BUREAU B - Forced Exposure

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 5/2/2025

With his first full-length album Ruinenkampf, released via Hamburg based label Bureau B, Das Kinn embarks on a musical tour de force through the ruins of time. An electronic armada and kickbox phonetics lead listeners through haunting soundscapes somewhere between DAF, Kosmische Kuriere, and Frankfurt Bahnhofsviertel. Beats on full blast. Bones rattle. Warm synthlines played by cold hands. A saxophone ponders the after. Hymns for the demolition. Sonic meditations on decay. Music for the solemn decline.

"Toben Piel likes to visit cemeteries. In those places of peace and idyll he finds the distance to contemplate transience and consider the hereafter as a concrete location. His debut album Ruinenkampf comes from the same mindset -- distancing himself just enough to get straight to the point with a running start. It certainly doesn't sound anything like peace and idyll. It has more to do with the cassette scene, the 1980s, with staccato vocals, and synths somewhere between DAF and Kosmische Kuriere. Underground aesthetics. Torrents of melody, sophistication, constantly oscillating between anthem and demolition. And the crass power of that voice! These are eight pieces of intensive listening, always right on the mark. So how does it work? How can anybody create something like that? Well, this man in his forties from Frankfurt, still young at heart and ever hungry, has substantial experience: first with Antitainment (2005-2010), then together with the magnificent Charlotte Simon in Les Trucs, through his cassette label MMODEMM, and also as a musician on various theatre stages. Yet with Das Kinn he feels that he has now finally created music with a true sense of self-liberation." --Hendrik Otremba

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 5/2/2025

Fluoreszent is the new solo album by Cologne based artist Hans Nieswandt and his third for Hamburg's Bureau B label. Hans Nieswandt is a long standing and highly respected key figure in the music scene of Cologne, of Germany and beyond. As a pioneering DJ since the mid-eighties, as writer and editor for the mighty Spex magazine in the early nineties, and as a music producer, solo and with his group Whirlpool Productions, he helped shape the Sound Of Cologne from the mid-nineties onward. A lot of his musical work at that time took place in the studio owned by legendary band CAN. With his 12-year-running, weekly radio mix show 'Elektronische Melodien' on WDR (the Cologne radio station that built the first studio for electronic music in the 1950s) he suffused generations of listeners with cutting edge electronic music both old and new. Having left Germany to live in Seoul in late 2019, Hans Nieswandt suddenly found a lot of time to check back and immerse himself in all the forms of music that shaped him ever since he was a little glam rock kid in the early seventies -- before becoming a hippie boy, then a punk, then a house head. Now he is all these things rolled into one and the time has come for a proper, new solo album having released mainly collections of remixes, edits and cover versions over the last 20 years. Recorded in 2024 in Seoul, you will find on Fluoreszent ten shiny, fresh, joyous songs taking you to many wonderful places; from Kraut to goth, synth wave to art pop, cosmic to comic -- and all the way to the end of the rainbow. Important contributions came from unexpected sides: legendary German krautrock drummer Wolfgang Seidel gave him permission to use a lot of his beat recordings, a connection was made by Seoul-based German free music pioneer Alfred Harth, (who also took the album cover photo), more drums came from Philipp Janzen of the band Von Spar (who also did the final mix of the album) and the mastering is by Jörg Burger, another living legend of the Cologne electronic music scene. Housed in a cover designed by top illustrator Felix Reidenbach, Fluoreszent marks the happy return of one of Cologne's finest to the international stage.

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 5/2/2025

LP version. With his first full-length album Ruinenkampf, released via Hamburg based label Bureau B, Das Kinn embarks on a musical tour de force through the ruins of time. An electronic armada and kickbox phonetics lead listeners through haunting soundscapes somewhere between DAF, Kosmische Kuriere, and Frankfurt Bahnhofsviertel. Beats on full blast. Bones rattle. Warm synthlines played by cold hands. A saxophone ponders the after. Hymns for the demolition. Sonic meditations on decay. Music for the solemn decline.

"Toben Piel likes to visit cemeteries. In those places of peace and idyll he finds the distance to contemplate transience and consider the hereafter as a concrete location. His debut album Ruinenkampf comes from the same mindset -- distancing himself just enough to get straight to the point with a running start. It certainly doesn't sound anything like peace and idyll. It has more to do with the cassette scene, the 1980s, with staccato vocals, and synths somewhere between DAF and Kosmische Kuriere. Underground aesthetics. Torrents of melody, sophistication, constantly oscillating between anthem and demolition. And the crass power of that voice! These are eight pieces of intensive listening, always right on the mark. So how does it work? How can anybody create something like that? Well, this man in his forties from Frankfurt, still young at heart and ever hungry, has substantial experience: first with Antitainment (2005-2010), then together with the magnificent Charlotte Simon in Les Trucs, through his cassette label MMODEMM, and also as a musician on various theatre stages. Yet with Das Kinn he feels that he has now finally created music with a true sense of self-liberation." --Hendrik Otremba

