Cerca:tone on

This 40 year anniversary collection traces Brother Culture's career and includes some of his biggest hits, with remastered versions of these classics. The album includes his hits Jump Up Pon It (25 million streams), Supanova (15 million streams), My Selecta (2 million streams), and some of his most listened-to tracks ever released on vinyl.

A composition simply means things being put together. In music, we usually think of composition as a classical idea. But in recent years, the possibilities of what ‘composing’ can be, have dramatically increased. Based in Oslo, Norway, Deathprod (aka Helge Sten) has been making his own forms of music with no compromise since the early 90s. His specialty is a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself. This music can sound forbidding and alien at first, but compared to his more brutal output, it’s an extraordinarily close and intimate experience. The first new Deathprod studio project since 2019’s OCCULTING DISK, Compositions is the result of an intense period at his legendary Audio Virus Lab studio in central Oslo. All tracks are released in chronological order – in other words, the order in which they were recorded. Helge used a personal, unique combination of obsolete digital audio processors and sound generators, combined with his own secret-sauce tuning system. Like gazing at the wonders revealed by an electron microscope with Helge compositional control directs your attention to a succession of ever more spellbinding details and textures. Helge adopted the Deathprod alias in 1991. A complex array of homemade electronics, samplers, sound processing and analogue effects – cumulatively known as the ‘Audio Virus’ – combined with obsolete samplers and playback devices, to distort and transform sounds into unrecognizable relatives of their former selves. On the new album Compositions, the virus has evolved into even more fascinating and kaleidoscopic new strains. Electronically generated sounds vibrate and tremble like undiscovered metals ringing and resonating together. Sonic forms attract or repel each other as if under the influence of a strange magnetism. None of the tracks are over four minutes, but no way are these ‘miniatures’. Each one contains its own fully-formed galaxy of tones and clusters, while all tracks audibly belong in the same universe. These are 17 compositions in search of a sonic ideal. His off-grid audio control centre created a parallel acoustic universe which he filled with mutated samples and electronic textures. Even the gaps between the tracks are part of that universe. Helge left the almost silent, twitching crackles of his snoozing analogue gear intact, ensuring a smoother transition between them. Helge is continually striving to find new parameters and possibilities for what music can be – what you can affect with the medium of sound. From the intricate homemade miniatures of Treetop Drive to the bonecrushing electronic barrage of Morals and Dogma and OCCULTING DISK, the different sides of Deathprod are all products of the same obsessive focus and self-discipline in pursuit of sonic exploration. His Compositions are private rather than public music: like introspective chamber or solo compositions instead of the more strident, outward-looking tones of a symphony. Helge is a founder of Norwegian improvising group Supersilent and has produced records by Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen and others. He recently composed music for Harry Partch’s legendary instruments, which can be heard on Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth, released in 2022 on Smalltown Supersound.

Ugly Mac Beer, a key figure in the French breakbeat scene, founder of Beatsqueeze Records and author of the critically acclaimed albums Modonut 1 & 2 alongside Mister Modo, is back with a new solo album “The Valley of the Kings”, between lofi hip-hop, abstract hip-hop or even broken beat, which will be released on January 27, 2023.

A digger/beatmaker effort par excellence, very inspired by the 90s productions of masters of the genre such as Madlib, DJ Shadow or RZA, the concept of this instrumental album with oriental sounds is based on the search for the sample of “THE” ultimate and perfectly heady loop, which can be listen to over and over again.

The eponymous title track which opens the album sets the tone with its powerful lofi hip-hop drum on a big cinematic and orchestral sound which evokes an Egyptian peplum of the 60s taking place in the heart of the mythical valley of the kings! Another highlight of the album, the track “Les chœurs perdus” resonates like a children’s tale, with its bewitching voices and magical songs set to a catchy beat that evokes the Egyptian goddesses and the mystery of the pyramids. To compose the powerful and rather dark beat of “The New Flame”, another essential piece of the album, the beatmaker drew his inspiration from New York hip-hop from the 90s but also from “crime film” soundtracks from the 70s. The sublime interludes “Fortune & Gloire”, “Years of Despare” and “Ambitious Dream” take us from one track to another, each one more powerful than the other.

In a very cinematographic mood, Ugly Mac Beer succeeds in developing its “old film about Egypt” album concept from start to finish and thus manages to tell a real story that takes us on a journey back in pyramids time.

Ugly Mac Beer, a key figure in the French breakbeat scene, founder of Beatsqueeze Records and author of the critically acclaimed albums Modonut 1 & 2 alongside Mister Modo, is back with a new solo album “The Valley of the Kings”, between lofi hip-hop, abstract hip-hop or even broken beat, which will be released on January 27, 2023.

A digger/beatmaker effort par excellence, very inspired by the 90s productions of masters of the genre such as Madlib, DJ Shadow or RZA, the concept of this instrumental album with oriental sounds is based on the search for the sample of “THE” ultimate and perfectly heady loop, which can be listen to over and over again.

The eponymous title track which opens the album sets the tone with its powerful lofi hip-hop drum on a big cinematic and orchestral sound which evokes an Egyptian peplum of the 60s taking place in the heart of the mythical valley of the kings! Another highlight of the album, the track “Les chœurs perdus” resonates like a children’s tale, with its bewitching voices and magical songs set to a catchy beat that evokes the Egyptian goddesses and the mystery of the pyramids. To compose the powerful and rather dark beat of “The New Flame”, another essential piece of the album, the beatmaker drew his inspiration from New York hip-hop from the 90s but also from “crime film” soundtracks from the 70s. The sublime interludes “Fortune & Gloire”, “Years of Despare” and “Ambitious Dream” take us from one track to another, each one more powerful than the other.

In a very cinematographic mood, Ugly Mac Beer succeeds in developing its “old film about Egypt” album concept from start to finish and thus manages to tell a real story that takes us on a journey back in pyramids time.

Heads have been after Otakar Olšaník and Jan Martiš's Advanced Process for a long time. That's because "coincidentally-cosmic disco" packed with spaced-out, smacky-synth dynamite tends to become sought-after. Originally slipping out on the mighty Coloursound in 1986, the label described the sound as "contemporary synthesizer underscores played by computers; depicting future technologies in today's process." If they'd just added "acid-drenched", they'd have been closer to nailing it.

The A-Side is totally beatless. It's also totally perfect. "Atomic Plant 1" is a pulsing synth epic and could've easily soundtracked a stylish 80s thriller such as Thief or To Live And Die In LA. It's a narcotically enhanced meeting between John Carpenter and Steve "Lovelock" Moore. "Atomic Plant 2" adds extra squelch and proper early computer synth squiggles. This stuff is addictive and truly ace. The 3 part "Fusion Point" showcases a dramatic and insistent industrial mood via a gripping sequencer pattern mixed with effects and accents. Menacing and magnificent. The trio of "Nuclear Radiation" tracks veer majestically from a hypnotic sequencer pattern with a heavy dramatic tune to hectic patterns without much of a tune, managing nevertheless to maintain a hold on the listener.

The drums enter proceedings on Side B and they're absolutely outstanding. Coming on like a slicker, heavier Johnny Jewel production, 20 years before Italians Do It Better, "Regulators 1" marries the smoothest head-nod beat you can wish for, with a murky mechanical rhythm and phasing effects. After the stunning beatless version ("Regulators 2") the suuuupppper slo-mo "Data Load" sounds like its wading through the heaviest K-Hole and is all the more thrilling for it. "Modem" is a brief and breezy funky bass and synth squiggle wonder, of the beatless variety. "Robot Masters", would you believe, actually sounds like something those Daft Parisians would've sampled on Discovery, over 15 years later. An uptempo, optimistic track with a real strut; propulsive rhythms with dramatic synths, what can only be described as "very-80s sounds" and digi-handclaps. The breathless "Digiheart" double bill rounds things out, one with a dynamic driving rhythm and more slick-as-hell beats and the other without drums. Mental, brilliant and completely essential.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Advanced Process comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

Music For Dreams signal the summer with the debut LP from Ibizan royalty DJ Pippi & Willie Graff, released digitally on May 27th with the physical version following on the 8th July. The latest bounty from the Danish label’s long and fruitful relationship with the White Isle, Follow Your Dreams is a twelve plate tapas packed with the assorted styles and flavours of the Balearic sound - a complex blend delivered with a warmth, feeling and tone which bring it all together as a whole.

