Primrose’, the tracks low-end rumbles throughout, supplying the perfect atmosphere to keep the crowd moving. ‘Faze’ offers a wonky blissed out vocal alongside stabbing synth. Whereas ‘DC Terrace’ is a nod to the peak-time movements at Ibiza’s famous club, DC10. Closing the EP ‘Clouds’ provides an energised up-tempo focus track to engage to zone.

The label launches at time when authenticity within the industry is key, Franky continues to focus on his own output, never taking himself too seriously and always keeping full perspective on the task at hand. Inviting you to join him with LTF Records, Franky wants you to enter his flow state.

It's album release time for this Madrid-based soul/jazz organ trio who have been burning up stages and festivals throughout 2019 and who have already had a successful single out on Rocafort Records. Beat Bronco Organ Trio have not rewritten the Hammond musical handbook, but they do what it says on the tin rather splendidly – a Road Trip that grooves, swings and sashays around the familiar but much loved funky jazz theme.

Although it's impossible to listen to the album without summoning up the ghosts of Jimmies McGriff & Smith and the like, nearly all tracks here are originals and shout out personality, verve and respectful homage to the tradition. Featuring the usual leitmotifs: Shaftish film sountrack, lo-fi lounger, gospel-tinged toe-tapper, the hip shaker and much wah-wah frenesi, there's nothing not to like if the genre is your bag.

The steaming horn section on "Hard Play" thickens the sauce à la JBs and the Meters, aided along by a unique orchestra of handclaps. Vocalist and guitarist Alberto Palacios Anaut storms in with "Hey Hey", an old Dave Bartholomew classic from New Orleans, just to remind us where Fats Domino and Ray Charles got it all from. Chip Wickham makes two welcome appearances on flute, adding an extra jazzy touch to "Squirtly" and "Electro Pi" – the latter a fabulous trippy, spacious head-nodder that demands in our opinion some kind of a wigged out drum'n'bass remix. Every track is clearly dominated by variations on the vintage keyboard, be it Hammond, Clavinet or Minimoog; all roads lead to that sexy, sacred sound.

Spain is already prominent on the modern-day Funk map thanks to groups like The Sweet Vandals, Speak Low and Mighty Vamp – and it comes as no surprise that our hero trio featured at various times in all these bands. Gabri Casanova (keys), Lucas de Mulder (guitar, percussion) and Antonio "Pax" Alvarez (drums, percussion) have been busy reviving the funk gospel for some time now. Road Trip is an elegant culmination of their efforts in keeping alive a revered and timeless tradition that still today serves as a reference to where all the good stuff came from: The Church!

Apollo are delighted to welcome Steve Legget & Mark Hand to the fold with their lush new single ‘If You Cannot Try’ featuring the dulcet vocals of Greg Blackman. Originally released as an uplifting bumping house track on Ramrock Records Blackman sent the stems of the release to longtime collaborator Steve Legget for a rework. Legget tore the original to pieces, deconstructing it into a much more ambiguous form. ”I’ve never been a fan of a chorus in a song,” Legget muses. "I like songs that are not direct that leave room for your imagination - Mark and I ended up building a new song around the texture of the original.”

Hand and Legget met in the early 90s at the Northern College of Art in Middlesbrough, and have collaborated at various times in the intervening years, through a shared love of Detroit techno, experimental electronic music, jazz and funk. Their creative process involves sending audio files back and forth - “The release was written in collaboration over the internet Greg in Colchester, Mark in Hartlepool, and me in St Albans."

Hand added spaced out textures and riffs from his collection of vintage Fender Rhodes and classic synths - taking the track into sunny space funk realms that comes on like a lost release from joe Claussell’s Spiritual Life label or Basic Channel jamming with Herbie Hancock.

Using their new version as the seed - Hand decided to try his own ’Teesside Techno’ version - "I wanted to give the track more of a 'machine funk' vibe with my rework” he explains. “I generally like to work by jamming with hardware - the bass line is generated by triggering the arp on my Juno 6..using triggers from a TR606 kick drum and hats replaced by a TR909.. the result being more of a jackin' electronic funk mutation!"

