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A student of the Weatherall school of DJing, Asa Tate has showcased an astonishingly mature approach to production over the years that belies his age. You’d be forgiven for thinking these 4 tracks had been discovered from a dusty DAT tape, locked away in the vaults of a northern Italian club and rediscovered after 30 years....Listen more closely and you’ll notice the contemporary production flair and more recent influences that make this EP a perfect reinterpretation of the mid 90s house sound: sitting somewhere between dream house and Morales finest work under the red zone moniker.

The EP wastes no time in setting it’s intentions with the A1 Title Track, “Replica” - after a brief and floaty progressive house intro the refrain “ E-e-e-e-e-e-e-ECSTASY” echoes loudly over sampled vocals, euphorias piano chords, throbbing lead synths and a bouncy tech house bass line.

“89” is a sultry deep house cut featuring rising Spanish star, Dariam Coco on Vocals. It floats like a butterfly, but stings like a bee, as the soft chords are interrupted with huge drum fills deftly transforming an after party jam to a peak time moment.

We continue to “ Unknowns” - a masterclass in building tension and holding it - this track simmers with restrained intensity for almost 6 minutes. It’s trademark Asa Tate production at its most understated and classy. We round of the EP with the fittingly titled “Last Dance” , a wistful composition that brings us back down to earth slowly, safely and gently; always grooving but never pushing - this one is the soundtrack to the end of a long summer day and reaffirms Asa Tate’s claim to be a modern master of Deep House.

The inaugural excursion from Fake Build comes by way of in-house coordinator “dj set”. Leading you down a well worn path, the Quest Log reveals 4 choices of deep, techy, dubby house music. Modern sheen diffused with classic grit ensures optimal groove, never overstepping or hanging too far back in the shadows.

“Innovative, hooky and full of depth” - Far Out Magazine

“Songs that lodge into your brain in the opening ten seconds” - Brooklyn Vegan

“Breezy, melodic… a clear ear for a hook” - UNCUT

“Playful and unexpected, emotional but not overstated” - CLUNK

‘Crows’ is the new single from Bristol’s Langkamer and the first to be revealed from their new album ‘No’, which is due for release on 22nd January 2026. Their fourth album in as many years, ‘No’ saw the prolific band taking to the mountains at the invitation of veteran producer Remko Schouten (Pavement, Personal Trainer, Bull). The much loved Bristol band holed up for a week in the wilds of Southern Spain at his brand new Zarzalico studio. Over a week, under the Murcian heat, they laid down the perfectly formed eleven tracks that make up ‘No’.

Since the band’s conception, Langkamer have worked out of anywhere affordable and available, whether it be the basements of renowned venues (‘West Country’, ‘Red Thread Route’, ‘Langzamer’) or secluded cottages (‘The Noon And Midnight Manual’). Over the years, their frenetic pace and quality of writing has earned them fans across the world, plaudits at UK media, and built an ever-growing musical community around them - not least via Breakfast Records - the independent label that is home to Getdown Services - formed by Langkamer’s Dan Anthony and Josh Jarman in 2006 alongside acclaimed singer-songwriter Jasmine 4.T.

To call Langkamer ‘your mid-level indie bands favourite mid-level indie band” sells them short. They have always scraped by on irregular incomes, plagued both by daily financial pressures and the occasional cash sinkhole so well known to any musician in the current impossible climate. Once Schouten offered to host them at his new studio (Zarzalico), they couldn’t refuse. A relentless recording schedule found the group only breaking for the daily long lunch and to occasionally fire an airgun across the hills. If the last half a decade had been a pressure cooker of constant touring and recording, their brief time in the remote Zarzalico could not have been more symbolic. Lead single ‘Crows’ perfectly captures this nervy balance and is a wiry slice of atmospheric proto-punk, drawing from the shadows of the late-70s UK landscapeit also defies these conventions, striking an anthemic chord from beginning to end. From the scaling chromatic guitars at the breakdown, to the final chants of ‘suffer’ and ‘struggle’, there’s a loud desperation and defiance to ‘Crows’ that lends it an unparalleled urgency. As singer/drummer Josh Jarman states:

“Crows is a song about the crazy shapes we contort ourselves into trying to create art in the era of late-stage capitalism. Working a thousand jobs. Writing songs with the left hand while writing emails with the right hand. Your day is already doomed the moment you open your eyes. Everything’s a bad omen.”.

With ‘No’ arriving early next year, ‘Crows’ is the perfect introduction to Langkamer, a band that has only taken new bold steps with each release, always hiding a keen experimentalism behind a charming hook. It is also the surest sign yet that they are ready to step up, and take on the road once again vision unclouded.

UFC is proud to present its tenth release, “Music For A Dreaming Generation”, by R.I.P. Bestia, featuring remixes by Rabbit In The Moon, a mini-album produced between 2022 and 2024, where Analog Hardware and Sampling collide to form “Everything.”

'E.X.P.A.N.S.I.V.E (Ancestral Technologies Mix)' a fusion of Electro and Nu-Skool Breaks under a choral mantle of shamanic psychedelia. 'Music For A Dreaming Generation (Dub Botanical Reaction Mix)' the original version is brutalized and reactivated with the acids of the beloved TD-3, a colliding immersion of frequencies, dreamy pads, and hypnotic melodies filtered through the cherished JP-8080. 'Law 7/2023, of March 28' a humble, reivindicative sonic tribute to animal rights, compressed breaks and charming vocals are guided by a psychedelic melody up to a “Drop” where a monstrous Bassline takes the helm, steering you into an emotionally gravitational State of Dance.

About the remixes, Rabbit in the Moon delivers this legendary Techno-Trance gem 'Music For A Dreaming Generation (Nightowl Mix)' a remix we envision as “a crushing technoid mass” that lifts you up to an epic drop before bringing you back down to the earthly realm.'(Daydream Mix)' in this version, Rabbit in the Moon reimagines the original into a “2-Step Garage” interpretation, a pure Braindance journey, with graceful arrangements fused with epic vocals and mysterious Basslines.

As promised, Playfool was always meant to be about inviting other artists to join the fun.

For this first collaboration, Occibel teams up with Light Blue File, a friend he met recently in Paris.

After sharing some beers, ideas started flowing and the vibe instantly clicked — no choice but to turn it into something real for you guys.

These tracks mark the beginning of a new series of collabs under Playfool Records, where creativity meets spontaneity under the summer sun.

Enjoy and play it loud!

TcherNpBeat 01 repressed by Underground Music London.

Sometime there are 2 vzersions of the same or close to be the same record.
That happened with Protoprod 37, High Frequencies 01 ... No problem and no-cry as long Artitsts get money... And finally people have the choice :)

A different vibe from CRAIG ALEXANDER. A new twist on a old classic with "GROOVE YOUR BODY.""WELCOME HOME" provides a funky 2-Step beat with melodic chord progressions, while "SHORT CUTS" reminds us of a movie soundtrack. transformed into a house excursion.

Felix Kubin's Der Tanz Aller is an energetic, rhythmically charged soundtrack created for the performance of the same title by the experimental arts collective LIGNA. The group specialized in site-specific, participatory works. Der Tanz Aller is based on Rudolf von Laban's radical 1920s concept of 'Bewegungschoere' (movement choirs), collective dances in public space that aimed to reimagine social order through shared movement. Combining minimal electronics, acoustic percussion, and brass, Kubin's compositions reflect both the experimental spirit of Laban and the political charge of mass choreography, inviting listeners to become dancers themselves.

'The World in Air Quotes' is a genre-shifting style-melting kaleidoscope of art-rock, jazz, techno, folk & industrial. The God In Hackney sound like very little else from the early 2020's and whilst 'The World In Air Quotes' innovative progenitors are manifold - Eno, Coil, The Durutti Column, 1980s ECM jazz to name a few - it sounds beholden to none of them.

The God In Hackney's first album 'Cave Moderne' was Andrew Weatherall's album of the year for NTS Radio.

