quête:x mind

Speedy Ortiz is proud to announce their sophomore album, Foil Deer, which will be released via Carpark Records on April 20th.

'Major Arcana' released in 2013 won them glowing reviews , features and several UK tours (highlights below):

- 4 PAGE NME FEATURE

- 9/10 LEAD REVIEW IN NME: 'One of the reasons 'Major Arcana' works so well is because it's addictive and fun. The guitars and bass sound incredible, like the last Deerhunter album without the Yankee Doodle Dandy'

8/10 Drowned In Sound : ' Speedy Ortiz are way too euphoric and glorious to suffer for their artfulness. Stripping away the frills, at heart Major Arcana is a mournful treasure that asks to be celebrated.'

*NME RADAR FEATURE: 'What's miraculous, though, is that Major Arcana doesn't sound at all self-pitying; it's torrid Slint-meets-Pavement rattle bolsters Sadie's relished words so that yelling along is an exercise in gleefully exorcising your own demons'

8.4 ON PITCHFORK: : 'There's the squalling, guitar-on-guitar carnage of Archers of Loaf, the grungy mysticism of Helium (Dupuis lifted the title Major Arcana from a book she was reading on black magic), and of course the deadpan wit of vintage Liz Phair ('I was never the witch that you made me to be,' Dupuis tells a burnt-out old flame on 'Plough', 'Still you picked a virgin over me').

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
Deluxe LP Is as above but with metallic gold coloured vinyl, and sticker.(200 ONLY FOR UK)
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Speedy Ortiz said they would get the flowers themselves. What a lark! What a plunge!

When considering Massachusetts' Speedy Ortiz, that line from Virginia Woolf comes to mind. Not only for the obvious echoes to DIY, a form and function that's characterized the band's nascency, but in the proto-feminist undertones driving much of their sophomore album, Foil Deer. "I'm not bossy, I'm the boss," Sadie Dupuis sings on "Raising the Skate," invoking in spirit one half of the Carter-Knowles clan and echoing the other's wordplay. And wordplay makes sense, considering Dupuis-the band's songwriter, guitarist, and frontwoman-spent the band's first few years teaching writing at UMass Amherst. She's drawn to the dense complexity of Pynchon, the dreamlike geometry of Bolaño, the confounded yearning of Plath-all attributes you could easily apply to the band's 2013 debut Major Arcana, which fans and press alike have invested with a sense of purpose and merit uncommon in contemporary guitar rock.

The group, including Mike Falcone on drums, Darl Ferm on bass, and new addition Devin McKnight of Grass is Green on guitar, have spent the last year on an almost endless cross-continental touring jag, tagging along with the likes of The Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and Thurston Moore. That shift into full-time musicianship brought with it an attendant reordering of priorities when it came to songwriting, and the band members' lives in general. They would get the damn flowers themselves.

Dupuis wrote much of Foil Deer at her mother's home in the Connecticut woods, where the songwriter imposed a self-regulated exile and physical cleansing of sorts, finding that many of the songs came to her while running or swimming alone. "I gave up wasting mental energy on people who didn't have my back," she says. "Listening to our old records, I get the sense I was putting myself in horrible situations just to write sad songs. This music isn't coming from a dark place, and without slipping into self-empowerment jargon, it feels stronger." Many of the songs deal with a similar sense of starting over, editing out the unnecessary drama. "Boys be sensitive and girls be, be aggressive," she sings on "Mister Difficult."

And while their debut album was recorded on the fly, Speedy Ortiz spent almost a month in the studio on Foil Deer. Falcone's drums are taut, mechanistic; Ferm's bass ranges from the aggressive rattle of an AmRep classic to smoother, hip-hop inspired lines. McKnight, meanwhile, lends spacier, textural riffs to complement Dupuis' wiry, melody-driven guitar style. "The demos for our songs have always had tons of small details and production experimentation, but we never had any money to pay for more than a couple days in the studio, so the songs came out very live-sounding and guitar heavy," Dupuis says. It was recorded and mixed at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room with Nicolas Vernhes (Silver Jews, Enon, Deerhunter), with the record mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, Haim, Beauty Pill), lending a more polished sound and a pop sensibility that will stand out to existing fans and new converts alike. For all the lyrical complexity and guitar-based excursions Speedy Ortiz have built their reputation on to this point, Foil Deer has a sense of light-footed fun. What's the point of doing things yourself if you're not going to enjoy the trip

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

We are very happy to start this new edition of Deeply Rooted releases with Insolate 'Mood Module E.P', produced by the very talented Miss Sunshine.
All artists on the new series will work under a new name,new projects and new collaborations. Going back to the roots of techno and house and let the music do the speaking and not the (hyped) names of the producers. Listen with an open mind to these releases approved by the Deeply Rooted (House) label. And as we all know... Dj Deep is a legend with his work as resident dj of the Rex since the very first days, a record collector and music lover extraordinaire, someone who is just like Laurent Garnier on of the key figures in the french house and techno scene for many years. Big up for him daring to choose a different path with his label, always trying to find new inspirations!

The ep goes through different mood and feelings, Epic is a straight up Techno journey, Werk is a great rhythm track that keeps building all the way through!, Parch is a dark and heavy uncompromising track, the record ends with Tuga a deeper and more mysterious jam. We hope you'll like it as much as we do!
Enjoy.
Dj Deep.

He is not so easy to find. You have to follow the kilometres of pipes down and along a labyrinth of corridors, to enter in the basement den of Romain Turzi. This once cavernous space has been metamorphosised into a recording studio for the purpose of creating and completing the A & B albums trilogy with the latest LP release: C. Closed off from the world, without natural light and water supply, but full of consoles, synthesizers and old guitars, Romain cocooned himself here for several months to perfect his music and sonically construct the soundtrack that is C, with tracks entitled by nine types of birds, to glide you through this treasure hunt through the complexities of his musical mind.
After Turzi's sophomore album: B, recorded under the Corsican sun, the change of conditions is quite radical. Closing off from the world in a place where you can only do one thing, make music, Turzi was able to gain the greatest luxury within this process: time.

