quête:branch

For his last solo record ‘Through a Room’, Bill Nace shifted his usual saturated guitar sound and added tapes, hurdy gurdy, doughnut pipe, bird calls and the mysterious Japanese taishōgoto. Setting up for the final night of his three day residency at OTO with only the taishōgoto soundchecked, Nace hoped that Parker would arrive with his small soprano as its opposite. “I’ve been interested in state change, you know, playing until there’s a shift in time.” Known for his development of multiphonics to produce a constantly shifting pattern, Evan Parker has evolved an instantly recognizable sound - his work the soprano most distinct. Happily, it was the soprano Evan brought with him and as soon as the two start to play they entwine - taking off in a double helix of keys and reed primed for endless reconfiguration. Space warps under the velocity of playing, the pitch rising unrelentingly. It felt like unending lift off in the room, sheer energy until the last note makes remember your feet have been on the floor the whole time. Total time bending shredding.

–

"They had never played together before. They had never even met each other before this springtime 2024 concert at London’s Café Oto.

Evan Parker, circular breathing maestro of the saxophone, a legend in the universe that is Free Improvisation since the late 1960s and Bill Nace, one of the most intriguing experimental “noise” guitarists of the 1990s/2000s underground scene.

For those of us who have been enamored by the live and documented work of both these gents, this Café Oto duo was a must-hear event. It could have gone anywhere musically and that would have been totally fine. Particularly with Evan having a history of being thrown into a variety of challenging collaborations throughout his career, employing the learned elegance of trust in his own sensitivity to listening, responding, leading, following, sparring, intertwining, dialoguing, creating in the instant and, essentially, dignifying the non-hierarchical grace of chance.

The aesthetics of socialist consideration in Evan Parker’s playing, in his community of expanded and personal technique, for a younger player such as Bill Nace, strikes an exemplary model. This notion of respect would be entirely the reason Nace, when offered a residency at the most critical “new music” room in England, would request to play in duo with Parker.

Bill Nace came to prominence mostly during the apex of experimental music activity in and around Western Massachusetts in the early days of the aughts, with a focus on visual art and free improvisation guitar action. He could be found in the daytime hours, his head hanging down over a notepad, penning fine-tuned illustrations and abstract line drawings, while in the evenings he’d be attending any number of basement noise gigs, many of which he’d be participating in. His guitar style came across as being informed as much as by the physicality of his writing utensils in friction to the page as it was to his hearing and redefining of radical recordings ranging anywhere from the Black Unity Group to Black Flag.

Utilizing various metal files and other small cylindrical objects Bill would allow his guitar and amplifier to be in tandem with the improvisatory movements of his body as the instrument balanced, intentionally and, at times, precariously, upon his lap. The performances came across thrilling and daring and they would be mostly in the context of venues nothing more than a low-ceilinged damp and dank New England basement, a clutch of people hanging onto rusty pipes or sitting up on dilapidated washer/dryer machines, the shards of Bill’s “file guitar” sounds ringing out like the most alive music on Earth.

By the time Bill reached Café Oto in early 2024 he had relocated to Philadelphia all the while releasing a succession of collaborative LPs on his Open Mouth label to present his developing progression of solo and collaborative work. He also would find himself considerably engaged with playing the electric taishōgoto, a keyboard-activated string instrument from Japan which can exist as a one, two, four, five, or six string oblong sound object. Bill’s approach to the taishōgoto would not be too unlike his approach to the traditional electric guitar, though no outboard implements such as files, sticks, and rocks are utilized. The similarity would lie wholly with Bill’s full immersion of high velocity action-playing where, with the taishōgoto, an electric drone beauty occurs. The flurry of sonics and resultant harmonics emanating from the amplifier (which Bill opts to dial into with borderline loud-as fuck volume settings) furthers the meta-mantra properties of the instrument in an astounding display of drone dynamism.

This sound world of Bill’s two-stringed taishōgoto on this Café Oto night worked beautifully with Evan Parker’s improvisatory saxophone conceptions. The duology achieved instant lift off at ground zero only to find it’s eventual finale as if it were organically ordained. Time seemingly morphed from its ancient human construct of control, rendered inconsequential to the torrential transcendence of the room wildly activated by the magic resonance of the multi-directional pan-spatial sonance of the music as if it were some beatific blessing. It was one of those nights where art as a liberating force of spirit gifted the listeners with an offering of exaltation and joy. It was entirely mystical and mind blowing. A night of Total Music."

