Yair Etziony - Ensemble [False Industries 029 Promo]

Relased via the False Industries label as their cat.no. 029 on December 6th, 2k19 is Yair Etziony's "Ensemble" album which sees the now Berlin-based creative mastermind delivering the third part of a trilogy covering his journey in settling in to his new hometown that is the German capital. Making a return to production techniques he hadn't employed for years we see Yair Etziony provide a more saturated and chromatic musical approach on this album, starting with the panoramic Ambient of the opener "39C At Tempelhofer Feld" as well as the slightly quivering follow up "Kottbusser Damm" which is defined by soft layered pad calmness and crackly surface noise emulations. With "Teufelsee" the Israeli expat unfolds ethereal organ'esque drama without big tonal shifts and movements, "The Ministry Of Love" seemingly draws influences from epic (Neo)Cosmic and classical Synth masters whereas "Poznan" indulges in deep floating Ambient melancholia and carefully arranged string works. Furthermore "Goodbye To All That" transfers the melancholia-driven aspects into a cold, space exploration-focused retrofuture, "Vantaa" keeps up with the Cold Ambient vibe, channeling encrypted transmissions from deep space alongside slowly moving bass drones before the concluding cut "No Infrastructure" presents somewhat of a connection to Yair Etziony's previous works with its brooding UnAmbient athmosphere, dark, crackling background, occasional respiratory sounds and overall cold Industrial feel alongside slowly moving harmonies and crystalline, yet slightly off kilter minimal motifs. Go check. 

Pasquale Innarella / Go_Dex Quartet - Go_Dex [Aut Records 053]

Put on the circuit via Berlin's Aut Records-label on December 16th, 2k19 is "Go_Dex", an eight track CD release created by Pasquale Innarella and his Go_Dex Quartet to pay tribute and homage to legendary tenor sax player Dexter Gordon. Taking on Gordon's compositions and making them their own in terms of interpretation we see the four musicians - Pasquale Innarella alongside Paolo Cintio, Leonardo De Rose and Giampiero Silvestri - not only uncovering and reviving musical pieces rarely performed by other musicians these days and therefore shedding light on otherwise slightly forgotten, or at least underrated, Jazz history but also provide thrilling variations of beautifully buzzing classics like "The Chase" which still has a magical, broadway'esque drive and an ability to work dancefloors up to this day, reveal touching romanticism in extended late night Jazz cuts like the eight plus minutes spanning "Misty", get things well swinging throughout hot "Catalonian Nights" and even go further into dope Dancefloor Jazz mannerisms with "Soy Califa" just to name a bunch of our favorites on this album. Defo one to check out if you're a true lover of classic, and well classy, Jazz music.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Piloot - Daga (Official Video)

Sparse, fever'ish Downtempo structures and glowing, ever morphing space worms - Piloot presents a score for your deepest, most  unsettling dreams.

3 Musketiere - Abflug [Terp Records]

Re-issued, and for the first time properly released, via Terp Records in early fall, 2k19 is "Abflug", the 1983-recorded demo cassette album recorded by drummer Katherina Bornefeld with her band 3 Musketiere before she embarked on a journey to join The Ex back in 1984. Combining drums, vocals, violin and bass we see the band explore music of almost cinematic qualities in the hounded mostly non-vocal opener "Go" which interestingly switches gears, tempo and rhythm signatures quite a few times over the course of its approx. four minutes runtime whereas "Vater Staat" fuses gipsy melodies with a straight up diy Punk / (No)Wave attitude, "Druckerlied" harks back to the tradition of songs of the working class and "Pfiff" amalgamates raw bass guitar power, thrilling violins and uplifting whistling sequences to a great dancefloor smashing effect just to a name a few pieces featured on this well interesting flashback in music industry. Check.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Gabriele Mitelli - The World Behind The Skin [We Insist! Records 007]

Put on the circuit via the Italian label We Insist! Records on November 8th, 2k19 is Gabriele Mitelli's latest musical outing "The World Behind The Skin" - a musical four track journey stretched over a total runtime of 45 minutes. Opening with "Trip To The Abysses" we see the artist undertaking a trip to the darkest vaults of sonic realm indeed, equipped with an array of instruments including cornet, soprano sax, alto flugelhorn, electronics, objects and voice which are all dismembered and reassembled, processed and relayered to build a haunting golem of Noize, Drone, remnants of UnAmbient and intense electrical buzzing which is totally different than what one might expect in the first place - at least until a certain FreeJazz madness takes over in the final minutes of this very first track. With "Just Take Another" Mitelli explores more dark Electronica in conjunction with clanging metal pieces, probably field recorded cutlery, hypnotizing vocal loops and longing, yearning Jazz elements, "The Fisherman's Prayer" is on the noisier, intense and threatening side of the percussive spectrum and surely nothing to be enjoyed by the faint hearted although weighing in a more tender Jazz-oriented vibe further down its runtime whereas the final cut "The Red Sunrise And The Octopus" caters a dark, clean and slowly moving take on droning Ambient, with electrical pulses and sawtooth filters alongside carefully arranged harmonic elements building up towards a closure of, again, electrical buzzing and beautiful static noise for all the true genre lovers out there - defo our favorite track on this fascinating, ever progressing album.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Thomas Brinkmann - Günne (Irmscher) BO (Möhnesee / D)

Thomas Brinkmann takes Musique Concrete into an Industrial realm and vice versa on his latest album "Raupenbahn".

