Rhythm & Sound
No Partial

Editions Mego: ...is proud to present the latest addition to the compelling discography of Thomas Brinkmann. Throughout his career Brinkmann has focussed on the human operating amongst industry alongside rhythms that manifest as a result of technological advancement. With this new release Brinkmann makes a u-turn, looking back to the early industrial age. Comprised of recordings of various looms, Raupenbahn investigates the sonic properties and consequences of the first automatic loom as constructed by Jacques de Vaucanson in 1745. Thomas Brinkmann once again adheres to his tendency for clarity and simplicity whilst further investigating not only the sound and rhythms of the machines (looms) but also what role they serve in society and what consequences they have on the environment. Raupenbahn presents 21 tracks in total, 11 feature on the vinyl, the remaining 10 as digital bonus tracks. The majority of recordings were undertaken by Brinkmann in 2017 with a Neumann KM 184 stereo set. Additional recordings were sourced with permission from Monika W. recs. from 2014 Central Museum of Textiles Łódź, Poland. Each piece presents a diversity of material which borders on the breathtaking and beautiful in richness and complexity. The various looms unravel rhythms and patterns unexpected from machines of the early industrial age.

Martin O'Cuthbert: 'B.E.M.S' (Esoteric Records):..."Seriously, when I played this record, an object on the wall started to vibrate very quickly, and I have witnesses to prove it. Martin O'Cuthbert is either a very evil person (just listen to the record) or a total fool (just listen to the record). Probably be big in Japan, and at a guess I'd say the whole thing comes off a Yamaha organ cos no synthesizer could sound that bad, could it?" (John Lydon, New Musical Express, July 22, 1978)

boomkat: ...As the artist acknowledges, “there’s a lot of serendipity involved in wrestling grooves out of these awkward machines”, and that’s where a lot of the chewy charm to ‘Pink Nothing’ stems from. Working with his re-imagined version of Daphne Oram’s uncompleted “Mini Oramics” machine - a slightly less unwieldy version of her drawing/light-to-sound interface for music making - which he finished in 2016, Tom harnesses its bleeps and whistles to palpitating bass drums owing to modern dance music, dreaming of what Daphne might have come up with if, as rumours imply, she really was at the first Shoom party.

Bokeh Versions: ...And we used to be such a nice record label .... BKV 026 swells up from the Bristol swamp in the forms of post-human industrial duo Bad Tracking. Here they have assembled variously, one spacious black metal intro (with original screams), an industrial-pop earworm not unlike Depeche Mode imploding in a feedback tunnel, two itch-tek dancefloor riddims namecheking local venue bans and I just don’t know what to call ‘Wellspring’ really, the end of days? Well you had it coming anyway…..