Buscar:warm exit

Established in 2022, Warm Exit is a post-punk quartet hailing from Brussels, Belgium. Their violently frontal music is an explosive blend of sonic intensity that sets them apart as one of the country's most electrifying and raucous acts. Drawing inspiration from Krautrock, Punk, and Noise, their relentless rhythmic prowess is a testament to their diverse influences. Channeling the spirit of iconic 1970s bands like Wire, The Fall, and Public Image Limited, Warm Exit ventures into the shadowy realm of post-punk with their latest EP. Here, they seamlessly oscillate between fast and slow tempos, high and low energy levels, and vocals that span from tense whispers to unbridled screams. This journey takes the listener through a landscape of discordant riffs, haunting groans, evocative spoken word passages, and industrial undertones. Over the past three years, Warm Exit has cultivated a devoted following both locally and internationally, thanks to their electrifying live performances that leave audiences in awe. Carrying the reputation of a striking live band, they are eager to storm the stage at any and every given opportunity.

Warm Exit is a post-punk quartet hailing from Brussels, Belgium. Their violently frontal music is an explosive blend of sonic intensity that sets them apart as one of the country's most electrifying and raucous acts. Drawing inspiration from Krautrock, Punk, and Noise, their relentless rhythmic prowess is a testament to their diverse influences. Channelling the spirit of iconic 1970s bands like Wire, Rema Rema, and Nine Inch Nails, Warm Exit ventures into the shadowy realm of post-punk with their latest EP. Here, they seamlessly oscillate between fast and slow tempos, high and low energy levels, and vocals that span from tense whispers to unbridled screams. This journey takes the listener through a landscape of discordant riffs, haunting groans, evocative spoken word passages, and industrial undertones. Over the past three years, Warm Exit has cultivated a devoted following both locally and internationally, thanks to their electrifying live performances that leave audiences in awe. Carrying the reputation of a striking live band, they are eager to storm the stage at any and every given opportunity

Editions Mego welcomes KMRU back to the fold. Kin is Kenyan born, Berlin based, sonic wizard Joseph Kamaru’s second release on Editions Mego, following on from the classic 2020 release Peel. Since the release and subsequent praise for Peel, the artist has been a staple on the electronic scene performing on numerous stages and festivals worldwide in tandem with a flood of media recognition. Kin could be construed as the second child following Peel. The project came out of initial discussions with Peter Rehberg about what a Peel sequel would sound like. Kamaru is quick to clarify that Kin is not that record; “I'll know when that record will come and when I'll make it. It's already happening... or maybe it lives within both of these Mego records”.

It is this deft ambiguity and vague tiptoeing around the concrete that encapsulates the ambiguous sound world of Kamaru’s vision.

Kin was started early 2021 in Nairobi with Kamaru exploring his noisier palette of sounds encompassing distortions reminiscent of the sounds he would muster from in his youth when playing guitar. He paused making this record for a year as soon as Peter died, then slowly returned to it through 2022 resulting in the immense new work we have here.

The charms within Kin lay as Easter eggs revealing the true identity behind the colourful sonics only after multiple deep listens. With Trees Where We Can See sets the tone by way of a warm swaying melody inviting the listener in for further investigation. In 2022 KMRU and Mego stalwart Fennesz toured the USA together resulting in a strong friendship and also, the second track here, Blurred. A neat Mego/Editions Mego loop as such. Blurred arranges twangy guitar strums alongside glistening glaciers of shimmering drones. They Are Here represents a darker hue as melancholic clouds of shadowy noir tap directly into the listener's nerve stream. Maybe takes a detour into a bristling euphoric electronic storm whilst We Are screeches in a pattern formation not unlike a highly abstracted Aphex Twin forcing its way out of a hard drive. By Absence concludes proceedings, operating as both exit music and a portal to further sonic investigation with acoustic bellowing residing amongst a kaleidoscopic backdrop.

Kin is a trip that rewards close repeated listens as all the colours and textures, nuance and narratives unveil themselves. This isn’t a record to be glossed over, magic rewards concentration.

Kin is a record to be Played slow and LOUD.

For Pita.

All tracks written, produced, mixed by Joseph Kamaru
Blurred co-written & produced with Christian Fennesz
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering
Photography: Joseph Kamaru
Layout & Design: Nik Void
Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin

2026 repress !

Nous'klaer Audio presents Martinou - Chiral, the follow full-length up to his 2021 album Rift. This time nine tracks across two vinyls. An album flowing 'in a way' like Rift, but it's different: More outspoken, heavier sound design and it peaks on a blissful note. ''Open up the blinds and take me there. We'll break the surface tension. We'll dive in. I'm locked in your devotion. You give an inclination to our demise. It will be our exit. To bliss, we'll be its guardian. Once there was love. Clear as glassy water. No ripples, no waves. I followed while you led. Our arrival was warm. Hot, even. Stunning to a startling degree. Hands intwined, frolicking towards the blue. Hours passed, and white heat cede to an orange hue. We cooled down. Red. We rallied. Black. It began. Into the deep darkness we ran. White sand, it has a tendency to get everywhere. Salt water will only dehydrate you more. Shriveled and dry. Scratchy and coarse. More. And then we were lost. Fingers once locked grew distant. Morning, dear. Where have you gone? We looked. A glimpse from afar. Red. We rallied. Shall we share a bottle of wine? Black, lost again. Afternoon, friend. Where were you? Red. Alone. Black. We rallied. Shall we try somewhere new? Sand and salt. Evening, sir. Reservation for one? Reservations a plenty, I say. Evening, miss. Dining alone? Aren't we all? Dining, miss, not dying. Oh, yes, alone. Black. Sand and salt. I found you. No. No. Wait, do I know you? You feel like a dream. Don't touch me. Move along, sir. Who are you? Leave. Who are you? Where did you go? Keep moving. I am, I will. Time to move on. I'm moving! Leave. Don't touch me. Leave. Why are you? Exit. Purple. Orange. Yellow. White. Blue. Morning, dear. Shall we have breakfast? I think I'll sleep some more. But it's our last day. I know. See you downstairs when you're ready. OK. I open up the blinds. A bird breaks the surface tension. Locked in. To Devotion? No. Demise. An inclination. Reverie. Take me there. Where? Exit (To Bliss) '' Text by Gregory Markus

It's not every day we see a new release from MAXIMILIAN.

We are very exited to present to you his new EP. 5, and what a release it is!
An EP full on deep-House dance floor belter with warm strings and comes with strong basslines.

The gift that keeps on giving, MAXIMILIAN - Mikrokosmos EP 5 is being treated to some epic sounds of your favourite night out - now available on vinyl.

Die Cut Sleeve with download. It’s a strange betweenworld, bookended by sleep and the jolt of being wide awake in a place where you wonder how you got there. You know the feeling… It seems familiar but the colours are, well, unreal. In a high-ceilinged room, a grand piano plays lush melodies as, meanwhile, somewhere, an Alice In Wonderland clock ticks, cellos are bowed, a swarm of something vibrates and the hallucinatory crowd around Rosemary’s Baby babble. An echoey electronic hum builds and falls like a 50s refrigerator passed through and effects board, things run backwards, staccato strings are plucked… and that’s not the half of it. “I’ve never been happy staying in one particular school of musical thought. The fun has been turning things on their heads, to try something you were not supposed to do.” We’re on an immersive and adventurous travelogue with the former member of the legendary Tangerine Dream, Paul Haslinger - this is a man who knows how to build tension, hold moods, illustrate contempt, lies, passion and pleasure; He can create fear, loathing and love - he’s been unlocking the nuances of such emotions in a hugely successful career as a TV and film soundtrack composer (Halt And Catch Fire, Underworld and the Golden Globe-nominated Sleeper Cell). ‘Exit Ghost’ is his long thought out opus, a moment caught in time, flicking through reference points, taking an ethereal excursion that permeates musical genres as it becomes awash with intricate sounds and cross-pollinating rhythms. Built originally from the warmth of his grand piano ‘Exit Ghost’ resonates with purity and power, from an eerie and evocative betweenworld, that’s at once expansive and rolling, then intoxicating and suffocating in equal measures; modern composition at its most uplifting; cerebral, celebratory, intense and beautiful. “The soul searching in connection with this record was extensive. Finding places of resonance, giving a colour to your memories. It was more challenging because it’s not somebody else’s narrative. Finding the core of your own story can be the most difficult task of all.” Created over the span of eight years and filled with literal and personal references, the album itself is a testament to the search - a quest filled with hints, particles and suggestions.

Lénok’s 'Langue of Tongue' is a descent. An unhinged pinballing down a realm of incomprehension and lunacy, a darkly psychedelic ego-death-spiral into a world of pure, deranged disquiet. It is, and this cannot be emphasised enough, a truly fucked up place. It comes complete with clearly marked borders delineated by its opening and closing tracks '(Entrance' and 'Exit)’. The message is clear: this is less album than zone.

