Tracklist:
A. MODERN SUBLIME
B1. LANDING
B2. LANDING (ERNESTO FERREYRA REMIX)
Info:
The third release on MDRNTY REC comes from a longtime favorite and friend of the house: Mr.
Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts mostly known for his productions on Musique Risquée, Circus
Company, Oslo or for his many other projects and aliases. !
Our fellow Canadian has crafted this Ep specially for us and we are happy to welcome him on the
label. On remix duties we have Argentinian Ernesto Ferreyra (partner in crime with Guillaume in the
project Chic Miniature). !
This release is a deep excursion into the groove of house and the hypnotic beauty of techno. It is
designed for those late hours when everyone is dancing eyes closed, digging a little deeper into the
moment. !
Modern Sublime is a long burner cinematic piece of music with it’s guitars, epic vocals, drum fills and
acid bass lines. This track has it all and skillfully drives the tension high as the story unfolds. !
Landing on the B side showcases a very different but equally hypnotic face of this talented and longtime
celebrated producer, with it’s arpeggiated melodies and lush pads Guillaume guides us to safe
ground with this beautiful and precisely calibrated track full of emotions. !
Last but not least, Ernesto’s remix reconfigures the rhythmical structures of Landing and masterfully
transforms it into a peak time house gem, guaranteed to move any living soul in the dance floor.
More

Barcode: 827170516960 Release : 09.06.14
Tracklist: A1 - A Single String A2 - Keys For Hanuman B1 - Winning All Battles (But Still Losing The War)
Short info:
Dear Listeners,
Here it is, one more 'gain, yours truly up at bat for the good people of the Circus Company. I thought I could drop a few lines myself about the inspiration behind this new EP to offer a lil' personal touch..
A Single String
So I'm light years away from being a specialist on the string theory but the idea of having everything and everyone interconnected by vibrations appeals to the imagination of the musician (and the dirty hippie) in me. Sharing a sunrise on a terrace or a hot and sweaty night in a club is all about this vibration. "A single string" is dedicated to that feeling, the one that makes you think : "wow, we're all in this together". It rolls, it bounces, and that synth line will hopefully make your little fingers reach up for the stars, and strings.
Keys for Hanuman.
This one will be a personal mystery until the day I die. Last fall I returned from an Asia tour to work on some new music in the studio, at first I did as always after a hiatus in production and listened to the last stuff I was working on before I left. And though I have a relatively organized numbering system and decent memory (which may be on the downhill now due to mileage), I had no recollection whatsoever about starting, recording, or even thinking about this tune, at the time titled "Keys For Me". Regardless, it hits the spot just right as I had been thinking about coming back to this sound I used to love years back - more relaxed and stripped down, more hypnotic. Every artist channels inspiration in their own way, and sometimes it rains on you from unknown places. This song is dedicated to Hanuman, the Monkey God, faithful protector of Rama. And by the way, Hanuman also appears on the great cover artwork by Léo "Peanut" Butler.
Winning all the Battles (But Still Losing the War)
I remember a time when we all wanted was to be heard. It seems to me that this time has surely come, but somehow along the way, we may have lost some pieces of the core values that gave us our stride. Time to go back to the essential? Refocus our act? Step out of the limelight and dive deep into the stuffy, obscure, low-ceiling groove box? Maybe so. Winning while losing? Maybe no.
More

UPC: 827170523869 Release 14.10.2013
Special Remarks: comes with ltd. screen printed artwork
Tracklist 12": A1: We Journey The Human Race A2: Hard To Describe B: Drop It Low
Impossible Rendez-Vous is an hypnotic and meandering house excursion by swing maestro Guillaume and his jazzed out Coutu Dumonts. From the funked up and highly danceable heat of A1 to the spaced-out drum ornaments and rider-on-the-stormesque keys of A2, the wriggly run of this record finally flows over into a deep slow burner on the B side - atmospheric elegance. Guillaumes inimitable expertise for intuitive dance patterns made him a well seen suspect on neat labels like Circus Company, Hartchef Discos, Karat, Oslo, Mutek or Vincent Lemieuxs Musique Risquée. Long in the making this EP is the logical continuation of a longtime friendship between Guillaume and the Meander gang. "Everything in good time" was the slogan on this one and Impossible Rendez-Vous seems to bring together elements that would have, otherwise, been pulled apart by gravity and time. This debut on Meander certainly shapes great things to come.
Featured musicians:
A1 - Vocal and lyrics by Dynamike (Michel Ndeze), Guitar by Alexis Messier, Keys by Nicolas Boucher and Saxophone by Sébastien Arcand-Tourigny
A2 - Drums by Andre Seidel - recorded by Felix Gebauer at KMA Studios Berlin.
Mastering and cut by Helmut Erler at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.

More

Barcode: 827170460560
Release : 19.08.2013
A1 - Northbound A2 - Inconscient Collectif B1 - Erotic Skies
With the cosmic rays of his Twice Around The Sun long player still reverberating around our souls, Guillaume (our favourite of all the Coutu Dumonts) is back with a fresh EP of rich and otherworldly house music perfectly pitched for the free-spirited feeling of the summer months.
It all starts with the balmy tones of "Northbound", which wastes no time getting into gear with a rubbery bassline and shimmering flashes of melody that flutter around a haunting vocal hook, invoking that witching hour before night falls when the heat of the sun is still radiating from the ground beneath you. "Inconscient Collectif" meanwhile simmers like the first light of the morning, a lilting euphoria rising from the gently filtered chord pattern before the effervescent trail of an arpeggiated synth line comes ringing through the mist.
EP closer "Erotic Skies" makes for the perfect slow-poured tonic to round off this solar cycle of a record. Across eleven blissful minutes the gently cradling beat and dubby echoes drift out as a languid spread of melodic lines unfurl on top of one another. There's a rich tapestry of sounds at work in this luxurious cushion of a track, from the tortured ghost of a saxophone to a subtle pattering of bongos, a wild bassline tamed, a cracked synth stuck on an eternal phrase, and yet all these elements bleed into one under the principle of a track unconcerned with its destination whilst ever striding forwards.
More

UPC: 827170420465 Release : 03.12.2012
Tracklist LP: A1. Twice Around The Sun - Trus'me remix B1. Twice Around The Sun - Radio Edit B2. Twice Around The Sun - Destination Danger remix - ISRC: FR-2T0-12-00053
WAfter the enchanting cosmology of Twice Around The Sun revealed the latest twist in the complex tale of Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts, the tantalised synapses left in the album's wake will find themselves firing again with this EP. As the central point on the LP, the title track revealed the slower, more introspective code in Guillaume's musical DNA, while Dave Aju's guest spot on vocals provided a thought-provoking and razor-sharp counterpoint to the downtempo beats. Shaking up the languid tones of the original, the remixes serve to catapult the formative concepts and
sounds into the depths of the night, caught in the strafing light of the dancefloor and the shadows beyond its reach. Trus'me steps up first, placing a firm grip on the weighted emotion of the subject matter and forging it with a rock-solid rhythmic drive as hypnotizing as it is energising. The Manchester-based producer has always displayed a profound ability to fuse groove with soul in his dusty deep house sound, but when colliding with the cosmic incantations of Guillaume's track the results take on an otherworldly quality. Unable to resist the temptation to revisit his own track from a completely different angle, Guillaume and his partner in espionage Oleg Poliakov don their Destination Danger guise for a driving version based around a relentless arpeggio and taut Motor City strings. The remix is conspicuous for its embrace of techno from two artists more readily associated with house, sounding all the stronger for it, and so a track that started life as a seductive slow jam has evolved into many shades of tense, dramatic body music. More

827170471160 Release: 12.10.2012
A) The Drums
Extra: B-side comes with big "X" etching!
Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts 'The Drums' is an exclusive and limited 12" with an "X" etching on the B-side. The track is part of the Watergate X - Ten Year Watergate anniversary compilation and only available on Vinyl on this 12" release.

