After closing the first part of Fundamental Records’ experiment called Music for The Other People Place, the second part begins. Music for The Other People Place. Experiment 2. A special and highly limited electro / electronics project (tributed to James Stinson), produced by different artists that will remain anonymous, if they choose to…
The third output from the Altered States label, the Furthur Electronix off shoot label, is an expansive double pack of electro psychedelia by Uf0 aka Sergio Garcia from Spain. Over the four sides, the somewhat-elusive Ibizan artist takes you on a journey through mind-bending oscillations, crisp drum programming and creeping euphoria. It flickers seamlessly between retro braindance and cinematic futurism; between rave cuts and gently simmering ambience (‘Yeh Premoh’); or between lightning-fast propulsion and sedate wandering. Uf0 excels on each individual track and with the album format as a whole, providing all the ingredients for a captivating and transportive listen from back to front.
A Call Too Close is a digital compilation released by brokntoys to raise funds for Tottenham food banks. Music from Aldrich, Alex Jann, Barking, Constructive nature, Das Muster, Dez Williams, Eduardo, Isolated Material, Jauzas the Shining, Marco Bernardi, Poperttelli, Rings Around Saturn, Rugon, Sam Lowry, The Jaffa Kid, Timothy J. Fairplay and XY0815. All profit from the release will be donated in equal parts to the Selby Food Hub and Tottenham Food Bank.
For the 4th edition in ZwaarteKracht’s acclaimed series, Arsonist Recorder invites 3 dedicated fellow producers with some serious firepower to share their sounds on the label: Parand, originally from Iran, via London now living in Berlin, Dark Prophet from Belgium and Serge Geyzel, from Berlin.
Adrian Marth, the head of Italo Moderni, presents a collection of 6 italo edits ready for download as pay-as-you-want release on his own bandcamp page. Adrian has been crafting his own deeply personal style mixing italo and Electro. His music brings together sounds of the classic start of the Italo disco, space disco and cosmic disco of the 80s, electronic sounds with analog synthesizers and nuances with chill wave detunes.
Completely unorthodox production techniques employed by one of Spain’s maestros from the 80’s, Thank You brings back one of Julian Ruiz’s craziest productions that come with a potential threat to any well tuned HiFi system (careful at 1:26 on A side). A remarkable dubby/italo rhythm section sets the foundation for a dreamy melody that won’t be forgotten so easily. Inspired in Indian mythology, “El Genio De Los Pies Rojos” is a masterpiece that will take any tasteful dancefloor to serious heights. Includes 2 other shorter titles from the album originally released in 1986.
During this difficult situation where we are forced to see beautiful theaters empty and quiet, the eclectic Ital Oscillazioni (Elvio Seta), offers us a couple of unpublished tracks “obscure-italo” on vinyl, in which he clearly expresses his New Romantic nature. These blend the raw and pure sound of his vintage synths, with the surprising theatricality of the Opera represented here by Gioacchino Rossini’s “L’Equivoco Stravagante”. A retrofuturistic concept italo-disco that, while we are sweaty and busy dancing it in a dirty nightclub, will transport us for a few moments to an elegant Italian theater of 1982, surrounded by heavy red velvet curtains.
The first Avidya release. Starting with The Proposal by A Strange Wedding, this Lyon based producer, builds on their “modern style” slow trance to create a label anthem, a template. Stretched Arp, hypnotic bass and searing melody, underpinned by ocean wide kick. Datasal are next, as this Gothenburg’s trio’s debut arrives. Acoustics (Miyazawa flute / Fender bass) and electronics (Roland RS-09 / Korg Mono) collide; prog rock meets post punk meets dance; outside organised compositions to improvise to the beat. Side two leads back to the origin. 84PC, the dormant Tel Aviv collective (featuring Katzele, Naduve, Asaf and Yovav), return with a previously unreleased remix from Khidja. Their “Welcome To The Pleasuredome” moment is peak time perfection. To close Barcelona’s Iro Aka arrive with another debut. Their bubbling 303 is a tender dreamtime finale that points ahead.
Duca Bianco brings the disco goodness once more here with Tom Bolas serving up four fresh cuts. ‘Tanz Ohne Planeten’ is a go slow chugger with ling legend drums and glistening chords. ‘Guestlist Of Love’ soars on a slick electro beat with robotic vocals adding some cyborg funk. ‘Fick Mich’ steps it up with withering chords and libidinous vocal cries over stark and steely drums. Last of all, things get seductive and blissed out on ‘Shinjuku Strut,’ a retro future vocal disco gem designed for good times. This is a hugely varied EP that nails four very different but equally brilliant styles.
