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Australian producer Kate Stein brings her mesmerising sounds to TAU with the Death Stocked EP, her debut with us. Currently based between New York City and Los Angeles, Kate merges a variety of styles to produce captivating cuts that embody the ethos of dance floor liberation and self-expression. A confident performer who has appeared at House of Yes, Mayan Warrior and Cityfox Experience at Brooklyn Mirage, among many other notorious spots, Kate is also carving out her own lane with her productions. On Death Stocked we get two original cuts, with a bumper selection of reworks

Good news, kids: Now you can play a different Kitjen record every day of the week, because just as last summer, we have some hot Dutch jams coming your way for Kitjen 007: Utrecht’s own Stijn Sadée, who has been making moves in the Dutch scene for a while and runs the infamous Club Sauvage night, brings us three mystically exotic joints that showcase his manifold sources of inspiration and will bang your gong this summer. None other than Hessen’s love doctor Gerd Janson stops by to seal the deal by turning “Affetto“ into a 12 minute dancefloor journey.

SC-164 is a new label based out of Brooklyn, NY, run by Greg Schappert aka Donor.
The Channel series is set to include a run of electro and experimental EPs under his SC-164 alias. For the second installment, he presents inventive, rough-edged future music with no signs of human life, and it's utterly thrilling.
The first track is a blizzard of frosty, serrated synths and hard drums that are designed for dance floor destruction. 002-002 continues this way, an intergalactic face-off, with laser synths firing across the face of jittery, punch drum programming. Textured and raw, it's pure and powerful machine music. Next up, 003 layers up ghoulish white noise and synth bleeps that are brilliantly bleak and dystopian. The closer is a roaming electro cut, with menacing bass and groaning synths taking you to the heart of a stone-lit frenzy.

Further on the trail of 90s sonic specters, Die Orakel releases Ike‘s Stone Diviner EP, an affiliate with Index Records. The titular track amalgamates the momentum of sparse yet heavy weight breakbeats with the warmth of lush pads, and literally reverberating 90s trance or IDM elements along granular rave signals. The beauty of its subsequent tracks lies in their well-tempered, fresh exploration of past sonic phenomenons, devoid of today’s retromania.

In 2019, Southern Lights released the debut album of audio-visual artist Lost Few, fusing his relationship with the physical form including found sounds from the Australian wilderness and disturbed electronics, processed instrumentation and sub-bass experiments. Those sonic experiments have been given the remix treatment by a handful of contemporary artists working within the fringes of techno. Manchester’s Karim Maas provides his dark, ritual touch to “Indecision”, Vohkinne dials up the velocity on “Quietly We Wish For Silence” with his Extended Thrust Mix, Years of Denial deliver a stunning interpretation of “Expectations Are The Devil” straddling industrial and EBM, while Dino Sabatini closes the release with a serene and introspective remake of “Many An Idle Stone”.

One of the top drummers in the Israeli scene, Tel-Aviv based songwriter and producer Beatfoot launches his solo project with the powerful new EP De Vibez, a fanciful gutter-glam cross between stoner-acid-pop and 90’s-garage-punk. Side A contains some stunning originals alongside a surprising cover of a melancholic oldie by the legendary german singer Nico. Side B be the remixes: the first, a colorful club-driven remix by Garzen Records head honchos & electronic duo Red Axes, followed by a groovy down tempo drone version by the mesmerizing Smagghe & Cross.

Raw Culture renews its love with France by carving it on the wax.
The Parisian Security Dj, honorary member of the Knick Knack Yoda squad, returns, after the success of "Fucking DJ", in collaboration with Sophia De Jong released on our t last VA, this time with two whole sides dedicated to his weirdness.
Resident of Rinse France, in his sound, converge endless cues from his musical research, expressed through his already proven skills as a producer in his infamous Aubervilliers Studios. Roughness and overwhelming grooves are his characteristic traits.
Within the EP a collaboration with his snack dude Rawmance, Parisian by birth, Italian by adoption, with whom he shares also the Drew C. Mance project.
Asymmetrical , boss of the label, did the role of Celine Dion in “Ramp Age” with his magic voice.
Finally, to complete the work, we have the pleasure to have in our infamous stables tha guy Cardopusher, who cooks his version of "domestic xs" with his unmistakable groove and sound that makes even the stones move from the ground.
The release as always will be available in a limited series of 300 hand stamped vinyl.

Paving the way for independent artists with songs about love, loss and life, Low Island release their highly anticipated sophomore album, Life In Miniature, promising more ‘delicious alt pop’ (Clash) as the group follow in the footsteps of fellow ‘Oxford bands Glass Animals, Radiohead and Foals’ (Rolling Stone Germany).

It comes fresh off the back of their debut album, If You Could Have It All Again, which placed #17 in the Official UK Album Sales Chart and won them plaudits from Gigwise (‘truly engrossing’), Line of Best Fit (‘arena ready’), Double J, Kcrw, Radio1, 6music and Zane Lowe, who described the bands ‘intellectual, soulful creativity.’ Their second album, Life In Miniature, sees Low Island continue to broaden the scope of their ambition, with a record that exquisitely balances stirring electronics, euphoric indie and infectious pop. It’s a record described by the band as a ‘timecapsule, a sonic photo album that captures three years of accelerated change that felt like a lifetime. Leaving home, falling in love, losing loved ones, trying to capture full complexity of emotion that all of those experiences engender.’