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 5/2/2025

LP version. Fluoreszent is the new solo album by Cologne based artist Hans Nieswandt and his third for Hamburg's Bureau B label. Hans Nieswandt is a long standing and highly respected key figure in the music scene of Cologne, of Germany and beyond. As a pioneering DJ since the mid-eighties, as writer and editor for the mighty Spex magazine in the early nineties, and as a music producer, solo and with his group Whirlpool Productions, he helped shape the Sound Of Cologne from the mid-nineties onward. A lot of his musical work at that time took place in the studio owned by legendary band CAN. With his 12-year-running, weekly radio mix show 'Elektronische Melodien' on WDR (the Cologne radio station that built the first studio for electronic music in the 1950s) he suffused generations of listeners with cutting edge electronic music both old and new. Having left Germany to live in Seoul in late 2019, Hans Nieswandt suddenly found a lot of time to check back and immerse himself in all the forms of music that shaped him ever since he was a little glam rock kid in the early seventies -- before becoming a hippie boy, then a punk, then a house head. Now he is all these things rolled into one and the time has come for a proper, new solo album having released mainly collections of remixes, edits and cover versions over the last 20 years. Recorded in 2024 in Seoul, you will find on Fluoreszent ten shiny, fresh, joyous songs taking you to many wonderful places; from Kraut to goth, synth wave to art pop, cosmic to comic -- and all the way to the end of the rainbow. Important contributions came from unexpected sides: legendary German krautrock drummer Wolfgang Seidel gave him permission to use a lot of his beat recordings, a connection was made by Seoul-based German free music pioneer Alfred Harth, (who also took the album cover photo), more drums came from Philipp Janzen of the band Von Spar (who also did the final mix of the album) and the mastering is by Jörg Burger, another living legend of the Cologne electronic music scene. Housed in a cover designed by top illustrator Felix Reidenbach, Fluoreszent marks the happy return of one of Cologne's finest to the international stage.

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/21/2025

LP version. Die Wilde Jagd collaborates with Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orkest, conducted by Simon Dobson, for majestic new album Lux Tenera: A Rite To Joy, commissioned by Roadburn Festival. In an extraordinary convergence of sonic innovation and orchestral mastery, Sebastian Lee Philipp, the visionary behind Die Wilde Jagd, presents his most ambitious project to date. This work emerges from a rare collaboration with the three-time Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orkest. Lux Tenera invites listeners into a meditative exploration of life, joy, and the beauty of existence. The composition premiered on April 21, 2024, in Tilburg, Netherlands, following an intense three-day rehearsal and recording period at Metropole Orkest's studio in Hilversum. This performance -- now captured in the album -- also marks a unique collaboration with British arranger and conductor Simon Dobson, whose sensitive transcription and arrangement of Philipp's music for orchestra elevates the work to an auditory spectacle. Lux Tenera -- translated from Latin as "tender light" -- is an odyssey of sound and thought. Philipp's poetic lyrics -- delivered in both English and German -- weave a tapestry of vivid imagery and allusion, guiding the listener through a world where life, memory, and transcendence coalesce. This intellectual and emotional alchemy is heightened by the orchestral elements at play: a 50-piece ensemble, the primal resonance of two large-scale Taiko drums, and the ancient, raw timbre of the Carnyx, performed by Patrick Kenny. The result is a sonic structure that marries the primal with the avant-garde, the physical with the metaphysical. At its heart, Lux Tenera presents a bold reimagining of Die Wilde Jagd's distinctive sound. Known for hypnotic, slow-building compositions that evoke a sense of ritual and timelessness, Philipp, in this latest work, is granted new sonic breadth by the orchestral textures of the Metropole Orkest. The symphonic scope enhances and magnifies his compositions, creating what can only be described as a sonic architecture that is both monumental and intimate, where each crescendo, each subtle melodic turn, guided by Simon Dobson's conducting skills, speaks to Philipp's understanding of music as an emotional language.

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/21/2025

Agree to disagree: A selected Krautrock discography. Krautrock, what is it anyway? A genre, a derogative term, a song by Faust, or: a welcome (and recurring) opportunity to talk about all of this. The music associated with the term in question has eagerly been canonized. From the enthusiastic and idiosyncratic ramblings of Julian Cope's "Krautrocksampler" to encyclopedic approaches like Alan and Stephen Freeman's "Crack in the Cosmic Egg", there are plenty of books to read and lists to discuss: Who's in, who isn't? The quarrels and disputes surrounding the terms "Krautrock" and "Kosmische Musik" are a testament to their enduring relevance and fascination. The book Krautrock Eruption by Wolfgang Seidel addresses some of those questions. In this book, you will find an annotated discography of fifty albums. Out of these fifty, Bureau B are presenting an even narrower selection of tracks from twelve albums on this compilation. Lists and compilation track listings inevitably see tracks missing and being left out. The list is meant to inspire repeated or further listening, to spark discussions and -- potentially -- to provoke new lists, perhaps your own! It's all part of the fun. Music is made for enjoyment in the first and for friendly debate in the second place, after all. Featuring Conrad Schnitzler, Eno Moebius Roedelius, Harald Grosskopf, Cluster, Moebius & Plank, Roedelius, Pyrolator, Riechmann, Kluster, Günter Schickert, and Asmus Tietchens.

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/21/2025

LP version. Agree to disagree: A selected Krautrock discography. Krautrock, what is it anyway? A genre, a derogative term, a song by Faust, or: a welcome (and recurring) opportunity to talk about all of this. The music associated with the term in question has eagerly been canonized. From the enthusiastic and idiosyncratic ramblings of Julian Cope's "Krautrocksampler" to encyclopedic approaches like Alan and Stephen Freeman's "Crack in the Cosmic Egg", there are plenty of books to read and lists to discuss: Who's in, who isn't? The quarrels and disputes surrounding the terms "Krautrock" and "Kosmische Musik" are a testament to their enduring relevance and fascination. The book Krautrock Eruption by Wolfgang Seidel addresses some of those questions. In this book, you will find an annotated discography of fifty albums. Out of these fifty, Bureau B are presenting an even narrower selection of tracks from twelve albums on this compilation. Lists and compilation track listings inevitably see tracks missing and being left out. The list is meant to inspire repeated or further listening, to spark discussions and -- potentially -- to provoke new lists, perhaps your own! It's all part of the fun. Music is made for enjoyment in the first and for friendly debate in the second place, after all. Featuring Conrad Schnitzler, Eno Moebius Roedelius, Harald Grosskopf, Cluster, Moebius & Plank, Roedelius, Pyrolator, Riechmann, Kluster, Günter Schickert, and Asmus Tietchens.

