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CD
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TOUCH 030CD
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Incendiary live set of free jazz, experimentalism and politicized spoken word for fans of Irreversible Entanglements, Matana Roberts, Jaimie Branch, etc. 2023's critically-acclaimed collagist anti-opera Sovereign Bodies/Ritual Taxonomy (Diatribe Records) as its starting point, composer Jamie Thompson invited three open-eared improvisers, Stephen Davis (drums), John Pope (bass) and Sam Comerford (tenor saxophone) to join him (on piano and electronics) in entangling themselves not only with the textual and political themes of the record -- migration, racist linguistic taxonomy, nationalism, Europe's deadly borders policies -- but with its powerful vocal presence; the poet Felispeaks. Extracting eight poems from the album, as well as developing three new texts in rehearsal, the group developed swirling collective improvisations over three days in early November 2023, which were imbued with a devastating new urgency in the shadow of yet more Palestinian suffering. Indeed, the track "Territorial Irregularities" is a desperate cry for solidarity not only with Gazans, but with people suffering ongoing catastrophes in Sudan and Syria which have displaced millions, many of whom are seeking, and deserve, safety and sanctuary in Europe. Adjunct Ensemble's narrative of refusal; to spurn capitalism's insistence to participate in its genocidal pursuit of endless growth, endless war, ecological destruction and subjugation of the world's poorest is what spurs them to make their music. As they declare in the opener "Communal Refusal", "we refuse to make ourselves believable in the eyes of capitalism; we reject its inheritances." CD in lush six-panel wallet and six-page booklet; design by Rinky Taking.
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TOUCH 029LP
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For his fourth release via Touch Sensitive under the Dyslexia Sound banner, Autumns strips it right down to the bone and takes it back to the Source. "Raw Product" indeed, Dyslexia Sound Source sucks up and spits out influence over ten tracks that are both lean but massively heavy. A decade on from his nascent, no-wave debut for Downwards Records, Autumns' productions have both matured and sonically expanded into a dubbed-out dysfunctional metal dance without losing any of the intensity from those early blasts. Anyone who has caught him live over the last few years knows there is simply no compromise. There is the raw rhythm of Cut Hands, the weight of Jah Shaka's sound system, the slink of an ESG bassline, the sensuality of Chris & Cosey, and the soundboard magic of Adrian Sherwood. However, as always, an Autumns release is far from a facsimile. With a unique touch and endless desire to push things forward, this collection can only be classified as the Dyslexia Sound.
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TOUCH 027LP
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A few years after her stand-out contribution to Touch Sensitive's Wacker That compilation and following a bunch of purple patch releases for Nyahh Records, TakuRoko, Fort Evil Fruit and Eiderdown Records, Natalia Beylis graces Touch Sensitive with a true landmark album for the label -- Mermaids. Recorded both at home in Leitrim and at neighbor Mat Warren's studio, Mermaids was inspired by two salvaged items: a CRB Elettronica Ancona - Model: Diamond 708 E electric keyboard from the local tip, and a photo taken by her father found in a pile of old family scraps. Smuggled home in the back of the van and ridded of the nine purple crayons lodged inside, the keyboard sounded perfect to Natalia. The striking image which would become the cover art features Natalia's mother and two friends during a dip in the ocean. After testing compositions and recordings for months on the rescued keys, the discovery of her father's image formed the final work. Much like the push and pull of the River Shannon, Natalia's own local swimming spot, Mermaids flow is both organic but unstoppable. Alongside the keyboard's glistening tone, field recordings from Natalia's expansive archive bring listeners back up for air; taking stops to check in with the chittering chickens and ducks of Athlone. In keeping with her back catalogue and extensive body of work, Mermaids exists within its own imagined universe. This is truly singular work that continues to underline Natalia as one of the finest underground artists of her time.
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TOUCH 025B-LP
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Repress on cyan vinyl. Touch Sensitive Records presents the Cork-based musician Elaine Howley's debut solo album, The Distance Between Heart and Mouth. The product of an audio diary kept on a four-track cassette machine throughout 2019 and 2020, the album recreates the intimacy of a radio show filled with Howley's favorite sounds, pallets, and textures; effortlessly joining the dots between pop and experimentation, summoning the kaleidoscopic world of Trish Keenan and Broadcast, the bruised lo-fi soul of Tirzah, and the dubbed-out blues of Leslie Winer. Over nine patient, spontaneous self-recorded and produced tracks, Elaine Howley traces the outline of a small space that could be considered one of the longest journeys to be taken. "Utterly gorgeous. This magnificent album is the gift that keeps on giving. Downright essential" --Electronic Sound (No. 6 Album Of The Year 2022). "A cosmic swoon that plays with closeness and distance in the realm of revelation" --Pitchfork.
