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LP
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MEGMG 003LP
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LP version. 140 gram vinyl; 350g inside-out sleeve; Includes insert with liner notes in French and English. Mental Groove Records and Musée D'ethnographie De Genève present Soothing Songs For Babies (Berceuses Du Monde), curated by Madeleine Leclair, head of the MEG's department of Ethnomusicology, and Olivier Ducret of WRWTFWW Records and We Release Jazz. An inspiring collection of carefully chosen lullabies from all over the world, that will please both young parents and their children, as well as (world) music enthusiats looking for a peaceful and captivating listening. Lullabies exist in almost every culture in the world. While they relate to the world of childhood, they also evoke the privileged relationship established through music between an adult and an infant. The lullabies presented here were recorded at different times and come from eighteen countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and America. They share certain musical characteristics that can be identified from one piece to another: simple melodies, a sequence of short patterns repeated several times in succession, an overall melodic contour following a descending line. All the lullabies presented here come from records published with a copy kept in the Archives Internationales De Musique Populaire (AIMP) of the MEG. For fans of labels like Ocora, Smithsonian Folkways Records, Buda Music, Nonesuch, and traditional forms of music, ambient, (ethno)musicology, and children.
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CD
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MEGMG 003CD
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Mental Groove Records and Musée D'ethnographie De Genève present Soothing Songs For Babies (Berceuses Du Monde), curated by Madeleine Leclair, head of the MEG's department of Ethnomusicology, and Olivier Ducret of WRWTFWW Records and We Release Jazz. An inspiring collection of carefully chosen lullabies from all over the world, that will please both young parents and their children, as well as (world) music enthusiats looking for a peaceful and captivating listening. Lullabies exist in almost every culture in the world. While they relate to the world of childhood, they also evoke the privileged relationship established through music between an adult and an infant. The lullabies presented here were recorded at different times and come from eighteen countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and America. They share certain musical characteristics that can be identified from one piece to another: simple melodies, a sequence of short patterns repeated several times in succession, an overall melodic contour following a descending line. All the lullabies presented here come from records published with a copy kept in the Archives Internationales De Musique Populaire (AIMP) of the MEG. For fans of labels like Ocora, Smithsonian Folkways Records, Buda Music, Nonesuch, and traditional forms of music, ambient, (ethno)musicology, and children. CD comes in a digipack; Includes insert with liner notes in French and English.
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12"
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MG 121EP
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Mental Groove Records is ecstatic to announce the release of a collaborative musical effort between Spanish producer extraordinaire Orbe and Swiss adventurous Mental Groove label head Oliver for a retro/phuturistic four-for-the-floor EP mixing the science of hypnotic analog grooves with the wickedest sound techniques of the warehouse rave days. Four pumped-up jams for DJs to take control -- don't hold back, just let go and feel the n-r-gee. Early support by Eduardo De La Calle, Jennifer Cardini, Andrew Claristidge, Gilb'r, Daniel Kyo, Photonz, Angel Molina.
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12"
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MG 124EP
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Mental Groove present the follow-up to 2016's Water Vein EP (MG 115EP) by Asian Psilocybe Foundation and DJ Yogurt, Daikaku, a Buddhist term for one who has achieved enlightenment. This second installment smiles on Geinoh Yamashirogumi's soundtrack for Akira (1988). APF is an eccentric Japanese musician. On the A side he achieves in capturing Akira's spirit with his own organic and floating sound signature within a long, delicate, and trippy techno number. On the flipside, DJ Yogurt and Moja deliver two straight percussive numbers, fueled with traditional Japanese flavor, taking floors to a Tetsuo (1989) state-of-mind.
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MG 122CD
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Mental Groove present the ninth volume of the long-lasting and legendary radio show La Planète Bleue, created by writer, director, independent journalist, activist of extreme music and of non-aligned informations, Yves Blanc. With a broadcast syndication active since 1995, including Swiss Radio Couleur 3 and French Radio Nova, La Planète Bleue is widely renowned as one of the most ambitious, exceptional, and unconventional radio shows of all time. In favor of the unexpected, the weekly show opens the doors to other worlds, other sounds, and other ways of thinking by breaking geographical borders, eras, and genres. La Planète Bleue invites the audience to experience different ways of observing and understanding our world without feeling settled with conventions. This ninth volume collects, in a continuous mix, futuristic and exotic audio gems from Ecuador, Switzerland, Argentina, Niger, Germany, Korea, France, China, United Kingdom, Italy, and Vanuatu, ranging from relaxing drone to ethereal pop, to ambient trance and field recordings. It also includes several recordings extracted from the monumental Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire (AIMP), courtesy of the Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève (MEG). Features: Geins't Naït & Laurent Petitgand, Thee Caretakers, Nicolá Cruz, Cat's Eyes, George Boe, Sinner DC, Yantra Mandir, Diminutos, Bombino, Christian Löffler, Loomeer, Keda, and Sequentia Legenda. Includes a 54-page booklet in French and English.
