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GBR 045LP
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Following a fallow 2023, a rejuvenated Growing Bin return to your turntable with this sublime collaborative LP from Gosha Martynov & Natasha Sinyakova. On their first foray into the physical, the duo expand the spectral ambience and medicated breaks of their earlier work with lithe touches of organic jazz and Cafe Del Mar cool, creating a complex assemblage of dreamy downbeat and emotive electronica that's entirely easy on the ears. Opener "Pozhaluysta" seduces with smart syncopation and beguiling melody, its flute and fretwork finding ample space to slip around Natasha's voice, equal parts Cocteau operatics and jazz-club coquette, in an expression of a want beyond words. The mood shifting "Osvobodi Menia" sees the solemn, snaking sound of a sampled duduk drift into an optimism of airy pads and escapist mantra, suspended in reverb until the end of time. "Ya Tebia Zhdala" began life as a break-led experiment, gradually evolving into a romantic and naive sketch rich with splashes of piano and dynamic chorus pads. Naturalist hymn "O Dereve" weaves a dark and intimate tale from the point of view of a veteran tree as its buzzsaw guitar loops blossom into multilayered vocals full of emotion. Awash with sonar sweeps, sumptuous pads and rolling subs, the titular "Imena Rek" channels post-rave bliss into the hypnagogic anthem the contemporary IDM-ographic have been searching for. Infectious hooks and spaced-out pads ride the breakbeat rhythm for a dreamy experimental pop banger from another planet. The somber sway of "Rany," filtered through the fog of a broken cassette recorder, trance djembe and unpredictable bass tones rivals the finest Motion Ward or In:dex releases for crepuscular charm, while "Smeshno" sees serrated drones sink into a slinking rhythm, playing counterpoint to the tender chords and yearning vocals. "Iskra" closes out the chiasmus with a return to the organic experience of the opener, the flute and acoustic guitar augmented with nuanced hand percussion and a music box refrain. Listening to this album is like a midnight walk through an ancient forest -- an experience which both scares and tempts you at the same time. From touching damp moss to feeling the thick fog with your body and watching mushrooms glow in the dark, Imena Rek guides you through the terrain. Flawlessly arranged and executed, this LP alludes to a long lineage of innovative downbeat, feels absolutely essential in the present and pushes the trip hop revivalists towards a fascinating future.
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GBR 043EP
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The Person is back on the dancefloor and she brought the delicious Australian version of a good old Italian recipe -- Italoz Disco. Mouthwatering rhythms spiced with everyday hustle, cosmic boogie and the extra dose of synthesizer. Changing the meatballs for oddballs to worship the Magic $ properly. Sull' alto lato (aka on the B-Side) they change the oddballs for the mothballs as the one and only Hysteric warms up the magic ragout in his unique steam-powered kitchen. Now go to work! You still need to be convinced? Take these great lines by Patrick: "Magic $" beams into the discotheque direct from deep space; a shimmering body of squelching bass, nebulous pads, and snapping percussion which hosts Minna's bewitching vocals. The arch delivery and vintage sequences flirt with kitsch, but that playful genius particular to The Person pushes this into wonderfully wonkier territories. Basslines climb, keys collapse and the whole thing chugs and bubbles through a flawless arrangement. Stepping in on remix duty, renowned (moth)baller hysteric turns out a treatment that's worth a million bucks, boosting the bottom end with an acidic sequence, supercharging the percussion and punching in some strange sampler fun to guarantee utter club chaos. Every superhero needs a theme song, and "The Person" sees Minna step away from the dancefloor to deliver a synthetic ballad for lucid dreamers everywhere. Jamming on top of a malfunctioning Jomox, Minna channels chimes, piano, and a gentle chug into the classiest chord progression this side of Mike Francis. Closing cut "Go To Work" gives us neon lights and nighthawks as The Person indulges in a little Antipodean electro, proving once and for all that Australians Do It Better.
