Numbered, limited, in hand stamped card sleeve Two tracks originally self-released in 1981: abrasive post-punk-come-proto-industrial, with vocals, guitar, programmed drums and synths.
















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So-called 'ethno-industrialists' and Paris-based outliers Vox Populi are next in the spotlight for Platform 23 Records as it continues on its mission to unearth archival treasures both known and unknown. Half Dead Ganga Music is widely thought to be one of the group's most cohesive records as it meanders through lo-fi drones, muggy ambient and voodoo ritualism. Founder Axel Kyrou and partner Mythra who provides the ghostly vocals cook up alluring yet oddball sounds with obscured bass, rich layers of tape processing and weirdly uplifting gloominess. A superb album that sounds as new and innovative now as it did when it was first released all those decades ago.

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Platform 23 again explores to the dense voids, this time with a touch of the funk, with a reissue of Dutch experimentalists De Fabriek and two tracks from their "Music For" cassette series, this time calling all Hippies.

Featuring both original and reinterpretations from modern-day heads, Dunkeltier and Khidja, this double-pack is something of an oddity, showcasing the bands' expansive range, moving away from the noise, drone and industrial soundscape releases they had become known for and crafting here, free flowing, groovy longform jams.

Active since the late 70s to today, De Fabriek (The Factory) have never considered themselves a real band - being also a label too - with an evolving and irregular line up centred around Richard van Dellen, they present their music and output as a kind of work-union.

With literally four decades and dozens of releases across all formats, 1988's cassette release, 'Music For Hippies', has become something of a cult curio, with the long improvisational tracks, Lullabye and Coming Down eschewing the rougher, industrial experience for something completely different.

In opener Lullabye, we go full leftfield P-Funk meets Motorik undertones. An incessant beat is laid from the start and doesn't cease for over 10 minutes, while spoken vocals call closer to the Krautrock realms of Can and hark to Liebezeit's stylised grooving best.

Analog, echo washed, with touches of glam and wrapped in simple effects pedal work, the secrets are passed to Dresden / Berlin inhabitant Dunkeltier aka Sneaker DJ aka Thomas Smorek. His darker moniker, appearing on obscure edits for Macadam Mambo and the much-missed Bahnsteig 23, his 'Hey Robot' mix adds bass, percussion, strings and synth to remold Lullabye into a late night, red light, basement denzien. This is followed by an additional, bonus reimagining, creating an all-new time piece, an ear worm of the best kind with Tik Tok Goes The Clock.

The second slab presents in Come Down, a more resembling De Fabriek werk. Edited to fit, the darkness is entered as snapshot vocal quips, oscillations and synthesised mutations are laid over a lazy, relentless ostinato rhythm where cymbals crash on the bar. Inviting, calling, De Fabriek's aptly titled downer is in fact, a joyous journey.

To complete, label affiliates, Khidja take a break from finalising their debut album to unfold their 'Psychebabble Mix', a dozen plus minutes of warped, twisted, cassette machinations that suck the listener further along the trip. Added bass propels their edit suddenly to a new direction, a hook for mind and for the open willed, the body. De Fabriek's "coming down lullabye" arriving on vinyl for the first time, with a twist and shake, calling deeper to acceptance.


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Repress!

Platform 23 presents the 2nd collection of songs selected from the Alternative Funk series released Vox Man and VP 231 Records. Originally appearing in 1985 across 1 vinyl and 2 cassette albums these cult collections have long been in collectors (and bootleggers) sights and finally see the first official reissue.

As with Volume 1 (PLA023) the series covers the weird, wonderful, esoteric, exotic and quirky sound and puts them in a reset context that immediately gives clarity of the original's curation.

This volume opens with some DIY electro stealers, first with Dee Nasty's Orientic Groove, where the early French hip-hop pioneer lays down a battle commence of beats, slapped bass and YMO keys, before the second offering from Scoop! and their rap attack, juxtapositions the past series and leads to label heads Vox Populi! & Man and their continued look at the rudiments of cut up manipulation and scratch techniques.

The avant rappears with 3M's percussive marker and legendary Amus Tietchens' is ever challenging, before Melsjest's post-punk meets the Weirmar possibly steals the side as Vox Pop spoken outro joins those (micro)dots.

