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Hopsydian are an Italian pop-metalcore outfit from Milan, formed in 2024, combining alluring and sacral atmospheres with modern metalcore power, alt-metal edge, and post-hardcore urgency.
Built on cinematic tension and explosive dynamics, their sound fuses dark, ritualistic undertones with sleek contemporary production and massive, chant-ready choruses
where beauty and brutality collide in equal measure.
The band was formed by vocalist Myles Idolo alongside guitarists Loris Ronchi and Nikolay Deliyski, later completed by bassist Roberto Vezi. The drummer remains anonymous. Their name--Hopsydian--comes from Hope and Obsidian, a ""magic rock"" symbolizing resilience, shadow, and rebirth, perfectly reflecting the duality at the heart of their music.
Hopsydian revolve around worship, love, obsession, sin, and the temptation of becoming God--balancing the holiness of gold with the black of transgression. Hopsydian balance modern heaviness with cinematic elegance--where intimate melodies and shimmering textures collide with crushing riffs and commanding rhythm sections. Their songs move like a ceremony: building atmosphere, sharpening emotion, and detonating into choruses designed to be shouted back from the crowd. Hopsydian explore the most dangerous forms of faith:
worship, love, obsession, sin, and the seduction of becoming God. Their narratives live in extremes:
desire framed as devotion, temptation disguised as salvation, and beauty that burns at the edges. It's an aesthetic of contrast: the holiness of gold set against the darkness that it can't fully conquer.
Benjamin Wilson from band Caskets helped the band develop their album artistic direction
Despite having released only six songs, Hopsydian have already proven their live impact. In 2025, they debuted on the Slam Dunk Italy main stage, sharing the bill with names such as LANDMVRKS, A Day To Remember, and Caskets, before going on to support Caskets in Milan shortly after. Momentum is building fast--and with a fanbase already demanding the next step, Hopsydian are poised to turn their growing catalogue into what it's meant to become: a fully-fledged era, and the tour that brings it to life.

Plush shag carpeting, jazz flutes, analogue synths, funk grooves, exotica, and sultry, Italian-style vocalising: Erotica 70 is the new album from Larry Manteca, known for their inventive, tongue-in-cheek reimaginings of classic Italian soundtrack aesthetics.

This time around, the Milanese collective sets its sights on the distinct sonic landscape of 1970s commedia sexy—a film genre that, for better or worse, defined an era and fed richly into the cinematic education of Larry Manteca’s members.

Through this lens, Erotica 70 also becomes a way of celebrating Piero Umiliani in his centenary year—a composer whose name is closely linked to the erotic comedies of the time.

The nod to Umiliani is baked right into the details, starting with the choice of vintage gear like the Eminent synth and the Wurlitzer electric piano. These instruments deliver that particular blend of jazz, groove, electronics, and sensual charm that made the golden age of Italian film music so unique.

Standout track “Lando” is a joyful, playful homage to actor Lando Buzzanca, who starred in numerous films scored by Umiliani, including the iconic 1973 comedy La schiava io ce l’ho e tu no (My Darling Slave).

Larry Manteca is spearheaded by multi-instrumentalists Alessandro Paiola and Riccardo Danieli, flanked by the cinematic flute of Carlo Pelsa, the swinging drums of Andrea Quattrini, and the magnetic vocals of Valentina Castelli and Alessandra Maria Manzoni.

Recorded across various studios in Northern Italy, Erotica 70 is the imaginary soundtrack to an Italy that no longer exists, recreating its atmosphere while rendering it in full, vivid colour. It’s a record whose music seems to come straight out of a provincial cinema, a smoky late-night club, or a long-lost 70s film. But while it looks back to a bygone era, it does so only to bring it straight into the present, making the past sound surprisingly fresh and contemporary.

The Crystal Teardrop's first album, THE CRYSTAL TEARDROP IS FORMING, came out on Rise Above Records' subsidiary Popclaw in May 2025. Steeped in classic psychedelic guitar pop and the Paisley Underground scene, not to mention the broader 60s cultural aesthetic, it has made them firm favourites with audiences in the UK and Europe. Now, barely a year later, comes its infectious follow-up, LOVE YOU MORE, also on Popclaw. The songs on LOVE YOU MORE are fundamentally upbeat, but there are hard edges, both musically (check out the guitar solo on It's Too Late!) and lyrically.

MIRAGGIO lands on the Visual Distortions imprint with after the sun, a sharply executed four-tracker steeped in rich 2000s nostalgia. Fusing early-aughts club aesthetics with modern sound design, the record kicks off with the crisp, driving electro of "two see" before diving into the retro-futuristic atmospheres of "airwaves." On the flip, the classic percussive roll of "o ritmo" shifts the gear, leading perfectly into the sleek, punchy closer, "bubblegun." An essential, time-warping package built for the floor.

Two tracks extending towards the 10 minute marker, very much in the unique style of Robert Mononom which was already being refined throughout his previous 3 EPs, now culminating in 2 excursions throughout deep hypnotic/psychedelic machine made sounds. A side is built on an aggressive triple and double beat kick drum with a very dubby "big room" presence upon which waves of other nuances in noise get overlayed slowly transforming the 165+ BPM experience throughout what sounds like an extended live mix. B side goes in more spacial/atmospheric direction where hi hats take control over the kick, capturing the witness in a whirlwind of dubbed out overlaying rhythmic patterns. A sound so raw and pure in its introspection, clearly showing Robert's capacity of developing an aesthetic of his own.

Continuing with the next installment Len Faki's Hardspace series, he breathes new life into four distinct tracks, re-imagining them through the signature Hardspace lens: heavy, thumping, and relentlessly propulsive. Spanning decades of sound, these reworks bridge the gap between nostalgic grit and future-facing intensity, proving once again that a strong is often the most effective tool in the bag.
DJ Sneak's 2009 cut Acido sits perfectly between acid-house and techno-leaning aesthetics-a natural fit for a Hardspace edit that amplifies its jacking, loopy groove. Staying closer to techno's roots is Like A Tim's warehouse classic Rashness; here, Faki channels the raw, frantic energy of the original, proving how nuanced changes can generate a completely different, captivating energy as he reshapes the track's dynamic impact and tightens the low-end.
The B-side takes two contemporary cuts further into the red: the Snuff Crew edit ramps up the intensity, stripping back Where's The Bad? to a singular, hypnotic loop for peak-time impact. Finally, Umfang's Complete Your Collection undergoes quite the transformation, adding layered, rhythmic complexity and shifting bass weight to create a trippy but floor-focused drive.

Compiled onto one vinyl album for the first time, Landlocked (Numbers, 2026) presents Hallucinator’s 1999 debut album originally released under Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald’s label Chain Reaction. Writing much surrounding the culture of what would be later considered ‘Dub Techno’ and its’ primary distribution center, Hard Wax, leads one down roads of shifting primary sources and decades old overheard smoke break recollections. Maybe brevity primes the listener to the paralinguistic to approach the sound on its terms; focusing on how things are uttered and not what.

This theory will remain unconfirmed. Hallucinator original press release left us with three or so gestures to consider over the years since:

“A new act on CHAIN REACTION”s distinct productional thesis. HALLUCINATOR are 3 people from he UK/London and this their first release ever- that’s all what the artists want to let us know…. This record is dedidacted to the memory of Stephen Lawrence!”

The first gesture is one of personnel. Since ’99, we’ve gotten to learn a bit more about the artists behind the Hallucinator project. All London-based, all writers, composers, and sound-designers— Anna Piva, Edward George, Trevor Mathison. These three seem to flow between parameters as aesthetic tactic and tacit structure to the work itself. For example, other collaborative shapes have come from this lineup including Flow Motion (Piva, George and Mathison) as well as the now defunct Black Audio Film Collective of which George and Mathison are founding members.