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GBR 044LP
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Fresh and zesty with subtle tropical flavors, this is a delightfully listenable debut from Matthieu Beck on Growing Bin. Inspired by the lilting rhythms, jazzy instrumentation, and slow listening gems found on his Love In The Afternoon radio show, the Frenchman has crafted a gorgeous collection of laid back sophisti-pop, perfect for long summer days or seasonally affected escapism. Any suggestion of sorrow in the album title is actually a mislead -- this may be a solo LP, but Matthieu's surrounded himself with the musical friends he's made over the years, serving as composer and bandleader to a willing troop of collaborators. Longtime friend and former Metronomy bassist Gabriel Stebbing, Source Ensemble drummer Emmanuel Mario, and of course Laetitia Sadier herself, stepped in to lend their services and bring Matthieu's music to life, before Jérôme Caron (Blackjoy) expertly mixed it all down. Though the tracklist may read like a travelogue, these nine tracks all began at home with Matthieu sat behind a Fender Rhodes with a drum machine by his side. Soon live bass, saxophone, and flute strolled into his unhurried arrangements, retaining the simplicity of his demos while expanding the emotion. Weighty synth drones and bubbling bass balance the airy elements of tracks like "California" or the dream-pop romance of "Rooftop Rome", while the mellow "Malika" and joyful "Retour De Plage" showcase the Frenchman's relationship with jazz. Elsewhere there's hints of digi-dub ("Island" and "Suede"), coastal boogie ("Tokyo Montana"), stripped-back city pop ("California"), and downtown nostalgia ("Dora"), before Beck arrives at the poetic, progressive but peaceful finale "Piano Fin", which recalls Air at their prettiest, without stepping outside Matthieu's well-defined sound.
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GBR 025LP
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Acid bass, slow funk, and cosmic energy make for a mind-expanding trip in the Liquid Canoe. Load up on edibles, make it a macro-dose and let the music lead the way. Whether you're hard at work on a Hamburg allotment, basking in the heat of a Balinese beach or enjoying the cool waters of the Salish Sea, remember that the same sky stretches over all of us. And if you forget your finger for a minute and soak in the heavenly beauty instead, you might just catch the cosmic vibrations of Liquid Canoe, the latest members of the Growing Bin family. A loose ensemble, Liquid Canoe is the brainchild of Wolfgang Matthes, a lost Angelino who's swapped the rush and push of a mega city for the space of the Pacific Northwest -- and listening to this eight-track offering, you'll realize that space is the place. Armed with an array of vintage synths and programmed rhythms, Wolfgang sketched out a slew of inter dimensional transmissions, inspired by the commune electronics and space rock of '70s Germany and inhabited by the spirit of the boogie. Inviting friends to drop by and lend their own instrumental skill, Wolfgang quickly turned Liquid Canoe into a true collaboration. Finalized in a converted stable on Galiano Island, the LP is a perfect marriage of the electronic and organic, shimmering arps and spheric synth bass intertwined with American primitive guitar, nuanced hand percussion, and glassy chimes. As this mind-expanding collection stretches out towards infinity, you'll hear Floyd-ian funk, cosmic dub, tangerine daydreams, and micro-dosed ambience, all imbued with the memories of New York lofts, Bay Area warehouses, skyscraping pines or the world wide web of fungi. Liquid Canoe taking you on an oarsome trip.
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GBR 042LP
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Nepumuk/Knowsum glides onto the Growing Bin Records under his given name, living his best life in this lush loungecore fantasy. Eyebrow raised and hips unlocked, Nelson Brandt strolls through affluent funk, sun-blushed boogie and slacker soul to deliver a playful pop masterpiece. A revered MC and renowned beat maker, his syrup-smooth vocals are just the cocktail cherry on top.
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GBR 041LP
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Tribal electronics, dubby downbeat, sedated house, and disoriented breaks coming from Molto Brutto's Andreas Kunzmann. Following on from his essential reissue of II aka Molto Brutto's feverish and freaky second LP (GBR 034LP, 2021), Basso fires up the Growing Bin lathe for a further foray into AK's eccentric catalog. Recorded between 1998-2005 and unreleased until now, these genre-fluid tracks retain the unorthodox charm central to the Austrian's art. Sometimes dancing is just falling to music, and Andreas lives the life unbalanced.
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GBR 032LP
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After a year of enforced isolation, everyone has become experts at introspection. After all, if the outlook is grim, why not look inwards instead? Just don't be surprised when all that naval gazing gives you a bellyache. Luckily, Cass. is back on the Growing Bin Records with the beguiling beauty of Ambient Music For A Young Girl, a soothing set which demands your full attention. In the era of deserted dancefloors, when the house and techno crowd export uninspired ambient to keep the streams flowing, Cass. offers an alternative approach to slow listening straight from the heart. Niklas came to Basso with a wealth of sensuous sounds to curate for a new LP, and these six expressionistic vignettes sit together like paintings at an exhibition. All born from the same brush but varied in tone, texture, mood and approach, they achieve an immersive effect without ever fading into the background. Sonic synonyms of Rothko, Turrell and Kapoor, each imbued with hidden depth, each utterly compelling, each conveying a profound calm. Escape your ego with some foreground music.
