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12"
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ATMV 097EP
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After releasing on Atomnation's Unfold Vol. 2 in 2021, Berlin-based Italian NOCUI returns with more rich and uplifting grooves on his new 12" Entrain. Leonardo Di Fiore (NOCUI's real name) is a Rome-born composer and a classically trained pianist who brings a performative approach to how he makes music. An early love of jazz also permeates his work and he now considers himself a "studio and sound design obsessive." That shows in the meticulously crafted, always fresh music he makes on his go-to drum machine, the Jomox Alpha Base. NOCUI is also adept at speaking through other key bits of gear such as the Roland SH101, Acidlab 303, DSI Prophet 6, and Haken Continuum Fingerboard -- machines that lend his music its signature sound and have taken him to labels like Traum and Wildfire.
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12"
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ATMV 101EP
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Spanish artist Helena Piti continues to establish her artful Argia alias with a mini-album on Atomnation. Across six superb tracks, the formally trained artist brings serenity, musicality and gorgeous melody to her stylishly designed sounds. Piti has been immersed in music all her life. From a young age, she studied piano and double bass at the conservatory before evolving into the electronic world and quickly making her mark. She has released with the likes of Stil Vor Talent, Sincopat. and DUAT while holding down her esteemed residency at Madrid's well-known Mondo Disko and touring places like Watergate and about:blank. This self-taught producer uses music as a way of expressing a wide range of inner feelings and she has plenty lined up for 2022 including this adventurous new release.
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LP
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AUS 001LP
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Austudy Records present its debut release Burning It Up: Australian Reggae 1979-1986. A compilation surveying the influence of reggae on Australia's preoccupation with rock, pop and new wave between the years of 1979-1986. This selection of eight obscure tracks originally issued on 7" records represent some of the earliest examples of reggae sounds in Australian recorded music. Features Nights In Shining, Wide Boy Youth, Delaney Venn, Time Lords Inc., Lifesavers, Janie Conway, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, and The Agents. 12-page booklet; edition of 500.
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LP
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BEWITH 103LP
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Reissue, originally released on Vertigo in 1973. Labyrinth is dark, brooding, beat-heavy, melancholic mood music courtesy of Ian Carr and the Nucleus crew. A favorite of Madlib, it goes without saying that this is one magnificent record. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, Labyrinth was never re-pressed and of course those original copies are now very tricky to score. Like all the Nucleus records, it's aged ridiculously well and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. At this point Carr had parted ways with guitarist Alan Holdsworth and as a result the Nucleus sound found itself returning to the core elements of groove and melody. Carr had become bolder and more self-confident in his compositions and it shows in the sheer ambition of Labyrinth, composed by Carr and with lyrics written by his wife Sandy. Originally a live performance by an augmented Nucleus, some of the expanded cast were brought back for the recording sessions, including vocalist Norma Winstone. Labyrinth is presented as a suite, based on the ancient Greek legend of the Minotaur with musical instruments representing the various elements of the mythology. According to the LP's original sleeve notes, the bass clarinet represents the tragic element, the trumpet represents the heroic element and the voice represents the human element. The rest of the musicians represent the two societies of Athens and Crete and their comments on the story as it unfolds. The album opens with the experimental, sumptuously dissonant "Origins", teasing strands of atmospheric bass clarinet introduce the first theme before swiftly fading out with a startling blast of staccato fanfares and big drums. The album soon finds its rhythm as it alights on the spell-binding and groove-friendly "Bull-Dance", with subtle trumpet melodies, compelling rhythms, a psych-rock vibe, and tight soloing. And of course, there's Norma Winstone's stunning wordless vocals, that also take the lead in the next track "Ariadne", a spacey-jazz song with beautiful piano, flute, and clarinet. You might recognize a snatch of it being looped by Madlib on Quasimoto's "Astro Travellin". The first part of the improvised "Arena" closes out the first side of the album, a short experimental piece with piano and horns. The powerful second part of "Arena" swiftly builds, with vocal melodies, piano, and horns. It comes on like an alternate take on "Bull-Dance", noisier, with a looser rhythm. The triumphant, shuffling Latin-jam "Exultation" leans on more scintillating vocals from Winstone, and a chunky counter melody from the rhythm section. The haunting, twelve minute "Naxos", is an incredible way to close out this remarkable record. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes. Mastered by Simon Francis. Cut by Pete Norman. Gatefold sleeve.
