In the early ‘10’s the WPH Summer Special was a yearly tradition: a stamped vinyl only releases featuring lost tracks, one-off collabs, dreaded digital only gems, etc. Some summer specials were so hot we released them in the winter to battle the cold…
Guess what? It’s back! Four killer tracks on one slice of vinyl. Satoshi Fumi remixing Ian O’Donovan to devastating Detroit-styled effect, Red D taking things deep with some dreamy deep house magic, Fabrice Lig going from ‘Border 2 Border’ on vinyl with Red D & Lady Linn and then Uit De Hoogte teaming up with Lefto for an oldskool house jam that will only be available on this release.
If this doesn’t get your heat up…
Ame: Thanks for ‘Border 2 Border’
Frankey & Sandrino: Great music in here, thanks!
Ben Sims: Ian O’Donovan one…asap!
Axel Boman: The dancefloor is open indeed.
Terre Theamlitz: Thank you for ‘Sweet Synthie Pauline’.
Simon Caldwell: Lovely E.P. of reminiscence!
Satoshi Fumi: Cool pack J
Red Rack’em: Love the Satoshi Fumi remix.
Severino Panzetta: Grooovy!
Jimpster: I can imagine the Ian O’Donovan working nicely. Classy stuff!
SHORT INFOS
Because Music celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Cerrone's debut album "Love In C Minor (Cerrone I)" .
A record which is one of the mots important of its time. It brought French Disco to the World and established Cerrone as the French King of Disco.
- Pressed in exclusive 2026 Apple Green Crystal Clear vinyl
- Original 1976 artwork - Digitally remastered from original tapes.
BIOG
Cerrone I
Love in C Minor (1976)
The story behind Cerrone's first album could be summarised in the libertarian atmosphere and the creative energy of the 70s, inherited from the 60s revolutions, spiritual, aesthetic or sexual. Looking back now, this record is one of the most important of its time. It helped creating the sound of an era and brought French disco to the world. It is also, and this is fundamental to understand its success, the result of a man's vision: Marc Cerrone, a free spirit inhabited by music, who ended up with a major work of art. With this album, Cerrone accumulated the main elements that make a record timeless, even bigger than its creator: the pure originality, the madness of a vision without compromise, a sense of the market and a great dose of luck too. To some extent, this is the perfect record to start a career, even though Cerrone's one already existed in an implicit way. He actually began in a rather popular band, Kongas, signed by Barclay. Between 1972 and 1974, the band was famous and made it abroad, particularly in Japan, where people loved its sound. Despite this success, probably fed up with the music and not ready to follow the orders of a label that wanted the band to sound more pop, Cerrone disbanded Kongas. He had the sound of his instrument in mind and mostly its central element: the bass drum. The idea of this first solo album came to him after a detour via selling records. Wishing to forget about the studios, he took the head of a small chain of stores, selling records imported from the States. That's when he discovered a daring new sound coming from New York: disco music. This energy inspired him to record again. He then remembered the crazy reaction of the audience when, during the Kongas' concerts, he used to hit his bass drum hard. Cerrone felt like going back into the studio but to make something different. He decided to record a sixteen minutes long track, driven by its beat, that would fit on its own on one side of a LP (during these vinyl days, musicians used to think in terms of sides…), with girls' voices simulating sex. This concept of musical and physical orgasm was recorded at Trident Studios in London (where pop stars used to record at the time… ) with Don Ray, of Kongas, man in the shadows and brilliant arranger who'd follow Cerrone during his whole career. Obviously, like always in pop music (it happened to the Beatles), record companies started by turning this weird track down, convinced that radios would never play sixteen minutes of beats and moaning. Cerrone, a born fighter, decided to trust his instinct (a mix of ego and business sense) and chose to believe that if the radios wouldn't play the track, people would dance to it in the clubs. He released the record himself, with a sexy cover a bit provocative where he wore a black bathrobe, a young short-haired girl leaning on him. Being played here and there, thanks to Cerrone's own network, the record started to work a bit in France. But luckily, things really happened in the States. Due to a mistake, a box of "Love In C Minor" albums were sent to the States via Cerrone's record shop instead of some unsold American LPs. Once in New York, the box was opened and the record with its intriguing cover was instantly loved and passed through the hands of radio and club DJs. All of a sudden, and unknown to its creator, the track that was turned down by every French label, became a hit on the New York disco scene. Casablanca, the US disco label, released a cover recorded by an ad hoc band because nobody knew Cerrone of how to find him. Once he discovered what was happening in the States, Cerrone flew to New York. He realised he had a hit, one of the biggest then, that opened the doors to every record company and especially Atlantic. He was welcome by Ahmet Ertegun, one of the main visionaries of the American music who, among other artists, signed Aretha Franklin and John Coltrane. It's believed that Ertegun understood that the French young musician, like some Atlantic artists, was about to define the sound of his time and that his work would live long after its birth date. "Love In C Minor" was the first step, adamant and successful.
Hulvey’s third album, COULD BE TONIGHT, is his final release with Reach Records - 20 tracks that are built around one core question: if Jesus came back tonight, would you be ready? Executive produced by Xander. And arriving off the momentum of “Altar” (150M+ streams, RIAA Gold) and the He Will Return EP, it’s some of his most transparent work yet - from INFLUENCER$ and his response to a personal request from Ye, to a farewell that turns the warning back on himself. The King is coming, and Hulvey wants you ready.
NIX doesn’t do compilations very often. They’d rather focus on artist EPs. But every now and then a track comes along that deserves to be released, even if it doesn’t quite belong anywhere else.
NIXW006 brings together a handful of those tracks - some of their favourites, finally finding their place.
There are two version of the LP - limited to 100 numbered copies with transparent wax and classic black wax edition. Both 180g with special OBI strip.
Maciej Envee Goliński is an artist who probably needs no introduction. He has been working with U Know Me practically since the label's inception. His last album ("Time & Light") made a huge impact worldwide, but we had to wait eight years for the next vinyl release. In the meantime, Maciej has certainly been busy – he has released numerous club singles under several aliases, and has helped record and mix numerous albums from the world of jazz, soul, and electronica. "Wyszymory" is a carefully crafted concept album, inspired by our roots. "Wyszymory" is an album on which every open-minded listener will find something that has been playing in their soul for a long time...
"Of all things visible and invisible, my life is most filled with music and a fascination with sound. It matters not whether they are natural or artificial, isolated or resonating through space. Sounds that evoke
memories, as well as those entirely new. Some of them have resonated unchanged for thousands of years. Certain resonances and rhythms have remained unaltered for generations so distant that they have left no other trace in human civilization.
This bond with our ancestors truly fascinates me. Ever since I realized it, I have become more attuned to inspiration. Listening to traditional and classical music, I kept finding new anchor points. I was constantly surprised by new invitations to ponder what connects – or divides – the pulse of our region’s traditional music with the rhythms of Africa, the tribes of the vast East, or the frozen North. My great authority, Tomasz Stańko, in interviews conducted by Tomek Michałowski, used beautiful parables of love and creativity to bring me closer to the Cro-Magnon cave artists. The Icelandic literary magician Andri Snær Magnason, in his book On Time and Water, captivated me with the fascinating observation that through emotional contact, words, ideas, or memory, we reach back and forward two or even three generations – spanning a period of about 270 years. Then there is Sam Kowalski, who with his wonderful obereks played on the gitalele, took me on a hypnotic journey, from which one returns with a deep admiration for the art of musical storytelling, passed down from generation to generation. Finally, my own children surprise me with talents, behaviors, and increasingly distinct features of those generations that now dwell only in my hazy memory and on old photographs.