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TOUCH 018EP
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The Black Bones story is born out of a shared obsession for crate-digging, collecting, and the playing of weird and wonderful music. Their releases so far have manifested in a highly-sought series of seven psychedelic disco 12"s -- picking up numerous "Record of the Week" plaudits on the way. This considered curation and skill for pulling together far-flung sounds fully informs their first original material. These four bold and adventurous club cuts are a thrilling mix of straight-up house sounds, new beat, industrial, dub, sleaze and all the other good shit that comes with low-lighting and a heavy sound system. Kicking off with the full throttle 120 bpm of "ABTS" -- the duo take you straight to the 'floor with one of the wildest rides in some time. "Denied" pulls you into darker territory -- chest-pummeling bass, ominous high-pitched warnings, and a chuggy acid throwdown finds you once again lost in that 5am dancefloor fog. Over on the flip and "Punghi" combines a hypnotic groove, dubbed-out FX, percussion, and a tripped-out Eastern breakdown. One for the more adventurous DJs and dancefloor. The EP is closed by "Gabi" which sounds like minimal gone maximal with an insane industrial switch-up. Enough words! As always, Black Bones let the music do the talking and this ambitious debut can quickly find itself shelved alongside the records that have fueled their lifelong obsession.
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2LP
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TOUCH 019LP
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Double LP version. "I like the drive as much as the scenery." Buckle up as producer, DJ, and archivist Cherrystones (Gareth Goddard) takes you on a return trip to Critical Mass. He has a life-long obsession with the soundtrack and was also gripped early by a love of rap (a trusted MPC 2000 never far from his side). The channeling of context, underscore, timing and placement has always fueled the distinctive flavor of Cherrystones' output. This open-eared and open-armed approach is what makes Critical Mass Vol. 2 another stunning compilation. As Goddard states: "this is not a rare-for-rare-sake appendix of bands designed to showcase exclusivity and superiority." These are tracks that have lived with him, and he has lived within, gathered over travels throughout Europe -- living, DJing, and creating. Five years on from the first volume, this eighteen-track compilation once again fully outlines the breadth and possibility of the post-punk and new wave era. "Many of these artists fell by the wayside as underdogs or were just too ahead of their time. These selections have strong rhythmic undertones -- percussively and tonally -- and you can hear the subtle influence of dance music and the dance floor as a reference point." On our journey we hear hyped up punk-funk from the Netherlands in the form of Koneć, the cosmic synth-stomp of Daniele Baldelli approved Italians -- Neon, the gonzo, outsider shrieks of England's Loco Lotus, through to the dark, dancefloor groove of Belgium's Siglo XX and, of course, there's a whole heap more outré excursions on the way. Also features The Danse Society, A Primary Industry, Paul Lemos, Die Form, The Neon Judgement, New Asia, The Mud Hutters, Martin Rössel & The Dum Dum Boys, Flue, Unknown Gender, Vitor Hublot, Concise, JP 118, and November Group. "From one of the last true originals -- a personal, passionate draft of a 'scene' that could have been. As far as possible from diggers' wet dreams -- most of the music here is/was hidden in plain sight. So take one step back and figure out what might have gone wrong." --Vladimir Ivkovic
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TOUCH 019CD
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"I like the drive as much as the scenery." Buckle up as producer, DJ, and archivist Cherrystones (Gareth Goddard) takes you on a return trip to Critical Mass. He has a life-long obsession with the soundtrack and was also gripped early by a love of rap (a trusted MPC 2000 never far from his side). The channeling of context, underscore, timing and placement has always fueled the distinctive flavor of Cherrystones' output. This open-eared and open-armed approach is what makes Critical Mass Vol. 2 another stunning compilation. As Goddard states: "this is not a rare-for-rare-sake appendix of bands designed to showcase exclusivity and superiority." These are tracks that have lived with him, and he has lived within, gathered over travels throughout Europe -- living, DJing, and creating. Five years on from the first volume, this eighteen-track compilation once again fully outlines the breadth and possibility of the post-punk and new wave era. "Many of