Buscar:black star

Underoath reinvents the balance between chaos and harmony with each successive release. Their compositions, conjured from creative tension, become iconoclastic anthems. Even when the band almost combusts, the crackling energy coalesces into something deeply resonant for millions.

Each time they have a chance to do something safe, Underoath challenges themselves instead, with integrity and attitude. Their pair of gold albums and three Grammy nominations stand in stark defiance of the idea of commercial compromise. The Underoath catalog weaponizes noise, aggression, and ambiance as skillfully as melody.

They're Only Chasing Safety is the fourth studio album by American melodic hardcore band Underoath. It was released on June 15, 2004, through Solid State Records. Following the release of their third studio album, The Changing of Times (2002), half of the band's members were replaced. After finalizing the line-up with vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, the band recorded They're Only Chasing Safety with producer James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Paramore). In the heavy and punk music scene, the album is considered a watershed moment. The blend of heavy metal and hardcore influences with a strong pop/punk sensibility spawned a new branch of heavy music. The sound eventually became synonymous with the screamo scene of the mid-2000s. The record went gold in 2011.

RAWAX proudly welcomes Mike Dehnert to the artist Family! We are very happy to present
you this great Producer/ DJ from Berlin on the RX Series. Starting with "Freiraum EP" which came out originally on Mike's onw imprint, called Fachwerk in 2008.
You will hear in future also new music from Mike on RAWAX.
Stay tuned!

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

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


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

For the first time ever, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is available on red & black marble vinyl, celebrating the world’s biggest-selling album and the first album to be certified triple Diamond by the RIAA. Released in 1982, Thriller changed pop music forever, featuring seven U.S. Top 10 hits including “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller,” and helped Michael win a record-setting eight Grammy Awards in one night.

For the first time ever, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is available on red & black marble vinyl, celebrating the world’s biggest-selling album and the first album to be certified triple Diamond by the RIAA. Released in 1982, Thriller changed pop music forever, featuring seven U.S. Top 10 hits including “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller,” and helped Michael win a record-setting eight Grammy Awards in one night.

With one foot in the Mexican underground rock scene and the other one in the global tape trading circuit, Las Ánimas del Cuarto Obscuro found themselves in the middle of a crossroad after their first LP. México wasn´t the same country as when the band first started. Even though access to non-commercial music still was a difficult task in the late eighties, the fringes of culture had way more resources thanks to the stubbornness of certain anonymous heroes: dwellers of El Tianguis Cultural del Chopo, niche record stores, illegal underground parties and hosts of late night Mexican public radio shows.


Ubiquitous social unrest expressed itself in every way possible. The aftermaths of the 1985 earthquake weren’t the only matters on the table. Protests erupted after a rigged presidential election and a student strike hit Mexico’s biggest public university. This was just the tip of the iceberg of issues PRI’s perfect dictatorship was or wasn’t addressing. The clash of the authoritarian regime against new and fresh ideas.


If the first record was about the loneliness of self-destructive youth and it’s urban phantasmagories, LACO’s second LP dealt with change as the axis of human existence. Las Ánimas is just the beginning of the sonic metamorphosis Toño Sánchez went through until this very moment.
The departure of former bandmembers set a different approach towards more experimental and atmospheric sounds. As the project’s only member, Toño Sanchez took an alchemical trip aiming for more mysterious horizons.


Despite the fact that we can still find conventional dark pop and catchy songwriting, the record rests on sound landscapes closer to Jorge Reyes or Tuxedomoon and This Heat than the orthodox ways of so called post-punk, seasoned of course with the lack of music gear and the economic reality prevalent in Mexico of those convulsed times.


Las Ánimas is a goodbye letter to underground but not because the next move is the mainstream. Far away from it, it’s a farewell to traditional rock and a the first steps down into the depths. From now on, Toño Sánchez will dedicate his musical efforts to weirder sounds and scarcer audiences in the search of the arcane, possessed by a mania of constant change that infects the soul after crossing the black door’s threshold.

This release is a homage to the Turbo label.

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.

Epicentre was an R&B/funk group formed in Seattle, Washington by keyboardist Ric Ulsky. The band developed a loyal following, playing the extensive NW club, concert and dance venues throughout the mid-to-late 1970s. Their sound was a blend of melodic R&B and powerhouse funk that dependably filled music venues throughout the Western US. Bernadette Bascom was the lead vocalist, who captivated audiences with her powerful yet velvet-smooth voice and commanding, magnetic stage presence.

In 1978, Epicentre worked with Seattle producer Don McKinney to record their music in Seattle's now legendary Kaye-Smith studios. The result was seven strong, fully -produced R&B songs, with occasional horn and string orchestrations tastefully added to the final versions.

Their music quite literally sat on a shelf for decades until McKinney decided that all the hard work and talent should no longer remain undiscovered and it needed to find its audience. He restored and digitized his copies of the master tapes and looked for an opportunity. A chance call to the former leader of the group, Kell Houston, led to a serendipitous introduction to UK boutique/funk/R&B label founder Russell Paine. The result was an agreement to release their music, starting with two songs, "When You Were In Love With Me", and "Magic Carpet."

And now the follow up single of "Searchin/Tongue Tied"

Footnotes: Lead singer Bernadette Bascom became a protegé of Stevie Wonder, and was the first artist to be signed to his label Black Bull , starting a period of collaboration between the two. Bermadette is the daughter of Reverend Dr. Marion C. Bascomb (1925-2012), one of Baltimore's major civil rights voices and pastor emeritus of Baltimore's Douglas Memorial Community Church. Ric Ulsky eventually left the group to play keyboards and tour extensively with The Association. You can also find Epicentre's music on the compilation album "Seattle Funk, Modern Soul & Boogie: Volume II 1972-1987." In addition to Bernadette, the musicians on the 1978 sessions are Kell Houston, keyboards, Michael Cox, bass, John Carmondy, guitar, and Ricky Lynn Johnson, drums and vocals. While their recorded material is primarily original, Stacy Christensen from Seattle's Gabriel contributed two of his compositions.

Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch’s Bocca di Lupo and Mouth of the Wolf were recorded in July 2025 in Bologna, Italy. The recording sessions took place just after several live dates in New York and Chicago, and a week before they began a short European tour which included Paris, London, Ghent, Porto, and a first date in Bologna.

Below are notes from Jozef and Jim directly.
“With thanks to Gian Luca Farinelli and Rosanna Mordini from the extraordinary Cineteca di Bologna, we were able to secure recording days in the very cool Fonoprint Studios — located on Via Bocca di Lupo in Bologna, hence the titles of these two LPs. (“In bocca al lupo” — in the mouth of the wolf — is the Italian idiom for wishing one good luck; equivalent to “break a leg” in English.)

Bocca di Lupo starts with a new version of our own “Only Lovers Left Alive,” and “Apology” is a new version of a pre-existing piece by Jozef. All other tracks are new originals. We were honored to have guest duet vocals from the iconic Courtney Barnett on “Never Like You Said.” The lyrics of the song arrived spontaneously in a single take in the studio. It’s not directed at a specific person, but more an emotional response to several disingenuous, deceitful people — a closing of the door on their toxic behavior. And a casually recorded conversation (concerning the haunted auras of particular pieces of vintage women’s clothing) between Adriana Coppi and Veronica Mayrr (from Deux Femmes) is woven as a background into the track titled “Pour Deux Femmes.” “Black Roses” is an original poem written in Bologna, and recited from within its own musical setting. All other tracks are instrumentals.

Mouth of the Wolf, the second LP, consists of two longer, darkly ecstatic instrumental studio tracks — “In A” and “Massa Damnata.” Both were created with two electric guitars, and derived from our live performances. We consider it to be a musically separate album, and is therefore presented in its own sleeve and with its own artwork.

Our music has many inspirations — everything from our friends in Sunn O))) and Swans to Terry Riley and Morton Feldman; from Hildegard Von Bingen and WIlliam Lawes to Psychic Ills and Spacemen 3; from Les Rallizes Dénudés and NEU! to Nadja and Glenn Branca; from Ian Svenonius and Dead Skeletons to Son House and Gwenifer Raymond…from sunset to sunrise…full moon to new moon…”

a 01. Only Lovers Left Alive 4:36
b 02. Never Like You Said 5:23
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]

[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]

[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]

[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]

[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]

This album marks a significant evolution for Dream Division, evolving from a solo project into a full band experience. Blending the rich sounds of Italian soundtracks with psychedelic rock, Tom McDowell, the band's core member and founder of Library of the Occult Records, has assembled an all-star lineup for this collaborative record. Featuring members of The Hologram People, Garden Gate, The Psychic Circle, Miles Brown and Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E., the album navigates through genres while maintaining a cinematic essence. From the sinister melancholy tones of 'Black Rose' to the Giorgio Moroder-esque Giallo disco of 'Technicolor Terror,' ‘A Rose in the Garden of Winter’ unfolds like a lost soundtrack to a classic '70s Giallo film.

A torrent of brilliance released from the fingertips. The art of the piano trio by a giant of arrangement.

In 1968, Norio Maeda, the genius arranger once described as being able to “write different scores with his right and left hands at the same time,” welcomed his close musical allies Takeshi Inomata and Tatsuro Takimoto and took on the piano head-on in his first piano trio work as a pianist. This album brings together the refined melodies of the new mainstream style that led the jazz scene at the time, experimental elements using prepared piano, and even a strikingly inventive recording approach in which as many as seven microphones were placed inside the piano. With the outstanding structural power of a composer and arranger and the sharp instincts of a performer woven together at a high level, this is an important work that deserves to be engraved in the history of Japanese jazz.

,Smoking the Bunny" ist das zweite Album einer geplanten Trilogie von Wilder Maker und verbindet Avant-Pop, Indie-Rock, Free Jazz und Ambient zu einem vielschichtigen, nächtlichen Klangbild. Bandleader Gabriel Birnbaum setzt auf experimentelle Kompositionen, die aus improvisierten Bandsessions entstanden und anschließend kreativ neu zusammengesetzt wurden. Die 17 Songs begleiten eine Figur durch eine Nacht voller Erinnerungen, Selbstreflexion und Rauschzustände. Inhaltlich kreist das Album um Themen wie Familie, Identität, Vergänglichkeit und das Älterwerden. Mit zahlreichen Gastmusikern und einem atmosphärischen, genreübergreifenden Sound präsentiert sich ,Smoking the Bunny" als ambitioniertes und emotionales Werk, das 2027 mit dem dritten Teil der Trilogie seinen Abschluss finden soll.

Rubbermaidxxx is a recent music performance project by the Irish artist Anna McCarthy, rather than simply the title of one autonomous artwork. Rubbermaidxxx is a character or unstable identity, an emancipatory underdog with a heart for daredevilry. The project sits naturally within McCarthy’s larger practice, which moves between drawing, assemblage, happenings and collective actions.

Clad in a black balaclava and fetish climbing wear, she abseils from buildings before entering the stage. For the first performance in New York City, she was invited by Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio to perform at his club Francis Kite Club in Alphabet City, NYC and since has continued to make a name for herself hanging off façades, singing, dancing and mopping the floor together with her performance collaborators Miss Philip a.k.a. Philip Errico and Michael Tapper at Pianos NYC, Kottbusser Tor and Genezarethkirche Berlin or the Villa Stuck Museum in Munich.

The album was produced in Munich and New York in 2025 in collaboration with her brother Nick McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand) and Anton Kaun (Rumpeln). What started as a quick improv turned into a high-energy 4-hour session of the siblings playing manic ball with beats, bass, guitars and vocals resulting in what laid the basis to this album. In the weeks following, Anna McCarthy, who is known for her cut-up production style, reminiscent of albums such as White Noise or Flying Lotus, continued to develop the vocals, performance and music by mixing in an amalgam of field recordings with her narrative spoken word, including sounds of protests, dollar stores or ice-cream trucks, as well as collaborating with the noise artist Rumpeln for the last two tracks of the album.

