BUREAU B - Forced Exposure

$175.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/25/2022

Seven LPs + two 7" box set version. A band's fame can be measured in the sum of myths, legends and stories which are conjured up in their wake. In which case, Faust have been playing in the Champions League for quite some time. Few bands have been as innovative, influential or as irrepressible as Faust -- the way they revolutionized the history of music in the space of just four years puts them right up there with The Velvet Underground. What began in a Hamburg (Sternschanze) bunker in 1970 would send shockwaves around the world. Here's how Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order) remembers it: "The first krautrock record which made a lasting impression on me was the debut album by Faust. The transparent disc looked spectacular and the music was mind-blowing, not songs as such, it was something absolutely unique, the polar opposite of everything the Rolling Stones, Beatles and the like were doing. It was right up my street." (Dallach/Future Sounds) This box is the first virtually complete collection of Faust works from the years 1971-1974. In addition to the debut album referenced by Morris, it includes the 1972 album So Far, the legendary 1973 Virgin UK release The Faust Tapes, Faust IV and, for the first time ever, the mythical, so-called "Munich album" Punkt, which Faust recorded at Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studios in 1974. For one reason or another, this last album never saw the light of day -- until now. The bonus albums Momentaufnahme I and Momentaufnahme II also feature unreleased material, simultaneously affording us a fascinating glimpse of Faust's creativity in their Wümme studio phase. Two 7-inch singles round off the Faust 1971-1974 compendium: "Lieber Herr Deutschland" is the demo recording they sent to Polydor in 1971, remarkably triggering a contract offer from the label who had something of a conservative reputation at the time. The track later resurfaced as the B-side to their single "Baby", a song which had been rejected by the aforementioned label. The second 7-inch single in the box is a rerelease of So Far, the first Faust single on Polydor, originally issued in 1972. It is by no means overstating the case to assert that Faust created and christened a genre (the name would prove emotive) in one fell swoop (track one on Faust IV). Even 50 years (or perhaps all the more so) after they took their first musical steps in a bunker near Hamburg's Sternschanze station, Faust still sound revolutionary, timeless, irrepressible and, above all, unique. Mastered from the original tapes.

$103.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/25/2022

A band's fame can be measured in the sum of myths, legends and stories which are conjured up in their wake. In which case, Faust have been playing in the Champions League for quite some time. Few bands have been as innovative, influential or as irrepressible as Faust -- the way they revolutionized the history of music in the space of just four years puts them right up there with The Velvet Underground. What began in a Hamburg (Sternschanze) bunker in 1970 would send shockwaves around the world. Here's how Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order) remembers it: "The first krautrock record which made a lasting impression on me was the debut album by Faust. The transparent disc looked spectacular and the music was mind-blowing, not songs as such, it was something absolutely unique, the polar opposite of everything the Rolling Stones, Beatles and the like were doing. It was right up my street." (Dallach/Future Sounds) This box is the first virtually complete collection of Faust works from the years 1971-1974. In addition to the debut album referenced by Morris, it includes the 1972 album So Far, the legendary 1973 Virgin UK release The Faust Tapes, Faust IV and, for the first time ever, the mythical, so-called "Munich album" Punkt, which Faust recorded at Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studios in 1974. For one reason or another, this last album never saw the light of day -- until now. The bonus albums Momentaufnahme I and Momentaufnahme II also feature unreleased material, simultaneously affording us a fascinating glimpse of Faust's creativity in their Wümme studio phase. Two 7-inch singles round off the Faust 1971-1974 compendium: "Lieber Herr Deutschland" is the demo recording they sent to Polydor in 1971, remarkably triggering a contract offer from the label who had something of a conservative reputation at the time. The track later resurfaced as the B-side to their single "Baby", a song which had been rejected by the aforementioned label. The second 7-inch single in the box is a rerelease of So Far, the first Faust single on Polydor, originally issued in 1972. It is by no means overstating the case to assert that Faust created and christened a genre (the name would prove emotive) in one fell swoop (track one on Faust IV). Even 50 years (or perhaps all the more so) after they took their first musical steps in a bunker near Hamburg's Sternschanze station, Faust still sound revolutionary, timeless, irrepressible and, above all, unique. Mastered from the original tapes.

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 2/18/2022

Metamorphoses is the debut album by electronic duo God is God for Hamburg-based imprint Bureau B. The duo consists of Turkish musician, producer and Kinship label founder Etkin Çekin and Belarussian multi-instrumentalist, composer singer and Not Not Fun alumni Galina Ozeran who started making music after a chance meeting in Berlin in 2015. Metamorphoses is the product of their second ever improvisational encounter: an undulating, avant-pop journey of low-BPM twists and turns guided by Ozeran's synthesizers, Russian and English vocals and Çekin's ethereal production and guitar sensibility. Central to the album's musical narrative are both contemporary dancefloor-adjacent electronics and Eastern European and Turkish psychedelic electronic traditions -- all filtered through the prism of Çekin and Ozeran's respective musical histories.

"Ozeran grew up in Vitebsk, Belarus playing classical piano before making her way to St. Petersburg to study curation and become a musician. There she formed various bands and began the lo-fi improvisational dream-pop solo project Chikiss, influenced by Soviet synth pioneers Eduard Artemiev and Alexander Zatcepin as well as American film composer Angelo Badelamenti, Laurie Anderson, and early Warp records. On Metamorphoses, this is reflected in her narcotic melody lines and sung 'liquid language' -- a kind of improvisational, non-semantic vocalization, which combines fluidly with Çekin's sonic vision. The latter was honed in both Istanbul and Germany and draws equally on the sounds of Bülent Arel, Erkan Oğur and Turkish '90s indie-experimental band ZEN as well as Roedelius, La Düsseldorf and Suicide. The result of Çekin and Ozeran's collaboration is both measured and electric. Things start slow with billowing, amorphous chord clouds in opener 'Behind The Heroes' before setting off into the foundational groove of 'The Song Pt. 1', which tunnels forward, bass-first, into dark disco territory. This soon leads into album single 'The Song Pt. 2', a continuation of the previous groove cleverly revisited with Ozeran's dynamic vocalizing and seductive, dubbed-out sibilance. From here things open up into the wide vistas and droning, string-heavy soundscapes of 'Masha Marie' and 'Dream', interspersed by the almost new age FM synth work of 'Liquid Space' and 'Drops'. By the time the huge melancholic dance closer 'Song To The Siren' sounds it's final notes, the impulse is to start the journey all over again. It's a testament to not only GiG's improvisational chops, but also to their Teo Macero-like additional editing process by Sebastian Lee Philip (Die Wilde Jagd) of condensing a cloud of improvisation into a narrative, 40 minutes of bliss -- and multiple modes of psychedelia." --Alexander James Samuels

