When it first slipped out in 2015, Manabu Nagayama’s ‘Light & Shadow’ passed most people by. Yet it’s a genuinely overlooked gem a musically expansive and uplifting Japanese deep house workout that first featured on a promo-only compilation back in 2015. A softly spun slab of slow-building brilliance full of fluid piano motifs, heady hand percussion, the track effortlessly sashays between heartfelt dancefloor melancholia and tactile deep house positivity. One DJ to see its potential was Rush Hour co-founder Antal Heitlager, who asked Masalo to remix it. Over ‘a few years’, Masalo worked on the revision in bursts, tweaking it and subtly altering the arrangement until he was happy. The results are undeniably impressive, elevating an already excellent track to whole new levels. DJs seem to agree, too, with Masalo’s fine remix becoming something of an underground anthem following the release of a limited number of white label test pressings earlier last year.

Taking the spiritual end of deep house as his inspiration – and happy memories of attending events while visiting Japan – the Dutch-Japanese producer has delivered a slowly-building epic that subtly ratchets up energy and excitement throughout, while effortlessly eking out every last drop of emotion from Manabu’s piano-laden production.

Extensively road-tested at the Brighter Days parties he runs with long-time DJ partner Kamma, Masalo’s remix settles into a chugging groove before introducing Manabu’s tactile hand percussion – a staple of spiritual deep house cuts – and melancholic piano refrains, as well as his own lilting chords and cascading synth sounds. By the time the original’s bouncy piano riff drops midway through, you’ll be lost in the music. Fittingly given the quality of Manabu’s original, it’s a revision that showcases the track’s best elements while gently lifting it to new heights.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Beautifully rich, emotive and textured deep house here - it's the Japanese formula alright, but we haven't grown tired of it yet! Masolo is on hand to elevate it to spiritual realms. Yep, we're onto a winner.

TRACK LISTING

Light And Shadow (Masalo Version)
Light And Shadow (Original Version)

Based in Berlin Max Newton & Matalo have delivered percussion heavy funk and gritty Nuyorican rhythms on both GAMM and Take Away Records. Their new release on Omena LTD continues on the same path and adds deep house and breezy Latin flavours.

"U-Bahn At Midnight" sets things off sounding like a classic MCDE house jam with ringing melodies and sharp horns. "Walkin' On" uses the classic Freddie Hubbard sample we all know and love and adds some gently grooving percussion, flappy kick drums, fluttery arps and electronic bass.

On the flip "Pao De Acucar vs Vesuvius" is a slowly unfurling, summery house track; primed for daytime festival play. Finally "Brooklyn Survivor" ends things and lands somewhere between Glenn Underground and DJ Koze, with warped vox, rising strings and beautifully plotted drums.

A mighty fine way to close the Omena LTD series.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Thick, chunky, sample-based house music in that vintage style we love so well. Includes a nice flip of that Freddie Hubbard track but it's that final track "Pai De..." that really does it for me.

TRACK LISTING

A1. U-Bahn At Night
A2. Walkin' On
B1. Pao De Acucar Vs Vesuvius 

Estonian violinist & singer Maarja Nuut & LA's original cactus muncher Sun Araw hand in gentle, unpolished improvisations on their collaborative album “Fantasias for Violin & Guitar”, recorded live on location by Jackson Bailey aka Tapes.

Brought together by Tallinn’s IDA Radio under the umbrella of a 10-day sound residency in magnificent Narva Art Residency on the border of Estonia & Russia, Maarja Nuut & Sun Araw set up their gear to jump head first into unknown territory of live-improvisation.

Don’t let the title fool you though, as the intro “White Comb” unveils, there’s more here than the old violin & guitar: Buchla magic, entertaining tries to MIDI, a violin, gentle glockenspiel fills & ringing bells, occasional bursts of electronica zooming in from unknown sources & Cameron Stallone’s guitar swings all over the place glued together by Maarja’s stellar voice.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: LA's no. 1 cactus muncher psyches us out once again! This time joined by a wildly skilled violinist for a dualistic, pan-continental moonlit ritual. Check!

TRACK LISTING

A1. White Comb
A2. Festi
A3. Lily Fadeth Not
A4. Fofner
B1. 144.000 Rose Petals
B2. Clams
B3. Stasis Particle
B4. Mute Marble

Michael Nyman's collaboration with the 'Indian Masters', namely U Shrinivas, Rajan and Sajan Misra is, as the Hindi word "Sangam" so aptly describes, a 'meeting point' or a 'coming together'. This recording is the culmination of a two-year odyssey composer Nyman began with a visit to India in 2000. It had a profound influence on him and these tracks are a labour of love mixing Nyman's minimalist / string quartet work with Indian mandolin and the vocal improvisations of the Misra brothers.

Apparently Kid Machine is dead - resurrected as Marcus Paulson! The Wythenshawe-based producer seemingly turning his back on amyl nitrates and 2CVs in favour of dirty warehouses, smiley face t's and pockets full of pills!

An EP of pure jacking house heats, it's deliciously moody, with the red-hued synth stabs off opener, "Garden City" setting the scene perfectly. "Junction 4" moves into pure acid territory, with a skillfully deployed 303 line joining the dots between Phuture and Jared Wilson via an interstellar star cluster on the way.

"Crime Control" sees more 303 (ab)use, as dark moody vox mutter incomprehensible utterances and flat-lined drum boxes work overdrive. "Kerosene" moves into more tribal slammers, with big floor toms paired with introspective pads and incessant rimshots. Finally, "Sunrise M23" (the producers' postcode no doubt) is an emosh end-of-night, Fingers-esque epic, with maximum orange glow and up-all-night energy. It's a brilliant end to what is a really strong EP from this long serving Manchester producer. RIYL: Mr. Fingers, Phuture, Marcus Mixx, Adonis, Ron Trent, Paranoid London etc etc. 

TRACK LISTING

1 Garden City
2 Junction 4
3 Crime Control
4 Kerosene
5 Sunrise M23

Mickey Pearce is one of the most singular producers to emerge from the UK in recent years. Always ahead of the curve, his tracks can be heard in the playlists of tastemakers including The Black Madonna, Ben UFO, Benji B and Virgil Abloh. After having released his latest Album on his own new imprint 'Box Of Toys' alongside his Club Tools EP, his latest EP 'Smelling of Incense' is Mickey's debut for Accidental Jnr but feels right at home with three cuts of shuffling swung house and swaggering bass music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Smelling Of Incense
2. Dig Me Up
3. Reflux Stance

Former Engineers songwriter Mark Peters pays a final visit to his debut solo album ‘Innerland’, with the release of ‘New Routes out of Innerland’, a collection of reworkings.‘Innerland’ was one of last year’s most surprising sleeper successes. An intentionally low-key album of windswept instrumentals inspired by Mark’s move back to his native northwest, it gave musical nods to Eno, Talk Talk, Vini Reilly and Richard Thompson, and first appeared as a limited-edition cassette before being expanded to a full vinyl, CD and digital release last April.

Something about its beautiful simplicity struck a chord and slowly but surely – thanks to word of mouth, as well as the support of the likes of Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6 Music and positive reviews everywhere from Uncut to The Times – it worked its way into people’s hearts. By the end of the year it had also worked its way into Rough Trade’s top 10 albums of 2018 and, to celebrate, another limited edition vinyl only version called ‘Ambient Innerland’ was released, an even more introspective iteration that stripped away all of the percussion.This new version, however, is completely different. It finds Mark looking outwards, away from the bleak, post-industrial landscapes of Wigan, and inviting eight different artists from around the world to interpret and translate the instrumentals of ‘Innerland’ into their own musical and geographical languages.

