Blog - N.E.W.S. Distribution

Token celebrates ten years with collaborations compilation, Momentum

Token celebrates ten years with collaborations compilation, Momentum. Rødhåd & Sigha, Antigone & Ø [Phase] and Oscar Mulero & Inigo Kennedy are a few of the combinations featured on the triple-vinyl set, which lands in December.

Token, the Belgian techno label operated by Kr!z, will mark a decade in operation with a compilation of collaborations called Momentum (10 Years Of Token).

Over the past ten years, Token has become one of techno’s most prominent labels. Momentum will feature just about all of its core artists, working in pairs. Inigo Kennedy, who helped launch the label in 2007 with the Identify Yourself 12-inch, is on board, along with Rødhåd, Sigha, Ø [Phase], Antigone, Tadeo, Ctrls, Oscar Mulero and Kr!z himself. Since Token’s launch, Kr!z has focused on DJing and running the label, and his two appearances here—one alongside Kennedy, the other with Ctrls—are described in press notes as “a first step… into releasing his own music.”

Tracklist
A1 Rødhåd & Sigha – Bloom
A2 Ø [Phase] & Rødhåd – Detonation Vertex
B1 Antigone & Ø [Phase] – Icosahedron Flood
C1 Inigo Kennedy & Kr!z – Amalgam
D1 Tadeo & Ctrls – Dropout
D2 Ctrls & Antigone – The Hardest Part
E1 Kr!z & Ctrls – Comets
E2 Inigo Kennedy & Sigha – Minor Ascent
F1 Oscar Mulero & Inigo Kennedy – Catharsis

Token will release Momentum (10 Years Of Token) on December 1st, 2017.

Published by NEWS · October 6, 2017

Tags: Ambient, Antigone, Inigo Kennedy, Kr!z, Ø [Phase], Sigha, Tadeo, Techno, Token

Bill Brewster presents Tribal Rites Compilation

“Everything I do now started with record collecting. It’s the foundation of my career; from writing about music, DJing in clubs, putting compilations together or spending many late-night hours, glass of red wine in hand, bidding on stupid records on eBay.” – Bill Brewster

Spanning 41 tracks, ‘Tribal Rites’ is a musical autobiography of sorts from one of dance music’s most dedicated historians, Bill Brewster. Released on 3 CDs and double vinyl via Belgium’s Eskimo Recordings, the compilation takes us on a personal journey through Bill’s 36 year long involvement in the music industry.

Whether running DMC’s New York offices or labels including Twisted UK and Forensic, being one of Fabric’s original residents, writing (with Frank Broughton) probably the definitive overview of DJ culture, the seminal ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’ and the equally essential ‘How To DJ (Properly)’, running the DJhistory website or promoting their much loved Low Life parties, Bill’s fingerprints can be found all over dance music’s past few decades.

So whilst there are few people more qualified to compile such a thing, ‘Tribal Rites’ isn’t just a ‘House & Disco Greatest Hits’, instead we have the soundtrack to a life spent at the coalface of record collecting, of early mornings at car boot sales and late nights logged onto Discogs.

Split into three sections, the compilation begins in the post-punk period, and through tracks such as explores the influence of dub on bands of the time such as Orang Utan, General Strike and The Raincoats. The second section takes us into that mish-mash of sounds and styles best described as ‘Balearic’ where the likes of Bobbie Gentry and Final Edition can happily co-exist and a country and western cover of Hall & Oates ‘I Can’t Go For That’ seems like the most obvious thing in the world.

The final section then concentrates exclusively on house music, though again showcasing just what a broad church House is, able to accommodate both the spiritual yearnings of Mother Tongue’s ‘Message of Love’ and the precision tooled productions of Basic Channel’s Maurizio.

At a moment in time when dance music is more prominent than ever and DJs are treated like pop stars, ‘Tribal Rites’ is a vital reminder that there’s a lot more to DJing than just downloading the latest Beatport chart and waving your hands in the air.

Stream Bobbie Gentry’s Thunder In The Afternoon

Eskimo Recordings will release Tribal Rites on November 17th, 2017.

Published by NEWS · September 20, 2017

Tags: Bill Brewster, Eskimo Recordings, Rarities, Tribal Rites

6dimensions Records and N.E.W.S. Distribution.

We are proud to announce we will be working with Steve Bicknell‘s brand new electronic label 6dimensions.

With a long history of releasing quality underground club music, Steve’s new label will see him releasing his own music as well as re-issuing some of his hard to find early works. Along side his own releases the label has releases scheduled from two brand new artists – Metro Skim and Heartless.

