SEALED

Music From Memory’s latest release sees the reissue of G.B. Beckers' 'Walkman' album from 1982.A painter and musician from Aachen, Germany, Günther Beckers created his third album ’Walkman' to coincide with an exhibition of his latest body of artwork in 1982. Released on his very own 'Milky Music' label with a run of just 500 copies and original pieces of artwork included with some copies, most copies of the album however remained amongst art collectors and with the painter himself. Rediscovered a few years ago through a friend of Music From Memory in the archives of a local radio station where all but one of the stations copies had been destroyed, it has been an album the label have been in love with since the first listen.Touring as a guitarist with ECM affiliated Jazz musicians such as Alex De Grassi, William Ackerman, Ralph Towner & Larry Coryell to name but a few, Günther Beckers also would record on a number of releases of Klaus Schulze’s cult electronic music label ‘Innovative Communication’.Always exploring new ideas and the possibilities of technology within his music, Günther would record the ‘Walkman’ album utilising the ‘Kunstkopf’ technique of sound recording. Kunstkopf or ‘Dummy Head’ recording is a 3D audio recording technology that enables listeners to define each source of sound as if they were in the original recording situation itself. Using two microphones which are usually mounted in the ears of a mannequin (giving it the ‘Dummy Head’ name in English) the technique exploits certain basic principles of human spatial hearing.Listeners to ‘Kunstkopf’ recordings are in fact encouraged to listen to such recordings on headphones, as the 3D perception is often greatly diminished on speakers. With the title ‘Walkman’ G.B. Beckers was very much hoping the album would be enjoyed on headphones, even portably through a Walkman. Minimalist variations around an acoustic guitar, guitar synth, rhythm box and with wordless female vocals, G.B. Beckers' 'Walkman' drifts in and out of moods; it is a unique and at times hauntingly beautiful album, which the Kunstkopf recording technique further adds to the albums at times often otherworldly feeling.

Originally pressed on a now very hard to find 7", this gem crosses over the dub with disco with the rock and the wave. More Talking Dreads than Heads. Dug out for MFM by Satoshi Yamamura. Comes with original Dub mix and new remixes.

Afrobeat legend Tony Allen here in a unusual collab with Techno king Jeff Mills..Lock yourself into the beat, but don’t become prisoner to it. The techno pioneer Jeff Mills understands that only too well. In his quest to liberate himself from the tyranny of the sequencer, Mills couldn’t wish for a better partner than the father of Afrobeat.The pair first shared a stage in December 2016, at the New Morning in Paris. Their live shows have become a rhythm summit without equal, a chance to witness two of the world’s most innovative beat-makers, supplemented by the Moogs and synths of Jean-Philippe Dary, fusing past and future into an intense, seamless present where digital and analogue, jazz and electro, Africa and America, the source and the delta, become one.In some ways Allen and Mills have already fashioned their own sovereign self-designed state, one where improvisation, creativity and instinct reign. It’s rooted in Africa, yes, but like the music of Art Blakey, it goes beyond Africa, beyond America, beyond the force-fields of history and the structures of technology. That’s all the excitement - to get on board with two of the world greatest living masters of rhythm, set the controls for the heart of their spinning world, and boldly go into the unknown.

French producer LB aka Labat returns with a new LP named “Fake Memories” on his own label Alélah Records.He surprises us with some more Hip-Hop and R’n’B music, liberating his love for jazz rythms and harmonics.Known for his talent at playing with samples, this new LP expresses his actual potential, offering a large use of instrumental stuff : violin and piano chords, guitar riffs… Together with delicate voices that balance with the old school drums and procure gentleness to the sharp hats. The B3 eponymous track even discloses the man’s voice, with lyrics sang by himself.Vocalist Josephin Bovien from Copenhagen also appears on the B6 track “5 minutes of love”, C. Rou, from the same town, on the B1 “Nothing new”, and Bruno Patchworks on the A9 “Deep in your…“.The sweet nostalgia for the 80’s and 90’s sounds of this LP will leave you with sweet sticky green in the hands.

28 page booklet featuring in-depth interviews with musicians and producers plus previously unpublished photos from the archive of photographer Bill Akwa Bétotè as well as interviews with producers Cyriaque Bassoka and Rigo Makengo, musicians Michel Alibo, Denis Hekimian & John Johngos and Studio Caroline owner Jacky Reggan.

Killer compilation that sheds light on oddball tunes made in Australia and New Zealand during the 70's and 80's..For musicians inhabiting the Antipodean countries of Australia and New Zealand during the 70’s and 80’s, it was a geographically and culturally isolating environment. Boutique shops, community radio and mail order exchanges championed independent and contemporary music from across the globe. It was, however, this isolation that caused a number of small community-focused scenes to evolve, creating their own unique interpretation and reappropriation of outside influences. Through both these scenes and government initiatives, a vast amount of music emerged on self-released and independent labels.Yet, even among small scenes that were creating unique sounds, a number of artists seemed to be making music that was neither here nor there, often meshing together numerous genres and influences to create anomalous sounds. Artists like Olev Muska along with Ingrid Slamer meshed traditional folk songs of their Estonian heritage with cutting edge computer technology. Ngahiwi Apanui used his native language of Te Reo and a “cheap drum machine” to create a pulsating tale that highlights the creation of Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand); while the Free Radicals would sing through PVC pipes to construct their vision of post-apocalyptic tribal music. Sydney’s Nic Lyon used his classical training to craft a distinctive gem which matched eastern and African influenced instruments with synchopated drum machines, while artists like Delaney Venn and Toy Division managed to challenge their post-punk sensibilities by blending both dub and atmospheric sounds respectively.Compiled by: Chris Bonato and Umut Turkeri