Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 331 Items

Immensely inspired by the beautiful simplicity embodied by the laws of nature, especially the number Pi and the notion of the golden ratio, Michał Lewicki has always been searching for new ways to implement mathematics into his music. But aiming for the perfect proportions while making the music feel natural and complex at the same time has been no easy feat. In the creation of “Ton” he applied a very technical approach, utilizing various random midi generators, midi delays, polyrhythms, pitch shifters, scales and more in order to create something that posseses a live on its own, bringing him as close as possible to a naturally occurring chaos we can find in the surrounding nature every day.

“One of the basic rules of aesthetics – man’s senses enjoy objects that are properly proportioned. He referred to the direct relationship between beauty and mathematics, which is often measurable and can be found in nature.” – R. Fisher on philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas

After painstakingly accurate and detailed editing of these generators, they would create something unique and different upon every single run. The result are unique non-recurring snapshots as foundation for most tracks, a quasi-mathematical experiment in audio-randomization. Now Michal really started his work, creating arrangements and progressions based on the simple sines and natural convolution, giving the track dynamics, adding layers of synths and instrumentation.

As a member of Lumisokea, Andrea Taeggi shapes acoustic and electronic sound alongside Koenraad Ecker, into their singular take on bass music. Time signatures fold into themselves, volleying voluptuous percussions and sesimic synthscape.

Limited edition on white vinyl!

Slow Waves is a collection of multi-layered memories, stacked like grainy polaroids in an old box in the closet or under the bed while the colours fade. A young Rob at the beach or on his first day of grammar school. Images of travels across Europe and Japan, moments slipping in trains or planes while landscapes pass by. Memories so unique to his life, yet so similar to the fading memories of youth and adolescence we all have...

After a series of well acclaimed EP’s, each of them created at very specific moments in the artists life, submerse took the time and sat down to reflect and convert all these memories into his first full length album on Project: Mooncircle.

'Slow Waves' comes out worldwide on limited double vinyl, limited handmade and handpainted cassette edition (both including download code) as well as a limited edition CD including a bonus track via flau records in Japan.

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." A modern-day revenge tragedy in four parts. Symmetrical, finespun, almost courtly; but quick-tempered with it, and far from blood-shy. A picture emerges: domestic disturbance, pissing on the compost heap, noise complaints from hateful neighbours. Sulking, pouting, goading. Cold leaves and Christmas. Body-clocks betrayed, seasonal adjustment disorders. Collecting bottles to smash in the carpark across the road. Marijuana and make-believe. A flaming bower of unbliss.

Stip plays a piano interpretation of his debut album Sigh released last February on Other People. One-sided 10"

New Kid on the DN/Downwards label roster on Clear white vinyl, printed sleeve.

Schlammpeitziger's album yields even more fruit. Six weeks after the release of his longplayer "What's Fruit" Pingipung releases this 12inch EP with remixes from Candie Hank (Patric Catani), Andreas Dorau, Springintgut, Mouse On Mars, Thomas Mahmoud Zahl and Dub-Master hey (one half of Hey-Ø-Hansen).

500 copies on black vinyl & download link for digital edition.

Created at the foot of Mount Taranaki, 'Hewn' is the sophomore release by Wellington, NZ based producer / musician Groeni. Representing a departure from one idea in order to rediscover and understand another, the record deals with the interactions of two sets of people, paralleling and contrasting them. Throughout the record, the lines become blurred - subjects merge and intertwine, adopting combined, often confused perspectives.

“There are links between the songs, things tie together and reappear at various points. Certain words, subjects and sounds are cut up and redistributed between the five songs.” - Alexander Green / Groeni

While retaining the melancholic / dark-pop quality of his previous EP, this record further explores UK bass music from a south west pacific perspective. Using elements of lo-fi mixed with clean production and resampling field recordings and digital synths through tape players and old microphones, Groeni creates an intimate and eery atmosphere that will draw in and mesmerize his listeners.

‘Hewn’ comes out worldwide on limited vinyl and limited handmade cassette edition (both including download code).

Created at the foot of Mount Taranaki, 'Hewn' is the sophomore release by Wellington, NZ based producer / musician Groeni. Representing a departure from one idea in order to rediscover and understand another, the record deals with the interactions of two sets of people, paralleling and contrasting them. Throughout the record, the lines become blurred - subjects merge and intertwine, adopting combined, often confused perspectives.

“There are links between the songs, things tie together and reappear at various points. Certain words, subjects and sounds are cut up and redistributed between the five songs.” - Alexander Green / Groeni

While retaining the melancholic / dark-pop quality of his previous EP, this record further explores UK bass music from a south west pacific perspective. Using elements of lo-fi mixed with clean production and resampling field recordings and digital synths through tape players and old microphones, Groeni creates an intimate and eery atmosphere that will draw in and mesmerize his listeners.

‘Hewn’ comes out worldwide on limited vinyl and limited handmade cassette edition (both including download code).

I was heavily inspired by Chris Marker’s film Sans Soleil (Sunless) just before I began recording the EP. He talks about remembering and memories; we preserve our recollections through photographs, films, literature and in my particular case, music. Each track on the EP is essentially a memory preserved.

The EP deals with ennui or just the overlying feeling of listlessness that usually props up when one thinks life is futile. Again, like my last release, this EP is quite melancholic in nature except the themes are more mature. I’ve focused on the artificial gratifications such as drugs, sex and what these temporary distractions can do to you and the relationships around you. I tend to take these dark subject matters and try and transform them into something beautiful, it’s incredibly cathartic. This is why I find it amusing and overwhelming when people call my music “ethereal” or “uplifting”.

I really love Dostoyevsky’s work or just any Russian author to be honest. His novels are incredibly detailed and meticulous, everything is palpable. I want any release I put out to feel this way. When people listen to my music I want them to be able to really feel the sounds, as if they can touch them: I work really hard to try and accomplish this. Lastly, I think what inspires me the most about being a musician: is the story telling. To be able to project your stories and memories through sound knowing that there’s at least somebody out there that will listen to what you have to say.

Featuring production by such renown producers as Go Yama, Insightful, Laplace and Galimatias, ‘Falstrati’ comes out worldwide on limited clear vinyl in December 2014.

Inludes two bonus trakcs.

Carlos Cipa is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who shared the stage with like-minded musicians like Hauschka, Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and Valgeir Sigurdsson. “All Your Life You Walk” is his 2nd solo album. Carlos Cipa created unique contemporary compositions fraught with beauty, tension and emotional intensity, clearly presenting the unique voice of a composer, who is fascinated by classical and contemporary composers ranging from Mozart, Debussy or Ravel to Steve Reich and David Lang, but is also inspired by modern bands like The National or Mogwai.

I was heavily inspired by Chris Marker’s film Sans Soleil (Sunless) just before I began recording the EP. He talks about remembering and memories; we preserve our recollections through photographs, films, literature and in my particular case, music. Each track on the EP is essentially a memory preserved.

The EP deals with ennui or just the overlying feeling of listlessness that usually props up when one thinks life is futile. Again, like my last release, this EP is quite melancholic in nature except the themes are more mature. I’ve focused on the artificial gratifications such as drugs, sex and what these temporary distractions can do to you and the relationships around you. I tend to take these dark subject matters and try and transform them into something beautiful, it’s incredibly cathartic. This is why I find it amusing and overwhelming when people call my music “ethereal” or “uplifting”.

I really love Dostoyevsky’s work or just any Russian author to be honest. His novels are incredibly detailed and meticulous, everything is palpable. I want any release I put out to feel this way. When people listen to my music I want them to be able to really feel the sounds, as if they can touch them: I work really hard to try and accomplish this. Lastly, I think what inspires me the most about being a musician: is the story telling. To be able to project your stories and memories through sound knowing that there’s at least somebody out there that will listen to what you have to say.

Featuring production by such renown producers as Go Yama, Insightful, Laplace and Galimatias, ‘Falstrati’ comes out worldwide on limited clear vinyl in December 2014.

‘Block Boundaries’ is the new album from minimalist composer Ryan Teague building on his previous releases for Type, Sonic Pieces and current label Village Green. Inspired by the theme of Psychogeography, the record fuses acoustic instrumentation with electronic and processed material, taking the listener on a hallucinogenic Ballardian journey through from the thrumming urban activity of New York, Amsterdam and London.

Before New Age hit terra firms at the dawn of the 1980s, the classically-trained Bay Area composer Jordan De La Sierra's consciousness soared with cosmic concepts. With cues and lessons from the great minimalists La Monte Young,Terry Riley, Pandit Pran Nath, and help from the venerable public radio program Hearts of Space, De La Sierra embarked on a journey in alternate tunings and resounding reverberations, transporting entranced listeners from the Golden Gates to the intergalactic. Take an interstellar ride on the sensory engulfing space piano with this lovingly recreated double LP set, complete with De La Sierra's India-inspired visual artwork and musings on the tableau of space.