$26.00 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/14/2025

LP version. Japanese producer Saeko Killy returns for her second album of psychedelic electronics and drum machine workouts with Dream In Dream on Bureau B. In contrast to her first LP Morphing Polaroids (BB 426CD), which was a more collaborative project coming out of the pandemic, Dream In Dream sees Saeko Killy take the lion's share of the controls herself. This time around she wrote and played mostly everything herself, meaning she could arrange her songs exactly how she liked, to draw out their dream-like elements. Occasionally Saeko got around the arm issue by teaming up with her good friend and guitarist Alexa D! saster, who features on "Melancholik" and the album-opener "Kaiju." Right from the start, Saeko invites listeners into her hypnotic musical world, with wide-screen pads, guitars that sound like chants, and dubby reverb slaps, forming the foundation for Saeko's otherworldly vocals. "Melancholik" in contrast, is a moody stomper of up-tempo minimal wave, nodding to her '80s post punk inspirations. These two tracks capture the different sides of Dream In Dream, blissful downtempo dreamscapes next to upbeat excursions for the psychedelic dancefloor. Saeko mixed the album together with Sebastian Lee Philipp aka Die Wilde Jagd, another long-time friend that Saeko was introduced to when she first moved to Berlin. Together in Sebastian's studio, they brought out the harmonics of Saeko's collection of Korgs, Yamahas and other affordable, modern-day versions of classic synths. Music and magic are just some of the languages that appear on Dream In Dream, which also switches between Japanese, English and German. For the track "Jede Farbe" for example, Saeko experimented with each language, to find which would fit the groove best. The result is something that could have been heard booming out of speakers in West Berlin in the '80s. However, the changing languages also place Saeko's songs somewhere between worlds. They sound new wave, but filtered through Saeko's lens of JPop, NDW, and Industrial music. Saeko navigates these in between sounds using signposts from her dreams, guided through the spacetime distortion loops as if by a vision. The true meaning of this vision might not be immediately clear -- but who minds, when the search for that meaning sounds this good?

$16.50 PREORDER RELEASE DATE: 3/14/2025

Japanese producer Saeko Killy returns for her second album of psychedelic electronics and drum machine workouts with Dream In Dream on Bureau B. In contrast to her first LP Morphing Polaroids (BB 426CD), which was a more collaborative project coming out of the pandemic, Dream In Dream sees Saeko Killy take the lion's share of the controls herself. This time around she wrote and played mostly everything herself, meaning she could arrange her songs exactly how she liked, to draw out their dream-like elements. Occasionally Saeko got around the arm issue by teaming up with her good friend and guitarist Alexa D! saster, who features on "Melancholik" and the album-opener "Kaiju." Right from the start, Saeko invites listeners into her hypnotic musical world, with wide-screen pads, guitars that sound like chants, and dubby reverb slaps, forming the foundation for Saeko's otherworldly vocals. "Melancholik" in contrast, is a moody stomper of up-tempo minimal wave, nodding to her '80s post punk inspirations. These two tracks capture the different sides of Dream In Dream, blissful downtempo dreamscapes next to upbeat excursions for the psychedelic dancefloor. Saeko mixed the album together with Sebastian Lee Philipp aka Die Wilde Jagd, another long-time friend that Saeko was introduced to when she first moved to Berlin. Together in Sebastian's studio, they brought out the harmonics of Saeko's collection of Korgs, Yamahas and other affordable, modern-day versions of classic synths. Music and magic are just some of the languages that appear on Dream In Dream, which also switches between Japanese, English and German. For the track "Jede Farbe" for example, Saeko experimented with each language, to find which would fit the groove best. The result is something that could have been heard booming out of speakers in West Berlin in the '80s. However, the changing languages also place Saeko's songs somewhere between worlds. They sound new wave, but filtered through Saeko's lens of JPop, NDW, and Industrial music. Saeko navigates these in between sounds using signposts from her dreams, guided through the spacetime distortion loops as if by a vision. The true meaning of this vision might not be immediately clear -- but who minds, when the search for that meaning sounds this good?

$28.00 IN STOCK

Die Wilde Jagd is the music project of producer and songwriter Sebastian Lee Philipp. Channeling minimalist, tenebrous intensity, Die Wilde Jagd's music weaves a dense and atmospheric web of drama, romance, ecstasy and melancholy. After three studio albums, several EPs and numerous international tours and concerts, the band released the recording of Atem 2022 on Bureau B -- a Roadburn Festival commission that premiered in Tilburg, Netherlands, in April 2021. After the record sold out, the label is pleased to make it available again as a limited color yellow transparent repress. Written for wooden organ pipes, cello, percussion and electronics. A composition commissioned by Roadburn Festival. Performed by Sebastian Lee Philipp, Lih Qun Wong, and Ran Levari. An audacious 45-minute trip into the depths of evolution, organism and metabolism, this piece is an exploration of the mechanism and science of breathing and its essential role in life. Philipp himself plays synthesizers and an instrument developed specifically for the performance: a wooden organ pipe construction operated with an air compressor. The composer is joined on stage by collaborators Lih Qun Wong on cello and voice, as well as Ran Levari (who has played drums in Die Wilde Jagd since 2017) on percussion. Speaking of his composition, Philipp says: "As human evolution enters new realms of reality, I find myself drawn to explore the basic essences of life: the things we are made of, that we take for granted and are, yet, still full of mystery. The parallels between breath and music are undeniable: pace, rhythm, volume and dynamic fluctuations influence us deeply. Breath is the elixir of life and the fuel for one of the most primitive vibrations: the human voice." The themes of creation and spirit within the composition are skillfully enhanced by Turkish visual artist Mürsel Güven.