There's no comfort to be found here. It’s like the inner monologue of some insectile, cyborgian abomination, something unfeeling and hostile, something that could only thrive in a mirror world that perverts light and sullies warmth. It's a netherworld: tracks jut out and stab like cold, craggy wastelandscapes, tangled meshworks of alienic transmissions bleed out into deformed knots of gurgling white noise, lacerations of sound roil and heave and claw as if imprisoned within oppressive waveforms.

‘Tongue’ is marked by a kind of wackiness, a demented slapstick that renders its darkness all the more sinister. Voices wail and taunt like schizophrenic spirits trapped between torment and cackling ecstasy. Tracks giggle and skitter as if populated by grinning, snaggletoothed shadows.

‘Langue of Tongue’ is recommended for the curious and advanced listener. This is music for whatever the opposite of escapism is — it’s REAL twisted. But sometimes morbid fascination takes hold. Sometimes you lift the rock, because you can’t help it, and you observe the squirming mess of life it plays host to. What you experience may not be pleasant, but you might just struggle to tear yourself away.

Im Jahr 2018 war Case Oats so etwas wie eine nebulöse Idee. Die Bandleaderin Casey Gomez Walker hatte bereits in Bands gespielt, und ihr Projekt Case Oats hatte eine selbst veröffentlichte Single, aber war keine Band, bis ein auswärtiger Freund sie fragte, ob Case Oats eine Show in Chicago headlinen könnten. Casey bluffte - ja, sie hatte eine Band, ja, sie waren bereit, eine Show zu spielen - und machte sich an die Arbeit. "Es war ein bisschen wahnhaft von mir", sagt sie, "aber ein bisschen wahnhaft zu sein hat ja auch etwas für sich." "Last Missouri Exit", das Debütalbum von Case Oats, ist ein bemerkenswert sicheres Album, bei dem sich die Band - Spencer Tweedy (Schlagzeug), Max Subar (Gitarre, Pedal Steel), Jason Ashworth (Bass), Scott Daniel (Fiddle) und Nolan Chin (Klavier, Orgel) - um Gomez Walkers Stimme und Gitarre gruppiert. "Last Missouri Exit" ist eine Sammlung scharf gezeichneter Charakterstudien. Gomez Walkers Hintergrund im kreativen Schreiben drückt sich in ironischen Beobachtungen und einem entwaffnend leichten Sinn für Lyrik aus, das Tiefgründige und Profane purzelt aus Songs wie "Bitter Root Lake" mit dem Gewicht eines Bekenntnisgedichts und der Leichtigkeit eines Gesprächs unter Freunden. Der rote Faden von Case Oats' erstem Auftritt bis zu ihrem Debütalbum ist Vertrauen, in die Songs und in ihre Spieler. "Last Missouri Exit" klingt aus den chaotischsten Kammern des Herzens und die Band schwillt um Gomez Walker herum an, die das Erwachsenwerden in Bezug auf die Loyalität zu verzweifelt fehlerhaften Menschen und schließlich, mit etwas Abstand von zu Hause, die Treue zu sich selbst beschreibt. Die Songs entstanden live, und die ersten Aufnahmen fanden, wie sich Gomez Walker erinnert, im Keller eines Hauses statt, das Ashworth, Subar und Tourmitglied Chet Zenor gemeinsam bewohnten. "Wir nahmen die Songs an drei heißen Augusttagen mit unseren Freunden auf und versuchten einfach, die Energie zwischen uns einzufangen". Tweedy, der die Session mit Ashworth und Subar aufnahm und das Album produzierte, sagt dazu: "Wir brachten gerade so viel Material mit in den Keller, dass wir es aufnehmen konnten. Wir hatten das Glück, in den Monaten vor der Session viele Konzerte gespielt zu haben, so dass wir einfach so spielten, wie wir gespielt hatten, ohne jede Wertigkeit." Diese anfängliche Kellersession ist das Zuhause, in dem "Last Missouri Exit" aufwuchs, und diente sowohl als Ursprungs- als auch als Zielort, da Gomez Walker und Tweedy den Gesang in getrennten Sessions zu Hause aufnahmen. Texte, die sich so wahrhaftig lesen wie "Your brother was the golden boy and you were your mother's pup / The safety of her guiding arms kept you from fucking up", heißt es in einem Couplet aus "Buick Door", das durch die Distanz zwischen Gomez Walker und den auslösenden Ereignissen ihrer Songs gestärkt wird. Ihre Stimme ist selbstbewusst und zart, sie fängt den Nervenkitzel eines Schlagzeugs oder die schmerzende Weite der Pedal Steel ein und kanalisiert den Schwung in die Hoffnungen und den Herzschmerz des Kleinstadtlebens im Mittleren Westen. Auf der Fahrt von Gomez Walkers Heimatstadt auf dem Freeway nach Chicago in Richtung Norden steht auf dem Schild kurz vor der Grenze zu Illinois unter anderem "Last Missouri Exit". Es ist ein Punkt auf der Landkarte und für sie ein Punkt, an dem es kein Zurück mehr gibt. Als sie ihn eines Tages überquerte, bedeutete das das Ende ihrer Kindheit und den Beginn ihres restlichen Lebens. Das Album ist ein Scharnier zwischen diesen beiden Zuständen, in dem sich die Schmerzen des Heimwehs mit dem Nervenkitzel des Aufbruchs zum Horizont überlagern. "In a Bungalow" betrachtet diese Überschneidung im Licht der goldenen Stunde, ein Lied, dessen leidenschaftliche Sehnsucht nach der Heimat - ihren süßen Quellen und langsamen Tagen und alten Freunden - nur möglich ist, weil sie einen Ort verlassen hat, der sich einst wie das Zentrum des Universums anfühlte. Wenn "Last Missouri Exit" ein Coming-of-Age-Album ist, dann deshalb, weil es um Wachstum und Perspektive geht, und weil es von einer Band gemacht wurde, die bereits jenseits des Horizonts lebt, nach dem das Album benannt ist. Es ist ein Album, das sich danach sehnt, gehört zu werden, während man den Sonnenuntergang von seiner Veranda-Schaukel aus beobachtet, aber seine wehmütige, idyllische Sicht auf den Mittleren Westen ist keine Nostalgie für die Vergangenheit - es ist das, was Case Oats einen Sommer lang im Keller auf einer Ad-hoc-Bühne gezaubert haben, ein Dokument einer Band, die um diese Songs herum zusammengewachsen ist, auf einem neu entdeckten Höhepunkt ihrer gemeinsamen Kräfte. Was sie geschaffen haben, ist warm und einladend, ein Album, das sich beim ersten Durchlauf offenbart und mit jedem Hören tiefer wird. Dies ist ihre Einführung; man fragt sich, was ihr Horizont noch bereithält.