Yann Novak - Slowly Dismantling [Room40 Promo]

Put on the circuit via Australia's Ambient staple Room40 on November 1st, 2k19 is Yann Novak's most recent album named "Slowly Dismantling" which we've already announced on these pages with a video post for the Minimal Ambient opener "All Things End, Sometimes In Fire" earlier this year. With the following "Accumulation" the queer L.A.-based artist takes on a slightly more Drone oriented, warm, harmonic, yet time-dissolving Ambient approach, "We All Disappear" pairs a slowly shifting low end rumble with entangled harmonic interplays, somewhat resembling long organ tones blown over from afar by a tender, lazy summer breeze whereas "The Metaphor Of A Party" takes the concept of a slow steady sonic stream of pure comforting calmness to a new, masterly crafted level before the concluding composition "Again And Again Until We Feel Nothing" waves goodbye on a more melancholia-infused note. As Ambient as Ambient can be and therefore a worthwhile addition to every genre-based collection.

Various Artists - On Corrosion [The Helen Scarsdale Agency 050 Promo]

Celebrating their 50th release since the labels launch back in 2003 The Helen Scardsale Agency have taken on their biggest and most ambitious project so far with "On Corrosion", a limited to 200 copies ten cassette tape box set housed in a wooden box with each single cassette being a full album created by one of the labels artists. The promotional full CD edition sampler condenses this gargantuan project down into ten tracks / excerpts and one hour of runtime opening with "Punkt", a hefty Noise PostRock meets Scanner'esque Field Recordings outing presented by the Swedish Duo that is Neutral, the "Alternation (Edit)" by L.A.'s Pinkcourtesyphone is bringing forth a thrilling variation of sci-fi themed Ambient / Cold Ambient before "A Collection Of Damaged Reel Tapes Loops, Side B (Edit)" by Francisco Meirino merges influences of Noize, Fluxus and Foundsound to a great effect. Following up are both Alice Kemp's "The Headless Saint" and "A Gold Blade To The Back Of The Head" which shine a light on the British composers intimate, spine-tingling Ambient eroticisms whilst Fossil Aerosol Mining Project's "Playing The Instrument As It Decays" provides a well comforting take on haunting off-kilter Ambient and G*Park's "Alles Ist Im Fluss. Die Pure Alchemie. (Edit)" weighs in a brooding, threatening sonic vision incorporating dark ambiance and haunting whispers, scraping and loads of obviously reversed sounds of outerworldly quality . Furthermore "Terminal Ice Wind (Edit)" by Relay For Death indulges in a desolate, masterly crafted Death Ambient / Dark Ambient fusion, She Spread Sorrow's "Star" is based on hypnotic low end pulses, electronic buzzing and cold, haunting Spoken Word storytelling and "I Was Never Here" by Himukalt concludes this promotional sampler on a most brutal and futuristic Noize / Rhythm Industrial note. Excellent.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Doon Kanda - Polycephaly (Official Video)

Rarely does one see a video for a beautiful melodic Electronica tune come with a distinct epilepsy warning for the accompanying video.

Gintas K - Variations In A-Moll For A Granular Synthesis [Esc.Rec. 065]

Coming in from Lithuania recently is "Variations In A-Moll For A Granular Synthesis", the latest album outing by the ever active experimental composer Gintas K which has been released via the Netherlands-based imprint Esc.Rec. as a limited edition of 300 copies in early December, 2k19. Created, conceptualized and recorded throughout a 2016 artist residency in Estonia the album caters a total of six variations of the title track stretched over a total runtime of approx. 68 minutes, each of them sporting a surprisingly chill and extremely harmonic approach to what is the result of a granular treatment that presents the listener with an end result of a crunchy, grinding and highly digital sounding foundation of what might be described as an Electronica / Glitch resembling beat structure garnished with floating space harmonies and clean, scientific melodic motifs broken down and shattered into gazillions of warped sonic pieces, providing a great variety of detail and excitement over the course of each tracks very own singular development. Our favorite? "Variations In A-Moll For A Granular Synthesis #2".

Laurel Halo - Crush

Stripped down Future Grime / Future Bass beats taken from the most recent Hyperdub / Adult Swim crossover compilation project dubbed "HyperSwim".

Deserta - Black Aura My Sun [Felte Records 064 Promo]

Scheduled for release via Felte Records on January 17, 2k20 is "Black Aura My Sun", the debut album by Matthew Doty most recent musical outing named Deserta. Influenced by the fact that he was about to become a father at the time the production for the album took place the Saxon Shore-member took off to embark on a seven track journey which is taking him deep into the grey area in between SynthPop, Shoegaze and subaquatic DreamPop. With hazy, washed out harmonies, a drum kit tuned to resemble the distinct sound of the 80s and reverberating vocals at the very back end of the mix we see Deserta creating a blurred sonic dreamscape for emotional, inward looking listening sessions or introspective moments on Wave / Indie dancefloors as provided with songs like "Monica" or "Be So Blue" which we could both imagine to be included in Trentemøller's DJ-set as soon as they're released. If this strikes a chord with your musical imagination "Black Aura My Sun" might be an album for you.

Craven Faults - Deipkier (Official Video)

Warm, hypnotic, ever spiralling synth organs, deep electronic pulses and code-resembling visuals as a teaser for the forthcoming Craven Faults album "Erratics & Uniformities" which is scheduled for January 10th, 2k20 via The Leaf Label.

Peter Ivers - Becoming Peter Ivers [RVNG. Intl. Promo]