German sound artist Andi Otto takes ‘Twenty Bridges’ and turns it into a weird world music groove, the cello recalling Arthur Russell, the rhythm Holger Czukay circa ‘Movies’; Polish composer Olga Wojciechowska sprinkles stardust all over ‘Mann Island’, morphing it into a slice of febrile, filmic techno; former Disappears and now FACS frontman Brian Case wrangles ‘Windy Arbour’ into a dark, dystopian drone; as previously heard last year on a limited edition lathe-cut 7” single, Ulrich Schnauss subtly re-frames ‘May Mill’ as elegiac electronica, the kind of oddity that could have graced a Tears For Fears B-side circa ‘Songs From The Big Chair’; Moon Gangs, aka Will Young from BEAK>, climbs ‘Gabriel’s Ladder’ and finds some delicate drone’n’bass; American producer and DJ Odd Nosdam takes his experience of working with Boards Of Canada and turns ‘Shaley Brow’ into a sinister tape collage, entirely in keeping with the murky history of the locale; E Ruscha V, the erstwhile Medicine guitarist also known as Secret Circuit, converts ‘Cabin Hill’ into Balearic Blue Nile; finally Jefre Cantu-Ledesma lights up ‘Ashurst’s Beacon’ as an inferno of deliciously distorted shoegaze. All eight are so disparate and yet they hang together perfectly, resulting in an exciting musical journey to somewhere completely new. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Twenty Bridges (Andi Otto Remix)
2. Mann Island (Olga Wojciechowska Rework)
3. Windy Arbour (Brian Case Remix)
4. May Mill (Ulrich Schnauss Remix)
5. Gabriel’s Ladder (Moon Gangs Remix)
6. Shaley Brow (Odd Nosdam Remix)
7. Cabin Hill (E Ruscha V Remix)
8. Ashurst’s Beacon (Jefre Cantu-Ledesma Remix)

Emmy award-winning composer Michael Price releases Tender Symmetry, his second album with Erased Tapes. The ambitious musical project takes in a series of iconic National Trust locations across England as its inspiration, turning them into unlikely recording spaces. Michael and a host of musicians and collaborators — including soprano Grace Davidson (featured on Max Richter’s Sleep) and Shards (the choir on Nils Frahm’s All Melody) — travelled across the country in pursuit of places far removed from the traditional recording studio to create seven unique and moving pieces, straddling the past and the future.

The diversity of Michael Price’s choices ranges from the ruins of Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire to the Fan Bay WWII shelter, cut deep into the chalk cliffs of Dover. All owned by the National Trust save one, each venue became both the inspiration and the recording studio for Michael Price and his accompaniment of renowned musical ensembles, choirs and soloists.

"For Tender Symmetry, I stopped admiring and started participating in these buildings. This began as an exploration of writing and recording out in the world beyond the studio. I am interested in where we build our homes in an increasingly virtual world and the spirit of place we feel as we walk our local streets, our schools, temples and public spaces. Taking inspiration from a place, and the stories it told, then going back to that place to record, sometimes in less than ideal conditions, made the two-year adventure much more like shooting a film than making a record.” — Michael Price

Acoustics varied wildly as the artists moved from places designed with sound in mind to locations which demanded the use of miners’ helmets for light and battery-powered sound gear. The final recordings carry the genuinely unique sonic blueprints and spirit of each place – from the birdsong in the courtyard at Speke Hall to the steam-driven cotton mill accompaniment at Quarry Bank. “When we recorded the piece at Fan Bay in the World War II shelter deep inside the chalk cliffs of Dover, Peter Gregson’s cello wasn’t at all happy with the clammy, dank conditions; but to be in the tunnels where young soldiers spent months on end, constantly on alert for incoming bombers, gave the recording an extraordinarily intimate, moving quality. At each site, the human mixed with the historical, and the natural environment of each space comes through with each piece. I tried to leave an imprint of each location on the record.”

While each piece of music is named after the location in which it was created, William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience courses through them as well. Soprano Grace Davidson sings Blake’s poignant words about nature, religion and the industrial revolution on several of the pieces including the astoundingly beautiful album closer Shade Of Dreams, written after the birth of Michael’s daughter. “The final piece, Shade of Dreams, is part of a group of pieces I wrote for the birth of our daughter, Emilie. It, like all the works on the album, takes its text from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, in this case, A Cradle Song. As much as Tender Symmetry is about the past, it is firmly about the future, and all our of shared futures.”

Grace Davies, National Trust contemporary arts programme manager said:
“We were delighted when Michael approached us with this project as it directly draws on the extraordinary stories and history of these special places. The sheer variety of sites that Michael has chosen has resulted in a collection of new music that is sometimes surprising, sometimes poignant, and – above all – inspirational. I am sure that audiences will be enchanted both by Michael’s music and our places that have inspired him.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Holding all the beauty of his inspirations' natural environments and brittle balance of ecological equilibrium within his pieces, Price fills the sonic room with delicate but grand strings, crystalline vocals and a breathtaking sense of organic space. Majestic and breathtaking, but imbued with a nerve-racking transience and innate delicacy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Sandham
2. Speke
3. Willow Road
4. Quarry Bank
5. Fan Bay
6. Fountains
7. Shade Of Dreams

“No click tracks, no headphones, and no film. Just the spontaneity of performance and the sound of musicians hearing, connecting and responding.”

‘Entanglement’, the debut album by Michael Price fulfills his long-term desire to explore new musical territories, featuring Michael on the piano, with the addition of cello, soprano voice, string orchestra, modular synth, tape effects and electronics.

Throughout the record you will hear street sounds from ‘Budapest’ captured and processed on Michael’s mobile phone, as well as chamber music recorded direct to tape with vintage microphones in single takes. ‘The Attachment’ was partly recorded onto a 1940s magnetic disc recorder, which immediately connected the piece back to a pre-digital musical age. Many of the titles and underlying concepts behind the tracks come from Michael’s love of science and physics, and fascination with how science often can give us intriguing metaphors for human relationships.

“Entanglement is a very personal expression of my obsessions: music, love, physics and the inter-connectedness of things. There is structure and freedom, chaos and control, and the beauty of ancient instruments set against impassive machines.”

Collaboration and connection with musicians has always been a crucial element to Michael’s music making, and in ‘Entanglement’ the cello and soprano vocal parts were written specifically and directly for cellist Peter Gregson and vocalist Ashley Knight, whose expressive voice features on tracks ‘Maitri‘ and ‘The Uncertainly Principle’. The lyrics for both songs are Japanese poetry sung in English, dealing with age, loss and the inevitable fading of beauty. Michael wanted to further extend the sound world of Ashley’s voice with tape effects and natural reverbs, so that although the music could have been performed in any era, the interpretation was contemporary.

‘Entanglement’ was written over a period of two years on paper and by hand with Michael exploring oldest and the newest technology at Abbey Road Studios and Snap Studios in London, before most of the recording and mixing took place at Vox-Ton in Berlin. Joe Rubel’s involvement from the beginning of the project, along with Nick Hill, was crucial in bringing the ideas, intact and prepared, to the Berlin sessions with Francesco Donadello at Vox-Ton – a haven for creating music that can stand on its own, outside any era or genre.

“I wanted to make an album that sounded like a dark, Berlin record store discovery from the 30s. Something that had timeless emotive power, and pre-digital rawness. Something that I hope would make a deeper connection in superficially networked times. I think there is a duty for artists to be honest, and vulnerable. Because then there is a possibility of real connection. Entanglement is both honest and vulnerable and to go through the two year process of writing, refining and recording an album has been more intense and more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined.” – Michael Price.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2016 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Record Store Day rave 12” from Warp mainstays Mark Pritchard, Bibio and Clark.

Mark Pritchard kicks off the 12 with throwback jungle anthem ‘A Badman Sound’; the classic Amen break gets laced with rave stabs and intermittent dub sirens.

‘Heath Town’ is the opposite of what you’d expect from Bibio. In particular, the second half takes stylistic cues from ‘A Badman Sound’ and features the popular, euphoric James Brown-produced ‘Yeah Woo’ sample.

Clark winds down with ‘Inf Inf Inf Inf’, a more ambient sound that brings in broken beats and is reminiscent of early Aphex Twin.

2016 is an exciting year for all three artists:

In May, Mark Pritchard is releasing his first album under his own name.

In April, Bibio releases his fifth album on Warp, A Mineral Love.

And after releasing his most successful album yet in late 2014, Clark returns with ‘The Last Panthers’ record, inspired by his score of the Sky Arts drama series of the same name.

For fans of: Aphex Twin, Autechre, Special Request, Om Unit

Vinyl 12" in 3mm spine sleeve with centre holes (in Warp house bag).

Limited to 500 copies.

TRACK LISTING

Mark Pritchard – A Badman Sound
Bibio – Heath Town
Clark – Inf Inf Inf Inf

‘Under The Sun’, Mark Pritchard’s first solo album in five years, is designed to be listened to in one sitting; the unique atmosphere of the album has led from Pritchard’s exploration of the timeless production and mixing techniques of the 1960s and 70s.

