quête:quiet

Since 2006, The Dodos (singer and guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber) have been careening, almost recklessly, towards some perfect ideal of how The Dodos should sound. First formed with the intention of creating a record that felt and sounded how the inside of a guitar might, the band have spent the intervening years sprinting towards that platonic goal. After widespread critical acclaim for their sophomore effort Visiter in 2008, the band toured incessantly for the next 10 years, playing countless venues all over the world including several performances on The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Cat Power - vocalist, songwriter, musician and
producer Chan Marshall - releases her new album,
‘Covers’, via Domino.
 Cover songs have always occupied a crucial place in
the Marshall canon, and ‘Covers’ௗcompletes a trilogy of
sorts, following beloved past Cat Power collections
‘Jukebox’ (2008) and ‘The Covers Record’ (2000).
 While she frequently delights and surprises with the
songs she chooses to cover, it’s Marshall’s total
commitment to the performance - imbuing the songs
with a creative singularity that rivals her original work -
that make Cat Power covers so special.ௗ Says
Pitchfork, Marshall can “rearrange a song simply by
squinting at it.”
 Produced in its entirety by Marshall, ‘Covers’ features
fully reimaginedௗsongs by Frank Ocean, Bob Seger,
Lana Del Rey, Jackson Browne, Iggy Pop, The
Pogues, Nick Cave and The Replacements and more,
plus an updated rendition of her own song, ‘Hate’, from
‘The Greatest’ (2006), retitled ‘Unhate’ for this album.
 CD in clear tray in 6-panelled digipack.
 Heavyweight vinyl with full colour labels, printed inner
sleeve and digital download card.
 Press - Reviews in MOJO, Loud & Quiet, Uncut, Record
Collector, HiFi News, Aesthetica. Features in MOJO,
Uncut, Guardian Saturday Magazine, Kinfolk, Adam
Buxton podcast.

Survival depends on evolution. As conditions change and tides turn, we must change with them in order to stay one step ahead of the coming challenges. It’s clear that Fit For An Autopsy have embraced that mantra as they continue to perpetually evolve with each subsequent body of work. Not just blurring, but eradicating the lines between technical metal virtuosity, death metal menace, hardcore intensity, melodic insidiousness, and abstract approaches, the New Jersey band embody an uncompromising vision of their own.

The six-piece—Joseph Badolato vocals, Patrick Sheridan guitar, Timothy Howley guitar, Will Putney [guitar], Peter Blue Spinazola [bass], and Josean Orta Martinez [drums]—perfect this approach on their sixth full-length offering, Oh What The Future Holds [Nuclear Blast Records].

Fit For An Autopsy have never stopped moving forward though. Following their caustic 2011 debut The Process of Human Extermination, the group quietly carved out a place among extreme metal’s modern vanguard with their second LP Hellbound. Revolver cited 2015’s Absolute Hope Absolute Hell among “15 Essential Deathcore Albums.” And In the wake of The Great Collapse two years later, the band had truly created their own space in the realm of what could be described as “post-deathcore”. This ascent reached another level on the 2019 opus The Sea of Tragic Beasts. Widespread praise from the fans and press alike is all but too common for their refreshing approach to modern aggressive music both on record and in concert.

When the Global Pandemic changed everyone’s tour plans, Fit For An Autopsy dove into writing in spring 2020 and made the most of their time off the road.
“We had no real timeline, so we didn’t feel much pressure,” says Putney. “Once we realized touring wasn’t opening up, we decided to have fun with the process. I got to spend more time than I usually do on records. We definitely took some of the songs into new places because of that. It’s our longest album. We composed more than we ever have and it was a rewarding feeling to put real work into all these ideas.”

In early 2021, Fit For An Autopsy congregated in-person at Putney’s Graphic Nature Audio and recorded Oh What The Future Holds. Now, they introduce the album with the single “Far From Heaven.” Swirling as a perfect storm, airy guitar cuts through a pummeling percussive groove as melodic vocals slip into a guttural groan offset by neck-snapping riffs and powerful dynamics.
“The world we exist in is clearly “far from heaven”. Institutions are exploited, and people are taken advantage of. There’s a power struggle between those in control and those who aren’t. This is a fairly literal reflection on the world today.”

In the end, Fit For An Autopsy haven’t just personally evolved on Oh What The Future Holds; they’ve brought heavy music with them.

Copenhagen based label Escho release “Escho 15 år: Burgers for my new life” - an extensive compilation of exclusive material for their 15th anniversary (2005-2020). The compilation gathers music by all the currently active artists of Escho - both Danish and international - 27 artists in total. Contributing artists for the compilation are (in alphabetical order): Anders P Jensen, August Rosenbaum, Astrid Sonne, Baby In Vain, BishBusch, The Bleeder Group, Bona Fide, Collider, Dane TS Hawk, Eric Copeland, Excepter, First Hate, Gullo Gullo, Homies, iB101, Iceage, Joanne Robertson, Kh Marie, Liss, Puyain Sanati, Small White Man, Smerz, Søren Kjærgaard, Thulebasen, Varnrable, Yangze and Ydegirl. About Escho and the compilation: The Escho sound was born 15 years ago in small apartments around Enghave Plads, a slightly run-down square at the west end of Vesterbro, Copenhagen, past the kebab shops and the porno shops and the drunks. A few years earlier, as teenagers, several members of the Escho crew had made extremely strange, crisp metal in a very popular band. Escho was a promoter and booking agent as much as it was a label in the early days. They put on small shows to foster and hype the local scene and they brought important performers from all over the world to Copenhagen for the first time. Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance, White Magic, Excepter, Hype Williams, Boredoms, Charles Hayward, they rippled through Copenhagen after they came. Eric Copeland stayed for months. Lorenzo Senni, now well known as a vanguard dance producer, brought his high-school hardcore band to Copenhagen. Escho found and asked these artists to play. And Escho played their humble part in giving sound back to the world. Iceage, Posh Isolation and the Mayhem scene went global. Escho is a lot about being in Denmark, what that sounds like, and projecting it for anyone to hear. Across its releases, Escho’s aesthetic has allowed for the amateurish and the obsessive, the soft and the hard. Escho is about the power of shared experimental experience. Escho has been going for such a long time that the kids who started it are now twice as old as they were when they came up with the name, the idea, the desire to start something. Much younger people, generations younger, work at the label. The world has transformed since then. Escho was born in a period of time where alternative and underground music existed on a private, separate plane to mass culture, and it now finds itself in a time where mass culture and the underground are porous. Tribalism and niche knowledge has been blended by the internet, erasing the border between mainstream and underground modes. Alternative thinking takes many forms now, and new artists continue to expand and interpret the sound of Escho, carrying with them the same curiosity that lit the first Escho sparks 15 years ago. As a whole, this compilation — it is important to note — is jagged in form and tone. It is not even close to a conventional scene compilation, where the sound of a clan flows together. This record doesn’t flow like that. And this, fittingly, makes this anniversary album a ‘classic’ Escho release, because conventions about form and presentation are thrown out the window and new conventions proposed. It is a reminder that Escho quietly remains an ongoing art project as much as anything else. More than its form and tone, however, this compilation is jagged because it is a document of today. It is not final, or conclusive in any way, because the contours of contemporary music are boundless. It’s jagged because Escho has been to a million shows, and put on a million shows, and still loves going to shows. It is a picture of pluralism, discovery and openness. It makes a case for having ears, and making art, and propagating this so that successive generations of young people do it too. This is exactly as it was in the beginning






