Im Jahr 2018 war Case Oats so etwas wie eine nebulöse Idee. Die Bandleaderin Casey Gomez Walker hatte bereits in Bands gespielt, und ihr Projekt Case Oats hatte eine selbst veröffentlichte Single, aber war keine Band, bis ein auswärtiger Freund sie fragte, ob Case Oats eine Show in Chicago headlinen könnten. Casey bluffte - ja, sie hatte eine Band, ja, sie waren bereit, eine Show zu spielen - und machte sich an die Arbeit. "Es war ein bisschen wahnhaft von mir", sagt sie, "aber ein bisschen wahnhaft zu sein hat ja auch etwas für sich." "Last Missouri Exit", das Debütalbum von Case Oats, ist ein bemerkenswert sicheres Album, bei dem sich die Band - Spencer Tweedy (Schlagzeug), Max Subar (Gitarre, Pedal Steel), Jason Ashworth (Bass), Scott Daniel (Fiddle) und Nolan Chin (Klavier, Orgel) - um Gomez Walkers Stimme und Gitarre gruppiert. "Last Missouri Exit" ist eine Sammlung scharf gezeichneter Charakterstudien. Gomez Walkers Hintergrund im kreativen Schreiben drückt sich in ironischen Beobachtungen und einem entwaffnend leichten Sinn für Lyrik aus, das Tiefgründige und Profane purzelt aus Songs wie "Bitter Root Lake" mit dem Gewicht eines Bekenntnisgedichts und der Leichtigkeit eines Gesprächs unter Freunden. Der rote Faden von Case Oats' erstem Auftritt bis zu ihrem Debütalbum ist Vertrauen, in die Songs und in ihre Spieler. "Last Missouri Exit" klingt aus den chaotischsten Kammern des Herzens und die Band schwillt um Gomez Walker herum an, die das Erwachsenwerden in Bezug auf die Loyalität zu verzweifelt fehlerhaften Menschen und schließlich, mit etwas Abstand von zu Hause, die Treue zu sich selbst beschreibt. Die Songs entstanden live, und die ersten Aufnahmen fanden, wie sich Gomez Walker erinnert, im Keller eines Hauses statt, das Ashworth, Subar und Tourmitglied Chet Zenor gemeinsam bewohnten. "Wir nahmen die Songs an drei heißen Augusttagen mit unseren Freunden auf und versuchten einfach, die Energie zwischen uns einzufangen". Tweedy, der die Session mit Ashworth und Subar aufnahm und das Album produzierte, sagt dazu: "Wir brachten gerade so viel Material mit in den Keller, dass wir es aufnehmen konnten. Wir hatten das Glück, in den Monaten vor der Session viele Konzerte gespielt zu haben, so dass wir einfach so spielten, wie wir gespielt hatten, ohne jede Wertigkeit." Diese anfängliche Kellersession ist das Zuhause, in dem "Last Missouri Exit" aufwuchs, und diente sowohl als Ursprungs- als auch als Zielort, da Gomez Walker und Tweedy den Gesang in getrennten Sessions zu Hause aufnahmen. Texte, die sich so wahrhaftig lesen wie "Your brother was the golden boy and you were your mother's pup / The safety of her guiding arms kept you from fucking up", heißt es in einem Couplet aus "Buick Door", das durch die Distanz zwischen Gomez Walker und den auslösenden Ereignissen ihrer Songs gestärkt wird. Ihre Stimme ist selbstbewusst und zart, sie fängt den Nervenkitzel eines Schlagzeugs oder die schmerzende Weite der Pedal Steel ein und kanalisiert den Schwung in die Hoffnungen und den Herzschmerz des Kleinstadtlebens im Mittleren Westen. Auf der Fahrt von Gomez Walkers Heimatstadt auf dem Freeway nach Chicago in Richtung Norden steht auf dem Schild kurz vor der Grenze zu Illinois unter anderem "Last Missouri Exit". Es ist ein Punkt auf der Landkarte und für sie ein Punkt, an dem es kein Zurück mehr gibt. Als sie ihn eines Tages überquerte, bedeutete das das Ende ihrer Kindheit und den Beginn ihres restlichen Lebens. Das Album ist ein Scharnier zwischen diesen beiden Zuständen, in dem sich die Schmerzen des Heimwehs mit dem Nervenkitzel des Aufbruchs zum Horizont überlagern. "In a Bungalow" betrachtet diese Überschneidung im Licht der goldenen Stunde, ein Lied, dessen leidenschaftliche Sehnsucht nach der Heimat - ihren süßen Quellen und langsamen Tagen und alten Freunden - nur möglich ist, weil sie einen Ort verlassen hat, der sich einst wie das Zentrum des Universums anfühlte. Wenn "Last Missouri Exit" ein Coming-of-Age-Album ist, dann deshalb, weil es um Wachstum und Perspektive geht, und weil es von einer Band gemacht wurde, die bereits jenseits des Horizonts lebt, nach dem das Album benannt ist. Es ist ein Album, das sich danach sehnt, gehört zu werden, während man den Sonnenuntergang von seiner Veranda-Schaukel aus beobachtet, aber seine wehmütige, idyllische Sicht auf den Mittleren Westen ist keine Nostalgie für die Vergangenheit - es ist das, was Case Oats einen Sommer lang im Keller auf einer Ad-hoc-Bühne gezaubert haben, ein Dokument einer Band, die um diese Songs herum zusammengewachsen ist, auf einem neu entdeckten Höhepunkt ihrer gemeinsamen Kräfte. Was sie geschaffen haben, ist warm und einladend, ein Album, das sich beim ersten Durchlauf offenbart und mit jedem Hören tiefer wird. Dies ist ihre Einführung; man fragt sich, was ihr Horizont noch bereithält.

Rising indie soul artist Sevens announces the release of his highly anticipated debut album, Sincerely, Sevens, on February 21, 2025. At just 24 years old, Sevens emerges as a compelling voice in the contemporary soul scene, blending indie soul, neo-soul, and jazz into a collection of sincere, heartfelt songs.

With a distinct baritone voice and a gift for storytelling, Sevens explores themes of love, growth, and introspection throughout the 9-track record. His philosophy is simple: less is more. Crafted over a span of three years, much of the album was created in Sevens' bedroom, showcasing his skills not only as a songwriter and vocalist but also as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.

Sincerely, Sevens captures the artist in his purest form—a deeply personal work that touches the soul. From sparse, intimate arrangements to warm, groove-infused instrumentation, the record embraces vulnerability while exuding timeless charm.

The album features contributions from trusted collaborators: Boris Van Overschee (co-producer / Delv!s, Portland) Willem Ardui (additional production / Blackwave.) and David Poltrock (additional keys)

Tobie Speleman expertly handled the final mix, ensuring every note resonated with clarity and purpose.

Reflecting on the album, Sevens shares: “I wanted to feel more with less. I wanted to evoke, I wanted to touch. Parts of me I’ve never gone. It is honest, it is true. It is me.”

With Sincerely, Sevens, the young artist solidifies his position as one to watch—an emerging voice with both depth and authenticity.

You could call Wishy's story a lucky one. After prior monikers and iterations, Wishy was born as a kaleidoscope of alternative music's semi-recent history, with traces of shoegaze, grunge and power-pop swirling together. On Triple Seven, Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites' musical synergy proves itself to be a rare one-the kind that sounds like someone striking gold. Part sly wink and part warm gratitude, it's only fitting their much anticipated full length debut is titled Triple Seven, where Wishy's penchant for indelible hooks is couched equally in pillowy atmospherics and scathing distortion. By day Krauter works as a music teacher, giving drum and guitar lessons to students, while Pitchkites is a seamstress by trade and often makes embroidered merch for the band. Coming up in a scene defined by hardcore and emo, Krauter and Pitchkites instead found themselves writing melodies in their heads while driving to work, pulling music from the air and arriving at a blearier, more ethereal interpretation of Midwest expanse. Initially, their music oscillated between hazy dream-pop and heavier alt-rock. The subject of their songs create a loose web of vignettes and snapshots, capturing Krauter and Pitchkites in a whirlwind couple of years _ exiting the pandemic, embarking on an embryonic project, making sense of their musical pasts while forging a musical future alongside one another, each of them on a journey of self-acceptance and self-understanding. Sometimes gorgeous, sometimes festering, and always cathartic, Triple Seven is a vibrant and exhilarating document of self-discovery with the scope and heft of the bygone big-budget rock albums that inspired it.

ELEPHANT TREE machen ihr "verschollenes" drittes Album "Habits" (2020) endlich wieder verfügbar. Nach der Veröffentlichung von "Habits" geriet ihr damaliges Label in Schwierigkeiten, weshalb das von der Kritik hochgelobte Werk nicht die verdiente anhaltende Unterstützung erhielt. ELEPHANT TREE wurden im Jahr 2013 irgendwo in Londons modrigen Seitengassen im Proberaum gezeugt. Dort entsprangen dem Bass von Jack Townley und Sam Harts Schlagzeug die ersten Töne des späteren "Attack of the Altaica" Demos. Damit war das Debüt zum Eröffnungsstück der neuen Raritätensammlung "Handful of Ten" geradezu prädestiniert. Die ansteckende Mischung aus warmem, schmelzendem Gitarren-Fuzz und hochfliegenden Gesangsharmonien auf "Attack of the Altaica" führte schnell zu einem Plattenvertrag und bereits im September 2014 erschien das erste Album "Theia". Das Debütalbum wurde von Kritikern und Fans gleichermaßen hervorragend aufgenommen und dieser Meilenstein wird nun als Anniversary Edition neu aufgelegt. Eine Fülle von seltenen Fotos, Liner-Notes und Texten polieren das Artwork frisch auf. Die hart arbeitenden Engländer ruhten sich nicht auf ihren Lorbeeren aus und legten bereits im Jahr 2015 mit dem selbstbetitelten zweiten Album "Elephant Tree" einen Nachfolger vor. Mit "Habits" sollte der nächste große Schritt folgen, doch die Pandemie sowie Probleme ihres neuen Labels machten den Engländern einen Strich durch die Rechnung. Dennoch blicken ELEPHANT TREE freudig auf zehn aufregende Jahre zurück und feiern diesen schönen Anlass mit den Wiederveröffentlichungen von "Habits" und "Theia" sowie mit großartigen Stücken aus ihrem Archiv und packenden neuen Tracks unter dem Titel "Handful of Ten".

