Search "raw+soul+3" 7226 Items

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Stunning liturgical shoegaze from Kranky’s Melissa Guion aka MJ Guider, originally released a couple of years back on a limited tape and now available once again in a new edition for 2023. Fuelled by pulsing drum machines, bells and an exceptionally expressive voice, it hits so many buttons for us all at once so as to feel like we’ve known it a lifetime, reminding us of sections of Cocteau Twins, Seefeel, Tropic of Cancer, Preisner’s ‘No End’ score, Cranes - but still in possession of its own unquantifiable spirit. Recorded as a music score to ‘Known Mass. No. 3: St. Maurice’, a collaboration with friend and choreographer Ann Glaviano, ‘Temporary Requiem’ makes use of the traditional Latin requiem mass across 6 movements designed to help transport “the congregation” to the dreamworld. The 10 minute opener ‘Kyrie: The Stained Glass Windows in Their Original Order’ opens from choral drones into a sort of rumbling dreampop reminding us of AFX’s reworking of Seefeel’s ‘Time To Find Me’, the melodic lead supplied by a padded bassline wrapped around countless layers of texture and sweeping, filtered hi hats. ‘Gloria: Small Dance of Gratitude’ re-purposes the thudding kickdrum opening Cocteau Twins’ ‘When mama was moth’, but swerves through a vocal keychange into something else entirely, all detached vocal yearning somewhere between love song and lament. Guion’s vocals have always been impressive but feel especially devastating here, leaving enough space for each sound to respire; ducking around slow-motion beatbox cycles and queasy electronics. She binds her biographical litany of inspirations into a coherent blast of pseudo- plainsong and ethereal post-punk, her voice tripping from morose low-registers into layered choral cascades that genuinely made this listener bottle up in a gulp. When we reach ‘Sanctus’ - the album’s shortest piece, a tape-rotted chant dissolves into an angelic aria. It’s an apt preface for ‘Benedictus’, the moment we’re shifted into gnarly droning landscapes of distended drone and saturated distortion. Somehow the tenor adjustment works, deepening Guion’s narrative and drawing parallels between vastly different forms of post-Catholic musical expression - there’s truly no light without darkness. On the finale ‘Agnus-Dei’, she bolts together both strains of expression, singing over walls of harmonic guitar fuzz and a drum machine that sounds like machinery pushing through sandstone blocks. The noise abates before the track dims to a flicker, as Guion’s operatic wails spiral deep into the pious abyss...

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2x12" | 2023 | UK | Original (Above Board Projects)

Space Part 2

34,99 €*

Albert Van Abbe & Jochen Paap

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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A tribute to the late Kenny Hawkes, London's dark lord of house music. Lovingly selected and curated by Luke Solomon, Jonny Rock and Leon Oakey.

Running from 1995 to 2002, 'Space' was a Wednesday night founded by Kenny Hawkes and Luke Solomon. It inhabited the underground world of Bar Rumba right in the heart of London's West End and took place each and every week. Kenny and Luke had both been regular fixtures on infamous London Pirate Radio station 'Girls FM', and were seeking a suitable place to play the kind of music they supported on their respective radio shows. They were presented with a weekly opportunity at Bar Rumba and snapped it up.

'Space' was THE place for 7 solid years, hosting local and international guests from the house music community week in week out, to 200+ hardcore and dedicated followers. Regular guest bookings read like a 'who's who' of the music scene with sets from Derrick Carter, Andrew Weatherall, DJ Harvey, Tom Middleton, A Man Called Adam, Ralph Lawson and Huggy, Harri and Domenic, Francois Kevorkian, Salt City Orchestra, Carl Cox, Chez Damier and Ron Trent.... the list goes on and on and on! Music from seminal record labels such as Classic, Prescription, Cajual, Paper, Relief was played on rotation amongst a killer mix of Disco classics, alternative 80s music, left-field B-sides and techno. The night undeniably became a cauldron of amazing music and midweek hedonistic chaos.

As Soho changed beyond recognition and clubbing moved Eastwards, Kenny and Luke decided to call it a day. Sadly, Kenny Hawkes died in 2011, leaving a huge hole in the dance music community. Kenny was a legendary figure with an unmistakable sound and DJ style, he had a warped sense of humour and a huge personality and he continues to be dearly missed by all to this day.

As a tribute to Kenny, his musical partner in crime Luke Solomon alongside 'Space' regular and DJ / Editor supreme Jonny Rock, and former Classic Records label boss Leon Oakey have joined forces to celebrate his life through music. 3 years of tweaking, pooling music and clearing tracks have culminated in 2 very special double albums and a digital compilation. A collection of 'Space' classics, underground jams and the tracks that shook the Shaftesbury Avenue dance floor, shaping one of London's most revered midweek sessions.

All profits from the compilation will be donated to the British Liver Trust.

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General Audio

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Avian)

Late Metal Coloured Viynl Edition

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Albert van Abbe & Jochem Paap join forces for General Audio. Recorded at Willem Twee studios in Den Bosch, General Audio explores a unique and esoteric approach to sound creation. Using test and measure equipment from the 1950’s, originally designed for the maintenance of various audio and radio transmitters, van Abbe and Paap create otherworldly walls of sound and dense rhythmic abstractions with an early form of synthesis. Rudimentary signals are combined and processed before being committed to tape via mic’s set up to capture the Willem Twee studio’s unique acoustics. The equipment itself predates the invention of the analog, modular synthesizers developed in the 70’s that are now commonplace in many studios. The record opens with 220Lock-in, a gently undulating drone composition. Effervescent at the top end and fathoms deep at the bottom, it shifts ominously with ring modulated tones that build and then give way to thick washes of white noise. A single synth flourish provides a surprising final moment. The record continues with WZ-1Wobbel Zusatz, a low-sunk percussive piece with an off-kilter rhythm and wet spring reverb doing the bulk of the sonic heavy lifting. Deep in the mix, delicate shifts in pitch and tone deliver a kind of arcane musicality, and as the recording approaches its final moments the piece descends into an exhilarating chaos, with sonic components falling slowly by the wayside. Pegelmesser riffs on a similar reverb characteristic, but this time a driven, arp-like lead propels the work forward. Crisp shifts in colour and distortion arrive unexpectedly, providing a curious musical sensation once more – and harsher moments of feedback break up the recording in its later stages. On Rel 3L 212c LC-pi the pair strip things back, with more present percussive components and subtle distortion lines, before Wandel ups the ante with a corrosive dirge broken up by sporadic submerged synth hits. The penultimate recording SR 250 Boxcar Averager shows off impressive pitch modulation, resulting in a variety of intriguing sensations. Cinematic and remarkably visual, it charts a strange and affecting course, the synth lead underpinned by a repetitive percussive motif and all manner of sends delivering fascinating details. Nim Bin closes the record and once more van Abbe and Paap invite that subtle musicality into the recording. A tight VCO modulation drives the piece while various percussive synth strikes provide a kind of rhythmic component, though they remain untethered to any time signature – a neat conclusion to an intriguing and exploratory record.

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Thomas Roussel

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Ed Banger)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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I met Thomas Roussel in 2017 at a Pigalle fashion show in Paris. As always with Stéphane Ashpool, the designer of Pigalle, casting is perfect and the clothes are modern and groundbreaking. But my eyes and ears were intrigued by this retro-futuristic instrument next to me, the Cristal Baschet. French composer and conductor Thomas Roussel wrote the soundtrack of the show. He add this magnificent instrument in his "not very classical" orchestra, this is what I immediately loved with him! He invited us into his world of classical music with a fresh twist, simplicity and audacity. At the same time I was scratching my head to find something different to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Ed Banger records. For a long time I had this idea of mixing both electronic and classical music together. Exactly like my heroes Metallica did in 1999 with the Symphonic orchestra of San Francisco! Thomas Roussel seems the perfect man for this crazy idea. We did Ed Banger 15 together and we became friends. Thomas Roussel grew up in Dijon, spent his days at the conservatory and his nights at L’An-Fer, one of the most respected Techno club in France. Probably the reason why he ended up working with Jeff Mills, on two projects mixing Jeff’s 909 and a classical orchestra. By experimenting new ways of using an orchestra, by creating state-of-the-art scenography and producing more ambitious music he quickly became the man in charge of everything "classica". The list of his collaborations is too long and will ruin this little introduction. It could sounds like this : Chanel, Apple, Cartier, Kenzo, Nike, Dior. Performing from Paris to Macau, from Monte Carlo to Dubai and from New York to Beijing! In 2017 Thomas Roussel released his first album as Prequell with Universal Music. A successful collaboration that really allows Thomas Roussel to become an artist. In 2022 Ed Banger records is proud to release Thomas Roussel "late Metal" a 3 tracks EP. Where uplifting orchestration and electronic music composing collide. The perfect soundtrack of a block buster movie mixing George Lucas & Christopher Nolan generations. It’s also a marker of our time, music boundaries are explosing. It’s time to hear the London Symphony Orchestra’s strings battling with a Drum’n’Bass beat, a way to Deified classical music. It’s also a record for your eyes. Art director Andy Picci created an algorthym and gave life to a mercury abstract form. This collaboration marks the need for Thomas Roussel to always push the boundaries and take his project to another Level.

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Would It Sound Just As Bad, If You Played It Volume 2

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Other People)

33,99 €*

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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A Collection of Sounds from the Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia (1959-2001) Art by Zofia Kulik

"Would it sound just as bad if you played it backwards?" assembles a collection of audio experiments created at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio (pres) from 1959 to the beginning of the millennium. These exceptional works are presented alongside images from the Polish artist Zofia Kulik, whose career reached its apogee between the late 1960s and early 70s. While Pres and Kulik remain important artifacts in the recent history of the Polish avant-garde, presenting them together in one release may not seem like an obvious choice. There are, of course, some historical intersections-he most notable being a shared interest in Polish artist and architectOskar Hansen's Open Form theory. Open Form promoted a modular theory of architecture that became a tool adapted by its users and inhabitants to ??????????????..Hansen's ideas influenced Kulik's early works and also manifested in the Pres's iconic "black room", a music studio designed by Hansen, himself, which was equipped with moveable sound panels that absorbed or reflected sounds to promote a greater, creative freedom from its users. And yet, as it usually goes, the most obvious connections are usually the most deceitful. Whereas Kulik initially followed Open Form, she later turned away from it. And as for the black room-it mostly worked in theory but not in practice. What is it then that makes the two work together?

Polish Radio Experimental Studio - Pres (Polish: Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia) was an experimental music studio in Warsaw, where electronic and utility pieces were recorded. The establishment of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio was conceived by W?odzimierz Sokorski, head of the Radio and Television Committee. Between 1952 and 1956 he was a Minister of Culture, and as a strong supporter of socialist realism he fought against any manifestations of modernity in music. The Polish Radio Experimental Studio was founded on the 15th of November 1957,[1] but only in the second half of the following year was it adapted for sound production.[2][3] It operated until 2004.[4] Until 1985, for 28 years the studio was headed by its founder - Józef Patkowski - musicologist, acoustician, and the chairman of the Polish Composers' Union. The second most important person in the Studio was Krzysztof Szlifirski, an electro-acoustics engineer. Before founding the studio Józef Patkowski visited similar hubs in Cologne, Paris, Gravesono and Milan.[5] Though the studio was a place where autonomous electronic pieces were recorded, this wasn't its main purpose. It was launched as a space for the creation of independent compositions, sounds illustrations for radio dramas, and soundtracks for theatre, film and dance.

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Would It Sound Just As Bad, If You Played It Volume 1

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Other People)

33,99 €*

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Astropolis)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Blutch

Terre Promise

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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‘Terre Promise’ is the debut album of the French electronic artist Blutch. Between nostalgia and melancholy in his native Brittany, a journey to the borders of electronica, breakbeat, house and IDM. Following in the footsteps of Rone, James Holden, Four Tet or Bicep, Blutch affirms with this manifesto his ability to draw meditative landscapes as well as dancefloor escapades, syntheses of multiple influences crossed over the course of a faultless career, from his first love, hip-hop and abstract beats, his house vinyls released on the Barbecue label remixed by the cream of the genre’s guardians, from the American legend Terrence Parker to the more confidential Red Rack’em and Strip Steve, or the adventurous new chapter he has begun to write on Astropolis Records since 2020 with ‘La Cité des Étoiles’, remixed by the great Michael Mayer.
‘Terre Promise’ continues his unique trademark: smooth and inventive textures, vocals that caress and embrace you, percussive and contemporary rhythms with an immersive sound design and those catchy gimmicks he’s known for. By immersing us in his memories, Blutch opens the doors to the landscapes of his childhood and dreamed views, through a plural sound palette: UK dance music heritage (‘Cobalan’, ‘River’), contemplative tracks (‘Les Bois’, ‘Terre Promise’), contemporary IDM with pop contours (‘Poplar’, ‘Rosko’, ‘Eussa’), or crossovers with other instrumentalists (Mirabelle Gillis’ violins on ‘Choices’ and ‘Cobalan’, guitar and drums on ‘Phoenix’ or the piano on ‘Poplar’) and danceable odes (‘Floatin’, ‘Les Sables Blancs’ or ‘Remparts’ with Maxime Dangles).
A promising debut album, as atmospheric as it is frenetic. Driven by the desire to bring people together and reconnect with the earth, Blutch invites you on a deep and spiritual introspective journey, where the listener can easily imagine the producer intention. And if not, just attend the a/v live accompanied by the sublime visuals of motion designer Romain Navier for an electrifying experience, between coloured or abstract 3D and images of landscapes captured in Blutch’s North Brittany. A live show that has already enchanted Panoramas in Morlaix, Clujotronic in Romania with other dates to come (Astropolis, Paris, ...).
Full of emotions, this beautiful, sincere and intense album is enough to send Blutch to the top of the electronic music scene in France. The impressive list of collaborations and remixes around the album is proof of this, with major artists of the French electronic music scene such as Jennifer Cardini, Maxime Dangles, Lauer, Madben, Maud Geffray or Mézigue, emerging artists such as Malcolm (Global Warming Records), or from acoustic music such as violin player Mirabelle Gillis.

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12" | 2021 | UK | Original (Tone Dropout)

Tone Dropout Volume 10

12,99 €*

LP | 2018 | EU | Original (ZZK)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Finally Vol 10 , is here !!! Along with the Usuals Dawl and The He-Men, we bring you two new artists plus a new collaboration of previous artists. First Track comes from the one and only Dawl, The TDO co head honcho comes at cha with a techy, bleepy, detroity atmospheric stomper, This man is unstoppable with releases all the over place on so many labels, showing another side to his many musical talents, no breaks or electro but good solid techno bleeps , cracking first track. Next we have Escape Earth, this is the collaboration of bufo bufo and corporeal face. A duo to look out for. This is a real breakbeat stomper with great little samples and a killer bass line. taking it real dark and strong, get any floor moving, lovely melodic strings and pads really move this track, Love the pads in the breakdown of this really kicks. Track 3 welcomes new edition to the TDO family Kiddmisha, all the way from Kiev in the Ukraine. He has had many releases on latels such as Batti Batti , Fox Trax , Noneside and houseonwax. He also DJ’s all over the Ukraine. He brings us a quality little groove of a track, a great tool, that will keep any floor moving, kicks off with a lovely little break beat , then boom, in comes the bass, a real booty shaker, that will appeal to many different genres. We now have the B side , First track is from the Other head honcho of TDO Sween in his guise as The He-Men alongside good friend Danny Beck. This is a great dance floor workout track, kicking off with an electro break , with the usual stabs of FX that the He-Men love so much, them comes the big bass hook, a real electro feel, accompanied with the bleeps and explosions and vocal, this is a great atmospheric, floorfiller . Finally we a very exciting new edition to the TDO family . 22 year old Marino from Nantes in France. He is the co founder of Hyperfrequence records and party collective and also linked wit the 44tours record shop,label and parties. this man is a real talent for the future. His track is full on high energy Rave, starting with a killer break and time stretched vocal, he’s a real record digger and this shows in his track, As it kicks in massively with a real driving bass line and alarm bleep going throughout the track and that great familiar time stretched vocal, Breaks into some lovely deep strings before kicking back in with that driving pulsating bass line, a real great edition to TDO and Vol 10.

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King Coya

Tierra De King Coya

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Cellule 75)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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The latest sonic adventure by King Coya, danceable alter ego of Gaby Kerpel (De La Guarda, Fuerza Bruta) a pioneer of Latin American folklore fused with electronic music, is called “Tierra de King Coya” (Land of King Coya) where rhythms such as the wayno and instruments from the Andes like the ronroco and tarka, are digitally intertwined with the ritual of dance and celebration. Like a sorcerer from the future, King Coya creates a map of sound exploration navigating the continent through his digital point of view. For this project he incorporates his own voice and also plays a smattering of live instruments.
Since his debut as King Coya with “Cumbias de Villa Donde” (2009) Gaby has produced remixes for artists such as Amadou & Mariam, Brazilian Girls, Julieta Venegas, Luzmila Carpio, Chancha Via Circuito, Tom Tom Club, Petrona Martinez and Magin Díaz amongst others. As well as forming part of the band Terraplén (2010) produced by Santaolalla and the album “Tira Torito” along the coplera Balvina Ramos.
The journey through the “Land of King Coya” begins with “Te Digo Wayno” a powerful track that highlights the joy of dance, and makes a poetic introduction of the Queen Cholas, a dance trio that performs with him during live shows. A true ceremony of celebration that integrates the audience into a singular immersive experience.
The album features diverse guest singers such as: La Yegros - musical companion from his first shows at Zizek Club and for whom he has produced 3 albums. On the first single “Algo” (Something) a sort of kuduro mutates into and Andean dub. For the song “Tierra de King Coya” a combination of Colombian buyerengue and Argentine carnavalito we find La Walichera’s enchanting voice. Balvina Ramos collaborates on “Pa que yo Te Cure” a remix of the song “Linda Flor” (Tira Torito - 2012). Iara Nara - one of the Queen Cholas - jumps in on the track “Pachamá” with airs of a coplera singer over dancehall beats, reinforcing the main objective of bringing folklore to the dancefloor.
“Como Saber” (How to know) and “Dorremi” invoke his foundational album “Carnavalito”, (Nonesuch Records 2001) instilling a particular energy to this album that aims to represent the journey in which Gaby Kerpel ultimately becomes King Coya. The end of this road comes with “Icaro Llama Planta” alongside Isabel Pinedo Rengifo’s mystical voice, a healer from the Shipibo community (Peru), whos shamanic chants invite the listener to reconnect with the earth and give closure to this festive ceremony.

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Mouchoir Étanche

Le Jazz Homme

Orbital (The Green Album)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Le jazz homme is the 2nd album of Black To Comm related entity Mouchoir Ètanche. This time heavily influenced by French Jazz (?) as well as the usual suspects: Nurse With Wound, Luc Ferrari, JG Ballard, Surrealism. The human entity has finally been replaced. "Program music, instrumental music that carries some extramusical meaning, some “program” of literary idea, legend, scenic description, or personal drama. It is contrasted with so-called absolute, or abstract, music, in which artistic interest is supposedly confined to abstract constructions in sound. It has been stated that the concept of program music does not represent a genre in itself but rather is present in varying degrees in different works of music." (Encyclopædia Britannica) Prompt 1: Pascal Comelade's toy piano falling down the stairs , Hector Zazou pushing from behind, laughing Prompt 2: Cool jazz played on antique mellotron, low in fidelity, and sad, Glenn Miller‘s grandma crying silently Prompt 3: A hippie commune version of jazz as played by a cheap computer fed by Chat GPT with medieval buisine fanfare information and samples, trained on the entire Amon Düül II history, heavily looped yet unsynchronized Prompt: 4: Same, but flutes and synths and trance and chants Prompt 5: French female artist philosophizes about Shirley Temple, mysterious atmosphere, insensitive homme laughing nervously, heavily looped, hynotic 18th century orgue de salon underneath Prompt 6: Cool jazz, Echoplex, strange rhythm, Blue Note daydreaming Prompt 7: Hammond jazz with fake Cyro Baptista loop, Madagascar indri indri lemurs chanting fake sax solos in Malagasy language, electronic bells Prompt 8: German jazz and artificial prayers, and Shirley Temple returning, with defect Publison recorded at GRM, destroying the voice recording Prompt 9: Andrei Tarkovsky's moustache meets Johann Sebastian Bach's wig, a well gently lapping in the background, fifths, car crashing into a poor violent onsen geisha Marc Richter records as Black To Comm for Thrill Jockey and under the Mouchoir Ètanche and Jemh Circs monikers (and solo) for his own Cellule 75 imprint. He collaborated with visual artists such as Ho Tzu Nyen, Jan van Hasselt and Mike Kelley. He also produces soundtracks and acousmatic multichannel installations for institutions such as INA GRM Paris, ZKM Karlsruhe and Kunstverein Hamburg.

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Orbital

2CD | 1991 | Reissue (London)

20,99 €*

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Depth.Request)

Release: 1991 / Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Originally released on September 30, 1991, Orbital's eponymous debut album became known as "The Green Album" to distinguish it from their second album (known as "The Brown Album")
The Green Album includes the seminal 'Belfast' and a live version of 'Chime', the landmark dance track that launched their career in 1990

1. The album will be remastered and represented in multiple formats, to be released alongside the band's 'Green Album' UK tour (the band performing Green & Brown albums) starting on 24th April . They've just be announced for Coachella , as well as Miami's Ultra Festival & headline shows in New York & Chicago.
2. Last available on vinyl in 2015 - long time sold out. Back On Double Vinyl editions.
3. First repress on CD for over 20 years ! Back on Double CD - Bonus CD featuring rarities and classic remixes

BIOG / SHORT PR INFOS

Following on from the UK Top 20 success of 2022's 30 Something, and the Top 10 for 2023's Optical Delusion, London Records launch an extensive 2024 campaign for Orbital, revisiting 1991's seminal debut Orbital (aka The Green Album).

The Green Album heralded a brave new world for the UK musical landscape (DJ Mag would later decry that the album "rewrote the rule book for rave"). Brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll eschewed formulas and clichés, choosing to explore wider textures, rhythms and stranger mind spaces within dance music. Their resulting album would enjoy both chart success and an enduring legacy, influencing and inspiring artists from Björk to Bicep, with the Hartnoll brothers going on to collaborate with artists as diverse as Madonna, Ennio Morricone, Kraftwerk, Sleaford Mods and Professor Brian Cox.

33 years since its original release the album is revisited, from black vinyl , limited colored vinyl and CD editions (long out of print), to special Record Store Day double Splatter Lp. In the digital space 'Tonight In Belfast' will be lauched on February 2nd, :a reworking of the band's seminal track 'Belfast', remixed by David Holmes and re-interpolated with new lyrics and vocal by acclaimed street poet Mike Garry.

Orbital will be supporting The Green Album with an extensive headline UK tour this April (performing both their Green and Brown albums). Ahead of that they've just been announced today for Coachella 2024, as well as Miami's Ultra Festival and headline shows in New York and Chicago.

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Lesser Of

Within My Fragility

LP | 1979 | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Having been deck slaying as near their London headquarters as Germany and as far as Canada, goth techno prodigy Lesser Of is steadily approaching double digit release count. With an established residence at queer x trans focused, revolutionary event series Subverted, their efforts have been welcomed to a formidable list of industrial electronic labels and remixed by a tidy sum of high profile scene icons.

Here at Depth.Request our sonars are attuned to emanant potential, and so we conscript Lesser Of to hammer out our fourth acetate offering to date. To this, harsh noise and drone music inspirations are declared, alongside an artistic secret of the trade: lights-off sessions in live room of a recording studio vibrating with the pulse of a bass guitar ran through a freeze pedal were what begot the tracks, and they are well intent on assaulting your headphones with noise. Reeko on the remix - yes, this record fucks.

Prolonged, ominous intro? Nah. Have a face full of Crude Manifestation Of Power instead, as an insatiable, 10-minute long opener braces your ears for a week of ringing with a sonic equivalent of metallic thrashing one could expect from being a sinful, rave-lusting scoundrel. On title-diverting continuation Within My Fragility the words "strength in fragility" are truly alliterated as the pace, abrasiveness and intensity of pummelling are all ramped up fiercely, with linear open hats thrown against them from time to time for good measure. Having reached 140 BPM and concrete mean, Masked proceeds in a well anticipated ra(n)ge: infernal atmosphere, sandy hats and layered tectonic tremors achieved with increasingly undefined low end consisting of a rumble line and rolling kick morphing into abrasive haze. Winding the tempo back a notch, a halftimearranged contemplation Our Descent grows in direct, hyperborean vector: glassy drones and sharp syncopulsation first - atonal reverberations, distorted arpeggios and punchy stabs endwise. Reeko's analog reinvention of Masked convolves the drum structure by borrowing from breakbeat narratives and authorizes the dystopian ambiance to rise and fall on more gradual, panning, confined terms; adding, however, more disorder to the mix with spectrum slicing, high-range chaos.

As you would have learned to expect from Depth.Request, Within My Fragility EP is not an easy listening five-tracker. If by the end of it you find yourself feeling as if you just stepped out of a pounding warehouse at 3AM and you don't know what day it is, you wouldn't have been experiencing this mindspace alone.

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Pierre Dutour

Top Fiction

Neither The Beginning Nor The End Exist

Release: 1979 / Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Pierre Dutour's infamous Top Fiction is the epitome of a 5-tracker. Coming to light in 1979 on Tele Music, its collection of environmental themes are *all astounding*. We're talking all-time heavy hitters, here. They come recommended as tracks you'd choose to elegantly elevate deep selector sets or mixes.

Skip the irritating whistle-laced marching-band funk of "Captain Parade" and head straight to the glistening synths and proud horns of beatless ambient wonder "Mountain Echoes". Arguably worth the price of admission alone. It's that good. The sci-fi atmospherics of "Space Fiction" are definitely sampleable whilst the proud horns of "Mountain Trumpet" definitely contain blasts that could be of creative use. "Tambours Parade" is more marching-band funk, only this time the drums go hard and there's a lot to like about this one.

Truly, it's all about the B-Side. A real B-Side for the ages, in fairness. It opens with the gorgeous "Deer Forest". It's one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear. Like something off Brian Bennett's Voyage, it rides dreamily melodic synths, and comes on, as one fan claimed "like something Angelo Badalamenti would have co-written with Final Fantasy composer, ???? Nobuo Uematsu". It's jaw-dropping. Be instantly beguiled by the deep eerie nostalgia and pretty delicate piano of "Magic Lake I" and the whistling-synth-augmented "Magic Lake II". The almost-title-track "Pop Fiction" is another hidden gem, containing dreamy, glistening arpeggios that are just begging to be sampled with a heavy knocking beat behind it. The set closes with "Damnation Space", 2 minutes of spooky Musique concrète.

So, 5 absolutely incredible tracks and 2-3 good ones. An excellent ratio for a library album, I think we can all agree. Trust us when we say that the heavy hitters are just absolute gold, rendering this one an essential, buy-on-sight purchase. Go listen and discover for yourselves...

The audio for Top Fiction has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this divisive release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original space-age sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

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Petteril

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Neither The Beginning Nor The End Exist)

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Discrepant)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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A box of old photographic slides uncovered at a house clearance centre with a £5 asking price. On the slide's a collection of shots from the 60’s–70’s: British rural life plus various trips around Europe and a trip to the US. The lives of Bill, Jean and Edith (and Pippi the budgerigar). The relationship between the three is unclear but they seem to live together—or at least spend a lot of time together—they seem close. They like to travel and garden. What became of these people? Presumably, they have since passed away given their apparent ages in the pictures and the dates scrawled on the slides and boxes. What happened? How did these slides come to be here and were there no family or friends that wanted to claim them?

Initially, the discovery feels uncomfortable, intrusive, upsetting even. The lives of these people—whoever they were—were lovingly recorded, only for the resulting documentation to be discovered decades later in a musty, tattered box, buried amongst other people's ex-belongings. It feels sad. Considerations on the transient, the ephemeral. It feels inescapable that—regardless of intention—this is in some way a commentary on the value of a life. On the value of Bill, Jean and Edith's (and Pippi’s) lives. But studying the slides in more detail it is clear that the 3 subjects shared many happy times and experiences. They are always smiling and there appears a sense of genuine camaraderie and affection between them. A passion for photography too.

So should we be sad that these lives are seemingly forgotten? That £5 is the asking price for the physical documentation of years of adventures? Or satisfied that the imagery represents lives happily lived and shared. The value of these physical items (ie the slides themselves) is not equal to the value of the actual lived experiences of the subjects or the lesson that Bill, Jean, Edith (and Pippi) can teach us. Realising this provides an invitation to recognise a simple truth: the value of a life is in how it is lived in the moment. Exist and enjoy it—if you can—because in the face of impermanence that’s all we can really do. In the moment neither the beginning nor the end really exist.

Petteril (James Gilbert) has been creating audio collages and improvisations with these concepts in mind. The music is not so much about the slides or the people on the slides, (although both the imagery and the music evoke a kind of nostalgia) but concerned with the whole philosophical discourse that ensued. Improvisation (with various instruments, physical, analog and digital) is a key consideration based on the aforementioned theme of being in the moment. Generative elements also represent that transience and the fleeting nature of moments coming and going, flowing from one moment to the next. These evolving beds of sound and improvisations coupled with Tape loops, field recordings and more are chopped, layered and collaged, processed, layered, collaged and processed again.

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Kink Gong

Tanzania 2

Les Jardins Mystiques Volume 1

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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8 years almost to the day after releasing his unique re-interpretation album of his field recordings made in the late 90's in Tanzania, Kink Gong is back with another volume of bushmen madness. Here’s what Kink Gong aka Laurent Jeanneau has to say about his end of millennium trip:

‘’My experience in Tanzania is now over 20 years and most of the so called remix was started in Tanzania and left unfin-ished, then eventually retouched in Vienna, Paris, Shanghai, Kunming, Dali or Vientiane. 20 years later I searched my Tanzanian files and rediscovered unfinished tracks which are being now refreshed on this new record.

Back to the early days of the XXI century, when I lost my health trying to survive with the HADZAs, the last bushmen in northern Tanzania. In 1999 James Stephenson from NYC invited me to join his Hadzas friends. I would leave the bush to rest in a place with enough food and electricity and start to edit, loop and work on the original recordings, to transform them into organic abstract compositions, the only instrument I had recorded a lot with the Hadzas was the malimba and I bought different malimbas in Arusha to take back with me to Europe, I used either the original recordings or me playing malimbas on some tracks and applied some electronic treatment to it, at that time I used Roland synths for some tracks.

The original recordings are related to scenes at night by the fire with the Hadzas, but also 3 different types of celebra-tions, Epeme Men was recorded on a moonless night with men and women singing and dancing in complete darkness in Mangola, an Hadza camp. Irawk Drum Under the Rain was recorded during daytime at a Multi ethnic gathering at the Franciscan Spanish catholic mission with a crowd dancing and singing under heavy rain while an Irawk large (and wet) drum was being played, Northern Tanzania. Makonde Island was recorded in southern Tanzania at the boarder with Mozambique and is a pure scene of trance taking place on an island where the Makonde fishermen off the coast of Mtwara, get wild, hitting plastic containers for the sound, drunk and stoned men and women are hysterically jumping and falling on each other, ending up with a few wounded.

Once again I'm responsible for this act of multicultural sabotage, but don’t forget that you can always listen to the original recordings on the Kink Gong recs collection. ‘’ Laurent Jeanneau, Berlin 2023

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Miguel Atwood Ferguson

4LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Brainfeeder)

58,99 €*

Release Spirit Pink Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Limited 4LP in gatefold sleeve with OBI strip. Semi-fast cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Includes MP3 downloads. Photography by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Layout by Adam Stover.

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson lives in his hometown of Los Angeles and is one of the preeminent musicians, orchestrators, arrangers and composers of our time. "Les Jardins Mystiques Vol.1" is his long-awaited debut album. It presents us with a passionate declaration of love and a realm of beautiful possibilities.