[v] 22 First Hate – Vampire Boy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [2020 Demo]

New 9-track EP and inaugural release from Detroit label 100 LIMOUSINES.

A fixture in the Detroit DJ world—Todd Modes has spent the last decade quietly releasing music on Going Good, FIT Sound, Golf Channel, M1 Sessions, Still Music, Fat Finger Cosmic, and Detroit Electronic Quarterly. Inspired by the birth of his son and the death of his grandfather—New Life is a deeply personal meditation on the cycles of life and time. An examination of the past and present assembled from recordings spanning the last 20+ years—this EP is an outstanding representation of Modes musical depth and artistic purpose—a prime example of the quality to be expected from 100 LIMOUSINES in the future.

Recorded in Stockholm in 1962, and originally released on Sonet Records, these sessions stand as Ayler's first step into a new sonic world. This was when Ayler was still dealing with classic Jazz standards such as "I'll remember April", M Davis's "Tune Up" and "Rollins Tune", a declared tribute to the older master Sonny Rollins. His already super-strong tenor sax voice dominates a quiet, almost shy, local rhythm section featuring Torbjorn Hultcrant on bass and Sune Spangberg on drums. This was just before stepping into his unique, hyper energetic and ecstatic form of Free Jazz. This was Ayler sowing the seeds of a revolution to come!

Originally released in 2005 on Cooper's Hipshot Cd-r label, and reissued here for the first time on vinyl, Spirit Songs deserves to be regarded as a true rediscovered gem, remixed and remastered by Mike Copper himself!

Spirit Songs comes as a highly organic form of Ambient-Folk-Blues with Cooper reordering material to create an immersive listening experience. A stream of cut-up lyrics inspired by Thomas Pynchon's writing slide across multiple electronic layers and masterfully fingerpicked acoustic guitars combining into a moving tide. This is deeply inspired music from a unique artist: Mike Cooper the so called "icon of post-everything music” a true sound explorer constantly pushing the boundaries of genres and styles, Folk, Blues, Free Improv, Exotica, Ambient, Electronica...

"Spirit Songs.. a glorious marriage of all three of Cooper's previous musical strategies; creating a stunning hybrid. The album contains 10 songs performed on finger-picked acoustic and electric lap steel guitar,
often looped and treated in real time, with Cooper singing lyrics in a quietly meandering, semi-improvisatory manner that recalls a more polished Jandek. The style of songwriting is immediately recognizable as blues, but an intuitive, idiosyncratic form of folk-blues, with Cooper narrating laments over matters personal and global, gentle universalisms that double as political messages. All of this occurs over a loose rhythmic framework provided by various noisy loops, with cracks, scratches and pops, echoes and distortions skipping out from every refrain. It's a gentle cacophony with subtle undercurrents of beauty and sadness, effortlessly nostalgic but still very rooted in the now. I think that Mike Cooper can genuinely call this style his own; I've never heard anything remotely like it, and it works beautifully, highlighting both song and singer, as well as the happy accidents resulting from the intersection of structure and chaos."- Pitchfork Review.

 The seven-headed Aussie rock beast King Gizzard & The Lizard
Wizard return with a new vinyl edition of ‘Fishing For Fishies’,
perhaps their most perfectly-realised album to date.
 The Eco Edition has been pressed on Eco-Mix vinyl and is housed
in a brown paper bag after previous pressings quickly sold out.
 Released on the band’s own Flightless Records, here is a world
where the organic meets the automated; where the rustic meets
the robotic. Where the past and future collide in the beautiful
present.
 ‘Fishing For Fishies’ is a blues-infused blast of sonic boogie that
struts and shimmies through several moods and terrains. From the
soft shuffle Outback country of the opening title track through the
sunny easy listening of ‘The Bird Song’ (think a lysergically-soaked
Laurel Canyon circa 1973) and on through the party funk of
‘Plastic Boogie’ (which somehow summons the spirit of Stevie
Wonder’s ‘Innervisions’) the road-trucking, Doors-like highway
rock of ‘The Cruel Millennial’ and ‘Real’s Not Real’ - what
Carpenters might have sounded like had they existed entirely on
vegemite and weed - it’s a dizzying, dazzling display which
addresses a number of pertinent environmental issues along the
way.
 “We tried to make a blues record,” says frontman Stu Mackenzie.
“A blues-boogie-shuffle-kinda-thing, but the songs kept fighting it -
or maybe it was us fighting them. Ultimately though we let the
songs guide us this time; we let them have their own personalities
and forge their own path. Paths of light, paths of darkness. This is
a collection of songs that went on wild journeys of transformation.”
 Quiet though it was on the record front, 2018 was hardly a year of
rest for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. In almost perpetual
motion, the band continued their unstoppable rise as their
juggernaut of a live show grew and grew and grew, with a mindblowing headline slot at Green Man Festival, a massive sold-out
US tour in the summer which saw them play their biggest venues
to date, a brain-frying sold out Brixton Academy show, two gigs in
Russia and Istanbul where they played in front of over 15,000
people and putting on the fourth edition of their annual Gizzfest in
Melbourne amongst the highlights.