You can pick up the Steve Bicknell and Metro Skim now in 12-inch format, a forthcoming 12-inch from Heartless called Impulse Module, is due out September 15th. Check out Steve Bicknell’s brand new podcast for Resident Advisor below.

‘Bicknell’s RA podcast sums up his recent hot streak. The mix is comprised almost entirely of unreleased music from 6dimensions. Like all of his work down the years, it’s characterised by an unwavering focus and a striking clarity of vision.’

Track List

Metro Skim – Inner Resistance – 6dimensions
Metro Skim – Dominant – 6dimensions
Heartless – Impulse – 6dimensions
Steve Bicknell – Harmless State – 6dimensions
Heartless – Are you Even There Anymore – 6dimensions
Metro Skim – Be Aware – 6dimensions
Metro Skim – Untitled – 6dimensions
Steve Bicknell – Stability Of Awareness – 6dimensions
Steve Bicknell – harmonious balance – 6dimensions
Heartless – Mathilda – 6dimensions
Muff Man – Sit On The Face – Future Sound Records
Metro Skim – Patterns Of Expression – 6dimensions
Metro Skim – Hidden Powers Inside – 6dimensions

Published by NEWS · July 25, 2017

Tags: 6dimensions, Heartless, London, Metro Skim, Podcast, Resident Advisor, Steve Bicknell, Techno

“The Pathways of Our Lives” proves why Mark Barrott is the master of sunset music.

For Mark Barrott, a sunset isn’t a lazy postcard, or a watercolor in a dentist’s office, or a Corona commercial. It is life. Every week this summer, the DJ and producer is soundtracking sunsets on the idyllic isle of Ibiza, treating each one as a gift, their mystic hues captured in Instagram photos fuzzy enough to be real. Barrott has spent years trying to translate that hot orange buzz into sound, culminating with his beatific Sketches From an Island series, which alchemized all of the easygoing sounds of a classic Balearic DJ set—funk, ambient, lite jazz, soft rock—into laptop suites of his own creation. He’s now known as one of the world’s finest purveyors of music to chill out to, but Barrott himself is hardly taking it easy. As he closes in on 50, this maestro of bird calls and quiet thunderstorms is still seeking out new ways to get loose.

Following his stunning Music for Presence EP from earlier this year, which had him transforming vintage Eno ambience into utter bliss, he returns with “The Pathways of Our Lives,” a track that arrives at its euphoria by completely different means. Working with a full band as well as a string quartet, the single finds Barrott at his most lush, combining the infinite grooves of mid-’70s Marvin Gaye or Barry White with dense Afrobeat percussion, hypnotizing chants verging on chaos, clean house piano chords, and—why the hell not—a cabana-friendly flute line floating above it all. Across more than seven minutes, Barrott layers and builds, using his DJ know-how to produce something as pristine as it is alive. It’s more sunset music, but you’ve never heard a sunset quite like this.

International Feel will release The Pathways of Our Lives on July 28th, 2017.

Published by NEWS · July 18, 2017

Tags: Balearic, Ibiza, International Feel, Mark Barrott, Pitchfork, The Pathways of Our Lives

Marc Moulin – Belgian’s funkiest. Listen to Marc Moulin aka Kiosk’s track, ‘Mona Call’

Placebo mastermind, the late Belgian keyboardist and visionary Marc Moulin. ‘Mona Call’ is a tune he composes for ‘Dimanche Musique’, a popular radio show that ran on RTBF, the Belgian French speaking radio, from 1966 to 1974. Being one of the first pieces Moulin ever released on record, it enjoys international cult status.

Listen to Kiosk ‘Mona Call’

Mona Call is taken Funky Chimes: The Belgian Grooves From The 70’s that is out now on Sdban.

sdbanrecords.com

Published by NEWS · June 28, 2017

Tags: Belgium, Funcky Chimes, funk, Jazz, Kiosk, sdban, Soul, Vinyl

International Feel voted one of the ‘Top 10 most influential disco labels of the last decade’ by Mixmag

Born out of frustration in the middle of nowhere (Uruguay), responsible for bringing DJ Harvey back into the studio and famous for its curveballs (Adventure Party, Marcellus Pitman and Baldelli remixes). Mark Barrott now runs the label from his compound in Northern Ibiza, which, according to Harvey’s definition of Balearic Music (‘music made in the Balearic Islands’), makes him a true modern purveyor of the genre. Releasing eclectic nu-Balearic music with quality cover art, it’s at the forefront of the nu-Balearic movement, a scene of diggers mining library music, obscure b-movie soundtrack gems and for post-party meanderings. Check out the article on Mixmag here.