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2025 Repress
One for the heads as they say ... this deep Detroit Techno inspired 12" by UK Techno veteran Paul Mac was supposed to be released on Ben Sims' infamous Theory sub label Navite in 2003, but apart from 5 test pressings with the catalogue number NTV 04 it never made it to a proper release. When asking Paul about this 12" we were very happy that he agreed to release it on Mojuba sub label a.r.t.less. Some of his most soulful and deeper organic Techno EPs finally available and remastered by Redshape to current standards.
For illustration duties we are super grateful to have the one and only Kilian Eng on board for the next releases, showcasing some of his sketch work in a new context, some of you might remember his stunning artwork from the Sam McQueen album "Dreams In Sepia" for a.r.t.less. Enjoy! Limited edition in hand-pulled screen-printed cover.

First Word Records are proud to bring you 'Penny Ballads', a 5-track EP from Royce Wood Junior.

Royce Wood Junior is a Grammy & Mercury Award-nominated musician, songwriter and record producer from London, currently based in Brighton. As a multi-instrumentalist, he's collaborated with a litany of brilliant artists over the years, such as Jamie Woon, Nao, Disclosure, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Joy Crookes, Jamie Lidell and Jordan Rakei, additionally to touring with the likes of the legendary Thomas Dolby. He's released two acclaimed solo albums to date ('The Ashen Tang' in 2015, and 'No Two Blue Ticks' in 2021).

'Penny Ballads' demonstrates RWJ's varied talents, with a collection of alternative soul compositions, each one as unique as the next. It includes the first two singles, the Poplife-Prince era flavoured 'Go Get Your Money', and the double-time future funk adrenaline shot, 'Clean Up', along with three previously-unreleased tracks. 'Beretta' is low-slung soul funk, beginning with quirky squelchy synths, before the soulful lead vocal of feature artist Lucey Way breezes in to melt everyone's hearts. 'Things' sweeps in next, an infectiously soulful midtempo heavy soul bop, with an instant earwork of a hook, like a modern-day Steely Dan / Doobie Brothers, complete with a head-nodding string section to end the track. The collection concludes on a more melancholy downtempo tip with 'Rolling'; an almost-folktronic anthem, with a key refrain that wouldn't be out of place on a 70's Stevie piece.

RWJ (aka Jim Wood) says of this project… "Back in the 17 and 1800's Troubadours and minstrels would go from Tavern to Tavern selling Penny Ballads, single sheets of music and lyrics written quickly and frivolously to make a quick buck.. It strikes me that we're in a similar phase in the way we value music in 2025. An old Penny Ballad was cheap and dog-eared, ink-smudged, sung aloud by firelight, Now songs live in the digital ether, dissolved in the air, a ghostly breath paid in micro cents. The new era of Penny Balladry is here, and weird.

This EP is a snapshot of my writing over a two year period. Focussed on minimal recording styles, one mic on the drums, generally first or second takes on parts and vocals, I wanted the music to feel like small moments with lyrics that talk about the weird nuances of being alive as a latter stage human on the cusp of the Ai revolution. Culturally so evolved, but physiologically still just a bunch of mammals walking about with primitive fears and needs. Just trying to reconcile it all moment to moment…"

Previous support for Royce's music has included Radio 1's Future Sounds, BBC 6 Music's New Music Fix, Annie Mac, Clara Amfo, Jo Whiley (BBC Radio 2), Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamz Supernova, Tom Robinson, Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music), Zane Lowe and MistaJam. There have been sessions previously for the likes of Red Bull and press from Huck, Line of Best Fit, Clash, Aesthetica & DIY magazine.

Entirely self-written and self-produced, this EP gives a solid taste of RWJ's talents. A deeply funky diverse set of music from an immensely talented individual.

'Penny Ballads' is due to be released on vinyl & digital, 24th October 2025.

The vinyl version also includes an exclusive additional mix of the first single 'Go Get Your Money'.

2025 Repress

DJ Koze exists both above and beyond club culture as we know it - his albums and remixes flying free from genre and trend - and symbiotically woven into its heart. Yes, he always abstracts and weirds out the principles of house, techno, hip hop, pop, psychedelia, exotica and so forth, but he does that because he understands them. And when it comes to club-demolishing tracks, he understands those principles as well as just about anybody on earth. Thus he could create an enduring club tune like 2015's 'XTC' that is strange, contemplative, even disturbing, bore little relation to anything around at the time, yet still got bodies moving and sweating better than way more obvious techno bangers. And thus the Knock Knock album, which melts a million genres and none into one another, can comfortably include 'Seeing Aliens". 'Seeing Aliens' unquestionably is a banger, its bass riff snaking around your body like a python, its high-drama strings, pianos and outbursts of noise designed for maximum crowd pressure release. But, again, it sounds like nothing else, and its dynamics and twists unfold over eight and a half minutes in ways that will mess with your head every time no matter how many times you hear it. The exclusive b-side track, 'Nein König Nein' ("No King No"!), meanwhile, is slightly gentler on the face of it: it's less about sonic pressure, more about hip-shaking syncopation. But it too tells strange fairytales in its peculiar and brain-tweaking accumulation of detail, and though you'll hear archetypal sounds from the heart of house and disco in it, every last one of them becomes new and otherworldly.

Amazing Things is an album about death which isn't morose, slow, or quiet. A year ago Darren lost a friend to cancer. Amazing Things is an album about death which isn't morose, slow, or quiet. Instead, it is packed with joyful, melodic guitars and some of Darren's prettiest tunes. It is sometimes very sad, but also heartfelt, loving, and rewarding. Darren recorded the album almost entirely solo and this time he has dug deep into his primary instrument, the electric guitar, creating a sound that is rich in tone and texture. Darren Hayman is a British songwriter best known for his work with late 90s band Hefner, but has since made more than 20 albums dealing with astronauts, the English Civil War, William Morris, Lidos, and Thankful Villages. He lives in South London with his dog.

From the humdrum to the huge; Tiia explores heartbreak, disappointment, climate change, and dying house plants. The record plays with contrasts, light and shadow, fizz and gloom. Keys melt into darker textures before guitars and drums lift them back into sparkle. It's heaviest moment is the title track, written in an airport bathroom after Tiia's father passed, yet even here, hope breaks through in irresistible vocal harmonies and inventive melodies. "To me, 'Kind Eyes' is a feelings record," Tiia says. "The grief for my dad passing sits at the centre and expands towards the edges, but there's a range of other feelings too. Sometimes they're hard to pin down and navigate but the songs are my map, trying to chart where you are and where you're going. And listeners should remember that sometimes X does mark the spot."

Lead single 'Healing' hits like a mascara- smeared midnight drive through Lynch's America. First sketched with Prince in mind, it finally found its teeth on a long, lonely walk in north-east London: a rock song hiding in plain sight. Tiia says "As soon as I had a rough idea for the driving beat, I knew I had to get Sean Berry (fellow bandmate from the once mighty Comet Sands) involved on the guitar, and the hooks all fell into place". Dusted with plush keys, on 'Numbers Game', Tiia leans into classic rock drama - warmth turning suddenly cold, the floor falling away from underneath you. "The lesson here is don't spy on your exes, but when you do, be prepared to write a song about it. It was the first track I asked Paul Rains (of Allo Darlin' fame) to play guitar on and he instantly got where I was trying to go with it. Now he's my partner, I have no idea how he feels about the lyrics!" Tiia laughs. Having also worked with Tiia's previous cult all-girl indie band The Minor Characters, Seb Kellig lent his trademark dub- inspired production influences at the legendary sonic heaven of Sausage Studios, east London, which Tiia calls "My happy place".

Tiia will again be playing keys for Allo Darlin's four UK tour dates this October followed by tour dates as Count Jaakola. 'Kind Eyes' is set for release 21st November 2025 via Tip Top Recordings (Mandrake Handshake, Japanese Television, Pearl & The Oysters, Golden Toad).

