As if one Autechre announcement wasn't enough of a suprise, we get ANOTHER album within the space of a month. While 'Sign' was a superb standalone album, it was a surprising twist in the story of this northern electronic powerhouse. The terse atmospheres and claustrophobic electronic air of previous LP's had become a mainstay in their sound, sign eschewed that to some degree with moments of levity and light. 

'Plus' takes things right back to the Autechre we all know from yesteryear, with coarse electronic soundscapes and static percussion riding atop muddied seas of post-industrial noise and fractured, glitched dancefloor drive. 

STAFF COMMENTS

says: Plus takes the shimmering electronic glow of 'Sign' and passes it through a stack of resonators and distortion pedals for its undeniably related but uncompromisingly shadowy sister. 'Plus' perfectly bridges the stylistic gap between the old works and the new age of Autechre's legacy.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

'Translate' is the first solo artist album in six years from Norfolk synthesizer specialist Luke Abbott: a strikingly direct and assured return to the solo music-making game following a productive diversion into live improvisation with his experimental jazz trio Szun Waves.

At times dark and ominous, others bright and welcoming, these eleven electronic vignettes form a dramatic and undeniably cinematic body of work which functions as a fitting widescreen soundtrack to our new now.

The lumbering rhythms, strident synths and distinctive touchstones of 'Translate' represent a musical reconciliation with the directness of the wave-making rolling synth-kraut of Abbott’s forthright debut 'Holkham Drones'.

Newly-reinvigorated and with a new sense of musical purpose, this is Luke Abbott’s sound fully realised and never so sure of itself.

STAFF COMMENTS

says: 'Holkham Drones' was one of my favourite albums for many a year, and still gets a good playing nowadays but nothing has come close to the mind-melting electronic bliss-blanket of 'Translate'. Perfectly split between hypnotic electronic counterpoints and synthy, IDM levity.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xDinked Edition LP Info: • Audiophile-friendly double crystal clear vinyl.
• 15cm die-cut vinyl sticker insert.
• Numbered Edition.
• Limited to 300.
• Download code.

2xLP Info: Black vinyl edition.

2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

Battles, New York City’s preeminent experimental rock duo, drop a slick 12” of remixes from DJ Dairy & DJ Orient (black midi), Delroy Edwards, Shed, and DJ Nigga Fox.  The release sees the aforementioned artists using an array of sounds from across the spectrum of Battles’ latest LP "Juice B Crypts", released late last year. In utilizing the wide array of sounds, the remixers have created work that is not singularly indebted to one song or another, rather inspired by the sonic world of the album and serving as an extension of it. The remixers have utilized this creative freedom to the fullest, delivering a collection of songs that occupy distinctly different spaces of the electronic music landscape while retaining a shared connectivity to the original work. 4 uniquely individual remixes, remixing one of the uniquely individual bands of the new millennium, tied together by experimental spirit and a shared musical perspective. 

STAFF COMMENTS

says: One of Warp's highly celebrated acts of late hauls in an imperative who's who of electronic music talent. A hype-list rightly deserved of their cult statuses - not a single one disappoints.

FORMAT INFORMATION

12" includes MP3 Download Code.

This mini-album is Craven Faults’s second vinyl release on The Leaf Label.
Thirty-seven minutes of music over three epic tracks - longform analogue electronic journeys across the north of England.

Enclosures follows Craven Faults’ debut album Erratics & Unconformities. These 37 minutes of music are the start of the next journey. New terrain and more refined methods of travel. Dark clouds gathering.

We’re out of the blocks quickly. German engineering carries us swiftly across the moors on a Saturday night rendezvous. Two almost identical mushroom shaped rocks are the destination. There’s evidence of previous rituals carried out. Two hours due north we go in search of the power source. Cascading. An experiment in performance over a fixed point. Tape loops recorded in 1967 at The Philadelphia College of Art. Woodwind purchased from a charity shop in Yeadon. The concept of work was forgotten. We’re back on the millstone grit of the Mid Craven Fault for an exercise in simplification. Familiar territory. Sometimes the theory isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and there’s still power in hammering a single note over two chords – a lesson learnt from the American South in the late 40s and early 50s and boiled down in the late 60s. Olympic Sound Studios, April 1967. The Hit Factory, April 1969.

