MUSIC

After his participation in a masterpiece such as Popol Vuh's Hosianna Mantra, in the early 1980s Klaus Wiese produced a series of seminal works in the field of ambient-drone and healing music. The first of these, Baraka, was released on tape by Acquamarin in 1981, and already contained all the aspects of his future research into the mysticism of sound. Wiese shares the path with other German explorers such as Hamel, Fricke, Micus or Deuter, but he focuses his attention on the most essential nature of sounds, on their acoustic purity, which is always infinite spiral, vortex of frequencies and cosmic bath. It takes only a few means (zither, tampoura, cybals, singing bowls) to reach the absolute through vibration. Like the archaic mood of a great universal harmony, the sound suggests a complete state of otherworldly meditation, an enveloping cloud of peace in the eternity of the present. The musician is only the one who distributes and directs the thickenings of ethereal matter, microtonal agglomerates, cascades of celestial harmonics and emotional floods, petals and stems of devotion.

Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.

Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”

What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.

The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”

Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" packaging. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra. 
credits

Meditations bestseller! An encounter between an illusionary ambience that lets you experience an organic space and a classical house that shines deeply. The style is different, but the content is quiet, spatial, and artistic, and it is a universal content that is similar to Larry Heard's world view. It's a deep and radical masterpiece that silently tells us that house is an art and a noble message. A folded poster is attached to the PVC sleeve.

Thus far, Zach Saginaw's releases as Shigeto have been fragments, albeit singularly satisfying fragments--EP-length glimpses into the Brooklyn producer's creative psyche. After filling two EPs on Ghostly International, Shigeto's lush, sumptuous take on instrumental hip-hop has fully materialized. Full Circle, the artist's first full-length album, completes the journey begun with Shigeto's Semi-Circle EP, synthesizing the drummer/producer's signature themes of family, continuity, and musical boundary-pushing into a vibrant, fully unified artistic statement. The sounds on Full Circle come from four years of obsessive field recording and collaboration. Saginaw brought his Tascam mini-recorder with him everywhere, capturing the "glasses, chains, breathing, children, family meals, monks singing in cathedrals, walks in the south of France, and good friends offering their musical skill" that would all find homes in the record's compositional nooks and crannies. As a result of Saginaw's constant documentation, the songs on Full Circle play like chapters in an ongoing story--as in "Escape from the Incubator", whose initial rhythmic claustrophobia opens up into a boom-clap nocturnal chase, or "French Kiss Power Up", whose romantic digital strut gives way to discord and fragmentation as the waves of synthesizer give way to a shaky, neurotic coda. Full Circle is framed by the "Ann Arbor" diptych, a pair of beat suites named after Saginaw's hometown (one featuring a sample of Detroit MC SelfSays), all double-thick synths and triple-strength kick drums. Saginaw plays the majority of his rhythms by hand, and Full Circle's consistently deep pocket is the record's secret weapon, thumping and breathing like a living being. Having set the stage with Semi-Circle and What We Held On To EPs--twin treatises on Saginaw's Japanese grandmother's escape from a US internment camp--Shigeto is clearly ready to draw the tale to a close and take center stage. "This release represents the end of the beginning--or perhaps that there is no end and no beginning at all," says Saginaw. Regardless, Full Circle is the start of something great.

Tomoyoshi Date, a physician and musician known for his releases on prominent ambient labels such as 12K (US), LAAPS (France), and QuietDetails (UK), will release his piano trilogy, created between 2021 and 2024, on November 10 via Bandcamp in a limited edition of 150 cassettes.
This trilogy includes 438Hz, As it is, As you are, released by LAAPS and selected as one of Bandcamp’s Best Ambient albums in January 2023; Tata, composed for Silver Gelatin’s exhibit at Tata in Koenji, Tokyo; and Requiem, a piece dedicated in memory of a close friend who passed away too soon. All three albums are packaged in special jackets featuring found photographs curated by Silverわ Gelatin and are being released simultaneously.
Created with the theme of “objects and the passage of time,” this trilogy is characterised by elongated, repetitive piano motifs, microsound elements, and organic electronics, aiming to blur the line between rhythm and melody. Recently, Date has been working on a world-first program that auto-generates pure-intonation music (www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1BNEjMtL1o). This trilogy serves as a culmination of Date’s past compositions in equal temperament.

