This is our contribution to a charity compilation of electronic music, raising money & awareness for Médecins Sans Frontières.
 
Médecins Sans Frontières - also known as ‘Doctors Without Borders’ - is an impartial, independent, and neutral organisation that provide medical and humanitarian aid wherever needed, across the globe.

With the current civil war in Syria, much of the media focus has been on the political aspects, often forgetting the tens of thousands of victims and refugees.  Médecins Sans Frontières, and their volunteers, are still on the ground in the region providing aid.

It is available on a 'pay what you choose' basis - you can download for free or any amount you decide at http://balkanvinyl.bandcamp.com, and we will donate here (and claim gift aid) on your behalf or you can go to http://www.justgiving.com/musicsansfrontiers and donate directly (and also leave a message if you wish).
 
All profits go directly to MSF. All of the artists have contributed their music for free.
Although Balkan Vinyl usually concentrate on physical releases, this compilation is entirely digital to ensure as much money as possible goes to charity.

Music Sans Frontiers (English spelling of ‘Frontiers’ deliberate) was chosen as the name, as the compilation does not stick to one genre of music (unlike the ‘Acid Relief’ compilation in 2011, which focussed mainly on TB303-led music) and instead we asked the artists to contribute tracks with no restrictions on style.

Tact Switch

The new album <a href="https://realworldrecords.com/release/632/tincian/">Tincian</a> is out 12th May.

Pre order: <a href="http://smarturl.it/TincianiTunes">iTunes</a> / <a href="http://smarturl.it/TincianAMZ">Amazon</a> / <a href="http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/82575">Rough Trade</a>

Lliwia means Colours. It's a song written about childbirth. All the colours you can see when you close your eyes and the instant love that you feel for this soul that comes out. 

Tincian is 9Bach's second album. It's an atmospheric, emotional record that reflects their home environment of Gerlan, North Wales. As Lisa Jen explains, 'tincian can mean a lot of things, to move with a tinkling sound, to ring and make a clear sound. Depending on what area of Wales you are from, the meaning varies. It comes to life in dialogue when you use sentences like "I gave him such a talking to, he didn't know what had hit him...he was 'tincian'." It's almost like a cartoon image of someone's head being hit by a hammer'.

9Bach - Lliwiau (Gravenhurst remix)

Dub Paradise

Brass connection

Jamaican Heat (Reggae instrumental)

The Nebulae live session took place in February 2016 at the Zeiss Planetarium in Bochum, Germany and presented performances by Ultimae artists with a special dome projection by Tobias Wiethoff. 
This is one of the recordings… 

Martin Nonstatic opened his live performance with "Into the Nebulae" a brand new work to introduce a spaced out exploration of his Granite album. All tracks were fully reworked to create a vaster atmosphere to fill the dome. You'll recognise the spirit, the story is something else!

Nebulae Live at the Planetarium

Into the Nebulae (Intro)

Download

Into the Nebulae - Intro

Arve Henriksen - Blue Silk

It’s rare anyone has anything positive to say about a levee. From Dylan to Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead to Don Mclean, levees have been places of dread and foreboding threat, coloured by drought and the devil. 

http://soundcloud.com/nobutosuda1101 's take isn’t so bleak. Inspired by some of Kyoto’s waterscapes, the gentle churn of ‘Nobody Levee’ creates an effortlessly warm tranquillity that invites swimming contemplation. 

“Kyoto has a lot of rivers and levees and the river, I think, wraps around the loneliness of people,” he explains. “I was inspired a lot by the flow of the river and wind shaking the trees that grow along it. On holidays, I go for a walk and read a book by the river. This song is the scene that flows in sound, in my head.”

Eased by a sense of movement, pushed by a ceaselessly serene force, it’s a track that instils quietude and peace. Like the water itself, it’s a track perpetually in motion, comforting in its preordained cycle and all-enveloping atmosphere. So whether you feel immersed in the wash or are happy to ponder your reflection, this lapping melody invites you to more than just dip a toe. Dive deep. Words by Reef Younis.

More info: http://asip.me/ASIP009

See all the releases: http://asip.me/PlacesSeries

ASIP009 Nobuto Suda - Nobody Levee

Infirmary

Glove Puppet (Dreadzone Remix)(preview)

Toby Marks of Banco de Gaia has had a bumpy couple of years, with family crises having to take priority over the making of music. Nevertheless this year was to be a respite from all that, with a major new album planned. Its November 2020 release would be accompanied by a string of UK and overseas live shows.

Well, we can all guess what happened to that idea. As Allen Saunders said back in 1957, "Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans". Nevertheless, Toby persevered and made music as and when he could, putting together five tracks which mark a decisive shift from previous Banco releases. Toby has recorded an EP which he describes as "a contemplative affair, full of contrasts of light and shade reflecting the turmoil in which it has been made. Largely beat-free, I hope it will bring a little light and peace to you in these troubled times."

Banco De Gaia - Slow Gravity (preview)

Banco De Gaia has been performing and releasing for over 25 years now, along the way becoming one of the music industry’s most maverick innovators. His legacy is as glittering as it is diverse, ranging from Hollywood film sound credits to the critically acclaimed ‘Last Train to Lhasa’, first released in 1995 to a rapturous reception. His live act still packs out venues and festivals all over the world, with audio-visual performances renowned for their explosive, cutting edge quality: from sampling wizardry fused with haunting vocals and poignant acoustics to genre-hopping musical instrumentals, all accompanied by socially engaged visuals.

Behind Banco de Gaia is artist Toby Marks. Starting out as a drummer in a metal band, he began using sampling kit to cut his own tunes after falling in love with electronica during the 1980s acid house era. By the early 90s, after winning respect for a clutch of credits on the Ambient Dub compilations, he was signed to Planet Dog Records and released ‘Maya’, in 1994, and then ‘Last Train to Lhasa’, in 1995.

Both albums featured an artfully arranged cocktail of textured samples and live instrumentals lifted from across the world. Both went straight to No. 1 in the UK Independent Charts as well as sweeping through the international electronica scene, making him, along with the likes of The Orb, one of the early pioneers of ‘chill out’. Both ‘Last Train to Lhasa’ and ‘Heliopolis (Eudopolis Dog Mix)’ notably featured on Sasha & Digweed's classic ‘Northern Exposure’ mix CD among myriad other compilations. 

Since then, he's released a further 6 studio albums, 1 live album, 1 live DVD and 15 EP’s and also runs his own label, Disco Gecko Recordings. He went back to basics in 2014 with a sold-out 20th Anniversary CD-only (no streams or downloads available) release of ‘Maya’, followed by similar 20th Anniversary editions of ‘Last Train to Lhasa’ in 2015 and ‘Live at Glastonbury’ in 2016.

Pink Floyd and psychedelia remain a constant influence: Banco’s cover of Echoes in 2007 helped shape the ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ collection in 2009 and Floyd’s legendary saxophonist Dick Parry was one of Marks’ special guest collaborators (alongside no-man’s Tim Bowness and Zero 7’s Sophie Barker) on his ‘The 9th of Nine Hearts’ album, which came out in October 2016.

“A continuation of the consistently high form Toby Marks has shown throughout a long and illustrious career” (Total Music Magazine), The Crack described ‘The 9th of Nine Hearts’ as full of “dubby loveliness that fuses psych, spiky rock, acid and ambient” while the Ambient Music Guide hailed it as “Banco's strongest album of new material in 15 years”.