experimental

VA – Antipodean Anomalies 2 [LER1031]

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Antipodean Anomalies 2 is Left Ear Records most ambitious project to date, a compilation that took over 4 years to license and includes 17 artists across a double LP. AA2 picks up where the first iteration left off, with co-compilers Chris Bonato & Bridget Small continuing to dig through the music of the geographically isolating and maverick landscapes of Australia & New Zealand. As with the first iteration, Left Ear continues to excavate the music from these vast micro-scenes that evolved out of a number of small community-focused domains creating their own unique reinterpretation of musical influences from near and far, spanning the years 1980 – 1992. The compilation scopes an overlooked epoch from Adelaide, presenting acts such as the DNA Lounge, TCH & Will Kuiper. A close-knit community of like-minded mates that made distinctive electronic music together throughout the 80’s, all of which remained unreleased until now.

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VA – Antipodean Anomalies 2 [LER1031]

Ian Martin – Grey Theatre [DM07]

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Confused Machines welcomes one of the most eclectic artists around, Ian Martin. As an artist he is without genre or style, an open source of creativity. He is the host of SEER Radio on Intergalactic FM and also an amazing DJ, whether it’s experimental or dancefloor madness. Martin has released his music on acclaimed labels such as: Bunker Records , Pinkman, New York Haunted, Bio Rhythm to name a few. His 9 track “Grey Theatre” album for Confused Machines is a deep dive and playful exercise with his synthesizers. An emotional and mysterious listening experience. A portal to his soul. Melancholic at times, it flows like water and lurks from the shadows of reality.

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Ian Martin – Grey Theatre [DM07]

Midori Takada – Tree of Life [WRWTFWW057]

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WRWTFWW Records announce the worldwide reissue of Midori Takada’s solo album from 1999, Tree of Life, available on vinyl for the first time ever in a new audiophile mix by the Japanese percussionist herself, and in full half-speed-mastered glory. Originally recorded in September 1998 at legendary Ginza (Tokyo) studio Onkio Haus and released on CD only for the Japan market in 1999, Tree of Life is Midori Takada’s best kept secret, a lost gem of minimalism and percussive ambient. The album is separated in two parts, the first one finds Takada exploring her trademark environmental soundscapes with precise mastery of marimba, drums, and bells, notably on the magnificent fan-favorite ”Love Song Of Urfa”. The second half is a collaboration with Chinese virtuoso Erhu player Jiang Jian Hua, allowing Midori Takada to unveil new layers of her artistic mind with a slightly more theatrical approach and a beautiful crystallization of complex simplicity.

vinyl / CD

Midori Takada – Tree of Life [WRWTFWW057]

Slumberland & Sainkho Namtchylak – Lightkeeper [DOSER043]

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Morphine Records is coming up with a massive loader from Slumberland’s self-made instruments sounds, from the bullroarer to sewing machines an d self made organs, combined with legendary Tuvan throat singer Sainkho Namtchylak. “Lightkeeper” was recorded and mixed by Lebanese-Canadian artist Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart, Constellation Records) adding his distinct touch to the production of this rollercoaster of sounds. Belgian musician, composer and instrument-maker Jochem Baelus has been unleashing his obscure, hypnotic krautrock embellished with distorted exotica upon us as Slumberland since 2013. After creating his signature battery of sewing machines, projectors and dismantled mechanical objects, Baelus immersed himself into the world of 64 year old voice-artist Sainkho Namtchylak and assembled a new sound sculpture inspired by her colour.

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Slumberland & Sainkho Namtchylak – Lightkeeper [DOSER043]

Heap – False Hope [ISLA32]

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Over the past decade, Vienna-based Florian Stöffelbauer – also known as Heap, has built a consistent reputation as a skilled DJ, producer and Neubau’s label head. Isla presents his latest effort “False Hope” which explores the intersections between industrial, electro and dark wave – all with a leftfield twist. As diverse as it is powerful, the 7 tracks featured here almost feel like nocturnal tales, chalking out Heap’s observations wandering through the streets of a silent city, with cigarette smoke permeating the air and sirens ringing in the distance.

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Heap – False Hope [ISLA32]

Exhausted Modern – Notions of Causality EP [BT68]

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Ladislav Zensor returns for a 3rd EP on the brokntoys label with Notions of Causality. The Czech producer showcases his trademark atmospheric electronics, soundtracking a world on the verge of collapse. The EP is completed by a remix by d&b producer Overlook.

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Exhausted Modern – Notions of Causality EP [BT68]

Hieroglyphic Being – The Shittest Sounds U Don’t Ever Want 2 Hear With Spiritual Name Titles 2 Prove How Deep I Am [MATH108]

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Hats off to Jamal Moss for the tongue-in-cheek title of his latest album as Hieroglyphic Being, which is naturally another pleasingly wild, freewheeling, imaginative and out-there excursion in his now trademark style. It sees him sprint between mutant electronic jazz (‘Circumploar’), out-there analogue techno (’21 Days’), organ-rich post-beatdown chuggers (‘Foreboding Self Pleasure’), reverb-laden ambient soundscapes (‘A Dream Within a Dream’, ‘Delta Opus L’), industrial-strength dancefloor weirdness (‘The Prograde Direction’), sub-heavy lo-fi deep house (‘Black Love On An Early Sunday Morning’), sparse electronic future funk (‘Future Shocked’), and jacking, sci-fi seeped brilliance (‘The Andromeda Strain’). In other words, it’s another excellent collection from one of dance music’s genuine geniuses.

