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Mit „Beethoven Blues“ startete Jon Batiste 2024 seine ”Batiste Piano Series”. Am 14. August setzt der
mehrfache Grammy- und Oscar-Preisträger die Reihe mit den drei Piano-Alben „Black Mozart“, „Monk
Meditations“ und „Monk Movements“ fort. Neben seiner Auseinandersetzung mit Mozart widmet sich
Batiste auf zwei Alben der Jazzlegende Thelonious Monk, dessen Werk er als modernes Gegenstück zur
Klassik versteht. Während „Monk Meditations“ Monks Musik in meditative Klangwelten überführt, interpretiert „Monk Movements“ dessen Kompositionen als virtuose Klavierstücke neu. Gemeinsam schaffen
die drei Alben einen musikalischen Dialog zwischen Mozart, Monk und Batistes eigener Handschrift.

Mit „Beethoven Blues“ startete Jon Batiste 2024 seine ”Batiste Piano Series”. Am 14. August setzt der
mehrfache Grammy- und Oscar-Preisträger die Reihe mit den drei Piano-Alben „Black Mozart“, „Monk
Meditations“ und „Monk Movements“ fort. Neben seiner Auseinandersetzung mit Mozart widmet sich
Batiste auf zwei Alben der Jazzlegende Thelonious Monk, dessen Werk er als modernes Gegenstück zur
Klassik versteht. Während „Monk Meditations“ Monks Musik in meditative Klangwelten überführt, interpretiert „Monk Movements“ dessen Kompositionen als virtuose Klavierstücke neu. Gemeinsam schaffen
die drei Alben einen musikalischen Dialog zwischen Mozart, Monk und Batistes eigener Handschrift.

Nollman and his cohort took a considered approach to developing sonic relationships with the orcas and other animals they encountered, always keeping a respectful distance as they found one another with their ears. Orcas' Greatest Hits collects hydrophone recordings drawn from over 60 hours of interspecies collaboration recorded between 1985 and 2002, showing the playful ways in which Nollman engaged the orcas from the portable studio floating above their home. What we hear is the focused listening by the cetaceans and humans as they search out sonic space among one another, finding in that dialogue potential common ground for deeper understanding.

Available for the first time since its original release in 1980, this is compelling, funky, exploratory jazz from Melbourne, Australia.
The album opens with the floating Song For Bobby, a downtempo gem with the heartbeat aura of Herbie Hancock’s Butterfly; Orchestral Excerpts (From The Symphony Of Life), In The Basement and City Of Stone are high-grade fusion jams with one eye on Weather Report and Return to Forever, the other on the organic Australian sound of Alan Lee and John Sangster. The album closes out with the completely improvised Universal Suite, a 17-minute excursion which begins with a cinematic opening reminiscent of electric Miles at his most introspective before taking flight on passages of hard-driving Latin percussion, shimmering fusion and gritty funk. Slick, cultured and in close dialogue with the most advanced sounds of the era, Pyramid documents one of Australia’s great fusion bands at the height of their powers.

Chloe Lula Announces Syntax: A Singular Vision Connecting Ambient Meditations and Hypnotic Techno San Francisco-born, Berlin-based artist Chloe Lula announces the launch of Syntax, a record label that codifies her unique position within the electronic music landscape. Arriving as the definitive home for her work as a DJ, producer and cellist, Syntax follows her established residency at Tresor and acclaimed releases on foundational labels including Mord, Blueprint and the highly esteemed experimental imprint Subtext. Her label is the culmination of a decade spent as both a participant in and a defining voice in the scene—a space where Lula’s deep and cohesive vision of electronic music finally converge. The label’s name refers to the arrangement of elements to forge new meaning, a philosophy Lula applies to her singular musical grammar. Whether through her slow-burning, exacting techno or her instrumental compositions, Lula’s work is characterized by a patience that understands nuance and counterpoint. This vision is reflected in the label's structure: releases will arrive in thematic series that bypass traditional genre markers to focus on atmosphere, immersion and hypnotica. The imprint’s debut, SYN-PLS01, marks the beginning of the Pulse series, a collection specifically engineered for the floor. For this inaugural release, Lula took recordings from Swiss electroacoustic composer Alexandra Bellon as a jumping-off point, molding Bellon's architectural sense of space into six tracks of driving techno. Future series will expand the catalog into ambient and instrumental territories, reconciling formal acoustic tradition with the raw functionality of the electronic landscape. With a career spanning editorial leadership at Resident Advisor and her work shaping the dialogue of the culture through her writing and interviews, Lula brings a deep, analytical knowledge to her craft. Syntax is the connective tissue between her work in the booth and her critical contributions to the field—a project that formalizes her distinct perspective as both a curator and a creator. SYN-PLS01 arrives on May 8. Follow @syntax.records for updates.

In Arc, Yorkshire-born artist Kirk Barley explores alternative tunings and off-grid sequencing to shape fluid rhythmic and melodic systems that unfold into rich harmonic forms. Kirk’s fourth album under his own name and debut for Marionette continues his exploration of just intonation through a sparse but finely detailed palette of organic atmospheres, metallic shimmer and off-kilter rhythms. Across the record, glassy pads, gamelan metallophones, clarinet and guitar dissolve into fluid, dreamlike forms, suggesting vast coastal landscapes, charged air and the stillness that follows turbulence.