Tomoyoshi Date, a physician and musician known for his releases on prominent ambient labels such as 12K (US), LAAPS (France), and QuietDetails (UK), will release his piano trilogy, created between 2021 and 2024, on November 10 via Bandcamp in a limited edition of 150 cassettes.
This trilogy includes 438Hz, As it is, As you are, released by LAAPS and selected as one of Bandcamp’s Best Ambient albums in January 2023; Tata, composed for Silver Gelatin’s exhibit at Tata in Koenji, Tokyo; and Requiem, a piece dedicated in memory of a close friend who passed away too soon. All three albums are packaged in special jackets featuring found photographs curated by Silverわ Gelatin and are being released simultaneously.
Created with the theme of “objects and the passage of time,” this trilogy is characterised by elongated, repetitive piano motifs, microsound elements, and organic electronics, aiming to blur the line between rhythm and melody. Recently, Date has been working on a world-first program that auto-generates pure-intonation music (www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1BNEjMtL1o). This trilogy serves as a culmination of Date’s past compositions in equal temperament.

Tomoyoshi Date, a physician and musician known for his releases on prominent ambient labels such as 12K (US), LAAPS (France), and QuietDetails (UK), will release his piano trilogy, created between 2021 and 2024, on November 10 via Bandcamp in a limited edition of 150 cassettes.
This trilogy includes 438Hz, As it is, As you are, released by LAAPS and selected as one of Bandcamp’s Best Ambient albums in January 2023; Tata, composed for Silver Gelatin’s exhibit at Tata in Koenji, Tokyo; and Requiem, a piece dedicated in memory of a close friend who passed away too soon. All three albums are packaged in special jackets featuring found photographs curated by Silverわ Gelatin and are being released simultaneously.
Created with the theme of “objects and the passage of time,” this trilogy is characterised by elongated, repetitive piano motifs, microsound elements, and organic electronics, aiming to blur the line between rhythm and melody. Recently, Date has been working on a world-first program that auto-generates pure-intonation music (www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1BNEjMtL1o). This trilogy serves as a culmination of Date’s past compositions in equal temperament.

The latest album by Melbourne, Australia-based experimental unit CS + Kreme, "The Butterfly Drinks The Tears Of The Tortoise", will be released on vinyl by the renowned London label, The Trilogy Tapes, run by Will Bankhead!

After delivering one of this decade’s early classic LPs, Naarm’s brilliantly incomparable CS + Kreme morph into modal jazz electronic mutations on a deadly cool but restless new album exploring the fissures of Detroit beatdown, early ‘00s electronica, contemporary midnight jazz and ambient rituals, featuring contributions from Bridget St John and James Rushford. Adored around these parts since their 2016 debut 12” with Total Stasis, Conrad Standish & Sam Karmel’s duo really dominated our listening lives during the pandemic with ’Snoopy’, a heady elision of downbeat styles that crossed borders between lysergic Coil rites and illbient trip hop with a snug intimacy and emotive grip that rewarded deeper with every listen. One of their last live shows before the pandemic was held at The White Hotel in Salford, where the formative, physical experience of performing their music on a finely tuned sound system stuck with the duo as they caught one of the last flights back to Australia, where they endured one of the harshest lockdown protocols in the world; not allowed to travel more than 5 miles from home, and only for limited amounts of time. During lockdown the residual glow of the preceding months buoyed their spirits and prompted a new slant on CS + Kreme music, urging them to get deeper into it, with melody taking more of a backseat to texture and groove as the recordings manifested a more built-in, metaphoric and circular, organic quality that feels very much in-the-present, but also gently dissociative, evoking the interstitial states of mind of natural highs and nostalgic reminiscence ‘Orange’ arrives as the ideal sibling to ’Snoopy’, blessed with a touch-sensitive emotional intelligence and sensuality that oozes therapeutic vibes. The swirling energies of their first LP here feel settled into a quietly profound psychedelic experience, with longer track lengths allowing their feelings to grow and slosh over the senses with a groggier suspension of disbelief from the snaking rustle of ‘Baseline’ thru the extraordinary 20 minute depths of oily ambient invocation to ‘Storms Rips Banana Tree’ featuring James Rushford on portative organ, Wurlitzer and harpsichord. The spirit of Arthur Russell's "World of Echo" looms over 'Shred', as moody, viscous strings roll over reduced, machine-gun drum machine patterns and deranged lite-jazz electric piano. Any links the mind makes are inevitably blotted into surreal shapes almost immediately; just as you think you have an idea of where the track's coming from, bizarre vocals and unsettling flute blasts wrench you into a different locale. Even on the relatively austere 'Voice of the Spider', what starts as a baroque minimal techno slowly mutates into glassy FM modernism, with vocal chants and delirious, curvaceous instrumentation that plays like Kemetrix and Detroit Escalator Company on a dank one. If there's one element that lashes each disparate composition together, it's CS + Kreme's use of voices. On each track there's inevitably a wordless breathiness that roots us in the duo's sonic philosophy; their instrumentals might flutter between vastly different forms of expression, but their transient principles are moored by the most human expression of all. The whisper turns into a murmur (sung by legend Bridget St John) on 'Would You Like a Vampire', and lyrics form a near-song, sounding like Hood's rainy electro-indie variations supplanted into CS + Kreme's psychedelic headspace. It's as close as the duo get to pop, and they follow it by embarking on the album's most uncompromising moment, a 20-minute finale that lurches from transcendent ritual drone into jerky electronics, freeform doom jazz and growling basement noise. If you've made it this far then you've been initiated into Standish and Karmel's musical coterie, and this final mutated gesture feels like a gift from the duo to their most dedicated listeners.