McCarthy is also known as the lyricist and singer of What Are People For? (debut 2022 on Alien Transistor) with its dystopic dance music candy-cane shows and equally humorously critical tongue-in-cheek bangers such as Bring back the Dirt, Drones or Partytime. Anna McCarthy's spoken word, social urgency and enthusiasm to experiment across mediums is comparable to other contemporaries such as Moor Mother, Miho Hatori, Gonjasufi, Tricky, or Cibo Matto.

The name itself is telling. Rubbermaidxxx evokes elasticity, artificiality, domestic labour and the commercial world of cleaning and garbage. It suggests a body capable of stretching, absorbing filth and cleaning up after society – only to revolt against the role it has been assigned.

Rubbermaidxxx is a master of deception, juggling fact and fiction as a reflection of our times – a diamond thief, a protester, or even responsible for the Louvre heist? This album invites the listener and viewer in, playfully dismantling hierarchies and power structures as she goes through a hopeful amalgam of dance, protest & love songs.

Includes a printed inner sleeve and a double-sided 12"x12" poster.

The upcoming album from Telemakus, featuring an all-star supporting cast of musicians: Flying Lotus, Karriem Riggins, Mndsgn, Liv.e, Sparklmami, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Swarvy, Chino Corvalán, Nicole McCabe and more. Pressed via Good Neighbor on a Cosmic Black record made from eco-conscious, 100% recyclable PET plastic.

All songs written, performed, engineered & arranged by Telemakus, except where noted “Five Hands Pt. 1” written and co-produced by Swarvy, “Revival” co-produced by Mndsgn, Karriem Riggins “By Any Feet Necessary” co-produced by Karriem Riggins “2054” co-produced by Karriem Riggins

2026 Repress

The undisputed Godfather of Boogie, Leroy Burgess’s Logg project is his grand masterpiece.

The self-titled LP, originally released on Salsoul in August 1981, is one of the greatest albums of the post-disco era. It’s one of Be With’s favourite ever LPs and so it’s a complete honour to be giving it our reissue treatment. With all the touchstones of Burgess’s finest work - breezy grooves, undulating synths, funk-drenched bass and life-affirming lyrics - delivered with gospel-derived vocals and harmonies - it’s a record to uplift both body and spirit.

Already a cult soul figure as lead singer of seminal vocal group Black Ivory, Leroy Burgess cut his teeth as arranger, vocalist and songwriter with legendary producer Patrick Adams on essential late-70s projects like Phreek and Dazzle. He went on to define the essence of “boogie”: the vibrant underground dance sound that stood in contrast to commercial disco. With its reduced speed - mid-90 to under 110 BPM - the cool boogie of Burgess has the disco bounce, just more laidback.

All six tracks here could have been stand alone 12" hits. Indeed, some of them were. But together they are also an incredibly cohesive album, where all the compositions are deeply relevant to each other. In short, it’s essential; a thrilling showcase for Burgess’s finest arranging and production work - with his vocals at their euphoric peak alongside the inventive rhythm section of Aaron (Sonny) T. Davenport on drums and James Calloway on bass.

Opener “(You’ve Got) That Something” is a balmy sunshine groover with an insistent chorus whilst the timeless vocal of “Dancing Into The Stars” - married to percolating synth and airtight drums - showcases the chemistry between Burgess and the rhythm section.

The fusion of funk and gospel-influenced harmonies which propels “Something Else” is remarkable - deep, joyous and bouncy. Infamously mixed by Larry Levan, “I Know You Will” is an easy glide, all rollicking electric piano underpinned by a precise and relentlessly upbeat groove. “Lay It On The Line” radiates smooth, understated brilliance, elevated by interstellar keys and finally album-closer “Sweet To Me” is a chilled-out gem of profound soulful elegance.

Logg has long been a hit with the likes of Kenny Dope and Dam-Funk whilst, in the last decade, MCDE and Harvey Sutherland have routinely cited it as a huge influence. Accordingly, finding original copies on vinyl at affordable prices has been a thankless task. This fresh Be With reissue ensures this legendary record now sounds, looks and feels as sensational as it deserves to.

Mastered brilliantly by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and with lovingly reproduced artwork, we think this is a reissue that does justice to this classic LP.

2026 Repress

***
He strode towards a long drink.
Running in the gutter,
scanning patterns.
Skin staring, stirring unbelief.
Scarred metal faces
on the iron streets,
spitting blood.
***

Early support by: Luke Slater, Tommy Four Seven, Dave Clarke, Marcel Dettmann, Chris Liebing, Ben Klock, Oscar Mulero, Speedy J, Len Faki, Shifted, Psyk, Pfirter, Objekt, James Ruskin, Sigha, Myler, Stanislav Tolkachev, Rebekah, Par Grindvik, Max M, Gary Beck, Dave Tarrida, Kike Pravda, Samuli Kemppi, Happa, DVS1, Joseph Capriati, Juho Kusti, Cassegrain, Kwartz, Clouds, Pacou, Octave, Stranger, Ansome, Black Asteroid, Hector Oaks, DJ Hyperactive, Christian Wunsch, Endlec, Kriz, Paula Temple, Exium, AnD, Joe Farr, Martyn Hare, Eomac, Dimi Angelis, Norman Nodge, Xhin, Dax J, Wire, Drvg Cvltvre, Sawf, Jamie Bissmire, Paul Mac, Inigo Kennedy, D. Carbone, J. Tijn, CTRLS, The Noisemaker, Jeroen Search, Dustin Zahn, Svreca, Unbalance, Truncate, Jeff Derringer, Jonas Kopp, Developer, 3.14..

