1
T.Raumschmiere - Eterna 2
2
Mikkel Metal - Octarine
3
Yui Onodera - Cromo 7
4
Triola - Bergfreiheit Silbach, Glück Auf!
5
Thore Pfeiffer & Niko Tzoukmanis - Kontur
6
Joachim Spieth & Glósl - Panta Rhei
7
Sono Kollektiv - Ever Last Thing
8
Blank Gloss - The Replacment Wheel
9
Reich & Würden - Orbit (Feat. Alex Linster, Joel Jaffe)
10
Segensklang - Bergfrieden
11
Ümit Han - Nirgends
Dear gourmets of audio-aesthetic rapture, dear sound poets, please welcome - Pop Ambient 2024. Twenty-four. Twenty-four can be divided by two, four, six, eight, twelve and itself. If something can be divided by itself, it is not really divisible. Truthfulness knows no formulas. Beauty knows no formulas. Beauty saves the world for no reason whatsoever. “Beauty is a promise that beyond mediocrity there is something where calmness reigns. Beauty calms the nerves. Beauty is not a good intention but a fact. Beauty is provocation, rigor, responsibility. And beauty has its price”.
In addition to the official version of Pop Ambient 2024, there will be an art/music edition limited to 10 pieces, consisting of an exclusive mini bonus album (vinyl dubplate) from Blank Gloss, in combination with 10 individual fine art print artworks by Veronika Unland. The edition will be available via kompakt.fm/art exclusively on November 24th, 2023.
Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome, Pop Ambient 2024 More
In addition to the official version of Pop Ambient 2024, there will be an art/music edition limited to 10 pieces, consisting of an exclusive mini bonus album (vinyl dubplate) from Blank Gloss, in combination with 10 individual fine art print artworks by Veronika Unland. The edition will be available via kompakt.fm/art exclusively on November 24th, 2023.
Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome, Pop Ambient 2024 More
More records from Kompakt
1
Orlando Voorn - No Cellphones
2
Orlando Voorn - Raise The Bar
3
Orlando Voorn - Tech IQ
4
Orlando Voorn - Swingtech
The Dutch-American legend Orlando Voorn is back on the block with a very, very yummy 4-tracker that is masterfully channeling his deep love for Detroit techno and Chicago house. “No Cellphones” recalls Green Velvet’s classic Relief Records sound, applying a sinister bouncer voice that commands everybody to put their f***ing cellphones away. It’s quite a tantalising idea to drop this tune at an Afterlife party. “Raise The Bar” is a primo minimal heater for prime time usage, classic Voorn intensity through and through. The flipside harbors two gorgeous, summerly house tracks with plenty of soul for those sun flooded festival floors. Orlando Voorn reigns supreme.
More
1
weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
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weval - No Title
Repress!
Straight in the wake of their eponymous debut LP released on the label back in 2016, Weval return to Kompakt this year with their sophomore album, 'The Weight', breaking their pop-mellow, nostalgia-friendly facet further out in the open as they arrive "at this place again were everything felt spontaneous, new and exciting, like we had in the beginning". Orbiting around that ever luminous yet wistful melodic halo that surrounds their music, this second full-length effort sweeps an extra-wide and languidly woven palette of emotions and moods, making for a uniquely ambitious and generously coloured mosaic of sound. If the recording sessions "often started grumpy and emotionless" by Harm and Merijn's own admission, the pair was "surprised by the joy it gave us, which can be compared to the emotions we felt back in the first days of making music together"; subsequently reconnecting with that fresh, naïve feeling of "absolute creative freedom" they were after. The album is also the fruit of a whole new working process for them - more playful and unpredictable - which saw them switch from "guitars lying around to piano, onto our own synths and the most cheap quirky toys synths you can imagine", and involved "recording all of our own samples, voice and almost every instrument out of the box - which for us was a totally new way of working". "We've always wanted a narrative for the album, and finding the right order perhaps took the most effort" they explain; "we felt anxious, felt insanely positive, felt heartbroken again, felt in love again, and there was death, and even suicide around us. It was quite chaotic. As a whole, 'The Weight' breathes with that transformative richness, free of limits and rules, except perhaps to "do quick and not think too much". Amidst this collection of songs and instrumentals that live by Weval's singularly positive take on music - one that can "lift you up, and make you feel hopeful without being necessarily straight out 'happy'" as they define it, the title-track and lead single stays true to the duo's dynamic approach, putting on a fine balance of floor and dream inducing adaptability that sound engineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.) subtly made palpable. There's heavy showers of funk drops pouring from endless bars of thunderstorm clouds and laid-back riffs beating a restrained poolside-party kind of pulse, but also sensual vocals rising from beneath the sheets and rueful polaroid-filtered ambiences to soundtrack all possible moments in life - from the most euphoric to those when music seems the only viable healing potion. More on the post-KLF, BoC-inflected electronica side of things, 'Are You Even Real' takes its listener for a round-trip across the star-studded dome and beyond, before songs like 'Someday' and 'Same Little Thing' head back down to a state of pulsating, earthly organicity, tense and mercurial as get. An arpeggiated slice of piano-strewn kosmische, 'Heaven' is another invitation to an epic-scale odyssey from the inner-spheres into the distant fringes of the outer-world. Weightless and airy, yet texturally dense and widely magnetic overall, Weval second LP is a synthesis of the duo's multi-angle take on electronics: blissed-out, heartening and infinitely free. More
Straight in the wake of their eponymous debut LP released on the label back in 2016, Weval return to Kompakt this year with their sophomore album, 'The Weight', breaking their pop-mellow, nostalgia-friendly facet further out in the open as they arrive "at this place again were everything felt spontaneous, new and exciting, like we had in the beginning". Orbiting around that ever luminous yet wistful melodic halo that surrounds their music, this second full-length effort sweeps an extra-wide and languidly woven palette of emotions and moods, making for a uniquely ambitious and generously coloured mosaic of sound. If the recording sessions "often started grumpy and emotionless" by Harm and Merijn's own admission, the pair was "surprised by the joy it gave us, which can be compared to the emotions we felt back in the first days of making music together"; subsequently reconnecting with that fresh, naïve feeling of "absolute creative freedom" they were after. The album is also the fruit of a whole new working process for them - more playful and unpredictable - which saw them switch from "guitars lying around to piano, onto our own synths and the most cheap quirky toys synths you can imagine", and involved "recording all of our own samples, voice and almost every instrument out of the box - which for us was a totally new way of working". "We've always wanted a narrative for the album, and finding the right order perhaps took the most effort" they explain; "we felt anxious, felt insanely positive, felt heartbroken again, felt in love again, and there was death, and even suicide around us. It was quite chaotic. As a whole, 'The Weight' breathes with that transformative richness, free of limits and rules, except perhaps to "do quick and not think too much". Amidst this collection of songs and instrumentals that live by Weval's singularly positive take on music - one that can "lift you up, and make you feel hopeful without being necessarily straight out 'happy'" as they define it, the title-track and lead single stays true to the duo's dynamic approach, putting on a fine balance of floor and dream inducing adaptability that sound engineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.) subtly made palpable. There's heavy showers of funk drops pouring from endless bars of thunderstorm clouds and laid-back riffs beating a restrained poolside-party kind of pulse, but also sensual vocals rising from beneath the sheets and rueful polaroid-filtered ambiences to soundtrack all possible moments in life - from the most euphoric to those when music seems the only viable healing potion. More on the post-KLF, BoC-inflected electronica side of things, 'Are You Even Real' takes its listener for a round-trip across the star-studded dome and beyond, before songs like 'Someday' and 'Same Little Thing' head back down to a state of pulsating, earthly organicity, tense and mercurial as get. An arpeggiated slice of piano-strewn kosmische, 'Heaven' is another invitation to an epic-scale odyssey from the inner-spheres into the distant fringes of the outer-world. Weightless and airy, yet texturally dense and widely magnetic overall, Weval second LP is a synthesis of the duo's multi-angle take on electronics: blissed-out, heartening and infinitely free. More
1
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Samba
2
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Panorama
3
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Golfo Mistico
4
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Open Sky
5
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Contemporary Lullaby
6
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Requiem
7
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Whispers
8
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Modular Clouds In Rome
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Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Piano Bells
10
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Space Call From Mars
11
Lorenzo Dada / Luciano Michelini - Tuning The Orchestra
With Lucifer, Kompakt presents an album of rare beauty from two masters of modern music. A family affair, it’s a collaboration between the Italian father-and-son duo of Luciano Michelini and Lorenzo Dada, whose combined histories bring to Lucifer a depth of experience alongside clarity of vision and a finely tuned, neatly developed combined compositional voice. A lovely, beguiling suite of music that combines the electronic and the acoustic, the urban and the pastoral, its gorgeous night-eye vision and tender melancholy sits neatly within the Kompakt universe, while offering the curious listener some rich new perspectives.
There is already plenty to know both artists by. Lorenzo Dada creates across multiple fields – a techno producer and DJ who has already worked with the likes of Jay Haze, Fete, Leo Benassi, and Der, he’s released a small clutch of stylish, smartly designed EPs, and a solo album, Second Life (2018). His complementary background in classical music and composition informs his ensemble project, Tears Of Blue (who appear on Lucifer), where Dada paints with neo-classical tones for a quartet of violin, viola, cello and grand piano, supplemented by electronics for live performance.
Luciano Michelini’s history is yet richer. He may be best known, to many, for his piece “Frolic”, the theme to Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm series; it was also sampled by Snoop Dogg for 2022’s “Crip Ya Enthusiasm”. But there’s much more to Michelini’s story. A successful soundtrack composer, Michelini both studied and taught at the Conservatoro di Santa Cecilia, and worked for RCA from the sixties to the eighties; his soundtracks from this period are gorgeous examples of the form, particularly his work for Il Decamerone Nero (1972), L’Isola Degli Uomini Pesce (1979), and the devastatingly gorgeous Dimensione Donna (1977).
In the eighties, Michelini and his wife Anna Gutling founded the Electronic Music Division studio and academy in Rome, which is where the majority of Lucifer was recorded. Dada reflects on the experience: “We never worked together before, so it was all new for both of us,” with Michelini adding, “I truly love this experience with my son. He’s a talented pianist and composer. I am not very familiar with electronic music nowadays, but we did it fluently.” There’s certainly a familial energy at play through Lucifer, and you can hear how Dada and Michelini, through exploration and experiment, find a shared language, balancing Dada’s tendency toward minimalism, and Michelini’s composerly voice.
Lucifer flows as a suite that interweaves electronic music with acoustic instruments: the lonely sigh of saxophone; Michelini’s lush, verdant piano; the weeping strings of Tears Of Blue (recorded at the studio of Michelini’s friend, the late Maestro, Ennio Morricone). These multiple voices are located within the electronic sighs and swarms from Dada’s kit; there are moments of propulsion, and passages of lambent drift, where the album revels in its tonal sweetness. If it flows so effortlessly, that’s because Lucifer was designed that way, as a suite or a sonata of sorts.
And the title? Dada reflects, “Lucifer was an angel who decided not to be one anymore. The miracle of life is that we can decide what we want to be, even if we are born as angels or vice versa.” This feels somehow apposite: there’s certainly something of the transformative, and the transportive, in Lucifer, a unique family collaboration of rare poetry and sensitivity, where two generations meet in the modern crucible that is the electronic music studio. More
There is already plenty to know both artists by. Lorenzo Dada creates across multiple fields – a techno producer and DJ who has already worked with the likes of Jay Haze, Fete, Leo Benassi, and Der, he’s released a small clutch of stylish, smartly designed EPs, and a solo album, Second Life (2018). His complementary background in classical music and composition informs his ensemble project, Tears Of Blue (who appear on Lucifer), where Dada paints with neo-classical tones for a quartet of violin, viola, cello and grand piano, supplemented by electronics for live performance.
Luciano Michelini’s history is yet richer. He may be best known, to many, for his piece “Frolic”, the theme to Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm series; it was also sampled by Snoop Dogg for 2022’s “Crip Ya Enthusiasm”. But there’s much more to Michelini’s story. A successful soundtrack composer, Michelini both studied and taught at the Conservatoro di Santa Cecilia, and worked for RCA from the sixties to the eighties; his soundtracks from this period are gorgeous examples of the form, particularly his work for Il Decamerone Nero (1972), L’Isola Degli Uomini Pesce (1979), and the devastatingly gorgeous Dimensione Donna (1977).
In the eighties, Michelini and his wife Anna Gutling founded the Electronic Music Division studio and academy in Rome, which is where the majority of Lucifer was recorded. Dada reflects on the experience: “We never worked together before, so it was all new for both of us,” with Michelini adding, “I truly love this experience with my son. He’s a talented pianist and composer. I am not very familiar with electronic music nowadays, but we did it fluently.” There’s certainly a familial energy at play through Lucifer, and you can hear how Dada and Michelini, through exploration and experiment, find a shared language, balancing Dada’s tendency toward minimalism, and Michelini’s composerly voice.
Lucifer flows as a suite that interweaves electronic music with acoustic instruments: the lonely sigh of saxophone; Michelini’s lush, verdant piano; the weeping strings of Tears Of Blue (recorded at the studio of Michelini’s friend, the late Maestro, Ennio Morricone). These multiple voices are located within the electronic sighs and swarms from Dada’s kit; there are moments of propulsion, and passages of lambent drift, where the album revels in its tonal sweetness. If it flows so effortlessly, that’s because Lucifer was designed that way, as a suite or a sonata of sorts.