I wanted the protagonists of this album to be the very phenomena that modern humans share with their ancestors, regardless of the level of civilization. Most vital among them is the relationship between humans, nature, and their own emotions. Wyszymory has nothing to do with an academic study, though I did delve into Slavic mythology, archaeology, and history in search of inspiration. Nor is it an album of traditional music, even if such music is present thanks to wonderful instrumentalists. I managed to invite artists who cross boundaries daily, working not only with Polish music but also with Hindu and African traditions, and even jazz, with its long history of blending influences. Naturally, the album became a kind of sonic comic book, where individual scenes and stories – the sounds, pulsations, and ideas on how to use them – came to me over time, often under unique circumstances and in inspiring contexts."
Envee
Turbo was a part of Joe Robinson and Sylvia Robinson’s All-Platinum Records set up in New Jersey which operated from 1967 to 1979. At one stage the fiercely independent and proudly black owned label threatened to become another Motown or Philadelphia International. That never happened, but the Robinson’s dream of worldwide success came later when Sylvia discovered Rap, recorded Rappers Delight by The Sugarhill Gang and Sugar Hill records was born.
Music historian Steve Guarnori describes All Platinum as "probably the most unusual record company there ever was. Dysfunctional, but at the same time wonderful."
The All-Platinum chaos extended to Turbo. But despite anarchy - some superb albums went straight from manufacture to be deleted and sold as cut-outs - sublime music was created. This 10" 6-track release collects together some of the most hallowed Turbo releases which between them have become cherished by collectors.
Brother to Brother "The Bottle" captures the label at its most astute. Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s original version was an album only track on Strata-East so Turbo seized the opportunity to quickly make a worthy cover version and rush release it a single which enjoyed success.
"Ton Of Dynamite" by Frankie "Love Man" Crocker was Turbo’s debut release in 1968 (it actually sounds a later recording). At the time Frankie was a DJ on WWRL radio station in New York and the release was essentially a reward for his previous support of All-Platinum releases. The record (a b-side) is actually made Willie & The Mighty Magnificent who went on to re-record it as
"Funky 8 Corners". It took until 1975 for "Ton Of Dynamite" to get recognition when it became an anthem as the UK Northern Soul scene adopted it as part of the movement away from old skool 1960’s Soul. Whatever its’ provenance, "Ton Of Dynamite" is now revered by the Rare Soul and Funk communities.
The Optimistics "Man" from 1971 is another b side single. The group specialised in smooth harmony Soul but "Man" is a funkier affair which won support from Rare Soul aficionados and will cost you £600 plus if you are lucky enough to locate a copy of the hard to find 45.
Willie & West "Attica Massacre", also from 1971, is an even more elusive single. It is a powerful protest against the killing of 29 prisoners, many black, following a riot at a prison - Attica Correctional Facility in New York. The deaths and a subsequently discredited cover up caused outrage. John Lennon was amongst the first musicans to make a recording about the bloodbath, but the most emotional protest is this Willie & West track. Only 300 copies were manufactured of one of the most powerful civil rights recordings ever made. The vocal sounds like anti-War Edwin Starr at his most bristlingly aggressive.
Perhaps the strangeness of All-Platinum is best illustrated by the later success of Lonnie Youngblood "Sweet Sweet Tootie" which is essentially the backing track of "Attica Massacre" plus exquisite sax playing by Lonnie. Despite it selling 100,000 plus copies the label did not see this as a reason to reissue "Attica Massacre". Strange. Or as Marvin asked "What’s Going On"?
The New Sounds "Don’t Take Your Love From Me" was only issued by Turbo as an album track. Despite good music on it the LP was poorly (it at all)/ promoted and flopped. The superb "Don’t Take Your Love From Me" is a long time Northern Soul / X-Over favourite.
Larry Saunders mesmerising "On The Real Side" made no impact when released on Turbo in 1974 but was nevertheless issued in the UK by London Records. The Northern Soul discerning dancers instantly latched on to its combination of uplifting lyrics, heartfelt vocal and clomping beat and since then its’ appeal has extended across the whole of the Soul community. Without doubt an all time classic.
So six treasures from a label that despite frequently advocating cash out of chaos frequently conjured up awesome music.
ANORAX is grateful to have the opportunity to present this very special Soul selection.
In this post Sounds world, the boundaries of Post Punk have not only broadened but splintered. And over the course of (now) four releases, Index For Working Musik have seen to using the sprawling boundaries to great effect, flexing a polyglot of styles to convey the language of the moment. On Which Direction Goes The Beam, the murky, distant ambience that was 2023's Indexé has been fleshed out, incorporating everything from the Brian Aldiss laced, ground lightning shudder of Dome, to the chamber-like arrangements of This Kind Of Punishment. There's even a candle flickering in the window for Think Fellers Union Local 282 that warmed these ears. And if you're a fan of the great Dutch band, Trespassers W (who isn't?), the collective consciousness IFWM enunciates on here is a similar testament of a band growing more sure footed in the pursuit of not only knowing all the ways in, but carving a few of their own on the way out. And it's discerning releases like Which Direction Goes The Beam that keep us in the hunt. Long may they forge. - Tom Lax. RIYL: Brian Jonestown Massacre, Velvet Underground, TOY, John Cale, Wire, Dome
The debut release by Confusion on Incompetence Records documents an exercise in disciplined spontaneity, a jam session where organic interaction is rigorously shaped into form. Recorded live in Belgrade by Dmitrii Steinberg, Aleksei Siubaev, Viktor Volkovich, Evgenii Piankov, and Leonid Lipelis, the material was subsequently dissected and reassembled with a scalpel like precision reminiscent of Teo Macero’s landmark edits for Miles Davis. What emerges is not a loose improvisational document but a suite of cohesive constructed pieces: weightless structures suspended over a hypnotic pulse, steeped in cosmic vibes and soft psychedelia. There is a slo mo insistence to the grooves, a kosmiche drift that folds jazz funk rituals into something both intimate and expansive. For musicians previously orbiting rare groove, house, indie rock, and modern composition, Confusion expands their explorations into a terrain where genre dissolves into texture and intention. The record’s mesmerizing beauty lies in its restraint, motifs surface, dissolve, and return as if refracted through magnetic tape memory, each fragment locked into place yet breathing with human elasticity. Rather than presenting virtuosity, the quintet channels it into atmosphere, into a patient, glowing continuum that feels less like a jam and more like a carefully mapped inner cosmos, calibrated for deep listening and slow revelation.
2026 has been the year of Deeparture as we have approached this milestone moment for the producer; quality releases from the Dutch artist have pathed the way to his debut album ‘City Reverie’.
‘City Reverie’ is all about Amsterdam – an album created, inspired and born in the great city. Deeparture finds home there but over the years it has been a place where his music has developed and grown into the stunning style he has created throughout this body of work. As an artist on Zerothree, he has been an important part of the label family and working on this album has really seen unique creative aspects, impressive themes and a work ethic that just inspires.
The album features collaborations alongside Lazarusman, Tim Morrison, Jantine, Yves La Rock and plenty of solo material that brings a retro proggy take on 2026 dance music. A real touch of genius and a great body of work that will be timeless.