The second gesture is in the second line of the previous press release, “distinct productional thesis.” Much of Landlocked’s affect and sequencing seems to suggest an emotional study of entropy at the level of sediment. Rhythms play with space and capacity through polyvalence. The production chose subtractive vertigo, often switching and bringing back in elements that vanished from the track 6 minutes ago. Dubbing out so much of a track, one begins to associate sound akin to memories held in the experience of running your hand across a concrete block as a child. Felt (re)memberance in lieu of narrative tale. Using textures that flicker between colour and percussion, Hallucinator’s 12-tracker of loudspeaker perception music might be a mediation on the psychic wake of the Cold War. Intermittent strata of ambience and groove convects an active margin rifting event underneath a scorched geology of power in Western Europe. Again, this is all grapevine hearsay.

But it’s silence that voices the third gesture. The album’s sparse application of the written word touches on the ennui paradox of being landlocked on an island. Stuck. Trapped in the psychosis of occidental hypercentricism. A looping silence of Black British tragedy: “to the memory of Stephen Lawrence”. 18 year-old Lawrence was stabbed to death at a bus stop in southeast London by six white men in 1993. The rift of grief and implicit reiteration of modern subordination left by this hate act went legally silent for almost two decades until Lawrence’s killers were ultimately sentenced to virtually life in jail in 2012. Only six years removed at the time of Hallucinator’s initial invocation of rememory, the mind-numbing accretion of what Black Studies Professor Denise Ferreira da Silva might call “unpayable debt”, finds demonic ground across Landlocked, forming an aural sense of what continues to be refused.

The album ventures through spaces of overactive non-happenings: ‘Red Angel’’s factory floor dub flashes between smokestack and jungle visions, or the halfway mark’s stilted breath of ‘Dusk’ lending its mood to the sort of sedated dreams built from daily life under colony rule for instance. That linked rhythm links us back to our linked fates across Black and Brown folk is real, thus the syncopated signals through this work behave on the level of transnational radiotelegraphy, sounding out its windswept tension of a body negotiating a meat-grinder schema of linear production and wage for others to know that unspeakable thing can be broadcast in every drum tongue.

As the silence continues to reverb, we return to the sort of meaning-making that cannot be told but felt. Soothing to some, disturbing to others. Landlocked, a Rorschach test for a crumbled empire.

Precision and intent. HYS007 navigates minimalism through discipline, dissonance, and bold force. A harmonic journey with a singular aesthetic direction.

KKYV10 is a four-track EP by Bulgarian producer Loopdeville, currently based in Spain. The release explores a flexible space between minimal, breakbeat and house, shaped by groove-led structures, textured sampling and a slightly twisted, off-centre energy. Built to move through different moments — daytime light, peak pressure, late fade. The EP opens with "The Bizz", a track built around jazzy elements, vocal cuts and a jackin low-end. Its warm, rolling groove sets a natural tone for the record, balancing playfulness with reflections. "Shmuck Norris" follows with a heavier, more direct approach. Driven by raw drums and a rolling bassline, the track leans into a big-beat aesthetic while maintaining a stripped structure. On "Rashford", the EP shifts into a breakbeat framework. The track carries a deeper, more introspective mood, with subtle background movement adding acid tension beneath it’s surface. The closing track, "Septimo", draws from UK-influenced minimal with garage elements. Focused on sub frequencies it is designed for systems that favour depth and clarity in low parts. Together, the four tracks form a cohesive yet varied release, reflecting Loopdeville’s recognisable sense of tension and detail while staying totally aligned with Kooky’s sonic direction.

Among the most influential hip-hop artists to emerge in the rapid creative expansion of the early 1990s, Queens duo Organized Konfusion helped reshape rap's aesthetic horizons with the 1991 release of a groundbreaking self-titled album. A dizzying display of lyrical dexterity and forward-thinking production, Organized Konfusion helped lay the foundation for what would become underground hip-hop, with intricate wordplay and cerebral rhyme structures. Both Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po shine throughout the album, revealing
the immense talent that would later establish Monch as one of hip-hop's most revered voices and spark Po's collaborations with producers like Danger Mouse, Madlib, Large Professor, Oh No, and more. From playful nostalgia to sharp social commentary to surreal linguistic explorations, the duo navigates chaotic drum breaks with dense rhyme patterns, vivid imagery, and ever-shifting narratives. After decades of limited availability and unofficial bootlegs, this is the first official vinyl reissue of Organized Konfusion since its1991 release. Featuring three rare bonus tracks, this 35th anniversary edition is available on 2LP and CD, giving a long overdue spotlight to one of hip-hop's most important albums.

It was in the year 2008 when Too Much came out: a 15-track debut that turned Berlin's underground upside down and made excess into a musical principle.
The album sounds like a party that has already gone off the rails - and is getting better because of it. Tobias Jundt's deadpan, heavily accented delivery collides with jagged guitars, rattling bass, vintage synths and restless dance grooves. Rock'n'roll, electroclash and dance-punk blur into something that never quite sits comfortably in any genre.
The songs are deliberately ridiculous, catchy and hedonistic. Too Much is full of party anthems, absurd one-liners and hooks that get stuck in your head whether you want them to or not. The title track itself became one of Bonaparte's signature songs - one of the early Myspace-era tracks that helped turn the band into a genuine underground sensation.
But Too Much was never just a record. Bonaparte's world extended into circus costumes, provocative performances, striptease, queer aesthetics and wildly excessive live shows. What began with illegal gigs under Alexanderplatz quickly moved to the Montreux Jazz Festival, international tours and legendary parties - with the band becoming one of the most distinctive acts to emerge from Berlin in the late 2000s.
Now Too Much returns on vinyl. A document of a particular Berlin moment - chaotic, funny, sweaty and impossible to ignore.
15 songs. Zero restraint. Still too much.

JUDDER announces the second installment of its vinyl series, bringing together a diverse selection of artists united by their passion for experimental bass music. This time, the record is fully focused on a raw, soundsystem-driven aesthetic. On Side A, French producer Amor Satyr—known for effortlessly navigating between dembow, breakbeat, and techno—ventures into dubstep territory for the first time. On 'Over', he translates his signature style onto the genre’s foundations while retaining the distinctive energy that defines his sound. The record continues with a collaborative effort from Thematic and Nattah. ‘Aurora Pulse' is a cold, restrained piece of leftfield bass at 130 BPM, where a sharp, syncopated subline forms the backbone of the groove, pulsing like the heartbeat of a northern metropolis. Opening Side B, Dawn RAzor and Mani Festo deliver 'Awared', a track where techno and breakbeat converge through layered sound design and spring-loaded drum fills. As it unfolds, the composition gradually draws the listener into a hypnotic journey, dissolving familiar genre boundaries along the way. The release closes with ‘Lockjaw'—a true soundsystem slow-burner from Kahter and Mercy System. Broken tribal rhythms and a constantly evolving arrangement keep the listener suspended in a state of mounting tension, one that intensifies with every new detail introduced. Tracklist: A1 Amor Satyr — Over A2 Thematic & Nattah — Aurora Pulse B1 Dawn RAzor & Mani Festo — Awared B2 Kahter & Mercy System — Lockjaw

2025 Repress

For the second installment of its renewed imprint, Fuse's own in-house resident and one of Belgium's proudest exports Phara takes the reins for a deep dive into thick percussion and vibrant club landscapes. 'The Wall' puts current dance music under a microscope with a brush of truly vintage spontaneity, merging techno's confrontational nature with house's harmonic genuineness. This duality is reflected through Phara's own relationship with his home base Fuse and the complementary contrast between its two rooms.

