ltd 2020 reissue - a phonica project

180 gram vinyl album incl. deluxe sleeve

topia records uncovers the work of alex kassian the kyoto born berlin based producer and dj whose work as opal sunn and al kassian has been turning heads and shifting feet in recent times. over the last decade kassian hosted word of mouth dances in london and berlin where he gained a reputation as one of europe s most promising artists. kassian s recent output has been primarily composing scores for contemporary dance and theatre in berlin, an approach he brings here to this 6 track ep hidden tropics . kassian inspired by other utopia records artists such as lars bartkuhn and vangelis katsoulis delves deeper into his compositional scope for a sound that joins the dots between ambient, world music to spiritual house in parts inspired by his homeland of japan as heard on bells of ukyo and the 80 s sakamoto-esque olson waters . the title track is a breakthrough in contemporary house music, sure to be picked up on by the tastemakers from new york to johannesburg to berlin to amsterdam to tokyo and beyond. cover image of tsuwaono sagimai by makoto furukawa, shimane, japan.

b-stock! cover with seam split. vinyl unaffected & mint. earth patterns is a new journey into sound by london based australian born musician ben davidson, best known for his disco tinged house singles as ben sun, that were championed by the likes of gerd janson and larry heard. the earth patterns concept presents a more expanded instrumental sound with live rhythm sequencing and synth work, sitting alongside vangelis katsoulis, lars bartkuhn and soichi terada on alex bradleys utopia records. davidson joins the dots between detroit by way of tokyo techno on sunflower to dream ii science deepness on horus rising and some worldly organic rhythms for a modernist and dare we say it utopian sound on after the rain. the analogue sound from his london studio comes through on the gentle and harmonic b-side opener transit pan perhaps the start of a journey beyond the dance floor for the producer. artwork and liner notes by davidson himself, all pressed by bespoke pressing plant the vinyl factory on heavyweight vinyl.

multi instrumentalist and deep house master lars bartkuhn returns to utopia records following his nomad ep in april with a 10 minute masterpiece, an ode to the massai . an epic journey of such depth and positive spirit it perhaps deserves to render a genre all to itself. with its musicality, complex arrangement and phrasing massai is a timeless and personal statement from bartkuhn as he seeks the essence in what dance music can and possibly should be. as a young child growing up in frankfurt, bartkuhn penned his first pieces of music with a synthesizer and sequencer, bought for him by his parents upon realising their son s obsession with music. mastering the guitar as a teenager bartkuhn fell deeply in love with the music of pat metheny, keith jarrett and john coltrane and styles such as soul, funk, brasilian sounds, minimal, dance, and others which is heard in his music today. by the mid 90 s bartkuhn began to explore the deep and soulful side of house music and formed lamaya productions and the now legendary record label needs (not wants) together with his older brother marek bartkuhn and dj yannick. needs rapidly became a synonym for soulful, high quality music and while labeled a house music imprint it was lars input that lead the trio to explore alternative, and at the time unorthodox, musical influences that allowed for original textures and arrangements to be included in their productions. countless remix commissions followed and their sound travelled worldwide with works for francois kevorkian, jazztronik, ennio morricone, atjazz to name a few. to date bartkuhn has produced five solo albums all of which demonstrate a never ending creative flow of ideas and artistic diversity, complexity and passion. after some years away from the dance music scene, residing in brasil, lars decided to continue this journey on volcov s neroli records, followed by a 12- for alex bradley s phonica affiliated utopia records. the latter release, nomad has found its way into the sets of the likes of jeremy underground paris, hunee, antal, ron trent, rainer truby, bicep and mcde to name just a few. it s at this point that bartkuhn gives us massai...his self proclaimed finest work

ltd 2017 repress
following on from his return to dance orientated music on neroli records with the lush and endearing music for the golden age , multi album artist lars bartkuhn (sonar collective & needs) brings contrasting sides of his musical character for alex bradley s burgeoning utopia records, touching on detroit, jazz fusion and ambient. tokyo burning is a youthful and stripped back electronic club track harking back to the detroit house heyday of galaxy to galaxy and happy records but with a modernist approach and bartkuhn s unique musicality for what has all the hallmarks of a peak-time club classic. in contrast title track nomad brings the full spectrum of bartkuhn s musical range with a more organic and rhythmic dance composition. a fusion of afro percussion, his own emotive vocal hook, melodic keys, joyful flute playing, bound together with the guitar playing that has had many compare bartkuhn to the likes of jazz master pat metheny. the track builds into a breakdown that is perhaps best described by anthony nicholson as, a combination of truth, inspiration and cosmic energy . rounding out the ep a gentle acoustic reprise, a deeper introspective piece for ambient music lovers.

ltd 2017 repress , utopia records is the anticipated new label project by alexander bradley in collaboration with soho record store phonica, set to unearth a diverse range of music, from official re-releases and remastering of obscurities to contemporary and cutting edge club and home listening music.touching on jazz, techno, house, ambient, disco and boogie through to left-field cosmic, balearic soul and rock. the first release comes in the form of an essential ambient japanese house track by legendary producers manabu nagayama and soichi terada. this highly sought after version of low tension originally released on the la ronde ep on bpm records japan in 1991, has been remastered for single release for the first time.

for the second release on alex bradley’s utopia records we see the return of london based producer dominic jacobson aka ‘modaji’. dominic’s initial modaji and harvey lindo releases garnered acclaim from luminaries such as francois kevorkian, derrick may and gilles peterson and after 10 years away from releasing to concentrate on composing music for film and television, jacobson returns to the studio to delve further into his deep house and ambient soundscapes. the first of two ep’s, belle epoque touches on a more cinematic approach to production and showcases a warmer, more expanded sound. the aim is to create music that is as listenable during the dusky twilight hours as it is at sunrise. the rest we leave to your imagination and trust you will enjoy our offering. limited pressing!