Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE


Tracklist LP:

A_side
A1_Bengue
A2_LoBa
A3_Ndomè
A4_Li Yanga
A5_Wata
A6_Nop

B_side
B1_Hola Mè
B2_Séa
B3_Bissaï
B4_Touye
B5_Mètam
B6_Lep

Short Info:

African Singer-songwriter Blick Bassy is back with a fifth album, again sung in the Baasa language of Cameroon. Madíbá brings together twelve songs in the form of fables, dedicated to the theme of water, in which his high and angelic voice dominates, carried by delicate guitar, synthesizer melodies, and sober brass arrangements. The cuts are diaphanous and nevertheless modernist songs, which testify to a contemporary and poetic Africanity at the crossroads of soul, folk, and electro.

Blick Bassy’s albums have a humanist and universal dimension. His fifth and new solo album, titled Madíbá, which means water in the Douala language of Cameroon, comes in the form of songs close to the fable, in which Bassy explores "a theme shared by all” of water, the source of life. The fables of the album, all born in the imagination of Blick, explore in a more concrete way different themes related to water, its rarity, its necessity, its energy or its vital power. The twelve songs all bring together a series of figures, animals, or various characters, embodied in turn by Blick Bassy. "I have fun stepping into the shoes of a bird, a cat conversing with an elephant, a flower worrying about its declining beauty, a monkey looking for a spring or a storyteller with his grandchildren. In these texts, water can even take on a human appearance.”

Beyond the tale, the texts of the album also refer to our climate crisis, or to the problems of access to water, a way for the artist to approach serious subjects through a poetic form which avoids didactic or moralizing speeches.


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Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE

Tracklist CD:
1_Bengue
2_LoBa
3_Ndomè
4_Li Yanga
5_Wata
6_Nop
7_Hola Mè
8_Séa
9_Bissaï
10_Touye
11_Mètam
12_Lep

Short Info:

African Singer-songwriter Blick Bassy is back with a fifth album, again sung in the Baasa language of Cameroon. Madíbá brings together twelve songs in the form of fables, dedicated to the theme of water, in which his high and angelic voice dominates, carried by delicate guitar, synthesizer melodies, and sober brass arrangements. The cuts are diaphanous and nevertheless modernist songs, which testify to a contemporary and poetic Africanity at the crossroads of soul, folk, and electro.

Blick Bassy’s albums have a humanist and universal dimension. His fifth and new solo album, titled Madíbá, which means water in the Douala language of Cameroon, comes in the form of songs close to the fable, in which Bassy explores "a theme shared by all” of water, the source of life. The fables of the album, all born in the imagination of Blick, explore in a more concrete way different themes related to water, its rarity, its necessity, its energy or its vital power. The twelve songs all bring together a series of figures, animals, or various characters, embodied in turn by Blick Bassy. "I have fun stepping into the shoes of a bird, a cat conversing with an elephant, a flower worrying about its declining beauty, a monkey looking for a spring or a storyteller with his grandchildren. In these texts, water can even take on a human appearance.”

Beyond the tale, the texts of the album also refer to our climate crisis, or to the problems of access to water, a way for the artist to approach serious subjects through a poetic form which avoids didactic or moralizing speeches.
More

Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE

Tracklist LP:
A1_The Key To The Exit - 06:36
A2_Each day - 05:40
A3_Six as oil - 06:05
A4_Complain - 05:03
B1_Violence for free - 06:15
B2_Naive - 08:40
B3_Pre Island - 06:13

Short Info:

Building off of the themes of identity, storytelling and experimentation on her critically acclaimed debut album, Khonnar (2018), Deena Abdelwahed’s upcoming album Jbal Rrsas is the next chapter of a reimagining of what club music could be. The album spans seven tracks of bass, techno, and experimental music, with Abdelwahed consulting with masterminds like Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Khalil Hentati, aka Khalil Epi, and Iraqi-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and researcher Khyam Allami, as well as Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry, to help realise her vision.

