Buscar:story of the year

STORY OF THE YEAR have been influential in shaping the post-hardcore scene since their debut album “Page Avenue” – one of the first of its kind to sell a million copies back in 2003, and the St. Louis quartet have only grown even more impressive throughout the years.

Fans have seen the band hit the road with LINKIN PARK, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, and DEFTONES, as well as tear up Warped Tour Stages and festival performances at When We Were Young, and more. The band’s 2023 album “Tear Me To Pieces” was their first with SharpTone, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to reveal “A.R.S.O.N.” to the world!

Story Of The Year haben seit ihrem Debütalbum »Page Avenue« – einem der ersten Alben dieser Art, das sich 2003 eine Million Mal verkaufte – die Post-Hardcore-Szene maßgeblich geprägt, und das Quartett aus St. Louis ist im Laufe der Jahre nur noch beeindruckender geworden. Fans haben die Band auf Tour mit Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance und Deftones gesehen, sowie bei ihren Auftritten auf der Warped Tour und beim Festival When We Were Young und vielen anderen.

Laute Gitarren, gewaltige Refrains zum Mitsingen und erhebende Ausdauer.
Nur wenige Platten trugen dazu bei, die Post-Hardcore-Szene so schnell aufzubauen wie das Debüt der Band, Page Avenue, eines der ersten seiner Art, das sich eine Million Mal verkaufte

Herzschmerz, Verzweiflung, Motivation, toxische Beziehungen, Schmerz, Verlust, Wut - alle wesentlichen Zutaten des klassischen STORY OF THE YEAR-Sounds treiben "Tear Me to Pieces" auf verblüffend neue Weise an.
"Tear Me to Pieces" ist unbestreitbar, objektiv gesehen ein Killer, vielleicht das beste SOTY-Album seit Page Avenue.

A guitar stands alone in Wedding, that metropolitan biotope in the western center of Berlin, caught in constant transformation between idyll and abyss. It lets its gaze wander, unsettled, almost shy, until it encounters a trumpet, with which it begins a cautious, then ever more intimate pas de deux.
Welcome to the second studio album by the Berlin-based band Conic Rose.
The album title Wedding is no coincidence. The story of Conic Rose is closely intertwined with the Berlin neighborhood that gives the record its name. The band's studio is located here, and both studio albums were created in the immediate vicinity of the small river Panke. This place settles over the music like a warming patina. The album feels as though the musicians and the neighborhood have invited one another to get to know each other. Not least because Wedding also means marriage. These marriages between a band and an urban landscape, a fading past and an emerging future, fear and hope - unfold in every single song on Wedding.
For their second album, Conic Rose repositioned themselves completely. Not in terms of personnel, but in the question of how to move forward. Conic Rose still sound like Conic Rose; their distinctive blend of cinematic jazz, ambient textures and guitar-led contemporary music remains untouched. And yet Wedding is, in many ways, the conceptual counterpart to their debut album Heller Tag. Where the debut documented movement within an urban setting, Wedding describes a state of being. Behind every piece seems to hover a large question mark.The group opens up its palette, allowing more influences, becoming at once more subtle, more profound, more filigree. It is less about definition than about the spaces in between. The most immediately striking difference from the previous album is the strong presence of the guitar. In Bertram Burkert's playing, many voices seem to converge. His yearning openness forms an equal counterpoint to Döben's trumpet and flugelhorn. Blurred and layered sounds occasionally make the ground seem to slip away beneath one's feet, while Döben's gliding lines create both closeness and distance. Together, the band express in a deeply subtle way a sense of life that corresponds precisely to our time. Something lurks in the background, omnipresent yet still unnameable. Conic Rose need no words to convey this feeling of uncertainty with remarkable eloquence. Perhaps this has something to do with Wedding being a place of confrontational introspection, but Conic Rose confront the escape from escape itself. With the recording and release of Wedding, this process is far from complete. The seed only begins to grow in the listener's ear. With every listen and the echo it leaves behind in memory, the studio bud continues to bloom. The album is merely the point of departure. What ultimately matters is what it sets in motion within those who encounter it.

Shrouded in mystery when it first appeared, Tiger & Woods’ debut album quickly took on a life of its own. With little more than whispers surrounding the project, the music spoke loud enough: a set of extended disco constructions carefully tuned, remixed, over-dubbed, sliced and diced by the elusive duo of Larry Tiger and David Woods. What began as a cult phenomenon soon caused a stir across dance floors and record bags worldwide.
Now, for the first time ever, that legendary debut finally arrives on vinyl. Through the Green captures Tiger & Woods at the moment their distinctive language of groove first took shape. Rooted in the spirit of disco edits but already stretching beyond the format, the album blends loop-driven funk, house-leaning propulsion and the unmistakable bounce that would soon become their signature.
It’s the sound of two producers refining a craft that would later blossom on albums like On The Green Again, where their approach expanded into a wider palette of boogie, electronica, Italo and uptempo house. But here is where the story begins.
Before world tours, live sets and the creation of their own T&W Records imprint, there were these tracks: hypnotic, playful and engineered with a dancer’s instinct for tension and release. Each cut unfolds like a perfectly extended club moment, full of warmth, swing and that unmistakable Tiger & Woods sense of fun and function.
Years after its original digital release, Through the Green remains a cornerstone of modern disco-house culture. Pressed to wax at last, it finally receives the physical format it always deserved: grooves built for the turntable, the dance floor and the crate.
The mystery might be gone. The magic, however, remains very much intact.

To mark 15 years of Butter Side Up, the label presents a special 2×vinyl compilation featuring eight brand-new cuts from artists who have been part of the BSU story over the years - a true family affair.

Contributions from Ron Obvious, Garrett David, DJ Pipe and a host of newer collaborators reflect the breadth of the label’s community. Each artist bringing their own flavour but all carrying the BSU spirit.

The first record leans into club‑focused cuts, while the second drifts deeper into housier, after‑hours territory. Something for everyone.

Featuring original illustrations and artwork by Yideah.

KIZZY is the breakthrough EP from rising East London artist Bel Cobain, one of the most distinctive new voices emerging from the UK alternative R&B and soul landscape. Written across 18 months of late-night ideas, scattered sessions, and quiet breakthroughs, the project captures an artist in motion. Following a string of singles that introduced her raw lyricism, KIZZY marks a confident step forward with intimate, sharp, and melodically rich songs that sit in the space between endings and new beginnings.

Across these six tracks, Bel moves with striking emotional honesty through a rich palette that encompasses rock’s bite, jazz’s looseness, R&B warmth, hip hop rhythm, folk intimacy, and fractured breaks. She blends conversational storytelling with her distinct smoky vocals, reflecting on change, learning to let go, and finding light in the aftermath. The EP invites the listener to listen closely to the cracks, the softness, and the pulse of the beauty that still rises when a chapter turns.

Bel Cobain is fast becoming known for her ability to connect deeply with audiences, pairing classic songwriting instincts with a contemporary sonic edge. Early support has come from tastemaker radio and press, with momentum building across streaming platforms as listeners discover her unique perspective on vulnerability and self-awareness. Released as Brownswood Recordings celebrates its 20th year, KIZZY continues the label’s tradition of championing the most singular artists.

Marking a significant milestone in her career, this release is Bel Cobain's first-ever record. It is presented as a Collector's Edition Limited Edition 1xLP gatefold vinyl, pressed on Terracotta colored wax. With short-form video campaigns, targeted digital marketing, radio support, and a growing live presence, this release positions Bel Cobain as one of the UK’s most compelling new artists for 2026.

"after releasing an album in 2017 on the late lyon-based label s.k. records, and a tape on lost dogs entertainment, the duo OD Bongo — aka édouard ribouillault and amédée de murcia — have teamed up with carton records, zamzamrec, prix libre record, and basalte to present bongoville, the latest episode in their musical saga.

for nearly ten years, OD Bongo has been performing across europe, often late into the night, carrying drum machines, samplers, and synths. the duo's raw setup is designed for instinctive interaction, allowing them to shape their tones and mutant beats.

bongoville captures this energy in a story tinged with hazy techno, rusty dub and industrial trap, with juke & gqom influences. the rhythms bounce, accelerate, disintegrate, creak and eventually explode in a cloud of laughing gas.

in this frantic stop-motion race, chaos comes alive with heavy reverb: a possessed rollercoaster tracing saturated colours and playful distortions, where the loop prevails, where the delays stretch and where the bass saturates.

since 2015, édouard ribouillault and amédée de murcia blend genres such as techno, dub, noise and industrial in a wild bass music bubble."

Double 12" release

The Story — From the Streets of Rome to the Male Productions Label
In the early 1990s, Rome lived in a kind of suspended moment. The city was still tied to its historic clubs, yet in the outskirts—inside abandoned warehouses, quarries along the coastline, and the wooded parks north of the capital—something new was beginning to stir. A nocturnal, constantly shifting movement fuelled by a hunger for freedom and a sonic curiosity that reached far beyond the mainstream.

Moving through this ferment was Francesco “Chicco” Furlotti. First an organizer of unconventional parties and underground nights, he soon became one of the driving forces behind Rome’s itinerant rave scene. Furlotti sensed that a wave of change was about to sweep across the city. It wasn’t just about parties: it was the rise of a culture, a new way of thinking about music, community, and belonging.

It was within those nights—later held with official permits, properly built sound systems, and an ever-growing crowd—that Furlotti recognized the existence of a distinctly Roman sound, and the need to capture it, preserve it, and give it tangible form.
So, in 1991, he decided to take a bolder step: to found an independent record label—small, determined, and far removed from the commercial logic that dominated at the time.
That was the birth of Male Productions.

Male was not a label like any other: it was a workshop, a gathering point, a creative hub where DJs, producers, friends, and wanderers converged. Within that environment, an artistic core took shape—Stefano Di Carlo, Leo Young, and Mauro Tannino, along with other collaborators orbiting around Furlotti. From their synergy emerged a project whose very name declared its mission:

The True Underground Sound of Rome.

The collective did not simply aim to release music; it sought to tell a story of Rome through sounds that defied categorization: house, techno, ambient, electronic mysticism, psychedelic visions… a unique blend, instantly recognizable, emotional, and experimental. The sessions unfolded using essential yet razor-sharp gear: Roland drum machines, analogue synthesizers, Akai samplers, stripped-down mixers. Few tools, endless imagination.
The first result of this work was the 12” Secret Doctrine, released in 1991 in an extremely limited run—around 500 promotional copies, according to accounts. The record captured something that until then had floated only in the air of Roman raves: enveloping atmospheres, deep rhythms, melodies built to make the mind travel far beyond the dancefloor. A sound that did not imitate what was happening in Detroit, London, or Berlin, but absorbed those influences and re-sculpted them with a distinctly Roman sensibility.
Yet, precisely because it was independent and detached from commercial circuits, Male’s output remained sparse: few EPs, few copies, irregular distribution. Over time, those records became rare artifacts—almost mythical objects within the Italian electronic scene. The legacy of Male Productions seemed destined to survive only in the memories of those early years, in the stories told after raves, and in the private archives of a handful of collectors.
Many years later, thanks to the almost accidental rediscovery of a few original copies of the first two releases issued by Male Productions, it became possible to undertake a meticulous process of recovery and restoration of the audio etched into those grooves, with the aim of preserving as fully as possible the quality and character of that unrepeatable sound.

We are therefore able today to present — at last in a complete and faithful form — the first two mixes created for Male Productions, now released on a double vinyl that brings back into the present the exact moment when it all began: the nomadic nights of the raves, Furlotti’s vision, the creativity of Di Carlo, Young and Tannino, and the sonic identity of a Rome in the midst of transformation.

This is not merely a reissue.
It is a historical document.
A fragment of a culture that changed the city.
The authentic sound of the Roman underground, finally returned to the world.

Welcome to THE VAULT for 1985. A collection that digs deeper into the year’s musical landscape – uncovering singles that may not have always reached the highest chart positions but remain essential to the rich and diverse pop story of 1985. Some were overshadowed at the time, some were highlights from albums that had already sold huge amounts, some found greater success internationally – but all deserve their place in this continued celebration of 80s pop.

45 tracks across 3-LPs – pressed in gorgeous green vinyl – NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1985.

LP1 opens with a trio of tracks from huge-selling albums:- Bruce Springsteen’s ‘My Hometown’, the sixth single in the UK from ‘Born in the U.S.A’ - one of the best-selling albums of the decade, followed by Bryan Ferry with the stunning ‘Windswept’ from ‘Boys And Girls’ and Sting’s ‘Love Is The Seventh Wave’, taken from his solo debut ‘The Dream Of The Blue Turtles’. Next up, Go West with a U.S single release ‘Eye To Eye’, Scritti Politti with ‘Perfect Way’ – their biggest hit in America, and ABC with ‘Be Near Me’. The first side closes with two established bands; Heaven 17 and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark… Flip the LP over for Adam Ant with ‘Vive Le Rock’, Midge Ure, Blancmange and the second collaboration between Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder with ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’. The Style Council’s ‘Welcome To Milton Keynes’ leads to LP1’s closer’s from Simply Red and Fine Young Cannibals who followed their debut ‘Johnny Come Home’ with ‘Blue’.

LP2 opens with Cocteau Twins and the dream-pop atmospherics of ‘Aikea-Guinea’, ahead of The Jesus And Mary Chain with ‘Just Like Honey’, and The Dream Academy with ‘The Love Parade’.

Brilliant with their cover of James Brown’s ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ and jazz-influenced pop from Matt Bianco are up next ahead of the sublime ‘Castles In The Air’ from The Colourfield and Elvis Costello & The Attractions, who released the 1979 track ‘Green Shirt’ to promote their ‘Best Of’ collection … and the side closes with The Clash’s ‘This Is England’ which would become their last originally released hit…whilst on the other side…celebrate the dancefloor, with a vibrant mix of Hi-NRG, soul, electro and club-influenced pop:- Opening with Sheryl Lee Ralph’s ‘In The Evening’ and Barbara Pennington’s equally superb ‘On A Crowded Street’, the hi-energy continues with Miquel Brown and Hazell Dean ahead of a US hit from Laura Branigan (‘Spanish Eddie’) and Divine’s cover of ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’. LP2 finishes with a massive U.S. dancefloor smash for Eddie Murphy with ‘Party All The Time’.

The final LP kicks off with a bunch of singles that achieved bigger hit status in the US than here and opens with Billy Joel’s ‘You’re Only Human (Second Wind)’, a track written exclusively for his ‘Greatest Hits – Volume I & II’ compilation, ahead of pop-rock from John Mellencamp plus an anthemic smash from Bon Jovi. Pat Benatar’s ‘Invincible’ features ahead of The Power Station’s third US Top 40 hit…whilst back in the UK Chris Rea enjoyed his biggest chart hit to date with ‘Stainsby Girls’ and the side is completed by Marillion with ‘Heart Of Lothian’ the third hit from their huge ‘Misplaced Childhood’ album… Flip to the final side for the stellar vocals on ‘Act Of War’, the huge collaboration between Elton John & Millie Jackson ahead of dancefloor smash ‘New Attitude’ from Patti Labelle and ‘Show Some Respect’ a U.S. single from Tina Turner. Sophisticated pop-R&B from Michael McDonald and Daryl Hall & John Oates come ahead of the collection’s closers- and two outstanding vocal performances: Chaka Khan’s ‘Through The Fire’ and the U.S. breakthrough hit from Whitney Houston with ‘You Give Good Love’ – signalling the arrival of one of the decade’s brightest new stars.

NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1985 – A deeper dive into an unforgettable year in pop.

