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Mj Lenderman is the project of Asheville native, Jake Lenderman, whose 'Boat Songs' was released to wide acclaim on Dear Life Records in 2022. Now Dear Life is proud to offer a vinyl reissue of MJ's 2021 label debut, 'Ghost of Your Guitar Solo,' a collection of nine songs recorded and performed entirely by
Lenderman, and one live band track. The record was written and recorded quickly, songs often being fully constructed and recorded within frenzied single day sessions. Songs were born out of freewheeling jam sessions with his roommates, with Lenderman often freestyling lyrics that would later become the
foundations of the finished songs. Lenderman would write 20 disconnected lines a day, scrapping most of them but preserving a few to be used later. This process aided in what became an extremely prolific writing period for the artist in the spring of 2020. The record sounds like country music being played by a noisy punk band, unkempt and imperfect like the characters in his songs. Here, Lenderman broadened his lyrical scope beyond solemn introspection, adding humor to scenes larger than his own life. He points to authors Harry Crews and Larry Brown as inspirations, both of whom were southern, self-taught writers who balanced empathy, humor, and darkness. This leads to the erosion of the line that separates humor and sadness. The resulting songs are about over-
indulgence and drug/alcohol abuse, full of self-loathing and pity while celebrating the absurdity of it all.

A DJ, producer and prolific collaborator, Greg Paulus’s musical career has led to a truly enviable discography. Born in Minnesota and now an essential part of New York’s sprawling musical landscape, Paulus has taken the foundations of an organic childhood education by his father, the composer Stephen Paulus, and seen it blossom into an unpredictable musical journey encompassing house, soul, jazz and hip-hop.

While touring as a trumpet player with indie band Beirut, as well as in Matthew Dear’s live ensemble, back home he was helping to redefine New York’s underground dance scene as one half of No Regular Play. Alongside childhood friend Nick DeBruyn, the pair brought their deeply musical sound to no less than fifty countries across the world. A decade on, and Paulus arrives on Seth Troxler’s Slacker 85 imprint for his long-awaited debut solo LP, ‘Close To Home’, a deeply felt long-play celebration of his personal cornerstones; family, trust and hope.

From the opening, organic swell of ‘Perot’, arranged with Seth Troxler himself alongside John Camp, ‘Close To Home’ introduces itself as a focused, conscious trip, it’s languid trumpet spilling over into the reflective ‘World Keeps Changing’, which introduces Paulus’s philosophy of music as a constant. ‘Midtown Mirage’ meanwhile leans into the idea of the city itself as a collaborator, resisting pressure and finding its own restful groove. Back over the river, ‘Bond’ roots itself in Brooklyn with a contribution from resident Dillon Cooper, flipping rap standards amid psychedelic flourishes.

Paulus nods toward his dancefloor form on ‘NRG’, a slinky, lo-slung club groove that seamlessly evolves to meld the artist’s nocturnal and studio instincts. In contrast, ‘Real Job’ switches the tempo on Paulus’s MPC to embody an old-school, beatdown flavour, subtly teased out alongside composer and sound designer, Taylor Bense. Doubling down on this languorous groove, ‘Hat Down’ introduces a full-scale No Regular Play reunion, the first of two collaborative tracks that recall the duo’s imperial phase of confidently minimal productions, while evolving their craft.

Following a few missed calls made with love taken from Paulus’s answering machine on ‘$1000’ the minimal, reflective arrangement of ‘Hold Dear’ finds the artist stripping back his layered sound for a skittering, vulnerable exploration of intimacy and life’s devotions.

For a memorable finale, Paulus recruits jazz prodigy Michael Feinberg to deliver upright funk on the deliciously rich ‘Sometimes It’s About Us’. A purely celebratory collage of bopping rhythms and vocals, sharply plucked guitars and archive samples, ‘Close To Home’ concludes with Paulus leading his friends, ensemble and many influences in rare harmony.

Philadelphia-based artist Eugene Chong drops his debut EP on House Puff with SpontaneousSynchronization EP. Marking his first official release, this four-track Deep HouseEP delivers punchy drums, groovy basslines, and lush synths, striking a balance betweenclassic and forward-thinking sounds. It’s a natural fit for House Puff’s ever-evolvingcatalog. This record is built for late summer nights, smoky rooms, and dancefloorsthat never sleep.

UK producer Tom Carruthers returns with a scorching 5-tracker for Skylax Records, diving headfirst into the primal roots of jackin’ house, proto-italo, and early machine funk. Known for his raw MPC-driven grooves on L.I.E.S., Clone Jack For Daze, Syncrophone, and Craigie Knowes, Carruthers channels the energy of the underground circa ’86—pure drum machine soul for the dancefloor faithful. Side A kicks off with the title track “Neutralise”, all sharp snares, warped synths and hypnotic repetition—a jack track in the truest sense. “Deep North” follows with ghostly pads and relentless drum programming, while “No More” brings metallic tension and stripped-down funk with a heavy nod to Chicago’s original blueprints. On the flip, “Pascals” weaves cosmic arps through rugged percussion, merging italo sensuality with bleep-era minimalism. The closer, “Cosmic Ride”, is exactly that: a journey through spacey chords, dusty rhythm boxes, and that unmistakable feeling of warehouse euphoria at 4 a.m. Neutralise EP is a raw, timeless record that strips dance music down to its essence—jacking, emotional, physical. To match the sonic purity and timeless aesthetic of the release, we enlisted the iconic H5 studio—a name synonymous with visionary design in music and culture. Known for their groundbreaking work with Daft Punk, YSL, and numerous award-winning visual campaigns, H5 brings a level of artistic sophistication that elevates this EP into a complete sensory object. Their clean, modernist design echoes the stripped yet futuristic vibe of Tom Carruthers’ sound—a perfect fusion of form and function, underground and high art. Vinyl only. No digital. No compromise. For fans of: Virgo Four, Baby Ford, Larry Heard, early Warp, Mr. Fingers, and Beppe Loda.

