Electronic / Experimental

Plant music recordings of a creosote bush near Death Valley, CA.

"Wafting audio incense from the desert wastes of the Eastern Sierra. Music for reading, dreaming and dissociating."
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 208px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=683590967/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://nicogeoris.bandcamp.com/album/plant-music-vol-2-creosote">Plant Music Vol 2 // Creosote by Nico Georis</a></iframe>

Shirley Shirley Shirley is Nico Georis' latest release, an otherworldly document of his experiments in plant music. For several years Nico has been using midi technology to connect a variety of flora to analog synthesizers, letting their biodata create music that is unlike anything I have ever heard. The results are strange and breathtaking. Ultimately it's the closest thing I've found to an organic expression of John Cage's notion of indeterminacy. But unlike Cage's music, Shirley is existentially gorgeous. It stands in the same category as music by Laraaji, Roedelius or Steve Roach. It is available as a download or on limited double vinyl.

- Psychic Arts
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 472px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2448452603/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://nicogeoris.bandcamp.com/album/plant-music-vol-1-shirley-shirley-shirley">Plant Music Vol 1 - Shirley Shirley Shirley! by Nico Georis</a></iframe>

blueblue is the latest full-length from multi-instrumentalist and all-around vibe wizard, Sam Gendel. The record, out October 14 via Leaving Records, is a concise, tightly wound song suite whose 14 tracks each correspond to a pattern within sashiko, a traditional style of Japanese embroidery. This conceit remains playfully ambiguous — to what extent, if at all, is Kagome (籠目, woven bamboo) meant to evoke the pattern of the same name, for example? But there is an intuitive sense, throughout blueblue, that Gendel has, in this instance, narrowed his focus. To say that blueblue feels richly textural might be a little on-the-nose, thematically, but alas…it does. There is an intimacy, a humility, and a strength at play here that typifies the work of a master craftsman. Only an artist could make it sound so effortless. A Los Angeleno by way of Central CA, Gendel is by now an institution. Across a dizzying slate of solo releases and collaborations, he has amassed a reputation for not only virtuosic musicianship (primarily as a saxophonist, though the songs that would become blueblue were all initially composed on guitar), but also for his mercurial and prolific output — a corpus of work, which, while obviously indebted to jazz and hip hop (and the farther flung, experimental corners of both) is, in a word, unpindownable. In this regard, Leaving Records, with its cri-de-cœur of “All Genre,” is a natural home for Gendel. The bulk of blueblue was recorded in isolation in a makeshift studio built in a cabin floating atop a tributary of Oregon’s Columbia River. Having sketched out a set of guitar melodies, Gendel recorded the album in five-or-so weeks, during which time he became well-acquainted with the river’s tidal rise and fall. This organic rhythm, which daily lifted the house to meet the horizon, later setting it down gently upon the riverbed, permeates the record. There are pops and groans and artifacts, and, in Tate-jima (縦縞, vertical stripes)—one of blueblue’s more plaintive tracks—even the faint lapping of water. Equally essential to the feel of blueblue is Craig Weinrib’s kit work. Gendel and Weinrib collaborated long-distance during Gendel’s time in Oregon, with Gendel sending Weinrib half-finished songs, and giving him carte-blanche to record percussion. The end result is a relaxed, confident exchange between two clearly simpatico musicians, particularly evident in Weinrib’s gorgeously attentive brush technique. blueblue is a conceptually sound, mesmerizing, evocative, and sonically idiosyncratic LP. In keeping with its name, blueblue functions as Gendel’s color study, conveying, through repetition and deviation, his devotion to a certain mood — unnamable, but certainly noirish, nostalgic, quasi-psychedelic, and existing in some permanent twilight. Real ones know, and for those who don’t yet, blueblue is an accessible and intoxicating entry-point into Gendel's ever-expanding catalog.

Welsh musician Aisha Vaughan presents The Gate. It is upon us to renew the deep-cut, heavy-weighted melancholy of Celtic New Age for 2024. New Age music from the Celtic/British Isles crossed over into the mainstream in the late 80s - notably with Enya (and her band Clannad), the perhaps now lesser-known instrumental Celtic harp music of Patrick Ball, and the slew of now mostly forgotten various artist compilations that saturated the New Age CD and cassette music market in the early 90s.

The Gate earnestly gives reverence to the landscape that she calls home (as cinematically portrayed consistently in Vaughan’s self-shot videos via her social media). Now living in converted barn in mid-Wales, Vaughan writes and records her music to red kites and eagles hunting in the mountains outside her windows. The notably welcomed layers of ASMR sound design and computer music production supplement the main instrument here - her voice - woven within campfire crackle, wind chime, cricket, bird, harp, flute, synthesizer pad & sfx, and new moon wolf howl to channel celestial guides conjured from her remote homeland.

