Cerca:quiet dawn

pink vinyl limited to 500
Insides’s music shimmers and tingles with the tantalising promise of a different direction that UK pop could’ve gone: future-facing and fresh, rather than nostalgic regurgitation.” Simon Reynolds, author and music critic, writing in  Euphoria re-issue liner-notes in 2019

“A sound still as dew fresh, dawn dazzled and shot through with luscious darkness as it was nigh on three decades ago.” Neil Kulkarni, The Wire, 2019

Insides are Julian Tardo and Kirsty Yates. They first recorded together in the early 90s as Earwig, and released an album, 'Under My Skin I am Laughing', which brought them to the attention of 4AD. Earwig morphed into Insides and  two further albums were released on 4AD’s Guernica imprint: ‘Euphoria' (1993) and 'Clear Skin' (1994). In 2019 ‘Euphoria' was reissued for US Record Store Day by Beacon Sound, and was hailed as a lost treasure by discerning outlets. 

'Soft Bonds' is Insides’ first release for 20 years. It’s the sound of heart-stopping slow motion, blood rushes, fingers digging into bruised flesh, and sleeping with clenched fists.

“We found some things that were recorded a long time ago. We added some things that have been haunting us for for years and recorded some other ideas that we’d just thought of. Recording started at home in 2012, and continued every now and then in our studio, on trains, in the Greek island of Naxos and while wandering around Cissbury Ring, Chanctonbury Ring and Devil’s Dyke in the South Downs. We finally walked away from the recordings in late 2019 and decided to release a small run of CDs and LPs on our own Further Distractions label.

'Soft Bonds' is about the past haunting the present, and gripping onto your crumbling sense of self. It’s informed by the spirit of This Heat/This Is Not This Heat, Patty Waters, Annette Peacock, Eartheater, Mhysa, Hailu Mergia, Scott Walker and Arca.”

The first track to be released, 'Ghost Music', was also the first to be finished and came about by scrapping the original structure, leaving only the trace elements. Working in the negative space that’s left behind, where rhythms are pulses and heartbeats and melodies are memories, it’s insistent, staring, but not shouting. Almost absent, or heard from another room. The video uses footage of Kirsty and Julian filmed and used in live shows in 1993 and cut with more recent footage from 2016. The past haunts the present.

“Pop loving the sound of itself to death. And hating the fact that it can’t stop loving.” Rob Young, The Wire, 1993

“...they seemed to be creating an entirely new version of pop. Their hooks were unmistakable, in that they triggered movement like perpetual-motion clockwork. Their grooves were sparse and spectral and nagged at you like breakbeats but made your heart and hair-follicles dance more than your feet. Their music was amniotic, ebbing and alive with iridescent melodic detail and lyrics that turned the turmoils and trauma of love into the sweetest searing honesty you’d been privy to since you first heard the Supremes.” Neil Kulkarni, The Quietus, 2011

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London



Originally released by Theresa in 1981, this frequently exquisite set features the McCoy Tyner-inspired piano of Joe Bonner on four originals, Cal Massey's "Quiet Dawn," and "Lush Life." Bonner and a rhythm section are joined by a string quartet, trumpet, trombone, and flutist Holly Hofmann (the leader provided the arrangements) for music that is both lyrical and often passionate. Bonner is an underrated talent, and this is one of his finest recordings. by Scott Yanow



Bonner is only the second-most famous pianist born in Rocky Mount, N.C., behind Thelonious Monk. It’s indicative of Bonner’s lack of fame and appreciation that Monk is listed as a notable resident on Rocky Mount’s Wikipedia page, but Bonner is not.

But the pianist Bonner was most often compared to was not Monk but McCoy Tyner. Scott Yanow’s allmusic review of Impressions of Copenhagen said Bonner’s piano playing was “McCoy Tyner-inspired.” Bonner’s admittedly biased drummer, Tom Tilton, even felt Bonner surpassed Tyner. “Joe Bonner has all the power of McCoy, he has all the capability of McCoy, but he’s so much more romantic,” Tilton said, according to westword “I mean, I’ve been there time after time where there were tears running down people’s faces when he would play a ballad. He could captivate a room like nobody I’ve ever experienced before.”

Bonner did most of his playing over the last two decades in Denver, where he was beloved and appreciated. Even Gov. John Hickenlooper was a Bonner fan. “He was without question, the most talented piano player I’ve ever heard,” the governor told the website heyreverb in a remembrance of Bonner. “… I want people to know that I loved Joe Bonner.”

F.S.Blumm is a man most might not know. He ́s no pop artist, and not overtly experimental either. But somehow with In Sight he has done the impossible: put his own sound in that perfect middle point, leaving his voice behind to deep-dive into some truly memorable, fully composed pieces.
In Sight is the kind of record you can put on at first crack of dawn, to enjoy its beautiful instrumental varieties during morning routine, while equally fitting as a listening experience towards the darker time of day, in the background or as highly rewarding deep listening experience. It ́s the kind of album that would be great to encounter played in a tiny Japanese jazz bar on a vintage, top notch speaker system together with a handful of local oddities. It sounds incredibly well produced and is full of beautiful, heart-warming, melancholic moments performed on everything from guitars to percussion, vibraphone, strings, piano and who knows what else. Frank shines on this record. He has created quietly composed pieces for moments one could only wish were real.
As often with F.S.Blumm ́s music, it ́s hard to pin down where to categorize it. He might be best known as frequent collaborator of Nils Frahm. Together they made three great duo albums for Sonic Pieces previously. Although this is far from his first solo album, it is his first for the label, and after listening to it on repeat for some time, we can only say that this is Frank on his finest, creating some of the most thought provoking instrumental music you can find in these parts of the world.