You could call Wishy's story a lucky one. After prior monikers and iterations, Wishy was born as a kaleidoscope of alternative music's semi-recent history, with traces of shoegaze, grunge and power-pop swirling together. On Triple Seven, Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites' musical synergy proves itself to be a rare one-the kind that sounds like someone striking gold. Part sly wink and part warm gratitude, it's only fitting their much anticipated full length debut is titled Triple Seven, where Wishy's penchant for indelible hooks is couched equally in pillowy atmospherics and scathing distortion. By day Krauter works as a music teacher, giving drum and guitar lessons to students, while Pitchkites is a seamstress by trade and often makes embroidered merch for the band. Coming up in a scene defined by hardcore and emo, Krauter and Pitchkites instead found themselves writing melodies in their heads while driving to work, pulling music from the air and arriving at a blearier, more ethereal interpretation of Midwest expanse. Initially, their music oscillated between hazy dream-pop and heavier alt-rock. The subject of their songs create a loose web of vignettes and snapshots, capturing Krauter and Pitchkites in a whirlwind couple of years _ exiting the pandemic, embarking on an embryonic project, making sense of their musical pasts while forging a musical future alongside one another, each of them on a journey of self-acceptance and self-understanding. Sometimes gorgeous, sometimes festering, and always cathartic, Triple Seven is a vibrant and exhilarating document of self-discovery with the scope and heft of the bygone big-budget rock albums that inspired it.

You could call Wishy's story a lucky one. After prior monikers and iterations, Wishy was born as a kaleidoscope of alternative music's semi-recent history, with traces of shoegaze, grunge and power-pop swirling together. On Triple Seven, Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites' musical synergy proves itself to be a rare one-the kind that sounds like someone striking gold. Part sly wink and part warm gratitude, it's only fitting their much anticipated full length debut is titled Triple Seven, where Wishy's penchant for indelible hooks is couched equally in pillowy atmospherics and scathing distortion. By day Krauter works as a music teacher, giving drum and guitar lessons to students, while Pitchkites is a seamstress by trade and often makes embroidered merch for the band. Coming up in a scene defined by hardcore and emo, Krauter and Pitchkites instead found themselves writing melodies in their heads while driving to work, pulling music from the air and arriving at a blearier, more ethereal interpretation of Midwest expanse. Initially, their music oscillated between hazy dream-pop and heavier alt-rock. The subject of their songs create a loose web of vignettes and snapshots, capturing Krauter and Pitchkites in a whirlwind couple of years _ exiting the pandemic, embarking on an embryonic project, making sense of their musical pasts while forging a musical future alongside one another, each of them on a journey of self-acceptance and self-understanding. Sometimes gorgeous, sometimes festering, and always cathartic, Triple Seven is a vibrant and exhilarating document of self-discovery with the scope and heft of the bygone big-budget rock albums that inspired it.

You could call Wishy's story a lucky one. After prior monikers and iterations, Wishy was born as a kaleidoscope of alternative music's semi-recent history, with traces of shoegaze, grunge and power-pop swirling together. On Triple Seven, Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites' musical synergy proves itself to be a rare one-the kind that sounds like someone striking gold. Part sly wink and part warm gratitude, it's only fitting their much anticipated full length debut is titled Triple Seven, where Wishy's penchant for indelible hooks is couched equally in pillowy atmospherics and scathing distortion. By day Krauter works as a music teacher, giving drum and guitar lessons to students, while Pitchkites is a seamstress by trade and often makes embroidered merch for the band. Coming up in a scene defined by hardcore and emo, Krauter and Pitchkites instead found themselves writing melodies in their heads while driving to work, pulling music from the air and arriving at a blearier, more ethereal interpretation of Midwest expanse. Initially, their music oscillated between hazy dream-pop and heavier alt-rock. The subject of their songs create a loose web of vignettes and snapshots, capturing Krauter and Pitchkites in a whirlwind couple of years _ exiting the pandemic, embarking on an embryonic project, making sense of their musical pasts while forging a musical future alongside one another, each of them on a journey of self-acceptance and self-understanding. Sometimes gorgeous, sometimes festering, and always cathartic, Triple Seven is a vibrant and exhilarating document of self-discovery with the scope and heft of the bygone big-budget rock albums that inspired it.

Bassmæssage is the heaviest and most consistent bass music night out of Leipzig, operating way over 30 low frequency terrapeutic events since 2007.

Hosting ventral vibrations by the likes of Mungo's Hifi, Moonshine, Rupture, Hardwax and the homies of Jahtari, maintaining strong relations within the local soundsystem culture like Zoumo and Plug Dub and pushing a ton of grass-roots DJs and visual artists, out of doubt it is a sure shot for all who like it low and want it vibrant.

2015 saw the release of the "Volume One" vinyl, blending all kinds of styles and tempi by artists who had played at a Bassmæssage. Dub met Dubstep, Footwork went along some Snailfunk Drum'n'Bass and even Skweee had a cameo. And all this happened on one plate with a warm vibe from start to finish.

It is about time to revive the label with a new vinyl compilation named "Second Drop", following the tradition of a nice roundup across various bass music tearitorries. One side pumps at uplifting 160 BPM, while the flipside is shifting down to relaxing 135 and even 120 speeds.


Nuphlo and Bukkha team up for the energetic modern halftime piece "Drip". Nuphlo might ring a bell as part of The Nasha Experience from London and Leeds, connecting asian roots with nowadays UK bass sounds. Bukkha is state-side born and has recently emigrated to Spain, from where this worldwide touring DJ machine is firing a plethora of bass music styles on renowned labels like Moonshine, System and Innamind.

DjBadshape passes the breakbeat driven torch with handsome melodies and subby kickbass on "Drift" to reflect Leipzig's well various scenes. While checking her tracks on Defrostatica and Human, one may also find artworks for Bassmæssage and more.

Sun People is closing the 160 side with the deep but dirty retro 90s jungle bit "Rise Up". Combining Techno, Footwork and UK Hardcore Breakbeats, the Graz based bass buab made it to releases on Exit, Rua and Alphacut.

Flipping sides, Dub Across Borders redefines steppers dub into the dreamy yet rolling "Bass Tree Dream". The project was found by a Copenhagen dubber when living in Colombia, fusing the rural folklore with soundsystem energy into a world-bass music. This can be heard on labels like Basscomesaveme, Translation and 45Seven and is best to be experienced in its live dubbing appearance which premiered at a Bassmæssage in 2015.

Paranoid One grabs these feelings and drops them a bit more sinister, "Glimp" manages to hide a playful 4 to the floor kick as well beyond its smooth soundscapes and percussions. As Paranoid Society these split personalities from Tallinn were delivering to Modern Urban Jazz and Alphacut already since a decade at least.

bhed finishes with the slow far-away dubsteppish "Minerva". Make sure to not only check the releases on Row and Trusik but also the freshly baked Neuburg based live act in between cosy ambient and lush bass music at the next Bassmæssage on 18th November in LeipZig!

Nous'klaer Audio presents Martinou - Chiral, the follow full-length up to his 2021 album Rift. This time nine tracks across two vinyls. An album flowing 'in a way' like Rift, but it's different: More outspoken, heavier sound design and it peaks on a blissful note. ''Open up the blinds and take me there. We'll break the surface tension. We'll dive in. I'm locked in your devotion. You give an inclination to our demise. It will be our exit. To bliss, we'll be its guardian. Once there was love. Clear as glassy water. No ripples, no waves. I followed while you led. Our arrival was warm. Hot, even. Stunning to a startling degree. Hands intwined, frolicking towards the blue. Hours passed, and white heat cede to an orange hue. We cooled down. Red. We rallied. Black. It began. Into the deep darkness we ran. White sand, it has a tendency to get everywhere. Salt water will only dehydrate you more. Shriveled and dry. Scratchy and coarse. More. And then we were lost. Fingers once locked grew distant. Morning, dear. Where have you gone? We looked. A glimpse from afar. Red. We rallied. Shall we share a bottle of wine? Black, lost again. Afternoon, friend. Where were you? Red. Alone. Black. We rallied. Shall we try somewhere new? Sand and salt. Evening, sir. Reservation for one? Reservations a plenty, I say. Evening, miss. Dining alone? Aren't we all? Dining, miss, not dying. Oh, yes, alone. Black. Sand and salt. I found you. No. No. Wait, do I know you? You feel like a dream. Don't touch me. Move along, sir. Who are you? Leave. Who are you? Where did you go? Keep moving. I am, I will. Time to move on. I'm moving! Leave. Don't touch me. Leave. Why are you? Exit. Purple. Orange. Yellow. White. Blue. Morning, dear. Shall we have breakfast? I think I'll sleep some more. But it's our last day. I know. See you downstairs when you're ready. OK. I open up the blinds. A bird breaks the surface tension. Locked in. To Devotion? No. Demise. An inclination. Reverie. Take me there. Where? Exit (To Bliss) '' Text by Gregory Markus

NuNorthern Soul may be Ibiza-based, but the label’s connections with Nottingham run deep. Over the years, Phil Cooper’s imprint has offered up countless releases and remixes from some of the East Midlands’ city’s most Balearic-minded residents, including Crazy P’s Jim Baron, Is It Balearic? chiefs Coyote and, most recently, Constellations Workshop associates Brown Fang.

