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Cititrax release Sand Clock, the new full-length album by Men With Secrets, the Italian trio of Donato Dozzy, Lino Monaco, and Nicola Buono (Retina.it). Originally emerging from a shared background in experimental techno under the name Le Officine Di Efesto, the three musicians turned toward classic post-punk, minimal wave, and synth-driven pop with the formation of Men With Secrets. Their debut album Psycho Romance (2020), released on Bunker Records, introduced a meticulously produced body of work that felt like a rediscovered European darkwave recording from the early 1980s—yet was entirely contemporary in its construction.

With Sand Clock, the trio deepen this language. The album leans more directly into the melodic clarity and romantic tension of late-80s and early-90s darkwave and synthpop while maintaining the stark restraint that defines the project. Icy synthesizers, shuddering basslines, and precise drum machine programming frame baritone vocals that are intimate, emotionally exposed, and quietly apocalyptic.

Balancing pop structure with gothic atmosphere, Sand Clock moves between shadowed dance floor momentum and solitary headphone introspection. It is not an exercise in revivalism, but a continuation—an acknowledgment that the emotional architecture of that era remains unresolved and still relevant. Written and produced by Donato Dozzy, Lino Monaco, and Nicola Buono and recorded in Rome and Pompeii.

The vinyl edition is pressed on clear 160-gram vinyl, limited to 500 copies worldwide. Each record is housed in a heavy printed jacket with a printed inner sleeve.

companion album to their 2024 debut on PPU.
mess/age is the music of Kyoto-based friends Khan Brown and Ohhki.

artwork by Munguni.

Following Parnell March’s Back Bar Grooves EP in February and November’s release of the Dust Tears (lead song from Sarah/Shaun’s debut) remixes, Edinburgh’s Hobbes Music label returns with a second EP of dream pop from husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), alias Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced McLochlun), who wooed hearts and wowed critics with debut EP ‘It’s True What They Say?’ last year.

‘It’s True What They Say?’ attracted fans across the board: Artist Of The Week in The Scotsman, rapturous reviews from The Skinny and Tokyo's Ban Ban Ton Ton blog, BBC 6Music airplay courtesy of Nemone (Mary Anne Hobbs' Morning Show), more radio play from Radio Scotland's Roddy Hart & Vic Galloway, plus Simone Butler (Primal Scream) and Jim Sclavunos (Bad Seeds) via their respective Soho Radio shows, not forgetting ringing endorsements from the likes of David Holmes, Youth, Kevin Bales (Spiritualized), Brent Rademaker (Beachwood Sparks) and Julian Corrie (Franz Ferdinand).

They played gigs supporting Glasgow's huge Glasvegas, at festivals (Kendall Calling, Dunbar Music, Hidden Door), plus a slew of venues across the Scottish capital, ending the year with a trio of shows supporting Glaswegian 80s pop legends The Bluebells at Aberdeen’s Tunnels, Dunfermline’s PJ Molloys and Edinburgh’s Liquid Rooms, while The List magazine tipped them among their Ones To Watch For 2025, with journalist Fiona Shepherd suggesting they were “blending the starry-eyed pop of Sonny & Cher with the electronic experimentation of Chris & Cosey.”

Very much the companion piece to the debut EP but arriving a full twelve months later, Someone’s Ghost is emblematic of the duo’s desire not to rush things or release anything half-baked.

“I’ve always wanted to create the perfect pop record and I do really feel that we’ve achieved that with this one,” says Shaun. And he’s clearly not the only person who thinks so.

REVIEWS, FEEDBACK ETC:

"I LOVE that! Dreamy dreamy pop." ROY MOLLOY (Marvellous Crane/Alex Cameron) on BLAST RADIO, Sydney
“the Scottish music scene’s cream of the cool... buzzy drum beats, high, distant chimes, and heavenly electronics…. very ethereal.” THE SKINNY

