Techno / House

Ulla Straus is a Philadelphia-based ambient artist who has released a number of masterpieces of acoustic dub/ambient music under the direction of Huerco S. collaboration with Pontiac Streator on West Mineral, a label that is now recognized as a sacred place, caused quite a stir. This album was released in 2020 under a different name from a new label [Experiences Ltd] started by uon, a special guest DJ who is an important acoustic dub act at [West Mineral]. It's so beautiful and so deep, you can sink into it forever. This album is built around chant sampling and piano, and is a further exploration of the world of "Big Room", a masterpiece ambient cassette released last year on [Quiet Time]. Mastered by D&M and amp; cut to perfection. Limited to 400 copies. Don't miss it if you like "Mono No Aware" or "bblisss", not to mention [West Mineral] works!

reversals and slippage toward glass, reconfigured
smasht past it
smeared the oil cross currents
and me
plant rotting its container, or, grains lovingly
no warm water to spit back
no cloth to tie

i glance back
refractions stack right.

a kiss that will stew until it evaporates
scuffed across my feet, feet crossed

bubbled trash that spilt intermittently,
who cleaned the air with a smudgey for you.

Huerco S’ West Mineral label follow Pendant’s sublime 'Make Me Know You Sweet' album with uon’s wholly absorbing study in brownian motion and isolation tank ambience; a hypnotically lush exploration of underwater romance. If you're into the impeccable run of Vainqueur releases on Chain Reaction, this one's for you.

It’s the 2nd release from the enigmatic project, whose debut 12”s in 2017 was among the year’s standout ambient and dub-related releases. On this new one uon poetically describes three different behaviours of water and its amorphous states through a gently elemental push and pull of forces best considered in the vein of Basic Channel, Wolfgang Voigt’s Gas or the shimmering convections of Ross 154.

Beautifully elusive but crucially watermarked with a sense of originality in personalized style, Solaris opens the set with a 17 minute cut - a seemingly infinite journey through swells of diffracted chords and silty filters, simultaneously connoting sensations of opiated amniotic safety and oceanic infinity.

Where the A-side feels like floating in a lush mass, the bass-heavy articulation of his B-side’s J may well urge listeners onto the ‘floor with the same, inexorable traction of classic Vainqueur records, and in a way smartly reflects uon’s mutable DJ style, before the aqueous qualities of his final track Bus soothes to a deeper blue state of loved-up introspection which, like Solaris, could have have easily taken up a side to itself.

Bliss.

One of the biggest classics in housemusic history! Containing 4 masterpieces in the genre by one of its masterminds. It's about time that people become aware of the talents of Larry Heard (aka Mr Fingers). One could easily say that he is the Miles Davis of housemusic. On this remastered release we have Stars, Waterfalls, Slam Dance and For So Long. 4 tracks with unique alienating machine rhythms, intense basslines and overwhelming beauty in an abstract way that was never heard before, untill this release came out. House Classic Must Have!! iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c3eMQB8h-eI" allowfullscreen="" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0">

New York-based genius Madteo, who has released strong titles on such prestigious labels as DDS, Sähkö Recordings and Hinge Finger, is back this year on Honest Jon's!

Rare dubs, version excursions and unreleased tracks from the vault 1980 - 1983.

In the tradition of archival On-U Sound compilations of recent years such as the Return Of The Crocodile and Churchical Chant Of The Iyabinghi sets for African Head Charge; and the Displaced Masters LP of early Dub Synidcate rarities, we’ve gone through the tape vaults to put together this special record of unreleased versions and rarities from the white hot early days of the New Age Steppers, the group that launched the On-U Sound label by appearing on both the first single and album.

Highlights include a restored track from their infamous and long-lost 1983 John Peel session (an ebullient cover of Atlantic Starr’s “Send For Me” featuring a beautifully spirited vocal performance from the much-missed Ari Up), the Jah Woosh deejay cut of “Love Forever”, some rare dubs previously only available on Japanese import CDs, all bookended by two very different takes on Chaka Khan’s “Some Love”. An essential set for collectors of post-punk, dub and other outernational sounds.

Following a 1997 compilation album on Carl Craig's Planet E label, Moodyman's virtually first album, released in 1998 on the prestigious UK label Peacefrog, is being reissued on limited edition clear vinyl.

"Always take from the past - avoiding the empty longings of nostalgia - with a view to understanding the new place it might hold in the future. Good Morning Tapes has done just that, and with the 90’s revival in something of a full swing, the label finally gets the chance to release a pivotal 10 year old mix that didn’t just ignite a curious wave of reflection and appropriation, it marked a culmination in the shifting sonic sands for its creator Mr. Alexis Le-Tan. His name needs little light thrust upon it in these hallowed cosmic halls, with his enduring and ever present mixes being a staple for those that know. Back to Disco Valley is arguably his most important mix - it both recontextualised a dirty and forgotten sound of the past, and facilitated a wave of new freedoms for those wishing to look backwards in order to move forwards. Most importantly it planted the seed for everything Full Circle to come. Back to Disco Valley is above all else a personal reckoning for Alexis and Joakim, it marked a moment when many problems inherent in a trapped older sound - with a sublime yet dated history of its own - could breath fresh life in the present day; a new slower realm was born. The slowing down of dance music is nothing new, and certainly where peak time beats have existed a spiritual shadow that revels in a slower ethereal space to dance has never been far away. Stylistically on one level, Back to Disco Valley might seem to build on what Baldelli or Loda were doing many years ago, and it certainly has that effortless charm, but it goes much further, not just in its re-appraisal of the frenetic fast paced sounds of Goa, but as a signifier of where many wanted to head on the dancefloor - towards a slower oasis - incorporating new releases and modern sounding rarities along the way. Indeed, in selecting the 33rpm dial rather than that marked 45, Full Circle at once opened up the new space inside a music some of us went bananas to 30 years ago, and at the same time made sense of a crucial yet forgotten heritage; a confession became a badge of honour. Coming back to Full Circle and its genesis: it was only a matter of time before the old Goa records would come back down from the racks and spawn a new life, and perhaps whilst Le-Tan cemented something a lot of us knew, Back to Disco Valley somehow liberated many of those early records from their stylistic shackles initiating a creative project that - along side the collaborative work with Joakim - has released a wave of inspirational edits and re-imaginations. Full Circle - in all its conceptual & metaphorical majesty - really has come to represent the most stylish of takes on past sounds, both in the realm of selection and re-working. It is certainly true that Back to Disco Valley - sounding now as it did then (to the select tuned ears that got to listen) - reflects a perfect meeting between an off-tempo past, present and future, being more than a functional assemblage, it revives many a lost memory, inspiring a new batch of ideas, and always looking back with a purpose.

Equal parts Sheffield bleep, fractal IDM and interstellar ambience, Hyper Nu Age Tekno sees Taro Nohara (aka Yakenohara) plotting a star map on a faded rave flyer. Let the billionaires blast into orbit while you explore your inner space with Growing Bin.

From the LP's earliest moments, the whomping subs and crystalline chimes of "Space Debris", it's clear that we're a long way from Hamburg. Taro pilots this craft on a deep space exploration way beyond the run out groove, to a place where heartening chords herald a twin sunrise and any broadcasts are lost in translation. The polyrhythmic pulse of "Ill Ell" follows, its concentric chimes and rapid fire kicks summoning the teknoguild to a watery altar in the engineering department. Sticking with interstellar mysticism but taking a turn for the transcendent, "Baker Baker Paradox" spins Reich-ian repetition into a graphene gossamer embellished with chrome, crystal and shoegaze shimmer. The B-side begins on the observation deck, bathing in the beauty of "Celestial Harmonia"'s sci-fi exotica, before the entheogenic "Use Your Head" prompts a delirious dash to the holodeck. Laying serene pads over a techy 4/4, Taro turns out the most danceable and dreamy track on the LP. As ambient chords ring out into the aether and rhythmic pulses shift out of phase, "Airplane Without People" is the loading screen for your virtual fantasy, soon rendered through the woody percussion and spheric bass of "Music For Psychic Liberation". Leave your body behind as you pick mushrooms in a CGI forest.

Otherworldly beat science from the currently vibrant Washington DC underground. The heavily processed MCing of NappyNappa weaves in and out of the skewed electronics and stuttering percussion of Patrick Cain. Loosely affiliated with the Future Times crew and featuring contributions from Dolo Percussion (aka Max D). 

In the duo’s own words “a collaborative experiment in liberated sound, vision, and performance“, Model Home orbit in their own universe, with glimmers of light from distant galaxies refracted in their sound. The spirit of free improvisation pervades the tracks, a sound evolving from two artistic sensibilities bouncing off each other without a set plan and creating a third pathway to unknown worlds. 

One Year compiles tracks from 8 different self-released mixtapes made during an intense initial 12 month period of musical activity that birthed the project. Approached with the same archival sensibility that Disciples has brought to albums-that-never-were from Black Lodge, Bogdan Raczynski and His Name As Alive, but with the idea of creating a framework to present an underground NOW sound. A Jamaican style ‘showcase’ album for these outliers from the District of Columbia.

Deadstock cassette version of the masterful second album, released in 1992, which was hailed by All Music as "the commercial and artistic peak of the ambient house movement" and was #1 on the UK charts at the time. sealed with a small drill hole.

Donato Dozzy and Milanese veteran Stefano Ghittoni mint a new series on Dozzy's Mage Circe Musica imprint, channeling Daniele Baldelli's cosmic disco manifesto and exploring screwed rhythms, psychedelic electronix and blunted dub atmospheres. So good - imagine a half-speed Shinichi Atobe or Rrose spliced with GRM-damaged concréte FX and percussion courtesy of Konono No.1. Basically it's peak Dozzy syrup - Tip! Alicia Carrera and Donato Dozzy's Maga Circe Musica label has quickly established itself as an outlet for some of the most impressively tight experimental slop we've heard in ages. Dozzy and Ghittoni's first La Petit plate is no different, using the enduring influence of Northeastern Italian electronic music (think Baldelli and Marco Dionigi) to help transform and repurpose dub techno, folk, ambient music, jazz and global sounds. If Baldelli and Dionigi were best known for pushing disco's tempo down to a crawl, Dozzy and Ghittoni do the same with their wealth of diggers' influences, dipping hollow 4/4 percussion and syncopated hand drums to a chug on 'Sukia' and slowly building an atmosphere with low-slung bass and spooked electronics. Imagine holding down the pitch slider on a Badalamenti score and a Funkadelic 12” playing at the same time, for the gist. On 'Lanquidity' the duo pull in horizontal dub pads and place them against a resinous thud and swirling dub FX, played slower than it should be and somehow operating in the same gloopy zone as Newworldaquarium to emphasise mood and texture over technical trickery. 'Niento’ is even better, using smeared LM1 claps for a sort of assymetric, purple funk played at -8 while taking a fourth world-inspired rhythm and welding it to lysurgic synth drones and nipped kicks - it's a mid-point between vintage bleep techno, cosmic disco and rhythmic psychedelia. 'Le Petit' is over too soon, but gives us plenty to chew on: anyone who enjoys Dozzy's genre-agnostic DJ sets or the fertile area between hazy ambience and half-speed dancefloor zones - this one’s a killer.

Burnt Friedman has been collaborating with German rock giant Jaki Liebezeit of CAN, who has been a close friend of his for years, and experimental drummer João Pais Filipe, who has worked with Rafael Toral and Lafawndah. João Pais Filipe, a drummer in the experimental field who has worked with Rafael Toral and Lafawndah, has released a split EP on his own Nonplace label. It's another astonishing work...! This is the first time I've ever heard a track from the band, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next... "Out Of Ape" is a trancy, avant-garde electro track that completely removes the distinction between the otherworldly and the real, while filling the track with ultra-colored psychedelia. Eurydike", and the cosmic ambient/tribal dance "Star Wars", which was inspired by Jaki Liebezeit and recorded together in 2004.

In 1997 and 1998, the late great Japanese composer, producer, and DJ Susumu Yokota released two of the most eclectic albums of his decades-long career, Fruits of The Room and Greenpeace. Recorded under his Stevia alias for Tokyo Techno pioneer DJ Miku’s Newstage Records/NS-COM, they were Yokota-san’s homage to the foundational days of club music in Japan. This year, Glossy Mistakes are proud to present the first official vinyl editions of Fruits of The Room and Greenpeace, originally released on CD during the golden days of the format. Packaged in reimagined cover artwork created by the celebrated Japanese visual artist Masaho Anotani, these two albums perfectly capture the diversity at the heart of Yokota-san’s oeuvre. Across Greenpeace sees Yokota-san conjuring up a heady concoction of dusty loops, sampledelic breaks, kraut-rock and psychedelic downbeat. A remarkable listening experience based on the inspired era of a genius. When Yokota-san wrote and produced the music on Fruits of The Room and Greenpeace in 1997, he was reflecting on the broader culture that surrounded dance music in Japan in the early to mid-nineties. It was an era when the psychedelic culture of late sixties America, the afterglow of UK acid house/rave, the new age movement and cyberpunk dovetailed together. Within DJ Miku and Yokota-san’s social circles, the thinking of Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs electrified the air. By 1996, the moment, brilliant and blinding as it was, was over. “We all felt that the rave scene fizzled out,” DJ Miku says. As he puts it, there was a collective feeling around him that it had all become too much. From the calm that followed, DJ Miku, Yokota-san and their open-eared peers made the decision to switch tracks and start from scratch. DJ Miku believes that with his Stevia releases, Fruits of The Room and Greenpeace, Yokota-san wanted to express the sweet and sour nature of the passing of those wild early days and his wish for true peace. “At the time, we saw eye-to-eye, with an implicit understanding of each other,” he explains. “Even now, twenty-five years later, I am confident it was like that.”

Moodymann's oeuvre continues to yield new gems on a yearly basis, but sometimes you've got to take it back to the classics. "Forevernevermore" was a landmark when it first landed in 2000, building on the promise of his earlier LPs to deliver an immaculate trip through the dreamiest corners of his idiosyncratic deep house vision. From the incantations of "Meanwhile Back At Home" to the early morning freak haze of "The Set Up", the quintessentially KDJ 'in-the-room' vibe of "The Thief That Stole My Sad Days" to the heavy edit funk of "Tribute" this is gold-standard Detroit house start to finish from one of the best to ever do it.

A masterpiece 4th album released in 2003. Limited clear vinyl edition.

Workshop caretaker Lowtec returns with two extended, collage-like tapestries of abstract house and disjointed electronics spanning early electronic intimations and hazy house structures. Stitched from studio research over the past few years, ‘Old Economy’ is presented as a reflection “of the end of the old economy” according to the pivotal Berlin producer and label owner. A sort of last signal from the transition between two eras, it balances classically searching, radiophonic optimism, with a more melancholic, even foreboding feel that could be taken as a Janus-faced metaphor for the artist’s feelings on the precariousness of a new decade. Perhaps more akin to Burial’s collage tekkerz or a long lost ambient house mix from Berlin’s halcyon days than a typical album, ‘Old Economy’ deeply absorbs in the lokey nuance of its layers and eddying flow. On the first side we hear him transition from intercepted dream signals and outta reach field recordings to plumb depths of murky house abstraction with a wonderfully groggy logic that sloshes between all its aspects, pooling into lush passages and flowing out into odder parts, on the B-side’s untangled fronds of electro-dub, bleary-eyed dub chords and beautifully blunted Berlin-style sensuality.

The band project Drums Off Chaos was one of the central and on-going projects of the recently deceased drummer Jaki Liebezeit (who is normally associated first and foremost with the Cologne-based band CAN). In the early 1980s he had initiated an – at first – loose collective of drummers, who created a rhythmic concept on the basis of simple, strictly binding codes that enabled expansive improvisations.

Over the years the ensemble became smaller and refined its collaboration marked by repetitive patterns and their variation. “You have to play monotonous,” a member of the audience had already told Liebezeit in the 1960s. He took this to heart and there was hardly any other formation where he could bring this concept to life as regularly and with as much inspiration as in Drums Off Chaos.

During a development spanning more than three decades, this extraordinary band, which never saw itself as such, made numerous recordings but rarely any releases. However, in the last few months of his life Jaki Liebezeit, with colleagues Reiner Linke, Maf Retter and Manos Tsangaris, earmarked some tracks for imminent release on vinyl and CD – on different compilations. Liebezeit’s death is all the more reason to go ahead with this plan.

D.C.’s sleeper cell groove sensation Kenny Torrella aka Torrello debuts on 100% Silk’s revived mirrorball subdivision House of Silk with a starry 11-song suite of daydream disco and vacation mode motion: Out Of Office. These are classic off the clock anthems, for cutting out and cutting loose, island hopping through shades of vapor funk, leftfield luxury, and uptown filter house, sensual and interdimensional. Torrella’s eclectic palette of passions – smooth jazz, animals, Moodymann – feed into his joyous, jazzy sound, between memory and fantasy, escape and epiphany. A low altitude cruise over private marinas and white sands, where life’s white noise fades to pink, and inner rhythm takes hold.

Budapest, Hungary-based producer Laurine Frost, popular for his series of works based on the story of his imaginary daughter's life, has released her latest album under the name Haramia Tapes for the first time in four years! A dope blend of dub, broken beats, and jungle. 7 groovy, cleverly stripped down, hypnotic tracks. Mastering and cutting at by Helmut Erler. Limited to 300 copies.

Deadstock. A must-have masterpiece for fans of Basic Channel and Huerco S. German electro heavyweight Burnt Friedman, who also collaborated with German rock giant Jaki Liebezeit of CAN, released this masterpiece in 2016 as the only single in the Risque catalog, a sub-label of his Nonplace label. Two abstract minimal dub pieces of nearly 10 minutes each are included on each side. Mastered at Dubplates & Mastering to Rashad Becker's specifications, the quality of the vinyl is flawless!

Listeners who know much of anything about Bryn Jones’ work as Muslimgauze know that he was prolific in both his work and in the way he sent out his work to labels and other interested parties (it’s one of the reason some of that body of work is still being sorted through and released 20+ years after his passing). Fittingly enough for an artist that feverishly productive and often taciturn to the point of frustration, he didn’t tend to give much more information than handwritten track titles on the sleeve of a DAT. Why he would submit multiple copies of the same or similar tracks to those he worked with, often in totally different configurations, is now a permanent mystery, but it does lead to Jackal the Invizible, essentially a compilation of material from multiple other releases* that Jones had also submitted at the time on its own DAT. All of the songs here were released at least 20 years ago (a few over 30!) and as with practically all Muslimgauze releases they were limited and/or hard to get ahold of now. Jackal the Invizible is both a way to issue those tracks on vinyl as the Archive Series has been consistently doing, and in interesting look into how Jones would organize and sequence his albums. The track listing here was faithfully reproduced from the way Jones titled these tracks on this submission, which is how you get Fedayeen’s “Bharboo of Pakistan Railways” here called “Fedayeen Bharboo of Pakistan Railways 2001” (although that album came out in 1998 and Jones sadly was not making anything by 2001, only leading to more questions). This compilation as with most of his work was submitted without comment, so it can be asked, was it intended to be a compilation? Had he at some point decided he preferred these tracks in this arrangement rather than on their other tapes? Did he produce so much work and/or was so disorganized he simply forgot this batch had been mailed off before? Did he have a standing arrangement with his postal worker and just handed him whatever was closest to the door each week? (Well, probably not that last one.) One thing we don’t have to question is the quality of the tracks here, regardless of familiarity. The new juxtapositions can be quite striking; shifting suddenly from the harshly distorted blurts of “Resume and Shaduf Fatah Guerrilla 1999” to the cooly nocturnal atmosphere of “Abu Nidal 1987” and then to the dubby bass pulses and rattling hand percussion of “Hand of Fatima 1999” (possibly the most misleading to longtime listeners - it has indeed been heard on it’s almost-namesake album, but there it’s known as “Mint Tea With Gadaffi”) is an experience unlike much else in Jones’ oeuvre, even though all three modes are ones he has worked in before. The result doesn’t touch on every single mode explored throughout the vast body of Jones’ work (you’d need a box set for that), but does prove to be a multifaceted experience that also serves as an excellent introduction to or refresher on Muslimgauze as a whole.

In 2004 Jan St.Werner and Andi Toma, aka Mouse On Mars, celebrate their 10th anniversary. Many will claim their music already was so revolutionary and pioneering back in 1994, that it could well have been written today without sounding the slightest bit dated whatsoever. Starting as an avant-garde experiment in electronic music and philosophy, Mouse On Mars has evolved into one of the biggest music exports from Germany. After a decade of producing music, the duo have released eight full length records including their newest: Radical Connector. In true Mouse On Mars style, Jan St.Werner and Andi Toma came up with a perfect way to celebrate their anniversary. In conjunction with the prestigious Kunsthalle Düsseldorf they worked on an art exhibition called "doku / fiction: Mouse On Mars reviewed and remixed" in which artists delivered their visions of Mouse On Mars, but and here's the special twist (or should we say 'twift') without being able to use Mouse On Mars' music or to generate any sound. The exhibition opened on April 3rd to huge acclaim in both the art and music worlds alike and, as such, constitutes the perfect start for the launch of Mouse On Mars' new album Radical Connector. Due for release in the second half of 2004, it is the follow up to 2001's Idiology. Critical acclaim has been heaped on Mouse On Mars for their significant contribution to the development of electronic music, their importance for the German music scene as a whole, and for their innovations using live instrumentation in performance and recording long before it became common place in the power book scene. Mouse On Mars are true innovators. Jan St.Werner and Andi Toma provide positive proof that despite it being an incredibly difficult undertaking, it is nevertheless possible to write and perform sophisticated music as part of a theoretical framework and still rock like hell. Anyone who has ever been to a Mouse On Mars show will testify to the latter; anyone who has ever talked to Jan St.Werner or Andi Toma will confirm the former. Mouse On Mars' unique way of creating music demonstrates that intelligence and playfulness are not mutually exclusive terms. Their music is both challenging and funny - complexly layered yet with a simple driving beat. Mouse On Mars has a unique vision and a unique way of expressing this vision, resulting in an unmistakeable sound which functions on a universal level and makes people move their minds and their bodies. In a musical genre not noted for longevity, Mouse On Mars has not only found their own distinctive voice, but have remained a force of imaginative innovations for a decade. The new album Radical Connector includes nine new tracks which took Jan and Andi three years to write and produce in their famous St. Martin studio in Düsseldorf. Long-time musical collaborator Dodo Nkishi was part of the recording team once again, and the album fe atures both his drumming and his strangely recorded vocals most prominently in the aptly named "Wipe This Sound". Never has Mouse On Mars written a more danceable track with such irresistible drive. Expect to see dance floors from Tokyo to Santiago de Chile full to overflowing. Sonig recording artist Niobe also participated in the recording her wonderfully aloof vocals ("the end is near...") adorn two tracks. With Radical Connector Mouse On Mars is taking an important step forward both in terms of musical vision and international standing. Their Touring will focus for the first time on North America. Making appearances not only with Drummer Dodo, but as both a duo and as DJ's. When you show up remember to bring your dance shoes and your thinking cap! If in 1994 Mouse On Mars sounded like 2004, then Radical Connector is a portent of what the year 2014 will bring. Enjoy!

Dublin-based dub techno producer Odd Ned released great Dub Techno album from the very mysterious Irish label , which started its activities in 2018 and is gradually gaining underground popularity with good releases by very cult act such as Nashpaints and Frog Of Earth. An experimental dub techno album where a strong rhythm / bass skeleton, aquatic dub ambience, and derailed and freaky electronics intersect! 4-panel digipak CD.