Setting that heartfelt lyricism against such a diverse range of sonic backdrops is something that Low Island have been devotedly fine-tuning over the years, firmly rooted in an independence that extends to everything from managing themselves and releasing their music on their own label, Emotional Interference. Its lead to an electrifying live show, which has seen them play festivals from Glastonbury to Lollapalooza Berlin, support synthpop legends Hot Chip and pack out their own shows everywhere from London to Berlin, Prague and Paris, prompting 6music’s Tom Robinson to prophesise that ‘we’ll have them rocking the Pyramid Stage yet, mark my words’.

With the success of The Vendetta Suite’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘The Kempe Stone Portal’ - Hell Yeah Recordings proudly present the remixes, featuring long-time friends and collaborators David Holmes and Timmy Stewart. The 90s in Belfast spawned friendships and connections made across the barricades; a time credited with some of the most important and significant cultural moments in the history of the city. Club-nights including the Art college, regularly played by David Holmes and Iain McCready helped to spawn a new generation of musicians and DJs looking to make their mark; Including both Gary Irwin (The Vendetta Suite) & Timmy Stewart.

New release by Boston-based songwriter and instrumentalist Judd Stone and vocalist Jayde Lee.

Volume 3 of the Trust XY recombination series again sees four unique artists channel sonic echoes from the label's past. Stenny is up first, the Italian producer whose name is synonymous with Ilian Tape's much acclaimed crossover of techno and bass music. He complements the deep pads of Versalife's 'Nova Prospekt' with a scorching bass line and rolling breaks programmed in his unmistakable style. Canadian producer and Planet Euphorique label owner D.Tiffany is a champion of complex percussions and an obvious choice to rework Alex Cortex's percussive electro anthem 'We Run Your Life'. Her take chops and warps Cortex's vocals around a twitching techno beat that's both experimental and effective. Side B has UK electro and breakbeat pioneer Clatterbox return to Trust, reshaping one of the very first Microthol tracks into modern form. At his hands 'Intertronic' turns into a bleeping and hissing, snarling and growling electro bass monster. Lastly Delsin's dub master and Trust alumni Vc-118a takes on 'Tides' by /dl/ms/, replacing the original's sparse funk with a low slung dub techno groove that serves as the foundation for perpetually cascading ebbs and flows of lush and dreamy soundwaves.

Balamii resident and Sticky Tapes-founder Theo Everyday arrives with a huge debut on Cheeky Sneakers, seamlessly blending the worlds of jungle, electro and trance with his signature sauce of nostalgic and futuristic hyper-funk.

Having curated the Sticky Tapes mix series and label - supporting music from artists such as Stones Taro, Om Unit, Jossy Mitsu and Lobster Theremin label head Asquith - the DJ and producer knows a thing or two about merging differing styles and energies. The Holsten FM EP plays out like a three hour club set; placing classic UK sounds at its foundation and throwing multi-coloured paint all over them.

'The Way You Feel' makes use of the pitched-vocal, SoundCloud hyper-pop aesthetic with hardcore-piano stabs and heartstring-tugging cheese wrapped within a huge low-end swinging bassline. A great lights-up tool to leave them with a smile on their face. The classic rave energy is maintained on the EP title track - a stripped-back cut of ragga jungle-step that's as meditative as it is devastating.

From golden-era rave and jungle future-mutations to heads-down club sounds, 'Every Body's Talking (Well Let's Talk)' is a strobe-light power sequence for when things are in full swing, before 90s breakbeat and trance join forces on a 'Six and Two Threes' hands-in-the-air moments.

Breaks-littered dream sequences that feel like a warm hug follow on 'Summer Lie In' - its chopped melodies and stirring atmospherics causing ripples within the pond of paradise - before 'Mod Cons' closes with a squelching cut of acid-electro on a killer digi-only exclusive.

‘Cameo’ is the third and last stepping-stone which lead to Kavinsky’s long-awaited new album ‘Reborn’, out on June 3rd. Its raging funky beat and syncopated synths offer the most perfect case for American sensation Kareen Lomax to deliver a warm though exhilarating vocal performance. Robot disco guitar bumps all along and that secret recipe everyone knows was invented in Paris. Yet another humongous track by the and only dead & alive 88.1 to 107.9 FM fiend.

Seamless to our first release of the Stone Techno series we are presenting the second edition of this unique concept. Each artist has been given a sample library consisting of recorded minerals from the Ruhr Area. The task was pretty clear, to create a track exclusively out of those sounds. The results are remarkably differing from each other and showing the huge creative potential of this project, which is a collaboration between the world famous Ruhr Museum foundation and The Third Room collective.

