‘’In the interest of reverse osmosis, instead of entering into a microscopic world, we now enter into a GIGANTIC world. Roope Eronen, of the famed Finnish space rock band Avarus, has now expanded his entertainment of an emotive space lounge to the LARGEST media size know to man, GIANT disk.
Commissioned especially by Pacific City Sound Visions label chief and the creator of Monopoly Child Star Searchers, Spencer Clark, Roope was asked to craft short pop song versions of previously extended space-synth improvisations.
This disk's music has been ENLARGED to such an extreme size that the listener can now slowly float in and around the realms of the outer heavens to freshly reflect on Earth's material originality. The voices of angels are abound to imply the harmony of an over-sized life on XXXXL NATIVITY - an example of the Inflatable Worlds ability to be playful in the sights of the grandeur of heaven.
"Space Walk Rentals" and "Bassmaster Mania" entertain Roope's huge focus on the exotic lounge-ness of Interstellar Musics. The largeness of Roope's vision contends that progress lies in the tranquillity of big thoughts - and enormous essences rather than physical largess. BIG ideas have no threat of gravity, as they are allowed to float into the ether until they are grabbed down by the hands of humans to reflect what they can of their MASSIVE impression of heaven.’’
Nous'klaer audio presents Oceanic's debut album Choral Feeling. A rhythmically diverse electronic album full of sonic explorations and beautiful moments, all bound together by a sense of colour. The album touches on the core of what music can be for: a sense of togetherness, finding meaning in moments, a way to cope with loss and soundtracking dreams about a different future. The music on this album reflects that in the most personal way. Each track consists almost entirely of his friends' voices, recorded and transformed into the sounds you'll hear. No, you can But how Just think of anything How can it just be anything Why does it need to be more Because they're afraid of it. They're not afraid of the words Then what are they afraid of The power behind the words How can words have power If you say something, only you, maybe I can hear it. Perhaps someone sitting over near that tree can hear it too. If we say it together, maybe we can reach past that tree and reach that rock. But if us and a million others say them same thing, all at the same time. Then every tree and every rock everywhere will hear us. Trees and rocks don't have ears. No they don't but they do. Why don't they just cover their ears Because then they need to do that every time we use our voice. And use them we did and use them again we shall. They got tired of covering their ears, so they decided to cover our mouths. Won't they hear us now? We're safe here. For how long will we be safe? For now. Perhaps until later. Just try. Read the words like I've written, but do so like the birds in the trees. You are my sunshine A little louder You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy When skies are grey You'll never know dear How much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away Beautiful. Shall we go teach the others When will we have enough to free ourselves We'll always have more than they do. We only need to not forget I'll never forget Sing it again. Artwork by Bob Verhoeven. Text by Gregory Markus.
For their sixth instalment, Lowlife Cartel follow up to their last two compilations (“Pimps Improvisations” in 2018 and “Omnia Vanitas” in 2020) with a new six-track VA named “Kodoku”; a vortical release, both bold and forward-looking, while fully geared for the club environment. Taking its title from a poisonous magic from the medieval Japanese era obtained by placing several venomous insects in a jar and letting them kill one another until only one survives, “Kodoku” - which interestingly also translates as “solitude” - features a cast of producers old and new to the fold including Saverio Celestri, the faceless △, Prince de Takicardie, Tundramane & Ko$te, Solar Alliance and Shampoo.
A staple element of the Lowlife Cartel bunch, Saverio Celestri paves the way and dishes out one of his signature jagged, EBM-informed weapons in “Sundays”. Through this hotchpotch of acid-steeped bass entangled with a frantic newbeat-ish swing and razor-sharp synthwaves, the Italian producer shows off the raw and playful facets of his craft to optimal effect. Unknown contributor △ clocks in with “Crachats de Lune”, a proper ominous banger going straight for the jugular with its clever mix of dusty, drum-laden churn, processed vox stabs and sci-fi-indebted laser bursts flashing by unrelentingly. Tailored for hi-octane action at the defunct Boccaccio or Hacienda, Prince de Takicardie “Jam’on’Acid (House Mix)” blows the winds of euphoria across the club like it was done in 1995. Vibing to a pulsating mix of rabid snares, 303-vehicled charges and mangled vocal samples on a classic free rave tip, throwback material that packs a punch.
Flip it over and here is North-American duo Tundramane & Ko$te shifting the scope to Memphis chopped-and-screwed in true hardcore fashion. Straight-out aggression, “Brick To The Face” lives up to its title, so expect leaving the place with a few teeth out your mouth and a good concussion, though more side effects could appear over repeated listens. A radical U-turn from the previous, Ute.- related triplet Solar Alliance - alias Ekkel, Oprofessionell and Mikkel Rev - bring their dashing trance touch to the comp with “Quest for Kiba”, an uptemp maelstrom for the senses, swirling and whirling up until space and time make no damn sense any more. Topping off that versatile tour de force, Japanese producer Shampoo adds his delectably sensuous spin on the record with the lush, sample-heavy lo-fi appeal of “四季ノ歌”. Unpolished feelgood vibes, sun- streaked soulfulness and deft-handed MPC wizardry are on the menu for this ultimate ride and jolly finale.
