For Illusion Recordings 6th edition we travel across Europe to the current deep house mecca of Russia to present Volta Cab for his Illusion debut. This is not your typical house release and that’s the way we like it. This eclectic EP crosses many genres from Soul to Hip Hop to Deep House and shows off a dexterity of sound Illusion has been building towards since its first release. Featuring remixes by Trus’me and Creative Swing Alliance.
Generation Next has appeared on some of the Big Strick cuts like Alpha & Omega and Resivior Dogs. The 17 year old is the newest addition to the 7 Days Ent. camp and he brings his first self titled E.P. A four song masterpiece that is sure to move the dance floor.
For our 8th release on the Wax Classic series, Skylax presents 4 fantastic trax done by one of th ebest deep house producer right now : Montel. Being an avid record collector and dance music enthusiast for nearly 20 years, Montel has slowly but surely cultivated his craft. Feeling all nostalgic after his 20 year love affair with House music, he felt it was time to find a creative outlet for his sounds. His only objective is to give back the good vibrations, making music for DJs and Dancers. Music for sweaty basements, house party’s and day time raves.
Four previously unreleased cuts from the vault of Ben ’Cozmo D’ Cenac, producer of Newcleus, Dream 2 Science, Push/Pull & Sha-Lor. Written in the late 80’s / early 90’s these tracks have been sitting on DAT tapes for over 20 years. The tracks themselves feature Ben’s wife Yvette Cenac aka Vai Cee from Dream 2 Science and Lady E of Newcleus, Gregg Fore aka Buster Fhott from Dream 2 Science and Push/Pull, The Cellar Boyz aka the original Jam-On DJs and finally Shareen Evans. A career musician, Ben’s instrumentation and programming is timeless, its a sound that cannot be replicated.!
Cititrax present a new release by the UK duo known as The KVB via our sublabel Cititrax. Combining shoegaze guitars, minimal synth melodies, hypnotic drum machine rhythms and reverb drenched vocals, The KVB was first formed in 2010 as the solo project of Klaus Von Barrel. He was later joined by his girlfriend Kat Day, who added synthesizers and abstract visual elements. Their sound can be described as dark, layered, complex and moody – an icy atmosphere juxtaposed by the warmth of distorted guitars.
Dark Entires Records is honored to re-issue the debut EP by Fall Of Saigon. The band was born in 1981 when Florence Berthon (Vocals), Pascal Comelade (Organ, Synthesizer) and Thierry Den (Guitar, Vocals) met at a concert in Montpellier, France. They chose to the name the project Fall Of Saigon after a song by UK post-punk act This Heat. They self-released their debut EP in 1983 citing Nico & The Velvet Underground, Suicide and James Joyce as influences. The 6 songs on the EP were recorded in two stages. “She Leaves Me All Alone” and “On The Beach At Fontana” were sung by Thierry and recorded at Pascal’s home on a Revox 2-track in one shot. The four songs sung by Florence – “Visions”, “Blue Eyes”, “So Long” and “The Swimmer” – were recorded and mixed at the Montpellier Languedoc Video Animation Center by Jean Alain Sidi on two ReVox A77 reel to reels and a small mixer. On “Visions,” “Blue Eyes” and “So Long,” the group employed a drum machine that could only play four or five rhythms with a single slider to increase or decrease the tempo. The songs were minimal: verse, chorus, no bridge, no intro. Built on a simple spine, they create a feeling of space with just a voice and an organ or synthesizer melody. Full of class and inventiveness, Fall Of Saigon are often compared to Young Marble Giants due to the fragile, ephemeral quality of the songs.
Informatics were a post-punk electronic band from Melbourne, Australia formed in 1981. Michael Trudgeon, Valek Sadovchikoff, Steve Adam and Ramesh Ayyar met in the experimental sound studio while attending the same art school. Philip McKellar later joined the band in 1983. They came to work together through a shared fascination in electronic music and the capabilities of analogue synthesizers. In early performances, long before the advent of samplers, the Informatics used a collection of synthesizers and other analogue and hand built equipment. These were patched together to create a unique battery of sounds. Informatics early songs have a brittle, cold, disconnected feel made by a Roland SH-101, Korg MS-20 and a lot of processed guitar. The later songs utilize newer technology and ambient, synthesized melodies closer to their country mates Severed Heads.
Dark Entries is proud to present “The Thing From The Crypt,” a 16-track compilation of UK DIY/Synth/New Wave/Post-Punk originally released in 1981. Showcasing the thriving post punk sound of Watford, a town in Hertfordshire, England, located 20 minutes northwest of central London. “‘The Thing From The Crypt’ neither attempts to sell a ‘Wotford sound’ nor claims to be a comprehensive guide to the area’s best beat bands. Like all good compilations, its essence is variety: some tracks will make you come whilst other will make you vomit.” – original liner notes by Robert Dellar.
This compilation features 8 bands with two songs included by each group.
‘Exploitation’ is the new film by Dutch independent filmmaker Edwin Brienen. Enfant Terrible produced the soundtrack for this gothic-noir satiric fresco. 90 minutes of music to be enjoyed both as true soundtrack as well as a sequel to previous Enfant Terrible compilations… but more dramatic and ritualistic in the way the record is building up. It will please fans of minimal electronics and (post) industrial music but also moves into different styles such as idm, tekno, angst pop and chanson, while always keeping a dark and cold mood and/or dream state feeling throughout.
