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Brian Fallon reunites with producer Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, Green Day) for Not Bad for New Jersey, his first collection of original solo songs since 2020's Local Honey. Fallon is best known as the frontman of The Gaslight Anthem (The '59 Sound, Handwritten). Featuring Brandon Flowers (The Killers), Phil Collen (Def Leppard), Lori McKenna, Donovan Woods, and guitarist Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant). Out September 10, 2026. Eleven tracks of high-energy, power-pop-leaning rock about underdogs turning setbacks into rocket fuel.

Jess By The Lake’s fully analog sophomore album out in September Jess By The Lake’s highly anticipated second full-length album, HUMAN, will be released on September 11th via Svart Records. Jasmin Lempinen, the former vocalist of Jess And The Ancient Ones, is now focusing on her solo career and has this to say about the upcoming album. “This album is an analog counterattack and a celebration of live band music. It’s a statement against everything that modern society seems to be churning out from every nook and cranny: disposable, soulless, plastic, mindless output meant to be swallowed without question. The album is a carefully crafted work of art from start to finish and a tribute to both its creators and its listeners. In making it, we’ve strived for the best possible performance and sound quality that we were capable of at the moment of recording. And in that moment, we truly lived and channelled all our energy into it, which we hope will also reach the listeners. It unashamedly pays homage to the past, to the traditions of rock music.” The band began working on the album in 2019, when the first songs were written, and it was recorded live on magnetic tape in the summer of 2023 at the legendary Höyrybaari in Lapinlahti, Finland. The recording was handled by Tommi Saikkonen and the band’s guitarist Sampo Leksis, who also mixed the album. The old railway company’s log warehouse resonated beautifully, and at times the tape also picked up the rumbling of a train on the tracks right behind where the band was playing. However, making the album took time due to changing life circumstances and new additions to the family. Keeping the album entirely analog has also delayed the process

Jess By The Lake’s fully analog sophomore album out in September Jess By The Lake’s highly anticipated second full-length album, HUMAN, will be released on September 11th via Svart Records. Jasmin Lempinen, the former vocalist of Jess And The Ancient Ones, is now focusing on her solo career and has this to say about the upcoming album. “This album is an analog counterattack and a celebration of live band music. It’s a statement against everything that modern society seems to be churning out from every nook and cranny: disposable, soulless, plastic, mindless output meant to be swallowed without question. The album is a carefully crafted work of art from start to finish and a tribute to both its creators and its listeners. In making it, we’ve strived for the best possible performance and sound quality that we were capable of at the moment of recording. And in that moment, we truly lived and channelled all our energy into it, which we hope will also reach the listeners. It unashamedly pays homage to the past, to the traditions of rock music.” The band began working on the album in 2019, when the first songs were written, and it was recorded live on magnetic tape in the summer of 2023 at the legendary Höyrybaari in Lapinlahti, Finland. The recording was handled by Tommi Saikkonen and the band’s guitarist Sampo Leksis, who also mixed the album. The old railway company’s log warehouse resonated beautifully, and at times the tape also picked up the rumbling of a train on the tracks right behind where the band was playing. However, making the album took time due to changing life circumstances and new additions to the family. Keeping the album entirely analog has also delayed the process

There is a pivotal scene in “August in the Water” (dir. Sōgo Ishii, 1995) where the surface of a pool turns into a stone wall. The water that gave the protagonist's life its meaning becomes a threat. As you fall through this stone wall, you appear in a set of underwater coral-reef corridors, and one of the most beautiful musical themes begins to play: Aquatic Ambience, composed by David Wise for Donkey Kong Country (1994). It's a theme that represents the weightless vibe of your new deep-sea life, where you go about your mundane errands, collecting bananas while driving on a swordfish, or, as HerzMayhem put it: "Poor monkey... always swimming, never going anywhere..."

Synthetic Water Music is the second of three compilations, following Synthetic Bird Music and timed to mappa's 10th anniversary. As with the birds, it gathers friends of the label, artists who have released with mappa or played our shows. Most of the music is new, made to measure for this compilation, much of it from Central and Eastern European hands. Birds and water mix well, so please feel invited to play them together, creating your own environments.

Where the birds were in one flock, water is dispersed across four chapters. You live your life as a droppity drop: vapour in the heavens, condensing in clouds, falling into a swamp, trickling into the deepest sea.

Tlālōcān (Cassette 1, Side A)
A place of eternal spring, of aquatic energy that nourishes everything and allows all things to bloom. Bubbly and splishy-sploshy, it is full of dripping sounds and moist caverns (“Emerald Pool” by Pauline Anna Strom), a landscape filled with living fountains (“Oh, to be a Fountain” by Eva Sajanová) and winding streams that flow through the area, forming part of its organic architecture. It is also a paradise reserved for those whose deaths were water-related, where the aquatic and terrestrial beings live in symbiosis and perspectives shift rapidly, from observing a single droplet (Shakali, Lau Nau) to dew (Feronia Wennborg & Lucy Duncombe) and on to flowing currents (Visible Cloaks) that gradually transform into river music (Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton).

Nephelora (Cassette 1, Side B)
A celestial anti-gravity sound world made of evaporation, steam and the formation of clouds, as if looking at “The Sky At The Bottom of the Well” (by Natalia Beylis) or at “The Cloud That Never Rains” (by Henrique Vaz).

If a cloud never rains,
it is not a cloud at all, but a veil that parches the earth with its gaze.
It generates only its own shadow —
a looming mass of suspended longing,
a sky that hoards but never yields,
a reservoir that swallows every river and returns nothing but echoes.

The water in this world is often invisible but sometimes all the more present, as Bint Mbareh describes it: “Recently been obsessed with invisible waters because I come from a place where you have to imagine the water is there even though you cannot see a river, a sea, usually no rain, so water is in the air, the voice and the imaginal realm, drought is imagined to be negotiable.”

Žaboglach Zha-bo-glahch (Cassette 2, Side A)
A fusion of Scottish lochs and Slovak ponds: a misty, foul-smelling, swampy realm, the kind of place that swallowed Artax from The NeverEnding Story. Stagnant waters full of decay become a blooming habitat for sirens (“thereby losing the weightless delight of being swept along with it” by Adam Badí Donoval) and beings straddling the line between fauna and flora, inventing their own communication systems (“Water-lily phase” by Action Pyramid).

R'lyeh (Cassette 2, Side B)
A brooding sunken city at the bottom of the ocean. It’s a journey to get there. Let this chapter guide you, from the shore down to the depths, to the gates of an unexplored world that is inherently dark, unfathomable, and beyond the limits of human perception: starting with seasickness ("Seasick" by Nikolaienko), passing through a classic Poe-esque maelstrom ("Flurry at the Whirl-pull" by Atte Elias Kantonen), a gateway into the darkness and emptiness of the ocean floor, and finally traversing the city itself (“last waves of 2025” by Jules Reidy).
But what is pulling you to a place like this that only a few explore and even fewer leave? Maybe “the darkness that water can contain, the expanse of things we don't know and that can trigger fear instincts even as we try to rationalise them and think we are in control of the rest of nature” (“supercritical fluids” by Diane Barbé).

Dive in and surface wherever you like. Always swimming, never going anywhere. Just don’t forget to take water breaks.

P.S. Birds, then water, can you guess what comes next? Synthetic Soil Music, an elegy for insects and worms? Synthetic Glaciers, or maybe Pollinators? Which sounds would you miss the most if they disappeared? Or what if the third one never comes at all, and somebody, or something, makes Synthetic mappa Music instead. Don't you worry, with the right training data, it can all be replicated, better than the real thing.

