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LP
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KK 112LP
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$19.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/26/2019
LP version. Includes printed inner sleeve; includes download code. Emmanuel Mario keeps moving. The further he travels, the more he sounds like someone who has finally arrived where he has always been supposed to be. After collaborations with artists like Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier or the group Holden, his last album as Astrobal took the French composer and drummer to Australasie in 2016 (KK 092LP). On his second album for the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk, he ventures even further, eventually heading for L'Infini, l'Univers Et Les Mondes ("infinity, the universe and the worlds"). Leaving behind the more krautrock-inspired approach he followed on Australasie, Astrobal focuses on a way of storytelling that takes conventional pop songwriting as a point of departure, yet arrives in previously unknown places. Over the course of eleven songs, the multi-instrumentalist further perfects his craft of life-affirming, funk-infused synth pop. Drawing on the work of pioneers like Brian Eno or Yellow Magic Orchestra, '80s electronic funk music and blue-eyed soul, shoegaze, and the rich tradition of progressive music and kosmische in his native France, L'infini, l'univers Et Les Mondes indicates a major development in Mario's futuristic and decidedly cosmic approach to songwriting. At the heart of the "French psychedelic new age pop for the world", as he himself has dubbed his sound, always sits a rhythmic idea -- an irresistible groove that is being complemented with intricate synthesizer harmonies and bouncing bass lines. In the meanwhile, Mario's voice is drifting over the tightly woven compositions as if in zero gravity. Not quite lonely, intimate yet far away, occasionally in conversation with robots and other inhabitants of outer space he comes across on his journey. As a coherent narrative, L'infini, l'Univers Et Les Mondes tells a story of extraterrestrial excursions. As a musical statement however, it sees Astrobal coming home after more than two decades in the world of music, finding a niche for himself with a style that is as adventurous as it is thrilling.
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CD
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KK 112CD
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/26/2019
Emmanuel Mario keeps moving. The further he travels, the more he sounds like someone who has finally arrived where he has always been supposed to be. After collaborations with artists like Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier or the group Holden, his last album as Astrobal took the French composer and drummer to Australasie in 2016 (KK 092LP). On his second album for the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk, he ventures even further, eventually heading for L'Infini, l'Univers Et Les Mondes ("infinity, the universe and the worlds"). Leaving behind the more krautrock-inspired approach he followed on Australasie, Astrobal focuses on a way of storytelling that takes conventional pop songwriting as a point of departure, yet arrives in previously unknown places. Over the course of eleven songs, the multi-instrumentalist further perfects his craft of life-affirming, funk-infused synth pop. Drawing on the work of pioneers like Brian Eno or Yellow Magic Orchestra, '80s electronic funk music and blue-eyed soul, shoegaze, and the rich tradition of progressive music and kosmische in his native France, L'infini, l'univers Et Les Mondes indicates a major development in Mario's futuristic and decidedly cosmic approach to songwriting. At the heart of the "French psychedelic new age pop for the world", as he himself has dubbed his sound, always sits a rhythmic idea -- an irresistible groove that is being complemented with intricate synthesizer harmonies and bouncing bass lines. In the meanwhile, Mario's voice is drifting over the tightly woven compositions as if in zero gravity. Not quite lonely, intimate yet far away, occasionally in conversation with robots and other inhabitants of outer space he comes across on his journey. As a coherent narrative, L'infini, l'Univers Et Les Mondes tells a story of extraterrestrial excursions. As a musical statement however, it sees Astrobal coming home after more than two decades in the world of music, finding a niche for himself with a style that is as adventurous as it is thrilling.
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LP
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KK 111LP
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LP version. Includes download code. As Donna Regina, Regina and Günther Janssen have been a fixture in the German indie pop and electronic scene ever since their first release in 1990. From 1999 on, they have released seven LPs and a slew of EPs on Karaoke Kalk. After a collection of cover versions of their songs by fellow artists and bands called Dis Cover - Donna Regina as Recorded By in 2015 (KK 085CD/LP), Transient sees the wife and husband duo both musically and lyrically pick up where they left off with 2014's Holding the Mirror for Sophia Loren (KK 078CD/LP). Even after 28 years and 13 full-length releases, Donna Regina still have much to say and on their first proper studio album since 2015 express it in more languages than ever. Between the English-language opener "Royal Blue" and the final German track "Lass Uns So Tun", Regina Janssen also explores French ("Quatre Septembres", written by Bertrand Burgalat's lyricist Pascal Mounet), Spanish ("Mí Globo De Nieve") and, newly so, Japanese (the Ayako Akashiba-penned "Melancholy Dragon") as languages to convey complex truths with only few and simple words. Simple would be one word with which to describe the music on Transient, although maybe that would be a premature judgement. Even though the Janssens' music, on this album only supported by the Danish guitarist Rolf Hansen on "Quatre Septembres", seems more minimalistic or perhaps even quieter than before, it is still brimming with details and the occasional moment of ecstasy. Transient isn't one of those records that will start slowly, peak in the middle and then fade out, but between songs like the opener "Royal Blue" and the beat-driven "Blitze" or the ambiguous up-beat track "Komm Lass Uns Heiraten" and "Melancholy Dragon" with its elegiac synthesizer harmonies draws on the sharp contrasts in mood and style. As such, Transient may just be the perfect title for this album that lyrically is more at home in the entire world than ever before in Donna Regina's history and also makes it abundantly clear that nothing, neither happiness nor sadness, will be forever. After 28 years and 13 full-length releases, Donna Regina stay in motion because the world does, too.