Schwarzes Vinyl! Doppel-LP im Klappcover. Ursprünglich 2017 rausgebracht und jetzt zum ersten Mal in Europa über Sub Pop erhältlich! Pure Comedy, das dritte Album von Father John Misty, ist eine komplexe, oft sarkastische und ebenso oft berührende Reflexion über die verwirrende Torheit der modernen Menschheit. Father John Misty ist das Projekt von Singer-Songwriter Josh Tillman. Wir könnten viel über Pure Comedy sagen, zum Beispiel, dass es ein mutiges, wichtiges Album in der Tradition amerikanischer Songwriting-Größen wie Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman und Leonard Cohen ist, aber wir denken, es ist am besten, wenn sein Schöpfer es selbst beschreibt. Los geht's, Mr. Tillman: Pure Comedy ist die Geschichte einer Spezies, die mit einem unvollständig entwickelten Gehirn geboren wurde. Die einzige Überlebenschance dieser Spezies, die sich auf einem grausamen, unberechenbaren Felsen wiederfindet, umgeben von anderen Spezies, die in dieser ganzen Sache viel geschickter zu sein scheinen (und für die sie eine Delikatesse sind), besteht darin, sich auf andere, etwas ältere, halb ausgebildete Gehirne zu verlassen. Diese Abhängigkeit bekommt im Laufe der Geschichte verschiedene Namen, wie ,Liebe", ,Kultur", ,Familie" usw. Mit der Zeit und da sich ihre Gehirne als bemerkenswert gut darin erweisen, Bedeutung zu erfinden, wo keine ist, wird die Spezies zum Lieferanten immer bizarrerer und raffinierterer Ironien. Diese Ironien sollen helfen, mit der abscheulichen Verletzlichkeit der Spezies fertig zu werden und zu versuchen, ihre Fantasie mit der Monotonie ihrer Existenz in Einklang zu bringen. So in etwa. Pure Comedy wurde 2016 in den legendären United Studios (Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Beck) in Hollywood, Kalifornien, aufgenommen. Produziert wurde es von Father John Misty und Jonathan Wilson, die Tonarbeit übernahm Mistys langjähriger Tontechniker Trevor Spencer und die Orchesterarrangements stammen vom bekannten Komponisten und Kontrabassisten Gavin Bryars (bekannt für seine umfangreichen Soloarbeiten und seine Zusammenarbeit mit Brian Eno, Tom Waits und Derek Bailey). Black Vinyl. Originally released in 2017 & now available for the first time in Europe via Sub Pop! Pure Comedy, Father John Misty's third album, is a complex, often-sardonic, and, equally often, touching meditation on the confounding folly of modern humanity. Father John Misty is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Josh Tillman. While we could say a lot about Pure Comedy including that it is a bold, important album in the tradition of American songwriting greats like Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, and Leonard Cohen we think it's best to let its creator describe it himself. Take it away, Mr. Tillman: Pure Comedy is the story of a species born with a half-formed brain. The species' only hope for survival, nding itself on a cruel, unpredictable rock surrounded by other species who seem far more adept at this whole thing (and to whom they are delicious), is the reliance on other, slightly older, half-formed brains. This reliance takes on a few different names as their story unfolds, like "love," "culture," "family," etc. Over time, and as their brains prove to be remarkably good at inventing meaning where there is none, the species becomes the purveyor of increasingly bizarre and sophisticated ironies. These ironies are designed to help cope with the species' loathsome vulnerability and to try and reconcile how disproportionate their imagination is to the monotony of their existence. Something like that. Pure Comedy was recorded in 2016 at the legendary United Studios (Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Beck) in Hollywood, CA. It was produced by Father John Misty and Jonathan Wilson, with engineering by Misty's longtime sound-person Trevor Spencer and orchestral arrangements by renowned composer/double-bassist Gavin Bryars (known for extensive solo work, and work with Brian Eno, Tom Waits, Derek Bailey).

In a patchwork of IRL sound fragments, humming ambience and sub bass brushstrokes, Bobby Ingham debuts on Sneaker Social Club with a social-realist inversion of soundsystem music that relishes negative space while telling a street-level story.

Bobby Ingham is a 24-year-old multidisciplinary artist whose creative practice across film, music and sculpture was shaped by formative experiences in his native Leeds. Having started to experiment with spoken word, poetry and electronic sound production, he sharpened his focus after moving to London. Homesickness moved him to recreate the sensory impression of his hometown through sound, using snippets of his every day experience with his friends and family as well as archival recordings online related to Leeds. The particular lilt of regional dialect became central to the character of his work — a direct portal into a personal world that could only be rendered by someone who has lived it.

Ingham’s work chimes with that of SSC’s own Low End Activist. Where LEA has repeatedly taken us around the Oxford council estate he calls home, on Angel of the North Ingham lets us stay a while on the streets and in the houses that made him. It’s intimate from the very start — opening track ‘Lynne’ features Ingham’s own grandmother, while ‘I Feel So Good I Swear I Could Fly’ finds Ingham voicing his own poem as he retells personal experiences in a disarmingly mythological manner.

‘1st Memory Of Love For DRXSJKFL ft. Pretty V’ invites Wakefield, West Yorkshire-based artist Voldy Moyo to lay down a spoken word piece that evokes the dehumanising nature of military service and those left behind by it. Where there are no words, Ingham instead speaks with brittle machine rhythms and blocks of texture, swooning synthesised beauty and any emotional shade you care to mention in between. It’s a work that takes you right into the heart of the artist — someone committed to telling an honest story from a viewpoint that seldom gets a second thought.

REPRESS ON SILVER VINYL . COMES WITH 24”x24” POSTER + DOWNLOAD CARD + GATEFOLD JACKET.


On The Beths’ album Expert In A Dying Field, Elizabeth Stokes’ songwriting positions her somewhere between being a novelist and a documentarian. The songs collected here are autobiographical, but they’re also character sketches of relationships – platonic, familial, romantic – and more importantly, their aftermaths. The shapes and ghosts left in absences. The question that hangs in the air: what do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?

The third LP from the New Zealand quartet houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. With Expert, The Beths wanted to make an album meant to be experienced live, for both the listeners and themselves. They wanted it to be fun -- to hear, to play -- in spite of the prickling anxiety throughout the lyrics, the fear of change and struggle to cope.

Most of Expert was recorded at guitarist Jonathan Pearce’s studio on Karangahape Road in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand) -- and sometimes in the building's cavernous stairwell at 1am -- toward the end of 2021, until they were interrupted by a four-month national lockdown. They traded notes remotely for months, songwriting from afar and fleshing out the arrangements alone, the first time they’d written together in such a way. The following February, The Beths left the country for the first time in more than two years to tour across the US, and simultaneously finish mixing the album on the road. That latter half felt more collaborative, with everyone on-hand to trade notes in real time, until it all culminated in a chaotic three-day studio mad-dash in Los Angeles. There, Expert finally became the record they were hearing in their heads.

Expert is an extension of the same skuzzy palette the band has built across their catalog, pop hooks embedded in incisive indie rock. The album’s title track “Expert In A Dying Field” introduces the thesis for the record: “How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field? How do you know it’s over when you can’t let go?” Stokes asks. “Love is learned over time ‘til you’re an expert in a dying field.”

The rest is a capsule of The Beths’ most electrifying and exciting output, a sonic spectrum: “Your Side” is a forlorn and sincere love song, emotive; while “Silence is Golden,” with its propulsive drum line and stop-start staccato of a guitar line winding up and down, is one of the band’s sharpest and most driving. “When You Know You Know” skews a bit groovier, pure pop and a natural addition to the band’s live set. “Knees Deep” was written last minute, but yields one of the best guitar lines on Expert. There’s a certain chaos across the 12 tracks, the palpable joy of playing music with long-time friends colliding with the raw nerves of pain.

Stokes strings it all together through her singular songwriting lens, earnest and self-effacing, zeroing in on the granules of doubt and how they snowball. Did I do the wrong thing? Or did you? And are we still good people at the end of it? She isn’t interested in villains, but instead interested in just telling the story. That insecurity and thoughtfulness, translated into universality and understanding, has been the guiding light of The Beths’ output since 2016. In the face of pain, there’s no dwelling on internal anguish - instead, through The Beths’ music, our shortcomings are met with acceptance. And Expert In A Dying Field is the most tactile that tenderness has been.

The creative bond between Atjazz and Fred Everything is a story decades in the making. It began in 1998 at The Bomb in Nottingham during a DiY label night—a label through which they both released music. That first encounter sparked a lasting friendship and a steady exchange of ideas that would continue for many years. While they collaborated regularly and remixed each other’s work, it wasn’t until the summer of 2022 that they committed to making a full-length album.

The project took shape during an 8-day stay at Martin’s (Atjazz) home in the Midlands of England, where they set themselves the challenge of writing one track per day. Their shared musical language allowed ideas to move quickly, with some tracks forming in under an hour. Over the next three years, the material was carefully developed alongside their respective album projects: Atjazz’s Starbase 17, Fred Everything’s JUNO Nominated Love, Care, Kindness & Hope, and All Is Well’s A Break In Time.

A final session in Montreal in 2024, coinciding with Fred’s 50th birthday, brought the album into focus. From there, the duo invited a select group of world-class collaborators, including Jorge Bezerra (The Joe Zawinul Syndicate / St Germain), Octavio N. Santos (SiR, Lupe Fiasco), Clyde Beats, Ernesto & The Basement Gospel, and Dominique Fils-Aimé.

The result is a personal, well-constructed record that draws on the spirit of 90s deep house while applying three decades of experience to a deeply rooted, forward-thinking sound. It is a sonic testament that honours their mutual love of synthesizers, beat making, and sound design.

It is a project that took 8 days to start, 3 years to finish, and 30 years to perfect.

One of electronic music’s most sought-after names, producer and DJ KETTAMA today announces the release of his long-awaited debut album, Archangel, out 3rd of October. The announcement arrives in tandem with new single “Sort It Out” featuring Clouds, and a landmark moment in his career: his biggest ever London headline show, taking over Brixton Academy on Saturday, October 4th, followed by an expansive tour across Europe, North America, and Australia.



A decade in the making, Archangel is the definitive statement from KETTAMA (Evan Cambell), the Galway-born, London-based artist. The 15-track project is a powerful blend of hard-house energy, trance-inflected euphoria, hip-hop sample-based attitude, and unmistakable emotional depth—sonic signatures that have placed KETTAMA at the cutting edge of contemporary dance music.



The album showcases a curated roster of collaborators who reflect KETTAMA’s reach and relevance across today’s underground and mainstream scenes, including Interplanetary Criminal, Fred again.., Clouds, Prospa, DJ HEARTSTRING, Shady Nasty, SØLV and seantommy. Their contributions amplify the project's scope, offering a multi-sided view into KETTAMA’s musical universe.



Among its early singles, the Interplanetary Criminal collaboration “Yosemite” is a high-velocity anthem marrying speed-garage grit with ecstatic rave melodies, while his track “Air Maxes” with Fred again.. And Shady Nasty blends introspective vocal sampling with wide-eyed club emotion. On “If U Want My Heart” with DJ HEARTSTRING featuring KLP, the ensemble channels high-energy trance, breakbeats, and vocal euphoria into a soaring anthem that fuses emotional intensity with peak-time club energy. Meanwhile, his collaboration with Clouds, released today, “Sort It Out” dives headfirst into industrial-techno territory, conjuring a dark, cathartic energy destined for warehouse euphoria. And reigning as one of the undeniable anthems of the summer so far, “It Get’s Better (Forever Mix)” delivers euphoric waves of uplifting synths and relentless rhythm, bringing an irresistible surge of energy that’s become synonymous with this summer’s club moments.



Archangel has already found a home on the world’s biggest stages and radio airwaves, with early support from key tastemakers including Jack Saunders, Danny Howard, Sarah Story, and Tim Sweeney. Simultaneously, a grassroots groundswell continues to bloom across social platforms—where viral snippets and show footage capture the visceral reaction of a fast-growing, global fanbase.



This year, KETTAMA has elevated his status to a full-blown festival phenomenon, performing at major stages including Coachella, Glastonbury, Creamfields, Portola, Seismic, and ARC Festival, to name a few. In June, he played to 20,000 people in Belfast for a b2b with Chris Stussy—one of the UK’s largest DJ events in recent memory—and is currently mid-way through a 16-week Ibiza residency at Amnesia, playing every Monday night throughout summer. Full list of upcoming live dates can be found below.



Perhaps the clearest signal of his surging popularity is the jaw-dropping response to his upcoming Boiler Room live set, with over 15,000 fans signing up to attend— the set’s release is now highly anticipated as a time capsule moment in a breakout year for the artist.



KETTAMA’s rise to prominence has been anything but conventional. Eschewing the traditional gatekeepers of the industry, KETTAMA cultivated an underground following through the likes of SoundCloud and TikTok, where raw uploads, bootlegs, and viral edits generated a tidal wave of grassroots momentum. Over the years, these platforms became launching pads for a fiercely loyal global community, drawn to his unfiltered energy and boundary-pushing sound. This subversive path to recognition has made him not just a fixture of the scene but a symbol of how new-generation artists can forge success on their own terms.



From his humble roots in the Irish underground to the world stage KETTAMA is now pushing the limits of what a next-gen DJ-producer can achieve. With Archangel, he fuses the sound of his native ‘G-Town’ with a futuristic vision that’s unapologetically global—marking a creative milestone that cements his place among electronic music’s most compelling voices.

“Released on Joe Boyd’s Hannibal label here was a band rooted in Thompson/Swarbrick Fairport but also a snatch of the Velvet Underground and a sprig of The Byrds. The Eighteenth Day Of May evoked a legendary era, and now they are a justifiably legendary band too.” – KLOF Mag

Beginning life as a trio in London, 2003, the original line-up consisted of Allison Brice (vocals, flute), Richard Olson (acoustic guitar) and Ben Phillipson (guitar, mandolin) before expanding the following year to include the rhythm section of Mark Nicholas (bass) and Karl Sabino (drums, autoharp) and finally Alison Cotton (viola).
This being the mid zeros, the independent music scene in the UK was reluctant to embrace a sun-dazed folk band but this, their sole album, has gradually feathered a bed of affection amongst international folk fans. Twenty years on, the album is now rightfully seen as a trailblazer for the myriad alternative/psych folk bands that emerged in its wake.
Andy Childs who signed the band originally takes up the story. “I first heard their music on a cover mounted CD with the much missed Comes With A Smile magazine and as far as I could tell no-one was making music like this anymore, certainly not with such panache and confidence. To my jaded ears it all sounded so uninhibited - old weird folk songs, Americana, original psych-folk, minimalist drones. Great melodies and all six of them could sing! A joyous, unfettered sound that could in one moment conjure up flashes of The Byrds and then effortlessly the spirit of Velvet Underground would drift through. They even covered a Spacemen 3 song. I loved the fact that they had the aplomb to tackle traditional folk songs like Lady Margaret and Flowers In The Forest and not be afraid to stamp their own identity on them.
Signing them to the Hannibal label was straightforward. If anything the album somehow sounds fresh and undated, even better than it did in the day when perhaps eclecticism was out of synch with the times; its subtleties have become more apparent.”
“Their rendition of Lady Margaret builds to a headswirling crescendo that challenges anyone who claims Shirley Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie or Trees have recorded the definitive version and the hallucinatory The Waterman’s Song To His Daughter raises an already brilliant album to an unholy level” - IT’S PSYCHEDELIC, BABY Magazine

Sirens" resonate a lot in 2026. "Sirens" are everywhere right now, in the many fields of the human reign, sounding at its highest level ever... Pioneering Swiss DJ and electronic music producer Ripperton joins forces with Berlin-based singer, composer and passionate aural storyteller Joy Frempong (OY) to create a beautiful and deeply moving piece of electronic music. And after three years in the making, “Sirens” finally emerges. The roots of this collaboration however reach back more than a decade. Around 2010, Ripperton first encountered Joy’s first album with Oy after hearing it on Swiss national radio Couleur 3. Shortly after, he saw her playing live — a moment he describes as pure magic. So inspired, Ripperton approached her label with a request to remix her music. The label agreed, and in exchange, Joy promised to feature on one of his future productions. What began as a mutual artistic gesture quietly planted a seed and eventually, pretty much fifteen years later, that seed has fully grown. “Sirens” began as one of Ripperton’s nocturnal modular jams — exploring and playing around with pulsating sequences, pure analogue sound textures and fluid, hypnotic structures. The track was then elevated to an entirely new level by Joy Frempong’s deep, evocative lyrics and her celestial voice, transforming the song into something haunting and profoundly human. The song also grew on a shared work ethos rooted in patience, trust and refinement. A slow process, shaped by intuition and feeling rather than pressure. Listening over noise. The result is an emotionally charged composition that blurs the line between inner reflection and collective awareness — a sonic response to the sirens of our time.

Quotes: Laurent Garnier: “This is lovelyyyyy * “ Aera: “Love it! A brooding masterpiece. Simple yet multilayered, the real action is happening beyond the surface.” Acid Pauli: "This is really special. Like it a lot." Kalabrese: "Wonderful collaboration between two outstanding artists. Fresh sounds, deeper rauschen, beautiful vocals, hypnotic tribe. a bliss!” Vladimir Ivcovic: "Das ist so gut, aufrichtig, rein und kommt zum richtigen Zeitpunkt. Die Abwesenheit von Hysterie. Ich liebe es. Downcast Euphoria of the highest order und gerade. In der Tat wunderschön. Besonders Clouds Mix, gerade."

2026 Repress

ANNE & SERA J return for the second edition of their Symbiosis series on Mutual Rytm.

ANNE, known for potent techno on the likes of Soma and Hardgroove, and Nechto and Life In Patterns associate Sera J, have had standout years that have seen them put out a stream of essential club tracks. They are partners in both life and music, and the first volume of 'Symbiosis' on SHDW's Mutual Rytm imprint was their first release together. Delivering an honest representation of their innermost feelings, having also contributed to the label's 'Federation Of Rytm III' VA in February, this new six-track EP (plus bonus cuts) presents a 'mature and refined connection between their souls'.

The second instalment of 'Symbiosis' reflects not only their deep personal connection, but also their collaborative synergy as musical peers with the same goals. The EP captures the essence of their mutual artistic journey and showcases the strength of their bond both in life and through their shared creative vision - to create a storyline through sounds coming from their souls and convey a narrative that many listeners may find relatable.

SERA J kicks off with the lithe and melodically elegant techno of 'Your Soul Is Art' which will have both heart and heels dancing. 'Illusions' is a more heavy and dubby cut with paired back grooves and pulsing synths, while 'Glacial Pace' is an urgent deep techno roller with turbocharged stabs and huge icy hi hats locking you into a trance.

ANNE steps up on the B-side with 'Floating Waves' exploring physical, chunky drum funk and raw synth textures. 'Planetary Dust' is a dark and moody astral techno journey to the stars, before 'Sweet Seventeen' brings a more melodic cut with a sense of hope and joy in the bright pads that shimmer above the glitchy grooves.

Both artists also offer two digital bonus cuts with SERA J's 'Syncrosonix' and 'Space Velocity' delivering perfectly reduced minimal techno monsters, while ANNE's 'Gentle Loop' and 'Starburst' are interplanetary trips with widescreen cosmic synths.

The world of discovering Soul music and artists can lead to sheer moments of jubilation. The thought of igniting a long lost sound, reviving the energy of a once exuberant individual . But not every story that's told is filled with joy. Some are peppered along the way with struggles and heartache. Over time artists have battled with over powering label owners, record executives who just don't back what you do. The story of Tommy Hill is one such story. Tommy along with friend and longtime collaborator Ricky Tarbo had a deal with Motown records back in the early 1980's which turned sour very quickly. His release "Flame"/"Super Star Of Love' was dropped pretty quickly with no promotion and record boss Sylvia Rhône calling the shots within the duo questioning skin colour within the group and even trying to get vocals wiped off the release to sabotage it.

This said the single didn't amount to much and nothing else was recorded for Motown records. The duo did record some 4 demo's in LA before Tommy headed to re-record them again in New York circa 1982.

The A side has never been released until now, which is such a crying shame as the quality is so damn good. It's an uptempo boogie cut called "All My Love" which we gave a sexy 45 mix so you get some slamming synth work half way in. Tommy Hill's vocal range is nothing but astonishing. Just check out the 2 step ballad of "Can't Get Over You", which was recorded and released back in 1980 by The James Simpson penetration Band written by Tommy Hill, who went back into the studio 2 years later to give the song much more depth not only within the production but also to his vocal range. Tommy Hill headed back to LA after not securing a record deal and a few years later tried to get this singing career back on track. Like many of the artists who have moved on to a higher place Tommy succumbed to his own mental health issues and took his life. We hope this record does you proud Tommy Hill

Fast-rising pianist and producer Yoni Mayraz presents his debut LP ‘Dybbuk Tse!’ revealing the story of a malicious possession that is taking over one’s body and soul.

Dybbuk, known from Jewish folklore, is a malevolent wandering spirit that enters and possesses the body of a living person. It’s a cursed soul of a dead one that wanders tirelessly for sins committed during their life. The most vulnerable victims are the young and the sinful. Possession can be taken literally or as an analogy to the burden that young people carry generations back, which they have no influence on, and which they have to accept. Dybbuk can only be removed by exorcism. The titular ‘Dybbuk Tse!’ is a command to remove the spirit from the possessed body. The album is a story about possession but also about exorcism through music.

Recorded live with his band over the course of a spring week last year, ‘Dybbuk Tse!’ is indeed experimenting with the ‘darker side of things’, but yet with a somewhat lighthearted approach which is so typical of Yoni’s work. He easily combines jazz with the sound of 90’s New York hip hop and raw old school breakbeat. The album interweaves unique Middle Eastern melodies, sophisticated structures and sounds, and beautifully crafted solos played by some of the promising talents on the scene.

London based Israeli born pianist and producer Yoni Mayraz has set foot in the instrumental music scene with his EP ‘Rough Cuts’ released in 2020. Since then, Yoni and his band have been playing major venues and festivals around the world including the legendary Ronnie Scott’s and The Jazz Cafe, to name a few, bringing raw energy to stage with live versions of the studio materials, and stretching the melodies and structures into a Dancefloor-focused take on jazz.

“Danny Elfman’s musical score was to die for, and
it was incorporated into ‘Wednesday’’s joyfully
bleak coming-of-age story so brilliantly.” -

 Double LP on Purple Goth with Smoky Shadow
vinyl, with full colour gatefold sleeve and inner
sleeves.
 Composed by four-time Oscar nominee, two-time
Emmy winner Danny Elfman (‘Milk’, ‘Big Fish’,
‘Men in Black’, ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘Live from
Lincoln Center’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘The
Simpsons’) and three-time Emmy nominee Chris
Bacon (‘The Tick’, ‘Bates Motel’, ‘Smash’,
‘Gnomeo & Juliet’, ‘Sherlock Gnomes’,
‘Immanence’).
 Elfman also composed music for Tim Burton’s
‘Beetlejuice’, ‘Batman and Batman Returns’, ‘The
Nightmare Before Christmas’, ‘Mars Attacks!’, ‘Big
Fish’ (for which Elfman earned one of his four
career Oscar nods) and ‘Alice in Wonderland’,
among others.
 Chris Bacon is a protege of the great James
Newton Howard, and won an HMMA for ‘Gnomeo
& Juliet’, which he shared with James and Bernie
Taupin (Elton John).
 Online - Promoted through all Lakeshore Records social
media.

Limited Edition of 1,000 Hand-Numbered Units on Ruby Red Vinyl. Includes never heard before audio and lyrics printed on heavy board inner sleeves!

40 years later - and still no one does it like this. We’re celebrating the unstoppable legacy of one of hip-hop’s most iconic collaborations: Doug E. Fresh and Mc Ricky D (now globally known as Slick Rick) “La Di Da Di" along with the pop dance tune "The Show."

From its very first breath, this track reshaped sound, style, and storytelling — a cultural moment that became a timeless movement. Decades on, its influence is everywhere: sampled, quoted, reimagined — but never duplicated. “La Di Da Di”and “The Show” didn’t just belong to an era — they created one.

To mark this monumental anniversary, the Hip-Hop legends decided to drop a limited 12” 40th Anniversary Edition. The release features the original versions of “La Di Da Di” and “The Show” - plus a rare demo of "The Show" as well as an unreleased street version of "La-Di-Da-Di" recorded live from The Lincoln Projects in Harlem NY) that take you deeper into the sound that started it all with the Get Fresh Crew.

The story continues...Five years after "Twentieth EP," the label bosses return for the label's 31st release.A record comprised of one side each. DJ Steaw on side A and Gunnter on side B. Thisrecord showcases all facets of both artists, 100% in keeping with the label's signaturesound. The record is powerful. Be prepared for the club effect…

Marvin Gaye always dreamed of being a smooth crooner, “sitting on a stool, possibly behind a piano,” delivering velvety songs like Nat King Cole. But Motown had other plans. Pushed between raw R&B and polished pop, Gaye fought to find his own voice, eventually rising to become one of the greatest soul singers in history.

Motown Records released the first Marvin Gaye record in 1961 "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over", a single intended for (radio) promotion from the singer's debut album. This was followed up by the officially released "Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide" a week later. Gaye scored his first real hit with "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" in 1962, which he had co-written himself, joking about his alleged stubbornness. He found his own unique style with the single released at the end of the year: "Hitch Hike". The foundations were now laid for an enormous series of chart successes: "Pride And Joy", "Can I Get A Witness", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "Ain't That Peculiar" are all Motown classics from 1963-1965 which are still being regularly played today after all these years. The duets he recorded with Kim Weston ("It Takes Two"), especially Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross were certainly at least as good.

He scored his biggest ever hit with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" in 1968. "What's Going On" from the same titled album became a number 1 hit in the USA. The album was received as a masterpiece and is regarded as one of the most important records in pop history. In 1973, the artistically and commercially very successful, "Let's Get It On" album was mainly a musical ode to Marvin's love for his new muse Janis Hunter. His journey continued after a turbulent relationship, addiction and a dramatic creative rebirth in Belgium, where he crafted the global hit “Sexual Healing in 1982.

Marvin Gaye left behind timeless hits, groundbreaking albums, and a legacy that shaped the sound of modern soul. His story, from ambition to artistry, from struggle to brilliance, remains as powerful as the music he created.

Music On Vinyl proudly presents a special coloured vinyl edition of the Marvin Gaye Collected album which is available as a limited edition of 10.000 individually numbered copies on white (LP1) and silver coloured vinyl (LP2) and includes a booklet with liner notes.

Chins For Lefty is the debut album and first recording by Gichard, a new duo chronicling the absurdities of end-stage capitalism and mouldering social rituals from their vantage point in Glasgow, Scotland. Recorded primarily in the band’s home studio straight to tape, Chins For Lefty combines gorgeous, ramshackle melody, DIY kosmische punk, drum machine + synth and, in vocalist/lyricist Lisa Jones, an absurdist commentator on the human condition as it navigates the anxieties of the modern world. Instrumentalist Chas Lalli’s swirling music accompaniment stitches an evocative mix of musical styles, the ragged wind beneath the lyrics’ wings.

Although the duo first collaborated in their previous group Dragged Up, their disparate musical and artistic backgrounds make for an alluring mix in Gichard. Lalli has spent the last 20 years in the Glasgow underground, most notably in the noise rock group VOM, while Lisa Jones’s practice was in poetry and spoken word. Beginning as co vocalist in her previous band, in Gichard her lyrics are centre stage; the vision concocted alongside Lalli amounts to a total world-build.

Chins For Lefty scans almost like a novel, with each track elucidating a skewed universe that bears only some resemblance to the one you and I partake in. Like all works of fiction Gichard’s songs are rooted in reality and the lived experiences of its authors, but here characters are exaggerated, social mores and habits are pulled apart to reveal their inherent alienness. Universal emotions are laid bare, the bright light of anxious examination searching out every hairline fracture in our relationships. Distorted and cracked, the mirror that Gichard hold up to our world is also pretty damn funny.

Opener Cholesterol Test launches an expansive, cosmic guitar and synth intro that belies the Tascam-tape recorder it was recorded onto, like a Chromatics cut substituting anxiety for overt sexuality. Here Jones intones an apology to a non-responsive recipient, in the medium of a long voice note forensically deconstructing an interaction from the night before. Over punk guitars and shuffling, lo-fi drum machine splutters, the narrator in Asking The Apes “prefers things to people” before being taken hostage in the city zoo to confess an obsession which consumes the protagonist, ending with the immortal two liner “I sleep in a cocoon of old newspapers at the end of your street / And I think I have been fired from my job,” On album standout Posthumous Hologram, the narrator is faced with a human simulacra, in this case an undead pop star; the face of the encroaching technological singularity. Yes, it does requests, it can do My Way in 200 different language options. But what are the implications? While you’re left pondering, the alternating deadpan verse delivery and undeniably catchy chorus keep you company.

By the time Break Up With Johnny Dogbirth rattles into view, the band are satirising a suburban inanity blown up to cartoon proportions, soundtracked with a drawled musicality that recalls Rowland S. Howard’s post-Birthday Party balladeering. This approach is furthered on Human Resources: over an angular guitar+bass track, Jones’s short story recalls Dry Cleaning’s erudite lyrical post punk. On Soft Face, Lalli’s guitar and drum machine are swathed in echo and delay, as Jones dissects dating rituals with a west of Scotland drollness. Hamming It Up brings a porcine perspective in a short story that begins with the line “I was breastfeeding discreetly in the service station. She didn’t mind.” What follows is a passage punctured with canned laughter and a narrative involving tribute acts, modern farming techniques.

Brilliant first single Your Private Hell closes the album, the closest the group get to earnest perhaps, filtered through a surreal central Scottishness. While Your Private Hell might seem like a sardonic take down of romance, perhaps it’s the very distillation of love in all its awkwardness, selflessness and weirdness. Here there’s a distinctive Glasgow-ness to this doomed romance: the protagonist falls for an outsider, offers them cheap jarred hot dogs and carbolic soap (the infamous, excoriating soap dished out in schools and government buildings throughout Scotland), offers to cover up a murder, stalks them in the all-night Spar. It’s a short story of intrigue, murder and the irresistible pull of self-sacrifice to share in someone else’s suffering. If that’s not love, what is it? You can see this vision mapped out in black and white on their video for 'Your Private Hell'.

2026 Repress!

The story begins in 2000 in Britany (France). Two guys decide to create a sound system with the aim of sharing their common passion for roots reggae and early digital. Rootystep (selecta) and MacGyver (operator) begin to collect records and purchase music equipment. They are quickly joined by Pupajim who becomes the MC, the singer and the dub builder. The Stand High Patrol first toured the land of Brittany, gradually moving towards stepper dub production emanating from the English stage. Fifteen years later, the sound is more present than ever. Stand High has created a true identity and has established itself as one of the essential sound systems of the French dub scene. In 2009, Stand High Patrol creates his own label "Stand High Records". In 2012, after releasing several records, the Dubadub Musketeerz present their debut album "Midnight Walkers", 13 exclusives & wicked tracks inna pure Dubadub Style. In 2015 the dubadub experience takes on new dimensions with their second album : "A Matter Of Scale". In 2017 they are back with "The Shift" a third LP totally dedicated to Boom Bap & 90s Hip Hop. Words, blue notes, boom bap and bad news: here comes "The Shift", the third album of Stand High Patrol.

IN 2017, TRYING TO MAKE BOOM BAP FROM THE 90s, INSPIRED BY JAZZ FROM THE 60s, MIXED WITH MACHINES FROM THE 50s

Lyrics, Boom bap and bad news: Stand High Patrol present their third album 'The Shift' and confirm their attachment to 90s hiphop.

ounded in 1992 by the larger than life, Scottish punk-rock poet laureate, Mr Paul McKenzie, this merry band of miscreants has spent more than three decades circumnavigating the globe to bring the McKenzies gospel to an ever-expanding throng of rebels, scallywags and ne'er do wells. There's not many bands that can boast of a 30+ year career as staggeringly adventurous, wildly tempestuous and utterly death-defying as The Real McKenzies. It would be a serious mistake to write them off as just another Celtic punk band (they’ve been around longer than the Dropkick Murphys after all). They are an unstoppable juggernaut of touring mayhem. A ferocious troupe of insanely talented minstrels, storytellers and entertainers melding traditional acoustic and electric instruments to create a sound like no other. Their list of accolades is long. From sharing the stage with the likes of NOFX, Rancid, Flogging Molly, Metallica and Shane McGowan to appearing in film, books and video games to early releases with the almighty Fat Wreck Chords, their legendary status only continues to grow. On Yer Bike is an absolute beast of an album. A newly revitalized and laser-focused Paul McKenzie has never sounded better and his longtime bandmates have never been tighter. Boasting thirteen epic tracks, including the Sawney Bean trilogy (a trio of songs about Scotland's most infamous cannibal highwayman), the songs rage across topics including but not limited to love, literacy, historical sagas, eating sardines with your mother and, of course, cannibalism. Soaring bagpipes, heart pounding percussion and ultra melodic shoutalong Celtic punk rock are the orders of the day and are delivered piping hot from one of the most respected and adored pioneers of the genre.

Reissued! Transcendence through repetition beamed via an aesthetic vision steeped in mystery: welcome to the world of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne's Smote, an entity opening up uncanny new psychic pathways. `Genog' - the outfit's second release on Rocket Recordings following 2021's eerie transmission `Drommon' - shows that Smote's elliptical casting of bleak magick is only growing more powerful as it gathers momentum. The brainchild of Daniel Foggin, Smote has evolved seemingly of its own volition. "I had the idea for years" he relates, "I love Pärson Sound, Träd, Gräs Och Stenar, Traditional Irish Folk and all sorts of different Drone and Folk music. It was simply finding the opportunity to sit down and get recording. A very heavy influence that affects Smote is fantasy as a genre, and the atmosphere that can be created via story-telling." The musical approach of Smote may have started out as a resolutely DIY one, yet from the humble origins of bedroom and rehearsal room recordings, the band has now become a full-fledged and powerful live band, whose appearances at festivals like Roadburn, Le Guess Who and Brave Exhibitions have already caused a considerable stir.The five vivid extrapolations on Genog conjure differing spiritual realms, yet combine and coalesce to offer one unified vision, building furious momentum in a manner that unites the pastoral with the arcane and otherworldy. Earthy, ritualistic and richly cinematic in aspect, Genog is an avatar guiding the listener to dark and beguiling imaginary landscapes. 2026 bone colour vinyl repress

Singer/Songwriter Joshua Ray Walker’s made a name for himself with poignant, human portraits of flawed, fascinating characters. Now, on his latest album, Ain’t Dead Yet, Walker’s telling a more personal story – his own. “Human beings are super multi-faceted, and part of the reason I wrote about characters in the first place was because I could explore things about myself that I didn't feel comfortable exploring if I were to admit that it was really about me,” Walker says. “All my songs are about parts of me, I just didn't try to stick them on another fictional character this time.” Beneath the album’s flippant title resides some of Walker’s heaviest storytelling yet. Three years ago, when he started writing Ain’t Dead Yet (his sixth studio album, to be released May 29 via Thirty Tigers/East Dallas Records), Walker hadn’t yet received the cancer diagnosis that rearranged and threatened his life (he currently has a clean bill of health). But that year was still uncommonly fraught with mental, physical, and career stresses. Pulling the songs out of the can to finalize them for the album – including re-writing and re-working almost all the songs – Walker, who was then undergoing and recovering from cancer treatment, was surprised by their prescience.

2LP 2026 Repress

Written and produced in a country house surrounded only by vast, empty landscapes and an endless sky,
‘Suicide Disco’ is the fruit of a 3-year long collaboration and Years of Denial’s debut LP for Veyl.
Urged to escape from crowded cities and information overload, the duo sharpened their sound and working
process through isolation and introspection, crafting 11 songs filled to brim with enormous hooks, New
Wave nostalgia and razor-sharp production details.
Barkosina’s voice echoes and oscillates against Jerome’s snares, profound and wounded at once. Her
expressionist narrative take us to unknown yet familiar places, amplified by dub delays and otherworldly
reverbs. Each track tells a story based on the intensity of relationships, a touching and distorted invitation
into intimacy and complicity

2023 Repress


Voices From the Lake (consisting of Donato Dozzy and Neel) mark the 10th anniversary of their influential self-titled album with a fully remastered reissue on Spazio Disponibile. It arrives in full on vinyl for the first time, as well as on digital formats, first quarter of 2023 as the pair continues to play select live shows around the world. The release will see the light of day as a 4-set vinyl LP release, including download. Italians Dozzy and Neel have been friends united by a shared vision of music since their teenage years. They are immaculate sculptors of sound who fuse evocative ambient and leftfield techno into multi-layered soundscapes. For many years they worked as established solo artists but came together in 2011 to craft what is now regarded as one of techno's most pure and absorbing listening experiences. It's often said that the best music comes about as a happy accident, and that is certainly true of Voices From the Lake. The career-defining album first arose in the thoughts of Dozzy and Neel when the latter was preparing a mix for the former's wedding and named it Voices From The Lake. It was a pertinent title that stuck in the mind: both grew up by waters around the coast of Italy, and in their early days the pair even held private parties on the shores of a lake. Fittingly, Japan's celebrated Labyrinth festival at that time was also held by a river and a lake in the middle of a forest on a serene mountainside. It was that exact setting the pair envisaged when making music to play live on stage. During preparations, they "accidentally" wrote an entire album. It has only ever been performed live a few times - once at Japan's Labyrinth festival in 2011, at London's Barbican, Barcelona's Mira Festival, Paris' Marathon Festival and once during 2022's Amsterdam Dance Event. Those shows saw the pair using banks of analogue and digital equipment to improvise in the moment and essentially remix the album live on stage. That spontaneity is captured in the original Voices From the Lake recordings and on later LPs such as Live at Maxxi in 2015, and the most recent EP Quarto Freddo from 2020. But the debut album remains a standout achievement. A decade on, it's quiet intensity, musical storytelling and slowly unfolding tension remain in a class of one. Each sound is meticulously designed and placed, and the spaces left behind are just as important in conveying such a captivating mood and emotion. Rather than traditional kick drums, hi-hats or snares, this is music crafted from layers of real-world sound - dripping water, chirping birds, rustling leaves or a distant breeze - and it's that which defines the album's organic allure. From deeply contemplative to cautiously optimistic, pastoral organic scenes to more underwater worlds, Voices From the Lake is a cohesive collection of tracks that add up to one inseparable whole.

For the last three years, Pomplamoose has shared the making of ‘Photogénique’, a lush and groovy French bossa-pop album produced by Jeremy Most (Emily King), Jack Conte and Philip Etherington (Lizzy McAlpine)

It’s a romantic, playful and deeply nostalgic coming-of-age story steeped in Dawn’s childhood memories of France and Belgium. Collaborations include legendary jazz organist Larry Goldings and French singer songwriter Laura Cahen.