The EP's title track serves as a hypnotic introduction for the A1, imposing a bass-heavy rhythm and a persistently oscillating synthline. A dense production full of energy, 'The Wall' inspires intrigue throughout its duration, revealing its true intentions through a capable sound system. Sharing the first side of the press is 'Blaes 208', a name that Fuse club goers will likely recognise, that guides the listener from effect into embrace. With lush keys echoing past a comforting drum sequence fit for a close-eyed dancefloor experience, Phara's impactful tendencies meet his affinity for the melodic through a blissful six minutes of crowd to selector connection. Switching sides, a return to a cold cold aesthetic is quickly apparent through 'Hush Now 206'. A pummeling, saturated bass competes with a kick of equal effect, rolling through a storm of metallic stabs. Mastering the message of urgency, Phara presents a lightshow of resonating percussive work, defining his space just to cut right through it. To close out with a lasting impression, the producer mutes the acoustics of his work through razor-sharp sound design dotting along playful snares, a duality reminiscent of the dynamism of Detroit electro. 'Motion Steps', referring to the stairs that ascend from Fuse's main room to its more left-field counterpart, captures the atmosphere of the almost shimmering music that can be expected to be played there; a place where Phara and many others have been known to explore the extremities of their music. He swiftly throws in melodic elements to recontextualize an otherwise pressing composition, and after three chapters of considerable weight, he concludes his record with infectious groove that flaunts technical ability.

It’s rare for a hardcore punk band to make four full-length albums, and rarer still for the fourth album to be the band’s masterpiece. Yet Paratiisi, the fourth album from Helsinki punks Kohti Tuhoa, stands as the undeniable coup de grâce of a catalog overflowing with classic hardcore punk. If you’re already a fan, it’ll comfort you to know Paratiisi leans heavily on the strengths Kohti Tuhoa has possessed since their earliest releases: a timeless sound that combines UK82 drive and hooks with dramatic metal flourishes; a captivating vocalist with the perfect balance of grit and clarity, who can both howl like a banshee and carry a tune; and a particularly Finnish way with a driving, medium-fast tempo. But for all the continuities with Kohti Tuhoa’s excellent previous records, Paratiisi almost feels like the work of a new band. The riffs and choruses that anchor the album are impossibly catchy; Paratiisi bulges with huge moments that practically force you to air guitar and sing along (even if you don’t speak a word of Finnish), the band’s peerless chops and the rich and clear recording driving these climaxes to dizzying highs. But while the hooks are memorable, there isn’t a moment on Paratiisi that feels dumbed-down or overly familiar.

In fact, the album feels notably ambitious, pulling influences from across punk’s historical and aesthetic breadth and digesting them seamlessly into Kohti Tuhoa’s distinctive sound. The lyrics (don’t worry: English translations are included!) meet the same high bar as the music. They’re direct, assertive, and punk, but they’re also subtle and insightful, whether they’re tackling huge issues like microplastics or sharing a very personal account of a sexual assault and its aftermath. And then there’s Paratiisi’s most unexpected moment, “Eliitin Psykopatia,” a free punk freakout in the tradition of “Why (Reprise)” and “L.A. Blues.” If Kohti Tuhoa’s brief foray into free jazz tries your patience, though, don’t worry, because after three minutes of building tension, they reward you with what is bound to be the best riff of 2026, a clash of chords potent enough to blow holes through walls the world over. Paratiisi is the sound of one hardcore punk’s most exciting bands at the height of their powers.

Non Series marks its 15th anniversary with a special compilation gathering artists from different backgrounds whose music reflects the spirit and musical identity of the label. Most have never released original music on Non Series, but their individual approaches and distinctive sound fit naturally within this compilation.

An eclectic selection of tracks, ranging from hypnotic sequences and intricate percussion to heavy low-end pressure and deep atmospheres, coexists without following a predetermined formula, allowing each contribution to retain its own character.

Rather than presenting a chronological retrospective, the compilation offers a snapshot of the label's ongoing evolution, bringing together artists from different backgrounds and generations whose work finds a natural connection with the Non Series aesthetic.

Fifteen years of releases, collaborations and continuous exploration, brought together in a compilation that looks back without attempting to define the label, leaving its sound open to further evolution.

2026 Repress
Temudo - Meteora (FUSE06) by Noah Hocker

A leader of the Portuguese wave in techno co-founding Hayes Collective while boasting acclaimed releases on Klockworks, Blueprint, and Soma, Temudo grabs the reins to take club music back to its days of audacity and risk taking. A more than promising up-and-comer turned modern reference, Temudo defends his reputation with a release showcasing depth in his various sonic universes and a deep understanding of his music's history. For its seventh release, Temudo's 'Meteora' is a logical next step for the club's direction - a sweet spot between dancefloor efficiency and enduring aesthetic.

Combining the intrigue of mental soundscapes with the reliability of imposing rhythm, 'Meteora' finds itself collected, expressing effect through restraint. The title track, claiming the EP's A1, is just that - a force of interweaving sound design and powerful micro transitions. Some believe the best techno records are able to express emotion and attitude despite its dissonant and machinelike nature; if that's the case then Temudo has mastered the craft. 'When I Grow Up', however, puts the focus back on the body. What sounds like warbling tape modulation over a percussive lead makes this record an addictively delirious ride from start to finish, fitting in with the track before while shifting to different priorities. Proving his versatility, 'Vrthng' at first seems reminiscent of the minimal Berlin style with a higher pace, but quickly progresses into something intensely euphoric. With experience and measure, an out of the box approach can really pay off, and the added emotion in 'Vrthng' is certainly a turning point in the EP. This mindset is clearly carried over in the project's conclusion : 'It's Always Past'. A surprising use of harmony and storytelling, this final chapter ends with Temudo sealing his style with confidence. The track is mystified by its chords, ending 'Meteora' with a question mark that leaves us in anticipation for what Temudo dares to do next.

With MYSTERIUM COSMOGRAPHICUM, the ALIEN CODE series opens a new transmission within the Cosmic Tribe universe — a speculative exploration of ancient futurism, extraterrestrial civilizations, sci-fi architectures and hidden technologies through electro-oriented sound research.

Across six tracks, the compilation moves through atmospheric electro, cosmic electronics, galactic basslines and contemporary machine-driven structures, combining cinematic tension with underground functionality.

MYSTERIUM COSMOGRAPHICUM unfolds as an episodic interstellar narrative — where each track operates like a different scene, transmission or passage within the wider ALIEN CODE universe.

For this transmission, Cosmic Tribe brings together an international selection of artists exploring contemporary electro and futurist electronic sound, featuring Raakel Bloody Raakel, Lups Digga, Aztronouth & Machinefunk, EC13, Lloyd Stellar and NOAMM.

Visually and conceptually, ALIEN CODE continues Cosmic Tribe’s investigation into lost and unknown civilizations, symbolic technologies and non-human futurist aesthetics — where ancient structures and ultra-advanced systems coexist beyond historical time.

180 GR returns with the third and final chapter of Music & Territory from N-Zino, continuing his exploration of groove, rhythm, and deep-rooted dancefloor music through a record balancing organic textures with timeless club sensibilities. The 180 GR Classic Mix of Your X leans towards the label's signature dancefloor language: stripped-back, hypnotic, and groove-driven, built around rolling rhythms and functional energy. In contrast, the 180 GR Organic Mix opens the arrangement into warmer and more textured territories, emphasizing musicality, movement, and a more immersive atmosphere. On remix duties, Trinidadian Deep delivers his signature spiritual approach -- deep, meditative, and richly textured -- stretching the source material into immersive territories built for late-night moments. Meanwhile, Nico Lahs brings his unmistakable blend of raw groove, jazz-infused house aesthetics, and driving rhythm sections, injecting extra energy while preserving the emotional core of the originals.

Ian Pooley's 'Roller Skate Disco EP' Returns with Digital Debut and Vinyl Repress

Definitive Recordings brings back one of the label's early house gems with a remastered reissue of Ian Pooley's 'Roller Skate Disco EP'. Originally released in 1994, the EP returns for the first time as a digital release while also receiving a new vinyl repress. Alongside the original material, the reissue expands the package with the previously unreleased track 'Unity' and the Bandcamp-exclusive 'Never Give Up'.

