Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield Vinyl 10 Inch 129 Items

Vladislav Delay presents the 4th EP in his »Hide Behind The Silence« series (with five 10inch releases coming throughout 2023). Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label Rajaton. As Delay puts it, the series is »about live moments being captured, not much premeditation or editing. More intuitive and raw, even though the end result (to me) feels and sounds quite introspective and calm«.

"In the early 2000s, Tokyo's SuperDeluxe was a meeting point for many experimental musicians, both international and Japanese. This duo sprung from a live collaboration at the venue in 2006, where Yoshio Machida was experimenting with processed steel pan and Cal Lyall was largely performing using a tabletop guitar setup with a range of electronics. Many subsequent encounters were heavily experimental, ranging from densely layered noise music to sound collage. Through the years, the collaboration shifted to a more tonal approach, with standard tunings and stronger compositional elements. Both musicians have a deep interest in traditional improvisational forms, so there was a natural evolution towards structural ideas-based on minimal scalar patterns-as the sound became more acoustic. The most recent instrumentation explores the unusual combination of steel pan, slit drums and banjo, while also delving deeper into the characteristics of the instruments themselves." (label info) Yoshio Machida: steelpans, gamelan, metal slit drums; Cal Lyall: 5-string banjo

Beautiful reissue of the 2000 album on Fbwl, guitar ballads about Day, Evening, Night and Dawn. Remastered in 2014 by Taylor Deupree at 12k.

Kinn turns the Post-Rock continuum inside out with his sophomore album, Dogtooth.
Shifting focus between his present self and his misled teenage years, 'Dogtooth' sees London born and raised sound art graduate Fred Lomas contemplate the vulnerability of youth, addiction and suicide as Kinn. Unabashed in their creative ambition, Kinn's tongue-in-cheek 'dread-voyeurism' is underpinned by a palpably sincere vulnerability that seeps through their dynamic and rewardingly dense records.
An insight into Fred's formative years can be unraveled from his nickname "Dread", originally given to him by his parents. Growing up in North London as a 'constantly out of the house' youth, Fred only had eyes on any counterculture he could find to defy the city's notorious empty capitalist centric mainstream culture, skateboarding, graffiti, and terrible punk bands which would only last 1-3 rehearsals (max). As a teenager he experienced the notorious 2011 Tottenham riots, which is often referenced in the artist's output and greatly informed their sensibilities. Barely an adult, he was confronted first hand with concepts of constant hostility and corruption which were seemingly welded to his surroundings, corruption formed by high rises and international political scandals taking place only a short journey away.
Even today, Dogtooth reflects on this contrast of community and anger and surmises it to be part and parcel of modern metropolitan life, looking to peel away the bad looking for meaning, comfort and ways of goofing off amidst oppressive forces, sirens and snake oil salesmen everywhere.

“Gamelan Sketches” are studies in Javanese gamelan and electronic music by Journey of Taro (Adrien L’Honoré Naber). The sketches are based on and are part of a collection of music and ideas finding its origin in travelling to Indonesia for more than a decade. During these travels Adrien L’Honoré Naber studied and recorded the music in this region of the world. Journey of Taro is all about tradition collaborating with technology, where old meets new. Gamelan are traditional gong orchestra’s from South East Asia and are fused by Taro with dancefloor music like dubstep and Sound System culture. When Adrien L’Honoré Naber first started going to Indonesia back in 2008 he went on a mission to make field recordings. As companion during his travels he had a MP3 player with him. At that time MP3 players contained about 512 MB so he had to choose his music very carefully. With Amon Tobin, Digital Mystikz, Vex’d and similar artist locked in his headphones he made field recordings over the course of a year and in his head this music started fusing with Indonesian culture. Taro creates an sonic world where he takes you along on his journey’s around different cultures emphasizing the beauty of collaboration, shaping mystical worlds with hypnotizing atmospheres to immerse into stories based on ancient myths, legends and folklore. This is where a blend of gamelan, dub, soundscapes, exotic rhythms, field recordings and underground bass music come together. Selamat dengar dan bersenang senang.