And the title? Dada reflects, “Lucifer was an angel who decided not to be one anymore. The miracle of life is that we can decide what we want to be, even if we are born as angels or vice versa.” This feels somehow apposite: there’s certainly something of the transformative, and the transportive, in Lucifer, a unique family collaboration of rare poetry and sensitivity, where two generations meet in the modern crucible that is the electronic music studio. More
1
Joyce Muniz / Hardt Antoine - Beats & Lines Feat. Sara Bluma (Extended Mix)
2
Joyce Muniz / Hardt Antoine - I Will
3
Joyce Muniz / Hardt Antoine - La Mosca
After the great response to the launch with Deer Jade and David Hasert/Niconé, our lively split EP format is going into the next round. Always true to the motto: Only killers, no fillers!
Brazilian born come Berlin resident Joyce Muniz teams up with Algerian born come Rome resident DJ producer Sara Bluma for their phenomenal Kompakt debut “Beats & Lines”, an uplifting electro disco affair with plenty of pop appeal. “I met Sara Bluma a year ago, when she booked me to play at one of her parties in Rome. We connected straight away. It was a matter of time that we decided to make some music together. I had this idea for a while, so I sent it to Sara and asked her if she would like to do some vocals. She came up with this great fun text. This tune interprets the energy from both of us. Which is supposed to be fun!“. Mission accomplished… The good vibes between Sara and Joyce are definitely contagious!
London’s Hardt Antoine is back to the mothership with a bang! “I Will” is a sensual, percussion-driven house anthem for those morning hours, when spirits are high and the sense of unity is palpable. “La Mosca” is taking a more hypnotic approach, putting a joyous chant of unknown origin to good use. Something tells us that 2024 will become a banner year for Antoine! More
Brazilian born come Berlin resident Joyce Muniz teams up with Algerian born come Rome resident DJ producer Sara Bluma for their phenomenal Kompakt debut “Beats & Lines”, an uplifting electro disco affair with plenty of pop appeal. “I met Sara Bluma a year ago, when she booked me to play at one of her parties in Rome. We connected straight away. It was a matter of time that we decided to make some music together. I had this idea for a while, so I sent it to Sara and asked her if she would like to do some vocals. She came up with this great fun text. This tune interprets the energy from both of us. Which is supposed to be fun!“. Mission accomplished… The good vibes between Sara and Joyce are definitely contagious!
London’s Hardt Antoine is back to the mothership with a bang! “I Will” is a sensual, percussion-driven house anthem for those morning hours, when spirits are high and the sense of unity is palpable. “La Mosca” is taking a more hypnotic approach, putting a joyous chant of unknown origin to good use. Something tells us that 2024 will become a banner year for Antoine! More
1
Dettinger - Intershop (1) (Remastered 2024)
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Dettinger - Intershop (2) (Remastered 2024)
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Dettinger - Intershop (3) (Remastered 2024)
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Dettinger - Intershop (4) (Remastered 2024)
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Dettinger - Intershop (5) (Remastered 2024)
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Dettinger - Intershop (6) (Remastered 2024)
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Dettinger - Intershop (7) (Remastered 2024)
Dettinger’s Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as Pop Ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognisable genre.
Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt’s first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology – hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats.
Oasis, released in 2000, refined the palette that Dettinger had explored on its predecessor. A blurred crusade of ambient texturology, its unassuming patterns, and subtle, incremental dynamics, admit to real beauty, and a kind of abstract sensuality that you don’t often experience with music that is, perhaps, similarly tooled, but not as poetic. Through seemingly simple gestures – whether lushly expansive repetitions, hyper-acute tremolo tones, or ear-tickling rhythms – it builds complex emotional resonance. It’s no surprise to discover Oasis is held in high esteem by artists like Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who once said of Dettinger, “For us, he was the dude.”
There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too – his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, “invented dubstep.” There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt’s Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger’s singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music. More
Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt’s first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology – hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats.
Oasis, released in 2000, refined the palette that Dettinger had explored on its predecessor. A blurred crusade of ambient texturology, its unassuming patterns, and subtle, incremental dynamics, admit to real beauty, and a kind of abstract sensuality that you don’t often experience with music that is, perhaps, similarly tooled, but not as poetic. Through seemingly simple gestures – whether lushly expansive repetitions, hyper-acute tremolo tones, or ear-tickling rhythms – it builds complex emotional resonance. It’s no surprise to discover Oasis is held in high esteem by artists like Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who once said of Dettinger, “For us, he was the dude.”
There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too – his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, “invented dubstep.” There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt’s Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger’s singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music. More
1
Dettinger - Oasis 1 (Remastered 2024)
2
Dettinger - Oasis 2 (Remastered 2024)
3
Dettinger - Oasis 3 (Remastered 2024)
4
Dettinger - Oasis 4 (Remastered 2024)
5
Dettinger - Oasis 5 (Remastered 2024)
6
Dettinger - Oasis 6 (Remastered 2024)
7
Dettinger - Oasis 7 (Remastered 2024)
Dettinger’s Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as Pop Ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognisable genre.
Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt’s first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology – hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats.
Oasis, released in 2000, refined the palette that Dettinger had explored on its predecessor. A blurred crusade of ambient texturology, its unassuming patterns, and subtle, incremental dynamics, admit to real beauty, and a kind of abstract sensuality that you don’t often experience with music that is, perhaps, similarly tooled, but not as poetic. Through seemingly simple gestures – whether lushly expansive repetitions, hyper-acute tremolo tones, or ear-tickling rhythms – it builds complex emotional resonance. It’s no surprise to discover Oasis is held in high esteem by artists like Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who once said of Dettinger, “For us, he was the dude.”
There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too – his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, “invented dubstep.” There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt’s Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger’s singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music. More
Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt’s first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology – hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats.
Oasis, released in 2000, refined the palette that Dettinger had explored on its predecessor. A blurred crusade of ambient texturology, its unassuming patterns, and subtle, incremental dynamics, admit to real beauty, and a kind of abstract sensuality that you don’t often experience with music that is, perhaps, similarly tooled, but not as poetic. Through seemingly simple gestures – whether lushly expansive repetitions, hyper-acute tremolo tones, or ear-tickling rhythms – it builds complex emotional resonance. It’s no surprise to discover Oasis is held in high esteem by artists like Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who once said of Dettinger, “For us, he was the dude.”
There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too – his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, “invented dubstep.” There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt’s Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger’s singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music. More
1
Deer Jade / David Hasert / Niconé - Jukurpa (Extended Mix)
2
Deer Jade / David Hasert / Niconé - Cosmic Dream
3
Deer Jade / David Hasert / Niconé - Wasting My Time With You (Extended Mix)
Tired of grey skies and long faces? We’ve got a serious dose of musical vitamin D for you! This 12" is the inauguration of a new split EP format on Kompakt. More hits on one record. Less environmental impact. Everybody wins.
Deer Jade – Jukurpa
Deer Jade is hailing from the picturesque Lake of Geneva, an area about which the late Jean Paul Belmondo had to say a thing or two. Her infectious smile and uplifting energy behind the decks already made her a household name in clubs and festivals around the globe. This solo debut is an expression of her strong self confidence and in-syncness with the world surrounding her. “Jukurpa” might be just one of the most flamboyant house tunes you’ll come across this year, readymade for swaying to on an early summer morning dancefloor. “Cosmic Dream” is of a more introspective nature, putting gentle psychedelic synth movements to good use. There’s a lot of heart in Deer Jade’s music. We’re happy to give it a home.
David Hasert & Niconé – Wasting My Time With You
This Cologne – Berlin joint venture is shedding rays of sun galore with this lost in reverie deep house jam. Built around a catchy as hell soul vocal and occasional piano outbursts “Wasting My Time With You” will certainly be one of our favorite tunes to waste our time to in 2024. More
Deer Jade – Jukurpa
Deer Jade is hailing from the picturesque Lake of Geneva, an area about which the late Jean Paul Belmondo had to say a thing or two. Her infectious smile and uplifting energy behind the decks already made her a household name in clubs and festivals around the globe. This solo debut is an expression of her strong self confidence and in-syncness with the world surrounding her. “Jukurpa” might be just one of the most flamboyant house tunes you’ll come across this year, readymade for swaying to on an early summer morning dancefloor. “Cosmic Dream” is of a more introspective nature, putting gentle psychedelic synth movements to good use. There’s a lot of heart in Deer Jade’s music. We’re happy to give it a home.
David Hasert & Niconé – Wasting My Time With You
This Cologne – Berlin joint venture is shedding rays of sun galore with this lost in reverie deep house jam. Built around a catchy as hell soul vocal and occasional piano outbursts “Wasting My Time With You” will certainly be one of our favorite tunes to waste our time to in 2024. More
1
Kölsch - I Talk To Water (With Perry Farrell)
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Kölsch - Dreams
3
Kölsch - Grape (With Patrick Reilly)
4
Kölsch - Pet Sound
5
Kölsch - Khenpo
6
Kölsch - Thoughts
7
Kölsch - Only Get Better
8
Kölsch - Implant
9
Kölsch - Hands Of Time
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Kölsch - Tell Me (With Patrick Reilly)
11
Kölsch - An Amazing
12
Kölsch - It Ends Where It Began (With Patrick Reilly)
I Talk To Water, the fifth album for Kompakt by Danish producer Kölsch, is the artist’s most personal statement yet. While all the trademarks that make his music so popular and powerful are still present – lush, melodic techno; swooping, trance-like figures; sensuous, shivery texturology – I Talk To Water is also a deep and intimate rapprochement with family and history, a beautiful, finely detailed document of loss and memory, and a tracing of the long, unbroken thread of grief that runs through our lives once we’ve lost those we loved.
The emotional core of I Talk To Water, then, is a cache of recordings by Kölsch’s father, Patrick Reilly, who passed away in 2003 from brain cancer. With time rendered elastic by the pandemic and its associated lockdowns, its sudden, alienating shifts in everyday living, Kölsch found himself reflecting on his father’s passing and ongoing spiritual presence, thinking about how best to memorialise such a significant figure in his own life. Those recordings opened a gateway, of sorts, for Kölsch to move through – a way to bring past and present together and entwine them in a sensitive, poetic manner.
Kölsch’s father was a musician – “touring in the sixties and seventies, in the Middle East especially, he was doing the whole hippy trail, playing guitar, and wrote some songs over the years,” he recalls. “But all in all, he decided to focus on family rather than pursue a [musical] career.” Reilly kept playing and writing music over the years, though Kölsch hadn’t listened to the material for some time: “I’d never had the guts to listen to it, because I just felt too fragile listening to his voice. It’s such a tough thing to go through.”
During the pandemic, though, Kölsch listened through the fragmented body of work that his father had produced over the years. “I decided I’m gonna finally release my dad’s music twenty years after his passing,” he reflects. “This whole album is about the process of loss, and for me it’s been one of my main driving forces in my musical life, the whole emotional aspect of whatever I’ve done has been based in that feeling that he’s not there anymore.”
Recordings of Reilly appear on three songs across I Talk To Water. His guitars drift pensively across “Grape”, offering a lush thread of melody that Kölsch wraps with clicking, driftwood rhythms and droning, melancholy bass. “Tell Me” is a lovely three-minute art song, a sadly beautiful reflection, minimally adorned with gentle keys and a muted pulse. And on the closing “It Ends Where It Began”, Kölsch lets his father’s acoustic guitar take centre stage for a lament that’s unexpectedly folksy, a guitar soli dream, which Reilly originally recorded in 1996. “He actually recorded it for my first album that never came out,” Kölsch reveals, “and I had it sitting around forever. That is purely him.”
These three imagined collaborations between father and son are poised and delicate. But their relationship also marks the gorgeous music Kölsch has made across the rest of I Talk To Water, from the itchy yet lush “Pet Sound” (titled in tribute to one of Reilly’s favourite albums), the flickering synths and yearning vocal samples that slide through “Khenpo”, the ecstatic shuddering that marks “Only Get Better”, or “Implant”’s slow-motion pans and subtle reveals.
There’s also the title song, where Kölsch is joined by guest Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros), singing a mantra for internal reflection: “I talk to water / Searching for myself / Looking for answers / Oceans of you.” Farrell’s appearance brings another timbre, another spirit to the album, aligning neatly with his recent interest in electronic music. “He was completely taken by this idea of talking to water,” Kölsch says, thinking about the ways we collectively lean towards the natural world as a comfort and a listener, a guide through mourning, a way to map out the terrain of the heart. This mapping is something that Kölsch has proven remarkably adept at through the years; dance music for both body and mind, but also both for the here-and-now, and for the hereafter. More
The emotional core of I Talk To Water, then, is a cache of recordings by Kölsch’s father, Patrick Reilly, who passed away in 2003 from brain cancer. With time rendered elastic by the pandemic and its associated lockdowns, its sudden, alienating shifts in everyday living, Kölsch found himself reflecting on his father’s passing and ongoing spiritual presence, thinking about how best to memorialise such a significant figure in his own life. Those recordings opened a gateway, of sorts, for Kölsch to move through – a way to bring past and present together and entwine them in a sensitive, poetic manner.
Kölsch’s father was a musician – “touring in the sixties and seventies, in the Middle East especially, he was doing the whole hippy trail, playing guitar, and wrote some songs over the years,” he recalls. “But all in all, he decided to focus on family rather than pursue a [musical] career.” Reilly kept playing and writing music over the years, though Kölsch hadn’t listened to the material for some time: “I’d never had the guts to listen to it, because I just felt too fragile listening to his voice. It’s such a tough thing to go through.”
