villa Åbo in the alternative solo project of swedish musician and producer jan svensson, who has been making electronic music for the better part of 30 years as the artist behind such aliases as frak, studio ss and alvars orkestra. svensson also runs legendary swedish dance and experimental music label börft, the product of a mutual appreciation for severed heads and terse tapes. as villa Åbo he released two records in 1997 on börft and remained inactive for 17 years until the dutch label bio rhythm coaxed him into revisiting the project and released a double 12&#8243,, in 2014. jan has since followed with a steady stream of 12” singles for kontra-musik, noise in my head and radio lundberg.
“magnetic moves” is villa Åbo’s debut album, originally released in an limited edition of 65 hand-numbered cassettes by funeral fog in 2016.
clocking in at over 46 minutes, this first-ever vinyl edition spreads the 8 ragged techno tracks across four sides for maximum loudness. some songs are aggressively potent, with cyclical synth riffs and razor-sharp acid lines riding a heavy, funk-fuelled techno groove. others tracks are more fluid, vintage underground resistance or derrick may with killer drum machine workouts that come in handy as dj tools. all songs have been remastered by george horn at fantasy studios in berkeley. the record is housed in a custom made jacket designed by eloise leigh, featuring a photograph of jan’s mother’s house, the meaning behind “villa Åbo”. each copy includes a double-sided postcard with notes.

next up on bucharest’s raw tools label is börft co-founder, johan sturesson, also known to be part of the swedish electronic trio, frak. the four-track ep consists in music from the private vaults of the producer, that has been kept secret for almost 20 years. rough and gritty, his analogue approach and stripped down sound define the record. starting with the rave sounding “uncle owl” and then moving to a more darkly atmospheric title track, kord shows his muscles on the flipside with some more techno infused and bass driven dancefloor cuts.
always under the radar, johan has been operating raw electronics since the late 80’s, developing his distinctive sound. as kord, he has released on several swedish labels, including his own imprint. together with jan svensson and björn isgren as frak, they have released music on labels such as kontra musik, lux rec and midlight records.

new leipzig label kontra s inaugural record presents a richly diverse collection of music that spans from world music infused house in the vein of many sex tags releases to break ridden, hard hitting, low-fi techno through to considered ambient music. despite the variation kontra is held together by a unifying underground style that every track shares. an excellent first release from a label that s sure to become a major underground player.

3 original amiga klassiker von city in einer sammlerbox: unter der haut, casablanca & rauchzeichen.

2012er deluxe lp edition des 1990er debuts auf silbernem vinyl mit neuem artwork! die schwedisch amerikanische arbeitsgemeinschaft von talisman war eine der wenigen bastionen ehrlichen melodic rocks, die es mit großartigen alben auch in den 90er jahren schaffte, die vom grunge und dem kollektiven abgesang der großen musiksender errichteten windmühlen des kontra- hard rock stimmungsbarometers zu bekämpfen. talisman waren herausragend und trotz ihrer großen klasse so unaufdringlich, extravagant und eigenständig. genau deshalb war die von marcel jacob gegründete band seit beginn ihrer tage in der lage ein großes spektrum an musikliebhabern von rock bis metal, von prog bis funk zu begeistern. mit einem ausnahmesänger und songwriter wie jeff scott soto (mit dem er gemeinsam das 85er malmsteen album marching out eingespielt hatte und der fast zeitgleich mit eyes für aufsehen im genre sorgte) in seinen reihen, standen jacob und seinem neuen baby in bereits den späten 80ern alle türen der kreativität offen, und spätestens im jahre 1990, als talisman ihr großartiges debüt mit und um den jahrhunderthit i’ll be waiting veröffentlichten, strahlte die band als einer der hellsten sterne am melodic rock firmament. (darkscene)

apollo proudly presents the all the keys are here ep, sebastian mullaerts beguiling debut on the label following collaborations with mathew jonson, eitan reiter, aril brikha and ulf eriksson, as well as releases for hypercolour, drumcode, mule musiq and kontra musik.

