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LP
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CCS 132LP
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$28.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/17/2024
LP version. With his new instrumental album Ventas Rumba, the French composer (and singer) returns to his signature instrument, the piano, blending it with warm synth tones. This album represents a "return to his roots," allowing Ezéchiel Pailhès to reinvent himself in a seamless way while still exploring ballads and ritornellos, halfway between light-heartedness and melancholy. Ezéchiel Pailhès has been meaning to write a solo piano album for as long as he can remember. Hardly surprising, of course, for this academically-trained pianist, brought up on classical music and then studied jazz. Yet, since his 2001 debut with the electro-pop duo Nôze, and his subsequent four albums, the artist had constantly postponed this project that was so close to his heart. Then in 2022, just as he was getting ready to start producing an album of new songs, this long-standing aim finally materialized. The melodies he wrote seemed to stand on their own naturally, spurring him on to compose this series of fourteen tracks, recorded in sessions split between France and Latvia. A new piano: the Una Corda Ezéchiel wanted this project dedicated to the piano to begin a new narrative, to explore new instrumental terrain and new tones, something far removed from the familiar piano he has been playing all his life. He opted for the Una Corda piano, designed by David Klavins, a groundbreaking instrument builder renowned for his distinctive pianos with vertical shapes and frames. The Una Corda, created in 2014, is an upright piano with a single string per note (unlike three strings on traditional pianos). Enticed by the "crystalline and unique" tones of this instrument, which is hard to find in France, Ezéchiel travelled to Kuldiga, Latvia (where David Klavins set up his workshops and studios), to record the first part of the album. Although the title of the album may initially conjure up images of a distant, sensual dance, the reality is quite different. Ventas Rumba indeed refers to the waterfall and rapids (in Latvian: rumba) of the river Ventas, which runs near this small village in the western part of the country. Ezéchiel chose to blur the lines, as the sound and musicality of the title likely evoke both his short stay in the Baltic country, and also a form of distant exotic imagery perfectly in tune with his own mischievous wit.
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CD
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CC 024CD
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/17/2024
With his new instrumental album Ventas Rumba, the French composer (and singer) returns to his signature instrument, the piano, blending it with warm synth tones. This album represents a "return to his roots," allowing Ezéchiel Pailhès to reinvent himself in a seamless way while still exploring ballads and ritornellos, halfway between light-heartedness and melancholy. Ezéchiel Pailhès has been meaning to write a solo piano album for as long as he can remember. Hardly surprising, of course, for this academically-trained pianist, brought up on classical music and then studied jazz. Yet, since his 2001 debut with the electro-pop duo Nôze, and his subsequent four albums, the artist had constantly postponed this project that was so close to his heart. Then in 2022, just as he was getting ready to start producing an album of new songs, this long-standing aim finally materialized. The melodies he wrote seemed to stand on their own naturally, spurring him on to compose this series of fourteen tracks, recorded in sessions split between France and Latvia. A new piano: the Una Corda Ezéchiel wanted this project dedicated to the piano to begin a new narrative, to explore new instrumental terrain and new tones, something far removed from the familiar piano he has been playing all his life. He opted for the Una Corda piano, designed by David Klavins, a groundbreaking instrument builder renowned for his distinctive pianos with vertical shapes and frames. The Una Corda, created in 2014, is an upright piano with a single string per note (unlike three strings on traditional pianos). Enticed by the "crystalline and unique" tones of this instrument, which is hard to find in France, Ezéchiel travelled to Kuldiga, Latvia (where David Klavins set up his workshops and studios), to record the first part of the album. Although the title of the album may initially conjure up images of a distant, sensual dance, the reality is quite different. Ventas Rumba indeed refers to the waterfall and rapids (in Latvian: rumba) of the river Ventas, which runs near this small village in the western part of the country. Ezéchiel chose to blur the lines, as the sound and musicality of the title likely evoke both his short stay in the Baltic country, and also a form of distant exotic imagery perfectly in tune with his own mischievous wit.
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LP
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CCS 131LP
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$28.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/12/2024
Yuval Havkin, also known as Rejoicer, is one of the foremost exponents of downtempo music, inspired by the fusion of jazz and hip-hop. This Is Reasonable draws on his early influences while exploring the world of calm, melodic electronic music that borders on ambient. This Is Reasonable has a chill-out feel to it, a record filled with melodies and atmospheres that, throughout its eleven tracks, conveys a sense of calm and floating, akin to ambient music. Stripped of the clichés of the genre, the album is built around subtle melodies and rich harmonies from keyboards and synths, which borrow as much from the spirit of jazz as from the inventions of electronica, whilst being supported by a gentle groove. This equilibrium is perfectly captured by Rejoicer's moniker, a term that evokes both the idleness of artificial paradises and a soft, caring form of spirituality. This new Rejoicer album, which follows three earlier jazz-tinged records, marks a new and more personal musical direction for an artist who previously favored group work and collaborations. Following his meeting with Mathias Duchemin, founder of the Circus Company record label and a keen enthusiast of the new Israeli jazz scene, Yuval chose to delve into a more electronic and sequenced style of music, playing Prophet 6 and 8 synths, a Juno 60, a Minimoog and his Fender Rhodes keyboard, in contrast with the more organic sounds of his previous albums. While a few tracks on this new album may sound like a laid-back version of some of the Warp label's early electronic classics by Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada, Yuval Havkin claims to have also been inspired by the great Fela Kuti, particularly in his search for harmonies between bass, keyboards and percussion, and by his elder trumpet-playing friend Avishai Cohen, a musician he particularly admires. Beyond these various influences, This Is Reasonable is an album of compelling and bewitching melodies. The moods, peacefulness and sheer beauty of This Is Reasonable is, indeed, quite paradoxical, in stark contrast to the country's tragedies (the title explicitly refers to recent political disputes in Israel) and the war currently raging less than a hundred miles from his studio. A paradox fully embraced by the artist, who views his music as a response to the violence of our times. Features Yonatan Albalak.
