The long overdue 10 track debut album from Marcellus Pittman on his own label Unirhythm. Includes some tracks that were vinyl only previously, as well as about 5 new tracks, including a Jamie 326 edit. Pittman is one of Detroit’s hidden gems of production. A talent with an unmistakeable sound that is undeniably his own.
Belgian producer and DJ Peter Van Hoesen offers a new full- length album, on his own Time To Express label. ‘Perceiver’, his second full length album following 2010’s ‘Entropic City’, is evidence of Van Hoesen’s continual experiments into sound. The textural, shifting and dynamic synth elements, hooks and arpeggios that characterise the album’s voice often reach into abstract zones, but never too far that the listener cannot easily delve into the hypnotism of the moment. Gently rhythmic pieces such as the album’s opening voyage, ‘Objects From The Past’, or the reduced modular electronics of ‘Spectral Participant’ plant the tone of the earlier tracks firmly in the high-tech, experimental realms of modern electronica. With careful editing Peter arrived at a complete and concise album, spanning 60 minutes, exploring largely varied yet complementary fields of sound. It is clear that intricacy and diversity are high on Van Hoesen’s sonic agenda. With that in mind, ‘Perceiver’, offers a telling insight into the explorations of a producer who is little concerned with fulfilling or expressing his artistic ego, and much more by the genuine discoveries one can make by diving deep into sound. The album ascends patiently from serene and perplexing sound pieces into fierce club-ready movements. With each track we find bold new percussive elements and sharp, textural, modulating synths entering the fold. In the later half of the LP the emphasis is clearly on headstrong body shocks designed for cavernous off-world clubs – the biting snarl of ‘Decoder’ – or futuristic festival settings with the entrancing arpeggios of ‘Inspection In Solitude’. ‘Perceiver’ presents an organic, flowing and modern take on techno – vitally alive, pulling us away from genre boundaries and more into the adventurous realms of electronica.
Raw banging techno racks by Regis. ” the tracks from the Death Head Sessions were originally dub-plates used for Regis Live Actions at the End of the 90’s. They were used to layer over live electronics and are all interlocking pieces that were constructed to be played back to back. They have now been reclaimed from the earlier decoy release * ,re- mastered and arranged in the order they appeared on the original dub plates.”
Frustrared Funk presents a new release by Boris Bunnik aka Conforce as Versalife, featuring 6 deep electro detroit infected tracks.
Another limited DIY release from the Stilleben camp. This time with cool scientific electro tracks produced by Martin Matiske.
Berlin’s undercover Atelier Records crew return with a release that shares it origins with the SUED release that dropped this week too. This is Dont’s 2nd release for the label & is almost like a mini LP full of short tracks that sit somewhere between Lo-Fi bedroom synth jams, Minimal Wave, Electro & Post Punk. Basically, this is a very interesting release, seriously heavy music on here, off key vocals & some very Leftfield sounds are the order of the day.
The Chuck “Cyril” Walker Collection (1980-1985) featuring 8 rare tracks highlighting the career of this Charlotte, NC keyboardist and producer. “Saturday Night” is dedicated to the family, friends, and fans of the late Chuck “Cyril” Walker, who passed away during the making of this album.
Borghesia is an electronic music group, founded in 1982 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The band was formed by four members of alternative theatrical group Theatre FV-112/15: Dario Seraval, Aldo Ivancic, Neven Korda and Zemira Alajbegovic. They established FV Video to self-publish their video projects and FV Založba – the first independent record label in ex-Yugoslavia. Aldo and Dario took care of songwriting, production and recording while Zemira and Neven handled the visuals. In the late 80s the band signed to PIAS and went on to release a string of successful albums and played world-wide tours. “Clones” was Borghesia’s second album, self-released on cassette only in 1984. The band borrowed synthesizers (Roland SH-101, Casio VL-1, Korg Polysix) and a Roland 808 drum machine from friends. Every song was played live – no overdubs – and recorded to a cassette deck over a few nights at their club Disco FV during 1983-1984. All of the songs are instrumental and feature various cutting edge techniques for 1983. Hypnotic, proto-techno and acid rhythms and synth lines. Music on the A Side of the LP is faster and club oriented while the B Side offers a drugged out soundtrack to get lost in. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley directly from the original master tape.
