The Wave is the first single on Baal & Mortimer's new Mini-LP The Torso Tapes which will be released April 9, 2021.

The Torso Tapes

Buy Vinyl / Digital

Baal & Mortimer - The Wave

Artist: Niklas Wandt
Title: Balearische Bibliothek
Format: 12"/Digital
Label: ITALIC
Cat. No.: ITA116
Release date: 7 May 2021
Distribution: Rough Trade

Buy 12"/Digital

Niklas Wandt - Zum Schmalen Handtuch

Written, recorded and produced by Maximilian Wittwer in Hamburg 2020/21. Additional remix production by Lucas Croon. The original version of "Kaputt" is included on WINTER 2's debut album.

Lucas Croon is a member of Stabil Elite and resident DJ at the Düsseldorf post-Hacienda club Salon des Amateurs. 

WINTER 2 was founded by Maximilian Wittwer and Christoph Romahn in Hamburg in 2020.

WINTER 2 - Kaputt (Lucas Croon Remix)

Buy / Stream

Lyrics and Music by John Holt. Produced and mixed by Jan Philipp Janzen. Vocals and Guitar by Markus Acher. Guitar and additional Synth by Franz Gago. Recorded at Dumbo Studios, Cologne. Mastered by Jörg Burger.

ITA119 ℗ 2021 Italic Recordings © Sparta Florida Music Group Limited. Courtesy of Edition Intro Meisel GmbH. All Rights Reserved. LC 00728. Gema. Rough Trade Distribution.

Everybody Knows

Stream/Download/Vinyl

Dumbo Tracks - Everybody Knows (Markus Acher Vocal Edit)

Stefan Schwander (Synthesizer - Harmonious Thelonious), Philipp Janzen (Drums - Von Spar, Cologne Tape), Christopher Marquez (Bass - Von Spar), Michaela Melian (Vocals - F.S.K.), Marc Knauer (Artwork)

Ex Versions - Harte Zeiten (Extended Version)

Ex Versions - Baßläufe (Vocal Version)

Künstliche Intelligenz in antiken Ruinen: Lothar Hempel in conversation with DLFKultur about NESSUNO and his album "Songs For The Blind" (The interview is in German). 10:15 min, 24 June 2022. Foto © Marc Comes

MUSIK DLFKULTUR

Buy LP / Stream

Künstliche Intelligenz in antiken Ruinen: NESSUNO in conversation with DLFKultur

BAR - White Noise

BAR - Luna May

Von Spar - One Human Minute

Von Spar - V.S.O.P

Von Spar - Chain Of Command

Written, arranged & performed by VON SPAR. Vocals by Christopher Cummings. Additional vox by Ada. Taken from the album "Streetlife" (ITA100). P & © 2014 by ITALIC. Release date: 24 October 2014.

Pre-order LP/CD: http://po.st/shopSTREETLIFE
iTunes: http://po.st/iTunesSTREETLIFE
Free download & stream: http://po.st/soundcloudCHAIN
Video: http://po.st/youtubeCHAIN
Website: http://vonspar.net - http://italic.de



Buy LP/CD

Von Spar - Chain Of Command

Artist: BAR
Title: L.A. Düsseldorf
Format: 12" vinyl
Release date: 22 January 2016
Label: ITALIC recordings
Cat. No.: ITA104

Last summer the Düsseldorf duo BAR – consisting of the Stabil Elite musician Lucas Croon and Christina Irrgang – charmed aficionados of timeless modern pop music with their debut album "Welcome To BAR". With casual verve, they propagate a musical style somewhere between New Wave, Balearic, Shoegaze, Dream Pop and Noir Songwriting, the two of them singing their way into a league of their own. Following many concerts in clubs, at festivals, in art contexts or gracing the fashion scene, the duo have now invited musician friends from Düsseldorf and Los Angeles to remix their songs, which originally featured instruments such as the recorder, synthesizers, drums, soundtrack samples, vocal collages and even a pocket piano. This has resulted in four new arrangements, each of which combine the BAR aesthetic with the artistic hallmarks of the remixers. The record thereby combines influences from the music scenes and cities of LA and Dusseldorf, both of which were equally essential in the development of "Welcome To BAR".

BAR's Düsseldorf colleague Jan Schulte aka Wolf Müller, known for his trippy and percussive sound, has reinterpreted the "BAR Theme". Like on his highly acclaimed releases on the label "Themes For Great Cities", he uses especially rhythmic and driving accents. And like his previous remixes for artists such as Toulouse Low Trax, Mariam The Believer or Balearic godfather José Padilla, he gives enough space to the original while refining it with African melodic traditions and tribal grooves that never exceed a limit of 110 bpm.