For more than three decades, Ian Pooley has been one of house music's most respected producers and DJs. Emerging from Mainz, Germany, with a deep love for the sounds of Chicago and Detroit, he has built a career defined by subtle artistry, impeccable groove, and timeless musicality. His acclaimed albums 'Meridian' and 'Since Then', remixes for artists including Daft Punk and Jovonn, and releases on labels such as Plus 8, Innervisions, Rekids, and his own Pooledmusic have established him as one of the true masters of deep and soulful house music.

The title track, 'Roller Skate Disco', immediately captures the uplifting spirit of classic 90s house. Built around an infectious disco-inspired sample, funky guitar loops, and a warm, rolling house bassline, the track is complemented by a looping female vocal that gives it an unmistakable feel-good energy. 'Sure!' follows with a groove driven by crisp TR-909 drums, deep synth chords, and a playful TB-303 sequence, while a repeated female vocal ties the arrangement together into a hypnotic club workout.

'The Brückenkopf at 7 AM', named after the legendary club in Pooley's hometown of Mainz, moves into deeper territory. Dreamlike synth textures, a memorable deep house piano motif, and another signature 303 sequence combine to create one of the EP's most atmospheric moments. The previously unreleased 'Unity' continues this journey with a hypnotic groove, deep house aesthetics, and another beautifully woven acid line, making it a natural addition to the original release. Completing the digital edition, 'Never Give Up' arrives as a Bandcamp exclusive, pairing playful M1 organ sounds with a rolling 303 sequence and an effortlessly flowing house groove.

More than thirty years after its original release, 'Roller Skate Disco EP' remains a perfect snapshot of Ian Pooley's early sound and a testament to the timeless appeal of classic house music. This expanded edition celebrates one of Definitive Recordings' defining releases while introducing it to a new generation of listeners.

Diese Doppel-Vinyl-Compilation lädt ein in die warme, entspannte Welt des Lo-Fi-Sounds - eine Musik, die entschleunigt, Atmosphäre schafft und Nähe erzeugt. Versammelt sind prägende Künstler des Genres, die Lo-Fi, Downtempo, Jazz-Einflüsse und elektronische Gelassenheit miteinander verbinden. Mit Beiträgen von FKJ, Darius, Kid Loco, St Germain, The Mighty Bop, DJ Cam, DJ Spinna und weiteren wichtigen Namen entsteht ein vielschichtiges Panorama zwischen organischen Grooves, sanften Beats und subtilen Melodien. Die Auswahl richtet sich gleichermaßen an langjährige Liebhaber wie an neue Hörer, die Lo-Fi als eigenständige, zeitlose Form elektronischer Musik entdecken möchten. Ein stimmiger, sorgfältig kuratierter Sampler für entspannte Hörsituationen, stilbewusste Sets und alle, die elektronische Musik lieber fühlen als konsumieren. ENGThis double-vinyl compilation invites listeners into the warm, comforting world of lo-fi music - a sound defined by relaxed rhythms, organic textures and understated emotion. Featuring leading artists of the genre, the collection blends downtempo beats, jazz influences and laid-back electronic production. With tracks by FKJ, Darius, Kid Loco, St Germain, The Mighty Bop, DJ Cam, DJ Spinna and others, the album offers a broad yet coherent overview of lo-fi aesthetics. It appeals both to seasoned listeners and newcomers seeking a timeless, atmosphere-driven listening experience. A carefully curated selection designed for calm moments, focused listening and stylish musical environments

It's fitting that Mike Jefford is both a photographer and a musician, his music career having slowly evolved like a developing photo coaxes Technicolor images out of the shadows. His sonic palette began taking shape in Medway, Kent with darker, grittier strains: teenage grunge and metal turned into drum & bass and IDM, following the Brighton club scene to Berlin as Positive Centre, until he made a nest in rural Portugal where Laguna Seca’s bright, expressive range would blossom.
A longstanding friendship with Chris Clark supported Jefford’s most pivotal artistic evolution yet, jumping from a decade of techno dusk to music practically overflowing with life as Laguna Seca debuted on Throttle Records.
“O tempo” can mean “the time” or “the weather” in Portuguese, two intensely changing powers whose many different connotations Jefford reflects in a highly varied tracklist. The breadth of climatic catharsis permeates through textural production and songwriting experiments, down into the very bedrock of the album’s engineering process where Jefford traces the long signal chain of time: the amps, desks, and tapes of Motown, the vinyl mastering studio’s intricacies, the Akai samplers that gave modern hip hop its “ghostly and impressionistic” sound, the software that drives electronic music today.
Much as 2026’s O Tempo was inspired by vintage tonality, retro aesthetic, and the likes of CAN, Kraftwerk, and Jimi Hendrix, it’s not an exercise in nostalgia; this is music that could have only been made with today’s technological advancements, revelling in anachronisms and collisions between hindsight and present tense.
It’s tempting to view Jefford’s projects as opposites, but they come from the same sonic values. Positive Centre’s “bleak” and “sinister” world is also incredibly detailed, constantly updating pile-driving grooves with microscopic flourishes and vast ambient swells. The flaring psychedelia of Laguna Seca is a continuation of those textural, material, and kinetic explorations, where plate reverb splashes, blistering and crunchy beats, vocal glimmers, and guitar swagger are all glued together by recurrent themes of memory and time. As each of his projects travel to the same destination, all of Jefford’s roads have eventually led to vibrant colour.


$uicideboy$’ Stop Staring at the Shadows continues to stand out as a defining project in the duo’s catalog, showcasing the dark, atmospheric production and raw, introspective lyricism that have helped establish them as one of the most influential acts in the underground rap space.

The project further cemented their ability to connect with a highly dedicated global fanbase while pushing their sound deeper into the mainstream.

The release has become a fan favourite, with tracks such as ...And to Those I Love, Thanks for Sticking Around continuing to generate strong streaming activity, social engagement, and renewed discovery years after its original release. Its heavy production, emotionally charged themes, and distinctive $uicideboy$ aesthetic have given the project lasting catalog value and a strong connection with their core audience.


















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Cosmic Romance presents the debut album from Sua Galera, a vibrant 8-track journey shaped by friendship, late-night sessions, and a shared love for groove-driven music.

Formed in Dortmund, Germany, located in the middle of the multicultural region Ruhr, Sua Galera brings together nine musicians who first connected through the city’s jazz music scene. Led by keyboardist and producer Eskil Bauer, the collective channels a multinational identity, reflected both in its sound and its name: “Sua Galera,” Portuguese for “your crew.” With vocalists with Brazilian and Moroccan background at the forefront, the project naturally blends diverse cultural influences into a warm and cohesive musical language.

The album moves effortlessly between Brasil funk and Mediterranean-inspired grooves, all filtered through the timeless sound aesthetics of 1970s and 1980s studio productions. Recorded through countless nights spent both in the studio and immersed in live music culture, the record captures the spontaneity and chemistry of a band deeply connected through performance and collaboration.

Perfectly aligned with the Cosmic Romance universe, Sua Galera’s debut delivers an organic, soulful, and rhythm-forward sound designed for DJs and listeners seeking emotionally rich groove music.

London duo Kassian trade darkness for daylight on Gradients, their third EP for !K7 Records

The EP arrives as a bridge between last year's debut album and a new live show and sophomore LP, due in 2027

As Kassian, Warren Cummings and Joe Danvers continue to sit apart from any one scene. Their fruitful relationship with !K7 has spanned eclectic and global club cuts, including the spatial breaks and bass of 2024's best-selling Supercontinent EP. 2025's debut album, Channels, emerged from lockdown so leaned slow, downtempo and introspective, but this new EP points toward a clubbier, more physical direction that will carry through into album two.

Crucially, the record was written and played live on an array of studio gear rather than assembled piece by piece in the box. It's a way of building towards their first fully live show in 2027 - a hands-on, jam-first approach that leads to "happy accidents" and the unpredictable textures that hardware throws up and no amount of in-the-box planning can replicate.

Gradients is built for the floor without playing to trends and marks some of the duo's most melodic work to date. Rather than sitting purely in heads-down territory, the EP folds in hooks and vocal fragments that lift you out of the smoke and the shadows of the club. The low ends are still rooted in techno with potent drums and bass, but deft vocal hooks and subtle melodies bring a brightness that deliberately steers away from the darker, meaner aesthetic dominating much of dance music right now.

Vocal touches throughout nod to what's going on in the wider underground without tethering to tried and tested tropes. Opener 'Blush' rides warm, soft yet bold melodic riffs, looping in arcs over a hunched, speedy tech house groove. 'Ritmo' is a muscular bouncer with spring-loaded bass, 'Inner Dance' has lurching drums and a cavernous rhythm with vocals that make a playful nod to sound system culture. Last but not least, 'Sweat' is the brightest and most bubbly cut on the EP, with a tight techno low end infused with a velvety whispered vocal.

The Gradients EP is a bright, hardware-built prelude to Kassian's next chapter and a typically well-crafted four-tracker that pairs physical weight with classy emotional release.

First run of limited black and white vinyl versions of this huge cold war themed classic. Includes Devil's Dancers amongst other tracks. Huge!!

Minimal Wave proudly presents a newly remastered deluxe double album of archival material by pioneering 80s minimal electronic duo Oppenheimer Analysis. Oppenheimer Analysis formed in London, England in 1982 by Andy Oppenheimer and Martin Lloyd. Their first meeting though was at the 1979 World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton. They quickly became good friends, sharing an interest in the work of David Bowie, electronic music and early synthesizer bands such as the Human League and Soft Cell. They also shared a love of old science fiction movies, 1950s graphics and comic book imagery and a fascination with post-World War II propaganda, the politics and aesthetics of the Cold War, and the social impact of the atomic bomb. Over the next few years Andy and Martin frequented the growing club scene, including Studio 21 on Oxford Street, and became involved in the developing Futurist and New Romantic style sub-cultures. During this period Martin recorded as Analysis, both alone and with David Rome of Drinking Electricity. They released their first single, 'Surface Tension/Connections' on David's Survival label in 1981. In 1982, Oppenheimer Analysis began writing and recording together at Feedback Studio in Battersea, and performed several times at The Bell, Islington, the 1983 World David Bowie Convention in Hammersmith, the Starzone Birthday Party at Camden Palace, the 1984 European Science Fiction Convention in Brighton and other live venues. Their first demo tape and twelve song 'New Mexico' cassette were sold at gigs and by mail-order, and were reviewed in Melody Maker, Sounds and Soundmaker.


For the years to follow, Oppenheimer Analysis became recognized among electro-music aficionados as a pioneering duo who influenced countless other bands during the club and home-recording era of the early 1980s and beyond. Their cassettes became massively collectible. In 2005 they re-formed with the release of a self-titled four song 12' EP of selections from the New Mexico cassette, including 'Cold War' and 'The Devil's Dancers'. This marked the first release on Minimal Wave. Now in 2015, we're happy to present the entire New Mexico collection, newly remastered and cut to vinyl for the first time ever, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. This first edition of 1000 copies is pressed on deluxe 'nuclear' style black and white 160 gram vinyl, housed in a glossy gatefold silver and black printed sleeve, featuring all the song lyrics on the inside of the sleeve. Release date: May 16th, 2015. This quintessential reissue has been produced in loving memory of Martin Lloyd.

BATTISTINO, the artistic alias of Marco Battistini, is an Italian musician, songwriter, producer and DJ. His project is rooted in the meeting point between Italo Disco, French Electro, late-’70s Disco Music and Italian pop culture, reinterpreted through a contemporary vision that avoids nostalgia in favor of a distinctive sonic identity. His main influences include the aesthetic vision of Daft Punk, the musical freedom of Daniele Baldelli’s Cosmic Sound, the international disco movement of the late 1970s, and the golden era of Italian Italo Disco, with a special admiration for Righeira. His productions combine driving synth grooves, pulsating basslines and immediate melodies. Gritty electronic drums, saturated synthesizers and subtle harmonic distortion deliberately break away from the polished sound traditionally associated with classic Italo Disco. The result is a more physical and textured sonic palette that preserves the melodic elegance at the heart of the project. BATTISTINO’s visual identity follows the same philosophy. Elegant, reserved and almost bureaucratic, he prefers to remain behind the scenes rather than at the center of attention. More than a performer, he acts as the curator of a sonic archive, where every track represents a fragment of a larger story.

“Il Segreto” is the opening chapter of a conceptual trilogy inspired by an affair that was never revealed, set on the Italian Riviera in the early 1980s. Rather than telling the story itself, the project explores what remains: silence, forgotten details, invisible traces and memories suspended in time. Music, visual design and imagery all become chapters of the same narrative. Every release is a new file, every track a recovered document, every production another fragment of a story that will never be fully disclosed. BATTISTINO doesn’t tell stories. He preserves them. And, from time to time, he allows part of them to surface.

The 12″ includes a N.O.I.A. Remix!

Often credited as the father of multi-media theatre, Alwin Nikolais (1910-1993) took complete creative control over his productions - including cutting-edge approaches to lighting and costume that transformed human bodies into shifting sculptural shapes, while also composing wildly innovative electro-acoustic and synth-based audio as accompaniment.

After initially experimenting with musique concrète and tape manipulation (as demonstrated on the 1959 LP Choreosonic Music of the New Dance Theatre of Alwin Nikolais) Nikolais became the first owner of Robert Moog's synthesizer at the Audio Engineering Society convention in New York in late 1964. Relying heavily on the Moog and later the Synclavier synth/sampler, these 21 tracks document Nikolais' highly-prescient compositions across the mid 1960s through to the late 1980s - existing not only as extensions of his other-worldly choreographic productions, but standalone pieces of foundational mid-century American electronic and experimental music.

"Born in Southington, Connecticut in 1910, Nikolais’s early years and early career were in acting, music and puppetry. It was not until the late 1930s that he began his work as dancer/choreographer in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was commissioned by the Avery Memorial Theatre, a part of the Wadsworth Atheneum, to create an evening-length work to the music of Ernst Krenek. Previously his work and study as a pianist-organist found him accompanying silent films. This sort of accompaniment required from the musician not only a playing skill but also a versatility in improvisation, matching movement to sound, and evoking mood to situation.

Nik was drawn initially to dance by his involvement with the percussion scores used by the illustrious early twentieth century German dancer Mary Wigman. In trying to learn more about percussion, he was lured into dance class and thus his career began. His development of music and dance occurred simultaneously. His introduction to the twelve-tone technique opened his mind to the expanding areas of atonal music, and his dealing with music as sound per se. In 1948, after being appointed director of the Henry Street Playhouse in New York, Nikolais formed the Playhouse Dance Company, later known as the Nikolais Dance Theater, and began his aesthetic orientation toward dance as a study of motion. By the 1950s, he had ceased creating literal dances and began his explorations and eventual milieu as an abstractionist.

Sound became an important part of his abstract theatre. For his first dances, which involved his new thinking of dance as both a visual and kinetic art, he used live percussion scores in which he directed his dancers to play instruments of all nature. There was a combination of children’s toy instruments as well as harsh and resonant automobile brake drums, and other pitched auto parts which he also used to accompany classes. Once he installed his own tape recording machines, he quickly used the limited range these instruments provided in a new way, slowing and increasing speed and reversing sound. He also made the sounds adhere to the choreographic structure (not the other way around), thereby giving the dance its independence from the musical phrasing. But the real need remained: the search for new sound. Nik made a sound library, recording noises and percussion and vocal sounds, which the French aptly called musique concrète. Needless to say, he became a master at splicing bits and pieces.

