Piska Power plunges us right into modular territory with some heart beating material and thus the tests have come back positive… or negative, which ever way you want to look at it. ‘Eiter Mit Stulle’ is a 6 track EP/ Mini LP – A nod to the working class, the ones building our society, for the better.
Linking the ancient and the modern across time and space, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet presents ‘Sketching the Unknown’ – a modern jazz journey into the folk and modal music of ancient Greece. Playing rich original compositions, the Quartet draw freely on Greek and Balkan folk sources, jazz idioms, and the classical makams of the near East. Returning to ancient Greek modes such as Dorian, Phrygian and Lydian, a fresh perspective is brought to the modal style. ‘Sketching the Unknown’ links today’s jazz back to the ancient modes and microtonal folk music of Greece and the Near East. Deep modal jazz sounds from an ancient source.
Surprise Chef is a 4-piece instrumental jazz-funk group from Melbourne, Australia. ‘The College Of Knowledge’ is their self-run label and ‘All News Is Good News’ album was recorded straight to tape in the band’s home studio.
Stuttgart, Germany based multimedia artist and producer MinaeMinae delivers his debut release of cosmic polyrhythmic explorations with Variante. Whether beamed in from the future or uncovered from the past, Variante calls to mind a place and time far from here and now. Synthetic mallets and anti-guitars comprise the record’s gritty foundation, while interlocking melodics and where’s-the-one rhythms tessellate a kaleidoscopic patchwork.
Experimental trio Giraffe crystalize time on ‘Desert Haze’, their new LP on Marionette. Giraffe is the musical project of Sascha Demand (guitar), Jürgen Hall (keys), and Charly Schöppner (percussion). They have quite diverse musical backgrounds, though morphing into Giraffe they tower into one single composer. Their music is a critical statement, not in a political sense but rather an artistic one. Being mindful about what it means to create and how to position themselves as artists nowadays (without the constant hassle of being en vogue and short-lived trends) shaped their rather rare and stoic artistic stance. It is refreshingly honest to see their expression develop so naturally. On Desert Haze, they’ve created a vibrant and minimalistic tribal sound that feels inspired by the Saharan traditional music of the Tuareg, Jazz, and German psychedelic krautrock.
“Hymn to Moisture” is Rrose’s first solo album, and it unfolds with the scrupulous care and patience that defines all of Rrose’s auditory experiments. The album explores embodiment in natural phenomena by playing with microtonal and unstable tunings, shifting overtones, and integrated modulations that make it difficult to separate tone from noise. Evoking wind, water, rock, and flesh, the album occupies multiple spaces simultaneously: abrasive and tranquil, propulsive and meditative, familiar and alien.
‘The Last Day Of Pompeii’ is a compilation of hidden gems by Retina.it -most of them released via Chicago’s Hefty Records in early 2000- and few unreleased coming as a double EP. The records will have inserts presenting 2 halves of Karl Brullov painting from 1830 (that gives the name to the project). On the backside of the insert there will be anecdotes and pictures from the archives. Midgar want to pay tribute to the Pompeian duo, whose life has been entirely dedicated to music. The project ‘The Last Day Of Pompeii’ talks about their origins, early history and relationship with Hefty Records.
Jay Glass Dubs is back on Berceuse Heroique. Jay Glass took a small break from the 80’s experimental pop of The Safest Dub and he invoked the spirits of German Kosmische Musik and the studio insanity of African Head Charge. Film Noir vibes are mixed with the greek ancient tragedies, leaving the Apollonian aesthetics of his last release and going for a darker, denser and completely Dionysian approach for this one. Medea meets Touch Of Evil. Harmonia and young Adrian Sherwood are getting loose on some pentatonic Greek Traditional music from Epirus.
Dutch Techno master Orlando Voorn has opened up his archive for the first of what will be an ongoing artist focused series brought to you by new imprint Above Board Projects. The compilation will be spread across 2 double 12″ volumes and will feature tracks from many of Voorn’s pseudonyms including; Fix, Baruka, The Ghetto Brothers, Mute & many more. Part 2 opens with the minimalistic bladerunner Techno of Voorn & Juan Atkins’ Infiniti classic ‘Game One’, a true modern classic, also featured is the rolling, paranoia inducing late night groove of ‘Dream World’ from one of Voorn’s more obscure projects Complex, all showcasing a wide variety of styles and sounds. Flawless selections from the early 90’s sitting alongside later productions only go to show how diverse and talented an artist Voorn is and how fresh and vital his music still is today. An essential collection for any serious techno lover.
Allen Saei, better known as Aubrey, is a unique DJ and record producer. This funny nickname came from the 80s British cartoon series where the main character had this red nose like him on the first day at the new school after moving from Portsmouth to Cowplain. Aubrey’s career though, is not funny at all since he is considered a pioneer of the global tech-house scene. Like a true rock star, it seems he lived a kind of troubled life across Europe, with a reputation that has made him very well respected in the US also, already in the mid 90s.
Indigo Aera presents a new release by none other than Sterac. This two tracker consists of two timeless Detroit rooted techno masterclasses which are a perfect fit for the Indigo philosophy: classic melodic techno music aimed at dancefloors.
Further exploring the far reaches of dancefloor music, Innervisions welcomes back Frankey & Sandrino with their entrancing Mercury EP.
Glasgow’s Stephen Lopkin delivers big here as the latest home recruit for Seventh Sign Recordings.
Three years have passed since the latest outing from Area Forty_One. The low-profile Dutch producer makes a welcome return to Delsin with four of his intergalactic explorations. It’s the third and final part of his Nocturnal Passions EP series on the label and once again a fine spaced-out collection of ambient, deep sea techno, downtempo grooves and icy electro blending into cinematic soundscapes. It’s an absorbing and thoughtful entirety, ticking all boxes for fans of deep and powerful electronica.
Cultivated Electronics announce the new release from long standing Dutch electronics purveyor and Tresor resident Delta Funktionen. Four tracks of deep and heady electro goodness that sit perfectly in the CE camp.
The Hipodrome Of Music 