1
ricardo tobar - Recife (Bailemix)
2
ricardo tobar - Cuatro Meses De Verano
After a brief wander ‘round the garden, Chilean-born Ricardo Tobar returns to the ESP Institute bearing earthly delights. With 2017’s Liturgia, he introduced his creative point-of-view—instantly substantiating a sense of rhythm that was deliberately complex yet slightly rough around the edges, while touching upon his musical origins from the guitar-driven corners of psychedelia— however with his debut 2xLP Continuidad, he leaves us gobsmacked and seeking shelter as he leaps from dancefloor comforts and descends into absolute chaos (in more ways than one). Emotionally, the artist has crossed all previously self-imposed and subconscious thresholds, putting his true imagination on display and exposing an unwavering attraction to all things loud, orgasmic and transcendent. He’s not subtly hinting at a fetish, but opening his arms wide with conviction, abandoning genre taboos and personally inviting everyone to join his enchanted caravan. Sonically, his appetite for intensity is clear throughout—epic chord changes, ascending peaks in arrangement, accumulating layers of grit that build into impenetrable blankets of distortion and feedback—a kind of aural hedonism that translates visually into the potent video abstractions our Mario Hugo has summoned for the album’s packaging. This follow-up single surrounding the Continuidad album boasts the dirty little secret Bailemix of album track Recife—we wont go as far as uttering the “T” word, but this is unbridled merciless tops-off festival gear for the massive. The flipside is another exclusive non-album cut Cuatro Meses De Verano, a rhythmic build-up that breaks into a low-slung funky stomper, Tobar’s idea of a warm-up weapon.
More
More records from ricardo tobar
1
Ricardo Tobar - Our Violence
2
Ricardo Tobar - La Femme Aux Masques (SYO Summer of Love Remix)
3
Ricardo Tobar - La Femme Aux Masques
4
Ricardo Tobar - Mineral
We commence with a warm and bouncy UK acid house vibe. We conclude with a beguiling 'Boards of Canada' style electronic bubble bath. We're treated to an array of flavors and an outstanding S.O.N.S remix in between. It can only be MUSAR and another compelling collection from Ricardo Tobar.
With a discography that started on Border Community and includes the likes of Co-coon and ESP Institute as well as MUSAR, Chilean Ricardo's credentials speak for themselves.
His music does, too. Constantly playing with themes of displacement, disorientation and delight in his fusions, 'Our Violence' was inspired by the ongoing discussions of cultural appropriation. At its heaviest, on tracks like the Isolee-esque 'Our Vio-lence' and S.O.N.S's SYO rolling breakbeat remix of 'La Femme Aux Masques', we're thrust deep into the most hypnotic of dances. At its most esoteric and experi-mental, tracks like 'Mineral' and 'La Femme Aux Masques', we're taken to places we didn't even know existed. Places that refuse to accept current formulas or standards and take us outside the box - where MUSAR always loves to be.
Tracklist 12":
A1. Our Violence (S.O.N.S Remix) / 07:24
A2. La Femme Aux Masques (SYO Summer of Love Remix) / 07:44
B1. La Femme Aux Masques / 04:56
B2. Mineral / 08:36
More
With a discography that started on Border Community and includes the likes of Co-coon and ESP Institute as well as MUSAR, Chilean Ricardo's credentials speak for themselves.
His music does, too. Constantly playing with themes of displacement, disorientation and delight in his fusions, 'Our Violence' was inspired by the ongoing discussions of cultural appropriation. At its heaviest, on tracks like the Isolee-esque 'Our Vio-lence' and S.O.N.S's SYO rolling breakbeat remix of 'La Femme Aux Masques', we're thrust deep into the most hypnotic of dances. At its most esoteric and experi-mental, tracks like 'Mineral' and 'La Femme Aux Masques', we're taken to places we didn't even know existed. Places that refuse to accept current formulas or standards and take us outside the box - where MUSAR always loves to be.
Tracklist 12":
A1. Our Violence (S.O.N.S Remix) / 07:24
A2. La Femme Aux Masques (SYO Summer of Love Remix) / 07:44
B1. La Femme Aux Masques / 04:56
B2. Mineral / 08:36
More
Following celebrated releases from Annie Hall, J.Wiltshire, MANASYt and Mental
Overdrive, Amsterdam based label MUSAR returns to Ricardo Tobar for ‘Nadivi’, two
earthy electronic trips, accompanied by a bewitching remix from Legowelt.
On this exciting release, Chilean-born Tobar continues his knack of blending the live
tones of krautrock and electronica with a house and techno pulse, in a style not
dissimilar to Luke Abbot or James Holden (Tobar has previously released on the
latter’s imprint, Border Community.)
Title track ‘Navidi’ finds him at his offbeat best, a genuinely progressive and
psychedelic rolling house number that blossoms into something surprisingly epic
while utilising only weirdo textures, askew basslines and otherworldly samples.
Legowelt, meanwhile, flips the energy of the original into an acid bath, blending his
typical grit with a halcyon and dare we say, surprisingly funky bassline!
Retaining the weirdo spirit of its source material. Finally, on the memorably titled ‘The
Structures Of Summer Are Within Us’, Tobar rolls out a wistful, cathartic live jam that
blossoms into something curious and perhaps unexpected, reminiscent of Silver
Apples or Animal Collective.
Staking further claim as one of the most naturally innovative and feeling producers in
the electronic music landscape, ‘Navidi’ is that rare sort of dance release;
propulsive, intriguing and refreshingly lovely.
Tracklist 12":
A1. Nadivi / 07:50
B1. Nadivi (Legowelt Remix) / 05:52
B2. The Structures Of Summer Are Within Us / 7:48 More
Overdrive, Amsterdam based label MUSAR returns to Ricardo Tobar for ‘Nadivi’, two
earthy electronic trips, accompanied by a bewitching remix from Legowelt.
On this exciting release, Chilean-born Tobar continues his knack of blending the live
tones of krautrock and electronica with a house and techno pulse, in a style not
dissimilar to Luke Abbot or James Holden (Tobar has previously released on the
latter’s imprint, Border Community.)
Title track ‘Navidi’ finds him at his offbeat best, a genuinely progressive and
psychedelic rolling house number that blossoms into something surprisingly epic
while utilising only weirdo textures, askew basslines and otherworldly samples.
Legowelt, meanwhile, flips the energy of the original into an acid bath, blending his
typical grit with a halcyon and dare we say, surprisingly funky bassline!
Retaining the weirdo spirit of its source material. Finally, on the memorably titled ‘The
Structures Of Summer Are Within Us’, Tobar rolls out a wistful, cathartic live jam that
blossoms into something curious and perhaps unexpected, reminiscent of Silver
Apples or Animal Collective.
Staking further claim as one of the most naturally innovative and feeling producers in
the electronic music landscape, ‘Navidi’ is that rare sort of dance release;
propulsive, intriguing and refreshingly lovely.
Tracklist 12":
A1. Nadivi / 07:50
B1. Nadivi (Legowelt Remix) / 05:52
B2. The Structures Of Summer Are Within Us / 7:48 More
1
Ricardo Tobar - After The Movie
2
Ricardo Tobar - Regain Your Power
3
Ricardo Tobar - After The Movie (Plaid Remix)
4
Ricardo Tobar - Parques
Releasing his first ever vinyl release ‘El Sunset’ on James Holden’s, Border Community back in
2007, Chilean producer Ricardo Tobar has since been held in high regard by the seminal UK
producer. Intricately constructing his way around the parameters of emotionally-lead, highly
atmospheric electronic music, Ricardo has brought his sound forward to grace the rosters of
Jennifer Cardini’s, Correspondant, ESP Institute and MUSAR Recordings. Continuing to
extend his already significant discography, he now returns to MUSAR Recordings for a third time
with the ‘After The Movie’ EP.
Ricardo’s ‘After The Movie’ EP forms a selection of cuts that have been held in his locker for quite
some time. Uncovered by MUSAR Recordings label head, Dweedo on a podcast from way back, it
seemed only natural that this unreleased music from Ricardo would find its home on the
Amsterdam-Tel-Aviv label.
“This EP is quite special to me because it reflects a long timeline in my work.
The ‘After The Movie’ track had been in the vault for ages until David from MUSAR found it
in an old podcast; it really takes me back to those first steps in recording music.”
