Nami Shimada
Sunshower

Tibor Szemző is not only a skillful and experienced Hungarian musician but also a media artist with a vast imagination. His last LP, ARBO X – Csoma Grooves, refers to his full-length film A Guest of Life released in 2006, for which he not only directed but also composed all the music. The film is inspired by the life of Alexander Csoma de Körös, a remarkable polyglot from the 19th century who set out from his native Transylvania to central Asia on foot to look for the roots of the Hungarian language. He reached Tibet, dedicated the rest of his life to study of Tibetan manuscripts and finally became the founder of tibetology. After 14 years Tibor Szemző decided to explore the theme further and composed the cinematic performance, Silverbird and the Cyclist, where he as narrator presented the story of Csoma from a different perspective.ARBO X is the music from this performance and it is based on the soundtrack of the original movie but the material has been restructured and enhanced by new layers. There are fourteen relatively short tracks on the album and each of them has a very specific character, sometimes mysterious as the titles of the tracks themselves. Their arrangement is ingeniously composed. Szemző’s typical bass flute and voice with percussion accompaniment on the first track Axis is a very impressive introduction to the whole album. The following tracks build up a series of colorful sound parables, which are in no way descriptive. Every element, whether it’s a double bass, viola, soprano voice, vocal trio or electronics, fits perfectly within the overall sound fabric with effective timing. Listening to ARBO X one unwittingly concentrates on interweaving details without loosing the sense of the whole. It’s certainly a great benefit, as in previous recordings, that most of the musicians participating in the recording of ARBO X are very familiar with Szemző’s music and his collaboration with some of them goes back to Group 180, a new music ensemble he founded in 1978 and soon earned international acclaim. This most recent album belongs among a long line of recordings that Tibor Szemző has released during his musical career and displays great compositional complexity and a keen sense of a perfectly balanced sound spectrum.Alexandr Krestovský

A double vinyl ticket to eleven engaging and evocative destinations.A trip into the fantastical. An Oyster from Elsewhere...Compiled by soFa, the second instalment in his recent series ties together eighteen artists, each venturing down their own musical path, to produce an audio atlas that transverses not only styles but also cultures and continents.Disparate musicians come from far and wide have been brought together across two slabs of beautifully mastered vinyl and, somehow, someway, found a jittering, skittering and juddering balance.Tracks from Puma & Dolphin and Khidja conjure up images of thick jungle scenes as tribal rhythm patterns hypnotise and mesmerise alongside shamanic samples. The heady exotic aromas and tactile textures of the East are on display with Zatua traipsing through baked dunes and deserts before arriving to the shamanic organized chaos that is Bear Bones, Lay Low.Darker moods loom and lurk, skulking in the alleys of Konsistent or in t-woc’s lurid tones. These duskier elements are countered by the brightness of Velvet C’s future disco sounds or the laser synthwork of Rony & Suzy. The buzzing Chicago inspired sounds of Weird Dust, the dawning pulses of Twoonky and the triumphal charges of Föhn blur the lines between mystical places and the cruel reality of the modern world.

rare combination of things: fearless, innovative, playful, independent, unpredictable and with a great sense of humour. The singular producer and dj from Amsterdam lives in that rare league of artists who are out there, doing their own thing, continually pushing the boundaries of electronic music and having a great time in doing so as well.Her third album in just over two years is as versatile as ever. Steelpan (!) dancehall goes hand in hand with off the wall techno and weird avant garde. The album contains a surprising collaboration with Michael Vincent Waller, a modern classical composer/pianist from New York: 'The Orphan Serenade' is Marcelle's most personal, sensitive track to date.As always, her track titles are a joy in themselves ('The Vegans Are Backstage', 'Hum Hum Hum', Technicians Leaving The Club').The album is covid-19 proof: Marcelle wears a face mask on the sleeve. Join Marcelle in her unique musical universe. And try to explain her the food, please.

** 2021 Stock. Edition of 150 ** Long-awaited return of Steve Marreyt, the grandmaster of psychedelic dronefolk-soundcollages. here he resurfaces with three long and impulsive tracks - mainly based on vocals and samples, but using the same direct and messy approach that made his earlier releases so unique. The entire A-side is taken up by an acapella lamentation for Herman Bisschop, the Dutch artist who passed away in the summer of 2018 and was a personal friend of Marreyt. The B-side thrives on samples, making it a more hectic listen, yet clear and oddly structured’-sounding for a Wappenhalter release. Definitely an adventurous but rewarding listen.

Les Disques de culte are back with a new exploration of the original soundtracks of the golden age of French X-rated films, the cult movie La Femme-objet, which has never been released before (neither on LP or any other format). A tribute to pleasure, composed by Jean-Claude Nachon, who at the dawn of the eighties was using without any restrains all the arsenal of the pioneers of the "electro-porn" to enhance the prodigious performance of Marilyn Jess. Languorous and effective beats, between psychedelic reggae, synth-pop and electro-orgasmics take-offs, gathered in this intimate selection to listen alone or accompanied…Fully restored the audio tracks from original material. Inside, in a gatefold, you'll find a copy of a rare vintage italian X-rated comics (translated in english) starring Marilyn Jess and la Cicciolina, so that you can get busy with your hands while listening to your LP.