All Vinyl

Initial pressing is on pink vinyl! Move quick!

Delia Gonzalez is a name immediately familiar to DFA fanatics. As the story goes, Delia transplanted from Miami to New York City in the mid-1990s, working in various dance and guerrilla theatre troupes. It was around this time that she met synth wizard Gavin Russom, beginning a series of multi-disciplinary collaborations. Their first release for the label, 2003’s El Monte, was an early demonstration of the fledgling label’s ability to bridge the gap between the avant-garde and the rapidly exploding indie rock world.

In Remembrance is the next landmark in Delia’s artistic pursuits. The project originated as a 2010 solo show of the same name at Galleria Fonti in Naples, Italy, and was further realized in 2012, with additional work, as part of the exhibition I Must Not Stop To Rest Here in Cologne, Germany. The project was further exhibited in Zurich. Both exhibitions were built around four 16mm ballet dance films, accompanied by the music composed by Gonzalez. In her words, “The film is meant to re-create the fleeting sensation of inspiration - that sacred feeling when suddenly your mind clears and you know exactly what you’re meant to create and become.”

The films were exhibited in their third incarnation at the Clocktower Gallery in New York City in 2013. Delia enlisted New York underground musicians Bryce Hackford and Alice Cohen to perform a live, electronic adaption of the original piano score. Bryce later contributed four remixes, which are included on this album. Delia explains; “When I lived in Berlin I became good friends with the artist and musician Viktor Timofeev, who kept telling me about his best friend Bryce, who he played music with. In 2012 we were all in Vienna participating in a show entitled You Are Free. There I met Bryce and I instantly loved him. In 2013 I moved to NYC temporarily and ran into him at the New Museum and he said, “we should get together and play”. I took him up on it.”

The original piano score was initially inspired by a text by Henry Miller as well as a theory by spiritual teacher George Gurdjieff, which states that “to play scales is to become more in tune with your inner self.” This coincided conceptually with the music that Delia had been making at the time.

Musically, In Remembrance finds Delia Gonzalez again straddling the lines drawn between the fine art and pop worlds. This time, instead of the cosmic, arpeggiated synths of The Days of Mars , we are presented with something even more immediately beautiful. The music is immediately soothing and hypnotic, yet it also maintains a sinister undertone. Suspense and tension are expressed in a deceptively simple fashion, providing a soundtrack both mesmerizing and melancholy for the dancers in the film. Delicate layers of piano wind around each other, reflected in the mirrored motions of the dancers, filmed in leering close-ups. The four compositions combine to create a 30 minute avant-classical suite, bringing to mind Satie, or something plucked from Italy’s iconic Cramps Records in the seventies (John Cage’s Cheap Imitation is an reasonable comparison), or perhaps an alternate score to the arthouse horror film Don’t Look Back by Nicolas Roeg.

The second disc features remixes by previously mentioned live collabator Bryce Hackford. Bryce takes Delia’s exquisite piano score and loops, stretches, and consolidates it. There’s a range of treatments at play here - some pieces are layered with gauzy left-field electronic pulses while Track IV get a 4/4 dancefloor makeover, recommended to fans of both classic Detroit techno and newer left-field stars such as Actress. Asked to briefly discuss his mission statement in creating these remixes, Bryce simply stated that he wished that his remixes “maintain the hypnotic and simple beauty of the originals while opening them up to new spaces.”.

In Remembrance will be released by DFA Records and [PIAS] Cooperative on April 28, 2015.  

Tracklist

A1 - Delia Gonzalez (I)
A2 - Delia Gonzalez (II)
B1 - Delia Gonzalez (III)
B2 - Delia Gonzalez (IV)
C1 - Bryce Hackford (Remix I)
C2 - Bryce Hackford (Remix II)
D1 - Bryce Hackford (Remix III)
D2 - Bryce Hackford (Remix IV)

“When our first album came out,” Tobin Prinz (guitar, voice) remembers, “we were awkward, miserable...” “Nervous, uncooperative” chips in Suzi Horn (bass, voice, drums), pausing just long enough for Tobin to supply the punchline - “and now look at us!”  

Prinzhorn Dance School are still recognisably the same spiky Brighton-based duo whose ultra-rigorous debut cut through the excess of 2008 like a scimitar through bacon fat. But with their trademark stripped-down intensity now winningly off-set by moments of unabashed tenderness, their third album Home Economics continues and even accelerates the move away from austerity and into human warmth begun by its acclaimed 2011 predecessor Clay Class. 

The starting point for the new record was the band’s “amazing” first US shows - two of their own and a triumphant showing at DFA’s 12th anniversary - in May 2013. Inspired by their American adventure, Prinzhorn Dance School brought the recording process into the heart of their everyday lives. Played and recorded on the move between different flats in Brighton and Hove, then wheeled around town on a hard-drive wrapped in a sleeping bag in a specially-adapted suitcase, Home Economics gave them an escape route from “that frustration you feel when you spend days trying to recapture the intimacy of a particular moment”, Tobin remembers. “This time we could just use the original take, so sometimes these songs are almost like field recordings”. 

All the best six-track albums - The Fall’s Slates, Orange Juice’s Texas Fever - know exactly what they want to say and how they intend to say it. Home Economics shares that infectious sense of urgency. There’s not an inch of spare meat on it - from Reign’s snatched moment of optimism, through Battlefield’s restorative meeting of minds with an urban fox on a drunken walk home in the early hours, to Let Me Go’s concluding tribute to “a love that won’t rewind and will not be deleted”. Spindly yet sensuous, together and alone, exquisitely sad but somehow full of hope, Prinzhorn Dance School knit together disparate and even opposite fragments into an utterly satisfying whole.

The one-two kick drum beat that starts “In the Dark of the Night” functions as a bit of a tease. Instead of just establishing the languid pace of the track, it has the power of suggestion, and its stark nakedness raises the question of just what will happen when the music fully launches. When, a few seconds later, a punch-drunk, flanging keyboard enters the procession, it’s the first clue that we are in for an off-kilter ride; the sauntering bassline that next appears adds a springy, funk bounce. But it’s the tripped-out, multi-tracked vocals of Fernando Miranda Rios – aka Michoacan, the producer behind this slow reveal – that give the song its peculiar, space-y vibe; it’s a bit like David Byrne with funk aspirations. Taken altogether – and there is plenty more, including tinkling piano notes; bits of percussion; and electrical washes – there’s a vaguely cosmic feel. The song coalesces, using funk to lure you to the dance floor, then intoxicating you to keep you there.

The Side B re-mix – courtesy of Italy’s Clap Rules – actually feels like more of a re-build: The song has been taken apart and put back together with all brand new parts. Instead of the more relaxed, dazed funk at the core of the original, it’s a glittery, disco ball-splattered track with funk elements scattered here and there, and glossy keys all around. 

“In the Dark of the Night” is Michoacan’s debut DFA release. He has already created music for Grayhound, Headinghome, Lektroluvv, Smash Hit Music Co., Speak Recordings, Bearfunk and Tiny Sticks. 

 Tracklist

A - In The Dark Of The Night

B - In The Dark Of The Night (Clap Rules Remix)

Limited editon of 1000 hand-stamped and numbered copies, assembled at DFA in NYC. 

DFA is proud to release a long-gestating 12” single of wild interprations of Eric Copeland’s 2013 album “Joke In The Hole”. The Black Dice member received universal acclaim for the record, “Fringe though Copeland may be, this album is a serious coup for DFA—he walks the line between complete nuttiness and outright accessibility, and ends up with one of his best records to date.” (XLR8R) Starting us off is Panda Bear, who adds his trademark falsetto vocals and shuffling percussion, sweetening Eric’s black coffee beats. DFA’s own sonic collagist Larry Gus blends Eric’s mumbled vocals with bright percussion and a vocoded male choir, among many other audio dalliances. Meanwhile, Hyperdub’s Fhloston Paradigm (AKA King Britt) takes aim with his laser cannons, firing volleys at unrelenting waves of marching alien armies, before being swallowed up in a solar flare. Finally, Anthony Naples (Text Records, Trilogy Tapes) brings it back to the club with snaps, claps, and hi-hats, but it sounds like you left ‘em out in the rear window of your car on a sunny day. You know what we mean. 

Tracklisting:

1. Cheap Treat (Panda Bear Version)
2. Grapes (Larry Gus Remix)
3. Cheap Treat (Fhloston Paradigm Remix)
4. Bobby Strong (Anthony Naples Remix)

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 - 2xLP

Originally released in 2006.

This album was commissioned by Nike to listen to on an iPod while exercising.

"Complex, fun, and meticulously put together, 45:33 sounds even better pumping from a home stereo than it does through an iPod while jogging". - All Music

Original Pitchfork Review, 2006

Wikipedia Entry

 Tracklist

A - 45:33

B - 45:33

C - 45:33

D - 45:33

You may know these two guitar jams from the bonus disc of their 2005 Self-Titled LP. Super heavy 7" in black and white picture sleeve! 

Tracklisting:

1. Give It Up
2. Tired

DFA Records is pleased to announce I Need New Eyes, the new album from Larry Gus. 2013’s Years Not Living was a masterpiece of composition, pushing sampling to its limits within a conceptual framework provided by Life A User’s Manual, George Perec’s postmodern fiction masterpiece. 

I Need New Eyes treads familiar sonic ground to Larry Gus’ previous works - but his beatmaker percussion, shill falsetto vocals, and found sounds form a gestalt more concise and clear than ever. The references to literature continue -  the title is based on a supposed quote by Proust, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” This record was completed amidst two life-changing events - the birth of his first child, and his participation in Red Bull Music Academy in Tokyo. (Fellow attendee NV contributes backing vocals on Belong To Love.) He explains, “When you have kids, you realize that all of the infinite branches that you were wishing to explore are starting to being cut violently with a axe (held by the baby), and all infinite choices in your life (and lifestyle) start to shrink and diminish slowly. I decided on the title the moment I got back from Tokyo, upon realising that I could never be able to live there, now that I have a baby”. 

His lyrics are brought to the forefront here - covering a wide variety of anxieties, personal and professional. “Don’t forget, the success of everyone else always includes failed attempts / but why can’t I figure it out for myself” he howls over swirling drum fills on NP-Complete, “No more polite comments / at least not from my friends” he croons in A Set Of Replies. This feeds into an alternate meaning for the title - “I need new, less jealous eyes” because envy and jealousy and bitterness are also things that recur a lot in my lyrics, always related to other musicians and things that they achieve.” 

In spite of the of the heavy conceptual themes, there is a true jubilance to the sonics of the record. Twinkling synths and orchestral stabs mingle with handclaps and a thundering kick drum on All Graphs Explored, while funk guitars and endless layers of percussion and brass build around Larry’s bilingual vocals, climaxing in a double-timed drum solo. This is a record for fans of Caribou, Can, Panda Bear, and self-reflection.

I Need New Eyes is released by DFA Records and [PIAS] Cooperative on October 2, 2015.

Tracklist

Four premium dub remixes of Sinkane by Peaking Lights, housed in a natural tan sleeve with red/green/yellow heady gradient center label. 

Approaching a busy festival season, including a performance at Glastonbury Festival this weekend plus Womad and Meltdown later in the summer, Sinkane has joined forces with Peaking Lights for a 12” EP release entitled Mean Dub, to be released on August 21st via DFA/City Slang.

Marcus Lambkin aka Shit Robot returns with his third full length album for DFA Records, entitled What Follows. The 11-track album was conceived and recorded at Marcus’ home studio in a small town outside Stuttgart; worked on in various New York studios and then mixed over the course of 11 intense & coffee-fuelled days in DFA label mate Juan Maclean’s New Hampshire studio. 

The album follows Lambkin’s previous long-players, From The Cradle To The Rave (2010) and We Got A Love (2014), which drew plaudits from the likes of The Guardian and Pitchfork, and featured Reggie Watts and James Murphy among the array of contributors. 

The Dublin-born producer has enlisted the help of a stellar cast of guests for What Follows, with previous collaborators Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and DFA stablemates Museum of Love & Nancy Whang returning, alongside new faces Jay Green and leftfield fellow Dubliner New Jackson. 

What Follows marks a departure in Lambkin’s process - a simple, but fundamental one: getting away from the computer. He said: “This record is a lot more analog than 'We Got A Love', almost all of it comes from connecting machines together and playing around.” What was your biggest influence? “Drum machines.” What began in Stuttgart was followed up on in New York, before being finished in an 11-day blitz in New Hampshire with Juan Maclean. 

Lambkin: “This is the first time that I actually sat down and said, ‘I'm going to make an album now and I'm going to finish it by a specific date and time.’ I wanted to make a record that was more cohesive, that sounded like it all came from the one session. I wanted it to reflect my DJing style a bit more, less pop, less disco, more machines. There's no live bass and barring a few hi-hats, there's no live drums. 

“I began in Stuttgart - simply by creating about 12 drum loops. I then synched these up to some gear and created some bass lines so I had some solid grooves to start with. Then I went to NY and spent a couple of days at Holy Ghost's studio playing around with Nick and his modular synth coming up with different sequences and sounds. I then took all this over to Transmitter Park Studios in Greenpoint and spent a few days with the wizard that is Morgan Wiley of Midnight Magic and Tippy Toes. He's one of my favourite keyboard players on the planet. Sometimes I had a specific thing I wanted him to do, but mostly I just played him some things I like and got him to jam out on what I had come up with or play some nice chords or chord progressions. 

“I took all this back home and started to fool around with it and knock it into shape before sending it out for vocals. With the song I did with Museum Of Love, 'What Follows', Dennis and Pat were actually in Europe and they came by and stayed with me for a few days, so we made that one in Stuttgart over a few nights once I got the kids to bed. It was particularly fun and easy. I think the wine helped. 

“Then I brought it all to Juan's World in New Hampshire where we drank a LOT of coffee and did some additional production and mixed everything. Finishing the record with Juan was a game changer for me. We worked so hard. We finished eleven songs in eleven days, no joke.” 

The results are convincing - What Follows is definitely an album dedicated to dance music, but one that retains hallmarks of his previous LPs: good songs. Alexis Taylor turns in two memorable performances on lead single ‘End Of The Trail’ and album opener ‘In Love’; Museum of Love - Pat Mahoney and Dennis McNany - lend the album title track an air of something mined from the two months in between the death of Joy Division and the birth of New Order; and Nancy Whang gave such a strong vocal for ‘Lose Control’ that Lambkin and Maclean threw out the existing track and recorded the backing along with the vocal in one take, which the two producers working the machines live. Lambkin: “I had so much fun with Lose Control - and it inspired me to make so much more music. I've written 12 new tracks since finishing the record.” 

Newbies Jay Green and New Jackson hit their marks too - Green - best known for fronting American punk bands Orchid and Panthers - narrates Is There No End as though it were sibling to From The Cradle To The Rave’s single Simple Things. New Jackson makes two appearances, on both Phase Out and OB-8 (Winter Version), adding oddball vocals and spaced-out Krautrock guitar arrangements. 

How did the guests come about? Lambkin: “I didn't have a big plan, I just knew that I wanted to work with friends. I knew I wanted to do something with Museum Of Love again. I also knew I would do something with Nancy, I couldn't make a Shit Robot record without Nancy. Then while I was working on End Of The Trail, I could hear Alexis's voice in my head, it just seemed a perfect fit. New Jackson is my younger brother’s old room mate and I've wanted to do something with Jay ever since I made the Green Machine 12”s a few years back.” 

What Follows was preceded by two 12” singles - Where Its At (Feat. Reggie Watts), backed with a killer remix from Johnny Aux - and original version of album closer OB-8. 

Track List:

1. In Love (Feat. Alexis Taylor)
2. What Follows (Feat. Museum of Love)
3. Ten Miles High
4. Lose Control (Feat. Nancy Whang)
5. End Of The Trail (Feat. Alexis Taylor)
6. Phase Out
7. Wir Warten
8. Is There No End (Feat. Jay Green)
9. OB-8 (Winter Mix) [Feat. New Jackson]

Limited edition of just 200 copies 

1 - OB-8
2 - Torpedo

See that man on a far off hill, working his dog while attempting to find shelter from the howling wind and driving rain? That’s the Crooked Man, the very antithesis of the modern dance music producer. He lives a simple life, dragging his world‐weary soul across the moors in an endless bid to escape the fallout from 30 years spent at the forefront of Sheffield’s electronic music scene. Once regarded as one of the Steel City’s greatest selectors, he now admits to being gripped by fear at the idea of DJing, and refuses to spend any time in nightclubs. 

He may be ill at ease with the darkroom throb of 21st century clubs, but the house music the Crooked Man produces is as weighty, alien, raw and left of‐centre as anything you’d get from many a hyped young producer. He’s assisted in his studio endeavours by two other Sheffield survivors: former Clock DVA man Michael Ward, and David Lewin, once the other half of Bleep & Booster with former ABC and Vice Versa man Stephen Singleton.

The Crooked Man’s music blends wonky electronic rhythms, heavy bass and razor sharp, politically aware lyrics, often delivered by the honeyed tonsils of Pete Simpson. For proof, check out the banker‐baiting “Scum (Always Rises The Top)”, or the bittersweet social commentary of “Fools & Fanatics”. The Crooked Man may be world weary, but he’s still brimming with rage. Few could have foreseen a link between this jaded recluse and New York’s militantly forward‐looking DFA Records. But then again, the Crooked Man does have history.

Raised a farm boy, his life changed when he first heard the industrial funk and futurist electronic pop of local bands Cabaret Voltaire and the Human League. Bored of having no decent parties to go to, he became DJ Parrot and began promoting the soon to be legendary Jive Turkey events in 1985. Alongside his DJ partner Winston Hazel, he united Sheffield’s disparate dancers by joining the dots between Northern Soul, disco, hip‐hop, electro and the emerging underground dance sounds of Chicago, Detroit and New York.

In 1987, an early foray into music production accidentally created a hit record, the major label‐signed “Hustle (To The Music)” by Funky Worm. The commercial desires of a large, conservative label proved hugely frustrating, and he soon yearned to break free and head back underground. Salvation came from within Sheffield, with the launch of Warp Records. He teamed up with Cabaret Voltaire’s Richard H Kirk under the Sweet Exorcist alias, delivering the peerless “Testone” in 1990, one of the landmark records of the bleep era. The pair went on to release the first album on Warp, C.C.E.P., in 1991.

Many records under different aliases followed, for both independent and major labels, before Parrot once again found himself chart‐bound as part of eccentric Steel City trio All Seeing I. Their debut album, 1999’s Pickled Eggs & Sherbet, featured contributions from some of Sheffield’s finest, including Jarvis Cocker and The Human League’s Phil Oakey.

Since then, Parrot has kept a low profile. When not working his sheepdogs, he’s quietly produced for Roisin Murphy, Add N To (X), Richard Hawley and Toddla T, amongst others. His decision, some years back, to revisit his love of raw, bass‐heavy house music merely marks another twist in the winding path of the Crooked Man.

Tracklist:

1. Coming Up For Air
2. This Machine (Kills Me)
3. The Girl With Better Clothes
4. Scum (Always Rises To The Top)
5. Preset
6. Fools And Fanatics
7. Try Me
8. I'll Be Loving You
9. Happiness

Black Bubblegum is on black vinyl

Black Bubblegum is the newest LP from Eric Copeland, and we are not kidding when we emphasize it sounds like nothing he has done in the past. The title of the record says it all: chewy, sticky pop that doesn’t taste quite like any chewy, sticky pop you’ve had before.

 
Recorded at Copeland’s old practice space in South Williamsburg, Black Bubblegumcontains songs with more conventional sounds and songwriting than any of his previous releases. While there are similarities with Copeland’s earlier work in the drum patterns, major scales and vocals, Black Bubblegum moves away from his trademark psychedelic dub towards strange and fantastical pop. Wanting to take a more “hands-on” approach to these recordings, Copeland exchanged sample-driven tech and hardware for keyboards, guitars and effect pedals, creating a new sound that is oddly easy to digest despite its rejection of melody in favour of discord and dissonance. While there are similarities with Copeland’s earlier work in the drum patterns, major scales and vocals, Black Bubblegum moves away from his trademark psychedelic dub towards strange and fantastical pop; imagine Arthur Russell going into the studio with The Ramones.
 
For a long time, Copeland considered this collection of songs to be recordings which would never be heard. This invariably influenced certain decisions made during the creation of Black Bubblegum, blessing Copeland with the unique freedom that comes from making music never intended to be heard, let alone released.
 
When asked to please jot down what influenced this new album and sound, Eric replied”glam holes, glitter dreams, money troubles, apocalypse paranoia, one hit wonders, manifest destiny, my family's westward migration, body troubles (was passing kidney stones almost the entire time), LGBT disco parties, Jonathan Richman, Missing Foundation, Neil Diamond, New Orleans, poverty, getting pushed out of another Brooklyn neighbourhood... No Beach Boys, no Beatles, no Buddha...  More Bad News Bears.”
 
Eric Copeland has been sound clashing at full volume for over twenty years, first carving out a named for himself as one third of the legendary NY-via-Providence band Black Dice. A wildly prolific solo artist, Copeland has played shit houses, party palaces and seemingly everything in between all over the world.
 
A long time Brooklyn, resident, Eric recently relocated to where the L Train does not run - Palma de Mallorca, Spain. While maintaining a relatively humble and low key presence in a highly competitive musical world, he has releases a prolific amount of music every year through indie labels such as L.I.E.S., Escho (Iceage), PPM (No Age), Paw Tracks (Animal Collective) and DFA.

Tracklist:

1. Kids In A Coma
2. Rip It
3. Fuck It Up
4. Honorable Mentions
5. Blue Honey
6. On
7. Cannibal World
8. Don't Beat Your Baby
9. Radio Weapons
10. Get My Own

“Echo”, the first album for DFA from acclaimed Norwegian avant garde pop vocalist Nils Bech. It is set for release on October 14th.

A busy stage actor and singer already well known in his native Norway for three albums released on Oslo’s Fysisk Format, “Echo” marks a pivotal turning point for Bech, and something of a radical sonic departure too. The keys to the seachange lie with Bech’s new collaborator, the young underground DJ, producer and beat maker Drippin’, known for his work with American rap artists such as LE1F and Cakes Da Killa. As a result, where his previous work was strange, ethereal and otherworldly – completely and utterly unique - “Echo” throbs with a renewed sense of vigour and urgency, without losing any of the idiosyncratic beauty which marked Bech’s work out before.

The sound created here is strange and immediate. Stuttering sharp bass kicks combine with clanging 5-alarm snare drums made of glass, orchestra stabs and melancholy piano lines jump in and out of the arrangements. These new elements and ideas are married to the already singular voice of Nils Bech, with “Echo” becoming something new, exciting and 100% Norwegian - homegrown and ready for the world. Just listen to new track “Waiting” for evidence of his truly inimitable vision, as martial drums anchor Bech’s floating, weightless vocals, to create something swoonsome, beguiling and defiantly its own creature.

The music comes to full fruition when performed live, as proven at two packed performances at the 2016 By Larm Festival where Nils was joined onstage by both Drippin’ & Øyvind Mathisen, who also produced, arranged and played on the album alongside Bech. Make sure not to miss the completely original and striking sound of Nils Bech.

Tracklist:

1. Waiting
2. Too Little Too Late
3. Glimpse Of Hope
4. Please Stay
5. Drip, Drip
6. Let Go
7. Echo
8. Jealousy
9. A Sudden Sickness

black vinyl edition and CD feature a full color art inner sleeve. 

The CD release of DFA Records Compilation #1 came out in days of yore, when the iTunes store did not exist, when iPods were more coveted than your phone. The only way to hear the first batch of singles DFA released was to seek out the vinyl and lots of people did.

This magical mythical first group of releases from DFA included “House of Jealous Lovers” by The Rapture, “Losing My Edge” & “Give It Up” by LCD Soundsystem. It also included two very different approaches to dance music from The Juan Maclean – “By The Time I Get To Venus” and “You Can’t Have It Both Ways”, which subtly introduced the world to the vocal powers of Nancy Whang.

Black Dice also released a 12” single, throwing their noise roots behind a 4/4 screech and created one of the most unique singles in the DFA catalog with “Cone Toaster”.

The compilation was edited to fit onto one CD, more a sampler than a completist’s anthology. In hindsight, it should have been an anthology of the first 5 singles in full but the A sides had enough momentum happening to make the sampler a bonafide success for the label.

The 8.0 review from Pitchfork in 2003 helped cement the DFA label as both the leaders of a new production approach, as well as a collection of artists who could co-exist make music together and please both the discerning DJ and the indie rock enthusiasts.

In the review, the writer Nick Sylvester calls DFA “The Neptunes of the discopunk underground”, which maybe seems funny and far-fetched now, but back in 2003 was a compliment and comparison that DFA were very willing to accept. It is now 2016 and both parties continue to work and stay busy and relevant. Success being relative, this compilation represents the humble beginnings of the label and the birth / re-birth of DFA flagship artists The Rapture, The Juan Maclean, LCD Soundsystem & Black Dice.

Tracklist

Juan Maclean - By The Time I Get To Venus

LCD Soundsystem - Give It Up

The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers

Black Dice - Cone Toaster

Juan Maclean - You Can't Have It Both Ways (Live At Warsaw April 26, 2002)

The Rapture - Silent Morning

LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge

Black Dice - Endless Happiness 

1. Can You Ever Really Know Somebody (Original)
2. Can You Ever Really Know Somebody (Instrumental)
3. Can You Ever Really Know Somebody (LA-4A Remix)
4. Can You Ever Really Know Somebody (LA-4A Dub)

The latest LCD album, available in double LP, compact disc, or limited edition cassette.

**

2xLP

• 140 gram double LP
• Full color gatefold jacket / inner sleeves

Cassette

• full color 5 panel inner card
• clear cassette shell
• custom silk screened cassette shells & cases

CD

• Fold-over heavy card stock envelope.
• 16 page booklet with lyrics and photos

Eric Copeland (Black Dice) returns to DFA with a brand-new set of hyper & hectic leftfield club music. Goofballs places its emphasis on playful melodies, ear worm hooks & vocals mixed with trademark machine funk rhythms that hit hard and land off-balance. Any other way would be too obvious for an artist like Eric. Perhaps he even invented a new dance genre: ‘Goofstep’. We’ll see if that one sticks…

Eric explained the creation of this new LP to us via email from his home on an island in lovely Balearic Palma Spain:

“i made it here in Palma at my studio, this is the first full record i’ve made entirely here since moving. some of this material was road tested September 2016 on tour supporting Animal Collective. This album was the result of real isolation here, countless hours, focused only on this. The whole recording & writing was a fast process. I focused most on the bass groove. I had a very minimal gear setup: 90’s drum machine, cheap bass machine and a sampler. But most important was a homemade ‘drum brain’ that Barry’s London custom made for me. Barry was in the Van Pelt Soldiers of Fortune & Oneida. That piece of gear was a big part of this record and informed the direction it took the most.”

Eric Copeland is a founding member of Black Dice as well as a prolific solo artist. Besides DFA, he has released albums on L.I.E.S., Post Present Medium & Paw Tracks.

Goofballs was mixed by Rusty Santos (who has mixed everyone from DJ Rashad to Panda Bear to Owen Pallett) and mastered by Joe Lambert. It is Eric’s third solo album for DFA Records.

Tracklist: 
1) Boogieman
2) Neckbone
3) Disco Ball
4) Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo
5) Mixer Shredder
6) Close Encounters
7) Smearjob
8) Do Whatcha Wah Wah

COMPACT DISC AVAILABLE ON DFA BANDCAMP

Exit Entrance is the DFA debut for Kohei Matsunaga aka NHK yx Koyxen. 

Kohei has been making / releasing music since 1997 and has recorded for such iconic labels as Mille Plateaux, Important, Pan & Diagonal. His latest recordings explore intricate drum programming, lush melodies & sparkling arrangements. Touchstones include the legendary Clicks & Cuts compilations from the 1990’s as well as Aphex Twin & Autechre. RA called his music “bombastic techno funk….unpredictable but rarely disappointing.” 

Exit Entrance is a collection of new songs that snap and flicker unlike anything Kohei has done in the past. There is a clarity and beauty to these tracks that bursts out of the speakers in a three dimensional way, matching the 3D glasses that the artist wears during all his live performances. The elegant arrangements and crisp drum breaks match the concise song titles – Kohei foregoes the typical impenetrable track names made up of numbers and shorthand, and opts for a more direct emotional sincerity through the sonic themes of the record. 

Not all the music here falls into the same exact formula. As the album heads towards a close, after several tracks of harmonious beauty, we get “Outset (for Mika Vainio),” a somber hushed techno tune, dedicated to his late friend and musical collaborator, who unexpectedly passed away earlier this year as the record was being completed. What follows after this track is perhaps the real catharsis, as “Dented” ominously kicks off with acidic stabs and rolls into a tumultuous dirge of gritty techno. 

In this regard, Exit Entrance can play out like a life cycle, a mini opera of birth and beauty, of sorrow and mourning. It is one of the most direct and honest records Kohei has ever made, and DFA is beyond proud to present this work from such an esteemed creative force in the electronic avant-garde world of music.

Track Listing:
1) Meeting
2) Finding
3) Intention
4) Dignity
5) Notice
6) Mutually
7) Outset (for Mika Vainio)
8) Dented

 COMPACT DISC AVAILABLE ON DFA BANDCAMP 

CCFX is a supergroup out of Olympia, Washington resulting from a merger between two seminal Olympia pop music outfits; CC Dust and Trans FX. On their debut self-titled EP, artists Chris McDonnell, Mirče Popovic, Mary Jane Dunphe and David Jaques offer a record that is at once a showcase and aberration of what is currently coming out of the Pacific Northwest. 

Recorded and (re)mixed with local OG Captain Tripps, the EP's sound partially recalls late 90’s/early 00’s indie pop as chiming, melodic guitar parts counter and complement Mary Jane’s brilliant voice. In the same vein of the past few decades' most beloved and coveted hitmakers (both in the clubs as well as on the radio), the music feeds on a sense of nostalgia not necessarily specific to any one time or place – sun-kissed riffs seem to go on forever, supported by a steady breakbeat. 

The timbre of the music is warm and just slightly fuzzed out, and the expressive quality of Mary Jane's voice is pushed to the front. The b-side's "Ode," a late CC Dust piece, and "2Tru," written by Popovic, were put together around the time of Trans FX's The Clearing, whereas "The One to Wait" and "Venetian Screens" found Dunphe, Jaques and McDonnell picking up where they left off a year later, swept up in the productive frenzy leading to TFX's latest effort, Gaslit.

CCFX, over the course of this palpable evolution, have struck that rare yet essential balance between heartfelt sincerity and calculated disillusionment, bearing the mark of a project which is as fearless as it is humble, out there living as big as it wants to be. These four tracks grant listeners access to suppressed and superseded feelings from youth, paired with a backwards glint of whatever strange luxury this epoch's future might still hold. FFO St Etienne, Q Lazarus, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, dancing, celebrations, success stories, TFX, CCの, etc.

Tracklist

A1 - The One To Wait
A2 - Venetian Screens
B3 - Ode
B4 - 2Tru

A1. The Brighter The Light
A2. The Brighter The Light (DJ Tennis Remix)
B1. The Brighter The Light (Len Leise Remix)
B2. The Brighter The Light (Octo Octa Remix)

Back in our store for the first time in years. Confusing both critics and fans upon initial release, The Juan's first 12" is backed by "The more raucous" 41 Small Stars (aka Ad Rock!) version and rare instrumental TG-3X. 

A1: By The Time I Get To Venus

A2:  By The Time I Get To Venus (41 Small Stars Version)

B: TG-3X

Tracklist:

1) Les Aphides
2) Futur Parlé
3) Complet Brouillé
4) Les agents des stups
5) Substance M
6) New Path

Essaie Pas always seek out fresh challenges. Emerging from Montreal’s sprawling electronic scene, the duo - Marie Davidson and Pierre Guerineau – feel completely free to express themselves, to sketch out hitherto unmapped musical regions.

“Essaie Pas has always been about exploring new territories” explains Pierre. “From the very first tapes, to the last one. We don’t want to do the same thing over and over again, – we just need to keep it exciting and to challenge ourselves. Take those experiences, open new boxes and see what happens.”

Forthcoming album ‘New Path’ takes this one step further. The duo’s fifth album to date – and second on powerhouse label DFA Records –is loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly, a classic of dystopian science fiction.

“I read the book a long time ago, maybe 15 years ago, and it had a strong impression on me,” explains Pierre. “In our previous work we always looked to music as inspiration in our lives, but this time we felt the desire to try something different, that’s not based on ourselves but on someone else’s universe. It was going to be more conceptual, more political.”

‘New Path’ touches on personal ground, on addiction, loss, and the lingering strength of identity within late capitalism’s mass media paranoia. It pins down the central character’s destructive addiction, using this as a metaphor to explore the dichotomous rupture between our inner lives and our social environment, one that is often fed and soothed by drug abuse, social media, or any kind of dependence.

“I think it touches us on many levels,” Pierre continues. “We can talk about drug addiction issues, we can talk about the mass surveillance world we live in, but there’s also the experience of loss, of grief. I was surprised by how the book felt so modern and accurate to the time we live in right now. Dick’s visions of surveillance are the reality of social control today.”

It’s a record that continually ties itself in knots, a puzzle that is outwardly beguiling while the solutions remain inherently allusive. As Pierre points out, it’s even present in the title. “I like the fact that it sounds optimistic, but in the book it’s actually an illusion,” he explains. “This new path is actually going nowhere.”

But it’s a challenge met with humour, picking up on the wry elements of Philip K. Dick’s own writing – witness the subtle wit of songs such as ‘Complet Brouillé’, ‘Les Agents Des Stups’ or as in ‘Futur Parlé’s tripped-out lyrics, offsetting intense themes with something a little more playful. 

The conceptual nature of ‘New Path’ belies the subtle personal shifts within the band. A husband and wife duo, Essaie Pas thrive on freedom, on parting to focus on outside projects in Montreal and Berlin before returning renewed, flushed with fresh inspiration.

“Both personally and for Essaie Pas it’s good that both of us have separate projects,” he explains. “Marie has been constantly touring solo for the last year. On my side I’ve been producing other people’s music (Bernardino Femminielli, Pelada or Sleazy to name a few). Collaborating in the studio with talented people with unique aesthetics and different creative processes is always refreshing as an artist.”

The complexity of the project mirrors the complexities within Essaie Pas’ career to date – forever unpredictable, their wiry, individual sound offers a tangled vision of tomorrow’s aesthetics. “I think this was the main challenge,” muses Pierre. “To adapt what we’ve been doing live thru the last 2 years, which before was always changing, and corner it, make it cohesive”.

Although the duo is continually reinventing themselves, exploring new concepts or addressing political issues, emotions stays the essential aspect of their work. This is cold music for cold times, yet beneath this lies a continual search for the humane.

As they conclude “Ultimately we hope we can reach out to people, in a compassionate way, this is what we aim for with this album."

With his Familiar Five EP, London-based producer Marcus Marr has taken his darkest and most thrillingly outré turn yet. Recorded through the long dark nights in the splendid isolation of his Brixton studio, lead single “Familiar Five” is a tale of bizarre transformation that points up the fragile boundaries between dreams and reality. 

“Familiar Five” feels like an outsider anthem. “It’s about being a freak and accepting it – being happy to be a freak,” notes Marr. He narrates the song with his finest deadpan lip-curl, managing to make the lyrics sound suggestive, malevolent and wildly empowering all at once. “It was sounding quite sinister as I was making it, and I thought a voice would sound good on it,” recalls Marr. “I was reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Kafka’s Metamorphosis as well,” he remembers. Other diverse influences setting the track’s fabulously unnerving tone include Marr’s readings about “familiar spirits” – the occult animals believed to assist medieval witches in their nefarious deeds. 

The other songs featured on the Familiar Five EP include “Love Release,” which taps into the energy and live power of his DJ sets; “High Times,” a track that’s influenced by his love of early 80’s dance music (“I was definitely thinking of Nile Rodgers in 1979, 1980, there... I have a bit of a thing for that period at the beginning of the ‘80s before drum machines took control of dance music.”); and previous single “Rocketship.” 

Marr is no stranger to collaboration, working with Australian musician Chet Faker on 2015’s Work EP. Work yielded two hit singles, “Birthday Card” (Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 first play, #1 Hype Machine) and “The Trouble with Us” (#1 Hype Machine). The Familiar Five EP, however, shows him in his individual element, an artist and performer who understands just how to make superb music for both man and machine. 

A regular at Berlin’s famed nightclub Berghain/Panorama Bar since 2014, Marcus Marr recently toured in North America with The Juan Maclean. He has previously toured with the likes of Hot Chip, Floating Points, Jacques Greene and Optimo, and has performed at the highly-regarded MoMa PS1 Warm Up series, Day For Night Festival, and Art Basel Miami. Marcus has also contributed mixes to Beats in Space and Boiler Room. 

Tracklist:

1) Familiar Five
2) Love Release
3) High Times
4) Rocketship

2x12" EP on heavyweight black vinyl, limited to 300 copies. 

Tracklist:
1) Mixer Shredder (LNS Remix)
2) Neckbone (NHK yx Koyxen Remix)
3) Mixer Shredder (Physical Therapy's Tegel Mix)
4) Neckbone (Cooper Saver Remix)
5) Mixer Shredder (Machine Woman Remix)
6) Neckbone (Machine Woman Remix)
7) Mixer Shredder (Physical Therapy's Gatwick Mix) 

On the Mixbone EP, two tracks from Eric Copeland’s 2017 record Goofballs get reworked by five of leftfield electronic music’s heaviest hitters. The Goofballs LP finds the Black Dice founding member conducting hectic, dancefloor-oriented experiments; The Vinyl Factory called it a “mangled, spangled journey into the fringes of industrial disco and hallucinatory club tackle.”Mixbone capitalizes on this direction with remixes that recontextualize and reshape the propulsive energy of the original songs into wholly different forms.

New York techno powerhouse and Allergy Season boss Physical Therapy contributes two aptly named takes on “Mixer Shredder” – the “Tegel Mix” churns with industrial EBM low-end, and the breakbeat and wubby bassline make the “Gatwick Mix” unmistakably English. NHK yx Koyxen remixes Eric for the second time, with a jittery and woozy electro interpretation of “Neckbone.”Cooper Saver, best known for his Far Away parties in Los Angeles, turns in one of the most unexpected remixes, keeping it 4/4 and creating what sounds like Shep Pettibone making acid house.
 
Coming off of her 2017 EP on Technicolour/Ninja Tune, Machine Woman decided to remix both tracks. With “Neckbone,” she adds a barely-discernible robotic narrative vocal, allegedly about Ryan Gosling. “Mixer Shredder,” on the other hand, travels from hissy lo-fi techno into something quite tranquil and beautiful. And with previous releases on 1080p, Freakout Cult, and Wania, Vancouver’s LNS channels the melodic electro tones of classic Bleep-era Warp, like a lost track from LFO or Drexciya.
 
“Danceable” might not be the first word one thinks of when describing Eric Copeland’s solo releases. But in a manner not dissimilar to the way Black Dice shaped the parameters of experimental music, the remixes here expand the limits of what the club can and should look like.

Tracklist:

1) Projekt 3
2) Pastarella Al Limoncello
3) Si
4) Alles
5) PMS
6) Signum Viridi
7) Myalgia
8) Crocus Vernus
9) Die Dimension
10) Die Dimension (Dub Version) 

Shrouded in mystery, the Hermetica are a series of Egyptian-Greek didactic texts, meant to help the willing student better understand the cosmos, divinity, and nature. On her debut LP for DFA Records, German producer Perel takes the listener into deep space and explains it all. Over the course of nine tracks, she shares a striking amalgamation of house, new wave, and kraut motifs that crystallize to form a unique sound. 

Born in Saxony, Annegret Fiedler ventured into the realm of songwriting at the age of eight, composing her first songs on her grandmother’s piano while listening to Eurythmics and 2 Unlimited cassettes in her spare time. Moving to the East German city of Halle to study in the mid-aughts, she was heavily influenced by the multifaceted alternative music scene there, and the parties people threw in post-Berlin Wall abandoned buildings. Fiedler went on to develop her craft as a formally trained singer, co-producer, and multi-instrumentalist in several bands, covering a broad palette of styles ranging from punk rock to electro pop and honing her performance skills. A move to Berlin (and the city’s club landscape) inspired her to start recording solo productions under the moniker Perel. 
  
The early 80’s sounds of that Eurythmics cassette prove influential on many tracks, where Perel combines her love of dance music with the stark vocal delivery of Annie Lennox. She delivers her lyrics in German, and her arrangements recall the starkness of Cluster, Grauzone, and Conny Plank’s work with Liaisons Dangereuses / DAF - all distinct German voices from the 1980’s. The fact that Conny Plank recorded the first LP by the Eurythmics, In The Garden, brings it all full circle. 

These days, Perel can be found playing DJ sets at internationally acclaimed venues like Berghain / Panorama Bar, De School, ://about blank, and Wilden Renate, while also forging connections with Paris’ Rex Club, Oslo’s Jæger, and Bossa Nova Civic Club in New York. She’s shared bills with Jennifer Cardini, John Talabot, and DJ Harvey, among others, and the record’s lead single “Die Dimension” was one of Dixon’s most played tracks on last year’s festival circuit. A truly captivating performer, she lets the audience’s energy guide her in rooms both big and small. 

Though her debut album is many steps removed from the dancefloor, Perel’s Hermetica purposefully draws the listener to a very different world. As she said regarding “Die Dimension”: “[the track] paraphrases an escape from physical and psychological limits, as well as linear and one dimensional models.” The LP is a focused, sonically adventurous work, where the DJ also happens to play every instrument, write every song and intone words of prophetic wisdom on every track. 

Tracklist:
A1) Love Release (Ara Koufax Remix)
A2) High Times (Gerd Janson Discotheque Remix)
B1) Familiar Five (Justin Van Der Volgen Remix)
B2) Rocketship (Prosumer's Re-Transmission) 

Marcus Marr's 'Familiar Five: Remixed' EP, due digitally on May 18 via DFA Records, features remixes from Justin Van Der Volgen, Prosumer, Gerd Janson and Ara Koufax. In addition to a digital release, the EP will be available via limited edition 12” vinyl. 

“It was fun to ask some of my favourite producers to remix these tracks,” notes Marr. “I love Gerd’s remixes and play them loads. Prosumer is a great producer and I’ve been a fan of his for ages. Justin Van Der Volgen I also love - his originals and his remixes are always interesting. And Ara Koufax I’ve been a fan of since their tune ‘Brenda.’” 

Marr is no stranger to collaboration, working with Australian musician Chet Faker on 2015’s Work EP. Work yielded two hit singles, “Birthday Card” (Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 first play, #1 Hype Machine) and “The Trouble with Us” (#1 Hype Machine). The Familiar Five EP, however, shows him in his individual element, an artist and performer who understands just how to make superb music for both man and machine.

Incredible remixes of LCD Soundsystem, from the album American Dream.

This 12" features the song I Used To, remixed by Dixon.

The B Side is a 13 minute tweaked out space disco odyssey, originally appearing as a pre-American Dream bonus track.

a1) i used to (dixon retouch)
b1)  pulse (v.1)

Incredible remixes of LCD Soundsystem, from the album American Dream.

This 12" features 2 versions of Oh Baby, remixed by Lovefingers.

 **THIS IS A VINYL-ONLY RELEASE** Digital files for this 12" are not available from DFA. 

a1) oh baby (lovefingers remix)
b1) oh baby (lovefingers dub)

Tracklist:
1) Mateo 
2) 321 Contact
3) Electric Mud
4) Heads
5) Build-A-Brain
6) Fresco
7) Hugo

In the first part of a two-volume release, Eric Copeland (Black Dice) delivers Trogg Modal Vol. 1. It has been one year since releasing Goofballs and Eric has doubled down on his unique approach to crafting dance music, pushing a sort of 'Freakbeat 4/4' agenda even further than before. Where Goofballs was the first album recorded in its entirety in Eric’s current home of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and the result of countless hours spent working in the studio, Trogg Modal Vol. 1 is a bit less serious and more carefree, with tracks that are propelled forward by a singular, frenzied energy. 

Chunky percussive layers, hard steady kicks, and tweaked loopy vocals create a playful vibe that is best described as a tropical-industrial hybrid. The final product comes together via seven succinct, self-described “rippers,” music created both deliberately and accidentally, and always with a sense of humor that bubbles over and out through the speakers. With Trogg Modal Vol. 2 out in early 2019, this two-part release pulls into focus a vivid and unfamiliar new direction for Eric Copeland.

TRACKLIST:
1) Every Killer Needs A Friend
2) Here On Earth
3) Make Up
4) Turnaround
5) Walls
6) Take It All Away
7) Long Time Dead
8) Echo Loves Narcissus 
9) Robots

Recorded at the famed Electric Lady Studios in NYC’s Greenwich Village – Electric Lady Sessions is a double album live collection featuring classic LCD Soundsystem songs, three covers, and newer material from the band’s # 1 album from 2018, American Dream. 

This is a heavyweight, 180 gram gatefold 2xLP.  

TRACK LISTING
1. Seconds 
2. american dream 
3. you wanted a hit 
4. get innocuous 
5. call the police 
6. i used to 
7. tonite 
8. home 
9. I Want Your Love 
10. emotional haircut 
11. oh baby 
12. (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang 

Vinyl only release -  no digital download. 

Tracklist:
A – LCD Soundsystem – Throw
AA – Paperclip People – Throw

A newly reissued edition of "Throw" by Paperclip People, accompanied by LCD Soundsystem’s interpretation of the iconic song on the flip. Released originally in 1994, "Throw" is perhaps the best known single from Carl Craig’s long running alias; a joyous distillation of Craig’s house, techno, and disco influences .

In 2010, LCD Soundsystem recorded a studio version of "Throw," after the song became a live staple, a a natural fit for a band that never met a 4/4 lock groove it didn't like. The cover was used a bonus track during This Is Happening.

In 2010, Planet E and DFA Records partnered to release a split 12" version of "Throw." This is a repress of that 12".

TRACKLIST: 

A) Mental Dive (14:57)
B The Lagoon (11:35)

On his DFA debut, German experimental techno producer Edward largely departs from the 4/4 grid he frequents and blurs the focus towards a more slippery, improvisational vibe. Fans of his Desert Sky alias, as well as his work reshaping classic tracks by Harmonia & Eno and Rolf Trostel of Tangerine Dream, will be quite pleased with Underwater Jams. These two new songs unfold at their leisure, going off on whizzing, kosmiche-influenced tangents, all the while guided by the hand drums of percussionist Geronimo Dehler. On A-side “The Lagoon,” the freedom of the long-form composition allows Edward to go deeper and more mesmeric, while the restrained stomp of B-side “Mental Dive” allows for an introspective dance floor moment.

Though he’s been releasing music for the past decade, Edward has always been a bit enigmatic, with a majority of his discography only available on vinyl. He remains as prolific as ever – in the last year alone, Edward has toured all over the world, playing esteemed clubs from Berghain to Fabric, and splitting bills with artists like Ricardo Villalobos and Oskar Offermann. His numerous releases on Giegling, Die Orakel, and White demonstrate his penchant for combining the psychedelic and the locked-in groove, but it’s the sprawling sense of adventure that makes this release one of the more idiosyncratic in Edward’s catalog.

Limited heavyweight vinyl with matte finish jacket and picture sleeve, rainbox gradient center label.