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COS 027LP
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"After the phenomenal response to our previous survey of disco and boogie sounds from early eighties South Africa, we decided to wade a bit deeper into the pool to focus on one of the most compelling acts to emerge from that theater, the Space Cats. Hailing from the small, insular music scene in the coal-mining city of Witbank, the Space Cats were a five-man band fronted by singer/bassist Themba 'T'Rex' Mzwakali and singer/guitarist Santy Dladala. Operating as a semi-professional live combo rather than a studio-driven aggregation, they stood out from the slick, highly polished conventions of the day. And when they took the stage they offered a take on disco that was stripped-down, raw, rugged and inspired by Afro-rock groups like Harari and Hedzoleh Soundz. While the Space Cats' moment in the spotlight was short-lived -- the band played together for barely a year before management issues necessitated a breakup -- they managed to produce one endearing document of their brief career. Something New, their first and only album, released in 1981, features ten tracks of jittery, hard-edged disco-boogie-funk that capture the flavor of their performances in the rollicking dancehalls of Witbank. Issued on the tiny Rejoice imprint, Something New had a very limited distribution reach even within South Africa and has remained heard by very few people over the last thirty-eight years. So we're proud to make it available for the first time to the wide audience it surely deserved upon its initial release."
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ERGODOS 027LP
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Jonathan Nangle is a Dublin composer whose work explores many diverse fields -- from notated acoustic and electro-acoustic compositions, through live and spatially distributed electronics, to video, sound installation, and electronic improvisation. His transcendent music for strings comes to life in these luminous recordings by Crash Ensemble, Ireland's leading ensemble for adventurous new music. This is music of serene focus; often fragile, always intricately woven. In "Where Distant City Lights Flicker On Half-Frozen Ponds", Nangle enhances a solo violin with electronic resonators which subtly color the musical material like a heat shimmer. "My Heart Stopped A Thousand Beats" is a slow ritual for viola and cello, unfurling into a series of fragments. The mercurial title track "Pause" was inspired by the idea of data glitches in both music and visual media. A snippet of music by early twentieth-century American composer Charles Ives is processed, rearranged, and deliberately glitched, serving as a springboard to new material. The two "Fragment" tracks also featured on the album are short improvisations on passages that occur within "Pause" -- reflections of fleeting images. The album closes with "Tessellate" for cello and electronics, inspired by the phenomena of tessellations, where a shape is repeated over and over again, covering a plane without any gaps. RIYL: Kronos Quartet, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, Kevin Volans, David Lang, Ólafur Arnalds, Nico Muhly.
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OS 027LP
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First vinyl release of the first ever recordings by Belgian minimal synth masters Twilight Ritual. Originally released in 1982 in a tiny cassette edition, this album has not been heard by many people. The Ritual includes some of their best work, from mysterious dark synthpop songs ("Elegy") to club music ("Webb Men") and the epic 14-minute track "Up to Now." Twilight Ritual is the main project of Geert Coppens and Peter Bonne. During the early '80s they were both involved in many other bands, including Autumn and Linear Movement (both later reissued by Minimal Wave), but Twilight Ritual is by far the most inspired project. The spirit of the band lingers on beneath the work of Autumn through A Split-Second and stands beside the best tracks of bands such as Oppenheimer Analysis and League of Nations. Instruments and production by Peter Bonne. Lyrics and artwork by Geert Coppens. Remastered at Equus. Includes double-sided insert with lyrics and photos.
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