Formed by George Thompson, Kyle Martin and Jonathan Nash, Kommune were active between 2014-2015. As close friends living near each other, their musical journeys were intertwined; Nash and Martin had recently completed their debut album as Land Of Light, while Thompson (aka Black Merlin), at that time putting the finishing touches to his debut album ‘Hipnotik Tradisi’, was also working with Martin as part of the duo Spectral Empire. Sharing equipment and ideas, Kommune arose organically, serving as a creative outlet for exploring analogue machine music in an improvisational context.

Sessions in their North London studios led to a handful of gigs at venues including Hamburg’s legendary Golden Pudel and London’s LN-CC. This fleeting chapter of musical history may well have gone entirely undocumented had it not been for the fortuitous decision to meet up for a recording session in October 2014. Filling a car with their machines, they drove to a converted barn in the south of England, proceeded to set up, settle in and hit the record button. Over the course of two days, fuelled by the experiences of recent performances, the trio immersed themselves in the machines, crafting subtly evolving, long-form compositions with an enchanting balance and flow.

Across the four long-form compositions that make up ‘Oast’, the trio summons barely controllable scrapes, acid-like bubbles, and bleeps from their machines, leaning on dub mixing techniques to give the tracks a sense of depth, dynamism and organic ambience. Mastery of the TR-808 drum machine is central, with remarkably nuanced drum programming imparting a hypnotic rhythm to the work, allowing other elements to emerge and unfold at a beautifully measured tempo.

Recorded entirely live and improvised without any overdubs, ‘Oast’ offers a profound journey into minimalist electronic music while serving as a tribute to friendship, curiosity, and the spirit of experimentation.

Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.

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Veteran producer Nick Höppner and Alex Kassian join Music From Memory's off - shoot, Second Circle for a new collaboration, H.A.N.K.

Born out of the unprecedented circumstances of the global pandemic, 'The Big Melt' represents a departure from the duo's typical club-oriented productions, instead exploring their shared passion for Krautrock, ambient, and guitar-driven music. The album showcases a more introspective and experimental side of both artists, blending elements of Fourth World, New Age, and leftfield electronic music.

Höppner and Kassian's creative partnership began in 2018 when Höppner released music from Kassian's project Opal Sunn on his label, Touch From A Distance. Their friendship quickly evolved into musical collaboration, initially focusing on dance music. However, as the pandemic unfolded, their studio sessions took an organic, freeform approach, embracing spontaneity and intuition.

'The Big Melt' features contributions from a diverse array of guest musicians, adding depth and texture to the album with instruments including guitar, clarinet, and the tar, an ancient Persian string instrument. Höppner's newly acquired drumming skills, developed during lockdown, also play a significant role in shaping the album's sound.

The creation of 'The Big Melt' spans several years, with initial jam sessions evolving into carefully crafted compositions through remote collaboration. This extended gestation period has allowed the music to mature, resulting in what Höppner describes as his proudest release to date.

'The Big Melt' stands as a testament to artistic resilience and creativity in the face of global challenges, offering listeners a rich, immersive journey into new sonic territories crafted by these two respected talents.

SC021 will be released on LP as well as digitally on November 8th 2024. Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.

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Second Circle are delighted to announce a five track EP from Kaifeng born, Vancouver based musician Yu Su, titled ‘?????? / Roll With The Punches'
Recorded on the Coast Salish territory in Vancouver, three tracks on the EP grew out of a live set Yu Su began developing in 2018 for a series of performances. The record also features two collaborations; on the opening track “Little Birds, Moonbath” Michelle Helene Mackenzie appears on modular synth, with Vancouver locals Pender Street Steppers joining Yu Su for an improvised jam, appearing on guitar and synth across “Tipu’s Tiger”.
The title ‘?????? / Roll With The Punches' as Yu Su herself explains, “Is a metaphor translated from an old Chinese proverb, that roughly translates as ‘The Spring flows over plains and The Valley is born’. The proverb explains the origin of ‘The Valley’ and also speaks of a very Daoist abstraction in which the ‘Thousand Things’ are born and will eventually co-exist in the metaphysical system of ‘The Valley’.”

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ISOR29 with a six track mini-album titled ‘Moon Phase Gardening’. ISOR29 is a new project from Columbian musician Tomas Garcia Station and follows on from his highly regarded 2020 debut release under the ‘Irie Nation’ moniker.

The title ‘Moon Phase Gardening’ (also referred to as Gardening by the Moon or Planting by the Moon) draws upon the idea that the lunar cycle affects plant growth. Just as the Moon’s gravitational pull creates the tides of the oceans, it also creates more moisture in the soil, which encourages growth.