You can also add to that list Torn Sail, a collaboration between Brown Fang members Jon Thompson and Henry Scott, and another Notts-based NuNorthern Soul contributor, Huw Costin. The trio’s mesmerising ‘Disconnected’ recently featured on the label’s deluxe 10th anniversary vinyl box set and now they return with a single credited to both Brown Fang and Torn Sail – the first such occurrence of that happening.

Those who heard Brown Fang’s brilliant mini-album, Sherwood Pines, will immediately feel at home. Both ‘Exit’ and ‘Endless’, the two tracks showcased on this fine single release, feature the same gorgeous, slowly shifting fusion of sun-kissed electric guitar textures, ambient atmospherics and immersive, sunset-friendly sound design.

First up is ‘Exit’, an undulating, slow burning delight where rising and falling electronic melodies and yearning, gently jazzy electric guitar motifs rise above a sparse, shuffling, subtly Latin-tinged drum machine rhythm and warming bass. Endearing, enveloping and endlessly attractive, the track seemingly blossoms in slow motion throughout its’ three-and-a-half-minute duration, with additional musical elements presenting themselves as it progresses. Even by the trio’s high standards, it’s a magical composition.

On ‘Endless’, the long-time collaborators explore their love of mind-soothing ambient soundscapes. Doffing a cap to the 1970s new age ambience of Steve Hillage – whose distinctively languid, stretched out, effects-laden electric guitar solos were undoubtedly an inspiration –Thompson, Scott and Costin deliver a becalmed and brilliant dream-scape full of hazy aural textures, drifting chords and gentle, eyes-closed vocalisations. It feels like a loved-up, smile-inducing evocation of the most visually stunning dawn you’ve ever ushered in after a night dancing under the stars.

Rhythm Nation is back on vinyl, with a master of the deeper side of UK house and Detroit-inflected techno, Jayson Wynters.

Following up his 'Exit Wound' digital-only release of last year, which also featured remixes from Phantasy Sound's James Welsh, Jayson drops two brand new tracks as well as a physical pressing of those two originals from the previous release.

'War Heads' is a true late-night wormhole of a track, embarking on a journey of percussion and atmosphere, leading inexorably to the emergence of the warmest pads and the deepest bass.

'Bandwidth' flips the switch to a fresh take on classic electro, maintaining the signature Hayson Wynters sound of drum machines and classic synths that seem to hit just slightly left of where the listener expects.

Orginally released digitally in 2022, 'Exit Wound' and 'Lost City' offer a similar contrast - the former is a bassline-driven peak-time stomper, while the latter takes things deep into real electro with an infectious groove and evergreen textures.

Rhythm Nation is part of the Hotflush Recordings label group, curated by Paul Rose aka Scuba, celebrating 20 years in 2023.

"The letter X marks the spot, crosses over, literally with a cross. It’s the former, the ex-. The ex-lover known simply as “an ex”. Ex- is the latin prefix meaning “out”. Exterior, an exit. Extraordinary. Excellent. It’s exciting. Generation X. X-files. X is the unknown. X is Extreme“

Extreme is Molly Nilsson’s tenth studio album. Recorded in 2019 and throughout the 2020 global pandemic at home in Berlin, Extreme is a departure for Nilsson, an explosion of angry love. It’s an album of anthems for the jilted generation, soaked with joy and offering solace, bristling with distorted, Metal guitars and planet-sized choruses that bring light to the dark centre of the galaxy. It’s an album of the times, by the times and for the people. It’s a record about power. About how to fight it, how to take it and how to share it.

Absolute Power explodes with massive guitars, double kick beats and the instantly iconic line “It’s me versus the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.” Nilsson’s performance itself portrays absolute power in its confidence but the song is a call-to-arms, an entreaty to grasp the here and now, to take the power back. It’s Nilsson pacing the ring and we’re instantly in her corner. Earth Girls takes familiar Molly Nilsson themes - female empowerment and subverting the patriarchy - but casually throws in one of the choruses of her career. “Women have no place in this world” she sings, but it’s the world that isn’t good enough. Stadium-sized but still warmly hazy, Earth Girls has its fists in the air, glorifying in harmony, almost ecstatic in its feeling good. Nilsson’s Springsteen-level conviction and righteousness bleeds through the speaker cones, the cognitive dissonance between the song’s cadences and angry lyrics redolent of Bruce in his prime. Female empowerment isn’t always an angry energy on Extreme, however. On Fearless Like A Child, Nilsson’s anthem to the female body and women’s sovereignty of it, she croons over a mid-80s blue-eyed Soul groove. It sets a nocturnal scene as the narrator surveys her past and her surroundings. Before we’re fully submerged in a dreamlike, Steve McQueen-era Prefab Sprout poem to learning from your mistakes the song erupts into one of those lines only Molly Nilsson can get away with: “I love my womb, come inside I feel so alive” she fervently sings. Against the backdrop of ever-encroaching, conservative rulings on women’s reproductive rights in places like Texas, it’s simultaneously angry and full of love.

Every song on Extreme is a gleaming gem in a pouch of jewels. On Kids Today, Nilsson is the voice of wisdom, archly commenting on the eternal struggle between youth and authority. Wisdom infuses Sweet Smell Of Success with a transcendent love that forgives the narrator’s shortcomings and celebrates the moment, it’s a letter to the author from the author that asks “what is success” and concludes that this is it, this song, this moment. It’s a rare moment of simple reflection that is generous in its insight to Nilsson’s inner life. “Success” is a tool of power and we don’t need it… We need power tools and there are moments on Extreme where it feels like Nilsson is showing us how to find them. It's an open conversation through out Extreme. She’s a warm, comforting presence through out the album and specially on these songs of encouragement, songs perhaps sang to a younger Molly Nilsson or, really, to whomever needs to hear them. “They’ll praise your efforts, they’ll call you slurs a rebel, a master, an amateur / Merely with your own existence, you already offer your resistance.” On Avoid Heaven she’s even more direct, pleading with us to avoid concepts of purity and to embrace the glorious, ebullient, emotional mess we’re often in as a method of upending the power structures who need things to be perfect.

They Will Pay brings back the big, distorted power chords in the form of a agit-punk, pop slammer. Of course, when Molly Nilsson does punk pop we get the catchiest chorus this side of The Bangles or The Nerves. It’s rendered in an off the cuff, throwaway manner that is just perfect in its roughness. However, it’s on Pompeii that Nilsson delivers the album’s epic, emotional heartbreaker. Like 1995 on Nilsson’s album Zenith, or Days Of Dust on Twenty Twenty, the lyrics of Pompeii are heavy with a transcendent sadness, an aching poetry that cuts to the truth of the heart like the best Leonard Cohen lines, though here delivered with an uplifting, life-affirming love. It contains the most personal moments of Extreme, a song lit by the dying embers of romance. Yet it’s here where the alchemy at the base of all Nilsson’s best work is found. Turning small nuggets of personal truth into big, generous universal moments that invite everyone to cry, to love and to fight the power. In an album of jewels, it might be the shining star.

Molly Nilsson’s biggest, boldest and most vital album to date, Extreme is about power. Against the love of power and for the power of love.

REMASTERED

Grönland Records announce a revised, remastered reissue of “Sleepwalkers” by DAVID SYLVIAN. Available as a gatefold 2LP with exclusive art print and as a gatefold digipack CD, this new edition also features the previously unreleased track “Modern Interiors”.

in the 00s, DAVID SYLVIAN produced two of his strongest and most solitary statements, BLEMISH and MANAFON. but those records don’t tell the whole story. during that the same period, SYLVIAN created an alternate body of work: a series of collaborations and side projects with leading talents of pop and improv, electronic and contemporary classical music. the best of these recordings are gathered here on SLEEPWALKERS, meticulously sequenced and remixed: the fruits of one-off meetings and lifelong partnerships, they jump from bliss to intrigue, romance to sensuality, as arch experiments lead into the lushest pop.

the single ‘world citizen – i won’t be disappointed,’ written with RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, is a sublime example, with an impeccable melody and lyric warmed by SYLVIAN’S gorgeous tenor. SYLVIAN has worked with SAKAMOTO for close to three decades. by contrast, on ‘pure genius,’ a collaboration with CHRIS VRENNA aka tweaker, he sounds like he’s walked into a heist flick, singing the part of a delusional, dangerous bedroom genius. as sylvian explains, tracks like this ‘give me a chance to write in a way that’s completely non-personal, playful. it’s an exercise of some kind, working within the parameters of a given assignment.’

intrigue of a different kind drives ‘sugarfuel,’ with music by JEAN-PHILIPPE VERDIN, aka READYMADE FC. the lyrics offered ‘an opportunity to grapple with a more overt sexual theme than anything i’d previously attempted, as suggested by a vocal sample in the original track provided, a threateningly insistent ‘i’m on your side.’ so i took that as my point of entry and ran with it. i would love to write more on this subject should i find the right context. you’re always aware of walking a thin line exploring sexuality with language alone. the failings of the great and the good are strewn all around.’

