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The Secret Sun rises once again, this time shining its light on the treasures stored in Dan Piu’s incredibly vast production archive, which dates back to the early ’90s. Selecting the music for this EP was a long but inspiring quest, a deeply rewarding dive into Dan’s artistic journey. It offers an insight into the studio universe of one of the producers we respect the most, and with whom we share the same vision and love for music.
We are grateful to once again bring to light four forgotten and unreleased productions from the ’90s, this time by Dan, infused with the novelty and ingenuity of that era, under the moniker Sensefinite.

Prepare to embark on a sonic odyssey as CRIMEAPPLE and PRESERVATION unveil the inaugural chapter of their groundbreaking trilogy with "EL LEÓN”. The album's title, a nod to the undisputed king of the jungle, serves as a meta-phorical beacon for the unyielding hunger that the lyrical predator has always shown.

On this audio hunting expedition, CRIMEAPPLE, the lyrical monarch, roars with an intensity that mirrors the lion's fe-rocity over a wild musical tapestry provided by PRESERVATION, with each track being a testament to the insatiable appetite and predatory instincts needed to navigate the wilderness of today’s music industry, a game that both artists have never bowed down to but always dominated from the outside in.

CRIMEAPPLE has always proven to be a leader of the pride, with the non-stop grind he’s been putting into his MAN-TECA imprint and with legendary collaborations with producers such as DJ Muggs and DJ Skizz carving his name as one of the prominent stars in the game today.

On the production side, PRESERVATION’s musical journey, whether with long-time collaborator Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def), or as one half of Dr. Yen Lo with Brooklyn emcee Ka, or through legendary collaborations with the likes of billy woods, MF DOOM, Roc Marci, RZA, Sean Price, Raekwon and countless others, have made him an iconic name in musical alchemy.

As the trilogy begins, "EL LEÓN" stands as the beginning of a new hunting season for the two, where CRIMEAPPLE and PRESERVATION are sure to transcend boundaries and reign supreme.

Introducing "Royal Blu," the highly-anticipated collaborative EP by Blu and Roy Royal. Bursting onto the scene with undeniable chemistry, the dynamic duo from the heart of California delivers an electrifying fusion of boom-bap beats and soulful samples that redefine the essence of West Coast hip-hop.

From the moment you hit play, "Royal Blu" captivates with standout tracks like 'The Same OG', 'LA Blue', and the mes-merizing 'The Priceless' featuring Cashus King. Each song showcases Blu's unparalleled lyricism and Roy Royal's masterful production, creating an immersive journey through LA and beyond.

Following Blu's acclaimed projects in 2023, including the collaborations with Real Bad Man and Nottz, "Royal Blu" marks a triumphant return to his roots, solidifying his status as one of the West Coast's finest MCs. With Roy Royal's soulful chops and Blu's unwavering conviction, every track feels like a passionate ode to their beloved city.

Enter the clandestine world of "No Face, No Case", the latest opus from Boston hip-hop producer MichaelAngelo, out this in Friday March 22nd on all digital platforms!

This project draws inspiration from the underworld and its enigmatic vibe, infusing every track with an irresistible aura of mystery and grit. Even though Michaelangelo production take cen-ter stage, he enlists a lineup of top-tier lyricists to tell a story of its own, including CRIMEAPPLE, Primo Profit, RLX, Daniel Son, Shaykh Hanif, Elcamino, Clovis Ochin, LPH Crack and LPH Stat. "No Face, No Case" isn't just an album – it's an experience and a visceral journey into the heart of the underworld crafted by one of the most interesting pro-ducers around these days!

Disguised returns to TRSN with a sensational 6-track vinyl EP featuring thrilling remixes by MYLE (Julian Muller) and Levzon. The Berlin-based duo, known for their high-energy yet hypnotic productions, are fresh off the success of their debut album and their first Boiler Room appearance earlier this year.

