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viewing 1 To 4 of 4 items
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LP
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RIO 021LP
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$25.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 12/5/2025
R.i.O. welcomes a new member. Straight in full length. An album created by Dorsten, North-Rhine-Westfalia based producer Aroma Von Troisdorf -- a man who refuses to be put in a box. Unlike others, who politely stay in one lane, he is a tuneful shape shifter. Already his 2021 debut on the Cologne based label Papercup Records smashed Krautrock, synthpop, electro, ambient, and dub together. His 2023 and 2024 Papercup EPs Buttergolem and Rode ln am Rhein added Italo-disco, synth-pop and a drop of experimental electro to his versatility. Now eight new creations, brilliantly composed, yet -- even in odd flashes -- effortlessly catchy. They bring once more a stylistic melting pot, now enlarged with TheCure-ish dreamscapes, stretching over guitar riffs and bass grooves, like in the closing ambient-folk star "Zeiten" or the dreamy opening track "Fog Frog Green." There is the motorik krautrock pulse of "Osmopower," that boogies heavy in drum machine hypnosis under Aroma's entrancing new-wave vocals. Tunes like "Dreams Unfold" or "Amplify Shrooms" are likewise propulsive, each one psyching in its very own rhythmic sector. More voices are present too. In the two-minute manic preacher "Colas," were Togolese rapper and political activist Yao Bobby chants edgy. Or in "Closer," where singer Aprico sends spoken-word trances echoing through the cosmic jacking. And there is "Lovers Lake," a hypnotic drift of witchy vocals, bluesy chords, and endless synthscapes, that makes you swim on your feed. Shift the shapes, Blaumilch opens the gates.
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LP
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RIO 019LP
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Hot summer rain hits the cracked pavement in uneven rhythms. A neon sign flickers above a café that never seems to close, its warm white light reflected in the wet ground like a fever dream. The air smells of summer and the world hums with an easy tone, as if the city itself is holding its breath. A light flooded film noir-ish scene, that needs a soundtrack like Pool Jams, the new album from INIT, the Berlin based duo, that already caused quite a stir with their albums for Hivern Discs and Optimo Music. This time, they bring their latest creations out on R.i.O. -- a label, with whom they are deeply associated. Their fourth long-player is a playful one. One that brings trip hopping feelings. That has RNB grace, without catering regular trademarks of the genre. Dub, trance, drone, is all there too. Yet, nothing is present in pure definition. Rather suggested, interwoven, or newly twisted in a songwriting style, that haunts and seduces. On top the voice of Nadia D'Alò dances, steps and hums tempting to the grooves she created with her partner in crime Benedikt Frey. Together they fashioned a record, that, as INIT puts it, is "some kind of old photo from an old dry empty pool that got faded by sunlight." A dreamy, sunny piece of song art, made for endless smoky LA freeway drives, and other adventures that seek for infinite riddance. You can dream it. You can trance it. You can't escape it, as soon as it rotates in your dream device for sound and vision.
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12"
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RIO 018EP
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R.i.O. welcomes Brainwave Research Center, a NYC-based duo consisting of house/techno producer Chase Smith and documentary filmmaker Christa Majoras. In early 2023 they freed their debut album Figure 1 via their own label BRC. Two more albums followed. All documenting their love for experimental yet charming music of all kinds. Their influences span a vast spectrum, from Steve Reich, Laurie Spiegel, and Edgar Froese to Martin Rev, John Carpenter, early Kraftwerk, or the ambient techno of Pete Namlook's label. Yet, Brainwave Research Center forges a sound distinctly their own, seamlessly blending analog synthesis with electro-acoustic experimentation. On Psychic Antenna, the duo takes a gentle rawer approach. The tracks range from the manic verbal Die-Tödliche-Doris-like loops of "I Find Myself" to the meditative cosmic trance of "Open Your Mouth." "Orange Drop" and "Transmitter Park" toy with the dancefloor, channeling slow-motion acid trance and krautrock echoes. The release is rounded out by three remixes: R.i.O.'s own Benedikt Frey delivers a deep, trippy groover full of inner musicality, while close companion DALO crafts a dark, echo-drenched pop rework, and Berlin's Nathan Dawidowicz injects psyched nu-disco rhythms, expanding Psychic Antenna into seven notions of intense neural oscillations.
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LP
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RIO 015LP
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Long time in the vaults, soon out in pop heaven: Andrea & Alexander, a handsomely nostalgic pop project by Andrea Noce aka Eva Geist and Alexander Arpeggio. Originally launched in 2014, revitalized in 2023, the project originated as a live set-up consisting of synthesizers, ePects pedals and analogue drum machines. From there it slowly metamorphosed into a crew of songs with raw minimal-wave grooves and romantically haunting English and German pop lyrics, loosely evoking the aura of Siouxsie Sioux, Gudrun Gut, or Nadine Bal. After becoming a live mainstay in the Berlin based underground club Sameheads, they went on a tour through Lithuania and soon after several unfortunate troubles led to the break-up of the band, prompting both Andrea and Alexander to focus on their solo careers. Andrea became Eva Geist and released for various international labels, played live and formed the female duo As Longitude. Alexander founded his own label Eine Welt, took over the management of the renowned underground festival Camp Cosmic and created two musical projects with Cid Hohner, Otto, and Aufgang B. Now, years later, almost becoming a Soundcloud corpse some Andrea & Alexander recordings caught the attention of the R.i.O. folks and just seconds later they offer six freshly recorded cuts of Andrea & Alexander tunes that stood the test of time as authentic, soulful pop music. "What are we going to wear for tonight's party?" Andrea Noce asks in their song "Tiney Party." The answer is Loved Up a musical celebration outfit of six sincere recorded, emotionally accorded songs, who make the dance, give verve a chance, to be there, in that moment of all moments. An album for the listener that likes to dance. In his head, on the local carpet.
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