Release Features | NovaFuture Blog

out for a while: In Aeternam Vale – Pink Flamingos [Dement3d Records]

Artist:
In Aeternam Vale

Title:
Pink Flamingos

Label:
Dement3d Records

Cat#:
DM3D013

Release Date:
6th June 2016

Format:
CD, vinyl & digital

Tracklist:
A1.
Clobenzorex

A2.
Soundscape 5

A3.
Feed Me

B1.
B

B2.
Alone

B3.
Soundscape 2

C1.
181

C2.
Congestion Cosh

D1.
Soundscape 1

D2.
Hole

E1.
Autour Du Signal

E2.
176

F1.
Soundscape 4

F2.
Drones

F3.
Soundscape 3

F4.
La Pluie

Press Info:
In Æternam Vale, long the best-kept secret of the french synth punk scene, has been revealed many times now. This is about writing a new chapter of that 33+ years story, that begun in Lyon in 1983 as a band, whose leader Laurent Prot – an electronics pioneer and maniac – took over as a solo act since 1985. This new album (3xLP gatefold actually) explores another side of ‘IAV’, that echoes how Laurent sounds now – a ferocious take on techno, post-punk rhythmic elements and drone soundscapes, planted with unrestrained improvisation, and getting closure with a song time after time.

Ever building upon the everlasting influences of his first years : PIL’s punk sarcastic freedom, Suicide’s sexual rumble, Yello’s eerie dance moves, Kraftwerk’s accuracy, and Coil’s or Throbbing Gristle’s sense of transcendence and transgression, In Æternam Vale was never on hold for all those years. He has been relentlessly exploring all the spaces of freedom that electronic music has offered. To emphasize on how far he’s been going, we’ve put this album narration together, with intimacy, length, and space ; whenever the music had been made and how.

How this album was put together has a lot to say about how music is made in the In Æternam Vale universe… It all begins in Lyon, early 2015. Imagine you are being invited to the studio of a visionary, and get to discover some brand new futuristic experiments along with tracks made 25 years ago that sound as if they’ve been made yesterday. Well that’s what the careful listener who plunges himself in the album from start to finish should feel like.

I’ve had the chance to come over a few times, but this time was a bit more serious. Why serious ? Well , it is particularly challenging to keep your cool in that place : not only is it stuffed with all those vintage drum machines and synths – and some of them had actually joined his studio 30 years ago ; but in addition to the excitement, you’re also facing his custom-made modular systems, which Laurent’s mind of an engineer is particularly good at designing. It is almost impossible not to get carried away in a discussion about those, that might quickly turn into a friendly lesson and even jam session… Which again, is maybe what you might feel like, being carried away in those extended, unedited jams on the album : as if being shown how it’s done, by the maestro himself, playing it live, for your eyes (ears) only.

Did I really use the word “serious”? If you have seen In Æternam Vale performing live lately, you would see why this is also a quite an unfortunate pick. Quite notorious for hoisting his modular cases above his head in fiery resonant solos, as if an electric guitar. Rumor has it, a few live performances have gone absolutely wild lately. Laurent has lost nothing of the raw punk energy of his youth.

His music ; although very carefully crafted and ever so often introspective, is almost never deprived of his caustic sense of humour. You can always feel something similar to the prank of a playful gifted kid using intense frequencies to trick his audience in getting locked in. You can actually hear, in each one of those 16 tracks, how much fun he’s having, playing with your mind.

Speaking of youthful energy, it wouldn’t be fair not to tell you the whole truth about the selection. Some of the music here is the work of a 21-year-old, and some was recorded just last year around Laurent’s 50th birthday. It is only disturbing to admit how well it all fits together.

It is not very common to display a tracklisting that ranges through three decades, and call it an album. However, all of the music here is unpublished, exclusive, unreleased… It is also extremely rare to encounter artists that have never taken a break from studio creation, and this unbroken continuum is probably the reason why there is no relevance to any chronological classification of his work. The intent in the beginning, was to focus on the more recent, experimental side of In Æternam Vale’s work, and to look at his work through an angle that would be complementary to some recent techno releases on Jealous God or 80’s gems on Minimal Wave. Only, these visits to his studio in Lyon were decisive.