$16.50 IN STOCK

After a couple of decades dancing in the dark, Berlin brothers Norbert and Volker Schultze finally found their way back into the spotlight via Bureau B's much-needed reissue of their minimal and masterful debut LP Dinner Für 2 (BB 277CD). Now the Hamburg imprint turn their attention to the second VONO LP, Modern Leben, which found the brothers Schultze expanding on the stark palette of their debut, adding spiky fretwork and muscular rock chords to their infectious synth-lines and efficient rhythms for an altogether heftier sound. On Modern Leben, VONO confidently stepped out of the minimalism of their debut, diving headlong into a bold blend of German post-punk, synth pop, and rock influences. Across its 13 tracks, the Schultze brothers offered a kaleidoscope of moods and textures, from brooding gloom-tunes to moments of brighter optimism, crafting an album that feels both cohesive and adventurous. The opener, "Ich steh' im Regen," sets the tone with its effective simplicity: a crisp drum machine, a restrained bassline, and a smooth croon that calls to mind early Japan or Roxy Music. On "Bin Ein Jeder Hat Ihn Gern Boy," taut guitar chops and a brooding synth bass create a simmering tension, sustained by twisted electronics as the track unfolds. The A-side closes on an uplifting note with "Nachtwanderer," its sweeping synth washes evoking a sense of hope as it transitions into a widescreen, cinematic finish. The B-side opens with the DAF-t duality of "Du Siehst So Gut Aus", its lyrical list of compliments yelped over aggressive electro-punk backing, before the romantic "Wenn Du Mich Küsst" cartwheels further towards playfulness via stomping beats and bombastic melodies. The slower "Hurra" introduces greyscale synth stabs and growled vocals, adding an ominous layer to the album's diverse sound, which takes a further detour via the percolating rhythms and almost tropical tones of "Genieß' den Morgen." VONO's sound continued to evolve, coalescing into the hulking EBM roar of 1986's It's Time before the duo dissolved. So much like its creators, Modern Leben is an album that thrives on contrasts, seamlessly moving between stark post-punk grit and expansive synth-pop melodies, while maintaining the intensity and edge that runs through all three of their albums.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. Reissue, originally released on Sky Records label, 1983. After a couple of decades dancing in the dark, Berlin brothers Norbert and Volker Schultze finally found their way back into the spotlight via Bureau B's much-needed reissue of their minimal and masterful debut LP Dinner Für 2 (BB 277CD). Now the Hamburg imprint turn their attention to the second VONO LP, Modern Leben, which found the brothers Schultze expanding on the stark palette of their debut, adding spiky fretwork and muscular rock chords to their infectious synth-lines and efficient rhythms for an altogether heftier sound. On Modern Leben, VONO confidently stepped out of the minimalism of their debut, diving headlong into a bold blend of German post-punk, synth pop, and rock influences. Across its 13 tracks, the Schultze brothers offered a kaleidoscope of moods and textures, from brooding gloom-tunes to moments of brighter optimism, crafting an album that feels both cohesive and adventurous. The opener, "Ich steh' im Regen," sets the tone with its effective simplicity: a crisp drum machine, a restrained bassline, and a smooth croon that calls to mind early Japan or Roxy Music. On "Bin Ein Jeder Hat Ihn Gern Boy," taut guitar chops and a brooding synth bass create a simmering tension, sustained by twisted electronics as the track unfolds. The A-side closes on an uplifting note with "Nachtwanderer," its sweeping synth washes evoking a sense of hope as it transitions into a widescreen, cinematic finish. The B-side opens with the DAF-t duality of "Du Siehst So Gut Aus", its lyrical list of compliments yelped over aggressive electro-punk backing, before the romantic "Wenn Du Mich Küsst" cartwheels further towards playfulness via stomping beats and bombastic melodies. The slower "Hurra" introduces greyscale synth stabs and growled vocals, adding an ominous layer to the album's diverse sound, which takes a further detour via the percolating rhythms and almost tropical tones of "Genieß' den Morgen." VONO's sound continued to evolve, coalescing into the hulking EBM roar of 1986's It's Time before the duo dissolved. So much like its creators, Modern Leben is an album that thrives on contrasts, seamlessly moving between stark post-punk grit and expansive synth-pop melodies, while maintaining the intensity and edge that runs through all three of their albums.

$28.50 IN STOCK

LP version. Collector, seeker and storyteller Charles Bals brings his curatorial finesse to Hamburg's Bureau B with Ambientale, a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983-2000. Drifting effortlessly between digital exoticism, mellow fusion, new age groove and library electronics, the pieces range from largely obscure to utterly un-google-able, and coalesce into a stunning soundtrack to tranquil seas, desert sand and starlit skies. Cinematic and enigmatic, Ambientale is a stranger you've only just met but can't stop thinking about. A familiar face to those who dwell in the deep end of the record pool, Charles is an obsessive digger, always on the track of an otherwise unheard sound. Through two trips to "Club Meduse" and star-crossed lovers "America Dream Reserve" and "Black Rain," he's also established himself as a mixtape auteur, weaving together the strange and beautiful into evocative compilations that transport listeners to distinct, imaginative realms. While his previous sets resembled Super-8 vignettes, populated by sun-kissed hedonists and drifting outsiders, Ambientale sees Charles leave the human world behind, exploring all the world's wilderness on the scale of an IMAX epic. Bals opens his sonic travelogue with the bamboo flutes and resonant gongs of esteemed Italian maestro Luigi Ceccarelli, joined by the clean lines and Eastern tonalities of the little-known RanōBoru. The journey deepens with a double-feature from Tokyo composer Akira Mitake, sliding from dreamy New Age soundscapes into the lush groove of floral fusion. Digital rhythms and snaking bass add a Latin accent to the bouzouki of Individual Sensitivity's "Greece Ambientale," while the lilting percussion and shimmering synths of Steve Shehan's smooth jazz rarity "Evening In The Sahara" segue perfectly into a masterpiece of French Balearic from Private Joke. A smoky saxophone rises like mist, echoing through the rainfall on Adriano Maria Vitali's "Velvet Blue Circles," before Masami Tsuchiya pulls listeners into the depths with the aquatic ambience of 1983's "Never Mind," its electronic palette the perfect vehicle to ensure that Akira Mitake's "Spectrum" surprises, rather than startles, with its booming machine drums a superb point of difference. From there, we wander once more into the digital undergrowth, exploring the mystical and magical sounds of the Italian library ensemble Gruppo Sound, along with a rare glimpse of Blue Note new age from Gil Mellé. Police sirens and street noise signal our return to the city, forming the backdrop to the tumbling drums and moody electronic stabs of "Ship Out" by Ferris Wheel, an utterly unknown piece rumored to be a promotional track from a Venezuelan garbage company -- the final twist of intrigue to this otherworldly voyage.

