One of our favorite mixing of modes from the old school – a tremendous second album from the legendary Aksak Maboul! The record mixes arty playfulness with some rootsier elements – bits of Eastern instrumentation, jazz, improvisation, and even some post-punk elements – all in a way that makes for one of the most creative recordings of its time – a set that easily provides key inspiration for more recent genre-crossing acts like this! There's a bit of Y or Ze Records whimsy at times – but the end result is much deeper, and much more compelling– as you'd expect from a group that features Fred Frith on guitar, Chris Cutler on drums, Marc Hollander and Michel Berkmans on reeds, and Denis Van Hecke on a range of cool cellos! Each tune has a slightly different flavor, but there's still a really unified feel to the record too – one of those European projects that comes together like nothing you'd hear from the US. Titles include "Geistige Nacht", "A Modern Lesson", "Palmiers En Pots", "Inoculating Rabies", "Cinema", and "Bosses De Crosses". CD

If the "figures" in the title here sounds a bit familiar, it's because Figures was a great return to form for the legendary Aksak Maboul – a record that showed that their unusual mix of sounds and styles was alive and well into the 21st Century – used here as a platform for new creation by a hosts of artists and producers invited to the project by the group! These tracks aren't remixes, and are definitely "redrawn" in the spirit of the title – fresh music that moves between a variety of modes, but which often still retains the leaner feel of the group in their current incarnation. Titles on this first volume include "Silhouettes (Vanishing Twin rmx)", "C'est Charles (Shungu rmx)", "Eyelids & Phosphenes (Aksak Maboul reconstruction)", "Hotel Suites (Carl Stone redesign)", "Un Caid (Spooky J rmx)", and "Retour Chez A (Kate NV rmx)". LP, Vinyl record album

If the "figures" in the title here sounds a bit familiar, it's because Figures was a great return to form for the legendary Aksak Maboul – a record that showed that their unusual mix of sounds and styles was alive and well into the 21st Century – used here as a platform for new creation by a hosts of artists and producers invited to the project by the group! These tracks aren't remixes, and are definitely "redrawn" in the spirit of the title – fresh music that moves between a variety of modes, but which often still retains the leaner feel of the group in their current incarnation. Titles on this second volume include "Un Caid (Hello Skinny rmx)", "Retour Chez A (Felix Kubin rmx)", "Fin (Stubbleman rmx)", "Anatomy Of A Dramuscule (Matias Aguayo interpretation)", "L'Adieu A L'Histoire (Tolouse Low Trax rmx)", and "Dramuscule (Ohh Luuu rmx)". LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool project from this always-unique group – a set that follows in their pan-global legacy of sounds, but which also adapts them to more of a soundtrack sort of setting – as you might guess from the album's appearance in the Made To Measure series! The music is strong throughout, but also works to engage a series of sung and spoken text passages – all words penned by Veronique Vincent (hence the title) – and performed by Blaine L Reininger, Laetitia Sader, Alig Fodder, and others. The project is inspired by sonic projects on European radio from years back – but it's also got a sound that's very much in the spirit of the Crammed label at its height – and maybe a bit like that of the contemporary imprint Les Disques Du Crepuscle too. Titles include "Veille Au Reve", "Miracle Au Jardin, "L'Ombre Double", "Talking With The Birds", "The Eraser", "Zone Blanche", "Brown Dwarves", and "I Walk & I Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic freewheeling sounds from Cos – a 70s Belgian group who were equal parts jazz and prog – often working with a tight quality that really drew the best of both worlds together! Cos has a lineup that changes often over the years – and which includes work on keyboards from the mighty Marc Moulin, and bass from Marc Hollander – before his later fame in Aksak Maboul – but the real giant here might well be multi-instrumentalist Daniel Schell, whose work got the group going in the first place, alongside female vocalist Pascale Son! Like Schell, Son's got plenty of roots in jazz – but the duo work here with the other musicians in this evolving exploration of the hippest corners of 70s music – a journey that's got plenty of funky jazz along the way, and the great keyboards you'd expect from Marc Moulin – but also some nicely offbeat art rock moments too. This collection brings together the group's best tracks from their mighty run – and titles include "Einstein J'Taime", "Oostend Oostend", "Babel", "L'Idiot Leon", "Nog Verder", "Flamboya", "Postaeolian Train Robbery", "Achtung TV Watchers", "Perhaps Next Record", and "Halucal". LP, Vinyl record album