Lisa Morgenstern - Bury Me: Live Session @ Tonbrauerei Berlin

Finally - a new video from Lisa Morgenstern. We have been waiting for this.

Jesse Malin - New York Before The War [Velvet Elk Records / One Little Indian Promo]

Scheduled for March 30th, 2015 via Velvet Elk Records / One Little Indian is Jesse Malin's new album "New York Before The War", a longplay piece inspired by a graffiti simply stating 'The War' which suddenly popped up in front of Malin's apartment window back in December 2013 and led to a close examination of his career and beliefs throughout the forthcoming months of songwriting and recording. The outcome of this reflective and well productive period is something a little different then one would usually expect to be reviewed on these pages - a proper, rock solid longplay piece of classic Rock'n'Roll music including great bits like the oil and dirt breathing rebellious youth anthem "Turn Up The Mains", the intimate, slightly R.E.M.-reminiscing "She's So Dangerous" and sometimes even more trivial, Don McLean'esque radio songs like "The Years That I Was Born". With "Freeway" Jesse Malin serves what could be referred to as the second, slightly more anthemic bit on this album that's finally about to last and possibly deeply impact some adventurous teens life for a reason, a bit of a PostPunk-y twist turning Indie comes in with the bass funky "Deathstar" and the final "Bar Life" turns out to be a sweet, piano'esque ballad for more romantic hours. Recommended for all those loving their Classic Rock right.

P Money - Never Left (Lewi B Version)

A dark force this tune is. Dang!

24.03.2015 Poemes Electroniques - Live at WREK Atlanta 91.1 FM

Things are buzzing here just a few days before leaving to the United States and updates on our schedule are coming in fast.

Today's news had it that our Poemes Electroniques project will be performing live on WREK Atlanta 91.1 FM on tuesday evening as guests on their Live At WREK program. Really excited about this one as I've been hosting radio both terrestrial and online here in Germany for years.

Tune in at 10 PM Atlanta time to catch the full bunch of us - Mr. Fleury, Christoph Veillon, Uli Sigg and baze.djunkiii - on air.

WREK Atlanta 91.1 FM
Live At WREK
10oo - 11oo PM
Tuesday, March 24th

Online live stream here.

Jim Haynes - Scarlet [Helen Scarsdale Agency 030 Promo]

Ok, that's what we call an interesting mixture of things - an artists active in the fields of sculpture, photography, installation and sound dedicates all his work to the concept of decay and is represented by an agency that, apart from things that agencies do usually, also functions as publishing house for his musical works. We're talking the Helen Scarsdale Agency here which have have been putting out Jim Haynes latest cassette album "Scarlet" in late January, an intense body of work consisting of approx. 49 minutes of Death Ambient drones built from static noise, Rhythm Industrial patterns, haunting Deep Listening scores and decomposing electro magnetic fields leaving inhabitable wastelands torn and poisoned for years after brutal bursts of destruction. Dark, intense tunes like "Racine To Vermillion" seem to built from tilting Geiger-Mueller tubes and the perturbing electric buzz of radio silence before fragile drones and morse code transmission slowly are making their way into the listeners conception, not breaking the feel of fear and imminence though. "Acrid" adds like a screeching, braincell melting background sinewave layer to a full-on Noize transmission and "Kazanl K" even fuses the hyper digital Clicks'n'Cuts genre with eardrum tearing sounds that seem to be generated from a mixture of approaching fighter jets and screaming buzz saws that dominate the track prior to its further evolution into the realms of faraway, subaquatic droning and echoes of distant storms. With ""Pfennig M." Jim Haynes even adds found or illegally obtained radiotraffic to his work that finally explodes into a distressing crescendo of Harsh Noize - a well-chosen end piece for an album that's defo gonna frighten the weak-heartened and soft spoken. This one's clearly coming from the dark side.

Stormzy - Know Me From (Produced By Zdot)

Stormzy's murking things with this super tense street anthem. We still feel the Grime happening out there. Large up!

Klaus Apfel / Les Clochards Du Monde - Killed By Jazz [Major Label 077 / Matatu Records 021 Promo]

The Jena-based Major Label is back with a new release in their so-called Split Single Club-series, this time put on the circuit in collaboration with Matatu Records which are - after a prior eight years time out - finally ceasing their business with this 21st release in their catalogue, a limited to 250 copies 7"-pressing split into 200 black and 50 hand-numbered blue vinyl copies. On the A-side we see the Cologne-based Matatu stalwarts Klaus Apfel rocking the spot with two raw, straight forward and pretty street cred PunkRock tunes with surprisingly thoughtful lyrics not necessarily typical for German Punk. On the flip Major Label's Le Clochards Du Monde are balancing the line between dark Indie and a more PostPunk- / Wave-influenced attitude with their "Killed By Jazz" which combines inward-looking melancholia with huge, reverb-heavy crescendos for all the dark souls roving around on foggy dancefloors and batcave-like venues. Nice one.

Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Desarroi [Staubgold 136 Promo]

Oh what teaser it was when the experimental music stalwarts of Kammerflimmer Kollektief revealed their cover of S.Y.P.H.'s legendary "Zurück Zum Beton" prior to the release of their latest album "Desarroi" which has been put on the circuit via Staubgold in late February - a Dub-induced vision of PostRock Pop that transferred the intransigent lyrics of the German underground classic into thrilling new spheres. With expectations fired up like this their new album is, at least at the first listening session, a bit of a tricky one as "Zurück Zum Beton" is their only excursion into more accessible and vocal driven fields, although the deep Downtempo-influenced, atmospheric and somehow, quite strangely Scottish Medieval Folk reminiscing "Desarroi #2: Grundstürzend" might be regarded as well-accessible by some. But other than that the musical outfit sets out to explore more abstract realms, all Future Jazz / Electronic FreeJazz-related but of varying temper. We see slap bass freestyles teaming up with eerie, space strings and tripping synth freestyles like in "Free Form Freak-Out", fluffed out Ambient guitars accompanying vocal romanticisms - "Evol Jam (Edit)" -, harmonica-bound Dub acoustics with an all embracing, super-peaceful flow of sheer pulchritude as well as the dark, droning Hell Jazz excess brought to us by the mysterious, untitled CD bonus track that starts out on a minute of totally flattening silence before the ritual madness begins. Challenging, but defo worthwhile to take on the challenge.

Wardrobe Memories - Life After Suicide [Feline/Feral 001 Promo]

Fans of classic Ambient and Deep Listening Music will be pleased to learn that Turgut Kocer's Wardrobe Memories project is making a vinyl comeback these days on the new Voluntary Whores offspring named Feline / Feral. The new album entitled "Life After Suicide", a name that seems to go well alongside Kocer's undoubtedly present  fascination for thing dark, macabre or sacred, is released as a hand-numbered edition of 200 copies, half of them printed on black, the other half on coloured vinyl and serves a dozen tracks which can be referred to as an obvious progression in the Wardrobe Memories sound that started out in more droney realms, took a turn into danceable rhythm structures with the 2011-released "The Lodge" and is now to be described as dwelling on endearing romanticism, tender piano play and deep, unpretentious musical beauty that just is, and does exist beyond any further implications or preconceptions. This said, one wouldn't be surprised if this approach to pretty flawless elegancy and sonic romance is about to provoke some criticism about being too smooth and kitschy by those who're missing the slightly edgier, grittier tone that used to resonate within Wardrobe Memories' earlier works but hazarding a guess that the project might be en route towards (neo)classical shores in future times "Life After Suicide" is a quite accomplished transitional longplay effort that'll be well appreciated by Ambient purists and sonic aesthetes.

Somewhere Underwater - Spring Kills My Energy [AdP Records Promo]

This is a sweet debut for our friends from the Kulmbach-based label AdP Records which, for the first time ever, have just been embracing the 7" vinyl format for the latest release of one of their recent signings - Somewhere Underwater. As this also is the bands first ever release one might say they've been striking a double here, serving a nice snow white plate of vinyl that'll both appeal to an Indie audience more withdrawn as well as to all those longing for their Pop music to explore more off-path places, floating around dreamier and slightly more 80s-influenced waters than your usual daytime radio provides them with these days. Think a little The Cure, think a little R.E.M., think a little Shoegaze and defo think a lot of Wave- / Synth-garnishment and you'll surely get what the french boy Julien Agot and his new project is all about - if you don't just have look at the deep and defo retro'sque video that has been reworked and edited by Gui Astoria from the short-movie Skaterdater and might trigger some teenage melancholia in some folks watching.