Dim City is a very juicey and special boy crafting hypnotic club music where deep grooves, acid textures and raw emotion collide - if it feels good, proceed with caution. Rarely seen and never chasing trends, every release is treated as a statement—designed for late-night dance floors rather than algorithms. With a sound balancing underground house, leftfield electronics and timeless rhythm, Dim City lets the music speak louder than the artist, building a reputation through carefully selected releases and uncompromising quality.
Can we still have fun with house music? Lets get mad, juicey & fun together.
Industrial badman Sei2ure back on PRSPCT release with a huge 2 track vinyl EP.
Some say industrial hardcore is dead. If that were the case then this one is for sure the one to bring it back to life!
On the A side we have Send You To Hell. A 175BPM monster containing almost everything both Sei2ure and PRSPCT stand for. Driving pounding kick drums, catchy hooks and that perfect dose of snare drum warfare making this the perfect track to kill it on both Hardcore & Drum & Bass events. Huge track!
On the flip we have Push The Prozac. A 190BPM beast tune pushing up the tempo a bit without losing the groove and that dark Industrial vibe we love to death and have been missing so much.
Again another release on PRSPCT that is All Killer, No Filler. Enjoy!
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.
This year, Santa Claus brings us original retro house tracks. If you've been good ... maybe Santa will put this vinyl in your Christmas stocking or underneath your Christmas tree. If you've been naughty ... maybe the XXXMAS edition is also just what you deserve.
Ho ho ho ... Drop the needle and enjoy this XXXMAS edition!
P.S: This time it is true ... this will be the very last chapter of the MEMORIEZ collection.
Victoryland is the Brooklyn-based project of musician Julian McCamman and Dan Howard.. Their 2026 album, My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It, is a triumphant, despondent, and ultimately fun experimental pop-rock album. A year on, the record receives the deluxe treatment from new label home Dead Oceans. My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It (Deluxe) arrives December
11th 2026, on exclusive crystal clear vinyl, complete with new song “The Ugliest Girl On The Beach” and a new music video for album standout “I got god.” The sound of the album, recorded between Julian’s Bed-Stuy basement and Dan’s Williamsburg studio, is that of a bright and beaming collaboration. Blending lo-fi and hi-fi production, the songs have the glossiness of a radio-friendly hit mixed with the distortion and rough edges of a home demo. Every song keeps at least one element of the initial recording, while building around the loops and half-songs Julian scraped together. The lyrics on the record span from humorous self-aware popisms (“‘you and I’ will soon be, used to be ‘us’”) to crushing realities of bitterness (“i’ll never forgive you, that’s how I keep you close”) and abstract imagery (“mothers wave from doorways, in ostinato”), all delivered with such an immediacy and fervor that in the middle of singing along, you wonder if this guy slept much last night. Much to their surprise, My Heart’s release ushered Victoryland into a whirlwind of a year. Pitchfork praised the album’s “bright, madcap approach reminiscent of the New Pornographers’ Twin Cinema or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Some Loud Thunder.” Stereogum named it their Album of the Week and proclaimed it “a surprisingly cohesive scrapbook of sounds from seemingly every corner of the indie pop umbrella.” The album also received support from Steve Lamacq at BBC 6 Music and Sian Eleri at Radio 1. After a string of sold-out shows in NYC, Victoryland later joined LCD Soundsystem on their North American tour and performed at Pitchfork London, Pitchfork Paris, among other festivals across Europe
Hatchback is the alias of Samuel Milton Grawe. Sam creates music that sings of the Cosmos, full of deep resonant tones, glistening arpeggios, lush pads and harmonic motifs. ‘Phaser For The Ocean, Chorus For The Moon’ is his magnum opus, a sprawling masterwork that encompasses ambient, new age and environmental music to wondrous effect. Soaked in Californian consciousness, the album is a balm like no other for these troubled times.
When I first was getting into the creative side of music making in my teens, I was heavily influenced by concept albums like ‘Quadrophenia’ and ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’, as well as epic pieces that took up an entire side of a record: Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’, Yes’ ‘Close To The Edge’, Klaus Schulze’s ‘Nowhere Now Here’, Miles Davis' ‘Shhh/Peaceful’ and ‘He Loved Him Madly’. In the extreme, these ideas coalesced in double albums where each side of each record is occupied by a single title - Yes’ ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’, and Tangerine Dream’s ‘Zeit’ being primary examples. When I returned to making music after moving back to Northern California in 2020, the first piece I recorded landed around the 20-minute mark, and the idea of creating three other long pieces to realize a full album felt like a natural - if indulgent - goal. From there, each new piece followed sequentially. Four songs. My fourth album. - Sam Grawe
‘Phaser For The Ocean Chorus For The Moon’ is a pure expression, informed by a lifetime of deep listening unbound by algorithms or AI.
These are songs for the sunrise and the sunset - and every colour in between.
a 01. And The Walls Became The World All Around [18:53]
[b] 02. Phaser For The Ocean, Chorus For The Moon [21:48]
[c] 03. Other Desert Cities [20:19]
[d] 04. Friendship Fountain [18.33]
Sincere yet uninhibited. Powerful yet vibrant. This remarkable debut album captures the breakthrough moment of rising pianist Mikio Masuda.
Mikio Masuda first came to prominence as a member of the Terumasa Hino Group, and this is his debut album as a leader. The musicians are essentially the same lineup that was performing with the Hino Group in 1974, but with Masuda at the helm, the music takes on an especially fresh and energetic character. He plays with remarkable freedom and confidence, as if completely at home in the spotlight.
Four of the album’s six tracks are Masuda originals. At times he moves forward with a light, agile touch; at others, he unfolds beautiful themes with lyrical sensitivity. The variety of the compositions and the freshness of the performances are consistently striking.
Among the highlights is “Prayer”, a powerful, Afrocentric piece that stands as an outstanding example of the post-Coltrane approach. Both compositionally and performance-wise, it ranks among the album’s defining achievements.
This album marks the starting point of Masuda’s career and remains one of his signature works, documenting the emergence of an artist who would later become one of the leading figures of the fusion era.
TVPCO has always been a label created by DJs, for DJs. The best proof of this was their sampler series tailored for eclectic sets, where floor-filling dance tracks were consistently contrasted with slower, more atmospheric cuts. Although the catalog gradually expanded to include more listening-oriented music, reissues, and artist albums, the label is returning to its roots for its 16th anniversary.
THE VERY POLISH DANCE VOL. 16 delivers 100% dancefloor bangers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The tracklist features gems like "Daj mi", "Serce to jest tancerz", "Zabawa", and "Graj dla nas, graj", along with a stack of delightfully cheesy, slightly cringe-worthy, but undeniable anthems sung in Polish. You'll definitely recognize some from the labels late-night parties (if you ever attended one) or the depths of the internet, while others will be complete surprises.
Both musically and visually, the release pays homage to the iconic Polish compilation tapes that flooded local open-air markets in the 90s, as well as the 80s promotional vinyl sent directly to radio and club DJs.
The brilliant, era-accurate artwork was crafted by the one and only Bartek Szymkiewicz.
This compilation presents a selection of highly sought-after tracks and milestone classics crafted by esteemed Royal UK house producers.
Terry Francis, Nathan Coles (rip), Laurant Webb, Dave Coker and Justin Bailey.
With 16 tracks, many of which have never been reissued since their original pressings, fetching prices of hundreds of euros in the second-hand market (if you can find any in decent quality), while others were never released on vinyl. These are milestone classics, recorded and re-mastered directly from the original DATs for the first time.