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2LP
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CCS 130LP
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Alan Abrahams aka Portable returns to the label in fine form with his latest full-length LP, Augmented Dreams. The title refers to the use of everyday technological advancements to achieve what were once only dreams or visions of past generations, making this an explorative concept album that is equal parts not-too-distant science fiction, and about as topical as it gets. From the gorgeous opening string layers of "The Pull of Time" to the classy 4/4 grooves of "Begin Again" or lead single "Guiding Me", into the apropos and angular sci-fi broken beat feels of "Parallax" and "The Color of Static", fitting Detroit-influenced love taps like "Beacon" and "The Mycorrhizal Network", the politically-inspired "Are We Not Above It?" referencing the lingering effects of colonization featuring NiQ E from South Africa on vocals and L_cio from Brazil on flute, through to the futurist pop elegance of the dreamy duet recorded with Alexey Kochetkov "I Need You" and the conclusive titular track, it is clear that both the in-depth concept and immaculately-crafted musical content in Portable's inimitable style are balanced in significance and expressive effect. This also functions as a timely statement in itself, as today's iceberg-tip evolution of AI technology is currently impending over the arts and many of our existing realities. This ten-song album serves as an imaginative yet hyperrealist narrative on how humanity's fascination with and reliance on ever-advancing technology defines the times we find ourselves in, while the skillful sonic displays and present-era production techniques along with Abraham's knack for timeless emotive songwriting offer up this solid soundtrack for the ages.
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12"
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CCS 126EP
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The ever-prolific and established artist Alan Abrahams aka Portable makes a swift and very welcome return to Circus Company with the impressive lead single "Guiding Me", giving you an early taste of his forthcoming album, Augmented Dreams. Conceptually the direction of this new project refers to the use of technology to alter our dreams, inadvertently or not, as so much tech advancement becomes available and ingrained in our daily lives. The timely lead single here inspired by Abraham's South African ancestors the Khoi San people and the guidance they provide, appropriately exuding both futurist formed sonics and dream-like tenderness in content, led by his dulcet-toned vocals and delivered with the super solid production we've come to expect. Wonderful multi-purpose electronic music which will find itself right at home on late-night discerning dancefloors, or indeed guiding the listener through their respective travels, solo meditations or get-downs in headphones. Along with the excellent "Guiding Me" original mix, you are graced with a masterful remix by Hamburg's Lawrence of Smallville and Dial fame, who takes the track into an even more floor-focused realm with his patented rolling sub-bass lines which will guarantee plenty of summertime sound system finessing, as well as the EP-exclusive B2 track "Vigor" in which Portable goes even deeper in tone with classic styled vocal cut-ups and repurposed shards of tasty sound design added to keep the dancers endlessly entranced when and wherever they may be.
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CD
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CC 023CD
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Deepening the comic tones using cosmic relief, and lively vibes, La Science des Imbéciles (Ludicrous System), Brigitte Barbu's sophomore sonic adventure, manifest a blurry creation intersecting orbital audio paths and damaged smoking instruments. Could have easily been called Birdless Science but it wouldn't be funny? Reverberating estranged arrangements, bizarre sounds, electronic fantasies, "hallucinationalism", and crypto poppy stratums all party together in Barbu's second explicit sensual album. Recorded and digested during a gastro-reclusive residency in an Un-Orthodox Union Spacy Workstation, under the benign diffraction of "Californian psychedelia" and medieval Cyrillic capharnaüm. Due to historic geographical confusions and incorrect spellings, any specific detail will stay confidential. Using a powerful branded calculator, digital converters, boutique preamps, and various synthetic substitutions, this extra album is blooming for spring cleaning. The guitar was accidentally ravaged, propelling supervision into a strange but dope alt verse, still somewhere between an impromptu voyage through scattered chronology and a poetic analytical research. A cheerful memento escaping from pressure and weight like one of those fancy diets. "I wanted to compose an intangible pop LP," says Brigitte, "with guitar as an alibi, blending arrogant synthesizers and humble plug-ins." With a genuine thoughtful dimension, this record freaks as out audiences with its neat mischievous mood. Jazzing the mushing rooms while testing the acid tweaks, initially, the artist had ambiguously vague rules for composing: but slowly, offending beardless academics became the motto. Ingrédients: orgasmic pads, sublime beaches, distorted nostalgia, frustrated markets, perfect crowds, shady brews, body fluids, magnificent news, fried stars, hairy spouses, loud flirts, cosmic crumbs, healed sons, dumb technology, rare games, underground motherships, Turkish tarot, fat bits and heavy cream, fresh herbs, exotic invectives, a stuttering abacus, lamb's bread, silent farts, croissants chauds, extended outsiders, incongruous "patisseries", condescending muffs, violent eardrums, hijacked bytes, macho bakers, epic fails, Viennese bass, very large ears, hilarious gliding, what else ??