Collaborating on and off over the past fifteen years, with resulting singles gracing the likes of Compost, Leng and Archipelago, DJ Pippi and Willie Graff posses a unique combination of Balearic heritage; one an Italian export who helped originate the sound and style of the genre through his legendary DJ sets at the likes of Pacha and KU in the eighties, the other a trailblazing talent born on the island, who started his residency at Pacha in summer 2000 at the tender age of 17. Their intergenerational entente speaks to Pippi’s unyielding passion for sonic progression and the musical maturity of Graff, as well as a shared love of the soulful side.

Roe Deers presents his fascinating debut full-length Salt Town Boy, a leftfield collection of wild sonic tales filled with dusky moods and punk attitude. The first LP to be released on Good Skills, the label Roe Deers runs with BDHBTS co-conspirator Titas Motuzas, the album brings together tracks produced in his Vilnius studio over the past six years. It also features a series of unique storytelling vocal contributions from an international list of friends and colleagues.

Roe Deers is a Lithuanian-based project led by Liudas Lazauskas. A regular at Vilnius institution Opium and a key member of the city's fertile scene, he's long been breaking the rules of genre in his explorations of the uncharted territories of murky electronic music, releasing on labels like Omnidisc, Turbo, Nein Records and Throne Of Blood.

The Salt Town of the album's title is Druskininkai, the Lithuanian spa resort where Roe Deers grew up and first began DJing at a venue run by his parents. The breadth of styles and moods he was exposed to from an early age can be heard across these 12 intriguing tracks, which blend elements of beat science, electroclash, post punk, italo, krautrock and EBM into a deliciously intoxicating brew.

The skewed motorik pulse of opener and lead single 'Trident', featuring apocalyptic intonations by French-Canadian lyricist C.A.R., sets an offbeat, ominous tone that prevails for the rest of the album. Vocal contributions from Israeli producer Niv Ast ('Late Night Tale'), Norwegian troublemaker Sex Judas ('Rodeo King') and Berlin-based singer Aquarius Heaven ('Walking Down The Streets') each bring out the moods - vampish, febrile, industrial - that permeate Roe Deers's textured, percussive productions. At the album's centre are two tracks that point to the past and possible future of the Roe Deers project: first, 'Theme' features French post punk band Order89 in a compelling disco-noir moment that recalls his earlier club EPs; then, regular collaborator Palmes Ziedas provides Lithuanian vocals for 'Tarp Raudonu Sviesu' ('Between Red Lights'), a frenzied howl of a track that fits an entire film score into its short three minutes.

The instrumental pieces on the album have their own stories to tell, from the dusty dive bar meditation of 'Flying Carpets' to the paranoid proto-techno pulse of 'Celebrity Theme' and the 11-minute cyclical epic 'Never - Ending -'. As the last moments of cinematic closer 'Fin' play out, we realise that our trip down the twisted paths of Roe Deers's beguiling sound world is coming to an end; but we also know that to go back in again all we have to do is press play.

Fly Me To The Sun is a breathtaking German library gem from the hallowed Coloursound label. Originally out in 1983 it features two Polish composers, Andrzej Marko and André Mikola. If outré synth-funk is your thing, you need this record.

Almost blindingly luminous with positive vibes and radiant optimism, Fly Me to the Sun is a collection of funky, sun-dappled compositions for synthesizer and live instruments like drums, bass and guitar. A dope blend of beatbox driven future jazz and electro pop.

The wonderfully sleaze-adjacent opener "Dhamma" includes some grandiose piano chords amid floating ambient sounds a la Steve Hillage with slick drums entering the fray at a languid pace. "Circulation" sounds like Bowie ran into Chaz Jankel during an extended stay in Los Angeles, the Thin White Duke emerging out of a studio at 6am, bleary-eyed and clutching this filthy, bleepy instrumental of sonic smut. "Magic Scenery" is as delicate and astounding as the title suggests, a deep ambient movement conjuring halcyon images of rolling fields with abundant fauna and flora; acid-tinged visions of intense colour and natural beauty. Cool, slo-mo breaks adorn the strutting melancholy of “Longing for Tomorrow” and “Nocturnal Flowers” to close out Side A.

Skip the title track, which opens up Side B, and head straight to “Birth of a Butterfly” for a slice of creeping digi-dub-soul niceness. This should've been front and centre of that Personal Space compilation a decade ago. Raising both the tempo and the temperature, “Riding on a Sunbeam” continues in the mesmerising cosmic funk style before "Osmosis", one of the clear stand-outs, presents a fine vintage synth solo over a mellow funky rubberband beat. The closing track, "Solar Heating", warms things up with slapped bass and bold drum machine beats and the synth lends Sci-Fi vibes to the dark dub-funk-reggae rhythm.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Fly Me To The Sun comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

Unreleased before music by Otto Sidharta, pioneer of Indonesian electronic music. Inspired by Indonesia's multifarious styles of traditional music, that he tries to preserve, the four pieces on Kajang express a contemplation of the self.

Otto Sidharta loves to travel, everywhere within Indonesia, in order to collect almost any environmental tones and harmonies he can gather, as an endless source of composition. He is also deeply inspired by Indonesia's multifarious styles of traditional music, that he tries to preserve, as in some remote places, they keep their own tradition very strongly.

What really interests Sidharta is musicians not interacting with other kinds of music, as in those deep villages, where one might find sounds that feel like very "natural". It results in works expressing Sidharta's personal impression from their music: "I just use my own feeling, with no calculation", not using the tribals motif or style.

Kajang is the name of a tribal people living in the south of Sulawesi, a giant island in eastern Indonesia, a closed community, that Sidharta visited twice: "They cut off their communication with the outside world. They live in a very traditional way and try to avoid any new development in culture that might impact their way of life."

Sidharta's previous album collected early pieces under the title Indonesian Electronic Music 1979-92, released on Sub Rosa in 2017. Kajang gathers a quartet of compositions from 2015 to 2020.

Otto Sidharta is born in Bandung, Indonesia November 6, 1955. In the late 1970' he studied first in Jakarta, under guidance of Slamet Abdul Sjukur, later at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Holland. In 2015 he accomplished his doctoral study at Institute Seni Indonesia Surakarta and finished in 2016. For years he felt isolated as a composer, not only because of living in Indonesia, but because the nature of his music lay outside the mainstream of electronic composition. Until 2019 he taught for many years in the music departments of several Indonesian universities. He also managed an Indonesian symphony orchestra for five years, a job that included setting up a tour of Japan.

Impatiently returning to the golden age of Ecuadorian musica national, this second round of retrievals is more of a selectors’ affair: less reverent, more free-flowing, with more twists and turns. There is no let-up in musical quality, maintaining the same judicious, heart-piercing balance between emotional desolation and dignified endurance, the same bitter-sweet play between affective excess and musical sublimity.

This time around, the woman steal the show. Laura and Mercedes Suasti were child stars, with an exclusive Radio Quito contract. Unlike nearly all the men here, they lived long and prospered: Mercedes died last year, at the age of 93. Gladys Viera and Olga Gutierrez both came to Ecuador from Argentina. To start, Gladys plugged the scandalous new Monokini swimwear; Olga performed for visiting British royalty in 1962. Olga was glamorous but tough. She would make little of the amputation of one of her legs: ‘I don’t sing with my leg.’ She is accompanied on our opener by quintessentially reeling, sultry musica national: haunted-house organ, twinkling xylophone, Guillermo Rodriguez’ heart-plucking guitar-playing, and lilting, dance-to-keep-from-crying double-bass. ‘Sometimes I think that you will leave me with no memories,’ she sings, ‘that you hold only disappointments in store for me… In the future your love will search me out, full of regret. By then it will be too late, there will be no consolation, only disappointment awaiting you.’

Other highlights include the two contributions of Orquesta Nacional: Ponchito Al Hombro, like an off-the-wall forerunner of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, beamed into the tropics from an unknowable time and space; and the tone poem Atahualpa, a mystical yumbo invoking Quito’s most ancient inhabitants, the Kichwa. Also the tremulous, gypsy-flavoured violin-playing of Raul Emiliani, who arrived in Quito from Italy, suffering PTSD from the Second World War; the inscrutable, sardonic experimentalism of organist Lucho Munoz; and the mooing and whistling of Toro Barroso — school of Lee Perry — in which a muddy bull dashes home to his darling chola, fearless, full of desire.

Lavishly presented, with a full-size, full-colour booklet, with transporting art-work and expert notes. Luminous sound, by way of Abbey Road, D&M and Pallas.

Emotionally, crafted by Brainislave Zivkovic and Andre Tschaskowski in 1986 for Coloursound, is arguably the most beautiful library album ever produced. A start-to-finish masterpiece of powerfully melodic music for reflection and introspection. It is, indeed, deeply emotional.

Branislave Zivkovic handles the majority of Side A. Opener "Morning Light" evokes exactly that feeling, with a gorgeous and plaintive acoustic guitar solo combining with alto flute to stunning effect. Its immediate counterpoint, "Sundown", in no less arresting but brings with it an after-dark drama of almost Lynchian proportions, again drawing upon guitar and flute but with a slightly more melancholic, even sinister edge, also calling to mind Ry Cooder's score for Paris, Texas. It truly captivates when the strings arrive. Remarkable.

The reflective cello solo with swelling strings at the heart of "Pastoral Walk 1" ensure this track is aptly titled, with parts 2 and 3 adding more agitation - via keys and percussive elements - to great effect. "In The Garden 1" presents an elegiac cello solo whilst its second part elevates the romance. The four-part "Soft Thoughts" suite invites further introspection via reflective alto flute and guitar. Fans of The Durutti Column will need to seek this.

Andre Tschaskowski enters proceedings with three tracks at the end of the Side A. All of them aces in the pack. "Grief", whilst sorrowful, uplifts in its second half through beautiful keys. Equally hopeful are the two-part "Personal Mood" sketches, both dreamy exercises in optimistic ambience.

Tschaskowski controls the entirety of Side B. "Woodland Mood", with its pastoral flute and cor anglais and "Reminiscence", with its classical, emotional strings, both beguile. The piano and strings-heavy "Sentimental View" suite is one of the most beautiful, atmospheric things you will ever hear, particularly its second part. "Moonset 1" with it's wonderful Joe Pass-esque guitar is tense yet easy, the beauty elevated further with the introduction of strings and horns. The more restrained "Moonset 2" is pared back to its divine, sweeping essence and should surely have been sampled by now. To close out an album of almost impossible refinement, the brief 2-part "Emotional Tension" salvo brings both increased stress before resolving itself and the LP with a piano motif and atmosphere of serenity. Blessed relief.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Emotionally comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

Lütfen is a new project by Tayfun Sarier (1/2 of 25 Places). Releasing his first solo EP 7PM In Leyton on his
new imprint LTFN Records.

The EP arrives with a set of tracks representing authentic sounds by blending attitudes and colliding modern-day genres such as house and techno. Strictly inspired by and dedicated to today’s dance floor.

Gaze into the moment with 7PM In Leyton to witness how low-toned and organ-esque sounds naturally unfold. Define the atmosphere with 808 Views with never-ending rhythm sections. Shift gear with Red Extreme with percussion-based drum patterns designed to exist as a big room tool in small room venues. Step out of the routine with Untitledx 22 by changing direction rhythmically with vocal chops and chord pads bringing in the warmth at any given moment.

All tracks have been mixed, written, and produced by Tayfun Sarier in London and mastered by Salz Mastering in Cologne.
Distributed by Wordandsound and EPM Music.

repressed !

Okain opens LOCUS’ 2022 schedule as he drops his latest EP, ‘Daddy’s Groove’.

A long-standing figure within Paris and Berlin’s nightlife scenes, Talman Records boss Okain continues to impress as a DJ, producer and label head at the heart of Europe’s house landscape. Whether releasing material via labels such as Infuse, Pleasure Zone, Eastenderz or Constant Sound, or on home turf alongside the likes of Silverlinings, DJOKO, Leo Pol and Per Hammar, the Frenchman’s blend of tough house merging old and new runs deep throughout his DJ sets and productions. Kicking off 2022 in style, mid-January welcomes a label debut on LOCUS as he drops four crisp efforts across his ‘Daddy’s Groove’ EP.

Opening cut ‘Mightnight Feed’ welcomes a slinking track guided by aquatic synths, sweeping electronics and bumping bass, while ‘Tavie One Tooth’ hones in on rich M1 stabs to showcase a bubbling and resonant house affair. On the B-side, ‘Brother Jack’ journeys down a lighter path, combining airy pads with jazzy interludes and subtle yet squelching low-ends, before rounding things out via the slick, classy tones of closing production ‘Green Mousse’.

Infinite Machine is proving again it's a label that refuses to sonically sit still. Having released everything from code-based compositions to bass-heavy techno in 2022, the imprint is readying the release of the black metal-tinged Ehkta by BOLT RUIN later this month. A musician whose work has been described as 'apocalyptic' more than once, on this new mini-album, the Belgian producer blends field recordings, twisted samples and rave signifiers with an eerie tonality born out of his nocturnal production sessions and time spent absorbing the silence of his studio garden.

Bridging the gap from his previous record to this one, 'Sktone' is a cinematic opener that unfolds like a bad dream in slow motion. Warped samples of Bulgarian choirs glide over synths wired in closed-circuit loops which feed back on themselves, degrading for infinity. Texture and space is added via field recordings of waves crashing over the ruins of Brighton West Pier. This track exemplifies the unexpected influence BOLT RUIN took from the wildlife he witnessed in the garden of his urban studio when working on Ehkta. Adapting to the material at their disposal, weasels and blackbirds create nests from organic waste and human trash - an astute metaphor for the Belgian producer's compositional approach.

Next up, BOLT RUIN drives up the tempo with the rave-ready 'Nehng', where a frenzy of trance arpeggios and frantic drum programming builds and intensifies over its 5-minute duration. Inspired by Yves Klein's 'Leap Into a Void', 'Nehng' definitely evokes that bodily rush of freefalling into the unknown. 'Nehng''s driving rhythm is switched out for the brooding 'Tzarhk' - an ode to the soundtracks of B-movies composed on a vintage Roland SH-2 (a prominent character of the Stranger Things soundtrack). BOLT RUIN runs thick, syrupy synth slabs and punishing drum patterns through a rain-soaked limiter the producer found lying on the street by chance.

Another master-class in self-destructive arrangements comes in the form of 'Rfohmdrá' as delicate pianos and synth tones atrophy through daisy chained pedals which erode the signal. Valgeir Sigurðsson's mastering skills shines through here, taking BOLT RUIN's sci-fi-meets-metal sonics and amping them up to a scale on par with the Björk or Ben Frost records he's previously worked on.

Conceived of as the mirror reflection of the LP's opener, 'Maevr' pushes the approach of 'Sktone' to an even more nightmarish extreme. Embracing chance, the clattering layers of beats are sampled of a knocked mic on a window as BOLT RUIN attempted to capture a recording of rain from his studio. A happy and very effective accident for the foreboding mood of the track!

BOLT RUIN rounds off Ehkta with 'Ekztamnh'; an ode to that specific sensation of entering through a corridor to a rave and hearing the rumble of a soundsystem from afar. Snarling melodies are run through a reverse granular delay effect which fragments the signal, reverses it and plays them back in irregular order; much like the shattered memories of a late night in a warehouse.

A musical magpie who finds inspiration in the most unlikely of sources, Ehkta is a restless exploration of salvage-punk aesthetics where doom-laden black metal melodies, amen breaks and an experimental approach to sound design sit in an irregular and uneven musical apocalypse. For fans of Blanck Mass or Caterina Barbieri - this is a must-listen material from a fresh producer establishing himself with a singular musical voice.

repressed !

Firmly entrenched in techno's haziest alcoves, every new record from Denise Rabe is as punishingly hypnotic an experience as it aims to penetrate the deepest laid of your cerebral zones. Having plied her trade on Arts' sub-division Arts Collective before moving on to establish her own dedicated label, Rabe, in 2017, the Berlin-based DJ and producer steps up with her much anticipated debut platter for Stroboscopic Artefacts, as she takes the helm for the fifth sortie of the Totem series. True to her love for all things droney and psychoactive, this time Rabe has us descending into rugged, hostile sonic terrains with just a headlamp and the thick mantle of darkness for closest companions. Ahead’s a demented safari across nightmare-prone visions and thunderstruck vistas.

