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The collaborative debut of American minimal techno pioneer Troy Pierce and Colombian audiovisual artist Natalia Escobar aka Poison Arrow was conceived in reverse: first they created a collection of shadowy surrealist videos, then wrote music inspired by them. This inverted process proved remarkably fruitful. Shatter is a simmering, slow-burn noir odyssey inspired by the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus, traversing subtle shades of sleepwalker dub, metallic lament, broken beats, and erotic negative space. It's an effectively unsettling evocation of the legend's core theme: “There is nothing more complex than a shattered heart, or a heart that can't love.”

Considering their shared background trafficking in darkened dance floor modes, what's most striking about Pierce with Arrow's partnership is its rhythmic restraint. The album's 10 tracks seethe and shudder between glamor and gloom, with only occasional dread-steeped metronomes mapping the malaise to a grid. They speak of pursuing a “spatial approach” with this project, which manifests in the music's immersive design and patient execution, each mangled clang and rippling pool of bass allowed to reverberate

its full flickering waveform.

The collaborative debut of American minimal techno pioneer Troy Pierce and Colombian audiovisual artist Natalia Escobar aka Poison Arrow was conceived in reverse: first they created a collection of shadowy surrealist videos, then wrote music inspired by them. This inverted process proved remarkably fruitful. Shatter is a simmering, slow-burn noir odyssey inspired by the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus, traversing subtle shades of sleepwalker dub, metallic lament, broken beats, and erotic negative space. It's an effectively unsettling evocation of the legend's core theme: "There is nothing more complex than a shattered heart, or a heart that can't love." Considering their shared background trafficking in darkened dance floor modes, what's most striking about Pierce with Arrow's partnership is its rhythmic restraint. The album's 10 tracks seethe and shudder between glamor and gloom, with only occasional dread-steeped metronomes mapping the malaise to a grid. They speak of pursuing a "spatial approach" with this project, which manifests in the music's immersive design and patient execution, each mangled clang and rippling pool of bass allowed to reverberate its full flickering waveform. Guest appearances by austere techno producer Konrad Black ("Obsidian Glass") and drum n bass institution dBridge ("It's A Love Story, After All") flow seamlessly into the whole, subtle sculptural accents on a dimly lit descent through purgatories of longing and lust. But the shadows recede for the record's closing cut, "Narcissus," which swells elegiacally in a mass of devotional drones over a muted heartbeat, like Narcissus gazing upon his reflection in holy awe: elusive true beauty, finally beheld, by itself.

Lingering at the remains of a campfire before dawn, with the politics of the personal burnt into ash, running his stick through what’s left, Wand singer/guitarist Cory Hanson is reflecting on a series of moments in which he steps farther into himself, finding the ultimate big sky country on the inside of his skull. It’s a combination of songs and sounds that journey
through bleak and broken territory and places of sweet, lush remove and it adds up to the best record he’s been involved in yet: his second solo album, ‘Pale Horse Rider’.

 Cory’s first solo, ‘The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo’, was an intense affair, a grand experiment that produced inspiring,
nconventional music - but this time around, he wanted to breathe a bit easier, to feel that breath in the music as well. So he and his band drove out to the desert to record in a lowstress environment: Brian Harris’ Cactopia, a house surrounded by 6ft tall sculptural psychotropic cacti. They built a studio inside and then they made music and lived off pots of coffee and chili and cases of Miller High Life as they played guitars, bass, keyboards and drums in what seemed increasingly like a living biomech, their tech made out of fungal networks and cacti needles.

 It was loose and flowed onto tape well. Recorded by Robbie Cody and Zac Hernandez (who assisted on Wand’s ‘Laughing Matter’), the sounds were great from the get-go. First takes were mostly best takes. Fuelled with DNA lifted from country-rock cut with native psych and prog strands, Cory guided his craft toward the cosmic side of the highway, a benevolent alien in ambient fields hazy with heat and synths, early morning fog and space echo spreading the harmonies wide.

 ‘Pale Horse Rider’’s got a lot to get out of its mind, looking around and seeing that, on the surface, things don’t always look like much. A lifelong Californian, Cory’s naturally found himself standing to the left of most of the
country. The west may be only what you make it; these days, the roadside view looks exceptionally sunbleached and left behind. ‘Pale Horse Rider’ eyes the city, the country and the fragile environment that holds them both in its hands - a record as much about Los Angeles as it can be with its back to the town and the sun in its eyes; as much about
ostalgia as new music can be with the apocalypse over the next rise.

