Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 63 Items

Established in 2013 by Valentina Magaletti and Tom Relleen, the duo operated until 2020 as a creative laboratory for the London-based musicians to explore beyond their traditional musical endeavours. They sought to deconstruct their usual sonic frameworks, venturing into a novel and unfamiliar auditory landscape. Their work seamlessly integrated various forms of multi-instrumentalism, traversing the realms of industrial, jazz, psychedelia and minimalism.

'The band's self-released cassette debut, 'Sleepy Jazz for Tired Cats' presents an unconstrained, complex and abstract introduction to their distinctive and darkly thought-provoking sound. In contrast, Tomaga’s seminal album, 'Futura Grotesk', further elevates their sonic explorations, leading to compositions that are more elusive and profoundly evocative, resembling the surreal and unsettling language of dreams and other subconscious wanderings transposed into a unique musical expression.

2024 repress -

Originally released in 2013, and now re mastered and repressed on 180 Gram vinyl with the original gatefold sleeve containing the lyrics inside.

Dominick Martin (Calibre) from 2013 "Along the west coast of Co Kerry in Ireland you will find the amazing Valentia Island. Attached by a bridge to the mainland, it is a place of beauty touched by years of history and the songs of the sea. I managed to obtain a house there for a few weeks, I took my computer and mic with me not knowing what to expect when I got there. In one of the rooms sat a piano, and as my fingers touched the keys I knew there was a story there waiting to be told. The sound of the piano in that place was something very magical as 100mph winds battered the house and interrupted my recordings. Other material has since emerged from those days spent on the island, but the main body of work that I recorded there makes up this album that I now present to you".

Pressing of 500

Die limitierte Auflage kommt als "rauchig schwarzes" Vinyl mit Download-Karte, die digitale Bonustracks enthält. Nach Ausflügen in Deep House, Acid und Techno, die ihn laut Resident Advisor zu "einem der fesselndsten Künstler Berlins" gemacht hatten, brachte Lorenz Brunner 2013 sein Projekt Recondite mit dem Album „Hinterland“ bei Ghostly International unter.

Der Produzent schaute auf die Heimat seiner Kindheit, Niederbayern, und nutzte Field Recordings, um die Musik mit den Emotionen der Jahreszeiten in der Region zu verbinden. „Hinterland“ präsentierte eine besondere Atmosphäre - eisige, unheimliche, melancholische Musik, die intime Melodien mit knackigen Perkussion-Sounds kreuzte -, die zum Markenzeichen von Recondite werden sollte. "Das ist das Album, das irgendwann aus Recondite herauskommen musste", sagte er damals. "Es ist Recondite." Ein Jahrzehnt später ist der Sound immer noch ganz und gar sein eigener.

Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails/How To Destroy Angels) composed the Forse series using a Buchla Music Easel. Forse, meaning "maybe" In Italian, is a series of 3 double LP releases Cortini recorded for Imprec to release in 2013.

"All pieces were written and performed live on a Buchla Music Easel, in the span of one month. I found that the limited array of modules that the instrument offers sparked my creativity. Most pieces consist of a repeating chord progression, where the real change happens at a spectral/dynamic level, as opposed to the harmonic/chordal one. I believe that the former are just as effective as the latter, in the sense that the sonic presentation (distortion , filtering, wave shaping, etc) are just as expressive as a chord change or chord type, and often reinforce said chord progressions.

Of all the years with Nine Inch Nails the period spent writing and recording the instrumental record Ghosts I-iv is probably the one which changed my approach to music making the most. After that record I started getting more into instrumental composition, although I tried to approach it in a different way. While we had a vast array of tools and instruments at our disposal then, I decided to approach my pieces limiting myself to one instrument only, as I found myself being more decisive when faced with a limited creative environment."

Originally released in 2013, this full length collaboration from Duane Pitre and Eleh is now available on cassette. Pitreleh use high resolution analog and digital tools to create music utilizing natural vibrations and harmonics as rhythm and melody. Inspiration is drawn directly from vibrational waves (sound, gravity, water). The electronics, of which both pieces are constructed, are tuned using pure intonation which utilizes the prime numbers: 1-3-5-7. The debut live performance of Pitreleh was recently presented at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn as well as the Museum Of Contemporary Art in Cleveland.

