Acid Arab joins Crammed Discs
Crammed Discs are thrilled to announce the signing of mighty Parisian electronic music crew ACID ARAB
ACID ARAB's intoxicating blend of sharp Western electronic music with Eastern sounds & vocals has been putting European festival and club audiences under a spell for the last couple of years.
After releasing several EPs on excellent electronic music label Versatile, ACID ARAB are now preparing their debut album, due for release on Crammed in October. Meanwhile, the band will be performing at Sonar (ES), Melt (DE), Villette Sonique (FR), Nuits Botanique (BE). The first dates of their spring/summer tour are here
Amatorski release "Hear Me"
A new video and single incl. Julia Holter remixWith their moving, elegant and melancholic pop songs set in captivating, beautifully-crafted soundscapes, their two albums to date (tbc and from clay to figures) have gained them a strong international following, which has significantly increased with the airing of the BBC/STARZ drama series The Missing, for which the band wrote the theme music.
The single contains two versions of Hear Me, the original as well as a beautiful, eerie remix by Julia Holter. The versatile Californian songstress has done a handful of remixes in the past, this one seems to be the first since the recent release of her acclaimed album Have You In My Wilderness.
Hear Me is coming out as a limited-edition 7" vinyl and on digital.
A second 7” will be released for Record Store Day, in Belgium and The Netherlands only. It's a split record, containing Walking With A Passer-by #1, a beautiful spoken-word-and-electronica piece crafted by Amatorski front person Inne Eysermans and renowned Flemish novelist Saskia de Coster. The B-side is a remix of Hear Me by electronic music producer Hiele.
Inne Eysermans and Saskia de Coster will be performing showcases on Record Store Day at Vynilla (Ghent) and Coffee & Vinyl (Antwerp).
New album by the one and only LULA PENA
A rare release by the reclusive Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and poet.With only 2 albums released since 1998, Lula Pena has achieved a rare feat: gathering a stream of devoted followers worldwide, a kind of international secret society whose ranks grow with each of her too rare appearances.
Lula Pena follows her own rules, not only in her career but in her very music. Her voice is haunting and moving, her guitar style unique, her approach deeply emotional yet also conceptual. She has a quasi-shamanic way of becoming one with her instrument when performing these long, rambling pieces, during which wood, string, words, human body, breath and voice all merge into a single, supernatural, fabulous beast.
Lula Pena's music is a living organism. Her inspired lyrics effortlessly shift between several languages as she sails on a strange ocean, bordered by continents called folk blues, flamenco, French chanson, phado (that's how she likes to spell it), bossa nova and others, grazing them all and leaving none intact.
"Konono meets Batida"
Crammed Discs are happy to announce the new album by Konono n°1 !
“Konono meets Batida”, the legendary Congolese band’s new album, was recorded in Lisbon in collaboration with acclaimed Angolan/Portuguese artist Batida and jointly produced with Vincent Kenis (the producer of all the band’s albums).
The album is due for release in March 2016.
TUXEDOMOON VINYL EXTRAVAGANZA!!!
To celebrate the band's 38th anniversary, here's is an elaborate, luxurious, bountiful, 10-vinyl artefact. Out Nov.13, pre-order now!
It contains the band's main 9 studio albums (three of which have never appeared on vinyl before), and an album entirely consisting of previously-unreleased tracks, entitled "Appendix".
Plus a 28-page 12"-sized book with original notes by the band members -who reminisce about the recording of these albums- as well all the lyrics & credits, a full colour poster and a single code for downloading the content of the ten albums: "Half-Mute", "Desire", "Holy Wars", "Ship of Fools", "You", "The Ghost Sonata", "Cabin In The Sky", "Bardo Hotel Soundtrack", "Vapour Trails" and "Appendix".
Only the first 300 copies are numbered (and available on pre-order from Crammed's online store).
In the spring of 2016, Tuxedomoon will revisit their debut album "Half-Mute" and perform it on a series of exclusive shows around Europe, stay tuned for more info.
