ALBERTO BOCCARDI / LAWRENCE ENGLISH - Split-LP LP Fratto 9 ANNE-JAMES CHATON, ANDY MOOR - Transfer CD Unsounds AOKI TAKAMASA - RV8 LP/CD Raster-Noton ATIQ & ENK - Fear Of The Unknown 2LP/CD Mindtrick COH - RETRO-2038 2LP/CD Editions Mego ERIK FRIEDLANDER / SCOTT SOLTER - No Compass 10"/CD Skipstone FRANCISCO LOPEZ / LUCA SIGURTA - Erm CD Fratto 9 FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER - Super.Trigger CD Raster-Noton GEIR JENSSEN - Stromboli 12" Touch INNODE - Gridshifter LP Editions Mego JASON KAHN - Open Space 2LP Jason Kahn Editions JEAN-LUC FAFCHAMPS - Back To... CD Sub Rosa JEAN-LUC FAFCHAMPS - YZ3Z2Z1S2, a Five-Letter Sufi Word CD Sub Rosa LUCA FORCUCCI - Fog Horns CD Sub Rosa MARSEN JULES TRIO - Présence acousmatique CD Oktaf MARTIN BEDARD - Topographies CD empreintes DIGITALes MINIMETAL - Never Hang Around LP/CD Spezialmaterial MOTOOMI DOI - The Illuminated Nightingale CD Noble OKKYUNG LEE - Ghil LP Ideologic Organ RAOUL SINIER - Welcome to My Orphanage CD Good Citizen Factory ROSHI feat. PARS RADIO - 3 Almonds & A Walnut CD Geo RP BOO - Legacy 2LP/CD Planet Mu SOFT RIOT - Fiction Prediction LP/CD/MC Other Voices TERROR DANJAH vs CHAMPION - Sons of Anarchy EP Hyperdub THE EX & BRASS UNBOUND - Enormous Door LP/CD The Ex WALTON - Baby 12" Hyperdub µ-ZIQ - Chewed Corners 2LP/CD Planet Mu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ALBERTO BOCCARDI / LAWRENCE ENGLISH - Split - LP LP Frattonove fratto022 Release date: June 12 www.fratto9.com www.albertoboccardi.com www.lawrenceenglish.com The idea of the split comes from the recording sessions in the summer of 2012 that Alberto realized with the chorus of classical and contemporary music Antonio LaMotta conducted by David Mainetti. Alberto sends Lawrence all the material leaving him complete freedom in manipulation. In A side Alberto develops a path in three movements, where each part is independent but at the same time connected to the others; the sequence evolves as inevitable. If in the central segment chorus evocation moves in contrast with the distortions inside a long crescendo, in the other parts the density of acoustic instruments (french horn, double bass, cello, autoharp, vocals, soprano saxophone) and electronics (analog synth, effects pedals, guitar) combine and intertwine together leading the sound to a stream of waiting, obsession and evocation. In side B Lawrence: "This is what I'd like to think of as Land Music. Perhaps sharing something with the perspective scale of Land Art, in which a massing of micro elements create a marco feature, these small sounds when transformed etch out contours and long envelopes of shape across the air. The pieces breathe with a kind of uneasy familiarity. Sounds of the human world and the natural world co-exist at equal states of transformation - hinting at their former selves, but rarely revealing more than a glimpse into their original, unaltered state. This is weathered audio, reformed through rapid evolution." Side A - ALBERTO BOCCARDI Drops, salt, ask me next life [16:24] Recorded and mixed in Morbegno (SO) may-july 2012 by Lorenzo Monti & Alberto Boccardi Edited and mixed at argo lab (VA) by Gianmaria Aprile All music by Alberto Boccardi Guitar, electronics, synth, field recordings, bass, autoharp: Alberto Boccardi Double bass: Alberto 'Zonca' Ronconi French horn: Piero Malgesini Soprano saxophone: Luca Rampinini Voice: Cinzia Delorenzi Cello: Raffaella Gardon Side B - LAWRENCE ENGLISH The Rocks That Tear The Ocean [17:28] 1. Thrones And Domains [3:24] 2. Coronach Adrift [04:03] 3. Weathered Hymnary [08:43] 4. Seraphim [01:17] Written and produced by Lawrence English Recorded at 158 in the dawn on 2013 Both sides based on the recordings of Antonio Lamotta choir lead by Davide Mainetti and recorded by Alberto Boccardi (summer 2012). Mastered by Lawrence English >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ANNE-JAMES CHATON, ANDY MOOR - Transfer CD Unsounds 36U www.unsounds.com www.annejameschaton.org TRANSFER is a collection of poetry guitar music pieces originally released as a series of four seven inch singles based around the themes of transportation and transition; side A constructed from real or factual information and material, side B from fiction and fantasy. Themes were taken more or less directly from news items or literature and film history, from Jules Verne's 'Around the World in 80 Days', the death of princess Diana and Grace Kelly, major plane crashes throughout history, Leonardo da Vinci's musings on aerodynamics, to Agatha Christies 'Murder on the Orient Express'. Next to compiling all the wonderful tracks from the original series on vinyl, this CD includes original new tracks, this time based around Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' and the sinking of the Titanic. Three bonus tracks have been added to the CD including the 'USA' version of the compelling and hypnotic track 'Metro'. Guest musicians include Yannis Kyriakides and Christine Abdelnour. Andy Moor and Anne-James Chaton first began performing together in 2004 when Chaton joined the Ex onstage to perform one of their songs. They later started to collaborate as a duo, building the music and text for one of Chaton's portrait series; the journalist which later resulted in their first CD 'Le Journaliste', also released with Unsounds. Since then Moor and Chaton have toured widely in Europe, Canada and Japan, always building, reconstructing and adjusting their set and performance using improvisation as a creative source. In more recent months they have included video projections to the performances. They combine guitar riffs and loops, abstact noise, live sampling, dark beats and the unmistakable voice of Chaton, very present and rhythmic. At present they are touring with their Transfer series with film projections by Iranian film maker Bani Khoshnoudi. They continue to work with Alva Noto on a project called 'Decade' and in May they plan a short Guitar Poetry tour in France and the UK as a trio with Thurston Moore. GUITAR POETRY TOUR - 28 mai - 2 juin 2013 ANDY MOOR / THURSTON MOORE / ANNE-JAMES CHATON le sonic - lyon 28 mai la rodia - besançon 29 mai la gaîté lyrique - paris 30 mai le temps machine - tours 31 mai la lune des pirates - amiens 1 juin café oto - london 2 juin >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top AOKI TAKAMASA - RV8 LP/CD Raster-Noton R-N 148 Release date: May 20 www.raster-noton.net www.aokitakamasa.com vimeo.com/63167761 with RV8, the osaka-based producer and musician aoki takamasa continues his long-term project that focuses on the modulation of rhythms and grooves. it began with his first ep 'rhythm variations' in 2009, released as part three of the unun-series. besides his collaboration with raster-noton, he released records on several labels like commmons, progressive form and op.disc, produced remixes for well-known musicians like ryuichi sakamoto or yoshihiro hanno and played performances at, for example, elektra/montreal and club transmediale/ berlin, all in all making him a renowned producer in japan and beyond. starting with a firework of bleeps and bops, already the very first minutes of his new record reveal aoki's preference for vibrating beats and likewise his playful approach to music, generating a sound that is aiming at the dance floor. like the first ones, almost all tracks of the record are characterized by a constant modulation of chords and lines that sometimes appears somehow hyperactive, but nevertheless results in a natural flow that perfectly reflects aoki's laid-back attitude combined with his will to produce danceable and funky music. the fluent arrangement is only interrupted by the third track which forms a caesura by being more reduced and slower. in contrast to this, the following tracks present a faster tempo and an increased intensity; and whereas the first tracks reflect downbeat and r'n'b influences due to their broken beats and chunky sound, the later songs are characterized by a more sleek and technoid style, incorporating dribbling basses, clappy sounding snares and modulated voice snippets. although all of the musical components are constantly broken down, modulated, and rearranged, the overall sound of the record is dense and compact, featuring a groove made up of numerous elements that are complexly intertwined. the eight tracks of the record fit seamlessly together and create a composition that nearly functions like a dj set. the album was mastered by yoshinori sunahara. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ATIQ & ENK - Fear Of The Unknown 2LP/CD Mindtrick Records MTR015 Release date: CD April, Vinyl May 2013 www.mindtrick-records.com www.atiq-enk.com Fear Of The Unknown They are afraid of new ideas They're loaded with prejudices not based upon anything in reality. But based on: "if something is new I reject it immediately because it is frightening to me" What they do instead is just stay with the familiar You know, to us the most beautiful things in all the universe ... the most Mysterious... In 2007 after a few years of exploring the Dutch metal scene, Guido & Pim got bored with  screaming guitars and pounding drums, therefore Atiq & EnK joined forces for a new challenge. To create electronic music, without the fear of the unknown. As years went by they evolved their sound not fearing the experiment and focussed on blending breakbeat and sampling with classical, atmospheric and bass heavy sounds. This time consuming process was the final step towards crafting their own sound, which resulted in their first full length album Fear Of The Unknown. The Chicago based label Tympanik Audio decided to release their debut album in collaboration with Atiq's label Mindtrick Records in April and May of 2013. Atiq & EnK are challenging you to let go any musical boundaries and conceive their music in its unique way. Are you afraid of the unknown.. & or will you embrace it? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top COH - RETRO-2038 2LP/CD Editions Mego eMEGO172 Release date: May 13 www.editionsmego.com soundcloud.com/editionsmego/coh-bugs-build-a-house-emego COH is the moniker used by IVAN PAVLOV from Russia for more than a decade. COH is also the Russian word for "sleep." Yet, do not be deceived - RETRO-2038 is much more of a deep space than a deep sleep. The second COH release on Editions Mego is a true delight to behold, inviting as it does its exploration of electronic sound in minimalism, futuristic pop and the uncharted territories inbetween. Ranging from digital updates of Giorgio Moroder's pulse experiments to menacing lingering LF tones, with occasionally scattered outbursts of jovial noise and glimpses of tonal interstellar disco, RETRO-2038 precisely engraves each of its components with a melodic line and a rhythmical pattern, often beatless. The album as whole is a work of profound playfulness, at once whimsical and deeply seductive. It opens a crisp crystalline cosmos of its own, rich with unknown objects dancing through ominous orbital auras and smooth gravitatonal fields.  Like a cyber-organic spacecraft moving through dark matter, RETRO-2038 looks back with a warmth as it heads towards its future with abiding optimism. After all, the future can't wait. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ERIK FRIEDLANDER / SCOTT SOLTER - No Compass: Solter Resets Friedlander 10"/CD Skipstone Records SR014 www.skipstonerecords.com www.erikfriedlander.com www.scottsolter.com Producer Scott Solter "destroys" Erik Friedlander in new remix EP "No Compass: Solter Resets Friedlander" Producer Scott Solter and cellist Erik Friedlander team up to bring you "No Compass: Solter Resets Friedlander," an EP of five tracks from Erik Friedlander's 2008 Broken Arm Trio CD completely reinvented by Solter. In his hands the acoustic cello, bass and drums trio tracks have become vertigo-inducing panoramas - kaleidoscopic recompositions. 5 striking examples of Solter's fearless studio craft. The EP is available as a CD and a 10"LP. Friedlander and Solter have worked together since they met in 2006 working with The Mountain Goats on the Sunset Tree project. Their first effort together was Block Ice & Propane, Friedlander's 2007 solo release. Of the new remix EP Friedlander said, "Scott is a gritty mechanic in the studio - he's not afraid to rough things up. I encouraged him to be aggressive. I wanted to hear something unique, far from what I originally created." Scott for his part reassembled Friedlander's jazz-inspired Broken Arm Trio CD into something all his own, "My usual remixing technique is to manipulate only the existing multitrack material and not introduce new content such as beats, instruments etc.," Solter commented." In some ways my method doesn't always respect the original work, but I'm less interested in that than in discovering a song's troubled siblings. I just pull up the tracks, choose the content that moves me and set about manipulating, eviscerating, expanding, cutting, destroying &" Producer, recordist and mixer Scott Solter has worked with numerous indie artists, including Spoon, The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, Lazarus, The Forms, Pattern is Movement, Superchunk, Okkervil River, Liam Singer, and St Vincent. Cellist Erik Friedlander is a composer, an improviser, and a veteran of NYC's Downtown scene. Erik's recent work includes a suite a six solo pieces released on a limited edition LP (American Power), a Southern rock-influenced jazz quartet (Bonebridge), his solo cello reinterpretation of American roots music (Block Ice & Propane), and The Broken Arm Trio, a trio tribute to bassist Oscar Pettiford. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top FRANCISCO LOPEZ / LUCA SIGURTA - Erm CD Fratto 9 fratto021 Release date: June 12 www.fratto9.com www.franciscolopez.net soundcloud.com/sigurta 1. Francisco López - Untitled # 294 2. Luca Sigurtà - Eaves In the summer of 2011, I wrote to Francisco López to ask him whether he would be interested in working together on a project. He agreed but on condition that we worked on two separate tracks but using the same sound sources. These sound sources could be processed any way we liked, or even used in their original form, so as to highlight the aural roots of the tracks while at the same time exposing our different sonic approach. The end result is a split album comprised of two very different tracks, which are nonetheless built around the same original material. The tracks could be described as a suite, divided in movements, of around 20 minutes each, which allow for the specific characteristics of the two musicians to emerge. Sigurtà delves primarily into drone-based territories drawing sonic landscapes oscillating between the ethereal and the concrete, often harboring a beat whereas López works with and within the minutiae of sound, penetrating into the most intricate textures and creating rhythmic patterns with glitches and fragments of sound, while keeping to a well defined and steady musical path. The Sigurtà / López split sees two generations, two worlds and two different approaches to music coming together on one single album. 1 - FRANCISCO LÓPEZ - UNTITLED#294 [27:11] Created at Mobile Messor, Amsterdam - New York - Lima - Den Haag, 2011-2012. 2 - LUCA SIGURTÀ - EAVEN [22:38] Edited & mixed by Gianmaria Aprile at Argo Lab, Varese, Italy - 2012. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi Design by Simone Grillo - landskap.it Produced by frattonove - fratto9.com Pieces created from the same source materials, jointly evolved by Luca Sigurtà and Francisco López. LUCA SIGURTÀ Shared between the passion for silence and noise, Luca Sigurtà made several releases on labels like Creative Sources, Afe Records, Dokuro, Lisca, Tulip. Apart of the solo project, he plays with Harshcore (with whom he recorded stuff, among the others, with To Live and Shave in LA, UR, xNoBBQx, and a split with Panicsville) and Luminance Ratio. On stage he uses tapes, analogical sources and electronic stuff of any sort. FRANCISCO LÓPEZ Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. For more than thirty years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion. He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with field recordings, workshops and sound installations in over sixty countries of the five continents. His extensive catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with over 150 international artists) has been released by more than 300 record labels worldwide. He has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival and is the recipient of the Qwartz Award 2010 for best sound anthology. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER - Super.Trigger CD Raster-Noton R-N 149 Release date: July 1 www.raster-noton.net www.frankbretschneider.de SUPER.TRIGGER is an absolute trove of percussive tensions and frequency driven finesse and deals mainly with the basic principles of any modern music: rhythm. frank bretschneider takes his, never simple, but all the more heartfelt relationship to rhythm and its complexity, to an intense inventory and, this time, works less out of suspenseful abstract sounds, than out of grooves. there is a real sense of perpetual evolution and coiled tightness to the pulsating rhythmic programming, while the subtle sheets of noise that fill the void behind the beats compete against the rhythm and their own sonic purity for a higher state of energy - a constant flux of tension and release. SUPER.TRIGGER comes again in bretschneider's signature style of ultra-clean bleeps and bouncing machine beats with terseness and precision, and a preference for high-voltage sounds halfway between noise and tone. the combination of programming, composition and construction is connected with his very idiosyncratic aesthetic of digital sound: controlled and objective. the whole follows simple mechanical states - on/off, up/down, soft/hard, slow/fast, loud/quiet - and is characterized by the absence of any romanticism. still this return to the elementary, the fundamental, does not diminish the music to dance-floor functionality, instead bretschneider always stays emphatically musical and manages to generate sophisticated and complex rhythm-structures, which respectively induce minimal deviations in frequency and timing relationships to generate a surplus of funk. in all, SUPER.TRIGGER is bretschneider's most straightforward, clear and compact work yet. frank bretschneider works as a musician and composer in berlin. since 1996 he has published a number of albums for raster-noton, such as RHYTHM (r-n082) & EXP (r-n108). SUPER.TRIGGER is essentially a collection of various studio improvisations and was created between 2012 and 2013. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top GEIR JENSSEN - Stromboli 12" Touch # Tone 48 www.touchmusic.org.uk www.biosphere.no Photography by Geir Jenssen & Emilija Skarnulyte Design by Jon Wozencroft Cut by Jason at Transition Field recordings of a volcano by Geir Jenssen, better known as BIOSPHERE. Stromboli is an active volcano off the north coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean. The volcano has erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions, often visible from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, giving rise to the island's nickname "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean." The last major eruption was on April 13, 2009. Track listing: Side A Stromboli 9:40 Side B Stromboli Dub 9:36 Recorded at Stromboli's crater edge (924 m) on July 19th 2012 at 9:30 pm. Weather: gentle breeze, +15°C. Location: 38°47'33.69"N, 15°12'50.96"E Recording equipment: Fostex FR-2LE field memory recorder, Audio-Technica AT835ST shotgun microphone, and a Canon 5D mkII SLR. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top INNODE - Gridshifter LP Editions Mego eMEGO168 Release date: June 10 www.editionsmego.com www.innode.sonotope.org STEFAN NEMETH: Synthesizers STEVEN HESS: Drums (on B-Side) BERNHARD BREUER: Drums (on "Dedispersion I & II") "Dedispersion I & II" and "Planes And Numbers" orginally written for an exhibition by Andrés Ramírez Gaviria Recorded by Christoph Amann, Bernhard Breuer and Kassian Troyer, various locations, Vienna (AT) and Berlin (DE) Mixed by Stefan Németh Mastering: Kassian Troyer Artwork: julie/c - www juliec net Innode enters the world with an audacious debut of rhythm and sound, space and silence and an astonishing blend of the acoustic and the electronic. Spearheaded by Stefan Németh (co-founder of Radian, Lokai) in close collaboration with Steven Hess (Locrian, Pan.American, Cleared) and Bernhard Breuer (Elektro Guzzi, Tumido), Gridshifter is an intense, astonishing sonic experience which navigates the line between formal structures and experimental interplay. Conceived as a series of crossbred experiments where, on one side, a human rhythm triggers electronic signals whilst on the other electronic textures sculpt a platform for physical human engagement. The stark dynamics and Human/Non Human interaction manifests itself as a thrilling expose of 21st Century rhythm and noise. The term "Gridshifter" plays on the idea of composed disorder by applying opposing moves upon a template of rigid structure. On certain tracks a strict time line or grid is spiked via grids of a diferent size being played at the same time, whilst on others, Steven and Bernhard 'shifted' the grid by overlaying their own rhythms, resulting in a destabilised sonic environment. As Németh describes the artwork he sums up the entire modus operandi, "These arrays, or biochips, are samples of DNA laid out as a series of microscopic spots bound to a small glass slide. Corresponding images look highly organized, but show a lot of tiny imperfections at the same time...this fact makes them especially interesting for me." Innode explore an exhilarating terrain whereby simple, pure forms, both human and electronic weave together, unfeathered, untarnished, unprocessed and leave a web of intense, extreme sonic dynamics. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top JASON KAHN - Open Space 2LP Jason Kahn Editions 002 www.jasonkahn.net/editions Edition of 250 Heavy weight 180 gram vinyl. Hand-painted covers on thick gray cardboard. Jason Kahn // composition, electronics Chris Abrahams // piano Laura Altman // clarinet Monika Brooks // accordion Matt Earle // electronics Rishin Singh // trombone Adam Sussmann // electronics Aemon Webb // guitar John Wilton // percussion Recorded January 19, 2012 at the now NOW festival in Sydney, Australia by Jonathon Watts Cover artwork, mix and mastering by Jason Kahn LP Liner notes by Rishin Singh Side A: 15:00 / Side B: 19:00 Side C: 19:00 / Side D: 17:00 "I've been composing graphical scores since 2004. Each score has been done for a particular group, and not just for a certain set of instruments but also for specific persons, each with their own personal sound and their own distinct approach to improvisation. The scores hover in the gray region between composition and improvisation. They create a situation where the players are free up to a point to improvise but in which they could also find themselves in juxtapositions with other players which they might not have personally chosen, thus throwing a metaphoric wrench in the proceedings. The question has been posed several times, "But why do this? Why not just let the group improvise freely?" I'm interested in when a playing situation becomes unstable, when the players find themselves in situations which test the comfort zone of how and with whom they want to play with. The scores serve as a conduit for this process. But they are also more: they allow me to shape a playing environment, taking into account the different players, their instruments, even the notion of the playing space itself as one of the more decisive factors in the outcome of a piece. Beyond all this, as a visual artist I'm fascinated with the process of the graphical representation of sound: how we can depict a certain sound or way of playing graphically and how others can interpret a graphical form as a sound. Two parameters govern the scores: the vertical axis indicates the general dynamics of the playing, the horizontal axis is a time line. I draw graphical