While Matrixxman delivers us an ambient driven masterpiece, Rodhad shows us his impeccable skills to create an ever-evolving tension in his dub techno influenced approach. Yan Cook on the B-Side is exploring the full potential of those samples to honor the industrial era and its machines, while T3R-Resident Vnnn. is hailing with his hypnotic grooves the late hours of an extensive musical journey.

We hope you enjoy this imposing line-up of artists and its different styles within the release. There is more to be coming. Stay tuned!

Each release is limited to 300 copies (180gr marbled 12" Vinyl, Full Cover Print).

Unusual Systems Records is back with their 7th release, recovering three tracks from the vault of the cassette tapes recorded by his founder in 2017-2018 at the same time that the first release of the label and "Robotik Dreamer" released on his album on Libertine Records in 2020 with the characteristic sound that represents this era of the artist, 80's drum patterns, simple basslines, mysterious melodies and epic pads with a touch the early spanish proto-techno sound.

On the B side Cavalry Stone, the spanish duo formed by Jesus Fernandez Solis (aka Nuclear Waste) and Oscar Ricardo. They have previous releases on cassette and digital on the label Soil Records and the approbation of artists such Ancient Methods that used their tracks in his DJ sets

Ltd. Vinyl Only.

Sorang, the debut album of Yalta native Wulffius, represents his work over the last eight years. The playful creature on the cover, Stone Eater, is based on childhood sketches of producer's father. The name of the album alludes to the first collection of his father's poems, which took its name from a short story by Konstantin Paustovsky, a master of nature writing in Russian prose. Sorang is the name of the south wind that "blows once in centuries", and you can hear its unique warmth in these tracks. There is a sense of wholeness here, and a palpable style and atmosphere that permeates the individual pieces.

Wulffius creates what he himself refers to as "B-sides": something too strange to be danceable, with "complex ease" and rhythmical variety. The music has a charming serenity and beauty thanks to Wulffius' intuitive approach, which is childlike and whimsical in the best possible sense. By the way, Paustovsky wrote Sorang in an hour and a half at a speed writing competition. You can hear a similar spontaneity here, but make no mistake, this is the work of a master and has been crafted over a period of years. It all comes from experience.

A few copies arrived with a Bent Corner Cover. We're therefore selling it on a reduced price

Blending ambient, drone, krautrock, psychedelic, house music elements into a unique sonic universe... that's what Cloudland Canyon is known for! This American experimental music project led by Kip Uhlhorn comes with the release of their new self-titled LP on the always trustworthy Medical Records! The band continues to explore the boundaries of sound and space, taking the listener on a journey through lush soundscapes and immersive textures. Formed in 2002, Cloudland Canyon has released several critically acclaimed albums, including "Fin Eaves," "Lie In Light," and "An Arabesque." Their recent releases have been produced by Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3/Spectrum. With each release, Uhlhorn has pushed the envelope of experimental pop music, collaborating with various musicians and producers to create intricate and otherworldly compositions. This time around Uhlhorn collaborated primarily with AI to generate and create a compositions that sound like they are meant for an alternate realm where both beauty and suffering are both present, but not at odds with one another. AI has helped Uhlhorn take one step further into the transfigurative looking glass. The new lp, marks a new chapter in Cloudland Canyon's journey, expanding their sonic palette to include elements of techno and electronic music while still retaining their signature dreamy atmospheres. The album is a journey through a sonic landscape that is at once futuristic and nostalgic, evoking the feeling of driving down an endless highway into the sunset. Past musical collaborators have included some of the most exciting musicians working today, including Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3, Wayne Coyne & Kliph Scurlock of Flaming Lips, David Scott Stone of the Melvins, Unwound,& LCD Soundsystem, Dean & Britta from Galaxie 500 & Luna, and Jody Stephens from Big Star to name a few. "s/t" is a testament to Cloudland Canyon's ability to collaborate and create music that is both innovative and accessible. Whether you are a longtime fan or a newcomer to Cloudland Canyon's music, "s/t" is a must-listen for anyone interested in the possibilities of experimental music in the 21st century. With its combination of analog and digital textures, hypnotic rhythms, and expansive soundscapes, it is a journey you won't soon forget.

Rolando Simmons - a revered name in certain acidic circles - joins Utter for the 'Human Remains' EP, a wildly inventive 8-track adventure that deftly dabbles in rave, IDM, Techno and beyond in classic RS style. The project is the creative brainchild of Mattias Östling, who has been on a prolific production streak since the late 2000s, firstly under the name Trackermatte before settling into work under his current moniker.

This particular release is a missing puzzle-piece of sorts, compiled and sequenced by Utter's Alex Egan from a self-released digital collection titled 'Human Touch' which initially surfaced on Bandcamp during the producer's golden 2016 'Walk On Strawberries' and 'World Building' era.

'Human Touch' was a curious selection of unmastered oddities - the first Östling made using audio signal processing environment Cecilia5 - which remained largely overlooked due to its digital limbo. The tracklist itself shifted, with bonus tracks appearing then disappearing. While the excellent Dutch label 030303 cherry-picked the original version of the title track for a 2019 2xLP of the same name, the rest of the material remained frustratingly unavailable on vinyl and elsewhere, including the elusive bonus track which prompted Egan to reach out to Östling in the first place, the stunning 'sq1_mc4_iloveu03a_149unedit'.