Drawing on the feel of sample-based hip-hop, the minimalism of Terry Riley and Jon Hassell, as well as dub techno and post-rock, Kirk brings together a range of influences in a sound that feels both intimate and expansive. After first hearing Terry Riley’s Shri Camel as a teenager, he became captivated by just intonation and microtuning, inspirations that have shaped his work ever since, from his earliest Bambooman releases to the present solo works and as on half of Church Andrews & Matt Davies. Arc is his first record to be fully rooted in alternative tunings from start to finish. Longtime friend and collaborator Matt Davies appears on Ion, Sundry, Ecstatic and Fret (Haar), where his finely detailed, ASMR-like muted percussion deepens the dialogue between tactile acoustic sound and Kirk’s luminous electronic palette.

In a world currently defined by unrest, uncertainty, and cultural fracture, acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Isaiah Collier returns with Joy, a 5-track EP that reframes one of humanity’s most nuanced emotions both as a devotional grounding and political act.

Collier’s deeply personal compositions present joy as an act that isn’t rooted in escapism or abstraction, but rather, as something hard-won rooted in lived experience, shaped by transformation, and sustained through connection. Throughout the album’s five compositions, Collier positions joy as a guiding light during challenging times, an expression of challenging yourself to utilize your gifts, an affirmation of love and discovery, and as an affirmative source of reassurance.

“We are in a paradoxical time, where so much is being revealed to us,” Collier shares. “Everything feels political from every scope… our collective hearts feel the heaviness in the air. Yet I say to you all—don’t despair. For right now, the most political thing we can do is share joy.”

That ethos is made clear in the opening title track and lead single “Joy.” A pulsing rhythmic motif anchors the melody with a sense of both searching and certainty. Collier conceived the piece around 3 years ago reflecting on a time where many people in his life were experiencing loss of family and friends and experiencing profound life transitions. “Everything just felt like it was falling apart with no aim in sight,” he reflects. “Yet, there is a light at the end of it all.”

As he played the chords with a sense of urgency, he could feel the vibration of yellow in the piece. That initial triplet motif serves as the guiding light on the piano and the only word Collier could hear was Joy. In addition to Collier at the helm singing and playing piano and tenor sax on the track, it features an expansive 11-piece ensemble with a full horn and string section allowing Collier’s propensity for composition and arrangement to shine with an eclectic sonic palette.

“Landscape of Dreams” finds Collier serendipitously leaning into utilizing his gifts as a multi-instrumentalist. While he had a sketch of the piece going into the studio, a traffic delay caused musicians to be late arriving at the studio. Never one to waste time in the studio environment, Collier stepped into new creative territory and took up the challenge of executing playing all instruments himself as an act of trust and experimentation. “I’ve never done this before, and so it was a leap of faith for me,” he asserts. “I always dream of doing stuff like this, and being part of the small percentage of people who can do it like Prince, Steve Lacy, Frank Zappa, and Stevie Wonder. The end result finds Collier immersed in a hypnotic soundscape playing layered flutes, drums, Metatron, Wurlitzer, and auxiliary percussion.

Another layer of joy is revealed in “Where I’m Loved” that serves as a love letter and leaning into the process of stepping into the willingness to explore life and love with a partner. On the intimate meditation of vulnerability and connection, Collier's vocal prowess is on full display, exerting effortless falsetto reminiscent of D’Angelo over soulful Wurlitzer and guitar as he crosses over into more R&B-inspired realms. “I believe everyone deserves this feeling or to honor the memories of it. Furthermore, I believe you should also go where you’re celebrated and not tolerated.”

“When the Dust Settles” captures the electricity of live collaboration and Collier further steps out of being confined to any specific genre. He had just gotten a microKORG keyboard from co-producer Sonny Daze and was exploring the vast array of sounds on the instrument. Collier plays synth bass on the microKORG joined by the electrifying improvisation of Cole Runge on guitar and the combustible rhythm of his brother Jeremiah Collier on drums with additional post-production work from Sonny Daze.

The album’s final track “God’s By Your Side” reflects on perseverance and artistic legacy, directly inspired from the passing of D’Angelo, whose life’s work was a huge part of Collier’s childhood growing up in the late 90s and early 00s. With gospel flavor and direct influence both from D’Angelo’s vocal and instrumental arrangements, the track speaks to resilience and persistence in the face of obstacles—an affirmation of source and reassurance. “And what’s better than having God by your side, right?” asserts Collier.

Joy is a through-and-through expression of the arc of joy in its truest form. Joy transcends fleeting happiness and is conscious gratitude shaped by taking chances, leaning into your gifts, fostering community, and lived experiences.

“Joy is partially happiness,” Collier explains. “But to me it means happily being grateful for family, friends, lovers, teachers, and good times. These are the things that anchor us.”

The release of Joy comes off the heels of significant momentum for Collier, whose work continues to garner accolades and resonate across cultural spheres. He was featured on the cover of DownBeat’s April 2025 issue, where he was named “The Next Sax Giant,” and profiled on NPR’s Jazz Night in America for his ambitious 13-movement interdisciplinary suite The Story of 400 Years, that traces 400 years of Black American History. He released two full-length albums in 2024 with The World Is on Fire highlighted in The New York Times’ Fall Arts Preview and The Almighty named among the publication’s Best Jazz Albums of the year.

Beyond performance and recoding, Collier’s influence is recognized in broader cultural and intellectual spaces as he was the recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association’s 2025 Up and Coming Artist of the Year Award, the 2024 Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz, and was named a Steve Jobs Archive Fellow joining an elite cohort of the next generation of artistic visionaries through a yearlong program.

In addition to the release of Joy, Collier is touring his “Collier Plays Coltrane” program throughout 2026 in honor of John Coltrane’s centennial. Rather than presenting Coltrane’s expansive catalog as repertory, Collier approaches this music as something living, reshaping it in real-time with a sense of space and improvisational dialog reflecting both reverence to the past and present times.

