BBE Music announces the first repress of the classic Roy Ayers albums ‘Virgin Ubiquity’ 1 and 2 since 2006, on luxurious 180g vinyl with brand new sleeve notes written by Sean P. The music on 'Virgin Ubiquity' was selected and mixed down from previously unreleased multi-tracks recorded between 1976 & 1981, which Roy had in storage. It's all unmistakably Ayers, but is diverse and fresh enough to be more than a mere adjunct to one of his most productive and popular periods - testament to his and his musicians' creative abilities, as much of most revered Ayers output stems from this time. These discoveries take their place beside some illustrious company in a timeline bookended by 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine' and 'Africa, Center Of The World', several solo and Ubiquity albums, collaborations with Wayne Henderson & Fela Kuti, as well as guesting on LPs by Buster Williams and Herbie Mann. Out of print on vinyl and CD for over a decade now, BBE is delighted to re- present these groundbreaking Roy Ayers titles, neatly coinciding with the 45th anniversary of his classic album ‘Mystic Voyage’ and a UK tour to commemorate it during April 2020.
Time for more tracks from around that different corner! The EP kicks off with Reel Des Jumelles, some kind of hommage to accordion dance music that moves with a steady forward leaning house beat, winding staircase melodies and some well-paced tom fills. Arrak is more of a slow, howling midnight creeper. The B-side consists of two cuts from Anders’s live repertoire, meaning deep modular bass n’bleeps, dubby chords and some drum box autorhytm presets (merengue, salsa…) thrown in for good measure. Includes digital download code, and the digital version comes with two fabulous remixes by HEROES. Alexi Delano and Daniel ”Fagge” Fagerström! Edition of 100, mastered by Andrea Merlini.
140g vinyl, remastered, double LP with the original LP along with a second record of 14 rare tracks
Sweet And Nice is the vital debut album from Jamaica’s undisputed first lady of song Marica Griffiths. It’s reggae at its most soulful. Slinking through a tight ten tracks of R&B and pop-sourced material, it became an instant best seller. 45 years after its initial release the LP is available again on vinyl, now as a double LP, with an extra record collecting 14 rare tracks.
Sweet And Nice has appeared over the years with a revised running order and under different titles. But the original’s opening sequence of loping soul is legendary, even beyond reggae circles. These songs are now returned to how they were presented on that first Jamaican release, and under their intended album title. Be With doesn’t mess with magic.
Marcia’s version of “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” has long been lusted after, played by genre-hopping selectors to snapping necks for decades now. It’s followed by the sophisticated, rollicking wah-wah funk of “Everything I Own” and the slice of smooth lovers soul par excellence that is “Green Grasshopper” and her ace, lilting Neil Diamond cover “Play Me”.
The thundering, humid funk of “Children At Play” “sounds uncannily like a precursor of Massive Attack”, as FACT Mag astutely noted when they put Sweet And Nice at number 16 in their list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. Otherworldly, moody and essential.
Side two keeps the fire burning. “Sweet, Bitter Love” should leave you swooning, and is also one of the album’s alternate titles. Curtis Mayfield’s already-eternal “Gypsy Man” is up next, recast as proto-lovers rock.
“There’s No Me Without You” is elevated to canonical status by the majestic, forlorn horns of the Federal Soul Givers and Marcia’s heartbreaking delivery. And if this doesn’t get you then surely the next track will: arguably the definitive version of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. Yes, seriously.
“I Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely” re-takes its rightful place at the end of the LP’s second side… but we couldn’t leave it at that. So we added an entire second record of rare material recorded around the same time as Sweet And Nice, much of it unavailable since it was originally released. Some of these songs have only ever been found on now unattainable 7" singles and no, rarity doesn’t always correspond with quality, but in this case we’re talking about some seriously jaw-dropping music.
Amongst 14 extra tracks you’ll find the exquisite late-60s singles “Melody Life” and “Mark My Word” which, along with the sumptuous reading of “Band Of Gold”, are now £100 records, if you can find them! Just sayin’. There‘s also a fantastic version of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” and an alternate take of “Play Me” with producer Lloyd Charmers adding his own vocals.
Everything’s been remastered of course, including the original LP, so Sweet And Nice now sounds even sweeter, and even nicer.
