|
|
|
|
viewing 1 To 25 of 25 items
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
DDS 058LP
|
With the trio all hailing from the Pennine moorlands just above the Manc sprawl, Jon Collin and Demdike Stare's shared musical expression understandably reflects a parallax purview that follows leylines between lusher nooks of the inner city and windswept, barren landscapes. Never ones to play it straight, the Swedish Nyckelharpa -- a sort of hybrid viola/hurdy gurdy -- is deployed deep into a mix of oblique soundscaping, seeping into a swirl of field recordings, screwed spoken word and phosphorescent drones pinging with tape delay. Split into two distinct sides, the album opens with a scrape of wood and metal that introduces us to the nyckelharpa. Scratching its surface and strings, Collin reveals its peculiar tonality, while Demdike cut through its dissonant textures. Like ancient campfire rituals recorded to decaying 1/4" tape, the music on Minerals feels as if it's in dialog with the past, shuttled into the present by abstract processes. By the side's third act, resonant gongs billow around pitched wails that eventually collapse into silence. The second side is more spirited, opening with a thumbed kalimba cut through reverberant strings that recall Arthur Russell's iconic echo-drenched recordings. Through elaborate concréte techniques, Collin's ancient fiddle dissolves into a ferric gloop that's slowly pulled apart like toffee, taking it to a place where you can no longer really tell what you're listening to or how it was made. In fact, unlike pretty much everything we've heard from Demdike before, the material here feels mechanical rather than electronic, making for one of the most impactful, unusual releases in the vast sprawl of their catalogue thus far.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 041LP
|
Dropped Out Sunshine is NYC mutant Madteo's incredible new album of trigger-happy club graffiti on Demdike Stare's DDS, weighing in a keenly anticipated follow-up to 2012's cult-classic Noi No LP for Sähkö. Splitting at the seams with deviant funk and irrepressible attitude, Madteo's first LP in sevem years forms a fractal, mixtape-like mosaic of asymmetric techno informed by skewed traces of rap, house, R&B, and dancehall. Its 12 tracks are delivered in an enviably nonchalant, freehand style that's become the Italian-American artist's ear-snagging signature since 2012's Noi No and Mad Dip Revue albums, and also a dozen 12"s and mixtapes over the interim; all of which exerted heavy inspiration for everyone from Andy Stott and Joy O to Demdike Stare over the past decade, making this new LP a perfectly unusual fit for the anything-goes DDS aesthetic shared by label alumni including Mica Levi, Equiknoxx, Iueke, and Shinichi Atobe. Without beating around the bush, Dropped Out Sunshine is a straight-up masterpiece of cut-up sampledelia bound to make the club dance differently. Crammed with sawn-off edits that never lose the thread, its wild and effortlessly inventive turns of phrase are anathema to linear club music convention, generating fizzing alchemy from mutually exclusive bedfellows such as dancehall and techno, or R&B and noise that could really only be executed by a producer of Madteo's caliber. Yet for all its singular nature, the album is also patently symptomatic of the times, sub-consciously parsing a gripping intimacy, personality and urgent yet elusive psychedelia from ubiquitous media overload. Kicking off with another *****-sampling zinger "1 4 U" (following his infamous use of "Marvin's Room" on Noi No), and ending up mired in the melancholy gauze of "The Lies That Bind", at each step the album effortlessly resists a struggle to square the nature of artistic expression. Fragments of gospel blues noise intersect gauntlets of filtered house fuckery, while restless Autechrian electro rubs up against uncoiled trap and needle-worrying levels of textured bass turbulence, leading to an outrageous turn of stuttering ragga-tekno in "Resident Alien (Broke-'n-Steppers Reluctant Club Mix)" and a final side of collapsed, post-club styles that will leave listeners wondering wtf just happened, and ready to do it all again. RIYL: Andy Stott, Joy O, Mica Levi, Demdike Stare, Moodymann. Mastered and cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 031LP
|