Having previously produced - both collaboratively and as an individual - under various pseudonyms (Global Communication, Africa Hitech, Harmonic 313, Harmonic 33, to name a few), he has now begun to release all music under his own name.

The record draws influences from ambient, psych and folk and, with help from vocalists such as Thom Yorke, Linda Perhacs, Bibio and Beans (ex- Antipop Consortium), creates a sort of sonic utopian landscape, complemented completely by the artwork of Jonathan Zawada.

For fans of Atoms For Peace, Brian Eno, Fennesz, Jane Weaver, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jon Hassell.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Pritchard releases his dazzling new album for Warp Records. Featuring serene electronic trills and sweeping ambience, mixed with acoustic guitar pieces and the vocal talents of a perfect selection of guest artists, this is a varied and engrossing selection of electro-acoustic masterstrokes.

TRACK LISTING

?
Give It Your Choir (Feat Bibio)
Infrared
Falling
Beautiful People (Feat Thom Yorke)
Where Do They Go, The Butterflies
Sad Alron
You Wash My Soul (Feat Linda Perhacs)
Cycles Of 9
Hi Red
Ems
The Blinds Cage (Feat Beans)
Dawn Of The North
Khufu
Rebel Angels
Under The Sun

Renowned international composer Maja Ratkje is a founding member in two of Norway's most respected improvisational units - Spunk & Fe-Mail. While her solo work on the Rune Grammofon release "Voice" is without the electronic and instrumental elements of Spunk and Fe-Mail, "Stalker" finds Maja merging elements of her other projects into her solo endeavors.

In the beginning. Martin Rev's eponymous debut solo record was released in 1980, not long after the second Suicide LP appeared. It is one of the most seminal albums to have emerged in the early years of electronic music.

World premiere recording of Richter’s electrifying ballet music "Exiles". Originally commissioned for Singulière Odyssée (2016) by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, premiered by Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). First release of previously unreleased opening piece from Woolf Works - “Flowers of Herself”. Featuring new orchestral-versions of best performing iconic Richter catalogue tracks. Released via Deutsche Grammophon and pressed at maximum fidelity, this is a collectors piece of neo-classical brilliance no home should be without!

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This is an absolutely essential collection of some of Richter's most beautiful rescored back catalogue pieces, as well as the full disc of the title track, written for ballet in 2016. A perfect juxtaposition of this hugely talented artist's various realms of work.

TRACK LISTING

CD tracklisting:
Flowers Of Herself – 08:33
On The Nature Of Daylight – 07:19
The Haunted Ocean – 02:18
Infra 5 – 05:34
Sunlight – 03:55
Exiles – 33:32

Vinyl Tracklisting:
A Side
1 Exiles (Pt. 1)

B Side
1 Exiles (Pt. 2)

C Side
1 The Haunted Ocean
2 Infra 5
3 Flowers Of Herself

D Side
1 On The Nature Of Daylight
2 Sunlight

Over a decade after its inception, ground-breaking composer Max Richter announces the release of VOICES – a major new recording project inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In a time of dramatic global change, VOICES offers a musical message of hope. Max Richter invited people around the world to be part of the piece, crowd-sourcing readings of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be interwoven into the work, which features an ‘upside-down’ orchestra. He received hundreds of submissions in over 70 languages. These readings form the aural landscape that the music flows through: they are the VOICES of the title.

Max Richter explains, “I like the idea of a piece of music as a place to think, and it is clear we all have some thinking to do at the moment. We live in a hugely challenging time and, looking around at the world we have made, it’s easy to feel hopeless or angry. But, just as the problems we face are of our own making, so their solutions are within our reach, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is something that offers us a way forward. Although it isn’t a perfect document, the declaration does represent an inspiring vision for the possibility of better and kinder world.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A new Max Richter! There are few things that can quiet my cat but Richter is one of them, and now we have a brand new album from the master of modern classical. This time we get the addition of softly spoken voices, beautifully harmonising with the layers of brittle strings and piano we've come to expect.

TRACK LISTING

CD1
1. All Human Beings
2. Origins
3. Journey Piece
4. Chorale
5. Hypocognition
6. Prelude 6
7. Murmuration
8. Cartography
9. Little Requiems
10. Mercy

CD2
1. All Human Beings (Voiceless Mix)
2. Origins (Voiceless Mix)
3. Journey Piece (Voiceless Mix)
4. Chorale (Voiceless Mix)
5. Hypocognition (Voiceless Mix)
6. Prelude 6 (Voiceless Mix)
7. Murmuration (Voiceless Mix)
8. Cartography (Voiceless Mix)
9. Little Requiems (Voiceless Mix)
10. Mercy (Voiceless Mix)

Vinyl Track List:
SIDE A
1. All Human Beings
2. Origins
3. Journey Piece
SIDE B
1. Chorale
2. Hypocognition
3. Prelude 6
SIDE C
1. Murmuration
2. Cartography
SIDE D
1. Little Requiems
2. Mercy

Building on the musical material of the first record, VOICES 2 extends the musical language into a purely instrumental and abstract direction. Where the first part of the project is very focused on the text of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, the 2nd part opens up a musical space to let these words and ideas sink in.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Richter is never one to stay on the same theme for too long. He's worked on soundtracks and solo albums, but his 'Voices' project from last year was an interesting and important new direction. The second instalment of the same sees the spoken word swapped out in order to focus on the gorgeous musical phrasing and leaning more into his neo-classical roots. I've never been anything but imporessed with any of Richter's work, and this is no exception. Lovely stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Psychogeography
2. Mirrors
3. Follower
4. Solitaries
5. Movement Study
6. Prelude 2
7. Colour Wheel
8. Origins (Solo)
9. Little Requiems (Cello Version)
10. Mercy Duet

On "As Long As The Light" Michael Rother (NEU!, Harmonia) collaborates with the Italian musician Vittoria Maccabruni. Vittoria Maccabruni creates predominantly dark moods with her sound constructions, which then create a reciprocal emotional play with Michael Rother's melodies and guitar harmonies in the song. The result of this collaboration manifests itself under the title „As Long As The Light“, an unspent joy of playing in eight songs that also breaks new ground with regard to Rother's broad oeuvre, which now spans half a century.

TRACK LISTING

Edgy Smiles
Exp 1
You Look At Me
Curfewed
See Through
Forget This
Codrive Me
Happy (Slow Burner)

Deep fried to perfection, Manuel Sahagun is next up to the plate for your favourite potato-based label Pomme Frite. A five-track disco house menu, served extra crispy with all the sauce you could ever need. Comfort cuts with summer firmly in mind.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: 'Pigeon tackle' as my friends and co-workers often remind me - repetitive concentric club shit that has you spinning around in circles with your eyes wide shut. As good an example as you'll ever find! Love the centre label too. 10 / 10

TRACK LISTING

A1. Get Closer
A2. Boogie Sister
B1. 1,2...
B2. Shit And Run
B3. Spoon

After three thick years of performances, passport abuse, and pumping, pleasure-principle EPs, Damon Palermo, AKA classic house torchbearer Magic Touch, presents his pinnacle statement to date: 'Palermo House Gang'. Joining forces with a vast cast of collaborators sourced from his intercontinental travels - Octo Octa, Newbody, Benny Badge, The Horses, Sarah Bates, Sorcerer, Ash Williams - Palermo swings and sweats through funky new wave club mixes, freestyle R&B, mesh-top house, freeform hardware workouts and decadent disco for a sprawling celebration of communal motion and dancefloor idealism.

Sustained heavy touring often grizzles musicians into cynical survivalists but it seems to have had the opposite effect on Palermo - these are his most generous, playful and sensual tracks to date. Let go, lighten up, join the Gang.

Mikael Seifu’s 'Zelalem' is an ode to - and a fearless break from - the storied lineage of Ethiopian music. The literal Amharic translation of Zelalem is “eternity,” and through Seifu’s conceptual frame it becomes a “vector of light.” Seifu shines this light on the music of his home country while guiding us through an uncharted “Ethiopiyawi Electronic” - a coinage Seifu uses to describe the music he and his peers are producing in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis-Ababa.

Illuminating the rich sounds of Addis-Ababa’s azmaris, Seifu’s music becomes a “dream brew” in which these traditional musicians collaborate and contribute vocals and lead voicings from folk instruments such as the Masenko and the Krar. Seifu was educated at the Lycée Guebre-Mariam in Addis-Ababa. The French academy’s international group of students was Seifu’s first exposure to a world outside Ethiopia; his second was at Ramapo College in suburban New Jersey.