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GBR 036LP
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If Shelter swam through the serene side of the library experience on Profondeur 4000 (2018), CV Vision blasts off in the opposite direction, riding an explosion of funk breaks and frazzled synths into the event horizon on his retro-futurist opus Insolita. As contemporary life accelerates way past peak-weird, CV Vision leans into uncertainty and leaves Earth in the rear-view. Strung out on Simulacron-3, World On A Wire and Omaggio Ad Einstein, the Berlin-based musician imagines his own Brave New World, an alternate eXistenZ in a secret simulation. Using the space age obsession of the Italian libraries as a launch pad, Dennis Schulze slathers a sonic storyboard with ferocious percussion, psychedelic fuzz and the pastoral electronics of Germany's Kosmische movement. But this is less Can, more uncanny -- and Schulze perfectly renders the cognitive estrangement of a simulated reality through his adventurous production. The monolithic live drums, recorded in a Neukölln garage on a battered Soviet kit are smeared with tape hiss, compressed to death and fired through LFOs, re-materializing on record in impossible scale. Time slips out of joint under the wow and flutter of the reel-to-reel, drum computers add digital interference to organic rhythms and the unfaltering slew of the 303 lends the hallucinatory thrill of the club sound system to an already psychedelic affair. As Schulze's imagination runs free, you're taken through epic space battles and narrow escapes, moments of reflection and affection and a final resolution, all expressed through a dexterous control of movement and mood. For every explosion of break-fueled adrenaline, there's a cruise into cryo-chamber music and holodeck exotica. For each neck-snapping blast of acid funk, there's a zero-gravity lullaby waiting just around the corner. So put isolation on ice and surrender to the strange, this is a trip you don't want to end.
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GBR 038LP
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Keeping his carbon footprint at a minimum, Santilli sails from Sydney to Hamburg via ten textured vignettes delicately drawn with guitar, bass and organic percussion. Relaxing, reflective and endlessly beautiful, Tidal explores elemental inspiration through a humanistic gaze. Whether you know Max Santilli through Ken Oath duo Angophora, previous releases Surface and In Circles, or this is your first time making his acquaintance, you'll agree he's right at home on the Growing Bin Records. The multi-instrumentalist crafts exquisite acoustic music in tune with the finer moments of Windham Hill and ECM; a perfect fusion of talent, balance and the emotion shared by each release on the Hamburg label. As befits its inspiration Tidal is an organic affair, related through bright acoustic guitar, hazy chimes and hand played percussion. Where the Australian draws you in with hypnotic repetition, the subtlety, warmth and tonal variation serve as a welcome reminder we're living off grid. Though expert fretwork often takes center stage, especially on the delicate "Warm You Give", it's the blend of kalimba, woodblock, hand drums and shaker which truly transport the listener through open waters; a rhythmic breeze carrying us through the maritime drones and bowed squall. At times the salt air is spiced with cardamom and cloves ("Sea") or lemongrass and galangal ("Valleys"), as you skirt the Indian Ocean or the Java Sea. "Lapse" provides subtle hints of fourth world jazz as mallets take the lead, leaving the guitar to provide its own shimmering texture. Clear your mind, clear your schedule and make some time for Tidal, an opportunity to breathe in time with the planet.
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GBR 035LP
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Working his mellow magic on the Growing Bin Records, Sorcerer entertains your inner child with eight tracks of instrumental west coast pop suitable for dancing, dreaming and surfing a wave or two. While Basso sat in a Teutonic treehouse, feeding his head with the sounds of the woodland, Dan Judd danced on the sands of San Francisco's Baker Beach. Stretching between them, like the world's longest tin can radio, was the Dream Chimney. This legendary forum, run by Ryan Bishop, better known as The Beat Broker, helped to launch a thousand labels, and the Growing Bin is one of them -- all hail the Chim! Here, Dan, naturally mystic in his Sorcerer guise, satisfies all your sensory needs with a Kinder Surprise of sweet melodies, coastal cool and playful rhythms inspired by his children's earliest responses to music. Following his feelings and avoiding overthinking, he creates open, enticing and accessible cuts; each living and breathing that mellow magic you only get on the West Coast. Kids World kicks into gear with the spheric bass of "2000 Studio", a bouncy embodiment of that spacious San Francisco sound. There's a nod to nu disco but the dreamy dubiness takes the track much deeper, especially as those surf guitars start to detune in the summer heat. The breezy fretwork continues on "Disco Drums", topping a wriggling groove tailor made for the terrace. Shades of rave refract through a healing crystal at the midpoint, encouraging al fresco dancing from sunrise to sunset. Sorcerer gets into the groove of "Bahia Brothers" rolling that rubberized B-line out of his own Paradise Garage before putting the top down for the carefree Balearic pop of "Spray Paint". The B-side glides into being via the night dubbing grooves of "Fire Feel", a reverb laden journey though glassy tones, off beat perx and gorgeous chord progressions. Next up, the new wave inspired "Crunchy" translates Sheffield's daring synth pop into a wide-eyed blast of psychedelic house, boosting our mana ahead of the loose limbed and light footed "First Wave". Ringing guitars reference Ghanaian highlife, shimmering in the heat haze as Dan funks up the drum kit ready for the broken beat and blissed out energy of sundowning set closer "Escape Route".
