Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 2067 Items

A Queer Anthology of Drums - "a percussive collage of low-fi frequencies documenting a journey that never took place" (Takuroku), a home recording capturing Valentina's ritualistic free-improv essence, is now being presented to audiences across the world by bié Records, via both streaming services and vinyl for the first time.

*A Queer Anthology of Drums was originally released on Cafe Oto's label “Takuroku” with 8 tracks solely in MP3 format. The new version by the Beijing-based bié Records, whose associate acts range across Hualun, Yu Su, Lim Giong, Gong Gong Gong and many more, is specifically remastered for vinyl format and expanded to 9 tracks with the previously unreleased “She/Her/Gone”.

It's Gou's second Ninja Tune release, following 2016's Seek For Maktoop, which landed on their club-focused Technicolour sublabel. The Berlin-based artist also sings on the new EP, which includes three tracks that each cater to a specific context—open air, warm-up and "proper party," she says.

"I tried to draw on all my influences of the last few years," she explains, "from electro, African music, early '90s house music and also techno, especially Maurice Fulton and DMX Krew." She closed out her RA podcast this week with the EP cut "It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)."

Andi Otto’s Bangalore Whispers gets finally repressed. The psychedelic track which he recorded together with the Indian singer MD Pallavi in 2016 has become a hit in the downtempo scene around the globe (“Saaaa - resa nisa”). Pingipung press a new edition of the much sought after single on the occasion of their 20th label anniversary. In this 2022 edition the original track is paired with the Peter Power remix which has not seen the light of day on vinyl before.The Brazil-based producer slows the track down a notch and adds even more space. A perfect tune both for the dancefloor or meditation.

Ambassade’s 2019 ‘Duistre Kamers’ album was a huge favourite here at Optimo Music towers so we jumped at the chance to release the follow up; ‘The Fool’.

Following hot in the heels of the acclaimed ‘Young Birds / Palette’ 12” on Optimo Music, ‘The Fool’ is destined to be another Cold Wave, Synth, New Industrial, Experimental …whatever you want to call it …classic. We asked Ambassade to tell us a bit about the album – Born from several years of research and contemplation on the human mind ‘The Fool’ can be understood as a reflection to the dark energies – natural, political, human and otherwise – that are released when it comes to religion, greed and power.

Historically, some rulers have used religion to legitimise their power. We were also inspired by wanting to examine what negative impact religion can have from the fact that it’s always dominated by men.

This was pursued by exploring a wide range of diverse and unusual types of instruments that took on a new approach of tonal expression, with the use of detuned choral and voice samples, droned tape loops and DIY metal and found percussion. It’s from these diverse sources that the process of creativity keeps persistently mutating. This process was focused through the enigmatic electronic and percussion composition from the band which alternates between foreground and background for the haunting vocal performances.

Making a hotly-anticipated return to the Innervisions fold two years on from his acclaimed EP Hall Of Violence, Keinemusik founder Rampa also reveals a stunning return to form. His impeccable programming of club-ready beats, complex melodies and both sung and spoken words are at the very core of They Will EP.

Packaged in an old school, tip-on sleeve. Includes hi-res digital download.

Legendary debut album by Junko Tange (mystery woman who showed up on the NWW list), originally issued by Osaka’s Vanity Records in 1979. Dadaesque recitations and sparse guitar, piano and electronic meanderings combine for a beguiling, hypnotic dreamworld. Officially licensed from the custodians of Yuzuru Agi's Vanity Records archives, this edition has been fully remastered from new transfers of the original analog tapes by Stephan Mathieu.

Responding to popular demand, Warp Records is repressing its seminal Boards of Canada catalogue on vinyl for the first time in over five years. Each Warp reissue comes with a download code and an original BOC sticker design from the era.

Rising Sun marks his return to Freund der Familie with a release of a double 12-inch album delivering 8 reinterpretations of the recent albums "Alfa" and "Omega" including unwavering dub techno, deep house and ambient electronics.

Commodo returns to his spiritual home of Black Acre with more genre busting grimy basswerk. Here he delves into an unexpected 90's punk guitar sound palette, rubbing shoulders with Fugazi and Mudhoney without losing any of the gravity altering production skills. These are 140bpm rap instrumentals excised from the burning embers of the Dischord Records back-catalogue patiently waiting for Jello Biafra's vocals. Rap collides with Punk and Dubstep to scream into the void

Extra slow, hi fidelity precision engineering built for the rig.

Hot on the heels of last year’s Mermaids reissue retrospective, Hull’s deep listening house forerunners return: this time revisiting a pair of originals as well as previously unreleased versions.

It’s testament to the depth of feeling that Steve Cobby and David McSherry can conjure, that these tracks sound as potent and impactful as they did when they first came out - and not just for the dance. Throughout their 30+ years, the Yorkshire duo have produced ten albums amid many more collaborations, and transformed the remix into an artform, putting their fingerprints on everyone from Busta Rhymes to The Orb to Radiohead.

This EP collection finds them at the full scope of their powers: from disembodied mood music, to tripped-out dubby beats and raw house sessions for the club. The title track Subtle Body sounds like it drifted in through the window in the middle of a snowy night. Its layered chimes, looped delay feedback and floaty chords (played on a Wurlitzer Electronic Piano that Steve bought from Bill Nelson), mark it out as an enduring piece of ambient music, and a favorite for film-makers, able to soundtrack both haunted memories and afterparty comedowns with finesse. It precedes an unreleased instrumental version of Nightfall from Fila Brazillia’s 2002 album Jump Leads (named Mixmag’s chill album of the year), and as an instrumental, the chunky electro bass and mix of ephemeral tones and bird-like chirrups are brought clearly into focus. The attention to detail is what makes Fila Brazillia’s sound palette so rich, and Nightfall a certified smokers’ anthem.

On the B side, the tempo and temperature rises, and we’re treated to The Light Of Jesus, a favorite from Fila Brazillia’s 1994 debut LP Old Codes: New Chaos. Atop a bumping house groove, the song weaves together smooth organ pads and electrified guitar licks with syrupy bass and gospel-tinged exaltations from Charles Bukowski. The EP rounds out with Room ‘96, a live house jam from Hull’s Room nightclub, and a veritable time capsule back to the halcyon ‘90s rave days, when the lights were still on, everyone was home, and anything seemed possible.

The songs here on Subtle Body might be a window into a time long past, but they remain in the present: and as long as bodies seek pleasure, and dancers want to keep going til sunrise, Fila Brazillia will endure, and soundtrack those moments for us all to get lost in.

Skee Mask’s endless search and fascination for fresh music, weed and burgers channeled into his own vision of sound. Enjoy the ride through his second album, a detailed experimental universe of a young dedicated hustler.