All Them Witches are an American rock band from Nashville,
Tennessee. The band consists of drummer Robby Staebler,
vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Charles Michael Parks Jr.,
guitarist Ben McLeod and keyboardist Allan Van Cleave.
 The band’s musical style incorporates elements from multiple
genres, such as hard rock, stoner rock, psychedelia, neopsychedelia, blues, folk and southern rock; however, Julian
Marszalek of The Quietus noted that: “... this isn’t blues of the
‘woke-up-this-morning’ variety but one of malaise, anxiety and
fear brought on a by world seemingly dead set on destruction;
nor is this an escapist variant of psychedelia wherein one form
of reality is jettisoned in favour of another for reasons of cheap
thrills.”

Recorded in London in the summer of 1971 by Austrian singer/songwriter Bobby Haumer and an English pick-up band, Zakarrias was issued on the highly collectable Deram label. However, Deram withdrew the album almost immediately when they discovered that Haumer didn't have a work permit. Mysteriously sounding heavy progressive with sensitive folk-psych moments. Great dynamics with contrasting guitar leads. The results have been compared to outtakes from the third Led Zeppelin album, but while the lead vocals are certainly reminiscent at times of Robert Plant, the overall sound and general air of quiet pretension is probably closer to Van der Graaf Generator leader Peter Hammill's early solo work.

Bill Evans catapulted to the top of the jazz world in June 1961 after reeling off three straight masterpiece sessions at New York's Village Vanguard with his trio. Yet the emotional highs came to a screeching halt shortly thereafter when bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident. Devastated, Evans refrained from playing for nearly a year. If not for an inspirational collaboration of tremendous creative outpouring, one wonders what fate may have befallen Evans. Undercurrent, the outcome of two studio sessions with guitarist Jim Hall, is that project.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this Silver Label LP edition bursts forth with brilliant textures, you-are-there realism, and extraordinary tonalities. No other version outside of this analogue copy brings you face-to-face with these two jazz giants' sonic communion, a kind of spiritual musical summit on which Evans' deft keyboard touches and Hall's reliably subtle phrasings seamlessly mesh and wonderfully dance, the compositions streaked with natural instrumental decay, full-frequency extensions, and poignant emotionalism that, on this LP, you can feel.

While Evans managed to sit down for a few one-off takes between LaFaro's passing and these April-May 1962 dates, he largely remained on hiatus and abstained from recording. Whether it owes to the intimate pairing, he and Hall's brotherly chemistry, or the exquisite selection of program material, the results consistently come across as the equivalent of a private meditation - such is the level of introspective depth and quietly shaded interplay throughout. For Evans, the duet clearly functions as therapy, a healing episode in which his partner patiently lays back, shadowing moves and suggesting others, neither musician interested in the spotlight but each striving for (and achieving) transcendent beauty.

In tackling standards such as Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" and the Broadway classic "Darn That Dream," as well as the Hall original "Romain," the pair traverses complex harmonies with the astute elegance of a figure skater. At times, Evans and Hall go for broke on a hard-swinging romps, yet it's their implied melancholy and drifting, softly struck melodic refrains on waltzes and ballads that bestows Undercurrent with a nuanced romanticism and whispered atmosphere befitting the record's title.

Indeed, even the album's cover - an iconic photograph by Toni Frissell - exhibits the surreal, almost-hallucinogenic properties of the fare contained within.

After the worldwide success of their first album Puzzle (1999), which sold over 200,000 copies and went gold in Japan, Xavier Boyer (vocals, guitars), Pedro Resende (bass), Médéric Gontier (guitars) & Sylvain Marchand (drums) reunited with producer Andy Chase to record the follow-up, Wallpaper for the Soul, in New York City. Starting in November 2001 at Stratosphere Sound, the prolific sessions gave birth to twenty tracks, twelve of which appeared on the original tracklist. The eight outtakes were compiled on the mini albums A Piece of Sunshine (2003) & Extra Pieces of Sunshine (2004). This new vinyl edition will be the first time all these songs appear together.

Almost 20 years on, WFTS is a tour de force of contemporary songwriting with obvious nods to the past somehow revisited in a timeless fashion. Tahiti 80’s second effort can also be seen as an alternative and more sophisticated snapshot of an era often associated with the rebirth of rock (The White Stripes, The Strokes…). This set of songs also established them as stalwarts of the Post French Touch cannon, showcasing both their ability to write catchy songs and their knack for mélanges & experimentation. 1,000 Times or The Train are unique examples of blue-eyed soul augmented with French flair (« Prefab Sprout as produced by Thomas Bangalter » suggested Uncut which listed WFTS in their Top Ten’s albums of 2003). Listen to Don’t Look Below today, and ask yourself who was mixing Destiny’s Child with My Bloody Valentine in 2001? Delicate numbers like Open Book or live favorite Better Days Will Come both demonstrate T80’s songwriting skills and their innate sense of melancholia.

Listening back to WFTS today, one cannot help but think of it as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art fashion. All four members would typically perform together in the same room. Basic takes were printed on a 24-track analog tape machine and then bounced onto a computer for editing. A fine example of this method is the title track itself. Originally written on acoustic guitar, Wallpaper … is the result of three eight minutes synthesizer jams pieced together. The Frenchmen were keen to try out multitude of ideas and had developed a taste for experimentation. The sessions also coincide with a rich outburst of creativity from a band on top of their game after several months of touring around the world.

Another typical WFTS characteristic is Richard Hewson’s orchestration. Veteran string arranger, famous for arranging The Beatles’ The Long And Winding Road or writing RAH Band’s ‘80s classic Clouds Across The Moon Hewson gave the songs a sweeping orchestral touch. Strings, Horns & woodwinds were all performed at the now defunct Olympic Studios in London. Urban Soul Orchestra, a 24-piece ensemble who played on Oasis’ or Spice Girls’ hits can be heard on five songs: the opening trilogy Wallpaper…, 1,000 Times and The Other Side, then on the Northern Soul revival Soul Deep and lastly on the album’s closer Memories Of The Past.

Rouen’s most famous four-piece, now relocated in a house on France’s North West Coast, in the quiet seaside town of Étretat, added more bells & whistles and resumed production on the songs. With one last transatlantic leap during the summer of 2002, the boys flew to Portland, Oregon to attend the mixing sessions held by sound wizard Tony Lash (Elliott Smith, The Dandy Warhols…). Suggested by Sub Pop’s craftsman Eric Matthews, also a guest on trumpet and keyboards, Lash would later become a major collaborator on Tahiti 80’s subsequent albums.