The God In Hackney's second LP, 'Small Country Eclipse', was album of 2020 for critic Sukhdev Sandhu of The Colloquium for Unpopular Culture: "Mordant music: stuttering, dread, black humour. A record that felt truly independent, beholden to no genre, out of step with all centres and signposted nodes."


'The World In Air Quotes' is The God In Hackney's 3rd album and their most musically emotive and lyrically inventive to date. It's an album that resonates with feelings about climate change, isolation, extinction, the social impact of technology, the flattening of history—and illuminates the darkness with imaginative rhythm, melody, noise & poetry. Songs range from widescreen, anthemic rock, to strange intricately arranged jazz-influenced songs, to abstract, textural electronic pieces. There's a strain of dark and surreal comedy too that runs through the lyrics and some of the choices the band makes in their sounds and arrangements.

The core God in Hackney quartet of Andy Cooke, Dan Fox, Ashley Marlowe and Nathaniel Mellors has expanded to include American multi-instrumentalists and composers Eve Essex (Eve Essex & The Fabulous Truth, Das Audit, Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra, Peter Zummo, Liturgy) and Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty, David Byrne/St Vincent, Beirut, and Lonnie Holley among many others), signalling a new and ambitious direction for the band.

The album cover features original artwork by Iranian-American artist Tala Madani, recently the subject of a career survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Advertising:

The Wire, Maggot Brain

Reviews & features:

Maggot Brain - forthcoming feature

Hi-Fi+ Magazine - album review in April 2023 issue

Dereck Higgins (You Tube review)

Sonosphere - interview / feature

Weirdo Shrine - interview

It's Psychedelic Baby - interview

Spettacolo (Italy) - feature.

Ghettoblaster Magtazine (USA) - feature

Airplay:

Gilles Peterson - BBC Radio 6 Music

Steve Lamacq - BBC Radio 6 Music

Dublab - playlisted & featured in Dublab Recommends (Los Angeles)

Cian Ó Cíobháin - RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta (Ireland)

WFMU - playlisted

Resonance FM - The Wire presents Adventures In Sound & Music

Human Pleasure Radio (New Zealand)

Pete Wiggs & James Papademetie - The Seance (Repeater Radio, Sine FM & others)

Peter Hollo's Utility Fog - FBI Radio (Australia)

Jonathan Lethem & Sam Sousa on Radio Free Aftermath (KSP Claremont 88.7)

Life Elsewhere

WRPB Princeton

In Memory of John Peel

Mike Watt's Watt from Pedro Show

In 1975, Michael moved from Tucson to Los Angeles to study with Emilie Conrad at the Continuum Studio. Emilie had ‘live’ music for her ‘movement meditation’ classes, and Michael began performing with Fred Stofflet, Gary David, and Don Preston. Ancient Leaves (25:43) was Michael’s first album, recorded in 1976/77 with a Mini Moog synthesizer and a Finish lap harp (Kantele) onto 4 track tape. To the other instruments, Michael added Emilie chanting, an ascending choir with Susan Harper and Linda Olsen vocalists, Gregorian Chants and a night ambience recorded in the desert outside of Tucson, Arizona, his hometown. It was initially released on LP and cassette. The ‘B’ side, Elysian E (23:13) was performed with an Arp String Ensemble played through an MXR digital delay, one of the first, then slowed to half speed. To this he added Moog and EML synthesizers, The Beam and his voice.

Re-issued! 1993 nahmen PROPAGANDHI ihr erstes Album "How to Clean Everything" auf und veröffentlichten es über das damals noch junge Label Fat Wreck Chords. Es versteht sich von selbst, dass das Album nicht nur das Label bekannt machte, sondern vor allem PROPAGANDHI als eine der großen Kräfte in der Punkszene etablierte. "How To Clean Everything" war ein Start nach Maß und lehnte sich noch eher an die Skate-Punk-Tradition an als die folgenden Werke der Band. Trotzdem voller aggressiver Metal/HC-Riffs und jungenhafter, bissiger Texte über Menschenrechte, Gleichberechtigung und radikale linke Politik. Sänger/Gitarrist Chris Hannah erklärt seine Gründefür die Neuauflage (mit einem Hauch seines geliebten sarkastischen Humors): ,Vielleicht liegt es an den Badesalzen, aber ich bin zu der Überzeugung gelangt, dass es wertvoll ist, etwas zu haben, das einen bis zum Tod verfolgt. Ich präsentiere euch "How To Clean Everything". Die 2026 Neuauflage enthält wie die 20th Anniversary Edition das komplette Originalalbum plus die drei Outtakes, die Fat Mike für Fat Wreck seinerzeit für die Vinylveröffentlichung rausgenommen hatte. Natürlich wurde das Album auch von den originalen Analogbändern remastert. Schwarzes und farbiges Vinyl wieder erhältlich.
















[p] SEEMED FUNNY THE FIRST TIME [BONUS TRACK]
[q] NOT TO BE GENDER SPECIFIC, OF COURSE [BONUS TRACK]

Vor 25 Jahren: Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes ist das einflussreiche dritte Studioalbum der kanadischen Punkband Propagandhi, das 2001 auf ihrem Label G7 Welcoming Committee Records (und außerhalb Kanadas bei Fat Wreck Chords) veröffentlicht wurde. Es zeichnet sich durch schnellen, politisch aufgeladenen, metallischen Punk mit kraftvollen Texten und Riffs aus und wurde 2021 zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum überarbeitet (Remaster, neuer Mix). Seit 2021 als CD erhältlich, jetzt wieder auf schwarzem und farbigem Vinyl. Eine der besten politischen Punkbands seit den 90ern! 14 Tracks (plus 4 Bonustracks auf CD) mit nachhallenden Donner auf einem umwerfenden Album! Wissen ist Macht. Seid bereit.

Itay Dailes & Eran Ben-Zeev A collaborative EP between veteran producer Itay Dailes and label owner Eran Ben-Zeev.
Two sides, two visions — one spirit. A nod to ’90s traditions, each track offers its own distinct flavor, ranging from deep, dub-infused minimalism to warm analog grooves. A versatile release for selectors who value subtle contrasts and timeless dancefloor tools. Higher State Minimal deep house with a hypnotic pull. Built on warm, dubby pads and a rolling, understated groove, *Higher State* draws the listener into a meditative zone — subtle, emotional, and deeply immersive. Dub Rounds A deep, edgy minimal cut powered by a rolling bassline. Vocal fragments weave in and out, while jazzy chords add a dreamy, soulful lift to the groove. Unicorns Can’t Fly A lush, emotive journey of floating grooves, warm pads, and delicate textures. Designed for late-night introspection while keeping the pulse alive on the dancefloor — equal parts body and soul. Jupiter 1 Diving deeper into raw analog territory, Jupiter 1 pairs a rolling bassline with smooth acid contours. Stripped-back percussion channels early ’90s energy, perfect for long sets and locked-in moments.

Having established himself as one of the most exciting contemporary dance producers with a string of stellar releases, Japanese producer boys be kko returns triumphantly with the Nagasawa EP, four floor cuts bursting with emotion, shimmering in Tokyo technicolor, and perfectly at home on Bliss Point.

Nagasawa kicks off with a bang. “ChuKii” is a peak time heater: breaks, chopped vocals and punchy toms sear over a low end groove that proves body music can funk. Melodic acid explodes like a firework mid-track, taking the dance floor to psychedelic new heights.

The club psychedelia continues with “Mold Mold”, a minimal, subterranean system roller adorned with swells, bells, and deep, guttural growls dubbed to the vanishing point.

“Sant Esteve (kko Edit)” is melancholic and contemplative jazz house, eschewing cliché and twinging with nostalgia for that moment you felt most free.

“Humor is an important part of my music”, boys be kko reflected over lunch as Izakaya smoke billowed past his face. “Oignon”, the fourth and final track on Nagasawa, is an airy and joyful slice of sampledelia that makes good on this promise. An enormous smile of a track sending listeners off with a slice of sonic sunshine and, dare we say, hope.

2026 Repress

Flickering in ultraviolet, there is an elusive place where blue pill meets red, ups become downs, and day merges with night. Those liminal spaces where anything is possible is where you’ll find Nightbus and their hypnotic debut album Passenger. Doom, uncertainty, and opportunity lurk in the shadowy corners of their murky existence with stops at disassociation, co-dependency, and addiction before reaching its final destination - a glimmer of hope.

The in-between of Nightbus’ own Gotham lies where Manchester’s city pulse meets Stockport’s outer realm. An audio-visual entity formed among a musical family of friends, freaks, and foes in messy mills and after hours on dancefloors alike, their sound bleeds from tension where collective creative forces are bound together and collide with the fallout of being torn apart. Before even playing a show, their So Young released single ‘Mirrors’ – a knowing nod of respect to some well-known gloomy Northerners - may have made old school indie heads shimmy at shows in Salford’s The White Hotel but also signalled the duo’s knack for offering listeners a Bandersnatch approach to hitchhiking their own personal Nightbus in whatever direction they choose to take. “Everyone can have their moment with our songs; the music is our response to who we are as young people, living in the city full of this energy right now,” they say.

Whilst reverb hefty melodies and dread-filled loops embody isolation from writing at each of their home studio set-ups, magic happens in the ether across 90s trip-hop, indie sleaze and electronica; Jake’s production layers Olive’s pop sentimentality with drums and samples whilst tales of a cast of faceless characters place Olive as puppet master; her severed self’s perspective manipulating their stringed limbs at arm’s length to see how their stories play out when scenes reflecting her own lie close to the bone. “It’s a bit fucked; like having this out of body experience with a made-up movie running through my head,” she says. “As I write I can see they’re all from a similar world, but they allow me to explore different feelings without giving away part of myself.”

Recorded at The Nave in Leeds with producer-engineer Alex Greaves (Heavy Lungs, Working Men’s Club), surprise and danger lies in every crevice. Brooding whispers turn to chants on 6-minute opus ‘Host.’ Improvised when performed live, its immersive shift in tempo leads to hefty dub courtesy of Jake’s pedals. Even then, you won’t know shit’s hit the fan until its mid-point reveal when ominous bass blasts a thunderous soundtrack as its protagonist defiantly walks away after committing the perfect crime. “It makes you wait, and more songs should have sirens,” Olive grins.

Leaning deeper into alter-egos via the video game-psychological horror of a Silent Hill dystopia, the band’s Fight Club moment ‘Angles Mortz’ turns its literal translation of death angles on its head as it reflects upon kink and internalised shame reincarnated as pride. Elsewhere the ice cool ‘Landslide’ is a Requiem for a Dream about the addiction of being in a band; ‘The Void’ explores co-dependency and estranged relationships; and carefully selected samples revive house track ‘Just A Kid’ from the band’s early incarnation. Passenger’s every direction is to face challenges head on. “That is what’s so great about horror; you can see through predictable patterns so when the unexpected occurs it's more realistic and uncomfortable… I want to own the dark stuff!”

As for Passenger’s first single, the pulsating ‘Ascension’ is a spiralling deep dive into death, suicide, and legacy around who or what we leave behind. A noughties club banger by way of NYC beats - ergonomically designed for those who like to stay out a little too often and too late - it throbs like a house party’s partition wall as the literal levelling up undergoes a neon transformation; blue glitching to pink, diffusing the white construct of the Nightbus Matrix. “It really does feel like the end of something and was purposely written that way,” they say, “the ascension is like a firework going off!”

With wheels in motion, Nightbus has become a movement surpassing sonic realms. Between shows from Porto to Brighton taking in The Great Escape, Rotterdam’s Left Of The Dial and Paris’ Supersonic; DJing; remixing; guesting (BDRMM’s Microtonic album); and even enlisting talented like-minds to craft a 3-part queer coming-of-age music video series which ties in with a new ‘hyperpop’ phase in the evolution of their popular Nightbus Soundsystem club night, heads are now being turned from sports brands to high-end fashion designers. “There are things we can’t reveal just yet,” tells Olive, “but we’re excited about the direction this beast we’ve created is heading.” As the album philosophises and asks one ultimate question; what does it truly mean to be ‘Passenger’? Nightbus may not claim to offer a definitive answer, but it might make you feel a bit better about those demons.

Mexican DJ and producer Hotmood is a Blur label regular who has already dropped his red-hot 'Disco Power' EP here. 'ReWax' is a new selection of his remixes of big, party-ready disco jams. Scruscru's 'Just House' is first up and comes on song with big rolling bass and dusty samples, 'Burnin'' by Jack District has a filtered funk edge and jazzy synth work and Manuel Kane's 'Disco Visions' then brings silky and syrupy chords for a sundown boogie. The flip features three more smart tweaks, from the sliding drums of 'Blue Nights' to the classic house and soul swagger of 'Selva'. A great mix of vintage charm and new school cool.

A true gem of French animated cinema, Sylvain Chomet's Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003) left a lasting impression with its quirky universe, tender humor, and unforgettable musical score.


Composed by Benoît Charest, this cult soundtrack blends retro swing, gypsy jazz, ramshackle brass bands, and cycling rhythms to create a unique atmosphere that is both nostalgic and fiercely modern.



This vinyl edition finally celebrates the soundscape of Belleville as it deserves to be celebrated: unusual percussion instruments made from bicycle parts, mischievous orchestrations, and the playful voice of the cult song “Belleville Rendez-vous,” performed by M - Matthieu Chedid in its French version.



Carefully remastered for analog format, the record captures all the warmth and vitality of this timeless music, a vibrant tribute to the creativity and audacity of the film.


A must-have for lovers of cinema, jazz, and beautiful vinyl editions.

Motor city royalty Floorplan, aka Detroit techno pioneer and creator of minimal techno Robert Hood and his DJ/producer daughter Lyric Hood, announce their forthcoming inclusion in the deeply respected ‘fabric presents’ mix series with the release of their new single ‘You’re A Shining Star’, out now. The full mix drops on digital/vinyl/CD via fabric records on 28th November.

Robert has been a long-standing fabric favourite since the institution's earliest years, clocking up over 20 sets in Room 2, including a live session on New Year's Eve, 2012. In 2008, he'd turn in Fabric 39 which is among the most revered contributions to the fabric mix canon. Now, with the forthcoming ‘fabric presents Floorplan’ mix, the story comes full circle - marking both the duo’s debut on the iconic mix series and a monumental moment for the family project.

About Floorplan: Emerging from a musically rich Detroit upbringing steeped in Motown and vinyl culture, Robert Hood became an early member of the seminal ’90s collective Underground Resistance, helping to spearhead the rise of techno. Going solo, Hood created minimal techno with his Minimal Nation LP. Groundbreaking productions, acclaimed performances, and his own M-plant label followed, until in ’96 he formed Floorplan - an alter ego to expand beyond minimal techno into gospel, soul and house-infused techno. Immersed in music from an early age, Lyric eventually caught the same electronic spark that’s driven her father for decades. In 2014, after the release of Hood’s debut Floorplan album Paradise, the project evolved as the then-16-year-old Lyric joined him to perform as Floorplan, including a supreme closing set at Dekmantel’s Boiler Room stage. Two years later, Lyric officially became a full member of Floorplan, cementing their father–daughter collaboration, and they’d release their co-produced album Victorious on M-Plant that same year.

Leave it to Langhorne Slim - a pioneer of raw, rule-breaking Americana for more than two decades - to reach far beyond the genre he helped inspire.

The Dreamin' Kind finds the Nashville transplant strapping on an electric guitar and embracing his longtime love of larger-than-life rock & roll. With it's chugging power chords, 1970s-sized riffs, and richly layered arrangements, The Dreamin' Kind is fueled not only by sheer amplification, but by the soul-baring songwriting that's become Slim's calling card, too. Tucked between those anthems are acoustic-driven songs that skirt the outer orbits of folk music, from the bare-boned heartbreak of ''Stealin' Time'' to the organic, orchestral sweep of ''Dance On Thru.'' The result is the more explorative and expansive album of Slim's career: a record made for rock clubs, campfires, and garages alike, produced by Greta Van Fleet's Sam Kiszka, and anchored by a lifelong desire to break down new walls.