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CD
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KK 111CD
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As Donna Regina, Regina and Günther Janssen have been a fixture in the German indie pop and electronic scene ever since their first release in 1990. From 1999 on, they have released seven LPs and a slew of EPs on Karaoke Kalk. After a collection of cover versions of their songs by fellow artists and bands called Dis Cover - Donna Regina as Recorded By in 2015 (KK 085CD/LP), Transient sees the wife and husband duo both musically and lyrically pick up where they left off with 2014's Holding the Mirror for Sophia Loren (KK 078CD/LP). Even after 28 years and 13 full-length releases, Donna Regina still have much to say and on their first proper studio album since 2015 express it in more languages than ever. Between the English-language opener "Royal Blue" and the final German track "Lass Uns So Tun", Regina Janssen also explores French ("Quatre Septembres", written by Bertrand Burgalat's lyricist Pascal Mounet), Spanish ("Mí Globo De Nieve") and, newly so, Japanese (the Ayako Akashiba-penned "Melancholy Dragon") as languages to convey complex truths with only few and simple words. Simple would be one word with which to describe the music on Transient, although maybe that would be a premature judgement. Even though the Janssens' music, on this album only supported by the Danish guitarist Rolf Hansen on "Quatre Septembres", seems more minimalistic or perhaps even quieter than before, it is still brimming with details and the occasional moment of ecstasy. Transient isn't one of those records that will start slowly, peak in the middle and then fade out, but between songs like the opener "Royal Blue" and the beat-driven "Blitze" or the ambiguous up-beat track "Komm Lass Uns Heiraten" and "Melancholy Dragon" with its elegiac synthesizer harmonies draws on the sharp contrasts in mood and style. As such, Transient may just be the perfect title for this album that lyrically is more at home in the entire world than ever before in Donna Regina's history and also makes it abundantly clear that nothing, neither happiness nor sadness, will be forever. After 28 years and 13 full-length releases, Donna Regina stay in motion because the world does, too.
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KK 110CD
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Scottish composer and multi-instrumentalist Bill Wells returns with The Sensory Illusions, the eponymous debut album from his duo with virtuoso tuba player Danielle Price. Featuring Wells on electric guitar, the album has all the warmth, melancholy, and playfulness of his finest work, with timeless melodies that touch on jazz, pop, bossa nova, soundtracks, and folk. Wells has used the tuba in several of his projects. Bassist Lindsay Cooper doubled up on tuba in his Octet, while 2011's Lemondale (2011) features the renowned Japanese tuba player Sekijima Takero. In 2014, Wells was looking for tuba player to play on his second album with Aidan Moffat, The Most Important Place In The World. Price came recommended and subsequently joined their touring band. "A couple of weeks later I discovered that she and I were neighbors!" Wells adds. As a result, they would occasionally get together to practice standards. The Sensory Illusions emerged after Wells secured a Glasgow support slot with Anna Meredith in April 2016. Wells notes that these tunes came to him in dreams, as did the band name. He states: "In some ways it's a continuation of the more jazz-based line-ups such as the trio and the octet," says Wells, "but for me the focus is as much on the guitar playing as the writing. I'm interested in playing over standard type (chord) sequences but hopefully not sounding too much like a 'jazz guitarist'." Wells has nothing but praise for his musical partner. "Danielle is one of the best musicians I've ever worked with. She's extremely versatile, from playing in trad jazz bands or with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, to playing with the likes of Ashley Paul, Mats Gustafson, and Ntshuks Bonga. She functions as both bass player and drummer in the Sensory Illusions, combing percussive sounds with melodic patterns/riffs." That rhythmic quality can be heard on tracks such as "Tango", which she underpins with strutting riff, and "Theme From Flint", where she transforms Jerry Goldsmith's lounge-jazz groove into a cantering brass figure. Yet the tuba is also the vehicle for some of Wells's loveliest melodies, from the wistful "Brass Alley Dream" to closing track "An August Ballad".
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KK 110LP
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LP version. Heavy cardboard, die-cut cover; Includes printed inner sleeves and download code; Edition of 500. Scottish composer and multi-instrumentalist Bill Wells returns with The Sensory Illusions, the eponymous debut album from his duo with virtuoso tuba player Danielle Price. Featuring Wells on electric guitar, the album has all the warmth, melancholy, and playfulness of his finest work, with timeless melodies that touch on jazz, pop, bossa nova, soundtracks, and folk. Wells has used the tuba in several of his projects. Bassist Lindsay Cooper doubled up on tuba in his Octet, while 2011's Lemondale (2011) features the renowned Japanese tuba player Sekijima Takero. In 2014, Wells was looking for tuba player to play on his second album with Aidan Moffat, The Most Important Place In The World. Price came recommended and subsequently joined their touring band. "A couple of weeks later I discovered that she and I were neighbors!" Wells adds. As a result, they would occasionally get together to practice standards. The Sensory Illusions emerged after Wells secured a Glasgow support slot with Anna Meredith in April 2016. Wells notes that these tunes came to him in dreams, as did the band name. He states: "In some ways it's a continuation of the more jazz-based line-ups such as the trio and the octet," says Wells, "but for me the focus is as much on the guitar playing as the writing. I'm interested in playing over standard type (chord) sequences but hopefully not sounding too much like a 'jazz guitarist'." Wells has nothing but praise for his musical partner. "Danielle is one of the best musicians I've ever worked with. She's extremely versatile, from playing in trad jazz bands or with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, to playing with the likes of Ashley Paul, Mats Gustafson, and Ntshuks Bonga. She functions as both bass player and drummer in the Sensory Illusions, combing percussive sounds with melodic patterns/riffs." That rhythmic quality can be heard on tracks such as "Tango", which she underpins with strutting riff, and "Theme From Flint", where she transforms Jerry Goldsmith's lounge-jazz groove into a cantering brass figure. Yet the tuba is also the vehicle for some of Wells's loveliest melodies, from the wistful "Brass Alley Dream" to closing track "An August Ballad".
