Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 382 Items

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.

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.

HHV and Too Good are happy to present this exclusive color run of 1000 red copies of Tommy Guerreros 2014 album "No Mans Land". Back in print for the first time. Only at HHV. As a special treat you can pick up the poster with the artwork of this album in our bonus section.

Decadent Yet Depraved, the debut album by Belief Defect, finds shelter and complicity in Raster as home and label. Familiar with the underground music scene and how its skeptical nature can also be an obstacle to overcome, Belief Defect abandon any claim or credit in an attempt to transcend the limits authorship imposes, avoid the boundaries or expectations earned or self imposed and find the clearest, most direct path to their music for themselves and the listener. At the core of the album is the music that inspired them, the conclusion of countless recordings listened to in their formative years that ultimately result in a life-long devotion to electronic music: from dance floor to primal anger and self-annihilating noise, to transcendental, ambient escapism and intense self-reflexive sonic layering. The result is a soundtrack for this apocalyptic time, an uncompromising reflection on the state of mankind and its uncertain future, underscored by a sense of religious and secular demise referenced in track titles, samples, and soundscapes scattered throughout the album. Yet, more than a political statement Decadent Yet Depraved is an introspective journey, turning each listener into a spiritual soul-seeker staring into the abyss, reaching for some kind of cathartic truthfulness.

Trance-derived melodies, murky industrial grooves and all-consuming harsh noise attacks, created and recorded in transit between New York, Seoul and Berlin between the fall of 2016 and the winter of 2017. Over 23 minutes, the EP shifts from densely layered textures to subtle piano notes and hard-hammering beats, seemingly mirroring the drastic changes of the times in which they were conceived.

Mister Mellow moves further away from the synthesizer-heavy sounds of the recent Washed Out releases and more band-driven sound of his work on iconic labels Sub Pop in America, and Domino in Europe. On Mister Mellow, Greene draws from the experimental collage techniques of musique concrète and plunderphonics artists such as The Residents. Combining styles as diverse as free jazz, house, hip-hop and psych together with interlude-esque voiceover samples, often pulled from anonymous YouTube vlogs, he creates a busy, chaotic, and caricaturish mix that mirrors the claustrophobic, hyper-stimulated psyche so familiar to young adults.

As he continues to carve out his innovative sonic identity, influenced by the world around him but unafraid to buck trends, it’s fitting that Greene has partnered with legendary hip hop label Stones Throw Records, long a home for beat-loving musical rebels. His approach to releasing music is every bit as individual, too: in an environment where compiling singles into an album format or working with a single video director are the norm, Greene has chosen to commission eleven different artists to bring the visual aspect of his fully-realised album project to life.

On Mister Mellow, Washed Out steers clear of emotion to empathise with the minutiae of the world around him. “I’ve been much less interested in sentimentality and emotion for the past couple of years,” says Greene, “In some ways, I think its a reaction against getting older and having more responsibilities. Maybe I’m just nostalgic for a time in my life where I could just relax and block out the world for a moment.” Though Mister Mellow is an intensely personal album, its ideas and observations speak to the lived experience of so many young adults, an experience that we come to see as both funny and sad.

Another shrouded in mystery album from the Pyramid label, produced by Toby Robinson in Cologne circa 1974. Kosmische and Head sounds with plenty of Minimoog, analogue synths / keyboards, effects, loops, tape manipulation, treated percussions, etc., courtesy of Galactic Explorers, an electronic, minimal, ambient krautrock trio featuring Reinhard Karwatky (Dzyan). Take a trip to the inner regions of your mind, see ancient solar systems forming and listen to cosmic winds and vibrations while sine waves of pure bliss will give you total peace of mind…

Baltimore’s PJ Dorsey has traversed a lifelong journey delving into psychoactive music which can alter one’s cognitive and conscious state. He harnesses his experiences to create music as Tarotplane. Using guitar, effects and processing he produces time suspending soundscapes - immersive music for merging the mind and body.
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358 Oblique is the follow up to First which was released on Aguirre Records in 2015. Find yourself adrift in the lapping waters of a slow unraveling sea of sound, a spectral vortex of shimmering tones and discrete samples guide the listener into an aural abyss, while plangent six-string melodies offer glimpses into a sanctifying
sensory space. The two exploration provide an evocative journey through a psychedelic continuum and beyond.