Uncto's seminal 2013 release Pain was an uncompromising exercise in rhythmical brutality amidst a conflux of themes of suffering, industry, man, and machine.
The record now sees itself reinterpreted and reimagined under the auspices of some of the scene's most eminent and accomplished forerunners in what is perhaps, as it arrives on an opulent red double-vinyl format, the label's most ambitious addition to its catalog to date.

Long-time trailblazers Exium first take on 'Dirty Minds' as they apply their unequalled peak-time treatment. While retaining the driving force of the original, the Spanish duo transmute its somber sense of narrative into a singular and infective pattern that unrelentingly maintains its intensity throughout. In contrast, Frenchman Mondkopf's reconstruction is a radical departure from its progenitor, almost as if the merciless titular oppressor ('Schinder') has been injected with an empathogenic truth serum and made to face the toll of his deeds. Serving as his final penance, the resultant insuppressible melodic radiance gushes to the fore as powerfully as his remorse and tears.
Continuing on the second record, Canadians Orphx draw upon the immense and unwieldy cyclicality of 'Judas Cradle' as they deconstruct the torture device into a prolonged yet unfaltering dirge. Harnessing the raw power of the original, they adroitly fuel and layer the modular solemn synths of the drawn-out nine minute epic. Finally, the unequivocal master of industrial cannonry, Ancient Methods (DE), takes on and reins in the unyielding beast of 'It,' leaving the monster not only tamed but fully subjugated to his will. Now capable of executing the most inscrutable order, itsees itself violently degenerated to the barest of elements and recombined anew, with the cadence of its frame shifted and staggered to the striding rhythm of a being more machine than flesh. Providing solace and closure are Uncto themselves, as they complement the compositions with two droning interludes.

Mastered by CGB at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering, Pain Remixes will be available at fine vinyl retailers

This EP was made during a period where my whole outlook on everything was transforming. The Voidloss project started as an investigation, I was conducting a lot of research and study on the mind, the occult, on different thought modes, and the Voidloss project represented this. The idea was about a leap in to the void. A leap of abandonment into the dark, with total acceptance, total commitment. The idea was to lose myself to the void. This was mainly a spiritual journey for me, and could be best explained by 3 things, the void of Miyamoto Musashi from Go Rin No Sho, The concept of the Tao from the writings of Lao Tzu, and the concept of the abyss from the works of Aleister Crowley. Part of this journey deep inside the self was frightening and horrific, the total loss of self, of all identity and ego, and part of it was beautiful and enlightening. I wanted the music to reflect this, and I wanted the music to change as I changed, as I went to and through all these interesting places. In essence this was about freedom. So fast forward some years and I felt I had sharpened my mind quite effectively, the music had twisted and changed and flowed with me. At the point I began making the music for this EP, I had grown quite angry with the amount of conformity I was perceiving in life. Politically, socially, musically, there was this drive of conformity in the world. I think part of it, and only a part, comes from the prevalence of social media, the need to belong and to be liked, the idea of judging yourself and your works through the perception of others. Musically I felt that within techno there was a tendency for the music to fit within a set of confines dictated by fashion and hype, and this was reducing the diversity of the music, it seemed also that the practices of commercial music were seeping in to techno as the music became more popular. Hype and business driven decisions, brand building and so on. I always felt techno was more about art, and I began to get frustrated. Equally I felt that politically there was less and less choice, as all decisions seemed to lead to the same outcomes. I became more interested in the concept of anarchism, of the idea that government was no longer needed. I have always in my life had a drive to question everything. I've always been 'naughty' and rebellious and done things my way, to my advantage or my disadvantage, I could never accept being anything other than myself all the way. If everyone walks in one direction, I will walk the other way, even if it takes me over the edge of a precipice, just to see what is there. All this stuff influences my music, and during the period of making this EP I was angry, kicking against the things I no longer liked or wanted, screaming dissent. There is a lot of anger and rage, and of course rebellion. I wanted the music to capture that unbridled fury you have when you are in your late teens, when you just start learning about yourself and you start rebelling and questioning things around the time the world is really pushing you to conform. I was soundtracking my own philosophical riot. Previous to this my Voidloss stuff had been more introverted, more pensive and melancholy, more self destructive, more cerebral. For this new music I wanted something more immediate but without being too obvious. In terms of the choices I made I still leaned more towards broken rhythms for beat structure. I find it very difficult to do anything interesting with 4x4 kicks any more, it's too rigid for me, it limits my freedom. I like the looseness you get from more 'drummer' like beats, I guess probably because I have been playing drums all my life. The challenge is to get the same rolling power from broken rhythms as you get from 4 to the floor. It's not easy, there is a ridiculous amount of trial and error and the rejection percentage is high. I also was trying to use less 'synthy' sounds. I wanted to try to take a more acousmatic approach to sound design. With the current modular synth revival in techno I was hearing a lot of 'old' synth sounds re-emerging, and this didn't seem like a progression to me. I wanted to make sounds that were hard to source for the listener, where they weren't sure if it was synth or real world sample, digital or analogue. This involved a lot of experimentation. My process involved a lot of field recording, especially with contact microphones, which open up a whole new world of interesting sounds. You are effectively recording sounds through objects in the environment, 'hearing' the world as these objects hear them, I was using guitars, feedback loops, handmade instruments as well. So I was combining this with different synthesis, granular synthesis, sample synthesis, physical modelling, FM synthesis and of course analogue. Everything was reprocessed and re-synthesised, I tried hard to obscure the source and make something new as much as possible. The stuff on this EP was part of my live PA for some time, so as I learned how the music worked live I could go back and make changes, sometimes the environment I was playing in transformed the sound as well, and so I would try to go back an incorporate this in to the music. For remixes I wanted to choose artists that I respected for their vision as well as for their output, so my list of people I wanted was extremely short. Inigo Kennedy has always been an artist I have respected greatly. His music has always been unique to himself, he remains outside of fashions and trends even though his name has become very big recently. He takes risks with his work, experimenting and exploring, yet remaining relevant to the club, and just tirelessly forging ahead, seemingly for the sake of art above all else. And he's just a really nice guy to deal with. His remix is everything I expected it to be in that it is the unexpected. Regis is another artist who forges his own path in music, you cant really even begin to discuss the avantgarde in techno without including his name, he is one of the foundation stones for artistry and the outsider mentality in techno. His music is always unique to his own vision, and along with it comes an interesting artistic philosophy taking in situationism, post punk and industrial ideology and a good dose of tricksterism ala PT Barnum, all of which comes out in his music and the way it is presented. The man is a truly singular force and it is an honour to have him on this record. Overall the concept here is that of rebellion and dissent. Of asking questions, following your own path, of maintaining some place in yourself that burns like a forest fire.

