Black Truffle announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of Remko Scha's Guitar Mural 1 featuring The Machines, originally published as a rare cassette edition by Taal Beeld Geluid in 1982. A computational linguist by profession, Scha played an important role in the development of sound, installation, and digital art in the Netherlands from the late 1970s onward, co-founding the performance and exhibition space Het Appolohuis in Eindhoven in 1980. Alongside Paul Panhuysen and Jan Van Riet, Scha was a founding member of the radical improvisation group The Maciunas Ensemble, though he is best known for his work with mechanized electric guitars, documented on the legendary 1982 LP Machine Guitars. Guitar Mural 1 documents an installation of Scha's mechanical guitar ensemble The Machines held at a Groningen gallery space in 1982. Five electric guitars hang from the wall, their strings sounded by rotating rubber strings and a sabre saw controlled by a mechanical apparatus, as well as four ropes criss-crossing the five instruments on the wall. Once the mechanism was set up, Scha's only intervention was to vary the speed at which it operated. Where Machine Guitars presents short excerpts clearly distinguished by rhythmic and timbral variation, here we are confronted with four enormous side-long slabs of percussive string attack and the resulting clouds of harmonics. Variation is minimal across the duration of each side, making for a sculptural listening experience, as if you are patiently examining each facet of a static object. But significant variety exists between the four sides, each of which shows off a different facet of what The Machines were capable of. The first two excerpts feature open strings sounded at rapid tempos, dissolving the percussive attack into a continuous stream of sound reminiscent of Charlemagne Palestine's "strumming" technique. On the third side, the strings are partly muted and the tempo slightly lowered, resulting in layers of relentlessly chugging rhythm somewhere between an ensemble of hand drums and an early Velvet Underground bootleg. On the fourth side, havoc breaks loose in percussive waves of asynchronous repetition that bring Scha's sound world close to that of another pioneer experiment in musical mechanization, the Solar Music of Joe Jones. Guitar Mural 1 is an exhilarating document occupying a unique space between kinetic sculpture, hardcore minimalism and rock & roll. Deluxe gatefold sleeve accompanied by stunning visual documentation of the original installation, remastered audio and new liner notes from Alan Licht and Van Lagestein.

Real Real World is the first collaborative effort from Nantes-based Australian drummer/percussionist Will Guthrie and Australian keyboardist/composer James Rushford. Primarily recorded in a fluid, spontaneous studio session in Nantes, with overdubs added later in Melbourne and Nantes, Real Real World presents five spacious, unhurried pieces that inhabit a unique sound world characterized by wheezing, half-voiced organ chords, chiming metal percussion, and eruptions of small sounds. Beginning with the eerily beautiful, shakuhachi-esque sound of Rushford performing on detuned portative organ, the opening title track is abruptly transformed by the entry of Guthrie's sizzling cymbals, deep gong strikes, and rustling hand percussion. On the epic "Lumbering", which occupies the majority of the record's first side, organ chords define a space in which a kaleidoscopic succession of amplified thuds, chiming bells, rustled and dragged objects, and abruptly silenced clusters advance and recede in an oneiric blur, eventually making way for a passage of Guthrie's virtuosic polyrhythms, itself unexpectedly overtaken by waves of melting fairground organ. The record reaches an energetic climax mid-way through the second side with the stunning "Slakes", where lugubrious chords in the organ's lowest register are joined by Guthrie's skittering rhythms, which somehow manage to call to mind both the most chaotic moments of Balinese Gamelan and the stochastic breakbeats of late-90s Autechre. On this piece, Guthrie and Rushford are joined by Melbourne saxophone maverick Scott McConnachie, who contributes an alto sax solo of burning precision, working with a single-minded palette of piercing long tones and wild intervallic leaps. Though it makes extensive use of overdubbing, Real Real World retains a strong sense of having been performed, rather than constructed: while at times the fleeting succession of events can recall electroacoustic music, its primarily acoustic nature and unhurried pace is also reminiscent of the music of AACM affiliates or Marion Brown's classic Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (1970). Immediately engaging while also hiding countless details in the folds of its polychrome fabric, Real Real World is a relaxed and joyous document of collaborative musical invention. Artwork by Patrizia Bach; Layout by Lasse Marhaug. Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Berlin.

Black Truffle offer up a rare serving of unheard works by legendary Swiss artist Anton Bruhin. Active as a visual artist, poet, and musician since the 1960s, Bruhin has created important work in forms as varied as concrete poetry and landscape painting, imbuing everything he does with wit, humility, and absurdist humor. A recognized master of the jew's harp (or Trümpi, as this ancient folk instrument is known in Swiss German), Bruhin's sound work also encompasses tape collage, sound poetry, and manipulated bird song. On Speech Poems/Fruity Music you are treated to 26 short pieces made between 2006 and 2008 using the audio software Fruity Loops. These pieces carry on Bruhin's long-running project of exploring the creative use and misuse of cheap, accessible technologies. In many of his analog works, Bruhin explored the possibilities of simple cassette equipment. He invented DIY approaches to layering sounds by using multiple tape machines, experimented with distortion and tape speed, or, in his classic Inout (1981) created a maniacally single-minded audio monument to the pause button. Like the computer pixel drawings the artist produced around the same time as these recordings, Speech Poems/Fruity Music extends this approach to consumer software, presenting two parallel sequences of works that make use of Fruity Loops' inbuilt synthetic instruments and its speech synthesis function. The instrumental works play like a twisted take on the aesthetics of 1980s video game soundtracks, using synthetic accordion and harpsichord sounds to realize jaunty little ditties that exploit their machine-realization by making use of improbable pitch-bends and humanly impossible tempos and articulations. Between these samples of Fruity Music, you are treated to the Speech Poems, a series of recitations by a lone computer-generated voice. Many of them are in fact songs, as the synthetic voice crudely and hilariously changes pitch as it moves through its fragmented syllables and odes to cream in coffee. Carrying on Bruhin's interest in the creative misuse of technology, many of the Speech Poems attempt to force Fruity Loops' voice synthesis, designed only to speak English, to speak German. By entering phonetic text into the program, Bruhin gets it to produce a passable German alphabet and a series of approximations to a proper pronunciation of his name. Hilarious while strangely austere, entertaining but bizarre, Speech Poems/Fruity Music is classic Anton Bruhin, arriving in a beautiful mosaic cover by the artist, with the text of the "abc für anglophone" on the back cover. Compiled by Marc Matter and Anton Bruhin. Mastered by Joe Talia.