25th Anniversary Black Vinyl Repress.
Before he was Caribou, Dan Snaith was a 20-something student in a "crappy" Toronto bedroom, recording music on a beat-up computer that used to strain under the weight of digital recording.
Start Breaking My Heart was Snaith's 2001 debut, originally released under the name Manitoba. Twenty-five years on, it still sounds like an artist finding his voice in real time - rainbow melody, hopscotch percussion, and playground laughter stitched into warm, tactile electronic pop.
Reflecting on the record, Snaith said it was the first time something clicked - he'd been making music since his early teens, but this was when he first felt he understood what he wanted his tracks to be. That moment coincided with the chance encounter that changed everything: he met Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) at a UK festival, who helped Dan get this album released - the start of a career that has spanned a quarter century and many albums since.

Limited Edition 2026 Black Vinyl Repress.
The Milk of Human Kindness is Dan Snaith's third studio album, originally released in 2005. It marked the first record credited to the Caribou name, after Snaith dropped his previous Manitoba moniker following a threatened lawsuit from Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators.
Rather than start from scratch, Snaith folded the two sides of himself together - the icy precision of Start Breaking My Heart and the sun-drenched sprawl of Up in Flames - into something both hypnotic - influenced by French progressive rock and German krautrock of the 1970s - and pastoral.
The record was met with strong critical acclaim, and its singles, "Yeti" and "Barnowl," remain fan favorites to this day. Against the backdrop of the legal name change it is simultaneously the end of a chapter while also quietly setting the stage for the run of albums that would follow.
Tracklist:

Limited Edition 2026 Black Vinyl Repress.
Up in Flames is Dan Snaith's second album, originally released under the Manitoba moniker on March 31, 2003 .
Made with the same modest home setup as its predecessor, it nonetheless sounds like a different artist entirely - a kaleidoscopic rush of sun-bright melodies, tumbling percussion, and psychedelic pop that traded the hushed intimacy of Start Breaking My Heart for something warmer, bigger, and more joyfully overstuffed, encompassing 1960s psychedelia, Madchaster swagger and shoegaze swoon.
Snaith was later forced to change his artist name after a well-documented lawsuit, and Up in Flames stands as the final album released under the Manitoba name - a high point to go out on. The record was met with widespread critical acclaim, and has since been recognized by Pitchfork as one of the standout albums of the 2000s. It remains, by most accounts, one of Snaith's finest and most beloved records.

Lex Walton (née Alex) is an American songwriter, actress, prose poet, and filmmaker whose work is unflinchingly confessional, and whose live performances are filled with ecstatic masochism and flailing. In addition to her catalog of a dozen or so mostly home-recorded albums, EPs, and singles, she has recorded collaborations with Devi McCallion (Black Dresses, Girls Rituals), Geese, and Ezra Furman, written the pop music manifesto The Sound Rocker's Prayer, and starred in Louise Weard's five-hour epic film Castration Movie Anthology II: The Best Of Both Worlds.


ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER is Lex’s unwavering, iconoclastic Sub Pop debut. Some of the tracks already have fans and the music press heated up, so we’ll let the critics do the talking! PASTE: “Walton’s wiggly, anxious power pop wades through pages of dead links and forum threads to get to its incendiary hooks... anachronistic collage of Edwardian portrait artists, country greats, and noise rock heroes… a roadside altar… with its lo-fi hissing and tongue-twisting one-liners.” The Quietus: "For fans of early Jonathan Richman, NYC gutter punks Dollhouse, or staring at the fluorescent lights of the Walgreens ceiling on your third day withdrawing from psych meds, barely able to parse the words ‘Medicaid coverage has lapsed’ as a pharmacist misgenders you. And also, later Jonathan Richman."


ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER was written by Lex Walton, produced by Lex and Dan Boeckner, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ben Greenberg at Thump and Circular Ruin in Williamsburg, with assistant engineer Alice Cohen. ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER features appearances from Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs), Emerson Borakove, Alice Cohen, Brendan Dunphy, Emily Green (Geese), Greenberg (Uniform, The Men), Scotty Malcolm, Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire), and Sam Revaz (Geese).

WOW! An early ’80s New Wave, Electro, Proto-Electronica, Industrial and Kraut-Pop album that has never been released before is now coming out on Elaste Records and it’s a perfect fit! History is being made.

Quotes: “A pearl” (Hans Nieswandt) / “Great album” (Hell, Gigolo) / “Awesome album” (Patrick Pulsinger) / “Magnificent material” (Roman Flügel) / “An ’80s electronic gem… an ’80s Krautpop highlight” (Sankt Otten).

In the early eighties, Michael Heinkel was one of those quiet electronic musicians hardly anyone knew — at least outside of Munich. While machine rhythms were being perfected in Düsseldorf, dilettantism was elevated into an art form in Hamburg and West Berlin was soundtracking its own feverish coldness, Munich seemed to be a place where, apparently, nothing was happening. Or almost nothing. Because beneath the radar, far removed from the grand narratives of those years, Michael Heinkel was already creating his own electronic cosmos — stripped-down, idiosyncratic and often ahead of its time. Electronic minimalist music, born somewhere between a home studio, nightlife and the longing for a future that could only just be imagined back then. But the recordings disappeared into drawers, onto cassettes and tape reels. For decades, they remained a secret shared only among friends, insiders and a handful of close companions. It was only 45 years later that Andreas Dorau and Ralf Hertwig (Palais Schaumburg) — two defining figures of that early avant-garde — insisted that the recordings finally be made accessible. Not as an exercise in nostalgia, but as the overdue release of a missing piece in the history of German electronic music. This music is not a nostalgic retrospective. It is a delayed signal from a future that had already begun back then. Format: Heavyweight black vinyl incl. printed inner sleeve + download card



Quotes: -"Michael Heinkel's long-lost LP is a treasure trove. I'm constantly amazed at the musical gems from the early '80s that are still waiting to be discovered." - Hans Nieswandt (Whirlpool Productions) - „Some München musical history that somehow got missed at the time finally gets released after 40 years. Great album.“ - Hell (Gigolo) - “Awesome album! Today, we can only imagine just how groundbreaking electronic music at this level was back then. When gems like these are heard for the first time in perfect sound quality, it’s like a trip back in time to the early days of electronic music. Back to the future!!!” - Patrick Pulsinger (Cheap / iO / Sluts’n‘ Strings & 909 / The Private Lightning Six) - “Terrific material!” - Roman Flügel (Acid Jesus / Alter Ego / Sensorama / Warp 69) - “ELASTE has unearthed an 80s electronic gem! A German minimal wave gem-freshly unearthed! Minimal, rare, brilliant - an 80s Krautpop highlight.” - Sankt Otten - „Pure and delicious 80s Electronics from Munich. We love it.“ - Gorilla Aktiv