Jbal Rrsas starts with the seductively apocalyptic opener, The Key to the Exit, a deconstructed sha’bi production. With tracks like Six as Oil and the delightfully intense Violence for Free, Abdelwahed leads users to a desert rave, where industrial rhythms are left unbridled. Abdelwahed’s vocals on Complain and Pre-Island are powerful and exposed, confidently placed on dizzying avant-garde productions. The Wire previously said “[Khonnar is] an assured debut that sits on the edge of a whole swathe of possibilities, not only sonic but also geographical, social and political.” With Jbal Rrsas finds Abdelwahed deftly navigating through those possibilities, frequently pushing against genres, labels, and social identifiers, while elevating club music to otherworldly heights.

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Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE

Tracklist CD :
1_The Key To The Exit - 06:36
2_Each day - 05:40
3_Six as oil - 06:05
4_Complain - 05:03
5_Violence for free - 06:15
6_Naive - 08:40
7_Pre Island - 06:13

Short Info:

Building off of the themes of identity, storytelling and experimentation on her critically acclaimed debut album, Khonnar (2018), Deena Abdelwahed’s upcoming album Jbal Rrsas is the next chapter of a reimagining of what club music could be. The album spans seven tracks of bass, techno, and experimental music, with Abdelwahed consulting with masterminds like Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Khalil Hentati, aka Khalil Epi, and Iraqi-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and researcher Khyam Allami, as well as Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry, to help realise her vision.

Jbal Rrsas starts with the seductively apocalyptic opener, The Key to the Exit, a deconstructed sha’bi production. With tracks like Six as Oil and the delightfully intense Violence for Free, Abdelwahed leads users to a desert rave, where industrial rhythms are left unbridled. Abdelwahed’s vocals on Complain and Pre-Island are powerful and exposed, confidently placed on dizzying avant-garde productions. The Wire previously said “[Khonnar is] an assured debut that sits on the edge of a whole swathe of possibilities, not only sonic but also geographical, social and political.” With Jbal Rrsas finds Abdelwahed deftly navigating through those possibilities, frequently pushing against genres, labels, and social identifiers, while elevating club music to otherworldly heights.
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Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE

Tracklist CD:
1_Bengue
2_LoBa
3_Ndomè
4_Li Yanga
5_Wata
6_Nop
7_Hola Mè
8_Séa
9_Bissaï
10_Touye
11_Mètam
12_Lep

Short Info:

African Singer-songwriter Blick Bassy is back with a fifth album, again sung in the Baasa language of Cameroon. Madíbá brings together twelve songs in the form of fables, dedicated to the theme of water, in which his high and angelic voice dominates, carried by delicate guitar, synthesizer melodies, and sober brass arrangements. The cuts are diaphanous and nevertheless modernist songs, which testify to a contemporary and poetic Africanity at the crossroads of soul, folk, and electro.

Blick Bassy’s albums have a humanist and universal dimension. His fifth and new solo album, titled Madíbá, which means water in the Douala language of Cameroon, comes in the form of songs close to the fable, in which Bassy explores "a theme shared by all” of water, the source of life. The fables of the album, all born in the imagination of Blick, explore in a more concrete way different themes related to water, its rarity, its necessity, its energy or its vital power. The twelve songs all bring together a series of figures, animals, or various characters, embodied in turn by Blick Bassy. "I have fun stepping into the shoes of a bird, a cat conversing with an elephant, a flower worrying about its declining beauty, a monkey looking for a spring or a storyteller with his grandchildren. In these texts, water can even take on a human appearance.”

Beyond the tale, the texts of the album also refer to our climate crisis, or to the problems of access to water, a way for the artist to approach serious subjects through a poetic form which avoids didactic or moralizing speeches.
More

Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE

Tracklist CD:
1_Tanger
2_Body
3_Jah
4_Shop
5_Period Point Blank
6_Kesh Feat. Crystallmess
7_Clémence
8_Rapture
9_Legit
10_Eclipse
11_Trust
12_Al Hadr
13_Goodbye Feat. Bonnie Banane

Short Info:

On Al Hadr, Sabrina Bellaouel taps into myriad influences: from spirituality, astrology to club culture, romance, the body and self-love. Creating a balance between places, identities and sounds is a huge part of the charm of Al Hadr. As a true Libra, she’s finding a balance between honoring her roots and carving out her future.