Here Seifu met a mentor in Ben Neill, the composer and music technologist who trained with La Monte Young. Seifu was inspired by Neil to take serious his calling in music. A calling of a different, spiritual nature brought Mikael back to Ethiopia. As a repatriated young man in Addis-Ababa, Seifu felt a renewed sense of allegiance to his home country and allowed its ubiquitous music to guide his creations. Seifu’s early work was shared across a string of EPs for stalwart Washington DC imprint 1432 R, demonstrating an interplay of regional folk music and international electronic music. Mikael’s music does not westernize or electronicize extant Ethiopian music. Instead, Seifu uses Ethio-jazz’s spirit of brewing estranged styles for his own musical tincturing. Seifu’s passion above all else is to create something befitting of its time, yet “eternally Ethiopian.” The latter phrase was the mantra guiding Seifu through the creation of Zelalem, and a source of inspiration for the cover artwork. Zelalem spotlights the music of Ethiopia’s past as well its future. Mikael Seifu illustrates the potential for reinterpreting sacred and proud sources through energized palettes. His latest effort heralds the future of this new music and signals the genesis of Ethiopian Electronic, where the known and unknown commune.

TRACK LISTING

1.The Protectors
2.The Solipsist
3. Soul Manifest (Mikael Seifu Feat. LA)
4. How To Save A Life (Vector Of Eternity)
5. ዘላለም (Vector Of Light)

Continuing their endless string of essential releases, Caroline True bring us the latest collaborative project from the mighty Matt Sewell, this time with london producer DrumTalk. Taking to the Secret Sundaze studio, DrumTalk drifts away from the club-focus of his releases on Tru-Thoughts, Soundway and Huntley & Palmers, syncing into the sublime vibrations of A Crushing Glow for two meditative synth suites. On the A-side, "Out Of The Blackness, Into The Blue" delivers drum box bossa, dreamlike sequences and celestial bliss-tones, making a connection with a wider cosmic consciousness. If you dig on the library styles of Clara Mondshine, the spacier, synthier end of the kosmische spectrum or the slow and spangled moments of Patrick Cowley's porn oeuvre, you're gonna love this. The flip continues the cosmic voyage, enjoying a little extra thrust from a blorpy bass synth as we lose ourselves in the nebulous goo of e-flute, fluttering sine waves and warming white noise. I imagine this is what Arthur C Clarke's Starchild listened to when he was getting stoned...

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Well this is a delight! Aside from the sublime space-prog sleeve art, and eye catching coloured disc, this release holds a pair of stunning intergalactic synthscapes, perfect for fans of European library music, Berlin school electronics or Patrick Cowley's post-orgasmic bliss outs.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Out Of The Blackness, Into The Blue
B1. The Celestial Garden

Among the Never Setting Stars is the debut LP from Dorset based artist Matthew Shaw. Following a series of cd & cdr releases on various labels as well as home made art editions and a 7" ep on Sonic Oyster Records. The album contains six ambient pieces with each title being a lead into the mood the music takes on. Each title forming a poem across the lp. The artwork is a painting By Brian Catling (RA) titled Transi.

The painting deals with some of the same themes, life, death, and renewal moving in cycles. “His music delves deep in Hidden Reverse traditions, incorporating specific environmental soundings of occult landscapes into beautiful drone works that advance the oracular/hallucinogenic English underground tradition.” David Keenan These warm, melancholy undulations interfere with each chord’s gravitational pull, creating tonal fata morgana and melodies that may or may not not be there: a state similar to meditation where she is neither asleep nor awake. All said, it will take you places.” Charlie Frame, The Quietus Limited to 250 copies pressed on 180 gram Galaxite Stone coloured vinyl. The album includes a download code featuring three additional tracks not featured on the LP.

"Solipsism" is an archival release of music from Mike Simonetti's tenure as owner of Italians Do It Better Records, spanning from 2006-2013. During that time Mike wrote a lot of music. Some of it was used for films, some for TV commercials, some for fashion shows and he even released a record or two.

Influenced by the intersection of 80's arena rock bands like AC/DC and Judas Priest, glam rock/dance bands like Rockets and Supermax, and especially the underground Italian producer Piero Umiliani - the album is chock-full of atmospheric rock-inspired arpeggiated riffs. The mixture of metal and chugging dance music makes for a unique listening experience. Every song has a riff, every song is heavy and dense. Only one song goes above 118 BPM. These are heavy chuggers that make for a tense emotional experience that exceeds your standard, easy-to-write-off “soundtrack” fare, mainly because it was never written with that in mind. It was meant to be a fist-pumping arena rock inspired thumper! You can hear that in the one two punch of “A Prayer For War” into “Illusions", which is an outtake from his "The Magician" sessions. Other songs like “Solipsism” showcase the airy melodies of that were to come with his other project Pale Blue, but that is not typical on this album. If you listen closely, you can hear how Simonetti’s music and dark vibes inspired his then label partner Johnny Jewel to take his own bands Chromatics and Glass Candy in a different, more cinematic direction.

This was written and recorded years before the Drive soundtrack and all the hoopla around the sudden soundtrack resurgence. In 2011 Mike was asked to submit some songs for a soon to be released Hollywood remake. He submitted most of the songs from this album, and they were slated for release on the soundtrack, but the project fell apart, and the film went in a different direction and changed producers. Soon after, because of all the drama and foolishness, he left Italians Do It Better to start over with 2MR and Pale Blue. This is the nail in the coffin. Godspeed.

TRACK LISTING

CD
1. The Edge
2. Through The Clouds
3. Solipsism
4. A Prayer For War
5. Illusions
6. Body Varial
7. Of One Mind
8. Requiem
9. Acceptance
10. Los Angeles

LP
A1. The Edge
A2. Through The Clouds
A3. Solipsism
A4. A Prayer For War
B1. Illusions
B2. Body Varial
B3. Of One Mind
B4. Requiem

Bonus 12”
A1. Acceptance (24:25)
B2. Los Angeles (11:13)

Morton Sorenson returns to the Tirk fold with a stunning little 12" titled ‘The Burn Down EP’, and burn it down he does. Morten is in his early 20s and hails from a small fishing village in rural Norway. His dad encouraged a love of American house and disco in the impressionable Morton, and the rest of his sonic palette comes from his earthy Norwegian surroundings.

'Burn Down (Original)' is an exercise in uplifting, stripped back house music. Less is more here, the vibe stays rich and never loosens its grip. The rhythms skip on top of the beat and the vocal interludes make for a real vivid experience. The LPZ remix sits back a bit, the rhythms are solidly swung and the vocal appears more affluently in the mix. It's smooth and cool, and definitely fresh. With 'Owe That 2 U' sustained strings and a slo-mo shuffle build, then peel back to a hollowed out organ breakdown. A hauntingly affected vocal and clever edits ensue before dropping back into the beat, articulated now by the clack of a tough staccato synth.

Voyager invite Mike Storm to create his own sonic narrative. "The Pale Blue Dot"  is Mike's aural interpretation of the Voyager spacecraft missions. Each track gives its own take on the journey of spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, with a story board for each track contained inside this limited edition press.

Netherlands native Mike is no stranger to conceptual sci fi music, with numerous releases and albums on Axis Records, plus EP releases on Warm Up Recordings and Modularz to name but a few. The Axis affiliation is tangilbiel, with the whole LP more than tipping its hat to Jeff Mills' "Something In The Sky" series - proper intergalactic space techno with its own red shifted signature.

Mostly all his tracks are written live in one take, with no recall. This makes his music very unique in the digital DAW age. Recommended! 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Prologue - The Call Of Distant Worlds
A2. Pale Blue Dot - Earths Odyssey
A3. Interstellar Sojourn - Voyagers Departure
A4. Celestial Caravan - Across The Outer Reaches
B1. Echos Of Solitude - Voices From The Abyss
B2. Stardust Serenade - Tales Of The Cosmos
B3. Gravitys Embrace - Dancing Among The Planets
B4. Lullaby For Sol - Nostalgia Of Home
B5. Epilogue - Homecoming Of A Voyager 

Aside from his brief inclusion on Light in the Attic’s "Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990" (compiled by Empire of Signs’ Spencer Doran), Horizon presents this work outside of Japan for the first time.

Remastered from original tapes in cooperation with the artist .

Almost completely unknown in the west, Masahiro Sugaya has been composing and producing music since the 1980s in an exceptionally wide range of fields and practices. From arrangements for musical acts like the acoustic guitar duo Gontiti to acousmatic diffusion at spaces like Paris’s Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM), Sugaya’s reach is almost exhaustive in its breadth, but it was in the 80s bubble-era kankyō ongaku scene that he first found his musical voice. Horizon, Volume 1 presents a window into these works, culled from Sugaya’s early scores for experimental Tokyo theatre group Pappa Tarahumura.

As a teenager, Sugaya would visit the avant garde hub of record/book shop Art Vivant run by Satoshi Ashikawa of Sound Process, guided by Ashikawa’s recommendations into the worlds of experimental composition, jazz and ethnographic music. It was there he also met musician Yoshio Ojima—the two would become close friends and contemporaries, working within a circle of Tokyo musicians that also included Midori Takada, Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satsuki Shibano. Ojima, an early adopter of new musical technology, would introduce Sugaya to the possibilities of composing with computers, synthesizers and samplers, which would become a trademark in Sugaya’s early works. Surprisingly, the sound sources on Horizon are entirely digital, showcasing Sugaya’s ability to organically recreate complex musicianship approaches via keyboard using hyper-realistic samples. Much like Ojima and Yoshimura’s work, the results eschew electronic music’s usual coldness for something more warm and inviting, the feeling of a human in deep conversation with technology.

Flourishing within the boom of experimental theatre subsidized by corporations during the bubble economy, Pappa Tarahumura forged a unique dream-like style that merged performance art, modern dance and fantastical installation-like stage sets. Sugaya fashioned multiple soundtracks for their productions in collaboration with director Hiroshi Koike, the first two of which, The Pocket Of Fever_ (熱の風景) and Music From Alejo_ (アレッホ – 風を讃えるために), he self-released in 1987 on cassette, handing them out at Tarahumara performances. The third, The Long Living Things (Zoo Of The Sea) (海の動物園) followed in 1988 as a CD on Yukio Kojima’s ALM records. 

TRACK LISTING

Horizon (Intro)
Future Green
Afternoon Of The Appearing Fish
Grain Of Sand By The Sea
Straight Line Floating In The Sky
Wind Conversation
Until The End Of The World
Horizon (Outro)

Music for the Moon and the Trees by classical guitarist Morgan Szymanski and experimental musician Tommy Perman is the result of a long-held wish that the two childhood friends would get the chance to create an album together. It's a meditative album; a gentle thing of serene beauty and quiet innovation.

All of the sounds heard on the album were recorded in the woodland surrounding the cottage. There was a childlike sense of wonder as the duo recorded the sounds of the trees, birds, bats and an assortment of found percussion. Convolution reverbs were created by snapping twigs and pinging spruce branches. Much of the music was improvised with live single-take performances by Morgan combined with Tommy's computer generative improvisations.

Limited edition of 300 copies pressed on12" eco-mix vinyl (each copy is unique)

Born in Mexico City in 1979, Morgan was a scholar at the Royal College of Music in London and Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He was the first solo guitarist to be selected by the Young Classical Artist Trust and the first guitarist to be awarded a Junior Fellowship at the RCM, where he completed his Masters with distinction.

Morgan regularly broadcasts live on TV and radio worldwide. He can often be heard on BBC Radio 3 and has recorded to critical acclaim for Sarabande Records and Signum labels.

Tommy is an artist, designer and musician with an interest in the spaces where these three disciplines meet. He has exhibited and released lots of records. His visual work has been projected onto the Sydney Opera House and permanently installed in Edinburgh World Heritage Site historic closes and the National Museum of Scotland.

His recent projects include Emergent Slow Arcs (2019), an audio-visual reimagining of Modern Studies' Welcome Strangers LP for Fire Records, Sing The Gloaming (2020), a collaborative project by Simon Kirby, Tommy Perman and Rob St John and Positive Interactions, an album made entirely from happy sounds sent to Tommy by 50 friends from all over the world.

TRACK LISTING

1. Moonrise (Luna De La Rosa)
2. The Road To The Cottage
3. Danza Del Fuego
4. Canción De La Luna (Homage To Debussy)
5. In The Pines
6. Fibonacci Dusk
7. Pipistrellus
8. Dance Of The Trees
9. Sarabande For The Souls
10. Moonset (Pine Spectrals)
11. Mémento (Homage To Lorca)
12. Down By Paddy's Burn

Renard Bleu marks the first new music released by Takada in nearly twenty years; it would be difficult to overstate the importance of her return to the public eye.

Her first solo record, 1983's Through the Looking Glass, has been rediscovered and heralded as a lost classic; the influence of her percussion trio, the Mkwaju Ensemble, continues to permeate and inspire a new generation entranced by its lucid beauty, playfulness, and sensual patience.

Takada has performed in numerous film score orchestras, including the ensemble for Akira Kurasawa’s Dreams, coincidentally a key influence on Renard Bleu.

Le Renard Bleu, the new musical and cinematic collaboration between Lafawndah and composer Midori Takada, and filmmakers Partel Oliva, takes a cross- generational echo as ground zero for recovering a crucial myth for uncertain times: the blue fox.

As transmitted by Takada, the fox appears in both ancient Senegalese and Japanese folktales as the trickster archetype; belonging both to the heavens and to the earth, the fox is the agent of chaotic good, shaking the world up when its energy has become stagnant. Above all else, the fox is famous for its cunning nature.

In the ensuing years, Takada has worked closely with theater group the Suzuki Company of Toga on productions of Electra and King Lear, an experience, she says, that allowed her to pursue “a unity of music, body and space.” Recent live solo performances have evinced the depths of her exploration of all three.
Equally, it is Lafawndah’s freedom of tone, decentralized maps of ancient and modern music cultures, and alloying of devotional intensity with modern songcraft casts her as a distinct relative of Midori Takada’s.
Over the course of two EPs, self- directed music videos, and countless live performances, Lafawndah has drawn out an uncompromising exploration of how theater, situational intervention, and choreography can amplify the affective palate of forward pop music. One can trace the influence of artists such as Meredith Monk, Carlos Sara, and Andy Kaufman as much as musical antecedents AR Rahmann, Missy Elliott, or Geinoh Yamashirogumi.

It is in a mutual commitment to this unity that Lafawndah, Takada and Partel Oliva find fertile aesthetic common ground.

Created in partnership with KENZO and premiered today via their channels, it was Partel Oliva who imagined a contemporary cinematic frame for the myth of the fox to re- appear, creating a hybrid of choreography and narrative around Takada and Lafawndah's performance of their joint composition (also titled Le Renard Bleu.) Returning to film in Japan for the third time, Partel Oliva's moving image work (Club Ark Eternal, The Pike and the Shield) has set the standard for and revolutionized the fashion art film. Their deployment of original music, dance, and a highly stylized mis en scene coalesces here in the casting of Los Angeles krump artist Qwenga as the eponymous fox, stalking the halls of the ancient Noh theater in which Takada and Lafawnda's performance takes place.

The majestically named We Realease Whatever The Fuck We Want follow up their superb reissue of Midori Takada's mesmeric percussion suite "Through The Looking Glass" with another wonder from the depths of her back catalogue. Originally a Japanese CD only release in 1990, "Lunar Cruise" sees the legendary Japanese percussionist working in collaboration with jazz pianist, synth master, composer and arranger Masihiko Satoh. Arguably the best kept secret in Midori Takada’s fascinating discography, "Lunar Cruise" is an under the radar masterpiece that captures Takada (on marimba and minimal percussion set-up) and Satoh (on Korg M1 and Yamaha DX7II synths, Ensoniq EPS sampler, and acoustic piano) vibrantly fusing traditional African and Asian percussion with jazz, ambient, and minimalism. If that wasn't enough to have any serious muso salivating, the album also features the great Haruomi Hosono and Kazutoki Umezu on bass and sax respectively. "Lunar Cruise" is available in two versions: a first-time-ever vinyl LP cut at Emil Berliner Studios, housed in a 350g sleeve and including a bonus CD of the album with 2 extra tracks, and a standalone digipak CD version. Both versions are sourced from the original studio masters (DATs) and come with new liner notes.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Working through the ambient stillness of "Ancient Palace", the hypnotic repetition of "Nahm" and the ethnographic intensity of "A Vanished Illusion", this diverse and deeply textured LP is a work of pure genius.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Nahm
A2 Ancient Palace
A3 A Vanished Illusion
A4 Jyomuran
A5 Monody
B1 In "D"
B2 Madorone
B3 Chang-Dra
B4 Lunar Cruise

Tracklisting CD

01 Iron Paradise
02 Nahm
03 Ancient Palace
04 A Vanished Illusion
05 Jyomuran
06 Monody
07 In « D »
08 Madorone
09 Chang-Dra
10 Lunar Cruise
11 Iron Paradise (Extended Tokyo Mix)

WRWTFWW Records is proud to announce the worldwide reissue of Midori Takada’s solo album from 1999, Tree of Life, available on vinyl for the first time ever in a new audiophile mix by the Japanese percussionist herself, and in full half-speed-mastered glory.

The 180g LP comes in a heavy sleeve with a beautiful design by Kohei Sugiura. Tree of Life is also available in CD (digipack) and digital formats.

Originally recorded in September 1998 at legendary Ginza (Tokyo) studio Onkio Haus (founded in 1974 and where Ryuichi Sakamoto’s "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and many more were recorded) and released on CD only for the Japan market in 1999, Tree of Life is Midori Takada’s best kept secret, a lost gem of minimalism and percussive ambient. The album is separated in two parts, the first one finds Takada exploring her trademark environmental soundscapes with precise mastery of marimba, drums, and bells, notably on the magnificent fan-favorite "Love Song Of Urfa". The second half is a collaboration with Chinese virtuoso Erhu player Jiang Jian Hua, allowing Midori Takada to unveil new layers of her artistic mind with a slightly more theatrical approach and a beautiful crystallization of complex simplicity.

The entire album was given a fresh new audiophile mix by Midori Takada herself and was mastered at Emil Berliner Studios, with half speed cutting for the vinyl version, to ensure an audio presentation aligned with the Japanese pioneer’s vision.

This Tree of Life reissue follows two newly recorded Midori Takada albums, Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter and You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana, both available on WRWTFWW Records, along with her 1983 masterpiece, Through The Looking Glass.

TRACK LISTING

Tracklist LP:
A1. Love Song Of Urfa
A2. Tan Tejah
A3. Tayurani
A4. Wa-Na-Imba
B1. Modoki 1 (Futa-Aya-Asobi )
B2. Awase 1 (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
B3. Yukiai (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
B4. Awase 2 (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
B5. Orifusi (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
B6. Modoki 2 (Futa-Aya-Asobi
B7. Awase 3 (Futa-Aya-Asobi) B8. Usuyo (Futa-Aya-Asobi)

Tracklist CD:
01. Love Song Of Urfa
02. Tan Tejah
03. Tayurani
04. Wa-Na-Imba
05. Modoki 1 (Futa-Aya-Asobi )
06. Awase 1 (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
07. Yukiai (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
08. Awase 2 (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
09. Orifusi (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
10. Modoki 2 (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
11. Awase 3 (Futa-Aya-Asobi)
12. Usuyo (Futa-Aya-Asobi)

Recorded at The Premises Studio (London) and in Tokyo in 2019, "You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana" is a majestic work combining a suite of six Buddhist liturgical chants and a musical creation by Midori Takada. The Buddhist chants come from three types of repertoires: shomyo ("Teisan", "Unga-Bai", "Sange", "Taiyo"), but also goeika ("Kannon-Daiji") and mantra ("Hannya-Singyo").

After supervising the recording of the Buddhist chants, Midori Takada added her own compositions, with subtle layers of percussion and the melodies of her beloved marimba, giving full life to the sacred texts.

Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa explains: ‘Shomyo is a form of declamation of sacred esoteric texts, inherited over many generations. The power of words goes far beyond their mere pronunciation. I think there is something that words alone cannot really convey. If I recite prayers in a musical way, the feeling transmitted will be even stronger than if I say it normally, in everyday language. I think that the musicality of a work carries a hidden power that cannot be expressed in words alone. The setting of the music has an additional power for you and for those around you who listen to it. The words of a song are not just words set to music. They carry an additional hidden power that cannot be expressed in any other way. Listening to Midori Takada's musical performance, the words truly seem to come alive.’

Original recordings of the Buddhist chants are held in the International Archives of Folk Music (IAFM) at the MEG Museum in Geneva.

The album sleeve features an artwork by famed Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi selected by Midori Takada.

The album comes with in-depth liner notes that include an interview with Midori Takada, a point of view by Zimbabwean scholar, musician and activist Forward Mazuruse, and background information on the project by Isabel Garcia Gomez and Madeleine Leclair from MEG Museum.

The sleeve features an artwork by celebrated Zimbabwean painter Portia Zvavahera.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Teisan (0:58)
2. Gyatei Gyatei (Drumming) (6:21)
3. Unga-bai (4:49)
4. Sange (4:50)
Side 2
1. Taiyo (11:10)
2. Hannya-Singyo (3:46)
3. Kannon-Daiji (5:50)

Born in Croydon, UK in 1960 and working in Switzerland for decades, Michal Turtle has led a storied career as a composer, arranger, technician and producer, consistently aligned with some of the most exciting bands and projects within the realms of pop and experimental music. A figure as masterful in the realm of expansive ambient recordings as advertising jingles, it’s only in recent years that Michal’s solo productions have gained acclaim and a cult following that continues to grow ever wider.

Turtle made a long-awaited return earlier in 2020 with the extended ‘On a Canvas Lived a Baby’, a one-sided twelve of new material released on Planisphere Editorial. Now, the Basel based label invites a diverse and international cross-section of electronic musicians to reinterpret the artist’s back-catalogue, each delivering a thoughtful remix driven by the same sense of curiosity, exploration and genre-blurring that Turtle himself helped pioneer. Each track on the remixes collection was originally recorded between 1980 and 1985, in between Turtle’s regular tours with established bands.  Opening the collection, Laurel Halo adopts her LH alias for a textural and tripping revisit to ‘Phantoms of Dreamland’, transporting the haunting original to a hyper-detailed alternate dimension. Zoning back in, Neue Grafik finds typically eclectic form with ‘Men in Green’, turning the dials and blending ideas as if tuning between the emerging musical scenes that defined Turtle’s early-eighties life in Camden, London. In stark contrast, avant-garde polymath Felicia Atkinson designs a ‘Fennel and Moon’ version, weaving between earthy field recordings and an aching piano line, conjuring an almost ritualistic atmosphere, far from the city. 
Radical musical turns continue to define the collection as son of Detroit, Jimmy Edgar takes ‘Rainwater Fijit’ down a dark, damp tunnel, expanding on the pitter patter of Turtle’s more outlandish studio experiments, blending vocal experiments with fresh funk. Colombian experimentalist Lucrecia Dalt pulls further bizarre shapes from a patchwork of samples, a heaving, gasping industrial shuffle, before French producer D.K. returns a stronger rhythm, both building on Turtle’s lovingly naive tributes to the legacy of sample culture and his trusty ARP2600. 
Ostgut Ton mainstay and Panorama Bar resident Nick Höppner proceeds to sensitively rewire ‘Maid Of The Mist’ into a blossoming, introspective celebration of melody and ambience, an almost weightless experience that lends itself well as a breather before Luca Duran’s analogue, acid-tinged take on Spookie Boogie takes Turtle’s esoteric touches back into the direction of the funk and italo records at the heart of his initial inspiration.  The Remixes final chapter continues to expand in distinct and wide-reaching sonic directions. London’s Object Blue seems to slow time itself across her sublime interpretation of ‘Ball Of Fire’. Initially Turtle’s tribute to Howard Hawks 1941 film classic and the legacy of old Hollywood, worlds further collide into rolling, weightless bliss. 
Fellow Swiss citizen Mehmet Aslan stirs an enchanting, percussive mystery that unfolds with great pleasure on El Teb, while Parco Palaz conjures not one but two radically different remixes of ‘Are You Psychic?’, demonstrating both their imaginative nous, as well as the depth of Turtle’s legacy. Finally, an irresistible vocal contribution from Oso Leone adds even further colour and joy to ‘Maid of The Mist’, sending off this ambitious collection on a transformative, dream-pop high. With further details set to be revealed, there is an ongoing development focused around the accompanying art and visuals. The Peruvian born and now Amsterdam based graphic designer Jonathan Castro leads the art direction, along with visual artist Chris Harnan. Both artists look to explore the intersection between sound, imagery and its reorientation, exhibited through the musical contributors and visual translation. 