Klangwart - Transit [Staubgold 133 Promo]

A little delayed due to late arrival this review is, covering the sixth studio album in the career of the notorious Klangwart duo which was put on the circuit via Staubgold in January 2015 under the name of "Transit" - a 35 minutes journey through a set of nine tracks in which Markus Detmer and Timo Reuber continue their exploration of Drone, Ambient and Deep Listening Music for those in the know. Especially the intense, ritual,trance-inducing and pretty percussive "Express" is sticking out here, serving a melange of off-kilter filters, aboriginal transcendence and elements of progressive KrautRock before making a surprising turn towards graval, inward-looking medidational vibes. This calm, innocent feel is picked up by the follow-up "Station" as well which is wandering the paths of so-called PopAmbient whilst the albums title track fuses ethereal Ambient with more tribalistic percussions and sees Klangwart entering dancefloors at a very rare occasion. Furthermore the vibrant tribal, yet also psychedelic and slightly hippie'esque feel continues in "Passage II", a track that also'd well fit into a balearic Morning Trance context and so would the meandering pianos and peaceful underwater melodies of "Exile" before the unsettling "Rendezvous" pays homage to the roaring synthesizer thunder of Tangerine Dream's legendary score for "Sorcerer", one of the most fascinating musical works for film created in the 1970's. Defo a good one although a little surprising for us as we haven't been following Klangwart's musical pathways closely since their split 7" with Tarkatak named "Töa / Amöbenruh" released via Klangstelle / Trümmer Kassetten back in 1998 on which their musical focus was clearly more Drone related than today.

Eskmo - Sol [Apollo Promo]

Brendan Angelides has come a long way. Better known as Eskmo to followers of mostly bass-focused electronic music he progressed from the NuSkoolBreaks to be found in his early releases to one of the purveyors of Future Grime to finally arrive in epic, cinematic spheres with his new album "Sol" that is put on the circuit via the R&S Records offspring Apollo these days. Fusing orchestral bits with huge, (neo)kosmische sawtooth synths and cute melodic pieces in tunes like "Combustion", plunging into romantic and tender PostPop oceans with the ballad'esque "Blue And Grey" that surely is about to appeal both to fans and followers of James Blake as well as inward-looking BritPop and setting dancefloors in motion with catchy pieces like "Mind Of War" it seems that "Sol" as an album unravels Eskmo's formerly hidden talents in - instrumental - songwriting and creation of touching, in-depth atmospheres corresponding with the inner core of the human being, possibly best showcased in the albums title track itself which seems to evoke the same kind of hypnotic, fever'ish and all embracing tribal hum as the ceremonial didgeridoo does in aboriginal rituals and celebrations. This hum seamlessly blends into the follow-up "The Light Of One Thousand Furnaces", an eerie and at the same time angelic work of free floating sound art with great impact on advanced sunrise or terrace dance floors albeit its beats seem like distant turmoil at one point or the other. More levitating, beatless - and kitsch dripping - Pop is to be found in "Feed Fire", possibly the only tune that's taking things over the top here and would rather fit into the score of some, well, Disney or Pixar movie for a reason whilst the off-kilter progression of "The Sun Is A Drum" leads to a big climax whenever hammered through a well-adjusted P.A. system. Surprisingly "Can't Taste", the albums closing tune, even brings in caressing, unprocessed piano play and tenderly longing vocals for lovers and their loved ones, adding another recently discovered aspect to Eskmo's work. Check. 

28.03.2015 The Museum Of Contemporary Art Of Georgia & Atlanta Francophonie Festival present Poemes Electroniques After Party @ The Music Room / Atlanta, USA

line up:

baze.djunkiii [Hamburg / Germany - all vinyl set]
Bobi Stevkovski [Atlanta / USA]

visuals:

Uli Sigg [Cologne / Germany]

The Music Room
327 Edgewood Ave SE
Atlanta
GA 30312
USA

Aloa Input - Mars Etc. [Morr Music 136 Promo]

It's been about 18 months ago since Aloa Input released their album debut "Anysome" via Morr Music, their very first exploration of twisted IndieFolk realms and playful experimentalism. Now Aloa Input are back with their sophomore longplay piece named "Mars Etc." which is leaving the Folk-part alone musically, replacing it with Indietronica, a spiralling, vintage psychedelia vibe and a more raw and edgy orientation although the vocals remain intimate and tender, even in songs like the pretty harsh, distorted ElectroBilly affair "Oh Brother" which, due to its contrasting interplay of musical mayhem and pillowy chorus, is one of the most remarkable tunes on "Mars Etc.". More caressing vibes are to be found in "The Door" which features some funny bleeps sounding like R2D2 in love whilst the "21st Century Tale" nice combines high speed vintage SynthWave and dreamy, happy-go-lucky campfire vocalisms that, when one listens closely, aren't that happy-go-lucky at all. With "Hold On" Aloa Input are even exploring deep Viennese Future Jazz melancholia musically, the "Blabla Theory" mixes up heavy Garage Rock drumming and a confusing razzmatazz of quirky vintage sounds to a great effect and the next to last super dope, singalong song "Mad As Hell" turns out to be a little hit for advanced Indie floors and other places populated by music lovers before the ballad'esque "Ruth The Communist" is waving goodbye to all Aloa Input fans with delicate harmonies. A pretty coherent follow-up this is, and defo one to be well appreciated by the bands followers for sure.

Huntsville - Pond [Hubro Music Promo]

Is this DarkJazz or JazzKraut or even sth. in between? Sporting four tracks only, all exceeding the 10 minutes mark, "Pond", the new album by Norwegian trio Huntsville will be released via Hubro Music on March 13th and surely is about to please all listeners appreciating a combination of free floating, ever evolving organic structures and repetitive grooves accompanied by decent electronics and effects. With the opening track named "(ER)" we're going from a dance-triggering 4/4 into deep Ambient listening whilst "(ING)" introduces eerie strings, deep jazzy bass, abstract rhythms built from very concrete and possibly field recorded sounds alongside some off kilter glitches in terms of harmonic tuning that keep the listeners senses alert throughout this very spaced out and, speaking of sax and steel guitar use here, partly super dreamy composition that also might apply to lovers of Einstürzende Neubauten ca. "Silence Is Sexy" minus Blixa Bargeld's vocals. Later "(AGE)" provides some Progressive Rock-influenced, feedback heavy improvisation for electric guitar and deep relaxation which is again disturbed by the de-tuned rhythmic counterparts in "(OK)", patterns of weird, metallic percussions fighting against cruel guitar feedback eruptions before tense strings noir, opium den drums and caned post-balearic guitars do provide a proper score-like thrill especially recommended for consumption in cold winter or at least late fall nights. Check. 

baze.djunkiii Charts 03/2015

01. Champion & Mele - Get Down EP [Formula Records 009]
Killer fusion of raw, chopped, stripped down  UK Garage and a bass heavy, LFO-filtered vision of the long time missed Sublow sound for those who like their groove slightly more leftfield and like hammered through a huge, earthquake simulating P.A. system. Both tracks are meant to devastate dancefloors within seconds but yet might be appreciated ingredients in advanced South London Fusion / Broken House sessions as well. Large!

02. DJ Haus - Helta Skelta [Clone Jack For Daze 024]
Quite a big one that's been released only recently through Clone's Jack For Daze-series."Acid Bleep" on A1 fully lives up to its name being a jacking monster with a thrilling, ever modulating 303-line and heavy snare attacks whilst "Metronomy" on A2 takes things to the next level of abstraction with a foundation of electroid Broken Techno, sweet bleeps and seductive samples taken from Trio's 80s anthem "Da Da Da". On the flip the title track "Helta Skelta" turns out as a stomping, slightly oldskool'ish Techno piece for those who love their energy level high before the final "Bak 2 Tha Future" pays homage to the super dry, raw Chitown days in (Acid)House. Get.

03. Umwelt - Guts Of The City / Drvg Cvltvre - Horned Be The Hunter [Rave Or Die 003]
Rave Or Die is a pretty clear statement when it comes to label names and after listening to the first seconds of Drvg Cvltvre's  "Horned Be The Hunter" it's pretty obvious that these tracks are about to kill punters anyway if they dare to stop moving as especially this tune seems to be one of the darkest, most brain wrecking Acid tracks we've heard in a while - filled with spooky noises and a simple, top drawer modulation of the classic 303 that's about to disintegrate braincells by thousands per second. On the flip we see Umwelt fusing more dark, spiralling and well bouncyAcid with heavy Electro structures sporting huge claps and haunting synth atmospheres for those who worship evil forces. Fancy to play this one? Better be prepared for a dancefloor massacre and the rise of the dead.

04. Larry Levan's Paradise Garage: The Legend Of Dance Music Vol. 2 [Salsoul Records]
To be  referred to as pioneer and legend of any kind is a heavyweight legacy to deal with but if one man ever invented, pioneered and created dance music and took it to a new level it has to be Larry Levan's name that's mentioned. Many stories revolve around him and his all nighters at the Paradise Garage and this compilation gathers ten of the most essential tracks that shaped the sound of these nights for a reason - including First Choice's possibly most-sampled tune "Let No Man Put Asunder" alongside their blazin' "Love Thang" , Skyy's steamy and seductive "First Time Around", Loleatta Holloway's highly dramatic "Catch Me On The Rebound", Kebekelektrik's marching "War Dance" and other gems that shall not be missed by any Disco loving individual. Check!

05. Der Meisenknödel Brennt / Als Die Letzte Maus In Barmbek Starb [Raketenbasis Haberlandstrasse 008 Promo]
See review for details...

06. Grauhandversteinerung - Wir Pfeiffen Auf Den Gurkenkönig[Raketenbasis Haberlandstrasse 007 Promo]
See review for details... 

07. -

08. -

09. -

10. -

27. / 28.03.2015 Poemes Electroniques - The Bird's Eye View @ Museum Of Contemporary Art Of Georgia / Atlanta, USA

POÈMES ÉLECTRONIQUES is an audiovisual performance inspired by “Poème Électronique,” a piece by Le Corbusier, E. Varèse, and Xenakis that was presented in the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 World Fair in Brussels. It was globally recognized as one of the first multimedia installations.

Like the original, POÈMES ÉLECTRONIQUES takes us into a space where dreams and reality merge and the limits of the possible expand. Le Corbusier’s “Aircraft,” which traces the evolution of aviation and its development during the war, offers a perfect allegory: “The bird’s eye view”

POÈMES ÉLECTRONIQUES gives an overview of over a century and a half of writings influenced by war.Nineteenth-century poets Rimbaud and Victor Hugo cross paths with French and German Dadaists and Surrealists. We also hear voices from Africa and North America with the letters of World War II soldiers, an interview with a former drone operator, and the contemporary poetry of Gulf War vet Seth Brady Tucker. Through these multiple perspectives, the French and English languages echo each other, shedding light on the evolution of the representation of the soldier and war over the past three centuries.

This live audiovisual performance is an hour-long fusion of voice, sound, and images. During the course of the performance, video stills compose and recompose the space and environment in real time, much like a live painting taking shape and bringing to life the walls that surround the audience. Images evolve and transform to the rhythm of the crackling vinyl records, the sound of electronic machines, and the reverberation of an actor’s voice, oscillating between experimental chaos and operatic virtuosity.

This immersive electronic live performance aims to awaken the senses, offering a singular opportunity to discover, hear, or hear again the words of these authors whose voices resonate so strongly still today.

Director: Christof Veillon
Conception: Mr Fleury & Christof Veillon
Sound Architecture / Design: Mr Fleury
Performer: Christof Veillon
Vinyl Dj/Sound Design: baze.djunkiii
Visual Design: Uli Sigg Stage
Manager: Anna Richardson
Production Coordinator / Press Contact: Alina Opreanu

MOCA GA
75 Bennett Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
404-367-8700

Suggested Donation $15
Complimentary Drinks at 7pm
Show starts at 8pm
Courtesy Valet Parking
Presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Atlanta Francophonie Festival, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.

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Dasha Rush - Sleepstep (Official Video)

Things are getting deep and intense on Raster-Noton in 2015. Watch out!

Sankt Otten - Im Lichtorgelparadies (Official Video)

HD slomo meets polished Miami Cosmic - Sankt Otten are taking their KrautRock-influenced attitude to a new level with this one.

Up The Hill [Self-Released]

One of the most enjoyable things in terms of music writing is having new music sitting in one's postbox on a regular basis - the usual mailouts sent by professional promo agencies and labels as well as the occasional surprise that's coming in directly from an independent artist, mostly an album uncommented, probably self-released and without any further information given. Well, not only it's nice to be found and appreciated by artists as valuable source within the vast blogosphere but it's also the discovery process of tracking down a possible origin of the incoming music submission as well as the possibility to explore new musical spheres that might lie beyond one's own personal selective perception. With this album entitled "Up The Hill" by an artist sporting the same name who might be better known to his parents under the name of Henrik Pettersson as Soundcloud finally revealed we can only presume the country of origin although the artists real name points towards Scandinavia but for sure we're able to say that we're taken to new territories here. Little do we know about what's going on in the terms of partly Blues-oriented Pop / Rock music these days or what's been happening in that style in the past so it's not that easy to review an album in this field, although the longing and despair felt especially in the opener "Nature"'s vocal efforts defo brings the more experimental Wave / PostPunk approach of the Nuneaton-based 80s outfit Eyeless In Gaza to mind whilst other songs trigger scrappy memories of Chris Rea on the radio in the early 90s and somewhat before that - so more naturally we're going for the Eyeless In Gaza vibe here. Productionwise - and due to the fact that this album is self-released anyway - the overall recording and mixdown seems to be on a proper  home studio level and is way beyond demo-only qualities although a professional finish wouldn't hurt for sure - this goes for songwriting as well as a proper single or a stick-in-your-head hookline is missing here. This said, Up The Hill's self-titled album might more appeal to other fellow musicians than to a wider audience but still seems to be an interesting one to check out if your musical taste embraces classic Pop / Rock / Soft Rock and you're looking for things more leftfield than the genres usual suspects.