these artists fell by the wayside as underdogs or were just too ahead of their time. These selections have strong rhythmic undertones -- percussively and tonally -- and you can hear the subtle influence of dance music and the dance floor as a reference point." On our journey we hear hyped up punk-funk from the Netherlands in the form of Koneć, the cosmic synth-stomp of Daniele Baldelli approved Italians -- Neon, the gonzo, outsider shrieks of England's Loco Lotus, through to the dark, dancefloor groove of Belgium's Siglo XX and, of course, there's a whole heap more outré excursions on the way. Also features The Danse Society, A Primary Industry, Paul Lemos, Die Form, The Neon Judgement, New Asia, The Mud Hutters, Martin Rössel & The Dum Dum Boys, Flue, Unknown Gender, Vitor Hublot, Concise, JP 118, and November Group. "From one of the last true originals -- a personal, passionate draft of a 'scene' that could have been. As far as possible from diggers' wet dreams -- most of the music here is/was hidden in plain sight. So take one step back and figure out what might have gone wrong." --Vladimir Ivkovic
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LP
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TOUCH 021LP
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Autumns meets post-punkers Uptown. A couple of years after the Dyslexia Tracks EP, and following a volley of killer releases on labels such as iDEAL, Death & Leisure, and Opal Tapes, Autumns returns to Touch Sensitive Records with perhaps his most complete set to date. Pitching down the BPM but maintaining the intensity of his recent recorded output and incendiary live shows, Dyslexia Sound System sees Christian Donaghey turn the edit on himself with a grip of eight dub-wave zingers. Pulling from his love of On-U Sound, The Pop Group, and Public Image Limited, Dyslexia Sound System perfectly fuses dubbed-out dynamics with the tough and unrelenting electronics that has become Autumns' signature sound. Guitars squall, clarinets skronk, vocals echo, roto-toms repeat and -- as always with Autumns -- rhythm is king. Dyslexia Sound System is the sickest handbrake turn in Autumns' relentless and wired journey to date. Mastered by The Bastard. Cut by Kitaro at Schnittstelle. Artwork by Rinky. Edition of 250.
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TOUCH 017LP
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Touch Sensitive Records present their third release with Ivor Novello and BAFTA Award-winning modern master of the soundtrack, David Holmes, working in collaboration with composer Brian Irvine. Set in Northern Ireland, directed by Holmes's longtime friends Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D'Sa (Good Vibrations (2012), Cherrybomb (2009)), and written by legendary Irish playwright Owen McCafferty (whom Holmes has known for forty years), the film tells the extraordinary story of Tom (Liam Neeson) and Joan (Lesley Manville) -- their life and love as they enter the uncertainty and upset of Joan's cancer diagnosis. In a career rich in highly personal work, Ordinary Love is up there with the most affecting in Holmes's canon. Recorded between Abbey Road and Holmes's own Drama Studio, the soundtrack features input from some of his most trusted collaborators. Holmes states: "I worked on the score with Brian Irvine. He is a longtime friend and the first person I ever had studio experience with 27 years ago. It felt important to work with Brian on this as his father (Ronnie), Owen's father (Gerry) and my father (Jackie) -- all now deceased -- were great friends through a shared love of Point-to-Point horse racing and their work as bookmakers." With contributions from Holmes's bandmates, Jade Vincent and Keefus Ciancia, who comprise the trio Unloved. Vincent provides a stand-out performance -- lending her haunting and smoky vocals to the album's centerpiece and final track -- "Isn't It So". The score to Ordinary Love wasn't inspired by any other soundtrack or even musical composition but by a mathematical theory called The Game of Life. Devised by mathematician John Conway in 1970, The Game of Life consists of a collection of cells which, based on a few mathematical rules, can live, die or multiply as the cells form various patterns throughout the course of the game. "Because of the nature of the story, this really spoke to Brian and I in a musical sense and we started to create the score with the notion that the notes in each cue resembled human cells, living and dying as Joan's journey with cancer unfolded." The score uses gentle rhythms and repetition to underline the comfort and balance in Tom and Joan's routine -- even though a potentially life-changing event looms over them. The score grounds the listener whilst providing an almost dreamlike blank canvas in which to live and to love.