Whether or not I have succeeded I guess is down to the listener, I'm never happy with my music, I keep wanting to move forwards, or somewhere else, and am constantly trying and failing to capture some essence of perfection. But like Bukowski said
'It's the only good fight there is'

Requiem for a dreamstate. It's possibly somewhere between heaven, hell and high water, down the Thames Delta towards Eden. It may involve techno and a distorted state or simply mates sat listening to music together, drifting on the open sea of their minds. This is Jon Hopkins' world, not so much joining the dots as colouring the whole damn picture in.

After releasing his debut album 'Opalescent' at the rookie age of 21 in 1999, he's gone on to work with Brian Eno and David Holmes, produced King Creosote and via Eno, worked on three Coldplay albums. He released the breakthrough album 'Immunity' in 2013, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

The story arc with which Hopkins succeeded on 'Immunity' makes its appearance on Late Night Tales too with a perfectly sculpted excursion on this widescreen mix. . Opening with the unreleased 'Sleepers Beat Theme' by composer Ben Lukas Boysen, ghostly pianos skip elegantly hither and thither, among rising strings, as on Darkstar's 'Hold Me Down'. Nils Frahm is here, his sonic palette perfect for the job, while labelmate A Winged Victory For The Sullen contribute 'Requiem For The Static King Part I'. Sigur Ros offshoot Jónsi & Alex's heroic 'Daniell In The Sea' sends us forth towards the Baltic with tears streaming.

Beats occasionally appear, as on the Grace Jones-sampling 'Yr Love' by Holy Other or the pair of Black Country acts Bibio and Letherette, whose 'After Dawn' is almost spry in comparison to the minor key symphonies on display here. The perfect contrast to this comes from Alela Diane's wistful 'Lady Divine' or even Four Tet's mesmerising 'Gillie Amma I Love You', with its enchanting kids' choir. Exclusive to this release, Jon Hopkins provides a startlingly vulnerable new piano version of Yeasayer's 'I Remember'.

Poet and fellow Brian Eno collaborator (their joint album 'Drums Between The Bells' was released by Warp in 2011) Rick Holland narrates the exclusive spoken word closer 'I Remember', underpinned with additional sound design by Hopkins.

"Putting this album together was a unique opportunity for me to present music that I have been listening to for years, free from the constraints of a club setting or from trying to stick to one genre. I chose tracks not just because they have been important to me but because of how they sit together, putting as much thought into the transitions and overall narrative as I did into the track choices. I mixed by key and by texture more than anything else, using original sound design, pivot notes, and often recording new synth or piano parts to link things together in a way that flows as naturally as possible." - Jon Hopkins, December 2014

Since its conception three years ago, the Hamburg based label hafendisko has been patiently building its reputation with a diverse and varied artist roster. Alongside releases from emerging talent such as Deo & Z-Man and Brynjolfor, it forms parent label hfn music's outlet for club oriented music whether with full releases or remixes for artists such as Kasper Bjørke and Faded Ranger and just recently welcomed renowned remixers such as Michael Mayer, Charles Webster and Luke Solomon, to name a few. Now with the release of Nummer Eins, Hafendisko is taking the next step in its evolution, serving up the best of past and present releases together with a string of exclusive cuts that signal an undeniably bright future. It's machine music with real heart and soul as, time and again, the tracks locate that elusive sweet spot that unifies mind and body. The opening act replicates this highly collectable four track vinyl EP that precedes the digital release: Snacks' ‚Easy' provides an aptly titled intro, with sweet melodies, warm synth swells and looping vocal hooks evolving over a low slung, funk inflected groove. 'Purdie', the duo's debut last September instantly became a huge underground hit, while they are currently working on their debut album. Unkwon is Anders Dixon from Copenhagen and people will stop asking if it's a typo soon. Just off his stunning remix for Trentemøller's Deceive he takes it underground with the stuttering beats and melancholy phase of ‚Everything', building a cavernous yet claustrophobic soundscape that's designed to make your eyeballs sweat, before Ewan Pearson's NRG instrumental of Kasper Bjørke's ‚Apart' goes into dance floor overdrive, upping the ante again. Both the Michael Mayer and the Ewan Pearson mixes of Bjørke's final single off his newest album stirred a buzz.

8th vinyl from Gilesku series delivers another talent on display. A very intelligent work from one of the most promising slovenian producers you should pay attention to in the future - Vid Vai.
A three track EP opens with an intelligent minimalistic track 'Somewhere out there' - this catchy bassline, wicked and smart game of beats will definitely open your mind and take you on a ride. 'Eleos' is uncompromising dancefloor bomb with strong acid line, accompanied with warm synth theme which will take you back in time. To conclude this amazing EP, here is 'Hidden Projections' track, another 'acidish' gem that proves how talented Vid Vai is.

