Backstock - shipping from Feb 9

A1. Le Couple Coupable
A2. Caltecs Dance
A3. White Layers Over Black Papers
A4. Hephaistos Breeze
B1. Gelbe Schlange
B2. A Zombies Passeport
B3. Le Souffle D'hephaistos Attisant Le Fourneau Qui Crépite D'impatience
B4. L'Incantation Du Heros Aux Yeux Bandes

Imagine Prometheus, the thief of fire, the father of civilisation, had been spellbound by the sirens chanting and never felt pain, when the eagle bit his liver. Total enchantment, created by sound to overcome the pain of existence. A sound, styled by the ideal harmony of body and soul. And yet, the pain is still there, hidden between the notes, driving a romantic vision of salvation.

If Prometheus could have translated his fictitious epiphany into singing, it might sound like Ghédalia Tazartès's chanting in "White Layers Over Black Paper", one of the eight snake dance tracks-not-tracks by German producer Detlef Weinrich aka Tolouse Low Trax and French singer, hurdy-gurdy, spinet and harp player Emmanuelle Parrenin. During some days of intimate plays in Paris they created "Jours de Grève", a bouquet of music full of mirrors, eyes, statues, secret doors, rooms, and blood. With the offhanded help by friends and like-minded souls like Versatile aura mystic Gilbert Cohen, French avant-garde saxophone player Quentin Rollet and his fellow countryman, experimental voice artist Ghédalia Tazartès, they transformed in Cohen's studio impulsive emotions into a kind of medieval cult sound that dances with tribal dub layers in search for a higher ground.

The session took place during an intensive time of public strikes in the French capital, that tied up the public life of Paris and gave birth to the album's title "Jours de Grève". After the jam, Weinrich drove back to his old hometown Düsseldorf, sat down with his friend Jan Schulte aka Wolf Müller and mixed the captured notes, sounds, rhythms and singings into pristine tripping music, that avoids stylistic categorisations. As rather architecture, sculpture, painting, performing or film could express what Parrenin's hypnotic hurdy-gurdy performances, Tazartès's ancient deeply emotive ululations, Rollet's almost religious saxophone notes and Weinrich's toting grooves evoke in the psyche, it might be better to go back to Prometheus and the fire, that brought us light and warmth. "Jours de Grève" does too.

And it is a stolen one. A borrowed one. Affected by art and life outside of sound. Lent from a forgotten monument in a random city around the world. Swayed by an afternoon glass of wine in a Parisian street café. Affected by music of all ages. Unconsciously developed in the spirit of Philippe Doray and Les Asociaux Associés, Théâtre du Chêne Noir d'Avignon or Areski Belkacem's collaborations with Brigitte Fontaine. Above all Emmanuelle Parrenin extramundane voice swings, mutating between speech and chant, while Ghédalia Tazartès mourns like a wise illusionist. In tunes like "Caltec's Dance" you even feel the airiness of early Fun Boy Three recordings. All that is rooted on Weinrich's Tolouse Low Trax magnetic signature grooves, this time floating between dark tribal upbeat sexiness and dubbed-down bass sculpturalism.

If it is true that illuminating music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it, then "Jours de Grève" is an in impulse composed primitive state of rhizomatic paranormal psychic phenomenon, that incorporates all the worlds, that the naked eye cannot see.

Michael Leuffen

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2024 repress


The First Authorised, Official Re Edition of this Electronic, New Wave, Cold Wave, Pop, Synth, Post-Punk Classic, Personally Overseen by Stephan Eicher, Everything Original: Art, Tracklist, Cut on 45 rpm - Printed on 350 GSM Paperstock incl. Sticker!

WRWTFWW Records is very honored to announce the official reissue of Grauzone’s essential 1981 maxi single with timeless classic "Eisbär", proto-techno beast "FILM 2", and romantic synth ballad "Ich Lieb Sie", just in time for the 40th anniversary of the Swiss band’s formation. The three-track vinyl is sourced from the original reels, cut at 45rpm, and comes with its iconic artwork on a 350gsm sleeve.

Tracklisting:
A1. Eisbär
B1. FILM 2
B2. Ich Lieb Sie

Info:
WRWTFWW Records is very honored to announce the official reissue of Grauzone’s essential 1981 maxi single with timeless classic "Eisbär", proto-techno beast "FILM 2", and romantic synth ballad "Ich Lieb Sie", just in time for the 40th anniversary of the Swiss band’s formation. The three-track vinyl is sourced from the original reels, cut at 45rpm, and comes with its iconic artwork on a 350gsm sleeve.

Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein…Written by Martin Eicher after a nightmare in which he saw talking polar bears on the walls, and with music by the Grauzone crew consisting of Martin and his brother Stephan Eicher, Marco Repetto, Christian "GT" Trüssel, and Claudine Chirac (on saxophone), "Eisbär" is the most recognizable title from the band, a sublime mix of ingredients reflecting the transitional era it comes from - the raw energy of punk music still palpable, combined with the audacity of early electronics, the warm groove of a disco gem, beautifully fragile lyrics, and one of the best basslines ever. It became a mega hit, totally unplanned, but how could you resist such a track?