Thurston Moore, London, 2025

For our ninth offering we have ventured out of our small but fertile swamp in search of another source of magick. Meandering across boggy pastures new, we crossed paths with Steevio, who sat hovering serenely in the fern covered shade of a nearby valley. Instantly recognising the singular vision of this fabled artist, we hastily gathered our nets and cast them under Steevio’s branches, capturing four beautiful offerings as they wriggled towards us. Upon the return to our mulch, it became clear that we could not contain Steevio’s creations, so willful was their vitality. It was therefore all we could do to release them back to the universal dance from whence they came.

The dance germinates with the writhing polyrhythmic ‘Apricity’. Hearing the crunch of frost laden grass beneath our webbed toes, we look above us to search for the sun. Angular beams of light escape over the horizon, as the warmth of Steevio’s machines coalesce. A glistening hi hat breaks through the membrane to bind his creation and anchor its ever shifting arms.

‘Octopus’ glides gracefully through a sun-dappled kelp forest. Sub frequencies rumble up from the shadowy darkness below, rippling along the fronds as they ascend. As the ocean begins to churn, a wriggling melodic tentacle parts the foliage, gleaming with primordial energy. Its joyful visit to the surface realm leaves us with a brief yet powerful reminder of the mystery beneath.

The glow of the midwinter sun warms our bones on ‘Apricity (Sunrise Mix)’. Percussive elements bubble out of the depths, forming intricate cascading patterns as they grow over the perfectly formed kicks. The moog filter tames the brew with Steevio’s intuitive restraint , until he releases its mighty power upon the gleeful forest dwellers, to their rapturous gratitude.

With ‘Adref’ we return home. The sedate tempo provides oceanic space for a melody which inhales and exhales over a familiar landscape of perfectly tuned percussion. With each breath the melody seems to increase its reach, until it’s buried deep within our bones, its memory resonating on long after it’s gone.

Steevio’s music reflects the universal moments where seemingly chaotic and disparate elements are suddenly revealed to be perfectly harmonious. Of course examples of this are always universally present in nature, and have been eternally, but we have to be reminded to appreciate them. In the same way that a wave deposits a perfect line of shells on a beach, dew freezes on grass, or individual strands of mycelial hyphae bind together to form incredible patterns, Steevio’s music is likewise; effortlessly considered. For us, it has more in common with the unrelenting flow of a river than it does with dance music. It is psychedelic music in the same sense that nature is intuitively psychedelic; without ever leaning into any tried tropes of what is culturally considered ‘psychedelic’ music.

Mit über 8,5 Millionen Followern in den sozialen Medien besitzt Alexandra Kay, die Hauptrolle in der
Netflix-Serie „Westside“, die seltene und außergewöhnliche Fähigkeit, eine echte Verbindung zum Publikum
aufzubauen, indem sie einfach sie selbst ist – mit gefühlvollen Melodien, ihrer „erfrischenden Art des
Geschichtenerzählens … maßgeschneidert für das Country-Genre“ (People) und ihrem „engelsgleichen, aber
dennoch erhebenden Gesang“ (American Songwriter). Der strahlende und hartnäckige Shootingstar, den
Billboard als „verständige, vielversprechende Singer-Songwriterin“ lobte, etablierte sich als eine Größe in
der Branche und veröffentlichte 2023 ihr Debütalbum „All I’ve Ever Known“. Das Projekt erreichte weltweit
Platz 1 der iTunes All Genre- und Country-Charts und sicherte ihr unabhängig davon einen Platz in den
Top 10 der Billboard Country Album-, Emerging Artist- und HeatSeeker-Charts.
Die bezaubernde Sängerin ist bereit, 2025 auf die nächste Stufe zu heben und gibt einen Einblick in ihr
zweites Album: die verträumte Romantik von „The Last“ und das ansteckend eingängige Mitsing-Stück
„Cupid’s A Cowgirl“. Nachdem sie gerade ihre „Cupid’s A Cowgirl“-Tournee als Headliner durch die USA
und Kanada beendet hat, macht sich der aufstrebende Star auf den Weg über den großen Teich zu ihrer
internationalen All I’ve Ever Known U.K. & Europe-Tournee, die in Amsterdam, Glasgow, Birmingham,
Belfast und Manchester bereits ausverkauft ist.

Returning with its final instalments, Die Schachtel's Decay Music series extends its explorations of inspired contemporary experimental efforts of the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract with Luigi Turra and Elio Martusciello’s “Liminale” and Sergio Armaroli and David Toop’s “And I Entered Into Sleep”, two astounding electroacoustic gestures of blurred space and time, plumbing complexity of meaning bound to sonority. Creatively groundbreaking and inspired, radically rethinking the terms of what ambient music can be perceived to be, they stand among the most striking efforts to appear within the series to date.