Lance Roark’s debut album–Bad Reputation–is a collection of raw, unfiltered truths about life’s beauty, pain, and everything in between. Roark pulls you into a new universe with every song, from the swampy depths of Country Rock grit on “Wild Woman” to the poetry of everlasting love on the ballad “Rose Quartz Perfume.” Bad Reputation crosses boundaries to connect genres, seamlessly blending singer-songwriter lyricism to the punchy backbeats of Southern Rock ‘n’ Roll. In the last few years, Roark has had 2 co-writes on Turnpike Troubadours singles (with the main characters of ‘Ruby Ann’ re-appearing in his single ‘Colorado High’), and released 2 EPs to critical acclaim. Bad Reputation marks his official entrance onto the increasingly large stage of the Red Dirt country scene.

»Lilac« is the first Donna Regina album since 2019’s »Transient.« The world has changed considerably since then, which has also left its mark on the Berlin indie pop duo. The songs released as part of the 2021 single »Welt in einer Stadt« (»World in a City«) for Karaoke Kalk had already dealt with the pandemic-induced standstill and its effects on urban space, and also the rest of the album shows that Günther and Regina Janssen have been influenced by recent social and political developments. »In ›Lilac,‹ I imagine good ol’ Earth as a big ol’ bear shaking us off because it can’t stand us anymore,« says Regina Janssen. It has become a serious album, Günther affirms, but he is also adamant that it is not a sad one. Musically, Donna Regina have remained true to the spirit of their early work, recently re-released by Karaoke Kalk: their arrangements are as minimalist as they are emotionally rich.

»The music is always there,« says Regina Janssen about the creation of the tracks on »Lilac.« As always, the two record their music »track by track and without computers,« as Günther notes. Samples play a smaller role this time than on earlier albums, with analogue instruments such as a monophonic synthesiser and, above all, guitars coming to the fore again. This frames lyrics that are being delivered by Regina in German, English, or in both languages. They delve even further into the intricacies of urban life. »Cities are underrated! What a civilisational achievement it is to have so many people living under one sky,« says Regina. »They constantly put you in touch with the unfamiliar. Sometimes they’ll be overwhelming, and they are always alive.« This ambivalence shapes the tone of the album that ponders on the state of the world today.

Starting with the ominous sounds of »Whole World In My Town,« through the dreamscapes of »Autumn In Paris,« to the elegiac conclusion of »No More Roses,« Regina and Günther Janssen move through different timbres and styles with a few select means. Their preference for minimalist electronics becomes evident at times, while elsewhere the pieces open up to balladic arrangements in which the guitar plays a leading role. This turns »Lilac« into a city by itself, the songs forming its soundscape: every neighbourhood looks different, every street has its own character.

NAUTILUS is a next-generation band leading the Japanese rare groove scene.
Information about the pre-release 7-inch single from their 10th album has finally been released!!
Includes NAUTILUS covers of Diana King's "Shy Guy" and Roy Ayers' "Mystic Voyage," featuring their close friend Emi Tawada on vocals.

NAUTILUS have become a driving force in Japan's rare groove scene.
Their constantly evolving new project is finally here.
Kicking off the project is a killer cover of Diana King's "Shy Guy," featuring their close friend Emi Tawada, who has also garnered attention for
her covers of Des'ree and Terri Walker.
The excellent arrangement, which makes use of the original beat but incorporates jazz elements, is perfect for an evening on the dance floor.
And on the flipside is a superb instrumental cover of the classic "Mystic Voyage" by Roy Ayers, who sadly passed away suddenly this spring.
Look forward to NAUTILUS' 10th album, which is garnering attention as a force to be reckoned with in the future of rare groove.

Channeling inventive sound design into incisive, characterful techno variations, Jurango returns to Livity Sound with an eight-track double EP — his longest release to date. Taíno Gold captures a moment in time for Bristol-based Nate Reece's continually evolving sound as it draws on the full spectrum of UK club music.

Following a debut for Livity's reverse label in 2021 and last year's An Amorphous Mass EP, Reece is more assured than ever tackling a variety of club-focused cuts. The tracks on the release all came together before, during and after a two-month visit to Reece's grandparents' home — an idyllic tropical environment in a small community at the top of a hill in the northern part of Jamaica.