Still Strange reaches back into the prized loft tapes of Jeff Sharp, aka Orior, following the revelatory discovery of his overlooked early '80s gems on 2016's Strange Beauty collection, as coaxed out by DDS dons Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty. Huddling another sublime, dusty set of analogue tapes freshly baked and remarkably well-restored by Andy Popplewell, Still Strange contains four gorgeous flashbacks to the era 1979-1983 surrounding and even pre-dating Strange Beauty, and then shifts focus to recordings that Orior made around the early '90s. As with its predecessor, Orior is not alone on the material in Still Strange. From those feted early tapes, you'll find Phil Hollis returning to lend jagged guitar on the drum machine sizzle of "Feels Like Summer", while the mysterious synth player New Cross John makes vital contribution to "Invium". Along with the aching synth sigh of "To Return", which pre-dated all of these recordings, and the nine minutes of haunting bedsit strums in "Larbico Alt Mix" which came from the first batch, the early material is all arguably worth the price of admission alone for seekers of lost synth treasures -- really this stuff is just so good. However, the album's other six tracks expand knowledge of Orior's work into the '90s and also contain some extraordinary material. Salvaged from further loft tapes found in various states of degradation, and subsequently mixed down between London's Goldsmiths College and Miles Whittaker's Whalley Range attic (and elsewhere), they are decidedly more blunt and gloaming, especially in the Deathprod-like "Under Shadow" and the near static witching hour ambience of "Endless", while shorter vignettes such as "Unknown Future", "Gothic", and "Another" point to pre-echoes of Board of Canada's crepuscular scapes and even Bladerunner-esque sci-fi noir soundscapes. RIYL: Deathprod, John Bender, Boards of Canada, Vangelis. Restored from original 1/4" analog tapes; Mixed by Miles Whittaker and Ian Gilbert; Mastered at Dubplates & Mastering.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
DDS 026EP
|
Mark Ernestus dubs Equiknoxx to the moon and back for DDS with an irresistibly percolated take on "Congo Get Slap" backed with a jaw-dropping, Basic Channel-style version of "Flagged Up." Like Shackleton's dub of "The Stomper" by Cutty Ranks for DDS, the results here triangulate deep-rooted connections between Jamaica, Lancashire, and Berlin, speaking to a mutual respect and reverence of style and pattern which has heavily resonated from sub-tropical Kingston into much colder, European climes over successive generations.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
DDS 016LP
|
2019 repress. Zinging, absolutely deadly seven-track EP from Mica Levi on her return to DDS. Features three tracks with Tirzah (including the much sought-after "GO"), plus a dextrous Demdike Stare edit of "I Dare You" to chase up 2014's acclaimed Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill LP (DDS 011LP, 2015) for mutant dancefloors and sun-kissed headphone journeys. Smitten by the hugely addictive, brilliantly slippery two-step twister on "GO" (there's been a video online for this track since 2011) Demdike suggested the cut for release on DDS, and were subsequently privileged to peruse the unique space-time folds and dance/pop sampledelia of Mica's archive. As they also found out whilst compiling her last solo LP; it's a deeply rewarding experience to explore the Mica's output: immersing themselves in her peerless world of refractive colors, sawn-off textures and teasing arrangements. They've emerged with a joyously unhinged party-ready EP, traversing the mercurial two-step viscosity of Mica and Tirzah's "GO", to their addictively sticky ohrwurm, "I Dare You", and the free cosmic pop whorl of "Trip6love", before taking in the clanking ragga jag of "More Red" with Brother May, aka the London-based MC who voiced Mica's Fact Mix 444 in 2014. The cherry on top is a crucial Demdike edit of "I Dare You", an extended serve of the original. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 035LP
|
2019 black vinyl repress. Heat is a surprise new double album from Shinichi Atobe for Demdike Stare. It follows on from 2017's From The Heart, It's A Start, A Work Of Art (DDS 023LP) and continues a run of highly enigmatic, acclaimed and completely unparalleled productions that follow their own timeless logic. There's no sonic fiction involved; this material really does just turn up on a CD sent by air mail from Japan to Manchester, sparse info, no messing, pure gold. What's that cover art about? It's probaby something to do with the balmy, slightly fucked, sun-stroked material within. "So Good, So Right", the ten-minute opener, will force you to forget about all the shit around you for a while. There are also several tracks called "Heat"; they're all killer. This music takes you elsewhere almost immediately; that fan on your desk is basically a summer breeze. In fact, this whole album is absurd, completely effortless, and a total classic. Find a more life-affirming electronic album in 2018, and there's an ice cream in the offing. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton, cover by Mat Thornton.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 028LP