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KK 109CD
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Ever since his widely-acclaimed debut Migrations was released in 2006, tone color has always been an important aspect of Emanuele Errante's music. Drawing from both electronic and acoustic sources, his compositions paint impressionistic vignettes with sonic intensities. His fourth album, The Evanescence Of A Thousand Colors, his second solo release on the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk label, deals more explicitly with color than before. The album's title plays with the double meaning of term and was inspired by a TEDx Talk by the American scientist Pratyusha Pilla on the subject of colorism, i.e. discrimination based solely on skin tone. "I felt like I wanted to say something about the shameful racist regurgitation that we are experiencing in almost all the countries that claim to be the champions of civilization," says the Italian composer about the topic that informed his new album. "Pratyusha lit a light in me." In fact, a passage of her lecture is sampled on the album's centerpiece "Beauty", making Pitta a protagonist of the album on which voice can be heard loud and clearly. Errante's music feeds on gentle guitar sounds, classical instrumentation, field recordings, and electronic elements that range from rhythmic ambient to granular noise. The eight tracks at times recall the early works of Oval and Fennesz or even Aphex Twin while showcasing the Italian's trademark approach to electroacoustic minimalism. As a follow-up to Errante's recent collaboration album with Dakota Suite and Dag Rosenqvist (KK 107CD/LP, 2018) on the sonically rich soundscapes of The Evanescence Of A Thousand Colors again highlight the importance of listening to one another; they are an almost wordless appeal for a more colorful world.
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LP
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KK 109LP
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LP version. Includes download. Ever since his widely-acclaimed debut Migrations was released in 2006, tone color has always been an important aspect of Emanuele Errante's music. Drawing from both electronic and acoustic sources, his compositions paint impressionistic vignettes with sonic intensities. His fourth album, The Evanescence Of A Thousand Colors, his second solo release on the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk label, deals more explicitly with color than before. The album's title plays with the double meaning of term and was inspired by a TEDx Talk by the American scientist Pratyusha Pilla on the subject of colorism, i.e. discrimination based solely on skin tone. "I felt like I wanted to say something about the shameful racist regurgitation that we are experiencing in almost all the countries that claim to be the champions of civilization," says the Italian composer about the topic that informed his new album. "Pratyusha lit a light in me." In fact, a passage of her lecture is sampled on the album's centerpiece "Beauty", making Pitta a protagonist of the album on which voice can be heard loud and clearly. Errante's music feeds on gentle guitar sounds, classical instrumentation, field recordings, and electronic elements that range from rhythmic ambient to granular noise. The eight tracks at times recall the early works of Oval and Fennesz or even Aphex Twin while showcasing the Italian's trademark approach to electroacoustic minimalism. As a follow-up to Errante's recent collaboration album with Dakota Suite and Dag Rosenqvist (KK 107CD/LP, 2018) on the sonically rich soundscapes of The Evanescence Of A Thousand Colors again highlight the importance of listening to one another; they are an almost wordless appeal for a more colorful world.
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KK 108CD
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"'I find it tedious that, in music, we usually only see one type of love represented,' says Yorkshire composer, musician, and music therapist Aby Vulliamy. 'I'm not interested in writing about that.' Spin Cycle, Vulliamy's debut album, is indeed an album about love: love at its most transformative, love at its most dreary, love at its most challenging, love at its most desperate. It is, to quote the writer who has found her voice in these songs, an album about 'love, life and the reality of parenthood -- not just the pink and fluffy bits.' 'For years, I thought of myself as a purely social musician who couldn't self-generate -- that my strength was in taking what someone else had put out there, and adding to it,' explains Vulliamy. 'That's the role of the viola: you don't notice that we're there until we screw up.' 'It's only since having had my daughters that I've been able to put words to music. Motherhood turned my life upside down and suddenly, sitting there in the dark, the words just flowed.' The result is both intimate and visceral, full of snatched moments and vivid imagery. Opening track 'Spin Cycle' effectively captures domestic drudgery in four lines, performed in the round. 'Rock Me Tender' is an evocative portrayal of the lonely, quiet, sleep-deprived terror of a breastfeeding mother. The frantic, furious 'Good Enough' delivers a jarring, atonal riposte to society's judgment of women, mothers or not, once they reach childbearing age while 'This Precious Time' acts as the album's heart as Vulliamy's layered vocals, backed by rich, mournful trombone and double bass, at once lament and celebrate the inevitable growth of her children from infants to little women. Vulliamy credits long-time collaborator Stevie Jones (Sound of Yell) with 'making the album happen' -- by encouraging her to properly document material she had only ever considered performing live, but also in the more practical sense of engineering, producing and mixing the tracks over a period of four years at Glasgow's Chem19 and Kinning Park Complex studios. Work and child-rearing made recording time scattered and precious, making Vulliamy keen to acknowledge the roles played by her musician partner George Murray, whose trombone contributions appear on the album, and Jones' partner Jill Wilson in giving the album space to come together. Bill Wells (melodica), Fritz Welsh (percussion) and Christina Rhys (harp) also appear." --Lisa-Marie Ferla
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LP
