Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 215 Items

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.

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.

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

Two classic cuts from these essential UK Techno artists!

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."

Self released debut of Berlin-based drum & electric bass experimental noise-rock duo, produced by Christian Mevs (George & Martha / Slime).

180g vinyl, hand-numbered limited edition of 200 copies in screen-printed artwork.

13 years after Drukqs, the new Aphex Twin album. It's a quickstrike, folks!

Repress on black vinyl!

mp3 download card included!

Nigel Goodrich, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.), Mauro Refosco (David Byrnem Peppers) & Thom Yorke are Atoms For Peace!

The Düsseldorf duo BAR, consisting of Stabil Elite musician Lucas Croon and Christina Irrgang, debuts with a musical hybrid between New Wave, Balearic, Shoegaze, Dream Pop and Noir Songwriting. Lucas Croon sings as if he had studied with Nick Cave, Brian Ferry and Chris Isaac. The lady at his side, Christina Irrgang, is no less elegant: Her timbre seems completely absorbed in the music, and yet it somehow floats above it, bold and cool. The effect is reminiscent of Claudia Brücken from the Düsseldorf synthpop band Propaganda, whose magical coldness was simply an extremely fascinating form of white soul.

In the native tongue of the South American tribe Mapuche, there exists the word ‘MENOKO’. Deep within the Andean Forests there are sacred places, springs of purity known as Menokos. Hidden and untouched by man or animal, they are whispered, home of virgin water. Womb of the natural cycle from which plants and herbs of extraordinary medicinal abilities are nurtured.

Barrio Lindo feels a strong bond to the native tribes of his Argentinian home. Ancestral cultures are of great importance, providing a wealth of inspiration. An instrument maker by trade, using his bare hands he constructs many ethnical instruments like Andean flutes, African harps, string instruments from India and so on. This fascination with indigenous sounds is reflected within his music and themes with the use of samples and tribal instrumentation. While understanding his work is far from that of the native cultures, he finds ways to incorporate these influences through fusions of sounds. Drawing a parallel, worlds both old and new align.

‘Menoko’ comes on limited purple double vinyl (including download code) as well as a limited handmade and handpainted purple cassette edition (including download code).

In the native tongue of the South American tribe Mapuche, there exists the word ‘MENOKO’. Deep within the Andean Forests there are sacred places, springs of purity known as Menokos. Hidden and untouched by man or animal, they are whispered, home of virgin water. Womb of the natural cycle from which plants and herbs of extraordinary medicinal abilities are nurtured.

Barrio Lindo feels a strong bond to the native tribes of his Argentinian home. Ancestral cultures are of great importance, providing a wealth of inspiration. An instrument maker by trade, using his bare hands he constructs many ethnical instruments like Andean flutes, African harps, string instruments from India and so on. This fascination with indigenous sounds is reflected within his music and themes with the use of samples and tribal instrumentation. While understanding his work is far from that of the native cultures, he finds ways to incorporate these influences through fusions of sounds. Drawing a parallel, worlds both old and new align.

‘Menoko’ comes on limited purple double vinyl (including download code).

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."

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.

Benedek's debut LP for PPU!

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.

This January we will be releasing the sophomore album by Polish producer Blossom, entitled „The Longest Journey“ on vinyl. As a bonus we added his debut album „Blue Balloons“ to the package, which will be pressed on vinyl for the first time.

“The Longest Journey“ (2013) represents the musical journey of Łukasz Czajewski, depicting a one year cycle in his life, rich in thoughts, important life-events and experiences. He processed influences like nature, mind-created images and innervisions to create an album about one’s journey into the understanding of the world, soul, consciousness and creation. While seasons came and went, he reflected on these events and gained valuable experiences. Every single track has its unique meaning and is a part of this inner expedition. Ultimately, it all comes down to one question: Where are YOU heading in Your journey?

Several months of hard work between January 2010 and October 2011 resulted in “Blue Balloons“, an album filled with delicately arranged downtempo guitar motifs, distinctive complex rhythms and complementing rich basslines, all encased in the unique aura that sorrounds Blossom’s debut album and gives it a deeply atmospheric feel.

All tracks Written & produced by Łukasz Czajewski in Leszczyny, Poland. Saxophone on “Don’t Grow Up”, “Signs of a New Day”, “We Go” by Aleksander Papierz. Vocals on “Dusk” by JEHST.

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.

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!

Oooohwee! New Bonobo for 2013!
incl. download code

2022 repress

Hot as lava! Broken English Club delivers the 4th chapter of Jealous God! Comes as usual with a Mix CD.

Our Love is formed around a mixture of digital pop production, hip hop inspired beats, muted house basslines and a love of shuffling garage that can be traced all the way back to the time of Start Breaking My Heart which are, of course, all filtered through Dan's own unique perspective. The warm analogue sounds of classic soul should not be overlooked either, for they weave themselves most intensely into the records DNA. In fact, Our Love is probably Caribou's most soulful record to date, chock-full of heartfelt lyrics and organic nature which cuts through bubbling synths and blissful euphoria of their synthetic constructions. It's not all downbeat of course, whilst some thoughts linger on mortality, loss and letting go, there is always an element of celebration.

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.

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.

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. "

Inludes two bonus trakcs.

180g vinyl!

180g vinyl!

Revealed last year as a side project by UK producer Shifted, Covered In Sand now returns with a new EP: Crescent Shaped Scars will be released on the sister label of his own Avian imprint Mira, which serves as an outlet for the more experimental and duskier side of electronic music.

The release features three abrasive noise workouts. Thud of drums and ritualistic rhythms define the opener Luarica on the A-side alongside a near-melodic whine that stays present throughout the tracks. Orapa (An Interview) on the flip swallows and evokes scuffed voices of a conversation, striving into isolation, while Venetia resumes the haunting rhythm and layers of distortion.

Barcelona's Ciudad Lineal finally deliver the follow up to their fantastic demo from 2013. A full length album of dark minimal wave heavily influenced by El Aviador Dro y Sus Obreros Especializados, The Normal or Cabaret Voltaire. Armed with a bass guitar, drum pad, a keyboard and two synths Ciudad Lineal manage to create a conceptual piece around the idea of progress and industry as opossing forces. 'El Nuevo Hombre' is divided in two parts each one comprising one side of the album. The A side being 'The Splendor' and the B side 'The Fall' joined by a speech symbolizing mankind's awakening. While the Ciudad Lineal sound is certainly rooted in the early 80's synth explosion the band remains fresh due to their lyric approach as well as their DIY ethos.

Top Detroit-tainted techno tracks including a DVS1 remix!

Dawn Golden (formerly Dawn Golden & Rosy Cross), a solo electronic production and songwriting project helmed by Dexter Tortoriello of Houses, officially started in late 2010 when a series of Bandcamp demos caught Diplo’s attention with their stark emotion and forward-thinking production. A year later, we released his 6-track EP, Blow. Since then, Dexter went on to release his first full-length Houses album in the spring of laste year, garnering a smorgasbord of support that turned the eyes of the press onto his unique production style. Still Life carries all of the depth and emotional pull of Dawn Golden, combined with incredible production and unflawed, futuristic tracks. We’ve been blown away by him from the start.

So while people are still struggling to wrap their heads around Dean Blunt's previous long player The Redeemer, Blunt has already announced his new album and debut for the popular label Rough Trade. The new album is called Black Metal and the ghostly first single is called “50 Cent.” It sounds like neither of those reference points. It doesn’t really sound quite like anything, but still falls into a tradition of rap, rock, and the confessional intimacy of a singer-songwriter. It’s as dark, absorbing, and all-encompassing as that void of an album cover.