Hosing off the loud, churning 909 kicks and passive-aggressive machine talk straightaway, 'Manifesto' sets the tone for the warehouse-sized hammering to come. Evil-minded swashes of hyper-delayed percs and criss-crossing chimes lash out in successive waves, further subjugating the dancers as bars fly by. A more spacious and atmospheric number, B-side opener 'Clouds' heads for quieter high-altitude spheres as the dubbed-out drums beat an off-kilter, leftfield friendly pulse and ominous synth stabs and pads envelop the listener in entrancing textural folds and interplays. Back to floor-ready dynamics, the adrenaline booster 'Don't Leave' caps it off on a truly mind-bending tip. Primed for unrelenting peak time action with its angry buzzard-like drones, pacey 4/4 swing and refined palette of eerie circuit noises and click-y minimalism, this one's a high-impact steamroller, sure to get maximum response when things start getting muscular.

Peace And Love, Inc, the fourth album from Information Society is
celebrating its 30th anniversary, which was initially released on October 26, 1992.
The track "300bps N, 8, 1 (Terminal Mode Or Ascii Download)" is actually a text file encoded as modem tones. When decoded, the content is a tale by Kurt Harland about a bizarre but purportedly true event that took place when the band was playing in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. The title track, which hit #10 on the Dance Chart, takes aim at corporate culture and blind conformity but the band envisions themselves as one that sells peace , love and truth.

A Notwist concert is a Notwist concert is a Notwist concert. The band around the core trio of Cico Beck and the Acher brothers Markus and Micha usually takes its studio recordings as a mere starting point for their live performances, considering them to be possibilities that need to be explored further. This is especially true for »Vertigo Days - Live from Alien Research Center,« a live record made under unusual circumstances. The band members rearranged songs from their ambitious 2021 album »Vertigo Days« in their studio in Weilheim to record and film a special performance. The songs took on a new life, becoming more psychedelic and intense when rearranged into a spontaneous, Krautrock-esque collage.

»Vertigo Days« was meant to transcend the conventional notion of a band as well as the creative and geographic boundaries inscribed into that concept. And even though life had other plans, this is precisely what the album did when it was released to both commercial success and critical acclaim in early 2021. Contributions by Tenniscoats singer Saya, Angel Bat Dawid, Ben LaMar Gay, Juana Molina, among others, as well as new member Theresa Loibl on bass clarinet, harmonium, and keyboard, expanded the band’s sonic palette, stylistic range, and even lyrical focus through the addition of different instruments, artistic approaches, and languages.

All of that was missing when the band retreated to their studio—dubbed Alien Research Center in response to, and in spite of, a nearby church called Christian Outreach Center—to further explore the possibilities of the source material. The band members considered this a challenge rather than an insurmountable problem and not only accepted, but fully embraced it. Trying to work as little as possible with the computers and samples—Saya’s voice on »Ship« being a notable exception—the band rearranged six tracks from »Vertigo Days« and a piece from the »One of Those Days« film soundtrack in order to allow themselves to improvise more freely, especially thanks to Loibl, who takes on a key role during these 45 minutes.

The intro sets the tone for what’s to come, contrasting loose jazz drumming with curious synthesizer rhythms in an abstract rendition of the first sounds that greeted the listeners on »Vertigo Days«. While the next four tracks—»Into Love / Stars«, »Exit Strategy To Myself«, »Where You Find Me« and »Ship«—follow the chronology of the album, they use the originals as a blank slate for further experimentation. The first track morphs into a feverish long-form jam that draws on the underlying groove to shift the dynamics from and leave behind the song structure of the studio version. It’s an exemplary piece in a recording that sees each individual musician leaving their mark on the overall sound, all while being perfectly attuned to what everyone else is doing around them. This continues up until the record’s triumphant finale, a whirring rendition of »Loose Ends.«

»Vertigo Days - Live from Alien Research Center« is at once a snapshot of a certain moment in the band’s history and the quintessential Notwist live record: a unique performance that both explores the untapped potential of the »Vertigo Days« studio recordings while also serving as an inspiration for upcoming live shows.

As with the studio album, the artwork for »Vertigo Days - Live from Alien Research Center« features photographs by Japanese artist Lieko Shiga, taken in the '00s.

Hollie Kenniff's second LP for Western Vinyl, We All Have Places That We Miss, is a gallery of cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, and humming guitars, all coaxed into cohesion by Hollie's own wordless singing. The album's 2021 precursor, The Quiet Drift, landed on Bandcamp's Best Ambient list alongside the description "Drawing on the deep tones of drone, dream pop harmonies, and new age's bright tranquility, Kenniff evokes the forests, lakes and rivers of her past and present surroundings with a zen patience." Here on Places_ she strides even further into reminiscence, seeking and commemorating the fondly tragic ache of half-remembered locales lost to time: A grandparent's dim living room from an ambiguous decade; a lonely clearing beside a trail we can't remember if we walked or just dreamt; the calming light of a movie that aired years before we were born though our feelings insist we were there with the characters. We All Have Places That We Miss transmutes such glimmers into a palpable sonic kingdom that can be revisited at will, recalling the pedal-board ambience of Windy & Carl, Adam Wiltzie, and Liz Harris.

I'm in it. The music on Coast doesn't beckon, it purely compels you closer through sheer insistence on its existence. insist in sist ins ist i nsist insist 'Spiral' presents full gorgeous tones, timbres and textures. Round throbs like the lighthouse spins of light, very orbic. orbic orb ic orbi c orbic 'Later' is distilled even further. It makes you stand up, announcing itself not with some cry or bang but with a style of momentum rarely encountered: inviting yet insistent. ins orb ist ic ent

Andrew Choate

Mike Majkowski is a double bassist / music-maker from Sydney, based in Berlin. Active across a wide range of experimental music since the early 2000s, he has released music with numerous projects. Coast is his twelfth solo recording.

Red Vinyl

Ghost In The Machine make their long awaited return to Perc Trax with their first full release for the label since their debut album 'Breaking The Seal' was unleashed at the start of 2020. Since then they've released multiple EPs on their own Genosha Basic label, remixed Marc Acardipane, Dahryl and Torque and given their remix of Paula Temple the vinyl release it always deserved. As DJs they have toured Europe and South America, tearing down dance floors with their powerful kick driven sound. From small intimate clubs to huge festival stages their depth of musical knowledge and razor sharp mixing have made them the highlight of any line-up.

For this first Perc Trax release of 2023 Ghost In The Machine take their sound and production to the next level. EP opener 'Come One' is a tour de force of giant kick drums, distorted breakbeats and the kind of drops most techno acts can only dream of. 'Ensnared' takes a more groove based approach with rolling snares over a classic Ghost In The Machine kick assault. Lastly 'Break' gives us a chance to breathe (at least in comparison to the first two tracks) with droning tones layered over an assortment of classic drum breaks brought up to date by Ghost In The Machine's untouchable production skills.

HALFTONE The future of heavy bass music has always found its portal via SATURATE! Records, and now alongside WAVECRAFT, we have another glimpse into infinity in the form of HALFTONE! From the onset of this compilation, you can feel the ominous bass ballast even before it first hits you…. Swelling up like a tsunami to engulf your brain with grinding terror. The heaviness is abundant across these tracks, with contributions from synth destroyers like Suahn, Kryptt and Low Poly melting your speakers and eardrums alike. Dark atmospherics rule the day here, which effectively sets the tone for the rabid roughness on display when the bass morphology takes hold of each track so mercilessly. Slow knuckle draggers and upbeat head bangers both hold dominion in this realm, leaving no sonic stone unturned. Always at the crest of the future music wave, HALFTONE shows you just how deep this rabbit hole can get.