From 1956 to 1962 Nikolais composed eleven major scores for his theatre pieces using such techniques. In 1963, James Seawright, who at the time was assisting Nik in his productions and also working at the Columbia-Princeton Center for Electronic Music, recorded a sound bank for the production Imago (1963). With this material, Nikolais created his first synthesizer score. Imago won the Paris Grand Prix in 1968 and launched the Nikolais Dance Theatre towards its national and primarily international acclaim.

During the same period, Seawright came to Nik and told him of a young man who had invented and constructed a simplified synthesizer and insisted that Nik visit the electronic fair currently being held in New York. Nik did so and met Robert Moog. He was completely taken by the new machine and after making some suggestions to Moog, (which Moog made), Nik bought the inventor’s first machine with the aid of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Moog himself was astonished by what his machine could produce for Nik. This machine was later acquired by the Museum of Musical Instruments at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as the first Moog synthesizer. The Synclavier was Nik’s next source of sound and since the mid-1970s remained the major instrument in the Nikolais soundroom.

Alwin Nikolais has been honored and awarded throughout the world. He has received the French Legion of Honor, the Kennedy Center Honors, National Medal of the Arts, two Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as Mellon, Ford, and Rockefeller grants. He has been a recipient of NEA grants since 1966, been awarded five honorary doctorates, all for his remarkable achievements in Dance Theater. His genius has influenced several generations of artists."
—Murray Louis

Hamburg's GOME joins the roster of Cinthie's 803 Crystal Grooves Collective Cuts sub-label here with a new fourtrack EP entitled 'Free Refill', featuring a collaboration with James Juke. GOME is shaking up dance floors worldwide with a raw, 90s-inspired House sound infused with Funk, Soul and Disco.

Having built a strong reputation through releases on Heist Recordings and his own Snackwax imprint, GOME has earned support from leading DJs and performed at renowned venues including Robert Johnson (DE), Berghain (DE), Golden Pudel (DE), Shelter (NL), Lofi (NL) or Blitz, to name but a few. Alongside celebrated live hardware performances and the community-focused "GOME + The Gang" events, GOME has become known for an authentic DIY approach, making this new 'Free Refill' project a fitting addition to the Collective Cuts catalogue. Leading the EP is the collaborative 'Keep The Party Going' with James Juke, an apt title for a frenzied five-anda- half-minute House jam featuring swinging, snappy drums, siren-like synth swells, gritty chord stabs and an amalgamation of vocal hooks throughout. 'Extraordinary' follows, employing a gritty electro-leaning bassline, a crunchy off-kilter rhythm section, twitchy arpeggio lines and a loopy, infectious vocal refrain. On the flip-side, 'CONGRATULATIONS' sees GOME lean heavily into House roots, perfectly aligned with the Crystal Grooves sonic aesthetic. Harkening back to 90s rave culture, it combines shimmering piano hooks, squelchy 303 licks, robust 909 drums and murky low-pitched vocals. 'You Make' then closes the EP, a loop-led cut fuelled by circling synth lines, bright strings, a bouncy low end and a fluttering vocal hook.

SILVI005 welcomes Brizman back with Fall Down On Me – a vibrant, groove-driven EP that perfectly captures his signature sound. Built around rolling rhythms, warm textures, and hypnotic movement, the title track delivers the kind of infectious dancefloor groove Brizman has become known for.

The release also features a stunning second original production with Shigar, where beautiful piano arrangements blend effortlessly with Brizman's refined grooves, adding emotional depth while staying true to the EP's understated club aesthetic.

On remix duties, the package brings together two distinct interpretations. Minimal house legend Jay Tripwire delivers his unmistakable touch with a deep, sophisticated rework, while rising talent Danny David brings a fresh perspective to the release with a forward-thinking interpretation.

From the original productions to the carefully selected remixes, SILVI005 is a special release that celebrates timeless grooves, musicality, and the unique sound Brizman continues to shape on the dancefloor

Al Wahem (“The Illusion”) is the new full-length release by PRAED, the Swiss–Lebanese duo of Raed Yassin and Paed Conca. Recorded between Beirut and Berlin, the album returns to the group’s central aesthetic: a rhythm-driven weave of Egyptian shaabi, electronics, improvisation and the gritty pulse of street-level sound. Nearly twenty years into the project, PRAED have distilled their approach into four pieces that subtly shift the listener’s bearings, reordering grooves and fragments until familiar elements take on new identities.
The twenty-minute title track sets the tone. A tightly interlocking two-drum foundation from Pascal Semerdjian and Ayman Zebdawi shapes a structure that expands steadily: synth figures branch outward, clarinet and bass lines act as internal guideposts, and brief vocal calls from Yassin and guest singer Mayssa Jallad sit inside the texture rather than leading it. PRAED’s shaabi keyboard language is present, but the duo stretch it outward, building tension and movement through patient accumulation.

“Al Hathayan,” at 4:46, tightens the focus. Conca’s clarinet moves between melodic arcs and clipped rhythmic gestures, threading through electronic loops that surface and disappear. Zebdawi’s percussion adds a raw, tactile quality, placing acoustic patterns and electronics in direct conversation. The piece acts as a bridge between the album’s two long-form compositions.
Side B begins with “Al Maraya,” a thirteen-minute piece that relies on electronic, bass and clarinet interplay. The atmosphere nods to the breadth of PRAED Orchestra!, but remains anchored in the duo’s rhythmic foundations. Rather than building mass, the layering creates a sense of depth, as if new spaces were opening inside the groove.
The album closes with “Assarab,” featuring keyboardist Amr Said. Semerdjian and Zebdawi again form a dual percussive axis, while synths hover between melody and pulse, and themes recur in widening circles rather than building vertically. The porous boundary between electronic and acoustic sources — processed clarinet mistaken for a sequencer, rhythmic figures springing from live drums — is where the album’s theme of “illusion” shows itself most clearly.

Al Wahem follows a long arc: early releases on Annihaya, a key appearance on Ruptured Sessions Vol. 5 – Live at Radio Lebanon (2013), later albums on Akuphone, and the large-scale PRAED Orchestra! documented on Morphine Records. This new Ruptured/Annihaya co-release brings the duo back to a concentrated format, reorganizing their familiar materials with renewed clarity and intent.

Faitiche presents the debut solo album by cellist, sound artist, and composer Topu Lyo: “quiet scenes from tokyo” brings together sixteen miniatures for solo cello and tape echo that oscillate between abstracts drones and rhythmic pizzicato sketches – all recorded at Topu’s Tokyo apartment. The constant traffic noise from a nearby highway has become an accompanying soundtrack for his compositions and can be heard on the recordings. Topu’s playing is marked by a distinctive idiom oriented more towards abstract electronic studio effects than classical technique.

The artist spoke to Jan Jelinek about his work:

JJ: A solo cello album may seem like an odd fit for a label that has to date released only music that is electronic in the broadest sense. But I think “quiet scenes from tokyo” complements the Faitiche repertoire exceptionally well. Its sixteen miniatures showcase the cello in all its complexity: the bowed passages sometimes recall a tape feedback drone; the pizzicato playing conjures up the percussion recordings of Moondog; and the abstract textures might be mistaken for the product of a granular sampler rather than rapid finger work on the cello. I’m constantly surprised by just how rich and varied this album is – without ever losing the charm of its sketch-like quality. Could you say a few words about the making of your album – first of all, from a rather technical perspective: what production tools did you use, and why?

TL: My production tools were very sparse. Just a solo cello and my Roland 301 Space Echo, which I only used at the end, running everything through it during mixing, tape only. After years of working with electronics, pedals, and synthesizers, moving to Tokyo pushed me toward minimizing my setup. But my aesthetics shifted too, toward simplicity. I wanted to strip everything back to just the acoustic cello and see how far I could push it — replicating some of my favorite electronic effects through extended technique: slow portamento, LFOs, filters, detune, noise. I’d also been listening to a cassette of ocean sounds for years. When I moved to Tokyo I was horrified to find myself living directly across from a freeway. Eventually the freeway started sounding almost identical to the ocean — and that ended up playing a prominent part in the recording.

JJ: That’s super interesting: mimicking electronic production as a compositional idea for the cello! You say the sound of the freeway is crucial to the album: I, too, tend to interpret steady traffic noise as a positive soundscape – do we hear the freeway on the album? I can also hear other field recordings, for example on “a street car with announcements”. Can you say a bit about how these field recordings influence your playing?

TL: Yes, you can hear the freeway on the album! The freeway is most prominent in “old trees in lonely spring”, “yuyake koyake”, and “the moon” (you can clearly hear individual cars). When I first began recording I had my balcony door shut tightly, but after a while I began leaning into the highway sound and slowly opening the door little by little to control the amount of noise. “streetcar with announcements” was a moment I was recording and a car passed by making announcements in the background. I loved how it sounded! Same thing with “yuyake koyake”, and later I realized that every day at 5pm the same song plays to mark sunset, telling children it’s time to go home. Having this bedrock of sound puts less pressure on me to put music on top or to play more notes.

JJ: It’s astonishing how much this differs from what I’d imagined: I’d been picturing peaceful landscape recordings, but had never thought of a freeway. Which goes to show how open to interpretation traffic noises are. So the room by the freeway had a major influence on the album – how are you going to perform it live?

TL: The contrast between the freeway and the beautiful landscape in my head couldn’t have been starker. I too was imagining a beautiful landscape in which to create the album, but somehow it still worked out. I've been going back and forth a lot on live shows and I think the most honest way is to have it the most stripped down. I was thinking of using traffic samples etc., but I think the duet really comes from the background sounds from every unique venue/environment. So as it stands, I’ll just be doing acoustic solo cello.

Following their self-proclaimed LP trilogy (2020-2024), Straw Man Army returns with a new songwriting experiment in the form of True North; a collection of 11 songs written for acoustic instruments over three 72 hour sessions at a cabin, isolated in the woods north of NYC. The result is a concept album in practice as opposed to subject alone. Attuned to both the spiritual and political dimensions of seeking refuge in our times, it asks what exactly we mean by “peace” in this era of increasing violence, incarceration, and skepticism towards a future worth living. Does it feel like relaxation, does it tend towards silence? Is it the cooling of our collective rage? Not here. On True North, peace is a spiritual contradiction; a chimera incorporating our innermost desires and the brutality of the world that surrounds us. The album’s central character is a “sleepwalker” trudging through the waking nightmares that have defined daily life since the release of 2024’s Earthworks. Because True North is music that dreams. Sonically, the band toys with the aesthetics of psychedelia, folk, and kosmiche music for contrast, creating a still pool into which their deepest anxieties ripple and flow and flower into ever darker shapes. And while the musical palette plays on tropes of peace—lush piano instrumentals, fingerpicking guitars, gong, vocal harmony—the subject remains steeped in environmental collapse, death, mental breakdown, and the rejection of our most closely held myths. The clash of these forces is the engine that turns the musical wheel. True North is the sound of music mourning a future that never took place and a bout of anticipatory grief for something that’s only just begun…

Following his appearance on Artist Series 2, Beppu returns to Alt Dub with Forms, a new release exploring the deeper, more experimental side of his dub aesthetic.

Recorded and shaped through analogue equipment, tape, mixing desk and effects, Forms is an exercise in space, texture and repetition. Deep bass weight, drifting echoes and finely layered electronic tones move through each piece, creating a sonic world that feels both stripped back and richly detailed.

Forms sits comfortably on the exploratory edge of the Alt Dub catalogue, drawing on the fundamental principles of dub while pushing them into more atmospheric and experimental territory. It is music built for deep listening—minimal in its ingredients, expansive in its effect.

The release is completed by two remixes of Traces from Stephen Hitchell, appearing under his CV313 and Intrusion monikers.

His respective Morning Dub and Evening Dub interpretations take the track in contrasting directions, extending its hypnotic qualities through deeper, more spacious treatments.

With its combination of analogue warmth, deep-space atmospherics and restrained dub experimentation, Forms is a carefully crafted addition to the Alt Dub catalogue.

10" series

Exos inaugurates the new sub-label on SHDW's Mutual Rytm with four 90s techno cuts, with offshoot imprint X building on the main imprint's DJ-friendly tools to delve deeper into a broader spectrum of electronic music.

Founded in 2022, SHDW's Mutual Rytm label has quickly become one of techno's most supported labels, with wide-reaching love and well-earned hype following a series of carefully curated VA offerings and solo EPs from a wealth of the scene's best. Continuing to push the pace, with more records capturing high-quality, fresh soundscapes, April brings a new project to the mix with the launch of a new sub-label X, with techno pioneer Exos drafted to deliver the first instalment.

Hailing from Iceland, the Planet X boss is a master of crafting perfect dancefloor weaponry. Over the last twenty years, his high-octane sounds have come via vital labels like Figure and X/OZ, never failing to make an impact with both DJs and dancers. Whether dubby or hard, his techno is always authentic and channels the purity of the 90s sound, and he brings this signature sound to four fresh productions across his 'Infrared' EP, marking an impressive debut for both label and artist.

The title cut 'Infrared' opens up the package in style and showcases a track that looks set to be a go-to anthem for many in the months ahead. With searing synth lines and drilling bass, the blistering production delivers a thrilling, high-impact techno sound that will devastate the dancefloor. The well-designed 'Kaldur Klaki' ups the ante even more with tightly coiled loops of drums, rusty hi-hats and stuttering synth lines that canter along with a muscular feel. 'The Bad' is twitchy and paranoid, anxiety-riddled techno that is perfect for dark warehouses and freaky dancers before digital bonus 'DS4BR' lands with a more stripped-back aesthetic with dubby undercurrents and static electricity fizzing across the face of the cut.

Each of the releases on Mutual Rytm X will be available on limited edition, coloured 10" vinyl, hence the Roman numeral X, and Exos' 'Infrared' EP kicks off the series on 19th April ahead of a new wave of killer releases scheduled across 2024.

Nearly three decades after first forging one of underground hip-hop's most enduring creative partnerships, Aesop Rock and Blockhead reunite for Trouble Mountain, a new full-length meditation on escape, survival, and the strange terrain of everyday life. Inspired by the nostalgic promise of Poconos resort commercials that blanketed New York airwaves during their childhoods, the album imagines a fictional getaway where the search for reinvention proves just as disorienting as the reality left behind. Arriving as Aesop Rock's 13th studio album, Trouble Mountain finds his writing as inventive as ever—transforming family history, work, memory, and the absurd mechanics of modern life into vivid, deeply human reflections. Blockhead's production is equally vital, pairing the duo's unmistakable chemistry with lean, evolving soundscapes that feel both familiar and newly exploratory.
Together, they revisit the themes that have connected their work since Labor Days: labor, alienation, and the enduring hope that there's somewhere else we'd rather be. Rather than offering an escape, Trouble Mountain asks why we're always searching for one—delivering one of the duo's most imaginative and resonant collaborations to date.

Nearly three decades after first forging one of underground hip-hop's most enduring creative partnerships, Aesop Rock and Blockhead reunite for Trouble Mountain, a new full-length meditation on escape, survival, and the strange terrain of everyday life. Inspired by the nostalgic promise of Poconos resort commercials that blanketed New York airwaves during their childhoods, the album imagines a fictional getaway where the search for reinvention proves just as disorienting as the reality left behind. Arriving as Aesop Rock's 13th studio album, Trouble Mountain finds his writing as inventive as ever—transforming family history, work, memory, and the absurd mechanics of modern life into vivid, deeply human reflections. Blockhead's production is equally vital, pairing the duo's unmistakable chemistry with lean, evolving soundscapes that feel both familiar and newly exploratory.
Together, they revisit the themes that have connected their work since Labor Days: labor, alienation, and the enduring hope that there's somewhere else we'd rather be. Rather than offering an escape, Trouble Mountain asks why we're always searching for one—delivering one of the duo's most imaginative and resonant collaborations to date.