Reconfiguring the notion of bridge building on a multitude of terms, it feels fitting that the tenth and final installment of Die Schachtel’s Decay Music series, Sergio Armaroli and David Toop’s “And I Entered Into Sleep”, was co-created by an artist whose work featured in the first suite of LPs issued by Brian Eno’s Obscure Records in 1975, the groundwork toward which Decay Music’s own efforts nod. Since that auspicious debut, “New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments” — his split with Max Eastley — David Toop has been regarded as a pioneer in British experimental and improvised music: a sonic voyager who has continuously challenged the sources and materiality of sound through rigorously thoughtful performances, a vast catalog of recordings, and a steady flow of highly influential texts. Be it as a member of Alterations, his group breaking group with Peter Cusack, Terry Day, and Steve Beresford that ran between 1977 to 1986, or through is noteworthy work with artists like Rie Nakajima, Thurston Moore, Paul Burwell, Rhodri Davies, Lee Patterson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Akio Suzuki, Elaine Mitchener, and numerous others, collaboration has always played a central role within Toop’s singular practice, but few can claim the sprawling sense of beauty and intimacy that’s achieved by “And I Entered Into Sleep”, his first recorded outing with Sergio Armaroli.

A composer, percussionist, vibraphonist, and multidisciplinary artist, Armaroli has been issuing radical and forward-thinking musical gestures for decades, working as one of Italy’s most noteworthy interpreters of composer’s like Giacinto Scelsi, John Cage, Franco Evangelisti, Giancarlo Schiaffini, and Walter Branchi, as both a solo performer and member of the highly regarded Rib Trio, as well as forging a singular practice as a composer, intertwining his efforts as a painter, concrete percussionist, fragmentary poet and sound artist, within a total art, rooted “within the language of jazz and improvisation” as an “extension of the concept of art”. Like Toop, Armaroli’s career has been populated by many collaborators, notably with Riccardo Sinigaglia, Alvin Curran, and Walter Prati, among others, setting the stage for a remarkable meeting between the pair.

Featuring Armaroli on vibraphone and prepared vibraphone and Toop on electronics, “And I Entered Into Sleep” is “a sonic journey, a Proustian suggestion à la Recherche, into the unconscious between electronic and acoustic sounds”. Using a bell that sounds at the beginning of Proust’s “À la Recherché du Temps Perdu”, which reappears more than 3,000 pages later — signaling a transition of phases, as well an auditory trigger of memory — as a departure point, as an association to the percussive vibraphone pulses that thread the album’s two sides, the pair weave a striking interior world of immersive psychological depth. Feeling almost subaquatic at times, like captured glimpses of rumbling, shadowy ecosystems lost within murky ambiences, before washing ashore in a series of pointillistic, highly detailed alien landscapes of the mind, each artist’s markedly different sound-sources, and treatment of the subsequent material elements, dance in abstract grace, incorporating subtle nods to minimalism, free jazz, and musique concrète within its seamless total form of sparse texture and tone.

Easily one of the most striking and memorable releases by either artist to appear in recent years, Sergio Armaroli and David Toop’s “And I Entered Into Sleep” traverses uncharted realms at the borders of literary reference, sound art, ambience and abstraction through delicately musical sounds, revealing new depths at every turn. Issued as the tenth and final album in Die Schachtel’s Decay Music series, highlighting inspired contemporary experimental efforts of the ambient, ethereal, and emotively abstract.

Das Break-up-Konzeptalbum, nach dem niemand gefragt hat, The Appleseed Cast erschien 2003 auf Tiger Style inmitten einer zweiten Welle der Emo-Gegenbewegung. Jahrzehnte später gilt Two Conversations weithin als das Meisterwerk des Quintetts aus Lawrence, Kansas, ein atmosphärisches, seelenvolles Werk, das sich von den Klischees des Mittleren Westens distanziert. Verlieren Sie sich in den verträumten Klängen von Keyboards und Synthesizern und den Klängen von Stahlsaiten, aber seien Sie vor der Ausgangssperre wieder zu Hause.

Das Break-up-Konzeptalbum, nach dem niemand gefragt hat, The Appleseed Cast erschien 2003 auf Tiger Style inmitten einer zweiten Welle der Emo-Gegenbewegung. Jahrzehnte später gilt Two Conversations weithin als das Meisterwerk des Quintetts aus Lawrence, Kansas, ein atmosphärisches, seelenvolles Werk, das sich von den Klischees des Mittleren Westens distanziert. Verlieren Sie sich in den verträumten Klängen von Keyboards und Synthesizern und den Klängen von Stahlsaiten, aber seien Sie vor der Ausgangssperre wieder zu Hause.