$16.50 IN STOCK

Collector, seeker and storyteller Charles Bals brings his curatorial finesse to Hamburg's Bureau B with Ambientale, a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983-2000. Drifting effortlessly between digital exoticism, mellow fusion, new age groove and library electronics, the pieces range from largely obscure to utterly un-google-able, and coalesce into a stunning soundtrack to tranquil seas, desert sand and starlit skies. Cinematic and enigmatic, Ambientale is a stranger you've only just met but can't stop thinking about. A familiar face to those who dwell in the deep end of the record pool, Charles is an obsessive digger, always on the track of an otherwise unheard sound. Through two trips to "Club Meduse" and star-crossed lovers "America Dream Reserve" and "Black Rain," he's also established himself as a mixtape auteur, weaving together the strange and beautiful into evocative compilations that transport listeners to distinct, imaginative realms. While his previous sets resembled Super-8 vignettes, populated by sun-kissed hedonists and drifting outsiders, Ambientale sees Charles leave the human world behind, exploring all the world's wilderness on the scale of an IMAX epic. Bals opens his sonic travelogue with the bamboo flutes and resonant gongs of esteemed Italian maestro Luigi Ceccarelli, joined by the clean lines and Eastern tonalities of the little-known RanōBoru. The journey deepens with a double-feature from Tokyo composer Akira Mitake, sliding from dreamy New Age soundscapes into the lush groove of floral fusion. Digital rhythms and snaking bass add a Latin accent to the bouzouki of Individual Sensitivity's "Greece Ambientale," while the lilting percussion and shimmering synths of Steve Shehan's smooth jazz rarity "Evening In The Sahara" segue perfectly into a masterpiece of French Balearic from Private Joke. A smoky saxophone rises like mist, echoing through the rainfall on Adriano Maria Vitali's "Velvet Blue Circles," before Masami Tsuchiya pulls listeners into the depths with the aquatic ambience of 1983's "Never Mind," its electronic palette the perfect vehicle to ensure that Akira Mitake's "Spectrum" surprises, rather than startles, with its booming machine drums a superb point of difference. From there, we wander once more into the digital undergrowth, exploring the mystical and magical sounds of the Italian library ensemble Gruppo Sound, along with a rare glimpse of Blue Note new age from Gil Mellé. Police sirens and street noise signal our return to the city, forming the backdrop to the tumbling drums and moody electronic stabs of "Ship Out" by Ferris Wheel, an utterly unknown piece rumored to be a promotional track from a Venezuelan garbage company -- the final twist of intrigue to this otherworldly voyage.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. "If you're already aware of Rüdiger Lorenz, chances are you washed ashore on Southland, his cult kosmische curio graciously reissued by the ever-benevolent Bureau B in the middle of the last decade. Either that, or you're one of the few hundred electronic music obsessives who encountered his work the first-time round, giddily grabbing up the eighteen cassette, vinyl and CD releases the prolific part-timer delivered DIY style on his Syntape and Syncord imprints between 1981-1998. I say this because despite a catalogue both copious and singular, and a renewed interest amongst the switched on and tuned in since his premature passing in 2000, Rüdiger's reception has remained sadly subterranean -- another example of audio inequity. As such, it falls to Synrise, attentively assembled by Rüdiger's son Tim, to shine some rightful light on this unique talent. Although Rüdiger impressed as a member of a local beat group in the seventies, growing exposure to the likes of Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Reich, and Riley pushed him towards the electronic and experimental, a style more suited to his solitary temperament. Unsurprisingly for a man who made eighteen solo albums around his day job, Lorenz was something of a loner, though it's hard to hear that through the emotional resonance of his releases. His search for sonic expression led him to overcome his lack of electrical knowhow, boldly soldering on to create organs, effects units and self-built modular systems, each in service to his specific sound. What then, specifically, is the sound of Synrise? Selected from his first four releases, Queen of Saba (1981), Silver Steps (1981), Wonderflower (1982) and Earthrise (1983), this septet boasts sci-fi anthems and sine wave requiems, nebulous cosmic collages of snapping rhythm boxes, gurgling sequences and synthesized choirs? Though originally released across four different cassettes, these seven tracks all belong to the same sonic universe -- just not the universe we're living in." --Patrick Ryder

$16.50 IN STOCK

"If you're already aware of Rüdiger Lorenz, chances are you washed ashore on Southland, his cult kosmische curio graciously reissued by the ever-benevolent Bureau B in the middle of the last decade. Either that, or you're one of the few hundred electronic music obsessives who encountered his work the first-time round, giddily grabbing up the eighteen cassette, vinyl and CD releases the prolific part-timer delivered DIY style on his Syntape and Syncord imprints between 1981-1998. I say this because despite a catalogue both copious and singular, and a renewed interest amongst the switched on and tuned in since his premature passing in 2000, Rüdiger's reception has remained sadly subterranean -- another example of audio inequity. As such, it falls to Synrise, attentively assembled by Rüdiger's son Tim, to shine some rightful light on this unique talent. Although Rüdiger impressed as a member of a local beat group in the seventies, growing exposure to the likes of Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Reich, and Riley pushed him towards the electronic and experimental, a style more suited to his solitary temperament. Unsurprisingly for a man who made eighteen solo albums around his day job, Lorenz was something of a loner, though it's hard to hear that through the emotional resonance of his releases. His search for sonic expression led him to overcome his lack of electrical knowhow, boldly soldering on to create organs, effects units and self-built modular systems, each in service to his specific sound. What then, specifically, is the sound of Synrise? Selected from his first four releases, Queen of Saba (1981), Silver Steps (1981), Wonderflower (1982) and Earthrise (1983), this septet boasts sci-fi anthems and sine wave requiems, nebulous cosmic collages of snapping rhythm boxes, gurgling sequences and synthesized choirs? Though originally released across four different cassettes, these seven tracks all belong to the same sonic universe -- just not the universe we're living in." --Patrick Ryder

$16.50 IN STOCK

Die Wilde Jagd collaborates with Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orkest, conducted by Simon Dobson, for majestic new album Lux Tenera: A Rite To Joy, commissioned by Roadburn Festival. In an extraordinary convergence of sonic innovation and orchestral mastery, Sebastian Lee Philipp, the visionary behind Die Wilde Jagd, presents his most ambitious project to date. This work emerges from a rare collaboration with the three-time Grammy Award-winning Metropole Orkest. Lux Tenera invites listeners into a meditative exploration of life, joy, and the beauty of existence. The composition premiered on April 21, 2024, in Tilburg, Netherlands, following an intense three-day rehearsal and recording period at Metropole Orkest's studio in Hilversum. This performance -- now captured in the album -- also marks a unique collaboration with British arranger and conductor Simon Dobson, whose sensitive transcription and arrangement of Philipp's music for orchestra elevates the work to an auditory spectacle. Lux Tenera -- translated from Latin as "tender light" -- is an odyssey of sound and thought. Philipp's poetic lyrics -- delivered in both English and German -- weave a tapestry of vivid imagery and allusion, guiding the listener through a world where life, memory, and transcendence coalesce. This intellectual and emotional alchemy is heightened by the orchestral elements at play: a 50-piece ensemble, the primal resonance of two large-scale Taiko drums, and the ancient, raw timbre of the Carnyx, performed by Patrick Kenny. The result is a sonic structure that marries the primal with the avant-garde, the physical with the metaphysical. At its heart, Lux Tenera presents a bold reimagining of Die Wilde Jagd's distinctive sound. Known for hypnotic, slow-building compositions that evoke a sense of ritual and timelessness, Philipp, in this latest work, is granted new sonic breadth by the orchestral textures of the Metropole Orkest. The symphonic scope enhances and magnifies his compositions, creating what can only be described as a sonic architecture that is both monumental and intimate, where each crescendo, each subtle melodic turn, guided by Simon Dobson's conducting skills, speaks to Philipp's understanding of music as an emotional language.

$16.50 IN STOCK

Cités Analogues was the first album released by Lightwave's core duo Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman. Recorded between April and May 1988, and edited and produced in July 1988, Cités Analogues was then distributed through the alternative scene as a cassette. After the experiments and improvisations of their first tape, "Modular Experiments," recorded with Serge Leroy, Lightwave opted for a concept album, comprising of a series of discrete compositions and atmospheres assembled into two continuous tracks. The album was both recorded and mixed live, using a Revox B77 and an Allen & Heath 12/2 mixer. As such the different passages of this album captured the experience of Lightwave's performances, in which Harbonnier and Wittman played off each other with sympathetic improvisations. The instrumentation consists mainly of analog synthesizers, including several modular systems (RSF, ARP, Roland, Oberheim), while the sequences and rhythms are driven by two Roland sequencers. Digital effects help to create an expansive stereo field, in which recordings of urban environments and tape processing form rich experimental punctuations. Cités Analogues is thus a seminal album for the Harbonnier-Wittman duo, laying the foundations for a musical collaboration that continues thirty-five years on, thanks to their complementary skills and sonic universes. Long overdue, this remastered reissue of Cités Analogues, produced by Christoph Harbonnier, documents an important stage in Lightwave's trajectory and reflects the kaleidoscope of their influences at the end of the '80s, encompassing the Berlin School, Brian Eno's ambient work, and a particularly French-style of electro-acoustic experimentation. All tracks composed and performed by Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman at Malibu Studio, Parmain, France (1988). Remix and mastering: Christoph Harbonnie.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. Cités Analogues was the first album released by Lightwave's core duo Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman. Recorded between April and May 1988, and edited and produced in July 1988, Cités Analogues was then distributed through the alternative scene as a cassette. After the experiments and improvisations of their first tape, "Modular Experiments," recorded with Serge Leroy, Lightwave opted for a concept album, comprising of a series of discrete compositions and atmospheres assembled into two continuous tracks. The album was both recorded and mixed live, using a Revox B77 and an Allen & Heath 12/2 mixer. As such the different passages of this album captured the experience of Lightwave's performances, in which Harbonnier and Wittman played off each other with sympathetic improvisations. The instrumentation consists mainly of analog synthesizers, including several modular systems (RSF, ARP, Roland, Oberheim), while the sequences and rhythms are driven by two Roland sequencers. Digital effects help to create an expansive stereo field, in which recordings of urban environments and tape processing form rich experimental punctuations. Cités Analogues is thus a seminal album for the Harbonnier-Wittman duo, laying the foundations for a musical collaboration that continues thirty-five years on, thanks to their complementary skills and sonic universes. Long overdue, this remastered reissue of Cités Analogues, produced by Christoph Harbonnier, documents an important stage in Lightwave's trajectory and reflects the kaleidoscope of their influences at the end of the '80s, encompassing the Berlin School, Brian Eno's ambient work, and a particularly French-style of electro-acoustic experimentation. All tracks composed and performed by Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman at Malibu Studio, Parmain, France (1988). Remix and mastering: Christoph Harbonnie.

