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Sonico

ORANGE MILK RECORDS: ... Annulus is Ryu Yoshizawa’s third release on Orange Milk as Koeosaeme. His 2019 LP Obanikeshi was a barrage of high resolution abstract compositions, and Annulus picks up from there, refining the style and adding an extra layer of inspiration from the Southeast Asian folk music of Burma, Thailand, China, etc. He inserts music concrete with silky repetition, making you feel as if you are walking through parts of Asia, contemplating experimental music. Annulus is peaceful, melodic, atonal, and flows together as one big piece. Part 1 of the record is concrete music, and Part 2 is described as abstract music. It is distinctly Japanese despite other western influences like Steve Reich and Jon Hassell; music meant for a documentary that will be made in the distant future. Annulus features collaborations with Hidekazu Sakamoto, Seth Graham, and LXV.Koeosaeme is Ryu Yoshizawa. From 2004, he has been a member of the sound artists group “OFFICE INTENZIO” under Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Yukihiro Takahashi. In addition, he is in charge of live event backup support and recordings for Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yukihiro Takahashi, Kyoka and many others. He also produces music commercially for Lotte and Square Enix.

hellosQuare: ...Pushing further than his initial beat scene influences with a sharp focus on strong songwriting, LP's marriage of punchy edits and sonic detail weave the analog melodies and sampled sounds around the structures to create a beautifully textured production.Conceived and recorded in various spaces around Canberra before being brought to life by guitar'n'glitch musician Reuben Ingall, LP also features the saxophone sounds of free improvisor Andrew Fedorovitch (Splinter Orchestra) while label boss Shoeb Ahmad provides vinyl textures and additional production across the record.

BUNKER sideMesa of the Lost Women was Yves Botz (guitar, vox), Christophe Sorro (drums, effects), with Thierry Delles (perc.)Live at the Bunker (Metz) / 1st of july 2005from a video by Guillaume Mariettamastered by Julien LouvetCAVEAU sideMesa of the Lost Women was Yves Botz (guitar, vox), Christophe Sorro (drums, effects), with Junko (voice)Live at Caveau des Trinitaires (Metz) / 30th of october 2007from a video by Alexandra Gérardmastered by Kevin Le Quellec

smilingc: ...Aset was a feminine goddess of ancient Egypt. She had the magical prowess to cure the sick and bring her husband back from the dead. Over 5,000 years later, a collective of individuals deeply involved in community improvement initiatives and the struggle for justice and equality would gather in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to form a social movement of their own. They named themselves after Aset, the ‘Goddess Of The Immortals’, and their power was diffused through song. They had a unique approach as a record label to incorporate local D.C. youth and give them a space to develop their musical talents.This compilation explores the back-catalog of Aset, anthologizing three distinct projects that they were focusing on from 1986-1988. Aset’s first release was a debut album from Latonya, the niece of one of the Aset members. She was eleven at the time of recording and sang about divorce, dancing, and love. She was set to be the poster child of Aset with a follow-up LP planned, but ultimately, the recording process became too demanding for Latonya and her parents. Moving forward, Aset split their creative energy into two follow-up groups, Treo & Whax. Treo was a trio of high school gals in harmony singing about relationships. Their song ‘Demands Decrease Desire’ discusses the strain we put on our significant others that pushes them away, and the group touched on a romantic-electro sound through their two releases. Whax was Aset’s male counterpart to Treo, they were meant to represent the sillier side of Aset. The group was led by two high school boys who recorded a lone 7” called “Can I Take You Home?”, and we were fortunate to receive an unreleased extended mix of this song that adds a dubby delayed breakdown.Far from commercial, “A Totally New Sound” is a collection of the songs from these three acts that demonstrate how Aset crafted an electro-soul sound that is absolutely their own. All the projects were guided and produced by the label director, Mba Mbulu. He maintains Aset to this day as an online university, one of the first-ever free internet colleges. Mba continues the spirit of Aset as a political writer.Album remastered and restored as a single LP pressed at 33rpm. It comes with a Smiling C logo sticker, and an inner sleeve displaying Aset archival material, and an interview with Mba Mbulu.