Using composition as catharsis stemming from a traumatic upbringing where music was banned in her childhood household, and the inherent occult history that surrounds the art form, Vaughan does not shy away from precisely stewarding this particular - often still-overlooked - musical tradition through her generation’s ambient lens.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 373px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2366097953/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://aishavaughan.bandcamp.com/album/the-gate">The Gate by Aisha Vaughan</a></iframe>

*edition of 100 3CS bundles
*full-color printed slip-case housing
tape1: Vol.1 - Shirley, Shirley Shirley! (runtime 73min)
tape2: Vol.2 - Creosote (runtime 30min)
tape3: Vol.3 - The Golden Teachers (runtime 34min)<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 340px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2614175823/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://nicogeoris.bandcamp.com/album/plant-music-vol-3-the-golden-teachers">Plant Music Vol.3 - The Golden Teachers by Nico Georis</a></iframe>

California’s Nico Georis has always straddled (or, rather, negotiated) multiple dimensions. As a child, Georis flitted between the rigors of classical training and DIY experimentation—studying under a disciple of Franz Lizst (a mentorship that would enshrine the piano as his primary instrument), then squirreling away to the basement of his childhood home, strewn as it was with his father’s instruments and home-audio equipment, to play and record freely. Despite his evident virtuosity as a trained pianist, Georis has, across numerous projects, stints, incarnations, and chapters, persisted in this gentle and exploratory approach to music-making. Foregoing the pursuit of technical mastery and acclaim within the confines of the contemporary classical world, he has dedicated his talents to songcraft, broadly-defined — channeling unseen (or inaugurating altogether new) worlds through melody and repetition. Conceived after an isolating, five-year struggle with a severe case of Lyme disease, Cloud Suites (out June 9th on Leaving Records) documents Georis’s initial return to experimental ambient keyboard compositions. Conceptually, there is little ambiguity here: the songs—the “suites”—are clouds, or, rather, reflections of clouds, each named after a particular formation. Track titles range from the meteorologically specific to the expressive: “Cumuloids,” “Sundog,” and “Soft Yellow Gazers.” Georis composed the suites in real-time, peering out the windows of his Big Sur cabin-home/recording studio (dubbed The Sky Shed), responding improvisationally to render specific clouds as music—in effect to pluck them from the sky. Georis has referred to this process as a kind of musical game, and, indeed, its end product conveys the recurring and joyful revelations of play. But for a project born of levity and improvisation, Cloud Suites’ path to realization has been winding—harrowing, even. Over three years in the making, the recording process was beset by all manner of technological and environmental setbacks, ranging from broken equipment to a mudslide that tore through the Sky Shed. Nevertheless, even as other projects saw fruition (see 2022’s beautifully elegiac Desert Mirror) the Cloud Suites continued to gestate. When circumstances finally aligned, Georis entered the studio with a rag-tag collection of tape recordings. Performing over these Cloud demos, Georis would eventually weave these initial recordings into finished tracks, an analogue collage/cut-up approach recalling his childhood basement experiments, and his long-time affinity for Dub. Morphing seamlessly across eleven tracks, Cloud Suites functions wonderfully as a record (that is to say, as a discrete release—a standalone musical artifact), but one also senses the limitlessness of the project. Having stumbled, largely by accident, upon this inviting dimension (at once bracingly psychedelic and achingly nostalgic), Georis may not wish to close the door behind him. Or maybe it isn’t his door to close.

This is a lovely and surprising treat indeed. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow and much more) partners with vocalist Atsuko Kamura (Mizutama Shobodan aka Polka Dot Fire Brigade and Frank Chickens) to present 37 compositions, expanding the usual sub-10-second acoustic life of classic haiku into a varied suite of compositions which place the gem-like poems, spoken and sung in both English and Japanese by Hodgkinson and Kamura, into gorgeous musical frames composed by Hodgkinson. "Haiku In The Wide World" lovingly embraces texts spanning the 17th to 20th centuries, revered examples of a long-established Japanese literary form, bringing these brief poems into the realms of musical art, setting them in an extended network of sonic inter-relationships. The instrumental textures, paradoxically sparse yet rich, crystalline yet warm, are provided by Hodgkinson’s own clarinet and other sound sources, as well as beautifully played and crisply recorded french horn, viola, violin, cello and acoustic guitar. The voices and instrumental sounds fuse with the poetic images, each throwing light and casting shadows on each, revealing hidden significances and building resonances across the arc of the release. The Japanese and English voicings of the haiku also provide further layers of significance, resonance and communication. The English translations, by poet Harry Gilonis, sparked Hodgkinson to initiate this project, a dancing, shifting terrain of life moving through the seasons and the comings and goings of the moon and sun. This project is a unique world, distinctly different from what either Hodgkinson and Kamura have previously accomplished. "Haiku In The Wide World" is a co-release, with ReR launching a UK CD version; EM Records provides both CD and 2LP versions. The tracks and sequence are the same for both labels, but the cover art is different — perhaps you should buy each version; "Haiku In The Wide World" is certainly worthy.