This collection represents a pinnacle meeting of visionary minds who pioneered an entirely music genre, subsequently shaping the UK club scene with legendary Wiggle residency nights at iconic venues like Fabric. An essential and must-have album curated by Yossi Amoyal for Sushitech Records.
Celebrate 10 years of Shawn Mendes’ Illuminate with this special 10th Anniversary Edition 2LP.
Pressed on translucent aqua vinyl, this anniversary release features the original album housed in updated Illuminate packaging, plus a booklet featuring photography and lyrics from the album .
Since the early 2010s, photographer and producer Izaak Schlossman has been surreptitiously using the Topdown Dialectic moniker to frame his most enigmatic and most psychedelic productions: faceless pure sound experiments that ogled dub and techno archetypes from somewhere far beyond the veil. This generous 2LP collection surveys over a decade of persistent activity, pulling together recently unearthed gear written between 2013 and 2016 (the same time period as the iconic Peak Oil trilogy) and muddling it with more contemporary material. It's a rare chance to fully comprehend the slow, measured evolution of the project: its genesis as a method to fractalize various bass music frequencies with suggestion rather than over-compression, and its ongoing advancement through sensitively finessed ASMR ambiance towards spangled neo-psychedelia.
So it's no surprise that the lengthy suite of five-minute snapshots was initially devised while Schlossman was preparing for his first ever Topdown Dialectic live appearance in 2025. A hazed early morning, open air performance that's still lodged in the memory banks of anyone who witnessed it, the set provided the narrative anchor for the album, blurring the past and present and reaching tentatively into the future - ideal material for audiences whose brains are fully plasticized. The tracks, while divided, sound as if they're breathing over and into one another; beats and phrases materialize and dissolve just for moments, leaving the mind to fill in the gaps with any available sonic material. What might reflect the bright neon light of acid house at first soon embodies the flicker of a candle over a desk of drum machines in a Midwestern basement, or the first blush of sunlight over a tiny campground as subwoofers creak in the distance.
It's music that asks the listener to be involved in the creation itself, projecting their own shapes on the negative space, their discreet fantasies on haunted stretches of near silence. Schlossman's identity was never the point, Topdown Dialectic was always a scrying stone intended to divine far more personal revelations.
The second in our TEN series has been envisioned by a humble legend in the game, Tzena. Two tracks with his signature drive, and obscure details, maximising dance floor pleasure!
Less is more with this limited 10” run, a collector disc with the beautiful design of Gal.tic
If you are lucky you might catch Tzena hustling the sound at some of your favourite Berlin spots!
Limited copies available here in our Berlin shop at Weserstrasse 166
Highscore is one of the newest-and quite sensational-discoveries in funk of the 1980s out of Germany. Two tracks Breakin' Out and Girls So Fine, both recorded about 40 years ago and shelved ever since, are finally receiving a long-overdue 12" release.
Label founder DJ Scientist tells the story of how the tracks were uncovered:
"Several years ago, while researching the Crea label-after we had already licensed 'You're Not The One For Me' by Peter Patzer-I also wanted to find out more about another band on the label: Nuages, who had released the stunning jazz-funk/fusion album Cumulus.
Interestingly, a Discogs user had uploaded a hand written promo letter from one of the band members along with the LP. In it, drummer Mike Bach mentioned plans for a second album, as well as a single featuring a 'coloured singer'-which caught my attention. (A note on language: the original letter from 1985 uses the term 'coloured.' We've chosen to quote it directly as a historical document, but want to be clear that this reflects the terminology of the era and not language we would use today.)
Digging deeper, more information was found on Bach's own website, where a project called 'High Score' was mentioned. I immediately got in touch and asked if the recordings from that project still existed. Unfortunately, Bach couldn't locate any of the material at the time.
Years passed before we reconnected, when we featured 'Strange Weekend' by Nuages on our recent yacht rock compilation. I still had the Highscore project in mind and asked again. Once more, Mike had to deny-but he made another effort and reached out to former collaborators. A few weeks later, guitarist and composer Hermann Behrens discovered cassette tapes containing tracks from the Highscore project. I couldn't wait to hear them…"
To go back a bit: Nuages were a jazz-rock band from Bremerhaven, originally formed by guitarist Joachim "Fussy" Fuß in 1982. The lineup included Mike Bach (drums and percussion), Klaus Hinners (bass), and Frank Fischer (keyboards). In 1984, John Dillard, a U.S. GI stationed in Germany, joined Nuages for several live performances as a soul singer.
Around 1985/1986, Dillard and Bach then teamed up with Hermann Behrens with a new focus on electro funk and disco: Highscore was born.
When the three demo recordings were finally sent to us, they immediately blew us away. Breakin' Out stood out as an incredible electro-funk boogie gem-exactly what we had been looking for. What's more, it didn't sound like a rough demo at all, Breakin Out was a well-arranged and almost perfectly recorded track, driven by fresh, vibrant synths, drum machines and guitar. The cassette mix wasn't entirely final, but the remaining details could be refined during mastering.
The B-side, Girl So Fine, impressed just as much-equally strong and just as captivating as the A-side. Our reaction was immediate: this had to be released without delay!
Most importantly, there are a few more recordings from Highscore. However, these only exist as multi-track studio reels, which currently cannot be transferred. In the best case, more material from the band may surface soon-hopefully without another long wait.
The 12" release Breakin' Out / Girl So Fine" comes with a newly designed picture sleeve, featuring an original photo of the band members, including background singer Ruben Hopkins who does not appear on these two recordings.
New EP from Polish label Kooky is a challenging and ambitious one. Jay Tripwire, Canada's finest DJ and producer, offers a solid set of 3 minimal (techno) tracks, crafted with a unique passion for detail, raw energy and dark soundscapes. Every track differs in intensity and dynamics, but all of them are a feast for the ears to demanding music lovers. If you are searching for the true beauty of minimal and want to escape from modern dance music that is unfortunately more and more generic these days, this release is just for you.
100 COPIES ONLY! Chicago... Chicaaago: If you ever felt House Music in your bones, chances are you stumbled across the windy city. From Ron to Frankie and the other Ron - from Larry to Boo & GU, from the Smart Bar to Gramaphone Records - the city has left an undeniably mark on dance music culture for decades. With his "Chicago" release Johannes Albert pays a little respect to this legacy, dragging out the bass, the 303 on top and some vocals chanting (what else?) "Chicago, Chicaaaago". 12" comes with proper 45 Cut and classic round US sleeves. Now? Let's head go the south side and boogie.
Named after the tendency to impose familiar likenesses, such as faces, on random - usually inanimate - objects, Pareidolia is Jake Muir's way of interpreting the consonances between so-called “ambient” music and extreme heavy metal. Extracting the headiest, most atmospheric sections from hundreds of death metal and black metal tracks, Muir plays the role of both DJ and electroacoustic composer, concocting a lysergic elixir of fractal distortions and prolonged, decelerated riffs that slowly evaporates into iridescent vapor. If there's any trace of the original sources left, Muir makes sure that residue is subtly bewildering, like clouds in the sky that form imposing, larger than life images, or trampled bracken that falls into the shape of “trve kvlt” insignia.
The idea for the album materialized when Muir was working on 2022's Talisman, his collaborative album with multi-instrumentalist Evan Caminiti. Processing guitar for the first time, Muir began to unpack his long relationship with rock music and its Escher-like maze of sub-genres, from the tech metal he obsessed over as a teenager to Loop and Main's drone-y, textured variants. Scraping the internet for unconventional contemporary metal albums, he stumbled across music that seemed to hover between different realms, merging its frenetic, noisy sections with psychedelic interludes that harmonize with classic industrial and avant-garde music, material like :zoviet*france:, Nocturnal Emissions and Z'EV.
