Limbo extends his ouvre of layered, pitched, and all-out fucked sounds toward an easier place, a more familiar musical terrain. More fleshed out than his earlier work, Limbo’s six parts give it a capacious feel of action. Well organized and having an undeniable rhythm, the album is an excellent progression from the concepts explored within throughout his body of work.
“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:
Waiting
Too Little Too Late
Glimpse Of Hope
Please Stay
Drip, Drip
Let Go
Echo
Jealousy
A Sudden Sickness
black vinyl edition and CD feature a full color art inner sleeve.
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.
The elusive Crooked Man returns to DFA with Crooked House, a maximalist take on electronic and house music that picks up where 2016’s self-titled LP left off. Teaming up again with Michael Somerset Ward (Clock DVA) and David Lewin (Bleep & Booster) in the studio, Richard Barratt crafts a comprehensive journey of hi-fi house belters with more sinister electro-pop mixed in for good measure. The LP is influenced by two historic epicenters of electronic music: Sheffield, UK, where Richard has had an illustrious career in a mix of legendary groups like Funky Worm, Sweet Exorcist, and The All Seeing I; and the NYC Loft-era disco sound, where extended grooves were layered with peak-time choruses.
Richard’s diverse collaborations and intensely prolific discography have now led him to records as lush and sophisticated as Crooked House. Considering the rarity of a live Crooked Man performance or DJ set, it’s a testament to his hyper-creativity that these tracks are able to reach new heights in a club setting. With support from disco historian Bill Brewster and NTS resident Ross Allen (not to mention “Echo Loves Narcissus” being named #1 single of the year by Piccadilly Records in 2017, before it was even properly released), it’s clear that Crooked House brings a timeless vitality to the current landscape of dance music, and continues an exciting new chapter in Crooked Man’s career.
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
PRE-ORDER - Heavyweight Double Vinyl LP and CD releases October 19, 2018
