Watch STUFF. performing at KMSKA museum, Antwerp

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.

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Dans Dans releases first new album in 5 years.

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.

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Jeff Mills delves into the metaphysical with The Clairvoyant album

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

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Stream Azmari’s debut album

Created in Brussels in 2015, Azmari is a weaving musical odyssey that expertly fuses ethiogroovee, dub, psychfunk and eastern sounds.

Their debut on Sdban Ultra, ‘Samā’ī’ is described as “a deeply hypnotic experience where mesmerizing rhythms and winding improvisations send the listener into a higher state of consciousness, taking inspiration from artists such as Okay Temiz, Mulatu Astatke, Cymande, Fela Kuti and The Heliocentrics.”

Samā’ī is out now on Sdban Ultra.

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Unexplored sounds from Greece compiled by Radio Martiko

We are very excited to announce 2 new releases, each highlighting a distinctive musical style from the rich musical heritage of Greece. The music on these recordings is almost completely unknown outside of Greece and relatively unexplored by non-Greek listeners. A few years ago, when we got attracted by these sounds, a new and exciting musical universe revealed itself to us. These albums serve as an introduction to these unexplored sounds.

Ena Tefariki is a compilation with various artists from the Greek pop movement of the 60s and early 70s called ‘laika’. Divine Reeds by Tassos Chalkias are some of the most outstanding ‘epirotika’ recordings, psychedelic folk which might please both folk and jazz aficionados.

Booklets with illustrated liner notes will take you back to Greece in the 60s and 70s, a time when the Greek music industry achieved creative and commercial heights. The liner notes are the result of extended research over the past few years.

Radio Martiko will release Ena Tefariki (1961-1973) and Divine Reeds (Athens 1966-1967) on February 1, 2021

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Ozone compiles the stellar recordings of local legends Ozone Recordings

Having gotten down and dirty with the X-rated Belgian club tunes of Erotique New Beats, Musique Pour La Danse stick with the late 1980s and jump from the continental mainland to Sheffield for a quick dip in the city’s bustling early bleep scene. Ozone compiles the stellar recordings of local legends Ozone Recordings, each track a vintage coalescence of rave, acid and techno sure to whet any DJ and electronic music historian’s appetite.

We begin with the laser-focused rave atmospherics of Count Zero’s ‘Silent Prayer #1’, which reverberate throughout the minimal acid hits of Success’ ‘Tripwire (Deep Bass Strip Down Acid)’ and New Age Technology’s bleep classic ‘New Age Technology II’

Remastered by Rob Gordon (original Forgemasters member & Warp co-founder) and with extensive liner notes by Matt Annis (jointhefuture.net), available in limited trioxygen blue vinyl edition featuring the infamous The Designers Republic logo!

TRACKLIST

A1. Count Zero – Silent Prayer #1
A2. Zone – Eternal #2
A3. Success – Tripwire (Deep Bass Strip Down Acid)
B1. New Age Technology – New Age Technology II
B2. Trak 1 – For This II
B3. Count Zero – Positive Nuisance #1

Musique Pour La Danse will release Ozone Recordings on January 22, 2021

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