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Hieroglyphic Being – The Shittest Sounds U Don’t Ever Want 2 Hear With Spiritual Name Titles 2 Prove How Deep I Am [MATH108]

Hieroglyphic Being – There Is No Acid In This House LP [SJRLP518]

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“There is no Acid in this House” is Hieroglyphic Being’s third solo album on Soul Jazz Records, a resolute and powerful statement of Jamal Moss’s raw, vital, pioneering, Afro-Futurist electronic (dance) music. Moss once-again draws upon the vast scope of experimentation that has defined Chicago’s musical universe over the last half a century – from the birth of house music with the pioneers Ron Hardy, Marshall Jefferson, Lil Louis and others to the radical avant-garde jazz legacy of the city, The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Sun Ra.

vinyl / CD

Hieroglyphic Being – There Is No Acid In This House LP [SJRLP518]

Avé Eva 369 – +​/​- [BUNKER4027]

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+/-, a modern version of the yin/yang symbol, is the title of the debut album by Avé Eva 369. It’s a nine track journey, seen through the eyes of a spirit who has landed on planet earth and makes a labyrinthine trip through its dualistic nature. Worlds of sound arise from subtle electronic textures, transitions and rhythms. Vocals overlay these worlds creating dreamscapes. The songs examine the balance and friction between opposites like heaven/hell or male/female. Avé Eva 369 embodies archetypical and mythical figures, like Eve (from Adam) and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. It’s as if these Goddesses are channeling their ancient wisdom to the artist as a form of coping with modern life. As the album gradually comes to an end, a balance between opposites is found and a long lost paradise becomes visible.

Avé Eva 369 – +​/​- [BUNKER4027]

Konduku – Mantis 09/10 [DSR-MTS09/DSR-MTS10]

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Konduku returns to the Delsin Mantis series with an exciting double pack which dives deeper into his remarkable fractured rhythms and light-touch synthesis. Over the course of nine tracks Ruben Üvez straddles the space between introspective headphone trips and hypnotising dancefloor elegance, operating in a liminal zone of fluid tempos, submerged atmospheres and pointillist beats. It’s an open-ended but clear-sighted approach that aligns perfectly with the direction of the Mantis series.

Mantis09 / Mantis10

Konduku – Mantis 09/10 [DSR-MTS09/DSR-MTS10]

Bourbonese Qualk – Bourbonese Qualk LP [MNQ115]

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The self named LP marked the fifth album and end of the first incarnation of Bourbonese Qualk. Julian Gilbert left the group after ‘The Spike'(1986) to concentrate on writing and theatre, leaving Steven Tanza and Simon Crab who parted ways after touring in Europe in early 1986 and recording this album. Steven Tanza went on to found the group ‘The State’ and while Crab continued as Bourbonese Qualk (with the new line-up of Miles Miles,Crab and Owen If), dissolved the Recloose Organisation label and founded ‘New International’ as the outlet for future Bourbonese Qualk and Recloose Org releases.

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Bourbonese Qualk – Bourbonese Qualk LP [MNQ115]

Bourbonese Qualk – The Spike LP [MNQ114]

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Bourbonese Qualk’s third album “The Spike” was recorded during the period 1984-1985 and published by the Berlin based Dossier/Atonal label while Bourbonese Qualk were involved in organizing the Berlin Atonal festival. Parts of Side 2 of the album is a recording of pieces made for a dance and film performance at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London in 1985.

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Bourbonese Qualk – The Spike LP [MNQ114]

Roger 23 – Bounds Of A Moral Principle And Established Standard Behavior [NDWAXLP03]

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Night Defined Recordings welcomes Roger 23 for his first solo album in seven years. The enigmatic producer, DJ and record digger is now back at NDR with an album, which showcases the versatile musical interest of the cheerful Saarländer. Self-imposed highest demands on sound quality, complete openness to give place to various musical influences and the experience of many years of a music inhaling individual make ‘Bounds Of A Moral Principle And Established Standard Behavior‘ an album complete in itself.

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Roger 23 – Bounds Of A Moral Principle And Established Standard Behavior [NDWAXLP03]

Max Loderbauer – Petrichor [MARIONETTE20LP]

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Max Loderbauer’s career in music spans the last 3 decades and now in 2022, the seasoned mind voyager, is back with Petrichor. Petrichor distills the elements of Loderbauer’s work that are fundamental to the initiation of the label. With his Buchla, modular synth, and Haken fingerboard, Loderbauer’s improvised studio maneuvers dilate into imagined journeys from glacial peaks into the exosphere. This is Maxi at his most exhilarating state, morphing through bittersweet and optimistic soundscapes to bleak moments of throbbing unease – all while maintaining a sense of grace and elegance. Petrichor is a reflection of Loderbauer’s impactful trips to the mountains, and returning from these summits with an electrifying urge to paint this mighty perspective. The harmonies and melodies on the tracks simulate emotional peaks and valleys, with vibration and rhythm rooted in the foundation of the sound, as though it’s woven into the fabric of the fauna and flora.

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Max Loderbauer – Petrichor [MARIONETTE20LP]

VA – Sheva [MTX001]

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2XLP celebrating Malka Tuti’s 7 years of Existence. The Sheva (Seven in Hebrew) compilation represents a large chunk of the sonic spectrum that is the Malka Tuti multiverse to date. From tribal to punk and from house to leftfield bits. All tracks on the compilation were meticulously chosen throughout the past few years and slowly stitched together to comprise what is now SHEVA.

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VA – Sheva [MTX001]