Massimo Guanti – Diapositive [LON002LP]

Beside the telluric year in pop music and culture, 1977 was still ranked as the future for Italian leftfield composers. Published by Roman imprint Gemelli and credited to the elusive Massimo Guantini (none else than influential jazz player and composer Sandro Brugnolini), Diapositive is a fully cinematic journey in the realm of sci-fi and cool jazz. Fully produced at famous roman Emmequattro Studios (home of many fascinating recordings by piano player Enrico Pieranunzi) the album is deeply rooted in the coolness of italian libraries, showing up such an incredible music craftsmanship. Fully adorned by a vibrant rhythm section, an acoustic piano, a clavinet, a Fender Rhodes and a proper ‘acid jazz’ guitar-playing, this album will lift your mind and soul for good.

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Massimo Guanti – Diapositive [LON002LP]

Nordvest – Grøndal [SUCTION051]

Suction Records welcomes Roger Semsroth back to the label – having previously released 2 full-length albums with us under his retired electro-pop alias, Skanfrom. “Grøndal” is the debut vinyl release under a new alias, Nordvest. These days, Semsroth is best-known for his stark and minimalist techno project, Sleeparchive. The material on Grøndal – icy, melodic, and mostly beatless – is comprised of tracks that were originally released digitally as Sleeparchive, via Bandcamp. The releases were met with general disinterest from Sleeparchive fans, prompting Semsroth to re-brand them as Nordvest, before removing them from Bandcamp altogether. We’ve chosen 11 highlights from 3 of those digital albums, “Rooftops & Chaotic Streets”, “Scribbles”, and “Sleepless”, for a cohesive 11-track LP of austere, synthetic ambiance.

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Nordvest – Grøndal [SUCTION051]

Crossed Wires – Crossed Wires [LSD032]

Light Sounds Dark present ‘Crossed Wires’ an eponymous collection of music salvaged from a dusty cassette in the depths of the archives from the productions of an 80s psyche-experimentalist. Expect raw, unheard, previously unreleased music,. about as authentic as it gets.

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Crossed Wires – Crossed Wires [LSD032]

ReQuest – Deeper Visions EP [WEME313.28]

Deeper Visions takes us back into ReQuest’s recollections of the Drexciya-induced dream worlds he explored after listening to The Quest & falling into a shamanistic trance. Cruising through fluorescent reefs, seedy backwaters & the dense algae vapor of the Conglomerate’s innumerable processing refineries, he recalls in detail the sensory impressions through a palette of hi-tech funk, sub-aquatic dance & bio-luminescent soul.

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ReQuest – Deeper Visions EP [WEME313.28]

Nullptr – Future World [CPU01011000]

Two years after debuting on Central Processing Unit with the acclaimed Aftrmth EP, Nullptr returns to the Sheffield label for the release of new full-length album Future World. Nullptr has created a set of perpetual-motion marvels here, wind-’em-up-and-watch-’em-go electro tunes in which synth lines and 808s weave dexterously in and out of one another to form these lovely interlocking patterns. Many of the tracks on Future World are anchored by needlegun grooves in the Drexciyan mode. While busybody drum programming persists throughout the album, Nullptr’s fondness for washed-out pads means that Future World also provides the listener with space for contemplation. Rather than playing it safe within the genre’s familiar confines, Nullptr instead uses electro as a base from which to incorporate other sounds throughout Future World.

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Nullptr – Future World [CPU01011000]

Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green [LITA192]

Barely known outside of his home country during his lifetime, the late Japanese ambient music pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura has seen his global stature rise steadily in the past few years. Originally released in 1986, Green is one of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s most well-loved recordings and a favorite of the artist himself. Recorded over the winter of 1985-86 at Yoshimura’s home studio, the compositions unfold at an unhurried pace, a stark contrast to the busy city life of Tokyo. As Yoshimura explained in the original liner notes, the album title in the context of this body of work is not meant to be seen as a color, but is rather used to convey “the comfortable scenery of the natural cycle known as Green”—which perfectly encapsulates the soothing and warm sounds contained on the album, although it was created utilizing Yamaha FM synthesizers, known for their crisp digital tones. This edition marks the first reissue of the highly sought-after and impossible to find album.

vinylCD / cassette

Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green [LITA192]

Ulla – Tumbling Towards A Wall [ULLA001]

Immersively sensual, diaristic entries by cult US ambient avatar Ulla (aka Ulla Straus), the first release on Experiences Ltd. For solitary reflection or post-party couch slump with friends, Ulla’s first mononymous release is a gorgeous record that mellows and balances any physical or mental space it comes into contact with.

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Ulla – Tumbling Towards A Wall [ULLA001]

The Exaltics & Heinrich Mueller – Dimensional Shifting [SOM051]

Four years after their almighty collaboration on “Project STS-31 (Hubble Telescope Series Vol.3)”, Solar One Music’s cofounder Robert Witschakowski and half of Dopplereffekt duo Gerald Donald return with another cosmic album of their instantly recognizable trademark. Featuring ten detailed and luminous cuts of beautifully crafted emotional music, with deep narrative over tough machine groove, the opus takes you on a moody trip across craggy soundscapes made of abrasive tones, crossing the red line between tight-strapped melodic waves, subaquatic underground electro, and intricate structures. Expect nothing but stripped down layers mixed with chunky synthetic bass lines and stellar melodies over pounding 808 drums on this future classic tinted with nostalgia. Built as a journey through unknown territories, much anticipating “Dimensional Shifting” oscillates between moments of bravery on the dancefloor and moody sequences, keeping intact the aesthetic signature of the Jena-based electro emissary and the legend from Detroit.

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The Exaltics & Heinrich Mueller – Dimensional Shifting [SOM051]

Red Axes – Red Axes [DE-275]

2020 marks the tenth of collaboration for Red Axes, the Tel Aviv-based duo of Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi. Informed by post-punk, new wave, and a plethora of club sounds old and new, they have cleaved a singular path with their hefty discography. To celebrate their anniversary, they reunite with Dark Entries for an eponymous 11 track LP brimming with jagged guitars, spacy arpeggios, and hypnotic vocals. ‘Red Axes’ is their first effort written and conceived of as an album-length listening experience. This work flows effortlessly through a variety of stylistic detours, highlighting their ears as both keen listeners and skilled DJs. Opener ‘They Game’ is a grooving number that unifies the psychedelia of cosmic disco with the early 90s ‘baggy’ sound. The energy mounts further with “Shelera”, a guitar-driven acidic banger, and “Sticks and Stones”, a certifiable club hit fueled by sassy vocals courtesy of Adi Bronicki. Launching Side B is “Break the Limit”, an EBM-laced number that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Razormaid compilation. The following tracks wax moodier, with “Brotherhood (Of the Misunderstanding)” touching on darkwave territory. “Udibaby” and “Arpman” close out the album with their respectively dense and sparse takes on kosmische lysergia.

Vinyl / CD

Red Axes – Red Axes [DE-275]

Ben Bondy – Sibling [BONDY01]

Ben Bondy blesses Special Guest DJ’s Experiences Ltd with a near-fathomless solo debut of sensual, low key electronics and intimate nocturnes. ’Sibling’ sees Bondy return to a seductively gauzy midground sound that over the course of 15 tracks lulls and lists with a minimalist patience, allowing forms to emerge and evaporate in constantly shifty transitions and weathered plays of light according to an immersive eco-logic. Those liminal traces of sound and influence are almost imperceptible, pulling you into a protective amniotic sound-world thats evocative and comforting.

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Ben Bondy – Sibling [BONDY01]

Ireen Amnes – In The Land Of Silence [SGXLP002]

Debut by Ireen Amnes. “In The Land of Silence” is the first full length album by experimental artist Ireen Amnes. The founder of the London based collective Under My Feet debuts on Sonic Groove with an immaterial journey contemplating suffering, liberation, the importance of affection and unity. This ambient album reveals a hidden connection between these human emotions. From anger and rejection, to love and unity, the sounds explored by the artist represent a recent journey within. Recollections of distant memories are expressed with nostalgic sounds; by contrast, darker tracks are symbolic of those moments when it is more dif ficult to accept reality for what it is. Ireen expresses in this album that there wouldn’t be any joy without suffering.

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Ireen Amnes – In The Land Of Silence [SGXLP002]

Ghost Horse – Trojan [MRI107]

Sprouting from a rich humus of Latin and African polyrhythms, Ghost Horse creates a fusion of free jazz, hip hop, blues & loop music. The result is fascinating but quietly menacing, pulsing & breathing with the visceral force of nature reclaiming abandoned structures.

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Ghost Horse – Trojan [MRI107]

Manos Brujas ‎- Sangre De Oro [PNK-DL2]

Manos Brujas is a project by Julian Vasquez, a Colombian artist who draws his inspiration from the lost tribes and shamanism. With his first album Sangre de Oro on our Pinkman Digi Lab series, Manos tells about a legend of a magic totem hidden far in the jungle and a tribe man’s quest to find it, driven by his desire to gain shamanic power. Replete with ritual-like drum beats, rumbling melodies and echoes of animal chatter, the sonic narrative of the album follows the tribe man’s journey, dragging the listener from the remote depths of the jungle to the psychedelic realms of dreams and rituals, until the man realises that the real power was within him. The album is a cinematic and intricate trip made to alters minds.