We’re thrilled to announce Naff017, “To / Deep”, by Chicago trio Purelink

“To / Deep” comprises four tracks, two of which –Maintain the Bliss and Head On A Swivel– were previously released as a digital-only EP in 2021.

Here, Purelink return to form with an updated sound, adding crystalline angularity and dialed precision to their warm, enveloping style.

Blissed break abstractions flutter and gasp like shifting light through variegated glass. Rhythms arise within rhythms, the breath resounds throughout.

“To / Deep” carries the uncanny feeling that home has changed, or that home is change.

Albert’s Favourites label founder Scrimshire is set to release bold new album 'Paroxysm'. In the last few weeks of October 2022, Scrimshire wrote a new collection of songs with the descriptive working title "Scream". A direct response to the absurdity of the breakdown in the UK government, the horror of the treatment of refugees arriving on our shores and the callous disregard for the trauma being caused to low-income people or anyone considered "other". While self-preserving Conservative MPs fought for their jobs, record profits were announced by energy companies as they were gouging crippling amounts of money from people's pockets. The anger, sadness, mourning, and frustration he felt was poured into these recordings.

Originally named “Scream 8”, ‘Unity Gain’ was one of the early outpourings from those sessions. Piano and drums bubble up until it fully boils over with huge stabbing synthesiser and string sounds in an outburst of frenetic energy. "Division seems to characterise our daily experience”, says Scrimshire. “How does a society stop the callousness and corruption from seeping into its bones?".

Singer Faye Houston features on both ‘Eyes Shut’ as well as, alongside saxophonist, composer, and multi-wind instrumentalist Tamar Osborn, on ‘Flames’. About the latter Scrimshire explains, “One person can breathe fire into your life and the world, leaving an indelible mark. The album was influenced hugely by a friend we sadly have lost. I think of it like the heat you still feel after a fire has gone out”.

London-based poet and emcee The Repeat Beat Poet captures moments of time, thought, and feeling on ‘What Is The State Of Our State’, a furious yet succinct stream-of-consciousness diatribe in two parts. From afrobeat and reggae-influenced London band Soothsayers, clarinetist and saxophonist Idris Rahman features on ‘Your Invasion Is A Lie’, an ever-progressing, cosmic-jazz track.

The elegiac ‘Unforgotten, Unforgiven’ features saxophonist Nat Birchall, on which Scrimshire says "This is dedicated to the politicians who have forced refugees into life-threatening decisions. Pushing people into the hands of traffickers, into small boats and too many beneath the waves of our seas. Who force the lives of men, women, and children into more danger, in the hope of escaping war, poverty and persecution only to meet more cruelty and persecution. It won't be forgotten, and it won't be forgiven".

Scrimshire’s last album, 2021’s 'Nothing Feels Like Everything', received an Album of the Year nomination at the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards and last March he was named by the Guardian as one of three producers behind the new wave of UK soul, alongside Inflo (Michael Kiwanuka, Sault, Lil Simz) and Swindle (Joel Culpepper, Greentea Peng, Kojey Radical). Albert’s Favourites was formed by Adam, Dave Koor, and Jonny Drop, who designed the logo and artwork, and has released records by The Expansions, Hector Plimmer, Huw Marc Bennett, Pie Eye Collective, Qwalia, Ronin Arkestra.

"Pulso de la Madera" comes as the definitive official reissue of the first album by the legendary band, along with previously unreleased remastered material, on a double LP with extensive liner notes and previously unseen pictures of the band. Essential to revisit the work of a band that inspired fourth world and organic ambient as we know it today; these tunes sound immersive and still contemporary.

On their short but influential career, Finis Africae proposed an informal and decentralized model of creativity that was decades ahead of current practices linked to technological advances; they explored unknown worlds and imagined landscapes of the “fourth world” apart from their present; they neither affirmed nor denied any of the labels they were to assign to them (“New Age”, “ethnic music”, “world music”, etc.); they recreated, used, and nourished foreign cultures without fear.

And most importantly - they shaped a sound “finis”. Your own space. Where there were no rules. A dimension in which the collective was submerged in long sessions of improvisation; where they could be goblins and magical entities; a place where they could imagine scales and structures unreal; where they could play any instrument in the known world; where they could tour the Mediterranean, Africa, and the Middle East in a blink of an eye; where they could be themselves without caring about anything that happened outside.

The unreleased tracks come as a careful selection of a deep-dive over hundred tracks and demos, compiled by Urba and Glossy Mario. The license comes from Juan Alberto Arteche's family.

Vladislav Delay presents the third EP in his "Hide Behind The Silence" series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label "Rajaton". -- Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as ”still water”, or ”still air” for that matter. Go to a restaurant, ask them for a glass of still water, hold it against the light and see where we’re at. Even though the water itself has been captured and imprisoned in the glass, it never stops breathing. It’s filled with tiny particles, dancing. Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we’re not scientists – and even if you happen to be – it’s the natural world of perception that moves me. Still air is very similar. A hot summer’s day with zero wind feels completely still. It’s the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness. Try this: Just sit down for a minute on a sunny day, making sure there’s enough natural light. Do absolutely nothing. Try not to breathe for a bit. (If you need a mental anchor, you can play Cage’s 4’33” in your head but nothing else.) Watch the tiny dots of dust dancing :..’ ̈.:; ́ ́*°.,’:,. ̈ ̈ ̈ ̈:,.’ The movement is crazy, but the feeling of stillness comes from witnessing how subtle it is. In (perceived) complete stillness, every act of microscopic mobility seems to speak volumes. Yet, it feels both reassuring and oddly threatening that the stillness is never complete. What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very ”loud” body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So when you are, it’s worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in. A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only ”sparkling”. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end they make it. Trees bend but don’t break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn’t hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn’t quite understand its size. It’s beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms.

On the A Side: Dreems has taken a little wander over into the Pinchy patch with three mental head spinning tracks that defying categorization. And on the B Side: Dreems meets dub legend Scientist for three mixes from the desk. Each track was reimagined and re-recorded before Scientist took control of the faders to dub them in to oblivion.

Three choice cuts from the back catalogue of Isomise, oscillating between house and techno with a deeply psychedelic edge. Originally released on separate EPs throughout 1995 via the short lived but influential London based Flagbearer Records. The A side Intersection blends UK rave with a nascent tech house groove and hypnotic vocal while the B side is reserved for two expansive acid techno trips.