On Erratics & Unconformities, Craven Faults often found a calm inner space in the vistas. Here the tensions of the early EPs return, with a focus on how human ‘progress’ has impacted and shaped the landscape. How the land was divided now shapes our present and future, and retracing that journey is particularly pertinent.

STAFF COMMENTS

says: While i've been a big fan of everything Craven Faults have done thus far, I think this is the pinnacle of their recorded material. A throbbing, soaring collision of euphoric dancefloor thump and saturated, PCA-like groove.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Mini LP Info: Edition of 400 on grey vinyl.

Invada Records and Lakeshore Records release Dark: Cycle 3 (Original Music from the Netflix Series) by Australian composer Ben Frost on LP & CD. Frost’s strikingly menacing soundscapes have provided a foreboding backdrop to the surreal German thriller for three seasons. In this third and final cycle, Frost’s score evolves beyond the sharp string orchestrations of the first cycle and the percussive distortion of the second, towards a sea of disintegrated brass and woodwind arrangements and Eno-inspired ambience. The vinyl is pressed on sand coloured vinyl, and housed in a deluxe spined sleeve with fold out poster included. Also included is a digital download card which features the full score plus 9 bonus tracks only available with the vinyl purchase! The CD is presented as a digipack.

In the third and final season, DARK reaches its mind-bending conclusion, moving beyond the concept of space and time. Upon arrival in a new world, Jonas tries to make sense of what this rendition of Winden means for his own fate, while the ones left behind in the other world are left on a quest to break the loop that now not only bends time but also space. Two worlds. Light and dark. And in the center a tragic love story of epic proportions. Ben Frost is a Composer, Producer, Sound Artist and Director. Born in Melbourne Australia in 1980 and based since the early 2000’s in Reykjavík Iceland, Frost was mentored by Brian Eno in the Rolex Arts Initiative.

His work includes the studio albums Theory of Machines (2007), By The Throat (2009), A U R O R A (2014) and The Centre Cannot Hold (2017) and spans an array of other forms including installations, live performance, scores for dance, theatre, and various studio collaborations. He has composed several scores for film including the Palme d’Or nominated Sleeping Beauty, the TV series Fortitude and Dark. Most recently he composed the score for Raised By Wolves with director Ridley Scott.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: The vinyl is pressed on sand coloured vinyl, and housed in a deluxe spined sleeve with fold out poster included.

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

Follow-up EP for Multi Culti from this Berlin duo merging sleek Krautrock influences, decades long production experience, jazz-percussion chops and funky German vocals.

‘Kometenschweif’ will sound the most familiar to fans of Sascha Funke’s club-ready tracks, with percussive and vocal flourishes from Niklas Wandt. ‘Kreidekreis’ takes the tempo down while ramping up the trippiness, a circular journey into funk bass, synth prog, and again, a percussion masterclass.

Finally, ‘Weg Vom Leder’ sounds like a lost Falco tune, brought up to date. On the remix side, Alexander Arpeggio somehow manages to swing ‘Kreidekreis’ into a digital reggae slowburner, while Whodamanny turns Kometenschweif toward indie-kraut-wave bop.

STAFF COMMENTS

says: My favourite percussive piss-taker gets back in the ring with Sascha Funke for a very German edition of the oddball house / shamanic electronics experience. Post kraut hypnotism, commune funk and NDW chuggers on the OGs, while Alex Arpeggio and Whodamanny embrace the cosmic and leather clad on their remixes.

Named after the geographic formations of the seismically volatile Cascadian coastal mountains, the coast/range/arc// reissue features new artwork and an additional track.
Remastered by James Plotkin and available on vinyl for the first time. 

"Pulse Demon" is one of the most celebrated releases of Masami Akita's storied 4-decade long career. Composed entirely by live noise concrete and the use of a fuzz box, "Pulse Demon" eschews all overdubs and studio trickery, laying Merzbow bare. What follows in these recordings is the pure essence of unfettered noise. The rawness in "Pulse Demon" is palpable; praised as "genuinely extreme, downright torturous sounds that are strangely compelling in their shredding intensity" (A.V. Club) upon its original release in 1996. Remastered by James Plotkin (Isis, Electric Wizard, Full Of Hell, and more), the "Pulse Demon" reissues features "Extract 1", a never-before released track that was recorded as part of the original "Pulse Demon" sessions.

