Gioia
No Secrets

Figurant sur le second various de Kump, Maahrt signe ici son retour parmi nous. Ce septième disque est une pièce aux deux faces traversées d'un même trouble. Quand « Gault » martèle des réminiscences big beat contre l'austérité d'une trame industrielle, « Clag » vibre de breaks habités d'échos et de voix. L'un frappe, l'autre fuit, tous deux se déploient en artefacts mitoyens et pourtant si singuliers. Il faut bien attendre le dernier titre « Noma » pour tenter un pont dans le lieu mince laissé par ces deux masses noires. Ce pont, A Strange Wedding l'imagine en plan-séquence cyberpunk aérien tandis qu'Odopt le sculpte en angles bruts. Osez pénétrer dans ce labyrinthe plus grand qu'il n'y paraît, il se pourrait que vous souhaitiez y rester davantage que ce que vous croyez.Featured on the second various out on Kump, Maahrt is back among us. This seventh record is a two-faced coin pierced by a single disturbance. When « Gault » pummels big beat remains against an industrial frame, « Clag » vibrates from breaks resonating of voices and echoes. One hits, the other flees, both extend in twin yet singular artifacts. The track « Noma » comes at last as an attempt to bind both sides in this narrow place in between two dark spaces. A Strange Wedding re-imagines this bridge as an aerial cyberpunk movie sequence whereas Odopt sharpens its angles. Dare to penetrate this labyrinth bigger than it seems, you might wish to stay there longer than you think.

It’s happening again: dj, producer and dial records co-owner lawrence produced his fourth album for mule musiq. And once more, another very special one. The berlin-based artist wrote nine new arrangements specifically for “Studio Mule”, the new audiophile listening bar that mule musiq's head-honcho toshiya kawasaki recently opened in shibuya, tokyo.

Sol Invictus 10" by Colin Fisher

Debut album from Alex Ho out of Los Angeles.In his foundational essay on Los Angeles, L.A. Glows, the essayist Lawrence Weschler speaks on the city's uncanny, immediately recognizable light; "The late-afternoon light of Los Angeles—golden pink off the bay through the smog and onto the palm fronds." Weschler traces the city's mysterious refracted light from the iconic paintings of David Hockney through the city's frequent portrayal on film and TV, noting its ability to put residents into a state of "egoless bliss."Similarly, Alex Ho's new album for Music From Memory, 'Move Through It', radiates with the unmistakable LA glow. While the Pasadena native's studio work is just now coming to light, Ho has long been a fixture in the Los Angeles dance music scene, throwing what are perhaps the city's most musically expansive warehouse events and carving out a singular voice as a DJ, as heard on his brilliant Moony Habits show for NTS. The eight-track record, however, lands in a more contemplative zone, better suited for a golden hour drive than a night out.Though it's his first record, 'Move Through It' is the accomplished work of a fully-formed artist, produced patiently between 2017 and 2020 with help from friends including Baba Stiltz, Phil Cho, Damon Palermo and John Jones. "Mark," the Koanic track conclusion side A, is an arpeggiated slow burn reminiscent of Pino Donaggio's brilliant score for Brian De Palma's 1984 film Body Double. Ho's stunning, pure falsetto soars above gentle melodies. "Miss Suzuki," the piece that originally caught the ear of MFM's Jamie Tiller and Tako, opens the record with a blue, cinematic sway. Ho's facility for poignant melodies—easily conveyed through saxophone, vibes, various keyboards and his own voice—shines on "College Crest Drive," as well as the title track. The lyrical "Move Through It" and the restrained and beautiful closing cut, "TYFC," are abetted by glimmering Kraut guitar figures courtesy of John Jones.While Ho's rhythms and melodies paint a crystal-clear musical vision, the music's emotional centre is more elusive, indicative of a yearning feeling synonymous with the City Of Angels. Hitting these hazy and subtle notes, Move Through It falls within a canon of sun-addled records spanning from Herb Alpert's "Rotation" to Dam-Funk's Private Life trilogy as Garrett. An immersive and concise statement, Alex Ho's 'Move Through It' is as warm and uncanny as the city that inspired it, a definitive LA album.

Polysensuality by Scott Gailey

On 12” for the first time, Cloud’s ‘Visions’ featuring four versions mixed by Sean P from the original 1983 multi-track recording.Standing somewhere between the sounds of early 80s disco club land, electro-funk and synth-pop, the ‘Visions’ recording session has remained silently spooled amongst the tape archives of producer Alan Osbourne since it’s first mix-down. Previously released in 1983, a stripped-down cut of the recording appeared on the segued track compilation Designed For Dancing Volume One (Design Communications) blended with the tail end of Toney Lee’s ‘Love So Deep’.Recorded two-months before Cloud’s final single ’Steppin' Out’, the band had a new line-up and a new sound; Shelley Law on lead vocals, Mark Mansfield on bass, Mitch Keene on guitar and Mike Allen on keyboards, with Alan Bateman on sax. and Cloud’s original drummer Paul Holmes.By this time, a younger underground scene had emerged, and electro-funk was at the forefront. David Joseph’s ‘You Can’t Hide Love’ topped the disco charts and popular b-boy anthems ‘Hip Hop Be Bop’ by Man Parrish and ’Jam On Revenge’ by Nucleus got UK releases. Along with the changing sound of brit-funk related bands and artist aspirations to produce popular records, the Mansfield and Law writing team were a good combination for Cloud. The result was a more contemporary 'sound of Swindon' that kept it's jazz funk roots under the musical direction of Osbourne.