Twelve tracks from a long-distance collaboration by Black Merlin and Musiccargo’s Gordon Pohl to drop in June.
Spectral Empire man George Thompson has had a productive few years since emerging as Black Merlin, with releases on Bird Scarer, LN-CC, World Unknown and Crimes Of The Future. Gordon Pohl meanwhile has enjoyed a more long-standing, if decidedly potted career thus far. Starting out with occasional outings as DJ Gordon in the ’90s and a contribution to The Isolators for a one-off Viewlexx single in 2006, it has been as one half of Musiccargo that he has enjoyed his most recent activity. Based in Düsseldorf, the majority of the Musiccargo output has appeared on local label Amontillado Music, bar a recent appearance on Emotional Response with the Harmonie LP.
Listening to the samples of the album Thompson and Pohl have pieced together as Karamika, it’s definitely possible to hear a little of that Salon Des Amateurs worldly funk worming its way into the expansive instrumentation, while the psychedelic synth lines fall in line with the kosmiche leanings of the Black Merlin sound just as easily. It’s a comfortable fit for ESP Institute, who have been taking it steady in 2015 so far with the Mark E single wementioned earlier in the year the only other slab of wax issued before this week, when Nenad Markovic’s third and fourth installments in the Mecanica series landed. You can get a feel for the exotic, dense sound of Karamika via the SoundCloud clips below.
ESP Institute will release Karamika by Karamika in late June.
“Joe Davis is the man who opened up Brazil to the entire DJ culture around the world. There’s no one else.” – Gilles Peterson
In what began as just a youthful curiosity and grew into a voracious interest in his teens, Joe Davis’ reputation as a figurehead in Brazilian music remains deeply entrenched in the work of his label Far Out Recordings. Marking its 20th year last year, Far Out has become a dominant presence in movement-defining releases from Brazilian artists, with the likes of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Verocai and Azymuth to name but a few that the label have worked with to date.
Alongside providing us with a great mix of music from the label’s back catalogue and his own collection, Joe kindly took what we expect was a welcome break from sorting through a collection of over 30,000 7-inch records to sit and chat one late afternoon in Spring. Whilst he insisted that these records weren’t in fact anything to do with the label itself, the constant firing of his mobile in the background was quite telling as to why Far Out Records continues to go strong after 20 years in the business.
Far Out Recordings’ brand new Brazilika compilation celebrating 20 years of the label and compiled by Joe himself is out now. Previous Brazilika’s in the series have been compiled by Gilles Peterson, 4hero, Kenny Dope and Andy Votel and have marked landmark years in the Far Out story. This truly special comp includes mixes from Theo Parrish, Paul White and Nicola Conte, be sure not to miss out. Full story
At the start of the week, Kr!z’s Token Records released Cantor Dust, the latest EP from Parisian producer Antonin Jeanson (a.k.a. Antigone). The EP is Jeanson’s inaugural release for the Belgian label, following on from ø [Phase]’s Tunnel Vision/Internal Conflict 12”.
Cantor Dust explores Jeanson’s penchant for unusual sounds, mixing abstract elements with more functional club-ready beats. The release opens with a spacial and ambient piece, before rolling into the producer’s dance-floor focused techno cuts. The anthemic “Prime Mover” fuses a heavy low end with driving percussion, icy pads, reverberant synth stabs, and dense, evolving atmospheres, using tension and release to great effect. You can stream “Prime Mover” in full below.
They broke the mould when they made this issue’s cover star Jimmy Edgar. Psychedelic, freaky, funky — and that’s not just his music. With a life well lived that’s reflected in the extraordinary scope of his albums and DJ sets, he’s not afraid to be different — and celebrates that difference.
A celebration of creativity, freedom and diversity is something that dance music should be about, but is something all too often lost in the chase for filthy lucre. Jimmy’s a star like they used to make, someone with something to say, and it seems that now more of us are listening than ever.
You might not know a huge amount about Belgian cosmic rockers Go March but hopefully that’s set to change when you get your hands on their new single “Rise” a real motherchugger of a space-rock monster. They’ve hooked up a pretty sweet remix package for the release with cosmic slop merchant Dreems, tweaked-out dub-blissed duo Peaking Lights and delicate deconstructor Shigeto each turning in gorgeous reworks. Our favourite of the lot, though, is the one we’ve got premiering above, courtesy of beach-dwelling, star-gazing crate diggers Pyschemagik.
Best known for their Balearic incantations, the duo have released dreamy edit after woozy remix, and put together a string of top-notch compilations which span everything from pie-eyed disco to gauzy new age haze. With this remix they’ve got dark. It thuds, it chuggs, it churns and weaves like all the best 4am records do. “The original is a lush chugging groove that just captured us. We get asked to make remixes like our Fleetwood Mac edits so this was a welcome change up,” they told us. “There’s so many cool textures that inspired us and although we don’t always use the original sounds , our remix is like a reaction to those sounds. A call and response almost. Our remix expresses how the original affected us! And to bring it back down to Earth – it’s simply dope!”
Mark Barrott has been quietly making waves under numerous aliases and releases on International Feel since inception, but has, since last year’s beautiful ‘Sketches from an Island’ album, started working under his own name, creating a fine body of work.
‘Bush Society’ sees Mark with a new sound that he wears well. Who knows how long he’ll stay here, but it’s a Sketches lean on a different path. A melting pot of all that is making his world go round at the moment. A field recording from his time living in South America breathes ‘Bush Society’ into life, before the Goji drums and Brazilian percussion are joined by a four four groove and those Carl Craig esque strings.
The flipside, ‘Saviours Or Savages’ shows Barrott in deep Ibiza mode again, leaning towards the Sketches sound that was so adored last year by Balearic heads, music aficionados & new age crystal dwellers alike, but this time with a different twist. If you want to find the true melting pot of Balearic Beat currently, then this may well be one of the finest examples you are likely to hear. Pure mood music that made the island a worldwide force for thinkers and music makers alike.
International Feel by name. International Feel by nature.
here’s a alternate mix of Bush Society, offered as a free download:
