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2LP
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LAD 040LP
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Life And Death announce the sophomore edition of the Displaced Soundtracks. Continuing on the thematic thread of sound tracking an imaginary short movie, label founder DJ Tennis aka Manfredi Romano, asks some of the greatest contemporary club producers to take on the task of interpreting this idea in their own unique style. Romano explains that "the score is a translation of our imagination, memories and emotions into music, with no protocols." Opening the soundtrack, Vatican Shadow swaps his thunderous techno for a more cosmic and gentle approach, setting the tone for an equally serene soundscape from London-based DJ and producer Midland. Japanese Future Terror head honcho, DJ Nobu, layers dense cerebral textures exuding the punk spirit of Life And Death. A similar rule defying energy can be heard by Ninos De Brasil who fuse carnival percussions with straight up old school techno. Both Scuba and Uchi bring the futuristic synths of a space age tomorrow we've all been waiting for. German producer Isolee interprets the task with his minimal productions and Italian producer Cosmo closes the compilation with psychedelic soundscapes turning into a distorted gabber missile. Romano proves yet again that Life And Death is a label which evolves through each reincarnation of itself, never failing to impress. Gatefold sleeve.
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12"
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LAD 041EP
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DJ Tennis' highly acclaimed Life and Death imprint continues to traverse sonic boundaries with no exception. The next release, Trooper EP comes from London-based producer Joseph Ashworth, featuring outstanding remixes from the inimitable Ron Trent and founder of Margot Records, Sebra Cruz. Ashworth says, "Trooper EP pushes a new sound that I have been exploring - with grit and excitement taking charge rather than finesse and tidiness. It makes me think of some kind of disturbing military march, a little bit aggressive and a little bit noisy, hence the name."
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12"
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LAD 042EP
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Fresh off their outstanding performance at Life And Death's hedonistic circus in Amsterdam, Marvin & Guy return with their second etching in the label's stone -- Solar Warriors. "Idra", featuring techno-chanteuse, Perel, balances effervescent, nouveau-synth passages with a cosmic, spoken-word recital. Cut from similar silk, "Notte" featuring Allo pushes further outwards, while peering deeper within. "Stige (9AM Mix)" sees the duo complete their galactic revolution in fine form.
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12"
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LAD 039EP
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The Rapture's Luke Jenner ventures firmly into the dance floor, this time in full force, on Glittering Jewel, the Brooklyn-based producer's debut under his Meditation Tunnel guise. Following his initial outing, La La La (LADBLZ 002EP, 2018), on Life and Death's vinyl-only sub-label, Blitz Series, Glittering Jewel sees Jenner step up with three outsider cuts, dripping in personality. While dilapidated drum machines, crunched beyond recognition, propel the record into techno territory, Glimmering Jewel retains the artist's bespoke youthful sense of blue-eyed naiveté, with Red Axes coming through with an unclassifiable, stripped-down reinterpretation of "Fire Fly".
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12"
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LAD 037EP
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Heavy Dreamer is Autarkic's first, four-track outing on Life And Death. Ever present tones of kraut and punk rock flow throughout the EP, beginning with "Some Things To Keep", a pumping, warehouse floor-filler. "Realistic Guru", the trippiest of the lot, is tailor made for an early morning DJ Tennis afterparty excursion. The title track stands as a testament to this new wave of artists, coming from the shores of Israel's Mediterranean coastline. Slowing down the pace on "Powerhouse", Autarkic hints at moments of Bauhaus's and Tones On Tail's doom and dance pop.
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12"
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LADBLZ 002EP
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Life And Death continue with the second volume of DJ Tennis's ongoing, limited, vinyl-only series LADblitz 02, featuring Awanto 3 and Meditation Tunnel. Dekmantel affiliate Awanto 3 offers-up an infectious after-party gem, with "The Phone We Call It". Slow-burning cosmic keyboards pair with elements of Detroit techno and a subtle wink to Aphex Twin's masterstroke, "Xtal". The flip contains a killer from Meditation Tunnel, the newly-birthed project from The Rapture's Luke Jenner; "La La La" is a Blitz future classic filled with syncopated bass guitar, crusty synthetic strings and the purest of vocal performances.