During the pandemic, though, Kölsch listened through the fragmented body of work that his father had produced over the years. “I decided I’m gonna finally release my dad’s music twenty years after his passing,” he reflects. “This whole album is about the process of loss, and for me it’s been one of my main driving forces in my musical life, the whole emotional aspect of whatever I’ve done has been based in that feeling that he’s not there anymore.”
Recordings of Reilly appear on three songs across I Talk To Water. His guitars drift pensively across “Grape”, offering a lush thread of melody that Kölsch wraps with clicking, driftwood rhythms and droning, melancholy bass. “Tell Me” is a lovely three-minute art song, a sadly beautiful reflection, minimally adorned with gentle keys and a muted pulse. And on the closing “It Ends Where It Began”, Kölsch lets his father’s acoustic guitar take centre stage for a lament that’s unexpectedly folksy, a guitar soli dream, which Reilly originally recorded in 1996. “He actually recorded it for my first album that never came out,” Kölsch reveals, “and I had it sitting around forever. That is purely him.”
These three imagined collaborations between father and son are poised and delicate. But their relationship also marks the gorgeous music Kölsch has made across the rest of I Talk To Water, from the itchy yet lush “Pet Sound” (titled in tribute to one of Reilly’s favourite albums), the flickering synths and yearning vocal samples that slide through “Khenpo”, the ecstatic shuddering that marks “Only Get Better”, or “Implant”’s slow-motion pans and subtle reveals.
There’s also the title song, where Kölsch is joined by guest Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros), singing a mantra for internal reflection: “I talk to water / Searching for myself / Looking for answers / Oceans of you.” Farrell’s appearance brings another timbre, another spirit to the album, aligning neatly with his recent interest in electronic music. “He was completely taken by this idea of talking to water,” Kölsch says, thinking about the ways we collectively lean towards the natural world as a comfort and a listener, a guide through mourning, a way to map out the terrain of the heart. This mapping is something that Kölsch has proven remarkably adept at through the years; dance music for both body and mind, but also both for the here-and-now, and for the hereafter. More
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Flug - Puerto Rico (The Velvet Circle Mix)
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The Black Frame - Sacrosanct (Mount Obsidian Remix)
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The Novotones - Liberty Bell
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Sascha Funke - Mathias Rust
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La Finca - What Clouds Say
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Paulor - The Last Coke In The Desert
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Mount Obsidian - Fade feat. Charlotte Jestaedt
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The Velvet Circle - Our Tribe
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Seb Martel Feat. Las Ondas Marteles - Dark Mambo (Joerg Burger Mix)
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Mount Obsidian - Marole Feat. Charlotte Jestaedt
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Golden Bug - Es Cucurucuc
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The Novotones - Valley Of Oblivion
Kompakt unveils the third volume of Jörg Burger’s “Velvet Desert Music” compilation series, dedicated to music that hits the sweet spot between the cinematic, the (pop) ambient, and the psychedelic. With “Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3”, Burger and his friends wander afar, taking trips away from, or adjacent to, the dancefloor that’s acted so long as the crucible for the Kompakt aesthetic. Like its predecessors, it’s a gorgeous, lambent collection of late-night mood music.
Because it’s such a broad church, “Velvet Desert Music” admits all kinds of new experiences, as well, with Burger looking for music that “goes beyond the desert to explore different corners of the velvet universe”. Indeed, of all the volumes in the series, this third installment feels closest to an album made by a true collective. The roster has changed, with new contributors Flug 8 and Seb Martel, both with his trio Las Ondas Marteles and with Chocolate Genius and Zsela as La Finca, joining regulars The Novotones, Mount Obsidian, The Golden Bug, Paulor and Sascha Funke.
Burger himself shows up alongside Fritz Ackermann of The Novotones and Max Würden and Thore Pfeiffer, in The Velvet Circle. Their contributions are pure lush life electronica: “Our Tribe” hitches a ride with a low-slung groove, flickering psychedelic reels of acoustic guitar traipsing across moody bass and taffeta layers of drone; their opening remix of Flug 8’s “Puerto Rico” gently introduces the album with softly tangling electronic tones, while guitars, drenched in reverb, pirouette in the background. Mount Obsidian’s remix of Burger´s The Black Frame “Sacrosanct” spins around the listeners ears like a kaleidoscope catching the reflections the sun makes in San Luis Potosí’s ornately decorated churches.
La Finca’s electronics and voice miniature, “What Clouds Say”, is a masterclass in poetic restraint; Martel’s “Dark Mambo”, remixed by Burger, is one of the collection’s big surprises, for it indeed does what the title says, a drifting, surrealist take on the mambo form, full of pensive chords, rich with unrequited longing, a breathy saxophone whispering under the song’s sly rhythmic carriage.
Old friends reappear, too: Paulor is back with the clicking grind of “The Last Coke in the Desert”, while Golden Bug’s “Es Cucuruc” is a muted slow burner. The Novotones chime in with a slyly propulsive, Krautrock-esque charmer, “Liberty Bell”, and the guitar-led tone-drift of “Valley of Oblivion”; Paulor’s “The Last Coke in the Desert” is a chiming, lilting dreamscape; Mount Obsidian are joined again by vocalist Charlotte Jestaedt for two modern takes on early-hours art song, „Fade“ and „Marole“, the closing track of the compilation, which is a spooked requiem for times passed. Sascha Funke’s “Mathias Rust” is a lavish dancefloor dream, vocal samples drifting through the song as it slowly envelops the listener in its opulent radiance.
What’s most compelling about “Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3”, perhaps, is the way everything sits together so tightly, so neatly – it’s the album in the series so far that feels the most like it’s been made by collaborators in one long, playful session of experiment and exploration; everyone’s on the same page, exploring the fractured wastelands, dust squalls, sunburnt scapes and psychedelic cacti of the psyche; burnt sienna, desert lilies and willows, fairy dusters, yucca and greasewood… an extravagance of blooming, riotous colour, erupting from the sun-cracked landscapes within each of us.
This is just a taste of the rich pleasures of Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3, a triumph of a compilation that takes the psychedelic visions of its predecessors and looks for the desert within, a dusty kiss, a road-movie hallucination flickering on the listener’s eyelids, a cinematic projection from deep inside the mind. More
Because it’s such a broad church, “Velvet Desert Music” admits all kinds of new experiences, as well, with Burger looking for music that “goes beyond the desert to explore different corners of the velvet universe”. Indeed, of all the volumes in the series, this third installment feels closest to an album made by a true collective. The roster has changed, with new contributors Flug 8 and Seb Martel, both with his trio Las Ondas Marteles and with Chocolate Genius and Zsela as La Finca, joining regulars The Novotones, Mount Obsidian, The Golden Bug, Paulor and Sascha Funke.
Burger himself shows up alongside Fritz Ackermann of The Novotones and Max Würden and Thore Pfeiffer, in The Velvet Circle. Their contributions are pure lush life electronica: “Our Tribe” hitches a ride with a low-slung groove, flickering psychedelic reels of acoustic guitar traipsing across moody bass and taffeta layers of drone; their opening remix of Flug 8’s “Puerto Rico” gently introduces the album with softly tangling electronic tones, while guitars, drenched in reverb, pirouette in the background. Mount Obsidian’s remix of Burger´s The Black Frame “Sacrosanct” spins around the listeners ears like a kaleidoscope catching the reflections the sun makes in San Luis Potosí’s ornately decorated churches.
La Finca’s electronics and voice miniature, “What Clouds Say”, is a masterclass in poetic restraint; Martel’s “Dark Mambo”, remixed by Burger, is one of the collection’s big surprises, for it indeed does what the title says, a drifting, surrealist take on the mambo form, full of pensive chords, rich with unrequited longing, a breathy saxophone whispering under the song’s sly rhythmic carriage.
Old friends reappear, too: Paulor is back with the clicking grind of “The Last Coke in the Desert”, while Golden Bug’s “Es Cucuruc” is a muted slow burner. The Novotones chime in with a slyly propulsive, Krautrock-esque charmer, “Liberty Bell”, and the guitar-led tone-drift of “Valley of Oblivion”; Paulor’s “The Last Coke in the Desert” is a chiming, lilting dreamscape; Mount Obsidian are joined again by vocalist Charlotte Jestaedt for two modern takes on early-hours art song, „Fade“ and „Marole“, the closing track of the compilation, which is a spooked requiem for times passed. Sascha Funke’s “Mathias Rust” is a lavish dancefloor dream, vocal samples drifting through the song as it slowly envelops the listener in its opulent radiance.
What’s most compelling about “Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3”, perhaps, is the way everything sits together so tightly, so neatly – it’s the album in the series so far that feels the most like it’s been made by collaborators in one long, playful session of experiment and exploration; everyone’s on the same page, exploring the fractured wastelands, dust squalls, sunburnt scapes and psychedelic cacti of the psyche; burnt sienna, desert lilies and willows, fairy dusters, yucca and greasewood… an extravagance of blooming, riotous colour, erupting from the sun-cracked landscapes within each of us.
This is just a taste of the rich pleasures of Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3, a triumph of a compilation that takes the psychedelic visions of its predecessors and looks for the desert within, a dusty kiss, a road-movie hallucination flickering on the listener’s eyelids, a cinematic projection from deep inside the mind. More
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Heiko Voss - Follow Your Line (Gerd Janson Dance Mix)
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Heiko Voss - Talking Man (Ada Mix)
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Heiko Voss - Follow Your Line (Michael Mayer Dub Mix)
Good things take time. What’s 17 years? Not even a quarter of Keith Richards! 17 years lay between Heiko Voss’ debut album “Call Me Killer” and the incredible follow-up “3:30 Minutes To Live”, which saw the light of day in 2022 on Michael Mayer’s “other label” IMARA. There are serious voices saying that the 80s were only really complete with the release of this album. Now it took the blink of an eye of a year for the remixes to be finished. And they turned out so well that Michael Mayer from KOMPAKT licensed the “3 Remixes for Heiko Voss” without further ado. Running back guru GERD JANSON was an early adopter of the album. Highly motivated, he twirls “Follow Your Line” rhythmically somehow in the direction of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”. How did he do that? Never mind. It grooves like crazy and keeps even larger floors moving. ADA, the Hamburg grand dame of techno pop, has taken on the in tongue speaking funk banger “Talking Man” and dipped it in fairy dust. The result is probably the most sensational, soulful club track ever. Honestly. The package is rounded off with a powerful Dub Version of “Follow Your Line” by the IMARA and KOMPAKT boss himself. Because he can do it. Open your heart, let the remixes in. Veröffentlicht von: Kompakt Records Erscheinungsdatum der EP: 19 Januar 2024
More
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Jürgen Paape - Allein
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Jürgen Paape - Allein in Italien
HINWEIS: PLATTE KOMMT IN EINER SCHWARZEN INNENHÜLLE OHNE BEILAGEN. NOTE: RECORD COMES IN A BLACK INNER SLEEVE WITHOUT INSERTS.
The man who gave us countless classics from the Kompakt catalog delivers his latest stroke of genius. “Allein” is based on “Ich war allein,” a schlager song by East German pop icon Ina Martell from 1967, of which there is only a video recording from DFF that never made it onto a record. Jürgen Paape conjures up two versions from it: a heart-wrenching downbeat pop version and “Allein in Italien,” his most catchy earworm since “So weit wie noch nie.” Caution, highly addictive! More
The man who gave us countless classics from the Kompakt catalog delivers his latest stroke of genius. “Allein” is based on “Ich war allein,” a schlager song by East German pop icon Ina Martell from 1967, of which there is only a video recording from DFF that never made it onto a record. Jürgen Paape conjures up two versions from it: a heart-wrenching downbeat pop version and “Allein in Italien,” his most catchy earworm since “So weit wie noch nie.” Caution, highly addictive! More
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Captain Mustache - About Love feat. Speakwave
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Captain Mustache - Shifting Basslines feat. Chicks on Speed
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Captain Mustache - Laser Me
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Captain Mustache - Gimme Ya Mustache
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Captain Mustache - I Love Watching U feat. Arnaud Rebotini
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Captain Mustache - Mustache Of The Universe feat. Amanda Lear
It’s been a few years since Captain Mustache took a ride with Kompakt – 2021, to be exact, when he released the “Everything” single, and subsequently made an appearance on that year’s entry in the Total series. But this visionary French producer has been busy, indeed fiercely productive, ever since, appearing on Helena Hauff’s Return To Disorder and John Digweed’s Bedrock, collaborating with Dave Clarke, Popof, The Advent, Paris The Black Fu, Keith Tucker from AUX88... and two beautifully eloquent albums, Tourbillon Nocturne and Indigo Memories. But with The Super Album, Captain Mustache returns to Kompakt with his most sublime collection yet.
On The Super Album, the Captain soundtracks an imagined “whole day for party people.” He welcomes friends old and new on board: opening with the poetic club banger of “About Love”, with guest appearance from Speakwave (aka dynArec), The Super Album shifts gears into the lush, sunny “Shifting Basslines”, where Captain Mustache’s pulsing electro-disco is the perfect fit for a third collaboration with electroclash pioneers Chicks on Speed.