$28.00 IN STOCK

Limited anniversary edition. Embossed, reverse board, hand numbered on limited-edition yellow vinyl. 500 copies available. Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011), composer and concept artist, is one of the most important representatives of Germany's electronic music avant-garde. A student of Beuys, he founded Berlin's legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab, a subculture club, in 1967/68, was a member of Tangerine Dream (together with Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese) and Kluster (with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and also released countless solo albums. The yellow album appeared in 1981, yet it contained recordings from the year 1974, originally released in a limited run on cassette.

"The chronology of Schnitzler's solo releases in the 1970s resembles a book with seven seals. Schnitzler regularly issued his music on analogue cassette or LP, often on his own as "private releases," without any help from a label or professional distributor. The yellow album, for example, was issued on vinyl in 1981 by René Block in Berlin on his art gallery label (Edition Block). Schnitzler had previously released records on various other labels. The music on the yellow album had, in fact, already been on the market as The Black Cassette in 1974, although the production run was probably limited. The yellow album is subtitled '12 pieces from the year 1974,' pointing to Schnitzler's novel approach. Whereas his prior works always lasted for the whole side of an LP or tape, the tracks here are shorter. Also new: Schnitzler goes beyond automatic sonic processes on a number of tracks, using his keyboards to integrate something approaching melodic improvisations 'played by hand' into his musical cosmos. Schnitzler's otherwise crystalline, inorganic world of art is thus enriched by an almost human, organic element. An amiable breeze wafts through the music of the yellow album, thankfully miles away from the sentimental platitudes which run through off-the-shelf ambient music of the 1980s. The yellow album is not only amiable from start to finish, it also documents an important stage in Schnitzler's musical development. Belatedly released on LP (1981) and lacking in discographical detail, this aspect is easily overlooked. On careful listening, as Schnitzler connoisseurs will also realize instantly, this album reveals itself to be an important milestone, illuminating a clear path into the future. Schnitzler had begun to free himself from the constraints of orthodox conceptual art, advancing into the wide-open spaces of uncharted musical territory." -Asmus Tietchens

$16.50 IN STOCK

The enigmatic and expressive Chikiss breaks a three-year silence with Between Time and Laziness, a brand-new LP of dramatic and dreamlike synthpop perfectly suited to Hamburg's unfaltering Bureau B. Written in St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Athens, and co-produced by Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jaakko Eino Kalevi, the album renders the existential, psychological, and philosophical in song form. Exploring motivation and self-doubt, the long shadow of the Soviet Union, and collective empathy with a cinematic flair, Chikiss weighs darkness and light, landing on the side of hope in her most considered and polished vocal album to date. Over the past two decades, Galina Ozeran, AKA Chikiss, has followed her own desire line through post-punk, minimal wave, experimental electronica, and live improvisation to build an impressive catalogue of emotive and innovative music. Taking an intuitive approach to her craft, Galina acts as a conduit for her own experiences and the turbulence of the world around her. Between Time and Laziness represents a rebirth. Though Galina makes a conscious effort to exclude any musical influences, the album is haunted by a history of electronic expression, and listeners will hear distant echoes of Soviet-era film scores, Lynchian disquiet, the Sheffield of both the late seventies and mid-nineties, and the kosmische most closely associated with Bureau B. Chikiss sets a hypnagogic tone in the intro, presenting poet Sergey Danilov's discussion of laziness and time as a broadcast from another world, crackling with radio static interference. The artist pays homage to Mikael Tariverdiev's film scores and the existential poetry of Boris Podiko with the seductive noir fantasy of "DKN," before shifting into the moody synth-psych of "Nevesta," a slow-grooving, sci-fi trip with hints of prog and post-rock, which drifts further into deep space via a dubby reprise on the title track. Galina's return as a solo artist, and to song form, is rich with groove, meaning, and melody, marrying pop perfection with emotional depth.

$26.00 IN STOCK

LP version. The enigmatic and expressive Chikiss breaks a three-year silence with Between Time and Laziness, a brand-new LP of dramatic and dreamlike synthpop perfectly suited to Hamburg's unfaltering Bureau B. Written in St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Athens, and co-produced by Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jaakko Eino Kalevi, the album renders the existential, psychological, and philosophical in song form. Exploring motivation and self-doubt, the long shadow of the Soviet Union, and collective empathy with a cinematic flair, Chikiss weighs darkness and light, landing on the side of hope in her most considered and polished vocal album to date. Over the past two decades, Galina Ozeran, AKA Chikiss, has followed her own desire line through post-punk, minimal wave, experimental electronica, and live improvisation to build an impressive catalogue of emotive and innovative music. Taking an intuitive approach to her craft, Galina acts as a conduit for her own experiences and the turbulence of the world around her. Between Time and Laziness represents a rebirth. Though Galina makes a conscious effort to exclude any musical influences, the album is haunted by a history of electronic expression, and listeners will hear distant echoes of Soviet-era film scores, Lynchian disquiet, the Sheffield of both the late seventies and mid-nineties, and the kosmische most closely associated with Bureau B. Chikiss sets a hypnagogic tone in the intro, presenting poet Sergey Danilov's discussion of laziness and time as a broadcast from another world, crackling with radio static interference. The artist pays homage to Mikael Tariverdiev's film scores and the existential poetry of Boris Podiko with the seductive noir fantasy of "DKN," before shifting into the moody synth-psych of "Nevesta," a slow-grooving, sci-fi trip with hints of prog and post-rock, which drifts further into deep space via a dubby reprise on the title track. Galina's return as a solo artist, and to song form, is rich with groove, meaning, and melody, marrying pop perfection with emotional depth.

