05.12.2016 baze.djunkiii @ Mojo Jazz Cafe / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings / Liquid Sky Berlin]

file under: Broken Beat / NuJazz / Broken House / (Nu)Soul / Freestyle

doors: 7 p.m.

Mojo Jazz Cafe
Reeperbahn 1
Hamburg St. Pauli
Germany

Line Gøttsche - Omonia [Velvet Mode 001 Promo]

Released only recently on November 25th, 2k16 via the Velvet Mode-label is Line Gøttsche's new five track EP named "Omonia" - a 28 minutes debut on which the Copenhagen-based artist provides a captivating, yet tender, sparse and romantic view on cinematographic Pop music living by the delicate interplay of vocal beauty and timeless, emotional piano play that seems to be getting at us straight from a better, or maybe just more innocent, past in which a breakfast  at Tiffany's was all a girl would dream of and the soft downfall of rain on a lukewarm August afternoon was a reason to slowly dance and wiggle around on the pavement. A debut like an antidote to the crazy days we live in and therefore probably appealing to many who are looking for something that might be filed under the flag of 'new simplicity' some day.     

Broken Note - Nightcrawler

Darkest NeuroHop taken from the new Broken Note release, forthcoming on December 6th, 2k16 via MethLab Recordings. 

Coldcut - Only Heaven EP [Ahead Of Our Time Promo]

Released on November 25th, 2k16 is the "Only Heaven EP" by Jon More and Matt Black, Ninja Tune-founders and core members of the legendary, boundary-crossing duo Coldcut which is coming up with a bunch of five brand new tracks here, with three of them featuring Roots Manuva on vocal duties. As we've already introduced a preview to this EP with "Donald's Wig" only recently we're taking a closer look at the four other tracks on this piece, starting off with the title track "Only Heaven" that comes up with a great, crackly vintage feel taking us all back to Portishead's praised firstling "Dummy" - plus raps and a sweet, melancholia-inducing hookline of course, whilst the instrumental cut named "Creative" takes us to bass-heavy dancefloors drawing their energy from BrokenHouse, Future Garage, influences of Electronica and PostGarage - and epic breakdowns. Furthermore we see the "Dreamboats" roaming seas filled with sleepwalking HipHop skills and Future Soul-references by Gabor Roses and the final cut provides essential "Quality Control" in terms of a continuation of what the title has begun and therefore delivers another slomo, headnod anthem for all those living in the lightless hours of the day. Epic stuff, this is.

Stazma The Junglechrist - Noise & Acid *Stunt Remix

Rapid fire in this tune. Get ready for dancefloor warfare!

The 808 Hillbillys - Untitled 2 EP [Psychocandies 046]

Coming up with a new EP on the mainly Acid-focused Psychocandies imprint are the 808 Hillbillys which are presenting a bunch of three brand new, and of course untitled, tunes to all those discovering new music in the digital realm only. With "Untitled 1" the project gets down on a dry, slightly Tribal-infused Acid / Techno path reminiscent to Steve Stoll's work under his Datacloud alias on Probe Records back in 1992, "Untitled 2", a nearly 11 minutes effort,  is a more spaced out affair crossing over between gooey, acidic Ambient, 'troity flavours and deep Electro, catering great vibes for highly advanced dancefloors whilst the final cut "Untitled 3" sets all floors into bouncing motion after a few seconds due to its positive, uplifting and short-looped structure, spiralling sound movements and twisted, electroid rhythm patterns. This is good stuff.

28.11.2016 baze.djunkiii @ Mojo Jazz Cafe / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings / Liquid Sky Berlin]

file under: TripHop / Downtempo / Balearic / Dub / Eclectic Freestyle

doors: 7 p.m.