Tracklist 12":
A1. After The Movie / 07:56
A2. Regain Your Power / 07:07
B1. After The Movie (Plaid Remix) / 05:09
B2. Parques / 10:32
More
2007, Chilean producer Ricardo Tobar has since been held in high regard by the seminal UK
producer. Intricately constructing his way around the parameters of emotionally-lead, highly
atmospheric electronic music, Ricardo has brought his sound forward to grace the rosters of
Jennifer Cardini’s, Correspondant, ESP Institute and MUSAR Recordings. Continuing to
extend his already significant discography, he now returns to MUSAR Recordings for a third time
with the ‘After The Movie’ EP.
Ricardo’s ‘After The Movie’ EP forms a selection of cuts that have been held in his locker for quite
some time. Uncovered by MUSAR Recordings label head, Dweedo on a podcast from way back, it
seemed only natural that this unreleased music from Ricardo would find its home on the
Amsterdam-Tel-Aviv label.
“This EP is quite special to me because it reflects a long timeline in my work.
The ‘After The Movie’ track had been in the vault for ages until David from MUSAR found it
in an old podcast; it really takes me back to those first steps in recording music.”
Tracklist 12":
A1. After The Movie / 07:56
A2. Regain Your Power / 07:07
B1. After The Movie (Plaid Remix) / 05:09
B2. Parques / 10:32
More
1
ricardo tobar - No Title
2
ricardo tobar - No Title
3
ricardo tobar - No Title
4
ricardo tobar - No Title
5
ricardo tobar - No Title
6
ricardo tobar - No Title
7
ricardo tobar - No Title
8
ricardo tobar - No Title
9
ricardo tobar - No Title
10
ricardo tobar - No Title
After a brief wander ‘round the garden, Chilean-born Ricardo Tobar returns to the ESP Institute bearing earthly delights. With 2017’s Liturgia, he introduced his creative point-of-view—instantly substantiating a sense of rhythm that was deliberately complex yet slightly rough around the edges, while touching upon his musical origins from the guitar-driven corners of psychedelia— however with his debut 2xLP Continuidad, he leaves us gobsmacked and seeking shelter as he leaps from dancefloor comforts and descends into absolute chaos (in more ways than one). Emotionally, the artist has crossed all previously self-imposed and subconscious thresholds, putting his true imagination on display and exposing an unwavering attraction to all things loud, orgasmic and transcendent. He’s not subtly hinting at a fetish, but opening his arms wide with conviction, abandoning genre taboos and personally inviting everyone to join his enchanted caravan. Sonically, his appetite for intensity is clear throughout—epic chord changes, ascending peaks in arrangement, accumulating layers of grit that build into impenetrable blankets of distortion and feedback—a kind of aural hedonism that translates visually into the potent video abstractions our Mario Hugo has summoned for the album’s packaging. This might all sound like a warning for Hurricane Ricardo, but fear not, listeners will still find some security in the album’s rhythmic underpinnings, and although this foray into primitive, ritualistic bang-the-drum percussion is significantly more dangerous than his previous programming, its the imperfection in his passionate studio performances that imbue Continuidad with something remarkably human.
More
1
ricardo tobar - Birds (Continuacio´n)
2
ricardo tobar - La Venida Del Mar
After a brief wander ‘round the garden, Chilean-born Ricardo Tobar returns to the ESP Institute bearing earthly delights. With 2017’s Liturgia, he introduced his creative point-of-view—instantly substantiating a sense of rhythm that was deliberately complex yet slightly rough around the edges, while touching upon his musical origins from the guitar-driven corners of psychedelia— however with his debut 2xLP Continuidad, he leaves us gobsmacked and seeking shelter as he leaps from dancefloor comforts and descends into absolute chaos (in more ways than one). Emotionally, the artist has crossed all previously self-imposed and subconscious thresholds, putting his true imagination on display and exposing an unwavering attraction to all things loud, orgasmic and transcendent. He’s not subtly hinting at a fetish, but opening his arms wide with conviction, abandoning genre taboos and personally inviting everyone to join his enchanted caravan. Sonically, his appetite for intensity is clear throughout—epic chord changes, ascending peaks in arrangement, accumulating layers of grit that build into impenetrable blankets of distortion and feedback—a kind of aural hedonism that translates visually into the potent video abstractions our Mario Hugo has summoned for the album’s packaging. The first single surrounding the Continuidad album is Birds (Continuacio´n), a glorious extension of the album track that conjures imagery of shaman-led rainforest exploration and illustrates the artist’s affinity for Latin-American percussion. The flipside is an exclusive non-album cut La Venida Del Mar, a bonafide big room thumper that carries all the rave seasonings we’ve come to crave from Tobar.
More
1
ricardo tobar - La Dormida
2
ricardo tobar - The Lake
3
ricardo tobar - Liturgia
4
ricardo tobar - Star Alliance
What attracts us to Chilean-born artist Ricardo Tobar is the notion of intersection, and although fusion is nothing new, as a concept it will always pull our heartstrings. Applying influence is amateur, we see this over and over again as we endure trend-driven appropriation of cultures the world over, but the epiphany when an artist finds true synergy between heritage and influence is a pivotal moment that the inspired will seek, even though it may take the length of one’s career to behold. As pretentious as that may sound, it is precisely the hybrid born from that place of intersection that excites us at the ESP Institute, the “A plus B that equals 3”. We hear this in Ricardo’s music — the Latin American instinct in his drums and percussion, sometimes tightly aligned with body movements and other times hauntingly mis-aligned and chaotic, intersects with his rock influence of ethereal (micro) melodies that slowly layer and layer until we’re climbing a glorious (macro) wall of sound — but most importantly we hear where these different parts of his life come together to further create one unique voice. On both sides of his ESP Institute debut Liturgia, Tobar couples one pulsing dance-driven track with another atmospheric and immersive track, requiring we educate ourselves in the polarity of this language he’s building, one that will expand to tell a broader story later this year with his debut album. We welcome Ricardo Tobar, another forward-thinking artist, to the ESP Institute, and are proud to support any direction his compass points from here, as we believe he’ll never follow but will always lead.
More
1
ricardo tobar - RICARDO TOBAR - ANGORA (MIDNIGHT OPERATOR REMIX)
2
ricardo tobar - RICARDO TOBAR - RED LIGHT (LAWRENCE REMIX)
Tracklist: (
A1) Angora (Midnight Operator Remix) (B1) Redlight (Lawrence Remix)
Info:
After the first Ricardo Tobar remix edition (featuring remixes by John Tejada and Fairmont) on Cocoon Recordings we are proud to present the next chapter with remixes by Lawrence and Midnight Operator (Mathew and Nathan Jonson). 2016 seems to continue as we started it: With high quality music by great artists presenting us amazing techno in an unique and tasty style.
Midnight Operator, the joint project of the two Jonson brothers, picked Tobars "Angora" for their remix and the result appears very fresh and housey. Their bassline programming adds a nice italo-disco vibe to their version of "Angora". Together with their strings and melody-parts the Midnight Operator remix is turning into the perfect soundtrack for the upcoming spring nights: We hear flowers, birds, butterflies and feel the warm air ... not to mention that our feet start moving and dancing. Dial mastermind Lawrence contributes the fourth remix to Tobars album: His version of "Red Light" explores the emotional side of techno and house. We dive into deep spaces, spheric melodies and an atmosphere close to the vibe of the great works of Kraftwerk - this is impressive! Lawrence "Red Light" version presents the musical side of techno to us - a timeless piece of music with a chill-out flavoured beat and synth programming.
More
A1) Angora (Midnight Operator Remix) (B1) Redlight (Lawrence Remix)
Info:
After the first Ricardo Tobar remix edition (featuring remixes by John Tejada and Fairmont) on Cocoon Recordings we are proud to present the next chapter with remixes by Lawrence and Midnight Operator (Mathew and Nathan Jonson). 2016 seems to continue as we started it: With high quality music by great artists presenting us amazing techno in an unique and tasty style.
Midnight Operator, the joint project of the two Jonson brothers, picked Tobars "Angora" for their remix and the result appears very fresh and housey. Their bassline programming adds a nice italo-disco vibe to their version of "Angora". Together with their strings and melody-parts the Midnight Operator remix is turning into the perfect soundtrack for the upcoming spring nights: We hear flowers, birds, butterflies and feel the warm air ... not to mention that our feet start moving and dancing. Dial mastermind Lawrence contributes the fourth remix to Tobars album: His version of "Red Light" explores the emotional side of techno and house. We dive into deep spaces, spheric melodies and an atmosphere close to the vibe of the great works of Kraftwerk - this is impressive! Lawrence "Red Light" version presents the musical side of techno to us - a timeless piece of music with a chill-out flavoured beat and synth programming.