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GBR 037LP
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Basso offers a much-needed reissue of one of his most treasured musical discoveries, Guy Maxwell's Outside My Window. A long-time favorite in the Growing Bin Records, this mellow masterpiece originally crept out in 1980 with no backing from its label, the soon to burst Bubble. Now resequenced and redressed to the exacting standards of Maxwell, Outside My Window is ready to warm the hearts and cheer the ears of a whole new audience. Born in Bordeaux under a wandering star, Guy spent the '70s on the road, freewheelin' from Paris to Rome, guitar in tow, before settling in Switzerland at the end of the decade. There he reconnected with school friend Serge Maillard, whose Santiago bandmates swung by to help bring Guy's arrangements to life. Joined by Jan Dix (Om Buschmann, Foodband) on percussion and Ruth Failure (Mag and the Suspects) on guitar, and the Santiago powerhouse of Tato Gómez, Sergio Castillo and Paco Saval, who also leant his deft touch behind the desk, Guy put together a nine-track trip through groovy AOR, gentle jazz fusion, cosmic folk and yacht rock. For this reissue, Guy's stripped back the track list, tossing aside a trio which didn't quite stand the test of time in favor of a concise six-song LP which brings brilliance in every bar. "Watch Out Sally" introduces the LP with playful keys and a Latin lilt, a sophisticated seventies pop song that's more Aja than A-Ha, sax and strings sending the whole track soaring as Guy muses on wanderlust in his honeyed tones. "You Never Sang This Song" is undoubtedly a lost classic, embodying all the bittersweet beauty of yearning while riding a rollercoaster arrangement of folk-jazz fusion enhanced by Serge Maillard's quicksilver solo. "Funny Weather" looks both ways as it closes out the A-side, marrying the smooth sounds of the '70s with the rain-soaked jangle of the decade to come. The B-side opens with the LP's second lost classic, the frankly sublime "Beautiful Day". Stripped back to acoustic guitar and subtle hand percussion, this jazzy ballad brings a tear to your ear before drawing your attention skywards with the acid folk energy of the chorus. There's mellow magic in the air on "Summer Song", an optimistic ode to sunshine and romance lifted way beyond the AOR standard by a lyrical sax solo before Maxwell closes the set with the 7/4 escapism of "There's A Train Leaving", a fond farewell which sees the ensemble say goodbye in perfect harmony.
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GBR 034LP
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Growing Bin present a reissue of Molto Brutto's II, originally released in 1987. An Austrian off-kilter obscurity. Equal parts amateur funk, indie jangle, art rock, and idiot pop, II is a real weird bastard with a whole lot of charm. As the Bin continues to grow in all directions, there's plenty of space for new sounds to take root. Alongside patches of ambient, balearic, kosmische, and jazz, Hamburg's audio allotment now stretches to accommodate the strange waves of Molto Brutto. Basso dug their first LP a decade back in Stuttgart's Second Hand Records, embracing their abrasive style of sandpaper sonics and experimental urges. Interest piqued, he made the journey through their DIY catalog, capturing excellent collaborations under the Ganslinger alias before bumping into the second of their two LPs. Originally released on their Golfdish imprint in 1988, II walks into the pub with an air of accessibility, but quickly unravels into glorious chaos -- pissing in the corner and passing out on the bar. Pop structures are suggested then subverted. Pints of paisley slosh out of a broken glass, tape loops spool onto shabby material, and indie janglers are just a couple of stamps short of a postcard. Turning you tipsy, this loveable rogue starts to tell you his life story, but you're going to have to fill in some blanks. They miss "Blackie", but who is he -- a dog? What happened on the "Deadly Vacation" -- Is that song really about a "Goldfish", or did they find out the name of America's horse? Words repeat until they lose all meaning, awkward poetry masks a lost laureate and a drunken Wurlitzer sends the room into a spin. The pubs are shut, so get happy drunk with Molto Brutto.
