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Review: &Me and Black Coffee make for something of an Afro house dream team here. The latter has long been this sound's pin-up and has gone from playing in South African townships to producing with Beyonce and winning Grammy Awards over the last decade. Now deep in his latest Ibiza season, he unveils collaborative track 'The Rapture' (Pt III), a deep rolling cut with spine-tingling chords and a rich atmosphere. &ME then goes solo for 'LIFE', a shuffling percussive groove with spoken words and enchanting chords to make for a classy two-tracker.

Notes: A groundbreaking collaborative documentary, 101 was co-directed by acclaimed husband-and-wife filmmaking team D.A. Pennebaker (Dont Look Back) and Chris Hegedus (The War Room) with active creative input from Depeche Mode, who had held an exclusive contest for fans offering an appearance in a Depeche Mode movie as the prize. 101's narrative through-line of contest winners traveling across America to attend Depeche Mode's landmark Rose Bowl concert is a cinematic precursor to the youth culture trend in "reality tv" programming. Depeche Mode's 101 captures the electrifying synergy between the band and their fans.

This new edition has been meticulously upgraded using 4k scans of the original film reels.

Review: Ghetto Supastar is a song by American rapper Pras, but is also the name of this new 12" from 207737 on the Detroit Techno Records label. It embodies a new sound coming from the celebrated Motor City that draws on everything which went before and adds new perspective, emotion and sound designs. 'Stella' is a lithe and soulful cut with minimal drums and a cosmic atmosphere, while 'Tribal Dance' brings brighter chords and more playful patterns over raw-ass drums. There is plenty of Omar-S's rough hewn drum work in 'Apply Pressure' and elsewhere '8 Mile Boogie' brings a Mediterranean Balearic vibe to the D in superb fashion. An intriguing EP for sure.

Notes: ***B-STOCK: Box damaged, product in perfect working order***


Power brick for powering Pods. One power brick can power up to 10 typical Pods. Pods can be daisy-chained using a Barrel Cable or Long Barrel Cable.

15V/3A (45W) / 2.1mm Barrel Plug (5.5mm outer diameter) / Positive Centre.

You also may use your own power brick if it meets the following requirements:

- 15V to 20V DC
- Positive centre 2.1mm barrel plug
- Minimum 20W output power
- Low-noise output
- Compatible with an IEC C5 cable

Please note: IEC cable not supplied

Notes: The hands-on control of hardware meets the versatility of software. Bridging the gap between Eurorack and VCV Rack, the MetaModule includes over 160 built-in modules plus access to over 200 third-party options.

Supplier's Notes:
The MetaModule puts real knobs and jacks on virtual software modules. Step back from the computer and make music with hardware, while keeping the flexibility and expandability of software.

The MetaModule comes with over 160 built-in modules from 4ms Company, Befaco, HetrickCV, NonlinearCircuits, and Scanner Darkly, plus clones of popular classics such as the Mutable Instruments eurorack modules, fun physical modeling algorithms, and lots of handy utilities.

All of the included modules are also available on the computer using the free program VCV Rack. Whether you make patches on VCV Rack and transfer them to the MetaModule, or if you just create patches directly on the MetaModule, there are plenty of creative modules to inspire new ways to make music.

MetaModule Plugins

If the 160+ built-in module aren't enough, you can load more modules as plugins. Already there are over 200 modules in third-party plugins from Bogaudio, Valley, ChowDSP, NANO Modular, and the list is growing. 4ms have an SDK available to make it easy for VCV Rack plugin developers to convert their plugin to a MetaModule plugin. 4ms' licensing terms are non-restrictive: developers are welcome to distribute their plugin in any way they wish, commercially or not.

Mapping Knobs and Jacks

The MetaModule has 12 knobs that can be mapped to virtual knobs. Each knob can be mapped to up eight virtual knobs, and each mapping can have a different range and offset. You also can save a group of mappings as a Knob Set and switch between Knob Sets with the encoder. You also can map the 8 inputs and 8 outputs to virtual module jacks. Also, the MetaModule is a USB MIDI host, so you also can map MIDI CC, note, gate, and other parameters to knobs and jacks.

Expanders

There are lots of ways to customize your MetaModule. A Wifi expander allows you to wirelessly transfer patches from your computer. Add eight more knobs with the Knob expander, or buttons with the Button expander. A CV/Audio expander adds more high-resolution inputs and outputs, and the Gate In/Out expander adds not only gate jacks but also TRS MIDI and I2C.

Under the Hood

There are six CV/Audio inputs, two gate inputs, and six CV/Audio outputs. The CV/Audio jacks are all 24-bit, 48kHz DC-coupled, -10V to +10V. A USB-C jack accepts MIDI devices and thumb drives. Patches and plugins can be loaded via a USB drive or microSD Card, and internal flash memory lets you save patches you always want to come back to.

The processor is more advanced than anything 4ms has used in the past, and is among the most powerful processors found in Eurorack. Startup time and latency are blazingly fast.

Modules

160 built-in modules
Over 200 3rd-party module plugins available so far, and the ecosystem is growing
Create patches using VCV Rack or directly on MetaModule

Patches

Patches are loaded from microSD Card, USB drive, or via the Wifi expander
Patches can be optionally saved onto internal flash memory
Create patches using VCV Rack or directly on MetaModule
Patches can be given a name and description

Mappings

Map each physical knob to up to 8 virtual knobs
Set range and offset for each mapping, including inverted control
Knob mappings are grouped into Knob Sets, and changing Knob Sets can be done quickly without menu-diving
Map physical jacks to virtual jacks, seamlessly making splits/mults
Add or edit modules, cables, and mappings in real-time while the patch is playing
Create alias names for mappings like "Kick Drum Level"

Interface

Simple, intuitive graphical interface lets you zoom in on details, or zoom out to get a big picture
Patch View displays the patch as faceplates and cables, with knobs, buttons, and lights animating in real-time
Knob Set View simplifies the display, showing only the mapped knobs for the current Knob Set
Module View shows just one module and lists the names of each jack, knob, and control legibly
Mapping View lets you adjust details of a knob mapping
Adjust styles and visual preferences to your liking
Save, rename, duplicate, and delete patches
Firmware updater and plugin loader read from microSD Card or USB drive

Hardware

12 Knobs
8 CV/Audio outputs, 24-bit 48kHz, -10V to +10V, DC-coupled
6 CV/Audio inputs, 24-bit 48kHz, -10V to +10V, DC-coupled
2 Gate inputs
USB-C jack: MIDI Host or MSC (External drive) Host
microSD Card slot
Internal Flash RAM for additional patch storage
Dual-core 800MHz Cortex-A7 plus Cortex-M4 co-processor
512MB DDR3 533MHz RAM
Bare-metal operation for fast startup and low latency

26hp

Review: Formed in Chicago in 1993, 88 Fingers Louie are/were (depending on what their current hiatus status is) a melodic hardcore outfit best known for being the early project of guitarist Dan Wleklinski and bassist Joe Principe, who would later depart to form Rise Against (with Principe continuing to remain a prominent member). Following a slew of early 7" singles, 1995 saw the arrival of the band's debut full-length Behind Bars, landing courtesy of Hopeless Records, who continue to care for their classic back catalogue with an astute attention to detail (unlike many other label owners who seemingly continue to hoard and ignore the bevvy of out-of-print titles they could easily repress with a bit of gumption). Remastered in 2019 by Mr. Precision himself (the producer alias of Wleklinski who has since returned to his original group for reunion shows), this latest pressing boasts these updated masters which highlight the band's often overlooked compositional intricacies while evading the common pitfall of removing too much of the initial primitive dank that endeared so many a listener almost three decades prior.

Review: A-ha's 2016 compilation Time and Again: The Ultimate A-ha makes its debut on vinyl with a newly expanded tracklist of 21 songs, now encompassing material from all 11 original studio albums. The collection's first disc features their iconic hits like 'Take on Me' and 'The Living Daylights,' spanning their career from upbeat synth-pop beginnings to the more orchestral tones of later works such as 'Under the Makeup.' This compilation remains the most comprehensive overview of A-ha's career to date, now available in vinyl format that captures the breadth and evolution of their sound across the decades.

Review: 10 Seconds is a series of beat-driven vinyl releases from Canadian artist A Track. He is best known for being a part of the globe-trotting EDM circuit and has been for decades. He also runs his own Fools Gold label and puts out from time to time a series of beat experiments smashed out on his SP1200 drum machine. This series kicks off with a nice red 10" and four cuts of floor-wrecking electro that are raw and brain-frying. They're not big, they're not hard, they're not smart, but they are sure to be damn effective.

Notes: Maestro is a 6 channel clocked modulation controller inspired by the automation lanes found in digital audio workstation software, brought into eurorack and made playable and performable. Maestro will push and pull the parameters of your other modules with rapid or slowly evolving voltages, always in perfect sync with eachother and the rest of your system.

Details:

20hp

25mm deep

65mA on +12, 18mA on -12, 0mA on 5V

Notes: One of the most impressive granular synthesis approaches in Eurorack, combining looping and granular effects with buffer sizes up to five minutes. Hugely creative and powerful dual-module setup.

Supplier's Notes:
There's a long history behind the granular concept and many reinterpretations of it's core principles, this is ADDAC's take on it.

In a loose description digital Granular refer to pieces of sound files being played at the same time with slight or completely different parameters originating what is commonly referred to as granular clouds. Normally there's a buffer size from which the granular engine snips it's pieces from and plays them according to the parameters set. This buffer size is normally small in size where grains are so small that can reach the hearing spectrum and be heard as a sort of ever changing complex wavetable, this is the principle behind granular synthesis.

ADDAC have added the possibility of long buffer sizes up to 5 minutes, allowing "softer" approaches to the granular principle using it as an effect that can generate from "accidental" effects like slight "stutters" to extreme processing and transformation of any incoming audio signal.

This module is conceptually deep but easy to grasp and operate as all controls are in its dedicated panel, all jack inputs and outputs have its own separate panel to allow no compromise when playing it's controls.

There are three main sections in this module:
Looper Engine: The Looper is where all the Real-Time recording happens. The audio input feeds the recording buffer, multiple controls allow to record and play loops into a list so that any sample in the list can be accessed at ay time and more acting as a standard looper
Granular Engine: The Granular acts upon the buffer of whatever LOOP is selected.
Output Mix The output mix allow individual control for the Dry Input, Looper Volume and Grains Volume.
Besides these main sections there's also a simple strip down MENU mainly used to LOAD and SAVE Banks, no Menu diving guaranteed.

For more detailed info, please refer to the User's Guide.

Audio Specs:
Audio input: Stereo, 16bit 44.1Khz
Audio output: Stereo, 16bit 44.1Khz

Tech Specs:
32HP + 13HP
4.5cm deep
240mA +12V
70mA -12V

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Now announcing her latest album 30, it's been Adele's longest ever hiatus between albums. Biting back at media hype earlier this year, our worries that 30 would be a "drum and bass record to spite you", in Adele's own words, have been assuaged; its lead single 'Easy On Me' is rather a dramatic, roomy, noir piano ballad. And now that the tracklist has been revealed, we can expect more of the same - belting emotion is, of course, what Adele does best. Watch out for interluding and ending collabs with Erroll Garner and Chris Stapleton, as well as the intimately titled 'I Drink Wine'.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


Now announcing her latest album 30, it's been Adele's longest ever hiatus between albums. Biting back at media hype earlier this year, our worries that 30 would be a "drum and bass record to spite you", in Adele's own words, have been assuaged; its lead single 'Easy On Me' is rather a dramatic, roomy, noir piano ballad. And now that the tracklist has been revealed, we can expect more of the same - belting emotion is, of course, what Adele does best. Watch out for interluding and ending collabs with Erroll Garner and Chris Stapleton, as well as the intimately titled 'I Drink Wine'.

Review: A hugely exciting and thoroughly danceable new 7" from Florence Adooni, blowing any other artist who could even remotely hope to stake a worthy claim to contemporary highlife out of the park. Following up her debut single 'Fo Yelle' on Philophon, the Ghanaian Frafra Soul singer returns backed by an eight-member troupe, made up of young talents from the highlife scene of Kumasi, Ghana. 'Uh Ah Song' and its inverse counterpart 'Otoma Da Naba' are slick, clean and joyous daytime jaunts, with the former track lyrically meditating on familial and childhood themes while effortlessly pinning down a difficult-to-maintain-for-most uptempo highlife backbeat and improv. The B-side, meanwhile, pays tribute to the supreme terrestrial creator central to Adooni's native Frafra community, and centres on a heptatonic electronic, nigh acid riff and lo-fi texture with a "je ne sais qoui" that, in our view, renders it the tune of the year so far.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Aroof Aftab presents her third studio album, and a record that has the power to transport listeners pretty much anywhere. While steeped in traditions stereotypically associated with her homeland, ears more attuned will quickly pick up on just how divergent this is. Whether you'd consider it a classical album is down to how you gauge that genre term, we'd say it has grown broad enough over the past century to definitely include this, but ultimately even that seems reductive.

Elements of poetry, ambient trance, jazz, minimalism, and new age, it's a spiritual and musical experience based around themes of discovery, loss, memory, and intimate connections with the Earth. Sonically, that translates as something that's at once sublime and yet also surprising, combining a multitude of influences from aeons of songwriting to create something that could not have existed in any previous era.

Review: Kalita has a fine record of unearthing holy grail records and reissuing them to rabid fans around the world. The latest is a real corker even by their standards - an unrelated album of soul, gospel and disco songs from Al-Dos Band. It is part of the first drop for Record Store Day 2021 and immediately melts the heart. 'Don't Come Smiling Back' is a deeply emotive slow jam with an impassioned vocal and pained chords, while 'Your Presence' is a much more rapturous and uplifting bit of musical worship, 'Some Things Don't Mean A Thing' is a robust and rugged bit of strident disco with magic funk riffs, and 'Love Jones Coming Down' is a real dance floor heater.

Review: Alessandro Alessandroni is a library music legend who set the blueprint for the genre early on and then managed to get even more famous because of providing the iconic whistle on famous spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dollars'. The influential composer and musician had a big say in the world of soundtracks during the 60s and 70sFour Flies have often released his work or covers of it. The tunes on this 7" are taken from an obscure 1975 Italian film by Elio Bartolini. They walk the thin line between disco and funk and jazz-funk with big horn and rhythm sections. Both might have been lost forever if it weren't for the fact that this label put them on the now modern classic and hard to find compilations Esterno Notte and Esterno Giorno.

Notes: ***B-STOCK: Item refurbished, repaired and without original box but in perfect working order.***


Still a classic, still a brilliant mixer. Nearly 20 years on the market but sounding just as good as ever, the Xone:92 seems like a bit of a bargain now.

Supplier's Notes:
The industry-standard Xone:92 is a versatile six channel analogue mixer, renowned for its expansive, involving sound. With its solid construction and easy to use interface, the 92 is on the riders of most of the world's top DJs and is a permanent fixture in the booth at many of the biggest superclubs.

The Xone:92 was one of the first professional DJ mixers to incorporate MIDI for control of DJ software or external devices, and the first to include the innovative dual VCF filters. With its two stereo FX sends, twin Mic/returns, and one of the best EQ sections around, this mixer is a DJ's dream tool.

For those who prefer to blend with rotary faders the Xone:92R is also available.

Review: Indica Dubs and Music Mania link up once more for their 18th release, which comes from two of the UK dub top legends and pioneers in Alpha & Omega and The Disciples. This album was first put out in 1998, but only in CD format. Now two deuces later it makes its first ever appearance on vinyl and is as crucial as ever, with its crisp and fresh, steel plated dub sounds and warrior leads. The iconic 'Roaring Lion' is a well known anthem in the dub scene, loved and admired by all, so gets a welcome inclusion and is sure to once again be heard everywhere as soon as we can enjoy some real life sound system action .

Review: Michel Amato aka Amato is a French producer more widely known as The Hacker. Alongside Miss Kittin, Amato has been a cornerstone of the European house, techno, and electro scene, dropping singles and album like bombs. Having contributed to a previous split 12" on Cititrax, Amato returns to Minimal Wave's sister label with a wondrous homage to industrial, EBM and electro in Le Desordre De La Nuit. The difference between The Hacker and Amato? The sounds of The Hacker are more constrained than this particular whirlpool of pseudo electro and gargling quasi techno. Whatever you want to call it, these four slammers are all made for the dark room dance, each one nastier than the other and all of them audibly produced by an artist with plenty of experience and effectiveness know-how.

Review: BOOM! Our favourites, Cititrax, roll the third editions of Tracks out onto our shelves, and the results are unsurprisingly strong on this excellent various artists comp. It's a mixed bag of skills, as per usual, and the sounds are those of a new NYC, fuelled by a new sort of post-industrial sensibility. Amato Y Mariana open with the tight beats and groove of "Queires Bailar", followed closely by the ominous compositions of the EBM-flavoured "Montgat" from The Sixteen Steps. On the flip, His Dirty Secrets bleeps out some morphed acid on "Structures", and "Another Stranger" from Further Reductions churns out a slow, mild-mannered house experiment with its roots clearly planted in the coldest of waves. Sick.