Paul Wise aka Placid is the driving force behind ‘We’re Going Deep’ – a thriving online community and record label that keeps you coming back for more. Born out of a lifelong affair with the many shades of electronic rhythm and an obsession for collecting records since 1988, Paul is known and respected by many in the realms of underground House and Techno. Renowned for making hips and feet move at parties, clubs and fields across the UK and beyond over the last few decades.
As a label owner, his mission couldn’t be clearer - releasing new music for heads of all persuasions. Fresh cuts aimed squarely at the dance floor, front room or even just your headphones. Rather than staying too hung up on the past, he continues to serve up the freshest in Acid, Electro, Techno, Deep House alongside sweet slices of Electronica.
Sticking to the format of 4 superlative cuts from equally talented producers, the quality remains unquestionably consistent on Volume 8 of his various artist series. Kicking off A1 in style with a family affair from Acid House aficionado Affie Yusef and his daughter Leila, ‘Dublovr’ is a Class A slice of pure late night chug that rides clockwork rhythms to a rolling bassline. As dubbed out synths ring out to lift you skywards – eerie sweeping undertones add another dimension. Tried and tested since the summer season, the added layer of a TB-303 brings everything nicely to a head. Not to be outdone, Bristol based Electro emissary Zobol delivers a pure slice of machinist joy on A2 ‘Sense The Consesus’, showing his ability to finesse and balance uplifting melodies with warm synthesis on this finest of jams.
Over on the flipside, Maltese producer Acidulant takes up the reins with the hushed tones of ‘The View of Her Shade’ on B1 – a thoughtful excursion into electro hinterland that’s a textbook lesson in making more with less. Last but not least, mysterious I Love Acid affiliate Type-303 turns out an exquisite IDM inflected serving of woozy broken Electronica on the mysterious ‘Knowhere’. Steeped in rippling melodies and aquatic

Funkadelic’s eleventh studio LP, released in 1979, was more militant in tone than its predecessor 'One Nation Under A Groove' which described a Funk utopia. In contrast, ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’ stated mandate was to “rescue dance music from the blahs”. The album features a 15-minute version of what was to become the Funkadelic’s last hit single ‘(Not Just) Knee Deep’, an edited version of which made no.1 in the US R&B chart. This was Funkadelic’s first album since 1972 not to feature a cover design by artist Pedro Bell (although he did contribute the interior design). A reference to the “Uncle Sam Wants You!” US Army recruitment poster, the sleeve depicts George Clinton aka Dr Funkenstein in a Huey Newton Black Panthers pose. ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’ and Funkadelic-Parliament had a huge influence on Prince, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Bill Laswell, Tupac Shakar, De La Soul and many more across all musical genres. George Clinton’s genius Funk & Style will continue to be an influence for many more years to come... FUNKADELIC Masterminded by the larger-than-life figure of George Clinton, Funkadelic was a key component of his influential P-Funk empire. Funkadelic’s unique combination of Rock, Psychedelia, R&B & Soul led to the band crossing over to the pop mainstream & gaining a vast international following, becoming one of the most important & influential groups in music. On 6 May 1997, Parliament / Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame by Prince. To commemorate six decades of thrilling & delighting fans, George Clinton returned to the stage in 2022 for a series of concerts. To celebrate, Charly have reissued Funkadelic’s classic four albums ‘Hardcore Jollies’; ‘One Nation Under A Groove’; ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’; & ‘The Electric Spanking Of War Babies’ (originally released by Warner Bros during a golden period for the band between 1976-1981). Each album will be available as deluxe gatefold Digi-Sleeve CDs in PVC wallets + obi-strip & facsimile-edition gatefold LPs on 180-gram black vinyl & limited edition 180-gram colored vinyl + 1970s-style obi-strip in a protective PVC sleeve. “They played a HUGE role in creating the future of music.” PRINCE

Gotts Street Park are a proud bunch of throwbacks. The Leeds-based trio - Josh Crocker (bass, production), Tom Henry (keys) and Joe Harris (guitar) - met through various music studies and friendship networks. Individually their tastes are diverse: from North Indian classical to experimental jazz, soul to alternative hip hop but their vision is united: “The idea of doing things live in one room has always been important,” remarks Josh. “That’s how they used to do it. Our identity evolved from that.”

The inception of the collective goes back to around 2012. There have been minor line up tweaks - they currently record with a rotating list of drummers - but the philosophy has stayed the same: an ongoing pursuit to capture the raw, unparalleled vibe that comes from recording music together, usually as one take, sometimes to analogue tape.

That approach is a deliberate call back to the methods made famous by legendary studios like Sun and Stax in Memphis, or FAME and Muscle Shoals in Alabama and their in-house bands. That’s why for years, GSP set up their own studio in a shared house in a tough (but, crucially, affordable) corner of west Leeds, Armley. Gotts Park (historically the home of industrialist Benjamin Gott) was close by - the group’s name was a nod to their local geography but also the fact it sounded like an area plucked straight out of some of their favourite East Coast hip hop releases.

Their work was quickly noticed, and it was from that base where they began working with an eye catching list of collaborators: Rejjie Snow, Kali Uchis, Cosima, Yellow Days, Chester Watson, Greentea Peng and Benny Mails. Tom also played keys in Mabel’s band. Early on, while performing as a band for hire for those artists, they were simultaneously honing their own sound; a deliberately retro “heavy, saturated” atmosphere that married the languid vibe of traditional soul with the pin sharp clarity of contemporary hip hop. Old leanings, sure, but upcycled with their own modern twist. “We’re constantly trying to build a catalogue,” says Tom. “Writing new stuff and sending it out to people.” That’s why after the release of their debut EP, ‘Volume One’, in 2017 the invitations kept coming; most notably from Brits Rising Star award winner Celeste, with whom they recorded two tracks on her debut EP ‘Lately’.

‘Volume Two’ once again features an impressive raft of vocalists - all female - from established names to fresh talent. This time, musically, the overall tone is lighter; less gritty, more optimistic. “It’s definitely not as gloomy,” says Josh. “Still though, there is this kind of dark, mysterious thing that we do a lot that works,” he continues. “Like the song we’ve done with Grand Pax, for example - it’s got that kind of witchy darkness to it. I think if you do a really straight male soul voice, it can be a bit cheesy and sound like you’ve heard it a million times before.”

Their collaborations might be some of the freshest of 2020 but make no mistake: Gotts Street Park are out there looking to create something timeless.

Featuring a young George Benson, Willis Jackson and Ann Winley the Harlem Underground Band’s first album was released on Paul Winley’s respected label Winley Records in 1976 Legendary street funk record that’s highly sampled by hip-hop artists such as Eric B and Rakim, Genius, Medina Green, Smif-N-Wessun and of course Tone-Loc – listen to the track ‘Smokin' Cheeba-cheeba’ Reissued on 140g black vinyl with original artwork and printed inner sleeve

Celebrating its one hundredth release, Black Truffle is honoured to present a major archival discovery: a stunning document of the only performance by the trio of Tony Conrad, Arnold Dreyblatt and Jim O’Rourke. Across a two-night programme organised by David Weinstein at legendary New York experimental venue Tonic in January 2001, Conrad, Dreyblatt and O’Rourke presented individual projects before performing a collaborative set each night, the first with members of Dreyblatt’s ensemble and the second the trio heard here. As Dreyblatt points out in the wonderfully informative and reflective liner notes written for this release, this was a collaboration across generations, reflecting the profound impact of Conrad’s pioneering minimalism on Dreyblatt and O’Rourke. Both Dreyblatt and O’Rourke came to this collaboration armed with a deep appreciation of Conrad’s music and the just intonation principles at its core, Dreyblatt having first encountered the incredible power of Conrad’s precisely tuned violin chords during his tenure as an archivist for La Monte Young in 1975, while O’Rourke had performed with Conrad in various settings since the mid-1990s (as well as admiring, reissuing, and performing Dreyblatt's music). The flyer for the concert promised ‘massive, ecstatic, pulsating overtones’, and the trio certainly delivered. From the moment this keening stream of bowed strings begins, it is clear, as Dreyblatt writes, that we are in ‘Tony’s sonic universe’, as massively amplified, slowly shifting combinations of precisely chosen pitches fill the room with complex beating patterns and ghostly difference tones. For more than twenty-five minutes, the music operates at a level of intensity comparable to classic recordings such as Conrad’s Four Violins, until the texture thins out slightly in the performance’s final quarter, allowing for the listener’s first recognition of the individual voices that make up this enormous, overwhelming harmonic edifice. The constant stream of bowed tones is broken by a beautifully rich pizzicato from Conrad on monochord, the sliding low tones and metallic shimmer of the other strings taking the set's final moments on an unexpected detour into spacious pastoral psychedelia.

Though produced by three individuals known for their own distinctive bodies of the work, this is egoless music, the perfect expression of Conrad's desire 'to move away from composing to listening', to 'working "on" the sound from "inside" the sound'. Historically important and overwhelming in sonic impact, this release also serves as a moving tribute to Tony Conrad from two musicians profoundly marked by the example set by his art and life.