Following two solo EPs, also on InFiné — 2020’s We Don’t Need To Be Enemies and 2021’s Libra — the French-Algerian producer and vocalist’s unique style of electronic R&B blossoms with Al Hadr, a 13-track album featuring collaborations with dance producer Basile3, experimental club DJ and writer Crystallmess, jazz musician Monomite and pop singer Bonnie Banane, among others.

Born, raised and based in Bagneux, outside the southern périphérique of Paris, Bellaouel lives between worlds. At home, her Algerian heritage and Muslim faith have fused tight familial bonds and a keen sense of history and culture; as “Berbers”, she speaks French and Arabic. In her headphones, she finds comfort in the sparse experimentalism of Radiohead and romantic tales of Jill Scott. On the hot club dance floors of Paris, driving house beats connect her to her body.

In swirling these private and public passions together on Al Hadr — which translates from Arabic as “the present time” — Bellaouel is the most vulnerable she’s ever been on record. Classic neo-soul and silken R&B blend with club electronics. Tender harmonies are sung and rhymes are spoken in English, French and Arabic, exploring love, faith and identity. Samples of drum machines are the backbone for wisps of woodwind, strings, keys and environmental ‘found sounds’, including Bellaouel’s own live recordings.

Creating a balance between places, identities and sounds is a huge part of the charm of Al Hadr. As a true Libra, she’s finding a balance between honoring her roots and carving out her future.




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World excl. France

01_Inside - 13:57
02_Beyond - 11:59


Scaphandre' is the story of an image found in a lost time on the internet a few years ago. It inspired two sound pieces conceived so that one can dive into it as into the sea.
Once their composition was finished, I looked for the origin of this image. It is one of the very first submarine pictures in history, taken by Louis Boutan in 1893 in the bay of Banyuls-sur-Mer... my home town. The original photo as well as a fantastic series of archives documenting this event can be found at the Arago Laboratory, where I often went as a child, after school, amazed by what the researchers were showing me. They just had never told me this story.
This is how this record found its scenery.
Gaspar Claus


The two pieces Gaspar Claus brought together on Scaphandre form an abstract and mysterious B-side of Tancade, released in the fall of 2021. Both composed during the long, initial period of his first album's conception, this mini album's two episodes, each tinged with minimal and noisy abstractions, unfold more than 10 minutes of total immersion into the abyss of experimental music on the first, and drone for the second.

In their own way, these tracks are a form of raw, unadorned escape, a film negative of the cellist's surface creations, which we know are bathed in sunshine and fresh air.

'Inside' is a moment of distraction while Gaspar worked on a film soundtrack. The title took time to mature in the musician's head, abandoned then picked up again and modified until it found its signature progression of strings where time seems suspended. The reverberations dress its fourteen-minute sound canvas in a way that is reminiscent of endless, sub-marine darkness.

'Beyond' was recorded in three takes during a writing session for his first album with David Chalmin in the Basque Country. The post-production phase required a long process of refinement to obtain this invasive sound material that cuts the listener off from their real environment and films them with a hypnotic feeling of depths and apnea.

Taken in 1898 by Louis Boutan a few dozen kilometres from the beach of Tancade in Banyuls sur mer - Gaspar's family village - the photographs of Scaphandre seal the vinyl sleeve with a unique auditory experience presenting the submerged side of the cellist. Obscure, dense, haunting, excitingly weightless.
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Territories: WORLD EXCL FRANCE

Tracklist CD:

1_Philip Glass - The Poet Acts
2_Moondog - Sea Horses
3_ Ryuichi Sakamoto - Solitude
4_Philip Glass - Etude 4
5_Philip Glass - Etude 2
6_Nico Mulhy - Quiet Music
7_Camille Pépin - Number 1
8_Léo Ferré - Opus X
9_Melaine Dalibert - Six + Six
10_Sylvain Chauveau - Mineral

Short Info:
French pianist Vanessa Wagner collects solo piano studies of graceful minimalism and rare finesse for new album Mirrored.