The Havoc guys have been on an enforced hibernation through the winter due to a lurgy that had been affecting the planet. They have remained in the cave throughout this time huddling up to keep warm and exploring what had become their home away from home for months on end. One night, whilst lighting a fire, trying to find motivation for the next release (basket weaving had lost its appeal) they spotted a glint across the way – On further inspection, it was a small bottle and had a label of sorts – It looked to be medicine or smelling salts – Liquid Gold. Curious creatures they are they all took a long good sniff of this elixir. And just like that, they rummaged around the records stacked in the corner put some more coal in the old computer and began their work.
Soon the A-Side of the new EP was born. Most certainly a step up in the BPM from the previous A-Side off EP1. A1 kicks off with a Germanic Proto Throb Job, that's sure to cause errr...Havoc on the dance floor. Whilst A2 is a Bassline Driven, Reconstructed Austrian Euro Pop Monster. One for late-night Discos.
After a while they had stopped sweating, hearts had stopped beating quite so quick. Whilst the creative juices were flowing a few more records were dug out and a log put on the fire and a cup of fungus juice imbibed. B2 came rattling out the speakers in no time at all in all its chugging glory, the vocals take in a nod to god after the devil has done his dirty work.
At this point, the sun was starting to peek through the mouth of the cave and a new day was upon them. One last record had been found, earlier, that was decided would work at this time, actually after consideration, any damn time... B2 Is like a familiar Balearic Back rub with pop-infused French vocals and beats for days...So now EP2 is complete. Back out into the world our intrepid or is it tepid threesome went... Let's only hope their wives haven't left them after all this time locked away.
DJ Support:
Jim (HMD)
Bill Brewster
Kelvin Andrews
Eric Duncan
Al Mackenzie
James Holroyd (Begin)
Pete Herbert
Phil Mison
Nick The Record
Justin Robertson
Coyote
Mind Fair
Steve KIW
Craig Christian
Dr Rob
Dave Jarvis
Max Essa
Andy Simms (Soft Rocks)
Howler
Jaye Ward
Nancy Noise
Andy Taylor (WATS)
Graeme Fisher
Severino (HMD)
Son of Chi returns to Astral Industries, alongside Spanish artist Clara Brea, for the collaborative release of AI-29. A product of fate, chance experiments, but most of all, sensitive artistry - ’The Wetland Remixes’ exists as a confluence of two kindred musical spirits, a wayfaring epic that draws together a rich archive of ecological field recordings, live instrumentation and higher inspirations.
Ahead of Hanyo’s concert at Calma (Madrid) at the end of 2019, the curators organised a special dinner and arranged the meeting of Clara and Hanyo. As Hanyo recalls,“It was like stereochemistry. There was an instant match and understanding, and basically we decided in a split second to exchange recordings and to collaborate on future live and studio experiments.”
The auspicious meeting of the two ignited a remote exchange of materials and ideas, as the world descended into a series of pandemic-related lockdowns. The first of said recordings included the stems of Clara’s ‘Wetland Project’ - a site-specific audiovisual project originally produced for Eufonic Festival (Spain), using field recordings from the Ebro Delta nature reserve (one of the most threatened regions of climate change on the Iberian peninsula).
From this initial impetus, Hanyo began working on the first sketches of the album back in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Just like their meeting in Madrid, the project developed naturally and spontaneously with extraordinary ease. Later, Hanyo started adding field recordings from the Magic Cave and Wetlands of the ‘Kallikatsou’ (Patmos, Greece) as well as organic and acoustic overdubs, featuring bass, drums, percussion, guitars, oud, piano, hammond organ, wurlitzer, flutes, bells, and mouth harp.
In the distance, the sound of birds peak through the effervescent wash of the wetland soundscapes. The pass of running water flows deeper into a land full of secrets never told. On the strike of dusk, the silhouettes of shapely trunks and foliage melt slowly into the impenetrable darkness. As darkness passes, light emerges, with exquisite moments of tranquility that seemingly emerge from nothingness.
Beneath the shimmering veneer of textures, wildlife and melodies, one may hear the deeper references of ’The Wetland Remixes’. With credit to Clara’s input, for Hanyo the album process became a kind of refuge, and ultimately inspired the return to the core of Abstract Sound - what the Sufis call“Saut-i Sarmad.”Such references allude to the spiritual quality embedded in the music - the autonomous process of self-expression, the great mystery. Hanyo: “An ambience like this cannot be created by routine. There is no blueprint. The music has to find you. It’s like a blessing if it happens. You should not interfere, just observe and be impressed...”
Deep, luscious mind trips as per the classic Chi sound, ‘The Wetland Remixes’ beautifully correlates the interconnecting dots of geography, ecology, and mythology’s forgotten lore.
This is Fugazi's debut record, released in 1988. These 7 songs were later combined with the 6 tracks from the Margin Walker EP and released on the 13-Songs Maxi CD.
This EP (on red vinyl) was re-cut from the Silver Sonya masters in 2008 at Chicago Mastering Service and comes with a free MP3 download of the album.
A1 East Vision by Milanese’s finest Uabos uncovers an extraordinary musical experience with a lot of twists and twirls that are skilfully crafted. Constructed of mouth-watering synth textures and dusty melodic samples that hover over the rolling bass engine, Uabos surely delivers a dancefloor killer.
Herzel’s Transformation as the A2 track adds deep blue melodic depth on top of icy rhythmic pattern. It tickles the senses as sharp leads and powerful kicking stabs appear above the grinding bass line, providing mesmeric effect.
Flute Power’s Discothalia heats up the B side. Lush breaks and ripples meet a cloud-bursting bass line, intertwining with the ethereal vocal traces that unveil throughout the composition and into infinity.