After the deep techno pulsations of “Laser Me” and the glitzy pop shine of “Gimme Ya Mustache”, more guests arrive: Arnaud Rebotini of Black Strobe on the slinky “I Love Watching U”, and then a spoken cameo from the truly legendary French disco diva Amanda Lear on “Mustache Of The Universe”, a glitzy glitterball of a song that’s shrouded in ghostly synths. More
On The Super Album, the Captain soundtracks an imagined “whole day for party people.” He welcomes friends old and new on board: opening with the poetic club banger of “About Love”, with guest appearance from Speakwave (aka dynArec), The Super Album shifts gears into the lush, sunny “Shifting Basslines”, where Captain Mustache’s pulsing electro-disco is the perfect fit for a third collaboration with electroclash pioneers Chicks on Speed.
After the deep techno pulsations of “Laser Me” and the glitzy pop shine of “Gimme Ya Mustache”, more guests arrive: Arnaud Rebotini of Black Strobe on the slinky “I Love Watching U”, and then a spoken cameo from the truly legendary French disco diva Amanda Lear on “Mustache Of The Universe”, a glitzy glitterball of a song that’s shrouded in ghostly synths. More
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Michael Mayer - Talmi
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Jürgen Paape - Iwanger
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Jörg Burger - Newtro: Cinematic Dance
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C.A.R. / Patrice Bäumel - Four Down (Club Mix)
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Perel - Matrix (Sofia Kourtesis Remix)
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M.A.P.E. - Ice Cream Cake
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Argia - No Concept
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Gui Boratto - Drink In Paris feat. Lhana Marlet
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Reinhard Voigt feat. Eduard Weber - Endlich XXL
Okay, you’re listening to the 23rd edition of Kompakt’s annual compilation series TOTAL… hold on… 23??? It’s impossible to look at this number without thinking of William S. Burrough’s Captain Clark anecdote, the Illuminatus trilogy and the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. But don’t you worry, we’re not giving in to eikositriophobia. We’re enlighted folks, after all.
Total 23 kicks off in a disco mood with a well tempered double punch from label co-founders Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. Jörg Burger calls out a trippy new genre named Cinematic Dance before C.A.R. and Patrice Bäumel resurface with a club mix of their early 2023 single ‘Four Down’. Sofia Kourtesis’ sultry remix of Perel ‘Matrix’ finally gets a well deserved vinyl release. ‘Ice Cream Cake’ by Cologne’s newcomer M.A.P.E. helps cooling things down a bit before another debutante, Argia from Madrid makes her first entry to the Kompakt catalogue. Gui Boratto’s recent single ‘Drink In Paris’ raises the energy levels just in time for Reinhard Voigt’s ruthless closing track ‘Endlich XXL’, an ode to some of the best things in this world: Beer and techno. More
Total 23 kicks off in a disco mood with a well tempered double punch from label co-founders Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. Jörg Burger calls out a trippy new genre named Cinematic Dance before C.A.R. and Patrice Bäumel resurface with a club mix of their early 2023 single ‘Four Down’. Sofia Kourtesis’ sultry remix of Perel ‘Matrix’ finally gets a well deserved vinyl release. ‘Ice Cream Cake’ by Cologne’s newcomer M.A.P.E. helps cooling things down a bit before another debutante, Argia from Madrid makes her first entry to the Kompakt catalogue. Gui Boratto’s recent single ‘Drink In Paris’ raises the energy levels just in time for Reinhard Voigt’s ruthless closing track ‘Endlich XXL’, an ode to some of the best things in this world: Beer and techno. More
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Andreas Dorau - Unsichtbare Tänzer (Wassermann Tubass Mix)
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Andreas Dorau - Unsichtbare Tänzer (Wassermann Sog Mix)
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Andreas Dorau - Unsichtbare Tänzer
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Andreas Dorau - Unsichtbare Tänzer (Wassermann Rausch Mix)
Question to the AI: Why are the dancers invisible?
Answer AI: I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you mean by "invisible dancers". There is no known or generally accepted fact about invisible dancers. It is possible that it is a metaphor, an artistic representation, or a fictional idea that appears in a specific context, such as a book, film, or work of art. If you could give me more information or context I could better help answer your question.
"Drei Remixe für Andreas Dorau – Unsichtbare Tänzer" follows on from the extensive series of remixes for Andreas Dorau that have been produced by Wolfgang Voigt since the mid-1990s under a wide variety of project names, but also by Michael Mayer, Tobias Thomas, Reinhard Voigt (Forever Sweet) released on Ladomat. The limited 12" “Unsichtbare Tänzer” will be released as an edition of 500 copies, hand-numbered and signed by Andreas Dorau and Wolfgang Voigt.
Committed to tradition. More
Answer AI: I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you mean by "invisible dancers". There is no known or generally accepted fact about invisible dancers. It is possible that it is a metaphor, an artistic representation, or a fictional idea that appears in a specific context, such as a book, film, or work of art. If you could give me more information or context I could better help answer your question.
"Drei Remixe für Andreas Dorau – Unsichtbare Tänzer" follows on from the extensive series of remixes for Andreas Dorau that have been produced by Wolfgang Voigt since the mid-1990s under a wide variety of project names, but also by Michael Mayer, Tobias Thomas, Reinhard Voigt (Forever Sweet) released on Ladomat. The limited 12" “Unsichtbare Tänzer” will be released as an edition of 500 copies, hand-numbered and signed by Andreas Dorau and Wolfgang Voigt.
Committed to tradition. More
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Rex The Dog - Change This Pain For Ecstasy (Extended Version)
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Rex The Dog - Moto
The formidable Rex The Dog returns with his first single for Kompakt in three years, “Change This Pain For Ecstasy”, a slow-burning disco-glitter stomp that’s charged with analog energy. Pushing his self-built modular hardware set-up to its limits, “Change This Pain For Ecstasy” is taut and thrilling, stripped-back and pulsating, with sweeping chords shimmering through a classic Moroder arpeggio, as a delirious voice sings out a psychedelic raver’s plaint for liberation, pleading for you to "take away my sorrow and this pain”. Deeply emotional, it’s also a masterwork in tension and release, dizzy with snare-rush peaks, and dark, humid valleys where Rex is bound to the patchbay.
On the flipside, Rex gives us “Moto”, which tickles your ear with cymatic phenomena, its gentle vibrations building, beautifully, into a monster-piece of stealth techno. Rex’s DIY synths work overtime as he chases patterns and phases through circuitry, wielding the tones until they erupt into a spray of pointillist pizzicato. The sounds here crackle and corrode, the textures so tantalizing, so sensual, you can almost grab hold of them with your hands. It’s great to have Rex The Dog back, making livewire, yet deeply human techno, alive and bursting with electricity. More
On the flipside, Rex gives us “Moto”, which tickles your ear with cymatic phenomena, its gentle vibrations building, beautifully, into a monster-piece of stealth techno. Rex’s DIY synths work overtime as he chases patterns and phases through circuitry, wielding the tones until they erupt into a spray of pointillist pizzicato. The sounds here crackle and corrode, the textures so tantalizing, so sensual, you can almost grab hold of them with your hands. It’s great to have Rex The Dog back, making livewire, yet deeply human techno, alive and bursting with electricity. More
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Wata Igarashi - Abyss
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Wata Igarashi - Searching
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Wata Igarashi - Subterranean Life
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Wata Igarashi - Ceremony Of The Dead
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Wata Igarashi - Floating Against Time
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Wata Igarashi - Abyss II
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Wata Igarashi - Burning
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Wata Igarashi - Agartha
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Wata Igarashi - Darkness
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Wata Igarashi - Eternally
‘Where is Agartha? What is the specific region in which it lies? Along what road, through what civilizations, must one walk in order to reach it?.’ Saint-Yves d’Alveydre in 1886
Agartha, the debut full-length album by Japanese producer Wata Igarashi, is a mysterious, divine thing. Named for the mythical secret kingdom, understood as a complex maze of underground tunnels, perhaps designed by Martians who colonised the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, it’s a similarly mystical, perhaps even cosmic trip – but this time, exploring an inner, deeply personal cosmos. Beautifully detailed and bustling with rich incident, it takes Igarashi’s music to new places, which still retaining his unique sonic imprimatur; in this respect, it’s perfectly at home with Kompakt, a label that’s always encouraged artists to make the visionary music they need to create, to take risks and make sideways steps into uncharted territory.
An eloquent producer and DJ, Igarashi has been releasing techno for eleven years now, appearing on such imprints as The Bunker NY, Delsin, Midgar, and Time To Express; he has also self-released his productions via his WIP net label. Throughout, Igarashi has consistently explored his unique approach to techno and electronic music, one that’s eloquent and poised, even when it shifts into more psychedelic terrain; he’s a master at balancing the sensual and the functional, and he has an unerring ear for the right texture, the right tone, at the right time. He brings all of this into Agartha, his most thorough-going expression of self to date.
For Agartha, Igarashi had a strong concept he wanted to explore. Visualising specific scenes from an imaginary film based on the titular secret kingdom, he created soundtracks for those scenes, spending time during the pandemic in his studio, working away carefully at the ten tracks here. Given his background in creating music for television and advertisements, Igarashi is well-placed to explore the marriage of the sonic and the visual in such intimate ways, but freed from commercial concerns, he let his imagination run riot. He also drew on a rich palette of musical influences – techno is in there, of course, but you can also hear the smoky, improvised jazz of the likes of Miles Davis (to whom the album’s title is an indirect nod), and the minimalism and systems music of Steve Reich.
The latter is particularly pronounced on the gorgeous, beatless drift of “Floating Against Time”, where an arpeggiated sequence lingers, lovingly, around your ears for nine blissful minutes, coasting across swooning drones and waves of ambient noise. “Ceremony Of The Dead”, originally composed as part of a Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial sound concert, is a deep pass into systems composition, with various patterns overlaid and interlocking, before a wordless vocal rises from the depths, a gorgeous counterpoint to the swarming textures that gather across the track. On the other hand, tracks like “Burning” and “Subterranean Life” nudge toward Fourth World territory, painting deluxe dreamscapes of uncertain provenance; the title cut is an abstract drift-world, Igarashi painting an alien tableau dotted by shape-shifting creatures.
Agartha’s conceptual framework means that everything on the album sits perfectly together; listening to it in one sitting is a dizzying, lush experience. Its imaginings of inner landscapes recall, in some respects, the nautical, aqueous mythologies of the Drexciyan universe, though from different perspectives. But the result is Igarashi’s own creation, a deluxe, enchanting trip through the visionary Agartha of this unique producer’s cinematic mind’s-eye. More
Agartha, the debut full-length album by Japanese producer Wata Igarashi, is a mysterious, divine thing. Named for the mythical secret kingdom, understood as a complex maze of underground tunnels, perhaps designed by Martians who colonised the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, it’s a similarly mystical, perhaps even cosmic trip – but this time, exploring an inner, deeply personal cosmos. Beautifully detailed and bustling with rich incident, it takes Igarashi’s music to new places, which still retaining his unique sonic imprimatur; in this respect, it’s perfectly at home with Kompakt, a label that’s always encouraged artists to make the visionary music they need to create, to take risks and make sideways steps into uncharted territory.
An eloquent producer and DJ, Igarashi has been releasing techno for eleven years now, appearing on such imprints as The Bunker NY, Delsin, Midgar, and Time To Express; he has also self-released his productions via his WIP net label. Throughout, Igarashi has consistently explored his unique approach to techno and electronic music, one that’s eloquent and poised, even when it shifts into more psychedelic terrain; he’s a master at balancing the sensual and the functional, and he has an unerring ear for the right texture, the right tone, at the right time. He brings all of this into Agartha, his most thorough-going expression of self to date.
For Agartha, Igarashi had a strong concept he wanted to explore. Visualising specific scenes from an imaginary film based on the titular secret kingdom, he created soundtracks for those scenes, spending time during the pandemic in his studio, working away carefully at the ten tracks here. Given his background in creating music for television and advertisements, Igarashi is well-placed to explore the marriage of the sonic and the visual in such intimate ways, but freed from commercial concerns, he let his imagination run riot. He also drew on a rich palette of musical influences – techno is in there, of course, but you can also hear the smoky, improvised jazz of the likes of Miles Davis (to whom the album’s title is an indirect nod), and the minimalism and systems music of Steve Reich.
The latter is particularly pronounced on the gorgeous, beatless drift of “Floating Against Time”, where an arpeggiated sequence lingers, lovingly, around your ears for nine blissful minutes, coasting across swooning drones and waves of ambient noise. “Ceremony Of The Dead”, originally composed as part of a Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial sound concert, is a deep pass into systems composition, with various patterns overlaid and interlocking, before a wordless vocal rises from the depths, a gorgeous counterpoint to the swarming textures that gather across the track. On the other hand, tracks like “Burning” and “Subterranean Life” nudge toward Fourth World territory, painting deluxe dreamscapes of uncertain provenance; the title cut is an abstract drift-world, Igarashi painting an alien tableau dotted by shape-shifting creatures.
Agartha’s conceptual framework means that everything on the album sits perfectly together; listening to it in one sitting is a dizzying, lush experience. Its imaginings of inner landscapes recall, in some respects, the nautical, aqueous mythologies of the Drexciyan universe, though from different perspectives. But the result is Igarashi’s own creation, a deluxe, enchanting trip through the visionary Agartha of this unique producer’s cinematic mind’s-eye. More
1
Stephan Barnem / Futuristant - Don't Cry
2
Stephan Barnem / Futuristant - Elysium
3
Stephan Barnem / Futuristant - Don't Cry (Ambient Version)
We’re still harvesting the fruits of those past days in seclusion, the cabin fever induced creative outbursts, ideas that would probably have never surfaced without these enforced trips to our inner minds. Lockdown transcendence.