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 2/18/2022

LP version. Metamorphoses is the debut album by electronic duo God is God for Hamburg-based imprint Bureau B. The duo consists of Turkish musician, producer and Kinship label founder Etkin Çekin and Belarussian multi-instrumentalist, composer singer and Not Not Fun alumni Galina Ozeran who started making music after a chance meeting in Berlin in 2015. Metamorphoses is the product of their second ever improvisational encounter: an undulating, avant-pop journey of low-BPM twists and turns guided by Ozeran's synthesizers, Russian and English vocals and Çekin's ethereal production and guitar sensibility. Central to the album's musical narrative are both contemporary dancefloor-adjacent electronics and Eastern European and Turkish psychedelic electronic traditions -- all filtered through the prism of Çekin and Ozeran's respective musical histories.

"Ozeran grew up in Vitebsk, Belarus playing classical piano before making her way to St. Petersburg to study curation and become a musician. There she formed various bands and began the lo-fi improvisational dream-pop solo project Chikiss, influenced by Soviet synth pioneers Eduard Artemiev and Alexander Zatcepin as well as American film composer Angelo Badelamenti, Laurie Anderson, and early Warp records. On Metamorphoses, this is reflected in her narcotic melody lines and sung 'liquid language' -- a kind of improvisational, non-semantic vocalization, which combines fluidly with Çekin's sonic vision. The latter was honed in both Istanbul and Germany and draws equally on the sounds of Bülent Arel, Erkan Oğur and Turkish '90s indie-experimental band ZEN as well as Roedelius, La Düsseldorf and Suicide. The result of Çekin and Ozeran's collaboration is both measured and electric. Things start slow with billowing, amorphous chord clouds in opener 'Behind The Heroes' before setting off into the foundational groove of 'The Song Pt. 1', which tunnels forward, bass-first, into dark disco territory. This soon leads into album single 'The Song Pt. 2', a continuation of the previous groove cleverly revisited with Ozeran's dynamic vocalizing and seductive, dubbed-out sibilance. From here things open up into the wide vistas and droning, string-heavy soundscapes of 'Masha Marie' and 'Dream', interspersed by the almost new age FM synth work of 'Liquid Space' and 'Drops'. By the time the huge melancholic dance closer 'Song To The Siren' sounds it's final notes, the impulse is to start the journey all over again. It's a testament to not only GiG's improvisational chops, but also to their Teo Macero-like additional editing process by Sebastian Lee Philip (Die Wilde Jagd) of condensing a cloud of improvisation into a narrative, 40 minutes of bliss -- and multiple modes of psychedelia." --Alexander James Samuels

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 2/11/2022

In a year of the moon, Kreidler have produced the album Spells And Daubs. In September 2020 the band met for exploratory sessions and initial recordings in Düsseldorf, in the familiar settings of the Kabawil Theater. The impetus this time was a solitary gig in the conspicuously spacious surroundings of the (former) Philipshalle. Over the winter Kreidler worked remotely, sifting through the material, arranging the pieces, adding textures and contours. They met again in the spring of 2021 for further recordings at the Uhrwerk Orange studio in Hilden, near Düsseldorf. From fifteen pieces they filtered out ten, and thus held an album in their hands. Then they took it to London, to Peter Walsh, so that he could mix the tracks.

"... Spells And Daubs is a melodious interplay. Not that Kreidler neglect the rhythmic; their characteristic drive runs through all the pieces on Spells And Daubs. Perhaps it's like this: The beat is musicalized, the melody rhythmitized. Spells And Daubs is like a collection of short stories. Its ten pieces explore the same space drawn together by an overlaying arc . . . Perhaps most beautiful in the irresistible pop gems 'Arena', 'Unframed Drawings', and 'Revery'. Aptly, Alex Paulick moved to the fretless bass -- conjuring the spirit of Mick Karn. The album opens with 'Tantrum'. It's a quick fit, nothing too violent, more a play at throwing things about . . . 'Toys I Never Sell' takes it down a notch, a poetic exploration of the room . . . 'Dirty Laundry' depicts an empty city with fading footsteps, though not aimless, a sort of a cold wave funk, a certain eeriness, a brief threat like an espionage story . . . In 'Revery' a synth sequence chases forward, with an enchanted melody on co-driver's seat . . . 'Unframed Drawings' breezes a somewhat bluer note, think of layered memories, slightly blurred, faded, ushering back and forth looking for a new formation, a new narration, a fresh start, combining longing with comfort. In 'Arise Above', 'Tantrum''s secret cousin, a soaring synthesizer starts the drum beat, the bass kicks in, and the rhythmic framework is ensnared by a netting of insidious melodies . . . 'Arena' is a melancholic urge, the song runs into a delay, its theme turns over, tumbles, falls into itself, finding itself in itself, and takes itself up again. 'Greetings From Dave' starts with the telephone call, a postcard from Paris, Then the snare surges ahead, and a recorder-like, and a bagpipe-like push the boat out, for a celebration in the final grooves of the album, big fuss, turn the record over! For all of their Krautrock attributions, Kreidler never tire of reminding us that their musical development stemmed from a love of British pop music. So you might say the co-op with Peter Walsh is a match made in heaven. His illustrious mixing and production skills have lifted works from Shalamar or Lynx to Heaven 17 to Scott Walker, Pulp or FKA Twigs into other spheres..." --V. Luxemburgo

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 2/11/2022

LP version. Richard Pinhas' album Iceland was first released in 1979 and is his third solo work, also the first after the split from Heldon. This album seems like a long, inward-looking journey and is like a kind of counter-point to the expansive sci-fi worlds and the bombastic prog of Heldon; on Iceland you will find long, sublime tracks next to short, rougher sketches. Echo guitars, rhythm machines and the washed-out warmth of analog synthesizer sounds create a very peculiar, chilling atmosphere.