In the meantime, Laurent Fétis, the designer behind Puzzle’s iconic artwork, had started working with artist Elisabeth Arkhipoff on a set of nostalgic photographs transfigured with a soft air-bush technique. Those visuals, like their predecessors, have since become an inseparable companion to Tahiti 80’s music.

Many musical fashions and flavors of the month have come and gone, but twenty years after its release, WFTS still sounds fresh and relevant. And always forward-looking, Tahiti 80 is currently wrapping up the recording of their eighth album, to be released in early 2022.

The final two tracks of the Blizzards Remix EP are Irène Dresel's epic warehouse belting version of Vectra and Nathan's own live version of Torchsong which melds choppy beat juggling with gorgeously glistening synths and is fresh from his recent UK tour. These follow the release of the 90s infused bass heavy Sandstone and Afrodeutsche’s rework of Cry Me A Blizzard, which stripped the original right back to its chords and added her own achingly beautiful vocals, to create a haunting choral ambient artwork. This follows last year’s new album ‘Blizzards’, which was described by The Quietus as “his best work”, and “his best LP yet” yet by Resident Advisor.

Born the seventh child and the youngest of Rev. and Mrs. Clougies Young in the city of Lake Charles, La.Raised in the Church of God in Christ in Lake Charles, La. Earl began singing in church as early as six years of age.

He performed in my church choir and high school Gospel Choir in San Francisco under the mentoring of Professor Johnny Land.

Before forming his own group Earl did background vocals for Patti Labelle's song Quiet Time in 1978 after which he formed his small group and recorded this one solitary single in 1983.

Probably one of the finest gospel bangers every cut to vinyl, that's all that needs said.

While Mötley Crüe legend and Sixx:A.M. mastermind Nikki Sixx takes a view in the rear mirror in his new book 'The First 21' (published in October 2021) 'HITS' sums up the career to date of Sixx:A.M. in a remarkable manner. It contains all the band's hits plus three new and unreleased tracks including the forthcoming single, also entitled 'The First 21'.

Ethan Gold's new double a-side 7'' single from the film The Song Of Sway Lake is a limited edition talisman from a film about characters fixated with the past, and searching for old records in a grand lake house in the Adirondack Park.

The inimitable John Grant sings the haunting, quiet moonlight Lost Record Version, arranged to sound like a small group of musicians in 1939 playing after midnight in a barn. His range as a vocalist brings a pathos and gravity that is timeless, utterly convincing as a 30s performance, filled with emotion and longing.

English sisters trio The Staves sing the brassy daylight Big Band version, arranged as if it were a pop hit of 1947, all brash tight three-part harmonies, reflecting the razzle dazzle arrogance and exhuberance of post-War America. Swing your honey around the dance floor!

Composed & Produced by Ethan Gold. Arrangements by Gina Leishman. Mixed by Flood.

This is the Soundtrack of Ys: the Oath in Felghana, the gorgeous A-RPG by Nihon Falcom! Composed & arranged by the Falcom Sound Team jdk, Ys: The Oath in Felghana is the acclaimed remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. which soundtrack is also included in this release!

West coast new romantic icon Riki returns with her 2nd simulacrum of pitch-perfect synth-pop, aptly titled for the precious substance it is: Gold. Inspired by notions of symbolic power, letting go, and transmutable realms of the heart, the album further refines her rare gift for making swooning melancholia as anthemic as it atmospheric. Working with Telefon Tel Aviv co-founder Josh Eustis at his Pasadena studio, the sessions unfolded fluidly and fruitfully, focusing on “quieter moments” and refining the record’s palette and voice. Occasional interruption from a nearby flock of wild parrots infused a mood of California dreaming, purple sunsets dissolving into deepening neon night.

West coast new romantic icon Riki returns with her 2nd simulacrum of pitch-perfect synth-pop, aptly titled for the precious substance it is: Gold. Inspired by notions of symbolic power, letting go, and transmutable realms of the heart, the album further refines her rare gift for making swooning melancholia as anthemic as it atmospheric. Working with Telefon Tel Aviv co-founder Josh Eustis at his Pasadena studio, the sessions unfolded fluidly and fruitfully, focusing on “quieter moments” and refining the record’s palette and voice. Occasional interruption from a nearby flock of wild parrots infused a mood of California dreaming, purple sunsets dissolving into deepening neon night.

Hearing Dominic Appleton take his voice in quieter, more intimate directions, exploring new textures and strengths, in combination with Matteo Uggeri’s flowing production, makes for a striking experience. Interesting and unexpected." – Ned Raggett (Bandcamp/The Quietus) // "Without exaggeration, Dominic Appleton is by far my favourite living male vocalist. He has such a beautiful, sad voice and comes up with melodies that do the same" – Ivo Watts-Russell (4AD founder). // "This Mortal Coil singer Dominic Appleton's crystalline voice and romantic lyrics set a mood of lonely grandeur” — Mojo (2013)

Skydive Trio: Thomas T Dahl, gitarer, Mats Eilertsen, kontra- og elbass, Olavi Louhivuori, trommer. SkyDive Trio’s second album ‘Sun Sparkle’ - which arrives three years after its acclaimed predecessor, ‘Sun Moee’ - presents the listener with an intriguing set of paradoxes. A power trio who use full throttle only very sparingly, the band can appear to play loud music quietly, and quiet music, loud, countering jazz subtlety with rock attack. They also partner the relatively clean and melodic sound of Thomas T. Dahl’s guitar with the mountainous riffs and deep, seismic explosions of Mats Eilertsen’s bass, rather as if Pat Metheny was being accompanied by Peter Hook, of Joy Division and New Order. The great Finnish drummer Olavi Louhivuori somehow bridges the aesthetic gap, alternating crunching four-square rhythms with delicately shimmering percussive strokes.

Behind Bandhagens Musikforening we find Michel Isorinne and Martin Sander. After their debut album on Northern Electronics they are now the protagonists of the 8th physical release on the label One Instrument.

The Swedish duo recorded the beautifully crafted six tracks at Bandhagen Airport in Sweden between 2017 and 2020.