Quickly following March 2022’s Study of the Invisible album, Vanessa Wagner returns with a new collection of work that paints in many colours. The application of shadow in Mirrored evokes haunting poignancy; the care and delicateness of its negative space leaves room for undulating melodic motifs to ebb and flow; its bold splashes of luminescence are striking and rich. And while the album collates re-interpretations of works by composers as varied as Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Moondog, Leo Ferré and Camille Pepin, the potency and effect of the collection as a whole reflects only Vanessa Wagner and the extraordinary breadth of her abilities.

Performing solo, exposed to timbre, tempo and clarity, many of the pieces here - such as “Sea Horses” by (Vanessa’s one-time mentor) Moondog or Philip Glass’ “Etude 4” - demand virtuosic abilities as a performer and interpreter. But in Vanessa Wagner’s hands, they are not only made her own, but made mesmeric and magical by the sensitivity of her touch.




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Working with artists like David August and Daniel Brandt, Frieder Nagel is known for managing projects in venues ranging from theatres to clubs, for concerts to audiovisual experiments. He finally signs his first solo work “Distract Robots” to be released on January 18 on InFiné and invites his listeners to get lost in an universe that spans from euphoric to devastating excitement. - mastered by Zino Mikorey, the magician behind Nils Frahm’s latest album.

TRACKISTING
01 They Kept Walking , 02 Blossom , 03 Obey feat. Mima , 04 Run, 05 Evolve (live)

Frieder Nagel invites his listeners to get lost in a universe that spans from euphoric to devastating excitement. He is known for managing projects in venues ranging from theatres to clubs, for concerts to audio-visual experiments - working with artists like David August, La Boum Fatale and Daniel Brandt (Brandt Brauer Frick). The first time he appeared on stage, in 2016 at Berlin's infamous Radialsystem V, armed with several synthesizers, effects, drum machines, one grand piano; and backed by the German Symphony Orchestra (DSO). This critically acclaimed debut was streamed by Boiler Room later and led to further collaborations with Philharmonie Essen or his ensemble show at Reeperbahn Festival.

Now finally Nagel ´s first solo work “Distract Robots” will be released by French label InFine´. This 12" has become an album in miniature with a final polish by mastering guru Zino Mikorey – known for his work for Nils Frahm ´s All Melody. This EP offers up a mystical world, full of warm synths and detailed sound clusters morphing into each other to form utterly dark and dystopian ballads. Nagel gets lost in obsessively endless sessions with his instruments. He isolates himself and spends night after night drifting away from reality. The result is that his tracks carry moments of utterly deep relief and deliverance, as well as despairing sadness and stoical escapism.

Having grown up in the music scene of Southern Germany, Nagel spent his childhood mainly backstage - sleeping in cars while his father played in jazz clubs, or bored out of his mind during the endless orchestra rehearsals of his mother. While he never took proper classes to learn an instrument, the young autodidact could always count on his hearing. After moving to Berlin at 17, Nagel soon started working in the music business - at first with small student-jobs and later as a producer. He created his studio Resonant Workshop, a self-built wooden room-in-room construction to craft music and sound design.

After years of being in charge, controlling the process of artistic creation for others, it was not always easy for Nagel to focus on his own music. No sooner had he started to press record - he had to leave his studio due a serious water leak from ceiling causing him to be displaced to create. Trying to turn this throwback into an advantage, Nagel focussed mainly on improving his improvisational skills and started to work in different locations, and musicians he found in many directions. As a result, Distract Robots creates its dense atmosphere out of all kind of musical sources like field recordings, jam sessions, and analog machinery.