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KK 108LP
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LP version. "'I find it tedious that, in music, we usually only see one type of love represented,' says Yorkshire composer, musician, and music therapist Aby Vulliamy. 'I'm not interested in writing about that.' Spin Cycle, Vulliamy's debut album, is indeed an album about love: love at its most transformative, love at its most dreary, love at its most challenging, love at its most desperate. It is, to quote the writer who has found her voice in these songs, an album about 'love, life and the reality of parenthood -- not just the pink and fluffy bits.' 'For years, I thought of myself as a purely social musician who couldn't self-generate -- that my strength was in taking what someone else had put out there, and adding to it,' explains Vulliamy. 'That's the role of the viola: you don't notice that we're there until we screw up.' 'It's only since having had my daughters that I've been able to put words to music. Motherhood turned my life upside down and suddenly, sitting there in the dark, the words just flowed.' The result is both intimate and visceral, full of snatched moments and vivid imagery. Opening track 'Spin Cycle' effectively captures domestic drudgery in four lines, performed in the round. 'Rock Me Tender' is an evocative portrayal of the lonely, quiet, sleep-deprived terror of a breastfeeding mother. The frantic, furious 'Good Enough' delivers a jarring, atonal riposte to society's judgment of women, mothers or not, once they reach childbearing age while 'This Precious Time' acts as the album's heart as Vulliamy's layered vocals, backed by rich, mournful trombone and double bass, at once lament and celebrate the inevitable growth of her children from infants to little women. Vulliamy credits long-time collaborator Stevie Jones (Sound of Yell) with 'making the album happen' -- by encouraging her to properly document material she had only ever considered performing live, but also in the more practical sense of engineering, producing and mixing the tracks over a period of four years at Glasgow's Chem19 and Kinning Park Complex studios. Work and child-rearing made recording time scattered and precious, making Vulliamy keen to acknowledge the roles played by her musician partner George Murray, whose trombone contributions appear on the album, and Jones' partner Jill Wilson in giving the album space to come together. Bill Wells (melodica), Fritz Welsh (percussion) and Christina Rhys (harp) also appear." --Lisa-Marie Ferla
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KK 107CD
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With What Matters Most, Chris Hooson has likely delivered the most personal and, in his own words, complicated Dakota Suite album of his career. After previous collaborations with artists such as Quentin Sirjacq and Vampillia, this ten-track LP combines the Brit's songwriting qualities with contributions by Dag Rosenqvist -- formerly known as Jasper TX and currently working with Aaron Martin under the From The Mouth Of The Sun guise -- and Elem member Emanuele Errante, with whom Hooson had released The North Green Down on Karaoke Kalk in 2011 (KK 089LP). From the first piano chords in the album's opening track "Constanta, 1992" to the last shimmering drones of "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You", What Matters Most follows an abstract narrative that is as autobiographical as it is universal. "The focus of this record is about being thankful for those that you love and remembering the start of what has saved you from being less than you otherwise would have been. In my case that is one person, Johanna," says Hooson in regards to his wife, whom he met at a Romanian train station 26 years ago and who is again featured on What Matters Most on clarinet. Just like Hooson's lyrics, the musical framework for What Matters Most aims for emotional complexity, exploring a broad variety of sonic palettes and drawing heavily on the dynamic interplay between the three musicians. Composed with the help of Rosenqvist and completed over the course of three years, the record sees Hooson's collaborators adding subtle textures and rich soundscapes to his unconventional, jazz-inspired songwriting approach. With its dedication to risk-taking and vulnerability, What Matters Most is not only an album about love -- but also a work of love by itself. CD version includes booklet.
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LP
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KK 107LP
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LP version. 180 gram, transparent vinyl; Includes postcard and download code. With What Matters Most, Chris Hooson has likely delivered the most personal and, in his own words, complicated Dakota Suite album of his career. After previous collaborations with artists such as Quentin Sirjacq and Vampillia, this ten-track LP combines the Brit's songwriting qualities with contributions by Dag Rosenqvist -- formerly known as Jasper TX and currently working with Aaron Martin under the From The Mouth Of The Sun guise -- and Elem member Emanuele Errante, with whom Hooson had released The North Green Down on Karaoke Kalk in 2011 (KK 089LP). From the first piano chords in the album's opening track "Constanta, 1992" to the last shimmering drones of "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You", What Matters Most follows an abstract narrative that is as autobiographical as it is universal. "The focus of this record is about being thankful for those that you love and remembering the start of what has saved you from being less than you otherwise would have been. In my case that is one person, Johanna," says Hooson in regards to his wife, whom he met at a Romanian train station 26 years ago and who is again featured on What Matters Most on clarinet. Just like Hooson's lyrics, the musical framework for What Matters Most aims for emotional complexity, exploring a broad variety of sonic palettes and drawing heavily on the dynamic interplay between the three musicians. Composed with the help of Rosenqvist and completed over the course of three years, the record sees Hooson's collaborators adding subtle textures and rich soundscapes to his unconventional, jazz-inspired songwriting approach. With its dedication to risk-taking and vulnerability, What Matters Most is not only an album about love -- but also a work of love by itself.
