Labels

SDZ

  • 01. Hobbyist
    02. Lobbyist
    03. Commercial Fishing
    04. Iron Efficiency
    05. Plastic Sword Retractable
    06. Some Background
    07. Unetiquetted
    08. How the Curve Helps
    cover

    EXEK

    Some Beautiful Species Left

    [engl] From Melbourne Australia, EXEK are proud to unveil their third album, “Some Beautiful Species Left”. It has been released on SDZ (Europe), Digital Regress (USA), and Anti-Fade (Aus). Like their previous releases, SBSL is the cultivation of numerous edits and overdubs, where once again EXEK subscribe to Brian Eno’s philosophy of the studio as an instrument. This MO allows the songwriting process to develop simultaneously alongside the recording process, whilst privileging greater sonic control. Post punk is perhaps the easiest way to categorise the music. Firstly, because they’re post modern, and secondly because their music contains the defiance inherent within punk. But EXEK's music also contain elements of dub production, Classical arrangements, hip hop and krautrock rhythms, and the use of kitchen appliances as instruments. The result is a record that is difficult to pigeon hole...somewhere between Swell Maps, This Heat and ESG.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    06.09.2019
     
  • 01. St Bernard
    02. Selfish Spoiled Child
    03. Malcantone
    04. Country Side Love
    05. Put Me In Jail
    06. Hardship
    07. Tell Me
    08. I Belong To You
    09. Throwback In The Snow
    10. Bitter Man
    cover

    LEOPARDO

    Malcantone

    [engl] Leopardo started as a solo project with debut album "Di Caprio" in 2018. It then became a band, with musicians from Fribourg and Tessin's underground music scene (Switzerland). Together they released a second album, "Is It An Easy Life ?" in 2019. Although the project started with optimistic and romantic love songs (which they sometimes still write), time came for the band to explore other aspects of life and love, mostly on the bad sides, which can be heard in their latest record "Malcantone". Drawing inspiration from the pessimistic school of philosophers and paying tribute to Robert Walser and his love for unhappiness and mountains, this new atmosphere naturally impacted Leopardo's music, adding to the "Velvet Underground-kinda-sound” a dissonant country/post-punk crooner aesthetic, sprinkled with nonchalance. Almost all members of Leopardo were living together at Spazio Morel in Lugano, and late at night they sure listened to a lot of Country Teasers, Lou Reed and Michael Hurley. This new album is released on SDZ Records (Europe), Le Pop Club (Suisse) and Feel It records (USA/Canada). "Somewhere in the elastic universe of speculative ontology a troupe of well-mannered Euros saw the June 1st, 1974 concert in London, took this sole germ back to the serene Swiss Alps (birthplace of LSD) and fecundated it with honesty - like some lifelong lysergic therapy session - until they emerged saturated with colors no one knows the name of, dripping of colors that sound like motions known solely to them. And now they've invited the rest of the world to hear. Upon first listen I was reminded of how exciting those Jeffrey Novak solo albums were - delicate pop music accessible to us, uh... malcontents. Providing the mids between Eno's highs and Ayers' lows, it's a stunning display of both art and artisanship, and like a kid who aces his test without studying, it seamlessly incorporates the crisp aural aesthetic of Chrome and layered nonchalance of Velvet Underground without stepping into the gated communities of those bands' wannabees. Echoes of Morton, Cale, Barrett... a madcap laughing, white heat from warm jets in the eyeball of hell... And yet, it sounds only like Leopardo. Make sure you listen to it seven times in a row like I did." -Brandon Gaffney
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.06.2021
     
  • 01. Sympa
    02. Allongé
    03. Secrets
    04. Bon à rien
    05. Mitterrand
    06. Musique grecque
    07. Accessoire
    08. Baskets
    09. A nu
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    PIERRE & BASTIEN

