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Veteran Swedish Techno artist Joel Mull revisits one of his earliest aliases as Damm for an album of after-hours inspired morning portraits on A Strangely Isolated Place.

Simple observations can set many complex ideas in motion and it was the view from Joel’s window that pushed him to create an album inspired by majestic cloud formations and Mother Nature's finest hour. 'Nautical dawn' occurs when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon, where the colors, clouds, sounds and atmosphere become an ever-changing spectacle. This phenomenon is reflected through the albums eleven shifting styles and moods; from field recordings and introspective synthesizer melodies, to more upbeat, glittering electronica and head-nod inducing ambient techno.

Ten years in the making, the album’s variety and depth developed alongside Joel’s impromptu production sessions - be it at home in the early hours, or further window-watching on trains across Europe. What evolved as sketches in a variety of styles, soon started to form a narrative similar to his infamous DJ sets; moving seamlessly through chapters, feelings and colors, capturing Joel’s passion for all aspects of electronic music. This is a soundtrack for friends watching the sun rise once more, first thing in the morning, or last thing at night.

Nautical Dawn will be available on Gatefold 2LP Transparent Deep Orange Vinyl and Digital download.
Credits
All tracks written and produced by Joel Mull
Mastered by & Lacquer cut by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich @ LOOP-O Mastering, Berlin
Artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding
Cat:ASIPV025
Note, C1/C2 are swapped between digital and vinyl versions

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All music composed, performed & produced by Jonathan Fitoussi.

Front cover : Victor Vasarely - Constellations (1967).
© succession Vasarely / Fondation Vasarely / © Adagp, Paris.

All tracks recorded at Studio Prismes - Paris, by Jonathan Fitoussi
except the "Totale Eclipse"'s Piano & Cristal Baschet recorded by Tibo Javoy at Xavier Veilhan's "Studio Venezia" during the 2017 Venice Biennale.

Mixed by J. Fitoussi at Studio Prismes.
Mastered by Benjamin Joubert, Paris.

Liner notes by Joseph Ghosn.
Translation : Michel Wisniewski.
Designed by JP Talaga.

CREDITS:
All instruments performed by Jonathan Fitoussi,
using mainly 4 synthesizers (buchla, synthi, moog, pro-one) and Cristal Baschet.

Oceans : ems synthi aks / electric organ / electric guitar / cristal baschet
Rayons Solaires : pro-one
Continent Blanc : buchla + moog / electric organ / electric guitar
Dunes : buchla + moog / electric organ / cristal baschet / electric guitar
Soleil de Minuit : electric organ / buchla modular / electric bass
Vents Magnétiques : ems synthi aks / buchla modular / pro-one / minimoog
Amazonie : buchla modular / instrumentarium baschet
Corolles : ems synthi aks / buchla modular / pro-one / minimoog / electric organ
Totale Eclipse : ems synthi aks / cristal baschet / piano

Transversales Disques is associated with Reforest'Action to plant 100 Trees in France with the sales from this record.

℗ & © Jonathan Fitoussi, 2020.
Obliques Series / Transversales Disques, 2020.

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Wayfinding is Christopher Bissonnette’s sixth solo studio release and his first, of hopefully many, for 12k. The album embodies an evolution of Bissonnette’s work, moving from an exclusively synth-based series of explorations to an amalgam of electronics and acoustic methods. Each track seeks to find grandeur on a diminutive scale. Bissonnette’s focus has shifted from sweeping pastoral drones to introspective passages with delicate melody and elusive harmonies interlaced with studio and field recordings. This minute scale is also reflected in a photographic series that studies the domestic landscape of home. The sequence of images transforms the banality and insignificance of the familial interior into expansive vistas and bucolic panoramas. Wayfinding is Bissonnette’s most intimate and gauzy work to date and executed with beautiful restraint.

Album CreditsAll tracks recorded and produced by Christopher Bissonnette
Mastered by Taylor Deupree
Photography by Christopher Bissonnette

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For the Danish singer, producer, composer and DJ Astrid Engberg, Tulpa encapsulates the head injury from Astrid’s young adulthood, that still defines her everyday life over a decade later: ”I might never be without this pain, but it doesn’t stop me from living and experiencing life. Because life is too extremely valuable to let go.”

Interplaying between contemporary soul, classical, electronic music, jazz improvisation and her hiphop roots, Astrid sketches sonic landscapes that are both steeped in her Scandinavian roots and infused with the kaleidoscopic hues of her many travels.

Drawing inspiration in equal parts from nature, everyday life, people, images and sounds, her enchanting voice expresses both a sincere sensitivity and deep strength.