Imagine seeing the history of 30 years of electronic music flash through your ears, just in a few hours. ‘IAV’ has been exploring new grounds and sometimes even pioneering new styles and subgenres several times, with literally hundreds of tracks to listen to. Words are not enough to describe this record’s digger absolute dream : the discovery of a secret parallel universe where so much music has been created and kept under the radar.

But this record is not a compilation of tracks that would stick to a particular time period or subgenre. On the contrary ; there is a definite common thread, that had been found while losing oneself in the intensity of his spectacular live performances lately. Being carried away by his drone improvisations and smothering bass bins, and hearing him play his music, both old and new, there is a singular feeling of both freedom and transcendence that emanates from his music. Some of his lives have lead audiences to become completely silent, and taken away by hypnosis, some other have caused a riot, leading the audience to ultimate excitement. IAV stands for a whole-hearted involvement in the making of his music, and despite the cold and electronic textures, there is a sense of intimacy that we’ve tried to reflect through the choice of the closing song “La Pluie”.

Enjoy the ride !

Listen:
@ Dement3d @ Bandcamp

Full Track Streaming:
“Clobenzorex”

Videos:
“181”

“Feed Me” (Live @ Ubu, Rennes)

Video “181” created by the29nov films.

Special:

Buy Vinyl:
Dement3d @ Bandcamp
Deejay
HHV
Juno
Decks
more soon

Buy Digital:
Dement3d @ Bandcamp
more soon

Websites:
In Aeternam Vale
Dement3d Records

out now: Cristian Vogel – The Assistenz [Shitkatapult]

Artist:
Cristian Vogel

Title:
The Assistenz

Label:
Shitkatapult

Cat#:
STRIKE160

Release Date:
16th September 2016

Format:
CD, vinyl & digital

Tracklist:
01.
Hold

02.
Snowcrunch

03.
Vessels

04.
Telemorphosis

05.
Barefoot Agnete

06.
Cubic Haze

07.
Signal Symbol

08.
The Merman’s Dream

Track 7 & 8 are not on vinyl / track order is also a bit differnt.

Press Info:
THE ASSISTENZ is the culmination of a four year creative hot streak as vivid as any part of CRISTAN VOGEL’s long career. The trio of dancefloor-oriented records formed by 2012’s The Inertials, 2014’s Polyphonic Beings and now THE ASSISTENZ are sensual pleasures first and foremost: a lifetime of study of frequencies and rhythms on the frontline of the world’s clubs has been put into the creation of sounds that interface with the nervous system and emotional responses with extraordinary immediacy. But there’s much more too: together with the more abstracted album Eselsbrücke, these form an enticing sonic narrative, encoded themes running through them, each part revealing more about the whole. THE ASSISTENZ, then, is many things: a personal document, a tribute to Copenhagen where it was recorded and after whose famous cemetery it is named – but also the final piece in this bigger puzzle, which unlocks untold secrets from the previous three records.

There’s a deeper history, of course. CRISTIAN’s productions going back to the start of the 1990s have woven their way into the fabric of underground culture. His own recent remasters of his early albums, and the Sub Rosa Classics 1993-1998 collections have shown just how potent his early work remains. But his new work exists in a very different world to those past works, and is far removed from the recent electronic generations who he has influenced too. In fact, as you listen to THE ASSISTENZ, you realise that there’s no point making comparisons with other electronic producers at all. While you will certainly hear some of the most fundamental and enduring vectors of underground music – dub, electro, acid, funk – flowing through the tracks, even those things are rebuilt from the molecular level, created completely afresh with new, precise, but somewhat skewed vision.

CRISTIAN’s understanding of music now is spectral. That is to say, with every step through his exploration of sound over the years, he has made more and more detailed analyses of the specific frequencies that make up specific sounds and produce specific effects on the human mind and body. And as a result, his own sound synthesis – increasingly done via the Kyma programming platform – is more and more able to reach beyond the “synthetic” and impact in uncanny and wonderful ways. The most obvious sense of this is the way his sounds touch on the human voice: not just in the chattering, shimmering, singing tones of THE ASSISTENZ’s ghostly centrepiece “Barefoot Agnete”, in the alien radio signals of “The Merman’s Dream” or even in the subliminal “aaah”s hiding in the background of the noisy “Vessels”, but in the way any sound, anywhere in any track can sound peculiarly vocal, heard from the right angle.

And it’s not just the boundary between human and non-human, or that between acoustic and

synthetic, that get blurred to the point of non-existence. CRISTAN’s creative methodology now is all about leaving you so uncertain about where anything came from, or what scale the sounds are operating on, that you have no choice but to let go of preconceptions and standardised critical faculties and go with it. Sometimes that can take you to places where darkness and physicality close in on you as on “Vessels” or “Telemorphosis”, or into haunted spaces on the edge of the void like those of “Snowcrunch” and “Barefoot Agnete”, but even in those, there is euphoria. And in the voluptuousness of “Hold” or the body-rocking funk of “Cubic Haze”, all the abstraction is grounded in the sheer pleasure of your own bodily responses to the sound.

So many of the science fiction dreams of the 1990s are now (virtual) reality. We live in a time when social networks consciously manipulate our emotions, where data is money, where machines learn, where images can’t be trusted, and where the synthetic can feel more real than real. Over some 25 years, CRISTIAN’s experiments have traced much of this weirdness and evolved with it, and his understanding of synthesis and algorithmic processes to create structure makes him one of the most important composers working today. But THE ASSISTENZ doesn’t just experiment with the interfaces between mind, body and machine: it expresses those relationships in ways that are beautiful, troubling, moving and scary, and which even make you want to dance. Together with the preceding three albums it enacts a glorious, endlessly-explorable mapping of just what electronic music can do.

Text by Joe Muggs, June 2016.

Listen:
@ Shopkatapult

Trailer:

Full Track Streaming:

Video Special:
“HY! Festival Copenhagen 30/05/2015”

Recommendations:
“The Inertials” album
“Polyphonic Beings” album

Buy CD:
Shopkatapult
WOM
Amazon
Boomkat
Bleep
Juno
more soon

Buy Vinyl:
Shopkatapult
Deejay
WOM
Amazon
HHV
Hardwax
Boomkat
Bleep
Juno
more soon

Buy Digital:
Shopkatapult
Amazon
Boomkat
Bleep
JunoDownload
iTunes
Google Play
more soon

Websites:
Cristian Vogel
Shitkatapult

out now: Psyk – First Contact EP [Fuse Music]

Artist:
Psyk

Title:
First Contact EP

Label:
Fuse Music

Cat#:
FUS001

Release Date:
07th October 2016

Format:
12″ & digital

Tracklist:
A1.
First Contact

A2.
Tension

B1.
Odio

B2.
Stroke

Press Info:
After decades at the forefront of electronic music in Belgium, Fuse is proud to launch its in-house label as a tribute to both the spirit at the heart of the club and the thrilling developments in modern techno. From local, Brussels-based talent to artists with a close connection to the club, the Fuse label will provide a rich spread of material revolving around but not limited to techno, with a love of the finest club music at the heart of every signing.

The label commences operations with a four-track EP from Spanish producer Psyk, who has a long history of playing at Fuse. Having worked closely with labels such as Mote-Evolver and Tresor as well as releasing on his own Non Series, his rise on the international techno circuit has been hard to ignore. As comfortable exploring ambient space as working with tightly wound percussion, Psyk has been able to mark himself out as a unique force through his adventurous yet physical sound.

The EP begins with an eerie excursion into beatless sound design appropriately entitled “First Contact”, where nervous bleeps meet with off-key string tones that call to mind uneasy sci-fi soundtracks. “Tension” then follows with an equally edgy line in synths, but this time they circle above a sturdy undercurrent of rhythm that demonstrates the perfect balance between impact and restraint.

“Odio” commences the B-side with an appropriately disorientating atmosphere where tones pulse and vibrate at curious angles, rising in intensity and weirdness while the beats provide a steady anchor. Then “Stroke” moves in to finish the EP off with a dark, addictive combination of cyclical synths and straight-ahead drums pitched right at the heart of the night.

This is a bold record from Psyk that sets out the mission for Fuse as a label perfectly, avoiding generic techno moves to say something truly original while still presenting a sound built for the club.

Listen:

Special:
“NovaFuture Blog Mix March 2016”

Recommendations:
EP “Human” on Mote-Evolver
album “Time Foundation” on Mote-Evolver
EP “Works” on Tresor Records
EP “Distane” on Mote-Evolver

Buy Vinyl:
soon

Buy Digital:
Beatport Classic
JunoDownload
iTunes
WhatPeoplePlay
Google Play
more soon

Booking
Psyk

Websites:
Psyk
Fuse Music

out now: Isan – Glass Bird Movement [Morr Music]

Artist:
Isan

Title:
Glass Bird Movement

Label:
Morr Music

Cat#:
mm 148

Release Date:
14th October 2016

Format:
CD, LP+7″, download & streaming

Tracks CD & LP:
01.
Cuckoo Down

02.
Lace Murex

03.
Parley Glove

04.
Glass Bird Movement

05.
Leonardo`s Formula

06.
Every Since And Then

07.
Napier Deltic

08.
Rattling Downhill

09.
Slow Rings

10.
Risefallsleep

11.
Linnæus

Tracks 7″:
A.
Linnæus
(7″ Version)

B1.
Locked Groove 1

B2.
Locked Groove 2

B3.
Locked Groove 3

B4.
Locked Groove 4

B5.
Locked Groove 5

B6.
Locked Groove 6

Press Info (English):
On their first album in six years, ISAN once more weave together electronic soundscapes, delicate rhythms and the occasional odd sound into a pulsating, ever-morphing whole. „Glass Bird Movement“ is Antony Ryan and Robin Saville’s eighth studio album since they have started the project two decades ago. Exchanging ideas between England and Denmark, where Ryan currently resides, ISAN have crafted an album which is reminiscent of heyday Boards Of Canada productions, the friendlier ventures of Aphex Twin or the most focused moments of Ulrich Schnauss, if you will.

However, this album (as well their impressive back catalogue, as subtle it may seem) displays a strong signature. ISAN constantly move forwards without leaving their respective studios. And why should they – it’s warm and dry in there and the kettle is always boiling.

The title „Glass Bird Movement“, like those of many of their records and songs, is the product of an free associative process which reflects ISAN’s creative methods and frames the eleven songs in a way that triggers the imagination. Communcating less about their music than rather with their music, Ryan and Saville together immerse themselves in complex structures without shutting out their audience. Instead, the friendly bouncing grooves of songs like »Napier Deltic«, the washed out harmonies of the aptly titled »Risefallsleep« or the circular rhythms of the album’s opener, »Cuckoo Down«, have dream-like, inviting qualities to them.

ISAN are particular about incorporating the element of chance, a sort of second-hand human touch, in their music. If it’s a cheap keyboard that is only good for one note in one song alone or a tape loop cut by hand, anything can find its way into an ISAN song. Even though they take most of their inspiration from the machines they work with, they do not fetishise their gear – but play with it.

„Glass Bird Movement“ relies just as heavily on all those sonic idiosynkrasies as it does on the sophisticated rhythms and throbbing basses that form its foundation. Like the colourful art of Morr Music’s in-house designer Julia Guther, which was based on Saville and Ryan’s visual ideas, it is a record that very politely defies categorisation. One might call the music that ISAN make Intelligence Dance Music, as it has often been done. However, be aware that there has reportedly only ever been one person seen dancing to it.

„Glass Bird Movement“ is likely best enjoyed where it is warm and dry, while the kettle is boiling.

Press Info (German):
Auf ihrem ersten Album seit sechs Jahren verflechten ISAN elektronische Soundscapes mit dezenten Rhythmen und außergewöhnliche Sounds zu einer pulsierenden, sich ständig morphenden Einheit.

„Glass Bird Movement“ ist Antony Ryans und Robin Savilles achtes Studioalbum seit Gründung des Projekts vor zwanzig Jahren. Im ständigen Austausch zwischen England und Dänemark, wo Ryan derzeit lebt, ist ISAN ein Album gelungen, welches ebenso an die Hochzeiten von Boards Of Canada erinnert wie es die zurückhaltende Seite von Aphex Twin und die konzentrierteren Momente eines Ulrich Schnauss in Erinnerung ruft.

Nichtsdestotrotz ist auch auf „Glass Bird Movement“ – wie schon im beeindruckenden Backkatalog, so subtil er auch klingen mag – eine originäre Handschrift erkennbar. ISAN bewegen sich kontinuierlich vorwärts, ohne ihre jeweiligen Studios zu verlassen. Warum sollten sie auch – dort ist es schließlich warm und trocken und der Tee steht jederzeit bereit.

Der Titel „Glass Bird Movement“ ist, wie die von vielen ihrer Alben und Songs, das Produkt eines freien Assoziationsverfahrens, welches seinerseits ISANs kreative Vorgehensweise spiegelt: Ryan und Saville kommunizieren weniger über als vielmehr mit ihrer Musik und erschaffen so komplexe Strukturen, ohne dabei ihr Publikum auszuschließen.

Den hüpfenden Grooves von Stücken wie »Napier Deltic«, den verwaschenen Harmonien vom treffend betitelten Song »Risefallsleep« oder den zirkulären Rhythmen des Openers »Cuckoo Down« wohnen ebenso einladende wie träumerische Qualitäten inne. ISAN legen viel Wert darauf, den Zufall zum musikalischen Mitspieler zu machen.

Ob es ein billiges Keyboard ist, das nur für einen einzigen Ton gut ist oder aber handgefertigte Tape-Loops: Bei ISAN kann alles Verwendung finden. Obwohl Saville und Ryan den Großteil ihrer Inspiration aus ihren Arbeitsgeräten beziehen, machen sie die Hardware nicht zum Fetischobjekt – sondern zum Spielzeug.

„Glass Bird Movement“ speist sich einerseits aus genau solchen klanglichen Eigenarten wie andererseits aus den raffinierten Rhythmen und kräftigen Bässen, welche das Fundament des Albums bilden. Ähnlich dem Artwork von Morr Musics Grafik-Designerin Julia Guther, eine Umsetzung visueller Ideen von Ryan und Saville, lehnt diese Platte mit aller gebotenen Höflichkeit jeden Versuch der Kategorisierung ab.

ISANs Musik könnte vielleicht als Intelligent Dance Music bezeichnet werden, wie es häufiger auch getan wurde. Zutreffend wäre das aber nicht: Laut Überlieferung hat in zwanzig Jahren bisher nur eine einzige Person jemals zu ihrer Musik getanzt.

Glass Bird Movement lässt sich vermutlich am besten auf der Couch genießen. Dort, wo es warm und trocken ist und der Tee jederzeit bereit steht.

Snippets:

Full Track Streaming:
“Parley Glove”

Videos:
“Glass Bird Movement”

“Parley Glove”

Special:
“Live At Kings Place London 250210”

Buy CD:
Isan @ Bandcamp
anost.net
Amazon
Juno
WOM
Boomkat
more soon

Buy Vinyl:
Isan @ Bandcamp
anost.net
Amazon
Deejay
Juno
WOM
HHV
Boomkat
Hardwax
more soon

Buy Download:
Isan @ Bandcamp
Qobuz
Amazon
JunoDownload
Beatport
Boomkat
Bleep
iTunes
Clone Digital
iTunes
Hardwax
more soon

Commmercial Streaming Services:
Tidal
Deezer
Spotify
Apple Music
Anghami
Youtube Music

Websites:
Isan
Morr Music

out now: Abstract Division – Corrosive Mind [Lanthan.Audio]

Artist:
Abstract Division

Title:
Corrosive Mind

Label:
Lanthan.Audio

Cat#:
LNTHN006

Release Date:
14th October 2016

Format:
12″ & digital

Tracklist:
A1.
Corrosive Mind

A2.
Corrosive Mind
(Milton Bradley Remix)

B1.
Intervention

B2.
Intervention
(Albert van Abbe Remix)

Press Info:
Lanthan.audio, the German label founded by Christian Gerlach, now presents its sixth release from ‘Abstract Division’. The Netherland-based dou delivers a 4 track EP with two originals and two Remixes by Milton Bradley (Do Not Resist The Beat) and Albert Van Abbe (VanAbbe). Abstract Divisions ‘Corrosive Mind’ stands with a significant synthline that screws into your mind. sorrounded from its open and pumping drums its really developing into a mezmericing piece for the dance floor with a high recognition value. Milton Bradley strips it down and presents a very strong tool with a great tension in itself. ‘Intervention’ grabs up its name and reflects the word into sound. It comes along with a exciting touch and builds up slowly but strong. With potent drums, like we knew it from Abstract Division, it is definetly a track for various situations but not without loosing its goal. Albert Van Abbe abstracts the core and reshapes it with classic drum sounds and adds an emotional melody, its centerpiece. Tight and thoughtful next strike from Lanthan.audio again, which is expanding advisedly.

Listen: