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LP
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PRPO 1020LP
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A collection of improvisational electronic mantras, premiered earlier this year on NTS, where Parisian artist Shelter explores odd meters, Indian-inspired drum cycles and expansive drone harmonics. It's a dreamed folklore, reminiscent of Hariprasad Chaurasia and Charanjit Singh's Eternity, John Hassel's fourth world or Craig Leon's Nommos. The LP blurs the line between organic and synthesis where drum machines melt into surreal harmonium textures and programming is indistinguishable from improvisation. Follows a Séance Centre debut. Edition of 300.
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LP
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GBR 016LP
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An underwater adventure by young Parisian Shelter. Where previous releases have seen the synth-obsessed Frenchman take his inspiration from Caribbean rhythms or Balearic attitudes, this marine missive sees Shelter turn to the lavish world of the library, creating his alternate score to Jean Faurez's 1960 documentary short. More submersible than snorkel, the journey begins in the very dark of the deep, mystical harp trills echoing through the inky blackness, picking up the bioluminescent shimmer of an Abraliopsis Squid. Gradually you make your way into the light, cruising past shoals of silver scales and underwater forests. "Immersion" offers a placid, percolating rhythm and billowing pads, providing sonic symmetry for the dancing leaves, while the spherical soundscape of "La Vie A L'Ombre" bubbles away like an underwater volcano. The optimistic ambience of "Plenitude Azotee", brimming with delicate melody and glistening sequences, perfectly captures the wide-eyed wonder of a reef dive, before drifting into the serenity of "Parade", an aquatic acquaintance of A.R.T. Wilson's Overworld (2014). A brief foray into shark fin funk sees out the A side, before you're back amid the beauty of the ocean floor; "Variation Abyssale II" echoing the album opener but with even more poetry. The exotic and otherworldly sine waves of "Dans La Jungle De Varech" simultaneously sound like a rainforest canopy, alien landscape, and coral microcosm, expanding the horizons nicely ahead of the adrenaline rush of "Hors D'Haleine". Shelter then sets you at ease with the tidal tonality and subtle shuffle of "Fumeurs Noirs", a sublime synthetic suite, then leaves us to marvel at the soft-focus splendor of "Synthii Outro".
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LP
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IFEEL 061LP
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Shelter is Alan Briand, a young Parisian producer with a strong melodic center producing a sound that pulls on the zouk, the Afro, the Balearic and the ambient palette. Zon Zon Zon is only his fifth release and his first mini-album, following the series on International Feel that delivered material from Len Leise (IFEEL 049LP, 2016), Wolf Muller & Cass. (IFEEL 054LP, 2016), and CFCF (IFEEL 051LP, 2016). International Feel first met Shelter on a trip to Paris a few years back. It sounds like a story from a Nick Hornby novel, but there's a record shop in Paris called L'International Records, run by a guy called Dave, who has a group of young French DJs, producers, and promoters that visit the store, hang out, and buy and listen to music - a story no doubt currently being repeated throughout the world as new generations immerse themselves in the culture. Shelter is a producer who has sucked up all that he has been hearing around him for a number of years and is now producing a quality sound, pulling on the exotic. The seven tracks on this mini-album are taken from an extensive pool of Shelter's melodic magic. Some people lead on the beats, some on the production, but Alan focuses on the melody, with the beat closely tied in as support. "Señor Zalla" starts the album with an Afro vibe, closely followed by the zouk-style of "Zon Zon Zon" and "Port-au-Coeur"'s mellow Balearic tones, as Shelter twists nature's sounds into his own sonic world. "Bucolica", an upbeat wonder of a track, turns to the ambient mantra of "Courant Rouge" and its distant cousin "Courant Bleu", a classic rhythmic Balearic piece with syncopated melody and delayed drums. "La Volière" (the French can make even "bird cage" sound beautiful) brings the album to a close with a smile in the mind's eye. Zon Zon Zon is universal. It could easily have been created in Ibiza or Canada, Australia or Africa. It was in fact recorded at Paris, where Shelter forged beauty through the sounds of nature and uncovers a wisdom in its simplicity. Expect good things from Alan. Here's the first chapter. 180 gram vinyl.
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