GENRE/S: Drone, Electronica, Doom

TRACKLISTS:
A1 - IT TOOK THE NIGHT TO DISBELIEVE
A2 - ENGINE OF FUTURE RUINS
B1 - IMPERIAL GHOSTS
B2 - SINK THE BISMARCK
B3 - BREATHE THE FREQUENCY
C1 - IT TOOK THE NIGHT TO DISBELIEVE - LAMIN FOFANA REWORK
C2 - ENGINE OF FUTURE RUINS - FRKTL REWORK
C3 - IMPERIAL GHOSTS - ELSA M‘BALA REWORK
D1 - SINK THE BISMARCK - CEDRIK FERMONT REWORK
D2 - BREATHE THE FREQUENCY - JAY GLASS DUBS REWORK

SHORT INFO:
AMP WALL MONUMENT CONFRONTATION critically engages with the imperialist history of the Otto von Bismarck Monument at the Deutsches Museum in Munich by re-contextualising it through sound and performance. For one day in June 2021, a sculpture made of 21 guitar amplifiers was installed in front of the monument, with seven electric guitars connected to it. Seven guitarists performed a four-hour drone composition.

Sides A and B comprise arrangements of the sound material recorded on site, taking up the structure of the score. Sides C and D feature interpretations of the same material by Lamin Fofana, Sarah Badr aka FRKTL, Elsa M'bala, Cedrik Fermont and Jay Glass Dubs. The LP is accompanied by a booklet with the original score and an essay by the Australian art historian Damian Lentini (curator, Haus der Kunst, Munich), which proposes further perspectives to a critical engagement with German colonial history and current polyphonic postcolonial discourses.
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Special remarks : Limited to 300 copies with printed paperinlay

Tracklist LP:

A1) Gekko No Odoriko
A2) Holy Water
B1) Amanogawa
B2) Ortho Vision

Info:

April 2017, Osaka, Sakura, the beautiful time of the cherry blossom. We quickly get a warm coffee from the drinks vendor down the street, then off to Kabamix' LMD studio downtown. Time is short, the off-days are counted on tour. As the year before at the SVS label camp in Budapest, we stick to the plan: one track a day.
This time we have guests! Marimari, Arihirua and Ryoko epitomize the perfect antipodes to the lonesome samurai on his white horse (Shiroi Uma) we had in mind on our first EP (SVS010).
Everything flows, everything is improvised, the music itself is the place where we meet, no much talking about what´s happening, we just carry on doing the thing. The studio of Kabamix, longtime soundengineer of Haruomi Hosono, has built up over many years, it´s a hoard of like-minded people.

Gekko No Odoriko translates to 'Moonshine Dancer'. The rhythm, as usual a driving force in our music, is converting every listener unwillingly into a squirrelly moving dancer. Heavy, yes, bassy, yes, yet never isolated drums build the foundation of the beatgrid as well as the arrangement. With an ascending condensation of musical events, the track enfolds it´s physical energy vertically and horizontally. And just as the spacey synth enters the track, Mari Mari has entered the studio, a Korg Prophecy under her arm, straight into the recording cabin, recording 'it'. Vocals by Ryoko aka Mt.Chills and us happy bunch.
Holy Water: Visiting the holy mountain near Nara national park, the impossible seemed so simple: capturing water. An old man mumbling on the floor next to the entrance, little volvic bottles making their rounds to this special zone, bamboo growing high all over the place, deers walking close by as if there was no distinction between us living beings.
Amanogawa, 'Milky Way', extrudes the blink of an eye to an endless state of floating in a field of zero gravity while scenes from the inner self are gushing by. Arihirua's voice guides us into an unsung realm where our thoughts get absorbed between the micro and macro of space.
With Ortho Vision the last sprout of zest for action is moving along the handrail of the beatgrid until it’s complete evanescence. All Percussion is played by drumwizzard Gabriel Hahn, Berlin.


Vital Sales Points:

- Second EP by Bartellow & Ground after a very high demand on the debut EP 'Shiroi Uma'
- limited to 300 copies with printed paperinlay
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1LP, co-release with Jahmoni Music & SVS Records
Special remarks : Limited to 300 copies artwork by Stephan Dillemuth


Tracklist LP:

1) Lurk
2) Hang On
3) Bending
4) Endless Preparations For A Ceremony
5) One And A Half Years Later
6) Hyperreal Love
7) Crocodile
8) Tehnoto
9) Strand
10) Catch

Short Info:

As a first listen it was 2 am, 46° in a village Portugal, in a Convent, after a good night out. That moment stroke me from being magic, the energy was perfect, we were laughing and relaxing amongst friends.