"FILM 2" is the ultimate b-side monster, a menacing all-instrumental pre-techno masterpiece, slowly building to a magnetizing frenzy. An instant underground favorite, it was famously heard played at both speeds depending on the scenes and DJs you were frequenting, 45rpm as it was first intended, and 33rpm for the cosmic experience (search Daniele Baldelli’s Cosmic C75 1982 mixtape online for a great example of this).

The maxi single ends with "Ich Lieb Sie", a synth-pop meets doo-wop ballad, a true love song oozing with innocence. Simple, stylish, and just right.

At the crossroads of post-punk, new wave, pop, and electronic experimentation, the Eisbär maxi offers three songs that are technically different but hold the same spirit, the perfect embodiment of Grauzone’s music - wild, unpredictable, and youthful, yet sophisticated, catchy, and ingenious. The magic recipe for the good stuff.

Stephan Eicher went on to be, arguably, the most successful Swiss musician ever, with an international career extending from pop chanson to experimental escapades and collaborations with Moondog, artists Sophie Calle and John Armleder, and author Martin Suter among many other luminaries. Marco Repetto flourished as a techno and ambient producer, releasing multiple projects including releases on Aphex Twin’s Rephlex label.

Grauzone and WRWTFWW will continue to collaborate on the band’s 40th anniversary reissue campaign, with numerous projects planned for the year, including a vast selection of music, visuals, and literature never available before.
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12” vinyl with full cover print

TRACKLIST:

A1 Symmetry Zone
A2 Chaser

B1 Tracking
B2 Formed


INFO:

After putting out a slew of self-released cuts as LKY, Figure finally gets a hold of the rising techno talent that is Nathan Lockwood. Hailing from the UK, this young talent carries an extensive understanding of Britain’s techno lineage, with over a decade of experience in the game both as promoter and DJ.
Now fully coming into his own as a producer, LKY’s tracks are informed by the loopy nature of his progenitors, while still retaining some of the core dub influences and yet always keeping a propulsive momentum going.
On his EP for Figure, title track Symmetry Zone opens with full force, seamlessly intertwining twisting rhythms and searing percussion into a powerful maelstrom of energy. The A2 Chaser is a more reduced take on the formula, rolling out a muscular groove with only a handful of elements, such as precise low-end and some curious synths doing all the work.
On the flip, LKY shows a deeper side to his work, focusing on the hypnotic element that he has become known for. Tracking strikes a wonderful balance between the dubby synth stabs and driving claps, while Formed has an almost Deep House-feel to it, imbued with gorgeous warm ambiance and teasing vocal snips. The digital format of X38 comes with bonus track Idle Ride, a deeper, more tribal affair, displaying LKY’s versatility as a gifted producer.


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Tracklist:
A DEEP ONE
B I’M STANDING BESIDE YOU More

Tracklist:
A1 CATHARSIS
A2 ASCENDING TO OUR SOLITUDE
B1 DEPRESSED FUN SEEKERS
B2 2 STEP KING
C1 THE CHECKER
C2 WATS IT MEAN 2 U
D1 GIMME (TIMELESS WORLDS OF SPACE)
D2 MIND DIVING
E ADRIANA’S ANXIETIES
F1 CLOSER
F2 JINGLE ALL THE WAY

Release Info:
Soul departure time. Drowning in a dreamlike state where drifting with the current is free movement. Driven by echoes of serious intentions and playfulness. The order of music takes you further. In time, on the floor, under the skin, melting measures and dimensions. On a way back to where the future of your comfort has dawned. Through zones of whispers and expanding beauty. On a memory lane while passing all your favourite things and sentiments. On a straight, gently quantized line through tunnels of love and liberation. To a vanishing point where the soul is exposed to a scattered radiation of joy, content, revival, liveliness, melancholia. Feels like an arrival, no detour or deviation. Soul: its vulnerability becomes a superpower.
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Tracklist:
A TAMARINDO
B1 TIME ISSUES
B2 FOR

Release Info:
Far out explorations by Ottber and Felix Hk.
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Format: LP

Tracklist:
A1 A THIN LAYER OF OILY ROCK
A2 CHANGING CLIMATE
A3 APOLOGIZE TO THE FUTURE
B1 SINGULARITY
B2 OVERSHOOT
B3 EXIT GAME

Release Info:
…»Welcome to another polymeter dance! Feel free to express yourself, subordinate to
any measures and cycles you prefer, there are plenty for everyone and any purpose.
Every track represents a variety of rhythmic possibilities for any part of the body to
communicate with. This allows you to resonate with the universe, but please always
care for the environment!
The dunning voice of today will introduce to you the core issues of tomorrow. As if a
paralyzed mankind would not be able anymore to speak out the inevitable, a posthuman being has taken over. This entity is the master of ceremony who conducts an
array of machines that will take further action to communicate, supported by complex
polymeters. The repetition of measures and cycles of different lengths reflect the
repeatedly pronounced statements of a narrative of awareness.
Where music visionaries once celebrated the transfer of human creation into
machines, Chris Korda’s machines are creators themselves – creators of a safer
dance into the future. The machines speak to you with a sparkling, funky tone to gain
your confidence. Here are the rules of interaction: 1) Humans may not injure these
machines or, through inaction, allow a machine to come to harm. 2) Humans must
obey the orders given by the machines except where such orders would conflict with
the engagement in environmental issues. 3) Machines must protect their own
existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the engagement in
environmental issues.
Take care and enjoy the future!
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