New album, new video and new tour for Maia Vidal !
Last episode in Maïa's mini-series of romantic videos out now, new album out on Sept 25"Islands of You and Me", the last episode in Maïa's mini-series of romantic videos, was premiered on French website mademoiZelle.com last Monday.
Just like the first two episodes, "Bones" and "The Tide", this one was also written and co-directed by Maïa Vidal.
Here is Maïa Vidal about the "Islands of You and Me" video:
There's a thick inevitability to falling in love, it's a psychotropic drug slipped secretly while you slept. The synesthesia is overwhelming, every sense twisted and in bloom, you feel like no one else exists in the Universe, that the two of you are an island all to yourselves. A girl can lose herself in those silly kid daydreams, but she'll wake to find she's a woman, drunk on hormones and the last heady days of Summer, spinning out into an ever wilder irreality. Because in that moment between waking and sleep, your childhood games, romantic fantasies, and hidden yearnings are all allowed to dance to the same beat. And the beat is a technicolor sugar rush of nostalgia and desire, swaying dangerously close to that inevitable sexual awakening. And the last thing you want is to wake up.
Wow, Wow, Wow!
"You're the Waves", the new album, is coming out on September 25th, and Maïa Vidal will be on tour shortly after that, appearaing a.o. at the MaMA Festival in Paris on October 16th (at Les Trois Baudets), and at Botanique in Brussels on November 10th!
Crammed's Autumn Releases Announced!
"Blue Velvet Revisited" (Tuxedomoon/Cult With No Name), Maïa Vidal album, Amatorski single, Tuxedomoon 10-LP vinyl box, vinyl reissues of Aksak Maboul, Honeymoon Killers
Tuxedomoon/Cult With No Name: "Blue Velvet Revisited"
This new release in our Made To Measure composers' series is the soundtrack written and recorded in 2015 by Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name for the eponymous film by Peter Braatz, which was shot in 1985 on the set of David Lynch's great classic and will be coming out to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film.
Amatorski: "Hear Me"
A mesmerizing new single, which heralds a new phase in the band's journey. Vocalist & composer Inne Eysermans found this inspiration for this dreamy, soulful song in… a strange, quasi-Lynchian dream she made. The single will also contain a remix by a very exciting artist, more news to come.
Maia Vidal: "You're The Waves"
The French-American singer/songwriter returns with a 3rd album which overflows with her trademark, soaring melodies. "You're The Waves" is her most accomplished album to date, an electronic pop opus brilliantly produced by Maïa herself, co-produced by Giuliano Cobelli, and mixed by Van Rivers (Glasser, Fever Ray, Matthew Dear).
A unique, sensual and fresh album, "a real breakthrough", according to VICE US
The Tuxedomoon Vinyl Box will be an elaborate, luxurious, bountiful artefact, containing the band's main 9 albums (see list below), an album ("Appendix") entirely consisting of previously-unreleased tracks, a 28-page 12"-sized book with notes by the band members (who reminisce about the recording of these albums) plus all the lyrics & credits, and a single code for downloading the content of the 10 albums. The first 300 copies will be numbered. Available on pre-order from the Crammed store from end August. Included: "Half-Mute", "Desire", "Holy Wars", "Ship of Fools", "You", "The Ghost Sonata", Cabin In The Sky", "Bardo Hotel Soundtrack", "Vapour Trails" and "Appendix"
Aksak Maboul: "Onze danses pour combattre la migraine" (vinyl reissue).
By popular demand, here's the vinyl reissue of the seminal album, recorded in 1977 by Crammed founder Marc Hollander with Congotronics producer Vincent Kenis. Audience interest in the music of Aksak Maboul has been constant over the years, and has significantly increased since last year's successful release of the band's "lost" avant-pop opus, "Ex-Futur Album". "Onze danses" is reissued with its original 1977 artwork. It contains a double insert with texts and pictures, as well as a digital download code for the album plus three bonus tracks.