Metropolitan Soul Museum in the closing B2 track Former Glory introduces a delicately structured musical narrative that has blocks of steady rhythmic percussion accompanied with unforeseeable melodic samples and tender vocal cut-ups.
Samosa Records releases are coming thick and fast in what could be their finest year yet. Lex & Locke are the latest talent to make their Samosa debut with their ‘Pacifica’ EP – a sublime three tracker which is mouth watering from the off.
First up is Balandra. From the moment you hear the raw four to the floor drumbeat, you’re under its spell. The infectious bass riff moves the scenery around a little, whilst the subtle bongo attack teases what’s to come. And what’s coming is a funky, rolling cosmic lead synth that has no right to sound that damn sexy, no right at all. The vibe quickly grows into an interstellar journey, aided by an outrageously funky clav jam that gets inside your head. Balandra feels like the soundtrack to an ‘after dark’ undercover stakeout in a 1970s cop thriller. Detectives Lex & Locke are on the case and the evidence is compelling. A unique, 122bpm funk bomb which has the Samosa fingerprints all over it.
A2 is Cabo Pulmo – continuing the vibe of Balandra, Lex & Locke lay down some serious grooves in what initially sounds like a live funk band jamming away in the studio without a care in the world. No soon as we get into the beat and the bass, there’s an immediate switch to a swirling, bold cocktail of funk infused with a touch of jazz that belies the 124bpm tempo. The production is expertly tight; layers of synth, electric organ and punchy guitar riffs make this ideal for both the sun terrace and the dance floor. You’re under arrest, and Lex & Locke are reading you your rights!
The final track, Nine Palms has a real quirky, almost broken beat feel to it with its high-hat ride pattern and punchy bass drum. A wickedly twisted analogue organ riff is quickly introduced, which is cleverly used as both a rhythm device and the melodic platform that sets up the whole track. Lex & Locke seem to be total masters of a ‘free-style funky synth lead’, and we’re treated to another slice of this particularly tasty pie in ‘Nine Palms’. Whereas Balandra is the late-night stake-out, Nine Palms is the final act where Lex & Locke high five each other following another successful bust.
The Pacifica EP has a wonderfully intimate and assured vibe about it and is sure to feature in many a summer soundtrack. This release also proves that Samosa Records aren’t afraid to go off the beaten path occasionally - and when it’s this good we’re more than happy to follow. Grab this amazing cut of wax while you can!
We are proud to welcome Fear-E for his Dark Entries debut ‘Grey Skies In A Dear Green Place’ out February 28th. Fear-E is the moniker of Scott McKay a Glasgow based DJ and producer. Scott has already made a name for himself as one of Glasgow’s most technically-gifted and diverse selectors over the past decade. Then a slew of releases on the home-grown Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and Super Rhythm Trax introduced Fear-E, equally skilled studio operator, to the world.
‘Grey Skies In A Dear Green Place’ contains six club-ready tracks to “smash sound systems and illuminate sweaty warehouses.” The title is a reference to a nickname that Glasgow has, coming from Cumbric, means 'green hollow' or (dear) 'green place'. Layering cut-up vocals with warm thumping beats, Scott creates a stripped-back yet deeply jackin’ vibe. Call these tracks what you will, “acid attacks”, “club destroyers”, “pickle ticklers?!” All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. For the cover, Scott commissioned legendary Detroit illustrator Alan Oldham, who’s artwork has graced established an identity for Transmat and DJAX-UP-BEATS, to create a futuristic portrait of Glasgow in black & white and with green kryptonite flourishes by Eloise Leigh.d
As Rune & Ruin’s initial release, the duo of Lynette Cerezo and Zanias present a new offering of brutalizing intimacy.
'INSHROUDSS' marks the first Bestial Mouths release entirely written and conceived by Cerezo, vocalist and frontwoman since the project’s roots in 2006. Through each of the EP’s five tracks, Cerezo’s commanding voice usurps the role of victim for that of destroyer
- with scars where wings once beat the sky.
Drawing from the initial Bestial sound of emotionally gripping post-punk, Cerezo crafts deeply personal lyrics of self-stagnation and trauma, while longtime friend and collaborator Brant Showers (∆AIMON/SØLVE) provides a heart-pulverizing fury of industrialized electronics.
Along with production by new collaborator Alex DeGroot (Zola Jesus), INNSHROUDSS remains infinitely body-moving on even the most discerning of darkwave dance floors.
A genre- blurring statement born from bedrooms and late- night studio sessions, the album fuses live drums, analogue synths, samples, and dense percussion into something critics struggled to pin down - baggy grooves meet electro-pop meets rave culture. Originally designed as an extension of the band's unpredictable live shows, Harder Than It Should Be captures a rotating cast of collaborators and a core four-piece that expanded into an eight-member spectacle. Tracks like Atom Bomb City, Cut It Loose and the cult single These Boys Are Athletes (featuring Bis vocalist Manda Rin) earned radio play and industry buzz - yet the album itself was never formally released. Recovered from early recordings and demos, this reconstruction reflects the original intent: a high- energy journey mirroring the band's live intensity. A document of a moment when MySpace buzz, indie discos and electro experimentation collided in small venues and word-of-mouth scenes.
spirit blue have become one of London’s most elusive word-of-mouth successes. Formed in South East London, the duo quietly built a devoted following through years hosting NTS Radio’s flagship Early Bird show before stepping out from behind the booth with 2024’s breakout double single “perfect storm / desire machine”. Rare live appearances and instant sell-outs of their limited dubplate pressings have turned spirit blue into one of the capital’s most sought-after underground acts, with admirers ranging from Ethel Cain to EsDeeKid. The glistening guitars, soft-hued vocals and sparse production of “ps / dm” and its follow-up “language” conjure a collaged vision of 90s alt-rock melancholy refracted through lo-fi intimacy and electronic texture. The vocals remain understated yet emotionally direct, grounding each track in a vulnerability that feels unforced. Echoes of slowcore’s more spectral edges drift through the duo’s blurred songwriting, where moments of stillness carry as much weight as the hooks themselves. The first ultra-limited pressing sold out instantly; this new edition arrives including the vinyl-exclusive, weightless, “devil mix” versions on the B side and demand already running high.