"Yesterday it started to rain… The smell of damp tarmac rising up through open windows, a smell which is uniquely evocative for us all depending on our individual histories: a suburban pavement, a school playground, a basketball court. The rain cut through a band of low pressure that had been lying over the city for days, pinging rhythmically off metal, causing rolling tyres to hiss and spit. The music that soundtracked this meteorological shift was the debut full length from Rain Text (Giuseppe Ielasi & Giovanni Civitenga), simply titled III. Scattered throughout the nameless eight tracks there are moments of low-end pressure relieved by the fizz and clatter of metallic rhythms; there is static, there is discord, there is release. The individuals comprising Rain Text have a long history of manipulating sounds for evocative ends, Giuseppe Ielasi has been making music as one half of Bellows for many years, each album stretching and destroying their sound in beautiful increments. He has also released reliably inspirational music either solo or in collaboration for the likes of Editions Mego, Shelter Press and Faitiche. His sensitive ears are also in high demand as a mastering engineer. It is worth perusing the 800+ releases he has technical credits for on Discogs: from classics of the avant-garde to the freshest faces of the Swedish underground, the chances are some of your favourite albums are included. Giovanni Civitenga helms the SKYAPNEA long-running NTS show. Joining him, you can enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of deep listening through shows that flit between the industrial and the devotional, a space that is fully explored on III. The album was recorded quickly over three fertile days in Ielasi’s studio in Monza, but of course results like this can only be achieved at such a pace by spending a lifetime obsessing over the mechanics and possibilities of sound. Those who are enamoured by the rain—who are returned by it to the surfaces, smells and sounds of a lost and idealised youth; who feel themselves restored—are known as ‘pluviophiles’. Their response to rain may well have a biological explanation: when rain hits tarmac negative ions are released into the air, which are thought to result in feelings of wellbeing and positivity. All the more reason, then, to return to the vivid ecosystem that Rain Text has so carefully cultivated for III." Words by The Dengie Hundred – August 2024

UK hip-hop artist Roots Manuva's two classic albums Roots Manuva's two classic albums are reissued by Big Dada to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their release.

kaoru inoue is a japanese veteran producer and dj since late 90’s. he has been releasing from his own label “seeds and ground” and some other labels like mule musiq,groovement. the original release of this album was released in 2013 in only japan. it’s a very own style mix of world music, field recording, ambient and electronic music. the album is started by minimal gamelan ambient “malam”,the second track “selva” is minimal afro brazilian house which reminds us early luciano or villalobos. third track “kamui fuchi” is electric jazz fusion house, fourth track “sphere” is like joan bibiloni in late 80’s. on b side,”etenraku” is avant-garde tribal break beats,”she was in ecstasies”&”escape dub” are typical his style balearic slow house. the album is closed with beautiful melancholic new age music “healing force”. this album is a timeless masterpiece for us.