Stress is the duo of Alan Rider and Phil Clarke from West Midlands, England formed in 1981. Stress combined electronic rhythms and keyboards with bass guitar, vocals, percussion, and cut-up samples. They created catchy electronic pop songs that fused accessible & experimental elements with a pointed lyrical edge. “Conspiracy Theory” is an 11-song ‘best of’ compilation album featuring tracks from the first two cassette albums with “The Prayer Clock” from Third Mind Records, ‘Life At The Top’ compilation LP and “Tear It Down” from the ’Compulsory Overtime’ compilation LP. Each song has been carefully remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.
Official release of the previously unreleased album of the famous 12” classic. ASSO the alter ego of italian producer Victorio Pezzolla is something like a Italo Disco one hit wonder. The Do it Again / Don’t Stop 12” has original been released in 1983 and is meanwhile one of the most sought after 12” releases from Italy. Unfortunately the related album hasen’t been brought to the market back in the 80’s. Victorio Pezzolla and Private Records rediscovered the original analog master tape some months ago in an archive of an Italian publisher. The absurdity that the music has never been commercially released leads to the fact that this masterpiece, a complete unreleased original 80’s album, will be brought to you fresh and unspent in 2012. Italo Disco, Space Funk and balearic grooves are combining to an unique Italo Disco release.
Three years in the making, Symmetry – the project that began as a conceptual tangent between Glass Candy, Chromatics, Mirage, & Desire’s more abstract sides – finally sees its release this month. “Themes For An Imaginary Film” is two hours of claustrophobic cinematic bliss compiled for Painters, Writers, Photographers, Designers, Cruisers, Night Walkers, & Dreamers. Adrenaline drips thick like syrup across a horizon where memories become blurred scenes behind the windshield & yesterday’s faces fade as the road strobes to aggressive rhythms. Romantic melodies linger in the rearview mirror as chimera bells saturate the electric fog that’s slowly rolling in. Over the span of thirty-seven tracks, Symmetry embraces the elegance of European noir, cut with a lean & violent American razor. Directly in your face & breathing down your neck one minute, & escaping beyond the night sky the next. The attention given to color & detail on these recordings is more graphic than musical. More visual than aural. With no flashy virtuosity to clutter the mood, the album’s pulse thrives on the empty pockets of space left in the wake of throbbing bass & the faint flicker of electro candlelight. Minimal, strict, & always in motion, there’s an oppressive overtone throughout the record that winds itself tight as a clock. Johnny Jewel & Nat Walker (Chromatics & Desire) give us propulsive moments that are more rhythm based than Pop, & less reliant on a lyrical presence than their other projects. We hear elements through the veil & color of analog synthesizers & rhythm machines from the early 1970s, resulting in the suspenseful & patient territory pioneered by the hands of John Carpenter, Claudio Simonetti, Wendy Carlos, Klaus Schulze, & Krzysztof Komeda. Symmetry is not Pop. Stripped to its most primitive & visceral core, this is music written for picture. Your life is the film & this is the soundtrack.
First new album from the Echospace duo since the critically acclaimed ‘Liumin’ double album on Manchester’s beloved Modern Love imprint. The sonic structure of this album was the basis for what later became ”Liumin” released on Modern Love but this exploration is something all together different, left untreated and unprocessed from its original 1/2” tape to preserve the natural organic state of the recording. The LP is a soundtrack to Silent World, an independent film produced by Rod Modell that will come out on DVD sometime after the album.
