Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 292 Items

“Accosting Form, Pure Intent” - Nathaniel Young’s new album for Mysteries of the Deep - is a contradiction that makes sense. At once raw and elegant, it emerges from a place of constraint and desire. Its individual tracks reflect this paradox as the album unlocks itself like a koan: a riddle that, once solved, dawns on the listener like an epiphany.

Joseph Higgins is back on the label under his flagship moniker Metrist. Pollen Pt. I is the first part of a trilogy of records, showcasing Metrist's latest developments in twisted beat-science. The release combines four tracks of rudeboi electro swagger, offkilter vocal chops and imaginative grooves. Since his L.SAE record in 2015 Metrist has released on Where To Now?, Neighborhood and a LP Opal Tapes, here he refines his sound palette even further, striking a unique balance between the avant-garde and dancefloor. Artwork comes courtesy of Harry Butt.

The enduring balance and precision fractures in CA2+'s earlier works for Northern Electronics only hint at the ferocity of his latest release, 'Overtone Window.' Assembling itself into troubling rhythmic rises that break of their own accord, finding more efficient models within its own feedback, each track sharpens itself with every movement. Small run... dont sleep!!

As witnessed in the preceding decades of electronic music fragmentation, it is a bit of a phenomenon that entire threads of sound exist elusively between the tempos and syncopation of rhythm and percussion of each respective genre. just as dubstep was evolved into & somewhat stumbled upon it is somewhat certain that many more areas of illumination lurk in the echoes & shadows of sound. As has been hinted on sonically with Surface Tension I, Clubroot's previous release & first foray into the second decade of the new millennium, the elusive aforementioned producer from St. Albans has managed to alloy a new sound with the swing and BPM of uk garage, space, air and atmosphere of true dubstep, and with all the unparalleled virtuosity and unmistakable aural DNA of Clubroot, which we dare say is rarely equaled. in doing so, clubroot illuminates the realm of uk garage and electronic music in general towards a currently unforeseen future.

Mohammad Reza Mortazavi (Tombak) & Burnt Friedman (electronics, synth.) release their second EP “yek 2”.

"Equipped with one drum only and laser-pattern–electronics, Mortazavi and Friedman produce delicate, yet archaic, trance–inducing, transnational dance music with… hints of dust and grain… “. (Freq)

Mortazavi and Friedman move hands and faders according to odd cyclical rhythms with incredible accuracy. The extreme dynamic range and rhythmic congruency of drum and electronics merge both, Mortazavi`s and Friedman’s repertoire entirely.

Complete in [yek], resisting cultural notions of folklore and territory.'

Infinite Fog presents a long-awaited complete version of “Sara Dale's Sensual Massage” OST with 8 exclusive and unheard tracks. Sara Dale's Sensual Massage was a delightful erotic video with a mystic soundtrack by Coil. Quite unusual for the band dreamy ambient, almost spa-relaxed soft harmonies, bland tribal rhythms, chimes, and birdsong but still with dark mysterious and inimitable Coil musick's charm. However, the second part of the album explores more rhythmic structures that remind 'Gay Man's Guide...' soundtrack.

Besides the OST recordings, the edition includes bonus tracks from the "Basilisk prod.'s" era: “Theme From Blue”, and grandiose "The Hills Are Alive" so badly wanted on vinyl. Artwork by Steven Stapleton. Mastering by Martin Bowes.

Legowelt has been a key figure in the Dutch electronic music scene since the early nineties, steadily relea­sing timeless music that merges the pioneering sounds of Detroit and Chicago with idiosyncratic sci-fi fascinations. "Unconditional Contours" captures Legowelt's stint at the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments (smem), after he was invited to be the first artist in residence at the institution's "Playroom" project. Legowelt visited Smem in Fribourg, Switzerland, in early 2019 to explore the collection and record music. Possessing an extensive collection of synthesizers himself, he used hand-picked synthesizers from the museum's archive: the rare Farfisa Synthorchestra, the Evs-1 Evolution, the "shittiest rompler ever made", amongst many others. The 10-track album "Unconditional Contours" is both a probe into the vast collection of Smem, and a display of Legowelt's well established composi­tional qualities. Leaving ample space for new sounds to unfold, Legowelt invokes gentle trips, brooding excursions, bleep heavy soundscapes, and reimagined elements of dance music classicism. Smem and -ous are launching the "smem+ous" series to document the "Playroom" residencies. A limited edition of this album was already sent out to early supporters of the "Playroom". Founded in 2016 and based on a collection of more than 5000 synthesizers, organs, drum machines and effects that had been collected over a 35 year period by Klemens Niklaus Trenkle, Smem offers residencies, studio sessions, talks and workshops.