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LP
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KK 106LP
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LP version. Includes download code. On their latest album, Standards Vol. IV, the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland continue their engagement with classic and outsider pop traditions, subtly building on their characteristic blend of beguiling melodies and spare arrangements. There is even, dare we say it, a hint of jazz. Oblique visions of jazz aside, the album's most striking development is its focus on a single lead vocalist in Kate Sudgen, who has an understated approach with a real emotional pull. This is the first in a proposed series of albums to feature one singer from the NJTOS, with Gerard Black and Aby Vulliamy to follow. In 2012, Wells won the inaugural Scottish Album Of The Year award for Everything's Getting Older (2011), a collaboration with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. In 2011 he released Lemondale, recorded with Japan-based musicians, including Jim O'Rourke and Saya of Tenniscoats. Four years later, he assembled a stellar cast of musicians including Annette Peacock and Yo La Tengo for Nursery Rhymes, an exploration of the darker side of children's songs. Wells's penchant for détournement and bittersweet irony crops up throughout Standards Vol. IV. Take "Tinnitus Lullaby", where Sudgen softly sings over the melancholy twinkling of a music box like synth. "Anticipated Sentence" makes a wry reference to the Sinatra standard "I've Got The World On A String", a song Wells dislikes intensely. In Wells's song. Kohler's cheerful refrain of "What a world, what a life!" is twisted into something altogether darker, with the string around the protagonist's finger becoming a noose around their neck. "Move" is a vivid portrait of depression, where the protagonist spends all day in bed, listening to the sounds of helicopters buzzing overhead. Yet Wells animates the song with bossa nova guitar and clave rhythms, creating an effect that is, depending how you read it, ironic or uplifting. In addition to the ten Wells originals and a new version of the Aidan Moffat collaboration "Far From You", Standards Vol. IV features a cover of Richard Youngs's "Summer's Edge" from the latter's 2005 masterpiece Summer Wanderer. Wells has known Youngs since the 1990s, when they worked together with Future Pilot AKA. The National Jazz Trio's version taps into the uncanny pastoralism of the original, with Sudgen's clear reading of the melody set against Wells's glistening keyboard samples. Standards Vol. IV is an album characterized by its gorgeous blend of sophistication and vulnerability.
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CD
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KK 106CD
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On their latest album, Standards Vol. IV, the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland continue their engagement with classic and outsider pop traditions, subtly building on their characteristic blend of beguiling melodies and spare arrangements. There is even, dare we say it, a hint of jazz. Oblique visions of jazz aside, the album's most striking development is its focus on a single lead vocalist in Kate Sudgen, who has an understated approach with a real emotional pull. This is the first in a proposed series of albums to feature one singer from the NJTOS, with Gerard Black and Aby Vulliamy to follow. In 2012, Wells won the inaugural Scottish Album Of The Year award for Everything's Getting Older (2011), a collaboration with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. In 2011 he released Lemondale, recorded with Japan-based musicians, including Jim O'Rourke and Saya of Tenniscoats. Four years later, he assembled a stellar cast of musicians including Annette Peacock and Yo La Tengo for Nursery Rhymes, an exploration of the darker side of children's songs. Wells's penchant for détournement and bittersweet irony crops up throughout Standards Vol. IV. Take "Tinnitus Lullaby", where Sudgen softly sings over the melancholy twinkling of a music box like synth. "Anticipated Sentence" makes a wry reference to the Sinatra standard "I've Got The World On A String", a song Wells dislikes intensely. In Wells's song. Kohler's cheerful refrain of "What a world, what a life!" is twisted into something altogether darker, with the string around the protagonist's finger becoming a noose around their neck. "Move" is a vivid portrait of depression, where the protagonist spends all day in bed, listening to the sounds of helicopters buzzing overhead. Yet Wells animates the song with bossa nova guitar and clave rhythms, creating an effect that is, depending how you read it, ironic or uplifting. In addition to the ten Wells originals and a new version of the Aidan Moffat collaboration "Far From You", Standards Vol. IV features a cover of Richard Youngs's "Summer's Edge" from the latter's 2005 masterpiece Summer Wanderer. Wells has known Youngs since the 1990s, when they worked together with Future Pilot AKA. The National Jazz Trio's version taps into the uncanny pastoralism of the original, with Sudgen's clear reading of the melody set against Wells's glistening keyboard samples. Standards Vol. IV is an album characterized by its gorgeous blend of sophistication and vulnerability.
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12"
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KK 105EP
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Ant Orange's third 12" for Karaoke Kalk forms something of a trilogy for the label. The title track grows slowly from soft-tickled keys to a full-bodied groove with airy synths and RnB vocals. "Drunk In The Trunk" shifts down a gear, looping another vocal cut over a lazy, stripped-back wah-wah vibe. Experimental jazz skit "Let That Sink In" has a jerky tempo and carries flashes of light. The meditative arpeggios and sparse drums of "Comfort Zone" lead into the dusky "Muscle Beach" before "Rudis Goes Offline" picks up the tempo. "A Frozen Lake" is chilled by name and by nature.
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12"
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KK 104EP
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With his third album Dear Stranger (KK 072CD/LP, 2013), Duesseldorf artist TG Mauss appeared for the first time on Berlins quality music label Karaoke Kalk. Proving once more his skills in meshing up folk pop with electronic music, he left a big mark on Hans Nieswandt (Whirlpool Productions), who now throws the track "Ghosts" into the club: a grooving funk bass played by Levent Canseven meets a rattling hi-hat and spacey sound effects. Mauss voice makes the disco ball and our dancing hearts pause for a moment, just to explode on the dancefloor. That's what you call state-of-remix-art.
