Jar Moff – ‘Financial Glam’ LP
Athens based Jar Moff returns with his second PAN LP in 2013. This is a music of upheaval. Continuing with themes established on his previous ‘Commercial Mouth’ LP, ‘Financial Glam’ reflects the flux and tension of his home city, a gripping opus of grandiose crescendo and collapse, broken rhythm and disquieting calm. These intricately composed collage works, constructed from hundreds of archived samples, provide a fitting and highly personal soundtrack to austerity in the shadow of empire. The craft hints at a year’s worth of meticulous assembly and industry; the album title hints at a biting critique of the circus outside. The combination of Jar Moff’s technique, ear and unique perspective on, and proximity to, one of the defining stories of our era makes this release a truly important work. A side ‘Financial Glam’ and builds with growing fanfare and unease, the malaise occasionally tamed by sublime stabs of synth and rhythm. B side ‘Kresentosiagona’ (translation: “Crescendo of the Jaw”) is characterized by a complex rhythmic treatment of individual orchestral samples. The perpetual escalation of the instruments begin to form a fragile and perilous platform over time, it’s fragile movements and majesty ever close to the crash. The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g vinyl. It is packaged in a pro-press color jacket which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Kathryn Politis & Bill Kouligas.
Heatsick – ‘RE-ENGINEERING’ LP
Well known for his epic multi-hour live club sets and acerbic wit, he characterizes this collection of new material as a “cybernetic poem” that both indulges us in the mores of hypnotic dance music while holding a critical, and at times satirical, lens toward the culture writ large. The opening title track is symbolic of this balance, the crisp spoken word poetry communicating hypermodernity in crisis in a piece that equally evokes the masked humour of Chic and the biting surreality of Chris Morris. “Modern life is still rubbish you say. Modern rubbish is still life” The tracks ‘MIMOSA’ and ‘SPECULATIVE’ play with a similar conflict, warping the themes of modern luxury familiar to Malcolm McLaren’s seminal ‘Paris’ album, and delivering rare vocal lines that convey distance and a degree of uneasiness. The masterful club tracks that constitute the bulk of this album feel all the more powerful and honest when framed in this hyper aware context, confirming the underlying inclusiveness in Warwick’s music and perspective. We dance together, we crash together. The LP is mastered and cut at D&M, Berlin. It is pressed on a 140g vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve featuring artwork by Bill Kouligas & Steven Warwick.
NHK’Koyxen – ‘Dance Classics Vol.III’ LP
Kouhei Matsunaga’s ‘Dance Classics Vol.III’ is the continuation of his ongoing development of his more dance oriented material, as seen from his sets with Sensational and also his other minimal techno project NHK. Not feeling tied down to one genre, Matsunaga nestles in the PAN roster, and however that isn’t to say that he is dance per se as witnessed from his recent collaborations with Conrad Schnitzler. The album focuses more on bass/base electronics, music for the dancefloor and/or altered state reflection. Having composed pieces for WDR based on Henry Chopin, Kouhei is equally at ease jamming with Sensational, whilst simultaneously executing a obsessively numerical sequence of dance pieces that borders on Hanne Darboven-like compulsivity. Born in Osaka, Kouhei Matsunaga is a musician and an illustrator. He started drawing during childhood under the influence of his grandfather. He grew up listening to hardcore- techno and hip hop, studied architecture and has been mainly making music since 1992. Under many different aliases (NHK, NHKyx, Internet Magic, Koyxen) he has released numerous albums on labels such as Skam Records, Wordsound, Raster Noton and his first ever album “Upside Down” on Mille Plateaux in 1998. He has also collaborated with artists like Merzbow, Jungle Brothers’ Sensational, Autechre’s Sean Booth, Mika Vainio, Conrad Schnitzler, Anti Pop Consorium’s High Priest, Rudolf Eb.er, Puppetmastaz crew, Asmus Tietchens, Ralf ‘RLW’ Wehowsky and so on. His own label Flying Swimming was founded in 2002 with the main purpose being to publish and curate events of experimental contemporary music and art. The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g vinyl. It is packaged in a pro-press color jacket which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Kathryn Politis & Bill Kouligas.
Dalglish – ‘Niaiw Ot Vile’ LP
Chris Douglas’ story reads like a lesson in the development of outsider electronic music over the past 20 years. He began throwing the first ambient techno parties in San Francisco at just 16 years old, and moved to Detroit a year later to begin working with Mike Banks (Underground Resistance) and James Stinson (Drexciya). He relocated to Berlin in the early 2000’s after being invited to support Autechre on their Confield tour (and perform at the now legendary Autechrecurated ATP Festival), and has since steadily released challenging and intense records as Dalglish, O.S.T., Scald Rougish and Seaes, all the while maintaining an elusive personal profile. He has also worked extensively in film music as having recently composed the soundtrack for the film‘Out of Competition’ for the 70th Venice Biennale, as well as Anna Eborn’s recent film ‘Pine Ridge’ among others. Furthermore he is a founding member of audiovisual collective SYNKEN featuring members of Transforma. His PAN debut, dedicated to his friend, the sadly deceased musician and Isolate Records founder Wai Cheng (Optic), is a complex and cavernous exercise in texture and rhythm, marrying the freedom and tonal breadth of electroacoustic composition with percussive patterns disjointed to the point of collapse. It is easy to see how his work is often critically received as emotionally challenging. There is a closeness to these compositions, and his muscular, full spectrum passages are often counteracted with brittle and delicate detail. Unhinged and unrestrained, you will be hard pressed to find a single loop throughout the entire album, with each of the compositions mutated through vividly reverberating, clangorous landscapes. The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M. It is pressed on a 140g vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve featuring artwork by Ian Liddle, Bill Kouligas & Kathryn Politis.
Bill Kouligas/Valerio Tricoli split CS
Xmas Special Tape from Bill Kouligas and Valerio Tricoli, plus a re-press of several sought-after titles from SND, Heatsick, NHK’Koyxen and Rashad Becker. Get the cassette for free If you buy any 3 or more titles listed here.