»Chronotopia« is the second album by composer-performer Elisabeth Klinck. After collaborating closely with artist Oscar Claus to blend her violin playing with electronic soundscapes and field recordings on her 2023 debut Picture a Frame (Hallow Ground), Belgian electroacoustic artist Elisabeth Klinck now turns inward. On Chronotopia, she takes a more song-oriented approach, embracing her voice as a vital counterpart to her violin, intertwining their sounds like threads in a dynamic, multicolored fabric. The record marks an essential turning point in her artistic evolution and opens up a rich internal world. It is a tapestry of sound, emotion, and curiosity spun from—both literally and figuratively—her growing voice.Klinck, who works as a composer and performer in theater, wrote the pieces between tours and recorded the album in the same place as its predecessor, the Spanish Pyrenees. Though the outside world isn’t as explicitly reflected in the recordings as it was the case on »Picture a Frame,« her sophomore album responds to the outside world by capturing both the expansive serenity of the mountains and the frenetic pulse of life on the road. Eschewing her previous, more atmospheric and abstract approach, Klinck creates a landscape that is built on the song and filled with intimacy. Her music feels at once vulnerable and deeply human, balancing the rawness of improvisation with the careful precision of melody-led composition.Klinck describes »Chronotopia« as a playful exploration of time—its fluidity, its constraints, and its influence on how we navigate the world. These notions reverberate through her melodies and lyrics, which dance between moments of shimmering clarity and messy, beautiful chaos. These contrasts are further accentuated by the cunning interplay of voice and violin, which itself reflects the artist’s fascination with duality and transformation. Recorded in both organic and controlled environments, »Chronotopia« blurs the lines between intuition and design. The »time space« into which Klinck invites her audience is a place where sound becomes touch, time bends like light, and every moment carries the thrill of discovery

Hot off the griddle, Cookin' The Books is the long awaited new album from Australia's kings of Hammond soul, Cookin' On 3 Burners. Their first studio LP in six years finds the trio in top form - deep in the pocket, wide in scope, and stacked with heavyweight collaborators. With a 27-year legacy, global tours, and over 2 billion streams (including the international smash This Girl), Cookin' On 3 Burners remain a defining force in vintage soul, funk, and groove.

Cookin' The Books features a collection of killer collaborators including electrifying live vocalist Stella Angelico, acclaimed soul artist Natalie Slade (Steve Spacek, Katalyst, Simon Mavin), hip hop mainstay Mantra alongside Jane Tyrrell (The Herd), rising alt-soul voice Wilson Blackley, and a sweeping string arrangement from composer/violinist Tamil Rogeon (Aloe Blacc, The Dandy Warhols).

Across the record, the group shifts seamlessly between gritty instrumentals and lush vocal cuts - from the cinematic funk of "Only Words", to the break-beat heavy title track "Cookin' The Books", the bumping bounce of "No Bread For You", and the introspective soul of "Phoenix". Every track reflects the group's deep funk DNA while carving out bold new territory.

With airplay from BBC6's Craig Charles, support from tastemakers (Wax Poetics, Dusty Groove, Rolling Stone Australia), and a world tour booked for 2026, this release is a must-stock for deep funk, soul, and cinematic groove audiences.

Schema Records proudly presents PRELUDE, Stefano “S-Tone Inc.” Tirone’s tenth album in his 30-year career. It is available from October 10th, 2025, in the usual digital/streaming formats, as well as LP (10 tracks) and CD (15 tracks); the latter contains, in addition to the tracks on the vinyl, the singles already released on 7” (“In the Sand”, “Tudo Pra Ela”) and remixes of “Pressure”, “Vento Doce” and “Longe De Voce”.

Various different styles harmoniously coexist in “Prelude”: the soul, funk, disco and house tracks embellished by Julia St. Louis’s black voice and Laura Fedele’s jazz-blues timbre alternate with Latin and Brazilian atmospheres in the tracks that host the precious collaboration with Toco, up to a stunning reinterpretation of Santana’s “Guajira” performed by Manuela Ravaglioli, a long-time S-Tone Inc.’s guest vocalist, and German Leguizamon, an Argentine artist with a brilliant career in the 90s dance music.

The title “Prelude” is a double homage: to the legendary homonymous American record label that defined the New York disco sound between 70s and 80s, and to Eumir Deodato’s masterpiece released on CTI in 1973, a sublime example of cross-genre fusion that has always been a source of inspiration for the refined and cosmopolitan blend of music styles that has made S-Tone Inc.’s sound unique and that is firmly reaffirmed in this new record.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Disco 5 is the latest instalment of Pet Shop Boys’ continuing ‘Disco’ album series, which started in 1986. The 12-track collection features ten Pet Shop Boys’ recent remixes of songs by artists including Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Primal Scream, Paul Weller, Tina Turner, Claptone, Wolfgang Tillmans and more, as well as a remix of their own track ‘Dreamland’ featuring Olly Alexander.

Modularz presents its 94th release, a new full-length EP by label head and renowned producer Developer, marking another milestone in a prolific year of studio work from his base in Berlin. Following the recent release of UHFVHF—a striking collaboration with Ukrainian sound architect Stanislav Tolkachev—Developer returns with Mesmeric Movements, a project that dives deeper into his signature terrain of hypnotic techno and rhythmic storytelling.

Comprising four vinyl tracks accompanied by four exclusive digital cuts, Mesmeric Movements offers an immersive journey through layered percussive architecture, pulsating low-end frequencies, and evolving textures that reflect Developer’s enduring command of tension and groove. Each piece unfolds with precision, revealing a meticulous approach to sound design that has cemented his position as one of techno’s most consistent and visionary figures.

With Mesmeric Movements, Developer reaffirms his artistic direction—refined, powerful, and unmistakably his own—while hinting at the evolution still to come from both artist and label in the year ahead.