That track is firmly at the core of this new EP, under its new title 'Nueva Traditional', as well as the alternative CV Beszállás edit of 'Human Touch'. They are surrounded by every other un-pilfered gem that originally appeared alongside them - however briefly - with all material freshly mastered and cut by Anne Taegert at D&M. The artwork and large fold-out poster (included with the 12") were designed by the Timpani Mystique Agency.

No stone left unturned!

Oz Echoes peels away another layer of Australia’s ’80s DIY hive mind. The Oz Waves successor exposes a deeper circuit of micro-run cassettes, community radio archives and irrationally abandoned studio sessions, as Steele Bonus sequences a 10-track compendium of drone pop, psyche-electronics and agitated tape cut-ups. From the Sydney cassette network, The Horse He’s Sick returns with an industrial car crash, alongside Wrong Kind of Stone Age’s pagan cacophony and primal riddims. M Squared dynamo Patrick Gibson appears in both Height/Dismay and Mr Knott, his respective studio-as-an-instrument collaborations with Dru Jones (Scattered Order) and ex-Slugfucker Gordon Renouf - the former’s worn out apparition hails from an instantly deleted 1981 7″, while Mr Knott entrust one of the compilation’s five previously unreleased tracks.

My Interstellar Love Life is the third studio album by Berlin-based songwriter Adrian Schull aka Helmut. Formerly known for his eloquent use of the loop pedal in focused solo performances, he sought out a group of skilled friends to join the H train for his latest record. Starting off the songwriting process in playful sessions with close friend and multi instrumentalist/songwriter Do Mayer, they were later joined by jazz drummer/composer Akira Nakamura and guitarist/composer Johanna Weckesser, a recent student of Kurt Rosenwinkel.Nakamura since followed the calling to return to his hometown in Okinawa but drummer/producer Garagen Uwe took over for him during late studio production. Studio sessions were overseen by Helmut's longtime collaborator and co-producer (Polymono, Our Walls) Marius Bubat, one half of Cologne electronic duo Coma. Mastering was done in Berlin by Enyang Urbiks. The themes in this collection of 8 songs range from exhaustion with the overall human experience (Enough), metaphorical dreamscapes 'where men turn to stone' (Flowers), love/ghost stories (Ballin'), misplaced romantic expectations (Monster) on to bitter-sweet musings on the entertainment industry itself (Take All). To end things on a wholesome note the synth-pop-ballad Cheer u Up.. might just cheer u up in this brave new pandemic winter.

Slightly more than one year has passed since we debuted the Cardiff-based duo Plastic Estate’s first single This Place and we all know what happened meanwhile. But if you thought the global pandemic discouraged the Welsh boys from pursuing their research for an evolution of pop music from the past, think again. Quite on the contrary, it seems that these past months of forced isolation and necessary restrictions only empowered the ability of the band led by Nicholas James and Stanley Fouracres to compose great songs perfectly in balance between dark, melancholia and happier, brighter feelings. Or maybe their love for the best UK new wave and pop artists such as Dave Gahan, Ian McCulloch, Bryan Ferry is just too tough to die. However that may be, Plastic Estate have masterfully used this year to write their first full-length album and we at Avant! couldn’t be happier to bring it to you on 4 February 2022. Ten new songs that shine a light on the duo’s impressive skills to juggle between the heritage of lost golden era and the pressing presence of the here and now, as well as electronic dance elements and acoustic instruments, ending up sounding classic and contemporary at once. Not an easy task, if you ask me. Check out Out of Reach and its crystal clear synth-pop radiance, or one whirlwind dancefloor filler such as There Must Be More Than This, juxtaposed with the romantic intimacy of Berlin or Divinely Impaired’s elegant sombreness. Dive into the imaginary mémoires of a Sophisti-pop era with Antique Days and then resurface nowadays with the hypnagogic club notes of The Difference. We can even feel some Stone Roses-like vibe in the album’s last track Change Your Mind but maybe it’s just us. What’s for sure is that if you liked their 7-inch single you will love their album. If you don’t know this group yet but you righteously adore the artists above, do yourself a favour and take a good listen now and you will not be disappointed. Not in the least, as it is this rare to stand in the exact spot where you have a full view of the days behind you and the complete control of the moment you are in.