House is the Religion. The DJ is my Deacon. The Music is my God and James Bangura is cool af.
Genuine, passionate, clear, authentic and real…. He isn’t trying, he just is. And his music is the same. It’s fucking cool. It’s real and authentic and it just is James Bangura. So it’s a real honour to add him to the Shall Not Fade roster; from Techno to Jungle to House and everything between the DC native can extract the true essence of a genre and simultaneously make it his own & pay homage to its roots.
So on Jack Sermon there’s no surprise when he flexes a seemingly generationally inherited knack for all things House (and Techno) and delivers four tracks of raw, real, genuine House music. OG shit.
‘House is the Religion, and the DJ is my Deacon, but the music is my God” says the Evangelical vocal on title track ‘Jack Sermon’. Never has there been a more aptly named track…This is a jack sermon… an OG inspired Chi town cut channeling early house music’s soulful beginnings delivered with straight up jacking house beat offset with laidback dusty dub chords….. We don;t say this lightly but we’re calling anthem on this one.
‘Scat Pack’ takes a more percussive and drum forward House motif. Thunderous kicks tease techno but this is still house, NY at heart complete with voguing diva vocals . Blown out and choppy we could say ‘this could have been ripped from a late 90’s club recording on a lost tape’ but that would do disservice to the precise but invisible fusion that's been laid down here..
‘Funk To Berlin’ opens the flip side and in Bangura’s journey to explore classic forms of house and techno, this track may well have taken root from Dub techno pioneers from the past. Deep dub chords and deeper subs lead the track but that jacking percussion makes this more than homage. Machine Funk, Machine soul. AA side business.
‘The Green Line’ closes out the EP in style.. rolling it out with skittering synths that work like percussion, ethereal pads and a faint vocal ‘Chicago’ spiralling into itself making this track one you can get lost in. Some might argue that this one is techno but who cares. It’s the journey not the destination. Two tickets please.
If you don’t know James Bangura’s music already (or even if you do) do some digging.. Look for releases on Mister Saturday Night, K7! and Floorspeed and check his output as part of “Black Rave Culture” with Amal and Nativesun and as a member of Groovedeep with Toronto’s Ciel and fellow DC native Jackson Ryland.
To close, we’ll leave you with this note from James……. told he is cool af.
House music, to me, exists on a wide spectrum. I’m inspired by its many forms: stripped-back minimalism, percussive drive, hypnotic textures, and soulful undertones. Rather than confining myself to one approach, I treat each track as an exploration—testing structure, pushing rhythm, and allowing subtle details to carry emotional weight. The studio becomes a space where groove and atmosphere meet intention. This body of work highlights that process. It reflects how I balance technical precision with feel, tension with release, and tradition with forward motion. Every decision—from drum programming to spatial design—is part of shaping a sound that feels honest and instinctive. - James Bangura
SOLAH steps back onto the scene with her second studio album Forever, set for release on 5th June 2026.
Primarily recognised for her soulful melodies, unmistakable voice and down-to-earth artist persona, Forever holds steady onto these qualities, yet finds freedom in straying from expectations. Atmospheric and all-encompassing, the album's list of collaborators spans beyond the UK to the Netherlands, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and beyond - a reminder of drum & bass' global collective identity, and testament to the musical connections and friends in the industry that she has made over the years, since her first album King. 2x12" Gatefold Vinyl - SOLAH's Forever LP is available on sleek double vinyl packaged in a gatefold sleeve, featuring full album tracklist, lyrics and bespoke imagery.
Nippon Psychedelic Soul 1970-1979 is Time Capsule’s continuation of the deep dive into Japan’s rich history of folk and psychedelic soul music.
Vinyl LP with 4 page insert, original artwork and photos
The kaleidoscopic psychedelia of 1970s Japan captured a fragile and fertile moment as the country sought its future in funk grooves, heavy reverb and lyrical hallucinations.
The follow-up compilation to Time Capsule’s Nippon Acid Folk, Nippon Psychedelic Soul takes myriad pathways into the tripped-out undergrowth of 1970s Japan. Finding their feet at home and looking for inspiration abroad, the musicians featured here were engaged in the communal soul-searching that followed the breakdown of the 1960s protest movements. Some made it big, others drifted into oblivion. The music they left behind shimmers with intensity.
At the core was Happy End, the first project of YMO’s Haroumi Hosono, whose distortion-heavy guitar and crisp back-beat laid the foundations for Japanese lyrics that flipped the paradigm of Japanese rock music on its head. With it came a new found sonic ambition, such as in the bold Philly-soul style arrangements of producer Yuji Ohno, whose work with occult wandered Yoshiko Sai shares some of the bittersweet grandeur of Rotary Connection or David Axelrod.
Then there was Jun Fukamachi, a pioneer of Japanese synthesis, whose debut album was a carnival of orchestral funk, euphoric horn lines and rich production, complete with soaring guitar solos, psychedelic organ and a truly cinematic finale. The first and only time Fukamachi would sing on record, ‘Omae’ rips like the ultimate end-of-nighter.
Influenced by giants of the US soul scene, maverick composer Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayatsu (otherwise known as ‘the Brian Wilson of Japan’) went one step further, enlisting Tower of Power to play on ‘Have You Smoked Gauloises?’ The B-side to Monsieur’s biggest-selling single, it coasts with sophisticated cool - a liquid bassline and suave keys comping under a roaring trademark ToP sax solo. No surprise it found favour once more on the Acid Jazz dance floors of ‘90s London.
Such was the spirit of experimentation that big studio productions and private press releases sat side-by-side, with the likes of Momotaro Pink and Kazushi Inamura, taking their hopes of success into their own hands with the resources available to them. More reflective but no less robust, theirs was a heavy, fat-backed drum sound, soaked in dramatic, soulful psychedelia.
If some were dreamers and others space cadets, none were further out than sci-fi writer, musician, activist and self-made scientist Tadashi Goino, who transformed his own fantasy novel Messenger from the Seventh Dimension into an operatic prog odyssey with few discernible musical reference points – a majestic and completely bonkers outlier even among company as strange and brilliant as that which is collected here.
Less a compilation of a scene, as a compilation of a sentiment, Nippon Psychedelic Soul is a wild ride from start to finish, shattering the narratives of the Japanese folk and rock tradition into a million tiny pieces.
Common Language is a project of the Community Library label. We started it as a way to reconnect with the ideas that drove ComLib’s inaugural releases back in 2005, uncompromising and eclectic DJ 12’s. We’ll be focused on this imprint for a while, and near-term, putting the emphasis on releases by label cofounders and our closest friends.
On CLANG02, the Middlemarch 12” EP, Solenoid transmutes his signature buoyant syncopated acid, electro, and mutant techno into moodier, reverberant territory. If you previously knew Solenoid for his restless, sophisticated Braindance-adjacent stuff, this EP is totally consistent with his long discography. Here though, he gets into a dreamier, and also bassier zone that is equally rewarding either in the innerspace immersion of headphones or in the warmth of your favorite local underground club’s sound system--lots of detail and atmosphere to sink into.
“Middlemarch” is moody deep techno-- a clatter of distant percussion encircles eerie pads and an extra-bassy, double-filtered TB303 bassline. “Ways and Means” rotates perplexing polyrhythmic patterns driven by bright, elasticchords that keep it moving (reminding me of The Martian’s stuff on Red Planet a bit). “A Winter Walk” offers a skeletal, skittering rhythm that wouldn’t be out of place next to a Livity Sound track; and the closer, “Dvv Waltz” reserves a 3/4-time experiment for the bravest / most inquisitive DJs.