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MG 123LP
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LP version. 180 gram, blue vinyl. Scarlett's Fall is a duo formed in 2014 by Ruth Childs (British-American performance artist and singer based in Geneva) and Stéphane Vecchione (Swiss performance artist and musician based in Lausanne). They define themselves as dirty-girlie-kitchen-pop, mixing catchy melodies and repetitive looping with fragile vocals and provocative texts. Out of their playfully ironic and poetic universe you can hear shades of Can, Broadcast, and Young Marble Giants. Scarlett's Scared is Scarlett's Fall's ironically seductive second album. It all started with a (blue) demonstration vinyl entitled The Incredible Sounds Of Synclavier II, released by New England Digital Corp in 1981, to promote the first digital sampling system. Its content gave the basic atmosphere for the whole album: each of the ten tracks samples a specific Synclavier sound. Add haunting melodies, mysterious vocals, and fun beats and you get Scarlett's Scared complete. As the title suggests, Scarlett's Scared is about being scared and takes its roots from vintage movies, such as Klute (1971) and Metti, Una Sera A Cena (1969), that deal with phone stalkers, insomnia, sexual tension, vampires, ghosts, and explosive watermelon attacks.
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MG 123CD
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Scarlett's Fall is a duo formed in 2014 by Ruth Childs (British-American performance artist and singer based in Geneva) and Stéphane Vecchione (Swiss performance artist and musician based in Lausanne). They define themselves as dirty-girlie-kitchen-pop, mixing catchy melodies and repetitive looping with fragile vocals and provocative texts. Out of their playfully ironic and poetic universe you can hear shades of Can, Broadcast, and Young Marble Giants. Scarlett's Scared is Scarlett's Fall's ironically seductive second album. It all started with a (blue) demonstration vinyl entitled The Incredible Sounds Of Synclavier II, released by New England Digital Corp in 1981, to promote the first digital sampling system. Its content gave the basic atmosphere for the whole album: each of the ten tracks samples a specific Synclavier sound. Add haunting melodies, mysterious vocals, and fun beats and you get Scarlett's Scared complete. As the title suggests, Scarlett's Scared is about being scared and takes its roots from vintage movies, such as Klute (1971) and Metti, Una Sera A Cena (1969), that deal with phone stalkers, insomnia, sexual tension, vampires, ghosts, and explosive watermelon attacks.
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TAYONE 001CD
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"Although I did not think deeply about it, I felt that a certain time had come for me and I decided to produce my solo album. It was 20 years since I first started playing drums and since then, out of all the brilliant artists who live in Japan that I played with, I wanted to freely enlist players who I really wanted to create music with." This is what Keiichi Tanaka said about his intention in making Keta Iicna Hika. In 2014, Japan's leading eight-piece Afrobeat band, Kingdom Afrocks, put a halt to their group activities. For eight years, they firmly maintained their steady and indispensable rhythmic core, developing an energetic live performance and music. Their drummer Keiichi Tanaka became the first member to produce a solo album after their split. He started working on Keta Iicna Hika in October of 2014 and finished it at the beginning of 2015. There are several collaborations on Keta Iicna Hika including Kingdom Afrocks ex-colleague Nao Ito, OKI of Oki Dub Ainu Band, legendary Japanese Jazz pianist Fumio Itabashi, and several other artists who Keiichi had performed with. Furthermore, Keiichi has enlisted many African musicians living in Japan. Along with conventional instruments, traditional African instruments, such as a banjo-sounding traditional string instrument popular in countries such as Mali and Guinea, the n'goni, traditional Karafuto/Ainu instruments, such as the tonkori, and a bamboo mouth harp, the mukkur, are featured. Not just confined to Afrobeat, Keiichi also includes various African music and traditions such as Benga from Kenya, a lullaby from Congo, and inspiration from Somaliland and Mali. Keiichi mixes it with dub from OKI, traditional Japanese music, such as the music of Tenjinbayashi, and traditional Ainu sounds. Keiichi also undertakes a jazz-flavored cover of Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti. With Keta Iicna Hika, Keiichi has created a deep and unparalleled melting pot of an album that only he was able to produce. Each song is recorded "live", and as such, performed with his collaborators mostly in one take. The record was ready in 2015 but tragedy struck, and Keiichi passed away. Keta Iicna Hika represents Keiichi's musical vision, a culmination of all he had learned in this twenty years as a musician. Comes in a gatefold tip-on, with an obi strip, and booklet with extensive liner notes in Japanese and English.
