Lorenzo Senni
Scacco Matto

Voor Harmonium by HellveteIn his essay ‘The Meaning of My Avant-Garde Hillbilly and Blues Music’, Henry Flynt talks about how his music should be analysed as an intellectual tribute to the music of the autochtone, setting aside plain folk references, but adopting academic insights to mold the music one makes as a folk creature. Much of Flynt’s discourse applies to the music of Glen Steenkiste’s Hellvete. Over the past twenty years he has been thoroughly investigating both the ethnic musical language of various regions as well as the contemporary pioneers that preceded him as a drone musician, internalizing concepts such as e.g. deep listening or just intonation. Casting off any redundant ideas or sounds, and stripping down the focus to develop singular concepts, his working method lead to pieces such as ‘Droomharmonium’, in which he shapes the endless variations on a theme, emphasizing detail and nuance rather than multitude. The Indian harmonium here serves as the main device to worship ancient ghosts and masters, and to preserve a continuum in a tradition that touches both folk and avant-garde culture. The materialisations are sustained tone compositions which become a means of appreciation of the people and cultures that paved the way for forms of mutual escapism. This might well be the core of what Hellvete’s music is about. As much as it is a form of self-entertainment – like folk music in the old days – it also invites the listener to a shared experience of sonic reverie, it is a casual gift to the community. This is certainly true for the pieces presented on this album. They were first presented in a smoke filled and darkened art space in Ghent, Steenkiste surrounded by only a couple of candles and just enough stage light to see him erratically moving to the rhythm of the piece, occasionally twiddling the knobs of a Doepfer synth that processed the prerecorded harmonium tracks. Unlike most of his other performances this piece embraced the audience in a trance that was similar to that of an old-school rave club. Flynt writes: ‘The music should be intellectually fascinating because the listener can perceive and participate in its rhythmic and melodic intricacies, audacity of organization, etc. At the same time, the music should be kinesthetic, that is, it should encourage dancing.’ ‘Voor Harmonium’ does exactly that; it builds on the artistic ideas that have long been established in Hellvete’s oeuvre, but the ecstatic nature of these pieces merges the usual spiritual transcendence with one of determined physical bliss. It encourages both mind and body to step into the sound, to be enraptured, to celebrate.

After a series of fiery releases on his own Depths of My Soul, Berlin-based producer Nat Wendell kicks off his newly minted sub-label Depths by getting right down to business.For 001, he’s invited two East Coast mainstays, Mike Terra and Jus’ Nowhere, creating a snapping EP focused on groove and rhythm that directly foreshadows the future of the label.

Mirror Cut is a three track 12” techno EP made by Jamie Enns aka Big Zen between 2020 and 2022. The songs are named after a card cut/display created by the late Jonas Haglund. Theversions are named after the classic three original modifications made to a Pentel RSVP to make it easier to spin. Made entirely in Vancouver, Canada.

After the Stroom release, James Bernard was revealed to the new generation. From Rising High/Sapho vaults, find over here 5 remastered tracks from 93-94 period. Alongside with 'M/N' compilation, Late-Night Rec. continues to explore the sound of a composer who made cross techno, electro and ambient at their peak. Incl. 'Lost In It' from his 1st LP, longly awaited to be reissued. A long-play record designed for ambient-atmospherics connoisseurs. Ltd edition of 300.

LSD032 - UK - 2020Light Sounds Dark present 'Crossed Wires' an eponymous collection of music salvagead from a dusty cassette in the depths of the archives from the productions of an 80s psyche-experimentalist. Expect raw, unheard, previously unreleased music... about as authentic as it gets.