This 7" was pressed on pink wax in amount of 200 copies.

Funky Mamas and Papas Recordings returns to its roots and releases another 7" after the well-received ones (Michał Martyniuk, After 'Ours and Pezda/Ryć). Once again we have something unique!

Stachun Bebach, aka Stanisław Pańta and Bruno Jasieński

The double single "Byk / Składak" is based on recordings from a two-day, improvised recording session at Dwa Domy Studio in the summer of 2023.

They met a few years earlier, on stage, during Stach's first jam at Warsaw's Spatif, and began a dialogue that developed through regular performances, as a duo and in larger ensembles.

The session was recorded at a crucial time for both of them – when Stach was starting college and Bruno was expecting the birth of his child.

"Nach der Veröffentlichung ihres von der Kritik gefeierten Debütalbums ""From The New World"" im Jahr 2024, das gesellschaftlichen Zusammenbruch, Überleben und Menschlichkeit durch eine fiktive postapokalyptische Linse beleuchtet, haben Allt ihr zweites Album ""Ataraxia"" angekündigt.

""Ataraxia"" markiert eine neue Phase in der Entwicklung der Band: Das Album ist in der Realität verankert und schöpft direkt aus dem Leben der Bandmitglieder, wie persönlichen Tragödien, Beziehungen, Erschöpfung, Sehnsucht, Rückfällen, Klarheit und den Momenten dazwischen. Die Songs fungieren als Fragmente von Erinnerungen und Gemütszuständen und bilden eine Anthologie der Reise hin zur Stille. Das Album stellt ""Ataraxia"" als einen Ort der Sehnsucht dar: Es ist kein Endpunkt, sondern ein Zustand, dem man sich nähert, den man für einen Moment bewohnt und oft wieder verliert.

Musikalisch entwickeln Allt ihren charakteristischen Sound des modernen Progressive Metalcore weiter und legen dabei größeren Wert auf emotionalen Raum und Zurückhaltung. Die Aggression bleibt bestehen, steht nun aber in direktem Dialog mit Verletzlichkeit. Das Ergebnis ist Allts bisher intimstes, menschlichstes und ehrlichstes Werk. ""Mit 'Ataraxia' wollten wir aus dem Ort heraus schreiben, an dem wir tatsächlich leben. Diese Songs sind Fragmente und Nacherzählungen unserer eigenen Erfahrungen, der Last, die wir getragen haben, der Dinge, die wir gesehen und getan haben, und dessen, womit wir auf unserem eigenen Weg zur Reife als Menschen und zur Suche nach Frieden und Stille in unserem Leben konfrontiert waren. Bei 'Ataraxia' geht es darum, zu lernen, in allem, was sich in deinem Leben entfaltet, präsent zu bleiben.""

Allt ist eine 2020 gegründete Progressive-Metalcore-Band aus Karlskoga, Schweden. Bekannt für ihr audiovisuelles Storytelling und ihren innovativen Ansatz im Metalcore, spiegelt der Name Allt - was auf Schwedisch ""alles"" bedeutet - die Philosophie der Band wider: sich niemals auf Genregrenzen beschränke"

Das 1981 erstmals erschienene Album „Give the People What They Want“ setzte den Erfolg der Kinks
aus den frühen 80er-Jahren mit ihrem direkten, gitarrenlastigen Sound und pointierten, zeitgenössischen
Themen fort. Als eines ihrer erfolgreichsten Alben in den USA enthält es herausragende Titel wie „Destroyer“, „Better Things“ und „Around the Dial“. Diese Edition von 2026 wurde von den Originalquellen
neu gemastert und bietet verbesserte Klarheit, Definition und Ausgewogenheit, wobei der Charakter und
die Energie der Originalmixe erhalten blieben.
Das 1979 erstmals veröffentlichte Album „Low Budget“ markierte mit seinem härteren, stadiontauglichen
Sound einen Wendepunkt in der späten Karriere der Kinks. Es avancierte zu einem der stärksten US-Alben
der Band und gilt bis heute als eines der prägendsten Alben ihrer späten 70er-Jahre.
Diese Edition von 2026 wurde von den Originalquellen neu gemastert und bietet verbesserte Klarheit, Ausgewogenheit und Dynamik, ohne den Charakter des Originalmixes zu beeinträchtigen. Titel wie „(Wish I
Could Fly Like) Superman“, „Catch Me Now I’m Falling“ und der Titelsong profitieren von einer detaillierteren und fokussierteren Wiedergabe.

Das 1981 erstmals erschienene Album „Give the People What They Want“ setzte den Erfolg der Kinks
aus den frühen 80er-Jahren mit ihrem direkten, gitarrenlastigen Sound und pointierten, zeitgenössischen
Themen fort. Als eines ihrer erfolgreichsten Alben in den USA enthält es herausragende Titel wie „Destroyer“, „Better Things“ und „Around the Dial“. Diese Edition von 2026 wurde von den Originalquellen
neu gemastert und bietet verbesserte Klarheit, Definition und Ausgewogenheit, wobei der Charakter und
die Energie der Originalmixe erhalten blieben.
Das 1979 erstmals veröffentlichte Album „Low Budget“ markierte mit seinem härteren, stadiontauglichen
Sound einen Wendepunkt in der späten Karriere der Kinks. Es avancierte zu einem der stärksten US-Alben
der Band und gilt bis heute als eines der prägendsten Alben ihrer späten 70er-Jahre.
Diese Edition von 2026 wurde von den Originalquellen neu gemastert und bietet verbesserte Klarheit, Ausgewogenheit und Dynamik, ohne den Charakter des Originalmixes zu beeinträchtigen. Titel wie „(Wish I
Could Fly Like) Superman“, „Catch Me Now I’m Falling“ und der Titelsong profitieren von einer detaillierteren und fokussierteren Wiedergabe.

“Released on Joe Boyd’s Hannibal label here was a band rooted in Thompson/Swarbrick Fairport but also a snatch of the Velvet Underground and a sprig of The Byrds. The Eighteenth Day Of May evoked a legendary era, and now they are a justifiably legendary band too.” – KLOF Mag

Beginning life as a trio in London, 2003, the original line-up consisted of Allison Brice (vocals, flute), Richard Olson (acoustic guitar) and Ben Phillipson (guitar, mandolin) before expanding the following year to include the rhythm section of Mark Nicholas (bass) and Karl Sabino (drums, autoharp) and finally Alison Cotton (viola).
This being the mid zeros, the independent music scene in the UK was reluctant to embrace a sun-dazed folk band but this, their sole album, has gradually feathered a bed of affection amongst international folk fans. Twenty years on, the album is now rightfully seen as a trailblazer for the myriad alternative/psych folk bands that emerged in its wake.
Andy Childs who signed the band originally takes up the story. “I first heard their music on a cover mounted CD with the much missed Comes With A Smile magazine and as far as I could tell no-one was making music like this anymore, certainly not with such panache and confidence. To my jaded ears it all sounded so uninhibited - old weird folk songs, Americana, original psych-folk, minimalist drones. Great melodies and all six of them could sing! A joyous, unfettered sound that could in one moment conjure up flashes of The Byrds and then effortlessly the spirit of Velvet Underground would drift through. They even covered a Spacemen 3 song. I loved the fact that they had the aplomb to tackle traditional folk songs like Lady Margaret and Flowers In The Forest and not be afraid to stamp their own identity on them.
Signing them to the Hannibal label was straightforward. If anything the album somehow sounds fresh and undated, even better than it did in the day when perhaps eclecticism was out of synch with the times; its subtleties have become more apparent.”
“Their rendition of Lady Margaret builds to a headswirling crescendo that challenges anyone who claims Shirley Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie or Trees have recorded the definitive version and the hallucinatory The Waterman’s Song To His Daughter raises an already brilliant album to an unholy level” - IT’S PSYCHEDELIC, BABY Magazine

BLUES NOW! The title says it all. Blues in all caps – honest, emphatic, and raw. This collaborative album unites GA-20, one of today’s most celebrated young Blues trios, and Charlie Musselwhite, a legendary statesman of the genre. Musselwhite’s name is synonymous with the Blues, a harmonica virtuoso and esteemed vocalist with a 60-plus year career forged in authenticity and excellence. GA-20 burst onto the scene in 2018, garnering a quick reputation for dynamic live performance, built on a deep respect for the originators and an enduring commitment to carrying the torch forward. Together with BLUES NOW (New West Records), the Grammy award winning Musselwhite and Billboard chart-topping GA-20 shine with a chemistry that blends the spirit of the Blues pioneers with an electrifying modern energy.

With BLUES NOW, the collaboration between GA-20 and Charlie Musselwhite embodies a living musical conversation that spans generations. It is an ongoing dialogue and testament to the enduring spirit of Blues music. It reaffirms its timeless appeal and reminds us that the Blues is a living, breathing art form. It’s also a hell of a good time.

BLUES NOW! The title says it all. Blues in all caps – honest, emphatic, and raw. This collaborative album unites GA-20, one of today’s most celebrated young Blues trios, and Charlie Musselwhite, a legendary statesman of the genre. Musselwhite’s name is synonymous with the Blues, a harmonica virtuoso and esteemed vocalist with a 60-plus year career forged in authenticity and excellence. GA-20 burst onto the scene in 2018, garnering a quick reputation for dynamic live performance, built on a deep respect for the originators and an enduring commitment to carrying the torch forward. Together with BLUES NOW (New West Records), the Grammy award winning Musselwhite and Billboard chart-topping GA-20 shine with a chemistry that blends the spirit of the Blues pioneers with an electrifying modern energy.

With BLUES NOW, the collaboration between GA-20 and Charlie Musselwhite embodies a living musical conversation that spans generations. It is an ongoing dialogue and testament to the enduring spirit of Blues music. It reaffirms its timeless appeal and reminds us that the Blues is a living, breathing art form. It’s also a hell of a good time.

'Where the Smoke Goes captures the conscious and unconscious of Johnny Coley in duet between 2020-2024 AD. Alabama-born, Marseille-based artist Turner Williams Jr. wraps a selection of his dear friend Johnny’s penultimate compositions in arresting tone poems.
'The music buzzes and hums with distant trains, trembling strings, and lapping water, haloing our protagonist in a humid glow as he considers whether horses can live to 70 years old, cigarettes potent enough to knock you on your ass, and orchids facing the wrath of winter storms.
'This work began in the first Covid spring, as Johnny's advancing multiple sclerosis gave way to a permanent domestic confinement and a final period of prolific creativity. Johnny braved the toxic gales of social media to share his thriving poetry and visual art practice and to keep in touch with friends like Turner, who had recently moved abroad. For the first time, Johnny recorded himself, sending Turner fresh poems, day and night.
'Taking cues from late era Coil and the operas of Robert Ashley, Turner approached these recordings both as language and pure sound, arranging accompanying mosaics that emerge as much from Johnny’s unseen text as his mercurial drawl. Tracks draw from Turner’s solo practice as well as sessions including Henry Birdsey of Old Saw, members of the French underground (Manoir Molle, Loto Retina, Mona Assayag) and close Birmingham collaborators (Jasper Lee, Jimmy Griffin, Ladonna Smith). The voice is parsed and played as an instrument and each poem becomes a score.
'There is Johnny’s poetry and Johnny’s voice. These are two independent yet interwoven instruments. For Turner, Johnny's vocabulary, cadence, and timbre carry all of the contradictions that he writes about. His work is a dialogue of rich contradictions. "He plays with Southern American vernacular speech in his poetry while embodying it with his speech, creating a zone of emotional frisson. He loved combining opposites. Rough yet soft was one of his favourite descriptors", Turner recalls, "That was Johnny. ” Upon hearing the completed record, Johnny likened it to "a beautiful wood box, that when you open it there are fabrics shot through with silk threads and sharp fall woods smells - supporting and decorating the poems that fall out of them. ”
'This record captures something unconscious, atmospheric, and gives it unexpected materiality. Smoke that you can feel like grass under your feet. Stars that you can touch like a lover. Meeting for the final time in the summer or 2025, the time for words had passed so they just held hands and listened to the album opener Stargazer in silence as Johnny drifted off to sleep.'

East meets West im neuen Album von Jazz-Altmeister Charles Lloyd.
Mit “Sangam & Friends“ ehrt der legendäre Saxophonist und Flötist seinen engen Freund und langjährigen
musikalischen Weggefährten Zakir Hussain. Das Album vereint bislang unveröffentlichte Aufnahmen des
Sangam-Trios – Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain und Eric Harland – mit einer hochkarätigen Besetzung indischer Musikerinnen und Musiker und dokumentiert eine außergewöhnliche künstlerische Begegnung, die
heute eine besondere Bedeutung erhält.
Im Zentrum des Albums stehen Studioaufnahmen, die 2009 in Mumbai entstanden. Anlass war Hussains
jährliches “Abbaji“-Konzert zu Ehren seines Vaters, des Tabla-Meisters Alla Rakha. Nach dem Konzert
begaben sich Lloyd, Hussain und Harland gemeinsam mit einigen der bedeutendsten Vertreter der indischen Klassik ins Nirvana Studio, um die musikalischen Impulse dieser Begegnung weiterzuführen. Mit dem
Carnatic-Sänger Vijay Prakash, Bansuri-Meister Rakesh Chaurasia, Sarangi-Spieler Sabir Khan, Keyboarder
Ranjit Barot und Sitar-Virtuose Niladri Kumar entstand ein faszinierender Dialog zwischen Jazz und den
reichen Traditionen des indischen Subkontinents.
Nach dem Tod Zakir Hussains im Dezember 2024 erhalten die Aufnahmen eine zusätzliche emotionale
Dimension: Sie bewahren nicht nur den Moment einer außergewöhnlichen musikalischen Zusammenarbeit,
sondern auch das Vermächtnis einer tiefen Freundschaft, die in dieser Musik weiterlebt.

THE HOBKNOBS - ein Projekt der Stimmen von LEWSBERG & THE KLITTENS - werden im Juli 2026 ihr erstes Album auf ihrem eigenen Label THK Records veröffentlichen! "Helmets Off" lässt sich als ein ehrlicher Versuch beschreiben, ehrlich zu sein. Obwohl im Moment der Entstehung alle Optionen offenstehen, bleibt das Endergebnis oft reduziert und schnörkellos. Instrumente setzen genau dann ein, wenn sie gebraucht werden - doch die Songs selbst scheinen gar nicht viel zu benötigen. Jedes Wort und jeder Gitarrenanschlag wirken so, als wären sie exakt im richtigen Moment platziert. Vielleicht ist es gerade diese Schlichtheit der Songs, die das Gefühl vermittelt, als würden The Hobknobs direkt zum Hörer sprechen. Es ist offensichtlich, dass sie nichts zulassen wollen, was diese menschliche Interaktion trüben könnte - eine Interaktion, die zudem eine gewisse Verspieltheit ausstrahlt. Yaël Dekker - dem einen oder anderen bekannt als Sängerin von The Klittens - und Arie van Vliet, der seine Botschaften einst mit der Band Lewsberg verbreitete, wurden einmal als "liebevolle Misanthropen" bezeichnet. Beim Hören des Albums erscheint diese Beschreibung durchaus treffend. Ein tröstlicher Song wie ,The Mind" wirkt eindringlich. In "Dictionary" scheinen selbst Worte ihre Bedeutung verloren zu haben. Lieder, die zunächst fröhlich und naiv wirken, entpuppen sich beim zweiten Hinhören als eindringliche Appelle. Und ist "Enarmoured" etwa ein Protestsong, der den Krieg befürwortet? Welchen Krieg wollen sie eigentlich führen? Die Stimmen von Dekker und Van Vliet scheinen bestens miteinander zu harmonieren; dieses Zusammenspiel hebt die Songs auf "Helmets Off" über ihre trügerische Einfachheit hinaus. In Kombination mit der minimalistischen Produktion von Jaap van der Velde trifft das Album genau den richtigen Punkt zwischen "sofort vertraut" und "einzigartig - niemand sonst klingt so wie sie". Karina Gill von der in San Francisco ansässigen Band Cindy schrieb über The Hobknobs: "Um die Musik von The Hobknobs zu beschreiben, ist das Wort "natürlich" treffend. Gemeint ist damit: Sie ruht in sich selbst; sie ist im Grunde - wenn auch auf höfliche Weise - daran desinteressiert, ob man ihr gerade zuhört oder nicht. Man mag an frühen Rock 'n' Roll denken - und dabei an dessen energiegeladene Lässigkeit und ehrliche Reduktion, frei von jeglicher Sentimentalität. Musikalisch und textlich greifen die Elemente der Songs perfekt ineinander; sie offenbaren ihren Fluss, ohne jedoch dazu zu verleiten, sie in ihre Einzelteile zerlegen zu wollen. Das Duo Yaël Dekker und Arie van Vliet schätzt die Musik des jeweils anderen schon lange, doch ihre Zusammenarbeit hier ist kein geschlossener Dialog - sie ist zugleich umgangssprachlich und intellektuell anspruchsvoll, und wir sind eingeladen, daran teilzuhaben, sofern wir mithalten können. So wie etwas Natürliches eine gewisse Gelassenheit ausstrahlt, manövrieren sich The Hobknobs geschickt in eine Position, in der wir an ihrer Seite stehen, mit ihnen hören und sehen und feststellen: Jeder Song ist ein Ort, an dem man gerne verweilt."