There are plenty of ways to approach Miguel Atwood-Ferguson's music - and there are no limits to where it could take someone. As a composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and producer, he has worked on more than 600 albums and soundtracks for cross-genre artists:inside, including Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Anderson .Paak, Mary J. Blige or Seu Jorge. His sonic palette spans jazz, classical, hip-hop, electronica, avant-garde, pop and more. His acclaimed live and recording projects include the innovative orchestral reinterpretation of J Dilla's repertoire, "Suite For Ma Dukes" (2009), his prolific works with longtime friend and collaborator Carlos Niño, including the improvised album, "Chicago Waves" (2020), on International Anthem, and his groups such as Quartetto Fantastico and the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble. "Les Jardins Mystiques" is a project that reveals and shares Miguel Atwood-Ferguson's musical universe. It has evolved over a dozen years, largely financed by himself, and showcases his distinctly elegant musicianship (on violin, viola, cello and keyboards, among others) and free-spirited dialogues with more than 50 instrumentalists. Volume 1' is only the first part of a planned triptych that will comprise a total of ten and a half hours of original and refreshingly expansive music. Atwood-Ferguson connected with his guest musicians in a variety of ways: through convivial studio dialogue, through long-distance communication during the pandemic, and through the energy of live performances in his hometown, including at the Del Monte Speakeasy (the delightfully invigorating piano-accompanied "Dream Dance") and the Bluewhale (including "Ano Yo" with the spirited alto sax of Devin Daniels and the cosmic harmonies of "Cho Oyu"). Bennie Maupin, the legendary US multi-wind instrumentalist whose repertoire includes Miles Davis' fusion opus "Bitches Brew", plays bass clarinet on the ravishing opening number "Kiseki". Throughout his illustrious career, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson has worked with artists such as Rihanna, Ray Charles, Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga, Anderson .Paak, Dr. Dre, Kamasi Washington, Mary J. Blige, will.i. am, Big Boi, Arthur Verocai, Bonobo, Lianne La Havas, Kaytranada, Moses Sumney, Seu Jorge, Common, The Roots, The Cinematic Orchestra, Jamael Dean, Shafiq Husayn, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Carlos Niño, Bilal and many more.

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Khotin

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Ghostly International)

Release Spirit Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Canadian producer Dylan Khotin-Foote has kept his Khotin alias going for the better part of a decade; the impressionistic electronic project shifts with the movements in his life. Sometimes it leads, like when the club-friendly grooves of 2014's Hello World immersed him in the heart of Vancouver's underground dance scene, and sometimes it follows, like 2018's Beautiful You, a downtempo salve for DJ fatigue His melodic sensibility and playful ear for atmosphere remain the rippling core of the project's fingerprint; whether beat-driven or ambient, a foggy smear or a dusted and pristine print, a Khotin track has a distinct and instantly recognizable swirl. During and after the 2020 release of Finds You Well, his second LP on Ghostly International, Khotin-Foote settled back into a slower vibe in his hometown of Ed- monton. Even before the pandemic, his pivots to softer production, and away from DJing, left him with fewer opportunities in Vancouver and club bookings overall, and as a self-identifying introvert, he was fine with that. But the change of pace did open space for Khotin-Foote to grapple with concepts of adulthood and career. At his lowest, he almost walked off this musical path altogether; instead, he doubled down on the craft _ the tone, pacing, and dynamism of new material _ arriving at a definitive full-length. With Release Spirit, Khotin releases himself from the pressure of expectation, fusing and refining everything we know about his music. The warmth and familiarity of Khotin's dreamy, dulcet style meet new ideas and frameworks, a natural progression, a modest revelation; Khotin confirms it is okay to move slowly and he's never sounded better doing it. The album title borrows from the "release spirit" mechanic in the video game World of Warcraft. When players die, they are prompted to release their spirit and return as ghosts to find their corpses and come back to life. Khotin sees it as a worthy metaphor for the impending change his return home presented and the resulting process of purging artistic expectations to find his creative self again. On this go- around, he is freer, more playful, and more intentional within his palette of warped synth, breakbeats, and piano sounds _ including the classic Casio Sk-1 presets he's used since the start _ mingling with wistful samples, field recordings, and other abstract snippets. For the first time, he enlisted Nik Kozub to do the mix and assist with sequencing. Khotin-Foote has long worked with the Edmonton-based musician and engineer in the mastering phase, as well as their days co-running the label Normals Welcome, and this time was able to involve his ears earlier given their newfound proximity. "I think it's my best sounding record to date." We begin on "HV Road" or Happy Valley Road, where Khotin-Foote spent time during a family vacation in British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. His plans to record crickets at night are quickly foiled by his younger siblings; the cute exchange orients the listener to a core memory of sorts, setting the tone of universally understood warmth and wonder that has defined some of Khotin's most transportive tracks. Hazy percussion takes hold, and we are swept further into the wisp of "Lovely," a grooving, melodic standout built on the interplay between the beat and human voice-like hums. Khotin knows this zone well; equally suited for a reverie or a club warm-up. The bubbling atmosphere and absurdity of "3 pz" offer a cosmic/comic interlude and also speak to reflections on his family's move to Canada two generations ago, and the audio tutorials they used to learn English. "I can only imagine my grandpar- ents repeating some of the bizarre phrases." "Fountain, Growth" finds Khotin in collaboration with Montreal's Tess Roby (Dawn to Dawn) for the project's first-ever vocal track. Roby's soft cadence echoes atop spiraling air pockets of rhythmic production, lending a breezy, almost shoegaze pop feel. Throughout the single and the album, wind gusts between the compositional layers, akin to the roaming spirits of its namesake, curving around the birdsong of "Life Mask" and seamlessly reaching "Unlimited <3." The latter bumps in slow motion; disembodied whirrs from his Casio collide with 808 drums and sub-bass for a vibe that teeters on trap and instrumental hip-hop. Release Spirit rests in a dream sequence. Oscillating synth lines dance around the heartbeat of "Techno Creep," a hyperactive REM state before the digitized ambient sprawl of "My Same Size." In the final pass, Khotin imagines transcontinental travel from the glow of his screen. He recorded "Sound Gathering Trip" to soundtrack a genre of YouTube videos he's taken to that follows train routes through Europe and Japan. The scene is serene and moving; piano keys warble as static-filled sound design shimmers off the rails, from cityscapes to the countryside, an introspective ride through a world beyond his bedroom. It doubles as an apt parting image for Khotin's project as a whole: dreaming big but happiest when riffing on the details, shaping environments from the inside out. Over the last decade, he has stretched from his core in Edmonton, leaving a trace in Vancouver and beyond; but when all signs point home, he loops back to see it all from a different vantage, revitalized, refined, and free.

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Khotin

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Ghostly International)

2LP | 2024 | Original (Toy Tonics)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Kapote Presents

Italomania Volume 2

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Infinite Machine)

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Toy Tonics ITALOMANIA Vol. 2 is a compilation dedicated to NEW ITALIAN DISCO. (Not Italo Disco.)
13 young contemporary Italian producers made new organic disco, indie dance, avant pop and house tracks with Italian vocals.

Everything on this compilation has been produced in 2023. Fresh dance music by Italian indie electronic star Myss Keta together with DJ Severino (of Horse Meat Disco) and newcomers Sam Ruffillo, Fimiani, Magou, Tommiboy, Daniel Monaco, Giovanni Damico. And new music by artists Stump Valley (from Dekmantel), Munk (Gomma records), Rodion (Slow Motion Records) and DJ legend Lele Sacchi,

The ITALOMANIA compilation was initiated by Toy Tonics boss Kapote. The idea is to show the status of Italian Disco of today. It’s like a „manifesto“!
Kapote invited the most relevant Italian producers to make new tracks with Italian vocals and show different styles of modern Italian disco, dance and house music.
with Italian vocals. All tracks compiled by Kapote aka Mathias Modica aka Munk. Italo-German producer, DJ, keyboarder and head of Toy Tonics and Gomma records.

Italian Disco is not Italo Disco.
While the last years the slightly trashy pop music of the 1980’s called Italo Disco (with English lyrics) had a big revival. But now also the attention for more quality and organic dance music with Italian language is rising. This compilation is about this Italian Disco,
It’s a fact that not just in Italy but also in France and Germany there are now artists singing in Italian or using Italian words and names - even if they are not Italian.

Let’s not forget: The world’s culture of party, dancing, showbizness and pop music would be unimaginable without the heritage and creativity that Italians contributed.
Italy is not just the country of good food, beautiful beaches and high fashion, but it’s also the original country of dance music. Since almost 3000 years, since the ancient roman times the Italians have been making (dance) music culture, creating popular culture and being the maestros in organizing parties.
Also the disco wave of the 1970ies and the Pop music of the 1980ies has been co-created by Italians (and Italo-americans in New York).

The ITALOMANIA artists & tracklist:

M¥SS KETA
The most famous artist on the compilation is singer M¥SS KETA. The Italian press calls her "the Italian Lady Gaga“. M¥SS KETA is an edgy performer that reached the top of the charts with indie pop songs, but is also well rooted in the Milan art, fashion and LGTB scene.
To create a song for Italomania she teamed up with DJ Severino. The Italian part of London’s Horse Meat Disco DJ collective. Probably the world leading queer DJ team. (M¥SS KETA recently was invited to perform Berghain in Berlin).

Sam Ruffillo
Sam Ruffilo has contributed a new (party) version of his song Mediterranea. A organic disco track with lyrics in Neapolitan dialect. Sam Ruffillo is an upcoming Italian DJ and producer and one of the lead artists of Toy Tonics (along with Coeo, Kapote and Cody Currie). He had a few underground hits combining leftfield disco and Lofi House with Italian vocals creating a new genre that is finding lot of fans right now. One of his songs (Chiamami Subito) made it into the rotation of big Italian radio station M20. On Instrgam you can see his DJ sets where hundreds of Italians sing his songs at Toy Tonics parties.

Munk
Toy Tonics head honcho Kapote reworked the Munk song ‚La Musica‘ for this compilation. Munk is the former producer name of Mathias Modica aka Kapote. The creative mind behind Toy Tonics and Gomma records. ‚La Musica‘ is an Italo house song that he originally released 2010 when he was doing his former label Gomma records. Now there is this new version of this catchy dance song with the Italian hookline that became almost iconic when first released.
It made sense to include a new version of this track on ITALOMANIA because its a blueprint of italian disco and sounds so fresh again now.

Giovanni Damico
The south Italian DJ, producer made „Tropica“. The song is a tribute to the music of the Italian discos of south Italy of the 1980ies. A Balearic session that can be great at a beach in the afternoon, but also for dancing in the early morning. Damico is part of the new Italian disco scene releasing his dance tracks on international labels like Lumberjacks in hell and White Rabbit records since 2013.

Kapote
His new song „Sono tropical“ is an ironic Latin pop song based on a classic salsa piano riff and a strong Latin soul bassline. It reminds the big tunes from the 1970ies New York Salsa Scene (Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Fania All Stars). The vocals performed by Kapote are a mix of Italian and Spanish. The girl’s voice is also performed by Kapote. But transferred into a female voice by an AI. All instruments played by Kapote who before starting to get into the DJ and label business used to to study jazz piano. Before starting Toy Tonics Kapote he released 3 albums under his former name Munk and produced records with big names from the electronic music scene like James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, Peaches, The Rammellzee and three albums of Danish band WhoMadeWho. Mathias/ Kapote also worked with artists like Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture and Asia Argento.

Lele Sacchi
Lele Sacchi is an Italian DJ legend and host of Italy's most important DJ radio show on RAI national radio. He has been djing all around the world playing from Circoloco Ibiza to Avalon LA. He has Besides being on Italian national radio he has been doing shows on NTS Radio or guest on BBC Six. He produced for labels like Soul Clap, !K7, Internasjonal, Nervous, Snatch, Crosstown Rebels, Poker Flat and his own Stolen Goods imprint.
Sacchi teamed up with young vocalist Elasi, a new talent from Milano that is making waves in Italy for a few songs she released in a indie disco style. Their song is an interpretation of late 70’s cult slow disco pop classic ‘Malamore’ by the underdog Enzo Carella. A mix of slow house and playful pop with a slight touch of acid!

Tommiboy
Tommiboy made a nasty, disco rock song called Sfinge. Only 26 years old he is one of the most hyped up Italian disco diggers and collectors. Originally from Rimini, the capital of discos, he is the son of a father who was a regular dancer in Rimini’s clubs of the 1980is and fed his son with all things disco.
Tommiboy started to do parties and compilations under the name Disco Stupenda three years ago. By now he and his parties are a big thing in Italy and has fans all around the country. He also is DJ for fashion brands like Gucci and he is the guy who re-introduced 1980s stars like Pino D’Angio.

Fimiani aka BPlan
The DJ und producer from Napoli is part of the new, vibrant disco scene from Napoli. (NuGenea, Mystik Jungle, Manny Whodamanny )
His collabo with italian 1980ies crooner Angeleri called SessoSpaghetti is a remake of a song originally released in 1983, but never became famous when it came out. The drums on the song are played by Napoli legend Tullio De Piscopo and the guitar by Lucio Battisti guitar player Massimo Luca.
The new version is a ironic summer disco with sexy vocals and Italian fun rapping about beach life, beautiful girls and sex on the beach. Fimiani also does edits of rare italo disco under the name of BPlan

Daniel Monaco
Daniel Monaco is a multi-talented artist, producer, and bass player DJ, bandleader and producer from Napoli - but has been living for many years in Amsterdam where he hosted show on Red Light Radio released on Labels of the likes of Rush Hour and Bordello a Parigi. Is one of the key figures of the scene due to unique fusion of Italo Disco, Proto House, Obscure Disco, and a captivating tropical touch. His latest EPs came out on Slow Rush Hour records and Periodica Records contributed the song ‚Milly‘ for Italomania. Played with a 5 person band.

Stump Valley
The two DJs, producers and vinyl collector are experts in all things Italo Disco and Balearic music. Before joining Toy Tonics they released an album on Dekmantel records. One of the guys (Brain de Palma) is the favorite DJ of Peggy Gou. He is regularly opening the shows of Peggy as a warm up DJ and releases his solo records on Peggy's label Gudu records. For this compilation they made Non dire di no. An old school piano house track with catchy vocals in the finest tradition of the piano house style that Italians invented in the early 1990ies.

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Galtier

Pulchra Es Elementis

LP | 2024 | CA | Original (Constellation)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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With 10 years in the 'biz' firmly under his belt, Jiah Wells is poised to release the first full-length LP of his Galtier project, Pulchra Es Elementis. Whilst Galtier is arguably one of the originators of the percussive style that would eventually fall under the Hard Drum label, the heightened theatrics of his recent output have seen him channel Blade Runner-styled sonics and move further away from absolute club functionality. Whilst Galtier's output often seems to soundtrack hypothetical, off-planet words, Pulchra Es Elementis turns the focus inwards: towards Wells' own emotional constellation, his evolving spirituality and his attempts to tap into planes of existence beyond the tangible. The album's Latin title translates to 'Elements are Beautiful' and encapsulates the artist's belief that there is grace in all of life's aspects; pushing past what we deem as good or bad, minuscule or massive.

Pulchra Es Elementis begins with Crystalised Larva, a brooding opener of breathy pad synths and expansive kick drums which reverberate through the mix as if the hits originate from the bottom of a valley. There's an indistinct sense of tension on this track, in part due to a central melody, which never resolves but only descends lower in pitch. This tension turns to explorative wonder on Wilfull Saviour, where a mirage of musical ideas come in and out of focus. Although the sonic worlds Galtier explores are internal to him, Wilfull Saviour still possesses that sense of a cosmic journey we've come to expect from Wells; an ardent fan of dystopian films and literature.

Continuing this emotional odyssey, Bruised, But Not Broken sees the artist push deeper into the psychological undergrowth; its murky tonality juxtaposes crisp, Reggaeton-inspired drum patterns with a heavily compressed one-note synth line that modulates wildly - cutting through the mix like a nagging thought that won't leave your mind. Next up is U Were, U Are & What U Will Be, one of the more club-ready tracks of the LP, which gets us moving with a snarling bassline and layers upon layers of percussive hits and inflections.

At Pulchra Es Elementis' mid-point is the LP's title track, a drumless interlude where blissful, shimmering synths create a patchwork of intensities. Galtier's approach to songwriting shines through here; ignoring musical pragmatics, he opts to feel his way through his compositions without knowing where they might end up. Following on from that weightless breather, Phantasiai turns up the freneticism with its head-spinning mix of drum programming and a glitched-out synth line that yo-yos up and down octaves. Things get even more furious on the Superficie-featuring Cavernam, a hollow Hard Drum banger inspired by Eskibeat sensibilities and designed to create a sense of self-implosion.

The album's penultimate track, (U Are) Beautiful, is a tale of two halves: beginning with a moment of serenity as synthesizers swell like an ocean tide before evolving into a marching crescendo of raw energy. Rounding off the album, Shine Forth hurtles through pacey drum work and all manner of strange zaps and klaxons before giving way to a final dose of nebulous ambience.

A musical journey unlike any other 'club music' albums, Pulchra Es Elementis is an LP that demands to be consumed in one sitting. Reflecting on his place within the universe and the musical landscape, the album could be viewed as a musical exorcism which sees Galtier working through and shedding huge chunks of his ego that stuck to him out of fear of the unknown. Pulchra Es Elementis begins on an insecure, overwhelming or, even, existential note before rounding off with a related sense of vastness seen with new, more positive eyes. It's a voyage we hope you will join him on.

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Kee Avil

Spine

2LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Pressure)

Release: 2024 / CA – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie, Electronic & Dance

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The follow-up to Kee Avil's acclaimed 2022 debut Crease: "A stunning debut" (The Quietus); "A whiplash style of uninhibited exploration" (The Wire); "Kee Avil's debut is a force" (Foxy Digitalis); "A work of Frankensteinian wonder" (Electronic Sound); "A tightly coiled, finely wrought vision of avant-pop" (Exclaim); "A debut of fiendish creativity" (Bandcamp Album Of The Day / Albums Of The Year) Kee Avil's music is both adventurous and intimate, intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. The Montréal guitarist and producer's 2022 debut LP Crease garnered plaudits from outlets like The Wire, The Quietus, Mojo and Foxy Digitalis, picking up a Canadian Juno Award nomination and Bandcamp Album Of The Day and Albums Of The Year along the way. Its intricate construction, unnerving atmospheres, and knife-edge take on avant-pop prompted comparisons to early PJ Harvey, This Heat, and Gazelle Twin. A remix EP with work by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Cecile Believe, and Pelada brought collaborative perspectives to four Crease tracks, offering new pathways within those songs. With Spine, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. She calls it folk… and while traditionalists might scoff, this is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There's a hypnotic post-punk somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time's passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Each track intentionally only has four elements - guitar, electronics, and two other instruments, with Kee's voice and guitar pushed to the front. Within this minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief. "We're shaped by many versions of ourselves," says Avil. "I was looking back at these versions of myself and what could have been, what didn't end up being and what did end up being, and going back like that through time. Seeing the future, the past." Spine was written in Kee Avil's home studio after a lapse in writing while touring Crease and working on other projects. She is a well-known and respected member of the Montréal experimental scene, and formerly ran Concrete Sound Studio with Zach Scholes, who continues to work with her as a producer on Spine. Compared to the three years that went into making her debut, Spine emerged in a matter of months - a process that may also be a factor in its intensity and sharpness: "This record was much harder, like it was really discovering everything from scratch." In her desire to not simply replicate or extend the sound of Crease, she felt she had to rip up the rule book, write in a different way, and pare back songs against her usual instincts. Sometimes, when we work against our ingrained habits, we get to the core of who we really are. Spine is an exercise in that process. Without over-intellectualizing or being didactic, it hits immediately and emotionally, especially if you are a person who has spent much time in the process of self-examination. Kee's voice hisses, whispers, and chants; her guitar bends and rings; electronics skitter and crackle; violin creaks like a door in the wind. There is something so evocative about the atmospheres she creates that it's easy to overlay one's own feelings onto her work, but to do that wholly would be to overlook one of the most important things about Spine: Kee Avil's clear and thoughtful vision. This isn't just the next step forward in her artistic trajectory; it's a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen that has much to reveal about the contradictions inherent in being human. - jj skolnik

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Ghost Dubs

Damaged

2LP | 2021 | US | Original (Dead Oceans)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Ghost Dubs, real name Michael Fiedler, aka Jah Schulz, announces a rebirth with 'Damaged', his first album for The Bug's Pressure label. Having recently dropped two criminally overlooked, experimental dub LPs, with his 'Dub Over Science' series, the German producer/bass specialist, now stretches his own parameters of outwardness still further, with these twelve fresh explorations of dub deviance.

For those who feel the fusion of dub techno and ambient drone had creatively ended with the demise of the short lived, Berlin based Chain Reaction label. Ghost Dubs now upgrades and extends that legendary blueprint's abstract methodology even further and deeper, floating away upon a wonderfully warm sea of hiss and static bliss. This is dub so atomized that it disintegrates within your eardrums. Its music, where the machines take over and virtually all traces of humanity are erased. But thankfully, the warmest soul still oozes seductively from the pores of Fiedler's robo riddims. Relentlessly hypnotic, seriously sedated, 'Damaged' celebrates the point of departure within its mesmerising low-end grooves.

Album opener 'Chemical', provides an opiated slo-mo skank, which sounds like Plastikman's 'Consumed' era pulsations drenched heavily in sub aquatic fx. A triumph of surface noise surfing and sub-woofer testing relentlessness, it provides the perfect intro to this compellingly immersive album. For batty shakers and headtrippers alike, there's added thrills aplenty, as Ghost Dub's richter scale tremor rhythms remain impressively massive, and the atmospheric depths of 'Damaged' appear tantalisingly oceanic. Throughout the duration of the dreamy selection, there is an obsessive balance of bewitching ambience and heavyweight bassbin shaking.

The lead single 'Thin Line' itself provides a missing link between African Headcharge's early percussive body probes and Rhythm & Sound's addictive radiance, with the slightest hint of Burial's doomed romantic hauntology added for good taste. Alternately, and no less gracefully, 'Dub Lobotomy' bizarrely resembles Miles Davis 'Get Up with it' chopped, screwed, and relocated to a futuristic Kingston Town. Impressive indeed, Fiedler's mastery of live dubbing on his mixing desk shines accross the duration, and gives the album an improvised edge, and sense of peripheral chaos.

Elsewhere, spooked steppers ('Hot Wired'), haunting house ('True to life') and 4th World psychogeography ('Undone'), combine to ensure there is a forever changing mixture of flavours percolating within the admirable consistency of the overall sound. With a tip of the cap, and nod of the head to Pole ('Second Thoughts'), it’s no surprise then that Pressure would then turn to the great, Berlin based producer Stefan Betke, to master/cut this collection at his infamous Scape mastering room. And a fine job he did too, as high quality sound and levels are definitely maintained throughout.

If you like your melodies submerged, your dub narcotic, your basslines obese, and your beats evaporating, 'Damaged' provides the perfect prescription and entry point into Ghost Dub's spectral soundworld.

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Khruangbin

Mordechai Remixes

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Sferic)

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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“The art of the remix has been around for several decades, from the fervid imaginations of JA pioneers like Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid or King Tubby to the disco enthusiasts of New York, such as Tom Moulton, who bequeathed us the modern iteration of the remix and provided a template from which most remixers still work. Moulton's first commercial remix, a reworking of BT Express' appropriately-named `Do It 'Till You're Satisfied', which stretched it from three minutes to a luxurious five, assisted the band in securing its first Billboard R&B Number One, as well as providing a pathway for remixers like Walter Gibbons, Larry Levan, Richie Rivera and Tee Sott, to completely reinvent the concept of a remix (and in some instances, deconstructing the idea of what comprised a song). It has subsequently been used as a marketing tool, a dancefloor-devastator, a gimmick (both cheap and expensive) or even as a way of reaching a different audience (think Tori Amos' `Professional Widow'). Khruangbin are no slouches when it comes to the remix themselves. They've been reworked before, in 2016, with the highly collectible EP on Boogiefuturo. But this time, they're taking it a step further with an album dedicated to the art. Entering the tight-knit world of a Khruangbin song can be a little daunting. They have created this entire universe in which the trio seem to function telepathically in the way the music is composed, arranged and played. To mess with their delicate eco-system can invoke feelings similar to that of an unwanted guest crashing a good-time party. "We write our music to be interpreted; this is another wonderful interpretation of the music," reassure Khruangbin. "There is something very vulnerable about letting others work on your music. But through the correspondence with the different artists, we gained a bigger connection to the songs themselves." The choice of remixers for this album is neither arbitrary nor accidental. They're not names picked randomly out of a hat or chosen via a throw of the dice. All have some connection to the band, sometimes personal friendships, musical connections, or simply mutual musical appreciation. Harvey Sutherland and Ginger Roots have both toured with the band, Kadhja Bonet and Ron Trent had their own mutual fan club going on, Knxwledge sampled `White Gloves' on a recent mixtape, Natasha Diggs and Soul Clap's Eli's are recent buddy-ups, Quantic is a mutual friend of Bonobo (crucial in the KB origin story), while I've known Laura for number of years; plus she is also godmother to one of Felix Dickinson's kids. Doesn't get much more intimate than that, right? Some of these remixes were specifically made so you can dance your ass off while getting down to the Khruangbin sound, while some might better be appreciated horizontally with headphones on, wearing fashionably loose clothes. The choice is yours. But all were made with love and respect for Khruangbin. "A good remix deconstructs, recontextualizes, or simply extends a good time," say the band. Amen and out." - Bill Brewster

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Bianca Scout

Pattern Damage

28,99 €*

2x12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Hc Records)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The Newcastle-born, south London-based dancer, musician and performer Bianca Scout follows solo releases, and collaborations with Space Afrika, Klein, Coby Sey, Mica Levi, Ben Vince and Elena Isolini, with a spellbinding new album. Heralding an age of gothic, technocratic dystopia, in ‘Pattern Damage’ Scout weaves a patchwork of narcotic vocals, blunted after-hours ambience, and chopped-n-screwed sacred music. “The name Pattern Damage flipped in my brain when I was thinking about people’s trauma and patterns of behaviour,” Scout explains. “It has a double meaning. It’s not just the pattern of damage that’s happened to you, the cycle of abuse; pattern damage can also mean the damage that you do to a cycle, to break the pattern.” We hear this pattern break throughout the record, in the cacophonous noise collage of ‘Intro,’ and the labyrinthine chops of strings and voice in ‘Lead Us’. It’s also present in the unadorned yearning and exquisite anger of the heart-rending vocals of ‘Forest Spirit’ and ‘Almost Nothing’, courtesy of Darkmarik, the musical alias of movement artist Malik Nashad Sharpe. Recorded as one-take voice notes sent to Scout while Sharpe took part in an artist residency deep in the forest, here, their voice pierces through melancholy gloam, another sad cycle broken. “As an album it does feel like a dance,” reflects Scout. “It feels like movement.” Calling back to her roots in dance, there is haunted choreography in ‘Chances’, a sultry instrumental elevated into an autotune prayer, punctuated by fits of dusty breaks and smothered percussion. In ‘Desert’ too, recorded by Scout and power electronics mainstay Martyn Reid under their Marina Zispin moniker, demure cold-wave pulse is picked out in Korg licks and Reid’s doom-laden voice, as he reads out an account of one of Scout’s dreams. Yet it’s ‘Passage / Reversal / Fortune’, a collaboration with another movement artist, Kendra Chiagoro-Noel, who appears here as Nwakke, that unfurls most like contemporary dance, with Scout flipping Allegri’s ‘Miserere Mei Deus’ into a whirl of vocal harmony that Chiagoro-Noel then remixes again, producing and writing the latter half of the song, casting both of their voices adrift on a shared ocean of sound. “There are spirits,” Scout asserts. “Nwakke and I have talked so much about what the difference is between a soul and a spirit.” Bianca has performed at Royal Academy of Arts, the Serpentine Gallery and Turner Contemporary for Mark Leckey’s ‘In The Offing’. She choreographed ‘The Heart Of The Anchoress’ at Southbank Centre, alongside music by Peter Broderick and Specimens. She recorded a BBC 6 Music Live session as part of Marina Zispin, whilst further radio action has come from BBC 6 Music, NTS, Resonance Extra, Noods, and Balamii. Press support for Bianca has included Fact, Crack, The Ransom Note, DJ Mag, Resident Advisor, Loud and Quiet and Inverted Audio.

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The Lost Boys

Exiles Of Mars EP

LP | 2023 | CA | Original (Constellation)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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In the centre of deep space we tune in to the radio broadcasts from an old Class T interstellar spaceship. The emissions endlessly resonate the frequencies of the seventeenth release on the label HC Records by one of the titans of the Valencian scene, The Lost Boys, new pseudonym of the DJ and producer Raszia.

With releases on labels such as Bass Agenda, Subsist or Hxagrm Records, the artist mesmerises our senses with the Exiles of Mars Ep, available in both double vinyl and digital.

Syncopated rhythms are the protagonists across four original tracks together with remixes by four electro legends: Boris Divider, Estrato Aurora, Dark Vektor, and Filmmaker.

The EP’s first cut is a remix of "Wall Of Bricks" by the legendary Boris Divider, which gives the track an air of crystalline, synthetic and cosmic sound, very much in line with his latest works on the Generative Operations series. Next, we find the original version, where the kick drums are heavier, the synths and basses more colourful and the acid sequences take centre stage in an odyssey of sidereal intensity.

On the record’s flip side, a feeling of overwhelming melancholy takes root in our soul. Valencian Estrato Aurora mentally transports us to the mysterious red sand of Mars in a precise exercise in symphonic minimalism with his remix of "Exiles of Mars", which mutates the original idea with velvety pads, synths and a slow and rapturous hypnotism that sinks us to unfathomable depths. The Lost Boys' original concept on B2 is a combination of Miami Bass-style breaks and a demonic mantra-like main synth line, backed by what seems like an infinity of pearly effects and secondary melodies, pushing the track towards a crescendo punctuated by a dry and sharp snare.

The second disc’s opener "Bust My Moves" is a masterclass in deconstruction and reconstruction by Dark Vektor with his "Electro Escuadrón Remix”. The genius from Terrassa provides powerful lyrics loaded with a message about the modern rise of the 808 movement. We return to the original Lost Boys version on C2, a futuristic martial discourse takes shape with combating breaks combined with rave chords and brief episodes of respite, almost dreamlike, in the middle and end of the track’s exciting development.

On the D side, rough frequencies verging on distortion materialise through our ship's speakers as we pick up the Colombian Filmmaker’s remix of "Data Recovery For Brains". A psychotronic final appetiser that combines harshness and elegance in the use of the rolling kick drums and saturation of the sound, it is without a doubt the ideal soundtrack to narrate the collision of two galaxies. The closing of the EP features the original track, in which The Lost Boys show us his most mental and lysergic side as the track progresses along a slow and comforting broken rhythm, made dynamic by clever use of diverse acid sequences and clairvoyant stellar melodies.

The complete artistic experience is enhanced in all dimensions with accompanying artwork by Daniel Requeni and videos elaborated by Frank-F.

Mastering as usual by Steve Voidloss at Black Monolith Studios in London (uk).