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Cassette
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TOUCH 016CS
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Touch Sensitive Records marks its fifth birthday with Wacker That, the label's first ever compilation of music from contemporary artists. Featuring contributions from family and friends, the selection follows the non-linear trajectory the label has pursued over its half decade. From Radio Weirdo's spectral opener, to Autumns' dark-techno thump, through Cherrystones' mutoid groove, Bloom's abstract, avant-grime and wrapping up with Natalia Beylis's (Woven Skull) cozy, cosmic coda for electronic piano. There's a bunch of other stops along the way introducing new cuts from Sonopy, Barry Lynn (Boxcutter, The Host), Ai Messiah, Fears, Gross Net, Documenta, Elaine Howley (The Altered Hours), and Group Zero. Wacker That, then. A celebration of five years under the vibrating plate and an excited look to the future in twelve deadly tunes.
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TOUCH 015LP
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A soundtrack for gutted metropolises, virtual sanctuaries and utopian enclaves, Ai Messiah's Sentience & Sapience is a seamless, psychedelic journey through possible near futures in the age of artificial intelligence. Its overlapping arrangements alternately evoke glittering digital realms and bleak, decrepit landscapes populated by ghostly natives drifting in fractured and multiplying realities. Eastern drones, processed guitars and field recordings are warped, dubbed to cassette and re-sampled again. Meditative gongs and bells punctuate the mix, as human-sounding voices drift in and out intoning synthetic chants. Digital and analog textures dissolve into a continuum, suggestive of blurred and vanishing boundaries between the natural and the artificial; the real and the simulated; the evolved and the designed.
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12"
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TOUCH 014EP
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Five track EP inspired by Irish folklore of mistaken burial, and with input from Will Carruthers, introduces sparkling synthesized passages and an organic "cosmic-blues" to Documenta's already lush sonic expanse. The Lady With The Ring EP sees Documenta's regular seven-piece lineup temporarily swell with narration from author and musician Will Carruthers providing counterpoint to Roisin Stewart's hazed vocals as she tells the story from the dead woman's lips. Self-recorded in one weekend a stone's throw from McCall's grave and subsequently re-worked and shaped by the group. RIYL: Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star.
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CD
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TOUCH 012CD
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Initially released as an interactive app in which the viewer directed the narrative -- Mosaic is a six-part HBO series conceived and directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Sharon Stone. Mosaic is a twisting tale of passion, intrigue, and deception focusing on the disappearance of a high-profile resident of picturesque Summit, Utah and the four-year effort by law- enforcement and civilians to discover the truth behind the crime. With that in mind, David Holmes's original soundtrack for Mosaic weaves as intriguing a tale. Recorded between Belfast and Los Angeles by Holmes, the album features a modern-day wrecking crew of musicians. Echoes of Ennio Morricone abound alongside the influence of avant-garde pioneers and Holmes's current soundtrack contemporaries in a selection of deep listening tracks. To quote Mark Kermode, Mosaic outlines Holmes's expertise at "ratcheting up the tension" with strings, horns, and synthesizers swelling throughout. As this tension peaks there is inevitable release -- in rhythmic and harmonic tracks such as "What I Want Is The Red Room" and Badalamenti-esque lounge eeriness in the likes of "Four Years Later" -- guiding the 20 cues presented on this release into a cohesive, full, and nuanced album that reveals subtle and rewarding intricacies on each repeated listen. Mosaic once again outlines Holmes as a modern master of the original soundtrack.
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TOUCH 012LP
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LP version. Red vinyl. Initially released as an interactive app in which the viewer directed the narrative -- Mosaic is a six-part HBO series conceived and directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Sharon Stone. Mosaic is a twisting tale of passion, intrigue, and deception focusing on the disappearance of a high-profile resident of picturesque Summit, Utah and the four-year effort by law- enforcement and civilians to discover the truth behind the crime. With that in mind, David Holmes's original soundtrack for Mosaic weaves as intriguing a tale. Recorded between Belfast and Los Angeles by Holmes, the album features a modern-day wrecking crew of musicians. Echoes of Ennio Morricone abound alongside the influence of avant-garde pioneers and Holmes's current soundtrack contemporaries in a selection of deep listening tracks. To quote Mark Kermode, Mosaic outlines Holmes's expertise at "ratcheting up the tension" with strings, horns, and synthesizers swelling throughout. As this tension peaks there is inevitable release -- in rhythmic and harmonic tracks such as "What I Want Is The Red Room" and Badalamenti-esque lounge eeriness in the likes of "Four Years Later" -- guiding the 20 cues presented on this release into a cohesive, full, and nuanced album that reveals subtle and rewarding intricacies on each repeated listen. Mosaic once again outlines Holmes as a modern master of the original soundtrack.
