Currently based in Los Angeles, Laurel Halo has spent over a decade stepping into different towns and cities for a moment or more, to the point where everywhere almost became nowhere. Atlas, the debut release on her new imprint Awe, is an attempt to put that feeling to music. Using both electronic and acoustic instrumentation, Halo has created a potent set of sensual ambient jazz collages, comprised of orchestral clouds, shades of modal harmony, hidden sonic details, and detuned, hallucinatory textures. The music functions as a series of maps, for places real and imaginary, and for expressing the unsaid. More

Currently based in Los Angeles, Laurel Halo has spent over a decade stepping into different towns and cities for a moment or more, to the point where everywhere almost became nowhere. Atlas, the debut release on her new imprint Awe, is an attempt to put that feeling to music. Using both electronic and acoustic instrumentation, Halo has created a potent set of sensual ambient jazz collages, comprised of orchestral clouds, shades of modal harmony, hidden sonic details, and detuned, hallucinatory textures. The music functions as a series of maps, for places real and imaginary, and for expressing the unsaid. More

Laurel Halo presents an album’s worth of score provided for the 2018 essay film Possessed, by artist collective Metahaven and Rob Schröder, produced by Dutch Mountain Film. The film was nominated for the IFFR Tiger award and the CPH:Dox New Vision Award in 2018. Her first foray into writing music for screen, the album provides a rich variety of sounds, from aqueous, subterranean drones, to plaintive folk pieces for violin and cello, to uncanny pseudoclassical piano mutations. The soundtrack traverses both the synthetic and acoustic, in keeping with the film’s tension between what is natural and unnatural. Opening track Hyphae unfolds like the titular fungal network, spreading and extending indelibly; the various Rome Themes all motivic in their romantic yearning; the surreal piano of Marbles pointing towards the recurrent image of void like black marbles, all knocking against one another, but never touching. Zeljava, named after the abandoned former Yugoslavian military air base featured in the film, is a central piece for it’s resonant, wrenching quality, like a perpetually arched back. In a nod to film music tradition a simple rendition of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater is also included in the collection. More

The 68th edition of the DJ-Kicks mix series is another landmark one, with experimental producer Laurel Halo taking the reins. The American's adventurous 28 track trip features seven exclusives, including two of her own plus those from Rrose, Machinewoman, FIT Siegel, Nick León and Ikonika. An electronic outlier, Halo hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but has been based in Berlin for a number of years. Landing on labels like Hyperdub, Honest Jon's and Latency, Halo has released a body of work ranging in style, yet cohered by production and compositional tendencies that sound distinctly her own. Her studio work tends to be a multi-layered mix of the electronic and the acoustic, the organic and the synthetic. As a DJ, meanwhile, she lays down more floor focussed mixes of techno, bass and worldly drum rhythms, and her live sets are similarly visceral and direct. Halo's DJ-kicks packs a lot in to just 60 minutes. It kicks off with the first of two of her own exclusives, 'Public Art', a tactile piano loop that sets the melodic tone of the mix in focus. Crunchy drums soon take over and begin what is a blistering ride through electro, trippy minimalism and textures that range from icy and dubby to steel plated and sharp from the likes of Red Axes, Parris and an exclusive from Rrose. Another exclusive, rough and ready cut from Machinewoman follows, before the mid section twists and turns on surging drum patterns, frantic industrial textures and spaced out gqom sounds from the likes of Griffit Vigo, Dario Zenker and Final Cut. This is a mix forever on the move: one minute its tightly coiled and kinetic, the next it's loose and joyful before switching into more cerebral and insular passages that keep you intrigued. Fusing together so many disparate sounds and textures is no mean feat, but like everything Halo does, here they all add up to something as thrilling and edgy as it is unpredictable and compelling.
CD Tracklisting
01 Laurel Halo - Public Art ** 02 Stallone the Reducer - Always Hate 03 Red Axes - 5 min (feat. CAR) 04 Parris - Puro Rosaceae 05 Rrose - Cricoid Pressure ** 06 Machinewoman - Just Made Some Jazz Music ** 07 WCC - Ana 08 FIT Siegel - Pennyrut ** 09 Yamaoka - Plastic PQ 10 Siete Catorce - Canto 11 Facta - Poliwhirl 12 Laurel Halo & Hodge - The Light Within You 13 Ikonika - Bodied ** 14 Griffit Vigo - A.C.I.D (Electronic Gqom Mix) 15 Panda Lassow - Lachowa 16 Dario Zenker - Koraimer Bro 17 Final Cut - Temptation 18 Aos - Violent Light 19 Geoffrey Landers - Brian's Having a Party 20 Via Maris - Side Effects 21 Laurel Halo - Oneiroi 22 Nick León - Pelican Dub ** 23 Stefan Ringer - Lust 24 Kirk The Flirt - Loser 25 Laurel Halo - Sweetie (DJ-Kicks) ** 26 Blake Baxter - Funky World (Blake Baxter Remix) 27 Kiki Kudo - Freakey Keke 28 Group A - Ketabali 29 Whitefield Brothers - Ntu More