Group Rhoda is the solo electronic music project of Mara Barenbaum, based out of Oakland, California. The project started around 2009 with a debut album ‘Out of Time, Out of Touch’ in 2012 on Night School Records and ‘12th House’ in 2013 on Not Not Fun. She is also one half of Max and Mara who released the album ‘Less Ness’ in 2013 on Dark Entries Records. She is committed to live performance, situated within the analog synthesizer and drum machine medium.


‘Wilderless’ is Group Rhoda’s third full length and first for Dark Entries Records. Each of the these 7 songs draw forth tones of tropical darkwave and soft industrial; while negating the sound of conformity and control. The album explore themes of societal and spiritual displacement, contemporary serfdom, the depths of empathy, regeneration through destruction, and the tyranny of claiming recognition and power. Lyrics are poetically expressed through allegory and explore archetypes rooted more in abstract observation rather than hard line experience. Through transgression and imagination, Group Rhoda explores the arc of songwriting interwoven into stark electronic environments; and creates a bridge between the corporeal and the dream worlds.


Each song was mixed by Mark Pistel at Room 5 in San Francisco and mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is packaged in a jacket featuring a colorful custom made collage by Hugo Barros and includes a full color sticker and digital download card.

In a city famed for its disparate and varied musical excellence, the Detroit-based alignment of feted electronic artist and producer Shigeto aka Zach Saginaw and rapidly rising Bruiser Brigade member ZelooperZ is an entirely natural thing. Introduced by mutual friends in the city, an instant bond was formed, and ZGTO was born. A Piece Of The Geto is out August 4th on Ghostly International, with a limited edition vinyl pressing by Third Man Records.

For Shigeto, this is the first time he's musically stepped out of the box of a solo artist and worked with a vocalist on a project. There is a ''less is more'' philosophy with the production where the vocals of ZelooperZ are seamlessly interlaced into the fabric of the beats. It's minimal in a sense, but the emotion felt through the words of ZelooperZ makes the songs as a whole intense and heavy with sentiment.

2017 Remaster from Original Tapes. Bruno Spoerri’s masterpiece VOICE OF TAURUS LP available for the first time on vinyl since 1978 – Beautiful 1 LP - housed in 350g sleeve and contains all new liner notes by Bruno Spoerri himself, printed oin double side poster inlay - Bruno Spoerri who came to recent attention over his sampling dispute with Jay Z and Timbaland (that he won) plays the 1978 cult classic The Sounds Of The UFOs live at the bluedot Festival (in conjuction with Finders Keepers) wich together with the equally cult classic companion Voice Of Taurus are to be reissued here now! - For fans of electronic music, jazz, early techno , movie soundtracks, library music, cosmic oddities, ambient, sci-fi disco, synthesizers, Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Wendy Carlos, Nino Nardini, Yello, Encounter of the Third Kind, UFOs, meditation, and unknown galaxies. Tracklisting: A1. First Impression A2. Swiss Encounter A3. Destination Galaxy M81 B1. Strange Visitors B2. Cosmic Samba B3. Sun Spots We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records is honored to announce the reissue of extraterrestrial cult classic THE SOUND OF THE UFOs, a collaborative effort between Swiss jazz and electronic music icon Bruno Spoerri and innovative drummer extraordinaire Reto Weber, available on vinyl for the first time since 1978, housed in a 350g jacket and packed with all new liner notes. Recorded live in Zurich in March 1978, THE SOUND OF THE UFOs finds Bruno & Reto improvising with a vast array of classic and customized synths and percussions from all corners of the globe (and the galaxy!). It’s cosmic free jazz in audio gear heaven with a heavy dose of ambient, krautrock, primitive proto-techno vibes, and experimental space disco with a musique concrète mentality - anything’s possible when a jazzman and a percussionist obsessed with finding new sounds collide and explore uncharted sonic territories!

The tracks on 'Kingdom Of Night' (the second entry in a trilogy that started with 'A Dance With Shadows') sound darker, deeper and heavier than ever before. There was a deliberate focus on trying to create some classic anthems in the songwriting process - tracks with relentless beats, an emphasis on melody and a really driving chorus.

City Slang presents Hauschka's new album “What If”.

Kraut & Electronica Pioneer from Romania!

Analog Archives is a collection of recordings from the early to mid eighties. Armed with his Moog Sonic Six, Sequential Prophet 600, EDP Wasp & Spider and other legendary electronic weapons Mark Jenkins delivers envolving electronic textures that could be filed along those of artists like Klaus Schulze or Ash Ra Tempel. These recordings are issued in vinyl format for the first time ever, in a limited edition of 500 copies only.