echocord returns late june with a new release, joel alter under his jor-el alias, entitled ‘tilted reality’ and comprising three originals from the swedish artist. currently based in copenhagen, sweden born producer and dj joel alter is a name synonymous with the contemporary techno scene on both his home turf and across the globe, his back catalogue to date features a long player for the uncanny valley imprint, solo ep’s for d’julz’ bass culture, sweatshop and collaborative works for kontra musik alongside henrik johnsson amongst much more. this time round though we see alter return under his jor-el guise under which he first started releasing material on dj hell’s internation deejay gigolo imprint. up first is title-track ‘tilted reality’ laid out over seven minutes with a slowly unfolding dynamic feel, encompassing spiraling atmospherics, distorted rhythms and blooming stab- sequences. ‘elevation’ follows and takes a more direct groove-driven approach via straight four-four percussion and hooky bass chops, whilst tension building pads and fluttering dub echoes gradually build around the foundation. ‘solitude’ closes out the package deliving into deeper realms with soft ethereal dub chords, acid tinged leads and emotive strings.

after more than 10 years releasing music under the pseudonym of el_txef_a the enigmatic basque musician

we are proud to announce that andreas tilliander is back on echocord after 15 years. this march sees echocord release the ofog ep comprising three original productions from swedens andreas tilliander. stockholm based andreas tilliander is a name thats been synonymous with the underground electronic music scene for a while now, from his contribution to the glitch genre in the early 1990s through to winning a swedish grammy and producing under various monikers creating a variety of sonic art. this includes his previous echocord released lowfour alias, the raster.noton seminal moikra cliphop album and his more recently explored tm404 project which has seen him release on skudge and kontra-musik. tillianders ofog ep kicks off with an upfront and club leaning track entitled storet, which is driven by deep kicks and crisp hats that both sit tightly at each end of the mix, leaving room for twisted chords and delayed synth swells to fill the gap. next up comes the fine dub-tinged and spacious aesthetic of oliveros, where ethereal textures glide freely alongside the live-sounding tape delayed drums, accompanied by a deep, weaving sub. closing the package is risset, in which a half time bass line chugs alongside vibrantly saturated percussion escorted by dubby chords and glitchy atmospherics.

our favorite detroit producer and friend luke hess is back on echocord colour with a 3-track bomb. all tracks are super powerfull dubby spaced out techno with the typical luke hess feeling, deep and melodic. luke hess is a dj & producer from detroit. he has celebrated eps out on omar s fxhe, carl craigs planet-e, echocord, echocord colour, finale sessions, kontra- musik, & modelisme. his label deeplabs is the center for his own deeply personal projects.

italian roberto clementi has really struck a chord in the hearts of northerners, with releases on scottish soma, danish echocord colour and swedish kontra-musik. perhaps it’s his ability to create evolving and often emotional melodic landscapes over raw, punchy beats that’s especially appreciated north of the wall. this is very much true for true rotary recordings, in any case, bringing roberto clementi in for the label’s second release. ‘to balance a tide’ is perfectly set in the true rotary recordings universe, combining analogue warmth with genuine musicality. there’s no question roberto clementi has soul and has willingly poured some of it into this release, the music has a considerable thickness to it that’s very pleasing to the ear, yet it’s still exceptionally artful. clementi’s soul seems to be an ancient one, given the timelessness of his tracks – old svek releases come to mind but with an added futuristic twist. this is music for dancing and music for dreaming, all in one package. true rotary recordings is run by joel alter and ena cosovic. stemming from a longstanding mutual appreciation for the combination raw techno with more seductive sounds, the label is a natural development of joel’s and ena’s musical and personal partnership. true rotary recordings represents their mutual musical vision and vibe that they love. keeping it raw and genuine.

out with old, in with the bold… pets prepare us for a fresh new year start with an early-ears peak at what they have in store for 2017. it starts right here with a techno maestro who – thanks to a deep stash of thoroughbred beats on soma, hypercolour, echocord and kontra – shouldnt require much of an introduction: roberto clementi.

the durian brothers consist of rising polyrhythmic talent dont dj, outernational adventurer harmonious thelonious and salon des amateurs resident marc matter. following their excellent outings on kontra-musik and diskant, the experimental trio build on a burgeoning relationship with emotional response by gathering together some of the best of their intense, globetrotting sounds. theres a great focus on cyclical rhythms, not least on the wonderful planete sauvage, while mille yeaux takes a more spacious, groovy route through wooden percussion and pinging organic tones. considering the scarcity of the original diskant pressings of these tracks, this collection couldnt come quickly enough.

this september will see visionquest release selector from luke hess, coming accompanied with remixes from delsin artist d5, label co-founder lee curtiss and maher daniel. detroit artist luke hess has been one of the most celebrated acts coming out of the motor city over the past decade with an impressive back catalogue boasting material on omar s fxhe, carl craigs planet e, echochord and kontra-musik to name but a few. here though we see hess join the roster of visionquest following recent output from wareika, vlad caia, tuccillo and mirko loko.

following on from march s shlømo remix package featuring donato dozzy, bambounou, shlømo and label boss kennedy smith, bright sound s second release of 2016 will new a brand new ep from sweden s andreas tilliander. with his releases on his own repeatle imprint and his tm404 alias s hardware-driven techno featuring on skudge white and kontra-musik, tilliander is among sweden s most versatile talents working right now. his arrival on bright sounds is of a piece with bsrx 004, last year s reissue of fellow swede henrik johansson s 1997 ep as smyglyssna. as with johansson s record, tilliander s stettin libau ep explores slower tempo techno, locating the moments of space and energy in between its rhythmic structures. this search is most keenly observed in knapp ledsyn , with its ever-shifting sonic landscape melting away at various points to reveal its unusual, skeletal beats and hidden melodic details, while the ep title track and nybliven lots apply that approach to what might at first be a traditional dub techno template, yet still offering further small moments of off-beat character. completing the release is a detox operation remix of knapp ledsyn from nonplace records chief burnt friedman, in which the german veteran strips things down to a gentle patter of drums overlaid with suggestive flashes of the original s rich atmospheric elements.

echnical playful acidic techno created in malmoe - sweden. simon recently had a track out on the lackmus compilation (borft119). before that some mysterious 12inches were released on kontra-musik... this is new, present updated, white vinyl limited to 300x too...

nach zwei alben auf dem britischen label planet mu (heimat von künstlern wie mu-ziq und venetian snares) schließen sich solar bears nun sunday best an. als große fans von david lynch wurden sie auf das label aufmerksam. “advancement” hat alles, was etwa boards of canada-fans glücklich machen sollte. psychedelische soundscapes gekoppelt an modernste elektronik, flirrende ambient-passagen genauso wie knackige beats als kontra-punkt. wurde schon der vorgänger “supermigration” mit reichlich lob bedacht, führt “advancement” das konzept nun weiter. die beiden musiker david kowalski und rian trench aus dublin haben sich abermals mit dem amerikanischen film-regisseur micheal robinson zusammengetan, der das werk mit einer serie von video-clips im netz begleitet. so finden die sowieso soundtrack-geeigneten stücke eine großartige visuelle entsprechung.
die vinyl-lp erscheint inklusive downloadcode.

we are very proud to welcome back on board our good friends pablo bolivar and luke hess from detroit. pablo bolivar & javier orduna here comes with tales from the ground, passion for music, analog machines, carefully crafted, beauty, elegance, deepness, dub by elements and perfect for the dance floor are what we have. creating out of loving for the people who will hear the music. after acclaimed releases on fxhe,beretta grey, echocord colour,kontra-musik. lukes sound is here again with pong musiq.

herva, of delsin, kontra, mos and all city fame, offers another set of forward-thinking dancefloor bombs. across four tracks this young italian demonstrates his unique interpretation of the past and the future again and again. herva is the artist name of herve atsè corti. he was born in 1991, and has been surrounded by music from the beginning thanks to his family. he made a reputation for himself early on at high school as a talented drummer, but, intrigued by electronic music he decided to start making his own beats with a laptop. a few years later bosconi records released his early productions, both as herva both and as life’s track (a side project with dukwa). he is also part of tru west, a collective he founded with mass prod, rufus and raffaele amenta.