Celebrated ambient artist John Beltran jointly release not one but two vinyl compilations on Delsin Records in association with his own Dado label. The compilations, named Music For Machines Part 1 and Part 2, will take the form of two vinyl LPs released apart, with both releases complied together onto one CD available at a later date. Michigan born producer Beltran, of course, has released countless legendary EPs and LPs on labels like Peacefrog, Carl Craig's Retroactive and Belgium's R&S. His music has been licensed to high profile HBO TV series and a number of films, and pulls together elements of jazz, world music, organic soundscapes and electronic textures into compelling listening experiences. Most recently this came in the form of his Amazing Things album in 2013, whilst his career spanning Ambient Selections from 2011 is still a vital listen. Part 1 of the compilation pulls together new and exclusive tracks from the likes of Winter Flags, Blair French, David Elpezs and John himself, whilst part two focuses on the likes of Natalie Beridze, Kirk Degiorgio and Vincent Volt. Part 1 opens up with the found sound lushness of 'Winterfall Winds' before naturally unfolding through Reinehr's wintry harmonics and the crowning glory of Beltran's own titular track, which is a moving bit of textured modern classical music that sooths your mind, body and soul. As for Part 2, it is riddled with sumptuous sonic delights like Greg Chin's icy and alpine 'Dashboard Angels' and Mick Chillage's beautifully suspended 'Only In My Dreams'. Vincent Volt keeps things beautifully beachy with his 'Subway Arp' and A2B2C2's 'Stereometry' is a suitably sombre affair that closes the compilation down in style.

There is something singularly unique and peculiar in the degree to which seemingly unsettling themes and extreme taboos have been explored, most notably in the medium of film, in the land of Nippon. Free from the constraints of reality, notions of grotesque brutality, torture, fetishism, and sadomasochism, to name a few, have oftentimes served as driving motifs in the examination of the true nature of violence latent in the most repressed reaches of the human mind. Concurrently, in the realm of electronic music, many Japanese producers have often been able to cultivate and harness a daring yet distinctly refined and inimitable form of organized sonic chaos, one almost instantly recognizable to the occidental ear. The music of Tomohiko Sagae, and in particular his latest contribution to Furanum's catalogue, The Spurt of Blood, is perhaps a quintessential example of the confluence of the former themes and latter medium.
At the outset of the record, the beholder is faced with the 'Vacant Eyes' of a staggering monstrosity, a subdued and subjugated automata in the midst of a bleak dystopia, nearly lifeless but for the grudgingly conceded advance of its death march. As a battery of gratuitous aural violence led by a dominant synth is rapidly unleashed in the subsequent composition, a growing malaise transforms into fractured bone and psyche alike, with no distinction made anymore between the tearing of metal, flesh, or the fabric of the mind. Culminating in 'Severe Pain', with limits of endurance breached and descent into madness the only seeming form of respite, relentlessly rolling drums and hauntingly sublime howls provide the context for the dawning realization of pain as a virtue in and of itself, when a demented pleasure and the exhilarative liberation that lies therein begins to emerge. In the final act, reinterpreted by Furanum stalwarts Uncto, roles are tellingly reversed as the vacant eyes of the victim become that of the oppressor. With cold-blooded precision, the original is reengineered into a force of merciless domination, its elements machined and recalibrated for pure power.Words: PSD

Erstmals auf Vinyl erhältlich: das Debutalbum des Pianisten Francesco Tristano, der meisterlich gekonnt Klassik und Elektronik miteinander verbindet. Auf "Not For Piano" spielt er eigene Kompositionen sowie Klavierversionen von Techno-Klassikern wie Derrick Mays "Strings Of Life", Jeff Mills' "The Bells" und Autechres "Andover". Tristanos "Not For Piano" leitete 2007 gleichzeitig auch den Start des Labels Infiné ein.

Sometimes, there is a certain attention for a new artist and you can actually feel that this one is about to go through the roof. This is exactly the feeling we have with Few Nolder right now. With releases and tracks on Boso, Suol, Cloud Vision and not to forget his little summer hit - IF' on Connaisseur in late August, the Vilnius resident has caught quite some attention over the last months. Now, he completes this successful and busy year with his frst full EP on Connaisseur called - Moli', featuring three new lovely tracks. One of Few Nolder's talents is to compose state-of-the-art music which also has a timeless approach. The a-side - Twin' is one of those tracks. Sounds and melodies which stick in your mind straight away and an on point buildup make - Twin' one of those universal tunes which can be played in every moment. - Sonar' on b1 is a bit more reduced and raw. Played at the right moment it is a heavy hitter, with its memorable break and the big synth theme. On b2 you will fnd the title track and maybe also the hidden hit of the release. The bittersweet - Moli" is a delicate extravaganza with big melodies and emotions.
The artwork is as always by Danish artist Sjulle

With releases on a slur of top labels including Invisible, Critical, Metalheadz, Subtitles & Dispatch, 2014 sees Hybris release his debut album on Noisia's Invisible imprint.

Entitled 'Emergence' the new album is set to cement Hybris as one of the most forw

Tapper Zukie was high on a list of artists that Richard Branson in 1978 had in mind to sign to his new Reggae label Front Line.
The mission was to sign the cream of the reggae crop when the Virgin record boss went down to Jamaica with a group of Reggae minded people,included in that group was one Johnny Rotten,singer of the very recently disbanded group The Sex Pistols.
The result of which would be a two album deal between Tapper and the label.
The first release also in 1978 was the album Peace in the Ghetto(Kingston Sounds KS052) and this release Tapper Roots.
For the cd issue of this release,Tapper has picked two tracks that he feels hapy to put alongside the album.
'Make Faith' cut with the band Knowledge and' New Star'..
This is a very important album from the Tapper Zukie catalogue...Respect

Dutch artist, having dropped 2 Midnight Shift & Mord Records as Charlton, suits up w/ an ethereal jacking track, a bubbling, burbling acid track, some Dutch techno, & crowns it w/ dark, wide spaces in the mind.