The band's Mercury-nominated second album from 1994.

PVA are a new genre-melding 3-piece from London’s Brixton Windmill / Speedy Wunderground scene consisting of Josh Baxter, Ella Harris and Louis Satchell. They are the exciting new signing to the Big Dada roster with new EP ‘Toner’.

With influences across the musical spectrum, their music traverses a fistful of genres, throughout rapturous live sets. Incorporating techno landscaped Balearic euphoria and industrial miasma within the same songs, the band’s unique energy combines with blocky synths, deadpan vocals and motorik drum loops to earmark the group as one of the capital’s foremost new bands.

The EP is produced by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey (Kate Tempest, Squid, Black Midi).

The EP also features remixes from Mura Masa, an early fan of the trio, Lynks and Daniel Fox of Girl Band. Remixes by INK (of Squid) and DJ Dairy to follow in 2021.

PVA initially formed in the aftermath of a house party in 2018 and have since earned a fearsome reputation as one of the capital’s premier live outfits, garnering hardcore support before even setting foot inside a studio.

The band have headlined The Windmill in Brixton with regular shows at The Five Bells and the Bunker in Deptford, defining PVA as a big part of the local music community in their early career. Support slots have included Franc Moody, A Certain Ratio, HMLTD, The Orielles, Dry Cleaning, Black Midi and Squid. They have played an enormous string of festivals in the UK and Europe, including Great Escape, Wide Awake, Visions, Valkhof, End Of The Road, Bluedot, Midi, Visions, Noroeste, Sur Le Lac, Into The Great Wide Open, Fuzz Club, Manchester Psych Fest and Sonic City Festival.

For fans of Black Midi, Squid, Working Men's Club, Black Country, New Road, LCD Soundsystem. 

STAFF COMMENTS

says: Swarve, urgent electro-indie-dance here from a group who certainly seem to know their onions. It's been a while since anyone gave The Juan Maclean and LCD a run for their money, but I believe these could well do it!

FORMAT INFORMATION

12" Info: 140g black vinyl in printed card inner sleeve inside a 3mm spine printed sleeve. Digital download code included.

First new album in over 10 years from legendary German krautrock pioneer Michael Rother (Kraftwerk, NEU!, Harmonia). 

The ‘Dreaming’ album was part of the lavish 7CD box set ‘Solo II’ containing the solo catalogue of Michael Rother. It was also issued on vinyl and is now finally available as a standalone CD. 

“A soothing balm, ethereal and magical in the main and definitely worth the wait... ‘Dreaming’ feels like a culmination and one hopes Rother won’t take as long over the next one.” - Music Tech

Synth wizard Ryuichi Sakamoto was a composer and arranger since the mid-70s and burst into the world’s greater consciousness in Yellow Magic Orchestra. After working on the Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence soundtrack (and shortly before scoring The Last Emperor), Sakamoto became musical director on the 1987 anime project Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, a sci-fi drama set in an alternative world. The film was seen as ground- breaking for its portrayal of human alienation and social conformity, and Sakamoto’s funky spacy synth soundtrack feels ground-breaking too.

This deluxe edition includes 4 bonus tracks and an exclusive full color 60x60cm (24x24 inches) poster!

This is Ryuichi Sakamoto’s landmark 1981 album reissued for the first time in decades outside of Japan. The album is superb blend of Electro, funk and ambient. All remastered by Bernie Grundman with new introduction by British Journalist Anton Spice. Wewantsounds reissue of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s third solo album “Hidari Ude No Yume” (Left Handed Dream), originally released in 1981 on the Alfa label. Save for a small-scale Dutch vinyl release in 1981, it is the first time the album’s original Japanese edition is released outside of Japan (the European release on Epic Records included significantly different tracks and mixes).

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xDeluxe LP Info: Limited double LP indie exclusive edition with the 2nd LP featuring a full instrumental mix never released on vinyl.

Teletronix is a musical alter ego of British producer Will Holland aka Quantic. Side A ‘Metropolitan’ was composed, performed and mixed entirely on the famed OP-1 mini synthesizer made by Teenage Engineering. The track mangles 8-bit Afrobeat rhythms with vapor wave montunos, supplying heat for a virtual dance floor in a Zoom side room near you. Side B is a DJ tool of assorted sirens and sound effects for use in DJ sets, largely made up of siren sounds produced with the OP-1. Use them sparingly to spice up a mix, season lightly or sound the alarm in your neighborhood for your next houseparty broadcast.