 On ‘Pale Horse Rider’, Cory Hanson moves ceaselessly forward. The old myths weave and waft, the shadows of tombstones flickering in the mirages and the light that lies dead ahead.

Lingering at the remains of a campfire before dawn, with the politics of the personal burnt into ash, running his stick through what’s left, Wand singer/guitarist Cory Hanson is reflecting on a series of moments in which he steps farther into himself, finding the ultimate big sky country on the inside of his skull. It’s a combination of songs and sounds that journey
through bleak and broken territory and places of sweet, lush remove and it adds up to the best record he’s been involved in yet: his second solo album, ‘Pale Horse Rider’.

 Cory’s first solo, ‘The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo’, was an intense affair, a grand experiment that produced inspiring,
nconventional music - but this time around, he wanted to breathe a bit easier, to feel that breath in the music as well. So he and his band drove out to the desert to record in a lowstress environment: Brian Harris’ Cactopia, a house surrounded by 6ft tall sculptural psychotropic cacti. They built a studio inside and then they made music and lived off pots of coffee and chili and cases of Miller High Life as they played guitars, bass, keyboards and drums in what seemed increasingly like a living biomech, their tech made out of fungal networks and cacti needles.

 It was loose and flowed onto tape well. Recorded by Robbie Cody and Zac Hernandez (who assisted on Wand’s ‘Laughing Matter’), the sounds were great from the get-go. First takes were mostly best takes. Fuelled with DNA lifted from country-rock cut with native psych and prog strands, Cory guided his craft toward the cosmic side of the highway, a benevolent alien in ambient fields hazy with heat and synths, early morning fog and space echo spreading the harmonies wide.

 ‘Pale Horse Rider’’s got a lot to get out of its mind, looking around and seeing that, on the surface, things don’t always look like much. A lifelong Californian, Cory’s naturally found himself standing to the left of most of the
country. The west may be only what you make it; these days, the roadside view looks exceptionally sunbleached and left behind. ‘Pale Horse Rider’ eyes the city, the country and the fragile environment that holds them both in its hands - a record as much about Los Angeles as it can be with its back to the town and the sun in its eyes; as much about
ostalgia as new music can be with the apocalypse over the next rise.

 On ‘Pale Horse Rider’, Cory Hanson moves ceaselessly forward. The old myths weave and waft, the shadows of tombstones flickering in the mirages and the light that lies dead ahead.

The Roman on the cover soldiers on in silence. This album is the product of excavations in materials recorded at home, EMS in Stockholm, Worm in Rotterdoom, and Willem Twee Studios in 's-Hertogenbosch, much of which has been collaged, recollaged, broken apart, bleeped backwards and put back together with the kind of casual elegance that takes years of practice to perfect. Hiele is a very busy man: aside from his music (solo, commissions, and in collaboration with far too many people to mention here) he co-runs Table Dance - a bar-restaurant-venue in Antwerp's red light district - and Universal Exports, a shady organisation that occasionally releases records. Limited edition of 300 copies. Includes a poster/insert, download code and a UE sticker.

We were playing the track ‘Common Ground’ out and it was getting the dance floor hot! It was an instrumental at the time and Renato Paris was in the dance (a singer that EVM has been working with, plays keys with Moses Boyd and is one of Gilles Peterson's one to watch) he came up and asked, “What's This?” grabbed the mic, peak time and layed down this dope freestyle vocal, it was a jaw drop kinda moment for us all! That was it, we had to make it happen! So we linked up Renato and Duke and it became the lead track on the EP. An infectious song that literally drips in soul and future R&B, and just fits perfectly over the strings on this killer broken beat track! It’s one that will stick in your head and make you play it twice!

The whole EP is nothing short of quality. From the sultry jazzy Bruk vibes of '2017 Heat Wave' to the monstrous club track ‘ Nighthawks’ an up front stomper with live drums and a bassline that'll make you shiver inside that funky top line.

‘Got My 606 Back’ has been getting rinsed by the Summer dance Forever crew’s KC The Funkaholic and was well received by dancers worldwide when it was used for an SDF promo earlier in the year. We’ve since had many of them asking when this is coming out! This one is a real body mover, sweat towel advised!

Finishing up on ‘IFZ Shuffle’ a wicked little house shuffler that almost takes you back to the 90’s. It has this sweet piano breakdown that then introduces synths and congas until the groove kicks back in again. This track and the whole EP for that matter, works in a multitude of situations. It wont fail!

Gold-certified bluegrass band The Dead South announce Served Live, their first double live album, available for pre-order now. Recorded during the Served Cold World Tour, which traveled the USA, UK and Ireland before the live music industry was shut down by the pandemic, Served Live is a full concert set list taped at iconic and beloved venues, from London’s Brixton Academy and Denver’s Mission Ballroom to The Belasco Theatre in LA. Featuring new material from the JUNO Award winning album Sugar & Joy, alongside the band’s top charting, global viral hits from previous records, Served Live puts you in the front row in your own home, where we hope you’ll stay safe. "We've often thought of ourselves primarily as live, performing artists as opposed to recording artists. Our studio albums exist as a reflection of and advertisement for what we really do, which is put on high-energy shows. While a "live recording" is a bit of a paradox, we're very excited to give our fans a glimpse of what we do best. If you've seen us before, we hope this record will in some small way bring you back to the sweaty, loud live experience we've all been missing. If you have yet to see us, we hope this record excites you to come see us in the (hopefully) near future.” Served Live will be released January 29, 2021 via Six Shooter Records.

The collaborative debut of American minimal techno pioneer Troy Pierce and Colombian audiovisual artist Natalia Escobar aka Poison Arrow was conceived in reverse: first they created a collection of shadowy surrealist videos, then wrote music inspired by them. This inverted process proved remarkably fruitful. Shatter is a simmering, slow-burn noir odyssey inspired by the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus, traversing subtle shades of sleepwalker dub, metallic lament, broken beats, and erotic negative space. It's an effectively unsettling evocation of the legend's core theme: “There is nothing more complex than a shattered heart, or a heart that can't love.”

Considering their shared background trafficking in darkened dance floor modes, what's most striking about Pierce with Arrow's partnership is its rhythmic restraint. The album's 10 tracks seethe and shudder between glamor and gloom, with only occasional dread-steeped metronomes mapping the malaise to a grid. They speak of pursuing a “spatial approach” with this project, which manifests in the music's immersive design and patient execution, each mangled clang and rippling pool of bass allowed to reverberate

its full flickering waveform.

Children Of Tomorrow will celebrate soon its 10 years anniversary. The label was created by Emmanuel Ternois back in the day and being joined by Arnaud Le Texier in 2011. Since then they focused on Techno producing amazing artists, to name few: Terrence Dixon, Zadig, Tensal, Antigone, Oscar Mulero, Jonas Kopp, Samuli Kemppi etc... Children Of Tomorrow is now presenting the first album from Arnaud Le Texier. After almost 30 years Dj-ing around the world and almost 20 years producing. Signing many releases over the years and always busy delivering dance floor releases, it's been a long wait to finally get an album from ArnaudOn his first album we can feel that he wanted to tell a story and to express something deeper with his production experience. There is a different variety of Techno that stretches from ambient / broken beat / hypnotic / raw Techno along with subtles grooves, wondrous atmospheres & sonic textures. On A side the album opens with Dusk, an ambient atmospheric mid-tempo track with sonic sounds that is a perfect intro.Pattern 2 starts with drones and blip sounds and a broken beat groove follows with a pad that sounds like a voice coming from the space. The track ends with some modular click sounds that make the whole track clever. Followed by the album title Granular Therapy, a deep techno track with modular bass line and melancholic pad. A perfect track to play in after or to warm up a party.The B Side is more dedicated to the dance floor with Black Nympheas that is a proper dark modern techno with a grinding bass line and magic drones. A simple beat makes the track evolve in a nice way. Blade Pass frequency is 4/4 effective Techno with a 909 kick, a syncope acid bass line and a pad that sends you to another dimension. It is a powerful track but with a sense of deepness and sensibility that Arnaud can achieve sometimes. This side closes with Binary Sun Dawn which is an ambient track with melody that has a jazz feeling mixed with dark atmospheres, sonic drones and water drops. The C side opens with Mono Driver, a minimal track with a little synth that stays until the end repetitively until it makes you travel and lose your mind. Deep and dance floor at the same time.