Tricky"s first album on his brand new False Idols imprint, launched almost a decade ago in 2013. "I was lost for ages" he says, after a 3 year hiatus since his previous album.

In celebration of the label's 15th year anniversary Sacred Bones is now repressing this legendary debut on Colored Vinyl for the very first time. The vinyl colour is a mix of black, white & orange! Margaret Chardiet was born and raised in New York City. As a founding member of the Red Light District collective in Far Rockaway, NY she has been a figurehead in the underground experimental scene since the age of seventeen. She describes her drive to make noise music as something akin to an exorcism where she is able to express, her "deep-seated need/drive/urge/possession to reach other people and make them Feel something [specifically] in uncomfortable/confrontational ways." Engineered by Sean Ragon of Cult of Youth, Abandon is Pharmakon's first proper studio album and also her first widely distributed release. The songs on this album were all written and recorded during a turbulent three month time period during which several fundamental life changes forced her to begin living in a completely new way and in a new space. She describes the lyrical themes of this album as being about "Loss. Losing everything. Relinquishing control. Complete psychic abandon. Blind leaps of faith into the fire, walking out unscathed. Crawling out of the pit."

Tosca is Richard Dorfmeister (of Kruder & Dorfmeister fame) and Rupert Huber, who have been crafting trip-hop and downtempo together for nearly two decades. Odeon, their sixth proper full-length album, should be darker and more subdued than previous material. Dorfmeister explains: "We"ve always had a darker, ambient side, but we really wanted to emphasize that aspect of music with this record. That"s where our hearts are at the moment, just keeping the whole vibe low and understated." The album promises to be an intimate listen as well, due in part to Tosca"s face-to-face work with a "creative inner circle" of guest vocalists.

Stareaway is Markus Guentner (Kompakt, A Strangely Isolated Place) and Heiko Badje (La Grande Illusion) carefully combining ambient soundscapes, shoegazy guitars, melancholic Pop melodies and these amazing bodiless vocals to form a deep, subtle and somehow hard to define kind of enchanted music. Their 2013 album No Life In This Ghost Town (mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri) is now re-released (via Couldn’t Care More); seven wonderful tracks, caressing and thoughtful, yet touched by a certain darkness that makes you shiver. Brilliant works that need to be rediscovered. The album-rerelease is accompanied by a spectacular EP with remixes by Rafael Anton Iris-arri, Simon Scott (Slowdive), Thomas Fehlmann und David Westlake (ex-Sneaker Pimps).

Soul Jazz Records Deutsche Elektronische Music Volume 2 is now available as two separate double LPs for the first time in over 10 years! Soul Jazz Records' 'Deutsche Elektronische Musik 2' is their second voyage into the world of Krautrock and German electronic music from the 1970s and early 1980s. Features a stunning line-up of seminal German groups, including Can, Faust, Popul Vuh, Neu!, Cluster, Amon Düül II, La Düsseldorf, as well as a host of lesser known and more obscure groups and artists such as Agitation Free, Bröselmaschine, Niagara and many more.

Soul Jazz Records Deutsche Elektronische Music Volume 2 is now available as two separate double LPs for the first time in over 10 years! Soul Jazz Records' 'Deutsche Elektronische Musik 2' is their second voyage into the world of Krautrock and German electronic music from the 1970s and early 1980s. Features a stunning line-up of seminal German groups, including Can, Faust, Popul Vuh, Neu!, Cluster, Amon Düül II, La Düsseldorf, as well as a host of lesser known and more obscure groups and artists such as Agitation Free, Bröselmaschine, Niagara and many more.