Lucrate Milk baigne dans le nihilisme et l’insouciance et aime jouer avec l’absurde, le culte de la provocation et de la dérision forcenée, la fascination morbide, la déviance et l’anormalité. Rajoutons une bonne dose de chaos, d’énergie trépidante et de déglingue pour produire un son bizarroïde… Le groupe disparaît en février 84 après un dernier concert en apothéose au Théâtre du Forum des Halles (Paris). C’est paradoxalement après l’arrêt du groupe que sa notoriété s’étend, notamment grâce au transfuge d’une partie de ses anciens membres au sein de Bérurier Noir. En 37 concerts, de salles glauques (avec baston générale) en squats autonomes, des bars et boîtes branchées (Pont∼à∼Mousson) aux festivals (Berlin, Paris…), une légende urbaine se crée autour de Lucrate Milk, devenant une référence sans avoir vraiment rencontré de succès populaire de son vivant…

Originellement paru en 1987, regroupant le EP “Lustiges Tierquartett” (octobre 1981) le EP “Nepla Relou” (mai 1983) la face “Lucrate” du split LP avec MKB Fraction Provisoire et enregistré chez WW (juillet 1983). Épuisé depuis trop longtemps lui aussi…

Neo funk rising star Buscrates aims high with Blasting Off, his first full-length album. The Pittsburgh-based keyboard cosmonaut has been grabbing ears since his days hooking up beats with the hip hop crew East Liberty Quarters, but after slinging spicy one-offs to a slew of hot labels like Omega Supreme, Voyage Funktastique and Razor N Tape (as well as contributing production to Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y's 2009 project), the time has come for a full-length featuring his growing modern funk repertoire.

"I'm a '90s hip hop dude, but I grew up on that '80s funk stuff," Buscrates acknowledges. DJ gigs provided a working knowledge of the jams that moved a contemporary crowd, and as his collection of keyboards and drum machines grew he began blending the best of both decades with his personal futuristic edge. "I was nice on the MPC but I wanted to have a little more dynamic range with what I was doing," he notes. The self-described "certified synth geek" was soon branching into sounds that recalled '80s legend Kashif crossed with the hip hop bounce of DJ Spinna, and the modern funk community took notice.

For his first full-length, Buscrates has crewed up with an ace team of collaborators, featuring vocalist Sally Green on the bouncy lead single "Lost And Found" and "Eight Nine." Kate Moe Dee takes over mic duties for the second single, "How Ya Gonna Do It," a slinky groove that slides in place alongside groups like the Sunburst Band and Rene & Angela as an exemplar of sophisticated R&B. Adding to those credentials are the sultry vocals of Anda on "Believe," but of course, it wouldn't be a Buscrates set without some stank, neck-snapping instrumentals. "Five Days" and "Sure Shot," both collabos with the drum technician DJ Epik, will rattle speakers and have already been lighting up message boards on recent Buscrates DJ sets. Round things out with some easy gliding, jazzy funk ("Turn It Out" with Brothermartino on flute and "Evergreen" featuring Tony Ozier) and you've got all the ingredients for a high-flying cosmic ride with Buscrates at the controls.

Friday Night in San Francisco is a live album by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucía.

It was recorded live at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco,

on December 5 in 1980. The album is considered an iconic recording and was described by jazz author Walter Kolosky as
"a musical event that could be compared to the Benny Goodman Band's performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938...
it may be considered the most influential of all live acoustic guitar albums."

Al Di Meola is an acclaimed Italian American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist, composer, and record producer.
He experienced a celebrated career that has spanned four decades and earned him critical accolades,
three gold albums and more than six million record sales worldwide.
Di Meola has amassed over 20 albums as a leader while collaborating on a dozen or so others.


John McLaughlin, also known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer.
He is a pioneer of jazz fusion, combining elements of jazz with rock, world music,
Indian classical music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues. He received multiple "Guitarist of the Year"
and "Best Jazz Guitarist" Awards from magazines such as Downbeat and Guitar Player and was ranked 49th in Rolling Stone
magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Jeff Beck called him "the best guitarist alive".

Paco de Lucía was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer.
He was one of the first flamenco guitarists to branch into classical and jazz. De Lucía was noted for his fast and fluent fingerstyle runs
and gained popularity outside Spain after collaborating with McLaughlin and Di Meola. Richard Chapman and
Eric Clapton described de Lucía as a "titanic figure in the world of flamenco guitar."


Friday Night in San Francisco is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on purple coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

Woo, formed in 1975 by brothers Mark and Clive Ives in London, is known for its experimental blend of folk, jazz, ambient, and electronic music. Their sound, characterised by the delicate integration of acoustic and electronic elements, has earned them recognition in ambient and healing music spheres. Over decades, the duo has produced over 1,500 tracks, evolving a unique style that evokes dream-like atmospheres and a meditative, soothing quality perfect for moments of reflection.