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LP
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KK 102LP
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LP version. Includes download code. At the end of the '90s, there were a lot of murmurs about the living room scene in Berlin; magical concerts on improvised stages in temporary event spaces. It was a counter-reaction against the egos of rock stars. One of the protagonists of this scene was F.S. Blumm. But Blumm has shown many faces. He has collaborated with David Grubbs, Andi Otto, Harald Sack Ziegler, and Nils Frahm; He realized his love for dub reggae with the Quasi Dub Development; and he played post rock in the band KINN. Now, F.S. Blumm is entering a new phase of his creativity which one could call his nonchalant phase. Besides a few guitar chords and the suggestion of a xylophone in the background, there is nothing but the wide spaces between them. Fine, almost random sounding noises are remotely reminiscent of the era of his experimental instrumental concerts with classical guitar. Then the voice comes into play and everything changes. Laid-back, F.S. Blumm sings with a combination of urgency and relaxation. The piece are touching and intimate. This is the way "Handle Bar", the opening track on his new album Welcome, is delivered. Previously, Blumm was active as a songwriter. He wrote songs for three duos: Bobby And Blumm with Bobby Baby, Old Splendifolia with Jana Plewa, and finally Jonsson Gille & Blumm. For the first time since he started making music, he is singing his own songs himself on Welcome. And with every song on Welcome, new doors of association are opened. "New Day" uses reverb-laden drums and hymnal harmonies to great effect. But Blumm always manages to make the grandiose still sound grounded. Rather than spreading himself too thin, he prefers to explore the depths. There's the relaxed and erotically crackling "Going Away", the optimistic "Initial Spark", and the casual "Overweight". Blumm is ever traversing the field between greatness and modesty, sophisticated melodies, and recordings which are like the extremely condensed sound of a cassette recorder. This aesthetic permeates the entire album. With Welcome, F.S. Blumm has perfected the imperfect. Where other producers filter out the noise, pops, and crackles, Blumm does the exact opposite. He reverses the roles of desired and undesirable sound. What remains are songs like sculptures left in the wake of acoustic tracks.
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CD
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KK 102CD
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At the end of the '90s, there were a lot of murmurs about the living room scene in Berlin; magical concerts on improvised stages in temporary event spaces. It was a counter-reaction against the egos of rock stars. One of the protagonists of this scene was F.S. Blumm. But Blumm has shown many faces. He has collaborated with David Grubbs, Andi Otto, Harald Sack Ziegler, and Nils Frahm; He realized his love for dub reggae with the Quasi Dub Development; and he played post rock in the band KINN. Now, F.S. Blumm is entering a new phase of his creativity which one could call his nonchalant phase. Besides a few guitar chords and the suggestion of a xylophone in the background, there is nothing but the wide spaces between them. Fine, almost random sounding noises are remotely reminiscent of the era of his experimental instrumental concerts with classical guitar. Then the voice comes into play and everything changes. Laid-back, F.S. Blumm sings with a combination of urgency and relaxation. The piece are touching and intimate. This is the way "Handle Bar", the opening track on his new album Welcome, is delivered. Previously, Blumm was active as a songwriter. He wrote songs for three duos: Bobby And Blumm with Bobby Baby, Old Splendifolia with Jana Plewa, and finally Jonsson Gille & Blumm. For the first time since he started making music, he is singing his own songs himself on Welcome. And with every song on Welcome, new doors of association are opened. "New Day" uses reverb-laden drums and hymnal harmonies to great effect. But Blumm always manages to make the grandiose still sound grounded. Rather than spreading himself too thin, he prefers to explore the depths. There's the relaxed and erotically crackling "Going Away", the optimistic "Initial Spark", and the casual "Overweight". Blumm is ever traversing the field between greatness and modesty, sophisticated melodies, and recordings which are like the extremely condensed sound of a cassette recorder. This aesthetic permeates the entire album. With Welcome, F.S. Blumm has perfected the imperfect. Where other producers filter out the noise, pops, and crackles, Blumm does the exact opposite. He reverses the roles of desired and undesirable sound. What remains are songs like sculptures left in the wake of acoustic tracks.
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LP
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KK 101LP
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LP version. Includes printed inner sleeve; Includes download code. Finnish visual artist and filmmaker Hannu Karjalainen's music draws inspiration from ambient, drone, modern classical, and dream pop. His first album Worms In My Piano was released in 2007 on Osaka Records and the second album, Hintergarten in 2009 on Simon Scott's Kesh Recordings. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert, his third album, and the first under his full given name, arriving after a prolonged break. Hannu Karjalainen's association with Karaoke Kalk started with his remix of Dakota Suite's "The End Of Trying Part III" on The Night Just Keeps Coming In (KK 051CD, 2009). A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert opens with the track "Angel" which is a truly heavenly composition reminiscent of Boards Of Canada's finest work. "The Emigrant" makes effective use of sinister synth-lines and delicate glockenspiel patterns to invoke a kind of science-fiction soundtrack atmosphere. Throughout the record, the listener's ears are graced with truly sublime soundscapes and transcendent textures. The title track is actually the shortest tune on the album, but in no way less evocative. Its looped piano melodies are comparable with Susumo Yokota's later recordings in their minimalism and poise. "A Year In A Day" continues to walk the fine line between ambient and electronica, which is one of the albums great virtues: it shows how lively and eventful ambient music can be. Certainly ambient music benefits from having a strong pulse which Karjalainen demonstrates in various tracks on the album. The song "Love Is A Black Lion" features a sample from the afore mentioned Dakota Suite tune The End Of Trying Part III, and therefore somehow closes a circle. This powerfully contemplative album comes to a controlled landing with the majestic "Breaks My Heart She Aria"; another in a long line of mesmerizing drifts, with a floating choral voice delicately enveloped in strings and pitched percussion. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert is instantly captivating and for lovers of ambient music, it is dream listening. As an artist who trained in photography and is mostly active in the world of visual art, Hannu Karjalainen clearly enjoys a great deal of creative freedom in his music. This is the kind of desert you won't mind getting lost in and you will even take pleasure in roaming through the expansive sonic landscapes and horizons it embodies.