Leroy Smart the self proclaimed 'Don' carries much respect in the Jamaican musical community, he came through the Alpha boys school in Kingston that provided us with the cream of Jamaican artistic talent.
Such legends as Don Drummond,Tommy Mc Cook and Johnny Dizzy Moore to name but a few.
Leroy Smarts talent lay in his vocal attacking style that gives his lyrics and tune that extra meaning.
His best work came in the heady mid 70's working with 'The Hitmaker from Jamaica' Mr.Bunny Striker Lee.
Bunny put Leroy Smart on some of his best rhythms starting in 1973 with 'God Helps the Man' and 'Wreck up my Life'.
Other killer hits were to follow such as 'Mr.Smart','Pride and Ambition','Bad Minded People' and the attacking 'Mr.Richman'.
All tracks telling it like it is.............
We have compiled all these cuts together,every song a story in itself,told only as Leroy Smart could.

Bell Gardens combines the musical visions of Kenneth James Gibson (formerly of Furry Things, now recording as
*Bell Gardens' origins began arguably as more of an experiment than the duo's current 'experimental' projects - McBride's drone- and string-laden ambient symphonies, and Gibson's ventures in dub and minimalist techno - as they sought to manifest their mutual reverence for folk, psychedelia and chamber pop in a traditional band structure without cannibalising any particular past genre. Bell Gardens' sound is less reliant on effects and studio trickery than the pairs' independent guises, laying bare as it does vocals and live instruments with emotional sincerity, and presenting songs imbued with an almost pastoral or gospel simplicity and timelessness.
Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions was again recorded mostly at home studios, but additionally the band made use of a friend's desert cabin in Wonder Valley, California, and it seems this willingness to retreat from the city has lent an expansiveness to the tracks, in particular the spacious, ceremonial 'Silent Prayer' (written in a snowbound mountain cabin in Idyllwild, C.A.) and the crepuscular 'She's Stuck in an Endless Loop of Her Decline' (mapped out under the stars in the desert).
While the addition of strings (contributed by Lauren Chipman of The Rentals and The Section Quartet) and trumpet (Stewart Cole of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros) provides a double rainbow of tonal textures throughout, the nine tracks of Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions are united by an understated elegance belying the newly expanded, communal effort in the studio: each instrument earns its place, nothing is overwrought or conspicuous. Moreover, it is McBride and Gibson's artistry in building stirring soundscapes from the barest of materials in their other guises that lends such assurance and sophistication to these arrangements.
The band is a result of the complimentary cross-pollination of Gibson and McBride's musical tastes - borne from a late-night conversation between the two that grew wings - and it is the universality of the sentiments and their restrained, reflective approach to writing and recording that allows the music to simultaneously straddle the past and the present. The music avoids pastiche, its pedal steel, sleigh bells and harmonies giving a nod to the ghosts of musical genres past, but never overriding or distracting from the emotional content of the sum of its parts.
The album ends with the glorious 'Take Us Away' - one of the first demos Gibson gave McBride when he was on tour with Stars of the Lid - neatly bringing their work to date full circle and exemplifying the band's mindfulness of their own serendipitous beginnings: the dawning of an auspicious, unique musical force.

Bell Gardens - Take Us Away -
Harmonies alert!! Actually, this is rather lovely. Slow-tempo, just the right side of 'twee' and packed full of strings, as if Air and Midlake had been taking balloon trips over the mid-West and sprinkling good-vibes dust across the land. From L.A. and subconsciously plugged into the '60s dream-pop scene, taking in a little bit of Mercury Rev and Brendan Perry en route, stopping off at Pearls Before Swine and Big Star's house for inspiration, before getting stoned with '70s era Brian Eno and Harold Budd.

The III Rivers juggernaut sets forth once again, release number 4 The Charivari EP, putting Voiceless in the cockpit and leading the charge.

Second Nature sets a dark, sultry and ominous tone as Voiceless deploys a plethora of sounds and moods that resonate with all the tense drama of the label's affiliated club night, Bohemian Grove.
Big laser beam synths dart through a thick pitch black haze while a factory line percussion section hammers on.

Always keeping a foot in the sonic warfare division, we get three locked grooves loaded and ready for battle, funky, electrified technoid wobblers that should fight off most opposition with ease.

Flip the disc and Opt-out opens with a controlled urgency as a barrage of kick drums sets the train in motion. Voiceless layers up rich, untreated piano chords against the backdrop of dark industrial chaos, percussion artefacts career around the mix and various elements are put through an aural meat grinder before the familiar and welcoming piano motif returns like a long lost friend, guiding us through the smoke hand-in-hand. A beautiful juxtaposition of soulful melancholy and cold, glacial machines.

Final track Charivari really hits the accelerator as a tough and mechanical rhythm jolts against blurred, radioactive pads and searing string lines before collapsing into a fractal breakdown introducing mystical, weaving high end leads. An eyes-down fist pumper of the highest order and one that commands excessive smoke & strobe light abuse late, late into the session.

One to close off one of their infamous soirees in style, hoards of mutant dancers leaving the industrial backdrop of the club's venue and crossing paths with the early morning dog walkers and Sunday strollers. Four releases in and we've lost none of the quality control, unique drive and free minded 'true spirit' (to quote Tresor's legendary catchphrase). The label goes from the strength to strength and with it, brings a whole new generation of techno shamans under their wing.

Octave Minds - a collaborative album by Boys Noize & Chilly Gonzales!

This is the record of the year for us. GoldFfinch are mindblowing on this one, it's their very first move in this direction and the reusult is just brilliant. This is DJ material that cannot be overlooked, all three gorgeous tracks out on vinyl in September as part of our Clubwerks series.

Within the infinite flow of quality emotional techno, GoldFinch have geared up to follow the fine sonic trail lead by the likes of Life and Death, Innervisions, Ten Walls and many others bringing together the massive appeal that only impeccably crafted techno can draw.

We just want this music played where it can be heard by everyone. Endless love.