Dedicated to intertwining the serene beauty of music with the nurturing process of planting seeds when the first new signs of life emerge in the growing season. A carefully crafted collection of ambient & minimalist soundscapes, occasionally branching into the new age. A soundtrack for quiet moments of sowing, nurturing, & witnessing the slow reward of growth.

Each artist will release a recycled cassette and digital format. We plan to release one cassette each month from November through June, aligning our releases with the ideal growing period. Each physical release will precede its digital counterpart by a few months, allowing the music to be experienced in its intended form first, with the tangible connection of a cassette and seeds before becoming accessible to a broader audience in the online sphere. This staggered release allows listeners to engage with the music more profoundly and intentionally, akin to the patience and care required in gardening. Best get that portable cassette player on eBay!

Each release will serve as a soundtrack to quiet moments of sowing, nurturing, and witnessing the slow, rewarding growth process, both in plants and in the listeners' lives. Whether tending to a window sill garden or simply seeking a peaceful retreat in sound, "Music to Watch Seeds Grow By" is an invitation to pause, listen, and cultivate.

Early DJ support including Tom Ravenscroft, Deb Grant, Vladimir Ivkovic,Ruf Dug, Eva Geist, Domenic Cappello, Fergus Clarke & Sofie K.

2025 marks 20 years of Tectonic, the pioneering dubstep and electronic label founded in 2005 by Bristol’s underground originator, DJ Pinch.
The Tectonic Sound compilation lays down the gauntlet for the future direction of the imprint. Split across 6 x 4-track 12”s, the compilation comprises many producers making their Tectonic debut, including Re:ni, Beatrice M., Yushh, Flora Yin-Wong, and Sicaria, alongside stalwarts like Om Unit, RSD, Peverelist and Kahn & Neek. It’s an exhilarating 24-track journey through experimental, bass-heavy electronic music, with almost all tracks created by the artists specifically with Tectonic's sound in mind - at the intersection where dubstep and techno meet.
“More so than just the sound, the music is in tune with the real ethos of the early dubstep scene,” - Label boss Pinch says: “People talk about 'heads in a scene - but it's led by hearts really. I've always tried to follow my heart when it comes to music and all the music here is from people I trust that do something worth communicating with the world. I love to watch and help artists grow just as much as I'm excited to release tracks from bigger names who are still passionate about what they do and have developed the powers and control to be able to output that effectively. It feels like Tectonic has been a part of so many communities over the years now, and that there is something that binds all the releases together, something that speaks for itself in a way that goes beyond words, something that's instinctive and immediate.”

Across Tectonic’s 150-strong catalogue there are seminal releases by 2562, Scientist, and Mumdance & Logos, side by side with appearances from Flying Lotus, Shed, Adrian Sherwood, Riko Dan and Photek. The label holds some of the earliest dubstep incantations of Skream, Digital Mystikz, and Joker as well as Pinch’s own productions. The evolution of the Tectonic sound branches into audio explorations encompassing sub-heavy techno and grimey soundscapes alongside leftfield electronica and future-facing beats. The common thread that binds is Pinch’s devotion to pushing underground music ahead of its time, always built to rattle a soundsystem

2025 marks 20 years of Tectonic, the pioneering dubstep and electronic label founded in 2005 by Bristol’s underground originator, DJ Pinch.
The Tectonic Sound compilation lays down the gauntlet for the future direction of the imprint. Split across 6 x 4-track 12”s, the compilation comprises many producers making their Tectonic debut, including Re:ni, Beatrice M., Yushh, Flora Yin-Wong, and Sicaria, alongside stalwarts like Om Unit, RSD, Peverelist and Kahn & Neek. It’s an exhilarating 24-track journey through experimental, bass-heavy electronic music, with almost all tracks created by the artists specifically with Tectonic's sound in mind - at the intersection where dubstep and techno meet.
“More so than just the sound, the music is in tune with the real ethos of the early dubstep scene,” - Label boss Pinch says: “People talk about 'heads in a scene - but it's led by hearts really. I've always tried to follow my heart when it comes to music and all the music here is from people I trust that do something worth communicating with the world. I love to watch and help artists grow just as much as I'm excited to release tracks from bigger names who are still passionate about what they do and have developed the powers and control to be able to output that effectively. It feels like Tectonic has been a part of so many communities over the years now, and that there is something that binds all the releases together, something that speaks for itself in a way that goes beyond words, something that's instinctive and immediate.”

Across Tectonic’s 150-strong catalogue there are seminal releases by 2562, Scientist, and Mumdance & Logos, side by side with appearances from Flying Lotus, Shed, Adrian Sherwood, Riko Dan and Photek. The label holds some of the earliest dubstep incantations of Skream, Digital Mystikz, and Joker as well as Pinch’s own productions. The evolution of the Tectonic sound branches into audio explorations encompassing sub-heavy techno and grimey soundscapes alongside leftfield electronica and future-facing beats. The common thread that binds is Pinch’s devotion to pushing underground music ahead of its time, always built to rattle a soundsystem

2025 marks 20 years of Tectonic, the pioneering dubstep and electronic label founded in 2005 by Bristol’s underground originator, DJ Pinch.
The Tectonic Sound compilation lays down the gauntlet for the future direction of the imprint. Split across 6 x 4-track 12”s, the compilation comprises many producers making their Tectonic debut, including Re:ni, Beatrice M., Yushh, Flora Yin-Wong, and Sicaria, alongside stalwarts like Om Unit, RSD, Peverelist and Kahn & Neek. It’s an exhilarating 24-track journey through experimental, bass-heavy electronic music, with almost all tracks created by the artists specifically with Tectonic's sound in mind - at the intersection where dubstep and techno meet.
“More so than just the sound, the music is in tune with the real ethos of the early dubstep scene,” - Label boss Pinch says: “People talk about 'heads in a scene - but it's led by hearts really. I've always tried to follow my heart when it comes to music and all the music here is from people I trust that do something worth communicating with the world. I love to watch and help artists grow just as much as I'm excited to release tracks from bigger names who are still passionate about what they do and have developed the powers and control to be able to output that effectively. It feels like Tectonic has been a part of so many communities over the years now, and that there is something that binds all the releases together, something that speaks for itself in a way that goes beyond words, something that's instinctive and immediate.”

Across Tectonic’s 150-strong catalogue there are seminal releases by 2562, Scientist, and Mumdance & Logos, side by side with appearances from Flying Lotus, Shed, Adrian Sherwood, Riko Dan and Photek. The label holds some of the earliest dubstep incantations of Skream, Digital Mystikz, and Joker as well as Pinch’s own productions. The evolution of the Tectonic sound branches into audio explorations encompassing sub-heavy techno and grimey soundscapes alongside leftfield electronica and future-facing beats. The common thread that binds is Pinch’s devotion to pushing underground music ahead of its time, always built to rattle a soundsystem

2025 marks 20 years of Tectonic, the pioneering dubstep and electronic label founded in 2005 by Bristol’s underground originator, DJ Pinch.
The Tectonic Sound compilation lays down the gauntlet for the future direction of the imprint. Split across 6 x 4-track 12”s, the compilation comprises many producers making their Tectonic debut, including Re:ni, Beatrice M., Yushh, Flora Yin-Wong, and Sicaria, alongside stalwarts like Om Unit, RSD, Peverelist and Kahn & Neek. It’s an exhilarating 24-track journey through experimental, bass-heavy electronic music, with almost all tracks created by the artists specifically with Tectonic's sound in mind - at the intersection where dubstep and techno meet.
“More so than just the sound, the music is in tune with the real ethos of the early dubstep scene,” - Label boss Pinch says: “People talk about 'heads in a scene - but it's led by hearts really. I've always tried to follow my heart when it comes to music and all the music here is from people I trust that do something worth communicating with the world. I love to watch and help artists grow just as much as I'm excited to release tracks from bigger names who are still passionate about what they do and have developed the powers and control to be able to output that effectively. It feels like Tectonic has been a part of so many communities over the years now, and that there is something that binds all the releases together, something that speaks for itself in a way that goes beyond words, something that's instinctive and immediate.”

Across Tectonic’s 150-strong catalogue there are seminal releases by 2562, Scientist, and Mumdance & Logos, side by side with appearances from Flying Lotus, Shed, Adrian Sherwood, Riko Dan and Photek. The label holds some of the earliest dubstep incantations of Skream, Digital Mystikz, and Joker as well as Pinch’s own productions. The evolution of the Tectonic sound branches into audio explorations encompassing sub-heavy techno and grimey soundscapes alongside leftfield electronica and future-facing beats. The common thread that binds is Pinch’s devotion to pushing underground music ahead of its time, always built to rattle a soundsystem