In a world where harder, faster and more obnoxious is the order of the day Frederic Robinson deals in complex and nuanced music that displays a maturity of thought far beyond the young German’s years. Disciplined and focused, he stretches genres until the restrictions of tempo lose their meaning and the listener is free to simply experience music rather than categorise it. His intensely intricate sound design, instrumentation and arrangement places him closer to contemporary classical composers such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley or Philip Glass than the more typically accepted gurus of dance music. The music itself is beautiful, both subtle and satisfying. Harmonies rush and swoop, collapsing in on each other amid fractured percussion and sparkling melody, simultaneously muscular and fragile. Motifs appear, become warped then reappear in different forms, helping the music to talk about itself while it shifts through distinct movements of light and shade. It is this fearsome and unique skill in execution which has led Frederic Robinson to the ears of tastemakers across the spectrum, from Gilles Peterson to London Elektricity, and seen a flurry of releases on Hospital Records, Brownswood, Bmtm and Med School along with remix work for some of his most promising young contemporaries.

Side A written and performed by Ludwig Plath. Side A written and performed by Fee Kuerten. Recorded, mixed and mastered by René Huthwelker at Niedervolthoudini Studio, Hamburg 2012. Artwork by Ludwig Plath.

a dream come true. 2021 edition with 4 bonus tracks.

Karel Goeyvaerts was born in Antwerp in 1923.
After having received a humanistic education in Antwerp, he took courses at
the Lemmens Institute in Malines. From 1943 until 1947 he studied at the Royal
Flemish Conservatoire of Antwerp. From 1947 until 1950 he studied composition
with Darius Milhaud, music analysis with Olivier Messiaen and was in addition the
pupil of Maurice Martenot at the “Conservatoire
National” in Paris. In 1949 he was awarded the 2nd Prize for Composition and the
Lili Boulanger Prize at the same Conservatoire. He obtained the Halphen Prize in
1950.
During the winter of 1950-51, he wrote the “Sonata for two pianos”. Because of
its decisive and total stylistic novelty he designated this work as “Composition
No 1”, thus rejecting all his former work. With this sonata he created a structural
synthesis of the dodecaphonic system of Anton Webern and the teachings of
Olivier Messiaen and laid the foundations for generalized “punctual” serialism. He
demonstrated the application of this technique on the electronic medium in his
compositions Nrs. 4, 5 and 7. During the period 1951-1956, he influenced directly
through personal contact and intensive correspondence the musical creativity of
Karlheinz Stockhausen, whom he met during the summer-courses of 1951 in
Darmstadt. In 1953, Goeyvaerts and Stockhausen produced the first electronic
music in the studio of the NWDR in Cologne.
In 1 970 th e BRT app oin ted h im as pr oducer at th e “Institute of Psychoacoustics
and Electronic Music” (IPEM) in Ghent. Since 1974 he is in charge of the New Music
productions for BRT-3 in Brussels. Karel Goeyvaerts received several awards,
such as the Koopal Prize in 1967 and the Visser-Neerlandia Prize in 1969. He
also was given commissions by the BRT, the Festiv al o f Fland ers and the NOS
(Nede r- lan ds e Omroepstichting). His works have been performed in several
European countries, in Canada, the United States, Japan and at the festivals of the
“International Society for Contemporary Music” (ISCM) Brussels 1950, Oslo 1953,
Graz 1972 and Bonn 1977.

Limited to 500 copies.

The first album by Ben Lukas Boysen (also known for being the musician behind Hecq), "Gravity" is a deeply personal work in which this highly-praised producer sheds the artifacts of electronic music to compose a solemn and touching album of beauty and depths. Melancholic piano lines, warm analogue sound, tender drums: "Gravity" is only as sad as you want it to be, for it is first a solitary and introvert journey through heights and emotions. Much more than a new beginning: a revealing.

Laurent Jeanneau aka Kink Gong ethnic electronic project continues on Discrepant... Since the end of the 90's, Laurent Jeanneau, also an integral Sublime Frequencies contributor, has been recording the music of mostly endangered minorities of South East Asia. Alongside his relentless pursue of remote exotic and unpublished musical traditions, he also started creating electronic versions by combining raw recordings with natural sounds, archive material and electronically treated sounds. For Voices, Laurent based his alternate re-versions around the extensive voice recordings he made on location in the southern regions of Yunnan and Guizhou in China as well as in Sapa, North Vietnam and Phongsaly, Northern Laos. The compositions contain unedited acoustic recordings, computer modified parts, sound collages and acoustic recordings of people and instruments. All tracks were recorded on location and re-arranged by Laurent Jeanneau in Dali, China. Special vinyl one time pressing to 300 copies mastered and cut at Dubplate @ Mastering by Rashad Becker.