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LP
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CCS 127LP
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LP version. Deepening the comic tones using cosmic relief, and lively vibes, La Science des Imbéciles (Ludicrous System), Brigitte Barbu's sophomore sonic adventure, manifest a blurry creation intersecting orbital audio paths and damaged smoking instruments. Could have easily been called Birdless Science but it wouldn't be funny? Reverberating estranged arrangements, bizarre sounds, electronic fantasies, "hallucinationalism", and crypto poppy stratums all party together in Barbu's second explicit sensual album. Recorded and digested during a gastro-reclusive residency in an Un-Orthodox Union Spacy Workstation, under the benign diffraction of "Californian psychedelia" and medieval Cyrillic capharnaüm. Due to historic geographical confusions and incorrect spellings, any specific detail will stay confidential. Using a powerful branded calculator, digital converters, boutique preamps, and various synthetic substitutions, this extra album is blooming for spring cleaning. The guitar was accidentally ravaged, propelling supervision into a strange but dope alt verse, still somewhere between an impromptu voyage through scattered chronology and a poetic analytical research. A cheerful memento escaping from pressure and weight like one of those fancy diets. "I wanted to compose an intangible pop LP," says Brigitte, "with guitar as an alibi, blending arrogant synthesizers and humble plug-ins." With a genuine thoughtful dimension, this record freaks as out audiences with its neat mischievous mood. Jazzing the mushing rooms while testing the acid tweaks, initially, the artist had ambiguously vague rules for composing: but slowly, offending beardless academics became the motto. Ingrédients: orgasmic pads, sublime beaches, distorted nostalgia, frustrated markets, perfect crowds, shady brews, body fluids, magnificent news, fried stars, hairy spouses, loud flirts, cosmic crumbs, healed sons, dumb technology, rare games, underground motherships, Turkish tarot, fat bits and heavy cream, fresh herbs, exotic invectives, a stuttering abacus, lamb's bread, silent farts, croissants chauds, extended outsiders, incongruous "patisseries", condescending muffs, violent eardrums, hijacked bytes, macho bakers, epic fails, Viennese bass, very large ears, hilarious gliding, what else ??
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12"
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CCS 125EP
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Follows well-received collaborative outings for Circus Company as 1/2 of the SF dynamo duo Moniker whose classic "Billy D" anthem and respective Patrice Scott remix graced the early catalog, followed by the galactic flex Straylight EP with Cali brethren Dave Aju on velvet vocoder vox b/w a stellar Kai Alcé remix on the Another off-shoot imprint, and of course his indelible contributions to the arrangements/derangement of the wondrous KAMM LP Cookie Policies. Kenneth Scott is essentially an extended family household name for the label and so they present his initial solo release for the Circus Company label proper. Schooled as always in the deepest of electronic music roots and classiest of track traditions, the three pieces that form the Light Blooming EP puzzle display all the prized synth wizardry and production ingenuity the label have come to expect from the Berlin-based veteran."Firesound" kicks you off in fine form, with a glistening array of pads and tight arpeggios that give way to a soulful funk strut that any fan of Detroit-style electro flavors will enjoy to the fullest. We then move to the stylized 4/4 pulse of the aptly-titled "Lost Sonar", an extended live set for Lost Sonar Collective skillfully condensed and finessed into a smooth-as-silk true deep house cut, where warm synth tones set the sound bed while shards of sharper percussion and angular textures flash and fizz throughout, creating an ultra-fresh contrasting feel while a rock-solid groove grinds us along faithfully. Scott then finally closes out the set with the powerful and titular "Light Blooming" which begins with a similar rising pad intro before unleashing fierce and raw overdriven drum programming, teasing us out to the two-minute mark when the mighty sub bass line and multi-layered arps drop in to devastating effect, bubbling and building to a bold harmonic apex, before eventually bringing us down softly and somehow with ease after such a glorious rise. Filled with early-Warp feels and futurist sci-fi hopes in equal measure, the Light Blooming EP is three tracks of pure funk precision and expressive musical class from the man Kenneth Scott.