|
Demdike Stare present the first ever reissue of Conjoint's Earprints, originally released in 2000. After a slew of acclaimed releases by Equiknoxx, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Shinichi Atobe, and Mica Levi in 2017, Demdike Stare start 2018 in typically unexpected style with a remastered reissue of David Moufang (Move D), Karl Berger, Jamie Hodge, Gunter Kraus, and Jonas Grossmann's gorgeous sophomore Conjoint album, Earprints (2000). Conjoint was the little-known but hugely regarded ensemble founded by David Moufang two decades ago, featuring techno pioneer Jamie Hodge, Deep Space Network's Jonas Grossmann, acclaimed jazz guitarist Gunter Ruit Kraus and, most intriguingly Karl Berger, the jazz pianist and vibraphone player for Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and George Clinton, to name a few. The ensemble are accompanied on Earprints by Andrew Pekler, Anna-Lena Fiedler, Burkhard Höfler, and Kai Kroker, among many others, and flesh out a full frequency spectrum of instrumental and electronic timbres, precisely yet louchely coalescing a timeless and cool blue sound that is entirely respectful to its roots, yet dares to imagine them in an altered context. In that respect it's an influential, memorable precursor to Jan Jelinek's acclaimed Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records that was released the following year. Democratic in its construction and flush with pregnant, contemplative space between and around the notes, the lasting impression made by Earprints is indelibly classic, quietly awaiting immersion by a new wave of listeners who will no doubt marvel at its many charms. If you're into late night listening and have followed the work of Move D, Miles Davis, Tortoise, Detroit Escalator Company, Elodie, Terre Thaemlitz, or Jan Jelinek's frayed, late night jazz minimalism, this one's for you. Remastered by Matt Colton.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2x10"
|
|
DDS 024LP
|
Mica Levi presents her latest, stunning soundtrack, this time to the Phil Collins-directed anime short Delete Beach (2016), on Demdike Stare. Following on from the maverick pop auteur and film composer's European Film Award-winning score to Under The Skin (2013), and her Jackie soundtrack (2016), this is Mica's first musical accompaniment for animation, by revered designer Marisuke Eguchi, animated by STUDIO4ºC. Delete Beach is a sci-fi anime set in a near future where carbon-based energy is outlawed. The film supposes a paradoxical scenario, one where fossil fuels -- the ostensible accelerator of humanity's progress and decline -- become energy for the toil against state oppression and enforced inequality. In doing so, it resonates with anime's strong tradition of exploring eco-feminist themes and power dynamics, both socio-political and technological. Using a signature palette of dissonant strings and combustible electronics laced with skeletal percussive treatments, Levi paints a series of sweeping backdrops to the short's blend of classically-schooled anime and up-to-the-second CGI designs. The central Delete Beach theme, a diaphanous section of airborne synth-string contours and charred guitar distortion carved in pirouetting turns-of-phrase, appears in Japanese and English narrated versions and an Instrumental mix. They are divided by the beat-driven "Interlude 1" and "Interlude 2" parts, recalling a mix of string slashes mixed with opiated chopped 'n screwed rhythms comparable to Micachu & The Shapes deconstructions of London Sinfonietta. After her work underlying and exploring complex characters in Jackie, a biopic of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the alien-woman metaphors of Jonathan Glazer's Under The Skin, her Delete Beach soundtrack follows suit with an impendingly tense, viscerally affective sound that reflects and conveys a sense of independence in the face of uncertainty, of a struggle against imposed forces or control systems. It's another beguiling testament to Levi's role as one of the most original and eminent composers of her generation. Gatefold jacket printed on reverse board; Includes 10" x 10" 12-page color booklet of cells from the film. Master and cut by Matt Colton.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 027LP
|