It’s safe to say that Rochester, NY rapper of Italian descent Pounds’ work ethic is unmatched: he’s constantly on the grind, loud in the lab but quiet on the outside, he wastes no time unlike many other big mouthed rappers these days and then, all of a sudden, he drops a bomb on you. To kick off 2018 in the best of ways, he released a 4-tracks collaboration EP with West Coast producer , 1/2 of Gangrene, Oh No entitled “Borgata”. The record opens up with “Last Supper” and with a clear statement of intent: “Run for your life, my cousin brought a drum and a knife, break my hand on your face I need a bucket of ice” just so you understand where this project is headed since the first song. His style is always direct, without any frills, with his trademark voice spitting gritty crime-themed bars that revolve around drug and the street life that raised him. A “borgata” in Italy is a “hood”, and Pounds, being the definition of an artist that talks the talk and walks the walk, couldn’t pick a better title for this project.
Limited edition vinyl release of 500 hand-numbered copies with etched B-side, black vinyl.
BerettaMusic's compilation series is mouthwatering just from reading the names of the artists involved. First up is Detroit mainstay Dez Andres, who opens with 'Ready Disco,' a warm and typically hip-hop-inflected tone that Curiel's 'Keep You That Way' and Evan Rhodes' 'We Go Low' both build on comfortably, with the latter a particularly contagious minimal house shuffler with a bassline that really pops. DJ Cent's 'Malfunction' gets more heavy and threatening with steely drums marching into darkness, before Ryan Sadorus closes with 'Cultivate,' a storming disco-house workout. It's less a scattered various-artists grab bag and more a real document of Detroit's current house scene. Unsurprisingly, then, it is superb.
Long overdue reissue of classic Scottish ambient techno banger ‘Mindweeds’, originally released in 1993 on the Pure-affiliated T&B Vinyl label run by Keith McIvor (JD Twitch) and Andy Watson (Brainstorm). With a Discogs demand ratio at about 300 have : 2000 want, and used prices peaking at over £100, now seems to be the right time for a re-release.
State of Flux were Roger Elliott and Dave Clark (aka Sparky, LUMA, Truffle Club and main man behind Kübler-Ross). They first met at Glasgow’s Strathclyde University in 1990, bonding over a shared love of weasel racing, German sausages and “man-duos” like The KLF and The Shamen. Dave was fully pubescent and already had a synth and drum machine, while Roger – a late developer – bought “another cheap synth, a Commodore Amiga for sequencing and a tiny mixer with no EQ”. For two long years they concentrated hard on “churning out unlistenable pish”, admittedly clueless about what they were trying to do.
Then – out of nowhere in the summer of 1992 – a flatmate’s Jello Biafra spoken word CD (‘I Blow Minds For A Living’) provided the inspiration to unlock the spark of dynamite that set the raving world on fire. Sampled using a Walkman* cassette** tape*** on playback (a decision the pair soon came to regret every time the track was subsequently performed live), Jello’s pilfered rant would soon become the crucial glue that held together the burgeoning kaleidoscopic helicopter spliff that is ‘Mindweeds’, loaded as it was – and indeed still is – with a veritably seething morass of cheeky electronic blims, nasal filter cheese and gay Caledonian spunk.
* a vintage portable listening device roughly the size of 4 iPhones stacked on top of one another and weighing the same as a small tub of yoghurt
** a plastic cartridge enclosing 2 miniature spools of magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film (magnetic tape), notoriously convenient for pirating copyright material and secreting in one’s underpants for transporting between illicit market trader stalls
*** thin ribbon coated with ferromagnetic particles, usually ferric oxide but also chromium dioxide, "pseudochrome" ferricobalt or iron-cobalt-nickel “metal” formulations – with the latter types sounding marginally less crap
Playing demos of the track to friends, one thing led to another and a copy arrived with Twitch. Meeting the legends behind Pure in late 1992, a release was scheduled for summer 1993… but not before a promotional live gig in February of that year, supporting their heroes The Black Dog. Confessing that they “didn’t have a clue how to play live”, the duo played it safe, “went to a studio near Edinburgh airport to record the ‘live’ show” and then “mimed it off a DAT” at the gig, “standing in front of unplugged synths”. Soon after this, they recorded the full EP at Finitribe’s ‘Finiflex’ studio in Leith, Edinburgh and the record came out as planned that summer – the same week as Underworld’s ‘Rez’.
The record received high praise, appeared in many big-name DJ charts, sold out very quickly and was repressed within a few weeks, selling several thousand copies by the end of 1993 – no mean feat in an era when people had to use landline phones ****, faxes ***** or good old-fashioned carrier pigeons ****** to ascertain literally anything about the outside world, what was cool, where to buy the cool shit, or how to meet people and have fun.