Six tracks each made with one instrument with a clear preference for vintage synthesizers.
We are brought through delicate sonic journeys made with the Roland System 100, a semi-modular synthesizer built between 1975 and 1979, the legendary first digital synthesizer Yamaha DX-7, the Roland SH-101, the Oberheim Matrix 6R and the Waldorf Microwave all four from the beloved 80's.

Bandhagens Musikforening's compositions are a radiant work of quiet minimalism and poetic deliberation. We are brought into an intergalactic hypnotic world where dreams are colored and vivid, where immersive electronics have the ability to create landscapes on your mind board.

Léonie Pernet's second album Le Cirque de Consolation, to be released November 19th on InFiné & CryBaby, inhabits a world where borders dissolve and everyone makes their own unique and singular utopia. Hereby, the record questions the links between pop music, African cultures and electronic music, neo-classical music or the role of voice, whether human or synthetic. Sophomore albums can be a painful process for an artist - how refreshing it is to hear one so decidedly optimistic.

Textextext - (add your write up)

The sought after whirlwind of French Pop that exploded onto the scene with her debut "Crave", Leonie Pernet, returns with her second album, "Le Circque de Consolation", a sort of double negative of her first. While the yearning that sat at the center of "Crave"might not have been resolved, the young multi-instrumentalist and singer has found a new perspective - a more open and positive outlook on her own life and work. Perhaps telling, then, that the title was the first element of the album to exist: as it is and has always been a journey of personal (and collective) consolation first, a musical confrontation with the self.

"This record parallels my life's journey," confirms Léonie, "it reflects what has happened in my life since 'Crave' came out and how I feel today. There's still a lot of melancholy, but a lot more sunshine and light. In four years, I've become sober, which has saved me; I've worked a lot on my voice, which is a part of a desire to speak, to address my audience more directly, and also a more pronounced pop desire." In line with her new-found "openness", Leonie invites another musician into her creative process for the first time on "Le Cirque de Consolation": Jean Sylvain le Gouic, who lended his coproduction and perspective to her, while Leonie still plays almost all instruments herself with an astounding prowess.

Leonie's voice oozes with a new-found self-confidence and takes center stage amidst eclectic, distinctively fun and open-minded production. Sometimes she sings in English, mostly in French: "I worked a lot on my voice," confirms Léonie, "I didn't dare to sing before, neither live, nor on record, nor in the studio." Surrounding her astounding, intoxicating voice are forays into any direction imaginable: from harsh, experimental electronics to the more sombre, organic and quiet moments - and everywhere, there is the vision of Africa, (also Middle East) it's many sonic gifts and cultures.

Leonie has found a universal utopia that she craves for - a musical, cultural amalgamation that is decidedly non-western, political and poetic, rooted in self-discovery and the connection with other humans: African and oriental percussion, synthesizers, drum-machines; Léonie mixes genres and instruments with ease and precision. The French novelist and philosopher Édouard Glissant - whose work and writing had a big influence on Pernet - coined the term "Creolization ", the "bringing together of several cultures or at least several elements of distinct cultures, in one part of the world, resulting in new data, totally unpredictable in relation to the sum or the simple synthesis of these elements."

From "Hard Billy ", a techno-influenced rebellious anthem, to "Les Chants de Maldoror," a club and dance song propelled forward by feverish derboukas, to the deeply moving "A rebours" and its Afro-electronic rock. Léonie Pernet inhabits a world where borders dissolve and everyone makes their own unique and singular utopia. Hereby, the record questions the links between pop music, African cultures and electronic music (Intérieur Négro), neo-classical music (Le Cirque de consolation, Dandelion), or the place of the voice, whether human or synthetic as in the atmospheric "Vowel". Sophomore albums can be a painful process for an artist - how refreshing it is to hear one so decidedly optimistic.

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Following March’s 9696 Dream mixtape and July’s Flex Time EP, this new album sees 96 Back shine the spotlight on his own vocals for the first time, at points (such as on lead single ‘9 To Find 6’) operating fully in the realms of experimental pop. At other times, such as on ‘Teach Me Tenderness’ and ‘Feel Hard’, 96 Back stretches and processes his vocals to almost breaking point, while album closer ‘Melt You’ sees him duet with past collaborator Iceboy Violet, ending Love Letters on a sombre but romantic note. That’s not to say Love Letters is fully removed from the dancefloor, however: tracks like ‘Don’t Die’ and ‘Love Compact’ are precision-tooled for the club, while the likes of ‘Felzin’ and ‘Vibrant Colours’ continue to explore the intricate but emotive electronics that 96 Back has been so successful with in the past. More varied and vivid than any of 96 Back’s releases to date, Love Letters feels like a coming of age moment. It casts its net incredibly wide at points, and it’s an album full of ambition, but it meets every challenge it sets itself — as affecting in its quieter, tender moments as during its dramatic peaks. In 96 Back’s words: “This is a record I feel like I’ve been trying to write for years, it feels like the most accurate body of work to match the ideas in my mind. Trying to project a lot of the records I hold very dear to me through this lens, interpreting how they sound to me and merging them with ideas of finding the drama and excitement in the full spectrum of emotions on the tip of my tongue, that’s what ended up being Love Letters, Nine Through Six.”