Outside Ludlow / Desert Disco is the first major solo release from Australian performer-composer Sam Dunscombe, now based in Berlin after residing for the past decade in San Diego and Tokyo. A virtuoso clarinetist who has performed in composed and improvised settings with artists such as Klaus Lang and Taku Sugimoto, their practice also embraces computer music, lo-fi electronics and field recordings, in addition to their long-term commitment to archiving, studying and performing the work of Romanian spectralist composer Horatiu Radulescu. The two side-long pieces presented on this LP began from a chance encounter in a specific geographic location (documented in the photographs that grace the record's sleeve). Exploring California's Mojave Desert with a friend, Dunscombe made the unlikely discovery of a tangle of quarter-inch tape snared on a cactus. The digitized version of this tape, variously edited and processed, as well as Dunscombe's own transcription and embellished performance of some of its material on Hammond organ, makes up one of the main ingredients of the LP's first side. The other is a field recording of the area outside the ghost town of Ludlow, where the tape was found, where haunted silence is punctuated by freight trains and clusters of explosions from gold mines and the local marine corps. Far from any kind of documentary approach, the resulting composition reaches back to the smeared atmospherics and overdriven tape crunch of Hands To, Small Cruel Party or Joe Colley, before the Hammond organ rises up to cast a spectral shimmer reminiscent of 1960s tape music classics like Arne Nordheim's "Warszawa". On "Desert Disco" (its title perhaps a clue to the content of the mysterious tape), Dunscombe zeroes in on a single fragment of the tape, accompanying it with analog synthesis to craft an immersive work based on a single chord. Throughout the course of this work, the monolithic opening sonority gradually splits apart, revealing an infinity of rhythmically phasing lines that swarm like a cloud of insects and patter like falling rain, placing Dunscombe's piece in a lineage of patient electronic exploration that includes landmarks like Costin Miereanu's Derives and the contemporary work of Jim O'Rourke. Limited edition vinyl with images by Sam Dunscombe and design by Lasse Marhaug. Mastered by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Berlin.

You Can See Your Own Way Out is the first collaborative record between Ilyas Ahmed (Geographic North, Immune, MIE Music) and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (Shelter Press, Mexican Summer, Type). Long-time friends and satellites orbiting the same communities and scenes, You Can See's inception was never really a question of if, but when. Combining Ahmed's explorative guitar/synth-work and Cantu-Ledesma's field recording, sound processing and electronics, the result presents as a book of short stories or vignettes highlighting their individual strengths. At times evoking pastoral landscapes, others frayed edges of disintegrating photographs, there's always the suggestion of a forked path or a promised destination. Jonathan Sielaff guests on bass clarinet. Clear vinyl; includes download code; edition of 500.

LP version. 180 gram vinyl. Far Out Recordings present a reissue of José Mauro's A Viagem Das Horas, originally released in 1976. For years it was believed that José Mauro was dead. Rumors on blogs and comment sections circulated that the mysterious Brazilian genius had either been killed in a road accident, or been "disappeared" by Brazil's military junta in the 1970s. But following Far Out's 2016 reissue of José Mauro's debut album Obnoxius (FARO 191CD/LP), the label heard word that José Mauro is in fact alive and well, living a quiet life on the outskirts of Rio. Far Out Recordings now present, with the blessing of the man himself, the long-awaited release of José Mauro's forgotten masterpiece A Viagem Das Horas, featuring three previously unreleased and unheard tracks from the original studio sessions. Recorded in 1970 at Odeon studios in Rio de Janeiro: the same time and place as all the music he ever recorded, José Mauro's A Viagem Das Horas wasn't released until six years later, when label owner and producer Roberto Quartin licensed the tracks to fellow Brazilian label Tapecar, who curiously released the album with several tracks already released on Obnoxius. Finally, over half a century on, A Viagem Das Horas will be released with three never before heard tracks, "Rua Dois", "Moenda" and "Variação Sobre Um Antigo Tema", as Mauro and Quartin had originally intended. Conceived under the gloom of Brazil's military authoritarianism, from which many artists had either fled or been exiled, José Mauro and his songwriting partner Ana Maria Bahiana, combined their shared interest in Candomblé -- a syncretism of traditional West African religions and Roman Catholicism -- with MPB, psychedelic folk and orchestral music. Expressing a spiritual response to the world they found themselves in, the result was a sacrosanct, post-tropical music of pure transcendence. With apparitional vocals and propulsive, open-tuning acoustic guitar, and Lindolfo Gaya's spine-tingling orchestrations soaring overhead, the music has the power to inspire in the listener an almost trance-like state of ecstasy.

"In one sense all collaborations and recordings thereof have a certain surprise factor. Any time two or more people get together to create something from nothing, the exact contours of the resulting experiment are likely to contain at least a few unknown elements. This notion is especially true when the people collaborating are coming from not obviously congruent places. And (at least to me) this makes Monocot a project that was guaranteed to toss a curve. Monocot is an improvising instrumental duo comprised of drummer Jayson Gerycz and guitarist Rosali Middleman. Jayson' work I know mostly from the Cleveland rock band, Cloud Nothings, and cool sessions with Matthew J Rolin and Tony Pasquarosa. Rosali's records on Siltbreeze and Scissor Tail are great, but they seemed more focused on songs more than anything else. They both do have great guitar on them, but that didn't seem like it was her main thing. Anyway, not having any idea what to expect, I was blown away by the music on Direction We Know. Jayson and Rosali met in Cleveland in 2018 when she was playing with Purling Hiss. They ran into each other a few more times and talked about the idea of doing some studio jamming. A session finally happened in the Fall of 2019 when Jayson was again in Philly, and as far as I know this sole date is the full accounting of Monocot's existence thus far. In this duo Rosali pulls out all the stops, and plays in a way she has only hinted at on earlier records. Flowing sheets of both psych and free-form rippery careen all over the place. Some parts remind me of Matt Valentine at his outer pinnacle, but the intensely lateral spread of Jayson's percussion has a way of making the roar seem a lot more contained and sensical than it otherwise might. And although it doesn't exactly sound like anything they've actually done, the tone here makes me remember bits I've heard by the Corsano/Chasny Duo that really pushed all my buttons. This Monocot session ran through night and into the morning. When it was over neither of the musicians remembered just what it was that they'd played. Which makes sense. Everything just happened without plans or rules to hem things in. Freedom can be a messy business, but when it's good it's truly liberating. And Direction We Know is real damn good. Let us hope Monocot reconnoiter sooner rather than later. Luckily for now, we have this album to bide the time. So do it." --Byron Coley, 2021

Blue vinyl. Minyo Crusaders rework historic Japanese folk songs (min'yō) with Latin, African, Caribbean, and Asian rhythms for their debut album Echoes of Japan. Releases from Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, and Midori Takada have re-ignited global interest in Japanese music and Echoes of Japan marks the arrival of a big band like no other. "For Japanese people, min'yō is both the closest, and most distant, folk music," explains band-leader Katsumi Tanaka: "We may not feel it in our daily, urban lives, yet the melodies, the style of singing and the rhythm of the taiko drums are engrained in our DNA." Initially indifferent to min'yō, a tragic event in recent Japanese history set Tanaka on his current path: "Following the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, I reflected on my life, work and identity. A fan of world music, I began searching for Japanese roots music I could identify with. Discovering mid-late 20th century acts Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri and the Tokyo Cuban Boys, I was captivated by their eccentric arrangements and how they mixed min'yō with Latin and jazz." Originally sung by fishermen ("Kushimoto Bushi"; "Mamurogawa Ondo"), coal miners ("Tanko Bushi") and sumo wrestlers ("Sumo Jinku"), these songs deal with topics such as the returning spirits of ancestors ("Hohai Bushi"), Japan's smallest bird ("Toichin Bushi"), and a bride's love for her husband's pockmarked face ("Otemoyan"). Minyo Crusaders are one of the most hyped acts on the Tokyo music scene that went national in 2018 through festivals such as Fuji Rock. The band features veterans of the Tokyo roots music scene such as bassist DADDY U (Ska Flames), keyboardist Moe (Kidlat), sax player Koichiro Osawa (Matt Sounds, J.J. Session), Yamauchi Stephan (J.J. Session), percussionist Mutsumi Kobayashi (Banda de la Mumbia), conga player Irochi (Cubatumb), and vocalist Meg (DJ collective Tokyo Sabroso). For fans of: Haruomi Hosono, Soundway Records, Analog Africa, Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band.