This is a lovely and surprising treat indeed. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow and much more) partners with vocalist Atsuko Kamura (Mizutama Shobodan aka Polka Dot Fire Brigade and Frank Chickens) to present 37 compositions, expanding the usual sub-10-second acoustic life of classic haiku into a varied suite of compositions which place the gem-like poems, spoken and sung in both English and Japanese by Hodgkinson and Kamura, into gorgeous musical frames composed by Hodgkinson. "Haiku In The Wide World" lovingly embraces texts spanning the 17th to 20th centuries, revered examples of a long-established Japanese literary form, bringing these brief poems into the realms of musical art, setting them in an extended network of sonic inter-relationships. The instrumental textures, paradoxically sparse yet rich, crystalline yet warm, are provided by Hodgkinson’s own clarinet and other sound sources, as well as beautifully played and crisply recorded french horn, viola, violin, cello and acoustic guitar. The voices and instrumental sounds fuse with the poetic images, each throwing light and casting shadows on each, revealing hidden significances and building resonances across the arc of the release. The Japanese and English voicings of the haiku also provide further layers of significance, resonance and communication. The English translations, by poet Harry Gilonis, sparked Hodgkinson to initiate this project, a dancing, shifting terrain of life moving through the seasons and the comings and goings of the moon and sun. This project is a unique world, distinctly different from what either Hodgkinson and Kamura have previously accomplished. "Haiku In The Wide World" is a co-release, with ReR launching a UK CD version; EM Records provides both CD and 2LP versions. The tracks and sequence are the same for both labels, but the cover art is different — perhaps you should buy each version; "Haiku In The Wide World" is certainly worthy.

Bastard Science EP is a modular synthesizer-based work by Richard Scott, who is also known as a member of the band Twinkle³ and teaches at the Catalyst Institute, a creative arts and technology school in Berlin.

Richard began his musical journey in the early 1980s and released his first modular synthesizer piece in 1992. Since then, he has continued to release works both as a solo artist and in collaborative projects, while also contributing to the design and development of modular systems.

His work spans not only solo electronic projects but also improvisational sessions with acoustic instruments. He regularly performs concerts across Europe. In this EP, Richard explores new rhythmic possibilities, reflecting his belief that “Although music has expanded enormously over the past hundred years in terms of timbre, melody, and harmony—through contemporary music, jazz, and experimental electronic music—I feel rhythm is still relatively underdeveloped.”

An insert included with the record features an interview with Richard, in which he shares his thoughts on engaging with experimental music and the experience of generating sound through the modular interface.

The incessant brain bogglers zig-zag back to Diagonal with the nerve-gnawing acid pointillism of Right Frankfurt after a series of purple-themed 12”s with iDEAL and Hypermedium and the zinging Do These sessions with F.C.O.U. and Presto!?

Equivalent to an intravenous dose of acidic synthesis, Right Frankfurt nods to one of techno’s most efficient power centres with a PCP-on-Modafinil-strength reduction and concentration of early industrial techno tropes shorn of their skull-cracking beats and left to babble in an utterly alien coda.

It does so for 25 unrelenting minutes, which, if you asked my mum, all sounds the same. But, if you’ve ever appreciated the lissom fluidity of a strong acid or synth lead in the dance, you will notice and no doubt relish the piece’s tumultuous, microtonal variation, see-sawing up/down and around the frequency scale in highly visual knots that are perhaps best experienced in synch with the strobes of their live show.

We recently witnessed EVOL scare the bejesus into Berghain with this stuff, to the extent that there’s now a small cargo cult like gathering on the wastelands next door to the club who can do nowt but worship a discarded acid smiley keyring and speak in 303 tongues whilst cowering at the sight of Easyjets overhead.

God save the ravers.

Haswell laces up his n0!ze techno boots for a proper stomping and thistly set of modular bangers in his 6th outing with Diagonal, gnashing the heels of a ruder 10” for Skam, andan E-Mego issue of a UPIC session in duo with Florian Hecker.

