Back in 2016, Lars Bartkuhn was on a quest to expand his musical horizons. Inspired by the idea of the desert as a transformative place – an alien environment whose combination of vastness and beauty challenges those lost within it to first find themselves before they can find a way out – he loaded up his sampler with sub-Saharan samples and set about making two 12” singles, ‘Nomad’ and ‘Massai’, which subsequently appeared on Utopia Records.

Following completion of work on his 2023 album Dystopia, a conceptual ambient meditation built around electronic and acoustic improvisations, the German musician and producer decided to return to the core ideas that inspired those two 12” singles. Once again, he wanted to challenge himself, explore the more exotic side of his musical influences, and discover a course through the musical desert to ultimately become a better musician, producer, and composer.

The result is Nomad, an album that not only brings together two sides of his work – the immersive ambient explorations at the heart of Dystopia, and the club-focused rhythms that marked out his early career deep house explorations – but also draws on a familiar palette of influences, from Latin jazz-fusion and the deep jazz brilliance of ECM Records releases, to the ‘fourth world’ works of Jon Hassell and the African music that had initially inspired the ‘Nomad’ and ‘Massai’ singles.

Searching from the start for a more ‘analogue’ sound – hand percussion, kalimba, piano, voice, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, alongside the modular synth sounds that were such a part of Dystopia – Bartkuhn combined improvisational and traditional composition techniques, painstaking editing, tweaking and reworking tracks over an extended period.

Added to impeccable sound design – even the more dancefloor-focussed excursions are optimised for headphone listening – the results are startling, even by Bartkuhn’s impressively high standards.

There are, of course, radically reworked versions of previous singles – a sun-kissed, Brazilian jazz-fusion informed re-invention of ‘Transcend’ (where Bartkuhn offers nods to another musical hero, Pat Metheny), an expansive, solo-laden take on ‘Nomad’ and a ambient inspired re-recording of ‘Massai’ – plus the kaleidoscopic brilliance of 2021’s ‘Every Morning I Meditate’, but far more never-before-heard highlights.

There’s the 6/8 time, Latin-tinged sunshine of ‘Back To My Innerself’, a track built on organic performances that were improvised straight into the sequencer; the meandering, densely layered sound world that is ‘Flame’ (a tribute to ECM recordings of the 1970s); the lightly techno-influenced fourth world futurism of ‘Ghibliman’; the organic deep house bliss of ‘African Skies’, where Bartkuhn’s vocalisations come to the fore; and the slow-motion ambient house of ‘First Kalimba’.

Nomad, then, is an album that effortlessly showcases Bartkuhn’s unique musical personality and ability to craft warm, colourful sound worlds – some rhythmic, others not so much – while neatly sidestepping categorization. It could well be his strongest and most personal musical statement yet. More

Since relocating to Brazil some years back, Needs Music co-founder Lars Bartkuhn has returned to his long-held love of musical improvisation. Although it’s a product of his jazz roots and classical training, the German producer has constantly found new ways to apply it to his work in the sphere of electronic music.

‘Dystopia’, his first solo album for almost nine years, was born out of two interlinked ideas: a desire to create improvised music without the aid of computer sequencers or an electronic drum set, and a deeply held love of storytelling through sound. Bartkuhn set to work improvising with modular synthesizers, acoustic instruments and hand percussion, later adding light-touch overdubs to a handful of pieces. When he listened back to the recordings, an aural narrative emerged, and you’ll hear it if you listen to the album from start to finish, as is intended.

As you’d expect from a musician and composer of Bartkuhn’s undoubted ability, ‘Dystopia’ is a stunning album – an undulating, expansive ambient journey packed with emotional resonance. While Bartkuhn naturally sees it as a logical progression of his previous ambient-leaning work with Kabuki as The First Minute of a New Day (and particularly their self-titled 2020 album Séance Centre), ‘Dystopia’ also features subtle nods to many of his long-held musical loves, including John Hassell’s ‘fourth world’ recordings, the impossible-to-pigeonhole 1970s catalogue of deep jazz imprint ECM, and the far-sighted American minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

The album’s emotional depth is evident early on, with the slow-burn title track – all bubbling electronics, billowing chords, clarinet-style notes and gently strummed guitars offering the most melancholic and bittersweet of openings. The becalmed ‘A Drop Of Water In The Ocean’ follows, with discordant aural textures and hand percussion mimicking the rolling ocean, before ‘Largo (Calm Before The Storm)’ hints at unsettling times ahead.

‘Water and Warm Air’, the only track on the album whose starting point was not Bartkuhn’s cherished modular set-up, bleeps and bubbles across the sound space, adding a starry and otherworldly slant to proceedings, while ‘Disembodied Journey (Parts 1, 2 and 3)’ is a sublime, slowly unfurling journey in three movements – all Tangerine Dream style synthesizer motifs, Pat Metheny-esque guitars and jazz-fusion instrumentation.

So the album continues, with the poignant warmth and looped motifs of ‘Still Existing’ and the sparse, dubbed-out minimalism of ‘Do You Know How To Get Out?’ – a kind of 21st century jazz-fusionist’s take on sparse electronic hypnotism – giving wat to closing cut ‘Into The Waves’, a gentle combination of undulating electronic arpeggios and echoing instrumentation that offers a hopeful and undeniably picturesque conclusion.

Fittingly, the album cover features a painting by the late Dutch artist Franz Deckwitz (1934-94), whose images of alien landscapes were used by Phillips on a series of music concrete compilations. The image featured on the cover of ‘Dystopia’, depicting a deep blue ocean and shoreline, was painted by Deckwitz in Amsterdam in the late 1970s and inspired by a trip to the island of Ponza, Italy.

Matt Anniss More

Multi-instrumentalist Lars Bartkuhn returns to Rush Hour following the brilliant ‘Transcend’ 12'' and the two exquisite ‘Needs: Not Wants’ compilations with two brand new cuts. ‘Melancholia’ is a mesmerizingly deep and dubbed-out workout with climbing basslines, distant vocal chants and jazzy percussion. Flip side ‘Icarus Ascending’ is a thick disco-bass invested house floor burner crafed to uplift all spirits to higher levels More

Needs member Lars Bartkuhn digs into his extensive archives for this one..

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With a name like "Elysium", you'd expect this EP from experienced producer Lars Bartkuhn to be blissfully melodious, unashamedly positive and musically expansive. It is, of course, with the original version of the title track expertly joining the dots between humid deep house, head-in-the-clouds jazz and the sun-soaked waviness of the Italian dream house movement. Bartkuhn makes great use of live instrumentation - horns, woodwind instruments and pianos, in particular - which are smothered in tropical field recordings and work in unison with a jaunty house groove. On the flipside you'll find two alternative takes: the effortlessly saucer-eyed, slowly building "Inner Experience" version, and the looser, more live sounding Paradise Dub, where the producer trades saxophone and synthesizer solos. Both are, naturally, superb. More

Following on from his return to dance orientated music on Neroli records with the lush and endearing 'Music for The Golden Age', multi album artist Lars Bartkuhn (Sonar Collective & Needs) brings contrasting sides of his musical character for Alex Bradley's burgeoning Utopia Records, touching on Detroit, Jazz Fusion and Ambient. Tokyo Burning is a youthful and stripped back electronic club track harking back to the Detroit house heyday of Galaxy to Galaxy and Happy Records but with a modernist approach and Bartkuhn's unique musicality for what has all the hallmarks of a peak-time club classic. In contrast title track Nomad brings the full spectrum of Bartkuhn's musical range with a more organic and rhythmic dance composition. A fusion of afro percussion, his own emotive vocal hook, melodic keys, joyful flute playing, bound together with the guitar playing that has had many compare Bartkuhn to the likes of Jazz master Pat Metheny. The track builds into a breakdown that is perhaps best described by Anthony Nicholson as; 'a combination of truth, inspiration and cosmic energy'. Rounding out the EP a gentle acoustic reprise, a deeper introspective piece for ambient music lovers. All pressed to impress on 180 vinyl with full artwork to round out a quality release on Utopia with more to come from Bartkuhn on the label as he reaches the 'Needs' heights that made him (along with his residency in the early days of Robert Johnson) an inspiration to a generation of Deep House DJ's and producers. More

Third chapter of the ‘Inside’ series of various artists eps selected by Neroli’s very own Volcov.
Fred P makes a welcome return on the label with a late night banger with heart warming strings entitled ‘Time Well Spent’. The rest symbol project [by Molinaro, Moreiya and Wendy Lavone] offers the blissful cinematic ‘Etius Motif’. On the flipside Hakim Murphy and G. Marcell team up as Resonating with the raw relentless ‘J707’ and Patrice Scott’s lush opus ‘Untitled’ from The First Circle [Neroli’s 20th anniversary] album appears here in a longer beat version.
As always curated and assembled with Love! More

Neroli release n. 60 and is indeed a special one…Dominic Stanton aka Domu is back! Not much else to add really, as a return of a Domu release after more than 10 years of absence from the scenes should already say it all! These brand new songs still have all his signature elements but with a modern twist, and feature the vocals of [Hiatus Kaiyote’s] Lori on the breathtaking ‘On The Line’, the skills of K15 on ‘Ya Nah Gonna Get It’ and the help of long time collaborator
Marin on bass! A unique sound that we missed so much…. More

Repress!

The dynamic NZ brother duo known from Mule Musiq, Rhythm Section and their own In Dust We Trust impresses with a superb collaborative EP of highly emotional music!

‘Emotional Intelligence’ fills the A side seeing them team up saxophonist and fellow kiwi jazz legend Nathan Haines and South London’s own Dave Koor aka. Modified Man. On the flipside they join forces with Chicago’s Lee Pearson Jnr (known for his writing for Larry Heard), K. LaDawn on vocals and rising star Joe Armon-Jones on keys. A blissful experience throughout and another demonstration of Chaos In The CBD’s maturing, amazing production skills. More

Repress!
Nathan Haines is no stranger to Neroli, having featured on ‘Emotional Intelligence’, the now classic collaboration with Chaos in the CBD! He is back here with something extremely special and very dear to all at Neroli: a collection of songs created with our beloved Phil Asher [rip]!

Some jams were fully done together and others started and completed by Nathan after Phil sadly passed away. All done with love with the help of more of Phil’s friends and regular collaborators like Mike Patto, Vanessa Freeman and Toni Economides.

Let Nathan guide you through this precious EP with his unique and unmistakable sound! More

Repress!

We are so pleased to welcome back Dego on Neroli for the fourth chapter of his ‘dego & the 2000BLACK family’ saga! Songs like ‘Find a way’ and ‘Don’t Stop [let it go]’ have become modern Classics and here the vocal gem ‘Make The Right Move’ has all the right ingredients to follow the same path. The flipside offers some extra groove and funkiness with ‘The Stakeout’ and the boogie cut ‘Jam Number Six’ closes the ep leaving you wanting for more…

This new release shows once again why Dego and his 2000 Black crew are truly on a league of their own. More

DEGO is no stranger on NEROLI, having blessed the label with various EPs as Nutmeg in the early 2000s and more recently with monster songs like ‘Find a Way’ and ‘Don’t Stop (Let It Go)’ as Dego & the 2000 black family. This time he comes back Solo with a fierce funky double A sider! Both songs here show how he is like no other out there More

Our Own Organisation is a special collaboration project from Tetrode’s own Specter and Downbeat’s Josè Rico. The deep, hypnotic, relentless songs through the whole ep make this a great addition to Neroli’s catalogue!
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Detroit legend Alton Miller joins again Neroli after his first release from a couple of years back. The Music Institute resident teamed up with Neroli to pick up a selection from his vast catalogue as well as new songs or never released versions. Deep, soulful and beautiful….

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Neroli’s 2018 starts with this epic ep by Trinidadian Deep. From Claussel’s fave ‘Native Palo’ to the relentless and hypnotic ‘The People’ to the magic collaboration with Lars Bartkuhn ‘The Parish’ this ep keeps giving! More

2017 remixes of Volcov’s [this time under his classic Isoul8 moniker] song ‘On My Heart’, featuring the great Paul Randolph on vocals. The NDATL boss delivers three versions that combine jazziness and dancefloor attitude. Also included here the in-demand jam ‘Speak Your Word’ that features Osunlade on keys and spoken word by Rasiyah.

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The long awaited follow up to the modern classics ‘Find A Way’ and ‘Don’t Stop’ is finally here and has all the elements that we love so much from Dego & the 2000 Black Family..…’The Way It Should Be’.

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Lee Pearson is back on Neroli after his feature on the ‘inside’ various artists ep from few months before...and together with Detroit’s Javonntte Garrett [of NDATL and Sistrum fame] this time! The Larry Heard collaborator shows again his songwriting talent on ‘What do you prefer?’ and ‘Bye bye’. One for the headz!

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With a name like "Elysium", you'd expect this EP from experienced producer Lars Bartkuhn to be blissfully melodious, unashamedly positive and musically expansive. It is, of course, with the original version of the title track expertly joining the dots between humid deep house, head-in-the-clouds jazz and the sun-soaked waviness of the Italian dream house movement. Bartkuhn makes great use of live instrumentation - horns, woodwind instruments and pianos, in particular - which are smothered in tropical field recordings and work in unison with a jaunty house groove. On the flipside you'll find two alternative takes: the effortlessly saucer-eyed, slowly building "Inner Experience" version, and the looser, more live sounding Paradise Dub, where the producer trades saxophone and synthesizer solos. Both are, naturally, superb. More

Neroli’s own Volcov selects some favourites that never been available on vinyl before and shares them re-mastered and ready for all the music lovers. Music ranges from Larry Heard collaborator’s Lee Pearson jr to Blaze collaboration with the late Dj Man X, passing through a Manoo deep More

Chicago’s own Ricardo Miranda is back on Neroli with his Latin Soul Brothas project. This time exploring the deeper sides of his sound with jams like ‘Moog Sessions’, ‘Dizzy Vibes’ and ‘Friday Grooves’. While ‘Otra Voz’ recalls some of his previous latin influenced tracks on Neroli.

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Fifth Neroli ep from Trinidadian Deep. Once again you’ll be projected to his world of organic, deep, spiritual beats and melodies, this time with a more electronic edge!

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Detroit legend Alton Miller joins Neroli for a special EP. The Music Institute resident teamed up with Neroli to pick up a selection from his vast catalogue. Deep, soulful and beautiful….

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Justin Chapman aka Just One is no stranger to the Neroli catalogue, having released on the label the Co-op hits ‘Love2Love’ and ‘Soul Revolutions’, followed by his solo album ‘Love Music’ [a collaboration between Neroli and Divine recordings]. Here he shows once again his great talent with ‘I Will Follow U’. Other half of Kemetic Just DJ Kemit also delivers 2 different takes on the song, making it an essential EP.


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