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GBR 031LP
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After the heaviest of years, it should be time to take a little weight off with the playful sounds of The Person. Mapping its own Bermuda Triangle between dub-pop, sugary synth wave, and Balearic boogie, Tide Life transports Compass Point to Soggy Bottom, providing maximum fun, sun and bitmap escapism. The eagle-eared may recognize The Person from the aspirational Italo-rockers Steaming Jeans, whose chalet-ready romp on Bordello A Parigi scored a Winter Olympic gold back in early 2020. Now left to her own devices, Minna Wight swaps the slopes for a jet ski and takes a wave race from Summer Bay to Monkey Island across 11 cuts of vintage oddball pop. Whether she's borrowing Brenda's Beach Balls for the dubby daydream of "Snail Café" and "The Place", serving lost library cues to SNES club scenes on "Barry R Reef" and "Elastic Shoes" or spinning high school slow jams into synth soul ballads like "Nice Feeling", Minna disguises serious musicianship behind a naive aesthetic. Disarmed by charm, you're powerless to resist her tidal pull.
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GBR 033LP
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"Digging deep through old and new, Basso captures arcane woodland fusion, serene electronic suites and wide-eyed Balearic bliss on this first Growing Bin compilation . . . A decade on and the Growing Bin is a safe haven for those exquisite sounds crowded out of the mainstream, the rare birds with the most striking song. 'Coffee' comes right after cocoa in the bin's headquarter, though start your morning with One Tongue and be prepared for a different kind of day. A witch's brew spiced with a hint of Durian and the early bird, this 1990 composition could be the blueprint for the Teutonic trance dancers beloved by the Salon set. A more meditative magic flows through the A2, a smooth blend of fusion guitar, softly syncopated drums and counterpoint keys from one-time art-rockers Inandout. This Growing Bin favorite from their 93-95 LP sounds right at home beside the majestic melodies and spheric bass of Matthias Raue's 'Brücke am schwarzen Fluss 2'. Taken from the soundtrack to a TV drama filmed in Mali, this digital homage to African rhythm shimmies in step with new age dancers from Mkwaju Ensemble and Louis Crelier. The A-side ends with the unbridled optimism of Kosmische maverick Hardy Kukuk. The synthesist hit the studio with friends Karsten Raecke and Andreas Schneider in '86, coalescing crystalline electronics and gentle guitar into tender chord progressions suited for sun bathing beside the Sea of Tranquility. The second side slinks into motion with the deep beauty and sincere spoken word of Frank Suchland's 'Schnee', a subtle body in a cocoon of reverb which takes Sade's 'I Never Thought I'd See The Day' to another level of placidness. Melancholic Germans Die Fische met in Cairo for the first time, and 'Conversation Of Everyday Lovers' could be the theme for that great city. Underpinned by primal percussion and a restrained groove, the track twists and turns between a trio of ineffable motifs, eternal combinations to the catacombs of Abusir. From there we go sublime, soaring skywards with a ten-minute triumph from Hugh Mane. Balancing concentric sequences and space age synth riffs atop an irresistible breakbeat and bubbling bassline, the British producer finds a sensuous sweet-spot between fellow Growing Bin affiliates Krakatau and Singu." --Patrick Ryder
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GBR 030EP
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"Growing Bin say sayonara to summer with these bittersweet Balearic gems from Japan's Nuback. Emotional pop and daydream dub to make you feel younger than yesterday. While the Discogs hipsters hastily hunt down the last, lost street soul OGs, Growing Bin choose instead to indulge in a little Nuback swing. Enlisting the talents of Tokyo's Dai Nakamura, Hamburg's home for sensitive sounds provide a much-needed vinyl release for the misty-eyed 'When The Party Is Over' and 'Heartbeat Summer'. Largely operating through his own Too Young Records, Nuback trades in textured soul, sympathetic synthesis and forlorn funk -- a master at making you move while breaking your heart. Back in 2013, he waved 'Goodbye To Summer, Again', giving a digital release to these two tracks, which lurked a little low for the radar until Dai and Basso met somewhere beyond the algorithm, soon bringing this release to bloom. Opening with a fanfare of featherlight pads and full-bodied bass, 'When The Party Is Over' is pure sonic seduction, holding both Balearic boogie and city pop in a tender embrace. Delicate guitar and sparkling sequences tug the heartstrings with nostalgic beauty, and Dai's smooth vocals are made to make you swoon. Emotional pop at its finest folks. On the B-side, 'Heartbeat Summer' drops the tempo and soaks up the sun, losing its cares in a haze of loved up dub. As soulful keys sink into spring reverb and steam kettle synths ride a rolling bassline, this downbeat delight lays back in the long grass, making shapes from the clouds and sipping a cool koshu. For summer lovers everywhere; A facemask ruins a first kiss, so start your romance right with Nuback." --Patrick Ryder
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GBR 022LP
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"Emotional ambient, soft focus synthesis and pastoral programming from German duo Cass. & Gianni Brezzo on Hamburg's Growing Bin. Hopeless romantic with GSOH seeks open minded audiophile for lifelong companionship. The style might change, but the quality remains the same in the Growing Bin. For this autumnal edition, the Hamburg label looks South West to Osnabrück and Cologne, home to Cass. and Gianni Brezzo respectively. Sharing an appreciation for emotive tonality and expansive texture, the two musicians make the perfect partnership on Masala Kiss, Brezzo's timeless melodies only serving to intensify the signature sensuality of the Cass. sound. Despite the occasional polyrhythms, you're hearing two hearts beat as one... Insistent and expressive, well-traveled opener 'Jaybo' joins the ethnic and esoteric with a new age optimism before giving way to the detailed ambience and good nature of 'Umberella', a brief pitstop on the road to the meditative 'Imence Sense'. Alive with layered guitars, this opiated raga dances like hashish smoke in the evening sky, and then it's up into the cloud forms of 'Instabubu' and 'Autoscooter Love', celestial serenades both off and on beat. Cass. and Brezzo set controls for the heart of the sun with the Friesean 'Out Of Mind', a cinematic exercise in precision sequencing and frequency control then start the journey home with the dewy bells and delicate waveforms of 'Koli'. If you're in need of a little new age funk for your poolside playtime 'Helge' and 'Der Däne' are on hand with the chunky bass and languid grooves, while a last-minute interlude provides a prenatal comfort and womblike warmth. I always cry at endings, and 'Paterson' provides pure emotional release in utterly Balearic fashion. Pensive guitar and euphoric synths meet on the waterfront as you stare over the ocean with all the people you love." --Patrick Ryder
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GBR 019LP
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Birdsong and bright mornings announce the arrival of spring, and Growing Bin Records celebrate the season of rebirth with the return of a hardy perennial. In the three years since he introduced the world to his Baltic Beat (2016), Bartosz Kruczynski has traded dub techno, Berlin electronics, and jazzy Balearic on a string of highly-regarded labels. Now the Polish musician is back in the Growing Bin Records, ready to take you on another audio adventure through the meadows and forests of his native land. Vivid LP opener "Pastoral Sequences" leads you down the garden path, around the lakeside and across the train tracks, striking a cinematic tone as gentle piano and subdued synth tones drift around natural field recordings. Dip a toe in the stream and feel the breeze between your fingers as you stroll towards the Balearic brilliance of "In the Garden", a carefree cooler built on a subtle bossa rhythm, serene chords and chiming mallets. Bartosz reprises the aquatic grandeur of his first Baltic Beat on the immersive "Petals", a selected ambient work where tangerine pads underpin interlocking electronics and stately keys. Guitars ring out, Reich's mallets ripple and well-tempered piano drift over a thick sequence as "Voices" propels you to the halfway point with soft power. The B side opens with the delicate hypnotism of "If You Go Down In The Woods Today", a modern minimalist masterpiece alive with circular mallets and sultry woodwind, before "The Orchard" paints an impressionistic vignette from the same palette. Shifting focus but not feeling Kruczynski takes you home "Along The Sun Drenched Road" in two stages; the first a gorgeous combination of the acoustic and electronic where hints of dub techno sit beneath languid piano notes, the second an Eastern-tinged reprise of the album's opening and a welcome return home before the storm breaks.
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GROWING 017LP
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Free your mind and float away, you're now entering the mode of the Growing Bin Records. Hamburg's center for audio enlightenment is back with another sublime sensory experience, this time from the land of the rising sun. Keen to get another stamp on his passport, Basso reached out to Japanese duo Singu, two open-minded cats who just love to jam. Marrying Kiyo's free drumming with Keta Ra's melodic mastery of keyboard and guitar, the two-piece fuse free jazz, post-rock, kosmische and ambient into immersive and esoteric improvisations on Siki. Free from any compositional concerns, the Hiroshima outfit trade in energy, emotion and expression. The frenetic percussion and ephemeral melodies of opener "Aurora Gate" instantly transport you to the breathless churn of a Tokyo crossroads, where thousands of people rush by but you stand still in the eye of the storm. Though they may be explosive, the drums sit back in the mix, offering a soft intensity behind the shimmering wall of melody. A nimble and nuanced affair, "Bop" brings rapid-fire rhythm, slick syncopation and hypnotic piano refrains. Cool bass rolls along like KDJ's "Rectify", as Singu update the acid jazz template like Toshio Matsuura covering Carl Craig. Singu journey from far out to Furthur on A-side closer "Nagebu", strapping in for psychedelic synth wig-out which is heavy on the resonance and free on the filter. Blooming out of the darkness on the B-side, Basso favorite "Fazaria" soothes and moves you with its twinkling keys, nebulous wave-forms and delicate guitar, leaving you wide-eyed in wonder as the drum fills burst like fireworks across a star-filled sky. "828" sweeps into abstraction as Kiyo and Keta Ra combine snapping glitches and aquatic electronics with fractal guitar tones and woozy bass, pushing through a portal to see what's beyond. An A-grade wall-melter, this trip makes great use of tension as the crisp machine drums stand in sharp contrast to the whirring, blurring guitars. Finally, "44" carries you home on a downbeat drift, a flawless fusion of buzzing electronics, misty pads and relentless percussion played with perfect poise. Turn on, tune in and trip out, Singu bring you music for the moment that you'll love for a lifetime.
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GBR 016LP
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An underwater adventure by young Parisian Shelter. Where previous releases have seen the synth-obsessed Frenchman take his inspiration from Caribbean rhythms or Balearic attitudes, this marine missive sees Shelter turn to the lavish world of the library, creating his alternate score to Jean Faurez's 1960 documentary short. More submersible than snorkel, the journey begins in the very dark of the deep, mystical harp trills echoing through the inky blackness, picking up the bioluminescent shimmer of an Abraliopsis Squid. Gradually you make your way into the light, cruising past shoals of silver scales and underwater forests. "Immersion" offers a placid, percolating rhythm and billowing pads, providing sonic symmetry for the dancing leaves, while the spherical soundscape of "La Vie A L'Ombre" bubbles away like an underwater volcano. The optimistic ambience of "Plenitude Azotee", brimming with delicate melody and glistening sequences, perfectly captures the wide-eyed wonder of a reef dive, before drifting into the serenity of "Parade", an aquatic acquaintance of A.R.T. Wilson's Overworld (2014). A brief foray into shark fin funk sees out the A side, before you're back amid the beauty of the ocean floor; "Variation Abyssale II" echoing the album opener but with even more poetry. The exotic and otherworldly sine waves of "Dans La Jungle De Varech" simultaneously sound like a rainforest canopy, alien landscape, and coral microcosm, expanding the horizons nicely ahead of the adrenaline rush of "Hors D'Haleine". Shelter then sets you at ease with the tidal tonality and subtle shuffle of "Fumeurs Noirs", a sublime synthetic suite, then leaves us to marvel at the soft-focus splendor of "Synthii Outro".
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GBR 015LP
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Under the tree -- in the cave -- At The Water, there's where you'll find Eleventeen Eston; savoring the shade since his 2014 debut LP Delta Horizon turned the spotlight his way. Taking shelter in the subterranean, the Perth musician has found a sound saturated with entheogenic splendor, growing something gorgeous from the grotesque. Finding a natural home on Hamburg's Growing Bin Records, Eston emerges into the daylight with a dreamy LP, At The Water. The vision quest begins with "C In Sympathy", a freefall into the perverse beauty of the Domus Aurea, brought to life with E2-E4 electronics, chorus pedal shimmer, and muted bass. Leaving the grasslands, you dip a toe in the water with the hypnotic ripples of "2 D'or (Cab Chassis)", a Carl-Craig-goes-new-age number which fuses the electronic and acoustic to perfection. Delicate piano, crystalline synth tones, and tape-saturated emotion lend their cinematic charm to "East Perth Stories (Closing Titles)" before the propulsive bass and soft-focus groove of "The Four Fountains" hits you with the heat haze. Eston takes another tape-y diversion on the sci-fi synth scape "I Remember", while the coastal cool of "Thread & Truth" picks up the wavy white funk baton from Spike. The B side brings more beauty as the drifting and dreamy ambience of "I Float, I Am Free" gives way to the Windham Hill guitar licks, snaking bass, and billowing textures of "A Squall, 1988", offering a welcome echo of the wonder of Wilson Tanner. "Where There Is Rain" sees Eston tune the Ute radio to 96FM Perth, marrying cascading keys, evocative vocal samples, and lush guitar with a solid '80s pop beat, before he slows the pace for "Sand Man" a skewed and stoned bit of beach funk that's perfect for seduction. He then parts ways with the panoramic "Dory On Swan", a serene soundtrack to lapping waves and magic caves.