Manos Brujas ‎- Sangre De Oro [PNK-DL2]

Undermedvetenheten – Undermedvetenheten [KR36]

UNDERMEDVETENHETEN is a simple, science fantasy game for 1-12 players, with a focus on atmosphere, storytelling and player cooperation – perfect for newcomers to live action role playing. It takes 2 minutes to set up, lasts around 30 minutes, and no two games are ever the same. Players take on the roles of humans aboard a vessel on an endless journey into the depths of space. They are not lost, but all hope is, as they hurtle stricken into the void. Your only access to the universe outside is through the ship’s altruistic artificial intelligence, Mima. As immersive chapter cards are revealed one by one, players must interact with Mima in order to shed light on the universe around them, indulge in fantasies of worlds past, or attempt to right the ship’s blighted trajectory. Can you make sense of the abyss? UNDERMEDVETENHETEN comes complete with a soundtrack composed by John B McKenna.

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Undermedvetenheten – Undermedvetenheten [KR36]

DYL+ DB1 – Ecou [RE25]

DYL+ DB1 successfully fuses experimental D&B, half-step and techno tropes. Here they re-establish their occasional studio partnership with a first collaborative full-length. It’s a pleasingly atmospheric and imaginative affair, with the pair offering up tracks that variously mix and match elements of unearthly ambient, off-kilter drum and bass, broken techno, murky post-dubstep rhythms, experimental electronica, the metallic clonk of industrial and the hazy hypnotism of dub techno. Musically it’s hard to pin down due to the wide variety of interestingly programmed rhythms, though the album’s uniformly paranoid sense of impending darkness, coupled with occasional glimpses of musical positivity, ensures a coherent aural vision.

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DYL+ DB1 – Ecou [RE25]

Anna Funk Damage – You are a hopeless failure [LXRC41]

Anna Funk Damage, an Italian artist, releases his first LP on Lux Rec. Seven tracks which define the musical attitude behind the moniker. Cruel, unforgiving, harsh. Ranging from extremely slow to fast pacing. Through and through a drugged-out weave of misery and hostility. And his lamenting voice that reminds us that only failure is certain.

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Anna Funk Damage – You are a hopeless failure [LXRC41]

Das Ding – Industrial Universal 1​.​1 [PNKMN18​.​1]

3 years after the original vinyl press, Pinkman and Tear Apart Tapes (Das Ding’s own imprint) join forces for a fresh take on ‘Industrial Universal’. The cassette features the re-release of the 4 tracks from the sold out EP on the A-side, and 4 new productions on the B-side. Industrial Universal 1.1 adds an extra turmoil and energy into the already time tested cocktail, delivered in Das Dings style.

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Das Ding – Industrial Universal 1​.​1 [PNKMN18​.​1]

Exos – Indigo [FIGURELP05]

Indigo is Icelandic artist’s Exos fourth studio album, arriving almost two full decades after his last LP. In the meantime, the seasoned producer has never stopped to refine his production style, mastering an aesthetic that feels at once minimalist and yet richly detailed. Spanning the organic and the electronic, drawing from early dub techno blueprints and comprising the beauty of his austere homeland. From this Exos expands an absorbing atmosphere, sustaining the primal power of nature within compositions that hold an exalted presence yet never go over-board, instead, they gently push along even in their most intense moments thus vastly transcending the pure club context. The albums thirteen tracks are a sonic bliss to indulge in, each element is crafted so meticulously and balanced with care against its counterparts. Whether the luminous, spaciously glowing opening tracks “Reincarnation” or “í Skjoli Naetur ”the then-ensuing hypnotic techno-trips of “Sælureitur” and “Quad arcanum Leticia” and finally the deeply satisfying, dubbed-out backbone of the album’s main body – a series of Exos’ signature-style dub-techno cuts that he has been perfecting now for over 20 years. Seeing it all mesh together in this concentrated form, it’s the picture of an exceptionally experienced producer pushing himself beyond any limits to achieve his greatest feat yet. When the fog clears and the last tracks slowly roll out, the record leaves as smoothly as it had entered, allowing for reflection and contemplation of one of techno’s most exhaustive LP-efforts yet to date.

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Exos – Indigo [FIGURELP05]

Radio Slave – Radio Silence Part One [REKIDS158]

Rekids label boss Radio Slave ventures further into unknown territory in a three-part sophomore album entitled ‘Radio Silence’. The UK artist delivers his latest body of work in the form of his ‘Radio Silence’ album, which will be dropping in three parts. The first chapter features perhaps the most leftfield tracks we’ve ever heard Radio Slave product. There’s a rawness to the album, which is in part due to the fact each track was recorded live and without edits, using hardware and Ableton as the main sequencer. Across the seven tracks, Radio Slave hone’s in on a sound that’s haunting and hypnotic.

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Radio Slave – Radio Silence Part One [REKIDS158]