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ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT

Darling The Dawn

Release: 2023 / CA – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie, Electronic & Dance

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ALL Hands_make Light is the recently minted duo of Ariel Engle (La Force, Patrick Watson, Broken Social Scene) and Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion). Longtime friends, collaborators, and stalwarts of the Montréal post-punk community, this is their first full-fledged project together. Ah_ml weaves these two unique voices through lustrous tendrils of blown-out tones and drones, expanding on Menuck's eponymous modular and analog synth-based work of recent years, now imbued with an additionally searing, soulful warmth and melodicism through Engle's singing. "Darling The Dawn" is a spellbinding album of preternaturally genre-bending sonics and songwriting: a sort of electronic shoegaze suffused with freak-folk, kosmische, darkwave and post-industrial, flowing from ambient minimalism to pulsing maximalism, conjuring traditionals sung in the haze of earliest light accompanied by overdriven circuit boards powered with ungrounded wires. Engle and Menuck see ALL Hands_make Light in a folk lineage traced through the likes of Pentangle and Trees to White Magic and Amps For Christ. While there's no discernable guitar or acoustic instrumentation on the album (warm distorted synths provide the palette, along with signal-processed violin from fellow-traveller Jessica Moss), off-kilter drone incantations like "A Sparrow's Lift" and "A Workers' Graveyard (Poor Eternal)" perhaps sit most overtly within these seams of the skewed-folk substratum. The dichotomic ritualism of Can is an adjacent signpost, where methodical longform soundscaping combines with a feeling of extemporized immediacy. The album's tremendous 10-minute centerpieces "We Live On A Fucking Planet And Baby That's The Sun" and the motorik-driven "The Sons And Daughters Of Poor Eternal" also make this influence explicit thanks in part to the resplendent drumming of guest Liam O'Neil (Suuns), who helps propel both tracks to their spiralling peaks. Above all it's the singing and lyrics, in method and melodic delivery, that conjure certain freak-folk furrows. Engle calls this "music inspired by ancestor music, sea shanties for seas we've never sailed" and the duo have indeed forged a collection on "Darling The Dawn" where vocals often feel strangely rooted in traditionals, while the instrumentation resonates out-of-time, in a liminal space at once glisteningly synthetic and oxidized in analog patina. As the album title suggests, sleepless anxiety/euphoria and a sense of somatic channeling is vital to these songs: "I mostly kept the first thought I had, like a cold read, I wanted the melodies to be immediate and to surprise me, not a laboured process; it's about being a weather vane, guided by preconscious impulses" says Engle. For Menuck, the record started "with an idea of making a long thing about `the Dawn', the different weights of its radiance, the way it kisses our dumb faces when we rise and leave the night behind, the heaviness of that light when you haven't slept." "Darling The Dawn" captures a wholly compelling collaboration between Engle and Menuck in an album of genuine thematic power, thrumming with alternately tender and serrated beauty as only their combined strengths and sensibilities could conjure. Thanks for listening.

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More Of That Frightful Oompty-Boompty Music: A Spun Out Sampler Part 2

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Spun Out)

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Discrepant)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Spun Out Agency is honoured to present ‘More of that Frightful Oompty Boompty Music’, a compilation dedicated to the Guv’nor himself Mr Andrew Weatherall who should need no introduction on these pages. Released on vinyl in two beautiful parts, the first drops on April 15th with the second following two weeks after.

‘More of that Frightful Oompty Boompty Music’ (yes we are going to write that out every time we talk about it in this communique) showcases a selection of the shining greatness from the agency’s roster. Paranoid London, Fantastic Twins, Mehmet Aslan, Autarkic, Ruf Dug, Sean Johnston, and Manfredas gift exclusive tracks which highlight the sublime acid, techno and house sound that Weatherall would have described as “oopmty-boompty” music.

Spun Out is a London-based artist booking agency which has been run by Caroline Hayes for over 20 splendid years, that looked after the life and times of Andrew Weatherall alongside his partnership with Sean Johnston under their A Love From Outer Space moniker, and the likes of Optimo (Espacio), Ivan Smagghe, Josh Caffe, Man Power, Body Hammer, Kiara Scuro and many more artists, doing it differently.

Kicking off the A-side of the first record is Hardway Bros’ (aka Sean Johnston) previously unreleased remix of We Are The Axis by The Asphodells, the duo consisting of the Andrew Weatherall and former Battant member and Spun Out talent Timothy J. Fairplay. An energetic techno stomper with percussive rhythms, this exclusive remix offers the ideal tantalising dose to tease any dancefloor. The vocals and synth layers give it a punk rock approach, referencing the multi-genre essence of Weatherall’s taste in music.

Tel-Aviv-based Autarkic’s Sleepover closes the A-side with a chuggy lullaby, one that is certainly unsuitable for putting a baby to bed, given its intricate acid lines of total hypnosis. Following on the B-side is Manctalo Banger, a house bop by the Manchester-via-Ibiza computer game nerd and vinyl digger Ruf Dug, and Shizowaves, Turkish-born Basel-based Mehmet Aslan’s soulful touch to the compilation, bringing Middle-Eastern percussive melodies and catchy basslines.

The second record is introduced by Paranoid London, with a Spun Out dedicated acid techno banger appropriately titled Spinning Out and Fantastic Twins’ EBM track Kali’s Tongue Was A Weapon. On the B-side is Lithuanian chug legend Manfredas’ Hfuhruhurr, and Naum Gabo, who closes the compilation with the chaotic analogue-synth frenzy, Cold Sold. The name Naum Gabo may evoke the pioneer of Russian constructivism, who rose to fame thanks to his crazy kinetic sculptures. However, here it manifests as one half of Spun Out’s Optimo duo Jonnie Wilkes (JG Wikes) and James Savage. The duo’s impeccable manipulation of electronic hardware couldn’t give a better homage to him.

Some highlights for Spun Out artists this summer include 9 acts from the roster playing at Houghton Festival, Paranoid London’s show at Sonar Festival, Love International Festival and Ransom Note’s festival with Optimo Watching Trees.

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Wukir Suryadi

Siklus Dan Doa

20,99 €*

12" | 2023 | UK | Original (Wave Music)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Born in 1977, in Malang, East Java, Wukir Suryadi began playing music for theatre at the age of 12 with the Idiot Thea-ter Studio, and later with the Rendra Theater Workshop. In his solo work, and as a member of Senyawa, Error Scream, Bendera Hitam Setengah, Potro Joyo and other groups, Wukir breaks the boundaries of traditional music, death metal and avant-garde performance. On this new release, “Cycle and Prayer,” recorded in 2023, he expands the edges of his unique artistic world further, by digging in to meditative improvisation, art, and community building in his home workshop in the mountains of central Java. These recordings vibrate inwards, toward the microcosmic ecolo-gies of forests and rivers; they distort outwards, resonating with global waves of apocalyptic change that are forcing all living beings to the edges of existence on earth. The result is a meditative poem that moves, as its titles announce, from phenomena to phenomena, praying that humans find a way out from the depths of the depths to the light that illu-minates the soul.

An essential mode of creative work for Wukir is the creation of unique instruments, using these sound sources as “bul-lets of expression.” In addition to the spear-like tube zither Bambu Wukir, he has created the Solet, Enthong, Garu, Luku, Arrows, and Industrial Mutant instruments, which in addition to being used in live performance, have been ex-hibited in the Instrument Builders Project and the 2017 Jakarta Biennale. In the past few years, Wukir has begun to collaborate with local guitar makers, carpenters, and suppliers of native endemic wood in the mountain region of Salati-ga. Using earthen bricks along with local woods (suren, coconut, mindi, and waru lengis) as building materials, he con-structed a new studio and workshop space in Tingkir, where this album was made. The trees, water and air of the local environment have exerted a powerful influence in Wukir’s documentations of instrumental sound. On this recording, he uses the simple Cetta guitar, an instrument designed in Bali and made for Indonesian children and local communities of folk and popular musicians, in order to explore the different sonic characteristics of a more “normal” instrument built from local wood.

The themes of the album -- cycle and prayer -- arise from a foreboding series of meta-events that shook Indonesia and the world over the past years, following one after the other: the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian-Russian war, the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy in which football supporters were gassed and killed by police, revelations of government failures and corruption, the rise of personal vehicles, the increasing disturbance of natural patterns of the rainy season and other ecological cycles. “In these waves of technology and narratives of truth made for certain interests, playing a sound at a certain frequency and repeating can try to bring images and feelings to a certain point of consciousness,” Wukir told me. “Sound is a prayer that creates a change, whether gradual or rapid, in the behaviour of living things, to face the demands of the time, as humans struggle to live according to what they believe.” The drawings and sketches used for the cover spontaneously emerged alongside the recordings, as an instinctive depiction of “time and sound, nature that is outside of oneself, and nature that is within.”

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François K.

Fk-Ep

14,99 €*

Andrzej Marko / Andre Mikola

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Francois Kevorkian is a name that should need no introduction. With over 40 years in the game FK has occupied numerous roles in his long and storied career - drummer, DJ, A&R man, remixer and producer - his skills know no boundaries. Having DJ-ed during the nascent days of club culture in NYC alongside Walter Gibbons, Larry Levan and more, Kevorkian has been there from day one. Years spent in the seminal clubs of the day sharpened his ears and his prowess behind the mixing desk saw him become the A&R man at the legendary Prelude records in the early 80's, this in turn led to him working with everyone from The Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Erasure, D-Train, Yazoo, The Smiths, Kraftwerk and many many more. A true NYC original and legend, Kevorkian is still active today and the respect he commands amongst his peers has never waned, his adventurous extended DJ sets, seminal mixes and remixes and his open ears and open mind have ensured that he will go down in history as a musical pioneer.

Rewind to 1995. Kevorkian's 'Wave Music' imprint has come into existence with a handful of releases. No-one could imagine that his self-produced 'FK EP' - the next release on the label - would be a stone cold classic. Easily one of the most consistent, exciting and solid EP's to come out of NYC during this golden era of dance music. Across 4 tracks we are taken on a sound journey through a world that is undoubtedly informed by FK's time as an engineer, DJ and most importantly, a music lover.

EP opener 'Hypnodelic' brings us into this world, a deep, driving cut that fuses the dubbed out vocals of Freddie Turner against FK's keyboards and immaculate drum programming, oozing cosmic electronic soul, this track was destined to be a future classic. 'Mindspeak' also boasts some tough drums and with a respectful nod to Chicago is an incredibly mixed and arranged peak-time cut that will drive your dancefloor into deep space again and again. 'Edge Of Time' welcomes us to the flipside of the EP, wild Latin percussions, tablas and old school horn stabs drive this monstrous cut, not to mention cavernous dub FX and that huge bassline that just doesn't let up. Essential. 'Moov' rounds things out on a more subdued, stripped back vibe. Reversed percussions and spaced-out synth chords lace this beautifully understated and warm track, one that builds into a crescendo of melodies and hypnotic rhythms and the perfect way to close what has been a truly special musical journey.

This essential reissue of the 'FK EP' has been fully licensed, sanctioned and remastered in conjunction with FK from the original master sources by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK, repressed onto high quality vinyl and packaged as the 1995 release was. A truly classic record indeed, available again for 2018. Welcome back Wave Music!

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Fly Me To The Sun (Coloursound)

LP | 1983 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Language Of Sound)

Release: 1983 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Fly Me To The Sun is a breathtaking German library gem from the hallowed Coloursound label. Originally out in 1983 it features two Polish composers, Andrzej Marko and André Mikola. If outré synth-funk is your thing, you need this record.

Almost blindingly luminous with positive vibes and radiant optimism, Fly Me to the Sun is a collection of funky, sun-dappled compositions for synthesizer and live instruments like drums, bass and guitar. A dope blend of beatbox driven future jazz and electro pop.

The wonderfully sleaze-adjacent opener "Dhamma" includes some grandiose piano chords amid floating ambient sounds a la Steve Hillage with slick drums entering the fray at a languid pace. "Circulation" sounds like Bowie ran into Chaz Jankel during an extended stay in Los Angeles, the Thin White Duke emerging out of a studio at 6am, bleary-eyed and clutching this filthy, bleepy instrumental of sonic smut. "Magic Scenery" is as delicate and astounding as the title suggests, a deep ambient movement conjuring halcyon images of rolling fields with abundant fauna and flora; acid-tinged visions of intense colour and natural beauty. Cool, slo-mo breaks adorn the strutting melancholy of “Longing for Tomorrow” and “Nocturnal Flowers” to close out Side A.

Skip the title track, which opens up Side B, and head straight to “Birth of a Butterfly” for a slice of creeping digi-dub-soul niceness. This should've been front and centre of that Personal Space compilation a decade ago. Raising both the tempo and the temperature, “Riding on a Sunbeam” continues in the mesmerising cosmic funk style before "Osmosis", one of the clear stand-outs, presents a fine vintage synth solo over a mellow funky rubberband beat. The closing track, "Solar Heating", warms things up with slapped bass and bold drum machine beats and the synth lends Sci-Fi vibes to the dark dub-funk-reggae rhythm.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Fly Me To The Sun comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

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Gigi Masin

Vahine'

2LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Leng)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Widely-loved electronic maestro Gigi Masin returns with ‘Vahinè' – a mini album of beautiful and distinct music that is unmistakably his, sounding better than ever.

Masin always pours his heart into composing, but here it takes on a potent new level of heavy emotion – as it’s a tribute to his late wife, who sadly passed away last year.

“There is a Tahitian dance called ‘Aparima’. It consists of graceful, sinuous and fascinating movements, which tell you stories and legends about love or tradition. The ‘Vahinè' are now dancing, the Tahitian females, with smiles and gestures that could be symbolic or descriptive but are always gentle, harmonious, charming. I was watching this documentary, it was almost 4 in the morning, but I couldn't sleep; I was in front of the television for hours, my wife had passed away the day before, and I was watching hands and arms swaying.

I told myself that maybe it’s so, at the end of the road it’s possible to realize dreams, and I’m sure that she is finally able to dance like never before, and is able to move without any impediment, with no suffering, free to make all the movements that she couldn't make for so long, turning to me with a smile and a wink. So, in the clouds, you will discover and see an extraordinary 'Vahinè', because she will move and dance and smile until the end of time.” Gigi Masin

A future-retro dreamscape where stripes of early evening sun pour through partially closed venetian blinds; kalimba, piano and steel pans meet on the incredibly evocative ‘Marilene (Somewhere in Texas)’.

The Balearic/Italo house heart of ‘Barumini’ throbs throughout a celestial epiphany, whilst ‘Shadye’ is a sun blinded ambient mirage where angelic voices and electric guitar intertwine, before more heavenly music ensues on the trance-like ‘Malvina’.

A heart-wrenchingly beautiful evocation of transitioning to the other side, ‘Valerie Crossing’ is Gigi’s compelling and inspirational take on death, with a vivid evocation of something spiritual, existential and metaphysical. His exemplary approach shows decease not as a cause for despair, but a philosophical and poetic exploration of where souls go, when they leave their earthly bodies.

Masin closes with ‘Vahinè' – a twitchy, levitational piece of sublime deep techno, which transmits high strength vibrations of powerful emotions. On both this track, and the album of the same name, there’ s no pseudo intellectual ambient posturing with cod academic angles tagged on; This is music of real substance, coming from a real place. It’s saturated with feelings, but turns mourning into affecting art, and even a beacon of hope.

Helmed by the deftly talented Alessia Avallone, Language Of Sound is new record label which marks ‘Vahine’ as its maiden voyage. Language Of Sound is also a management company founded in 2017, with singular talents Ron Trent, Lyra Pramuk, Huerco S, Carmen Villain, Gigi Masin, Paquita Gordon and Soundwalk Collective on their impeccable roster. Dedicated to facilitating ideal conditions for artists to flourish, where appropriate Avallone also collaborates creatively, including the video for Gigi Masin’s ‘Marilene (somewhere in Texas)’ which she produced and directed.

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Lex

Waving

33,99 €*

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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It can take a while for an artist to find their musical voice. For Alex Andrikopoulos, it’s been a journey that’s taken the best part of two decades. Now he’s set to mark a major milestone in his transition from record store owner, label co-founder and DJ to producer with the release of his long-promised first solo album for Leng, Waving. The Greek artist first joined the Leng Records roster in the autumn of 2020 and has since gone in to release the acclaimed ‘Punta Allen’ EP for the imprint. Before that, he spent the first decade of the century running the popular Radical Sounds record shop in Athens, before refocusing on running Quantized Music with fellow DJ/producer Tolis Q and developing his DJ career, where his unique blends of disco, house and techno tracks earned him bookings at some of Europe’s most storied clubs.

Waving, which appears on the back of a handful of fine EPs for a variety of labels, is his boldest and strongest statement yet as a musician and producer. Created with a little help from guest musicians and collaborators including keyboardist Artis Boriss, bassist Brotha Gilla, percussionists Ilario Arnel and Harold Perez, pianist Luciano Ledesma and guitarist Alex Searle, the album brilliantly blurs the boundary between 21st century disco, afternoon-ready downtempo grooves, and the kind of dancefloor-minded Balearic fare that’s devilishly difficult to pigeonhole.

Fittingly, the set begins with previous single ‘Punta Allen’, an eight-minute chunk of organic dancefloor goodness which slowly unfurls before rising towards and gorgeous and joyous conclusion, and ends with the squelchy, slo-mo cosmic funk of ‘Patrol Di Caribe’, where trippy synthesizer lines, layered percussion and more tuneful style pan style lead ins catch the ear.

In between, highlights are plentiful, from the driving, piano solo-laden dub disco brilliance of ‘Down My Soul’ and the languid, sun-kissed, beach-ready downtempo grooves of ‘The Jamail Pass’, to the rubbery, pitched-down electrofunk of ‘Window Spells’ (featuring a fine lead vocal from Max Giovara, the flash-friend, dubwise Balearic funk of ‘Waving’, and the throbbing brilliance of ‘La Di Da Di’, whose crunchy Clavinet lines, fluid electric piano solos, snappy drums and pulsating, arpeggio-style bass encapsulate all that is good about the album.

The digital edition of the album also comes bundled with eight more tracks not featured on the double-vinyl LP. Featuring the same blend of expansive musicality, organic drums and dancefloor nous, this octet effectively extends the album via a string of similarly playable, club-ready and sofa-friendly tracks. Standouts include the non-stop, nu-disco-meets-house excellence of ‘Large Stacks’, Hammond-laced head-nodder ‘Take The High Road’, horizontal Balearic funk shuffler ‘Prezend’ and hazy, vocal-sporting dub disco roller ‘Angels of Rhythm’, which previously appeared on the flipside of Lex’s ‘Punta Allen’ 12”.

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More Of That Frightful Oompty-Boompty Music: A Spun Out Sampler Part 1

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Spun Out)

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Dekmantel)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Parrish Smith

Light, Cruel & Vain

18,74 €* 24,99 € -25%

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (99Chants)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Parrish Smith is never one to let you breathe easy. As a globally renowned DJ, he’s become synonymous with high-velocity sets that cut and collide through his distinct array of obscure sounds. Meanwhile, however, the artist has been carefully constructing his own musical idiom. Manoeuvring his most delicate and most defiant feelings, Light Cruel & Vain (Dekmantel Records, 2022) is the first fruit of that painstaking process. A compilation of ‘imperfect music’, the record is shrouded in the artist’s characteristic veil of mystery. As always, his sound cuts and chokes – sometimes cruelly, sometimes soothingly – yet this record offers a new, longer, lighter gulp of air. Here, Parrish Smith bares his most private process so far: one of personal transformation and becoming a better version of oneself.

Light Cruel & Vain was developed over the course of nearly three years, following nearly a decade of individual experimentation. Where on the one hand, Lc&v reflects an inward pilgrimage (aka Parrish Smith facing the world and Parrish Smith facing Parrish Smith), the project simultaneously reflects the birth and growth of a band. Each track on the record is originally based on a solo idea, moulded and fine-tuned in conversation with contributing musicians Sofiane Brahmi and Javier Vivancos, then finalized by the producer. The collaborative process brought together niches that wouldn’t typically share territory or sound, allowing music to emerge that transcends each of their boundaries. In the making of Lc&v no conventional studio sessions occurred; due to covid-19, the full collaboration process was a remote affair of sharing snippets, (re)working recordings and, most of all, exchanging thoughts and feelings.

Those who know Parrish Smith a little, know his long-standing mantra: ‘No elitism, no prejudices, no genre. Hypnotic, tense, comprehensible – a state of mind.’ It’s this dictum that best describes the Lc&v sound(s). Tapping into all irreverent niches close to his heart – noise, punk, industrial, electronic, and even pop – Parrish Smith refuses to foreground one influence over another, instead layering and warping his personal interpretations of each. To categorize his seeking sound would be to limit the artist who, more than anything, thrives in limbo. ‘You could call it a concept album because the sounds are so far apart. But perhaps that’s not a concept, perhaps that’s just me…’

Parallel to his extensive musical experimentation, the past years have allowed Parrish Smith to zoom in on his writing. The resulting fragments form the foundation of Lc&v’s collage-like, soul-searching lyrics. Never, however, does the artist take his words to the front of stage; instead treating his voice as a malleable instrument, just one of many shifting layers in a bigger picture. The distorted lyrics, as such, are an statement: ‘It’s alright to be insecure about some of your qualities. In fact, the key is to embrace just that, to take matters into your own hands.

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Equations Collective

The Helicon Sessions

12" | 2021 | EU | Original (Compost)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The Equations Collective is an experimental sound project formed by a multi-disciplinary group of artists, active in the fields of music, photography, sound design & software development.
In 2018, the collective set up a temporary outdoor recording studio, 1130 meters above sea level, on the slopes of Mount Helicon in Greece, with the ambition of recording their work in a natural environment. A 'mobile and modular' construction, fully powered by solar panels, the design of the studio showcases the possibilities of a progressive, environmentally sustainable future through renewable energy.
Embodying ecological incentives, and representing an immersive engagement with the landscape, the 'Helicon Sessions' document this extraordinary residency, capturing a profound dialogue with the eponymous mountain region.
Situated in Boeotia, Central Greece, Mount Helicon has a prominent archaic significance. A historic location where stories of sacred springs and the epic origins of the Muses and Narcissus converge. Steeped in the heritage of ancient narratives, Helicon is seen as a principal symbol of poetic inspiration.
On the 'Helicon Sessions' the collective draw upon the inspiring topography and fabled mythological resonances of the area, unfurling an expansive, hypnotic suite of abstract electronics. Liberated by an open-ended, improvisational dynamic, the collective move through a mysterious, elemental cycle that mirrors the imposing scale and dramatic atmospheres of the setting.
Across an entrancing, fluid sequence of five designated 'cuts', the collective traverse the borderlands of drone, techno, dub, and acid, amplifying the acoustic traces of Helicon by integrating field recordings collected at the site into this arresting body of work. With these recordings, the collective delineate an odyssey of subverted 303s, sputtering drum machines and formidable, oscillating low end that drifts and coalesces like an amorphous mirage; a spellbinding sound world of clarity and shadow.
The 'Helicon Sessions' signify a symbiosis (between the terrestrial and the engineered, between wildlife and futurism, between the intrinsic and the synthetic, between the innate and the manmade) And with their conception of a portable, eco-friendly studio The Equations Collective focalize valuable ideas centred on ingenuity and evolution. The outcome of this project illustrates a unique collaborative exchange which acknowledges the deep nuances of environment and the enduring echoes of history.
The Equations Collective is a collaboration between Artefakt, Aroma Pitch, Aphelion and Sphera De Noumenon across Berlin, Amsterdam, Cologne and Hamburg. Together they have established an all night long live event in Berlin, starting at Sameheads and Acud Macht Neu, which eventually lead to their residency at OHM (Tresor).
For this format they have collaborated with the following artists: Alex The Fairy, Anna Z, D-ix, Eliad Wagner, JÃ³n FriÄ‘geir SigurÄ‘sson, Orson Wells, Phillip Jondo, Philipp Matalla, Prsmc, Rabih Beaini, Sabrina Gricourt, SÃ©bastien Robert, and Vida VojiÄ‡.
The respective members of The Equations Collective have released a range of output on the likes of Field Records, Delsin, Semantica Records, De Stijl, & Soul People Music.

Since 2018 their visual identity has been shaped by Elias Hanzer.
The 'Helicon Sessions' is their debut release.

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Shahrokh Dini

Dust Feat. Mox

12,99 €*

LP | 2020 | US | Original (Stones Throw)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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A catchy and little bit glittering house gem by long time DJ, producer, party-organizer, clubowner and Compost artist Shahrokh Dini, who teams up with the very young talented singer Mox. Two top notch remixes by well-known Musumeci and Sirs (Daniel Klein) complete the package.

Shahrokh Dini - formerly known as Shahrokh Sound of K - has made himself known as a DJ since the early 90s. His DJ sets move with the class of an experienced performer seamlessly deep house but a travel to Detroit and via Disco back to modern-day vibes, as a whole always reminiscent of soulful and deep roots but with refreshingly contemporary facets. He likened to a chameleon by fellow musical peer! Shahrokh Dini’s productions and DJ live sets are made of the right stern to snowball dance floors worldwide and fill them with epic moments. He regularly plays every summer various Ibiza venues and also has Berlin residencies. His releases on various labels like Sasse’s Moodmusic, Miss Moneypenny Records, Strictly Rhythm, Ministry Of Sound, Caus-N-Effect, and of course on Compost Black Label, were supported by Âme, Ron Trent, Jimpster, Dimitri From Paris, Rainer Trueby, Laurent Garnier, Boo Williams, Glenn Underground, Solomun, Frankey & Sandrino, Agoria, Olderic, Maceo Plex, Steve Bug etc.. He did remixes for Automat, Mateo & Matos, Robert Owens, Marbert Rocel, Bar, Simon Flower, Vanessa Daou, Tomasz Guiddo, Niki Harris (Madonna’s background singer), Gloria Gaynor and others. Shahrokh further worked with international talents such as Robert Owens, Tikiman (Basic Channel-Detroit), Barbara Tucker, Nathan McLau und Jaime Lloyd from the label Future Classic. For his album "Dripping Point", he got great and massive commendation in magazines like De:Bug, Groove, Raveline, Xlr8r, DJMag a.o.

By the way, Shahrokh Dini is not only a house producer and DJ, he is running clubs since the mid 90ies, he frequently promotes bigger club-music events, he has various DJ residencies, and his own club called „Monk“ in his hometown Karlsruhe. In the past he engaged artists such as Metro Area, Kevin Saunderson and Âme for various events for the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe ZKM, the latter proving his nose for talent as he had sourced them as residents at “Electric Mood” already in their early years. Adding to that Shahrokh now curates and runs the after party of the massive art fair "Art Karlsruhe" in collaboration with the State Theater once a year.

For the 25 years Compost Records anniversary box-set, the maestros Delano Smith and Boo Williams delivered each superb remixes for Shahrokh’s older Compost tracks: “Owl Flight” and “Perfect Stranger” featuring Robert Owens.

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Vex Ruffin

Liteace Frequency

2LP | 2016 | EU | Original (Touchin' Bass)

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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When Vex Ruffin’s family moved from Northridge, California to the City of Parañaque in the Philippines, their first car was a Toyota LiteAce. Swooping around the thick Metro Manila traffic between colorful jeepneys and tricycles in the compact van left a strong impression on young Vex. The Toyota LiteAce was immensely popular in early 90s Manila — beloved for its durability and reliability — and enjoys an intense, affectionate following to this day. Vex’s family’s LiteAce would hold his parents upfront, and him and his three younger siblings behind as they cruised in comfort.

Fast forward three decades and Vex is raising two young boys with his wife in the Inland Empire while working two jobs. In between those responsibilities, he cooked up his third Stones Throw LP LiteAce Frequency at his kitchen table, a collection of songs influenced by 70s Manila Sound and Pinoy soul. Other ingredients like Japanese funk, Brazilian sounds, and hip-hop made their way into the recipe. “At my age, you start to reflect,” Vex says, “I’m going back to my roots, channelling that time, mixing nostalgia with how I am right now. ”

What is LiteAce Frequency? “It’s the vehicle that gets you going in the right direction. Hop in and tap into the LiteAce Frequency — it will guide you to the right path.”

“If you don't believe in yourself, that's a fear,” Vex says. “I think everyone is good at something. Everyone has a dream. Sometimes there’s a voice inside you that’s guiding you, and you don't follow it because of fear. This album is about going with your heart. Follow your heart. Self-love. Positive things. Believe in yourself. Going for it.”

Vex Ruffin also finds inspiration in one of his biggest passions — boxing. “Boxing is life. You get hit, you fall down, you get back up, you hit back, but all that matters is that you finish it. Keep coming, don’t stop no matter what.” He feels a close affinity with Bernard Hopkins: “As he got older, he got better. That's me. I'm not getting any younger, but I am getting better. Hopkins has many styles. He can adapt.”

LiteAce Frequency documents Vex’s growth from his first show, more than 10 years ago, in his friend’s backyard. “I’m more mature, more experienced. A lot more mellow. A lot more at peace,” he says.

He compares his music to a kale salad: “It's definitely organic. It’s healthy. There’s not much music like that — healthy music. I’m not perfect — not 100% positive all the time. But my goal is to be that positive influence. When I make the music, it's for myself first and foremost, but it's going to reach people. And it might help them. In the end, I hope that's what it does.”

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Rook Vallade

Vestiges

20,69 €* 22,99 € -10%

12" | 2023 | Original (Planet E)

Release: 2016 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Perhaps best known under his aliases Dalglish and O.S.T., Chris Douglas has been operating under the mainstream for the last 24 years, releasing on labels like Pan, Icasea, Phthalo, Highpoint Lowlife, Shitkatapult and many others.

Douglas has certainly had an interesting history and the places he’s lived unquestionably define his sound. From his early beginnings in San Francisco organising parties and DJing, he relocated to Detroit where, hanging out with the likes of Underground Resistance’s Mad Mike and the late James Stinson of Drexciya, he began to release his own work.

The competition in Detroit was fierce and the crowds were very particular so artists found themselves having to work a lot harder, which ultimately led to the consistent quality of the product at that time. His story then led him to Europe, after Autechre invited him to appear as their opening act during their Confield tour in 2002 and then at their curated All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2003, where he finally settled in Berlin.

This time we’re presenting the less familiar work of his moniker ‘Rook Vallade’ with a collection of his as yet unheard works from 1992-2000 – a very welcome addition to the Touchin’ Bass catalogue.

The 12 tracks featured on ‘Vestiges’ represent Douglas’ Detroit influences and early electro, techno and hiphop are all evident in these recordings. Each individual groove represents a warm and moving sound aesthetic, rich in texture and melody, providing an insight into the varying depths of machine and soul. Each track portrays a mood and feeling of its own, with the emphasis being firmly placed on the outcome and direction of each individual sound, reflecting a barrage of alternative feelings, thoughts and moods. The tracks are also documentative of Douglas’ first productions working predominantly with a hardware set up.

From the clear electro influence heard on ‘Aemldbr’, ‘Badlstmp’ brings captivating warm synths with fine metallic sounds surfacing above the layers, giving this track the feeling that it is much more current than the production date suggests. The blend of wavering strings, industrial ambience and chilling synthesiser pads demonstrated in the hauntingly dramatic short piece of ‘Scrintv’ leads to the punctuated percussion of ‘RI_25’ and the heightened tension, chaos and confusion of ‘RV7ScF’. ‘Endtb_’ is like going into the unknown, a bit like how Jacques Cousteau must have felt when first filming underwater.

Frustratingly, Douglas never seems to have gotten the recognition that he so richly deserves. His experimental attitude has always put him ahead of his time and this album still firmly places him at the forefront of electronic music. These are timeless relics from the past, coming from an era where the concept of atmospherics very much dominated the production. There may have been less to work with but Douglas has somehow captured more. Under ‘Rook Vallade’, his music stands the test of time.

As The Wire once wrote of him: “His music is one of the most striking evacuations of the life of the mind that you’re ever likely to hear.”. This still stands true to date.

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Junior Sanchez

Art O Fact

14,99 €*

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Black Truffle)

Release: 2023 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Revered house mainstay Junior Sanchez makes his debut on Carl Craig’s renowned Planet E Communications imprint today with the digital release of his latest EP ‘‘Art O Fact’ out now with a 12” to come this July. Hailing from New Jersey, Sanchez remains a pioneering force in house music for over three decades and a close ally of Craig’s.