NINE HORSES’ ‘wonderful world’ strolls in on a black tie bassline and the echoing coos of swedish chanteuse STINA NORDENSTAM, whose high chirps brush hands with SYLVIAN’S lead; there’s the blistering ‘money for all’ by FRIEDMAN and SYLVIAN, an oblique response to the fallout of 9/11 and the war on iraq. this is followed by the last known recording of SYLVIAN’S singing voice in over a decade, ‘do you know me now?’, a live studio recording later augmented by JAN BANG, EIVIND AARSET and ERIK HONORÉ. it’s certainly a title that’s become more relevant over time as SYLVIAN, in the latter stages of his career, repeatedly comes face to face with a new generation of admirers fixated on the life and times of the band formed by his younger self. SYLVIAN is one of only a handful of musicians to have successfully moved on from overt pop beginnings into a domain all his own but is consistently plagued by the misguided desires or expectations of some unfamiliar with his evolution to do a u-turn, pick up where he left off in the late 90s. although this compilation, as well as his writing for NINE HORSES, adequately shows SYLVIAN’S traditional love of melody is
intact, that it’s consistently remained part of his output, there’s no denying his focus has shifted, evolved.
the refusal to embrace complacency, the need to cover new ground ‘as older generations of popular musicians have a moral duty to explore despite, or because of, the greater possibility of failure’ will, i believe, lead to a reassessment of his later work that embraces a sightly more complex relationship with what we’re referring to as ‘melodic’, accompanied by an exploration of improvisation without dogma or beholden to any ‘givens’ for which he’s not infrequently been castigated. for SYLVIAN, there are no such boundaries. it’s obvious that different facets of his work co-exist without conflict but not necessarily for the majority of his audience. again, this places SYLVIAN in the odd, rare, unenviable(?) position of moving forwards leaving many in his devoted audience behind as, should he decide to return to music, it’s unlikely he’ll be aiming to placate an audience in love with work that preceded the 00s. in fact we’ve no idea where new work, should it surface, may lead.

SLEEPWALKERS also spotlights the innovators who contributed to MANAFON and BLEMISH. CHRISTIAN FENNESZ hangs a crackling, shimmering curtain behind the vocal on ‘transit,’ matching his signature mass of sui generis sounds to sylvian’s stately performance. and the title track began with an instrumental handed to SYLVIAN by MARTIN BRANDLMAYR of POLWECHSEL, soon after the first recording session for MANAFON. spite crackles in the gaps between the percussion, and onkyo artists TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA and SACHIKO M set the stage for the scathing lyrics in the chorus.

it cuts close to the bone and so do the two spoken word cuts, ‘angel’ and ‘thermal,’ produced by SAMADHISOUND recording artists JAN BANG and ERIK HONORÉ (and featuring ARVE HENRIKSEN on trumpet). SYLVIAN describes the latter work as a ‘love poem’ to his daughter. ‘‘thermal’ reflects on a period when our time in sonoma, ca was coming to an end. we’d stayed in temporary accommodation which had lulled us into a false sense of security. we had pear, apple, lemon, and figs trees growing in the yard. a small but exotic paradise. a cocoon. but the cracks were beginning to show in the relationship between ex-wife INGRID CHAVEZ and i which is where i think this underlying sense of anxiety, which runs throughout the poem, is derived from, coupled with the need to provide physical and spiritual stability to the children, the youngest of whom was just under two at the time. the poem is addressed to her. our world was dissipating, coming apart at the seams, but we were an island unto ourselves.’

‘five lines’ marked the start of a new partnership with acclaimed young composer DAI FUJIKURA, who at the time of recording was also working on remixes of MANAFON for what became DIED IN THE WOOL. the string quartet was performed by the celebrated ICE ENSEMBLE and written for SYLVIAN, who FUJIKURA cites as an early influence. says SYLVIAN, ‘the composition moves through numerous changes in time signature but as i had no knowledge of what these were i just relied on my gut instinct, and responded, as i always do, with what felt right to me, composing an entirely new melody in the process. some months later i was working in a studio in london and dai dropped by. i rather tentatively asked if he’d like to hear a rough mix of the song as it stood, painfully aware that my contribution might make no sense to him at all but, to my relief he loved the result.’

there’s one further new addition to this collection, the first official release of a track composed in response to the tsunami in fukushma, ‘modern interiors’, featuring SYLVIAN once again in collaboration with BANG and AARSET.

like 2000s EVERYTHING AND NOTHING, SLEEPWALKERS is a retrospective of a particular decade when SYLVIAN was free of major label interference and could follow his own instincts without having to explaining himself – but it’s also an eye-opening complement to his solo releases. as SYLVIAN explains, ‘some collaborations seem to be a one-off exchange but you can never be too certain of that fact. others have been long term. in this respect, RYUICHI comes to mind. there’s others with whom you hope to continue working as you feel you’ve barely scratched the surface. other times offers come out of the blue, welcome, inspired. regardless, it’s wonderfully explorative to have so many possibilities to juggle with. each collaboration seems timely. it’s as if there’s a rightness to the exchange at a given moment in time.’

in the meantime, we hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered. these are the orphans, abused, estranged, exotic, migrating from diverse corners of the globe, brought together under one roof which they're learning to share despite their differences.

‘as many of you will already be aware, despite relatively continuous work on solo albums, i’ve maintained strong ties with a number of musicians throughout my life in one context or another. on this new collection, let’s call it SLEEPWALKERS 2.0, a selection of collaborative work produced over the period encompassing blemish through to manafon, i’ve included compositions by nine horses as well as more fleeting flirtations and one-offs. neglected offspring. represented also is long term friend and writing partner, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, as well as more recent but potentially equally productive partnerships such as CHRISTIAN FENNESZ, ARVE HENRIKSEN and contemporary classical composer DAI FUJIKURA.
i hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered. these are the orphans, abused, estranged, exotic, migrating from diverse corners of the globe, brought together under one roof which they're learning to share despite their differences.

we contain multitudes. we’re nothing if not contradictory.’

DAVID SYLVIAN, 2010

(consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life: aldous huxley)

This is the second Haress album, a five piece from Shropshire. They channel the sounds of Fairport Convention, Lungfish, Papa M, Earth, Robert Wyatt, John Fahey, and Talk Talk. Taking influence and making it their own. The first vinyl press comes with a bonus flexi disc telling the story of the week the band spent recording the album, the weirdness, the positively supernatural happenings. On this album the core duo of Elizabeth Still and David Hand are joined by David Smyth (Mind Mountain, Kling Klang) on drums, Chris Summerlin (Hey Colossus, Kogumaza) on guitar, Thomas House (Sweet Williams, Charlottefield) on vocals and Nathan Bell (Lungfish, Human Bell) on trumpet. In early 2020 the group travelled to a disused water mill in North Wales for a week to record with engineer Phil Booth (JT Soar) and his mobile studio. The stories of what occurred are told on the flexi disc that accompanies the LP but the group’s plans for a relaxing break in the country were scuppered by events that were either highly unusual, or positively supernatural (depending on your own beliefs in such things). Well-made plans were abandoned and the recording was forced to develop according to the location it was being made in. Chance and accident were welcomed as a collaborator rather than a saboteur and the group exited the sessions extremely freaked-out but with the makings of an album. Ghosts is an incredible piece of work and posits Haress on their own when it comes to developing new approaches to traditional musical forms. The music contains many moments of immediate joy - the relative pop of House’s vocals on White Over, the wild horns of I Think I Think, the rush of warmth as Time To Drink morphs into focus. But it also stretches the sound Haress have carefully developed almost to breaking point with sections of music that feel like somebody - something - else is steering the ship. The 2 final songs – Litres Into Metres and Sussurus – are joined together by a collage of site-specific sound. It was decided to add the output from a detuned long wave radio to this section on the final night of recording. Static hissed from the device but as soon as the record light illuminated, a rich male baritone voice sang loud and clear from the radio, taking a solo right where it was needed and then disappearing into space forever like the Ghosts of the title.

Back In Stock!