Featuring Squirrel Flower and Liam O’Neill (SUUNS). Recommended If You Like: Mount Eerie, Low, Richard Swift, the Weather Station, Lomelda, Fleet Foxes, Squirrel Flower, L’Rain. Cedric Noel is a songwriter, bassist, collaborator and producer currently based in Montréal, Québec. The newest longplayer from Tio'tiá:ke/Montreal staple Cedric Noel lands with a stunning sense of surety and self. Hang Time stands as a high water mark for a songwriter who's spent the past decade quietly expanding the borders of his music. Longtime fans will recognize the fluid elements of the album’s open-ended rock formations: reflective strumming, soaring choruses, searing guitar lines, subtle bass grooves; all occasionally dissolving into pools of pure ambience. New listeners will find surprises throughout: threads of folk pop, ambient and sound collage fasten the foundations of this expressive whole. However, what’s most striking on Hang Time is Noel’s newfound sense of voice, both literal and metaphorical. Written primarily in 2017-18 during an intense period of self-reflection, this collection of songs finds Noel wrestling profoundly with his sense of identity, self and place. The album’s material was captured faithfully at The Pines, a beloved downtown Montreal studio whose doors shuttered shortly after amidst the strain of the pandemic. Noel worked closely and patiently with friend and engineer Steve Newton, ensuring the songs had the time and space needed to come fully to fruition. Hang Time features subtle rhythm work from drummer Liam O’Neill (SUUNS) and guest spots from Brigitte Naggar (Common Holly) and Tim Crabtree (Paper Beat Scissors) among others. The album opens in mid-air with ‘Comuu’, a song that implores a becoming-more while hovering triumphantly. Then follows a suite of songs (‘Headspace’, ‘Keep’, ‘Stilling’) that recall the heart-rending power of y2k-era Low, albeit with a more vigorous beat. On ‘Bass Song’, an intimate duet with musician Ella Williams (Squirrel Flower) that explores the depths of interpersonal constriction. At the crux of the album sits ‘Born’, a deceptively pleasant-sounding song that explores the confounding emotionality of adoption before fading into a distended soundfield. Throughout the back half of the album, Noel double’s down on this commitment to his genuine, proud, Black self. The most confrontational track, ‘Allies’ finds him refraining “Are you on my side?” as a trailing guitar solo interweaves a Malcolm X soundbite, eventually engulfing the composition. Glorious lead single ‘Nighttime (Skin)’ traces the artist’s sense of ancestral dissociation through to a triumphant moment of pride in self-acceptance. Throughout Hang Time, Noel finds a way to ask hard questions (both of the listener and himself) in ways that are compassionate, open and honest. The ebb and flow of tension and tenderness that moves within these tracks helps to grow the heart and redefine what Black music can be in 2021.

Known for his soothing trumpet work in German jazz group Fazer, Matthias Lindermayr is back on Squama with an all-new trio and his third album 'Triptych'.
With Philipp Schiepek on acoustic guitar and Simon Popp on percussion, the Munich-based musician created a forward-thinking record between jazz and contemporary classical, conceptually bold and utterly beautiful.
'Triptych' is a thrillingly quiet record. While the album's predecessor 'Newborn' (2018) featured a quintet, the rather unusual trio line-up on 'Triptych' gave Matthias more room to share the nuances of his playing.
His compositions, most written especially for this group, are of a noble simplicity allowing the musicians to focus more on interaction and sound.

Clint Mansell's incredible synth score to Ben
Wheatley’s ‘In The Earth’.
 The score is pressed on 180g black vinyl and
housed in a deluxe spined sleeve with double
sided printed insert and digital download card.
 For the score, Mansell actually captured the sound
of singing plants via the PlantWave MIDI Sprout
machine, in keeping with the vegetal themes of the
film.
 “It’s big, ominous, sometimes beautiful and often
eerie - think Blade Runner or ‘Annihilation’ - not to
mention unsettling at times,” says Clint. “Paranoia,
isolation, anxiety, synths, plants... something for
everyone!”
 ‘In The Earth’ was made by Ben Wheatley during
lockdown and was one of the most talked about
films of Sundance Film Festival. As the world
searches for a cure to a devastating virus, a
scientist and a park scout venture deep into the
woods. As night falls, their journey becomes a
terrifying voyage through the heart of darkness as
the forest comes to life around them.
 Press - Features in Brooklyn Vegan, Empire, The
Guardian, The Quietus, Dead Central.

[a] Mycorrhiza [60-250 Hz]




[f] Mycorrhiza [250-500 Hz]


[i] Mycorrhiza [2-4 Hz]

Over the course of two EPs, two singles and a stripped-back
live album, Puma Blue has established himself as one of the
UK’s most vital new talents, quietly amassing over 50 million
streams in the process and selling out shows from London to LA
and Paris to Tokyo.
 His long-awaited debut album, ‘In Praise Of Shadows’, was a
delirious dreamland of soulful vocals, D'Angelo-ish guitars and
muted electronic beats. Its fourteen tracks are a contemplation
on “the balance of light and dark, the painful things you have to
heal from or accept, that bring you through to a better place,”
says the 25-year-old Puma Blue, real name Jacob Allen. “It's
about finding light in darkness and realizing that it’s what got me
here today.”
 Described by NME as “a brief moment of relief for those lost in
the darkness,” the album found his storytelling at its most
honest and vulnerable to date whilst his production reached
new heights, retaining its characteristic bedroom intimacy. Yet
for all the intimacy of his ‘voicemail-ballads’ on record, his songs
carry a different resonance in a live setting; a mix of
improvisation, in-the-moment escapism and the collective
power of an audience taking his music to new heights.
 ‘In Praise Of Shadows: B-Sides & Live Versions’ features
rarities and live recordings, mostly taken from rehearsals in
early 2021. With limited opportunities for people to hear the
album in a live setting thus far, this represents an intimate first
glimpse at the magic unique to the full band arrangements.
 This edition is completed by two new bedroom studio
recordings with new single ‘All I Need’ (a Radiohead cover)
perfectly extending the album’s small hours spirit, the raw
emotion of Puma Blue’s voice growing in tandem with the scale
of the initially skeletal production, and the previously unreleased
‘Postcard From Toyko’ exploring loneliness with brutal honesty
and a sparse acoustic atmosphere.
 Crystal clear LP in a deluxe clear PVC sleeve.

Few people have managed to become quite so celebrated worldwide, quite as quietly as JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ has. LOCAL VALLEY, his long awaited fourth album, serves as a relieving reminder that you don’t have to be loud to be heard.

Since his debut single ‘Crosses’ back in 2003, both he and his music have remained dependably quiet and unassuming. LOCAL VALLEY calmly exhibits his singular ability to communicate with such modesty and power.