forms for the musicians to interpret as they wish. I only ask that all dynamic and timing indications be adhered to as closely as possible. I give no information on how the graphical forms should be reacted to. "Open Space" was commissioned by the 2012 now NOW Festival in Sydney, Australia. I chose some of the players myself, and some were suggested to me by the group's trombonist Rishin Singh (who also wrote the liner note to the LP). For the people suggested to me, and for whose work I was not familiar with, recordings were sent to me of them playing. On the basis of these recordings and my own personal knowledge of the other players, I was able to construct the score. I also knew that I wanted to work with a large group because the space we would be performing in would be a large one (which I'd already played in at the 2011 now NOW Festival). The title "Open Space" refers both to the idea of working in an open space: the physical space of a room as well as the spaces of player interaction within the group and in reaction to the performance space itself; and to the notion of opening that space between improvisation and composition, delving into the friction and conduction which lie between these two approaches and opening this space up to discover the possibilities which lie therein." - Jason Kahn, Zürich, March 2013 Bio Jason Kahn was born in New York in 1960 and grew up in Los Angeles. He moved to Europe in 1990, first living in Berlin until 1999, then moving to Switzerland. He is currently based in Zürich. Kahn came of musical age in the late 1970's, playing drums in rock bands and later making many records for the Los Angeles-based SST label. He turned more to improvised music in the late 1980's, culminating with his move to Berlin where he spent many years working as a drummer and percussionist in different projects of improvised music, as well as playing in composer Arnold Dreyblatt's group The Orchestra of Excited Strings. In Berlin Kahn began working with electronics and composing. He started releasing solo CD's in 1998 on his Cut imprint, which ran from 1997 until 2007. Kahn also began exhibiting sound installations in 2001 and has since shown many works in museums, galleries, art spaces and public sites around the world. Kahn collaborates regularly with many musicians, both in improvised settings and in the context of graphical scores which he composes for specific groups. He has performed throughout Europe, North and South America, Australia, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and South Africa. In 2011 he started the Editions imprint to publish his own recordings and writings. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top JEAN-LUC FAFCHAMPS - Back To... CD Sub Rosa SR359 www.subrosa.net fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Fafchamps 3 pieces for piano performed by Stephane Ginsburgh "for me, to write for the piano, the instrument that led me to a career in music, is always to 'get back to' something: back to my first musical feelings, but also my first writing techniques, which were quite remote from my current esthetical concerns; back to the music pieces engrained in my fingers through practice; finally, back to the numerous hours of free improvisation of my lazy youth. in my case, the piano, this old buddy of mine, is not the medium through which i hoped to shine in front of other people. it is the tool i keep using to meet the music of my mentors and the music of my peers. therefore, in essence, these back to... are works about memory." - Jean-Luc Fafchamps Jean-Luc Fafchamps (°1960) is a pianist and composer. He studied at the Conservatoire in Mons and at Louvain University. A member of the Ictus Ensemble, he has taken part in many concert performances in large ensembles or chamber groups (performances of works by Lindberg, Reich, Aperghis, Mernier, Leroux, Harada, Francesconi, etc.) and in mixed performances, particularly accompanying dance (multiple performances with Rosas (Anne-Teresa de Keersmaeker)) and theatre (several creations with Aperghis). He has made recordings for Sub Rosa - with the Bureau des Pianistes and as a soloist - of works by Bowles, Liszt, Feldman, Dallapiccola, Duchamp, Scelsi and Berio and has contributed to numerous recordings with the Ictus Ensemble (Francesconi, Aperghis, Lindberg, Harada, De Mey, Mernier, Harvey, etc.) and has accompanied many singers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top JEAN-LUC FAFCHAMPS - YZ3Z2Z1S2, a Five-letter Sufi Word CD Sub Rosa SR365 www.subrosa.net fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Fafchamps YZ3Z2Z1S2, a Five-Letter Sufi Word for soloists, ensemble, and electronics Performed by Ensemble Ictus & Jean-Marc Sullon Conducted by George-Elie Octors, François Dieppe My second complete Sufi Word - or cycle - consists of five contrasting Letters - or movements - calling for various combinations of soloists [2, 3, 4, 5], instrumental ensemble [1, 3, 5], and real-time electronics [2, 4, 5]. It confidently extends a global poetic design made of a quest for meaning, a taste for extraordinary adventures, an interest in the perfume of mystical ecstasy, and the pleasure of carefully sculpting the time and shapes that make up writing. Inch Allah & JLF Compositions Jean-Luc Fafchamps initially devoted himself to writing for small groups in which the piano plays a central role (Dynamiques, for two pianos; Melencholia si..., for two pianos and two percussionists; Neurosuite, for a keyboard trio), before his interest in non-tempered harmonies and polyphonies of timbres led him towards other sound combinations (A garden, for wind quintet; Bryce, for clarinet quintet, etc.). He is currently moving towards working for larger formations in which his taste for paradoxical constructions and his sense of synthesis are blossoming into mutually referential pieces. He is working on the development of a vast network of cycles - the Lettres Soufies - a manifesto for writing, stylistic openness as rhetoric and the use of analogue correspondences as the basis for a system: T for ensemble and electronics, K for orchestra, A for ensemble and orchestra, Z3 for trombone and electronics, and so on. Jean-Luc Fafchamps (°1960) is a pianist and composer. He studied at the Conservatoire in Mons and at Louvain University. A member of the Ictus Ensemble, he has taken part in many concert performances in large ensembles or chamber groups (performances of works by Lindberg, Reich, Aperghis, Mernier, Leroux, Harada, Francesconi, etc.) and in mixed performances, particularly accompanying dance (multiple performances with Rosas (Anne-Teresa de Keersmaeker)) and theatre (several creations with Aperghis). He has made recordings for Sub Rosa - with the Bureau des Pianistes and as a soloist - of works by Bowles, Liszt, Feldman, Dallapiccola, Duchamp, Scelsi and Berio and has contributed to numerous recordings with the Ictus Ensemble (Francesconi, Aperghis, Lindberg, Harada, De Mey, Mernier, Harvey, etc.) and has accompanied many singers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top LUCA FORCUCCI - Fog Horns CD Sub Rosa SR359 www.subrosa.net www.lucalyptus.com "After 12 hours of flight and some sleep deprivation, I landed in San Francisco in Spring 2011. Because or thanks to my state of consciousness, I heard a distinct and beautiful sound. It took me a while to understand if I was really hearing it or dreaming it: The sound of the fog horns. Later, after emerging from my own fog, I drove thru Big Sur on the Highway one to Los Angeles for some concerts. The sound haunted me while driving and I quickly heard it again when back in San Francisco later. So, I went closer to the horns, (sound) walked and recorded sonic material on the coast. The results are imaginary landscapes recombined as a road movie. The material was then composed in Berlin during the summer of 2012 at the studio of T.U. University in Berlin and on Atomic Baby studio, where turntables, scratch, cuts and echoplex (by Goo Le Gooster) and electronic cello (by Michael Kott) were added." - Luca Forcucci Mastered by Helmut Erler @ Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Biography Luca Forcucci is a composer and artist of Italian origin. His work observes the perception of sound through an architectural approach in the relation of sound and space. Luca is also a researcher based in UK, who has collaborated with UdK (University of the Arts of Berlin), GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales, Paris) and the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland.  