The cult of Randall Kennedy returns with another garage-fuzz gem. His stories for wackos'n'weirdos end all too soon and are followed by Liquid Liquid's Dennis Young, diving deep with Intuition, before Stanalis returns with another winner. Bene Gesserit is a killer and welcome addition, before Kosa return with more industrial clippings and volume 2 heads to the door with Capital Funk's electro-punk bomb - possibly the series champion - while the slap bass-scratch of California's Psyclones leads to a music hall end in the homage to mum's favourite, Chukk.

What these Volumes again highlight is how the DIY aesthetic of so many independent labels was supplemented and spread via collections of friends, contemporaries and often, literally pen pals, to mail in their offerings that are then picked for wider ears. While some of these artists have become known, just as many are who and whats, but they sit side-by-side as warranted and often killing the scene of what Axel and co sought to be...the Alternative Funk.

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Repress!

Platform 23 launches with the reissue of the seminal Alternative Funk compilation series, presenting a selection of music across 2 volumes.

Known for the highly heralded "Folie Distinguee" album in 1985, what is often over looked is the fact there accompanied 2 further "Alternative Funk" cassette compilations that same year. Coming within the Audiologie series on Vox Man Records, these "Various Artist" selections were indicative of labels that sprung up in the early 80s around the DIY post-punk scene.

As founders of Vox Populi!, Axel Kyrou and Francis Man, working with close associate Pierre Jolivet's (aka Pacific 231) VP 231 label, released a number of cassettes, 7" and LPs between 1982 and 1988, as much to self-release their own music as to push new or contemporary artists.

Here then is a snapshot of the Alt Funk albums, selecting songs that avoid recent or upcoming reissues, to dive deep in the series from industrial to cold wave, proto-dub percussion to avant spoken word pieces. Featuring the likes of Son Of Sam, Philippe Laurent, Fist Of Facts - with a long lost first ever recording - and Human Backs, stepping out from semi-cult name dropping to sit alongside unknowns and never heard from again in Scoop!, Kosa, Zoohtee and the wonderful Randall Kennedy.

What is apparent is an idiosyncratic nature to the selections. In the same way many independent labels of the time - such as Auxilio De Cientos' Terra Incognita volumes or Final Image's Nightlands - created a label snapshot by pulling together far and wide contributions but retaining an overall 'sound'.

The Volume 1 and 2 reissue achieve that, mixing experimental with electro, post punk with noise, to offer more than the sum of their parts - an Alternative Funk.

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"When Aniruddha Das (DSPSSSSD) and Gary ""Roy"" Stewart (Dubmorphology) met at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic in the mid-80s, they started on a life-long friendship and musical collaborative partnership that continues today.

While Das went on to acclaim as part of Asian Dub Foundation, Stewart is an artist and experimental sonic musician, producing projects featuring sound design and immersive works, for the likes of Tate Museum.

Together they perform as Dubnoiz Coalition, exploring the outer limits of improvised bass, noise and distortion, which has seen them perform across the globe.

In 1990 they took their first steps in a recording studio, mixing the early influences of Acid House with their interest in drone and sound effects, to create two pieces, Tilt and Fari 116.

Recorded as improvisational jams and dubbed live to the mixing desk, they were pressed as very limited white labels. Here Tilt is all bubbling acid and taut percussion, recorded to a 2” 16 track. Using samplers, drum machines, Roland TB303 and sync box, Ani arranged the drum and bass lines, as well as programming the 'counter melodies' with the TB303, with acid modulations and sometimes in odd time signatures, while Roy looked after the samples and drones.

Archival testaments but set apart from the burgeoning acid house scene and simply great music, here remastered and reissued some 30 years later by Platform 23.

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Platform 23 presents Ani-Roy, a project from friends Aniruddha Das and Gary "Roy" Stewart, who recorded two 12's of improvisational acid-house meets drone and samples in 1990.

They met over a love of principally reggae and post punk at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham in 1982, and started combining equipment, to make tape loops and delays for exploring the basics of dub, all the while building their own Sound System.

This learning and experimenting converged their interests in early possibilities afforded for programming sounds and effects. They moved to London / Birmingham respectively and continued their collaboration until all things aligned in 1990. Coming together with Andrew Campbell, a community / social entrepreneur based in Nottingham - and with access to the Marcus Garvey Centre studios - they recorded two improvisational jams to 2 16 track; Ani arranging drum and bass lines, programming 'counter melodies' with a TB-303, and Roy looking after the ominous ambient loops, melodies, riot and Prince Far I samples.

The fact there were so many "versions" compelled Andrew to put the results out on two 12's instead of one. Fari 116 and Tilt were self-released on hand-stamped white labels.

