3D Warrior/Wonder

3D Warrior (Hirshy Remix)

When It's Going Wrong

Marta and Tricky - Think Of You

Welsh producer and bassist Huw Marc Bennett is set to release his beautiful new
album 'Days Like Now'. Steeped in organic sounds of jazz, folk, soul, dub and the
earthy, psychedelic roots of his homeland; the music has history but also harmonises with the new world around it, understanding the changing landscape.

"I feel as if this is both a step back and forward with my identity, piecing together what I like about Welsh and Celtic music and feelings", says Bennett.

"Trying to move forward with a modern approach and bravery in that I may not understand everything but this is mine to use and be proud of".

His last album, 2020's 'Tresilian Bay', was widely supported on BBC radio by 6
Music's Cerys Matthews, Gideon Coe, Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, Lauren Laverne, Stuart Maconie, Tom Ravenscroft and BBC Wales' Adam Walton and Huw Stephens.

The Vinyl Factory said it “Melds south London electronica and Welsh psychedelia,
along with elements of Afrobeat and highlife” while Electronic Sound said Bennett is "Another name to add to the growing list of UK new jazz talents".

'Days Like Now' started as a continuation of the worldly-funk sound of 'Tresilian
Bay' before morphing inwards to become a more personal reflection of Bennett's
connection with living in, leaving, and revisiting Wales from his now home in south
London. Playing bass, guitar and synths, the tracks were written, performed and
recorded by Bennett and as the writing progressed, he became more influenced by
thoughts of home and melodies from Wales' extensive cannon of beautiful songs.

"Now I am older, home means more to me than ever", says Bennett.

"I look back at what I took from there. Being brought up in a quiet Welsh coastal setting gives you a sense of community but also a longing for the bigger world. I like to think this record is exploring a lot of those outside influences I've been exposed to, but following my journey back to where I started, and even deeper in to the destination where perceive my identity".

On ‘Y Gwydd’, Bennett takes direct inspiration from the music of Wales, offering his
version of the popular folk tune ‘Y Gwydd’ (The Loom), first collected by Maria Jane Williams. The original words of the tune, compares the threads of life, to the threads of the loom.

'Red Valley' refers to the Welsh who left their homes between 1936 and 1939 to fight in the Spanish civil war against Franco and the rise of facism. Bennett says,

"It's just my little nod to the humble people who saw themselves as global citizens and the responsibility that comes with that, and that their individual actions truly mattered".

Featuring the voices of Angela Christofilou, Cleo Savva and Bennett himself, the
beautifully serene 'Pinc Sunset' captures that moment when it's hard not to stop and recognise the beauty of nature.

"Whether on a busy main street or streaming in through the window in your small room, it makes you stop and have a moment of clarity and peace. To look at yourself, who you are, where you are going, and where you have come from. And whatever that is, you own it".

Days Like Now

Huw Marc Bennett - Red Valley

Long Light

Cut and Cover

3rd single from upcoming new Verdance album 'Intertwined', out Oct. 20, 2023 on Loci Records.

Pre-Order New Album:
https://locirecords.ffm.to/verdance-intertwined

Intertwined

It All Depends

Pre-Order New Album

Verdance - It All Depends

Action Adventure

Forever Changed

Passage x Aestie (12'' Preorder)

Midnight Milan

‘This album is all about ebbs and flows. It’s been a very interesting few years to say the least, both personally and in terms of the world. I always kept coming back to the concept of Tides, the cyclical nature of everything and the way sadness gives way to happiness… and vice versa. It all works out in the end though… and regardless of what’s happening, the sea is still there, a constant in the madness.’

Working closely with string arranger Thomas Lea (Adele/Bonobo/Rhye), Catching Flies, real name George King, has created his most emotional and cohesive project yet. A beautiful, moving record, with sounds that unmistakably come straight from the heart, it’s all held together by a singular sense of purpose and that trademark intricacy. ‘I wanted it to feel as intricate and as layered as possible. I tried to really push myself musically. The challenge was – how do I make this sound much bigger than a guy sitting in a room with a laptop and a MIDI keyboard?’