That listen was pushing the magic further because of the surprises it has all along the journey. A first groaning A simple rhythm Soft realms Noisy Round sounds Type machine sounds, of a sampled hi hat that never reveals, cut cut cut cut. Just because it’s fun to not reveal it. And put that fist cut part of the upcoming timber that is not ‘yet’ one. It’s like if the drum pack was used the wrong way, which is a great way. Flipping. (=to flip something)

Belp has this ability to bring the most horrible samples in front, and turn over your mind to enjoy what first sounds like “horrible”. Facade. “Crocodile” is flipping it over. Rhythmically vibrating, ears are wide open, full attention. I’m into the non-repetition.

Track “Crocodile”s call reminds me of the call in “Klabb” by Deena Abdelwahed as well as within its playful change of tempo, of notes. Who cares? The album is like a randomly composed pack. It is not random. It’s flipping something, and I like that disturbance, it's what I want to hear.
It is alive, through composition, arrangements, falsely randomised, non-arranged, it is a trick; it is the drunk clown playing “endless preparations for a ceremony” and “catch”. Not bothering about anything reveals a deep understanding of music and of arts, a crafted album in details.

It is years of listening, it is years of challenging ones ears, and putting it all together in this piece. It feels like the producer enjoys disturbing his own ears as much as other ppl’s ears. Playful, Energising, Demands attention, Chal-lenging your ears somewhere where nothing is constant, lively.

But overall let’s not forget the real stuff, the bass and soulful part. The round groove is still there. Each track transmits Belp’s open mindness to all type of music, whatever makes sense. It just all makes sense, it’s a strong critic, it’s a joke, it’s emotion, it’s playful, it’s fucked up. All musical 'styles' are touched. Maybe it is a compila-tion? It is about rethinking "music", And not giving a fuck, Although with still having an incredibly musical ear to all of it.

Just listen, this might be one of your best lessons to stop giving a fuck about everything you do.

Warmth, Zoë McPherson

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TRANSPARENT VINYL and SLEEVE

Tracklist EP:


A1 Sabotage Story (Ben Vince's Perculator Mix) 2) The Gate
A2 Komusar (N1L blood red moon remix)
A3 Hardingfele (Hester-1 walking on broken glass remix)
B1 Komusar (Bartellow remix)
B2 Sabotage Story (Sukitoa o Namau remix)


'String Figures Remixes' is a series of remixes released on December 14th 2018 following the previous-ly highly acclaimed LP String Figures by Zoe Mc Pherson. (Watch her Boiler Room live show)

Remixers for this EP include Ben Vince (Hessle Audio co release w/ Joy Orbison & Where To Now solo album where collaborators include Mica Levi & Rupert Clervaux), N1L (Opal Tapes & UIQ), Hester-1, Bartellow (ESP Institute, Public Possession) & Sukitoa o Namau (First Terrace Recordings).

The EP is pressed on transparent vinyl & comes along with transparent sleeve.

When asked why Zoe chose each artist for her remix album she writes:

Ben Vince is my mate since he opened for my release in London last April and he was really excited about making a remix. Which I think is even nicer is that he only remixed and did not play saxophone. He actually properly very much remixed all the elements, all recognisable, which is a delight to listen to when you know all the parts seperately. The only thing he did is making it a UK club banger track !!!! :)


N1L is a friend whom I admire totally for his capacities of producing incredibly wicked tracks in no time. He's got 10 000 collabs going on ( abit like Ben). I don't know how he does it, but damn his remix is also one of these that are a delight to listen to when the samples are re organised in a very cool way which is his own.


Hester -1 is also a friend, violinist and producer from Antwerp. She is a nerd, her style and projects are developing, we jammed together, and I wanted her to be on the original album, so now she is in the remixes and made a very dark piece and now I'm thinking she should meet N1L :)


Bartellow is also a friend, behind SVS, and he was the first one to make a remix in 1 hour on a flight I think actually even before the album came out!!!! He had already made a proper groovy banger, as he always does, with his style.