In 1998, Carsten Nicolai, also known as Alva Noto, visited a sound installation created by Robert Lippok for a group exhibition in Weimar, Germany. Soon after, he invited Lippok to release music on his label raster-noton. "Open Close Open" was released in 2001 and marked the beginning of Lippok"s solo career. Before, Lippok had already played in Ornament und Verbrechen (with his brother Ronald Lippok) and To Rococo Rot (with Ronald Lippok and Stefan Schneider). The source material for "Open Close Open" initially served as a soundtrack for a video by Takehito Koganezawa, a visual artist from Japan. For this remastered vinyl reissue, Lippok revisited the original sound material and produced a new track called "Licht."

After a first album as a duo released on Okraina Records: "Le Corps Défendant", Delphine Dora and Mocke invite us to join them again in listening to a new album. We slip into it as if in a dream, the music carries us away with its floating images.

Heard before on a handful of disturbingly beautiful solo albums and in collaborations such as Midget!, Arlt, Chevalrex, Mohamed Lamouri, Mocke (Dominique Dépret's nom de plume) is a subtle and inventive guitarist, who draws melancholic arpeggios, with a beautiful languor, that walk the line between tensions and tears. Delphine Dora has been heard with Roxane Métayer, Sophie Cooper, Andrew Chalk, Jackie McDowell, Helena Espvall, Valentina Magaletti ... meeting in a moment of improvisation, a solitary sincopated voice blooming between the black and white keys of her piano, tuning betwist these keys, or at other times in the gap of the right note. Here improvisation feeds on melody, or is it the other way round?

Recorded in an old church in the village of Mauzun in the Puy-de-Dôme, by Cyril Harrison, "L'invisible est multiforme" is an invitation to join them, to let these abstract songs erase our obsessive thoughts of the day, to open ourselves to the vibrant poetry of the air and the evening, to finally forget ourselves. Each note played by these four intertwined hands is like a slight break in the fabric of time, sliding one over the other, reminding us of mortality and its beauty. Ritornellas flow out of mechanical clocks, fragile, taking care not to hurt the silence. Both seek to dig and open up new paths to enrich their duet, to open up imaginary landscapes. Sometimes the guitar cuts through the fabric of an organ, fractures the song, just as the rain erases a landscape, redrawing it. But very quickly, both of them continue to follow this new path, improvising what will serve as a framework, a perspective, a language. There is a kind of praise for slowness in this "invisible", a desire to hold back the song, not to let it slip away, to let the listener's ear enter its course, to share the last note, its illumination. Each of these thirteen short sound pieces merge into a common colour, a vibration close to the different tonalities, which inter-penetrate, like a cubist painting. Words cannot take away the mystery of this record, words can only fail to describe the music, you must hear it.' - Michel Henritzi

Iterum will be available as white 10’’ LP, including a CD listening copy, and will be limited to 500 pieces.

2002-2022, that’s 20 years of Pingipung! The German record label celebrates its anniversary with exclusive tracks by a fine selection of artists from the label roster as well as new names. Instead of looking back at the classics, Pingipung chose to compile a kaleidoscopic preview of possible future directions for the label. The line-up features playfully melancholic songs by Museum Of No Art, Peter Power or The Notwist, an excursion to the desert by Rvds or a psychedelic take on Dub in Tolouse Low Trax’ remix for the Ainu singer Umeko Ando. Artists such as Anadol, Y Bülbül, MD Pallavi & Andi Otto, M.RUX, Sven Kacirek, Schlammpeitziger, Peter Presto and F.S.Blumm are already well known to the Pingipung audience. They contribute exclusive new tracks, adding to their existing output on the label.

It’s impossible to file this compilation under a genre, which is exactly the case with Pingipung in general - bull’s eye. The collection of tracks is pressed in the perfect format to match the Pingipung jubilee: A 2x10’’ vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.

Lo-Fi beats of high interest limited to 100 handnumbered copies.

Pink vinyl is close to NM. Limited to 150 numbered copies. Cover has tiny wear.