 “I am happy and honoured to have been the spark for this remarkable compilation. The magnificent work done by this collection of very special people speaks for itself, so listen and be transported. It has been half a lifetime since my original tracks were written, and I am gratified to know that they are somehow still relevant enough to be reworked and reinvented.” 
- Michal Turtle

TRACK LISTING

A1. Phantoms Of Dreamland (LH Mix)
A2. Men In Green (Neue Grafik Rework)
A3. End Of An Era (Felicia Atkinson Fennel & Moon Mix)
B1. Our Man In (DK Remix)
B2. Rainwater Fjit (Jimmy Edgar Remix)
B3. Phil 5 (Lucrecia Dalt Remix)
B4. Ball Of Fire (Object Blue Version)
C1. Maid Of The MIst (Nick Hoppner Remix)
C2. Spookie Boogie (Luca Duran Remix)
D1. El Teb (Mehmet Aslan Remix)
D2. Are You Psychic (Parco Palaz Remix Part I)
D3. Are You Psychic (Parco Palaz Remix Part II)
D4. Maid Of The Mist (Oso Leone Rework)

It's been 40 years since Michal Turtle released his seminal, ground-breaking album "Music From The Living Room" into the world and promptly disappeared back into the aether.

An extremely obscure cult classic known only to deep diggers and aficionados of the finest order, it wasn't until Music From Memory reissued some of the tracks from it via retrospective compilations of Turtle's unreleased music almost 30 years later that his name become more widely known and a new generation were able to discover the artist's unique and pioneering style of experimental electronic music production, the majority of it very much ahead of its time, and to this day, still timeless.

This version includes the much loved track "Are You Psychic" alongside a version of "Phantoms of Dreamland" recorded live at Café Oto featuring original album vocalist Lucianne Lasalle and regular collaborator HOVE on electronics

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Space-time defying vibrations from Balearic-electro-pionneer Michal Turtle. Oozing originality but with a fun and positive delivery, yet somehow creating sonic tapestries way ahead of their time. A true innovator. Worth it for that "Jeka" track alone.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Are You Psychic
A2. Phantoms Of Dreamland (live At Café Oto);
B1. Village Voice;
B2. It's A Stop Sign, Shirley!
B3. Yak By Yak
B4. Jeka

This debut album from previous Sink Ya Teeth member Maria Uzor treads softly upon opening, before charging headfirst into a cosmic landscape of electro, avant-pop, footwork and stark techno.
Nine tracks delivered as the building blocks for a world seen through Uzor’s eyes where there are no boundaries, there are no walls, just a gentle beckoning to be yourself. ‘Soft Cuts’ is a joyful and groove-led journey with unexpected twists through the darkness.

Eclectic and esoteric, the album revels in it’s own diversity. There are echos of Aphex Twin in there, of Zapp, Kate Bush and Drexciya. And yet for all it’s influences, Maria has created a body of work that’s beautifully seamless in it’s amalgamations. Play loud and lose yourself to find yourself.

This past year has seen Maria Uzor release the first single ‘Ventolin’ from the Soft Cuts album to praise and support from John Kennedy (Radio X), Amy Lame, Tom Ravenscroft, Deb Grant, and Jamz Supernova (BBC 6 Music). She has also played festivals including The Great Escape, Nox Orae (Switzerland) and Manchester Psych Fest, and collaborated with Acid Klaus, !!!, and A Certain Ratio.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: As perfect as it is for home listening, there's no doubt that the endlessly talented Maria Uzor's music is courting the dancefloor, with shimmering arps and hefty percussives perfectly working beneath her haunting, perfectly produced vocals. A heady, dynamic mix of gothic wooze and dance-adjacent rhythm.

Moog Recordings Library is the record arm of Moog Sound Lab which was created and loaned by Moog Music Inc as a celebration of the life and work of Dr Robert Moog. Across 2015 and 2016 the project invited a who's who of contempory electronic artists for a 'conference' around the celebrated synthesizer. This week we see the fruits of these sessions via releases by Mika Vainio, Hieroglyphic Being and The Grid.

Mika visited the Moog Sound-Lab in April 2015. He made one his last known solo studio recordings in the form of two vinyl sized side long pieces. Entitled "Lydspor" - Danish for ‘Soundtrack’. Mika worked almost exclusively with the lab’s Moog Modular System 55. This UK sound-lab instrument is the sole protoype model (containing several golden filters) of Moog’s recent sold out reverse-engineered edition (55 units only) recreating the 1970’s classic. On completion of his sessions Mika announced ‘I could work with this machine for the rest of my life….I would need nothing else”. A second Moog session was planned but tragically Mika died in an accident in April 2017, shortly after he had approved the vinyl mastering. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The late, great electronic genius Mika Vainio brings his imitable ambient electronics to Moog Recordings Library for his superb suite of simmering industrial electronics and crushing, static drone.

TRACK LISTING

Lydspor (Part 1) 20:00 
Lydspor (Part2) 19:37

“I like to work with a variety of instruments and set ups,” says Mark Van Hoen, sometimes known as Locust or Autocreation but here working under his own name on the excellent Plan For A Miracle, his first physical release of solo music since 2018’s Invisible Threads. ”Sometimes it’s literally in my studio, with all the hardware electronics available. Sometimes the laptop, using software instruments. Some of the tracks on this record were recorded in the desert (Joshua Tree) using a 4-track tape machine and small modular synthesiser set up. Each track was recorded in different location using different instruments, which accounts for the distinction between each piece. It’s also about my own reaction to my environment, and what’s going on in my life at the time.”

The Croydon-born Van Hoen started musical life in the early 1990s, signing for R&S records in 1993 but developing his own, myriad and distinctive style across a range of releases on Touch, Editions Mego and other labels, using a battery of instruments, including analogue synthesizers and taking a number of different approaches to recording, rather than ploughing a single sonic furrow. He has worked on a number of collaborations, including with Nick Holton and Neil Halstead of Slowdive, under the moniker of Black Hearted Brother - their Stars Are Our Home was released in 2013. “I have known Neil Halstead since 1992,” says Van Hoen. “He shared a house with me for a couple of years, and the music I was making and listening to along with clubs I was attending had an influence particularly on Pygmalion, the final Slowdive album on Creation.”

Each track on Plan For A Miracle does indeed sound like a world unto itself, a mini-environment, a weather condition, an ecosystem created for the moment. It’s a collection of tracks recorded over the past few years, released on Bandcamp - despite his apparent absence, Van Hoen works constantly. Opener “Climates”, in its exquisite limpidity, feels like a homage to Brian Eno, one of his most formative influences in his teen years, commencing with Music For Films, which he bought in 1979. “This Is For Them”, feels like a ghostlike throwback to early drum & bass or electronica, reminiscent of his own, earliest outings. “There have been a number of requests from labels to make some more music like my very early releases on R&S,” says Van Hoen. “This is part of ‘letting go’ and realising that there’s nothing less creative about going back to those styles again.”

“Pencil Of Spheres” is something else again, a magnificent, imaginary glass structure, shimmering, refracting, without visible means of suspension, a thing of impossible beauty. “Electric Lights” evokes an abandoned fairground, its lights still pulsating, its music lingering. “The Underpass”, meanwhile, insofar as it reminds of anything at all, is faintly reminiscent of Cluster or Neu’s! West German ambience, the urban mundane rendered magical, the sodium lights, the whitewashed walls. The reverberant, faintly oriental chimes of “Insight” transport us yet again, burgeoning and intensifying.

The landscapes, the skyscapes rendered on Plan For A Miracle feel unpopulated as a rule - but when he does introduce vocal elements, Van Hoen has a history of doing so to spectacular effect - think of “Real Love” from 1998’s Playing With Time, the seductive intonation of its title recurring throughout like a series of massive holograms, echoing, stuttering, breaking up, surging. Here, there are just the faintest of vocals, barely distinct, disquieting. “There’s been a bit of a game changer in recent times,” explains Van Hoen. “AI software that enables you to extract vocals and instrument parts from virtually any recording. That means sampling individual parts from existing sources is no longer limited to the original mix exposing certain parts soloed. The vocal parts I use are from multiple sources and often pitch shifted altered rhythmically and melodically.“ There’s further vocal chatter on “I Really Do”, proceeding at a faster pace as if giving chase, or being pursued - distant, enigmatic. “The Music”, meanwhile, its beat tolling, lost in its own fog of static, features a curious intonation, like the ghost of a lost Walker Brother.