The 68th edition of the DJ-Kicks mix series is another landmark one, with experimental producer Laurel Halo taking the reins. The American's adventurous 28 track trip features seven exclusives, including two of her own plus those from Rrose, Machinewoman, FIT Siegel, Nick León and Ikonika. An electronic outlier, Halo hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but has been based in Berlin for a number of years. Landing on labels like Hyperdub, Honest Jon's and Latency, Halo has released a body of work ranging in style, yet cohered by production and compositional tendencies that sound distinctly her own. Her studio work tends to be a multi-layered mix of the electronic and the acoustic, the organic and the synthetic. As a DJ, meanwhile, she lays down more floor focussed mixes of techno, bass and worldly drum rhythms, and her live sets are similarly visceral and direct. Halo's DJ-kicks packs a lot in to just 60 minutes. It kicks off with the first of two of her own exclusives, 'Public Art', a tactile piano loop that sets the melodic tone of the mix in focus. Crunchy drums soon take over and begin what is a blistering ride through electro, trippy minimalism and textures that range from icy and dubby to steel plated and sharp from the likes of Red Axes, Parris and an exclusive from Rrose. Another exclusive, rough and ready cut from Machinewoman follows, before the mid section twists and turns on surging drum patterns, frantic industrial textures and spaced out gqom sounds from the likes of Griffit Vigo, Dario Zenker and Final Cut. This is a mix forever on the move: one minute its tightly coiled and kinetic, the next it's loose and joyful before switching into more cerebral and insular passages that keep you intrigued. Fusing together so many disparate sounds and textures is no mean feat, but like everything Halo does, here they all add up to something as thrilling and edgy as it is unpredictable and compelling.

A1 Laurel Halo - Public Art ** A2 Parris - Puro Rosaceae A3 Rrose - Cricoid Pressure ** B1 Machinewoman - Just Made Some Jazz Music ** B2 FIT Siegel - Pennyrut ** B3 Siete Catorce - Canto C1 Ikonika - Bodied ** C2 Panda Lassow - Lachowa C3 Nick León - Pelican Dub ** D1 Stefan Ringer - Lust D2 Laurel Halo - Sweetie (DJ-Kicks) ** D3 Group A - Ketabali More

Laurel Halo returns with ‘Behind The Green Door’, a stripped back, rhythmic, and sonically absorbing EP. While re-injecting rhythm as the central focus, Laurel's compositional senses of elevated flow and ambient detail remain intact, harking back to earlier releases like ‘Hour Logic’ on Hippos In Tanks, and the ‘Spring’ 12" under the King Felix alias. However, the rugged, minimal grooves on display point to a new direction and shift in sound; these four tracks are hardware-only affairs developed from her live set, built from a kit focused on dancefloor-ready rhythms, enveloping bass, psychedelic detail and lush harmony. On 'Behind The Green Door', Detroit Techno influence from her Michigan upbringing shines in tandem with stylistic nods towards contemporary UK club music; at times cold, lush, sinister and elated, the EP is a meditative rush of exploratory dancefloor electronics More

Following on from her much-lauded debut album ‘Quarantine’ on Hyperdub released earlier in the year, Laurel Halo concludes both the year and the drama explored in ‘Quarantine’ with this new single 'Sunlight On The Faded'. Where ‘Quarantine’ was dense and beatless, layered and visceral with vocals cutting through intense soundscapes, 'Sunlight On The Faded' is energized and geometric, with lush chords built around hard, sparse drums and Laurel's harmonized vocals. The claustrophobic motifs explored on ‘Quarantine’ remain, but here they are turned inside out, incandescent and fleeting. Choked samples and illusory FX support the vocal phrases, the lyrics hinting at a resolution from the pain of the album’s themes, and a hopefulness too. The b-side dub is a deep exploration, again reflecting the soundscapes of ‘Quarantine’ but ramping up the intensity with simultaneously tense and lithe drum patterns. The chords of the original are broken by gaseous blooms, distortion detail work and rhythmic FX, allowing them to breathe and bounce in and out of the track, pivoting around a sinister, bassy dub techno pulse. Like the original take, the dub version is equal parts dark and positive, both ideal for late nights and early mornings.

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Precious, timely, moody reflections on migrating from Côte d’Ivoire to Moss, in Norway, over ruff breakbeat funk supplied by the nimble bass-playing of Maimouna’s old man (from Kambo Super Sound), and the expert conga and kit-drumming of Stliletti-Ana (from Jesse, in Helsinki). Even in their delirium, b-boys and girls will savour traces of the Incredible Bongo Band, in the chorus. Over the eight minutes, and going deeper on the flip, the mix lifts off into a cosmic steppers dub, featuring Gilb-r alongside Sotofett on keyboards, with no let up for the dancefloor in energy and vibes.
In beautifully letter-pressed, poly-lined sleeves.
“It was in 2001 / I got the letter / A letter that said / I would travel to a cold world / Not knowing what would happen / I was full of loneliness / No country / Everyone was different / Not only skin colour / The way people spoke / The way people behaved / That’s the adventure / Obey / This is the story we’re told / The key to success / So we can do everything for our parents / Who need us / Desperate for a better life / That’s the adventure.” More

Three murderous steppers dubs on a propulsive, rat-tat-tat rhythm, combining mystical spaciousness with detail and ferocity. Angry-lion bass and smears of brass, fusillades and explosions, scares and shocks, oriental pentatonics, clattering percussion and synthy transcendence… the business. The second mix is nastiest; the third is the wildest and most discombobulated (and our favourite).
Letter-pressed, poly-lined sleeves. More

A kind of intimate scrapbook of the startling collaboration between the techno maestro and this long-standing musical collective based in Bishkek, devoted to the roots music of Kyrgyzstan. Loose-leaved but balanced, lucid and intimate, it sets out from stunning a cappella and virtuosic komuz and kylak, mouth harp and traditional percussion: not field, but expert studio recordings, using marvellous vintage microphones, made over several days in Berlin. Further, a few of these are deftly treated by Moritz, using Reichian de-synced double-tracking, and discreet effects. Also two ten-minute dubs: a deadly, signature Berlin steppers, plus its version; and an echoing, mystical drum session, recorded live on stage in Bishkek. And a side-long, dream-like summation: the locomotive, oceanic, clangorous, dread Facets. Ravishing, rooted, searching music; beautifully presented. More

A kind of intimate scrapbook of the startling collaboration between the techno maestro and this long-standing musical collective based in Bishkek, devoted to the roots music of Kyrgyzstan. Loose-leaved but balanced, lucid and intimate, it sets out from stunning a cappella and virtuosic komuz and kylak, mouth harp and traditional percussion: not field, but expert studio recordings, using marvellous vintage microphones, made over several days in Berlin. Further, a few of these are deftly treated by Moritz, using Reichian de-synced double-tracking, and discreet effects. Also two ten-minute dubs: a deadly, signature Berlin steppers, plus its version; and an echoing, mystical drum session, recorded live on stage in Bishkek. And a side-long, dream-like summation: the locomotive, oceanic, clangorous, dread Facets.
Ravishing, rooted, searching music; beautifully presented. More

A re-work by Mark Ernestus of the opener of Honest Jons' new LP by the Obadikah brass band, from Lagos. Consummate Berlin dub science by the maestro. Beautifully textured, shuffling Lagos funk, on home-made percussion… militant, parping horns... and a walloping, filthy-stinking kick-drum like the bucking, hairy hind-most of the Devil himself. The Dub is Warrior Charge, 2016.

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This is lovely. Brand-new, rambunctious, rootsy, spiritual brass-band music from Lagos, with singing, drums and home-made percussion.
Obadikah is a group of old friends who play together in the Cherubim & Seraphim and Baptist churches of the Ikeja and Isale Eko districts. A couple of them were founder-members of the Eko Brass Band; they’ve played with pretty much all the key Nigerian reggae artists.
The tunes are mostly traditional Yoruban melodies, often sung at bed-time. The songs are mostly original, sung in Yoruba (though Jomido is an Egun song from the Badagry area of Lagos state).
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A stunning survey of the 1970s heyday of this great Japanese singer and countercultural icon. Deep-indigo, dead-of-night enka, folk and blues, inhaling Billie Holiday and Nina Simone down to the bone. A traditional waltz abuts Nico-style incantation; defamiliarised versions of Oscar Brown Jr and Bessie Smith collide with big-band experiments alongside Shuji Terayama; a sitar-led psychedelic wig-out runs into a killer excursion in modal, spiritual jazz. Existentialism and noir, mystery and allure, hurt and hauteur. With excellent notes by Alan Cummings and the fabulous photographs of Hitoshi Jin Tamura. Hotly recommended. More

A stunning survey of the 1970s heyday of this great Japanese singer and countercultural icon. Deep-indigo, dead-of-night enka, folk and blues, inhaling Billie Holiday and Nina Simone down to the bone. A traditional waltz abuts Nico-style incantation; defamiliarised versions of Oscar Brown Jr and Bessie Smith collide with big-band experiments alongside Shuji Terayama; a sitar-led psychedelic wig-out runs into a killer excursion in modal, spiritual jazz. Existentialism and noir, mystery and allure, hurt and hauteur. With excellent notes by Alan Cummings and the fabulous photographs of Hitoshi Jin Tamura. Hotly recommended. More

snapping 2-step garage rhythms in T++ sound design
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