More
1
ricardo tobar - RICARDO TOBAR - ANGORA (FAIRMONT REMIX)
2
ricardo tobar - RICARDO TOBAR - INVIERNO (JOHN TEJADA REMIX)
Tracklist: (A1) Angora (Fairmont Remix) (B1) Invierno (John Tejada Remix)
Info:
Welcome 2016 and welcome back everybody to the second Cocoon Recordings roll out. We wonder what this year will bring if the kick-off is already on such a high level?
Ricardo Tobar's first remix 12" comes with two stunning re-arrangements by Fairmont and Tech-House grandmaster John Tejada. The canadian minimal techno hero Fairmont remixed Tobars "Angora" and gave it such a strong Border Community vibe. Dark but at the same time pushing and hedonistic. Fairmont starts off with a subtle percussion-beat-acid-combination and turns his remix into a proper and mad electronic masterpiece the longer it runs. Epic!
Californian tech-house pioneer John Tejada is on remix-duty for "Invierno" and he blasts us away with the result. Deeper than deep and kick-ass house with a pushing detroit and KMS vibe. This one almost appears like a lost & found alltime techno and house classic and it will hit the Zeitgeist in Berlin, London, New York and Tokyo like no other release on Cocoon Recordings lately. This is ingenious clubfood for all the innercity hipsters and musiclovers and it simply makes us wanna dance! This! Is! Tech-House! Baby!
More
Info:
Welcome 2016 and welcome back everybody to the second Cocoon Recordings roll out. We wonder what this year will bring if the kick-off is already on such a high level?
Ricardo Tobar's first remix 12" comes with two stunning re-arrangements by Fairmont and Tech-House grandmaster John Tejada. The canadian minimal techno hero Fairmont remixed Tobars "Angora" and gave it such a strong Border Community vibe. Dark but at the same time pushing and hedonistic. Fairmont starts off with a subtle percussion-beat-acid-combination and turns his remix into a proper and mad electronic masterpiece the longer it runs. Epic!
Californian tech-house pioneer John Tejada is on remix-duty for "Invierno" and he blasts us away with the result. Deeper than deep and kick-ass house with a pushing detroit and KMS vibe. This one almost appears like a lost & found alltime techno and house classic and it will hit the Zeitgeist in Berlin, London, New York and Tokyo like no other release on Cocoon Recordings lately. This is ingenious clubfood for all the innercity hipsters and musiclovers and it simply makes us wanna dance! This! Is! Tech-House! Baby!
More
UPC: 827170146822 (CD)
Tracklist:
1. Pasaje 2. Brittle 3. Invierno 4. Angora 5. Inside Castle 6. There Is Pop 7. Blue Mint 8. Red Light 9. Crystal Sun 10. Strange Wave
Electronic music approximately 35 years after bands like Kraftwerk opened the magic box. A lot happened since then and it seems all is said, done and invented. However it is almost surprising that new things still pop up here and there when it comes to electronic music production. The reason for this can probably be found in the almost unlimited possibilities that electronics and computers offer to the artists and of course in the unwritten law that there are no boundaries that can't be crossed. So, even after all this time, it is great to see that the creative development keeps on going and going no matter if it is house, deep house, techno and most of it all: Listening electronics. "Synthetic electronic sounds, Industrial rhythms all around".
Let's focus on Ricardo Tobar: Born in Chile and now residing in France, Tobar picked the "creative border crossing" as the common thread for his album "Collection". Musical experimentation and crossing musical borders - Tobar refers here directly to the style and sound of the great new-wave-bands of the 80s and 90s. With the help and influence of their new electronic instruments (that often met classic rock guitars) the post-punk-electronic-movement turned almost everything upside down. No matter if the result was moody and mysterious or romantic and hedonistic, all sounded new and different back then and paved the musical path for a whole generation - the reverberations of that episode are noticeable until today.
Tobar plays with the musical approach of the post-punk-era, he mixes, merges and experiments fearless with styles and moods. He creates a wide range of "own styles" and even dives into abstract sound fields - listening electronic in best form! Ricardo Tobar breathes the air of his own musical universe and is not refering to the typical styles of this genre - you won't find any Detroit, Berlin or Sheffield reference here. Although produced in France, Tobar's album doesn't have anything of the sweet and lovely french listening touch. It also won't beam you into the north of England and the grey and cold Sheffield winter like so many other electronic albums try to do.
"Collection" contains full compositions, sound collages, experimental sounds and even proper beat based tunes. Tobar rather creates than produces and is presenting a bigger picture with his collection. Many electronic music artists are trying to do this however Tobar delivers a collection with an impressive range and it seems he did all this in an almost nonchalant way. He plays and combines his instruments and sounds at the same time very sensitive and harmonic but also brave and dissonant without risking to be inaudible at any point. He creates atmospheres by using electronic sounds and layers. Listening to the sound of "collection" almost appears like reading an acoustic book. This album is full of interesting sounds and ideas and is far from being boring or even too demanding.
Besides the mystic and experimental side "Collection" also contains energetic and trippy sounds. The expressive "Angora" is full of energy and captures the listeners imagination. In contrast to that "Crystal Sun" appears almost like a big after-hour anthem. With "There Is Pop" Tobar presents even a strong and ripped tune - banging and challenging. You see, there is place for everything here in "Collection". There is an introduction, the main part and an ending - as mentioned before: An album like a book, like an exciting book on top of that! "Collection" comes with musical chapters rich in variety and with quite some surprises.
Looking back at 35 years of electronic music it isn't easy to claim that we never heard something like "Collection" before, however we hardly can think of anybody else who compiled an album with such an amount of taste and entertainment like Ricardo Tobar did it here. This is for sure not just another musical assembly-line-product and we salute Tobar for the result that cannot be categorized the easy way. Tobar worked hard for this album and this is noticeable from start to end. He used his machines, synths and computers in full effect and presents a "Collection" that exactly functions like it is. Not a single tune on this album can be left out. This album is Ricardo Tobars musical portrayal and with holding so much energy, it will shine on for a very long time.
More
Tracklist:
1. Pasaje 2. Brittle 3. Invierno 4. Angora 5. Inside Castle 6. There Is Pop 7. Blue Mint 8. Red Light 9. Crystal Sun 10. Strange Wave
Electronic music approximately 35 years after bands like Kraftwerk opened the magic box. A lot happened since then and it seems all is said, done and invented. However it is almost surprising that new things still pop up here and there when it comes to electronic music production. The reason for this can probably be found in the almost unlimited possibilities that electronics and computers offer to the artists and of course in the unwritten law that there are no boundaries that can't be crossed. So, even after all this time, it is great to see that the creative development keeps on going and going no matter if it is house, deep house, techno and most of it all: Listening electronics. "Synthetic electronic sounds, Industrial rhythms all around".
Let's focus on Ricardo Tobar: Born in Chile and now residing in France, Tobar picked the "creative border crossing" as the common thread for his album "Collection". Musical experimentation and crossing musical borders - Tobar refers here directly to the style and sound of the great new-wave-bands of the 80s and 90s. With the help and influence of their new electronic instruments (that often met classic rock guitars) the post-punk-electronic-movement turned almost everything upside down. No matter if the result was moody and mysterious or romantic and hedonistic, all sounded new and different back then and paved the musical path for a whole generation - the reverberations of that episode are noticeable until today.
Tobar plays with the musical approach of the post-punk-era, he mixes, merges and experiments fearless with styles and moods. He creates a wide range of "own styles" and even dives into abstract sound fields - listening electronic in best form! Ricardo Tobar breathes the air of his own musical universe and is not refering to the typical styles of this genre - you won't find any Detroit, Berlin or Sheffield reference here. Although produced in France, Tobar's album doesn't have anything of the sweet and lovely french listening touch. It also won't beam you into the north of England and the grey and cold Sheffield winter like so many other electronic albums try to do.