Following up on reissues of the 2000 compilation »Multila« and 2001’s »Anima,« Sasu Ripatti has thoroughly revisited the classic »Whistleblower« for its first ever vinyl issue on the German Keplar label. Ripatti created entirely new mixes of previously unheard-of alternative versions of the tracks that first appeared on CD through his own Huume imprint in early 2007. He thus shines a new, different light on a record that was as much an expression of reaching a turning point in his life as it also showcased a new, more direct and perhaps more abrasive side of his Vladislav Delay project. »Whistleblower« was marked by the insertion of more noise and disruptive elements into Ripatti’s slowly moving take on intricate electronic music that heavily leaned on dub techniques. Fittingly for an album written at the threshold between one life and the other, »Whisteblower« seems at once melancholic and forward-looking in both tone and style.

»Whisteblower« was the follow-up record to 2005’s »The Four Quarters« and produced in the German capital. »I had quite a hard time in Berlin towards the end and I'm sure the track titles and the music reflect some of that uneasiness,« Ripatti says 15 years later. Changes in his personal life had a profound impact on him when making the record. The fifth track, »Lumi,« was dedicated to his daughter who was born shortly after the album was finished. »I had to reconsider what my life had been,« he recalls this watershed moment in his biography. Having already previously embraced a sober lifestyle—hinted at with the last piece’s title, »Recovery IDea«—Ripatti started questioning his life choices more thoroughly. This is also expressed in »He Lived Deeply,« a track inspired by Miles Davis’s love for Duke Ellington whose title can be read as an implicit question that Ripatti nowadays paraphrases thusly: »Had I been living fully, or fully not living?«

The seven tracks also marked a musical turning point in Ripatti’s work as a producer, not only because it was the last one for which he primarily used analogue and vintage equipment. They are also more straightforward on a music level, more demanding and at times more concerned with subtle rhythms than with the thick textures that were so integral to his earlier work. »Whisteblower« represented the first step in a process of focusing less on sonic abstraction and more on direct (self-)expression. While Ripatti admits that he found working on the album difficult back then, he also points out that he was surprised to hear how »gentle and peaceful« it sounded when he started revisiting the original files he used as a basis for these newly mixed versions. »It probably proves how much more comfortable I had become with sound.«

Perth-based artistic hub 823, led by producer / creator-extraordinaire Taku, joins forces with producers Idealism & Lucid Green for “Undone,” a genre-melting LP that bridges sonic comfort, textured tones and lush timbres into one serene, 10 track experience. LP arriving February 3rd, 2023 via 823 x Jakarta Records.

Finnish-born producer and pianist Idealism (1.5mil Spotify Monthly Listeners - SML) and French transplant Lucid Green (568k SML) are no strangers to each other’s subtle, yet potent productions. Having worked together on a number of past releases, their upcoming, fully collaborative LP “Undone” is a natural journey into the beautiful ambient, downtempo, lo-fi worlds they’ve each created. Through visits to Lucid’s flat in Paris and ideas being exchanged remotely, the duo experimented with different sounds, instruments and aural environments, in the process crafting a natural partnership that sits in a comfortable, melancholic pocket. With lulling guitar and poignant piano progressions that provide a pillow to rest your ears, and downtempo percussions that keeps you ebbing and flowing along on a subtle current, unsure where one wave ends and the next begins, only the albums progressions dictate the head-nod. Featuring the likes of Yutaka Hirasaka (220k SML) and Charlie Kurata (aka Charlie – 200k SML; Duumu – 109k SML), the album soars, reminiscent of life’s simple, yet wholly memorable moments that bring you a nostalgic pause.
As with all 823 releases, the project is a visual one as much as it is a musical project. The first singles visualizers are a fusion of Hopes & Dreams Club & 823’s design aesthetics with personal super8 footage captured by Idealism & Lucid Green, beautifully expressed from Hopes & Dreams Club member Mindi Ossi. Each visualizer and single art will easily stand on its own, transporting you to worlds familiar, yet undeniably groovy and sonically comfortable.
823 is a multifaceted Perth-based record label, fashion brand, and artistic community, founded by Australian producer and all-around creative, Ta-ku (852k SML). With an astute attention to detail and an ethos that appreciates the everyday things in life, 823 doesn’t stick to any particular genre. Past 823 releases include “So Far To Go” EP via Cabu (753k SML), Ta-ku and matt mcwaters’s duo project “Black and White,” featuring Masego collaboration “Flight 99” (17mil streams on Spotify), the “All Things Considered” compilations, a curated, collaborative series featuring both budding and wellestablished artists around the world and have included Idealism, Wun Two, pastels, L.Dre, Flobama, SwuM, Jinsang, Tenderlonious, among a host of others, as well as multiple sold out clothing capsules.

Composer Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen presents his Nonet formation on We Jazz Records. Their debut album Tigers Are Better Looking is released 3 Feb and the ensemble features internationally renowned Finnish clarinetist Antti Sarpila, plus a strong cast of Helsinki-based musicians from several of the top Finnish groups.

Based on the writings of British-Caribbean author Jean Rhys (1890–1979), the 6-track album is a melancholy, intimate chamber jazz creation. Laurell's music swings, yet he doesn't stop there, but moves further to paint an original, richly-toned sonic image with the highly potent Nonet.

Laurell states Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis's "Water Babies" and Charles Mingus among the key musical influences of his compositions on this album. Through Rhys's text, Laurell finds a special sense of detachment and melancholy evident in his new material. Antti Sarpila's masterful clarinet provides the icing on the cake, floating high above the clouds of sound.

Having spent the past few years supplying low notes as bass player for a who’s who of UK Soul and Jazz talent (including Tom Misch, LoyleCarner, Berwyn, Jordan Rakei, Poppy Ajudha, Jamie Isaac, Puma Blue, Jorja Smith, Alfa Mist & Charlotte Dos Santos) Rudi Creswick steps into the spotlight with his first full length solo offering ‘Different Forms’ on Alfa Mist’s Sekito imprint.

Hailing from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Rudi was immersed in club culture from a young age, the low end sonics of which guided his playing, and led him to discovering his own style In the years that followed, Rudi continued to hone his craft, melding the sub rattling sounds of Hip-Hop producers such as J Dilla, MF Doom and Knxwldge with the technical sensibilities of influential Jazz players such as Pino Palladino, Derrick Hodge and Thundercat.

With this record serving as a chance for Rudi to stretch his creative legs, the aim was to showcase the many musical sides of his creative spirit. The first single lifted from the project ‘Sometimes’ enlists the vocal talents of the incredible Emmavie - who dives into self-reflective and cutting, honest lyrics. She explains: “No one ever leads with “often temperamental, quick to anger and generally hot and cold” when describing themselves. Something about Rudi’s laidback production and bouncy singing bass line pulled this reflective and apologetic yet playful subject out of me. “

On the LP, Rudi says: ‘This whole project is thanks to Alfa , Barney Artist and the team at Sekito who’ve helped me realise my dream. They had faith in me for which I’ll always be grateful. The project’s kind of all over the place because there’s so many corners to anyone’s being, inspirations and their musicality, so I wanted Different Forms to reflect that’



Throughout the record, Rudi’s musical prowess and vast influences are laid bare for all to see. From the gliding melodies and twinkling keys and hazy fanfares of second single ‘Peace Of Mind’ (Feat. Manny & The Coloured Sound) through to the sparse and haunting tones of ‘Charlotte’ the LP traverses high peaks and deep valleys, channelling a sense of beauty of textured mystique throughout. Sporting an impressive roster of collaborators including Alfa Mist himself, Trumpeter Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Chelsea Carmichael on Tenor Sax, Barrel Jones (Drummer for Nubya Garcia) and Vels Trio’s Jack Stephenson-Oliver (who played synth for the track ‘With Want You’). The lush instrumentation provides an incredible backdrop for esteemed performers such as Barney Artist to drop bars over the crisp drums and laid back strut of ‘Holding The Fence’, meanwhile Berwyn supplies sombre lyrics of the vast expanses of ‘96BPM’. An emotive and engaging listen from start to finish, ‘Different Forms’ is a truly stunning debut.

Mercury Prize and Brit Award winner Arlo Parks first came to the attention of music press with her debut single ‘Cola’. It’s a breath-taking, tender, poetic and confessional introduction to an artist just eighteen at the time of its release.

The then London based singer demonstrated soul beyond her years and with 'Cola' the submissive tones of her powerful voice are laid atop slow guitar melodies that beckon you to stop what you're doing and just listen. The track is written about bad love - in Arlo’s words, "Cola is a reminder that betrayal is inevitable when it comes to pretty people that think flowers fix everything".

‘George’, an ode to poet Byron was released in 2019 just weeks before signing to Transgressive Records and set Arlo on the path to being one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the year.