Balaise was the original title of Vers le Nord’s debut album. In French slang, balaise means something in between badass and flamboyant. The word keeps popping up throughout the record, like a teenager’s graffiti scrawled on a bus shelter after a few drinks. Balaise robots. Balaise ghosts lurking in the shadows. Balaise is the barfly who fantasies about becoming a street vigilante. In many ways, Matthieu Pellerin's new solo project is entirely contained within that word: a gigantic piece one man against the world cobbled together, a monument shaped by hand using layers of synthesizers sounding like cathedral organs cast in concrete.


Stitching this type of freak together took time. Five years, or what sounds like forever in an age obsessed with career trajectories and content strategies. But for Matthieu Pellerin, it was never about career plans or taking the easy road. Or he would have dug up the rotting corpse of Oi Boys, his now-defunct band, whose brief existence and explosive popularity once united sullen skinheads, gothic street punks, and old school punks alike. Or he would have fully embraced the Metz scene, now that the Great International Triple Alliance of the East (Noir Boy George, The Dreams, The Feeling Of Love...) and rising solo acts like Tune Zitoune, Josy Bazar, Fantôme Josepha, and Tony Gerrano have somehow transformed this sprawling open-air heroin camp into an unlikely capital of cool. But Vers le Nord doesn't point East, and it is as a lone rider that Matthieu Pellerin can fully reveal his songwriting scope.


With Le Seul Élément, his first solo project, the Lorraine native had already shown a rare gift for crafting worlds. Picture vast sonic masses stretching like industrial zones, noise-filled fog pierced by pale neon lights and landscapes caught somewhere between the gnarliest dive bar and a doomsday bunker. And slipping through the soul-crushing slowness and fractured blackened atmospheres, one could perceive a throwback to his years plotting in black metal-tinged Loth and Bishop.

Vers le Nord populates those landscapes that once were rough sketches. Damaged characters reign supreme, with a plethora of exquisite mutts brought to life, rather than outcasts committed to the cause. Where Nuits Blanches —his new supergroup featuring members of Rixe, Lion's Law, Headbussa and La Femme— pulls no punches with raw confessions, Pellerin switches gear for tales of robot apocalypses, vagrants and fam-seeking school shooters, delivered with William Sheller-esque rhymes and striking images. Yet even within fiction, he manages to create something deeply intimate, almost defining, showing very little effort: he is a natural. All in all, à l’aise (at ease). Songs resonate deeply with the listener, perhaps because of Pellerin’s odd way or always addressing someone without ever really naming them, a floating, obsessive and inescapable “you” calling us out.


Despite all of the darkness, Vers le Nord stirs deep emotions. There is something of Type O Negative or Anna von Hausswolff in its constant collision of the ludicrous and the epic gothic, its bleak romanticism that never tells a sordid tale. While the vocals remain rooted in a distinctly French punk lineage—think No Class, La Souris Déglinguée and OG Bérurier Noir—the reactor core is hidden somewhere else. Oneohtrix Point Never feels like a closer relative with his ultra-emotional music made of cold synths and disembodied anthems, swallowing and regurgitating forty years of icy, contemplative new wave across ten songs. It comes as no surprise that Lila Ehjä and Aimable, two rising specialists in lowering the temperature below seasonal norms, appear on “Enterrez-moi bordel” (“Bury Me, for fuck's sake”), a grandiose, spectral and magnificently arrogant finale. And in the end, Vers le Nord starts where the original idea was hiding all along: somewhere amid the ruins, definitely balaise and yet somehow, completely à l'aise.

Children, the one and only instrumental song that breaks all the rules, created by Robert Miles. The netherlands producers Tinlicker signed the new remix of Children.

Bio:
Tinlicker are Utrecht based duo Micha Heyboer and Jordi van Achthoven who have been crafting their computerized soul together since 2013. Before joining forces, they individually honed their skills as part of world renowned drum 'n bass act Black Sun Empire (Heyboer) and as producer, songwriter and music editor for many artists (Van Achthoven). Their previous experience was apparent from day one of their collaborative project, resulting in an impressive
string of highly mature and deeply emotive tracks. Since starting working together they’ve quickly become a household name in the world of electronic dance music previously releasing on Armada,
mau5trap, Anjunafamily and Astralwerks. They have released their first full length album 'This Is Not Our Universe' last fall and released their remix album this past spring from the likes of Dosem, Joris Delacroix and Grum.

Crypt of the Wizard is proud to make available two legendary underground albums by Slutet on vinyl and digital formats.
Slutet originated in Uppsala well over a decade ago, first emerging as a loose idea around 2010. The original cluster of strangely like minded individuals - Dingir, Ryttersson, J.P., Sviatopolk, were equally set on starting a cult as they were a band, the former emerging as a loose collective known as The End Commune, while the latter eventually began rehearsing together as Slutet on September 1, 2013.
From this constellation three notorious demo tapes sprung which were self-released in very limited numbers, and only available by trading bodily fluids, blood, and/or hair for the cassettes. “A very loose guess but we made probably around 20-30 hand-drawn/custom demo tapes of the first three releases. We got blood and hair from many places, actually the very first offering was from INDONESIA. Slovakia, Germany, USA, Argentina, Norway, Canada, Finland followed.... if my memory serves..... hazy years indeed”
J.P. left early 2015. Later that year, after trying the band as a bass-drum-vocals outfit for a while, Fjalar joined on guitar. This is the classic constellation. Dingir, Ryttersson, Fjalar, Sviatopolk. The same troupe playing to this very day.
Following on from the compilation Slutet began work on their next offering entitled Jihad. While the departure of J.P. left them temporarily without a guitarist, a chance meeting with Fjalar at a rave ushered in a new era for the band. “I met the drummer and the bass player at a psytrance rave in the forest. I didn’t have any band and I wanted to play music and I saw this fucking weirdo with long dreads and a Hellhammer shirt and I just went up to talk to him”.
After Fjalar joined the rather chaotic fray, songwriting duties were spread out more broadly and Jihad was rehearsed and recorded in a haze. First released as a cassette by Manifest Of Hate Creations, and later on vinyl in an edition of 100 by Goatowarex the release quickly sold out and became as legendary, and as incredibly difficult to obtain as the previous releases. “It has got some psychedelic improvs, some very unorthodox and quite genius vocal work, some electronic undertones, some noisy ambience, a message of existentialism; all this wrapped up in some sloppy but very authentic and intense black metal-ish music.”
“After the vinyl compilation was out (early 2015) we felt probably a bit directionless, and, having parted ways with a befriended and talented guitar player, we felt maybe a bit morally weakened to continue. First, for a year almost, we toiled on without the 6-strings and rehearsed quite lengthy material for a proposed upcoming LP. However, that material never surfaced. Then we got a new guitar player (Fjalar) and created and recorded this mess”.
It is with great pride that we make these albums available to a general audience and in a wider pressing without need for bloodshed.

Daniel Akbar is a Constant Black regular and for good reason: his blend of house, minimal, tech and garage is a perfect fit. He continues his hot streak with this latest missive, starting with 'The Night', which marries Jaydee-style darkness with New York house bounce. 'The Walls' has a rugged, dirty minimal bump to it and a sci-fi synth edge. 'Trippin' is another sleazy and low slung house vibe, 'Care For You' brings a bit of garage shuffle and throwback bass filth, then 'Afraid' pulls back to a more seductive late night tease with hella catchy grooves and pure heads down energy.

DSCI4060 – Danny C & Mike Pears – Listen & Learn EP Release Date: Friday, 24 July 2026 Format: Limited Edition 4-Track 12-Inch Black Vinyl Catalogue Number: DSCI4060 DSCI4 presents Listen & Learn EP, a deep atmospheric drum & bass release from Danny C & Mike Pears, featuring two previously unreleased tracks—Raw Deal and Porn Star—mastered directly from the original DAT master tapes for their first official release. Completing the EP are Cosmik and Deepness, delivering four timeless cuts that capture the unmistakable sound of late-'90s atmospheric drum & bass.

"Lofi Girl x Secret Lair: beats to cast to" brings two worlds together, matching the distinct rhythm of Magic: The Gathering and soothing lofi study music. Soft card shuffles, land taps, and double-sleeved ASMR blend naturally into warm, lofi beats engineered for deep focus. Smooth down the tension of a complex stack, keep your heart rate cool during a tough topdeck, and let every turn flow naturally.


Join Lofi Girl's dad as he shares his passion with his daughter, letting her peek into the art of deck building one card at a time.


Tap in, tune out, and may the best deck win.

Double vinyl reissue of Skullflower’s epochal “IIRD GATEKEEPER” album - the first time that this album has been available on vinyl for 30 years. In addition to the original LP this definitive and expanded edition includes extra and unreleased tracks taken from the recording sessions. For the first time all the tracks recorded by the band during this period can be heard together giving fans unprecedented access to material previously only available in the bands’ archives. Recorded in London in 1991 and released in 1992 on Justin “Godflesh” Broadrick’s HeadDirt label in 1992, IIRD GATEKEEPER established a worldwide reputation and following for Skullflower and convinced many who heard it that they had encountered nothing less than the best band on the planet. Arriving at the height of the “grunge” and the expansion of underground guitar “rock” into corporate America, IIRD GATEKEEPER had its roots deep in the UK noise and power-electronics scene. Guitarist Matthew Bower and bassist Anthony Di Franco were both graduates of the Broken Flag school of British noise making with their respective projects PURE, TOTAL and JFK. IIRD GATEKEEPER was Skullflower’s third album and was the first of the band’s albums to feature a consistent line-up throughout its production: Matthew Bower (guitar), Anthony Di Franco on (bass) and Stuart Dennison (drums). Recorded and mixed in four sessions between January and June 1991the tracks on this edition of IIRD GATEKEEPER shows the band’s new line up developing their sound, warping and evolving in real time. As such this edition of IIRD GATEKEEPER provides a unique document of the band in a state of transition, with the chemistry of the individual playing combusting in the studio to create a wave of astonishing creativity. IIRD GATEKEEPER is perhaps the definitive British underground rock album of the 1990’s – unique and never equalled. With this new edition Dirter Promotions allows Skullflower fans old and new to listen to this classic album as it was intended: spark up, crank it up and prepare to have your ears and mind blown

WRWTFWW Records presents the first ever vinyl release for the Startled Insects’ 1984-1985 abstract/synth-pop/post-punk/electronic run compiled into one album : The Antenna Years. The Bristol music must-have comes as a limited edition LP with astonishing artwork, liner notes and a heavyweight sleeve.
The Antenna Years compiles the independent EPs/mini-LPs the Startled Insects released in 1984 (self-titled) and 1985 (Underworld/Black Spring), with two bonus unreleased tracks that were only ever played in their live shows (W.W.W and What A Waste, both amazing).
Astonishingly futuristic when they landed in 1984, the Startled Insects sounded like they came from another planet while staying rooted in Bristol’s underground. Abstract electronic, leftfield synth-pop, dub science, gamelan heat, post-punk edge, cinematic atmosphere : The Antenna Years delivers one beautifully odd voyage into the sonic unknown.

In the 90s, the band released two albums, including the classic Curse Of The Pheromones via Antilles New Directions (Island Records), then evolved into The Insects: film composers for BBC/National Geographic, Emmy winners, and key architects of the 90s Bristol orbit, working with Massive Attack, Goldfrapp, Tricky, and members of Portishead.

Four decades on, The Antenna Years still hits like a transmission from the future. Dive in with no fear.

As WARNING prepares to release Rituals of Shame - their first new music in twenty years,vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker is self-effacing about what led to this moment. Over the last two decades he continued to write and release music, satisfied that he had achieved what he set out to do with WARNING. In those intervening years, interest in WARNING swelled, organically gathering an ardent fanbase. In particular, the 2006 album, Watching from a Distance, has gained a cult following. In response to a transformative period in his life, Walker turned towards writing new songs, and it soon became apparent that these belonged to WARNING. In early January 2025, he started with a completely blank canvas, and piece by piece, he started to fill it with ideas that evolved to become the songs that make up Rituals of Shame.

His immersion in the project became a full-time pursuit. After successfully demoing the five songs, Walker retreated to a remote house on a hill outside Florence, Italy, to refine the lyrics. Recording took place at The Arch Studio, a 140-year-old former church in Southport, UK. Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver) handled the recording and mixing. Walker's lifelong musical inspirations can be traced through Rituals of Shame. The ambitious structural arrangements harken to Marillion’s complex but soaring episodic songs. They retain a sparsity that is reminiscent of June Tabor’s economic arrangements; thick with melody but with a diaphanous air to them. Citing John Brenner of Revelation as an enduring inspiration, Patrick credits him with introducing the idea of how to infuse heavy music with significant emotional depth. Often reluctant to discuss the minutiae of his lyrics, Walker does acknowledge that making this album was a direct response to the immediate concerns of his current life period. Rituals of Shame also echoes the enduring themes and fixations that have marked most of his work: guilt, shame, personal failure, obsession, longing, and separation, but, most of all, he says, love. Short: WARNING return with Rituals of Shame - the pioneering Doom band's first new music in 20 years! FFO: My Dying Bride, Candlemass, YOB, Black Sabbath, 40 Watt Sun, Pallbearer, Pagan Altar

SKYLAX RECORDS proudly unveils the fourth and final chapter in its epic, conceptual 4-part saga — SKYLAX BLACK 4 – Vision Quest. This secretive series brings together two pillars of French electronic music, ARNAUD REBOTINI and ACID WASHED, in a bold tribute to the essence of rave, electro, and techno. Following the critically acclaimed Winter Sequences and Musical Component, this last installment pushes even deeper into the roots and futures of the underground. On the A-side, Vision Quest opens the EP with a pulsating journey of progressive electronics — cinematic and sleek, evoking the robotic spirituality of Kraftwerk and the expansive textures of early kosmische music. Next, TOI 700-d channels the golden age of acid house with infectious 303 lines and jacking grooves. Think DJ Pierre, Phuture, and Ron Hardy at their most transcendental — raw, euphoric, and timeless. Flip to the B-side and dive into Black Star Liners — a dub techno masterclass in the lineage of Maurizio, Basic Channel, and Chain Reaction. Deep, minimal, and full of ghostly delay, it’s a meditative immersion in pure sound system hypnosis. Closing the EP, Trojan Asteroids fires into classic Metroplex territory — icy, futuristic, and funk-laced. A perfect nod to Cybotron and Model 500, this is hi-tech soul with a razor’s edge. Once again, SKYLAX RECORDS delivers a visionary release — timeless, intelligent, and essential. The final piece of the puzzle is here. The journey ends… or just begins.

Collecting Orders For 2025 Repress

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!!!!

2026 Repress

Mr. G, aka Colin McBean, presents a remastered, 23-track compilation entitled 'OG Retrospective'

'The day I found my original studio masters and got my rights back was the starting point, and then I realised it's 25 years on and it's time to recode, remaster and reevaluate because I've never looked back properly. I've always been like a bat out of hell, never quite thinking I'm good enough or great at what I do, but it's important to celebrate, because there's nota lot of people still here, still doing it after this length of time'.

With new masters provided by Simon at the renowned London mastering house The Exchange London, a direct link to the original mastering done by the late-Nilz (Nilesh Patel) from The Exchange, Mr. G's 'OG Retrospective' marks a reflective period in McBean's life.

'All I've ever done is write and move forward, but more and more, I get the new generation sending me videos of my old tracks and sometimes I don't even recognise them, so finally I thought, 'ok, you're comfortable in your own skin, let's really see how you sounded at the beginning, how you've changed, how have the techniques changed'?

It was quite raw going back over these; some of the memories are riddled with pain and angst - friends dying, where I was in my life at the time, having a heart attack and so on. Having a sound, too, can be a cross to bear. You're only ever competing with yourself, your only game is being better than your last game, so if you dwell on the past too much you can't move forward. Getting to the point where I can look back and feel happy, feels good.

Invariably, what will come from this is 'more', because, with my own label I have endless possibilities and will continue telling my story.'

LP White. First re-issue since 2012, as exclusive colored LP to RSD

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.

2026 Repress

Time in the context of the cosmos is not merely a measure of change but a profound mystery permeating all aspects of existence. It is both present and elusive, like the light of a distant star we see but can no longer touch at its source. The cosmos poses a fundamental question: what is time? Is it the stream in which we exist or an illusion crafted by our perception? The grandeur of the Universe reveals the extraordinary malleability of time. Gravity can slow its flow, while velocity can stretch it to infinity. At the event horizon of a black hole, time can nearly halt, transforming a moment into an eternity. This teaches us that time is not a universal truth but a phenomenon dependent on conditions and perspective

Dewa Alit, master of radical Balinese gamelan, returns to Black Truffle with Baur Bentur. Genetic (2020, BT063) introduced international listeners to the magical sound-world of Alit’s Gamelan Salukat, who perform on instruments tuned to a unique scale derived from modified versions of two traditional Balinese scales. The two pieces heard on Chasing the Phantom (2022, BT093) further demonstrated his radical fusion of tradition and experimentation, with passages where unorthodox techniques make the acoustic ensemble resemble glitching electronics. Baur Bentur now highlights another aspect of Alit’s work, presenting pieces composed in 2024 and 2025 where Gamelan Salukat performs alongside virtuoso pianist Sri Hanuraga. Alit’s music is grounded in deep reflection on the tradition of Balinese gamelan and its place in the contemporary world. His title, ‘Baur Bentur’, which translates as ‘mixing and smashing’, points to his embrace of the intercultural mixture of Eastern and Western elements in the search for innovation. Against the calcification of Balinese music into tourist entertainment, Alit poses his searching, experimental work, which celebrates the communal values and performance practices of traditional gamelan while pushing into startling new directions.