Planet Rhythm is gearing up for the second effort in their PRRUKBLK series. Both Moerbeck and Fanon Flowers have come up with 2 gritty peak-time anthems made out of heavy drum-action, distortion and hazardous percussion. Moerbeck's A-Side is a ferm combination of granular synthesis and vigorous drums. Where "Black Hand" recalls memories of graveyard shifts in soviet coal mines, the A2 track Mode evokes up a more tripped out state of mind.
Fanon Flowers lays down a more ominous ambiance for his B1 track that has the more than suitable title "Vultures Circling Part 3". Closing down the B side we find "Vultures Circling Part 1" which carries that same threatening vibe but with even more energy due to the use of abundant percussion.

Having kick off 2014 in spectacular fashion with their Episode #5 collab, Superfiction label chiefs Italoboyz and Blind Minded join forces again to deliver the next instalment from their popular label series.

Lead track Paradise Adventure effuses a sense of mystery with its psychedelic guitar rhythmically tripping between beats and electronic blues licks heightening the intensity while never reaching boiling point. This adventure bubbles brilliantly.

Christian Burkhardt is drafted in on remix duty and takes us on a march with his strong groovin' bassline. The German allows the sweeping atmospherics to play their part and brings the stunning guitar riff to the fore, allowing us to get lost further in the rhythmic groove.

Champagne Kisses closes the release and the bassline rule again as Blind Minded fly solo, weaving a heavy slice of bottom-ended funk. The vocal playfully chases the key changes to create an excellent sing-a-long club cut that could easily have lead the release.

Two strong originals and an excellent remix make this an Episode not to be missed!

Nomine's third release on Tempa, following last year's spooked-out Nomine's War, is Enma / Zen Circle / Mindfulness. Containing his most expansive and exploratory music to date, pushing his already intricate and varied sound to new depths of atmosphere and intensity.
As their titles attest, the three tracks here are intense meditations as much as they are club firepower. Drawing equally on his love of UK sound system music and formally experimental composition and sound design, they further highlight Nomine's status as one of the most adventurous new producers operating in electronic music today.Lead track 'Enma' blasts from the tracks in flurries of metallic drums and plucked sino-grime esque melodies, an atmosphere heightened further on 'Zen Circle' whose reedy pipe motifs stalk through the mist like figures through a haunted forest. 'Mindfulness' rounds the EP out with shadowy, delay cloaked digital dub, riding out atop clustered kickdrums and roughly effected drums.

That Dope Loop Pinning down Sascha Dive as Cocoons deephouse wunderkind wouldn't really hit the nail on the head however it isn't far from truth. Compared to most other artists of this genre he can for sure be classified as a young gun but there is no soundproof for his age in his music at all. Sascha Dive's music is loaded with a respectful amount of taste and house history you would normally find in the productions and DJ-sets of artists who started in the early 90s. And this is not unwanted: Dive admires and follows the big names of house and deep house and his musical efforts to pay respect to them brought him on par with his legends! So it's no wonder that Sascha Dive productions found their way to top notch labels like Tsuba, Freebase, Deep Labs (Balance US) or Raum...Musik. Not to forget his release for Ornaments and the Moodyman remix for 'Deepest America". Having in mind where Dive started with his first album 'Restless Nights' and what he achieved until he received remix-honours from Mister Kenny Dixon Jr. one could think Sascha Dive scored all goals he wanted to score. However the journey didn't stop here: Being a Cocoon artist and having played for some of the major Cocoon nights in Ibiza and around the globe Dive incorporated a decent amount of electronic soul and after-hour-madness to his music over the last years. He even admits that his current productions and DJ-sets are definitely influenced by current techno- and techno-house artists and this special feeling this music adds to a party. And this progression is clearly audible in his new and upcoming album 'Dark Shadow' which is a great example of the sound of Sascha Dive in the year 2013.

'A densely textured, deeply lyrical portrait of life in Long Island City's Queensbridge projects, the record signalled the resurgence of the moribund New York hip-hop scene and helped pave the way for Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z and a new generation of New York rappers.' -NEW YORK TIMES

Marking 20 years since the genre-defining release of Illmatic which sparked decades of inspiration for other young rappers and performers, comes this anniversary vinyl edition.

Nas' lyrical style and storytelling finesse coupled with some of the best beat makers and producers in the game, including Large Professor, DJ Premier and Q-Tip have ensured this release has maintained its influential status 20 years later.

The album launched a lengthy, successful career for Nas with Illmatic still widely applauded as one of the most influential debuts in the world of rap. This package features the original Illmatic release in it's entirety and fully remastered with a second side of additional extras which include Nas' first ever radio performance from 1993 and eight remixes.

Richie Hawtin, Someone Else, Amine Edge, Transmit Promo Radar, Luca Doobie, Mariano Mateljan, Guido Durante, Herck
Ceryx, Ovidiu Adrian, Indy Lopez, Edgar De Ramon, Javi Alvado & THC, Pantany, Claude Solis, Alessan Main , Elchinsoul, Michel De Hey , Marco Carola, Dirty Culture...
In time, Plusculaar has become an indispensable asset to our label so it is only fair that we kick off this Esemtrax Limited vinyl series with his "Rumänische" EP. After the massive success "Stai Jos" on Enough!Music, it is our turn to "take advantage" of his talent so we asked for some top quality tracks. The result is mind blowing! It contains his finest work yet, a blend of techno and minimal, the very well known "romanian sound".

The Tenses is a duo comprised of Ju Suk Reet Meate and Jackie Oblivia, two veterans of the weirdo art collective that is known as the Los Angeles Free Music Society. They also form the core of legendary experimental juggernaut Smegma.

The LAFMS have been a singular force in DIY culture ever since the early seventies and encapsuled an endless string of projects and bands that married a sort of proto-punk with trashy guitars, avant-garde music, tape manipulations, free jazz, improv and absurd vocalizations into a hyper original and singular form of music. They're seen by many as the originators of noise music, and have been an immense influence on bands like Sun City Girls, Merzbow, Wolf Eyes, No Neck Blues Band, etc...

The Tenses is one of the latest vessels for Ju Suk and Jackie to explore the outer realms of sound and space. Compared to the mothership that is Smegma, it is a more compact and intimate project where turntables, tape collages, distorted surf guitar and coronet are used to create elaborate, haunted atmospheres.