''It felt like I was blowing some old shit up so I could plant some new flowers,'' Slim says of the creation process. ''I love acoustic music. I love folk music. But those aren't my only loves. Rock & roll has always tickled the same place in my soul as great singer-songwriter music, and I wanted to explore those influences. Raw songs that make you feel something: that's the stuff I'm after.''

Greywind is an Irish emo/alternative rock duo from Killarney, formed by siblings Steph and Paul O’Sullivan. Known for their atmospheric soundscapes, soaring melodies, and deeply emotive lyrics, the band first gained attention with their critically acclaimed debut album Afterthoughts in 2017. Blending post-hardcore energy with cinematic grandeur, Greywind quickly earned a devoted following, praised for their anthemic choruses and powerful emotional honesty. Their long-awaited sophomore album, Severed Heart City, was recorded in Los Angeles with acclaimed producer Sam Guaiana and is set for release via Frontiers Label Group in September 2025. The record showcases the band’s continued growth both sonically and thematically — evolving their signature blend of brooding textures and explosive hooks into something even more dynamic and expressive. From the haunting opener Acid Rain to the cathartic closer Cope in the Coma, Severed Heart City is a visceral, emotionally resonant journey. Themes of mental health, inner conflict, and fragile hope run throughout, elevated by Steph’s impassioned vocal delivery and Paul’s gripping guitar work. With Severed Heart City, Greywind cements their place as one of the most compelling and authentic voices in modern alt-rock. This is a band that turns vulnerability into power — and pain into unforgettable songs

COLORS OF BACH: Violinistin Eldbjørg Hemsing lässt die Musik von Bach in völlig neuen Klangfarben leuchten Auf ihrem neuen Album COLORS OF BACH lässt Violinistin Eldbjørg Hemsing die ausdrucksstarke Musik von Johann Sebastian Bachs in völlig neuen Arrangements erklingen und eröffnet zeitgenössische Perspektiven auf sein Werk.Vielschichtig, fein nuanciert und mit ungezügelter Spielfreude, schöpft das Album seine Inspiration aus der strukturellen Raffinesse und der expressiven Schönheit von zwanzig ausgewählten Werken. Die renommierten Arrangeure Tim Allhoff, Jan-Peter Klöpfel und Jarkko Riihimäki rücken bekannte Meisterwerke durch buchstäblich neue "Farben", die in Bachs Musik eingeführt werden - durch Klang, Harmonie und Emotion - in neues Licht.Im Zentrum des Projekts steht eine gemeinsame künstlerische Philosophie: Bachs Musik zu erweitern, neu zu denken und zu formen - ohne sie zu verfälschen. Die Arrangeure schöpfen ihre Inspiration aus der positiven und universellen Kraft seiner Themen und Harmonien und bewahren dabei die innere Zuversicht, die Bachs Werk so einzigartig macht.Von der verspielten Brillanz der Partita Variation bis zur tief berührenden Neuinterpretation von Bachs Brandenburgischem Konzert - ikonische Melodien erhalten neue Vitalität, eröffnen emotionale Dimensionen, bewahren aber zugleich größten Respekt vor den originalen Meisterwerken. Die dichte, melodische Gestaltung des Orgelpräludiums in C-Dur geht nahtlos in eine virtuose Fassung für Solovioline und Streichorchester über und schafft ein fesselndes Hörerlebnis. Air nimmt die Eleganz eines italienischen Konzerts an, während das geliebte Erbarme Dich aus der Matthäuspassion als intime instrumentale Ballade neu erstrahlt. Gemeinsam zeigen diese kreativen Arrangements die Wandlungsfähigkeit und Zeitlosigkeit von Bachs Musik - und entfalten ein eindrucksvolles Kaleidoskop musikalischer Farben."Bach ist so ein genialer Komponist", reflektiert Eldbjørg Hemsing, "dass es unendlich viele Möglichkeiten gibt, seine Formen und Strukturen zu betrachten. Jede Melodie, die er geschrieben hat, vereint auf faszinierende Weise technische Präzision und tiefes Gefühl - und genau darin liegt die unerschöpfliche Vielfalt seiner Musik." COLORS OF BACH ist eine Hommage an diese zeitlose Musikalität - eine Einladung an die Hörerinnen und Hörer, Bachs Werke auf spielerische Weise neu zu entdecken. Im Herzen des Albums stehen Freude, Hoffnung und ein Sinn für Leichtigkeit. "Wir wollten dem Publikum die Möglichkeit geben, sich mit diesen bedeutenden Werken der Musikgeschichte neu zu verbinden", sagt Eldbjørg. "Und vielleicht dabei auch ihre ganz persönliche Interpretation zu entdecken."Eines der emotionalsten Arrangements des Albums ist Air. Das Stück, das oft mit Abschied und Trauer in Verbindung gebracht wird, hat für Eldbjørg eine tief persönliche Bedeutung: "Dieses Werk ist eines der wichtigsten, die ich je gespielt habe", erzählt sie. "Es wurde bei der Beerdigung meines Vaters aufgeführt, und ich habe es lange mit dem Schmerz des Verlustes verbunden. Aber so wollte ich ihn nicht in Erinnerung behalten. Musik hat die Kraft, unsere Emotionen zu lenken - und indem ich diesem Stück eine neue Perspektive gebe, kann ich selbst entscheiden, wie ich mich damit verbinden möchte. Genau das ist der Geist dieses Albums."COLORS OF BACH bildet eine Brücke zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Mit seinen überraschenden Momenten, facettenreichen Klangbildern und tief empfundenen Arrangements lädt das Album sowohl neue als auch erfahrene Hörerinnen und Hörer ein, die unendlichen Farben in Bachs Musik neu zu entdecken.

[a] a1 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Bach Partita Variation (After Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 100: I. Preludio) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Tim Allhoff] 2:18
[b] a2 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Ertönt uns durch dein Güte Variation (After Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22, No. 5: Ertöt uns durch dein Güte) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 2:58
[c] a3 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Ave Maria Variation (After The Well-Tempered Clavier I: Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846: I. Prelude) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet and Piano by Tim Allhoff] 2:08
[d] a4 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Minuet in G Major Variation (After Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, BWV Anh.116, No. 7: Menuet in G Major) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 2:12
[e] a5 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Concerto in A Minor Variation (After Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, BWV 1041: II. Andante) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 2:30
[f] a6 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Martynas & Norwegian String Qui Melancholy Variation (After Concerto for Violin & Oboe in C Minor, BWV 1060R: III. Allegro) [Arr. for Violin, Accordion, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 3:11
[g] a7 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben Variation (After Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: VI. Wohl mir, daß ich Jesum habe) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 2:42
[h] a8 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet Air Variation (After Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068: II. Air) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Tim Allhoff] 2:37
[i] a9 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Bach Brandenburg Concerto Revisited (After Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F Major, BWV 1046: I. Allegro) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jarkko Riihimäki] 2:11

[k] b2 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Aria Goldberg Variation (After Goldberg Variations, BVW 988: Aria) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Tim Allhoff] 1:48
[l] b3 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Prelude in C Major Variation (After Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 553: I. Prelude) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Tim Allhoff] 1:57
[m] b4 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit Variation (After Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein, BWV 734) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jarkko Riihimäki] 1:27
[n] b5 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet Invention in F Major Variation (After Invention in F Major, BWV 779) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 1:57
[o] b6 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet Organ Sonata Variation (After Organ Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, BWV 528: II. Andante) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Tim Allhoff] 2:42
[p] b7 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet Befiehl du deine Wege Variation (After Matthäuspassion, BWV 244, No. 53: Befiehl du deine Wege) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Tim Allhoff] 1:33
[q] b8 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet & Tim Erbarme dich, mein Gott Variation (After Matthäuspassion, BWV 244, No. 47: Erbarme dich, mein Gott) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Tim Allhoff] 2:08
[r] b9 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Louisa Tuck & Tim Allhoff Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ Variation (After Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639) [Arr. for Violin, Cello & Piano by Tim Allhoff] 2:39
[s] b10 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet Concerto in D Minor Variation (After Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974: III. Presto) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] 2:06
[t] b11 Eldbjørg Hemsing & Norwegian String Quintet Choral Aria Variation (After Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54: I. Aria) [Arr. for Violin & String Quintet by Tim Allhoff] 3:37

French chanson, electro beats, pared-down or synthetic piano: at 21, Iliona draws on all of this. Plural, multifaceted, elusive. Yet her lyrics resonate as if one were singing heartache—and the love one hopes for—for the very first time.
She composes, records, and produces her tracks alone, determined to keep them as close as possible to the tunes, harmonies, and silhouettes she holds in her mind. This time, they are infused with the light of an intense love, and still carried by extreme sparseness in their arrangements: nothing—from electronic arpeggios to melodic autotune—is ever superfluous; everything has its place. Lifted by a new lightness, the tracks also echo the spirit of the yéyé sound Iliona has been listening to for a few years, without necessarily knowing the name of every songwriter or the mark they left behind. It’s their longing for carefree abandon that hovers over the hypnotic Si tu m’aimes demain and its music video inspired by the New Wave, the Beatles, and all those future memories you begin to build when you’re in love.


A gentle warmth also sweeps through the hazy doo-wop contours of Tête brûlée, and the lo-fi twist of Cocoon; but always with that veil of shadow that once floated over the apparent nonchalance of Françoise Hardy’s songs. That unease, that worried smile, resurfaces in the lovely pop gallop of Garçon manqué, an ode to the deepest friendships—the ones you hold in your arms to dance or, sometimes, to cry. Or in the delicate Cent fois, which whispers, “when will the movie scenes we quietly dreamed of come to life?”
The answer, perhaps, lies in wherever you hide, the party finds you, a superb soundtrack to an imaginary drama, whose venomous keyboards unfold the pictorial strength of Iliona’s songs.

Master composer-pianist RIOPY returns with his fifth album “Be Love” - his first key music release since 2023’s “Thrive”. RIOPY’s releases have a history of RIAA Gold certifications, breaking records for topping the Classical music charts, and reaching over a billion streams. His music explores healing and resilience through sound. “Be Love” sees RIOPY sing for the very first time on a release. Through partnering with Lana Del Rey in 2023, RIOPY discovered the powerful, symbiotic connection between singing and the piano, leading to tracks like "Feeling Safe", "Long Way Home", "Come With Me". The 12 track album is comprised of 6 cinematic piano-instrumental tracks - a return to his roots of cinematic solo piano - and 6 more expansive tracks where RIOPY experiments with his voice: from meditative whispers stimulating his vagus nerve, to raw and emotive lyricism. The composer-instrumentalist has utilised numerous ways to produce sound, just never his own voice. “I had this compulsion, this need to use my voice, because I think it’s one of the biggest fears I’ve had through my life. I started just whispering… it’s not a new me, it’s just an expansion of what I do. It felt right. I needed to do this.”

Gil Tamazyan Unveils a Timeless Downtempo Journey with His Latest Album
Los Angeles-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Gil Tamazyan returns with his latest release—an evocative fusion of live and electronic soundscapes that transports listeners through a lush, jazzy journey. Featuring authentic compositions performed with live analog instrumentation, the album delivers a warm, organic depth rarely heard in today’s electronic music scene.
The project features an impressive lineup of vocal collaborators, including Dave Aju, Dina Moursi, Syndee Winters, B. Valentine, Jeremiah Jae, and more. Together, they bring life and emotion to 11 handcrafted tracks that flow seamlessly between genres—bridging jazz, downtempo, and electronic textures into a cohesive, immersive experience.
Designed as a soundtrack for calm, everyday moments, Tamazyan’s latest work invites listeners to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with the beauty of the present. With its timeless tone and meticulous attention to detail, this release stands as a testament to the power of real musicianship in modern electronic music.

Crypt of the Wizard is proud to present Ginger Wizard - The Curious Flora and Fauna of the Ancient World on vinyl and digital formats.
About ten years ago in a record store in Prague, the Ginger Wizard discovered a copy of Bo Hansson’s Lord of the Rings LP. Although initially unfamiliar with the record, the reference to Tolkien’s masterwork and the incredible cover art drew him in and, rather fittingly, sent him off on a journey of discovery that would reshape his creative trajectory.
Years later while working in cassette tape manufacturing, Ginger Wizard noticed that most fantasy-inspired music fell into two camps: metal and dungeon synth. With little interest in the former, but intrigued by the latter, he began writing a few songs imagining a beautifully packaged and tactile cassette tape. However, dungeon synth he soon realized was “the most boring music to make”.
So began the Ginger Wizard’s own mythological discography. In 2022 came The Feast for the Dead King and Other Musical Themes recorded at home in a cold kitchen, is conversely an album full of warmth drawn from sheer exploration. A year later Can I Choose My Own Psychopompos? was recorded for the legendary Stoned to Death label - a 7” séance of semi-improvised noise and melody featuring allies from the Ginger Wizard’s live backing band The Peter Jacksons. The following year with Bathysburg Tales, a new approach was needed in order to keep the project interesting. Drawing inspiration from Popol Vuh and the inclusion of vocals lent by Protomartyr’s Joe Casey and Jakob Battick, a new more cinematic sound began to emerge.
Now, we present The Curious Flora and Fauna of the Ancient World marking a step into something stranger while still channeling the spirit of Bo Hansson. The new album rejects swords and sorcery for the mythology of the natural world “the ancient stuff,” he explains in the record’s insert, “has a similar taste for me as fantasy.” These songs bloom, creep, and shimmer like forgotten plants under distant suns while rooted in something real and organic. Inspired by the myths of nature rather than heroic quests, it’s an album that feels alive, equal parts archaeological dig and psychedelic garden.
Currently at work on a soundtrack for an imagined 1970s fantasy film in collaboration with The Peter Jacksons, the Ginger Wizard continues to expand his strange universe while The Curious Flora and Fauna of the Ancient World serves as a new map to somewhere ancient, beautiful, and unknown.

Over two decades later, the underground classic that lit the fuse on indie hip-hop’s next era finally gets its vinyl debut. Originally dropped in 2001, Table Scraps is a gritty, no-frills compilation of unreleased tracks and lost sessions from the formative years of MHz, the Columbus, Ohio hip hop crew that helped define an era before the mainstream caught wind of the underground. Recorded between 1997–2001, the album is raw, urgent, and packed with early glimpses of the greatness that would follow.
The core lineup is fully intact and fully in form: Copywrite flexes his unmatched wordplay and delivers two self-produced heaters, “The Funnel” (co-produced) and “Combustion Spontaneous,” proving he’s just as deadly behind the boards. Tage Future brings futuristic cadence and sharp delivery, Jakki Da Motamouth stays unapologetically rugged, and the late Camu Tao is in rare, untamed form, a creative force whose brilliance only grew from here. Holding it all together are beats from RJD2, Mighty Mi, Camu, and Copywrite himself.
Pressed on vinyl for the first time ever, Table Scraps is more than a collection, it’s a time capsule from a crew that helped shape the underground before it had a name.

Full of joy, they ran to meet him.
Then threw one of the shirts over each of them,
and when the shirts touched their bodies they were transformed into swans,
and flew away over the woods.
The record is comprised of a series of improvised recordings made over the course of an evening in Autumn ’23, captured at the Jabu home studio, south Bristol while Teresa was staying in town for a show. Everything was recorded into the desk in a single take and left as it was, no editing or overdubs, instruments were swapped around and effects units left buzzing ground hum scattered over the floor.
Teresa and Guest (Jasmine of Jabu) provided the vocals, taking words from anything at hand - poetry books, an old copy of the Whole Earth Catalog - their voices winding together, echoing out each other’s melodies. This approach is mirrored by the instrumentals, anchored by something at times - a bassline, one of Birthmark’s synth drones or a fizzing chord but always on the edge of collapsing in on itself or floating away. The tracks become more soporific as the record goes on (and as the night got later), ending on a refrain of ‘say you think its true’ as the instrumental finally dissolves the pedals get dialled up to 11 and Birthmark’s drones turn into distant lasers in a last swan song of feedback.
Recorded Sep 2023 in Bristol, BS3, by:
Teresa Winter (vocals, fx)
Guest (vocals, guitar, fx)
Birthmark (synth, fx)
A.Childs (samples, bass, guitar)

"Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller only worked together twice, briefly in 1925 in Erskine Tate's band and four years later in the New York revue Connie's Hot Chocolates. But Waller made an indelible enough impression for Satchmo to record the tribute album Satch Plays Fats in 1955, when such ideas were new. The mid-'50s was a fertile time for Armstrong, and this makes for a stellar package." - ****1/2 Cub Koda, All Music Guide






[f] 6 Honeysuckle Rose [alternate Take]





[l] 12 Ain't Misbehavin' [alternate Take]

Originally released as a digital double a side both lead tracks were chosen by the remixers and the results are like an electrical storm.

Newark, NJ’s Dälek (Will Brooks) drags T. Relly’s growl through the quicksand, a cacophony of whiplashed beats and visceral loops spurring our protagonist on. It’s a gaggle of Ghostface Killas trapped in a hall of mirrors; it’s next door’s MBV heard through the walls whilst submerged in a low-lit bathtub. And Wu Tang are pulling the plug out.

Kevin Martin aka The Bug continues to release teeth rattling sonic masterpieces, his most recent being November’s ‘Implosion’ on his own Pressure label. In his hands ‘Protein’ becomes a submarine bass, head n’ rig wrecker opting here for more of his hooky ‘In Blue’ style Bug mix. As Kevin said – “to my fantastical mind it sounds like Bug dirt ‘n’grind Vs Yin Yang Twins’ louche swagger and Neptunes funk”.

“In Bristol, it was hip-hop and reggae renegades meeting up with white ex-punk guitarists, alternative pop pioneers hanging out with underground roots music makers, and sound system sonic stalwarts grooving out with rave’s space cadets that laid the bedrock for such an explosion. And if you think that such an eclectic melting pot ever went away, you would be wrong. Ree-Vo is all the proof that you need” – The Big Takeover

Peter Rehberg is known for his pioneering electronic work with computer software which over time evolved into a modular set up alongside running MEGO and then Editions Mego labels.

Rehberg was a prolific collaborator, with other musicians and with contemporary dance and theatre productions, most notably with French artist and choreographer, Gisèle Vienne with whom he created a series of soundtracks from Showroomdummies, released under the name DACM in 2002 (Showroomdummies MEGO 056), to Crowd in 2017. A collection of Rehberg’s solo works for Vienne was released in 2008 (Work for GV 2004-2008 EMEGO 092). The outfit KTL, with Stephen O’Malley, was initiated by Gisèle Vienne for her work Kindertotenlieder and subsequently made a series of soundtracks for Vienne’s works branching off into a prolific series of live shows. The work Rehberg did for theatre and performance teased out aspects of his practice one may not have encountered in his own solo work as PITA or that of collaborations with other musicians.

Editions Mego is proud to present a previously unreleased theatre soundtrack made for Icelandic choreographer Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir, whom Rehberg had a decade long collaboration with until his untimely passing in 2021. The original composition for Liminal States was created by Rehberg for the performance Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli in 2018 and then revisited as a catalyst for the concepts behind Liminal States. This work is based on an ongoing artistic research conducted by the choreographer into altered states of perception through phenomenological embodiment. It is the last in a trilogy dealing with the notion of larger forces that act on us beyond our conscious mind. The trilogy consists of Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli (2018), Boundless Ominous Fields (2024) and now Liminal States (2024).

Rehberg's score for Liminal States is a vast canvas of spectral ambience at once tangible and unfathomable in its constantly shapeshifting lysergic dread. The results are a psychological journey through the mental effects of sound on space and subsequently the mind. The first part presents cascading waves of shimmering electronics laying the groundwork for the second part where the psychological illusion splinters into all manner of sonic effects taking the listener on a deep mental voyage. If references are witnessed the late period long form hallucinatory works of Coil, such as Time Machines and Constant shallowness leads to evil, are amongst a similar mind message delivered here. Unlike any other release in Rehberg’s output Liminal States is a single long form work which, despite the form, retains Rehberg’s idiosyncratic sound vision.

Guðjónsdóttir and Rehberg’s collaboration blurs that relationship into a greater force which truly enables the theme of liminal states to unfold in a brave new fashion. Rich in timbre and sonic invention this is powerful work easily holding its own outside of the intended performance whilst still complimenting the missions statement entirely. This profound collaboration has the cumulative effect where the concept and soundtrack are one and may be one of the strongest works in the entire Rehberg canon.

Mexican DJ and producer Hotmood indeed brings the heat on his new EP for the Blur Records gang. It is a fine fusion of disco and house music with rich instrumentals, nice organic sound and plenty of smart samples. Opener 'Disco Power' is a funky and upbeat cut with a powerful bassline and big vocal stabs. Things get more deep and laidback with 'Malandro' which has big sax energy and sunny chords then 'To The Beat Y'all' rounds out the EP with real disco energy. The drums hit hard, big guitar riffs brighten up the mix and subtle filters and FX also pump things to the next level.

Zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl and his ensemble present new compositions, grounded on Domenico Scarlatti's piano sonata F-minor K.466. Commissioned by the dance company Rubato and dedicated to Mario Bertoncini (1932-2019).

Little is known about Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757). His music is, so to speak, left to its own devices: free, cheeky, playful, sonorous, surprising. Harmonically strolling again and again into unforeseen regions, the ear leads, not the theory; and also the fingers get their right: playful and haptic it goes. Scarlatti explained, "since nature has given me ten fingers and my instrument provides employment for all, I see no reason why I should not use all ten of them."

Freedom, friction and listening pleasure instead of convention: "He knew quite well that he had disregarded all the rules of composition in his piano pieces, but asked whether his deviation from the rules offended the ear? He believes there is almost no other rule than that of not offending the only sense whose object is music - the ear."

Reinhold Friedl applied this principle and composed the music for a choreography by dance company Rubato. Dance music drawn from Scarlatti, who was so inspired by dance music. The material of the piano sonata F-minor K.466 is twisted anew in all its richness, shifted back and forth, declined, frozen, noisified, sound structures extracted, floating. Those who know the sonata, will more than smell it’s shadows. Dedicated to Mario Bertoncini (Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) who was particularly fond of K.466, on which all the music presented here is grounded.

"Wild flowers", Barbara Zubers had once called Scarlatti's music. Let them bloom.

‘No Fixed Point In Space’, the third full-length album by Jack Cooper’s Modern Nature, takes the palette of sound and themes that were honed on 2021’s ‘Island Of Noise’ and launches them into an expansive world of openness and vivid technicolour.

It’s a music that hasn’t been heard before; as melodic as anything Cooper has produced but framed by rhythms and instrumentation that reflect the chaos, unpredictability and colour of the natural world.

Certain moorings - woodwind, percussion, strings and Cooper’s lambent voice - are still present and recognisable from No Fixed Point In Space’s predecessor, ‘Island Of Noise’, but the new record marks a shift to utilising musical notation as a point of departure, from which the group explore the space around suggested notes and rhythms to create a semiimprovised, semi-composed ensemble performance.

These explorations of partly organised chance were recorded live and directly to tape.

This approach gives the music a remarkably fresh feel; songs pulse and evolve. The changes between movements, verse and choruses are almost all ambiguous. During the album’s opener, ‘Tonic’, a verse of hushed brevity washes away into a passage of overwhelmingly vibrant orchestration.

CD in four-panel digisleeve with 10-panel booklet with lyrics. LP pressed on 140g black vinyl with printed inner
sleeve and stamped postcard.

