Electronic / Experimental

"Textures & Lines" started as an invitation by Portuguese ensemble Drumming GP to work with the duo Joana Gama & Luís Fernandes. Joana's piano and Luís's electronics find new territories in a mix of subtle and raw use of percussions. In four pieces they defy the limits of classical contemporary music and create a landscape that evolves in each listening.

Grup Ses, Istanbul based veteran beatmaker returns to Souk after 2 years with first fully instrumental album since 2011's sought after 'Beats and Pieces from Turkish Psychedelia'. Grup Ses project dates back to 2007 which at the time focused on v/vm style edits and breakcore infused mash ups. Starting from 2008 Grup Ses started to build a version of Stones Throw & Brainfeeder influenced beatmaking mixed with a touch of humour. A blend including all kinds of local recorded material like records, tapes, radio broadcasts etc., which became the building blocks of signature Grup Ses sound. 'Beats from the vaults' is a showcase of beatmaking aesthetics Grup Ses visited between 2008 and 2021. Including various cuts available only on soundcloud plus unheard material compiled just for this album. Limited edition of 500. Vinyl edition includes 10 tracks not available on digital and streaming formats.

In an effort to sublimate the negative energy surrounding everyone in 2020, legendary Japanese heavy rock band Boris focused all of their energy creatively and turned out the most extreme album of their long and widely celebrated career, "NO." The band self-released the album, desiring to get it out as quickly as possible but intentionally called the final track on the album "Interlude" while planning its follow-up. The follow-up comes with "W", the band's debut album for Sacred Bones Records. The record opens with the same melody as "Interlude" in a piece titled "I want to go to the side where you can touch..." and in contrast to the extreme sounds found on "NO", this new album whispers into the listener's ear with a trembling hazy sound meant to awaken sensation. On all of "W" Wata carries the lead vocal duties. In general the styles on the album range from noise to new age, as is typical with one of our generation's most dynamic and adventurous bands, but there is a thread of melodic deliberation through each song that successfully accomplishes the band's goal of eliciting deep sensation. Be it through epic sludgey riffs, angelic vocal reverberations or the seduction of their off-kilter percussion, Boris will have you fully under their spell. This languid and liquifying sound is perfectly represented in the beautiful Kotao Tomozawa cover art and in suGar yoshinaga's sound production. "NO" and "W" weave together to form NOW, a duo of releases that respond to one another. In following their hardest album with this sensuous thundering masterpiece they are creating a continuous circle of harshness and healing, one that seems more relevant now than ever and shows the band operating at an apex of their musical career.

Third time’s a charm. Or a chant in this case. “Antologia De Música Atípica Portuguesa” is back. Following two sold out volumes, the unplanned trilogy comes to a close with chants and hymns whilst continuing to merge music genres and presenting them as a world building concept. If the first two volumes were dedicated to work (“O Trabalho”) and regions (“Regiões”), it only made sense to close the trilogy with ceremonial music, connecting the real – each musicians’ creation – with a fantasied celebration of Portuguese folk, traditions, and ghost methods within these unusual anthems. If you’ve listened to Niagara before, you probably felt this whole ceremonial thing going on. A perfect opener then, for this volume with Niagara’s deep dive into proto religious-ambient music with “Paulo, Apolo e Pedro”. It sets the tone for the next 35-minutes of ethereal like songs. Either you listen to musicians working within their natural habitat (João Pais Filipe or Filipe Felizardo) or feel them exploring new areas in their realm (Niagara, Joana Guerra or Serpente), this third volume manages to combine eight of the best underrated visionaries working in current day Portugal. In the past, “Antologia da Música Atípica Portuguesa” created an imaginary folktale where current day creations could live with the idea of archive or fake-folk. This volume forgets the world building and actually lives in it. Because this is the real Portugal. This is our folk. These are our chants. Embrace the otherworldly.