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2CD
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MG 117CD
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Mental Groove present Bigeneric's double album Spielmanda in collaboration with the artist's own Inzec imprint. Swiss artist Marco Repetto is the chromatic brain behind the Bigeneric musical project and has a strong background in the burgeoning scenes of minimal synth (Grauzone with Stephan Eicher), early techno (Synectics on Aphex Twins' Rephlex imprint), and ambient/trance (Planet Love on Superstition). Spielmanda reflects Repetto's deep love for nature, psychedelia, health, and futurism. The title is borrowed from a book by Bern writer and myths researcher Sergius Golowin and is a fictional legendary and mystic place in the Swiss pre-alps, a place that Marco Repetto explores through the 16 tracks of this album that he has constructed and tested at numerous performances. A truly justified and bright two hour long daydreaming walk across the deep forests and infinitively colorful meadows of imaginary Spielmanda's landscapes and beyond, with Marco Repetto's heart rebel signature, a unique and modern mixture of technology driven hippie and punk culture. Comes in a heavy double digisleeve jacket.
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MG 118LP
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"Although I did not think deeply about it, I felt that a certain time had come for me and I decided to produce my solo album. It was 20 years since I first started playing drums and since then, out of all the brilliant artists who live in Japan that I played with, I wanted to freely enlist players who I really wanted to create music with." This is what Keiichi Tanaka said about his intention in making Keta Iicna Hika. In 2014, Japan's leading eight-piece Afrobeat band, Kingdom Afrocks, put a halt to their group activities. For eight years, they firmly maintained their steady and indispensable rhythmic core, developing an energetic live performance and music. Their drummer Keiichi Tanaka became the first member to produce a solo album after their split. He started working on Keta Iicna Hika in October of 2014 and finished it at the beginning of 2015. There are several collaborations on Keta Iicna Hika including Kingdom Afrocks ex-colleague Nao Ito, OKI of Oki Dub Ainu Band, legendary Japanese Jazz pianist Fumio Itabashi, and several other artists who Keiichi had performed with. Furthermore, Keiichi has enlisted many African musicians living in Japan. Along with conventional instruments, traditional African instruments, such as a banjo-sounding traditional string instrument popular in countries such as Mali and Guinea, the n'goni, traditional Karafuto/Ainu instruments, such as the tonkori, and a bamboo mouth harp, the mukkur, are featured. Not just confined to Afrobeat, Keiichi also includes various African music and traditions such as Benga from Kenya, a lullaby from Congo, and inspiration from Somaliland and Mali. Keiichi mixes it with dub from OKI, traditional Japanese music, such as the music of Tenjinbayashi, and traditional Ainu sounds. Keiichi also undertakes a jazz-flavored cover of Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti. With Keta Iicna Hika, Keiichi has created a deep and unparalleled melting pot of an album that only he was able to produce. Each song is recorded "live", and as such, performed with his collaborators mostly in one take. The record was ready in 2015 but tragedy struck, and Keiichi passed away. Keta Iicna Hika represents Keiichi's musical vision, a culmination of all he had learned in this twenty years as a musician. Comes in a heavy reversed cardboard sleeve; Includes two pantone printed sleeves, a 60x60 double-sided poster, extensive liner notes in Japanese and English.
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2LP
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MG 120LP
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Italian musician, producer, DJ, and composer Tommaso Cappellato is a musical maverick - running the gamut from free-form techno to hip-hop production and jazz improvisation. Mentored by jazz visionaries Harry Whitaker and Michael Carvin (Pharoah Sanders), and a collaborator with techno master Donato Dozzy, Tommaso's seemingly unorthodox breadth of style and vision offers a truly unique new school artist. From building his jazz chops as a resident drummer in NYC, to hip hop excursions alongside Brooklyn MC Yah Supreme; to traveling to Senegal to meld with local world music masters; to leading his own award-winning spiritual jazz project Astral Travels; to collaborating with experimental electronica and techno artist Rabih Beaini and visionary Egyptian producer Maurice Louca; to now presenting his solo artist project Aforemention, Tommaso is the modern renaissance man. With Aforemention, he brings together his lifetime of artistic exploration and exposure to create his own concept of a jazz-informed experimental electronic soundscape. Tommaso started his music journey on piano and at age 11, he transitioned to drums. He studied under many of the jazz greats in NYC and soon became a regular fixture on the scene there, subsequently touring the US, Japan, China, Australia and Europe with multiple projects. His fascination for sounds outside the jazz realm led him to this new project - asking himself what would happen if he created alone, embracing everything from inspirations to moments of randomness and finding his own musical identity in that process. Using drums, analog synths, and his own voice, Tommaso has created a body of work that evokes inner spaces, outer realms and new ideas. Aforemention takes in all of Tommaso's past experiences and sees him creating a one-man journey through sound. He is joined on the album by three guests: legendary drummer Victor Lewis provides spoken word on "Team Ball", Inglewood, CA native and Solange-collaborator Nia Andrews provides vocals on the ode to freedom, "Fly", and Detroit/NYC vocalist Dulcinea Detwah brings freeform hip hop verse to "Get Set Free". Everything else you hear is performed solo by Tommaso Cappellato, mixed by Donato Dozzy and mastered by Neel. "One man, live on stage, concocting wild sonic mash-ups of the jazz and techno traditions" --Mark de Clive-Lowe. "Connecting deeply with his vision of time, texture, rhythm, space, and soul!" --Carlos Nino.
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2LP
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MG 119LP
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Conceived in the cultural cellars of Bangkok, Thailand, and Geneva, Switzerland, Yantra Mandir the nine-track LP by Jerome Doudet, aka Yantra Mandir aka The Dude of Stratosphear, casts a wide net over experimental meditative ambient music, progressive drone, Brahmanic accents, and ritual oscillations. Together, this work represents a 20 year journey in Geneva of musical production, artistic expression, and the melting pot of experiences fused with the rich legacy of Indian spiritual sounds. The LP is partly a collaboration between five close collaborators, each contributing a single sound to complete the jigsaw, and partly comprised of field recordings of Bopa musicians from Rajasthan, in northern India. Added to the confluence are intricate layers of electric bass and electronic vibrations. The name derives from ancient Sanskrit words emblematic of the overarching sound. "Yantra" is the Sanskrit word for mystical diagrams found in the Tantric traditions of the Indus Valley. These diagrams are used to worship dieties at home or in temples, as a meditation aid, and to activate the various benefits and occult powers as defined by Hindu astrological and Tantric texts. "Mandir" is the Sanskrit word for a place in which a still mind and soul float freely search of life, peace, joy, and comfort. For centuries, the mandir has remained the nexus of a community where people forget their differences and voluntarily unite. "Garden of Reality" is the musical meeting point between Europe, Southeast Asia, and India - and everything in between from past, present, and future. Jerome Doudet was born in the beginning of the '70s with a father DJing in disco clubs. Raised in the alternative scene of the very international city of Geneva Switzerland, he started playing bass at the age of ten and spinning various old punk/funk/rock/reggae in squats all along the '90s. Bass player in bands such as Knut and Half Japanese, he now works with the experimental kraut band Bliscappen Van Maria, and on his tantric bass solo project Yantra Mandir. After many trips to India and South East Asia the Dude, always in search of new sounds, has sharpened his globe-spanning mix with far eastern psychedelic music and with largely unheard gems from across the musical spectrum. 140 gram vinyl with printed inner sleeves in gatefold sleeve. Edition of 300.
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MG 104LP
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Mental Groove presents a vinyl reissue Do Den Haag Church from France. Originally released on CD in 2009. The recording is raw and the mastering is fat. The first two pressings made in 2014 and 2015 were distributed confidentially and during the numerous live performances of the band. This pressing features brand new artwork. "France is a French trio that uses drums, bass and amplified hurdy-gurdy. They only perform live, in the middle of the audience - turned to face each other - full on smoke machines and strobes. They play only one 'song' for the duration of their hour-long set. And it's the most transfixing live experience of intense physical and mental focus. The distorted hurdy-gurdy plugs France's sound into the country's history of folk music and popular festivities, of communal trance and immersive pleasure. The rhythmic basis is pretty much the same throughout the whole set. One doesn't need to actually be tripping balls for the auditory illusions to start coming thick and fast. Those who've stayed for the whole duration of their performances know they've shared something, however disparate the phantom forms each might have discerned in the midst of the howls and groans. Gigs like this you leave feeling you're not quite the same person who went in, even though you'd be hard-pressed to pinpoint precisely what has changed." -- David McKenna (The Quietus).