His compositions have spanned through the years from electronic music, which was produced by Al Comet from the band The Young Gods to field recordings collected around the world in urban contexts like Sao Paulo, Shanghai, San Francisco and natural ones like the Amazon forest or the Swiss Alps. His works have been presented among other places at: Haus für Elektronische Künste/Basel, 30th Biennale of Sao Paulo, Venice Biennale, File/Electronic Music Language Festival/Sao Paolo, Berliner Festspiele/Berlin, Swiss Institute Rome, DEM Passwords Gallery/Los Angeles, The Lab/San Francisco, Rockbund Museum/Shanghai >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MARSEN JULES TRIO - Présence acousmatique CD Oktaf 05 Release date: June 28 www.oktaf.com www.marsenjules.de German ambient-connaisseur and soundpoet Marsen Jules (aka Martin Juhls) is well known for his releases on City Center Offices, Kompakt or his own label Oktaf Records. On stage he often combines his atmospheric soundscapes with live musicians. A steady formation is the Marsen Jules Trio, which features the twin brothers Anwar Alam and Jan-Philipp Alam on piano and violins accompanied by Jules' restrained live-sampling, bowed percussions and singing wine glasses. For tours and festivals the Trio already played in the US as well as in Canada and all over Europe. With their debut album Présence Acousmatique on Oktaf Records the musicians bring their "acoustic presence" to CD for the first time. It features six highly atmospheric soundsculptures between ambient, avantgarde-classic and modern jazz. Whereas the opening "Oeillet Parfait / Oeillet Sauvage" is still a variation of a track from Jules' Les fleurs album, all other tracks are composed for the Trio or developed out of the cooperation itself. Two tracks also feature saxophone player Roger Döring (Dictaphone) as a guest musician. The combination of dark scapes and saxophone on "Histoire de la nuit" and "Éclipse" makes one think of an ambient version of Bohren und der Club Ghore. The abstract "Excalibur" and "Maison en Vitre" remind of early avantgarde-classic and twelve-tone music and the closing "Les trains stortent de la gare" brings a bittersweet composition for piano and violin hold together by sparkling percussions. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MARTIN BEDARD - Topographies CD empreintes DIGITALes IMED 13121 www.empreintesdigitales.com soundcloud.com/martinbedard * 1st solo disc by Montréal-based Québec City composer Martin Bédard. * 5 acousmatic works from 2005 to 12 fully mastered in 2012-13. * This release comes out on the label empreintes DIGITALes based in Montréal. Established 1990, this label is widely considered as the world leader in electroacoustics / acousmatics. * Mastering: Dominique Bassal The title of Martin Bédard highly anticipated release speaks by itself: Topographies. It is a music full of relief showing a remarkable work on high dynamics. Not one second of downtime will be met, the music being filled of a rarely seen energy. The tight discourse will bring the listener within dense and opaque spaces where he will hold his breath, left by a feeling of emptiness after a complete listening. A technically and aesthetically dazzling release. After studying for five years with composers Yves Daoust and André Fecteau, Martin Bédard received the prize magna cum laude in electroacoustic composition at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. In 2011, he completed a PhD in electroacoustic composition under composer Robert Normandeau at the Université de Montréal. Bédard's works have been programmed by over fifty national and international events. He has won or has been selected in twelve international competitions, including an Awards of Distinction at the 2010 Prix Ars electronica (Linz, Austria). Bédard received awards from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), the Canada Council for the Arts (CAC), the Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC), the Fonds des amis de l'art (Serge-Garant Award), the Centre de création musicale Iannis Xenakis (CCMIX, France), and the Université de Montréal. In 2012, the City of Montréal - Lachine Borough gave him the Au fil de l'excellence (Best Professional Artist) Award. Beside his work in the field of electroacoustic music, Bédard has made sound designs for various Montréal stages, like Théâtre d'aujourd'hui, Prospero, La Licorne, Monument-National, Espace Geordie, and Périscope (the latter in Québec City). He is active on the artistic committee of Réseaux des arts médiatiques. Bédard also teaches auditory perception, composition, and analysis of electroacoustic music at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, and electroacoustic composition at Université de Montréal. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MINIMETAL - Never Hang Around LP/CD Spezialmaterial SM043CD023 Release date: June 2013 www.spezialmaterial.ch www.minimetal.com For 19 years now, the two multifunctional artists Nik Emch and Laurent Goei have worked on those legendary 11 songs written back in 1994, when the band was founded. For the first time ever, these pearls are now released on one definitive album. It is a concentrate, much like an Oxo cube, one, nota bene recorded and mixed on the former 24-track-desk of the Rote Fabrik. The album title Never Hang Around is not intended as a moralistic message, rather like a mantra, a political statement even: «Do your thing!» When they formed Minimetal the two Kyus-fans successfully defied the guitar apartheid of the Nineties by performing their hypnotic, partly electrified metal sounds in cubes they built themselves, leaving it to the stunned onlookers to answer the question: Is this poetic noise or kick ass Rock'n'Roll? So far, the songs have featured in new interpretation of «Little Red Riding Hood» or the self-authored punk opera «Superbikergirl», and of course played in countless shows in Zurich - Paris - New York. Minimetal's hybrid oeuvre oscillates from installation to live-concert, to performance and design, but its always their trance metal that serves as a soundtrack. When they perform their album Never Hang Around live, they flood the audience with dizzying images the senses, thus bringing memories to life: Stage sets! Rock'n'Roll Extravaganza! Wall of Sound! May the spectacle commence! BIO Nik Emch (1967 Bern) and Laurent Goei (1964 Lausanne). Both are graphic designers, painters, sculptors and musicians, thus enabling them to develop and create a unique musical and visual art project. Transplanting their "punk underground" performance onto the art galleries' scene, their «soundsculpture» releases a stream of sounds and images, produced by guitar, drums and vocals, that engulfs gallery visitors in a stunning, aggressive atmosphere. Innocent by-standers, be prepared! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MOTOOMI DOI - The Illuminated Nightingale CD Noble Records NBL-209 Release date: June 14 www.noble-label.net soundcloud.com/doi-motoomi Noble is proud to introduce a new talent, Motoomi Doi. This June, they will be releasing the label's first album by a male singer song writer. Doi, a singer song writer based in Osaka, has released two independent albums to date. N-N-N announced in 2010 was a "free distribution" (versus the now-popular "free download") where users who sent request by email to Doi's website received an album by post at a later date (no longer available.) This unique presentation method along with the high quality of its musical content brought Doi into the spotlight mainly by word-of-mouth on the Internet. Following the release of these independent albums is what Doi himself claims as his "first official album." The Illuminated Nightingale is an album based on the concept of "night," portraying an entire evening from dusk to dawn. Each track reveals many faces from swingy pop tunes, electro-pop scattered with soft electro sounds and beats, solemn waltzes to simple song. This colorful collection of music is a strong reflection of the artist's extraordinary talents as an arranger and melody maker. Added to that are the sorrow, solitude, anxiety, joy, and peace expressed through his delicate and neutral high-tone voice combined with a lyrical world of light and darkness which elevates Doi's unique presence to one of a whole new level. We go in and out of dream and wander through a world where fantasy (buoyancy) and reality (gravitation) co-exist. Where will this path take us and what kind of view will we see from this place where night calls out its end. Melodies of rare beauty carry a trying but beautiful story of "night" woven by darkness and light. Enjoy The Illuminated Nightingale by Motoomi Doi. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top OKKYUNG LEE - Ghil LP Ideologic Organ SOMA012 Release date: June 24 www.editionsmego.com/releases/ideologic-organ okkyung.wordpress.com Recorded during spring of 2012 in various locations in Oslo, Nesodden and Rjukan, Norway Produced by Lasse Marhaug Mastered by Marcus Schmickler at Peilthopraxis, Köln March 2013 Vinyl cut by CGB at Dublates and Mastering, Berlin April 2013 Cover photograph by C. Spencer Yeh Design by Stephen F. O'Malley A native of Korea, cellist/composer Okkyung Lee has been developing her unique voice in both improvised and composed music by blending her wide interests and influences. Since moving to New York in 2000, she has worked with numerous artists ranging from Laurie Anderson, David Behrman, Douglas Gordon, Vijay Iyer, Christian Marclay, Jim O'Rourke, Evan Parker and John Zorn just to name a few, while leading her own projects and releasing more than 20 albums and touring extensively in the US and Europe. Okkyung was a recipient of Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant in 2010. Ghil was recorded and produced by the Norwegian artist Lasse Marhaug. Instead of recording in what has become the standard in modern contempoary music, with high-end equipment and in controlled studio settings, Marhaug wanted to record Ghil in an expressionistic way - to purposely use crude equipment and unorthodox microphone placement in order to give a more raw and direct depiction of Okkyung playing her music. Marhaug says if it they were making a film, it would be like shooting on grainy 16mm black&white with close-ups instead of 35mm colour cinemascope. Thus all of Ghil was recorded on a portable cassette recorder from 1976 that Marhaug had just bought second hand. The sessions for the album were done during spring of 2012 in and around the Oslo area. The locations varied from places like Marhaug's studio; a back alley in Oslo center; a cabin in the forest on the Nesodden peninsula; and a former hydroelectric powerplant in the mountains outside Rjukan. The recordings have been edited, but no overdubs or other post-manipulation other than mastering. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top RAOUL SINIER - Welcome to My Orphanage CD Good Citizen Factory GFC032 Release date: June 12 www.gcfactory.org www.raoulsinier.com youtu.be/ojXKYmUP1Xk Raoul Sinier is a multidisciplinary artist who doesn't need to be introduced anymore. After 10 years on the electro music scene, he who started under the stage name "Ra" returns with a more personal album, darker and definitely more open to the public. Welcome to My Orphanage follows the path of his previous creations all the while unveiling new horizons. Raoul Sinier's voice, which here plays an almost central part, serves various atmospheres, sometimes dark and desperate, sometimes bright and lively. He plays on contrasts and strange universes, as can be seen in his work as a painter or a director. His sensitive approach, deliberately detached from the idea of "genre," offers a music that is out of the norm, far away from clichés and yet deeply universal. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ROSHI featuring PARS RADIO - 3 Almonds & A Walnut CD Geo Records GEO024 Release date: July 8 www.gagarin.org.uk/geo_records.html#Anchor-Roshi-23240 3 Almonds and a Walnut is the second album from Roshi Featuring Pars Radio released on GEO records. Their debut album The Sky & The Caspian Sea, as well as EPs 'And Stars' and 'Mehregan' received widespread acclaim in the UK and across Europe, including two experimental records of the week in Mixmag, great reviews in a variety of publications including New Internationalist, The Wire, fROOTs, Rock n Reel, Flux, Tokalfi, Ox (Germany), Tsugi (France) as well as significant Radio Play including BBC Radio 3, 6 Music, Resonancefm, RTE,  Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Germany) Ressonância Magnética (Italy) etc. Roshi and her band have also developed a reputation as a brilliant and daring live act, unafraid of both striking contemplative quietness or glitchy sonic based experimentation. They have performed extensively at underground clubs, major UK festivals and prestigious art venues across Europe. The album builds on the qualities of the previous releases and continues Roshi's distinctive exploration of her Welsh-Iranian background, songwriting and experimental soundworlds that have evoked descriptions such as "stunningly beautiful Welsh-Iranian electronica torch songs" and references to the work of film maker David Lynch. Added to the mix now is a greater engagement with extended vocal approaches and a more experimental pop aesthetic. The album, produced once again by Roshi's main collaborator Graham Dowdall (Gagarin, Pere Ubu, Nico et al.) includes several pieces developed from a live score to Mary Pickford's 'Amarilly of Clothes Line Alley' that Roshi was commissioned by Birds Eye View to present as part of the Southbank 2012 WOW festival. Amongst these is the acclaimed 'Don't Breathe It to a Soul but Amarilly is getting Gay with a Dude' (recently released as a 7" single featuring a mix from the legendary David Thomas (Pere Ubu))which sets Roshi's exquisite vocals in a primordial soup of twisted industrial percussion. Other tracks include the title track, in Farsi, which plays on the dilemma of being an Iranian with a nut allergy with layer upon layer of hypnotic vocal loops and chants against a wayward glitch-groove. Nunhead Cemetery is a delicate and beautiful evocation of both a place and the end of a relationship with field recordings from the Gothic wilderness of the cemetery itself and Aziz Joon - an Iranian folkloric love song re-interpreted as driving South London Bass. Years of living in London and collaboration with Cockney Scot Graham have joined Welsh-Iranian influences in her writing. As well as Roshi's unique vocals the album features her on keyboards and synths, Graham on beats, electronics and field recordings and Richard Thomas on experimental cello to create a sound that maintains the delicacy and fragility of earlier work but also a more developed, lush, sometimes groove driven style. Undoubtedly an imaginative and daring second album! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top RP BOO - Legacy 2LP/CD Planet Mu Records ZIQ335 Release date: May 13 www.planet.mu/discography/ZIQ335 RP Boo - a.k.a. KAVAIN SPACE is a man who is revered and respected amongst the dance music cognoscenti. He's cited as one of the originators of Footwork, the fast, repetitive, rhythmically syncopated music & dance style that's a grandchild of Chicago house and which has been brought to the wider world via releases from Planet Mu and others, alongside internet archaeology from fans, experts and enthusiasts. Going back to the roots of this music, his self released track 'Baby Come On' made in 1997, sampled and looped up ODB over tough syncopated drums, and in doing so spawned one of the first tracks to solidify the style called Footwork. Later on, in 1999, his track known as '11-47-99' a.k.a. The Godzilla Track was monumental in the evolution of sampling in footwork, chopping up the Godzilla theme taken from 'Simon Says', by Pharoahe Monche and setting off a trend for footwork versions of hip-hop tracks. Many cite RP Boo as the originator of footwork music, and it's hard to argue, when the scrambled, syncopated drum patterns common to footwork can be largely traced back to him. Kavain was born in West Chicago and moved to the Southside in the 80s. Like many of footwork's originators, he was brought through into production through associations with the legendary House and Juke dance clique House-O-Matics, DJing alongside DJ Deeon and DJ Milton, then getting shown how to produce by DJ Slugo. The machine Kavain learnt to produce on was a display model of the Roland R-70, a drum machine which gave access to all previous Roland drum sounds and the ability to punch in rhythms on the fly, it's the machine he still uses today. RP Boo's music is singular and unusual in Footwork, featuring raps and dialogue adopted from Juke, often in combination with sharp-edged and incidental samples giving some tracks a paranoid atmosphere. Take '187 Homicide's bleak feeling and question and answer vocals, 'Area 72's alien landing scenario or 'Speaker's R-4's audio walk-through. His music is often hectic, seemingly built to to almost psyche-out the listener or offer challenges to dancers; it's this playful and imaginative quality, along with his sometimes baffling-but-it-works rhythms and sub, that give RP's tracks their totally unique feel. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top SOFT RIOT - Fiction Prediction LP/CD/MC Other Voices VOX016 Release date: June 25 www.othervoicesrecords.com www.softriot.com www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJREieB_rBk RIYL: Radio Berlin, John Foxx, John Maus, Tangerine Dream, White Car, Cabaret Voltaire Genre: Electronic, Minimal, Synthpop Soft Riot is JACK DUCKWORTH, a former Vancouverite now living in London who traces his musical beginnings to the vibrant underground art-punk/hardcore scene emergent across the Canadian and American west coasts in the mid-90s. Duckworth was among the fixtures in that community's northern outpost before helping to consolidate the early outpourings of a larger pre-"synth/new-wave" revival with his band Radio Berlin alongside others like Black Mountain, Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, etc, though his output has shifted at least a few degrees from that older sound. His move to London is at the heart of his ongoing personal maintenance; the new atmosphere and cultural dynamic giving fuel to Soft Riot, previously just a concept. Fiction Prediction collects Duckworth's latest material, recorded after the songs that populated his previous album/EP, No Longer Stranger (originally released on Panospria, the EP was expanded and released as an LP by Volar Records). A heavy dose of throbbing arpeggiated synths coupled with Duckworth's ongoing romp through the annals of sci-fi film history keeps the album well grounded, minimal synths describing the parameters of his psychedelic soundscapes. Coming from a punk rock pedigree Duckworth brings an unusual focus on lyrical content to his music. In evocative detail, Duckworth builds images through song as he explores a range of disparate themes; modern living and overpopulation, technology and enlightenment, state surveillance and prognostication. These influences come less from other artists, and more from written fiction and cinema a future predicted by fiction! I think we're going to hear a lot more about Jack Duckworth and Soft Riot in future. I certainly hope so as he's a real talent deserving to be recognised." - Friedrichstrasse, May 2012 Soft Riot en masse, is what it's refusing to do. Like the tension-soaked soundtrack to a robotic mob, just on the rink of anarchy." - Mollie Wells, Mishka Blogin NYC >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top TERROR DANJAH Vs CHAMPION - Sons of Anarchy EP 12" EP Hyperdub HDB073 Release date: June 3 www.hyperdub.net Terror Danjah's an established artist, known for his incredible legacy of grime and R and G tracks, and DJ Champion is a younger producer who makes sub-heavy dread funky tracks which are heavily indebted to the sound that Terror helped create and develop. The tracks on Sons of Anarchy EP are the very fine results of a collaborative EP one track each by Terror and Champion and two with them working together. Kicking off with Terror's track Glide, the track builds up with ambient electronic birdsong, before a rough bassline punches a hole in the atmosphere, modulating and building and dipping in energy. The first of the collaborative tracks is Stone Island, it segues together Champion's sub-basslines and tough martial snares with Terror's ear for rhythmic details fxs and breakdowns. Bowser's Castle is Champion's solo track - a melodic sub-bass line bounces in a space around dancehall-like snares, guaranteed to get you making funny shapes on the dancefloor. Explode is the second collab - mixing a ragga vocal, seasick rushing bongos and hard snares, balanced on a dread sub-bass and a daft p-funk riff, it's an energetic mutant of a track with a wacky energy. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top THE EX & BRASS UNBOUND - Enormous Door LP/CD The Ex EX138 www.theex.nl The Ex Andy Moor - guitar, baritone guitar Terrie Hessels - guitar, baritone guitar Arnold de Boer - vocals, guitar, sampler Katherina Bornefeld - drums, vocals Brass Unbound Mats Gustafsson - baritone sax Ken Vandermark - tenor and baritone sax, clarinet Wolter Wierbos - trombone Roy Paci - trumpet The Ex have hooked up with one of the most powerful horn sections imaginable and sparks are sure to fly. Since 1979 this inspired, intrepid and seminal bands have consistently pushed the envelope, plotting a restless course from their anarchist punk origins to embrace everything from fractured noise to Ethiopian groove. Their thrillingly raw and rhythmic rock sound is born from their ideals, musical friendships/networks and work ethic. Alive to the moment, they are sometimes described as 'experimental trance-dance avant-afro-punk improv music' - and no one knows what descriptions this metamorphosis will conjure up. The Ex plan to unleash a new wild and combustible show in collaboration with four of the world's most powerful and performative horn players for some in-the-red swing time. Brass Unbound comprise Swedish force of nature Mats Gustafsson (saxophone), Chicago jazz heavyweight Ken Vandermark (saxophone), Italian wild card Roy Paci (trumpet) and boundary busting classical/futurist Wolter Wierbos (trombone). The line up is dexterous and dangerous, as players, improvisers and entertainers, this group are nothing short of phenomenal. Expect fireworks. The Ex have been involved in a steady stream of boundary-breaking collaborations, releases, tours and films that have established them as a unique but under-acknowledged force in rock music, who are always on the move, but always sound like The Ex. "Once seen, a live performance by The Ex is never forgotten. Imagine two men in short pants and army boots, guitars slung impossibly low, careering round the stage like demented dodgem cars, backed by a veritable arsenal of precision-honed polyrhythms" - Dan Warburton, The Wire "A joyous, messy blast of loping percussive punishment, bristly second-hand guitar abuse, anticonsumerist diatribes and flame-throwing saxophony" - Matt Evans, Rock-A-Rolla. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top WALTON - Baby 12" Hyperdub HDB072 Release date: May 27 www.hyperdub.net A1 Baby B1 Can't You See B2 Baby (Instrumental) Here's a great Walton EP before his new album 'Beyond' is released, this is a vinyl only, once it's gone it's gone kind of release. Baby is a brilliant and extreme mutation based around an R and B accapella, one that seems energised by R & B's avant--guard but danceable late 90's period. A hiccuping giggle over stuttering rusty engine stabs, and a so-stiff-it's-funky kick and and snare combination, make this a track that works brilliantly on the dance floor by sheer force of ideas and wildness. 