Then Snapper is a more percussive track with some shinning bells and a grinding modular bass line.

The last track Virgo Consortium is a cosmic broken beat with dark atmospheric drone, simple bass and phasing efx. The D Side starts with Midi overdub which is a beauty. A mix between ambient and broken beat. The pad has the deepness that transports you somewhere else with an angel choir on top. The beat is spacial and groovy at the same time with smart high hats. This reminds Arnaud's past ambient production but with a modern approach. Surely a special track of the album.

Hideous Engine is more dance floor with metallic bass line and 4'4 beat going towards a sonic pad that closes the track.The last track Dawn is ambient with drones and blip sounds and an acid bass line modulate. A perfect end of the album.This album is an accomplished journey that makes you dance and travel from dusk till dawn. Arnaud Le Texier shows a coherent vision and illustrates his vast diversity in the techno world. Hopefully we won't have to wait 20 years to get another one.

Freestyle Records are proud to present the first ever reissue of this rare Black Ark-era Lee "Scratch" Perry production on LP & CD w/ bonus tracks. Both formats feature liner notes from author of the acclaimed People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae, David Katz.

The late Bunny Rugs was best known as the frontman for legendary reggae band Third World, but prior to that he completed an apprenticeship at Lee Perry's Black Ark resulting in this solo LP, originally released in 1975 and credited to Bunny Scott.

The album captures the laid-back sessions of the early Black Ark, with a few surprising innovations lurking amongst the soul covers and love ballads. Highlights include the sought after Blaxploitation-influenced funk track 'Kinky Fly' featuring members of The Chi-Lites' backing band, passing through Perry's infamous studio whilst in Jamaica for a series of shows - their horn section and Chinna Smith's wah-wah guitar give the track its outstanding difference as synth overdubs add to the moody feeling, underpinned by the ghostly click tracks of the Conn Rhythm Unit (constituting one of Perry's earliest experiments with drum machines).

Breakup track 'Second Avenue' shows how suited Rugs' powerful, deep tenor was suited to a soul framework, the Chi-Lites' horns again making a striking difference. The Bee Gees' evergreen 'To Love Somebody' takes James Carr's soulful rendition as its reference and 'Big May' re-works the 'Return Of Django'/'Sick And Tired' rhythm, with a new drum part. while the broken-hearted 'What's The Use' was cut at the request of Sonia Pottinger, who ultimately failed to release it.

Somehow the sublime rendition of William DeVaughans' 'Be Thankful', recorded during the same session, was left off the LP - but appears here as a bonus track on the CD along with I Never Had It So Good & Hip Harry + it's version track.

Looking back on the sessions documented on this LP, Rugs said that Perry's creativity taught him that music could be limitless. As he explained, 'It was so simple that it became complex. The approach he has to music and to recording, I think the music nowadays lack that kind of intuition. He's somebody that would use pliers and a screwdriver to create percussion; he wouldn't hesitate to experiment. He was a little...not crazy, but somebody with that kind of thinking must be somewhere else, in another zone sometimes.'

Following 2019’s ‘INSHROUDSS EP’, ‘RESURRECTEDINBLACK’ marks the first Bestial Mouths LP crafted fully under frontwoman Lynette Cerezo’s guiding mind.

Emerging from the shrouds of trauma explored on her debut release as the singular force behind Bestial Mouths, RESURRECTEDINBLACK weaves a world riddled by grief and loss—a world of broken systems, of toxic lands once sacred, of lost saviors and inner voids that may be tented with strong flesh, but remain as raw as the meat surrounding them.

While branching deeper into the searing industrialized electronics and imminently danceable darkwave of the previous EP, RESURRECTEDINBLACK also continues to channel new and experimental paths through the project’s original gothic post-punk roots. Led by Cerezo’s visceral, emotional voice and lyrics, and featuring beautifully brutal production from Brant Showers (AAIMON/SØLVE), Alex DeGroot (Zola Jesus) and Balázs Képli (nullius in verba), it is the journey of a soul shattered—then stapled back together by female rage and self-determination.

We are very pleased to finally present you a new Lorenz Rhode release, for the „Sandpaper EP“ Lorenz Rhode and Jamie Lidell get together again. Their first collab „Any Kind of Pressure“ was followed by Lorenz joining Jamie’s world tour and a remix of „Big Love“ for Warp Records. Jamie performs with an amazing energy, and his
soulful voice is carried by a warm and playful house backing: Minimoog bass, Rhodes piano and just some sparkles of a very old Roland synth that Lorenz had just bought, and which is now broken.
The second new jam „On the Nightshift“ is a fun stabby tune based on a spiraling chord progression. It loops every three-and-a-half bars, just to make life harder for DJs. A real nice warm groover.
The remix for „Sandpaper“ is a true family affair! Sound Support is the all new project by Lars Dales better known as 1/2 of Detroit Swindle and Lorenz himself. They’ve just released their debut EP on Prins Thomas’ “Internasjonal” label in October this year, here they take Jamie’s vocal into a more dramatic and electronic territory touching
electro grounds. To close things out we also added an instrumental on the vinyl and radio mix on the digital version of this new EP. Enjoy as much as we did putting this together for you!

Conjunto Papa Upa returns with “Todo Parao” (“Total Shutdown”), another boundary pushing tropical smasher. Bringing you the ultimate (humourous) hymn to the pandemic over an exquisite blend of highly danceable Caribbean rhythms (zouk, cadence, kompás, guaracha) and classic synths. Backed by a deep sea dub on the flip, complete with resplendent cowbell(!), timbales and Wurlitzer solos. Another stepping stone that showcases yet another angle of the unique and radical production style of Alex Figueira. Drop this 45 at your next virtual party and watch everybody leave their computers in a desperate search of a dancing partner.

Conjunto Papa Upa is the Afro Caribbean centered solo project of Figueira, backed live bysome of the best musicians from Amsterdam’s Latin and free jazz scenes. Their debut LP was recently released on legendary American indie label Names You Can Trust. Figueira is also known for his percussive work on tropical psych power trio Fumaça Preta or his regular live incursions with Amsterdam’s turkish psych folk powerhouse, Altin Gun.

Having spent the whole night working on the melodic structure of the song, Figueira took a break to take advantage of the different time zones and check on his dad in Venezuela, and ask how the pandemic was unfolding there. His answer: “Todo Parao” (“Total Shutdown”). The same two words he had used multiple times before, this time pronounced in a hilarious Rum-infused way, giving Alex an unexpected flush of inspiration in the form of an instant infectious chorus. He excused himself and immediately got locked back in the studio. The result is this incredibly catchy tune, displaying the optimistic approach of a boyfriend to the chaos, uncertainty and worrying of his girlfriend about the pandemic, presenting her with his own lascivious lockdown plan for the two, declaring at a certain moment: “while everyone is lamenting, you and I are going to enjoy”.

In the musical side, rhythms from Haiti, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico and Cuba are unscrupulously mixed with the most diverse and strikking elements: strident cowbells that evoke the toughest salsa of 70's New York, harmonized guitars evidencing the inconfesable influence of 80’s heavy metal, a delicate Wurlitzer piano reminiscent of Black America’s greatest Soul ballads, Casio keyboards rescued from a child’s toy cabinet and a whole plethora of half-broken classic Synths, to create an equally irresistible and unclassifiable hybrid.

On the flip side, Part 2 opens with a prominent dose of the lead guitar that appeared briefly on the A side, working as a preamble to an instrumentalist frenzy that is not concerned about displaying technique. Its mere intention is to tell you the rest of the story without using words. A few bars into the song, the first gear shifts with a monumental solo given by the least probable of all “soloist” instruments: the cowbell (!). After it, a crispy Timbal crashes the party, making a statement out of its only appearance in the entire recording. Finally, the longed-for turn of the melodious Wurlitzer, who left everybody craving for more on the other side of the record, giving the modest keyboard skills of Figueira an imposing pentatonic virtue.

In 2018 Far Out Recordings signed a record deal with Brooklyn born, nomadic producer Jneiro Jarel. Having just put the finishing touches to the recordings, Jarel suffered an ischemic stroke while living and working in Costa Rica and his wife Indigo was forced to set up a crowd fund to cover special medical transport back to the states to receive treatment. The release was put on hold, but thanks to the generosity of friends and fans around the world, Jarel was able to get the care he needed and is now on the long road to recovery. We’re overjoyed to finally announce that Jneiro Jarel’s After A Thousand Years is now set for an October 2020 release.

Throughout a career that has spanned over twenty years and seen collaborations with MF DOOM, Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, BadBadNotGood, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, Kimbra and Khujo Goodie (Dungeon Family), Jneiro Jarel’s consistently distinctive, forward thinking productions, as well as his love for the music of Brazil, made his partnership with Far Out a perfect fit.

Recorded between New York, New Orleans, Miami and Costa Rica, After A Thousand Years features legendary multi-instrumentalist Bill Summers, famed for his work with Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Eddie Henderson. The album also features Malawian-American guitarist Masauko Chipembere who has worked with the likes of RZA from Wu-Tang Clan and Ladybug Mecca from Digable Planets.

For Jarel, After A Thousand Years is “a culmination of the longstanding musical contributions of the African diaspora.” Permeating the Brazilian music and Latin jazz Jarel has loved and drawn inspiration from, as well as the stateside jazz, soul and funk Jarel grew up around, the influence of Africa and its musical history, on both North and South America, is key to the album’s sound.

On lead single “Banana Peel”, Jarel’s outernational perspective makes for a track that is almost impossible to place geographically: you can hear the swing of Jarel’s native New Orleans jazz, the vibrance of Costa Rican rainforests as well as the influence of Jarel’s vast collection of Brazilian records. “Viberian Waves 1&2” is equally nonconformist, morphing from funky baroque-flavoured instrumental hip hop into a bossa inspired, percussive jam.

Taking its inspiration from the biblical prophecies found in the books of Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation, foretelling the fully realized, physical and spiritual restoration of the earth and mankind after the thousand year reign of the Messianic Kingdom, After A Thousand Years contemplates and celebrates a world where everlasting love, peace, and harmony abound under a sovereign, divine rulership.

After A Thousand Years will be released on Vinyl LP and CD on the 30th October 2020 via Far Out Recordings.

FEEDBACK

“great release. Really like this!” Antal (Rush Hour)
“Banana Peel is exactly what we need now. Visionary Jneiro Jerel at his finest channelling healing sounds and rhythms from Mother Earth. A much-anticipated lens through Jneiro’s third eye. Thank you!” King Britt
“Sounding real good!” Errol Anderson (Touching Bass)
“I love it!!!!!!!” Raffaele Costantino (RAI RADIO 2)
“Sounds great. Congratulations. Will play it on my radio shows.” Batida
“Will pitch album to my editors” Dean Van Nguyen
“Please send me the full album once it's finished.” Francisco Noronha (Publico PT)
“Beautiful man. So happy that he's ok” King Hippo (WLPN-LP / Worldwide FM)
“cracking tune. already lined up to add to playlist. might go into radio show too.. love it” Oli Brunetti (Collectivo Futuro / Olindo Records)
“Amazing! Ive not heard anything from JJ for a long time but a welcome return, this is a cracking track. Looking forward to hearing more new material.” Mickey Jukes (1BTN FM)
“Very vibrant, fresh release! It gets better every time I am listening to it.” Shantisan (Superfly FM Vienna)
“This is a pretty special track , unique sound but very accessible , like it a lot and will play in my show Look forward to hearing the LP” Andy Wilson (Ibiza Sonica Radio)
“So good to hear Jneiro again, loving this cut. Thanks!” Chris Knight (Astrojazz)
“sublime !!!! will definitely play !!!” Mark Milz (Radio Corax)
“I-Robots approved!” Thanks for sharing...” I-Robots

We are back on wax again with a very special release. It means a great pleasure for us to have one of the pivotal figures of the Madrid underground techno scene on board, Herr Unkle Fon.

Some years ago, Madrid clubscene was formed by conventional clubs in conventional locations with conventional opening and closing times and usually, conventional programming. Manuel Cano then founded Utopía Secret Society and things changed forever for the city’s underground nightlife.

Now as you may have noticed there is no club scene at all, neither conventional nor illegal, sign of the times.

Musically speaking, Manuel started as a guitarist and soon evolved into studio engineer, label owner, club promoter, record shop owner (Ater Cosmo), social agitator… and adventurous character that reflects in his productions all his knowledge of the dancefloor.

Jisatsu is a slow paced broken beat surrounded with smooth textures, soon joined by a repetitive synth line that adds the hypnotic component.

Genroku Ako follows with a cosmic approach, continuous percussive and synthetic lines run together on a fast BPM exercise obsessive, linear and mental.

On the flip side, 47 Ronin uses dreamy stabs over a relentless groove mixing liquidity with tension.

Closing the release Shuppatsu is an almost beatless exercise, just with 909 rimshots, toms and snares spiced with ethereal components

A timeless futuristic release that can wait on your record bag until things go in better directions.

"Who is this guy? Who is this insane fucking guy? A guy who produced Trap tracks on his last EP and is now paying homage to Neue Deutsche Welle, as if he has never done anything else before and in a way that we never want to hear anything else ever again? To whom the crowds are devoted to in Paris, a guy who sleeps naked in the woods in the middle of Germany, who sings of the shimmering
girls („Schimmerndes Mädchen") and who doesn’t only embrace sadness but takes it to the club and goes wild with it?

I am telling you: It’s the guy who we desperately need right now: He is making music for, as he is putting it „young hipsters with Apple AirPods who wear big white sneakers but also for the 40 year old Goths who are still listening to El Deux“. He is making music for you, you and for you, too. He makes music for German Schlager fans, for the raver descending into the endless night and for next Sunday afternoon’s come down.

Luis Ake is the guy, and he is from Stuttgart of all places, where Germany basically invented its Germanness. And he is releasing this album that's as cold as the winter in which he recorded it. Of course „Bitte Lass Mich Frei“ was born in winter, in a backyard without heating – how could it be any different? Who needs? heating when your heart is broken, shattered even? Yes, the album was written
after a breakup. Obviously it was. And so it describes all forms of that special kind of insanity that comes with a broken heart: Loneliness, shallow sex, blame, longing, all of that, and more.
Vinyl tastes better ...

NAPPYNAPPA and Pat Cain’s Model Home project realigns with Dolo Percussion for SE, their second album on Future Times. A deviation from their self-released run of numerically-titled LPs, SE builds on the impact of REV b/w Flesh - released earlier in 2020 on the label - and shows the Future Times formation of Model Home in full Special Edition mode.

If you’ve been sleeping on Model Home, Nappa and Pat have become a prolific and potent unit of “liberated sound, vision and performance” emblematic of DC’s thriving musical underground community. Self-releasing nearly 20 albums in two years, Pat Cain and Nappa have perfected a sound; a raw expression that is wholly their own. A perfect musical balance attained through intense experimentations in sonic and lyrical imperfection.

Nappa’s blurry-eyed spoken word raps should be recognised alongside the powerful polemics of Moor Mother or the explosive experimentation of Pink Siifu, or fellow DC legend Sir E.U. Nappa is an artist deeply entrenched in the expression of rap but one that recognises there are so many sonic ways in which to frame his state of mind. Which is why the frazzled sound design of Pat Cain has made Model Home such a perfect backdrop for Nappa to express himself. Rap existing in unison with raw electronixxx, dancehall, noise, industrial and whatever else they throw in the mix.

Add the crisply-programmed drums and chaotic FX of Dolo Percussion into the Model Home mix and SE zones into a murky yet richly detailed space that leaves you going “WTF?” multiple times and hammering the repeat button again and again.

Spread over nine tracks, the Model Home trio approach the game from various angles; swerving from the dizzying Bounce triplets and smudged Nappa vox on “Omnipresent Love” to the spacious lyrical interplay n’ woozy moog of “Bag” via the warped Pan Sonic curdle of “Are You Shur?” and the hyper-kynetic rhythmic aerobics of “Topic.”

SE showcases Model Home at their most expressive; plunging deeper into their own weird universe. “Like the seed in the soil,” as Nappa raps on album closer “Cold Gettin’ Dogg.

In these dark times of Covid we still have our music. We have the sounds to soothe us, distract and take our minds away from the chaos and uncertainty.
We can't dance like we used to but we can hear and feel. Our release must be found in another way, we must look within. We find solace and grant ourselves space and time in the music.