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12"
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LAD 035EP
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The Saqqara EP is a multilayered, sonic canvas from the mind of Chris Barratt, under his new alias, Barratt. The title track is a late-night floor-filler -- a bold yet uniquely personal necropolis built from riveting delays and arpeggiators. "Time Bending" sees DJ Tennis join in, stepping up with his trademark, rough around the edges production aesthetic. Barratt hones-in on a confident, stripped-down style on "Khaos" -- rhythm versus melody. 1983 soundtracks a ride to utopia on a rocket-fueled Vespa, leading to "Collider", the land of un-quantized madness, where the most treasured of synthesizers live amongst their drum machine counterparts.
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12"
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LADBLITZ 001EP
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A track each from Joakim and Kiwi. Get it before it gets you.
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12"
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LAD 036EP
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Contemporary Italo-disco and foggy rave culture mark Margot's first 12" on Life And Death, Amore a Bordo Pista. Machines breathe on "Amore a Bordo Pista", where throbbing synth-bass meets timeless vocoder, as premiered on DJ Tennis's Essential Mix debut. The afterparty and warehouse meld on the flip, "Salsce", is a mind-bending time-warp somewhere between panic and introspection. Technicolor signee, Dauwd, aces his re-depicton of the title track, hinting at golden-era Chain Reaction, while Kiwi slows down "Salsce", retaining all of its drive, adding further cosmic brushstrokes. Four weapons of the mind, a trippy affair.
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2LP
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LAD 030LP
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Seven years into its celebrated journey, Life And Death assembles its third and most adventurous compilation to date: Displaced Soundtracks. For the first instalment in a new series, DJ Tennis has given free rein to some of his most trusted contemporaries, enabling many of today's most respected dance music producers to display their hidden talents as composers. Gathering music from a long-aborted film, the collection stands as another bastion of Life And Death's perpetual evolution. Duncan Gray embraces dissonance, Black Merlin, Appleblim, and Artefakt go interstellar, and Fango channels post-punk squat music. Hades Rocket showcases the expertly-sequenced synth work that has graced Simian Mobile Disco's illustrious career, while Redshape revisits all the right sides of '80s wave and library music. Danny Daze and synth-savant KiNK embrace non-standard tempi with great success, while Axel Boman delivers sitar-laced gospel-house without a bass drum. Elsewhere, your favorite producer's favorite producer, Stimming, teams up with pianist Lambert and the pair learn to fly. Inspired and challenging, Life And Death ventures into their eighth year confidently, constantly evolving without compromise.
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12"
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LAD 032EP
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After offering-up paratrooper as part of DJ Tennis's recent DJ-Kicks, the Israeli duo Red Axes arrive on Life And Death for an original EP. "Sami" is a post-Moondog shamanic tribal trip, while "Round" combines dilapidated post-Goa electronics with just the right amount of cowbells and guitars psych. "Vego Gam" is a lo-fi western spaghetti full of tape delays and amplifiers sauce, while pulse waves and wind blows on a big Russian bell on the title track, "Kalacol" featuring Yuli Vainshtein.
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12"
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LAD 031EP
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Drug Dilling EP offers first new material from The/Das on the label since 2013's Outfashioned (LAD 010EP). Fabian Fenk and Philipp Koller's latest EP is the result of playful and pure studio sessions, during which they aimed to capture the often-overlooked club-friendly side of their project. The breakbeats of "Top Vibes" come as a welcomed surprise, while "Holy Rollers" pairs wobbling synth pads with a vocal cameo by DJ Tennis. The standout title-track recalls hazy after-party moments. Detroit stalwart DJ Bone delivers a focused reinterpretation, backing expertly-sampled organ takes and flanged vocal lines in an enticing bed of Afro-Cuban rhythms.