Despite its melodic complexity, improvisational skills and vivid drums, Distract Robots is rooted with one foot in the basement of an underground club featuring loops building up with unescapable pressure, majestic voice samples, and analog sawtooth wavefronts – while still reminding listeners of an electrified music combo playing live. This EP has become Nagel ´s long-awaited step away from behind the studio desk to finally addressing the audience directly. Lining up with the exquisite cast of euphoric-melancholic artists from InFine´ - like Rone, Apparat, Arandel or Murcof - inevitably feeding his hunger for acoustic sessions and electronic gear, the audience can be sure to hear more from Frieder Nagel.

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Self Fulfilling Prophecy remixes recasts in vinyl version the Techno esprit of La Fraicheur´s original album with four reworks, which condition the dancers to unstoppable footwork as much as they open the listeners ‘minds up. Four remixers each fighting against wordly injustice in their own way.

TRACKISTING
1. The Movements (Scalameriya Remix)
2. Renegade (Noncompliant Remix)
3. Eaux Troubles (VTSS Remix)
4. The New Is Not Born Yet (Soukie & Windish Remix)

With her debut album Self Fulfilling Prophecy, released by InFiné last June, the French producer closed the
loop on the first sequence of her life. A sequence filled with transformations, encounters and
collaborations: her successive moves to Montréal and Berlin (where she was closely involved with feminist
activism), and her foundational residency at Detroit’s Underground Resistance, among others, informed
her authentic, global-minded techno aesthetic. The aptly-named Self Fulfilling Prophecy is thus the honest
expression of a artist who has found herself at the center of techno activism, an eloquent testimonial to
“how today’s electronic is made.” With the necessary hindsight and application, La Fraicheur has created
an opus that blends raging techno with more atmospheric moments. An opus that is now being reviewed in
light of the electronic scene’s main pillar: the dancefloor.
"Self Fulfilling Prophecy remixes" recasts in vinyl version the Techno esprit of La Fraicheur´s original album
with four reworks, which condition the dancers to unstoppable footwork as much as they open the
listeners ‘minds up.
On the A-side, an activist of the Polish scene, VTSS is a leading figure in the protest against conservatism,
racism and ambient homophobia and one of the founders of the Brutaz parties in Warsaw. She rocks “Eau
Troubles” in an "industrial" soundscape, as disturbing as fascinating. Noncompliant (also known as Dj
Shiva), an icon of US techno rave scene of the 80s, today widely supported by the demanding international
Technosphere (with releases on Dark entries or Fidel Two) is animated by the same fury instilled by worldly
injustices. Her remix for “Renegade” is propelled by an unstoppable steamroller of offensive analogic
sounds and a weird hi-hat.
On the flipside, Serbian producer Scalameriya (Genesa Records, Perc Trax) takes over “The Movements” in
a chokehold that evokes techno’s struggle against space and bodies. In conclusion, Fritz Windish & Nayan
Soukie divert the metronomic kick of “The New is Not Born Yet”, with a good dose of insouciance tinged
with psychedelism, classic ingredients of the Berlin set deejays at sunrise. More

Tracklist:
1. Mirapolis (Johannes Brecht Remix) 06:33
2. Mirapolis (Matias Aguayo Remix) 06:21
3. Mirapolis (Laurent Garnier Remix) 09:19
4. Mirapolis (Video Edit) 03:14