    Musique Grecque

    [engl] Back in April 2010, a few months after the release of their debut single ("No Sex" / "Crise boursière"), SDZ included Pierre & Bastien's "RMI" on its 10-year anniversary compilation. Later on, other songs from the band ("Démocratie" and "Déglingo") were featured on other compilations released by the label. As much as we like compilations - a genre that is not a genre and that no one seems to fully appreciate - we decided to go one step further in our support of Pierre & Bastien and to actually release an album by them. This third studio album shows the band at its best with a well-constructed set of songs. Paul Jimenes' lyrics hold nothing back but simulateneously juggle brilliantly between private and social subjects hence creating several possible levels of understanding. Dark or menacing moods chase the light and brighter ones. Once again this fight of the soul puts us, without any preciosity, at the heart of the band's life. Musically, the band is more powerful and intense as ever: guitarist Baptiste Nollet is particularly dazzling and Frédéric Trux pounds sometimes a nearly industrial rhythm to the songs. One could see in their sound derivations from bands like Wire, Wipers, Dogs, Metal Urbain or Reich Orgasm. To the sheer brutality or depraved psychedelics of some tracks respond pop-like vocal harmonies of some other ones. From the minimalist and destructive opener "Sympa" to the dark and disturbing closer "A nu", from the striking "Secret" to the light "Musique grecque", Pierre & Bastien has crafted a dense, varied and more-complex-than-it-seems album. It's now yours to discover!
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    06.09.2017
     
  • 01. Precipi?cio
    02. Tela Parada
    03. Fogo Chama
    04. Partimos Daqui pt 1
    05. Paranormal
    06. Partimos Daqui pt 2
    07. 1 2 3 Nenéns
    08. Pre-Revolutionary State
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    RICARDO DIAS GOMES

    Aa

    [engl] A respected innovator on the Rio de Janeiro music scene since the mid 90s, Gomes is best known for his work on the trio of critically-acclaimed albums Caetano Veloso released in the late 00s: Cê (2006), Zii and Zie (2009) and Abraçaço (2012). Playing bass on these modern milestones in post-Tropicalia, and subsequently touring the world with Veloso, inspired Gomes to record his debut album -11, released in 2015. On -11 Gomes played all the instruments himself and relied solely on his instincts in terms of the direction to take: The Wire praised the album saying it “recalls other rough and ready highly personal solo debut albums by Laetitia Sadier and Money Mark” whilst the Chicago Reader fell for it’s “weirdly hermetic sound world, alternating between tender, introspective ballads, rude electronic grooves, and dissonant ambience”. Ricardo now lives in Lisbon and this new mini-album is called "Aa" features, among others, Arto Lindsay and is released via SDZ records in Europe and Kill Shaman in North America.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    06.09.2018
     
  • 01. Pierre & Bastien - Bordoule
    02. Vince & His Lost Delegation - Commander
    03. Leopardo - Anna Karina
    04. EXEK - Four Stomachs
    05. The Rebel - Drill Homage
    06. Rose Mercie - Marie-Toi-De-Moi
    07. Marie Mathématique - Holopherne
    08. Nathan Roche - Opium
    09. Mim & Èlg - La flûte de Pan
    10. Ricardo Dias Gomes - Dream Love
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    V/A