On this album the former "Chasing Clouds" have accumilated into the eponymous "Black Sky"; these drifting soundclouds have swallowed a bulk of Sepalot´s sunny nature; his trademark relaxed attitude gave way to instrumental melancholy and pugnacity. "Before I started recording I listened to lots of The Doors songs. I found the suicidal aspect in their music very exciting. I totally inhaled it." Sepalot reports. "The breakage, the grid, the dirt - that was my inspiration. I was thirsty for the energy of pureness." In order to capture this roughness Sepalots first production steps were drafting soundsketches - often more than 100 in a row. This is then is followed by a sorting procees with many drafts going immediately into the trashcan. The survivors create the first basic draft.
There is something waiting in the wings. Don´t fear the storm, come outside with us... "Black Sky" is here.
Clemens Brentano: "These sounds are a wonderfull living breath of darkness"
Sicily's SLV is able to merge technical mastery with emotional resonance. His potent techno sounds have come via the likes of SHWD's Mutual Rytm and Slam's Soma, and unite timeless yet forward-thinking sonics.
On 'Fleeting Dreams', he continues to refine his signature sound while channelling introspection and intensity into a collection of meticulously crafted cuts that balance precision and feeling, energy and space. Each track reveals a different side of his sonic identity: hypnotic rhythms intertwine with evolving soundscapes, while layers of distortion and melody merge into a dreamlike tension between the mechanical and the organic.
'Fading Moments' kicks off with a sleek blend of driving, supple kicks and warm synth ripples, while a euphoric vocal cry is buried deep to amp up the emotion. 'Scenario' then brings icy hi-hats and sinewy synths bring a futuristic feel to the unrelenting, high-pressure drums down low. 'Daruma' has a darker energy with menacing textures and paranoid FX bringing the rolling drums to life, while 'Bass Grit' has a hunched up rhythm, with groaning pads and fizzing static electricity that charge up the party. To close, 'Shimmer' sinks down into a muscular and deep rhythm that's marbled with restless synths and ever-rising tension.
In addition, digital bonus cuts 'Trust' and '1990' offer different perspectives with slamming drums, seductive vocals and feisty synth loops making for two more bold, immersive techno weapons.
Underground stalwarts Voodoos & Taboos make their Duality Trax debut alongside a remix from rising talent Bertie, set to drop on November 8th. Now on its seventh release, Holly Lester’s vinyl imprint blends seasoned pioneers with the next generation of producers. A serendipitous moment at London’s E1 in 2023 was the genesis for the labels latest release, when DT label head Holly Lester unknowingly dropped a Voodoos & Taboos track only for the duo to walk in mid-way. Already known for their standout releases on iconic labels like Phonica, Bordello a Parigi, and Palms Trax's
CWPT, this chance encounter sparked a creative connection between Holly and the pair.
‘Time Out’ kicks things off with swirling synths and the duo's signature alien electronics, set to a playful breaks infused rhythm and morphing bassline, as command and control rings out overhead. ‘Endless Game’ comes with the usual V&T trimmings; an infectious bassline and with a scattering of curious sounds and samples, with a healthy dose of italo-inspired groove - the type of track reserved for bringing a dash of joy to the danceoor amidst a heads down body-moving groove. On the B-side, Australian newcomer Bertie steps up with her remix of ‘Time Out’, following her breakout EP and high-pro¬le remix by Ciel. In a short space of time, Bertie has already developed a signature sound injecting her productions with nostalgic 90s house and contemporary subtext; glued together by crunchy drums and a penchant for wide-eyed rhythms. Sticking to her guns, Bertie’s ip of ‘Time Out’ packs a serious punch, showingwhy she’s an artist on the rise. The EP closes out with the psychedelic ‘All Action’ with its vocoder vocal samples, bubbling acid and teleporting top-lines.
One of the most notable features of the duo's music is their ability to let things evolve over time, their music often accompanied by strong storytelling, an art that has been almost lost in today’s era of instant grati¬cation; their instrumentation often taking on a life form of their own and dosed with surprises.
To honour the enduring appeal of a great musical rework, Hell Yeah is launching The Art of Remix. This essential new series collects the best remixes from a range of label favourites. First up is Japanese downtempo master Calm with exclusive, never-before-on-vinyl versions of originals by Cantoma, Aura Safari, DJ Sofa’s Dream Baby Dream, Seahawks, Gallo, Yuichiro Kato and more. The release comes with rich liner notes by the authoritative Dr Rob from Ban Ban Ton Ton, and a second volume from Is It Balearic's Coyote will follow soon.