**** a fixed communication device that connects to a telephone network using physical wires, cables, or a stationary base unit tied to a specific geographic address, using a handset incorporating a mouthpiece featuring a small metal disk and carbon grains, converting sound pressure from the human voice into a flow of electrical waves caused by these grains being squeezed together, before the variable signal is transmitted down DC voltage-powered copper wire and rerouted by a central exchange to arrive at the earpiece magnet of the target receiver’s handset, moving a small speaker cone accordingly so the message is intelligible WITHOUT THE PERSON SPEAKING ACTUALLY BEING PRESENT
***** as above, but for the d/Deaf
****** flying vermin riddled with diseases and capable of surviving nuclear armageddon
Soon Roger and Dave became sick of the Walkman being the only instrument played live in their set: with their new found fame and riches, they invested in a case for their Amiga to transport it around Scotland, while also putting in the hours on how to pretend to play live better with a sequencer and synths that were FINALLY plugged in. Following the release of ‘The Mercury EP' in April 1994, they embarked on a full tour of the UK and even managed to part ways and end the band by June that year.
This reissue includes the two original mixes of ‘Mindweeds’ recorded at Finiflex (‘Original’ and engineer ‘Fred's Fancy’), the original cassette demo (mastered directly from the actual recording sent to Twitch & Brainstorm in 1992) and a live version recorded at the Birmingham club night 'Oscillate' in April 1994.
This album is the soundtrack to Absolum, a fully hand-drawn universe with a unique story, created by the team behind Streets of Rage 4, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, and more.
Known for Ori and the Blind Forest and Halo Infinite, lead composer Gareth Coker brings his signature emotional depth, blending dark fantasy orchestration with medieval-inspired themes and somber atmospheres.
From orchestral soundscapes to thrilling boss battle themes, this soundtrack features guest tracks from Mick Gordon (DOOM 2016, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Atomic Heart), Yuka Kitamura (Elden Ring, Dark Souls III, Dark Souls II), Motoi Sakuraba (the Dark Souls series, Mario Golf, Star Ocean), and Rachel Hardy (Stray Gods, Eternal Strands), setting the tone for the events unfolding in this cute yet twisted fantasy world.
Magic may be forbidden in these lands, but the music is no less enchanting!
Live at Café Oto is a journey into Ainu music as ancient vocal chants move into intense mouth-harp acapellas as meditative solo tonkori pieces morph into psychedelic dub-heavy work-outs.
The album follows the critical acclaim for Tonkori in the Moonlight,Mais Um's 2022 compilation of OKI's early work that was chosen as one of the best folk albums of 2022 by The Guardian.
Live at Café Oto features mostly unheard repertoire from OKI and family, recorded in Mais Um's favourite venue in London on a sold out night as part of a captivating European tour - when we heard the recording we knew we had to release it.
Die Zwanziger - ein Alter voller Möglichkeiten, aber vor allem: verdammt seltsam. LEILAs Debütalbum "20 SOMETHING IS A F*KING STRANGE PLACE" fängt genau dieses Gefühl ein: zwischen Erwachsenwerden, Unsicherheit und dem Drang, sich ständig neu zu erfinden. Mit dabei: die Taube - in jeder Stadt, auf Dächern, im Sound, auf dem Cover. Ein Vogel, der niemandem gehört, aber überall ist. Genau wie LEILA selbst, die zwischen New York, Sarajevo und Bern lebt und dort drei Versionen von sich entdeckt. Die Musik? Ehrlicher Pop, durchzogen von Punk-Energie, UK-Underground und Experimentierfreude. Kein Album, das Antworten gibt, sondern eines, welches die Unordnung der Zwanziger festhält - roh, ehrlich, unaufhaltsam.
Pioneering Ghanaian musician King Ayisobareturns September 4, 2026 with his forthcoming seventh album Pure Confusion, recorded and produced by On-U-Sound’s Adrian Sherwood.
Ayisoba is one of Ghana’s most distinctive musical voices. The world’s foremost player of the kologo - a homemade two-string lute fashioned from a calabash and covered in goatskin - he delivers fiercely political and socially observant songs using three different voices, including the voice of his grandfather that possessed him as a child. Sherwood meanwhile is the pioneering British producer and founder of On-U Sound whose hugely influential career has connected dub, post-punk, industrial, hip hop and experimental music through collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Mark Stewart, Horace Andy, Sinéad O’Connor, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.
Ayisoba and Sherwood first collaborated during a BBC Radio 3 Late Junction session at Maida Vale in 2017, organised by Ayisoba’s long-time collaborator Arnold de Boer/Zea of The Ex. The pair immediately connected, and during the pandemic, when Adrian’s long-time African Head Charge collaborator Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah was in Ghana looking for musicians to collaborate with Sherwood suggested Ayisoba, who eventually featured on two tracks on African Head Charge’s 2023 album A Trip To Bolgatanga (Bolgantanga is the region Ayisoba is from). Ayisoba then returned to the UK in late 2024 and travelled to Sherwood’s Ramsgate studio where the pair laid down the songs that would become Pure Confusion: “All the songs were already in my head,” says Ayisoba. “This album is all recorded live, over one afternoon. Adrian only plays live, and I like that. And he works hard - he doesn’t sleep. I woke up in the night and he was still working.”
“In my role producing it, I just let it roll to make a good vibe,” says Sherwood. “We recorded it completely live, did some programming and processing on some tracks, using dub techniques live on the mixing desk and adding some slick touches. We wanted the colours on the album to swing off what Ayisoba was doing, so we invited some friends to participate. Doug Wimbish (Sugar Hill Gang) arrived from America and lent his services playing bass on a couple of tracks; the wonderful Ivan Hussey (Celloman) played bass, keyboards and cello - cello is not really featured on African recordings so we thought it would be really cool to try it. I'd been working with Alex White (Fat White Family/Primal Scream) on my album (The Collapse of Everything) and so he added sax to a few tracks and I brought Alan Glenn down especially - Alan was in Little Axe but also Nine Below Zero and played in the Yardbirds – to add some mouth organ; Mark Bandola added a bit of flavour with his Juno, Ayisoba’s long-time Ghanian collaborator Ayuune Sule added some percussion and vocals and Matt Smith did some programming.”
“King Ayisoba is quite amazing, so unique,” Sherwood continues. “He’s got his own handmade instrument and three different voices - when you’re listening you think it’s three different people. He’s a breath of fresh air, full of love for the music which he wants to share with everybody. Some tracks we kept very straight and others we experimented with - adding dubby psychedelic little touches to trip you out a bit. The added production we did at On-U has given it a shine while still keeping it vibrant, live and spontaneous. I’m really proud of this record”.
On Pure Confusion, Ayisoba documents the anxieties, contradictions and changing social realities of contemporary Ghana. “Land is a problem for everyone,” says Ayisoba of the opening track “Property”. “If you don’t build on your land they will take it away. Plenty corruption in Ghana, plenty confusion. They sell the land to two, three, four people and then everybody fights.”
Elsewhere Ayisoba explores illness, spirituality and social stigma on “Bemba”, warning against hiding sickness out of shame or fear of “bad juju”: “People hide their sickness and the sickness kills them.” “Tewigiloge” reflects on cultural difference and open-mindedness encountered through world travel: “We will tour the whole world and we will see many things we may not like or understand… your eyes will see, but don’t talk - you have to be open-minded.”
Spirituality runs deeply throughout the album. Ayisoba’s grandfather was a respected spiritual healer whose presence the musician says still guides him today. “The grandparents’ spirits are the ones you can contact,” he explains of the spiritual chant “Nkaase”. “This song talks about the forefathers.” The closing track “Leeda-Mampanga (It’s Not My Strength)” acts as a statement of humility and gratitude: “You have to be humble, even if you have talent. God gives you the power.”
For more than two decades, King Ayisoba has been one of Africa’s most distinctive musical innovators, transforming northern Ghanaian kologo traditions into a bold contemporary sound rooted in hypnotic rhythms, social commentary and spiritual intensity. Since the breakthrough success of 2006’s Modern Ghanaians, Ayisoba has built an international following through acclaimed albums, relentless touring and collaborations with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Orlando Julius and African Head Charge. Performances at Roskilde, WOMAD, Le Guess Who? and the Barbican have further cemented his reputation as a singular live performer and cultural force.
One year earlier, 50 years ago this December, THE HEARTBREAKERS arrived in London to join the Sex Pistols on the "Anarchy" tour. They spent most of 1977 there, recording "L.A.M.F." and cementing their status as elder statesmen of the punk movement. This last date of their 1977 European tour was to be their very last as a band - until the reunions. Drummer Jerry Nolan had already jumped ship; his substitute is The Clash"s Terry Chimes. The gig was filmed for a movie that was never to be - this is the soundtrack recording.
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.
Der Wendepunkt von 1993 zwischen Pop-Punk und Emo lässt sich kaum besser veranschaulichen als durch das selbstbetitelte Debütalbum von Garden Variety. Während Billy und Bivouac mit dem Mainstream liebäugelten, machte dieses Trio aus Long Island einen Vorstoß in die Welt des Post-Hardcore. Kraftvoller Oktav- Gitarren-Chug, gepaart mit nächtlicher Zine-Arbeit im örtlichen Diner. Herzschmerz im Backbeat, ganz ohne Effekte. Danken Sie Charles Maggio für Ihre Lieblingsplatte, wenn Sie ihn das nächste Mal in der Paramus Mall sehen.
Der Wendepunkt von 1993 zwischen Pop-Punk und Emo lässt sich kaum besser veranschaulichen als durch das selbstbetitelte Debütalbum von Garden Variety. Während Billy und Bivouac mit dem Mainstream liebäugelten, machte dieses Trio aus Long Island einen Vorstoß in die Welt des Post-Hardcore. Kraftvoller Oktav- Gitarren-Chug, gepaart mit nächtlicher Zine-Arbeit im örtlichen Diner. Herzschmerz im Backbeat, ganz ohne Effekte. Danken Sie Charles Maggio für Ihre Lieblingsplatte, wenn Sie ihn das nächste Mal in der Paramus Mall sehen.