Die Debüt-EP mit vier Songs des bayerischen Quartetts Morgan Pines, besetzt mit (ehemaligen) Mitgliedern von Point Baker, Irish Handcuffs und Worst Advice. Musikalisch bewegt sich die Band irgendwo zwischen Indie, Heartland-Rock, Country und Punk - mit eingängigen Melodien, warmen Harmonien und genau der richtigen Portion Melancholie. Wer Bands wie Limbeck, Chamberlain oder Racquet Club schätzt, sollte hier unbedingt reinhören.

Brighton’s Moon Attendant team up with Go! Team's leader and drummer Ian Parton for new LP ‘Dum Evol’. Following their debut ‘One Last Summer’ with this incendiary, heart-pounding, drum-led masterwork full of untutored surf-guitar, Scarlet Rivera style fiddle, psychedelic orchestration and sharp-playful lyrics, all within just over 30 thrilling minutes.Since their debut, Paul Blewett and Nick Holton had been knee-deep in experimental music and needed something or someone to smash the shit out of the new songs. Instead of making heavier music, the result left lofty but wobbly structures teetering on fractured Giacometti-like frames, exposed, more arresting. Paring back the Musical palette from previous wash of synths and reverb to surf guitars, Moog, and violin, leaving Blewett's vocal (often compared to Colin Bunstone) leaning into an unvarnished, direct sound like Jimmy Campbell. Thematically, Dum Evol turns inward. Where their debut asked questions, this record sits with the answers, exploring love, conflict, and growth as experiences that must be lived first hand - “It’s such dumb evolution, you still have to learn the hard way”. Their lyrics get under the skin and under The Establishment in a wistful worm like way. Nudging at the truths. Smiling but always ready to bare some fangs.The fantastic instinctive violinist, Roger Proctor, joined as fourth member, bringing raw fragile beauty to ‘Look The Other Way’ & ‘Difficult Ifficult’, blending swooping string lines with the monster-surfing-Sonic Youth racket elsewhere. They explain - “We kept to a first take policy generally as it keeps everything just fresh and daisy like.” Dum Evol’s restraint allows the band’s more experimental instincts to land with greater weight. Musically, the record occupies a space somewhere between the slacker-rock nonchalance of Pavement and the gypsy swagger of Dylan - 'Desire' through a lens that is consciously, almost defiantly, English. It’s a sound that channels the 60's pastoral folk tradition alongside the sharp-edge of The Auteurs, an honest version of England, one to be proud of, existing in stark contrast to the hollow jingoistic nationalism of flag-shaggers climbing lamp posts. Jagged, lived-in, and entirely vital, Dum Evol is a record that feels fully realised, yet remains dangerously built to unravel in a hair's breadth.“Psychelelic grungy synth-pop - Moon Attendant marry analogue electronics to a lovely burbling pop sound, like Felt exploring the recesses of krautrock. Trippy, ramshackle and a cult in waiting.” Shindig!

Brighton’s Moon Attendant team up with Go! Team's leader and drummer Ian Parton for new LP ‘Dum Evol’. Following their debut ‘One Last Summer’ with this incendiary, heart-pounding, drum-led masterwork full of untutored surf-guitar, Scarlet Rivera style fiddle, psychedelic orchestration and sharp-playful lyrics, all within just over 30 thrilling minutes.Since their debut, Paul Blewett and Nick Holton had been knee-deep in experimental music and needed something or someone to smash the shit out of the new songs. Instead of making heavier music, the result left lofty but wobbly structures teetering on fractured Giacometti-like frames, exposed, more arresting. Paring back the Musical palette from previous wash of synths and reverb to surf guitars, Moog, and violin, leaving Blewett's vocal (often compared to Colin Bunstone) leaning into an unvarnished, direct sound like Jimmy Campbell. Thematically, Dum Evol turns inward. Where their debut asked questions, this record sits with the answers, exploring love, conflict, and growth as experiences that must be lived first hand - “It’s such dumb evolution, you still have to learn the hard way”. Their lyrics get under the skin and under The Establishment in a wistful worm like way. Nudging at the truths. Smiling but always ready to bare some fangs.The fantastic instinctive violinist, Roger Proctor, joined as fourth member, bringing raw fragile beauty to ‘Look The Other Way’ & ‘Difficult Ifficult’, blending swooping string lines with the monster-surfing-Sonic Youth racket elsewhere. They explain - “We kept to a first take policy generally as it keeps everything just fresh and daisy like.” Dum Evol’s restraint allows the band’s more experimental instincts to land with greater weight. Musically, the record occupies a space somewhere between the slacker-rock nonchalance of Pavement and the gypsy swagger of Dylan - 'Desire' through a lens that is consciously, almost defiantly, English. It’s a sound that channels the 60's pastoral folk tradition alongside the sharp-edge of The Auteurs, an honest version of England, one to be proud of, existing in stark contrast to the hollow jingoistic nationalism of flag-shaggers climbing lamp posts. Jagged, lived-in, and entirely vital, Dum Evol is a record that feels fully realised, yet remains dangerously built to unravel in a hair's breadth.“Psychelelic grungy synth-pop - Moon Attendant marry analogue electronics to a lovely burbling pop sound, like Felt exploring the recesses of krautrock. Trippy, ramshackle and a cult in waiting.” Shindig!

Recorded in Los Angeles over the course of a single day at a studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, Dois Desertos was produced by Mario Caldato Jr. and emerged without a predetermined plan or schedule. The project took shape during Portuguese musician João Pimenta Gomes' stay in Los Angeles with his family. During that time, through Rodrigo Amarante, João met Mario and Samantha Caldato, as well as musicians Abe Rounds (drums and percussion) and Gabe Noel (bass and cello). From those encounters, the album began to unfold organically.

Working from simple scores—some containing little more than chord progressions—the sessions left plenty of room for improvisation. Every performance was captured live, in a single take, with no overdubs. The mixing process, also carried out live by Mario Caldato Jr., followed the same philosophy: effects and level adjustments were performed in real time and printed directly to the final two-track master.

At the heart of the album's sound is the Cristal Baschet, a rare instrument played by rubbing glass rods with the hands, causing metal resonators to vibrate and produce an ethereal, resonant tone. João describes its sound as "a trace, almost like a shadow." Rather than taking the lead, the instrument serves as a textural foundation, while the bass and cello carry the melodic lines. Some of these melodies are original compositions, while others draw from traditional Portuguese fado, reimagined through an open and exploratory approach.

The album has a dreamlike atmosphere, reflecting the perspective of someone experiencing Los Angeles from the outside—not in a rush to belong, but fully receptive to the city's unique energy. Two films helped shape this imaginary landscape: Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969), in which the French filmmaker uses Los Angeles as a pretext to simply observe and inhabit the city, and Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself. The result is Dois Desertos, an album that, in João's own words, "could never have been made anywhere else."

With Dois Desertos, João Pimenta Gomes invites listeners into a deeply immersive experience, revealing a more exploratory side of his artistic practice while reinforcing Amor in Sound's commitment to releasing original works that engage with the many languages of contemporary music.

The compositions recorded here are a product of work with computers in synthetic speech, song and vocal sounds and were created between 1972 and 1975. The music was realized on two different computer music systems and takes advantage of, and attempts to extend and explore their features. The system employed to realize speech songs was created at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for research in synthetic speech and speech communication. Since the system was not designed for musical purposes, its limitations were severe and its musical use a great (and often rewarding) challenge. The system used for In Celebration and The Story of Our Lives was designed with the expressed purpose of creating synthetic musical voices, and was therefore much better suited to the task at hand. As with any high technology project, there was extensive collaboration in the production of the works.