With Contemplative Figuration we see Broshuda pushing his amorphous, impossible-to-pin-down music in exciting new directions. Stitched together in various European cities over the last few years, it is the artist’s most dynamic and ambitious release thus far, drawing equally from musique concrete, beat research, ambient, tape collage, and spoken word. Episodic in nature, the collection functions well as a sort of impressionistic travelogue, with romantic, hazy atmospheres coaxed from borrowed equipment, serendipitous recording sessions with old friends, and even a drum sequence programmed with Mario Paint, among other curios and sleights of hand. Broshuda deftly wrings bonafide cohesion and balance from these disparate source materials, tools, and locations, as on opener “Kakigori,” which allows a snaking harmonic drone the space to evolve before exploding it into a sort of seething, dubbed out pointillism. Later, “Lied Für Hase” concocts a potent, humid atmosphere of beautifully evolving acoustic piano loops and elegant narration. Taken as a whole, Contemplative Figuration is a weightless, transportive record, one that is bursting at the seams with ideas, mischief, and a restless spirit. Mastered by Helmut Erler at D&M, Artwork by Alex McCullough and Niall Wynne Lewis.

It's been four years since Sweatbox Dynasty, the fourth solo LP from Pennsylvanian experimentalist Tobacco. In that time, Tom Fec's project has toured with Nine Inch Nails, provided the theme song to HBO series Silicon Valley, and teamed with Aesop Rock for a collaborative album as Malibu Ken. He now returns to Ghostly International for Hot Wet & Sassy, a full-length album oozing with his most playful and approachable songs to date, which, conversely, express notions of antilove, self-hate, and disappointment in others. Pop impulses have always surged beneath the surface of his sound - blown-out bass, analog synths, drum machines, and Fec's unmistakable analog gurgle and hiss - here they've bubbled to the top. "I feel like it's the most I've been able to refine what I'm doing," says Fec. "For the past decade I've had this motherfxcker on my shoulder that makes me pick away at structure and melody. Purposely covering up moments because I can. That really came to a peak on Sweatbox. So I wanted the opposite this time. Write the songs without ripping them in half. I went from 'what would the Butthole Surfers do?' to 'what would Cyndi Lauper do?'" And what would Trent Reznor do? Fec found his answer straight from the source. Their collaborative track, "Babysitter," fuses their voices into one deranged presence: "I'm the new babysitter," they alert, before pivoting into a menacingly saccharine bridge. The track tumbles on a tom fill, then a punishing synth line rips into a cacophony of drums and feedback like a lawnmower gnawing through the living room carpet. "This was new for me, but I wanted to write a song that was everything I am and have been, and then like one notch further. Trent was the notch further," adds Fec. The collaboration is a work of alchemy seamlessly blending Tobacco's trademarks with Reznor's industrial rust and sonic gore. Downcast, sincere, woozy, "Jinmenken" might be the closest Fec has come to a ballad. "Maybe you can find me down the line," his vocoded delivery bounces along the beat. "It's me trying to write a Jets song," says Fec. Album opener "Centaur Skin" presents the stylistic concoction that has been the Tobacco MO from the beginning, crossing dreamy melodic shimmer with the sinister tones and slime. This has become easier to digest, but also far more potent. A motorik beat steadies the track's galloping arpeggio, acting as a springboard for Fec's dark ruminations as well as an uncharacteristically crystalline synth solo. "It's my feel good self hate anthem. Don't worry, I'm good. It was fun to write." Tobacco hasn't been reinvented, but it has been refined and distilled. Brighter, sharper, and far more dangerous because of it. Hot Wet & Sassy is practically staring at the sun without shades and feeling those corneas roast. Everything looks good as your vision fades. The pop-forward structures exert their undeniable hooks with baneful precision, pulling listeners into their clutches; once there, sugary melody rewards submission.