Evolving out of forced time off, individual confrontation and the love for someone close, ‘Moon Phase Gardening’ was recorded in the living room of an old flat in Lisbon during the first lockdown. Using only a microphone, computer, Korg MS20, hang drum and a field recorder, ISOR29 channels Tomas’ musical vocabulary via electronics to reflect an immersive and self-reflective story bound to a uniquely powerful time and space.

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Second Circle return with a special one-off album of music by Belgian producer soFa, German musician Houschyar and the legendary Turkish drummer and percussionist Okay Temiz.

SC019 – Selale (LP) is the result of a string of sessions that began in Istanbul during 2018, when soFa spontaneously teamed up with friend Houschyar for a series of smoky jams in the young producer's 5th floor apartment. They would meet again a few months later, with a plan to finish the EP, and whilst having lunch, the two decided to pay a spontaneous visit to Okay Temiz, with whom soFa had worked previously.

Welcoming the pair in the percussion workshop (Atölye) where he spends most of his days, Temiz was excited by their demos and the three of them began to jam around the tracks, with Temiz utilizing a number of his own homebuilt instruments. The duo had now become a trio, it seems, and back in their home studio the jams would be edited and reworked; with Okay adding further overdubbing and contributions to the tracks.

Probably best known as a member of The Don Cherry Trio, for his own band Oriental Wind and for numerous collaborations with some of the best Jazz musicians in the world, Okay Temiz is considered to be one of the most innovative and outstanding musical figures in Turkey and beyond. A professional musician since 1955, Temiz's career began in Jazz and traditional Turkish music, but he became increasingly fascinated with the possibilities of electronic and self-built instruments, which he would experiment within different forms. During the late 70ties Temiz also developed a special love for Brazilian instruments such as the Berimbau and Cuica, both of which are omnipresent on this album.

In this latest collaboration, Okay Temiz weaves his percussive magic through six diverse psychedelic synthesizer and drum computer jams, alongside two exciting young producers. Selale is mixed by Dusseldorf studio wizard Gordon Pohl.

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The eighteenth release on Second Circle is the label's second exploration into an artists archival works; this time presenting a selection of four early tracks by theatre, film and music producer Can Oral under his Khan alias.

Can moved to Williamsburg, New York in the early 90's along with good friend and fellow musician Jimi Tenor. Born in Germany of Turkish-Finnish parents, he would frantically start buying equipment (such as a TR808, TB303 and Korg Polysix) from junk shops across New York, becoming greatly prolific in his recordings which he would work on throughout the night. During the daytime though, Can set up and ran the now defunct Temple Records, a seminal Soho record store, and later label, largely importing Techno and Acid from Europe. Though a small store, Temple Records would count musicians and DJs such as Björk, Tricky, Dee-Lite, Josh Wink and Joey Beltram among its regular customers. Also he would host many such guests to play live or DJ at his weekly Techno party “Killer” which was held at Save The Robots in New York’s East Village.

Can Oral's nightly studio sessions eventually led to an almost inexhaustible discography with over a dozen monikers each representing a different aspect of his productions. SC018 focuses then on his early electronic works as Khan.

Named after the color painted studio where the EP was produced between 1993-1996, 'Blue Box Sessions' is a collection of four analogue machine driven cuts, covering different tempos and ethos within electronic music. Initially live recorded to an old DAT recorder, and without any overdubs, SC018 is a lost and found artefact to Khan's unquestioned raw talent and timeless relevance.

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Second Circle returns with the follow up to Giuseppe Leonardi’s 2018 debut record ‘TBC’, with another singular EP from the young Austrian musician, titled ’MenteMente’. Recorded this year in Vienna, during the lockdown of the city, the title ‘MenteMente’ was derived from the Spanish word ‘Mente’ (meaning ‘Mind’) and refers to a meditative state developed during times of crisis, and the evolution this has brought to Giuseppe’s own musical process over the past months.

Reflecting an evolution in his musical output, the six tracks on ‘MenteMente’ incorporate a diverse mix of sounds and influences. The EP also includes collaborations with vocalist Fresh Princess, a young experimental dancer and vocalist from Ghana now based in Vienna. As well as spoken word from Georgian Art Theorist Lana Girkelidze who reads her favourite passages from Georgian poet Galaktion Tabidze’s poem ‘Qari qris’ - ????????? ??????-???? ????.

‘MenteMente’ will be accompanied by a series of digital visuals made by Carolina Rivera Arboleda, artist and student at the Vienna University of Applied Arts and a stop motion video installation by renowned Viennese street artist Olivier Hölzl.

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SC016 sees the re-issue of four tracks taken from a little known cassette only release ‘Diet Of Germs’ by British artist and friend Adam Oko. Originally released in 2015 on the now defunct Astro:Dynamics label the four tracks were recorded in Adam’s bedroom studio overlooking Clissold Park in Stoke Newington, London.

