February 2, 2025
Fresh From The DK Vault - True Vintage Djam Karet Merchandise!
In 2010 we printed up a bunch of T-Shirts for our France Gig. Customs decided they looked weird so they never arrived in time for the show and were returned to sender. True pre-pandemic shirt quality before everyone made things thinner and smaller! Also from the very back of The Vault, a handful of the 1989 DK Reflections From The Firepool LP release on the USA Syn-phonic label. Beautiful press and package.
January 23, 2025
Chuck Oken and Mike Ostrich, better known by the label OtherSide, are pleased to announce the release of two new deep electronic classics to the sonic Djam Karet hive mind. For those of you who live by Tangerine Dream's Phaedra and cannot get enough of that berlin-school sequencer material, then the two albums OtherSide just has issued are for you.
Craig Padilla was initially inspired by Berlin School pioneers such as Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, as well as the melodic compositions of Vangelis and the atmospheric space music of Steve Roach. Developing a distinctive, organic sound that bridges the worlds of analog, digital and modular synth music, he has issued forty albums since debuting in 1996 that span from trance and space music to new age and more. His diverse and impressive catalogue offers something for all electronic music lovers, while his work with guitarist Marvin Allen - which veers into Pink Floyd territory as well as the guitar based recordings of Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese - has also been widely admired. The Pulse of Life consists of five tracks of hand and ear played modular sequencer music performed on the Mattson Modular synthesizer. The sound of the past mixed with the shadows of the new, the album is wrapped up in analog beauty.
The output of UK musician Xan Alexander over the last two decades has seen him develop a unique style of electronic composition. Starting out in the group The Omega Syndicate before working as part of Magnetron and issuing solo material, he has introduced a subtle English angle to the sounds and spaces in his work that sits alongside the tried and true - and predominantly German - style of electronica that is his primary influence. His thirteenth solo release, Ouroboros II delivers six courses of syncopated rhythms and soundscapes emanating from deep inside the well of electronic sound possibility. With a myriad of tiny details embellishing the framework from which rhythms and melodies arise and evolve, the album is both a journey and an experience that results in something substantially more than the sum of its parts. The meal awaits you...bring wine.
December 6, 2024
This year Djam Karet celebrates 40 years of making music! Formed way back in 1984, in Claremont, CA. we've released 20 albums so far (as well as an additional 30 minor releases, compilations, etc). So to thank all of our fans, new and old, we are today releasing a huge 20-song compilation download, for free! With music from every one of our albums, this gigantic 3-hour collection covers all the musical styles and directions the band has pursued during these past 40 years. So tell your parents, tell your kids, tell your neighbors and strangers walking down the street...tell them all to head on over to Djam Karet's Bandcamp page for this FREE download, and also check out the newly discounted prices on our CDs and other releases. Many Thanks to all our fans who have supported us these many years!
October 6, 2024
OtherSide, the label started by Djam Karet member Chuck Oken Jr and DK webmaster Mike Ostrich, are thrilled to announce that their second set of releases are available to order now! These two releases are on vinyl and digital download only and will soon be available on most streaming platforms. Both LPs feature legendary French guitarist Richard Pinhas of the band Heldon.
Djam Karet have a somewhat long history with both Heldon and Pinhas. Big fans of the band, they first put fandom to wax back in 1991, when they covered the track Dedicated to K.C. from Pinhas's 1981 album, L'Ethique for a Cuneiform Records compilation. Later, Oken played synths on the 2006 album from Pinhas, Metatron. More recently, Chuck had Richard perform last year at Rhino Records, and, in addition, was recorded at NoiseBug for a future release.
The first album, Le Plan consists of four tracks from 2000's Only Chaos Is Real by Heldon. it has been given new life after being remixed by Pinhas in 2023. The very first time that this music has been made available on LP format, it has been somewhat overlooked in the Heldon oeuvre, yet more than ever it predicted and reflects the world as it is now. If you are fans of the more aggressive sounds of Djam Karet, then this releases is for you as it features the cream of French jazz rock musicians. The second album, Winter Music, was a track recorded for, but not used, during the Iceland sessions in 1979. Using the original looping procedures introduced to '70s rock by the likes of Fripp & Eno, he had performed the track by hand-playing a PolyMoog directly into two Revox A700 tape recorders. Although displaying the calm minimalism of much ambient music of the time, Pinhas' 2023 remix brings previously unheard color, full of depth and reflection for what is a piece of essential listening in the genre.
These albums are strictly limited edition to 500 copies, and each copy is numbered. The pair have been manufactured on 180 gram vinyl, thoroughly remixed by Pinhas and remastered by Robert Rich, while each has brand new artwork and its own OBI strip.
If you are in the North America, you can order your LPs (and get the digital version RIGHT NOW) over on BandCamp and if you are outside of North America, head on over to Burning Shed using the links below:
