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LP
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RANDB 175LP
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The Beatles played two shows at the Montréal Forum on September 8th 1964, a matinee at 4pm and an evening performance at 8pm and at 6pm they held a press conference for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from the Forum's stage. A local newspaper had reported that somebody was going to kill Ringo, so instead of staying the night in Montréal, they flew out straight after the evening show and arrived at Key West at 3.30am where hundreds of fans were awaiting them. After a day off in Miami, the group performed at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida the following night. 1960's Records have done the best they possibly could with these admittedly lo-fi yet important historical recordings. The source is AM radio and there is considerable distortion on the vocals. The broadcast was faded out halfway through "A Hard Day's Night" so the last two songs of the show, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Long Tall Sally" were not transmitted.
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RANDB 176LP
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Trevor Lucas and Gerry Conway were members of the folk-rock group Eclection, who released an album in August 1968 on Elektra Records. After the group disbanded in 1969, they formed Fotheringay with Lucas's girlfriend Sandy Denny, who had recently left Fairport Convention. The Fairports were recording mostly traditional folk material at this time and Denny left the group so that she could perform more of her own compositions. The BBC session on side one of this LP features songs from the first Fotheringay album and took place at the Playhouse Theatre on April 13th 1970. The songs on side two were recorded at BBC's Maida Vale Studios in November 1970. They are "off-air" recordings but the sound quality is still very good.
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LP
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RANDB 177LP
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Eclection's lack of commercial success remains a mystery to this day. This selection of BBC Top Gear recordings demonstrates their song-writing strength and musical prowess. Only three tracks appeared on the band's sole studio LP: the remaining nine songs suggest what a second LP might have sounded like. Highly recommended to fans of Fairport Convention, with whom Eclection share some musical DNA. Comes with full recording credits and extensive sleeve notes. Recording quality very good/excellent throughout.
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CD
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WHYT 083CD
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New York-based artist James K returns with Friend. This album is full of electric pop anthems that blends ear-worming melodies with peak-time breaks, buzzing powerpunk guitars and a classic rave pulse, with K's signature enchanting vocals playfully spitting emotion. It's a hallucinatory pleasure, tearing through your body and mind. "Play" rushes with a rebellion of friends -- an electro fever daydream waking up everywhere you go. Hot off extensive tours worldwide, playing the likes of Pitchfork Festival, Dekmantel, iii Points, and Mutek, following in the footsteps of her last two critically acclaimed singles Friend comes on AD 93. RIYL: Cocteau Twins, Yves Tumor, Prodigy, Oklou, Grimes. Also available on transparent vinyl (WHYT 083TR-LP).
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WHYT 089LP
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Much of the Collide's sound is derived from an old Aria Pro II electric guitar from Leif's childhood, scratched up with damaged and unpredictable electrics. The record leans into this sense of things being broken or damaged -- and how sometimes things need to break in order for listeners to make sense of them -- reveling in, rather than resisting, unpredictability. Lush textures traverse the listener. across unexpected terrains.
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NMN 168LP
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Alga Marghen presents two previously unpublished seminal works by Bill Fontana, "Suite For Toy Tape Recorder" from 1968, and "Wave Spiral" from the early '70s. These recordings come directly from the archives of Philip Corner who also curated this LP edition and contributed the liner notes. 1968: In the basement Music Room of the New School For Social Research, Philip Corner was teaching "Analysis of New Music," a class he inherited from Malcolm Goldstein and before him Richard Maxfield and of course all the way back to the famous founder John Cage, present in the spirit of living history. The "Suite For Toy Tape Recorder" was a series of little reels of 1 7/8" tapes, unique experiments by means of "working-with" and so "transcend" by "making use-of" those little cheap tape-recorders. A sensitive ear that listened to hum and hiss and all the other characteristic distortions; and recorded these materials via a kind of physical phonogène of musique-concrete perspective, his thumb's friction as the reel was running fast-forward in order to create tape loops in contrapuntual collision. Side B presents "Wave Spiral, for 5 Rin Gongs," a 21-minute blissful piece recorded in the early-'70s and first presented in Australia in 1977. This work shows how Bill Fontana's research evolved toward working with the distinct physical dimension of different frequencies. An exploration of how sound becomes simultaneously its own material and the force acting upon it. The piece unfolds as an investigation of how frequency itself becomes sculptural. Across its 21-minute duration, the rin gongs generate sustained waves that spiral outward and inward simultaneously, their overtones interacting with the listening space that Fontana would describe as a "definition of motion interacting with a particular acoustic environment." The spiral manifests itself here not through cycles within cycles of tape loop manipulations like on Side A, but through the acoustic behavior of metallic resonance in space. This sound is rendered as tangible phenomenon, frequency made visible through its physical impact on the listening environment. These recordings have remained unheard for decades, only existing in Philip Corner's archive. Their publication allows the world to trace the development of an artist discovering that to work with sound was to investigate its physical dimensions, to understand that frequency and space are inseparable, that sound sculpure begins not with installation but with the fundamental recognition that all sounds exist as waves interacting with architecture itself. Edition of 232.
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NMN 184LP
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Edition of 300. Includes 8-page booklet. In 1969, while American minimalism was consolidating into its most recognizable forms, Charlemagne Palestine was conducting solitary experiments with oscillators and sine waves that only now reveal their visionary scope. This was the New York of lofts and abandoned industrial spaces, of artists pushing sound toward its physical limits -- a city where the boundaries between music, performance art, and bodily endurance were dissolving. Battling the Invisible unearths two electronic studies from that crucial year, paired with rare 1972 Bösendorfer sessions -- a document that illuminates the passage from pure electronics to the keyboard as an instrument of prolonged ecstasy. "Low Sounds 3" opens the record with fifteen minutes of low frequencies that seem to emerge from the very foundations of the sonic edifice. There is no development in the traditional sense, but a static presence that gradually colonizes the listening space. Think Eliane Radigue's meditative drone work filtered through a raw, almost brutalist sensibility. "Sine Tone Study" on Side B extends this practice for nearly nineteen minutes -- sine waves overlapping, creating beating patterns, zones of interference explored with the patience of an entomologist. The two 1972 Bösendorfer fragments function as bridges toward the Palestine the world knows better -- the strumming ecstasies, the hypnotic accumulation of overtones, the piano as a vehicle for transcendence. Here the physical approach to the keyboard is already evident -- what he would describe as a "battle." This release is part of Alga Marghen's The Golden Research series -- a concept devised by Palestine himself around the idea of "perfect sound." The series focuses exclusively on completely unreleased archival materials, bringing to light legendary recordings that have never been heard before. The LP includes a 8-page interview conducted by Sumner Crane and Rudolph Grey in January 1979 at Palestine's NYC loft, with Arto Lindsay present, later redacted by Alan Licht. The insert is an anastatic reproduction of the original 12-page typescript. Unfiltered, explosive -- Palestine on violence, on the body as battleground, on his Brooklyn childhood. Essential reading.
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CD
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AHA 003CD
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This new album by Eric Random coincides with the start of the last Cabaret Voltaire tour, for which Eric joined as a member. The album marks a contrast to his most recent releases, less dance-oriented and with a darker pop tone and a cinematic, soundtrack-like atmosphere.
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2LP
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AOR 003ST-LP
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The definitive 2LP reissue of a landmark in British jazz fusion. Analogue October Records presents the long-awaited reissue of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, Neil Ardley's 1976 masterpiece, originally released on Gull Records. Produced by Neil Ardley and recorded at London's famed Morgan Studios, the sessions were engineered and mixed by Martin Levan, capturing one of the most ambitious and beloved works in British jazz. Following the acclaimed reissues of Courtney Pine's Journey to the Urge Within and Neil Ardley's Harmony of the Spheres, this third release confirms Analogue October as one of today's most meticulous and exciting reissue labels. Commissioned for the 1975 Camden Jazz Festival, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows is structured as a seven-part suite, each movement reflecting a color of the spectrum. Ardley's composition weaves together jazz improvisation, progressive rock energy, and orchestral elegance in one of the most imaginative British jazz recordings of the era. Featuring Ian Carr, Barbara Thompson, Tony Coe, Trevor Tomkins, and Geoff Castle, the album is a who's who of the UK's vibrant 1970s jazz scene. For this definitive edition, Analogue October worked directly from the original Gull master tapes. Mastering was entrusted to Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, using his renowned half-speed process to extract every detail and dynamic from Ardley's score. To give the music the headroom it deserves, the reissue has been expanded to a deluxe 2LP set, pressed on the highest-quality vinyl at Record Industry in Haarlem, Netherlands. The result is a presentation that finally does justice to the scope and brilliance of Ardley's vision. The artwork has been meticulously restored from the original film elements, ensuring a sleeve of unmatched vibrancy and fidelity. Inside, a 12-page booklet printed on heavyweight card features an in-depth essay on Neil Ardley and the making of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, written by Jazzwise magazine editor Mike Flynn, alongside rare photographs from the period. As with every Analogue October release, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows has been curated and produced by label founder Craig Crane with a collector's eye for detail and a deep respect for the music's legacy. This reissue is not only the definitive vinyl edition of one of the great British jazz fusion albums -- it also continues the label's mission to restore and celebrate the most vital recordings of the era.
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4K UHD BLU-RAY
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AV 783UHD
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4K Ultra HD. Region code: 0. "In early 1980s New York City, independent filmmaker Charlie Ahearn and downtown artist Fred Brathwaite ventured uptown with the aim of capturing an exciting new underground scene that was happening in the South Bronx, a scene that featured graffiti artists, breakdancing b-boys and two turntables and a microphone. The result was Wild Style, and to many viewers it was their first glimpse of the musical and cultural phenomenon called hip-hop. In this unique hybrid of fiction and documentary, the story of lone graffiti artist Lee 'Zoro' Quiñones trying to achieve success on his own terms is brought to vivid life with support by Fred 'Fab 5 Freddy' Brathwaite, Sandra 'Lady Pink' Fabara, and Patti Astor, and with historic music performances by such luminaries as Grandmaster Flash, Busy Bee, The Fantastic Five, The Cold Crush Brothers, and The Rock Steady Crew. To create the score, Chris Stein (Blondie) would collaborate with Brathwaite to produce the actual breakbeats to be used in the film, an inspired decision that would provide a source of obsession among crate diggers for decades to come. Endlessly sampled, imitated and debated, Wild Style is the truest portrait of the hip-hop scene during its early years, and remains one of the most important music films ever made. Arrow Films is proud to present Wild Style in an exclusive new 4K restoration with hours of brand-new bonus features, vintage interviews and featurettes."
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7"
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ATA 037EP
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ATA Records presents the latest release from The Flying Hats. Following the buzz surrounding their debut LP and the soft limited pre-release of "Blender," anticipation for this single has been huge. The Flying Hats return in phenomenal form with two previously unreleased cuts of the highest caliber. Both tracks strike hard somewhere between Kingston and New Orleans, as if The Meters were channeling Jackie Mittoo or Sound Dimension were jamming with Jimmy Smith.
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LP
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ATA 044LP
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LP version. ATA Records present the new release by Work Money Death, A Portal to Here. This album continues WMD's exploration of spiritual jazz and the sounds and styles that evolved out of the '60s New Thing, particularly the recordings of Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders. The first WMD album released since the tragic death of ATA guitarist Chris Earl Dawkins in early 2025, all four tracks reference the journey that band members and the studio have been on -- in many ways this record is a testament and tribute to Chris, his musicality and creativity. Featuring WMD stalwarts Tony Burkill, Neil Innes, Sam Hobbs, and Sam Bell, the album introduces Sorcerers keyboardist Johnny Richards to the WMD sound. Richards brings a fresh new take to the piano role here, drawing on what is clearly a broad knowledge of jazz history and channeling that through his own unique 21st century musical perspective. The album also features contributions from Alice Roberts on harp, bringing the spirit of Alice Coltrane, Ben Powling on baritone saxophone, Richard Ormrod on woodwind, and Kev Holbrough and Steve Parry on brass. Those Sun Ra-esque horn sections lift the mood whenever they appear. Standout tracks are the second, "Dance of the Spirits," with a strong core of "Baptism and The Blues" and some lovely playing by Richards, and the third track, "Brother Earl," which begins with Tony on flute over rhythms that are directly reminiscent of open-hearted, late-'60s spirituality. A Portal to Here is a stunning addition to the WMD catalogue and a clear statement that the band continues to create and produce, whatever life throws its way.
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7"
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BTR 128EP
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Kutiman joins Batov Records' Middle Eastern Grooves series with explosive double-sider. The release features two essential, souk-fueled, psych-funk heaters: "Haraka" and "Khamsin." A prolific musical force, Kutiman delivers the goods on "Haraka" ("movement"), layering neck-snapping rock drums, irresistible psychedelic basslines, and haunting organ riffs, with microtonal-bending synths and tablainspired percussion. On the B-side, "Khamsin" ("heatwave") continues the trip with another heavy dose of Middle Eastern psych and funk, culminating in a blistering guitar solo in his signature Middle Eastern style by longtime collaborator Uri Brauner Kinrot (Ouzo Bazooka, Boom Pam), who also contributes beguilingly languid bass guitar riffs.
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CD
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BCD 17775CD
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"Bear Family Records provides the ultimate James Brown compilation! Revered as a pioneering soul and funk icon (not to mention as The Hardest Working Man in Show Business), James Brown would at first seem an unlikely subject for an entry in Bear Family's long-running Rocks series. But undeniable evidence that Mr. Dynamite proudly belongs in any pantheon of great and timeless rock and rollers defines this compilation (after all, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in 1986). During Brown's early years at Syd Nathan's Cincinnati-based Federal and King Records, Soul Brother Number One engaged in plenty of righteous rocking with his Famous Flames vocally backing him up, from the thundering jumpers 'I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On' and the Little Richard-inspired 'Chonnie-On-Chon' to a daffy Coasters-like 'That Dood It' and into the screaming testifiers 'I'll Go Crazy,' 'This Old Heart,' 'Think,' 'Good Good Lovin',' 'Dancin' Little Thing,' and 'Shout And Shimmy.' Along the way, he constantly invented and perfected new grooves and beats to anoint himself as the baddest R&B singer in the land while never allowing the sweat to dry from any stage he muscularly commanded. This collection offers 30 sizzling houserockers by The Godfather of Soul (or Funk -- take your pick) from his crucial primordial era, closing with his earth-shattering game-changers 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' and 'I Got You (I Feel Good),' which permanently shifted the axis of soul music with their singular funky vision. There are even a handful of Brown's all-too-often overlooked instrumentals, where he usually played drums or organ with his mighty band and grooved like a man possessed. Yes, James Brown could rock -- and this scintillating compilation contains the invaluable goods!"
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LP
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BS 001LP
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In 1934, Swiss engineers completed the Chandoline Hydroelectric Plant, channeling Alpine water through 16 kilometers of concrete pipe. By 2023, the turbines had stopped. The plant was empty, silent -- a cathedral to obsolete energy with perfect acoustics and nothing left to say. Christian Marclay saw an instrument. For the inaugural Biennale Son in 2023, the artist who made his name destroying vinyl in 1980s New York turned the entire hydroelectric system into a playable object. The concept: open a manhole 4.5 kilometers uphill, drop something in, wait for sound to travel through the mountain. Steel bearings didn't work -- too heavy, wrong frequency. So Marclay used golf and tennis balls donated by local clubs. The Valais School of Art rigged the turbine hall with microphones. Then the balls dropped. Seconds of silence. Then: tumbling, bouncing, accelerating through kilometers of concrete. Not one ball but many, building into something between avalanche and applause as they hit the hall below. Marclay directed remotely, releasing volleys like a percussionist striking a drum the size of a small town. The pipe amplified everything -- pure mountain reverb, no processing, just 1934 engineering singing its swan song. The recording, mixed with Alain Renaud, is the Biennale Son's first vinyl release. Side A features fifteen minutes of cascading spheres, industrial archaeology as living sound. Side B features an engraved portrait of Marclay. Unplayable. The performance happened once. The pipe spoke. That's enough. This is quintessential Marclay -- the artist who built the Phonoguitar (1983), scattered records to be crushed underfoot (Footsteps, 1989), won Venice's Golden Lion with The Clock (2011), collaborated with Sonic Youth and John Zorn, and has spent his career proving that everything is already an instrument. Mountains. Vinyl. Film. Time itself. You just need to know where to listen -- or where to drop the ball. Always the same question: what music do objects make when you know how to listen? Here, the answer is gravity plus concrete plus expired sporting goods equals something you've never heard before. Conduite forcée means "penstock" but translates as "forced conduct" -- water compelled through pipe, sound through space, music from infrastructure. Limited edition. One pressing. No digital. Just the grooves and the ghost of Switzerland's hydroelectric past, pressed into vinyl like water in a sealed pipe. Mountains as instruments. Golf balls as notes. A decommissioned power plant's final performance, conducted by one of contemporary art's most inventive listeners.
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LP
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BS 091LP
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This album is both a musical and political document that tells the story of one of the most brutal massacres that took place in 1976 in a Palestinian refugee camp during the Lebanese Civil War. Pianist Gaetano Liguori, along with Giulio Stocchi and Demetrio Stratos (the legendary singer of the band Area), composed this album, a gut-wrenching blend of free jazz, poetry, and Mediterranean music. The first edition was released in 1978 and, after almost 50 years, unfortunately, nothing seems to have changed. This is the third edition of the album, and as with the previous releases, all proceeds will go to charity. This time, Black Sweat have chosen to donate the funds to UNRWA.
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CD
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BS 094CD
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In the late 1980s, Klaus Wiese (Popol Vuh) deepened his connection with Tibetan culture. The result is a series of works solely dedicated to the universal purity of the Singing Bowls. Uranus, perhaps the most rigorous of these, is an intense meditation on the trans-personal sphere of the VI chackra. The music becomes like a single harmonic chant, the reflection of a constant flow of divine light, which transforms the psyche and dilates the secret passages of the heart. In the galaxy of pure sound, the accumulated overtones offer the intrepid listener the access to a prismatic, fluorescence-rich consciousness. The ego thus becomes the sonorous composer of itself, of the vital circle flooded with beneficial acoustic vibrations. In this sense, Uranus, originally published on tape (Aquamarin Verlag/1988), also marks a parallel with the same research by Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings or Nada Himalaya's Deuter.
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LP
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BS 094LP
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LP version. In the late 1980s, Klaus Wiese (Popol Vuh) deepened his connection with Tibetan culture. The result is a series of works solely dedicated to the universal purity of the Singing Bowls. Uranus, perhaps the most rigorous of these, is an intense meditation on the trans-personal sphere of the VI chackra. The music becomes like a single harmonic chant, the reflection of a constant flow of divine light, which transforms the psyche and dilates the secret passages of the heart. In the galaxy of pure sound, the accumulated overtones offer the intrepid listener the access to a prismatic, fluorescence-rich consciousness. The ego thus becomes the sonorous composer of itself, of the vital circle flooded with beneficial acoustic vibrations. In this sense, Uranus, originally published on tape (Aquamarin Verlag/1988), also marks a parallel with the same research by Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings or Nada Himalaya's Deuter.
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LP
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BS 099LP
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At the end of the 1980s, Mariolina Zitta approached the world of natural sounds, studying musicology and developing a passion for speleology. Her encounter with Walter Maioli was fundamental, guiding and influencing her definitive research into sound archaeology and the primitive sources of musical acoustic phenomena. In these recordings Mariolina conducts a magical ritual as a cave priestess, celebrating the icons par excellence of the mysteries of the night: bats. The specific frequencies of the calls of these fascinating creatures are recorded with special detectors used by ecologists, and the result is an organic synthesizer. The fusion with the sounds of natural objects (stones, stalactites, logs, bone whistles, Tibetan bells, mouth bows, trumpet shells) and the vocal modulations of harmonic singing allow listeners to travel into a still unexplored sound dimension, through an evocative experience of total sensory listening. It is an arcane landscape filled with pure vibrations, magnetic resonances and aquatic sounds; an ancestral enchantment on the border between consciousness and dreams, a symbolic liturgy of primordial reverberations, echoes and whistles. Edition of 200 copies.
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2LP
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BS 101LP
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"Gagaku" is the oldest of the Japanese performing arts, with a history more than a thousand years old. The term refers to Japanese classical music and dance, traditionally performed by families of musicians linked to the ancient Imperial court, and later passed down in Buddhist temple ceremonies and Shinto shrines. Shiba Sukeyasu, founder and director of the Reigakusha ensemble, descends from the Koma clan, whose origins date back to the end of the 10th century. These recordings partly reflect repertoires borrowed from Chinese music between the 5th and 9th centuries. The incredible variety of timbres of the instruments greatly amplifies the listener's exotic imagination: the eternal breath of the flutes (ryuteki and hichiriki) creates a sort of suspension of time, together with the hypnotic and hallucinatory atmosphere of the mouth organs (shō). The meditative tone of the string instruments (bika and koto) that punctuate the voids and silences is impressive, as is the enigmatic percussion section, with the tolling of the gong (shōko) and the calibrated beats of the drums (taiko and kakko).
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BS 102LP
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Originally from Sicily but living in Basel, electronic composer Marco Papiro confirms his eccentric and multifaceted personality. The sound articulation of his analog synthesizers flows into in an artificial hyperrealism of great thematic and expressive variation. The tracks unfold between ascending cosmic moments, more ecstatic meditative tones, symphonic planetary floods, exotic Afrodelic and psycho-Andean drifts. Papiro synthesizes and converts echoes of acoustic wind instruments (oboe, recorders, bamboo flute), while the percussion lives on its own pulsating reality. The influence of certain folk traditions, as well as contemporary music, also suggests the more acoustic flavor of an ethereal minimalism (for voice and psaltery), making his music a continuous open sea of visions. Cover painting by Anton Bruhin printed on two different colored papers. Co-released with Les Giants.
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12"
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BORNBAD 072RP
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Reissue in white color vinyl. First time reissue of this French cold-wave/minimal-synth treasure. Originally released in November, 1981.
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CD
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BORNBAD 190CD
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Emile Sornin has a robot in his life. It's not love, but it's not friendship either, and Forever Pavot is releasing an album documenting the affair on Born Bad. After a bunch of bold pop studio albums and a small stack of soundtracks, Emile needed a break. To put an end to it, he embarked with handyman extraordinaire Jonas Euvremer on the manufacture of an automaton destined to make his musician's life easier. Melchior, who gave his name to the record, has the face of a ventriloquist's dummy, two plastic left hands, preppy clothes and a primitive logic circuit. This goodie two-shoes cousin of Bender's is supposed to be doing the interviews and deal with socials for Emile. The plan worked admirably: Melchior is a perfect cover-boy, and his very existence has put our man back to work. They set a path for phat electronic ventures (and by the way, mostly English-speaking). Sub- continental bass and massive drums, heavy-footed and unabashed: as much appreciated as unexpected. The half-android shares songwriting credits and vocal parts vocoded to perfection. Not a jealous lad, Melchior makes way for a guest of choice on "UFO" and "Waiting for the sign": Lispector. Julie Margat sings and collaborated on the lyrics for these two bangers that provide a lot of context (robot angst is real). Kumisolo also sent her "Postcard", more vapor than song, unreal musical cotton candy of arrangements. Domotic, who mixes and co-produces, gives a nice spin to "Count to 10," a hip-hop/kraut crossover with a BEAK> flavor. The Forever Pavot, once a big-band, will be touring as a bass/ drums/keys and vocals trio, with Melchior as guest. Record after record, Emile Sornin has become an increasingly literate musical illiterate. When needed, his music can still become a thicket of ancient and modern finds. Forever Pavot may have gone wild, but remains indebted vis-à-vis the golden age of film music. Forebears deluxe Ennio Morricone and François de Roubaix make Hitchcock-style cameos: discreet appearances that you'll watch out for. His new flirt is all but a toxic relationship. Melchior Vol. 1: the robo-bromance is not over yet.
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BORNBAD 192CD
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Jessica93, prodigal bastard of the glorious French squat scene, relocated on Born Bad. Geoffroy Laporte, alone against all odds, alternates bass and guitar to build harsh loops with a drum machine spitting pre-Gulf War patterns. That's where it gets tricky: every musical posse claims him. Grunge, sure, but Jessica doesn't indulge in necrophilia. His circuit is punk, he doesn't dress the part though. Cold wave, the atmosphere fits somehow, but the gear does not. Maybe it's time to give it a rest and let Jessica93 cook his great misery broth on her own, called 666 Tours De Périph (666 laps on the beltway). Witnessing Jessica93 live makes you dread that he'll get up the next morning, drive 200 miles and one nap later kick it again. At the heart of this cultural pentacle painted by French weirdos Bryan's Magic Tears, and Carine Krinator, Jessica93 has built a sound validated by years of chosen vagrancy, birthing bands with joyously stupid monikers, in the humid jungle of small labels. Jessica93's debut album had a track celebrating Omar Little, HBO's gay bandit from Baltimore. This story begins on the beltway, where Florence Rey, accidental copkiller turned to political icon of the '90s. A previous album was haunted by bedbugs, this one is essentially about love, a delicious scourge just as hard to eradicate. The record demonstrates the know-how acquired in loop-by-loop construction of ruins that are pleasant to squat in together. There's your classic doom delicatessen, with bits of heavy metal inside, crafted with the manic care typical of hard wankers. Arthur Satàn, who produced and mixed the album at home in Bordeaux, helped him get his head out of the reverb safe house. And Jessica93 took the opportunity to switch to the dark side of the language: French at last.
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BUDA 860411CD
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"Muluken Mèllèssè leaves posterity with a clear idea of the level of sophistication and mastery that modern Ethiopian music had reached before it was crushed under the military-Stalinist boot of the Derg. Betraying the singer's extreme youth (he was not yet 18 at the time), his angelic voice fooled more than one listener into thinking they were hearing a female singer. It was Muluken who inaugurated the Ethiopiques series more than twenty years ago with Hédètch alu, the B-side of his first single. He was not yet 22 when he released his last vinyl record on Kaifa Records (KF 39LP) in 1976, one of the last released in Ethiopia before the cassette became the dominant medium for music distribution. Ethiopia, 1976. For a year now, cassettes have been inexorably crushing the vinyl record market. Muluken Mellesse's 33 rpm album Muluqän Mälläsä, produced that year by Ali Abdella Kaifa on his Kaifa Records label, is historic in more ways than one. It is one of the last vinyl records released in Ethiopia, but more than that it is the absolute masterpiece of Ethiopian Groove -- and its swansong. It leaves posterity with a clear idea of the level of sophistication and mastery that modern Ethiopian music had reached before it was crushed under the military-Stalinist boot of the Derg -- the word that stands for the bloody revolution that had been underway since 1974."
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