NPVR is the avant garde duo made up of the late Peter Rehberg and Nik Void. Editions Mego is proud to present their second and final release. No this is not some kind of Beatles synthetic AI that raises the dead reconstructed recordings but rather a new album made by the humans and their machines.

The initial meeting of Rehberg and Void was in London in 2016 and despite or due to their mutual awkwardness found solace and compatibility in the fact that they both had a similar electronic modular set up, along with matching cases to transport all. The idea to collaborate was an obvious and organic process as a means to connect their individual gear together and observe the outcome. The fruits of these initial experiments, recorded in London, resulted in the playful experimentation of their acclaimed 2017 release 33 33 (eMego 251).

Now in 2024 Editions Mego presents the logically titled follow up, 33 34. These sessions were recorded six months after the initial recordings at Peter’s home in Vienna. This was planned out as a mirror city release to the original London recordings. With Peter having access to his full studio set up this time around we encounter a rich audio landscape which organically folds together a variety of musical genres blurring any distinction between these forms so the resulting music hovers as a new cloud of sound. Any musical form, be it industrial, electro-acoustic, ambient, drone and techno all coexist and melt into the other as the ensuing result unveils a hypnotic swarm of divergent sounds (music). When active there were no lines or contexts with NPVR, either between sound or genre within these recordings or live where NPVR were at home playing at a techno club one night and an avant garde venue the next.

The initial session of these recordings was edited by Rehberg and sent to Void to further develop. Over time the final versions were agreed on and then shelved as other outside projects took over. The awkwardness had been surmounted and the two had become close friends. NPVR performed at a range of venues such as Tresor, Sutton House, Corsica, Blitz, Paris GRM #Focus2, LEV Festival and Rigas Skanumezs Festival. Following Rehberg’s untimely passing Void had difficulty listening back to the sessions but eventually thought it fit to complete and release this album, of which even the artwork (like 33 33, an image from Zurich photographer, Georg Gatsas) had been decided upon prior to Rehberg parting ways.

There is an unmistakable joy to these recordings. One encounters an enthralling exploration of their chosen machines which conveys the excitement of what can be randomly conjured when people speak through such devices. There is no grand statement or argument here, just the sheer thrill of creation and the recorded results of random encounters. The art of collaboration was always a mainstay of Rehberg’s practice from the advent of the MEGO adventure. Rehberg & Bauer was an initial collaboration with former business partner Ramon Bauer. Even at this stage one can hear a relaxed sense of delight in the sheer discovery of sound.

A mix made for the Wire magazine following the release of 33 33 hints at the freedom that comes with endless urge for exploration and discovery. Abstract tracks from Z'EV. Jérôme Noetinger and Jung An Tagen are included alongside British stalwarts The Fall and New Order. There were no lines between pop / academic / underground or mainstream in Rehberg’s world. All of it sat at the same table. It is just matter in the atmosphere, like the diverse exploration found in these recordings that comprise 33 34.

Towards the end of his life Rehberg was obsessing over the immense output of the German ambient musician Pete Namlook. An artist renowned for not only his sprawling catalogue of ambient masterpieces but one who often said his main inspiration was nature. This is apt with regards to the work of NPVR which also aligns with such thought as the intertwining of the two individual artists and their machines results in a natural symbiotic flow, as it happens, just like in the world around us.

A1. Cars
Smoove tears this classic apart to reveal its raw, drum-heavy break and solo bass riff. Epic synth lines weave through the extended rework, seamlessly transporting us from the 1980s straight into the modern era.

A2. Midnight Rider
An unexpected choice, but irresistibly funky nonetheless. The signature 12-string guitars are replaced with lush Fender Rhodes and Hammond organ, both pushed forward in the mix. The drums hit hard, backed by crisp percussion that drives the groove home.

B1. You Belong to Me
Opening with an extended Fender Rhodes intro, this rework builds gradually with real strings, subtle guitar licks, and groovy drums. Smoove reshapes the structure, dubbing out Carly’s lead chorus vocals to spotlight the stunning harmonies underneath.

B2. Searching
Luther’s vocals are utterly transcendent here. Smoove slows the pace and strips back the arrangement, leaving only Fender Rhodes and a string orchestra to accompany the soulful performance — a truly breathtaking moment.

Swan Song

The vinyl LP at the heart of this éthiopiques 31 tracks 2 to 11 was one of the very last vinyl records ever released in Ethiopia. But above all it represents, we felt, the absolute masterpiece of the Ethiopian Groove – the Swan Song of Swinging Addis. The album leaves a clear idea for posterity of the level of sophistication and mastery that modern Ethiopian music had achieved, before being crushed under the Stalino-military heel of the Derg – as the bloody revolution that was unfolding came to be called.

Ethiopia1976.

The Revolution that broke out in February 1974 rolled on in a ruthless march. The whole of Ethiopian society was utterly stunned. The bouquets of flowers handed joyfully to the first tanks of the coup d'état were to wilt very rapidly. From September 1976 to February 1978, 18 months of Red Terror (the name given by the junta itself) spilled blood throughout the country. This fratricidal conflict took its heaviest toll among students and youth. The shift from feudalism to a cruel and primitive Stalinism left the country's citizens deeply traumatised, and snuffed out any pretence of activism, whatever the sector of society. This ice age was to last for seventeen long years.

ሙሉቀን፡መለሰ Mulukèn Mellèssè Muluqän Mälläsä

It was three tracks by Muluken that served as the opener for éthiopiques-1 more than 25 years ago. Seven more tracks appeared on éthiopiques-3 and 13, all accompanied by The Equators, which was soon to become the Dahlak Band.

The first track, Hédètch alu, also the very first piece that Muluken ever recorded, left audiences both unsettled and amazed. Reflecting the singer's extremely young age (he was just 17 at the time), this angelic voice mystified many, who thought they were in fact listening to a feminine voice. He was not yet 22 when he released his last vinyl record in 1976 with Kaifa Records (KF 39LP), one of the very last to be issued in Ethiopia, before the cassette tape became the dominant medium for music distribution – and before the new revolutionary regime put a stop to all independent musical life, via an unspeakable barrage of prohibitions and other persecutions.

Mulu qèn, literally, “A well filled day”. This tender maternal intention wasn't enough to ward off the cruelty of fate. His mother's premature death drove Muluken to leave his native Godjam, in northeast Ethiopia, to live with an uncle in Addis Ababa. Born Muluken Tamer, he took his uncle's last name – Mèllèssè.

The spelling Muluken appeared in his administrative records. Transcription of Amharic to the Latin alphabet, both in Ethiopia and for scholars, gives rise to controversies and quibbles that can never be neatly settled. French allows for a closer approximation of the original pronunciation, thanks to its battery of accent marks, confusing as they may be to anglophones.

Between rather accommodating administrative record-keepers and the various versions that pop up in interviews given by the artist, Muluken's year of birth oscillates between 1953 and 1955…

1954? One thing is certain: the artist's talent made itself known very early indeed, because he got his start in 1966-67, at the age of 13 or 14. Photos from the period attest to his extreme youth. It's a strange sort of initiation for a very young teenager to become a sensation in the heart of Addis's nightlife at the time, Woubé Bèrèha – the Wilds of Woubé. And what's more, in the club of the Queen of the Night, the Godjamé Assègèdètch Alamrèw herself, the very same that was portrayed by Sebhat Guèbrè-Egziabhér in his novel-memoir Les Nuits d’Addis Abeba2… The legendary female club owner who is remembered to this day by the capital's ageing boomers.