The debut collaboration between techno alchemists Ben Klock and Lucy will probably provoke quivers of anticipation before a single note has been heard. After all, both producers have carved out names for themselves as scene innovators at what they do, and both have already proven that they can more than capably work in a duo format without sacrificing an iota of their unique aesthetics: in Lucy's case, there has already been the sublime Zeitgeber pairing with Speedy J., and Klock has joined forces with the likes of Marcel Dettmann to craft some of the more memorable output from the Ostgut Ton label. This new release makes good on each producer's talent for working with epically unfolding tracks, maintaining a strong command of both 'drone' and melodicism, and envisioning sound as a kind of inter-dimensional mass transit. As the record indicates, things can get very interesting when the two working methods superimpose perfectly, but can be just as interesting when the two fall slightly out of phase with one another.



Listeners familiar with the classic kosmische feel will be taken immediately by the opening gambit "Bliss," whose feeling of floating through the coldness of space is accompanied here by nicely warm production values. The bassline that introduces the subsequent track ("War Lullaby") is close to being a continuation of the opener's leitmotif sequence, although with a change in atmosphere that will keep curious ears from turning away too soon: an FX-shrouded voice delivers a monologue at once seductive and foreboding, followed by a confident kick thump with ephemeral trailing clatters in tow. This affective orientation pulses through the whole record well, building up to the second rhythmic track ("Santeria") which is the busiest and most engaging of the bunch. Here a variety of sonic flavorings are ritually thrown into the pot and allowed to simmer - fleeting snatches of conga, phasing zaps and rhythmic ricochets all make for a rich concoction that epitomizes the progress that has been made in techno music within this decade. The closing "A Ghost Love story," like the opener, is a non-'dance' piece, but is no less compelling for that fact: as a foam of white noise pans between the listener's ears, a slurred / pitch-bent refrain conjures the feeling of either entering or exiting from some erotically tinged hypnagogic state.



Speaking of which, the overall impression given off by this record is that of a special kind of reciprocity: that is, of dreams influencing reality and reality feeding back into dreams. The rhythmic intensity of these tracks, at once an indicator of a hard and immediate reality, is regularly complemented by oneiric flourishes that make the partitioning line between these two realms of consciousness less distinct. As the next chapter in the Stroboscopic Artefacts saga, and in the personal journeys of both Ben Klock and Lucy, it will contribute to the ongoing mission of all these parties: giving longtime fans what they want while expanding their consciousness and inquisitiveness.

Muck Spreader found a home in the London circuit, performing alongside the likes of Fat White Family, Wolf Alice, Warmduscher and Black Midi; though this is not an indication of their sound, which continues to be forever morphing, unique and uncategorizable. The band’s latest EP Abysmal is their first vinyl release and signals a louder and further departure into sonic experimentation.

The EP follows Rodeo Mistakes, released last year to acclaim from the likes of So Young Magazine, DIY, Dork, Huw Stephens at BBC 6music and Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1. With Abysmal we find deranged screams and a music rich with filthy bass, sludgy guitar, shrieking saxophone, and glitchy effects. The drums anchor the chaos.
On EP openerTake Flight Muck Spreader offer the following: "Fasten your seatbelts, find your nearest exit, and in the event of an emergency please assume the brace position. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. You are now in the safe hands of Captain Frosty Theodore, and the crew will do everything in their power to Keep it Mucky Take Flight"

Over the past decade, Egyptian-born, Barcelona-based DJ and techno producer Raxon, known to friends and family as Ahmed Raxon, has popped out a steady stream of twelve-inch singles, precision-tooled, for labels like Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul, and Ellum Audio. An alumni of Kompakt’s Speicher series – check the insistent, vibrating pulses of “The Ancient” and “Dark Light” on 2019’s Speicher 107 – with Sound Of Mind, Raxon has produced a long-awaited debut album that’s ready and aching both for the dancefloor and the boudoir, traversing the heat of the club and the warmth of the home.

“The idea of an album has always floated around in my head for the past few years,” Raxon confirms, “but it was never the right moment in my mind.” Instead, he’s been insistently pursuing his vision of deep, elegant techno, taking him from early DJ gigs in Dubai, including the legendary audio tonic night, then relocating to Europe on the recommendation of Herman Cattaneo, all the while allowing his experiences to inform and transmute his producer’s thumbprint. He’s an architect by training (though he gave architecture up for electronic music), which might explain why Raxon productions are so sturdy and well-designed; but remember also that architecture is a field filled with brave experimentation, something Raxon definitely draws on throughout Sound Of Mind.

Like many albums from the past twelve months, Raxon’s debut developed partly thanks to the unique social situation the planet has found itself caught within. “In the beginning of 2020 I started working on a few tracks with the album in mind,” he recalls, “with no idea of what’s to come in the next few months. As catastrophic as the situation was/is, I found myself in the studio; in a way the lockdown gave me that creative freedom in the studio, to try to tell my story through sound.” And indeed, there is something in the way of ‘life writing’ about Sound Of Mind, particularly in the way Raxon’s productions pay subtle homage, perhaps, to his formative listening experiences in the late nineties.

It’s no retro trip, but there’s plenty of variety here, and a few moments that’ll tickle the collective memory – see the prowling pulsations of the opening “Majestic”, the alien breakbeat action of “Vice” and “Journey Mode”, where the interstellar tones feel like Foul Play or Steve Gurley, the leaking gas and woozy keys that make “Droid Solo” so subtly destabilising, or the strobelight drones that sputter and flare throughout “El Multiverse”, where dappled organ tones fight it out with interdimensional transmissions, all sucked into the vortex of a late-night techno mantra. Beautifully sculpted, Sound Of Mind feels consummate, an elegant set that pulls Raxon’s vision into its sharpest focus. Alive with possibilities, it’s a fever dream of creativity.

In den letzten zehn Jahren hat der in Ägypten geborene und in Barcelona lebende DJ und Techno-Produzent Raxon, der Freunden und Familie auch als Ahmed Raxon bekannt ist, eine ganze Reihe von 12inch-Singles auf Labels wie Cocoon, Drumcode, Diynamic, Truesoul und Ellum Audio veröffentlicht. Wir kennen Raxon außerdem durch seinen Beitrag zur Kompakt Extra/Speicher-Reihe – man höre sich nur mal "The Ancient" und "Dark Light" auf dem 2019 erschienenen Speicher 107 an. Nun hat Raxon mit “Sound Of Mind“ sein lang erwartetes Debütalbum produziert, das sowohl für den Dancefloor als auch für die eigenen vier Wände geeignet ist und dabei sowohl die Hitze des Clubs als auch die Wärme des eigenen Zuhauses durchmisst.

"Die Idee eines Albums schwebte in den letzten Jahren immer in meinem Kopf herum", bestätigt Raxon, "aber es gab nie den richtige Moment." Stattdessen verfolgte er leidenschaftlich seine Vision von tiefem, elegantem Techno, die ihn von frühen DJ-Gigs in Dubai, einschließlich der legendären Audio-Tonic-Nacht, dann auf Empfehlung von Hernan Cattaneo nach Europa führte. Im Laufe dieser Zeit sammelte er unzählige Erfahrungen, die es ihm erlaubten, seinen Stil als Produzent mehr und mehr zu transformieren. Raxon ist gelernter Architekt (obwohl er die Architektur für die elektronische Musik aufgegeben hat), was vielleicht erklärt, warum seine Produktionen so robust und gut durchdacht sind; aber man sollte auch nicht vergessen, dass Architektur bestenfalls immer ein Feld mutiger Experimente ist, etwas, worauf Raxon in “Sound Of Mind“ definitiv zurückgreift.

Wie viele andere Alben der letzten zwölf Monate auch wurde Raxon’s Debüt von der einzigartigen gesellschaftlichen Situation, in der sich der Planet momentan befindet, beeinflusst. "Anfang 2020 habe ich angefangen, an ein paar Tracks für das Album zu arbeiten", erinnert er sich, "ohne zu wissen, was in den nächsten Monaten auf uns zukommen würde. So katastrophal die Situation auch war/ist, ich fand mich im Studio wieder; in gewisser Weise gab mir der Lockdown auch eine kreative Freiheit im Studio, um zu versuchen, eine Geschichte durch meinen Sound zu erzählen." Und in der Tat gibt es auf “Sound Of Mind“ so etwas wie eine "Lebensgeschichte", besonders in der Art und Weise, wie Raxon’s Produktionen eine subtile Hommage an seine prägenden musikalischen Erfahrungen in den späten Neunzigern darstellen.