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12"
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LAD 034EP
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Italo-cosmonauts Marvin & Guy board Life And Death with the Superior Conjunction EP. Alessandro Parlatore and Marcello Giordani's four-tracker explores parallel worlds through expert synthesizer sequencing and cavernous vocals features. Celestial melodies paired with Athena's stream of consciousness Italian recital guarantees dancefloor devastation with "Superior Conjunction". The hypnotic theme of "Arpadia" complements the title track's restrained drama, while Fantastic Twins elevate "The Train Of Fantastic" to an altered state of being.
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12"
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LAD 029EP
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Life And Death welcome Italian synth wizard Lucy for the label's first release of 2017. Luca Mortellaro's cavernous techno offering comes equipped with a DJ Sotofett version and a rendition by Planetary Assault Systems, further cementing the diversity of the label's scope. DJ Sotofett recalls fine nineties loop techno, while Luke Slater once again confirms his pioneer status.
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12"
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LAD 028EP
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The first release by Parisian iconoclast Joakim on DJ Tennis's Life And Death records is a miniature nocturne for dancefloor meditation, a cascade of unfurling fizzy moods and introspection. "Daemon" is the most Life And Death style track on the EP. It's full of modular synth tweaking and a nod to the '90s Detroit techno epic/melancholic vibes. "Would You Give Up?" started as a very slow "R&B meets techno" groove inspired by the freaky early Micronauts releases. The tempo change in the middle of the track (going from around 85 to 115bpm) is for the more adventurous DJs.
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12"
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LAD 027EP
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Manfredi Romano aka DJ Tennis presents a release that is decisively "out of the box"; a small cathedral made of subtle shades and unusual EQ's, where ideas seduce and frighten. "Divisions" is led by Danish singer and guitarist Jeppe Kjellberg. "Chirality" is a deep, insistent, gelid voyage. Tennis' production skills are paired with Sophie Trudeau's (Godspeed You Black Emperor) string work. The original edits have been revisited by Roman Flügel, who masterfully rubs "Divisions"; turning it into a sensual, devious, laid-down affair. Plaid grace "Chirality" with their very own touch made of alien sounds and mutant rhythm architectures.
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12"
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LAD 026EP
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Is the mind fully contained within the physical brain? Or can it traverse places outside the self and consensual reality? Exploring this theme of journeying beyond one's strict sense of self, label-mates and friends Tale of Us and Mind Against join together to create a work that exceeds the sum of its parts. With a restrained but expressive sonic palette, these accomplished artists from the Life and Death label team play with tension and release to bring the listener to a place that certainly seems to exist -- even if it's not clear exactly where it is.
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12"
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LAD 023EP
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Mind Against and Federico Maccherone aka Somne present their collaborative Vertere 12", showcasing their winding sense of melody, constantly turning inward and outward at once. Mainstay of the electronic music scene Tobias Freund delivers an outstanding remix that elevates the original to another level entirely. With a relentless beat and a sonic force that is hard to describe with mere words, his remix comes out of the gate like a runaway machine rapturously drunk on its own self-awareness. Guaranteed to drive dancefloors large and small to the euphoric edge of the ecstatic state.
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12"
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LAD 021EP
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A longtime friend of the label and an artist who needs no introduction, Recondite presents two unique techno narratives for his much-anticipated first EP on Life and Death. Like the turning of the great Boethian Wheel, "Think Twice" is an ever-advancing, urgent reminder of the transitory nature of the eternal now, leaving the listener with a shaking sensation deep in the bones. "Serak" begins with a bellowing bass emitted like a series of holotropic breaths from belly of Stanislav Grof himself. Its portentous melody winds and wanders until exploding midway thru the piece in a burst of restrained emotion.