Counting from one to ten is one of the first things we learn when we try to speak a new language. It's also a universal language we use in our beats. Numbers are the inspiration source of this album, and its roots are in the inherent rhythmical existence of numbers in music. There is a numerical theme in all the tracks. Every number matches with different grooves and rhythms, and it all comes together around a single "groove pallet".
- Granul

Leaving the digital-only realm and materialising as a physical release, space•lab 006 sees Reflex Blue’s sought-after Digital Dreams EP finally out on vinyl. Remastered and complete with a previously unreleased bonus track, as well as a sizzling remix from space•lab favourite, Lisene.

Hessle Audio welcomes Toumba to the label with the four track EP 'Petals'. Based in Amman, Jordan, Toumba explores Levantine microtonality, rhythms, play styles and timbres across the record. Lead track 'Istibtan' is a twist on a typical Jordanian wedding song with deep subs providing the foundations, while 'Petals' rides on the heavy swing which is unique to music from the south of Jordan. On the flip side, 'Hazzeh' deconstructs Dabkeh, while the EP is rounded off with 'Identity Crisis' which is four minutes of lilting melodies all in Maqam Rast but played in an untraditional way.

Toumba is a producer, DJ and sound designer and is a curator at Mnfa, a club and arts space in Jordan's capital Amman. A nationally respected artist, Toumba also holds a residency at the Mmag Foundation. The foundation works with a selection of the most gifted artists in the Levant, providing a space for artistic research, production and critical discourse.

All comes together to present the 3rd release on La Rama Records. Nahash provides five pieces of varied influence for a cohesive effect, downtempo dance steppers to cinematic breaks for raw human motion.

After releases on Shanghai’s Svbkvlt and Lyon’s Polaar, Nahash goes local with brick and mortar operation La Rama. Working with New Jack samples and obscure orchestral Jazz, ‘Stockpiling’ is Nahash in a dance floor style, providing discerning DeeJays a tune for every moment of the night.

Evidence of desublimation. The vapor turns back to solid, but maybe just for a minute. Terekke touching the machines and popping out a plate. Plant Age Digital Sound.

Described as: "soft-techno meets balearic-dubstep"

https://soundcloud.com/terekke/digi-001

One of Warp’s tenured signees, Nightmares On Wax is back yet again, only this time it's some of his fellow travellers trying on the Nightmare blend of jazz, soul, dub, and electronic styles. Seeking some refuge after a decade out on the road, the pandemic lockdown proved a unique time for a passion project of George Evelyn’s: a remix record. Teaming up with talent both young and old(er), Remixed! To Freedom… sees some brilliant takes on two tracks from 2021’s Shout Out! To Freedom…

Osunlade takes Wonder's hypnotic chorus refrain and dips us deep beneath the surface of aquatic House depths with a duo of complementary Soul/Club retakes and Tucillo shakes up the same vocals and Shabaka Hutchings timeless sax leads into a Loft ready mover. Meanwhile Mala's call to arms remix molds 3D Warrior via the bass Don's unmistakable infrasound flex, doing deadly damage by reducing the track down to the sparsest of elements and flipping wigs with nothing more than a perfectly placed percussion element and twisting and distorting Hutchings reed work into a simmering, bristling loop. Paul Woolford (aka, rave assassin Special Request) moves us into 4x4 anthem territory, with the 7min Garage House mix that would make NYC legends Masters at Work proud. All of these sandwich an extended Nightmares On Wax cut of 3D Warrior in the middle, drawing the track out further into mesmerising full capacity.

"Geo Rip is John Jones (Dope Body, Nerftoss) with Aaron Leitko and Mike Petillo (Protect-U). Broken samples and electronics improvised live to tape. Their first time on vinyl, following an 'insane' cassette on TTT in 2019 and releases on their own Washington, D.C. based U-Udios label."

Lets hear the German duo explain this record themselves: This is an EP with four very different tracks and we really mean all of them. None here feels like everybody’s darling but they all do make us feel something, and that is what we strife for, always. The tracks have all been made by just the two of us completely being in the zone, except for House In The Hills, that started as a wonderful jam at our friend Tx‘s place in late 2019, together with him and Jamie Lloyd. We basically hung out for two days straight with nothing but the best people, great food and all the music - happy days as one might guess. The Toy Tonics crew has been in touch ever since we remixed a song for Kapote, and the idea of doing an EP together had and been tossed around for a while already. We’ve been digging their musical approach all along and we’re happy to get the chance to contribute a small piece to their story. When the pandemic hit, we were fortunate to have our friend Iron Curtis letting us move into his studio, as we had just lost our beloved place in Hamburg - so guess what we did for the most part of 2020? Exactly. We have always been spending most of our time together cooking beats, but probably never as much as over the last year. So has it been 10.000 hours by now? We don’t know but we’re certainly working on it.

New Mini LP featuring 5 hyper-textured earthy pieces from Priori. The music flows and breathes, recounting stories from the perspective of a little flower. ''First we all grow in a row. But as the land expands and the hills rise, we take pleasure in chaos... and covet the unknown''

This series of musical and visual self-portraits explores death and transformation. Not only physical death but also psychological death, which is usually accompanied by fear and resistance. In times of crisis and despair, we celebrate youth and look to overcome the many challenges posed by life itself. It is natural that we sometimes break down, due to the pressures of society, but fortunately we do stand up again, and create even greater art.

The Duke Of Rave and The God of Electronic Music (depending which time of night it is) drops us into the Collapse EP. Offering exhilaration, instantaneous and life-affirming abundance, high hats and sauntering arrangements, brain-scrambling noise and much much more

This September the Collapse EP will hit your ears, fall into its wonderment!

Regular edition.

Returning to Iceland to focus on fresh material, Kiasmos will release new EP 'Blurred' through Erased Tapes on October 6th.
Janus Rasmussen explains: "To write new material felt like a new beginning for us after two years of touring. The plan was to write something a tad darker than our previous stuff. Spring in Reykjavík had other plans though, as this turned out to be our brightest release to date."
Remixes on the EP come from Bonobo and Stimming, each taking Kiasmos' music in fresh directions

33.10.3402 on freshly minted Third World Records.

For the exhibition “Flowers in 20th and 21st Century Art“, Eiko Ishibashi and Jim O‘Rourke had created the installation ”Lifetime of a Flower“ in which they set parameters but allowed the process itself to grow uncontrollably. Literally: in the garden of their Japanese house, they planted seeds and filmed the plant growing and thriving throughout the duration of the exhibition. Visitors were able to watch the stream in real time - and they heard a composition in which Ishibashi and O‘Rourke reflected the organic process in sound. The eponymous composition now available on LP, is an enigmatic and sophisticated layering of sounds, melodies and rhythms, noises from everyday life, all of which are repositories of associations, memories and expectations.

Lower-case and higher-vibes, loket is the saxophonic alias of Tahl Klainman, a versatile presence in Berlin’s alternative and underground scene, whose diverse productions have traversed ambient, trance, techno and jazz on labels such as Mama Told Ya, Hot Concept and Tax Free Records. More recently loket also guested on Massimiliano Pagliara’s LP ‘See You In Paradise’, which received the 2023 German Record Critics’ Award, as well as establishing Klainman as one of the few saxophonists to have jammed live to a peak-time Panorama Bar dancefloor.

Reigniting the languid futurism of trip-hop and downtempo, ‘All Ages’ ably delivers the most inclusive distillation of loket’s sound thus far, paying respect to the influences such as William Orbit and Moby, as well as fourth-world innovator Jon Hassell’s philosophy of blending traditional instrumentation with contemporary electronic experimentalism. Mixed in collaboration with Angus Finlayson, aka Minor Science, each of ‘All Ages’ four pieces transmit the wonder and free-spirited optimism reflected on photographer Jordan Kirk’s wide-eyed cover art.

Title track ‘All Ages’ prizes open a saxophonic wormhole to beckon an infectiously baggy groove, unexpectedly referencing the optimistic rhythm of acid-house inflected Madchester, only with gnarlier guitars to contrast a seriously insistent bassline. ‘Afternoon at Bärenquell’ boldly teases out sonic pleasure from even more idiosyncratic means, melding baroque strings and twinkling new-age melodies to loket’s emotive brass, culminating in a neo-classical finale that seems to suspend itself mid-air.

‘Sanders Groove’ sees loket’s sax step back on a bed of soft, jazz-inflected percussion and unpredictable electronics, melting as one into a slow-motion riff that’s equal parts indie jam and musique concrete. Finally, ‘Soft as Moonlight’ makes good on its romantic namesake with a swelling arrangement that free floats into deft percussion, dreaming and teeming with positive energy.

Another amazing double-sided dynamite from the famous 7” Lego series.This bringing a hypnotic mid-tempo afro disco groove and it will turn heads and twist legs on the dancefloor!

Jeff Mills, April, 2023 "The Other Maria represents the character trait each of us has inside within ourselves. The silent part of us that we try to regulate, keep restrained from others and managed just beyond reach from the rest of the World. It represents the compartmentalized potential to do, say and respond with great chaotic harm, despite all unfortunate consequences. It is a full release feeling that we sometimes quietly envy as we witness with disgust and disapproval.

Since his last outing on Control Freak with the sold-out Bunzunkunzun EP, Syz has built a reputation as one of the UKs most distinctive club producers, weaving playful, percussive techno with soundsystem-driven bass music. Releases via Shanti Celeste’s Peach Discs and more recently on Banoffee Pies have cemented his position as a rising star of the UK scene. Much of this acclaim started with 2020’s Mindforms - a self-released mini-LP which saw the young producer step away from the dancefloor to explore an expansive sonic world, ‘balancing the tranquility of the ecological world with the immediacy of the digital one. Tropical botany meets ethereal cyberspace through a fusion of styles, influenced by UK techno, hip hop, ambient, acid, and sound-system-driven bass music’. The original release was accompanied by a highly limited run of just 10 dubplates. Deeming this 6-tracker too good not to receive a proper pressing, Control Freak are proud to present the first ever complete vinyl run for Mindforms, housed in full-colour centre-cut sleeves featuring an adaptation of the original artwork by Jamie Fallon (Ghost Cell), reworked by London-based designer Blixa Aguerreberry. Alongside the record, Syz & Control Freak have curated Clubforms, a collection of remixes available digitally from some of our favourite producers, each bringing the original release firmly onto the dancefloor with their own production flourishes.

You know, when you've pulled too hard on the lollipop all night and you're left with only two options, the almost controlled landing or the one that fractures what little consideration you have left in humanity and yourself. Welcome to the new Bfdm and the abyss of sensualities it provides. The track which offers the reading line of the opus is that of Johannes Bügeleisen, musician who has scoured the Berlin nights for more than 10 years, remaining at all times and circumstances endowed with a big heart and an immense class. A hymn to languorous afterhours, which is completed by a bathmix of the same song, proposed by another important figure of the Neukölln scene: Leo Zylberberg. The latter offers us a version like a scuba dive where the soap slips out of the hands into the bathtub, always during those blue hours where nocturnal and diurnal are not yet clearly defined.

Trikk’s striking debut album Fauna & Flora cultivates a sense of scale, character and broad-minded musicianship across ten genre-fusing tracks. Just as its namesake spans the vast spectrum of life on Earth, so this expansive document draws from a diverse sound palette that jumps from widescreen psychedelia and industrial-crusted pop to baile funk and foreboding techno.

Partly descending from the club-focussed fare with which Trikk made his name, he also reaches for art-rock, punk and post-punk to expand on his electronic foundations.

“I wanted to create that feeling where there are these rays of light and total darkness, it’s a game between these two worlds coexisting,” he says of the album’s theme.

Brainwaltzera returns to FILM with a brace of archive recordings in the artist's characteristically idiosyncratic style.

The collection opens with FMsquared [royal wavetable mellodies A], a mesmerizing beatless composition split across two contrasting movements. Synth-focused, the first explores a more introspective tone whilst the second is decidedly more elevated and playful. Follow up good endgar showcases the artist's enviable talent for crafting rolling, wide-open IDM, marrying crisp drum machine hits with washed out pads and a resonant bassline. WSsquared [royal wavetable mellodies B] follows the same pattern as mellodies A, split once again into two movements. This time each movement is markedly more distinct: the first, an atmospheric, half-time dirge and the second a more uplifting and esoteric workout, with crystalline FX breaking up the composition. On LANsqape4 [short_oneTake] Brainwaltzera lets the drums roll out, underpinning more lush synth work with a hint of a break closing in as the piece subsides near its close. Copperfeel, the penultimate offering, is the most reduced work in the collection with a single main melody doing the bulk of the legwork, and buoyed by vocal-sounding synths. FMsquared [epiloggy] [beauvine bonus perc version] closes the collection, a pleasing bookend that sees the riff from the opening track's latter movement return - now underpinned with rolling drums.

The situation is overwhelming. The house is smaller, and there's so much shit to consider and not enough time. The second release on 0 this time from hashman c3d-e and hotspring is dub and house reduced into overdrive with both sides maxed out

Together with Edwin, Seekersinternational have created a limited edition “Healing Hifi” T-Shirt with a graphic approach that mirrors the Skrs style in a playful way. To accompany the release, they have created an exclusive mix for The Edwin Music Channel, that will also be available as a cassette tape

Alex Albrecht returns in 2023 to Analogue Attic with 'Coles Ridge'.

The album is built on the foundation of field recordings that Alex has captured during his travels, specifically the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne's east. Ranging from hypnotic downtempo grooves to deep house, Coles Ridge features Alex's signature sound, characterised by its use of warm, analog textures, and lush atmospheres, mixed with intricate piano melodies and tonal themes.

Avantroots is one of the leading dub related labels in recent years taking the genre to its furthest and freshest
perspectives while still respecting the history and the figures inside it. One of those historical figures is the legendary
Linval Thompson who's credits and list of those he influenced are pages long.
To have Linval be the lead on this project truly makes this a unique and special release. 'World Crisis' is Linval's
message and it is as definitive as ever. There is a lot of thought put into each step and portion of this project. The overall
traditional dub concept is to feature different voices over the same instrumental where this, flips the script and each
version has a different electronic music producer add their talents to create their own signature account. The result is an
extraordinary and well composed EP. Deepchord, Deepnaut, Pulshar and Braulio Lam were specifically chosen to head
up this treasured task of taking 'World Crisis' into their realms.
The Deepnaut version is a true essence of the future of a more mature island late night cultured dub techno sound. The
track shimmers in a euphoric glow that covers you like a sun on the beach in summer. Linval's voice is front and center
and one could say this may be the most single oriented as it uses the most vocals of any of the renditions here. Braulio
Lam's submission has all the makings of a classic styled dub track. While the beat is transcendent, everything else is
processed in a new school way. And the technique is next level to be clear. Next is Deepchord's version. To say this is
the deepest and most techno might not be much of a surprise. The groove is addictive and the chords sampled into the
rhythm while the melody ebbs and flows are pure magic. Lastly, Pulshar breaks things down to the starkest of the
choices and one of the most hypnotic. Pablo Bolivar and Sergio Sainz Vidal from Pulshar have a knack for injective some
serious island vibes to the electronic scene.
The artwork is also special here. It respects the history of dub culture while advancing the application as it uses AI
generated images combined with human elements. The pictures support the message of the 'World Crisis' speaks on by
Linval Thompson. This is a special release no doubt. Avant-Roots are very happy with the variety offered by the artists of
their label and this release. They shined when it came to harnessing the essence of this track and infusing it into their
particular version of electronic dub.

With the release of Piero Umiliani’s ‘Discomania (Jolly Mare Lifting)’ Four Flies launched Reloved, a vinyl series where contemporary DJs and producers rework tunes from Italian golden age soundtracks and library music.

The aim of the series is to spark a conversation between past, present and future, joining the dots between Italy’s great film and library-music tradition and a global scene of forward-thinking producers - the names confirmed so far include Dengue Dengue Dengue, Free The Robots, Jolly Mare, Koralle (feat. Illa J), Fratelli Malibu, Mounika, Oké aka Deda, Luke Beats, Ollie Teeba of The Herbaliser and Deca. First in line is the 7” ‘Autumn 2001 / Autumn 2021’, with an original track from Italian jazz pianist and electronic music pioneer Gianni Safred and a rework from musician, DJ and beat maker Free The Robots.

‘Autumn 2001’ comes from the 1978 Italian library LP Futuribile (The Life To Come), a retro-futuristic masterpiece by Gianni Safred, one of the great pioneers of Italian electronic music.

Chris Alfaro, aka Free the Robots, is a musician, beat maker and DJ known for his ability to jump in and out of different sonic worlds, creating a unique signature sound blending electronic, hip hop, jazz and psychedelia.

Another quality gem on after 6 am in the rebound. A6a11 - Redeye - Resort Annexia from 1995 comes re-mastered in April.

Serenades returns with the continuation of a series of split-format releases that talk about living, working, creating and interacting with completely different people from different parts of the world.
Odopt and Dolphins have created enchanting and enigmatic pieces for different experiences – whether you’re left alone with your deep thoughts or on the contrary trying not to think about anything on a full dance floor. That’s the magic of music, in its monologue or dialogue with you, it can answer many of your questions.
Things were different when we started preparing this release and we couldn’t imagine what the year 2022 would throw us into, but we still try to remain committed to love, peace and mutual understanding.
No war!

Dolphins: Benedikt Frey, Markus Woernle, Nadia D'Alò.
Odopt: Grigory Nelyubin, Ivan Maslov.

Given the respective outputs of committed ambient explorers and sound designers zake (best known for releasing no less than five fine albums in 2019) and 36 (most recently seen on A Strangely Isolated Place with the superb album "Fade To Grey"), you'd expect this trip into aural deep space to be rather good. It is of course, with the four tracks mixing echoing sonic tones and drifting sound effects with slow-burn electronic melodies and the kind of immersive, sustained chords that were once the preserve of German maestro Pete Namlook. The third track in the suite, appropriately titled 'Stage 3', is little less than stunning, in part because of its grandiose, almost classical intent. No surprise to discover, then, that after a stretch of being out of print it's back via a reissue, this version being a limited clear vinyl edition.

Robohands, aka Andy Baxter, joins the Bastard Jazz family with a new EP titled "Giallo." Partly inspired by Italian Giallo (meaning "yellow") film soundtracks of the late 70s and 80s, as well as the experimental sounds of pioneering krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream and NEU! Armed with an old Juno 60 synthesizer, Andy wrote, recorded, and mixed all the parts himself, including the live drums, adding in multiple layers of effects.

Spread across 8 tracks, "Giallo" spans atmospheric meditations ("Giallo;" "Claws;" "Relax") to jazzy improvisational explorations ("Fear"), interwoven with brief solo instrumental tapestries ("Horror;" "Float By Like Clouds;" "For the Different"). There is an elegant cinematic quality to the EP, further refined by Robohands' production prowess and technical chops. "Giallo" builds on the Robohands sound, taking it in an exciting, more experimental direction.

After the great success of their debut album in 2021 the Brazilian duo Xique-Xique asked some of their friends to remix their favorite tracks of the album. The result is a superb collection of remixes by heavyweight artists of the scene: On the 12“, you will find Zoe Reijue, Mira & Chris Schwarzwälder, Dengue Dengue Dengue, Niko Schwind and Psilosamples, while the digital package includes two marvelous exclusives by Oliver Koletzki, Nutia and Batu Ozer.

Ranging from groovy downtempo to quirky electronica and solid rave vibes, this wild bunch of tracks constitutes a fabulous remix album for all the moments at the club. Get your floaties ready to ride the vortex of „Na Lagoa – Remixed“.

Revealing a more expansive and reflective dimension to his sound, Tammo Hesselink produces a varied set of deep tools on Blank Mind’s eighteenth release. Tammo’s sound-design is crisp, unique and organic - built with an instinctive sense created from personally recorded percussive recordings.

'Silicon' is a lethal masterstroke in propulsive minimalism, bridging between broken styles and fluid minimalism, and has already featured across clubs and festivals this summer.

Whilst 'bbr', 'Lesssim' and 'First Supposed' are waking-dream like psychedelic trips. The experimentation concludes with blinding down-tempo roller 'There is One Thing'.

The Netherland’s De Ambassade have dropped the ‘De’ and are now known as Ambassade. Optimo Music is extremely happy to be working with them and will be releasing their second album in 2023. Ahead of that is this glorious 2 track 12” featuring music that took our breath away when we first heard it. Both tracks are exclusive to this release. We asked Ambassade to tell us a bit about the tracks. “These 2 songs were born after a collaboration with Naama Freedman. She’s an artist from Amsterdam and former member of Ambassade. She brought a couple sketches to the studio and we came out with these 2 songs. The lyrics on ‘Young Birds’ come from an old traditional English folk song from around 1903. It has been re-arranged a couple times throughout the years by multiple artists. The song reflects our development in sound and arrangement with extended synthesiser parts, less conventional song-writing. Also, us singing in English is a new path. The pulsing song ‘Palette’ is a perfect combination of sequence and extended legato vocal parts. It creates a tense atmosphere which builds up to the very end.”

Ivano Tetelepta's third album Veldhuizen is another masterclass in deep, shrouded in smoke, spaced out electronics. Touching all half spaces in between dubby minimal, ice cold techno and hazy deep house - the prolific Nijmegen based producer shows on Veldhuizen he's more on point than ever before. Starting the journey with the lush ambiance of 'Sterkenburg' via the deep dubbing 'Opveld', Tetelepta shows his trademark minimal grooves on tracks like 'Langenhorst' and 'Tolhuis'. But there's more, there are multiple efforts in deep hypnotic techno -- 'Halsterenstraat' is one of these impacable hypno grooves that get you locked in space. Together with 'Balearenstraat', 'Klepperheide' and 'Toekomst' it makes this one of the most techno focussed albums of Tetelepta to date. A well balanced pack of deep electronics, influenced by its many branches and restructured with a very personal touch by Tetelepta himself.

A1 Somber ambience and dark drones pair well with small, silent melodies and form this perfect teaser track by Ninze & Niju. A2 With their well-known ear for details, Ninze & Niju deliver the soundtrack for riding your skateboard through deserted downtown past midnight. A3 Another signature tune by genre-defining NInze & Niju, bringing together hushed drum patterns and filtered organs to this mind-boggling brain bender. B1 Not much time is wasted when rhythmic layers, driving arpeggios and moving percussion slowly unite to this hypnotic peak time beast to be unleashed by Ninze & Niju. B2 This pretty straightforward, yet hard-to-grasp track unfolds in too many layers to leave you calm - another twisted tune for bare feet in morning dew.

Haunting melancholic songs, indie pop with cinematic flair, presents the first collaboration between the Italian composer Daniele Luppi, known from various film and TV soundtracks, and singer Greg Gonzalez, frontman of the band Cigarettes After Sex. Having worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Danger Mouse and Norah Jones on various projects, Luppi has now found the perfect voice for his bittersweet songs in Gonzales. For fans of Rufus Wainwright and similar delights.

Unmistakably Cio D’Or, Polar Q’s eight tracks explore ambient and cinematic techno, before dissolving into broken-beat, aquatic compositions from the outer reaches.

It’s the turn of Am/pm to bring some drama to What About Never, ushering in an ‘Age of Distraction’ with an EP of dark, pulsating techno, brittle dub polyrhythms and nebulous ambience. 'Dance for Me’ takes the lead, locking into a propulsive, strobing groove, rolling out tension that ebbs and flows before the alien stepper, ‘Nobody Knows Anything’ shifts the tone. The mood changes further over the sparse, chattering, electronic fusion of the title track, before melting into the gaseous, ambient coda, ‘Now’s the Time’.

Blargh! We are back with a EP from Marius Mane, with features by Stockholm royalty Dr. Echoe & Natty Silver. This 27 minute record will break your looping mind into pieces, it will make you sing soothing songs in someone’s ear and force your body into movement. You better just surrender to the feeling. GET IN THE Game!

A1 by Joeri Bultheel in Berlin 2019. A2 by Uman Therma & Yetsuby in Seoul 2020. B1 by Ugne Vyliaudaite & Marija Kudabaité in Brussels, 2020. B2 by Raquel Rivera-Lys in Bogota 2021.

Guaranteed anthem for the introspective dancefloors, with heavy dubbed out breakbeat rhythms under trance inducing didgeridoo sounds. A side takes you on trip spanning over 12 minutes starting with faster paced floor action that gracefully fades into a half tempo section – two for one – flipping over to the the B side with two more versions of “Older Brother from the Rock”, the Tribal Om Mix and the Om Beats - something for everyone. Seriously remastered and re-cut for maximum dancefloor presence. Huge on proper sound systems.

Symmetry Systems' is the new LP by Dennis Huddleston AKA 36. Inspired by Warp's 'Artificial Intelligence' releases from the early 90's, it's a melodic, synthesiser-driven record, with a wink to the past and a nod towards the future. "I have a deep love for those early Warp albums, particularly the Artificial Intelligence compilations. It was a wonderful time for UK electronic music. That beautiful, warm machine sound, with an optimistic (if somewhat naive) vision for the future. I found the whole thing incredibly inspiring and wanted to revisit those memories, albeit with a 36 twist" Like 'Wave Variations' before it, this record explores various approaches to the theme, with each track directly inspiring the next one. All tracks are sequenced in the order they were made. 'Symmetry Systems' is a collection of hypnotic machine music, made with a delicate human touch.

2022 repress

Hot as lava! Broken English Club delivers the 4th chapter of Jealous God! Comes as usual with a Mix CD.

Extended Juicy Mindfulness Exercise

Emotional Rescue looks back again with a 2022 repress, digging deep in to the early 80s Bristol post punk scene of Pig Pag, the Wild Bunch and the Dug Out club. A short lived project of just 3 releases, Mouth trail-blazed leftfield percussive jams in the rich vain of Liquid Liquid and ESG but in their own jazz-infused way. Centered round the cultural melting post of the St Paul's district, it's pubs, clubs and blues parties threw together young and old to the sounds of dub, funk, jazz and soul and took the spark lit by punk rock and new wave and spawned music that still resonates today. Consisting of a floating line up based around main members Andy Guy and Rob Merrill, alumina included a young Nellie Hooper before he would go on to be a founding member of the Wild Bunch and on to produce the likes of Bjork, U2 and Madonna. Based around a hard tribal drumming, mixing guitar, trumpet, shouted vocals and effects, the thrown in the mix nature was inspired as much by avant-jazz than punk's do it yourself attitude. Here then, on one EP are their complete recordings, including as the title cut, their best and deepest, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. Featured on a compilation LP from the legendary Y Records, its bottom heavy dub sound is augmented by female and toasted vocals riding a top a heavy stepper style riddim. This is followed by an increasingly dizzy array of percussion jams. Acab Part 2) is all skips and trumpets, while the versions of Take Your Coat Off perfect skat vocal / tom interplay, before the finale busts out the rockabilly influences in full effect with jagged guitar, skipping hats meets double bass punk style.

Fine journey of Electronix with everything from Braindance, Breakbeat, Acid to Downtempo.. Dedicated to the memory of Antonio Semeraro

Tarenah was one of only two singles pressed under the nom de plume of Psychedelic Research Lab - a collaboration between Scott Richmond and John Selway which began while the pair were attending music conservatory at Suny Purchase College, in upstate New York. Scott produced the first version of the track for a modern dance performance in 1993. A mix of electronics and room full of live musicians, the session featured an afro-cuban percussionist, a Bangladeshi vocalist / tabla player, a classical flautist, and a reggae guitarist, with Scott on keys and engineering, and John on multiple TB-303s. The duo played the piece to a pal, who said, “Listening to your music is like being in a psychedelic research lab” and the moniker was born. DJ Jonathan Kadish, the chill out resident at pioneering NYC rave, Nasa, championed the track and subsequently commissioned four remixes for his label, Gyroscopic Recordings.

The tune has been elevated to legendary status in certain circles - due to it being a firm favourite of “The Godfather Of Chill-out”, the late DJ Jose Padilla. Jose at this time had a penchant for “ambient breaks / breakbeats” - seminal stuff like the work of San Francisco's Hardkiss crew and other Bay Area artists. According to close friend Phil Mison, drawn to the Chill Mix, Jose Padilla played and played Tarenah at Ibiza`s Cafe del Mar. It was a daily constant in Jose`s sets for several seasons, and he eventually included the track on the second volume of his essential compilation series honouring said White Isle shrine - put together in the mid-90s for the label React. Sealing the tune`s fate and making Tarenah forever synonymous with Jose and the golden, halcyon, San Antonio, Cala Des Moro, sunsets he soundtracked.

The 3rd Floor Mix, named after the location of the Suny Purchase studio, is tribally-tinged uplifting progressive house - taking its cues from the contemporary Dutch imprints, Fresh Fruit and Touche. John Selway’s Remix (titled “Spy’s Sub Mix” on the original pressing) strips the track back to a cool, more minimal, jack - heavily influenced by the “bleep” sound of Sheffield`s Warp Records. The Sleepwalker Mix is beatless. Tailored from twisting, intertwining, 303 drones.

Following Tarenah, Scott and John continued devoting their life to dance music. Scott went behind the scenes, founding - alongside Jonathan Kadish - the famous Satellite Records dance music record store chain. He also ran the house and trance labels, Central Park and Pitch Black. In recent years, Scott has worked in artist management, and within the global music festival scene, primarily with Vh1 Supersonic and Ticket Fairy India, which has taken him to Mumbai, Goa, and Pune. John has had an amazingly prolific electronic music career, building a vast, and varied catalogue of productions - both solo, and through collaboration. From Disintegrator and working on Deep Dish`s debut single, to Smith & Selway and The Rancho Relaxo Allstars. Along the way finding the time to run labels such as Serotonin and CSM. Currently John is teaching and mentoring the next generation of electronic music artists at 343 Labs music school, while still producing forward-thinking techno and electro.

2014 Repress! SEaled copy!

Para One presents ” Sundial “, the third extract from his new album Spectre: Machines of Loving Grace. After ” Shin Sekai ” and its commanding choir and drums, the chilling skies of ” Alpes “, the producer points his arrow towards the heart. The track goes only up, from its hopeful arpeggio, a melodic bassline building higher floors, towering with layers of direct yet fine drawn synth chords. ” Sundial ” is wide and intimate, nostalgic, and confident at the same time. The ” Sundial ” EP offers 3 remixes. Hot Chip draw first with a dance floor ready version, adding their own signature riffs and textures to the original canvas. The ” Nodandanintheokotantan Mix ” by England born / Berlin based Call Super chooses a playful replaying of the whole piece, changed into an array of micro percussions, reshaping the main melody from bits and pieces, until a plain piano enters the frame. Finally, Para One himself reworks ” Sundial ” and reveals even more the versatility of the original track, remodeling it into a manifest to dance, elastic beats and house music stabs in hand.

Record Store Day Japan 2021 Drop 2 release. Released in 2008, the answer song that describes the feelings of her side of the blockbuster single “Koko ni Iruyo feat. Aoyama Therma” by SoulJa is the first 7-inch analog version.

Record Store Day Japan 2021 Drop 2 release. The first analog 7-inch version of the major debut single “One Night Carnival” released in 2002.

On the B side, “Every time the morning comes”, which was also recorded in the original single, is coupled.

Machines of Loving Grace, available in half speed mastered 180g double lp housed in a heavy sleeve with UV spot varnish. Machines of Loving Grace, the new album by Para One, whose real name is Jean-Baptiste de Laubier could be called fiction. It is an object freed from constraints, formats, genres, territories: the gospel of a new world. Six years after Club, eight years after Passion, his previous LP, this lover of electronic music, who has also been putting his sensitivity to the service of movies (soundtracks for Céline Sciamma in particular) opens with this record a new dimension in his artistic career. “I needed to break away from patterns and systematisms of formats, and take unexpected turns. To do so, I had first to allow myself to do so”. Allow oneself and maybe above all confront oneself – with one’s childhood, with one’s childhood’s ghosts, and what fantasies, ideals, memories, and grey areas they harbor. He had to go back – without giving up on his position as an adult, as a full-fledged artist – to the sources of his imagination, to the moment when music was holding almost mystical power. And then revisit it to make something new out of it. Just like Sanity, Madness & the Family (the feature film directed by Para One that he just finished and of which it is a consubstantial part), Machines of Loving Grace has an investigation around a family secret and the father figure as its starting point. “When you go down the path – of a work, of a person, of the past – you never really find out what was.