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TOUCH 011EP
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Autumns is the solo project of Christian Donaghey from Derry, Northern Ireland. Following several releases on Downwards and Clan Destine and hot on the heels of his debut LP, Suffocating Brothers (CDR 023LP, 2017), the Dyslexia Tracks EP sees Autumns deliver five tracks and 38 minutes of brutal beauty. Aligning itself closely to his recent live performances -- where snares (and belts) crack like whips and synthesizers "wriggle like a fucking eel" -- Dyslexia Tracks completes Autumns' journey from his post-punk beginnings to producing some of the tautest and toughest electronic music heard in some time. Alongside progressive appearances on cult labels, Donaghey's restless work ethic has seen him share stages in Europe and the US with The KVB, Lust For Youth, Beak>, Silent Servant, and DVA Damas. RIYL: Regis, Surgeon, Broken English Club, Whitehouse, Throbbing Gristle, Drexciya.
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2LP
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TOUCH 002LP
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Double LP version. 2015 release. Cherrystones pulls together the sympathetic sounds of the psychedelic ghetto. London's best kept secret, Cherrystones has been on the underground scene for a while. People kinda speak of his grooved-out genius in hushed whispers. You might remember when he closed down the final night of ATP after a decade long residency? Or when the heat moved from London to NYC which saw our man deliver an epic Morricone-inspired LP while spending time as DJ Harvey's sole label-mate. You might be following his endless list of production and remix work for the likes of Goat, The Horrors and Hospital Productions. Cherrystone explains his work: "...As long as it makes people move on the floor, I'm into it. I've been running a rescue home for the culturally starved and ignored - a sonic soup kitchen within a philanthropic playground. That's the vibe." On Critical Mass, Cherrystones tunes the listener in to fourteen groups, separated by locale but united by a restless urge to create on their own terms. From Rizzo's nihilistic Moogie-boogie to a pre-teen Chandra's isolated no-wave. Through Dojoji's downtown-via-Lagos inspired punk-funk and Fote's dark, industrial groove, Critical Mass presents a snapshot of an international underground enthralled with the possibility of the new. Cherrystones on the release: "This compilation was put together through records I was enjoying at that time - loose chips, fragmented discoveries, random punts and the true excitement from that hit of 'What the fuck is that?!' It is an exercise in the good and the rad - solid jams from all corners of the world. A veritable platter to switch on the uninitiated or those who hear and feel the truth - it is not an exercise in rarity to make people feel alienated. I know what I feel and I hear the messages and feel the vibrations in these very songs - as will you if you allow them to." In a world in search of an instant authentic buzz - this compilation is not a five second internet high. It is alchemy - made out of blood and sweat, and pure knowledge on how to make people move. Let Cherrystones shake your bones. Critical Mass also features: Rheingold, The Tee-Vees, Aksak Maboul, Transmitters, The Method Actors, Crazy House, Bamboo Zoo, The Lines, 39 Clocks, and The Flowerpot Men.
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TOUCH 002CD
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2015 release. Cherrystones pulls together the sympathetic sounds of the psychedelic ghetto. London's best kept secret, Cherrystones has been on the underground scene for a while. People kinda speak of his grooved-out genius in hushed whispers. You might remember when he closed down the final night of ATP after a decade long residency? Or when the heat moved from London to NYC which saw our man deliver an epic Morricone-inspired LP while spending time as DJ Harvey's sole label-mate. You might be following his endless list of production and remix work for the likes of Goat, The Horrors and Hospital Productions. Cherrystone explains his work: "...As long as it makes people move on the floor, I'm into it. I've been running a rescue home for the culturally starved and ignored - a sonic soup kitchen within a philanthropic playground. That's the vibe." On Critical Mass, Cherrystones tunes the listener in to fourteen groups, separated by locale but united by a restless urge to create on their own terms. From Rizzo's nihilistic Moogie-boogie to a pre-teen Chandra's isolated no-wave. Through Dojoji's downtown-via-Lagos inspired punk-funk and Fote's dark, industrial groove, Critical Mass presents a snapshot of an international underground enthralled with the possibility of the new. Cherrystones on the release: "This compilation was put together through records I was enjoying at that time - loose chips, fragmented discoveries, random punts and the true excitement from that hit of 'What the fuck is that?!' It is an exercise in the good and the rad - solid jams from all corners of the world. A veritable platter to switch on the uninitiated or those who hear and feel the truth - it is not an exercise in rarity to make people feel alienated. I know what I feel and I hear the messages and feel the vibrations in these very songs - as will you if you allow them to." In a world in search of an instant authentic buzz - this compilation is not a five second internet high. It is alchemy - made out of blood and sweat, and pure knowledge on how to make people move. Let Cherrystones shake your bones. Critical Mass also features: Rheingold, The Tee-Vees, Aksak Maboul, Transmitters, The Method Actors, Crazy House, Bamboo Zoo, The Lines, 39 Clocks, and The Flowerpot Men.
