★Maple Death Records
Transition
After four EPs of skeletal kraut-punk and slimmed down post-motorik alienage Milan’s Tv Dust are back with an entirely different beast, their proper debut ‘Transition’, an incredible collection of no-jazz, breakneck rhythms, mutant-wave, trance-funk, shredded sax jags and furious, yet mysterious assaults.
Tv Dust run a tight ship, they jam econo, with the album strongly based around the incredible interplay of drums (Sergio Tringali), bass (Filippo Aloisi) and sax/synth (newest member Gaetano Pa…
Viator
“Viator” is as skeletal as it is instantly recognizable. Following the inception of the unmistakable post-power electronics cubist-Latin-blues that kept Adrián de Alfonso busy during his Don The Tiger days, the first album under his own name is a ruthless step forward into a new form of avant-garde balladry, raw and stripped down, poetic yet enchanting, anchored in a sort of stubborn and repetitive primitivism, which synthesizes the future rituals of a stateless tradition. "Viator" consists main…
Così Dentro Come Fuori
The fragmented mind can sometimes lead in two directions, a complete reconstruction based on a new hypothesis or a leap into the unknown, that divine breath that permeates all. Porta d’Oro, Giacomo Stefanini’s musical journey and therapy, lives on both lines, meditative sketchings that dig deep and beg for ascension. From abstract dub, to post-punk rumblings and bedroom classics Giacomo Stefanini (also member of Kobra and the Milan Sentiero Futuro collective) has been slowly building his own wor…
Psiche Liberata
Fera’s trajectory sticks out like a sore thumb, you need to invest time, carefully divided between body & mind, to truly take a deep dive into his audacious output. After the acclaimed ‘Stupidamutaforma’ and ‘Corpo Senza Carne’, Fera is back with ‘Psiche Liberata’, an oblique, imperfect and broken record, in other words, exactly the type of magical voyage you want to be on. The mind, finally liberated.
Fabulous Soundtracks
Fabulous Soundtracks, the fourth studio album by reclusive Los Angeles musician Jack Name, is an homage to the IRL world and its twisted and varied romance with the worlds of our minds, in a wild collection of "soundtracks'', each a sonic re-construction dedicated to a distinct scene. Both musically and lyrically, this is Name's most adventurous and genre-defying album. Elements of acid, dance, folk, micro-tonal weirdness, horror, sensuality, impressionism, and bursts of rock fuse with Name's mo…
Unknown City
*300 copies limited release* Creeping through an imaginary border, sidesteppin’ through the night like cyber phantoms eavesdropping on early morning machinery shifts, an industrial solstice for pagan mystics. After five years Torino’s mysterious SabaSaba are back with ‘Unknown City’ an imaginary soundtrack for a dystopian city: digital raga, horror Exotica, half-speed techno, metallic dub and organic electronics. The duo of Andrea Marini (synth, guitar, electronics, tapes) and Gabriele Maggiorot…
No Dub
*200 copies limited release* Some folks use the phrase ‘no place like home’ when referring to Roma Est’s beloved venue Fanfulla, four walls that have single handedly delivered some of the most unique and vital music from the peninsula’s underground community. Trans Upper Egypt are maybe one of the most vivid representations of that legacy with their dazzling blend of motorik syncopation, punchy extensive basslines, spaced out twirling organs and scorched phased out vocals.
On their 4th album ‘No…
Spiralis Aurea Trio
Everything about Stefano Pilia’s spiritual journey always seemed to point directly towards ‘Spiralis Aurea’, his astounding 2022 release for Die Schachtel, a deeply resonating piece of art that intertwines traces of sacred geometry, collective experience and elusive connections between nature and human kind. ‘Spiralis Aurea Trio’ out in January on Maple Death Records, showcases the electric guitar ensemble formed by Stefano Pilia, Alessandra Novaga and Adrian Utley (Portishead) during three live…
Sprecato
First album in seven years from Maple Death Records founder James Jonathan Clancy (Italy/Canada), and the first under his birth name following previous ensembles His Clancyness (Fat Cat, Maple Death) and Brutal Birthday (Total Punk, Improved Sequence). In the interim between those projects and this latest, ‘Sprecato’, Clancy has refined and honed his vision —steadily and carefully drawing from a host of disparate influences to create a new kind of singer-songwriter album that bridges the divide …
Moving
*100 copies limited edition* There’s a raw hypnotic quality in Jerome’s output, a perceived facility to summon heavy bass, circular mantras and elastic shadowy beats. Over the last three years they have refined and cultivated their unique dystopian mixture of industrial, techno and dark electronics and their new EP ‘Moving’ is a fascinating snapshot of their ever-changing journey.
Based in Bristol, UK and Athens, Greece the Italian/Swedish/Greek duo of Annalisa Iembo and Stella Mathioudakis have…
Fort Da
Peaking late, rising slowly and crashing gently, in other words dialing in the perfect extra sensorial experience. Giulio Stermieri’s first solo outing ‘Fort Da’ is a nuanced ultra hypnotic work of art, six movements that blend ascetic minimalism, polyrhythmic trance and ecstatic tension with surprising detours into primitive techno and abstract jazz. Based in the smalltown of Saliceto Buzzalino, Giulio Stermieri is a pianist and composer, founder of the collective Impulse Response (with Laura A…
Goro
*100 copies limited edition* Reeds gently pirouetting amidst a fluvial landscape, a field of images that swirl between dream scenarios, second thoughts and reality. This is ‘Goro’, a new body of work by Italian saxophonist, composer and improviser Laura Agnusdei, an evocative journey that meshes noirish ambient, am-radio pop fantasy, lounge fever and organic pulsating proto-techno. Originally commissioned by Maple Death and comic book publishing house Canicola Edizioni, Goro’s music was directly…
Vivi!
Whitney K and band are back with an electric live album that captures the best from their classics ‘Two Years’ and ‘Hard To Be A God’, including a few nuggets from the back catalog and the unreleased tune aptly titled ‘Dire Straits’. If ‘Two Years’ was the thunder, the rawness and the spirit, a combination of outsider folk, modern psych, grit, humor and everything in between, ‘Hard To Be A God’ was the sophistication, the dedication, the mind traveling far and beyond… ‘Vivi!’ is the hot sauce mi…
Sometimes Life Is Hard And So We Should Help Each Other
Eavesdropping on a lost conversation or sifting through ancient postcards, remnants or rather fragments of a life worth living beside other human beings. Adam Badí Donoval’s debut ‘Sometimes Life Is Hard And So We Should Help Each Other’ has an uncanny ability to evoke warmth and memory, open dialogues that recreate a timeless thread characterized by unearthly compositions that combine field recordings, electronic loops and perpetual melodies.
Based in Bratislava, Adam Badí Donoval, originally r…
Stupidamutaforma
Fera's sought out tape debut 'Stupidamutaforma' (2020) is finally reissued on 2xLP remastered by Matt Bordin and with new artwork.
II
Liverpool producer Paul Rafferty aka Ancient Plastix is back with 'II' an album that glides effortlessly, combining incredibly rich textures with soft swan-like strokes, oscillating gently, an unhurried pace that combines the depth of Japanese ambient maestros and the choppy British mist. Recorded to tape on a Japanese Sansui machine, there is a widescreen grandeur that permeates Ancient Plastix’ production, a cinematic instinct that steers clear of crescendos by creating paths that revel in war…
Eternally Frozen
Eternally Frozen consists of a series of canon based compositions for brass ensemble, percussion and synthesizer by Andrea Belfi. The canon is an ancient compositional technique in which an initial melody is imitated at a specified time interval by one or more parts, creating illusionary never-ending musical journeys.The work is inspired by the evocative image of the Deprong Mori, a mythological bat with the alleged ability to fly through solid matter by bending atoms by its natural skill of aud…
Suono In Un Tempo Trasfigurato
Infinite reveries or translucent hallucinations, calm and steady pace, ghostly but undeniably present: this is ‘Suono In Un Tempo Trasfigurato’, Bono / Burattini’s debut for Maple Death.
Rimorso
Repossessed by the past, bitten once again and forced to relive drama, history, memories, tradition and roots. A past that needs exorcizing, bending and re-imagining in order to move forward and depend on. This is ‘Rimorso’, Mai Mai Mai’s colossal mediterranean gothic album. Known for his incredible blend of Southern Italian Folklore, industrial drone, proto-techno & punishing miasmic electronic music, Toni Cutrone aka Mai Mai Mai approached ‘Rimorso’ with a clean slate. Following ‘Nel Sud’ (La …