Sofie Royer - laut *The Guardian* "einer der faszinierendsten und unterschätzten Popstars Europas, mit fesselnder Stimme und einem eigenwilligen, aristokratischen Glamour" - meldet sich mit einem neuen Album zurück! ,before/after" ist das vierte Studioalbum der österreichisch-iranischen Künstlerin. Es steckt voller Electro-Pop-Ohrwürmer und wurde gemeinsam mit Matt Cohn (SZA, The Weeknd), Jorgen Odegard (Sabrina Carpenter) und Eli Hirsch (Suki Waterhouse) produziert. Nach der Veröffentlichung dreier gefeierter Alben haben sich Songwriting und Produktion der Wiener Musikerin weiterentwickelt: Sie sind komplexer und ausgefeilter geworden, ihre Texte schärfer und humorvoller. *before/after* ist ihr bislang prägnantestes Werk. Es setzt sich mit den Schattenseiten des Künstlerlebens auseinander und verwebt die eigene Selbstreflexion mit kultureller Zeitkritik. Auch wenn sich Sofie von der Lo-Fi-Produzentin zur ernstzunehmenden Popmusikerin gewandelt hat - die bereits als Support-Act für Lana Del Rey, Air und LCD Soundsystem auftrat -, fühlt sie sich nach wie vor nirgendwo so recht zugehörig. Sie nimmt bei ihrer Kritik an der Musikbranche kein Blatt vor den Mund - "Ich bin zu sehr Pop für die Kunstwelt und zu sehr Indie-Liebling für den Mainstream" -, doch am härtesten geht sie mit sich selbst ins Gericht. In zwölf eingängigen Popsongs geht Royer der Frage nach, ob die Konflikte zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft nicht eigentlich Kämpfe mit dem eigenen Ich sind. "Wir befinden uns in einem ständigen Kampf zwischen dem Vorher` und dem Nachher`, wir beschäftigen uns intensiv mit diesen beiden zeitlichen Zuständen. Doch indem wir in ihnen gefangen bleiben, stehen wir uns oft selbst am meisten im Weg. Letztlich heißt es im Zustand des Vorher/Nachher immer: Du gegen dich selbst." Für Freunde von Suki Waterhouse, Lykke Li, Smerz, CMAT
The 1993 split point between pop punk and emo is no better illustrated than by
Garden Variety’s self-titled debut. While Billy and Bivouac flirted with the mainstream, this Long Island trio proposed at the post-hardcore prom. Muscular octave guitar chug with a side of late night zine work at the local diner. Backbeat heartbreak, hold the FX. Thank Charles Maggio for your favorite record next time you see him at the Paramus mall.
The 1993 split point between pop punk and emo is no better illustrated than by
Garden Variety’s self-titled debut. While Billy and Bivouac flirted with the mainstream, this Long Island trio proposed at the post-hardcore prom. Muscular octave guitar chug with a side of late night zine work at the local diner. Backbeat heartbreak, hold the FX. Thank Charles Maggio for your favorite record next time you see him at the Paramus mall.
Secret South zeigt die Band auf ihrem dunkelsten, weitläufigsten Terrain: eine fiebrige Mischung aus Gothic Americana, Folk, Country-Anklängen und okkult schimmernder Schwermut. Bandoneon, Banjo, Hurdy-Gurdy und entrückter Gesang formen einen Sound, der fernab jeder Moderne wirkt und dennoch zeitlos bleibt - archaisch, intensiv und voller Sogkraft. Während die Stücke zwischen asketischer Kargheit und opulenter Weite pendeln, entfaltet sich die volle emotionale Wucht eines Albums, das bis heute Kultstatus besitzt.
As We Once Were is the third studio album from twice Welsh Music Prize nominated artist and producer The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) - This new record is the long-awaited follow-up to the UK Top 40 album The Art Of Losing and features an all-star cast of guest vocalist, including Mercury Music Prize nominees Hannah Peel and Welsh-Cornish musician Gwenno, long-time collaborator James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers also contributes vocals and electric guitar on 'Throw Over Your Man' - a song inspired by the love letters between literary legends Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West - and newcomer Eaves Wilder (Secretly Canadian) duets on 'Damsels' The Art Of Losing received wall-to-wall critical plaudits upon its release in 2021 and scooped up a raft of Album of The Year nods from The Sunday Times, to Prog, to the Mail on Sunday. With Sir Elton John naming it "one of my favourite records of the year" and Caitlin Moran calling it "the inadvertent, beautiful and truthful soundtrack to this moment", it went on to sell over 10,000 physical copies via the power of word of mouth.
As We Once Were is the third studio album from twice Welsh Music Prize nominated artist and producer The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) - This new record is the long-awaited follow-up to the UK Top 40 album The Art Of Losing and features an all-star cast of guest vocalist, including Mercury Music Prize nominees Hannah Peel and Welsh-Cornish musician Gwenno, long-time collaborator James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers also contributes vocals and electric guitar on 'Throw Over Your Man' - a song inspired by the love letters between literary legends Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West - and newcomer Eaves Wilder (Secretly Canadian) duets on 'Damsels' The Art Of Losing received wall-to-wall critical plaudits upon its release in 2021 and scooped up a raft of Album of The Year nods from The Sunday Times, to Prog, to the Mail on Sunday. With Sir Elton John naming it "one of my favourite records of the year" and Caitlin Moran calling it "the inadvertent, beautiful and truthful soundtrack to this moment", it went on to sell over 10,000 physical copies via the power of word of mouth.
As We Once Were is the third studio album from twice Welsh Music Prize nominated artist and producer The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) - This new record is the long-awaited follow-up to the UK Top 40 album The Art Of Losing and features an all-star cast of guest vocalist, including Mercury Music Prize nominees Hannah Peel and Welsh-Cornish musician Gwenno, long-time collaborator James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers also contributes vocals and electric guitar on 'Throw Over Your Man' - a song inspired by the love letters between literary legends Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West - and newcomer Eaves Wilder (Secretly Canadian) duets on 'Damsels' The Art Of Losing received wall-to-wall critical plaudits upon its release in 2021 and scooped up a raft of Album of The Year nods from The Sunday Times, to Prog, to the Mail on Sunday. With Sir Elton John naming it "one of my favourite records of the year" and Caitlin Moran calling it "the inadvertent, beautiful and truthful soundtrack to this moment", it went on to sell over 10,000 physical copies via the power of word of mouth.