Remixes have always been at the heart of Hell Yeah's output as a way of reworking classic sounds into different contexts, allowing artists to explore outside their usual remit and also to introduce new talents. Clam has long perfected the art with his famously laidback takes on all sorts of Balearic, house, dub and acid under the Mellow Mellow Acid subtitle. He's remixed many a Japanese legend but also a wealth of artists from across the world, and eight of those reimagined gems balance euphoria with solitude on this first volume.
First, his take on Cantoma's 'Way To The Sun' infuses drones and chimes with bubbly acid. 'Sur Mon Balconett' shimmers with Spanish guitar and sultry sax, ghosts of yesterday still shuffling. 'Banana Trance' jolts with breakbeats while taking a Balearic leap into hedonism. Mininn’s 'Vertigo' drifts dubwise, from monastic chants to operatic bursts. Maho’s 'Bakuhatsu' growls dark and sleazy as acid and riffs collide, 'Abysso' floats with strings and sirens in symphony, 'Blue Surround' lulls before exploding with jazz fire and Kato’s 'Kiss of Life' closes with a cosmic, romantic serenade. Calm's The Art of Remix sets a high standard for a series which will soon turn to Coyote and Scandi-house great Bjorn Torske.
There is a breaking point where the mind yields and the body takes command. This is precisely the territory of Frenetic Habits EP.
Asymetric80 lands at INDUSTRIAS MEKANIKAS with an unapologetic statement: a direct immersion into the aesthetics of collapse and extreme habits. The work places you in the center of a post-apocalyptic scenario, where survival no longer relies on calm, but on your ability to endure mechanical tension.
The sound is built upon solidity and saturation. You won’t find fragility here, but rather an architecture of EBM, New Beat, and Industrial Techno designed to dominate any sound system that dares to play it.
Side A establishes the hierarchy with Frenetic Habits. Far from linear, the track unfolds a broken, demolishing rhythm, generating a devastating sonic pressure that completely envelops you. It is a piece of constant drive, an armored machine advancing over the very ground you stand on. It is followed by Exile and Unmasked, which shifts the strategy towards depth: a hypnotic immersion where industrial textures densify, creating a dark atmosphere that traps you with no escape.
On Side B, Bleak materializes the heaviness of the environment. A slow-burning, corrosive track with deep bass, which you can feel advancing with the force of concrete. To close, Dementia releases the accumulated tension with overflowing kinetic energy; a final outburst of controlled aggression that closes the cycle with maximum intensity.
Frenetic Habits EP is a record of ironclad textures and terminal atmosphere. A work that documents not defeat, but the brute force needed to remain standing when everything around has come crashing down.
DJ Support by Fabrizio Mammarella, Sean Johnston (ALFOS), Erol Alkan, Ame, Fango, Jaye Ward, SHMLSS, Camilo Miranda, Marco Passarani, Logan Fisher, Massimiliano Pagliara, Otto (Bordello a Parigi), Phil Mison, Giulia Gutterer, Pete Herbert, Franz Scala, Lauer, Pedro Bertho, Feel Fly ...
New music from legendary Adriatic DJ and producer Verdo is as rare as an MP3 in the golden age of disco. Which is why you should be hella excited for GRATIS CLUB, his first full-length album and a love letter to the iconic club he once called home in Senigallia.
A true Loyal Hell Yeah Recordings member and consummate musician, Verdo brings his signature piano melodies to Italo disco, hi-NRG, and trance magic across X cuts that are equal parts dancefloor propulsion and cosmic exploration.
GRATIS CLUB captures the energy, eccentricity and euphoria of the club Verdo played and directed, translating the pulse of a local institution into a timeless, high-voltage record. With previous releases on Danny Was A Drag King and this label, including his 2020 Symmetry EP, Verdo continues to prove he’s one of Italy’s best-kept secrets with this new album.
