MUSIC

Back in the early ‘90s, whenever the pirate radio MC announced “a pause for the cause”, I usually pressed pause on my cassette recorder. That’s something I would regret years later, when ad breaks had become cherished mementos of the hardcore rave era. Luckily, back in the day I often left the tape running while I went off to do something else. So a fair number of ad breaks got captured accidentally for my later delectation. Not nearly enough, though. So in recent years I started combing through the immense number of pirate radio sets archived on the internet. Sometimes the tracklists would note “ad break” or “ads”, helping to narrow the search. But often I’d just stumble on a bunch in the middle of a pirate show preserved on YouTube or an oldskool blog. A few of my original unintended “saves” and latterday “finds” are included in this wonderful collection by audio archaeologist Luke Owen. It’s the latest in his series of compilations of UK pirate radio advertisements, with this volume focusing on the audio equivalent of the rave flyer: MCs breathlessly hyping a club night or upcoming rave, listing the lineup of deejays and MCs, boasting about hi-tech attractions like lasers and projections, mentioning prices and nearest landmarks to the venue, and occasionally promising “clean toilets” and “tight but polite security” (“sensible security” is another variation). Some of these ads are etched into my brain as lividly as the classic hardcore and jungle tunes of that time. (Most rave ads incorporate snippets of current music, of course – big anthems and obscure “mystery tracks” alike). Names of deejays ring out like mythological figures: who were Shaggy & Breeze, Kieran the Herbalist, Tinrib, Food Junkie? Putting on my serious hat for a moment, I think these ads are valuable deposits of sociocultural data, capturing the hustling energy of an underground micro-economy in which promoters, deejays and MCs competed for a larger slice of the dancing audience. But mostly, they are hard hits of pure nostalgic pleasure, amusing and thrilling through their blend of period charm, endearing amateurism, and contagiously manic excitement about rave music’s forward-surge into an unknown future. The best of these ads give me a memory-rush to rival the top tunes and MC routines of the era. — Simon Reynolds, author of Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture.

Back in the early ‘90s, whenever the pirate radio MC announced “a pause for the cause”, I usually pressed pause on my cassette recorder. That’s something I would regret years later, when ad breaks had become cherished mementos of the hardcore rave era. Luckily, back in the day I often left the tape running while I went off to do something else. So a fair number of ad breaks got captured accidentally for my later delectation. Not nearly enough, though. So in recent years I started combing through the immense number of pirate radio sets archived on the internet. Sometimes the tracklists would note “ad break” or “ads”, helping to narrow the search. But often I’d just stumble on a bunch in the middle of a pirate show preserved on YouTube or an oldskool blog. A few of my original unintended “saves” and latterday “finds” are included in this wonderful collection by audio archaeologist Luke Owen. It’s the latest in his series of compilations of UK pirate radio advertisements, with this volume focusing on the audio equivalent of the rave flyer: MCs breathlessly hyping a club night or upcoming rave, listing the lineup of deejays and MCs, boasting about hi-tech attractions like lasers and projections, mentioning prices and nearest landmarks to the venue, and occasionally promising “clean toilets” and “tight but polite security” (“sensible security” is another variation). Some of these ads are etched into my brain as lividly as the classic hardcore and jungle tunes of that time. (Most rave ads incorporate snippets of current music, of course – big anthems and obscure “mystery tracks” alike). Names of deejays ring out like mythological figures: who were Shaggy & Breeze, Kieran the Herbalist, Tinrib, Food Junkie? Putting on my serious hat for a moment, I think these ads are valuable deposits of sociocultural data, capturing the hustling energy of an underground micro-economy in which promoters, deejays and MCs competed for a larger slice of the dancing audience. But mostly, they are hard hits of pure nostalgic pleasure, amusing and thrilling through their blend of period charm, endearing amateurism, and contagiously manic excitement about rave music’s forward-surge into an unknown future. The best of these ads give me a memory-rush to rival the top tunes and MC routines of the era. — Simon Reynolds, author of Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture.