2018 repress. Colón Man is the debut album proper by visionary Jamaican dancehall artists Gavin Blair (Gavsborg) and Jordan Chung (Time Cow) plus their extended crew, aka Equiknoxx -- once again for Demdike Stare's label. Where their widely acclaimed Bird Sound Power (DDS 020CD/LP) primer compilation, issued on DDS in 2016, brought the rest of the world up to speed with the music produced between late '00s and 2015, their first album now brings a 2020 sound into sharp, technoid focus through a baker's dozen steely, heat-seeking riddims galvanized with clinical electronics and a Midas Touch approach to sampling. The record's title, Cólon Man refers to a Jamaican tale (and song) about a mysterious character, whom, like Marcus Garvey, was one of over 100,000 Jamaicans who returned from working in Cólon on completion of the Panama Canal. In context of the album, Gavsborg and Timecow take the story as a metaphorical foundational for a roots and future sound, acknowledging the vital groundwork of previous generations of producers, whilst soundly contextualizing their mutant new advancements of Jamaican dancehall. Recorded between December 2016 and June 2017, the results of Colón Man form a stark, stripped down and conceptually blinding record. In tone and texture, the duo favor far colder, more abstract sounds, crucially lit up with sparingly used samples that lend the record its dissonant, harmonic color and bittersweet hooks, stylishly feeding forward their playfully weird sense of humor into a rugged, nutty, and even noisily imagineered set. Bookended by the gauzy, Detroit-compatible synth looks and acid hall grind of "Kareece Put Some Some Thread In A Zip Lock", and the mesh of Motor City sleekness with Far Eastern strings on "Waterfalls In Ocho Rios", they distill and diversify their bonds in myriad ways across the album. There's a killer dancehall/trap hybrid in the percolate chorales and man trills of "Plantain Porridge", along with the secretive dub-into-dancehall transfusion of Addis Pablo's melodica in the belly rolling "Melodica Badness", while "Ceremonial Eating Dog" and the hyaline designs of "We Miss You Little Joe" -- a tribute to their pal Alty Nunes -- are arguably the most forward Jamaican riddims you'll hear in 2017, and "Enter A Raffle... Win A Falafel" uncannily recalls the clockwork mechanics of Haruomi Hosono's "Alternative 3", from his S-F-X LP (1984). Curated by Jon K and Demdike Stare. RIYL: Lenky, Haruomi Hosono, Errorsmith. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
DDS 025LP
|
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe's incredible experiments with Harry Bertoia's sound sculptures are here documented on this beautiful new edition for Demdike Stare's DDS imprint, coinciding with his appearance on Semtember 2017's issue of The Wire magazine. Lowe is something of a polymath; having started out as part of math rock outfit 90 Day Men and doom metal trio Om, he progressed to forge his own solo work (often under the Lichens moniker), as well as a whole slew of collaborations, including work with Johann Johannsson on scoring both Arrival (2016) and Sicario (2015), an acclaimed album with Ariel Kalma for RVNG Intl's FRKWYS series, plus active involvement in site-specific video art and sound installations. His most recent work under his own name has seen him release diverse music for Type, Latency, More Than Human, and, of course, DDS who have, with this album, presented what might just be the most beautiful Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe artefact thus far. In 2016, Lowe was commissioned by New York's museum of Arts and Design to contribute to a Harry Bertoia exhibition, which he undertook alongside video director Johann Rashid. He was asked to create sound recordings with Sonambient sculptures; metal rods and gongs that produce highly distinct, resonant sounds when struck, brushed, or touched. Beginning in 1968, Bertoia set up an eighteenth-century stone barn on his property in Barto, Pennsylvania, to house these sculptures and from which he would go on to record works for his highly collectable Sonambient label, as recently documented on Important Records' breathtaking box set (IMPREC 419CD, 2016) and reissue series. Lowe was given full access to the barn, beautifully filmed footage of which can be found on YouTube. Lowe's work with these sculptures is quite unlike anything you might have heard from those original Bertoia recordings. Instead of serendipitous improvisation, Lowe weaves his way through the sculptures on a path that was mapped out in advance, imbuing them with a more "composed" and arranged feel. As well as that familiar and distinct sound palette, he subtly manipulates and feeds in vocal layers that take proceedings into ever more ethereal and haunting dimensions. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 023LP
|