Lancaster had initially cut his musical teeth with the avant-garde on New York’s Lower East Side in the 1960s and in Paris during the ‘70s but, throughout his career, his path was built around community engagement, positivity and “the Philly jazz sound, Germantown style.” He became an ambassador for the music of the City Of Brotherly Love, starting his own Dogtown label, helping launch the Philly Jazz imprint and campaigning tirelessly to improve the circumstances of the city’s street musicians. Lancaster’s sessions for Black Fire were planned following a gig at Caverns Jazz Club in Washington DC. “Jimmy Gray of Black Fire and I originally met during the ‘riotous blisters’ of the late Sixties there,” explained Lancaster. “We became the best of friends.” Backed by a band of Philly musicians including percussionist Keno Speller and Baba Robert Crowder (drummer for Olatunji and Art Blakey), the album also featured the Drummers From Ibadan led by Tunde Kuboye, another influential figure dedicated to community jazz with whom Lancaster had bonded while teaching in Lagos. The result was a free-flowing set of spirituality and positivity, built around full band groove workouts, solo pieces and heavy African roots. “We had big fun documenting this music,” remembered Lancaster. The message of the album remains as relevant today as ever, “I dedicate this album to all African Americans in the USA. To the youth, I ask ‘What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?’”
You could think of the collection of tracks here as a library record of sorts, and each track inhabits its own universe. Tropical fits various moods and situations, and it could soundtrack any number of activities at home or on a dancefloor – whether real, imaginary, or hallucinated. Strangely enough, it sounds like it could have been constructed from obscure Italian library breaks, when instead every instrument has been played and panned, several times over, across magnetic tape. The genesis of many of these tracks began when CV Vision moved to Berlin in 2014. His flat had a small chamber where he could fit a drum set, so he treated the walls with foam, and in true DIY style, dived headfirst into recording these tracks. It was the natural next step on an audio adventure that first began when CV Vision picked up the guitar in his teens, and a couple years later started recording with friends in his home town of Bayreuth. Fast forward ten years and here is his debut – a culmination of practising chops and learning instruments, mastering recording techniques and fine-tuning the CV Vision sound. It’s a sound that condenses elements of acid rock, psych soul, library funk and new wave oddities into a movie soundtrack for your mind. It’s a journey from ‘60s west coast LSD-drenched excursions to ‘80s synth and post-punk mutations. Tropical is a plunge into another time, another music you can simply swim around in and explore.
When a spark ignites between two musicians, the state of flow can be achieved. Usually, a fleeting sensation, but when captured, it is an unstoppable force. The coming together of Jeff Mills and Jean-Philippe Dary came from a collaborative project with the late great Tony Allen and created chemistry instantly. Both being cognizant of the skilled innate improvisation that was happening in small jam sessions, they conceived the concept for their collaborative project: The Paradox. They believed that this uncompromising freedom and the manifestation of new ideas allowed them to reach a higher level of spiritual consciousness within their work. Recorded in real-time; these compositions reflect captured spontaneous actions which concede honesty and truth.
Move D has seen a massive career over the years, starting with his early days as a German pioneer of House Music. In 1993 this was one of his first 12“ records on Time Unlimited which was mostly known for Trance and Hard Trance. This surely is a cult record and has become highly sought after over the last ten years. Its unique style of sampling comined with an uplifting, basement style production is still mindbending and timeless. This reissue was remastered by David’s long-term friend Lopazz for a full range sound experience.
Orlando Voorn returns on Housewax under his legendary Format moniker.
“Keep My Fire On” is a deep house beauty and perfect for the summer season.
The raves at Same Bitches have not changed much since back in March 2014 at OHM, Berlin. Every second month on the first Saturday at noon sharp the residents Handmade, Ron Wilson, Derek Plaslaiko, VCO and Manuela Mayoral play each a three hour set and after everyone is through the Dj who warmed up goes into the next round continuing the running order with the usual ending in a full on back-to-back orgy. The occasional special guest never gets announced, it is mainly the same bitches in charge. After seven years it has come to the point of expanding the realm and the crew decided on releasing a record. The tracks of the first Same Bitches record featuring Handmade, VCO, Ron Wilson and Derek Plaslaiko represent their diverse yet homogenous sound of the parties and arrive just on time for their anniversary in March. Hopefully soon the party can continue and we can all enjoy the music and dance together again…
Foreign Policy is the electronic music project of Berlin based artist Thomas Ricard, co-founder of the Area Z collective. ”Watching Existence” marks his debut release as well as his first 12”, a six track journey of scorched electro industrial & techno body music operating as a conduit for his social observations on the modern condition, human rights and civil liberties. The 12″ EP also includes a remix by SARIN.
Since the early 1980s the Eureka, California based duo Psyclones freak out in music. As one of the most long-standing DIY duos, Brian Ladd and Julie Frith created a body of work, that flirts with Ambient, experimental industrial sounds, New Wave, Post-Punk, Synth-Pop, and all that electric jazz. Besides a few hard-to-find vinyl releases, they published their music regularly via cassette tapes on labels like their own imprint Ladd-Frith or other famed 1980’s underground tape labels like Cause And Effect from Indianapolis, legendary San Francisco based Subterranean Records, Sound of Pig from New York, Insane Music from Belgium or the Spanish label Auxilio De Cientos to name but a few. Now, Notte Brigante is dropping “Tape Music 1980 – 1984”, a detailed compiled sampler on Psyclones early output, that was scattered over diverse tape releases. A nine tracks long trip into the work of a highly underrated band, that never lost their drive to explore new avenues in sound.
The Hipodrome Of Music 