Now based in Tokyo but having spent most of his life living between London & Canterbury, as well as producing music and running a regular radio show on NTS radio, Adam also makes mixed media artwork and designs installations & interiors.

All instruments on ‘Diet Of Germs’ were performed by Adam himself except the solo on Suketo which was played by Raven Bush - Kate Bush’s nephew & was actually recorded in Kate’s old studio in South London.

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The fifteenth release on Second Circle sees the label’s first exploration into an artists archival works; this time bringing together a selection of four early tracks by the seminal English musician Richard H. Kirk under his Sandoz moniker.
As founding member and driving force of pioneering Industrial band Cabaret Voltaire, Richard H. Kirk began his solo project Sandoz in 1992, evolving out of and running in parallel to Cabaret Voltaire’s evolution in sound from innovators of Industrial and post punk electronics towards pioneering works within Techno and House.
Taking the name from Sandoz Laboraties, a pharmaceutical company best known for inventing LSD in 1938, Kirk’s somewhat lesser known solo project evolved out of Cabs’ fascination and own development of Acid House and Rave culture, whilst leaning more heavily on Jamaican Reggae and Dub influences.
Presenting a selection of four mind-bending tracks, originally released between 1992-1993 on his very own Sheffield-based Intone label, SC015 further reveals Richard H. Kirk’s unique and visionary voice within electronic music.

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Second Circle are thrilled to announce the latest release on the label comes from the Indonesian outfit Zatua with their debut release ‘Sin Existencia’. First formed by Dea Barandana, the seven track album was recorded in Jakarta and Bali over two years and grew out of improvised live shows with a band Dea put together.
Zatua first performed together in 2017 at the Goethe Institute in Jakarta as a last minute addition to the bill, having only a week to prepare and rehearse. The live show would consist of material based on simple melodic ideas and extended sections growing into live jams. Taking material from Dea Barandana’s solo compositions the ideas were then further developed and re-structured by Dea and band members Harsya Wahono, Adra Karim and Rafi Muhammad into finished pieces. Inviting further guest musicians to join on various tracks, the vocals were in fact largely improvised by Carmen Caballero Fernández and Sasha Sabrina - in French, Spanish and Asturian.
Using predominantly analogue equipment, ’Sin Extistencia’ is the final outcome of an extensive exploration into the unique sonic ranges and musical fascinations of the various members of the band. Taking influence from Indonesian psychedelic music from the 1970’s and 80’s the album presents a fascinating glimpse into contemporary Indonesian electronic music with a nod to it’s little known but rich past.

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Music From Memoryâ??s sister label Second Circle returns with their first release of 2018, this time with a 4 tracker EP from French producer and Antinote via Melody As Truth affiliate D.K. aka Dang Khoa Chau.

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"Where to place YIN YIN on the map ? Maybe somewhere between Netherlands and South-East Asia, on an imaginary tropical island. That’s where they brew a strange cocktail made of discogrooves, powerful “thaï beat” tunes and experimental tropi-synths. After two remarkable singles on Les Disques Bongo Joe, they’re back with « The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers ». Made of groovy tunes and dance killers, this album could be the crazy soundtrack of a 60s hippie village on the South China Sea.

Yin Yin passed last months burning scenes and make people dance around Europe. But they found just enough time to record this first tape in a ballet school in a remote village near the Alpaca Mountain. Kees Berkers and Yves Lennertz were the puppet masters of this in-studio experience. The result is a landscape where rabbits chase after tigers, an upside-down world were you'll definitely dance for ever."



It’s one of the coolest things to emerge from the Dutch Deep South in quite a while: the debut album by Yin Yin (not counting last year’s cassette only ‘Pingpxng’). The Maastricht outfit pairs a deep appreciation of South East Asian sixties and seventies instrumental music with a slick modern funk and disco groove, tied together by a solid understanding of timeless cinematic sounds, as exemplified perfectly by the opening track, a laidback Thai funk groove that ends in psychedelic turmoil. ‘One Inch Punch’ (released as a single earlier this year) is one of the many standout tracks here - a luscious Asian space disco affair that sounds like the soundtrack of a Shaw Brothers movie that never happened. Yin Yin show off their instrumental skills on the freeflowing ‘Alpaca Mountain’ and go straight for the dancefloor with the infectious disco stomper ‘Sui Ye’. Their all-encompassing open-mindedness is perhaps best illustrated by the title track - a strange concoction of spaghetti western sounds, cheeky disco and Thai funk. ‘The Rabbit that Hunts Tigers’ is another winner for Bongo Joe and mandatory listening for fans of Khruangbin, Altin Gün and Jungle by Night. (Ro)

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Tranquilizer conjures a sonic hallucination: ambient calm twisting into digital chaos; mundane textures giving way to emotional overload. It’s a record shaped by obscurity and obsolescence. Real and unreal blur. Samples melt into static. A door creaks open inside a dream.