After the praise for Morning Worship, released back in 2015 on Royal Oak, Portuguese duo Sabre returns to releases with the EP "Fora de Turf", pointing directly towards the dance floor. There is in "Fora de Turf" a certain idea of transient existence as a series of car journeys cruising the night with no clear sense of direction, recalling the gradual disappearance of public space and loss of community. The weight of Kraut references such as Kraftwerk's Autobahn or Stratosfear by Tangerine Dream is somehow clear in its alignment with a 1995 Carl Craig who had just released Landcruising

On the A side, 'Condor Sense' and 'Sem Terra'. The first one is a banger built around broken beats and repetitive synth chords that guide us through the drone landscapes on the background, very clearly marked by the 808's rhythms. The second one is anchored in a broken kick and on a growing acid line, punctuated by warm chords and some sliced pads that reminds us of the pulsating heart of the city of Detroit.

On the B side, "Condor Senses" and "Driving Bruno" got some sort of a gliding character. "Condor Senses" is the only track on the EP to accept the classic four-on-the-floor to guide some dubby chords along a quieter landscape where organic and natural sounds lurk. Is it dawn arriving No. On the last track of the album, "Driving Bruno," Sabre get in the car and step on the throttle, full speed, on a bassline that could resemble some synthwave releases if synthwave had been lucky enough to be born a decade earlier and in the center of the state of Michigan.

Next up on First Word Records, we welcome the return of Don Leisure, with an EP of beats that see his two alter-egos go head-to-head, 'Shaboo vs Halal Cool J'.

Probably best known as 50% of Darkhouse Family, along with Melange label boss Earl Jeffers, they released their acclaimed debut album 'The Offering' in 2017 and subsequent remix project last year, featuring DJ Spinna, Kaidi Tatham and more. The duo are coolly establishing themselves as Cardiff's very own Mizell Brothers, recently producing Kamaal William's latest work, featuring on Kutmah's recent Izwid compilation, and collaborating on the Chicago x London project 'Where We Come From', featuring Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Nubiya Garcia, Theon Cross and First Word label-mate Quiet Dawn, amongst others.

'Halal Cool J' appeared originally in early 2017 with 'An Ottoman Excursion' on our sister-label, Excursions. A series of edits born out of a decade-long love of Turkish music, and some record-digging expeditions in Istanbul, something Don Leisure did the very day after 'The Offering' release party, prompting another series of beats. Ahead of an all-new full-length Halal Cool J album, here we have two tracks to give you a taste, 'Kazakh Honey' and 'Kaymak'.

'Shaboo Strikes Back' on the flip-side, with a track of the same name, and 'Mango Season'. 'Shaboo' was the name of a beat album that came out on First Word in 2017, inspired largely by Don's Bollywood actor Uncle, Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwani, and by memories of journey's with headphones hurling out Hip Hop, fused with the sonics of his Mum's interruptions, and her favourite Asian radio station. 'Shaboo' featured in several end-of-year album lists, with Piccadilly Records calling it "the best album of it's kind since Dilla's 'Donuts'. Unmissable."

Both prior projects got love from DJs and selectors far & wide, including Tom Ravenscroft, Lefto, Huey Morgan, Rob Da Bank, Om Unit, Simbad & Mr Thing. A truly global affair, the beat battle of 'Shaboo vs Halal Cool J' takes us on several short, sweet hikes across a variety of Eastern climes.

Join in the journey once again on 7" vinyl and digital on April 5th.