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CD
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MEGMG 001CD
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Over the past 20 years, Genevan duo Sinner DC have built a solid, yet discreet reputation on the international electronic music scene. Their ethereal intergalactic yet catchy melodies, full on emotions and melancholy, became, throughout the years, the band's trademark. Co-published by the prestigious Museum of Ethnography of Geneva and Swiss renowned Mental Groove Records, this first album entitled MEG / CDG inaugurates a new series of CDs devoted to contemporary compositions sourced from the monumental audio archives of the Museum. MEG / CDG's backbone contains music from Romania, Niger and southern United States, from the mid '30s to the early '50s that the Genevan Sinner DC selected while browsing the museum database. MEG / CDG is a kaleidoscopic album and a scenic trip - the title of the album and the songs are of IATA airport codes and explores the limits of the panoramic vision of the duo through hypnotic landscapes and imaginary places. The Museum of Ethnography of Geneva and Mental Groove look forward to continuing their collaboration.
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12"
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MG 114EP
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Mental Groove Records announces the debut release of DJ Vax1 aka Marion Xavier delivering a subtle, gorgeous and much valuable house/electro EP. Headlining the EP is Alexander Robotnick who takes the track to stripped down electronic territories that will fit comfortably in any set with that "satisfaction guaranteed" label. Introducing the Kira Neris remix! With his skilled hands he changed the original into a pure golden nugget for joyous peak time action. We end with Vax1's vocal and instrumental versions. It's grooving without a doubt and is for sure a "grower".
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12"
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MG 115EP
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Reissue of the Water Vein EP by Japanese producer Asian Psilocybe Foundation (APF), a sought-after work of ambient house/minimal techno originally released in a limited run of 25 handcrafted white labels and available only at Disk Union Tokyo, where it sold out immediately. Layers of unprocessed field recordings, traditional instruments, and minimal beats create meditative soundscapes at the convergence of ambient and trance. Water Vein starts with ritual sequences, continues with two carefully crafted club tracks for both the feet and the brain, and closes with remixes by Tobi and DJ Yogurt & Moja.
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MG 116CD
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Grand Pianoramax is a supergroup consisting of three strong personalities, each possessing outstanding mastery of their craft, from the acute lyricism of Geneva-based pianist Leo Tardin's keyboards and the immediate intimacy of Black Cracker's wild poetry to the powerful, razor-sharp, and pugnacious drums of Dom Burkhalter. The virtues of this rare alloy illuminate each of their concerts, which have taken place all around the globe. With four albums already under their belt, Grand Pianoramax now presents Soundwave, their second release on Mental Groove Records following 2015's Big Easy mini-album. Staying true to their instantly recognizable signature sound at the crossroads of post-jazz, art rock, and hip hop, Soundwave is another step in the ambitious artistic path of the trio. As opposed to their previous works, this album is characterized by less polished DIY production, in a better reflection of the spontaneity that shines through during the trio's live performances.
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MG 112CD
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DJ and producer Eduardo de la Calle presents a complete collection of tracks from his four Analog Grooves 12"s released from 2012 to 2015. "Among De La Calle's expansive output of 60 records over the past half decade -- and aside from releases on his own label Analog Solutions, and the likes of Nonplus, Cadenza and Semantica -- is a series of four for Mental Groove, collected under the Analog Grooves banner. Started in 2012, the project focuses on a more experimental, and more meditative, approach to techno, one suffused with jazz sensibilities and a cosmic mindset" --Brian Kolada, Resident Advisor. Rather than a collection of disparate dance tunes, the 12"s were initially intended to form a complete journey, which is fully realized in this collection. The cover artwork reproduces the cover of the Voyager Golden Record, which was included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1997, intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form or future humans.