From The Heart, It's A Start, A Work Of Art has its origins in early 2000, before Chain Reaction released the legendary Ship-Scope 12" (later released by Demdike Stare in 2015, DDS 014EP). Three of the tracks here are taken from an acetate cut at Dubplates & Mastering at that time, but which wouldn't see the light of day until now, including another batch of tracks taken from original masters. Only five copies of that acetate were ever made, so this is the first time any of these tracks are available for public consumption, and they rank among the finest and most distinctive in either the Chain Reaction or Shinichi Atobe's vaults. The material is effectively some of the Japanese producer's earliest work, showcasing the sort of tender, feminine pressure that would bubble up on the Ship-Scope EP and later be revealed in his new productions, Butterfly Effect (DDS 010CD) and World yet, for many reasons, they would lay sunk in his archive for the next 17 years. The tracks taken from that acetate are labeled "First Plate 1-3" and really are quite remarkable, having taken on so much character and added weight over the years that the incidental crackle of surface noise imbues proceedings with an added dimension that's hard to fathom. It basically sounds like a lost transmission making its way from Paul-Lincke-Ufer at the turn of the millennium to a new, completely changed world all these years later. The patina of crackle lends a mist-on-bare skin feeling akin to summer garden parties at Berghain in the stepping "First Plate 1", and gives a foggier sort of depth perception to the hydraulic, Maurizian heft of "First Plate 2", but it's the submerged euphoria of "First Plate 3" that hits the hardest; a heady, bittersweet reminder of days gone by. The other four tracks are crisply transferred from master tapes, relinquishing a sublime, impossible to categorize house variant that recalls everything from DJ Sprinkles to Ron Trent, yet with that weird, timeless production tick that by now has become something of a signature for this most distinctive and hard to categorize producer. Buoyant dub house and techno with lush, gaseous synths and keys. Remastered by Matt Colton from original tapes and worn actetates -- grit included; Limited copies.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
DDS 020CD
|
Equiknoxx is one of the hottest, most innovative dancehall squads from Jamaica. Bird Sound Power is their debut collective show of strength, packing twelve avant, crooked riddims by core members Gavsborg and Time Cow, plus Bobby Blackbird and Kofi Knoxx, with vocals by Kemikal, Shanique Marie and J.O.E. (R.I.P). The set was parsed and pieced together by Jon K & Demdike Stare, and now thanks to link ups via Swing Ting's Balraj Samrai, it is issued on Demdike's DDS imprint, replete with Jon K's sleeve design. Easily identified by the squawking bird idents peppering their cuts, Equiknoxx productions have been big in the dance since Gavin Blair, aka Gavsborg, produced Busy Signal's billboard hit "Step Out" in 2005, followed by key instrumentals for Beenie Man, Aidonia, Masicka and T.O.K. - with many released on 7" through their Equiknoxx Musiq label, and some of which, such as Aidonia's "Negative", are included in this set. Bird Sound Power arguably marks up the most striking riddim album from Jamaica in 2016, weighted with the potential to open up perceptions of current dancehall thanks to the mad character and broad reference points of its producers, encompassing King Jammy's foundational digi-dub and Dave Kelly's Mad House sound as much as rugged New York hip-hop and the wigged-out, feminine pressure of Virginia Beach's Timbaland or The Neptunes. The oldest tune inside dates to 2009, but the rest are relatively recent dancehall mutations, including a number of exclusives produced in the last 12 months. Each one represents Equiknoxx's unique aspects, such as Jordan Chung's, aka Time Cow, brilliantly bizarre, layered arrangements of film samples, sawn-off hooks and digi-tight beats, whilst also a result of as their distinguished family vibe, Bird Sound Power exists in a paradox, contemporary but classic, and with as much potential to turn new heads onto current Jamaican sounds as Mowax's Now Thing set back in 2001. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton. All on vinyl for the first time ever. One of 2016's most acclaimed albums available on CD for the first time. Comes in a deluxe digipak with obi strip. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 020LP
|
2018 repress. Equiknoxx is one of the hottest, most innovative dancehall squads from Jamaica. Bird Sound Power is their debut collective show of strength, packing twelve avant, crooked riddims by core members Gavsborg and Time Cow, plus Bobby Blackbird and Kofi Knoxx, with vocals by Kemikal, Shanique Marie and J.O.E. (R.I.P). The set was parsed and pieced together by Jon K & Demdike Stare, and now thanks to link ups via Swing Ting's Balraj Samrai, it is issued on Demdike's DDS imprint, replete with Jon K's sleeve design. Easily identified by the squawking bird idents peppering their cuts, Equiknoxx productions have been big in the dance since Gavin Blair, aka Gavsborg, produced Busy Signal's billboard hit "Step Out" in 2005, followed by