After releases on Harbinger Sound and their own Pigface Records, The Tenses now add another chapter to their history with 'Howard', their new LP on Belgian imprint audioMER. 'Howard' is a mind expanding tour de force that scrambles spoken word deconstructions and spontaneous freak outs into a musical non-sequitur; a strange and disorienting trip.

Loops of voices from long lost instruction movies, shortwave radio dramas that get overrun with sirens, various non-instrumental sounds, and an bewildering stretch of Link Wray-like guitar riffs; 'Howard' is a record that oozes paranoia, the perfect soundtrack for making explosives in your basement.

Comes in a limited edition of 300 copies with artwork by Wouter Vandevoorde and design by Wouter Vanhaelemeesch and Jeroen Wille.

Cadenza head honcho, Luciano, often collaborates with many other artists, his constant touring schedule blessing him the opportunity to write and produce music with a multitude of like minded producers, and on 'Into The Aether", we get the first part of a two part series of tracks composed with various other Cadenza personnel. 'Arizona Green Song' sees Luciano and Marlowe (AKA Digitaline) get together for a vibrant and busy freak out. A plethora of rattling and sharp percussion cuts through a simple melody line and low slung groove. Building over ten tantric minutes, dubby inflections and hidden voices are woven into the detailed arrangement to great effect. A collaboration with Dani Casarano results in 'Bell's & Tonic", a slower paced vibe here, but with plenty of funk, from it's bending bass line and hand claps to the deft organ touches and shuffling shakers. A world within is created here, again distant voices, rattling cow bells and (yes) livestock and other field recordings are layered here to create a unique ambience. Uncompromising and original music then, from Cadenza's boss and friends. Expect a 'Part Two' to be released in the coming months....

Following his widely celebrated Macro Habitat EP of last year, Santos returns to Dissonant to deliver another three tracks, laying down detailed rhythms that shimmer with the infectious energy in which the man has made his twenty-year career on. 'Garlic' is a roving thrill-ride that hangs on to the commanding groove as it whips through a dense landscape of sound, constantly moving forward with an energy that speaks to primal instincts. That leaves it to 'Invisible' to get deep in the dub, letting masterfully handled delay and reverb pulse out a spiritually enriching techno mantra. 'Cable' takes a different approach, weaving some colour into the mix. The rolling beat flirts with playful swathes of synthesizer and samples for a wonderfully trippy end result that delights the mind, just as it moves the body.

Hot Casa Records reissues Disco Hi-Life, a real treasure album composed and interpreted by Afro-Soul maestro, Orlando Julius. Comes as delux 180 gramms vinyl with tip on jacket & inserts with interviews & photos. Check!
Following up to the 12inch release (HC07 / 2009), here comes the remastered version of a real mindblower piece from 1976 including four unreleased tracks, all recorded with the best Nigerian musicians, between Ginger Baker' Studio in Lagos and the American Star Studio in West Virginia, USA.
Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode was born in 1943 in Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria and can be considered as a main figure of the Afro-Soul music history. One of the first African musician to get signed on a 'Major' label (Polydor), he delivered many hit single as a composer and effortlessly performed live as a tenor sax and singer. He worked and met with some of the 'greatest', such as Louis Armstrong, James Brown (for his Nigerian tour with Bootsy Collins), The Crusaders, Gil Scott Heron, or Hugh Masekela.
In the middle of 1975, just after they finished the recording of The Boys Doing It' album with Hugh Masekela, they all flew to Ghana and Lagos. It was holyday and Orlando had also plenty of time to focus on his own songs. He wrote 'Disco Hi-Life' in Yoruba and 'Children of the World' in English. And he immediately planned a recording session including 12 finest musicians, such as the great singer Dora Ifudu Avery, Adelaja Gboyega on keys, Kenneth Okulolo on Bass guitar, Butley Moore on drums, Fela's collaborator Tunde William on Trumpet, and also Ade, who helped sang 'Love Peace & Happiness'.
Originally released by Nigerian label Jofabro in partnership with the UNICEF association for the 'International year of the Child', it was only available in few promotional quantity... here comes the very first official reissue of this dancefloor masterpiece!

As per our collective minds; music is a universal language which is spoken and written around the globe. With his backpack loaded with records and his mind full of ideas, Tagtraumer has been exploring foreign countries and undiscovered sounds. Eight years have passed on his seemingly endless journey. Through different people, extraordinary situations, adventurous experiences and unknown vibes an elixir of magic is created. It is the engine and the resource that drives his artistic inspirations.

The third in the Modular Techno series from live analogue artist and Freerotation organiser Steevio.
After 15 years of producing techno live on hardware, in 2009 Steevio began building a dedicated machine on which he could totally improvise an entire techno performance from a blank canvas that far surpassed anything he could do with his previous setup of drum machines and synthesizers. Steevio's modular is 100% analogue; there is no computer involved, there are no memories to save sounds or sequencing patterns, and everything is improvised in real time..
Volumes 1 and 2 of the series were just a taster of what was to come, and were the early experimentations on Steevio's newly built machine. Steevio records everything he does, especially during the intense practice sessions for live gigs. All the music in the series are out-takes from these practice sessions, and the tracks from Volume 3 and the forthcoming Volume 4 all come from a three day period in practice for a recent live gig at Delete, Bournemouth, UK.
Volume 3 continues from where Volume 2 left off but delivered with more confidence and a deeper more hypnotic feel. Steevio continues to develop his skills and fine tunes his unique instrument in this dedicated 'for life' project.

An uber cheeky and rather fat 45 that combines two of everyone's favourite soul shufflers and expertly lays them down onto one massive piece of wax.

Any Soul and Hip Hop aficionado's worth their salt will instantly identify both elements to this...

Eddie Kendrick's 'Girl You Need a Change of Mind' (One of the greatest records of all time) and Q-Tips 'Vivrant Thing'.

