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Review: The second solo releases from Edward Ka-Spel to appear on the Lumberton Trading Company label offers eight spectacularly original compositions from the outsider artist. These are tracks that bore their way into the heart and mind through startlingly personal moods and meanings. The atmosphere is often tense, and, when it's not, 'surreal' is the word that springs to mind - albeit more unusual hallucination than comical experiment. 'Platform 5' might be the best example of how unnerving things can get, the low, rumbling synth bassline underpinning spoken word, distant, almost inaudible harmonic refrain and eerie chorus. 'No Show Tomorrow' asks "what if they had a war and nobody showed up' to seemingly disconnected tones, notes and noises. 'They Seek Her Here' ups the tempo with a synth-wave-breaks trip through dystopian spaces.

Review: Madrugada's The Industrial Silence Tour in 2019 took them to play Live At Rockpalast and the show was captured for this limited edition and one-off album. It comes on turquoise coloured vinyl, housed in a sturdy sleeve with three printed innersleeves. The magical live recording came as the band regrouped to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their much loved and vital debut album Industrial Silence. The show in Germany found them at their very best, fully energy and engaged with the crowd not just musically but emotionally. This release has been put together in collaboration with and supervised by the band themselves.

Review: Southern Californian punk legends Social Distortion dropped their vital debut album Mommy's Little Monster four whole decades ago now. To mark the anniversary it is getting a special 40th edition reissue and has been freshly mastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed up to 180-gram vinyl for the occasion. The nine songs that were on the original release of the album all feature such as the much loved title track 'Mommy's Little Monster' and single 'Another State of Mind'. Proper original punk business from the US greats.

Review: Collignon brings some real class to this new one on Bongo Joe Records. It is a tidy two-track 45rpm that is best described as psychedelic tropical. Opener 'Viemos De Longe' is a dense and busy mix of warped synth wobbles and steamy jungle effects, humid pads and mystic melodies that take you deep into overgrown flora where all manner of birds and frogs await with their weird and wonderful calls. Add in some psyched-out rock guitars and a sense of 60s spy theme funk and you have a marvellous cut. Flip it over for further sonic fun in the form of the magical 'Visita Noturna.'

Notes: Serious synth options here, with a 24-voice polyphonic, four-part multi-timbral design based on the iconic PPG wavetable approach, updated and blended with analogue filters. An absolute powerhouse of an instrument.

Supplier's Notes:
The 3rd Wave desktop module a powerhouse wavetable synth with 24-voice polyphony and 4-part multi-timbral capability that's like having four independent synthesizers at your fingerprints.

It has all of the power, all of the polyphony, all of the multipart capability, all of the I/O, and all of the awesome sound quality of the full keyboard version.

Each of its 3 oscillators per voice can be any of these 3 choices:
A classic PPG 8-bit wavetable with all the original processing
A high-resolution anti-aliased 96KHz wavetable
Analogue modelled waveforms with spline interpolation

Create up to 64 custom wavetables of your own using the built-in Wavemaker. With the sample-to-wavetable capability, you can connect an audio source to the audio input and generate a wavetable at the touch of a button.

Classic legacy, modern sound

While the 3rd Wave has roots in the classic digital wavetable synths of the past, it takes that concept into the 21st century with a lush, expansive sound that's a product of its expanded wavetables and warm, organic-sounding analogue filters, 4 independent parts, and 24 voices.

It boasts not only a punchy, Dave Rossum-designed 2140 analogue low-pass filter with variable saturation, but a second, SEM-style state-variable filter (low-pass, high-pass, notch, and band-pass) for additional tone-sculpting. Run both filters in series for harmonically complex textures.

4-part multi-timbral

With 24-voices, the 3rd Wave has enough power for the most note-intensive performances.

And that polyphony really comes into play with its ability to layer up to 4 independent parts or split zones -- each with a completely different sound, sequence, and dual effects.

Each part has independent panning, volume, and a dedicated stereo physical output. Use the multiple outputs and part placement to create spatial audio mixes.

Modulation matrix

The secret weapon of any synth is its mod matrix, and the 3rd Wave doesn't disappoint.

With 16 assignable slots, 12 additional fixed-source slots, 27 sources, and 114 destinations, it has the flexibility of a modular.

And all of this power is per multipart. That means up to 4 independent layers of sound, each with its own mod matrix.

Sequence notes, songs and parameters

The 3rd Wave's sequencer is an inspiring tool for both composers and sound designers because it is pattern-based and can sequence notes, songs, and parameter changes.

For composing and performing, enter notes and chords in real time with or without quantization for maximum groove and arrange up to 24 patterns of up to 32 measures in length into songs just as easily.

Sound engine

3 High-resolution Digital Oscillators Per Voice

64 total user wavetable positions with 48 wavetables that contain 64 waveforms per table (32 legacy PPG waves with room for another 16 of this type)
32 original 8-bit wavetables from the PPG 2 series instruments with room for 16 more user created 8 bit wavetables
7 high-resolution modelled analogue waveforms (sine, saw, triangle, supersaw, pulse, white noise, pink noise)
VCO sync
Free-running oscillators
Linear FM
6-stage wave envelope per oscillator with variable time and position that can be looped
Optional wave flow section that allows for no wavetable as well as no waveform interpolation
Upper wavetable mode as with the original PPG 2 series
Unison, poly unison, and chord unison mode with variable voice count

Analog Low-pass Filter (per voice)

Dave Rossum designed, classic, 2140 low-pass resonant filter
24 dB per octave slope
variable saturation amount
optional resonance compensation

State-Variable Filter (per voice)
12 dB per octave slope
Continuously variable between low-pass, notch, and high-pass, operation with optional band-pass mode

4 ADSR+ Delay Envelopes
Filter, Amplifier, plus 2 additional envelopes switchable between exponential and vintage PPG-style response
Freely assignable to multiple modulation destinations

4 Low-Frequency Oscillators
Triangle, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, square, pulse 1, pulse 2, pulse 3, and random (S&H)
Variable delay
Note reset
Syncable to master clock BPM

2 Digital Effects
BBD, stereo delay, tape delay, chorus, phaser, flanger, distortion pedal, rotating speaker, ring mod, room reverb, hall reverb, super plate reverb - most modelled on famous hardware devices
Syncable to master clock BPM
Parameters modulatable via mod matrix

Wave maker tool

Built-In Custom Wavetable Maker

"Sample-to-wave" functionality. Connect an audio source to the 3rd Wave's Audio In port, press "Make Waves" and the synth samples the audio to create a custom wavetable
Samples to convert can also be brought in as a 96 kHz wav file through USB
Store up to 32 custom wavetables
64 waveforms per wavetable
Accepts pitched or un-pitched material as input
96 kHz sampling rate
16-bit resolution
1024 cycles per waveform, converted automatically to cover entire keyboard range
Flexible wave-sampling length

Sequencer

Performs both Note and Parameter Sequencing
1 song per multi-part
24 sequences per song
32 measures per sequence
Variable quantization resolution per sequence (32nd, 16th, 8th, quarter, half, whole note, or quantization off)
Swing

Arepggiator

1 Arp per Multi-part
Up, down, up/down, and assign modes
Variable range (1, 2, or 3 octaves)

Mod matrix

16-slot Modulation Matrix Per Multi-Part

16 slot modulation matrix with 27 mod sources and 114 mod destinations
12 additional fixed-source mod paths
Modulation assignment buttons enable quick and easy modulation routing
Mod Matrix runs at audio rates
Sequencer can record and play mod parameter changes in real time

Controls

77 knobs and 39 buttons enable deep, comprehensive editing with minimal menu diving
Pitch and Mod Wheels
Full-sized, five-octave, semi-weighted, premium Fatar keyboard with velocity and aftertouch

Programs

500 factory programs. User rewritable

In/out

4 Stereo outputs (2x 1/4" phone jack per part)
Headphone out (stereo 1/4" phone jack)
MIDI In, MIDI Out, and MIDI Thru
USB port for bidirectional MIDI communication
Audio Input for creating user wavetables from external audio source (1/4" phone jack)
Sustain/footswitch input
Volume pedal input
Expression pedal input

Power

1 universal IEC AC power inlet for internal power supply

Review: If you like your techno murky and subterranean then Node has got another doozy of a 12" for you. It is a six track various artists EP that comes on silver marbled vinyl and opens with the sleazy underworld sounds of 'Selva Oscura' from Conceptual. Orbe's 'Thorax' then goes down a deep, dark late night techno tunnel in mind melting fashion and Sciahri's deft loops on 'No Fear' leave you feeling utterly in the moment. The hypnosis continues on the flip with darker drum rumbles from Farceb, constant suspense from 'Dario Duegra' and magnificently weighty minimalism from Uun.

Review: Oceanvs Orientalis and Ilhan Ersahin first entered each other's orbits by chance at a performance at Turkey's Cappadox Festival in 2018. Orientalis is renowned for his fusion of Eastern musical motifs and traditions with cutting-edge electronica, while Ilhan Ersahin has long plowed a unique path uniting assorted musical strains from around the world via an exploratory jazz-improv sensibility. Following two tracks ('Mesta' and 'Pire') co-written by Ilhan and OvO and released as collaborations, as well as two more Ersahin / OvO co-writes ('Revenge Of The Wankers' and 'Television') released under OvO's name alone, a fresh and exciting new song, '1980', now heralds a full-length collaboration slated to land in Spring 2024. The track's title hints at a certain nostalgic bent, all while still keeping its gaze firmly fixed on the future as it evokes sun-drenched, bygone good times. The 10" edition adds several extra versions, one of which spotlights the multi-instrumental mastery of Darkside's Dave Harrington, and the other the mesmerizing vocal stylings of Gaye Su Akyol.

Review: Scott Monteith returns with his first solo Deadbeat album in five years having recently collaborated with the likes of Sa Pa, Om Unit and The Mole. As ever, Monteith's long-standing dedication to dubwise experimentation drives his music forward on this new set, and there are some welcome threads that run further back in his career. 'Brick Stick Blick Blade (Anger II)' features a vocal flow from Black Noble Oluokun, who first collaborated with Monteith on the 2007 album Journeyman's Annual. That's but one standout element in an album rich with soundsystem immersion and techno propulsion delivered with the meditative poise that we always expect from Deadbeat.

Review: Public Castration Is A Good Idea is one of the rare instances of a bootleg instantly becoming part of a band's canon. As Michael Gira's Swans grew in stature on the outer edges of industrial rock through the 80s, their reputation as an incendiary live act rose in tandem. Some Bizarre gave their blessing to this recording which wound up as the first Swans live album, captured in the UK in 1986 in the wake of the Greed and Holy Money tours. It's a forbidding listen, as you might well expect - all clanking metal, barbed noise and Gira's troubled invocations - and it takes you right to the heart of the band in this formative era.

Review: Leslie Johnson came through in the blues breakout years of the 50s and 60s, releasing a whole batch of tracks for Nashville label Excello, before an extended hiatus kept him off the radar until the late 1980s. The second wave of his career as Lazy Lester continued right up until his death in 2018, and in the midst of that came All Over You. It's a perfect document of Johnson's more grizzled, road-worn sound in his later years, which in many ways adds weight to his offerings to the blues as a lifelong exponent of the music. This 25th anniversary edition of the album comes as a limited orange and blue splattered pressing with an obi-strip on the sleeve for good measure.

Review: L'Orange is a pretty prodigious and prolific producer who has worked with a wide range of collaborators in his time. For Time? Astonishing! he has joined up with a bona-fide legend in Kool Keith as well as calling upon some fine features from the likes of J-Live, Mr. Lif, Open Mike Eagle, Blu, Montage One, DJ Trackstar, MC Paul Barman, and MindsOne. It's a a great mix of vibes that appeal to both fans of heady and cerebral hip hop and those who simply like to get lost in sorted and hazy beats. L'Orange does a fine job of adapting his sound to fit the mercurial Kool Keith style and the result is a rather hallucinatory listen.

Review: Alanna is revered as a brilliantly powerful live performer who captivates crowds with the energy of her voice. Her new album is no less potent. Trouble Is is a mix of deep, profound, cinematic r&b with her trademark mix of fun and fearlessness, with stirring gospel overtones that ride on tight rhythm sections and shiny brass. It also finds the Nashville soul siren drawing on the greats of soul that have got before her as well as adding her own unique signature across nine timeless tracks that arrive on lovely white vinyl.