Sukitoa O Namau I've been chatting with since a while, she's an incredibly inspiring artist, releasing on First Terrace records, she used to be a dancer and is an explorer of sound and of many things. She basically fucked up my track, by changing the rythms into no rythms and purifying it very much which reveals other things. Only keeping rough elements of it and I think it's absolutely brilliant.
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Special remarks : Limited to 300 copies on White / Blue Splattered Vinyl

Tracklist LP:

1) The Unread Library
2) The Gate
3) Twisted Necks
4) Moving Forwards Constantly Looking Back
5) Unfold In All Directions
6) Chamber Voices
7) All Life Eventualy Turns To Dust

Short Info:
In The Dust Of Idols is an album exploring mortality, existentialism & the dread one can feel in the face of an apparently meaningless world. The journey you embark on when trying to create meaning where there is perhaps none. These initial senses of dread can be brought about by the insignificance you feel in the face of greatness, where others have seemingly found meaning and purpose in the face of your own wavering path. Other then these can be expressed in grandness and can become historically significant human feats, the fact that they have stood the test of time can become in itself overwhelming when reflecting on your own journey. Whilst these moments in time may hold no specific meaning to you – despite their impressive nature – you are driven into senseless awe.

In the Dust of Idols ties in this sense of wonderment coupled with the overarching dread you feel as you contemplate your own existence, where you fit into the significance of society and as Ruth Tallman quotes “ the search for answers in an answerless world”.

“I wanted to create something dense & heavy. When you listen through, it makes you feel like it has the weight of time stitched into it” explains Ives. As well as expanding the range of instrumentation used on this,his second album, Ives also enlisted the talents of Cellist Charlote de Burgh-Holder and experimentalist Joe Summers on the tracks “The Unread Library” and “Twisted Necks” which further adds to the dynamic depth and range on this record

Clarity was not my main objective, like an old piece of furniture covered in dust, you can tell what it is but the details are obscured, my ambition was to create a dense sonic backdrop, a representation of the confusion and insecurities we all can feel when questioning our existence – you know there should be answers but you can’t quite make out what they are”. It’s not all dark though and moments of optimism and cracks of light pepper the record giving enough hope to the listener to pursue questioning the unanswerable


Accompanying the release of the record is a short-film set to music from the album, produced and shot by photographer & director Lucie Rox.The film is a visual expression and representation of identity and the many ways this is challenged, perceived and adopted. Whilst taking forward the concepts explored throughout the album, the film looks to reduce the great vastness of confusion and self-doubt put forward on the record & focusing instead on a more intimate and personal perspective laid bare and shared by both director Lucie Rox & Specimens

with a heavy focus on race & heritage of which both Specimens & Lucie are mixed – Caribbean & British/African & French respectively – the objective of the film is to show one of the many angles where an individual's search for meaning & identity can be expressed.

‘In The Dust Of Idols’ is released on November 30th 2018 as an international collaboration between SVS Records and First Terrace Records. Pressed on beautiful white & blue splattered vinyl with artwork from Australian painter Kieran Ingram and mastered by the legendary Lawrence English


Vital Sales Points:

- Second Album by Specimens
- Released as an international collaboration on SVS Records and First Terrace Records
- Pressed on white & blue splattered vinyl with artwork from Kieran Ingram


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LP, co-release with Jahmoni Music & SVS Records


Tracklist 12"LP:

A1 Travelling Thru Galaxies
A2 Potential noise
A3 Clinging to a cloud
A4 Transmission
A5 By beauteous softness

AA1 Neocosmic space dub
AA2 Off ending
AA3 Slow
AA4 Time and again
AA5 Lost candidates

Short Info:

Born in Munich, Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer aka BELP partially grew up on the Seychelles islands off the coast of East Africa. Educated in classical piano, those two gravitational poles, European and African influences, became the basis for his musical development. Having travelled extensively with a closer connection to London over the years, BELP kept his base in Munich, becoming part of a small alternative scene questioning the predominantly rich and posh surface of the city. Blending jazz, dub and noise, an emphasis on darkness in his broken beat oriented works evolved as a reaction to a rather hedonistic society preferring warm and uplifting sounds. http://belp.audio/

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LP, Coverart + Special transparent red foil on top of cover - creating special effect with RBG colours (Red & Green)


Tracklist 12"LP:

A1 Tachy, A2 Horizon2020, A3 SaaS, A4 auto alternative
B1 nexcent tenet, B2 double bound, B3 Da-Jiaing Innovations, B4 powerset.