"... Iceland is the perfect description of this music -- when you start to focus on the details contained within these juggernauts of atmosphere, you sense the precision involved with each element, its place in the mix meticulously chosen. Despite the nature of the sounds, there is nothing cold about Pinhas' appreciation of the record. Enthusing over aspects of how he made certain tracks -- recording with his first ARP 2600, using 'white noise as the source!... creating these very special voices', playing his original 1957 Black Beauty Les Paul, and how François Auger's fantastic drumming enlightens 'Greenland' with his softness of touch. For a man often critical of his own work, Pinhas tells me that he 'loves' Iceland, that it ranks in the top five of his records . . . An unflinching look at the bleakness of the landscapes glimpsed. But it is through that refusal to shut off one's senses, that their true majesty is revealed. A ghostly homing sound beckons as 'Iceland 2' begins. Our guide leading us into the terrain is an uneasy rhythmic pulse, a 4/4 figure stylistically displaced to make it into a 9/8 meter. Momentary beauty at 2:23 as three fuzzy warmer chords swell up, rising away . . . By 'Iceland 3' we're somewhat used to the topography, the tones warmer, or perhaps just familiar, even as the utterances of what now sound like soul-devouring entities grow louder. And they seem to have wound their way into 'The Last Kings Of Thule''s pulse as Richard's almost jazz -- though in no way is this jazz -- guitar contorts itself all over it. Closing the record, 'Greenland' is gorgeous, lysergic dreams sweeping you off to sleep at sunrise after a 'Long Dark Night Of The Soul'. The ghastly voices subdued as they settle back underneath consciousness. Those noises - in a different form, perhaps now processed by the psyche -- resurface on the title track of Stand By, recorded at the same time as Iceland. Pinhas would work on this, his third solo record, during meal breaks at Heldon sessions in Paris' Ramses Studios. However, the bulk of the album was recorded at home and, except for the final track, 'quite alone'..." --Aug Stone

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 2/11/2022

LP version. In a year of the moon, Kreidler have produced the album Spells And Daubs. In September 2020 the band met for exploratory sessions and initial recordings in Düsseldorf, in the familiar settings of the Kabawil Theater. The impetus this time was a solitary gig in the conspicuously spacious surroundings of the (former) Philipshalle. Over the winter Kreidler worked remotely, sifting through the material, arranging the pieces, adding textures and contours. They met again in the spring of 2021 for further recordings at the Uhrwerk Orange studio in Hilden, near Düsseldorf. From fifteen pieces they filtered out ten, and thus held an album in their hands. Then they took it to London, to Peter Walsh, so that he could mix the tracks.

"... Spells And Daubs is a melodious interplay. Not that Kreidler neglect the rhythmic; their characteristic drive runs through all the pieces on Spells And Daubs. Perhaps it's like this: The beat is musicalized, the melody rhythmitized. Spells And Daubs is like a collection of short stories. Its ten pieces explore the same space drawn together by an overlaying arc . . . Perhaps most beautiful in the irresistible pop gems 'Arena', 'Unframed Drawings', and 'Revery'. Aptly, Alex Paulick moved to the fretless bass -- conjuring the spirit of Mick Karn. The album opens with 'Tantrum'. It's a quick fit, nothing too violent, more a play at throwing things about . . . 'Toys I Never Sell' takes it down a notch, a poetic exploration of the room . . . 'Dirty Laundry' depicts an empty city with fading footsteps, though not aimless, a sort of a cold wave funk, a certain eeriness, a brief threat like an espionage story . . . In 'Revery' a synth sequence chases forward, with an enchanted melody on co-driver's seat . . . 'Unframed Drawings' breezes a somewhat bluer note, think of layered memories, slightly blurred, faded, ushering back and forth looking for a new formation, a new narration, a fresh start, combining longing with comfort. In 'Arise Above', 'Tantrum''s secret cousin, a soaring synthesizer starts the drum beat, the bass kicks in, and the rhythmic framework is ensnared by a netting of insidious melodies . . . 'Arena' is a melancholic urge, the song runs into a delay, its theme turns over, tumbles, falls into itself, finding itself in itself, and takes itself up again. 'Greetings From Dave' starts with the telephone call, a postcard from Paris, Then the snare surges ahead, and a recorder-like, and a bagpipe-like push the boat out, for a celebration in the final grooves of the album, big fuss, turn the record over! For all of their Krautrock attributions, Kreidler never tire of reminding us that their musical development stemmed from a love of British pop music. So you might say the co-op with Peter Walsh is a match made in heaven. His illustrious mixing and production skills have lifted works from Shalamar or Lynx to Heaven 17 to Scott Walker, Pulp or FKA Twigs into other spheres..." --V. Luxemburgo

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 2/11/2022

Richard Pinhas' album Iceland was first released in 1979 and is his third solo work, also the first after the split from Heldon. This album seems like a long, inward-looking journey and is like a kind of counter-point to the expansive sci-fi worlds and the bombastic prog of Heldon; on Iceland you will find long, sublime tracks next to short, rougher sketches. Echo guitars, rhythm machines and the washed-out warmth of analog synthesizer sounds create a very peculiar, chilling atmosphere.

"... Iceland is the perfect description of this music -- when you start to focus on the details contained within these juggernauts of atmosphere, you sense the precision involved with each element, its place in the mix meticulously chosen. Despite the nature of the sounds, there is nothing cold about Pinhas' appreciation of the record. Enthusing over aspects of how he made certain tracks -- recording with his first ARP 2600, using 'white noise as the source!... creating these very special voices', playing his original 1957 Black Beauty Les Paul, and how François Auger's fantastic drumming enlightens 'Greenland' with his softness of touch. For a man often critical of his own work, Pinhas tells me that he 'loves' Iceland, that it ranks in the top five of his records . . . An unflinching look at the bleakness of the landscapes glimpsed. But it is through that refusal to shut off one's senses, that their true majesty is revealed. A ghostly homing sound beckons as 'Iceland 2' begins. Our guide leading us into the terrain is an uneasy rhythmic pulse, a 4/4 figure stylistically displaced to make it into a 9/8 meter. Momentary beauty at 2:23 as three fuzzy warmer chords swell up, rising away . . . By 'Iceland 3' we're somewhat used to the topography, the tones warmer, or perhaps just familiar, even as the utterances of what now sound like soul-devouring entities grow louder. And they seem to have wound their way into 'The Last Kings Of Thule''s pulse as Richard's almost jazz -- though in no way is this jazz -- guitar contorts itself all over it. Closing the record, 'Greenland' is gorgeous, lysergic dreams sweeping you off to sleep at sunrise after a 'Long Dark Night Of The Soul'. The ghastly voices subdued as they settle back underneath consciousness. Those noises - in a different form, perhaps now processed by the psyche -- resurface on the title track of Stand By, recorded at the same time as Iceland. Pinhas would work on this, his third solo record, during meal breaks at Heldon sessions in Paris' Ramses Studios. However, the bulk of the album was recorded at home and, except for the final track, 'quite alone'..." --Aug Stone