Inspired by reggae, sound system culture and the myriad of musical styles influenced by Jamaican music old and new, The Lions’ sound is firmly placed in soul music. The band draws together a dozen or so of LA’s elite reggae and soul forerunners who loosely coalesced as The Lions in 2007. Members of the legendary ska band Hepcat, Deston Berry and Alex Désert, form half of the vocal team, and the latter also has a successful career on screen, including roles in the films Swingers and High Fidelity. The other half is the sweet falsetto of Malik Moore and DJ stylings of Black Shakespeare, the charismatic cousin of Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly & Robbie fame) and co-runner of the i&i Sound System, a customized ice cream van bringing bass to the streets of the west coast. ‘This Generation’ is being released on vinyl in the form of a 45 box set containing the 12 tracks from the album plus non-album dub versions.
The first taste of the upcoming “Lost Scrolls” release from J Dilla. The “Lost Scrolls” will be all unreleased Dilla material and will come of somewhat of a surprise to more than a few. Not due to the lavish production work – the beats are prime, vintage Dilla start to finish. What will make “Lost Scrolls” unique is Dilla on the mic. This special 10″ release of material from “Lost Scrolls” finds Dilla at home on the verbals just as he was always at home working an MPC. This vinyl offering features “DeWitt To Do It” (DeWitt being Dilla’s middle name) as well as the return of the Yancey Boys on “The Throwaway” where Dilla’s brother Illa J trades verses with Nitt over a vintage Dilla beat.
The official release of the 1976 recording ‘The Tribe’. Finally after more than 35 years, this essential Spiritual Jazz recording is made available again. Hannibal Marvin Peterson’s unreleased album The Tribe is a sacred collection of blistering jazz assaults and deep reflective spirituals from Hannibal’s ten-piece group. The five tracks on The Tribe fluctuate from propulsive ensemble stampedes supporting Hannibal’s wild solos, to peaceful dreamy hymns. ‘Now Stand’ opens the album, the rest of the group playing catch-up to Hannibal and Billy Hart’s trumpet and drum intro. ‘A Sacred Multitude’ and ‘Of Life And Love And God’ both tap into the deeper, contemplative side of things, Branice McKenzie’s sanctified vocal and Diedre Murray’s cello coming to the fore. ‘Returning To The Ways’ powers along with an uptempo charge not unlike Carlos Garnett’s ‘Mother Of The Future’, but it’s The Tribe’s title track that steals the show and closes the record. Kicking off in exuberant spirit, the track blends heavy riffs and chants with the kind of bluesy changes that characterize Harry Whitaker’s ‘Black Renaissance’, before ending in a foreboding metallic conclusion.
L-Vis 1990 makes his debut on Clone Records with a 4 tracks EP, a consistent source of jacking, hardware-centric monsters.
Second EP from Vereker picks up right where the last one left off starting with the track Fear Eats the Soul which somehow reminds us of Nitzer Ebb meets techno meets your face in a meat grinder. Chock full of paranoia, deceit, and all things bad that happen that you wish never would, the remainder of the ep continues on in a bleak and unforgiving manner painting
a grim picture of the decaying present and lost future. Heavy music for the dark hours.
Originally from the UK, now San Francisco based artist Oliver Vereker makes an amazingly strong vinyl debut with three crushingly tense and off-kilter techno tracks. All three tracks contained within are designed to rip the listener apart like a sickened animal on the loose.
Elect Pt1 becomes the latest collaborator in The Exaltics Meets series following prior introductions to Morphology and Gosub. German speakers will be able to decipher Elect Pt1’s “Drei Chinesen Mit Dem Acidbass”, a potential retrospective nod to Bunker’s “acid planet” squat parties. A flabby kick, crushed hats and white noise sounding more like a baby robot tantrum than synthesis opens “The Party”, before unexpected doo-doo-doo vocals become the tracks centrepiece. The Exaltics opens his side of the 12″ with throbbing drums and hardedge acid in “The Midnight Connexion”, which later gives way to uplifting chords. Acid and breakneck drum loops make up “Nichts Aber Auch Nichts” which also receives some euphoric synth treatment.
Low-key German producer Yør returns to similarly low key Dutch imprint Purple Maze for his third full outing on the label in the form of the ‘Sublimation EP’. Across the four tracks Yør continues to explore the same frayed and decayed, abstract electronics as he has in the past. The opener and title track is an intense and moody, nerve jangling affair where huge searching synths pan in the background of grinding drums and dense percussive clatter before ‘Gravity’, with its heavyweight and churning drums, trudges on through sonic scuzz and lo-fi blizzards as a backlit melody keeps things from growing all too dark and abstract. The dystopian, tortured industrial funk of ‘Parallels’ with its slapping claps and decaying percussive lines are proof of that, where through chaos comes beautiful order. Closer ‘Trust’ holds its head a little higher, more spiralling synths and bleepy fax machines tones add a sense that the apocalypse is coming and machines will take over, but there’s enough organic beauty in the deeply hidden melodies to keep the track from being all too hostile.
Levon Vincent with the 8th Novel Sound delivering quality again. Four tracks all different from each other, ranging from warm dubby berlin-esque techno, solid bass driven house to a more to a more haunting slightly aggressive sound.
