Steve Angstrom
Recovered Artifacts 93'– 97'

Featuring 8 different artists from Mexico to Lithuania, Peru, Portugal, Florida, UK and Belgium, ‘Maloca Vol. 1’ outlines the worldly focus of Le Motel’s new label.Launching Maloca Records earlier this year, the label’s ethos is to build bridges interlinking disparate yet like-minded musicians dedicated to blending organic electronic and acoustic elements. The global network of makers highlighted on Maloca Vol.1, the label’s first compilation, confabs a terrestrial and borderless percussive sound that has been bubbling in clubs and Le Motel’s orbit.Opening the compilation is esteemed Peruvian duo Dengue Dengue Dengue followed by Lithuania's DJ JM who has previously released on the likes of Nervous Horizon and Goon Club Allstars, Miami artist and NAAFI affiliate Nick León and Lisbon’s DJ N.K. On the second half of the compilation, there are contributions from the label founder himself, Mexico’s Omaar, UK’s Coen and mysterious artist Tsongo. Maloca Records has put out three vinyl releases to date from Oakland’s Farsight, Beijing’s Howie Lee and Le Motel. The label is quickly building a reputation for releasing brilliant forward-thinking club records whilst capturing specific international sounds.

The Italian producer and founder of the Berlin-based label "Sonic Interface Records" has long been influenced by many subgenres of dance music; from electro to techno-acid music before combining them in his pioneering first ep . "Sonic001'' which sees Michael Space gravitating towards a different kind of electronic music, driven as much (or more) by analog sequencers, marked vocals, melodies and experimental sounds between space bass lines and acid sounds of the most common bassline 303 synthesizer, as by drums and percussion.

Debut LP from our friend Antoine! Owner of Sutton's Tony's Records and major craftsman, only 100 copies made and it is a beauty!Feuneu Records est une maison de disques indépendante basée à Sutton, dans les Cantons-de-l'Est. Sa mission est d'encourager la curiosité et la découverte musicale en proposant un catalogue éclectique et en favorisant des canaux de distribution alternatifs. Reliquat d'une conversation quasi mystique avec un mécanicien spécialisé en petits moteurs, la notion du feu neu －ou, autrement dit, du nouveau feu－ fait écho à l'inexhaustible désir de créer que partagent les artistes et collaborateur.rice.s de la maison.

At the turn of the 90s, Philippe Cohen Solal, then musical director for Virgin, becomes one of the first music supervisor in France and works on film scores by Arnaud Desplechin, Nikita Mikhalkov, Lars von Trier, Bertrand Tavernier or Kieslowski, then later composes for Tonie Marshall, Christian Vincent and Didier Le Pêcheur. He meets the very young composer and arranger Christophe Chassol with whom he will sign early 2000 soundtracks, during these sessions they create together the soundtrack of an imaginary film where music would be our spiritual food.The majority of themes are composed by Philippe with his musical partner at the time Christoph H. Mueller before they formed the Gotan Project. Unveiled here for the first time, this album pays tribute to the art of soundtracks, inspired by the world of sophisticated arrangements by Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin and so many others. Add a touch of folk jazz with the singers Nivo and Gabriela Arnon and the voice of the brilliant Welshman, leader of Scritti Politti, Green Gartside.

On steady rise following two sublime singles over the past year—Sagano b/w Haru Wa Akebono and Karakuri b/w Michinoku—Tokyo-based artist Hoshina Anniversary elaborates his eccentric musical point-of-view even further with a debut album for the ESP Institute entitled Jomon. Fourteen tracks stir a melting pot in line with our obsessions, a variety of styles which often stay in their own dedicated lanes while here their trajectories collide in demonstrable fusion. Hoshina gleans borderline absurdist qualities from late Jazz hero Chick Corea (evident in his wild and meticulous keyboard runs), calls upon ancient Japanese instruments, shrines and mythologies, and makes sideways nods to early minimal synth productions, yet all of the above are sifted through some granular equalization, an abstract veil that smooths the skin of Hoshina's mutant creation. A weight of experience pervades throughout, a requisite education in the electronic realm and a deep reverence for Jazz and its masters, and in turn this confidence transfers a sense of ease which leaves us poring over alternative approaches to otherwise familiar tropes. Once this conversation with the music is established, a subliminal push/pull tension toys with us across the length of the album, undulating our sense of space. The tonally rich, dynamic and melodic side of the works present a cool sense of depth but are violently contrasted by a slew of over-saturated punches, and at some point an inevitable alchemy casts these disparate expressions into a haunting monolithic array. Some are glistening and smooth, others are porous and jagged, but all amount to a staunch and cohesive work with the ability to transport listeners to regions unknown.