"Collection" contains full compositions, sound collages, experimental sounds and even proper beat based tunes. Tobar rather creates than produces and is presenting a bigger picture with his collection. Many electronic music artists are trying to do this however Tobar delivers a collection with an impressive range and it seems he did all this in an almost nonchalant way. He plays and combines his instruments and sounds at the same time very sensitive and harmonic but also brave and dissonant without risking to be inaudible at any point. He creates atmospheres by using electronic sounds and layers. Listening to the sound of "collection" almost appears like reading an acoustic book. This album is full of interesting sounds and ideas and is far from being boring or even too demanding.
Besides the mystic and experimental side "Collection" also contains energetic and trippy sounds. The expressive "Angora" is full of energy and captures the listeners imagination. In contrast to that "Crystal Sun" appears almost like a big after-hour anthem. With "There Is Pop" Tobar presents even a strong and ripped tune - banging and challenging. You see, there is place for everything here in "Collection". There is an introduction, the main part and an ending - as mentioned before: An album like a book, like an exciting book on top of that! "Collection" comes with musical chapters rich in variety and with quite some surprises.
Looking back at 35 years of electronic music it isn't easy to claim that we never heard something like "Collection" before, however we hardly can think of anybody else who compiled an album with such an amount of taste and entertainment like Ricardo Tobar did it here. This is for sure not just another musical assembly-line-product and we salute Tobar for the result that cannot be categorized the easy way. Tobar worked hard for this album and this is noticeable from start to end. He used his machines, synths and computers in full effect and presents a "Collection" that exactly functions like it is. Not a single tune on this album can be left out. This album is Ricardo Tobars musical portrayal and with holding so much energy, it will shine on for a very long time.
More
UPC: 827170591264 (2LP+CD)
Tracklist:
1. Pasaje 2. Brittle 3. Invierno 4. Angora 5. Inside Castle 6. There Is Pop 7. Blue Mint 8. Red Light 9. Crystal Sun 10. Strange Wave
Electronic music approximately 35 years after bands like Kraftwerk opened the magic box. A lot happened since then and it seems all is said, done and invented. However it is almost surprising that new things still pop up here and there when it comes to electronic music production. The reason for this can probably be found in the almost unlimited possibilities that electronics and computers offer to the artists and of course in the unwritten law that there are no boundaries that can't be crossed. So, even after all this time, it is great to see that the creative development keeps on going and going no matter if it is house, deep house, techno and most of it all: Listening electronics. "Synthetic electronic sounds, Industrial rhythms all around".
Let's focus on Ricardo Tobar: Born in Chile and now residing in France, Tobar picked the "creative border crossing" as the common thread for his album "Collection". Musical experimentation and crossing musical borders - Tobar refers here directly to the style and sound of the great new-wave-bands of the 80s and 90s. With the help and influence of their new electronic instruments (that often met classic rock guitars) the post-punk-electronic-movement turned almost everything upside down. No matter if the result was moody and mysterious or romantic and hedonistic, all sounded new and different back then and paved the musical path for a whole generation - the reverberations of that episode are noticeable until today.
Tobar plays with the musical approach of the post-punk-era, he mixes, merges and experiments fearless with styles and moods. He creates a wide range of "own styles" and even dives into abstract sound fields - listening electronic in best form! Ricardo Tobar breathes the air of his own musical universe and is not refering to the typical styles of this genre - you won't find any Detroit, Berlin or Sheffield reference here. Although produced in France, Tobar's album doesn't have anything of the sweet and lovely french listening touch. It also won't beam you into the north of England and the grey and cold Sheffield winter like so many other electronic albums try to do.
"Collection" contains full compositions, sound collages, experimental sounds and even proper beat based tunes. Tobar rather creates than produces and is presenting a bigger picture with his collection. Many electronic music artists are trying to do this however Tobar delivers a collection with an impressive range and it seems he did all this in an almost nonchalant way. He plays and combines his instruments and sounds at the same time very sensitive and harmonic but also brave and dissonant without risking to be inaudible at any point. He creates atmospheres by using electronic sounds and layers. Listening to the sound of "collection" almost appears like reading an acoustic book. This album is full of interesting sounds and ideas and is far from being boring or even too demanding.
Besides the mystic and experimental side "Collection" also contains energetic and trippy sounds. The expressive "Angora" is full of energy and captures the listeners imagination. In contrast to that "Crystal Sun" appears almost like a big after-hour anthem. With "There Is Pop" Tobar presents even a strong and ripped tune - banging and challenging. You see, there is place for everything here in "Collection". There is an introduction, the main part and an ending - as mentioned before: An album like a book, like an exciting book on top of that! "Collection" comes with musical chapters rich in variety and with quite some surprises.
Looking back at 35 years of electronic music it isn't easy to claim that we never heard something like "Collection" before, however we hardly can think of anybody else who compiled an album with such an amount of taste and entertainment like Ricardo Tobar did it here. This is for sure not just another musical assembly-line-product and we salute Tobar for the result that cannot be categorized the easy way. Tobar worked hard for this album and this is noticeable from start to end. He used his machines, synths and computers in full effect and presents a "Collection" that exactly functions like it is. Not a single tune on this album can be left out. This album is Ricardo Tobars musical portrayal and with holding so much energy, it will shine on for a very long time.
More
Tracklist:
1. Pasaje 2. Brittle 3. Invierno 4. Angora 5. Inside Castle 6. There Is Pop 7. Blue Mint 8. Red Light 9. Crystal Sun 10. Strange Wave
Electronic music approximately 35 years after bands like Kraftwerk opened the magic box. A lot happened since then and it seems all is said, done and invented. However it is almost surprising that new things still pop up here and there when it comes to electronic music production. The reason for this can probably be found in the almost unlimited possibilities that electronics and computers offer to the artists and of course in the unwritten law that there are no boundaries that can't be crossed. So, even after all this time, it is great to see that the creative development keeps on going and going no matter if it is house, deep house, techno and most of it all: Listening electronics. "Synthetic electronic sounds, Industrial rhythms all around".
Let's focus on Ricardo Tobar: Born in Chile and now residing in France, Tobar picked the "creative border crossing" as the common thread for his album "Collection". Musical experimentation and crossing musical borders - Tobar refers here directly to the style and sound of the great new-wave-bands of the 80s and 90s. With the help and influence of their new electronic instruments (that often met classic rock guitars) the post-punk-electronic-movement turned almost everything upside down. No matter if the result was moody and mysterious or romantic and hedonistic, all sounded new and different back then and paved the musical path for a whole generation - the reverberations of that episode are noticeable until today.
Tobar plays with the musical approach of the post-punk-era, he mixes, merges and experiments fearless with styles and moods. He creates a wide range of "own styles" and even dives into abstract sound fields - listening electronic in best form! Ricardo Tobar breathes the air of his own musical universe and is not refering to the typical styles of this genre - you won't find any Detroit, Berlin or Sheffield reference here. Although produced in France, Tobar's album doesn't have anything of the sweet and lovely french listening touch. It also won't beam you into the north of England and the grey and cold Sheffield winter like so many other electronic albums try to do.
"Collection" contains full compositions, sound collages, experimental sounds and even proper beat based tunes. Tobar rather creates than produces and is presenting a bigger picture with his collection. Many electronic music artists are trying to do this however Tobar delivers a collection with an impressive range and it seems he did all this in an almost nonchalant way. He plays and combines his instruments and sounds at the same time very sensitive and harmonic but also brave and dissonant without risking to be inaudible at any point. He creates atmospheres by using electronic sounds and layers. Listening to the sound of "collection" almost appears like reading an acoustic book. This album is full of interesting sounds and ideas and is far from being boring or even too demanding.
Besides the mystic and experimental side "Collection" also contains energetic and trippy sounds. The expressive "Angora" is full of energy and captures the listeners imagination. In contrast to that "Crystal Sun" appears almost like a big after-hour anthem. With "There Is Pop" Tobar presents even a strong and ripped tune - banging and challenging. You see, there is place for everything here in "Collection". There is an introduction, the main part and an ending - as mentioned before: An album like a book, like an exciting book on top of that! "Collection" comes with musical chapters rich in variety and with quite some surprises.
Looking back at 35 years of electronic music it isn't easy to claim that we never heard something like "Collection" before, however we hardly can think of anybody else who compiled an album with such an amount of taste and entertainment like Ricardo Tobar did it here. This is for sure not just another musical assembly-line-product and we salute Tobar for the result that cannot be categorized the easy way. Tobar worked hard for this album and this is noticeable from start to end. He used his machines, synths and computers in full effect and presents a "Collection" that exactly functions like it is. Not a single tune on this album can be left out. This album is Ricardo Tobars musical portrayal and with holding so much energy, it will shine on for a very long time.
More
Garden is the second extract from Ricardo Tobar’s debut album. Ricardo Tobar was born in a city called Viña Del Mar in Chile nearly 30 years ago. After two acclaimed 12 inches on Border Community, James Holden's label (the beautiful El Sunset in 2007 & Boy Love Girl in 2008) followed two EP's on Traum Schallplatten (With You in 2008 & Mi Pieza Esta Llena De Cosas in 2009). In 2012 he then unleashes one EP on In Paradisum (French underground label run by Mondkopf), the more experimental and highly addictive Esoteric / Carnaval Limited edition of 600 copies on white vinyl
More
More
More records from esp institute
1
Metal - Point Vacancies (Hodge Remix)
2
Metal - Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Remix)
3
Metal - Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Dubwise)
4
Metal - Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Dubwise II)
Following 2020’s 'Point Vacancies', the debut EP from Jamie Paton and Mike Bourne’s collaborative act Metal, the duo return with a trio of dubwise remixes from Mr Paton himself as well as a peak-time stormer from fellow Bristol artist, Hodge. The latter immediately sets the record ablaze with a driving thump, duo of grainy hi-hats and a chalky clap. He layers an anthemic three-chord pad progression, building octaves, peppering in arpeggiated bleeps and articulate lead melodies, then tops it off with a few modular elements that retain the character of the original, before climaxing in true rave fashion. Proper. The following three mixes by Metal’s own Jamie Paton make apparent his sonic obsession — the type of infinite tweaking that sees some artists/producers to the edge of madness, or at the very least satisfies some dragon-chasing addiction. There’s a successive deconstruction from 'Remix' to 'Dubwise' to 'Dubwise II', most notably a reduction of rhythm and drum machinery, but also in general tonality. The melody remains central but is gradually obscured, taking on a less and less recognizable form, and by the end we’re left with a skeleton of the track, quips and cranks, an assembly line of aluminum sheeting punctuated by demented nuts and bolts. As with the previous EP, the sparsity of elements illustrates just how far one can twist aesthetics, proving that self-imposed limitations can often propel an artist’s process and land them somewhere unfamiliar, somewhere foreign, somewhere enchanted.
More
1
Raymond Richards - Badwater Basin
2
Raymond Richards - Rattlesnake Pass
3
Raymond Richards - Monument Valley
4
Raymond Richards - 2 Cent Mambo
5
Raymond Richards - Saguaro
6
Raymond Richards - Zion Lodge
7
Raymond Richards - Farrington Dome
8
Raymond Richards - Deer On Hwy 80
9
Raymond Richards - Mescal Shakes
10
Raymond Richards - Sonora
There was a long time I considered Raymond Richards the ultimate secret weapon. There were sounds he could make that other people just couldn’t. Pure, whole, yet complex sounds. The pedal steel is an extremely niche instrument outside of its Country confines, but its sheer and transcendent depth has never failed to floor me. Raymond’s ear for implementing the steel into literally 'anything' has always been uncanny. After decades of being savvy to his work ethic, multi-faceted studio skills and overall sense of musical honesty, it became a priority for me to channel some of this into narratives through the ESP Institute and get his stories told. Without further recounting the history and trajectory of our musical relationship (see the press release for 2020’s critically-acclaimed album 'The Lost Art Of Wandering'), I can whole-heartedly confirm this sophomore release, 'Sand Paintings', opens an even wider door into Raymond’s visceral, contemplative world. The cast of players has elaborated to include Calexico’s John Convertino on drums and percussion, a bevy of eccentric stringed instruments and even a hint of brass to collectively stratify context for the pedal steel. Through diversifying the timbral palette, we invite an increased soundstage acuity but also reveal untapped wells of emotion for the listener, perhaps even testing cultural literacies. One foot remains in our established ambient realm, while the other steps toward grand cinematic gestures, and despite the dense, insurmountable emotion in these songs, there is a stoic singularity, like a lonesome cowboy pulling up his boot straps to endure another day. 'Badwater Basin' opens with courage, an enormous chord evoking Raymond’s image of “hard dawn”, but in navigating through the dramatic depictions of 'Monument Valley', 'Saguaro' and 'Deer On Hwy 80', we grapple with a cloaked vulnerability—weathered by the elements, beaten down and alone, yet still madly in love with the world. —Lovefingers
More
1
Bartellow - Grana
2
Bartellow - Vorsichtig - Mutiger - Verloren
3
Bartellow - The Idea Of A Horizon
4
Bartellow - View From My Parents House
5
Bartellow - Folie
6
Bartellow - X-Pulse
7
Bartellow - Ungeheuer Ist Vieles
8
Bartellow - Seance
9
Bartellow - Nexus II On The Beach
10
Bartellow - Langsame Bewegung
11
Bartellow - Zwischen Luft
12
Bartellow - Chez Charles
13
Bartellow - P-Analyse
14
Bartellow - La Caduta Degli Dei
15
Bartellow - Aavikon (No Water)
16
Bartellow - ??? ????? ???????
17
Bartellow - Dark Matter Art Cabinet
18
Bartellow - Hatch On A Hunch
19
Bartellow - Theban Constitutional
20
Bartellow - Kismet
21
Bartellow - No Noosphere
ESP Institute artist Bartellow, one third of the project Tambien and otherwise known in the Contemporary Classical sphere as Beni Brachtel, returns to the label with his second full-length release, Noosphere. While currently heading the SVS label and residency series out of Munich, Beni’s resume expands well beyond electronic music to include immersive sound installations such as The Adven- ture Of The Empty House (solo live performance across seven floors of Walter Henn’s Deckelbau building), a slew of compositions for the Bavarian State Opera (for which he doubled as conductor), and a prolific career of over twenty-five theater scores for institutions such as the Münchner Kammerspiele, Schauspiel Basel, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Berliner Ensemble, Schauspiel Köln, Schaus- piel Graz and with directors Ersan Mondtag, Alexander Eisenach, Jessica Glause and Tobias Staab among others. Noosphere is a compendium excerpting from theatrical scores WUT (Elfriede Jelinek, at Schauspielhaus Köln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2020), Ödipus and Antigone (Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2017), Der Zauberberg (Thomas Mann, Schauspiel Graz, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2017), Hass Tryptichon (Sybille Berg, Wiener Festwochen / Maxim Gorki Theatre, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019), Wonderland Ave. (Sibylle Berg, Schauspielhaus Köln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2018), Die Verdammten (after Visconti ´s film, Schauspielhaus Köln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019) and Roi Ubu (Alfred Jarry, Theater Neumarkt, Zurich, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2018). The work traverses homages, infusing everything from Baroque to Impressionism, and while these types of references are certainly built into the canon of Theatre as a discipline, here we gather histor- ic layers in an even wider net. Under the self-referential thumb of Contemporary Classical music, this sort of "hindsight" approach has been largely avoided, however, in today’s all-access arena, the constant stream of historic causal-chained events has opened a delta where anything is possible. This defines Bartellow’s stance among his colleagues as well as his cultural position as a composer. Beni considers beauty a fleeting objective in the arts, that expression is often expected to follow notions of Destructivism or the unfulfilled. Art will pore over wounds, collective angst, mourn- ing a loss of natural habitat or a fear of technological invasion, yet there is a bitter irreverence for the friction or salvation in beauty itself. Acknowledging this subjectivity — what one audience considers superficial pleasure may be deeply profound to another — he leans into musical instinct as if composing via divine conduit. Noosphere conjures a array of suspense, ecstasy, melancholy, and dread, but in isolating the work from its theatrical component, Brachtel directs our focus toward formal qualities, clearing unim- peded space to conceive fresh narratives and examine dynamism and interconnectivity. In sympathy with often difficult theatre pieces, the passages can be dark and transgressive, but more importantly they remain relative to Brachtel’s circumstances at their time of creation. The title Noosphere speaks to the evolution of human thought and knowledge, opening a door to subjective points-of-view. For example, Nexus II On The Beach refers to both Roberto Musci’s Water Messages On Desert Sand as well as the film Bladerunner, invoking the image of an android enjoying the sunset, but whether or not this abstraction may be considered beautiful depends the listener’s cumulative life experience and perspective. This is hybrid chamber music, augmented by electro-acoustic layers, juxtaposing various periods and successively processing their residual themes into a trans-generational rendering of “now.”
More
1
Jdotbalance - Sublimate
2
Jdotbalance - Precipitate
Jdotbalance left the moon and the sky for a city that works. This is their first offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, 'Sublimate' combines two aspects of a digital pipe and mallet assortment—both as the percussive base for a groove, and as an interstitial layer where inherent resonances are massaged into melody. Bubbles and squeaks dance around the sound-stage periphery, occasionally pierced by high frequency statements, presenting as either ghostly yelps from the aether or as bursts of kaleidoscopic shards. A third of the way through the track, the instrumentation truly does sublimate, crystallizing into a new self—bolder and naughtier, abandoning its pensive optimism for a detour around the spectrum's dark end. On the flip, 'Precipitate' continues with its predecessor's primer of metallic percussion, but accelerates the pace to reveal Jdot’s attitude leaning toward cunty malice. The kick drum relentlessly pounds us as 16th note droplets metamorphose from chrome-dipped hail into full-blown acid wind. As intensity retreats beneath the digital rubble and the track draws to a close, so does our stream of Jdot’s consciousness. These two songs will accelerate your nervous system.
More
1
Low End Activist - Gossip Is The Devil's Radio
2
Low End Activist - Good Question
3
Low End Activist - Strings of Sorrow
4
Low End Activist - Perpetual Conflict
5
Low End Activist - G.E.L.
After heavy-duty releases on self-administered imprints Low End Activism and Sneaker Social Club, as well as London’s beloved graffiti-laden mutant-bass stronghold Seagrave (RIP), the almighty Low End Activist makes a welcome debut with the ESP Institute. No stranger to mining distant regions the hardcore continuum and the residue of soundsystem culture at large, his relentless traversing and assembling of U.K.-specific rhythms demonstrates there is no end in sight when it comes to evolving the region’s musical gene pool. The 5-track 'Gossip Is The Devil’s Radio' strings together a smear of dystopian instrumentation—ghostly pads wrapped in melancholy, percussion that marries bleep with low resolution shrapnel, and vocal fragments that resemble a control tower’s two-way radio on the fritz—all imperfectly focused through a damaged lens of dancehall. We’re drawn to a dull moan that pervades throughout the record, reminiscent of the nihilistic moments in Abigail Meade’s score to 'Full Metal Jacket' where the sonics resemble a slow churn of molten steel occasionally punctuated and pierced by crystalline shards. The depth between the bone dry immediate foreground and distant wet background creates an exquisite sense of longing which isn’t inherently dark or menacing, but seductively bleak. As voyeurs, we may certainly appreciate the aesthetic LEA portrays, but we can’t fully comprehend the sense of escapism rooted within this music without having come of age in the damp and restless confines of England on the cusp of Thatcher’s abuse. Its a reminder that the light at the end of a tunnel, while it may be dim and grey, is still a light after-all, and the only way out is through.
More
1
Benedikt Frey - Habits
2
Benedikt Frey - Fast Lane
3
Benedikt Frey - Crank
4
Benedikt Frey - Move Me (ft. Nadia D'Alo`)
5
Benedikt Frey - Solver
6
Benedikt Frey - Element
7
Benedikt Frey - Gasoline
8
Benedikt Frey - Industry
9
Benedikt Frey - Trick Shot
10
Benedikt Frey - Silverblade (ft. O-Wells)
11
Benedikt Frey - Lost (Again)
12
Benedikt Frey - 1337
Close your eyes and merge into Benedikt Frey’s 'Fastlane'. Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a an automobile, one with exceptional horsepower and torque, as you stare out the windshield at the red light, warping in fata-morgana a mile down the road. It’s a straight-away, a black top with two lanes, and against your better judgment you decide to floor the gas. No hesitation in your muscle, your ankle or the ball of your foot, which you now realize is some kind of universal pivot, the first point of contact fusing your body with the will of machine. In this moment you’re in awe that you, a human, an animal, grew from pond scum into something so advanced as to engineer this thing, a mechanical beast capable of overwhelming power and exhilaration. But you also feel a seductive dread, an outside force diverting you from caution toward a dangling carrot of curiosity, asking yourself, ‘How far can I take this thing?’ The dread, now a constant, is numbed, equalized by an adverse intoxicating gratification. You feel both sensations in real time, however, rather than take responsibility for yourself, friends, family and innocent bystanders, you cement your foot to the floor and lean your head back. Noise around you fades to mute. Smell the benzene-scented air, feel the wind on your face, the menacing vibration of the vessel you control beneath you and every grain of asphalt under its tires. This mile has now lasted an eternity and you’ve left your body for some objective view, as if watching climax of a film. Past the point of no return, you embrace abandon and lean into fate. The film becomes slow motion, a crawling pace so mesmerizing you convince yourself of an option to eject yourself from this madness, but as you finally let go of your last morsel of fear, you run the red light head-on into the nucleus of a fantastic glistening sculpture of torn metal, glass, oil, broken dreams and heartache. 'Fastlane' may be just drum machines and synthesizers if you’re timid, but listen harder and know the catastrophic reality of existence, a wreckage so gruesome we dare not rubberneck, but afterall it is our nature to stare.
More
1
Evelyn - Tremors
2
Evelyn - Pregunta
Evelyn spreads her wings and prepares to fly. This is her first offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, 'Tremors' slams together a plethora of seemingly disparate rhythms, organic percussion, field samples, hypnotic chants and a relentless low end punch, that when in full-swing, works some seriously deep sorcery. Contrasting her pounding kick and rolling sub combo are a softer grouping of melodies, soft mallets and muted tones that lay subtly beneath the aggression, skillfully playing with a sense of spatial depth and room size. Its the kind of track that draws you in with meditative bars, concentric cycles that sit ever so slightly off-axis, inducing the mind and body to obsess and regulating its timing, and then drops you into a very intentionally arranged soundstage giving expansive space to explore. On the flip, 'Pregunta' continues this approach of natural versus industrial instrumentation. The consistent machine kick has a powerful but playful tone, the negative space between each stroke evoking a mighty gesture as its note bends in the decay. Set in 3/4, a community of live percussion successively adds and subtracts, each player’s imperfect attack accumulating into a mechanically smeared and addictive loop that toys with peaks a handful of times yet restrains any unnecessary climax for the betterment of a driving groove. Near the end, as the kick and various players mute and the base of the track is given a moment to breathe, its apparent just how layered the production was in the moments prior, as we’re suddenly at home, smitten with the wobbly and lopsided innocence of the foundational percussion. These two songs will push you headfirst into the light.
More
1
Jasper James - 0141
2
Jasper James - E-Maniac
1
Opal Sunn - The Problem With George
2
Opal Sunn - The Mystery Of Mr Lee
Opal Sunn (Alex Kassian and Hiroaki OBA) believe in unicorns, leprechauns and mermaids. This is their first offering for the ESP Institute. The A side leads with 'The Problem With George', a percussive monster at a half-time tempo that goes deep with a dual mission; to successively build round after round while keeping the listeners mind and body in an ecstatic state of surrender. Imagine the dancefloor pumping, and at a dynamic peak the DJ halves the timing and wipes the floor with your spinal fluid. On the flip, 'The Mystery Of Mr Lee' takes a similar approach in terms of arc and arrangement, although replacing the analogue percussion with 16th-note arpeggios of synthetic steel, glass and tubes. Beneath this glistening veneer lies another scale-wandering melody constructed of machine toms that eventually opens up, morphing into a more decisive hook, wrapping more tightly around the drum pattern before retreating back beneath layers. If dropped at the opportune time, let’s say the sensitive blue morning before dawn cracks, we expect a dancefloors to reach the highest level of psychedelic escape, after which hugs are essential. These two songs will tuck you in and kiss you goodnight.