Once I Was Young and The Airplane Album find the producer taking yet another sonic right turn. "These records were made in the same year with a very similar creative process. I moved almost completely away from sampling, experimented more than ever with ambient and techno elements and used the album format as a way to tell a story about moments in my life." Once I Was Young is a storytelling work that journeys through analogue synth-pop, modulated techno and raw, dusty drums with otherworldly melodies. Moments of beauty come through escapist, naturalistic ambient tracks and fusions of Kraftwerkian sequencing with more classical piano, while stark, clubready grooves keep things moving. Airplane contrasts similar shades of light and dark, synthetic and organic, rough and smooth. Glitchy, imperfect analogue sounds, knackered drum machine grooves and eerie synth phrasing evoke a post-human world with icy atmospheres. Elsewhere, warmth comes from bittersweet melodies and loose, funky drums that ooze retro-future charm.
Once I Was Young and The Airplane Album show a diff erent side to Escobar, one that embraces introspection and experimentation while exploring a whole other world of meaningful machine soul

Actor, comedian, friend of the label, Aziz Ansari (of Parks and Rec fame) has visited Third Man a handful of times, even gracing us with a surprise live set back in 2013. For years we've been working hard to find something to release together and his second Comedy Central stand-up special, Dangerously Delicious, which was originally released in 2012, contains so many great moments (50 Cent's 1st grapefruit experience, anyone?), it just needs to be pressed into wax. So, here we've done it! Put the needle in the groove and let the good times roll, friends. Co-released with Comedy Central

To mark its 20th birthday, Lisbon-born label Enchufada is releasing A Lisbon Club Story - 20 hand-picked tracks bridging bass, trap, grime and rave with baile funk, kuduro, batida, Afro-house and more dance-oriented styles. A mix of 12 archive selections and eight fresh cuts, the LP unites some of the boldest champions of Afro-diasporic and global bass music today, from household names in Portugal such as Buraka Som Sistema - back with their first track in 12 years, DJ Marfox and Shaka Lion to newgen dynamos like Vanyfox and international stars like Dengue Dengue Dengue and Mina.

These days – on the new, ninth Fink album – Greenall is operating within a lineage of authentic, quietly revolutionary artists from England’s verdant southwestern toe. Artists like Michael Chapman. In 1970, the elusive acoustic guitar wizard released an album called Fully Qualified Survivor. The cult-classic served as a lodestar for Greenall – along with bandmates Tim Thornton and Guy Whittaker – as he began jigsawing together The City Is Coming to Erase it All, the follow-up to 2024’s Beauty In Your Wake. He even considered covering a song from it, but in the process, inadvertently stumbled into what became the album’s opener. ‘Wishing For Blue Sky’ circles a universal teenage ache: waiting for life to start. “No point dying of patience” goes the first lyric as crunching footsteps cue a resonant, open-tuned acoustic swaying into view. By 18, Greenall was fed up with waiting, so he left suburban Bristol and saw the world, sending postcards from the edge, waiting tables, squirreling away tips for the next flight. Thornton had similar experiences when the guitarist/drummer busked across Eur

This is nowstalgia more than nostalgia, though; there’s a parallel between these 18-year-olds and Fink’s autumn-aged family men. “You’re expected to be boring and settling down at this age,” Thornton says. “But we’ve still got this tremendous wanderlust. We want to go and discover, and also achieve things. It’s a nice life – home and family – but fuck, I can’t wait to get back out there.” City is a product of this hunger for discovery, and idolatry of the album as a form – like we had in 1974. City’s cover mirrors its interior, the first song is the greeting, the instrumental closer the conclusion. It’s a story. It’s a record for people who, like its creators, are curious. People who happily face a little cold for music, who light a crackling fire back home, who sit with these songs until they’re ready to chase after their own blue sky

These days – on the new, ninth Fink album – Greenall is operating within a lineage of authentic, quietly revolutionary artists from England’s verdant southwestern toe. Artists like Michael Chapman. In 1970, the elusive acoustic guitar wizard released an album called Fully Qualified Survivor. The cult-classic served as a lodestar for Greenall – along with bandmates Tim Thornton and Guy Whittaker – as he began jigsawing together The City Is Coming to Erase it All, the follow-up to 2024’s Beauty In Your Wake. He even considered covering a song from it, but in the process, inadvertently stumbled into what became the album’s opener. ‘Wishing For Blue Sky’ circles a universal teenage ache: waiting for life to start. “No point dying of patience” goes the first lyric as crunching footsteps cue a resonant, open-tuned acoustic swaying into view. By 18, Greenall was fed up with waiting, so he left suburban Bristol and saw the world, sending postcards from the edge, waiting tables, squirreling away tips for the next flight. Thornton had similar experiences when the guitarist/drummer busked across Eur

This is nowstalgia more than nostalgia, though; there’s a parallel between these 18-year-olds and Fink’s autumn-aged family men. “You’re expected to be boring and settling down at this age,” Thornton says. “But we’ve still got this tremendous wanderlust. We want to go and discover, and also achieve things. It’s a nice life – home and family – but fuck, I can’t wait to get back out there.” City is a product of this hunger for discovery, and idolatry of the album as a form – like we had in 1974. City’s cover mirrors its interior, the first song is the greeting, the instrumental closer the conclusion. It’s a story. It’s a record for people who, like its creators, are curious. People who happily face a little cold for music, who light a crackling fire back home, who sit with these songs until they’re ready to chase after their own blue sky

Oliver Koletzki Releases Twelfth Studio Album 12

The beautifully crafted twelve-track opus is out now via Stil vor Talent.
Berlin-based artist, DJ, producer and Stil vor Talent co-founder Oliver Koletzki today releases his twelfth studio album, “12” — a deeply considered, emotionally rich long-player that marks the next chapter in a career spanning more than two decades at the forefront of electronic music. The album is out now on Stil vor Talent in digital formats and as a 2x12” gatefold vinyl.

Serving as both a milestone and a manifesto, “12” distils Koletzki’s evolving sound into its most refined form yet. Across twelve tracks, the album explores atmosphere, restraint and emotional clarity, balancing slow-burning club energy with introspective storytelling. It’s a record shaped by experience, patience and an unwavering attention to detail; qualities that have long defined Koletzki’s output as both an artist and a label curator.

The journey begins with album opener “Petrichor”, a quietly powerful introduction built around wistful organ chords that gradually unfold into a warm, hypnotic groove. Acting as the album’s emotional threshold, the track sets the tone for what follows: music that rewards immersion, thrives on nuance and unfolds with deliberate pace. From there, 12 moves seamlessly between introspective moments and more direct dance floor statements, always guided by Koletzki’s unmistakable melodic sensibility.

Singles released in the lead-up to the album offered carefully sequenced glimpses into its breadth. December’s “Trip With Me”, a collaboration with Frida Darko, brought playful energy and sharp modern club dynamics, while January’s “I Don’t Need Your Love” delivered a confident, emotionally charged statement rooted in Koletzki’s introspective yet club-ready DNA. February’s “Petrichor” revealed the album’s cinematic depth, followed by “Schnapsidee” in March — a track that leans into groove, character and subtle eccentricity.

Elsewhere on the album, tracks like “Logic”, “It’s All Gone” and “Tick Tick” showcase Koletzki’s ability to create tension and release through finely balanced arrangements, while “La Hora de Mosquitos” and “Calle Sur” hint at the global influences that continue to shape his sound. The closing stretch — from “About the Fox and a Tiger” through “What Remains” to “Voice or Noise” (with Frida Darko) — brings the album to a reflective, yet characteristically playful conclusion.

As a whole, “12” feels purposeful and cohesive, guided by a clear narrative arc rather than fleeting trends. It reflects the maturity of an artist with nothing left to prove, yet still driven by curiosity and a desire to evolve. Much like Koletzki’s previous albums, “12” stands as a self-contained world, inviting listeners to step inside and stay.

Released on Stil vor Talent, the album also reinforces the label’s ethos of artistic freedom, quality and long-term vision. Now over 20 years strong, the imprint continues to shape contemporary electronic music while remaining deeply rooted in underground culture: a balance Koletzki himself has embodied throughout his career.

50 years ago, Nancy Spungeon reviewed the Heartbreakers relaunch gig for New York Rocker. They"d hired bassist Billy Rath to replace Richard Hell and written new songs. This was the genesis of the L.A.M.F. story. FOUND IN AN ATTIC - a copy master of the original 1977 Track Records tape, without "mud"! This classic punk album, recorded in London by the band featuring New York Dolls Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan, along was universally condemned in the music press for having a "muddy mix" - later found to be a mastering fault. When Track went bust the following year, manager Leee Black Childers burgled the Track Records" Carnaby Street 3rd floor office and liberated the tapes that belonged to him and the band. He found everything - except for the master-tape, which remained undiscovered until last year. Other releases had been from outtakes or remixes. First released for RSD in 2021 with not enough copies, and has been unavailable for three years. Now reissued to satisfy the demand for this latterly discovered, acclaimed recording.