“ When I started working on the piece in March of 2020, I had only decided to record it in the way I wanted to. The coronavirus was spreading globally, and the situation was gradually changing into something very serious. With no gigs scheduled and hardly seeing anyone, I felt as if my spirit was in a slightly deeper place than usual during the production. I sat down in front of my equipment as if I were dropping a fishing line into a quiet lake. I kept feeling that something new was lurking beneath the water surface. I was trying to catch that something that seemed to be just out of reach, that floated in and out of sight like a speck of smoke. “ ＿Referenced from: Afterword of 7FO「Ran - Bouten」

2021 brings a new album by Osaka electronic musician / producer 7FO. This work is a departure from the recent global ambient / new age approach, and the unique sound aesthetic created using only hardware equipment is a new frontier of 7FO or a return to his origin. "Ran - Bouten" is a new electronic music album with a poetic sensibility using machines.Discovered by overseas labels such as RVNG intl., Bokeh Versions, and Metron-and with the release that followed EM Records in his hometown Osaka, it's like his personal folk craft that was once quietly played at his own pace. Music has reached listeners around the world. In recent years, he has been touring from a famous performance with Tapes at the Belgian "Meakusma Festival 2019" to a Japan-Korea tour. "Ran - Bouten" was born as a result of facing the sound alone without being asked by anyone to cool down the heat when the steaming and intense experience had settled down. Inside the cool electronic sound like a water bath, you can feel the maker's heart sending hot blood.Peep into the condensed universe of a home-recorded miniature world that looks like an independent production of unknown age. He was alone in a dark room, making full use of KAWAI's 1990 digital and FM synthesizers , tracing the shape of nature and resonating the micro and macro sound worlds. The Rhythm and melody that continues to the Paradise Pure Land, which floats in a dreamy atmosphere, is the true value of 7FO even without his guitar play.Mastering by Makoto Oshiro, which supports everything from home listening to club sound systems. Hiroaki Hidaka designed the jacket to make the image of the sound appear cool and friendly everywhere.

Pilgrimage of the Soul is the 11th studio album in the 22-year career of Japanese experimental rock legends, MONO. Recorded and mixed - cautiously, anxiously, yet optimistically - during the height of the COVID- 19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, Pilgrimage of the Soul is aptly named as it not only represents the peaks and valleys where MONO are now as they enter their thirddecade, but also charts their long, steady journey to this time and place. Continuing the subtle but profound creative progression in the MONO canon that began with Nowhere Now Here (2019), Pilgrimage of the Soul is the most dynamic MONO album to date (and that's saying a lot). But where MONO's foundation was built on the well-established interplay of whisper quiet and devastatingly loud, Pilgrimage of the Soul crafts its magic with mesmerizing new electronic instrumentation and textures, and - perhaps most notably - faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno. It all galvanizes as the most unexpected MONO album to date - replete with surprises and as awash in splendor as anything this band has ever done. MONO began in Japan at the end of the 20th Century as a young band equally inspired by thepioneers of moody experimental rock (My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai) and iconic Classicalcomposers (Beethoven, Morricone) who came be fore them. They have evolved into one of the most inspiring and influential experimental rock bands in their own right. It is only fitting that their evolution has come at the glacial, methodical pace that their patient music demands. MONO is a band who puts serious value in nuance, and offers signi ficant rewards for the wait. "glacial, metallic, all-consuming post-rock" - Stereogum ,Stunning, eloquent, emotionally gut-busting" - Pop Matters "it's the kind of album that's best played start to finish (and best played loudly), and that can truly suck you in and transport you to another world if you do so." - Brooklyn Vegan

Our second LP this month is an unreleased magical modern soul LP from the band Coast To Coast, the full story below by band leader Mark Beiner...


I met Ben iverson in 1976 when I was 17 years old. I was a junior at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens. At that time, I took a part time job as a Produce Clerk at Walbaum's Supermarket on Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens, where I met Ben Iverson who was the "Frozen Food Manager." In between the music, this job was steady income, and he and his Wife, Diane, started a family and raised two Daughters, Tonia and Cytherea, whom I am still in contact with today.

Back then, I remember going to work early just to talk to him about his musical background and his time spent in the 50's and 60's with the Ohio Doo Wop Group, "The Hornets", or better known as, "Ben Iverson and The Hornets." However, Ben was somewhat quiet and at a loss for words when I questioned him with regard to "Ben Iverson and the Nue Dey Express", as well as his short career as Manager and Songwriter for Brooklyn's own, "Crown Heights Affair" in the early 70's.

Between the 50's and 60's, "Ben Iverson and The Hornets" shared billing at music events with recording artists such as, The Drifter's, Bill Haley and The Comets, Pat Boone, Etta James, Mary Wells, Nancy Wilson, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Lloyd Price and Al Green. Many of these names got their start in the 50's, which Ben met at music concert events hosted by Radio Disc Jockey, Alan Freed. Alan was truly the first Concert Promoter for Doo Wop, Rhythm & Blues, and early Rock & Roll.

In 1978 after Ben and I discussed getting together and composing music, I started writing poetry and expressing in writing my break up with my college girl friend, Paula Vasta. Paula's middle name was Marie, so in kidding around, I would call her "Paula Marie." Ben thought my lyrics were "powerful" and wanted to put them in music. Thus our first recorded 45 rpm record called "Paula Marie", backed with "I Want You Dear." This launched our musical partnership and within a year, the Coast to Coast Band was formed. Ben and I went on to writing two albums worth of material, which in turn gave us a lot of time and presence on stage at our live gigs.

The regular Coast to Coast Band members consisted of Ben Iverson on Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitarist and Co-Executive Producer, Joe Crowley, who is known today as "New York Congressman Joe Crowley." Carl (Woody Wood) Morton on Bass Guitar, Jimmy Johnson on Keyboards. Woody and Jimmy used to hang and play rap in its early days with "Run DMC" in St. Albans, Queens. Lead Guitarist, Lou Jimenez, currently owns his own recording studio, Music Labs in Elmont, Long Island. On Drums, Eddie Byam, on Alto Sax, Jay Cohen, who in the 70's used to record for "Gary U.S. Bonds." Gary Pevols on Trumpet. On Bone, Scott Burrows, Trumpet player, Steve Becker, whom we lost to Testicular Cancer at the age of 25, along side Neil Levine, Stan Stockley, Tom Russo and additional members that came and went that we used for live gigs and studio recordings.

In addition, special recognition goes out to our Producer, Recording Engineer and Multi-sound Recording Studio, Owner, Dave Weiner and staff. Dave and I launched Multi-Sound Records under the Multi-Sound label in 1980.

Last, of course myself, Mark Beiner, where I served as Executive Producer, Songwriter, Business/Marketing Manager, and background vocals.

Unfortunately, Ben Iverson passed away on March 21, 2008, and cannot be here to share this with us, but his music and voice still lives on!

Heavy South African cut, unearthed by Dene from LCT, All about the massive title track ''Got My Magic Working''... Phat bassline, machinegun claps dipped in acid!