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Cassette
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CCS 124CS
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Cassette version. One of Circus Company's all-time favorite artists and extended label member The Mole returns a proper presentation of his album The River Widens. Originally a limited, cassette-only release via fellow Canadian Eddie C's Red Motorbike. Never one to shy away from synth deep dives, or raw sample flip collaging, this collection of 21 works checks all the boxes. Ambient trippers to straight up neck-snapping instrumental beats. Not forgetting tastes of the more uptempo, highly-assured and hypnotic dancefloor feels, the reason the world has come to love The Mole. Moments of casual chillin' are interspersed with effortless, emotive angles, some evoking the charm of his Little Sunshine release for the label in 2017 (CCS 107EP). "X-pert Profat" opens the set with sly statements that give way to relaxed and subtle keys over gentle, midtempo rhythms. Things switch up nicely into easy, Northwest Coast boogie-meets-beatdown feels in "Break For Ma", followed by a solid array of almost Jaylib-schooled boom bap twists, like the aptly-titled "Drums 2002" and "Jo Barker". Ambient cuts like "AR Day" and "New Family" offer a refreshing tap of the brakes, setting the scene for the gorgeous, Jarre-esque "Weak Stranger". You also get treated to "Repepepater"'s nod to Detroit house, urban-mode Balearic feels on "They Work For Mr. O", and sneak attack lo-fi future funk in the form of "UFOs Over Egypt", with Montreal co-pilot Cristobal on a wild shisha-lit vox narrative, earlier versions of which have blessed many of Circus Company's comrades' DJ sets, from Dave Aju to Vincent Lemieux. The River Widens expands beautifully on the breadth of unique musical directions. Also features Joli B and Ted Pilsner.
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2LP
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CCS 124LP
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One of Circus Company's all-time favorite artists and extended label member The Mole returns a proper presentation of his album The River Widens. Originally a limited, cassette-only release via fellow Canadian Eddie C's Red Motorbike. Never one to shy away from synth deep dives, or raw sample flip collaging, this collection of 21 works checks all the boxes. Ambient trippers to straight up neck-snapping instrumental beats. Not forgetting tastes of the more uptempo, highly-assured and hypnotic dancefloor feels, the reason the world has come to love The Mole. Moments of casual chillin' are interspersed with effortless, emotive angles, some evoking the charm of his Little Sunshine release for the label in 2017 (CCS 107EP). "X-pert Profat" opens the set with sly statements that give way to relaxed and subtle keys over gentle, midtempo rhythms. Things switch up nicely into easy, Northwest Coast boogie-meets-beatdown feels in "Break For Ma", followed by a solid array of almost Jaylib-schooled boom bap twists, like the aptly-titled "Drums 2002" and "Jo Barker". Ambient cuts like "AR Day" and "New Family" offer a refreshing tap of the brakes, setting the scene for the gorgeous, Jarre-esque "Weak Stranger". You also get treated to "Repepepater"'s nod to Detroit house, urban-mode Balearic feels on "They Work For Mr. O", and sneak attack lo-fi future funk in the form of "UFOs Over Egypt", with Montreal co-pilot Cristobal on a wild shisha-lit vox narrative, earlier versions of which have blessed many of Circus Company's comrades' DJ sets, from Dave Aju to Vincent Lemieux. The River Widens expands beautifully on the breadth of unique musical directions. Also features Joli B and Ted Pilsner. Double LP version includes download code.
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12"
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CCS 122EP
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In the wake of Portable's acclaimed album My Sentient Shadow (CCS 120LP, 2022) comes a trio of remixes which expand on his unique slant on techno and synth-pop. Finding three artists who reflect his own experimental tendencies within dance music, Alan Abraham's original productions head into unexpected new places while retaining the physical, club-ready energy he manages to instill in his own creations. A true auteur within techno, DJ Qu brings a sense of poise and drama to "The Spacetime Curvature" as he patiently builds the track into a fierce peak time monster driven by snarling bass and his signature sizzling, shuffled percussion. Patrice Scott has a reliably smooth, immersive approach to deep Detroit house, and it lends itself beautifully to Abraham's melancholic vocal on "I Feel Stronger Now". Leaning in on the jazz dimension of his wide-ranging electronica, Call Super revels in the sweetness of "Ripple Effect" and places delicate piano playing upfront before slipping into a relaxed, sentimental kind of garage and eventually edging towards an uplifting, off-center strain of house music. Individual in their own right and yet naturally entwined with the emotional intention of the original versions, this is a set of remixes which pay full credit to the source material while offering something you won't expect, like a great remix should do. Color eco vinyl.
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CD
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CC 022CD
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On his fourth solo album, much as in Oh! (CC 020CD/CCS 111LP, 2020), the French composer, pianist, and vocalist follows his ongoing exploration of the crossroads between poetry and songs, piano and synth, old-time verses and contemporary sounds. Inspired by the rhythms, effects, and speech patterns of urban music, he also delivers, with a warm and moving voice, the texts of three poetesses from the past. Since 2013, Ezéchiel Pailhès has been crafting a unique French synth pop. On his first three albums, he switched between songs inspired by poetry, instrumental ballads and electronica with hummed choruses. This latest record is a collection of eleven new songs, two of which he wrote: "Opaline" and "Ni toi, ni moi" (neither you nor me). The others are adaptations of poems written in the 16th, 18th, and 19th centuries by French poetesses Louise Labé (1524-1566), Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786- 1859), and Renée Vivien (1877-1909). He actually started this project in 2017 with poems and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, Victor Hugo, and above all Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, who can be heard again on songs such as "Dors-tu?" (Are you sleeping?), "Élégie", or "L'attente" (The wait). A figure of romanticism, the author left her mark on the early 19th century through the quality of her texts and her formal inventions, particularly praised by Balzac, and apparently a decisive influence on Verlaine and Baudelaire. Besides Marceline's very musical poetry, you find the more famous, and rebellious, Renée Vivien, whose texts inspired three songs, "Regard en arrière" (Looking backwards), "Mélopée" (Melopoeia), and "La fille de la nuit" (The night girl). Sometimes nicknamed "Sapho 1900", this figure of lesbian culture and, more broadly, of female genius, combined in her work the themes of desire, dreams, melancholy and the relationship with nature. Lastly, with "Tant que mes yeux" (As long as my eyes), Ezéchiel was inspired by a 1555 poem by Renaissance poet Louise Labé, whose main topic explored female love, physical and spiritual desire, and the torments and pains they generate. Ezéchiel Pailhès combines texts from French literature with electronic music, its effects and rhythms, as well as a form of scansion that echoes rap, R&B or the current fusion between hip-hop and pop, which is part of the musical background and that of younger generations. The album is thus marked by contemporary electronic orchestrations, in which he drops his favorite instrument, the piano, and his digital collage technique to use more extensive synth melodies, enhanced by drum machines, bringing a gentle and bright vibe to the romantic texts. Lastly, you can hear slight digital tones of auto-tune, which Ezéchiel uses sparingly and inventively. Beyond its sophistication, the term "melopoeia" means a "sung declamation", a "recitative song", sometimes interpreted in a monotonous way. On this album, it could also refer to a sense of phrasing, which does not come from rap, but rather from jazz, Ezéchiel's first love. LP version includes printed inner sleeve.