Benedek's debut LP for PPU!

Berlin-based contemporary composer Nils Frahm has built a steady reputation for his intimate, poignant piano recordings, yet they only reveal a fragment of what to expect from a Frahm concert. The artist’s heart lies in improvisation, in the magic of a moment where, inspired by the space and the audience, his fingers create new compositions loosely based around his familiar melodies.

Spaces is an ode to the joy of live performance. It expresses Frahm’s love for experimentation and answers the call from his fans for a record that truly reflects what they witness during his concerts. Breaking the convention of a traditional live release, the album was recorded over the course of two years in different locations and on various media, including old portable reel-to-reel recorders and cassette decks. These moments were later pieced together in his Durton Studio for what Frahm refers to as a collage of field recordings rather than a live album.

Spaces includes surprises such as the sound of a toilet brush banging on piano strings to create a dub-sounding track. The decision to select takes that include the sounds of people coughing and cell phones ringing make clear that his audience is an integral part of every performance

Full length collaboration from Duane Pitre & ELEH. Pitreleh use high resolution analog and digital tools to create music utilizing natural vibrations and harmonics as rhythm and melody. Inspiration is drawn directly from vibrational waves (sound, gravity, water). The electronics, of which both pieces are constructed, are tuned using pure intonation which utilizes the prime numbers: 1-3-5-7.

Journey through vivid sonic currents and a state which might as well be regarded as Rashim's magnum opus: this is a new height with a mini album as the sixth release on ARR. The more basic and primal spirit of this release encapsulates Rashim's music in a way which makes total sense. Bound over for tracks, which all displays a different perspective of this dramatic colossus

Taking inspiration from the 1969 French adventure book of the same name, Papillon explores the sonic interzones between dream and nightmare. Through the use of augmented field recordings, Papillon uses the ‘exotic’ jungle as the starting point to develop a dense and evocative sound where ethnic recordings, impromptu synth jams, modular synthesis and foley art effects come together to create a quasi-mystical crackpot mix of esoteric visions, near death experiences, shamanism, fever deliriums and lucid dreaming.

Late Night Tales and Bonobo were pretty much made for each other, it just took them a while to both realise it. Stepping forward into the compiler’s spotlight for the 33rd edition is Simon Green – aka Bonobo – a musician, producer and DJ perfectly suited to soundtrack an evening spent reclining to some parallel beats.

180 gram vinyl incl. download code!

180g vinyl!

180g vinyl!

Perhaps one of the most revolutionary and influential people in the cannon of disco music, Patrick Cowley created his own brand of Hi-NRG dance music coined "The San Francisco Sound." This very special LP features a compilation of restored Cowley productions unearthed in the garage of vintage gay porn company Fox Studio. Spanning nearly 90 minutes, the 11 tracks (originally recorded between 1973 and 1981), epitomize Cowley's forward thinking and his affinity for mixing elements of varying styles of music. Simply put, Cowley was a musical trailblazer ahead of his time. His credits as a producer include SYLVESTER's "Do You Wanna Funk,” PAUL PARKER’s "Right on Target" and collaborations with JORGE SOCCARAS of INDOOR LIFE—this is just the tip of the iceberg. An early victim of AIDS, Cowley passed away at the age of 32; these recordings shine a new light on the experimental side of a disco legend who was taken too soon from us. Featuring over 80 minutes of music, this compilation contains soundtrack music from two Fox Studio films, Muscle Up and School Daze, never before released on vinyl. The tapes were restored and transferred using the same speed and pitch settings, then remastered for vinyl by GEORGE HORN at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. The vinyl comes housed in a glossy dual pocket gatefold featuring classic gay porn imagery from the Fox Studio vaults plus an essay from Indoor Life vocalist, JORGE SOCCARRAS. For Patrick's 63rd birthday, Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem present a glimpse into the instrumental world of a young genius. These recordings shine a new light on the experimental side of a disco legend who was taken too soon.

