Interstellar Funk @ Rural Festival 2019
experimental
Ranishe Niyaak @ DT CAMP 2019
Raviv Gazit – Ze [FTNLP008]
Fortuna Records return with an exceptional reissue of a mid-80s early electronica LP by keyboardist Raviv Gazit. The album was composed entirely on the Synclavier synthesizer in the basement of the Tel-Aviv University in 1985. Gazit was ahead of his time composing cold yet blissful electronic music for film and theatre which he later released as an album. An unexpected yet extremely welcome addition to Fortuna’s killer catalog.
The Chi Factory – Travel in Peace [AI-18]
Following the death of his one-time Chi Factory partner J. Derwort in February 2019, Hanyo van Oosterom went back to Patmos, the magical island where they once recorded their most famous works, armed with some of the artefacts and hand-built instruments they’d collected together. While there, he made the field recordings and musical sketches that form the backbone of “Travel In Peace”, Oosterorm’s emotional final album as Chi Factory. Poignant, atmospheric, melancholic, dreamy and otherworldly with a genuine sense of time and place (you can almost smell the surrounding flora and fauna), the album’s two lengthy tracks – collages of interlinked sketches and recurring musical motifs – are fittingly fantastic. As curtain calls go, we can think of few better.
Organisation – Tone Float [ISPLP2201]
Pre Kraftwerk, Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter formed Organisation in 1968. Their music was a mixture of sounds, feedback and rhythm, with the line up being Fred Monicks on drums, Butch Hauf on bass, Basil Hammoudi on percussion, Florian Schneider on flute and violin and Ralf Hütter on organ. The original sales were poor but nowadays it is highly sought after, also because Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider later continued as Kraftwerk, and became one of the most important electronic music formations ever.
Annechoic – rw nw prt m hrw [BT37]
The 37th installment on brokntoys sees the return after a long hiatus of audiofugitive Annechoic. Having carved her sound over the years, rw nw prt m hrw sees the DJ and producer inhabiting a crossover land between electro and electronica. Taking inspiration from The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the EP alternates dreamlike atmospheres with adroit club numbers. Through 5 tracks Annechoic deftly manoeuvres between the introspective and stargazing, offering a glimpse into the tapestry of a unique player
VA – Air Texture Vol.7 [AIR007LP]
Since launching in 2011, James Healy’s Air Texture label and compilation series has become something of an institution within the ambient scene. As with its predecessors, the seventh volume in the series has been jointly compiled by two artists with an existing musical relationship, in this case Rrose and Silent Servant. Their selections are on point, drowsily drifting between academic ambient compositions (see Rrose and James Fei’s “For Bass Clarinet 8.97 (Rrose Version)”, uncomfortable electronic explorations (Ron Morelli, Anthony Child), modular movements (Not Waving), jazz-flecked deep space soundscapes (Luke Slater), horror-influenced throb-jobs (Phase Fatale, June & An-i) and 1990s style ambient electronica (Octa Octa, Function).
Traxx – Studio Insert 4: Sanctuary
VA – FAKE1-THE ABSENCE [FAKE#1]
The first release on FAKE imprint is a nice VA compilation of 10 wave, electronix and ambient tracks.
Victor Cavini – Japan [BEWITH076LP]
The first Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is the super in-demand Japan from Victor Cavini, originally released in 1983. Rare and sought-after for many years now, this is one of those cult library LPs that never turn up. With Daibutsu the giant Buddha of Kamakura’s presence gracing the hefty front cover, this is a record bursting with dope samples for adventurous producers: it’s koto-funk madness. Victor Cavini was the library music pseudonym of prolific German composer and musician Gerhard Trede. He was known for exploring instruments and styles from around the world (he played over 50 different instruments himself) and Japan is his collection of 14 musical sketches painted with traditional Japanese wind and string instruments. These are the sounds of traditional Japanese folk music re-interpreted through Western ears, with the occasional contemporary twist. Contemporary for 1983, of course.
Legowelt – Secrets After Dreams [SW001]
The ever prolific Legowelt AKA Dutch electronic musician Danny Wolfers is back with another album, “Secrets After Dreams”. The enchanting LP is released by his long time acquaintance Mystic & Quantum records, the first one of a new series called SpellWeaver. 7 ethereal compositions gleaming with poetic synthesis. Artwork by Danny Wolfers himself.
Roberto Auser – Love and Saucers [AUS004]
Soothing synthesizer music and fantastic audiographic collage for fans and lovers of obscure ambient and jazzy minimal electronics. Original soundtrack to the feature documentary Love and Saucers (2017) […] Don’t sleep on this! Just 25 units made!
Interstellar Funk @ Red Light Radio 19.02.2020
Solitary Dancer – Postlude [PP01]
‘Postlude’ is the second release on Solitary Dancer’s new imprint, Private Possessions. Private Possessions was borne out of a desire to control all aspects of output pertaining to the development, creation, and dissemination of their music, video, and other media. Following their debut LP ‘Rites Of Passage’, ‘Postlude’ is a three-track affair which juxtaposes two of the album’s floor-focussed cuts with an extended version of ‘Test Dream’. The latter has been processed into a 15-minute “Devisualization” using degradation techniques that slowly destroys the piece over time, harkening the ever-changing lucidity and memories of our own dreams.
Elena Sizova @ HÖR (Berlin) 14.02.2020
Solar – Digital Tsunami 174
Multicast Dynamics – Ancient Circuits [AI-17]
Multicast Dynamics returns with a sixth studio album that marks something of a new chapter. Ancient Circuits is an advancement from previous works on Denovali and one that stands the project aside as a powerful electronic act that tells stories while also serving up heavy hitting soundscapes that are persuasive, unexpected and disturbing. Each of the four 25-minute pieces of Ancient Circuits are clearly demarcated yet sequential sci-fi stories that introduce new characters and are drawn out of long and complex studio experiments. They are collages of sound that glimmer, disturb, shine, dive deep and explore new realms and make for ambient so arresting that it pulls you deep inside. Once again here, Multicast Dynamics draws together cinematic sound design and conceptual intergalactic fiction to come up with a work that is a multi-sensory exploration that puts you as the central character in an expressive musical world.
Move D & Benjamin Brunn – Let’s Call It A Day [SMALLVILLELP13]
Smallville Records reissues Move D (David Moufang) and Benjamin Brunn’s 2006 collaborative album, “Let’s Call It A Day” released on BineMusic. This is a complete piece built from seven sections, each one is a microcosm of unique textures, depth, ambience, emotions, programming, looping and melodic rules; Together they are a homogenous creation, a symphony that culminate in dance music experiencing elevation. The way Moufang and Brunn fuse different genres together without committing to any musical doctrine, makes them appear prophetic. However, it is in no sense a retrospect feeling; even at the time it was clear that the perceptions, experience, vision, and delicacy of this album were outstanding.
Elena Sizova – Comme des Larmes podcast #17
Men With Secrets – Psycho Romance and Other Spooky Ballads [BK041]
Donato Dozzy collaborates with Retina.it on a new dark and sleazy electro project, Men With Secrets. After Dozzy’s first project with Retina.it (aka Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono), under the moniker Le Officine Di Efesto on Spazio Disponibile, fresh ideas would fast unfold. “They quickly discovered a shared love of classic post-punk, wave, and synthpop, and not long after, Men With Secrets was born.” Drawing influence from the likes of Richard Bone, Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League, New Order, and even Dopplereffekt, the trio stamp out their own sound with ‘neither imitation nor rehash.’ Their debut thirteen track album, titled Psycho Romance and Other Spooky Ballads, will land on none other than The Bunker NY.
The Hipodrome Of Music 