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LP
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CCS 123LP
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LP version. Includes printed inner sleeve. On his fourth solo album, much as in Oh! (CC 020CD/CCS 111LP, 2020), the French composer, pianist, and vocalist follows his ongoing exploration of the crossroads between poetry and songs, piano and synth, old-time verses and contemporary sounds. Inspired by the rhythms, effects, and speech patterns of urban music, he also delivers, with a warm and moving voice, the texts of three poetesses from the past. Since 2013, Ezéchiel Pailhès has been crafting a unique French synth pop. On his first three albums, he switched between songs inspired by poetry, instrumental ballads and electronica with hummed choruses. This latest record is a collection of eleven new songs, two of which he wrote: "Opaline" and "Ni toi, ni moi" (neither you nor me). The others are adaptations of poems written in the 16th, 18th, and 19th centuries by French poetesses Louise Labé (1524-1566), Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786- 1859), and Renée Vivien (1877-1909). He actually started this project in 2017 with poems and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, Victor Hugo, and above all Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, who can be heard again on songs such as "Dors-tu?" (Are you sleeping?), "Élégie", or "L'attente" (The wait). A figure of romanticism, the author left her mark on the early 19th century through the quality of her texts and her formal inventions, particularly praised by Balzac, and apparently a decisive influence on Verlaine and Baudelaire. Besides Marceline's very musical poetry, you find the more famous, and rebellious, Renée Vivien, whose texts inspired three songs, "Regard en arrière" (Looking backwards), "Mélopée" (Melopoeia), and "La fille de la nuit" (The night girl). Sometimes nicknamed "Sapho 1900", this figure of lesbian culture and, more broadly, of female genius, combined in her work the themes of desire, dreams, melancholy and the relationship with nature. Lastly, with "Tant que mes yeux" (As long as my eyes), Ezéchiel was inspired by a 1555 poem by Renaissance poet Louise Labé, whose main topic explored female love, physical and spiritual desire, and the torments and pains they generate. Ezéchiel Pailhès combines texts from French literature with electronic music, its effects and rhythms, as well as a form of scansion that echoes rap, R&B or the current fusion between hip-hop and pop, which is part of the musical background and that of younger generations. The album is thus marked by contemporary electronic orchestrations, in which he drops his favorite instrument, the piano, and his digital collage technique to use more extensive synth melodies, enhanced by drum machines, bringing a gentle and bright vibe to the romantic texts. Lastly, you can hear slight digital tones of auto-tune, which Ezéchiel uses sparingly and inventively. Beyond its sophistication, the term "melopoeia" means a "sung declamation", a "recitative song", sometimes interpreted in a monotonous way. On this album, it could also refer to a sense of phrasing, which does not come from rap, but rather from jazz, Ezéchiel's first love.
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12"
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CCS 121EP
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North London-by-way-of-Suffolk soundsmith Gerry Read delivers his first release for Circus Company with the Lean on Something EP. After countless examples of his bold production moves on many of our brother and sister labels including Herbert's Accidental Jr to more recently on Koze's Pampa Records, Read has always displayed a kindred spirit mindset to ours in his adventurous musical angles, and we are very happy to present this particular set of rock-solid and uniquely diverse pieces. The title track "Lean on Something" starts things off in fine and classic Read form, with knocking found-sound percussion, fizzing textures and slick use of chopped and disorienting vocal sample bits, as the track layers unfold into a whimsical and wondrous melodic stargazing anthem. "Wooer at the Well" then follows and picks up the tempo with those fly live acoustic drum lines that gives Gerry's tracks that special beyond-electronic feeling, while once again the deft layering of such a rich sound palette builds and builds giving other mavericks like Four Tet a sincere run for their money. The mood then brilliantly shifts on the next track "Paramol", where Read treats us to an almost Robotnik-era Italo sprinkling amidst his otherwise forward-thinking club floor-filling tendencies, with an amazing array of synth sections and an arrangement that should satisfy even the neo-purists out there amongst us. Finally, "Risotto" wraps up the proceedings with a warm, jazzy bouncer reminiscent of both Read's as well as the Circus Company catalog's charming early offerings, and a kind of landing-at-home-base sensation with smoky cubist funk feelings and an equal parts rough-yet-undeniably cool effervescent groove.