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MG 112LP
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Six-12" box set version. Limited edition of 150. Clear vinyl. Deluxe thick matte black box with reflective golden print. DJ and producer Eduardo de la Calle presents a complete collection of tracks from his four Analog Grooves 12"s released from 2012 to 2015. "Among De La Calle's expansive output of 60 records over the past half decade -- and aside from releases on his own label Analog Solutions, and the likes of Nonplus, Cadenza and Semantica -- is a series of four for Mental Groove, collected under the Analog Grooves banner. Started in 2012, the project focuses on a more experimental, and more meditative, approach to techno, one suffused with jazz sensibilities and a cosmic mindset" --Brian Kolada, Resident Advisor. Rather than a collection of disparate dance tunes, the 12"s were initially intended to form a complete journey, which is fully realized in this collection. The cover artwork reproduces the cover of the Voyager Golden Record, which was included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1997, intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form or future humans. The 12" labels reproduce selected images from the 116 images contained in the Voyager Golden Record. The fifth and sixth 12"s include three vinyl-only tracks -- the rare "SP0000," originally released as a single-sided 12" in an edition of 50 in 2012; the exclusive track "The Window Rocket"; and a 20-minute live space jam inspired by the classic KLF album Chill Out (1990) and Galaxy 2 Galaxy's seminal "Metamorphosis (The Creation Of I.S.F. Unit ZC-121861 Stardate: 05 30 93)" (1993) -- plus ten locked grooves of vinyl-only loops inspired by the Solar System.
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LP
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MG 105LP
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Trio Kazanchis got together by coincidence in 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's musical hotspot while playing jam sessions in Melaku Belay's Club Fendika and Mulatu Astatke's own African-Jazz Club before touring Europe in underground venues and related festivals. The original line-up is Jeroen Visser (NL, baritone sax & Farfisa organ), Mesele Asmamaw (ETH, krar & vox) and Fabien Duscombs (F, drums). Endris Hassen (ETH, masinqo) joined the group in 2013 (he's the +1). Kazanchis +1 plays songs with an Ethiopian origin, either modern or traditional, and a European '80s touch, combined with free energetic improvisation using highly-developed Ethiopian pentatonic scales, from slow and trance-like to up-tempo, energetic moods. The band's choice of instruments presented itself on European stages as very elastic, nicely melting together, and also as a challenging combination -- all-in-all successful. Mesele Asmamaw, described as the Jimi Hendrix of the electric krar (the 6-string Ethiopian lyre), has become known as an innovator & virtuoso of his instrument in Ethiopia. Fabien Duscombs, the quicksilver drummer from Toulouse lays down the perfect grid for Mesele to play his syncopating accents. Jeroen Visser glues the two tightly together, providing bass and chords with his Farfisa organ/synth, or challenges their sounds with his baritone sax. Since the summer of 2013, the amazing masinqo-player (a one-stringed violin) Endris Hassen has become a full member of the group, completing the sound and surprisingly even reinforcing the trio-feel.
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MG 110CD
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"I may have no possessions, but here lies everything one needs." This is Alexandre Francisco Diaphra's motto as governor of his own life. A multifaceted artist from Guinea-Bissau, based in Lisbon; rapper, poet, edutainer, and beatmaker, creating music based on improvisation in which he blends his psychedelic, black music; afro-ancestral influences; and love for non-quantized beats with experimental jazz and contemporary and urban styles. In 2014, Diaphra won third place at the 1st International Poetry Slam in Rio de Janeiro. In 2012, Diaphra toured Europe as an MC and performer for Angolan/Portuguese project Batida, in support of Batida's eponymous debut album ("could be the record that changes the African Electronic Music on XXI century" --Songlines; NPR called their live show "one of the best 10 acts from WOMEX." Diaphra's Blackbook of the Beats follows the idea of building instrumental bases on the outside environment, wherever Diaphra feels inspired. The result of a backpack, some vinyl records, a portable turntable, and a sampler for self-deconstruction/recreation, this (mainly) instrumental album delivers non-quantized beats over which enlightening poetry is spoken, rapped, and chanted in Portuguese, and compositions created through trial and error and enhanced by instruments played by invited musicians and Diaphra himself. For fans of Stones Throw Records, analog experimental sample-based music, psychedelic rock, afro ancestral.
