The Ukrainian pianist and composer Marina Baranova grew up in a musical family: Her mother taught classical music, her father jazz. As a result, she came into contact with two different musical worlds from an early age and learned the art of improvisation. As a highly talented pianist, who first learnt her craft in her home town of Kharkiv and later mastered it at the University of Hanover, she plays her instrument with a natural ease. She also has a natural synaesthetic talent, which means the ability to see sounds as colours. All this together makes Marina Baranova's music something very special.
The new and sixth album "Cosmic Calendar" by Marina Baranova once again emphasises the all-round quality of the musician. As with her previous albums "Atlas of Imaginary Places" and "White Letters", she composed her latest work herself. The album "Cosmic Calendar" is, on the one hand, a philosophical reflection on the creation of our universe and, on the other, a profound journey into the innermost thoughts of Marina Baranova herself. She has composed a piece for each month of the year. In this way, she imagines the history of our universe - from the Big Bang to the emergence of life and the people in it.
Released on Neue Meister
The Ukrainian pianist and composer Marina Baranova grew up in a musical family: Her mother taught classical music, her father jazz. As a result, she came into contact with two different musical worlds from an early age and learned the art of improvisation. As a highly talented pianist, who first learnt her craft in her home town of Kharkiv and later mastered it at the University of Hanover, she plays her instrument with a natural ease. She also has a natural synaesthetic talent, which means the ability to see sounds as colours. All this together makes Marina Baranova's music something very special.
The new and sixth album "Cosmic Calendar" by Marina Baranova once again emphasises the all-round quality of the musician. As with her previous albums "Atlas of Imaginary Places" and "White Letters", she composed her latest work herself. The album "Cosmic Calendar" is, on the one hand, a philosophical reflection on the creation of our universe and, on the other, a profound journey into the innermost thoughts of Marina Baranova herself. She has composed a piece for each month of the year. In this way, she imagines the history of our universe - from the Big Bang to the emergence of life and the people in it.
Released on Neue Meister
With two full length releases under her belt and newly signed to Neon Gold/Atlantic Records, Tel-Aviv based musician and producer NOGA EREZ has cemented her status as a formidable voice in the world of alternative pop. With her genre-spanning music, quick wit and inimitable style, NOGA EREZ’s future looks set to be as vibrant and exciting as her new single ‘Nails’ sounds.
Building from the raw politics of NOGA EREZ‘ 2017 debut, ‘Off The Radar’, her second album‘KIDS’ moves closer to home while retaining NOGA’s signature smarts and swagger. Its earworms and crisp productions are locked around lyrics that deal with the personal and the political; mortality and loss; war and peace, insecurity and ambition.
After a series of singles, ‘KIDS’ comes packed with chart-worthy outspoken pop anthems for the 21st century. It replaces the shadow and fury of ‘Off The Radar’ with neon brights, bold lines, in determinedly audacious and confident productions that swap ferocity for bounce, gloomy moods for fierce swagger. ‘KIDS’ showcases Noga’s style, growing into a crisp bombastic sound she crafts with her creative and life partner, Ori Rousso. The new album explores themes of tension and release, anxiety and remedy, and masterly melodic licks in swipes of stomping brass, all wrapped around Noga’s versatile vocals that quick-switch from clipped flow to smoky purr; from stadium chorus to street-ready beats.
Praise for Noga Erez:
“Israel’s most defiant star.” - The Observer
“She is fearless and fantastic.” – Wonderland
“Few artists are making electronic music quite as striking and important as Noga Erez is right now.” - NME
“Gutsy electronic pop… An explosive call for political accountability.” – Mixmag
“Complex and surprising… not afraid of combining pure fun with heavy topics.” - Loud & Quiet
Published by CEUSO, released on CITY SLANG
With two full length releases under her belt and newly signed to Neon Gold/Atlantic Records, Tel-Aviv based musician and producer NOGA EREZ has cemented her status as a formidable voice in the world of alternative pop. With her genre-spanning music, quick wit and inimitable style, NOGA EREZ’s future looks set to be as vibrant and exciting as her new single ‘Nails’ sounds.
Building from the raw politics of NOGA EREZ‘ 2017 debut, ‘Off The Radar’, her second album‘KIDS’ moves closer to home while retaining NOGA’s signature smarts and swagger. Its earworms and crisp productions are locked around lyrics that deal with the personal and the political; mortality and loss; war and peace, insecurity and ambition.
After a series of singles, ‘KIDS’ comes packed with chart-worthy outspoken pop anthems for the 21st century. It replaces the shadow and fury of ‘Off The Radar’ with neon brights, bold lines, in determinedly audacious and confident productions that swap ferocity for bounce, gloomy moods for fierce swagger. ‘KIDS’ showcases Noga’s style, growing into a crisp bombastic sound she crafts with her creative and life partner, Ori Rousso. The new album explores themes of tension and release, anxiety and remedy, and masterly melodic licks in swipes of stomping brass, all wrapped around Noga’s versatile vocals that quick-switch from clipped flow to smoky purr; from stadium chorus to street-ready beats.
Praise for Noga Erez:
“Israel’s most defiant star.” - The Observer
“She is fearless and fantastic.” – Wonderland
“Few artists are making electronic music quite as striking and important as Noga Erez is right now.” - NME
“Gutsy electronic pop… An explosive call for political accountability.” – Mixmag
“Complex and surprising… not afraid of combining pure fun with heavy topics.” - Loud & Quiet
Published by CEUSO, released on CITY SLANG
Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah released a spectacular debut in 2021 called "I'm Not Sorry, I was Just Beeing Me" which has offered cinematic, often immersive and off beam soundscapes, punctuated by lyrics that are darkly romantic and thrillingly sardonic in equal measures.
In May 2024, the band will releasse thier second album "Big Swimmer. Much of the band’s second record reflects on stories from their travels, as the duo shared the stage with Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, and festivals throughout Europe and North America. Particularly in America, Merrick and Whittle found themselves looking through their tour van window as a sort of screen, allowing for inspiration for their storytelling to come pouring in.
Wanting to capture the energy from the live shows of their debut tours, Merrick and Whittle went to producer and engineer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, PJ Harvey, Perfume Genius). The producer’s one-room studio, guitar amps stacked even in the bathroom, felt like home. Tracking the songs live at once was essential. Whittle dotes on the microphone bleed, saying the goal was to create that feeling of everyone playing in a room together. In this space, they blended the richness and heart of the 70’s with the simmering noise of the 90’s.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah released a spectacular debut in 2021 called "I'm Not Sorry, I was Just Beeing Me" which has offered cinematic, often immersive and off beam soundscapes, punctuated by lyrics that are darkly romantic and thrillingly sardonic in equal measures.
In May 2024, the band will releasse thier second album "Big Swimmer. Much of the band’s second record reflects on stories from their travels, as the duo shared the stage with Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, and festivals throughout Europe and North America. Particularly in America, Merrick and Whittle found themselves looking through their tour van window as a sort of screen, allowing for inspiration for their storytelling to come pouring in.
Wanting to capture the energy from the live shows of their debut tours, Merrick and Whittle went to producer and engineer Ali Chant (Aldous Harding, PJ Harvey, Perfume Genius). The producer’s one-room studio, guitar amps stacked even in the bathroom, felt like home. Tracking the songs live at once was essential. Whittle dotes on the microphone bleed, saying the goal was to create that feeling of everyone playing in a room together. In this space, they blended the richness and heart of the 70’s with the simmering noise of the 90’s.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Sudanese-American musician Sinkane has always paved his own way, defying all odds and surpassing expectations. With seven studio albums under his belt and an illustrious career as a composer, producer and band leader, he has orchestrated remarkable projects. From music directing the Atomic Bomb! Band, the resounding revival of Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor, to composing the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile, Ahmed's journey has been extraordinary to say the least.
We Belong, is the eighth studio album from Sinkane, a band led by multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Gallab. And like much of Sinkane’s previous releases, it resists genre. It’s pop. It’s funk. It’s electronic. It blends the gritty punk newness of a 70s and 80s New York with the steady, foundational soul of the rhythms of his native Sudan. Though We Belong comes deep into the catalog of a long career, it also resists stagnation. It moves and travels—through words and eras, through emotion and healing. It is a kind of rebirth for Gallab, who began releasing music under the Sinkane moniker in 2007.
‘We Belong’ marks Sinkane’s first full-length release for 5 years, since 2019’s ‘Dépaysé,’ and is Sinkane’s “love letter to Black music.” Taking cues from gospel, Afrobeats, 70s funk, foundational soul of the rhythms of Sinkane’s native Sudan and more, ‘We Belong’ tells a story about Black music and Black people.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Sudanese-American musician Sinkane has always paved his own way, defying all odds and surpassing expectations. With seven studio albums under his belt and an illustrious career as a composer, producer and band leader, he has orchestrated remarkable projects. From music directing the Atomic Bomb! Band, the resounding revival of Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor, to composing the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile, Ahmed's journey has been extraordinary to say the least.
We Belong, is the eighth studio album from Sinkane, a band led by multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Gallab. And like much of Sinkane’s previous releases, it resists genre. It’s pop. It’s funk. It’s electronic. It blends the gritty punk newness of a 70s and 80s New York with the steady, foundational soul of the rhythms of his native Sudan. Though We Belong comes deep into the catalog of a long career, it also resists stagnation. It moves and travels—through words and eras, through emotion and healing. It is a kind of rebirth for Gallab, who began releasing music under the Sinkane moniker in 2007.
‘We Belong’ marks Sinkane’s first full-length release for 5 years, since 2019’s ‘Dépaysé,’ and is Sinkane’s “love letter to Black music.” Taking cues from gospel, Afrobeats, 70s funk, foundational soul of the rhythms of Sinkane’s native Sudan and more, ‘We Belong’ tells a story about Black music and Black people.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
COMA fuse dance music with an indie sensibility, rich in melody and melancholy. They may have their roots firmly planted in Cologne's storied club scene, but their effervescent, groovy synth-pop blurs the boundaries and pushes far beyond. After a series of releases on Kompakt Records, Marius Bubat and Georg Conrad released their latest album "Voyage Voyage" on City Slang in 2019. For the first time, the album featured songs with a verse, bridge and chorus - a first for COMA, and yet: it pulsated and immediately captivated the listener. The new song structures also have their roots firmly in the club sound. After the album and the successful single "A Train", further singles followed, including the hit "Start/Stop/Rewind" (2022) and "Beyond You and Me" feat. Dillon (2022). The new album 'FUZZY FANTASY' is the next logical step – away from the dance floor, closer to life.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
COMA fuse dance music with an indie sensibility, rich in melody and melancholy. They may have their roots firmly planted in Cologne's storied club scene, but their effervescent, groovy synth-pop blurs the boundaries and pushes far beyond. After a series of releases on Kompakt Records, Marius Bubat and Georg Conrad released their latest album "Voyage Voyage" on City Slang in 2019. For the first time, the album featured songs with a verse, bridge and chorus - a first for COMA, and yet: it pulsated and immediately captivated the listener. The new song structures also have their roots firmly in the club sound. After the album and the successful single "A Train", further singles followed, including the hit "Start/Stop/Rewind" (2022) and "Beyond You and Me" feat. Dillon (2022). The new album 'FUZZY FANTASY' is the next logical step – away from the dance floor, closer to life.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Just back from a European tour with Atomic Bitchwax, DAILY THOMPSON were back on the plane to record their sixth album with Tony Reed (Mos Generator) at APL Studios in picturesque Port Orchard near Seattle. "Chuparosa" brings out all of the band's strengths and takes the next step. Two-part vocals, big melodies, gigantic walls of guitars. Alternative rock, grunge, spacerock, stoner rock... DAILY THOMPSON move between styles and perfect their own sound and style.
Their previous album „God Of Spinoza" released in 2021 offers way more nuances in the sound palette than the forerunner "Oumuamua" (2020). Wonderful 90s indie rock combined with relaxed fuzz psychedelic blues. Imagine Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. or Sonic Youth are compressed in 5 to 6 minute tracks and chased through the Big Muff Super Fuzz.
In fact, Daily Thompson have already proven themselves as a certificated rock sensation during countless shows, including festivals such as the German TV WDR Rockpalast Crossroads Festival, Freak Valley Festival, or Krach Am Bach. Stages were shared with bands like Dinosaur Jr., Liam Gallagher, Maximo Park, Portugal The Man, Earthless, Mustasch, Nebula, Truckfighters, Kadavar and many more.
Released on Noisolution
Just back from a European tour with Atomic Bitchwax, DAILY THOMPSON were back on the plane to record their sixth album with Tony Reed (Mos Generator) at APL Studios in picturesque Port Orchard near Seattle. "Chuparosa" brings out all of the band's strengths and takes the next step. Two-part vocals, big melodies, gigantic walls of guitars. Alternative rock, grunge, spacerock, stoner rock... DAILY THOMPSON move between styles and perfect their own sound and style.
Their previous album „God Of Spinoza" released in 2021 offers way more nuances in the sound palette than the forerunner "Oumuamua" (2020). Wonderful 90s indie rock combined with relaxed fuzz psychedelic blues. Imagine Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. or Sonic Youth are compressed in 5 to 6 minute tracks and chased through the Big Muff Super Fuzz.
In fact, Daily Thompson have already proven themselves as a certificated rock sensation during countless shows, including festivals such as the German TV WDR Rockpalast Crossroads Festival, Freak Valley Festival, or Krach Am Bach. Stages were shared with bands like Dinosaur Jr., Liam Gallagher, Maximo Park, Portugal The Man, Earthless, Mustasch, Nebula, Truckfighters, Kadavar and many more.
Released on Noisolution
“In any case, with sound seekers like Kai Schumacher, one need worry less about whether piano music will survive the next century." SWR2
Kai Schumacher delights in pushing the boundaries between classical and popular music while avoiding the wellworn clichés “Crossover.” Boasting an impressive pedigree, Kai studied at the renowned Folkwang University Essen, passing his „Konzertexamen“ with distinction in 2009. Since then, like a musical mad scientist, he has been constantly experimenting and combining seemingly incompatible elements with surprising results. His solo performances are acts of pure musical – and stylistic – alchemy, serving up heady mixes of Dadaism and Dancefloor, Avantgarde and Pop culture – sometimes all at once.
Kai Schumacher's album „Rausch” is the first album exclusively to feature his own compositions. Schumacher abstains from using overdubs; in fact, no electronics are used at all. Instead, he employs his own form of “prepared piano”, manipulating the instrument’s mechanism and strings to produce an unusual array of sounds.
Together with singer-songwriter Gisbert zu Knyphausen, Schumacher released the album "Lass irre Hunde heulen" in 2021, on which the two reinterpret selected songs by Franz Schubert with a chamber ensemble: without classical etiquette, tailcoat and pocket square, but with authentic unpretentiousness and fire in the heart.
In the 2022/23 season, Schumacher will also be on stage with the SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet: their program "Goldberg Nights" combines excerpts from Bach's Goldberg Variations with other night music from four centuries, from rapturous romantic dreamscapes to ecstatic club nights.
Schumacher's new solo album "Tranceformer" is set to be released on September 29th, 2023.
Released on Neue Meister
“In any case, with sound seekers like Kai Schumacher, one need worry less about whether piano music will survive the next century." SWR2
Kai Schumacher delights in pushing the boundaries between classical and popular music while avoiding the wellworn clichés “Crossover.” Boasting an impressive pedigree, Kai studied at the renowned Folkwang University Essen, passing his „Konzertexamen“ with distinction in 2009. Since then, like a musical mad scientist, he has been constantly experimenting and combining seemingly incompatible elements with surprising results. His solo performances are acts of pure musical – and stylistic – alchemy, serving up heady mixes of Dadaism and Dancefloor, Avantgarde and Pop culture – sometimes all at once.
Kai Schumacher's album „Rausch” is the first album exclusively to feature his own compositions. Schumacher abstains from using overdubs; in fact, no electronics are used at all. Instead, he employs his own form of “prepared piano”, manipulating the instrument’s mechanism and strings to produce an unusual array of sounds.
Together with singer-songwriter Gisbert zu Knyphausen, Schumacher released the album "Lass irre Hunde heulen" in 2021, on which the two reinterpret selected songs by Franz Schubert with a chamber ensemble: without classical etiquette, tailcoat and pocket square, but with authentic unpretentiousness and fire in the heart.
In the 2022/23 season, Schumacher will also be on stage with the SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet: their program "Goldberg Nights" combines excerpts from Bach's Goldberg Variations with other night music from four centuries, from rapturous romantic dreamscapes to ecstatic club nights.
Schumacher's new solo album "Tranceformer" is set to be released on September 29th, 2023.
Released on Neue Meister
Dina Summer is the collaborative band project between Kalipo and DJ couple Local Suicide. The Berlin-based project is fronted by Dina P, who lends her vocals and thought-provoking lyrics to the act. Second member is her husband and DJ/Producer partner Brax Moody with whom she forms Local Suicide. The third member is Kalipo, who started his music career as the producer and band member of the German electro-punk band Frittenbude before venturing into downbeat rave music. Together they create a unique blend of their influences 80’s Disco, 90’s Electro and New Wave for a fun, nostalgic and dark retro sound. Their debut album “Rimini” offers a beautifully crafted journey through retro disco sonics, incorporating Synth Sop, New Wave, and Disco-elements for funky, upbeat, and versatile tracks that can be enjoyed beachside or on the dance floor.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Dina Summer is the collaborative band project between Kalipo and DJ couple Local Suicide. The Berlin-based project is fronted by Dina P, who lends her vocals and thought-provoking lyrics to the act. Second member is her husband and DJ/Producer partner Brax Moody with whom she forms Local Suicide. The third member is Kalipo, who started his music career as the producer and band member of the German electro-punk band Frittenbude before venturing into downbeat rave music. Together they create a unique blend of their influences 80’s Disco, 90’s Electro and New Wave for a fun, nostalgic and dark retro sound. Their debut album “Rimini” offers a beautifully crafted journey through retro disco sonics, incorporating Synth Sop, New Wave, and Disco-elements for funky, upbeat, and versatile tracks that can be enjoyed beachside or on the dance floor.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
This young band from Berlin could be one of the big surprises in the new year. They‘ve recorded a remarkable debut album that dissolves boundaries and despite the mix of styles works as a whole very well. This album has the spirit of the late 80s and early 90s dripping from every pore and brings all that into the present. Unbridled postpunk, wave rock, math rock, noiserock, indie pop, dancefloor punk... A feast for fans of fuzz, delay or tremolo. Sometimes calm, sometimes hectic. Sometimes confrontational, sometimes familiar. Always exciting.
Released on Noisolution
This young band from Berlin could be one of the big surprises in the new year. They‘ve recorded a remarkable debut album that dissolves boundaries and despite the mix of styles works as a whole very well. This album has the spirit of the late 80s and early 90s dripping from every pore and brings all that into the present. Unbridled postpunk, wave rock, math rock, noiserock, indie pop, dancefloor punk... A feast for fans of fuzz, delay or tremolo. Sometimes calm, sometimes hectic. Sometimes confrontational, sometimes familiar. Always exciting.
Released on Noisolution
Berlin's female trio 24/7 DIVA HEAVEN crosses the references of Punk, Noise, Grunge into the Riot Grrrl sound of the 90's, with a loud and clear message. Feminism, inequality, homophobia, racism, xenophobia or ecological problems are important issues to the band - but never without a good dose of having fun. 24/7 DIVA HEAVEN deliver the perfect soundtrack in these current times, to be wild, loud, angry and yet surrounded by a lot of glitter.
Their debut album „Stress" is a behemoth of a rock album between the grunge, alternative rock and punk, between fuzzy and heavy as hell riffs, backed up by catchy hooks and big melodies. "Stress" is a confident, snotty pop album where punk attitudes meet glamour.
With their highly acclaimed, 2018 debut EP "Superslide", the trio left a first and remarkable stamp in the heavy music scene, while a steady growing fanbase and countless shows such as the high- voltage performances at festivals alike Desertfest, Stoned From The Underground or Popkultur.
Bassist Karo Paschedag, Mary Westphal (drums) and Katharina Ott-Alavi (guit / voc) are heavily active aside of their rehearsal room and rocking the stage, and show themselves politically. They are the founders of the Berlin GRRRL NOISY movement, an ever growing institution and a place to connect, for female and transgender musicians and music fans, setting up concerts, jam sessions, video streams or discussion platforms.
Released on Noisolution
Berlin's female trio 24/7 DIVA HEAVEN crosses the references of Punk, Noise, Grunge into the Riot Grrrl sound of the 90's, with a loud and clear message. Feminism, inequality, homophobia, racism, xenophobia or ecological problems are important issues to the band - but never without a good dose of having fun. 24/7 DIVA HEAVEN deliver the perfect soundtrack in these current times, to be wild, loud, angry and yet surrounded by a lot of glitter.
Their debut album „Stress" is a behemoth of a rock album between the grunge, alternative rock and punk, between fuzzy and heavy as hell riffs, backed up by catchy hooks and big melodies. "Stress" is a confident, snotty pop album where punk attitudes meet glamour.
With their highly acclaimed, 2018 debut EP "Superslide", the trio left a first and remarkable stamp in the heavy music scene, while a steady growing fanbase and countless shows such as the high- voltage performances at festivals alike Desertfest, Stoned From The Underground or Popkultur.
Bassist Karo Paschedag, Mary Westphal (drums) and Katharina Ott-Alavi (guit / voc) are heavily active aside of their rehearsal room and rocking the stage, and show themselves politically. They are the founders of the Berlin GRRRL NOISY movement, an ever growing institution and a place to connect, for female and transgender musicians and music fans, setting up concerts, jam sessions, video streams or discussion platforms.
Released on Noisolution
With the new album "All The Unknown", the full potential of GRANDBROTHERS unfolds with their unique fusion of classical music and electronic soundscapes. The album maps out a wide-open soundworld of compositional possibilities for pianist Erol Sarp and producer/electronic engineer Lukas Vogel, who have been putting their modern and unique electronic spin on prepared piano since first forming in 2012. Forgoing the need to play every single note live, this new album sees the pair juxtapose the old and new once again, venturing further into the electronic cosmos armed with a grand piano, self-built computer-controlled mechanics, and a new sense of latitude.
GRANDBROTHERS‘ previous albums "Dilation" and "Open" are considered "two of the most important German electronic pop records of the last decade" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). Last albums‘ key track “Bloodflow" alone has accumulated over 30 million streams across all platforms. Additionally, “Bloodflow” took on a whole new life when French directors Nakache & Toledano ("Intouchables") chose it as the soundtrack centerpiece of their film "Hors Normes" (2019) and Merlin Leroy featured this outstanding track in their Europe-wide TV campain.
Released on City Slang
With the new album "All The Unknown", the full potential of GRANDBROTHERS unfolds with their unique fusion of classical music and electronic soundscapes. The album maps out a wide-open soundworld of compositional possibilities for pianist Erol Sarp and producer/electronic engineer Lukas Vogel, who have been putting their modern and unique electronic spin on prepared piano since first forming in 2012. Forgoing the need to play every single note live, this new album sees the pair juxtapose the old and new once again, venturing further into the electronic cosmos armed with a grand piano, self-built computer-controlled mechanics, and a new sense of latitude.
GRANDBROTHERS‘ previous albums "Dilation" and "Open" are considered "two of the most important German electronic pop records of the last decade" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). Last albums‘ key track “Bloodflow" alone has accumulated over 30 million streams across all platforms. Additionally, “Bloodflow” took on a whole new life when French directors Nakache & Toledano ("Intouchables") chose it as the soundtrack centerpiece of their film "Hors Normes" (2019) and Merlin Leroy featured this outstanding track in their Europe-wide TV campain.
Released on City Slang
The history of the DJ & producer duo and couple Local Suicide stretches back over a decade. Brax Moody and Vamparela have collaborated together on various projects, all culminating in the conception of Local Suicide. Local Suicide are the ones behind the term Technodisco which describes their mixture of New Wave, EBM, Disco and Techno. They are also one of the key figures in the Dark Disco scene and have collaborated with the likes of Curses, Theus Mago, Lena Platonos, Hard Ton, The Hidden Cameras and Rodion. In 2021 Local Suicide launched their own label Iptamenos Discos, where they released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Eros Anikate’ among others. In 2022 the duo also revealed their new live project Dina Summer with Kalipo.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
The history of the DJ & producer duo and couple Local Suicide stretches back over a decade. Brax Moody and Vamparela have collaborated together on various projects, all culminating in the conception of Local Suicide. Local Suicide are the ones behind the term Technodisco which describes their mixture of New Wave, EBM, Disco and Techno. They are also one of the key figures in the Dark Disco scene and have collaborated with the likes of Curses, Theus Mago, Lena Platonos, Hard Ton, The Hidden Cameras and Rodion. In 2021 Local Suicide launched their own label Iptamenos Discos, where they released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Eros Anikate’ among others. In 2022 the duo also revealed their new live project Dina Summer with Kalipo.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Until now, Dennis Grimm aka BROTHER GRIMM was mainly a solo artist, but this has now changed on his new record "The End" in 2023: for the recordings, he got reinforcement in the form of Charlie Paschen from COOGANS BLUFF and Enni Semmler from KASKADEUR. The result is a great, idiosyncratically rocking work.
The sonic minimalism between experimental noise drone, dark experimental blues and hypnotic post-rock has been developed piece by piece and is bigger and more convincing than ever. Magical, psychedelic moments, alternate with stoically repeated riffs, which are definitely catchy.
Brother Grimm has already released three albums before: "King For A Day, Cool For A Lifetime" (2016), "Home Today Gone Tomorrow" (2017) and "On Flatland, On Sand" in 2019.
Released on NOISOLUTION
Until now, Dennis Grimm aka BROTHER GRIMM was mainly a solo artist, but this has now changed on his new record "The End" in 2023: for the recordings, he got reinforcement in the form of Charlie Paschen from COOGANS BLUFF and Enni Semmler from KASKADEUR. The result is a great, idiosyncratically rocking work.
The sonic minimalism between experimental noise drone, dark experimental blues and hypnotic post-rock has been developed piece by piece and is bigger and more convincing than ever. Magical, psychedelic moments, alternate with stoically repeated riffs, which are definitely catchy.
Brother Grimm has already released three albums before: "King For A Day, Cool For A Lifetime" (2016), "Home Today Gone Tomorrow" (2017) and "On Flatland, On Sand" in 2019.
Released on NOISOLUTION
One quartet has dedicated itself to inspired genre escapism for a good 10 years now. Since their start at the height of stoner rock at the time, they have long surpassed this genre’s narrower specifications. Johannes Walenta, Enrico Semler, Michael Paukner and Ole Fischer have always skillfully experimented their way out of such boundaries, which is audible throughout their previous releases under the name STONEHENGE.
Influences and excursions into all related styles such as post rock and psych up to alternative rock and soul can be easily documented with their third album UNCANNY VALLEY. Thus the colorful hustle and bustle of KASKADEUR can confidently be categorized as Prog Rock. Extravagant breaks are countered by power-pop hook lines and rushing noise ecstasies surprised by jazzy solo parts. As a long-lasting project, the four "stunt doubles of the East" are considered a constant and benchmark in the region.
Released on Noisolution
One quartet has dedicated itself to inspired genre escapism for a good 10 years now. Since their start at the height of stoner rock at the time, they have long surpassed this genre’s narrower specifications. Johannes Walenta, Enrico Semler, Michael Paukner and Ole Fischer have always skillfully experimented their way out of such boundaries, which is audible throughout their previous releases under the name STONEHENGE.
Influences and excursions into all related styles such as post rock and psych up to alternative rock and soul can be easily documented with their third album UNCANNY VALLEY. Thus the colorful hustle and bustle of KASKADEUR can confidently be categorized as Prog Rock. Extravagant breaks are countered by power-pop hook lines and rushing noise ecstasies surprised by jazzy solo parts. As a long-lasting project, the four "stunt doubles of the East" are considered a constant and benchmark in the region.
Released on Noisolution
With a truckload of musical experience, Douwe, Sander, Gertjan and Barry formed a new band – one that radiates unbridled punk energy. The four had each toured the world with Death Alley, Birth of Joy, and Vanderbuyst, but those heavier sounds now give way to the pure pleasure and catchy tunes of Splinter.
Birth of Death was the title of the joint farewell tour of Birth of Joy and Death Alley in early 2019. Only a few months later, the death of these two heavyweights of the Dutch underground would result in the birth of something new. Together with drummer Barry (of hard rock outfit Vanderbuyst) singer Douwe and guitarist Sander (Death Alley) seduced organist Gertjan (Birth of Joy) into starting a new rock super group: Splinter.
“The most important thing for us was to capture pure energy and directness in our music again,” Douwe says. This energy creates electrifying songs that are instantly catchy and new, even if the sound is an unorthodox mix of rock from different eras. In short: Splinter is fresh and danceable rock – with a Hammond organ.
Splinter is cut from the same cloth as those cheeky youths, contrasting the grey and dull establishment, with its neat and tidy venues and endlessly recycled music. Splinter wants to unite those who are looking to find alternatives and break new ground, rather than run with the herd. That may sound like a serious ambition, and maybe it is, but in the end it all boils down to the raw energy that brings people together. And that happens to be exactly what this band is all about.
Splinter’s debut album “Filthy Pleasures” was released in 2021, and was the first output on Robotor Records, founded by the guys from Kadavar. Now the band has signed to Noisolution Records and will release their second album „Role Models“ in September 2023.
Released on Noisolution
With a truckload of musical experience, Douwe, Sander, Gertjan and Barry formed a new band – one that radiates unbridled punk energy. The four had each toured the world with Death Alley, Birth of Joy, and Vanderbuyst, but those heavier sounds now give way to the pure pleasure and catchy tunes of Splinter.
Birth of Death was the title of the joint farewell tour of Birth of Joy and Death Alley in early 2019. Only a few months later, the death of these two heavyweights of the Dutch underground would result in the birth of something new. Together with drummer Barry (of hard rock outfit Vanderbuyst) singer Douwe and guitarist Sander (Death Alley) seduced organist Gertjan (Birth of Joy) into starting a new rock super group: Splinter.
“The most important thing for us was to capture pure energy and directness in our music again,” Douwe says. This energy creates electrifying songs that are instantly catchy and new, even if the sound is an unorthodox mix of rock from different eras. In short: Splinter is fresh and danceable rock – with a Hammond organ.
Splinter is cut from the same cloth as those cheeky youths, contrasting the grey and dull establishment, with its neat and tidy venues and endlessly recycled music. Splinter wants to unite those who are looking to find alternatives and break new ground, rather than run with the herd. That may sound like a serious ambition, and maybe it is, but in the end it all boils down to the raw energy that brings people together. And that happens to be exactly what this band is all about.
Splinter’s debut album “Filthy Pleasures” was released in 2021, and was the first output on Robotor Records, founded by the guys from Kadavar. Now the band has signed to Noisolution Records and will release their second album „Role Models“ in September 2023.
Released on Noisolution
The band name says it all. This Swiss post-punk band uses music as an outlet to turn anger into something creative. The result is a lyrically, politically and musically powerful statement called „Anger Is Energy“. Contemporary rock music layered with a slightly melancholic wave shadow. Lyrics that crush in their honesty and a raw voice with melodies reminiscent of the independent bands of the 90s.
The three band members are no strangers to their scene. Two self-released singles and dozens of shows or support slots for international bands testify to the energy and DIY mentality of the trio, currently considered one of Switzerland’s hot insider tips. Frontman and singer Nik Petronijevic sings a lot about his own experiences with his anxiety disease, about suicidal thoughts and the latent feeling of not belonging. Despite all these dark topics the album also gives support, hope and is supposed to release positive energies, to dissolve anger into energy - "ANGER IS ENERGY"! A loud and lively statement that is angry and powerful, but at the same time fun and optimistic. These times are hard and need bands like this.... and good, loud rock music!
Released on Noisolution
The band name says it all. This Swiss post-punk band uses music as an outlet to turn anger into something creative. The result is a lyrically, politically and musically powerful statement called „Anger Is Energy“. Contemporary rock music layered with a slightly melancholic wave shadow. Lyrics that crush in their honesty and a raw voice with melodies reminiscent of the independent bands of the 90s.
The three band members are no strangers to their scene. Two self-released singles and dozens of shows or support slots for international bands testify to the energy and DIY mentality of the trio, currently considered one of Switzerland’s hot insider tips. Frontman and singer Nik Petronijevic sings a lot about his own experiences with his anxiety disease, about suicidal thoughts and the latent feeling of not belonging. Despite all these dark topics the album also gives support, hope and is supposed to release positive energies, to dissolve anger into energy - "ANGER IS ENERGY"! A loud and lively statement that is angry and powerful, but at the same time fun and optimistic. These times are hard and need bands like this.... and good, loud rock music!
Released on Noisolution
TAUMEL is the music formation comprising Sven Pollkötter an Jakob Diehl. Both have been pushing this project for 6 years, writing and playing music. Two extraordinary musicians with versatile careers: Sven has been a professional rock- and classical drummer/percussionist for years and Jakob is a composer, musician and actor.
NOW WE STAY FOREVER LOST IN SPACE TOGETHER is after THERE IS NO TIME TO RUN AWAY FROM HERE the 2nd part of the musical series T R A U M. This musical series is characterized by its slow tempi and the instrumental quartet instrumentation trumpet/flugelhorn, electric guitar, piano/rhodes and drums. As in the first part of this series (TRAUM I), the individual (again five) track titles form the album title. At the same time, this scentence refers to the first part in terms of content, or rather the 'narrative' is continued - whereby the faulty sentence structure shows that a poetization is being pushed forward, which is in a sense programmatic. The apparent uniformity gives way to a slowly progressive change and mutation.
Stylistic classification is basically difficult, because this also always reveals walls and borders that 'taumel' does not see. Nevertheless, some music styles/genres are mentioned in order to promote an inevitable naming of this music: Minimal, Ambient, Psychedelic, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal, Doom, Surealism, Kraut, Instrumental...are mentioned here as influences
TAUMEL is the music formation comprising Sven Pollkötter an Jakob Diehl. Both have been pushing this project for 6 years, writing and playing music. Two extraordinary musicians with versatile careers: Sven has been a professional rock- and classical drummer/percussionist for years and Jakob is a composer, musician and actor.
NOW WE STAY FOREVER LOST IN SPACE TOGETHER is after THERE IS NO TIME TO RUN AWAY FROM HERE the 2nd part of the musical series T R A U M. This musical series is characterized by its slow tempi and the instrumental quartet instrumentation trumpet/flugelhorn, electric guitar, piano/rhodes and drums. As in the first part of this series (TRAUM I), the individual (again five) track titles form the album title. At the same time, this scentence refers to the first part in terms of content, or rather the 'narrative' is continued - whereby the faulty sentence structure shows that a poetization is being pushed forward, which is in a sense programmatic. The apparent uniformity gives way to a slowly progressive change and mutation.
Stylistic classification is basically difficult, because this also always reveals walls and borders that 'taumel' does not see. Nevertheless, some music styles/genres are mentioned in order to promote an inevitable naming of this music: Minimal, Ambient, Psychedelic, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal, Doom, Surealism, Kraut, Instrumental...are mentioned here as influences
David Eugene Edwards can be considered as one of the most formidable guitarists/singers, songwriters and lyricists of our time, who has influenced countless musicians and artists over the past two decades through his work with Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower.
His music with innovative heavy droning folk band Wovenhand, and before that the haunting revivification of high lonesome sound antique Americana of 16 Horsepower breathed a near apocalyptic sense of urgency and poignance into musical archetypes long abandoned in the latter-20th Century. Anyone who has seen him perform live will attest to his captivating intensity as he sings and coaxes sweeping, dark fury and beauty from his instrument.
Now, on his first-ever solo album under his own name, Edwards delivers a sound uniquely his own, with a vulnerability and introspection unheard from him before. Stripping back the heavy rock of his recent work with Wovenhand, Hyacinth puts the man’s voice, and sparing instrumentation into the main focus. There’s a somber beauty and world-weary tone throughout these songs. The album could been considered a slight return to the more melodic sounds of 16 Horsepower’s Secret South (2000) and the first, self-titled Wovenhand album (2002).
Released on Sargent House and
David Eugene Edwards can be considered as one of the most formidable guitarists/singers, songwriters and lyricists of our time, who has influenced countless musicians and artists over the past two decades through his work with Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower.
His music with innovative heavy droning folk band Wovenhand, and before that the haunting revivification of high lonesome sound antique Americana of 16 Horsepower breathed a near apocalyptic sense of urgency and poignance into musical archetypes long abandoned in the latter-20th Century. Anyone who has seen him perform live will attest to his captivating intensity as he sings and coaxes sweeping, dark fury and beauty from his instrument.
Now, on his first-ever solo album under his own name, Edwards delivers a sound uniquely his own, with a vulnerability and introspection unheard from him before. Stripping back the heavy rock of his recent work with Wovenhand, Hyacinth puts the man’s voice, and sparing instrumentation into the main focus. There’s a somber beauty and world-weary tone throughout these songs. The album could been considered a slight return to the more melodic sounds of 16 Horsepower’s Secret South (2000) and the first, self-titled Wovenhand album (2002).
Released on Sargent House and
Damian Shilman aka SKELESYS is an Argentina-born, Berlin-based producer, live act and DJ who has emerged as one of the most exciting projects across Post-Punk, Wave and future sounds. His music is snspired by everything from Hard Rock, Sci-Fi and Horror and traverses several genres resulting in a fresh, unique sound that is all his own. While being on stage he incorporates his guitar playing with electronics and vocals, while also being an electrifying DJ, delivering sets which combine all things related to dark and 80s influenced sounds. He is closley connected to the Technodisco-scene and often collaborates with artists like Local Suicide, Curses, Pyrame and others. Together with Local Suicide he has released a lot of well received EPs in the past which gained them a huge fan base.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Damian Shilman aka SKELESYS is an Argentina-born, Berlin-based producer, live act and DJ who has emerged as one of the most exciting projects across Post-Punk, Wave and future sounds. His music is snspired by everything from Hard Rock, Sci-Fi and Horror and traverses several genres resulting in a fresh, unique sound that is all his own. While being on stage he incorporates his guitar playing with electronics and vocals, while also being an electrifying DJ, delivering sets which combine all things related to dark and 80s influenced sounds. He is closley connected to the Technodisco-scene and often collaborates with artists like Local Suicide, Curses, Pyrame and others. Together with Local Suicide he has released a lot of well received EPs in the past which gained them a huge fan base.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Schneider TM is a multidimensional music project by Dirk Dresselhaus that oscillates extensively between experimental electronic avant-pop and rather abstract and improvisational material, occasionally bringing these and other seemingly opposing elements together.
Since the mid 90s he released albums on labels like City Slang / Mute, Bureau B, Editions Mego or Karlrecords under this moniker, including singles like ‘Reality Check’, ‘Frogtoise’ or a cover version of a song by The Smiths called ‘The Light 3000’, a collaboration with Kptmichigan that was hugely acclaimed by the alternative media (like John Peel, The Wire etc.) and have made him been credited as one of the main innovators of a music genre called Indietronica.
Solo or as group, Schneider TM has performed a couple of hundreds live concerts around the globe including renowned international festivals like CTM (Berlin), Sonar (Barcelona, Rome, Tokyo), Mutek (Montreal, Mexico City), Roskilde-Festival (DK), Hultsfred Festival (Hultsfred), Frieze Art Fair (London), Phonem Festival (Istanbul), Les Siestes Électroniques (Toulouse), Melt Festival (Gräfenhainichen), Midi Festival (Hyéres), Motomix Festival (Sao Paolo), Todaysart Festival (Den Haag), Dark Mofo (Hobart) and others.
Dirk Dresselhaus’ rather unusual musical methods like e.g. the combination of electroacoustic guitars with modular electronics have practically led him to explore unknown territory on each new release, solo or in diverse short- and long-term collaborations and projects with the likes of Ilpo Väisänen (die Angel, ex-Pan sonic), Zappi W Diermaier (Faust), Reinhold Friedl (zeitkratzer), Oren Ambarchi, Hildur Guðnadóttir, BJ Nilsen, Lucio Capece, Elena Poulou (ex-The Fall), Damo Suzuki (ex-Can), John Duncan (LAFMS), Conrad Schnitzler, Jochen Arbeit & Andrew Unruh (Einstürzende Neubauten) as well as to numerous works in the field of film music, radio plays, (performance-) theater, contemporary dance and general studio production.
Schneider TM is a multidimensional music project by Dirk Dresselhaus that oscillates extensively between experimental electronic avant-pop and rather abstract and improvisational material, occasionally bringing these and other seemingly opposing elements together.
Since the mid 90s he released albums on labels like City Slang / Mute, Bureau B, Editions Mego or Karlrecords under this moniker, including singles like ‘Reality Check’, ‘Frogtoise’ or a cover version of a song by The Smiths called ‘The Light 3000’, a collaboration with Kptmichigan that was hugely acclaimed by the alternative media (like John Peel, The Wire etc.) and have made him been credited as one of the main innovators of a music genre called Indietronica.
Solo or as group, Schneider TM has performed a couple of hundreds live concerts around the globe including renowned international festivals like CTM (Berlin), Sonar (Barcelona, Rome, Tokyo), Mutek (Montreal, Mexico City), Roskilde-Festival (DK), Hultsfred Festival (Hultsfred), Frieze Art Fair (London), Phonem Festival (Istanbul), Les Siestes Électroniques (Toulouse), Melt Festival (Gräfenhainichen), Midi Festival (Hyéres), Motomix Festival (Sao Paolo), Todaysart Festival (Den Haag), Dark Mofo (Hobart) and others.
Dirk Dresselhaus’ rather unusual musical methods like e.g. the combination of electroacoustic guitars with modular electronics have practically led him to explore unknown territory on each new release, solo or in diverse short- and long-term collaborations and projects with the likes of Ilpo Väisänen (die Angel, ex-Pan sonic), Zappi W Diermaier (Faust), Reinhold Friedl (zeitkratzer), Oren Ambarchi, Hildur Guðnadóttir, BJ Nilsen, Lucio Capece, Elena Poulou (ex-The Fall), Damo Suzuki (ex-Can), John Duncan (LAFMS), Conrad Schnitzler, Jochen Arbeit & Andrew Unruh (Einstürzende Neubauten) as well as to numerous works in the field of film music, radio plays, (performance-) theater, contemporary dance and general studio production.
Born 1980 in Minsk/Belarus, Damian Marhulets was accepted to the prestigious Minsk College of Music at the age of six. It was not long until he began performing as an oboe soloist with some of the most renowned orchestras in the country and abroad. Still in his early childhood, Damian became a prize winner of numerous major international music competitions. His music career took a new turn in 2000 when he relocated to Germany. Following his artistic inquisitiveness he soon immersed himself in the underground experimental music scene. His musical education shifted from oboe performance to modern composition and electronic music, that he studied at the Music Academy in Hannover and in Cologne with Prof. Johannes Schoellhorn and Joachim Heintz.
As artist-in-residence Damian worked at such renowned venues as ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, ACROE Institute Grenoble, IONIAN University Corfu and STEIM in Amsterdam. He was also the recipient of several prizes and scholarships such as the composition-stipend by the Cultural Affair Department of the Lower Saxony, Szloma Albam Stiftung stipend and the European Culture Program grant. Recent projects of Damian include large-scale audiovisual performances in which he combines acoustic instruments with electronics and live-visuals. He collaborated with such renowned musicians as David Krakauer, Frank Bungarten, Szymanowski String Quartet and many others.
Damian Marhulets’ works have been performed in major venues and festivals including: Berliner Philharmonie, Beethovenfest Bonn, Music Triennial Cologne, BOZAR - Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Philharmonic Hall, Essen, Berghain Club, Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, Podium Festival Esslingen. His visual works and installations were presented at many museums of modern and film-festivals, such as Kestnergesellschaft and Sprengel Museum in Hannover, ArtCenter Berlin, Diapason Sound Art Gallery, NYC, DAVID vzw Gallery in Ghent, CineAutopsia / Bogota Experimental Film Festival, BIDEODROMO international experimental film festival, Experimental Forum, Los Angeles, Hong-gah Museum, Taipeh and others.
Currently signed to Neue Meister, Damian has released three new albums since 2017: Constellation Machine, Lilith’s Lullabies and Ecertele. Besides writing concert music as well as music for theatre, film and dance he works with adaptive and interactive music formats and incorporates VR/XR into his musical practice.
Born 1980 in Minsk/Belarus, Damian Marhulets was accepted to the prestigious Minsk College of Music at the age of six. It was not long until he began performing as an oboe soloist with some of the most renowned orchestras in the country and abroad. Still in his early childhood, Damian became a prize winner of numerous major international music competitions. His music career took a new turn in 2000 when he relocated to Germany. Following his artistic inquisitiveness he soon immersed himself in the underground experimental music scene. His musical education shifted from oboe performance to modern composition and electronic music, that he studied at the Music Academy in Hannover and in Cologne with Prof. Johannes Schoellhorn and Joachim Heintz.
As artist-in-residence Damian worked at such renowned venues as ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, ACROE Institute Grenoble, IONIAN University Corfu and STEIM in Amsterdam. He was also the recipient of several prizes and scholarships such as the composition-stipend by the Cultural Affair Department of the Lower Saxony, Szloma Albam Stiftung stipend and the European Culture Program grant. Recent projects of Damian include large-scale audiovisual performances in which he combines acoustic instruments with electronics and live-visuals. He collaborated with such renowned musicians as David Krakauer, Frank Bungarten, Szymanowski String Quartet and many others.
Damian Marhulets’ works have been performed in major venues and festivals including: Berliner Philharmonie, Beethovenfest Bonn, Music Triennial Cologne, BOZAR - Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Philharmonic Hall, Essen, Berghain Club, Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, Podium Festival Esslingen. His visual works and installations were presented at many museums of modern and film-festivals, such as Kestnergesellschaft and Sprengel Museum in Hannover, ArtCenter Berlin, Diapason Sound Art Gallery, NYC, DAVID vzw Gallery in Ghent, CineAutopsia / Bogota Experimental Film Festival, BIDEODROMO international experimental film festival, Experimental Forum, Los Angeles, Hong-gah Museum, Taipeh and others.
Currently signed to Neue Meister, Damian has released three new albums since 2017: Constellation Machine, Lilith’s Lullabies and Ecertele. Besides writing concert music as well as music for theatre, film and dance he works with adaptive and interactive music formats and incorporates VR/XR into his musical practice.
The new album of the rock-duo The Pighounds is called “Phat Pig Phace“ and offers a thrilling melange of finest punk rock, hardcore and great melodies. Eleven gripping songs with 90s spirit, thick riffs and constantly high energy level. Apparently, The Pighounds have shaped their style, because the new album is a bit more homogeneous, more focused, but also more aggressive than its predecessor „Hilleboom“.
The Pighounds have been grown musically and above all became more experimental. The core remains the varied songwriting and two musicians who use the advantages of a duo and make compromises unnecessary. “Phat Pig Phace“ offers a collection of high-energy and catchy tracks that are just fun to listen to.
Before Peter Bering and Alessandro De Luca started THE PIGHOUNDS in 2018, they were active in other bands. After starting as a duo, they wrote songs incessantly, played many concerts and festivals, shot a lot of videos and as a duo are fully absorbed in their new project. Many concerts followed or the band helped out as guest musicians with friends AmyJo Doh & The Spangles who went on tour in Europe as support for The Libertines in 2019 and again in 2022.
Released on Noisolution
The new album of the rock-duo The Pighounds is called “Phat Pig Phace“ and offers a thrilling melange of finest punk rock, hardcore and great melodies. Eleven gripping songs with 90s spirit, thick riffs and constantly high energy level. Apparently, The Pighounds have shaped their style, because the new album is a bit more homogeneous, more focused, but also more aggressive than its predecessor „Hilleboom“.
The Pighounds have been grown musically and above all became more experimental. The core remains the varied songwriting and two musicians who use the advantages of a duo and make compromises unnecessary. “Phat Pig Phace“ offers a collection of high-energy and catchy tracks that are just fun to listen to.
Before Peter Bering and Alessandro De Luca started THE PIGHOUNDS in 2018, they were active in other bands. After starting as a duo, they wrote songs incessantly, played many concerts and festivals, shot a lot of videos and as a duo are fully absorbed in their new project. Many concerts followed or the band helped out as guest musicians with friends AmyJo Doh & The Spangles who went on tour in Europe as support for The Libertines in 2019 and again in 2022.
Released on Noisolution
The uprising DJ/producer duo Wiener Planquadrat which consists of Michael Weiler and Maximilian Atteneder who after years of creating and performing music separately finally got together in 2020, combining their musical roots to create their new vibrant sound coming straight from the heart of Austria’s capital of Vienna.
Embracing their love for 2000s Indie music, dark disco and French electro they created their very own unique sound involving powerful, analogue yet hook-heavy song-craftmanship which often doesn't follow usual dance music conventions. Their debut single Stillstand, which was released in 2021 was well received internationally and climbed Austrian as well as German dance charts right away. While pushing their boundaries a bit further with their follow up EP Dschungel which was released in 2022 and got remixed by artists like T.Raumschmiere, Tech Support or Birds, they continuously keep remixing and collaborating with acts such as Local Suicide, Oberst & Buchner, Kalipo, Dina Summer, Ali X or You Man.
In the last two years they further established their name by DJing and playing their first ever live shows in cities such as Berlin, Paris or Thessaloniki. Wiener Planquadrat will continue their journey by releasing more music soon while strongly focusing on the production of their debut album.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
The uprising DJ/producer duo Wiener Planquadrat which consists of Michael Weiler and Maximilian Atteneder who after years of creating and performing music separately finally got together in 2020, combining their musical roots to create their new vibrant sound coming straight from the heart of Austria’s capital of Vienna.
Embracing their love for 2000s Indie music, dark disco and French electro they created their very own unique sound involving powerful, analogue yet hook-heavy song-craftmanship which often doesn't follow usual dance music conventions. Their debut single Stillstand, which was released in 2021 was well received internationally and climbed Austrian as well as German dance charts right away. While pushing their boundaries a bit further with their follow up EP Dschungel which was released in 2022 and got remixed by artists like T.Raumschmiere, Tech Support or Birds, they continuously keep remixing and collaborating with acts such as Local Suicide, Oberst & Buchner, Kalipo, Dina Summer, Ali X or You Man.
In the last two years they further established their name by DJing and playing their first ever live shows in cities such as Berlin, Paris or Thessaloniki. Wiener Planquadrat will continue their journey by releasing more music soon while strongly focusing on the production of their debut album.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Boys' Shorts is a Greek DJ & production duo which was founded by Vangelis (ex-LAGASTA) and electronic artist Tareq. Their sound is a blend of everything they love to mix in their DJ sets, from disco to breaks and slow techno to acid. To quote the boys “…we make people dance!” So far, they’ve released on labels such as HE.SHE.THEY, Cormac’s Polari records, Permanent Vacation, Iptamenos Discos, Love Child & Future Disco. They have also delivered remixes for artists like Yuksek w/ Polo & Pan, Kasper Bjorke, Boy George, Local Suicide w/ Lena Platonos, Daddy Squad w/ Zoot Woman, Casey Spooner (Fischerspooner), Mala Ika, and Kito Jempere ft. Wolfram to name a few. Their remix for Casey Spooner was included in the Red Hot + Free compilation, and the video that accompanied the remix premiered at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York. Their track "New Era" reached No1 on Beatport and Juno Download and was hot listed on Germany’s Radio Eins, while their track "Fantastic" received support from BBC Radio 1. Never afraid to push their own musical boundaries, they also recently wrote the score for the art exhibition "Summer Bouquet", at K-Gold Temporary Gallery in Lesvos (Greece).
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Boys' Shorts is a Greek DJ & production duo which was founded by Vangelis (ex-LAGASTA) and electronic artist Tareq. Their sound is a blend of everything they love to mix in their DJ sets, from disco to breaks and slow techno to acid. To quote the boys “…we make people dance!” So far, they’ve released on labels such as HE.SHE.THEY, Cormac’s Polari records, Permanent Vacation, Iptamenos Discos, Love Child & Future Disco. They have also delivered remixes for artists like Yuksek w/ Polo & Pan, Kasper Bjorke, Boy George, Local Suicide w/ Lena Platonos, Daddy Squad w/ Zoot Woman, Casey Spooner (Fischerspooner), Mala Ika, and Kito Jempere ft. Wolfram to name a few. Their remix for Casey Spooner was included in the Red Hot + Free compilation, and the video that accompanied the remix premiered at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York. Their track "New Era" reached No1 on Beatport and Juno Download and was hot listed on Germany’s Radio Eins, while their track "Fantastic" received support from BBC Radio 1. Never afraid to push their own musical boundaries, they also recently wrote the score for the art exhibition "Summer Bouquet", at K-Gold Temporary Gallery in Lesvos (Greece).
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Robert Lippok is a electronic music composer based Berlin, after two decades performing with legendary trio To Rococo Rot. His work centres around creating installations, theatre and stage design for interdisciplinary performances, as well as a steady output of ambient techno experimentations.
Born in 1966, Lippok studied stage design at Kunsthochschule Weißensee Berlin, before forming To Rococo Rot with his brother Ronald Lippok and Stefan Schneider in 1995. They were active until 2014; as part of the trio Lippok was given the opportunity to explore sound installation work, hosting On The Way To The Peak Of Normal at Kunst-Werke in 2000. In 2001, Raster-Noton released Lippok’s first solo release Open Close Open, and his first full length release Falling Into Komëit was released by Monika Enterprise in 2004. Lippok returned to Raster-Noton with Redsuperstructure in 2011, and has since worked on two collaborative records, Timeline (2015) with Jesse Osborne-Lanthier and Noir, and Gletschermusik (2016) with Soojin Anjou and Askat Jetigen in 2015.
His latest album, Applied Autonomy (2018), recombines recorded material from live performances with studios sessions with Klara Lewis at EMS Studios to produce techno-inspired soundscapes which evolve meticulously over time. The album closer, “Samtal” demonstrates Lippok and Lewis collaborating as duo. According to Raster, “both musicians played and performed simultaneously, yet not explicitly together, lost in their own thoughts and ideas, only subconsciously taking in what the other one was coming up with.”
Parallel to his musical production, Robert Lippok has continued his theatre practice, hosting workshops, creating audiovisual installations, and stage designing for numerous performance pieces. Lippok also tutors at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and is part of the curatorial board of 4D Sound in Budapest, Hungary.
Robert Lippok is a electronic music composer based Berlin, after two decades performing with legendary trio To Rococo Rot. His work centres around creating installations, theatre and stage design for interdisciplinary performances, as well as a steady output of ambient techno experimentations.
Born in 1966, Lippok studied stage design at Kunsthochschule Weißensee Berlin, before forming To Rococo Rot with his brother Ronald Lippok and Stefan Schneider in 1995. They were active until 2014; as part of the trio Lippok was given the opportunity to explore sound installation work, hosting On The Way To The Peak Of Normal at Kunst-Werke in 2000. In 2001, Raster-Noton released Lippok’s first solo release Open Close Open, and his first full length release Falling Into Komëit was released by Monika Enterprise in 2004. Lippok returned to Raster-Noton with Redsuperstructure in 2011, and has since worked on two collaborative records, Timeline (2015) with Jesse Osborne-Lanthier and Noir, and Gletschermusik (2016) with Soojin Anjou and Askat Jetigen in 2015.
His latest album, Applied Autonomy (2018), recombines recorded material from live performances with studios sessions with Klara Lewis at EMS Studios to produce techno-inspired soundscapes which evolve meticulously over time. The album closer, “Samtal” demonstrates Lippok and Lewis collaborating as duo. According to Raster, “both musicians played and performed simultaneously, yet not explicitly together, lost in their own thoughts and ideas, only subconsciously taking in what the other one was coming up with.”
Parallel to his musical production, Robert Lippok has continued his theatre practice, hosting workshops, creating audiovisual installations, and stage designing for numerous performance pieces. Lippok also tutors at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and is part of the curatorial board of 4D Sound in Budapest, Hungary.
Hailing from the UK and now residing in Berlin Radondo has built a versatile sound within the Italian Dance Wave movement. His progressive DJ sets have seen him quickly become a prevalent artist in the Berlin scene, playing venues such as Renate, Sisyphos, Hor Radio and Zur Klappe. Since 2019 he has steadily released on labels such as Wrong Era, Loose Fit Records, Ritmo Fatale and Fucanglong Files. Tying together his Italo Disco, EBM, and New Beat influences, Radondo creates a captivating atmosphere filled with tangible nostalgia through forward-thinking production and energetic selections.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Hailing from the UK and now residing in Berlin Radondo has built a versatile sound within the Italian Dance Wave movement. His progressive DJ sets have seen him quickly become a prevalent artist in the Berlin scene, playing venues such as Renate, Sisyphos, Hor Radio and Zur Klappe. Since 2019 he has steadily released on labels such as Wrong Era, Loose Fit Records, Ritmo Fatale and Fucanglong Files. Tying together his Italo Disco, EBM, and New Beat influences, Radondo creates a captivating atmosphere filled with tangible nostalgia through forward-thinking production and energetic selections.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Tel Aviv-based artist Yotam Russo signs to Iptamenos Discos and announces his new ‘Twilight Zone Disko’ EP. The 3-tracker is the Israelis most mature release to date and perfectly showcases his unique approach to modern electronic dance music. Being known for his fusion of heavy drum machines with psychedelic guitars, acid melody-hooks and catchy vocals he creates a rich spectrum of sound that takes listeners on a journey through a range of emotions and genres.
Over time, he has cultivated a distinct style characterized by an upbeat vibe that is both nostalgic and contemporary. On this EP he expands his creative expression by adding meaningful text, making his music a powerful vehicle for storytelling. Whether this be via performing live or in the studio, Russo innovatively blends genres from Indie Dance, Synthpop, Dark Disco to House & Acid.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
Tel Aviv-based artist Yotam Russo signs to Iptamenos Discos and announces his new ‘Twilight Zone Disko’ EP. The 3-tracker is the Israelis most mature release to date and perfectly showcases his unique approach to modern electronic dance music. Being known for his fusion of heavy drum machines with psychedelic guitars, acid melody-hooks and catchy vocals he creates a rich spectrum of sound that takes listeners on a journey through a range of emotions and genres.
Over time, he has cultivated a distinct style characterized by an upbeat vibe that is both nostalgic and contemporary. On this EP he expands his creative expression by adding meaningful text, making his music a powerful vehicle for storytelling. Whether this be via performing live or in the studio, Russo innovatively blends genres from Indie Dance, Synthpop, Dark Disco to House & Acid.
Released on Iptamenos Discos
After relentlessly touring their last two albums worldwide with over 350 shows in the last three years THE PICTUREBOOKS went back to their very own recording studio, boosting with inspiration and self-confidence. The goal was to add a new vibe to their music while still keeping true to THE PICTUREBOOKS sound aesthetic. They used their new-found inspiration to work harder on the production of “The Hands of Time” and to experiment with their signature sound and even introduced new instruments such as piano or tubular bells. They handcrafted some of their own percussion instruments as well, which they will be taking on the road with them to further spice up their energetic live shows.
Indeed THE PICTUREBOOKS stayed true to their signature sound which they crafted over the last five years, starting with 2014’s celebrated “Imaginary Horse”. However, they mixed a couple of uptempo songs such as “Electric Nights” with trademark midtempo burners like “The Day The Thunder Arrives” or “Tell Me Lies”. For the first time in the band’s history they have a guest-vocalist on one of their songs: you can hear Chrissie Hynde from Pretenders on the track "You Can’t Let Go". They met her while the twosome were soundchecking at a gig they had together in picturesque Saint-Tropez.
Thematically “The Hands of Time” is about accepting and celebrating nothing but the truth, the ups and downs of life, the tears and laughter and the deep friendship between the two band members Fynn Grabke and Philipp Mirtschink. The 1st single “Howling Wolf” is basically the story of their lives: two stray dogs from a small town on their way to conquer the world - pretty soon they will be howling in your town!
Released on Another Century
After relentlessly touring their last two albums worldwide with over 350 shows in the last three years THE PICTUREBOOKS went back to their very own recording studio, boosting with inspiration and self-confidence. The goal was to add a new vibe to their music while still keeping true to THE PICTUREBOOKS sound aesthetic. They used their new-found inspiration to work harder on the production of “The Hands of Time” and to experiment with their signature sound and even introduced new instruments such as piano or tubular bells. They handcrafted some of their own percussion instruments as well, which they will be taking on the road with them to further spice up their energetic live shows.
Indeed THE PICTUREBOOKS stayed true to their signature sound which they crafted over the last five years, starting with 2014’s celebrated “Imaginary Horse”. However, they mixed a couple of uptempo songs such as “Electric Nights” with trademark midtempo burners like “The Day The Thunder Arrives” or “Tell Me Lies”. For the first time in the band’s history they have a guest-vocalist on one of their songs: you can hear Chrissie Hynde from Pretenders on the track "You Can’t Let Go". They met her while the twosome were soundchecking at a gig they had together in picturesque Saint-Tropez.
Thematically “The Hands of Time” is about accepting and celebrating nothing but the truth, the ups and downs of life, the tears and laughter and the deep friendship between the two band members Fynn Grabke and Philipp Mirtschink. The 1st single “Howling Wolf” is basically the story of their lives: two stray dogs from a small town on their way to conquer the world - pretty soon they will be howling in your town!
Released on Another Century
neànder is a music collective from Berlin playing heavy instrumental music at its best. The 4-pieceevolves their very own blend of heavy music that draws on musical elements of doom, ambient and black metal. A sweeping tapestry; combining highly atmospheric Doom with Post-Rock. Mantra-like riffs come upon endless soundscapes.
'eremit' is the follow up to the bands' critically acclaimed self-titled debut that was truely a monument to heavy music. "Proof that there's beauty in melancholy is the instrumental soundscape neànder by Germans of the same name" RnR Magazine (UK) wrote in its 'Best of 2019' feature. Rolling Stone scored 4 out of 5 stars and named the 4-pieces' sound 'a dead black moonscape'.
neànder continue to evolve their very own blend of heavy music that draws on musical elements of doom, ambient and black metal. A bleak and desolate atmosphere casts its shadow on 'eremit'. The foursome cuts a dark crystal playing with variations of light and shade. „We wanted to dig deeper into our own sound. As a result the riffs are slower and heavier than before and the epic parts are way more intense", says the band.
The drums were recorded in Berlin at the studio of Christoph Barthelt of Kadavar. Jan Oberg produced and mixed the over 40 minutes long monolith at Hidden Planet Studios Berlin, Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna) mastered the album in Stockholm.
neànder consists of musos from Blackgazers Ånd, Hardcore Punks Patsy O' Hara, Berlin Sludgers Earth Ship and live band members from Indie outfit Casper. Shortly after releasing its debut in 2019 the band headed out for 4 weeks lasting tour playing shows and festivals with artists such as Pelican (US), Inter Arma (US) or Big Business (US).
Released by Through Love Records
neànder is a music collective from Berlin playing heavy instrumental music at its best. The 4-pieceevolves their very own blend of heavy music that draws on musical elements of doom, ambient and black metal. A sweeping tapestry; combining highly atmospheric Doom with Post-Rock. Mantra-like riffs come upon endless soundscapes.
'eremit' is the follow up to the bands' critically acclaimed self-titled debut that was truely a monument to heavy music. "Proof that there's beauty in melancholy is the instrumental soundscape neànder by Germans of the same name" RnR Magazine (UK) wrote in its 'Best of 2019' feature. Rolling Stone scored 4 out of 5 stars and named the 4-pieces' sound 'a dead black moonscape'.
neànder continue to evolve their very own blend of heavy music that draws on musical elements of doom, ambient and black metal. A bleak and desolate atmosphere casts its shadow on 'eremit'. The foursome cuts a dark crystal playing with variations of light and shade. „We wanted to dig deeper into our own sound. As a result the riffs are slower and heavier than before and the epic parts are way more intense", says the band.
The drums were recorded in Berlin at the studio of Christoph Barthelt of Kadavar. Jan Oberg produced and mixed the over 40 minutes long monolith at Hidden Planet Studios Berlin, Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna) mastered the album in Stockholm.
neànder consists of musos from Blackgazers Ånd, Hardcore Punks Patsy O' Hara, Berlin Sludgers Earth Ship and live band members from Indie outfit Casper. Shortly after releasing its debut in 2019 the band headed out for 4 weeks lasting tour playing shows and festivals with artists such as Pelican (US), Inter Arma (US) or Big Business (US).
Released by Through Love Records
ATEM (german for „Breath“) will release an extraordinary album called "Concrete Americana" in November 2022. This is an instrumental album of a very special kind. Downtuned acoustic guitars, massive drums and powerful basslines create a cinematic soundscape full of beauty and endless expanse. Each song is like a movie, the whole album like a terrific monumental work, full of tension, dynamic and energy, with masterfully staged musical gems.
Mastermind behind this production is Jan Korbach, guitarist / composer / arranger, who plays guitar with the doom band "Neander" and was part of Casper's live and studio band for a long time. For Jan, the album is a tribute to the traditional, tough American music of the Wild West and to the great Ennio Morricone, whose last concert on the "Farewell Tour" has left an unforgettable impression on him. The album was written, recorded and produced in Berlin and the "Concrete" in the title is no coincidence. It stands for the strong contrast between the widernessof the American West and the narrowness of the hard, cold and gray concrete of the metropolis during the winter months.
That's why ATEM's music sounds so special and unique.
Released on Through Love Records
ATEM (german for „Breath“) will release an extraordinary album called "Concrete Americana" in November 2022. This is an instrumental album of a very special kind. Downtuned acoustic guitars, massive drums and powerful basslines create a cinematic soundscape full of beauty and endless expanse. Each song is like a movie, the whole album like a terrific monumental work, full of tension, dynamic and energy, with masterfully staged musical gems.
Mastermind behind this production is Jan Korbach, guitarist / composer / arranger, who plays guitar with the doom band "Neander" and was part of Casper's live and studio band for a long time. For Jan, the album is a tribute to the traditional, tough American music of the Wild West and to the great Ennio Morricone, whose last concert on the "Farewell Tour" has left an unforgettable impression on him. The album was written, recorded and produced in Berlin and the "Concrete" in the title is no coincidence. It stands for the strong contrast between the widernessof the American West and the narrowness of the hard, cold and gray concrete of the metropolis during the winter months.
That's why ATEM's music sounds so special and unique.
Released on Through Love Records
DESCRIBED BY THE GUARDIAN AS ‘ONE OF THE MOST ENTERTAINING, CONFIDENT AND INVENTIVE GROUPS IN THE SCENE‘, MULTI-AWARD WINNING GROUP MONSIEUR DOUMANI, WAS FORMED IN 2012 IN NICOSIA, CYPRUS.
Coming from different musical backgrounds, but influenced by the Cypriot tradition at various levels, Monsieur Doumani compose music that draws inspiration from the contemporary Cypriot society as well as from the shaky conditions of our era. The original identity of the project was determined by the adaptation of Cypriot traditional pieces, with a special contemporary colour in sound and mood, forming a style distinctively of their own.
Their live appearances in festivals and venues across the world (WOMEX, WOMAD, FMM Sines, Sziget, Rudolstadt, Havana World Music Fest, Sur Jahan India, Konzerthaus Vienna, Paradiso, MUPA etc) have been very well-received by diverse audiences and their music has been presented on radio and TV stations around the globe.
During their 9-year career Monsieur Doumani have received many awards including the ‘Best Group‘ Award in Songlines Music Awards 2019 and the ‘Critics Award’ in Andrea Parodi World Music Awards. They have also been awarded with the German Records Critics Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) for their album ‘Angathin’, which has also been awarded as “Best Album of 2018” in the Transglobal World Music Charts“
Monsieur Doumani have released 3 studio albums which gained them their worldwide recognition. Their upcoming fourth album Pissourin will be released in early September 2021 on Glitterbeat Records.
Released on Glitterbeat Records
DESCRIBED BY THE GUARDIAN AS ‘ONE OF THE MOST ENTERTAINING, CONFIDENT AND INVENTIVE GROUPS IN THE SCENE‘, MULTI-AWARD WINNING GROUP MONSIEUR DOUMANI, WAS FORMED IN 2012 IN NICOSIA, CYPRUS.
Coming from different musical backgrounds, but influenced by the Cypriot tradition at various levels, Monsieur Doumani compose music that draws inspiration from the contemporary Cypriot society as well as from the shaky conditions of our era. The original identity of the project was determined by the adaptation of Cypriot traditional pieces, with a special contemporary colour in sound and mood, forming a style distinctively of their own.
Their live appearances in festivals and venues across the world (WOMEX, WOMAD, FMM Sines, Sziget, Rudolstadt, Havana World Music Fest, Sur Jahan India, Konzerthaus Vienna, Paradiso, MUPA etc) have been very well-received by diverse audiences and their music has been presented on radio and TV stations around the globe.
During their 9-year career Monsieur Doumani have received many awards including the ‘Best Group‘ Award in Songlines Music Awards 2019 and the ‘Critics Award’ in Andrea Parodi World Music Awards. They have also been awarded with the German Records Critics Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) for their album ‘Angathin’, which has also been awarded as “Best Album of 2018” in the Transglobal World Music Charts“
Monsieur Doumani have released 3 studio albums which gained them their worldwide recognition. Their upcoming fourth album Pissourin will be released in early September 2021 on Glitterbeat Records.
Released on Glitterbeat Records
Following his critically acclaimed debut solo album Kkismettin, Antonis Antoniou, the driving force behind award-winning bands Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke, has returned with another unconventional and skillfully produced solo album called "Troisma", expanding his musical language even further towards exhilarating and unmapped territories. With one foot in the East and the other in the West, with one ear in the past and the other in the future, Antoniou boldly dives deeper into his experimental and often eccentric practice, inventing new methodologies and developing new contexts, wherein various seemingly incompatible ingredients find fertile ground to intertwine. Carrying in his creative luggage his remarkable musical experience, he approaches music composition, arranging and production in a totally idiosyncratic way. Throisma is exactly the intoxicating outcome of this course.
Throisma comprises nine pieces, which exist in a psychedelic/dubby sonic world with a strong Eastern Mediterranean aroma, and enriched with heavily-filtered tzouras (small bouzouki) lines, fuzzy bass riffs, dirty analogue synth tones and hypnotic floor tom grooves. A finely crafted rich and colourful soundscape, bearing the trademark identity of a high-spirited artist and sonic explorer, attempting to marry diverse musical worlds: Eastern qualities with Velvet Underground-ish moods, Anatolian melodic vibes with rocky-psychedelic textures, organic folky flavours with sharp contemporary electronics and musique concrète techniques. All this is delivered with an unparalleled flow, edge and elegance, clean of stereotypes and clichés.
Released on Ajabu!
Following his critically acclaimed debut solo album Kkismettin, Antonis Antoniou, the driving force behind award-winning bands Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke, has returned with another unconventional and skillfully produced solo album called "Troisma", expanding his musical language even further towards exhilarating and unmapped territories. With one foot in the East and the other in the West, with one ear in the past and the other in the future, Antoniou boldly dives deeper into his experimental and often eccentric practice, inventing new methodologies and developing new contexts, wherein various seemingly incompatible ingredients find fertile ground to intertwine. Carrying in his creative luggage his remarkable musical experience, he approaches music composition, arranging and production in a totally idiosyncratic way. Throisma is exactly the intoxicating outcome of this course.
Throisma comprises nine pieces, which exist in a psychedelic/dubby sonic world with a strong Eastern Mediterranean aroma, and enriched with heavily-filtered tzouras (small bouzouki) lines, fuzzy bass riffs, dirty analogue synth tones and hypnotic floor tom grooves. A finely crafted rich and colourful soundscape, bearing the trademark identity of a high-spirited artist and sonic explorer, attempting to marry diverse musical worlds: Eastern qualities with Velvet Underground-ish moods, Anatolian melodic vibes with rocky-psychedelic textures, organic folky flavours with sharp contemporary electronics and musique concrète techniques. All this is delivered with an unparalleled flow, edge and elegance, clean of stereotypes and clichés.
Released on Ajabu!
Messa play evoking doom metal with middle-eastern vibes. Deliciously haunting female vocals, 70’s guitars and Arabian Oudh combine to conjure a sound that is all of their own. With influences as diverse as Dead Can Dance, Om, Swans, Killing Joke, Electric Wizard, Thergothon, Current 93, the band has moved from the first occult then noir-tinged doom metal of their previous works to a new atmospheric mediterranean sound which is unique. The evolution is clearly showcased in their latest studio album “Close”.
Messa emerged in the first day of 2014. Marco and Sara started to develop the basic concept while writing the first songs. Later on, Alberto and Rocco joined the band. The extreme diversity of their musical background immediately proved to be essential in the construction of the band’s sound. In 2016 their first opus “Belfry” was released, and the band made several tours across Europe and USA. In 2018 their second work “Feast For Water” brought the band on tour even more extensively. Their latest studio work “Close”, released in 2022, was acclaimed by critics and was defined "the sound of a band fleshing out their place in doom metal's past, present and future" (Metal Injection). Some appearances made by the band were Hellfest Open Air, Roadburn, Desert Fest. The band’s latest record “Live At Roadburn” was released April 7th 2023, offering their main-stage triumph, joined by a unique constellation of musicians and instruments. Seeming to both embrace and defy everything it means to be a metal band, Messa mesh Mediterranean sounds with crushing doom riffs, with an emphasis on atmosphere and unusual use of instrumentation.
Published by CEUSO, released on Svart Records
Messa play evoking doom metal with middle-eastern vibes. Deliciously haunting female vocals, 70’s guitars and Arabian Oudh combine to conjure a sound that is all of their own. With influences as diverse as Dead Can Dance, Om, Swans, Killing Joke, Electric Wizard, Thergothon, Current 93, the band has moved from the first occult then noir-tinged doom metal of their previous works to a new atmospheric mediterranean sound which is unique. The evolution is clearly showcased in their latest studio album “Close”.
Messa emerged in the first day of 2014. Marco and Sara started to develop the basic concept while writing the first songs. Later on, Alberto and Rocco joined the band. The extreme diversity of their musical background immediately proved to be essential in the construction of the band’s sound. In 2016 their first opus “Belfry” was released, and the band made several tours across Europe and USA. In 2018 their second work “Feast For Water” brought the band on tour even more extensively. Their latest studio work “Close”, released in 2022, was acclaimed by critics and was defined "the sound of a band fleshing out their place in doom metal's past, present and future" (Metal Injection). Some appearances made by the band were Hellfest Open Air, Roadburn, Desert Fest. The band’s latest record “Live At Roadburn” was released April 7th 2023, offering their main-stage triumph, joined by a unique constellation of musicians and instruments. Seeming to both embrace and defy everything it means to be a metal band, Messa mesh Mediterranean sounds with crushing doom riffs, with an emphasis on atmosphere and unusual use of instrumentation.
Published by CEUSO, released on Svart Records
ZOUJ's music has everything that defines good pop music nowadays: catchy melodies, great beats and lots of wordplay. The man behind the project is multi-instrumentalist Adam Abdelkader Lenox. Under the name ZOUJ he combines the best of modern Hip Hop, Pop and R&B, creates his own unique style and calls it Hyper- or Glitch-Pop. The mission? To discover and develop what modern pop music should sound and more importantly feel like. The result is the most genuine, surreal pop music you’ll hear this year. ZOUJ is all about finding the soul in synthetic sounds: “I’m trying to make my machines sound human by emulating errors, randomness and tempo ups-and-downs while I’m trying my best as a human to sound like a machine.”
ZOUJ is a lot more than a music project. Lenox works with an ever-growing network of musicians, photographers, directors, animators, toy makers and graphic artists to create a synthesis of sound, visuals, symbols, dress and movement. The magic ingredient is in the heart of these collaborations. In the three months since the release of the first ZOUJ single, “Anxious Sleep,” he landed synch deals with NIKE and GUCCI, along with fashion designer All Amin aka HARAM WITH SUGAR. US stoner entertainment kings ADULT SWIM have featured ZOUJ on OFF THE AIR along with his out-of-this-world videos.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
ZOUJ's music has everything that defines good pop music nowadays: catchy melodies, great beats and lots of wordplay. The man behind the project is multi-instrumentalist Adam Abdelkader Lenox. Under the name ZOUJ he combines the best of modern Hip Hop, Pop and R&B, creates his own unique style and calls it Hyper- or Glitch-Pop. The mission? To discover and develop what modern pop music should sound and more importantly feel like. The result is the most genuine, surreal pop music you’ll hear this year. ZOUJ is all about finding the soul in synthetic sounds: “I’m trying to make my machines sound human by emulating errors, randomness and tempo ups-and-downs while I’m trying my best as a human to sound like a machine.”
ZOUJ is a lot more than a music project. Lenox works with an ever-growing network of musicians, photographers, directors, animators, toy makers and graphic artists to create a synthesis of sound, visuals, symbols, dress and movement. The magic ingredient is in the heart of these collaborations. In the three months since the release of the first ZOUJ single, “Anxious Sleep,” he landed synch deals with NIKE and GUCCI, along with fashion designer All Amin aka HARAM WITH SUGAR. US stoner entertainment kings ADULT SWIM have featured ZOUJ on OFF THE AIR along with his out-of-this-world videos.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Handmade and global instrumentation meets fearless sound exploration by the Slovenian “imaginary folk” trio Širom. Powered by acoustic and often handmade instruments, these expansive compositions echo the borderless, collective spirit of groups like Don Cherry’s Organic Music Society and Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Finding a home once more with Glitterbeat Records’ adventurous, experimental, mostly instrumental, platform tak:til, and following on from the debut I (released in 2016 on the Radio Študent label), the much lauded I Can Be A Clay Snapper (2017), and the equally acclaimed A Universe That Roasts Blossoms For A Horse (2019), Širom’s fourth such inventive and illusionary album The Liquified Throne of Simplicity incorporates some aspects of the former whilst expanding the inventory of eclectic instruments and obscured sounds. For the first time the trio also ignore the time constraints of a standard vinyl record to fashion longer, more fully developed entrancing and hypnotizing peregrinations. This new, amended, approach results in 80 minutes of abstract and rustic folklore, dream-realism, explorative intensity and cathartic ritual. And within that array of realms there’s evocations of Jon Hassell’s Fourth World experiments, visions of Samarkand, the esoteric mysteries of Tibet, an unplugged faUSt and pastoral hurdy-gurdy churned Medieval Europe.
Released on tak:til
Handmade and global instrumentation meets fearless sound exploration by the Slovenian “imaginary folk” trio Širom. Powered by acoustic and often handmade instruments, these expansive compositions echo the borderless, collective spirit of groups like Don Cherry’s Organic Music Society and Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Finding a home once more with Glitterbeat Records’ adventurous, experimental, mostly instrumental, platform tak:til, and following on from the debut I (released in 2016 on the Radio Študent label), the much lauded I Can Be A Clay Snapper (2017), and the equally acclaimed A Universe That Roasts Blossoms For A Horse (2019), Širom’s fourth such inventive and illusionary album The Liquified Throne of Simplicity incorporates some aspects of the former whilst expanding the inventory of eclectic instruments and obscured sounds. For the first time the trio also ignore the time constraints of a standard vinyl record to fashion longer, more fully developed entrancing and hypnotizing peregrinations. This new, amended, approach results in 80 minutes of abstract and rustic folklore, dream-realism, explorative intensity and cathartic ritual. And within that array of realms there’s evocations of Jon Hassell’s Fourth World experiments, visions of Samarkand, the esoteric mysteries of Tibet, an unplugged faUSt and pastoral hurdy-gurdy churned Medieval Europe.
Released on tak:til
Luis Vasquez aka The Soft Moon's latest album "Exister" tells of ecstatic joys and paralysing depths of life with loud post-punk and dark wave. The album was created during the lockdown and is clearly more versatile than its predecessor. It combines post-punk, industrial techno and ambient into a coherent whole.
"This record was about sharing all the emotions I feel," says Luis Vasquez of The Soft Moon. "No two songs are the same. It's about existing as a human being in the world and having many emotions and experiences throughout life." "Exister" was created in Joshua Tree in California, where the artist found much more freedom to express himself musically. The result sounds almost like a new musical start for Vasquez, who can also be heard here for the first time with a powerful voice. The Soft Moon has never before been heard in such a multi-faceted way as on the fifth album.
Published by CEUSO, released on Sacred Bones
Luis Vasquez aka The Soft Moon's latest album "Exister" tells of ecstatic joys and paralysing depths of life with loud post-punk and dark wave. The album was created during the lockdown and is clearly more versatile than its predecessor. It combines post-punk, industrial techno and ambient into a coherent whole.
"This record was about sharing all the emotions I feel," says Luis Vasquez of The Soft Moon. "No two songs are the same. It's about existing as a human being in the world and having many emotions and experiences throughout life." "Exister" was created in Joshua Tree in California, where the artist found much more freedom to express himself musically. The result sounds almost like a new musical start for Vasquez, who can also be heard here for the first time with a powerful voice. The Soft Moon has never before been heard in such a multi-faceted way as on the fifth album.
Published by CEUSO, released on Sacred Bones
Germany’s critically acclaimed punk rockers DONOTS are without any doubt one of the longest running and hardest working bands out there. With a history of more than 20 years, more than 1000 live shows and over ten full length albums released, the energetic five piece has always managed to redefine and reinvent their sound while maintaining the characteristic trademarks that have found them thousands of fans around the globe:
Singalong punk and hardcore anthems, melancholic wave pop elements, uplifting bar brawl soundtracks, sweat, blood, spit and choruses catchy and contagious as the flu.
They did countless tours throughout Europe, Japan and the United States, played shows with GREEN DAY, RISE AGAINST, RANCID, FLOGGING MOLLY, DIE TOTEN HOSEN, BAD RELIGION, NOFX and IGGY POP.
Germany’s critically acclaimed punk rockers DONOTS are without any doubt one of the longest running and hardest working bands out there. With a history of more than 20 years, more than 1000 live shows and over ten full length albums released, the energetic five piece has always managed to redefine and reinvent their sound while maintaining the characteristic trademarks that have found them thousands of fans around the globe:
Singalong punk and hardcore anthems, melancholic wave pop elements, uplifting bar brawl soundtracks, sweat, blood, spit and choruses catchy and contagious as the flu.
They did countless tours throughout Europe, Japan and the United States, played shows with GREEN DAY, RISE AGAINST, RANCID, FLOGGING MOLLY, DIE TOTEN HOSEN, BAD RELIGION, NOFX and IGGY POP.
SAMAVAYO deals a lot with "the end" in terms of content on their new album. The end of the bad, of the good, the end of humanity, end of the way we treat our planet. It's about the destruction of our planet, division, racism, greed, exploitation, war, isolation, loneliness. But every end means at the same time a beginning, a new start and beginning. "Payan" - the seventh album of SAMAVAYO in the 22nd year of ist existence is fresh and full of energy and power.
Musically, the record is different from its predecessors: more heavy, more prog, lots of anger and a pinch of punk, Alice In Chains vocals, and last but not least some unusual guitar soli are added by a illustrious bunch of guests who visited the studio: Igor Sydorenko (Stoned Jesus), Tommi Holappa (Greenleaf, Dozer), Nick DiSalvo (Elder) and Willi Paschen (Coogans Bluff) didn't take long to contribute.
Also the band looks beyond the horizon and has ideals and goals that definitely show that you have grown not only musically. "As a musician, you often travel long distances to concerts. That's why we decided to compensate our CO2- emissions by investing in sustainable projects. Our website server runs on "green electricity", we produce fair trade shirts and we look to use as little plastic or recycled material as possible in the production of the records."
An extraordinary album and a special band that has not stopped for more than two decades and always has new goals. More than remarkable and no end seems in sight.
Released on Noisolution
SAMAVAYO deals a lot with "the end" in terms of content on their new album. The end of the bad, of the good, the end of humanity, end of the way we treat our planet. It's about the destruction of our planet, division, racism, greed, exploitation, war, isolation, loneliness. But every end means at the same time a beginning, a new start and beginning. "Payan" - the seventh album of SAMAVAYO in the 22nd year of ist existence is fresh and full of energy and power.
Musically, the record is different from its predecessors: more heavy, more prog, lots of anger and a pinch of punk, Alice In Chains vocals, and last but not least some unusual guitar soli are added by a illustrious bunch of guests who visited the studio: Igor Sydorenko (Stoned Jesus), Tommi Holappa (Greenleaf, Dozer), Nick DiSalvo (Elder) and Willi Paschen (Coogans Bluff) didn't take long to contribute.
Also the band looks beyond the horizon and has ideals and goals that definitely show that you have grown not only musically. "As a musician, you often travel long distances to concerts. That's why we decided to compensate our CO2- emissions by investing in sustainable projects. Our website server runs on "green electricity", we produce fair trade shirts and we look to use as little plastic or recycled material as possible in the production of the records."
An extraordinary album and a special band that has not stopped for more than two decades and always has new goals. More than remarkable and no end seems in sight.
Released on Noisolution
Berlin based Rock’a‘Billy guys Felix & Marc (LOTA RED) and Tom (THE ROUGHNECKS) got together in a secret cave during the pandemic and founded a new band - The Dry Tortugas!
Together with the very young, very talented Robin on upright bass (who plays as if he had done nothing else but slap the bass since his childhood), they are now opening a new musical chapter in Berlin's traditional Rock'a'Billy scene.
What do they do, how do they sound? Fast, modern and melodic Rock’a‘billy, up-lifting and straight forward! If you like the neo-rockabilly sound of the 80s and 90s, you're in for a real treat, but be prepared for an extra kick of modern sound. It's not retro, it's progress.
Released on Wolverine Records
Berlin based Rock’a‘Billy guys Felix & Marc (LOTA RED) and Tom (THE ROUGHNECKS) got together in a secret cave during the pandemic and founded a new band - The Dry Tortugas!
Together with the very young, very talented Robin on upright bass (who plays as if he had done nothing else but slap the bass since his childhood), they are now opening a new musical chapter in Berlin's traditional Rock'a'Billy scene.
What do they do, how do they sound? Fast, modern and melodic Rock’a‘billy, up-lifting and straight forward! If you like the neo-rockabilly sound of the 80s and 90s, you're in for a real treat, but be prepared for an extra kick of modern sound. It's not retro, it's progress.
Released on Wolverine Records
Garey Godson is a Nigerian born Berlin-based artist and producer known for his versatile approach towards music. His genre defying style is evident in his Afro-fusion delivery which fuses elements from Afropop, R’n‘B, Drill and Trap elements. He founded the label ROU (Room of Understanding), together with the artist/ producer HKMK , an independent creative collective that houses talents like Left Lukas and DONMD. He collaborated with artists such as Show Dem Camp (Nigerian rap duo legend) and just recently with German Hip-Hop artist Megaloh. La Chunga is proud to publish the music & the lyrics of Garey Godson, tracks released on the albums and EPs: Finding forever, Gift Plus Grind, The Lift-off, Still I Rise and Lucid Thoughts.
Released on Room Of Understanding
Garey Godson is a Nigerian born Berlin-based artist and producer known for his versatile approach towards music. His genre defying style is evident in his Afro-fusion delivery which fuses elements from Afropop, R’n‘B, Drill and Trap elements. He founded the label ROU (Room of Understanding), together with the artist/ producer HKMK , an independent creative collective that houses talents like Left Lukas and DONMD. He collaborated with artists such as Show Dem Camp (Nigerian rap duo legend) and just recently with German Hip-Hop artist Megaloh. La Chunga is proud to publish the music & the lyrics of Garey Godson, tracks released on the albums and EPs: Finding forever, Gift Plus Grind, The Lift-off, Still I Rise and Lucid Thoughts.
Released on Room Of Understanding
Chris Eckman is not only well-known as the mastermind behind The Walkabouts and part of Dirtmusic, Chris & Carla, Distance, Light & Sky and The Strange but also much sought-after producer and last but not least tireless label boss of the Glitterbeat label.
The fifth solo album Where the Spirit Rests from Chris Eckman is a deep dive into the vagaries of these extraordinary times. Eckman’s luminous songwriting navigates loss, disorientation, redemption and the search for home. Recorded raw and direct with a small ensemble, the record is framed by expansive sonic textures: treated strings, analogue synth drones and ambient guitars. Where the Spirit Rests was co-produced with British electronic composer Alastair McNeill (Roísín Murphy, Yila) and includes an inspired cast of collaborators: pedal steel maverick Chuck Johnson, avant-garde violinist Catherine Graindorge and Dream Syndicate/Green On Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas.
Where The Spirit Rests is one of the ten winners of the 2021 "German Record Critics Prize" (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). This long running juried prize honors a cross-section of styles and genres.
La Chunga also publishes the album Gold Coast by Distance, Light & Sky and Chris Eckman’s shares of the releases Bu Bir Ruya by Dirtmusic and Echo Chamber by The Strange.
Released by Glitterhouse
Chris Eckman is not only well-known as the mastermind behind The Walkabouts and part of Dirtmusic, Chris & Carla, Distance, Light & Sky and The Strange but also much sought-after producer and last but not least tireless label boss of the Glitterbeat label.
The fifth solo album Where the Spirit Rests from Chris Eckman is a deep dive into the vagaries of these extraordinary times. Eckman’s luminous songwriting navigates loss, disorientation, redemption and the search for home. Recorded raw and direct with a small ensemble, the record is framed by expansive sonic textures: treated strings, analogue synth drones and ambient guitars. Where the Spirit Rests was co-produced with British electronic composer Alastair McNeill (Roísín Murphy, Yila) and includes an inspired cast of collaborators: pedal steel maverick Chuck Johnson, avant-garde violinist Catherine Graindorge and Dream Syndicate/Green On Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas.
Where The Spirit Rests is one of the ten winners of the 2021 "German Record Critics Prize" (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). This long running juried prize honors a cross-section of styles and genres.
La Chunga also publishes the album Gold Coast by Distance, Light & Sky and Chris Eckman’s shares of the releases Bu Bir Ruya by Dirtmusic and Echo Chamber by The Strange.
Released by Glitterhouse
This inventive duo of brothers from the Golan Heights – Hasan and Rami Nakhleh - return with an infectious re-imagining of their sound. Jammed full of pop hooks and quarter-tone melodic lines, "Migrant Birds" unleashes a disco whirlwind that pays homage to the Middle Eastern dancefloor scenes of the 80's. Retro funky meets hi-sheen contemporary.
It’s 1980. You’re in a disco, maybe in Beirut or Cairo, almost anywhere in the Middle East, lost in the colours and the lights, overwhelmed by the sound of drum machines and keyboards. It’s heady, it’s beautiful…but those days are long gone; maybe they were only ever just a fantasy. Real or not, they provide the inspiration for Migrant Birds, the new synth-powered album from TootArd that takes them to the dancefloor, about as far from the spare, guitar-driven desert blues of their highly touted Glitterbeat debut Laissez Passer, as it’s possible to go.
The album’s heart is simple idea – freedom; of being those Migrant Birds and flying away. But perhaps that’s as natural as breathing for people who remain officially “undefined” and stateless. Those who are born in the occupied Golan Heights – like the Nakhleh brothers - have no passport, depending instead on a document called a laissez passer to be able to cross borders. It is a situation that has existed since the late 1960’s when Israel took control of the region.
Released on Glitterbeat
This inventive duo of brothers from the Golan Heights – Hasan and Rami Nakhleh - return with an infectious re-imagining of their sound. Jammed full of pop hooks and quarter-tone melodic lines, "Migrant Birds" unleashes a disco whirlwind that pays homage to the Middle Eastern dancefloor scenes of the 80's. Retro funky meets hi-sheen contemporary.
It’s 1980. You’re in a disco, maybe in Beirut or Cairo, almost anywhere in the Middle East, lost in the colours and the lights, overwhelmed by the sound of drum machines and keyboards. It’s heady, it’s beautiful…but those days are long gone; maybe they were only ever just a fantasy. Real or not, they provide the inspiration for Migrant Birds, the new synth-powered album from TootArd that takes them to the dancefloor, about as far from the spare, guitar-driven desert blues of their highly touted Glitterbeat debut Laissez Passer, as it’s possible to go.
The album’s heart is simple idea – freedom; of being those Migrant Birds and flying away. But perhaps that’s as natural as breathing for people who remain officially “undefined” and stateless. Those who are born in the occupied Golan Heights – like the Nakhleh brothers - have no passport, depending instead on a document called a laissez passer to be able to cross borders. It is a situation that has existed since the late 1960’s when Israel took control of the region.
Released on Glitterbeat
There are many “Fausts” in this world, twice as many as there are people in most cases. Yet with the intention of equaled strength is Zappi Diermaier and friendsʼ take on Faust, merely as faust. The lowercase spelling is an emphasis on the original concept of the faust that was truly a collective, free of ʻcapitalizedʼ superiority with a minimalistic intent by making sounds and music with endless improvisation and an unspoken trust in the development of carrying the sound to create something unique, extraordinary and visionary. The traditional approach was not just to make sounds with conventional instruments, but to also include the post-modern sounds of the industrial revolution. Instead of the signature cement mixer and power tools faust is famous for, this version includes many who are engaged in adding varied degrees of other ʻindustrialʼ motifs as ingredients. This time the cast of characters returns to eight members, one more than the original lineup was previously in the days of Wümme. Those members are Zappi Diermaier (Faust) himself on drums, Elke Drapatz (monobeat original) on drum effects, Gunther Wüsthof (Faust) on spieluhr (music box), Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM) on bass and guitar, Andrew Unruh (Einstürzende Neubauten) on metal percussion, Uwe Bastiansen (Stadtfisch Flex) on guitar and samples, Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten) on guitar and loops and Sonja Kosche on self-made instruments, harp and ventilator.
Every ʻvoiceʼ heard by each artist contributing to this incarnation of faust is heard clearly. Instead of an amassing miasmic gurgle as of previous, each artist comes through with distinct individual voices that allow the listener to distinguish what each Musician is sonically responsible for in an unintended symphonic fashion. Recording for ,,Daumenbruchʼʼ was done according to the fact that it wasn't possible to play and record together live in the same room because of the pandemic situation, most of the overdubs were committed 'blindly' on top of previously recorded rough mixes of drums & bass which implemented the method of 'chance'. Itʼs where primal instinct can transform into tasteful, calculated chemistry woven from absence, silence and negative space through unspoken means of communication.
Released on Erototox Decodings
There are many “Fausts” in this world, twice as many as there are people in most cases. Yet with the intention of equaled strength is Zappi Diermaier and friendsʼ take on Faust, merely as faust. The lowercase spelling is an emphasis on the original concept of the faust that was truly a collective, free of ʻcapitalizedʼ superiority with a minimalistic intent by making sounds and music with endless improvisation and an unspoken trust in the development of carrying the sound to create something unique, extraordinary and visionary. The traditional approach was not just to make sounds with conventional instruments, but to also include the post-modern sounds of the industrial revolution. Instead of the signature cement mixer and power tools faust is famous for, this version includes many who are engaged in adding varied degrees of other ʻindustrialʼ motifs as ingredients. This time the cast of characters returns to eight members, one more than the original lineup was previously in the days of Wümme. Those members are Zappi Diermaier (Faust) himself on drums, Elke Drapatz (monobeat original) on drum effects, Gunther Wüsthof (Faust) on spieluhr (music box), Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM) on bass and guitar, Andrew Unruh (Einstürzende Neubauten) on metal percussion, Uwe Bastiansen (Stadtfisch Flex) on guitar and samples, Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten) on guitar and loops and Sonja Kosche on self-made instruments, harp and ventilator.
Every ʻvoiceʼ heard by each artist contributing to this incarnation of faust is heard clearly. Instead of an amassing miasmic gurgle as of previous, each artist comes through with distinct individual voices that allow the listener to distinguish what each Musician is sonically responsible for in an unintended symphonic fashion. Recording for ,,Daumenbruchʼʼ was done according to the fact that it wasn't possible to play and record together live in the same room because of the pandemic situation, most of the overdubs were committed 'blindly' on top of previously recorded rough mixes of drums & bass which implemented the method of 'chance'. Itʼs where primal instinct can transform into tasteful, calculated chemistry woven from absence, silence and negative space through unspoken means of communication.
Released on Erototox Decodings
Pascal Schumacher studied classical percussion, jazz vibraphone and musicology at music conservatories in Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Brussels and The Hague. He holds a Master’s Degree in musicology from the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, and another in music with a focus on jazz vibraphone from the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. He has won many awards, including the Belgian Django d’Or (2005), Music:LX (2012), ECHO Jazz (2012), JTI Trier Jazz (2014), was selected for the Rising Stars program organized by the European Concert Hall Organization (2009 / 10) and appeared as soloist in ECHO Klassik 2017 awarded project Überbach. He played with many of exciting musicians such Francesco Tristano, Bachar Mar-Khalifé, Jef Neve, Kenny Barron & Magic Malik, wrote music for theater and film and leaded a jazz quartet.
Pascal Schumacher’s new album LUNA stands in diametric opposition to his previous release, SOL. And it’s not just the play on the albums’ titles, which already point to the differing moods of lightness and darkness, both releases also stem from opposing creative standpoints. While SOL carried in it a sense of spontaneous discovery as Schumacher, after years of playing with bands and ensembles, ventured out in his first solo endeavour, LUNA captures a more meticulous side to the musician’s work which involved once again composing for other players; more specifically for the Belgium post-classical ensemble Echo Collective, who lends to the album its many layers and textures. Despite the contrasts, SOL and LUNA aren’t in any way antagonistic to each other, much on the contrary, their duality feels wholly comple[1]mentary, expressing a natural musical progression much like day gently feeds into night.
Although working with strings wasn't new for Schumacher who has in the past composed for orchestras and ensembles of all kinds, collaborating with Echo Collective on LUNA felt like a unique experience. The Belgium ensemble forged an enviable reputation in the post-classical world: sought out for their instrumental and arranging expertise by icons such as A Winged Victory For The Sullen and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson and known for lending their interpretative intuition to genres as diverse as alt rock, synth-pop and black metal. “I had always worked with classical string musicians, where you have to provide very complete scores and a lot of information. The musicians of Echo Collective intuitively knew what had to be done,” says Schumacher.
The synergy between the musicians can be felt throughout LUNA in the way that Echo Collective seemingly provides the bed or canvas on top of which Schumacher paints with his vibraphone. Although an integral part of the album, the vibraphone does not feel like the protagonist in LUNA, rather it shares the limelight with a glockenspiel, crotales, a marimba as well as synthesizers and Echo Collective’s poignant string segments. The balancing act between these different musical elements becomes strikingly evident on the title track, ‘Luna’ – over a string bed of crescendos and decrescendos, Schumacher’s instrument simply dots the piece, appearing to fill in blank spaces with twinkling light. Like much of LUNA, the piece is a quiet, dimmed-lights meditative journey with hints of nostalgia.
Released on Neue Meister
Pascal Schumacher studied classical percussion, jazz vibraphone and musicology at music conservatories in Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Brussels and The Hague. He holds a Master’s Degree in musicology from the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, and another in music with a focus on jazz vibraphone from the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. He has won many awards, including the Belgian Django d’Or (2005), Music:LX (2012), ECHO Jazz (2012), JTI Trier Jazz (2014), was selected for the Rising Stars program organized by the European Concert Hall Organization (2009 / 10) and appeared as soloist in ECHO Klassik 2017 awarded project Überbach. He played with many of exciting musicians such Francesco Tristano, Bachar Mar-Khalifé, Jef Neve, Kenny Barron & Magic Malik, wrote music for theater and film and leaded a jazz quartet.
Pascal Schumacher’s new album LUNA stands in diametric opposition to his previous release, SOL. And it’s not just the play on the albums’ titles, which already point to the differing moods of lightness and darkness, both releases also stem from opposing creative standpoints. While SOL carried in it a sense of spontaneous discovery as Schumacher, after years of playing with bands and ensembles, ventured out in his first solo endeavour, LUNA captures a more meticulous side to the musician’s work which involved once again composing for other players; more specifically for the Belgium post-classical ensemble Echo Collective, who lends to the album its many layers and textures. Despite the contrasts, SOL and LUNA aren’t in any way antagonistic to each other, much on the contrary, their duality feels wholly comple[1]mentary, expressing a natural musical progression much like day gently feeds into night.
Although working with strings wasn't new for Schumacher who has in the past composed for orchestras and ensembles of all kinds, collaborating with Echo Collective on LUNA felt like a unique experience. The Belgium ensemble forged an enviable reputation in the post-classical world: sought out for their instrumental and arranging expertise by icons such as A Winged Victory For The Sullen and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson and known for lending their interpretative intuition to genres as diverse as alt rock, synth-pop and black metal. “I had always worked with classical string musicians, where you have to provide very complete scores and a lot of information. The musicians of Echo Collective intuitively knew what had to be done,” says Schumacher.
The synergy between the musicians can be felt throughout LUNA in the way that Echo Collective seemingly provides the bed or canvas on top of which Schumacher paints with his vibraphone. Although an integral part of the album, the vibraphone does not feel like the protagonist in LUNA, rather it shares the limelight with a glockenspiel, crotales, a marimba as well as synthesizers and Echo Collective’s poignant string segments. The balancing act between these different musical elements becomes strikingly evident on the title track, ‘Luna’ – over a string bed of crescendos and decrescendos, Schumacher’s instrument simply dots the piece, appearing to fill in blank spaces with twinkling light. Like much of LUNA, the piece is a quiet, dimmed-lights meditative journey with hints of nostalgia.
Released on Neue Meister
"How do things come to life?" This is a question that composer, electronic producer, and classically trained pianist Johannes Motschmann has been contemplating for a while now.
Johannes Motschmann studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm, Jörg Herchet and Hanspeter Kyburz, along with piano, music theory and electronic music. He is a freelance composer and lives in Berlin. Interpreters of his music include Ensemble Modern, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, The NDR Radio Philharmonic, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Scharoun Ensemble, Ensemble Adapter, Ensemble risonanze erranti, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the classical band Spark. Motschmann’s music is performed at pop and classical festivals alike – from Klangspuren Schwaz to the Beethovenfest in Bonn from La Folle Journée to the Reeperbahn Festival and the Yellow Lounge at the Berghain venue. Johannes Motschmann has received commissions for compositions from renowned festivals, such as Davos Festival; Heidelberger Frühling; the AlpenKLASSIK Festival; and the Biennale für Moderne Musik Frankfurt Rhein Main.
He currently holds a scholarship at the experimental studio of the SWR in Freiburg for research studies about artificial intelligence and composition.
It's a unique, compositional approach to electronic music that has led Motschmann to several ground-breaking albums and a raft of acclaimed performances all over the world, latterly alongside Boris Bolles and David Panzl as the Johannes Motschmann Trio. 2016's "Electric Fields" , which matched classical flourishes, with beautiful moments of electronica, typified his creative processes - "New sound spaces inspired by electronic music, but produced 100% by hand," is how he described it.
Released on Neue Meister
"How do things come to life?" This is a question that composer, electronic producer, and classically trained pianist Johannes Motschmann has been contemplating for a while now.
Johannes Motschmann studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm, Jörg Herchet and Hanspeter Kyburz, along with piano, music theory and electronic music. He is a freelance composer and lives in Berlin. Interpreters of his music include Ensemble Modern, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, The NDR Radio Philharmonic, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Scharoun Ensemble, Ensemble Adapter, Ensemble risonanze erranti, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the classical band Spark. Motschmann’s music is performed at pop and classical festivals alike – from Klangspuren Schwaz to the Beethovenfest in Bonn from La Folle Journée to the Reeperbahn Festival and the Yellow Lounge at the Berghain venue. Johannes Motschmann has received commissions for compositions from renowned festivals, such as Davos Festival; Heidelberger Frühling; the AlpenKLASSIK Festival; and the Biennale für Moderne Musik Frankfurt Rhein Main.
He currently holds a scholarship at the experimental studio of the SWR in Freiburg for research studies about artificial intelligence and composition.
It's a unique, compositional approach to electronic music that has led Motschmann to several ground-breaking albums and a raft of acclaimed performances all over the world, latterly alongside Boris Bolles and David Panzl as the Johannes Motschmann Trio. 2016's "Electric Fields" , which matched classical flourishes, with beautiful moments of electronica, typified his creative processes - "New sound spaces inspired by electronic music, but produced 100% by hand," is how he described it.
Released on Neue Meister
“Su Akyol’s voice is light but elegant, and her songs are by turns urgent, sultry and romantic and politically barbed. The new sound of Istanbul.” (The Observer)
With the release of her first international album “Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu” in 2016, Gaye Su Akyol established herself as one of Turkey’s most compelling young voices and most exhilarating sonic explorers. Her work as a singer-songwriter, producer and audio/visual conceptualist, simultaneously navigates the storied past, the hyper-connected present and the unscripted future.
Growing up in cosmopolitan Istanbul listening to Anatolian music icon Selda Bağcan and Kurt Cobain in equal measure, Akyol skipped right over the tired Oriental/Occidental paradigmatic clichés. Gaye’s music was global in concept and local in spirit and nuance right from the very beginning.
Following the widespread critical acclaim for “Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu”, Gaye and her sublime band spent 18 months travelling up and down Turkey, Europe and the Middle and Far East sharing with audiences a vibrant mix of raki laced traditional balladry, futurist surf and post-punk opposition. The new album, produced by her and guitarist Ali Güçlü Şimşek, is arguably more immediate and visceral than the first two, reflecting her and the band’s growing reputation as a powerful live act.
“Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir,” which translates as “Consistent Fantasy is Reality,” is a deeply poetic album; an album of personalized politics, an album that digs into the heart our contentious, inexplicable contemporary experience.
Released on Glitterbeat
“Su Akyol’s voice is light but elegant, and her songs are by turns urgent, sultry and romantic and politically barbed. The new sound of Istanbul.” (The Observer)
With the release of her first international album “Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu” in 2016, Gaye Su Akyol established herself as one of Turkey’s most compelling young voices and most exhilarating sonic explorers. Her work as a singer-songwriter, producer and audio/visual conceptualist, simultaneously navigates the storied past, the hyper-connected present and the unscripted future.
Growing up in cosmopolitan Istanbul listening to Anatolian music icon Selda Bağcan and Kurt Cobain in equal measure, Akyol skipped right over the tired Oriental/Occidental paradigmatic clichés. Gaye’s music was global in concept and local in spirit and nuance right from the very beginning.
Following the widespread critical acclaim for “Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu”, Gaye and her sublime band spent 18 months travelling up and down Turkey, Europe and the Middle and Far East sharing with audiences a vibrant mix of raki laced traditional balladry, futurist surf and post-punk opposition. The new album, produced by her and guitarist Ali Güçlü Şimşek, is arguably more immediate and visceral than the first two, reflecting her and the band’s growing reputation as a powerful live act.
“Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir,” which translates as “Consistent Fantasy is Reality,” is a deeply poetic album; an album of personalized politics, an album that digs into the heart our contentious, inexplicable contemporary experience.
Released on Glitterbeat
TRIXSI are difficult to grasp. A little inventiveness and a lot of sense for what has already been accomplished are condensed with a high degree of creativity. Joy oozes from every pore, while the band members are shaking their heads in sync about the state of this world, human interaction in general and the music industry in particular. The band from Hamburg plays with the moments of their previous musical lives as well as with the freedom that the omission of sound and thematic concepts like HERRENMAGAZIN, FINDUS and LOVE A now makes possible. While listening, you suddenly think of WEEZER and the EAGLES, while punk rock posters are still hanging on the wall of their rehearsal room. Where the fun stops with german rock music, TRIXSI are just getting started.
The great second album by Paul Konopacka, Klaus Hoffmann, Kristian Kühl, König Wilhelmsburg and Jörkk Mechenbier aka Trixsi will be released on June 3rd, 2022.
Released by Glitterhouse Records
TRIXSI are difficult to grasp. A little inventiveness and a lot of sense for what has already been accomplished are condensed with a high degree of creativity. Joy oozes from every pore, while the band members are shaking their heads in sync about the state of this world, human interaction in general and the music industry in particular. The band from Hamburg plays with the moments of their previous musical lives as well as with the freedom that the omission of sound and thematic concepts like HERRENMAGAZIN, FINDUS and LOVE A now makes possible. While listening, you suddenly think of WEEZER and the EAGLES, while punk rock posters are still hanging on the wall of their rehearsal room. Where the fun stops with german rock music, TRIXSI are just getting started.
The great second album by Paul Konopacka, Klaus Hoffmann, Kristian Kühl, König Wilhelmsburg and Jörkk Mechenbier aka Trixsi will be released on June 3rd, 2022.
Released by Glitterhouse Records
The dancefloors of the seventies are reactivated by Silvershark. „Burn To Boogie“ fits into any record collection like a lost treasure between Kool & The Gang, Funkadelic, Bee Gees, Sly & The Family Stone, Chic or The Temptations. A fascinating trip into the past and a swinging melange of Soul, Funk and 70s Disco that is just great fun and will get your disco heart beating.
SILVERSHARK is Steve Burner (Travelin Jack, among others) and Richard Behrens (Heat, Samsara Blues Experiment) and what you might call a crazy idea. At a Kadavar concert - Richard is the soundman of the famous Berlin Trio - Steve told about his much-loved music fetish. That was enough and Richard opened the doors of his Big Snuff studio, which seems to be made exactly for this sound music. Analog equipment up to the ceiling and accordingly the usual studio clientele and musician friends are quick to jump in and play along. From Coogans Bluff to Elder, from S.U.G.A.R., Heat, Wucan to Vug are all easily won over.
There is partying, dancing, writing, playing and soul, funk, yacht rock and 70s disco sounds come to life. 10 songs later, the album seems to fit like a lost treasure in the vinyl collection between Kool & The Gang, Funkadelic, Bee Gees, Sly & The Family Stone, Chic or the Temptations. You quote with a wink, you pay homage to role models and the joy of the genre is evident to the rockers. There's a lot to explore and "Burn To Boogie" is detail-oriented, colorful and full of glitter. The fun and enthusiasm for this genre that came out of the Big Snuff Studio has been captured and makes for an album that is out of time.
Released on Noisolution
The dancefloors of the seventies are reactivated by Silvershark. „Burn To Boogie“ fits into any record collection like a lost treasure between Kool & The Gang, Funkadelic, Bee Gees, Sly & The Family Stone, Chic or The Temptations. A fascinating trip into the past and a swinging melange of Soul, Funk and 70s Disco that is just great fun and will get your disco heart beating.
SILVERSHARK is Steve Burner (Travelin Jack, among others) and Richard Behrens (Heat, Samsara Blues Experiment) and what you might call a crazy idea. At a Kadavar concert - Richard is the soundman of the famous Berlin Trio - Steve told about his much-loved music fetish. That was enough and Richard opened the doors of his Big Snuff studio, which seems to be made exactly for this sound music. Analog equipment up to the ceiling and accordingly the usual studio clientele and musician friends are quick to jump in and play along. From Coogans Bluff to Elder, from S.U.G.A.R., Heat, Wucan to Vug are all easily won over.
There is partying, dancing, writing, playing and soul, funk, yacht rock and 70s disco sounds come to life. 10 songs later, the album seems to fit like a lost treasure in the vinyl collection between Kool & The Gang, Funkadelic, Bee Gees, Sly & The Family Stone, Chic or the Temptations. You quote with a wink, you pay homage to role models and the joy of the genre is evident to the rockers. There's a lot to explore and "Burn To Boogie" is detail-oriented, colorful and full of glitter. The fun and enthusiasm for this genre that came out of the Big Snuff Studio has been captured and makes for an album that is out of time.
Released on Noisolution
Tom Allan & The Strangest are in particular Tom Allan, Evan Beltran and Nico Stallmann. After releasing two albums and extensive touring with bands like Mando Diao, the band has now signed with Glitterhouse Records and will release their new album „TAATS“ on 26. August, 2022.
„TAATS“ was written during the pandemic over a period of almost two years. The band composed a total of 25 songs, 13 of which made it onto the album. The new album of the German-British-Mexican band was produced at Maarweg2 studio in Cologne, where bands like Mando Diao or Jupiter Jones have already recorded. Within 17 days and nights, Tom Allan & The Strangest recorded the full album, which skilfully bridges the gap between Manic Street Preachers, Libertines, IDLES and Fontaines D.C..
„TAATS“ shows a band that, with all due respect for the history of rock'n'roll, has gone its own way, that has searched and found, that has set itself new standards in songwriting and performance. Standards that they effortlessly live up to. And standards that countless bands will have to measure themselves against in the future. It's still anthemic, but also unleashed, loose in the best sense, often downright monstrous. If it wasn't so terribly hackneyed, one could even say that this is what the future of rock'n'roll sounds like.
Released on Glitterhouse Records
Tom Allan & The Strangest are in particular Tom Allan, Evan Beltran and Nico Stallmann. After releasing two albums and extensive touring with bands like Mando Diao, the band has now signed with Glitterhouse Records and will release their new album „TAATS“ on 26. August, 2022.
„TAATS“ was written during the pandemic over a period of almost two years. The band composed a total of 25 songs, 13 of which made it onto the album. The new album of the German-British-Mexican band was produced at Maarweg2 studio in Cologne, where bands like Mando Diao or Jupiter Jones have already recorded. Within 17 days and nights, Tom Allan & The Strangest recorded the full album, which skilfully bridges the gap between Manic Street Preachers, Libertines, IDLES and Fontaines D.C..
„TAATS“ shows a band that, with all due respect for the history of rock'n'roll, has gone its own way, that has searched and found, that has set itself new standards in songwriting and performance. Standards that they effortlessly live up to. And standards that countless bands will have to measure themselves against in the future. It's still anthemic, but also unleashed, loose in the best sense, often downright monstrous. If it wasn't so terribly hackneyed, one could even say that this is what the future of rock'n'roll sounds like.
Released on Glitterhouse Records
Larry Mullins (born in Knoxville, Tennessee), is an American producer, composer and percussionist. He is also professionally known as Toby Dammit.
He has worked with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds as keyboardist and drummer since 2015. He became a member of SWANS in 1995, continuing work with Michael Gira with The Angels Of Light, then rejoining SWANS in 2019. He worked with Iggy Pop as his drummer from 1990 to 1999 and rejoined him in the final incarnation of Iggy and The Stooges from 2011 to 2015.
He has worked on many feature films as both a composer and musician, including: School of Rock, Freddy’s Dead; The Final Nightmare, The Brave, Premium Rush, End Of Watch, Capitalism: A Love Story, Apple Jack, Monsieur N., Dead Man Down, Connasse; Princesse des cœurs, Peaky Blinders and notably staring as the Big Band drummer Willy Schuricke in the German cable series Babylon Berlin.
His wild drum solo “Willy’s 1001 Nights”, featured throughout the Babylon Berlin series in the song Zu Asche, Zu Staub, was published by La Chunga Publishing in 2020. Here you can download sheet music of Willy’s 1001 Nights.
Larry Mullins (born in Knoxville, Tennessee), is an American producer, composer and percussionist. He is also professionally known as Toby Dammit.
He has worked with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds as keyboardist and drummer since 2015. He became a member of SWANS in 1995, continuing work with Michael Gira with The Angels Of Light, then rejoining SWANS in 2019. He worked with Iggy Pop as his drummer from 1990 to 1999 and rejoined him in the final incarnation of Iggy and The Stooges from 2011 to 2015.
He has worked on many feature films as both a composer and musician, including: School of Rock, Freddy’s Dead; The Final Nightmare, The Brave, Premium Rush, End Of Watch, Capitalism: A Love Story, Apple Jack, Monsieur N., Dead Man Down, Connasse; Princesse des cœurs, Peaky Blinders and notably staring as the Big Band drummer Willy Schuricke in the German cable series Babylon Berlin.
His wild drum solo “Willy’s 1001 Nights”, featured throughout the Babylon Berlin series in the song Zu Asche, Zu Staub, was published by La Chunga Publishing in 2020. Here you can download sheet music of Willy’s 1001 Nights.
Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist JOCHEN ARBEIT has released a new solo album called "Tier Macht Toene" (in English: Animal Makes Sounds). The album was made with homemade instruments and others built by Sonic Youth guitar builder Yuri Landman. His new project is a creative exploration into sound with his partner Sonja Kosche.
The duo of Jochen Arbeit & Sonja Kosche is not just a musical alliance, but also one of two soul partners as well. Their musical collaboration began with the Covid-19 pandemic and the first lockdown in Berlin in February of 2020. The Einstürzende Neubauten tour got canceled that year, but the band wanted to provide their supporters on Patreon additional content besides Alles In Allem. In turn, every Neubauten member was asked to provide approximately 30 min of something each month giving way to content in a the format of a musical subscription edition for said supporters. Guitarist and sound artist Jochen Arbeit started playing guitar with his partner Sonja Kosche around this time. Yet, neither ever had enough time as of previous, so they discussed noise and sound over the course of living together.
Released on Dymaxion Groove
Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist JOCHEN ARBEIT has released a new solo album called "Tier Macht Toene" (in English: Animal Makes Sounds). The album was made with homemade instruments and others built by Sonic Youth guitar builder Yuri Landman. His new project is a creative exploration into sound with his partner Sonja Kosche.
The duo of Jochen Arbeit & Sonja Kosche is not just a musical alliance, but also one of two soul partners as well. Their musical collaboration began with the Covid-19 pandemic and the first lockdown in Berlin in February of 2020. The Einstürzende Neubauten tour got canceled that year, but the band wanted to provide their supporters on Patreon additional content besides Alles In Allem. In turn, every Neubauten member was asked to provide approximately 30 min of something each month giving way to content in a the format of a musical subscription edition for said supporters. Guitarist and sound artist Jochen Arbeit started playing guitar with his partner Sonja Kosche around this time. Yet, neither ever had enough time as of previous, so they discussed noise and sound over the course of living together.
Released on Dymaxion Groove
Angelicus is Werner Zappi Diermaier (faust), Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM), Ilpo Väisänen (Pan sonic) and John Duncan. Angelicus formed remotely during the Covid pandemic, with a recording project Approach released on CD and LP by Improved Sequence. Their first live performances used songs from the release to build entirely fresh, unique sets, surpassing the highest expectations from these masters of improvised electronic sound.
Werner "Zappi" Diermaier (drums and percussion) is the legendary founding member of Faust.
Dirk Dresselhaus (guitar and effects) performs solo as Schneider TM, as a duo with Ilpo Väisänen (die Angel), and in a number of one-off projects ranging from stage to radio to television with guests ranging from Hildur Guðnadóttir, Oren Ambarchi, Jochen Arbeit, and Damo Suzuki to Tomoko Nakasato, Lillevan, Reinhold Friedl, and a host of others, all stellar artists.
Ilpo Väisänen (electronics) is a founding member of Pan sonic and die Angel. His visual artwork is seen on the cover of the Angelicus: Approach CD and LP release by Improved Sequence.
John Duncan (vocals, lyrics, shortwave) is a member of LAFMS, the Los Angeles Free Music Society. Duncan's legacy ranges from performance and art installations to pirate radio and television, Japanese noise and beyond. He has recorded and performed with AIRWAY, Oren Ambarchi, Chris&Cosey, Coro Arcanto, Cristiano Deison, faust, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Hijokaidan, Eiko Ishibashi, Zbigniew Karkowski, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Phew, Stefano Pilia and zeitkratzer, as well as many others living and otherwise.
Released on Improved Sequence Records
Angelicus is Werner Zappi Diermaier (faust), Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM), Ilpo Väisänen (Pan sonic) and John Duncan. Angelicus formed remotely during the Covid pandemic, with a recording project Approach released on CD and LP by Improved Sequence. Their first live performances used songs from the release to build entirely fresh, unique sets, surpassing the highest expectations from these masters of improvised electronic sound.
Werner "Zappi" Diermaier (drums and percussion) is the legendary founding member of Faust.
Dirk Dresselhaus (guitar and effects) performs solo as Schneider TM, as a duo with Ilpo Väisänen (die Angel), and in a number of one-off projects ranging from stage to radio to television with guests ranging from Hildur Guðnadóttir, Oren Ambarchi, Jochen Arbeit, and Damo Suzuki to Tomoko Nakasato, Lillevan, Reinhold Friedl, and a host of others, all stellar artists.
Ilpo Väisänen (electronics) is a founding member of Pan sonic and die Angel. His visual artwork is seen on the cover of the Angelicus: Approach CD and LP release by Improved Sequence.
John Duncan (vocals, lyrics, shortwave) is a member of LAFMS, the Los Angeles Free Music Society. Duncan's legacy ranges from performance and art installations to pirate radio and television, Japanese noise and beyond. He has recorded and performed with AIRWAY, Oren Ambarchi, Chris&Cosey, Coro Arcanto, Cristiano Deison, faust, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Hijokaidan, Eiko Ishibashi, Zbigniew Karkowski, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Phew, Stefano Pilia and zeitkratzer, as well as many others living and otherwise.
Released on Improved Sequence Records
Fuchs & Demar from Münsterland could already make a name for themselves with their first EP 'DREAM' (2021) and some notable performances. As on the previous EP, the focus on the album "Bei Ecke" is again modern sounding Boom Bap Hip Hop. Lyrically, the guys have learned a lot and refined their razor-sharp observations of everyday life even further. So they accompany the everyday struggle for a good life sometimes critically, sometimes ironically. But not only the lyrics have evolved. The underlying beats have gained in punch and sophistication. Knowing exactly where their musical journey should go, the three were able to distill their trademark sound and get the most out of it. Sometimes less is more and so many modern influences were thrown overboard in favor of an oldschool sound to create a very specific atmosphere.
Fuchs & Demar from Münsterland could already make a name for themselves with their first EP 'DREAM' (2021) and some notable performances. As on the previous EP, the focus on the album "Bei Ecke" is again modern sounding Boom Bap Hip Hop. Lyrically, the guys have learned a lot and refined their razor-sharp observations of everyday life even further. So they accompany the everyday struggle for a good life sometimes critically, sometimes ironically. But not only the lyrics have evolved. The underlying beats have gained in punch and sophistication. Knowing exactly where their musical journey should go, the three were able to distill their trademark sound and get the most out of it. Sometimes less is more and so many modern influences were thrown overboard in favor of an oldschool sound to create a very specific atmosphere.
Andres Klein projects aUtOdiDakT and AUTODISCO (with John Disco) caused massive trouble within the Electro music scene the past months and mentioned with likes BLOODY BEETROOTS, THE PROXY, BOYS NOIZE, dATA, MALENTE and many more. Andres is running the successful Club label TRAKTOR Records where he also releases his own music. He's highly requested for remixes and put hands on GOOSEFLESH, LARRY TEE, AMANDA BLANK, YUKSEK, METALLICA and many others. He is definetly one of the freshest, banging Electro acts to watch out for!
Andres Klein projects aUtOdiDakT and AUTODISCO (with John Disco) caused massive trouble within the Electro music scene the past months and mentioned with likes BLOODY BEETROOTS, THE PROXY, BOYS NOIZE, dATA, MALENTE and many more. Andres is running the successful Club label TRAKTOR Records where he also releases his own music. He's highly requested for remixes and put hands on GOOSEFLESH, LARRY TEE, AMANDA BLANK, YUKSEK, METALLICA and many others. He is definetly one of the freshest, banging Electro acts to watch out for!
8558 isn't just a number, it's a new project for two artists who want to remain anonymous to channel all attention to the music itself and not let their personalities, their image or anything personal distract the listener. The artists behind 8558 have gained millions of streams with their other projects and aliases, but this new project shall be completely disconnected from previous releases.
For them 8558 is about letting go. Letting go control over their music and giving it the chance to dissolve into something completely different and potentially something much bigger than the sum of its parts. That is why they have chosen a genre which is completley new for both of them: groovy and emotional Deep House.
Released on 5885 Records
8558 isn't just a number, it's a new project for two artists who want to remain anonymous to channel all attention to the music itself and not let their personalities, their image or anything personal distract the listener. The artists behind 8558 have gained millions of streams with their other projects and aliases, but this new project shall be completely disconnected from previous releases.
For them 8558 is about letting go. Letting go control over their music and giving it the chance to dissolve into something completely different and potentially something much bigger than the sum of its parts. That is why they have chosen a genre which is completley new for both of them: groovy and emotional Deep House.
Released on 5885 Records
Dirk Dresselhaus was born 1970 in Bielefeld, Germany.
Since the late 80’s he is active in different musical fields. From 1989 until 1997 he played and sang in indie-noiserock- and pop-bands like Locust Fudge or Hip Young Things before he became more active in electronic music around 1997 with his project SchneiderTM, which is responsible for a couple of experimental electro-freak-pop albums and indie-hits like Reality Check, Frogtoise, Pacman / Shopping Cart or a coverversion of a song by The Smiths called The Light 3000, a collaboration with Kptmichigan that was hugely acclaimed by John Peel, The Wire etc..
Since 1998 SchneiderTM performed a couple of hundreds live concerts including renowned international festivals like CTM (Berlin), Sonar Festival / Sonar Sound (Barcelona, Rome, Tokyo), Mutek (Montreal, Mexico City), Arty Farty (Lyon), Pukkelpop (Hasselt), Hultsfred Festival (Hultsfred), Kilbi Festival (Bad Bonn), Frieze Art Fair / Frieze Music (London), Phonem Festival (Istanbul), Numero Festival (Lisboa), Les Siestes électroniques festival (Toulouse), Melt Festival (Gräfenhainichen), Midi Festival (Hyéres), Motomix Festival (Sao Paolo), Todaysart Festival (Den Haag), Dark Mofo (Hobart) and others.
Next to many one-off projects like composing and recording music for movies (Polizeiruf 110/Grenzgänger, Polizeiruf 110/Das Beste für mein Kind, 66/67, Polnische Ostern, In Der Überzahl, Teilhard, Remainder etc. with directors like Ludwig & Glaser, Omer fast etc.), theatre (The Scorpionfish, Louis & Bebe w/ Joanna Dudley & Rufus Didwiszus) or radioplays (Türken Feuer, Release, Hochhaus w/ Paul Plamper), he plays & records with freeform noise-projects like (die) Angel (w/ Ilpo Väisänen of Pan sonic & guests like Hildur Gudnadottir, Oren Ambarchi, BJ Nilsen or Lucio Capece) and Real Time (w/ Reinhold Friedl of zeitkratzer) on a regular basis. Since quite a while he frequently plays improv concerts on varying instruments like guitar, electronics, balafon or using field recordings, sometimes solo and other times together with Jochen Arbeit (of Einstürzende Neubauten, ex-Die Haut), Damo Suzuki (ex-Can), the japanese dancer Tomoko Nakasato or video artists like Lillevan, pani K and Takehito Koganezawa. In 2007 Dirk Dresselhaus and Michael Beckett started their own (online-) label MWM.
Just recently the intense radio play Türken, Feuer by Özlem Özgül Dündar (music by SchneiderTM) has been voted "Radio Play of the Year 2020" by the German Academy of Performing Arts.
Dirk Dresselhaus was born 1970 in Bielefeld, Germany.
Since the late 80’s he is active in different musical fields. From 1989 until 1997 he played and sang in indie-noiserock- and pop-bands like Locust Fudge or Hip Young Things before he became more active in electronic music around 1997 with his project SchneiderTM, which is responsible for a couple of experimental electro-freak-pop albums and indie-hits like Reality Check, Frogtoise, Pacman / Shopping Cart or a coverversion of a song by The Smiths called The Light 3000, a collaboration with Kptmichigan that was hugely acclaimed by John Peel, The Wire etc..
Since 1998 SchneiderTM performed a couple of hundreds live concerts including renowned international festivals like CTM (Berlin), Sonar Festival / Sonar Sound (Barcelona, Rome, Tokyo), Mutek (Montreal, Mexico City), Arty Farty (Lyon), Pukkelpop (Hasselt), Hultsfred Festival (Hultsfred), Kilbi Festival (Bad Bonn), Frieze Art Fair / Frieze Music (London), Phonem Festival (Istanbul), Numero Festival (Lisboa), Les Siestes électroniques festival (Toulouse), Melt Festival (Gräfenhainichen), Midi Festival (Hyéres), Motomix Festival (Sao Paolo), Todaysart Festival (Den Haag), Dark Mofo (Hobart) and others.
Next to many one-off projects like composing and recording music for movies (Polizeiruf 110/Grenzgänger, Polizeiruf 110/Das Beste für mein Kind, 66/67, Polnische Ostern, In Der Überzahl, Teilhard, Remainder etc. with directors like Ludwig & Glaser, Omer fast etc.), theatre (The Scorpionfish, Louis & Bebe w/ Joanna Dudley & Rufus Didwiszus) or radioplays (Türken Feuer, Release, Hochhaus w/ Paul Plamper), he plays & records with freeform noise-projects like (die) Angel (w/ Ilpo Väisänen of Pan sonic & guests like Hildur Gudnadottir, Oren Ambarchi, BJ Nilsen or Lucio Capece) and Real Time (w/ Reinhold Friedl of zeitkratzer) on a regular basis. Since quite a while he frequently plays improv concerts on varying instruments like guitar, electronics, balafon or using field recordings, sometimes solo and other times together with Jochen Arbeit (of Einstürzende Neubauten, ex-Die Haut), Damo Suzuki (ex-Can), the japanese dancer Tomoko Nakasato or video artists like Lillevan, pani K and Takehito Koganezawa. In 2007 Dirk Dresselhaus and Michael Beckett started their own (online-) label MWM.
Just recently the intense radio play Türken, Feuer by Özlem Özgül Dündar (music by SchneiderTM) has been voted "Radio Play of the Year 2020" by the German Academy of Performing Arts.
Samba Touré creates a harmonious blend of River Niger blues, traditional Songhai themes and Western influences. Like most Malian songs, Samba’s lyrics convey moral messages as well as introducing us to different elements of Malian culture, such as the importance of family. Bursting with energy, Samba Touré’s music continues the blues legacy of the late, great Ali Farka Touré. Samba Touré is the Malian guitarist, vocalist and composer whose distinctive style is widely regarded both at home and abroad as both reflecting and enhancing the enduring legacy of the legendary Ali Farka Touré.
In 2021, the legendary Malian artist returns with his most personal and immersive album to date. Intimately recorded with a small band, "Binga" dives deep into Samba's Songhoy roots. Moody Sahelian atmospheres. Cautionary tales. Hopes for better days.
Released on Glitterbeat
Samba Touré creates a harmonious blend of River Niger blues, traditional Songhai themes and Western influences. Like most Malian songs, Samba’s lyrics convey moral messages as well as introducing us to different elements of Malian culture, such as the importance of family. Bursting with energy, Samba Touré’s music continues the blues legacy of the late, great Ali Farka Touré. Samba Touré is the Malian guitarist, vocalist and composer whose distinctive style is widely regarded both at home and abroad as both reflecting and enhancing the enduring legacy of the legendary Ali Farka Touré.
In 2021, the legendary Malian artist returns with his most personal and immersive album to date. Intimately recorded with a small band, "Binga" dives deep into Samba's Songhoy roots. Moody Sahelian atmospheres. Cautionary tales. Hopes for better days.
Released on Glitterbeat
Stars Are the Light, the luminous seventh album by the American psych explorers Moon Duo, marks a progression into significantly new territory. From a preoccupation with the transcendental and occult that informed Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada’s guitar-driven psych rock, and reached its apotheosis in the acclaimed „Occult Architecture“ diptych, „Stars Are the Light“ sees the band synthesize the abstract and metaphysical with the embodied and terrestrial.
Branching out from“Occult Architecture Vol. 2“, the new album has a sonic physicality that is at once propulsive and undulating; it puts dance at the heart of an expansive nexus that connects the body to the stars. These are songs about embodied human experience - love, change, misunderstanding, internal struggle, joy, misery, alienation, discord, harmony, celebration - rendered as a kind of dance of the self, both in relation to other selves and to the eternal dance of the cosmos.
Taking disco as its groove-oriented departure point,“Stars Are the Light“ shimmers with elements of ’70s funk and ’90s rave. Johnson’s signature guitar sound is at its most languid and refined, while Yamada’s synths and oneiric vocals are foregrounded to create a spacious percussiveness that invites the body to move with its mesmeric rhythms.
Published by CEUSO, releases on Sacred Bones
Stars Are the Light, the luminous seventh album by the American psych explorers Moon Duo, marks a progression into significantly new territory. From a preoccupation with the transcendental and occult that informed Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada’s guitar-driven psych rock, and reached its apotheosis in the acclaimed „Occult Architecture“ diptych, „Stars Are the Light“ sees the band synthesize the abstract and metaphysical with the embodied and terrestrial.
Branching out from“Occult Architecture Vol. 2“, the new album has a sonic physicality that is at once propulsive and undulating; it puts dance at the heart of an expansive nexus that connects the body to the stars. These are songs about embodied human experience - love, change, misunderstanding, internal struggle, joy, misery, alienation, discord, harmony, celebration - rendered as a kind of dance of the self, both in relation to other selves and to the eternal dance of the cosmos.
Taking disco as its groove-oriented departure point,“Stars Are the Light“ shimmers with elements of ’70s funk and ’90s rave. Johnson’s signature guitar sound is at its most languid and refined, while Yamada’s synths and oneiric vocals are foregrounded to create a spacious percussiveness that invites the body to move with its mesmeric rhythms.
Published by CEUSO, releases on Sacred Bones
This band celebrates the heaviest side of 70s rock. Blues rock mixed with proto metal, heavy and dark to the core only to have lighter moments with mellow 70s vocals peeking through here and there. This is a band with a unique tinge around the edges: bits and pieces of the old and the new put together to a distinct and recognizable sound. No dreamy flowerchild vibes here, just rock. Rough and coarse. Just like it used to be. Influences from Scandinavian retro rock bands, the Detroit music scene and 90s Seattle are hard to miss.
Released on Noisolution
This band celebrates the heaviest side of 70s rock. Blues rock mixed with proto metal, heavy and dark to the core only to have lighter moments with mellow 70s vocals peeking through here and there. This is a band with a unique tinge around the edges: bits and pieces of the old and the new put together to a distinct and recognizable sound. No dreamy flowerchild vibes here, just rock. Rough and coarse. Just like it used to be. Influences from Scandinavian retro rock bands, the Detroit music scene and 90s Seattle are hard to miss.
Released on Noisolution
Singer/Songwriter Oliver Earnest combines poetic lyrics with catchy melodies and inventive song structures. After writing over 60 songs in the last 2 years, he has now selected 10 to record and release his first album "The water goes the other way (out in November 2021).
It's amazing what references run through your head when you hear Oliver Earnest's debut album for the first time. Omaha is very present, especially Bright Eyes and Cursive. One thinks of the Mountain Goats and thus of John Darnielle and thus of one of the best songwriters of all time. One greets in the spirit Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. When it gets quieter, spherical, one feels not far away from the ballads of the Fleet Foxes or at the candlelit table with Iron & Wine. When Oliver sometimes lets the pathos into the voice, you are with The Divine Comedy, and when you dive into the lyrics, there are some wonderful everyday scenes that could also happen in a film by Jim Jarmusch. Well, at the latest here it is then noticeable: No German bands or artists in this list at all? And all big caliber? And you ask yourself: How can that actually be? With a young guy from Stuttgart, who might have caught the attention of the insiders as a member of the post-punk band Kaufmann Frust?
To describe the music on "The Water Goes The Other Way", one could well fall back on a song line by Oliver. It means something else in the song, but could also be stuck on the cover as a recommendation sticker: "Filling your ears with sound / More than the usual amount." The lyrics, which often venture into darker realms, are set by Oliver with his producer (and bandmate in Kaufmann Frust) Florian Stepper. Oliver tells about the very intensive collaboration: "Florian now lives in Berlin, is for example the tour guitarist of Lea Porcelain, and works as a producer in a studio in the Funkhaus. Most of the time it went like this: I wrote the songs and recorded the first, very rudimentary demos. I then traveled to Berlin every few weeks and we continued to work on them together." Oliver Earnest also lives up to his stage name here, saying that Flo's influence cannot be overstated: "Flo put a lot of time, creativity and work into my album. Because it was the first big self-production on album length for him, but also because we are very good friends and he quite independently, found my songs strong."
Released on Glitterhouse Records
Singer/Songwriter Oliver Earnest combines poetic lyrics with catchy melodies and inventive song structures. After writing over 60 songs in the last 2 years, he has now selected 10 to record and release his first album "The water goes the other way (out in November 2021).
It's amazing what references run through your head when you hear Oliver Earnest's debut album for the first time. Omaha is very present, especially Bright Eyes and Cursive. One thinks of the Mountain Goats and thus of John Darnielle and thus of one of the best songwriters of all time. One greets in the spirit Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. When it gets quieter, spherical, one feels not far away from the ballads of the Fleet Foxes or at the candlelit table with Iron & Wine. When Oliver sometimes lets the pathos into the voice, you are with The Divine Comedy, and when you dive into the lyrics, there are some wonderful everyday scenes that could also happen in a film by Jim Jarmusch. Well, at the latest here it is then noticeable: No German bands or artists in this list at all? And all big caliber? And you ask yourself: How can that actually be? With a young guy from Stuttgart, who might have caught the attention of the insiders as a member of the post-punk band Kaufmann Frust?
To describe the music on "The Water Goes The Other Way", one could well fall back on a song line by Oliver. It means something else in the song, but could also be stuck on the cover as a recommendation sticker: "Filling your ears with sound / More than the usual amount." The lyrics, which often venture into darker realms, are set by Oliver with his producer (and bandmate in Kaufmann Frust) Florian Stepper. Oliver tells about the very intensive collaboration: "Florian now lives in Berlin, is for example the tour guitarist of Lea Porcelain, and works as a producer in a studio in the Funkhaus. Most of the time it went like this: I wrote the songs and recorded the first, very rudimentary demos. I then traveled to Berlin every few weeks and we continued to work on them together." Oliver Earnest also lives up to his stage name here, saying that Flo's influence cannot be overstated: "Flo put a lot of time, creativity and work into my album. Because it was the first big self-production on album length for him, but also because we are very good friends and he quite independently, found my songs strong."
Released on Glitterhouse Records
Die Wände's new self-titled album starts off with a bang: "Die Ewige Baustelle" is the name of the first song and it's a gigantic, wonderful and slow brain-crushing affair that massages your head, heart and neck for a whopping 13 minutes and 31 seconds. After Die Wände then serve up a few more cryptic, casual, off-the-cuff post-punk-meets-indie hits like "Müssen nur sollen" and "Future Me," even the last skeptic should be convinced. The fact that they sound like a cross between Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Berlin's post-punk scene is above all due to the experiences of the last years - and the special mood of this special album.
Singer and guitarist Carsten von Postel explains: "During the tours for our debut album 'Im Flausch', we dissected some songs and stretched them out to no end. Those were always very satisfying, almost hypnotic moments for us, which also went down well with the audience." Then, in the first lockdown, when Die Wände decided to make the band their closest circle and meet regularly in the rehearsal room, it was mainly this spirit that helped them forget that confusing time for a while.
The album was finally recorded at Studio Tutti in Leipzig, at their good friend Alexander Günther's place: "We practically locked ourselves in for ten days to get back into that special mood from the rehearsal room time," Carsten explains. "To be surrounded by friends with whom you work creatively - that felt great." This is something you can hear throughout the whole record.
"Postpunk is getting dangerous again!" NEØLYD
"Die Wände stand as a boundary, as a securing cage, in whose interior one can bathe in resonances without fear and lose oneself briefly." Krachfink
"Three musicians in one room - that is the situation of this album. A situation that is not resolved at any moment, because this space wants to be discovered. In all its monotony." Visions
Released on Glitterhouse Records
Die Wände's new self-titled album starts off with a bang: "Die Ewige Baustelle" is the name of the first song and it's a gigantic, wonderful and slow brain-crushing affair that massages your head, heart and neck for a whopping 13 minutes and 31 seconds. After Die Wände then serve up a few more cryptic, casual, off-the-cuff post-punk-meets-indie hits like "Müssen nur sollen" and "Future Me," even the last skeptic should be convinced. The fact that they sound like a cross between Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Berlin's post-punk scene is above all due to the experiences of the last years - and the special mood of this special album.
Singer and guitarist Carsten von Postel explains: "During the tours for our debut album 'Im Flausch', we dissected some songs and stretched them out to no end. Those were always very satisfying, almost hypnotic moments for us, which also went down well with the audience." Then, in the first lockdown, when Die Wände decided to make the band their closest circle and meet regularly in the rehearsal room, it was mainly this spirit that helped them forget that confusing time for a while.
The album was finally recorded at Studio Tutti in Leipzig, at their good friend Alexander Günther's place: "We practically locked ourselves in for ten days to get back into that special mood from the rehearsal room time," Carsten explains. "To be surrounded by friends with whom you work creatively - that felt great." This is something you can hear throughout the whole record.
"Postpunk is getting dangerous again!" NEØLYD
"Die Wände stand as a boundary, as a securing cage, in whose interior one can bathe in resonances without fear and lose oneself briefly." Krachfink
"Three musicians in one room - that is the situation of this album. A situation that is not resolved at any moment, because this space wants to be discovered. In all its monotony." Visions
Released on Glitterhouse Records
Based on this reduction, a specific musical language emerged over the years, which over the period of 20 years and 9 albums has repeatedly developed new facets and levels. On July 31, 1999 ANGEL played their first concert in the gallery-2 Meinblau in Berlin.The plan was to play a concert in Berlin every year that was neither musically planned nor rehearsed. Thus, the basic musical concept of ANGEL manifested on a communicative level only to use the moment: Instant Composition.
After an ANGEL concert at the CTM 2004 * together with the video artist Philipp Geist (Videogeist), Dirk Dresselhaus got to know the Icelandic musician Hildur Guðnadóttir and recorded the joint album "Good Sound" with her under the project name Mr. Schmuck's Farm which was released on the Canadian label Oral. At that time, ANGEL was also much more active than originally planned, resulting in several concerts a year and regular recording sessions in Dirk's apartment in Berlin. During these sessions, not least due to the recording-conditions in a renovated old building, a musically reduced direction emerged in which it was possible to delve even deeper into the sonic microcosm through the detuning of long tones and frequencies and thereby the communicative moment of the music refined and strengthened. The space between tones became more important than the notes themselves.
After having played several drone concerts ** together since 2004, a few recording sessions with Hildur Guðnadóttir on cello and zither finally took place in January 2006. These recordings were released on Editions Mego's 2007 dystopian concept album "Kalmukia" somewhat reminiscent of Tarkovsky's "Stalker".The energy of the common sound has transcended the respective influences of the three protagonists on "Kalmukia" and the musical bow, which contains traces of Musique Concrète, Minimal Music, Industrial, Blues, Psychedelic & Desert Rock, goes far beyond the respective genres, however, it is by no means eclectic but in every moment a distillate reduced to the essence: Spirit.
In 2015 Angel provided the original soundtrack for 'Continuity', a feature film by Omer Fast.
Based on this reduction, a specific musical language emerged over the years, which over the period of 20 years and 9 albums has repeatedly developed new facets and levels. On July 31, 1999 ANGEL played their first concert in the gallery-2 Meinblau in Berlin.The plan was to play a concert in Berlin every year that was neither musically planned nor rehearsed. Thus, the basic musical concept of ANGEL manifested on a communicative level only to use the moment: Instant Composition.
After an ANGEL concert at the CTM 2004 * together with the video artist Philipp Geist (Videogeist), Dirk Dresselhaus got to know the Icelandic musician Hildur Guðnadóttir and recorded the joint album "Good Sound" with her under the project name Mr. Schmuck's Farm which was released on the Canadian label Oral. At that time, ANGEL was also much more active than originally planned, resulting in several concerts a year and regular recording sessions in Dirk's apartment in Berlin. During these sessions, not least due to the recording-conditions in a renovated old building, a musically reduced direction emerged in which it was possible to delve even deeper into the sonic microcosm through the detuning of long tones and frequencies and thereby the communicative moment of the music refined and strengthened. The space between tones became more important than the notes themselves.
After having played several drone concerts ** together since 2004, a few recording sessions with Hildur Guðnadóttir on cello and zither finally took place in January 2006. These recordings were released on Editions Mego's 2007 dystopian concept album "Kalmukia" somewhat reminiscent of Tarkovsky's "Stalker".The energy of the common sound has transcended the respective influences of the three protagonists on "Kalmukia" and the musical bow, which contains traces of Musique Concrète, Minimal Music, Industrial, Blues, Psychedelic & Desert Rock, goes far beyond the respective genres, however, it is by no means eclectic but in every moment a distillate reduced to the essence: Spirit.
In 2015 Angel provided the original soundtrack for 'Continuity', a feature film by Omer Fast.
The deep, bluesy Desert Rock from Mali’s young Tuareg band Tamikrest is exotic, modern and earth.bound. Tamikrest in Tamasheq language means junction, connection, knot, coalition. The group members come from different horizons (Mali, Niger, Algeria). Wanting to assume fully their Tuareg identity, they found in the rebel music Ishumar the means to express it.
“A desert hosts us, a language unites us, a culture binds us.”
Through the message of their songs, Tamikrest want to make Tamasheq poetry and culture accessible to inhabitants of a world larger than the immensity of the Saharian desert.
Tamikrest’s new album „Kidal“ is the music of defiance, of hope. It’s the sound of the Tuareg dream, a dream that will be renewed again, in their ancestral town: Kidal.
Tamikrest’s music is released on Glitterbeat
The deep, bluesy Desert Rock from Mali’s young Tuareg band Tamikrest is exotic, modern and earth.bound. Tamikrest in Tamasheq language means junction, connection, knot, coalition. The group members come from different horizons (Mali, Niger, Algeria). Wanting to assume fully their Tuareg identity, they found in the rebel music Ishumar the means to express it.
“A desert hosts us, a language unites us, a culture binds us.”
Through the message of their songs, Tamikrest want to make Tamasheq poetry and culture accessible to inhabitants of a world larger than the immensity of the Saharian desert.
Tamikrest’s new album „Kidal“ is the music of defiance, of hope. It’s the sound of the Tuareg dream, a dream that will be renewed again, in their ancestral town: Kidal.
Tamikrest’s music is released on Glitterbeat
On the heels of their acclaimed album Tikounen, Kel Assouf return with an even more transformative collection: Black Tenere. Produced by the band’s keyboardist Sofyann Ben Youssef, the mastermind behind the highly touted AMMAR 808, the new album strips things back to a power trio lineup and focuses on the crackling, forward-looking energy of Nigerien front man Anana Ag Haroun’s next level Kel Tamashek (Tuareg) rock songs.
In 2006, Anana Harouna arrived in Brussels after a long exile and created a new band: Kel Assouf. Since then he explored various styles and formulas gathering musicians from African and European countries. With one foot in the desert and the other in Europe, Anana Harouna sings about Sahara, Niger and Brussels. The melodies and rhythms are directly inspired by Berber music.
With a new minimalist power trio, surrounded by Sofyann Ben Youssef on the organ and the Moog SUB 37, and Olivier Penu on drums, Anana Harouna's revolt against injustices is made explicit by the saturated voice of his guitar. The African trance rhythms melted into the energy of vintage rock move us to a dancefloor somewhere between London and Niamey - a powerful groove machine!
Out on Glitterbeat
On the heels of their acclaimed album Tikounen, Kel Assouf return with an even more transformative collection: Black Tenere. Produced by the band’s keyboardist Sofyann Ben Youssef, the mastermind behind the highly touted AMMAR 808, the new album strips things back to a power trio lineup and focuses on the crackling, forward-looking energy of Nigerien front man Anana Ag Haroun’s next level Kel Tamashek (Tuareg) rock songs.
In 2006, Anana Harouna arrived in Brussels after a long exile and created a new band: Kel Assouf. Since then he explored various styles and formulas gathering musicians from African and European countries. With one foot in the desert and the other in Europe, Anana Harouna sings about Sahara, Niger and Brussels. The melodies and rhythms are directly inspired by Berber music.
With a new minimalist power trio, surrounded by Sofyann Ben Youssef on the organ and the Moog SUB 37, and Olivier Penu on drums, Anana Harouna's revolt against injustices is made explicit by the saturated voice of his guitar. The African trance rhythms melted into the energy of vintage rock move us to a dancefloor somewhere between London and Niamey - a powerful groove machine!
Out on Glitterbeat
Istanbul synth-wave vanguards JAKUZI turned heads in 2017 with the release of their debut album 'Fantezi Müzik’ which showcased their modern Turkish underground music to the world. This record saw the band go against what you would stereotypically expect from a male-fronted band out of Istanbul – Turkish music is not necessarily known for being a genre where men are introspective - but JAKUTI’s gothic sensibility addressed the personal psychological issues they were facing.
When they originally released their debut on cassette in 2016, no one expected it to leave their circle, especially not the band themselves, but the record was re-released with new tracks in early 2017 via City Slang Records and immediately gained more attention than anyone anticipated. All of this seemed to happen over night, with praise from international outlets like The Quietus & The Guardian and the band also got to play sold-out shows with their musical idol John Maus.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Istanbul synth-wave vanguards JAKUZI turned heads in 2017 with the release of their debut album 'Fantezi Müzik’ which showcased their modern Turkish underground music to the world. This record saw the band go against what you would stereotypically expect from a male-fronted band out of Istanbul – Turkish music is not necessarily known for being a genre where men are introspective - but JAKUTI’s gothic sensibility addressed the personal psychological issues they were facing.
When they originally released their debut on cassette in 2016, no one expected it to leave their circle, especially not the band themselves, but the record was re-released with new tracks in early 2017 via City Slang Records and immediately gained more attention than anyone anticipated. All of this seemed to happen over night, with praise from international outlets like The Quietus & The Guardian and the band also got to play sold-out shows with their musical idol John Maus.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Monobeat Original is the new project by Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, drummer and founding member of the legendary Krautrock band FAUST. An odyssey of dark-tribal-ritualistic-krautrock with a cinematic bent. From the atavic to the post industrial and the renewal of a distant and hypnotic Krautrock. Music from a future too far away.
In September 2020, Monobeat Original released their debut album "Arbeitstitel" on the Spanish label áMARXE.
The second album has been already recorded and will be released in 2021.
Monobeat Original is the new project by Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, drummer and founding member of the legendary Krautrock band FAUST. An odyssey of dark-tribal-ritualistic-krautrock with a cinematic bent. From the atavic to the post industrial and the renewal of a distant and hypnotic Krautrock. Music from a future too far away.
In September 2020, Monobeat Original released their debut album "Arbeitstitel" on the Spanish label áMARXE.
The second album has been already recorded and will be released in 2021.
HODJA celebrate an intriguing mix of early American genre-styles with European esprit. Their self-proclaimed Voodoo-Garage-Blues merges with Punkrock, Gospel, Soul and Hip-Hop parts. HODJA are an undeniably charismatic trio with a frontman extraordinaire: Mr. Gamiel Stone from NYC. Their intense shows are a must-see for everybody.
In summer 2018 the band released their third record „The Flood“. A many-faceted, colorful piece of art that rightfully earned loads of critical acclaim. This year HODJA’s debut with the simple title „The Band“ got a little facelift and was re-released in a limited edition. In 2016 HODJA released their second album „Halos“ and now album #4 called „We Are The Here And Now“ is ready to be set free. Again the artwork was provided by Danish artist Jenz Koudahl and perfectly catches the spirit of the band: Wild, eclectic, colorful and untamed.
All albums are released on Noisolution
HODJA celebrate an intriguing mix of early American genre-styles with European esprit. Their self-proclaimed Voodoo-Garage-Blues merges with Punkrock, Gospel, Soul and Hip-Hop parts. HODJA are an undeniably charismatic trio with a frontman extraordinaire: Mr. Gamiel Stone from NYC. Their intense shows are a must-see for everybody.
In summer 2018 the band released their third record „The Flood“. A many-faceted, colorful piece of art that rightfully earned loads of critical acclaim. This year HODJA’s debut with the simple title „The Band“ got a little facelift and was re-released in a limited edition. In 2016 HODJA released their second album „Halos“ and now album #4 called „We Are The Here And Now“ is ready to be set free. Again the artwork was provided by Danish artist Jenz Koudahl and perfectly catches the spirit of the band: Wild, eclectic, colorful and untamed.
All albums are released on Noisolution
Neta Polturak is a very promising young talent to grow out of the eclectic and creative music scene of Tel Aviv. She‘s a composer, poetic writer, storyteller and experienced performer, walking the haunting line between experimental Pop to dark Rock ballads. Polturak's tunes are both, atmospheric and immensely powerful, supported by a mesmerizing androgynous stage presence.
Since moving to Berlin at 2015, Neta has been performing independently all around Europe and collecting fans all around. In 2019 she had her first release as 'Moon Gear', a collaborative project with musician Eilon Elikam.“Every Magic Has Its Cost” is Polturak's debut solo release and will be out later in 2021. The album was recorded in Tel Aviv and produced by respected Berlin based artist Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM).
Neta Polturak is a very promising young talent to grow out of the eclectic and creative music scene of Tel Aviv. She‘s a composer, poetic writer, storyteller and experienced performer, walking the haunting line between experimental Pop to dark Rock ballads. Polturak's tunes are both, atmospheric and immensely powerful, supported by a mesmerizing androgynous stage presence.
Since moving to Berlin at 2015, Neta has been performing independently all around Europe and collecting fans all around. In 2019 she had her first release as 'Moon Gear', a collaborative project with musician Eilon Elikam.“Every Magic Has Its Cost” is Polturak's debut solo release and will be out later in 2021. The album was recorded in Tel Aviv and produced by respected Berlin based artist Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider TM).
Matteo Vallicelli is an Italian drummer and composer, best known as the live drummer of The Soft Moon, Death Index, and as a founding member of many renowned Italian punk bands. Last year he debuted his first solo project, Primo, on Captured Tracks.
In 2013, Vallicelli relocated from the ancient neighborhood of Trastevere in Rome to the ever-changing Kreuzberg district in Berlin. This dramatic uprooting acted as a catalyst, inspiring him to try and make music on his own. Heavily influenced by the pulsating techno scene of the German capital, Vallicelli began experimenting with synthesizers and drum machines. Recording sounds onto his computer and cassette tapes led him to create a massive collection of loops and samples, sometimes in protracted home sessions where he wouldn’t leave his apartment for days.
For Vallicelli, the transition from playing drums in punk bands to sitting alone in his home studio, working on minimalistic electronic compositions, has dramatically shifted his music career.
Published by CEUSO.
Matteo Vallicelli is an Italian drummer and composer, best known as the live drummer of The Soft Moon, Death Index, and as a founding member of many renowned Italian punk bands. Last year he debuted his first solo project, Primo, on Captured Tracks.
In 2013, Vallicelli relocated from the ancient neighborhood of Trastevere in Rome to the ever-changing Kreuzberg district in Berlin. This dramatic uprooting acted as a catalyst, inspiring him to try and make music on his own. Heavily influenced by the pulsating techno scene of the German capital, Vallicelli began experimenting with synthesizers and drum machines. Recording sounds onto his computer and cassette tapes led him to create a massive collection of loops and samples, sometimes in protracted home sessions where he wouldn’t leave his apartment for days.
For Vallicelli, the transition from playing drums in punk bands to sitting alone in his home studio, working on minimalistic electronic compositions, has dramatically shifted his music career.
Published by CEUSO.
There are arguably few bands whose sound is quite so unique as TO ROCOCO ROT . Emerging in 1995 - bassist Stefan Schneider lives in Cologne and Robert and Ronald Lippok reside in Berlin - their electronica was dramatically removed from the techno and machine music their contemporaries were producing. Fascinatingly contradictory, they succeeded in combining glacial sounds with a warm organic production that was undeniably, alluringly, sensually romantic. Their albums have established them as one of the most acclaimed and influential electronic acts around, and their live shows - which underline the human qualities of their art - are gloriously hypnotic.
TO ROCOCO ROT's music has been used in countless films and documentaries as well as exhibitions. (Their first album was actually commissioned by a gallery to accompany an exhibition.) As they once remarked, they don't just make music "for klicks"…
There are arguably few bands whose sound is quite so unique as TO ROCOCO ROT . Emerging in 1995 - bassist Stefan Schneider lives in Cologne and Robert and Ronald Lippok reside in Berlin - their electronica was dramatically removed from the techno and machine music their contemporaries were producing. Fascinatingly contradictory, they succeeded in combining glacial sounds with a warm organic production that was undeniably, alluringly, sensually romantic. Their albums have established them as one of the most acclaimed and influential electronic acts around, and their live shows - which underline the human qualities of their art - are gloriously hypnotic.
TO ROCOCO ROT's music has been used in countless films and documentaries as well as exhibitions. (Their first album was actually commissioned by a gallery to accompany an exhibition.) As they once remarked, they don't just make music "for klicks"…
South African via Berlin Indie Pop darlings Dear Reader return with Day Fever, their fourth album on City Slang and the first, in four years. It was recorded in John Vanderslice’s San Francisco studio, Tiny Telephone. Well-known as a producer for acts like Spoon and The Mountain Goats, and a musician in his own right, Vanderslice has made a name for himself in analog recording, something Dear Reader hadn’t explored prior to the decision to record at his studio.
Already far from home in Berlin, the South African musician’s trek to San Francisco meant a huge adjustment in terms of her recording style. Recording on tape helped Dear Reader mastermind, Cherilyn MacNeil, commit to the performance and narrative act of making an album, and to break, in her words, the habit of “editing the life out of things.” In Day Fever, those old habits have died, and hard. The raw, melodious, at times discordant record has most certainly retained its life, left fresh and untrampled by infinite do-overs. In fact, each song on the album is the result of just one, or a maximum of two, studio performances.
Day Fever sounds more minimal, more vanguard than Dear Reader’s previous albums, bending to match the album’s thematic pitch: if Rivonia (2013) pulled us back into the MacNeil’s (and South Africa’s) history, Day Fever slingshots us into the present to confront life in real time.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang.
South African via Berlin Indie Pop darlings Dear Reader return with Day Fever, their fourth album on City Slang and the first, in four years. It was recorded in John Vanderslice’s San Francisco studio, Tiny Telephone. Well-known as a producer for acts like Spoon and The Mountain Goats, and a musician in his own right, Vanderslice has made a name for himself in analog recording, something Dear Reader hadn’t explored prior to the decision to record at his studio.
Already far from home in Berlin, the South African musician’s trek to San Francisco meant a huge adjustment in terms of her recording style. Recording on tape helped Dear Reader mastermind, Cherilyn MacNeil, commit to the performance and narrative act of making an album, and to break, in her words, the habit of “editing the life out of things.” In Day Fever, those old habits have died, and hard. The raw, melodious, at times discordant record has most certainly retained its life, left fresh and untrampled by infinite do-overs. In fact, each song on the album is the result of just one, or a maximum of two, studio performances.
Day Fever sounds more minimal, more vanguard than Dear Reader’s previous albums, bending to match the album’s thematic pitch: if Rivonia (2013) pulled us back into the MacNeil’s (and South Africa’s) history, Day Fever slingshots us into the present to confront life in real time.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang.
Acclaimed singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laura Gibson releases her fifth album "Goners" in fall 2018. It's probably her best but also darkest and strangest record to date. Her language has never felt more alive, her storytelling sharper, her imagination looser. It is a record for thinkers and feelers, for the fierce and also the weary, and despite its darkness, she has succeeded in making a work of radical hope.
Gibson co-produced "Goners" with engineer and friend John Askew, with whom she’d also collaborated on her 2016 album, Empire Builder, in his Portland, OR, studio. She ditched her guitar on half the songs, and instead played piano and Wurlitzer. Gibson enlisted a number of long time collaborators, including guitarist/synth extraordinaire Dave Depper (Death Cab for Cutie), drummer and found-sound percussionist Dan Hunt (Neko Case), and stand-up bassist Nate Query (The Decemberists); then built horn and woodwind arrangements with Kelly Pratt (St. Vincent and David Byrne, Father John Misty) and imaginative string parts with Kyleen King (Stephen Malkmus, Case/Lang/Veirs).
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Acclaimed singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laura Gibson releases her fifth album "Goners" in fall 2018. It's probably her best but also darkest and strangest record to date. Her language has never felt more alive, her storytelling sharper, her imagination looser. It is a record for thinkers and feelers, for the fierce and also the weary, and despite its darkness, she has succeeded in making a work of radical hope.
Gibson co-produced "Goners" with engineer and friend John Askew, with whom she’d also collaborated on her 2016 album, Empire Builder, in his Portland, OR, studio. She ditched her guitar on half the songs, and instead played piano and Wurlitzer. Gibson enlisted a number of long time collaborators, including guitarist/synth extraordinaire Dave Depper (Death Cab for Cutie), drummer and found-sound percussionist Dan Hunt (Neko Case), and stand-up bassist Nate Query (The Decemberists); then built horn and woodwind arrangements with Kelly Pratt (St. Vincent and David Byrne, Father John Misty) and imaginative string parts with Kyleen King (Stephen Malkmus, Case/Lang/Veirs).
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Nora Steiner and Madlaina Pollina are young and very gifted songwriters with the talent to tell stories – some of them are full of hope and dreams, most without a happy end. Their songwriting certainly isn’t just about the insight or introspection – it is outspoken, clever and poetic.
Musically Steiner & Madlaina express themselves through their very own interpretation of Indie Pop that might remind one of artists such as First Aid Kit and Boy but there’s a deep texture that resembles Emily Jane White’s delicately dark songs as well. At one time their music sounds calm, lovely and in a flow, the very next moment it builds up to a mighty soundscape - just to brake sharply again. Analogue sounds and surf guitars create a warm and charming 60ies atmosphere. All 10 songs of their debut album come in full and shine band arrangements but are focused on the voices of the two main players. Four of the songs are in English, five are sung in German and one in Swiss German, their native tongue.
Steiner & Madlaina will release their impressive debut album „Cheers“ in October on Glitterhouse
Nora Steiner and Madlaina Pollina are young and very gifted songwriters with the talent to tell stories – some of them are full of hope and dreams, most without a happy end. Their songwriting certainly isn’t just about the insight or introspection – it is outspoken, clever and poetic.
Musically Steiner & Madlaina express themselves through their very own interpretation of Indie Pop that might remind one of artists such as First Aid Kit and Boy but there’s a deep texture that resembles Emily Jane White’s delicately dark songs as well. At one time their music sounds calm, lovely and in a flow, the very next moment it builds up to a mighty soundscape - just to brake sharply again. Analogue sounds and surf guitars create a warm and charming 60ies atmosphere. All 10 songs of their debut album come in full and shine band arrangements but are focused on the voices of the two main players. Four of the songs are in English, five are sung in German and one in Swiss German, their native tongue.
Steiner & Madlaina will release their impressive debut album „Cheers“ in October on Glitterhouse
German lyrics? Yup. Noise? A whole lot of it. Noise-Rock? Not quite. Rock? Most definitely. Post-something? For sure, but still hard to really label. Well, MONZA-like.
Is the world finally collapsing? Who knows, but there’s definitely a lot of things going very wrong at the moment. Thinking about it, a slight but distinct feeling of unease is definitely there. Creeping into your subconscious, slowly but surely. MONZA took just that feeling and morphed it into 7 tracks, all caught together on their new album “Der Tag an dem Berge aus dem Himmel wuchsen” (english: The day mountains grew out of the sky).
A story about a not so far future, a parallel universe, where things are really just going downhill, lightly put. It drones, it rustles, high and low buzzing sounds, all rounded off by intricate lyrics, almost a sort of dark poetry, but with a harsh feel.
MONZA got together 2012 in Munich, which is not exactly the mecca for underground music scene. But maybe that was just the reason a band like MONZA could form. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to put them in a box. The first demo “Patient Null” came together in their first year, followed up by the single “Maschinen mit Augen” (engl. machines with eyes) 2013. The EP “Ikarus” (2015) became more clear and the band’s sound took more shape and caught that specific MONZA sound for the first time. Now. 2019. Destination reached. This album is a statement.
Released on Noisolution
German lyrics? Yup. Noise? A whole lot of it. Noise-Rock? Not quite. Rock? Most definitely. Post-something? For sure, but still hard to really label. Well, MONZA-like.
Is the world finally collapsing? Who knows, but there’s definitely a lot of things going very wrong at the moment. Thinking about it, a slight but distinct feeling of unease is definitely there. Creeping into your subconscious, slowly but surely. MONZA took just that feeling and morphed it into 7 tracks, all caught together on their new album “Der Tag an dem Berge aus dem Himmel wuchsen” (english: The day mountains grew out of the sky).
A story about a not so far future, a parallel universe, where things are really just going downhill, lightly put. It drones, it rustles, high and low buzzing sounds, all rounded off by intricate lyrics, almost a sort of dark poetry, but with a harsh feel.
MONZA got together 2012 in Munich, which is not exactly the mecca for underground music scene. But maybe that was just the reason a band like MONZA could form. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to put them in a box. The first demo “Patient Null” came together in their first year, followed up by the single “Maschinen mit Augen” (engl. machines with eyes) 2013. The EP “Ikarus” (2015) became more clear and the band’s sound took more shape and caught that specific MONZA sound for the first time. Now. 2019. Destination reached. This album is a statement.
Released on Noisolution
On their album Oscillation LOCUST FUDGE grab the roots of what later was to be called 'Indierock’, turn them upside down and combine them with sometimes unusual & surprising elements to rewrite it’s history in the most organic way and beam it into the future. In 2015, Berlin-based musicians Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider) and Christopher Uhe (Krite) start recording an album together. Alongside drummer Chikara Aoshima, they kick off something like a roots project: songs, written over the last couple of years, are tracked live as a trio. Out of infrequent sessions emerges the first LOCUST FUDGE album in 20 years.
Released on Play Loud
On their album Oscillation LOCUST FUDGE grab the roots of what later was to be called 'Indierock’, turn them upside down and combine them with sometimes unusual & surprising elements to rewrite it’s history in the most organic way and beam it into the future. In 2015, Berlin-based musicians Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider) and Christopher Uhe (Krite) start recording an album together. Alongside drummer Chikara Aoshima, they kick off something like a roots project: songs, written over the last couple of years, are tracked live as a trio. Out of infrequent sessions emerges the first LOCUST FUDGE album in 20 years.
Released on Play Loud
Originally a three piece based in Berlin but now located somewhere else in Europe between the Alps and the Baltic Sea. THE LORANES was formed in 2015 by Mammut (bass) who left his former band KADAVAR after two very successful albums to break new ground. Just some weeks later first shows and a 7 inch single came up. In autumn 2015 the debut album "Trust" was released by Noisolution, in fall 2017, their new masterpiece called "2nd" will follow.
A record that is more eclectic than the debut. A bold production, a whole load of dynamic and variety but never forgetting their core being a dark and gloomy, rough-edged rock-diamond with no desire to be cut smooth. Fuzz and distortion define their gruff sound building a perfect contrast to the many catchy melodies and hooklines to be found on the album. Rooting somewhere between Britpop, Shoegaze, 60s Pop and US-Garage Rock. What the german Eclipsed magazine already put down so perfectly for the debut is still applicable now: THE LORANES „have been rummaging through the primordial soup of Rock’n’Roll and stirred up quite a few deep black particals.“ The influences, the references, the roots are all perfectly clear but enhanced with a unique and fresh versatility – all covered in a thin coat of fine, black patina. And it smells like smoke, gas, beer and leather…
Originally a three piece based in Berlin but now located somewhere else in Europe between the Alps and the Baltic Sea. THE LORANES was formed in 2015 by Mammut (bass) who left his former band KADAVAR after two very successful albums to break new ground. Just some weeks later first shows and a 7 inch single came up. In autumn 2015 the debut album "Trust" was released by Noisolution, in fall 2017, their new masterpiece called "2nd" will follow.
A record that is more eclectic than the debut. A bold production, a whole load of dynamic and variety but never forgetting their core being a dark and gloomy, rough-edged rock-diamond with no desire to be cut smooth. Fuzz and distortion define their gruff sound building a perfect contrast to the many catchy melodies and hooklines to be found on the album. Rooting somewhere between Britpop, Shoegaze, 60s Pop and US-Garage Rock. What the german Eclipsed magazine already put down so perfectly for the debut is still applicable now: THE LORANES „have been rummaging through the primordial soup of Rock’n’Roll and stirred up quite a few deep black particals.“ The influences, the references, the roots are all perfectly clear but enhanced with a unique and fresh versatility – all covered in a thin coat of fine, black patina. And it smells like smoke, gas, beer and leather…
The Denver Broncos UK (shortened DBUK) comprise of Munly Munly, Lord Dwight Pentacost, Rebecca Vera and Slim Cessna of Slim Cessna's Auto Club from Denver, Colorado. Opposite to the rousing sounds of SCAC, they create a sound that is clearly more subdued, ethereal and intimate with a lot of strings and percussion reminiscing of an agrarian, pre-industrial time. Gothic Americana in a class of its own.
Having worked with an array of prominent musicians in the past, including members of Devotchka, Tarantella and David Eugene Edwards of 16 Horsepower, DBUK lead-vocalist and celebrated alt-country songwriter/storyteller Jay Munly's voice is equal parts Peter Murphy and Nick Cave, and contrasts beautifully with Rebecca Vera's falsetto on a number of the tracks on their current release "Songs One Through Sixteen". The album's strings and percussion are intoxicatingly dramatic and are provided courtesy of Auto Club members Dwight Pentacost and Slim Cessna respectively, all culminating to create one of the more evocative releases the genre has seen quite possibly in years.
Released on Glitterhouse
The Denver Broncos UK (shortened DBUK) comprise of Munly Munly, Lord Dwight Pentacost, Rebecca Vera and Slim Cessna of Slim Cessna's Auto Club from Denver, Colorado. Opposite to the rousing sounds of SCAC, they create a sound that is clearly more subdued, ethereal and intimate with a lot of strings and percussion reminiscing of an agrarian, pre-industrial time. Gothic Americana in a class of its own.
Having worked with an array of prominent musicians in the past, including members of Devotchka, Tarantella and David Eugene Edwards of 16 Horsepower, DBUK lead-vocalist and celebrated alt-country songwriter/storyteller Jay Munly's voice is equal parts Peter Murphy and Nick Cave, and contrasts beautifully with Rebecca Vera's falsetto on a number of the tracks on their current release "Songs One Through Sixteen". The album's strings and percussion are intoxicatingly dramatic and are provided courtesy of Auto Club members Dwight Pentacost and Slim Cessna respectively, all culminating to create one of the more evocative releases the genre has seen quite possibly in years.
Released on Glitterhouse
His gentle Japanese vocals draw you into his dream-woven soundscapes. In his signature blend of layered sounds in ‘Lahaha’ and ‘River Low’, the listener discovers new depths with every listen. His skill at composing beautiful, self-contained pop songs stems from a childhood spent listening to Japanese pop and Beatles cassettes, and seven years of classical piano training. ‘Drive-thru’ for example, reveals a strong 60s influence, and the hopeful ballad ‘Linne’ is driven by a melancholic piano line, performed by Shugo himself.
Published by CEUSO.
His gentle Japanese vocals draw you into his dream-woven soundscapes. In his signature blend of layered sounds in ‘Lahaha’ and ‘River Low’, the listener discovers new depths with every listen. His skill at composing beautiful, self-contained pop songs stems from a childhood spent listening to Japanese pop and Beatles cassettes, and seven years of classical piano training. ‘Drive-thru’ for example, reveals a strong 60s influence, and the hopeful ballad ‘Linne’ is driven by a melancholic piano line, performed by Shugo himself.
Published by CEUSO.
„Exile In The Outer Ring“ is the third album of the project of South Dakota native and Portland, OR-based artist Erika M. Anderson. In a year dominated by white working-class alienation and anger, EMA has delivered an album that renders Middle American poverty and resentment with frightening realism and deep empathy. The album is unique in its mingling of gender politics with American working-class anxiety. The result is a deeply personal, confrontational, but ultimately redemptive album from a quintessentially American artist at the peak of her form.
Erika M. Anderson first graced the limelight under the guise of EMA in May 2011, when the brilliantly scuffed debut album Past Life Martyred Saints was released to a multitude of acclaim. After having spent time in the California underground fronting the genre-defying cult duo Gowns with Ezra Buchla, Past Life Martyred Saints offered a deeper glimpse into the world of EMA. An absorbing and ambitious masterpiece that revealed a unique and feed-backed noisy guitar style, a skill for visceral songwriting and a DIY recording ethos, it showcased a distinctive sonic signature that sounded like nothing else around.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
„Exile In The Outer Ring“ is the third album of the project of South Dakota native and Portland, OR-based artist Erika M. Anderson. In a year dominated by white working-class alienation and anger, EMA has delivered an album that renders Middle American poverty and resentment with frightening realism and deep empathy. The album is unique in its mingling of gender politics with American working-class anxiety. The result is a deeply personal, confrontational, but ultimately redemptive album from a quintessentially American artist at the peak of her form.
Erika M. Anderson first graced the limelight under the guise of EMA in May 2011, when the brilliantly scuffed debut album Past Life Martyred Saints was released to a multitude of acclaim. After having spent time in the California underground fronting the genre-defying cult duo Gowns with Ezra Buchla, Past Life Martyred Saints offered a deeper glimpse into the world of EMA. An absorbing and ambitious masterpiece that revealed a unique and feed-backed noisy guitar style, a skill for visceral songwriting and a DIY recording ethos, it showcased a distinctive sonic signature that sounded like nothing else around.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Berlin-based trio FJAAK has become a well established force in contemporary techno. With eleven singles & EPs, two albums and a couple of compilation appearances under their belt, FJAAK can look back on a large discography (compared to their still relatively young ages) that packs quite a punch.
Easily moving through House, Techno, Rave, Ambient & Breakbeat, one can only wonder what the trio will release next. The only thing guaranteed: It will always move a dancefloor. Clubs of this world are familiar with FJAAK. They’ve taken their pulverizing live show across the whole world and played in every club worth mentioning.
Published by CEUSO.
Berlin-based trio FJAAK has become a well established force in contemporary techno. With eleven singles & EPs, two albums and a couple of compilation appearances under their belt, FJAAK can look back on a large discography (compared to their still relatively young ages) that packs quite a punch.
Easily moving through House, Techno, Rave, Ambient & Breakbeat, one can only wonder what the trio will release next. The only thing guaranteed: It will always move a dancefloor. Clubs of this world are familiar with FJAAK. They’ve taken their pulverizing live show across the whole world and played in every club worth mentioning.
Published by CEUSO.
Noura Mint Seymali is a nationally beloved star and one of Mauritania’s foremost musical emissaries. In a rare merger of cultural authority and experimental prowess, Noura Mint Seymali applies the ancient musical traditions of the griot with a savvy aesthetic engagement in our contemporary moment, emerging as a powerful voice at nexus of a changing Africa.
The release of Noura’s debut album “Tzenni” 2014 launched her onto year-end top ten lists and the stages of renowned international festivals. The New York Times noted: "Noura Mint Seymali has a commanding, wide-open voice… the pentatonic melodies of her songs had something in common with the blues. But her fusion was particular and selective… She only meets American music on her own terms" and The List hailed: "Spectacular psychedelic roots music for the 21st century that skilfully carries traditional forms into the future".
In 2015, Noura was named at the African Union's first-ever AFRIMA awards as "Best Female Artist from North Africa” and in June 2016 she joined Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians for a high-profile European tour presented by Africa Express.
2016: Noura’s second album “Arbina” is now released on Glitterbeat Records. Delving deeper into the wellspring of Moorish roots, as is after all the tried and true way of the griot, the album strengthens her core sound, applying a cohesive aesthetic approach to the reinterpretation of Moorish tradition in contemporary context.
released on Glitterbeat Records
Noura Mint Seymali is a nationally beloved star and one of Mauritania’s foremost musical emissaries. In a rare merger of cultural authority and experimental prowess, Noura Mint Seymali applies the ancient musical traditions of the griot with a savvy aesthetic engagement in our contemporary moment, emerging as a powerful voice at nexus of a changing Africa.
The release of Noura’s debut album “Tzenni” 2014 launched her onto year-end top ten lists and the stages of renowned international festivals. The New York Times noted: "Noura Mint Seymali has a commanding, wide-open voice… the pentatonic melodies of her songs had something in common with the blues. But her fusion was particular and selective… She only meets American music on her own terms" and The List hailed: "Spectacular psychedelic roots music for the 21st century that skilfully carries traditional forms into the future".
In 2015, Noura was named at the African Union's first-ever AFRIMA awards as "Best Female Artist from North Africa” and in June 2016 she joined Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians for a high-profile European tour presented by Africa Express.
2016: Noura’s second album “Arbina” is now released on Glitterbeat Records. Delving deeper into the wellspring of Moorish roots, as is after all the tried and true way of the griot, the album strengthens her core sound, applying a cohesive aesthetic approach to the reinterpretation of Moorish tradition in contemporary context.
released on Glitterbeat Records
If you got a team of the greatest children’s book writers in the world together, they couldn’t invent Greenlandic folk pop singer Nive Nielsen.
A few facts about her: The first concert she ever played was for the queen of Denmark on national television; she acted in the Hollywood movie The New World starring Colin Farrell; and she actually is Inuit — well, Inuk — an indigenous Greenlander. Also, it’s daylight all summer where she lives.
A few more facts: She plays a little red ukulele in a band called the Deer Children. She writes songs about love and reindeer and forgetting to make coffee. She won an IMA independent music award in the US, worked with Howe Gelb and John Parish and friends from such indie royalty outfits as The Black Keys and Wolf Parade. Really, I ´m not making it up.
What’s even more surprising is that her fanciful back story is matched by her own ability to tell stories or sometimes just hint at them with her warm, reedy voice. Sometimes she sings out with and old-timey quaver; sometimes she sings in a soft, childlike murmur. The songs themselves are straight out of a storybook that never was. They could be from anywhere, and they are hard to place in time. They are hummable folk melodies with a streak of vocal jazz, or cowboy ballads with an elfin side. They have a way of sticking in your mind — and not just because they were written by the only Greenlandic Inuit indie ukulele player that you can think of off hand. Snow Songs? Inuit Indie? Do check them out!
If you got a team of the greatest children’s book writers in the world together, they couldn’t invent Greenlandic folk pop singer Nive Nielsen.
A few facts about her: The first concert she ever played was for the queen of Denmark on national television; she acted in the Hollywood movie The New World starring Colin Farrell; and she actually is Inuit — well, Inuk — an indigenous Greenlander. Also, it’s daylight all summer where she lives.
A few more facts: She plays a little red ukulele in a band called the Deer Children. She writes songs about love and reindeer and forgetting to make coffee. She won an IMA independent music award in the US, worked with Howe Gelb and John Parish and friends from such indie royalty outfits as The Black Keys and Wolf Parade. Really, I ´m not making it up.
What’s even more surprising is that her fanciful back story is matched by her own ability to tell stories or sometimes just hint at them with her warm, reedy voice. Sometimes she sings out with and old-timey quaver; sometimes she sings in a soft, childlike murmur. The songs themselves are straight out of a storybook that never was. They could be from anywhere, and they are hard to place in time. They are hummable folk melodies with a streak of vocal jazz, or cowboy ballads with an elfin side. They have a way of sticking in your mind — and not just because they were written by the only Greenlandic Inuit indie ukulele player that you can think of off hand. Snow Songs? Inuit Indie? Do check them out!
London based Cristobal and the Sea have members from various European territories (including Portugal, France, Corsica and Spain) and make the kind of music to soundtrack your summer holiday. The band harnesses an altogether fluid, rhythmic and exquisitely melodic energy as colourful and enigmatic as their band name, forged from different strands of DNA, primarily bossa-nova, Afro-pop and Western folk and rock.
Their new album "Exitoca" is a trip into an alternative reality where humans care for each other and the environment, value sensual experiences and dance their troubles away. The title is a reference to the escapist dreams from the 50s and 60s of American couples and their desire to move to an uncomplicated pacific paradise. Cristobal and the Sea's ‘Exitoca’ is the attempt to free that dreamer movement from the grips of it’s privileged background and reclaim it for those who need it most now
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
London based Cristobal and the Sea have members from various European territories (including Portugal, France, Corsica and Spain) and make the kind of music to soundtrack your summer holiday. The band harnesses an altogether fluid, rhythmic and exquisitely melodic energy as colourful and enigmatic as their band name, forged from different strands of DNA, primarily bossa-nova, Afro-pop and Western folk and rock.
Their new album "Exitoca" is a trip into an alternative reality where humans care for each other and the environment, value sensual experiences and dance their troubles away. The title is a reference to the escapist dreams from the 50s and 60s of American couples and their desire to move to an uncomplicated pacific paradise. Cristobal and the Sea's ‘Exitoca’ is the attempt to free that dreamer movement from the grips of it’s privileged background and reclaim it for those who need it most now
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
The GET WELL SOON albums
- Rest Now Weary Head
- Vexations
- Against The Glaciation
are published by CEUSO Music, released on City Slang
The GET WELL SOON albums
- Rest Now Weary Head
- Vexations
- Against The Glaciation
are published by CEUSO Music, released on City Slang
sir Was is the musical journey of Joel Waestberg hailing from Sweden, documenting a wealth of unique and idiosyncratic influences. His scandi hip-hop vibes expertly combine indie pop, soul, and hip-hop elements into an easygoing midtempo groove.
The sir Was “sound” is built around supple grooves, is strangely haunting and yet inexplicably exhilarating, voices ricocheting off one another as they address loneliness, its solution and the requisite compromises. A jam session of Beck, David Crosby, J Dilla and D’Angelo might not sound much different to this yet unheard style. The unorthodox and exceptional approach of the recluse Swedish producer delivers one of the most exciting debut records of the spring.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
sir Was is the musical journey of Joel Waestberg hailing from Sweden, documenting a wealth of unique and idiosyncratic influences. His scandi hip-hop vibes expertly combine indie pop, soul, and hip-hop elements into an easygoing midtempo groove.
The sir Was “sound” is built around supple grooves, is strangely haunting and yet inexplicably exhilarating, voices ricocheting off one another as they address loneliness, its solution and the requisite compromises. A jam session of Beck, David Crosby, J Dilla and D’Angelo might not sound much different to this yet unheard style. The unorthodox and exceptional approach of the recluse Swedish producer delivers one of the most exciting debut records of the spring.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Toby Dammit is an American producer, composer and percussionist. He has often been credited as Larry Mullins, his adopted name. He is currently performing live as drummer with Iggy and The Stooges and Silver Apples. In 2015 he began performing live as multi-keyboardist with Nick Cave.
A glance at some other artists he’s worked with: Bertrand Burgalat, Keren Ann, Ryan Adams, The Residents, Stephan Eicher, Katharina Frank, Mark Eitzel, Johnny Depp, Devendra Banhart, SWANS… showing an extraordinary path cut by this world traveler.
Mr. Dammit was trained as a classical percussionist as a child in East Tennessee. Since leaving those mountains, he’s performed in 35 countries and made over 70 albums as a musician, producer, composer, writer and collaborator. His work on numerous feature films both Stateside and in Europe was highlighted with the premier of Johnny Depp’s "The Brave" at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.
His filmscore “Apple Jack” was recorded in New York with a 1930’s-style 21-piece orchestra, a hillbilly band, and sci-fi electronics. “Apple Jack” follows a pair of unique instrumental duet albums: first “Karny Sutra” – with remarkable organist/pianist Luther Hawkins, and second “Morphosa Harmonia” – with Thomas Wydler, veteran drummer of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.
Toby Dammit is an American producer, composer and percussionist. He has often been credited as Larry Mullins, his adopted name. He is currently performing live as drummer with Iggy and The Stooges and Silver Apples. In 2015 he began performing live as multi-keyboardist with Nick Cave.
A glance at some other artists he’s worked with: Bertrand Burgalat, Keren Ann, Ryan Adams, The Residents, Stephan Eicher, Katharina Frank, Mark Eitzel, Johnny Depp, Devendra Banhart, SWANS… showing an extraordinary path cut by this world traveler.
Mr. Dammit was trained as a classical percussionist as a child in East Tennessee. Since leaving those mountains, he’s performed in 35 countries and made over 70 albums as a musician, producer, composer, writer and collaborator. His work on numerous feature films both Stateside and in Europe was highlighted with the premier of Johnny Depp’s "The Brave" at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.
His filmscore “Apple Jack” was recorded in New York with a 1930’s-style 21-piece orchestra, a hillbilly band, and sci-fi electronics. “Apple Jack” follows a pair of unique instrumental duet albums: first “Karny Sutra” – with remarkable organist/pianist Luther Hawkins, and second “Morphosa Harmonia” – with Thomas Wydler, veteran drummer of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.
Strangers to the touring life refer to it as “living the dream,” while generally the ones actually doing the touring see it more as living in a dream. The difference is subtle to the uninitiated, yet is intimate to Nate Brenner, AKA Naytronix, who has spent much of the past four years touring the world as bassist for the mighty tUnE-yArDs. Consider Naytronix’s second full-length, Mister Divine (2015, City Slang), his treatise on the subject, which sees him turning from the disjointedly funky party dance anthems of his debut Dirty Glow (2012, Plug Research) to a surrealist stream of consciousness poignancy.
Conceived in tour buses, hotel suites, and basement studios initially as fodder for DJ sets, Mister Divine is the feeling of déjà vu between delirious post-show fevers and the road-torn sleep through the night on the way to the next city, driving the circumference of the Earth in nine weeks, dreams of Pangea, of forever ago and infinity from now. Imagine: impossibly, and without the recollection of flying, you’re in Europe with tour manager DJ Fitz at the wheel maniacally driving a silver Mercedes Sprinter through the pre-dawn to catch the first P&O ferry to Belgium, to Spain, to Sweden. There is Dur Dur on the stereo, is William Onyeabor, Khaira Arby, and Dizzy K, is compilations and mixtapes of unknown origin and content. This too is a dream, and tomorrow you’re starting over, another opportunity to bask in the irrelevance of the present moment, “all we have,” while keeping one eye on the future and one on the past.
Naytronix’s music is the key to this, as if the slipstream of time that our lives drag on behind could be cross-cut, altogether avoided, or drafted and overtaken. The expression of this for Brenner is simplicity. The intricate and wide-spanning production of his debut is cinched tight as a racing foil as he goes back to where it all started: his bass, his voice, the secrets of drum machines and dreams, narrowing down his songwriting style to focus on narrative and cohesive arrangements, the Song. The result was hours of music not likely to see the light of day, tracks taken to the chopping block at the now iconic Oakland studio New, Improved Recording with friend, collaborator, and guitarist Mark Allen-Piccolo. He and Brenner, along with percussionist Robert Lopez, sculpted nine songs into something resembling a compact trio album, which was then filled out with sounds and textures from fellow Oberlin Conservatory family members Matt Nelson and Noah Bernstein (tUnE-yArDs saxophones) and synth master blaster Michael Coleman (Beep!).
Brenner has digested a lot in the three years since introducing this world to Naytronix. tUnE-yArDs has turned into something of a perpetual motion machine, taking him to far corners of the Earth, as well as Carnegie Hall and the TV sets of Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jools Holland, and Austin City Limits. He did some recording and performing with music royalty Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, got to collab and learn from Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda, and even found some time to take the Naytronix band around the US and across the Atlantic from London to Istanbul. And while his music keeps its characteristic reflection of the ‘70s of Onyeabor and Bootsy Collins, there is too a new face of the sincerity and vulnerability of the ‘70s of Arthur Russell he shows here amid the psychedelia, as if wishing to land the Naytronix Mothership down to stay with us for a bit. Brenner returns to his adopted hometown Oakland (he’s originally from Bloomington, IN) to find friends lost one by one to the allure of New York City in “Living in a Magazine.” On the track “Back in Time,” he grapples with a fleeting youth, crooning, “Time is tricky ‘cause you only get a single play, not like a record you can throw on every single day.” As music and life become one for the touring musician living (in) the dream, the line between plays and days gets more and more blurred. And in the Naytronix dreamland, no one’s there to dictate which is which.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Strangers to the touring life refer to it as “living the dream,” while generally the ones actually doing the touring see it more as living in a dream. The difference is subtle to the uninitiated, yet is intimate to Nate Brenner, AKA Naytronix, who has spent much of the past four years touring the world as bassist for the mighty tUnE-yArDs. Consider Naytronix’s second full-length, Mister Divine (2015, City Slang), his treatise on the subject, which sees him turning from the disjointedly funky party dance anthems of his debut Dirty Glow (2012, Plug Research) to a surrealist stream of consciousness poignancy.
Conceived in tour buses, hotel suites, and basement studios initially as fodder for DJ sets, Mister Divine is the feeling of déjà vu between delirious post-show fevers and the road-torn sleep through the night on the way to the next city, driving the circumference of the Earth in nine weeks, dreams of Pangea, of forever ago and infinity from now. Imagine: impossibly, and without the recollection of flying, you’re in Europe with tour manager DJ Fitz at the wheel maniacally driving a silver Mercedes Sprinter through the pre-dawn to catch the first P&O ferry to Belgium, to Spain, to Sweden. There is Dur Dur on the stereo, is William Onyeabor, Khaira Arby, and Dizzy K, is compilations and mixtapes of unknown origin and content. This too is a dream, and tomorrow you’re starting over, another opportunity to bask in the irrelevance of the present moment, “all we have,” while keeping one eye on the future and one on the past.
Naytronix’s music is the key to this, as if the slipstream of time that our lives drag on behind could be cross-cut, altogether avoided, or drafted and overtaken. The expression of this for Brenner is simplicity. The intricate and wide-spanning production of his debut is cinched tight as a racing foil as he goes back to where it all started: his bass, his voice, the secrets of drum machines and dreams, narrowing down his songwriting style to focus on narrative and cohesive arrangements, the Song. The result was hours of music not likely to see the light of day, tracks taken to the chopping block at the now iconic Oakland studio New, Improved Recording with friend, collaborator, and guitarist Mark Allen-Piccolo. He and Brenner, along with percussionist Robert Lopez, sculpted nine songs into something resembling a compact trio album, which was then filled out with sounds and textures from fellow Oberlin Conservatory family members Matt Nelson and Noah Bernstein (tUnE-yArDs saxophones) and synth master blaster Michael Coleman (Beep!).
Brenner has digested a lot in the three years since introducing this world to Naytronix. tUnE-yArDs has turned into something of a perpetual motion machine, taking him to far corners of the Earth, as well as Carnegie Hall and the TV sets of Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jools Holland, and Austin City Limits. He did some recording and performing with music royalty Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, got to collab and learn from Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda, and even found some time to take the Naytronix band around the US and across the Atlantic from London to Istanbul. And while his music keeps its characteristic reflection of the ‘70s of Onyeabor and Bootsy Collins, there is too a new face of the sincerity and vulnerability of the ‘70s of Arthur Russell he shows here amid the psychedelia, as if wishing to land the Naytronix Mothership down to stay with us for a bit. Brenner returns to his adopted hometown Oakland (he’s originally from Bloomington, IN) to find friends lost one by one to the allure of New York City in “Living in a Magazine.” On the track “Back in Time,” he grapples with a fleeting youth, crooning, “Time is tricky ‘cause you only get a single play, not like a record you can throw on every single day.” As music and life become one for the touring musician living (in) the dream, the line between plays and days gets more and more blurred. And in the Naytronix dreamland, no one’s there to dictate which is which.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
It didn't take long for THE ROUGHNECKS to become one of Germany's best loved and well known rockabilly bands. Formed in 1985, they toured Europe extensively for the next three years until their split in 1988. A decade later they reformed and released Crash, a critically acclaimed second album. Six years later the demand for the band still remained strong, as a short, sold out European tour at the end of 2004 proved. The release of The Real Deal, a compilation of vinyl only releases from the 80s (alongside other bonus tracks) also confirmed their legendary status.
THE ROUGHNECKS dare to add their own spices to their home made gumbo: blues, country, beat and garage flavour their rockabilly stew. It's rough, ready and raw, rock 'n' roll at its purest and most visceral. Memorably described as Fat Boy Slim meeting Johnny Burnette playing Lee Hazlewood songs whilst jamming with Metallica, these guys have a unique pedigree all their own…
Discography
Saddle Soap (7" single) 1985
Hard Times (EP) 1986
Stop, Look And Listen (LP) 1987
v/a compilation Psycho Attack Over Europe "Take A Look" & "Hard Times" (CD)1991
v/a compilation It Came From Hell "True To You" (CD) 1999
v/a compilation Down To The Promised Land "Going Home" (2xCD) 2002
Crash (CD) 2000
The Real Deal (CD) 2003
It didn't take long for THE ROUGHNECKS to become one of Germany's best loved and well known rockabilly bands. Formed in 1985, they toured Europe extensively for the next three years until their split in 1988. A decade later they reformed and released Crash, a critically acclaimed second album. Six years later the demand for the band still remained strong, as a short, sold out European tour at the end of 2004 proved. The release of The Real Deal, a compilation of vinyl only releases from the 80s (alongside other bonus tracks) also confirmed their legendary status.
THE ROUGHNECKS dare to add their own spices to their home made gumbo: blues, country, beat and garage flavour their rockabilly stew. It's rough, ready and raw, rock 'n' roll at its purest and most visceral. Memorably described as Fat Boy Slim meeting Johnny Burnette playing Lee Hazlewood songs whilst jamming with Metallica, these guys have a unique pedigree all their own…
Discography
Saddle Soap (7" single) 1985
Hard Times (EP) 1986
Stop, Look And Listen (LP) 1987
v/a compilation Psycho Attack Over Europe "Take A Look" & "Hard Times" (CD)1991
v/a compilation It Came From Hell "True To You" (CD) 1999
v/a compilation Down To The Promised Land "Going Home" (2xCD) 2002
Crash (CD) 2000
The Real Deal (CD) 2003
Named after their bandleader, Ben Zabo, they are about to release their self-titled debut album, full of funky and gritty tunes, wonderful musicianship, and songs of peace and hope that could not be more timely or necessary. The album is also a testament to the lesser-known culture of the Bwa people; it is the first international release of a Malian of Bo descendant with all songs in the Bo language and rhythms.
Born into nobility in 1979 in the Segou region of Mali, Ben (real name Arouna Moussa Coulibaly) chose music as a career because of his passion but against the wishes of his parents who wanted him to pursue a career as a pharmacist.
In 2007, whilst trying to establish himself as a guitarist, singer and songwriter, Ben also started working as an assistant sound engineer at the famous Studio Bogolan in Bamako. It was in this studio that he first met Peter Weber from Glitterhouse Records, and Chris Eckman, American music producer, leader of acclaimed US band The Walkabouts, member of Dirtmusic, and collaborator with Willard Grant Conspiracy and many other bands. Weber and Eckman were at the studio on several occasions, to record Tamikrest’s albums ‚Adagh‘ and ‚Toumastin‘, Dirtmusic’s ‚BKO‘ and the late Lobi Traore?’s ‚Rainy Season Blues‘. They were blown away by Ben’s enthusiasm, drive and talent. Weber agreed to record and distribute Ben Zabo’s debut album for the international market, with Eckman producing it, again at Studio Bogolan.
Ben Zabo and his band have a mission which they intend to accomplish through their music. It is to promote their Bo culture at a national, African and international level with music, dance and Bwa traditional apparel. The name „Ben Zabo“ means „son of Bo and Bambara“ in Bomu etymology, evoking his belonging to the double cultural identity Bambara and Bo. While perpetuating the traditions of his native Bwatun, Ben Zabo developed a mixed style of rhythms and melodies of Bwa in which one can detect sounds and influences from other modern and western musical styles: Afrobeat, funk, reggae, blues, rock and even jazz. With modern instruments and musical arrangements that highlight his intimate songs, his music is also enriched with Malian instruments such as balafon, tama and the ara’o bara, etc.
Ben Zabo’s songs are mostly written and sung in Bomu, his mother tongue. In his compositions, Ben Zabo develops themes relating to social values such as brotherly love, peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity, work and good governance. All of those are for him sustainable human development factors, which remain the only guarantee of integrity and social cohesion.
released on Glitterbeat
Named after their bandleader, Ben Zabo, they are about to release their self-titled debut album, full of funky and gritty tunes, wonderful musicianship, and songs of peace and hope that could not be more timely or necessary. The album is also a testament to the lesser-known culture of the Bwa people; it is the first international release of a Malian of Bo descendant with all songs in the Bo language and rhythms.
Born into nobility in 1979 in the Segou region of Mali, Ben (real name Arouna Moussa Coulibaly) chose music as a career because of his passion but against the wishes of his parents who wanted him to pursue a career as a pharmacist.
In 2007, whilst trying to establish himself as a guitarist, singer and songwriter, Ben also started working as an assistant sound engineer at the famous Studio Bogolan in Bamako. It was in this studio that he first met Peter Weber from Glitterhouse Records, and Chris Eckman, American music producer, leader of acclaimed US band The Walkabouts, member of Dirtmusic, and collaborator with Willard Grant Conspiracy and many other bands. Weber and Eckman were at the studio on several occasions, to record Tamikrest’s albums ‚Adagh‘ and ‚Toumastin‘, Dirtmusic’s ‚BKO‘ and the late Lobi Traore?’s ‚Rainy Season Blues‘. They were blown away by Ben’s enthusiasm, drive and talent. Weber agreed to record and distribute Ben Zabo’s debut album for the international market, with Eckman producing it, again at Studio Bogolan.
Ben Zabo and his band have a mission which they intend to accomplish through their music. It is to promote their Bo culture at a national, African and international level with music, dance and Bwa traditional apparel. The name „Ben Zabo“ means „son of Bo and Bambara“ in Bomu etymology, evoking his belonging to the double cultural identity Bambara and Bo. While perpetuating the traditions of his native Bwatun, Ben Zabo developed a mixed style of rhythms and melodies of Bwa in which one can detect sounds and influences from other modern and western musical styles: Afrobeat, funk, reggae, blues, rock and even jazz. With modern instruments and musical arrangements that highlight his intimate songs, his music is also enriched with Malian instruments such as balafon, tama and the ara’o bara, etc.
Ben Zabo’s songs are mostly written and sung in Bomu, his mother tongue. In his compositions, Ben Zabo develops themes relating to social values such as brotherly love, peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity, work and good governance. All of those are for him sustainable human development factors, which remain the only guarantee of integrity and social cohesion.
released on Glitterbeat
Allround composer, producer, conductor, actor, mastermind behind many projects.
Currently working for a musical in Havanna.
Allround composer, producer, conductor, actor, mastermind behind many projects.
Currently working for a musical in Havanna.
Stereo de Luxe are two Berlin producers, guitarist Tom Krimi and writer/DJ Kassi. Together they collaborate intermittently with various singers and musicians including vocal-juggler Hartmut Lippstueck, Agent Annie and Sol. They produce a tight, highly polished, funky and somehow very fancy sound.
Their songs have been used quite often in TV commercials all over the world.
If you like your grooves slightly warped and a bit strange, then you will love this.
Stereo de Luxe are two Berlin producers, guitarist Tom Krimi and writer/DJ Kassi. Together they collaborate intermittently with various singers and musicians including vocal-juggler Hartmut Lippstueck, Agent Annie and Sol. They produce a tight, highly polished, funky and somehow very fancy sound.
Their songs have been used quite often in TV commercials all over the world.
If you like your grooves slightly warped and a bit strange, then you will love this.
A breathless, adrenaline-fuelled, amphetamine-spiked burst of punk rock spleen colliding with a fascination for the hypnotic motorik rhythms of so-called Krautrock and the textures of pure noise: that's BEAUTIFUL NEW BORN CHILDREN (even if that sentence lasted longer than most of their songs).
This is the filthiest, dirtiest, ugliest rock and roll mess heard in years. This is Raw Power, careering recklessly between MC5, The Buzzcocks, The Stooges and The Jesus & Mary Chain. Played with the kind of intensity that suggests their fingers are bleeding by the end of each and every song, BEAUTIFUL NEW BORN CHILDREN are as exciting and primal a band as you are likely to hear.
A breathless, adrenaline-fuelled, amphetamine-spiked burst of punk rock spleen colliding with a fascination for the hypnotic motorik rhythms of so-called Krautrock and the textures of pure noise: that's BEAUTIFUL NEW BORN CHILDREN (even if that sentence lasted longer than most of their songs).
This is the filthiest, dirtiest, ugliest rock and roll mess heard in years. This is Raw Power, careering recklessly between MC5, The Buzzcocks, The Stooges and The Jesus & Mary Chain. Played with the kind of intensity that suggests their fingers are bleeding by the end of each and every song, BEAUTIFUL NEW BORN CHILDREN are as exciting and primal a band as you are likely to hear.
PAT C moved from Brazil to Germany in 1989 and back again in 2007. Hearing her breezy and sultry tones, it won't be much of a surprise to learn that it was love that inspired her to cross the globe from Belo Horizonte to Berlin, home of arguably Europe's most vibrant contemporary culture right now.
Her new home has helped PAT C develop and refine her style, exposing her to new and exciting musicians, producers and friends. The fruits of these relationships have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums that have seen her profile soar, especially in Japan. Working with a variety of local artists and producers - Arling & Cameron, Le Hammond Inferno, Maxwell Implosion and Stereo Deluxe amongst others - as well as musicians from her homeland and Japan (Fantastic Plastic Machine, for instance), her sophisticated blend of contemporary electronic production with uniquely stylish and charming vocals is instantly uplifting and summery.
The results exhibit a variety of influences - from disco to bossa, from club pop to tropical-tinged jazz, all enhanced by a knowing, retro flavour. PAT C's exotic voice, meanwhile, coupled with her natural beauty and laidback vibe, make her a natural star. It's little wonder, therefore, that her music has been used in so many films and commercials.
PAT C moved from Brazil to Germany in 1989 and back again in 2007. Hearing her breezy and sultry tones, it won't be much of a surprise to learn that it was love that inspired her to cross the globe from Belo Horizonte to Berlin, home of arguably Europe's most vibrant contemporary culture right now.
Her new home has helped PAT C develop and refine her style, exposing her to new and exciting musicians, producers and friends. The fruits of these relationships have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums that have seen her profile soar, especially in Japan. Working with a variety of local artists and producers - Arling & Cameron, Le Hammond Inferno, Maxwell Implosion and Stereo Deluxe amongst others - as well as musicians from her homeland and Japan (Fantastic Plastic Machine, for instance), her sophisticated blend of contemporary electronic production with uniquely stylish and charming vocals is instantly uplifting and summery.
The results exhibit a variety of influences - from disco to bossa, from club pop to tropical-tinged jazz, all enhanced by a knowing, retro flavour. PAT C's exotic voice, meanwhile, coupled with her natural beauty and laidback vibe, make her a natural star. It's little wonder, therefore, that her music has been used in so many films and commercials.
Spring 2010 saw the demise of Port O'Brien , and founding member/front man Van Pierszalowski needed a break from the hectic, wonderful mess that is touring. He stumbled into respite in Oslo, Norway, and spent some time away from making music. Van explored the new city, swam in the Norwegian fjords, enjoyed the weather and the experience of seasons changing. He found his bearings and fell in love again.
Inspiration arrived and as he wrote, Van was compelled to fuel the process further by changing his environment once more. He spent most of the next year traveling: to Alaska, where he’d spent summers working on his father’s commercial salmon fishing boat; to California, where he’d grown up in a seaside town off Highway 1; and eventually to New York, where in Brooklyn he endured relentless blizzards and a cold nearly reminiscent of Oslo.
Van gave his new project a name: WATERS . These new songs he wrote veered away from the frequently loose, punchy anthems of Port O’Brien, and as he intensively pieced each one together, he sought a bigger sound – something louder than he could play on his own. So Van returned to Oslo, where his new journey had begun. He put together a band of fine Norwegian gentlemen and spent every day of the next two months rehearsing in a small practice space outside of the city.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Spring 2010 saw the demise of Port O'Brien , and founding member/front man Van Pierszalowski needed a break from the hectic, wonderful mess that is touring. He stumbled into respite in Oslo, Norway, and spent some time away from making music. Van explored the new city, swam in the Norwegian fjords, enjoyed the weather and the experience of seasons changing. He found his bearings and fell in love again.
Inspiration arrived and as he wrote, Van was compelled to fuel the process further by changing his environment once more. He spent most of the next year traveling: to Alaska, where he’d spent summers working on his father’s commercial salmon fishing boat; to California, where he’d grown up in a seaside town off Highway 1; and eventually to New York, where in Brooklyn he endured relentless blizzards and a cold nearly reminiscent of Oslo.
Van gave his new project a name: WATERS . These new songs he wrote veered away from the frequently loose, punchy anthems of Port O’Brien, and as he intensively pieced each one together, he sought a bigger sound – something louder than he could play on his own. So Van returned to Oslo, where his new journey had begun. He put together a band of fine Norwegian gentlemen and spent every day of the next two months rehearsing in a small practice space outside of the city.
Published by CEUSO, released on City Slang
Brooklyn's O'Death feature six members who can lead a straight-up hoot-nanny full of boot-stomping "goth-folk-country" songs. These good ol' boys use fiddles, guitars, ukuleles, banjos, and trombones to get their rockin' uproar started. They list some of their influences as being "whiskey" and "Appalachian mountain music," which is very accurate, but I also hear Neil Young, especially in Greg Jamie's vocals, The Birthday Party or The Pogues. O'Death's music is strange and scruffy and fun.
If you've ever gone to a bodega and have at least been tempted to reach into the cooler for the Mississippi Mud, then O'Death is the band for you. And it certainly helps if you like the fiddle. All this is skillfull assembled on their album "Head Home", released in Summer 2007.
Brooklyn's O'Death feature six members who can lead a straight-up hoot-nanny full of boot-stomping "goth-folk-country" songs. These good ol' boys use fiddles, guitars, ukuleles, banjos, and trombones to get their rockin' uproar started. They list some of their influences as being "whiskey" and "Appalachian mountain music," which is very accurate, but I also hear Neil Young, especially in Greg Jamie's vocals, The Birthday Party or The Pogues. O'Death's music is strange and scruffy and fun.
If you've ever gone to a bodega and have at least been tempted to reach into the cooler for the Mississippi Mud, then O'Death is the band for you. And it certainly helps if you like the fiddle. All this is skillfull assembled on their album "Head Home", released in Summer 2007.
ROYAL BANGS is five electric gents from Knoxville, Tennessee, sentinel of the Smoky Mountains and sometime exporter of baked beans and sunny guitar pop. Home to a prolific but unsung underground music community, it is a city that keeps its secrets, but over the past few years ROYAL BANGS has become a hard, hard secret to keep.??Frontman Ryan Schaefer, drummer Chris Rusk and guitarist Sam Stratton have been making music together (under ROYAL BANGS and various other guises) since their high school days, which stretched into their college days, which stretched all the way into 2006, when they home-recorded and self-released their breakthrough album We Breed Champions. The record's potent noise-pop wormed its way into hearts throughout the southeastern US before finding its way to Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, whose correspondence with the band led to We Breed Champions' reissue on his own Audio Eagle Records in May 2008.??In the meantime ROYAL BANGS went on hiatus as Schaefer spent a year in France, soaking up Euro dance music and entitlement culture while penning the early stages of a follow-up; after his return to the South, the band (with new additions Henry Gibson and Branon Biondo, filling the hole of amicable but road-averse departures) took the promotion of a brand-new, two-year-old record as an opportunity to refine their live show. The result has been an incessant touring schedule, including stops at Bonnaroo, SXSW and the New American Music festival as well as a stint opening for the Black Keys in the fall of 2008.?
In February of 2009, on the eve of City Slang Records' well-received European release of We Breed Champions, ROYAL BANGS traveled to Tangerine Sound studios in Akron, Ohio to record its long-awaited follow-up. The resulting Let It Beep finds the band's sound looking more than ever in two seemingly conflicting directions: an increased emphasis on the electronic -- from spastic, syrup-thick synths to dancy drum programming nearly accomplished enough to keep up with Rusk himself -- coupled with earnest echoes of fervid 70s rock legends like Springsteen and Thin Lizzy. But the core of their sound, rooted in the indie rock renaissance and Schaefer's hook-heavy arrangements, embraces both tendencies without allowing them to diverge, and the result is an album that might be described as both challenging and accessible if "pure goddamn fun" weren't around to cover both bases at once.??
Published by CEUSO.
ROYAL BANGS is five electric gents from Knoxville, Tennessee, sentinel of the Smoky Mountains and sometime exporter of baked beans and sunny guitar pop. Home to a prolific but unsung underground music community, it is a city that keeps its secrets, but over the past few years ROYAL BANGS has become a hard, hard secret to keep.??Frontman Ryan Schaefer, drummer Chris Rusk and guitarist Sam Stratton have been making music together (under ROYAL BANGS and various other guises) since their high school days, which stretched into their college days, which stretched all the way into 2006, when they home-recorded and self-released their breakthrough album We Breed Champions. The record's potent noise-pop wormed its way into hearts throughout the southeastern US before finding its way to Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, whose correspondence with the band led to We Breed Champions' reissue on his own Audio Eagle Records in May 2008.??In the meantime ROYAL BANGS went on hiatus as Schaefer spent a year in France, soaking up Euro dance music and entitlement culture while penning the early stages of a follow-up; after his return to the South, the band (with new additions Henry Gibson and Branon Biondo, filling the hole of amicable but road-averse departures) took the promotion of a brand-new, two-year-old record as an opportunity to refine their live show. The result has been an incessant touring schedule, including stops at Bonnaroo, SXSW and the New American Music festival as well as a stint opening for the Black Keys in the fall of 2008.?
In February of 2009, on the eve of City Slang Records' well-received European release of We Breed Champions, ROYAL BANGS traveled to Tangerine Sound studios in Akron, Ohio to record its long-awaited follow-up. The resulting Let It Beep finds the band's sound looking more than ever in two seemingly conflicting directions: an increased emphasis on the electronic -- from spastic, syrup-thick synths to dancy drum programming nearly accomplished enough to keep up with Rusk himself -- coupled with earnest echoes of fervid 70s rock legends like Springsteen and Thin Lizzy. But the core of their sound, rooted in the indie rock renaissance and Schaefer's hook-heavy arrangements, embraces both tendencies without allowing them to diverge, and the result is an album that might be described as both challenging and accessible if "pure goddamn fun" weren't around to cover both bases at once.??
Published by CEUSO.
Crocodiles have existed in various incarnations since 2008, evolving from the original core of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell into the five-piece we see today. With two previous albums, 2009’s Summer Of Hate and 2010’s Sleep Forever , the band garnered righteous praise for their intoxicating blend of scuzzy, surfy, lo-fi noise pop and their thrilling live shows. But, finding themselves having to make a hasty exit from their San Diego hometown last spring, they headed to Europe, landing in Berlin to rehearse and record their superb third album, Endless Flowers .
Published by CEUSO.
Crocodiles have existed in various incarnations since 2008, evolving from the original core of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell into the five-piece we see today. With two previous albums, 2009’s Summer Of Hate and 2010’s Sleep Forever , the band garnered righteous praise for their intoxicating blend of scuzzy, surfy, lo-fi noise pop and their thrilling live shows. But, finding themselves having to make a hasty exit from their San Diego hometown last spring, they headed to Europe, landing in Berlin to rehearse and record their superb third album, Endless Flowers .
Published by CEUSO.
A groove machine, yet an organic band - Mina have released one acclaimed album, "Kryptonite" in 1999. Masha, Norman, Christoph and Hannes are from Berlin. And they're young. Classic alternative rock music was part of their upbringing as well as modern DJ club culture. Thus it comes as no surprise that Mina are capable of welding two different musical directions together into one homogenic mixture, which has always been dogmatically seperated in the past. Music, telling great stories without the use of words. Instrumental epics in pop formats, way too shiny and clear for indoor consumption.
A groove machine, yet an organic band - Mina have released one acclaimed album, "Kryptonite" in 1999. Masha, Norman, Christoph and Hannes are from Berlin. And they're young. Classic alternative rock music was part of their upbringing as well as modern DJ club culture. Thus it comes as no surprise that Mina are capable of welding two different musical directions together into one homogenic mixture, which has always been dogmatically seperated in the past. Music, telling great stories without the use of words. Instrumental epics in pop formats, way too shiny and clear for indoor consumption.
Two DJs from Berlin with only a few wild-style 12"s on their discography. BUT, a Nike commercial as well as remixes for Saint Etienne, Pizzicato Five, Herbert Grönemeyer and Andreas Dorau (amongst others) have created such a buzz around them that their debut album is more than hotly anticipated. Beyond any categorization but always way ahead of any trends...
Two DJs from Berlin with only a few wild-style 12"s on their discography. BUT, a Nike commercial as well as remixes for Saint Etienne, Pizzicato Five, Herbert Grönemeyer and Andreas Dorau (amongst others) have created such a buzz around them that their debut album is more than hotly anticipated. Beyond any categorization but always way ahead of any trends...