The project is out on November 29th via the Berghain residents’ new label, LAYER.
Out on November 29th, LAYER ONE eschews the techno both artists are known for in favour of IDM, ambient and experimental flavours. Flowdan and Coby Sey feature as guest vocalists. The project will be released through Klock and Mohem’s new label, LAYER.
LAYER ONE isn’t first time that the Berghain residents have collaborated on the production front. In 2022, they put out joint EP Klockworks 34via Klock’s Klockworks label.
Listen to “Clean Slate (feat. Coby Sey).”
Tracklist
A1. Ultimately (feat. Coby Sey) A2. Escape Velocity B1. Restrained B2. Nothing Else B3. Our Sector (feat. Flowdan) C1. The Vanishing C2. Clean Slate (feat. Coby Sey) D1. Rest Assured D2. The Machine D3. Melatonin
LAYER will release LAYER ONE on November 29th, 2024.
Emerging from over a year of creative hibernation following their debut album, Stavroz‘s upcoming EP Kick Up the Dust jolts them back into action.
The EP flows gently, yet the overall mood of the journey isn’t always easy to pinpoint. There’s a certain vagueness to Stavroz’ sound which allows for bizarre experiments to seep through without interrupting the course. “We like to keep it lightly twisted, like a wink with a frown,” says the band.
In the title track however, Stavroz boldly steers towards the heart of the dance floor: efficient, remorseless, powerful, intense and most of all… elegant. Guiding you harmoniously through the club is a delightful duet of trumpet and saxophone, timed perfectly to heal you where it hurts most.
Her Eyes Were Red does what it says on the cover. There’s melancholy – without sadness. Power – without force. Love – without lust. Stavroz’s music possesses a distinct power that feels both natural and organic, never resorting to brute force or aggression. In their own way, the Belgian quartet offers an astonishing journey of saxophone & duduk, supported by broken beats and chopped vocals.
In Dae-El, a track featuring the Brussels-based producer and sound designer Poltrock, ethereal-sounding synths and duduk are combined with ghostly high-pitch distortions. Despite a backbone of muffled beats, the tune has vaporous qualities, reverberations that wobble and tinkle into space – it’s an easy listening experience but in a trippy, spaced-out way. “We’re trying to go for the sweet spot between the couch and the club”.
Adding further depth to their EP, Stavroz collaborates with Brazilian singer and composer Castello Branco in Valente. Here, intimate Sade-like vocals harmonize with rubbery scratches, acoustic guitar, and horn segments, crafting a lush lounge piece that seamlessly balances both relaxation and empowerment, transparency and provocation. It’s a testament to Stavroz’s versatility and their knack for creating music that defies easy definition, leaving listeners eagerly anticipating the next twist and turn in their captivating musical journey.
Tracklist
A1. Stavroz – Kick Up The Dust A2. Stavroz – Her Eyes Were Red B1. Stavroz – Dae-El (Featuring Poltrock) B2. Stavroz – Valente (Featuring Castello Branco)
Moodfamily will release Kick Up The Dust on October 11, 2024
Aiming to nurture innovative talent and push musical boundaries.
One of the leading names in contemporary underground music, Guy J, embarks on a new journey.
Every beginning carries excitement and unpredictability, requiring something extraordinary. Whether rooted in creationism, biblical narratives, or the Big Bang Theory, both theological and scientific origin stories resonate with events echoing millions of years into the future. As a dedicated futurist and sound enthusiast who pushes boundaries akin to science fiction, Guy delivers the first track on his new label with an abstract vision of the layered future of sound.
From the opening patterns till the end, A Million YearsFrom Now offers an adventure, blending moments of free-flowing thought with a perfectly engineered audio collage that evokes a spectrum of abstract emotions-from melancholia and psychedelia to breathless excitement and, ultimately, pure euphoria. The layered creativity transcends realism, leading listeners into a state of trance. The second piece, Just Rain, kicks off with a bass-heavy, pumping kick drum that vibrates speakers on any sound system.