More

A1 - Time Outta Joint - Extended Version A2 - Cascading Thoughts - Extended Version B1 - Morning Gin B2 - Twice Around The Sun - Extended Version C1 - Man, Woman And Soul C2 - Constellation - Extended Version D1 - Discotic Space Capsule - Extended Version
Racing between the tangible warmth of the past and the thrilling unknown of the future, Guillaume Coutu Dumont comes flying back within our reach to impart his time-spanning gospel for a third album of subversive house music. After he last graced us with the smoky hue of "Breaking The Fourth Wall", Guillaume returns in a state of evolution. From the earthy rattle of the natural percussion on "Last Call" to the sultry coo of the sax on "Constellation", this album is undoubtedly his, and yet there's a different kind of forward momentum at work here. It manifests itself in the primal beat and Eastern mysticism of the bass line in "Time Outta Joint", or the frantic swing and scatty keys of "Discotic Space Capsule". While the thump of the drums is a familiar trope for any lover of dance music, there are cosmic incantations being whispered in the synthesisers and sound effects that elevate the dancefloor to an astral plane somewhere up above. A strong force in this transcendental quality that permeates "Twice Around The Sun" is Guillaume's choice of collaborators. In particular his co-conspirators in Guillaume Coutu Dumont & The Side Effects lend their band dynamic to three tracks on the album. You may recognise Dave Aju's soulful croon when it cuts through the mix, but then it's just as quickly shrouded in a vocoder. Likewise Nicolas Boucher on keys, Sébastien Arcand Tourigny on sax and Alexis Messier on guitar inject an otherwordly spirit into the heart of the kinetic machinations Guillaume has crafted, expanding on their two-year strong venture into live performance within a house music context. Elsewhere you can hear the unmistakable seductions of dOP's Jo Illel aka JAW as he insists that you "run, baby, run" on "Discotic Space Capsule". It's a sense of urgency that carries throughout the album, making you aware of the time passing just as it gives you no choice but to succumb to the next twist in the tale, like a kind of philosophical hedonism. Take the ever-rising tension of "Man, Woman And Soul" which finally bursts into a shower of starlit arpeggio and rave-ready bass, only to be met by the exuberant finale of "Solar Flare". As the irrefutable power of the SH101 bass line gets bolstered by the saucy drums, Aju delivers one of his most iconic vocal turns to date and Guillaume's interstellar voyage reaches a temporary conclusion. It's a joyous note to leave us on, blasting the combined spiritual searching and instinctive pleasure of the whole album into the ether. Let's just hope it's not too long before Guillaume comes back down from his galactic travels to grace us with more of his message.

More

Guillaume Coutu Dumont has been unstoppable over the past three years. Since releasing his debut album, Face À L'Est, on Montreal's Musique Risquée label in 2007, the Montreal-born Berliner has released a steady stream of EPs, remixes and compilation tracks for Circus Company, Musique Risquée, Oslo, Cocoon and many more. He's also kept up a nonstop touring schedule, wowing crowds the world over with a dynamic live show that never sounds the same twice. Throughout, he's developed one of the most distinctive styles in contemporary house music—a deep, powerful and original fusion of Afro-Latin percussion, instrumental melodies, soulful vocals, and intricate rhythm programming. Now, with his new album Breaking the Fourth Wall, he takes another big step forward. From dark-and-stormy basement jams to Ethiopian-tinged fantasias, from Afrobeat to ambient house, Breaking the Fourth Wall finds Guillaume venturing far beyond the limits of 4/4 boompty-boompty. He set himself the added challenge of making the album sound as much like the work of a live band as possible. To do so, he availed himself of a close community of musician friends, beginning with dOP, recording in their Paris studio. (In a sign of a true two-way collaboration, they'll feature their own version of the resulting track, "Can't Have Everything," on their next album, re-titled "Assurance Vie.") Dave Aju recorded the vocals for "On the Lips" in his San Francisco studio. Switzerland/Zaire's Dynamike, whom Guillaume met at the Montreux Jazz Festival, brings an Afro-beat feel to "Radio Novela." Guillaume's longtime collaborators Marc-André Charbonneau, Sébastien-Arcand Tourigny and Nicolas Boucher all feature on various tracks, playing guitar, saxophone and Rhodes. Even Guillaume's brother, the photographer and video artist Gabriel Coutu Dumont, turns up on guitar on "Discothèque." Together, these and other ferociously talented musicians help translate Guillaume's musical vision into a living, breathing, collective effort.
But it all holds together as a remarkably coherent listening experience, while remaining far more varied than your average 12" single. While the DJs will have plenty to keep them busy, between driving cuts like "Mindtrap," "Can't Have Everything," "Helicoptère" and "Walking the Pattern," the album takes many turns, slipping into a slow 6/8 shuffle on "Discothèque" and digging into a kind of dub-cumbia on "Radio Novela"; "Intermede" and "Unwelcomed" both explore murky atmospheres swirling with organ and sampled acoustic instruments. It's that acoustic element that gives Breaking the Fourth Wall such uncommon depth. Muted synthesizers and unobtrusive drum machines are the glue and staples holding together a panoramic collage of saxophones, congas, piano, Rhodes, Hammond organ, choral passages, preachers' vocals, brushed drumming and more. ("Hélicoptère" is the lone exception, with its grinding techno arpeggios.) It's all polished off with killer hooks and vocals you might call subliminal, they burrow so deep into your head. The title Breaking the Fourth Wall refers to dissolving the imaginary boundary between actors and audience. That's a concept Guillaume knows well: his live sets are all about demolishing the division between stage and dance floor, absorbing up everyone present into an all-encompassing funk organism. Now he takes the concept even further, blurring the lines between sampling and
composition, between machines and acoustic instruments, between the nightclub and the living room. Put it on and witness a new musical world coming sharply into focus—no 3D glasses required. And keep your eyes peeled for Guillaume's new full-band live project, featuring keyboards,
saxophone, vocals and more: Guillaume & the Coutu Dumonts feat. the Side Effects will make their debut at MUTEK this spring! More

Guillaume Coutu Dumont has been unstoppable over the past three years. Since releasing his debut album, Face À L'Est, on Montreal's Musique Risquée label in 2007, the Montreal-born Berliner has released a steady stream of EPs, remixes and compilation tracks for Circus Company, Musique Risquée, Oslo, Cocoon and many more. He's also kept up a nonstop touring schedule, wowing crowds the world over with a dynamic live show that never sounds the same twice. Throughout, he's developed one of the most distinctive styles in contemporary house music-a deep, powerful and original fusion of Afro-Latin percussion, instrumental melodies, soulful vocals, and intricate rhythm programming. Now, with his new album Breaking the Fourth Wall, he takes another big step forward. This 2x12'' verrsion features extended mixes of the album tunes for those who'll want to slip this hot number into party time. From dark-and-stormy basement jams to Ethiopian-tinged fantasias, from Afrobeat to ambient house, Breaking the Fourth Wall finds Guillaume venturing far beyond the limits of 4/4 boompty-boompty. He set himself the added challenge of making the album sound as much like the work of a live band as possible. Dave Aju recorded the vocals for "On the Lips" in his San Francisco studio. Switzerland/Zaire's Dynamike, whom Guillaume met at the Montreux Jazz Festival, brings an Afro-beat feel to "Radio Novela." Guillaume's longtime collaborators Marc-André Charbonneau, Sébastien- Arcand Tourigny and Nicolas Boucher all feature on various tracks, playing guitar, saxophone and Rhodes. But it all holds together as a remarkably coherent listening experience, while remaining far more varied than your average 12" single. While the DJs will have plenty to keep them busy, between driving cuts like "Helicoptère" and "Walking the Pattern," the album takes many turns, digging into a kind of dub-cumbia on "Radio Novela". It's that acoustic element that gives Breaking the Fourth Wall such uncommon depth. Muted synthesizers and unobtrusive drum machines are the glue and staples holding together a panoramic collage of saxophones, congas, piano, Rhodes, Hammond organ, choral passages, preachers' vocals, brushed drumming and more. ("Hélicoptère" is the lone exception, with its grinding techno arpeggios.) It's all polished off with killer hooks and vocals you might call subliminal, they burrow so deep into your head. The title Breaking the Fourth Wall refers to dissolving the imaginary boundary between actors and audience. That's a concept Guillaume knows well: his live sets are all about demolishing the division between stage and dance floor, absorbing up everyone present into an all-encompassing funk organism. Now he takes the concept even further, blurring the lines between sampling and composition, between machines and acoustic instruments, between the nightclub and the living room. Put it on and witness a new musical world coming sharply into focus-no 3D glasses required. And keep your eyes peeled for Guillaume's new full-band live project, featuring keyboards, saxophone, vocals and more: Guillaume & the Coutu Dumonts feat. the Side Effects will make their debut at MUTEK this spring!
More

Genre: Alternative, Electronic, Piano Solo

Tracklist LP:
A1. Unless - A2. Piccolo - A3. Sway - A4. Almost There (Piano Version) - A5. Ventas Rumba - A6.
Pianovado - A7. La ligne (Modular Version) - B1. Opus 53 - B2. Eclair - B3. Flat Feet - B4. La valse
des singes - B5. Louanges - B6. Fly Finger - B7. Ferveur

Short Info:
With his new instrumental album Ventas Rumba, the French composer (and singer) returns to his signature instrument, the piano, blending it with warm synth tones. This album represents a "return to his roots ", allowing Ezéchiel Pailhès to reinvent himself in a seamless way while still exploring ballads and ritornellos, halfway between light-heartedness and melancholy. Ezéchiel Pailhès has been meaning to write a solo piano album for as long as he can remember. Hardly surprising, of course, for this academically-trained pianist, brought up on classical music and then studied jazz. Yet, since his 2001 debut with the electro-pop duo Nôze, and his subsequent four albums, the artist had constantly postponed this project that was so close to his heart. Then in 2022, just as he was getting ready to start producing an album of new songs, this long-standing aim finally materialized.
The melodies he wrote seemed to stand on their own naturally, spurring him on to compose this series of fourteen tracks, recorded in sessions split between France and Latvia.
A new piano: the Una Corda
Ezéchiel wanted this project dedicated to the piano to begin a new narrative, to explore new instrumental terrain and new tones, something far removed from the familiar piano he has been playing all his life. He opted for the Una Corda piano, designed by David Klavins, a groundbreaking instrument builder renowned for his distinctive pianos with vertical shapes and frames.

The Una Corda, created in 2014, is an upright piano with a single string per note (unlike three strings on traditional pianos). Enticed by the "crystalline and unique" tones of this instrument, which is hard to find in France, Ezéchiel travelled to Kuldiga, Latvia (where David Klavins set up his workshops and studios), to record the first part of the album. Although the title of the album may initially conjure up images of a distant, sensual dance, the reality is quite different. Ventas Rumba indeed refers to the waterfall and rapids (in Latvian: rumba) of the river Ventas, which runs near this small village in the western part of the country. Ezéchiel chose to blur the lines, as the sound and musicality of the title likely evoke both his short stay in the Baltic country, and also a form of distant exotic imagery perfectly in tune with his own mischievous wit. Tracks as short stories

Back in France, Ezéchiel enhanced the first tracks recorded in Kuldiga with subtle synth tone layers, and added other tracks composed and recorded at his Montreuil studio. The album reflects a deliberate and sensitive orchestration of piano, synth keyboards and digital effects, as he puts it: "playing to erase the differences between the tones of the various instruments", as if each instrument's texture echoed the others. According to Ezéchiel, you can listen to Ventas Rumba as you would leaf through "a collection of short stories", through compositions that rarely exceed three minutes and evoke figures of movement, lightness, curves or modulation, such as "La ligne", "La valse des singes" or "Fly Finger". Others more seriously relate to a kind of spirituality, which quietly infuses such different tracks as "Ferveur", "Éclair" and "Louanges". Ezéchiel adds: “I’m by no means religious, but I like what God has managed to get musicians to achieve (laughs)". "Louanges", for instance, despite its electronic edge, "refers to Olivier Messiaen, a very devout composer who I greatly admire". Other tracks are directly inspired by the classical music he listens to on a daily basis. For example, Chopin's “8th Nocturne” formed the backdrop of “Pianovado”. Likewise, the harmonic structure of Beethoven's “Waldstein Sonata No. 21” inspired “Opus 53”. Aside from these multiple references and inspirations, which quickly recede behind a style that is uniquely his, Ezéchiel Pailhès keeps exploring ideas already found on his first solo albums, this time in an instrumental format, undoubtedly purer, fostering an imaginary world that evokes the shapes and themes of ballads, ritornellos, light-heartedness, passing time, reverie or a universal subdued melancholy. More

Genre: Alternative, Electronic, Piano Solo

Tracklist CD:
01. Unless - 02. Piccolo - 03. Sway - 04. Almost There (Piano Version) - 05. Ventas Rumba - 06.
Pianovado - 07. La ligne (Modular Version) - 08. Opus 53 - 09. Eclair - 10. Flat Feet - 11. La valse
des singes - 12. Louanges - 13. Fly Finger - 14. Ferveur

Short Info:
With his new instrumental album Ventas Rumba, the French composer (and singer) returns to his signature instrument, the piano, blending it with warm synth tones. This album represents a "return to his roots ", allowing Ezéchiel Pailhès to reinvent himself in a seamless way while still exploring ballads and ritornellos, halfway between light-heartedness and melancholy. Ezéchiel Pailhès has been meaning to write a solo piano album for as long as he can remember. Hardly surprising, of course, for this academically-trained pianist, brought up on classical music and then studied jazz. Yet, since his 2001 debut with the electro-pop duo Nôze, and his subsequent four albums, the artist had constantly postponed this project that was so close to his heart. Then in 2022, just as he was getting ready to start producing an album of new songs, this long-standing aim finally materialized.
The melodies he wrote seemed to stand on their own naturally, spurring him on to compose this series of fourteen tracks, recorded in sessions split between France and Latvia.
A new piano: the Una Corda
Ezéchiel wanted this project dedicated to the piano to begin a new narrative, to explore new instrumental terrain and new tones, something far removed from the familiar piano he has been playing all his life. He opted for the Una Corda piano, designed by David Klavins, a groundbreaking instrument builder renowned for his distinctive pianos with vertical shapes and frames.

The Una Corda, created in 2014, is an upright piano with a single string per note (unlike three strings on traditional pianos). Enticed by the "crystalline and unique" tones of this instrument, which is hard to find in France, Ezéchiel travelled to Kuldiga, Latvia (where David Klavins set up his workshops and studios), to record the first part of the album. Although the title of the album may initially conjure up images of a distant, sensual dance, the reality is quite different. Ventas Rumba indeed refers to the waterfall and rapids (in Latvian: rumba) of the river Ventas, which runs near this small village in the western part of the country. Ezéchiel chose to blur the lines, as the sound and musicality of the title likely evoke both his short stay in the Baltic country, and also a form of distant exotic imagery perfectly in tune with his own mischievous wit. Tracks as short stories

Back in France, Ezéchiel enhanced the first tracks recorded in Kuldiga with subtle synth tone layers, and added other tracks composed and recorded at his Montreuil studio. The album reflects a deliberate and sensitive orchestration of piano, synth keyboards and digital effects, as he puts it: "playing to erase the differences between the tones of the various instruments", as if each instrument's texture echoed the others. According to Ezéchiel, you can listen to Ventas Rumba as you would leaf through "a collection of short stories", through compositions that rarely exceed three minutes and evoke figures of movement, lightness, curves or modulation, such as "La ligne", "La valse des singes" or "Fly Finger". Others more seriously relate to a kind of spirituality, which quietly infuses such different tracks as "Ferveur", "Éclair" and "Louanges". Ezéchiel adds: “I’m by no means religious, but I like what God has managed to get musicians to achieve (laughs)". "Louanges", for instance, despite its electronic edge, "refers to Olivier Messiaen, a very devout composer who I greatly admire". Other tracks are directly inspired by the classical music he listens to on a daily basis. For example, Chopin's “8th Nocturne” formed the backdrop of “Pianovado”. Likewise, the harmonic structure of Beethoven's “Waldstein Sonata No. 21” inspired “Opus 53”. Aside from these multiple references and inspirations, which quickly recede behind a style that is uniquely his, Ezéchiel Pailhès keeps exploring ideas already found on his first solo albums, this time in an instrumental format, undoubtedly purer, fostering an imaginary world that evokes the shapes and themes of ballads, ritornellos, light-heartedness, passing time, reverie or a universal subdued melancholy. More

Genre : Electronic - Downtempo

Tracklist :

A1. Jail Time with Mr. Murd (Feat. Yonatan Albalak) - A2. Graveyard Party - A3. Your Tissue SVP - A4. SNG PLSTN - A5. - I Think This Is Reasonable - A6. HRTSPC - B1. NOZPLZ - B2. Dada’s Bone - B3. OCNC XTR - B4. EZ PPL 4 TRTH - B5. Don’t Forget to Not Remember Who

Yuval Havkin, also known as Rejoicer, is one of the foremost exponents of downtempo music, inspired by the fusion of jazz and hip-hop. His new album thus draws on his early influences while exploring the world of calm, melodic electronic music that borders on ambient.

This Is Reasonable has a chill-out feel to it, a record filled with melodies and atmospheres that, throughout its eleven tracks, conveys a sense of calm and floating, akin to ambient music. Stripped of the clichés of the genre, the album is built around subtle melodies and rich harmonies from keyboards and synths, which borrow as much from the spirit of jazz as from the inventions of electronica, whilst being supported by a gentle groove. This equilibrium is perfectly captured by Rejoicer's moniker, a term that evokes both the idleness of artificial paradises and a soft, caring form of spirituality.

Musical path
Yuval Havkin was born in Israel in 1985, and grew up in England before returning to his homeland. He began studying classical piano as a child, but was put off by such conservative teaching and turned to hip-hop and beatmaking in his teens. Throughout the 2000s, he learned his skills "on the job", working with musicians he met in Tel Aviv, a local scene that nurtured a sense of community and emulation. Back then, he was particularly impressed by the grooves and electronic inventions of Detroit producer Dabrye, who had a revelatory effect on him, before he discovered legendary musicians Madlib and Jay Dee aka J Dilla, who led him down the path of beatmaking.

Yuval Havkin's music career got off to a more serious start in the late 2000s with the creation of his own label, Raw Tapes, both based in Tel Aviv. Blending jazz, funk and hip hop, whilst still embracing pop influences, the label's productions showcased the richness of the new Israeli scene combining cool, elegance, playfulness, and a degree of research and inventiveness, thanks to the talent of artists and bands such as Duo Brothers, Maya Dunietz, iogi, Nitai Hershkovits, the Buttering Trio and Rejoicer, the artist's most personal project.

In 2018, Rejoicer's warm and engaging sounds caught the attention of the prestigious Los Angeles label Stones Throw, renowned for having signed his idols Madlib and J Dilla, not to mention Aloe Blacc and Peanut Butter Wolf (its founder). Two albums followed, Energy Dreams (2018) and Spiritual Sleaze (2020), both of which demonstrate his instrumental mastery, jazz culture and lush orchestrations. Both albums are on a par with more renown sampling prodigies of the beat scene, and gave him his first international recognition.

Now based between Los Angeles and Savyon, near Tel Aviv, this hyperactive and instinctive artist simultaneously pursues a career as a composer, musician and label owner, member of numerous bands and collective projects (Apifera, PlayDead, collaborations with Jimi Prasad and Avishai Cohen) while also offering his studios and production skills to other artists. “Fela Kuti meets Aphex Twin”

This new Rejoicer album, which follows three earlier jazz-tinged records, marks a new and more personal musical direction for an artist who previously favored group work and collaborations. Yuval chose here to delve into a more electronic and sequenced style of music, playing Prophet 6 and 8 synths, a Juno 60, a Minimoog and his Fender Rhodes keyboard, in contrast with the more organic sounds of his previous albums. While a few tracks on this new album may sound like a laid-back version of some of the Warp label's early electronic classics by Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada, Yuval Havkin claims to have also been inspired by the great Fela Kuti, particularly in his search for harmonies between bass, keyboards and
percussion, and by his elder trumpet-playing friend Avishai Cohen, a musician he particularly admires.

Beyond these various influences, This Is Reasonable is an album of compelling and bewitching melodies. The moods, peacefulness and sheer beauty of This Is Reasonable are, indeed, quite paradoxical, in stark contrast to the country's tragedies (the title explicitly refers to recent political disputes in Israel) and the war currently raging less than a hundred miles from his studio. A paradox fully embraced by the artist, who views his music as a response to the violence of our times.
More

Double Vinyl LP (incl. printed inner sleeve)

Tracklist 2LP:
A1. The Pull of Time - A2. Parallax - B1. The Color of Static - B2. Begin Again - C1. I Need You -
C2. Beacon - D1. Are We Not Above It? (Feat. NiQ E & L_cio) - D2. The Mycorrhizal Network -
D3. Augmented Dreams

Short Info:
Alan Abrahams aka Portable returns to the label in fine form with his latest full-length LP, Augmented
Dreams. The title refers to the use of everyday technological advancements to achieve what were once
only dreams or visions of past generations, making this an explorative concept album that is equal parts
not-too-distant science fiction, and about as topical as it gets.
From the gorgeous opening string layers of “The Pull of Time” to the classy 4/4 grooves of “Begin Again”
or lead single “Guiding Me”, into the apropos and angular sci-fi broken beat feels of “Parallax” and “The
Color of Static”, fitting Detroit-influenced love taps like “Beacon” and “The Mycorrhizal Network”, the
politically-inspired “Are We Not Above It?” referencing the lingering effects of colonization featuring NiQ
E from South Africa on vocals and L_cio from Brazil on flute, through to the futurist pop elegance of the
dreamy duet recorded with Alexey Kochetkov “I Need You” and the conclusive titular track, it is clear
that both the in-depth concept and immaculately-crafted musical content in Portable’s inimitable style
are balanced in significance and expressive effect. This also functions as a timely statement in itself, as
today’s iceberg-tip evolution of AI technology is currently impending over the arts and many of our
existing realities.
This ten-song album serves as an imaginative yet hyperrealist narrative on how humanity’s fascination
with and reliance on ever-advancing technology defines the times we find ourselves in, while the skillful
sonic displays and present-era production techniques along with Abraham’s knack for timeless emotive
songwriting offer up this solid soundtrack for the ages. More

Genre: House, Minimal

Tracklist:

A1. Guiding Me (Original Mix) FR2T02300025
B1. Guiding Me (Lawrence remix) FR2T02300026
B2. Vigor FR2T02300027

Short Info:

The ever-prolific and established artist Alan Abrahams aka Portable makes a swift and very welcome return to Circus Company with the impressive lead single "Guiding Me", giving us an early taste of his forthcoming album Augmented Dreams to be released in the fall.

Conceptually the direction of this new project refers to the use of technology to alter our dreams, inadvertently or not, as so much tech advancement becomes available and ingrained in our daily lives. The timely lead single here inspired by Abraham's South African ancestors the Khoi San people and the guidance they provide, appropriately exuding both futurist formed sonics and dream-like tenderness in content, led by his dulcet-toned vocals and delivered with the super solid production we've come to expect. Wonderful multi-purpose electronic music which will find itself right at home on late-night discerning dance floors, or indeed guiding the listener through their respective travels, solo meditations or get-downs in headphones.

Along with the excellent "Guiding Me" original mix, we are graced with a masterful remix by Hamburg's Lawrence of Smallville and Dial fame, who takes the track into an even more floor-focussed realm with his patented rolling sub-bass lines which will guarantee plenty of summertime sound system finessing, as well as the EP-exclusive B2 track "Vigor" in which Portable goes even deeper in tone with classic styled vocal cut-ups and repurposed shards of tasty sound design added to keep the dancers endlessly entranced when and wherever they may be.