key instrumentals for Beenie Man, Aidonia, Masicka and T.O.K. - with many released on 7" through their Equiknoxx Musiq label, and some of which, such as Aidonia's "Negative", are included in this set. Bird Sound Power arguably marks up the most striking riddim album from Jamaica in 2016, weighted with the potential to open up perceptions of current dancehall thanks to the mad character and broad reference points of its producers, encompassing King Jammy's foundational digi-dub and Dave Kelly's Mad House sound as much as rugged New York hip-hop and the wigged-out, feminine pressure of Virginia Beach's Timbaland or The Neptunes. The oldest tune inside dates to 2009, but the rest are relatively recent dancehall mutations, including a number of exclusives produced in the last 12 months. Each one represents Equiknoxx's unique aspects, such as Jordan Chung's, aka Time Cow, brilliantly bizarre, layered arrangements of film samples, sawn-off hooks and digi-tight beats, whilst also a result of as their distinguished family vibe, Bird Sound Power exists in a paradox, contemporary but classic, and with as much potential to turn new heads onto current Jamaican sounds as Mowax's Now Thing set back in 2001. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton. All on vinyl for the first time ever.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
DDS 015LP
|
Cognition/Observation is the very necessary follow-up to Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe's physically modelled modular trance impulses heard on Timon Irnok Manta, which was issued to critical acclaim by Type in 2012 (TYPE 111LP). Bypassing academic practice in pursuit of fluid, instinctive progression, "Cognition (Forbes)" and "Observation (Sophrons)" unfurl two long, knotted sequences entangling intricate West African drum patterns and visual motifs in a buoyant, propulsive abstraction of techno and earthed-yet-cosmic electronics. Bass is thick as treacle and buffered by a scratchy, semi-organic flux of dancing sparks and mbira-like metallic twang in "Cognition (Forbes)," before the same elements refract and tessellate in a more nuanced echo chamber sound, distinctly recalling the shape of Dynamo's 2002 classic Außen Vor (DIN CD01) as much as Hieroglyphic Being's hypnotic improvisations. Rarified, transcendent music of the strongest order. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
DDS 014EP
|
Sold out, repress in Dec/Jan... Limited hand-stamped reissue. A massive personal favorite of Demdike Stare's, Shinichi Atobe's 2001 Ship-Scope 12" was the Chain Reaction label's penultimate release, and, with the benefit of hindsight, also one of its most sublime offerings. This necessary 2015 reissue arrives in the wake of Atobe's much-loved archival salvage, Butterfly Effect (DDS 010CD), which caused quite a ripple upon its release in 2014. Notable for its unusually sweeter, dreamier ambient tone, especially when compared with the rest of Chain Reaction catalog, this is a must-have for followers of the romantic streak in Ross 154, Convextion, and classic Chain Reaction.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
DDS 013LP
|
Restocked, last copies. The dark interpreter Stephen O'Malley ov Sunn O))) presents his towering orchestral composition Gruidés, commissioned by French 35-piece improv orchestra ONCEIM -- l'Orchestre de Nouvelles Créations, Expérimentations et Improvisation Musicales -- and released thru Demdike Stare's DDS label. In early 2014 O'Malley was approached by pianist and composer Frédéric Blondy to write a work for the orchestra, which is made up of exceptional musicians from the fields of contemporary, jazz, experimental, improvisation, and classical. Understandably intimidated by the prospect, but encouraged to "just be punk rock about it," the preternaturally gifted composer has conceived a technically demanding -- for the players, at least -- and richly rewarding long-form drone piece intently focused on harmonic experimentation and overtone study. During its 35-minute lifespan, Gruidés requires the musicians to sustain pitches for several minutes (which is difficult enough for strings, and a real feat of endurance for woodwind), yielding spectra of eliding dissonance rent in sliding tone clusters and lucent geometries punctuated by a similar whipcrack percussion to that used in Sunn O)))'s 2014 collaboration with Scott Walker. It makes great use of the acoustic qualities of Saint Merry church in central Paris, as captured in the recording of IRCAM's Augustin Muller and mastered by Matt Colton with a detached spaciousness evocatively distilled in Jean-Luc Verna's cover art. It's an incredibly immersive piece that comes highly recommended if you're into the work of Phill Niblock, Alvin Lucier, Ellen Fullman, Harley Gaber, and, indeed, Sunn O))).
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 011LP
|
Mica Levi more or less owned 2014 with the release of that astonishing soundtrack to Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, followed by this hour-long album-cum-mixtape for Demdike Stare's DDS imprint, which was released at the end of the year and sold out in a flash. It has now been reworked for this vinyl edition, and given a full remaster by Matt Colton. Levi is an artist who basically seems to channel attention deficit into exploring and re-shaping a myriad of musical ideas and directions without bound -- sometimes all at once. She's an artist who has by her mid-20s merged the disciplines of codeine-laced, cough syrup-drankin' early '90s Houston hip hop legend DJ Screw with the rarified sound of London Sinfonietta on her incredible Chopped & Screwed album (2011), got Matthew Herbert to produce her brilliant 2009 debut Jewellery, and acquired Björk as a fan in the process. She's produced a bunch of killer, off-beat pop tracks for up-and-comer Tirzah and supplied an impromptu 30-minute Boiler Room set that's still one of the best they've ever put up. And yeah, that's before that Under the Skin soundtrack that showcased another side to her production altogether -- all discordant, intense, Ligeti-influenced strings, muffled percussion, and frozen drones that came off like a feverishly-dreamt collaboration between David Lynch and Nate Young. When asked about the score and working with someone as high-profile as Jonathan Glazer she told Pitchfork "He's a nice bloke -- I certainly didn't think he was a wanker." Which basically tells you that you ain't dealing with the ordinary or conventional when it comes to anything Micachu is involved with. And this hour-long session is perhaps her best work yet. More or less split into three seamless segments referenced in the title, it journeys out from tense, concrete-fuelled strings to brilliantly ramshackle tape beats and odd pop edits, spooled through her singular, totally inimitable box of tricks. One is hard-pressed to think of any contemporary artists who have as broad and limitless an ability to continuously re-contextualize the familiar into something that feels never-before-heard -- even going back as far back as Prince or Arthur Russell to reference anyone who has really managed to tap into as many diverse musical disciplines with this much originality. And if you think that's a bit far-fetched -- give this a listen and knock yourself out.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 010LP
|
2018 limited repress. Shinichi Atobe has managed to stay off the grid since he made an appearance on Basic Channel's Chain Reaction imprint back in 2001. He delivered the second-to-last 12" on the label and then disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a solitary record that's been selling for crazy money and a trail of speculation that has led some people to wonder whether the project was in fact the work of someone on the Basic Channel payroll. That killer Chain Reaction 12" has also been a longtime favorite of Demdike Stare, who have been trying to follow the trail and make contact with Atobe for some time, whoever he turned out to be. A lead from the Basic Channel office turned up an address in Japan and -- unbelievably -- an album full of archival and new material. Demdike painstakingly assembled and compiled the material for this debut album. And what a weird and brilliant album it is -- deploying a slow-churn opener that sounds like a syrupy Actress track, before working through a brilliantly sharp and tactile nine-minute piano house roller that sounds like DJ Sprinkles, then diving headlong into a heady, Vainqueur-inspired drone-world. It's a confounding album, full of odd little signatures that give the whole thing a timeless feeling completely detached from the zeitgeist, like a sound bubble from another era. This is only the second album release on Demdike Stare's DDS imprint, following the release of Nate Young's Regression Vol. 3 (Other Days) (DDS 007LP) in 2013. Who knows what they might turn up next? Mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
DDS 010CD
|
Shinichi Atobe has managed to stay off the grid since he made an appearance on Basic Channel's Chain Reaction imprint back in 2001. He delivered the second-to-last 12" on the label and then disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a solitary record that's been selling for crazy money and a trail of speculation that has led some people to wonder whether the project was in fact the work of someone on the Basic Channel payroll. That killer Chain Reaction 12" has also been a longtime favorite of Demdike Stare, who have been trying to follow the trail and make contact with Atobe for some time, whoever he turned out to be. A lead from the Basic Channel office turned up an address in Japan and -- unbelievably -- an album full of archival and new material. Demdike painstakingly assembled and compiled the material for this debut album. And what a weird and brilliant album it is -- deploying a slow-churn opener that sounds like a syrupy Actress track, before working through a brilliantly sharp and tactile nine-minute piano house roller that sounds like DJ Sprinkles at his most bittersweet, then diving headlong into a heady, Vainqueur-inspired drone-world. It's a confounding album, full of odd little signatures that give the whole thing a timeless feeling completely detached from the zeitgeist, like a sound bubble from another era. This is only the second album release on Demdike Stare's DDS imprint, following the release of Nate Young's Regression Vol. 3 (Other Days) (DDS 007LP) in 2013. Who knows what they might turn up next? The CD is housed in a hand-stamped and numbered outer sleeve. Mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
MENS SMALL T-SHIRT
|
|
DDSTP6-NEG-B-S
|
Limited edition Demdike Stare screen-printed T-shirts with artwork by Alex Solman. Tees are Gildan Premium, 100% cotton pre shrunk jersey knit. Taped neck and shoulders. Sizes: to fit chest in inches S (34-36) M (38-40) L (42-44) XL (46-48). This is size SMALL.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
MENS MED T-SHIRT
|
|
DDSTP6-NEG-N-M
|
Limited edition Demdike Stare screen-printed T-shirts with artwork by Alex Solman. Tees are Gildan Premium, 100% cotton pre shrunk jersey knit. Taped neck and shoulders. Sizes: to fit chest in inches S (34-36) M (38-40) L (42-44) XL (46-48). This is size MEDIUM.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
MENS SMALL T-SHIRT
|
|
DDSTP6-NEG-N-S
|
Limited edition Demdike Stare screen-printed T-shirts with artwork by Alex Solman. Tees are Gildan Premium, 100% cotton pre shrunk jersey knit. Taped neck and shoulders. Sizes: to fit chest in inches S (34-36) M (38-40) L (42-44) XL (46-48). This is size SMALL.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
MENS SMALL T-SHIRT
|
|
DDSTP6-POS-B-S
|
Limited edition Demdike Stare screen-printed T-shirts with artwork by Alex Solman. Tees are Gildan Premium, 100% cotton pre shrunk jersey knit. Taped neck and shoulders. Sizes: to fit chest in inches S (34-36) M (38-40) L (42-44) XL (46-48). This is size SMALL.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
MENS SMALL T-SHIRT
|
|
DDSTP6-POS-N-S
|
Limited edition Demdike Stare screen-printed T-shirts with artwork by Alex Solman. Tees are Gildan Premium, 100% cotton pre shrunk jersey knit. Taped neck and shoulders. Sizes: to fit chest in inches S (34-36) M (38-40) L (42-44) XL (46-48). This is size SMALL.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
DDS 007LP
|
Avowed Nate Young fiends Demdike Stare have trapped the Wolf Eyes lynchpin's stunning third Regression volume for a necessary vinyl edition on their eponymous label. Other Days represents Young's most labyrinthine incursion into the nether zone between waking life and nightmarish, cryptographic noise. The recordings stem from an exhibition of lathe-cut etchings and paintings by Young and his wife, Alivia Zivich, installed at Tokyo's Haus Gallery. The process involved designing original images for 22 8" x 8" pieces of acrylic, which in turn inspired 22 audio compositions which were then lathe-cut into the acrylic. The process of lathe-cutting transformed the audio itself, and vice-versa with the original images, resulting in a constant mutation between sound and image with no end in sight. The process ended abruptly, with Young and Zivich surrendering to rest or sleep. In key with the rest of the series, Regression Vol. 3 (Other Days) irreversibly ruptures or at least corrupts the liminal boundaries of its infected victims with Lynch-ian aptitude. Dragged down to Young's beta pitch we become petrified, sleep-paralyzed witnesses to possessed hallucinations. His drums and tape-stretched drones land in time-dilating polymetric patterns, again uncannily recalling the timbre of vintage Photek drums -- struck objects, metallic gongs and loose-skinned bass -- only strung-out like the sounds of morphine-dosed poltergeist and caterwauling harpies. We could say the secret lies in his sense of deferred anticipation, but then it wouldn't be a secret, yet there's something so ill and unquantifiable about his sense of timing that's just dangerously affective. Last copies...
|
|
|
|