Released via RVNG Intl. on November 8th, 2k19 is "Becoming Peter Ivers", a massive 25 track compilation album representing a distilled selection of tracks recovered from hundreds and hundreds of hours of unpublished - and seemingly for the most part undocumented - material found in the artists home after Peter Ivers passing in 1983. Mostly written throughout the 70s, a period in which both "Terminal Love", a longplay effort by The Peter Peter Ivers Band and his self titled debut album "Peter Ivers" were released via Warner Bros., the raw, stripped down demo versions on this historical compilation capture what always Peter Ivers stood by - the credo of "demos are often better than records". Fragile, reduced to their very essence in terms of instrumentation - vocals, harmonica, drum machine and piano - songs like "Even Stephen Foster", "Peter" or "The Night You Didn't Come" might sound a little dusted and vintage, reflecting on musical trends of yore yet there's still something touching, tender and caressingly magical about these super intimate recordings that is still valuable and emotionally touching today whilst tunes like the spaced out "I'm Sorry Alice" and the highly seductive "Miraculous Weekend" still have enough power to bring the Funk to dancefloors of today, "Deborah" weighs in a certain swing for all kind of creatures of the night and cuts like "Audience Of One" even touch base with slow, spine-tingling and highly dramatic Soul. "My Grandmother's Funeral" introduces a more intertwined, complex take on songwriting and multilayered vocal harmonies, "In Heaven" brings forth killer piano lines and a smokey, late night bar vibe, "Untitled" is a sweet vintage instrumental garnished with catchy non-vocalisms, "Love In Flight (Piano Overture)" turns out to be a most beautiful Easy Listening miniature, "Happy On The Grill" comes across with a sweet, little Novelty-attitude for a love song and the ethereal "You Used To Be Stevie" is another magical song of unrivalled dramatic quality just to name a few of our favorite cuts here. A lot to take in and therefore this album demands quite a few repeated listening sessions to appreciate each and every detail on sonic display here. 

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 093]

Fresh on Supersix Records is Sascha Müller's 93rd - !!! - untitled album on the label which, doing a bit of math here, leads to the conclusion that this German artist must've released over a thousand tracks on this label alone, clocking in at an average of eleven tracks per longplayer. Opening with the double feature "Studio I" / "Studio II" we see the ever busy producer provide screaming variations of muffled, tool-focused primetime Techno for the first cut whilst the second employs a similar attitude, yet presents a clearer mix, loads of offbeat percussion layers and a certain, undeniable swing for all true Techno heads out there. The subsequent "Subway Informations" reveal a formula for positive, ever floating AcidTrance happiness, "Sunflow" brings on the most beautiful Ambient Trance vibes ever and "Sweet Valley High" is meandering in between lo-fi Phonk and distorted, abstract TechnoJazz - think Cari Lekebusch on Loop Recordings or similar records here. Following up is "Take Off And Landing", a super dry, stripped down take on percussive, distorted Phonk, "Telemusik" is haunting, gooey, slow motion Acid recorded in alien swamps before "Teta Waves" switches gears rapidly to set dancefloors in motion with nothing but hard banging, super functional Rave Techno for strobe lit warehouse brock outs. With "The Process" we're entering a world of busy midrange modulation and whipping snares for more technoid peaktime madness, "Timbersports" harks back to vibe of the raw, unprocessed Acid tunes emerging from Italian studios in the first half of the 90s and the concluding cut named "Time Lock" provides a well experimental polyrhythmic IDM closing for those loving to go deep in their homelistening session. Another great selection from this criminally underrated production force. 

Aiden Baker & Gareth Davis - Names

Beautiful, emotional Ambient taken from the forthcoming album "Invisible Cities II", scheduled for release via Karlrecords on January 24th, 2020.

Manu Louis - Cream Parade [Igloo Records]

Coming in only recently from the Brussels-based imprint Igloo Records was "Cream Parade", the second full length album outing by Berlin-based Belgian musician Manu Louis. Released in May 2k19 the nine track longplayer opens with "Saxophone", a 70 seconds excursion into sweet Jazz melancholia accompanied by electronic textures whereas the follow-up "Internet" pairs a certain SlowHouse attitude with Manu Louis' distinct vocals and elements evoking memories of echoes of ElectroSwing before "Efface" weighs in even more muscular, Techno-infused bass drums alongside the artists LeftfieldPop style. With "Data Farm" we see Manu Louis gravitating towards emotional, tongue-in-cheek, lo-fi bedroom romanticism for geeky lovers and therefore delivers our favorite cut on the album, "My Wife Is Leaving Me For The Prime Minister" weighs in more touching, heart-felt well sexy Bedroom Jazz over  the course of less than 90 seconds  whilst the "President" dances to to brooding Slowcore Techno and intense, hypnotic Spoken Word singing - a combination evolving into a well Psychedelia-aware, joyful vintage vibe experience further down the line. Furthermore "The Screen" displays a colourful potpourri of spirals and trippy, cascading explosions whilst speakers are blasting a powerful variation of muscular, 4/4-based Novelty Wave, "Internet's Farewell" is tender, retrofuturist vintage LovePop based on a foundation of sparse, yet ever caressing Clicks'n'Cuts / Electronica sporting the most beautiful, loving low end we've heard in quite a while and the final "Tardigrade" causes havoc on dancefloors with its well fast-paced apocalyptic Wave vibe. File under: recommended Leftfield Pop. Check.

Jo Berger Myhre & Olafur Björn Olaffson - Lanzarote [Hubro Music]

Released via the Norwegian label Hubro Music on October 4th, 2k19 is "Lanzarote", the second conjunctional album created by the duo of Jo Berger Myhre and Olafur Björn Olaffson. Influenced by the sudden death of the Norwegian composer Johann Johannson, the work of Michel Houellebecq and the island of Lanzarote itself, the latter playing a role in various layers of depth here, the pair of musicians created an album of seven tracks, mostly condensed improvisations which were later saturated and re-edited to come into full fruition and find their final form. Opening with a "Grain Of Sand" Jo Berger Myhre and Olafur Björn Olaffson are exploring a tender amalgamation of Ambient-infused pads and somewhat Balearic guitar repetitions and progressions accompanied by off-kilter string works and a beauteous crystalline breakdown as an introduction to a sonic world ruled by caressing harmonies as well influences of intimate (Neo)Classical chamber music, subdued Jazz drumming and electronic background experimentation providing a certain, yet never fully disturbing edge over the course of the albums runtime of roughly 33 minutes. ChillOut (Not ChillOut) might be a phrase to employ in terms of describing "Lanzarote" as a full longplay piece.    

Album artwork on Instagram!

Espen Sommer Eide - Slaapkamer

Sparse, emotionally touching Deep Listening Music meets exceptional Spoken Word storytelling on this preview for Espen Sommer Eide's new album "The Waves".