The flamboyant and off-kilter title track from Rone's latest album, "Mirapolis" is one of the last
solo tracks that the producer composed in the spring of 2017: "it's one of the rare tracks on the
album for which I thought about the live performance. While putting the final touches to it in the
studio, I imagined myself at festivals via memories of previous tours. I wanted to record a festive
track, which completely stands by its ‘funfair’ vibe.” With this new four-track EP (including three
remixes), combined with a new video by Aurélie Castex, Rone extends the carnival of electronic
cultures of his latest musical citadel to the dancefloor – and our screens.
Johannes Brecht, shadow craftsman of the Hamburg label Diyanamic's studios, offers a refined
reading throbbing with cerebral pulsations. Appropriating the main theme in a subtle way, coated
with multiple harmonic layers, his textures alternate white noise with organic basses that builds up
to a delightfully classical cello outro.
German-based figurehead of the South American scene, Comeme label boss and founding
member of the late Closer Music project, Matias Aguayo, has never ceased throughout his career
to set off little revolutions on the planet of demanding dancefloors. Playful and wild, Aguayo
sweeps in with a ritornello of chiptune sounds and orchestral arrangements, washing it over with a
huge wave of analog synthesizers that destroys everything in its path.
French techno scene boss Laurent Garnier embraces the original piece in all its meticulousness
and its psychedelic lifeblood. A hypnotic and mischievous loop infiltrates itself without warning into
the reptilian cells of the listener's brain who surrenders to the ecstasy of the remix, forgetting the
futility of everyday problems and tapping into the universal energy of the dancefloor. Garnier
couldn't have given Mirapolis a better gift.
This release of Mirapolis Remixes is set to coincide with the release of a new video by Rone’s
sister Aurélie Castex, draftswoman for French magazines like Elle. The radiant quadricolour
odyssey will be available on Apple Music from August 28, and everywhere else on the Web from
September 5. More

About Versus: Monumental symphonic versions of Carl Craig?s? classic material, re-enforced and magnified by Les Siecles Orchestra. Iconic French conductor François-Xavier Roth is at the helm of the symphony whilst InFiné mainstay Francesco Tristano supports on piano. From an initial recording in 2010, the project evolved into a full album that has been tweaked further in the studio by Craig himself. The re-works reveal the timelessness of `At Les´ and `Darkness´ through tense yet fragile new arrangements, along with two original compositions by Tristano ? ?Barcelona Trist? and ?The Melody? Versus first took form as a captivating live concert on May 18th, 2008 at Paris? Cité de la Musique, featuring this very same line-up. The hedonism of club culture made a rare incursion into the hallowed grounds of more serious traditional music, merging the vocabularies and syntaxes of two genres that seem to be from their own faraway galaxies, but actually turned out to be more porous than expected as they collided into one another. A bemused Carl Craig recalls that the ?audience stopped just short of snapping their fingers to the rhythm. Everyone was literally on the verge of dancing, and François-Xavier was getting his first taste of that thrill that DJs get when they are playing for a room. We were like two kids rummaging through a candy shop ? I toured him through my universe and he showed me his.? The album?s release is also set to coincide with the launch of the Versus Synthesiser Ensemble, a back-to-basics live performance featuring six synthesisers and a piano, as directed by Craig. Detroit?s Movement Festival will be the tour?s launching pad, allowing for the possible grafting of a full symphonic orchestra as time progresses. The Versus universe is thus one that is predicated on transforming, remixing and reinterpreting, on creating of new forms of expression, but also on breaking down hierarchies to confront genres and worlds that seem further apart than they really are. An optimistic, if not idealistic project, with a title that was perfectly chosen to echo Carl?s mantra: ?the point is to change the audience?s perceptions, to surprise people, but also blow the dust off the conventional wisdom about music, its place in the world, and its audience ? without demagoguery and with fresh and new arguments.? This much awaited new studio album will be available worldwide on May 5th as a 2LP gatefold vinyl, a limited edition 3LP edition that incudes a bonus vinyl of stripped back versions (2000 copies only) and CD.

SPECS: 3LP in 8mm gatefold vinyl sleeve with download card (digital download is the full CD version)
Limited edition vinyl (2000 units worldwide) More

