through the sparkle is a collaboration between french ensemble astr•d and american pianist and composer rachel grimes. rachel grimes is best known for her chamber music project rachelÕs, a hugely influential group formed in 1991 in louisville, kentucky, releasing six studio albums between 1995 and 2005. she has also released a string of contemporary classical works in recent years on labels such as temporary residence. astr•d is a collective of four musicians based in nantes, releasing records on rune grammofon and home normal. after years of mail and email back and forth over the ocean, from nantes to kentucky, astr•d invited rachel to come for a residency to make music together and play shows in france. they gathered for a few days, here and there, in 2012 and 2013 to write songs in cyril and vanina s home studio in the countryside.

a collaboration between aphex twin (richard d. james) and µÐziq (mike paradinas), mike & rich - Õexpert knob twiddlersÕ was made back in 1994. richard edited the tracks into shape later in 1996 with his new apple mac computer and it was released later that year on rephlex, the label he co-owned and which released the first two albums by µ-ziq. this new reissued version has been carefully cleaned up, re-edited and remastered from the original dat tapes, put into a more fitting order and, more excitingly, seven new bonus tracks and alternative versions have also been added. the album was recorded over a few days during the 1994 world cup, back when richard lived in a big shared flat in stoke newington. richard had tried to collaborate with a few other likeminded artists but something clicked when mike and rich worked together and the sessions have a unique feel, playful and at times actually drunk. these are fun experiments in the spirit of lighthearted moog pop and ripe 70s british tv themes, standing out from the po-faced electronica of the time with a garish glee. the record was made on what is now seen as pretty primitive gear - an atari, roland mks-80, memorymoog, roland r8 and a handful of samples on a casio fz-10m - but itÕs to their credit that it resonates well with the hardware workouts coming out today. there s a broadminded but sloppy funk to the record, even whistling, singing and harpsichord in reg and wonky beat pile-ons in jelly fish . there s latin piano and wheezy drunken techno in ÔvodkaÕ, or the sleepy spaced out ambience of Ôbu bu bu ba with its barely contained laughter which seems to reflect the absurdity. the new versions and bonus tracks are an absolute delight - from a trancier version of Ôvodka to the wonky bounce of Ôportamento gosh , the 3/4 dub of waltz, the banging door bass of brivert and muonds , the creepy seasick atmosphere of clissold bathroom and finishing with the strangely graceful and serious organ plodder . a generous and welcome return to the racks

two years ago i played at studio 9 in vilnius, lithuania. the following day i missed my flight home and ended up spending an extra day, which gave me a chance to explore the city with my friend linus, who took me to the contemporary art centre. it was there i spotted a book named ÔrojusÕ, that linus told me translated as ÔparadiseÕ. the word and striking cover of the book stuck in my mind. a few days after returning home, i turned on to a national geographic documentary named Ôdesigned to danceÕ, explaining the courtship rituals of birds of paradise. as i watched, i jokingly began drawing similarities between these birdsÕ attempts to captivate and impress the opposite sex with dance, and the way strangers try to attract one another in clubs and interact on the dance floor. this gave me the idea of creating a record of functional club music, sequenced as if it were a club night, from doors to closing, using samples of these birds of paradise and their habitat. thus, rojus. leon vynehall 2016

justin berkovi is about to burst back on the scene after lying low for a few years with his 6th album >mondrian<.

its a great honour for us to be able to present conrad schnitzlers last work. endtime will be released as dlp, cd and download. only a few days before he passed away last august, he created this unique, almost 70 minutes long work. 36 parts mixed into each other create a walk through his entire work. this record is not only for fans of conrad schnitzler. its like a trip through 40 years of electronic music. conrad schnitzler once more shows how strong his influence has marked young artists like emeralds and oneohtrix point never. wihtout his solo works and his projects kluster, tangerine dream and eruption electronic music wouldnt be the same. the tracks on the vinyl edition are in the order sides a,c,b,d. this allows you to make your own mix of this big work.