When Acid Mothers Temple and Richard Pinhas visited Lima for the first time, in November 2017, to participate in the experimental music festival "Integraciones", Luis Alvarado, the director of Buh Records and curator of the festival, summoned the Japanese and the French musicians to Manongo Mujica's studio and invited Juan Luis Pereira (El Polen) to join them for a recording session. The result was this album which finally comes to light, and where a variety of instruments and sensibilities are combined. The guitar sound of Kawabata, the leader of Acid Mothers Temple, merged with that of Pinhas, the leader of Heldon, creates a dreamlike atmosphere, which is supplemented with Mujica's Indian bells and drums, Pereira's pututos, moceño, violin and charango, and the cosmic electronic sounds of the classic Roland synthesizer played by Higashi, from Acid Mothers Temple. Everything flows between quietness and abstraction, an atmospheric music that gives way to inspired melodic developments, which are fused with sounds coming from the Andean tradition, as well as with the classic textural and melodic explosions courtesy of Kawabata. All this is enhanced by the meticulous mixing and post production work done by the Peruvian artist Ale Hop. Alturas [Heights] is edited in vinyl format and is destined to become a milestone in the catalogue of Buh Records, a label that has also released albums by El Polen, Acid Mothers Temple and Manongo Mujica.

Dieses Mal ging es dann doch etwas schneller: Nachdem sich die australische Band The Avalanches zwischen dem Debüt und dem Nachfolger 16 Jahre Zeit gelassen hatte, wird das dritte Album „We Will Always Love You“ am 11. Dezember erscheinen.

Schon Anfang des Jahres waren erste Albumvorboten aufgetaucht: Neben dem mit Blood Orange aufgenommen Titelsong und dem Stück „Running Red Lights“ feat. Rivers Cuomo & Pink Siifu zählten auch „Reflecting Light“ feat. Sananda Maitreya & Vashti Bunyan und „Wherever You Go“ feat. Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry & Clypso dazu; letzterer Titel beginnt mit jenem Gruß der Menschheit, der mit den „Voyager Golden Records“ ins All geschossen wurde.

Pünktlich zum Preorder-Start gibt’s noch einen doppelten Nachschlag: „Take Care In Your Dreaming“ feat. Denzel Curry, Tricky und Sampa The Great sowie „Music Makes Me High“.

Born out of a love for extended live performance and late night studio jams, Adam Collins' and Marky Star's much revered Omni A.M. collaboration released their debut LP 'Key' 23 years ago, also launching their label Euphoria Records. A very limited amount of CDs were pressed and sold exclusively at Euphoria events throughout Chicago at the time, and with Omni A.M. and Euphoria's stock rising over the following decades, this timeless classic has become a Holy Grail amongst music heads and collectors alike, as the eye watering discogs prices will attest. Although heavily influenced by the Chicago house scene and it's luminaries Derrick Carter, Gemini, DJ Heather and Tyree Cooper, the pair embarked on a remarkable mission to record an album that owes much to their love of The Orb and KLF, the experimentalism of Psychic TV and Cabaret Voltaire, industrial favourites Skinny Puppy and the mind bending dub of Lee Scratch Perry, through to San Fran's West Coast house scene and the Tech-House sounds emanating from South London in the late '90s. LP opener 'space horse' rolls out the breaks before swathes of synths and sonic trickery abound, 'wo ist meine bier?' is characterised by haunting IDM-esque melodies, underpinned by the chug of a 4/4 beat. Over onto the flip where Villalobos favourite 'naked groove' unleashes an infectious rhythm, bass riff, synths and vocal, before 'splendid idea' moves into a more tripped out acidic territory, keeping the musical elements and energy to the fore. On disc 2, the aptly titled 'fusion' turns up the breakbeat heat, adds a hypnotic dub-funk b-line, building into an inspirational lead line. 'v.23's other-worldly throb neatly segues into the moody burning breaks of 'bitch', and closing track 'ready to know' is playful and confident in it's execution, without ever losing any depth or substance. What comes across is an unwavering dedication to creativity and pushing the boundaries of what's sonically possible, whilst defying the genres through a unique and essential collection of musical moments and psychedelic jams underpinned by beats that deliver the funk. These tracks have stood the test of time and have remained exciting and relevant throughout, this is the first time they have ever been released on vinyl. This double LP features exclusive edits and never heard before versions, lovingly remastered by Lawrie Curve Pusher from the original DATs and artwork recreated from, and inspired by the original release.

Through a sleet storm of bunkered kicks and arpeggiation arrives the rushing EP 'No Rest Among Angels' from Free The ID. Best recognised as Internazionale, and for directing the label Janushoved, the principal transmission under this new sign presents a collection of tracks as spartan as they are romantic, contorting the noisiest impulses into a sleek toolset.

Brilliantly remastered picture LP / LP / CD with new stunning artwork!