The only known EP released by Sick Hardcore, a project of Florence based Franco Falsini, the founder of Kaos Records, an important outlet for the Florentine 90s scene. “Digital Justice” is a collection of 4 proto rave dancefloor oriented tracks featuring sample based sounds over heavily percussive patterns of rhythm with an overall darker tone. Sometimes bordering EBM and New-Beat sentiments, yet also touching upon more progressive sounds and breakbeat elements. In addition to the original release's tracklist is a secret unreleased (more contemporary sounding) version of “Clinic Rhythm” which might have been put together by Franco himself more recently – hard to tell, but sure to impact any dancefloor for the better. Generously remastered for big room action.

The impact Belfast born duo Bicep have had on Irish music is unmeasurable, capturing the hearts and minds of the next-gen with their future-facing sonics. The pairing started their FMB label in 2012, going on to support a plethora of Irish artists in the process, from Cromby and Hammer to Brassica and Brame & Hamo.

The label's latest record comes from yet another Irish artist. Swoose, a name that should be familiar to any Irish electronic lover, began his career handing out flyers for legendary club Stiff Kitten. From here Swoose went on to become a resident of Shine and AVA Festival, and has released a string of killer records on Shall Not Fade and Lost Palms. Now residing in London, his record on FMB brings the OG Belfast dance music community back together for a fittingly euphoric release.

Title track ‘Breathe’ produces poignant undertones and contemplative thought, meditative breaks channeling the producer's fascination with wild flora and fauna. The track's interior begins to distort our sense of time and self, liquid textures forming over celestial harmonies like psilocybin. ‘Hyphae’ takes a 4/4 approach, while keeping the EP’s emotional personality present. Its pulsating bassline is balanced by far-reaching syths and dancing hi-hats, resting in a unified space of motion and colour.

Rotterdam via Belfast based artist Kessler has been on the tip of everyone's tongue since the return of clubbing. He has released music on Sherelle’s BEAUTIFUL black and LGBTQ+ label and his debut Shall Not Fade release was one of the most celebrated EPs of 2021. Kesslers knackt to create beautiful, other-wordly soundscapes that are both functional and edge on the side of melancholy are unmatched. His flip of title track ‘Breathe’ swaps gentler tones for his signature UK-sound inspired drums and crowd-evaporating atmospherics. The arrangements gentle ebb and flow, maintaining that signature blend of pace and etherealness.

Toronto’s Peach is on hand for the second remix – ‘Hyphae – a stripped-back early-morning groover that mixes psychedelia with flexible percussion. The track gives off a subtly uplifting vibe that blends heads-down club with minimal, punchy aesthetic. Just when you thought it was time to go home too...

Born in Paris but making waves across Europe, Vitess is quickly making a statement as both a producer and a live artist to know. An emerging name within house and minimal, with releases on Up The Stuss, Shall Not Fade, and his own Retro Futura Records, the French talent’s performances and releases under his Vitess alias and various other guises have led to a wealth of early support from the scene’s finest. Not slowing down, he makes an impressive debut outing on LOCUS, unveiling five new productions across his ‘Flight Recorder’ EP.

Lead cut ‘Flight Recorder’ opens proceedings, slowly descending down a warping cosmic path of sci-fi electronics and cinematic pads, leading into the tough kicks, warping bass and alluring vocals of ‘Alpha’. Next, ‘Dip 00s’ makes an immediate impact with its skippy drums, breezy tones and heady grooves. To close, ‘Global Dancing’ makes an impact with its shuffling drums, spiralling leads and rich keys

Glasgow’s Seated Records return with more archival Scottish New Wave material; this time, in the form of Pop Wallpaper’s disco-not-disco interpretation of the Shuggie Otis classic, “Strawberry Letter 23”. And interpretation is the right word, guitarist Evan Henderson confesses that the lyrics sang by Audrey Redpath on the record were, “err inaccurate due to pre-internet home recording translation”.

The Edinburgh band first released “Strawberry Letter 23” in 1986 as a double A side 12” alongside original song, “Nothing Can Call Me Back". The 1986 record’s sleeve states that the original - “Strawberry Letter 23" has been “re-modelled for special pleasures, namely on the dance floor”. Here the re-model has been re-modelled once more. The track is recontextualised for 2022 playing on a four track 12” that includes an unreleased instrumental demo version of the track, as well as mixes from label founder Pigeon Steve and close friend of the label, Useful Tom.

Wallpaper’s first EP “Over Your Shoulder” was released in 1984. The release received a considerable amount of radio support, not least from Radio 1’s John Peel and Janice Long, which culminated with a live session for Long’s show at the BBC’s studios in London. Released a couple of years later, Strawberry Letter received similar levels of radio play. Despite (much to the band’s confusion) being tracked by Motown UK at one point, Pop Wallpaper did not go on to receive commercial success and eventually went their separate ways.

“Strawberry Letter 23” sits in the singular historical, cultural context of mid-80s Britain. Following the explosion of punk at the end of the 1970s, in the 1980s many British bands began experimenting with new styles and instruments - always keeping an eye firmly on their punk roots. The loose percussion and synthesiser melodies have an almost new-age, balearic mood, while the falsetto vocals of singer Audrey Redpath are an unmistakable embodiment the Post-punk style of the time. The prominent bass-line suggests a reggae or disco inspiration, and bass player Myles Raymond admits that he obsessed over a Sly & Robbie Taxi records compilation around the time the band put the tune together.

This reissue includes an unreleased, unheard instrumental demo-version of the cover, “SL23”. The band recorded the demo during an nighter at Wilf’s Planet studios in Edinburgh, just after Wet Wet Wet had just finished up their own demo for “Wishing I Was Lucky” (Pop Wallpaper all insist they thought it would never be a hit). In this version, we hear the band messing around with drum machines and synths which, in a similar style to Kevin Low and Fiona Carlin on Seated 001, creates a stripped back dance floor work-out that bares almost no resemblance to any version of “Strawberry Letter 23”. In an attempt to emulate the Trevor Horne production style of the time, the band’s drummer Les Cook recalls pushing for more and more reverb on the drums during the session to a reluctant producer Chic Medley, who “eventually obliged, but needed a lot of persuading”. Much to Cook’s disappointment “the reverb was toned down when we got to the final release”.

On the B side, label boss Pigeon Steve delivers a dubbed-out and acid drenched, cosmic rendition of the track with “SL24”, before Useful Tom (son of Pop Wallpaper bass player Myles Raymond) brings the EP to an end with spacey de-construction of fractured vocals and gliding synths on the B2 with “SL25”.

Superb 170 BPM freetekno acid EP from Stannik and Miltatek.
East France dancefloor killer Milytatek delivers here 2 collabs and 2 solos.
Underground Spaces, the first tune is a 170 BPM chanting acid. Superb.
Troubles Auditifs, the second tune, brings a 166 BPM nostalgic at the core-limit track, melodious acid Electronica sensitive music...

La Colère De La Meute, solo track from Miltatek is a twirling loops tune supported by an icy acid thrumpet. The kick is a loud bassy thing, stable tune with no crazy excitation. Nice one !
For the finish, Miltatek brings Eternity. Once again a stable tune more based on a melody rather than on high acid ear-killer. Nostalgic on the tone,.. Super dancefloor on the kick... and icy Acid on the pickles :)

BIG ONE !!

As one of the three co-founders of Washington D.C. production and DJ trio Black Rave Culture, James Bangura is no stranger to situating electronic music within its most purposeful and potent contexts. With this new duo of tracks, however, Bangura taps into a deep, personal internality, metabolising visceral experiences and personal transitions into unexplored phases of his musical life.

The bass-forward “Harrar” is a complex organism which operates on two planes: a sweat-drenched 150pm symphony of synth pulses, fidgety percussion, shimmies and distorted vocals, that falls into lockstep with a
meditative, dubby bass tone that calmly swells and recedes. Emerging out of Bangura’s high intensity hardware jam sessions with friends and collaborators, both the depth and energetic fizz of “Harrar”’ are signified by its name, borrowed from Harrar Coffee & Roastery--a beloved Ethiopian coffee house and community meeting place in Washington D.C. that radiates warmth and familiarity.