originally released on Khotin Industries in 2020. It soaks you, it puts you to sleep, it opens you up. A daydream ambient masterpiece. The debut cassette from Area 3, another name for Vancouver's popular producer Khotin, who has been the main force behind the cool house that has emerged out of Canada with Mood Hut at the top of the list. The worldview of this cassette is one of bottomless beauty, spiritual vibrancy, and profundity that cannot be described in words! The lo-fi feel and naturalistic charm of the sound world are retained, but further updated with an exquisite sense of sanctuary and hippocampal ambient. Mastered by Nik Kozub, who has also worked with Project Pablo, Jex Opolis, and others around Khotin.

originally released on Khotin Industries in 2021. It soaks you, it puts you to sleep, it opens you up. A daydream ambient masterpiece. The debut cassette from Area 3, another name for Vancouver's popular producer Khotin, who has been the main force behind the cool house that has emerged out of Canada with Mood Hut at the top of the list. The worldview of this cassette is one of bottomless beauty, spiritual vibrancy, and profundity that cannot be described in words! The lo-fi feel and naturalistic charm of the sound world are retained, but further updated with an exquisite sense of sanctuary and hippocampal ambient. Mastered by Nik Kozub, who has also worked with Project Pablo, Jex Opolis, and others around Khotin.

A virtual wizard of the mixing desk, Overton H Brown has been one of the key figures in dub since the late 1970s. Getting his start as a teenager at King Tubby's legendary studio in Waterhouse, Brown was known as 'The Scientist' because his imaginative approach to the mixing desk and electronic gadgetry seemed to derive from magical powers that linked him to some intangible, futuristic realm.

Well it's been more than 365 days and nights since we released a record on our small and independent record label based in Vancouver, BC. For better or worse we have always operated at a pace that feels natural to us. The same could be said for Mood Hut recording artist Jack J who has not released any music in over seven years. Do you remember his last record? It was called Thirstin' and it came out in the summer of 2015, hot on the heels of Something (On My Mind) which came out the year before. So naturally after this very long silence we are proud and excited to be able to finally share Opening the Door, the first full length LP by Jack J. Self-recorded slowly but surely between 2015 and 2019 between Mood Hut and C'est Life Studios, and featuring some crucial saxophone work by Linda Fox, this LP confirms Jack J to be a masterful mood maker as well as an incisive songwriter. Over the course of the album an undeniably blue haze settles over inward-peering ambient jazz, On-U-inspired digital-dub and quiet storm soft rock leaving a distinct sense of sadness amongst all the tangerine funk. Check it out!

Nico Niquo (Orange Milk), Midori Hirano, ju ca (phinery, angoisse) and more are also on the label. A limited edition of 50 copies of the CD "bonus," a self-titled companion piece released by "Picnic," a collaborative unit of "angoisse" labelmates ju ca and mdo, has been reissued on 2LP! This is also recommended as one of the most important ambient works of this year. From Nadia Khan of Where To Now, to Pepper (Ulla), Monkey Twenty (Pontiac Streator), Ben Bondy, Nap, Mister Water Wet and other heroes from around West Mineral, to Australian talents includes Low Flung, Other Joe, and many more. Allstars creates a new milestone in dub ambient. Mastered by shy, aka uon, a genius in the dub ambient world around West Mineral. Don't miss it.

Reticulated bassbin minimalism from NYC’s K Wata, runner of the pivotal clubnight, Slink, and now producer of note with a mutant style comparable to Batu or Mosca Daring to differ in a field of unapologetic copycats, K Wata makes a strong impression with his debut haul of skeletal rhythmic tics and aerated textures that feel like a ghostly distillation of current UK mutations. Feeling out murky negative space with brittle 2-step bones in ‘Meet me at the One’, he proceeds to dial up the atmospheric content around the displaced steppers footing of ‘2 Spot Text’, and proper gyring sound design in the superb centrepiece ‘Lost My Focus’. At its most supple, ‘Dot Dot Dot’ toys with delicate 2-step patterns in subtly warped hyperspace, and ‘Sling of Life’ reduces his style to pure plasmic textures and whispered murmurs that could make for a crafty bridge in DJ sets.