Psychedelic rock icons The Electric Prunes formed in Los Angeles in 1965 with a musical recipe rich in fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. American garage bands from these years were rarely documented on live albums, making this recording a rare testimony of that era. After a US tour in the latter half of 1967, the band embarked on a European tour, their first and last tour of the continent, that would take them to the UK, France, Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden, performing at high-profile venues. The band's lineup is from their second album, Underground, released earlier that year: James Lowe (lead vocals), Mark Tulin (bass, organ, vocals), Ken Williams (lead guitar), Mike Gannon (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Quint (drums). They would also hook up with Brian Jones at the Speakeasy (London), meet The Beatles mixing Magical Mystery Tour and visit Hendrix's flat, share stage with Soft Machine in Amsterdam and recorded a TV show in Paris. Members of the audience would often disrupt the concerts with Vietnam war related shouts in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. On the final leg of the tour, The Electric Prunes' performance was recorded in Stockholm for broadcast on Swedish radio. They'd find out about the recording much later... The band here sports an explosive, noisy and wild sound, more in the vein of legendary early punk-rockers like MC5 than the psychedelic Californian landscapes some might expect. The line-up featured on this album would disband the following year after failing to complete the challenging arrangements David Axelrod had prepared for their new album. However, this album proves these guys were not just a studio-controlled group but seasoned psych rockers. Recorded by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation at the Concert Hall in Stockholm in December 1967. Includes notes by Mark Tulin and James Lowe.

Optimo Music presents Janara the new album from Italy's José Manuel. The label always has our ears open for music that is unique, powerful and that can conjure up a ritualistic atmosphere, and this meistrerwerk did all that, and then some. Here is José on the album: "This album is a result of the necessity of exploring and opening my mind to new musical horizons, by testing the main traditional instrument of the Italian region Campania, whose name is 'Tammorra'. It is a big drum, which must not be confused with the typical tambourine, made from a wrap of wood shaped in a circle and covered with dried skin (almost always goatskin or sheepskin). This instrument was used during playful events, especially during rituals and ceremonies, such as the frequent devotional pilgrimages in honor of the Virgin Mary. By using this instrument, the sound, the rite and the magic could take possession of the mind and the body creating a perfect union. Also, the dancers, as if they were bitten by a tarantula and possessed by a strange evil, launched themselves to an uncontrolled dance by moving every part of their body. In addition to the Tammorra, I also inserted some texts, which have been written by some Neapolitan friends and interpreted with Neapolitans voices, in honor of the 'JANARA'. The Janara represents a popular belief of the Southern Italian regions, particularly of the Benevento area. The Janara is one of the many types of witches represented by folktales belonging to the rural tradition. The Janara was expert in medical herbs, which were also be used for her magical practices, such as the manufacturing of ointment. The ointment gave her the power to become incorporeal with the same nature as the wind. According to the tradition, in order to snatch the Janara it was necessary to grab her by the hair. It was also said that if anyone was able to capture the Janara during her incorporeal moment then Janara herself would offer protection to them and their family for seven generations, in exchange for her freedom. With this work I hope that the listener might get carried away by the spirit of this pagan and popular legend that can be still be considered as current. As a matter of fact, the folk tales speak of a probable comeback of the Janara, who after being burned at the stake seems to be thirsting for revenge for the evil suffered." Comes with insert.

Vampisoul present a first time vinyl reissue of Adalberto Cevasco's Pájaros Eléctricos, originally released in 1988. Few musicians can boast of having played with "the greatest" without some eyebrows to be raised. The bass of Adalberto Cevasco has been heard in multiple concerts and recording sessions of artists as diverse as the Spanish divas Rocío Jurado and Isabel Pantoja, tango genius Astor Piazzolla or the cream of the Argentine jazz scene -- from Pocho Lapouble, Gustavo Kerestezachi, Rubén López Furst or Andrés Boiarsky to the great Gato Barbieri. With the latter, as part of a dream band that included artists like Nana Vasconcelos as well as other Argentines such as Lapouble or Domingo Cura, he recorded two fundamental pieces in the Impulse! label catalog in sessions held in Argentina and Los Angeles and also toured across various countries. It is therefore out of question that Adalberto Cevasco belongs to that top-level league of musicians whose talent has also contributed to enhance those who accompany them. The history of this album begins with an encounter. Adalberto Cevasco joins Rodolfo Alchurrón's jazz-funk project Sanata y Clarificación as bassist and meets Litto Nebbia, who is invited to sing along. Some years on, when Nebbia's Melopea record company was developing, he would receive a cassette with a collection of demos recorded by Cevasco over the years. Some of the songs dated back to 1981 while others were made well into the decade and included such outstanding collaborations as that of the Uruguayan Rubén Rada, whom Adalberto Cevasco had met playing in a group of fusion candombe called Candonga. In addition to producing the complete album, Nebbia would also collaborate in a special way in one of the most outstanding tracks ("Reencuentros Nº2") by adding to Cevasco's fusion jazz some unexpected Brazilian flavors and electronic sounds that now, more than 30 years after the original release of the album, they still evoke a refreshing feel of modernity. As the Argentine press of the moment highlighted, it'd seem as if the influences received and developed by the bassist during his career as a freelance musician -- from post-Piazzolla tango to proyección folclórica (a movement of revision and modernization of the Argentinian musical roots) -- had been added to their superb rhythmic work in this album. Pájaros Eléctricos was never presented live and has remained as the only published work by Cevasco as a soloist since the date of its release. Includes insert with liner notes and previously unseen photos.

Vampisoul present a reissue of Alfredo Linares Y Su Salsa Star' Mi Nuevo Ritmo, originally released in 1974. A nonstop salsa dura party album from start to finish, comparable with any of New York's finest like Ray Barretto and Willie Colón from the same era, but with its own unique swinging sound and bright, crisp, joyful vibe. There are plenty of straight up Cuban-roots based salsa tunes, plus some Latin jazz and Latin soul and a bolero. Trumpets, hand claps, loud cowbell, and vigorous vocals all make for a great listen and an even better dance experience. As the track "La Música Brava" proclaims: "Yo no quiero que pare la música brava!" (I don't want the badass music to stop!). The record is actually a patchwork of different recording sessions made in Peru and Colombia, featuring differing studio sound and musician lineups. Linares had just returned to his adopted home of Medellín from a period spent in Peru and was looking for a record deal. He had brought master tapes with four songs recorded in Lima and was shopping them around in the hopes of securing an album contract. Linares also cut some Colombian sessions which feature Roy "Tayrona" Betancourt as well as Henry Castro and Enrique Fabián. Unfortunately, neither Discos Fuentes nor Sonolux or Codiscos were interested. At that time, vinyl for making records was scarce and over-priced due to the petroleum crisis and hence the labels were reluctant to try out a new artist. "There was nothing to be done. The only company that had vinyl stock was INS. So, I did the business with them even though they didn't have a known name in Colombia. The strength of that album made them rather famous." The song "Mambo Rock" (with "Estricto Guaguancó" on the B side) came out on a 45rpm record in 1974, and, as Linares recounts it, "two months later the sale was at a very high level. So, partly out of gratitude, I started producing for them. It is from there that my other records and the AfroINS albums came." Unfortunately, the master tapes to the LP were lost or destroyed, as with all INS releases, so the best possible vinyl sources and audio restoration has been used for this deluxe reissue. Recommended by DJ Bongohead of Peace & Rhythm. Presented in its original artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

"Taarab is a music genre popular in Tanzania and Kenya. It is influenced by the musical traditions of the African Great Lakes, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. In the early 1970s a new taarab emerged in the East African coastal cities of Mombasa and Tanga: In Mombasa, Matano Juma's Morning Star replaced strings with distorted organ sounds, amplified violin or clarinet; Zuhura Swaleh promoted an electrified tashkota as a major new sound in her band, digging deep in coastal ngoma rhythms and dances. Crossing the border from Kenya to Tanzania, in Tanga, Black Star Musical Club's electric guitars and dance music rhythms paved the way for a broader audience reception of taarab away from the coastal Swahili towns. Mombasa was at the forefront of taarab production from the 1960s to the 1990s, thanks in no small measure to the enterprising Mzuri record label. They would not just record and promote Mombasa based artists, but also invite groups from Tanzania like Black Star or Dar es Salaam's Egyptian Music Club. In the course of the 1970s records were displaced by the cassette and the initiative moved to Mbwana Radio Service in Mombasa's Old Town, soon the new center of taarab production and distribution. Taarab rose to new heights in the 1980s with the voices and hits by Malika and Golden Star's Mwanahela. With the economic and political crisis in Kenya in the early 1990s and the concurrent rise of Dar es Salaam as the new center of music production in East Africa, Mombasa began to fade from its position as the prime taarab center. The early 1990s saw the rise of so-called modern taarab, a new style based on drum machine rhythm, powerful sound systems, and a novel fashion of inciting and insulting lyrics. Nevertheless, the musical innovations of Matano, Zuhura and Black Star opened up new vistas early on; and Malika's and Golden Star's lyrics paved the way for what was to come in the 1990s. In recognition of this, taarabfrom the Mombasa -- Tanga era is now affectionately known as 'First Modern'."

"I've already been knocked out flat by the year's sure-to-be best reissue." --Peter Margasak

In this collective creation directed by Erizonte well-known artists sharing ethics and aesthetics come together over the mysterious and disturbing drawings that appeared in some newspapers, books and magazines in the mid-1960s to mid-1980s, such as Hermano Lobo, Triunfo, or Cuadernos para el Diálogo, signed OPS -- later better known by the heteronym of El Roto. Musicians or sound artists, representatives of avant-garde music that emerged in the Spain of OPS, have composed a piece for this album on a given, recurring theme: repression, censorship, informative manipulation, induced or obligatory oblivion, the vices of clericalism, the horrors of war, imperialism, bad education or the lack thereof and gender violence. These are themes that coincide with those already undertaken by Goya in etchings, and of whom we can consider Andrés Rábago, the painter behind these two pseudonyms, as the legitimate heir, at least in this field. He himself has chosen the drawings that illustrate each of the covers corresponding to the individual editions of each piece as they appeared. The covers are all gathered here, along with a new cover. This album is part II of Erizonte's trilogy inspired by drawings in the media. After the first part, the "Suite Los Caprichos de Goya", where 19th century ideals of the Enlightenment can be seen through the etchings of Francisco de Goya, while this second album corresponds to the OPS cartoons, anti-Francoism and its environment, as it was when they appeared in newspapers and magazines, the media of the 20th century. The artist and the graphic medium for the third and last part, corresponding to this 21st century, is yet to be discovered... Features Mecánica Popular, La Fura Dels Baus, Macromassa, Pelayo Arrizabalaga, Eli Gras, Esplendor Geométrico, Mar Otra Vez, Jesús Alonso, Scud Hero, and Corcobado. Gatefold sleeve.

In 2006, the now defunct BaseLogic label released the first in a triad of EPs entitled Fixxy, produced by the enigmatic British artist Ed Chamberlain. These EPs left many electronic music lovers scratching their heads, having heard something genuinely different. It represented a new generation of IDM reminiscent of The Black Dog or Plaid, melancholic electro with a meticulous nuanced palate that immediately transformed Chamberlain into a revered figure. Fifteen years on Lapsus Records, as part of its Perennial series, will release Ed Chamberlain's superlative productions across 2x12", entitled 03/06. The lavish 12" double pack will feature a sizeable part of the Fixxy material, along with additional tracks created during the same period of time, 2003-2006, including "Zarathustra" and "Does Ape", the latter released on vinyl in 2008 by Madrid label Semantica. Remastered.

2021 repress. LP version with a 12-page full-color booklet with extensive notes and unseen photos. "With only six singles released between 1965 and 1966, and from an apparently remote place such as Lima, Peru, Los Saicos created a raw, wild and visceral sound, the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the garage rock that was coming out of the U.S. Northwest at the same time. Theirs is the same DNA shared by The Sonics, The Cramps and Black Lips. This release compiles all their recordings and tells their amazing story. This snarling maelstrom of nihilism was cut in Lima when the rest of the world was wetting itself over The Beatles, direct links to both The Stooges and The Cramps here and several more equally-enthralling combos. The latter spawned several generations of individuals who would dig deep to previously (mostly) unheard seams of music and other forms of culture that have since become part of the mainstream fabric. Another strong case of the same kind of happenstance to my mind is that which preceded the much-vaunted 'punk' explosion of the '70s." --Lindsay Hutton