“Witness Dub” occupies less of the senses, exploring a state of liminality through a contemplative deep house signature. Having emerged from an extended period of active duty in the military, Bangura had to navigate civilian life for the first time, causing him to process multiple culture shocks that stretched across culture, language, communication and identity. “Witness Dub” finds Bangura at this crossroad, juxtaposing the steady propulsion of kicks and drums with pensive minor key chords, as he begins to explore the other side of the self, letting the energy guide the music.

Mercury Prize and Brit Award winner Arlo Parks first came to the attention of music press with her debut single ‘Cola’. It’s a breath-taking, tender, poetic and confessional introduction to an artist just eighteen at the time of its release.

The then London based singer demonstrated soul beyond her years and with 'Cola' the submissive tones of her powerful voice are laid atop slow guitar melodies that beckon you to stop what you're doing and just listen. The track is written about bad love - in Arlo’s words, "Cola is a reminder that betrayal is inevitable when it comes to pretty people that think flowers fix everything".

‘George’, an ode to poet Byron was released in 2019 just weeks before signing to Transgressive Records and set Arlo on the path to being one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the year.

34-song SUPERSTORE is the Sam Gendel all genre follow-up album to 2021's 52-song Fresh Bread. SUPERSTORE is more unreleased music from the enigmatic producer/saxophonist collected from personal archives of solo recordings and collaborations in various venues. Contributing players on select tracks include Blake Mills, Gabe Noel, Kevin Yokota, and Philippe Melanson.

Sam Gendel - All Music
Marcella Cytrynowicz - Original Drawings
Philippe Melanson - E-Percussion Gu Shi, Saiko
Gabe Noel - Electric Bass [Saiko]
Blake Mills - Synth Guitar [Gu Shi]
Kevin Yokota - Drum Kit [Two-Tone]
Matthewdavid McQueen - Mastering

BBE Music announces the first-ever re-issue of this sun baked folk/jazz hybrid 45 by Louisiana brothers Will & James Ragar. First released in 1981, this private press 7" showcases Will & James' songwriting skills, refined performance and sophisticated compositions. Remastered by Frank Merritt the re-issue has an analogue warmth that the brothers say sounds even more pleasing than the original. Will & James Ragar began as the Will James Band performing on the popular 'Crawfish Circuit' of Southern Louisiana - this circuit included New Orleans, Thibodaux and Baton Rouge. They played blues, rock and jazz combos, covering everything from James Taylor to Jimi Hendrix. Eventually evolving into an acoustic folk-rock duo by the time they entered the studio in 1980. Both tracks on the 45 were recorded at River City studios in Baton Rouge in 1980. The engineer had the Allman Brothers on his list of recording credits, so they felt they were in excellent company. "Bayou Paradise" was an ode to the beauty of Southern Louisiana. The famous Sunshine bridge over wetlands as the sounds of migrating geese echo overhead on their journey down the Mississippi River flyway. The Atchafalaya river basin flows into the Gulf of Mexico near Lafayette creating a large wetland area and lush lakes connected by endless bayous. Miles and miles of lush swamps with many uninhabited areas just waiting to be explored. "Forever" captures the exhilaration of new love, focusing on its intoxication and ecstasy without looking ahead to the reality of a life on the road. The soulful chorus inspires motion and enthusiasm. The shadow of Woodstock had a defining role against tradition. Things were changing socially. Loving someone forever was always part of the dream but seemingly broken in an age of break-ups and divorce. The optimistic hope that "love will survive" was half dream and half pessimistic glance forward at the social trends of relationships that were to follow. The studio band included Will & James. John Smart on keyboards, he's solo on "Forever" was achieved with the Legendary Analog Prophet synth and saturated the studio with rich layers of its distinctive sound, driving the up-tempo chorus. Dave D'Aubin, a versatile bass player whose resonant tone is very present on both songs. Tommy Jefferson is on drums, an alumnus of the Southern University jazz program, the same place Randy Jackson and Billy Cobham studied. Tommy used a tight higher pitch snare drum on the recording, a sound that would soon become very popular, but at that time was a little ahead of the curve. The session was recorded on analogue tape using the 24-track MCI recorder and mixed down to analogue tape for the single. Will & James added vocal harmonies and soaked up the fidelity during mix-down. The release coincides with the long-awaited re-issue of the brothers' album 'Will & James Ragar One'. This much sort after private press long-player was originally released in 1980 and sold locally in a limited run has now been fully remastered by Frank Merritt. BBE Music presents the album in a glorious gatefold with extensive sleeve notes. This time the vinyl will be pressed over 2 discs to produce the best sound possible.

Meg Baird’s songs are rarely made up of tidy stories. In fact, for Meg, mystery itself is often the
medium. With ‘Furling’, Meg’s fourth album under her own name, she explores the breadth of
her musical fascinations and the environments around them - the edges of memory,
daydreams spanning years, loose ends, loss, divergent paths, and secret conversations under
stars. ‘Furling’ moves through these varied spaces with the slippery, misty cohesiveness of a
dream - guided by an ageless, stirring voice that remains singular and unmistakable.
Since co-founding the beguiling and beautiful Espers in the mid-aughts amid Philadelphia’s
fertile underground music community, Meg’s solo recordings have constituted just a fraction of
her work.
Her first solo LP, the disarmingly out-of-time ‘Dear Companion’ (2007), saw her carve a quiet,
sunlit space away from the flickering swirl of Espers. Since her last solo releases, ‘Seasons on
Earth’ (2011) and ‘Don’t Weigh Down the Light’ (2015), Meg has lent thunderous drumming,
lead vocal, and poetry to Heron Oblivion (Sub Pop) on an album that garnered praise from the
New York Times and made Mojo’s Top Ten Albums Of 2016 list. She collaborated with harpist
Mary Lattimore on the mesmerizingly hazy ‘Ghost Forests’ (2018). She’s played drums with
Philadelphia scuzz-punks Watery Love (In The Red, Richie Records) and explored her deep
familial folk roots in the Baird Sisters (Grapefruit Records). She also contributed her vocal
arrangements to albums from Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Will Oldham and Steve Gunn, and
toured with Angel Olson, Dinosaur Jr., Bill Callahan, Thurston Moore and Bert Jansch, among
others.
Yet ‘Furling’ is the album that most irreverently explores the span of her work and musical
touchstones. It showcases her natural tether to 1960s English folk traditions. But it also reveals
her deep love for soul balladry, the solitary musings of Flying Saucer Attack and Neil Young
shackled to his piano deep in the foggy pre-dawn, dubby Bristol atmospherics, the melancholy
memory collage of DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’, and the delicious, Saturday night promise of
St. Etienne.
‘Furling’ was primarily recorded at Louder Studios by Tim Green (Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses,
Melvins, Wooden Shjips). Additional piano and vocal recording were captured at Panoramic
Studios in Stinson Beach, CA with Jason Quever (Papercuts). It was mastered in Brooklyn by
Heba Kadry, who mixed Bjork’s ‘Utopia’ and mastered albums for Slowdive, Cass McCombs
and Beach House.
For all its adornments, ‘Furling’ remains deeply intimate. The entire album was performed by
Meg and her long-time collaborator, partner, and Heron Oblivion bandmate Charlie Saufley.
While her prior solo work hinted at more expansive horizons, ‘Furling’ explores the idea of Meg
Baird as a band much more freely. Venturing beyond the musical confines of fingerstyle guitar,
she plays drums, mellotron, organs, synths, and vibraphone over her piano and guitar
foundations. Her distinctive, simultaneously elegiac and uplifting vocals, meanwhile, connect
surreal dream montages, graft sunshine sonics to swooning mediations on romantic solidarity
in trying times, and weave odes to the simple gestures of friendship - and the loss of family and
friends.
This rich sound world makes the songs a varied bunch: ‘Twelve Saints’ mates Pacific sunset
ambience and Pink Floyd pastoral to a meditation on mortality and escape. The infectious and
kinetic ‘Will You Follow Me Home’ contemplates hope and longing through the looking glass of
a Jimmy Miller-era-Stones strut. And in the closing piece, ‘Wreathing Days’, language
disintegrates over tone clusters that feel somewhere between falling and flying.
‘Wreathing Days’ also reveals much about Meg’s mastery of contrast - situating the dear and
delicate adjacent to chaos. And while it’s true that some songs on ‘Furling’ grapple with
humanity’s existential unknowns in stark terms, they primarily revel in the mysteries that hide in
nature and humanity at their most ordinary. ‘Furling’ lives in the notion that whole universes of
experience, enlightenment, elation and ecstasy can bloom in these corners.