In a time where music classification and compartmentalising of genres loses all meaning, Jon Convex aka Damon Kirkham has been at the forefront advocating a new wave of electronic music. His new solo album ‘Idoru’ (A Japanese word derived from the English ‘idol’) is his multi-dimensional sound projected into a new species of electronic music production. The themes on Idoru are evident from the start. Influenced from a young age, growing up in a video rental store during the 80’s and vinyl hunting in the 90’s, these distinguished eras are stamped all over Idoru. The album is further fused with his previous production mastery pirouetting gracefully over his mutated Techno House repertoire. From the Autonomic inspired ‘Fade’ to the brooding tones of ‘About Her’ who’s late night vibes and pitched vocals pay homage to Drexciyan project ‘Other peoples place’.
Back and cooking up more funk and flavor with his second album for Rekids, Mr G proves he’s still the king of rhythm with ‘State Of Flux’. Packing more history than most of the top current producers put together, Mr G has been fine-tuning his breed of music for two decades. Described by the man himself as “it’s all about a bassline”, his music takes the formula of a ballad and the movement of reggae.
Warm Up Recordings presents Oscar Mulero’s new album: Black Propaganda. Nine new tracks that reflect a new twist in his sound, going deep into dark territories; a black and white approach to dance electronics, where shades and echoes and drones are mixed with obscure rhythm treatments that go from slow tempos to more uplifting beats. Sonically speaking, his sound has become simpler, with less elements but better sound design. Less is more. All tracks have a common feeling, like a soundtrack for a sad European landscape: mental, industrial, repetitive and definitely non-melodic.
Elbee Bad aka Lamont Booker is another great underground house pioneer from the formative days of NYC house in the late eighties. ‘The True Story Of House Music’ is the first time Bad’s catalog gets compiled for re-release. Although the best and most prolific part of his catalog is his late 80’s and early 90’s output, Booker never stopped producing (and dj’ing). Elbee Bad aka LB Bad aka The Prince Of Dance Music aka Lamont Booker aka The Voodoo Man, aka Lord KCB aka BAD currently lives and works in Berlin where he continues to work on music as well as producing and running his Bad’s Label.
Blackest Ever Black is releasing the first ever vinyl edition of Gareth Williams and Mary Currie’s Flaming Tunes. This remarkable album was recorded at DDM and Cold Storage in London after Williams had left This Heat and returned from the first of several trips to India. It was officially released on cassette in 1985, before being bootlegged on CD more than a decade later. The bootleg in question, the Japan-issued After The Heat, described the Flaming Tunes pieces as ”This Heat’s final demo recordings”, much to Gareth’s understandable dismay – after all, the album marked a conscious attempt to create a music with a different mood and texture to that of This Heat, one which would allow the full expression of his eclectic and distinctive tastes. In 2009, twenty-four years after the original cassette release and eight after Williams’ death, aged 48, from cancer, Life & Living Records – an independent label operated by his close friends – released the first and definitive CD edition of Flaming Tunes. Where possible, L&L went back to the original master tapes to achieve the best possible sound quality. The album – is one of the most unique, poignant and poetic ever to emerge from the British underground, its visionary power matched only by its playfulness and intimacy – has never had a life on vinyl.
Tin Man presents an ambitious but club ready album of 303 centric dance tracks. 8 cuts that ably followup his breakout single ”Nonneo” from 2011 which launched the popular ”Acid Test” series on Absurd Recordings.
‘You & Me’ turned out to be an amazingly fresh and versatile album, and in good old Uncanny Valley tradition, a highly collaborative affair that goes far beyond the deep house description, making it very well fit for both home listening and dancefloors worldwide. A track like the dark and dirty ‘Heteronomous’ with Uncanny Valley fellow Sneaker lines up alongside the bright and sunny anthem ‘Punta Del Este’ together with Belgiums San Soda. Artists like Christopher Rau or Mr Raoul K add their trademark sounds but there is always that specific approach of Jacob Korn that connects the tracks.
The Hipodrome Of Music 