Typically wide-ranging in genre, the album highlights his ability to effortlessly manoeuvre and experiment across the spectrum of electronic music, from hip-hop to house, from soul to neo-classical. The album is led by new single ‘Halo,’ which sees him at his best - a melodic mesh of harp samples, vocal chops and a soaring string quartet finale. It’s highly textured, deeply melodic and effortlessly marries live instrumentation with warm electronic beats. ‘Spring’ utilises a vocal sample he found whilst touring China, and ‘The Last Phone Call’ merges a spoken word voice-note from a friend with a vocal recorded on his iPhone on Hampstead Heath - ‘I was pushing my bike and heard this guy singing in the distance, hidden in the trees… I had to EQ out the sound of my bike wheels turning to make it work.’ ‘Macerato’ was made in lockdown with a couple of friends, whilst the album track ‘Tides’ caused the most headache - ‘it went through about 20 different versions and ended up having 270 tracks of audio - there’s so much in there that you don’t necessarily hear on first listen.’ The album also includes the ‘absolutely brilliant’ (Lauren Laverne, BBC6 Music) hit single ‘GLY’ which has received over 20 million streams to date and came with remixes by revered British dance/pop band Hot Chip, and Ninja Tune’s DJ Boring. Also featured is piano piece ‘Diamonds,’ which has gathered artist support from the likes of Nils Frahm and Jungle. The album will be released in combination with a live video performance featuring a string quartet and a harpist.

Tides

'When Time Slows Down' is the new single from Misticeti, out Jan. 19, 2024 via Loci Records.

Buy / Stream:
https://locirecords.ffm.to/misticeti-when-time-slows-down

Duality EP

When Time Slows Down

Buy / Stream

Misticeti - When Time Slows Down

Dreamy Sleave Cheese - 8:5:2024, 5.12 PM

Founder of Thievery Corporation.

In a time where much of the world is confined and fearful comes Thievery Corporation co-founder Eric Hilton’s first solo record “Infinite Everywhere”, an elegant exploration of inner space that will leave listeners feeling replenished and centered. While Thievery painted with a broad musical brush, genre hopping across (and sometimes within) over 20 plus years of albums and live work, Hilton’s solo debut is distilled, focused, and more personal.  "I’m kind of the drum & bass guy in Thievery – I’ve never been much of a player of melodic instruments. “Infinite Everywhere” is me challenging myself to play more. I started work on a laptop and cheap midi controller; when my engineer Igor Garnier heard the rough tracks, he encouraged me to play more,” says Hilton. “I’ve always been a bit of studio rat, but I've found I really enjoy making music on my own, late night with just me and a keyboard – I’m kind of hooked on that. On this record I played nearly every instrument, which I’ve never done before.”

“Infinite Everywhere” was recorded at The Winter Palace in Washington, DC from September 2019 through March 2020. The album title and concept predate the current global crisis, but are remarkably prescient, conveying feelings of melancholia and optimism in equal measure. And while Hilton has incorporated exotic musical ingredients from diverse cultures on his previous work with Thievery Corporation, “Infinite Everywhere” is decidedly more European in feel. This influence came from an unexpected place, Hilton explains: “I took a tongue in cheek influence from prog rock – the best elements of it anyway. Prog too often goes off in a direction I don’t like. But some more mellow progsongs aren’t necessarily “rock” – at their best they’re explorations of space, organic, with truly gifted playing. That part of the genre appeals to me.” 

The meditative title track and first single, “Infinite Everywhere”, personifies Hilton’s humanistic and exploratory ethos. “Infinite Everywhere” is so simple, but it always gets me into my chakra mode – there’s a realignment that comes when listening to it,” he says. The song isn’t just a doorway to the album, but a potent rhythmical mantra for willing ears. “When I meditate, I become vapor, flowing free around the earth or the atmosphere – I let myself explore in my mind, pop up on a Tokyo Street, then in Prague, or on the Ganges in India. My mind decides on the time and space. “Infinite Everywhere" represents that experience of doing that."

But don’t make the mistake of thinking that descriptors like “exploratory” and “meditative” are code for a sleepy record. As an album, “Infinite Everywhere” is the ne plus ultra of elegant groove, which Hilton has been distilling for over two decades. It kicks, and it sounds amazing. “In Thievery, we always wanted to make music that was electronic but sounded real, -that’s what I’m into. I love making real sounding things with an unusual process.”  We are living in strange times – perhaps the strangest in our lifetimes. The album’s second single, “This Strange Daze” featuring Puma Ptah, is something of an outlier, being the only song on the record with vocals, and more of a Jamaican feel. “Strange Daze” was a strong instrumental sketch, but something in me said it would be more powerful
with a vocal. I’ve been working with the incredible Puma Ptah for many years, he’s done some tracks and toured with Thievery and is the main singer for The Archives. He’s such a great writer, so I hit him up to collaborate on the track. He wrote the song about week one of this current crisis, riffing off the title, powerful lyrics about anxiety and worry eating at you, how to deal with it and cope. It occupies a very special place on the record, another point of connection.”

Midnight Milan

Eric Hilton

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