France, 1990. Fun Radio, NRJ, Skyrock set a new pace, and their crushing hegemony irrevocably marks the end of the free radio utopia. The giants become vital in the hit industry and carry on fuelling France’s greatest invention: la variété. A quintessentially French version of British dance pop with a very specific tang to it, too coy to emulate trendy clubs’ and rave parties’ music, europop cautiously tests the waters of what will soon turn into a tsunami : house music. Is house the soundtrack of the 90s? In Europe, it gave steam to comeback bands just as much as to the most memorable formations of the decade, while in France it paved the way for the global success of French Touch. “Real” house music emerges in early 80’s Chicago (where the Warehouse club, which allegedly gave its name to the genre, closes down in 1983). England’s acid house and Belgium’s new beat, its European offshoots, fed the cravings of tabloids in 1988 and 1989. The house music we’re interested in though, the type bound to soon overwhelm European charts, is already pretty far away from the afro-american music born in Chicago. So far away it inherited a new name: dance music. Just like it had been the case with disco a few years back, house and techno aren’t exactly in the good books – acid house and new beat even less so. And it’s precisely the genre’s mainstream iteration this compilation focuses on; the house en français, which strives to get on board the running train in 1990. The house which sports the all-over jean look, bandana, cap, chewing gum, peugeot 205 complete with snazzy beats on the radio. The big deal big fuss type, miles away from the original, underground house. It might not have been born in the nineties, but that’s clearly when house music became mainstream. What underpins house music might even be what is to define the decade to come: jingles and pin’s, megaclubs and clips. That and the hits. Very soon house is everywhere: on the air of the big radio stations and on TV, creeping in as far as kids’ programs. The French may not even notice, but they’re all listening to it. Meanwhile, music producers smell the gravy and, willy-nilly with the earnest, enlightened amateurs, propose their very own club versions, cross breeding French variété and house. The result: a chart and club ready ersatz that is to quickly seduce young audiences. Hits, that’s what we want – or tubes for the French, like in House Tube, one of the landmarks of this compilation. The tracklist, like the soundtrack to a club night that never happened, fictitiously reconstructs the fleeting moment when house made its arrival in France, bridging the gap between variété and eurodance. House quiproquo House music barges in like a UFO on European land. With the arrival of this repetitive, yet transgressive music, tabloids freak out, while widespread incomprehension over the genre inspires dubious misconceptions. The media are happy to suckle on the music’s popularity, though well hidden behind the veil of decorum: NRJ airs a remake of a famous new beat track, Rock To The Beat, in which, however, “ecstasy” is swapped for “fantasy”. Dechavanne, thoughtful as usual, calls fans junkies and nazis on his tv show, Ciel Mon Mardi – though the show’s theme song is nothing else than a house track. The footage became a classic, and the comments, sampled by producers, provided the vocals for a flagship new beat track (Dr. Smiley – L’Echo Dechavanne). The Dechavanne episode is representative of the general confusion surrounding this barbarian music; skepticism remained high, even (if not more so?) in the musical world. In fact, it’s the subject of the unequivocal House Tube: “House tube, bouse tube ; on n’aime pas vraiment le house tube House soupe, bouse soupe ; on n’aime pas vraiment le house soupe” That is: “House hits, house shit; we don’t really dig house hits House soup, shit soup; we don’t really dig house soup” The success of house music inspired many exasperated reactions, just like House Tube (the B-side of a deodorant ad’s theme). Laurent Castellvi, surprised that the joke-track he composed at the time still sparked interest, told us: “At the beginning of the nineties, house was all over the radio. It annoyed me a little that most tracks were based on the same two chords. House Tube is a joke, it’s me sitting at the piano playing two chords. And that’s what the lyrics say.” On the other hand and following up with the next track, Fred de Fred was clearly in the know. The Frenchman had moved to the epicentre of the English commotion, Sheffield, a few years prior to the arrival of house. That’s where Warp (Autechre, Aphex Twin) originated – and at the time Warp still went by the name FON, Fred already hung around in their studios. Robert Gordon, Fred’s pal and co-founder of the label, signs the remix of one of his 1989 tracks, Sous Sous. In 1991, he composes a record of songs, and when it comes to pairing a suitable club remix single, Fred knows what’s up. Je T’Aime En Amour, sleek rock, mutates into a syncretism of french chanson and nearly rave breakbeat (here provided in its “2020” version). Fred de Fred is exemplary of the variété-club crossover driving this record; his career started within the collective ZNR, he crossed paths with the likes of Alain Bashung and then the Stone Roses, was close to Warp, and ended up signing a record on Barclay. Studio sharks Electronic musicians are often referred to as “producers”. This emanates from the delimitation of roles in the making of recorded music, traditionally assigned as singer, songwriter and producer. The latter takes care of the recording per se; that is, he manages the project, rents the studio, hires the musicians (known as requins de studio – studio sharks – for accumulating studio sessions) and cashes in at the end. The artist in electronic music is the producer alone, who essentially combines all roles at once: totally autonomous in his home studio, he can do without musicians or singers. The moment we’re interested in is this transitory period in which the two types of producers coexist. On the one hand, the new producers, like Fred Rister with Everybody Dancing, who recorded in a shack on a 4-track recorder, according to the sound engineer. On the other, the revival of old brigade producers, always on the lookout for a hot deal. The producer behind Près De Toi is of the latter type – pursuing a long musical career though quick to forget Claire-An (and so did posterity). New beat’s heritage isn’t negligible : its pioneers fashioned the “new generation” producer formula, a one-man-band in his machine-filled home studio. They’re also the first to churn out major hits, hitting the floor of a few Belgian clubs and eventually making it to the European top 50. What seems like mad creative abundance (hundreds of tracks between 1987 and 1989) is in fact the work of a handful of Belgian producers, barely ten, hidden behind multiple aliases. Among them, Marc Neuttiens, Jack Mauer and Fabian Van Messen, who often work as a trio and produce some of the genre’s most iconic tracks. In the midst of which On Se Calme, produced under the name Bassline Boys, sampling none other than Christophe Dechavanne. It’s no coincidence then that Anne Zamberlan should knock on their door with in mind the idea of an antidrug track. She wants to make noise, they know how to make a hit. And the track has it all: proto-acid gimmicks, big beat, house piano, verses rapped with a hiphouse flow… It might have been great, but even a Virgin Megastore ad she appeared in two years later got her more success. À la folie, je danse This tale is also the one of the pioneers who brought house music to France, first on the radio, well before rave parties or Laurent Garnier’s nights in Paris. As soon as the early eighties, Robert Levy Provençal plays the edits of the young Dimitri from Paris on the airwaves of Radio 7. At the time they’re unusual: like one would use samples in hip hop, Dimitri loops soul, funk and disco tracks, creating extended mixes. He breaks down tracks, reducing them to a gimmick or a bass line, thus creating easy-to-mix tools for DJs and bringing them closer to the sounds of house and techno music. He soon becomes resident DJ on NRJ and hosts the popular show Hot Mix. Like his colleague RLP, Dimitri proposes a trailblazing selection, blending together French news and the odd new sound from the States. At the turn of the nineties, when europop wants in at the club, only these influencers master the dance side of things. There’s RLP, Bibi Fricotin, Dom T… And Dimitri, who becomes the assigned variété remixer, adapting dozens of songs that were never meant to make it into a club. The general tendency however is less to official remixes than to bootlegs: a “pirate”, unauthorised and often private remix – just like Jacques Dutronc’s Opium, stretched out into a nearly 7-minute-long mix. The nineties also set the stage for the first TV stars, the ones who become famous without anyone really knowing why. Take, say, Jordy, four years old. The kid, in his diapers, sings along a New York style, house piano production and somehow makes it to the top 50’s number 1. For years, Jordy plays out the role of the child star and demonstrates that dance music is a perfectly profitable affair: it fuels the radios turned juggernauts, and lands on TV, seeping through music programs… In 1989, Vincent Lagaf (a famous french TV host) dives in with Bo Le Lavabo. The pitch is simple: the TV host adapts a track well known overseas, Lil Louis’ French Kiss (without any direct reference), simply adding lyrics taken from a sketch. He’s rather clear on his intentions (“Well, that’s just how you make it to the top 50”) and has no mercy for a musical genre he clearly understands nothing about (“See? Easy.”). Single night stars The club is a democratic place where anyone can be a star for a night (a nineties remix of Andy Warhol’s famous saying, meaning to imply: never has fame been so near, yet so far). The ghost of stardom haunts all of these forgotten tracks… This is particularly true in the case of Techno 90, Fred Rister’s first band. The DJ hailing from Northern France takes part in the short-lived though seminal Maxximum radio and mixes everywhere on both sides of the Belgian border, quickly becoming a local celebrity. At the turn of the century, he starts collaborating with David Guetta – another DJ, slightly better known than Rister and a rising star of the Parisian club scene. Together they eventually co-sign a few global hits: Love Is Gone, When Love Takes Over, I Gotta Feeling. This tale is the story of French variété’s unforeseen encounter with the avant-garde, of DJs who rose to the status of pop stars and others who descended deep into the rave party scene. It’s all of these oddities our compilation seeks to recount, like a wacky TV show featuring anonymous stars, forgotten ghosts of a decade bygone (Jacques Dutronc, Jean-Francois Maurice) or yet to come (David Guetta), inspired though unlucky blokes plus a girl band. And somewhere in the shambles, the tracklist of our compilation, the B-side of dance music’s official story – what could have been France’s alternative hit machine.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Spice Girls smoked crack and joined forces with the Power Rangers on acid? Meet Beatfoøt. These punk-infused electronic poltergeists and big-beat acid trio are Udi Naor, drummer and founding member of electronic duo Red Axes, Adi Bronicki (who also fronts Israeli garage-punk-folk band Deaf Chonky) and ace of all trades guitarist Nimrod Goldfarb. The band have been launching warped stoner-acid-pop out of Tel Aviv with maniacal intent and are producing post-punk rave bangers that will scorch every dance floor with a huge lethal smile. Beatfoøt are a DIY supergroup who describe themselves as sitting somewhere between Aqua, Beastie Boys and The Prodigy. Their music endeavours feel akin to being hurtled through a kaleidoscopic waterslide, overflowing with the spirit of 90’s youth culture. The radioactive trio are DJ’s, musicians, songwriters and producers with a diverse range of individual projects and talents, their combined sonics map your journey across the hazy astral spectrum of hip-hop, big beat and rave music. Morph these radioactive pieces with the no nonsense attitude of punk-rock and the venomous spitting flow of golden-era rap and you might just come close to fabricating the freakish sound of Beatfoøt. The band’s self-titled debut is set for release on 17th September on Manfredi Romano aka DJ Tennis’ Life and Death. Founded in 2010, the imprint curates soulful dance music with a post-rock aesthetic. This refreshingly original and experimental LP from Beatfoøt marks a new direction for Life and Death this year and beyond. “Beatfoøt” takes unsuspecting listeners on a wild ride of unprecedented musical madness (firmly without seatbelts).