Full Circle is the sixth album by long time Ghost Box roster member, The Advisory Circle. Self-avowed synaesthesiac, Cate Brooks conjures a very visual fantasy in four acts (the vinyl version across four sides of a luxurious gatefold double 10”). Her tracks evoke human dramas played out against the timeless backdrop of a utopian built environment, where leisure, luxury, elegance and romance are always in fashion.

Brooks' music is by turns ambient, dramatic, upbeat and melancholic. It's instrumental electronica of the very highest calibre, an expert and masterly manipulation of electronic equipment both old and new. Light touches of acoustic and electric instrumentation and flourishes of both tape and digital sound manipulation add colour throughout.

This long running solo project is saturated in 70s and 80s TV and library music influences, and in some ways Full Circle is a call back to the 2005 debut EP Mind How You Go. However, the music and production have evolved over the yers, into a distinctively rich and three dimensional soundworld. The album wears its influences and sonic components proudly, but feels contemporary, cool, and fresh. Brooks' music career predates and now transcends the world of hauntological electronica that it inspired.

Dutch sound artist albert van abbe now joins the raster family, with an unexpected collaboration with founder olaf bender aka byetone titled Dual. having spent time working side by side in ’s-hertogenbosch at the willem twee studio, the result of their collaboration is both smooth and haptic, rounding out as an expressive camaraderie between the two veteran producers. jovial and innocent, Dual alludes to the experimental research process of finding common ground. fully embracing the haphazard richness of live recordings, the result is a remarkable fusion of contrasting outputs; intricate collaborative efforts and byproducts woven together with an eager indifference towards expectation. the artists embrace a skewed navigation through pronounced highlights, intricate lulls and moments of temporal stasis, intermittently punctuated as a means of intentionally avoiding notions of rigid perfection. with ‘real-time’ approach directing Dual’s creation, the pair effectively shies away from any meticulous planning, and the music runs free and negates any rigid parameters one might have expected. quirky titles exude the collaged form of the release, and underline its innocent charm. as a whole, Dual focuses on the creative process and fully engages listeners with its own dialogue, though it is very outspoken, at times even abrasive.

I was initially intrigued by the artwork for Mark's New Routes out of Innerland. It felt so familiar. I had to have a listen. Upon hearing it I was shocked to find out how much I loved the music. It was a beautiful blend of the things I loved about ambient music and what my partner calls "Space Rock". I had never heard Innerland and I was already taking New Routes out of it I needed to buy Innerland. So I did some research - found out Mark was on Sonic Cathedral label and contacted Nat over there who ended up being super helpful and friendly. I was able to get Innerland and A journey through Ambient Innerland in vinyl. It is no wonder I was drawn to the music, a frequent collaborator with Ulrich Schnauss, Mark's work is at once blues, ambient and psychedelic.

NOTON IS PLEASED TO RELEASE RAY COLLECTOR - A LIMITED EDITION VINYL FEATURING RECORDINGS SOURCED FROM TAPES PRODUCED BY CARSTEN NICOLAI' FOR HIS 2023 SOLO EXHIBITION STRAHLEN/RAGGI AT FONDAZIONE MODENA ARTI VISIVE.
IN FEBRUARY 2022, CARSTEN NICOLAI DISPATCHED TEN PARCELS FROM BERLIN TO VARIOUS DESTINATIONS. EACH PACKAGE CONTAINED A BLANK MAGNETIC TAPE CASSETTE, AN ILFORD DELTA 3200 ISO 1000 BLACK-AND-WHITE FILM, AND A KODAK ISO 800 COLOR NEGATIVE FILM. ALL PARCELS WERE ADDRESSED TO THE SAME RECIPIENT, MR. NEMO, THE UNFORGETTABLE CAPTAIN OF THE SUBMARINE NAUTILUS IN TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. THE IDEA WAS FOR THE RECIPIENTS TO RETURN THE PARCELS TO THE SENDER. EACH PACKAGE HELD MAGNETIC TAPES AND PHOTOSENSITIVE FILMS THAT WOULD BE EXPOSED TO ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND RADIATION DURING THEIR JOURNEY. UPON THEIR RETURN TO THE SENDER, THE LATENT IMPRESSIONS WERE DEVELOPED, DIGITIZED, AND THUS MADE BOTH VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE.

Expo 70, held in Osaka, was a pivotal event for the Japanese people and their relationship with the rest of the world, demonstrating both the nation’s ongoing economic recovery from World War Two and the creative spirit of Japanese society and its artists. The event gained international acclaim for its adventurous architectural design, visual art and electronic music. Some of Japan’s most renowned composers were involved, but also present were the now-legendary rockers, the Flower Travellin' Band. A series of performances, billed as “Night Events” were held at the Expo; the most radical of these was "Beam Penetration and Mad Computer, plus the Minimal Sound of Motorcycles”, but its anti-establishment feel and general madness took the Expo organizers by surprise and it was cancelled after only one night, despite being scheduled for a longer run.

An air of myth developed around the event, but a recording of the event has been discovered and this release is the result. And what an event it was: a night-time sound-bomb with a fabled band, electronic sound and 50 motorcycles with horns blaring, spotlights, electronic billboards and a robot ― all flashing, roaring and howling at the night sky. This release comprises a CD, a 10-inch record with fold-out sleeve and large obi, plus fascinating notes in Japanese and English by Kenichi Yasuda, an expert on Japanese rock music, and Koji Kawasaki, a renowned researcher of Japanese electronic music, as well as rare photos.

Special Edition includes a Cd-r of an interview program with the producers of "Beam Penetration" in 1970. At the end of the program, the Flower Travellin' Band appeared with motorcycles and performed in the studio. Also includes insert with English translation of the interview. Expo 70, held in Osaka, was a pivotal event for the Japanese people and their relationship with the rest of the world, demonstrating both the nation’s ongoing economic recovery from World War Two and the creative spirit of Japanese society and its artists. The event gained international acclaim for its adventurous architectural design, visual art and electronic music. Some of Japan’s most renowned composers were involved, but also present were the now-legendary rockers, the Flower Travellin' Band. A series of performances, billed as “Night Events” were held at the Expo; the most radical of these was "Beam Penetration and Mad Computer, plus the Minimal Sound of Motorcycles”, but its anti-establishment feel and general madness took the Expo organizers by surprise and it was cancelled after only one night, despite being scheduled for a longer run.

An air of myth developed around the event, but a recording of the event has been discovered and this release is the result. And what an event it was: a night-time sound-bomb with a fabled band, electronic sound and 50 motorcycles with horns blaring, spotlights, electronic billboards and a robot ― all flashing, roaring and howling at the night sky. This release comprises a CD, a 10-inch record with fold-out sleeve and large obi, plus fascinating notes in Japanese and English by Kenichi Yasuda, an expert on Japanese rock music, and Koji Kawasaki, a renowned researcher of Japanese electronic music, as well as rare photos.

Vladislav Delay's complete "Hide Behind The Silence" series. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label Rajaton.

Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as ”still water”, or ”still air” for that matter. Go to a restaurant, ask them for a glass of still water, hold it against the light and see where we’re at. Even though the water itself has been captured and imprisoned in the glass, it never stops breathing. It’s filled with tiny particles, dancing. Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we’re not scientists – and even if you happen to be – it’s the natural world of perception that moves me. Still air is very similar. A hot summer’s day with zero wind feels completely still. It’s the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness. Try this: Just sit down for a minute on a sunny day, making sure there’s enough natural light. Do absolutely nothing. Try not to breathe for a bit. (If you need a mental anchor, you can play Cage’s 4’33” in your head but nothing else.) Watch the tiny dots of dust dancing :..’ ̈.:; ́ ́*°.,’:,. ̈ ̈ ̈ ̈:,.’ The movement is crazy, but the feeling of stillness comes from witnessing how subtle it is. In (perceived) complete stillness, every act of microscopic mobility seems to speak volumes. Yet, it feels both reassuring and oddly threatening that the stillness is never complete. What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very ”loud” body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So when you are, it’s worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in. A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only ”sparkling”. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end they make it. Trees bend but don’t break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn’t hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn’t quite understand its size. It’s beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms.