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The title "il-lūdĕre" is a word pun made of the Latin verb "lūdĕre" (play) and the prefix "il", considered as the first part of the verb "illudere" (create an illusion). Hence the conceptual dualism of the disc, in which we wanted to analyze life in a simple and at the same time deep way, from everyday to the use of language and the fusion of ancient cultures from different parts of the world. The cover also graphically represents the concept of "ludus": to see the subject you must nudge the spaces marked with the dot (as in the well-known puzzle game). Let's play!

Formed in 1978 in Derry, a Republican city in Northern Ireland, power-pop-punk trio the Moondogs mixed the energy of the Clash with the melodic bent of the Beatles. Gigs with the Undertones led to a 45 for Good Vibrations, plus a few more for Real Records, and by the time they cut debut LP That’s What Friends Are For in New York with Todd Rundgren for Sire, they were at their most accomplished; somehow, the band split mid-way through its creation, rendering the album a frozen moment in time, rather than a leg-up to world domination. A great listen and another missing piece of Northern Ireland’s punk puzzle.

A few years ago the world discovered a unique sound coming from the distant Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba. The emotional blow was only matched by the brightness of this original and magnificent discovery. The Ethiopiques series directed by Francis Falcetto and edited by Buda Musique provides a comprehensive landscape of this subtle musical universe where local and western cultures do magnify each other. This new Ethiopian Urban Modern Music release follows the first Soul & Groove installment and keeps revealing some essential parts of the modern Ethiopian puzzle. An unequalled soul funk signature until today.

Recorded in a little bedroom studio out in Durham, North Carolina, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn's debut LP as Sylvan Esso arrived in 2014 at the juncture of pop and experimental. Even now, years later, the LP remains an urgent and fitting introduction to a push-and-pull that would go on to inform the duo's sound - a thoughtful headiness that also wants you to get out on the dance floor. A blend of analog and digital, Meath and Sanborn were two unexpected puzzle pieces fitting together with singular ease, producing a ten-track LP that was both minimalist and shimmering, with dark undulations rippling beneath the synthy-surface and crystalline quality of Meath's voice. Before all of the international touring and festival headlining and critical acclaim, Sylvan Esso was just a shot-in-the dark of musical chemistry gone right. The original album bio for the self-titled presciently sets the stage for the thesis that has gone on to guide Meath and Sanborn's writing since then: "a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance" arriving as "a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don't suffer the longstanding complications of that term." And so, even as the band continues to evolve and becomes amorphous, there's still that argument about what pop can be at its core. This is just the beginning of that conversation captured on tape.

Outerwear were a more primitive, less ambitious offshoot of Cleveland's Spike in Vain, which means the rhythm section was so crappy that simple songs were a necessity and they took an inordinate amount of pride in just badly they sucked. In fact, sucking was so much the point that once the band had become "kind of good," they mummified themselves in gauze at their final shows so their hands couldn't function nor could they see their instruments. This, along with painfully long versions of their slowest songs were enough to drive more than 200+ audience members from a hall show when opening for Social Unrest. Perhaps Outerwear's finest moment, aside from the day they were somehow allowed into a recording studio to record their 1983 cassette album, The Outerwear Limits, which against all odds, is fairly compelling. Given that Chris Marec of Spike in Vain sang, played guitar, and wrote all the songs, there's six string insanity in spades, and the morbid tales of amateur coroners and being buried alive somehow contain genuine hooks. Yes, you will find yourself singing along to "Bloody Toilet Paper," banging your head to "Fountain of Scuz," and then scratching it as you puzzle through the backwards guitar and trombone of "Piss II." But wait, there's more! Power tools! Tuba! Cello solos! Or how about the absolute worst version of the Ohio Players' "Fire" ever recorded by man? Amateur home lobotomy may become an attractive new hobby, because you'll want to remove the parts of your brain that might remember this track. That, or listen to their cover of the Doors' "The End," which could do the job on its own (and doesn't include any of the actual music from the song). These are just a few among the many torturous pleasures the listener will "enjoy" on a great aural adventure, as they experience the awe and mystery of The Outerwear Limits.

Group Rhoda, the solo project of Mara Barenbaum, returns to Dark Entries with ‘Passing Shades’. An integral member of the Oakland electronic music scene, Barenbaum has been writing, performing, and plunging into oneiric depths as Group Rhoda since 2009. This is the project’s fourth LP, and the third time Barenbaum has collaborated with Dark Entries; previously on the Max & Mara LP ‘Less Ness’ in 2013 and the Group Rhoda LP ‘Wilderless’ in 2017. Passing Shades is an investigation of the metaphysics of loss and the transitory nature of the material world. But it is not a grim collection; over 8 songs, Group Rhoda diverges through synthesizer-laden symphonics, four-to-the-floor inflections, and cosmic musings. Barenbaum’s striking voice and singular songcraft guide us through this labyrinth. Arpeggiated waltz “Flow” channels wisdom sought through martial arts; “Earthly Ark” sets a Margaret Atwood poem from the God Gardener’s Hymn Book to somber electronics. The vocoded canticle “Nevermore” is dedicated to the memory of a beloved cat. ‘Passing Shades’ is both mystifying and revelatory. Folk forms are echoed only to detour into the alien. Each song functions as both a fragment of a larger puzzle and a koan unto itself. ‘Passing Shades’ was mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The sleeve was designed by Eloise Leigh, and features a hazy, clouded sky. The back cover uses a photograph by Harry Crofton. A postcard featuring a poem by Barenbaum is included, as well as a digital download.

Angel Deradoorian and Kate NV are Decisive Pink - Ticket To Fame is their highly anticipated debut. After teasing the single ‘Haffmilch Holiday’ the duo amassed a rapturous response, with The Guardian calling it “a space-age-dancefloor swoon that brings to mind Kate Bush’s Waking the Witch” and the New York Times highlighting the single as “substantive and thoroughly hypnotic”. On their first LP they do not disappoint, calling on Kate NV’s experimental pop leanings and Angel Deradoorian’s taste for atmosphere and otherworldliness, Decisive Pink have created a playful and abstract album designed for escape and enchantment. Electronic pop at it’s finest, the debut points to the fact that life is a puzzle, but you can still get a lot from living it. ‘Destiny’ is a smart take on the nature of belief, built on a question-and-answer format, where Angel plays a role as the seer, and Kate the enquirer. The poppy beat is reminiscent of Talking Heads’ ‘The Great Curve’, from Remain in Light. There again, it could be a sinister take on Will Powers’ ‘Kissing with Confidence’. The synth squeaks, squelches and toots sound like the timid affirmation of the initiate. Ticket to Fame is also unashamedly romantic in atmosphere and tone. Romance is to be found in the simple pleasures, such as listening to a blackbird on the instrumental ‘Rodeo’, where warm synths, a melancholic guitar pattern and hissing rhythm combine with some vocal snippets to form a soothing contemplation. Then there is ‘Ode to Boy’; a perfect pop track. The walking into the room of “more than just an ordinary boy” (doubtless “drunk with fire”) allows a set of initially different, and shortened synth patterns to build to a glorious affirmation of the power of love. “Perfect pop music” Marc Riley, Bbc6 Music

The missing pieces of the Njoi puzzle are finally coming to you via Food Music on both 12" vinyl & digital formats. The electronic music pioneers unveil 'Hidden Gems Vol. 2', the final part in a special series of previously unreleased material that follows part 1 and their 'Collected' album. The package also features the incredible vocal talents of Republica star, Saffron, who originally performed with Njoi over 30 years ago, as well as Luvain and Krayzee Thoughts. These tracks became a huge part of their original live set and the iconic mixed 'Live In Manchester' release. After huge demand since their televised 1990 Brixton performance, they're finally available as fully finished, extended recordings.

In March 2020, Tahiti 80 had a plan to start recording their new album in the studio. That plan, of course, along with everything else in the world, got derailed. But the five-piece group was resilient and resourceful. They quickly shifted to a socially distanced plan B that included file swapping and virtual sessions, all refereed by producer Julien Vignon. The result, due for release in March 2022, is the buoyant Here With You, a collection of eleven upbeat songs that unfold like a prescription for a post-pandemic panacea.

“When lockdown in France happened, we said, 'We're not going to stay at home not doing anything,'” says singer-guitarist Xavier Boyer. “And our new plan became a hopeful thing, waking up every morning and seeing what the other guys had worked on. It wasn't always easy, but this new method allowed a freer approach where we could really go all the way with an idea without being influenced by each other’s suggestions. It must've been overwhelming for Julien, who ended up selecting all our arrangements. But he stayed positive all the way through.”

To help stay inspired and focused during their time in isolation, the band created a mood board, with the centerpiece a photo of an early '90s rave in the UK.

Boyer says, “Whenever you see pictures from this era, people seem very innocent. There are no cell phones and everybody is in to what they are experiencing. We kept that picture in mind as a kind of mantra that would help everyone feel connected to this idea of people celebrating, gathering and just having fun. We were missing the connection with people, and thought it would be great if we could create music that would inspire that kind of emotion.”

Indeed, the songs on Here With You are brimming the feeling of communion that we've all been missing over the past two years. It's there in the catchy opener Lost in the Sound, which walks the walk with Chic guitar flicks, urban nightfall sparkles and an inviting chorus (“Your heart grooves like a thousand 808s on the right time”). It's there in the Jackson 5-style syncopated bounce of “Vintage Creem,” the lush, dreamy “Breakfast in L.A.” and the panoramic sweep of “UFO.” And it's there in the first single “Hot,” which matches an irresistible groove with a neon-lit, percolating arrangement that evokes the disco clubs of 1979.

What's remarkable is that though Tahiti 80 displays a clear affection for sounds of the past, from bubble gum to '70s soul, they never trade in mere pastiche. Their take is more a slightly warped and playful carnival mirror mash-up of classic pop styles, given depth through Boyer's hang-gliding, coolly emotive vocals and lyrics that often rub against the euphoric grain of the music.

“I like to think of songs as a three-minute drama,” says Boyer. “This concept of drama definitely adds different levels to our music. There's the melody, the lyrics, then the production that can maybe emphasize or counterbalance the interaction between the yin and yang in a song.

“There's a difference between the very upbeat, sunshine-y soft rock and the lyrics, even on our past albums,” he continues. “Not dark, but a little more melancholy, and also looking for some kind of motivation, talking to yourself. Like with a lot of Motown songs, you get that feeling where you body’s dancing while your mind’s reflecting, reminiscing.”

That alluring blend of happy-sad has been a signature part of the Tahiti 80 sound from the time Boyer and bassist Pedro Resende formed the group in 1993, as students at the University of Rouen. Taking their name from a souvenir t-shirt given to Boyer's father in 1980, the duo recruited guitarist Mederic Gontier in 1994, and with the addition of drummer Sylvain Marchand a year later, the lineup was complete. The foursome released a self-produced and self-financed EP, 20 Minutes, in 1996, which resulted a record deal with French label Atmospheriques in 1998. Their full-length debut Puzzle, produced with Ivy's Andy Chase and mixed by Tore Johansson, went gold and featured the international hit “Heartbeat” that established the band throughout Europe and Asia.

In the years since, Tahiti 80 – with the additions of Raphaël Léger on drums and Hadrien Grange on keys - has released eight acclaimed albums. The band has fused what Mojo called a “glorious entente of old and new technology” (including singles like “Yellow Butterfly,” “1000 Times,” “Sound Museum,” “Crush!” and “Big Day,” which was featured on a Fifa video game soundtrack), while collaborating with such producers and arrangers as Richard Swift, Tony Lash and Richard Anthony Hewson, who famously arranged The Beatles' “Long and Winding Road.” Boyer has also put out two solo albums, the first under the anagram Axe Riverboy and the second under his name. In 2019, the band released Fear of an Acoustic Planet, a stripped-down reimagining of some of their best-loved tracks from the previous twenty years. It served not only as a look back but a reminder of their formidable songwriting skills.

Boyer is definitely a student of the timeless three-minute pop song format pioneered by '60s artists like The Beatles and The Beach Boys. He says, “I see it as kind of a frame for a painting. Most of the songs on this album, I wrote a verse, pre-chorus and chorus. There aren't many middle eights. I wanted it to be very concise. I feel like people have less attention. There's so much music. It's too easy to switch off or skip to another track, so I want to hook the listener. The three-minute song is kind of an easy code to crack, but at the same time you have to figure out a new way to tell the stories that we've heard before.”

And the stories on Here With You are very much about the longing for connection. Of the album title, Boyer says, “In the world right now, that can mean a lot of different things. Like missing our fans, missing going to concerts. In a way, it can be a statement of what happened last year, and a wish of 'I want to be here with you again.' It's our ninth album. We've had some had some very open, conceptual titles like Puzzle, Activity Center. Sometimes they were more specific like Fosbury orWallpaper for the Soul. Here with You, seems more personal, more engaging in terms of relationships. When I suggested that title, everyone in the band said, 'Yeah, that's it.'”

Until Tahiti 80 can resume a full tour schedule, Boyer says he hopes the new record will make that personal connection. “If I see from the point of view as a music fan, sometimes I see albums I like as companions throughout my life. So if we can be a part of people's existence, even if it's a song that reminds them of the time they were driving with the windows open and it was sunny. Or a sad song that resonates with them after a breakup. That's what we're all looking for when we're making music. You do this very personal thing and you want it to touch as many people as possible.”

A1. Tahiti 80 - Lost In The Sound A2. Tahiti 80 - Vintage Creem A3. Tahiti 80 - Telling Myself A4. Tahiti 80 - Hot A5. Tahiti 80 - Breakfast In LA

B1. Tahiti 80 - Cameo B2. Tahiti 80 - UFO B3. Tahiti 80 - Riddles & Rhymes B4. Tahiti 80 - Zoo B5. Tahiti 80 - Wicked Wicked B6. Tahiti 80 - Let's Get Started

It's our 6th album now and the firs album with the Amazing Clone Drum Set !!!, we started in 1986 the recordings and the songs went trashier and more Fuzz and Feedback every year _.. for this record we bought our own home made studio with mixing desk and a 1 inch tape machine and microphones from the trashcan, Pumi our Live Mixer and Janosh recorded it in a week, for the first 1000 copies we did a 1000 pice puzzle and a pox as a sleeve_ but that item is sold out already now we present you the official version of this TRASH PICE, when we started making the songs for this record I had no lust to write any lyrics to that so we made up most songs free and I sung what I felt like to sing.. it's anyway all about killing killing some more the falling in love and get killed go to hell and having fun down there_THIS RECORD IS FULL TRASH, I DON'T THINK THAT ANY SERIOUS RADIO STATION GONNA PLAY THIS BUT IF SO_ THEN WE HAVE A CHOISE TO GIVE YOU ON YOUR WAY_ PLAY LOUD AS POSSIBLE_we recorded is loud as fuck, so the neighbours came over a view times while we recording that record..but even better is if you come to our shows and we blow your brain away in one second !!!

Cyan Worlds, Emperia Records, and Laced Records are bringing the captivating music of the steampunk puzzle-adventure Firmament to vinyl.

The 17 meticulously mastered tracks will be pressed to a deep red, heavyweight vinyl LP housed in a beautifully designed, collectable spined outer sleeve. The back cover includes liner notes from composer Maclaine Diemer and stunning artwork by the Cyan Worlds development team.

Firmament is an addictive new game by the same legendary studio behind the best-selling games Myst and Riven. It features rich storylines and world-building set in a seemingly abandoned world where you can explore and unlock its various mysteries.

Composer Maclaine Diemer, an insatiably curious composer and multi-instrumentalist, has created a darkly powerful, yet meditative score that draws the listener into unique, atmospheric, sonic intrigue. The score is a haunting, industrial ambient soundscape that is in equal measures both beautifully emotional and darkly foreboding.

Diemer blends deep drones and fantastic musical soundscapes, created in his Los Angeles studio with both vintage and modern synthesizers. The score features a host of unusual acoustic and electric instruments, warped tapes, and found sounds, all processed and manipulated beyond recognition. Regardless of his musical methods, the results are a deeply satisfying and, at times, unsettling listening experience that evokes glimpses into the mystery at the heart of Firmament.

Hello 24! Nice to have you here. 23 is so yesterday, so over the top, really. Well, we’ve been dancing the following dances recently. What about you?

The opening honours go to Hamburg’s bundle of joy, Ada who remixed her dear friend Heiko Voss. We feel that the outcome is clearly one of the most emotive, heartwarming pieces of music you’ll hear this year.

When Rhenish cheerfulness meets holiday anticipation, the result is something like this Hawaiian shirt turned music called “Chee-Caruso” by JÜRGEN PAAPE. No animals were tortured for this piece, even if it sounds like it.

Next up is one of this year’s Kompakt debutantes, a truly glamorous bird of paradise called DEER JADE. “Jukurpa” is a highly original, frolicsome house tune that has been moving crowds all over the planet.

As an integral part of the family, JONATHAN KASPAR is of course not to be missed. “Are You” celebrates the kind of early morning rapture that is commonplace at his new DJ venue, the brand new Cologne superclub FI. Everything is so colourful here.

If you’re ever in London and you need a great tune, we recommend calling HARDT ANTOINE. He’s firing from all cylinders lately and he’s god damn good at it. “I Will” holds the record of being the most played Kompakt track of the season. We salute you, Antoine! SASCHA FUNKE takes a bow to one of the greats of German showbiz with the trippy electro smasher “The Heck”. Born – like DJ Koze and Barnt – in Flensburg, died in Berlin in 2018 and wore glasses. More will not be revealed.

What takes a long time usually turns out well. Having admired TEE MANGO from afar for many years, our A&R Michael Mayer took heart and invited him to this year’s TOTAL. “So In Love” is in the best tradition of the KOMPAKT minimal funk of the early years. We are delighted to have this lovely Englishman on board!

Brazilian come Austrian come Berliner JOYCE MUNIZ has certainly become a household name with her intoxicating brand of uplifting pop house. Fittingly, she has joined our ranks and we’re happy to give you this collaboration with Sara Blum, “Beats & Lines”.

More Brazilian feel good vibes come in the form of GUI BORATTO’s “The Shell” which he conceived together with the former Underworld producer and legend in his own right, DARREN EMERSON.

We turn our attention to the realm of fauna, to London’s award-winning pedigree dog REX THE DOG. “Laika” is a heart-warming ode to the mongrel dog of the same name, who was the first living creature to make it from the streets of Moscow into space. She would have loved that bleep.

A little-known fact about MICHAEL MAYER is that he is one of the fastest crossword puzzle foxes on the left bank of the Rhine, always in a relentless rivalry with Wolfgang Voigt, who thinks he is even faster. The big battle is yet to come. Uninvited guest with five letters? “Urian”.

RAXON – these five letters mean business. Taken from his recent Speicher release “Beskar” showcases the Egyptian lover’s fascination for all things Starwars and his undeniable ability to churn out monster tracks.

DAVID HASERT & NICONÉ’s “Wasting My Time With You” is surely one of the most beloved Kompakt releases of 2024, so it can’t be missed on this compilation.

REINHARD VOIGT has always placed great emphasis on loving animals. On this track with the unsurprising title “Der, der mit dem Gummiball sang (Orange)”, he lets whole hordes of different four-legged friends and poultry on the microphone. Hopefully the stench will dissipate from the studio.

More emotion, more love, more sing-along factor? Si, claro! ARGIA’s “Love Keeps You Running” masterfully combines groove and pop – a blend that sounds very familiar to us. She may be at home in Madrid, but there’s Cologne DNA in her somewhere. We’re sure of it.

Let’s meet the legends, the veterans! JÖRG BURGER is still in a psychedelic mood in 2024. That suits him, that’s where he needs to be, that’s where we want him to be. A parallel universe is conceivable in which such music is affectionately called Goa.

Before going to bed, the WASSERMANN reads us a fairy tale from the Arabian Nights. At the same time, we focus on a point between everything, but really everything, and absolute, stark naked nothingness. 3, 2, 1… Let go.

Christof Migone's 'Wet Water (Let's Dance)' immerses you in a mysterious soundscape, characterised by electronic noise and watery flows. Each piece explores inarticulation and the struggle to communicate, challenging traditional notions of sound and language. In the work captured in this collection, the relation between elements is abstract, entangled, puzzle-like in its weirdness, and all the more rewarding for that.

Black/White Split Color Vinyl.Recorded in a little bedroom studio out in Durham, NorthCarolina, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn's debut LP asSylvan Esso arrived in 2014 at the juncture of pop andexperimental. Even now, years later, the LP remains anurgent and fitting introduction to a push-and-pull that wouldgo on to inform the duo's sound - a thoughtful headinessthat also wants you to get out on the dance floor. A blend ofanalog and digital, Meath and Sanborn were twounexpected puzzle pieces fitting together with singularease, producing a ten-track LP that was both minimalist andshimmering, with dark undulations rippling beneath thesynthy-surface and crystalline quality of Meath's voice.Before all of the international touring and festival headliningand critical acclaim and Grammy nominations, Sylvan Essowas just a shot-in-the dark of musical chemistry gone right.The original album bio for the self-titled presciently sets thestage for the thesis that has gone on to guide Meath andSanborn's writing since then: "a collection of vividaddictions concerning suffering and love, darkness anddeliverance" arriving as "a necessary pop balm, an albumstuffed with songs that don't suffer the longstandingcomplications of that term." And so, even as the bandcontinues to evolve and becomes amorphous, there's stillthat argument about what pop can be at its core. This is justthe beginning of that conversation captured on tape.In honor of the record's ten year anniversary, NorthCarolina-based indie label Psychic Hotline will release adeluxe reissue, complete with previously unreleasedmaterial. Featuring essential singles "Coffee", "Hey Mami,"and "H.S.K.T.", the expanded edition also includes remixesfrom J Rocc, Rick Wade, Helado Negro, Dntel, and more.The deluxe 2LP package sports an all-over foil inversion ofthe original album's iconic foil "SE" logo.

Water From Your Eyes' Rachel Brown and Nate Amos are no strangers to contradiction, with Pitchfork making note of their "confidence in splicing different genres and feels from acoustic twee to indie-electronica" in their review of 2019's Somebody Else's Songs. So, upon first listen, Structure - with its tendency to turn on a dime from the buzzsaw synths and string arrangements that sonically bookend tracks like "My Love's," to the subtle, almost Squarepusher-esque rhythms that round out electronic compositions like ""Quotations"" - may just seem like a further refinement of the duo's idiosyncratic approach to making music. However, repeat listens will reveal that, even though the album zigs and zags in a manner consistent with WFYE's prior releases, its line of best fit trends in a very clear direction away from the quaint affectations of their prior work and towards something more deliberate and half a shade darker. Even on ostensibly cheery tracks like album opener "When You're Around," which, with its saccharine melodicism sounds like it could be a lost song from The Apples in Stereo or one of their Elephant 6-era labelmates, there's an underlying eeriness that's not immediately apparent until the song is listened to in the context of the full album. Amos' advice for navigating Structure's sonic terrain is to "remember that this is weed music," while his counterpart Brown offers that that the album is like "solving a puzzle with a ton of different answers." Although these varied descriptions of how to approach listening to Structure may accurately reveal it to be another exercise in contradictions, the clear intent with which the pair approached creating the album can only be appreciated with repeat listens, and is likely what makes it, by far, their most compelling entry to date.

This is a release known mostly by Italian progressive rock lovers, since its sound can be easily associated to the jazz-rock delivered by the way more popular Napoli Centrale and Perigeo - but also to the ‘fundamentals’ Dedalus, Arti & Mestieri, Uno, if not Maad, Nadma or Aktuala, or even the lesser known Bauhaus for instance. But playing this kind of music and trying to release an album in the first half of the ’70s in Italy was also incredibly hard and courageous: Spirale, in fact, was one of the many bands that lived a very short life, before splitting up and disappear forever.
Spirale were an Italian quintet from Rome, consisting of Gaetano Delfini (wind instruments, vocals, percussion), Giancarlo Maurino (saxophone, ute, percussion), Corrado Nofri (piano, marimba, mbira, siren, Jew’s harp), Giuseppe Caporello (contrabass, guitar, percussion) and Giampaolo Ascolese (drums) who released a single eponymous album in 1974.
Spirale was originally released on the International King record label, thanks to Mario Schiano, a free-jazz saxophonist who discovered the band, and producer Toni Cosenza, who included the album in the ‘King Jazz-Line’ series. Consisting of just four tracks, most of which taken by the 13-minute long “Cabral, Anno 1” and the marvellous 17-minute “Peperoncino (Cose vecchie, cose nuove)”, Spirale is an incredibly balanced and owing record that sounds still fresh and inspired even today, and it’s a shame that it has remained hidden and overlooked for such a long time. Moreover, it is characterized by that undescribable and particular Mediterranean avour that only Italian musicians were able to obtain.
This beautiful album is of course immensely rare in its original edition, and is now nally reissued on Dialogo record label in a faithful restored version that will finally satisfy any collectors who have waited for years for this beauty to see the light again!
Italy has proven to be a treasure trove of obscure, archival sounds. For decades, the products of its free-wheeling sonic countercultures - spanning numerous musical genres - remained as overlooked from within as without, until being uncovered by diggers searching for treasures in the shadows of time. Thankfully, those efforts have morphed into countless revelations via the reissue market. Leading the way is the Milan based imprint Dialogo, who have made their name by diving far from the predictable path. Their latest, the first ever vinyl reissued of the lone, self-titled LP produced by the Rome based quintet, Spirale, in 1974, stands among their most exciting offerings to date. A visionary hybrid at the juncture of rock and jazz, it was so ahead of its time that it remained almost entirely overlooked for decades, before ultimately ascending to holy grail status among lovers of Italian prog. Creatively thrilling - filled with emotive highs and lows - it’s a crucial piece in the puzzle of Italy’s wild and wonderful history of radical sound.
Founded in Rome by Gaetano Delfini (wind instruments, vocals, percussion), Giancarlo Maurino (saxophone, flute, percussion), Corrado Nofri (piano, marimba, mbira, siren, Jew’s harp), Giuseppe Caporello (contrabass, guitar, percussion) and Giampaolo Ascolese (drums), Spirale is among the most obscure projects to have emerged from Italy during the first half of the 1970s. Almost as soon as their lone, self-titled LP was issued by International King Record in 1974, the trial goes dark. Members turn up on recordings by Gaetano Liguori Collective Orchestra, Folk Magic Band, and numerous other projects over the years, but in this incarnation the music on Spirale seems to be all we have.
Spirale’s fate seems to have rested with the simple fact that they were too ahead of their time, producing a music that would subsequently come to find broad favour among audiences of popular music only a year or two down the road. Their lone, self-titled LP, carving out uncharted territory between Bitches Brew era Miles Davis and mid-70s Soft Machine, pushed progressive rock into a near undefinable realm; not rock enough to be called rock, not jazz enough to be called jazz.
Across the two sides of Spirale, comprising four works, a band of uncompromising talent stretches out, laying down cycling rhythms and bass lines that channel the modalism of John Coltrane, the funkiness of Donald Byrd, and hypnotic psychedelia, before embarking upon melodic excursions - peppered with Mediterranean sensibilities - into the outer realms.
Joyous, engrossing, and the product of exacting musicianship, how Spirale remained overlooked for all these years is one of the great mysteries of Italian music. An absolute revelation of the highest order brought to us by the capable hands of Dialogo, the first time ever reissue of this 1974, obscure masterstroke is an absolute must for any fan of prog, jazz, or Italian music at large. Beautifully pressed with fully restored and remastered audio and issued in a facsimile gatefold sleeve, reproducing the stunning original design, Spirale is just about as good as reissues get.

A sonnet of sorting.

At iam8bit, we love a good mess as much as anybody, but let’s face it: There’s something so satisfying about a hard-earned clean-up. No one knows this better than the friendly folks at Max Inferno. Their debut title, A Little to the Left (published by our pals at Secret Mode), is a cozy & warm puzzle game that asks players to arrange everyday household objects to be just a little more pleasing to the eye. This experience is made all the more cozy & warm in the company of its melodious soundtrack, by maestro Justin Karas. Playful, bright, and sometimes even mischievous, the music of A Little to the Left instantly transports you to a place of calm and empowered focus. It’s soothing melodic magic, featuring eight lengthy and whimsical tracks presented on tidy taupe vinyl. And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a little tactile flair reminiscent of the game! That’s why we collaborated with album artist Paul G. Hammond to create this uniquely interactive ‘Tidy Diecut Jacket,’ featuring an inner sleeve with both tidy and untidy display options. Grab your broom, open a window, spin this record, and turn what once seemed like chores into recurring moments of triumph. All while humming along, of course.

"Art is awe, art is mystery expressed," writes Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. "Art is somatic, even if it is experienced cerebrally. It is felt." The central mysteries of Smith's ninth studio album, Let's Turn it Into Sound, have to do with perception, expression, and communication: How can we communicate when spoken language is inadequate? How do we understand what it is we're feeling? How do we translate our experience of the world into something that someone else can understand? For Smith, a self-described "feeler," the answers are inspired by compound words in non-English languages, translation, sculptural fashion, dance, butoh, wushu shaolin, and other forms of sensory and somatic experience. Just like fashion uses lines, shapes, colors, textures, and silhouettes to communicate on a sensual level separate from the conscious mind, Let's Turn it Into Sound strives to use sound to communicate what words alone cannot. "The album is a puzzle," Smith says. "[It] is a symbol of receiving a compound of a ton of feelings from going out into a situation, and the song titles are instructions to breaking apart the feelings and understanding them." The energized "Is it Me or is it You" comes from traversing the gaps between how you see yourself and how another might see you, through a filter of their own projections. The hushed sense of revelation that brackets "There is Something" refers to the feeling of walking into a room and being subconsciously aware of the dynamic present. All the while, Smith interprets these feelings through sound. This auditory interpretation process, driven by earnest curiosity, led Smith to record some thoughts and questions that popped up along the journey in Somatic Hearing_a booklet which accompanies the album. Over three frenzied months, recording alone in her home studio, Smith allowed herself to pursue new experiments to accompany her usual toolkit of modular, analogue, and rare synthesizers (including her signature Buchla), orchestral sounds, and the voice. She created a new vocal processing technique, and gave herself permission to pursue a pacing that felt intuitive, rather one that followed typical song structures. She walked around in the windiest season with a subwoofer backpack and an umbrella, listening to the low end of the album amidst 60mph gusts. She listened to herself, and, in doing so, to an inner community which suddenly opened to her. Underlying the album is a dynamic relationship between what Smith describes as six distinct voices, each a multifaceted storyteller. By acknowledging these characters, she was acknowledging her whole being: the woven plurality of self, the complex process of noticing and resolving inner conflicts, and the joy of finding harmony in flux. "I started to feel so embodied by all of these characters. This is all the felt, unsaid stuff [my inner community] wants to communicate but it doesn't have the English language as its form of communication, and so [this album was a form of] giving space to let it talk and not judge it and just let it play." By not adhering to expected song structures, each song feels even more like a conversation, with each character getting to express themselves in full.