Rausch with no name / My beautiful shine / You are the sun / This is where I want to be /
Rausch with no morning / This is where we burn / The Stars sparkle / In a sea of flames /
Horns and fanfares / Fanfares of joy / Fanfares of fear /
The wine we drink through the eyes / The moon pours down at night in waves /
Careful with that axe Eugene / Personal Jesus / No beginning no end /
Eighteenth of Oktember / The night falls / The king comes / The hunt starts /
Freude schöner Götterfunken / The long march through the underwood / Trust me there’s nothing /
Once upon a time there was a bandit / Who loved a prince / That was long ago /
Spring Summer Fall and Gas / There is a train heading to Nowhere /
Drums and Trumpets / Future without mankind / Warm snow / Alles ist gut /
The bells toll / You are not alone / The murmur in the forest / The murmur in the head /
Light as mist / Heavy as lead / Music happens / To flow like gas /
A clearing / Heavy baggage / Debut in the afterlife / Death has seven cats /
World heritage Rausch / Finally infinite

The second album from Noda & Wolfers on NIghtwind Records is here!!! With EVIL FADES IN ECHO the Japanese dub melodica virtuoso Takafumi Noda aka Mystica Tribe meets up with Danny Wolfers Legowelt again for an unique concoction of digital dub acid hall with raw lo-fi synth wave. 

Buckets of echo, crumbled tapes, Mind altering phasers, luring spring reverbs, sloppy hythm boxes, HEAVY INTENSE BASS and the ever mystifying melodica playing from Noda bring this project to a new level.</p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 373px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1093018074/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://legowelt.bandcamp.com/album/evil-fades-in-echo">Evil Fades in Echo by Noda &amp; Wolfers</a></iframe>

Analog reissue of his fourth solo album, released on Midi Records in October 1984. The album was produced over a period of one year and eight months, and has a beautiful, stateless atmosphere and elegance. Cutting by Bernie Grundman Mastering, U.S.A. Japanese pressing, limited edition. Participating musicians: Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, Kenji Omura, Toshinori Kondo, Tatsuro Yamashita, Yasuaki Shimizu, Yoshiaki Shirai and Masahiro Takekawa of Moonriders, etc.

2nd solo album. Focusing on “sound” and “tone” itself, this is a radical and ambitious work that has transcended its time and continues to radiate innovative brilliance.

Mana Records, the experimental label run by Andrea Zarza, curator of the British Library's Sound Archive, and Matthew Kent of Blowing Up The Workshop, has released their latest mixtape on the cult cassette label Good Mana Records, the experimental label run by Matthew Kent of Blowing Up The Workshop, has released its latest mixtape on the cult cassette label Good Morning Tapes! Six years in the making, Mana has released 20 mixtapes, ranging from a reissue of music concrete/acoustic poetry by Luc Ferrari to contemporary American synth music by Madalyn Merkey, Japanese film soundtracks by Hiroyuki Onogawa, and killer Indonesian rhythms by the Uwalmassa collective. The Uwalmassa Collective has made a strong impression with 20 outstanding releases ranging from fourth world fantasy to lilting Indonesian rhythms. From fourth-world fantasy to lilting optimism, from ambient lullabies of unknown origin to soaring electronic rhythms, this is a scenic, 95-minute long ambient trip through atmospheric, experimental, and blissful zones carefully selected from around the world.

"Joe McPhee's first international release, Black Magic Man, was issued on the newly formed Hat Hut imprint in 1975. It was a watershed moment for the 35-year-old musician. Based in Poughkeepsie, New York, he was too far away from Manhattan to have participated extensively in the Loft Jazz happenings of the decade. European exposure, however, would give McPhee an alternative circuit, something of an escape route from the trappings of American cultural myopia. "In support of the new record for this Swiss label, McPhee invited John Snyder on a European tour in October 1975. Snyder was a synthesizer player with whom McPhee had made the duet LP Pieces Of Light, released a year earlier on CjR. The two musicians developed an extensive repertoire, playing diverse spaces in the Hudson Valley. Geographically close gigs were a plus, since it took extra energy to hoist Snyder's ARP 2600.

After a limited self-release in 2022, Extravision, the deeply therapeutic musico-psychonautic offering from experimental guitarist Guy Blakeslee has received the Leaving Records “all genre” re-release treatment, with the understanding that more listeners should hear with this vulnerable and graceful document. The record is, in a word, a balm. Like a window flung open on a sweltering day, Extravision occasions the sudden awareness of space, of calm, of context, of possibility. The record also catalogs a musician’s search for meaning and healing in the wake of catastrophe. Since its initial run, Blakeslee has been bracingly open about Extravision’s genesis. On March 13th, 2020, while walking across the street, Blakeslee was struck by a car. Upon regaining consciousness the following day, the hospitalized Blakeslee found both the outer world and his inner world suddenly transformed. As lockdowns took effect, it was immediately clear that the brain injuries Blakeslee sustained had not only affected his vision but altered his very consciousness and would inevitably affect his music-making. From Los Angeles, to Virginia, to Baltimore, he pursued physical and spiritual recovery with music as his primary medicine. Sitting for hours at the piano, the man for whom guitar had always been the primary instrument now intuited the riddles and patterns laid out neatly before him in black and white. Armed with beginner’s mind and a cassette 4-track, Blakeslee began to experiment with wordless, impressionistic songcraft. Extravision is the transcendent result, an hour-plus compendium of humble and fiery dalliances with the musical and psychical unknown—a record from a lifelong musician rediscovering the joys and vexations of learning. Throughout Extravision, the guitar exists as both specter and reference. A majority of the album’s tracks notably do not feature any discernible guitar—the songs functioning as emotive, drone-based exercises in texture and duration. And yet, one never doubts the extent to which Blakeslee’s practice has been (and continues to be) informed by a uniquely American folk guitar idiom. We are, with Blakeslee as our guide, gladly charting the vast and newest horizons of so-called “American Primitive” music, now often referred to as “Cosmic American.” And when Blakeslee’s interdimensional guitar does eventually emerge — see the album’s fittingly final title track, “Extravision”— the sweetness, not untinged by loss, is palpable. Blakeslee has stated that his goal, with Extravision, is to induce in the listener a trance-like state, to inaugurate the conditions under which time might function “differently.” To be sure, the drones and gentle recurrent phrases that comprise much of Extravision are a welcome antidote to the now commonly felt acceleration of time. But it is the experience that Blakeslee is transmitting with and through and beyond these musical gestures—the experience of non-linear time, of total time-loss, of starting again, of retracing one’s steps and rerouting one’s journey—that challenges and rewards us.

Delight, Arushi Jain’s follow-up to 2021’s seminal Under the Lilac Sky, out March 29 2024 on Leaving, carries, at its core, the simple proposition that delight is accessible and that the practice of cultivating it is a necessary endeavor. Weaving together emotions, imagery, and a sense of yearning for beauty, Jain aims to instill belief in the ever-present nature of delight, asserting the need to actively seek it when not readily found. The enhanced perception of this elusive emotion, Jain asserts, comes through extended observation of the present - the longer we look, the more we see - an idea that serves as a guide in her quest for delight. The introduction of cello, classical guitar, marimba, flute, and saxophone plus rich Indian classical vocals, all layered with modular synthesis, expands her sonic vocabulary to a lush textural landscape and signals new areas of creative focus. Jain, for the uninitiated, is a multi-hyphenate artist/musician (composer, vocalist, engineer, modular synthesist) . As has been widely noted, Arushi Jain deploys the sounds and aesthetics of contemporary experimental electronic music to channel, celebrate, iterate upon, and interrogate traditional Indian idioms. Under the Lilac Sky, her first LP (also released on Leaving), constituted an offering of sorts: a six-song suite intended to accompany the listener as they watched the sun’s setting. But while Jain’s last record was concerned with time, space, and our outer environment, Delight is reflective, occasionally approaching the autobiographical—simultaneously a record of an artist’s inward journey, and an invitation/roadmap for the listener to embark on their own search for delight. Each of Delight's nine tracks were inspired by Raga Bageshri (a raga being a melodic framework particular to Indian classical music). Bageshri is said to convey the feeling of waiting to reunite with one’s beloved. It possesses an innate longing, colored by potent fantasies of reunion. “Bageshri embodies the realization that you have unknowingly fallen deeply in love. It triggers within me immense devotion, juxtaposed with a poignant acknowledgement of suffering; for love as immense is often challenging to reciprocate”, Jain writes. “We come into this world alone, and we leave alone. Despite this knowledge, the human capacity for love is without reservation, which I find generous.” She sings of connection to a past and future self, and the creative practice (see the meditation on intimacy, “Our Touching Tongues”), but her longing feels more expansive. The beloved Jain invokes throughout Delight is not a lover, as Bageshri calls for, but delight itself. Stirred by Raag Bageshri during a creative fallow, Jain decamped to Long Island, where she composed and recorded the core of her new album. She assembled a makeshift studio in an empty house on the seaside, a house suffused with light and art and surrounded by wildlife. This ambience has clearly seeped into the album, drenched as it is in the warm sun as it is in the cold October rain. In her self imposed isolation, Jain experimented with vocal compositions, building songs out of short sung phrases. Jain ended her solitary writing by entering a previously unexplored territory of collaboration, working with acoustic instrumentalists to incorporate classical guitar, cello, marimba, flute, and saxophone into her sonic vocabulary. The result is a collection of songs that are often slower and sparer than those featured on Under the Lilac Sky, yet audibly richer, embracing the transcendental potential of repetition and the nuance of sampling live instruments on her synthesizer. Phrases, lyrics, and notes recur, but the feelings they evoke are consistently novel; Delight is diverse and fluid. Each song documents, by Jain’s own account, a tussle with the void, a journey into the unknown. She has opened an unmarked door and returned with small things that bring delight, precious and unexpected; we catch their glimmer in each recording. Indeed, Delight serves as an abject reminder that, through attention, openness, and practice, we are all capable of tapping into this necessary human sensation.

"Just want to emphasize that Detroit is my heart. That’s the environment of my imagination. From the beginning." Gerald Cleaver Drummer-Turned-Techno Manipulator Gerald Cleaver Transforms the Evolution of Detroit’s Music Scene into Infectious Electronic Music in Fourth Album with 577 Records and Positive Elevation The electronic album you’ve all been waiting for has arrived! Detroit-born drum slayer Gerald Cleaver is making this summer even better with the upcoming release of a new, mysterious electronic ensemble that takes us to the next level of his unique avant-garde approach. The Process is brought to you by 577 Records and its sub-label, Positive Elevation, which is focused exclusively on electronic experimentation and avant soul. It marks his fourth collaboration with the companies. Known for his ability to use the unpredictability of improvisation to deliver an unbelievable experience, Cleaver explains that the theme of The Process is the “celebration of the freedom and power of the Black American male.” Its very name bears the idea of persisting, of becoming everlasting. He likens The Process (both the album and his methods) to the evolution of Detroit’s robust music scene, highlighting the importance of reaching a younger audience to keep its “Electrifying Mojo” alive and thriving. “I want this record heard like a long mix because this inspiration came from my song, ‘El Permanente’, which you hear near the end,” the musical genius says. “The joy in it ([and in] every electronic album) for me is it plays off of my heart’s passion: improvising. I create an inspiring sound, then I start improvising. That’s the legacy of Roscoe Mitchell. For me, it’s one of the most profound lessons (musical and otherwise).” The son of beloved drummer John Cleaver, Gerald picked up percussion effortlessly at an early age. You may recognize him from his involvement in projects like Welcome Adventure (also featuring Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, and William Parker) and Into the Wilderness (with Hprizm a.k.a High Priest and Brandon Lopez). He’s performed and collaborated with diverse artists, including Roscoe Mitchell, Tommy Flanagan, Eddie Harris, and many others. He introduced the world to his mesmerizing electronic creations as a composer and producer in 2020. Every note on The Process weaves together Gerald’s deep love and appreciation for the city that shaped him, its rich culture, and his relentless passion for creating transcendent yet relatable music that is to be felt (not only heard). Enjoy it on LP, CD, and digital download beginning August 16, 2024.

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Plastikman, aka Richie Hawtin, has remastered his groundbreaking second album, Musik, from the original tapes for a new limited bio-vinyl edition. The record was first released in November 1994 through NovaMute and Plus 8, following the debut Plastikman album, Sheet One (1993). A masterclass in minimal techno, Musik quickly propelled Hawtin to new levels of success. The release followed Plastikman’s first-ever live performance in a black vinyl-encased room at a semi-derelict Packard Plant in Detroit, where Hawtin was central to the burgeoning underground scene. Before the full album hit the shelves, the track "Plastique" (which was later described by Q as “...the flipside to Hawtin’s early singles, all ticking percussion, feline acid tweaks, and cushioned sub-bass”) set the stage for a more dance floor-friendly album, albeit one with an unsettling and sinister side. The album, described by The Guardian as “music as you've never heard it before” and by The Wire, who made it one of their Albums of the Year, as “... a masterpiece”, defined a moment in techno that still echoes today. Now, 30 years later, the album has been remastered from the original tapes, reminding us why Plastikman is a name that still resonates and that the album’s intensity – on and off the dance floor – has lost none of its potency in the intervening years.

Producer Pieter Kock, active also as a DJ under his DJ Peacock guise, is known for being one of the people behind the legendary O Tannenbaum bar and club, a haven of sorts in Berlin nightlife for years, and the newly opened second O Tannenbaum called Schankwirtschafft O Tannenbaum. He has released some of his own music on labels such as Musikii, RIO, Full Body Massage, Fantasy Fiction Records, Moonwalk X, and Invisible Inc, and has extensively collaborated with people and projects such as Meeuw and De Fabriek. His new Bright Bars From The Stars album on Meakusma is a dizzying amalgam of moods and influences. From ghostly and contemplative tracks to spaced-out and dubbed-out dark dancefloor psychedelia infused with melodics, phrasing, and percussive patterns reminiscent of pop and avant-garde alike, Bright Bars From The Stars features a full album on vinyl, with an extra CD included. Kock is a versatile chronicler of the night, capturing the beauty, loneliness, and endless possibilities of wide avenues pining for neon lights, futuristic descents into past moods and modes, and all. 14 tracks in total, Bright Bars From The Stars is a cosmic, at times gentle, at times confrontational affair that brims with ideas and influences. Combining sounds, rhythms, melodies, and textures from a wide variety of sources and meanings, Pieter Kock brings all of his influences together, intent on finding new paths of thinking and feeling. His pictures printed in the CD booklet give some kind of indication of his artistic process, without ever wanting to push things in any kind of direction. Cocktail bars of a dystopian future, unite! Bright Bars From The Stars is the soundtrack to a very encompassing and transformative night out. All compositions by Pieter Kock except Bright Bars From The Stars by Pieter Kock and Dominik Peacho Noé Mastering & Cut by Rashad Becker Art by Pieter Kock and Meeuw

Roger Robinson is one of the most versatile voices in the dub poetry scene today, seamlessly blending the power of the written word with the raw energy of the soundsystem. Teaming up once again with Dub wizard Disrupt to conclude an album trilogy that began with “Dis Side Ah Town” and “Dog Heart City“, Robinson pulls a wide range of riddims straight from the Jahtari vaults to create “Heavy Vibes“, a killer fusion of bass, poetry, and social consciousness. With a voice oscillating between soulful falsetto and deep poetry thunder Robinson’s verses hit as hard as the bass, challenging the listener to confront uncomfortable truths, while Disrupt’s richly textured, dub-heavy production ensures the music moves both body and mind. You’ll find yourself dancing, but more importantly, you’ll find yourself thinking. Coming with stunning cover art by Kiki Hitomi and featuring deadly riddims by Tapes, Naram, Jura Soundsystem, Maffi and Bo Marley, “Heavy Vibes” balances the weight of oppression with a glimmer of hope – the belief that change is possible, that the beat goes on, and that through solidarity and art, new futures can be forged.