A longtime banner carrier for fiercely independent DIY punk in the UK, Wonk Unit are teaming with Pirates Press Records to release their ninth studio LP, Good Good Glad To Hear It. Based in the South London town of Croydon, the band has its origins in lead singer, songwriter, & guitarist Alex Wonk's experience in rehab 25 years ago, where he found journaling & sharing his experience with others liberating. After completing his time in hospital, Alex set about crafting songs from his "addiction journals," and from this sharing of unvarnished honesty, Wonk Unit was born. The 12 songs on Good Good Glad To Hear It are the diverse fruits of a long term process of songwriting and collaboration that takes the listener on an emotional journey. "These songs need to be written. They all had, for whatever reason, a burning desire to be released from my head," says Alex, who estimates that more than half of the vocals, guitars, and keys on the finished product were recorded as voice notes using nothing more than his cell phone mic. Aside from "EQ magic" courtesy of long term engineer & co-producer Andy Brook, there is no studio trickery to hide behind, and what appears on the record are the raw takes as played by Alex and his bandmates Vez, Max, Pwosion, Ryan, and AJ, as well as a group of studio collaborators adding instrumentation such as keys, horns, and banjo.The confessional spirit & emotional honesty of the songwriting shines through in every song on the record, such as the opening track & lead single, a "sad, depressing song about addiction" titled "Rapidly Declining Dignity," which recalls Alex's journals, or the song "Overwhelmed," in which the songwriter turns his focus to his relationship with his daughter in the aftermath of his marriage falling apart. "Those were the saddest, most precious, painful, terrifying times of my life," he shares, before adding, "Things are good now." Ultimately, these songs could only be written by someone who survived to tell the story. Just as journaling and sharing with others in rehab helped Alex to get sober and see a way through to the next stage of life, sharing songs that speak the truth of his experiences with the band's audience continues to carry him through life's ongoing struggles. Consequently, the band has attracted a large and diverse group of devoted fans who immediately recognize that these are true stories of resilience that can serve as a touchstone in their own lives. The true stories on Good Good Glad To Hear It are certain to find their way to even more.

Building on the promise of his standout Vacuum EP, Brendon Moeller returns to Samurai Music to dial his expert dub techno up to 170 for a full-length trip. Moeller is celebrated as a versatile operator applying cavernous sound design and decades-deep machine soul to a broad sweep of tempos and styles, and his pivot to D&B territory is as natural as it is original. It's a perfect fit on Samurai, where palettes, pressure and rhythms are continually yielding fresh results in this highly fertile zone of modern club music.

It's no secret Moeller is a prolific producer, and following his initial connection with Samurai he offered up a vast folder of tracks created in this latest furrow of his production. The label has since sifted through and puzzled out a sonic narrative, first realised on the Vacuum EP in June 2024 and now extended with Further. For anyone keyed into the deep, techno-informed innovations taking place at 170, there is a logical connection to Moeller's take on the sound, but at the same time these tracks stand apart from anything else out there right now. In the particular textures, the unfolding arrangements and monolithic reverbs Moeller threads together with hypnotic poise, his accomplished legacy shines through.

Whether it's the snarl of a delay feedback pushed a little further, a soaring synth swell sculpted into artful noise or a particular shuffle applied to a particular drum rack, Moeller's tracks unfold with a masterful poise, hitting the sweet spot between club-spirited physicality for the deepest of dance floors and introspective headphone trips. Teeming with detail, swathed in soul and engineered to perfection, the inspiration driving Moeller is palpable across the LP, and it's resulted in some of his finest work in a career studded with highlights.

"Les voyages de l'âme" ("The Journeys of the Soul") is Alcest's third album and contains the quintessence of the group's creative work to date. While "Le secret," the debut EP from 2005, was the key to the world of Alcest, "Les voyages ..." unites everything that characterises Alcest in terms of concept and music. New colour available.

ALCEST took an audible step towards their black metal roots with their sophomore full-length “Écailles de Lune” ("Moon Scales") without losing any of the trademarks that had evolved on their debut album “Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde”. The French post-black metal pioneers created a sound of lucent, dreamlike quality and otherworldly beauty that has equally defined them and been refined by them ever since. New colour vinyl!!