Deft sets the tone early on his „Blue Jasmine“ EP with an intro that juxtaposes the meaning of hypnosis and awakening. As ambient soundscapes
are gradually suffused in dense drums and interchanging rhythms, a gravitational force dominates with a surging growth. Energetically pulling
the listener out of hypnosis – or rather into?

„Further explorations with footwork/dnb with ambient pieces, a direction I want to take further in the future.“ – Deft

The Roughness!

Received a 7.6 rating from Pitchfork.

Stateless is the sixth full-length release from Dirty Beaches, the artistic identity of 33-year-old Taiwanese-Canadian artist Alex Zhang Hungtai.

On the four-song album, Zhang Hungtai further explores the instrumental side of his identity that has been present since his first release in 2007 on Montreal label Fixture Records. Of course, since then the artist crafted 2011’s breakout record, Badlands, and its critically lauded followup double-LP, Drifters / Love Is The Devil. He has also found the time to compose film scores for Evan Prosofsky’s eerie Waterpark short and Jeremy Lynch’s The Hippo.

Stateless is a reflection on Zhang Hungtai’s upbringing in various locales (Taipei / Honolulu / Montreal) and the past two years of living and drifting in Europe. The title reflects several years of reflection on associated ideas like Diaspora, borders and hybridism. A somber meditation on memories from an exiled man on a never-ending search for an imaginary homeland, Stateless puts the finishing touches on a chapter of artistic activity that began when the Badlands LP captured the imaginations of listeners the world over.

Especially for Cassette Store Day 2014 we are offering a very limited tape compilation as an exploration of our music. A digital exclusive to beatport.com, who asked us to compile the compilation for their 10th anniversary, the tape includes a selection of highlights from recent releases complemented by exclusive and unreleased new material by Robot Koch, Rain Dog, kidkanevil, memotone, Soosh, Long Arm, Blossom, submerse, Deft, Monsoonsiren, Cuushe, I.V.A., R. Gadzhimuradov, Barrio Lindo, My Panda Shall Fly, Mau’lin, Krts and Kowton.

Only 1 per customer!

Received a 7.3 rating from Pitchfork.

After releasing a first glimpse in the form of the ‘Atomos VII’ EP earlier this year, A Winged Victory For The Sullen finally reveal their second full-length album entitled ‘Atomos’, which besides familiar piano, string and drone sounds also sees the duo introduce flurries of electronics, harp and modular synthesisers.

Marking the start of an exciting new collaborative project, Wolf + Lamb proudly share the debut release of The Waves & Us. Formed out of a creative meeting of minds between Maayan Nidam, Markus Nikolaus and Louis McGuire, theirs is a sound that strengthens the storied approach of a live band with the experimental thrust of analogue electronics. Pop and rock fundamentals lend an earthly hook to the tracks, but these are anything but straight-forward songs. Maayan has already forged a formidable career in electronic music, both under her own name and as part of Mara Trax, scoring releases on such celebrated labels as Perlon. Markus performs his own solo project Cunt Cunt Chanel, while Louis is part of Ballet School, a band releasing on noted indie label Bella Union. The whirlwind of creativity that has whipped up around the trio has yielded an album which will follow this single, made up of one-take recordings that capture the energy and adventure that powers The Waves & Us. Maayan's electronics provide the atmospheric backdrop to the songs, running modular synthesisers and drum machines through detailed chains of processing and effects with an emphasis on a warm, charmingly rough finish. Markus' guitar undergoes a similar fuzzy treatment while his voice calls out introspective, abstract lyrics to set the mind racing. Louis' bass underpins the music with a dubby sensibility, bringing a necessary balance to the frequency range. Making the most of their in-the-room recording approach, the singles will feature alternative takes of the songs that will appear on the album, providing a little insight into the flutters and fluctuations that shape the development of this project. With their eyes fixed on live performances and an arresting sound already formed, this is a vital time for all three artists and the people that listen to them.

Tomorrow Was the Golden Age is an album length composition by minimalist ensemble Bing & Ruth. Written and conducted by pianist David Moore, Tomorrow Was the Golden Age is a halcyonic journey to a neverending place, where music waxes, wanes and drifts imperceptibly from silence to grand, glowing sound.

Cedric Stevens is known and appreciated for his collaborations with a.o. Fennesz and My Cat Is An Alien. Here Stevens continues his flirtations between the fragile lines of noise and celestial drones, offering another beautiful glimpse into his ongoing studio experiments at the reclusive Hermetic garage.

Kraut & Electronica Pioneer from Romania!

From Francesco: "After first performing together at Sonar Festival with what was essentially a live version of our respective "B.O.A.T.S." and "Adamant" albums, Thomas and I decided to expand on these ideas for something more broad and improvisation-centric. After months in the studio drinking nothing but amaretto and working on new music for this purpose, our new live experiment (now simply called CW/A) was ready. The reception on these shows was so (thankfully) positive that Vakant eventually pressured us into releasing some sections as tracks. "Conducting the Method" is nothing other than a sample of what this new project is about: a collection of three excerpts taken from this year's performances. To round things off, we invited over our friends Dead Heat for a reinterpretation of one of our tracks. We can state with confidence that we are excited these tracks are no longer confined to our club and festival performances and can't wait for everyone to hear them. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we enjoy playing them out. "

Ya Tosiba is a Berlin-based duo producing bass-heavy riddims with energetic female vocals. On the mic we have Zuzu Zakaria, the versatile singer who uses mainly found, historical lyrics in her mother tongue Azeri. On synths and drum machines we have Mesak.

With his new album "What's Fruit", Schlammpeitziger touches the dancefloor more than ever before in his 22-year long career. Yet his dancefloor is a playful one. The Cologne based composer's sounds electrify with their multi-layered melodic structures. He weaves countless details in perfection, to a high density of musical activity, always focusing on the slow, driving beats which hold everything together. Each of the eight tracks represents shades of the unique humour we love about Schlammpeitziger.

Received a 7.3 rating from Pitchfork.

Software Recording Co, the label in part run by Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never, present a solo release from American producer Suicideyear. The Remembrance EP follows on where the well-received Japan mixtape left off; constructing hard, trap-inspired percussion over gentle, minimalistic ambient soundscapes. The celestial ‘Hope Building A’ fits the EPs title with its nostalgia-tinged, awe-inspiring organ riff complimented by tinkering percussion, widescreen pads and sparse snare fills.

The profile of French producer Guts has grown steadily in recent years and he is now considered to be one of the leading producers in France and a recognised name on the European beats scene. ‘Hip Hop After All’ features an array of stellar MCs and vocalists, including Grand Puba, Masta Ace and Cody Chestnutt. Double LP gatefold sleeve with insert & download card, exclusive content for the download card.

His hit "Brand New Revolution" was played by many radio stations worldwide and was used in Grand Theft Auto V. His compilation series ‘Beach Diggin' is now a reference point for summer and quality music in general.

After three instrumental albums, Guts decided to come back to his Hip Hop roots (he created the French rap band Alliance Ethnik in the 90's) and invited quality MCs and singers to join him in the studio. You can find on this album, Hip Hop legends such as Grand Puba, Masta Ace, Bob Power, Rah Digga, plus singers such as Cody Chestnutt, Patrice and a batch of new talent - Leron Thomas, Lorine Chia, Quelle Chris & Denmark Vessey and Dillon Cooper.

Received a 7.3 rating from Pitchfork.

After releasing a first glimpse in the form of the ‘Atomos VII’ EP earlier this year, A Winged Victory For The Sullen finally reveal their second full-length album entitled ‘Atomos’, which besides familiar piano, string and drone sounds also sees the duo introduce flurries of electronics, harp and modular synthesisers.

Wayne McGregor, founder of Random Dance Company and resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet, chose to play the album repeatedly during practices with his core group of dancers. After noticing the group's reaction with the music, he contacted Adam and Dustin to see if they could write the score for his new oeuvre. The duo were given complete artistic freedom and they treated the score with the same care and attention as their debut album. They recorded more than sixty minutes of music over a four-month period during the summer of 2013 across studios in Brussels, Berlin and Reykjavik, with the help of their long time collaborative sound engineer Francesco Donadello. During the recording process they realised, that this would become their official second studio album. McGregor provided them with the inspiration to expand their sound palette into more electronic territory, whilst keeping their signature chamber sound, resulting in a very unique record.

The 5th studio album of Brainfeeder's finest Flying Lotus with features by Kendrick Lamar, Jazz legend Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, Thundercat and his alter ego Captain Murphy!

Regular version on 140 gram vinyl.