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LP
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KK 035LP
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2017 repress of Hauschka's debut album Substantial, originally released in 2004. Piano music is highly personal music, which is the reason why piano solo albums occupy a particular place of importance in a musician's work -- not that Volker Bertelmann wants to hype his first foray to that extent, hence the pseudonym. Nevertheless Hauschka is personal music, simply because it has accompanied him for so long, because it has always been there in some shape or form, because it has always been important. The title points to the fact that it is dealing with something of importance, not just a few finger exercises or background ivory-tinkling. Substantial is a snapshot of a life spent with the black-and-white keys, and is simultaneously both moment and history, thought and feeling, yet without turning into a unduly meaningful concept album. Rather, Substantial is based upon the least conceptual of all concepts: Improvisation. Each track is based upon an opening sequence, the theme of which is extended, modulated, and varied with, as far as form or length is concerned, no specific objective in mind. What has come out is music of a differing, well, substance: Eleven atmospheric pieces in which a variety of different techniques overlap and rhythmical images with narrative depth unfold; in which further instruments, such as double bass or vibraphone make a fleeting appearance, at once lending a hint of pop, but at no time detracting from the piano as central instrument; in which experimental and electronic music is accessed without compromising the directness and ease of the improvisational approach. The confluence of Bertelmann's multiple musical personality can be apprehended here: Whilst the pop-oriented musician plays the melody, the electronic producer gently experiments with sounds, leaving the pianist quite literally to manipulate the piano -- plucking the strings with a plectrum, dampening them or bowing them lengthways to achieve a variety of percussive effects. Following the recording, the tracks were adapted, supplemented, and finalized. Using multi-tracking, up to four piano tracks were superimposed, electronic sounds from the laptop added, as well Stefan Schneider's bass (Mapstation, To Rococo Rot, Music A.M.) on three tracks. Substantial is a recollection of the foundation of a musician's life, drawing upon the roots of diverse projects and releases over the past fifteen years. Hauschka is yet another facet of Bertelmann's palette, not a change of direction. Includes download code.
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CD
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KK 101CD
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Finnish visual artist and filmmaker Hannu Karjalainen's music draws inspiration from ambient, drone, modern classical, and dream pop. His first album Worms In My Piano was released in 2007 on Osaka Records and the second album, Hintergarten in 2009 on Simon Scott's Kesh Recordings. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert, his third album, and the first under his full given name, arriving after a prolonged break. Hannu Karjalainen's association with Karaoke Kalk started with his remix of Dakota Suite's "The End Of Trying Part III" on The Night Just Keeps Coming In (KK 051CD, 2009). A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert opens with the track "Angel" which is a truly heavenly composition reminiscent of Boards Of Canada's finest work. "The Emigrant" makes effective use of sinister synth-lines and delicate glockenspiel patterns to invoke a kind of science-fiction soundtrack atmosphere. Throughout the record, the listener's ears are graced with truly sublime soundscapes and transcendent textures. The title track is actually the shortest tune on the album, but in no way less evocative. Its looped piano melodies are comparable with Susumo Yokota's later recordings in their minimalism and poise. "A Year In A Day" continues to walk the fine line between ambient and electronica, which is one of the albums great virtues: it shows how lively and eventful ambient music can be. Certainly ambient music benefits from having a strong pulse which Karjalainen demonstrates in various tracks on the album. The song "Love Is A Black Lion" features a sample from the afore mentioned Dakota Suite tune The End Of Trying Part III, and therefore somehow closes a circle. This powerfully contemplative album comes to a controlled landing with the majestic "Breaks My Heart She Aria"; another in a long line of mesmerizing drifts, with a floating choral voice delicately enveloped in strings and pitched percussion. A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert is instantly captivating and for lovers of ambient music, it is dream listening. As an artist who trained in photography and is mostly active in the world of visual art, Hannu Karjalainen clearly enjoys a great deal of creative freedom in his music. This is the kind of desert you won't mind getting lost in and you will even take pleasure in roaming through the expansive sonic landscapes and horizons it embodies.