Blending ambient, drone, krautrock, psychedelic, house music elements into a unique sonic universe... that's what Cloudland Canyon is known for! This American experimental music project led by Kip Uhlhorn comes with the release of their new self-titled LP on the always trustworthy Medical Records! The band continues to explore the boundaries of sound and space, taking the listener on a journey through lush soundscapes and immersive textures. Formed in 2002, Cloudland Canyon has released several critically acclaimed albums, including "Fin Eaves," "Lie In Light," and "An Arabesque." Their recent releases have been produced by Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3/Spectrum. With each release, Uhlhorn has pushed the envelope of experimental pop music, collaborating with various musicians and producers to create intricate and otherworldly compositions. This time around Uhlhorn collaborated primarily with AI to generate and create a compositions that sound like they are meant for an alternate realm where both beauty and suffering are both present, but not at odds with one another. AI has helped Uhlhorn take one step further into the transfigurative looking glass. The new lp, marks a new chapter in Cloudland Canyon's journey, expanding their sonic palette to include elements of techno and electronic music while still retaining their signature dreamy atmospheres. The album is a journey through a sonic landscape that is at once futuristic and nostalgic, evoking the feeling of driving down an endless highway into the sunset. Past musical collaborators have included some of the most exciting musicians working today, including Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3, Wayne Coyne & Kliph Scurlock of Flaming Lips, David Scott Stone of the Melvins, Unwound,& LCD Soundsystem, Dean & Britta from Galaxie 500 & Luna, and Jody Stephens from Big Star to name a few. "s/t" is a testament to Cloudland Canyon's ability to collaborate and create music that is both innovative and accessible. Whether you are a longtime fan or a newcomer to Cloudland Canyon's music, "s/t" is a must-listen for anyone interested in the possibilities of experimental music in the 21st century. With its combination of analog and digital textures, hypnotic rhythms, and expansive soundscapes, it is a journey you won't soon forget.