Taíno Gold refers to the island's indigenous Taíno community and the legend of a witch luring Spanish settlers into a trap on the Martha Brae river. There are no messages explicitly embedded in the music, but the release is both a personal reflection of Reece's own experiences and family heritage, plus a reminder about the enduring sceptre of colonialism and the continued need to fight against it. From absorbing Jamaica's fraught history through museum and plantation visits to the abundant nature in the garden surrounding his grandparent's house, the double EP marks a place in time for Reece, with eight advanced, ear-catching tracks as the end result.

From the cascading arps of 'Black Torches' to the tunnelling chords of 'Waiting For Trelawny', the melodic dimension of the Jurango sound is more confident than ever. 'Hibiscus' is a shimmering celebration of dub techno and crooked drum pressure and 'Chalk On Trees' basks in aqueous, fathoms-deep pads to close out the EP. Elsewhere, Reece brings new textural and tonal detail to his percussive workouts, splashing acidic noise around the angular experimentation of 'Maybe It's Broken' and firing off double-time rhythms to inject 'Double Sevens' with infectious urgency.

With the space afforded by a longer release, Reece widens out the scope of his artistic identity while absorbing the particular scene and setting that surrounded him while making the tracks. Taíno Gold is a vibrant next step for Jurango and a natural continuation of his work with Livity Sound.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

On “Cold Sweat,” James Brown famously called to “give the drummer some.” In 1974, Philadelphia vibraphonist Khan Jamal called to Give the Vibes Some, with superb results. Pianist and composer Jef Gilson’s PALM label gave Jamal the platform he needed to deliver a thorough exploration of contemporary vibraphone. After launching PALM in 1973, Gilson quickly demonstrated that he would only produce records not found anywhere else. Give the Vibes Some, PALM number 10, was another confirmation of this guiding principle.



Raised and based in Philadelphia, Khan Jamal took up the vibes in 1968, after two years in the army during which he was stationed in France and Germany. Decisively drawn to the instrument by the work of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s Milt Jackson, Jamal studied under Philadelphia vibraphone legend Bill Lewis and soon made his debuts in the local underground.



Early in 1972, Jamal made his first recording, with the Sounds of Liberation. The band attempted an original fusion of conga-heavy grooves with avant-garde jazz soloing. Saxophonist Byard Lancaster, an important figure in Jamal’s development, contributed much of the solo work. Later in 1972, Jamal made his leader debut with Drum Dance to the Motherland, a reverb-drenched, never-to-be-replicated experiment with live sound processing. Both albums appeared on the tiny musician-run Dogtown label.



“We couldn’t get no play from nowhere. No gigs or recording sessions or anything. So I took off for Paris,” Jamal recalled in a Cadence interview with Ken Weiss. “Within a few weeks, I had a few articles and I did a record date. It didn’t make me feel good about America.” That was in 1974, while Byard Lancaster was recording the music gathered on Souffle Continu’s recent The Complete PALM Recordings, 1973-1974.



Jamal’s record date delivered Give the Vibes Some. At its core, it was an exploratory solo vibraphone album, even if two tracks added (through technological resourcefulness?) a très célèbre French drummer very much into Elvin Jones appearing under pseudonym for contractual reasons. Another track, for which Jamal switched to the vibes’s wooden ancestor, the marimba, added young Texan trumpeter Clint Jackson III. The most notable article published on Jamal during this stay in France was a Jazz Magazine interview. Jamal’s last word there were “The Creator has a master plan/drum dance to the motherland.” “Give the vibes some” could be added to this programmatic statement.

limited edition, 300 copies clear red viny

Argentine artist NWHR arrives on Tempio Omega with a new
concept EP about cannibalism. Four tracks into techno, dark,
industrial sounds, and dystopian landscapes.

Die Kölner Emo-Pop-Band STILL TALK kündigt ihr zweites Studioalbum "Year of the Cat" an, das im November 2025 über das Kölner Indie-Label hithome erscheint. Seit dem Debütalbum "St. Banger" ist viel passiert, u.a. teilte sich die Band um Sängerin Tanja Kührer u.a. die Bühne mit Rise Against oder The Warning, und fand sich im Line Up von Festivals wie bei Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park, Rocco del Schlacko und vielen mehr.

Die Kölner Emo-Pop-Band STILL TALK kündigt ihr zweites Studioalbum "Year of the Cat" an, das im November 2025 über das Kölner Indie-Label hithome erscheint. Seit dem Debütalbum "St. Banger" ist viel passiert, u.a. teilte sich die Band um Sängerin Tanja Kührer u.a. die Bühne mit Rise Against oder The Warning, und fand sich im Line Up von Festivals wie bei Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park, Rocco del Schlacko und vielen mehr.

Forever's spirit is high and tight, its sinews rumbling with communal joy as Glyders' power-trio formation, in it "for life", grooves deep into their own thing. Shuffling the deck with road-tested jams and a couple immaculate old-school tunes, Forever hits with the energy of a first album - which it kinda is, now that founders Joshua Condon and Eliza Weber have met their true other, the relentless traps-man Joe Seger. Forever starts now!

Forever's spirit is high and tight, its sinews rumbling with communal joy as Glyders' power-trio formation, in it "for life", grooves deep into their own thing. Shuffling the deck with road-tested jams and a couple immaculate old-school tunes, Forever hits with the energy of a first album - which it kinda is, now that founders Joshua Condon and Eliza Weber have met their true other, the relentless traps-man Joe Seger. Forever starts now!

Nach Jahren in der kreativen Zwangsjacke kehrt eine der talentiertesten und markantesten Stimmen Großbritanniens zurück. Ella Eyre kündigt ihr lang erwartetes zweites Studioalbum „everything, in time“ an, das am 21. November über Play It Again Sam erscheint.
Ein Jahrzehnt nach ihrem UK-Top-4-Debüt „Feline“ und unzähligen hochkarätigen Kollaborationen präsentiert Ella endlich ein Werk, das so ungefiltert, furchtlos und vollendet ist wie sie selbst. Mit den 15 Songs von „everything, in time“ erschließt sich das in London geborene Kraftpaket einen Sound, der in sattem Soul, mutigem R&B, Retro-Funk und emotionaler Wahrheit verwurzelt ist.
Nach einer Stimmbandoperation während der Pandemie, die sie zwang, das Sprechen buchstäblich neu zu lernen, gewann Ella neues Selbstbewusstsein. Sie trennte sich von ihrem ehemaligen Label, nahm ihre Aufnahmen mit und startete neu durch. Dieses Album ist sowohl ein Höhepunkt als auch ein Neuanfang: eine mutige Erklärung einer der widerstandsfähigsten und bekanntesten Stimmen der britischen Musik.

I first heard about this incredible record from my friend and renowned collector Ian Wright back in the mid-2000s. Ian may well have been the first to feature it on a mixtape around that time.

He originally found his copy on eBay without a sound clip calling the seller to listen over the phone before taking a chance on it.

A true San Diego masterpiece, now highly sought after within the Modern Soul scene. Beyond that dedicated circle, it has remained largely unknown, due to its insane rarity.

Although Glen is sadly no longer with us, his legacy lives on through this stunning piece of music, which will finally get the attention it deserves on dancefloors all over the world.

Special thanks to the ever-dapper James Pogson for his invaluable help with securing the licence x

If people were unaware of the significance of Joan Baez to western culture, her portrayal in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (played by Monica Barbaro) underlines how central she was to the popularization of folk music in the early 1960s. And it is her decade- previous relationship with Dylan that hovers joyously over Diamonds & Rust. The title track is about a thinly disguised ex-lover who calls up out of the blue; it remains one of her most loved songs in a 65- year- career.

There's a playful cover of "Simple Twist Of Fate" from Dylan's then just released Blood On The Tracks, complete with impersonation in a later verse; and "Winds Of The Old Days", written in response to Dylan touring again after a lengthy hiatus. Diamonds & Rust is a perfect, sunshine- drenched album of west- coast folk- tinged rock, full of star session players. It could almost have been a signal to all the recent comers on her patch many of them friends and colleagues, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Maria Muldaur that Baez was here first and was sweetly reasserting her authority. Just listen to her mastery on "Children & All That Jazz", her cover of Stevie Wonder's "Never Thought You'd Leave In Summer" and the poignant closing medley of "I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy".