Moodymann
Silence In The Secret Garden

Nigel Rolfe’s “Island Stories” is a unique record for 80’s Ireland. An unusually experimental electronic and abstract record for the time, it was originally released to little fanfare on Reekus records in 1986. Based around the DX7 synth and key collaborations with studio engineers and vocalists it was created as a soundtrack to a performance work of the same name.Born and raised in the Isle of Wight performance artist Nigel Rolfe has made Ireland his home since he arrived at Dublin Port in 1974. An art school graduate who witnessed the British rock explosion of the late 60s in person and as participant, he had been an organ player in a number of British rock bands of the time and a roadie for a number of the early 60’s UK tours by legendary US blues musicians. As the music world freaked out in the later part of the decade he moved with it, and after completing a fine art degree in the West Coast of England in the early 70s he moved to Ireland despite having no connections with the country – “ Drawn by the archeology” – settling straight into the experimental arts scene which was based around the Project Arts Centre where he worked. Organising exhibitions and teaching, his interest in music was rekindled by the explosion of punk.The key to his music making and this LP here was access to a studio – in this case Windmill Lane. A busy place in the early to mid 80s it had a production and video arm and acted as the centre for U2’s recording operations. Rolfe worked there doing carpentry and building jobs in exchange for off peak studio recording time. Coming in contact with the bands passing through and working closely with the engineers and tape operatives employed by the studio he was also able to take advantage of Brian Eno’s presence (he was there working with U2) and figure out the DX7 which forms the backbone of the LP and which – like most else - on the LP is played by Rolfe. Released by Reekus records in 1986 a year after it was completed, there was little expectation placed on the record and Rolfe had no careerist ambitions. We’ve remastered it and added a bonus track that was featured on the African Flower 12” off the LP “PW Botha’s Funeral March”.

The new introspective album by Pablo Bolivar is a nine track LP of deep avantgarde techno. Hypnotic and emotive songs that create its own journey through electronic music.

On March 5th, Ongehoord is releasing the concluding album of the Deadline Paranoia trilogy; Deadline Paranoia 3/3. The final set of rereleased psychedelic sounds that complete the oeuvre of the 1980s Amsterdam based band. Jeroen Vermandere, the person behind Ongehoord, discovered the band during his thorough search of Dutch cassettes and 1980s cassette culture and presents us this carefully selected triptych, taking the listener on quite a trip. 3/3 starts with a guttural exhalation, a celestial moan, setting the tone of the rest of the album - from there on the hot stickiness of dub oozes into the listener's ears, followed by ancestral percussion, rolling guitar riffs, and the nomadic sounds of the melodica. DeadlineParanoia 3/3 is light-hearted and suffocating all at once; the meditative rhythms cradle you back and forth while an array of peculiar sounds passes by, alluding to the band's delusional name.The record comes with an inlay presenting the original artwork that Deadline Paranoia used for their cassettes, capturing a dichotomy that is recognizable in their music; a sensitivity towards the spiritual placed alongside anarchic violence. You will be taken on a surreal journey, timeless sounding beats are accompanied by wailing instruments, the atmosphere is thick and heavy with smoke.

ITALIAN LIBRARY SONGBOOK VOL. 1 | Alessandro Alessandroni by Jessica Duncan, pAd, Alessandro Alessandroni