Kink Gong is back with his unique take and re-interpretation of the music he’s been recording and documenting for years in the South East Asian highlands. Zomia Vol.1 takes the conceptual idea of ZOMIA, proposed by James C Scott in The Art of Not Being Governed, an Anarchist History of Upland South East Asia, to construct its very own mythological soundscape inspired by a semi-utopic region where state rules don’t apply. Zomia might be (almost) gone but Kink Gong is keen keep its spirit alive by releasing a series of albums celebrating the region’s quasi mythological features. ‘’Zomia is an idea, a concept that, not so long ago, there were two very distinct worlds in southeast Asia, the valley VS highland/hinterland, the civilisation VS the primitive, paddy rice VS slash and burn agriculture, Buddhism VS Animism, fixed territory VS movement/migration, written system VS oral culture, the state VS anarchy, property VS squat, controlled population VS autonomy, bricks VS bamboo and wood and, at my level museumified traditional mainstream music VS real emotions/songs of devastated lives and/or gongs ceremonies with buffalo sacrifices, extreme heat in the valleys VS shade in the jungle. I could go on and on but let’s not forget that ZOMIA is disappearing fast, if not altogether already. How many of the people I’ve recorded are still alive? As you might know, before composing new music from my own ZOMIAN experience (from 2001 to 2014 in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and China) I had to find those musicians, be able to communicate with them, record them as good as I could with very limited finances and gradually release a collection of 160 CDrs. It is very important for me to make sure you to listen to the fantastic original recordings before or after you’ve listened to this experimental reconstruction I called ZOMIA! Expect more volumes to come, this is my biggest source of inspiration, and the reason why I’ve been involved for years in constructing a mythological experimental musical ZOMIAN soundscape.’’ Laurent Jeanneau, Berlin 2020

Originally conceived as a mock live bootleg for Turn Us Alias 2020 (Macao’s Saturnalia festival online edition), Stock Fantasy Zone is the new album by Babau dedicated to the unearthly delights of unconscious reticular motion, wacky 2D shredding and daily side quests. Directly from inside the Stack, finally imagine a zone where all activities are possible but purposeless, all primary objectives are achieved without even moving and the game-logic has finally disappeared leaving back a virtual fauna of forsaken babbling Npc’s and uncharted, yet to be tested stockpiles of maps and levels. Lofty low poly structures, tentacular mickey-mousing gesticulations, already obsolete sonic ontologies and the unsung age of Dreamcast fantasy frenzy. All and all, just another day spent testing the margins and edges of the simulation without leaving your Sofa. Don’t wait! Enter the Stock Fantasy Zone! Stock Fantasy Zone has been mentioned by Simon Reynolds among his 2020 albums of the year and two tracks have been selected by Kode9 for a mixtape released by Club To Club Festival.

In an interview for The Wire magazine back in January 2012, Spencer Clark claimed that one the most important "lesson" learned while performing with The Skaters was "stay true to your imagination". Taking this life motto at heart, Clark's world today is still a place of wonder and myth, conveyed through a myriad of aliases and invocations like Vodka Soap, Fourth World Magazine or Typhonian Highlife. Always the wide-eyed mystic and searcher of the netherworld, Clark surfaces again on Discrepant sister label Pacific City Discs, straight from the Canary Islands with this not quite but somewhat reissue under his celebrated and celebratory Monopoly Child Star Searchers alias. Combining visions from two long, long sold out and hardly traceable releases on Clark's own Pacific City label, pressed for the first time ever in wax with a new master by D&M - as it should - 'The Aqueducts Of Channel Island/Prince Of Parrot Shooters' stands as a vital piece in an ever changing and deeply personal mandala-like oeuvre. An hypnotic and appropriately lo-fi flux of bouncy hand percussion loops, nature calls and celestial synth harmonies that weave themselves into trance inducing rituals. Levitating fever-dream recordings from imaginary topographies, or perhaps a gateway to fortean alternate realities just lurking around the corner. Stay true to your imagination indeed.

One of the drone / ambient gems suitable for the coming autumn day, where a ray of light that makes you feel hope comes in from the nostalgic, tranquility and shadowy sound scenery! Matte laminate & embossed sleeve specifications. Highly recommended !!!!

Rhythm fiends, your time! Lisbon’s DJ Nigga Fox swangs it wide, precise and deadly on his first new tunes since 2019’s outstanding ‘Cartas Na Magna’ LP and a killer live tape in ’21 Deploying four immediately upfront, naturally experimental workouts, ‘Música Da Terra’ marks just over 10 years since DJ Nigga Fox came to our attention on the ‘African Digital Dance’ compilation, and solidly affirms his role as the leader of Lisbon’s new school. Balancing a cosmic jazzy depth akin to Jamal Moss or Ron Trent’s deep house with more urgent, syncopated ghetto grooves, his music is the pinnacle of contemporary Kuduro, if you ask us. The lad’s catalogue practically charts the sound’s development from grimy and hardcore to more sensual, textured and rhythmelodically psychedelic in a way that places him like Kuduro’s answer to Dego or A Guy Called Gerald, and especially on this EP. Including an instant standout jam with fellow Príncipe don DJ Firmeza in the muscular bass churn, bolshy brass and groggy pads of ‘Sanzaleiro’, Nigga Fox absolutely bosses it on his three solo works. There’s the adrenalizing scorcher ‘Madeso’ at the front, with its shards of marching horns sliced up into swingeing heads-down swagger, but also laid with a mental breakdown, while ‘Gás Natural’ cools off for a hot minute with its exquisite, chill breeze melody and in-the-pocket log drums leading somewhere deliciously darker, and ‘Sasuke’ simply slays with jaw-dropping twist of cosmic acid broken beat soul, lathering hazy organs, 303 and nimblest drums into the tightest, inimitable step. Oh my days this is fucking strong. TIP!

