little beat different issues is a new series focused on reissuing music from eastern european regions previously unavailable on western markets. the first release is a compilation by project orm, the moniker of czech producer team petr and pavel orm. originally formed as a disco group in the late 1970’s, pioneers of electronic dance music in former czechoslovakia, petr and pavel quickly rose to fame as the country’s eminent pop producers. working with the then icons of the communist czechoslovak scene such as karel gott and josef laufer, they stand behind countless hits from that era. however, not many knew that the duo also released their own records, whose sound and artistic direction was different to their mainstream pop productions. this compilation cherry-picks the tracks from 4 different albums released between 1979 and 1984.

2x12inch pressed on 140 gram vinyl (repress)

a few years ago we received an anonymous email with a link to three tracks and a simple message: “hi, maybe you would be interested in this music.” it’s easy to be skeptical of yet another link from yet another artist in a world overcrowded with them, but listening is our job and so we do it. the songs were instantly striking: extraordinarily slow, somber, and spacious, each vaulted cathedral chord reverberating poetically into the distance, the melodies rolling out like fog across a cemetery. captivated, we requested more, receiving a single word in response: “yes.” then, nothing. eventually, three months later, we received another email with slightly more information: a name (irma orm), a location (stockholm), and a bit of context (she worked alone, and progress on music was slow but steady).
fast-forward to mid-2016: we’re informed the album is complete, and it is breathtaking. hermetic gothic swan songs conjured from funereal piano, twilit ambience, minimalist percussion, and spellbinding vocals. the mood is lulling and lush but lost in sorrow, stark grey structures looming in the night. majestic open spaces between notes heighten the melancholic grandeur of orm’s arrangements, blurring the line between lament and lullaby. the songs less end than ebb away, succumbing to their own downcast beauty.

someone has discovered that in närke lays a dead snake encircled in a wreath of stars. hence this is the fourth release in the evigt mörker series.

light sounds dark combine forces with fellow marshmallows psychemagik on a ride to the other side and as one would expect from these two a variable treasure trove of a selection plucked from all corners of the known galaxy and far beyond.