The Honeymoon Killers "Les tueurs de la lune de miel" (vinyl reissue)
This much sought-after album created quite a sensation in the early '80s, and got the band to become the darlings of the UK music press whilst appearing on mainstream pop shows on French TV. Fronted by the late Yvon Vromman, The Honeymoon Killers were a provocative band with a strong pop sensibility, and their delirious live shows gained them a following across Europe. The band included vocalist Véronique Vincent, Marc Hollander, Vincent Kenis, Gerald Fenerberg, and Jeanf Jones Jacob III. The album will contain an insert with texts and pictures, as well as a digital download code for the album plus 9 bonus tracks.
KASAI ALLSTARS on a rare European festival tour, summer 2015
Kinshasa DRC's wildest band, the mythical KASAI ALLSTARS collective, are playing a 9-date festival tour in Europe in June/July 2015, including appearances at Glastonbury and Roskilde.They last visited Europe in 2011 as part of the Congotronics vs Rockers supergroup (with Konono No.1, Deerhoof, Juana Molina et al), in which they played a central role and made a big impression.
This time, they'll be performing with a 12-piece line-up (including electric bass and a drummer), adding a rockier foundation to their mesmerizing Congolese trance music.
Revered by avant-indie rock, electronic & hip hop musicians* & aficionados worldwide, Kasai Allstars blend traditional instruments, electrified thumb pianos and electric guitars, exhilarating vocals, mindblowing polyrhythmics and spectacular dancing, drawn from ritual music which used to be be played in the bush, before being banned decades ago.
Their latest album, "Beware The Fetish" (Congotronics/Crammed) featured among the 'best of 2014' lists in magazines such as Mojo, Q, Uncut & more
Be sure to catch their raw, intense performances at one of the following festivals:
26/06 Glastonbury (UK)
01/07 Clandestino (Sweden)
02/07 Roskilde (DK)
04/07 Couleur Café (BE)
05/07 Hertme (NL)
10/07 North Sea Jazz (NL)
17/07 Colors of Ostrava (CZ)
18/07 Walthamstow Garden Party, London (UK)
19/07 Paris (FR) - Fondation Cartier
* Saul WIlliams, Questlove, Animal Collective and Björk count among their fans
Arresting… not quite like anything else (Pitchfork, US)
Exhilarating… headspinning (Wire Magazine, UK)
Bewitching (Q, UK)
Some of the wildest and most unusual sounds on the planet… (The Guardian, UK)
This is rock sucked back to the continent of its birth to be granted a glorious resurrection (Word, UK)
MAÏA VIDAL's beautiful new EP
“THE TIDE” contains three new tracks and three remixes, and comes out on 10" vinyl and on digitalTo herald the arrival of her upcoming new album “You’re The Waves” (out on Sept 29), young American singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Maïa Vidal presents “The Tide”, a single and a 6-track EP. The latter contains three beautiful new tracks, as well as three distinctive remixes, including a radio version by Oscar and The Wolf member and co-producer Ozan Bozdag.
"THE TIDE EP" COMES OUT ON MAY 18.
THE 10” VINYL VERSION WILL FOLLOW AT THE END OF MAY.
You can pre-order here
IN CONCERT
22.05 MADRID, Circulo de Bellas Artes
22.06 PARIS, Comedy Club
25.06 BERLIN, Fusion Festival
Konono No.1 founder Mingiedi Mawangu passed away
He was 85. He founded Konono No.1 in the 1960s and invented his own electrified likembe, which gave Konono No.1 its distinctive sound. He led the band and toured with them until a few years ago.This is Mingiedi & Konono performing in Kinshasa, in the emblematic video from Konono No.1's "Congotronics" album.
We're very sad, here at Crammed. We're deeply grateful to Mingiedi for this music which inspired so many fans and artists around the globe. And we'll always remember his endearing personality. Our thoughts go to his son Augustin, to whom Mingiedi had entrusted the leadership of Konono No.1 several years ago, and to his family and the rest of the band.