The origins of Amajika is a tale of two worlds colliding at the perfect moment and begin in KwaMushu Township outside Durban. Here would be where a young Tu Nokwe would set up a school to help teach other aspiring youngsters like herself in music, dance and acting. This would become known as the Amajika Youth and Children’s Art Project and would be run from the Nokwe home, a common hangout for artists at the time. Some boast 2000+ pupils going through this program while others claim it wasn’t more than a backyard dance group, but for the lucky group of kids that were members in the mid 80s it would be their chance at stardom.

It was during these years that a young aspiring playwright and musician Mbongeni Ngema had come across Tu and her group of gifted youngsters at the Nokwe family home. Although he was touring extensively at the time with the plays Woza Albert and Asinamali, the latter which eventually ended up on broadway, he would spend any time off from the tour with Tu and her dance troop. After being inspired by the American group New Edition, Mbongeni envisioned Amajika as the South African answer and decided to bankroll a studio session.

The session would take place in a private studio in Durban.The release of the first single would follow very shortly. The lead track, Tomati-So is a fun swinging groove over some basic programmed drums. The song is dedicated to Tu Nokwe sings of her unique style and kind heart. On his next tour Mbongeni would take the remaining masters with him to the US and had the track remixed. Although it never materialized in a release States side he did return with the remixed tape and release it in South Africa the following year. Much like Tomato So the song was an ode and would be dedicated to the man who was making all their dreams come true. Got My Magic Working sings of going overseas and being a star on Broadway and TV and the man who is making it all happen. All these true predictions are sung on top of a groovy acid bass by a clearly matured troop of artists.

During these years of working with Amajika, Mbongeni became very impressed with the exceeding talent of one of the members and decided to cast her in his upcoming musical Sarafina. The other children also wanted to be a part of the Broadway show but not everyone would get a role. This would be the end of Amajika as the next years would be dedicated to creating success on the musical stage. The growing kids that formed Amajika became young adults and pursued their own careers after the fact. Tu Nokwe would leave the country to return years later as the wife of Shaka Zulu on the big screen. To this day she is still very active both on stage and screen while Mbongeni is still writing and adding to the South African Musical Theatre catalog.

Fast forward 30 years from the original release to a smokey club where ESA hears Got My Magic Working played by Rush Hours Store’s own Bonnefooi. Instantly he inquires about the track from his homeland and feels it a perfect addition the repertoire of the Afro Synth band he is quietly cooking up. The band’s instrumental take ended up as the B side on a mysterious and limited white label released by Rush Hour in early 2020 but quickly sold out.

Here you have compiled the two title tracks from original Amajika singles along with the instrumental version by ESA’s Afro Synth Band for The complete Amajika experience, past to present.

Best known as Hot Chip's clear-voiced frontman, Alexis Taylor also pursues a solo career as an introspective singer/songwriter, exploring distinct themes and ideas with each record. Today Alexis announces the release of his sixth and strongest solo album to date, Silence,

Partly about silence - and how we intersect with it, observe it, try to record it, and how we feel about it when it’s gone, as we remember it - the record is also about religion, transcendence, giving oneself over to something bigger than you, or beyond this world. “I’m not religious myself,” adds Alexis, “but the songs which deal with the idea of gospel music or religion, look at it from a distance (rather like the shaky hand-held lens through which we follow the action in Pasolini’s ‘Gospel According To Matthew’) and try to uncover its influence on music and on people in desperate circumstances.”
The genesis behind Silence started a few years ago with Alexis ruminating on silence as a subject and making plans to make a record of the sounds you hear in public spaces as people observe moments of silence. He then lost his own personal access to silence as tinnitus began in his right ear in 2019 at a Hot Chip show. As Alexis explains, “I started to think about what it meant to me to lose quietness, solitude, meditative head space - as that was no longer available to me.”
Mostly composed in enforced isolation, Silence is a beautifully rich and unexpected conceptual album that is also Alexis’ most accomplished solo record and one that has seen early comparisons with a notably eclectic range of artists including Mark Hollis, George Michael, Big Star, Epic Soundtracks and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. This record sees the first time Alexis has collaborated with Sam Becker (double bass), Kenichi Iwasa (horn, trumpet) and Rachel Horton-Kitchlew (harp), who due to lockdown had to work in isolation from Alexis. In one case Kenichi recorded musical passages which were then superimposed on songs he had never heard - in effect keeping the songs themselves silent from the playing until the mixes were played to him.

For Andy and Edwin White, the brothers behind Orlando’s Tonstartssbandht, a song is a living, breathing thing. Through constant touring, the Whites’ songs both take shape and change shape, becoming something a little different every night as they explore the possibilities inherent within them. With time, attention, and intention, these songs—long, languid, full of open musical questions and temporary answers—become distinct objects, and the process begins again. On Petunia, Tonstartssbandht’s 18th album and second for Mexican Summer, they bring us to the earliest moments of this process, showing off a barn full of hatchlings already decked with splendid plumage. Using little more than a 12-string guitar and a drum kit, Andy and Edwin weave together the gentle headiness of Laurel Canyon and the sweaty pacing of Cologne; like a gyroscope, its constant motion produces the illusion of stillness—and that stillness gives it a sense of intimacy and introspection, something that’s further illuminated by the new emphasis placed on the brothers’ vocals. It allows the quiet wisdom of the lyrics—what Andy self-deprecatingly calls “generic broad platitudes that I still think resonate when I say them”—to slip in almost unnoticed, delivering their emotional truths while preparing a feather bed for you to collapse into. “All roads will lead to the heart of town, when you’ve been running too long,” he sings in the album’s opening moments. “Being at peace only slows you down, but you’ve been running so long now.” If Petunia feels like a journey in the direction of peace, that, too, is a reflection of how it was made—the entire thing was written and recorded in Orlando in 2020, rather than pieced together in spurts over the years. This is an album built on level ground that shows what can happen when the artistic environment is stable, even while the world’s environment is anything but. Petunia is not Tonstartssbandht’s definitive statement on these songs, because how could it be? But it is a portrait of Andy and Edwin White at home in Florida, an artfully staged landscape rich in detail, its winding passages and airy environment waiting to be explored.

Banging 2 tracks, stopry tellers of tribe between hardefloor and hardtek... Quiet olschool deejay friendly sound !