Opener and lead single ‘Let In The Light' is pure Italo disco adrenaline: shimmering arps soar over lush chords and retro analogue drums, igniting the dancefloor. Second single ‘Boulevardier’ is introspective yet radiant with rugged synths spiralling inward while shiny 80s chords inject colour and retro soul, all carried by supple, marching drums. 'Eyes Melody' is an ascent to a higher state with acrobatic drums and bass and more luminous synth magic, 'Ballad' has a more downbeat and late-night feel with pensive pads and sad vocoder, then the title cut is bold, bright and unabashed in its stomping disco brilliance. 'Our Love Come Back' has a sense of yearning that surely translates the sadness felt at the closing of Gratis Club, then 'Lest We Forget' is a reminder of how pumping and sweaty the main room got with Verdo in the booth. 'Little Blue's is the gentle comedown and comforting hand that leads you home in a reverie.
GRATIS CLUB is a pure hit of unbridled Italo disco joy.
DJ support from Charlie Bones, Phil Mison, Balearic Social, Moe, J-Walk, Phat Phil Cooper, Trujillo & Simon Caldwell
Born a Dance in a Berlin basement in 2016. MANY HANDS have been dishing out soul-derived genre-fluid selections via their Podcast since 2019, now launch the MANY HANDS imprint. This package of Special Exclusive DJ versions, reflects the wide-angle music ethos that goes down in a MANY HANDS session. Inspired by those utility discs that don't leave the bag, for Dancers, Dark rooms, and Heavy sound systems. Unitaaay baby!
nagoyaka na kaze / 和やかな風 (quiet wind): a collection of forward-thinking electronic experiments sourced from central Japan - co-curated by Nagoya artist abentis for Facta & K-LONE’s Wisdom Teeth imprint.
The project profiles a close-knit community of music makers operating in and around the Japanese city of Nagoya: one of the country’s most populous and industrial cities, but one all too often overlooked in terms of its cultural significance.
Curated in close collaboration with local scene organiser Yuya Abe - aka abentis - the record seeks to capture the creative energy of a community of artists making hard-to-define, future-facing electronic music away from the clamour of the bigger cities. “In Nagoya, there’s a strong culture of supporting artists. Even if you pursue music in your own way, as long as it’s good, you’re encouraged to keep doing what you want”, explains abentis. “Within that environment, my generation has been able to freely bring in elements we like from all kinds of genres, combine them in our own way, and express ourselves individually. If you go to Tokyo or Osaka, that kind of freedom isn’t something you can take for granted.” Spiritually, Nagoya fits the mould of cultural hotbeds like Bristol, Detroit or Melbourne, showing that some of the most innovative creative communities form away from the glare of the capital cities. Like Detroit, Nagoya is principally known for being a major auto manufacturing hub, famous for being the home of Toyota Motors - but behind the scenes, it is quietly harbouring one of Japan’s most vibrant and forward-thinking electronic music scenes. “In a good way, Nagoya is a bit removed from the cutting edge, so you find people making all kinds of music”, explains Karnage. “If you’re making music, you feel like part of the crew, and people of different ages mix together without much hierarchy.” The city’s music scene is characterised by a freedom to mix genres and an open-door approach to creatives of all disciplines. The artists featured come from a diverse set of backgrounds, ranging from hip-hop to noise music, but have found a common collective identity in their omnivorous approach to genre. As such, the record moves fluidly between shimmering ambient and new age (Am Shhara, DHYAN, daiki hayakawa), psychedelic minimal house (Methodd, abentis), abstract, low-slung downtempo (baptisma, Nasty Soupman) and spaceage steppas (Karnage). “I’d say the way ambient, new age and that kind of sound design are blending nicely with dance music feels somewhat new”, says baptisma, the crew’s eldest member and de-facto scene leader. Responsible for bringing artists like Basic Channel, Mala and Jan Jelinek to the city, baptisma has been crucial in establishing underground electronic music in Nagoya since the 90s, and now helps cultivate the next generation of local talent. “Artists and DJs are seamlessly mixing ambient and new age with techno, house and bass music. I think that’s a really interesting development.” nagoyaka na kaze has its roots in a one-off event held in October 2024 as part of the 10 Years of Wisdom Teeth Japan tour. Curated by abentis in collaboration with Facta & K-LONE, the showcase featured live sets from eight artists based in and around Nagoya at one of the city’s key dance music hubs, Club JB’s. Each of the artists features again here, on record, presenting an original commission produced especially for the project. The record’s art direction was led by Yudai Osawa - in-house designer for Kankyō Records, the much-loved Tokyo record shop run by H. Takahashi - and features original photos by Hayato Watanabe.
The world renowned “Maestro” of the dancefloor Louie Vega continues to deliver Dance Floor gems at a rate almost impossible to conceive, given that he also maintains a weekly touring schedule that regularly takes him around the world. Louie’s upbringing in the Boogie Down Bronx exposed him to the entire evolution of Disco and Funk at a time when those genres were at their peak in the 80’s, and he brings that wealth of knowledge and passion when it comes to remakes of the classics. His remake of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” featuring Anané and Tony Touch in its original version on the NYC Disco Album was a masterful update that kept the essence of the original classic, but was imbued with the irresistible House Music energy that Louie and featured vocalists Anané and Tony Touch can bring to a project like nobody else. The remix from Louie himself gives this peak house groover even more pump, while the Dub from Anané demonstrates that this talented performer has a big future as a producer as well. The bonus track on the B-side “In Search Of Peace Of Mind” shows Louie once again creating a unstoppable groove that respects the foundation of House Music but once again inspires an originality that places him firmly at the forefront the Dance Music Producer community.
TLC’s iconic album Fanmail is now available on a 2LP vinyl. Featuring chart-topping hits like “No Scrubs” and “Unpretty,” this reissue delivers the full original tracklist across two beautifully pressed records.
In early 2025 Oakland-based Jerod S. Rivera released his second full length Dot-Dash, featuring a collaboration with CST co-founder Cat Lauigan and Jonathan James Carr. From the beginning we were mesmerized with the result, a perfect melding of Cat's processed spoken-word and Jerod's Buchla experimentations.
The thought of remixes presented immediately, the material extra ripe for interpolation. Enlisting friends from geographically and sonically disparate locations to present an ideal remix 12". Something for everyone, something for every setting, a tool with multiple functions...
The mysterious dub/techno/leftfield mastermind behind False Aralia dives further into territory explored on iri.gram, uptempo and dancefloor-ready in a more maximal Perlon-ish way while still embracing a half-time dub feel. Philipp Otterbach (Music from Memory, Offen, RIO) goes deeper into the guitar zone he’s been exploring, channeling Earth 2, Boris, and the like for some heavy drone. Oakland duo DJ ML and Wonja adopt their Motoko & Myers moniker (Future Times, Soda Gong), zeroing in on some choice vocal snippets that mesh perfectly with a live drum break and bassline for a Seefeel-esque version that could have come from a 90’s UK studio. Finally, Slowfoam embraces the more experimental elements of the original with a remix that starts sparse and minimal but builds into a glitchy rhythmic climax.
The 12” includes a 2-sided riso insert and a download code with access to an additional remix by close collaborator Jon Carr that twists the vocals into a throbbing industrial caucaphony.
Isa Gordon and Tony Morris were first brought together through their individual releases on Optimo Music, which established mutual respect within the label’s community. While they had not previously performed live together, they were invited to take part in a fundraiser hosted by Queen’s Park Arena in support of Glasgow NW Foodbank and later for JD Twitch’s end-of-life care. Tony asked Isa to contribute guitar and backing vocals to his set, including a track then called Last Night I Had a Dream. That performance became the seed for their collaboration.
The first phase of fleshing it out, recalls Tony: “Somebody said Isa sang like Shania Twain. That got me thinking about country music and call and response, prompting me to come up with alternative lyrics.” Isa remembers: “I cycled over to Tony’s house with my guitar, and we spoke about what the tune meant. It was about him being wrapped up in dreamland, luxuriating in his subconscious, while my character — impatient and trapped in her own routines — barely had time to remember her own dreams.” Tony continues: “Brilliantly I realised that I could never collaborate with anyone in situ and so I sat in the garden for two hours watching my wife tend to plants. Every now and again I would creep up the stairs and put my ear to the door. I could hear Isa warbling away and so would resume my garden watch. After two hours I went back upstairs to see how she was getting on, only to find that she had written one of the greatest songs I’d ever heard. I still think that.” Tony adds: “My overwhelming sentiment about Wake Up Baby is pride. I can honestly say that I’m more proud of it than anything else I have done. It ticks a whole load of boxes. Isa’s singing in various Scottish modes is unique. The way her electric guitar adorns the dance beat makes it a rock song as well as a dance and a C&W song — truly multi-genre.”
The B-side of the 12” release, Syringe Moustache, is a surreal, darkly playful counterpart to Wake Up Baby. The track was inspired by a dream Tony had: “I was in a shopping mall, in a two-level shoe shop, and my attention was taken by a little girl with a syringe taped beneath her nose like a moustache. She went about her business trying on shoes, confident and wise beyond her years. In the dream, I imagined her as the daughter of cultured, intelligent parents determined to raise her independently. I was struck by my own feelings of inadequacy — I knew I could never have coped with such a contraption myself.” Isa’s take on the meaning of this song somewhat differs: “Tony sent me the tune over Instagram months before I met him, and I was spooked — as far as I knew, he didn’t know anything about me, but the story felt like it was written about me as a little girl, growing up around heroin addiction. The syringe beneath the girl’s nose became a symbol of the inescapable constraints of that environment, literally written on her face, yet something you just have to carry on through. On a buzz from the serendipity, I added a full instrumental backing to this most bizarre of works.”
The result is absurd, unsettling, and strangely empowering, staking out its own surreal, cinematic space. The 12” dance single is a format Tony had long wanted to explore — a tangible artefact to leave for family, a medium that celebrates the physicality of sound and the ritual of listening. It allowed the artists to maximise the format’s potential: a strong, multi-genre A-side, a surreal B-side, and remixes that expanded the record’s sonic world. Glasgow music staples Auntie Flo and 100% Positive Feedback were invited to reinterpret the tracks, bringing their distinctive touch — Auntie Flo transforming the A-side into a luscious, dancefloor-ready meditation, and 100% Positive Feedback twisting Syringe Moustache into absurd, playful shapes with false-start drops and over-the-top vocal editing.
The cover photograph, taken at the University Café by Harrison Reid, captures Isa and Tony embodying the characters they brought to life in the songs — a visual reflection of the record’s narrative and emotional stakes. The Café also holds personal significance: it’s where all of Isa’s meetings with Keith McIvor took place, where she first remembers visiting Glasgow as a child, and a place Tony fondly likes to go to drip egg yolk down his tie and watch the world go by. Together, the 12” format, the remixes, and the artwork create a cohesive, tactile experience, amplifying the duality, theatricality, and emotional breadth of the collaboration.
Two Lisbon mainstays from contiguous generations join forces as Scam Dust for the new Paraiso record: Tiago, Lux Fragil resident, world-renowned DJ's DJ and all-round music whizz plus Shcuro, Paraiso's co-founder, scene documenter and impeccable selector & producer. Funnily enough they also live in contiguous beach towns in the outskirts of the capital, Parede and Carcavelos. That's where they zig-zagged amid home-studios and, four hands in various machines, concocted this refreshingly to-the-bone record. Like a non-local entanglement between Lisbon, Sheffield, The Hague and somewhere in the American Midwest, 'Gastric Pulse' EP opens with a saturated, modulated acid line over a tight, industrial-tinged techno beat, peppered with sonic dirt of the highest order. It sounds like music projects like Downwards and Mathematics would put out. 'Enzyme Breaks' follows suit with a comparably raw spirit, adding some mysterious atmospheric scintillation and drum variations. A certain recluse techno (is that a thing?) comes to mind (and heart), Unit Moebius style. Toms abound in 'Pepsin Drive' - always a promising sign in our book - and the playfulness continues in the cheeky bassline and the intricate clap work. Soulful stabs give the tune extra magic via the mantra-like structuring power of repetition. The final track in the record comes from Pacific North-West transplant Doc Sleep and her collaborator Elias FS step in for remix responsibilities and flip the B1 into a hypnotic, dubby - and yes, jazzy - piece complete with a dive into glitchy, sonic sculpture territories towards the end of the arrangement. Quite the brilliant take. Music still counts (and always will), after all is said and done - and nothing like two hard-working music-makers to remind us of that.
Two figures of quasi-human form whose contours are in the process of dissolving. Like curtains of varying opacity, realities slide close together without ever laying claim to validity. The essence is clouded, nature its imitation. What sounds like the dripping of a viscous acid from porous aluminum casings could also be a sequential noise. The rhythm is an aid, a barb in the flesh. Voices fleeting like gases that have never surrendered to the dictates of gravity. It is the year 2024 of a calendar resembling an Abrahamic apparatus. Angels carry guns.
This record comes with a download code for the digital release!
This edition is limited to 150 hand stamped and numbered records including 150 individual and unique drawings and photographs.