‘Deep Time’ coughs up Russell’s typical mix of direct and obtusely playful tackle, serving dual purpose as his nervy response to the minute-by-minute fuckeries of geopolitics, and the inspiration of geologic revelations in his now-native Scotland. It all bristles with a livewire moxie that belies his decades in the game, bunkered in the fissures of art, music and technology, pulling and snapping threads that bind / divide body musics and radical experimental improvisational practices.

Eight severely rude bits deploy an arsenal of kit that warrants listing: “Used = Acid Rain Technology, ADDAC System, ALM/Busy Circuits, Apple, Audiofile Engineering, Beautiful Pieces of Outdated Technology, Cwejman, Epoch Modular, FANCYYYYY Synthesis, Future Sound Systems, MOTU, Neutrik, SnazzyFX, Super Synthesis, Tip-Top Audio, Waldorf …”

Cut to cut he navigates the gear with a personalised balance of upfront purpose and screwball mentality. Pronged by his extra musical cues he variously mirrors the turmoil of fiscal markets and crypto currency in the spiky waves of ‘International Globalisation’ and models ground-to-space warfare in ‘Satellite Killer’, whilst ‘Infinite Space’ scrambles proprioception in its warped space-time textures.

But most vital to the work is his fascination with, and perception of, scales of time, which guides the buckshot techn0!ze of ’Unconformity’, which takes its name from geologist James Hutton’s discovery of folds of rock that allow man to assert the age of Earth, and neatly contradict the in-the-moment fizz and crack of the set’s bangers, ‘Deep Time’ and bezzerker ‘Atropine.’

日本の伝説的衛星放送〈St.Giga〉から名前を取った先鋭レーベル〈CITY-2 ST. GIGA〉を主宰。〈The Trilogy Tapes〉や〈Incienso〉にも作品を残す、東京の要注目プロデューサー、DJ Trysteroによるセカンド・アルバムが〈FELT〉からリリース。ダブ・テクノの深淵を漂う全9曲を展開していく本作では、リズムは曖昧に、メロディは断片的に、音響は霧の中で揺らめき、聴く者を夢と現の狭間へと誘います。濃霧が晴れ、しおれたダブの形が浮かび上がる瞬間が印象的な"Untitled 6"など素晴らしいです。Huerco S.やCivilistjävel!を想起させる、減衰と残響の美学が光る一枚！

Originally released in small quantities on the esteemed Smallfish imprint back in 2007. An outline and blueprint of the cv313 sound; lush analog submersion enveloping one's mind into an altered hypnotic state. This release features the original in an entirely new dimensional surround mix utilizing heavier analog tape processing/saturation and remastered to a state of sonic perfection. Also featured is a newly remastered version of the subtraktive "re-imagined" edition and an unfathomable depth found in the unreleased version (reprise) culled from a live performance @ AIR (Toyko, Japan) This one rest somewhere in the upper regions of air beyond the clouds, reminding of those early Chain Reaction works of Vladislav Delay or the horizontal analog based dream-time experiments of Steve Roach.

This release also features three new never-before-heard epic analog incarnations from the ever-evolving variant guise in various forms of sonic conversion. An exciting new development is the inclusion of a long forgotten recording (from the archives) captured from the first ever live performance of the Intrusion project (along w/brock van wey) @ the Little White Earbuds Showcase (Chicago / March 2009). Captured from a blissful moment over a decade ago and it truly hasn't aged a single solitary second. This project encapsulates the culmination of nearly 12 years of recordings and manifest into an epic hypnotic state for the ages, an opus of sorts and in one word - timeless.

Pulled from the Smallfish archive (published: 2007):

So, am I pleased, thrilled and proud to be able to announce this next Smallfish 3″ CD release? You bet I am! Coming out of Detroit and shortly to be releasing an EP on the hotly tipped Echospace label run by Rod Modell and Steve Hitchell, aka Soultek, comes this anonymous piece of music from cv313 that is simply stunning. For lovers of Dub Techno this is an absolute must-have as it’s, once again, coming in a limited edition of 100 copies only – no represses! Subtraktive is a 15 minute track featuring the sort of aquatic depth and beauty that we’ve come to associate with the likes of Echospace, Basic Channel, Deepchord and the Meanwhile label and allow me to tell you that this piece just flies by. A deep, hypnotic and subtly building intro with an insistent high-end percussive sound leads you along, drawing you in to what inevitably grows into an-ultra refined 4/4 track with a steady, wonderfully atmospheric groove that’s drenched in reverb, metallic chord licks and tape delays. Just check the samples to see exactly what I mean… and if you’re a fan of this sound (and I’m pretty sure you all know that we here at Smallfish are *big* devotees of the purity of Detroit / Berlin Techno) you should consider this an essential release. Great to be able to put something out on CD as most of this gear comes on vinyl, so for those who feel they’ve missed out on some great sounds, here’s a perfect opportunity to enjoy some authentically deep Dub Techno pleasure. Many thanks to cv313 for allowing us to release this complete and utter gem. DO NOT MISS! Due to demand for this item we are having to restrict it to one copy per customer. -Smallfish, London, UK

As the highly respected fellas at Boomkat so eloquently stated:

"The original is a classic of the Echospace catalogue, merging beatless misty dawn atmospheres with an aura of heavy influences....like a Rhythm & Sound tape stretched out on a Jamaican beach until the edges begin to fray and curl unpredictably."

OK this is a full madness; visually impaired pensioners Anne Goss (75), Kathleen Allott (74) and Mick Gladwin (65) aka Rotherham Sight & Sound play the music of persistent prism disruptor Rian Treanor with a knockout set of mutant dancehall and mercurial electro-styled zingers, a huge tip if you’re into Autechre, SND, Kakuhan, Iueke, Shubharun Sengupta. Rian Treanor keeps knocking new doors of possibility with his new label Electronic Music Club and its initial focus on Rotherham Sight & Sound, participants of a community-based initiative in their shared post-industrial home town Rotherham. Utilising software synths designed by Rian and his dad Mark Fell, the trio twist out vortices of shearing, asymmetric anarchitecture, rudely resembling the sort of hyper-contemporary styles alluded to in Rian’s solo works, but inflected with cranky timing and an intuitive freedom that bears extraordinary results, especially when considering the fact the trio had no prior musical ability, and only encountered electronic music a few years ago. After a couple of years of practice and performance, ‘Action Potential’ now firms up their quicksilver sound for club and home buzzes with seven actions that warp and morph from the needling jolts and hoof of ‘Pass The Go’, to shuddering detonations in ‘Dial’, each with a properly electrifying force carrying a genuine futureshock. Working within Rian’s systems-based framework, Anne, Kathleen, and Mick deploy a tactile feel for the machines, finely honed over the course of many sessions at the Rotherham Sight & Sound facility, that uses their visual impairments to synaesthetic advantage. Between the wickedly metallic ragga swivel of ‘Hold’, the diffractive chain reactions of ‘When It Ends’, and more tempered, sloshing sensuality of ‘30 Seconds’, the trio follow their noses down wormholes that manifest an ideal of accessibility and expressionism within electronic music contexts that Rian and Mark have long worked towards, with Anne, Kathleen and Mick’s relative lack of cultural conditioning in this paradigm prompting them to act on pure instinct. Seriously, this has to be one of the most unexpectedly brilliant and boundary shattering sides of the year, not to be missed by any self-respecting follower of the future or hyper present.

Beatrice Dillon mints her new label with her first entirely acoustic work, performed by Explore Ensemble and commissioned by Mark Fell. Stunning, major work, RIYL CC Hennix, John Cage, Pascale Criton, Helmut Lachenmann, Morton Feldman. The naturally open-ended navigation of themes in Seven Reorganisations is exemplary of an artist whose thoughtfully considered catalogue is hailed among the most notable in modern experimental music. Beatrice Dillon’s first entirely acoustic composition allows her ideas on fundamentals of space and light, structure and tone, to unfold in beguiling, inspirational new directions unveiling whole new facets of a musical vision that continues to reveal itself with each new release. Derived from a Mark Fell commission, the album features a version recorded in a London studio setting, and another taken as a live recording made at ZKM Karlsruhe in 2023. The same compositions are here articulated by the same performers, distinguished by subtle alterations of atmosphere and dynamics on each side. The studio parts remain tethered to Beatrice’s practice with the use of discrete edits of drily close-mic’d parts judiciously rearranged across the stereo field with a near-hallucinatory minimalism. In exquisite juxtaposition, the live iteration relinquishes that control to Explore Ensemble’s sextet of players cycling the piece’s musical cells in a reverberant room. The recordings encourage listeners to revel in psychoacoustic frissons of overtones and microtonal, timbral intricacy, whilst also highlighting the way her score appears to prompt the performers to stop, breathe, listen and look around them, before deciding where to go next. The schisms of fixedness and ephemerality to Seven Reorganisations are surely in keeping with Dillon’s enduring obsessions with structure and motion in organised sound, but can also be attributed to an ever expanding grasp of interrelated artforms. Extramusical cues from W.R. Bion’s psychoanalytic assertion “Inability to tolerate empty space limits the amount of space available”, and the deconstructionist philosophy of S. Korea’s Byung Chul-Han’s statement, “Leaving things out, to better hear what’s kept in”, are guiding principles as much as the misty depth perception found in Hasegawa Tohaku’s C.16th Japanese folding screens, or the shifting focal points of Terri Weifenbach’s photography (as featured on this album’s cover). Perfect metaphors for the way the composition and mixing seduces you into its filigree detail and use of negative space - the listener activating its latent detail. Comparable to Cage’s ‘In a Landscape’ in its etheric, harmonious beauty, or Pascale Criton’s ‘INFRA’ in how the music feels out the spaces in-between, Beatrice’s clean diversion from club music exposes a related, but whole other, architecture of sound that propels the imagination, embodied in reverie. Close listening rewards with passages of frankly astonishing iridescent beauty in the arp flutters of ‘Seven Reorganisations I’ and sublime tension of its lulled lacunæ in ‘Seven Reorganisations II’, with an absence of repeating melody that makes return journeys feel like revisiting a perpetually unresolved, waking dreamscape.

Martin Rev’s fifth solo album – Strangeworld – was released on the cusp of the new millennium. The label responsible was Puu, a Finnish imprint belonging to Tommi Grönlund and Mika Vainio’s Sähkö Recordings which came to fame in the 1990s on the strength of its uncompromising minimalist sound.
Four years earlier, in 1996, Rev had unleashed See Me Ridin, an album which surprised its listeners with keyboard melody sketches and distilled doo-wop compositions. It was also the first solo album to feature Martin Rev on vocals.
Strangeworld started where its predecessor left off. Melodic passages dissolved into a thicket of fragments and set pieces, coalescing in a celestial shimmer between rhythm loops and Rev’s voice, which assumed the role of an additional instrument rather than a standard singing part.

333 reissues a serious all-timer of an LP from the peak of reggae/dancehall's mid-to-late 1980s digital era, in the form of Horace Ferguson's Sensi Addict - recorded for Prince Jazzbo's Ujama label and originally released back in 1987. Produced & arranged by the late great Jazzbo (and issued here under license from the foundation deejay & producer's family) the Sensi Addict LP pulls together a selection of vocals recorded between 1984 & 1987 at Michael Carroll's Creative Sounds studio in Kingston, recorded by engineer (and singer & producer in his own right) Paul Davidson. Horace's infectious falsetto can be found riding a collection of Jazzbo's digital rhythms - from the inspired Replay version on 'Jah Order', to the updated take on the foundational Sleng Teng rhythm track on 'Tranquilizer' - representing some of the most forward-thinking production of the period outside of Jammys and King Tubby's Firehouse stables. The bulk of these rhythm tracks were performed by revered multi-instrumentalist Tyrone Downie (a long-time member of Bob Marley & The Wailers since the mid 70s, who sadly passed last November) alongside Tony "Asher" Brissett - another massively undersung session musician perhaps most notable for laying down the initial Sleng Teng rhythm track for Jammys in 1984. Also on display here are a couple of choice early 80s rhythms, recorded for Jazzbo by Errol "Flabba" Holt's legendary Roots Radics backing band. All of this comes paired with sympathetically reproduced artwork - featuring images of Horace by photographer and reggae documentarian, Beth "Kingston" Lesser.

Death Is Not The End turns 10 years old in May and as part of the celebrations we are committing a selection of DINTE NTS Radio shows from over the years to cassette. Kicking off with this recent special Skateland Soundtapes, 1980-1986 - comprising a selection of clips from sessions held at Halfway Tree, Kingston's most storied roller skating rink during the dancehall era's golden period of the early to mid/late 1980s. Audio sourced with the indefatigable efforts of the Who Cork The Dance crew - big thanks going out to Jayman, Ruff House, Keimo, Omar, Gee Wizz and the one Jah Humble.

Rezzett offer up a little something for afters on their new self-released EP

Compiled from ultra-rare dead stock pressed at a Soviet-era vinyl plant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, this first-of-its-kind fully licensed album features a supreme selection of Uzbek disco, Tajik electronic folk, Uyghur guitar licks, Crimean Tatar jazz, Korean brass, and genre-defying styles from Soviet Central Asia. Drop the needle, and you're not just hearing rare Soviet dance music. You're journeying along the Silk Roads, revisiting raucous USSR disco nights, and immersing in grooves that inspired Soviet youth to envision a different future, ultimately unraveling the Iron Curtain from within. Слушать громко! __________ Ostinato Records is proud to announce Synthesizing the Silk Roads: Uzbek Disco, Tajik Folktronica, Uyghur Rock & Crimean Tatar Jazz from 1980s Soviet Central Asia, an unprecedented new anthology of revolutionary, rarely heard dance music from the former USSR. Synthesizing the Silk Roads is the soundtrack of a little-known revolution where Soviet DJs’ demand for homegrown music inadvertently reshaped world history. It spotlights Central Asian crossroads that bridged east and west, making more than a modest contribution to global culture. Drop the needle, and you’re not just hearing rare Soviet dance music. You’re journeying along the Silk Roads, revisiting raucous USSR disco nights, and immersing in grooves that inspired Soviet youth to envision a different future, ultimately unraveling the Iron Curtain from within. In the summer of 1941, as the Nazis invaded the USSR, Stalin ordered a mass evacuation. Sixteen million people were put on trains bound eastward to Soviet Central Asia, especially Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s picturesque capital. Among those onboard were gramophone engineers who later established the Tashkent Gramplastinok plant in 1945. This factory became central to Soviet record production, part of a network of plants churning out 200 million records by the 1970s. Rare dead stock of 1980s vinyl from this plant, shut down in 1991, forms the backbone of our groundbreaking 15-track compilation, complemented by live TV recordings and curated in collaboration with Uzbek label Maqom Soul. Fully licensed directly from the artists or their families and meticulously remastered, these songs – all recorded in Tashkent – unveil a diverse tapestry of sounds from Soviet Uzbekistan and its neighbors. More than a sanctuary, Tashkent was a crucible of sound. Nestled between Europe and Asia, its legacy as a key hub along the ancient Silk Roads gave it a cosmopolitan flair for centuries. As a mainstay of Soviet recording, it welcomed artists from across the Asian expanse of the USSR. Uzbek disco divos, Tajik women artists, Uyghur bands from Kazakhstan via Xinjiang in western China, Tatar musicians from the Crimean peninsula, and even a Korean orchestra found their voice in this vibrant scene. After Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet music scene opened up. Jazz clubs blossomed, rock venues infatuated with Deep Purple emerged, and by the late 1970s, 20,000 disco clubs sprouted across the USSR. Despite mandatory one-hour ideological lectures before DJs began their sets, these clubs, fueled by synthesizer dance music, became catalysts for new worldviews. Disco clubs were cash cows and the rise of “disco mafias” marked some of the first instances of private commerce in the Soviet Union. These underground networks capitalized on the lucrative disco club scene, trading in western clothing, vinyl records, and alcohol. This burgeoning capitalism played its own role in reshaping youth perspectives and contributing to the USSR’s eventual collapse. Tashkent’s musicians often had access to a wider array of technology than their Moscow counterparts. Thanks to Uzbekistan’s Bukharan Jewish community, leading importers of state-of-the-art music tech from the US and Japan, artists on this compilation were crafting sounds on Moog and Korg synthesizers, creating the signature sonic palette that emerged from the region. While artists like Natalia Nurumkhamedova believed Uzbekistan under the Soviet Union ushered “the heyday of art and culture,” artistic expression came at a price. Some featured artists faced KGB beatings, gulag imprisonment, or forced psychiatric treatment. Yet their resilience shines through, typified by Original Band’s disco hits recorded after their leader’s release from prison. The iron curtain of Soviet secrecy has long obscured fascinating cultural narratives. Synthesizing the Silk Roads lifts that veil at last, revealing an unexpected and still extraordinary musical revolution.

Artist: Flower Travellin' Band, 50 motorcycles and others
Album title: Beam Penetration and Mad Computer, plus the Minimal Sound of Motorcycles

=Special Edition=
Format: 10-inch LP & CD + CD-R
Catalog #: EMC-023SP/OP-0018SP

Expo 70, held in Osaka, was a pivotal event for the Japanese people and their relationship with the rest of the world, demonstrating both the nation’s ongoing economic recovery from World War Two and the creative spirit of Japanese society and its artists. The event gained international acclaim for its adventurous architectural design, visual art and electronic music. Some of Japan’s most renowned composers were involved, but also present were the now-legendary rockers, the Flower Travellin' Band. A series of performances, billed as “Night Events” were held at the Expo; the most radical of these was "Beam Penetration and Mad Computer, plus the Minimal Sound of Motorcycles”, but its anti-establishment feel and general madness took the Expo organizers by surprise and it was cancelled after only one night, despite being scheduled for a longer run. An air of myth developed around the event, but a recording of the event has been discovered and this release is the result. And what an event it was: a night-time sound-bomb with a fabled band, electronic sound and 50 motorcycles with horns blaring, spotlights, electronic billboards and a robot ― all flashing, roaring and howling at the night sky. This release comprises a CD, a 10-inch record with fold-out sleeve and large obi, plus fascinating notes in Japanese and English by Kenichi Yasuda, an expert on Japanese rock music, and Koji Kawasaki, a renowned researcher of Japanese electronic music, as well as rare photos. No download code/ticket available.

Special Edition includes a CD-R of a interview program with the producers of "Beam Penetration" in 1970. At the end of the program, the Flower Travellin' Band appeared with motorcycles and performed in the studio. Also includes insert with English translation of the interview.

TRACKS:
CD “Beam Penetration” (full-length) [45:49]

10-inch (excerpts)
Side A “Beam Penetration” [14:52]
Side B “Beam Penetration” [15:15]

CD-R (Special Editon only extra disc)
"Beam Penetration" Interview & Performance on TV shop on July 13, 1970 

Artist: Flower Travellin' Band, 50 motorcycles and others
Album title: Beam Penetration and Mad Computer, plus the Minimal Sound of Motorcycles

=Regular Edition=
Format: 10-inch LP & CD
Catalog #: EMC-023/OP-0018

Expo 70, held in Osaka, was a pivotal event for the Japanese people and their relationship with the rest of the world, demonstrating both the nation’s ongoing economic recovery from World War Two and the creative spirit of Japanese society and its artists. The event gained international acclaim for its adventurous architectural design, visual art and electronic music. Some of Japan’s most renowned composers were involved, but also present were the now-legendary rockers, the Flower Travellin' Band. A series of performances, billed as “Night Events” were held at the Expo; the most radical of these was "Beam Penetration and Mad Computer, plus the Minimal Sound of Motorcycles”, but its anti-establishment feel and general madness took the Expo organizers by surprise and it was cancelled after only one night, despite being scheduled for a longer run. An air of myth developed around the event, but a recording of the event has been discovered and this release is the result. And what an event it was: a night-time sound-bomb with a fabled band, electronic sound and 50 motorcycles with horns blaring, spotlights, electronic billboards and a robot ― all flashing, roaring and howling at the night sky. This release comprises a CD, a 10-inch record with fold-out sleeve and large obi, plus fascinating notes in Japanese and English by Kenichi Yasuda, an expert on Japanese rock music, and Koji Kawasaki, a renowned researcher of Japanese electronic music, as well as rare photos. No download code/ticket available.

TRACKS:
CD “Beam Penetration” (full-length) [45:49]

10-inch (excerpts)
Side A “Beam Penetration” [14:52]
Side B “Beam Penetration” [15:15] 

"Drag City presents the first official reissue of Dorothy Carter's 1976 album debut, her folk-music exegesis, Troubadour. In her lifetime, Dorothy, a self-made traveling musician and folklorist, brought forth masterful evocations on hammered dulcimer and psaltery from a myriad of times and places. Her music was played, produced and sold outside of that era's mainstream music distribution. Troubadour reissue producer Eric Demby can look back to a childhood spent off the grid: the early '70s in rural Maine, and later on, in Boston -- wherever his freewheeling father brought the family, at one point or another, there too was Dorothy, as she lived and breathed, playing her hammered dulcimer. The early '70s found everyone living up on the farm up in rural Maine; it was here that Rutman, Constance, Dorothy and some others formed Central Maine Power Company, a troupe of almost feral improvisers playing on a combination of self-made and found instruments, with live video feedback to boot. In 1976, Dorothy had been playing music for decades, but had yet to record any of it. That year, she went to Cambridge's Studio B with Rutman and friend Steve Baer at the console. Constance and Sally Hilmer accompanied her. The performances captured there were released later that year as Troubadour. In addition to hammered dulcimer and psaltery, Dorothy played the flute and sang. She chose songs from all over: Appalachian folk tunes, old and ancient psalms and hymns, Scottish, Irish, French and Israeli melodies, with a few of her own songs for good measure. They all flow together effortlessly under Dorothy and friends' hands in a syncretic space that we can identify today as a garden of world musics -- a highly energized, alternately meditative and proselytic recital whose vitality has only burgeoned in the decades since it appeared. As it should be: the music of Dorothy Carter is akin to a portal, linking her with the eternal. This edition of Troubadour reproduces the original album package, adding an insert adorned with additional photos of Dorothy and her collection of instruments, as well as notes from Eric Demby exploring the era -- his childhood -- from a vantage point of some 50 years. This reissue is a long-held family dream come true, and it is dedicated in loving memory to Bob Rutman, Constance Demby, David Demby and Dorothy Carter."

Ever unpredictable, Drumm this time takes the fellow time-traveller through what sounds like an electronic field recording, a journey through an electronic soundscape of luminescent textures that invites immersive listening.