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GBR 014LP
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Growing Bin Records present the first reissue of Señora's self-titled release, originally released in 1981. A favorite private German jazz funk gem. Spring is in the air and groove is in the heart for Hamburg's most loveable record label. Following the freak beat festival of Wolf Müller and Niklas Wandt's Instrumentalmusik Von Der Mitte Der World comes a release that's been in the pipeline since the organic imprint first took root; the first reissue of the beautiful Señora. Beguiling and brilliant, this private press princess makes you want to dance, dream, and do cartwheels, then breaks your heart when you realize you'll never meet her -- a rare beauty indeed. So it's time to let Basso play cupid and introduce you to the love of your life. Eagle-eyed associates might recognize the sleeve as Basso's everyday avatar, chosen in tribute to his favorite jazz-funk record of all-time. Originally released in limited quantities back in 1981, the self-titled Señora was the sole release from a quartet of German groove maniacs, coming together in one ecstatic union of rhythmic precision, smooth riffing, and melodic mastery. Take opener "Paul" for example; a continent away from the West End, this sublime slice of raw guitar, silken keys, and gliding bass could have made Mel Cheren proud. From there you're taken on a journey through the syncopated slide of the jazzy "My Way, Your Way", the samba sway of the mild and mellow "Easy Going", and the poetic piano of "Pearl", a triumphantly esoteric tone poem to close the A side. "Señora" ups the tempo on the flipside, galloping through tight triplets, fusion guitar, and mind-expanding synth play. "In The Mood For A Walk" brings a strolling bassline and tender tonality, executed with all the ease of the Sunday morning which dawns on the extended and expansive cool, bringing the LP to its final emotional release.
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GBR 007LP
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Whether floating free to antipodean ambience or toasting the sunset with a Baltic beauty, you can always count on Growing Bin to take you someplace new for a while. Swapping bucolic Poland for the buzz of the Big Apple, the Hamburg imprint reaches a magnificent seven in the company of synth-pop dreamer Shy Layers (JD Walsh) and his sublime self-titled debut. Over the course of ten emotional pop serenades, the New York musician recalls lost days sofa surfing to the lounge electronica of Air, Mellow and early Phoenix or the swooning lo-fi psychedelia of a pre-MD Simian. Shy Layers welcomes listeners aboard with the shimmering pads and soothing soft synths of "Black and White", a drifting soundtrack to a John Hughes-directed episode of In The Night Garden. From there we swerve into the wistful synth-pop of "Famous Faces", locking into the rattling Tears For Fears groove while the west coast guitar licks and vocoder vocals float off into the distance. "You Won't Find Me" shuffles through Afro-tronic keyboard lines, Beta Band breakbeats and loose funk guitar before the sweltering "Stabilized Waves" dips a toe in the Mediterranean, swaying gently to the fluid bass, acoustic strumming and cascading electric guitar. Swapping continents to close the A-side, "Too Far Out" finds Walsh working highlife guitars and fuzzy sanza sequences into a piece of perfect off-kilter pop. The B-side begins in glitchy fashion with the flying hats and seesaw synths of "Holding It Back", before "Playing The Game" offers sprinklers over summer lawns, dub fx, jangling guitars and cooing vocals. The Afro-beat influence shines through once again on the rhythmic "Bees and Bamboo" before "SEG" sees Shy Layers don Mario's red wing cap for a chip-set safari through the bright blue sky. Playing us out with the same cinematic splendor with which Shy Layers began, Walsh conjures a woozy, sun-dappled mood for the sumptuous "1977". Fusing French pop, glistening Americana, '80s AOR and Afro-beat into a hazy vision of balmy mornings, long evenings and lazy days, Shy Layers has served up the soundtrack for any summer.
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