DJ Python’s Worldwide Unlimited net Lisbon legend Blastah for a bag of sensuous, playfully animated dembow, drill and kuduro mutations that sit ever so sweetly beside the label’s gems from Sangre Nueva and Henzo. Blastah blesses his debut firmware with a dreamily memorable set of six concise, lowkey burners that hover around reggaeton’s 100-110BPM brackets. Over the years he’s developed an online penpal relationship with Brian Piñero aka DJ Python, naturally leading to this shared conception of romantic club music with a mutable bent that lends itself just as easily to end-of-night slow jam sections as low lit bedrooms. The vibe is perfectly sensuous and set in woozy soft focus, from the Elysia Crampton-esque, dusky fusion of R&B pads and soundsystem stabs on ‘Raining’ to the neck-caressing nod to Timbaland and Timberlake in its ‘Closer’. A heartical deep house dembow sound is echoed on ‘Cendres’, and a prime fusion of US drill softened with subtropical appeal shapes ‘Unknown’ and the slinky, subbass-gilded minimalism of ‘Call’, while ‘Fish Friends’ most clearly betrays his taste for late night Lisbon tarraxho. Up-to-the-moment, inch-tight, timeless pearls for the dancehall lovers.

Cellist, composer & sound​ artist Leila Bordreuil takes us deep into the bowels and liminal spaces of a deserted NYC with 40 minute long contrasting works of a tempestuous and sorely enervated nature, played on location in the subway at the Ralph Avenue subway stop in Brooklyn - complete with passing trains, people, and tension in the air. If you’re into anything from Arthur Russell to Lea Bertucci - this one’s a total headmelt. First pinging our radar with her ‘Headflush’ album for Catch Wave back in 2019, Leila Bordreuil has a tactile, extreme approach to the cello, one that focuses on its visceral aspects in a way that mimics the most spirited, fraught and melancholy human emotions. Despite the complex nature of her playing, you can trace Bordreuil's lineage back to Arthur Russell’s defining ‘World Of Echo’ in methodology and spirit - Leila plays with no processing or effect pedals, everything stems from the player, her instrument, and their surroundings. On ‘For Tamio’ - Leila performs in tribute to her collaborator and saxophonist Tamio Shiraishi, whose late night performances at the Spring Street subway, 10 stops away from Ralph Avenue, greatly inspired her own approach to capturing and playing with resonance in the subway. For just shy of 20 mins, she makes the air burn and buckle with a combustible grasp of loud/quiet dynamics and keening discord that has us seat-edge by the end. The setting is evocative to the extreme - the usually chaotic and bustling subway station now emptied of its usual inhabitants, reclaimed as a performance space in which Leila played late into the night - accompanied by memories and echoes of life, as well as a person living in the subway station who started dancing to her music, an engrossed audience of one. In contrast, ‘Past Continuous’ on the flipside was recorded in Leila’s building’s hallway, where she attached a brick to the pedal of a broken upright piano and angled her microphones in a way that gave the illusion of a large reverberant room. Adding sinewaves to enhance natural frequencies, the result is a heartbeat sketch that operates at barely perceptible levels of tonality, working in a liminal space with almost hallucinatory, ghostly overtones and a colossal sub that speaks to the anxiety dreams of a megatropolis in stasis. ‘Not An Elegy’ is a grippingly stark work that owes as much to the city’s history of jazz as it does to experimental classical forms. It's an uneasy but deeply life-affirming trip through the dense fog of memory and modern anxiety, coaxed by a player whose hands shape, and whose feelings ooze through the recordings in a way that’s impossible not to be affected by in the deepest sense. It’s a remarkable document of a time, and an artist, right on the cusp.

Demdike Stare zoom into the late 90’s sweetspot where jungle producers swang into UKG and R&B with a high grade mixtape spliced together with typical, obsessive knowledge and swerve - trust it’s one of their best. Mining one of their essential touchstones, ‘The Call’ highlights the ’97-’99 period in the UK when the likes of Steve Gurley, Anthill Mob and Sky Joose were key players in the phase shift from ruff to sweet club styles around needlepoint 2-step drum programming. Also spotlighting the irrevocable influence of US R&B at the time, the mix homes in on one of the hardcore ‘nuum’s most fascinating innovations, when original, leading producers reclaimed their music from the sweatier excesses of jungle/D&B, and ushered it back to sexier, slinkier styles primed for dressing up and showing off - not gurning your tits off and brukking the f uck out. Stitched together with subtle, patented sleight-of-hand edits and dial strafe smudges, the mix exerts exquisite control for one hour of dainty rudeboy shuffle and woodblock parry in honour of their innovative heroes. Without overstating it, they trace UKG’s flex from bumpty speed garage soul inflicted with syrupy R&B, to its four-to-da-floor variants, and the sparkier punctuation of 2-step, proper, emphasising the sound’s rhythmic and textural sensuality with triple deep and eternal cuts that find the sound crystallizing from a delicious flux of puckered US garage-house and R&B-soul aspects, and updating the memory banks of original UK rave. Like the post-factum UKG archaeology of Finn and Oneman, Demdike’s picks are educated and educational, but never academic - presenting an ideal primer on the way styles shifted quickly back then, exemplifying how the tussle of energies between the house traction of Grant Nelson, Dem 2’s dissection of Timbaland/The Neptunes’ mainstream R&B, and the restless bad foot of rave were factored by the adroit chops of early jungle DJs on radio stations such as Freak FM and Jason Kaye’s Sun City mixes.

The long awaited third volume. New age, Balearic, and ambient listeners should check out Good Morning Tapes, a cult label in the current experimental scene based in France, which is home to the likes of D.K., Anthony Naples, and Tapes. This is the first time in a year that the label has released a showcase compilation album featuring all of their label mates who have been getting a lot of attention lately. Nueen, a producer/visual artist based in Barcelona, Spain, who also released a masterpiece of ambient music on Quiet Time Tapes, and Saphileaum, a multimedia artist from Georgia who was born and raised in a music/art family, are among the gorgeous labelmates. This comp is great guide to Good Morning Tapes.

A first box set containing 16 CDs, presenting more than 40 works and 18 hours of listening, including never released before music by Denis Dufour and texts in a detailed booklet (Fr/Eng/Ger). With his morphological and expressive approach to sound, Denis Dufour works on pieces in a constant state of renewal and on ideas that are specific to each piece. This results to a work looking like a large fresco in which no theme sounds alike, containing varied and breathtaking soundscapes and a patchwork of sounds, thoughts and colors that enable us to appreciate the sheer imagination as well as the consistence of his style. By deliberately but effortlessly opening his music to all sounds, Denis Dufour works with liberty, independence, rigor, and craftsmanship so refined that makes one forget oneself. Every second of sound is wrapped by a conscious ear so that so that his work contains no trace of automatic tools. Composer, teacher, researcher, director of label and festival, Denis Dufour, has greatly contributed to the development of acousmatic art in the world during forty years. First volume of the integral of his acousmatic work, this boxset regroups 44 works of Denis Dufour, composed between 1977 and 2020. Each one of the 16 discs is conceived as a listening program, which provides to listeners an immense landscape. The second volume is expected in 2022, and his instrumental work is under publication as well.

Efficient Space presents Soft and Fragile by Ros Bandt and LIME (Live Improvised Music Events), originally released by Move Records in 1983. A pioneering figure in Australian music, Bandt is known for her work with sound sculpture, electronics, acoustic ecology, and invented instruments, as well as her writings and teaching. Soft and Fragile comprises a series of structured improvisations performed on custom-built bells and gongs. On the side-long ‘Ocean Bells’, Bandt performs on her ‘flagong’, a three-tiered vertical glass marimba that she made in 1978, inspired by the ‘cloud chamber bowls’ of maverick instrument builder and microtonal composer Harry Partch. Over a long tape loop made up of slowed down sounds from the same instrument, she delicately strikes the glass bells with mallets, allowing individual pitches to ring out and decay with the aquatic wavering quality that suggested the piece’s title, eventually building into flowing melodic sequences. Structured as a series of events determined by the length of the performer’s breath, this gently undulating music invites listeners to lose themselves in delicate microtonal fluctuations and subtle yet expressive phrasing. For ‘Shifts’, Bandt is joined by Julie Doyle, Gavan McCarthy, and Carolyn Robb on a collectively composed work for clay bells. Atop a steady pulse, melodic and rhythmic cells expand and contract, shifting between LIME’s four members. LIME also perform the closing ‘Annapurna’, where timbres sourced from glass, clay and metal are freely threaded through a pulsating tape backdrop generated from loops of the ensemble chanting. Presented in a redesigned sleeve showcasing the performers and their instruments, the reissue reproduces the extensive original liner notes. While Bandt’s ideas and techniques draw on aspects of the invented instrument tradition of Partch and Bertoia, Stockhausen’s intuitive music, and the cyclical structures of American minimalism and Javanese gamelan, the floating world of Soft and Fragile also resonates with the work of New Age outlier Stephan Micus and contemporary practitioners such as Tomoko Sauvage. In Bandt’s own words, this is ‘elegant and sensual music where the body and mind have the time to reflect and catch up with the moment as it passes…It is a music intended for respite’.