More

Genre: Ambient, Electronica, Experimental

Tracklist CD:
01. Venus - 02. Marché - 03. Foule - 04. Saloperie - 05. So Dad… - 06. Fluids - 07. Bonnes nouvelles des étoiles -
08. Flirty - 09. Audio Sexual Part 1 - 10. Science imbécile - 11. Maternaliste - 12. Gravos - 13. Wesh Finn Zerb -
14. Comput - 15. Aliens - 16. Fruit Cakes - 17. Vol plané


Short Info:
Deepening the comic tones using cosmic relief, and lively vibes, La Science des Imbéciles
(Ludicrous System), Brigitte Barbu’s sophomore sonic adventure, manifest a blurry creation
intersecting orbital audio paths and damaged smoking instruments. Could have easily been
called Birdless Science but it wouldn’t be funny…
Reverberating estranged arrangements, bizarre sounds, electronic fantasies, « hallucinationalism »,
and crypto poppy stratums all party together in Barbu's second explicit sensual album. Recorded and
digested during a gastro-reclusive residency in an Un-Orthodox Union Spacy Workstation, under the
benign diffraction of "Californian psychedelia» and medieval Cyrillic capharnaüm. Due to historic
geographical confusions and incorrect spellings, any specific detail will stay confidential. Using a
powerful branded calculator, digital converters, boutique preamps and various synthetic substitutions,
this extra album is blooming for spring cleaning. The guitar was accidentally ravaged, propelling
supervision into a strange but dope alt verse, still somewhere between an impromtu voyage through
scattered chronology and a poetic analytical research.
A cheerful memento escaping from pressure and weight like one of those fancy diets.
"I wanted to compose an intangible Pop LP" says Brigitte, « with guitar as an alibi, blending arrogant
synthesizers and humble plug-ins.… ». With a genuine thoughtful dimension, this record freaks as out
audiences with its neat mischievous mood. Jazzing the Mushing Rooms while testing the Acid Tweaks,
initially, the Artist had ambiguously vague rules for composing: but slowly, offending beardless
academics became the motto.
Ingrédients: orgasmic pads, sublime beaches, distorted nostalgia, frustrated markets, perfect
crowds, shady brews, body fluids, magnificent news, fried stars, hairy spouses, loud flirts, cosmicNew Release Information
crumbs, healed sons, dumb technology, rare games,underground motherships, Turkish tarot, fat bits
and heavy cream, fresh herbs, exotic invectives, a stuttering abacus, lamb’s bread, silent farts,
croissants chauds, extended outsiders, incongruous «patisseries», condescending muffs, violent
eardrums, hijacked bytes, macho bakers, epic fails, viennese bass, very large ears, hilarious gliding,
what else ?? More

Genre: Ambient, Electronica, Experimental

Tracklist LP:
A1. Venus - A2. Marché - A3. - Foule - A4. - Saloperie - A5. So Dad… - A6. Fluids - A7. Bonnes
nouvelles des étoiles - A8. - Flirty - A9. Audio Sexual Part 1 - A10. Science imbécile - B1.
Maternaliste - B2. Gravos - B3. Wesh Finn Zerb - B4. Comput - B5. Aliens - B6. Fruit Cakes - B7.
Vol plané

Short Info:
Deepening the comic tones using cosmic relief, and lively vibes, La Science des Imbéciles
(Ludicrous System), Brigitte Barbu’s sophomore sonic adventure, manifest a blurry creation
intersecting orbital audio paths and damaged smoking instruments. Could have easily been
called Birdless Science but it wouldn’t be funny…
Reverberating estranged arrangements, bizarre sounds, electronic fantasies, « hallucinationalism »,
and crypto poppy stratums all party together in Barbu's second explicit sensual album. Recorded and
digested during a gastro-reclusive residency in an Un-Orthodox Union Spacy Workstation, under the
benign diffraction of "Californian psychedelia» and medieval Cyrillic capharnaüm. Due to historic
geographical confusions and incorrect spellings, any specific detail will stay confidential. Using a
powerful branded calculator, digital converters, boutique preamps and various synthetic substitutions,
this extra album is blooming for spring cleaning. The guitar was accidentally ravaged, propelling
supervision into a strange but dope alt verse, still somewhere between an impromtu voyage through
scattered chronology and a poetic analytical research.
A cheerful memento escaping from pressure and weight like one of those fancy diets.
"I wanted to compose an intangible Pop LP" says Brigitte, « with guitar as an alibi, blending arrogant
synthesizers and humble plug-ins.… ». With a genuine thoughtful dimension, this record freaks as out
audiences with its neat mischievous mood. Jazzing the Mushing Rooms while testing the Acid Tweaks,
initially, the Artist had ambiguously vague rules for composing: but slowly, offending beardless
academics became the motto.
Ingrédients: orgasmic pads, sublime beaches, distorted nostalgia, frustrated markets, perfect
crowds, shady brews, body fluids, magnificent news, fried stars, hairy spouses, loud flirts, cosmicNew Release Information
crumbs, healed sons, dumb technology, rare games,underground motherships, Turkish tarot, fat bits
and heavy cream, fresh herbs, exotic invectives, a stuttering abacus, lamb’s bread, silent farts,
croissants chauds, extended outsiders, incongruous «patisseries», condescending muffs, violent
eardrums, hijacked bytes, macho bakers, epic fails, viennese bass, very large ears, hilarious gliding,
what else ?? More

Genre: Electro, House

Tracklist:
A1. Firesound - B1. Lost Sonar - B2. Light Blooming

Short Info:
Following well-received collaborative outings for us as 1/2 of the SF dynamo duo Moniker whose classic
“Billy D” anthem and respective Patrice Scott remix graced the early catalog, followed by the galactic
flex Straylight EP with Cali brethren Dave Aju on velvet vocoder vox b/w a stellar Kai Alcé remix on the
Another offshoot imprint, and of course his indelible contributions to the arrangements/derangement of
the wondrous KAMM LP Cookie Policies, Kenneth Scott is essentially an extended family household
name for our camp and so we’re beyond proud to present his initial solo release for the Circus Company
label proper. Schooled as always in the deepest of electronic music roots and classiest of track
traditions, the three pieces that form the Light Blooming EP puzzle display all the prized synth wizardry
and production ingenuity we’ve come to expect from the Berlin-based veteran.
“Firesound” kicks us off in fine form, with a glistening array of pads and tight arpeggios that give way to
a soulful funk strut that any fan of Detroit-style electro flavors will enjoy to the fullest. We then move to
the stylized 4/4 pulse of the aptly-titled “Lost Sonar”, an extended live set for Lost Sonar Collective
skillfully condensed and finessed into a smooth-as-silk true deep house cut, where warm synth tones
set the sound bed while shards of sharper percussion and angular textures flash and fizz throughout,
creating an ultra-fresh contrasting feel while a rock-solid groove grinds us along faithfully. Scott then
finally closes out the set with the powerful and titular “Light Blooming” which begins with a similar rising
pad intro before unleashing fierce and raw overdriven drum programming, teasing us out to the two
minute mark when the mighty sub bass line and multi-layered arps drop in to devastating effect, bubbling
and building to a bold harmonic apex, before eventually bringing us down softly and somehow with ease
after such a glorious rise.
Filled with early-Warp feels and futurist sci-fi hopes in equal measure, the Light Blooming EP is three
tracks of pure funk precision and expressive musical class from the man Kenneth Scott More

Double LP (incl. download code)

Genre: Beats, Ambient, Electronica

Tracklist LP:
A1. X-pert Profat - A2. Break for Ma - A3. Drums 2002 - A4. Ducklings 2 - A5. #ew_horseplay -
A6. Jo Barker - A7. AR Day - B1. New Family - B2. Repepepater (feat. Joli B) - B3. Clean Father -
B4. Ambient Jams 3 - C1. July 11 Creepy (feat. Ted Pilsner) - C2. Brain Bed - C3. Roxy Dancer -
C4. Summer Storm - C5. They Work for Mr. O - C6. Tricky Dees Dumm Dumm -
C7. Ufos Over Egypt (feat. Cristobal) - D1. Weak Stranger - D2. XMods in the Living Room - D3. Being a Total Warm Up

Short Info:
One of our all-time favourite artists and extended Circus Company member The Mole returns to the
label for a proper presentation of his album The River Widens. Originally a limited, cassette-only
release via fellow Canadian Eddie C’s Red Motorbike, we are proud to offer this album in its full glory
for the first time on all formats.
Never one to shy away from synth deep dives, or raw sample flip collaging, this collection of 21 works
checks all the boxes. Ambient trippers to straight up neck-snapping instrumental beats. Not forgetting
tastes of the more uptempo, highly-assured and hypnotic dance floor feels the world has come to love
The Mole for. Moments of casual chillin are interspersed with effortless, emotive angles, some evoking
the charm of his Little Sunshine release for us in 2017.