However, Guy J transforms this from a rhythm-based track into a melodic epic. Its power lies in the seamless transitions and manipulation of effects and in the compositional structure that evolves over the eight-minute arrangement. Despite its subtle atmosphere, the melody culminates in an explosion of emotions that stimulate every frequency of the audible sound spectrum.
This 15-minute preview of Guy J’s forward-thinking, innovative work indicates a promising future for his label. Experience the birth and transformation of a new era in sound from day one!
Tracklist
A. Guy J – Million Years from Now B. Guy J – Just Rain
Early Morning will release Million Years from Now on October 10, 2024
Postpunk Theory is a meticulously curated compilation by the legendary Tony Thorpe, known for his work with The Moody Boys, 400 Blows, and The KLF. These classic tracks were played at parties by Thorpe at the time, making them his personal classics. The compilation features 16 rare and sought-after tracks from the post-punk era, including works by Mark Stewart and The Maffia, Basement 5, 23 Skidoo and more.
Defining post-punk is no easy task. While punk was defined by a raw, rebellious simplicity, post-punk (1978-1986) expanded into a diverse array of sounds and ideas. It maintained punk’s independent spirit but embraced experimentation, incorporating influences from various musical and cultural traditions, resulting in a movement far more eclectic and fragmented than its predecessor.
At its core, post-punk broke away from traditional rock structures, blending genres like industrial, goth, and punk-funk with emerging dance music cultures. This era’s spirit of innovation and defiance against musical norms continues to inspire, making post-punk a pivotal moment in music history that defies easy categorization.
Growing up in a vibrant musical environment in South London, Thorpe was deeply influenced by the eclectic sounds around him, from jazz-funk to Brit-Funk, and later, the post-punk records he discovered. As Thorpe recalls, “Post-punk was a mishmash of different cultures and ideas. Out of post-punk came dance music culture. That period was the most creative time because the culture was in its experimental phase.” This compilation captures that innovative spirit, offering a glimpse into the era that shaped Thorpe’s musical journey.
The album comes as a limited 2xLP set, accompanied by an extensive 40-page fanzine. The fanzine, written by Matt Annis (Join The Future), dives deep into the post-punk movement, offering insight and context enriched with striking photographs by Simon Pyke and Ian Brodie.
Tracklist
A1. Basement 5 – Silicon Chip A2. Disconnection – Bali Ha’i (US Discomix) A3. A Certain Ratio – Shack Up A4. 23 skidoo – Language B1. PIL – Home Is Where The Heart Is B2. Mark Stewart And The Maffia – Jerusalem B3. The Unknown Cases – Masimbabele (The Original Version) B4. Allez Allez – She’s Stirring Up (Dub) C1. Animal Magic – Standard Man C2. Lifetones – Distance No Object C3. Snakefinger – I Gave Myself To You C4. Startled Insects – Overrzoom D1. Maximum Joy – Silent Street / Silent Dub D2. African Head Charge – Throw It Away D3. EP-4 – Tide Gauge D4. 400 Blows – Declaration Of Intent
Musique Pour La Danse will release Tony Thorpe presents Postpunk Theory – Alpha α on October 25, 2024
At first glance, the sonic worlds of Ukrainian labels Muscut and Shukai sound very similar. While the aesthetics of both share the sound of the nostalgic allure of blurred, overdubbed tape loops, they diverge in their creative approach. Shukai delves into the archives, unearthing lost gems often banned and suppressed by the Soviets, while Muscut crafts new music that evokes the feeling of a lost vintage soundtrack to a picture promising visions of a brighter future.
The mood in which Muscut’s musical direction will be carried was revealed with the first release in 2012, the 7-inch compilation Test Pressing. The label’s catalogue is quite broad in terms of genre. From the surf-rock, funky and sometimes even dub aesthetic of Chillera, to the woobie jazz of Hennadii Boichenko and the dreamy drone-ambient of Bryozone, to work by the label founder Dmytro Nikolaienko, which mixes library music, muzak, easy listening 50s exotica and analogue sound. All released on vinyl or audiocassette, each visually treated in a DIY archival aesthetic: catalogue stickers, stamps, forms and poorly scanned lo-fi images.
Shukai began its journey in 2019 with the debut release of Ukrainian composer Victor Vlasov’s music for the anti-utopian sci-fi film Air Seller. This pilot album clearly outlined the future aesthetic and direction of the label, which in the following years often covered never-officially released music by Ukrainian composers. Volodymyr Bystriakov’s music for the surreal, almost psychedelic animated film Alice Through the Looking Glass, the tape archives of New Age experimentalist and violinist Valentina Goncharova, and the hidden treasure of Ukrainian avant-garde and neo-folk Cukor Bila Smert’.
With hauntology as a leitmotif, Dmytro from Muscut and co-founder of Shukai unveils the relationship between art, politics, nostalgia and a future steeped in echoes of the past.
A1. Muzak For Mesozoic Showreel (feat. Arthur Mine) A2. Troglodytes (feat. Arthur Mine) A3. The Ancient Musical Complex Of Mammoth Bones A4. Glass Flowers A5. Sacrifice I B1. Misantropicalia B2. Dark Archeo B3. Sacrifice II (Curse of Snakes Valley) B4. ExotiCon B5. Yalta (feat. Amphibian Man II)
“At its best, the album sounds like the high points of ex-Skater Spencer Clark’s varied catalog (think Vodka Soap or Monopoly Child Star Searchers) and harmonizes with Christina Vantzou’s bizarre and brilliant “Multi Natural” full-length.” — Boomkat
“The natural and unnatural have rarely sat together in such perfectly unsettling harmony.” — Juno
“Nostalgia Por Mesozo´ica is an “exploration of experimental exotica.” ‘Troglodytes’, for example, reimagines the age of dinosaurs and their leaky cave-dwelling existence, through a distorted and nostalgic lens that evokes movie soundtracks from the ’60s and ’70s.” — if-only
“Great production and mix by St. Petersburg musician Eugenii Fadeev aka Flaty, author of a good album of electronica on the same label in 2018 (Wrong Water – Dozen LP)”. — Laurent Fairon
“Alchemical combinations of musique concrète, samples, synthetic parts with fairy-tale melodies (‘Muzak For Mesozoic Showreel’) and sound-art (‘Dark-Archeo’), produce a varied,fascinating and original music narrative”. — The Quietus, Jakub Knera
Muscut will release Nostalgia Por MesozóIca (featuring a Riso printed cover sleeve) on October 4, 2024
Edmundo Arias was one of the key figures in the tropical music of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts throughout the 50s and 60s. Together with Lucho Bermúdez and Pacho Galán, Arias is seen as one of the ‘big three’ composers of Colombian tropical music.
He was a rather introverted person who avoided being in the spotlight at all cost, leading to his work being less known than his contemporaries. With this album we hope to highlight the amazing legacy Edmundo Arias has left us. Think of big bands with sharp dressed musicians playing the finest cumbias, porros and other tropical sounds in fancy ballrooms on a hot evening in Medellin or Bogota.
Tracklist
A1. Juanita Bonita A2. Cumbia Candelosa A3. El Mecanico A4. Tus Ojos A5. Que Te Pasa A6. Brisa, Mar Y Arena B1. Venenosa B2. Uey’ Je’ Je’ Pa’ B3. El Canje B4. Dime Pa’ Quien B5. El Guarachero B6. Solo Estoy C1. La Luna Y El Pescador C2. Noche De Fiesta C3. Acuarela Cumbiambera C4. Las Diez Velas C5. El Chontaduro C6. Orlandito D1. Fiesta Tropical D2. Cumbia Del Caribe D3. Guepa…Je D4. Buenas Noches Diciembre D5. Alma Quibdoseña D6. Asi Se Baila Cumbia