Archival testaments, but set apart from the burgeoning acid house scene - here they are re-mastered and reissued some 30 years later by Platform 23.

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The 4th and final EP of music from Exquisite Corpse brings to a close this series of rebirth and definition. Together, Robbert Heynen, Debbie Jones and Tim Freeman released in just 2 years a stream of sacred, serotonin beats and hypnotic tribal rhythms that shape shifted dance floors. Returning to the source, the debut Reassembling Reaility EP, with Hollywood. A confluence of steppa rim, spoken mystics, found sounds, synth-strings and rolling basslines. Join us. Leading to Strange Attractor from the prized Dream Night Dance album, familiarity and progression. Euphoric onrush, bottom end pulsing, sentimental strings, serene keys, pitch shift, a master class of less becoming more. Aural injection. Calling The Quarters off 1993's Inner Light album starts the final side in bestowing beauty; above so below, in front, behind, around. Raw, natural, fluctuating, moody, obscure. The mystery. The release and series completes with Etoiles. Again (aptly) drawn from 1992's Dream Night Dance Music, the hallmarks' of this underrated project are there. Detroit bass, lazy hats, counter claps, harmonies for modern times. Tribal. Ambient. Techno. The terms do not justify the music included. As it should be. Primal, sanctified, conscious, living. The journey ending.

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The 3rd EP (of 4) looking at the music of Exquisite Corpse's output from 1992 to 1994. As with the rest of the series the music included covers the palette of Robbert Heynen's output and is presented here, remastered and redesigned for club play.
Working as ever with friend and engineer Tim Freeman, as well as partner Debbie Jones, Heynen's post-Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia productions took his techno, trance and tribal explorations to a new conclusions.
With Point Zero all these elements come together with possibly the strongest tracks of the EPs. Opening EC's sophomore album, Inner Light, there is confidence in the interplay between oscillating sequencing and rattling drums, perfectly and infectiously interweaving between headspace and dance floor.
B K S from the Dream Night Dance Music album follows and takes things down a notch. Ethnic leanings interplay with light percussion and a deep bass to pull you till dawn.
Side two opens with the clattering, syncro-rhythms of Traditional Ties With Dreaming. Taken from their debut EP, Reassembling Reality is itself the perfect elude. Quasi-dreamlands, drumming for 1000 musicians that loops and builds, dismembers and starts over like a gentile, hypnotic orchestra.
To complete the EP, Dream Night Dance Music appears again with Elevator showing a love of the original deep house odes emanating from Fingers and Jefferson of late 80s Chi Town. Fluorescent keys overlay somber drum and bass to sink the most melancholy sunsets. An end to the beginning. A beginning to the end. A third ending.

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Platform 23 presents the 2nd (of 4) EPs of music from Exquisite Corpse. In Between Rhythms II, a deeper, ambient, percussive selection again returns to the project of Robbert Heijnen.
As part of the post punk / alternative Tilburg music scene of the mid-80s, Robbert influences of expression and interest in industrial and EBM is apparent. The move from the metallic sounds (as a member) of the early incarnation of Psychick Warriors Of Gaia to embrace the sounds emanating from late 80s Chicago and Detroit saw the band develop from their early cassette '1989' to the fully formed and now revered 1992 debut album, Ov Biospheres And Sacred Grooves (A Document Ov New Edge Folk Classics).
The parallels between this deep, trippy and haunting melodies meets tribal percussions, highlights some similarities of PWOG and Exquisite Corpse's outlook during this period. Looking further, upon leaving the former, the bands sound developed a harder edge, with more focus on rhythm and their exploratory properties indicating the nature of Heijnen influence and part in PWOG and how this was further explored when going solo in 1992.
The release starts with Shadow Play from his second album, 1993's Inner Light. Darkness descends to echo'd drums as the vestiges of developing European techno worlds can be heard in the distance. What A Life, from the Reassembling Reality EP, brings things down with an ambient beginning moving to Reich loops and sequencing that create shifting melodic horizons. A personal favourite of the artist, the EP saw the realization of the collaborations with Debbie Jones in design and life.
With the consistent presence of 'third member' - in mixing, engineering and support - from Tim Freeman, the songs in the series have a unique, but familiar and inclusive nature. This can again be heard in Sacrifice from the highly sought after Dream Night Dance Music album. The interplay of drums, claps and swing are enough alone to warrant acceptance. To close, Tepu returns to the Inner Light album. Darkness, Questioning. Calling. Second(s) ending.

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