More
1
Lord Of The Isles - Endless Beyond
2
Lord Of The Isles - Isolarian
3
Lord Of The Isles - Strato
4
Lord Of The Isles - Together
5
Lord Of The Isles - Light Nights
6
Lord Of The Isles - Quadralogue
7
Lord Of The Isles - Otherness
8
Lord Of The Isles - Truth
9
Lord Of The Isles - Wonder
10
Lord Of The Isles - Postdrome
'Night Of The Endless Beyond', the sophomore album by Lord Of The Isles AKA Neil McDonald for the ESP Institute, had almost become a mythical piece of work. The tracks very slowly crept into formation from the lowest depths of 2021, and once the completed album finally made the leap from creation into manufacturing, an entirely new onslaught of follies and delays awaited at the pressing plant. We began to laugh, for not only did Mario Hugo’s otherworldly sleeve artwork visually translate this music so well, but it was an uncanny premonition to the album being lost in space, falling through a black hole, evaporating into the aether like a dream that never really happened. But, at long last, ground control has confirmed contact! It did happen, it will arrive, and it’s not a myth. Listening to 'Night Of The Endless Beyond' now feels like the return of a strayed friend, one whose distance left us pining for an embrace. Although this Techno relies on unassuming means, there is a remarkably complex and persuasive emotional statement embedded here, insisting we learn to endure the long game and allow ourselves patience to investigate and appreciate the minutiae contained not only within the notes, but their negative space. From its introduction, through its mellow crests and valleys, there is a conveyance of restraint — subtle dynamics that quietly beg for attention, repetition so hypnotic that imaginary melodies are inescapable, transient peaks so deliberately scaled that we mourn the subsequent decay. In accordance with Neil’s ESP debut, 'In Waves', we never feel attacked by instrumentation but shielded from sharp edges, able to step inside the music, breathe the air it occupies and know its true intentions, whether bright or bleak.
Just prior to the album close, a film dialogue excerpt summarizes everything quite honestly by proposing, “The truth of the universe is waiting … the truth of what is … it’s all going to go away … everything … into blackness … the void … and nobody is in charge.” “…and what do you do with that?” We stare long into the 'Night Of The Endless Beyond' and answer… “You smile.” More
Just prior to the album close, a film dialogue excerpt summarizes everything quite honestly by proposing, “The truth of the universe is waiting … the truth of what is … it’s all going to go away … everything … into blackness … the void … and nobody is in charge.” “…and what do you do with that?” We stare long into the 'Night Of The Endless Beyond' and answer… “You smile.” More
1
Stalactite - Starnet
2
Stalactite - Gamete
3
Stalactite - Massonia
4
Stalactite - Zooid
5
Stalactite - Ssekkai
6
Stalactite - Pyrosome
7
Stalactite - Kaseijin
8
Stalactite - AAVT AAVTSL
9
Stalactite - Hydrozoa
Stalactite is a collaborative recording project by renown Japanese artist and multi-instrumentalist Susumu Mukai AKA Zongamin and producer Drew Brown, whose discography ranges from his own group Off World to a variety of integral productions for artists such as Blonde Redhead and Beck. Their self-titled debut for the ESP Institute is a grand gesture, a broad stroke that illustrates both singular focus and vast complexity, which is no easy feat considering the almost oppressive immediacy and availability of tools at the disposal of contemporary artists. There’s a level of creative confidence and discipline needed to work so fundamentally, and whether or not the listener has an appetite refined enough to process the tasteful subtleties throughout this production, these same subtleties accumulate regardless and land that listener in a highly considered and developed space. The deceptively naive melodic approach consistent across these nine tracks can feel transparent, familiar to a point the listener can anticipate its path, but when listening with acute focus we find a variable range of texture, temperature, depth and negative space. As alumni of the Minimal, Cold Wave, Synth Pop era, Susumu and Drew successfully personify a motley crew of synthesizers to work in concert, reduced to their core personalities and presented as their most honest selves — austere, shy, cinematic, percolating, bulbous, glistening, cantankerous, rubberized, clumsy and animated. Each masterfully paired with complimentary counterparts, these players assemble into a sound-stage we typically find in live recordings, enveloping and inviting us to the center of an acoustic cavern to wade through sonic impressions of monolithic stalactites.
More
1
Patrick Conway - Evident Wear
2
Patrick Conway - Evacuation Zone
3
Patrick Conway - Autophagy
4
Patrick Conway - A Long Way To Walk For Bad News
5
Patrick Conway - Swings In Reactivity
6
Patrick Conway - Eyes of Providence
7
Patrick Conway - Castor & Pollux
8
Patrick Conway - Eat Thyself, Sustain Thyself
9
Patrick Conway - Cellular Housekeeping
10
Patrick Conway - Lorentz Factor
11
Patrick Conway - Element
12
Patrick Conway - New Beginning
In pairing words with art, the ESP Institute often does everything journalists hate. We drown the reader in hyperbole, abstractions as opposed to didactic or literal depictions, and paint the press release with superlatives that construct an existential struggle around the art and its conditions. To articulate our reasoning behind collaborating with the artist, or the synergy between their work and our catalogue, is sometimes so challenging that crossing that finish line is achingly delayed. Patrick Conway’s 2xLP 'Cellular Housekeeping', his fourth release with the label, is one of these works so monumentally exciting for us that we’ve strained over how to deliver with honor his art unto the masses. After the initial hurdle of visual representation (in this case handled with gusto by artist Hassan Rahim), how do we directly and intentionally talk about the art we deeply love, when in reality we’re largely guided by instinct? We explore many angles, often failing along the way, until finding a final click in the combination that unlocks the floodgates. With Patrick’s album, that elusive impetus revealed itself in a literary gem that both symbolized his aggressive, melancholic, romantic, and bleak overtones, as well as synchronized his work and our task with a metaphor so grand it justified putting these words to paper. In the deeply British poem of despair and hope, 'Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle', John Milton immortalized the classic idiom of the “silver lining”, and we find comfort in this transaction between struggle and what the poet considered divine intervention. Our bout of procrastination that brewed a cloud over the art may too tout a silver lining, the time that’s elapsed clearing a path for the album to exist in its rightful place, as opposed to fighting for a voice at an overcrowded table. In hindsight, this final hurdle might have only existed because without it, there is no glory, no resolution, but as all the pieces click and we collectively cross the finish line, Patrick Conway’s once captive 'Cellular Housekeeping' is now truly released.
More
1
Juan Ramos - Agua Del Cenote
2
Juan Ramos - Agua Del Cenote (Harald Grosskopf Synthesist Mix)
3
Juan Ramos - Let It Loose (Freaks Only)
4
Juan Ramos - Cuko
Prodigal son of the ESP Institute, Juan Ramos, rises from the cesspool of a world gone mad with 'Agua Del Cenote', his fifth release with the label. Whilst many artists are following their inner light to bring us some much needed joy amidst these rotten times, Juan (being the little shit that he is) follows an inner demon and delivers listeners and dancers a demented clusterfuck of sadistic chaos. The title track opens with what sounds like a butane torch and we metaphorically freebase into oblivion. Our perception of reality unravels, writhing in abrasive textures smeared across a low-slung, mid-tempo erotic thump. Everything feels blurry and distant, as if we’re swimming through an underground aquatic tunnel, in a panic, searching for an invisible band of spirits whose tune summons us into certain annihilation. Following this is a remix from a decorated lord of 20th Century electronics, Harald Grosskopf AKA The Synthesist. Harald wipes away grit and lethargy to reveal elements hidden deep within the mix as well as softens Juan’s sense of terror by building up to an optimistic layer of added synth. We’d love to offer some relief with the balance of the EP, however, the remaining two tracks paint complimentary hues in the same cerebral palette. 'Let It Go (Freaks Only)' veers closely to House in terms of tempo and gestalt, utilizing a vocal sample from Third Generation (Kerri Chandler) and a healthy dose of sub bass, but Juan hardly apologizes for his masochistic tendencies and certainly never relents into an uplifting mood. Closing the EP, Juan serves an antidote of sorts with 'Cuko', as if suggesting a way out of the swamp, but leaves it up to the listener’s intuition to not only see the carrot, but actually follow it into the light, thus completing the quest.