it has been over a year since the last schmorgasbord release dropped, which saw al tourettes (better known now as second storey) rubbing up against paradroid in a mix up of electro, techno and electronica styles. now the label returns with bass clef and frak, who were asked to each commit a half-finished sketch of a track to tape, exchange tapes and finish off each others tracks. bass clef has been a strong solo force on the electronic music scene since he first emerged in the wider bass music field in 2006, and has since released on idle hands, punch drunk, pan and public information as well as running his own magic + dreams imprint. swedish trio frak have been releasing since their debut album in 1987 when they were thirteen years old. the swedish trio have been active for most of that time, running borft records and releasing a huge amount of music as well as performing live. in recent years they have enjoyed more recognition with releases on kontra musik, digitalis and sex tags mania. schmorgasbord launched in 2011 with a release that saw appleblim and october collaborating for the first time. it was followed up by a release from s-max and spatial.

new project by andreas tilliander (kontra musik). minimal techno/electronics, reminding of the early sahko catalogue.

made fresh daily s 15th release has arrived. jordan serves up 2 big house joints, geared towards the dancefloor. de sluwe vos and t-bone s remixes take the originals to darker and tougher realms.

direct out of deepest neukolln emerges z o d i a c 4 4. rusty, broken and cantankerous we spill forth our first ever release with dungeon acid at the helm. dungeon jams sees the swedish producer summon madness from the depths of his mind and unleashes it on the world via his computerriddimdrummachiner and the analoguewavecombosignalizer. aboard the pirate ship are fellow viking rivet (skudge/kontra) and nordic saint dj fett burger (sex tags mania/sex tags ufo) with both bringing their own inimitable and unparalleled sonic grooves to the battleground. zaqua is the first of 12 releases. one for each sign of the stars and then z o d i a c 4 4 is forever dead and gone. forever.

the swedish berlin based joel alters been busy the last few years making deep well produced dub inspired techno and house for labels kontra-musik and d julz bass culture

johanna knutsson and fellow swede hans berg are finally back on board and bringing a fantastic new release to klasses schedule. donka/mosquitoes is a wonderful work of melodic techno and features remixes from bristol native, october and bass culture/kontra regular joel alter

following his recent roland tb-303 experiments for absurd and his understated reworking of scubas the hope, berlins recondite has put together the debut release on boutique-label trolldans, based in the city of kontra-musik.

continuing motechs 10 year celebrations and a kick-ass party at londos fabric last month, dj 3000 now presents 10 years of motech (the remixes) part 2 ep ahead of the full length remix cd due this summer. part 1 already saw both dj 3000 and sascha sonido take on gerald mitchells belly dancer from mt-008. now uk techno legend, mark broom takes a brief break from his beardman imprint to add this killer interpretation for an impressive opener. next up we turn to goodlifes kiko who doesnt disappoint with his driving new rendition of dj 3000s defiant (mt-015), toughening up the original but still maintaining its funk-fuelled roots. the rest of the ep features a remix a track taken from franki juncas 2011 album invisible moods. firstly,ill be around gets the remix treatment from detroits luke hess, whose releases have appeared on the likes of echocord, kontra-musik and the mighty planet-e delivers a moodier take on things, with deep pads and a grooving beat.

deeplabs is a new record label out of detroit created and managed by detroit producer and dj luke hess. after several highly successful releases on labels such as fxhe, echocord, beretta grey, & kontra-musik and celebrated remixes on ornaments, pong musiq, and modelisme, luke has decided to take his style of deep detroit techno and root it firmly in the city that inspires his sound. deeplabs is a label created for the deeper, soulful, and experimental side of electronic music, with a clear vision of the dj and the dance-floor.

already played by ellen allien, cassy, raresh, phil weeks, kalabrese, jan krueger, garnier alex picone, luciano esse, masomenos, demetrio iannice.. enterely produced with a roland 909, 606, voice and effects, this ep represents mass_prod sound full effect! after his successfull realeses on fumakilla, kontra music and ral with that magic edit of paolo contes impermeabili, mass_prod aka martino marini, has probably become one of the most talked about young producers in europe, representing for us the big hope of the italian dance scene. with this exciting three tracker he introduces the original sound manifesto of bosconi records!