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BEWITH 105LP
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Reissue, originally released on Vertigo in 1975. Another thrilling, funky-prog jazzy-rock fusion beauty from Ian Carr's Nucleus. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. Alleycat was the last Nucleus album recorded for the Vertigo label. It was again meticulously produced by Jon Hiseman and is every bit as sinuous as anything else the group had recorded. As far as riff-laden accidental cop-funk goes, there's so much energy coursing through the music that at times it sounds like a live recording. It's pretty unbeatable. Up-tempo opener "Phaideaux Corner" is a funk-flavored opus with a groove that simply swaggers. This trademark Roger Sutton piece benefits from Trevor Tomkins's percussive expertise and some excellent sax and keyboard soloing. Check out Geoff Castle on squelchy, stabbing Moog duties. Ian Carr's elegantly laidback title track is a lengthy suite of magisterial themes. Typically complex, it still gets you hooked and is just riddled with the funk. Carr builds up his initially "straight" trumpet solo with later use of echo to mesmeric effect. And there's some excellent wah-wah guitar shredding by Ken Shaw too. The second side opens with the killer "Splat" and finds Nucleus really ripping it up. A fat, funky bass guitar riff introduces us to the track and stays with us until the end. The often-mangled bass groove is pushed along by rattling drums and percussion, dropping out for some restful moments of spacey calm, and along the way picking up some lengthy keyboard noodling by Castle. "You Can't Be Sure" is a gentle jam with Shaw on 12-string acoustic guitar, together with Carr's muted trumpet and some marvelous fretless work from Sutton. The album closes with Bob Bertles's galloping "Nosegay", written perhaps as a response to some of the faster Mahavishnu Orchestra pieces. It's an example of well-crafted jazz-rock that doesn't compromise any of its jazziness, yet it still very definitely rocks. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes. Mastered by Simon Francis. Cut by Pete Norman.
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LP
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BNSD 064LP
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Montreal composer and cellist Justin Wright's sophomore album is an ode to the creative process, intricately stitched together from cassette loops, string improvisations, modular synthesizer patches, field recordings, and orchestral arrangements. While the cello remains a central engine behind many of the tracks, A Really Good Spot is a drastic departure from Justin's previous records. The transparent result, mixed by Pietro Amato (Bell Orchestre, The Luyas), intimately and honestly embraces the beautiful spontaneous moments, tribulations, and studio edits. A Really Good Spot is a celebration of process. Justin met Pulitzer-winning composer Caroline Shaw as he was experimenting with cassette loops during a residency at the Banff Centre. Shaw pushed him to apply for Princeton University's highly selective PhD program in composition with her recommendation, where he was accepted despite having no formal music education. At Princeton, Justin completed the album with instruction from composers such as Donnacha Dennehy, Steve Mackey, Dan Trueman, and Juri Seo. Over the winter of 2021, Justin was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer (prognosis: likely OK), adding another layer to the story of this album and leading to an earlier-than-expected release. Stemming from an eventful five years, A Really Good Spot presents an abstract exploration and appreciation for the processes of artistic and personal evolution, pushing boundaries while still maintaining an emotional and evocative sound. Co-release with First Terrace Records.
"When I first started writing tracks for A Really Good Spot, I didn't have much in mind other than wanting cello, wanting synthesizers, and feeling like I was long overdue for writing new material. But once I got started, I was having so much fun coming up with new methods for writing that I wondered: what if 'procedurality' could appear on a spectrum, just like dynamics or tempo? Why is process something we try to cover up? There is something that feels so dishonest about a pristine, polished album that fits together a little too perfectly, as if all the tribulations leading up to it are swept aside in the name of presentability. Of course, time is an enemy of simplicity, and what began as an attempt to bring process to the foreground turned into what the album is today: a surrealist spectrum of methodology, where the techniques showcased may or may not be real, where the orchestration confidently reinforces the most haphazard nonsense elements, and where the playfulness occasionally steps aside for moments of somber clarity." --Justin Wright
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CD
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WEAVIL 016CD
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2022 restock. Bo' Weavil releases Leaves From Off The Tree: a three-way project of Sharron Kraus, Meg Baird (Espers) & Helena Espvall (Espers). This is a beautiful recording of traditional folk material, with the most stunning singing and arrangements of some of England and Appalachia's finest songs. The songs on this record were recorded after many an evening swapping songs (and beers!) in Fishtown, Philadelphia, where Sharron had moved from her native England, and Meg and Helena were already installed. Meg and Sharron both had traditional music backgrounds and would meet up and teach each other Appalachian and English ballads, and improvise harmonies and alternate melodies. At some point, Helena was invited along and her voice and cello added a rich new layer. All nine songs were recorded live in one afternoon, so as to capture the relaxed atmosphere of the group's gatherings.