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Japanese jazz/breakbeat, folkloric mega-rarity as hallowed the likes of DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Egon and co. Uniquely combines traditional Japanese instrumentation with Western jazz influences.

Minoru Muraoka plays ‘shakuhachi’ – a traditional bamboo Japanese flute – joined by his band members accompanying him on the ‘koto’ (strings) and ‘tsutsumi’ (drum) amongst others, to create their ‘Shakuhachi Jazz’ sound.

Official Mr Bongo reissue. Gatefold single LP.

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Pinchy & friends is delighted to present the latest offering from Kaifeng-born and raised, Vancouver-based musician Yu Su.

In her first major release of original music since 2021’s acclaimed “Yellow River Blue” LP, Yu Su says elements for the EP began to form during time spent in the deserts of Ojai, California and the fertile coastal areas around her home in British Columbia. Of the new release, Yu Su says the ideas are thanks to “the objects around (colors, reflections of light, wood burning in the fireplace, and material rhyme with the sounds in the room) the desert and valley plants, the ground where citrus grows, and the flood a rainstorm created.” She notes that “the golden earth is the changing point of the matter, earth centers, stabilizes, and conserves, nurtures, and seeks to draw all things together with itself.”

Likewise, the four varied pieces of the EP match four very different landscapes: Earth-of-water (Wet/Cold Earth) Earth-of-Fire (Arid/Hot Earth) Earth-of-Metal (Dry/Hard Earth) Earth-of-Wood (Loose-Fertile/Warm Earth).

Additional guitar and bass were provided by Scott Johnson Gailey and Aiden Ayers - who also play in Yu Su’s live band.

The vinyl release comes on 180g vinyl in a full-colour sleeve by Seoul based Lobde Kim, with OBI STRIP.

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*2025 Edition, - packaged in a revised cover with OBI and printed innersleeves*

Originally released in 2015, Sounds from the Far East' features highly sought after material by legendary Japanese house producer Soichi Terada and fellow producers Shinichiro Yokota, Manabu Nagayama. The two LP set, compiled by Hunee, took Soichi's music deep into the records bags, and more importantly the hearts of DJs and music lovers the world over

Soichi Terada is an adventurous multi-talent and all round beautiful human being. He was born in the 1960s, and as a child he loved to play on his fathers' electric organ. Terada majored in Computer Science and Electric Organ - after he graduated, he founded Far East Recording in1989, because he couldn't find a label for his compositions at that time.

The sound of Far East Recording was very much inspired by early nineties US deep house. Soichi Terada went out to parties in the late eighties, where he was equally influenced by other forms of house music house and hip-hop. A few years later, Terada took on producing music by using digital sampling. In the early nineties he occasionally DJ-ed with a DAT player and some reel to reel tapes, rather than the conventional setup of of turntables. This way he could mix up his own cuts .

"Sounds From The Far East" shines a focussed light on Soichi Terada's label output released in the early nineties. Next to Terada's music, Hunee also selected a few tracks by fellow artist Shinichiro Yokota for this compilation, as well as 'Sun Showered', a track based on the classic Paradise Garage gem 'Sunshower' produced by Terada and Nami Shimada in 1991.

Here's the man himself with his reflection on the compilation, 10 years after it's initial release:

This is a dream I never even dreamed of.

Since releasing my new album Asakusa Light towards the end of the global coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been fortunate enough to keep performing live. When I think about those performances, which blend tracks from the ‘90s and more recent years, they sound like one continuous piece.

When I was first making and performing house music, I never thought I’d still be doing this decades later. That’s thanks in part to the great advice I received from Rush Hour during production, but most of all, to everyone who picked up the record and came out to the shows. I’m eternally grateful. 10 years have now passed since the release of Sounds From The Far East in 2015, and I’m truly happy to release a new edition with updated packaging, while still having the chance to share this music on stage.

Soichi Terada

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Bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet) launches new collaborative project with saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands) Vega Trails is a new project from double-bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick, a founder member of Portico Quartet, who has also performed with the likes of Nick Mulvey and Jono McCleary and features saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands, Sunda Arc) in a richly powerful duo bringing together two powerfully charismatic musicians. The project which takes its name from Carl Sagan's science fiction novel 'Contact' (a book about signals of new life detected from the Vega system) andwas born out of a desire to bring the elements of bass and melody to the foreground in their rawest form and Fitzpatrick explains that he deliberatelychose the stripped back approach.

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Double Black BioVinyl, in printed sleeve, packed in a resealable protective bag

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