Paving the way for independent artists with songs about love, loss and life, Low Island release their highly anticipated sophomore album, Life In Miniature, promising more ‘delicious alt pop’ (Clash) as the group follow in the footsteps of fellow ‘Oxford bands Glass Animals, Radiohead and Foals’ (Rolling Stone Germany).

It comes fresh off the back of their debut album, If You Could Have It All Again, which placed #17 in the Official UK Album Sales Chart and won them plaudits from Gigwise (‘truly engrossing’), Line of Best Fit (‘arena ready’), Double J, Kcrw, Radio1, 6music and Zane Lowe, who described the bands ‘intellectual, soulful creativity.’ Their second album, Life In Miniature, sees Low Island continue to broaden the scope of their ambition, with a record that exquisitely balances stirring electronics, euphoric indie and infectious pop. It’s a record described by the band as a ‘timecapsule, a sonic photo album that captures three years of accelerated change that felt like a lifetime. Leaving home, falling in love, losing loved ones, trying to capture full complexity of emotion that all of those experiences engender.’

Setting that heartfelt lyricism against such a diverse range of sonic backdrops is something that Low Island have been devotedly fine-tuning over the years, firmly rooted in an independence that extends to everything from managing themselves and releasing their music on their own label, Emotional Interference. Its lead to an electrifying live show, which has seen them play festivals from Glastonbury to Lollapalooza Berlin, support synthpop legends Hot Chip and pack out their own shows everywhere from London to Berlin, Prague and Paris, prompting 6music’s Tom Robinson to prophesise that ‘we’ll have them rocking the Pyramid Stage yet, mark my words’.

Sonic chaotic, tender terror. On New Stone, Lithuanian producer Kamile Rimkute a.k.a. Caline with C dazes and uplifts us with her reflective post-modern electronics. This album is a personal long-term project in the making, one of auditive self-expression, treading across themes such as adventure, love, discovery and grounding. The album is driven by Kamile's interest in futuristic boundary-crossing music and intersectional feminism, as well as her studies in Sonology. With an advanced skill for composition, sound synthesis and her knowledge on the totality of sound, she claimed the means of production, as New Stone is all produced, mixed and mastered by herself. New Stone was recorded in a period of two years that started in 2020 and incorporates highlights of her landmark livesets ever since. New Stone is full of concocted emotion that sustains and releases through her trademark of stark contrasts - triplet-driven, jolted yet angelic atmospheres - resulting in a tangible, body-driven sound. Interweaving her vocals near the final salvo, this album marks the end of a creative cycle and start of a next, allowing her personal touch to seep through her art more and more. Embarking from home ground, stepping on a new stone.