‘Sukat Tacara’ is a study in layered tempos, meters, and polyrhythms, a constantly shifting dialogue between piano and the instruments of Gamelan Salukat. It begins close to a traditional concerto, pairing a brisk sequence of melodic variations from the piano with a spare but propulsive accompaniment of drums and hanging metallophone tones, punctuated by low gong strikes. The piano builds in volume and density across a rapid succession of fragments, at points recalling George Antheil’s ticking wind-up machinery, though Hanuraga’s jazz background shines through in the fluidity with which he navigates the complexities of the score, where chromatic movement co-exists with bluesy phrases. An abrupt change in the piano to patterns of dense clusters introduces a new episode, during which the metallic instruments of the gamelan enter the foreground. The piece dazzles with its inventive rhythms and dynamics, building to a stunning passage featuring the signature heavy muting technique of the Gamelan Salukat metallophones in kinetic patterns that would be at home on a Príncipe release.

The title piece begins at high intensity and rarely lets up, working through bracing unison ensemble melodies and punctuation points where piano and gamelan together seem to become a single, thudding drum. For much of the piece the piano is tightly integrated into the ensemble, the harmonic extensions of the melodic line subsumed into a moving cloud of complex overtones generated by the gamelan instruments. Wildly kinetic on the rhythmic level, the piece swarms with microscopic movements of beating patterns generated by the ‘blend and crush’ of three simultaneous tuning systems: the equal temperament of the piano and the saih cenik (small scale) and saih gede (big scale) used by the gamelan instruments. Accompanied by the composer’s thoughtful liner notes and images of the musicians, Baur Bentur is a stunning next step in Alit’s radical combination of tradition and innovation.

“Nimm die rosa Brille … sag was Du siehst … alles viel besser”

44 years after its original release, one of the most idiosyncratic DIY minimal electronics / synth / new wave records of the early ’80s returns: the legendary 7” by German group DEUTSCHE SCHÄFERHUNDE (engl. German shepherds)—now remastered and reissued for the first time as a one-sided 12” on Anna Logue Records. Recorded in the winter of 1981/82 between rehearsal space, provincial disco and bar nights, and a humble four-track setup, these tracks capture the raw spirit of a generation that simply started creating—no formal training, but plenty of attitude. Minimalist, uncompromising, and inspired by krautrock, punk, new wave, electronic music and dub, the songs move between raw electronics, percussive noise, new wave experimentation, and sharp social commentary. „Rosa Brille“ (rose coloured glasses) in particular feels as urgent today as it did back then—a track that has lost none of its relevance, „Gasmasken“ tells of gas masks dancing in the woods to the sound of sirens, and a timeless Holger Czukay/Jah Wobble inspired „Mein Herz“ (my heart).

Originally pressed in a small run of just 500 copies and later becoming a sought-after collector’s item now worth 200€, the record now returns in a carefully crafted edition featuring a laser-printed reverse side and additional materials such as original lyric sheets and articles, postcard and poster. DEUTSCHE SCHÄFERHUNDE thrived on paradox—a provocative name paired with a clear stance, and lyrics that still resonate today. Shaped by Cold War tension, political unease, and youthful rebellion, their sound refused to fit into any neat category. Only few other bands, such as Der Musikant, Im Namen des Volkes, Thorax Wach, Klinisch Sauber oder Stephan Eicher spielt Noise Boys come to mind.

This release is more than a reissue—it’s a document of its time that still hits with full force.

12″ features: limited to 400 copies, hand-numbered, one-sided 180g black vinyl, laser-etched B-side, outer sleeve printed on reverse side of the board, printed inner sleeve with original lyrics sheets and original articles, DIN A3 poster, double-sided postcard

New album by FLOCKS, the duo of drone specialist WERNER DURAND and percussionist ULI HOHMANN. Musical landscapes that move between traditional as well as experimental sounds with influences from Krautrock and JON HASSELL's "fourth world" aesthetics.

WERNER DURAND has made himself a name with various projects with Dhrupad singer AMELIA CHRISTIANSEN, DAVID CHRISTER HENNIX, as the co-founder of THE 13th TRIBE, ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER and TONALIENS (with ROBIN HAYWARD and HILARY JEFFERY) plus numerous solo albums, released on labels like Black Truffle, Unseen Worlds or Edition Telemark. Having studied saxophone as well as Indian / Persian flutes, the Berlin based DURAND is a highly reputated protagonist in the drone scene, famous for his self-built wind instruments like buzz-clarinets or his PVC neys & horns.

His partner in FLOCKS (and longtime personal friend) is ULI HOHMANN whose early encounters with music from Asia, India and Africa led to studies with the Ghanaian master drummer MUSTAPHA TETTEY ADDY and later Tombak and Daf with NEMAD DARMAN (Iran). HOHMANN played in a couple of projects that explored the language of classical Persian music, and started building his own stringed instruments (being an educated carpenter). In 2014 he joined DURAND and AMELIA CUNI for the album "Clearing", and 2018 DURAND and HOHMANN decided to con- tinue as a duo: FLOCKS was born.

On “Lagoon”, the duo further explores the aesthetics it has crafted on its selftitled debut (2023, on the now defunct ZEHRA imprint): DURAND and HOHMANN shape drone-y soundscapes based on their self-built wind- & stringed instruments, Persian percussion and subtle electronics, drawing ad- ditional inspiration from Krautrock (listen to the irresistible, hypnotique, ever-changing rhythmic pattern of the title track) as well as JON