2025 marks 20 years of Tectonic, the pioneering dubstep and electronic label founded in 2005 by Bristol’s underground originator, DJ Pinch.
The Tectonic Sound compilation lays down the gauntlet for the future direction of the imprint. Split across 6 x 4-track 12”s, the compilation comprises many producers making their Tectonic debut, including Re:ni, Beatrice M., Yushh, Flora Yin-Wong, and Sicaria, alongside stalwarts like Om Unit, RSD, Peverelist and Kahn & Neek. It’s an exhilarating 24-track journey through experimental, bass-heavy electronic music, with almost all tracks created by the artists specifically with Tectonic's sound in mind - at the intersection where dubstep and techno meet.
“More so than just the sound, the music is in tune with the real ethos of the early dubstep scene,” - Label boss Pinch says: “People talk about 'heads in a scene - but it's led by hearts really. I've always tried to follow my heart when it comes to music and all the music here is from people I trust that do something worth communicating with the world. I love to watch and help artists grow just as much as I'm excited to release tracks from bigger names who are still passionate about what they do and have developed the powers and control to be able to output that effectively. It feels like Tectonic has been a part of so many communities over the years now, and that there is something that binds all the releases together, something that speaks for itself in a way that goes beyond words, something that's instinctive and immediate.”

Across Tectonic’s 150-strong catalogue there are seminal releases by 2562, Scientist, and Mumdance & Logos, side by side with appearances from Flying Lotus, Shed, Adrian Sherwood, Riko Dan and Photek. The label holds some of the earliest dubstep incantations of Skream, Digital Mystikz, and Joker as well as Pinch’s own productions. The evolution of the Tectonic sound branches into audio explorations encompassing sub-heavy techno and grimey soundscapes alongside leftfield electronica and future-facing beats. The common thread that binds is Pinch’s devotion to pushing underground music ahead of its time, always built to rattle a soundsystem

2025 marks 20 years of Tectonic, the pioneering dubstep and electronic label founded in 2005 by Bristol’s underground originator, DJ Pinch.
The Tectonic Sound compilation lays down the gauntlet for the future direction of the imprint. Split across 6 x 4-track 12”s, the compilation comprises many producers making their Tectonic debut, including Re:ni, Beatrice M., Yushh, Flora Yin-Wong, and Sicaria, alongside stalwarts like Om Unit, RSD, Peverelist and Kahn & Neek. It’s an exhilarating 24-track journey through experimental, bass-heavy electronic music, with almost all tracks created by the artists specifically with Tectonic's sound in mind - at the intersection where dubstep and techno meet.
“More so than just the sound, the music is in tune with the real ethos of the early dubstep scene,” - Label boss Pinch says: “People talk about 'heads in a scene - but it's led by hearts really. I've always tried to follow my heart when it comes to music and all the music here is from people I trust that do something worth communicating with the world. I love to watch and help artists grow just as much as I'm excited to release tracks from bigger names who are still passionate about what they do and have developed the powers and control to be able to output that effectively. It feels like Tectonic has been a part of so many communities over the years now, and that there is something that binds all the releases together, something that speaks for itself in a way that goes beyond words, something that's instinctive and immediate.”

Across Tectonic’s 150-strong catalogue there are seminal releases by 2562, Scientist, and Mumdance & Logos, side by side with appearances from Flying Lotus, Shed, Adrian Sherwood, Riko Dan and Photek. The label holds some of the earliest dubstep incantations of Skream, Digital Mystikz, and Joker as well as Pinch’s own productions. The evolution of the Tectonic sound branches into audio explorations encompassing sub-heavy techno and grimey soundscapes alongside leftfield electronica and future-facing beats. The common thread that binds is Pinch’s devotion to pushing underground music ahead of its time, always built to rattle a soundsystem

Penguin Cafe Orchestra’ is the second studio album by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, released in 1981, and recorded between 1977 and 1980.  By this album, the line-up for the band had expanded greatly, with contribution including Simon Jeffes, Helen Leibmann, Steve Nye and Gavyn Wright of the original quartet, as well as Geoff Richardson, Peter Veitch, Braco, Giles Leamna, Julio Segovia and Neil Rennie.
All pieces were composed by Simon Jeffes, except for ‘Paul’s Dance’ (Jeffes and Nye), ‘Cutting Branches’ (traditional), and ‘Walk Don’t Run’ (by Johnny Smith).
The cover painting is by Emily Young.
‘Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter’ is based on the traditional Zimbabwean song, ‘Nhemamusasa’, a field recording of which can be heard played on mbira on the Nonesuch Records album ‘The Soul of the Mbira’.

The Boston Globe opined that “this is one of the most eccentric records released this or any year... It’s also one of the most delightful.”
In 2021, ‘Penguin Cafe Orchestra’ was named among The Fifty Best Albums Of 1981 by Spin.
This repress uses the 2008 remaster.

Pressed on apricot vinyl.