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TOUCH 004LP
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2015 release. Drone Pop #1 is the second album by cosmic drone-pop septet Documenta. Recorded over four days at Start Together Studios Belfast by Ben McAuley and the band, it also features additional production from David Holmes on "Love As A Ghost". Influenced by the English guitar minimalism emanating from 1980s Rugby, the darkness and light of Detroit's hit factory, and the German Kosmische set's concrète groove - Documenta present a true psychedelia through repetition, melody, and rhythm. A patient year-long process of experimentation and mixing - where the group added "washing machines, aircraft and the sound of Saturday night" - encouraged a fuller overall feel and a marked sonic progression. Documenta on the release: "We experimented at home quite a bit before returning to the studio so we got to stretch our imagination. We're constantly learning as a band and this seemed like the next musical step." Soul music in outer space. Comes on a colored LP.
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TOUCH 006LP
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2016 release. Gross Net present their debut album Quantitative Easing through Touch Sensitive Records. Initially a guitar/bass/drum-machine duo of Philip Quinn (Girls Names) and Christian Donaghey (Autumns), Gross Net was conceived as an output for ideas alternative to their other groups. After the release of their first cassette EP on Art For Blind Records and Donaghey's subsequent departure to concentrate fully on Autumns, Quinn took up the Gross Net mantle solo. Released via his own Austerity Drive Records imprint earlier this year came Outstanding Debt, a collection of re-commissioned tracks from aborted releases. Beautiful boys, ghosts, exorcisms, resurrections, sex, mental disorder, the boredom that comes with being "dole-scum"; Gross Net now singularly stalks the lineage of electronic body music. Utilizing analog synthesizers, sequencers, virtual studio technology, a slew of effects, voice, and some electric guitar, Gross Net channels everything from Throbbing Gristle's "Tesco Disco", to the fear and futurism of the European cold wave, through amyl-nitrate powered strobe-lit dancefloors and empty, decaying industrial halls. Quinn on the release: "I'm keen to leave mistakes in, or what people may perceive as mistakes. I also try to do things in as few takes as possible, not only for the sake of my own interest but to bring some human aspect back in amongst all the electronics. You're hearing performances, moments in time recorded, not something that's been pieced together from numerous attempts. . . . I want to do something different. I see so much homogeneity in music and in general these days that I want to stand apart, show that there's another way or at least hold a mirror up to what's going on. . . . I'm also keen to use themes which reflect the times we're living in, certainly the darkest days I've seen in my lifetime. Sometimes I feel like I'm just constantly wading through a cultural and political cesspit." Pairing dark and brutal rhythms with existential and world-weary themes, Gross Net is the sound of the post-Brexit dystopia of now, the antidote to the endless whitewash of indie groups in their matching Topshop outfits, and a riposte to the messianic false prophets pontificating a financial ruse as a grand truth.
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TOUCH 008LP
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Debut record from Group Zero (Cathal Cully of Girls Names). Using synthesizers and drum machines, Structures And Lights glistens with subtle Euro sophistication - pairing cold-wave optimism alongside freaky and brutal tracks for the more open-minded DJs and dancefloors. Written, recorded and mixed intermittently over four years, the narrative of Structures And Light is bound by a deepening connection with electronics, instrumentation, and the studio. With no imminent touring schedule or release deadlines, Cully built a modest home setup and began producing on his own again. He explains: "It was as an exercise in my own development and it was fun. It brought the naivety and spontaneity back to making music." This first collection of Group Zero music - along with a library of other ideas and sketches - was thought to be eternally lost and all but forgotten until a chance conversation with Touch Sensitive Records led to the tracks being salvaged and subsequently restored. The genesis of this newly discovered musical freedom coincided with a viewing of Pyramid Of Light by Heinz Mack from the post-war Dusseldorf based Group Zero art movement which resonated deeply. Cully explains: "It stirred up questions and emotions which I could not get from a book or a screen. It was the direct relation between me, the light and the physical object hanging on the wall. New moments of beauty locked in the memory. I was in awe." Cully was also taking influence from a range of contemporary electronic producers - on labels such as LIES, Diagonal, Optimo Music, Blackest Ever Black, and PAN: "These records felt as much in keeping with post-punk traditions and my own DIY background whilst tapping into the primitive ideas of masters such as Cluster, Suicide, Malaria!, and the proto-techno of pre-club music." Just as a structure obscures or reflects light furnishing us with new ways of seeing; the propulsive rhythms in Structures And Light reveal subtle differences on each repeated cycle. Here's a record from a Belfast bedroom that sounds nothing like the city, past or present. It's made with synths and drum machines, and it glistens with subtle Euro sophistication.
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7"
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TOUCH 005EP
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2016 release. A reissue of a single by Maya - two tracks of timeless, heartfelt, psychedelic outsider music from Cincinnati Ohio from 1975. "Synthezoid Heartbreak" is a "Fuck You!" to those who want you to join the real estate game and turn in your misfired envelope pedals for a suit. The pro-alien sad dirge of "Distant Visions" is a reflective-afternoon delay lurker makes you wonder what happened after the fade out to "Visions". Maybe the homemade air siren blew out the studio? Remastered with additional insert featuring lyrics and notes from Burk Skyhorse Price (Maya) and Cherrystones.
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LP
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TOUCH 003LP
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2015 release. Inspired by think tanks and floatation tanks, psychological research, 2012 mythology, 1960s social planning, stoned apes, elite transhumanism, and the counter-culture, The Host's Esalen Lectures is an imaginary trip to a NorCal psychedelic retreat. Use the sounds to enter into a program of theory and practice, to accompany inward voyages, and for sunset induction rituals. And when the colored dust settles, and the weird dreams have eased off, maybe your neural re-programming has just started? Drawing from a wide source of tranced-out musical legacies, the Esalen Lectures is pitched somewhere between Ash Ra Tempel and Steve Hillage at their most freeform, and more underground new age artists like JD Emmanuel and Ariel Kalma. The Host use sweeping synthesizer patterns and subtle field recordings to create dramatic arcs across the record, and spiraling guitar squalls meet blissed-out, motionless womb lullabies and digitally-enhanced nocturnes to tell a weird story of induction, hypnosis, and psychic disturbance.
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TOUCH 001LP
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Restocked; Limited edition vinyl + download -- numbered. Inspired by a number of conversations between director Yann Demange and music producer David Holmes, the majority of '71's score was created before the film was shot. Yann likes to shoot with music already written -- an idea that resonates with the collaborative work of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. With reference to Can's soundtrack work, in which only Irmin Schmidt would have seen the film, David would describe the emotion, tone and atmosphere of the scene with the other band members before recording and then editing to picture after. He says "It frees your imagination to try and capture a world that only you can see and feel but in total relation to the director's overall vision. Living in Belfast for most of my life was also a big inspiration." Musically influenced by John Carpenter's Assault from Precinct 13 and Escape from New York, John Paul Jones' "Four Minute Warning" and Tony Conrad's "The Pyre of Angus Was in Kathmandu," the music pulses with the tension and potential terror of war-torn Belfast streets in 1971.
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CD
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TOUCH 001CD
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Inspired by a number of conversations between director Yann Demange and music producer David Holmes, the majority of '71's score was created before the film was shot. Musically influenced by John Carpenter's Assault from Precinct 13 and Escape from New York, John Paul Jones' "Four Minute Warning" and Tony Conrad's "The Pyre of Angus Was in Kathmandu," the music pulses with the tension and potential terror of war-torn Belfast streets in 1971. "Holding it all together is David Holmes' terrific score, chiming guitars and drums hovering over a rubble-bed of sampled sounds and remodulated chords, plaintive melodies emerging from a bedrock of discord and disquiet... Demange uses Holmes' eerie score (to which he listened on set) to generate both growing tension and weirdly uncanny unease." --Mark Kermode; "A terrific soundtrack by David Holmes which ratchets up the tension and gives you this sense that things are eerie, things are uncanny, things are slightly out of wack." --Kermode and Mayo's Film Review
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