X-pert Profat opens the set with sly statements that give way to relaxed and subtle keys over gentle,
midtempo rhythms. Things switch up nicely into easy, Northwest Coast boogie-meets-beatdown feels
inBreak For Ma, followed by a solid array of almost Jaylib-schooled boom bap twists, like the aptly-titled
Drums 2002 and Jo Barker. Ambient cuts like AR Dayand New Family offer a refreshing tap of the
brakes, setting the scene for the gorgeous, Jarre-esque Weak Stranger. We also get treated
to Repepepater’s nod to Detroit house, urban-mode Balearic feels on They Work For Mr. O, and sneak
attack lo-fi future funk in the form of UFOs Over Egypt, with Montreal co-pilot Cristobal on a wild
shisha-lit vox narrative, earlier versions of which have blessed many of our label comrades’ DJ sets,
from Dave Aju to Vincent Lemieux.
The River Widens expands beautifully on the breadth of unique musical directions The Mole is capable
of taking us in, now spread across fresh 2x12” vinyl and available digitally for the first time, along with
another limited edition cassette run - we hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do! More

cassette

Genre: Beats, Ambient, Electronica

Tracklist Cassette:
A1. X-pert Profat - A2. Break for Ma - A3. Drums 2002 - A4. Ducklings 2 - A5. #ew_horseplay -
A6. Jo Barker - A7. AR Day - A8. New Family - A9. Repepepater (feat. Joli B) - A10. Clean Father -
A11. Ambient Jams 3 - B1. July 11 Creepy (feat. Ted Pilsner) - B2. Brain Bed - B3. Roxy Dancer -
B4. Summer Storm - B5. They Work for Mr. O - B6. Tricky Dees Dumm Dumm -
B7. Ufos Over Egypt (feat. Cristobal) - B8. Weak Stranger - B9. XMods in the Living Room - B10. Being a Total Warm Up

Short Info:
One of our all-time favourite artists and extended Circus Company member The Mole returns to the
label for a proper presentation of his album The River Widens. Originally a limited, cassette-only
release via fellow Canadian Eddie C’s Red Motorbike, we are proud to offer this album in its full glory
for the first time on all formats.
Never one to shy away from synth deep dives, or raw sample flip collaging, this collection of 21 works
checks all the boxes. Ambient trippers to straight up neck-snapping instrumental beats. Not forgetting
tastes of the more uptempo, highly-assured and hypnotic dance floor feels the world has come to love
The Mole for. Moments of casual chillin are interspersed with effortless, emotive angles, some evoking
the charm of his Little Sunshine release for us in 2017.

X-pert Profat opens the set with sly statements that give way to relaxed and subtle keys over gentle,
midtempo rhythms. Things switch up nicely into easy, Northwest Coast boogie-meets-beatdown feels
inBreak For Ma, followed by a solid array of almost Jaylib-schooled boom bap twists, like the aptly-titled
Drums 2002 and Jo Barker. Ambient cuts like AR Dayand New Family offer a refreshing tap of the
brakes, setting the scene for the gorgeous, Jarre-esque Weak Stranger. We also get treated
to Repepepater’s nod to Detroit house, urban-mode Balearic feels on They Work For Mr. O, and sneak
attack lo-fi future funk in the form of UFOs Over Egypt, with Montreal co-pilot Cristobal on a wild
shisha-lit vox narrative, earlier versions of which have blessed many of our label comrades’ DJ sets,
from Dave Aju to Vincent Lemieux.
The River Widens expands beautifully on the breadth of unique musical directions The Mole is capable
of taking us in, now spread across fresh 2x12” vinyl and available digitally for the first time, along with
another limited edition cassette run - we hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do! More

Special remarks : LP Vinyl incl. printed inner sleeve

Tracklist LP:
A1. Dors-tu ? - A2. Regard en arrière - A3. Mélopée - A4. L’attente - A5. Elégie - B1. Prélude -
B2. La fille de la nuit - B3. Ni toi, ni moi - B4. Le beau jour - B5. Opaline - B6. Tant que mes yeux

Short Info:
On his fourth solo album, much as in Oh! (2020), the French composer, pianist and vocalist follows his
ongoing exploration of the crossroads between poetry and songs, piano and synth, old-time verses
and contemporary sounds. Inspired by the rhythms, effects and speech patterns of urban music, he
also delivers, with a warm and moving voice, the texts of three poetesses from the past.
Since 2013, Ezéchiel Pailhès has been crafting a unique French synth pop. On his first three albums,
he switched between songs inspired by poetry, instrumental ballads and electronica with hummed
choruses. This latest record is a collection of eleven new songs, two of which he wrote: "Opaline" and
"Ni toi, ni moi" (neither you nor me). The others are adaptations of poems written in the 16th, 18th and
19th centuries by French poetesses Louise Labé (1524-1566), Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-
1859) and Renée Vivien (1877-1909).
Poetesses from the past...
From classical music to songs, poetry adaptation is an old French tradition. "My universe has always
embraced the musicality of this literary genre," the artist recalls. He actually started this project in 2017
with poems and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, Victor Hugo and above all Marceline
Desbordes-Valmore, who can be heard again on songs such as "Dors-tu?" (Are you sleeping?),
"Élégie" or "L'attente" (The wait). A figure of romanticism, the author left her mark on the early 19th
century through the quality of her texts and her formal inventions, particularly praised by Balzac, and
apparently a decisive influence on Verlaine and Baudelaire. "Marceline's poetry is very musical," says
Ezéchiel admiringly. "Her use of rhythm and repetition sounds great and takes on a new perspective
when set to music. In fact, she wrote some of her texts with singing in mind.”
“Ces longs secrets dont l'amour nous accuse,
Viens-tu les rompre en songe à mes genoux ?
Dors-tu, ma vie ! ou rêves-tu de moi ?”
“These long secrets for which love accuses us,
Do you come to my knees to break them in a dream?
Are you sleeping, my life! or do you dream of me”
(“Dors-tu ?”, after “Les pleurs” (the tears), 1833)
Besides her, we find the more famous, and rebellious, Renée Vivien, whose texts inspired three
songs, "Regard en arrière" (Looking backwards), "Mélopée" (Melopoeia) and "La fille de la nuit" (The
night girl). Sometimes nicknamed "Sapho 1900", this figure of lesbian culture and, more broadly, of
female genius, combined in her work the themes of desire, dreams, melancholy and the relationship
with nature.
“Ta forme est un éclair
Ton sourire est l’instant
Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel
T’implore, ô mon Désir !”
"Your shape is a spark of lightning
Your smile, the very moment
You flee, when the calling
Begs you, O my Desire!"
(After “Parle-moi, de ta voix pareille à l’eau courante” (Speak to me, with a voice like flowing waters)
and “Ta forme est un éclair” (Your shape is a spark of lightning), Renée Vivien, 1901)
Lastly, with "Tant que mes yeux" (As long as my eyes), Ezéchiel was inspired by a 1555 poem by
Renaissance poet Louise Labé, whose main topic explored female love, physical and spiritual desire,
and the torments and pains they generate.
" At the start of the project ", Ezéchiel continues, " I was interested in many poets, men and women,
past and present, before my selection was narrowed down to these three female authors. Their works,
often written in difficult or secret conditions, express a raging romanticism, a passionate soul, fuelled
by desperate and tormented love. I found it interesting, as a man coming from another world and time,
to face this otherness, to trade viewpoints. Obviously, I could loudly claim that the album was the
result of a concept, that it reflects today's world, and that it allows me to explore the notion of gender,
giving visibility to the work of a few women, while at the same time pairing these ancient texts with a
more modern and rhythmic music, and obviously, there is some truth in that. But more than anything, I
wanted to serve the text itself, to express the emotion and connection I felt with these works.”
Today's rhythms and prosody...
Ezéchiel Pailhès combines texts from French literature with electronic music, its effects and rhythms,
as well as a form of scansion that echoes rap, R&B or the current fusion between hip hop and pop,
which is part of our musical background and that of younger generations. "I wanted to cross-reference
texts from the beginning of the century with this type of music. I wanted to use today’s techniques to
tell the tale of different daily lives and experiences.
The album is thus marked by contemporary electronic orchestrations, in which he drops his favourite
instrument, the piano, and his digital collage technique to use more extensive synth melodies,
enhanced by drum machines, bringing a gentle and bright vibe to the romantic texts. Lastly, we can
hear slight digital tones of Auto-Tune, which Ezéchiel uses sparingly and inventively.