The works on this disk are called computer music because the sounds were created numerically in a computer before reaching magnetic tape and loudspeakers. The computer did not compose the music. However, it was only used as a sound synthesis and analysis medium. In order to hear the sounds which are represented in the computer as successions of numbers it was necessary to attach a digital-to-analogue converter to the computer. The converter transformed the succession of numbers into a fluctuating voltage which was recorded directly on to audio tape.

The technique used to create the synthetic voices is called speech synthesis-by-analysis. For this method of speech synthesis, only those words, phrases and sentences which have been spoken into the computer previously (via an analogue-to-digital converter) may be synthesized. First the digitally-recorded speech is analyzed by programs which extract the attributes (parameters) of the speech for short time segments (.01 sec.). From these parameters the speech may be recreated in a form which resembles the original recording very closely. But for musical purposes the parameters are most often altered before synthesis. It is possible, for example, to change the natural pitch contour of the speech into a melodic line or to change the speech speed without altering the natural pitch level.

The variety of musical patterns which may be created from the analytic parameters is limited only by the composer's imagination. Most of the speech sounds on the recording were created by changing the pitch and duration attributes of the original on resynthesis, but for a few, the resonances (the formants) of the speech were altered as well. The voice of the book in The Story of Our Lives was created by replacing the program which simulates the sound of the human vocal cords with one consisting of 64 sine tones glissandoing at different rates. All the textures in which more than one voice is heard were obtained by mixing the synthetic voices together digitally.

They live! If this summer’s endless bout of heatwaves seems an odd setting for a new Altar Of Eden record, maybe we should consider that the fast-accelerating destruction of life on Earth is an appropriate setting for more deathrock. The eagle-eyed among you might recognise guitarist Ben Redman from recent lineups of symphonic noiseniks …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, while vocalist Albert Efraim has been making a thrillingly unholy racket with Texan hardcore faves like the Creamers and Nosferatu - and they both played together in gothed-out sensations Altar Duata before that band’s untimely demise. Altar Of Eden have thus far produced two mighty LPs of smartly chilling post-punk for Drunken Sailor - 2020’s wondrous The Grotto Screams and 2022’s superb follow-up Chimeras - but now they return with a sequel to their debut: The Grotto Screams II.

In keeping with their previous offerings, it’s superb. Redman’s guitar is brittle and minimal, but lurches into eardrum-lacerating strafes of deafening, brutal noise without warning, while Jake Cloud brings driving, pulsating basslines to the fore, dripping with the influence of Killing Joke’s Youth as they hold it all together somehow. Efraim intones his lyrics solemnly over the top, drenched in reverb and tucked deep into the mix; as much a texture as a means of delivering hooks. He’s cited the poetry of Jean-Pierre Duprey and Rene Daumal as influences in the past, and tracks like The Erasure and Light And Shade certainly contain their own suffocating sense of surrealism and obfuscated reality. It all builds to the epic finale of closing track The Moon, which handles their signature tricks in moodily grandiose fashion - a bleakly compelling version of post-punk that sears and soars even as it chills the heart. Arguably Duprey’s most famous line goes, “I shouldn't have got stuck in this galaxy,” and as humanity brings about its own destruction, it’s worth suggesting that this applies to us all. But at least Altar Of Eden bring a hell of a soundtrack while we all burn.

Mit „Everglow" veröffentlichen Lifespark. ihr Debütalbum - einen Longplayer, der modernen Alternative Rock und Post-Hardcore mit atmosphärischer Tiefe und internationalem Anspruch verbindet. Die Band aus Koblenz hat sich mit starken Singles und intensiver Live-Präsenz bereits europaweit einen Namen gemacht.

Für Sänger David Lukacs markiert „Everglow" einen echten Neuanfang. „Everglow eröffnet uns zum ersten Mal die Möglichkeit, unsere Vision von Lifespark auf einer deutlich größeren Skala zu leben", sagt er. Er beschreibt das Album als eine Art Lifespark 3.0: Nach den Anfangsjahren zwischen 2018 und 2022 - geprägt von Corona, Besetzungswechseln und ersten kleinen Shows - festigte sich von 2023 bis 2025 das heutige Line-up, mit erster großer Support-Tour, erster eigener Headline-Tour und der Debüt-EP. Mit den „Everglow"-Singles beginnt 2026 die nächste Stufe - mit dem klaren Ziel, Lifespark. auf die ersten großen Festivalbühnen zu bringen.

Nach Support-Shows für We Came As Romans, Our Last Night, Hands Like Houses, Escape The Fate und Rain City Drive hat sich die Band eine stetig wachsende internationale Fanbase erspielt und sich europaweit als vielversprechender Newcomer etabliert. 2026 setzen sie diesen Weg konsequent fort – unter anderem als Support für Acres auf großer Europa-Tour im Herbst 2026 mit Stopps in Großbritannien, Deutschland, Österreich und weiteren Ländern.

„Everglow" ist weit mehr als ein Debüt. Es ist das geschlossene Statement einer Band mit klarer künstlerischer Vision: Musik zu schaffen, die verbindet, Kraft spendet und lange nachhallt - und die Menschen für einen Abend zusammenbringt, ganz gleich, woher sie kommen. Zwischen Verletzlichkeit und Stärke entsteht ein Sound, der ehrlich, packend und bereit für die nächsten großen Bühnen ist.

Die A-Seite stammt von den weitgehend unbekannten Modettes – einer von George Kerr produzierten Gruppe, die über eine außergewöhnliche Leadsängerin verfügte. Die Dame lässt ihren Emotionen freien Lauf und beklagt die Unvernunft ihrer jüngsten Beziehung. Auch die Shaladons sind eine rätselhafte Formation; sie nahmen drei exzellente Songs für Larry Banks bei GWP Productions auf – noch bevor das Label überhaupt offiziell an den Start ging. Es handelt sich um eine großartige Sweet-Soul-Interpretation von Banks’ Titel „Showdown“, der bereits ein Highlight der ersten CD aus der Reihe „Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures“ darstellte.

Wondrous ethereal folk songs by a reclusive pen pal of Maxine Funke, first introduced to A Colourful Storm by Funke while sharing music and ideas during her Australian tour. Ghost faced pansies. A moth coloured cat. Cauliflowers, cabbages undying. I hear the spine of the dictionary crack. Is what they call a creature who only wakes at dusk. And turning backs. My afternoon has turned pitch black. For a trace. For a shape. I wipe the steam from the window like the bloom on a grape. Ghost faced pansies. A moth coloured cat. Light of stars long since died.

2026 Repress
12" - Fully Authorised Reissue on Original Release Label!

Canadian deep house don Nick Holder's Fruit Loops EP is next to get the remaster and reissue treatment from Definitive Recordings. This label, now overseen by Get Physical Music, first released the EP back in 1995 when Toronto-based Holder had already become one of house music's most tasteful operators. He went on to release over 125 EPs and singles under countless aliases, in various groups, and on his labels DNH Records and Treehouse Records, as well as !K7 Records and NRK. His style spans house, disco loops and minimal Chicago grooves and is always high on immersive atmosphere. Opener 'Dance Dance Dance' brings together all those aspects of the Holder sound with its funky guitar riffs looping beneath raw drums and disco basslines. Classic Chic samples burst out of the mix to bring an air of celebration and party, and it makes for an irresistibly feel-good sound. 'Keep on Running' is a steamy and sweaty house jam with loopy drums and bass and more smartly chosen samples, this time from Roy Ayers, that bring the funk and never let up. It has long been a go-to anthem for house DJs, and the realness and rawness of the emotions in Holder's work also shine through with the filtered synths and jazzy keys of 'The Message of Love', which is complete with bumpy and irresistible drums. Last of all is the unfettered party spirit and diva vocals of the brilliantly lo-fi funk-house pumper that is 'Clap Ya Hands'. This EP hasn't aged one bit and remains a definitive piece of early Deep House history.

