Non- Konformism

Sunday night in Stockport at The Red Bull, an end of tour gig for Nuremberg's Konformer and a Before I Die party. Jason Boardman's Before I Die has become a must- purchase label, every release guaranteed to be first rate outsider and outlier music, the label capturing the stuff that happens in the margins and away from the bright lights. Putting on a label party in a Stockport pub on a Sunday night, just because, and filling the pub is testament to what he's put into BID over the last few years. 

There were DJs from 4 pm and by the time I arrived at around 6 pm J-Walk was on the decks spinning Sunday evening tunes. J-Walk released a 7" single on Before I Die earlier this year called Never Go Home- blissed out Spacemen 3 style indie on the A, King Tubby style dub on the B. It's one of the singles of the year- you can listen to it here and grab one of the four remaining copies of the vinyl if you're quick.

Before that in 2024 there was an album, Broken Beauty, made in Stockport. Tonight J-Walk steps out from behind the decks and plays a set of four songs so new no one has heard them yet, Martin on synth and guitar, FX pedals and vocals, finding a sweet spot where early 80s New Order met King Tubby. The four songs will fingers crossed end upon the next J-Walk release on Before I Die. 

Konformer are a three piece group from Nuremberg who have been in the UK for a tour playing grassroots venues with open minded bookers and crowds. Margate's Music Hall, The Golden Lion in Todmorden and Manchester Psyche Fest plus Bristol, Barrow in Furness, Deptford and Liverpool. By the time they open up at The Red Bull they are a well oiled machine, their heavy motorik grooves, layers of droning krauty keys and synths and Hooky- esque basslines rocking the pub's wood panelled walls,

Konformer's second album, Konformer II, came out in the summer and the band motor through the tracks from it, Mont Ventoux, Marseillel, Todmorden and the album's opening pair Konfectio Suite I and II. All instrumentals, no vocals to distract from the sound, the bass guitar leading with Kristian Krauss' synth/ keys adding the drones and cosmische textures. Mont Ventoux shimmers and pulses, drummer Andreas Berg absolutely on the beat and Rainer Ruder's bass climbing and looping round and round. At the end of the gig it's smiles all round and then trying to find a way home by public transport from Stockport on a Sunday night.

Japan Italy Nuremberg Todmorden

A truly globetrotting post today, from the Far East to Europe, with two reviews I've done over at Dr. Rob's Japan based Ban Ban Ton Ton blog in the last month, a pair of albums that are lighting up summer 2026. Both albums have something in common in sound and outlook, a European cosmische sensibility, one from Italy and one from Germany. 

First, Italian ambient artist Gigi Masin and an album called Movement which spans the electronic spectrum with ambient drones, heavenly choirs, cosmische excursions, sidesteps into jazz and breakbeats and more besides. My review is here and the album is at Bandcamp here. 

Deception Dance is a seven and a half minute triumph, a marriage of the synthetic and robotic with the organic and human. 

From Italy we head north through the Alps to southern Germany and Nuremberg's Konformer who have just released their second album, Konformer II. The band play instrumental kosmische, synths and drums following the bass guitar which usually takes the lead and creates the energy- loops of bass that become grooves, spacey, minimalist and motorik sounds. Three of the six tracks are named after places, Mont Ventoux, Marseille and Todmorden. The last of these three will host Konformer when they play a week long tour of the UK in late August/ early September, concluding at Manchester Psyche Fest.

My review at Ban Ban Ton Ton is here and the album, out now on Jason Boardman's Before I Die, is here and below.  

Monday's Long Songs

This came via a tip off from Dan of The Flightpath Estate, an imminent release on Jason Boardman's Before I Die label- Dub Tapes Volume 1 by Klangkollektor. There are three tracks to listen to at their Bandcamp page and a further four due when the album releases in full later this week. Sumptuous, deep, richly textured dub with a smattering of ambient techno and a splash of the Balearic feel. 

Klangkollektor is Lars Fischer, drummer from Nuremberg's psychedelic Cumbia band Trak Trak. All three tracks released so far are long- Lake Lounge comes in at just under ten minutes, a dub experiment, all space, echo, rattles and rhythm and some tinkling piano. The six minutes forty seconds of Midnight Express is laid back and bubbly, a trip into an absorbing dreamworld. Globulus is seven minutes plus of spacious, atmospheric dub with a piano line picked out on the top. You can listen and buy here. There must be something going on in Nuremberg- Before I Die released another Nuremberg act's album last year, Konformer's self titled debut, an album that opened with the superb Noris Noir.

There was a remix EP with this remix from Sean Johnston. There's no point trying to describe it, it does exactly what it says on the tin and should be felt rather than read about. 

Konformer (Hardway Bros Techno Remix)

Konforming

The phrase Hardway Bros remix is turning into a weekly thing at the moment- recently Sean Johnston's applied his magic remix touch to tracks by Marshall Watson and Cole Odin (psychedelic indie- dance gold from California), Islandman (psychedelic indie- dance gold from Istanbul) and Holy Youth Movement (shuffly indie- dance gold from Bristol). 

Now we get two remixes of Nuremberg's Konformer, a group mentioned here at the weekend in my Bagging Area/ Ban Ban Ton Ton mix after I reviewed Konformer's album. The title track of Konformer's album is a ten minutes of instrumental, cosmische splendour, synths, bass and drums combining, all seductive dark grooves and circling melodies. 

Sean's Hardway Bros remixes don't mess about. The Hardway Bros Remix is ten minutes of mayhem, tempo doubled and rhythm toughened, the sort of thing that wears the carpet out at parties. The Hardway Bros Techno Remix is even more so, a jacking house groove, nagging hi hat and snare rolls kicking hard. The third remix of the package,  the Iron Curtis remix is courtesy of Berlin DJ Iron Curtis, a wiggy, tripped out workout, crashing cymbals and acid squiggles. The three track remix EP can be bought digitally here. 

Bagging Area/ Ban Ban Ton Ton Mix

For some time now Dr Rob, the man who runs the standard setting blog Ban Ban Ton Ton, a one stop shop for all things Balearic and otherwise, has been asking me to write reviews for him. Since the new year I've written some album reviews which I don't think I've linked here, so today's Sunday mix post pulls those reviews from the first half of 2023 together for those who might be interested in them, and provides a sampler in the form of a forty three minute long mix below. 

Ban Ban Ton Ton/ Bagging Area Guest Review Mix

• Jon Hassell: Neon Nights
• Konformer: Konformer
• Tolga Boyuk and Kenneth Bager: Betrayal
• TECWAA: I Terra Dub
• Roe Deers: Can't Remember
• Yargo: Marimba
• Sorcerer: Zero Return
• Eloah: Logan Ede

Jon Hassell was a pioneering New York based trumpeter/ composer. His Fourth World music fused primitivism and futurism in the late 70s and 80s and led him to work with Talking Heads, David Sylvian and Carl Craig among others. Psychogeography is a compilation of late 80s recordings combining avant- jazz, soundtracks, psychogeography, ambient music and Situationism, which sounds off- putting but is great fun. My review is here. 

Konformer are a three piece from Nuremburg, signed to Manchester's Jason Boardman's new label Before I Die. Five lovely synth- led cosmische instrumentals. Reviewed by me here and highly recommended (the album I mean not the review). 

Tolga Boyuk and Kenneth Bager wrote and recorded a soundtrack to a film that hasn't been shot yet, East Is North, in two days. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and John Carpenter all feature as reference points. Read my review here. 

TECWAA is from York and has released an EP on New York's Throne Of Blood, a label on something of a hot streak. My review said something like 'sci fi, deep house, cinematic psychedelic dub'. Here. 

Roe Deers were one artist on a compilation put out by Parisienne label Lumiere Noir, twelve previously unreleased slices of 'deep and dark electronics'. Read my review here if you've got this far down.  

Yargo were a Manchester blues/ funk/ dub group who missed the boat in the late 80s Manchester boom but are fondly remembered. Their proto- house/ Latin B-side features on the new compilation from DJ Luke Una, E- cultura soul Vol. 2, a multi- artist tribute to late nights, dancing and the widest spread of music you can imagine. Eloah's Logan Ede comes from the same album, Brazilian soul from the late 1970s. My review is here. 

Sorcerer is from Califronia and his second album Bubble Funk is a blast of short, funky instrumentals celebrating skateboarding, cassette culture, home studios, 70s funk and Balearic pop. Reviewed here. 

I also reviewed Reinhard Vanbergen's Meditation On Modern Modes, an hour long ambient tour de force from Belgium's multi- instrumentalist but couldn't work any of the ten minute pieces onto the mix above. Read and listen here.