Muluken first tried his hand at the drums, before he grabbed the microphone. He emigrated briefly to the Zula Club, across the street from the old Addis Post Office, one of the ground-breaking bars of the burgeoning musical scene, before joining the Second Police Band in 1968, for around three years. He spent a few months with the short-lived Blue Nile Band founded by saxophonist Besrat Tammènè. As the musical scene grew increasingly successful, and pulled slowly but decisively away from its institutional ties, Muluken released his first 45rpm single in February 1972 (Amha Records AE 440). It was included in two LP Ethiopian Hit Parade compilation albums in September of the same year. All in all, Muluken released eight two-track 45s and the same number of original cassette tapes between February 1972 and 1984, the year that he departed for permanent exile in the USA. After converting to Pentecostalism in 1980, Muluken gradually abandoned all secular musical activity. In 1985, at the end of a concert in Philadelphia, he decided to quit concerts and recording for good. Mèlakè Gèbré, the historic bass player from the Walias band who was playing with him that night, recalls that everything appeared so irredeemably diabolical in Muluken's eyes, that it was to be the end of his contribution to Ethiopian Groove.

The end of the story, the beginning of a legend.

Dahlak Band, forgotten by History

Aside from his personal history and vocal talents, it must be remembered that Muluken Mèllèssè was one of the biggest names in the musical innovations that marked the end of the imperial period. These éthiopiques aim to convince those who are just discovering this hidden gem... As for Ethiopians themselves, they are to this day captivated by this singular and atypical figure in the Abyssinian pop landscape – even though he withdrew from public life some 40 years ago. Incorrigible devotees of poetic twists, of more or less hidden meanings, Ethiopians appreciate above all the care Muluken took in choosing his lyrics and the writers who penned them, such as Feqerte Haylou, Alemtsehay Wodajo and, here, Shewalul Mengistu (1944-1977). Love songs, written by women, a far cry from the conventional drivel that pleases sappy sentimentalists.

Muluken is equally acclaimed for his perfectionism when it came to music, the opposite of the overly casual approach that is all too common. He remained a faithful partner of musicians who came from a lineage that borrowed from several inventive and pioneering bands (Venus, Equators, Dahlak). Amongst them were certain artists who began their musical lives with Nersès Nalbandian at the Haile Sellassie Theatre and who come of age in around 1973 – at just the wrong time, you might say. Among them were the pillars Shimèlis Bèyènè (trumpet), Dawit Yifru (keyboards) and Tilayé Gèbrè (sax & flute). Most notably Tilayé Gèbrè, certainly one of the most important musicians, composers and arrangers of his generation, of the end of the imperial era, and of the early years of the Derg.

It was only in 1981 that a miraculous opportunity arose for Tilayé to escape the Stalinist paradise of the dictator Menguistou Haylè-Maryam. Once again it was Amha Eshèté (1946-2021) who provided a solution. The spirited and courageous producer, who had been in exile in Washington since 1975, succeeded, thanks to his incredible perseverence, in bringing the Walias Band to the USA. It was, in fact an extended Walias Band comprising ten musicians3, six of whom chose to slip away after a few concerts and the recording of an LP (The Best of Walias, WRS 100). Tilayé Gèbrè was one of these. He has been living in the USA ever since. There he joined the then-nascent Ethiopian diaspora, which lived largely unto itself, and was making only very modest headway in the American musical market. It seems unfair that Tilayé Gèbrè and the Dahlak Band were not able to benefit earlier from the public recognition that they do deserve.

A similar draining away of the top-rate talents would lead to the reorganization of the major groups of the “Derg Time”. The remaining artists spread themselves around between Ibex Band (renamed Roha Band), Ethio Star Band and a remodeled Walias Band. That spelled the end of the Dahlak Band.

With this record, produced by the essential Ali Abdella Kaifa a.k.a. Ali Tango, we can appreciate everything that the Derg not only destroyed, but also prevented from flourishing. This gem of Ethiopian-style afrobeat came out in 1976 (and, by way of a parenthesis, before the FESTAC 1977 in Lagos, which was attended by an impressive delegation of Ethiopian musicians — although Fela was already personna non grata in his own country). Despite everything that might distinguish this ethio-groove from Fela’s music – no colonial axe to grind, no question of political confrontation with the authorities, no claims to negritude or Africanism for the Ethiopian musicians, and less extrovertion! –, this LP fits beautifully into the saga of intense and electrified soul of the new “African” groove that Fela and Manu Dibango embodied so well from that point onwards.

In restoring this record to its place in the afrobeat epic, it can be seen that, if nothing else, the timeline bestows a legitimate pedigree and a historical primacy to works that had no international impact when they were originally released.

Warning! Masterpiece!

2LP, 180gm vinyl, “Impex Style” Heavy Duty Outer Sleeve w/Flap, Sealed with Analogue October Records Sticker, Hype Sticker
Abbey Road Half speed master from the original tapes
380 gsm Invercote G Sleeve 300 gsm 12 page insert
4.5/5 RECOMMENDED / Editors Choice in Jazzwise magazine
‘And much as audiophiles will savour the tech achievement of this re-issue, the point is the Kaleidoscope of Rainbows
remains joyous, optimistic music that embraces difference and divergence. It needs celebrating not as a revived fossil but as a timeless artwork. Enjoy. And enjoy again’
RIYL Ian Carr / Nucleus / Weather Report / Clips and Art: https://we.tl/t-PfY9QXSjlt
NEIL ARDLEY – KALEIDOSCOPE OF RAINBOWS The Definitive 2LP Reissue of a Landmark in British Jazz Fusion
Analogue October Records proudly presents the long-awaited reissue of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, Neil Ardley’s 1976 masterpiece, originally released on Gull Records. Produced by Neil Ardley and recorded at London’s famed Morgan Studios, the sessions were engineered and mixed by Martin Levan, capturing one of the most ambitious and beloved works in British jazz. Following the acclaimed reissues of Courtney Pine’s Journey to the Urge Within (AOR-001-ST) and Neil Ardley’s Harmony of the Spheres (AOR-002-ST)—both praised by the audiophile press including The Tracking Angle—this third release confirms Analogue October as one of today’s most meticulous and exciting reissue labels.
A Suite of Sound and Colour
Commissioned for the 1975 Camden Jazz Festival, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows is structured as a seven-part suite, each movement reflecting a colour of the spectrum. Ardley’s composition weaves together jazz improvisation, progressive rock energy, and orchestral elegance in one of the most imaginative British jazz recordings of the era. Featuring Ian Carr, Barbara Thompson, Tony Coe, Trevor Tomkins, and Geoff Castle, the album is a who’s who of the UK’s vibrant 1970s jazz scene.
Cut at Abbey Road, Pressed at Record Industry
For this definitive edition, Analogue October worked directly from the original Gull master tapes. Mastering was entrusted to Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, using his renowned half-speed process to extract every detail and dynamic from Ardley’s score. To give the music the headroom it deserves, the reissue has been expanded to a deluxe 2LP set, pressed on the highest-quality vinyl at Record Industry in Haarlem, Netherlands. The result is a presentation that finally does justice to the scope and brilliance of Ardley’s vision.
Deluxe Package – Restored from the Source
The artwork has been meticulously restored from the original film elements, ensuring a sleeve of unmatched vibrancy and fidelity. Inside, a 12-page booklet printed on heavyweight card features an in-depth essay on Neil Ardley and the making of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, written by Jazzwise magazine editor Mike Flynn, alongside rare photographs from the period.
Curated and Produced by Craig Crane
As with every Analogue October release, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows has been curated and produced by label founder Craig Crane with a collector’s eye for detail and a deep respect for the music’s legacy. This reissue is not only the definitive vinyl edition of one of the great British jazz fusion albums—it also continues the label’s mission to restore and celebrate the most vital recordings of the era.
Neil Ardley’s Kaleidoscope of Rainbows—vivid, expansive, and timeless—returns as the essential edition for audiophiles and jazz lovers alike.
Retail-ready product description (short form):
Produced by Neil Ardley and recorded in 1976 at London’s Morgan Studios, engineered and mixed by Martin Levan, Kaleidoscope of Rainbows is a cornerstone of British jazz fusion. This definitive 2LP reissue, mastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell from the original Gull master tapes and pressed at Record Industry (NL), finally gives the music the dynamic headroom it deserves. The deluxe edition includes restored artwork and a 12-page booklet featuring an in-depth essay by Jazzwise editor Mike Flynn.