Six drum-forward, tape-warped club constructions from the elusive Comandante engineer. Sampled 80s wreckage crushed through hardware and heavy compression: club-chug weapons + late-nite astral howling.

12″ edition of 200, individually hand-stamped and numbered. No represses.

Strange and sepulchral, Pedronium has crafted a mini-album on an astral flight, looping in and around macabre wormholes, from the strange sepulchre of opening serenade ‘4D VISION 1987’ to the deranged primal scream of ‘Nixe’ [dusk in the studio, crooning drunk on mic, disturbed sonics dragged up at the warbled gates]

‘Churms’, an unrelenting club chug banger that we’ve already heard send Lisbon’s best club systems into overdrive; ‘Finesse [The Right People]’, a teknicolor weapon hitting like a jackhammer on the concrete floor.

The grotesque charm of ‘Naked / Afraid’, the rickety jilt of ‘Snav’, all tape delay and foreboding pads, an imminent threat, a polysonic picture in a weird forgotten theatre.

The sanity of reason is already a distant dream on the late-night floor or the morning after. All tracks meticulously arranged and recorded live in one take.

Eine junge, innovative Sängerin und Songschreiberin sorgt ab sofort auf dem Verve Label für einen mitreißenden Mix aus Soul, brasilianischer Jazz-Fusion, Funk, Mexican Bolero und House-Einflüssen. Die in Chicago
lebende Sparklmami eröffnet ihr Debütalbum mit den Worten “You’re listening to Sparklmami radio“, und
zieht sofort hinein in eine Welt jenseits klarer Genregrenzen. Nach den digitalen Singles “running“ und
„fajas“ (2024) wird hier erstmals die ganze Tiefe ihrer künstlerischen Vision hörbar.
Sparklmami versteht ihre Musik als Gesamtkunstwerk, erschafft ein eigenes Universum geprägt von markantem Styling. Die visuellen Elemente spiegeln sich auch musikalisch wider: “in this body“ lebt von einer
brodelnden Rhythmusgruppe, vielschichtigen Keyboard-Arrangements, warmen Bläsern und einer Stimme,
die mühelos zwischen Gesang und Spoken Word wechselt.
Sparklmamis Texte folgen diesem Prinzip: Themen wie Identität, Herkunft und Selbstfindung werden nicht
erklärt, sondern erfahrbar gemacht. Gerade darin liegt die besondere Kraft dieses Albums – verletzlich,
eigenständig und mit einer künstlerischen Handschrift, die Aufmerksamkeit verdient.

With a breathtaking pair of intimately interrelated new albums, he applies that bold passion to an uncharacteristically pared-down setting, then transforms those stunning sounds via a startling process of sonic reinvention. ResoNation Trio convenes a new chordless trio with master improvisers Scott Colley on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. The album's contemplative explorations feel like a departure from the raucous spirit that characterizes so much of the trumpeter's work, yet the trio discovers such an audacious beauty and celebratory gusto in these sparse environments that the music feels uniquely Bernstein's. It is also a rarity in his oeuvre for featuring Bernstein - whose mastery of the little- used slide trumpet has become so central to his sonic identity - exclusively playing valve trumpet and flugelhorn. In parallel with this captivating trio excursion, Bernstein handed the recordings over to his longtime collaborator, the pioneering producer Scotty Hard, to reimagine the album through his own iconoclastic lens. The result is the uncategorizable Ultra Resonance, which finds Hard breaking down the ResoNation Trio session into its constituent parts and redeploying them as the elements of a wholly original, mutant creation. The project will be released on June 5, 2026 via Royal Potato Family as a double vinyl or CD package containing both albums, and separately on digital streaming platforms.

Coming as transparent vinyl in a screenprinted limited edition of 200 pieces. This release contains 7 tracks by grmmsk from helsinki / finland. stretched in time haunted voices from the caribbian diaspora tumbling through misty and wet streets of baltic shores. drones of wire spring reverbs meet halftimed doom dub. beside unreleased tracks there are some versions of tracks released before on grmmsk own imprint totes format on cassette. Pressed on transparent vinyl in a hand printed translucent cover, it conceptualizes the album's title 'ONE WORLD - nowhere to hide'. When the idea of UNITY has failed with the result of a world that is increasingly ruled by a hegemony of fear and control, escape into something J.G. Ballard has been calling INNER SPACE, seems imminent. But what happens there Here's what: DOOMDUB! Dystopian versions of a sound, that has been associated with glaring sunshine of the caribbean before, is now dragged through the dirty snow flanking the ring-highway circling hellsinki.

Dj Dial-On gets the call, we need more jams! This is the follow up to ‘Lil’ Mo b/w Take A Dip’ released back in 2021. The Montreal native DJ, producer & plumber sets you up with all the fittings needed to make the connection. Club music from working hands for all hours of the night.
We are also greatly honoured to include a remix from one of our favourite players on the scene. A great DJ/Producer & provider of incredible music via Safe Distro, Århus’ own C.K. It’s a wonderfully evocative version that will keep any dance floor bouncing
Skillfully mixed by Gabriel Rei, Mastered by Cristobal Urbina, Design by KG, pressed by Mother Tongue in Verona… it’s a beautiful thing!

Analog Africa follows up its Dur-Dur Band Volume 1 & 2 reissue with the next two volumes and they again capture the Mogadishu group at their creative peak. Formed by drummer Adan Handal and Isse Dahir Qassim after their military band days, Dur-Dur became a house band at the legendary Jubba Hotel where they fused Somali melodies with funk, disco, reggae and soul into colourful new fusions. This music was recorded amid personal tragedy, including Qassim's death and key members' departures, and pushed further into electronic percussion. It's a unique window into Mogadishu's golden era, presented as ever in excellent style with photos and liner notes.

STEELOVER is a Belgian Melodic Rock / Metal band. The band was formed in the early 80's by three friends living in Liege, Belgium, the guitarists Pat Freson & Mel Presti and the bassist Nick Gardi. In search of a drummer, they threw their sights on Rudy Lenners (Scorpions) upon his return from Germany, having left the famous German band Scorpions. Rudy proposed to contact Vince Cardillo, a singer who had already on the one hand good experience and on the other hand he already recorded an album in London, “It will fit perfectly” explained Rudy. They all felt the magic during the first rehearsal. In no time, Steelover recorded their first album "Glove Me” which was released under the Mausoleum label. This album sold over more than 400.000 copies of which more than 76,000 in Poland. They followed with a tour across different countries like The Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium including Forest National opening for Bon Jovi and KISS. Vince decided to leave the band. Replaced by Dani Klein, the second album was recorded but never released. Dani left the band after a short time with Mel Presti to start a new band under the name Vaya Con Dios.
The band came back in 2017 with a new E.P. (including single "Wild and Free") mixed by the legendary producer and and mixing engineer Tommy Hansen.
In 2019, Rudy Lenners greeted the audience one last time before retiring from his musical career. Vince had returned to the band at this point…after the show Vince, Pat & Nick decided to continue the Steelover adventure and in 2022 released the album “Stainless” on the Escape music label (ESM368). This was a great metal album and fans old and new longed to hear more. It’s now 2026 and Steelover are back with a brand-new recording featuring 11 tracks of hard rock / heavy metal. The band are very much in the style of that 80’s metal sound, a sort of mixture of Scorpions and Saxon if you like. These new songs all hit the mark making “Devil’s Highway” an album that needs to be checked out…

