Latecomers to the Krautrock party, Circles created a manifesto of frenzied inertia in the late 1980s, swimming in the same gene pool as Cluster and Popol Vuh.

Ambient music for the end of time does not get any more authentic than this. The Structures album is a time capsule unlocked, containing previously unreleased recordings from the years 1985 to 1989. Music which meshes the extremes of "end of time foreboding" and "drifting lightness" to beguiling effect. Music which succeeds in sounding more contemporary now that it did when it was made. Its time has come.

Electronic keyboards and guitars are the dominant sound sources. One can hear a Korg Trident, a much-prized analogue synthesizer, noted for its string and brass section ". for the warm, deep layers and harmonies in the upper ranges and bass", Mike remembers. They also used a monophone analogue synthesizer, the Moog Source, a classic of space age industrial design. Considered by some to be the most beautiful synth ever built.

It was more than a year ago, in the grey parisian midst that Avant! discovered the first EP of a group that they couldn't ignore any longer, Rendez‐Vous. The band's first track The Others was heard like a traveling echo in the capital. The 4 piece band was then discovered like a secret longing to be kept, but in vain. While the expectance were heavy on the band, they kept their distance with the outside and focused on the music. So for a while they hibernated in a cave in Bastille that became the core and inspired the corrosive sound of this second EP.

The mixing was entrusted to Ben Greenberg, singer and bassist of The Men also producer of Destruction Unit, Beach Fossils and other Sacred Bones Records artists. The result is a six track EP that sounds closer to the vision of the band. Supported by a procession of ghosts like Fad Gadget, the Dance Society or Nitzer Ebb, that the band resurfaces from the underground ready to shake the dead.

The EP is like a heartbreaking beautiful reunion, which is mostly the case with the best rendez‐vous.

Distance is out April 28 on 12" vinyl EP & digital.

From October to December 2016 Alcest will be on a co-headlining tour through Europe together with Mono. Please find the complete schedule below and a tour webflyer attached.

Oct 27, 2016 // Beatpol // Dresden, DE
Oct 29, 2016 // Strom // Munich, DE
Oct 30, 2016 // Gebaude 9 // Cologne, DE
Oct 31, 2016 // Jubez // Jubez, DE
Nov 1, 2016 // Salzhaus // Salzhaus, CH
Nov 2, 2016 // Circolo Magnolia // Segrate, IT
Nov 3, 2016 // Mostovna // Nova Gorica, SI
Nov 4, 2016 // Locomotiv // Bologna, IT
Nov 5, 2016 // Init // Rome, IT
Nov 6, 2016 // Spazio 211 // Turin, IT
Nov 7, 2016 // Cco Villeurbanne // Lyon, FR
Nov 8, 2016 // La Maroquinerie // Paris, FR
Nov 9, 2016 // Engine Rooms // Southampton, UK
Nov 10, 2016 // The Institute // Birmingham, UK
Nov 11, 2016 // Queens Hall // Leicester, UK
Nov 12, 2016 // Classic Grand // Glasgow, UK
Nov 13, 2016 // Brudenell Social Club // Leeds, UK
Nov 14, 2016 // Gorilla // Manchester, UK
Nov 15, 2016 // The Globe // Cardiff, UK
Nov 16, 2016 // Marble Factory // Bristol, UK
Nov 17, 2016 // Brixton Electric // London, UK
Nov 18, 2016 // VK // Brussels, BE+
Nov 19, 2016 // 013 // Tilburg, NL
Nov 20, 2016 // P60 // Amstelveen, NL
Nov 21, 2016 // Uebel & Gefährlich // Hamburg, DE
Nov 22, 2016 // Lille Vega // Copenhagen, DK
Nov 23, 2016 // Pustervik // Gothenburg, SE
Nov 24, 2016 // Parkteatret // Oslo, NO
Nov 25, 2016 // Debaser Strand // Stockholm, SE
Nov 26, 2016 // KB // Malmo, SE
Nov 27, 2016 // Binuu // Berlin, DE
Nov 28, 2016 // B90 // Gdansk, PL
Nov 29, 2016 // Firlej // Wroclaw, PL
Nov 30, 2016 // Szene // Vienna, AT
Dec 1, 2016 // Durer Kert // Budapest, HU
Dec 2, 2016 // Tabacka // Kosice, SK
Dec 3, 2016 // Rockstadt // Brasov, RO

Additionally here's a message from Neige about Alcest's upcoming album:
"For the past 3 months we have been recording our new album, and right now we are doing small adjustments on the mix. It's coming to an end of a very long journey (the longest studio experienced we had so far) and we feel quite exhausted, but really happy. For each album we try to challenge ourselves, developing the songs in new directions. This time will be just as special, but also a come back to the approach we had in our earlier albums, with intense songs full of contrasts and dynamics. Even if this album is quite "alien" and characteristic, we felt the need to come back to the origins of the project. The release date is planned for Autumn 2016 and then we will go on a 37 dates co-headline tour with the Japanese band MONO. We are very much looking forward to this tour and to show you the work of our last couple of years."

From 1971 to 1977 Peter Baumann was a member of the legendary German band Tangerine Dream, the inventors of the electronic music genre ,Berlin School".

He produced many seminal records in his Paragon studio (e.g. Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and released several successful solo albums. "Machines of Desire is filled with many influences, not least of them, my time with Tangerine Dream. Recording this album has been a very rich experience that fulfilled my creative desires, with more to come. I'm delighted that German record label Bureau B will release the recording in May/June of this year. The title, Machines of Desire, reflects my belief that as human beings were driven relentlessly by our deepest desires: the desire to experience life and love, to be heard and seen, to connect with others, to be safe, to find meaning and purpose. and countless more. We find ourselves in the drama of everyday life with uncertainty at every step, with fear of loss and existential loneliness, and only occasionally interrupted by the fundamental joy of being alive." Peter Baumann, February 2016

Formed in Dundee & Edinburgh, Scotland in 1976 by Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine, The Associates made some of the most esoteric and lavish ‘pop’ music of their time while gleefully wreaking havoc with industry expectations – refusing to play by any rules.

This new anthology features their biggest hits ‘Party Fears Two’ and ‘Club Country’, three previously unreleased tracks, their cover versions of David Bowie’s ‘Boys Keep Swinging’, ‘Love Hangover’ and the fateful ‘Gloomy Sunday’, plus 21 other songs showcasing their musical inventiveness and MacKenzie’s incredible voice. Includes detailed sleevenotes in an 8-page booklet.

The track list:

CD1

01.Boys Keep Swinging

02.The Affectionate Punch

03. Tell Me Easter's On Friday

04 Q Quarters

05.Kitchen Person

06 A

07.Message Oblique Speech

08.White Car In Germany

09.Kites

10.Party Fears Two

11.Club Country

12.18 Carat Love Affair

13 Love Hangover

CD2

01.Eloise

02. Window Shopping (Instrumental)

03.Jukebox Bucharest

04.Double Hipness

05.The Affectionate Punch (Demo)

06.The Room We Sat In Before

07.Galaxy Of Memories

08.Gloomy Sunday (Live - ICA 1980)

09.Waiting for The Loveboat (Instrumental)

10.Stephen, You’re Really Something

11. Fear Is My Bride

12.International Loner

13.Edge Of The World