Mojo Jazz Cafe
Reeperbahn 1
Hamburg St. Pauli
Germany

Dr. NoiseM - The CDr A-B-C: O [Dr. NoiseM Tapes]

From the vaults of the ever active, yet mysterious Dr. NoiseM comes the next sequel of the ongoing "The CDr A-B-C"-series which is a further continuation of his long-lasting journey into the realms of Dark- and Death Ambient. What starts on a deep, slightly unsettling, ritual tip with dark, ever shifting tonal waves is interrupted by cold, hissing layers and heavy, abrading sub frequencies after a short while, in parts reminiscent of giant, humonguos rocks being dragged over barren grounds, and slowly turns into an eerie, nerve-wrecking crescendo comprised of screaming ghosts and whimpering tortured souls that is blown over from a far distance. Minutes later throughout the course of the playtime of 68 minutes the crescendo has faded, dark, fast moving clouds are announcing a heavy storm passing by before (Neo)Cosmic-inspired synths arise ca. halfway through the album and dis- and reappear again to leave us exposed to the steady, ever repeating foundation this longplay piece began with: eternal darkness.

Hans P. Kjorstad og Rasmus Kjorstad - Pusinshi Ulla [Ta:Lik 148 Promo]

Incoming from the Norwegian label Ta:Lik a few weeks ago was "Pusinshi Ulla", the latest album effort created by the pair of brothers that is Hans P. Kjorstad and Rasmus Kjorstad, both studying at The Norwegian State Academy Of Music. Hailing from the village of Fron and equipped with a big love for the raw aspects of the countries original Folk music the pair is not only known for their excellent fiddle skills but have done a great deal of research about the Folk tradition of their hometown and the Gudbrandsdalen area in general, tracking down names and lines along which songs have been passed down from ancient days to now. With the eleven songs to be found on this album they're presenting what they've taken and inhaled from their research on and work with traditional Norwegian Folk whilst stripping away the often times romantic layers attached to the genre and present their raw and unpretentious vision and approach to the theme, both in quite eclectic sounding instrumentals like "Guri" or the more uplifting, rural and dancey "Springleik Etter Iver Storodden / Svasshøle II" as well as touching, emotional vocal tunes like "Filefjelleiken" which are fueled with ancient energy and immenseness that they provide a certain fascination even for those not familiar with any kind of Folk music at all, so this  album might be a good starting point for a longer exploration into what surely is a sonic terra incognita for many of y'all folks out there. And what's for sure is that Norway has some quite interesting stuff to offer in this field,  "Pusinshi Ulla" included.

Album artwork on Instagram! 

Jeffrey Roden - Threads Of A Prayer Volume 1 [Solaire Records Promo]

What happens when a former session musician for the likes of Bo Diddley turns towards classically influenced musical minimalism after a period of working on ElectroJazz, Improv and large-scale bass compositions? Well, in the case of  Jeffrey Roden he ends up with a massive boxed double CD album plus extended booklet named "Threads Of A Prayer Volume 1" released on Solaire Records which is to be continued with a sequel in 2017. Opening the album with a series of "Twelve Prayers" the listener is immediately drawn into the world of ultraminimalist composition Jeffrey Roden's work has been revolving around in the past five+ years as we're thrown back on our own, being left with nothing but single sparse piano tones and plenty of space. Following up we've got a series of "Untitled 10 Pieces" which are following a similar path but seem to focus on a more chord-based, harmonic and melodic approach despite still living up to the promise of being ultimately sparse before "The Passing Of A King" provides minor key melancholia for late fall afternoons at the end of the fist CD. Going into the second part of the album "The Many Latitudes Of Grief" offer seven pieces written for an octet consisting of four strings, piano, timpani and trombone which all provide an, of course mininimalist, inward looking, yet sometimes tense and dramatic - this goes especially for "Two" and "Four" - variation of chamber music with a well score'esque, romantic quality whilst the two untitled string quartets following up to this series provide more of a panoramic attitude well informed by (Neo)Classical music. Finally, we see the last string quintet named "Leaves" stretch out over a stunning 35 minutes bringing on a long soothing flow of romanticism and beauty without coming even near to anything that could be put in the kitsch drawer. Excellent album, even for those who're not too fond of Classical or (Neo)Classical music at all. Get!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Bardia Salour - Point Break (Official Video)

Bardia Salour - Point Break (Official Video) from 100 Schön TV on Vimeo.