More
1
Trinity Carbon - No Title
2
Trinity Carbon - No Title
3
Trinity Carbon - No Title
4
Trinity Carbon - No Title
5
Trinity Carbon - No Title
6
Trinity Carbon - No Title
7
Trinity Carbon - No Title
8
Trinity Carbon - No Title
9
Trinity Carbon - No Title
10
Trinity Carbon - No Title
11
Trinity Carbon - No Title
12
Trinity Carbon - No Title
13
Trinity Carbon - No Title
Something wicked this way comes. Following singles 'Know The Future' b/w 'Digital Warfare' in 2019 and 'Hypersocial' b/w 'Safety Test' in 2020, ESP’s own Patrick Conway has now teamed up with the illustrious Appleblim (of Skull Disco and Apple Pips fame) for a meaty self-titled debut 2xLP under the new collaborative moniker, Trinity Carbon. There is something to be said for art created in the face of global unraveling, while mass transgression and the friction of culture shifting produce poignant commentary, but more often than not, it’s the personal coping mechanisms within our work that have the power to speak directly to the receiver. After a number of sessions resulting in wild imaginative beginnings, it was the untimely passing of Andrew Weatherall and a coming to terms with that loss that moved the two Brits-via-Berlin to herd their roaming sketches into a more narrative statement. In the uphill struggle to retain some sense of individualism, it’s always outsiders like Weatherall whose risks illuminate the roads of creativity less traveled, and when those beacons go dark there is a disorientation felt far and wide. Conway and Blim concede to the internal inquiry, “What would Weatherall do?” bringing to mind the man’s pervading morale, always soldiering onward through mediocrity, as it was undoubtedly an impetus for the duo growing steadfast and chiseling 'Trinity Carbon' into completion. While employing trusted machines in the bass department, they established a warm euphonic home base from which they could stray in a variety of tonal and rhythmic directions without straining a tether to the album’s core. However, as soon as any hint of familiarity may arise, or listeners begin to mentally assign stylistic epithets, the duo boldly change course to remind us that while the banal stay safely defined, it’s the iconoclasts, the outsiders who make us feel.
More
1
Hoshina Anniversary - Hitsuji
2
Hoshina Anniversary - Nakasora
3
Hoshina Anniversary - Sadacho No Netori
4
Hoshina Anniversary - Shin Sekai
5
Hoshina Anniversary - Kegon
6
Hoshina Anniversary - Rokumeikan
7
Hoshina Anniversary - Tougenkyo
8
Hoshina Anniversary - Tanabata Monogatari
9
Hoshina Anniversary - Jomon
10
Hoshina Anniversary - Taira
11
Hoshina Anniversary - Yamatouta
12
Hoshina Anniversary - Bonnou
13
Hoshina Anniversary - Hane No Uta
14
Hoshina Anniversary - Kizamu
On steady rise following two sublime singles over the past year—Sagano b/w Haru Wa Akebono and Karakuri b/w Michinoku—Tokyo-based artist Hoshina Anniversary elaborates his eccentric musical point-of-view even further with a debut album for the ESP Institute entitled Jomon. Fourteen tracks stir a melting pot in line with our obsessions, a variety of styles which often stay in their own dedicated lanes while here their trajectories collide in demonstrable fusion. Hoshina gleans borderline absurdist qualities from late Jazz hero Chick Corea (evident in his wild and meticulous keyboard runs), calls upon ancient Japanese instruments, shrines and mythologies, and makes sideways nods to early minimal synth productions, yet all of the above are sifted through some granular equalization, an abstract veil that smooths the skin of Hoshina's mutant creation. A weight of experience pervades throughout, a requisite education in the electronic realm and a deep reverence for Jazz and its masters, and in turn this confidence transfers a sense of ease which leaves us poring over alternative approaches to otherwise familiar tropes. Once this conversation with the music is established, a subliminal push/pull tension toys with us across the length of the album, undulating our sense of space. The tonally rich, dynamic and melodic side of the works present a cool sense of depth but are violently contrasted by a slew of over-saturated punches, and at some point an inevitable alchemy casts these disparate expressions into a haunting monolithic array. Some are glistening and smooth, others are porous and jagged, but all amount to a staunch and cohesive work with the ability to transport listeners to regions unknown.
More
Afrikan Sciences carry the torch and grant the sight. This is his second offering for the ESP Institute. On the A side, 'The New Dun Language' shows us the meaning of loose. Literally everything about this masterpiece takes its time and operates in its own space, rhythms work together but stand apart, timbres inherently laidback are made aggressively present, like the diffused attack of a shaker that’s shook with such purpose it’s no longer granular but razor sharp. The soundstage drops all around you like percussion shrapnel, splitting your attention every which way, while the string lines remind you that no matter how deep inside your head you’ve gone, there is always a nearby exit to the comforts of familiarity. Flip the record over, however, and the track 'In His Convenient Way' will even further discombobulate your sense of self. Do you have dreams you’re on a merry-go-round and with each revolution you try to hop off, but you can’t? Each time you cycle around, the tension grows and grows? Well, this is like that, menacing but not dark, a demented odyssey through an impossibly thick swamp where you swear the trees are whispering to you but can’t quite understand their language, yet still you manage to communicate. As the time passes, and you near end of the track, the impenetrable veil slowly lifts and you realize you’ve been in control all along. These two songs will two songs will help to contemplate, heal and transcend.
More
1
Hoshina Anniversary - Karakuri
2
Hoshina Anniversary - Michinoku
Hoshina Anniversary returns from forever for a majestic dance. This is his second offering for the ESP Institute. Side A’s Karakuri contains all the elements of Hoshina’s signature sound; bouncy staccato bassline, minor chords and organ stabs, a Chick Corea-inspired Rhodes that walks all over the place, all tracked along sparse bits of Japanese percussion and cymbal that juxtapose organic texture with precision-machined timing. The lead keys feel at first as if they’re freeform, however, Hoshina’s obsession with order becomes apparent as the bars develop and his systematic control and repetition is revealed. On side B’s Michinoku, we’re treated to a deep and slow burner. A roller of a beat based on 808 toms and a pishy snare sets the somewhat bumpy base for this groove, and again the meat of the rhythm is built with dirty chords, this time on the upstroke, in an almost Reggae style. What the flipside taught us about Hoshina’s controlled chaos, is here again the lesson and perhaps even moreso. The voice of the track remains the Fender Rhodes, played in brief but wild phrases and arranged into patterns upon which Hoshina builds layers over some 8+ minutes. There is a deep and dark mood throughout both sides of the record, but perhaps more sultry than devilish, and one that listeners educated in the stoned arts will appreciate. These two songs have built the end into the beginning.
More
1
Chee Shimizu + miku-mari - Reconstruction 1
2
Chee Shimizu + miku-mari - Reconstruction 2
In the 2000’s Chee Shimizu helmed an untouchable Tokyo DJ collective called Discossession alongside Dr Nishimura (House music buyer for Cisco Records at the time). Balancing out this unit were a young Scotsman-abroad named Jonny Nash (who’d later form Sombrero Galaxy [ESP001] and Gaussian Curve as well as the Melody As Truth imprint), and the late guitar virtuoso and tattoo artist Zecky. Formidable DJs and multi-talents on the Tokyo scene, Discossession released two EPs on Kenji Takimi’s Crue-L imprint and various mixes individually on www.lovefingers.org, all holding well-deserved eternal cult status. Chee’s Denshi Meisou [2006] and Follow My Dream [2007] for Lovefingers as well as his legendary “listening sessions” at HiFi lounge SHeLTeR in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, laid foundation for what would become known to his followers as “Organic Music” or “Obscure Sound”, the former extending as the name of his record shop and the latter as the title of his 2013 book. Obscure Sound chronicled his tastes in detail and has since become a sort of diggers bible for peers and younger generations. At the ESP Institute’s inception in 2009, Shimizu contributed two tracks to Lovefingers’ Concentration Vol 1 compilation as apéritifs to a later release. “Later” eventually became “forever” and the mythical piano track (appearing only as a demo on Golden Age and Dekmantel 061) is still, to this day, not ready for formal release. Skip a dozen years, musical interests and major life changes, and Chee has now unveiled something quite special in accordance with his Obscure Sound—rather than making new out of old rope, he presents a collaboration with Tokyo guitarist miku-mari a.k.a. Takahiro Matsumura. The artists frequently collaborate at the experimental audio/visual event, Sacrifice, held irregularly at Tokyo’s ForestLimit, and in 2018 when Chee was invited to DJ at Japan’s only Ambient festival Camp Off-Tone, he and miku-mari endeavored to expand these works into a 2-hour improvised performance. Chee collaged various percussion samples and personal field recordings utilizing four CDJs, supplementing with live windchimes and Andean chajchas, while miku-mari coupled a guitar-controlled synthesizer, Sound Tube software (developed by Japanese Ambient composer Hiroshi Yoshimura) and more live elements such as Tibetan bells and pyramid crystals. Rehearsals for this performance were held prior to the festival at ForestLimit, recorded as multi-tracks and edited into these two cerebral Reconstructions.
More