"Marionette presents Mélodies pour Clairons, the debut album by multidisciplinary artist Ioa
Beduneau. Based in the South of France, Ioa’s world is rooted in creation - building intricate
self-playing installations and handmade DIY electronics. His practice is driven by a desire to
connect, challenge, and open up dialogues around disability and other social constructs.
Proudly identifying as a disabled artist who is attuned to how our bodies interact with the world,
Ioa brings a fresh and inimitable perspective to electronic and electroacoustic music.
On Mélodies pour Clairons, Ioa contemplates lifeforms using modular synths, channeling
principles of physical modeling and bioacoustics. Ideas begin on paper and evolve into sound,
forming an abstract yet intentional sonic ecosystem. Clairons refers both to a musical instrument
and to a loved one with whom this music was shared, serving as a kind of sound diary during
the stillness of the pandemic. The movement of air, pressure, resonance, and the physical
properties of the clairon (a medieval trumpet) are reimagined and manipulated on this album,
resulting in impressionistic and deeply moving compositions with poetic sensibility. Organic
ASMR tones, synthesized bird calls, and pirouetting melodies of pipes and bells score an
imaginary biodome where chaos and harmony coexist. Striking and singular, these works
embody the kind of boundary-pushing music that defines Marionette."

Following a string of acclaimed collaborations, including Agua Dulce with percussionist Laura Robles and Mapambazuko alongside Congolese guitarist Titi Bakorta, Peruvian artist Alejandra Cárdenas (aka Ale Hop) returns with her most personal work to date yet, A Body Like a Home. Marking her first album under her birth name, the project is a sonic memoir exploring the tangled realms of trauma, recovery, and love through autobiographical soundscapes.
A Body Like a Home is the artist at her most exposed. Comprising 13 songs and 15 poems, the album sees her set aside collaborative fusions for solo catharsis, channeling years of turbulence - intergenerational scars left by colonialism, racism, domestic violence, and alcoholism - into a work that oscillates between brutality and tenderness. Cárdenas states: “I grew up under Alberto Fujimori’s dictatorship, when a veil of hopelessness seemed to settle over everything. This is the backdrop of the album. The songs and poems trace the inevitable loop between private wounds - addiction, domestic violence, fractured intimacy - and Peru’s national scars, carved by colonialism. It’s not a straight story or a resolution. Writing and composing became a ritual of digging for meaning, into what’s buried, disguised, or renamed, until the body itself became a living archive.
” At the heart of the album is Cárdenas’s own voice - part witness, part confessor - reciting over layers of electric guitars, electronic textures, the haunting violin of Mexican musician Gibrana Cervantes, and a collage of field recordings, from rainfall, muffled whispers, broken glass, to archival protest footage from Peru. The result is a work that resonates like a diary written in sound.
The first single, "Motherland", is a searing testimony where Cárdenas voice cracks under the weight of history and personal loss. Amid a storm of distorted guitars, she traces the cyclical legacies of colonialism, from state massacres branding Indigenous bodies as “terrorists” to the spiral of addiction as an unavoidable future. The lyrics draw parallels between political and domestic violence: a mother’s drunken knife pressed to her chest, and a motherland where racism is currency. She utters: “sacrifice demands a body.” Yet, amid the wreckage, a willful grip on love and faith persists. Ultimately, A Body Like a Home is a document of transformation. Tracks like "Evangelina" and the title piece "A Body Like a Home" hold space for resilience, spirituality, and love, while "Early Road" and "Going South" thread subtle nods to Peruvian folklore, opening up bright vignettes into a sense of belonging.
The poetry chapbook accompanying A Body Like a Home (five of its pieces are also recited on the album) extends the work, building a parallel architecture. Oscillating between the documentary and the mythic, the intimate and the forensic, the profane and the oniric, these poems practice a theology of the ordinary, where everyday objects - cameras, knives, moth-eaten cotton - are charged withspiritual and historical weight. Here, the body is land, house, battlefield, collective pain, geological territory; and trauma is, in contrast, archival, cellular, ritualistic, inherited. Read alongside the music, the stories refract across two mediums: songs give them breath and poems give them bone.

On April 13th, 2019 Record Day, Vega Records celebrates with the new release 'My Body' performed by none other than the Legend and King Luther Vandross. This is a song that was never released and was recorded back in 1979 by Luther Vandross when he was working on the colossal album 'Never Too Much'. Brought to Louie Vega by artist and renowned background singer to the greats Mr. Fonzi Thornton, Vega was able to work on the immaculate sounds of Vandross. As Vega recalls 'When I put up the tracks in my studio it sounded as if Luther were singing today, it made it so easy to come with the house grooves having such a perfect vocal performance and one of kind tone. Once I came with the music, I felt I needed to call his original background singer team, which Fonzi organized in a flash. He called upon the genius background singers Brenda White, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Tawatha Agee and Fonzi himself. We are talking the A-Team of background singers, a dream come true in my studio', Vega recalls.
The Result is a stunning art piece by Richard Wilson on the cover of the vinyl double pack 12'. There are seven versions to choose from ready to work back to back.
So not only is it record day, it's also the birthday of Luther Vandross which is on April 20,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUTHER VANDROSS!!!
LOUIE VEGA SENDS A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LUTHER VANDROSS & THANK YOU TO FONZI THORNTON, SEVETA WILLIAMS, AND VANDROSS MUSIC, LLC.

Cindy Lee, the performance and songwriting vehicle of Canadian artist Patrick Flegel (who fronted influential indie group Women earlier), previously stunned listeners with Act Of Tenderness, a heart-wrenching statement informed by the noirish core of celebrity, and has continued to enchant with every album, including the startling What's Tonight To Eternity released earlier this year.

Model Express originally appeared as a self-released edition of 100 gold cassettes. The arch, filmic drama of Cindy Lee's songwriting – realized with keyboards, guitars, aching voice and collaged, lo-fi production – traverses a wide range of emotional and sonic terrain. The red velvet psych-pop of "What Can I Do" gives way to the fluid "Diamond Ring" like radio bursts from space. Model Express finds Flegel at both their most experimental and immediately melodic, and this first-time vinyl release recognizes the collected tracks as a pillar in the Cindy Lee catalogue.

Cindy Lee (who uses the gender neutral pronoun they) is a drag persona drawing on suburban closet queens and mid-century divas. In keeping with Flegel's interest in the faultlines of identity, gender expression, performance and media, Model Express delivers an intense and diverse set of unforgettable songs.

The Sixth record from the friends for the bag.

Another various edition continuing the wide sound of Inthebagg.

Four cuts from returning friends J Onstott, John Manhard, Ty Serna, and Tompson.

Welcome back.

Born from a profound devotion to the piano and a reverence for the organic flow of life, byt’ surprises listeners by presenting "paths of sand", a remarkable creation by Amsterdam-based composer xico, offering sound and soul to those willing to listen beyond the surface.

Through the magic of experimentation, xico captured the fleeting beauty of the muse of improvisation, as described by Nachmakovich, transforming the ephemeral into something lasting. Performances recorded on the same old piano during the 2023 Kaalstaart Festival in the Netherlands have since evolved into a fully realized work. A journey of nearly three years of dedicated silence that began with Telva’s intuitive recognition of xico’s voice, starting with an invitation to her radio show and blossoming into a captivating fascination with what unfolded. This process led to the art of shaping the selected live recordings into a collector’s item, now materialized as a limited edition of 200 pressed vinyl copies, forever remaining as an artistic memento.

Perfectly attuned to the energy of the autumn equinox, paths of sand unfolds as an intimate reflection of music’s ability to hold what cannot be held, to speak what cannot besaid, and to embody what can never be described.

xico is a sound artist and improviser from Ibiza whose work explores the merging point between disruptive and post-natural soundscapes, crafting immersive sonic environments through compositions that unfold like ecosystems.

Encouraged by an understanding of chance as nature’s and awareness' most accessible voice, he focuses on creating generative live-sets with varying degrees of unpredictability. For him, subordinating human intention to nature’s order is a conscious choice, and making art through this lens becomes a statement and a spiritual practice. With his distinctive touch, his compositions resonate with the world in unexpected and profound ways, offering experiences you may never have heard before.

Vanbur – artist duo consisting of composers Jessica Jones & Tim Morrish – are releasing their debut album release this autumn. The album scoops up Earthing and my dove, to sleep, made famous by the Netflix show ONE DAY, alongside previous material from their debut EP ‘Human’ including In Cold Light which had a huge TikTok moment around the show’s release. Written over several years, ‘Of Becoming’ reflects a maturing of Vanbur’s sound as they themselves have gone through major life changes and transitions, which are addressed both lyrically and sonically in this impressive body of work. There’s a dreamlike quality to the album, representing the sometimes disorientating dichotomy found in immense change of wistful nostalgia and strength found in adaptation. Recorded at Church Studios with a 12-piece ensemble, the album weaves between lush orchestral heights such as Of Becoming and Friends of Mine and edgier alt-pop bangers such as Strange Kind Of Creature. Jess’ vocals are at times ethereal and textured, and at times lean further into her song-writing sensibilities with their most personal lyrics yet. With the pair’s range and skillset across production and composition fully explored, the album is a triumph of song-writing. The band have worked with filmmaker and Creative Director Matt Houghton on a strong visual aesthetic, from key artwork to narrative promotional films shot on 35mm. With graphic design by Torsten Posselt, the vinyl will have a tactile and natural quality tying in with the analogue feel of the campaign. Vanbur’s debut EP, Human, was released in 2018 and received press coverage in Clash, Ear Milk, Higher Plain etc and was played across BBC 6Music shows. The had their debut performance at the 100 Club and plan to bring a scaled up version to stages in 2026. The follow up remix EP included remixes by Mogwai and Katie Gately, and their music has been placed in hit-shows including One Day (Netflix), The Rising (Sky), Hanna (Prime) and Queens (Nat Geo).

Tomoyo Harada's crystalline masterpiece, "music & me," finally reissued on vinyl.
JUDGMENT! RECORDS Vinyl Odyssey: Part II

In 2007, Tomoyo Harada's album "music & me," produced by Goro Ito, was released to commemorate her 25th anniversary since her debut.

This album, which combines an acoustic vibe with a soft, limpid vocals, continues to garner overwhelming support from fans even 18 years after its release.

Her self-covers, "Cynthia" and "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," are masterful bossa nova arrangements that resonate with her roots and maturity,

making them truly exceptional works to be enjoyed on vinyl. To maximize their appeal, the new label "JUDGMENT! RECORDS," headed by acclaimed record

designer Koki Hanawa, has released the album on vinyl with his unique aesthetic and craftsmanship.

The meticulous binding, featuring an A-type semi-double cover, recreates the album's worldview both aurally and visually.

■ Participating Artists: Keiichi Suzuki, Yukihiro Takahashi, Masakatsu Takagi, Taeko Onuki, Kiseru, Yuji Oniki, etc

Moving freely through time and space via experimental DIY recordings since 2009, Joasihno return with their fourth album "Spots".

“Find your spot in the shade,” a truly laid-back and incredibly soft-spoken MC once advised, yet in a world that seems to get shadier every day, it’s probably time to finally get out and face the sun. Southern German experimental pop duo Joasihno – initial solo founder Cico Beck (The Notwist, Aloa Input, Spirit Fest) and drummer/composer Nico Sierig (Instrument, Fehler Kuti) – seem to know exactly when it’s time to shine. Idiosyncratic genre tweakers since day one, they have been operating at their own pace, mostly staying in their own shady corner. Yet, almost a decade after their most recent “Meshes” (an album that came with a whole legion of tiny music robots), it’s high time for them to take over more corners, to reclaim even more spots between lo-fi and sci-fi, retro electronica and contemporary classic. Drawing upon influences as varied as Reich, Riley, and Ryuichi, múm, Meek, and Moondog, while also nodding to other experimental twosomes (e.g. The Books), the duo’s fourth full-length “Spots” is set to arrive via Alien Transistor in late 2025.