After a longtime interest in the beguiling music of Nathan Dawidowicz, Hell Yeah now hooks up with the leftfield downtempo producer for their second full-length album, FLUFF. The immersive record features three long, winding and mystical soundscapes that blend trance and experimental into spiritual and ritualistic escapes.
Dawidowicz was born in Milan to a Polish-Lithuanian mother and a Cameroonian father, but grew up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. Because of that, their sound is deeply rooted in childhood experiences playing the piano at religious ceremonies, as well as taking inspiration from their father’s DJing throughout the '80s and '90s. Now based in Berlin, Dawidowicz has explored expression through music on labels like Luspoderosa, where they released their debut solo album, Sanctuary of Ideas.
It was when Calm and David Holmes started playing the epic, 23-minute 'Capricorn Rising Over Jerusalemite Temple' from that album that Hell Yeah founder Marco was encouraged to get in touch with Dawidowicz. A few months later, talk turned to releasing this new album, which comes with artwork by Spain's Alicia Carrera.
'Skeptic Afro Jr.' kicks off and soon sinks you into slinky, ever-evolving rhythms. It's a slowly evolving work of sound where the focus shifts from snaking basslines to lumpy drums, cosmic leads to life-affirming chords. 'Scintilla (Feat. Hannah Schraven)' is a deep and downtempo trip into dub and techno, with undulating drums and exotic melodies that escort you into otherworldly realms of spiritualism. Last of all are 'Deep Fluff' and a hidden track (Feat. Leo Börger), two cinematic explorations of deep space where acoustic frequencies and molten synths rewire your brain and connect you to a higher power.
FLUFF is another deeply personal and inward journey packed with transcendental experiences.
DJ FEEDBACK:
"That's such an outstanding piece of work - played two at the beginning on Saturday. Probably my favourite release of the year so far!" Sean Johnston ALFOS
"this is great! 3rd repeat. It’s so nice" Vladimir Ivkovic
"Just listened to Nathan's record and it really sounds amazing... Probably the best thing you've put out to my ears ;-) I love the way he bridges the sounds of the past with contemporary storytelling, taking you on a very long trip which you never want to leave!" Alexis Le Tan
Repress
2x12" Clear vinyl
This new album is the product of a 2 year process. The LP reflects what I love about the diversity of drum & bass and all its sub genres as well as what I enjoy playing at clubs and festivals.
It was crucial to me that this new chapter was a step up in content, sound design and song writing which influenced the decision to include only solo material and even master it myself.
Manifest is Mefjus 2.0 Martin
Pressed on 2 x 12 coloured gatefold vinyl
Comes with a download card for the full album in 320 kbps MP3.
Artwork and typography by Rutger Prins / Regime
Logo by Philipp Meindl-Grausam
Between 2023 and 2025, L.F.T. split his time between Hamburg and Berlin, slowly piecing together what would become his most ambitious work to date. The result is Hell Was Boring - a double album that plays like a fever dream, unfolding as a dark, mythical tale about life, death, and the strange spaces in between.
L.F.T. - the alias of German producer and multi-instrumentalist Johannes Haas - has always thrived on tension: between punk urgency and electronic precision, between raw emotion and mechanical repetition. On Hell Was Boring, those tensions are amplified. Drawing on the spectral drama of Bauhaus, the melancholic minimalism of Linear Movement, the futuristic romanticism of Gary Numan, and even the sly swagger of Falco, the album feels at once deeply personal and part of a much older musical lineage.
The sound is stripped down to its bones: drums snap and rattle from a Roland TR-808, TR-707 and Korg KR-55; basslines growl from a Roland SH-101 and Korg MS-20; shards of guitar cut through clouds of tape hiss. Everything was tracked to a Teac Tascam 80-8 reel-to-reel, giving each track a lived-in, imperfect warmth. Nothing is overpolished - L.F.T. wanted the listener to hear the edges, the grit, the moments when the music almost comes apart.
Along the way, he invited friends and long-time collaborators into the fold - Das Kinn, Rosaceae, Felix Kubin, Children Of Leir, and Konstantin Unwohl - each leaving their own fingerprints on the record’s world of shadows and static.
Hell Was Boring isn’t a mere collection of songs; it’s a narrative that drags you into its orbit and doesn’t quite let go. It’s music for the late hours when reality feels porous, and for those moments when you’re not sure if you’re waking up or still dreaming.