The Works -- one of the most famous pieces by brilliant American composer Alvin Curran -- was not created by will and direct purpose but, as the composer himself states, as a "providential accident" which is to say quite organically. Combining piano and voice with found sound and a custom-built Serge modular synthesizer, The Works is a slowly developing piece where space and ambient tape are eventually overtaken by raga-esque chanting and frenetic piano playing, where synthesizer washes become full-on workouts all leading to a coda where the listener is "finally carried off on the wheels of the Berlin U-Bahn." Curran -- whose initial training and musical education was as a pianist -- had been living in Roma, Italy, in the mid-70s returning to his roots and performing regularly in cocktail lounges on Via Veneto. It was this return to piano and vocals that became the genesis for The Works. In relearning the piano, a five-note "motive" took hold. Added to this was "a recording I had made of our 14 year old dachshund Caspar just before he died. It was, in fact, a love song which he persisted in singing all day after meeting a lovely bitch in heat in Piazza Navona. This I knew would be the beginning of the piece." As the piece expands further the listener will hear "cows munching grass, the Rome-Florence express train, a horse-fly caught against a window pane, my footsteps approaching a Roman fountain and later going up the steps of my old studio, cicadas, an Amsterdam calliope, a tin can being kicked, and a series of sounds from La Serra di Lerici." Though The Works has been performed in many incarnations over the years, it's this performance -- captured on February 24, 1980, and originally released that same year by the short-lived Italian avant-garde label Fore -- that is the definitive version, and one of the finest recordings ever made by the celebrated composer.

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; gatefold sleeve; includes eight-page lyric booklet; includes download code. Originally released 2013 on Second Language label. "Breaking a six-year-long discographical silence, my fourth album after 2007's Les Ondes Silencieuses, and the first one I made in my newly-adopted town of San Sebastián, Spain, during the epically rainy winter of 2012! My first time singing, playing percussion, and introducing the treble viola da gamba that became the key instrument on Captain of None! Also featured are my bass viola da gamba, classical guitar, clarinet, toy gamelan and piano. The track I produced last, 'Breaking Up the Earth', paved the way for Captain of None in terms of production." --Colleen. Composed, interpreted, recorded, mixed, and produced by Cécile Schott. Mastering by Antony Ryan at Red Red Paw. Artwork by Iker Spozio.

Following in the footsteps of the pathbreaking Minna Miteru (MORR 168CD/LP, 2020) compilation of Japanese indie music, Morr Music and Alien Transistor have again joined forces to release The Fruit Of Errata, a compilation introducing the world to the intimate DIY pop of yumbo. Led by songwriter, pianist, and occasional vocalist Koji Shibuya, the Japanese band has released four albums since forming in 1998. This compilation draws from those albums, and some ancillary releases, to uncover a biographical narrative of yumbo, showing how Shibuya's songwriting, and the group's limber, sensitive playing, has developed over the decades. It also places them squarely within a tradition of home-spun but ambitious Japanese pop that takes in Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Tenniscoats, Nagisa Ni Te, Yuzo Iwata, Kazumi Nikaido, and more. There's the playful seriousness of Maher Shalal Hash Baz's Tori Kudo here, but also the flexibility of freely improvised music. You can also hear Shibuya's fondness for Mayo Thompson and The Red Crayola in both the idiosyncrasies of the writing and the egalitarian looseness of the playing. The great achievement of yumbo and Shibuya, though, is translating all of this into beautiful, unpredictable pop songs. There's a gorgeous soul-inflected lilt to "A House"; the swaying brass on "Storm"; the nakedness of "The Sweetest Mass" slightly reminiscent of Carla Bley's more pop-focused writing. Throughout, Shibuya renders pop a deeply personal experience; you can hear musings here on friendship, family, intimacy, the complexity of relationships, mortality, and imbalances of power. These musings are also shadowed by real-life events: the effects and impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 are captured in songs like "Umbrella People" from Onibi. Throughout the performances on The Fruit Of Errata, Shibuya and the group play with tenderness; they also often draw on other players to flesh out the music even further, two such guests being the aforementioned Tori Kudo (on "Umbrella People") and Olympia, Washington's LAKE (on "The Devil Song"). Community-minded and generous in approach, the writing of Shibuya and the music of yumbo is never less than lovely, and The Fruit Of Errata is a welcome introduction to their world. Open and gentle, confident and generous, these pop songs are filled with charm and spirit. CD version comes with 28-page booklet; edition of 500.

Munster Records present a first time vinyl reissue of Toti Soler's self-titled second album, originally released in 1973. Toti Soler's second album, together with Sabicas, Smash from 1971-72, and the recording Paco de Lucía made with jazzman Pedro Iturralde, were seminal in creating flamenco fusion, a blend that has travelled far. Soler's syncretism between Hispalis and the Catalan Mediterranean, another form of fusion, was released perhaps paradoxically by Edigsa, the label that the guitarist worked with the most, the founding spirit of which was to safeguard the local language, Catalan. In 1972, the ancient call of flamenco took Soler to Andalusia, where he studied under the renowned guitarist Diego del Gastor. When he returned to Barcelona, he commenced a long parallel chapter as acoustic accompanist for the singer-songwriter Ovidi Montllor from Alcoy, leaving rock and the electric guitar behind. However, watts and rock still pulse through in his second LP (self-titled but also referred to as El Gat Blanc), 1973, but play a minor role. Spanish guitar and flamenco metonymies flourish on this theoretically transitional instrumental work, which would become one the most popular of his discography. The arid but magnetic notes of the first track on the album, "Sardana Flamenca" delve deeper into the subconscious, which Soler recorded on his own with his Spanish guitar, except the electric pieces where members of the band OM helped out. The synthesis that works in "Sardana Flamenca" is aromatic, hypnotic, luminescent. The song formed a quadtych with the following three tracks: "El Gat Blanc", "Tristenge", and "Guisela"; ablutions in flamenco waters, scented with folk-blues salts. "Taj Mahal" is a tribute to his friend and fellow musician, where drums make a timid appearance, demonstrating Soler's success on this project. "D'una Manera Silenciosa" is a delightful flamenco adaptation of "In A Silent Way". "Balada En Sol" returns to Spanish guitar, making an inspiring crossing from the Catalan coast in Maresme to the bay of San Francisco. "Sevilla", the longest track, became, the second most popular song on the album after "Sardana Flamenca". It was a scintillating freak meeting of Smash and Hot Rats, and the last recording for OM, with hefty improvisation and torrents of wah-wah. The final track, "Estudi" returned to acoustic territory, mixing Andalusi blues with a warm Californian glow. Several generations have already discovered in this album one of the key works to understand many of the things that happened later in Catalan and Spanish pop. Includes an insert with notes and a rare Toti Soler photo.

Glaswegian musician, producer, DJ and curator Rebecca Vasmant announces her debut LP With Love, From Glasgow, showcasing the breadth of the incredible jazz talent the city has to offer. Having made a name for herself with a residency at Sub Club, Rebecca took the lead in curating the first live Jazz showcases at the venue, also running a popular record fair with the venerable venue and a spot on BBC Radio Scotland and Worldwide FM. Rebecca also airs this facet of her irrepressible musical passion at key events like Worldwide Festival Sete, Glasgow Jazz Festival, EFG London Jazz Festival, Jazz Cafe London, Kasheme Zurich, Brilliant Corners, Casper Montenegro, and the BalticSoul Weekender, and a new residency at Ronnie Scott's as part of the "Panro" collective. While promoting and touring in over 22 countries constantly over the last five years, Rebecca has honed her craft on production projects which feature world class musicians from The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and more, her talents are not only in spinning records, but in composing, producing and performing. Though known for its rich musical heritage, Glasgow is not a city perhaps synonymous with jazz. However, on With Love, From Glasgow this is all about to change, as Rebecca and her cohort of hand-picked musicians set out to change people's opinions. Rebecca explains: "There is such crazy wealth of talent in this city of Glasgow and I wanted to make an album that helped to demonstrate this and which captures my own love and passion for deep and spiritual music. This album highlights just some of the exciting things that are happening here in Scotland and it's been a real honor and pleasure working with the hugely talented musicians who came together to collaborate in such a free and beautiful way. During the time spent working on this music an amazing family formed, something for which I am so grateful." Also features Nadya Albertsson, Harry Weir, Emilie Boyd, and Paix. RIYL: Matthew Halsall, Greg Foat Group, Andrew Wasylyk, Floating Points, Amanda Whiting.

2021 restock; LP version. Comes in a Stoughton "Tip-On" jacket; Includes printed inner sleeves. Palto Flats and We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records present the highly-anticipated reissue of Japanese percussionist Midori Takada's sought after and timeless ambient/minimal album Through The Looking Glass, originally released in 1983 by RCA Japan. Considered a holy grail of Japanese music by many, Through The Looking Glass is Midori Takada's first solo endeavor, a captivating four-song suite capturing her deep quests into traditional African and Asian percussive language and exploring contemplative ambient sounds with an admirably precise use of marimba. The result is alternatively ethereal and vibrant, always precise and mesmerizing, and makes for an atmospheric masterpiece and an unparalleled sonic and spiritual experience. Midori Takada is a composer, multi-percussionist, and theater artist renowned in Japanese vanguard circles. Midori has released two solo albums: Through The Looking Glass and Tree Of Life (1999) and wrote music for Tadashi Suzuki's theater plays. Her hypnotic, minimalist music is based in the concept of coherence between sound and the human body. She performs solo on marimba and other percussion instruments. She debuted on the scene of Berlin Philharmonic, performing with the RIAS Symphonie-Orchester Berlin just after graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1974. She continued her career with solo concerts in Japan and abroad. In the 1980s, Midori began to explore the traditional music of Asia and Africa. Her fascination resulted in joint projects with Kakraba Lobi from Ghana, Lamine Konte from Senegal, Farafina Band from Burkina Faso, and Korean musicians: zither player Chi Seong-Ja, flute player Won-Il, and saxophone player Kang Tae-Hwan. She also led Mkwaju Ensemble's innovative percussion project and still performs with free-jazz band Ton-Klami with Kang Tae-Hwan and jazz pianist Masahiko Satoh. Takada's compositions have a remarkable way of affecting the imagination. Her minimalist, contemplative music is filled with the concept of infinity and reminds us of a moon voyage, falling stars, a journey into the ocean, or a walk in the garden. The trans melodies, initially simple, begin to loop and splinter, their rhythm breaking and thickening, slowly drawing the listener into another reality. This fully licensed reissue comes with extensive liner notes.

Rare recordings of beat/cut-up writers and artists William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Comprises the complete recording of Burroughs reading live in Liverpool in 1982, plus performances by Gysin of a selection of his permutated poems, as well as home recordings made by the pair in Paris in 1970. All recordings are taken from original tapes in The British Library collection. 180 gram vinyl.

The next release in Lapsus Records "Perennial" series is from veteran producer Lee Norris, also known as Metamatics, the pseudonym under which he has spent more than two decades creating melodic IDM and sophisticated electro. Norris is an artist who warrants his cult following with an extensive catalog and countless monikers, including his main work as Metamatics and alternative projects Norken, Nacht Plank, Ishqamatic, and Autumn Of Communion. This unflagging artist with an enviable track record behind him has released material on labels such as Delsin, Hydrogen Dukebox, Dot, Numbers and Clear, as well as running his own record labels Neo Ouija, ...txt, XTT Recordings and Nagual. His seminal EP series 01, 02, 03, and 04 was originally released between 1997 and 1998 on the now defunct but influential Clear label. Compiled as A Metamatics Production, the tracks breathed fresh air into the global IDM scene and were comprised of crystal-clear futuristic sounds, flirting with complex and funky drum & bass that carried both UK and Detroit influences, a true masterpiece. More than twenty years since its original release in 1997, Lapsus Records present the British producer's original debut album A Metamatics Production, released in full and on vinyl for the first time. Silver "blob" in yellow vinyl; remastered; includes limited edition insert.

LP version. Swirling layers of OST-style sound design, dreamy choir vocals and traditional Chinese folk combine across eight dynamic and transportive tracks on Birdy Island, the latest album by Beijing-based producer/artist, Howie Lee. Fresh off the back of several high impact, club-centering album releases on Maloca, SVBKVLT, and his influential, Do Hits label, on top of remixes for artists including Lawfawndah, Charlie XCX, and Sophie, Lee presents his most organic and expansive project to date. Written, produced, and recorded entirely by Lee at the back end of 2018 (with the exception of the album's resident four-piece choir made up of rising Beijing artist, Fishdoll, Shanghai singer/producer, Yehaiyahan and West by West, with Lee himself also included), Birdy Island's almost exclusively acoustic yet broad sound palette threads continuities between ceremonial Taoist music, early Buchla synth experiments, and FWD nights at London's Plastic People. "This album just came very natural. It was all recorded little by little. Layer upon layer. The approach was to just record. I had all these instruments around me and I just thought, I'm gonna play and keep playing." Howie's latest offering is as enchanting as it is boundlessly imaginative. "I've always had this concept in my mind about making an album based around an island." Loosely based around Lee's own long-formed concept of a floating Sicilian theme park, co-inhabited by both birds and ancestral spirits, Howie remarks: "Birdy Island to me is a palace in the clouds and the birds reworshipped like Gods. Not like a western God though." Reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki's "Laputa" (in the 1986 film Castle In The Sky), Lee's BirdyIsland has been built by a Chinese investment company seeking to re-syncour relationship with the spiritual and natural world after years of economic collapse and degradation, and who invite Howie to compose the park's soundtrack. Inside Birdy Island's 30-minute gallery of collaged sound, Lee draws on a wide history of traditional pan-Asian music, filtered through his unique lens of contemporary electronic production.

2021 repress. LP version. For those not following Bill Orcutt's drift into increasingly ear-friendly orbits in his recent live sets, Bill Orcutt -- his first solo electric studio album -- shocks with its space and sensitivity. On this eponymous record, Orcutt mines the expansiveness and sustain possible on the electric guitar, letting notes spin out and decay at the edge of feedback. His pachinko-parlor pacing, marked by unraveling clockspring accelerandos crashing into unexpectedly suspended tones, is still in evidence. But here, his developing melodicism maps a near-contemplative mental realm, orbiting St. Joan-era Loren Connors more than the cascading treble clatter of his duo LPs with Chris Corsano and others. From the first notes of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman", there's a lucidity and slow-burning lyricism that make Orcutt's plunges into barbed-wire fingerpicking all the more striking. While no one's about to mistake Orcutt for Jim Hall, you could probably play this for your jazzbo friends (should you be unlucky enough to have them) without raising any eyebrows. Orcutt's track selection mirrors his obsession with American popular song in its most banal manifestations, as radically reimagined via acoustic guitar on a variety of releases, including 2013's exhaustive Twenty Five Songs 7" box set, and the Editions Mego album A History of Every One (EMEGO 173CD/LP, 2013). Many of the songs from those two releases are here -- but stretched into new arrangements that explore the upper regions of the guitar neck (hitherto unexplorable on his shakily-intonated acoustic Kay), and lighting up new corners of each arrangement with a sensitivity born from years of reinterpretation. The result is a languid, freeform drift through Orcutt's internal cosmos into galaxies unknown to their original interpreters -- and occasionally, Orcutt himself. Most striking is "White Christmas", its careening low-register melodies crashing into complex chords that transcend Orcutt's primitive four-string fretboard. Orcutt's original compositions are equally striking. One of them -- "The World Without Me" -- is unique to this album, and notable for its trebly flurry of Clapton-esque 12th-fret drizzle. "O Platitudes!" by contrast, spins ever-faster in the cadence of a hand-cranked music box, before grinding to a near halt, its higher-key electricity standing in for the moaning vocalizations on Orcutt's acoustic rendition as heard on his 2014 VDSQ LP. With its deep-space beauty, harmonic complexity, and dark dissonance, Bill Orcutt is a stunning landmark in Orcutt's form-destroying trajectory.

"Michèle Bokanowski's art is one of densities, much like the density of a given color, a given depth. Her sound textures are, indeed, profound, both in the space occupied by their frequencies and the sharp temporal trail they leave behind. Here lies the composer's immense talent that finds the right development for each sound, letting it blossom before altering it, adapting the musical structure to let the sounds 'be', even if it sometimes means returning to the most basic form, such as a loop. This is a sign of great honesty and artistic sensitivity; able to stand back and let the music become music. It is the most radical, the most accurate gesture of composition. The two pieces on this record, dissociated in time, both in their approach and destination, nevertheless reflect, each in its own way, Michèle Bokanowski's highly singular and insightful musical intuition." --François Bonnet, Paris, 2020.

"Rhapsodia" (two movements and one interlude) is dedicated to Marceline Lartigue. The piece was created in the composer's own studio; Technical collaboration: Jonathan Prager. "Battements solaires" is music for Patrick Bokanowski's film. Produced in the Kira BM Films studios; Production: Kira BM Films with ARTE France and CNC contributions. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi; Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, November 2020; Translations: Valérie Vivancos; Layout: Stephen O'Malley.

Unreleased track "Oberheim SEM 8 Voice" (1979-80) with selected works circa 2000 by a key composer of Belgian electronic music, André Stordeur. Released in Sub Rosa'a Early Electronic series.

André Stordeur (March 01, 1941 - April 07, 2020): Belgian electronic music composer. His musical career started in 1973 with a tape composition for the soundtrack to a film on Gordon Matta-Clark titled Office Baroque. Later in the 1970s, he participated to avant-garde music ensemble Studio voor Experimentele Muziek, founded in Antwerp, Flanders, by Joris De Laet. Since 1980, Stordeur composes exclusively on Serge synthesizer, either a Serge series 79 and a Serge prototype 1980, which was especially built for him by Serge Tcherepnin himself. In 1981, Stordeur composed the music of Belgian film director Christian Mesnil's documentary Du Zaïre au Congo. He studied at IRCAM in 1981 with David Wessel and then flew to the US to study with Morton Subotnick. Stordeur became an influential sound synthesis teacher and, in 1997, completed his Art of Analog Modular Synthesis by Voltage Control, a guide to everything modular.

Oberheim: While "Oberheim" is the centerpiece of this LP, Sub Rosa pressed for the first time on vinyl three pieces from the session André called Synthesis Studies, previously featuring on Complete Analog and Digital Electronic Music, 1978-2000. "I was helped in my studies by a must-have book: The Techniques of Electronic Music, by Thomas Wells and Eric Vogel (University Stores, 1974). That book aside, I learned synthesis on my own. After a trip to India in 1968, I discovered Indian music and took tabla and sitar classes in New Delhi; my teachers were students of Chatur Lal and Ravi Shankar. Later, in the 2000s, while living in the US, I tried to recreate through synthesis all the Indian musical instruments I loved so much.' 'Drone' is one of his most spectacular works."

Turbo Recordings releases a special ten-year anniversary repress of Azari & III's classic self-titled debut album, originally released in 2011. Azari & III's unique blend of moody electronica, dark yet hooky vocal choruses and analog-thick rhythms has earned them both Juno and Polaris Prize nominations, cementing their status as one of the most important acts in Canadian dance music of the last decade. The four-piece band, consisting of producer/musicians Dinamo Azari and Alixander III with vocalists Fritz Helder and Starving YetFull, have crafted a defining sound that relishes in its references while maintaining a forward-looking perspective even ten years after its initial release. Although the group has since disbanded, their legacy lives on. Gatefold sleeve; transparent vinyl.

Sides A and B originally released as Autechre & The Hafler Trio - æ³o & h³æ in 2003 by Phonometrography. Sides C through F originally released as Autechre & The Hafler Trio - æo³ & ³hæ in 2005 by Die Stadt. Sides G through N originally released as Autechre & The Hafler Trio - ah³eo & ha³oe (ae3o3) in 2011 by Die Stadt and Simply Superior. Limited edition of 500 (hand-numbered)

Four LP box set; includes 7"; limited edition (numbered). LPs titled: Anonym (Vanity Records, 1979), Divin (Vanity Records, 1981), Dose, Demos, and 7" Today's Thrill (Vanity Records, 1980).

2021 repress. Aguirre Records present the first official vinyl reissue of Fifty Foot Hose's Cauldron, originally released on Limelight in 1967. Cauldron is the legendary psychedelic jazzy rock and electronic album by Californian band Fifty Foot Hose. Fifty Foot Hose formed in San Francisco in 1967. Like few other acts of their time, they consciously tried to combine the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas. They were one of the most radical groups of the psychedelic era, and their experimentalism still has the power to shock and surprise even now. What set them apart were the pioneering experiments in electronic music, like the band they are often compared to, The United States of America. Incorporating Theremin, siren, audio generators, and other various electronic effects, as Cork Marcheschi, the band's original bass player, had developed an acute interest in the dadaist/futurist experiments of composers like John Cage and Edgar Varese. David and Nancy Blossom brought both psychedelic and jazz influences to the band. Cauldron, their only album, was released in December 1967, including "Fantasy", "Red The Sign Post", and "God Bless The Child", a Billie Holiday cover. Their sound experiments differentiated them from their contemporaries and most audiences didn't quite know what to make of them. Fifty Foot Hose's music leans more towards White Noise, Silver Apples, and especially United States of America, rather than to flower power movement. After only one album, the proto-cyber psych outfit passed as quickly as they came. Their only mention would be a name-check in Ralph J. Gleason's 1969 book, The Jefferson Airplane And The San Francisco Sound, published over a year after their demise. Ralph J. Gleason wrote: "I don't know if they're immature or premature." History has proven them to be the latter. Today, the original album is very collectable and considered a touchstone of avant-garde rock music. Cork Marcheschi on the record: "The concept was to expand what contemporary popular music was. I thought the avant-garde could have had a home with this new group of listeners but they turned out to be pretty conservative -- intellectually. Drugs were fine -- sex was fine -- stop the wars was good but when challenged with abstract art., they reacted like conservative people look at a Jackson Pollock painting." Cover reconstruction by Jeroen Wille. Remastered by Equus. Includes replica of the original insert. 180 gram vinyl.

LP version. "... My Frequencies, When We is the eighth Mapstation album Stefan Schneider has released since 2000. Hailing from Düsseldorf, the electronic music artist and producer finds inspiration in African and South American folklore, dub, and, naturally, krautrock, taking his time to process his responses in a consistently thoughtful manner, never resorting to cliché. He has also found time to pursue other projects in recent years, one with electronic music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius for example (2011), another with visual artist Katharina Grosse (2017), whilst continuing to release interesting music from a variety of musical spheres on his own Tal label. Recorded between March and August of 2020 in Corona-induced isolation, there is a sonic homogeneity to My Frequencies, When We. For the first time in years, guest musicians are conspicuous by their absence. Schneider himself assumes vocal duties on 'The City In'. He has also pared down his equipment list: an analog tape loop device, Roland 808 drum machine, Novation Peak synthesizer, a guitar. Schneider thus sticks to the philosophy he revealed to an interviewer this summer: 'Simplification of the means is something I strive for. I have come to realize that my music loses intensity when I add in too many elements...' 'Intensity' does not necessarily translate into 'danceability'. Yes, there are hypnotic African grooves on 'Flute Channels' and the ingeniously rhythmic, imaginary world music of 'Taro Zing Ta' has much in common with Jon Hassell, Marja Ahti or DJ Residue, but these do not reflect the full spectrum. For the most part, the rhythms are as rudimentary as those found in folklore, tottering and stumbling along. There are gentle reminders of kraut-elektronik (Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Neu!) and discrete reconfigurations, with the aural current of the Rhineland flowing nearby. 'Outside Arendt' presents two parallel worlds in which synth melodies and crude beats are destined ne'er to meet; the same is true of the musical box frequencies and basic rhythm of 'Train Of Gerda' or the poetic juxtaposition of idyll and concrete on 'Actual Possible': each instrument goes at its own pace, MIDI connections do not lead to synthesis. This is music for the digital diaspora, mystical, sweeping frequencies, performed reductively. In its finest moments Mapstation succeeds in crafting minimal-kraut-elektronik which runs as deep as it floats on high. Electronic house music one might say, at once homely and strange." --Olaf Karnik

2021 restock; new lower pricing. Triple LP box set version. Cinedelic records present a reissue of one of Egisto Macchi's major works, Biologia Animale e Vegetale, produced by Renato Pent. Biologia Animale e Vegetale was recorded in Torino in 1976 and originally published as double LP. Egisto Macchi, often remembered as a member of Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, the historic Italian improvising collective (that also included Franco Evangelisti and Ennio Morricone, among others), was a major figure within the contemporary music field from the fifties to the eighties. The life path of Egisto Macchi seemed to be devoted to the multiplicity of aesthetic choices and musical expressions. While tracing his life and work, one notices an interesting duality based both on a very inclusive approach towards all kind of expressive needs and full control of the level of communication. A complex personality revealing the coherence of a man trying to connect elements usually kept separate; the inherent need for approaching different sources and the ability to be inspired by a wide range of intuitions. Macchi has explored and experimented in the field of sound and music without ever forgetting about his moral and civil engagement. His compositional work takes shape from the idea that music and arts should be able to create a symbiotic contact between the creator (composer) and the beneficiary (listener). All his work finds its origin in the need to integrate the sound language with the feeling of a new developing society. In fact music was just one factor in a more complex chain which included his humanistic and sociological engagement; a syncretic philosophical narrative and a symbolic tale revealing deep anthropological aspects. The 3LP box set is a limited edition of 600. The 3LP box set also comes as 180 gram vinyl and includes a download code.

Binding a deep social and political conscious with rigorous musical experimentation, the Brussels based, Italian pianist, performer, composer, Giovanni Di Domenico, delivers Downtown Ethnic Music, the fourth instalment of Die Schachtel's Decay Music series, focused on inspired contemporary experimental efforts in the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract music. Over the last decade or so, Giovanni Di Domenico has carved a deep path through a diverse number of discrete fields within experimental music, working in various ensembles -- Abschattungen, AufHeben, Bonjintan, Cement Shoes, Delivery Health, Going, etc. -- as well as producing a discography of critically heralded solo efforts, and intimate collaborations with Jim O'Rourke, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Akira Sakata, Arve Henriksen, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Alexandra Grimal, Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano, and others. Downtown Ethnic Music encounters Di Domenico reimagining the future of urban music, pluming the mysterious and emotive depths of self, to arrive at vision of sonorous utopia, radically divergent from those of the past. Hybridizing numerous forms of musical practice, while making a conceptual nod to Jon Hassell's notion of the "fourth world", as well as the cross-temporal transnationalism of Roberto Musci, Aktuala, Futuro Antico, and the Third Ear Band, Di Domenico's vision of democracy -- rendered through the creative metaphors of sound -- is a true to life, bristling conflict, as open-ended as it is ordered, and as dramatic and tense as it is beautiful, playful, and refined. A colorful tapestry of ideas, experiences, histories, and reference points, woven from a pallet of electronics, synthesis, and various acoustic sources -- the intervening rhythms of drummer João Lobo, vocals by Pak Yan Lau and Patshiva CIE women choir, the horns of Ananta Roosens and Jordi Grognard etc. -- across the length of Downtown Ethnic Music, the boundaries between idiom, expressive concept, collective, and individual blur, giving way to a visionary, forward-thinking rendering of electroacoustic music, that subtly reminds us of the social and political potential of art. Seamlessly incorporating bubbling electronic abstraction, sprawling ambience and long tones, throbbing kosmische, acoustic free improvisation, and the human voice, Giovanni Di Domenico's Downtown Ethnic Music represents a high-water mark in an already astounding career. 180 gram marble vinyl; one-time edition of 250.