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WEAVIL 023LP
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Limited 2022 restock; LP version.Originally released in 2007, Obliquity is a free jazz record, if you'll forgive the use of such a hoary, old-fashioned phrase. Its scorching, heads-down momentum, rhythm and drive, places it in direct line of descent from the fierce originators of the genre: Ayler, Sanders, Graves, and Frank Wright. It also swings. At times it dances. Obliquity is a free jazz record through the prism of the improvisational movement in Europe, though. This is no attempt at polite revivalism or looking back/up to the 1960s. Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble are producing new, vital music of and for now. John Edwards pins down the trio with precision and energy -- his tremendous internal rhythm on display to full effect throughout. Alan Wilkinson is a ferocious improviser, probably best known for membership in the demon Hession/Wilkinson/Fell trio. Obliquity features full-spectrum Wilkinson: flat-out, take-no-prisoners saxophonication, squeals, coughs, sustained improvisational experimentation, and East London tribal chanting. Steve Noble is an upright drummer with a surgeon's accuracy, his crisp percussion work has accompanied dancers, funksters, poets and tuba players. But he's not played better than here: great power allied with grace, a subtle touch and solid time -- the drumming drives the music on to real heights.
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2x12"
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BOND 12038LP
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Mihai Popoviciu: "The album's called Home because it is inspired by my experiences from my home city Sibiu in Romania. Home is also the place where the album was produced, in my stripped-down studio. It is where I always return to rest and chill after touring the world and the place where I feel most safe and comfortable. The artwork shows an image of the airport lane in Sibiu with surrounding hills and mountains in the back. It is a metaphoric 'gate' to both leave and return home." Across the project, Mihai delivers his signature dancefloor focused, stripped-back style with "ACK", showcasing the hypnotic and percussive style Popoviciu executes so well. The project also drifts into smooth dubby realms via compositions like "Cannon Poets" and "Sunshine" while the likes of "Music 999" radiantly display Mihai's proficient production abilities as he wanders into a brighter more house centric sound. All in all, Mihai Popoviciu turns in a coherent long player whilst exploring a broad range of styles, "Focus" and "Havana" lay down a groove-led feel with subtle modulations and an unfaltering structure, while "Data On Data" and "Hypnosia" tip the focus over to dark and brooding territories with murky synth pads and chugg-y low-end tones. Once again, Popoviciu has proven himself to be one of Romania's finest electronic music exports.
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LP
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BB 029LP
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2022 repress; Bureau B's 2009 reissue. LP version. Originally recorded and released in 1977 on Sky Records, the first collaborative album by Brian Eno and Cluster was the first ambient record produced in Germany, and is considered the seminal, defining work of the genre. Brian Eno was certainly instrumental in creating and popularizing the concept of "ambient music" -- but it was not his invention alone. The German musicians Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius (Cluster) were brothers in spirit. As so often in music, the idea of ambient was in the air -- both Eno and Cluster experimenting with the form in the 1970s, rendering any debate as to who influenced who redundant. What is certain, is that Brian Eno attended a Cluster concert in Hamburg in 1975, strategically positioning himself in the front row. Sure enough, he was invited on stage to jam with the band and, after the show, the participants arranged to meet up again. They did so two years later at the Old Weserhof in Forst, the domicile of the German duo. Eno and Cluster spent three weeks in Conny Plank's studio, resulting in two albums: Cluster & Eno and After The Heat (1978). In the liner notes, Asmus Tietchens (who also plays on the record along with Can's Holger Czukay) writes: "Clearly, all three musicians inspired each other during their three weeks together without any clash of personalities. Nevertheless, some tracks sound more like Cluster, some more like Eno. So it made perfect sense to collect the tracks with a Cluster flavor on Cluster & Eno." The importance of this record can never be overstated, nor can its elegance of diverse forms be matched. From Indian sitar and tamboura, to synth warbles and airy tributes to Western groove, it is a rare glimpse at what happens when masters meet.