Daylight is the simple tale of seeing the light in the dark – as darkness quickly encompasses oneself, if the world moves too rapidly around you. On Phoenix Astrid conveys the indescribable connection with the outside world after years of being bedridden with chronic ache: <Yesterday I was born again. How do I explain it to someone who doesn’t know pain? The sounds, the colours, the silence...>

Credits
Arranged By, Composed By, Written By, Programmed By, Vocals, Piano, Drums, Percussion, Keyboards – Astrid Engberg

Backing Vocals, Percussion – Berrin Bas (tracks: B2)
Bass – Brian Massaka (tracks: A1)
Cello – Nicole Hogstrand (tracks: A3, B4, B5)
Choir – Musikefterskolen i Humble’s kor 18/19 (tracks: B5), Sølvgade Skoles Børnekor (tracks: B5)
Composed By – Billy Strayhorn (tracks: B2)
Conductor – Aleksandra Aia (tracks: B5), Trine Lund Sørensen (tracks: B5)
Congas – Anders Bo Eriksen (tracks: B1)
Drums – Jonathan Jull Ludvigsen (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B2, B3,)
Guitar – Anders Bo Eriksen (tracks: B2)
Keyboards – Jonas Cook (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B2 )
Saxophone – Sven Meinild (tracks: A2, B1, B3)
Trombone – Lis Wessberg (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B3)
Trumpet – Maj Berit Guassora (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B3), Tobias Wiklund (tracks: B2)
Tuba – Anders Bo Eriksen (tracks: A2, A3, B1, B3, B5)
Violin – Bettina Marie Ezaki (tracks: A3, B4, B5), Samuel Lundström (tracks: B2)
Vocals – Carla Schack (tracks: B4), Ezra Bruno (tracks: B4)

A&R – Daniel Bruhn Jensen
Layout – Torsten Lindsø Andersen
Mastered By – Kasablanka Mastering
Mixed By – Blanka (2) (tracks: A2, B2, B4, B5)
Mixed By - Mathieu Gibert (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B1, B2, B3)
Photography – Kia Hartelius

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When Mildlife’s debut album, Phase, was released in 2018 it didn’t so much explode on to the scene as ooze. Their mellifluous mix of jazz, krautrock and, perhaps more pertinently, demon grooves, was the word of mouth sensation of that year among open-minded DJs and diggers searching for the perfect beat.

Their emergence was backed up by European tours that demonstrated a riotously loose-limbed approach to performance that was every bit as thrilling as Phase’s tantalising promise. What was more impressive was how lightly they wore influences that took in Can, Patrick Adams and Jan Hammer Group, while primarily sounding precisely like Mildlife.

By the end of 2018 they’d been nominees for Best Album at the Worldwide FM Awards (Worldwide’s Gilles Peterson was a notable champion) and won Best Electronic Act at The Age Music Victoria Awards back home in Melbourne. Their progress post-Phase was cemented with a UK deal with Jeff Barrett’s Heavenly, who released How Long Does It Take? replete with Cosmic doyen Baldelli and Dionigi remixes, while last year they were officially anointed by DJ Harvey when he included The Magnificent Moon on his Pikes compilation Mercury Rising Vol II.

With Automatic, the band have made a step-change from their debut. It’s more disciplined, directional and arguably more danceable. As on Phase, they are unafraid to let a track luxuriate in length without ever succumbing to self-indulgence. The arrangements, tightly structured thanks to Tom Shanahan (bass) and Jim Rindfleish’s fatback drumming, permit space for the others to add spice to the stew, topped off with Kevin McDowell’s ethereal vocals as Mildlife effortlessly glide between live performance and studio songwriting. “The recorded songs kind of become the new reference point for playing the songs live,’ says Kevin. “They both have different outcomes and we make our decisions for each based on that, but they’re symbiotic and they both influence each other. It’s usually a fairly natural flow from live to recorded back to live.”


The centrepiece of Automatic is the title track where the band sound like Kraftwerk and Herbie Hancock on quarantined lockdown in Bob Moog’s Trumansburg workshop. It’s both a departure and quintessentially Mildlife. This is music you can dance to rather than ‘dance music’ and it’s all the better for it. 

  Credits
Mildlife are Adam Halliwell, Kevin McDowell, Jim Rindfleish and Tomas Shanahan. All songs written, recorded and produced by Mildlife.
Rare Air & Memory Palace written by Mildlife with James Donald. Additional percussion by Craig Shanahan. Mixing by Steve Schram, Mastering by Joseph Carra. Artwork by Confetti Studio., Photography by Tom Ross.

Equipment Used:
Gibson ES-345, Squire Bass VI, Martin D12-20, Roland GR-500, Korg X911, Yamaha Flute, Korg VC-10, Roland VO-1, Roland VP-03, Greco Electric Bass, Hagstrom Swede Bass, Roland Jupiter-6, Roland Juno-60, Roland SH-2, Studio Electronics Boomstar SEM, Moog Prodigy, Sequential Prophet X, Roland SE-02, Rhodes 73 MKI Satellite, Eventide H9, Slingerland Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Rogers and Ludwig Snares.