Soul Crooner David A. Tobin is no stranger to the game. The singer, songwriter and one of the Cool Million vocalists was born and raised in the NYC neighbor state New Jersey aka Brick City, which ever since had a massive influence on the US music scene. “Fallin’ in Love” already became a global pushed radio banger and features a classic Soul vibe that elaborates the strong connection of David A. Tobin and Rob Hardt as a songwriting team. Deep and truthful vocals embedded in a grooving and shiny production that will warm hearts and touch souls. The double AA-side “Turnin’ Me On” complements this release and is no less a radio smash and is a smooth up-tempo dancefloor compatible classic Soul tune. This new release on SEDSOULCIETY RECORDINGS is an unreleased exclusive full cover vinyl 45!

The collective has completed many tours together, & its debut album Escape From New York comes across as a collection of high level cyphers from Joey Bada$$, Nyck Caution, Kirk Knight, CJ Fly, Flatbush Zombies & more. Not surprising as the Brooklyn natives, a lot of them friends since childhood, have never shied away from the lyrics-centered tradition of New York hip-hop. Their distinctive voices and skills on the mic, as well as NY-centric storytelling drive the album, & the chemistry is undeniable. The production is tight, but this is also where the supergroup shifts away from musically, perhaps what the title of the project is alluding to. Erick Arc Elliott, Power Pleasant, Sam Wish, and Tyler Dopps lay down slick, bouncy instrumentals as opposed to boom bap, & it's refreshing and fun to hear the group expand its sound. Check out "Distance," "Left Hand," "Snow In The Stadium," "Far Away," and "Coast/Clear." The RSD Black Friday edition features 2LPs on translucent orange color and a Beast Coast Sticker.

The Red Square single sided promo version originally out in 2002. Sandy Rivera and Jose Burgos deliver a typically solid production with a great female vocal accompaniment.

Writing music, for singer-songwriter and producer Fine, “feels like being entrusted with a secret.” On Rocky Top Ballads, the Copenhagen-based musician’s debut album, these secrets take the form of minimalist compositions that search for glimpses of beauty in the everyday. Recorded, produced, and mixed by Fine, the album is a mystical soundtrack to a captivating songwriter’s explorations of process and intuition.

“The whole album is about the moments when you see a crack in something,” Fine explains, “where you briefly see another side of yourself or of someone you've known forever.”

Fine grew up in Denmark’s rural Northern Jutland; there, her father’s guitar and banjo playing formed the sonic backdrop of her childhood. In the years since, her musical curiosity has led her to work across a range of styles and sounds. In her early twenties, she became part of Danish electronic trio Chinah, which released three albums. You might also have caught her sampled vocals on the joyfully rollicking Two Shell song “Home,” from 2021. Then, last year, she — along with Erika de Casier and Smerz — co-wrote three songs for the massive, critically lauded K-pop group New Jeans. Fine is also a part of Clarissa Connelly Canons group back home in Denmark, and writes music under the moniker Coined with composer and songwriter Astrid Sonne.

But Rocky Top Ballads is a turn back towards a more personal, stream-of-consciousness songwriting style. Fine wrote and recorded these songs sporadically over the course of the last few years. In light of Chinah’s collaborative, piecemeal production style, Fine craved a more organic, intuitive process for these songs. Her work on the record combines sample-based production with the sounds of instruments she and her collaborators could hold in their hands, ones that inspired free-flowing improvisation: electric and acoustic guitar, even the Ensoniq keyboard that was in her childhood home. The resulting songs are equally inspired by the country and folk of her childhood, the hazy beauty of Mazzy Star, the avant-garde pop of Dean Blunt, and the songwriting of ’90s singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega.

Fine describes her songwriting process as a “magical thinking method”: being in contact with the present moment and pretending as if she already knows the song she’s about to write. Many of the songs on Rocky Top Ballads use the original takes of Fine’s vocals, an attempt to capture a song’s initial essence and avoid disturbing the song’s generative idea as much as possible. You can hear that well-preserved spark on songs like “Losing Tennessee,” a minimalist and wistful reflection on the inherent loss and change of growing older. She wrote other tracks, like the piano-led “Whys” and the woozy “Coasting,” through a process of cutting and layering her improvisations, carefully merging multiple musical snippets into newly seamless compositions. And the stunning closing track “A Star” is the product of a slow process of evolution: beginning as an understated expression of sincerity before dissolving into a rich, distorted guitar-driven exploration.

As a songwriter and producer, Fine’s work often peers into the universes of experience that can be hidden inside a fragmentary moment. Sometimes she explores this literally — as in “Days Incomplete,” which she built off a short sample from “A Star.” This impulse — to zoom in, to recontextualize, to excavate — threads throughout her lyrics, too. What happens, her songs ask, when we pay close attention to those everyday images and physical realities we might otherwise ignore: the sky, the rain, the sun, the sea? On the spacious and swoony “Big Muzzy,” with its gentle sway and Cocteau Twins-inflected vocals, Fine sings about watching the “summer turn blue”; the grooving, propulsive “Remember The Heart” is a love letter to the sea where she grew up. In her airy voice, Fine traces meandering melodies that continually unspool with fresh insights.

A particular mantra guided Fine’s songwriting throughout the creation of Rocky Top Ballads: “Everything has potential.” In these songs, small moments are worthy of deep contemplation, and gentleness can evoke worlds of emotion. The resulting songs offer a gift of momentary pleasure, flowing and unhurried as a gentle breeze.

Marissa Lorusso

New Source gladly welcomes Juan Bozzolasco aka Juan Dairecshion, unveiling a four track in which he confirms his innovative approach to electronic music production. His works, full of creativity and unexpected interactions between elements, are shown here in full display. His music is a result of a life-long exposure to some of the most seminal works of dance-floor oriented electronic music, ranging from Chicago’s and Detroit’s House and Techno passing through mid-century American Jazz and avant garde Latin-American music. House music composed by a techno-head and housey techno for your grooving pleasure are unequivocally found in his release.

Following his recent EP, The Circle of Life, on Pushmaster Discs, Milan's rising techno star Maike Depas returns with a brand-new release on his renowned The Innovation Studio Records. Titled “Sexy Devil Horse”, it is a powerful 10-track collection, featuring many iconic international artists from the Hard Techno space such as Etruria Beat’s headmaster Luca Agnelli, Dutch-based sensation OGUZ and the “Demon of hard techno” also known as Michael Katana, as well as Southern Italian talents CHRS and Gianni Di Bernardo.
This release marks a pivotal moment in Maike Depas’ journey to become one of the highest rated talents in the Hard Techno scene. It will also be followed by a key paradigm shift his label’s business model in 2025. For this occasion, Maike has lined up an amazing group of artists to celebrate those who have shared his musical vision along the way.

The title is meant to be provocative and captivating, just like its content: catchy and fresh enough to attract ravers and clubbers from around the world. Its artwork was created by the master Luden Works. It features a plastic female figure with an undefined appearance, yet with sensual curves and a powerful surge of energy, like a wave enclosed in a sphere, representing Maike’s and The Innovation Studio Records’ logos.
From the galloping rhythm of “Sexy Devil Horse” and “Hear The Sound” to the groovy and elegant “Ce Soir” there is an immediate feel about the artist’s singular touch and eclecticism. Same goes for the tangible contrasts which make a key element of this release, where the minimalistic mood of “StarKiller” and its maximalist counterpart “Dark Serenade” carry the listener through a full-spectrum emotional rollercoaster.
Hard Techno and Psy Trance vibes go hand in hand with ‘90s Trance and Rave echoes, creating a blend of recognisable and innovative samples that can resonate with many different types of audience and like-minded artists. This aspect is fundamental in the direction Maike and his team have decided to take.

It all comes from afar: starting with a classical musical background – playing the piano at Conservatory level for many years, including Berlin’s own Funkhaus. This theoretical and practical knowledge, mixed with a long-time passion for electronic music, made it easier for Maike to shape and cultivate his authentic sound since a very young age.

As part of its evolution, The Innovation Studio Records will officially open its doors to new talent and renowned artists starting in 2025. The team’s vision is to create an international reference point for quality and innovation, shaping a brand-new artistic movement based on combining the modern vision of our generation with our cultural heritage from the past, thanks to the team that we put together, both in terms of approach and technique.
It'll be a structure built from the ground up, combining the best of analogue technology in a modern workflow with the highest level of music hardware, audio monitoring and studio design. In their view, there are two types of productions: those that stay ‘inside the box’ and those that get into your heart.

The desire to unite instead of dividing, to join forces instead of competing, is the key to Maike’s success and a real drive to turn the studio lights on every single day. Despite playing a lot with dystopic, cyberpunk-like atmospheres throughout his artistic journey, music doesn’t feel like a means to escape reality for Maike. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

The definition Maike uses the most to describe what The Innovation Studio Records wants to become is “a mysterious display cabinet”: a place where an artists will never know what emotion will arise or what direction will be taken next. Although hard work, professionalism and common inspiration will ultimately still be its main fuel, a true sense of community and empathy will be crucial to shape the future Maike and his team have in mind for it.
In a very romantic way, the idea is to re-create the same atmosphere from the Italian Renaissance masters’ workshops. Places where different artists - with opposite backgrounds and styles - could all mingle and inspire each other, in order to foster the creation of something unique. A collective effort for a greater good.

About MAIKE DEPAS
Young hard techno DJ-producer Maike Depas (born Michelangelo De Pasquale) has seen the future of music and it’s called metaverse: “In the future it will blow up,” he predicts. “And it’s going to revolutionize the way we experience music.” Bowled over by Skrillex and Martin Garrix by the age of eight, and DJing at smaller Milan clubs by the time he was eleven, Depas went on to study composition and piano at the prestigious

Milan Conservatory before learning ‘life- changing” lessons from the best in the business at Catalyst’s 4-week Advanced Sound Design course in Berlin’s Funkhaus . His production gets inspired by huge 90s trance synths as much as pounding hard techno from artists such as Kobosil, In Verruf and Amelie Lens.
2024 marked the launch of MAIKE DEPAS 2.0, a tectonic audio-visual shift that entails a wide array of content from DJ sets livestreamed from Berlin’s Teufelsberg and other dystopic locations around Europe to cyberpunk-inspired outfits designed by Demobaza, a cyberpunk-inspired casual couture brand best known for their sustainable Dune X Demobaza collection. Over the course of a developing metamorphosis from a flesh-and-bone individual to a mysterious CGI character, Depas is another step closer to revolutionize the dance music scene through the metaverse.

I Will Find You” takes listeners on a journey through Mathame’s greatest inspiration, Franchino, who’s love for electronic music inspired not only the brothers, but the entire nation. As this track reveals itself, the duo’s devotion to creating meaningful music that is deeply rooted in their own influences reverberates throughout as they translate its gripping sonic identity through their own, distinct lens.

Throughout their career, Mathame (brothers Matteo and Amedeo Giovanelli), have been elevating fans to new heights through their sophisticated compositions that infuse cinematic soundscapes with ethereal energies and raw, real emotions that command movement. While Franchino’s version of this track was originally introduced in 1993 and influenced some legends of the italian progressive techno pioneer scene such as Ricky Le Roi and Mauro Picotto, the Mathame record is actually a rework of Clannad’s theme song from the soundtrack of the 1992 film “The Last of Mohicans”, which the duo first incorporated into performances during their 2019 Cercle set in Mexico City.

“I Will Find You” has since become an anthemic and defining element of Mathame's performances, inclusive of the duo’s 2023/2024 world tour, and has already garnered critical acclaim. The release of “I Will Find You” carries a special endorsement from its original composers, Clannad. The Grammy and BAFTA award-winning band has expressed their delight in seeing their music embraced and reinterpreted by not only new generations, but new genres, as the duo breathe new life into the track's legacy.