Consolidated, the political dance/industrial music band from the early 90ties joined again for a studio session in San Francisco last summer, resulting in a new album. 'We're Already There'. The first release on Consolidated's own label 'The End Of Records'. What else to expect, the new recordings are an innovating mix of industrial, to hip-hop, to rock and funk with mixtures of live instruments and electronics. Topped with left political activism and politically radical lyrics address issues such as America, Covid and ecocide with song The Flood, demand *'Free Music, Stop America'* with Musica Sin Frontieras & welcome guest vocalist GRETA THUNBERG on the track The 'ol Mass Extinction Blues. The album starts in 'traditional Consolidatedgroove' with the song 'Capitalism A.F.', a mix of beats, industrial sounds and hiphop. Followed by funkypop songs, danceable industrial jams, techno beats, reggae and blues influences plus a remarkable noise track. Main musicians are Adam Sherburne (guitar/vocals) and Mark Pistel (synths/beats) backed by Lynn Farmer (Meat Beat Manifesto) on drums, who replaces the original drummer Phil Steir. The complete album is recorded, mixed and mastered by Mark Pistel at 'Room 5' in San Francisco. The cover shows art paintings from Ayelet Hay (front) and William Kendall (back). On 'We're Already There' Consolidated plays more music than ever. "I have zero interest in being in a band, especially my own_" "I had to develop a different way to be involved with music for aesthetic and mental health reasons_" "FREE MUSIC! is not to the detriment of artists, it's literally the end of artists-as anyone perceives them in the last 500 years" -Adam Sherburne - Consolidated are known for their live performances, in which a microphone is passed among audience members to discuss, rebut, argue or elaborate on song topics. Consolidated: Adam Sherburne & Mark Pistel.

MAR 004 continues the evolving catalogue of Moozikeh Analog Room, a label imprint emerging from the broader Analog Room ecosystem. Over time, Analog Room has developed into distributed creative structure spanning, bridging club culture, archival releases, and experimental instrument design. MAR 004 extends this trajectory, reinforcing the label’s position as a long-form documentation platform for contemporary electronic music practices rooted in both regional and international dialogue.

From The Label:
"The relationship with Roman Flugel started with us listening to his music and be fascinated by the simplicity but bold sound. The sound design and the story telling was inline with how we enjoyed music. After inviting Roman for a few times to perform at Analog Room, the relationship led to the point that when it was time for us to think of the MAR releases, we could not miss on asking Roman to join the label and the rest is what you are going to experience with this thick, deep and rhythmic EP that represents what the world need at the moment, some SOLUTIONS. Analog Room has always tried to bypass the issues in the South West Asia region through music and art and show how we are all the same and connected."

From Roman:
"My record for Analog Room is essentially a long-term project that was sparked by multiple invitations to the Analog Room club in Dubai over the course of several years. The club held a special place for me—a sanctuary for the underground music scene in a city otherwise defined by a very different ethos. I am delighted to now be part of the Analog Room label family. The record blends various moods and directions within my personal musical landscape, and "Solutions," in particular, has created euphoric moments during my DJ sets over the past few months."

The A side opens with two ambient pieces: "Inception," gritty and haunting, built from field recordings and layered chords, and the dreamier "Regulator Dial." "Air Lock" and "DFtB" turn breaky and low-tempo, evoking early electronica. The flip moves through "Waterproof's" downtempo electro and "Make Right," the LP's most club-ready cut. Title track "Bean Soup" channels early Four Tet: bleepy, minimal, emotional, while "Sunlight" closes with blissful, calming sounds, rounding out a beautifully balanced record.

Tudor Gheorghe, aka Romansoff, is a Bucharest DJ, producer and vinyl collector with over 13 years on the capital's underground scene. Inspired by small local parties in the 2000s, he started collecting vinyl, then DJing, quickly becoming a key figure in the Bucharest club scene. Since founding his imprint Raw Tools in 2013, he's released on Lobster Theremin's Mork, Creme Organization, Les Yeux Orange and Solar Phenomena.

In 2018 he co-founded venue Platforma Wolff, a full club by 2021, as booker and resident, hosting headliners like Prosumer, Paramida and Tornado Wallace. Versatile and creative, he stays a fixture at Bucharest's best nights. His debut LP lands this year on Bar Ton's vinyl label.