Late last year, Canadian producer Priori returned with his second album ‘Your Own Power’ to great acclaim. Released via his NAFF imprint, the album showcased a more contemplative style to his productions and featured one collaborative track with label partner Ex-Terrestrial. The story continues as Priori enlists a heavyweight line-up of artists to rework some of the album’s standout tracks. Slated to drop on the 18th March, ‘Your Own Power Remixes’ features new editions from Donato Dozzy, Aurora Halal, DJ Python, and Bambounou alongside a Priori VIP - each bringing their own flair and style to the record. Priori is an alias of Francis Latreille who first put out solo releases on Greek label Echovolt and Canadian imprint ASL Singles Club. Known to be an avid collaborator, Latreille is involved in a number of projects including Jump Source, M.S.L., Housemates, New World Science, ANF and more. He has also worked on mixing projects by fellow artists including Roza Terenzi, Ex-Terrestrial, RAMZi, Bambii, and Ouri.

The latest offering from 12th Isle collects a variety of recordings from Vasily Stepanov and Vlad Dobrovolski as part of their on-going S A D project (Udacha/Muscut). As part of their process, S A D sample and distort old de-magnetised tapes, constantly adding to and reworking their own sound-world. Layers of kosmiche synthesisers, off-kilter woodblock percussion and lysergic field recordings interplay with dense ambient textures in a true collage-style approach to music making. Across the nine tracks, multiple collaborations and aliases coalesce to present a thorough look at both artists approach to communicating the world around them. Drawing influence from nature and the outdoor concerts of Vladislav’s band Kurvenschreiber as well as late night free jazz shows and a similar ‘hauntological’ approach seen in Dobrovolski’s recent ‘Playbacks for Dreaming’, the pair express a unique genre-traversing attitude. More from the 12th Isle due very soon!

A well-known masterpiece that has been further foiled by the recent re-evaluation of city pop has been re-released from Italy's . Haruomi Hosono, Masataka Matsutoya, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuo Hayashi, who have been active as backing bands for numerous works under the name of Caramel Mama since 1973, have been renamed Tin Pan Array and announced in 1975. 1st album. Yoshitaka Minami, Tatsuro Yamashita, Taeko Ohnuki, Makoto Kubota, Masahiro Kuwana and others are participating as luxurious guests! Also includes Haruomi Hosono's self-cover "Choo Choo Gatta Got '75" and the tropical masterpiece "Yellow Magic Carnival" reminiscent of Martin Denny's sound, which seems to have started here three years before the formation of YMO. !!

Life Goes On Records present a reissue of The Beat Of The Earth's The Electronic Hole, originally released in 1970. Second album from the cultish experimental jam band formed in 1967 in Orange County, California. Their second effort from 1970 -- The Electronic Hole -- takes a step away from their earlier work, being composed with definite song structures versus the earlier drawn-out freeform jams. Sounding much like a west-coast version of The Velvet Underground & Nico, the album has melodic motifs but is much more primitive and mysterious than its cousin, with loads of fuzz, haunting organ, Phil Pearlman vocals, and even some sitar, acoustic strumming, and ballad-like moments ("Love Will Find A Way, Part I"). The album includes even a wild cover of Frank Zappa's "Trouble Every Day". Had the story ended here it would have been a real tragedy, as Pearlman's finest hour was yet to come. Six years later (with who knows what in between), recording commenced on the majestic Relatively Clean Rivers album with an entirely new band and musical vision.

Johnny Clarke ruled the dancehall in the mid '70s, using the clever "Flyers Rhythms" that gave some of his tunes an edge with the sound systems. But his voice was always bigger than this and his versatility to sing a wide range of vocal styles has seen him cut through the decades as one of reggae's best voices. Produced by Bunny Lee, mixed at King Tubby's studio, an absolute reggae/roots classic.

Excellent 1965 recordings from the classic quartet plus Pharoah Sanders making the way for an excellent cosmic trip.

Great JPN New Wave /Walearic! This is the first LP reissue of the '88 album by Yukako Hayase, who made a name for herself with her ennui whisper voice, including a cover by Yuko Ando and her influence on Kahimi Karie.

Saltern’s latest offering marks the first-ever release of “lost minimalist” Terry Jennings’ visionary 1960 composition, Piece for Cello and Saxophone, as arranged in just intonation by legendary composer La Monte Young for renowned cellist Charles Curtis. Born in Los Angeles in 1940, Jennings was a close associate of Young, Terry Riley, and Dennis Johnson, and an early adopter of minimalist tendencies, creating slow, sustained music, influenced by jazz, modalism, and late romantic classical music. Jennings died tragically in his early forties, most of his work lost to a chaotic life; however, his forward-looking music quietly exerted a lasting influence on composers including Young and Harold Budd. Composed over sixty years ago, Piece for Cello and Saxophone, foreshadows a number of movements in postwar avant-garde music. Despite the title, there is no saxophone on this album. At over eighty minutes, La Monte Young’s justly tuned realization of Piece for Cello and Saxophone for cello alone unifies and extrapolates Terry Jennings’ dense harmonies, creating an extended field of complex sonorities in motion, all brought to life by the immaculate playing of Charles Curtis. The recording captures Curtis in a performance from 2016 reflecting more than twenty-five years of dedication to the piece.

Already sold out at the distributor. Einstürzende Neubauten, pioneers of German industrial music and unconventional in every way, defined their challenging and creative career by using junk metal, saws, tin drums, drills, hammers and many other unexpected instruments. A masterpiece from 1981! A legendary act that is not only one of the founding fathers of industrial music, but also one of the most highly influential in the sharp musical world where avant-garde music and rock intersect. A cathartic cascade of noise. A true masterpiece that remains a radical and extreme artistic statement even after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 12-page booklet included.

This is the first re-issue of the first Silver Apples 7“ vinyl single. Originally released in 1968 on Kapp Records. Re-mastered and fully authorized by the band and the record label.

Now-Again Records presents a new, essential entry into the growing phenomenon known as Psych-Funk with Those Shocking Shaking Days: the untold story of Indonesia¡Çs various underground 70s musical scenes. Few are aware of the progressive music scenes from 1970s Indonesia, as censorship imposed by the dictator Suharto lead to crackdowns on those courageous enough to rebel. This insurgent sound - marked by relentless fuzz, over the top, politically charged lyrics, strong rhythms and a cranky low-fidelity - is as similar to that of Rare Earth protégés Power of Zeus as it is to that of South Korean psych-god Shin Jung Hyun. It is as informed by James Brown¡Çs funk as it is by the hard, progressive rock of Deep Purple and King Crimson. This anthology contains 20 tracks of hard, psychedelic, progressive rock and funk that has been largely unheard or ignored outside of the confines of this island nation. This is all thanks to the tireless (and expensive) research of Canadian hip hop producer and Southeast Asian music specialist Jason ¡ÈMoss¡É Connoy, the trust that Indonesian rock legend Benny Soebardja placed in Now-Again Records as he traversed his homeland¡Çs islands securing the necessary rights for the tracks contained within this anthology, and the cultural context added to the proceedings by Indonesian ex-pat Chandra Drews, who assisted in a track-by-track annotation. This anthology is the first of its kind – the first Western-based survey of the most impressive organizations to offer their take on the psychedelic and progressive rock and funk sounds during the shocking, shaking days of Suharto¡Çs regime. This gem can be purchased as a deluxe ¡Èmini-LP¡É tip on sleeve CD or a 3 LP triple paste on gatefold. Included are extensive liner notes, photographs, ephemera in full color booklets and, of course, fully restored and remastered audio.

Tender tonkori melodies, meditative dub excursions and hallowed folk vocals combine on Tonkori In The Moonlight, an 11-track collection of mostly traditional songs performed by indigenous Ainu musician OKI. Born on the Japanese island of Hokkaido in 1957, OKI's released his debut album in 1996 and since then he has recorded 11 studio albums both solo and with his Dub Ainu Band and toured internationally -- from WOMAD in the UK to the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC via festival appearances in Singapore, Australia and across Europe. OKI is one of only a handful of musicians who play the tonkori, a five-stringed Ainu harp, which is both the pulse of this record and the force that unifies the disparate sounds he introduces such as reggae, dub, Irish folk, throat singing, African drumming and music from Central Asia. Tonkori In The Moonlight features Umeko Ando and Kila. For fans of: Midori Takada, Siti Muharam, Minyo Crusaders, Les Filles De Illighadad, African Head Charge, Mamman Sani. "Supercool Japanese minimalism" --The Observer. "Like nothing you've ever heard before" --The Wire. "The edgy cool of Jamaica meets the kitsch cool of Japan... charming and compelling" --The Independent.