This continuing game of musical pass the parcel has indeed born some juicy fruit -

F.S.Blumm enters Andi Otto's studio with a whole palette of strings and a mission to create quirky, peaceful soundscapes. The artists intertwine acoustic and electric guitars, harps, electric bass, psaltery and cello in eleven electronica compositions ranging from neo-classical gravity ("Entangleland") to spaced-out dub jams ("Active Fault Map"). "Yukiyama" evolves in multilayered patterns braided over warm tape-noise. "Kilani" reminds of Rabih Abou Khalil's ECM recordings, with its oriental scale and a beat that counts to seven. The tunes shine most when silence takes over, when the sounds find space to unfold and decay. Far from being trivial ambient lullabies, these compositions burst with detail: Bells rattle, a kalimba resonates, and vintage synths induce their voltage into the acoustic framework. Andi Otto and F.S.Blumm have been musical collaborators in the studio as well as on stages between Berlin and Tokyo for more than a decade now, the heyday being their previous duo album "The Bird And White Noise" in 2014. On "Entangleland", Andi Otto contributes the cello, harp and synth recordings and takes care of the mixing. Compared to his recent releases on Multi Culti or Shika Shika, these tracks are less dancefloor oriented. The calm of this album is a flourishing environment for Otto to pluck the acoustic cello which we usually hear in a more processed way in his solo works. F.S.Blumm contributes guitar and bass recordings as well as saturated percussion echoes from his self-made spiral box. Blumm is famous for his acoustic solo productions since his early outings on Morr Music or Tomlab. He has also appeared on Pingipung a few times, for example with his album "Up Up And Astray" or as a Lee 'Scratch' Perry collaborator with the "Quasi Dub Development" project. He recorded three duo albums together with Nils Frahm and is a member of the mighty "Jeff Özdemir & Friends" collective in Berlin. "Entangleland" sees the two artists weave together a mass of acoustic motifs, synthetic melodies, riddims and improv jams where the magic emerges from the sum of the parts. "It's not about accompanying a cello theme with the guitar or vice versa," Andi Otto says. "Entangling sound means letting go of hierarchies, that no one is first. Our studio is not a control room, it's a place of imagination where we take things apart and make things whole."

Substance, the second album by producer Moisture, sets out to deliver an immersive tech-noir fantasy of emotional and physical deconstruction. Inspired in part by William S. Burroughs 1959 novel Naked Lunch, the conceptual narrative of the album follows a humanoid subject through an urban landscape and the exploration of its depravations.

Sampling and filtering sounds from other music, movies and own field recordings, the tapestry of Substance is a three-dimensional world of hard industrial spaces and fluid organic matter. While it's conception is rooted equally in literature and film as well as music, one can draw comparisons in particular to Barry Adamsons 1989 album Moss Side Story, in that it also works as a chronological narrative; the tracks aligning to make a world of its own.

And while Adamson was aiming to create an imaginary soundscape of his native Manchester, the geography of Substance is based on the city of Malmö. Using field recordings from it's city streets, the album paints a rain soaked, neon-clad portrait of the city's hedonistic nightlife.

On the opening "The Marketplace" we are teleported to Bergsgatan at night (the track title a subtle nod towards Eden Ahbez 1960 song of the same name).

This introduction is similar in line with the experience Burroughs once had in 1957 upon entering Malmö for the first and only time, which he details briefly in Naked Lunch: "averted eyes and the cemetery in the middle of town (every town in Sweden seems to be built around a cemetery), and nothing to do in the afternoon (...)"

This image of Malmö portrayed with dread and loathing holds a longstanding narrative tradition over the cultural geography of the town. Yet it is often paired with an image of great promise and bohemian splendor, seemingly a paradox but often perversely intertwined. This duality has always been a vital mindset in the underground music scene of the town and its illegal after hours clubs. Substance is a work steeped in the grayscale prism of techno and its post-industrial fetischism. Yet in picking it apart, one can find elements of everything from post-punk, drum & bass, trip hop and new age.