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2LP
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CCS 120LP
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Following hot on the heels of lead single and recent mind-body tantalizer "I Feel Stronger Now", Circus Company present Portable's latest full-length My Sentient Shadow. Filled to the brim with all of the inventiveness the sonic auteur has commanded you can expect from his sizable and consistent body of work on world-renown labels such as Perlon, ~scape, !K7, his own Süd Electronic and Khoikhoi imprints, and Circus Company, offering perhaps the most cohesive, emotive, and balanced of his highly-admirable catalog here to date. By using the analogy of a shadow that possesses its own consciousness, the theme of light and its distortion vs. balance with the inherent and necessary darkness that surrounds it is in clear vision. Immediately from the warmly bizarre vibes of opening cut "The Simulacrum", it's clear Portable is requesting clearance to other worlds of funk and ingenuity. The delightfully trippy, smoky, back-room of the Tattooine Cantina feel sets the stage just right to curb expectations and let the carefully constructed noise movements wash over you. Elsewhere amongst the generous set you'll find tracks like "Cages" and "Ripple Effect" continue in the direction of horizontally-maximized aural tapestries oozing with texture, while at the other end of the energy spectrum pieces such as "The Self-Assembling" and "We Exist" roll and bounce with all the sci-fi gyrations and slick synth layers hinting at a hypnotic halfway rendezvous point to his Bodycode moniker. And of course, no proper Portable outing would be complete without his own robust tenor vocal tone, which feels right at home front-and-center on the space travel anthem "The Spacetime Curvature" and used in more calculated micro-doses on "Analogue World", as well as the gorgeous "Foreign to You" whose meta-title features a rare guest starring vocalist NiQ.E, and brings to hearts some of Herbert's finer moments with dear friend Dani Siciliano, albeit done-up entirely in some distant yet alluring parallel dimension. The LP journey finishes with the frenetically-charged closer "Fractal Distortion" which will no doubt please many-a cosmic techno purist while making percussion masters from the afterlife such as Jaki Liebezeit and Tony Allen proud, and is quite possibly the closest thing to a danceable musical take on the current state of cognitive dissonance in the world that surrounds everything, offering you a one-way ticket out from the not-too-distant future. "We Exist" features Mandy Alexander. Includes download code.
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LP
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CCS 115LP
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Following their debut album Kick Drunk Love (2016) for Marcel Vogel's Intimate Friends imprint, Circus Company present the next installment in the sporadic KAMM legacy: Cookie Policies. Far more sonically rich and musically adventurous than its predecessor, Cookie Policies sees the band make bold strides into new territories where classically hardwired categories such as jazz, indie rock, and electronica melt into one another with immaculate, timeless ease. The band members' positions are more clear cut as well this round, with Marc David Barrite (aka Dave Aju) on prominent lead vocals in many of the pieces, Alland Byallo on trumpet, Kenneth Scott on synth bass, and Marc Smith adding guitar sections while the others shared the arranging and programming duties. This makes for a deeper continuation of the otherworldly combination of their known individual production styles, as well as a musical whole truly greater than the sum of its parts. The set starts off with "Bird Call", whose opening ode to Morricone ok corral-meets-samurai showdown riffs flow into a loose and drifting psychedelic boom bap blip, building until a glorious change-up of key and energy brings the track to its peak and deconstructed back down. "Rachel, the Largest Bullfrog" then takes things in a sweeter, slightly more traditionally-structured direction where dusty indie-folk ballad vibes intersect with an array of twisted cosmic tones, bits of computer keyboard percussion, and deep rolling sub bass. "Buckle Down" then moves things back away from acoustic restraints into a beautiful synth-laden musing on potential regret, with an ultra-potent horn section from Byallo vs a nasty stacked Roland SH-101 finish. "CCBPGC" cools things off for a few minutes with an ambient field recording slice-and-dice motif, which slowly but surely evolves into a slinking jazz noir groove from another dimension. The more traditional song structures return on the lovely "La Luna", where Barrite's pen and soulful voice take to nautical longing themes over apropos waves of sonic textures. The ebb and flow of the verse/chorus sections eventually rise and give way to an absolutely gorgeous denouement. "Shleem" then takes us into pure unadulterated soaring sci-fi soundtrack ambient blast-off bliss, while the epic closing track "The Soft Glow of Electric Sex" gives a hearty nod to early masters of sprawling psychedelic jam sessions, from Pink Floyd and Can to In A Silent Way-era Miles and Liquid Liquid, while bringing it clearly into futurist millennia.