'Can't You See's' widescreen ambience is held together by epic swelling chords, punctuated with rolling 8-bit spirals , trap-like bass and snares. It's held together so tightly, it feels like it's going to 'drop' at any time, but prefers to just tease the listener in a state of excited suspense. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top YANNICK FRANCK & CRAIG HILTON - Flowers for L.P. CD Idiosyncratics idcd007 Release date: May 17 idiosyncraticslabel.blogspot.com www.yannickfranck.com Yannick Franck teams up with North American musician Craig Hilton (of bands Gauchiste and Loincloth) to provide this hauntingly contemplative collaboration. The album has been inspired by French poet Jacques Rigaut (1898-1929), who remains one of the most mysterious and overseen poets in French literature. Although linked to the dadaist movement Rigaut didn't really belong to any group or trend. He did live his life as he wrote, with nonchalance, if not apathy towards existence leaving only aphorisms and short or unfinished novels behind him. Despaired to be depraved of himself, Rigaut tried to find who he was among his many reflections. The eye, looking at the eye, looking at the eye... Until he broke through the other side of the mirror to become his double, Lord Patchogue. That he described in such terms: "vulnerability, weakness, and fear of being changed into a new fabric." Rigaut's disregard towards life and his refusal to take anything seriously aroused an amused though irresistible attraction to suicide, suicide that he actually committed in 1929, shooting a bullet in his carefully dot marked forehead. "Asserting suicide rather as a last snook at life and its callous reality then as something utterly tragic," says Franck. Far from being a desperate complaint to an idealized, iconized Rigaut, Flowers For L.P. slowly flows and glows like the deep waters of a great city's river at night. Conceived as a soundtrack to Rigaut's dark, surreal, even fantastic journeys, where his slightly ironic smile never completely fades away. Yannick Franck "This Belgian sound artist [...] wallows freely in the inexplicable ambiguities of life. For him, all mysteries lie beneath a solid crust like that surrounding the globe, and his layered and burnished grumbly rumblesome textures have been fashioned from something fairly earthy and elemental, like deep silty mud from the heart of a peat bog." - The Sound Projector Musician and performer, Yannick Franck has developed an increasingly personal style that combines sharp acoustic research and abrasive walls of sound. Often described as trance-inducing, his music is based on the treatment of sources such as voice, radio signals and field recordings. It ranges from fundamental acoustic explorations (The Staircase Continuum) to more stylistic-expressionistic searches (Memorabilia); two fields of investigation that tend to collide in his latest works such as Hierophany (Monochrome Vision). Franck is part of electroacoustic-noise improvisation project Y.E.R.M.O. They have collaborated with artists Gast Bouschet and Nadine Hilbert on a number of projects. They created soundtracks for the artists' political installation Collision Zone, held at the Pavilion of Luxembourg, Venice Biennial 2009. Additional collaborations include their intense audiovisual performances, Things to Come, Collision Zone, and Toward The Event Horizon." In the past, Yannick Franck has collaborated with Pietro Riparbelli / K11, Craig Hilton, Phil Maggi, Alan Trench (World Serpent, Temple Music) and Esther Venrooy among others and his music has been released on several labels including Sylvain Chauveau's concept record house Onement and Italian label Silentes. Craig Hilton Craig Hilton was born in New York and now resides in Raleigh, NC. He's a guitar player and an electroacoustic musician. He has played in many metal bands including Here Lies, BAAMPHF!! and more recently Loincloth (Southern Records). Since early 2008, Craig has began performing live with his guzheng (Chinese zither). Feeling the need to once again have the interaction between live acoustic and live electronics. He has done four tours in Europe since late 2007, performing in Berlin with Derek Holzer, Marcelo Aguirre and Marta Zapparoli / PenelopeX, in Brussels with Yannick Franck and most recently in London playing guzheng alongside Steve Beresford and back in the US with Tomas Phillips , Shaun Sandor, Olivia Block and others. He has recently co wrote and released a self titled LP with fellow masters of dark sonics: Gauchiste on Little Black Cloud Records. He has released albums in collaboration with Maurizio Bianchi and most currently UR (IT) and Tomas Phillips (USA) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top µ-ZIQ - Chewed Corners 2LP/CD Planet Mu Records ZIQ333 Release date: June 24 www.planet.mu/artists/muZiq MIKE PARADINAS has been a pioneer and a mainstay of the electronic music scene for over 20 years now and 'Chewed Corners' is his first proper solo album since 2007. As the boss of electronic label Planet Mu, he's always been at the forefront of innovations and has released music by some of the most celebrated modern electronic artists around, from Benga, Kuedo and Machinedrum to Luke Vibert, Venetian Snares and FaltyDL to name just a few. Mike started both his career and µ-Ziq with the album Tango N'Vectif back in 1993 which elevated him to the top of the league of British electronica producers alongside Black Dog and Aphex Twin. He has also been one of the few people to collaborate with Aphex Twin on the album Mike & Rich and has released albums on Virgin, Astralwerks, Warp and Rephlex before releasing music on his own label Planet Mu. The album was written in the same period as Mike's recent Heterotic project (a collaboration with his wife Lara Rix-Martin and Warp's singer/songwriter Gravenhurst) while he was home alone. Mike says he intended the compositions "to evoke drama and emotion" and while the music was made with no conscious influences, after listening back Mike says Kuedo, Aphex Twin, Chicago Footwork, Art of Noise, Orbital, Japan and Rustie must all have had an effect. While his last album, 2007's Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation Technique, was at times as harrowing and miserable as its title suggests, Chewed Corners is almost the polar opposite, relaxed, self-possessed, and a pleasure to listen to. The innovation is subtle and inviting and it exudes happiness. It also foregrounds probably one of Mike's most important characteristics - something that has always shone through his far-reaching experimentation and kept it sounding both personal and accessible - his knack for great melody and lush arrangements. Chewed Corners sidesteps affiliations to any genre; instead it's a suite of 14 retro-futurist tracks, created with a lush, analogue sounding palette. It's a gentle ride which, even when it nods to aggressive music like footwork (on the track "Tickly Flanks") still manages to find a way to breathe light and joy into the framework. For every woozy moment there's a strong melody that hooks the strangeness in. The seasick chords in 'Wipe' are held together by a building chorus and muscular drum patterns, 'Hug's slow, strange 808 drum patterns and choral synths are underpinned by a lush, warm fretless bass sound. 'Smooch' has meditative, wafting electronics with chords and rhythm that intersect with 80's funk. 'Christ Dust' uses synths that wouldn't have been out of place on the Equalizer soundtrack, but with the circadian-like clicking of high hats and swirling synths adding a distinctively otherworldly feel to the track. It's classic µ-Ziq, which has taken stock and allowed the best parts of his abilities to shine through. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top We are not responsible for the contents of external internet sites