About Versus: Monumental symphonic versions of Carl Craig?s? classic material, re-enforced and magnified by Les Siecles Orchestra. Iconic French conductor François-Xavier Roth is at the helm of the symphony whilst InFiné mainstay Francesco Tristano supports on piano. From an initial recording in 2010, the project evolved into a full album that has been tweaked further in the studio by Craig himself. The re-works reveal the timelessness of `At Les´ and `Darkness´ through tense yet fragile new arrangements, along with two original compositions by Tristano ? ?Barcelona Trist? and ?The Melody? Versus first took form as a captivating live concert on May 18th, 2008 at Paris? Cité de la Musique, featuring this very same line-up. The hedonism of club culture made a rare incursion into the hallowed grounds of more serious traditional music, merging the vocabularies and syntaxes of two genres that seem to be from their own faraway galaxies, but actually turned out to be more porous than expected as they collided into one another. A bemused Carl Craig recalls that the ?audience stopped just short of snapping their fingers to the rhythm. Everyone was literally on the verge of dancing, and François-Xavier was getting his first taste of that thrill that DJs get when they are playing for a room. We were like two kids rummaging through a candy shop ? I toured him through my universe and he showed me his.? The album?s release is also set to coincide with the launch of the Versus Synthesiser Ensemble, a back-to-basics live performance featuring six synthesisers and a piano, as directed by Craig. Detroit?s Movement Festival will be the tour?s launching pad, allowing for the possible grafting of a full symphonic orchestra as time progresses. The Versus universe is thus one that is predicated on transforming, remixing and reinterpreting, on creating of new forms of expression, but also on breaking down hierarchies to confront genres and worlds that seem further apart than they really are. An optimistic, if not idealistic project, with a title that was perfectly chosen to echo Carl?s mantra: ?the point is to change the audience?s perceptions, to surprise people, but also blow the dust off the conventional wisdom about music, its place in the world, and its audience ? without demagoguery and with fresh and new arguments.? This much awaited new studio album will be available worldwide on May 5th as a 2LP gatefold vinyl, a limited edition 3LP edition that incudes a bonus vinyl of stripped back versions (2000 copies only) and CD.

More

About Versus: Monumental symphonic versions of Carl Craig?s? classic material, re-enforced and magnified by Les Siecles Orchestra. Iconic French conductor François-Xavier Roth is at the helm of the symphony whilst InFiné mainstay Francesco Tristano supports on piano. From an initial recording in 2010, the project evolved into a full album that has been tweaked further in the studio by Craig himself. The re-works reveal the timelessness of `At Les´ and `Darkness´ through tense yet fragile new arrangements, along with two original compositions by Tristano ? ?Barcelona Trist? and ?The Melody? Versus first took form as a captivating live concert on May 18th, 2008 at Paris? Cité de la Musique, featuring this very same line-up. The hedonism of club culture made a rare incursion into the hallowed grounds of more serious traditional music, merging the vocabularies and syntaxes of two genres that seem to be from their own faraway galaxies, but actually turned out to be more porous than expected as they collided into one another. A bemused Carl Craig recalls that the ?audience stopped just short of snapping their fingers to the rhythm. Everyone was literally on the verge of dancing, and François-Xavier was getting his first taste of that thrill that DJs get when they are playing for a room. We were like two kids rummaging through a candy shop ? I toured him through my universe and he showed me his.? The album?s release is also set to coincide with the launch of the Versus Synthesiser Ensemble, a back-to-basics live performance featuring six synthesisers and a piano, as directed by Craig. Detroit?s Movement Festival will be the tour?s launching pad, allowing for the possible grafting of a full symphonic orchestra as time progresses. The Versus universe is thus one that is predicated on transforming, remixing and reinterpreting, on creating of new forms of expression, but also on breaking down hierarchies to confront genres and worlds that seem further apart than they really are. An optimistic, if not idealistic project, with a title that was perfectly chosen to echo Carl?s mantra: ?the point is to change the audience?s perceptions, to surprise people, but also blow the dust off the conventional wisdom about music, its place in the world, and its audience ? without demagoguery and with fresh and new arguments.? This much awaited new studio album will be available worldwide on May 5th as a 2LP gatefold vinyl, a limited edition 3LP edition that incudes a bonus vinyl of stripped back versions (2000 copies only) and CD.

SPECS: 2LP in 5mm gatefold vinyl sleeve with download card (digital download is the full CD version) More