On June 11th, independent groove label Sdban Records will release Utopic Cities: Progressive Jazz in Belgium 1968-1979 featuring twelve essential compositions from a highly creative period in Belgian jazz. The release follows Sdban’s critically acclaimed Let’s Get Swinging: Modern Jazz in Belgium 1950-1970, released back in 2017.
Utopic Cities is an eclectic selection of forward-thinking jazz from the Belgian underground, including the left-field fusion of Marc Moulin’s Placebo, Koen De Bruyne and Solis Lacus; the intense post-bop of Jacques Pelzer and Lou MacConnell; the cutting edge soul jazz of Philip Catherine and Open Sky Unit or the otherworldly avant-garde of Babs Robert and the Brussels Art Quintet. Recorded in the aftermath of the revolutionary year 1968, this music is the fruit of a highly creative momentum in Belgian jazz history that produced a unique sound which distinguishes itself from its American source of inspiration by an indefinable characteristic that can be hardly better described than ‘Belgian’.
TRACKLIST
A1. Placebo – S.U.S. A2. Solis Lacus – Utopic Cities A3. Open Sky Unit – Open Sky A4. Brussels Art Quintet – Vas-y Voir B1. Koen De Bruyne – Pathetic Dreams B2. Raphaël – Archangelo C1. Philip Catherine – Memphis Talk C2. Jacques & Micheline Pelzer Quartet – Face Reality C3. The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band – Sakara D1. Marc Moulin – Tohubohu pt. I D2. Babs Robert – Pro Forma I D3. Lou MacConnell – Naima
Sdban will release Utopic Cities on June 11th, 2021
Next Wave Acid Punx is a 38 track journey across nearly 40 years of dark club music compiled and curated by Berlin-based Musician and DJ, Luca Venezia aka Curses.
Inviting friends with a like-minded affection for an 80s rooted sound, and diving deep into his record collection, Curses has put together a three CD/double vinyl set that takes us from music by Colourbox and Suicide to EBM pioneers, Front 242 through to recent club hits from Zombies in Miami, and 12 brand new, totally exclusive tracks from the likes of Shubostar, Chinaski, and Curses himself.
Exploring the darker side of club music, Next Wave Acid Punx traces decades of a musical passion and joins the dots between the EBM, New Beat, Italo and Acid House tracks of the 1980s to present music of today.
Stream Curses’s “Discipline”
TRACKLIST
Chapter 1. Origins
1. Borghesia – Z.M.R. 2. Gina X Performance – Kaddish 3. Suicide – Wild In Blue (2005 Remaster) 4. Demolition Group – You Better Stay Alive 5. A Split Second – Flesh 6. BPM AM – Come To Me (Vocal Version) 7. Ted Milton – Love Is Like A Violēnce 8. Front 242 – Funkhadafi 9. Colourbox – Fast Dump 10. Yello – Lost Again (Extended Dance Version) 11. Mystery – Mystery Girl (Club Mix Remastered) 12. In-D – Virgin In-D Sky’s 13. Judy Torres – No Reason To Cry (Instrumental) 14. Hard Corps – Porte Bonheur (Lucky Charm) 2021
Chapter 2. Break A Sweat
1. Moderna & Theus Mago – Francesca (Wild At Heart) 2. Middle Sky Boom feat. Eliezer – Slow With The Run (Il Est Vilaine Remix) 3. Tiempo De Maldad – Maxico (Alvee Remix) 4. Zombies In Miami – El Wild 5. Moscoman – Fernandez 6. Juan Maclean feat. Fantastic Twins – She’s Breaking Up 7. Damon Jee & Darlyn Vlys – Kronos (Wild Mix) 8. Zakmina – Viral News 9. Radial Gaze – Totem Echoes (You Man Remix) 10. Paresse – Temple 11. Rina x Benji x Megaphonim – Ani Cham 12. Modular Project – Electronic Disco (Curses Remix)
Chapter 3. Maximum Heat
1. Curses – Discipline 2. Chinaski – Hart Und Kalt 3. Shubostar – AYA 4. Cornelius Doctor – Life In Chains 5. Mufti – Restrained 6. Amarcord – Spleen 7. Franz Scala – Shortwave Memories 8. Tronik Youth – Spirit Dancer 9. Cardopusher – Escape From Reality 10. Kendal & David Carretta – Pastaga 11. Local Suicide & Skelesys – Faster Faster 12. Pablo Bozzi – Storm in Dallas
Eskimo Recordings will release New Wave Acid Punx on June 4th, 2021.
Musique Pour La Danse presents rEAGENZ, the iconic self-titled debut album released in 1994 by the duo formed by Jonah Sharp (Spacetime Continuum) & David Moufang (Move D, Deep Space Network).
Previously only available in CD format, this sought-after album which nonetheless remains too under appreciated for our liking is finally available on double vinyl for the first time ever and has been remastered for the occasion.
Nearly 30 years after its release, rEAGENZ remains a crucial milestone of electronic music. The duo famously met at an early gig of British IDM heroes Autechre and then recorded its debut album between its respective studios in San Francisco and Heidelberg. This is a record where the sense of in betweenness is not only geographical. It is indeed a beautiful hybrid that explores the relationship between lush ambient textures and intricate IDM/techno rhythms, with striking and memorable results.
Rather than trying to fit in pre-determined templates, rEAGENZ invites you in a paradigm of its own. In these unprecedented times without access to clubs and dancefloors, this is a much needed reminder, as it is one of those albums that argues that the enjoyment of electronic music is anything but confined to the formulas and expectations of music for clubs. It’s all about diving into gorgeous and compelling soundscapes, wherever you might be listening and dancing.
Full album stream below
Musique Pour La Danse will release rEAGANZ on May 21th, 2021
The Belgian 5-headed instrumental cyclops plays two pieces from their forthcoming album “T(h)reats”.
Six years since the release of their self titled debut record, Belgium based 5 piece live band STUFF. is set to share their third album T(h)reats via Sdan Ultra.
Known for
their rhythmic sensibility and curious melody, the quintet weave together a
futuristic soundsphere where electronic wind instruments, drums, electric bass,
synthesizers and turntables combine with Pollock-like abandon, creating a style
that while heavy on groove has enormous depth and intrigue.
The band’s
third studio album, ‘T(h)reats’, takes inspiration from a series of explosive
live shows in 2019 and is a reaction to the current situation we find ourselves
in; art and music can be a treat in these strange and uncertain times.
“After hours of talking, philosophizing and fantasizing about what the new
approach of the record could be, nothing concrete came up. Then we just started
making music to see where we’d end up like we’ve always done. As a result, in
this day and age, with this group of people … this is what happened,”
says the band.
From the
warped, off-beat rhythms of ‘Cigogne’ and harmonic weirdness of ‘Honu’ to the
deep space funk of ‘Cumulus’, where mutated drum patterns and vivid
atmospherics loop together in a bold adventure into sound, STUFF. flex their
muscular rhythm across ‘T(h)reats’, pushing the sound in to new dimensions.
Elsewhere, ‘OB499’ is a mesmeric mass of dark chords and uneasy bleeps while
‘Kwibus’ is a skittish fusion of stuttered beats and ambient distortions.
STUFF.
released their debut EP in 2012 and in 2014, they were invited to perform a
Boiler Room session for the prestigious global, online music broadcasting
platform, the first European live band to do so. Releasing their self-titled
debut album in 2015 to critical acclaim, a sold out tour across Europe gained
them further recognition and saw endorsements from BBC radio DJs Gilles
Peterson and Phil Taggart. The follow-up album ‘old dreams new planets’
released in 2017 topped the charts in Belgium.
STUFF. have
performed sold out shows across Europe and have gained a growing reputation for
their explosive eclectic live sets, playing over 150 shows on such diverse
stages as the North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Pukkelpop (Belgium),
Secret Garden Party (UK), Shambala festival (UK), Dimensions (Croatia) and Fusion
(Germany). The band were also personally invited by Gilles Peterson to perform
at On Blackheath, London in 2015. In 2017, in support of ‘old dreams new
planets’, STUFF. performed live sessions on Worldwide FM and Red Bull Radio.
Known for their rhythmic sensibility and curious melody, the quintet weave together a futuristic soundsphere where electronic wind instruments, drums, electric bass, synthesizers and turntables combine with Pollock-like abandon, creating a style that while heavy on groove has enormous depth and intrigue.
The band’s
third studio album, ‘T(h)reats’, takes inspiration from a series of explosive
live shows in 2019 and is a reaction to the current situation we find ourselves
in; art and music can be a treat in these strange and uncertain times.
“After hours of talking, philosophizing and fantasizing about what the new
approach of the record could be, nothing concrete came up. Then we just started
making music to see where we’d end up like we’ve always done. As a result, in
this day and age, with this group of people … this is what happened,”
says the band.
From the
warped, off-beat rhythms of ‘Cigogne’ and harmonic weirdness of ‘Honu’ to the
deep space funk of ‘Cumulus’, where mutated drum patterns and vivid
atmospherics loop together in a bold adventure into sound, STUFF. flex their
muscular rhythm across ‘T(h)reats’, pushing the sound in to new dimensions.
Elsewhere, ‘OB499’ is a mesmeric mass of dark chords and uneasy bleeps while
‘Kwibus’ is a skittish fusion of stuttered beats and ambient distortions.
STUFF.
released their debut EP in 2012 and in 2014, they were invited to perform a
Boiler Room session for the prestigious global, online music broadcasting
platform, the first European live band to do so. Releasing their self-titled
debut album in 2015 to critical acclaim, a sold out tour across Europe gained
them further recognition and saw endorsements from BBC radio DJs Gilles
Peterson and Phil Taggart. The follow-up album ‘old dreams new planets’
released in 2017 topped the charts in Belgium.
STUFF. have
performed sold out shows across Europe and have gained a growing reputation for
their explosive eclectic live sets, playing over 150 shows on such diverse
stages as the North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Pukkelpop (Belgium),
Secret Garden Party (UK), Shambala festival (UK), Dimensions (Croatia) and Fusion
(Germany). The band were also personally invited by Gilles Peterson to perform
at On Blackheath, London in 2015. In 2017, in support of ‘old dreams new
planets’, STUFF. performed live sessions on Worldwide FM and Red Bull Radio.
Sdban Ultra will release T(h)reats on May 7th, 2021.
In these trying times, where intimacy and closeness are fraught with danger, Dans Dans (Dance Dance) brings you the sound of connection, communication, passion and togetherness.
Dans Dans unites the talents of three of Belgium’s most prolific music makers in Bert Dockx (Flying Horseman), Fred ‘Lyenn’ Jacques (Lyenn, Lanegan band) and Steven Cassiers (Dez Mona, DAAU). An utterly unique musical collective, the trio are set to release new album ‘Zink’ on the 23rd April via Ghent based independent, Unday Records.
From jazz, psychedelic blues and ecstatic noir soundtracks to spacey rock ‘n’ roll, Dans Dans cut their teeth on the cool jazz café scene in Flanders, Brussels with their sensational live performances and have since gone on to become a mainstay on the flourishing Belgian musical landscape.
Releasing their self-produced, eponymous debut album back in 2012, their highly distinctive, intuitive mix of musical styles and their ever-imaginative live shows caught the attention of discerning music lovers, journalists and promoters. A relatively unknown tour de force outside the Benelux region, Dans Dans have built a solid fan base since their inception with limited edition runs of early releases becoming collector’s items among vinyl enthusiasts.
Well-received appearances at Cactus Festival, North Sea Jazz and Pukkelpop, as well as Gent Jazz, Ljubljana Jazz and Jazz Middelheim have confirmed their reputation as one of the most unique and exciting bands to come out of Belgium. In recent years, the group has been touring throughout Europe, garnering enthusiastic reactions beyond the Belgian borders as well. There’s a case to be made that Dans Dans even played a key role in breaking down the wall between the Belgian jazz scene and the pop/rock circuit (years before pop journalists began referring to a New Wave of Belgian Jazz).
Opening with the moody noir rhythms of ‘Cinder Bay’, Dans Dans look to construct their own musical universe across ‘Zink’. ‘Naiad’ unfolds into a devastating explosion of heavy feedback and wild, crashing drums before subtle electronica and baroque art-rock collide on ‘Anemone’ giving a good indication of Dans Dans’ eclecticism. There’s unquestionably a deep, underlying filmic beauty to the music, an evolving darkness and a perpetual sense of dread and paranoia. Elsewhere, ‘Ravine’ is intoxicating, provocative and uncompromising while the beatific ‘Shell Star’ is an infectious exploration of hypnotic grooves, atmospheric sounds and mind-bending melodies.
Producer Christine Verschorren
(Philippe Catherine, Ivan Paduart) accentuates the music’s wondrous fluidity
throughout ‘Zink’; the intriguing interplay; the subtle ties; the deep
layering. Musical styles and influences are being blended organically and
sublimated into what can only be called Dans Dans-music. “This is no fusion, no
rock or jazz or ambient. This is the sound of the searching, intuitive human;
of a timeless, mysterious dream; of the heart, the gut and the soul,” says
Dockx.
Listen to ‘Cinder Bay’.
Unday Records will release Zink on April 23th, 2021.
Jeff Mills is releasing a 3 new vinyl album The Clairvoyant via his own Axis Records imprint this February.
The album is inspired by the popularity of clairvoyants following WW1 and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, with Mills believing such figures could offer the possibility of hope and closure.
Mills has provided specific listening instructions for the record:
“The album plays in the way of a metaphysical seance and should be listened to in a darkened, candle lit room. A silent space, free of outside noise, chatter or talking and other visual distractions. The album should be listened in full – from beginning to end”
The track “The Feeling Anything Is Possible” from “The Clairvoyant”.
Track
Titles:
A1. The Séance A2. Psuedoscience B1. Second Sight B2. Someone Who Feels Things B3. Calling All Loved Ones C1. Shadow With A Golden Aurra C2. I Feel A Presence C3. Three Signs From The Other Side_ Sign 1 D1. Three Signs From The Other Side_ Sign 2 D2. Three Signs From The Other Side_ Sign 3 E1. Questions Decisions And Consequences E2. The Feeling Anything Is Possible F1. Dancing Shadows F2. Ganzfeld Experiments F3. The Spirit World *16. From The Mind’s Eye
* Track
16 is a bonus track for digital only
Axis will release The Clairvoyant on February 26th, 2021