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MG 110LP
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LP version. "I may have no possessions, but here lies everything one needs." This is Alexandre Francisco Diaphra's motto as governor of his own life. A multifaceted artist from Guinea-Bissau, based in Lisbon; rapper, poet, edutainer, and beatmaker, creating music based on improvisation in which he blends his psychedelic, black music; afro-ancestral influences; and love for non-quantized beats with experimental jazz and contemporary and urban styles. In 2014, Diaphra won third place at the 1st International Poetry Slam in Rio de Janeiro. In 2012, Diaphra toured Europe as an MC and performer for Angolan/Portuguese project Batida, in support of Batida's eponymous debut album ("could be the record that changes the African Electronic Music on XXI century" --Songlines; NPR called their live show "one of the best 10 acts from WOMEX." Diaphra's Blackbook of the Beats follows the idea of building instrumental bases on the outside environment, wherever Diaphra feels inspired. The result of a backpack, some vinyl records, a portable turntable, and a sampler for self-deconstruction/recreation, this (mainly) instrumental album delivers non-quantized beats over which enlightening poetry is spoken, rapped, and chanted in Portuguese, and compositions created through trial and error and enhanced by instruments played by invited musicians and Diaphra himself. For fans of Stones Throw Records, analog experimental sample-based music, psychedelic rock, afro ancestral.
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12"
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MG 111EP
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Angolan producer Alcindo Joaquim aka Afro DJ Pupo grew up tweaking beats on Fruity Loops, while other teenagers played soccer or went to the beach. His models included Boddhi Satva, Djeff Afrozila, Manoo, and Black Coffee. 23 at the time of this release, Afro DJ Pupo's respected work within the Ango house scene includes releases on Djeff Afrozilla's Kazukuta imprint and many remixes. Although influenced by American deep house and South African house, Angolan afro house draws its unique identity from its direct affiliation with the kuduro, or most traditional kazukuta and semba. This 12" includes a remix by Earl P.
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12"
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MG 109EP
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Fourth and final volume in the Analog Grooves vinyl (and analog) only series, a joint venture between Spanish producer Eduardo de la Calle and Swiss label Mental Groove Records focusing on futuristic/cosmic compositions for both clubbing and listening enjoyment. Simply classic and timeless music.
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CD
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MG 104CD
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Tokyo Offshore Project was a collaboration between Frankie Valentine and Simon Lovejoy, DJs and producers heavily involved in the construction of the underground UK house and electronica scene of the '90s, and Japanese musician Kiyoshi Myaura. Lovejoy was responsible for DJ Harvey's edits on Black Cock Records, which Lovejoy and Harvey co-ran with Gerry Rooney, and was a resident at The Brain in Soho, London, an historically important venue in the development of house and techno and the first club to encourage live PAs like Ultramarine and Orbital. Valentine, one of London's finest underground house DJs, began DJing in the late '70s and still works crowds into frenzies. Theatrical Techno Illustrated is a collection of their best underground house and electronica moments from 1990 through 1992, including three previously unreleased tracks. Lovejoy recalls the project's inception: "Tokyo Offshore Project. Winter 1990. Airport, London, waiting for DJ Frankie to turn up from club land. The flight announcement to Japan. Making tune with Roland 202, I borrowed from DJ Choci... Airport. Alaska, stamp passport. City. Drive through, over expressway, introduction of Kiyoshi... Meeting next to a piano, told of trip to north Japan. Nara. Apartment. Minimalist design, meet Kiyoshi's friend a video director, have smoke. City. Noodle man, taxi. Lost on sake, following postman back to hotel room. Towel by door, borrowed smoke, MTV on cable, asking questions. Bullet train, five course meal, Zen temple, walking, peaceful people praying, gift to God for good luck. City. 3 AM, recording street sounds, phone booth, cig, hot/cold drinks machines... Studio. Vocal booth, tuner, men in suits, emotionless, staring through window. Record shop, meet westerners, club flyers, found first record, rare. Story of Wigan from The Brain club and his airship as it goes over city... City taxi trip 'round expressway, past harbor lights to Electric Avenue, pop star David Byrne buying gadgets, buy DAT Walkman too. Karaoke bar. Hostesses constantly changing, filling drinks, singing, standing outside toilet with towel, Kiyoshi asks which one, on the house, can take to Love Hotel, choose a room, Jacuzzi, massage, bar cabinet, taken to restaurant, live fish, geisha girls, one modern, one traditional, talk of our experience. Airport, rest time in Thailand sitting by window of plane watching ground staff standing in line waving at us." For fans of '90s underground house; new electronica, ambient, and chill out; The Future Sound of London; B12; and Balance Recordings.
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