Auf ,Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems" bringen Félicia Atkinson und Christina Vantzou ihre Freundschaft und ihre atmosphärische Kunstfertigkeit in einem feierlichen Fokus zusammen. Gesprochene Worte und orchestrale Fantasie fließen wie Nebenflüsse in einen einheitlichen Strom und ergeben eine Sammlung traumhafter Lieder und Klanglandschaften, die im Meer, im Himmel und in den Steinen verankert sind. Mit elektroakustischen Instrumenten, Gesang und Umgebungsgeräuschen lädt Water Poems die Zuhörer in einen unbewussten Raum ein, irgendwo zwischen alltäglicher Intimität und dem Geheimnis des Ozeans, aus dem alles Leben entsteht. Atkinson und Vantzou haben sich 2009 kennengelernt und seitdem immer mal wieder zusammengearbeitet, aber ein Konzert 2019 in der Philharmonie in Paris hat dieses Projekt richtig in Gang gebracht. Da beide jetzt an der Küste leben (Félicia am Ärmelkanal, Christina am Mittelmeer), wurde das Meer natürlich zu ihrer Muse. ,Das Meer wurde nicht als monolithische Postkarte betrachtet", erklärt Atkinson, ,sondern eher als eine Person an sich; eine Energie, ein Geheimnis, ein komplexer Charakter, dem wir als Menschen, die am Meer leben, jeden Tag begegnen." Im Dialog mit dem Land und der Küste nahmen ihre Sprache und ihre Klänge einen sakramentalen Charakter an. ,Ein feierliches Gefühl, ein Gefühl des Dienens, zieht sich tief durch dieses Album", bemerkt Vantzou, ,ich habe das schon einmal gespürt, aber hier, in der Zusammenarbeit mit Félicia, ist es stärker." Stimme, Atem und wässrige Texturen prägen den Ton des maritimen Mysteriums von Water Poems. Neu in Vantzous Praxis und seit langem ein prägendes Merkmal von Atkinsons Werk, gewinnen ihre gesprochenen Worte hier an relationaler Intimität, indem sie sich gegenseitig und die Uferpromenade ansprechen. Die Texte wurden über zwei Jahre hinweg gemeinsam zusammengestellt. Mit radikaler Unschuld lenken sie das Bewusstsein auf die verborgene Auftriebskraft und die unbewussten Strömungen, die durch das Leben fließen: ,Wie kann ein Boot schwimmen? Wie kann ein Flugzeug fliegen? Wie kann ein Körper schwimmen? Wie kann ein Mensch träumen?" Was mit nah aufgenommenen Stimmen und Feldaufnahmen begann, wurde um Synthesizer, Gongs und Metallophone, Klavier, Vibraphon, Rhodes, Gitarren und Mellotron erweitert. Das Gezeitenklavier des Eröffnungstracks ,Film Still / The Sea" zieht uns in die unbewussten Gewässer des Albums. Enthalten sind Feldaufnahmen, die Vantzou in Delphi in der Nähe des legendären Orakels von Pythia aufgenommen hat - ihr griechisches Erbe verleiht diesem Ort der Vorfahren eine zusätzliche Dimension. Dieser Track und ,Water Poems" als Ganzes sind Ausdruck unseres geologischen Erbes und rufen zum Schutz der Küsten und zu einer Vertiefung unserer Beziehung zu unseren Küsten auf. Ein Teil der Einnahmen aus dem Album geht an Arion, ein gemeinnütziges Naturschutzprogramm für das griechische Mittelmeer. Der langjährige Freund und Mitstreiter John Also Bennett hat bei ,Scorpio Purple Skies", dem kosmischen Finale des Albums, mit E-Gitarre, Lap-Steel-Gitarre und Gesang mitgewirkt. Diese üppige Instrumentierung passt super zu den Science-Fiction-Visionen und der feierlichen Atmosphäre des Albums. Water Poems wurde in The Old Carpet Factory, einem Herrenhaus aus dem 18. Jahrhundert auf der griechischen Insel Hydra, in der Villa Medici aus dem 16. Jahrhundert in Rom und in Les Dunes, Atkinsons Heimstudio in der Normandie, aufgenommen. Mehr als das historische Prestige dieser Orte war es die spürbare Geschichte ihrer Landschaft, die die Musik geprägt hat. Atkinson sagt, dass sie sich zu ,Orten mit seltsamer Anziehungskraft" hingezogen fühlten. In der Villa Medici ,haben Steine und Mineralien das gesprochene Wort beeinflusst", bemerkt sie. ,Wir beide legen Wert auf Gefühl, Atmosphäre und Klang", fügt Vantzou hinzu, ,was er hervorruft und was er bewirkt. In unserem Fall konzentrieren wir uns auf die grundlegenden Elemente: Wasser, Luft, Fels, Kosmos - allesamt lebenswichtig.» Von der Insel Kreta aus arbeitete Vantzou den finalen Mix fertig und tauschte dabei Dateien mit Atkinson aus. Immer noch mit der Küste verbunden, verlief der Mixing-Prozess geduldig und wurde von wichtigen Pausen geprägt. Water Poems spiegelt wider, was die Meeresbiologin Rachel Carson uns in Erinnerung ruft: ,Am Rande des Meeres zu stehen bedeutet, Wissen über Dinge zu haben, die so nahezu ewig sind, wie es das irdische Leben nur sein kann." Es zelebriert rituell dieses ozeanische Gefühl als wichtige Quelle der Gelassenheit und Intelligenz. In einer Welt, die von hitzigen Meinungen und ökologischer Vernachlässigung geprägt ist, lenkt Water Poems unsere Aufmerksamkeit auf ,die Quellen der Quellen". Damit schafft es Raum, um uns wieder mit unseren elementaren, animalischen Instinkten zu verbinden und uns auf tiefere Strömungen einzustimmen. Water Poems von Félicia Atkinson und Christina Vantzou ist der dritte Band von Reflections, einer Reihe zeitgenössischer Kollaborationen von RVNG Intl..