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2LP
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KK 099LP
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Double LP version. Includes download code. Berlin-based musician and mass collaborator, Jeff Özdemir, is back with a new album and this time he's gone for gold. With cinematographic soundscapes, thick bass lines, tangible percussion, eerie keys, and charming vocals, this synergetic masterpiece treads the boundaries between jazz, Gameboy sounds, chanson, psychedelic desert, soul, minimal, seventies pop, dub, electronic, and classical music with a hint of a John Carpenter-esque style to boot. Rooted in the past but spanning to the future, Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 2 refuses to be pigeon-holed into any one decade or genre, transcending these categories without destroying them. Through deep experimentation, Turkish-born multi-instrumentalist Özdemir and his circle of friends have managed to create their own unique sound whilst remaining changeable and varied. Much like the collaborators of the project itself, each song has its own personality drawing from the various corners of the musical universe and joining together to create a new world. The tracks oscillate between Özdemir's solo-work, to dual collaborations, to group projects and include names such as F.S. Blumm, Andrew Pekler, Halloumi Express, Sonja Polligkeit, Benjamin Wild, and Dizzy from Rotation. Drawing from their creators diverse backgrounds, the songs incorporate multi-cultural, multi-linguistic elements including French, Japanese, Turkish and Portuguese. Despite its wide scope, this album and its catchy, lingering melodies is both cerebral and accessible. Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 2 gives you an insight into Özdemir's world which he centers around his record store, 33rpm Store, in the heart of Berlin Kreuzberg. It is through this hub that he and his friends join together to discuss, listen to and, of course, make music. So have a peek through the window of Jeff Özdemir's mind and enter once again into a universe of sound both familiar and entirely new...
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CD
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KK 099CD
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Berlin-based musician and mass collaborator, Jeff Özdemir, is back with a new album and this time he's gone for gold. With cinematographic soundscapes, thick bass lines, tangible percussion, eerie keys, and charming vocals, this synergetic masterpiece treads the boundaries between jazz, Gameboy sounds, chanson, psychedelic desert, soul, minimal, seventies pop, dub, electronic, and classical music with a hint of a John Carpenter-esque style to boot. Rooted in the past but spanning to the future, Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 2 refuses to be pigeon-holed into any one decade or genre, transcending these categories without destroying them. Through deep experimentation, Turkish-born multi-instrumentalist Özdemir and his circle of friends have managed to create their own unique sound whilst remaining changeable and varied. Much like the collaborators of the project itself, each song has its own personality drawing from the various corners of the musical universe and joining together to create a new world. The tracks oscillate between Özdemir's solo-work, to dual collaborations, to group projects and include names such as F.S. Blumm, Andrew Pekler, Halloumi Express, Sonja Polligkeit, Benjamin Wild, and Dizzy from Rotation. Drawing from their creators diverse backgrounds, the songs incorporate multi-cultural, multi-linguistic elements including French, Japanese, Turkish and Portuguese. Despite its wide scope, this album and its catchy, lingering melodies is both cerebral and accessible. Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 2 gives you an insight into Özdemir's world which he centers around his record store, 33rpm Store, in the heart of Berlin Kreuzberg. It is through this hub that he and his friends join together to discuss, listen to and, of course, make music. So have a peek through the window of Jeff Özdemir's mind and enter once again into a universe of sound both familiar and entirely new...
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12"
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KK 098EP
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Following his 2015 self-titled release (KK 087EP), Ant Orange is back with another groove-laden 12" on Karaoke Kalk. Arkupe is a prime slice of laid-back beats and bass-heavy jazz breaks. Each track oozes soulfulness, from the smooth-as-silk Fender Rhodes on the opening title track to the downbeat Afro rhythms of "Fog Walk", and the nonchalant guitar riffs and synth lines on "Little Wing". Side A closes with "Feld", a sun-drenched slo-mo house jam. Side B starts with the more up-tempo toe-tapper "Big Lil's". "LB" offers more tasty jazz-n-bass drumming, while the closing track "My Man" has a breezy still-awake-on-Sunday swagger.
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LP
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KK 097LP
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LP version. Includes download code. Following 2010's Goto (KK 053CD/057LP), Toog, aka Parisian musician, poet, and filmmaker Gilles Weinzaepflen, is back with his third album on Karaoke Kalk, The Prepared Public. Toog's musical life started by touring extensively with the legendary Scottish singer Momus, in the USA, Europe, and Japan, where they played with the Japanese popstar Kahimi Karie. Toog's debut album 6633 was released worldwide in 1999 and was critically acclaimed. BBC Choice describes 6633: "Imagine a 21st century descendant of French musical maestros Erik Satie and Serge Gainsbourg playing his compositions with chop sticks and a selection of synths and toy instruments and you have Toog." The Prepared Public is Toog's seventh full-length album as a solo musician. The album begins, as all music should, with the sound of tuning up. What ensues is 18 tracks of bewildering beauty, both enchanting and baffling. Toog paints a mysterious sound picture, blending piano melodies with field recordings, electronic sounds, acoustic guitar, and French spoken word. It is perhaps the minimalist edge that provides the only link to the John Cage reference in the album title. In Toog's own words: "John Cage has nothing to do with the record, apart from his interest in sounds. He's a symbol more than a model: his fabulous prepared piano wouldn't exist without culture, which is 'preparing' us to welcome it. We are the prepared public." With so many short tracks on one album - the average length is about two minutes - Toog manages to create the feel of a sound collage, encompassing seemingly endless emotions and abstract audio moments, each one magnificently juxtaposed with the next. The Prepared Public may be of the musique nouvelle genre, but it covers too many styles to be placed in one pigeon hole. One thing is clear: the core of the project is a true dialogue between piano melodies and sounds. This music effortlessly leaps from minimal ambience to dadaist moments which could be the soundtrack to a Tim Burton movie. The Prepared Public is as likely to perplex as it is delight, but no doubt, this is an album for the discerning listener.
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