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

Find yourself on an interstellar trip away from the solitude and darkness of a wasted and depleted home-world on its final demise. During this journey you will not only move unbelievable distances through space and time but furthermore make unforeseen progress in your inner-mind and deepest parts of your psyche – questioning yourself and your perception on what it is to be real. These questions of self-doubt lead to an identity crisis that ultimately results in the hope of discovering a fantastic new utopian world that can only be reached through an incredible wormhole of a very special kind.
But what does reality mean in this blurry timeless vision?

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.

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

Since 2010, Theo aka Fakear ("fake ear") captivates us with his dark and poetic sound, using samples from around the world behind his MPCs.

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

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

Here we go with the vinyl version of another quality instrumental set by Five Deez' very own Fat Jon, "Repaint Tomorrow", on orange wax.

Fatima's debut album is called ‘Asiatisch’, and as the track titles suggest, the record provides a simulated road trip through an imagined China. Musically, the album is an homage to that quietly influential sub-strain of grime, often loosely termed 'sinogrime' due to its preoccupation with Asian motifs and melodies, pioneered by the likes of Wiley and Jammer at the beginning of the 2000s in East London.

'Asiatisch' is a provocation which asks more questions than it answers. The title is the German word for Asian. Unlike its title, however, the music on 'Asiatisch' revolves around the fantasies of East Asia as refracted through pulpy Western pop culture, in particular Hollywood, literary fiction, music, cartoons and advertising. Fatima asks what is meant by the term 'Asian' in a digital age of viral interchange and the hi-speed trading of cultural bytes; the concept of 'shanzhai' proves pivotal, a term whose meaning stems from a wild, out of control zone of banditry, but which has come to be used to refer to the Chinese counterfeiting of Western brands and goods.

While a number of producers have made takes on 'sinogrime' over the last few years, 'Asiatisch' is really the first record that attempts to articulate this weird complex of sonic interchanges between the West and China.

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!

The last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was 'Endless Summer'. Now, in 2014 Editions Mego is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow up that landmark of abstract pop. Bécs (pronounced 'baeetch') is Hungarian for Vienna and is the first full length Fennesz solo release since 2008's 'Black Sea'.
Eschewing the more drone orientated works of 'Black Sea', 'Bécs' returns to the more florid pop mechanisms as deployed on Endless Summer. 'Static Kings' features the extra leverage of Werner Dafeldecker and Martin Brandlmayer who deploy a range of atmospheric abstract effects to shape a bewitching sound world. The 10 minute centrepiece 'Liminality' (featuring Tony Buck on drums) is classic Fennesz: epic, evocative, beautiful, impossible. 'Pallas Athene' creates a sanctuary of hovering beauty which leads into the title track. Emotional and assured, the track Bécs' is an astonishing contribution to contemporary pop. 'Sav' co-written by Cédric Stevens aka Acid Kirk) inhabits a less structural terrain as one enters a forest of small sounds and oblique atmospheres, where the closing 'Paroles', a gentle melody unravels amongst swirls of electronics and fried disruption. Bécs is not just an album or a series of songs, it's a world to inhabit, a landscape ripe with sounds, songs and that esteemed Fennesz signature. A singular work by a singular artist.

Highly anticipated follow up LP to her two EPs! Janet Jackson meets The XX meets Massive Attack.

One of the most popular releases in 2011, “The Mesektet” by London resident fLako gets the reissue treatment this summer, featuring a quantity of exclusive tracks only to be found on the reissue.

‘The Mesektet’, in ancient egyptian mythology, is one of the two solar boats used by the sun god ‘Ra’ to travel through the cycle of night and day and carry the moon across the sky. It is told that he died every dusk, had to fight the dark forces of the underworld and bring light to the dead souls as he passed through – just to be reborn in the morning. Just like the sun god, uprising producer fLako uses ‘The Mesektet’ to end the cycle of darkness and prepare for his own rebirth, marking the end of an era in his style of production and move forward into new musical directions, which he already started to explore on his ‘Mini Toolbooth EP’. This release includes a collection of previously unreleased or only digitally available works from the time up until 2008.