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 1/14/2022

Die Wilde Jagd is the music project of producer and songwriter Sebastian Lee Philipp. Channeling minimalist, tenebrous intensity, Die Wilde Jagd's music weaves a dense and atmospheric web of drama, romance, ecstasy and melancholy. After three studio albums, several EPs and numerous international tours and concerts, the band now releases the recording of Atem -- a composition commissioned by Roadburn Festival, premiered in April 2021 in Tilburg, Netherlands. Written for wooden organ pipes, cello, percussion and electronics. Performed by Sebastian Lee Philipp, Lih Qun Wong and Ran Levari. An audacious 45-minute trip into the depths of evolution, organism and metabolism, this piece is an exploration of the mechanism and science of breathing and its essential role in life. Philipp himself plays synthesizers and an instrument developed specifically for the performance: a wooden organ pipe construction operated with an air compressor. The composer is joined on stage by collaborators Lih Qun Wong on cello and voice, as well as Ran Levari (who has played drums in Die Wilde Jagd since 2017) on percussion. Speaking of his composition, Philipp says: "As human evolution enters new realms of reality, I find myself drawn to explore the basic essences of life: the things we are made of, that we take for granted and are, yet, still full of mystery. The parallels between breath and music are undeniable: pace, rhythm, volume and dynamic fluctuations influence us deeply. Breath is the elixir of life and the fuel for one of the most primitive vibrations: the human voice." The themes of creation and spirit within the composition are skillfully enhanced by Turkish Visual Artist Mürsel Güven. Limited 12" vinyl in an edition of only 500 copies.

$29.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 12/17/2021

For the 50th anniversary of this influential album, Bureau B release Cluster 71 as a special LP version: 500 copies, numbered, gatefold and 180 gram vinyl. According to The Wire, the British bible of musical excellence, Cluster 71 is one of the "one hundred records that set the world on fire." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. Cluster 71 is a monster: the debut work from the year 1971 (actually just called Cluster) contains a mere three tracks (untitled) and is quite an ordeal for untrained ears -- back then, at least. Yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio named Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from their third member, Konrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, as well as playing live, they recorded their first album, Cluster 71, in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until his death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new. New in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, their embracing of near total aural abstraction, confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation and a positive mindset tuned to winning rather than losing -- these were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster 71 was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic". Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- the synthesis of pop music stripped of embarrassing glamor and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster 71, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises and structures to be heard on this album which would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future with Cluster 71.

$17.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 11/26/2021

Bureau B reissue Dunkelziffer's last studio album Songs For Everyone, originally released 1989. Displaced from their spiritual home (the Stollwerck complex had been levelled in 1987) and robbed of the collaborative exchange it facilitated, Dunkelziffer took a different tack on Songs For Everyone, slimming down to a sextet with a newly streamlined sound. Olek Gelba and Reiner Linke remained in the percussive pocket, laying the foundation for Von Senger and Schubert's melodic prowess, with newcomers Jorge Guarin Quintaro and Irene Lorenz breathing fresh air into keys and vocals respectively. The reduced line-up may have diminished the chaotic brilliance of their earlier work, but the sparing palette allowed room for each member to shine brighter than ever before. Most notably, Dominik Von Senger, often restricted to rhythm guitar in the past, populated the newfound space with a bounty of rhapsodic solos. Stylistically, the Jamaican riddims, gnarly new wave and Eastern tonality of previous albums were supplanted by the smoothest jazz imbued with Latin flavors and a Mediterranean mindset. Arriving amid a ripple of taut timbales and spritely trumpet, opener "Songs For Everyone" sounds like it's been playing somewhere forever, just waiting for its moment of discovery. The rounded sound of guest Xavier Padilla's double bass dominates the bottom end, a familiar anchor as the mariachi keys and incendiary guitar try to spirit us away. Light-footed and heavily syncopated, "See It" sashays along the shoreline, inviting you to dance wherever blue seas kiss white sand. Each instrument is crisp, clear and accomplished, while Lorenz voice swells from a sultry whisper into a rich rasping fullness. Optimistic and melancholic in equal measure, "Illuminate" closes the A-side with a triumph of pure pop sincerity. The smooth jazz sophistication continues on the B-side with "Friends", a gorgeous Balearic torch song for a rose that's never been kissed. Echoes of "Lucky Star" and reverb-soaked drums cascade through a DX7 dreamscape as the plangent woodwind plays an elegy for summer fling. On "Spell It" the cowbells, congas, timbales and toms of Gelba, Linke and sessionist Daniel Basanta form an intricate rhythmic tapestry, transformed into a hip-flexing mambo by the addition of Guarin Quintaro's piano. Dunkelziffer close the LP with Jamaican flavor, though "Inside" is a much more atmospheric creature than the sun-kissed skanks of their previous releases. Largely stripped back to a core of dubby bass, sparse rhythm and subdued piano, this evocative swan-song splits the difference between Compass Point and the Wild Bunch, its muted vocals and distorted guitar anticipating the trip hoppers who would soundtrack the decade to come.

$25.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 11/26/2021

LP version. Bureau B reissue Dunkelziffer's last studio album Songs For Everyone, originally released 1989. Displaced from their spiritual home (the Stollwerck complex had been levelled in 1987) and robbed of the collaborative exchange it facilitated, Dunkelziffer took a different tack on Songs For Everyone, slimming down to a sextet with a newly streamlined sound. Olek Gelba and Reiner Linke remained in the percussive pocket, laying the foundation for Von Senger and Schubert's melodic prowess, with newcomers Jorge Guarin Quintaro and Irene Lorenz breathing fresh air into keys and vocals respectively. The reduced line-up may have diminished the chaotic brilliance of their earlier work, but the sparing palette allowed room for each member to shine brighter than ever before. Most notably, Dominik Von Senger, often restricted to rhythm guitar in the past, populated the newfound space with a bounty of rhapsodic solos. Stylistically, the Jamaican riddims, gnarly new wave and Eastern tonality of previous albums were supplanted by the smoothest jazz imbued with Latin flavors and a Mediterranean mindset. Arriving amid a ripple of taut timbales and spritely trumpet, opener "Songs For Everyone" sounds like it's been playing somewhere forever, just waiting for its moment of discovery. The rounded sound of guest Xavier Padilla's double bass dominates the bottom end, a familiar anchor as the mariachi keys and incendiary guitar try to spirit us away. Light-footed and heavily syncopated, "See It" sashays along the shoreline, inviting you to dance wherever blue seas kiss white sand. Each instrument is crisp, clear and accomplished, while Lorenz voice swells from a sultry whisper into a rich rasping fullness. Optimistic and melancholic in equal measure, "Illuminate" closes the A-side with a triumph of pure pop sincerity. The smooth jazz sophistication continues on the B-side with "Friends", a gorgeous Balearic torch song for a rose that's never been kissed. Echoes of "Lucky Star" and reverb-soaked drums cascade through a DX7 dreamscape as the plangent woodwind plays an elegy for summer fling. On "Spell It" the cowbells, congas, timbales and toms of Gelba, Linke and sessionist Daniel Basanta form an intricate rhythmic tapestry, transformed into a hip-flexing mambo by the addition of Guarin Quintaro's piano. Dunkelziffer close the LP with Jamaican flavor, though "Inside" is a much more atmospheric creature than the sun-kissed skanks of their previous releases. Largely stripped back to a core of dubby bass, sparse rhythm and subdued piano, this evocative swan-song splits the difference between Compass Point and the Wild Bunch, its muted vocals and distorted guitar anticipating the trip hoppers who would soundtrack the decade to come.

$35.00 NOT IN STOCK

Double LP version. Do not adjust your sets. Take a step back from the tracking. This is the sound of Germany's musical youth let loose on cheap synths and pawnshop guitars. A record of a disparate scene of squat pop-stars, art school upstarts and committed non-musicians who redefined German music in the first half of the 1980s. By the dawn of the new decade, punk had burnt out in a frenzy of feedback, reshaping the musical landscape before burrowing back into the underground for a period of reinvention. But the scorched earth it left behind proved to be fertile soil, nurturing a new movement grass-rooting through Germany's major cities. For the first time the country had its own youth culture, spilling out of the squats of Hamburg and West Berlin, occupying the art scene in Düsseldorf and Köln and congregating around independent record shops stocked with angsty import 7"s. Empowered by punk's DIY spirit, these kids valued conviction over competence, opting to ignore the industry and make music for themselves, sung in their own language. Even the cats we now call krautrock, revolutionary though they were, mostly sang in English, adopting the lingua franca of rock n' roll as a shorthand for authenticity for a native crowd who wouldn't have it any other way. This new scene rejected the expected, celebrating freedom of expression above all else. Armed with unconventional instruments, newly affordable electronics and rudimentary recording gear, they worked from the ground up, building basic rhythms and simple melodies into mutant grooves and following their imagination wherever it took them. The result was a genre fluid wave of fusion pop pulled from funk, punk, jazz and reggae; united in attitude rather than aesthetic. Lyrically, the groups explored the serious and silly, embracing the irreverence of dadaism to deliberately displease the earnest alternatives of the older generation. Features Der Plan, Die Partei, P!OFF?, Palais Schaumburg, Dunkelziffer, Populäre Mechanik, Andreas Dorau (Die Doraus & Die Marinas), Pyrolator, Träneninvasion, Deutsche Wertarbeit, Asmus Tietchens, Die Fische, Conrad Schnitzler, Carambolage, Xao Seffcheque, Foyer des Arts, Die Zimmermänner, Östro 430, Die Radierer, and Holger Hiller.

$16.50$14.03 IN STOCK

Do not adjust your sets. Take a step back from the tracking. This is the sound of Germany's musical youth let loose on cheap synths and pawnshop guitars. A record of a disparate scene of squat pop-stars, art school upstarts and committed non-musicians who redefined German music in the first half of the 1980s. By the dawn of the new decade, punk had burnt out in a frenzy of feedback, reshaping the musical landscape before burrowing back into the underground for a period of reinvention. But the scorched earth it left behind proved to be fertile soil, nurturing a new movement grass-rooting through Germany's major cities. For the first time the country had its own youth culture, spilling out of the squats of Hamburg and West Berlin, occupying the art scene in Düsseldorf and Köln and congregating around independent record shops stocked with angsty import 7"s. Empowered by punk's DIY spirit, these kids valued conviction over competence, opting to ignore the industry and make music for themselves, sung in their own language. Even the cats we now call krautrock, revolutionary though they were, mostly sang in English, adopting the lingua franca of rock n' roll as a shorthand for authenticity for a native crowd who wouldn't have it any other way. This new scene rejected the expected, celebrating freedom of expression above all else. Armed with unconventional instruments, newly affordable electronics and rudimentary recording gear, they worked from the ground up, building basic rhythms and simple melodies into mutant grooves and following their imagination wherever it took them. The result was a genre fluid wave of fusion pop pulled from funk, punk, jazz and reggae; united in attitude rather than aesthetic. Lyrically, the groups explored the serious and silly, embracing the irreverence of dadaism to deliberately displease the earnest alternatives of the older generation. Features Der Plan, Die Partei, P!OFF?, Palais Schaumburg, Dunkelziffer, Populäre Mechanik, Andreas Dorau (Die Doraus & Die Marinas), Pyrolator, Träneninvasion, Deutsche Wertarbeit, Asmus Tietchens, Die Fische, Conrad Schnitzler, Carambolage, Xao Seffcheque, Foyer des Arts, Die Zimmermänner, Östro 430, Die Radierer, and Holger Hiller.