Pet Shop Boys featuring Years & Years - Dreamland [X2 Recordings]

After we've already featured the stunning lyric video for the latest Pet Shop Boys single "Dreamland" on these pages in mid-October it is now about time to take a closer look at the full CD single edition of the legendary SynthPop bands collaboration with Years & Years. Opening with the original cut of "Dreamland" we see the classic catchy orchestral SynthPop updated with elements of glitzy ElectroHouse and echoes of Indie whilst "An Open Mind" seems to gravitate towards modernistic AfroBeat / Tropical House arrangements in conjunction with the duos trademark vocal performance whereas the uptempo 4/4-cut "No Boundaries" seems to draw influences from epic Trance / FutureTrance arrangements and even weighs in mysterious, fever'ish percussion sequences, swirling sonic elements and a rolling low-end evoking echoes of memories of certain Underworld cuts of the 90s. Furthermore "Dreamland *PSB Remix" is even more dramatic and driving as well as more club focused in terms of arrangements whilst the concluding "Dreamland *TWD Vocal Remix" provides a dreamy, cascading melodic club tool for all the DJ's out there. Recommended!

Single artwork on Instagram!

Yann Novak - All Things End, Sometimes In Fire (Official Video)

Yann Novak - All Things End, Sometimes in Fire from ROOM40 on Vimeo.

A masterly executed variation of Minimal Ambient.

Sascha Müller And Duality Micro - LS6 [Psychocandies 083]

Scheduled for release via the digital Psychocandies-imprint on December 27th, 2k19 is "LS6", a nearly 16 minutes spanning collaborational outing created by long time production buddies Sascha Müller and Duality Micro. Over the course of the tunes runtime we see the two studio wizzards exploring a sonic realm located somewhat in between Electro and IDM / Electronica / ChillOut as well as Intelligent Techno in a meandering jam-session fashion as a signature showcase of how fascinating live analogue music creation still is and can be. This is a trip.

Roland Bucher - Viaje [Hallow Ground Promo]

Put on the circuit via the Switzerland-based imprint Hallow Ground on November 8th, 2k19 is "Viaje", the debut album by Swiss artist and composer Roland Bucher who is performing and exploring his sonic art on a self-developed and -built instrument referred to as the noise table in combination with Max/MSP and granular synthesis techniques. The quite complex technical approach towards sound generation through the noise table results in a total of five tracks with a total runtime of approx. 37 minutes, covering sonic grounds spanning a range from seemingly random, improvised electrical buzzing, quivering hisses to layers and layers of Noize building towards a climaxing crescendo in "Acamar" and implemented Field Recordings in "Curinanco" to polyrhythmic, multilayered, partially thundering and brutal drum sequences accompanied by various background textures in "Ircan", ritual instrumentation alongside spiralling, siren'esque midrange distortions and deep, spatial, reverberating low end pulses in "Pracipua" whereas "Cau-Cau" presents the most melodic, Ambient-oriented take on this album. Yet, without the context of Roland Bucher actually performing on his unique instrument the sole listening experience might be only half as interesting as an actual live show would possibly turn out. Therefore not neccessarily the strongest, most essential release on Hallow Ground ever.

Doon Kanda - Nastasya (Official Youtube Audio)

A thrilling visualization for the crystalline Space Phonk presented in this outtake from Doon Kanda's most recent album "Labyrinth".

Nicolo Francesco Faraglia - Smos Octet [Aut Records 052]

Released via the buzzing Berlin-based Aut Records on December 2nd, 2k19 as the labels cat.no. 052 is Nicolo Francesco Faraglia's "Smos Octet" album - a five track and 39 minutes spanning attempt to fuse Improv, Jazz and Chamber Music within one single longplay piece. Opening with "What Do You Know About  Fire?" the group of eight musicians is setting the tone for things to come with quite a dramatic piece meandering somewhat in between thundering intense piano repetitions, semi-improv and a certain film noir vibe which also transfers, in a slightly more tongue-in-cheek manner, into the theatrical, storytelling "Architect #1.0" which, in a way, harks back to a time in which music was the only way to add emotion and atmosphere to otherwise silent movies in grainy black-and-white quality, even though prevalent electric guitar solos surely weren't a thing in these long gone days. The second question, "What Do You Know About Wind?", is answered by a tender, yearning and naturalistic interlude representing a different angle of the octets collaborational effort whereas "Talisman #2.0" draws inspiration from classic Jazz harmonies, music for theatre and large scale dramatic orchestral arrangements before migrating to full-on minimalism, Broadway romance and a touching, emotional closing whilst the final cut "Clay Metal #1.5" weighs in a well nightly combination of DarkJazz, Musique Concrete and fever'ish, ritualistic, ecstatic and nightmare-inducing improvisation for a hefty, intense closing living up to the expectations long-time followers of the Aut Records catalogue might've built up over the years. Demanding, yet accessible to those who're just entering the world of Experimental Jazz, FreeJazz and Improv and therefore a good starting point for further explorations in new sonic realms.

24.12.2019 Raven Gegen Santa @ Beat Boutique / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings]

file under: TechTrance / Progressive / Big Room / Techno

doors open: 10 pm

Beat Boutique
Max-Brauer-Allee 219
22765 Hamburg
Germany

Adrian Knight - Fly By Night [Thanatosis Produktion 002]

Put on the circuit via the Swedish label Thanatosis Produktion on December 12th, 2k19 is Adrian Knight's "Fly By Night" - an actual 2CD album re-issue of the former digital only piece, released via the artists very own Pink Pamphlet imprint back in 2014 which has now been picked up by Thanatosis Produktion label manager (and artist...) Alex Zethson for a wider audience of Ambient headz and Deep Listening Music connaisseurs. Presenting a total of nine tracks stretched over the course of two CD's and a total of 106 minutes we see the Brooklynite Adrian Knight indulge in the sheer beauty of Ambient sounds, creating a calmy moving stream of harmony and imminent heavenly melancholia within each and every track, a rich and soothing, comforting soundscape of reduced and masterly sculpted, yet never minimalistic nature, providing a soundtrack for deep reflection and solemn meditation that deserves to find a home in every Ambient lovers collection for a reason as it's as tender and gentle as it can get. Check.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Yong Yandsen / Christian Meaas Svendsen / Paal Nilssen-Love - Hungry Ghosts (Teaser Video)

An only slightly disturbing teaser video for the "Hungry Ghosts" album we've recently reviewed on these pages. Beware of the gore!

Ka Baird - Respires [RVNG Intl. Promo]

Released via RVNG Intl. on October 25, 2k19 is "Respires", the latest solo album by Ka Baird who's taking on another experimental eight tracks and and approx. 40 minutes spanning musical journey with this longplayer. Getting into the album with "Pulse" Ka Baird is presenting a tense, crystalline variation of razor sharp Ambient paired with cold non-vocalisms whilst the subsequent "Symanimagenic" is comprised of ever busy microtonal sounds, reprocessed off-kilter flutes and futuristic polyrhythms, occasionally paired with intense chants of well-hypnotic nature. The albums main piece "Teaching Lodge Of The Arrows" gets deep into haunting ritualistic flute works evolving into a buzzing electric drone as well as more dramatic, multilayered vocals, "Azha" weighs in a more psychedelic, yet lively and intertwined aspect of Ka Baird's approach to the flute as an instrument whereas "Spiritus Operis" brings forth a brooding, low end heavy variation of Future Tribal for dark, demon summoning rituals. Furthermore "Walking" is based on an elastic, dancefloor functional Tribal foundation in combination with hissing white noise motifs and twanging, reprocessed banjo strumming and plucking alongside short Spoken Word repetitions, "Storms Stay Fine" turns out to be the most brooding execution of warped, bass focused Deep Listening Music paired with surface crackles, vocal poetry and modular Clicks'n'Cuts before the concluding take "The Orion Arm" brings on fever'ish heat on advanced dancefloors with its well seductive, stripped down rhythm signatures and warbled hyper-seductive space synths alongside microcut vocal madness. Check!

Memory Drawings - Phantom Lights [Sound In Silence 068]

Put on the release circuit via the Greek Sound In Silence-imprint is "Phantom Lights", the label debut for the multi-instrumentalist outfit Memory Drawings. Originally self-released as a tour CD album in a super limited, impossible to find quantity the six track, 25 minute spanning EP / mini-album was snatched by Sound In Silence for a wider audience - at least if a limitation to 300 hand-numbered copies can be considered to be such. Together, the five musicians involved in the project open up the musical realm and orientation of the evolving imprint even further whilst focusing on a folksy, slightly repetetive, meandering approach to their sound which sees soft electronic textures being accompanied by ethereal background vocals and an emphasis on real instruments like the hammered dulcimer as a lead over PostRock-infused drums, Dub-informed bass playing and a general sonic angle that seems to be closer to PostRock / PostFolk than to the specific, soft-spoken Ambient sound pioneered by the Sound In Silence-camp for years and even provides a proper dreamy, yet driving dancefloor cut with "There Is A Last Time For Everything" remixed by Barnaby Carter. Sweetness.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Eucalyptus - Minoa Linear A [False Industries 027 Promo]

Put on the circuit in cassette tape format via False Industries on October 4th, 2k19 is Eucalyptus' "Minoa Linear A" , the first part of a two album set created by Northern California based four piece band who is taking the namewise inspiration for this longplayer from the ancient pre-hellenic language known as Minoan. Presenting 12 tracks within a timespan of 42 minutes the quartet opens with a hazy, steady flow of classic Ambient sounds in the albums opening tune "Aegea" which surely also could've found a home on the beloved Greek Ambient staple Sound In Silence, an imprint all regular readers of these pages should be well familiar with, and paves the way for similar things to come like the follow up named "Undecipherable Inscription" which is of slightly more dark'ish, droning and uneasy, yet ambient'ish nature even delivering a hint of what seem to reprocessed (Neo)Classical string works in the last third of the track whereas tunes like "Quince And Pomegranate" bring forward more of a timeless, ethereal and ever floating approach whilst "Loincloth Removal" weighs in a certain gravitas as well as a parochial mood due to the use of church organ resembling chord structures just to name a few. As Ambient as Ambient can get. Beautiful.

Yong Yandsen / Christian Meaas Svendsen / Paal Nilssen-Love - Hungry Ghosts [Nakama Records 019]

Fresh on the circuit via the Norwegian Nakama Records label is "Hungry Ghosts", a special live recorded album capturing a performance by Yong Yandsen, Christian Meaas Svendsen and PNL Records-mastermind Paal Nilssen-Love which took place in Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur. As regular readers of these pages might've already guessed from the names involved in this project we're dealing with quite an intense musical journey here, de-evolving from a wild, thundering start in FreeJazz / FreeImprov to more of a classic, yet slightly off-kilter Jazz vibe within about 15 minutes before picking up pace again, led by a dominant, oftentime shrieking saxophone alongside used and abused bass and drums partially producing sounds that these instruments weren't intended to produce initially. A wild ride of pretty much indescribable nature which surely is about to be well enjoyed by those familiar with the work of the musicians involved in here. Call this a niche release, but call it a good one!

Album artwork on Instagram!

John Chantler - Tomorrow Is Too Late [Room40 Promo]

Put out on the circuit via the buzzing Australian Room40 label is John Chantler's latest album effort "Tomorrow Is Too Late" on which the Sweden-based Aussie composer presents two pieces of music which were originally commissioned works for the Presences Electronique festival 2018. Opening with the albums title track "Tomorrow Is Too Late" we see John Chantler building a sonic landscape comprised of both blurred tender and harmonic Ambient movements and electric drones as well as minimal, slightly retrofuturistic electroacoustic passages, near silence, curious bleeps and ringing sweeps whereas "We're Always At The End" picks up on a slightly deeper and musically more consistent tip which sees Ambient and Deep Listening Music on a slow, transformative decay morphing into a stream of warped, gooey subaquatic sonic events and more retrofuturistic space pulses before the whole thing turns full cycle and ends up on a warm, beautiful panorama note that feels as crisp as an early summer morning sunrise.

Sascha Müller - Traxxx Vol.19 [SM Traxxx 42-2019]

To be released via the buzzing SM Traxxx label on December 19th, 2k19 is Sascha Müller latest digital two track single "Traxxx Vol. 19". Featuring "Track 37" and "Track38" respectively we see the first of these two present a dry, tool'ish and clap-heavy approach to stripped down Techno mainly driven by a static low end bass drone and an ever decaying, synth motif for extra tension whereas the subsequent tune indulges in thundering, chaotic, gooey and somewhat anti-groove oriented Acid madness.

Kryshe - Continuum [Serein 021]

Freshly released via the Welsh imprint Serein on October 18th, 2k19 is "Continuum", the third full on album appearance on the label by Kryshe who can be identified as one of the staples and pillars within the Serein roster. Presenting his new album as a roughly 41 minutes spanning ten track piece we see Christian Grothe, the man behind the Kryshe project, exploring a realm of sheer sonic beauty, presenting an ever flowing stream of soft Ambient pads and textures, accompanied by caressing slow low end movements as well as melancholia-inducing FutureJazz, dreamy, yet slightly kitsch-infused piano motifs leaning towards (Neo)Classical music whilst tunes like "Fragile" even present an innocent, rural and age old approach towards super naturalistic Folk vocals, amalgamated with modernist, beatless, yet highly defined electronic structures to a touching effect whereas "Fragile II" seems to reflect the more playful, tongue-in-cheek side of Grothe's musical work and "Nocturnal" is as classic as classic Ambient can be. Maybe the most Pop-oriented album on the label so far, without even delivering one single minute of Pop or mainstream oriented music at all.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Ernest Hood - Neighborhoods [Freedom To Spend 014 Promo]

Re-released via Freedom To Spend on October 11, 2k19 is Ernest Hood's originally 1975-issued album "Neighborhoods", formerly only available as hard to impossible to find private pressing financed and commissioned by the Portland-resident, Jazz musician, composer, field recordist and locally famed personality Ernest Hood by himself. Over the course of eight musical pieces and approximately 57 minutes runtime the listener is taken on a dreamy, comforting and somewhat ethereal, nostalgia-infused journey through the beautiful city of Portland around the time, with chirping birds and random street scene sounds to be found all over the albums tracks whilst soft, oftentimes slightly hazy and diffuse Proto-Ambient synthesizer works and zither melodies provide a warm, welcoming musical soundscape - a combination that is as unique and touching in its composition as it is cinematic and storytelling in its overall approach. If you'd be tasked to come up with the most innocent, yet partially psychedelic soundtrack for dreams dreamt in the late 60s and early 70s that do not include any Rock'n'Roll and / or music aired on the radio something very very close to this album would most likely be what you'd compose for a reason. A well beautiful journey into a better past and an unearthed piece of American music history that's unbeknownst to many. Recommended, not only to our Portland-based friends and readers out there.

baze.djunkiii Chart Haul 12/2019

Kongrosian - Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously [Aut Records 050 / Oltrarno Recordings 011]

Put on the circuit as a collaborational effort between Berlin's Aut Records and Oltrarno Recordings is the epicly titled and limited to 200 copies red vinyl pressing "Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously" which features four original tracks created by the saxophone / clarinet focused trio Kongrosian on the A-side whilst the remixes on the flip are provided by Thomas Brinkmann, Daniele Papini and Cloud Of Illusions. As the trios composition suggests we see their original floating improvisations gravitating towards a multi-layered approach to Jazz / FutureJazz with a slightly melancholia-infused twist imminent to all their intricate, meandering and interweaving melodies and beautifully syncronized harmonic interplays which makes this one a true fest for every Jazz connaisseur out there. Remixwise we see Cloud Of Illusions slowly transforming "Tensegrity Part II" into a tender, yet dancefloor functional and slightly fuzzed out Techno meets Jazz affair defined by dark, ever rolling basslines, dark'ish Spoken Word passages and a borderline oriental twist whereas Daniele Papini's take on "Mikrokosmos" provides a complex foundation of dry, grooving and ever filtered MinimalTechno / MicroHouse with a distinct swing as well as tenderly hovering pads for fans of labels like Perlon and the likes of. For a closing German Minimal Techno staple Thomas Brinkmann takes on "Tidal Forces" to go full-on experimental, leaving the dancefloor way behind to accompany the melancholic Jazz vibe of the original cut with layers and layers of harmonic, yet intense and metallic feedback Noize for a closing that might be the soundtrack to future nightmares or low budget slasher movies for a reason. Go check!

Moe / Pinquins - Vi Som Elsket Kaos [Conradsound]

To be released via the Norwegian imprint Conradsound on December 13th, 2k19 is "Vi Som Elsket Kaos", the latest musical outing by the ever active experimental Rock group Moe who are teaming up with the percussion experts of Pinquins for this nine tracks and 38 minutes spanning journey in sonic exploration which is inspired by the work of writer, essayist and poet Jens Bjørneboe to a certain extent. Opening with the nightmar'ish combination of ever clanging, field recorded metal pieces or cutlery and thundering barrel drumming as well as brutal riffing and howling guitars all found in "Bjørnenes Inntogsmarsj" the two groups lay the foundation for what's to follow up: Spoken Word, a PostPunk-attitude and more apocalyptic Desert Blues-infused riffs in "Skyggene" as well as the brooding, ritualistic and ancient demon summoning soundscapes of "Det Sorte Hull" which will be appealing to Black Metal / Drone Metal enthusiasts for a reason. With "Atlantis" the album takes a turn towards Punk-infused, ultra intense Indie meets MinimalWave on hyperspeed, "Den Ubehagelige Behaglighet" breaks down into nightmare'ish Crossover / Alternative territories accompanied by dreamy and ethereal, highly retrofuturist melodic counterparts whilst "Applaus" is nothing more than a spooky skit emulating fake audience noise. Furthermore "God Natt!" on the other hand is a surprisingly intimate lullaby lead by spaced out non-vocalisms, crystalline sounds and brooding, sub-surface levels of madness, "Drømmen" brings forth intense, hypnotic (Neo)Cosmic synth pulses and more tense, sci-fi leaning vocal recordings mixed with military drumming before the concluding cut "Før Hanen Galer" surprisingly jumps towards what can be roughly described as Polka-infused, 50s or 60s happy party music for a closing. What a combination. Excellent stuff.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Ivy Lab - Space War

Ivy Lab don't care about genres. Ivy Lab are about to become a genre of their own. Sick.

Alex Zethson - Pole Of Inaccessibility [Thanatosis Produktion 001]

Going back to 2016 with this album, the first full on solo effort by Swedish pianist and composer Alex Zethson - probably best known to readers of these pages as a member of the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, a group whose work has been reviewed on these pages previously. With "Pole Of Inaccessibility" released via his own label Thanatosis Produktion Alex Zethson caters a two track double CD album and therefore a monolithic debut of which the first part, "Pole Of Inaccessibility I", is stretched over the course of roughly 41 minutes and caters, leaving aside all the heady conceptualism referred to in the promotional press sheet, a haunting, unsettling variation of Dark Ambient built on a foundation of thundering, reverberating pianos, slighty muffled and bereft of their high frequencies, yet moving forward in a bleak, nightly and somewhat empty and desolate manner and therefore evoking an interesting state of mind within the conscious listener, slowing down every single thought and finally dissolving any single idea about what time actually is. This approach towards total mental stasis is also employed in the first minutes the second piece, the 58 minutes spanning "Pole Of Inaccessibility II" which pairs a slightly more dramatic, melancholia-infused background and tender drone works before slowly progressing into beautiful, mostly minor scale piano minimalisms, harking back to both (Neo)Classical and romantic Minimal Music as well as to barely audible near silence only to make a return to the endless, reverberating meanderings  introduced in the albums first part and to finally fade out into Ambient nothingness over the course of 10+minutes. Intense music for long, undisturbed late night listening sessions.

Fierce Ruling Diva - Woman Like Man

On the circuit for 30 years now and Fierce Ruling Diva are catering most brutal Techno bangers still. Raw.

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 092]

Incoming from studio veteran Sascha Müller is his next, 92nd - !!! - album release put on the circuit via Supersix Records, another 12 track journey for lovers of advanced, dancefloor-focused electronic music. Opening with "Sluch" we see the long standing artist explore stripped down, yet deep and touching levels of Techno reminiscent of Robert Hood's finest musical works whilst "Sommernachtsträume", which has already seen a vinyl release a few years prior to this, somewhat caters to the ElectroSwing-massive before "Sounds Of Life" are entering serious dancefloor territories again on a captivating, stripped down mid 90s HardHouse tip garnished with seductive stab works and a sweet little backswing. Turning the "Southern Fried Chicken Wheel" Sascha Müller gets down in a warm, playful, friendly and surely bass heavy Minimal House fashion, "Space (MIR Mix)" mixes up serious, uplifting Trance vibes with bits of Technolectro for all the real ravers out there and the subsequent variation "Space (Raumflug Mix)" follows up on a slightly bouncy, jumpier path accompanied by hard hitting rave stabs and livelier percussion works. The "Spacebox" takes us on a spaced out, subaquatic trip into gooey, drexciyan Electro territories, "Spacelab" brings forth electroid AcidTrance on a well positive, drifting and uplifting note whereas "Start Automatik" indulges in a busy, yet minimalist, heavily filtered and muffled Phonk variation that provides quite a thrill to those loving the TechnoJazz efforts of acts like Cari Lekebusch or the electroid side of Lassigue Bendthaus whereas fans of deeply emotional sunrise Trance will dig the masterfully crafted string arrangements in this cut. Furthermore "Sterntaler" caters to all followers of playful and intelligent ProtoTrance, "Steuerreform" presents braincell wrecking, monotonous midrange synth modulations atop a bouncy, toolish Techno foundation and the concluding "Struggle Of Power" showcases how powerful raw, storming and continuously evolving Acid can be - a deadly tool in illegal warehouse raves this tune is. Once again, nothing but quality in this.

Havington - Curiosity

Havington do indeed have their Indie vibes on fire with this sweet little tune, taken from their new EP "Behind A Smile".

Jeff Platz Quartet - Theory Of Colors [Umland Records 026]

Another fresh one released via the Essen-based Umland Records imprint is "Theory Of Colours", the latest thirteen track album effort created by the group known as Jeff Platz Quartet. Comprised of Stephen Haynes, Damon Smith, Matt Crane and of course Jeff Platz the four musicians are taking us on a 13 tracks and roughly 55 minutes spanning ride through their musical universe which fuses Jazz and Free Improvisation in a very specific and interesting manner. Instead of employing an ultra-expressive, often times eruptive route usually explored in FreeJazz, giving way to many solo parts in which each and every member of a group is able to showcase their respective versatility the music of the quartet is hyper-dense, atmospheric and withdrawn, at times even muffled seemingly, to create a more intimate, tender and accessible vibe in which communication is key, with compositions like "Fall Away" bordering an autumnal, late night variation of Jazz Noir which, despite improvisational and free floating moments, could even accompany deep, meaningful conversations whereas the subsequent "The Particulars" presents itself in a stripped down, minimalist yet tense and crime-scenic manner to great effect. Further excellent cuts to check out here are the touching, twangy and kinda haunted short cut that is "Naranja", the suspended, feverish, yet thrilling soundscapes of the "Elevational View" whereas "By Means Of A Spine" fully explores Slowcore Jazz experimentalism led by a very distinct, somewhat even Desert Blues-infused guitar which drifts into a very own tonal cosmos over the course of tune whilst "A Musty Mint" gets as tender and classy as free floating music can get. Recommended, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Maria W Horn - Epistasis [Hallow Ground Promo]

Released via the ever busy Hallow Ground label on October 25th, 2k19 is "Epistasis", the second fully fledged artist album album by Swedish composer Maria W Horn. Channeling her wide-ranged influences from Experimental Music to Black Metal within four pieces originally commissioned for a multi-channel audiovisual piece and mixed down for a proper album context the journey starts with "Interlocked Cycles I", a take on beautiful, (Neo)Classical-infused piano minimalism and decent, low end-focused background drones followed by the title track "Epistasis" which brings on an intense, slightly haunting variation of solemn, ritualistic Ambient paying homage to Synth and Cosmic greats like Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream at the same time. With "Konvektion" Maria W Horn harks back to the scientific, stripped down approach of early electronic music composition whilst emulating the emotional intensity of slow church organ chord progressions with most minimalist, yet classy Ambient methods before the concluding cut "Interlocking Cycles II" closes the longplay cycle with more (Neo)Classical piano beauty stretched out over the course of nearly 10 minutes. File under: Deep Listening Music.

Various Artists - Innate 003 [Innate 003]

Our friends at the UK-based Innate label have been harvesting tracks for a new 12" release and do provide a full length preview here. Check and get on pre-order now.

baze.djunkiii Charts 12/2019

01. The Crystal Apes - TCARMX001 [Intrauterin Recordings TCARMX001]
See here for further details...
Buy the limited 7" single directly from Bandcamp...

02. Nazamba - Nazamba [Dubquake Records]
Dub, darkness, intensity. A little bit of conscious Spoken Word wisdom and echoes of Illbient. All blended in a well captivating fashion to create what is to be considered the album of the month for each and every Dub lover as well as followers of the long defunct WordSound label and associated groups like Dubadelic. Excellent and extraordinary.

03. Jabu - Jabu Remixes [Young Echo Records 004]
Is this the most beautiful Post-Dubstep / Post-Garage release of the year? Or even the decade? Dreamy, touching, emotional vocals, heavy basslines and sparse beat structures paired with a distinct late night urban feel as expressed to perfection by albums like Distance's "My Demons" back in 2007 make this one one of the most important 12"es for every serious follower of Bass Music and nothing short of an instant classic. Get!

04. Gilb'r - Lord Of The Basics EP [Versatile Records 128]
French producer Gilbert Cohen a.k.a. Gilb'r delivers a highly sophisticated eight track mini-album with this so-called EP, covering ground in territories such as Synth / (Neo)Cosmic, ChillOut, Ambient Dub, Tribal as well as krautsy, off-kilter Lo-Fi House and therefore presents an impressive, highly diverse showcase of his abilities as a producer. Check.

05. [PUSS 2019 Whitelabel]
A mysterious two track whitelabel 12" of unknown origin. The A-side fuses an excellent piano driven Broken House / Electro crossover with seductive vocals delivered by HipHop / Urban doll Cardi B. to a killer effect whereas the flip brings the heat with a stripped down, percussive DiscoHouse vibe.

06. Driftmachine - Driftmachine Plays Marien Van Oers [Ungehoord 004]
Inspired by a tape release of Dutch 80s underground producer / performer Marien Van Oers and the accompanying liner notes Driftmachine create a ritualistic sonic flow meandering in between the realms of Electronica, Dub and Future Tribal. Performed on a minimalistic note with loads of space in between sounds and an approach of carefully building up soundscapes in terms of adding up one single element after another in a thought out layering process Driftmachine easily dissolve the perception of space and time and take us back into the motherly womb of eons, to a time way before the existance of humans or even multi-cellular organisms was even a dawn at the horizon of time.

07. Umwelt - The Invisible Enemy [Linda 005]
The ever active producer known as Umwelt strikes a chord again, delivering three takes on fast-paced, most brutal and distorted Electro for hardcore genre connaisseurs who already dug releases by labels like Atak Records or producers like Burrito Boys back in the late 90s. This is nothing but robo war music.

08. Ivan Dubious [Nun.Ki.Rec. 007]
Ivan Dubious and his Nun.Ki.Rec. label are back with a new release and this time they're even coming at us with a 12" and four tracks of what I'd kindly describe as Plastic Reggae / Plastic Dub for a reason. All tunes are coming with an undeniably cheesy summer feeling and the gated snares and offbeat licks sound like they've escaped from an 80s Pop studio in dozens. Sounds appalling? Well, these tunes made me smile big time and therefore I do love 'em.

09. DJ Spinn - Da Life E.P. [Hyperdub 124]
DJ Spinn's "You Ain't Really 'Bout Dat Life" taken from his latest 12" release on Hyperdub has been already featured on these pages in mid-October but the Chicago native delivers way more goodness on wax here. "Knock A Path Out" is storming GhettoTech on hyperspeed for dancefloors on absolute fire whilst tunes like "Sky Way", a collaboration with DJ Manny, bring forth an excellent, shuffled halftime bounce for those in the know.

10. [NWHITE 003 Whitelabel]
Information level is sparse on this stamped 12" whitelabel release but the level of thrill is massive. Four tracks of stripped down, pumping, trippy and psychedelic Techno for the darkest hours of your strobe lit dancefloor experience. Imagine the early releases of labels like Elettronica Romana being transfered into a large space, reverberating Techno context whilst still keeping up with the level of detail and advancement once delivered by a genre known as Intelligent Techno. Check.