Sam McQueen (Indio co-producer with John Beltran, Indigo Aera, Delsin Records, Furthur Electronix) presents his debut album Dreams In Sepia for Mojuba sub label a.r.t.less and hits us with a real time soundscape of the moment, an epic-like document of these times. The rhythms are subtle, sometimes broken, the time structures often complex, this is not primarily dance floor orientated music. These sounds are way more cerebral, for the heads. They reflect perfectly the complexities of life we are experiencing in 2020.

The edges are rounded with occasional strolling bass lines and comfy chords. Slabs of keys and spaced out female vocals like a psychedelic journey that scares you at first yet comforts you soon after. Sam McQueen's mediatory sounds give an overwhelming sense of the moment. The music makes you take time out and listen. Its purposeful manner suggests there are more hours in the day, like time slowing down a pause, like the sun slithering slowly behind the horizon. These are sunset sounds for dark back-rooms.

Daytime or night, it works. This is the soundtrack for the other room, the deeper sounds not designed to make you dance. This music doesn't get in your face, it creeps up and smacks you on the ass. There are elements of early nineties UK Techno, a warmth and delicateness that pervades a distinct lack of four four dance floor in the beat structures, a softer tone throughout than the harder Detroit techno sounds of the same era but still nods and acknowledgements to the D in the layout and way the sounds present themselves. Think John Beltran, Symbols and Instruments, Black Dog or Kirk DeGiorgio, mid 90s Berlin sounds from Basic Channel / Rhythm & Sound, but in lockdown. Music for today's modern lacking landscape. The sounds often familiar, analogue, the drums, hi hats and snares, shimmer, jazz style. They accentuate and push the rest of the elements around them.
?In a bygone era this would be crudely classed as Chill Out music. In 2020 Covid era its about how it makes you feel as you relax and really listen to it. It is about emotion and empathy, a oneness, a new unknown and a deeper train of thought for the listener. Much like 2020, Sam McQueen lays the pieces round the edge of the jigsaw and lets you fill in the rest.

The electronic musician and Poker Flat founder's contemplative new studio album takes in minimal house music, moody techno and effervescent breaks across 11 unique tracks. His previous LP Paradise Sold alongside Langenberg was released in 2018 to critical acclaim, and described as "elegantly euphoric" by Mixmag. Never Ending Winding Roads is an entirely solo release however, with much of it produced during the months of enforced isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the track titles reflect Steve's headspace during this time, with themes of solitude, contemplation and reflection brought to the fore perhaps more than with any of his previous work. Steve's formative musical years were spent during Germany's techno and acid-house heyday, with his love for a perfect groove as apparent now as it was back then. His DJ skills and a keen, innovative ear led him not down the typical path of the early nineties trance and harder dance scene, but instead towards a fresher, hybrid sound-merging stripped deep house, tweaked out acid and more minimal forms of techno and electronic music: a strand of music he fiercely champions to this day.
"My mindset when making Never Ending Winding Roads was completely different to any other project I have embarked on. I didn't have to tour, and instead could focus 100% on writing music without having the dancefloor as a constant influence. This allowed me creative freedom to explore a range of styles and emotions, and as a result, it is the album I feel most satisfied with to date." says Steve Bug.

With 11 brand new tracks, Never Ending Winding Roads is a meticulously produced and deeply engaging electronic album; one that explores various shades of house, techno and broken beat with Steve's celebrated attention to detail and consummate originality. Album opener Lucid Loops perfectly sets the tone, immediately ensnaring you with a hypnotic, undulating synth line and a faintly menacing undertone thanks to hushed, discordant strings and unnerving vocal stabs. This atmosphere of quiet paranoia permeates many of the tracks on Never Ending Winding Roads, most explicitly in the sinewy groove and sketchy, panic-inducing synth line of Locked Away In My Head.
This album more than perhaps any other in his career sees Steve experimenting with broken-beats, to incredible effect. Tracks like A Conscious Machine and Electro Harmonix are melodic, emotionally-rich cuts: burst of radiant optimism that juxtapose beautifully with the album's darker moments. Elsewhere tracks like Yellow Snake find Steve exploring deep, dubby territory, while album closer Upon Mountains is a cosmic, arpeggiated masterpiece: an 8bit computer game soundtrack reimagined as a poignant electro ballad.