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12"
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LAD 020EP
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Hailing from Ukraine, the hard-working duo Woo York craft strong, emotive techno and are known for their improvisational streak when performing live. The Valley of Songs EP shows an impressive range, moving from one mood to the next while always retaining the duo's cohesive sound. From the beautiful opening salvo of "The Valley of Songs" through the forward march of "Odyssey" and the unrelenting battle cry of "Black Soul" to the triumphant finale of "Distance," Woo York cover all the bases here, taking the listener on a trip that feels complete from start to finish.
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12"
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LAD 019EP
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Once again Mind Against bring their signature sound to Life and Death as they explore territory that is somehow both familiar and fresh at the same time. Two tracks of emotional techno that traverse a dynamic sonic landscape, both "Strange Days" and "Polarstern" could captivate a small room or command a small army with ease. Bringing an understated counterpoint to the EP is Recondite's subtle yet rich take on "Strange Days," a soft and sexy trip that seems to take you on a journey outwards and inwards -- all while standing still in that place where words have no meaning.
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12"
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LAD 018EP
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Sailor & I's music is curiously compulsive and at the same time beautiful and utterly brutal. Swedish singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Alexander Sjodin creates the band's signature introverted pop songs with the use of violins, voices, bass, analog synths and prominently-featured drums, recalling artists such as Rhye, Fleet Foxes and Woodkid. These two tracks, while very different in mood, share lush production and a knack for storytelling not often found in a typical dance release. While "Boys & Girls" offers a mournful yet beautiful tale of childhood days gone by, "Turn Around" comes straight out of the gate like a racehorse on fire. Remix by Âme.
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2x12"
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LAD 017LP
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Without a doubt, Manfredi Romano (aka DJ Tennis) is a busy man -- co-founder and partner of Life And Death, a DJ with a full schedule and someone who still always has his fingers (and mind) in multiple projects and multiple places at the same time. How he juggles it (or when he sleeps) are questions best not pondered. One thing those who know him well have surely noticed is that he does it all while constantly on the move. Unfazed by the constant whirl of cities that pass him by, he somehow manages to remain focused throughout. No matter where he goes, he somehow always manages to remain local. The collection of tracks on this double EP reflects that. Conceived and written in different cities (Miami, Milan, London, Brooklyn, Berlin and Palermo), each track captures both something of the place of conception and something of Romano's relationship to it. Local is not a travelogue per se, but more an emotional love-letter to all these many places he calls home. Whether it's the plaintive call of "Lovechild" (featuring The Rapture's Luke Jenner), the dark and futuristic journey of "Floating Boy (Self Portrait)," the playful mix of old and new sounds found on "Williamsburg," the techno indie mix that is "Ah! Isobel," the ethereal trip of "Anatomy" or the indie-rock love song from the afterlife called "You Close My Eyes," all these tracks are diverse and yet distinctly derive from a singular mind and personality. It's as if it's not just a collection of music, but rather an introduction to the personality of DJ Tennis himself. Rounding out the release is an ecstatic remix of "Anatomy" by the elusive producer from Michigan known as North Lake. All of the songs here are deeply personal and this EP shows it, as Manfredi Romano welcomes you in to meet him.
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12"
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LAD 016EP
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Two fresh dancefloor killers are presented in Mind Against's Avalon EP. With sounds that seem plucked from an early '80s children's filmstrip gone very wrong (or perhaps very, very right) Mind Against weave a dark, inspired charge into the black of night with both sides of this stunning EP. "Several Times" is a techno gem that comes out of the gate at breakneck pace with solid drums, bass, and a rhythmic synth pulse Over on the B-side is the EP's namesake with a simmering sound and an analog synth that casts its spell on the listener, framed by delayed chords and a foreboding low-end growl.
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12"
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LAD 015EP
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Life And Death returns to its indie roots with this fresh-sounding release from new artist, Dead Heat. The trio counts deep psychedelic influences (among others) as a significant factor in their well-developed sound. Here they present two original tracks which frame two sides of an idea, a ying and yang of a raw and emotional journey across a modern alternative landscape with nods to the indie and alternative music of decades past. Remixes by Lucy and The Field.
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