Sadly, the album’s title is in reference to a personal tragedy on Van Hoen’s part - the loss of his wife. Titles such as “I Won’t Give Up”, which faintly reminds of another Eno masterpiece, Another Green World, in its nautical hurly-bury, or the pastoral strains of “Mrs Who”, heavily clouded with sadness, seem to allude to this. “In fact the record was recorded entirely before she passed away,” says Van Hoen, “most of it before she even became very ill. The title was given to the album when it started to look like she wasn’t going to make it beyond a few months. It was something Osho said - “plan for a miracle” - so it was a statement of hope. Unfortunately it was not to be.” Although the album is non-thematic, non-specific in its atmospheres, sound paintings, elegant structures it most certainly stands as a magnificent monument to Osho’s memory.
-David Stubbs.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1) Climates
2) This Is For Them
3) Pencil Of Spheres
4) Mrs Who
5) I Won’t Give Up
Side B:
1) Electric Lights
2) The Underpass
3) Insight
4) Redwood
5) I Really Do
6) The Music

The bright new duo, Marcel Vogel & LYMA, triumphantly returns to Boogie Angst with their sizzling new EP offering, No Time.

Following the recent release of their lead single, Free Time, we're proud to introduce four new, unique tracks to their burgeoning collection of juicy tunes.

Funkiness and abstraction take center stage on this EP. Opening up with the previously released Free Time, featuring filtered vocals and an unconventional structure that blends rich synths with dusty analog stabs and 1990s rave plucks.

The tempo slows down on Easy, a gorgeous song that sounds like a lost Sade demo, featuring subtle beatbox textures, tiny synth plucks, all ending up in a delightful culmination of delayed textures.

Broken Wings begins with a captivating vocal performance, leading to a sturdy Roland bass drum, sustained chords, and resonant arp sequences, with hints of Freestyle.

Flame On creates an almost tropical atmosphere with looping, scattered vocals and an abundance of cowbells. All before the EP closer, You're A Star, rounds things off with clunky basslines, a steady groove and hypnotic pitched vocals.

No Time follows the duo's debut Boogie Angst EP, Games Change, and is a powerful step forward in their young, yet promising catalogue.

A special vinyl edition of No Time will also grace our stores soon.

TRACK LISTING

1. Free Time
2. Easy
3. Broken Wings
4. Flame On
5. You're A Star

For his twelfth studio album, Pianissimo, Matthias Vogt ([re:jazz], Motorcitysoul) makes a clear political statement in symbiosis with his well-placed notes and the stylishly experimental and pronouncedly eclectic electro-jazz sound. "Pianissimo" does not only mean playing very softly but also playing very intensively. It is definitely not an album to skip through.

Matthias Vogt combines great music with current socio-political attitudes and issues for this new album. He conducted interviews on topics like climate change with people from his circle of friends and acquaintances - creatives, artists, activists and musicians who tick similarly to himself and with whose voices he could give expression and form to his own thoughts. With this material, he created this hybrid piece of music and socio-political reflection.

His companions are Demian Kappenstein (ÄTNA & Massa) on drums & guitarist Daniel Stelter (Sing mein Song, TV-Total Heavytones). Vinyl incl. the outer packaging will be produced on a completely recycled basis by INFRACom! which starts its 30 years celebration with this release.

TRACK LISTING

Pianissimo
Quintessence
Music For Interviews
Elegy
Shimmering Sea
Cargo
Amdu
The Mind Traveller

Dystopia
Afraid Of The Future
Lament In D Minor
Down To Earth
I Remember Being Loved
Introduction
Outro
Une Nuit Exceptionnelle

Tony Allen, drums; Max Loderbauer, synthesizers; Moritz von Oswald, percussion sequencing, synthesizers, additional electronics.
Mixed by Ricardo Villalobos.
Artwork by Marc Brandenburg.

The Moritz Von Oswald Trio opens a new chapter. There's a new configuration to the project, with Tony Allen joining original members Moritz von Oswald and Max Loderbauer. Allen, the legendary drummer who's amassed a formidable catalogue both as a solo artist and as part of Fela Kuti's band, has taken over percussion duties from Vladislav Delay.

Together, von Oswald, Loderbauer and Allen form something close to a dream team, two masters of the electronic sphere meeting an afro-beat pioneer. Allen had already established a rapport with the group before they entered the studio to record 'Sounding Lines' - he's been touring with Von Oswald and Loderbauer for more than a year, playing live shows around the world.

There has been an evolution on each new Moritz Von Oswald Trio record, and Sounding Lines is no different. The album, which was mixed by Ricardo Villalobos, maintains the project's trajectory - a fearless exploration of dub techno, classical music and jazz - but the prevailing mood feels looser and more organic than ever before. Allen's imperious percussive work sits tantalisingly in the mix. His drums meet the electronics of von Oswald and Loderbauer in a way that renders the project in new, vivid colours.

There are 4/4 tracks, beatless interludes and complex jazz structures, with propulsive recordings ("3") coexisting alongside more languid moments ("1"). Sometimes Allen provides flourishes of drums (notably on "4") while at other times spectral synths come to the fore (as on "5"). Von Oswald, a masterful composer and arranger with a deep understanding of space, paints the crevices of each composition on 'Sounding Lines' with rich detail. Individually, Von Oswald, Loderbauer and Allen are formidable and hugely influential musicians. As a trio, they've conjured something remarkable.

TRACK LISTING

1
2
3
4
5 (Spectre)
6
7
8

What are the differences and similarities between human and artificial sound, between oscillations generated by vocal cords and synthesizer voices, voltage amplified by speakers? On Silencio, his latest album for Tresor Records, Moritz von Oswald works with a 16-voice choir to explore this concept. Drawing from the ensemble works of long-standing inspirations Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti and Iannis Xenakis, von Oswald and Vocalconsort Berlin delve into the space between sounds, creating a deeply textured collection that shifts between light & ethereal and dark & dissonant. As masterfully demonstrated in the early work of von Oswald and Mark Ernestus’ influential Basic Channel project, repetition and reduction are key elements here, much in the tradition of techno and minimalism. The vast dynamism of the human voice adds to the profound weight of electronics while offering up a rhythmic source and sonic noise palette unexplored in von Oswald’s repertoire. In Silencio, von Oswald dredges a dank murk, pulling clouds over a distant pulse. It hangs, ready to take on new forms. The compositions were written in von Oswald’s Berlin studio on classic synthesizers, such as the EMS VCS3 & AKS, Prophet V, Oberheim 4-Voice and the Moog Model 15. These abstract recordings were transcribed to sheet music for choir by Berlin-based Finnish composer and pianist, Jarkko Riihimäki and performed by Vocalconsort Berlin in Ölberg church in the city’s Kreuzberg district, only few metres down the road from where Dubplates & Mastering and Hard Wax opened their doors for music enthusiasts for many years so long. The recordings of the choral versions were then incorporated into the synthesized parts of the album and brought into anew electronic context; in Silencio, the focus is not on using one means to imitate the other, but to sonically discuss the tensions and harmonies between the two worlds and create a dialogue between them. The relationship between von Oswald and Tresor Records goes back thirty years, all the way to Blake Baxter’s Dream Sequence in 1991 - which von Oswald engineered alongside Thomas Fehlmann. The collaboration with Fehlmann lived on, seeing the duo team up as 3MB with Eddie Fowlkes or Juan Atkins. More recently, the Detroit-Berlin connection continued as Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald present Borderland. For von Oswald, Tresor Records and also the participating guest musicians of the choir, this release brings together audiences from other musical areas, cross-pollinating; Silencio is an album that stands for itself beyond the musical genre boundaries.

TRACK LISTING

1 / A1. Silencio 12:34
2 / A2. Luminoso 08:53
3 / B1. Librarsi 03:04
4 / B2. Infinito 06:17
5 / B3. Colpo 05:05
6 / C1. Volta (Version) 04:02
7 / C2. Infinito (Version) 06:25
8 / C3. Luminoso (Version) 04:49
9 / D1. Volta 05:47
10 / D2. Opaco 08:57
11 / D3. Opaco (Version) 01:54