“Don’t Cry” by Italo-Brazilian DJ producer Stephan Barnem and Futuristant is another impressive testament of those days. Secluded in Stephan’s studio in Northern Italy, the duo subconsciously conjured the spirits of one of their mutual favorite bands, Depeche Mode and created a fierce, boombappy Neo New Wave smasher contrived to send rays of hope into the darkest corners of this mad world. We had to add a gratuitous beatless version to the EP that amplifies the cinematic depth and healing potency of this song.
If “Don’t Cry” echoes the dark brooding euphoria of Depeche Mode’s “Music For The Masses” era, the flipside cut “Elysium” harks back to the synthwave happy days of their debut “Speak & Spell”. It’s a wonderfully careless track that’s bringing a dearly needed breeze of fresh air to today’s discerning dancefloors.
Boys don’t cry for me Argentina. Save your tears for another day. More
“Don’t Cry” by Italo-Brazilian DJ producer Stephan Barnem and Futuristant is another impressive testament of those days. Secluded in Stephan’s studio in Northern Italy, the duo subconsciously conjured the spirits of one of their mutual favorite bands, Depeche Mode and created a fierce, boombappy Neo New Wave smasher contrived to send rays of hope into the darkest corners of this mad world. We had to add a gratuitous beatless version to the EP that amplifies the cinematic depth and healing potency of this song.
If “Don’t Cry” echoes the dark brooding euphoria of Depeche Mode’s “Music For The Masses” era, the flipside cut “Elysium” harks back to the synthwave happy days of their debut “Speak & Spell”. It’s a wonderfully careless track that’s bringing a dearly needed breeze of fresh air to today’s discerning dancefloors.
Boys don’t cry for me Argentina. Save your tears for another day. More
1
Blank Gloss - Sender
2
Blank Gloss - Dusted
3
Blank Gloss - Get Well Soon
4
Blank Gloss - No Appetite
5
Blank Gloss - Soda Lake
6
Blank Gloss - Crossing
7
Blank Gloss - On The Ground
8
Blank Gloss - Salt
9
Blank Gloss - Dressed Alike
Sacramento, CA duo Blank Gloss’s third album, Cornered, is an exquisite statement of pop ambient starkness, an album that oscillates between lush beauty and spare melancholy. It follows from their 2021 debut for Kompakt, Melt, an album that saw Morgan Fox (piano, synths) and Patrick Hills (guitar) aligned, loosely, with the cosmic pastorale of the ‘ambient Americana’ movement. Cornered feels like a significant step forward, though – by peeling back the layers of their music, they’ve revealed both its restful core and its solemn gravitas. It is unendingly lovely, but with something disquieting at its centre.
Cornered was recorded quickly, over two days in December 2020. There’s nothing rushed or haphazard about the album, though; everything has its place, with each sonic element contributing profoundly to these nine miniature dioramas. It signals change, quietly but perceptibly, through the way the duo sculpts their material, building out of loose improvisations that morphed into songs. While there was no plan in mind when Blank Gloss settled into the studio, Fox recalls that “right away we realised that things were sounding and feeling a bit different than any of the sessions we had previously.”
That difference can be heard in the increased amount of space Blank Gloss gift to their sound sources. Some of the most moving moments on Cornered come when Fox and Hills strip everything back – see, for example, “Crossing”, which sets pensive piano across a shyly humming drone and quiet arcs of guitar, recalling the driftworks of Roger Eno. Curiously, the album’s distinctive shape and mood develops, at least in part, from a change in instrumentation, with Hills using a MIDI pick-up on his guitar. “This resulted in making things happen a lot quicker,” Fox says. “It also helped create what I think is a bit more sombre, dark feeling to some of the songs.”
Elsewhere, on songs like “Salt”, the piano tussles with flecks of guitar, single tones sent out to mingle with the stars, like Morricone at 16 RPM, while Cornered’s centrepiece, the eleven-minute “No Appetite”, lets long arcs of electronic texture breathe and sigh, tangling together in a cat’s cradle of bliss. Throughout, it feels as though the music is blossoming as you hear it, like watching time-lapse footage of flora in bloom. But perhaps the most seductive thing about Cornered is the sense you get, listening, that the music was something unexpected, a visitation. “It almost felt like we weren’t dictating where the music went and how it sounded,” Fox agrees. “We were just there in a room together in December and these sounds were happening, and we were lucky enough to be recording the process.” More
Cornered was recorded quickly, over two days in December 2020. There’s nothing rushed or haphazard about the album, though; everything has its place, with each sonic element contributing profoundly to these nine miniature dioramas. It signals change, quietly but perceptibly, through the way the duo sculpts their material, building out of loose improvisations that morphed into songs. While there was no plan in mind when Blank Gloss settled into the studio, Fox recalls that “right away we realised that things were sounding and feeling a bit different than any of the sessions we had previously.”
That difference can be heard in the increased amount of space Blank Gloss gift to their sound sources. Some of the most moving moments on Cornered come when Fox and Hills strip everything back – see, for example, “Crossing”, which sets pensive piano across a shyly humming drone and quiet arcs of guitar, recalling the driftworks of Roger Eno. Curiously, the album’s distinctive shape and mood develops, at least in part, from a change in instrumentation, with Hills using a MIDI pick-up on his guitar. “This resulted in making things happen a lot quicker,” Fox says. “It also helped create what I think is a bit more sombre, dark feeling to some of the songs.”
Elsewhere, on songs like “Salt”, the piano tussles with flecks of guitar, single tones sent out to mingle with the stars, like Morricone at 16 RPM, while Cornered’s centrepiece, the eleven-minute “No Appetite”, lets long arcs of electronic texture breathe and sigh, tangling together in a cat’s cradle of bliss. Throughout, it feels as though the music is blossoming as you hear it, like watching time-lapse footage of flora in bloom. But perhaps the most seductive thing about Cornered is the sense you get, listening, that the music was something unexpected, a visitation. “It almost felt like we weren’t dictating where the music went and how it sounded,” Fox agrees. “We were just there in a room together in December and these sounds were happening, and we were lucky enough to be recording the process.” More
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VILLALOBOS - EASY LEE
2
VILLALOBOS - THEOGENESE
3
VILLALOBOS - BAHAHA HAHI
4
VILLALOBOS - LA RAJA
5
VILLALOBOS - I TRY TO LIVE (CAN I LIVE)
6
VILLALOBOS - QUIZÅS
7
VILLALOBOS - FUSION THE ENEMIES
8
VILLALOBOS - DEXTER
9
VILLALOBOS - BACH TO BACK
10
VILLALOBOS - Y.G.H.
11
VILLALOBOS - WAIWORINAO
Format: 4x12"LP
Tracklist
A EASY LEE
B THEOGENESE
C1 BAHAHA HAHI
C2 LA RAJA
D I TRY TO LIVE (CAN I LIVE)
E1 QUIZÅS
E2 FUSION THE ENEMIES
F DEXTER
G BACH TO BACK
H1 Y.G.H.
H2 WAIWORINAO
Ricardo Villalobos first album „Alcachofa“ from 2003.
Originally released by Playhouse as a 3x12“ record set, the re-release adds a fourth 12“, the „Alcachofa Tools“. More
Tracklist
A EASY LEE
B THEOGENESE
C1 BAHAHA HAHI
C2 LA RAJA
D I TRY TO LIVE (CAN I LIVE)
E1 QUIZÅS
E2 FUSION THE ENEMIES
F DEXTER
G BACH TO BACK
H1 Y.G.H.
H2 WAIWORINAO
Ricardo Villalobos first album „Alcachofa“ from 2003.
Originally released by Playhouse as a 3x12“ record set, the re-release adds a fourth 12“, the „Alcachofa Tools“. More
1
Anagrams - Birds On Clifton
2
Anagrams - Blue Voices
3
Anagrams - Hymn No.2
4
Anagrams - Catch It
5
Anagrams - Ex Uno Plures
6
Anagrams - Hidden Hearts
7
Anagrams - Another Cloud
8
Anagrams - Song In Six
9
Anagrams - Interesting Times
10
Anagrams - Let Us Sing Sad Songs Together
11
Anagrams - What Is Left Is Music
Balmat co-founders Philip Sherburne and Albert Salinas have been fans of Shy Layers’ lilting, Balearic pop for years, so when Shy Layers’ JD Walsh asked us to listen to a set of demos he was working up with fellow Atlanta multi-instrumentalist Jeff Crompton, we jumped at the chance. And once we heard their work in progress, the decision was almost immediate: We have to release this.
Together, Walsh and Crompton are Anagrams, and their debut album together, Blue Voices, might initially seem like a departure from Balmat’s habitually electronic terrain. It’s not ambient music, but it’s also not not ambient music, at least to listeners in the right frame of mind. The two musicians, who met when Walsh moved from Brooklyn to Atlanta in 2016 and began collaborating a few years later, see the music in similarly ambiguous terms. “I like it because it’s not jazz,” jokes Crompton, a veteran and credentialed jazz player. “And JD likes it because it’s jazz.”
Crompton is a musician (and former high-school band teacher) with deep roots in Georgia’s improvised and experimental music scenes; his credits include shows with Eugene Chadbourne, a guest appearance with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and a collaboration with Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel’s 12-hour drone performance at Knoxville’s Big Ears. On Blue Voices he plays alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, electric piano, and organ. Walsh has been releasing music as Shy Layers since 2015, when he started self-releasing on Bandcamp; the following year, Germany’s Growing Bin packaged his first two EPs as a self-titled album, and in 2018, Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space label put out Shy Layers’ sophomore album, Midnight Marker. Where those records channeled Walsh’s playful harmonic instincts into wistful songwriting with tropical overtones, on Blue Voices he lets his experimental tendencies take the lead. Playing acoustic and electric guitars, electric lap steel, bass, Moog Matriarch, modular synth, and programmed drums, he concentrates his energies on richly textural layers and abstract assemblages of tone color.
Across the album’s 11 tracks, there are faint echoes of familiar touchstones: the atmospheric twang of Daniel Lanois’ pedal steel on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks; the mercurial modal runs of Ethio- jazz; the late-summer calm of Fuubutsushi; the versatility of players and composers like Patrick Shiroishi and Sam Gendel, who are asking similar questions about where jazz ends and some other, nameless territory begins. Mostly, though, what Blue Voices captures is the quixotic sound of two restless musical imaginations making it up as they go along, two voices discovering a shared language in a hitherto unexplored shade of blue. More
Together, Walsh and Crompton are Anagrams, and their debut album together, Blue Voices, might initially seem like a departure from Balmat’s habitually electronic terrain. It’s not ambient music, but it’s also not not ambient music, at least to listeners in the right frame of mind. The two musicians, who met when Walsh moved from Brooklyn to Atlanta in 2016 and began collaborating a few years later, see the music in similarly ambiguous terms. “I like it because it’s not jazz,” jokes Crompton, a veteran and credentialed jazz player. “And JD likes it because it’s jazz.”
Crompton is a musician (and former high-school band teacher) with deep roots in Georgia’s improvised and experimental music scenes; his credits include shows with Eugene Chadbourne, a guest appearance with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and a collaboration with Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel’s 12-hour drone performance at Knoxville’s Big Ears. On Blue Voices he plays alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, electric piano, and organ. Walsh has been releasing music as Shy Layers since 2015, when he started self-releasing on Bandcamp; the following year, Germany’s Growing Bin packaged his first two EPs as a self-titled album, and in 2018, Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space label put out Shy Layers’ sophomore album, Midnight Marker. Where those records channeled Walsh’s playful harmonic instincts into wistful songwriting with tropical overtones, on Blue Voices he lets his experimental tendencies take the lead. Playing acoustic and electric guitars, electric lap steel, bass, Moog Matriarch, modular synth, and programmed drums, he concentrates his energies on richly textural layers and abstract assemblages of tone color.
Across the album’s 11 tracks, there are faint echoes of familiar touchstones: the atmospheric twang of Daniel Lanois’ pedal steel on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks; the mercurial modal runs of Ethio- jazz; the late-summer calm of Fuubutsushi; the versatility of players and composers like Patrick Shiroishi and Sam Gendel, who are asking similar questions about where jazz ends and some other, nameless territory begins. Mostly, though, what Blue Voices captures is the quixotic sound of two restless musical imaginations making it up as they go along, two voices discovering a shared language in a hitherto unexplored shade of blue. More
Cat-No:rbinc010lp
Release-Date:17.11.2023
Configuration:LP Excl
Cat-No:rbinc010lp
Release-Date:17.11.2023
Configuration:LP Excl
1
Panoram - Feathers
2
Panoram - I Can Only Repeat Your Love
3
Panoram - Flat Stones
4
Panoram - Valovola
5
Panoram - Ages
6
Panoram - The Wide House
7
Panoram - Dove Done Come
8
Panoram - Blank Sheep
9
Panoram - There Is A Hole Here
10
Panoram - Squid For A Day
11
Panoram - Bucolica
12
Panoram - Izzy Rob
Format: LP
Tracklist
Feathers
I Can Only Repeat Your Love
Flat Stones
Valovola
Ages
The Wide House
Dove Done Come
Blank Sheep
There Is A Hole Here
Squid For A Day
Bucolica
Izzy Rob
Release info:
Following up last year’s Acrobatic Thoughts album, Panoram delves even deeper into his own musical universe with Keep Looking Where The Light Comes From. We find the producer in confident form, exploring the fuzzy fringes of beauty and chaos. The result is an album that sounds even more like himself and yet surprising at each turn.
Opening track Feathers sounds like only Panoram can, buzzy arpeggiated distortion takes flight somewhere in the direction of a distant multiverse where Animal Collective and Boards of Canada soundtracked Koyaanisqatsi. But the psychedelic drift is all Panoram’s own, conjuring a stark sense of the uncanny with the repeated phrases. The digital guitar and vocal loops of I Can Only Repeat Your Love are practically on the brink of collapsing in on themselves, to the point where the structure begins to shift like a collapsing monument. Flat Stones nods towards ASMR, as flute and woodwind tones caress the ears and a whispered voice teases out an altered state.
It’s this dreamlike mood that pervades the whole album, a maximal effect that’s wrung from minimalist compositions. The Wide House picks up the baton from Laurie Anderson to trip gently through different states of awareness, while the piano patterns of Blank Sheep float through the synth ambience like ideas entering an empty dream. There Is A Hole Here is another mutant loop that unravels as it proceeds - the rhythms turn into a pulse, and despite what the lyrics say, it does indeed mess around with your brain.
Panoram balances dance tropes, classical composition, ambient drones and a washed out, fuzzy twist on avant garde pop, and manages to transform it all into a uniform whole that fits all those puzzle pieces together. Yet such is the assuredness of Panoram’s production that it sounds effortless. At this point, the music is more like a midwife, manifesting your future self‘s enlightened consciousness with surreal effect.
More
Tracklist
Feathers
I Can Only Repeat Your Love
Flat Stones
Valovola
Ages
The Wide House
Dove Done Come
Blank Sheep
There Is A Hole Here
Squid For A Day
Bucolica
Izzy Rob
Release info:
Following up last year’s Acrobatic Thoughts album, Panoram delves even deeper into his own musical universe with Keep Looking Where The Light Comes From. We find the producer in confident form, exploring the fuzzy fringes of beauty and chaos. The result is an album that sounds even more like himself and yet surprising at each turn.
Opening track Feathers sounds like only Panoram can, buzzy arpeggiated distortion takes flight somewhere in the direction of a distant multiverse where Animal Collective and Boards of Canada soundtracked Koyaanisqatsi. But the psychedelic drift is all Panoram’s own, conjuring a stark sense of the uncanny with the repeated phrases. The digital guitar and vocal loops of I Can Only Repeat Your Love are practically on the brink of collapsing in on themselves, to the point where the structure begins to shift like a collapsing monument. Flat Stones nods towards ASMR, as flute and woodwind tones caress the ears and a whispered voice teases out an altered state.
It’s this dreamlike mood that pervades the whole album, a maximal effect that’s wrung from minimalist compositions. The Wide House picks up the baton from Laurie Anderson to trip gently through different states of awareness, while the piano patterns of Blank Sheep float through the synth ambience like ideas entering an empty dream. There Is A Hole Here is another mutant loop that unravels as it proceeds - the rhythms turn into a pulse, and despite what the lyrics say, it does indeed mess around with your brain.
Panoram balances dance tropes, classical composition, ambient drones and a washed out, fuzzy twist on avant garde pop, and manages to transform it all into a uniform whole that fits all those puzzle pieces together. Yet such is the assuredness of Panoram’s production that it sounds effortless. At this point, the music is more like a midwife, manifesting your future self‘s enlightened consciousness with surreal effect.
More
Gondwana present the UK jazz master Chip Wickham follows last year’s brilliant soulful long-player Cloud 10 with a deftly crafted, reflective EP of beautiful spiritual jazz sounds influenced by the soulful sounds of Yusef Lateef.
Track Listing: A1. Space Walk A2. Love & Life B1. Seven Worlds B2. Slow Down Look Around
https://soundcloud.com/gondwana-records/sets/chip-wickham-love-life/s-cYXwXXZK0ST?si=71ee21c9289f46e6a8f3d5a1997c881b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing More
Track Listing: A1. Space Walk A2. Love & Life B1. Seven Worlds B2. Slow Down Look Around
https://soundcloud.com/gondwana-records/sets/chip-wickham-love-life/s-cYXwXXZK0ST?si=71ee21c9289f46e6a8f3d5a1997c881b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing More
1
Danny Scott Lane - Three Is Company
2
Danny Scott Lane - A Shower At Six
3
Danny Scott Lane - Share
4
Danny Scott Lane - Must Have
5
Danny Scott Lane - Star Thing
6
Danny Scott Lane - Spy On Me
7
Danny Scott Lane - Shower Dance
8
Danny Scott Lane - 11PM
9
Danny Scott Lane - Smells Like Flowers
10
Danny Scott Lane - Showering Sad
WORLDWIDE
LP: Biovinyl, Limited Edition of 500, Heavy 350gsm Sleeve, Sticker
Tracklisting LP
A1. Three Is Company
A2. A Shower At Six
A3. Share
A4. Must Have
A5. Star Thing
B1. Spy On Me
B2. Shower Dance
B3. 11PM
B4. Smells Like Flowers
B5. Showering Sad
Info
WRWTFWW Records is so happy to announce Shower, the brand-new album by New York born, Los Angeles based ambient / jazz / downtempo musician Danny Scott Lane, following the recently released and very well-received cozy soundscape, Home Decor. The limited edition LP (500 copies worldwide) is available on biovinyl housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve featuring an illustration by Gabrielle Rul and design by Jazlyn Fung. The album is also available digitally.
Continuing to gently push (caress?) the boundaries of chill out music, smooth jazz, and comfy electronica, Shower draws inspiration from “the feeling of a steamy shower shared with a stranger after a night on the dance floor”, a warm immersive affair for the mind and the body. This latest funky auditory experience once again invites Matt Elliot Gooden’s soothing saxophone, and this time also welcomes the vibrant beats of drummer David Ruiz. Organic, discreet in the most relaxing and elegant ways, and just the right amount of sexy – Lane’s new creation offers the finest in audio cocooning.
As you tilt your head back and close your eyes, let the hot and dripping sounds of Shower transport you to a world of sonic serenity. Feel the rich textures and appeasing harmonies wash over you, enveloping your senses in pure musical bliss.
Shower is the first new release by WRWTFWW Records made with biovinyl, a sustainable alternative to traditional vinyl. Biovinyl replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases, resulting in 100% CO2 savings in bio-based S-PVC production. Furthermore, it is 100% recyclable and reusable, embracing the circular economy ideology.
Points of interests
- For fans of ambient, smooth jazz, minimalism, saxophone, solo showers, duo showers, shower à trois, and the fresh side of the pillow.
- Limited edition biovinyl of Danny Scott Lane’s new album featuring saxophone by Matt Elliot Gooden and drums by David Ruiz.
More
LP: Biovinyl, Limited Edition of 500, Heavy 350gsm Sleeve, Sticker
Tracklisting LP
A1. Three Is Company
A2. A Shower At Six
A3. Share
A4. Must Have
A5. Star Thing
B1. Spy On Me
B2. Shower Dance
B3. 11PM
B4. Smells Like Flowers
B5. Showering Sad
Info
WRWTFWW Records is so happy to announce Shower, the brand-new album by New York born, Los Angeles based ambient / jazz / downtempo musician Danny Scott Lane, following the recently released and very well-received cozy soundscape, Home Decor. The limited edition LP (500 copies worldwide) is available on biovinyl housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve featuring an illustration by Gabrielle Rul and design by Jazlyn Fung. The album is also available digitally.
Continuing to gently push (caress?) the boundaries of chill out music, smooth jazz, and comfy electronica, Shower draws inspiration from “the feeling of a steamy shower shared with a stranger after a night on the dance floor”, a warm immersive affair for the mind and the body. This latest funky auditory experience once again invites Matt Elliot Gooden’s soothing saxophone, and this time also welcomes the vibrant beats of drummer David Ruiz. Organic, discreet in the most relaxing and elegant ways, and just the right amount of sexy – Lane’s new creation offers the finest in audio cocooning.
As you tilt your head back and close your eyes, let the hot and dripping sounds of Shower transport you to a world of sonic serenity. Feel the rich textures and appeasing harmonies wash over you, enveloping your senses in pure musical bliss.
Shower is the first new release by WRWTFWW Records made with biovinyl, a sustainable alternative to traditional vinyl. Biovinyl replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases, resulting in 100% CO2 savings in bio-based S-PVC production. Furthermore, it is 100% recyclable and reusable, embracing the circular economy ideology.
Points of interests
- For fans of ambient, smooth jazz, minimalism, saxophone, solo showers, duo showers, shower à trois, and the fresh side of the pillow.
- Limited edition biovinyl of Danny Scott Lane’s new album featuring saxophone by Matt Elliot Gooden and drums by David Ruiz.
More
1
Philipp Otterbach - Sept 18, 92
2
Philipp Otterbach - Jan 25, 03
3
Philipp Otterbach - Apr 22, 04
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Philipp Otterbach - Apr 23, 11
5
Philipp Otterbach - Mar 27, 16
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Philipp Otterbach - Aug 18, 95
Berlin based Philipp Otterbach debuts on Offen with "Correct Me If I Am Incorrectly You". TIP!
Post-music phantasmagoria for the world in which the past became more unpredictable than the future.
Remember Cowboy Bob, Salaryman and Gary Floyd in that opium den in Fischeln?
Deconstructed entertainment for hopeless romantics and testament to Otterbach's unique artistic language.
Supersound vinyl LP, full cover inside out print.
Written and produced by Philipp Otterbach
Additional voices on B1 by Nadia D´Alo
Drums on B3 by Freund Kern
Mastered by Enrico Mercaldi
Artwork by Percy
Offen Music 2023 More
Post-music phantasmagoria for the world in which the past became more unpredictable than the future.
Remember Cowboy Bob, Salaryman and Gary Floyd in that opium den in Fischeln?
Deconstructed entertainment for hopeless romantics and testament to Otterbach's unique artistic language.
Supersound vinyl LP, full cover inside out print.
Written and produced by Philipp Otterbach
Additional voices on B1 by Nadia D´Alo
Drums on B3 by Freund Kern
Mastered by Enrico Mercaldi
Artwork by Percy
Offen Music 2023 More
1
The Habitat Ensemble - Two Voices In The Field
2
The Habitat Ensemble - Maringotka
3
The Habitat Ensemble - Rounded Edges
4
The Habitat Ensemble - Clay
5
The Habitat Ensemble - Moments
6
The Habitat Ensemble - Male Kapky
7
The Habitat Ensemble - Vitr A Ja
8
The Habitat Ensemble - Die Vergessenen Orte
9
The Habitat Ensemble - And Bamboo
10
The Habitat Ensemble - Let Magicien De La Foret
11
The Habitat Ensemble - Outro
Repress!
Self-titled debut album of Habitat Ensemble, a new musical collective headed up by musician Marius Houschayer.
The collective originates deep in the south of the Czech Republic, on the border with Austria, amongst the idyllic hills and fields of a village called Maríž, where a summer school of outsiders and creatives have been gathering since the 1990s. Enriching each other through intercultural exchange, summer school participants have created a unique gathering of artistic expression and interdisciplinary research.
Originally grown out of the idea of translating the unique energy of the community and its environment into a musical journey where each member makes their own individual contribution, during the summer of August 2022, The Habitat Ensemble became an exciting vehicle for connection and co-creation.
Whether it be musical experimentation, composition, poetry, song or dance, Habitat Ensemble, having started as a series of multidisciplinary workshops, slowly developed into a unique musical recording. The album serves to conjure the unique nature, community, experimentation surrounding the school and the collective’s search for harmony across all of these, both musical and spiritual. More
Self-titled debut album of Habitat Ensemble, a new musical collective headed up by musician Marius Houschayer.
The collective originates deep in the south of the Czech Republic, on the border with Austria, amongst the idyllic hills and fields of a village called Maríž, where a summer school of outsiders and creatives have been gathering since the 1990s. Enriching each other through intercultural exchange, summer school participants have created a unique gathering of artistic expression and interdisciplinary research.
Originally grown out of the idea of translating the unique energy of the community and its environment into a musical journey where each member makes their own individual contribution, during the summer of August 2022, The Habitat Ensemble became an exciting vehicle for connection and co-creation.
Whether it be musical experimentation, composition, poetry, song or dance, Habitat Ensemble, having started as a series of multidisciplinary workshops, slowly developed into a unique musical recording. The album serves to conjure the unique nature, community, experimentation surrounding the school and the collective’s search for harmony across all of these, both musical and spiritual. More
1
Bo Harwood & John Cassavetes - No One Around To Hear It
2
Chen Ming Chang - Rainwater
3
Bhairavi Raman & Nanthesh Sivarajah - Bittersweet Reflections
4
The King Of Luxembourg - Poptones
5
Slapp Happy - Is It You
6
O.G. Jigg - Jesus Is My Jam
7
Klang - As It Is
8
Scala - Fuser
9
Soft Location - Let The Moon Get Into It
10
Gyeongsu - YZOBEL (feat. CROCHE)
11
Omertà - Moments In Love
12
Kasumi Trio - Cabbage Butterfly
13
Un - Fast Money Blues
14
Delphine Dora - V
15
Harry Plunket-Greene - The Hurdy-Gurdy Man
2LP
Tracklist
1. Bo Harwood & John Cassavetes - No One Around To Hear It
2. Chen Ming Chang - Rainwater
3. Bhairavi Raman & Nanthesh Sivarajah - Bittersweet Reflections
4. The King Of Luxembourg - Poptones
5. Slapp Happy - Is It You
6. O.G. Jigg - Jesus Is My Jam
7. Klang - As It Is
8. Scala - Fuser
9. Soft Location - Let The Moon Get Into It
10. Gyeongsu - YZOBEL (feat. CROCHE)
11. Omertà - Moments In Love
12. Kasumi Trio - Cabbage Butterfly
13. Un - Fast Money Blues
14. Delphine Dora - V
15. Harry Plunket-Greene - The Hurdy-Gurdy Man
Short info:
Searchlight Moonbeam is the new narrative compilation from Time Is Away (Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney) whose eponymous monthly NTS Radio shows, tinctured fusions of fugitive sounds and reverie-inducing archival speech, have won them an ardent following. It follows from the London-based duo’s Ballads, a remarkable driftwerk released on A Colourful Storm in 2022.
Searchlight Moonbeam is an autumnal dreamscape, intimate and vespertine, pensive and irresolute. An imagined community where differences drop off and resonances emerge – between Maher Shalal Hash Baz affiliates Kasumi Trio, Taiwanese score composer Chen Ming Chang whose ‘Rainwater’ (written for Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s 1986 film Dust In The Wind) is exquisitely heartbroken, and the plangent improvisations of self-taught French pianist Delphine Dora.
Revelations are frequent: the bedsit isolationism of Bo Harwood and John Cassavetes’ ‘No One Around to Hear It’ (from The Killing of a Chinese Bookie); the narked minimalism of Klang (an early 2000s band formed by ex-Elastica guitarist and featuring prize-winning experimental novelist Isabel Waidner on bass); the etude-grooves and echoic wobble of below-the-radar French avant-gardists Omertà ; the beautiful, plaintively dubby ‘Is It You?’ by Slapp Happy; a psych-tinged reimagining of PiL’s ‘Poptones’ by Simon Fisher Turner (one half of Deux Filles, and here, recording for él as The King of Luxembourg) that's as perverse as the cover of Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats.
Searchlight Moonbeam is the musical analog of an Italo Calvino novel or a medieval fable. Associative, intuitive, borderless. Emotional and mysterious. Endowed with the tactility of Braille. A private language that is both unknowable and understood. It is a record of the seasons, for the seasons.
2023 marks the tenth anniversary of Time Is Away’s first broadcast. Featuring an evocative essay by writer Jeremy Atherton Lin and disarming cover art by Penny Davenport, Searchlight Moonbeam showcases Rollo and Tierney’s still-unrivalled talent for gloaming melodies, disques du crépuscule, ensorcelled storytelling.
More
Tracklist
1. Bo Harwood & John Cassavetes - No One Around To Hear It
2. Chen Ming Chang - Rainwater
3. Bhairavi Raman & Nanthesh Sivarajah - Bittersweet Reflections
4. The King Of Luxembourg - Poptones
5. Slapp Happy - Is It You
6. O.G. Jigg - Jesus Is My Jam
7. Klang - As It Is
8. Scala - Fuser
9. Soft Location - Let The Moon Get Into It
10. Gyeongsu - YZOBEL (feat. CROCHE)
11. Omertà - Moments In Love
12. Kasumi Trio - Cabbage Butterfly
13. Un - Fast Money Blues
14. Delphine Dora - V
15. Harry Plunket-Greene - The Hurdy-Gurdy Man
Short info:
Searchlight Moonbeam is the new narrative compilation from Time Is Away (Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney) whose eponymous monthly NTS Radio shows, tinctured fusions of fugitive sounds and reverie-inducing archival speech, have won them an ardent following. It follows from the London-based duo’s Ballads, a remarkable driftwerk released on A Colourful Storm in 2022.
Searchlight Moonbeam is an autumnal dreamscape, intimate and vespertine, pensive and irresolute. An imagined community where differences drop off and resonances emerge – between Maher Shalal Hash Baz affiliates Kasumi Trio, Taiwanese score composer Chen Ming Chang whose ‘Rainwater’ (written for Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s 1986 film Dust In The Wind) is exquisitely heartbroken, and the plangent improvisations of self-taught French pianist Delphine Dora.
Revelations are frequent: the bedsit isolationism of Bo Harwood and John Cassavetes’ ‘No One Around to Hear It’ (from The Killing of a Chinese Bookie); the narked minimalism of Klang (an early 2000s band formed by ex-Elastica guitarist and featuring prize-winning experimental novelist Isabel Waidner on bass); the etude-grooves and echoic wobble of below-the-radar French avant-gardists Omertà ; the beautiful, plaintively dubby ‘Is It You?’ by Slapp Happy; a psych-tinged reimagining of PiL’s ‘Poptones’ by Simon Fisher Turner (one half of Deux Filles, and here, recording for él as The King of Luxembourg) that's as perverse as the cover of Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats.
Searchlight Moonbeam is the musical analog of an Italo Calvino novel or a medieval fable. Associative, intuitive, borderless. Emotional and mysterious. Endowed with the tactility of Braille. A private language that is both unknowable and understood. It is a record of the seasons, for the seasons.
2023 marks the tenth anniversary of Time Is Away’s first broadcast. Featuring an evocative essay by writer Jeremy Atherton Lin and disarming cover art by Penny Davenport, Searchlight Moonbeam showcases Rollo and Tierney’s still-unrivalled talent for gloaming melodies, disques du crépuscule, ensorcelled storytelling.
More
1
Wally Badarou - Dance In The Dust
2
Wally Badarou - Amber Whispers
3
Wally Badarou - Where Were We
4
Wally Badarou - The Lights Of Kinshasa
5
Wally Badarou - Pictures Of You
6
Wally Badarou - Serendipity For Two
7
Wally Badarou - Smiles By The Millions
8
Wally Badarou - Higher Still
9
Wally Badarou - Oriental
10
Wally Badarou - Days To Wonder
11
Wally Badarou - Dawn Of Europa
12
Wally Badarou - Crystal Falls
13
Wally Badarou - Purple Lines
Territories: Worldwide no restrictions
Format Notes: First time vinyl release, 140g vinyl
Track List:
A1 Dance In The Dust
A2 Amber Whispers
A3 Where Were We
A4 The Lights Of Kinshasa
A5 Pictures Of You
----
B1 Serendipity For Two
B2 Smiles By The Millions
B3 Higher Still
B4 Oriental
B5 Days To Wonder
B6 Dawn Of Europa
B7 Crystal Falls
B8 Purple Lines
Release Notes:
Synth pioneer and musical polymath, Wally Badarou is a genius. But you know that already. A vinyl version of his majestic Colors Of Silence has been craved by the Balearic cognoscenti ever since its low-key 2001 release. Indeed, when we first started work on Be With, we asked some pals with exquisite taste what their dream release would be. We asked Balearic legend Moonboots and, without hesitation, he said Colors Of Silence by Wally Badarou. We didn't know Wally had made this album. And most still don't. But that's about to change.
Colors Of Silence is ostensibly a new age album. As ever though, Wally's sophisticated synth textures and expressive keyboard runs are so full of character, so full of life, that this work of art transcends any easy genre categorisation. It's simply stunning, throughout. It sounds like A.r.t. Wilson or Suzanne Kraft, with traces of CFCF and Jonny Nash. But it was made a good decade earlier than the work of these modern giants. Sometimes, it doesn't seem far from some Larry Heard albums.
Island Records founder Chris Blackwell's friend Nathalie Delon asked Wally to provide music for the yoga DVD she was to release. Lack of time on both sides made them agree on using "quality demos" Wally had in his ideas bank. It's understandable why Colors Of Silence remains somewhat of a lost gem. As Wally explains: "Total lack of promotion made it an 'intimate' release, which was exactly what I was looking for: just a buzz-maker and time-buyer that would allow me to concentrate on the real thing as soon as I'd have time, which could also turn into a rare collecting item later, once the final versions made their way to success. You never know."
Over the years, Colors Of Silence has become a true cult record for the ambient/Balearic heads.
The beguiling but brief "Dance In The Dust" is the shuffling, hyper-percussive, hypnotic opener. It gives way to the deep serenity of "Amber Whispers". It's a gliding, divine, mini melodic masterpiece. It'll make you swoon in its extreme beauty. The bright and breezy "Where Were We" follows, a tropical, reggae-tinged bounce through the islands.
The uptempo groove is maintained on the keys-drizzled soca-funk of "The Lights Of Kinshasa" before Side A is rounded out with "Pictures Of You". It starts with stately, melancholic, unadorned piano and this alone would make for a beautiful song. But Wally always gives us that bit extra and he effortlessly introduces warm, dreamy pads and minimal, slo-mo percussion to augment a frankly stunning piece of work.
Ushering in Side B, Wally's mesmeric piano playing is to the fore again, in the intro to uber-chilled "Serendipity For Two". The playing becomes more mellifluous as the track progresses and adds warmth through exotic percussion, woodwind, sweeping synths and digi-drums. It has echoes of, er, Echoes. It segues seamlessly into the more propulsive, wavy "Smiles By The Millions". If you're not nodding and grinning along widely to the gently throbbing bassline underpinning this, we can't help you. The meditative "Higher Still" follows, cinematic in feel and ever so slightly sinister with the strings. It sounds particularly Badalamenti-esque, if you ask us.
That unmistakable, almost peculiar Badarou funk - so lyrical, so texturally rich and so rhythmically spacious - is all over "Oriental". Next up, "Days To Wonder" brings the serenity back, insistent yet melodic keys, as if played in a place of worship, coupled with birdsong, conjure a kind of instant nostalgia for halcyon days of youth. The contemplative "Dawn Of Europa" is a sombre, beatless, ambient journey whilst the glorious, too-brief "Crystal Falls" features soft percussion and sparkle before fully glistening with some gentle head-nod beats. Wally brings this incredible collection to a mellow, tender close with the graceful "Purple Lines".
There can be few artists more under-appreciated given their vast influence than Wally Badarou. His solo work practically defined the sound of the Balearic DJs of the 1980s, and thus the more sophisticated sound of dance culture thereafter. A synth specialist, Badarou was the long-time associate of Level 42. He was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson), the in-house recording team of Compass Point Studios responsible for a series of albums in the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs. Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Manu Dibango and Miriam Makeba. He also produced Fela Kuti. Phew!
Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland. Special thanks must go to Apiento from Test Pressing who first introduced us to Wally and facilitated all those early zoom meetings. It couldn't have happened without his help. Not least on pulling the art together, too, which features striking original photography by Mads Perch. Benji Roebuck of Roebuck Press did his thing brilliantly in art working the whole package to completion. All in all: essential. More
Format Notes: First time vinyl release, 140g vinyl
Track List:
A1 Dance In The Dust
A2 Amber Whispers
A3 Where Were We
A4 The Lights Of Kinshasa
A5 Pictures Of You
----
B1 Serendipity For Two
B2 Smiles By The Millions
B3 Higher Still
B4 Oriental
B5 Days To Wonder
B6 Dawn Of Europa
B7 Crystal Falls
B8 Purple Lines
Release Notes:
Synth pioneer and musical polymath, Wally Badarou is a genius. But you know that already. A vinyl version of his majestic Colors Of Silence has been craved by the Balearic cognoscenti ever since its low-key 2001 release. Indeed, when we first started work on Be With, we asked some pals with exquisite taste what their dream release would be. We asked Balearic legend Moonboots and, without hesitation, he said Colors Of Silence by Wally Badarou. We didn't know Wally had made this album. And most still don't. But that's about to change.
Colors Of Silence is ostensibly a new age album. As ever though, Wally's sophisticated synth textures and expressive keyboard runs are so full of character, so full of life, that this work of art transcends any easy genre categorisation. It's simply stunning, throughout. It sounds like A.r.t. Wilson or Suzanne Kraft, with traces of CFCF and Jonny Nash. But it was made a good decade earlier than the work of these modern giants. Sometimes, it doesn't seem far from some Larry Heard albums.
Island Records founder Chris Blackwell's friend Nathalie Delon asked Wally to provide music for the yoga DVD she was to release. Lack of time on both sides made them agree on using "quality demos" Wally had in his ideas bank. It's understandable why Colors Of Silence remains somewhat of a lost gem. As Wally explains: "Total lack of promotion made it an 'intimate' release, which was exactly what I was looking for: just a buzz-maker and time-buyer that would allow me to concentrate on the real thing as soon as I'd have time, which could also turn into a rare collecting item later, once the final versions made their way to success. You never know."
Over the years, Colors Of Silence has become a true cult record for the ambient/Balearic heads.
The beguiling but brief "Dance In The Dust" is the shuffling, hyper-percussive, hypnotic opener. It gives way to the deep serenity of "Amber Whispers". It's a gliding, divine, mini melodic masterpiece. It'll make you swoon in its extreme beauty. The bright and breezy "Where Were We" follows, a tropical, reggae-tinged bounce through the islands.
The uptempo groove is maintained on the keys-drizzled soca-funk of "The Lights Of Kinshasa" before Side A is rounded out with "Pictures Of You". It starts with stately, melancholic, unadorned piano and this alone would make for a beautiful song. But Wally always gives us that bit extra and he effortlessly introduces warm, dreamy pads and minimal, slo-mo percussion to augment a frankly stunning piece of work.
Ushering in Side B, Wally's mesmeric piano playing is to the fore again, in the intro to uber-chilled "Serendipity For Two". The playing becomes more mellifluous as the track progresses and adds warmth through exotic percussion, woodwind, sweeping synths and digi-drums. It has echoes of, er, Echoes. It segues seamlessly into the more propulsive, wavy "Smiles By The Millions". If you're not nodding and grinning along widely to the gently throbbing bassline underpinning this, we can't help you. The meditative "Higher Still" follows, cinematic in feel and ever so slightly sinister with the strings. It sounds particularly Badalamenti-esque, if you ask us.
That unmistakable, almost peculiar Badarou funk - so lyrical, so texturally rich and so rhythmically spacious - is all over "Oriental". Next up, "Days To Wonder" brings the serenity back, insistent yet melodic keys, as if played in a place of worship, coupled with birdsong, conjure a kind of instant nostalgia for halcyon days of youth. The contemplative "Dawn Of Europa" is a sombre, beatless, ambient journey whilst the glorious, too-brief "Crystal Falls" features soft percussion and sparkle before fully glistening with some gentle head-nod beats. Wally brings this incredible collection to a mellow, tender close with the graceful "Purple Lines".
There can be few artists more under-appreciated given their vast influence than Wally Badarou. His solo work practically defined the sound of the Balearic DJs of the 1980s, and thus the more sophisticated sound of dance culture thereafter. A synth specialist, Badarou was the long-time associate of Level 42. He was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson), the in-house recording team of Compass Point Studios responsible for a series of albums in the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs. Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Manu Dibango and Miriam Makeba. He also produced Fela Kuti. Phew!
Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland. Special thanks must go to Apiento from Test Pressing who first introduced us to Wally and facilitated all those early zoom meetings. It couldn't have happened without his help. Not least on pulling the art together, too, which features striking original photography by Mads Perch. Benji Roebuck of Roebuck Press did his thing brilliantly in art working the whole package to completion. All in all: essential. More
1
F.U.S.E. - New Day
2
F.U.S.E. - F.U.
3
F.U.S.E. - Slac
4
F.U.S.E. - Dimension Intrusion
5
F.U.S.E. - Substance Abuse
6
F.U.S.E. - Train-Trac. 1
7
F.U.S.E. - Another Time (Revisited)
8
F.U.S.E. - Theychx
9
F.U.S.E. - UVA
10
F.U.S.E. - Mantrax
11
F.U.S.E. - Nitedrive
12
F.U.S.E. - Into The Space
13
F.U.S.E. - Logikal Nonsense
The first full-length studio album by Richie Hawtin, who was 22 years old at the time and living in Windsor, Canada. It was first released in June 1993 under the F.U.S.E. name on Hawtin’s own Plus 8 Records imprint and again on Warp Records as part of the ‘Artificial Intelligence’ series.
Remastered back in 2019, the reissue features original artwork from Richie’s brother, Matthew Hawtin.
Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Richie Hawtin aka F.U.S.E. would make frequent excursions across the border to Detroit in search of record shops and new clubbing experiences. Soon he would take up a residency at the small subversive club The Shelter and develop his skills as a DJ. Together with his close friend John Acquaviva they launched Plus 8 Records in 1990 to release their own creations and to support other up-and-coming, like-minded techno producers who were in search of a musical home. Richie started recording under the cryptic alias F.U.S.E.- abbreviation for ‘Futuristic Underground Subsonic Experiments’ - and released seminal tracks like ‘F.U.’ and ‘Substance Abuse’ (1991). The From Our Minds To Yours compilations released on Plus 8 would make a mark on the developing techno scene in Detroit and beyond. At age 22 Hawtin released his first full-length studio album under his F.U.S.E. pseudonym. Dimension Intrusion was largely inspired by science fiction films and a collection of available vintage synthesizers and drum machines. Playing with their electronic yet warm sound effects, the young producer in turn discovered some of his favourite instruments. His heady manipulations of the Roland TB-303 acid sound helped develop an influential style that would have a lasting impact on electronic music. The tracks on Dimension Intrusion range from club focused techno to soundtrack ambience and can be seen retrospectively as experiments leading to what would soon become Hawtin’s trademark acid-laced Plastikman sound.
- Spec Black 2LP Vinyl in polylined inner sleeves in wide spine outer sleeve with 12” poster insert
[4th October 2023] Today, Warp announces reissues of two more albums from their Artificial Intelligence series: Dimension Intrusion by F.U.S.E. (aka Richie Hawtin) and Ginger by Speedy J. Both records were originally released in 1993, and these new vinyl editions mark their 30th anniversary.
Although unique records by distinctive artists, there are some strands that tie the two albums together. Dimension Intrusion was the fifth album in the Artificial Intelligence series, originally released on 7 June 1993, whilst Ginger was the sixth album in the series, coming out two weeks later on 21 June. Whereas the rest of the series focused on elevating underground electronic producers from the UK such as Autechre, B12, Black Dog Productions and Polygon Window, these two entries in the series added an international dimension, representing North American and Northern European takes respectively on the techno genre. Both albums were also released in Canada on Richie Hawtin’s own fabled Plus 8 label, with Paap putting out a domestic edition of Ginger in the Netherlands on his Beam Me Up! imprint, echoing the accidental Star Trek reference in Warp’s own name (actually a shortening of original name Warped). Both artists would go on to record for NovaMute, a dance music subsidiary of Mute Records.
The concept that unites this music above all however is the idea of crafting electronic music for home listening, charting the evolution of a musical form that had started out purely dancefloor-focused. Both Paap and Hawtin had started to make tracks with this idea in mind independently, and it chimed perfectly with the series that Warp founders Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett were putting together concurrently to showcase exactly this development. The compilation that gave the series its title and kicked things off, housed in a striking sleeve featuring a robot reclining in an armchair, surrounded by album sleeves, succinctly communicated the central idea with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek humour. It was after Paap had contributed to Artificial Intelligence with Speedy J’s “De-Orbit”, alongside Richie Hawtin making an appearance using his UP! pseudonym, that Mitchell and Beckett invited them to come on board to the series with full artist albums for release on Warp.
More
Remastered back in 2019, the reissue features original artwork from Richie’s brother, Matthew Hawtin.
Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Richie Hawtin aka F.U.S.E. would make frequent excursions across the border to Detroit in search of record shops and new clubbing experiences. Soon he would take up a residency at the small subversive club The Shelter and develop his skills as a DJ. Together with his close friend John Acquaviva they launched Plus 8 Records in 1990 to release their own creations and to support other up-and-coming, like-minded techno producers who were in search of a musical home. Richie started recording under the cryptic alias F.U.S.E.- abbreviation for ‘Futuristic Underground Subsonic Experiments’ - and released seminal tracks like ‘F.U.’ and ‘Substance Abuse’ (1991). The From Our Minds To Yours compilations released on Plus 8 would make a mark on the developing techno scene in Detroit and beyond. At age 22 Hawtin released his first full-length studio album under his F.U.S.E. pseudonym. Dimension Intrusion was largely inspired by science fiction films and a collection of available vintage synthesizers and drum machines. Playing with their electronic yet warm sound effects, the young producer in turn discovered some of his favourite instruments. His heady manipulations of the Roland TB-303 acid sound helped develop an influential style that would have a lasting impact on electronic music. The tracks on Dimension Intrusion range from club focused techno to soundtrack ambience and can be seen retrospectively as experiments leading to what would soon become Hawtin’s trademark acid-laced Plastikman sound.
- Spec Black 2LP Vinyl in polylined inner sleeves in wide spine outer sleeve with 12” poster insert
[4th October 2023] Today, Warp announces reissues of two more albums from their Artificial Intelligence series: Dimension Intrusion by F.U.S.E. (aka Richie Hawtin) and Ginger by Speedy J. Both records were originally released in 1993, and these new vinyl editions mark their 30th anniversary.
Although unique records by distinctive artists, there are some strands that tie the two albums together. Dimension Intrusion was the fifth album in the Artificial Intelligence series, originally released on 7 June 1993, whilst Ginger was the sixth album in the series, coming out two weeks later on 21 June. Whereas the rest of the series focused on elevating underground electronic producers from the UK such as Autechre, B12, Black Dog Productions and Polygon Window, these two entries in the series added an international dimension, representing North American and Northern European takes respectively on the techno genre. Both albums were also released in Canada on Richie Hawtin’s own fabled Plus 8 label, with Paap putting out a domestic edition of Ginger in the Netherlands on his Beam Me Up! imprint, echoing the accidental Star Trek reference in Warp’s own name (actually a shortening of original name Warped). Both artists would go on to record for NovaMute, a dance music subsidiary of Mute Records.
The concept that unites this music above all however is the idea of crafting electronic music for home listening, charting the evolution of a musical form that had started out purely dancefloor-focused. Both Paap and Hawtin had started to make tracks with this idea in mind independently, and it chimed perfectly with the series that Warp founders Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett were putting together concurrently to showcase exactly this development. The compilation that gave the series its title and kicked things off, housed in a striking sleeve featuring a robot reclining in an armchair, surrounded by album sleeves, succinctly communicated the central idea with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek humour. It was after Paap had contributed to Artificial Intelligence with Speedy J’s “De-Orbit”, alongside Richie Hawtin making an appearance using his UP! pseudonym, that Mitchell and Beckett invited them to come on board to the series with full artist albums for release on Warp.
More
1
Move D & Pete Namlook - Der Strahlende Verlierer
2
Move D & Pete Namlook - Hardwired Tangent
3
Move D & Pete Namlook - Hardwired Hypotenuse + Asymptote
black vinyl
Tracklist
1. Der Strahlende Verlierer
2. Hardwired Tangent
3. Hardwired Hypotenuse + Asymptote
Berlin party series and label AWAY Music continues its limited vinyl series called "Reissued", dedicated to re-releasing iconic cuts from the vast collaborative catalog of Move D & Pete Namlook. The third installment "Reissued 3", which follows the series' first two EPs from previous years, features again some exceptional pieces that were previously only available on CD. Move D and Pete Namlook are electronic visionaries whose 26-album relationship explored and intertwined psychedelic synthscapes, deep house and techno, future jazz, and downtempo on Namlook's cult imprint Fax Records. Their innovative and influential works keep inspiring electronic music producers today, showcasing their willingness to collaborate and push the boundaries of electronic music. First up on the A side, “Der Strahlender Verlierer”, from the 2006 Album “Let the Circle Not Be Broken”, begins atmospherically before pushing subtly into open filter and undulating synth territory. Introspective and accepting, the piece gradually lets the sum of its parts coalesce into a peaceful whole with sustained chords and the flicker of played steel strings.
“Hardwired Tangent” from the 2001 Album “Wired” rounds out the first side with edgier and more ominous tones. Brooding and bubbling its way through artificial textures absorbed by carefully weighted rhythmic tension. Shuffling jazz electronics. The moody low-mid hum providing buoyancy throughout. Also from the 2001 album, the B side’s “Hardwired Hypotenuse + Asymptote” is a synthetic journey. Textural, pseudo-organic, pulsating with urgency. The motoric percussion imparting structure to the sonic alchemy. Tactile yet integrated components offer the listener (or dancer) multiple entry points into the music. This is both artful and kaleidoscopic — a treatise on contemplative and psychoactive house music.
"Reissued 3" is a true testament to the innovative spirit and pioneering work of Move D and Pete Namlook. With these tracks now available on vinyl for the first time, AWAY's limited series is a must-have for old and new fans alike.
More
Tracklist
1. Der Strahlende Verlierer
2. Hardwired Tangent
3. Hardwired Hypotenuse + Asymptote
Berlin party series and label AWAY Music continues its limited vinyl series called "Reissued", dedicated to re-releasing iconic cuts from the vast collaborative catalog of Move D & Pete Namlook. The third installment "Reissued 3", which follows the series' first two EPs from previous years, features again some exceptional pieces that were previously only available on CD. Move D and Pete Namlook are electronic visionaries whose 26-album relationship explored and intertwined psychedelic synthscapes, deep house and techno, future jazz, and downtempo on Namlook's cult imprint Fax Records. Their innovative and influential works keep inspiring electronic music producers today, showcasing their willingness to collaborate and push the boundaries of electronic music. First up on the A side, “Der Strahlender Verlierer”, from the 2006 Album “Let the Circle Not Be Broken”, begins atmospherically before pushing subtly into open filter and undulating synth territory. Introspective and accepting, the piece gradually lets the sum of its parts coalesce into a peaceful whole with sustained chords and the flicker of played steel strings.
“Hardwired Tangent” from the 2001 Album “Wired” rounds out the first side with edgier and more ominous tones. Brooding and bubbling its way through artificial textures absorbed by carefully weighted rhythmic tension. Shuffling jazz electronics. The moody low-mid hum providing buoyancy throughout. Also from the 2001 album, the B side’s “Hardwired Hypotenuse + Asymptote” is a synthetic journey. Textural, pseudo-organic, pulsating with urgency. The motoric percussion imparting structure to the sonic alchemy. Tactile yet integrated components offer the listener (or dancer) multiple entry points into the music. This is both artful and kaleidoscopic — a treatise on contemplative and psychoactive house music.
"Reissued 3" is a true testament to the innovative spirit and pioneering work of Move D and Pete Namlook. With these tracks now available on vinyl for the first time, AWAY's limited series is a must-have for old and new fans alike.
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