Another great comp on the Late Night Tales imprint feat. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Koushik, Gravediggaz, Madvillain, Fairport Convention!

Superb album revisiting the traditional and early psychedelic Arabic music, all through distorted paths and instruments, remashed and deconstructed sounds, recreating patterns with diverse instruments to give a different perspective of the sound itself.

A 33 track monument, based on the rich history of recent dance music. Rave, Jungle, House, Techno & Grime are melted into a wild mixture!

Heavyweight soul providers Fat Freddy’s Drop are about to take flight once again with the worldwide release of new album Blackbird!

Oh yes, finally the follow-up to Mount Kimbie's critically acclaimed debut "Crooks & Lovers", now on Warp Records!

Who thought this would ever happen? All new album from Michael Sandison & Marcus Eoin Sandison! Gatefold sleeve with printed inners.

Who thought this would ever happen? All new album from Michael Sandison & Marcus Eoin Sandison! Limited digipack with artcards.

Strong 4th album by always busy Jon Hopkins.

Top Detroit-tainted techno tracks including a DVS1 remix!

Thomas Mullarney and Jacob Gossett, aka Brooklyn duo Beacon, introduced themselves to the world with the No Body and For Now EPs, both released last year on Ghostly International. The EPs were united by minimalist, R&B-influenced instrumentation, and also by a lyrical theme, with both serving as meditations on the darkness that underpins the most intense of human emotions: love.

The duo's debut album The Ways We Separate both consolidates and develops these ideas. The album focuses, as the title suggests, on the idea of separation — both within the context of relationships and in a more intimate, psychological sense. As Mullarney explains, "The narrative contained inside The Ways We Separate deals with two kinds of separation: one where two entities grow apart, and the other where we grow apart from ourselves. Over the course of a relationship, the two sometimes happen together, one being the result of the other."

Repress on black vinyl!

mp3 download card included!

Six years have passed since the last album by Andi Otto alias Springintgut, (“Park and Ride”, City Centre Offices, 2007). In this period, Otto has done nothing less than inventing a new instru- ment: His “Fello” is a cello with movement sensors attached to the bow and a corresponding software. The development has been kicked off at STEIM in Amsterdam already in 2007. Since then, Otto has achieved vital refinements of the system, cooperated with artists of various fields as diverse as choreographers in Macedonia, theatre in Nigeria and Techno DJs in the Berghain Kantine in Berlin or the Fusion Festival. He even played solo with his instrument on different continents. For this third album, “Where We Need No Map” Otto takes the “Fello” to his studio in Hamburg for the first time. He records his instrument which has until today only been presented live on stage. In these Fello Sessions, the bow gestures immediate- ly modulate and process the amplified cello sound. In the subsequent editings he selects and cuts these sessions and merges them with other styles, such as Skweee, House and Jazz. Springintgut's trademark sound, this unique playfulness, is pre- sent throughout, while the live-processed cello adds an unrivaled deepness. The artist's expeditions even add more colour. Two tracks have been recorded in India. The lead voi- ce in “Bangalore Kids” is a field recording of a schoolboy in Cubbon Park, Bangalore. Andi Otto spends three months in Japan as artist- in-residence in the Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto. Du- ring this concentrated period he produces the more contemplative tracks of the album, like “Ka- mogawa Cycling” and “Western Kyoto”. In Sri Lan- ka, finally, he meets Sasha Perera, the voice of Berlin's Dub Techno band Jahcoozi. They record two songs together. Especially in “Bullet” one can sense the lazy, muggy, peaceful heat of the after- noons in which this beautiful track has been com- posed. These stories may help to locate the music's orig- ins but still the sound of “Where We Need No Map” points us to unknown territories. The journey itself is the reward, let's listen!

Oooohwee! New Bonobo for 2013!
incl. download code

Swedish House don Joel Alter is back on Bass culture! Also features an Ed Davenport Remix.

This limited box set presents a full retrospective of the artist's performance at Museo Marini in Florence on Feb 17 2012 with additional features and bonus contents: 2 DVDs, a 12-page photo albums and more. Limited to 500!

Richard Dorfmeister & Rupert Huber with another batch of finest Vienna Downbeat with a touch of Ambient. Tip!