A1 taken from VA – 110 Below – No Sleeve Notes Required (110 Below, 1995) A2 taken from VA – Assemblage Volume Two (Extreme, 1996) A3 taken from Nonplace Urban Field – Golden Star (Incoming!, 1996) B1 taken from VA – Le Sacre Du Printemps (Gonzo Circus, 1994) B2 taken from VA – X-X Section (Extreme, 1991) B3 taken from VA – Directions 2 (Direction Music, 1989)

An Other Voices Records / Kontakt Audio Co-operation Release

Compiled by Terry Bennett and Oleg Galay Re-mastered by Višeslav Laboš Artwork by Oleg Galay

At the end of the '60s in Italy - but also abroad, especially in France and England - a very particular trend began to spread, that one known as 'Library music' or 'sonorization': as suggested by its name, those were real music libraries intended for the accompaniment of audiovisual productions such as television programs, advertisements, documentaries and films. Since they were created in total artistic freedom condition, they are often difficult if not impossible to catalog, as they're not anchored to a specific musical genre; this freedom also allowed the authors to compose, sometimes in the most complete anonymity, experimental and avant-garde music, capable of anticipating the sounds that only many years later would have been widespread on a larger scale.

Egisto Macchi (1928-1992) was one of the most active composers of the sonorization and soundtrack genres together with artists such as Piero Umiliani, Alessandro Alessandroni and Ennio Morricone; he also collaborated with the latter in the experimental music project Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. "Fauna Marina" is among his most popular and sought-after by collectors titles: a set of eleven compositions intended to accompany the images of a hypothetical fish fauna documentary, an abstract hybrid of classical, contemporary and jazz music that is still fresh and surprising today.

"Fauna Marina" is part of a reissues series, made in collaboration with Edizioni Leonardi (Milan, Italy), of extremely rare library music LP's published between late '60s and early '70s, most of which have never been released again until today, and that are finally made available again for collectors and sonorization music lovers.

180gr. Clear blue vinyl edition.

Sam Goku returns to Atomnation with a stunning debut album titled East Dimensional Riddims. The 11 tracks record is a journey into his hugely characterful club sound complete with ambient and subtle use of instruments from his Chinese heritage. Sam Goku - born Robin Wang - was born in Düsseldorf, yet his upbringing was Chinese for the most part. It is the contrasting influences of those two cultural backgrounds that play out in his music and lend it a truly unique character. The album is a fine fusion of East and West, house and techno, power and emotion that really showcases the unique production talents of Sam Goku. Following up on the EPs Tanggu, Every Step and Paradise Drum, this new album is the sound of an artist evolving, maturing and finding his own sound. It’s a cohesive work that is as emotional as it is physical and thought provoking.

Edition of 200, printed sleeve. This album started as a laying-to-rest of the old Mxlx sound, all the big synths and noises. Wanted to move on. What happened in reality was something else. i just started recording the vocals and we got burgled, they took my laptop, with all the music on it. I was devastated. I found it by googling my phone, and along with some help, away from the dirty dirty cops, I managed to get it back. Finishing the thing was revenge enough. It's a big one for me. I sincerely hope it hits you as hard as it all hit me. Peace. Mxlx xx xx

After several collaborative releases, German drummer Simon Popp is back on Squama with his second solo album ‘Devi’. While his phenomenal debut ‘Laya’ was a percussive take on ambient and third stream minimalism, ‘Devi’ features eight tracks of bold organic grooves, uplifting and hopeful in one moment, sinister and dark in the next. This dualism is reflective of the ups and downs in Simon’s own life, making the album a brutally honest and deeply personal record. Over the past two years Popp has steadily refined his skills both as a player and an engineer: There are virtuoso drumming parts, revealing his passion for polyrhythm and complex structures and recording techniques such as heavy limiting, using gated reverb and pitch-shifting give the record a modern 90s vibe. ‘Devi’ is a forceful statement of what contemporary drum music can sound like today.

For its 10th release and 7th vinyl edition, Subject To Restrictions Discs presents another musical journey from Angelo Repetto. He has dived deep and resurfaced with these four heavy, emotional compositions. Together with wonder drummer Nicolas Stocker, Repetto turned his story into music. On the A-side, ‘Panther’ and ‘CP Verletzung’ let us drive through the night, perhaps with the last drop of the enthusiastic feeling of the last dance. Right on the other side, we experience the ‘Sundown Explosion’, hard-hitting all the emotions we have left. ‘No Access’ points the way to our next, as yet unknown, journey.

The First-Ever Vinyl Reissue Of This Epic Collaboration Between Icelanders Reptilicus And The Hafler Triothe First-Ever Vinyl Reissue Of This Epic Collaboration Between Industrial Experimentalists From Iceland, Reptilicus, And The Hafler Trio. Designer Time Was Originally Released 1994 On Staalplaat As A Cd Release. This New Version Is Remastered And Pressed On White Vinyl.