Category Archives: Electronic

Electronic, KLF, Reissues, Trance

Avoiding Reissues [More Or Less] with THE KLF

Trying hard to keep their artistic vision intact and their promise intact not reissuing the KLF COMMUNICATIONS back catalouge still more than 23 Years after they where a big household name the music can only be streamed and now the Videos & Footage can be seen once more, “including The White Room (1989), The Rites of Mu (1991), narrated by Martin Sheen and the previously unreleased Krash (1992). Also included are the world famous music videos for the hit singles 3 A.M. Eternal, What Time is Love? and Justified & Ancient”.

KLF

Extras include A Chance to Play with the Big Toys (2023, 41 mins): director and producer Bill Butt is interviewed by Mick Houghton, publicist for The KLF, KLF: Unfinished (1992, 29 mins): Robert Milton-Wallace’s fly-on-the-wall documentary about the making of The KLF’s music videos & This Is Not What The KLF Is About (1991, 15 mins): a short film not directed by The KLF, capturing the making of Stadium House Trilogy which was available on VHS an Age ago (and I should still have somewhere while not even having an player for it at hand).

DIY, Dub, Electronic, Findings

Take Off with Sumac Dub

Sumac Dub is a project of Tom Dorne from Grenoble, France I stumbled upon already a few times while digging the French Electro Dub, Future Dub, Steppa and Modern Reggae releases. Promoted by the very interesting and active ODG Productions (On Dub Ground Prod.), Subsquad Prod who release a.o. an excellent City/Area themed compilation series not to forget the brilliant Mareé Bass label which also dives into bass music / drum and bass or many smaller ones or self-released Productions (thanks to the interwebs). Besides his collaborations which are common allover this scene with Ishiban, Full Dub, Kandee, Kanka and The Maucals to name just a few. He released already three full length albums and at least 4 EP’s since 2015. Very melodic stuff and a pleasure to discover. Also on soundcloud and youtube to find easily.

This is his latest single – live recorded while paragliding – Enjoy.

Video credits:

Artist: Sumac Dub
Venue: Lans En Vercors
Produced by: Yapouss Production and ODGPROD
Realization: Traym Production
Cameramen: Panot Prod, Arya Audiovisuel, Théo De Framond (Pastek Studio), Guilhem Sauvage, Gabriel Boulay.
Drone pilots: Théo De Framond (Pastek Studio)
Pilots: Etienne Lavarenne, Mélanie Forestier, Pierre Augier
Production team: Killian Hallier, Etienne Lavarenne, Tom Dorne
Bénévoles: Adrien, Antonin, Corto, Dean, Dorian, Emelieke, Louis
Partners: Alto, Arturia, Lans en Vercors

Mastering: Olo
Special thanks to Camille, Paul, Simon, Xris, La Tangente, Vercors Experience

DIY, Electronic, Post Punk

Dark Days (Full Lenght) – Thomas Leer (to good to be forgotten on a harddrive)

“Sometimes it seems Human progression is a myth. We move forward only to be dragged back by the stupidity of individuals who infect with misinformation & false promise. Their numbers seem to grow & So…..
Dark Days are Here Again.”

Leer.

Released September 6, 2019 / Synthesizers, Sampler & percussion / Thomas Leer.

DIY, Electronic, Gothic, Klappstuhl Records, Reissues

Epical Obscura – Solanaceae Tau

The third installment of the Solanaceae Tau Reissue series is “Epical Obscura“, originally published in July 2000 and heavily influenced by ecological activist Julia Butterfly who saved a giant and ancient redwood tree and surrounding forest in California by living on it as long as it took to get an eternal contract that it will be saved. Three of the tracks use lyrics by her and the all other lyrics are critical observing the state of the world by then too. One of the album tracks reminds me a lot of Algebra Suicide in a positive way;

Nihilistick Noise Archive aims to present the legacy of Solanaceae Tau as best as possible furthermore each album reissue is accompanied by a free single, in this case The Circle c/w Announcement Of Darkness. Get it here.

The original cover art can be seen archived on discogs, slightly altered but still blatantly taken from the innersleeve of an Grateful Dead record to underline the strength and unitiy of alternative culture but due to the re-working of the album it seemed approbiate to update and re-design this too.
As with the preceeding reissues (2007’s Novus Ordo Seclurum and 2003’s Voices From The Ground Behind) the tracks where professionally remastered by Maurizio Pustianaz of Noisebrigade honoring the late Axaxas aka Fenryr aka Andreas Kirchner.
I’ve been in contact with him again as I had the idea to publish some of this projects works on Klappstuhl because they where badly underrepresent anywhere online which was a shame… S.T. never managed to fit into one style be it experimental, electronic darkwave, industrial, neo folkish or cybergoth or whatever and had most likely because of this and limited distribution only a selected followship.

[click to listen]

Landscape pic by Dominik Scythe.
Skull pic by Max Kleinen, thanks to both.
Design & layout fd (full printable artwork included with dl).

Electronic, Experimental, Sheffield

NOESIS – Clock DVA Album 30 Years Post ‘Sign’

Adi Newton, conceptualizing & envisioning Clock DVA since 1978.

2023 sees the first DVA all new album release since 1993’s ‘Sign’. The 2nd (electronic) incarnation of Clock DVA was then already faded out with only Adi Newton and Robert E. Baker left. Dean Dennis had at least participated still to ‘Man Amplified’ before starting his own project Sector in the fall of 1993. Adi Newton did publish the weakest TAGC album ‘Iso Erotic Calibrations’ in 1994 and also the excellent ‘Burning Water’ Recordings dating back to 1987 and 1990 on Side Effekts and stayed as far as known in Italy with very few signs of musical activities besides 1996’s Psychophysicist collaboraton with Andrew McKenzie which had already been recorded in 1994.
A reissue deal with Mute was once rumoured about but nothing came of it so in general all proper DVA albums are still mostly out of print. I guess it is quite difficult to sort it out properly as there have been many group members through the years who contributed even when A. Newton always was the head and main writer.
Vinyl On Demand explored with various formats and boxes the earliest phase from roughly 1978 to 1980 with three different box-sets (4 if you like to count the double 7″ with the book) and which helped me to get my hands on some of the material I only ever heard of before.
But concerning new music the current line-up did not rush with releases.


Maurizio Martinucci (aka TeZ) Permanent DVA Member since 2010.

As is his do-it-all-alone style various sites and announcemnts popped up in the 2000’s but until 2013 when a compilation of unpublished Mid 90’s tracks appeared as “Post Sign” and in 2014 the first new tracks coupled with a multi media approach, remixes and video on an USB Stick in best possible audio quality plus two remixes on a limited 12″ through his Antererio Research Media Com. the Neoteric CD EP in 2016 was the next one with a Remix 12″ following in 2019 and also a Vinyl Reissue.

The Anti Group Project stayed pretty on the backburner besides a new Remaster available in 2013 of 1994’s Adi Newton solo effort, a few compilation tracks up to 2018 and very few live activity but is now fully active again with no less than 3 new works published and another expanded reissue of the singles Compilation. A playlist with TAGC & Clock DVA tracks older and more recent compiled by Adi Newton to promote his appearance as The Anti Group at Cinema Classico’s Overlook in Torino, Italy on the 1st of July 2017 is well worth a listen:

Adi Newton also collaborated with Jack Dangers (of MBM) as SŌON and published one excellent CD in 2019.
Various other projects have seen the light of the day, usually difficult to obtain, expensive or both. It got better since he teamed up with the Italian label / publishing company Rizosfera /NU KFM who handle the european ARM COM Releases for now.

Find full details / tracklisting / formats here.

Dub, Electronic, Experimental

(12 Movements Of) BOOM – Keith LeBlanc

Aside

Incredible 23 years have passed without an regular Keith LeBlanc solo album now, hard to believe as he’s been all over the place all of the time but except some reissues on his / Blanc bandcamp lately there was hardly any solo activity besides 2008’s Chess Moves – Future Blues Project not many seemed to know what to make of as it was a strange hybrid of original recordings with added Instrumentation by Keith, Doug (Wimbish) and Skip (McDonald) – maybe best described as found on dc “Re-production and partial re-instrumentation of old blues tracks using the original tapes”. Then there where regrouping activities as Tack>>Head live and even culminating into the “For The Love Of Money” cover versions album in 2014 which didn’t exactly overmatch it’s expectations. I’m not even sure if the title was meant ironically.
Anyway; 12 Movements Of Boom does.
Of course it might be there where no expectations to see another KLB album which was really regrettable as his incredible mix of electro, hip hop, funk, jazz and whatever style comes to his mind held together by his rhythmic brilliance somehow managed to build up to amazing heights, especially on Time Traveller (Blanc Records 1992) and Stranger Than Fiction (Enigma / Nettwerk 1989) two albums I regularly return to. The selected cast of guest musicians old and new support this all-in vision.
His long time allies Doug & Skip ‘Little Axe’ and a shelved but not forgotten tape with recordings of vocals and poetry from the late Andy Fairley given to him in the 90’s build the solid core of Boom. He dives more into mellower jazz ambience and hip hop here than in the 1990’s without loosing himself and his trademark edgy beats. A very welcome highlight.

A week later, October 25th he released the companion album – Boom Instrumentals & Bonus Tracks.

More Blanc Records digital releases, rarities and reissues are online at bandcamp and further infos on keithLeblanc.com .

DIY, Dub, Electronic

Dub Highway – Roots Zombie is back

Summer is gone finally, so the Dub Producers from Rootz Zombie found time to release a new album via Culture Dub Records and their own bandcamp simultanously. This one is more in the vein of their 2018 first collaborative release “Sounds From The House”, again with wonderful artwork from Legras Fist, a blend of harmonies and grooves enriched with prominent vocalists Sammy Gold, Thomas Anton (from Travelerz), Mista B, Little R and Bobby Surround.

While the download is free you can support the artists and label directly through a pay what you want option @ bandcamp and find more music in both cases, of course it’s just a tip of an iceberg but a good starting point into the current french dub scene as it can be.
Roots Zombie from Bordeaux are a great example because they’re not to strict stylistic and explore Bass Music, Hip Hop, House whatever makes them fancy but thankfully not all at once which makes it a pleasure to listen to.

Dub, Electronic, Klappstuhl Records

SP 030 & SP 031 – OhmikRon EP & full Album!

Urbanik Resonance EP

I am very proud about the two recent releases by Hungarian Dub Master Kálmán Nemeth published lately. The EP tracks where recorded early this Spring and released with extraordinary artwork by TapeAir from Budapest. The new album – his first since the excellent Eleven from early 2020 collects recordings from 2021 to late 2022 – made in isolation and compiled thematically coherent.

Pandemic Dub

I rediscovered my love for dub techno (which started with some of the first basic channel 12″s I bought when in Berlin during the early 1990’s) while working from home. It helped to keep me focused, most tracks aren’t too short so if fits in easily with the patient needed sometimes and besides there is a steady but not too dominant groove involved. I know this is not the real point here but it’s easy to enjoy the wordless space created here while being busy with whatever.
OhmikRon was one of dozens artists I discovered via bandcamp and soundcloud and he moves never too much into ambient ambiguity and this makes discovering his releases (and DJ Mixes) a pleasure.

Both releases are Digital Only.

Dub, Electronic, Experimental, Findings, Post Punk, Sheffield

Free Agent : Eric Random

Video

Eric Ramsden from Manchester was one of a handful of early electronic post punk pioneers, unique and uncompromising not completely unlike Robert Rental, Fad Gadget, . He was involved with early Factory acts, the New Hormones label, Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley as The Tiller Boys and maybe best documented with Cabaret Voltaire (as guest musician on record, as opening act on tour and fully absorbed on the Pressure Company live LP). From solo output up to putting a band together (The Bedlamites) and getting recruited for the then Manchester based femme fatale junkie legend Nico as tourband member – with additional stints in the Suns Of Arqua, Psychic TV and the Durutti Column.
This short bio shows a lot unknown facts, thankfully supported by the man himself about his whereabouts and his surprising return to electronic music starting with ‘Man Dog’ in 2014 on Klanggalerie after a 18 years hiatus and continuing until the present day. Find his latest Album ‘No-Go‘ here as CD and DL and a live recording from 2019 promoting the ‘Wire Me Up‘ 2*12″ on soundcloud.

An incredible find, many, many thanks to Hugo Ball.