Edition of 300 vinyl copies includes special full- color insert
Mastered by Dietrich Schoenemann
About Solenoid
Solenoid is the primary musical vehicle of David Chandler, a lifer underground producer, musician, and visual artist. As a lone electronic voice in the wilderness of early-90s Portland (which was at the time a grunge-saturated third backwater) he started out releasing adventurous, now- unobtainium tapes on his DIY Pharmacy label. Solenoid then became known internationally at the turn of the millennium as one of Portland’s persistent ambassadors for underground crossover electro and techno, releasing on labels like Outward Music Company, Emanate, Orac, and many others (most recently, on the Paris label Partout). He’s a real legend honestly--doggedly clocking in almost 40 years of uncompromising experimentalism with a signature sound and vision running all the way through.
-- Paul Dickow (Strategy)
South African composer and producer Jason van Wyk is continuously honing his craft, with each consecutive release feeling like a clear evolution of its predecessor. Through his albums and soundtrack commissions, van Wyk’s technique at perfectly balancing melody and atmosphere is now more apparent than ever.
Inherent, his sixth aptly named album, finds van Wyk distilling his sound to where each note seems to have implicit cinematic intent, revealing intricate new details with every listen. Inherent features large swaths of warm, wispy ambient, ghostly piano and widescreen drone. Yet, at the very moment when all seems to apex, van Wyk presses on by mining his past endeavors in club music, neo-classical and scoring work to create something else entirely.
Distorted guitars, percolating synth arpeggios and poignant beat design propel the contemplative ambient sections into the light, bringing van Wyk’s sound into previously unexplored territory.
Following the massive, multi-platinum success of the global hit "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and his breakout contributions to Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER, Shaboozey returns with his most ambitious work to date: the new concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales. Building on the genre-bending foundation of Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, this project cements Shaboozey’s status as a pioneer of New Americana through a cinematic outlaw revenge story with a tragic love at its center.
The narrative follows Cherie Lee, who, after witnessing her sheriff father’s murder by the Bootcut Boys, abandons the badge to hunt the gang down one by one. In the heat of her vengeance, she falls for an outlaw—not the killer, but a man guilty by association. While he seeks redemption through her love and she seeks a cure for her darkness, both find that violence is not so easily escaped. When her lover kills the real murderer in her name, he proves that bloodlust doesn’t end; it only evolves. In a devastating final act, Cherie chooses her vendetta over her heart, killing the man who loves her most and fully becoming the very monster she set out to destroy. Gritty, soulful, and narratively daring, The Outlaw Cherie Lee is a bold evolution from one of music's most dominant current forces.
There was nothing in contemporary music like Chris Isaak’s Heart Shaped World when it hit shelves in June 1989. More than three decades later, the singer-songwriter’s third album still sounds unique — and claims a backstory nearly as fascinating as the retro-leaning material and standout performances that propelled it to sales of more than 2.5 million copies. Home to the Top 10 smash “Wicked Game,” the set remains a masterful mood piece that invites you to pour a late-night drink, sit in a dimmed room, and relish Isaak’s elegant albeit raw ruminations on love, relationships, and questionable decisions.
Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, and featuring the bonus track “Diddley Daddy,” Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set of Heart Shaped World unearths the staggering inner details, saturated tones, and brilliant atmospherics of the crisp production. It brings you up close and personal with Isaak’s spectacular singing — impeccably controlled, tense, brooding, steamy, smoldering, haunted — situated amidst stripped-down backdrops that allow every note to fully bloom and decay.
While Isaak’s ever-steady baritone remains the anchor, the contributions of his trusty backing band, the aptly named Silvertone, come across with just as much cool, command, and realism. The indispensable playing of guitarist James Calvin Wilsey particularly emerges with superb clarity and dimensionality. The character of his 1965 Fender Stratocaster, shivering twang of his spring-coiled fills, and his signature use of reverb, delay, and vibrato seamlessly match Isaak's patient deliveries and the band’s unhurried rhythms. Experienced on UD1S with ultra-black backgrounds and a nearly invisible noise floor, Heart Shaped World is in every regard a demonstration disc.
The premium packaging of this UD1S pressing befits its elevated status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, this reissue is for discerning listeners who desire to immerse themselves in everything involved with the album, not the least of which is the cover art depicting a lost-in-thought Isaak staring ahead and sitting in what appears to be an efficiency apartment. The image epitomizes the record’s lonesome temperaments and pensive themes.
Of course, if not for director David Lynch hand-picking two cuts from Heart Shaped World for his 1990 film Wild at Heart, the record would’ve probably suffered the same fate as Isaak’s prior efforts and gone unnoticed by the mainstream. Despite receiving raves from outlets such as NME, Chicago Tribune, and Rolling Stone upon its original release, the album stalled in the lower quadrants of the Billboard charts and, after a few weeks, dropped off.
Cue the ear of Lee Chesnut. Then the music director for a large Atlanta radio station, Chesnut heard the instrumental version of “Wicked Game” on Lynch’s soundtrack and started airing the album rendition at all hours of the day. Aided by a sensual video featuring Isaak and supermodel Helena Christensen, the song found its way into the public consciousness by early ‘91 and helped make Isaak a most unlikely mainstream star in an era where his techniques had little to nothing in common with popular tastes.
Despite its vintage vibes and shared DNA with legends such as Roy Orbison, Chet Baker, and Glen Campbell, Heart Shaped World transcends nostalgia, rockabilly, and throwback tropes. For all the melodrama and sadness at hand, Isaak’s gorgeously transparent singing dives deep underneath emotional surfaces. He mines subtleties that indicate his feelings go beyond heartbreak and anguish, and occasionally suggest frustration, menace, and anger. You can hear it in his quivering falsetto, and the slow and methodical ways he allows delicate whispers to break into shadowy phrasing that crosses over to the darker sides of romance and desire.
That approach bolsters the title track, which suggests calm yet moves on ominous currents — its simmering pace and snare-drum snappiness foreshadowing Isaak raising the volume and urgency during the coda. The southwestern-tinged “Wrong to Love You” plays with similar concepts of hesitation, unease, and discord, Isaak careful never to fully erupt and give anything away. His poised deliveries offer a master class in the art of insinuation and hurt on “Nothing’s Changed,” sent up with a wordless backing chorus and crackling guitar lines straight out of a Memphis blues joint.
Heart Shaped World further boosts its merit via its abundant stylistic variations, from the upbeat country-and-western trot of “I’m Not Waiting” and Spanish acoustic shimmer of the jazz-based ballad “Blue Spanish Sky” to the swinging horn-accompanied grooves of “Don’t Make Me Love You” and desert smokiness of the understated “Kings of the Highway.” On the latter, Isaak comes across as resigned and absolute. His singing and pain worm their way into your soul, and echo akin to the way the music prepares to strike when you least expect.
“Trouble going 'round,” Isaak croons right as the album begins. “Trouble going down.” Damn straight.
Looking back on her career in the early 90s, Stevie Nicks described the first track of Rock a Little as “the most exciting song that I had ever heard.” This coming from a superstar who was already closely affiliated with several bajillion-selling Fleetwood Mac albums — to say nothing of her own benchmark solo debut. Her remarks attest to the enthusiasm and effort she invested in her third record, a 1985 work that quickly furthered Nicks’ profile and cemented itself as a piece of 80s pop lore.
Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary. Helmed by a cadre of producers and engineers, and recorded for a reported one million dollars, the platinum-certified album teems with a head-spinning array of colors, tones, dreamscapes, and accents. This reference-grade reissue marks the first time they are all brought to light and conveyed with proper balance, dimensionality, and positioning.
Though Rock a Little doubtlessly has period characteristics of a mid-80s LP, Nicks and company spare no expense when it comes to distinguishing the music with expansive sonics distinguished with lush melodies, high-tech percussion, echoing vocals, sampled keyboards, and layers of sophisticated accents. The degrees of spaciousness, headroom, and dynamics are nothing less than inspiring, while the newly enhanced detail, texture, and clarity make the songs sing like never before. As for Nicks’ voice? Wait ’til you experience the transparency and depth.
Those advantages extend, of course, to the aforementioned “I Can’t Wait,” a statement-making opener shot through with modulating synthesizers, splashy drums, metallic guitars, and serious drama. Holed up in a massive studio, Nicks required just one take to nail her part, which she called “magic and simply not able to beat.” The singer-songwriter also distilled the reverberating emotional essence of the Top 20 tune, stating “when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen.”
The same can be said for nearly all of Rock a Little. Crafted by the likes of Songwriters Hall of Fame multi-instrumentalist/producer Rick Nowels, Heartbreakers organist Benmont Tench, bassist Bob Glaub, jack-of-all-trades Greg Phillinganes, and session-pro guitarists Waddy Watchel, Les Dudek, and Danny Kortchmar — along with another two dozen or so participants — the record spills with diverse ideas, shapes, and moods. Everything is in the right place, as evidenced by the swirling glide and sensual undertow of the slightly funky title track to the snapping rhythmic pace and big hooks of “Imperial Hotel,” one of Nicks’ standout moments.
“What was it she wanted?” Nicks queries on “No Spoken Word,” continuing a theme of contemplation that runs through the narratives. Nicks never lands on a definite answer, but hearing her explore loneliness, love, and the secrets we keep to ourselves proves continuously rewarding. Take her passionate performance on a cover of Chas Sanford’s “Talk to Me,” a Top 5 smash furthered by tasteful saxophone lines and understated folk elements. Immersive yourself in the grand sonic corridors of “If I Were You,” laden with Nicks’ signature mysticism.
Moreover, surrender to the gravitas of the closing “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You,” a piano ballad composed about the death of Joe Walsh’s three-year-old daughter. As Nicks asserts earlier on the album, she sings for things money can’t buy.
So, rock a little, yes, but dare to feel even more.
Devo Marries Gritty Guitars with Expansive Keyboard Canvasses on Duty Now for the Future:
Transitional Album Furthers the Band’s Satirical Stance, Includes Cover of “Secret Agent Man”
Hear the 1979 Record in Audiophile-Grade Sound and at 45RPM for the First Time:
Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set
Benefits from Enhanced Definition and Presence
1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe
“Pop music needs a big enema.” Devo created Duty Now for the Future with that mission statement, relayed to the press by co-founding bassist/vocalist Gerald Casale, in mind. Though unfairly pegged by some as an example of the common sophomore slump, the record spurred the group’s interest in electronic instrumentation, extended its penchant for biting social satire, and contained another transformative cover song in the form of “Secret Agent Man.” Above all, the 1979 work proved the Ohio pranksters were anything but a joke even if they would have to wait one more year until for their mainstream breakthrough.
Sourced from the original master tapes, mastered by engineer Krieg Wunderlich, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Duty Now for the Future in audiophile-grade sound. Benefitting from the extra groove space on this first-ever 45RPM version, it plays with enhanced definition, deep-black backgrounds, and ultra-quiet surfaces.
Though certain band members later expressed regret with some of his decisions, the merits of Ken Scott’s production emerge like never before. A lurking edginess serves as a signpost in Devo’s progression before it fully embraced keyboards as a primary tool. Guitars possess punch and grit and, along with the crisp arrangements, are sharpened with an ear toward accuracy and vibrancy. It all helps give Duty Now for the Future a direct immediacy that answers the complaints of listeners who felt the affair too processed or sterilized.
Notably, a majority of the material here stems from the same grab bag of songs Devo banked before Warner Bros. signed it to a deal. The album marks a capstone to Phase One of a career that for all intents and purposes began in 1973. And just like many of the group’s performances of that era, Duty Now for the Future remains just as famous for the critical disdain it inspired as the music itself. A vicious review in Rolling Stone — the very publication that a few decades later would trumpet the band as one of the most important of its age — ended with the writer offering to send readers shards of the LP he planned on smashing to bits.
Perhaps he just needed to experience this new-wave effort with the restored sound that makes everything now feel so explosive and urgent. Whatever the case, the songs hold up and, amid a contemporary period which gives increasing license to artificial intelligence and behemoth conglomerates, seem more apt than ever before.
Consider “Blockhead,” which skewers the predictable appearances and numb-to-the-world actions of a rule follower. Or the similarly themed “Clockout,” an uptempo ditty whose thumbing-its-nose bravado and sardonic lyrics send up corporate culture with an irresistible smirk. As for the wiry, hard-hitting urgency of “Wiggly World” and Mark Mothersbaugh’s loud declaration that “They say the fittest shall survive/Yet the unfit may live”: Evidence these art-school rabble-rousers still had some punk fury to flush out of their system. And the sincere allure of the charged power pop and wishful circumstances of “The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize” cannot be denied.
To point to an interesting bit of history that makes Duty Now for the Future all the more intriguing, particularly for the most committed Spuds, more than half its tracks were selected for Greatest Misses — a 1990 anthology that celebrates lesser-known cuts and functions as a rejoinder to a hits compilation from the same year. (The only track from the 1979 album to make the “hits” disc: “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA.”)
Indeed, tunes like the riff-driven albeit controversial “Pink Pussycat,” atmospherically twitching “S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain),” and ceremonial instrumental “Devo Corporate Anthem” may lack the catchy appeal and all-together coherence of what follows on the group’s third and most commercially successful effort, Freedom of Choice. Yet in order to get there, to de-evolve if you will, the band needed the smorgasbord that is Duty Now for the Future.
If there is one thing that WAX RDM loves to do, it is split, they love splitting bills, middle splits, banana splits and most of all a good old split EP, and they made sure to deliver on their first one. Not only is he responsible for saving the Netherlands from becoming an aquatic civilisation, the land creature known as Deltaplan also claimed the whole A side for his boombastic electrofied vinyl only rendition of Sexual Seduction, which could get any dance floor drenched in dripping sweat. The Hague city's APK Boys have split the split in 2 on side B. If Flipper was a fun loving dolphin who always dreamt of moving to The Hague City, this is what he would sound like, hard hitting, just a tad frustrated and ready to snap at any moment. Yes Yes finishes of the split with a sure-shot Electro heater which will take your mind into a dreamlike state, thinking of ways to make Flippers dreams come true. And if you think things couldn't get any better, APK provided us with a 3rd digital only track for good measure. Stay dry and keep swimming.
In 2023, Kraków-based composer Martyna Basta and Los Angeles-based sound artist claire rousay were invited to Poland by Unsound for a short residency, where they spent a few days trading ideas and concepts, and brainstorming their first collaboration. Initially motivated to create lengthy, expansive pieces together, they also ended up experimenting with shorter vignettes, and ‘hotel room’ expresses these two extremes, featuring three long-form tracks and three brief, euphoric songs. “It wasn’t something we specifically planned,” explains Basta. “It just unfolded that way.” The most important stage of the process, however, was the period that followed the residency, when rousay and Basta began working on their sketches in isolation, trading drafts and sculpting the sounds independently before rousay handled the final mixdown. In the comfort of their own bedrooms, they were better able to reflect their individual creative routines, organically reaching a junction where their music felt truly unified. Even while they were in Poland, the duo joked that it might have been easier if they’d been holed up in separate rooms emailing each other.
Both artists have had an energetic few years: after steadily building a reputation for her diaristic and candid concrète experiments, rousay signed to Thrill Jockey in 2023, releasing the acclaimed ‘sentiment’, ‘a little death’ and the more eaze collaboration ‘no floor’; Basta, meanwhile, followed up 2023’s hallucinatory ‘Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering’ and her debut for Belgium’s Stroom imprint, ‘Diaries Beneath Fragile Glass’ with a studio album on !K7’s 7K sublabel: ‘Winged in Collapse’. The title of their collaboration reflects rousay and Basta’s hectic touring schedules in the wake of these releases, the constant feeling of displacement and the emotions that emerge when the environment is in flux. “I know we aren’t the only musicians traveling and creating work at the same time,” says rousay, “but being able to speak about that experience and all the things that come with it was comforting.” And the music itself, assembled from hypnagogic field recordings, spectral voices, electronics and filtered instrumental improvisations, sounds bewitchingly unmoored, not tied to a specific location but hovering around the uncanny space in-between.
Scratchy ASMR sounds introduce us to the opening track ‘zoom’, initially obscuring the duo’s elegiac harmonies. They are careful to let the various elements evolve at their own pace, with the fictile guitar drones melting into the foreground while Basta’s dissociated whispers and rousay’s illusory synths pick out the subtlest subliminal shades. It all builds to the piece’s dramatic third act, when layered chords ring out like organ blasts, enveloping the negative space. The shorter, more anxiety-provoking ‘denim’ is remarkably divergent, a dismantled folk memory pieced together from skeletal piano notes, vaporous choral echoes, haunting string plucks and pulsating feedback. Where the music aligns is in the mood itself, capturing a feeling that’s neither completely abstract nor fully referential. Not ambient exactly, ‘hotel room’ is a suite of soundscapes that gesture towards structure while repeatedly folding in on themselves.
On ‘Lost and Found’, wordless Autotuned ad-libs spiral around delicate guitar plucks and washing waves, coalescing into a faded Polaroid of opiated Americana, and on ‘Where Are You Now’, operatic squeals and corroded orchestral scrapes are juxtaposed with nauseous low-end tones. Evaporating until only industrial whirrs and music box chimes remain, the latter encapsulates the entire album’s chilling liminality, smudging saturated voices with casual electro-acoustic interjections before it erupts abruptly, transforming into a dense, pitch-skewed hymn. ‘hotel room’ plays like a surreal travelogue, teasing listeners with airy familiarities as it humidifies dry, awkward spaces. More a labyrinth of catacombs than a single, fixed chamber, it’s Escher-like – cryptic and seductive – and decked out with personal asides and intimate details that reward the most patient, curious listeners.
Marc Cotterell has been going about his business with great style in recent years. The Plastik People boss leans into the old school soulful house and garage house scenes for his inspiration and updates those foundational samples with plenty of musicality as well as club-ready rhythms. This solo outing kicks off with the impossibly infectious 'Keep Pushing' with its angelic vocal tones and rich piano chords all overflowing with catchy, feel-good vibes. 'If You Still Love Me' has the same irresistibly joyous results, but this time darts about with a touch of US garage swing and some vibrant horns. 'Boogalou' closes with a more knotted, funky bassline. Brilliantly accessible but sophisticated stuff.
Backing it up can mean so many things. According to the urban dictionary, it means to carry on drinking the next day in spite of a rather large one the night before. According to Apple, it means to take your I-phone and attach it to an I-pad or Apple Mac - and copy the information to the cloud. Or the device. But in music.....what we mean is basically this....."Damn......that was a big hit......how the hell are they going to emulate that success on the next one."And it's hard for so many reasons. Was it luck Timing That one in a million sample With all the pressure, soon the artist can start second guessing themselves........and that's when backing it up becomes a real problem.But not for our boy PURPLE DISCO MACHINE. If BODY FUNK, his last outing on CLUB SWEAT, wasn't one of THE biggest songs of last year, from Ibiza to Miami and back again.....played by every single DJ under the sun, from BLACK MADONNA to JAMIE JONES to your mama......then I'm not sitting at my lap top writing this shpeel....which I'm very sure I am. AND I'm going to back myself (see what I did there) - and say that DISHED (MALE STRIPPER) is the best way to back up a hit ever. With another hit. Doesn't sound the same....doesn't worry about what the last one did...just does what it does.....which to be honest - is GO OFF!!!! It builds and builds and builds and......In the same way that BODY FUNK masterly made the sum of 2 disco songs bigger than their parts had ever been, this time PDM takes some Italo Disco from MAN TO MAN MEET MAN PARRISH's MALE STRIPPER and mashes it with the aptly named ELLIS D's DISHAPELLA to create a 12/10. Back it up PDM - you are a legend!!!!
Key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition.
For fans of pain & pleasure, Throbbing Gristle, lost horror soundtracks & haunted electronics.
Back in 1987, Clive Barker's supernatural body-horror classic Hellraiser hit cinemas worldwide and introduced audiences to the demonic Cenobites. Barker was a devoted COIL fan (Peter Christopherson and John Balance), and he famously said they were the only band he'd ever heard on record whose music he'd had to take off because, in his words, "theymade his bowels churn.". He initially invited them to compose the film's music, and the group began recording cues. But the producers at New World Pictures ultimately rejected the material in favor of a more traditional approach, bringing in Christopher Young, whose final score remains excellent, if less experimental. What remains from Coil is an unfinished soundtrack with surviving fragments and rough ideas, abruptly left behind mid-process, a glimpse into an alternate Hellraiser movie, one we can only fantasize into existence.
Nearly 40 years later, key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition, reassembled into a standalone, possibly definitive and strangely beautiful nightmare suite. Play it in the dark and experience the consequences of raising hell...
MUSIQUE POUR LA DANSE presents The Unreleased Themes From Hellraiser expanded ritual by Coil
Back in 1987, Clive Barker's supernatural body-horror classic Hellraiser hitted cinemas worldwide and introduced audiences to the demonic Cenobites. Barker was a devoted COIL fan (Peter Christopherson and John Balance), and he famously said they were the only band he'd ever heard on record whose music he'd had to take off because, in his words, "theymade his bowels churn.". He initially invited them to compose the film's music, and the group began recording cues. But the producers at New World Pictures ultimately rejected the material in favor of a more traditional approach, bringing in Christopher Young, whose final score remains excellent, if less experimental. What remains from Coil is an unfinished soundtrack with surviving fragments and rough ideas, abruptly left behind mid-process, a glimpse into an alternate Hellraiser movie, one we can only fantasize into existence.
Nearly 40 years later, key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition, reassembled into a standalone, possibly defnitive and strangely beautiful nightmare suite. Play it in the dark and experience the consequences of raising hell...
Notes by Danny Hyde
Original artwork by Trevor Brown
For fans of pain & pleasure, Throbbing Gristle, lost horror soundtracks & haunted electronics.