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LP
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BB 039LP
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2022 restock; LP version. The fourth full-length album by legendary German electronic music duo Cluster, originally released on Sky Records in 1976. Sowiesoso follows on from their most highly-acclaimed album, Zuckerzeit (1974). Michael Rother's influence was clearly audible on the latter, Cluster already having recorded two albums with him under the name of Harmonia. 1976 saw the duo looking for new musical forms. More than any other Cluster album, Sowiesoso represents the utopian vision of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Mobius, its mellow transparency evoking the landscape of the Weser Uplands where the two musicians lived at the time. Sowiesoso is not the work of fanatic dreamers who have fled the metropolis, but the reward for their tenacious search for a new musical language. The LP's seven cuts were recorded in their own studio with modest equipment -- a four-track tape machine, two Revox A77 stereo tape-decks and a simple 8-channel mixer. Cluster were thus completely independent, able to work where and when they wanted, at their own pace. With no guest musicians, sound engineers or producers to accommodate, Cluster thrived on their new-found autonomous freedom. Sowiesoso captures them at the peak of their creative development, with the limited range of recording equipment enhancing the clarity of their vision, allowing them to concentrate on the music without drifting into narcissistic muso territory. Minimalist, yet neither formulaic nor automated, the album is a rhythmic tapestry of otherworldly electronic and acoustic elements -- relaxed, organic and gentle ambience. This could only be Cluster music; its harmonies reaffirm the quality of song, in spite of eluding song structure as such.
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2LP
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BB 282LP
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2022 restock; Double LP version. Bureau B present a reissue of Heldon's third album Third (It's Always Rock 'N' Roll), originally released on Disjuncta in 1975. Third album from the French space-rock electro combo masterminded by Richard Pinhas. Heldon's darkest work lays another stone in their sonic mosaic: synths, drones, fuzz, and trippy improvisations. There's something wicked happening on Heldon's third album It's Always Rock And Roll. Richard Pinhas's essential attack of searing guitar and space-bound synthesizer didn't change radically after the first two Heldon albums, 1974's Electronique Guerilla (BB 280CD/LP) and 1975's Allez-Teia (BB 281CD/LP). But there's dark energy coursing through this double album, a chilly aura that makes even the quietest pieces shiver with tension. "At this time, I tried to turn Heldon into a darker band," Pinhas admits. "But dark is not negative to me." The darkness of It's Always Rock And Roll is more about exploring what's hidden and overturning convention -- about diving beneath bright surfaces to find something more mysterious. If It's Always Rock And Roll stands up in Heldon's catalog, perhaps it's due to expansion -- both in the sense of big ideas and lengthy durations. Most tracks last over seven minutes, and two are side-covering epics. "I think the length of a track is part of the creation of the track," says Pinhas. "There are imperatives. You can do something very complex with a lot of events in four minutes, and then some other things need to be done very slowly. You have to do the length that it demands." "We recorded this after having met with Philip K. Dick in California for two days," recalls Pinhas. "It was such an event for a 23-year old; he was to me one of the last real prophets. We talked about Jung, we talked about a lot of things. Maybe this encounter gave birth to all of Heldon Third." So the sci-fi master spawned a dark audio creation to rival his own work. Like the Heldon albums that precede it, It's Always Rock And Roll is undoubtedly Pinhas' baby. But its depth-probing sounds earned it a godfather, too. 2018 remaster by Willem Makkee.
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BB 392LP
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Repressed; LP version. After the overwhelming success of the 1971-1974 box set release (BB 374CD/LP), containing the first four studio albums and for the first time ever this lost "last" album recording, Punkt gets a deserved and necessary standalone release.
"The band called it 5½, fans referred to it as the 'Munich album' and for almost fifty years it's been the missing chapter in Faustian mythology. Now for the first time, the German iconoclasts' previously unreleased fifth album sees the light of day as Punkt . . . Punkt is Faust at their most unhindered, untethered and unstoppable. Returning to Germany after a loss-making U.K. tour and after their manager Uwe Nettelbeck had split with them, the group dusted themselves down and planned their next project, what would have been their second for Richard Branson's Virgin. Joined as always by their engineering genius Kurt Graupner, the band took residence in the Arabella High Rise Building, the luxury hotel which housed Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studio in its basement . . . Faust spent their nights below ground, creating the sublime cacophony which courses through these seven tracks. Driven by Diermaier's primitive repetition and Péron's rabid low-end growl, 'Morning Land' stomps its way through almost ten minutes of heavy psychedelia . . . A Luciferian spirit courses through the beatless 'Crapolino', a tumult of scorched guitar chords, strident FXs and disembodied vocals which bares all the hallmarks of a black mass. And just like that, the group summon some demonic hunting party for 'Knochentanz' (bone dance), arguably their most immersive creation . . . The storm clears for a second to allow a celestial chord progression to emerge from the darkness before the heavens open and Sosna's snarling, sawing guitar rains down from above, carrying 'Knochentanz' through its final iteration, a collision of muscular fretwork, percussion freakout and bleeping organ which completes the most psychedelic recording you've never heard. The frazzled optimism of 'Fernlicht' buzzes away like an acid Beethoven bathed in neons, before the breathless 'Juggernaut' stretches the definition of blues rock to its limit as squirming sine waves, clattering cymbals and corrosive guitars pan, reverse and overlap, each following its own unhinged rhythm. Then for a time the sound and the fury abate, making space for the frankly sublime 'Schön Rund', a piano-led diversion into the soul-swelling realms of ECM jazz and fin de siècle impressionism, which rivals anything else in their catalogue for pure beauty. And in case you thought they'd gone soft, Faust sign off with the guttural groans and course drones of 'Prends Ton Temps'..." --Patrick Ryder
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BB 420CD
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When the Welttraumforscher (world dream explorer) started their journey on July 14, 1981, it was not foreseeable that it would last so long. For over 40 years now, Christian Pfluger from Zurich has been working with drawings, texts and songs on the idiosyncratic and fascinating universe of the imaginary trio. This has resulted in numerous cassettes, LP and CD releases. Most recently, a two-part retrospective was released in the spring of 2021 on Hamburg's Bureau B (BB 353CD/LP and BB 354CD/LP), giving an insight into the wonderfully rapturous dream world of the project, which despite the continuous work remains something of an insider tip to this day. With their new collection Liederbuch, the Welttraumforscher are going on tour for the first time in many years. When the Welttraumforscher open their songbook, they are met, as in a pop-up book, by the fictional friends they have invented and sung to on their journey through 40 years: the captain to the soul Kip Eulenmeister (the owl master) and the crop circle researcher (iguana) Leguan Rätselmann, the insect twins Brtz and Brxl, the space travelers Lia and Mira from the Nordkristall (northern crystal), Ohm Olunde from the silent forests and the incredible dark pilots. In their distant worldroom, the two insect beings Brtz and Brxl open up the Welttraumforscher songbook. They find the songs, from A to O, sung by the Forscher on their albums dating back to the faraway year of 1981 -- on cassettes, vinyls, CDs and through digital communications kaleidoscopes. It's Sunday and, with plenty of downtime on their hands, Brtz and Brxl listen to all the songs; the one about the yellow wight in the moors, the one about Kip Eulenmeister, the Captain of Souls, one about Leguan Rätselmann, pursuing every riddle, and one about the dark things which sometimes happen around midnight. We want one too, say say Brtz and Brxl, a songbook of our own, all the songs we like to listen to the most, collected in one album. By now it is late on Sunday evening and the moon shines above them like a colorful paper lantern. The two insect beings ponder: what shall we call our songbook? The very name we gave it, songbook. So here it is and this is what it sounds like -- Brtz and Brxl wish you happy listening. As do the Welttraumforscher, whose quiet body of work turned out so well. So, without further ado: welcome! Welcome to the Welttraumforscher songbook!
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CF 147CD
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"Brain stem cracking scum-punk recorded tersely in the basement of my home. After a notoriously frustrating eon, the knee-jerk song path was aggressive and hooky. This is an homage to the punk bands we grew up on -- the weirdos and art freaks that piqued our interests and pointed us on the trail head to here / now. Bad times make for strong music is something I agree with. I would say that is evident by the past few years of output from the underground. Transmissions have been all over the map: scanning...searching...sweeping out in the darkness looking for a foot hold. [OSEES] A Foul From represents some of our most savage and primal instincts. Fight or flight. And the importance of a sense of humor in the darkest hour. Nothing wrong with keeping it snappy in the meantime. For fans of Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Screamers, Abwarts, Stooges and all things aggressively tilted towards your face. You can lean back but don't flinch...it's a brief foray into the exhausting pogo pit, so stiffen your back and jerk with your knees. Enjoy." --John Dwyer
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CF 147LP
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LP version. "Brain stem cracking scum-punk recorded tersely in the basement of my home. After a notoriously frustrating eon, the knee-jerk song path was aggressive and hooky. This is an homage to the punk bands we grew up on -- the weirdos and art freaks that piqued our interests and pointed us on the trail head to here / now. Bad times make for strong music is something I agree with. I would say that is evident by the past few years of output from the underground. Transmissions have been all over the map: scanning...searching...sweeping out in the darkness looking for a foot hold. [OSEES] A Foul From represents some of our most savage and primal instincts. Fight or flight. And the importance of a sense of humor in the darkest hour. Nothing wrong with keeping it snappy in the meantime. For fans of Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Screamers, Abwarts, Stooges and all things aggressively tilted towards your face. You can lean back but don't flinch...it's a brief foray into the exhausting pogo pit, so stiffen your back and jerk with your knees. Enjoy." --John Dwyer
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12"
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CCS 121EP
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North London-by-way-of-Suffolk soundsmith Gerry Read delivers his first release for Circus Company with the Lean on Something EP. After countless examples of his bold production moves on many of our brother and sister labels including Herbert's Accidental Jr to more recently on Koze's Pampa Records, Read has always displayed a kindred spirit mindset to ours in his adventurous musical angles, and we are very happy to present this particular set of rock-solid and uniquely diverse pieces. The title track "Lean on Something" starts things off in fine and classic Read form, with knocking found-sound percussion, fizzing textures and slick use of chopped and disorienting vocal sample bits, as the track layers unfold into a whimsical and wondrous melodic stargazing anthem. "Wooer at the Well" then follows and picks up the tempo with those fly live acoustic drum lines that gives Gerry's tracks that special beyond-electronic feeling, while once again the deft layering of such a rich sound palette builds and builds giving other mavericks like Four Tet a sincere run for their money. The mood then brilliantly shifts on the next track "Paramol", where Read treats us to an almost Robotnik-era Italo sprinkling amidst his otherwise forward-thinking club floor-filling tendencies, with an amazing array of synth sections and an arrangement that should satisfy even the neo-purists out there amongst us. Finally, "Risotto" wraps up the proceedings with a warm, jazzy bouncer reminiscent of both Read's as well as the Circus Company catalog's charming early offerings, and a kind of landing-at-home-base sensation with smoky cubist funk feelings and an equal parts rough-yet-undeniably cool effervescent groove.
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CLV 007CD
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Poltergeist has that strange power of attraction that these personalities with their icy, mysterious aura hold. As soon as Ari Girard (aka Poltergeist) appears, something happens, he catches the light and strikes the spirits. Kämpfer is a ghost story where Poltergeist invites Joy Division, New Order, Talking Heads, The Cure, Can, Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails, or Jeff Mills for its first album. At the Poltergeist banquet, the crows of cold wave and the barbarians of krautrock, the metallers of indus rock and the freaks of techno meet. The epicenter is Berlin, the Wall, Lou Reed's Gotham, the Bowie/Eno trilogy and the toxic nights of underground clubs... Kämpfer, Poltergeist's first album, reveals its dark and disturbing universe. Marked by a heavy, deep and majestic atmosphere, this project evokes, without ever saying it openly, the climatic urgency, the ineluctable destiny, the human obsession to be first, to leave a trace of its passage and the nightmares which agitate the nocturnal spirits. Between frenetic synths, bewitching waves and marked foot, this implacable album marks the beginning of the Poltergeist era. Scratching synths, a dark and heavy universe: we can understand Vitalic's crush, who decided to sign the project at the first listening on his label Clivage Music. Poster included.
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CLV 007LP
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LP version. Poltergeist has that strange power of attraction that these personalities with their icy, mysterious aura hold. As soon as Ari Girard (aka Poltergeist) appears, something happens, he catches the light and strikes the spirits. Kämpfer is a ghost story where Poltergeist invites Joy Division, New Order, Talking Heads, The Cure, Can, Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails, or Jeff Mills for its first album. At the Poltergeist banquet, the crows of cold wave and the barbarians of krautrock, the metallers of indus rock and the freaks of techno meet. The epicenter is Berlin, the Wall, Lou Reed's Gotham, the Bowie/Eno trilogy and the toxic nights of underground clubs... Kämpfer, Poltergeist's first album, reveals its dark and disturbing universe. Marked by a heavy, deep and majestic atmosphere, this project evokes, without ever saying it openly, the climatic urgency, the ineluctable destiny, the human obsession to be first, to leave a trace of its passage and the nightmares which agitate the nocturnal spirits. Between frenetic synths, bewitching waves and marked foot, this implacable album marks the beginning of the Poltergeist era. Scratching synths, a dark and heavy universe: we can understand Vitalic's crush, who decided to sign the project at the first listening on his label Clivage Music. Poster included.
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6x12" BOX
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COR 051LP
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Another year, another expertly curated compilation touches down courtesy of Cocoon Recordings. Veteran techno producer Stephen Brown makes it clear the compilation series is back with a bang, opening things up in epic fashion with the lucid dreamscape "Level Steps". Another heavy-weight hitter steps straight up in the form of Claude von Stroke, who adds his own unique swagger to proceedings with those trademark shuffling beats and freaky, hypnotic bleeps scuffling for dominance on "Moody Fuse". Denis Horvat then slows things down on "Monomono", with post-rave abstractions and disobedient synth-patches causing mayhem before the track finally unfolds in all its terrifying beauty. A very special appearance from Daniel Avery makes it all the more worthwhile amid a dense forest of chiming melodies and blistering electrical surges on "Your Future Looks Different In The Light", before Jeroen Search's aptly titled "Subversive Elements" lead you deeper and deeper, into the matrix. Marco Bailey then kicks off a triptych of trance with some massive filtered piano action on "Kanai". Revisiting the huge, ever-growing pulsating brain of planet Orb, Damiano van Erckert continues the loved-up vibe on the gorgeously titled "500 People 500 Hearts 1 Love", expertly complimenting the classic ambience with some slick 909 snare and cymbal interplay. The melodic pull of "Vision99" then signifies that the party is peaking at just the right moment as YOKTO concocts a glistening, psychedelic groove. Just when you think the acid sound is done and dusted, up pops a track like Jonathan Kaspar's "CCC" that somehow manages to offer an entirely new perspective. "The Art of Electronics" is, as the title suggests, another superlative example of pure analogue fire, served up by UK legend, Andrew Meecham aka The Emperor Machine. Electro overlord Carl Finlow, has come to define the UK take on the genre over the last couple of decades. Here, he makes his long overdue label debut, taking you into the closing straight with a nervous sliver of dystopian futurism, complete with molten basslines and a fuzzy logic that underpins the tight, laser-guided groove on "Surface Control". DeFeKT then draws this great adventure to a close with the deliciously dark robo-disco overtones of "Terraform" creating a dusky landscape that skillfully seduces the listener before the tension finally breaks in a wash of ecstatic chords. Includes download.
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CD
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CVSD 092CD
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German pianist Georg Gräwe, one of the most impeccable and imaginative improvisers in contemporary free music, made his debut recording, New Movements, in 1976, under the auspices of Free Music Production, the legendary Berlin-based organization run by Jost Gebers. At FMP's Jazz Now festival, in April of that year, Gräwe presented his working band, a classic hard-bop configuration with trumpet, saxophone, and rhythm section. Indeed, some vestiges of that hard-bop feel permeate the music, however it's been fractured and expanded in its ambitions to include post-bop, freebop, free jazz, and free improvisation, all with an overall set of structures that betray Gräwe's deep interest in contemporary classical forms. It is an audacious debut, one of the most thrilling jazz-related European outings to emerge from the FMP program. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Harald Dau is spectacular, reminiscent in places of the great Gerd Dudek's work with Manfred Schoof Sextett -- tough as nails, free within a blues-oriented context, totally inventive. He's matched by lithe trumpeter Horst Grabosch, and Gräwe's rhythm team is impeccable, with Hans Schneider's bass and Achim Kramer's drums. The album kicks off with a 22-minute-long rollercoaster ride written by Gräwe, and continues with two more long tracks by Dau, all of them featuring thrilling interplay and brilliant tunes. First reissue since it was first available in the mid-1970s. Licensing directly from FMP, with newly remastered music direct from the original tapes, CvsD put this important piece of free music history back into circulation, throwing light on the early years of Georg Gräwe's music and expanding the picture of what FMP's vanguard mission meant. Edition of 500.
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CD
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CVSD 093CD
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German pianist Georg Gräwe, one of the most impeccable and imaginative improvisers in contemporary free music, made his debut recording, New Movements, in 1976, under the auspices of Free Music Production, the legendary Berlin-based organization run by Jost Gebers. At FMP's Jazz Now festival, in April of that year, Gräwe presented his working band, a classic hard-bop configuration with trumpet, saxophone, and rhythm section. Indeed, some vestiges of that hard-bop feel permeate the music, however it's been fractured and expanded in its ambitions to include post-bop, freebop, free jazz, and free improvisation, all with an overall set of structures that betray Gräwe's deep interest in contemporary classical forms. The band featured tenor and soprano saxophonist Harald Dau, matched by lithe trumpeter Horst Grabosch, and Gräwe's rhythm team is impeccable, with Hans Schneider's bass and Achim Kramer's drums. The same band hit the stage a year and a half later, again for FMP, recording Pink Pong. Even more adventurous and tightly wired, this version of Gräwe's fivesome plays more concise compositions, a total of eleven of them, spread out almost evenly amongst band members. The resulting album is one of FMP's absolute classics, simultaneously a nod at precursors like Alexander von Schlippenbach's early groups and Manfred Schoof's killer mid-sized ensembles, but also indicating a new path for a younger set of players. Steeped in a love of folks like Lennie Tristano and Steve Lacy, the band's points of reference were diverse enough to make them stand out against some of the more exclusively hard-blowing Germans of the era. First reissue since it was first available in the mid-1970s. Licensing directly from FMP, with newly remastered music direct from the original tapes, CvsD put this important piece of free music history back into circulation, throwing light on the early years of Georg Gräwe's music and expanding the picture of what FMP's vanguard mission meant. Edition of 500.