Beyond its sophistication, the term "melopoeia" means a "sung declamation", a "recitative song",
sometimes interpreted in a monotonous way. On this album, it could also refer to a sense of phrasing,
which does not come from rap, but rather from jazz, Ezéchiel's first love. " In the past, I tried to hide
my jazz culture, but it naturally came back on this new album, as can be heard, for instance, in Regard
en arrière.” With its verses anchored in our literary memory, the following track "Mélopée", perfectly
illustrates the album's vision. It manages to transcend eras, mixing past romanticism with a modern
prosody, fuelled by the nonchalance of hip hop and the warm chords of jazz.
“Qu’un hasard guide enfin mon désespoir tranquille
Vers l’eau d’une oasis ou les berges d’une île,
Où je puisse dormir, mon voyage accompli,
Dans la sécurité profonde de l’oubli”
"May chance guide my quiet sorrow, at last
To the water of an oasis, the shores of an island,
Where I may sleep, having traveled my way,
In the safe depths of oblivion".
(After “Sillages” (Trails), René Vivien, 1908) More

Special remarks : CD Digipack

Tracklist CD:
01. Dors-tu ? - 02. Regard en arrière - 03. Mélopée - 04. L’attente - 05. Elégie - 06. Prélude - 07.
La fille de la nuit - 08. Ni toi, ni moi - 09. Le beau jour - 10. Opaline - 11. Tant que mes yeux

Short Info:
On his fourth solo album, much as in Oh! (2020), the French composer, pianist and vocalist follows his
ongoing exploration of the crossroads between poetry and songs, piano and synth, old-time verses
and contemporary sounds. Inspired by the rhythms, effects and speech patterns of urban music, he
also delivers, with a warm and moving voice, the texts of three poetesses from the past.
Since 2013, Ezéchiel Pailhès has been crafting a unique French synth pop. On his first three albums,
he switched between songs inspired by poetry, instrumental ballads and electronica with hummed
choruses. This latest record is a collection of eleven new songs, two of which he wrote: "Opaline" and
"Ni toi, ni moi" (neither you nor me). The others are adaptations of poems written in the 16th, 18th and
19th centuries by French poetesses Louise Labé (1524-1566), Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-
1859) and Renée Vivien (1877-1909).
Poetesses from the past...
From classical music to songs, poetry adaptation is an old French tradition. "My universe has always
embraced the musicality of this literary genre," the artist recalls. He actually started this project in 2017
with poems and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, Victor Hugo and above all Marceline
Desbordes-Valmore, who can be heard again on songs such as "Dors-tu?" (Are you sleeping?),
"Élégie" or "L'attente" (The wait). A figure of romanticism, the author left her mark on the early 19th
century through the quality of her texts and her formal inventions, particularly praised by Balzac, and
apparently a decisive influence on Verlaine and Baudelaire. "Marceline's poetry is very musical," says
Ezéchiel admiringly. "Her use of rhythm and repetition sounds great and takes on a new perspective
when set to music. In fact, she wrote some of her texts with singing in mind.”
“Ces longs secrets dont l'amour nous accuse,
Viens-tu les rompre en songe à mes genoux ?
Dors-tu, ma vie ! ou rêves-tu de moi ?”
“These long secrets for which love accuses us,
Do you come to my knees to break them in a dream?
Are you sleeping, my life! or do you dream of me”
(“Dors-tu ?”, after “Les pleurs” (the tears), 1833)
Besides her, we find the more famous, and rebellious, Renée Vivien, whose texts inspired three
songs, "Regard en arrière" (Looking backwards), "Mélopée" (Melopoeia) and "La fille de la nuit" (The
night girl). Sometimes nicknamed "Sapho 1900", this figure of lesbian culture and, more broadly, of
female genius, combined in her work the themes of desire, dreams, melancholy and the relationship
with nature.
“Ta forme est un éclair
Ton sourire est l’instant
Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel
T’implore, ô mon Désir !”
"Your shape is a spark of lightning
Your smile, the very moment
You flee, when the calling
Begs you, O my Desire!"
(After “Parle-moi, de ta voix pareille à l’eau courante” (Speak to me, with a voice like flowing waters)
and “Ta forme est un éclair” (Your shape is a spark of lightning), Renée Vivien, 1901)
Lastly, with "Tant que mes yeux" (As long as my eyes), Ezéchiel was inspired by a 1555 poem by
Renaissance poet Louise Labé, whose main topic explored female love, physical and spiritual desire,
and the torments and pains they generate.
" At the start of the project ", Ezéchiel continues, " I was interested in many poets, men and women,
past and present, before my selection was narrowed down to these three female authors. Their works,
often written in difficult or secret conditions, express a raging romanticism, a passionate soul, fuelled
by desperate and tormented love. I found it interesting, as a man coming from another world and time,
to face this otherness, to trade viewpoints. Obviously, I could loudly claim that the album was the
result of a concept, that it reflects today's world, and that it allows me to explore the notion of gender,
giving visibility to the work of a few women, while at the same time pairing these ancient texts with a
more modern and rhythmic music, and obviously, there is some truth in that. But more than anything, I
wanted to serve the text itself, to express the emotion and connection I felt with these works.”
Today's rhythms and prosody...
Ezéchiel Pailhès combines texts from French literature with electronic music, its effects and rhythms,
as well as a form of scansion that echoes rap, R&B or the current fusion between hip hop and pop,
which is part of our musical background and that of younger generations. "I wanted to cross-reference
texts from the beginning of the century with this type of music. I wanted to use today’s techniques to
tell the tale of different daily lives and experiences.
The album is thus marked by contemporary electronic orchestrations, in which he drops his favourite
instrument, the piano, and his digital collage technique to use more extensive synth melodies,
enhanced by drum machines, bringing a gentle and bright vibe to the romantic texts. Lastly, we can
hear slight digital tones of Auto-Tune, which Ezéchiel uses sparingly and inventively.

