Moon B takes a step out of his comfort zone with ”Udaya”, giving a lesson on how it isn’t the tools at your disposal, but rather how you use them. A stalwart of vintage analogue gear under normal circumstances, he’s harnessed the full power of his iPad to conjure up 8 cuts of slick, lo-fi boogie that emanate with a smoky warmth. Gone are the genre-hopping sensibilities of earlier releases, replaced with a renewed focus on what really counts: the funk.
Following the original dissolution of legendary Sheffield industrial funk outfit Clock DVA in 1984, founder member Adi Newton struck out on his own with The Anti-Group: an experimental project in which he could explore a variety of sonic worlds with the aid of a revolving cast of likeminded Steel City stalwarts (Richard H Kirk, Stephen Mallinder, Martyn Ware and Warp co-founder Robert Gordon included). “4×12″ is a retrospective of sorts, gathering together tracks from three 12” singles (“Ha-Zulu”, “Big Sex”, “Broadcast Test”) and one mini-album (“ShT”). Musically, it veers from collage style sample patchworks and dark ambient soundscapes to rubbery industrial funk, twisted post synth-pop, EBM-influenced workouts and madcap experimental escapades.
Primarily based in Leeds, The Lewis Express is comprised of many of the musicians that have graced previous ATA releases: George Cooper, Piano (Abstract Orchestra) Neil Innes, Bass (The Sorcerers, The Magnificent Tape Band, Tony Burkill), Sam Hobbs, Drums (Dread Supreme, Tony Burkill, Matthew Bourne) and Pete Williams, Percussion (The Sorcerers, The Magnificent Tape Band, Tony Burkill). Recorded over an intense two-day session, ‘Clap Your Hands’ is heavily influenced by the classic soul jazz recordings of The Young Holt Trio / Young Holt Unlimited, and Ramsey Lewis, from who this group take their name. As with many of the classic Ramsey Lewis cuts this album was recorded live, capturing the rich inter-relationship between the players and leaving in some of that chunky room noise. The band’s intention was to produce an album of dancefloor friendly, uplifting, funky soul-jazz with a stripped back line up of Piano, Bass, Drums and Percussion. ‘Clap your hands’ builds on the template set by their eponymous debut album and further explores the 60’s soul-jazz of Ramsey lewis, Young-Holt and Ray Charles as well as the latin boogaloo of Eddie Cano and Pete Terrace.
Astonishingly, 23 years have passed since Glenn Underground and Boo Williams established the Strictly Jaz Unit project, a fluid collective of underground Chicago deep house producers. These days, SJU mainly operates as a duo, and it was this stripped-back line-up that produced “The Tempest”, a rare album-length outing bristling with quality cuts. Every track is naturally dynamic with sonic rich musicality & keyboard melodies. As a whole, the album is far more intergalactic, electronic and sci-fi sounding than either man’s solo productions, with just a few hints of the luscious instrumentation and swinging grooves associated with their previous work. There’s no dip in quality, though, with the dubbed-out deep house hypnotism of “Heard Syndrome”, the Patrick Cowley/Giorgio Moroder influenced “The Struggle”, the Chicago-goes-Yorkshire bleep flex of “Time of Speed, Not Day” and acid-fired gorgeousness of “The Flat (London Projects)” standing out.
1975/1979 rare music from the Cometa Library Vaults containing unpublished music of the 70’s composed by: Sandro Brugnolini, Alessandro Alessandroni and Teimar.
”Commemorating 50th Anniversary of the Moon landing (July 20 2019) Axis Records is pleased to announce the release of the album by Jeff Mills on his interpretations of Earth’s Moon. ”There are influences of the Moon we can detect, measure and document as scientific facts. If these are perceived as rational explanations, then it should raise questions about the possibility of other unseen mental and metaphysical connections humans have, not just with the Moon but with all other celestial bodies in and outside this Solar System. On the flipside, as we recognize that our Sun gives us light and a lifespan, what does an even greater force in the Cosmos, perhaps the darkness [or absence of anything] affects us. If we look at the Moon as a component in a vast configuration of integral connected parts, then an intuitive sense might lead us to a wider understanding about how deeply our relationship lies. This album and the imagination that helped to produce it should be considered as a proposition with open-endedness and no foreseeable conclusion. It is a chemistry of facts and feelings based on then, now and forever”. Jeff Mills”
Celebrated Detroit composer, producer, sound designer and ambient pioneer John Beltran keeps up a busy 2019 with an expansive new LP on Delsin. The nine tracker takes you on a trip though his typically serene and beautiful world right form the off. ‘Alle Kinder’ floats on gentle drums with beautiful synth melodies making for a heavenly atmosphere. The journey commutes through the calming pads and glistening arpeggios of ‘A Different Dream’, uplifting joys of the ‘Himmelszelt’ with its mellifluous harmonies and achingly perfect ambiance of ‘The Coming Home’. ‘One of Those Mornings’ washes over you like the sun through a breaking cloud and the brain cleansing, pulse soothing goodness continues though ‘It’s Because of Her’ and the elegant Detroit techno bliss of ‘Perfect In Every Way’. The final two tracks close things down with a sense of classy contentedness, subtle celebration and inner joy that Beltran conveys better than anyone.
L.I.E.S. Records founder Ron Morelli departs the club to investigate atavistic ambient themes in his
4th solo LP and debut for the Paris-based Collapsing Market. Morelli mostly mutes his drum track channels and allows his sounds to freely float in imagined air. In the process he crisply reveals a latent, introspective side to his music that’s been missing or occluded by noise in his clutch of grubby sores issued by Hospital Productions since 2013 – back when he changed his address from Brooklyn, NYC to the heart of the Parisian electronic music scene. As such the 8 bony diffusions of ‘Man Walks The Earth’ mark distance traveled from the gobs of 2013’s ‘Spit’, documenting a change of mindset from grizzled
and paranoid to a more soberly contemplative and drily poetic expression of self. Composed during 2015-2018, the 8 liminal zones of ‘Man Walks the Earth’ see Morelli switch out immediacy and brashness for a more considered longview of electronic music.
Move D’s ‘Building Bridges’ is David Moufang’s latest studio album. Close friends and long time collaborators, Thomas Fehlmann, Fred P, Juju & Jordash, D-Man & rEAGENZ all feature alongside Benjamin Brunn. Building Bridges was recorded at reSource, Heidelberg between 1999-2019 except “One Small Step…” which was recorded at Thomas Fehlman’s Space in Berlin. This album initially started out as an entry for the Inside Out series on Aus – based around the idea of collaborations with his nearest and dearest but when David sent me the music and wrote a few new tracks there was such a cohesive, timeless feel to it as a body of work I decided that it had to be a stand alone artist album. These tracks have been written over a twenty year period and involve 6 people but it sounds like it was written in one sitting. This is testament to David’s creative aesthetic and the closeness of the relationship with his collaborators as a common feeling of warmth and smudged soul oozes out of every poor of this record.
Resurrected from the dark underworld after years of domancy, L.I.E.S. announce a new seven track LP from one of the most cult alias’s in Legowelt’s extensive catalog, Gladio. Back to basics jackin house and electro cuts direct from the depths of the Hague dungeon. ‘Means to Freedom’ is a return to the classic Legowelt sound, taking the roots of old school Chicago and Detroit and running it through the smacked out vision of Gladio’s machine world. Absolutely unmissable jacking, soaring, and stomping jams for that the modern floor has been missing.
Tresor Records welcomes Rod Modell to its catalogue, with the release of his new album Captagon.
Rod Modell needs no introduction, his various projects render him a master of techno. In repetition and barely noticeable change, Modell resculptures perceptions. His sound-design echoes cinematic ethereality, where ferric artefacts slam against percussion, rusty delays filter observation – the resulting web is a complex, radiating ambience that etches a natural ebb and flow.
Dark Entries continues celebrating our 10 year anniversary with ‘Preservation Bias’, a compilation of lost songs and rarities from Linea Aspera out June 28th. The group formed in London in November 2011 by Ryan Ambridge (Synths/Programming) and Alison Lewis (Vocals/Synths). Within the duo, Alison writes and performs all vocal elements, while Ryan is responsible for producing, recording and mixing the electronics. We released their debut self titled album in June 2012 that was followed by a posthumous vinyl reissue of their tour cassette “II” on Weyrd Son Records in 2013. For all recordings Ryan utilizes an analog synthesizer set up: Roland SH-09, Roland Juno 6, Vermona DRM MKiii, Korg Poly 800 and Analogue Solutions Semblance. Linea Aspera’s sound includes clear influences from 1980s electronic body music, synth-pop, industrial and noise. Lyrically the band incorporates the sciences of osteology, neuroscience, and anthropology weaving a new medical language around themes of desire, despair and renewal. Linea Aspera is the muscle attachment on the back of the femur and translates to ‘rough line’ in Latin. ‘Preservation Bias’ features all three songs from the limited ‘II’ tour cassette EP, four songs from the 2012 self-titled limited cassette EP and one song from the Desire Records 2013 compilation ‘And You Will Find Them In The Basement’. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is housed in jacket designed by Niall Greaves and includes a double-sided insert with lyrics.
Ready for an adventure running parallel to their lives in common units, the quartet boarded a starship to set off on an astral expedition. The mission began perfectly, according to plan. From the very first measures, the travellers were released from the Earth’s gravity. Very quickly, their home planet appeared tiny and distant, before disappearing completely. Comets and novae lit the way through the fathomless depths of interstellar space. Their preliminary, in-depth studies of seventies jazz-funk were a great source of inspiration. Very early on, they knew that this sonic esthetic would allow them to travel even farther, navigating only with organic instruments and no digital backing or enhancements. Commander Virgile Raffaëlli’s bass lines guided their journey, offering a calm, yet vibrant foundation for the smoother phases and turning up the power to bring them through turbulence and meteor showers safe and sound. Like a compass, the bass indicated the direction and traced a groove that the loyal, valued crew could follow as their travels continued. Mathieu Edouard’s drums solidly locked down the rhythm to avoid any sudden jolts, working in tandem with Erwan Loeffel’s jet-propelled percussion. On the keyboards, Florian Pellissier drew harmonies and riffs from the synthesizers and electric pianos to oil the machinery and lighten the load when the ensemble needed to rise a few feet. The crew’s almost telepathic cohesion was key to their success, allowing them to express interior emotions with just a few notes.
Fantastic and rare album by Manu Dibango, the Afro Soul Maestro. These files were recorded in 1971 at Pathé-Marconi studio (Boulogne Billancourt) for professional sound illustration intended for the cinema, television and advertising. The jazzman experimenting with all genres was then beginning to convert solely to what soon to be called “Rare Groove” somewhere between Soul, Jazz and Afro-Funk, with a hint of Latin clave. In 2019, these tunes have not aged and the sound can be considered as “Huge” by many crate-diggers. These recordings were not supposed to reach the club or radio audience, it was more free sessions, a moment during they can open their imagination and test their “Afro something”, like Manu Dibango call it. Theses recording sessions included the best of the french soul scene at this time, Yvan Julien (Trumpet), Slim Pezin (Guitar), Jacques Bolognesi (Trombone), Lucien Dobat (Drums), Emile Boza (Percussions, Manfred (Bass) and the conductor himself at the vibraphone, marimba, saxophone, organ. This album is a wonderful return to the future and should satisfy the need of the Afro-Soul
aficionados.
Hailing from the heartland of British techno, Sheffield’s John Shima is one of the leading lights of UK electronics. Now Shima is returning to FireScope with his long awaiting debut album, The Lonely Machine. John Shima is a master melody weaver, with this first LP attesting to his deftness of touch. Celestial chords and star gazing synthwork permeate this ten track odyssey. The musical heritage of Shima’s hometown, the elegance, majesty and subtlety of British electronics, is invoked from the needle drop. A range of influences come to the fore in this 2LP. Skirting around the edges of astral ambience and tonal texture are nods to industrial history, the rasp and resonance of rhythms in “Empires”, with the inspiration of Detroit surfacing in the future funk of “Phase Distortion” and “Linear.” Dreamscapes are painted in delicate hues, the fragile movements of “Accepting”, with brooding works adopting thicker basslines and ruffled notes as with “Distrust.” Nevertheless, it is the incandescent brightness of Lonely Machine that truly shines. Radiant pieces of elating electronics, complex and joyful compositions that chime with unbridled hope and open-hearted optimism.
A Sagittariun’s third album chronicles the journey back to Telepathic Heights; an expedition that encounters many obstacles along the way. The feuding parties of the two planets make for a journey of determination and self-discovery for our techno lone ranger that will ultimately deliver him to the sacred site on which Telepathic Heights stands. Conceived as a space western soundtrack to the cinematic interpretation of this tale, Return To Telepathic Heights delivers ten chapters that journal the ultimate mission to reach the imposing tower of Telepathic Heights, where dream telepathy has become the primary communicative tool amongst its peaceful and harmonious community who have opted out of the planetary war that continues to rage, seemingly with no armistice anytime soon. The score fittingly winds its way through the trials and tribulations of this journey, blending minimal and harmonic rhythms, industrial funk, dreamy synthwave and transcendental techno into the rich tapestry of music that documents the ‘Return To Telepathic Heights’. The album features original artwork by Johnny Bruck, fully licensed, and taken from the legendary German science fiction novel series, ‘Perry Rhodan’, which ran weekly from the early 1960s, and was the most successful sci-fi book series ever written.
Broken English Club presents the second part in the White Rats trilogy, a full-length double vinyl album that focuses heavily on the dancefloor with droning techno, head banging acid and cinematic synth noise. This album continues Oliver Ho’s musical journey, fusing techno with industrial post punk and textures of death metal producing a unique electronic vision. Ideas and influences that went into the writing of the album was the dark soul of Wormwood scrubs prison in west London and the obsessions in the JG Ballard book Crash. White Rats II stands as a relentless and personal portrait of techno and all the things that feed into the creation of it.
Aggelos Baltas is a veteran of the global electronic music scene, responsible for a handful of celebrated EBM 12”s as Dream Weapons, and a particularly heady and open-ended brand of krautrock as Fantastikoi Hxoi. His newest project, Anatolian Weapons, was conceived as a way to bring together these two seemingly mismatched concepts, with the polyrhythmic percussion and wailing tones of Greek folk music serving as their unlikely bonding agent. “To The Mother Of Gods” is Baltas’ debut album for Beats In Space. Created in tandem with Greek folk musician Seirios Savvaidis, it is a work of simultaneous collaboration and subtraction whose meticulous construction becomes more apparent with every listen. An album-length exploration of what happens when the principles of dance music are applied to pre-digital musical modalities. Savvidis contributed stems of ten songs, which Baltas deconstructs and rearranges with appreciation of the ancestry of their lineage and of the deceptively ancient eerie, droning qualities inherent in the style. Occasionally augmenting Savvaidis’ recordings with his own, Baltas treats these elements as if raw materials for an architectural process. It is a record of psychedelic folk music.
Reissue of rare UK ambient techno from ’93-‘94. Cold Blow has joined forces with Berlin’s AVA. Records in unearthing some of the finest ambient techno from the Artificial Intelligence era in a beautiful double LP package. The compilation covers essential cuts from the back catalog of J. M. Adkins’ releases and includes 2 tracks available on vinyl for the first time. Aside from Descent, a previously unreleased track, the material was previously released on the short-lived Metatone Recordings which was founded by Adkins himself together with Damon D’Cruz known from his preceding Jack Trax label. Compiled from the original DAT tapes and remastered by Andreas “Lupo” Lubich at Calyx Mastering, “Electro Music Union, Sinoesin & Xonox Works 1993 – 1994” reintroduces Adkin’s work as some of the era-defining classics from the early years of techno.
The Hipodrome Of Music 