$26.00 IN STOCK

"The inspiration for Album l and Album II began with a performance by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi at Cologne's Week-End Fest in 2019. For this appearance, the renowned experimental musician and composer of the Oscar-winning film Drive My Car was joined on drums by Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Joe Talia; both integral members of the top-level improvisational/experimental scene in Tokyo. While in town for the festival, Ishibashi met up with the members of the Cologne-Berlin based group Von Spar who featured Ishibashi on their then new album Under Pressure. It was these previous collaborations that triggered the seven friends to take part in an extended session which resulted in these two new recordings, the first of which contains a variety of short pieces while the second boasts one continuous epic, album-length track. These recordings are a development of Von Spar's collaborative ambitions, where Sebastian Blume, Jan Philipp Janzen, Christopher Marquez, and Phillip Tielsch have previously invited special guests to their home studio to help realize a vision -- a methodology exemplified on their last two releases, Street Life and the aforementioned Under Pressure, which featured contributions from Marker Starling, Laetitia Sadier, Vivien Goldman, and R. Stevie Moore. On Album I, the percussion and drums phase in and out in a bold and skillful manner and form the framework for delicate guitars and complex progressions on the keys, all resulting in somnambulistic city-pop pieces like the opener, grooving electro-jazz reminiscent of the early 2000s, and fusion. You can also hear elements of contemporary jazz explorations from New York, LA and London, or reach back further to the Chicago post-rock of the early '90s. Album II with its expansive, experimental nature goes one step further featuring Yamamoto and Janzen's jagged percussion serving as the bedrock for a menacing and otherworldly arrangement of wind instruments to float in until essential sampler work by Joe Talia brings everything to a lively conclusion. These two albums may have the same origin but they are wildly different pieces of work, both exciting in their own way and proof that daring to experiment with freedom and trust in your collaborators can lead to musical highs such as these." --Lars Fleischmann, 2024

$16.50 IN STOCK

Area Silenzio is eat-girls' debut record and it is both haunted and haunting. Since 2020, the French trio have been crafting their songs into little self-contained worlds with the patience of entomologists, taking them out all over the country and Europe to confront them with the wilderness of a live audience. The ten resulting tracks are a collection of electronic madrigals, groove-driven songs played on a mischievous multi-speed Victrola, ranging from languid dub drips to full-on drum machine cavalcades. Their live performances have that same ghostly, ephemeral quality.

"There is something other-worldy about the three of them, a suggestion of telepathy, their three voices blending together or going their separate ways like a flock of starlings. They secured opening slots with artists as different as Thalia Zedek, Exek, and The Young Gods, just to name a few. It is the elusive essence of their music that allows them to feel at ease pretty much anywhere they find themselves: part no-wave disco rhythms, part post-punk throbbing basses, folk tunes and synthesizers in equal measures, with a perpetual attention to hooks and melodies. The album was self-recorded, a necessary measure to protect the delicate nature of the inner landscapes painted by the band. In this case 'delicate' does not mean 'soft' by any means: the industrial disco inferno of 'A Kin,' the ritualistic kraut stampede of 'Para Los Pies Cansados' and the bubbly post-funk rhythms of 'Trauschaft' will leave you gasping for air once you come out on the other side. 'On a Crooked Swing', the opener, is all arpeggiated bass and stumbling kicks. 'Unison' will dip you into a hallucinatory river where nothing is what it seems to be and rescue you at the very last second. 'Canine', the first single off the record, will gently but firmly reach for your jugular with its vulpine Farfisa and deceptively nonchalant drum beat. The vocal polyphonies on '3 Omens' sound like a field recording of traditional music from a tiny country that has yet to be discovered. eat-girls exist on a slightly different plane from ours, where everything is teeming with secrets and hidden life. Area Silenzio is a precious polaroid shot from that world, or, as Tom Verlaine would have it, 'a souvenir from a dream'." --Sebastien Perrin

$16.50 IN STOCK

"The inspiration for Album l and Album II began with a performance by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi at Cologne's Week-End Fest in 2019. For this appearance, the renowned experimental musician and composer of the Oscar-winning film Drive My Car was joined on drums by Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Joe Talia; both integral members of the top-level improvisational/experimental scene in Tokyo. While in town for the festival, Ishibashi met up with the members of the Cologne-Berlin based group Von Spar who featured Ishibashi on their then new album Under Pressure. It was these previous collaborations that triggered the seven friends to take part in an extended session which resulted in these two new recordings, the first of which contains a variety of short pieces while the second boasts one continuous epic, album-length track. These recordings are a development of Von Spar's collaborative ambitions, where Sebastian Blume, Jan Philipp Janzen, Christopher Marquez, and Phillip Tielsch have previously invited special guests to their home studio to help realize a vision -- a methodology exemplified on their last two releases, Street Life and the aforementioned Under Pressure, which featured contributions from Marker Starling, Laetitia Sadier, Vivien Goldman, and R. Stevie Moore. On Album I, the percussion and drums phase in and out in a bold and skillful manner and form the framework for delicate guitars and complex progressions on the keys, all resulting in somnambulistic city-pop pieces like the opener, grooving electro-jazz reminiscent of the early 2000s, and fusion. You can also hear elements of contemporary jazz explorations from New York, LA and London, or reach back further to the Chicago post-rock of the early '90s. Album II with its expansive, experimental nature goes one step further featuring Yamamoto and Janzen's jagged percussion serving as the bedrock for a menacing and otherworldly arrangement of wind instruments to float in until essential sampler work by Joe Talia brings everything to a lively conclusion. These two albums may have the same origin but they are wildly different pieces of work, both exciting in their own way and proof that daring to experiment with freedom and trust in your collaborators can lead to musical highs such as these." --Lars Fleischmann, 2024