"Listening to Sarah/Shaun is like eavesdropping on a noir dreampop, long-distance phone call between them both, across two separate sonic locations. On this stunning 4-song EP, Sarah’s voice, effortlessly mesmerising, draws you into these big beautiful and haunting passages of perfect dream-pop. All beautifully produced in a multi-layered-scape of low-fi analogue textures, epic cinematic crescendos, intense electro-pulse grooves and warped psycho-pop guitar riffs. Within the songs lurk a sense of unresolved emotions, longing and pathos. There are shades of classic Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra but also Post-Punk Electronica and Beach House. But what a unique sound they’ve created of their own. I love it" DAVID MCCLUSKEY (The Bluebells)
"Absolutely beautiful" SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
"Lovely stuff here! Total quality." MARTYN 'MASH' HENDERSON
"Ooooh. Everything the last record promised is here. Well done" GEORGE T aka George Demure (Accident Machine)
"Vince clark Era Depeche Mode in places" KEVIN BALES (Spiritualized)
"Sounds cool. Well done" PETE KEMBER (Sonic Boom, Spacemen 3)
"Glorious, it (Debbie Harry) grabs hold of you and doesn't let go." IAIN DAWSON aka RAVECHILD (Everyone Wants To Play The Hits Podcast)

SOMEONE’S GHOST

Born out of an incredibly anxious, stressful time, the songwriting process for these recordings has been something of a personal tonic for Shaun…

“There was a period when I was having nightmares,” he reveals. “Apparently I was saying there was someone in the room, I was talking to that person and Sarah was seeing all this while I was still asleep.

So, I was thinking that this was my ghost. I started writing songs because I was going through something and I was dealing with something and writing songs was a comfort. My ghost was a comfort, whether it was real or not. The idea of it was a comfort.”

“I firmly believe that everyone has someone who watches over them but all of the songs are essentially about being there for someone,” he says. “Everybody needs someone but also everyone needs to stay real and keep what you have, keep it close, never let it go. If you don’t have it, continue to tell people you’re there for them. It’s about loving and hoping people will be good to you in return.”

While Shaun took the songwriting lead on Filter Of Love and EP closer The Sound Which Stresses The Sound Of My Ears, Debbie Harry was originally instrumentally conceived by producer Jaguar Eyes, alias Ali Chisholm, later lyrically completed by Shaun, and the EP’s lead track, Anhedonia, and one of its stand-outs (much like Starbed on the debut) was conceived by Sarah, as a result of experiencing a bit of a spiritual epiphany of her own.

“When I first heard the word Anhedonia, I didn't know what it meant but when I found out I thought about it quite a bit. How sad it would be to have no enjoyment in anything,” she explains. “This song is really about my own personal beliefs. When I have been down, that's one of the things that helps me the most. It talks about trying to make amends but realising, for some things, you can't. But I think with any kind of faith comes hope… which is always a good thing.”

A record about hope, truth, honesty, a belief in something bigger than oneself… and all set to a soundtrack that wouldn’t feel out of place in a David Lynch or Eighties feature film. What more could anyone ask for, really?

There’s equally a desire to offer something universal and positive to anyone who tunes in. The labels for the 12” edition reveal the dual mantras “Who just wants to survive?” and “It’s about time to live a little”, with both messages also engraved in each record’s run-out grooves. T-shirts accompanying debut EP It’s True What They Say? bore the slogan “Kill Them With Kindness” - leading caps intentional. Shaun carries the acronym KTWK everywhere he plays, as a reminder: it’s stitched into his guitar strap. And this particular wee pebble has already caused a few ripples: people have been approaching him at gigs to acknowledge their appreciation and respect for it.

"We feel we have made an honest, open, colourful, body of work,” say the duo. “We hope to go out and play the songs with the guys (our band) and then potentially make more records. We are taking things as they come. Everything has been organic so far, after all. We are looking forward to whatever this brings."

Die chinesisch-amerikanische Band Bear kehrt 2026 mit ihrem dritten Album ,Dim Sum & Then Some" zurück, das im Mai 2026 beim britischen Kultlabel Moshi Moshi erscheint. ,Dim Sum & Then Some entstand am Tag nach der Fertigstellung unseres Albums Wah!!! aus dem Jahr 2024. Wir hatten viel Freude und waren noch immer sehr inspiriert. Das Album beschäftigt sich mit Themen, die uns am Herzen liegen - Essen, kleine Freuden, unbeschwerter Spaß, China, Liebe, Hymnen und Märchen. Es ist eine Collage unseres Lebens, destilliert zu Positivität und Unbeschwertheit." Sie werden oft so beschrieben, als hätten The Flaming Lips, Dusty Springfield und The Beach Boys ein Kind mit Care Bear gezeugt. Das Album ist voller Humor, Groove, Skurrilität und Niedlichkeit, mit melodisch reichhaltiger Instrumentierung, einem Hauch von Psychedelia, einer Prise Funk und vielen Texten darüber, sich den Bauch mit Essen zu füllen.

Dave Wallace is one third of Aquasky, as well as a founding member of Mad Dog and Fugitive. He also released his own EP’s on Moving Shadow and R&S in the 90’s and more recently an EP on TeeBee’s Subtitles label as well as a return to the rave with various Fugitive tracks and remixes on Vinyl Fanatiks over the past few years.

But one track has always alluded a release, there was always something that prevented it from being released. Originally written in 1995, it wasn’t until 1996 that he sent it to LTJ Bukem who went nuts for it, advising Dave to speed it up from its original 156bpm so he could play it. Upon doing so, it was also sent to Fabio and the pair of them played it on Kiss, Radio 1 and various gigs and festivals across the world. Dave was just in discussions to release it when Dillinja made a Bladerunner track using the same samples. In light of that and how the hierarchy worked in the 90’s drum and bass scene, Dave decided to pull the release and the track went back into the DAT draw… for 26 years!

This track has been requested by many to be pressed since Vinyl Fanatiks started as it had such a huge fanbase, so many people loved the track after hearing it either back in the day or on copies of mixes uploaded in recent years to the internet. An extremely desired track! But there was never a B-side to it… until Dave stepped into his Fugitive guise and brought the track up to date with one of the baddest basslines we have released on the label.

Join us as we take you on a ride from the smooth to the ruff!


Its all an expression!

Home Is In Your Head enthält 23 Songs, die in schneller Abfolge durch verschiedenste Emotionen führen, wobei Momente beruhigender Ruhe schon bald mit weißem Rauschen und rohem, unmittelbarem Chaos kollidieren. Als vielseitige und zugleich geerdete Sammlung aus neuem und älterem Material (teils zurückreichend bis in Defevers frühe Schulzeit) zeigt das Album eine Band, die in eine selbstbewusste kreative Phase eintritt. Es fesselt die Hörer sowohl durch seine Schönheit als auch durch seine Dunkelheit und beweist, wie einzigartig Defevers inspirierte Produktionen sind. "Spät in der Nacht hörte ich mir die Mischungen ganz leise an und ließ das Ticken meines Weckers mit dem auf der Platte gesampelten Uhrgeräusch verschmelzen - es ist eine so unvorhersehbare, fließende Reise." - Ivo Watts-Russell

Nurtured on 90s alternative indie, lucky break's music melds the emotional directness of Fiona Apple, the wide-eyed warmth of Bedouine and the Americana-leaning alt rock of Lucinda Williams. Fans of Alvvays, Hole, Phoebe Bridgers and The Breeders will find familiar touchstones here. lucky break is a hand-drawn cartoon character and a girl with a guitar, an ever-expanding container for the feelings that come with making art. She can be very sad and very joyful, living somewhere between worlds. On her debut for Fire Records, made it!, lucky break builds a new world for her character to inhabit. made it! collects songs written between the ages of 19 and 23, documenting the uncertainty of early adulthood, the end of a first major relationship and the process of learning to stand up for yourself. Tracks like "Crush" pair sharp lyrical insight with big drums and crisp bass, while "Head Down" uses bright, dreamy guitars to explore themes of politics, consumer culture and moral complacency. Confessional, direct and emotionally precise, lucky break's songwriting is matched by a versatile and expressive vocal performance that shifts across moods and styles throughout the record. Produced with Elliott Woodbridge in Burbank, made it! is a playful, self-assured debut from a young artist who has already found her voice and is stepping confidently into a bright future. Digisleeve-CD and coloured Vinyl-LP w/ dlc available!

Nurtured on 90s alternative indie, lucky break's music melds the emotional directness of Fiona Apple, the wide-eyed warmth of Bedouine and the Americana-leaning alt rock of Lucinda Williams. Fans of Alvvays, Hole, Phoebe Bridgers and The Breeders will find familiar touchstones here. lucky break is a hand-drawn cartoon character and a girl with a guitar, an ever-expanding container for the feelings that come with making art. She can be very sad and very joyful, living somewhere between worlds. On her debut for Fire Records, made it!, lucky break builds a new world for her character to inhabit. made it! collects songs written between the ages of 19 and 23, documenting the uncertainty of early adulthood, the end of a first major relationship and the process of learning to stand up for yourself. Tracks like "Crush" pair sharp lyrical insight with big drums and crisp bass, while "Head Down" uses bright, dreamy guitars to explore themes of politics, consumer culture and moral complacency. Confessional, direct and emotionally precise, lucky break's songwriting is matched by a versatile and expressive vocal performance that shifts across moods and styles throughout the record. Produced with Elliott Woodbridge in Burbank, made it! is a playful, self-assured debut from a young artist who has already found her voice and is stepping confidently into a bright future. Digisleeve-CD and coloured Vinyl-LP w/ dlc available!

The Sound of Love International 008 curated by Ivan Smagghe.

The next chapter of Love International's compilation series with Test Pressing arrives through the lens of Ivan Smagghe. Guided by his long-standing mantra, “the style of no style,” the 12-track selection drifts effortlessly between shadow and light - a reflection of the festival as he knows it.

This is Smagghe’s version of Love International: unpolished in the right places, intuitive, and deeply attuned to the stranger corners of the Adriatic experience. The compilation captures the balance at the heart of the festival: connection, curiosity, and a shared rhythm that holds it all together. Slightly out of reach yet exactly where it should be.

To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of our label Jamaican Recordings and to mark the sad one year passing of the musical maestro reggae producer Bunny `Striker’ Lee, we have pulled together a brand new collection of some great Bunny Lee rhythms.

Our label started way back with initial meetings with Bunny Lee and a promise to keep his music available, out on the streets. He will be sorely missed but will live on through his extraordinary musical legacy and we hope to add to this by including this release to the stable of an unbeatable catalogue.

Legendary record producer Bunny `Striker’ Lee’s vast selection of rhythms were ever present at any Sound Clash or Dance worth talking about in the early to mid-1970’s.
Where the version found on the b-side of a single or special dub cut on acetates, would be played to win over the people and conquer the dance. Bunny Lee was the undisputed rhythm master and on this special release he is also the MC telling the crowd how it is and that any rival sound system should watch out as he has the rhythms that can reign supreme. The band cutting these timeless rhythms were a group of top Jamaican musicians Bunny had put together called The Aggrovators.

The Aggrovators were a group of reggae musicians that usually featured Carlton `Santa’ Davis on drums playing alongside Robbie Shakespeare on bass, with other musicians added like Earl `Chinna’ Smith on guitar and Tommy McCook and Vin Gordon and Lennox Brown added for horn arrangements. Keyboards and organ duties normally fell
to musicians Ansel Collins and Bernard ‘Touter’ Harvey. The band was named after singer Eddie Grant had repeated the phrase to Bunny Lee on one of his many trips to England, that such and such artist was giving him `Aggro’. This was a term used in England in the 1970’s by the Skinhead followers of reggae music. A term shortened
from the word `Aggrovation’, meaning trouble, fighting or making the situation worse. Bunny Lee was so taken with this term that on returning to Jamaica, not only did he name his group of musicians the `Aggrovators’ but he also named his record shop situated at 101 Orange Street `Agro Records’.

We have compiled some great tracks recorded by this fantastic group of musicians. With the added extra magic of Mr Bunny Lee calling it out as only he can on the microphone.
Yes Run Sound Boy Run the version master is here…Respect

DJ Support: Ashley Beedle, Phil Mison (Ibiza legend), Nick The Record, Kenneth Bager (Music For Dreams), Ross Allen (NTS, Worldwide FM), Simon Dunmore, Cedric Woo (Beauty & the Beat), Ban Ban Ton Ton, The Mighty Zaf (Love Vinyl), Femi Fem (Young Disciples), Jay Negron (NYC legend), Bruce Forest (Better Days, NYC), Bruce Tantum (NYC), Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy, Mr Shiver, Hugh Mane, Eccentrics Disco, Eclectics Disco, Fannoire Ge, Percebes Records (Lisbon), For Mankind (Pikes, Ibiza), S/A/M (Cafe Del Mar, Ibiza).

Winner of the 2020 Bob James “Black Lives Matter” remix competition on François Kevorkian’s World Of Echoes Facebook page, Love For Black Lives is available on vinyl for the first time, alongside 2 brand new mixes, on this 4-track EP. It is the debut release on Hobbes Music’s new sub-label Noetic Rhythm, dedicated to releasing music that brings people together on the dancefloor.

Leonidas debuted in 2012 with Sequential EP on Kay Suzuki's Round In Motion label, gaining praise from industry legends. He has collaborated with Hobbes on several releases, including the Balearic hit Web of Intrigue, which topped Bill Brewster’s 2017 DJ poll. His music has appeared on compilations like DJ Harvey’s The Sound of Mercury Rising Vol II, as well as BBC Radio 1 & 6 music.

It’s True What They Say is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced “McLochlin”).

“Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,” explains Shaun. “We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.”

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

“Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,” says Sarah. “It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music.”

“Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made,” she goes on. “We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…”

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score… “Even a moment in a movie, whether it be just 30 seconds during a particular scene, it grips you,” he says. But there’s something much deeper at play as well. “Music is a healer,” he goes on, “and I write from my own perspective but more so for others. Once I've done my bit, it doesn't belong to me any longer. It belongs to whoever wants it or needs it.”

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

REVIEWS/RADIO/FEEDBACK:

“Starbed is folky, flavoured by pedal steel, cello, and brass. Dust Tears, in stark contrast, is a mini synth-pop rave epic. Part Bicep. Part Human League. Keep Your Eyes Closed summons a mood that’s romantic, but also dark and potentially doomed – like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks meets Cliff Martinez’s Drive score. My pick though is It’s True What They Say, whose interwoven jangle and picking recalls New Order’s more introspective moments (Love Vigilantes, Love Less… ). Drums crashing, cathartic. Guitar raising dramatic arcs. Its chorus a rush, like a reprise of Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart’s ‘Higher Than The Stars’.” BAN BAN TON TON
"Dust Tears sees them sharing vocal duties over a synth foundation reminiscent of Moby’s Go - Artist Of The Week” THE SCOTSMAN
"Woozy pop" NEMONE (Mary Anne Hobbs Morning Show, BBC 6Music)
"Nice one, very David Lynch meets Euro dream pop" YOUTH (Killing Joke, Paul McCartney, U2, The Orb, Spiritualized etc)
"Music sounds killer! Real emotion” DAVID HOLMES
"I’m enjoying it” TIM BRINKHURST aka LONDON (IKLAN, Young Fathers, Callum Easter)
“Oh, this is lovely!” SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
"It’s totally my cup of tea with milk and biscuit" BRENT RADEMAKER (Beachwood Sparks/GospelBeach)
"Beautiful, ecstatic electronica! Short and to the point" KEVIN BALES (Spiritualized, Julian Cope, Soulsavers, BE)
"Makes me wanna sit in the sun and sip an Arnold Palmer" CHRIS DIXIE DARLEY (Father John Misty)
“Really beautiful - Cocteau Twins / Spiritualized vibes but has its own thing going on, too - worth checking out!” JULIAN CORRIE (Franz Ferdinand, Miaoux Miaoux)
‘Sounded nice on a sunny day, makes me think of Twin Peaks, nice moods’ EAMON HAMILTON (Sea Power)
"Dealing in nostalgia, no bad thing at all, great to play that (Dust Tears) for you” RODDY HART (BBC Radio Scotland)
“I'll give the vocal tracks a spin before the release." VIC GALLOWAY (BBC Radio Scotland)
"Rather good!" IAIN ANDERSON (BBC Radio Scotland)

CREDITS:

Lyrics, Guitars, Keys, Synths, Drums, Drum Programming, Percussion, Mandolin, Glockenspiel: Shaun McLachlan
Lyrics, Vocals, Keys by Sarah McLachlan
Guitars, Synths, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Engineering: Jaguar Eyes Percussion/Drums/Effects, Fire Extinguisher: Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz)
Guitars by Daniel Land
Slide Guitar by Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty)
Brass by Bruce Michie
Keys, pre-production & engineering on “It’s true what they say”: Gavin King
All produced by Jaguar Eyes and Shaun McLachlan and then mixed at Glasgow’s Chem19 Studios by David McCaulay (From Scotland With Love, Rick Redbeard, BBC TV’s Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard score).
Artwork: Jamie Walman (Fourteen Admirals)

MORE INFO:

Although Shaun released a pair of solo singles (When We Dance and Give Your Love To Me) during Lockdown, he will be better known to many via his work as the multi-instrumentalist in Edinburgh band Delta Mainline. With two albums released to date, Oh! Enlightened and Bel Avenir, both rapturously received by fans and critics alike, Delta Mainline have developed an international, cult following. Oh Enlightened (2013) achieved widespread critical acclaim on release, earning the band comparisons to Arcade Fire and Echo & The Bunnymen, while 2019’s Bel Avenir pulled in references to The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and krautrock. A third DM album is currently being mixed and due for release later this year…

Chinese American Bear return in 2026 with their third album, Dim Sum & Then Some, released in May via cult UK label Moshi Moshi.

“Dim Sum & Then Some was started the day after we finished our 2024 album Wah!!!. We were having a lot of fun and inspiration was still high,” the band explain. “The album explores themes around what we love—food, little joys, fun simple nonsense, China, love, anthems, and fairytales. It’s a collage of our life, distilled into positivity and lightheartedness.”

Often described as The Flaming Lips, Dusty Springfield, and The Beach Boys having a baby with a Care Bear, Chinese American Bear’s music is bursting with comedy, groove, quirk, and cuteness. Dim Sum & Then Some is melodically rich and joyfully maximalist, weaving together psychedelia, doses of funk, and lush instrumentation, with plenty of lyrics devoted to the simple pleasure of filling up your belly with good food.

Neue 2026er-Auflage in neuer Farbe! Das neue Album der doom-meets-stoner-meets-metal Legenden! Solace entstand aus den Columbia-Künstlern Godspeed und ist eine der tragenden Säulen des Stoner Metal! Konstante musikalische Integrität und Live-Auftritte über mehr als zwei Jahrzehnte hinweg sorgen für eine treue Anhängerschaft und relvanten Szene-Status. South Jersey's SOLACE halfen mit ihrem zeitlosen Debüt "Further", die erste Welle des US Stoner Metal zu gründen, indem sie alle paar Jahre musikalisch 50 Tonnen-schwere Alben mit Next-Level-Riffage raushauten, bis hin zu ihrem gefeierten "A.D."-Album im Jahr 2010. Eine epische Rückkehr, "The Brink" ist ein glorreiches Doppelalbum - NWOBHM-zweifach-Gitarrenattacken, gewichtige Doom-Power und rifftrunkene Sea Shanties. Luxuriöses farbiges Vinyl plus wunderschönes Gatefold-Sleeve für Fans von Monolord, Haunt, War Cloud, The Obsessed, The Necromancers, The Atomic Bitchwax, Uncle Acid. Das letztes Album 'A.D.' wurde von iTunes (neben High on Fire, Monster Magnet, Unearthly Trance) zu einem der besten Metal-Alben des Jahres 2010 gekürt, "The Brink" auf Blues Funeral wird vielleicht eines der besten des Jahrzehnts.

2026 Repress

Akusmi is the project moniker of French-born, London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pascal Bideau, who signs to the new Tonal Union imprint for the release of his album 'Fleeting Future.' With its hallucinatory, genre-defying blend of minimalism, cosmic jazz and Fourth World influences, and in its quest for optimism in the face of unknown and limitless possibility. 'Fleeting Future' stands apart as an inventive and inspirational debut.

The creation of the album's richly colourful and multi-layered sound world was originally inspired by Bideau's journey to Indonesia, where he immersed himself in traditional Gamelan and gong music. Many of the themes, motifs and melodies on 'Fleeting Future' seed from the 'Slendro' scale, one of the essential tuning systems used in Gamelan. However it is not musical scales, but scales as in the size or extent of things that most fascinates Bideau, specifically he explains; "the compelling way things dramatically change when you shift from any given scale to another."

The album connects directly to nature and the wider world in its evocation of perceptive shifts and transitions from microscopic to macro scale, as evidenced by the opening title track 'Fleeting Future', on which a simple dotted saxophone line morphs and billows into synths, brass and strings, indicating the musical voyage that lies ahead. Like the start of a journey or adventure it is full of anticipation, its arborescent growth conveying the optimism of the unknown and of limitless possibility. The album centrepiece 'Neo Tokyo' is a vibrating, ebullient mass of colliding elements which feels like zooming in to the electron level, as it teeters on the edge of chaos. The title is a reference to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a dizzying work of art set in a sprawling futuristic metropolis.

'Yurikamome', meanwhile, is an imaginary soundtrack inspired by Bideau's yearning to visit Japan which he fuels by watching Youtube videos of drives and rides through Japanese landscapes and cities. "It's amazing" he adds, "that we have the ability to access almost anywhere in the world and see what it's like, that people document it and upload it. It's never going to be any replacement for the real thing, but with places that really touch you, it works." The track is named after a Japanese monorail train line which rides from Shinbashi to Toyosu, a last journey that feels like a new beginning.


'Fleeting Future' was composed and recorded by Bideau between 2017 and 2019 in his North London studio and features additional contributions recorded in Berlin by Florian Juncker (trombone), Ruth Velten (saxophone) and regular collaborator Daniel Brandt of Brandt Brauer Frick (drums / electronic percussion). Having been living through uncertain times, one thing that keeps spiralling into the unknown is the future, about which Bideau leaves us with a final thought:

"The future is fascinating: It is constantly readjusting to new events. I feel we left a linear approach to the future to enter an arborescent one where all the data and information we have about what could happen is exponentially ever-growing. Following a branch might allow you to glimpse into what it may become, but the evolution of the whole picture might very well render the prediction totally obsolete, and even meaningless. In that sense, there is not one future but innumerable ones all cancelling each other. That's what makes it fleeting."

Volume 1 of 3 vinyls containing all the extended mixes on Claude VonStroke’s 5th original artist album, “Wrong Number.” This first record is deep, patient, and deliberately restrained. Claude VonStroke re-calibrates his career for real people who enjoy music. The big room house machine is out of control and Claude has stopped answering the phone.

“I’m sorry you have reached the wrong number. Claude is no longer available…

We are excited to continue our work with Art P / Art Programming by finally offering the first full-length work from this Bremen-based electronic group. Originally released only on cassette in 1983, the self-titled album has now been fully restored and remastered, complete with bonus tracks and unreleased mixes unearthed from a rare demo.

The LP opens with "Wesen vom anderen Stern" ("Beings from Another Planet"), a downtempo, 808-driven electro synth wave track with German lyrics telling a story of aliens capturing earth, becoming the new "Herren" (lords), while humans are reduced to mere "objects." Art Programming founding member Jens-Markus Wegener notes that this track has always been a favorite during live performances, and it's easy to imagine how the futuristic sounds would have blown people away at the time.

Next is the electro/proto-techno title track "Art Programming," which we previously issued on a limited 12" in its full-length form. With its straightforward Roland 808 rhythms, catchy synth lines, and vocoder vocals, it's a classic example of German electro, and one of the earliest proto-techno tracks - long before Cybotron claimed the techno mantle. Its extensive break and electronic twist make it an early precursor to the genre. Wegener recalls that this track was created exclusively by him and Grotelüschen, with Grotelüschen contributing most of the melodic elements, while Wegener focused on drum machine programming and vocoder vocals.

On "That's Me," the album welcomes back singer Claudia Roebke. Although it's an electronic composition, Roebke adds a rock-infused, almost psychedelic vibe to the song. The lyrics, written by Wegener, depict a person obsessed with their appearance, using irony to critique societal beauty norms, questioning the obsession with perfection and attraction.

The album continues with a series of uptempo electro tracks: "Videoscreen," "La Gare," and "Genscher Pull 'N' Push." The first two feature slightly different mixes from an earlier demo that we personally prefered over the versions that were available on the final cassette release. "Videoscreen" expands on the theme of social isolation, with lyrics reflecting on a world obsessed with watching video all day - a topic that resonates strongly with today's culture of doom scrolling and social media addiction.

Next up, "Genscher Pull 'N' Push" is an incredible electro/wave/proto-techno track recorded in October 1982 with a political edge. Originally omitted from the album, it was only available on the demo cassette we mentioned earlier. The song takes aim at German politics, with lyrics that shout "bitte geh nach links / bitte geh nach rechts" ("please go to the left" and "please go to the right"), referencing the shifting political allegiances during the 1982 coalition change, when Genscher's party, the FDP, left the Helmut Schmidt cabinet to join the CDU/CSU opposition. The track was never released as the political topic had become outdated just a few months later.

The album closes with "Light and Fire," which originally served as the album's opening track. Its quirky, upbeat vibe now makes for a fitting outro.

The gear used on this album reads like a dream list for early 80s electronic music production: Roland Jupiter 4, TR 808, TB 303, System 100, SVC 350, Korg Mono/Poly, Moog Prodigy, FRICKE-Sequenzer, Roland CSQ-100 Sequenzer, Coron DS-8, MM 12/2, Sony TC 399, TEAC-244 Portastudio, Ibanez DM 1000, EH-Electric Mistress, EV-Micro. This unique lineup of equipment sets the album apart from NDW releases of the era, lending it a distinct sound with heavy proto-techno leanings and that straightforward electro vibe we all love.

The album is being released as a very limited edition of 300 copies on transparent red vinyl, complete with a full picture sleeve and lyrics inlay. This is yet another rediscovered and restored 80s gem on our label that you definitely don't want to miss!

Compiled by Argentinian Djs and producers Ric Piccolo and Ariel Harari, Danza Secreta: Lost and Hidden Grooves From Argentina (1970-1980) is an emotional archive made up of music that never belonged to a single, unified scene, but shared a common spirit: a desire to experiment, to make people dance, to break away from dominant genres. The compilation, issued as a 22 track bonanza on double vinyl, also represents a tangible history of musical resistance to the dark days of the Far-Right authoritarian, fascist and military oppression that blighted Argentina and its people throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s. Featuring tracks originally self-released on small record labels and emerging from underground studio sessions and composed and recorded against a backdrop of the monitoring of 'subversive' music by the authorities, Danza Secreta is testament to the underground spirit of resistance in a blend of Soul, Funk and Disco with distinctive Argentinian signatures. Ric Piccolo and Ariel Harari are renowned Djs and producers from Buenos Aries who share their time and DJ appearances between clubs in their homeland and those in Berlin, Barcelona, Zurich, Vienna and Paris focusing on playing Disco, Italo House and Rare Grooves with leftfield vibes. Danza Secreta: Lost and Hidden Grooves From Argentina (1970-1980) is released as a digital download and and as a gatefold sleeve, double vinyl LP with all tracks remastered at the Grammy nominated The Carvery. It also comes with a bi-lingual booklet and liner notes that serve as a written history of this magnificent music of dance floor resistance.

They Call Us The Lucky Ones is a road-worn portrait of modern Americana — songs about movement, memory, love, and survival, exploring the space between freedom and consequence where highways replace homes and connection becomes the true measure of success. The album tells stories of outsiders and drifters, chosen family and lost friends, broken systems and restless ambition — and the ghosts we carry no matter how far we run. Yet for all its hard-earned perspective, the record carries an undeniable sense of hope: a clarity that comes from a life lived in motion, the humor found along the way, and the simple joy of playing music with people you trust. It’s a record that knows how to have a good time without losing its soul. This collection of ten songs finds Ryan Bingham at his best — where life isn’t always about perfection or redemption, but about connection. Because no matter how far you go, how fast you run, or how loud the music gets, all that matters is the people and stories you carry with you along the way.

They Call Us The Lucky Ones is a road-worn portrait of modern Americana — songs about movement, memory, love, and survival, exploring the space between freedom and consequence where highways replace homes and connection becomes the true measure of success. The album tells stories of outsiders and drifters, chosen family and lost friends, broken systems and restless ambition — and the ghosts we carry no matter how far we run. Yet for all its hard-earned perspective, the record carries an undeniable sense of hope: a clarity that comes from a life lived in motion, the humor found along the way, and the simple joy of playing music with people you trust. It’s a record that knows how to have a good time without losing its soul. This collection of ten songs finds Ryan Bingham at his best — where life isn’t always about perfection or redemption, but about connection. Because no matter how far you go, how fast you run, or how loud the music gets, all that matters is the people and stories you carry with you along the way.