Deep, dubbed out Techno from the Hamburg underground - nice one!

Reinier Van Houdt - Paths Of The Errant Gaze [Hallowground Promo]

Put on the circuit via the highly interesting Hallowground label on October 28th, 2k16 is Reinier Van Houdt's most recent longplay piece "Paths Of The Errant Gaze" in which the classically trained pianist who currently also plays with the legendary Apocalyptic Folk outfit Current 93 expands the borders of his work to a certain extent. In "Atopic Radio" he fuses dark, threatening soundscapes with cut-ups taken from various, random radio recordings and therefore explores territories roamed by great artists like Robin Rimbaud a.k.a. Scanner, "The Fabric Of Loss" is a deep, contemplative take on minor key Piano Ambient for cold winter nights which seamlessly transitions into the sound of the "Oprhic Asylum", piling up quite a bunch of off kilter wind instruments and horrifying, unidentifiable and surely goosebump-evoking sounds to a quite unsettling effect, before the "Vessel" leaves the shores to glide into the beauteous angelic postapocalysms of Total Ambient.  On the flipside we see "Gaussian Veils" slo-mo bass pulses meet sparse piano tones and mysterious vocals to re-define theatrical minimalism in a way that seems to be influenced by the artists work with Current 93, the epic 10+ minutes of "Transfinite Spectre" explore the cold, buzzing digital surface Noize of the cyberspace and all its dynamic, and sometimes even harsh and brutal, levels before the short skit named "Vapour" concludes this recommended album on a fragile, near acoustic piano tip. Nice one.

baze.djunkiii Chart Haul 11/2016

A Glow - Perfect (Official Video)

Jette Von Roth & Mijk Van Dijk are coming up with amazing, yet mysterious cinematography for "Perfect", the latest musical outing of their conjunctional project A Glow which is put on the circuit via their very own imprint Roter Punkt these days.

Spaceheads - Laughing Water [Electric Brass Records 006 Promo]

Scheduled for release on November 21st, 2k16 via Electric Brass Records is the new Spaceheads album named "Laughing Water" which sees the formerly trumpet and drums duo from the UK enhancing their sound after a history of more than 25 years with the arrival of their long time friend Vincent Bertholet on double bass. And this enhancement is an excellent one as the well-captivating album opening title track draws us out into the centre of the dancefloor, working out to a thrilling take on Dancefloor Jazz with a spy movie twist whilst the following "Dark Blue" goes a little deeper in terms of Jazz Noir based on complex drums as well as talking trumpet notes and "Be Calmed" serves an excellent menu of laid-back, melancholia-driven, high quality Bar Jazz accompanied by various random found sound samples which we'd defo could imagine being featured on the very first editions of the legendary "Future Sounds Of Jazz"-series back in the days. The "Quantum Shuffle" is about to please those loving their organic Dope Beats to the max, the "Octopus" waves its eight tentacles to a more tripping, slightly dubbed out musical outing and "Machine Molle", the only vocal tune on this longplay piece, weighs in a little bit of Bossa- meets AfroBeat-infused fire for all late night dancers out there. Furthermore "Pedalo Power" sets a well-suiting vibe for futuristic cocktail lounging lightyears beyond the earth's heliocentric orbit and the final cut "Aire De Rhone" provides the ultimate organic score to calm down and drift into blurry dreamlands after a busy day. This is good stuff. Trust me.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Kerbside Collection - Strawberry Fields *Sampology's In The Sunshine Remix

Taken from the recently released Legere Recordings 12" "Trash Or Treasure Remixed".