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CD
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CVSD 094CD
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Subtitled some more guitar solos, Bonobo Beach was German guitarist and instrument inventor Hans Reichel's fourth and final record of solo guitar works. After this record, Reichel would turn much of his attention to the bowed wooden-tongued instrument he created called the daxophone. Reichel recorded the six tracks at his home in Wuppertal in April, 1981, and in the process made what might be his masterpiece. These are not just some more guitar solos. Concentrating largely on acoustic guitar with no frets as well as his electric pick-behind-the-bridge guitar, he transforms tones into crystalline formations -- patience with resonances, attention to silence, formation of symmetries around a common sonic point, jetting notes that arc and spread and then hover. One might look for other references to describe what Reichel is up to -- the magic of Terje Rypdal, the aura of early William Ackerman, the eccentric multiple pickups of Fred Frith -- but really this is unique in guitar repertoire. Reichel built his instruments as tools for improvised exploration, and then he dove deep into them, never so far as on tracks like "Could Be Nice" or the quivering "Southern Monologue," or the two brilliant versions of the title track, "Bonobo Beach." On "Two Small Pieces Announced by a Cigar-Box," the titular box is bowed in a vocal manner that portends Reichel's development of the daxophone. This CD reissue, licensed directly from FMP, restores Reichel's original artwork and design for the LP, as well as an amusing insert tracking the development of his guitars from 1972-1981. A beautiful, essential document from one of the great outsider guitarists of all time. Edition of 500.
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CD
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CVSD 095CD
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What could possibly happen when two ultimate masters of soprano saxophone square off for their only recording of duets? Chirps is the only place to find out. Steve Lacy -- the one who planted the flag for soprano saxophone in the ground of modern jazz, who established its iconic status, who devoted himself to the axe with monkish devotion, who brought shakuhachi breath and stairstep melody into its upper-register antics. Evan Parker -- arguably the one who pushed the instrument the furthest post-Coltrane, the technical marvel, the polyphonist, the one willing to immerse in the instrument's harshest environs and find things of radiant beauty. Performed in Berlin at the Haus am Waldsee in July, 1985, it was every bit the chamber concert -- super intimate and interactive, gorgeously recorded by FMP's Jost Gebers in an ideal acoustic room. Rather than alternate between one and the other, Lacy and Parker explore middle-terrain the whole time, perhaps skewing a tad more Lacy's funky-tuneful direction, becoming a single soprano entity made of fragments of sound sometimes accreting into perfectly imperfect lines. Two long tracks, "Full Scale" and "Relations," are completed by a final four-minute coda aptly titled "Twittering." Indeed, the whole program has the joyous interactivity of Paul Klee's painting "Twittering Machine," birds aligned on a line, proposing and picking up lines, nothing cruel or mean-spirited, free play all a graceful twitter. This CD reissue restores the original Tomas Schmit design from the initial release on SAJ Records. Licensed directly from FMP. Edition of 500.
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12"
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NT 013EP
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Back in 2011, Markus Guentner and Heiko Badje formed Stareaway to follow their vision of creating both enchanting and haunting music from melodies and drones. Combining Guentner's complex wall of electronic sound and Badje's ethereal androgyn voice and multi-faceted guitar play, they indeed produced some epic works between ambient, pop, and shoegaze, strangely shimmering and profoundly mysterious. Now, Stareaway's fantastic (and back then maybe a little overlooked) album No Life In This Ghost Town (NT 001LP, 2013) sees its rerelease and is, for celebrational purposes, accompanied by this EP of four stunning remixes by stunning artists Rafael Anton Irisarri (who also did the mastering), Simon Scott (Slowdive), Thomas Fehlmann, and David Westlake (ex-Sneaker Pimps). Rafael Anton Irisarri's magical take on "O Suomi" sparkles bright, still with melancholia always present. David Westlake emphasizes the pop aspect of "Appointments", adding lush synth melodies and light-filled grooves while Thomas Fehlmann lets "All Over You" spiral into pop ambients most majestic heights. Finally, Simon Scott builds a "Kathedrale aus Klang" on "Dreams May Never". Amazing remixes of amazing originals.
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