Leaving soulless automation and all things artificial to others, Joasihno launch the latest record on “2 Squares” that feel like a peaceful, almost bucolic version of retro space age: lights blink ever so softly as easy-going bass tones point at today’s introspective flight arc. Electronic shapes align and things lift off – with a majestic 8-bit sunrise soon appearing right in front of us. Whereas playful title song “Spots” is a miniature Rube Goldberg kind of device, with quirky plucked strings and glitches setting off more and more contraption layers, “Crackleboom” is uncharted energy, an open landscape, an expanding bonfire that leads to a long-forgotten piano, all dust-covered in some kind of saloon. Space might be only noise to others, here, it’s foreboding screeches (“Dizzle Whistle”) that make room for A-side center piece “Forest Lights”: a steady beat that lures us to a clearance in the woods. Things break and shatter in the distance, but this spot right here is for hypnosis, dancing, sylvan spirits. And yeah, it’s surprisingly hot down here in the undergrowth…

Opening side B with a fun banger that takes the unhinged dancing to the playground – “Characa Orb.” feels like French kids on swings going crazy, a tipsy, tongue-in-cheek electro blow-out between Oizo and Orbis Tertius –, things get even more cinematic throughout the second half. Even the cheapest, lo-fiest gear is sufficient to make “The Slow Hour” glow like true, timeless pop royalty. In fact, the very same pop spirits roam and celebrate freely in the chirpy coves of mesmerizing “Detune Lagoon” – more hand-crafted sci-fi/lo-fi loops you’ll only find after facing the ghosts of Lynch or Sakamoto on those night-time trails under the “Deep Moon”. It’s all DIY spots, spots that leave room to dream or dangle, drape yourself over or dive into. Returning to the leafy bower on a melancholy post rock tip, we eventually learn that “Death Is Real” – and so we’re left with a laterna magica that turns and turns and turns. It’s a beautiful spot where light and shadows keep on dancing, just like they’ve always done, ever since the dawn of this madcap universe.

Househead London launch their 2nd 12" release - a limited-edition Chicago Vs London sampler featuring Glenn Underground and Emmaculate Remixes.

Following a string of critically acclaimed events featuring Chi-Town royalty, Househead London further cement their relationship with Chicago on this vinyl release which features two of the city’s esteemed producers - Glenn Underground & Emmaculate - remixing two sterling new tracks from two of the UK’s most exciting producers - Prefix One and Wez Whynt.

Opening the EP is an artist who needs very little introduction, Glenn Underground. A leading international producer & DJ who seems to effortlessly slide between Deep, Soulful, Disco, Jazz and beyond, Glenn boasts an exceptional discography that very few could compete with. His Cosmic Disco Journey Mix here weaves its lo slung groove in a funky off-kilter disco style with piano ripples as Nambi’s voice shimmers on top. Nambi’s heartfelt soars across Glenn’s Cosmic Journey remix unfurling beautiful piano and taut Chi-town beats. Deep and vocal, it’s got that raw soul power that both Glenn and Chicago are known for.

Known for his exquisitely high attention to detail and quality, Emmaculate is one of the go-to producers and sound engineers in Chicago. Working closely with Terry Hunter on a multitude of projects and a shining light across the global soulful house scene, he’s regularly featured across impressive labels such as Dopewax, Yorubasoul, United Music, Soulstice Music and S&S Records. His lush, tough-edged Remix of ‘Feelin’, rolls on with melodic piano hooks to unlock the groove and boosted with extra keys and vocal refrains before the full vocal unfolds. Solid and deep, “Feelin’ is pure joy for the dance floor.

With over 1 million social media followers!!
Idol project "fleuЯR" by Ichika Matsumoto and Sumire Kuramoto.
The divine song "Suki Sugiru" will be released on a 7-inch record!

Ichika Matsumoto and Sumire Kuramoto's idol project "fleuЯR" launched in earnest with a digital release in May 2025 and a CD release in July.

Once you hear it, you'll be hooked on these sublime melodies!
The miraculous, classic idol pop song "Suki Sugiru" and the killer tune "Ashita Kumori no Chi" (After Clouds Tomorrow), featuring the perfect interplay
between the two vocalists, are finally available on a 7-inch record!
Lyrics and music by Taisei Osaka, who has written songs for artists such as SMAP.
Arrangement by Seiji Muto, who has worked on numerous hits, including AKB48's "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie"
The ultimate idol pop song from a team of incredible writers!

»La Traversée« (»The Crossing«) is Matthias Puech’s second album for Hallow Ground and follows up on 2023’s »Mt. Hadamard National Park.« Profoundly inspired by re-reading »The Odyssey,« the French composer, instrument designer, and scholar used a Eurorack modular synthesizer to create four pieces that are by far the most intuitive and emotionally charged in his ever-expanding catalogue. Puech’s masterful command of sound comes to the forefront with even more urgency on this record. A wandering meditation on the human condition, »La Traversée« is an album that is constantly in motion—complex electronic music at its most gripping and evocative.

The foundation for »La Traversée« was laid when Puech prepared a live set for a tour organised in collaboration with Hallow Ground in support of »Mt. Hadamard National Park.« Before writing the first three pieces—»Ennosigaios,« »Polyphármakos,« »Nekuia«—the 18½-minute-long »Ithâké« was composed in near-total isolation in the South of France at the end of 2023. Puech performed the material live several times before taking a step black from it for a while. He revisited the pieces when preparingthem for a release. »I was struck by how the technical process and the intention behind the music had completely vanished from my memory,« he says.