Beyond its sophistication, the term "melopoeia" means a "sung declamation", a "recitative song",
sometimes interpreted in a monotonous way. On this album, it could also refer to a sense of phrasing,
which does not come from rap, but rather from jazz, Ezéchiel's first love. " In the past, I tried to hide
my jazz culture, but it naturally came back on this new album, as can be heard, for instance, in Regard
en arrière.” With its verses anchored in our literary memory, the following track "Mélopée", perfectly
illustrates the album's vision. It manages to transcend eras, mixing past romanticism with a modern
prosody, fuelled by the nonchalance of hip hop and the warm chords of jazz.
“Qu’un hasard guide enfin mon désespoir tranquille
Vers l’eau d’une oasis ou les berges d’une île,
Où je puisse dormir, mon voyage accompli,
Dans la sécurité profonde de l’oubli”
"May chance guide my quiet sorrow, at last
To the water of an oasis, the shores of an island,
Where I may sleep, having traveled my way,
In the safe depths of oblivion".
(After “Sillages” (Trails), René Vivien, 1908) More

(colored eco vinyl)

Genre: House, Minimal, Electronica

Tracklist :
A1. The Spacetime Curvature (DJ Qu Remix) - A2. I Feel Stronger Now (Patrice Scott Remix) -
B1. Ripple Effect (Call Super Remix)

Short Info:
In the wake of Portable’s acclaimed album My Sentient Shadow comes a trio of remixes which expand
on his unique slant on techno and synth-pop. Finding three artists who reflect his own experimental
tendencies within dance music, Alan Abraham’s original productions head into unexpected new places
while retaining the physical, club-ready energy he manages to instill in his own creations.
A true auteur within techno, DJ Qu brings a sense of poise and drama to ‘The Spacetime Curvature’
as he patiently builds the track into a fierce peak time monster driven by snarling bass and his
signature sizzling, shuffled percussion.
Patrice Scott has a reliably smooth, immersive approach to deep Detroit house, and it lends itself
beautifully to Abraham’s melancholic vocal on ‘I Feel Stronger Now’.
Leaning in on the jazz dimension of his wide-ranging electronica, Call Super revels in the sweetness of
‘Ripple Effect’ and places delicate piano playing upfront before slipping into a relaxed, sentimental
kind of garage and eventually edging towards an uplifting, off-centre strain of house music.
Individual in their own right and yet naturally entwined with the emotional intention of the original
versions, this is a set of remixes which pay full credit to the source material while offering something
you won’t expect, like a great remix should do. More

Genre: House
Tracklist :
A.1 Lean on Something - A.2 Wooer at the Well - B.1 Paramol - B.2 Risotto
Short Info:
North London-by-way-of-Suffolk soundsmith Gerry Read delivers his first release for Circus
Company with the Lean on Something EP. After countless examples of his bold production moves
on many of our brother and sister labels including Herbert’s Accidental Jr to more recently on Koze’s
Pampa Records, Read has always displayed a kindred spirit mindset to ours in his adventurous
musical angles, and we are very happy to present this particular set of rock-solid and uniquely
diverse pieces.
The title track “Lean on Something” starts things off in fine and classic Read form, with knocking
found-sound percussion, fizzing textures and slick use of chopped and disorienting vocal sample
bits, as the track layers unfold into a whimsical and wondrous melodic stargazing anthem. “Wooer
at the Well” then follows and picks up the tempo with those fly live acoustic drum lines that gives
Gerry’s tracks that special beyond-electronic feeling, while once again the deft layering of such a
rich sound palette builds and builds giving other mavericks like Four Tet a sincere run for their
money. The mood then brilliantly shifts on the next track “Paramol”, where Read treats us to an
almost Robotnik-era Italo sprinkling amidst his otherwise forward-thinking club floor-filling
tendencies, with an amazing array of synth sections and an arrangement that should satisfy even
the neo-purists out there amongst us. Finally, “Risotto” wraps up the proceedings with a warm,
jazzy bouncer reminiscent of both Read’s as well as our own catalog’s charming early offerings,
and a kind of landing-at-home-base sensation with smoky cubist funk feelings and an equal parts
rough-yet-undeniably cool effervescent groove. More

Genre: House

Tracklist :
A1. Boa - B1. Red Alert - B2. Organico

Short Info:
AOW is a new collaborative project from Dan Ghenacia and Tolga Fidan emerging from a new period of creativity and inspiration for the Lisbon-based artists.
Long time friends and fellow lynchpins of the European house and techno scene, Ghenacia and Fidan started working closely together through 2020 and 2021 while sharing studio space at Boa Lab. They
found themselves at the heart of an artistic community of musicians, designers and engineers, which took shape around Ghenacia’s experiments with alpha wave generation, inspired by Bryon Gysin’s
Dream Machine.
Ghenacia and engineer Anine Kirsten developed a modern update on Gysin’s 1950s design, which has been installed at exhibitions in London, Lisbon and Paris. At its heart, the project explores the
natural hallucinatory effects of alpha wave projections on the eyelids, and the therapeutic benefits of the experience. Out of this spirit of psychedelically-charged experimentation, Ghenacia and Fidan
have been working beyond the confines of their typical club-oriented material, creating ambient soundtracks to artist exhibitions in Boa and auditory backdrops to Alpha Wave Experience
installations.
AOW bridges the gap between this new period of creativity and Ghenacia and Fidan’s life-long passion for electronic dance music. Compared to the strictures of house and techno they’re best
known for, the three tracks on Hear the Light explore a more open, inquisitive sound with roots in UK electronica and West Coast psychedelic breaks (a seminal scene when Ghenacia was in the Bay Area
in the 90s). Crucially though, it’s not a pointedly retro sound, but rather a result of rich streams of inspiration meeting and passing through crisp, modernist production techniques to offer something
genuinely fresh on the ears.

Working outside of their comfort zones and guided by creative philosophies springing from research, shared experience and community, Hear the Light marks a new step forward for Ghenacia and Fidan,
with many more developments promised for the future.


More

Special remarks : Double LP incl. download code

Genre: House, Minimal, Electronica

Tracklist :
A1. The Simulacrum - A2. The Spacetime Curvature - A3. Foreign to You (feat. NiQ E) - B1. The
Self Assembling - B2. Analogue World - B3. Cages - C1. I Feel Stronger Now - C2. We Exist
(feat. Mandy Alexander) - D1. Ripple Effect - D2. Fractal Distortion

Short Info:
Following hot on the heels of lead single and recent mind-body tantalizer “I Feel Stronger Now,” we are now truly proud to present you with Portable’s latest full-length My Sentient Shadow. Filled to the brim with all of the
inventiveness the sonic auteur has commanded we expect from his sizable and consistent body of work on worldrenown labels such as Perlon, ~scape, !K7, and his own Süd Electronic and Khoikhoi imprints, and dare we say
offering us perhaps the most cohesive, emotive, and balanced of his highly-admirable catalog here to date. By using the analogy of a shadow that possesses its own consciousness, the theme of light and its distortion vs
balance with the inherent and necessary darkness that surrounds it is in clear vision.
Immediately from the warmly bizarre vibes of opening cut “The Simulacrum”, it’s clear Portable is requesting clearance to other worlds of funk and ingenuity. The delightfully trippy, smoky, back-room of the Tattooine Cantina
feel sets the stage just right to curb expectations and let the carefully constructed noise movements wash over us.
Elsewhere amongst the generous set we find tracks like “Cages” and “Ripple Effect” continue in the direction of horizontally-maximized aural tapestries oozing with texture, while at the other end of the energy spectrum pieces
such as “The Self-Assembling” and “We Exist..” roll and bounce with all the sci-fi gyrations and slick synth layers hinting at a hypnotic halfway rendezvous point to his Bodycode moniker. And of course, no proper Portable outing
would be complete without his own robust tenor vocal tone, which feels right at home front-and-center on the space travel anthem “The Spacetime Curvature” and used in more calculated micro-doses on “Analogue World”,
as well as the gorgeous “Foreign to You” whose meta-title features a rare guest starring vocalist NiQ.E, and brings to hearts some of Herbert’s finer moments with dear friend Dani Siciliano, albeit done-up entirely in some
distant yet alluring parallel dimension. The LP journey finishes with the frenetically-charged closer “Fractal Distortion” which will no doubt please many-a cosmic techno purist while making percussion masters from the
afterlife such as Jaki Liebezeit and Tony Allen proud, and is quite possibly the closest thing to a danceable musical take on the current state of cognitive dissonance in the world that surrounds us, offering us a one-way
ticket out from the not-too-distant future. Please join us in welcoming and celebrating this wonderful album from Portable on Circus Company.
More