Short Info:

LYBES DIMEM is a project by visual artist and musician Lukas Rehm. With a focus on digital sound-de- sign, elaborate beat structures and the use of error, the music plays with cognitive phe-nomena and abstraction while maintaining an emotional refuge. LYBES DIMEM is presented in formats ranging from spatial sound experiences to sy- nesthetic shows complementing the auditive layers with visualiza- tions of real-time data, computer graphics and moving image. Lukas Rehms installative art, and compo- sitions have been internationally presented and awarded with multi- ple emerging arts prices.
SYNCLEFT CHRONEM is the first album released by LYBES DIMEM in both digital and vinyl for-mat and accompanied by a moving image artwork. The title reflects the pro- jects interest in the potential of difference, cognitive frictions and exertion: sync = variability in the processing of audi-tive and visual signals, syncleft = the synaptic cleft, which is a crucial empty spa- ce in biological neural networks, chronem = the chroneme as a the- oretical unit to measure the time of
an articulated sound. Mathemati- cally clean sounds juxtapose pat- terns and transitions familiar from the realm of organic acoustics. Multi-layered noise textures ex- plore the simulated space. A tem- porary continuity is provided by percussive and melodic elements, right until the next escala-tion, eventually awaiting a concluding resolution.
The visual language explores dif- ferent phenomena and techniques of cognition inspired by the rhe- torics of big science (computer graphics, discontinuity of materi- al, pop cultural references). Both the moving image artwork and the graphic design of the release pay tribute to the multi-layered appro- ach of the music. The design of the vinyl cover by studio BNAG.cc uses subtractive colour synthesis to interchange between abstract for- mality and representationalism.
SYNCLEFT CHRONEM is the first release by LYBES DIMEM on SVS Records following a first encounter at the SVS residency at the 4D Spa- tial Sound Institute in Budapest.
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LP (plus audiovisual videokontent that will be shared aside on the web)


TRACKLISTING i. Sabotage Story (unknot opening) ii. Deep (prayer) ii. iii. Shaman (how I became) iv. Komusar (moving) v. Hardingfele (release) vi. Inoui(and free) vii. Transmission (so it shall never be lost)

Zoë McPherson 'String Figures'Debut audio-visual 12” LP released 2nd March 2018 on SVS RecordsCheck out the first video of 'INOUI' over on Nowness (goo.gl/QD7uG8) A multi-platform production that explores the overlap between the digital and the or-ganic through field recordings of Inuit throat singing may sound, on surface level, to be something that is a rather niche. However, Zoe Mc Pherson’s exploration of this world on String Figures is a deeply rhythmic, immersive and forward-thinking piece of elec-tronic-leaning music that remains just as danceable as it does experimental. The album is fundamentally one of duality, exploring the traditional and the contem-porary, organic and electronic, audio and visual, history and the future. Rooted in this duality is also a core theme around string being one of the most ancient and playful art forms and the seemingly infinite possibilities it offers in terms of shapes, structures and figures lines up with this as a trans-global art project. One that over time will involve video art, choreography, 3D motion design, macro film, instrumental and electronic sound. Although for now is being presented through an AV performance, films and a record with Mc Pherson collaborating with director Alessandra Leone Over the seven tracks (which are laid out as chapters) the record explores glitchy elec-tronics, dub-tinged grooves, polyrhythms, and a huge array of instruments that takes in quiet blasts of atonal sax alongside wonky synths. This of course cross-pollinates with the throat singing and experimental field recordings to create an utterly inimitable sonic sphere. For Mc Pherson it’s about mixing worlds, histories and timeframes and she uses a 1991 quote from Laurie Spiegel to hit home how she has elaborated upon this origin-al thought of history and future overlapping. “Folk music is considered anonymous common property in a culture and that’s what a lot of computer music and other kinds of music data may end up becoming.” However, there’s also a purer reason for the ex-ploration of these worlds and colliding them together. “Basically I thought that elec-tronic music that is only digital is a bit boring and as I’m connected to jazz music for many reasons, I wanted it to sound organic: real instrumentation, field recordings.” More

First pressing comes with limited 24”x36” sized hand folded poster and silver sticker.

Tracklist A1. Heza A2. Shiroi Uma B1. The Beginning

Last years SVS residency took place in Budapest at 4DSOUND's 'Spatial Sound Institute', where SVS artists from LA, NY, Osaka, Seoul, Berlin, London,Tel Aviv and Munich worked for 10 days preparing a showcase on the 4DSOUND system.During rehersals for the Showcase, Bartellow alias Beni Brachtel met Gr?un?? alias Daichi Furukawa During three long nightshifts, the tracks emerged out of a continuous great vibe. Always joined by several artists from the SVS family, it became the soundtrack for a very special event. First pressing comes with limited 24”x36” sized hand folded poster and silver sticker.

- Beni San and Daichi San will play a release tour through Japan in April.-Exclusives sales on April 1st at the independent label market in London-Early support by Renaat from R&S and confirmed reviews on Tsugi, Thump + more to come More