Buscar:d star

wiggle room is the long-overdue Blip Discs debut from pq - founding member of Nihiloxica (Nyege Nyege Tapes, Crammed Discs) and long-time label affiliate.

On the A-side, “igglewiggle” and “aliens!” augment UK styles to deliver two bassy heavy hitters. The more experimental B-side starts off very B2 with “ketty stepper anthem” and its wonked-out polyrhythm, before a stripped-back VIP of “aliens” closes the record.

Having made his mark as a core force behind Nihiloxica — the Bugandan-techno outfit whose explosive live shows earned global acclaim — pq now hones a functional club sensibility he first showed on Lapsus Records and his own label Spooky Shit.

wiggle room balances an adventurous energy with serious bass-weight, never stopping to stroke its proverbial chin even once. A definitive, forward facing statement that expands the peripheries of the dancefloor in an ever evolving UK bass-music continuum.

"The past few years has seen an explosion in pop music, with new artists breaking with unforgettable songs and (re)establishing pop, with influences from different genres and places, at the top of the charts.
NOW Music are very proud to present NOW That’s What I Call Pop! – 38 massive pop anthems - including 8 UK #1s – and with all tracks featured on a stunning 3-LP vinyl pressed in a different colour for each disc: Bright Yellow, Hot Pink and Baby Blue, releasing 23rd May 2025."

No trend to be followed, no invention to be intended, it is the reduced gorgeousness that let's us float on Asper Clouds. This is still valid in 2025, timeless grooves that still move your heart and soul and warm the dancefloor.
Smallville is turning 20 Years, so we are starting a little musical celebration with a special re-release of this ultimate beauty, that stood the test of time - a milestone LP for Smallville by Christopher Rau.
Comes with Full Cover Artwork by Stefan Marx

Amsterdam natives Maarten Smeets and Lars Dales, aka Dam Swindle, unveil their third long-player with the release of a new track, the first to be shared from the upcoming album, ‘Open’ - out on 30 May 2025 via Heist Recordings.

The new album sees the acclaimed duo dive far beyond the deep sonic waters they’re most known for, exploring lower tempos, synthwave, hip-house, and ambient across fourteen tracks. With a gestation period that traces back several years, ‘Open’ is their most intimate and personal body of work thus far, birthed during a time of self-reflection away from touring and personal transformation as individuals.

“We felt the need to tell a very personal story through our music as a translation of our personal development in the past years. We also wanted to make music without a specific goal in mind; We simply wanted to create. By taking away the grid of dance music and any expectations of what a Dam Swindle song should sound like, the creativity started to flow naturally with songs in many different styles and tempos. The result is an album that feels refreshing and uplifting and still very much true to the heart and soul of our sound.” - Dam Swindle, January 2025.

While the trademark Dam Swindle four-to-the-floor beats are still ever-present on tracks like ‘The Present Is Always Perfect’, ‘I Need You’, and ‘Is This Love?’, it’s the gentle waves of synths on opener ‘Home’, the contemplative piano chords of ‘Bloom’ featuring Joep Beving, and the lo-fi ambience of ‘It’s Okay, I Can Wait’ that showcase a melancholic, ethereal sensibility previously uncharted by the duo. Collaborations with vocalists such as NYC’s Haile Supreme on ‘Not Enough’ and Neo-soul singer Faye Meana on ‘Girl’ expertly find room in between the dancefloor and home listening sessions, and a clear standout on the LP is the title cut where message-heavy rapped vocals from UK artist Samson ebb and flow amongst iridescent grooves.

Under the helm of Maarten and Lars’ adept A&R, their Heist imprint has become a beloved home for house heads of both schools old and new, platforming some of dance music’s biggest names from Cinthie to DJ Sneak as well as the musical dawnings of artists such as Kassian and Makèz. The Dam Swindle alias has achieved house music royalty-like status across a storied 15-year career that includes two critically lauded full-lengths, collaborations with the likes of Tom Misch and Kerri Chandler, and a globetrotting touring schedule. This album stands as their most profoundly personal work of art to date, and they can’t wait to share it with you.

The notorious R-A-G team up once again on their homebase M>O>S to present four of their excellent acidic deephouse affairs. The whole squad featuring Aroy Dee, MaSpaventi and G-String giving a perfect representation of their long going Amsterdam studio sessions.

SAISEI founder Junki Inoue continues his vital archival work uncovering the riches of Japan’s distinctive electronic music scene and bringing them to new audiences around the world.

HERO U.D.A. aka Hiroyoshi Udaka is not someone you can easily google, but he’s sure lived a life worth retelling. His story starts back in the late 80s when, inspired by the acid house emanating from the UK — during what was fondly christened the Second Summer of Love — he picked up DJing and made the move from Japan to London. Throughout the 90s he DJed at underground techno institutions like London’s The End, CLUB UK and Silver Fish, as well as at the infamous Tribal Gathering raves, periodically returning to Japan to support techno greats like Colin Dale, Mad Mike, Suburban Knight and D. Wynn on tour.

The tracks on this EP, previously unreleased except for one, were all recorded after Udaka moved back from London to Tokyo, between 2002 and 2005. Yet they sound strikingly modern, drawing on a rich range of sounds that have come back round again two decades later: broken beat, acid jazz, dub and breaks. Deceptively simple grooves are given depth by layers of textures and micro samples, for example the surface noise on ‘On The Way’ that glues together an otherwise sparse skeleton of dubby pads and body popping drums. ‘Mature Missile’, ‘So Good’ and ‘Night Driver’ employ raw broken beat templates with acid accents, whimsical melodies and vocal interjections for a playful mood. ‘Sin City’ takes a darker turn, off-key piano hits and plunging bass adding to the wonkiness. The EP closes with a wiggly vignette, ‘222AM’, reminiscent of early 00s contemporaries like Mouse On Mars. Now these hidden treasures from Udaka’s archive gain a new life on SAISEI.

———

SAISEI is a Japanese word which translates to ‘reproduction’ and ‘to play’ (as in playing records). Japanese culture is widely known for its traditional nature just as much as it is for being forward into the future and this label’s concept does justice to exactly that. Having started digging for records as early as 16 years old, Junki Inoue delved into productions from 1990s Japan to uncover these native gems. SAISEI’s core concept is to recapture and reintroduce unique pieces of Japanese electronic music onto vinyl, to an audience it never reached before as most of this music was only released in Japan.


b A2. So Good Acid Funk

Showbiz! nennt sich MIKEs zehntes Soloalbum, das auf seinem Label 10k erscheint. Pitchfork bezeichnete es als "bisher größte Leistung des jungen Künstlers" und vergab das Prädikat "Best New Music". Es setzt neue Massstäbe für ihn und die teilnehmenden Zeitgenossen (Thelonious Martin, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Jacob Rochester, Anysia Kym, Harrison SURF GANG, ShunGu, Laron, redLee, u.a.), während er das nächste Kapitel seiner Karriere als unverzichtbare Stimme des 2020er-Jahre-Hip-Hop aufschlägt. Zur Unterstützung von Showbiz! startete MIKE seine bisher grösste Tour mit unzählig vielen Gästen, die ihn Anfang 2025 nach Europa führte (mit 6 Daten in DE+AT), von wo aus er über UK & Irland ausgiebig durch Nordamerika touren wird.

** Cassette release

""A Synonym for Repetition" weaves together a tapestry of parallels, all intricately linked to Japan. The project initiates with a collaboration with a Tokyo-based musician, which ultimately fails to materialise during Jason Kolar’s recent visit to the country.

From an original approach that has to mutate in its starting phase, the record was conceived from the beginning to embody a sincere homage to Ryuichi Sakamoto, also a Tokyo native. Shaping ideas within the context of a city with a vibrant soundscape, through an exploration where tradition and modernity intersect in an ongoing quest for correspondences.

Yet, the barriers of language and cultural disparity emerge, casting a veil over the perceived connections and rendering them more projection than reality. This dynamic delineates the space observed from an external perspective, perpetually distant from true understanding, framing it in the fields of imagination, both Japan and Sakamoto. Nonetheless, Kolar tries to pay an honest ode to the artist and its scenic background, with all the implications and contradictions of this kind of process, even with the risk of falling into clichés, pastiches, and Eurocentric bias.

Connecting it to ‘vertical listening’ rather than to an obvious tribute exercise, he has morphed his sound to a synthetic and midi approach, aiming to set an ironically fictitious stage, one that resembles something, but it’s not really it."

“To Model Phenomena” is a scientific concept that describes a computer’s ability to emulate, regardless of whether the emulated phenomenon exists outside its circuits or is purely imaginary.

Modeling communication platforms enables us to interact with each other or with computers. Modeling behavior patterns, nuclear fusion, or, as in the case of scientists from the Human Brain Project, a virtual human brain, allows us to simulate cognitive processes such as perception, memory, and decision-making, providing insight into the nature of human thought.

In this record, the phenomena modeled are those moments when the mind leaps into the void, confronting new paradigms. For instance, when science, art, or mass media introduces new information, propelling us into a transformed reality.

From this starting point, European musician Shifting Heigo maps a path between realities, evolving his narrative as his music unfolds. This work draws inspiration from Curtis Roads (vice chair of Media Arts and Technology at the UCSB) and his studies on granular synthesis and time scales, where each track on To Model Phenomena evokes a sense of movement, where nothing begins or ends in quite the same way.

A musician with strong ties to new technologies, Shifting Heigo has collaborated with the University of Málaga (Spain) in its PH Degree Program in video game design, composing interactive music, while also singing as part of the tenor section in the Qatar Concert Choir, affiliated with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

Currently based in Abu Dhabi, he is now part of a circle of electronic musicians surrounding the New York University Abu Dhabi, an institution that supports electronic and experimental music across the Middle East.

To Model Phenomena is the result of his search for a unique voice as a musician, where ternary rhythms, noise, and silence shape the narrative. This is a discourse from a musician’s perspective on the changes that science, technology, art, and the rapid flow of information demand of us. A direct gaze into the fear of change.

It was 1993 when Insight last released on the iconic Strictly Rhythm imprint. Terrestrial Funk brings you their first fresh output in three decades. Perfect house productions hot on the heels of their highly acclaimed V4 Visions comp on Numero Group. The four track EP gives you three unique house cuts with Ashaye’s ethereal vocals and an unreleased dubbed out downtempo version of their beloved anthem, ‘What Is This World Coming To?’.

An EP that’s killer from start to finish - no filler, just relentless energy. Spanning from hypnotic techno to slamming electro, with atmospheric and ethereal undertones throughout, these tracks echo the enigmatic nature of the artist. Created in the depths of the ether, they’re grounded and brought back to earth through hard hitting basslines, crisp percussion, and vocals laced with a slight northern English edge.

Loco Dice kündigt sein viertes Album „Purple Jam“ an: Mit 12 Tracks und einer Fülle hochkarätiger Kollaborationen unterstreicht er die ständige Weiterentwicklung seines Sounds und die erfolgreiche Verschiebung von Genregrenzen.

Loco Dice ist eine absolute Legende und einer der einflussreichsten Charaktere in der elektronischen Musikszene. Seit Beginn seiner Karriere hat er seinen einzigartigen Genre Twist aus House & Techno mit starken Hip-Hop Einflüssen etabliert. Von den Anfängen als Hip-Hop-DJ in Düsseldorf bis hin zu Residencies in den legendären Ibiza-Superclubs wie Circoloco im DC-10 und Amnesia Terrace sowie im Space Miami in den USA war Loco Dice immer für seine Fähigkeit bekannt, tiefe, introspektive Sounds mit energiegeladenen Tracks zu mischen.

Das enorm hohe Level und kreative Spektrum dieses Albums wurde bereits mit den ersten Single-Auskopplungen zementiert: Auf „Heavy Heart“ mit Skrillex & Fireboy DML, „Road Runner“ mit Carl Cox, „Ice Cold Dealer“ mit Haftbefehl und „Juice“ mit The Martinez Brothers & Trinidad James sammeln sich bereits Millionen an Streams.

Das Album erscheint als farbige 1 LP (180 Gramm).

For customers of the Rush Hour shop, this item ships for its may 23rd release date. Any items ordered along with this will ship then also

After five years spent largely confined to the United States, Ron Trent is set to return to global touring in 2025. To mark the occasion, he’s partnered with Rush Hour to release Lift Off, a brand-new album of music recorded at different points over the last decade.

Arriving almost 35 years since he wowed the world with his game-changing debut, the Afterlife EP, Lift Off was inspired by Trent’s desire to ‘let the imagination speak for itself’ while exploring the diverse influences that have shaped his unique musical perspective. A departure from his previous album, 2022’s downtempo masterpiece as Warm, What Do The Stars Say To You, the 10-track set features a mixture of epic instrumentals, inspired collaborations and vocal cuts whose music was written with certain singers in mind.

While it features music that ripples with the experienced producer’s familiar aural trademarks – rich rhythms, warm chords, impeccable instrumentation, inspired arrangements, and lashings of heady hand percussion – it also consciously explores a variety of sounds and tempos, in the process blurring the lines between dance music’s past, present and future. It’s a vision, in his words, of what dance music can become.

For proof, check the five impeccable cuts on part one. There’s the tactile, Wally Badarou-inspired wonder ‘Hot Ice’, the mind-soothing chords, lilting synth-strings and samba-soaked percussion of ‘Woman of Color’, the warming deep house jazziness of ‘Jazz Funk’ and the restless, far-sighted brilliance of ‘Sexstrology’, where relaxed electric piano solos dance atop an infectious, locked-in dancefloor groove.

Best of all though is Leroy Burgess collaboration ‘Let Me See You Shining’ – an inspired musical meeting of minds that cannily fuses Trent’s signature deep house sound with the soulful, vocal-driven brilliance of the New Yorker’s iconic boogie-era work. Even by the two artists’ dizzyingly high standards, it’s a very special song.

For customers of the Rush Hour shop, this item ships for its may 23rd release date. Any items ordered along with this will ship then also

After five years spent largely confined to the United States, Ron Trent is set to return to global touring in 2025. To mark the occasion, he’s partnered with Rush Hour to release Lift Off, a brand-new album of music recorded at different points over the last decade.

Arriving almost 35 years since he wowed the world with his game-changing debut, the Afterlife EP, Lift Off was inspired by Trent’s desire to ‘let the imagination speak for itself’ while exploring the diverse influences that have shaped his unique musical perspective. A departure from his previous album, 2022’s downtempo masterpiece as Warm, What Do The Stars Say To You, the 10-track set features a mixture of epic instrumentals, inspired collaborations and vocal cuts whose music was written with certain singers in mind.

While it features music that ripples with the experienced producer’s familiar aural trademarks – rich rhythms, warm chords, impeccable instrumentation, inspired arrangements, and lashings of heady hand percussion – it also consciously explores a variety of sounds and tempos, in the process blurring the lines between the past, present, and future. It’s a vision, in his words, of what dance music can become.

For proof, check the five tremendous tracks on part two. There’s the AM radio-ready warmth, guitar-flecked looseness, and eyes-closed bliss of ‘Just Another Love Song’, where Trent’s own multi-tracked vocals catch the ear, the slow-motion, head-nodding deep space bliss of ‘Juice’ and alternative Balearic love song ‘And Fly Away’.

Part two of the vinyl edition also includes two superb collaborations. Fellow Rush Hour artist Lars Bartkuhn lends his virtuoso guitar skills to ‘Street Wave’, a future house classic laden with nods to jazz-funk and fusion, while regular collaborator Harry Dennis (best known for his work as part of early Chicago house outfit Jungle Wonz) adds a poetic and emotion-filled spoken word vocal to the equally inspired ‘Her’.

Manzo Edits Vol. 5 trots proudly back into the ring, tail high and hooves tapping, with four fresh cuts to leave the dancefloor gasping for hay. "Rosy" opens the stampede with groovy springtime melancholy: Manzo is lovesick, staring across the fence at a cow he just can’t forget. "Amare Moto" slinks in with sultry swagger, a slow and sexy jam built to get the hips moving. On the flip, "You Have To Cry Tonight" struts in with crisp Italo drums and more attitude than a Saturday night stallion. We close with "Bring Me", an alpine rave of cowbells and yodeling, ready for the pasture.
dee

Bomj Diego had one simple dream – to spend a lazy summer weekend at his friend’s dacha, kicking back in a plastic lawn chair, sipping on Ovip Lokos, and letting the world spin as slowly as the rusty ceiling fan in the old guest house.

One Friday, he finally got his chance. He loaded up a plastic bag with a few cans of Ovip Lokos, an ancient Bluetooth speaker, and a single flip-flop (he’d lost the other one in a heated game of dominoes the week before). But as soon as he got off the train at the dacha station, Diego realized he had no idea where the actual dacha was. No address, no signal, just the distant sound of a chainsaw and the smell of freshly cut grass.

Undeterred, he followed the smoke of a barbecue like a hungry wolf. After an hour of wandering, he stumbled into a random backyard where a group of old timers were playing cards around a makeshift table. “Ah, Diego! You made it!” one of them shouted, raising a can of Ovip Lokos. Diego had no idea who the guy was, but he immediately sat down, cracked open his own can, and joined the game.

Hours later, as the sun dipped behind the trees and the mosquitoes started their evening shift, Diego realized – this wasn’t his friend’s dacha. In fact, it wasn’t even the right village. But the old men insisted he stay for shashlik, and as the Ovip Lokos flowed, Diego figured, “Eh, close enough.”

He never did make it to the right dacha, but sometimes, it’s the wrong turn that makes the best story.

Totoyov is back with a new identity and is pleased to present its fourth vinyl release, featuring four tracks by the talented Brazilian artist, and one of our label heads, Dru.

Giuliano Lomonte and the rising Romanian star Constratti complete the record with their powerful and refined touches on A2 and B2. A perfect combination of meticulously crafted drums, instruments, and groove that will keep you engaged.

“Unlikely Possibilities EP” is a manifestation of powerful moments in life that happen for a reason, when you least expect them.

The record’s artwork is created by the talented Juliette Siraj, a French artist with synesthesia—a rare condition that allows her to see colors and shapes while listening to music. Each of her paintings is a visual translation of the sounds she perceives. For this release, Juliette painted while immersing herself in the EP’s tracks, transforming the sonic experience into a unique and sensory artwork.

200 copies. No repress!