"Cheugy" is a slang term used to describe someone who is out of style or trying too hard to be trendy (or both). Often associated with millennial culture, it refers to fashion, trends, or behaviors that were once popular but now seem outdated or overly mainstream. According to Rolling Stone magazine it is commonly used by Gen Z to roast Millennials. Essentially, it's the opposite of being effortlessly cool.

Local Action is proud to present Cyclorama, the long-awaited debut album by Ariel Zetina.

A resident DJ at Chicago’s iconic Smartbar, a long-standing Discwoman family member and a key part of the city’s dance music and Lgbtq+ communities, Ariel has established herself as one of the most exciting electronic artists operating today - through releases such as 2020’s acclaimed MUAs at the End of the World and 2017’s Organism, and her meticulous approach to DJ mixes - as recently evidenced on Sestina, her 2020 contribution to Mixtape Club.

Written across 2021 and honed this Spring, Cyclorama is Ariel’s most impressive and all-encompassing work yet, showcasing her as a producer, vocalist and also curator, pulling together an ensemble cast of her peers in Chicago (Cae Monāe, Mia Arevalo, Dannn) and some of the most exciting names in contemporary club music (Violet, Bored Lord).

Conceptually, Cyclorama draws heavily from Ariel’s background as a theater writer and producer. Popularized in 19th century German theater, a cyclorama (or cyc) is a large curtain, placed on the back wall of the stage. This creates an illusion of extra depth in the background, and often is used to represent the sky. In Ariel’s words, “I imagine all the tracks on this as the lights and action projected onto the cyclorama. The whole album is like the cyc, a representation of the sky. Or an imagined sky. An imagined dancefloor. An imagined theatrical production.”

As well as drawing conceptually from Ariel’s background in theater, the album draws on a personal level from Ariel’s journey as a trans woman of color - most directly on Cyclorama’s three vocal tracks, ‘Gemstone’, ‘Slab of Meat’ and lead single ‘Have You Ever’.

On ‘Have You Ever’, Ariel collaborates with Cae Monāe, a dear friend and fellow trans woman of color. “‘Have you ever been with a girl like me before?’ and all the lyrics refers to the fear and anxiety that cis men who are attracted to trans women feel, and also any woman that doesn’t fit the mold of a stereotypical woman”, Ariel explains. “Cae and I - and many trans women - have been in so many situations where society tells cis men they cannot be with trans women and this explores that and gives power to all trans women in this situation. The techno reflects that, as well as the “Spell my name” section at the end, showing the true power of trans women.”

On ‘Slab of Meat’, Ariel delivers a hypnotic solo vocal performance that builds in intensity with each line (“I am treated like a slab of meat both emotionally and sexually sometimes, especially one left in the freezer on the back burner. Why did you bring this meat home from the market? For what? You’re wasting meat!”), while ‘Gemstone’, a collaboration with Mia Arevalo, continues the empowering themes of ‘Have You Ever’ in a different context:

“[‘Gemstone’ is] a call for trans women to take time with your transition because it will all happen eventually. As two girls who have started our transition almost a decade ago, I think we have both seen that we have always needed to take our time to take our time. Reminders not to rush or compare yourself to other girls. I love the metaphor of gemstone months representing different periods of transition. I’ve been so many different women in recent years, and I'm excited to continue my journey.”

It’s immediately followed by album closer ‘Tropical Depression’, the title of which is a reference to Ariel growing up with tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes affecting her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida as well as her family in Belize City:

“This track for me is about living day to day and continuing while dealing with my really intense clinical depression. The sample comes from “Why can’t you let me go?” but is supposed to be transformative and not necessarily legible. How we hold on to our trauma and depression like a protective shell. This is an attempt to deal with it in a different way.”

The Cyclorama album cover, directed by Dylan Bragassa, stars Ariel alongside Monāe and Arevalo in an imagined theater production. In Ariel’s words, “a theoretical performance starring only trans women of color - I wanted an ensemble shot to represent the ensemble nature of this album! Love how Dylan combines so many ideas to create a very unique image that asks so many questions.”

Former member of Dublin punk band The Threat, Stano released his debut LP on Scoff Records in 1983. Recorded in Alto Studios, the Irish artist eschewed live performances in favour of fusing collaborative, improvised, experimental music with spoken word-poetry. The LP featured contributions from fellow Irish musicians and artists such as Michael O'Shea, Roger Doyle, Donald Teskey, Vinnie Murphy, Detroit born Jerome Rimson and is a seminal document of Irish postpunk

Mysticism's Dubplate series has got a couple of great drops lined up at the moment and this is one of them - a boule pack from German digidub pioneers TVS aka Trance Vision Steppers. This was a project that never made it out of the studio but still cooked up some brilliant sounds, which in the case of this collection come from their earlier period between 1995 - 1999, all of which land on vinyl for the first time here. Fans of Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell and Mad Professor will be head over heels of these dub delights - they are deep and atmospheric, with lush ambient pads, downtempo vocals and stoner synths next to more twisted rhythms.