Der zweite Teil von Chapter Musics gefeierter australischer Post-Punk-Compilation-Reihe ,Can't Stop It!" erscheint erstmals auf Vinyl als Deluxe-Doppelalbum. Die Compilation wurde ursprünglich 2007 auf CD veröffentlicht und präsentiert eine unglaubliche Auswahl an innovativer und oft bisher unveröffentlichter Musik aus den Jahren 1979 bis 1984. Nun aktualisiert Chapter Music die Compilation mit sechs bisher unveröffentlichten Bonustracks sowie neuen Liner Notes, Fotos und einem neuen Layout. Dies ist eine unglaublich reichhaltige und dynamische Zeit in der australischen Musikgeschichte, eine Zeit, in der Australien aus dem Schatten ausländischer Einflüsse trat und vielleicht zum ersten Mal seine eigene musikalische Identität behauptete. ,Can't Stop It! II" enthält Titel, die mittlerweile zu Meilensteinen der australischen Post-Punk-Geschichte geworden sind, darunter ,Lamborghini" von Severed Heads und den Proto-Oz-Rap-Klassiker ,Do the Job" von Use No Hooks sowie frühe Werke von Künstlern wie Lisa Gerrard von Dead Can Dance und Mark Seymour von Hunters & Collectors. Zu den Bonustracks gehören das verblüffende ,How" von This Five Minutes aus Brisbane, das ,Fool's Gold" von The Stone Roses um mindestens fünf Jahre vorwegnimmt, sowie Tasmaniens eigener Performance-Punk Chainmale mit seinem ausgeflippten ,Freakout". ,Diese Ära der australischen Musik wurde nicht durch einen Sound oder ein Instrument definiert, sondern durch eine anarchische Kreativität" - Stephen Deusner, Uncut

Felix Walworth wurde in der Broome Street geboren. Bevor sie zu einer festen Größe in der New Yorker DIY-Szene der 2010er Jahre wurden, bevor sie ihr Markenzeichen - das auf einem Keyboardständer montierte BMSS-Schlagzeug - einführten, bevor sie eindringliche Reflexionen über Identität schrieben, die ihnen eine Kult-Anhängerschaft unter den Kids auf Tumblr einbrachten, waren sie ein Kind, das in den verschiedenen Stadtbezirken aufwuchs und eine Stadt liebgewann, die schließlich bis zur Unkenntlichkeit veränderte. ,What's Up" ist Walworths viertes Album als Told Slant, unter diesem Namen haben sie seit 2012 eindringliche Alben mit weitläufigem, nervenblanken Indie-Rock veröffentlicht. Das ist ihr New-York-Album: eine Sammlung von Songs darüber, wie man zusehen muss, wie sich die Heimatstadt verändert, und wie man spürt, wie sie einen im Gegenzug selbst verändert hat. Es ist ein Album über die Hingabe an ein prekäres Musikleben und all die Schönheit und Demütigungen, die damit einhergehen. Während es auf den ersten drei Told-Slant-Alben um Selbstreflexion und den Versuch ging, als Künstler zu überleben, handelt ,What's Up" davon, was passiert, wenn man sich ,fast schon manisch dem Projekt des Selbstausdrucks und der Subkultur in einer der feindseligsten Umgebungen der Welt" verschrieben hat und sich mit all den Menschen, Orten und Träumen auseinandersetzen muss, die auf diesem Weg verloren gegangen sind. In Songs wie ,Manhattan", ,Draw Blood", ,Three Anchovies" und dem Titeltrack fängt Walworth Trauer, Wut, Hingabe und flüchtige Momente der Verbundenheit ein und zeichnet das Verschwinden geliebter Stadtviertel, DIY-Räume, Freundschaften und Lebensweisen mit gleichermaßen schwerer und humorvoller Hand nach.,What's Up" ist zudem das bisher kollaborativste und abenteuerlichste Album von Told Slant. Es entstand über einen Monat hinweg in einem provisorischen Studio im Upstate New York und wurde größtenteils auf einem Acht-Spur-Spulenband aufgenommen - damit ist es die erste überwiegend analoge Veröffentlichung des Projekts, an der Hannah Pruzinsky, Jonny Baker, Ceci Sturman, Hellen Ballentine, Emily Sprague, Mari Maurice und Elijah Wolf mitgewirkt haben. Die Songs entstanden zum Teil aus Walworths Arbeit als Porträt- und Straßenfotograf während der Pandemie, als er die Straßen, Parks, Veranstaltungsorte und Ladenfronten, die sein Leben geprägt hatten, erneut besuchte - nur um festzustellen, dass viele davon verschwunden waren. Dieses Gefühl des Verlusts zieht sich durch das gesamte Werk, das mit ,Still Water" (2012) begann, sich über ,Going By" (2016) und ,Point the Flashlight and Walk" (2020) fortsetzte und seit langem von schmerzlich ehrlichen Songs über Selbstfindung, Freundschaft, Sterblichkeit und den langsamen Verlust der Verbundenheit mit der Gemeinschaft geprägt ist. Auf ,What's Up" richtet Walworth diesen Blick nach außen und dokumentiert nicht nur ihre eigene Beziehung zu New York, sondern auch die Kosten des Bleibens, des Schaffens und des Glaubens an eine Stadt und eine Musikkultur, die sie mitgeprägt haben.

Die Schweizer One-Woman-Elektro-Punk-Sensation TARANJA WU ist sowas wie das Bindeglied zwischen Suicide, Ian Svenonius, Sedlmeir und Voodoo Rhythm"s Beat-Man - und doch ganz anders und ganz eigen. In der einen Hand die Gitarre, in der anderen ein gut geladenes Mass an Haltung, mit der sie ihren Tarif durchgibt. Ihre Abrechnung feiert sie mit punkig-scheppernden Gitarren, sägenden Synthesizern und unerbittlichem Gehämmer. Dazwischen ertönen Signale, als hätte jemand das Weltall angezapft und beschlossen, es tanzbar zu machen. Ihr zweites Album ALL MESSED UP ist ein Trip durch kontrollierte Abstürze, ein Album wie ein schöner Fehler: süß genug, um näherzukommen, scharf genug, um zu bleiben, serviert mit einem Lachen, das man nicht ganz einordnen kann. Ein Tanz in surrealen Bildern und ein Cocktail aus musikalischem Wahnsinn, der ebenso süchtig macht wie beunruhigend ist. Und das alles garniert "With a Dash of Trash". Klingt ungemütlich? Ist es auch, aber höllisch tanzbar.

When Drop Nineteens disbanded in the mid-'90s, singer Greg Ackell decided he would never make music again. He wouldn't noodle around on a guitar in his basement. He wouldn't get a group of friends together just to jam. He was done with music entirely. Following the release of the shoegaze masterpiece Delaware in 1992, and the intricate experimentations on National Coma in 1993, the group disbanded. They shared stages with Radiohead, Hole, Blur, PJ Harvey and Smashing Pumpkins. They went from being teenagers in Boston to mid-twenty-somethings with a few MTV videos, a couple BBC sessions and numerous festival appearances under their belt. So when Drop Nineteens ceased to be, Ackell felt content. He had the rest of his life in front of him to figure out what he wanted to do. Music was a closed chapter.That was until 2021, when a friend from the band's early days got Greg on the phone to suggest making some music together, just to see how it felt. Instead of shutting it down like he had been doing over the years, he decided to entertain the prospect. For the first time in nearly 30 years, he picked up a guitar with intent. He immediately called up Steve Zimmerman, the band's bassist and fellow guitarist, and the two got writing. It felt effortless for Ackell, like he never stopped writing music. "We were off to the races," he says, "But also the question came up: what does a Drop Nineteens song sound like today?" Enter Hard Light, the band's stunning third record. It's the band's proverbial follow up to Delaware, a modern Drop Nineteens record that is completely singular in its sound and vision. The first task making Hard Light was, of course, getting the rest of the band back together. Drop Nineteens is an inherently collaborative project. Ackell writes the lyrics, and he works with band members Steve Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin to create the sonic world. The record came together over the course of a year, recording at a patchwork of studios all around the country: Boston, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Los Angeles. When Kelley and Ackell first heard their vocals recorded together on the opus album closer "T", the chemistry was undeniable. Making music together felt natural, fluid, exciting.Hard Light is a romantic record in the literary sense. Beauty from longing; longing from beauty. You put the album on and want to be clad in a velvet dress sprawled across a fainting couch. You want to be holding someone's hand while you sit back in the tall grass. The guitars are expansive and expressive as ever. Ackell and Kelley's vocals are cool, crystalline, and luminous. "Gal" comes on like a dream. The vocals pour in when you least expect them, once in the middle, where Ackell delivers one of the strangest (and best) lyrics on the record, "And there were snakes/with cats at the wheel." Hard Light's first single, "Scapa Flow" is triumphant and an excellent example of what a modern day Drop Nineteens song sounds like. The guitars glide cloud-like, floor toms shuffle and rumble in the background, searching. Ackell and Kelley's vocals are as toned as they are bound. Hard Light is every bit the ride that Delaware was, diverse in its sounds, with surprises at every turn. Drop Nineteens have brought clarity and cool in 2023 to the genre they helped create. A portrait of a band 30 years later, as talented and dedicated to their craft as ever. To put it more bluntly, they're at the top of their game.

Das Gründungsmitglied von Black Sabbath und der „Godfather of Heavy Metal“ kehrt mit seiner ersten
neuen Solomusik seit 21 Jahren zurück – zugleich seine erste vollständige Studioveröffentlichung seit dem
letzten Black-Sabbath-Album *13*. „World Alone“ ist die erste Single aus dem gleichnamigen Album;
es handelt sich um einen rasanten, gitarrenbetonten Song, der von Tonys unverkennbaren, gewaltigen
Riffs angetrieben wird. Der Track ist hart und doch eingängig, und dank des Textdichters und Sängers
Jørn Lande wirkt er zudem aufbauend. Dies ist klassischer Iommi: Er vereint alle Markenzeichen seines
legendären Gitarrenspiels mit einer modernen Note.

Cat-O-Log Records gibt in Zusammenarbeit mit Universal Music Enterprises stolz die Neuauflage von Cat
Stevens’ sechster LP bei Island Records, „Buddha and the Chocolate Box“, bekannt.
„Buddha and the Chocolate Box“ erschien ursprünglich am 19. März 1974 und markierte die Rückkehr
sowohl von Paul Samwell-Smith als Produzent als auch von Alun Davies an der Gitarre, die beide auf dem
Vorgängeralbum „Foreigner“ nicht mitgewirkt hatten.
Klanglich fühlt sich „Buddha and the Chocolate Box“ zweifellos wie eine Rückkehr zum Stil der Ära
von „Tea for the Tillerman“ und „Teaser and the Firecat“ an, wenn auch mit musikalischen Arrangements
und einer Produktion, die ein neues Maß an Finesse und Raffnesse erreicht haben.
Der faszinierende Titel des Albums entstand während einer Flugreise, bei der Cat feststellte, dass er in
der einen Hand eine kleine Buddha-Statue und in der anderen eine Schachtel Pralinen hielt. Er dachte
darüber nach, dass man ihn im Falle eines Flugzeugabsturzes zwischen diesen beiden Gegenständen finden
würde, die das Spirituelle und das Materielle symbolisierten.
Anknüpfend an die Neuauflage des klassischen Live-Albums „Saturnight“ (Cat Stevens: Live In Tokyo)
aus dem Jahr 2024 und die Veröffentlichung von „On The Road To Findout: Greatest Hits“ im Jahr 2025
wurde „Buddha and the Chocolate Box“ sorgfältig anhand der originalen Produktionsbänder von Island UK
remastert und mit einem neu gestalteten Cover präsentiert.
„Buddha and the Chocolate Box“ wird auf 180 g schwarzem Vinyl, als CD erhältlich sein.

Nachdem sie jahrelang durch's Netz, durch Köpfe und Herzen geisterte, hier nun endlich das Debüt-Album, auf dem die mittlerweile in Berlin ansässige Formation ein graziöses Kleinod liefert, das Melancholie und Aufbruchstimmung in sich vereint und mit seiner wundervollen Inszenierung sofort unter die Haut geht. Voodoo Beach liefern mit »Wonderful Life« Postpunk / Noiserock auf höchstem Niveau. Ähnlich wie Karies, Die Nerven, Friends Of Gas oder Messer, haben sich Voodoo Beach durch 90er Jahre Noiserock prägen lassen und vermengen diese Einflüsse mit offensichtlicher Liebe zu Postpunk und Shoegaze. Harte Anschläge treffen auf durch den Äther wabernde Gitarren-Riffs, walzende Basslines und packendes Drumming. Faszinierend die Chords der Gitarre mit einem manchmal leicht nahöstlichen Touch, aber immer im Postpunk-Noiserock-Psychedelic-Modus. Darüber thronen die verrauchten Vocals von Sängerin Heike Rädeker, deren vorgetragene Texte so ehrlich sind, dass sie weh tun. Mit Hendrik Otremba (Messer) und John Moods (Fenster) konnte die Band tolle Gastbeiträge für das Album gewinnen. Eine der Platten des Jahres!

Hearing colours is back! And is pleased to present its fourth reference, by the hand of Ricardo Villalobos and Washington Miranda.
Both tracks were recorded more than a decade ago and are already classics for those who follow and know these legends.
Let yourself be hypnotized by these masterpieces.
Limited copies

Super limited (1000 Global) Silver Die-Cut vinyl first pressing, shrinkwrapped with hand stamped 'cafe' napkin obscuring the cover. Please preorder asap.

On Cafe Paradiso, Mykki Blanco is completely reborn, trading the persona - driven theatrics of his previous releases for something more interior and exacting. The record draws from the diverse, banal and yet idiosyncratic contexts of the artist's life in transit.

"Chameleonic" is one way to describe the artist known as Mykki Blanco, who has played many roles through his storied career: a rapper, a poet, a magazine editor, an advocate. Perhaps "fearless" better describes him; with high profile collaborations from the likes of Charli XCX, Teyana Taylor, Basement Jaxx, Blood Orange, Big Freedia, Kelsey Lu, Michael Stipe, Arca and Anhoni, Mykki has been recognised as a pioneer of queer-centric hip-hop who resonates across musicians of many genres and generations.

This album is Mykki at their most direct - a coherent statement with collaborator FaltyDL and a massively listenable album for fans of LCD Soundsystem and New York Punk, packaged in striking 'Napkin covered' deluxe vinyl for a super-exclusive first run

So-Cal's Movements remain on a steady upward trajectory, their fourth album Happier Now builds on the tension-and-release sound they've perfected on their previous releases Once again produced by Grammy- winner Will Yip , Happier Now holds fast to Movements' dissonant grooves, while incorporating melodic flourishes in the mix as heard in "Dissolve Me" and the moody "Back in My Ways." With over 600M total global streams, Movements to remain faithful to the distinct sound their fans love. Available on CD and transparent violet vinyl editions.

This is a concept record that reflects on events that have had a calculable effect on a generation:
‘’By 83 and 84, it felt that nuclear war was going to happen. Not could happen but was going to.’’
Stephen Brotherstone
"What would you do in the event of a Nuclear war?"
I remember having discussions about what we would do when we heard the four minute warning siren. We would raid the sweet shop. I was 8 or 9 years old. The absurdity of this vivid memory encapsulates the concept of the record. It would take at least four minutes to get to the shop!
The record starts with an early memory of circling a church on a Raleigh Budgie (the smaller lesser known iconic Chopper bicycle) in 1981 and ends with staring up at a clear sky on Oldham Lows in 1990.
The record identifies and plays with the effects of an underlying fear of oblivion on a generation of children, but also society as a whole: The pieces take in media and government propaganda. Machinery (nuclear submarines) and buildings (nuclear bunkers) but also everyday activities of the civilian population, activities such as shopping, clubbing and staring at the sky. Thematically, the record is made up of personal memories mixed with historical events.
Instruments are mainly from 1980s. DX7 and 808 feature predominantly. The pieces feature numerous melodic motifs that develop and intertwine underlying ideas of espionage and layers of secret messaging. It also mirrors the ways in which governments and civilians interact. Decisions being made in the name of defence whilst people go about their daily lives. I am exploring the everyday experiences of the masses whilst major political decisions are taking place. For example, shopping on a Saturday afternoon versus heated Cold War tensions in 1983.
Although taking place conceptually in the years 1979-1991, this record mirrors current events. History repeating. It also mirrors the helplessness or maybe some oblivious everyday normality state that we adopt as a community whilst major political decisions are being made.
The idea that life goes on oblivious to larger scale politics, or on the other hand, the idea that we are all very aware but in a state of unreal normality. Adam Curtis goes into great detail about such things in his film 'Hyper Normalisation'.

DESCRIPTION
Lone Bison / Nick Bonell lives by the sea in Ramsgate. Mainly a guitar player and pedal freak, Nick bought a used Korg MS20 and fell in love with synths. As one half of Stuntmen, Nick released the sample-heavy single 'You're the Beat Find' on the groovy Tummy Touch label, which led to him scoring three Ford adverts in the U.S and a few pieces of well-used production music - which paid for more synths and pedals!
An album, 'Transistor Memory' and single 'Drugs' came out via Dom Martin's brilliant Polytechnic Youth records in 2021. "Wave Construction" was released by Castles in Space in Autumn 2023. An album for the CiS Subscription Library entitled "Mechanical and Electrical" was released in late 2024.
Nick Explains: "After recording "Transistor Memory", "Wave Construction" and "Mechanical and Electrical" pretty much back-to-back, I wanted to change my sound palette a little. I started programming my Hydrasynth Explorer in obsessive detail and was also drawn to using my voice, in a sampling kind of way at first. Sampling my voice then shifted into recording more straightforward vocals and writing proper songs again. "Rise Up" started as a field recording in my local park and then some wonky piano loops with a cheap mic – somehow a song arrived. I’ve always really liked really concise records, so I got interested in packing lots of synth textures into a three-minute pop song. As the record progressed, I did less leaning on vocoders and harmonisers and developed the courage to just do more up-front vocal mixes. Things like Maths and Minimal / Maximal are more groove-based and came from recording 20 minute drum tracks then jamming bass guitar over it then editing it all down and adding loads of synths. Oh, and there’s a bit of James Williamson era Stooges at the end of Minimal / Maximal – I was a bit nervous about playing garage rock guitar on a Castles in Space record but Colin told me I would be ‘fucking mental’ if I didn’t end the record with it."
Lone Bison's music is influenced by Krautrock, electronica, post-punk, soundtracks, a splosh of modern classical/minimalism and post-rock. He's a hot genius.
The album is preceded with "The Power" which will be available on streaming platforms as well as on our Bandcamp for those who want to listen or pre-order the album. There's a fantastic remix from MAPS included as well.

Shoal corrals three original solo productions into ISOTOOP’s fourth record, each demonstrating refinement of the artist’s sound and technique, finished by a fitting retelling of ‘Interlocking’ by Antony Linell.

It begins with helical hypnotism; ‘Strange Blue Knots’ drives directly forward on muscular bass, but pointillistic synthwork creates an aural illusion of a spiral aperture tightening; the landscape remains broad, but focus is drawn down to the loci of motion. All containment is blown away by the incomparable force of ‘Roxellana’. Here, the forward motion is not illusory but the irrefutable command of hurricane tailwinds. Thunder heralds full-band waves of unbridled sound, and though the rudder is surrendered to the billowing storm, no part of the weapon is directionless chaos.

Shoal’s tale concludes with ‘Interlocking’, a step back from the monstrous energy of the preceding track (anything and all would be); attention is built again on guile and quiet magnetism, commonly felt attributes throughout the artist’s repertoire. This concept of restraint as force receives a sharpening by Antony Linell, whose sonic influence is present throughout the record, like fossilised footprints. In the calm, sheltered lee of the mountain, the slope behind the wave’s punching crest, Linell’s calmer, stripped-back version feels like a fireside retelling of a myth; still full of the magnitude of the original events, the space surrounding the action is foregrounded. 

Every tale may be reduced to the same core elements: the hand; the knife it holds; vivid silence presaging the moment of action. Fitting that the tale of three parts is summarised by a fourth, wider perspective.

Shoal corrals three original solo productions into ISOTOOP’s fourth record, each demonstrating refinement of the artist’s sound and technique, finished by a fitting retelling of ‘Interlocking’ by Antony Linell.

It begins with helical hypnotism; ‘Strange Blue Knots’ drives directly forward on muscular bass, but pointillistic synthwork creates an aural illusion of a spiral aperture tightening; the landscape remains broad, but focus is drawn down to the loci of motion. All containment is blown away by the incomparable force of ‘Roxellana’. Here, the forward motion is not illusory but the irrefutable command of hurricane tailwinds. Thunder heralds full-band waves of unbridled sound, and though the rudder is surrendered to the billowing storm, no part of the weapon is directionless chaos.

Shoal’s tale concludes with ‘Interlocking’, a step back from the monstrous energy of the preceding track (anything and all would be); attention is built again on guile and quiet magnetism, commonly felt attributes throughout the artist’s repertoire. This concept of restraint as force receives a sharpening by Antony Linell, whose sonic influence is present throughout the record, like fossilised footprints. In the calm, sheltered lee of the mountain, the slope behind the wave’s punching crest, Linell’s calmer, stripped-back version feels like a fireside retelling of a myth; still full of the magnitude of the original events, the space surrounding the action is foregrounded. 

Every tale may be reduced to the same core elements: the hand; the knife it holds; vivid silence presaging the moment of action. Fitting that the tale of three parts is summarised by a fourth, wider perspective.

Mikkel Rev returns to A Strangely Isolated Place with Evocation, his third full-length album shaped deep within the forests of Norway. 
Since Mikkel’s debut, The Art of Levitation first arrived on ASIP in 2023, Mikkel has been quietly building his own corner of the label’s catalog. Last year's Journey Beyond expanded that vision further, revealing an artist increasingly comfortable balancing the emotional pull of early trance with a more reflective, ambient-leaning approach. While his work elsewhere naturally gravitates towards the dance floor through his own collective, Ute Recordings and other club-focused outlets, his ASIP releases have always evolved differently. Beginning with a larger body of material that’s gradually shaped together, each album seeks to find a narrative without a dancefloor in place; one that moves naturally between momentum and stillness, carrying something of the spirit found in those early-'90s records that drifted effortlessly between peak-time energy and the quiet hours in room two. 
Long-form compositions like "Step Inside" and "MRI" favor gradual development over immediate impact, while "Dream Sand" introduces shimmering rhythms that subtly shift the album's momentum and pace. The piano-led "The Infinite" offers a definitive nod to the enduring emotional pull of classic trance before "Sanitorium" closes the record with one of Mikkel's most restrained and affecting pieces to date.
Evocation continues Mikkel Rev's remarkable run on ASIP, extending a catalog where echoes of trance's formative years find new expression through the communal energy and natural surroundings of the Nordic forest gatherings that have become an integral part of his world.
Ventral Is Golden returns on artwork duties, with Lupo handling the mastering and cut. Released on August 28th as a gatefold double LP on dusty purple smoke and digital.

Fresh off of their 2020 offering Adult Themes, El Michels Affair is back with a new full-length release. Titled Yeti Season, this newest album has everything we've come to expect from EMA's patented cinematic style of instrumental soul music. Where Adult Themes inspired a soundtrack to an imaginary film, Yeti Season brings us to a different place in time_with new inspirations. Taken with Turkish-styled funk and an almost Mumbai-esque take on soul, El Michels Affair offers us a different kind of drama and imagination with Yeti Season. If you've been following along, this shouldn't be viewed as too far a departure for El Michels Affair. The first single off of Yeti Season showed their hand back in 2018. A double-sided banger, that release brought the musical textures to the fore that dominate this record. The first song, titled "Unathi," is fully realized with the beautifully haunting-yet-hopeful vocals of Piya Malik, formally of 79.5_another Big Crown artist. Singing in Hindi, Piya's ethereal voice is telling us to work and strive together toward progress. Even if you don't understand her language, you can still hear the urgency of purpose, creating a lasting vibe that sits on top of it all. Leon Michels explains that Piya had a vital influence on this record: "When Piya started singing in Hindi, she had a different voice, a different tone. I knew we had to do something together." And so Piya appears on three other songs on Yeti Season: "Zaharila," "Murkit Gem," and "Dhuaan." Each providing particular signatures to the album. "Zaharila" is a building and changing love song punctuated by blaring trumpets, driving drums, and Piya's pleading lyrics. While the more upbeat "Murkit Gem" opens with a fuzzed out, Wu-Tang-esque baseline that buoys Piya's stylings. The psychedelic guitar and Piya's changing tones and textures singing about an all-consuming love are what pushed "Dhuaan" on to the second single from Yeti Season. There is also a vocal appearance from Shannon Wise of The Shacks, yet another Big Crown artist. Her song called "Sha Na Na," lies more in the familiar EMA vein: melodic, hypnotic, soulfully visual. But between Shannon's airy singing, the jumpy baseline, moody vibes, the active drum lines, it sounds like a pensive walk home after a strangely dramatic night. So what is Yeti Season? It could be more of a feeling than an actual place or time of year. It's a heavy album_as evidenced by the signature musicianship and dramatic vocal expressions. But it's also a hopeful record, with phrasings, textures, and chord changes that hint at something better_or fuller_coming our way. You hear it in songs like "Ala Vida," with its stabby, pulsing chords laying a bedrock for EMA's bright, atmospheric horn lines. Or even in "Fazed Out," which leaves you with a feeling of determination, a striving for resolution even though the driving, march-like song structure should accompany some conquering army. This persistence has to come from the fact that Leon Michels and company finished this record during the lockdown. It was a tough and troublesome time. But look at what has come of it: Yeti Season_a record of high and heavy drama, but also one of hope and promise. It may take a year like 2020 behind us to find hope in a winter big footed creature like a Yeti, but that's where we are.

Tape

When Leon Michels and El Michels Affair released their rst record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented "cinematic soul" sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later - all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry - Michels has trademarked his sound, with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries of what he is known for. The man is a river, not a lake and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of hip-hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone: Black Thought of The Roots crew. Releasing on Big Crown Records, the LP is called Glorious Game and it is a remarkable debut partnership in more ways than one. Michels provides his bottom-heavy, soul-tinged production for Black Thought who gives us some of the more personal and transparent verses we've ever heard from him. Michels and Black Thought have been in each other's orbit for a while now. The two first met in the 2000s when Thought was first getting familiar with the contemporary soul scene. "Out of that whole world, Menahan Street Band was probably my favorite," recalling the funk and soul group Michels was a founding member of back in 2007. Fast forward a few years and musicians from that collective - Dave Guy on trumpet and Ian Hendrickson-Smith on sax - are now full time players with The Roots. This connection eventually led Leon and Thought to doing a few fundraising events around NYC and Philly together. "Before long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time," Michels explains. "Then, fast forward to 2020 and COVID lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy" Being that Black Thought is the co-founder and emcee for, hands down, the best live-band group in hip-hop. Michels took a decidedly different approach to this project and instead of sending recorded tracks of live compositions, he pulled out the sampler and sampled himself and some records from his collection. "I'm a big fan of soul music," as if Michels has to remind us. "And part of hip-hop's appeal to me has always been the sample-based production" For Glorious Game, Michels would make wholly composed and recorded soul songs in his studio, sample himself, then chop and/or loop up his sounds and create instrumentals for Black Thought. On some tracks he took a more traditional hip-hop approach, starting from samples of other people's music but then adding live instrumentation on top. But for the most part, it's him reinterpreting his own compositions into something new. The result is an organic feel of loop-based tracks that breathe and uctuate enough for Black Thought to ex on. "What I write about is determined by the equation of the producer's energy and my energy," Black Thought says. "It's about where we meet." So armed with Michels sampled and re-sampled soul cinematics, Black Thought rhymes through personal memories.

To celebrate the launch of the 4th and last DLC of Atomic Heart, Kid Katana Records teamed up with Mundfish to bring you this high quality album for the first time on an exclusive double vinyl.

With over 10 million players since its release, and a nomination at the 14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards, Atomic Heart has kept on bringing new content in the game, enriching the players’ experience with new Stories, Threats and Music to pursue the fight for freedom and progress.

The physical edition is a premium 2LP designed in close relationship with the game's creative team: Track selection handpicked by Atomic Heart team, including tracks from Mick Gordon, GeoffPlaysGuitar and Boogrov, and 1 new track (DLC #4 trailer exclusive) 2-colored vinyls with unique red and black “corona” effect: handmade vinyl effect melting red and black colors to shape a unique vinyl color on each product, mirroring the cover art.

Exclusive cover art with mat finishing and glossy effect on the Twin and motorcycle

Golden Ape Records unleashes another foray from the outer reaches of bass, Luke’s Anger’s - One Machine to Rule Them All EP with a Radioactive Man remix! Available in super limited edition of 100.

His mastery of this one Analogue machine has brought forth a new EP of singular intent, to give the horns, tweeters and woofers of club sound systems a proper workout! Electro rules again - bass to crush bones, drums to jerk your body and synths to rewire your brain. The overall effect is an intense, exhilarating and liberating experience that breathes fresh life into a storied music genre.

He is ably assisted by Keith Tenniswood aka Radioactive Man on remix duties of the track No Undo. He brings to fore his sweet and nasty sides to create a growling bass ridden beast that begins with a blissful promise and then puts the boot into your pleasure zones.

Handle with caution!