FORMAT INFORMATION

7" Info: Limited to 183 copies.

Bristol's Twelve Hour Foundation return to Castles in Space with their first new LP since 2018's long sold out "tree little mile egg book...and other non sequiturs". Their blend of musique concrète, treated field recordings, library music, early electronic pop and the Radiophonic work of John Baker and Paddy Kingsland has never sounded better.

The initial inspiration for the album is a journey - regularly taken by Jez Butler (Yamaha CS-10, flute, vocals, field recordings) until the end of the 70s, from Cleethorpes to Hull, by diesel multiple train and British Rail paddle steamer, hence track titles like "Lincoln Castle Engine Room", "New Holland Pier" and "Chalk Factory" - a reference to a small production plant viewed from the train window that rendered the neighbouring landscape white. The ferries and pier were scrapped following the opening of the Humber bridge.
As with the previous album, the idea behind most of the music is to draw on abstract childhood emotions and their associated memories. It's an incredibly warm and evocative listening experience.

The majority of tracks are expertly underpinned by a musique concrète backing, drawing on the band's recordings of houshold objects. In most cases, the bass was derived from a length of ribbed plastic tubing, the cymbals from a metal kitchen draining rack, and the pads/chords from the filtered sound of an electric hair clipper. This is overlayed with vintage analogue synthesizers, treated field recordings and - on a couple of tracks - the odd vocal or flute line. The track "Polivoks" takes it's title from the Soviet analogue synthesizer of the same name which was manufactured throughout the 1980's.

The album's sleeve was designed in keeping with the scholastic nature of much of the music, incorporating Polly Hulse's (Moog Rogue, Korg Volca Keys, concrète sequences) photos from the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry.

The album's title, "Six Twenty Negative" refers to the film used in the Kodak Brownie Box camera. Famous for producing slightly wooly prints from large individual negatives.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Heavyweight brown vinyl.

Melodies seem to sprout from the hands of Reinhard Vanbergen. The multi-instrumentalist releases a bundle of no less than three new albums. Has he been seized by some kind of spirit, channeling higher creative forces through his body? Or does everything he plays around with just seem to work? Whatever it is, we’re digging it. The first album, Presents For Friends, consists of piano pieces, Stringworx is string pieces and Ubuntu dives into the world of the computer, as a mode of production and instrument in itself. A release that resists categorizing. It flies from bliss to whim, flirts with the sensational and the silly. An immersion and a playdate, with beautiful melodies, masterful harmonic shifts, eccentric fusions and little moments genius scattered throughout. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

3xLP Box Set Info: Limited to 300 copies.

Originally released as a cassette with a 16 page booklet packaged in a PVC wallet, From Brussels With Love featured 21 exclusive tracks from the international avant-garde and new wave, as well as contributions from the celebrated Factory Records roster. Then, as now, the featured artists include A Certain Ratio, Gavin Bryars, Harold Budd, Thomas Dolby, Dome, The Durutti Column, John Foxx, Martin Hannett, Richard Jobson, The Names, Bill Nelson, Kevin Hewick + New Order, Michael Nyman and Der Plan.

Running for 78 minutes, the cosmopolitan ‘cassette journal’ was curated by Michel Duval, Annik Honore and Wim Mertens, and also includes extended interviews with Brian Eno and legendary French film actress Jeanne Moreau. The cover art is by Jean-Francois Octave, with additional artwork in the booklet by Benoit Hennebert, Marc Borgers and Claude Stassart.

From Brussels With Love quickly sold 6000 copies around Europe, earning rapturous reviews in the UK music press. “This is a reminder – without really trying, without being obvious – that pop is modern poetry. Is the sharpest, shiniest collection of experiences. Is always something new” (Paul Morley, NME). More recently, Dan Fox of art magazine Frieze described TWI 007 as “a masterpiece of distinctly northern European post-punk eclecticism.”

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: One black one white LP.

2xCD Info: Les Disques du Crepuscule is proud to present a deluxe 2xCD hardback earbook edition of iconic compilation From Brussels With Love. Bearing the catalogue number TWI 007, From Brussels With Love was the very first release on Crepuscule back in November 1980, and is now celebrating its 40th anniversary.