Es ist fürwahr kein Retro-Trip, aber es gibt hier viel Abwechslung und ein paar Momente, die das kollektive Gedächtnis kitzeln werden - zum Beispiel der sich langsam heran pirschende Pulsschlag im Eröffnungstrack "Majestic", oder die außerirdischen Breakbeats von "Vice" und "Journey Mode", in denen sich die interstellaren Sounds ein wenig wie Foul Play oder Steve Gurley anfühlen. Dann das ausströmende Gas und die wummernden Tasten, die "Droid Solo" subtil destabilisieren, oder die Strobo-Drones, die in "El Multiverse" herum sprudeln und flackern, wo einzelne Töne einer Orgel mit interdimensionalen Transmittern um die Wette strahlen und schließlich in den Strudel eines nächtlichen Techno-Mantras gesogen werden. “Sound Of Mind“ fühlt sich formvollendet an, wie ein elegantes Set, das Raxon’s Vision verstärkt in den Fokus rückt. Ein Fiebertraum voller Kreativität und Möglichkeiten.

Retro future past explorer. Ultraromance, hazy desire, a whiff of nostalgia. Excitement, confusion, and disenchantment. Internalization leads to alienation. And the cognition that everything can turn into a straight up joke after a while. So »relax and implode«…

The second full-length album of Berlin musician and futurologist André Uhl invites the listener to a sonic adventure with high emotional impact. Eleven songs are carefully crafted like sculptures in a swampy landscape. Warm, gritty, and viscid, the unique sound aesthetic leads the path through the dusty twilight, breathing down your neck, providing comfort and disturbance at the same time.

The sound material was recorded in a church during André’s two months long artist residency in a monastery in Alsace, France, where a specific set of microphones was used to capture the unique reverb of the nave. Additional material was recorded in Philadelphia, New York and in André’s Berlin studio.

Field recordings play a central role in the album, defining the mood and building the rhythmic foundation for all the compositions. Other elements were produced with a wide range of different analog and digital instruments. A powerful lead of a Roland Jupiter 6, the warm organ of a Moog Opus 3, the quirkiness of a circuit-bent Casio PT10 – or the clicking of an electricity meter in an apartment. »Relax and Implode« by André Uhl will be released on 16 October 2020 on Martin Hossbach.

Reactivated is the label’s fifth vinyl reference. For this work, ART21 has the participation of six artists: Hd Substance (Spain), Filip Xavi (Servia), Romain Richard (France), Pedro Pina (Spain), Kalter Ende (Spain), and dietriangle (Italy). Reactivated is a dancefloor focused dark mental techno LP that features hypnotic sounds created with both modular and analog synthesizers giving it the right warmth of sound. It is a work that invites us to reflect on the current pandemic we are going through and invites us to continue fighting and enjoying life. «As I didn’t worry about being born, I didn’t worry about dying» . – Federico García Lorca

Die Cut Sleeve with download. It’s a strange betweenworld, bookended by sleep and the jolt of being wide awake in a place where you wonder how you got there. You know the feeling… It seems familiar but the colours are, well, unreal. In a high-ceilinged room, a grand piano plays lush melodies as, meanwhile, somewhere, an Alice In Wonderland clock ticks, cellos are bowed, a swarm of something vibrates and the hallucinatory crowd around Rosemary’s Baby babble. An echoey electronic hum builds and falls like a 50s refrigerator passed through and effects board, things run backwards, staccato strings are plucked… and that’s not the half of it. “I’ve never been happy staying in one particular school of musical thought. The fun has been turning things on their heads, to try something you were not supposed to do.” We’re on an immersive and adventurous travelogue with the former member of the legendary Tangerine Dream, Paul Haslinger - this is a man who knows how to build tension, hold moods, illustrate contempt, lies, passion and pleasure; He can create fear, loathing and love - he’s been unlocking the nuances of such emotions in a hugely successful career as a TV and film soundtrack composer (Halt And Catch Fire, Underworld and the Golden Globe-nominated Sleeper Cell). ‘Exit Ghost’ is his long thought out opus, a moment caught in time, flicking through reference points, taking an ethereal excursion that permeates musical genres as it becomes awash with intricate sounds and cross-pollinating rhythms. Built originally from the warmth of his grand piano ‘Exit Ghost’ resonates with purity and power, from an eerie and evocative betweenworld, that’s at once expansive and rolling, then intoxicating and suffocating in equal measures; modern composition at its most uplifting; cerebral, celebratory, intense and beautiful. “The soul searching in connection with this record was extensive. Finding places of resonance, giving a colour to your memories. It was more challenging because it’s not somebody else’s narrative. Finding the core of your own story can be the most difficult task of all.” Created over the span of eight years and filled with literal and personal references, the album itself is a testament to the search - a quest filled with hints, particles and suggestions.

Following Jaguar Mirror [c.2016] and Night School Of Universal Wisdom [c.2017], psychonaut Thunder Tillman and his personal shaman Pontus deliver another sublime EP, completing an illustrious trilogy with arguably their most expansive work to date, Condor Sunower. The title track is emotionally overwhelming, a drum procession that carries a righteous battle hymn to epic heights, accumulating primitive instrumentation, ceremonial chants, emotive chord changes and Beach Boy harmonies before exiting on a tear-jerking coda. The intermediary track Sväva is just as vulnerable, a modestly-arranged and leisurely-paced lullaby, where angels coalesce with a droning organ and eventually unfurl into the warm glow of rapture. Before we hit rock bottom, Thunder and Pony halt the elevator, abandoning any sense of melancholy and climbing to new heights with Creation Discoteque, an 11-minute Prog beast that chronicles a myriad of their musical adventures. This retrospective of altered states does seem designed to drop the curtain on their meticulously-crafted narrative, but not without foreshadowing their future and throwing in an air-shaking rave-up that sprints toward the nish line. What we nd enviable, spanning 3 glorious Thunder Tillman EPs and short lms, is the duo's creative simpatico, something that many artists in collaboration never truly behold. It's not their joint musical intuition, their intrinsic understanding of one another's craft, or even the power of their improvisational tether, but their spiritual alliance that nobody can touch. It's as if they share a tandem bicycle ride on the highest plane of consciousness to lounge in the members-only spa where they telepathically discuss secrets of high-grade musical alchemy

Warm return once again... One of the most consistent and influential agencies to have operated in the 2000s, the collective continue to develop their original agency, events and record label, and things are heating up very nicely. Following soul-arresting releases from Elliot Lion and Face + Heel comes this four-track odyssey from Belfast's Lunar Orbit Rendezvous AKA LOR. Ready for take-off

Our mission is set with 'Mystery To The Viewer', but what is the main mystery Is it the gravity-defying thrust of our engines or the identity of the anonymous (yet well spoken) narrator Listen closely for clues amid the heavy pulsating chords as we break away from the earth orbit and plunge deeper into the stars.

'In This Detail' sees us hurtling further and further into the dark unknown. There's a deep chilling aesthetic at play here as LOR makes his 808s weep with the loneliness only a long-stay astronaut can sympathise with. In perfect contrast, the isolation is balanced by the direct and vital 'Oriole'. One of LOR's earliest projects, updated with all the skills and techniques he's learnt on labels such as Exit Strategy and Cin Cin, it's a vital composition that rises and rises as we engage hyperspeed through the cosmos. 

Finally we land back on our home planet to the marching momentum of 'White Light'. Almost stately in its pace and rhythmic stride, things suddenly take a turn for the intense as a warping bass siren triggers a much darker direction and a series of spasmodic kicks and heavily shelved filters. Welcome home...

Hedonism in its purest form means nothing but adjusting one s life and ambition towards pleasure and joy as well as the prevention of pain and sorrow. Following that concept, Wice s first EP takes the listener along on a journey of extremes: persistently strolling between sensual desire, ecstasy and lust as well as the deepest abysses of human sensitivities.
Coherently, just kiddin drags the listener right into Wice s universe of fabulous oppositions without any prior warning: the Peak Time Killer, inspired by the love of Detroit Techno of the 90ies, exhibits irrepressible energy, velocity and surprising twists and turns. Driven by the progressive drive of the drum patterns, the voyager, trapped in a mesh of percussions, wanders confused and disoriented on dance floors looking for support and, as if out of the blue, finally gets released by the warm synthline and gently taken by the hand. Simply just kiddin.
When legs are broken, things have to be done can be described as a small masterpiece of urban, intelligent dance music. The composition, which ranges in between complexity and simplicity, with its breaking beats in combination with spheric pads shows up the necessity that one should, despite setbacks, consistently remind oneself that life, love and music reveal their most beautiful aspects in a balanced and smooth flow.
The eponymous track hedonism draws a painting of obscure and rugged techno landscapes, which attract the listener magically, even though their beauty and grace can only be assumed at first glance. Once identified, the shimmering pads, the forceful bassline and the impulsive percussions unfold a world riddled with the most beautiful abysses and animality hedonism in its purest and most sinful form alike.
With blind certainty a downtempo piece rounds off the EP, which is supposed to be comprehended as a reminder for all hedonists that blind trust may have positive as well as negative consequences.
The hopeful basic mood of the song, however, always lets the light at the end of the tunnel shine through, which emphasizes the optimistic exit of Wice s world of hedonism.