Belgium-based Composer Christina Vantzou's Fourth Full-length For Kranky Ventures Further Into The Uniquely Elusive And Evocative Mode Of Ambient Classical Minimalism Which Has Become Her Signature: A Fragile Synthesis Of Contemplative Drift, Heady Silences, And Muted Dissonance. In Regards To The New Album She Speaks Of Focusing Particular Attention On The Effects Of The Recordings On The Body, And Of 'directing Sound Perception Into An Inner Space.'
No. 4 Took Shape Across Roughly Two Years, Incorporating A Diverse Array Of Musical And Conceptual Collaborators, Including Fellow Kranky Artists Steve Hauschildt And John Also Bennett (of Forma) As Well As Angel Deradoorian (ex-dirty Projectors), Clarice Jensen, Beatrijs De Klerck, And Members Of Belgium's Echo Collective. During The Creation Process Vantzou Wanted To 'blur Lines Of Hierarchy,' And Thus Allowed All Ensemble Members And Technical Assistants To Add Or Delete Elements. Despite Such A Spectrum Of Input The Eleven Tracks Feel Distinctly Cohesive, Weaving Elegant Textures And Resonant Open Spaces Within A Twilit Landscape Of Eclectic Instrumentation: Piano, Harp, Vibraphone, Voice, Strings, Marimba, Synthesizers, Gong, And Bells.
Vantzou Describes The Recording Process As One Of Prepared Spontaneity: That Is, 'having Plenty Of Ideas Ready To Explore Going Into The Session, But With Enough Time To Depart From Those Ideas And See What Happens.' This Mindset Of Premeditated Exploration Informs The Album's Emotive Textural Intuition, With Hushed Drones And Delicate Gestures Eliding In The Periphery Of The Mix. She Cites Sleep And 'the Loosening Of Time' As Two Formative Practices In Her Private And Professional Life, Which Manifests In The Quietly Hallucinatory Properties Of Vantzou's Music. No. 4 Feels Both Endless And Ephemeral, Immersive And Immaterial. It's A Music Of Horizon Lines And Half-light, Mapped With Feeling And Foresight.
Recorded In New York City And Brussels. Mixed In Berlin.
A Portion Of This Work Was Funded By A Generous Grant From The Flemish Community In Belgium.

Seeking the overwhelming vibration of the genuine sound wave and its profound echo on the soul, Kenneth James Gibson has spent his career experimenting under a variety of aliases like as many brushstrokes to an ever polymorphic palette - successively releasing as (a)pendics.shuffle, Bell Gardens, Reverse Commuter, dubLoner, Kenneth James G., KJ Gibbs, Bal Cath, Eight Frozen Modules, and Premature Wig... the list is long. Near to two years after his first incursion on Kompakt with his third studio LP 'The Evening Falls', Gibson returns with 'In The Fields Of Nothing', his second full-length delivery for the Cologne-based imprint.

A piece of intricate scales and moods, by turn streaming with the quiet flow of a small meandering rill, then suddenly veering off into an oceanic kind of tumult, 'In The Fields Of Nothing' was conceived as a proper film soundtrack with its rhythmic ebb-and-flow and deep sense of immersion, pulling the strings to an imaginary scenario where the uncanny rubs shoulders with a minute care for the immersion and deep emotional involvement of its whole.

Like entangling multiple levels of consciousness through a millefeuille of textures, piano and strings as well as a flurry of subtly FX-soaked instrumentals, Gibson reflects on his new album - created and recorded right after 'The Evening Falls' came out - as hugely inspired by the lushly forested mountain landscapes of his home region, the bewitching Idyllwild, California. With each track being an essential petal in the narrative corolla figured by Gibson, it's a breathing forest of sounds that deploys, bearing the memories of Kenneth's early morning and late night wanderings in the wild, alone and not, with the ancient trees' vital force for main companion. 
An attempt at capturing a slice of these ephemeral sensations felt when striding along across the steep ridges and stony paths of the San Jacinto mountains, staring at the star-studded dome or gazing into the quiet horizon at dawn, 'In The Fields Of Nothing' eludes the single genre encapsulation, opting for the all-embracing openness of scope as it hops from droney melodic interplays ("Her Flood") and roomy string-laden folk drifts ("Further From Home") through Ligetian webs of sound ("Thirsty Lullaby", "Fields Of Everything") and poignant threnodies ("Unblinded"), onto sorrowful pop ballads ("Far From Home") and lulling ambient scapes ("To Love A Rotting Piano", "Plastic Consequence")

Over the course of five albums, Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader Matthew Halsall has carved out a niche for himself on the UK music scene as one of it's brightest talents. His languid, soulful music has won friends from Jamie Cullum and Gilles Peterson to Jazz FM and Mojo as well as an ever-growing international following. His new album Into Forever, puts the spotlight on Halsall the composer, arranger and producer. Halsall draws on a diverse range of influences from Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Phil Cohran and Leon Thomas to the more contemporary sounds of The Cinematic Orchestra, Max Richter and Nils Frahm to deliver his most complete recording to date. Into Forever features renowned Manchester based soul poet Josephine Oniyama and rising star vocalist Bryony Jarman-Pinto (Werkha) as well as regular collaborators, flautist Lisa Mallett, harpist Rachael Gladwin, koto player Keiko Kitamura, pianist Taz Modi, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Luke Flowers (The Cinematic Orchestra) and two percussionists Sam Bell and Chris Cruiks. The result is arguably Halsall's finest record, asublime melding of stripped back soulful funk and deep, minimalist, spiritual jazz, that will take you on a journey deep into forever!

Confirmed reviews Mojo, BBC Music Mag, Jazzwise, Record Collector Independent On Sunday, Guardian, Quietus, all main jazzy blogs, Airplay from Jamie Cullum, Gilles Peterson, 6 Music, Jazz Line-up, Patrick Forge, Ross Allen and many more

9 date national tour including Liverpool Capstone Theatre Oct 1, Bristol St Georges Oct 15, Manchester St Peter's Church Oct 23, St Mary's Hastings Oct 28 and London Union Chapel Oct 29 plus Uber Jazz Hamburg Oct 31