What remained intact, however, was Puech’s association of the material with one of the most influential texts of Western literature. Reading a graphic novel adaptation of »The Odyssey« with his two four-year-olds, he noticed the effect that it had on them and himself. »Its themes of longing, fear of and attraction to the unknown, unresolved quests, and the struggle for control felt topical,« he says. »I was completely taken. Every story ever told seemed contained in this ancient tale; every story I have ever tried to tell as a composer seemed inscribed in this framework.« This also extended to formal motifs such as the repetition of incidents, narrative developments, or dramatic effects that also mark »La Traversée.«

Puech says that he perceived Homer’s writing as musical, »like an old Delta blues or a Renaissance counterpoint,« which inspired his writing process. »With a couple of knobs on my Eurorack system, I could control the unfolding of a story,« he notes. »This made me pass through different emotional statesand led to moments in which everything made sudden sense—when you as an artist get a glimpse atsomething essential, can touch upon something universal.« This shines through »La Traversée,« a wildly imaginative album that is deeply personal while also telling a story far more wide-reaching than that of its creator.

Amsterdam-based Isaiah makes a striking debut on Life In Patterns with his EP "Passive Aggression." Across five stripped-back, impactful cuts, the Dutch artist delivers music designed to move dancefloors and challenge adventurous DJs.

True to his signature style, Isaiah blends old-school grit with sharp, percussive textures, crafting an atmosphere that feels both raw and forward-thinking while staying focused on the essentials.

"Passive Aggression" will be released on vinyl and digital formats on 21 November 2025. The vinyl edition comes with ten locked grooves.

Discover the melancholic sound of Margitte

Hailing from the historic city of Ghent (BE), Margitte crafts a unique sonic tapestry that resonates with both ethereal and fierce. Think Portishead, Pj Harvey, The War on Drugs, St. Vincent and even Gainsbourg. Her music is a journey through scapes, blending haunting melodies with intricate electronic textures and poetic lyricism.

Margitte's sound is both timeless and contemporary, weaving together the mystical and the modern with a vision that is thought-provoking as it is emotionally stirring.
Her performances are true to her artistry and passion. Margitte is not just to be heard, but to be felt, lingering on in your ears long after the last notes faded.

Come and get it, join the haze.

SOUNDS LIKE: Laura Marling, Beach House, Warhaus, Gainsbourg, St. Vincent, Liv, Portishead, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Neil Frances, James Blake, David Byrne, Grace Jones, Kruangbin, The War on Drugs.

Credits:

Margot De Ridder: Voice, keys, composition
Artan Buleshkaj: Guitar
Simon Raman: Drums, Percussion
Annelies Emmerechts: Voice, keys

Artwork by Mwahrk

Mastered by Lieven Van Pée

AOKI takamasa and Tujiko Noriko’s 2005 album »28« has become a cornerstone in the artists’ respective discographies. 20 years after its initial release, Keplar issues it on vinyl for the very first time. Three years in the making, »28« saw the sound artist and the avant-pop singer-songwriter combine their distinct aesthetics for an album that defied categorisation. Their combination of advanced electronic experimentation and pop appeal paved the way for a new generation of artists and turned »28« into an enduring fan favourite. Remastered by Stephan Mathieu, the reissue comes with a brand-new artwork by Joji Koyama and a changed track listing—authorised by Takamasa and Tujiko—for the vinyl version to fit it on a single LP, while the digital version remains identical to the original release.

Tujiko and Takamasa first shared the stage together after the turn of the millennium. Both were emerging solo artists, with Takamasa a mainstay on the Progressive Form label and Tujiko forging a connection with Mego in Vienna, Austria. »I simply liked Noriko’s voice and music, and since we often performed at the same events, it felt like a natural progression for us to start working together,« remembers Takamasa. They first collaborated in 2002 for two shows at the Fondation Cartier in Paris and at SonarLab in Barcelona, respectively. The first joint piece was a rework of Tujiko’s »Fly« from »Hard Ni Sasete (Make Me Hard)« by Takamasa, appearing as the album opener »Fly2« on »28.«

After that, the Paris-based Tujiko and Takamasa, still based in Osaka, worked sporadically and remotely on new material. For the first two years of their collaboration, the two met in the context of live events or Takamasa’s visits to the French capital to discuss their process and exchange hard drives while also occasionally sending each other CDrs in the mail. »Aoki made beats and sounds that complemented my music perfectly, building the foundation on which my voice could float,« Tujiko says today. Takamasa used hardware such as the Nord Modular, the Korg Z1, and the Korg ER-1, while also working with different kinds of software and plug-ins as well as Logic. Tujiko was using Cubase, her preferred piece of gear at the time being an AKAI MPC.

After Takamasa moved to Paris in 2004, this enabled the duo to finish the album together in person. Starting with its subtle use of glitches to the almost-anarchic way in which it deals with the structures of a song, »28« came to be an incomparably intricate album. 20 years on, it remains timeless because of its flawless synthesis of the cutting-edge avant-garde ideas of early 2000s electronica with an idiosyncratic but accessible pop sentiment. Both artists look back fondly—though not uncritically, with Takamasa noting a certain »youthfulness« in his contributions—to the album that was titled after their respective age at that time. »Maybe we should make ›51‹ now?,« quips Tujiko. See you in three years, perhaps.

This Transition's label album features the concert that Donald Byrd Sextet gave in Detroit on August 23th, 1955 organized by the New Jazz Society, a group formed under the impetus of Kenny Burrell, one of the key influences in Detroit jazz.


The reissue of this hard-to-find album is significant for a number of diferent reasons. Its very rarity is one attraction for certain collectors, but more important perhaps is the fact that it was the first recording as featured artist for trumpeter Donald Byrd. It is also extremely revealing of the depth of the jazz scene in 1950s Detroit, which had nurtured Byrd and from which he was just emerging at the time of this concert.

Horace Andy made his debut with producer and mentor Phil Pratt at the age of sixteen. His voice has the soulful influence of artists Otis Redding and Smokey Robinson as well as fellow countryman Alton Ellis.

1975's Get Wise collects a series of singles Including versions of hits like "Money, Money" ("Root Of All Evil") and "Zion Gate" ("I Don't Want To Be Outside"). Recorded between 1972 and 1974, these tracks were record at the legendary studios Channel One, Black Ark, Dynamic Sound and Randy's Studio 17, with house engineers Ernest Hoo Kim, Lee Perry, Carlton Lee and Errol Thompson. The album is also a showcase for The Soul Syndicate Band, the session group that featured Sly & Robbie, Aston Barrett and Earl Smith, among others. Get Wise is available as a limited individually numbered edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

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



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



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



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



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

Spazio Nero -- Spazio Disponibile's side branch for forceful techno movers -- proudly welcomes fellow Roman artist Cosimo Damiano. Known for his bold takes on dark electronics, sparse acid and fluid new wave interpretations he here drops a versatile pack of fierce, yet playful high energy techno.

Brixton Heights Records is releasing a new original One Drop track, which is a collaborative effort of the Brixton Heights Crew, Kieko De Stefanis and Gaudi. The riddim is composed by Italian producer Kieko De Stefanis.

The lyrics are a re-adaptation of an old Italian reggae song by the Genoese band Sensasciou, voiced by the legendary Peter Hunnigale.

The track features drum and bass by Mafia and Fluxi, piano by Gaudi, brass by Ital Horns and a set of arches by N. Gatti at the Violin and R. Rassi at the Viola. On Side A you will find the sweet voice of the original Mr Honey Vibes, Peter Hunnigale, one of the most formidable contemporary British Reggae artists who is responsible for the rise and fame of Lovers Reggae in Britain in the 80s and 90s, with his chart-topping tunes and award-winning albums.

On Side B the track Caruggi Jazz is an homage to the Italian alleys of Genoa, where the sound of live musical instruments fuses with the perfume of lovers who exchange effusions protected by the shadows of old buildings, in a seductive harmony which mixes unconditional feelings, warm memories and affectionate hopes for the future.

The tracks were mixed by Gaudi and mastered at Anchor Studios by Augustus "Gussie" Clarke. The final result is a unique production that blends vintage vibes with modern sounds.

In 2019, a brutal epileptic seizure changed my life - the first of more to come. I was forced into solitude, and in that quiet, music became my lifeline. In the following years, I poured everything I had into creating between you and me: a raw, DIY album that is a distillation of my lived experience during this time. The album explores emotional authenticity, freedom of expression, and acceptance: not as abstract concepts, but through visceral experiences that have fundamentally reshaped my art and my sense of self. As a listener, I invite you to explore your vulnerability by joining me in mine. This album is truly between you and me.

Ozzy Jones is a Dutch-Australian interdisciplinary artist whose music blends electronica with indie. Drawing from personal struggles and raw emotion after his seizures started, his debut album between you and me explores vulnerability, male identity, and authentic self-expression. Rooted in Amsterdam's vibrant creative scene, Ozzy's work fuses sound, visuals, and storytelling to create a deeply immersive and honest artistic experience.

Following releases on Longform Editions and her own Paralaxe imprint, Dania descends on Somewhere Press with crepuscular, quixotic pop that hits a sweet spot between Mark Clifford’s Cocteau Twins remixes and Massive Attack.

Parked next to Alliyah Enyo, Slowfoam, and Angel R, Dania’s found an ideal home at Somewhere Press, and »Listless« is her most confident, transcendent set to date. Her last few albums were steeped in meaning – a way for the Iraq-born, Tasmania-raised artist to explore her identity and probe the impacts of colonisation. Here, she gives herself more room to breathe, thriving in the mysteries of nighttime – a direct reference to her nocturnal existence as an emergency doctor in Australia. The album was completely composed in the midnight hours, but it’s not self-consciously dark in the way you might expect. Opening track »On a Grassy Knoll« is one of the prettiest – and poppiest – tracks Dania has released, cracking open her voice with thrumming harmonies that she complements with granulated, Guthrie-esque guitars and, most unexpectedly, half-speed drums. It’s the first time Dania’s used percussion, and it suits her extremely well.

In fact, even when the powdery breaks drop away in the album’s final breaths, you can almost hear an outline of where they might remain. On »Write My Name«, Dania loops her voice between waved strings and slippery piano phrases, and the hypnotic closer »A Hunger« is a thudding, sub-heavy 4/4 away from being Peak Oil-style contemporary dub techno.

But the big draw here is Dania’s batch of hazy dream-pop miniatures, like the Seefeel-adjacent »Heart Shaped Burn« (with Rupert Clervaux on drums), and the Bristolian »Car Crash Premonition«, that features a rolling bassline taking us right back to 1998. Very strong – peak listening if you’re into Bowery Electric, MBV, or Mark Van Hoen.

Mia Moretti makes her Crosstown Rebels debut with ‘Safe With Me’, featuring Irma Thomas. The soulful new single, backed by a remix from Sweden’s Tiger Stripes.

Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Mia Moretti heads to Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels with ‘Safe With Me’, a disco-house celebration featuring New Orleans soul legend Irma Thomas, the Grammy-winning Soul Queen of New Orleans. Co-produced by award-winning producer Mark “Blakkat” Bell, a longtime figure in house and electronic music whose work spans from M People to King Britt, the release marks a full-circle moment for Moretti, who draws on her years of crate digging, gospel house expertise, and deep love for vocal-driven grooves.

‘Safe With Me’ pairs Moretti’s richly textured production with Thomas’ commanding vocal presence, creating a track that balances heartfelt emotion with dancefloor energy. Similar to Moretti's DJ sets, the track blends gospel, disco, and house sensibilities with storytelling. Swedish mainstay Tiger Stripes reinterprets the track with his own forward-thinking production. Known for his house and techno grooves that have energised clubs from Panorama Bar to Ministry of Sound, he injects ‘Safe With Me’ with shimmering synth layers and driving percussion, making it a perfect complement to the original production.Mia Moretti has established herself with vocal and gospel-driven house sets and productions. Her debut EP ‘Tambor’ (2023) marked a confident step as a producer sampling female bullerengue artists from Colombia, including Petrona Martinez and Toto La Momposina, followed by ‘Best I Can’ (2024) alongside gospel icon Vonita White and remixes from house music pioneers. In 2025, Mia has continued to build momentum with appearances from Ibiza to Paris Fashion Week alongside the launch of her Chef’s Kiss radio show on Diplo’s Revolution. ‘Safe With Me’ continues that trajectory, highlighting her instinct for timeless grooves and soulful storytelling.

One Instrument welcomes Morning Seance, composer and sound artist, originally from Italy and based in Vienna. On this debut LP, Morning Seance traces a drifting narrative composed of unstable harmonies, fluid structures, and ghostlike forms. The album unfolds like a dream told in fragments, oscillating between fluctuating pulses and decaying transmissions, from nocturnal stillness to acoustic mirages. The first half of the record moves through zones of suspended tension and evanescent contours, where tracks like “Be faster than your own depression” and “The tenderness of our own autobiography” sketch fragile architectures of affect. The second half enters a more spectral terrain — “Breakfast in a night club,” “A visit to the Brion-Vega tomb” — not places, but agglomerates of sonic sensation, detached from any personal frame.

With each piece, the music dissolves and reconstitutes itself, resisting finality or form, and doing so with an indestructible joy that hums beneath the wreckage. This is degenerate ambient music: anti-geometric and subject to emotional weather — not a refuge, but a slow collapse of structure and purity, where atmosphere gives way to excess and disobedience.

The album is crafted entirely from a single source: the Roland Alpha Juno-1. Despite this constraint, it achieves a vast sound spectrum, transforming one synthesizer’s voice into a layered landscape of textures and moods.

The electronic music of Morning Seance is built on constant variation and intricate, looping patterns with no clear beginning or end. This variation is not simply applied to an audio element, but enacted as a compositional logic — avoiding mechanical combinations and obvious rhythms. The result is a mutable mass of audio matter and tonal debris, guiding the listener through richly divergent environments.

When people think of Yacht Rock-those smooth, sun-drenched sounds that once drifted from Californian radio stations in the late '70s and early '80s-they rarely imagine it echoing through rehearsal rooms in Hamburg or Linz. Yet even far from the Pacific coastline, the appeal of shimmering chords, laid-back grooves, and polished production found fertile ground.
This compilation gathers rare and overlooked tracks from Germany and Austria. These artists embraced West Coast aesthetics with sincerity and subtle twists, resulting in music that feels both familiar and refreshingly new-smooth sounds for cloudy skies. So drop anchor, pour something cool, and enjoy this unexpected cruise through the lesser-charted waters of Euro Yacht Rock.

Our journey begins in Austria, where Reflection's Because (1981) set the tone with blue-eyed soul and analogue warmth-a sunlit blend of Doobie Brothers polish and local charm. Its creator, Dieter Heyduk, reappears with Austrian Sky, a heartfelt nod to his homeland that fuses mountain calm with oceanic longing.
From the North Sea island of Föhr, Ara Pacis dreamed of California on their 1979 self-release To the Westcoast. Inspired by Steely Dan and Lake, they turned German rock precision into breezy, melodic sophistication. Meanwhile, in Düsseldorf, Mainpoint fused funk and jazz-rock on Frisbee, their 1980 single bursting with rhythmic drive and optimism before the tide of the Neue Deutsche Welle swept such grooves aside.
Bremerhaven's Nuages offered the compilation's only instrumental gem, Strange Weekend (1985)-a gentle blend of jazz-funk and rock and largely lost to time. Its cool restraint captures the European interpretation of Californian ease.
Around the same period, British traveler Gavin James recorded River of Laughter in southern Germany, backed by the blues-rock band Black Cat Bone. His acoustic reflections on water and flow mirrored the soft, meditative pulse at Yacht Rock's core.
Berlin's Top Spin kept things playful with Bikin (1985), a funk-fusion snapshot of urban joy that showcased the city's finest session players. From the Ruhr area, the Jan Pack Band is up next. While not a typical Yacht Rock track, Cable Dance is driven by an effortless, groovy '80s vibe.
Peter Seiler's Goldfinger project reimagined Walkin' in the Sand as a relaxed reggae-tinged track, while Munich's Major Seven closed the voyage with Silverboat, a wistful soft rock ballad gliding between melancholy and light.

Across these hidden harbors of German and Austrian pop, the West Coast dream took on new forms-reflected in rivers, skies, and studio lights half a world away from L.A. Under and Above the Clouds celebrates that spirit: the enduring pull of smooth music, wherever it's made.

Green Vinyl. Twenty-five years after their first recording, Panzerpappa - perhaps Norway's most cordial avant-prog ensemble - felt the time had finally come to release their first-ever concept album. In 2025 the band will launch Landsbysladder, their eighth studio release. Landsbysladder is Norwegian for "village gossip" and the album comprises seven instrumental pieces centred on the themes of rumours, tales, and gossip in a small village - a musical chronicle of minor and major dramas unfolding in a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone - or at least thinks they do. Landsbysladder tells a vivid story without uttering a single word. The music shifts between open, melodic passages and sudden bursts of intensity, drive, and complexity. Tempo changes, rhythmic twists, and harmonic detours mirror the unpredictable way gossip can spread, grow, and shift the mood in an instant. The album features several distinguished guest musicians: renowned folk artist Rannveig Djonne on diatonic accordion, seasoned performer Silje Hveem Lofthus on flute, internationally acclaimed soloist and professor Håkon Stene on tuned percussion, Håkon Borve on the rarely heard contra-alto clarinet, and last but not least, jazz luminary Ståle Storlokken - known from Elephant9, Terje Rypdal, Motorpsycho, and Supersilent - on synthesizer.

Berlin-based artist and live performer ASEC joins Blue Hour Music for his latest record, featuring four
tracks with a signature blend of raw, hypnotic techno