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CD
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CC 021CD
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Uniting cosmic tones and lovely notes, unique sound collages and electronic noises, Muzak Pour Ascenseurs En Panne ("Muzak for Broken Lifts"), Brigitte Barbu's first album, explores a dreamy universe, at the crossroads of electronica and the '70s post-tune-in/drop-out, echoing shadows of the peculiar doppelgänger; Pépé Bradock. Ça Plane pour Brigitte Barbu... Resonant guitar notes, odd sounds, electronic hallucinations, and unexpected warm synth layers all gather together in Brigitte Barbu's first enigmatic album. Recorded and mixed during a reclusive one-week residency in a very special studio, under the benevolent cubic radiation of "Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant," using a computer, synthesizers, and various string instruments, giving birth to this resolutely unique album. The guitars were sharply disciplined, propelling strings into strange and hypnotic limbos, somewhere between a weightless journey through time and a fresh science lab experiment. A perky cosmic album running away from rules and gravity. "I wanted to compose an ethereal abstract hip-hop LP" says Brigitte, "with guitar as a brainwashed instrument, mirroring machines and computers, even if surely far from being unplugged." So much for that... With a real introspective dimension, the record stands out for its pure whimsical mood. The artist had strict rules for composing: "Each track is based on the association between a title chosen for its consonances, an open tuning, a random tempo and frequencies chosen for their supposed effects, real or imagined, on the mind, body & soul." For example: Taro Patch -> Whale -> 93,75 BPM or Dobro -> Bear-> 118,125 BPM, Air Resistance -> Open Em -> Panther-> 480 BPM etc. Brigitte surgically framed an electro-acoustic compendium, finding its atmospheric mothership... Brigitte Barbu, referring to a special interlude from a vintage release "Escalope de Dingue" (Fool's Cutlet), explains that Muzak Pour Ascenseurs En Panne is in fact a custom tribute to family, friends, triggered cosmonauts, René Clément, and the card game where the winner is the bearded monarch nonchalantly stabbing himself in the head. It's a lot!
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LP
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CCS 112LP
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LP version. Uniting cosmic tones and lovely notes, unique sound collages and electronic noises, Muzak Pour Ascenseurs En Panne ("Muzak for Broken Lifts"), Brigitte Barbu's first album, explores a dreamy universe, at the crossroads of electronica and the '70s post-tune-in/drop-out, echoing shadows of the peculiar doppelgänger; Pépé Bradock. Ça Plane pour Brigitte Barbu... Resonant guitar notes, odd sounds, electronic hallucinations, and unexpected warm synth layers all gather together in Brigitte Barbu's first enigmatic album. Recorded and mixed during a reclusive one-week residency in a very special studio, under the benevolent cubic radiation of "Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant," using a computer, synthesizers, and various string instruments, giving birth to this resolutely unique album. The guitars were sharply disciplined, propelling strings into strange and hypnotic limbos, somewhere between a weightless journey through time and a fresh science lab experiment. A perky cosmic album running away from rules and gravity. "I wanted to compose an ethereal abstract hip-hop LP" says Brigitte, "with guitar as a brainwashed instrument, mirroring machines and computers, even if surely far from being unplugged." So much for that... With a real introspective dimension, the record stands out for its pure whimsical mood. The artist had strict rules for composing: "Each track is based on the association between a title chosen for its consonances, an open tuning, a random tempo and frequencies chosen for their supposed effects, real or imagined, on the mind, body & soul." For example: Taro Patch -> Whale -> 93,75 BPM or Dobro -> Bear-> 118,125 BPM, Air Resistance -> Open Em -> Panther-> 480 BPM etc. Brigitte surgically framed an electro-acoustic compendium, finding its atmospheric mothership... Brigitte Barbu, referring to a special interlude from a vintage release "Escalope de Dingue" (Fool's Cutlet), explains that Muzak Pour Ascenseurs En Panne is in fact a custom tribute to family, friends, triggered cosmonauts, René Clément, and the card game where the winner is the bearded monarch nonchalantly stabbing himself in the head. It's a lot!
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CCS 111LP
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LP version. Includes download code; beautiful poster inlay with cover photo and lyrics. On his third solo album, following the success of Éternel été, Ezechiel Pailhès, the founder of the electro duo Nôze is exploring, through piano and synths, the encounter between poetry and song. In this new work he has set to music verses by William Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Pablo Neruda, and on three songs, those of the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, a pioneer of romanticism who notably influenced Verlaine and Baudelaire. For Oh!, Pailhès wanted to explore further the adaptation of poems into songs. "Bien Certain" is, once again, taken from William Shakespeare. "Tu te rappelleras" comes from Pablo Neruda's collection La centaine d'amour. "Oh! Pourquoi te cacher?" is from Victor Hugo. As for "Sans l'oublier", "La sincere", and "J'avais froid", they were all written by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, a 19th century French poetess, still fairly unknown. With Oh!, Pailhès has become more of a singer than ever before, through seven songs and four instrumental compositions, with intimate and warm modulations, carried by hypnotic piano melodies, instruments with unusual timbre and a subtle electronic production that recalls his past productions with his former duo Nôze. Produced in his Montreuil home studio, Oh! is nevertheless imbued with an emotion found in his previous albums, close to "saudade" or a slight melancholy, sometimes enhanced by chosen texts that evoke the disappointment of love, the longing, the distance between two people, or even men's weakness. From classical to pop music, the adaptation of poetry is part of a long tradition in France. On the album, songs like "La sincere" or "Tu te rappelleras" are probably closer to the way Serge Gainsbourg or Serge Reggiani approached poetry than Léo Ferré who is usually referred to in this regard. Lastly, "Constellation", "Wolf 359", "Almost there", and "Cakewalk", the four instrumental tracks on the album on which a sung or whispered voice sometimes appears, explore an inspiration close to previous albums, mixing piano, prepared piano (various objects are placed between the strings to transform its timbre), synthesizer, clavietta (a kind of melodica), not to forget a few collages and digital processes. Ballads with a cinematographic mood that respond in an abstract and dreamlike way to the texts of great poets...
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CD
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CC 020CD
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On his third solo album, following the success of Éternel été, Ezechiel Pailhès, the founder of the electro duo Nôze is exploring, through piano and synths, the encounter between poetry and song. In this new work he has set to music verses by William Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Pablo Neruda, and on three songs, those of the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, a pioneer of romanticism who notably influenced Verlaine and Baudelaire. For Oh!, Pailhès wanted to explore further the adaptation of poems into songs. "Bien Certain" is, once again, taken from William Shakespeare. "Tu te rappelleras" comes from Pablo Neruda's collection La centaine d'amour. "Oh! Pourquoi te cacher?" is from Victor Hugo. As for "Sans l'oublier", "La sincere", and "J'avais froid", they were all written by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, a 19th century French poetess, still fairly unknown. With Oh!, Pailhès has become more of a singer than ever before, through seven songs and four instrumental compositions, with intimate and warm modulations, carried by hypnotic piano melodies, instruments with unusual timbre and a subtle electronic production that recalls his past productions with his former duo Nôze. Produced in his Montreuil home studio, Oh! is nevertheless imbued with an emotion found in his previous albums, close to "saudade" or a slight melancholy, sometimes enhanced by chosen texts that evoke the disappointment of love, the longing, the distance between two people, or even men's weakness. From classical to pop music, the adaptation of poetry is part of a long tradition in France. On the album, songs like "La sincere" or "Tu te rappelleras" are probably closer to the way Serge Gainsbourg or Serge Reggiani approached poetry than Léo Ferré who is usually referred to in this regard. Lastly, "Constellation", "Wolf 359", "Almost there", and "Cakewalk", the four instrumental tracks on the album on which a sung or whispered voice sometimes appears, explore an inspiration close to previous albums, mixing piano, prepared piano (various objects are placed between the strings to transform its timbre), synthesizer, clavietta (a kind of melodica), not to forget a few collages and digital processes. Ballads with a cinematographic mood that respond in an abstract and dreamlike way to the texts of great poets...
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12"
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CCS 110EP
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San Francisco DJ/producer Dave Aju continues with his own varied style and pace, coming correct once again on Circus Company with a truly special three-tracker of straight-up dance floorbombs. "Love In Zero Gravity" is one of those raw undefinable Dave Aju grooves, loaded with soul and unique musicality. The voodoo stylings continue on "Aubergine Dream" but in a much deeper mode, where ultra-sweaty basement funk collides with the darkest shades of purple imaginable. "Gatadu" rounds things out with pure class, a bouncing robust house cut done-up with generous helpings of live percussion, rich textures, and Aju's velvety vocals.
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12"
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CCS 109EP
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This is a long overdue collaboration, a brand-new EP from our man, Jena's mad scientist funk freak himself, Metaboman. A veteran of the legendary Musik Krause camp, which has been a kindred spiritual sister label of sorts of ours since the millennium-turn heydays, being fellow purveyors of bold and raw dance floor music, brimming with new ideas galore and bucket loads of soul. On Wireless Dancer EP we have Metaboman in top form offering nothing less than his finest work, with a guest spot by jazz saxophone master Thomas Prestin.
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12"
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CCS 108EP
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dOP is back on Circus Company with a three-track heater of an EP with A Night In Sausalito EP. Kicking things off with "A Night In Sausalito", the trio combine their signature and intricate synth work with a mixture of lo-fi hums and percussive flares until JAW fills the mix and takes the track away. With "Ischia", the trio drop a straight-up meaty drum pattern with a haunting range of vocal licks and delicate synth grooves. Deetron strips back the vocals and lays a solid house-y dub that purrs, intensifies, and releases in all the right places.
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12"
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CCS 107EP
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Colin de la Plante aka The Mole follows releases on Wagon Repair, Philpot, Perlon, and more with this work of stripped-back, understated disco grooves and infectious, cyclical melodic patterns. The title-track brings a mellow introspection to the track as a neat counterpoint to the energy of the drums and arpeggios. "Discotheque Airplane" features dusty samples and truly mesmerizing bass that swells in and out. The B-side features a collaboration with Tom Trago that finds the pair exploring lean, focused techno, plus a remix of their track by Aardvarck, who takes the subtle foundations of the original and builds delicate, lilting melodies on top.
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12"
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CCS 106EP
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Following Dani Siciliano's self-titled album (CC 018CD/102LP, 2016), Circus Company present a collection of remixes. David Okumu reworks "Sincerely" with a sound that combines modern electronica production with emotive synth lines and a touch of '80s funk. Sturm & Drang work around a tight house groove for a remix of "Gone Are Those Days", laying down warm analog synth tones. Party Nails take to "Dragons" with a sense of urgency that turns the track into a taut, peak-time workout. Dave Aju rounds the record out with a flamboyant version of "Gone Are Those Days".
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