Jacopo Fagioli - Dialogue [Aut Records 128]

Another fresh album released via the Italian Aut Records imprint, this time on November 12th, 2k25, is Jacopo Fagioli's "Dialogue", a seven compositions and roughly 50 minutes strong label debut for the Italian trumpet player who is joined by Davide Strangio, Amedeo Verniani and Mattia Galeotti on guitar, double bass and drums respectively on his sonic journey. Opening on a raw and rather intense trip into Contemporary Avantgarde Jazz with "Avoid Thoughts Of Power And Domination" before traversing into rather deep and thoughtful sonic territories the quartet paves the way for pieces like the yearning "Multicultural Heritage" and its hovering retrofuturist background atmospheres as well as the playful and well classy harmonic trumpet solo works which are the focus of "Greenwashing" which are backed by a rather subdued yet not less complex background groove section once again incorporating rather spaced out guitar modes. The interestingly titled "AAA AAA" comes full circle with a raw, rugged, almost Blues-infused Improv mode whilst staying close to an innate heartfelt melancholia not free from nor afraid of psychedelic and x or oriental desert infusions and the 12+ minutes spanning "Desertification" closes on an intimate and inward-looking tip with its folksy, summery guitar motif, deep low end end rumbles and vaguely tex-mex oriented trumpet harmonies just to provide a brief overview on what's to expect on here for lovers of Contemporary Italian Jazz. If that's you, go check!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Verso - Echoes Of Remembered Things [Aut Records 139]

Released via the ever busy Italian imprint that is Aut Records on November 4th, 2k25 is "Echoes Of Remembered Things", the nine tracks and roughly 42 minutes spanning debut album by Verso - a trio comprised of Marta Frigo, Diego Albini and Francesco Bigoni. Combining saxophones, piano, synths and vocals the group immediately draws the attentive listener in with the touching and emotional, in parts even broadway'esque opening Jazz ballad named "Sunbeam" which paves the way for further things to come like the subsequent "Now I Write", a tune which evokes faint memories of early works of the Hamburg-based group Spherical in the late 90s despite being deeply rooted in and backed by lively, ever spiralling and meandering Jazz excursions and not TripHop / Drum'n'Bass. With "Closure" the group explores a stripped down, rather romantic approach towards late night BarJazz x JazzPop speaking of smoky backrooms, cigars and a hand-picked selection of top tier spirits vibewise, the extended 7+ minutes spanning "Home At Last" once again fully indulges in touching Jazz(Pop) oceans which also is true for the certainly heart-warming closing cut "Mode IV" just to name a few. Certainly, yet surprisingly, one of the most Pop-, or better: song-, leaning releases on the label so far which therefore might resonate with a wider audience than the oftentimes Avantgarde-informed output which makes up the majority of the Aut Records catalogue. One to share with a loved one for sure.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Hugo Blouin - Le Buffet [Ambiances Magnetiques 283]

Another fresh release put out on the circuit via the long-standing Ambiances Magnetiques label on December 5th, 2k25 is "Le Buffet", the latest full length album effort cooked up by Montreal-based bass player x composer Hugo Blouin who has been pulling together a fully flung band ensemble for this ten pieces and 53 minutes spanning longplayer which - according to the accompanying press sheet - deals with culinary food recipes collected from many of his friends conceptually. With this well interesting approach in mind we're entering a realm of eclectic, yet super funky Dancefloor Jazz with the opening piece "Soupe Pragmatique" flanked by frolicking female vocals playfully exploring upper registers for the most part before later evolving into a stripped down, yet not less groove oriented dancefloor vibe somewhat, yet only vaguely, reminiscent of the short-lived late 90s Exotica revival whereas "Apres Tu Manges" offers more of a dreamy and partly even romantic take on a (very) late night BarJazz ballad groove, "Un Art Du Temps" serves some breezy and slightly Latin-infused swing for a change and will surely be a rather welcome edition to the sets of experienced and adventurous Jazz DJs out there with its highly dynamic Improv sequences buidling up to a screaming climax whilst "La Sauce" weighs in a playful, classy, yet still laid back Jazz groove, "Pain-Beure-Chocolat" is as deep as it gets in terms of a classic ballad based on subdued piano sparkles and intimate bass grooves backed by minimalistic percussion and the concluding "Un Carmion Pizza" rounds things off with an infusion of heart-felt melancholia and an undeniably classy - and... well... French... - attitude songwise. One for the genre connaisseurs, this.

Geraldine Eguiluz & Michael F Cote - Hors Temps [Ambiances Magnetiques 284]

Released via the long-standing Canadian label that is Ambiances Magnetiques as their cat.no. 284 on December 5th, 2k25 is "Hors Temps", an - albeit rather unusual - collaborational album effort created by Geraldine Eguiluz and Michael F Cote which is based on a collection of early 90s cassette recordings by Eguiluz newly re-arranged into collages by herself before being further fragmented, enhanced, twisted, overdubbed, complimented and re-splintered by Cote to end up in a final form - this album. With a total of sixteen pieces rolled out over the course of roughly 42 minutes "Hors Temps" caters a highly fascinating and highly complex amalgamation of almost ritualistic Field Recordings with a Tribal attitude ("Territoires Perdus #1"), ethereal Freak Folk backed by eerie reverse tape loops ("La Montana Y El Agua"), glitches, cut-ups and Musique Concrete references, ghostly inner city Jazz ("La Montana Y El Viento"), dark and deeply nocturnal pieces with score'esque qualities like the ominous "Les Grands Departs" with its slightly dusty vintage feel and slightly off-kilter minor piano tones, echoes of Industrial, FoundSound and even bits of a chanson'esque attitude to be found in "Despedida" whereas cuts like "La Montana Dorada" open with a captivating melodic grandeur before defragmenting into a million Free Improv x Free Jazz informed details just to name a few. Highly interesting and defo an album to reveal a plethora of hidden layers over the course of many a listening session to come. And probably one speaking to all those who still remember the 'Ekkehard Ehlers Plays...' -series released via the Staubgold label in the early noughties which catered a similarly intimate and collage'esque overall feel at the time. Recommended.

Bill Brennan & Andy McNeill - Dreaming In Gamelan [self-released album]

Put out on the circuit on October 24th, 2k25 by the respective musicians as a self-released album affair is "Dreaming In Gamelan", the new - obviously... - Gamelan-focused one-off album affair cooked up by Canadian artists and composers Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill. Over the course of ten pieces and a total runtime of approx. 39 minutes the duo takes on and provides a new and personal angle on West Javanese Gamelan music rooted in a shared compositional effort from a quarter of a century ago when the two worked on the score for Carol Moore-Ede's documentary 'Surgeons Of The Future'. Revisiting and reworking these initial recordings with modern techniques, re-editing and re-arranging them whilst adding further electronic treatments and overdubs including contributions on violin by Toronto-based Hugh Marsh reshapes the initial score works into a chiming, hovering and ever floating sonic dreamstate, a somewhat surreal fever dream exploring a realm located in between the overlapping spaces of Ambient X New Age, World Music and the shimmering yet slightly pastel tones of Vaporwave aesthetics as well as digital rabbitholes to be explored on abandoned Tumblr blogs, with cuts like "Morning Beams" touching base with early morning ChillOut dancefloors despite an obvious absence of percussive rhythms whereas the subsequent "Cloud Forest" indulges in solemn, inward-looking minimalism before "Temple" brings forward a slightly meditative vibe backed by additionally layered percussions and "Reverie" rounds things off with a 10+ minutes lasting trip into classic, yet stripped down Ambient / Deep Listening Music territories with a well nocturnal twist just to name a few. A most beautiful album, this. Go check!

Francesco Guerri x Nicola Guazzaloca - Keep Your Hands Free (The Angelica And Mavarta Concerts) [Aut Records 140]

Put out on the circuit via Aut Records on November 18th, 2k25 is "Keep Your Hands Free (The Angelica And Mavarta Concerts)", the latest collaboration album by cello player Francesco Guerri and pianist Nicola Guazzaloca which, and we think that's a first on the label, present excerpts from live shows they played as a duo on January of 2022 and February of 2025 respectively . With the 2k22 recordings of "Angelica I" and "Angelica II" the duo makes a rather dramatic and highly dynamic musical entrance before exploring a realm of surprisingly subtle and spatial minimalism turning into complex and intricate harmonic dialogue on the brink of thundering Free Improv and Avantgarde Jazz whilst certainly not being averse to even reference Modern Classical music in certain sequences. Furthermore this years live pieces "Mavarta I" and "Mavarta II" seem to start not less dramatic, yet more light-heartened and drawn to a certain romanticism expressed through yearning and sustained cello tones and, despite still running the fast lane in terms of sonic events per second, a seemingly more solemn tone followed by a short period of near silence and Free Avantgarde string experimentation placed at the very background of the mix, more hyperdetailed execution with a jazzy twist, whirling, spiralling crescendoes of sound and even - this goes especially for "Mavarta II" - timeless and enchanted vibes which wouldn't feel out of place being used as a score in a dark and mythical Fantasy flic of the future. Defo an album which unravels over time and might reveal many additional layers over the course of many focused listening sessions.

Manga Saint Hilare - Outernational

Manga Saint Hilare · OUTERNATIONAL

Proper Grime vibes are proper. This is a Manga Saint Hilare appreciation post.

A New Line (Related) - Crewe Away EP [Sound In Silence 126]

Put out on the circuit via the ever expanding Athens-based label Sound In Silence as their cat.no. 126 on October 20th, 2k25 is the "Crewe Away EP", the latest musical outing by Andrew Johnson's A New Line (Related) project. With a total of four tracks rolled out over roughly 34 minutes the title track "Crewe Away" caters a well surprising spatial and reverberating take on fever'ish RitualAmbient x TribalAmbient backed by hypnotic and mind-numbing midrange drones, eerie whispers and fascinating harmonic shifts followed by the brooding and fluttering low frequency shifts of "Slow And Through Once" which are accompanied by slightly Jazz-inspired minimal rhythms and what seem to be echoes of echoes of washed out DubTechno remnants. With the subsequent "Save A Window For Me In The Bliss Tomorrow" Mr. Johnson serves another take of sparse, yet rhythmically complex IDM / Electronica whereas the closing cut "Lytham And Sound (Low Light And C Version)" finally enters the dancefloor and waves goodbye on a deep and timeless DubTechno x Armchair Techno tip. A recommended and musically thrilling journey, this. Go get.

Album artwork on Instagram!

baze.djunkiii Chart Haul 12/2k25

Q_e_M - Quality Electronic Music: An Early December 2k25 Discogs Round Up

The journey continues. nitestylez.de head honcho baze.djunkiii has been grinding a bit to get the Q_e_M - Quality Electronic Music on Discogs presence going and it has been a grind indeed. Working through a bunch of mainstream Classical Music albums, Blues, Jazz, Chansons, super cheesy Vintage Soul and other non-electronic albums felt like doing chores at times but on the other hand that specific stack of off topic items needed to be - and has been nearly - cleared to pave the way for things to come. Which is a few boxes holding a three digit number of electronic music and related promo CD's from an abandoned collection we took over as well as roughly a few hundred Library Music CD's which were rescued from the archives of a long time defunct advertisement firm more than a decade ago and remained unchecked until now. And even though the CD format might not be the most valuable and sought after on Discogs right now it feels like a resurgence is imminent, especially with second hand / pre-loved items as more and more bands and artists are pulling away from Spotify and other streaming platforms and a young digital only generation seems to discover that subcription and physical ownership are two entirely different things.

Restocks:

1. Triple R & Walker - Aufraeumen! [XXC3 601]
Another classic rescued from the vaults of the former Liquid Sky Cologne and Liquid Sky Berlin which could be described as a blueprint for timeless analogue Ambient Techno x Armchair Techno. Over the years we've sold way more than 70 unplayed archive copies of this forever favorite through different channels and one of the last remaining now found a new home in Denmark recently. Therefore we listed it again.

Added new and unplayed highlights:

1. Tristwch Y Fenywod - Tristwch Y Fenywod [Night School 096]
One of baze.djunkiii's favorite albums of 2k24 and it still is a mesmerizing, ethereal and outerworldly affair. Welsh RitualFolk meets Industrial and Medieval Batcave, anyone?

2. DJ Heartchore - In Love [Heartchore 001]
baze.djunkiii already praised this release on these pages in January of 2k25 for '... its raw production approach, over the top Gabber x Happy Hardcore fusion vibe, fast tempo, continous Rave stab attacks, twisted synth tones and uplifting, yet hypercheesy vocoder breakdown sequence.' and it still feel like it's 1993 for a reason. R-A-V-E.

Pre-loved and collectible:

1. Tangerine Dream - Destination Berlin (From The Original Motion Picture) [Hansa]
Tangerine Dream and their soundtracks can be a bit of a hit and miss affair but this defo is an entry copy for anyone who's keen to dive into this specific rabbit hole. And it's one of the most affordable copies on Discogs right now.

2. Earth, Wind & Fire - The Very Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire [Arcade Crown]
This came in as a bit of a surprise. At least we considered Earth, Wind & Fire to be a rather mainstream band, 'Best of...' compilation albums to be less desirable and Arcade / Arcade Crown to have been a quasi-major / mainstream label at the time so we assume there must've been thousands of copies of this specific album around at some point - even if it's a Dutch pressing. So why on earth quite a bunch of these things sold for north of the 25€ mark is a mystery to us. That's why we've priced our copy at the low and more reasonable end of the spectrum. Go grab it.

Find Q_e_M - Quality Electronic Music on Discogs!

Tell No Lies - Mantica [Aut Records 137]

Put out on the circuit via Aut Records on October 29th, 2k25 is "Mantica", the latest album outing by the Italian five piece ensemble Tell No Lies which has been operating under this name for more than a decade by now. Still led by composer x piano player Nicola Guazzaloca the quintet serves a menu of eight brand new tracks on this body of work, this time rolled out over a total of roughly 47 minutes. With influences of African Jazz cited in the accompanying info sheet we're entering a rather deep, yet somewhat nervous and highly detailed sonic realm in the intro sequence of "Chipirone" which later u-turns into hot vintage Jazz grooves with a surely tropical touch which still remains evident within the pieces more improvisational and Free Jazz-infused sequences. The subsequent "Scoulta" follows the path laid out and evolves from a seductive uptempo groove into utter high speed FreeJazz madness for the most Avantgarde savvy listeners out there whereas the intricate "Diva" is rather subdued, minimalist and in parts surprisingly romantic and restrained with an emphasis on an innate emotional warmth and comfort whilst "Impro" sonically is as close to its title as it gets even though the attentive listener might discover some tongue-in-cheek moments and even brief Jazz Noir references in there before the closing cut that is "Zavata", once again a rather complex and detailed affair, brings forth more defragmented grooves and intricate harmonic dialogue just to name a few. File under: Avantgarde.

Album artwork on Instagram!

XOTOX - I AM NOMAD [Infacted Recordings Promo]

After we've already posted the official music video for XOTOX' November 21st, 2k25 released digital single "I Am Nomad" we now received a promotional CD-r version of Andreas Davids' latest outing on Infacted Recordings. Opening with the so-called 'Club Version' of "I Am Nomad" XOTOX delivers a raw, futuristic and most certainly (post)apocalyptic fusion of raw Industrial, Rhythmic Noize and Industrial Techno driven by highly distorted synth power and a menacing vocal sample before the 'Remix 01 by MS Gentur' serves densely layered hyperbrutalism for late night Industrial Noize floors lit by relentless strobes, yet lacks a little in terms of grooves and peak time power. With the second original track on this single named "Danse Des Atomes" we're in for a treat in terms of a muscular ElectroTechno x EBM x WonkyTechno fusion which puts the entire Brighton posse in its place whilst the second remix outing by MS Gentur presents a way more functional and interesting re-interpretation, declaring full on sonic war on each- and everyone within its vicinity for a reason whereas the final "I Am Nomad *Instrumental" adds a thing of adventurous HardTechno / Industrial DJs out there. Destructive power galore.

CD-r promo on Instagram!