‘Art O Fact’ is an exemplar of the energized rhythm and infectious groove that has become synonymous with Sanchez’s work and genre defining productions. The package seamlessly connects scenes and eras, paying homage to the soulful sonic atmosphere of Detroit, Junior Sanchez’s says:

“Art O Fact -- was created purely and simply out of creative inspiration. I walked into the studio one morning not really knowing what to do, so I let my inspiration guide me and my inspiration really was Detroit. I thought about that city, what it meant to me and what techno really meant to my heart. I have loved so many records by Carl Craig, DJ ROLANDO, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins, so the result is something really beautiful and organic, and the fact that it's coming out on Carl Craig's planet E imprint is such an honor.”

In addition to the original mix, the ‘Art O Fact’ EP features a bouncy ‘Luv4Detroit’ Dub, energized edit, and melodic reprise.

Sanchez’s eclectic palette can be credited in part to his time spent in the sonic melting pot of New York City in the 1990s. A pillar of the underground club scene, Junior Sanchez began DJing at iconic New York City institutions such as Limelight and Club USA at the mere age of 13 and released his first track on iconic house imprint Strictly Rhythm at age 15. Sanchez went on to co-found Da Mongaloids collective, composed of the likes of Daft Punk, Armand van Helden, LaidbackLuke, and more which laid the foundation for him to form multi-generational turntablism trio S-Men alongside Roger Sanchez and DJ Sneak.

Sanchez's extensive repertoire of collaborators includes Madonna, Ariana Grande, Good Charlotte, Azealia Banks and more while his own imprints Cube Recordings and Brobot Records have seen releases from the likes of Felix Da Housecat, Sébastien Léger, and Steve Mac.

Led by legendary Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig, Planet E Communications has been an integral force in shaping electronic music for the past thirty years. Standing testament to the timeless spirit of techno, over the past two years alone Carl has released the leftfield ‘Attenuator’ jazz fusion project from himself and Moritz Von Oswald, DJ Holographic’s multi-genre Detroit Love Vol. 5, and the first electronic music album from Mexican-American percussionist Francisco Mora-Catlett. Planet E continues to transcend the dance floor, as it perpetuates the unifying spirit and unwavering creativity of Detroit.

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Otto Willberg

The Leisure Principle

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Open Space)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Black Truffle is pleased to announce The Leisure Principle, a new solo LP from London-based bassist and sound artist Otto Willberg. A key player in the London underground, Willberg is often heard on acoustic and electric bass in free improv settings and bands with Laurie Tompkins (Yes Indeed) and Charles Hayward (Abstract Concrete), as well as the fractured No Wave unit Historically Fucked. His previous solo releases have ranged from extended technique double bass to explorations of the acoustics of a 19th century artillery fort. But nothing Willberg has committed to wax so far prepares a listener for The Leisure Principle, six unashamedly melodic improvisational workouts created almost entirely with heavily filtered bass harmonica and electric bass. On the opening ‘Reap What Thou Sow’, a single-note bass harmonica loop pulses along underneath a roaming bass solo, the side-chained envelope filtering (where the dynamic behaviour of the bass determines the filter for both bass and harmonica) fusing the two instruments into a single stream of burbling shifts in resonance. After several minutes of patient exploration of this low-end landscape, the music suddenly opens up in widescreen with the entrance of Sam Andreae’s graceful melodica chords, spreading out across the stereo field. From this epic opener, each of the remaining pieces goes on to explore a slightly different aspect of the terrain. On ‘Shadow Came into the Eyes as Earth Turned on its Axis’, a similarly buoyant harmonica bass line provides the foundation, but this time playing a soulful descending riff, its almost R&B feel abstracted and half-obscured by the filtering. On ‘Mollusk’, echoed bass arpeggios skitter between elegiac chords somewhat reminiscent of the opening of John Abercrombie’s ‘Timeless’, before settling into a hypnotic groove. On the record’s second half, Willberg pushes further into the possibilities of his idiosyncratic instrumentation. On ‘Wetter’, bass and harmonica come together into a monstrous, growling jaw harp; on ‘Had we but world enough and more time’, the subtly shifting pulsating patterns start to feel almost like a kind of evaporated, drum-less dub techno until an eruption of wheezing bass harmonica gives the piece a comically folkish turn. Willberg’s melodically inventive and virtuosic bass performance calls to mind any number of fusion touchstones, from Jaco Pastorius to Mark Egan’s singing tone in the early Pat Metheny Group—even Anthony Jackson’s work with Steve Kahn. But with its radically reduced instrumentation, The Leisure Principle is also an exercise in minimalism, and the absence of percussion gives even its funkiest moments a strangely abstracted quality. At times, its uncanny blend of the abstruse and the immediate suggests the fried pop experiments of David Rosenboom or the skewed but deeply musical DIY of 80s underground groups like De Fabriek. Both easy on the ear and profoundly strange, The Leisure Principle proudly takes its place among the most eccentric offerings on the Black Truffle menu.

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Puli

Swirling

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Pingipung)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Open Space is proud to present our first ever full-length LP by LA’s newest 3-man band, Puli. Some words from our dear friend Matt McDermott below: In recent years, a cadre of musicians from the east side of Los Angeles have reestablished the city of angels as the first city of Balearica. Alex Ho’s “Move Through It” followed in the lumbering footsteps of Project Sandro’s “Blazer.” Now, there’s a new landmark for the floating west coast sound. Swirling, the first album from LA supergroup Puli. If you’ve got your ear to the ground you know the names involved here. Drummer and producer Damon Palermo’s pedigree stretches back a good 15 years or so, starting off with dub punks Mi Ami. Phil Cho is one of the busiest DJs, musicians and advocates for the deep stuff in LA, throwing legendary hillside parties under the Third Place banner. John Jones, the preternaturally talented guitarist and electronic tinkerer, records as AV Moves, is a key member of the Suzanne Kraft and Baba Stiltz live configurations and plays in The Trilogy Tapes-affiliated act Geo Rip. But this listing of personnel and credentials puts too fine a point on it. Puli are three close friends who go to parties, DJ and get tacos together, repairing to their Chinatown studio a few times a week and coming out with remarkably textured, idiosyncratic downtempo jams. Building off the solid foundation of their 7-inch of heavyweight dubs for Melbourne’s Constant Delay, Swirling is an exploration of new horizons in chill out. “Ramona” acts a statement of purpose—with halftime/double-time dub-tinged rhythms, hazy yet bright synth motifs and atmospheric guitar from Jones, not terribly far from the expansive approach of Japanese dub aesthetes Pecker. “Cloudy,” meanwhile, is a sort of deconstructed and bittersweet Balearic pop featuring Cho’s ethereal vocals. “Bongo Springs” is steppers’ house not far from close LA peer Benedek or the Mood Hut crew up north. But what truly sets this record apart is the space and layers in the production—while it’s nominally an electronic record, Puli is a band that has slowly crafted these songs in the rehearsal space. “Havana Jam” cruises along a sliding roundwound bass guitar take with dubby chords and textural guitars. Palermo’s hand drums and live percussion enmesh perfectly with icy pads on “Leech Seed Dub.” Cho is back on the mic for the gorgeous closer, “C.S.B.”, underpinned by breakbeat and trunk-rattling sub bass. Puli doesn’t sound like anyone else, and is ultimately reflective of the city itself. Listening to Swirling feels like navigating a warren of side streets in the eternal sunshine. Take the drive and dive.

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Anadol & Marie Klock

La Grande Accumulation

29,99 €*

Live Hubris Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Anadol and Marie Klock have teamed up for a joint album, La Grande Accumulation. They met two years ago at a festival in England crowded with violent seagulls and outsider musicians. Klock being prone to barking on stage and Anadol not laughing at jokes she doesn’t find funny, they straight away had the intuition that they would meet again. And so they did, a few months later, at Anadol’s studio in Istanbul.

Today, the two Pingipung artists present the fruit of this musical friendship. La Grande Accumulation was born out of the peculiar atmosphere of the studio neighbourhood in Büyükada, an island where thousands of cats run free and humans randomly destroy things during apocalyptic times when parts of Turkey had just been turned into dust by terrible earthquakes. The French lyrics are inspired by hours of conversations, the music is consequently drenched in absurdity, overflowing with a strong urge to live and enjoy. According to the LP sticker, this album has been certified “Best handshake of 2024”, and stickers never lie.

La Grande Accumulation brings together Marie Klock's mysterious metaphors and Anadol's intriguing radiophonic psych-pop. Stretching forms beyond common sense to see how long they can resist is probably their favourite game. The result are six highly imaginative tracks that challenge the sub-3-minutes standards of Spotify pop.

Gözen Atila aka Anadol is well known to the Pingipung audience, with three solo LPs on the label. Her music follows a kind of collage logic, she interweaves countless styles, combining field and studio recordings with obscure quotation marks here and there. "I hope no one will come and explain this music to me, because it's the most beautiful music there is", says Kristoffer Cornils about her solo album Felicita.

Marie Klock is a French writer and musician who produces songs oscillating between synthpop and neo-folk, full of anarchic humour and existential dread. Her recent solo LP on Pingipung was a captivating tribute to the recently deceased poet Damien Schultz entitled Damien est vivant.

Marie Klock delivers her lyrics in song or spoken word, stream-of-consciousness musings on strange human adventures, and her rich keyboard melodies culminate in a nonchalant dialogue with the bass trombone (La Reine des Bordels). In the opulent opening piece (La Grande Accumulation), a woman is cursed to take home everything she kicks in the street; a bit later, we stumble upon a ghoul hiding in the gutter (Sirop amer), Mona Lisa loses her teeth (Sonate au Jambon) and a warthog struggles to climb the stairs of a silver tower (Sabots triviaux).

La Grande Accumulation was mixed and mastered by Jonas Romann at Chaos Compressor Club in Hamburg and cut to vinyl by Kassian Troyer at D&M in Berlin. It's an audiophile LP that invites to focus on every detail in this heap of musical ideas.

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Oren Ambarchi

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Black Truffle)

12" | 2023 | UK | Original (KNTXT)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Black Truffle is pleased to announce Live Hubris, documenting the hypnotic and electrifying live performance of Oren Ambarchi’s 2016 LP Hubris by a fifteen-strong band at London’s Café Oto. Over three days in May 2019, Oto toasted Oren Ambarchi at 50/Black Truffle at 10 with Ambarchi and a large group of close friends and collaborators in a series of performances that interspersed existing projects with new collective endeavours, culminating with this: fourteen members of the extended Black Truffle family together on stage, joined by one special virtual guest, to translate the intricately studio-constructed layers of Hubris into a muscular live band workout.

Operating with only the bare minimum of pre-gig preparation after the planned afternoon rehearsal had to be wrapped up prematurely due to noise complaints, the gargantuan group lurches into motion with a 21-minute rendition of ‘Hubris Part 1’, powered by the pulsating electronics of Konrad Sprenger (the ‘ringmaster’ at the ensemble’s core) and no less than seven electric guitars spinning a web of intricately interlocking palm-muted polyrhythms. The layers of closely related but metrically distinct lines create ripples of shifting accents, flickering changes in emphasis that ricochet along the endless central pulse. Gradually building in density, this motorik continuum becomes the backdrop for the haunting tones of Eiko Ishibashi’s processed flute and an extended feature from long-distance guest Jim O’Rourke on guitar synth.

After the brief interlude of the second part, where Albert Marcoeur-esque guitar arpeggios accompany a halting attempt at phone conversation, the full ensemble gears up for the epic side-long rendition of ‘Hubris Part 3’. Now joined by the astonishing triple drum line-up of Joe Talia, Will Guthrie and Andreas Werliin, the layered pulse of the opening piece becomes a burning funk-fusion groove. Beginning on a medium simmer, the ensemble initially stick to its pulsating one-note mantra, over which Ambarchi unfurls a beautiful example of his signature shimmering Leslie-toned guitar harmonics, eventually joined by Ishibashi’s flute and some brooding, distorted dissonance from Julia Reidy’s guitar. Building steadily for the first nine minutes, the heat then rises dramatically with a first, gloriously loose chord change: with the all drummers now rolling and tumbling like a twice-cloned Jack DeJohnette circa 1970, Mats Gustafsson enters on baritone, his tortured roars and shrieks driving the band to peaks of insane intensity. Finally, the exhausted ensemble drops out, leaving only the jagged, skittering fuzz of Ambarchi’s guitar, brought to an abrupt conclusion at the command of crys cole. Arriving on hot pink vinyl with artwork by Lasse Marhaug and an extensive selection of live photos by Ivan Weiss and Fabio Lugaro, Live Hubris brings this ambitious and outrageous evening of music to the safety of the home stereo.

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Charlotte De Witte

Power Of Thought EP

18,99 €*

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Erased Tapes)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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October 9, 2023 - Techno phenomenon Charlotte de Witte today announces her brand-new EP “Power Of Thought”, out October 19 on her own Kntxt label. The trio begins with the title track “Power Of Thought” - which immediately erupts into a hypnotic techno beat interspersed with spoken mantras of mindfulness. This is followed by “Pria”, a pulsating journey featuring hypnotic, mantra-like vocals. The EP ends with ambient track “Abada”, punctuated with the occasional drum and chanting vocals before it quickly strips away to silence.

“For ‘Power Of Thought’, I wanted to create an EP that touches deeper emotions and captivating the meditative trance you have when you let go on the dance floor,” says de Witte. “‘Pria’ has already brought me a lot of joy over the last few months when I have played it during my sets. It offers a moment of reflection and a chance to catch your breath during the rougher, more peak time tracks I play. ‘Abada’ is a track that I really enjoyed making. I discovered these magical chanting vocals and I just knew I wanted to use them in a track. Though this track is maybe less playable in one of my sets, I feel that Abada found its home on this EP and completes the ‘Power Of Thought’ circle.”

Best known for her “dark and stripped-back” brand of techno and crossover to other sounds of the underground, Charlotte de Witte pushes the boundaries of the electronic genre with music that has a distinct and unforgettable sound that is uniquely her own. De Witte’s innovative ability allows her to seamlessly blend genres and styles that have won her a dedicated fan base and critical acclaim.

“Power Of Thought” is the followup EP to de Witte’s “Overdrive” EP, campaign and tour, which recently wrapped with a Los Angeles takeover last month and included performances at Brooklyn Mirage, Primavera Sound, Rock Werchter, Super Bock Super Rock, Lowlands and Rock En Seine. The “Power Of Thought” release will include an exclusive apparel drop as well and will coincide with the opening day of Kntxt Turbo Club, de Witte’s epic 3-day pop-up event series taking over Amsterdam Dance Event (ade) from October 19 - 21, 2023.

With a different “Kntxt” each day, the turbo-charged pop-up will feature a massive lineup of performances, a dedicated Kntxt shop, immersive music experiences and other surprises at an undisclosed location in Amsterdam. Capacity will be very limited and tickets can be purchased now at https://kntxt.be/events/ade.

Following ADE, de Witte will embark upon the Kntxt Latin America Tour on October 26, which will take her to Mexico City, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.

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Nils Frahm

Graz

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance, Classical Music

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Piano Day 2021 sees Nils Frahm surprise the world with his Erased Tapes debut. Wait, what? How? Anyone who has seen the trail blazing sonic pioneer live will know Nils likes to deadpan a joke. Graz is in fact the first studio album he recorded for the label back in 2009, that somehow remained a secret… until now. Nils Frahm has quietly changed the musical landscape, reincarnating the centuries old figure of a pianist-composer for a new generation of music fans. As Nils’ word-of-mouth popularity grew and grew, so did the pop-culture profile of his instrument. He founded Piano Day with a team of like-minded friends in 2015 to help that process, some years releasing an album of piano recordings to celebrate one of humankind’s greatest inventions. Graz is one such record; an unheard snapshot of a young Nils recorded at Mumuth, the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, in 2009 as part of the thesis Conversations for Piano and Room produced by Thomas Geiger, which received an award in the Classical Surround Recording category at the 127th AES Convention in New York. Whilst at the time it was decided to keep the grand piano recordings from the Graz sessions locked away and instead focus on his close mic’ed, dampened piano explorations which would become his acclaimed studio album Felt in 2011, two of the pieces — most notably Hammers — lived on as part of his live set, and were expanded on and re-recorded as part of his breakthrough 2013 record Spaces (a collage of field recordings from concerts which broke the Fourth Wall and included audience coughs). Over his mercurial career, Nils has pushed and pulled at the boundaries and parameters of his prolific work like that. He’s physically changed his piano (the softened prepared strings of Felt) played with a modified body (Screws recorded with 9 fingers and a broken thumb) played with scale (Solo recorded on the 3.7 metre high Klavins M370) and with the different layers of formats (last year’s Tripping with Nils Frahm nested his studio setup inside a live performance, concert film and live album). Now with Graz he has found the final frontier for play: time itself and his own discography. Graz is a moment of time at the very beginning of Nils’ quiet revolution. The essential genius is already evident; the harmonic language of classical, and the immediacy of jazz. Nils seems to pull down each idea moment by moment, gently, to not scare away the muse. He describes: “sometimes when you hear a piano, you might think it’s a conversation between a woman and a man. At the same time, it can hint at shapes of the universe and describe how a black hole looks. You can make

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Toolroom Sampler Volume 11

12" | 2024 | UK | Original (Toolroom)

Memories That Never Happened

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Kicking things off on our next 4-track vinyl sampler series is Toolroom's very own Martin Ikin who returns to the label with ‘Make U Sweat’! He was the Best-selling Tech House artist on Beatport in 2020 and 2021 and has over 1m monthly listeners across streaming platforms. Recent studio collabs have included Noizu and Joshwa and tours have seen him travel far and wide to the US, Brazil, Bali, Ibiza, Italy, Croatia and of course, his hometown of London. This new record is the follow up to 'Oscill8' that dropped in March 2023 and sits in a similar lane, in that it's pure, unadulterated club weaponry! Next up is Italian house legend Flashmob with the frenetic, high-energy club vibe of new cut ‘My Body’. Flashmob's sound, production and go-for-broke DJ sets have changed with the game, embracing the vitality of new house music rather than hankering after sentimental sunsets. His ethic and aesthetic move relentlessly forward, using the old and new to craft unique sonic alchemy from big festivals like Tomorrowland to the intimacy of small clubs on the international circuit. ‘My Body’ is typical of Flashmob's current sound, combining solid drums and some insane synths and fx, alongside an earworm vocal sample that results in yet another memorable club cut from an established master. Canadian Tech House maestro Nathan Barato debuts on Toolroom kicking off the B-side to the vinyl alongside studio partner, Matheo Velez with 'Weapon'. A record that has already caught the attention of the underground elite with Michael Bibi premiering the track at his first appearance back at Dc-10 in Ibiza last Summer. Both artists are enjoying great success across key labels such as Viva, Circus, Snatch and RAWthentic. This is an addictive, bumpy club track

that packs a huge punch on the dance floor and actually features Nathan's very own 'Move me… Rock me' vocals! Rounding things off is UK DJ/producer duo, Jenn Getz & Alfie who are residents at Dubai's #1 nightlife destination, Soho Garden, where they warm up for legends such as Sonny Fodera, MK, Claptone, Solardo & Fisher on a weekly basis. In their relatively short 3 year career they have already released on Solotoko, Abode and Toolroom Trax and now debut on Toolroom with 'Vibration'. Both girls are incredibly passionate about house music and are also big advocates for a life centered around well-being and meditation, and the idea of this record was to combine their 2 passions in life, so they proceeded to co-write these original lyrics to accompany the track, which in itself is very inspiring! This is a super cool club record that will excite fans and DJ's alike, welcome to the Toolroom Family, Jenn Getz & Alfie!

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Annie Hall

12" | 2023 | UK | Original (Central Processing Unit)

11,99 €*

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Smallville)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Annie Hall returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label with an EP entitledMemories That Never Happened. This record represents the producer's third time on CPU after 2016'sTenured Positionsand 2020'sFum, and it is also the latest release in a busy couple of years for Annie Hall which have also seen her drop EPs on 20:20 Vision, Orson Records and Random Island. The momentum Annie Hall has built up in recent times carries through to a dynamic collection of productions which bring enough heft in the beats to keep the dancefloor happy while also including all manner of details in the production.
Memories That Never Happenedbegins with the title-track, a twitchy yet wistful cut which perfectly matches its name. There's bite to the broken-beat electro pulse, growling bass and robotic declamations of "it's Annie", but the makeup of the track is simultaneously rather rose-tinted, particularly when some chemtrails of a synth lead enter later on. The overall effect is as thoughtful as it is stimulating, akin to the halcyon productions of Daniel Avery.
If 'Memories That Never Happened' is somewhat plaintive, following jam 'Problematic Tape Recorder' has the bit between its teeth from the get-go. The beat crashes and snaps, and when played off shimmering stabs of synth it all adds up to aWip3outrush that nods to both the old Rephlex Records sound as well as contemporary practitioners like Nightwave. Once again the synth lead is used lightly here, more an augmentation to the beat than the centrepiece - another demonstration of Annie Hall's ability to write with focus even when the overall intent is to move bodies in the club.
The energy of 'Problematic Tape Recorder' is spun in an unusual direction on 'Subsequent Experiments', the first track ofMemories That Never Happened's B-side. This cut may be the quickest on the record, but this does not mean it shouts the loudest. Indeed, 'Subsequent Experiments' may be the most ornate production here, full of shadowy sonics and a deconstructed beat running at D&B speed. A kind of shadowrealm version of Planet Mu's early drill & bass explorations crossed with UVB-76's darkside post-Metalheadz excursions, this one is an eerie thrill.
After the busy 'Subsequent Experiments', Annie Hall slows down to take the EP's home straight at mid-tempo. On 'Unparalleled Comfort', keyboard stabs slide over a rhythm that's at once driving enough for the dancefloor and nuanced enough to allow little half-melodies of synth to flit around above. It's a fitting closer for this EP, almost playing like an amalgamation of the elements which made the rest ofMemories That Never Happenedso appealing.
Annie Hall returns to Central Processing Unit withMemories That Never Happened, an EP of masterful productions which will delight both clubbers and home-listeners.
RIYL:µ-Ziq, Pessimist, Nightwave, Mark, Drexciya

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Move D & Dman

All You Can Tweak

Tape | 2022 | UK | Original (The Tapeworm)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The lost tracks- unreleased material from Move D & Dman

Around the year 1990, a group of producers gathered regaularly at a space called „Blaues Zimmer“ (Blue Room), located at Bergheimer Strasse, Heidelberg. The Blue Room was the studio of Dirk Mantei aka Dman and David Moufang (Move D) calls it the one of the 'Keimzellen' (seeds) for what would happen in regards to the electronic music movement within the Rhein-Main-Area during the following 10 years. The 90s were roaring, with a lot of mid-sized cities located relatively close to each other- Heidelberg, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Darmstadt- and Frankfurt was easily reached. Various highly influential clubs and parties happened around that time and Dirk and David had their parts.

Dirk Mantei & David Moufang, Eric D Clark, Robert Gordon, Nils „Puppetmaster“ Hess, DJ Cle- to name a few- all happen to live in Heidelberg and gather around at Dirks place during this time. Discogs calls Dirk Mantei 'a katalyst figure in the 1990s techno scene of Southern Germany' and this is for a reason. He was running a record store (Dubtools) and threw legendary parties - Planet Bass (Sunday party at Normal, Heidelberg around 1988), Hot Lemonade (Sunday party in Mannheim around 1990). When he moved to Mannheim, Dirk opened the legendary club Milk! (from 1990) out of nothing and later ran another club called Hd800 (located in MS Connexion). Both were suited with the same famous - and massive - soundsystem, acquired and tuned by himself. David calls Milk! the birth place of his name Move D as well as Source Records as a label.

Both Davids and Dirks first vinyl release ever was a 12“ they released on Davids Source– called Homeworks 1 – four tracks that were released as one of the first CDs on Source Records a year before. Also "Wired To The Mothership" can be found on this CD compilation, a 32-seconds-long track - and although far too short, it's special. Timeless components weaven together in the most wonderful way - Sheffield-inspired bleeps, timeless pads and detroitish strings, a Jxp-3 organ solo, analog drums and a driving analogue bassline- and then it's gone.. When asked, why there wasn't a longer version of the track, David and Dirk said they were not happy with the mixdown back then- so it took them almost 30 years to finally finish a 2021 full version together. Between 2011 and 2021, they both found themselves in Davids Studio from time to time, Dirk was living in Mannheim and some sessions resulted in a bunch of yet unreleased tracks that slept on harddrives ever since then. We are amazingly happy to share these with the world, to let them tell some more yet hidden stories.

Cover artwork by Stefan Marx.

All Tracks are written, produced and mixed by David Moufang and Dirk Mantei between 1992 and 2021.

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The Howling

All Hail Mega Force

12,99 €*

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Ecstatic)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The Howling is a collaborative project started by writer Ken Hollings and sound artist Howlround devoted exclusively to their shared love of text, audiotape and trash aesthetics. An intense collision of spoken word and analogue tape effects, the Howling's first performance took place at the Iklectik in September 2019 as part of a special programme to celebrate The Tapeworm's 10th anniversary.
Despite the pandemic, they have managed to continue working and conferring together since then, sharing sound files, texts and mixes online, which has resulted in All Hail Mega Force, their first full-length release for The Tapeworm. The two extended tracks contained on this audiocassette reflect their shared interest in Fluxus and how informal rules and permutations can be set up to work themselves out through loops and repetitions. A straight line connects Terry Riley's tape experiments in Paris from the early 60s with their experimental recordings in the Wimpy Bar on Streatham High Road, one of their favourite meeting places. 'The idea of instant, disposable one-off creations appealed to us a lot at the time,' The Howling explain, 'particularly as both pieces were conceived and developed during different phases of Covid lockdown in the UK.'
The title and source material are derived from the kid's adventure movie MegaForce, starring Barry Bostwik and Michael Beck. Designed to sell a range of Mattel hi-tech action toys, MegaForce tanked at the box office but lives on in the collective consciousness of those who share with The Howling a special love for Trash and Trash Aesthetics.
The two tracks also share similarities in approach and realization.
'All Hail Mega Force' was created by reading combinations of the words 'All Hail Mega Force' into a voice memo recorder, transferring it to tape, cutting the whole thing as a single long loop and then stretching it across three reel-to-reel machines simultaneously, using two pencils and a pint glass full of loose change to try and maintain sufficient playback tension. Over time the loop started to degrade, which accounts for the increasingly slurry and unpredictable playback, plus frequent ruptures caused by the tape becoming jammed and having to be tugged through the machine workings by hand. Twenty-four minutes later and the result was a completed new work and a slight backache.
The text for 'Are You Man Enough For Mega Force?' was recorded live in the Wimpy Bar on Streatham High Road, 28 November 2021. It was cut to tape and looped on 3 December 2021 at Warrior Studios, Loughborough Junction. Dragged by motor and then by hand across two tape machines with copious amounts of closed input feedback provided by a third rushing in to fill the gaps. One take with no effects or overdubs, but one tiny edit in the middle when something fell over.

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Novo Line

Dyad

2LP | 2015 | UK | Original (Late Night Tales)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Novo Line reprises the meter-messing genius of his Movements album with the Dyad mini LP - a brilliantly uncompromising follow-up for Ecstatic. Exclusively using the tools of ’88/’89 professional recording set-ups - namely the Atari ST, but with a slight algorithmic alteration. While it’s increasingly hard to find new tricks in old gear, especially with the resurgence of hardware fetishism and the ubiquity of DAWs, that’s exactly what Nat Fowler has been doing for the best part of a decade as Novo Line. By, in his own words, “misusing one algorithmic composition program (not, by a longshot, a professional music production tool of any epoch) contained in 208kb of data on a 3.5” floppy disk”, He generates and explores new permutations of old music which, ironically enough, sound fresher or at least more innovative than a lot of new music in circulation right now.Inputting ever-changing parameters of melody, and 29 year old algorithms, the machine’s voice is live-mixed and presented un-rendered as maxed-out waveforms via 1MB RAM, resulting in a severely compressed and combusting effect that leave mastering and sound engineers the world over scratching their heads in puzzlement. However, the effect is equally enthralling to anyone whose ears have become overly accustomed to contemporary emulations of ‘space’ in electronic music, and genuinely sound unique in relief of the contemporary field.The release poses a playful question: can a record be ambivalent as to which speed it should be played? Celebrating vinyl and futhermore physical media, the listener is encouraged to find their exact speed of preference with the RPM toggle and pitch slider, that nearly forgotten joy in modifying speed in real time without a CPU mediating between the listener and sound; some tracks stumble heavily at 33rpm like boulders in the tumble dry, while others flash by at 45. In the taut, recoiling thud of Monad, thru the frenetic pop edit of Ennead to the ‘floor-curdling prong of Dyad Marcia on the front, to the forceful New Beat mutation Tetrad, and the mind bending Melpomenean Dyad which closes the LP, its some heavily challenging but deeply satisfying gear that seriously yet playfully messes with convention.Essentially Novo Line is revelling in the pure spirit of computer music and the sonification of dance music as we know it - born in the ’88/’89 phenomenon of techno-house music, including its Industrial/EBM precedents, and its New Beat/Euro House offshoots. And like John McCusker’s delectable artwork of a beige room and monitors interwoven with tubular, computer generated follies, Novo Line provides a captivating perspective that shortcircuits nostalgia’s illness to result in a killer vaccine against/for convention.

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Jon Hopkins

Late Night Tales

36,99 €*

12" | 2024 | EU | Original (Sweet Sun)

Release: 2015 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Unmixed Double 180 gram Vinyl (Includes download code to the Jon Hopkins mix and full unmixed tracks as wav/mp3)

Requiem for a dreamstate. It’s possibly somewhere between heaven, hell and high water, down the Thames Delta towards Eden. It may involve techno and a distorted state or simply mates sat listening to music together, drifting on the open sea of their minds. This is Jon Hopkins’ world, not so much joining the dots as colouring the whole damn picture in.

After releasing his debut album 'Opalescent' at the rookie age of 21 in 1999, he’s gone on to work with Brian Eno and David Holmes, produced King Creosote and via Eno, worked on three Coldplay albums. He released the breakthrough album 'Immunity' in 2013, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

The story arc with which Hopkins succeeded on 'Immunity' makes its appearance on Late Night Tales too with a perfectly sculpted excursion on this widescreen mix. . Opening with the unreleased 'Sleepers Beat Theme' by composer Ben Lukas Boysen, ghostly pianos skip elegantly hither and thither, among rising strings, as on Darkstar’s ‘Hold Me Down’. Nils Frahm is here, his sonic palette perfect for the job, while labelmate A Winged Victory For The Sullen contribute ‘Requiem For The Static King Part I’. Sigur Ros offshoot Jónsi & Alex’s heroic ‘Daniell In The Sea’ sends us forth towards the Baltic with tears streaming.

Beats occasionally appear, as on the Grace Jones-sampling ‘Yr Love’ by Holy Other or the pair of Black Country acts Bibio and Letherette, whose ‘After Dawn’ is almost spry in comparison to the minor key symphonies on display here. The perfect contrast to this comes from Alela Diane’s wistful ‘Lady Divine’ or even Four Tet’s mesmerising ‘Gillie Amma I Love You’, with its enchanting kids’ choir. Exclusive to this release, Jon Hopkins provides a startlingly vulnerable new piano version of Yeasayer’s ‘I Remember’.

Poet and fellow Brian Eno collaborator (their joint album 'Drums Between The Bells' was released by Warp in 2011) Rick Holland narrates the exclusive spoken word closer 'I Remember', underpinned with additional sound design by Hopkins.

"Putting this album together was a unique opportunity for me to present music that I have been listening to for years, free from the constraints of a club setting or from trying to stick to one genre. I chose tracks not just because they have been important to me but because of how they sit together, putting as much thought into the transitions and overall narrative as I did into the track choices. I mixed by key and by texture more than anything else, using original sound design, pivot notes, and often recording new synth or piano parts to link things together in a way that flows as naturally as possible." - Jon Hopkins, December 2014

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SLOUCHO

NPC

2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (WeMe)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Arriving as the third album on Supreems ‘Sweet Sun’ label – an imprint gathering a reputation for future-facing, storytelling electronic music – Sloucho's 'NPC' explores the duality of his main character and non-playable lives. With a strong Irish artistic presence featuring Rory Sweeney, EMBY, Curtisy and more, Sloucho navigates through Cloudcore-inspired broken beats, bass-driven percussion, alternative dreamscapes and wubby fuck-steps on his most complete release to date, laying the foundation for an origin-story in the process.

Garnering support from Surusinghe, Roza Terenzi, Two Shell and more; some of the tracks on NPC have already been heard in clubs around the world - from Antwerp to London and Mumbai to Paris. ‘Mind Traveller’ offers an ambient introduction to ‘Athrú’, Sloucho’s home world, as the artist's pitched vocals act as the listeners guide into the island's core. ‘Mutant’ features experimental electronic artist Rhoshi on a track that follows the kaleidoscopic sonic-themes of Sloucho’s previous Cloudcore releases ‘Slow Feet’ and ‘Silver Veil’, before the Rory Sweeney-featuring ‘Come Around’ ignites the dance with its dutty screw-face two-step, balanced by moments of melodic contemplation before evolving into a techno-dancehall hybrid.

‘Brand New’ stays on the steppy aesthetic, and brings MCs EMBY and Zack Oke into the frame with a 3D Meta-human video created in collaboration with respected, exhibiting digital artist Aisling Phelan. Using a motion capture suit, they captured EMBY and Zack’s performance and imported it into Unreal Engine, using different environments scanned from around the Greek Islands as the backdrop. The result is mind-blowing; a complete digital realm, shot like a real-life rap video as EMBY and Zack spit bars across an elasticated garage riddim. Full video is on YouTube.

‘Super Maramu 2000’ is a cut of alien-club beamed directly from ‘Eile’, the afterlife of Sloucho’s Neolithic ancestors. A waltzer-ride through Latin-bass and techno with an oxymoronic blend of maximalist and minimalist futurism, it’s as silly as it is serious, before the stuttering, juke-influence of ‘Make It Work’ brings the album’s rapid first half (and a bit) to a close.

Sloucho seamlessly weaves from front left of the club to dark, fume-filled rooms on ‘Two Thousands’ (featuring EMBY and Curtisy), ‘Rocks’ (featuring Zack Oke, who sounds remarkably like experimental spoken-word artist Coby Sey here, and Chilean artist Vatican Jail) and ‘Lights On’ (featuring Yamagōchi), Sloucho explores a previously unseen side to his sound, meandering through alternative trap and hip-hop laden beats that are both dreamy and nightmarish, bringing NPC to its starry-skied climax.

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Not Mdk

The 140 Album

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Polychrome Audio)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Not_mdk is not MDK. Like a human ship of theseus. Martin Wood-Mitrovski's 3rd album. 23 years since the 2nd. He lives at building number 23 in Skopje. MDKs ticket exploded. He can not return. This is Not_mdk's first album. Not_mdk is exploring ideas with depth, in depth. Every track is Grime and 140 BPM. Grime is a genre that covers a huge area of sound A fixed tempo is a gravitational well of coherence That is to say: Martin Wood-Mitrovski is a musical lifer - someone whose enthusiasm cannot be dimmed by time. The Coventry-raised polymath first came to public attention in the late 1990s as a keystone part of the Spymania crew, which also first showcased Squarepusher, Jamie Lidell and Cassette Boy. Even among such esteemed company, Martin's two albums, one EP and various collaborative contributions to the label stood out for their audacity and variety. Detroit techno, death metal, bleak ambient, golden age hip hop and dozens more sounds besides made implausible sense next to each other, and bleeding into one another. Now, though, relocated to the Balkans, returning to album making after over two decades of only sporadically slipping tracks out, Martin has taken an entirely opposite approach to genre. This album is entirely built around instrumental grime. But it's built with such finesse and a scholar's knowledge that there's still extraordinary variety within that. Subsets of OG 00s grime producton - Eski, Sino-grime, breakstep, sublow, and sounds with no name at all - are threaded together with the finessed modernist abstractions that came together around London's Boxed club in the 10s, and also with electronic predecessors. The ghosts of jungle, of bleep'n'bass, of warehouse techno, of various flavours of garage, leave traces through these tracks - or maybe he's waking those ghosts in the grime. It's a perfect fit for Belgium's W?M? Records. The label has always specialised in artists who get to the deep fundamentals of acid, electro and other pillars of electronica - and here, Martin has shown the wiring that were always there connecting those things into grime. It's a record where Timbaland and Terror Danjah, Nightmares On Wax and N.A.S.T.Y. Crew, Kraftwerk and Kromestar all operate on a plane of consistency. But it's no intellectual exercise or history lesson: the sounds and patterns here are there because they work - they sound spectacular coming out of big speakers. That's what it's always been about. Whether carving up genres in the Spymania days, or distilling them now, whether MDK or Not_mdk, before all other considerations it's all about a joyful noise.

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Buen Clima

Midi EP

13,99 €*

3LP | 2023 | Original (Tresor)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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buen clima is the solo project of producer, composer and DJ Felipe Castro (Santiago, 1993). Under that alias, he makes a sometimes clean, sometimes dirty mix of techno, house and electro, among other styles, with a soft spot for high BPMs, big, glossy pad sounds and interlocking rhythms. With a background in classical music and free improvisation, his productions and live performances often bring into them unexpected moments of noise, unusual influences and, above all, humour.

« This EP is comprised of five tracks written between 2020 and 2022, and it's got quite a bit of contrast among them, as well as some common threads. Some are gritty and noisy, some are a bit more amiable. However, they all show signs of recurring obsessions with certain rhythms, certain synth sounds, and share a sense of fun and humour. Each is an exploration of different production and synthesis techniques.

Big Butibit Chess Master Pro v.3.5 is on the lighter side, with some big warm pads and jazzy drum sound. It's kind of a sunny ghettotech cut, if that makes any sense. The synth part has a spontaneous feel, it was recorded pretty much in one take.

>:) Is a heavier club track, made to go a little evil, a little mischievous. It's full of squelchy sounds and has a drum part that sounds like a never ending Street Fighter combo, or a bunch of beer bottles being opened one after the other.

Forma/Contenido is also on the darker side, with a droning, oppressive mass of sound that accumulates and evolves all throughout the track. It's very much inspired by the piece "I am sitting in a room" by Alvin Lucier, and is, in fact, a sort of live version of the same premise, a long feedback loop of the voice and the beat recorded and played in the studio.

Arturito is how we call R2d2 in Latin America (or at least in Chile), and it's also my father's name. We both love the original Star Wars and this is a little tribute to that. I had a lot of fun making this track, using only Ableton's Operator synth to make 90% of the sounds. It's a bouncy, evolving electro cut with a lot of quirky bleeps and bloops.

Pequeña midi is definitely the heart of the EP, a slower track made for my cat, who's sitting in my lap as I'm writing this. The rhythms and the sounds are a musical representation of how I imagine her life is like, and of her little games, running around the house. In terms of style I feel like this is what it would sound like if Yellow Magic Orchestra did a slowed down footwork track (play it at 160 BPM if you don't believe me!). »

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Transparent Sound

Accidents 1994-2023

Down On Darkened Meetings

Release: 2023 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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“I’ve always loved mistakes; it’s the hidden beauty in all art” - Andrew Weatherall
Transparent Sound are the original dons of UK electro, not exactly household names yet an act with so many underrepped
classics that once you dive into their catalogue you might end up emptying your bank account on Discogs.
To save you going down this calamitous path as well as to finally, raise TS to the level of notoriety they deserve,
Tresor Records
is very proud to announce the release of Accidents 1994-2023. Formed by Orson Bramley and Martin Brown in
Bognor Regis in
1994, Transparent Sound have managed to create 30 years’ worth of some of the best electro from the British Isles,
despite
claiming to not know what they were doing nor how their instruments work.
It’s likely that it’s this lack of knowledge that led to the quality and longevity of their output - the pair experiment
and tinker with
the machines until something pleasing appears then follow that sound down whatever path seems fruitful: “the
confidence of
ignorance” as a slightly more-famous Orson, Orson Welles, once put it. This tactic has paid o well and found them
stumbling
into many notable adventures, from remixing The Cure to performing during an intermission between two halves of a
lecture -
none of which they understood as it was in Spanish.
The compilation collects a lucky-for-you 13 of their most glorious electrical accidents on a three-disc set including the
dancefloor hits Punk Mother Fucker (a mainstay of Villalobos sets at the time of release), and No Call From New York
(as heard on
Helena Hau’s perfect 2017 Essential Mix).
The package also comes with ‘Windows To Your Sole’ from the unreleased white label Transparent Sound 007, other
unreleased tracks, and special 2023 edits as well as six digital bonus tracks

TRACKLIST
1 / A1. Remanisance 06:27
2 / A2. No Call From New York (Acid Mix) 06:38
3 / B1. Slang City 08:06
4 / B2. Mistakes Happen 06:12
5 / C1. Punk Mother Fucker 08:46
6 / C2. Numb In The Face (V.23) 06:01
7 / D1. Awful Mutation (V.23) 05:14
8 / D2. Windows To Your Sole (V.23) 05:28
9 / D3. Tricks (V.23) 04:16
10 / E1. Atmosphere 07:17
11 / E2. What Goes On 06:09
12 / F1. Freaks Frequency 06:45
13 / F2. Gritty Glamour 06:16
Digital only
14. Music Noir 05:41
15. See The Signs (V.23) 08:07
16. Analogue Deliverance 06:01
17. Haircut Fantasy 06:26
18. Pocket Full Of Mischief 04:42
19. Voyeurs Chance (V.23) 05:58

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Giuseppe Ielasi

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Black Truffle)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Black Truffle is pleased to announce Down On Darkened Meetings, the first solo release on the label from the quietly prolific Giuseppe Ielasi. Recorded at Ielasi’s studio in Monza outside of Milan over two days in February 2022, the seven pieces presented here continue the renewed exploration of the guitar that marks much of his solo work over the last few years. Emerging in the late 1990s as an improviser working primarily with prepared acoustic and electric guitars, the instrument became less prominent in his work over the next decade, ceding to loop-based constructs that would eventually split into abstracted takes on club music and hip-hop (including his work as Inventing Masks), on the one hand, and spectral electroacoustic explorations (such as the stunning triple disc 3 pauses), on the other. Returning to the guitar in recent years, he has approached the instrument as a source of shimmering metallic glissandi (Five Wooden Frames) or as the vehicle of elegiac double-tracked lines that feel almost like Frisell playing Feldman (The Prospect). Here the focus is on electric guitar filtered, looped, and splayed out into fields of irregular echoes through a bank of pedals.

Like many of Ielasi’s releases, Down On Darkened Meetings is structured as a set of short untitled pieces (here ranging between two and six minutes in length) that single-mindedly explore a single instrument or source throughout. The opening track immediately introduced the distinctive timbral world of fizzing, heavily filtered tones, chiming harmonics, and woozy looping bass figures inhabited throughout. At points it becomes near impossible to trace these sounds to the strings of an electric guitar; at others, as on the final two pieces, the instrument is unmistakable, as Ielasi builds up his shifting loops from snatches of almost unintentional sounding half-playing that give these closing tracks a hushed, private atmosphere reminiscent of Tolerance’s Anonym. While the repeating chords and hanging melodic figures present on many tracks call to mind earlier Ielasi classics like Gesine and Untitled, here the music feels less meticulously constructed than played: Ielasi’s lyrical guitar lines obscured by a battery of effects at times come across like a dilated take on the outer-fringe fretwork of improvisers like Henry Kaiser and Raymond Boni, and the muddy, asynchronous fields of pops and hiss at times wander into areas reminiscent of the hand-played dub techno of Vladislav Delay’s Multila.

Like much of Ielasi’s work in recent years, these seven pieces perform a delicate balancing act: between abstraction and immediacy, austerity and abundance. Imbued with Ielasi’s distinctive lightness of touch, considered approach to pacing, and subtly psychedelic approach to the stereo field, Down on Darkened Meetings is a major new work from a quiet master of contemporary experimental music.

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3CD | 2023 | UK | Original (Phonica)

20 Years Of Phonica

18,99 €*

2LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Cambria Instruments)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Phonica Records opened its doors in 2003 amidst a climate of closing record stores and splintering genres in electronic music. Founded by Simon Rigg, Tom Relleen and Heidi Van Den Amstel with backing from The Vinyl Factory, Phonica’s goal was to be a destination for all kinds of dance and electronic music and to be a welcoming, knowledgeable hub, open to all.

In 2007, Phonica’s eponymous record label launched, initially to put out records by its enthusiastic DJ and producer staff members such as Hector, Anthea and Will Saul. It also quickly became a place to introduce new artists - putting out early releases on by now well-known producers such as Peggy Gou, Paul Woolford and Midland - as well as harnessing the talents of well-respected legends like Four Tet and Roman Flugel. Fast-forward to 2023 and the label has gone from strength to strength, spawning a number of sub-labels; Phonica White, Phonica Records Special Editions, Karakul and the recently launched Phonica AM, each with its own musical flavour and direction.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Phonica’s launch, we asked our favourite producers and friends to give us exclusive tracks for a brand new compilation, our second following 2013’s well-received ‘Ten Years Of Phonica’.

The result is ‘20 Years Of Phonica’, featuring 18 brand new, previously unreleased tracks from both established names and up and coming artists across the genres Phonica is known for. The CD also includes the best tracks from the Phonica labels over the last decade, spread over 2 CDs.

Daniel Avery kicks off the compilation. ‘Bell’ finds the Phantasy and Mute artist at his most contemplative and melodic; it’s streamlined stylings reminiscent of UK Artificial Intelligence 90s techno and Kompakt’s golden era. Shop regular and ever-rising star Nyra comes through with the pumping club banger ‘Broken Needs’, channelling early 90’s Hacienda sounds and hazy Ibiza memories. Up next, a collaboration from Paramida & E-Talking. Paramida is the well-respected head of the Love on the Rocks label whilst E-Talking is the pseudonym of Emmanuel Corre, one half of Nummer who have given us stunning releases over the year on their own label, Ad93 and Going Good. ‘Read My Lips’ strikes the perfect balance of old-school warehouse acid and early morning Berlin dance floors.

One of our favourite producers to explode onto the scene in the last few years, Gene On Earth turns in some solid energy in the form of ‘Club Jacket’. Sounding truly contemporary and classic at the same time, the track recalls both Jeremy Sylvester and MK. Next up, the Amsterdam-based duo Dam Swindle bring the party with the epic ‘Allright (Just a Tribute)’ a no nonsense feel good slice of club magic. One of the duo’s most effective productions: DJ bag-ready, perfectly balanced house music.

With 12”s on Slow Life, Small Hours, Voyage, Oscillat Music, & In Dust We Trust nothing is stopping L.A. born, Berlin-based, DJ and producer Huerta. With his ‘Hit the Bit’ track, he gives us a bona-fide floor-filling house anthem. Next up, Dauwd’s bass-heavy monster ‘Slam’. The US born, Berlin residing DJ & producer Dauwd has been pushing his sound through various styles and genres since the early 2010s. From dub-steppy and tech-house beginnings to his most recent house and dub-techno Psssh imprint outputs he has been driving record collectors crazy for his 12’s for over a decade! Italian synth queen System Olympia delivers us ‘A Mezzanotte’, hitting the perfect note between early Italo pop, and US R’n’b.

At the forefront of jungle’s new wave, Tim Reaper joins forces with Comfort Zone on the drum & bass anthem ‘Subterranean’. One of the heaviest sonic technicians around, Reaper and his collaborator Comfort Zone offer up a quality tune, based around a familiar vocal sample.

NTS Radio presenter and Eglo artist Shy One has been attracting attention with an original sound that is a mixture of live percussion, and funk mixed with UK bass. Here, ’Uncle G’ offers exactly that, combining broken beat, heavy bass and jazz sensibilities for a breezy, refreshing offering.

Toby Tobias has been a long-time friend of the store, collaborating with the Phonica crew on one of their monthly DJ nights for almost a decade. A prolific produce under many pseudonyms, including Alphonse, and on the Rekids, Klasse Wrecks and Emotional Rescue labels, Toby’s ‘On My Mind’ contribution is a complex house-not-house, bassline-heavy wriggly groover that becomes more compelling at every listen. Next up, Mancunian producer Willow’s ‘Willbush’ shows why she has been a leading name in the underground house scene for over a decade now, including releases on the renowned Workshop label.

One half of the celebrated house duo Genius of Time, Swedish producer Dorisburg has been a long-term friend of the store and has given us the stunning 12” ‘House Organ for the Lonely’ on the Phonica label back in 2020, he now returns to the label with the contemplative, meandering instrumental that is ‘Midi Trail’. Berlin-based Keisuke also contributes after a release on Phonica White in 2022, his huge ‘Ride it Out’ is one of the biggest dancefloor tracks on the compilation - a simple but effective tribal groove.

Shanti Celeste offers her take on the Chilean producer Niños Indigo’s track ‘Luna’ which featured on her album ‘Vuduwave’, a 2017 release on Phonica Records Special Editions. Shanti’s mix takes the delicate organic atmospherics of the original track adding her bass-heavy rhythm and combining the intricate melodies to create a hypnotic effect. Finally, Phonica wouldn’t be anything without its staff and we are excited to include tracks from Kieran Jandu with his ‘From My Soul’ hypnotic house anthem and Phonica counter mainstay Luther Vine’s collaboration with Subb-An on the huge ‘Sunday Roll Through’.

The compilation is available across 3xCD including a bumper number of cherry-picked gems from Phonica’s extensive label output over the past decade.

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Nathan Fake

Crystal Vision

39,99 €*

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Vivek)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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On April 7th electronic luminary Nathan Fake presents the new longplayer ‘Crystal Vision’ on his own Cambria Instruments imprint, which features collaborations with Clark and Wizard Apprentice.

This is music for music’s sake – recorded without angles, agendas and themes – so Fake was free to simply continue honing his craft and express himself non-literally. Aptly titled, there’s a clarity of execution and ambition, and a peak effectiveness to the record that just sounds right.

Continuing to set a personal bar higher and topping his own best, the mark of master craftsperson is everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s polished; There’s plenty of rawness evident, with spiky sonics keeping ears on high alert – full of endorphin-flooded rave energy.

Following a short, scene-setting ‘Arrival’ – a simple major chord arpeggio played on a Jupiter 6 which sounds like curtains opening at dawn, things begin apace with ‘The Grass’, which hurtles like a precision-tuned bullet train through Arctic tundra. The undulating effect of compression is emphasised by the classic techno trope where 2 rhythms jar yet interlock, creating an exquisitely disorientating strobe-like flutter. On the track’s guest, Fake comments, “I fell in love with Wizard Apprentice's ‘I Am Invisible’ and felt our musical styles were similar. Their vocals are smooth and clear and sharp at the same time. They’re like a calm within the storm.”

Inspired by Italo disco but sounding wholly alien and futuristic, ‘Vimana’’s fizzing buzzsaw arpeggiated bassline, popping snares and bright whirling melody are equally an electro trance melange, with an effervescent major chord Arp that kicks in midway.

Reminiscent of what used to be called ‘funky techno’ but with sparklier sounds, ‘Boss Core’ blinds like sunshine bouncing off ice. Using his trusty Boss Dr550 drum machine, and inspired by Autechre's ‘Vose In’, the track peaks by reaching that melancholic/euphoric axis for which he is loved.

With chugging slow breakbeats not a million miles from Board Of Canada or trip hop, ‘Crystal Vision’ rolls along, with the melody opening up, revealing more hidden notes as it progresses, building into a fractal, kaleidoscopic mosaic.

An emotional outpouring with serotonin surging through the circuitry, classic breakbeats and layers of lazers, ‘Bibled’ has all the hallmarks of a classic. This is a bonafide festival-set closing, hugging-your-mates, moment – or, with its guitar solo, “a power ballad” – as Nathan calls it.

A minimalistic moment of calm midway through the album, ‘CMD’’s gently comforting dreamscape is conjured with FM stacked and detuned sine waves which are left to breathe, whilst the chunky Chicagoan house jack of ‘Hawk’ brings to mind classic Relief records, but even more detuned and wibbly, and laden with synths.

As the title suggests, ‘Amen 96’ is in Fake’s own words, “me having a go at jungle. I grew up listening to it, and I remember as a teenager it sounded like the most intense and otherworldly music ever. It still does. This track is an experiment to see how my melodic style works against amen breaks”. Closer to the braindance end of the spectrum than ‘proper’ jungle (and all the more interesting for it), Fake channels the spirit of Squarepusher but makes it his own, brimming with melodious twinkle.

A collaboration with Nathan’s close friend and genuine musical hero Clark. ‘Outsider’ finds this dream team alchemising pure gold that’s bigger than the sum of their parts. Skittering, intense, far-reaching end epic, the pair close proceedings on a grandly dramatic note. In 2020 Nathan released the album ‘Blizzards’, which was described by The Quietus as “his best work”, and “his best LP yet” yet by Resident Advisor. The equally well received ‘Blizzards Remixes’ EP which featured Afrodeutsche and Irene Dresel followed in 2021, as did a nationwide UK tour.

An in-demand remixer, Fake has added his magic to tracks by Radiohead, Clark, Perc, Jon Hopkins, GoGo Penguin, Dominik Eulberg, Christian Löffler and Damian Lazarus, working for labels including Ninja Tune, Domino, Warp, Blue Note and Kompakt.

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V.I.V.E.K

Colours EP

15,99 €*

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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V.I.V.E.K announces his second release on the self-named Vivek label. Known for his cult label, System Music, this label focuses more on eclectic 140 bpm outside the realm of the dance floor.

The 4 track EP explores broken beat, ambience, melody and rhythm at 140, something that has been missing over the last few years within the genre. Colours is not only the EP title, but a reflection of the diversity of the tracks. Musicality sits at the heart of this with a nod to easy listening.

“The main focus of this release was to take me out of my musical comfort zone. I wanted to work with other musicians as well as push myself to inhabit new creative ideas.” - V.I.V.E.K

Whether it’s as an artist, label owner, a deep-drawing world-touring selector or system-building soundman behind some of London’s most important dances, V.I.V.E.K has an inherent drive to push things forward and contribute to the craft of music with serious attention to detail. A life-long frequency student dedicated to soundsystem culture, he has total respect for the heritage, value and rich variety of true music, an ability to totally arrest your full attention and imagination with his music... And has done so since he emerged in the early 2000s.

Musically pressed and blessed on key imprints such as his own System Music, Deep Medi, Tectonic and iconic reggae imprint Greensleeves, V.I.V.E.K’s creations are a crucial brew of bass styles encompassing everything from heavyweight bass hypnosis to flighty, steppy garage hybrids via sweet dub soul and all-out low-end pressure. His self-built custom soundsystem, System, meanwhile, is a unique force of nature in UK bass music culture; the most prominent modern system to be established this decade, it’s a whole new chapter in the UK’s longstanding and illustrious history of barrier-breaking soundsystem communities. As such, it attracts committed fans from around the globe and selectors from across the system spectrum.

His label System Music has the same treasured, trusted status; not only as a source of legit never-to-be-repressed artefacts that prize the real value of music, but also as a key platform for encouraging forward-thinking, powerful system music from across the OG – freshmen continuum. Karma to Kromestar, Sleeper to SP:MC, LAS to Egoless: System Music’s celebration of bass music’s sonic scope and nurturing of talent and craft ensures its consistent buy-on-sight ranking.

Most importantly it’s as a selector that V.I.V.E.K’s position is the most vital. The selective tailor of rich, immersive and eclectic sessions, few DJs dig as deep, join the dots or draw for dubs quite like this West London operator. Accentuating his influence as a producer, engineer, dubsmith, label curator and system builder; his creative excursions as a DJ, both on the dancefloor and the airwaves as a broadcaster on the likes of Rinse FM, galvanise his status as one of the most respected, influential and singular artists who is driven by nothing but craftsmanship, unity and the sense of culture that UK bass music needs to thrive and inspire.

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Mawimbi)

Mawimbi Volume 2

Steve "Silk" Hurley Feat. Sara Garvey

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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We are really proud to introduce a new release on Mawimbi Records: "Mawimbi, Vol. 2”. Its title is a nod to “Mawimbi, Vol. 1”, which was the inaugural release of our record label back in 2015. A new compilation, at last, after a decade of music activism and a handful of EPs and albums which have helped unearth some of today’s talents from the new global music scene (Onipa, Loya, Afriquoi, Raz & Afla). It stays true to the driving principles of our artistic direction: support upcoming artists, e ncourage the breaking down of musical frontiers, help make happen new encounters between electronic music and so-called “afro” music. While these encounters can now be witnessed anywhere in pop music’s current zeitgeist, from Beyoncé to South African’s vibrant amapiano scene, we think there’s still plenty to explore.
“Mawimbi, Vol. 2” truly feels like the culmination of a long path for our record label. Because it includes artists who have been actively contributing to the Mawimbi adventure over the years, and also because it’s another convincing testimony of the fruitfulness of this musical intuition we have so heartily been defending for the last decade. Indeed, the 8 tracks of “Mawimbi, Vol. 2” resist all the usual labels. They sound like they stem more from human encounters and artistic dialogues launched in the moment than attempts to be associated with any music scene in particular. Each of the 8 pieces of this compilation presents in a unique way the search for this cross-pollinating sound.
The compilation opens with a really engaging rework of James Stewart’s classic track “Cotonou” by Lyon-based tropical music enthusiasts Voilaaa, who took Peter Solo’s voodoo soul lines on a trip across the Black Atlantic beginning with a horn-heavy cuban cha-cha-cha before falling into a savory triple time dance. As tireless sonic adventurers, Amsterdam-based duo Umoja have brought back a handful of hits from their numerous trips to Kenya meeting with local benga musicians. “Avana Va” is one of their compelling tunes, featuring Kenyan musician and producer Sidney Simila. This urge to collaborate with musicians from across the African continent is also to be found in Village Cuts’ ever expanding discography. On “Sentima”, they showcase their trademark London funky sound, introducing us to the talents of Congolese guitarist and singer Kissangwa.

Afriquoi’s 2020 hit “Ndeko Solo” is presented in a brand new shape, sprinkled with some French Touch flavours. “Djansa”, by Toulouse-based producers Mr. Boom, rides a distinct South African-inspired groove, while inviting us to a nighttime dance by the Balearic sea. On “Silent Runner”, French producer and musician Ozferti moulds his own musical galaxy where East African scales meet cutting edge global club beats. With “Nabi Kumi”, Anglo-Ghanaian duo Raz & Afla delivers their deepest piece, once again inducing a state of trance with a triple-time beat and an hypnotic kora loop. Closing the compilation, “It's Holy” is a unique collaboration between Tom Excell (Onipa, Nubiyan Twist, David Walters) and Dizraeli, one of the most interesting voices in British rap, which by making connections between broken beat, jazz and african music, illustrates the precious mixture of musical aesthetics that make up the current UK musical landscape

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All I Need

12" | 2023 | UK | Original (Hard Times)

18,99 €*

Paloma Clear Vinyl Edtion

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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New year, new energy, new music...

We’re all waiting for that tune to land in our lap, reach up and slap us simultaneously in the ears, feels, souls and feet. That big sonic blast of emotion and inspiration that sets the tone and gets us excited about a new season of shows.

Hard Times Records present ‘All I Need’, a powerful, slab of house music positivity that smacks of ‘first anthem of the year’ vibes and comes courtesy of one of house music’s biggest pioneers AND a certified UK House music institution that permanently changed the face of global club culture over 30 years ago... Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley and Hard Times.

Neither Hurley or Hard Times need any introductions, but both have histories that deserve so much more than this hype-fuelled promo blurb. Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley is a certified legend. As one of the pioneering House music artists to emerge from Chicago’s primordial 80s phenomenon and the first ever to score a UK number one Hit with ‘Jack Your Body’, the multiple Grammy nominated artist has been a powerful source of energy and inspiration ever since as one of the most consistent forefathers of this scene.

Hard Times have played an equally influential role and are arguably responsible for some of the most defining moments in uk House Music. One of the first club nights to import the US titans to UK dancefloors, the Yorkshire brand were instrumental in creating a blueprint in international DJ culture as they invited the biggest pioneers and legends to their events that began in the sleepy town of Mirfield, but eventually sprawled across the UK with line-ups that ranged from Todd Terry to Masters at Work to Deep Dish and every titan in between. A dominant force throughout the 90s, Hard Times wound down in the 2000s as its founder Steve Raine took a break from the industry to become a sheep farmer, which he still does to this day... Safe in the knowledge that he helped to create an ethos for uncompromising underground House Music that remains steadfast to this Day.

The Hard Times label originated back in 1994 And ran alongside the club night, boasting a small but elite catalogue. It’s about to thrive on a whole new level as Hard Times returns as a label with its first new material for over 20 years with ‘All I Need’.

Timeless yet forward-thinking, loaded to the brim with precision groovemanship, glazed with a strong Latin twist and sprinkled with the gorgeous vocals of Sara Garvey, who many will instantly recognise from her Nightmares On Wax collaborations, ‘All I Need’ is a pedigree house anthem-in-waiting. Universal in vibe and spirit, fully transcending trend or flavour-of-the-month fickleness, this taps into the source and has full potential to be the first big boundary-breaking house hit of 2023... 36 years after Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley topped the charts with ‘Jack Your Body’!

It comes complete with a rainbow of remixes from some equally eye-opening heavyweights: Alex Arnout, Eddie Leader, Terry Farley & Kevin Swain and DJ Skip (who runs S&S Records with ‘Hurley) all provide different perspectives on ‘All I Need’, giving it even more scope and depth to slap us simultaneously.

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Laila Sakini

LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Modern Love)

12" | 2017 | EU | Original (Pulp)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance, Classical Music

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When Laila Sakini's debut album ‘Vivienne’ arrived in 2020, it felt like the record we were waiting for to map out our tangled reactions to an uninvited reality. Never self-consciously strange, it revealed itself slowly and cautiously, like a shadow in the corner of the eye, or an alchemical symbol in a bowl of alphabet spaghetti. This time around Sakini has worked her unique world-building to an even finer point, forming six tracks around a theme that's so close to our heart it's almost beating in time. Initially inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1991 arthouse classic "The Double Life of Veronique", the cult Polish director's enduring modern fairytale that serves as a cosmic rumination on identity and choice. Detailing two identical women - both singers, both in love - the film lets one live as the other dies, forcing us to consider the implications of art and endurance in the face of life's myriad challenges.

Sakini takes Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner's influential score for the film and uses it as a jumping-off point for ‘Paloma’, bending the more grandiose moments into baroque awkwardness on opening track 'Fluer D'Oranger' and evoking the mood of scene-setting cues 'Weronika' and 'Véronique' on the recorder-led 'The Light That Flickers In The Mirror'. And while Preisner's score zeroed in on the musical virtuosity of the film's lead characters, Sakini reinterprets that as a metaphor for self-discovery. Playing piano, violin, glockenspiel, timbale, recorder, and occasionally singing, Sakini captures a mood of innocence that immediately transports the listener back to simpler times. Her music isn't self-consciously simplistic, but forcing herself to interface with instruments impulsively rather than studiously, her sounds are all heart, no filigree.

In spirit, it reminds us of cult Canadian album "The Langley Schools Music Project", a collection of 1970s recordings of school kids singing rudimentary renditions of pop songs in a school gymnasium. That album's genius was in the bottling of hope and innocence: the feeling of joy from hearing and wholesomely interacting with music that's known and loved without a sense of hierarchy or desire for cultural clout. Sakini subtly subverts this by evoking the amateur spirit in the most bewitching way; instead of sourcing her ideas from Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys, her stock is the established art canon, and by reforming those sounds she makes an insightful comment on intellectualism and access. European classical music is all too often trapped behind the frosted glass of respectability and assumed skill - craft replaces spirit, and technique replaces soul. By approaching these gestures from a different angle, Sakini softens the edges sonically and intellectually, finding music that bubbles with emotion, and most strikingly - hope.

Her choice of instruments and the way she interacts with them allows us to feel as if we're not only listening but contributing. It's a bottom-up way of absorbing art that's traditionally been top-down, and a reminder that we're all part of the experience, whether we're humming along to the remnants of a theme as it dribbles out of an ear in the shower, or dreaming of spotlights in a parallel life that may or may not be real. Sakini's music is nostalgic in a sense, but nowhere near the buttered popcorn and high-fructose candy migraine of the Netflix/Spotify algorithm generation of regurgitated churn. She makes sounds that remind us of what time and experience may have stolen from us, and how we might recover it. We're gagged.

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Mat/Matix

Freaked In Private

8,99 €* 11,99 € -25%

Günther Schickert & Udo Erdenreich

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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If one looks at the output of Los Angeles based artist Mat/Matix , he d find that this quite illusive figure from the LA scene of contemporary electronic funk has quite some good tracks in his compact repertoire. This package (which contains a version from fellow West Coast artist Moon B) is dripping with heart wrenching synth soars and compact drum works that are built with the fierceness that is so significant for both the label and the artist.

If one looks at the output of Los Angeles based artist Mat/Matix , he d find that this quite illusive figure from the LA scene of contemporary electronic funk has quite some good tracks in his compact repertoire. This package (which contains a version from fellow West Coast artist Moon B) is dripping with heart wrenching synth soars and compact drum works that are built with the fierceness that is so significant for both the label and the artist.
Freaked in Private even though it s an EP feels more like a mini album of some sort. The opening track City Chiller is a slap bass heavy venture into G funk tainted dance music that perfectly utilizes an uplifting intermezzo, before heading into it s chorus which is highlighted by loosely played synth notes and some interesting vocal shots that are so significant for LA music from by gone days. The version by fellow funketeer Moon B goes a different route. The slap bass has been altered into a deep and sophisticated bass pattern which acts as the spine of the version. The drums are somewhat more outlandish, and the pad that floats on top works perfectly with the glow of the synths.

If one looks at the output of Los Angeles based artist Mat/Matix , he d find that this quite illusive figure from the LA scene of contemporary electronic funk has quite some good tracks in his compact repertoire. This package (which contains a version from fellow West Coast artist Moon B) is dripping with heart wrenching synth soars and compact drum works that are built with the fierceness that is so significant for both the label and the artist.
Freaked in Private even though it s an EP feels more like a mini album of some sort. The opening track City Chiller is a slap bass heavy venture into G funk tainted dance music that perfectly utilizes an uplifting intermezzo, before heading into it s chorus which is highlighted by loosely played synth notes and some interesting vocal shots that are so significant for LA music from by gone days. The version by fellow funketeer Moon B goes a different route. The slap bass has been altered into a deep and sophisticated bass pattern which acts as the spine of the version. The drums are somewhat more outlandish, and the pad that floats on top works perfectly with the glow of the synths.

Hold it down is a disco ish track that utilizes very smooth and soul touching elements that are built around various piano variations and a beautiful break with percussion in the fashion of Shuggie Otis Aht uh mi Hed .

Central Bank is keeping up the pace with a very hazy atmosphere and amazing vocals which ooze throughout. Very musical and warm. 135th is a piano track that again strikes the right chord for mellow week-ends in a park. Wayactive is closing down this extended effort with euphoric synths and uplifting chords.

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Schickreich

LP | 2024 | UK (Marmo Music)

12" | 2023 | US | Original (Bring Dat Ass)

Release: 2024 / UK

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Jabbering people, a dry bassline, nagging punks, the bassline again, a dry cough, the U-1 passes by, a guitar starts weeping: welcome to Schickreich, a rare recording of a super group that cut short into a duo. Comprised of bass, hurdy gurdy, jaw harp player, DJ, Intermedia-artist Udo Erdenreich, and Berlin’s cosmic kraut legend Günter Schickert. They were bandmates in Ziguri and played since the late 1980s off and on as Schickreich. Marmo now brings to life an album that uncovers two wings of their manifold musical explorations.

The A-Side, “Die Zukunft ist den Kindern und den Narren“, is an epic live recording from Easter Sunday 1988, when Schickreich first performed at Das Arschloch, an open-air pit at Kreuzberg’s Oranienstr. 1 / Manteuffelstrasse 43 at Berlin’s Görlitzer Straße underground station. At that time, the pit was a regular venue for concerts, performances, happenings, and other events of art. Free and outside was the slogan. The duo performed an improvised show alongside the megaphone shouting of Mirko from the Irren-Offensive, a 1980 formed association that served (according to the statutes) "the self-help of current or former psychiatric inmates" and "works toward creating understanding of madness and finding new ways of living with madness." The group's friend Uschi Schröder, at that time cultural manager in Berlin's underground culture, recorded the unique show with her cassette recorder, walking around in the pit, absorbing music, bypassing city noise, and the talk of the audience. After 35 years in deep sleep, the unique cultural document gets published for the first time. It brings all that Angst, that revolutionary Geist, that anarchy, West-Berlin had to offer for a brief period. You hear them shouting for free madness over low hanging bass figures and stretched guitar echoes. The audience is part of the show, children talk while strange drones appear just to disappear again.

The B-Side features a totally different musical universe of Schickreich. A meditative one, recorded 2008 by Günter Schickert while playing live to an audiovisual show about the cultural heritage of Tibet called Tibet Rediscovered. Two eight- to 16-minute-long tunes run by the names “Kang Rinpoche” and “Mapam Yu Tso”, featuring Günter Schickert playing his famous snail horns, while Erdenreich adds gentle bell tones, jaw harp frequencies and percussion on the flight. They are documenting an inner voyage into Schickreich's deep layered telepathic zones, where both artists speak in tones to each other, imagining the mountain regions of Kang Rinpoche and the nearby clear waters of high-altitude lake Mapam Yu Tso as a spiritual musical galaxy of their very own. Gently played, with long meandering tones in the spirit of Pauline Oliveros, unfolding a mystical story ark for friends of trance-portive music. Manufactured with snail horn, guitar, hurdy gurdy, bell, jaw harp, percussion, and two inspired spirits, that trust each other’s visions deeply. Free music for free zones.

Three recordings, two different atmospheric longings, created by two individuals of West-Berlin’s free agitating cultural zone, that followed their very own artistic path, never coping with the current, ever listening to their peculiar heartbeat, that pumps deep down in their psychedelic souls. Günter Schickert, Udo Erdenreich, Schickreich in eternity.

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Toribio

Tongue In Cheeks EP

10,39 €* 15,99 € -35%

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Pip Den Haag)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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If the name of this collection of traxxx offends you, move on — there’s no hope for you here. If, on the other hand, Toribio’s salacious fun-pun cracked your cool exterior, here’s an introduction to a set of bangers that helps exemplify New York’s increasingly exuberant dancefloor, and what producer/DJ Cesar Toribio brings to it. His is a ribald, rhythmic take on dance music, neither for the weak of musical character (purists need not apply) nor for the weak of ass (-shaking). In fact, the proof is right there, in Toribio’s label’s and monthly party’s name: Bring Dat Ass. This command is not optional, but *the* key ingredient for a good time.

The five songs Toribio has created for “Tongue In Cheeks,” BDA’s first release, comprise a horny melting pot of tribal house and Linn-drum plug-ins, minimalist synth textures and basslines, hi-hats reminiscent of electro and freestyle classics, some of which are infused with New York’s Latin club history and futures. The lead-off track, “No Pare,” is based on the producer’s 808-driven reinvention of the call-and-response hook from Proyecto Uno’s 1993 merengue-house smash “El Tiburón,” marking the first time the group has ever cleared a sample of this Nuyodominican classic. We predict that “No Pare” will be a Fall 2023 monster.

Guest vocal appearances by The Illustrious Blacks and Maluca, cornerstones of different dance-floor scenes in a city currently hitting peak-energy levels, show the breadth of Toribio’s regard for community: There is a lot of crossover to how the punky Dominicana MC from Washington Heights chooses to slang-tastically “Werk It Out,” and how the Neo-Afro-Futuristic-Psychedelic-Surrealistic-Hippys Monstah Black and Manchildblack infuse a dollop of booty into “Work Dat Shit.” And the two different metallic beats point at seemingly separate parts of Toribio’s musical heritage uniting. There’s no formula, but if there was, it would be: Make it sexy. Make it (consensually) grindy. Make it funny to the point of ridiculous but so funky that the laughter becomes more fuel to the joyous momentum propelling the movement. Then make it home — or try to.

Cesar Toribio’s home is, originally Tampa — and the DR, where he’d spend summers with family. He was a drum-corps prodigy who went to Berklee to become a jazz drummer and be like Gil Evans. He idolized Miles’ orchestral arranger’s work as much as Dilla’s beats, but then discovered house music, so it was a wrap. The 2021 band album Toribio made under the name Conclave — which included his sister Sharin and musicians from such great projects as Standing On the Corner, No Regular Play and Irreversible Entanglements — unearthed the work of a singer-songwriter-arranger-producer of immeasurably nuanced, soulful jazz-house music. But when Toribio started DJing more and more, he decided to listen to the devil on his shoulder who told him to Bring Dat Ass. As Cesar damn-well knows, it’s the devil who has the better jokes and holds the better parties, so his ears perked up. “Tongue in Cheeks” is the music Toribio says he made to play at these parties, because he can’t find it anywhere else. It’s hard to disagree.

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Mega Wega

Haunted

21,74 €* 28,99 € -25%

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Secret Teachings)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Fate is a funny old thing. One day in 2011, DJ/producer Tom Trago found himself sharing a train journey with Steven Van Lummel, a DIY musician, artist and co-founder of PIP, an underground nightclub and cultural hub in The Hague. Over the course of a rambling, open-ended conversation, the idea of making music together came up; a few weeks later, Trago travelled to van Lummel’s place – a former industrial unit that was now home to a rotating cast of artists and musicians – and didn’t leave for a month.

Cossetted away from the outside world in van Lummel’s loft, with multi-instrumentalists Janneke Nijhuijs and Wieger Hoogendorp joining them to create a musical four-piece, Mega Wega was born. Over the course of four weeks, the quartet embarked on an almost continuous creative session punctuated only by impromptu parties and mixing sessions. Life-long bonds were made and over 70 tracks recorded before the mundanity of day-to-day life came calling.

For one reason or another, the project never saw the light of day, with tracks sat gathering dust on hard drives for the best part of a decade. During the madness and loneliness of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trago rediscovered the tracks. Delighted by what he heard, a collective decision was made to add finishing touches and release the resultant album on van Lummel’s PIP Records imprint. Further instruments and vocals were added over two days at Hoogendorp’s studio, before mutual friend Tom Ruig got on board to mix the album.

So, what can you expect from Haunted, Mega Wega’s debut album? First and foremost, it’s the sound of pure creative expression – the distillation of a freewheeling, no-holds-barred, spontaneous musical journey variously inspired by the do-it-yourself ethos of musical counterculture, shared inspirations and influences, epic jam sessions, distant stars (Wega, sometimes known as Fidis or ‘the harp star’, is one of the brightest in the night sky), imaginary journeys across dusty deserts, and the comradeship of four new friends.

Enchanting and alluring, it’s an album that gleefully denies lazy categorization and ploughs its own eclectic, atmospheric musical furrow in vivid sonic detail. It’s a collective exploration of heady musical eclecticism unified by saucer-eyed vocals, low-slung bass, loose-limbed beats, sweaty percussion workouts and hazy electric piano motifs.

Haunted begins with the woozy and hallucinatory slow-burn soundscape of ‘Get Things Done’ – an effects laden shuffle akin to lying flat on your back tripping under an intense desert sun – and ends with the creepy, mind-mangling post-punk funk of ‘Brain Carpaccio’; in between, you’ll find spaced-out, low-tempo lo-fi soul (‘Move Around’, ‘Haunted’), deep and off-kilter opioid jazz (‘Copenhagen’), intoxicating psychedelia (‘Last Night on Earth’), piano-laden dream-pop epics (‘Shake Or Fall’), and Latin-infused, percussion-powered hedonism (‘Chopping Heads’).

Born out of spontaneous collaboration and immersive, almost endless recording sessions, Haunted is an album shot through with imagination and boundless energy, captured for posterity by four friends and collaborators at the top of their game.

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Miraclis

Origin Of Truth

20,99 €*

LP | 2024 | Original (Circus Company)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The making of a maiden album can be a capricious process. One moment of outright musical flow paired with another period of sustained creative struggle are feats experienced by seasoned producers the world over. So when Miraclis was forced to hole away in his makeshift studio - in the midst of a global pandemic - the stage was set for something magical. Now it will see the light of day for the very first time.

Having released two singles on Secret Teachings to critical acclaim already this year, Chilean talent Miraclis will accomplish a milestone achievement in July with the release of his debut album: Origin Of Truth.

Difficult experiences were fundamental to the creation of such work, as were Miraclis’ inherent musical interests. He explains: “Origin Of Truth had its birth during the pandemic. I created it as a way of communicating to myself the sensations and feelings that were spinning around my head at the time. I've always been inspired by Bristol trip hop, as well as classical rock, and these genres definitely contributed to the making of these melancholic tracks. In a way I wanted to fuse all the musical influences that were part of my childhood, up until this point now, so this album really means a lot to me. It was my way of communicating, when there was a lack of social contact and communication itself was hard to come by.”

It's this meditative quality that initially drew Damian Lazarus to the project. “It’s a record that has its roots in electronic music, but it’s a very alternative, very deep, melancholic album. I find it both soothing and stirring at the same time, and that’s a quite interesting juxtaposition in that it feels edgy but delicious at the same time,” says Lazarus. “The fact that this was written in this place surrounded by the most incredible desert landscapes makes this a very important piece of work to me. It doesn’t sit in any particular genre, which is why it feels right for a Secret Teachings release. It hints at so many genres that I as a DJ am quite into, and it feels like a first as it’s unique and unclassifiable. That mystical, esoteric, edgy feel makes this a perfect release for the label.”

Sonnet opens proceedings, with ghostly vocals residing next to raw instrumental elements throughout. Miraclis’ signature guitar riffs soon converge on saddened keys, paving the way for Scienter. It takes the form of an instrument-based, electronic-inspired cut, building slowly before reaching a crescendo midway through via an enrapturing acoustic solo.

Floating Child comes next, brimming with a darker intensity courtesy of broody synth pulses and rhythmic hi-hats, as Shiver arrives next. There’s a rock-leaning sensibility to the piece that gives way to earnest lyrical offerings, opening swiftly into the breakbeat-esque world of Perceptions. Hard-hitting drums act as the focal point, with electric chords adding depth and intrigue, whilst Bright continues in a similarly heartfelt vein.

Introspective pads leave us feeling pensive, ahead of Interstellar taking us on a celestial journey through warped bass tones. Acting as the LP’s penultimate number, it’s a four-and-a-half minute showcase of guitar-based musical goodness and one that perfectly sets the stage for Trapped, a closing saga of suitably emotive proportions.

Miraclis earned his stripes as a DJ under the name Max Clementi in his native Chile, as well as Spain after a stint at the Barcelona SAE Institute. Playing and writing music since his parents gave him his first guitar at age twelve, he found himself inspired by synth wave, electronic pop, trip hop, and psychedelic rock of the ‘80s and ‘90s, drenching himself in music by the likes of Massive Attack, Tricky, Depeche Mode, and Nine Inch Nails. However, it wasn’t until he had to move back to Pucón to take care of his father during the pandemic that he began working on what would become Origin Of Truth.

Serendipity seems to play a large part in Crosstown Rebels’ new label Secret Teachings. Just look at the story of how Damian met Miraclis in the first place. It involved a chance midnight encounter in Pucón, Chile at a woodland campfire after the DJ was locked out of his hotel room. This meeting of minds was the start of a remarkable friendship, where Miraclis invited Lazarus to stay at his house and break bread with his family. The two kept in touch, exchanging music and ideas as a result.

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Rejoicer

This Is Reasonable

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Yuval Havkin, also known as Rejoicer, is one of the foremost exponents of downtempo music, inspired by the fusion of jazz and hip-hop. His new album thus draws on his early influences while exploring the world of calm, melodic electronic music that borders on ambient.

This Is Reasonable has a chill-out feel to it, a record filled with melodies and atmospheres that, throughout its eleven tracks, conveys a sense of calm and floating, akin to ambient music. Stripped of the clichés of the genre, the album is built around subtle melodies and rich harmonies from keyboards and synths, which borrow as much from the spirit of jazz as from the inventions of electronica, whilst being supported by a gentle groove. This equilibrium is perfectly captured by Rejoicer's moniker, a term that evokes both the idleness of artificial paradises and a soft, caring form of spirituality.

Musical path
Yuval Havkin was born in Israel in 1985, and grew up in England before returning to his homeland. He began studying classical piano as a child, but was put off by such conservative teaching and turned to hip-hop and beatmaking in his teens. Throughout the 2000s, he learned his skills "on the job", working with musicians he met in Tel Aviv, a local scene that nurtured a sense of community and emulation. Back then, he was particularly impressed by the grooves and electronic inventions of Detroit producer Dabrye, who had a revelatory effect on him, before he discovered legendary musicians Madlib and Jay Dee aka J Dilla, who led him down the path of beatmaking.

Yuval Havkin's music career got off to a more serious start in the late 2000s with the creation of his own label, Raw Tapes, both based in Tel Aviv. Blending jazz, funk and hip hop, whilst still embracing pop influences, the label's productions showcased the richness of the new Israeli scene combining cool, elegance, playfulness, and a degree of research and inventiveness, thanks to the talent of artists and bands such as Duo Brothers, Maya Dunietz, iogi, Nitai Hershkovits, the Buttering Trio and Rejoicer, the artist's most personal project.

In 2018, Rejoicer's warm and engaging sounds caught the attention of the prestigious Los Angeles label Stones Throw, renowned for having signed his idols Madlib and J Dilla, not to mention Aloe Blacc and Peanut Butter Wolf (its founder). Two albums followed, Energy Dreams (2018) and Spiritual Sleaze (2020), both of which demonstrate his instrumental mastery, jazz culture and lush orchestrations. Both albums are on a par with more renown sampling prodigies of the beat scene, and gave him his first international recognition.

Now based between Los Angeles and Savyon, near Tel Aviv, this hyperactive and instinctive artist simultaneously pursues a career as a composer, musician and label owner, member of numerous bands and collective projects (Apifera, PlayDead, collaborations with Jimi Prasad and Avishai Cohen) while also offering his studios and production skills to other artists.

“Fela Kuti meets Aphex Twin”
This new Rejoicer album, which follows three earlier jazz-tinged records, marks a new and more personal musical direction for an artist who previously favored group work and collaborations. Following his meeting with Mathias Duchemin, founder of the Circus Company record label and a keen enthusiast of the new Israeli jazz scene, Yuval chose to delve into a more electronic and sequenced style of music, playing Prophet 6 and 8 synths, a Juno 60, a Minimoog and his Fender Rhodes keyboard, in contrast with the more organic sounds of his previous albums.

While a few tracks on this new album may sound like a laid-back version of some of the Warp label's early electronic classics by Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada, Yuval Havkin claims to have also been inspired by the great Fela Kuti, particularly in his search for harmonies between bass, keyboards and percussion, and by his elder trumpet-playing friend Avishai Cohen, a musician he particularly admires.

Beyond these various influences, This Is Reasonable is an album of compelling and bewitching melodies. The moods, peacefulness and sheer beauty of This Is Reasonable are, indeed, quite paradoxical, in stark contrast to the country's tragedies (the title explicitly refers to recent political disputes in Israel) and the war currently raging less than a hundred miles from his studio. A paradox fully embraced by the artist, who views his music as a response to the violence of our times.

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Kompakt)

Total 24

30,99 €*

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Recital)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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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?

What lasts 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!

REINHARD VOIGT has always placed great emphasis on loving animals. On the 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.

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 either, even if it sounds like it.

We stay in the realm of fauna and turn our attention 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 relentless rivalry with Wolfgang Voigt, who thinks he is even faster. The big battle is yet to come. Uninvited guest with five letters? “Urian”.

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.

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.

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.

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Nour Mobarak

Dafne Phono

36,99 €*

12" | 2023 | UK | Original (Arkada)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Nour Mobarak’s Dafne Phono is an adaptation of the first opera, Dafne, composed and written by Jacopo Peri and Ottavio Rinuccini in 1598. Drawing on the myth of Daphne and Apollo from Ovid’s Metamorphoses—a story of unrequited love, patriarchal possession, conquest, and transformation—Mobarak’s multimedia and multispecies reimagining splinters the opera’s Italian libretto. Alongside English and Greek versions, it is translated into some of the world’s most phonetically complex languages—Abkhaz, San Juan Quiahije Eastern Chatino, Silbo Gomero, and !Xoon. In this process, the narrative—and an artifact of Western culture—is dismantled, metabolized, and rendered into unruly utterances that shape the sensorium as much as they do the capacity for sense-making. These voices are given material form by a cast of mycelium sonic sculptures whose rhizomatic compositions and broadcasted recordings resemble the formation and mutation of language over time, reconstituting speech into a new, polyphonic body politic, composed of voices whose striking, poetic utterances transfix and transcend meaning.

The A-Side of the record presents a stereo version of Mobarak’s 15-channel sound installation, Dafne Phono. The B-Side uses a recording of a portion of the translation process the libretto underwent in Namibia, live-processed by the artist.

The LP is published on the occasion of Nour Mobarak’s exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 26, 2024–January 12, 2025), with support from Sylvia Kouvali.

Artist Bio: Nour Pamela Mobarak (Lebanese-American, b. 1985, Cairo, Egypt) lives and works between Los Angeles; Bainbridge Island; and Athens, Greece. Her works have been shown at Sylvia Kouvali (formerly Rodeo), London/Paris; Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; Amant, Brooklyn; Joan, Los Angeles; Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga; Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York; Hakuna Matata, Los Angeles; and Cubitt Gallery, London. Exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Castello di Tivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, are forthcoming. She has performed at Western Front, Vancouver; 2220, the Hammer Museum, and Laxart, Los Angeles; Cafe OTO, London; Renaissance Society, Chicago; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; and elsewhere. Her music has been released by Recital (Los Angeles), Cafe OTO’s TakuRoku (London), and Ultra Eczema (Antwerp), and she has had sessions on BBC Radio 3, NTS Radio, and Dublab Radio. Mobarak’s writing has been published in Triple Canopy, F.R. David, The Claudius App, and the Salzburg Review, and her first catalog, Sphere Studies and Subterranean Bounce was published by Recital (2021). She received a BA in English and Media Studies from Sussex University and did further studies at Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV. She has held residencies at Denniston Hill, New York and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and was the recipient of the 2023 Foca fellowship award. Mobarak was a 2024 faculty at Bard College MFA program.

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Adj / Adrien D'elzius

Arkada004

Alexis Georgopoulos / Jefre Cantu Ledesma

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Arkada records is excited to announce our 4th release - forthcoming split vinyl EP featuring the sounds of ADJ & Adrien d’Elzius.

We are very happy to present the first part of the EP with the unique sounds of one of the pioneering artists in the UK underground Electro scene, the label owner of Pyramid Transmissions - ADJ

ADJ originates from and is based in London. He has been playing Underground Electronic Music for over 35 years as a DJ, starting in the days of Early Electro and Hip Hop. He has also been producing and releasing music for 25 years, releasing over 200 tracks in this time on a plethora of labels including Touchin Bass,For Those That Knoe, Another Perspective, Ai, Outside, Cultivated Electronics,Yellow Machines, Crobot Muzik, Diffuse Reality, Netlabel ,Digital Distortions and more...has done remixes for Flint Kids, Scanone, LASynthesis, Carl Finlow, Fleck Esc, Arsonist Recorder , Paul Hierophant to name a few.

He has run the Pyramid Transmissions Record label with label partner Pathic for 20 years and also ran the Analogique record label for 5 years from 1995-2000 releasing Techno, Electro and Electronica as 3 Elements. ADJ also performed his first Live set in a few years in March 2020 Mutabor in Moscow.

As a DJ, he has played at many festivals including a Bloc residency, Glastonbury For Bloc, Bestival, Shambala, Infiltrate at WMC Miami. 2019 saw another tour of the US with Silicon Scally,Ben Milstein, Evac, Ion Driver and 214. He also runs the Dodo Club and Frequency Resonate(with Errorbeauty) nights in London and Berlin aswell as playing in Lille, Kiev, Moscow, St Petersburg Berlin,Zagreb,Athens, Napoli, Brussels, Budapest, Vienna, Valencia, Sofia, Paris and many more..

Second part of our EP presents the futuristic glitched-out sounds of the one of a kind Belgium producer Adrien d’Elzius also known under his allies HosmOz.

Adrien d’Elzius was born in the gloomy south of Belgium spending his youth hanging around in a camping and listening to Hip Hop, he started his life in a mess of paradox. At 10, he learned to play drums under his punk’s brother regard, and experimented different kind of rock until 18. That’s where someone showed him a track of Aphex Twin, who blew his mind and made him believe he had finally found the music that suited him. From there, he compulsively spend hours playing around with his computer and slowly made himself a place in the very small community of underground music lover of Brussels under the nickname hosmOz after winning a contest. From his melodic and acidic drill’n’bass beginning, his sound slowed down and got darker, challenging himself to try to create something he couldn’t before. He recently re-released his Lp on Diffuse Reality that make it available on physical form and also his debut album on Burial Soil with remixes by Umwelt and Lloyd Stellar.

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Fragments Of A Season 2022 Repress

LP | 2017 | EU | Reissue (Emotional Response)

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Keplar)

Release: 2017 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Emotional Response celebrates it's 10th Anniversary in repressing a label's long held favourite - Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and Alexis Georgopoulos wonderful Fragments Of A Season - coming together perfectly for an album of laconic story-telling and atmospherics.

Over the past decade, Cantu-Ledesma and Georgopoulos have been frequent collaborators. With one another - Jefre's recent ""On The Echoing Green' Mexican Summer), Arp's "The Soft Wave" Smalltown Supersound) and The Alps "Le Voyage" Type) - and with others. Jefre has worked with Grouper aka Liz Harris), filmmaker Paul Clipson and has released music by Harold Budd, Oneohtrix Point Never and Keith Fullerton Whitman on his Root Strata imprint, while Alexis has worked with visual artists Tauba Auerbach and Doug Aitken, scored dance for Merce Cunningham, choreographer Jonah Bokaer and made liminal classical music with Canterbury composer Anthony Moore Frkwys 3 / Rvng Intl.).(Emotional) Especial

In all of their projects, the two have always been masters of atmosphere. Veering between romantic abstraction, filmic ambiguity and suggested narrative, their music draws on personal and collective memory, letting things surface. Fragments Of A Season represents a new and distinct chapter in their ongoing work together, continuing this lineage of understated but resonant work.

Arising from conversations wherein each revealed that they'd been working on tracks with a similar feel in mind, the two quickly realized their songs fit together quite effortlessly. The goal was to do something immediate and spare - most songs simply use an old drum machine and a few chorused guitars, featuring live performances with minimal editing. The result, and indeed the goal of the project, was not to make an album that would simply sounds like what one would expect of the two - there are no modular synths or sequenced basslines, no motorik rhythms or overdriven distortions. Rather, to pursue a tangent of simplicity and clarity.

The result is an album of warmth and cool, sparse but evocative, earthy and luminous, narrative and abstract, taking influence from Les Disques Crepescule and early Cherry Red artists i the duo also cite Eric Rohmer's "A Summer's Tale" and the photography of Luigi Ghirri, whose image graces the cover.

Song titles provide narrative hints. As does New York-based writer Leigh Gallagher's short story enclosed within. Each song finds the story advancing - on the beach ""Marine""); at a discotheque ""Madagascar""); sleeping in the afternoon "Mirror The Sky"). Memory of cobblestone streets and a recent relationship ""Cleo"", "The Streets Are Filled With Rain"). A sense that this temporary idyll will end casts a shadow. Ultimately, for reasons unclear, it does ""Lost Summer"").

There is the sense that a distinct arc has taken place. On some faraway beach, the buildings are white, the skies and sea turquoise. Waves rise and crest. A shaft of light crosses an empty room. A discotheque can be heard in the distance. A mist burns off. Over the course of the ensuing astral summer weeks, an encounter sets the world known previously in relief. Days stretch out and the nights hum.

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Shuttle358

Chessa

28,99 €*

Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Keplar re-issues the fourth album 'Chessa' by Dan Abrams' project Shuttle358 on vinyl for the first time. The double LP edition includes 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions back in 2004, as well as an extended artwork with unseen photographs by Dan Abrams. While undoubtedly associated with the microsound and 'clicks & cuts' movement around the turn of the millennium, on 'Chessa' Shuttle358 left behind the classical rhythmic patterns of the genre and shifted further towards warmer territories, meandering between modern digital minimalism and the soft tones of ambient music. Counter to his microsound synthesis approach on Frame (2000), Abrams created Chessa by writing software that manipulated samples from his unreleased songs, guitar pieces, and vintage japanese films sampled from video tape. In particular, a special granulating technique was written and performed at intentionally low sample rates that gave the uniquely fragile, yet dense sound to the album. Over fourteen tracks Abrams arranges slowly evolving sonic entities of unfading elegance. Strayed and hazy melodies pulse and cascade, elongated but brittle harmonies shimmer and disappear, echoing far-off in the rounded corners of the mind. The patient and detailed way Abrams combines the broken with the beautiful in creating organic collages of sound that retain the euphonic essence of a song, makes this piece of work so powerful and timeless, sounding just as relevant today, as it did 17 years ago. Under modern scrutiny in Abrams latest studio, he refocused the original recordings to emphasize the elements most important to the original vision. The final mastering and vinyl preparation was done in collaboration with Stephan Mathieu, vinyl was cut by Lupo. From the original press release in 2004 by Taylor Deupree: Without a doubt Shuttle358 has become one of the most admired artists to emerge from modern electronic music’s sea of musicians. From the humble beginnings of a demo CD in 12k’s mailbox to 4 critically acclaimed CDs, Dan Abrams is, to some, the one credited for bringing a warmth and human touch back into what has often been considered a very cold, sterile genre. It began with 1999’s Optimal.lp (12k1005), a groundbreaking debut release that immediately defined the Shuttle358 sound; a hybridization of the then-emerging “microsound” genre with Eno’s true ambient explorations. In 2000 Abrams outdid himself with Frame (12k1011) by honing his sound design and exploring production techniques at rates that made his “now” quite brief and creating what was to become one of the most sought-after CDs in the 12k catalog. Chessa is the third release from Abrams’ Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. Like his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cover artwork. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity.

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Gmm Suite

LP | 1984 | EU | Reissue (Mannequin)

2LP | 1996 | EU | Reissue (Kontakt Audio)

Release: 1984 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Mannequin Records is elated to present for the first time on vinyl the reissue of Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici’s first video soundtrack, originally released in 1984 as an audiotape in less than one hundred copies. Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici (literally Mundane Mechanical Youth) or GMM was one of the most unclassifiable audiovisual experiences to emerge from Italy in the 1980s. Maurizio Dami a.k.a. Alexander Robotnick, a pivotal member of GMM, was responsible for the group’s music output. Founded in 1984 by Antonio Glessi and Andrea Zingoni in Florence, GMM was an art collective whose production represents the quintessential expression of postmodern transmedia hybridity. GMM pioneered the genre of computer comics, created video installations, developed “multiple identity” performances, and was involved in fashion, media, and music productions, and later on produced cyberdelic environments, artificial reality projects, and proto-memes. Alexander Robotnick’s first contribution to GMM was this soundtrack for the group’s eponymous first video, the animated version of a computer comics they coincidentally published on legendary Frigidaire magazine. Restored by Dami and reissued here for the first time by Mannequin Records, the composition was also split into two “suites” and released as an audiotape distributed by Materiali Sonori, also responsible for other releases by both Robotnick and GMM. Determining in this work is Dami’s adoption of the alphaSyntauri, also known as the first affordable digital synth (priced less than $2000 when it was released in 1980), which was playable through its own software, “alphaPlus,” on the Apple II computer. The same computer was used by Glessi to “draw” the 3-bit strips scripted by Zingoni recounting the joyrides of the Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici, three merciless cyborgs in black suit and sunglasses dividing their time between nightclubs, rapes and murders. As Robotnick, Dami developed an innovative formula of Italo disco that was attractive to the dance floor yet at the same time highlighted the expressive properties of the instruments he used, notably Roland drum machines and Korg synthesizers. For the soundtrack of GMM’s videos and installations, he left aside the danceable synth rhythmics in favor of ambient sounds that produced rarefied atmospheres, psychological tensions, and enhanced states of consciousness. Dami’s scores for GMM’s artworks could be associated with Italian avant-garde music of the 1970s and 1980s, ranging from composers who adopted electronics flirting with pop and songwriting to minimalist musicians exploring seriality and drones, including Franco Battiato, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Francesco Messina, and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Analogies could also be traced with the playful and humanizing approach to personal computers that characterizes the music output of Marcello Giombini and Doris Norton. The futuristic escapism of minimal synth and ambient music’s psychological nature is infiltrated by drifting harmonics typical of new age, as if in search of a spiritual dimension of technology. Characteristic of the postmodern ethos of GMM Suite, in line with the humanizing approach to technology that is at the base of GMM’s computer comics, is the melancholic take at speculative dystopias in which human beings would find themselves increasingly trapped into identity crises: a true cyborg’s melodrama. Limited edition of 500 copies, (orange vinyl)

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Ihor Tsymbrovsky

Come, Angel

37,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Kitchen Label)

Release: 1996 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Kontakt Audio and Infinite Fog Productions proudly present the 25-th anniversary reissue of the one of most unique albums on avantgarde/neoclassic music – Ihor Tsymbrovsky – Come, Angel.

Recorded in 1995 in Ukraine and released in 1996 just as a small run on cassette on Polish label Koka Records, the album without any promotion little by little became legendary and madly wanted by many fans all around the world. And from the first seconds, you can hear why it is so. Pretty hard to explain what songs play Ihor, moreover that would be senseless. “Come, Angel” is one of those albums which are so unique that takes you in a vacuum of verbal forms in an attempt to describe the record. In a few words, this is definitely very intimate and deeply emotional music with an absolutely incredible voice. The first associations could forward you to Antony Hegarty from Antony And The Johnsons, Marc Almond, Arthur Russell, Baby Dee, Bjork. Experienced listener familiar with these great artist knows that all of them are inimitable and Ihor Tsymbrovsky is totally inimitable as well.

In 2016 well-known German label Offen Music published 3 tracks from the album “Come, Angel” which brought a lot of attention to Ihor’s music. This time we’re excited to announce the first full album reissue on CD, Double vinyl, and tapes. Beside the full version of the album, you’ll find an exclusive bonus song from the cult compilation “Music The World Does Not See” – Nefryt Records 2000.

~

“For me, music is a certain way of cultural survival. Here I do not set myself theoretical problems or experiments. The connotations of life are important: rhythms, melodies, their connection with language, poetry, real life, virtual or imaginary space. It is very important to me how the recitation of work sounds, how consonant and vowel sounds dissolve in singing, how they combine musically. I understand sound space as a field of my interpretations, preferences, priorities, and I do not use direct imitation. If I hear a melody or a musical phrase, and it is fixed in my memory, later I extract it in my own interpretation, as already formed by this field. In art, the goal is in the work itself, not outside it. For me, the expression “To be is to create a new reality” is another winged reality.” – Ihor Tsymbrovsky

~~

“Tsymbrovsky – an architect, musician, a poet, an artist; one of the most underestimated musicians in Ukraine’s artistic world. Many critics pulled their hair out trying to get to the bottom of Tsymbrovsky’s music. It has been inspired by jazz, minimal, modern, ethnic, and meditation music. Tsymbrovsky is not a virtuoso, however, he creates whole worlds with his astonishing falsetto. Although Cymbrovsky’s music is simple it is made of many elements. Filled with magic and unusual sensitivity and warmth it can be therapeutic for the listener. This is that kind of music, which can be listened to many times – in a different way each time.” – Koka Records.

~~~

“Igor Tsymbrovsky’s only album “Come Angel” (1995) still remains perhaps the most bizarre phenomenon in Ukrainian music since independence. The story of its author is a vivid example of cultural amnesia. In the pre-Internet era, Tsymbrovsky was a prominent figure in the Ukrainian underground, performed on the “Red Route”, went on tour in Germany. However, he left a minimum of evidence of his activity and became a silent legend for a few. We talked to Igor to find out where he came from and where he was going.

The album “Come Angel” is eight compositions performed with a falsetto to the accompaniment of a piano. (Tsymbrovsky’s falsetto is a legacy of the Lviv Dudaryk choir, where he sang as a child.) It would seem that it could be easier. But, despite such ascetic tools, Tsymbrovsky managed to create a phenomenon unique to Ukrainian culture. Some people compare him to Benjamin Clementine and Anthony Hegarty, but no comparison will be exhaustive. The lyrics of the songs attract special attention: two of them were written by Tsymbrovsky himself, the others demonstrate his remarkable literary knowledge. Here and Guillaume Apollinaire, and Mikhaijl Semenko, and even less obvious poets, such as Mykola Vorobyov or Jozsef Attila.

The young performer’s first performance took place in 1987 in the club of the Forestry Institute. It is quite symbolic that this room used to be a Jesuit church because such a chamber environment suits his songs about angels much better than the noise of big festivals. However, there were also many festivals in Tsymbrovsky’s career: in 1989, Chorna Rada and Chervona Ruta, in 1991, Kharkiv’s Nova Scena and Ukrainian Nights in Gdansk, Alternativa in Lviv. Ihor calls his first performances musical performances and notes that they sounded completely different. Unfortunately, we will never know exactly how.” – Amnesia

~~~~

“The magicians at Dusseldorf’s Offen Music pluck a madly beguiling pearl of late-night songcraft by Ukraine’s Ihor Tsymbrovsky to follow their vital releases by Toresch and Rex Ilusivii. Come Angel was first recorded in Lviv, Ukraine, in 1995, and issued on cassette by Poland’s Koka Records in 1996. There appears to be no prior mention of the release or artist on the internet and quite how it came into of Offen Music possession is not disclosed, and that only ratchets the record’s enigma to astonishing degrees once you’ve heard the music. In a quivering, high register, androgynous trill, Ihor Tsymbrovsky beckons heavenly beings in the remarkable A-side Come, Angel against a swirling backdrop of phasing, subtly delayed organ. It was recorded in one take (this is the 2nd version), and, if we’re not mistaken, you can hear the keys being pressed rhythmically in the background, which seems to be the song’s only tangible connection to this mortal world as Ihor vaults octaves high and close-in-the-mix with the sort of alien, dreamlike vocal that requires pinching oneself to make sure you’re awake. Spellbinding is definitely the word. On the other side he (we’re assured it is a ‘he’ in the promo text) sets two poems by Mykola Vorobyov and Mykhal Semenko, respectively, to emphatic piano keys, this time more shy of FX save for some delay, placing that willowing, avian vocal at a dreamy arms reach in Roses for the Poet, and with a sort of liturgical dark jazz feel, sorta like Lewis repenting his sins as a castrato monk, in the spare atmosphere in By the Sea. This is gold-seal business, we tell ya. Clock the clips and clear some swooning room.” – Boomkat

credits: Music By – Ihor Tsymbrovsky Lyrics By: Ihor Tsymbrovsky (tracks: C2, D1) Atilla Joszef (tracks: B1) Mychajl Semenko (tracks: B2, C1,C3, D2) Mykoła Worobjow (tracks: A1,A2) Engineer – Edward Hryhorjew Remastering – Ihor Tsymbrovsky

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Meitei

Kofu III

32,99 €*

LP | 1982 | EU | Reissue (Allchival)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Electronic & Dance

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Hailing from Hiroshima, Meitei, unveils the final chapter of his transformative Kofū trilogy. “Kofū Iii” marks the apex of a musical journey that began in 2020, unraveling an introspective exploration of the artist's psyche while delving deep into the essence of Japanese culture. This latest release invites listeners into the innermost sanctums of Meitei's existence — a passage filled with serenity, self-discovery, and the triumphant conquest of personal demons.

Meitei's journey has been deeply intertwined with his surroundings. His move from bustling Kyoto to the tranquil rural town of Onomichi in Hiroshima wasn't just a change of location but a profound shift in his life. Navigating through the ebbs and flows of mental well-being, Meitei found solace in the quiet, low-key energy of Onomichi, where he began creating his distinctive brand of "ambient" music dedicated to resurrecting ‘lost Japanese moods’.

"Kofū Iii" is not just a collection of songs; it's a window into Meitei's mind, where he reflects on ‘the Japanese mental landscape,’ as experienced during the period of his return to his hometown. This album stands as a testament to Meitei's evolution, from his tentative inner quest to a state of deep healing.

"Kofū” and its precursor, "Kwaidan,” germinated in the solitude of Onomichi, embodying the mysterious, vanishing essence of Japan that Meitei unearthed in the shadows of his hometown. With "Kofū III," this exploration reaches its zenith, weaving musical landscapes that transcend temporal bounds. Each track vividly paints bygone eras and vignettes, all while drawing on the rich tapestry of Japanese literature and mindscapes.

Meitei introduces listeners to the tranquil Hiroshima countryside in 'Reimei,' while 'Hiroshima' reflects upon the city's transformation. It explores Meitei's intricate relationship with the city and contemplates the ever-changing visage of contemporary Japanese progress.

Within the sonic fabric of "Kofū III," "Shisei" brings listeners to Japan's past, when tattoos bore the name "Shisei." Fueled by Junichiro Tanizaki's "Shisei" narratives, the song paints a sensual tale of a tattooed man adorning a woman with a spider tattoo.

Meitei's authenticity shines through in "Kofū III," where complex emotions metamorphose into a kaleidoscopic fusion of lo-fi bliss. In "Yume-jūya," Meitei recounts a peculiar dream and the lingering anxiety it left behind. Also, inspired by the famous Japanese writer Soseki Natsume's "Yume-jūya," Meitei's interpretation offers his own perspective on this comical and bizarre tale.

"Edogawa Ranpo" stands as a mind-bending loop track that pays homage to the genius of the lesser-known Japanese author Edogawa Ranpo, a pioneer of the mysterious and bizarre. This experimental piece melds folklore, electronic rapture, and distortion, echoing Meitei's fascination with Ranpo's work since his elementary school days.

At the core of "Kofū Iii" lies "Heiwa," originally titled "1945," encapsulating Meitei's profound reflection on peace education in his hometown and the weighty significance of acknowledging historical tragedies. Its renaming as "Peace" symbolizes his personal odyssey towards understanding and reconciliation.

As Meitei concludes his Kofū trilogy, global listeners are invited to embark on this voyage to unearth the hidden treasures of Japanese culture and the depths of the human soul. "Kofū Iii" is a meditation on the intangible threads that bind us to our past - a portal to Japan's veiled history, capturing the essence of Japan's elusive spirit through the enigmatic landscapes of Meitei's inner terrains.

"Kofū Iii" is slated for release on December 1, 2023, in 180g LP, CD, and digital formats via Kitchen. Label. Both LP and CD format are presented in a debossed sleeve with obi strip and include an accompanying 32-page booklet. This album is mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama in Tokyo, Japan.

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Michael O Shea

10th Anniversary Box Compilation

Release: 1982 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Having sold his instruments to fund a nomadic 1970s lifestyle, eccentric Irish experimentalist Michael O’Shea was forced to create his own handmade answer to the sitars and zelochords he’d become accustomed to playing on his travels around the globe.
Using an old door, 17 strings, chopsticks and combining them with phasers, echo units and amplification, the new device was to become his signature sound, mixing Irish folk influences with Asian and North African sounds in a mesmerising and soulful new way that brought him to the attention of the leading improvisers of his day - Alice Coltrane, Ravi Shankar, Don Cherry and more.
A logical follow up to AllChival’s recent reissue of Stano's debut LP, Michael O’Shea’s self titled LP was originally released on Wire's Dome Imprint in 1982.
The background to the album is as interesting and inspiring as the artist who created it - born in Northern Ireland but raised in the Republic, O’Shea was keen to travel and escape the troubles of his home.
Wandering throughout Europe and the Middle East, O’Shea found himself living and working as a relief aid in Bangladesh in the mid Seventies where he learned to play sitar while recovering from a bout of hepatitis. A later period spent busking in France accompanied on zelochord by Algerian musician Kris Hosylan Harp led to O’Shea’s idea of combining both instruments as a homebuilt instrument - Mo Chara [Irish for "My Friend"].
He later described the process on the back of the LP himself saying:
"Having sold my sitar in Germany and being desperate for money to travel to Turkey, I conceived of the idea of combining both sitar and zelochord. The first Mo Cara was born, taken from the middle of a door, which was rescued from a skip in Munchen"
A combination of dulcimer, zelochord and sitar, O Shea would play it with a pair of chopsticks, striking the strings softly using Irish folk rhythms mixed with the rich, nostalgic sounds of of the many Asian artists he’d encountered on his travels.
It was a pan cultural sound standing at an unusual crossroads of folk, traditional, rock, progressive, jazz, electronic and post-punk worlds without hesitation.
Perfecting the instrument on the streets, there were further spells spent busking in the underground stations and cafes of London's West End and Covent Garden during the heady days of the 1970s when they were full of eccentric street entertainers, jazz improvisers and musical pioneers.
His work with Rick Wakeman never saw the light of day but O’Shea’s contact with the world of post-punk London ensured his name would live on.
Introduced to Wire's Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis via cartoonist Tom Johnston, O’Shea eventually acquiesced to an open invite to record at their studio. Turning up unannounced in the summer of 1981 the LP was recorded in a day in the legendary Blackwing Studios and released on Dome the year after.
The first side features the fifteen minute masterpiece "No Journeys End" with the B side featuring more input from Wire in processing the Mo Chara sound.
Lewis himself said years later of the forgotten masterpiece: “I always said it was the best job we ever did.”
After an aborted LP with The The's Matt Johnson the following year, O’Shea quietly disappeared from the formal recording world and his brief but unique contribution to the music world came to a sad end in 1991 when O’Shea was struck by a post van and died a few days later in hospital in London. This repress on All City’s AllChival imprint has been remastered and reissued with the approval of both Dome and his surviving siblings.

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Project: Mooncircle

4LP | 2012 | EU | Original (Project: Mooncircle)

29,99 €*

LP | 2024 | Original (Permanent Vacation)

Release: 2012 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Electronic & Dance

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Project: Mooncircle, as the name reveals, has been on a journey to the moon since day one, exploring the frontiers of music and art, always looking for new discoveries and giving a different perspective to look at the earth. In it’s 10 year history the label has published roughly 100 releases by equally as many artists from all corners of this globe and, therefore, the selection of sounds on this compilation represents the development of the label from the past, present and going into the future.

Some of the artists featured on this compilation have been a part of the label from its very beginning, like CYNE, Manuvers and Jahbitat, whose song will be the last one he produced and published under this moniker, while others, like Robot Koch, fLako and Long Arm, are outstanding examples of its growing popularity and success. Furthermore, the box also features an exceptional selection of close musical friends and inspirational artists like Jehst, Dday One, Kwala and Ichiro_, just to name a few.

The logo and artwork represent someone who was very close to the label, especially in the early years but unfortunately passed on and whom this box is dedicated to. Featured on the compilation are artists such as Mike Slott x Diane Badié, CYNE, Sweatson Klank aka Take, Jahbitat, Robot Koch, fLako, Jehst, Beat Butcha, Long Arm, Kelpe, Pavel Dovgal, Blossom, Daisuke Tanabe, Dday One, Inner Science, Substantial, Arts The Beatdoctor, Rain Dog, Kidkanevil + Microkorg by Dorian Concept, John Robinson, Sorrow, Rumpistol, The Red Baron, Christoph El’ Truento, 40 Winks, Sina., 1000Names, DZA, Ichiro_, EAN, Tom Dicicco, Headshotboyz, Graciela Maria, Gards From KC, Sekuoia of Kilimanjaro, Sense of The Q4, Sneaky, I.V.A., Empt, John LaMonica, Mike Gao, Bambooman, Manuvers, Krts, Kwala, Soosh, Memotone, Sun Glitters, Called Understandable Souls & Szenario.
The limited box includes 4 white vinyls LP’s with 32 tracks, 13 additional digital bonus tracks, and a poster (with digital download code) all in a specially designed box that features a special light-reflecting varnish, which makes this truly a collectors and music lovers item.

Berlin-based label Project: Mooncircle and it’s two sublabels Project Squared and Finest Ego is an official label from HHV. It was founded in 2002 and is specializing in the conjunction between electronic and organic music. The label, at first envisaged as a compilation project only, soon released the first instrumental and vocal solo releases by such artists as The Q4, CYNE, Mr Cooper, Robot Koch, fLako, 40 Winks, John Robinson & MF Doom, DZA, Krts, Sina., Graciela Maria, Manuvers, Lambent, Lewis Parker, Non of Shadowhuntaz, Strand, Ta-Ku, Mika Gao, Onra, Obba Supa, Asusu, Furesshu, AnD. Kowton or Glen Porter. The work of illustrators and graphic designers such as Bioniq, Dan May, Iain McArthur, Ima One, LNY, Gordon, 44 Flavours, La Mano Fria, and The Binh create images that accompany the acoustic spaces.
Project: Mooncircle with its various producers & vocalist shall be an interesting experience for anyone looking for the extraordinary.

A&R: Laurent Fintoni, Jinna Morocha, Karolina Kaczor, Gordon Gieseking and Malte Tarnow. Mastering by Sven Friederichs. Artwork and original paintings by Gordon, LNY & Bioniq. Webdesign 2006 – 2012 by Thimo Hörster & Hendrik Stein. Animation trailer by Sebastian Muñoz.

Release date: March, 23rd.

10th Anniversary Showcase with Mike Slott, Robot Koch, fLako, Long Arm, Jehst, Arts The Beatdoctor, Sekuoia of Kilimanjaro, & Graciela Maria @ Club Gretchen in Berlin, Kreuzberg – March, 17th!

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New Jackson

Oops!... Pop

16,14 €* 18,99 € -15%

CD | 2023 | EU | Original (Kitchen Label)

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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New Jackson marks his long awaited follow-up to 2017’s From Night To Night with its successor OOPS!... POP for long-time collaborators Permanent Vacation. A concise triumph in techno pop, its 9 tracks elevate his signature electronic sounds into anthemic new heights.
David Kitt is a prolific sonic polymath who’s enjoyed a colourful career making whatever he likes.
While releasing music under a vast array of aliases and collaborations for close to two and a half decades, New Jackson has remained his irregular home since 2011 for when ‘at one with the machines’. It offers a kaleidoscopic window into his love of dance music, and on his debut album under the alias From Night To Night (released in 2017 on Dublin’s All City label) he unfurled his singular vision; a dilated suite of nocturnal soul coaxed from his beloved electronic equipment with songwriter’s nous, sonically etched as blunted whispers coalesced from the dusky billows of Dublin bay. Further EPs and singles followed, alongside a beloved live show he toured globally, plus detours with his critically-lauded Garies duo (with Lumigraph) and a David Kitt solo album.
In the time since his New Jackson debut, he’s slowly distilled his studio methodology to help mine the true core of his musical self. Within this experimentation, he has stumbled upon the bounty that is OOPS!... POP, his most direct and euphoric body of work to date. Recorded across the span of five years and three different countries, Kitt has managed to transform his beloved alias into a leaner beast, tightening the screws around arrangements and songwriting to inspire an album sonically effortless in demeanour and spontaneously playful in structure and form. Aided by a stacked cast of collaborators including Rita Lynn, Donnacha Costello, Riche “Jape” Egan, Yenkee, Kean Kavanagh, Margie Jean Lewis, Meg Cronin and Fehdah, it bears the hallmarks of the studio albums of yesteryear in its dynamism and gratification while drawing on his rich bouquet of influences across a century of recorded music.
Opener SI SI SI lulls you in with its smothered vocoder’d croons and patient groove, BURNT DEEP next yields a surprising deep house turn, lit gently with casual hedonism. LIKE rewires the playbook entirely, shuffling along its minimal 80’s boogie groove with a cheeky grin, before lead single OUT OF REACH further mines the golden pastures with its glorious stuttering techno power-pop fit with that anthemic chorus. DAY IN SHOCK digi-dubs around the wonderful vocal turn of Fehdah in purest heads-down manner, then THE OK HOLE and STROBE both descend the psychedelic wormhole of anaesthetised breaks and electro with its entranced dancefloor gaze. I WANNA BE ADORED, the Madchester anthem from The Stone Roses, is then surprisingly reimagined as a lost kraut-pop robo sung classic while WITH THE NIGHT AT OUR FEET is our climactic conclusion, a mechanised symphony of dual proportions; a humane core of angelic harmonies chugging along in electro rhythm before soaring strings take us on our way.
New Jackson’s oeuvre, indeed David Kitt’s musical world, is vast; OOPS!... POP then might just be his opus across it all, a towering achievement of soaring catharsis in melody and song that soundtracks the most direct transmissions from his heart to yours.

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Meitei

Kofu III

Spaces And Places Transparent Green Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Electronic & Dance

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Kerri Chandler

3LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Kaoz Theory)

43,99 €*

Branislave Zivkovic / Andre Tschaskowski

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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House music icon Kerri Chandler unveils his first album in 14 years, Spaces and Places, a global celebration of club and sound system culture, meticulously created by the New Jersey producer/DJ over several years on location at twenty-two of the world’s most distinguished nightclubs. Each track built on the spaces individual relationship with Kerri, often through decades of live shows or appearances, and in the process capturing unique rhythmic and emotional nuances. Written and performed with a temporary studio on the centre of each dance floor, this jaw dropping 3 x LP pressed on transparent green vinyl in a stunningly designed tri-fold picture sleeve complete with A2 poster insert, showcases Kerri at his finest. Taking in never before heard tracks, versions and mixes separate to the four samplers that preceded it, this incredible body of work and concept has seen the album submitted for two Grammy awards. As one of dance music’s most respected and authentic figures, Kerri Chandler is a true originator of his genre, with an impeccable discography and signature sound to match. He has unquestionably helped to shape house music’s positive outlook over the last 30 years. Not only from the DJ booth and studio, but also as an A&R via his Kaoz Theory label which has worked with contemporary talents like Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler and The Martinez Brothers. Now, Kerri Chandler is set to release a carefully rendered and truly unique body of work. Spaces and Places will undoubtedly be seen as a timeless tribute that underscores the originality that has kept him as one of the most in-demand artists for so many years. “The first time I stepped into a nightclub was with my father as a child. I saw the magic of what a club space could sound and feel like as my Dad set up the DJ equipment at The Rallye Racquet Club. Hearing the power of those huge Altec Lansing "Voice of the Theater" Speakers and Horn-loaded JBL subwoofers fascinated me! In the late 80s, I was spoiled sonically by playing on several Richard Long Sound Systems around New York and New Jersey. This is why ever since I first ventured away from home, I have been infamous with my soundchecks at any space I have performed in. I make sure, with the help of the engineers in these “Spaces and Places”, many I have known most of my career, to get the best from each system. Each sound system is unique to each venue, even if it's the same type of gear, because of the physical space. And when you add the right audience to that specific nightclub, it comes to life! The club owners and engineers were gracious enough to let me take over each club and turn each venue, into a recording studio. I wanted to express the love of what could be possible in capturing my productions in the venue, from the heart of each space, right on the dance floor and I translate it onto this album, which I created over the course of 4 years and 24 venues later. I hope you enjoy this journey as I have. I present to you: "Spaces and Places". With Love, Respect and Admiration.” – Kerri Chandler

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Emotionally (Coloursound)

LP | 1986 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

Otakar Olšaník / Jan Martiš

Release: 1986 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Emotionally, crafted by Brainislave Zivkovic and Andre Tschaskowski in 1986 for Coloursound, is arguably the most beautiful library album ever produced. A start-to-finish masterpiece of powerfully melodic music for reflection and introspection. It is, indeed, deeply emotional.

Branislave Zivkovic handles the majority of Side A. Opener "Morning Light" evokes exactly that feeling, with a gorgeous and plaintive acoustic guitar solo combining with alto flute to stunning effect. Its immediate counterpoint, "Sundown", in no less arresting but brings with it an after-dark drama of almost Lynchian proportions, again drawing upon guitar and flute but with a slightly more melancholic, even sinister edge, also calling to mind Ry Cooder's score for Paris, Texas. It truly captivates when the strings arrive. Remarkable.

The reflective cello solo with swelling strings at the heart of "Pastoral Walk 1" ensure this track is aptly titled, with parts 2 and 3 adding more agitation - via keys and percussive elements - to great effect. "In The Garden 1" presents an elegiac cello solo whilst its second part elevates the romance. The four-part "Soft Thoughts" suite invites further introspection via reflective alto flute and guitar. Fans of The Durutti Column will need to seek this.

Andre Tschaskowski enters proceedings with three tracks at the end of the Side A. All of them aces in the pack. "Grief", whilst sorrowful, uplifts in its second half through beautiful keys. Equally hopeful are the two-part "Personal Mood" sketches, both dreamy exercises in optimistic ambience.

Tschaskowski controls the entirety of Side B. "Woodland Mood", with its pastoral flute and cor anglais and "Reminiscence", with its classical, emotional strings, both beguile. The piano and strings-heavy "Sentimental View" suite is one of the most beautiful, atmospheric things you will ever hear, particularly its second part. "Moonset 1" with it's wonderful Joe Pass-esque guitar is tense yet easy, the beauty elevated further with the introduction of strings and horns. The more restrained "Moonset 2" is pared back to its divine, sweeping essence and should surely have been sampled by now. To close out an album of almost impossible refinement, the brief 2-part "Emotional Tension" salvo brings both increased stress before resolving itself and the LP with a piano motif and atmosphere of serenity. Blessed relief.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Emotionally comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

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Advanced Process (Coloursound)

LP | 1986 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

CD | 2022 | EU | Original (Karl)

Release: 1986 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Heads have been after Otakar Olšaník and Jan Martiš's Advanced Process for a long time. That's because "coincidentally-cosmic disco" packed with spaced-out, smacky-synth dynamite tends to become sought-after. Originally slipping out on the mighty Coloursound in 1986, the label described the sound as "contemporary synthesizer underscores played by computers; depicting future technologies in today's process." If they'd just added "acid-drenched", they'd have been closer to nailing it.

The A-Side is totally beatless. It's also totally perfect. "Atomic Plant 1" is a pulsing synth epic and could've easily soundtracked a stylish 80s thriller such as Thief or To Live And Die In LA. It's a narcotically enhanced meeting between John Carpenter and Steve "Lovelock" Moore. "Atomic Plant 2" adds extra squelch and proper early computer synth squiggles. This stuff is addictive and truly ace. The 3 part "Fusion Point" showcases a dramatic and insistent industrial mood via a gripping sequencer pattern mixed with effects and accents. Menacing and magnificent. The trio of "Nuclear Radiation" tracks veer majestically from a hypnotic sequencer pattern with a heavy dramatic tune to hectic patterns without much of a tune, managing nevertheless to maintain a hold on the listener.

The drums enter proceedings on Side B and they're absolutely outstanding. Coming on like a slicker, heavier Johnny Jewel production, 20 years before Italians Do It Better, "Regulators 1" marries the smoothest head-nod beat you can wish for, with a murky mechanical rhythm and phasing effects. After the stunning beatless version ("Regulators 2") the suuuupppper slo-mo "Data Load" sounds like its wading through the heaviest K-Hole and is all the more thrilling for it. "Modem" is a brief and breezy funky bass and synth squiggle wonder, of the beatless variety. "Robot Masters", would you believe, actually sounds like something those Daft Parisians would've sampled on Discovery, over 15 years later. An uptempo, optimistic track with a real strut; propulsive rhythms with dramatic synths, what can only be described as "very-80s sounds" and digi-handclaps. The breathless "Digiheart" double bill rounds things out, one with a dynamic driving rhythm and more slick-as-hell beats and the other without drums. Mental, brilliant and completely essential.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Advanced Process comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

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Iannis Xenakis

Electroacoustic Works

46,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Rush Hour)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The 5 CD box set+24 page booklet „Electroacoustic Works“ celebrates the 100th anniversary of Iannis Xenakis (on May 29th, 2022), one of the most influential 20th century avantgarde composers. All tracks have been newly mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer Martin Wurmnest and mastered by Rashad Becker and finally reveal their full sonic range and dynamics. Booklet with English / German liner notes by Reinhold Friedl (zeitkratzer) and rare photos from the Xenakis archive.

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) is one of the most important composers of the 20th century avantgarde whose influence on music can be traced to the present day – not only in the world of conservatory-trained composers but also in various streams of current non-academic underground aesthetics such as experimental electronic music, noise and industrial.

After he arrived in Paris in 1947, Xenakis not only studied composition with Messiaen and later became a member of the famous GRM (Groupe de recherches musicales), he also worked as assistant to the famous architect LE Corbusier and realized a.o. the Philips Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Brussels 1958. His compositions often are based on mathematical principles which give his music an unprecedented aesthetic and “shocking otherness” (The Guardian). Although Xenakis also composed for orchestra (his most famous works are “Metastasis“, “Pithoprakta” and “Terretektorh”), electronic music became his way for exploring new ideas and concepts and to develop new techniques like a graphic interface for sound synthesis or later, when computers were easier accessible, his so-called "stochastic synthesis" (Gendy 3, S.709 > Disc V, Late Works). Xenakis’ first electroacoustic pieces (Disc I) like “Diamorphoses” or “Bohor” turned out groundbreaking works while the latter even caused, as Michel Chion put it, the “greatest scandal of electroacoustic music” on the occasion of its performance 1968 at the GRM in Paris.

His so-called „Polytopes“ (Discs II - IV) were overwhelming multimedia performances with especially designed architectures, laser and light shows etc. where sometimes up to several hundred loudspeakers were used to move the sounds in space. For example his most famous composition “Persepolis”, commissioned by the Persian Shah, premiered in 1971 in Shiraz- Persepolis (Iran) as a performance including light-tracks, laser beams, groups of children walking around with torches and 59 loudspeakers to project the music in an open-air situation.

The most radical aspects of sound can be found in Xenakis' late work and its merciless reduction to harsh, almost ruthless sound synthesis. In the early nineties, he devoted himself to the concept of a composing machine: a machine that designs everything independently and calculates the finished piece, the algorithm is the work.

For the first time, the complete electroacoustic works of Xenakis are now available on record the truly overdue testimony and legacy of a restless investigator and explorer of sound. Years of source studies and comparative research by zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl, in collaboration with sound engineer Martin Wurmnest, made these critically reflected stereo mixes possible, which were appropriately mastered by Rashad Becker and which, in addition to the aspect of fidelity to the source, put the listener in the center. Xenakis' adventurous music can now finally be enjoyed in its full sonic range and dynamic.

To quote The Wire’s review from May 2018:
“This is the definitive Persepolis“

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Lars Bartkuhn

Dystopia

2CD | 2022 | EU | Original (Parlophone)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Since relocating to Brazil some years back, Needs Music co-founder Lars Bartkuhn has returned to his long-held love of musical improvisation. Although it’s a product of his jazz roots and classical training, the German producer has constantly found new ways to apply it to his work in the sphere of electronic music.

‘Dystopia’, his first solo album for almost nine years, was born out of two interlinked ideas: a desire to create improvised music without the aid of computer sequencers or an electronic drum set, and a deeply held love of storytelling through sound. Bartkuhn set to work improvising with modular synthesizers, acoustic instruments and hand percussion, later adding light-touch overdubs to a handful of pieces. When he listened back to the recordings, an aural narrative emerged, and you’ll hear it if you listen to the album from start to finish, as is intended.

As you’d expect from a musician and composer of Bartkuhn’s undoubted ability, ‘Dystopia’ is a stunning album – an undulating, expansive ambient journey packed with emotional resonance. While Bartkuhn naturally sees it as a logical progression of his previous ambient-leaning work with Kabuki as The First Minute of a New Day (and particularly their self-titled 2020 album Séance Centre), ‘Dystopia’ also features subtle nods to many of his long-held musical loves, including John Hassell’s ‘fourth world’ recordings, the impossible-to-pigeonhole 1970s catalogue of deep jazz imprint ECM, and the far-sighted American minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

The album’s emotional depth is evident early on, with the slow-burn title track – all bubbling electronics, billowing chords, clarinet-style notes and gently strummed guitars offering the most melancholic and bittersweet of openings. The becalmed ‘A Drop Of Water In The Ocean’ follows, with discordant aural textures and hand percussion mimicking the rolling ocean, before ‘Largo (Calm Before The Storm)’ hints at unsettling times ahead.

‘Water and Warm Air’, the only track on the album whose starting point was not Bartkuhn’s cherished modular set-up, bleeps and bubbles across the sound space, adding a starry and otherworldly slant to proceedings, while ‘Disembodied Journey (Parts 1, 2 and 3)’ is a sublime, slowly unfurling journey in three movements – all Tangerine Dream style synthesizer motifs, Pat Metheny-esque guitars and jazz-fusion instrumentation.

So the album continues, with the poignant warmth and looped motifs of ‘Still Existing’ and the sparse, dubbed-out minimalism of ‘Do You Know How To Get Out?’ – a kind of 21st century jazz-fusionist’s take on sparse electronic hypnotism – giving wat to closing cut ‘Into The Waves’, a gentle combination of undulating electronic arpeggios and echoing instrumentation that offers a hopeful and undeniably picturesque conclusion.

Fittingly, the album cover features a painting by the late Dutch artist Franz Deckwitz (1934-94), whose images of alien landscapes were used by Phillips on a series of music concrete compilations. The image featured on the cover of ‘Dystopia’, depicting a deep blue ocean and shoreline, was painted by Deckwitz in Amsterdam in the late 1970s and inspired by a trip to the island of Ponza, Italy.

Matt Anniss

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Kraftwerk

Remixes

3LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Parlophone)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Following its appearance on all streaming platforms in December 2020, the Kraftwerk ‘Remixes’ compilation will be released on Vinyl and CD by Parlophone Records on 25 March 2022.

Available on triple, heavyweight black vinyl LP and a double CD

The compilation showcases Kraftwerk’s immense influence on Club & DJ culture, techno and all forms of electronic dance music. Featuring 19 official remixes, it collates Kraftwerk’s own remixes alongside contributions from some of the world’s biggest DJ’s and producers including François Kervorkian, William Orbit, Étienne de Crécy, Orbital, Underground Resistance, DJ Rolando and Hot Chip. The remixes are taken from various Kraftwerk 12” singles, CD singles and digital releases from 1991-2021.

The album also plays host to Kraftwerk’s very latest Kling Klang studio output with ‘Non Stop’, and remixes of ‘Home Computer’ and ‘Tour De France (Etape 2)’. ‘Non Stop’ actually began life as a soundbite recorded for MTV in the 1980s, but in 2020, Kraftwerk took the original 30 second sound clip and then transformed it into a full 8 minute odyssey as it appears here.

Fans and collectors will be pleased to see the inclusion of the William Orbit Hardcore Mix of ‘Radioactivity’ which was previously only available on the 1991 US 12”, other notable additions include DJ Rolando’s reworking of ‘Expo 2000’, Francois K’s & Étienne de Crécy’s remixes of ‘Aéro Dynamik’, Kraftwerk’s own remix of ‘The Robots’ (‘Robotnik’) and Hot Chip’s extended mix of ‘La Forme’. Whilst all the featured remixes are available on streaming services, physical copies have long been out of print, so this triple vinyl and double CD release is a welcome addition to the Kraftwerk catalogue, and particularly a must have for electro DJs.
It’s significant that ‘Remixes’ features some of the biggest DJs in the annals of club culture, since the link between Kraftwerk and DJs has played an integral role in the band’s legacy. The seeds of which were sown in New York one night in 1977 when, on a visit to an afterhours club, Kraftwerk founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider witnessed Afrika Bambaataa cut up ‘Trans Europe Express’ and ‘Metal On Metal’ across 2 turntables, stretching it into a 20 minute extended mix that had Black America dancing on its feet. Then came ‘Planet Rock’’ and the rest is history...

Kraftwerk’s creativity sees no stopping in 2022 as they take their multimedia 3-D show around the globe including a 24 date North American tour and a co-headlining appearance with the Chemical Brothers at All Points East, London on Saturday 20th August 2022 – see full dates below.
https://www.allpointseastfestival.com/2022-lineup/

The multimedia exhibition Electro - From Kraftwerk To Techno is currently hosting audiences in Kraftwerk’s native Dusseldorf and runs until May 22nd. Since its appearance in London at the Design Museum in 2019, the exhibition has now been expanded with Ralf Hütter contributing a selection of futuristic new images and graphic designs which perfectly illustrate that unique Kraftwerk vision.
https://www.kunstpalast.de/electro

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Kraftwerk

Remixes

50,99 €*

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Dialogo/Cramps)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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David Tudor

Microphone

A Soft And Gatherable Star

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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David Eugene Tudor (1926 – 1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music. He eventually became one of the leading performers of avant-garde piano music, giving first or early performances of works by Pierre Boulez, Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Christian Wolff, La Monte Young and many others. Tudor is particularly associated with John Cage, who wrote a number of compositions for him. His solo record “Microphone” was originally released on the Italian Cramps Records label as the 16th volume of the Nova Musicha series dedicated to contemporary avant-garde composers, “Microphone” is now made available again on Dialogo in a faithful reproduction of the original gatefold cover artwork, including also an inner sleeve with the English translation of the liner notes. From the original liner notes of “Microphone”: David Tudor was born in Philadelphia in 1926.He studied organ and theory with H. William Hawke, piano with Irma Wolpe Rademacher, analysis and composition with Stefan Wolpe. He began his concert activity as an organist. He has been known as the most important avant-garde pianist since the day he performed, to great acclaim, the American debut of Pierre Boulez’s Deuxieme Sonate pour Piano (1950), and subsequently introduced the works of Earle Brown, Sylvano Bussotti, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Christian Wolff to a larger audience. At the beginning of the 1960s, he and Cage switched to live electronic music as opposed to music performed in the studio. As a composer, Tudor relies on technological tools that are both flexible and complex: he uses mostly modular electronic devices, many of which he built himself. His method requires the choice of specific electronic components and transducers, whose interconnections define both composition and performance. The sound materials he employs unfold through broad movements in time and space, with many of his compositions associated with visual sources: light systems, dance, television, theatre, film or 4-colour laser projections. The only source of Microphone’s sound is the modulation of a microphone feedback produced in a distant echo chamber. The incidence and duration of the sounds are produced by the action of extremely close (narrow band) peak/notch filters (used in both modes), inserted into the lead signal. Each of the 9 versions is performed by the composer and simultaneously recorded on four tracks. Then the four tracks are spliced onto two, using a pan-matrix. The final product is a library of 9 stereo tapes, each about 32 min. long, which can be used in any combination, for live performances or for electronic installations. In these performances the tapes are played and stopped at any point, rewound and played again, altered in amplitude and/or equalisation, rotated on any given channel, etc., at will, for any period of time. A live performance of Microphone (for instance without tapes) can be achieved by employing (a minimum of 4) performers using duplication systems, each one with 2 speakers. This 1973 instantiation of Microphone covers a work originally conceived for the Pepsi Pavilion of Expo ‘70, in Osaka, Japan. Conceptually, the original work derives from discoveries made through the composer’s collaboration in the design of the Pavilion’s acoustic system. Sound diffusion was achieved through the use of 37 loudspeakers placed in a rhomboid grid system covering 3/4 of the sphere. The original tapes for Microphone were recorded in May 1973, at the Mills College Centre

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Jabu

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (do you have peace?)

12" | 2024 | EU | Original (Oath)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Jabu return with ‘A Soft and
Gatherable Star’, an LP that sees the Bristol-based trio evolve from a uniquely spectral take on hip hop to proffer a singular vision
between cloudy, downered dream-pop, off-kilter ambient, and the warm, low-end throb of sound system culture. This development is
aligned with contemporaries like HTRK, Dean Blunt, Tarquin Manek, YL Hooi and Rat Heart Ensemble, whilst also harkening back to
the likes of AR Kane (with whom they are set to play shows and release a collaborative single), the languorous drift of 'Victorialand' era
Cocteau Twins or The Cure circa ‘Disintegration’. Comprising Jasmine Butt (vocals, guitar), Alex Rendall (vocals, keys) and Amos
Childs (production, bass guitar), the trio’s method may have shifted but the feel remains consistent - slow, spatial, sensuous and gently
melancholic. With a career arc unlike almost any other current guitar outfit, Jabu sit within a strong lineage of off-centre Bristolian
music, and a very British strain of home-spun DIY bands. Self-recorded between Jas and Amos’ home in South Bristol and Amos’
mum’s house in rural North Somerset, the album came together via a process of trial and error - learning to play on borrowed
instruments, using the equipment “wrong”, staying up late recording and slipping into strange, semi-conscious sleep
deprived/inebriated headspaces. Having captured over 50 tracks, they honed in on those they liked most, shaping them further, whilst
carving out space to allow input from people they love and admire - Daniela Dyson’s voice and Will Memotone's clarinet on ‘Ashes
Over Shute Shelve’, Birthmark's synth on ‘Gently Fade’ and ‘Sea Mills’, Rakhi Singh (Manchester Collective) and Sebastian
Gainsborough (Vessel)’s strings and arrangements on ‘All Night’, Josh Horsley’s cello on ‘If I Asked You, You'd Tell Me’, and Lorenzo
Prati’s sax, again on ‘Sea Mills’. The album was mastered by Amir Shoat (HTRK, ML Buch, Dean Blunt, Carla Dal Forno). Influencewise, the guitar-based material recalls the bands Amos listened to when younger, and Jas’ more folk-leaning inspirations. Deep-lying
dub, hip hop and soul influences are also evident in both the way the LP was mixed, and the space ingrained in their subconscious.
Tinged with melancholy, the songs cohere as a set of soliloquies and ruminations on love and tenderness. The album’s title comes
from a poem by Amos’ late father which hangs on his wall and seeped into the record. ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’ is formed of lines
from another poem of his. Recited by longtime collaborator Daniela Dyson and with Will Yates (Memotone) playing his mother’s
clarinet, the track was imagined as a conversation between his parents. Geography and location also play a big part in the record, with
several significant places name-checked in songs. Shute Shelve itself is a hill near Amos’ mum’s house, who explains “There’s a tree
at the top with a 360° view of the Mendips, where my dad’s ashes were scattered. We used to go up there when we could first buy
booze from the petrol station down the road, get drunk, light a fire, listen to music from my little battery powered CD player and sleep
out without tents.” Titled after a Bristol suburb near where Amos’ grandparents lived and where Jas would spend time as a teenager,
‘Sea Mills’ references her being abandoned by friends on the Downs while high on mushrooms, stranded and missing the bus back.
‘Kosiše Flower’ references the city in Slovakia where Amos and Jas holidayed shortly after getting together and a flower he gave her,
which she pressed in a book after an argument. ‘Oceanside Spider House’ is a location in Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda:
Majora’s Mask, where someone seeks shelter from the falling moon.

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John Beltran

Serendipia : Remixes

10th Anniversary Box Compilation HHV Bundle

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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With memories of 2022’s ‘Serendipia’ still at the forefront of many minds, Oath are proud to offer up a fresh perspective on the John Beltran produced LP, with some stellar names featuring that will help the musical love affair continue onwards and upwards…

The art of the remix is certainly alive and well, and is often the final piece of the jigsaw on records where a alternative perspective sits alongside original tunes – a mirrored yet respectful sound that adds to the overall musical narrative. It often helps when the source material has so much to take in, and on ‘Serendipia’ the sonic ideas that John Beltran conjured up are a treasure trove for artists to work with. A breezy, Brazilian love affair, ‘Serendipia’ is the kind of record to take around in your pocket, a sound that nurtures the body and soul with its delicate rhythms and enriching, mellow yet captivating melodic sequences. From the walking pace through to the rhythms of life, Beltran captured something truly extraordinary on this record, such is what we have come to expect from his finger tips. Sunrises, sunsets, orange hued afternoons and deep blue seas, it is a record for the pastoral times, to riding back and soaking up the goodness – music that maintains smiles in abundance, no matter where or when.

The revisit to ‘Serendipia’ saw Oath approach some top notch producers, who provided a bountiful array of alternative styles and takes on the hazy rhythms and gorgeous melodic features of Beltran’s original tracks. In doing so, the artists involved managed to capture the core essence of the original LP, and that is of the broad diversity of feel which Beltran provided, with tracks swinging from genre and style with ease and intuition. What is perhaps handled the best is the balance between the original cuts and the musical personality of the music makers involved, and that makes for a truly feel good experience.

Danilo Plessow’s remix of ‘Sa Coma Blue’ slides into view as the record’s opener. Plessow turbo charges the core melodic drivers of the original, moving the atmosphere into a club environment with high line drumming patterns, driving synth sequences and a firm hand on controlling the shifts in energy and mood. Kareem Ali is up next with his spin on ‘Cachaca’, with a house leaning twist put on this rhythmically enriching palette. Ali draws focus on a piano riff found within the original, which acts as the melodic cornerstone of the track as it weaves and grooves into the night.

Melodiesfonie turns up next with their take on ’Suenos Soleados’, as the light starts to pour in on the dance floor. Slow, sultry and easy going, this track breezes along with a gentle whisper, with plenty of space available for a glorious array of instrumentation. Guitar and keys are given plenty of time to breathe, particularly in those dreamy breakdown moments. Session Victim then present their take on ‘Ask Anlari’, with this reworking spreading out the relatively short original cut and adding a fresh heap of drums whilst incorporating the original melodic density expertly. This one unravels like the freshest sunset going, its one to dip your head into. ‘Em Trancoso’, which lands next, is flipped from sun kissed to night time groover with some class by Em Trancoso. The rhythm and melody is spread out, with a hefty dosage of space added into the blend which creates a rhythmic work of art. Lastly, we have Xique’s remix of ‘Yangu Milele’, which stays true to the original in all the best ways. Similar tempo, similar thuds and a spread of rhythmic notions that will get the heart skipping, a perfect way to see out the record.

‘Serendipia’ provided a rich insight into John Beltran’s musical universe, and this remix record helps to add further to that album’s rich legacy. All the artists involved throw their hats into the ring, providing enlightening and characterful reworkings which are as dynamic as they are diverse. Each track flows into one another, capturing the musical dexterity of the original music and in turn contributing to a wholesome, rewarding musical experience. A record with many moments, and Oath couldn’t be more thrilled to share it with the world.

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Project: Mooncircle

LP | 2012 | EU | Original (Project: Mooncircle)

34,99 €*

Venus HHV Exclusive Splattered Vinyl Edition

Release: 2012 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Electronic & Dance

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Project: Mooncircle, as the name reveals, has been on a journey to the moon since day one, exploring the frontiers of music and art, always looking for new discoveries and giving a different perspective to look at the earth. In it’s 10 year history the label has published roughly 100 releases by equally as many artists from all corners of this globe and, therefore, the selection of sounds on this compilation represents the development of the label from the past, present and going into the future.

Some of the artists featured on this compilation have been a part of the label from its very beginning, like CYNE, Manuvers and Jahbitat, whose song will be the last one he produced and published under this moniker, while others, like Robot Koch, fLako and Long Arm, are outstanding examples of its growing popularity and success. Furthermore, the box also features an exceptional selection of close musical friends and inspirational artists like Jehst, Dday One, Kwala and Ichiro_, just to name a few.

The logo and artwork represent someone who was very close to the label, especially in the early years but unfortunately passed on and whom this box is dedicated to. Featured on the compilation are artists such as Mike Slott x Diane Badié, CYNE, Sweatson Klank aka Take, Jahbitat, Robot Koch, fLako, Jehst, Beat Butcha, Long Arm, Kelpe, Pavel Dovgal, Blossom, Daisuke Tanabe, Dday One, Inner Science, Substantial, Arts The Beatdoctor, Rain Dog, Kidkanevil + Microkorg by Dorian Concept, John Robinson, Sorrow, Rumpistol, The Red Baron, Christoph El’ Truento, 40 Winks, Sina., 1000Names, DZA, Ichiro_, EAN, Tom Dicicco, Headshotboyz, Graciela Maria, Gards From KC, Sekuoia of Kilimanjaro, Sense of The Q4, Sneaky, I.V.A., Empt, John LaMonica, Mike Gao, Bambooman, Manuvers, Krts, Kwala, Soosh, Memotone, Sun Glitters, Called Understandable Souls & Szenario.
The limited box includes 2 white & 2 black vinyl LP’s with 32 tracks, 13 additional digital bonus tracks, a T-shirt (only at HHV) and a poster (with digital download code) all in a specially designed box that features a special light-reflecting varnish, which makes this truly a collectors and music lovers item.

Berlin-based label Project: Mooncircle and it’s two sublabels Project Squared and Finest Ego is an official label from HHV. It was founded in 2002 and is specializing in the conjunction between electronic and organic music. The label, at first envisaged as a compilation project only, soon released the first instrumental and vocal solo releases by such artists as The Q4, CYNE, Mr Cooper, Robot Koch, fLako, 40 Winks, John Robinson & MF Doom, DZA, Krts, Sina., Graciela Maria, Manuvers, Lambent, Lewis Parker, Non of Shadowhuntaz, Strand, Ta-Ku, Mika Gao, Onra, Obba Supa, Asusu, Furesshu, AnD. Kowton or Glen Porter. The work of illustrators and graphic designers such as Bioniq, Dan May, Iain McArthur, Ima One, LNY, Gordon, 44 Flavours, La Mano Fria, and The Binh create images that accompany the acoustic spaces.
Project: Mooncircle with its various producers & vocalist shall be an interesting experience for anyone looking for the extraordinary.

A&R: Laurent Fintoni, Jinna Morocha, Karolina Kaczor, Gordon Gieseking and Malte Tarnow. Mastering by Sven Friederichs. Artwork and original paintings by Gordon, LNY & Bioniq. Webdesign 2006 – 2012 by Thimo Hörster & Hendrik Stein. Animation trailer by Sebastian Muñoz.

Release date: March, 23rd.

10th Anniversary Showcase with Mike Slott, Robot Koch, fLako, Long Arm, Jehst, Arts The Beatdoctor, Sekuoia of Kilimanjaro, & Graciela Maria @ Club Gretchen in Berlin, Kreuzberg – March, 17th!

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Logic System

LP | 1981 | EU | Reissue (Wewantsounds)

32,99 €*

Diamorphoses / Concret PH / Orient Occident / Bohor

Release: 1981 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Limited Edition of 100 copies of clear vinyl with pink & sea blue splatters. Only at HHV!

His name may not be instantly familiar, but Hideki Matsutake has had a huge influence over Electronic music. Starting his career as the assistant of Japanese Electronic Music master Isao Tomita in the early 70s, he went on to work with Ryuichi Sakamoto and then Yellow Magic Orchestra as their keyboard programmer and unofficial fourth member. In 1981 he started his own Logic System project recording "Venus" that year in Los Angeles with Don Grusin, Nathan East and Michael Boddicker, brilliantly mixing Synth Funk, Ambient and Boogie with a touch of Fusion Jazz predating Vaporwave by a mere 30 years. Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue this visionary album, which
comes remastered from the original tapes and features Pater Sato stunning artwork including the rare beautiful 8-page insert with an exclusive interview of Hideki Matsutake by Hashim Kotaro Bharoocha.
The early 80s were prolific for Hideki Matsutake. As the go-to keyboard programmer for the tokyo music scene, he worked on Akiko Yano's "Gohan Ga Dekitayo", YMO's "BGM", Ryuichi Sakamoto's "B-2 Unit", Mkwaju Ensemble's "Mkwaju" and found time to record two Logic System albums in 1981. While the first album, "Logic" had a harder techno feel, the second one "Venus" was different affair. Recorded in Los Angeles at the new state of the art Yamaha Studio, it was loosely themed on the Greek goddess Venus and had a funkier more organic sound. For the album Matsutake had asked a handful of American musicians to provide songs he would then add his synth magic touch to. Michael Boddicker, Don Grusin, Nathan East and Roger Powell duly complied and also played on the album.

The updated sound was achieved by switching from the Moog III to the E-mu modular System (which Matsutake brought over to LA) and other synths like the Prophet 5, the Roland MC-8 and TR 808 and the Yamaha GS-1, a forerunner of the DX7.

The result is an amazing futuristic mix of electronic music and early 80s funk, announcing many genres to come, from techno and house to French electro and Vaporwave. From the breezy ambient synth of "I Love You" to the city pop edge of "Be Yourself" (originally written by Nathan East for Debra Laws) and the vocoder-led Daft Punk-ish "Take A Chance", Venus is a fascinating album that both pushes the boundaries of electronic music and is yet strangely accessible and beautiful.

The other key elements of Venus is the artwork designed by Japanese legendary illustrator Pater Sato. Sato had started in Japan in the early 70s doing many album covers for Japanese artists including Tatsuro Yamashita's cult Spacy LP before moving to New York in 1979 to pursue a career in fashion and advertising. His airbrush style became hugely influential over the years and in 2018, Stella McCartney dedicated a whole Men’s collection based on his Venus. Star make up artist Pat McGrath also regularly posts his artwork to her 3 million fans on her instagram.

The original album came with a beautiful 8-panel insert illustrated by Sato which Wewantsounds has reproduced on this deluxe reissue also featuring remastered sound, OBI strip and a second insert featuring credits and line up plus liner notes by Hashim Bharoocha. The notes will feature an exclusive interview with Hideki Matsutake reminiscing about the making of this visionary album which Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue.

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Iannis Xenakis - Electroacoustic Works Part 1

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Karl)

5LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Sci+Tec)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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This album is disc I "Early Works" of the 5 LP / 5 CD box set "Electroacoustic Works" that celebrates the 100th anniversary of IANNIS XENAKIS (on May 29th, 2022), one of the most influential 20th century avantgarde composers. All tracks have been newly mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer MARTIN WURMNEST and mastered by RASHAD BECKER and finally reveal their full sonic range and dynamics.

„Electroacoustic Works“ celebrates the 100th anniversary of Iannis Xenakis (on May 29th, 2022), one of the most influential 20th century avantgarde composers. All tracks have been newly mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer Martin Wurmnest and mastered by Rashad Becker and finally reveal their full sonic range and dynamics. Booklet with English / German liner notes by Reinhold Friedl (zeitkratzer) and rare photos from the Xenakis archive.

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) is one of the most important composers of the 20th century avantgarde whose influence on music can be traced to the present day – not only in the world of conservatory-trained composers but also in various streams of current non-academic underground aesthetics such as experimental electronic music, noise and industrial.

After he arrived in Paris in 1947, Xenakis not only studied composition with Messiaen and later became a member of the famous GRM (Groupe de recherches musicales), he also worked as assistant to the famous architect LE Corbusier and realized a.o. the Philips Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Brussels 1958. His compositions often are based on mathematical principles which give his music an unprecedented aesthetic and “shocking otherness” (The Guardian). Although Xenakis also composed for orchestra (his most famous works are “Metastasis“, “Pithoprakta” and “Terretektorh”), electronic music became his way for exploring new ideas and concepts and to develop new techniques like a graphic interface for sound synthesis or later, when computers were easier accessible, his so-called "stochastic synthesis" (Gendy 3, S.709 > Disc V, Late Works). Xenakis’ first electroacoustic pieces (Disc I) like “Diamorphoses” or “Bohor” turned out groundbreaking works while the latter even caused, as Michel Chion put it, the “greatest scandal of electroacoustic music” on the occasion of its performance 1968 at the GRM in Paris.

His so-called „Polytopes“ (Discs II - IV) were overwhelming multimedia performances with especially designed architectures, laser and light shows etc. where sometimes up to several hundred loudspeakers were used to move the sounds in space. For example his most famous composition “Persepolis”, commissioned by the Persian Shah, premiered in 1971 in Shiraz- Persepolis (Iran) as a performance including light-tracks, laser beams, groups of children walking around with torches and 59 loudspeakers to project the music in an open-air situation.

The most radical aspects of sound can be found in Xenakis' late work and its merciless reduction to harsh, almost ruthless sound synthesis. In the early nineties, he devoted himself to the concept of a composing machine: a machine that designs everything independently and calculates the finished piece, the algorithm is the work.

For the first time, the complete electroacoustic works of Xenakis are now available on record the truly overdue testimony and legacy of a restless investigator and explorer of sound. Years of source studies and comparative research by zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl, in collaboration with sound engineer Martin Wurmnest, made these critically reflected stereo mixes possible, which were appropriately mastered by Rashad Becker and which, in addition to the aspect of fidelity to the source, put the listener in the center. Xenakis' adventurous music can now finally be enjoyed in its full sonic range and dynamic.

To quote The Wire’s review from May 2018:
“This is the definitive Persepolis“

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Dubfire

Evolv

81,99 €*

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (System)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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4 out of 5 12”s are available separately, but only all 5 together will form the Dubfire logo on the spine. With a career spanning over 3 decades, Dubfire has achieved global success as an artist with relentless drive, talent, and intuition. Pioneering commercial notoriety came initially as one half of the Grammy award (2001) winning duo Deep Dish, before embarking on a truly groundbreaking solo career in 2007. A career filled with timeless tracks include his early works ‘Ribcage’ (2007), ‘Emissions (2007), ‘Roadkill’ (2007) and the highly acclaimed ‘Exit’ (2014) a debut collaboration with Kiss Kitten. Collaborative work highlights include Luke Slater, Moscoman, Oliver Huntemann, Chris Liebing, Tiga and co-producing two tracks on the legendary Underworld’s ‘Barking’ album. A true artist, he has always been heavily invested in exploring boundaries or audio and visual technologies, which he displayed more than ever with his Hybrid show. A two-year world tour with a goal to reinvent the concert experience in 2015, also became his muse for his retrospective album ‘A Decade Of Dubfire’. A collection of all his biggest tracks and remixes from the last decade, released in 2017. It may come as a surprise to many, with so many landmark releases, that Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia hasn't yet released a totally solo album, until now. Evolv is an 11-track visionary into the mind of Dubfire to be released on his long-standing label Sci+tec. It’s concept? The journey of the ‘hybrid’ being and its evolution, which kicks off with ‘Dark Matter’ and ‘Dust & Gas’ set a brooding atmosphere. The rougher percussion, and eerie lead in ‘Dark Matter’ is accompanied by a stripped back sound and glitchy vocals sitting in a spaced-out atmosphere in ‘Dust & Gas’. Its deep and minimal drum work is exceptional. ‘Escape’, a deep, dark and pulsating track that sets the tone for the body of work on the album. Coupled with ‘Elevation’ and it’s understated arpNew Release Information and crisp percussion for the second single. ‘Bottom Dweller’ give you two different versions, the original is straight forward, yet effective for a late-night head down cut, where the ‘Meltdown Mix’ takes a minimal path, and faster pace. ‘Swerve’ sees Dubfire return to that stripped back sound with heavy swinging percussion, a landmark and much-loved element in his music. Sonically, the journey so far has been like a dystopian landscape, but ‘Decent’ brings a kaleidoscope of colour and sound before dropping into the ‘challngr’ duo. ‘challngr 1.1’ is perhaps the most contemporary track on the album. Dubfire picks up the rhythm for a full-on dancefloor focused track. It’s no-nonsense techno at its best, with heaps of pure energy. Two versions appear on the album, ‘challngr 1.2’ retains the BPM but reigns in the percussion with a snappier approach and a more euphoric warped effect. Closing out, is a special digital only track ‘The Bells Tolls’. This one drives the energy back to ground level, into a more unsettling and mysterious end to a killer 11 track debut album. The music will also be accompanied by a new audio-visual show from the revered DubLab team based in Portugal. Test shows at Dgtl (Amsterdam), Caprices (Crans-Montana) and in Sofia between 2018 and 2019 had created lots of buzz just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut the world down for two years. But now the stage is firmly set for the new album and live shows. As music evolves, so does Dubfire. Evolv is a special project from this pioneering producer showing his interpretation of techno in his own unique vision.

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Julien Bracht

Now Forever One

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Fresh off of a remix for Grimes’ “My Name is Dark”, producer Julien Bracht has been powering through Cv19 studio seclusion on full-power, with a distinct vision for brighter days ahead. Bracht’s new album, “Now Forever One,” an emblem of dark analog synthwave, is set to drop June 11. Bracht’s first solo album under his own namesake is cut with surgical precision for the shoegazing astral sound travellers who long to break out of their pandemic quarantines, and reconvene for techno-induced ascension. The album’s first single, “Melancholia,” and it’s accompanying video, is already breaking hearts and charts. An exquisite sonic hybrid of communal revelry and profound introspection, “Now Forever One,” focuses Bracht’s multilayered craftsmanship on resolving this era’s angst with sensory exploration and optimism. As a lifelong drummer, Bracht’s insatiable musical energy lead him to bang out his first 3 EPs within one year of first being signed in 2011-12. In 2015 he founded the band Lea Porcelain with Markus Nikolaus in London. Their hypnotic post-rock debut release in 2017, “Hymns to the Night,” gained instant acclaim from UK tastemakers Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe, to name a few. The lads broke back onto the international stage with dates on several major festivals around Europe, including the Leeds/Reading Festival, Great Escape Brighton and Latitude. Rich output combined with the inclusion of live drums in his solo live sets quickly gained Bracht recognition and slots on the global tour circuit. “Now Forever One” forges Julien Bracht’s transition from techno djing, while continuing the explorations of texture and timbre over functional song structures from Lea Porcelain, to a more open-ended search for the aural sublime — the substrate on which music, life and light glide to create momentary nodes of meaning in an increasingly meaningless sociopolitical atmosphere. These are crucial themes to Bracht’s process and approach. “The intention in my music is to strengthen people’s awareness and minds… I want us all to gather in spirit and stick together.” The album exemplifies Bracht’s hunt for elemental juxtaposition with the warm Prophet 6’s sawtooth howls and bright pads against chillingly indifferent pulsing basslines and percussion. Clocking in at just under 65 minutes, “Now Forever One’s” tracks are sequenced to take the listener through the full emotional arch of a 15-hour rave, with an emphasis on those moments of collective epiphany where heaving techno floors become the perfect microcosm for an idealistic and interconnected future. Interspersed with improvisational one-takes, the album submerges the listener in polyrhythmic meditations, of which “Streets” and “Nocturne” are standout examples, and soars on the vaulted synth melodies of future dance floor favourites “Melancholia” and “Dreams of Euphoria.” Sascha Ring of Apparat & Moderat puts it perfectly: “I played “Melancholia” the night I got it at Mutek Festival in Mexico City, and instantly knew it’ll shine on a big floor at the right time. It’s just the right balance of majestic melodic deepness.” The sounds are both triumphant and exploratory. Greater than the sum of its parts, Bracht’s latest release hints at the artist’s emerging potential for nailing our moment’s zeitgeist; learning to live smaller while constantly seeking higher heights. Inhabiting the fertile ground between solitary rumination and dance-floor convenance, the launch of “Now Forever One’s” lunar expedition into the techno oblivion of pandemic lockdown is oddly fitting.

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12" | 2024 | UK | Original (Dan Jet)

Danjet 005

15,99 €*