LeRoy - Bambadea [Schamoni Musik]

Scheduled for November 18th, 2016 on Munich's Schamoni Musik is LeRoy's sophomore album effort named "Bambadea" which is following up to the 2015-released debut "Skläsh".  And within a year things have changed rapidly in terms of music and therefore we see LeRoy drifting away from his slightly krautsy and sometimes uplifting attitude and going into a more bluesy, thoughtful direction - without playing the Blues, of course. "Quirly Stu" weighs in complex, highly compressed Downtempo / TripHop-influenced beats and layers of dreamy guitar improvisations, "Happened From The Void" serves inward looking Indietronics accompanied by layers of field recorded conversations and so does "Exposure", albeit evoking fond memories of a sound well popular in the early 2000s whilst "Advantage Of Nothing" fuses deep Electronics with broken Desert Blues abstractions and occasional vintage synth bleeps. On the flip we've got the "Coral Girl" dancing to a trippy subaquatic swing beat and Post-Hawaiian steel guitar twang, "Half The Way" amalgamates muscular beats with a psychedelic 60s motif, occasional Dub-echoes and distinct, post-campfire'esque, possibly red wine fueled, borderline dejected vocals before the title track "Bambadea" takes blurred out Indietronic Dub to a more stripped down level and the final cut "The Village" enters uptempo territories and caters the needs of those loving their experimental PostPunk / (No)Wave to bits. This, for sure, will be quite a surprise for all those who've discovered LeRoy through his firstling.

22.11.2016 baze.djunkiii @ Mojo Jazz Cafe / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings / Liquid Sky Berlin]

file under: TripHop / Downtempo / Balearic / Dub / Eclectic Freestyle

doors: 9 p.m.

Mojo Jazz Cafe
Reeperbahn 1
Hamburg St. Pauli
Germany

Sascha Müller - At The Sunset [SMSM 007]

Out since November 10th, 2k16 is Sascha Müller's newest five track EP entitled "At The Sunset" on which the Meppen-based artist explores the more House-related side of his production work. With the opening tune "From Paris To Detroit" we're served a quite muscular, pumping tune sporting a raw, probably a little too present bassline and soft piano pads for extended terrace sessions, "Get The Man" gets down with the oldskool and rides a percussive, well-seductive Garage House wave we've all loved when popularized by labels like Nervous Records in 90s whilst the "Sunset Dance" brings back lovely filter works and a feeling of overwhelming joy and ecstacy for all die-hard House music lovers. Next up is a bit of "Jazzy Fuzz", a well pumping tune sporting a yearning, echoing trumpet line as main motif whilst the final cut "Low End" provides excellent, jazzy drum programming and deep layers of masterly crafted strings for all those who like to go deep without slowing down bpm-wise. Good stuff. 

Blueneck - Ghosts

When tender Electronics meet a fragile Indie attitude there are "Ghosts". The first tune taken from the forthcoming Blueneck album "The Outpost" scheduled for release via Denovali on November 25th, 2k16.

18.11.2016 baze.djunkiii guest mix @ vdren / Ems-Vechte-Welle 99.3FM

On November 18th, 2k16 the German radio station Ems-Vechte-Welle , transmitting in the Emsland region of Germany as well as streaming online, is about to air an exclusive experimental freestyle seven-track DJ mix by baze.djunkiii, covering a full spectrum from Folk-influenced electronics to Downtempo, Broken Beat and Juke.

The mix is about to be a part of the weekly friday night show named "vdren" which is hosted by Manfred Reckers, also known for his musical outings under the guises eVADE and Duality Micro, and has been focusing on non-mainstream electronic music and beyond for several years now, growing into a staple for every true electronic music head in this specific region of the country.

baze.djunkiii for vdren tracklist:

1. Wyoming – Man / Machine Pt. II
2. Angels Dust – Slow Tapes
3. LeRoy – Quirly Stu
4. [aniYo kore] – Stinging Nettle
5. Black Jazz Chronicles – Snooky's Spirit
6. Dizz1 – Higher feat Frank Nitt (DJ Manny Remix)
7. DJ Rashad x DJ Earl – Wear Her Pussy Out

the full show tracklist can be found here after transmission.

transmission starts @ 22.03 CET+1

live stream link here!

If you're in the Emsland region get locked @ 95.2 FM / 99.3 FM.

Coldcut feat. Roses Gabor - Donald's Wig

Electronic bass music that's reminiscent of dancefloor crashing Indie - this is the new sound of sampling pioneers and Ninja Tune-founders known as Coldcut. We're up for that!

Sløtface - Empire Records

We see this causing havoc on your local Indie dancefloor and we're curious how the new Sløtface EP will sound like which is due for release via Propeller Recordings on November 18th, 2k16.

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 046]

Having received a massive package of releases from the man Sascha Müller himself only a few days ago it's about time to have a deeper look into one of his latest albums, the 46th musical outing on his very own imprint Supersix Records Extra. Going in hard with a bunch of 13 tracks the album opener "Feindkontakt" serves an array of super dry bassdrums as a solid foundation for minimalistic, nerve wrecking Techno stabs bringing in a pure body experience whilst the following "Metaplex" takes a totally different path and serves one of the dopest approaches to super organic, 303-infused TripHop / Downtempo we've heard in a quite a while. Next up is "Mr. Delete", a tune fusing stripped down Underground House with a darn funky Chicago House-bassline to a great effect, the "Oscillator Rhythm" accelerates down the fast lane and brings back driving Tribal Techno and seductive female vocal samples for a reason, "Pipp" serves highly distorted Techno with an Axis-reminiscing twist as well as dark, sweeping Rave signals and "Pixelstorm" rides a braincell crunching MonoAcid wave for those who can take it. Furthermore "Pounder (Technology Mix)" is, well..., thrilling, hard pounding Acid-fueled Techno for large arenas, the "Primitive Dancer" sets dancefloors on fire with a lively killer lo-fi motif crafted for primetime abuse and the subsequent "Reverse" takes us on a trip to a place where twisted, continous filter movements and cold, psyched out synth bass figures are falling together in a fascinating, yet minimalist way. "Rolltreppe", the track following up, turns out to be a totally childish, playful, Easy Listening interlude presumingly produced on old vintage synths or other quirky equipment, "Saigon" redefines HardRave through an amalgamation of grinding horror synths and anticyclical Acid patterns whilst  "Save The Music" is on a heavy destruction tip like a caterpillar on tilt mode, living up to the promise of its hard, Hardcore-reminiscing and hypercompressed drum terror before the final "Scan Process" fuses brutal distortion with quite a bunch of Tribal vibes to conclude this album as the most energetic peak time effort on this longplay piece. 

DJ Marcelle / Another Nice Mess - In The Wrong Direction [Jahmoni Music]

Recently released on Munich's one and only Jahmoni Music imprint is DJ Marcelle's first solo 10" release after a string of  vinyl megamix albums put on the circuit via Hans-Joachim Irmler's Klangbad label. Known for the reckless, genre-crossing attitude of her DJ mixes it's no surprise that her solo productions explore terrains beyond conventional club music as well and branch out into the unknown. With "To The Left" the Amsterdam-based artist comes up with a tune comprised of short, mechanical loops which might appeal to followers of genres like Rhythm Industrial, accompanied by a dark, brooding, near static bassline and intense, ghostly sample bits whilst the, also short-looped and sample-bearing, flipside tune "To The Right" enters territorities seemingly highly influenced by the adventurous, often Dancehall-reminiscing beat mayhem provided by the likes of DJ /Rupture or experimental, sound-clashing labels like the former Broklyn Beats. If these names do evoke fond memories you're well recommended to check this one out for sure.  

Geir Sundstøl - Langen Ro [Hubro Music]

Put on the circuit via Hubro Music on October 28th, 2k16 is Geir Sundstøl's second solo album "Langen Ro", following up to his 2015-released debut "Furulund" which finally came about after Geir Sundstøl was involved in way more than 200 - !!! - albums prior to that, being the dedicated session musician he is. Focusing on his own ideas and creativity here we see the artist pan out a set of eight tunes falling together as a psychedelia inducing, mostly instrumental mosaic incorporating elements of Folk and twangy Desert Blues, Ambient and some bits and bops of seemingly ritual temple music, maybe of Buddhist or at least South East Asian descent, whilst tunes like "Los" or "Baris" even evoke memories of laid back Hawaiian steel guitar music. This said, it's understood that 'real' instruments - and mainly the very distinct guitar -  are the most prominent asset here, with drums being rare and electronics, especially synths, playing only a subsidiary role in the creation of a gentle musical flow that, on the one hand, is carving out a niche of its own whilst, on the other, is perfectly working as unostentatious background music for long, hot and lazy summer days.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Cut Worms - Lumbar Fist [Opa Loka Records]

Another fresh one on Opa Loka Records is Richard Van Kruysdijk's solo project Cut Worms which is coming up with its longplay debut these days. Weighing in seven tracks spread out over an hours playtime the opener "Tangent Folio" takes us on a trip into slowly evolving, partly drone'ish Ambient landscapes of a calming, contemplative nature and lays the foundation for what is to follow in "Stone Ether" - a tune of similar, yet slightly darker and more intense nature, evoking memories of grey, leaden clouds pushed through the open skies by a storm that has not reached its absolute peak yet. With "Halo Ginseng" - that title, though... - the overall atmosphere gravitates towards a more friendly spectrum and might be described as Ambient equivalent of hanging out on a warm and lazy summers day, doing nothing, "Seance Drop" serves eerie minimalisms in a world of eternal gridlock where the horizon's silver lining is just pale and nearly invisible whilst "Crabby Plasma" brings in the ultimate quietude in providing a steady, wave-resembling ebb and flow of sonic pulses. Furthermore the "Drum Sloth", like all tunes on this well-recommended album, stays away from any drums at all but caters beautiful cascades of Ambient motifs instead before the Drone-heavy, mostly static and non-evolutionary nature of "Slow Binging", a tune that evokes memories of Aube's classic "Deglaze" album, concludes what is to be referred to as nothing less than a great debut effort. Get!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Adrian Corker - The Have-Nots OST [SN Variations Promo]

Scheduled for release on November 25th, 2k16 via SN Variations is Adrian Corker's original soundtrack for Florian Hoffmeister's most recent movie effort named "The Have-Nots". And although we do not have access to the film to evaluate how well the music complements the cinematography it's safe to say that Adrian Corker's work, mainly based around a classical string quartet, is going to appeal to an audience much broader than collectors of scores / soundtracks only, due to its inherent romanticism and tender, oftentimes intimate and melancholia-inducing nature that caters to the needs of those loving their (Neo)Classical music from the heart but also manages to deliver more experimental sequences, like the ones to be found in the short skit named "Supermarket" or the subsequent "Squaring The Circle VS 2", for followers of contemporary music and organic Ambient which, at some point, is even spread out over a deep and dancefloor friendly foundation of 4/4 drums or turns into tense, eerie and more like nerve-wrecking, outerworldly soundscapes in "Charged (Rushing Rework By Jack Wyllie)", a tune that also would be a great choice to accompany an old Hitchcock flic for a reason. Defo a good listen on a cold winter's day.

Mel G x Dev79 x Sideswipe - Neva Eva (Free Download)

Another massive Juke banger poppin' up on the free DL circuit. This one's got soul!

Christopher Chaplin - Lucius Agatho (Video by Francisco Bassim)

A quite intense video for a track taken off Christopher Chaplin's most recent album "Je Suis Le Tenebreux".

Monkey Plot - They Suddenly Disappeared

The Norwegian imprint Hubro Music goes PostRock? Intredasting!

baze.djunkiii Charts 11/2016

01. Katie Gately - Color [Tri Angle]
See review for details...

02. Jan St Werner - Felder [Thrill Jockey Records / Fiepblatter Catalogue #4]
See review for details...

03. The Bug feat- D Double E & Riko Dan - Box / Iceman [Ninja Tune]
When The Bug comes up with a new release, no matter if 12", EP or full on album, it's defo a must check for me and always has been. And with this one The Bug is doing some damage on Grime floors all over the place although the A-side named "Box" featuring D Double E on microphone duties is not that angry, violent and sub-heavy as most of the projects tunes but caters to a slightly broader audience in terms of Grime fans out there, of course without any compromise. On the flipside Riko Dan takes over the mic for "Iceman" which is a stone cold killer tune of the kind we all love The Bug for from the heart, a massive tool of bass destruction creeping up form the depths of hell. Therefore "Iceman" wins and will not leave the crates for quite a while.

04. Various Artists - Shapes In Space Compiled By Robert Louis [Tru Thoughts Recordings]
Oh, what a great compilation this is! Usually I'm not following the busy release schedule of Tru Thoughts Recordings on a regular but whenever they're putting out a new sequel to their annual "Shapes"-series showcasing the spectrum of the labels eclectic catalogue it's quite likely there's some good stuff on there to add to the collection and to incorporate in more Freestyle / Downtempo-orientated DJ-sets like the occasional ones I play at the Mojo Jazz Cafe in Hamburg. And this years "Shapes" does not disappoint in catering a great collection of NuSoul, jazzy Downtempo, as well as more uptempo Broken Beats, Ragga / Bashment, bits of Future & UK Garage and even a Juke-rework crafted by Chicago's DJ Manny. Some names included here: Rodney P & DJ Die feat. Indigo Kid, Dizz1, Werkha. The Bamboos, Lakuta and many more.

05. The Strange Walls - ...Won't Last [Alrealon Musique Promo]
See review for details...

06. Black Manual - Mordendo Remixed [Portals Editions 005 Promo]
See review for details...

07. Christian Wallumrød Ensemble - Kurzsam And Fulger [Hubro Music Promo]
See review for details...

08. Christopher Chaplin - Je Suis Le Tenebreux [Fabrique Records Promo]
See review for details...

09. Ensemble Du Verre - Who Will Tell Us (Room 13) [Batterie Records]
See review for details...

10. -

Ensemble Du Verre - Rooms [Batterie Records]

After we've already announced the arrival of the single "Who Will Tell Us" by Ensemble Du Verre in early October it's now about time to take a closer look at the groups new album named "Rooms" which is about to hit the stores on November 4th, 2k16 via Batterie Records. With his seventh album we see Ensemble Du Verre-mastermind Sönke Düwer and his musical company unfold a tender, often minimalistic soundscape comprised of both vocal and instrumental tracks somewhat exploring a world in between NuSoul, (Nu)Jazz as well as organic Ambient bits and influences of TripHop which are, for the most part, based on a sparse instrumental foundation of piano and drums plus vocals, supplemented by decent electronic undertones and - and that's a new one when it comes to the projects approach - scratches performed Umut Abaci who, coming from a more HipHop-oriented context, is adding another layer of depth and complexity to the work of Ensemble Du Verre. This said, all these masterly crafted elements fall in place perfectly to create a tender, intimate and timeless album of a certain melancholia and undeniable vintage attitude which - in opposite to many other longplay releases these days - really manages to tell and create story that is enthralling the listener over the full runtime of approx. 49 minutes, keeps growing and unveiling new musical details throughout every new listening session for quite a long time. Therefore recommended, this is.   

Album artwork on Instagram!