Redmo starts things off with the infectious piano line from Eddie Kendrick's classic and proceeds to tease all before him chopping up both elements to produce a seriously tasteful Mash up of the highest order.

On the flip we have the dub version and with both sides mastered down with some serious love and affection this will be a sure fire hit on them there dance-floors in 2014.

A1 - Aldo Cadiz & Oscar Barila - Sofia Nights : I get long awaited moment , the debut of two international artists working together , Aldo Cadiz & Oscar Barila , as family members Original label , and of course, do it with three large Vilino courteous.The track that gives name to the album , and the A1 side of it is this , Sofia nights , bordering on the line we have this great deep house track , consisting of a solid base , tribal , percussive , very grooving and envelope accompanied by deep house melodies and vocals that bring to mind the fashioned Chicago House ., Track dancefloor and very danceable, with a remarkable elegance to highlight ., , B1 - Aldo Cadiz & Oscar Barila - Flex Pen: This such a distinguished track encompasses sounds like we had never before seen , is based on a broken and very atmospheric percussion , combined to perfection by this pair of great artists and old school Syntes voices blend very harmoniously . Topic has a great evolution without losing the line a...

Traversing with an understated technical assuredness, the ambitious shapes of Steely Dan, the popping lounge funk of McDonald era Doobie Brothers, the sweet mourning of the Stylistics and Delfonics, and the exquisite song-craft and flawless harmonising of CSNY, Daniel Collas (The Phenomenal Handclap Band), Bart Davenport and Quinn Luke aka Bing Ji Ling have recorded an absolute darling of an album under the name Incarnations. They are three friends with enough musical guises, side-projects, collaborations and production jobs to fill the annual itinerary of your average musician twice over. When three CVs like these get together on a regular basis, it's only logical they speculate and hypothecate on the possibility of an album together. But, how to make those congested diaries synchronise? Bart lives in Oakland and Quinn and Daniel are in New York, all three of them are on tour for the better part of the year. One sunny day in Madrid, Spain, a plan was hatched and a proposal was made. Lovemonk, a small, eclectic and affable Spanish label, dangled the carrot that clinched the deal; 'find two weeks between gigs/productions/recordings and head down to this little place we know in Tarifa, Southern Spain'. A family-run studio, in a house 5 minutes from a wild beach and a short ferry ride from the coast of Africa; the perfect ambience for the fleeting melody and sultry grooves of the Incarnations debut album, "With All Due Respect". Arriving with bits and bobs of half-songs, grooves and melodies, Daniel, Quinn and Bart, sketched and improvised their way to the most intensely evocative songs you'll hear this year. Punctuated by a day trip across the water to Tangiers, all 9 songs were written and recorded inside a fortnight in October 2009 and laid to rest while our protagonists jetted off to their respective diary appointments. Whether it was the beach, the soft weather, the fact that you can smell Africa from the studio, the home cooked Spanish food or the relaxed environment of the recording room, when the band returned to the songs at a New York studio earlier this year, they found an album as fresh and resonant as the moment it came into being. Quickly mixed down with no over-dubs or re-records, "With All Due Respect" captures the combined gifts of Tarifa and the three very talented friends that paid a visit. Incarnations are: Daniel Collas: DJ, drummer, organist, and one half of production team Embassy Sound Productions, the minds behind The Phenomenal Handclap Band. Plays - drums, percussion, organ and synthesizers. Bart Davenport: Collaborator with Greyboy, General Elektriks and The Phenomenal Handclap Band; Singer-songwriter with The Loved Ones, The Kinetics and Honeycut, and most recently a touring member of the Kings Of Convenience. Plays - guitar, bass and vocals. Quinn Luke a.ka. Bing Ji Ling: Part of The Phenomenal Handclap Band, one half of DFA recording artists Q&A and long time member of Tommy Guerrero's band; Solo artist on labels Ubiquity and Lovemonk among others. Plays - guitars, keyboards, vocals The band are named after Encarnacion "Nini" Sagrista, owner of the recording studio in Tarifa, who housed and fed them during their stay.

Tis the season to remain anonymous it seems. The guessing games continue here with The Unknown Prankster. We can't tell you who it is, because that would render the artists chosen title useless. And he might be slightly miffed at. If it's even a he....

What you do need to know is that these two tight little magic numbers should not be missed! We'll leave you with the clips so you can make your own mind up..... needless to say, you might recognise one or two things here.

Annie Hall's new LP Random Paraphilia on Detund™ explores these experiences through five original tracks with remixes by Richard Devine, Valance Drakes and ERP.

Setting the stage for this intense journey into experimental electronics is Annie Hall's track DSM-5 which when spliced and diced in the remix by rhythmic mutilation master Valance Drakes establishes an ache deep inside mind and body. Together they offer a bold introductory to Random Paraphilia. Annie's collaboration with Shadow Huntaz in Bandit 28930 adds a male vocal and sets the stage for release of the pent-up pressure, through a remix by none other than Richard Devine, who emerges after months incommunicado from his new Atlanta based studio with Bandit 28930 Remix -- a remix for which many around the world have been anxiously awaiting. Prepare yourself for new Richard Devine frequencies creating what we believe to be the most blissfully disturbed / re-aligned symphonic nerve rhythms of aural affect. Annie takes the reigns back pumping a frenetic, raw, experimental sound in Sada Abe. Tables are next given to Convextion aka E.R.P. who captures her snare for a mesmerizing effect in his gorgeous idm electro soul Sada Abe remix. Annie's voice and rhythm machines respond with breakbeat-style in Foihtreiu diversifying the set with what only a graceful feminine touch can produce. Rounding the set out is Symphora featuring new synced visual work by CPU Bryant Place, SF based Obscura digital artist, complementing the mystical journey with a visual experience unlike any other.

Record Sleeve and promo video are by DMAS3 who once again completes the audio-visual package with elegantly futuristic visual art appealing to our desire for journey far and wide. Annie Hall's Random Paraphilia is personal, intimate and political. It is a highly-charged and dynamic 8-track LP beckoning us to explore the world anew.