Greville translates the deft drum programming and atmospherics of their previous work on Mad Habitat into a dextrous downtempo odyssey. The tracks pair woody percussion with crystalline pads and figurative sounds that evoke their own biospheres; listen to the woodland motorik of “Marbles” or swingbeat syncopation and coruscating arps of “Time”. The depth of production here is best exemplified by “Night Light” where the “Ambient Mix” strips the track down the dreamy chords and the asynchronous twitter and chirrups of a synthesized bushland - and like the EP altogether, it's a curious sonification of Australia in the summer.

/ the hoe - 2 remixes

Wa Wu We is the artist alias and vinyl only label from Sebastian Mullaert. This is the third chapter, crafted in the Swedish woods. The first 6 episodes of the Wa Wu We label will form a collection of records, united by their significant and unique cover art and the way they’ve been recorded; this being the focus on improvising expression, resting in meditation and the nature surrounding Sebastian’s studio. All 6 of these episodes will be released as vinyl only and will be limited to 500 copies each.

Those with an internet connection may be familiar with Paolo Di Nicolantonio through his incredible YouTube channel, SynthMania. His channel is hub showcasing his endless arsenal of synths and drum machines from his home studio in Italy. Unlike his italo-heavy channel, this record consists of two original tracks; one old-school deep house number and an additional beatless Juno-60 jam to boot. Craigie Knowes also welcome their first remixer to the label, the impeccable UK deep techno producer, John Shima.

Letherette return to their WULF imprint, this time with EP5. Whilst EP4 was aimed at the dance floor, EP5 sees Letherette slow it down a little. Featuring the velvet pipes of Olivier St Louis on EP opener, 'Love Lust', as well as signature Letherette chops on Pal Mal, After8, Fresh & Clean and Pianto.

Classic Aphex Twin 12" with four nice mixes!

Responding to popular demand, Warp Records is repressing its seminal Boards of Canada catalogue on vinyl for the first time in over five years. Each Warp reissue comes with a download code and an original BOC sticker design from the era.

Rare, super limited 002 from SATURATE! Records 7’’ single series, featuring the now legendary Coco Bryce with some wonky, honey dripping beats. Head bob neck snaps.

2 Live Crew & Doug Lazy get some b-boy breaks & latin swing to jam on!

FlyLo's debut for Warp and basically the blueprint for all the LA Beat Scene madness!

Oleksandr Yurchenko (1966—2020) was a Ukrainian musician and illustrator. In 1990s and 2000s he took part in different bands from Kyiv, such as Electricians, Yarn, Blemish, Suphina’s Little Beast etc., and he also collaborated with Svitlana Nianio and Katya Chilly. Yurchenko is one of the brightest representatives of the Ukrainian independent scene in 90s. Meanwhile, he is one of the most mysterious musicians of this era, being a private person, especially in the late 2000s, when Oleksandr had to leave music because of his illness, but he focused on doing book illustrations and graphic works. In 2010s some of his early records were published, and he was asked for an interview, but he refused, suffering from a serious disease at that time. In April 2020, Oleksandr Yurchenko died, leaving behind a great musical legacy.

His main work, “Count to 100. Symphony #1,” was documented in August 1994. Oleksandr used strings instrument of his own invention. Yurchenko took the longboard to make the instrument, installed guitar pickups and 4 strings, and played on it with a bow. It was lost in the 2000s, but the musician remembered that it looked like a long zither. The recording session was held by Oleksandr at home, using guitar delay effects, loops, and Oreadna portable cassette recorder. He tuned the instrument in a special tone, improvising on it for 25 minutes. This drone symphony can be compared with the works of such avant-garde composers as Glenn Branca. However, it sounds innovative, especially for Ukrainian music. Despite it, Yurchenko could not publish this work officially in the 90s and made only a few copies for his own friends. At the beginning of the 2000s, he decided to edit the original version of the symphony. Oleksandr tried to restore the recording a bit, using some effects to make the sound more massive and clear. At the end of the work on this project, Yurchenko left this version in his archive but decided to publish the original recording in the late 2010s.

“Intro” is the most mysterious recording from Yurchenko’s archive. Nobody could remember where and when it was recorded, so we can assume that it was made at the beginning of the 90s like a sound experiment because it was found on cassette tape with others recordings of the band Yarn. Also, there is a suggestion that it might be a Casio Sk-1 sampler and some old Soviet keyboards.

Merta Zara was a family project of Yurchenko and his wife, Svitlana Neznal. They had only one home recording session in 1994. Oleksandr was playing an electric cello of his own invention, and Svitlana was playing on mandolin and singing. As a result, they recorded only one track, "Dress," which appeared on the cassette compilation "Skhovaysya" in 1995. Apart from it, they recorded a few instrumental playbacks, which were found on cassette tape in 2021. Yurchenko was a big appreciator and knower of Central Asia’s music, and it influenced his own music, including Merta Zara, where traditional music and his melodist skills are intertwined. Playbacks were recorded in the beginning of 1995. It was also a home session, making instrumental playbacks for the album “Znayesh Yak? Rozkazhy” (Know How? Tell Me), recorded in collaboration with Svitlana Nianio. It should be assumed that Oleksandr used the same instrument and effects as he used during the “Count To 100” session. Some of these playbacks survived in his archive, but the rest of them were lost. The first one is an 8 minutes drone composition, which was played on a string instrument with a female voice on the background, and the second is the weird track where whirligig was used as an accompaniment. So, we can consider these recordings not only as playbacks but as Yurchenko’s solo stuff.

Solo recordings of Oleksandr Yurchenko, made in 1994—1995, are paying attention, especially in experimenting with sound, searching the new ways of creative freedom, and they give a possibility to learn more about the Ukrainian experimental scene in the 90s.

“Primavera” is a rare flower by Fango that is blossoming during the right season. On vinyl only, pluck it before it withers!"

Bristol multi-instrumentalist and producer William Yates combines electronic jazz, bass, beats, loops and samples in the masterly ethereal and hypnotic way.

Butterfred has been releasing his atmospheric hiphop, grime, dub and ambient-driven hybrids on his own Butterfred Productions label since 2017. His is a committed update of a breakbeat perspective through moody and hazy ambiences that touch upon neo-noir and the logic of rhythm within. For his first outing on Meakusma, he provides six short, yet wide-ranging tracks with a lot of forward momentum. Voice samples and ambientish scapes give all tracks direction, deceptively downtempo beats are at times driving, at times phased-out into the background. There is a definite mystique to Butterfred's work as it purposely leaves threads unresolved. The focus is on space, a spatial perspective that infuses his music with concrete references to his influences, be it hiphop, dub or even triphop. His sense of space is often very private, yet makes for a kaleidoscopic view, unafraid to be extensive. Butterfred has a very subdued online presence. This EP is his first music to also be released digitally. His work speaks for itself and does so in fragmented jolts of imagination and reduction.

Design: Meeuw