The Los Angeles band Pharaohs, whose most prominent member Suzanne Kraft recently gained attention with a marvellous Ambient record, surprises us with a quiet version of "Anjali Reverse". It impresses with cool Balearic style, in midst of which a saxophone and guitars glisten in the sun. A key figure in Pharaohs for BAR is Alejandro Cohen, who they met in 2013 during a trip to LA at the Dublab studio, where Croon played a radio concert. There they also came to know and admire Diva Dompé, daughter of Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins. The singer, producer and performer has transformed the BAR song "Adios" into a gently culminating Slow-Mo-House sensation that moves the soul with restrained percussion, enchanted singing and gradual Ambient buildup.

The fourth revision stems from BAR's Düsseldorf colleague Orson, who meanwhile turns the bass up loud in Berlin and is internationally celebrated for his releases on his own label "Version". Orson has adorned the piece "Dexy's Alrobe" with rich sine waves, which wind powerfully around the sometimes backwards voice of Lucas Croon and submerges it all in a pillow of bass. 

These four remixes from two cities are full of passion for warm nights in a neon shimmer, where souls are reflected and united in a shared enthusiasm for music.

Pre-order 12" vinyl

BAR - BAR Theme (Wolf Müller Remix)

Artist: Von Spar
Title: Streetlife - Remixes, Pt. 1
Label: ITALIC recordings
Cat. No.: ITA103
Format: 12“
Release Date: 19 February 2016

With Barnt and Axel Boman, two well-known names open the round of remixes for Von Spar's latest album "Streetlife". Both artists had a free choice of songs on which to place their unmistakable stamp. Barnt – long a companion and close friend of the band – uncovers epic dimensions on "Duvet Days" and expands the song to almost ten minutes. Here the celebrated Cologne producer, DJ and co-owner of the Magazine label develops a hypnotic maelstrom, interweaving his typically uncompromising rhythm arrangement of metallic hi-hats and reverberant claps artfully with the New Age Kraut melodics of the original song.

Axel Boman (Studio Barnhus / Pampa) has transformed Von Spar's song "Breaking Formation" into a Balearic Soft Acid ballad. Smooth arpeggiators drift charmingly towards the sun and the vocals of Canadian Christopher Cummings are set amid dubby echoes to create a yearningly transcendental aphrodisiac. The digital package for the remix EP additionally offers the track to purists as an instrumental. These two remixes transport the Cologne-Berlin quartet's artful songwriting onto the dancefloor with an understanding of how to move both body and soul alike.

Buy 12"

Von Spar - Breaking Formation (Axel Boman Remix)

Von Spar - Duvet Days (Barnt Remix)

Artist: Stabil Elite
Title: Spumante
Format: 2LP+CD / CD / Digital
Label: ITALIC recordings
Cat. No. ITA105
release date: 13th May 2016
Labelcode: LC 00728

Dieses Unbändige, Bodenlose, Bedingungslose im Tastenanschlag der Synthesizer und im Raunen der Bassläufe breitet sich aus wie ein sanfter Rausch: Ein Fließen und Überblenden von Tönen, die fluide Kurven bilden und künstliche Kanten finden. Perlen stoßen an Glas, sind Struktur und irrationales Treiben zugleich. Strenge wird zur Kontur, die das Haltlose rahmt. Inter-instrumentales Gleiten und Hard-Edge, das Echo einer Fantasie verschwimmt im Voranschreiten: "Spumante" ist ein Manifest gegen den Stillstand. ‚Was sind schon tausend Tage für einen Vollzug?’ lautet eine Textzeile im Song "Alles wird gut!", simultan bitter und süß. Und soviel steht fest: Das zweite Doppel-Album von Stabil Elite klingt positiv, synthetisch, rationalistisch – und sexy. 
Da ist zunächst der westliche Hochmut ("Tief im Westen") oder die Künstlichkeit des Lebens bei "Welt hinter Glas", dem "Formula" das geistige Kapital entgegen setzt. "4D" erschließt sphärisch-räumlich ein Gelände der Vertrautheit und Fremde. "Jugend ohne Gott" vermittelt den schmalen Grat zwischen Nähe und Tod, dem Verlauf von Zeit und der Leichtigkeit des Seins im Vergessen des Zeitlichen. Die Doppelbödigkeit der Existenz mit der Frage des 'Wohin?' wird auch bei "Steppe" zum Sinnbild. "Zeitzonen" spricht als aeriale Ballade einen neuen Global-Existenzialismus aus. Freundschaft, Respekt und Liebe sind dabei wiederkehrende Themen des Albums: "<3" bringt dies als Liebeshymne in Shortcut-Formel auf den Punkt, während "Mellow" die kosmische Stärke und Zerbrechlichkeit des Verliebtseins ins Mondlicht setzt. Fernweh und räumliche Weite stecken immer wieder auch die drei instrumentalen Stücken "Fairlight CA", "Pool" und "Embargo" ab, letzteres lässt die Aussicht auf die Fahrt in einen exotischen Sonnenuntergang durchschimmern. 
Polaritäten und Gegensätze werden in seidige Melodien aus Gitarre, Klavier, Saxophon und Perkussion inmitten elektronischer Architekturen gebunden. So bezieht sich auch die Bar-Szene mit Neonschrift auf dem Plattencover, fotografiert im Düsseldorfer Schmela-Haus von dem Künstler Klaus Mettig, auf die Wechselseitigkeit von Öffentlichkeit und Intimität – nicht zuletzt auch das titelgebende Stück "Spumante". Bewusste Künstlichkeit, Begeisterungs- und Feierlichkeit sowie aufgesetzte Privatheit begegnen sich in einem weichgezeichneten Schick. Düsseldorf, die Stadt, in der Stabil Elite lebt und ihre Musik produziert, scheint neonpink und grau. "Spumante" spiegelt dieses Colorit und bringt unter Rückbezug auf Reisen und kulturelle sowie sprachliche Besonderheiten, Film, Schauspiel, Literatur, Kunst und Technik einen vielschichtigen, reflektierten und mitreißenden Sound hervor. 

12.03.16 – DE – München – Framework Festival
16.03.16 – US – Austin (Texas) – SXSW Showcase
18.05.16 – DE – Hamburg – Euphorie
20.05.16 – DE – Berlin – Bi-Nuu (Record Release Show)
21.05.16 – DE – Düsseldorf – FFT Theater
09.07.16 – DE – Düsseldorf – Open Source Festival
16.07.16 – DE – Köln – Olympia Fest

Buy 2LP+CD

Stabil Elite - Spumante

Brighter than the sun of Africa and hotter than the desert wind Scirocco: Harmonious Thelonious returns with his fourth album. It comes with the enticing title "International Dance Record" and as always, much of it revolves around the vertical component of music: Harmony. The Düsseldorf producer has been exploring the infinite possibilities of electronic music production under pseudonyms like Antonelli Electr. since the late 1990s. He has produced contemporary voodoo art as part of the trio The Durian Brothers. Yet the new album is not a standard procedure. Rather, he shifts the harmonies of African music and juxtaposes them by a whole tone, generating simple harmonic changes with a magical effect. His unusual tonal game runs through half of his album, yet is not its major theme. That, rather, is hypnosis. All of his new tracks run through without detailed arrangements, have heavily infectious melodic passages and create a repetitive pull of mythical power.
Overall, his music today is airier and more receptive than anything he has presented to the world to date as Harmonious Thelonious. The brute force beats his previous albums "Talking", "Listen" and "Santos" have been replaced by simple rhythm box grooves. They are repeatedly joined by short highlife guitar themes, bright flute melodies and feathery keyboard hooks. Africa is also only partially a reference for this unclassifiable and cheerful dance sound, which is entitled "International Dance Record" for good reasons. Because this time the priority is on immediate movement and pieces like "Talking About" or the remake of "Muziek", still crude on his 2012 EP "Ting Tong", both nod to House without directly being that. A longplayer between worlds that creates its very own – and despite all its exoticism, somehow remains absolutely grounded.

International Dance Record

Buy LP+CD at ITALIC

Harmonious Thelonious - (Muziek) Remake

Buy LP/CD at ITALIC.DE

Von Spar - Daddy Longlegs

Neustadt - Zurück / Nach Vorn

STABIL ELITE is a young band from Düsseldorf. In the last three years, Lucas Croon, Nikolai Szymanski and Martin Sonnensberger have created a cosmos of driving bass lines, danceable rhythms, floating pads and shimmering electric guitars. Using repetitive lyrics with double meanings, analogue synths and icy cold clackering computers, they revive Krautrock and the avant-garde moments of the German New Wave. After compilation contributions to the Düsseldof DIY label "Themes for Great Cities" and the American "Mathematics" label, run by Jamal Moss, the boys from the Rhineland now celebrate their debut with the GOLD E.P. and offer a preview of the band's first album, due in September 2011. For GOLD, the Paris-based fashion photographer KIRA BUNSE shot a music video on SUPER 8, which very authentically shows the band in their Düsseldorf environment. Recently STABIL ELITE (among other artists) were photographed by Andreas Gursky for the "Salon des Amateurs" feature in GROOVE magazine and were also part of the DE:BUG cover story on Düsseldorf in the October 2010 issue. STABIL ELITE take their band name from the German television film "Das Millionenspiel" from 1970 by Tom Toelle, for which Irmin Schmidt of CAN wrote the music.Also involved in GOLD as a drummer and additional producer is Jan Philipp Janzen (Von Spar) and, as a guest musician, Jörg Burger (The Modernist).

Buy at THE ITALIC SHOP

Stabil Elite - Gold

German electronic music label and exhibition space for contemporary art located in Berlin’s Mitte district. Leipziger Str. 61, 10117 Berlin.

ITALIC

Popular tracks