The theme of depravation that soaks through Burroughs Naked Lunch seems oddly befitting to this side of Malmö (one wonders what the author would have made of it had he stayed longer) Through rhythmic excursions and the exploration of repetition, the tracks of Substance are arranged to convey this self-destructive longing for depravity. Michel Foucault's ideas on limit experiences serves as context for this peculiar form of endeavour, as he puts it: "the point of life which lies as close as possible to the impossibility of living, which lies at the limit or the extreme."

It is a cliché to describe music as a trip or an ocean or whatever, so this album, Tecwaa’s album “Beyond the Altai” released on Höga Nord Rekords, will in part be described as a snowman: the snowman has its characteristic familiar shape. He is cold yet there is something warm and cuddly about him, something that makes you feel happy and safe.

The A side on the album goes from that warm/cold cosy feeling but elements of destruction like melodies in minor keys slowly transforms the album to become only cold and not so cosy - the snow turns grey and the snowman’s smiling mouth becomes a twisted grin. Its contours disappears and the shape dissolves as the snow melts and floats out on the ground beneath its body. As the album develops, the sound gets harder and darker and the York based DJ moves closer to his roots in electro and Roland-machine knob-turning.

In some ways, “Beyond the Altai” is a call from the eighties and nineties dancefloors like in the tracks “Back To The Atomic Ether” and “10 Swords” on the B-side but all melts together in Tecwaa’s music to create his own obstinate and loose sound!

Taken from a Detroit Underground CD on FAMILIAR RECORDS (FMLR 001) first issued in 1999. Only available direct from DETROIT, USA as part of a very small run of self released CD's. All music is by local Artists. The original FORWARD Album was 10 tracks. We selected our favorites and remastered four tracks for release on the Preservation Sound label in 2020. The music spans Club Techno and Electronica. Cover Art are photographs of "Detroit In The Rain" by Chrissie Clees, who originally sent me a copy of the Album. Ltd Edition of 303 with Full Art Cover.

Very limited 12" (200 copies worldwide).

In a perfect world one would expect to find the music of Klaus Waldeck in the genre of electronic music. With his new project "The Waldeck Sextet" he leaves this stereotype behind and surprises us with a very pleasant acoustic experiment.

It all began with an analogue recording session in Vienna´s legendary supersense studios.And although it is hardly a perquisite to form a new project for these kind of recording ventures, Waldeck - quite obviously enthused by the idea of this analogue adventure - founded his new project "The Waldeck Sextet". Such was his excitement that he lost track of the number of musicians and thus founded the worlds first sextet that consists of 10 members, including his main vocalist Patrizia Ferrara.

1970’s best-kept Bossa Nova secret. Surrounded by mystery for nearly 50 years due to its obscurity, this is one of the most honest, personal and unpretentious albums of it's genre.

A selection of 12 exquisitely crafted songs supported by measured, subtle arrangements. The list of musicians born or raised in the Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro is long and illustrious and includes names that have shaped Brazilian music: Tom Jobim, Roberto Carlos, Tim Maia, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben or Erasmo Carlos – to mention but a few.

We can now add to that list another name: Werther. In 1970, a man by that name recorded an album unique in its personality, its honesty, and its lack of pretense. In a time when Bossa Nova had become a global phenomenon and its main characters were already household names in Brazil, Werther assembled a collection of songs that uncannily – almost naively – remind us of the time when Bossa Nova was just a group of youngsters making music. His songs are about simple things: bohemian life, the sea, love.

Despite Werther and his friends being only in their teens, without any previous experience recording music, those working behind the scenes were not equally amateur. Producer Peter Keller had already worked with Aloysio De Oliveira in the quintessential Bossa Nova label Elenco, and was also an initial partner in Roberto Quartin’s cult label Forma.

Studio owner Bill Horne was a very loved character in the Rio jazz scene who had regularly taken part in the legendary meetings in Nara Leão’s apartment and befriended some of Brazil’s most respected musicians. Some of these musicians were, for example, Naná Vasconcelos and Edison Machado, who provided small contributions to Werther’s album.

Distorted Sensory Perception is back with a journey of deep space exploration in the form of their 2nd Various Artists release ‘Outer Solar System’. Featuring a diverse selection of deeper Electro and Techno of the broken beat variety.

The A-side boasts a nostalgic stripped back yet progressive cut ‘Persistence’ from Maltese duo Moodex. Next up, a deep ethereal musical statement ‘Early Morning Hours’ from fellow Maltese producer Sound Synthesis in his unique style.

The B-side opens with the moody, new school heavy hitter ‘Impulse Control’ from French producer and label co-founder Oshkossh. The penultimate track ‘Brainacid v2’ comes in the form of dusty machine music from Italian newcomer Caramel Chameleon that is reminiscent of AFX ambient works. Last but by no means least the record is brought to an epic conclusion with the frantically emotive and intricate ‘Grny89’ from France's Foreign Sequence.

‘Rock Sutra’ is the new space rock album from Sun Araw.
 ‘Roomboe’, the first track, illustrates this process.
Experience is elastic. Humans alive right now tend to think
there is some sort of ‘baseline’ experience of a thing, a
room, a person, a feeling, some version we all agree on.
This isn't true at all: experience is completely dependent
on the quality of attention of the experiencer. There is a
granularity to experience that, when tuned up, reveals
deeper and deeper space inside of things. When you zoom
in (by pure observation: by not-articulating, not-thinking),
you create ‘room’, you make space. Just like that. For
instance, ‘Roomboe’ has an extremely limited tonal
framework; about 9 notes for the main guitar melody. As
the guitar pushes against these melodic limitations with
continually renewed attention and energy, it begins to
create space around itself. And all of the sudden (at about
4:57), out of this constriction, space balloons up from
everywhere simultaneously. ‘Roomboe’ is a clue about how
to open a portal outwards into free space.
 ‘78 Sutra’ is about orbital motion. ‘Catalina’ is about taking
a walk. ‘Arrambe’ is about a peculiar feeling you can get
when you zoom in far enough. The music is offered in a
spirit of generosity and adventure; it doesn’t stay put and
it keeps zooming in to reveal more and more.
 The album was recorded live-to-midi with the band and
this is the first Sun Araw album recorded like that. That
band is Jon Leland on drums and percussion and Marc
Riordan on synthesizers and Cameron Stallones on
synthesizers and guitar and vocals.

Lisbon pals Photonz and Shcuro are two of the city’s most active DJs and music makers, sharing a penchant for a moody yet electrifying brand of dance sonics. They’ve created Shermanworx together in the studio, recording machines live using an ethos of improvisation while relying on their fine-tuned dancefloor intuition. The Sherman Filterbank was the go-to piece of equipment, appearing in every track and eventually naming the EP. Tribal techno swirls menacingly backed by dark melodies in the opening track, a hypnotic yet vivid peak-time belter that could go on and on. A synth so textured you can almost touch it is the centrepiece of Sherman2, another driving club beast complete with modulated arpeggios and industrial-tinged percussions. The record comes to close with a dreamier exercise in Sherman3: a dubby electro beat conducts melodic mutant synth lines and pads to achieve a slow-burning, expansive euphoria.

Electronic / acoustic wonder band KUF deliver a special surprise for their third album: eleven sizzling hot takes on tracks drawn from the Macro label's stellar catalog, as originally crafted by some of today's most respected artists in electronic music. KiNK, Patrick Cowley, Peter Kruder (of K&D), Stefan Goldmann, rRoxymore and more get the treatment. With a nod to the label's previous highly original compilations and mixes from the Macrospective and Vinylism series, Re:Re:Re captures more new ground.

KUF's previous albums presented an astonishing inversion of the typical extended electronic set up, in that they paired a plethora of disembodied, sampled voices with acoustic real time interaction on bass, drums and keys. Re:Re:Re shifts the focus of sampling altogether to scanning entire tracks and compositions which are then reimagined with the band's singular approach. Neither just remixes, nor faithful reproductions, KUF engage in careful sound archaeology. From re-programming key sounds to holistic granular deconstructions, the originals's sound palettes are reproduced to serve as a springboard towards entirely new instalments. The resulting tracks range from intimate ballads to full power dance floor movers, spanning a highly engaging arc of sheer listening pleasure.

Repress

Melodies Of Ancient Beats Depth or Deep, (with Dep also meaning beautiful in Indonesian) is the meaning of this newly created persona from the artist DemoDc. After many years of experimenting with music making, releasing digital eps and albums, Demo has come to an end of a cycle arriving to a mature state of craftsmanship, ready to deliver his dream onto the vinyl medium.

This is the 2nd ep that continues a volume of a 5 ep project. Its own kind of album type edition so to speak. Everything Eye Love is a piece of electronic music that embodies much of what is personally loved when it comes to innovative techno. Broken beats with a gentle gallop of hop, whisking away into what seemingly can be taken as over melodic madness at 1st, yet when letting go of any expectation, a delightful swim of glistening magic dances with dedicated playfulness expressing a deeper emotion of heart felt delivery. Behind the scenes are a very reminiscent display of Detroit techno chords combining to give the track the old yet new skool vibe. Heart Tribal, is exactly that. Cutting through the ego, battling the darkness with dark undertones seeking to find the jewel of light through the denseness of dark reality, to find true centre. With tribal reflections and electric ground of beats, Heart Tribal extends itself into bridging the soul from dense reality into light. It also pays respects to the fact that when finding clarity in any given moment in everyday life, it doesn’t last long within this complex world of manipulation and dark intention that we seem to be living in. However, this is the meaning understood by MOAB DEP, does it resonate with you? Or does it speak to you entirely differently?

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.

Breaking onto the scene with a new label and new music, the Belgian based Cri Du Coeur has released a powerful 3 track EP, comprised of an original mix and 2 guest remixes named Diaphragm.
Teasing what more is to come from both him and his label, Diaphragm (Original Mix) is an eerie and fast-paced techno beat, designed to leave you breathless as the manipulation of volume builds suspense as it minimises and maximises the elements. Accompanied by 2 other high-calibre versions, the Truncate remix brings the DJ's recognisable touch to the stand-out hi-hats and overall hefty vibe of the track, while Kaiser's take is a little more abstract from the original; bringing pure transformational and industrial grit to the forefront.

Self proclaimed "DJ from the sticks in Ireland", Ceili breathes diabolical energy to unforgiving imprint, Techno Is The Devil's Music. Following his "Rough n Ready" release on Obscuur, and a heap of killer sets - many at Techno institution, Jaded - Ceili's discerning ear, honed skills and sense of self shine through in this release. TITDM02 blends hardcore club vibes with melodic, euphoric elements for a sound that's heavy-hitting, yet fresh and exciting.

TITDM002 drops March 13th, via Techno Is The Devil's Music. Frantic opener, "Stern Morning Shake", is a transcendental thumper - booting off hard with an ethereal overlay, note Ceili's tempting dancers into a trance whirlpool. "Straight Off The Plane" offers tripped out acid lines upon ominous rolling thunder. On the flip, "2000 and Ded" goes far beyond the rabbit hole. Rounding out the EP, "Time Is No More" is hard hitting, with little room for respite despite Ceili's mesmerising, robotic interludes. Strobes, dark corners, incentive to dance - TITDM02 is for the ravers.

The Devonns dust off the golden age of 70's Chicago Soul with their self-titled debut album on Record Kicks. Straight from the streets of Chicago, Illinois, The Devonns (pronounced "De vaughns") are the brand new soul outfit and the latest addition of the Record Kicks' family, whose self-titled debut album that drops April 03, is an assortment of influences taking us back to the heyday of soul.

Drawing influences from bands such as The Dramatics, The Isley Brothers and Leroy Hutson, yet bringing in their own unique modern twist, influenced by artists such as Jamie Lidell and Raphael Saadiq; singer Mat Ajjarapu explains how unintentionally, the rich heritage of Chicago's history with soul music influenced him.

"The city was at the epicentre of a lot of good music back in the 50's all the way to the 80's, a lot of the labels specialising in soul were based in the Chicago and we even had our own sound known as "Chicago soul". Through several years of crate digging it surprised me how many songs I loved were recorded in this city, for example one of my favourites is this great little song by The Natural Four, produced by Leroy Hutson 'Can This Be Real', and released via Curtom Records."

The band started in 2016 after multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mathew Ajjarapu dropped out of med school and found himself unemployed and drifting. Listening to music constantly at the time, he found inspired to put a band together and create his own music. Pairing up with some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer, he founded The Devonns: the rhythm duty is entrusted to Khalyle Hagood (bass), Ari Lindo (guitar) and Khori Wilson (drums).

Originally he wanted to focus on 50s style doo-wop, similar to The Flamingos; rich in reverb and vocal harmonies, but in the first initial practise they had it was evident the band clicked on their love of soul music from the 70s, so their music took a natural turn towards that sound, with tracks such as the Wilson Pickett-esque single 'Tell Me'.

The release took almost two years to complete as Mat explains "I am a perfectionist, I had a very specific vision in my head about how it should sound and I wasn't going to rest until I achieved it."

"This is a definitely a throwback soul record, as well as being drawn to lush and intricate arrangements of Motown, I was also inspired by the more lo-fi works of smaller labels such as Chess and Capsoul, and I wanted to capture the magic they had in those recordings in our record, as everything feels too precise nowadays" clarifies Mat.

It was thanks to his engineer Mike Hagler, who introduced him to Paul Von Mertons (Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Elton John) who arranges and conducts for Brian Wilson's live touring show and after a 45 minute phone conversation about what Mat wasn't keen on, on the album, he realised Paul totally understood where he was coming from.

After a few months wait for Paul to get back from touring they entered the studio with "Paul's players" and as soon as they hit record, Mat explains "I was getting chills up my neck, it was one of the happiest days of my life, and finally we had nailed it!"

Tracks such as 'Come Back; which Mat wrote in ten minutes on a $300 Daneelectro Singlecut guitar initially, came to life, with Paul's rich string arrangements and features guitarist and percussionist Ken Stringfellow (R.E.M.).

It still took a few months to get the recording process finished but finally after a torturous nineteen months they album was finally finished.

The result is an album filled with lavish arrangements and catchy melodies which take us on a nostalgic musical journey inspired by chic 70s soul, yet the band don't hesitate to add their own unique and elegant contemporary stamp to the record.

In October 2018 DJ Rocca and Almunia member Leo Ceccanti joined forces to deliver “Rhythm Collision”, a three-track EP of jangling, sun-kissed grooves, psychedelic dub disco and Afro-Cosmic flavours on Really Swing. 18 months on, one of that set’s standout cuts has been given a new lease of life courtesy of fellow Italian producer Alessandro Pasini AKA Deep 88. Since making his debut a decade ago, Pasini has earned a reputation as one of house music’s understated heroes – an artist whose hardware driven, retro-futurist take on deep house tends towards the timeless, melodic and atmospheric. With a deep love of turn-of-the-90s dream house, Larry Heard productions and sun-baked chords, his dancefloor-focused productions have often been called Balearic.

It’s perhaps fitting then that his reworks of Rocca and Cecanti’s “Ever Changing Bubbles” are as Balearic as they come. His “Balearic Mix” sets the tone, with Pasini layering trippy, dubbed-out and ear-catching elements – Ceccanti’s eyes-closed electric guitar solos, jangling acoustic guitar chords, warm dub disco bass, echoing spoken word samples, fluttering flute solos, drowsy organ motifs and the pair’s delay-heavy vocals – atop a crunchy, head-nodding, live style beat. While it deviates from the duo’s original version, it inhabits a similar sonic space – albeit in a more dancefloor-friendly way. Pasini excels himself on the accompanying “Balearic Dub”, stripping the cut back to its raw essentials – drums, metronomic bass –while toughening up the percussion and adding delay-laden instrumental snippets. It’s warm, woozy and otherworldly, with echoing voices, tactile musical motifs and restless delay trails combining to create a suitably hazy and intoxicating mood. By the time the touchy-feely flute and acoustic guitars begin to dance across the sound space, you’ll be lost in the groove and too happy to notice.