$26.00$22.10 IN STOCK

LP version. The new album by electronica producer Ulrich Schnauss and the Engineers guitarist Mark Peters Destiny Waiving is released via Bureau B. Hailing from Kiel in North Germany, it's now 20 years since the electronica prodigy Ulrich Schnauss released his debut album. His second, A Strangely Isolated Place cemented his reputation as both a pioneer and an artist who routinely creates inspirational music that is adored by many. As a full-time member of Tangerine Dream since 2014, his lifelong passion for their work inspired a creative resurgence for the band, resulting in their most successful new album for over 30 years, 2017's Quantum Gate. Liverpool born guitarist (and founder of the dream pop outfit Engineers) Mark Peters shared a similar musical path, exploring ambient textures and effect laden songwriting via a series of blissful albums for the band. In 2017 he released his first solo album, Innerland which was enthusiastically received by BBC6 music and later included in Rough Trade's top ten best albums of 2018. Destiny Waiving completes a collaborative trilogy that began with 2011's Underrated Silence (BB 094CD/LP) and followed by 2013's Tomorrow Is Another Day (BB 148CD/LP) (Schnauss also became a full-time member of Engineers at this time). Initial sessions began at Ulrich's East London home studio in early 2017 and final mixes were completed there in late 2020. Despite its extended conception, most tracks were completed during 2017, in part informed by improvisational sets in London, Dublin and St James' Church in Birmingham. Despite these exercises in exploration, Destiny Waiving is perhaps the most focused and concise collection of all three releases. Ranging in tone from precognitive foreboding to soaring optimism, the album delicately hones a particular atmosphere that is unmistakable in their work. While track titles such as "The Supposed Middle Class" acutely display a concern for society at large, compositions and performances reveal a great deal more light and shade. This inherent balance is a key facet of the duo's chemistry, signposted by the titles of "Chiaroscuro" and "Clair-Obscur" and the shifting moods within the tracks. For every rushing, upward sweep ("Hindsight Is 20/20", "Circular Time"), contemplative countering is evident in tracks such as "Words Can Be Dismissed" and "So Far", "The Moment".

$26.00$22.10 IN STOCK

LP version. Drummer, percussionist, producer, radio journalist and DJ, Niklas Wandt's musical path can be traced back to his childhood, signposted by jazz and psychedelia. He has presented WDR 3's Jazz & World programme for a number of years, whilst a growing interest in electronic music has seen him perform live and record albums with bands like Oracles and Stabil Elite. He has even carved a niche as a DJ in the environs of the Düsseldorfer Salon des Amateurs. In 2018, Niklas Wandt and Wolf Müller released the highly acclaimed Instrumental Musik Von Der Mitte Der World album (Growing Bin Records). Wandt also founded the synth-pop project Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge with Joshua Gottmanns. Further solo and collaborative works followed in 2019 and 2020. Now, Niklas Wandt is about to release a quite astounding album under his own name on Bureau B. The full scope of influences gathered and absorbed over the years coalesce on Solar Müsli -- all the pieces of the puzzle fall effortlessly into place. This is not formalism at work, but an exhilarating, freely flowing album which started out as an exercise in improvised percussion and developed into a multidimensional journey, at times both introverted and ebullient. Mere genre tags go out of the window. At certain moments, the listeners will find themselves stopping dead, transfixed in wonderment, before the ride resumes.

Niklas Wandt on Solar Müsli: "As for so many of us, March of last year brought an abrupt end to a hectic schedule. The previous year, I'd spent more time on the road than at home, what with touring and radio productions . . . Deceleration, simplification, an intense thirst of the senses to focus on such fundamental phenomena once again. It was also a year full of tension and conflicts, some conscious but mostly unconscious, in a far livelier dreamworld than before -- all of which can be found in the first two tracks. A 'complete night' traces an arc from the beginning to the end, a communal journey, a liberating, vivacious experience -- all in associative lyrical collages, naturally, which cannot readily be framed in any specific form..."

$16.50$14.03 IN STOCK

Drummer, percussionist, producer, radio journalist and DJ, Niklas Wandt's musical path can be traced back to his childhood, signposted by jazz and psychedelia. He has presented WDR 3's Jazz & World programme for a number of years, whilst a growing interest in electronic music has seen him perform live and record albums with bands like Oracles and Stabil Elite. He has even carved a niche as a DJ in the environs of the Düsseldorfer Salon des Amateurs. In 2018, Niklas Wandt and Wolf Müller released the highly acclaimed Instrumental Musik Von Der Mitte Der World album (Growing Bin Records). Wandt also founded the synth-pop project Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge with Joshua Gottmanns. Further solo and collaborative works followed in 2019 and 2020. Now, Niklas Wandt is about to release a quite astounding album under his own name on Bureau B. The full scope of influences gathered and absorbed over the years coalesce on Solar Müsli -- all the pieces of the puzzle fall effortlessly into place. This is not formalism at work, but an exhilarating, freely flowing album which started out as an exercise in improvised percussion and developed into a multidimensional journey, at times both introverted and ebullient. Mere genre tags go out of the window. At certain moments, the listeners will find themselves stopping dead, transfixed in wonderment, before the ride resumes.

Niklas Wandt on Solar Müsli: "As for so many of us, March of last year brought an abrupt end to a hectic schedule. The previous year, I'd spent more time on the road than at home, what with touring and radio productions . . . Deceleration, simplification, an intense thirst of the senses to focus on such fundamental phenomena once again. It was also a year full of tension and conflicts, some conscious but mostly unconscious, in a far livelier dreamworld than before -- all of which can be found in the first two tracks. A 'complete night' traces an arc from the beginning to the end, a communal journey, a liberating, vivacious experience -- all in associative lyrical collages, naturally, which cannot readily be framed in any specific form..."

$26.00$22.10 IN STOCK

LP version. "Outer-national dance discourses, that strive for no country and obey to no flag: when Düsseldorf based producer, Stefan Schwander creates music as Harmonious Thelonious, highly percussive rhythms, dissonances and melodic twists tango chatoyant virtuosic. Since 2008 he releases music, that unites Detroit techno districts, widescreen minimalistic structures and African rhythm patterns into a wide dynamic scale. All eight musical objects collected on Instrumentals! document a chapter in Harmonious Thelonious's work, that left the noisy background drones behind in favor for a signature sound full of echoes of ancient rituals and ecstatic ceremonies. Eight growing outlaw music studies crammed with living, deeply haunting entities. They all came to life in different cities like Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, London or Paris, first published on labels like Asafa, Disk, The Trilogy Tapes, or Versatile. United under one roof, they unfold their magical groove symbolism, notable hypnotic harmony and agitating rhythm archetypes in a total overpowering coalition. Tunes like 'Beiläufige Muziek' or 'Yusuf' embark with a new breed of psychic leftfield Motor City techno, perfect for an electric drive on a multicultural utopian future highway. In contrast, tracks like 'Abel', 'Ayranman', 'Apakapa', or 'Halb Ding' perform tricky snake dances enlarged with Ghanaian highlife tones, Senegalese guitar folk and manic serpentine Moroccan flute wizardry. Intense buzzing voodoo music, driven by swinging bass pulses, sequencing looniness, moving up somewhere on a polyrhythmic horizon between Occident and Orient, end-to-end danceable, thoroughly transcending space and time." --Michael Leuffen

$16.50$14.03 IN STOCK

The new album by electronica producer Ulrich Schnauss and the Engineers guitarist Mark Peters Destiny Waiving is released via Bureau B. Hailing from Kiel in North Germany, it's now 20 years since the electronica prodigy Ulrich Schnauss released his debut album. His second, A Strangely Isolated Place cemented his reputation as both a pioneer and an artist who routinely creates inspirational music that is adored by many. As a full-time member of Tangerine Dream since 2014, his lifelong passion for their work inspired a creative resurgence for the band, resulting in their most successful new album for over 30 years, 2017's Quantum Gate. Liverpool born guitarist (and founder of the dream pop outfit Engineers) Mark Peters shared a similar musical path, exploring ambient textures and effect laden songwriting via a series of blissful albums for the band. In 2017 he released his first solo album, Innerland which was enthusiastically received by BBC6 music and later included in Rough Trade's top ten best albums of 2018. Destiny Waiving completes a collaborative trilogy that began with 2011's Underrated Silence (BB 094CD/LP) and followed by 2013's Tomorrow Is Another Day (BB 148CD/LP) (Schnauss also became a full-time member of Engineers at this time). Initial sessions began at Ulrich's East London home studio in early 2017 and final mixes were completed there in late 2020. Despite its extended conception, most tracks were completed during 2017, in part informed by improvisational sets in London, Dublin and St James' Church in Birmingham. Despite these exercises in exploration, Destiny Waiving is perhaps the most focused and concise collection of all three releases. Ranging in tone from precognitive foreboding to soaring optimism, the album delicately hones a particular atmosphere that is unmistakable in their work. While track titles such as "The Supposed Middle Class" acutely display a concern for society at large, compositions and performances reveal a great deal more light and shade. This inherent balance is a key facet of the duo's chemistry, signposted by the titles of "Chiaroscuro" and "Clair-Obscur" and the shifting moods within the tracks. For every rushing, upward sweep ("Hindsight Is 20/20", "Circular Time"), contemplative countering is evident in tracks such as "Words Can Be Dismissed" and "So Far", "The Moment".

$20.00 NOT IN STOCK

Double CD version. The limited double-CD includes alternate versions with added live drums by the Von Spar drummer Jan-Philiip Janzen. The new album by electronica producer Ulrich Schnauss and the Engineers guitarist Mark Peters Destiny Waiving is released via Bureau B. Hailing from Kiel in North Germany, it's now 20 years since the electronica prodigy Ulrich Schnauss released his debut album. His second, A Strangely Isolated Place cemented his reputation as both a pioneer and an artist who routinely creates inspirational music that is adored by many. As a full-time member of Tangerine Dream since 2014, his lifelong passion for their work inspired a creative resurgence for the band, resulting in their most successful new album for over 30 years, 2017's Quantum Gate. Liverpool born guitarist (and founder of the dream pop outfit Engineers) Mark Peters shared a similar musical path, exploring ambient textures and effect laden songwriting via a series of blissful albums for the band. In 2017 he released his first solo album, Innerland which was enthusiastically received by BBC6 music and later included in Rough Trade's top ten best albums of 2018. Destiny Waiving completes a collaborative trilogy that began with 2011's Underrated Silence (BB 094CD/LP) and followed by 2013's Tomorrow Is Another Day (BB 148CD/LP) (Schnauss also became a full-time member of Engineers at this time). Initial sessions began at Ulrich's East London home studio in early 2017 and final mixes were completed there in late 2020. Despite its extended conception, most tracks were completed during 2017, in part informed by improvisational sets in London, Dublin and St James' Church in Birmingham. Despite these exercises in exploration, Destiny Waiving is perhaps the most focused and concise collection of all three releases. Ranging in tone from precognitive foreboding to soaring optimism, the album delicately hones a particular atmosphere that is unmistakable in their work. While track titles such as "The Supposed Middle Class" acutely display a concern for society at large, compositions and performances reveal a great deal more light and shade. This inherent balance is a key facet of the duo's chemistry, signposted by the titles of "Chiaroscuro" and "Clair-Obscur" and the shifting moods within the tracks. For every rushing, upward sweep ("Hindsight Is 20/20", "Circular Time"), contemplative countering is evident in tracks such as "Words Can Be Dismissed" and "So Far", "The Moment".

$16.50$14.03 IN STOCK

"Hamburg's post-kraut-electro trio Love-Songs and Ulf Schütte (Datashock, Phantom Horse, Little Whirls) have formed a group named Love-Songs & U. Schütte for the duration of one long-playing record. This body of work bears the modest title [Spannende Musik] -- an attribution which sounds not in the least bit pejorative to those with no skin in the game: 'Yes, it really is exciting music!' The adjective pinned to the music may go deeper: 'spannend' can also express tension, in this case not to convey a mood or a tense thriller, but in a physical sense. The musical foursome's nocturnal world tour begins (and ends?) in a shamanistic factory hall with no clocks. Rigorous polyrhythms are accentuated by dexterously frayed edges. Radio wave rituals are revealed by flickering fluorescent lamps, a tribalistic screw box is in danger of falling from a conveyor belt. The dualism of minimalistic asceticism and long-distance free improvisations create that selfsame tension which lends the spacious music of Tony Conrad, Joshua Abrams or the kosmische, yet earthed music of Pulse Emitter et al, such an original voice and atmosphere. One must search far and wide to find space and movement interlock so seamlessly through such meticulous layering and barely perceptible shifts in order to maintain the tension alluded to earlier. The purely descriptive titles of the individual tracks, lifted from annotations of music in film sub-titles, lead us further astray than we might have first thought -- which brings us back to the actual meaning of tension and what it is capable of evoking on a semantic and aesthetic level, something which contemporary music painfully lacks: a certain unreliability." --Rasmus Engler

$22.50$19.13 IN STOCK

LP version. Bureau B present a very special release: Kiosque Of Arrows 2 is Detlef Weinrich's (aka Tolouse Low Trax) first compilation for Bureau B. Echoing the spirit of the legendary samplers found on Les Disques Du Crépuscule or Made To Measure, this hybrid journal not only collates unusual pieces of music -- rare and undiscovered pearls from the experimental underground of the early 1980s through to contemporary unreleased recordings -- it also represents a reflective collage of cut-ups, observations and memories in the never-ending search for inexplicable beauty. Eleven tracks of unique pop fusions meander through states of casualness, a nocturnal thirst for adventure, and the intense yearnings of hot, sultry afternoons with an uneven and brittle quality. It all helps to pinpoint Tolouse Low Trax as artist and curator in the grander scheme of things, whilst evoking the spirit of countless nights at the Düsseldorfer Salon des Amateurs. Features Macromassa, The Stupid Set, DsorDNE, Techno Twins, Venus in Furs, Javier Segura, Bassæ, Lydia Tomkiw, Iueke & Lippie, Kaoru Hirose, and Viola Renea.

$26.00$22.10 IN STOCK

LP version. "Hamburg's post-kraut-electro trio Love-Songs and Ulf Schütte (Datashock, Phantom Horse, Little Whirls) have formed a group named Love-Songs & U. Schütte for the duration of one long-playing record. This body of work bears the modest title [Spannende Musik] -- an attribution which sounds not in the least bit pejorative to those with no skin in the game: 'Yes, it really is exciting music!' The adjective pinned to the music may go deeper: 'spannend' can also express tension, in this case not to convey a mood or a tense thriller, but in a physical sense. The musical foursome's nocturnal world tour begins (and ends?) in a shamanistic factory hall with no clocks. Rigorous polyrhythms are accentuated by dexterously frayed edges. Radio wave rituals are revealed by flickering fluorescent lamps, a tribalistic screw box is in danger of falling from a conveyor belt. The dualism of minimalistic asceticism and long-distance free improvisations create that selfsame tension which lends the spacious music of Tony Conrad, Joshua Abrams or the kosmische, yet earthed music of Pulse Emitter et al, such an original voice and atmosphere. One must search far and wide to find space and movement interlock so seamlessly through such meticulous layering and barely perceptible shifts in order to maintain the tension alluded to earlier. The purely descriptive titles of the individual tracks, lifted from annotations of music in film sub-titles, lead us further astray than we might have first thought -- which brings us back to the actual meaning of tension and what it is capable of evoking on a semantic and aesthetic level, something which contemporary music painfully lacks: a certain unreliability." --Rasmus Engler

$22.50$19.13 IN STOCK

LP version. Spring is Thomas Klein's fourth Sølyst release on Bureau B, gleaned from material spanning the past three years. The time he has spent with these pieces has been time well spent. In revisiting them, he has posed new questions, rearranged and reworked some elements, dismissed or discarded others. The process of reappraisal has seen certain passages expanded upon, others pared away or refined. In the beginning, a sequencer and a sequence; rumbling along, not too fast, deeper tones and minor keys. Swathed in drum patterns and percussion, a mesh of metal and the occasional, unannounced crash of drums, as on the shimmering "Flex" or "Hold". Echoes and echo chambers, phasers and flangers used as glue: Spring, the (S)piral, a flexible, coiled spring, stretched, bent, twisted to fit the signal flow. Isolated sounds and vertical planes are added to the hypnotic, rhythmic framework, melodies are revealed on a nano level in transitions between nuanced layers and allusions. With all these elements in play, Klein creates a cinematic atmosphere for the big or the small screen, heavily laden in subliminal darkness, more spectral than aggressively threatening. A sense of foreboding, perhaps -- or the nervous excitement of seeing a storm gather on the horizon as one eagerly awaits the spectacle of thunder and lightning. Photophobic dancers, tar on their shoes, flashes of light, monochrome is our only color. Spring is the soundtrack to a night such as this, plotting its course through to the late morning: take "Sheroes" and play it between Martin Rev and Chris & Cosey, take "Atlas" and play it, if you will, after Tolouse Low Trax. And before the doors reopen, take "Spiral". The most seductive moments in all of these pieces are those in which Klein lets go of functionality, unleashes the groove and the space opens up, wider and wider, floating atmospherically into the late hours of the morning. Spring slots into the genealogy of the three preceding albums -- Sølyst (2011), Lead (2013), The Steam Age (2016). Not that there is anything wrong with that, and yet Spring reveals Klein at his most confident, opening up his field of vision to explore the margins of the structure he established on Sølyst. Each track on Spring hints at a fresh start. This is where Sølyst truly begins.

$16.50$14.03 IN STOCK

"Outer-national dance discourses, that strive for no country and obey to no flag: when Düsseldorf based producer, Stefan Schwander creates music as Harmonious Thelonious, highly percussive rhythms, dissonances and melodic twists tango chatoyant virtuosic. Since 2008 he releases music, that unites Detroit techno districts, widescreen minimalistic structures and African rhythm patterns into a wide dynamic scale. All eight musical objects collected on Instrumentals! document a chapter in Harmonious Thelonious's work, that left the noisy background drones behind in favor for a signature sound full of echoes of ancient rituals and ecstatic ceremonies. Eight growing outlaw music studies crammed with living, deeply haunting entities. They all came to life in different cities like Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, London or Paris, first published on labels like Asafa, Disk, The Trilogy Tapes, or Versatile. United under one roof, they unfold their magical groove symbolism, notable hypnotic harmony and agitating rhythm archetypes in a total overpowering coalition. Tunes like 'Beiläufige Muziek' or 'Yusuf' embark with a new breed of psychic leftfield Motor City techno, perfect for an electric drive on a multicultural utopian future highway. In contrast, tracks like 'Abel', 'Ayranman', 'Apakapa', or 'Halb Ding' perform tricky snake dances enlarged with Ghanaian highlife tones, Senegalese guitar folk and manic serpentine Moroccan flute wizardry. Intense buzzing voodoo music, driven by swinging bass pulses, sequencing looniness, moving up somewhere on a polyrhythmic horizon between Occident and Orient, end-to-end danceable, thoroughly transcending space and time." --Michael Leuffen