SASSYHIYA want to take you somewhere. The journey starts in Kathy and Helen's flat in South London. Sit down, close your eyes, and immerse yourself... You are on your way to a musical rainforest a long way from Camberwell. Explore your new surroundings, and you will find beautiful pop blooms like Let's See What We Can Find, as bright and vibrant as The Sundays, thrusting their colourful faces up from the forest floor. You'll find tangles of sharp-edged guitar, as if Swiss she-punks Kleenex had been left to evolve here in the rich fertile soil (I Had A Thought). You'll find dark pools full of lyrical complexity, deceptively deep and immersive, with shimmering reflections of The Go-Betweens (Perennial). And you'll come across delicate love songs, creeping up the trunks and branches of the bass and drums, displaying their fragile beauty (Thank You And Goodbye). And what's that exotic striped animal prowling through the undergrowth? Actually, it's Crayon Potato, Sassyhiya's pet cat, the other resident of their flat in South London, taking up her role as the feline star of a lilting, singalong anthem written in her honour. That's what is so great about this album. You are somehow, simultaneously, exploring the most exotic forest in the world while also sitting in a flat in an ordinary, familiar English street with Sassyhiya and their cat. This album transports you without pretending the real world doesn't exist: it doesn't get all mystical on you (Take You Somewhere is as unlike Enya as anything you've heard). Sometimes you might be reminded of Girls At Our Best, and then Delta 5. You might even, on occasion, think of Echo and the Bunnymen. Sassyhiya (pronounced "Sassy Hiya") were formed when Helen and Kathy, real-life partners and co-songwriters, joined up with Pablo and Neil (drums and guitar). Helen had previously been in Boys Forever and Basic Plumbing, collaborating with much-missed Veronica Falls musician Patrick Doyle. She and Kathy then formed Barry, a stripped-down queercore outfit, with Bart McDonagh (The Male Gays) and Mark Amura (My Executive Dysfunction). Sassyhiya feels like a culmination of all these elements, hitting the sweet spot between post-punk and indie pop. They know their way around a melody but still keep it wonky, with influences ranging from the Breeders and Broadcast to Dolly Parton.

Strut present the first international release in over 30 years by legendary Afro-jazz group Oneness Of Juju with their new album Made Through Ritual on 11th July 2025.

In 1975, the late DJ / producer and jazz distributor Jimmy Gray and James “Plunky” Branch joined a musical revolution, founding Black Fire Records and releasing the label’s debut album, the classic African Rhythms by Oneness of Juju. This July, Plunky brings this important musical relationship full circle with Made Through Ritual, produced by Plunky’s son Jamiah “Fire” Branch and Jimmy’s son Jamal Gray.

The album takes a novel approach to beat culture. Working from demos created by Jamal using a selection of original jazz samples, Plunky took the tracks, replayed and re-interpreted the arrangements using live musicians. “The album explores the art of deconstruction and reconstruction in music - sampling, sequencing, and live improvisation merge with multi-track recording to craft intricate harmonies and arrangements,” explains Plunky. “The process became a ritualistic expression of creativity and transformation.”

The resulting album is a fascinating listen. Opening with the meditative soul chant ‘Share This Love’ voiced by regular Oneness vocalist Charlayne “Chyp” Green, the album opens out into a series of jazz vignettes including the title track, ‘In Due Time’ and ‘Free Spirit’. The powerful album closer, ‘Children Of The Drum’ celebrates black culture and legacy through the poetry of Roscoe Burnem.

Released on 1LP and 1CD with specially commissioned cover artwork by contemporary Ivorian artist Maxime Manga, Made Through Ritual represents an important new chapter in the Oneness story. The album will be supported by a selection of European tour dates during Autumn and Winter 2025.

Los Angeles trio sunking marry hip hop, and electronic influences on their 2nd album I DON"T LIKE MY TELEPHONE. Childhood friends Bobby Granfelt, a jazz drummer and self-proclaimed hip-hop head, Antoine Martel, a synthesist and composer, branched off their mainstay High Pulp to explore their polar opposite tastes and make music as sunking in addition to multi-instrumentalist Victory Nguyen. Their 2022 debut Smug, was more jazz-influenced, while I DON"T LIKE MY TELEPHONE is akin to the early work of beat-driven artists Thundercat, Madlib, and Flying Lotus. They hand selected artists Salami Rose Joe Louis, Niki Randa, Deradoorian, and Takoda to lend vocals and help capture that spirit. I DON"T LIKE MY TELEPHONE as a series of self-contained "micro-compositions," built around Granfelt"s drum loops and Martel"s new gear. In addition to, they were fueled by an increasing love for electronic music artists like Galcher Lustwerk, The Field, and Susumu Yokota, whose 1994 cult classic Acid Mt. Fuji they cite as a particular inspiration. The result is a record as vibrant as a kaleidoscope, and compact as one too, shuffling through more styles and ideas in neat, three-minute chunks of virtuosity.