2026 Repress

SHDW & Obscure Shape offer up their first EP on new imprint Mutual Rytm as they drop five fresh and expansive techno cuts across their 'Poetic Justice' EP.

A duo that has ascended to become leading names within today's techno landscape, SHDW & Obscure Shape continue to grow and evolve while shaping their own unique sound fusing classic influences with a modern touch. Their latest project saw the birth of Mutual Rytm - a new imprint launched in early 2022 set to showcase a deep dive into the duo's musical roots via their own productions alongside material from the label's close family of likeminded artists. Following the label's opening multi-artist VA and the first solo EP from Berlin's Lars Huismann, June welcomes the first solo instalment from the label founders themselves as they ready a killer five-tracker set to make an impact.

A1 'Turbulence' sets the pace as the duo delve into nimble rhythms which ebb and flow effortlessly to reveal a hypnotic slice of modern techno permeated with classic, old school cues, while 'Pulse' takes up a darker aesthetic, keeping the energy high as metallic drum licks guide driving sub-bass and resonant stabs. On the Bside, title cut 'Poetic Justice' balances warping vocals with swinging percs amongst a layered, drum-laden kinetic
workout, exemplifying the duo's drive for combining and contrasting various shades of techno. Next up, 'Set It Off' welcomes the introduction of expansive melodies to offer an entrancing late-night cut, before turning to the unhurried grooves, salient hats and sweeping atmospherics of 'Killing Me Softly'.

Digital bonus 'Before Sunset' once again delves into lighter, breezy territories while keeping the classic rolling
techno touches throughout, shaping up the package with a powerful yet agile closing production.

“One foot out the door, another in the otherworld…”
So begins Hannah Lew’s debut, self-titled solo record, soaked in imperious, wide-eyed pop songwriting and a girl-group/post punk aesthetic that belies the artist’s history in the U.S. underground. A towering, hook-laden album, it’s infused with an optimism and surrealism that conversely deals with the times we find ourselves in.

Recorded at home in Richmond, CA and in The Best House studio with Maryam Qudus in Oakland CA, with the assistance of a crack team of West Coast musicians, this album sees Hannah Lew stepping out from behind the legacy of her two groups Grass Widow and Cold Beat. While musically bearing similarities with her previous work, “Hannah Lew” is a bold leap into direct pop territory, making ample use of a vocal style that teases out the inherent melancholy in her melodies. Mastered by Sarah Register, each song is a perfectly honed nugget that frequently pulls the heart in two directions at once.

Themes of change, breaking up, shattering old ways of being are shot through the record. For the front cover, a photograph of the artist’s face was printed, ripped up and re-assembled, resembling the creative process embarked upon by Lew for her first “solo” material. The album feels instinctual, almost dream-like in its assemblage of sweeping synths and pulsating, propulsive drum machine beat patterns with Lew’s vocal performances sensitive and caressing over the top. Increasingly relying on the subconscious and dreams to guide her creative process, Hannah Lew frequently abandons literal interpretations or linear narratives, the songs seeming to exist in a swooning, effortless flow-state while remaining emotionally hard hitting.

On an album where every song could be a single, there are kaleidoscopic shades and varying emotional tones in abundance. First single Another Twilight is carried along a pumping, Italo-disco-style 4/4 beat and mono-synth bass line, the low end pulling at the heart and body. Lew’s vocal melody teases the track before swan-diving into a gorgeous chorus as she sings “it’s all over baby and I don’t mind… in decline, I take my time…” The album is suffused with moments like this. On slow builder Damaged Melody, an arpeggiated synth elongates the verse before a cascading synth showers down melodic glitter. The stunning Replica uses dual swirling synth patterns before a driving, synthpop chorus for the ages carries Hannah Lew’s vocal into the stereo field, sailing in on a high register singed with the embers of a break up.

In a departure from previous groups, her solo songs are guided by dreams and free association inspired by Dada and the Surrealist movement and sculpted afterwards. As such, the songs reveal themselves on repeated listens, revealing traces of heartbreak inspired by both personal and global elements - Hannah Lew regards the album “a wartime album.” On Move In Silence, Lew intones “there’s a war outside, just out of view,” revealing the dichotomy at play throughout. With the songs evolving naturally and in a flow state, the pressures and sadnesses of the modern age bleed through, mixed in with Lew’s inherent love, sensitivity and fractured-but-intact optimism. On the swooning, sublime Sunday layers of Numanoid synths open up for the commanding vocal performance pontificating on grief, love, pain as she “feels the ache on Sunday…” As the chorus builds and Lew’s call-and-response vocal adds to the emotional tension, it almost feels like too much to take.

Elsewhere, there are echoes of Hannah Lew’s previous work. On Time Wasted a bass guitar comes in with a heavy, punk attack before the synths and vocal harmonies reminiscent of later Cold Beat elevate everything. The glassy, sweetly resigned closer The Clock sounds like so classic it could be cover, a sweetened Jesus & Mary Chain tune perhaps, before it erupts into volcanic chorus that could only come from Hannah Lew in 2026.

“Wavebreaker” is a magnificent post-punk and minimal wave album originally self-released in 2024 by Orus Boris — a brilliant work that unquestionably deserved a proper vinyl edition for both its musical depth and outstanding technical quality. Built around a truly exceptional production, “Wavebreaker” moves in line with the finest contemporary wave sounds while constantly expanding its own universe. The album never feels nostalgic or predictable. Instead, it reshapes its influences into something fluid, sharp, and deeply personal, refusing to remain confined to a single language. Alongside its minimal wave foundations, the record introduces subtle incursions into darker electronic territories such as dark electro aesthetics, making each track feel unexpected and constantly evolving. Melancholy collides with tension, elegance with aggression, precision with emotional weight. The result is an immersive and surprising listening experience from beginning to end—a remarkable work that confirms Orus Boris as one of the most exciting and essential voices to follow within the new wave underground. Presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially remastered and mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

One of the most influential dub albums ever made. The remixing techniques used – radically new for 1973 – helped transform the role of the producer and the engineer to that of creative artists in their own right.

First released in Jamaica in December 1972, Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle is widely regarded as one of the first full-length dub albums and a true landmark in reggae history. Produced by the visionary Jamaican innovator Lee “Scratch” Perry, it marks the decisive moment when dub evolved from incidental B-sides into a fully realized long-playing art form. At a time when Jamaican sound system culture was flourishing, producers were beginning to strip down popular reggae tracks into instrumental “versions,” emphasizing the bass and drums for sound system deejays to toast over while adding echo and reverb effects to make things more interesting and dynamic. While King Tubby, who was in charge of mixing the tracks, was pioneering the technical foundations of dub, Perry expanded the approach by adding the hypnotic and psychedelic sound effects that made this record so rich in ideas, rendering the album more conceptually bold.

The album reworked previously released rhythm tracks by the Upsetters, which were recorded between 1970 and 1972, shortly before Perry opened his own studio – the legendary Black Ark Studio in Kingston. Their tight, groove-driven playing provided a solid backbone for these radical studio manipulations. Using the mixing desk as an instrument, tracks were deconstructed in real time – dropping vocals in and out, isolating drumbeats, pushing bass lines to the front of the mix, and sending fragments of sound spiraling into space through the heavy use of a spring reverb and tape delay effect units. Silence became as important as sound, and the interplay of rhythm and echo created a hypnotic, immersive listening experience.

Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle established dub as a genre defined by creative studio intervention. It demonstrated that the remix itself could be the main attraction, influencing generations of reggae producers and resonating far beyond into the techniques and aesthetics of post-punk, electronic music, hip-hop, and ambient sound design. By transforming the studio into a creative laboratory and elevating the “version” to an art form, this foundational album reshaped not only Jamaican music, but the whole of modern music production culture.