NYC Records - Hiding in the Shadows

VA - Hiding in The Shadows

NYC Records

A deadly EP from NYC Records here... all Electro vibes, classic drum machines, vintage synths and an overall aesthetic of a top-notch Miami Vice library submission. Bafflingly, the label themselves describe the music within as 'Modern Funk' which is absolutely not true. Neither modern, nor Funk, it's a curious description. There are some funky touches, but the old addage that one swallow does not a summer make rings true. Still, all that really matters is the music, which Hiding in Tthe Shadows delivers with conviction and quality.

The dedication to retro synthesis is clear, but unlike many of the current crop of revisionists, this EP eschews straight imitation and instead maintains the prerogative to craft proper songs rather than merely rehash classic tropes. 

A nice mix of styles across these 4 tracks, too. From the Prince style Electro-pop of Synthman's Nord Lead, to the suspenseful Acid vibes of Windy City's, er, Windy City. Kozmik Funk delivers a slow groover while Synthman's first effort steals the show, the slow-but-dancefloor-friendly fun of Synths in the Jungle, which sounds like a theme tune for a short-lived 1986 cop show called Palm Springs Police Squad. Or something.

These songs could all be by the same artist and one wouldn't be able to tell, which leads me to wonder if they have a time-share scheme on the same expensive synth collection. Speculation aside, this is a cracking little EP from a label I'll be paying close attention to from now on. Go get it on 12" or digi here

Long Distance Dan - The Dust Man Stirs

Long Distance Dan - The Dust Man Stirs

Dusted Industries

Oh yes please. This is the kind of email submission that makes CMFCP very happy. Top drawer, cinematic, psychedelic beats crafted with abandon and no shortage of craftsmanship. To give an idea of where The Dust Man Stirs sits in the musical landscape, let's say you could file this album alongside the likes of DJ Shadow's early work, Edan, Boca 45, The Avalanches, Blockhead and DJ Food. However it would be an injustice to the artistry of Long Distance Dan to dwell too long on commonality - this is a remarkable album in its own right.

Apparently the name of the LP was provided by LDD's 2 year old son - startlingly prosaic! Gliding through 18 tracks in just 45 minutes, the range of styles and sample material is transfixing. Deliciously saturated drums throughout act as adhesive for these disparate styles, allowing Garage Rock, fuzzy Funk, Dub, Americana and a gaggle of other sound snippets to meld with a refined playfulness.

With sumptuous artwork by Sun Moth (AKA 2econd Class Citizen) The Dust Man Stirs is available through Bandcamp for whatever price you feel is appropriate

Ikebe Shakedown - Supermoon

Ikebe Shakedown - Supermoon

Colemine Records

Bold, brassy, full of classic library flavour and on a fetching 'moon-coloured' vinyl, the new 45 from Ikebe Shakedown is here, and it's tasty. Limited to 300 copies, fans of the golden era of library grooves should move fast before it's gobbled up by hungry beat-freaks.

Buy it here

V/A The Microcosm: Visionary Music of Continental Europe, 1970-1986

V/A

The Microcosm: Visionary Music of Continental Europe, 1970-1986

Light In The Attic

LITA 143

The follow up to Light In The Attic’s game-changing I Am The Center box set is finally here. The Microcosm: Visionary Music Of Continental Europe, 1970-1986 is the first major overview of key works from cosmically-taped in artists needing little introduction — Vangelis, Ash Ra Tempel, and Popol Vuh — and unknown masterpieces by criminally overlooked heroes like Bernard Xolotl, Robert Julian Horky and Enno Velthuys.

Whereas I Am The Center called for a reconsideration of an entire maligned genre, The Microcosm requests nothing more than an open mind to consider this ambient, new age, neuzeit, prog, krautrock, cosmic, holistic stuff, whatever one calls it — as a pulsating movement unto itself, a mirror refracting the American new age scene in unexpected, electrifying ways, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt the universality of the timeless quest to express “the Ineffable” through music.

Drawing from major label budgets and homemade cassette distributed circumstances alike, The Microcosm demonstrates a depth of peace profound to behold, and clearly expands the boundaries. Lovingly conceived and lavishly presented by producer Douglas Mcgowan (Yoga Records) and liner notes contributor Jason Patrick Woodbury (Pitchfork, Aquarium Drunkard), The Microcosm features stunning cover paintings by Étienne Trouvelot, and labels by Finnish savant Aleksanda Ionowa.

Vangelis - Creation Du Monde




Ralph Lundsten - Bön 5 - Förlåt Oss Våra Skulder (Prayer 5 - Forgive Us Our Debts)




Ash Ra Tempel - Le Sourire Volé




Popol Vuh - Brüder Des Schattens - Söhne Des Lichts (abridged)




Ariel Kalma - Orguitar Soir




Bernard Xolotl - Cometary Wailing (Valley Plateau)




Peter Michael Hamel - Einklang




Francesco Messina - Untitled




Roedelius - Wenn Der Südwind Weht




Deutsche Wertarbeit - Der Grosse Atem




Robert Julian Horky - Dance For A Warrior




Karl Schaffner & Lothar Grimm - Caravan




Suzanne Doucet & Christian Buehner - Shivas Dance




Enno Velthuys - Morning Glory




Deuter - Spirales




Gigi Masin - Ship Beetel

Listen to some choices excerpts from the record below

And buy here https://lightintheattic.net/releases/2637-the-microcosm-visionary-music-of-continental-europe-1970-1986

Hiroshi Yoshimura - Music for Nine Post Cards (1982)

Hiroshi Yoshimura

Music for Nine Post Cards

Empire of Signs

EOS01LP

Lovely vinyl repress of 1982's ambient masterpiece

Despite his status as a key figure in the history of Japanese ambient music, Hiroshi Yoshimura remains tragically under-known outside of his home country. Empire of Signs – a new imprint co-helmed by Maxwell August Croy, Spencer Doran and distributed by Light In The Attic – is proud to reissue Yoshimura’s debut Music for Nine Post Cards for the first time outside Japan in collaboration with Hiroshi’s widow Yoko Yoshimura, with more reissues of Hiroshi’s works to follow in the future.

Working initially as a conceptual artist, the musical side of Yoshimura’s artistic practice came to prominence in the post-Fluxus scene of late 1970s Tokyo alongside Akio Suzuki and Takehisa Kosugi, taking many subsequent turns within Japan’s bubble economy afterward. His sound works took on many forms – commissioned fashion runway scores, soundtracking perfume, soundscapes for pre-fab houses, train station sound design – all existing not as side work but as logical extensions of his philosophy of sound. His work strived for serenity as an ideal, and this approach can be felt strongly on Music for Nine Post Cards.

Home recorded on a minimal setup of keyboard and Fender Rhodes, Music for Nine Post Cards was Yoshimura’s first concrete collection of music, initially a demo recording given to the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art to be played within the building’s architecture. This was not background music in the prior Japanese “BGM” sense of the word, but “environmental music”, the literal translation of the Japanese term kankyō ongaku [環境音楽] given to Brian Eno’s “ambient” music when it arrived in late 70’s Japan. Yoshimura, along with his musical co-traveler Satoshi Ashikawa, searched for a new dialog between sound and space: music not as an external absolute, but as something that interlocks with a physical environment and shifts the listener’s experience within it. Erik Satie’s furniture music, R. Murray Schafer’s concept of the soundscape and Eno’s ambience all greatly informed their work, but the specific form of tranquil stasis presented on releases like Nine Post Cards is still difficult to place within a specific tradition, remaining elusive and idiosyncratic despite the economy of its construction. This record offers the perfect introduction to Hiroshi’s unique and beautiful worldview: it’s one that can be listened to – and lived in – endlessly.

Buy here: https://lightintheattic.net/releases/3538-music-for-nine-post-cards