Bureau B HHV Records 255 Items

Collector, seeker and storyteller Charles Bals brings his curatorial finesse to Hamburg"s Bureau B with "Ambientale", a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983 - 2000. Drifting effortlessly between digital exoticism, mellow fusion, new age groove and library electronics, the pieces rangefrom largely obscure to utterly un-google-able, and coalesce into a stunning soundtrack to tranquil seas, desert sand and starlit skies. Cinematic & enigmatic, "Ambientale" is a stranger you"ve only just met but can"t stop thinking about.

Ja, Panik is back! While the last experimental and meandering pop album Die Gruppe Ja, Panik (2021) marked their surprising comeback after a seven-year creative break, Don't play with the rich kids is now something like their return as a rock band As the gang from Burgenland, which has played its way into all our hearts since The Angst And The Money (2009) We see Stefan Pabst, Sebastian Janata, Laura Landergott and Andreas Spechtl Wrapped in a soft cloth on the cover photo on the beach of nowhere It holds the band together inside while also creating a clear boundary outside: we are here, and you are there! And it seems almost impossible to get into this inner circle The worldwide problem of classism could hardly be presented more elegantly This was probably also given to them at some point While Ja, Panik used to want to destroy the system from the inside out,
with a lot of glam and lustfully presented auto-aggression, they have once again thoroughly relaunched their brand, to put it in the advertising speak of the 90s. Their nihilism made in Austria as a basic feeling is still an important core of the brand, but it is now presented in a much more reflective way. And the now quite self-evident negotiation of one's own privileges seems to inspire the band in their new songs. After all, these rich kids are also ultimately themselves This can be confidently told Of course, this must be seen on a global scale We all know what a four-member, left-wing indie rock band between Berlin and Vienna earns with their music And even if, according to Spechtl, 1,000 fights are fighting in his body, of which he himself states that he can never win a single one, his new role as a Zen rocker and self-proclaimed Kung-Fu-Fighter surrounded by his old bandmates in excellent shape doing very well Well, many people their age now own a house in Brandenburg or a condominium in Berlin, but who can call themselves a member of the group Ja, Panik? Cultural capital that many people don't even dare to dream of.

Die Wilde Jagd collaborates with Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orkest, conducted by Simon Dobson, for majestic new album "Lux Tenera – A Rite To Joy," commissioned by Roadburn Festival. In an extraordinary convergence of sonic innovation and orchestral mastery, Sebastian Lee Philipp, the visionary behind Die Wilde Jagd, is set to unveil his most ambitious project to date: Lux Tenera – A Rite to Joy. Commissioned by Roadburn Festival for its 2024 edition, this work emerges from a rare collaboration with the three-time Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orkest. Lux Tenera invites listeners into a meditative exploration of life, joy, and the beauty of existence. The composition premiered on April 21, 2024, in Tilburg, Netherlands, following an intense three-day rehearsal and recording period at Metropole Orkest’s studio in Hilversum. This performance—now captured in the album—also marks a unique collaboration with British arranger and conductor Simon Dobson, whose sensitive transcription and arrangement of Philipp’s music for orchestra elevates the work to an auditory spectacle. Lux Tenera — translated from Latin as “tender light”— is an odyssey of sound and thought. Philipp’s poetic lyrics — delivered in both English and German — weave a tapestry of vivid imagery and allusion, guiding the listener through a world where life, memory, and transcendence coalesce. This intellectual and emotional alchemy is heightened by the orchestral elements at play: a 50-piece ensemble, the primal resonance of two large-scale Taiko drums, and the ancient, raw timbre of the Carnyx, performed by Patrick Kenny. The result is a sonic structure that marries the primal with the avant-garde, the physical with the metaphysical. On the upcoming single "Emanation," Philipp is also joined by his longtime friend and musical companion James Cook, who contributes additional vocals. At its heart, Lux Tenera presents a bold reimagining of Die Wilde Jagd’s distinctive sound. Known for hypnotic, slow-building compositions that evoke a sense of ritual and timelessness, Philipp, in this latest work, is granted new sonic breadth by the orchestral textures of the Metropole Orkest. The symphonic scope enhances and magnifi es his compositions, creating what can only be described as a sonic architecture that is both monumental and intimate, where each crescendo, each subtle melodic turn, guided by Simon Dobson’s conducting skills, speaks to Philipp’s understanding of music as an emotional language. The album’s sub-title A Rite To Joy underscores the album’s intent as not merely a work of music but as an immersive rite—a ceremonial passage into joy. For fans of Die Wilde Jagd, the Metropole Orkest, and new listeners alike, this album promises to be an unforgettable journey, a bold and transformative fusion of sound art, poetry, and symphonic grandeur.

Limited to 100 copies, exclusively available at HHV.

'The inspiration for 'Album l' and 'Album Il' began with a performance by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi at Cologne's Week-End Fest in 2019. For this appearance the renowned experimental musician and composer of the Oscar-winning film „Drive My Car" was joined on drums by Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Joe Talia; both integral members of the top-level improvisational/ experimental scene in Tokyo. While in town for the festival, Ishibashi met up with the members of the Cologne-Berlin based group Von Spar who featured Ishibashi on their then new album "Under Pressure".

"Fluoreszent" is the new solo album by Cologne based artist Hans Nieswandt and his third for Hamburg's Bureau B label. Recorded in 2024 in Seoul, you will find on "Fluoreszent" ten shiny, fresh, joyous songs taking you to many wonderful places; from Kraut to Goth, Synth Wave to Art Pop, Cosmic to Comic – and all the way to the end of the rainbow.

Limited to 100 copies, exclusively available at HHV.

The inspiration for 'Album l' and 'Album Il' began with a performance by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi at Cologne's Week-End Fest in 2019. For this appearance the renowned experimental musician and composer of the Oscar-winning film „Drive My Car" was joined on drums by Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Joe Talia; both integral members of the top-level improvisational/ experimental scene in Tokyo. While in town for the festival, Ishibashi met up with the members of the Cologne-Berlin based group Von Spar who featured Ishibashi on their then new album "Under Pressure".

Limited to 100 copies.

Dumbo Tracks returns with a second album Move With Intention – the anticipated follow up to 2022's eponymous debut. Philipp Janzen and collaborators deliver a varied collection of nine zoned-out grooves direct from Dumbo Studio in Cologne, with vocal contributions from Portable, Ada, Marker Starling, Rubee Fegan and nothhingspecial.

Looking back to his musical upbringing, Philipp Janzen switched up the recording process from the first record to incorporate more of a live band element. The result is a more eclectic sound which allowed more freedom to experiment, while keeping the collaborative spirit that is a vital Dumbo Tracks trademark.

The genesis of the record began in Italy, where Philipp and co-producer Julian Stetter traveled to jam out ideas on modular synths over the course of a few days. These ideas served as the basis for more instrumental tracks back at Dumbo Studio, where Philipp invited friends to develop the tracks further within a live dynamic. For the final phase of the record, Philipp enlisted the artistry of five vocalists: spoken word frontwoman Rubee Fegan, Canadian singer songwriter Marker Starling, house romantic Portable, Bonn-based haunted pop artist nothhingspecial and Hamburg's techno visionary Ada.

Rubee Fegan contributes her anecdotal observations to four songs, not least on the opening track "Daughter Of Flood" with her poetic remark "sip on the wave of her." It's a vocal style that Philipp had been looking for for ages, and finally found after hearing Rubee's band Smile. Long-time collaborator Christopher Cummings aka Marker Starling lends his lilting tenor to "Slow Despair", an uplifting drum machine and organ workout. Track three "What If" shifts the goal posts, as an acid bassline rises over a swung groove that wouldn't sound out of place in a Manchester warehouse, before we emerge into a clearing of heartbreak and expectation, courtesy of singer producer nothhingspecial.

The title track sees Philipp and crew slow the tempo down to a molasses dreamscape, a beatdown groove that's joined by Paris-residing artist Portable. Portable's emotive voice is the perfect foil for the tracks' invocation to mindfulness, aided by filtered hi-hats and widescreen sequencers. "Mica" takes the synths and drum machines out to the countryside, and finds producer and singer Ada supplying the most sensitive of vocals and flutes to a song that carries the kosmisch torch. Organs spill over rolling drums and dub reverb, underneath Rubee's cosmic voiceover on "A Naked Star", and the album concludes with "My Eyes Won't Close" a chromatic modular descent into despair, vividly described by nothhingspecial.

It all makes for a gloriously eclectic album, an anarchic pop record that follows its own rules. Move With Intention is both electronic yet alive, motorik and pastoral, filled with dancefloor grooves and a krautrock swagger. In this sense the intention is clear: to respectfully rip up the rule book and keep moving forward.

Die Wilde Jagd (The Wild Hunt) is a joint project of Ralf Beck and Sebastian Lee Philipp, named after an ancient Germanic myth. Beck is a musician and producer from Düsseldorf. He has released several albums as part of the duo Nalin & Kane, as well as under the name Unit 4. Philipp is part of the Berlin-based electro-wave duo Noblesse Oblige. They joined forces after meeting in Düsseldorf's club Salon des Amateurs. It seems no coincidence that Düsseldorf is the duo's founding city: their music is full of subtle references to local acts, such as Kraftwerk, NEU!, DAF, Liaisons Dangereuses, Pyrolator, the Krupps and Propaganda. Using numerous analog keyboards and recording devices, and combining them with a diverse range of percussion instruments, they create their own "hunting music", which at times sounds unsettling, like swampland or a dark forest, but also urgent and pressing, like incandescent lasers or a hypnotic dance.

Camouflage's combeack.

Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2014!

Previously only available as a limited bonus disc for Andreas Dorau's 50th anniversary retrospective "Hauptsache Ich", "Silbernes Ich" features rarities, outtakes, demos and unreleased songs from the career of the German Ausnahmemusiker. Available on stunning picture vinyl. Limited to 500 copies.

A pivotal figure in Düsseldorf's Salon Des Amateurs, Stefan Schwander has already amassed a remarkably rich musical repertoire. Through his Harmonious Thelonious project, he has spent the past dozen years exploring the worlds of Pan-African, South American and Middle Eastern rhythms in combination with a minimalistic electronic sound, distilling his very own groove from the point at which they converge. His new album – challengingly entitled "Cheapo Sounds" – sees Schwander move away from tried and trusted recipes.

Limited to 150 copies. Yellow double LP edition.

‘Destiny Waiving’ completes a collaborative trilogy that began with 2011’s ‘Underrated Silence’ and followed by 2013’s ‘Tomorrow Is Another Day’ (Schnauss also became a full time member of Engineers at this time). Initial sessions began at Ulrich’s East London home studio in early 2017 and final mixes were completed there in late 2020. Despite its extended conception, most tracks were completed during 2017, in part informed by improvisational sets in London, Dublin and St James’ Church in Birmingham (as part of the Seventh Wave electronica festival).

Available on LP/CD/digital plus a limited edition with a bonus disc of alternate versions with added live drums by the Von Spar drummer Jan-Phillip Janzen.

Limited to 100 copies.

1980, Friday evening in the Munich suburban pub »Panoptikum«. My girlfriend draws my attention to the fact that behind me two guys are talking about looking for a new guitarist for their band. I turn around, chat them up (Jochen and Thomas) and praise my skills to the skies. A few days later I’m standing in Thomas‘ perfectly equipped practice room with my Ibanez Les Paul copy. We jam a little while – jazz rock, to which I can contribute very little due to my lack of skills. We quickly agree on a new style: minimalist, no drums, just a drum machine, Moog and organ, less guitar, dry bass. And German lyrics! We don’t really know or want that this should be ”ndw”. But of course we listen to DAF, Ideal, FSK, Fehlfarben and – yes, Spliff too. These influences are undeniable. So we found the ”piss OFF Orkesstr”, which very quickly becomes ”p’off Orkesstr” and then finally ”P!OFF?”. Ambitious and inspired, we produce a demo cassette that already contains ”Das dicke Kind”, ”Großer Bruder”, ”Pass Auf!” and ”Walkman” and send it to various record companies – including Munich‘s ”Ariola”, which is desperately looking for NDW acts because the Ariola empire has missed this trend. Therefore, they ”buy” about 25 bands at the drop of a hat – and P!OFF? is supposed to be one of them, because they expect some good airplay mainly from ”Walkman”. Producer god Anthony Monn (Amanda Lear, Relax, Saragossa Band, Fancy et al.) takes us under his wing and manages to keep the original demo sound, but to improve it considerably. ”Mein Walkman ist kaputt” didn‘t make it into the charts, but it was played more often on the radio and the Album didn‘t sell badly. In 1982, however, NDW is now commercialised to death and that ship had sailed. But we stay together (under different band names) and over the decades become first New Romantics, then Indie Rockers, then Grunge Noise Makers and finally Electronic Freaks. In 2009, for my fiftieth birthday, we decide to play a few songs from the old 82 record live, which becomes a huge success. And so we are – again as P!OFF? – still on the road with our old songs. The ’82 Album has become a sought-after collector‘s item and cult object – so we are very happy that Bureau B is presenting a lovingly remastered reissue after almost 40 years.

"NY, Hel, Barca" is a compilation of Jimi Tenor's early works from the legendary Warp and Sähkö days (1994-2001).