Kalita are excited to unveil the first ever reissue of one of – if not the – strongest South African kwaito/bubblegum albums in existence, Jivaro’s 1989 masterpiece ‘Saturday Fever’. Originally released on Maurice Horwitz’s Music Team label at the turn of the decade, the album features various heavy hitting tracks that perfectly encapsulate the post-boogie/proto-house movement that had taken over the country’s airwaves and clubs at the time. Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, this definitive release by Kalita is a truly essential piece of musical history and one sure to set any discerning dance floor on fire.

Music From Memory are excited to present a special release with The Zenmenn in the shape of a limited 7” containing 2 tracks taken from the same recording sessions that resulted in their debut album 'Enter The Zenmenn' from 2021. About MFM057 The Zenmenn say: “Bella Fantasia and Topaz 2 are two uncut gems that we couldn't quite fit on the record. In the last couple of days before the deadline, we were tripping a little bit that Topaz was no good, so we tried to do it in a different way and came out with this more melancholy vocal version, looking back at the small moments from a past relationship that somehow slipped away. We kept both versions in the collection.” “For Bella Fantasia we were finding it funny to have this vocal using Ben's extremely limited Italian vocabulary, but after a while of it being a joke, it slowly settled into just being what it is. An angelic female voice seemed like it would fit in well, so we called up our dear friend Kari K and she flew in on gossamer wings to take care of the job like a real professional sent directly from beyond the pearly gates. In the final seconds of the song, much like Indiana Jones reaching back in the nick of time to snatch his hat from beneath the closing temple door, Magnus heroically managed to squeeze in a quick reference to the late great George Michael – R.I.P. Hopefully his estate never finds out about this.”

A 14-disc box set tracing the discography of Eliane Radigue, the Tibetan-meets-electronic music guru, is now available Box with a gorgeous booklet! Having studied at RTF Studios in France under music concretists such as Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, Eliane Radigue has been creating profound electronic music for decades, and now her historical archive is here! This 14-disc box contains many of her masterpieces released in CD format, including some that are now hard to find, and even includes Metamkine's mini-CD "Biogenesis.

Edition of 500 copies. Wooden box set, numbered. From the original master tapes. Includes a booklet. * Piero Umiliani is unquestionably one of the most consistent figures in terms of soundtrack music and library music worldwide. This precious 13CD Box is dedicated to the period of greatest maturity and artistic freedom which coincides with the creation of his personal studio: the Sound Work Shop. The 82 square meter room is elaborated with a particular acoustic treatment suitable for multi-track recording. The instruments available were the best of world production; to these were numerous instruments from all over the globe thanks to his passion for travel. It is also equipped with the best of the most modern projection and slow motion systems. Of the 13 albums included, spanning a period from 1971 to 1983, 9 had never been reissued digitally; the transfer took place from the original tapes provided by the heirs who continue to take care of everything concerning the artist's life with the utmost attention. With the most bizarre pseudonyms we listen to the Maestro confront himself with the most disparate genres: percussive and electronic experiments to drive sampling lovers crazy (CD1); the rock-prog-psych of The Braen's Machine, a group formed with Alessandro Alessandroni (CD2/3); the delicate melodies, lounge; groovy exotic (CD4/7/11/12), modern classical music (CD5); experimental dramatic tensions with synth, bass and primitive percussion on a string orchestra carpet (CD6); disco-funk-jazz (CD8); sound exploration in psychic disorders dictated by the human condition (CD9); pure Italian jazz (CD10); experimental ambient with synths (13). The luxurious wooden box includes a sequentially numbered booklet up to 500. The paper CD covers are reproductions of the original LP releases. details: CD1 PERCUSSIONI ED EFFETTI SPECIALI | 1972 1. Problematica giovanile / 2. Problematica giovanile n.2 / 3. Subacquea / 4. Bongos in suspense / 5. Dinamica in beat / 6. Dinamica in beat n.2 / 7. Contrasto ritmico / 8. Percussioni speciali / 9. Protesta giovanile / 10. Timpani statici / 11. Timpani in movimento / 12. Marasma / 13. Timbales / 14. Ritmi in swing / 15. Ritmi in swing n.2 / 16. Fascia astrale / 17. Stato ipnotico / 18. Dinamica in tensione / 19. Dinamica in tensione n. 2 / 20. Esplosioni / 21. Esplosioni n.2 / 22. Distorsioni / 23. Detective / 24. Echi della natura / 25. Fascia metallica / 26. Organo in suspense / 27. Battimenti / 28. Battimenti n.2 / 29. Segnali morse / 30. Segnali morse n.2 / 31. Sottosuolo CD2 UNDERGROUND | 1971 1. Fying / 2. Imphormal / 3. Murder / 4. Gap / 5. Militar Police / 6. New Experiences / 7. Fall Out / 8. Obstinacy / 9. Description CD3 TEMI RITMICI E DINAMICI | 1973 1. Movimento / 2. Dinamica / 3. Competizione / 4. Attività All’Aperto / 5. Ritmica Sportiva / 6. Esercizi Ginnici / 7. Gara / 8. Dilettanti / 9. Rinuncia / 10. Passeggiata / 11. Allenamento / 12. Aspetti Grotteschi CD4 NUOVE ARIE ROMANTICHE |1974 (1st time in digital) 1. Dolce Flauto / 2. Neve Sul Campanile / 3. Divertimento / 4. Ispirazione / 5. Luminosita’ / 6. Meditazione / 7. Bachiana / 8. Mozartiana / 9. Dolce Ed Austero / 10. Modo Settecentesco / 11. Tranquillita’ / 12. Ritrovarsi / 13. Malinconia D’Autunno / 14. Perla Di Ghiaccio CD5 MUSICA CLASSICA PER L'UOMO D'OGGI | 1974 (1st time in digital) 1. Impegno / 2. Elevazione / 3. Con Nostalgia / 4. Aria Di Fiesta / 5. Idea Mistica / 6. Gioioso / 7. Vocazione / 8. Molto Solenne / 9. Nuovo Umanesimo / 10. Ricostruzione / 11. Allegretto Classico / 12. Origini / 13. A Misura D’Uomo / 14. Preludio Arioso / 15. Come Un Corale CD6 MONDO INQUIETO | 1974 (1st time in digital) 1. Mondo Inquieto / 2. Emarginati / 3. Stato D’Ansia / 4. Attualita’ / 5. Riforme / 6. Boicottaggio / 7. Strategia / 8. Recessione / 9. Fermenti / 11. Doppio Gioco / 12. Incidenti / 13. Situazione / 14. Sotto Il Talone / 15. Eversione / 16. Crisi / 17. Popoli Inquieti / 18. Sanzioni. / 19. Inquietudine CD7 MOTIVI ALLEGRI E DISTENSIVI | 1978 (1st time in digital) 1. Su Con La Vita! / 2. Su Con La Vita! / 3. Su Con La Vita! / 4. Su Con La Vita! / 5. La Bella Vita / 6. Storie Di Villagio / 7. La Voce Dell’Organetto / 8. Tromba In Vacanza / 9. Sax In Vacanza / 10. Archi Innamorati / 11. Idea Romantica / 12. Idea Romantica / 13. Happy Boogie / 14. Happy Boogie CD8 DISCOMUSIC | 1978 1. Carousel / 2. Discomania / 3. Optimist / 4. Hobby / 5. Odeon / 6. Skypass / 7. Impact / 8. Forcing / 9. Marlowe / 10. Happy End CD9 TENSIONE | 1979 (1st time in digital) 1. Staccato E Tremolo / 2. Pedale In Suspence / 3. L’Orco / 4. Segnali Da Marte / 5. Prefiche / 6. Clavinet Suspence / 7. Pianofender Suspence / 8. Tremolo Ossessivo / 9. Tema In Suspence / 10. Intermezzo Neutro / 11. Pedale Lancinante / 12. Espressivo E Drammatico / 13. Notte D’Orrore / 14. Basso In Suspence / 15. Suspence Sommessa / 16. L’Orchessa / 17. Marcia Suspence / 18. Archi Informali / 19. Fascia Ossessiva / 20. Suspence Interlocutoria CD10 FILM CONCERTO | 1979 (1st time in digital) 1. Blues For Gassman / 2. Tension / 3. Smog / 4. Thinkin’ Blues / 5. Twilight At Los Angeles / 6. A Cavallo Della Tigre / 7. Solitudine / 8. Solitudine 2 / 9. Mah-Na' Mah-Na’ / 10. La Ragazza Dalla Pelle Di Luna / 11. O Dolci Baci / 12. Quando La Coppia Scoppia / 13. Insieme CD11 PANORAMA ITALIANO | 1979 (1st time in digital) 1. Calen Di Maggio / 2. Torna Primavera / 3. Tempo Di Madrigale / 4. Paesanella / 5 Paesanella / 6. Tempo Di Madrigale / 7. Nostalgia Di Marinaro / 8. Farina E Festa / 9. Stornello Felice / 10. Stornello Dolce / 11. Stornello Triste / 12. Richiamo Alpino / 13. Trinacria / 14. Notturno Siciliano CD12 ALBUM DI VIAGGIO | 1981 (1st time in digital) 1. Appuntamento Al Plaza / 2. Le Foreste Di Kuala Lumpur / 3. Attico A Montecarlo / 4. Martedi Grasso A N. Orleans / 5. Alabama Song / 6. Ritorno A Chicago / 7. Album Di Viaggio / 8. In Vacanza / 9. Viaggio Sentimentale / 10. Manhattan Blues / 11. Gospel Song / 12. Le Cascate Di Iguaçú CD13 SUSPENCE ELETTRONICA | 1983 (1st time in digital) 1. Sospetto / 2. Segni Premonitori / 3. Relitti / 4. Nave Spia / 5. Mutazioni / 6. Ballata Tragica / 7. Attesa Ansiosa / 8. Incubo / 9. Batticuore / 10. Rintocchi / 11. Sinistro Carillon / 12. Schizofrenia / 13. Leggermente Misterioso / 14. Degrado

Music From Memory are excited to announce a special compilation that they’ve been working on for some time now; MFM053 – VA – Heisei No Oto – Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996). Compiled by long-time friends of the label, Eiji Taniguchi and Norio Sato, Heisei No Oto delves into a world of music released almost exclusively on CD and brings together a fascinating selection of discoveries from a little known and overlooked part of Japan’s musical history. The last ten or so years have seen a global wave of interest in Japanese music encompassing ambient, jazz, new wave and pop records from the 1980s, some of which is increasingly considered the most innovative and visionary music of that time. Although some music from this period, in the form of ‘City Pop’ or ‘rare groove’ records, had been coveted by collectors and DJs for a number of years, most Japanese music from the time was little known outside and often even within Japan. Sometime around the mid 2000s, two Osaka record store owners, Eiji Taniguchi of Revelation Time and Norio Sato of Rare Groove, along with a handful of deep Japanese diggers such as Chee Shimizu of Organic Music records in Tokyo, began to explore beyond the typical ‘grooves’ or ‘breaks’. Much like their counterparts in Europe and the US, they began delving into home-grown ambient, jazz, new wave and pop records, discovering visionary music, often driven by synthesizers or drum computers, that broke beyond the typical confines of their genres. Spending tireless hours in local record stores and embarking on digging trips across the country, Eiji Taniguchi and Norio Sato, much like Chee Shimizu, have been at the forefront of unearthing and introducing many of the very Japanese records now loved and sought after around the world. Yet as YouTube algorithms and vinyl reissues would transport such music into the global consciousness and demand and therefore scarcity intensified for such records, so Eiji and Norio have recently begun to turn their attention to CDs. The title of the compilation Heisei No Oto refers to the sound of the Heisei era, which began in 1989 and corresponds to the reign of Emperor Akihito until his abdication in 2019. Marking the culmination of one of the most rapid economic growths in Japanese history, 1989 also coincided with the music industry’s final shift away from vinyl in favour of CDs. And, although compact discs were first introduced seven years earlier it wasn’t until late into the ‘80s that, beyond dance music labels, CDs became the exclusive format for major and independent labels in Japan and throughout the world. This however didn’t signal the end of the innovation in Japan. Many of those same musicians who have become known for their work in the ‘80s would continue to produce outstanding music well into the mid ‘90s, as greater innovation and advances in musical equipment allowed Japanese musicians and producers to refine and explore new sounds. While musicians such as the seminal Haruomi Hosono, whose productions feature on a number of tracks, would continue to push the boundaries of these new technologies, these technological advances also meant less established musicians were able to make use of increasingly affordable but state-of-the-art equipment. Including music by Haruomi Hosono as well as Yasuaki Shimizu, Toshifumi Hinata and Ichiko Hashimoto who have become known and loved around the world in recent years, Hesei No Oto also features Japanese pop star Yosui Inoue, producers Jun Sato and Keisuke Kikuchi in aaddition to less established artists from the contemporary, jazz, new wave, pop and dance music scenes. Bringing together a selection of tracks that seem to define these specific genres and in fact move fluidly between a number of them, the music on the compilation is again underscored by experimentations with synthesizers and drum computers though with something of a gentle Pop sensibility. Reimagined here then under the encompassing term ‘Left-field Pop’, this is an exciting chapter in Japanese musical history that has only just begun to be fully explored.

Bongo Joe celebrate their 5 year anniversary with FUTUR ANTÉRIEUR, a digital compilation of 19 brand new tracks, created by Bongo Joe’s contemporary artist community, who provide their own stamp and interpretation of tracks that have previously been released as part of the label’s celebrated re-issue catalogue of archaeological discoveries. The anniversary and compilation release coincides with the re-opening of the Les Disques Bongo Joe’s record store, relocated to a new home on the banks of Lake Geneva, which opened for trade in March. Re-affirming the label’s disregard of genres and boundaries, the compilation sees artists like Bogota and Colombia’s pioneering and eccentric cumbia artist Meridian Brothers take on Extranos Juegos by the Spanish group Zombies (LA CONTRA OLA: Synth Wave & Post Punk from Spain 1980-86), the Geneva residents-en-psych-groove L’Eclair take on Mauritian singer Allen Meller on Moin Qui Bizin Travail (Soul Sega Sa! Indian Ocean Segas From The 70s) and Turkish outfit Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek reinterpret Ay Dili Dili from Azerbaijan guitarist Rüstem Quliyev, whose retrospective album Azerbaijani Gitara was released in 2020. Founder of the label, Cyril Yeterian, half of Cyril Cyril, recollects, “Looking back to our past 5 years' mixed catalog of music from the past and the present made us immediately think about bridging these musical worlds into one. Several bands we have on our roster told us our reissues inspired their music so it sounded like the obvious thing to propose, to all our current bands on the label.” In just five years Bongo Joe has established itself as a label on a mission, doing things on their own terms, without hierarchy making sense of the world and industry from their community base and record store/cafe/DJ and event space in Geneva Switzerland; and it’s a method that has garnered much respect, with audiences and artists alike. The present compilation is the result of this vibrating energy coming from the shores of Geneva Lake. Definitely time to support musicians : all benefits will go to our artists

The album also includes the new age anthem "O Sol Na Janela" from "Outro Tempo", one of Music From Memory's flagship compilations of Brazilian obscure electronic music. He was also a member of Carmo, a prestigious label that Egberto Gismonti ran under ECM. The original "Caminho Do Interior" was sold for over 30,000 and now it's been reissued in a deluxe edition. A long-awaited analog reissue! This is another important reissue in the current trend of reevaluating Brazilian obscure music. This is a divine realm of spirituality and folklore. A true miracle piece, full of acoustic nourishment, stewing jazz, bossa nova, and even classical music! Gismonti also makes a guest appearance. The bonus track is "Idade Média" from the extremely rare 7" "Quase Meio Dia / Idade Média" from 1974. 180G heavyweight vinyl & remastered. A must have for Carmo fans. Highly recommended for all Balearic and New Age fans!

A limited edition CD album by The Humble Bee, one of Britain's leading ambient musician has arrived from LA's important label "Motion Ward". The sentimental shadows that bring out this rare charm of this person are drifting like weaving between the hazy ambience and the disturbing hiss noise. A dull ambient / modern classical work beckoned by the footsteps and whispers of "the other side"! Mastering by Ian Hawgood. Best !!!

Since he started producing music, Berlin-based American sound artist Jake Muir has been obsessed with sampling. His 2018 album "Lady's Mantle" was based on manipulated chunks of vintage Californian surf rock, and its follow-up, 2020's midnight symphony "The Hum Of Your Veiled Voice" was sourced from a wide variety of old records, and inspired by the work of experimental turntablists like Marina Rosenfeld, Janek Schaefer and Philip Jeck. On "Mana", Muir looks back to a misunderstood musical movement. Around 1995, a group of New York producers and DJs - including DJ Olive, DJ Spooky and Spectre - pioneered a genre-dissolving sound by unifying hip-hop techniques with ideas pulled from dub, jungle, ambient music and industrial noise. Badged "illbient", it was a short-lived genre that felt like a high-minded psychedelic cousin of the UK's trip-hop. Muir uses illbient as the springboard for "Mana", utilizing a selection of samples to inform his frothy drones and foreboding atmospheres. He ushers the material into 2021 by diverting it through his own contemporary worldview, attempting to recreate the hyperreal fantasy histories of Japanese RPGs (think "Dark Souls" and "Final Fantasy") and nod to sensual, tactile soundscapes of European industrial labels Staalplaat and Soleilmoon. The result is a magickal, sensory journey that's as physical as it is representational. If the illbient producers were encouraging a burgeoning experimental music landscape to emphasize the tactile feeling of turntablism and sample manipulation, Muir is doing the same with "Mana". Each track heaves and breathes not just with his cultural reference points, but with layered, complicated emotions. We can hear joy, sadness, desire and anguish, obscured by disintegrating noise, hallucinogenic harmonies and sub-aquatic bass. It's electronic music that's rooted not in technology, but in touch. credits