Limited Edition 20th anniversary re-issue of _And the Battle Begun, 2xLP featuring a newly remastered version of album plus unreleased live recordings in a gatefold jacket with gold foil. Four new live songs include fan favorites "Apparition", "In Her Drawer" and "Only for the Night" Rx Bandits' landmark album ...And the Battle Begun marked a defining creative leap for the band, channeling intricate musicianship, dynamic arrangements, and socially charged lyricism into one of the most influential independent rock records of its era. Originally released in 2006, the album captured the band at a creative crossroads - expanding far beyond the ska-punk roots they emerged from and embracing a broader spectrum of progressive rock, jazz fusion, reggae, dub, psych, and melodic experimentation. The result was a deeply ambitious and emotionally resonant album whose impact continues to be felt twenty years later. In celebration of the album's 20th anniversary, Sargent House will release a limited-edition deluxe double LP featuring a newly remastered version of the full album alongside four previously unreleased live recordings, housed in a special gold foil gatefold jacket. The re-issue also commemorates the first album ever released by the label, honoring the lasting legacy of a record that continues to inspire listeners and stands as a defining chapter in Rx Bandits' history.
Limited Edition 20th anniversary re-issue of _And the Battle Begun, 2xLP featuring a newly remastered version of album plus unreleased live recordings in a gatefold jacket with gold foil. Four new live songs include fan favorites "Apparition", "In Her Drawer" and "Only for the Night" Rx Bandits' landmark album ...And the Battle Begun marked a defining creative leap for the band, channeling intricate musicianship, dynamic arrangements, and socially charged lyricism into one of the most influential independent rock records of its era. Originally released in 2006, the album captured the band at a creative crossroads - expanding far beyond the ska-punk roots they emerged from and embracing a broader spectrum of progressive rock, jazz fusion, reggae, dub, psych, and melodic experimentation. The result was a deeply ambitious and emotionally resonant album whose impact continues to be felt twenty years later. In celebration of the album's 20th anniversary, Sargent House will release a limited-edition deluxe double LP featuring a newly remastered version of the full album alongside four previously unreleased live recordings, housed in a special gold foil gatefold jacket. The re-issue also commemorates the first album ever released by the label, honoring the lasting legacy of a record that continues to inspire listeners and stands as a defining chapter in Rx Bandits' history. 2LP Vinyl colour is Eco Citrus!
Sir Richard Bishop returns for a new sponítaneous six-string meshing of people"s music, recollections and psychic intentions. Are y"all ready for some Hillbilly Erotica? Migration from last album"s Ragas to this new Erotica is another chapter in Bishop"s progress, drifting via songs into the further frontiers of his pappy"s hometown sounds, trancing over and out in their hand-me-down clothes. As with the ragas, the "rotica"s hung round the neck of John Fahey"s infamous dubbing of certain tradiítional American folk sounds as "American Primitive." A perfectly good thought, but Sir Richard picks his own axe and chose a separate path. Rushing through gutters & picking pickled brains in the saucy head waters of the down-low & literal American primitive, his hillbilly music is a mash of brined cultural inheritance, mini-ragas and moonshine-drunk savagery breaking out on the frets. As a conception for Sir Rick"s acoustic guitar music, it"s a dynamite means and frame, centering his improvisations in a place overflown with pagan desire and unbound in deliverance. Here he flies up and down the neck, his manner less pristine, yet more exquisite, a flailing, flowing-on-the-river medley through stubborn whitewater turbulence, post-grass and folk"s classical gas. Anybody who takes a snort of this here Hillbilly Erotica will find a frankly spellbinding richness of intent and execution in their ear-mouths. And may thereafter find brain and blightness. It"s fine!
Sir Richard Bishop returns for a new sponítaneous six-string meshing of people"s music, recollections and psychic intentions. Are y"all ready for some Hillbilly Erotica? Migration from last album"s Ragas to this new Erotica is another chapter in Bishop"s progress, drifting via songs into the further frontiers of his pappy"s hometown sounds, trancing over and out in their hand-me-down clothes. As with the ragas, the "rotica"s hung round the neck of John Fahey"s infamous dubbing of certain tradiítional American folk sounds as "American Primitive." A perfectly good thought, but Sir Richard picks his own axe and chose a separate path. Rushing through gutters & picking pickled brains in the saucy head waters of the down-low & literal American primitive, his hillbilly music is a mash of brined cultural inheritance, mini-ragas and moonshine-drunk savagery breaking out on the frets. As a conception for Sir Rick"s acoustic guitar music, it"s a dynamite means and frame, centering his improvisations in a place overflown with pagan desire and unbound in deliverance. Here he flies up and down the neck, his manner less pristine, yet more exquisite, a flailing, flowing-on-the-river medley through stubborn whitewater turbulence, post-grass and folk"s classical gas. Anybody who takes a snort of this here Hillbilly Erotica will find a frankly spellbinding richness of intent and execution in their ear-mouths. And may thereafter find brain and blightness. It"s fine!