From the solitude of volcanic Mount Etna to stages around the world, Italian DJ and producer duo Mathame connect audiences around the globe through transportive music that transcends genres, generations and dimensions. More than another DJ duo, Mathame are sonic alchemists whose productions unfold as poignant odysseys that blur the lines between reverie and reality. Defying convention through their sound, the brothers masterfully immerse listeners into the futuristic realms they conjure, pulsating with sensorial magic and ethereal energies that linger in the air akin to candles in a great cathedral. Their first LP, “MEMO” was a technically driven masterpiece, paving the way for colossal collaborations with global talents like Tiësto and John Summit and amassing over 6 Million streams on Spotify and support from the likes of industry authorities such as Forbes’ 15 Best Albums List of 2023.

The arrival of their solo record “I Will Find You” signals a return to their shared artistic vision and will be released in tandem with the announcement of the duo’s Ibiza Residency concept - NEO - at the beloved electronic temple, Amnesia. Born from an inspirational journey in Tokyo, Japan this past year, Mathame will introduce their most groundbreaking concept to date that masterfully blends the worlds of technology, artificial intelligence and their profound performances with a sense of mysticism that dances between what is seen and what is heard. The cinematic experience - complete with a setup, development and climax - will take place at Amnesia under the HORIZON framework from June 7 to July 5, and from September 13 to 27, with each chapter boasting an eclectic lineup of performances from the likes of The Blaze (DJ Set), Mind Against, NTO and more.

South London’s James Massiah returns to Jon Rust’s Levels imprint with the highly anticipated follow-up to the 2019 underground hit ‘Natural Born Killers’ EP.

The six-track EP ‘True Romance’ is the artist / poet / DJ / producer's richest work to date, autobiographically charting the peaks and troughs of 21st century love, life and relationships.

Massiah’s rap leanings ride over his signature neon productions, taking in an arc of influences including dancehall, dub, acid house, grime and left field pop.

Gritty and shimmering in equal measure, this is essential for devotees of the Dean Blunt, Lord Tusk axis, or anyone switched on to the stream of rap bubbling up from the UK right now.

Heavy rotations from Benji B, Jamz Supernova, Shy One & Scratcha DVA.

A vital release for 2024.

SML is bassist Anna Butterss (Jeff Parker, Daniel Villarreal, Makaya McCraven), synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (Ariel Kalma, Marta Sofia-Honer), saxophonist Josh Johnson (Jeff Parker, Makaya McCraven, Nate Mercereau, Marquis Hill), percussionist Booker Stardrum (Amirtha Kidambi, Carl Stone, Lee Ranaldo, Patrick Shiroishi), and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann (Sam Wilkes, Meg Duffy, Perfume Genius). Their debut album Small Medium Large began as a collection of long-form improvisations recorded during two

separate two-night stands at beloved Highland Park venue ETA, a major development site for the burgeoning new LA jazz & improvised music sound, which unfortunately closed its doors permanently at the end of 2023.

The venue, perhaps best known outside of LA for Jeff Parker’s 2022 album Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, was the perfect location for the start of SML, especially given that both bassist Anna Buterss and saxophonist Josh Johnson are in the quartet featured on that record. Small Medium Large was engineered and recorded in stereo direct to Nagra by Bryce Gonzales and compiled, arranged, and edited with additional production, recording, and
studio composition by SML.

While editing, chopping, and rearranging stereo mixed improvisations is hardly a new concept (for a modern and relevant example we can look to Makaya McCraven’s output on IARC) these results are a stunning expansion of the Teo Macero / Miles Davis editing concept explored on classics like Bitches Brew, On The Corner, and Get Up With It. Stylistically though, these recordings have more in common with the proto trance repetitions of Harmonia, and with Holgar Czukay’s re-assemblage technique used in his work with Can. Throw in a supremely intuitive utilization of Susumu Yokota’s floating patterns polyrhythm concept and we have a truly entrancing take on time-clocked electronic rhythms augmenting with live percussion, yet maintaining that elusive human sway.