    Spasmes du hasard - 20+1 years of SDZ records

    [engl] I could tell you about the beginnings, about this email from Keith from the late Scratch record store that allowed, very concretely, to launch everything. But I really don't know where to start to talk about the 20 years - sorry 21 years - of the label. It's a joyful jumble of fanzines, concerts, meetings and a total absence of plans. There is simply a desire, parallel to that of trying to write about music - something that always seemed impossible to me - to push some bands or artists that move me. The idea is not to make each release a surprise nuclear inspection but to contribute, on a small scale, to prolong the existence of initiatives that come more from the guts than from the symbols, more from the basement of a bar than from the official places carried by a music industry that should have died a long time ago as it doesn't support the artists anymore. The guiding thread, if there is one, is to find density in lightness, to tirelessly dig into any form of curiosity, to listen again and again and to try to open new horizons for the bands I defend. I dream of a label with bright red flashes, melting in a thick layer of milky golden clouds or running in the middle of the cold night in an old industrial area where nature has regained its rights. Cultivating dilettantism, savoring latencies, provoking coincidences, tracking down melodies from the depths of the bones, pushing the sublime fins hidden in the ashes of passion....yes, I know it's a lot, but there's a little bit of all that. And a lot of laughs too. Each record...is potentially a life base. After "Flottante tension d'éclipse" for the 10th anniversary, there was the desire to mark the occasion with a new compilation, this time entitled "Spasmes du hasard". We find there ten rare or unreleased tracks. It's a punchy piece of Pierre & Bastien that opens the record followed by a psychedelic flight signed by the valiant Vince Posadzki, present since the beginnings of the label and who makes his return here with his Lost Delegation. Then follows the equally twisted and captivating "Anna Karina" by the newcomers Leopardo - who just released their third album on SDZ - and the fascinating Australians of EXEK and their experimental post-punk/dub. Let's not forget the very strong "Drill Homage" from The Rebel, also a long time companion. On the B side, Rose Mercie unveils the heady and too rare "Marie-Toi-De-Moi" - classic of their live set - immediately followed by the newcomers of Marie Mathématique with the charming "Holopherne" and our favorite troubadour, Nathan Roche, with the track "Opium". Finally, out of the ranking for ever, the brilliant Èlg and his friend Mim and then the super-talented Ricardo Dias Gomes who closes the record. I hope you will enjoy listening to this compilation as much as I did preparing it! Max Dembo
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    18.06.2021
     
  • 01. Gabrielle Maes - Il faut aller dormir
    02. Ray Yours & The F - Fantôme
    03. Space Blue - Am I asleep and dreaming
    04. Mulan Serrico - Spor Tranquil
    05. Jolie Boue - Les bancs de glace
    06. Nicolalala - Dormir
    07. Maria Violenza - Young Boy
    08. Delacave - Absence Appeal
    09. Youkounkoun - Tendre goéland
    10. Charlène Répétition - Love
    11. Elatu Nessa - Uniin ne karat
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    V/A

    Tendres Tenebres

    [engl] Once again, at the crossroads of our wanderings there is a dark, bottomless well. From this the true horrors of the world arises over and over. It is also the source of our fantasies, either dreams or nightmares, and the world of imagination in which we all grew up. That darkness reveals our common humanity, that speaks of our very creation and finitude. Today, tenderness is our only guide through the unfamiliar night now thick with multiple states of unconsciousness that extend beyond our vital need and into the unknown. Thus we are all insiders and investigators to understand what is reality and what is beyond us. In line with its previous compilations - but this time on vinyl - the Crudités label, affiliated with SDZ Records, today presents "Tendres Ténèbres", fifteen variations on the themes of lullabies and sleep.Within a song, complex landscapes are built in the shadows of our waking life. The songs are sometimes delicate (Gabrielle Maes of Shake Shake Bolino, Charlene Repetition of Rose Mercie, Renka of Kartei or Space Blue and Mulan Serrico whose albums were released on Crudités), sometimes cosmic explosions (Jolie Boue, a new band formed by Èlg & Catherine Hershey, Hess of Feeling of Love), sometimes intense nocturnal insights (Ray Yours & The F, new project of 11ieme étage; Kaput) sometimes displays of furious insomnia (Nicolalala, ex Bobpopkillers, Maria Violenza ex Capputtini I Lignu) or deep tranced melancholic meditations (Elatu Nessa, Discombobulatrix). The listener enters a world inspired by lullabies and formulates the visual dreams that would usually follow. In doing so, they gain a new perspective and experience carrying them back into the real world. "the sleeping man, his regard extinguished, dead to himself, seizes the light in the night" (Heraclitus)
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    06.09.2016