"I'm sitting in a different room than you are now. I'm recording my own voice. By the resonant frequency of the room strengthening itself, my voice is excluding only the rhythmic elements. Repeat recording and playback until completely destroyed. At that point what you hear is the very natural resonance frequency of the room expressed by my voice. I have this movement in my voice. I think of it as a way to smooth out band irregularities, and I'm not conscious of revealing this phenomenon itself. "

A repress of the classic "I'm Sitting in a Room (1969)" by contemporary musician Alvin Lucier (1931-), originally released in 1981.
By repeatedly recording and playing back the sound of voices echoing in a particular space until the voices become indistinct, the work explores the acoustical engineering of the space to reveal its specific frequencies. It is a work that can only be realized by actually being there, and although it can be perceived as a mere acoustic work just by listening to the recorded sound source, its original purpose is a groundbreaking content that allows the listener to embody a vast and infinite space.

1980 super masterpiece. A work released in 1972, in which a wire with a length of 15 meters was pasted, huge magnets were installed at both ends, and the vibration relationship between air and wire was emitted by an oscillator. This CD contains four tracks of about 18 minutes, but it seems that it was actually an installation for 72 hours in a row. A meditative ecstatic continuous sound that changes depending on the ceiling of the place, the flow of air, the comings and goings of people, etc.

double LP version. 180 gram vinyl; includes CD. Tak:Til/Glitterbeat present the first ever reissue and remastering of Jon Hassell and Farafina's prescient, "Fourth World" masterwork, Flash of the Spirit, originally released in 1988. Propulsive Burkinese rhythms meet revelatory, ambient soundscapes. Co-produced with the legendary studio team of Brian Eno and Dainel Lanois. Composer and trumpeter Jon Hassell has been an elusive, iconic musical figure for more than half a century. He's best known as the pioneer and propagandist of "Fourth World" music, mixing technology with the tradition and spirituality of non-western cultures. In 1987 he joined with Farafina, the acclaimed percussion, voice, and dance troupe from Burkina Faso, to record Flash of the Spirit. While the album is a natural extension of those "Fourth World" ideas, and a new strand of Possible Musics, it also a distinctive outlier in the careers of both artists; an unrepeated merging of sounds whose influence still reverberates today. The eight members of the band -- who had also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and Ryuichi Sakamoto -- brought their long apprenticed, virtuosic drumming, and melodic textures (balafon, flute, voices) to the sessions. They built up layers and patterns of rhythm, while producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois (fresh off the success of U2's Joshua Tree) created a sonic atmosphere in which they could creatively intertwine with Hassell's digitally processed trumpet and keyboards. Despite their initial skepticism, the musicians from Farafina ended up relishing their interaction with the studio team and the trumpeter/conceptualist Hassell. The music that emerged was rich and groundbreaking, a move to transcend the boundaries between jazz, avant-garde classical, ambient and the deep rhythmic tradition embodied by Farafina. On "Out Pours", the groove simmers softly, led by shifting patterns on the balafon, while Hassell's heavily treated trumpet creates breathy swirls of sound that play and dance around them. Percussion leads on "A Vampire Dances," pushing and probing and seeming to force electronic shrieks as a response from Hassell's trumpet, while the keyboard creates a bed of sound that refuses to hold still. "(Like) Warriors Everywhere" takes that idea even further. Over Farafina's surging rhythms, Hassell's electric piano and trumpet dig deep into abstract, melodic ideas hinted at by the Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis band. Farafina create the rhythms and counter-rhythms that spring and move. A new, natural trans-cultural harmony is apparent on the final track, "Masque", where percussion and treated trumpet draw the listener along on a journey through shifting landscapes.

An early 1982 masterpiece by Scientist, a dub alchemist also known as King Tubby's right arm. The jacket and title are amazing, but the content is heavy, crazy and humorous dub processing.