Eddy Current Suppression Ring make a surprise return with their sixth album In Light of Recent Events. True to form, it finds the disinterested careerists sidestepping expectation and working on their own terms, in their own time. Dialled in through closed-door weekly jams across 2025, that pent-up energy has only leaked via pseudonym-billed small-room shows as Jimmy and the Ringtones and Top Hats, record shop in-stores and country detours, plus a pair of phantom straight-to-YouTube singles (‘Swimming Hole’ and ‘Hard To Be Moved’), each with accompanying films by Chris Middlebrook and Amiel Courtin-Wilson respectively.

Modern-day anxiety and human disillusionment press through the album’s darker, more politically aware subject matter, as suburban melodramas and tender, hard-hitting reflections articulate everything you’ve never been able to. Taped within the band’s signature close-quarters claustrophobia, Brendan Suppression purges his dome with a newly awakened vocal range, while riff savant Eddy Current bleeds through quicksilver, blood-raw scratches, cut against the tension-wound, locked-in low end of Danny Current and Rob Solid.

The album comes at a time when connection is needed more than ever. A generative connector and community leader Allison Russell, alongside production team Dim Star, cast a creative circle of collaborators to bring the songs to life, emerging from honest, raw dialogues between friends, lovers, chosen family, humans. The new record features Norah Jones, Joy Oladokun, Kara Jackson, Denitia, Ruby Amanfu, Devon Gilfillian, Kashus Culpepper, Brittney Spencer, Sara Watkins, Kyshona, Julie Williams, Chibueze Ihuoma and Ahya Simone. Available on "sea foam" coloured vinyl and digipak CD editions

African visions, Middle Eastern mirages, and cosmic pulsations: the map of Giuliano Sorgini’s sonic universe continues to expand, revealing new, uncharted territories.

Set for release on 10 July, the 7-inch Savana Selvaggia brings together two extraordinary, previously unreleased tracks, shedding light on one of the most visionary facets of Sorgini’s library music aesthetic. On Side A, “I misteri del mondo” (The Mysteries of the World) transports us to an imagined, ancestral Africa suspended between endless horizons, elegiac wilderness, and analogue electronics.

On Side B, “Arabian Safari” opens the door to a mystical, Arabic-tinged soundscape where African imagery blends with Middle Eastern influences and kosmische futurism. Driven by a potent mix of electronic drums, hypnotic sequencing, and fiercely inventive synths, it strikes a sonic kinship with the finest European Krautrock.

The dialogue between these two tracks perfectly highlights the composer's artisanal, experimental approach. Here, the Solina, Minimoog, modular circuits, pulsating synth lines, and suspended melodies intertwine to form a fascinating, enigmatic, and deeply personal sonic world—one built entirely by Sorgini in his Cat & Fox Studio in Rome, located a mere stone's throw from the RAI headquarters.

Two forgotten tracks. Two cinematic journeys whose original visuals have been lost to time. Two missing puzzle pieces in the ongoing recovery of the work of a composer who sounds more modern today than ever before. A magnificent sonic transmission from a bygone era that lands with the force of a contemporary revelation.

LOWERCASE sits in the darker progressive lane — trance-informed, disciplined and hard-edged. Militant pacing with low-end intent, built on pressure and control: long blends, transitions, and that slow-burn momentum that holds the floor without raising its voice.

Progressive motion with a trance backbone — patient, driving, and engineered for fully dialled-in rooms. Three tracks. No excess. Straight function: cycle.
A1 return – A ripping progressive scorcher, primed for larger-floor impact and long-form hypnosis.
B1 cause – An emotional progger: two-tone movement harmonised into break that blooms just to drop back to stride.
B2 way – Rooted in dub culture, a deep trance exploration — spacious, weighty, and quietly consuming.
All tracks written and produced by Boris Salimkhan

M40 Records presents Santa Eugenia EP, a various artists release conceived as the label’s introduction and a statement of its curatorial direction. The title and character of the record refer to an imaginary rooted in the periphery, the margins, and Madrid’s underground context.
Victor Reyes, Mirko Felicioli, Stefano Andriezzi and Santiago Uribe sign this first release. Four tracks that dialogue with each other while maintaining their own identities.

Between Tides marks the next chapter for Deep Steppe—a various artists cut balancing forward motion with the deeper foundation the label’s built on. The A-side leans into a newer lane. Mungo Sound Machine opens with a direct, no-frills party starter. Ballan follows, bringing an overseas touch that stretches the palette—loose, rolling, and just off-center in the right way. On the flip, things return to deeper territory. Kerouac kicks off the B-side with a funky, stripped-back groover—effective across a range of settings. Closing the record, Adam Rose, Miro, & JJ Selects come together on a collaborative tune. Subtle, patient, and dialed in. Two sides, one current.

MEGAPTERA, the scientific name of the humpback whale, is also the title of the new album by French producer and composer Rone.


Born from an ambitious film project, the record was largely composed at sea, off the coasts of Brittany and Réunion Island, using a modular synthesizer and melodic sketches developed for an almost unreal proposition: attempting to resonate with whales through music.


Following Room With a View—a soundtrack to a performance created with the alternative dance company La Horde, exploring collapse and rebirth—Rone continues his investigation into new imaginaries. If that earlier work emerged from reflections on ecological, social, and technological tipping points, MEGAPTERA marks a shift: away from the city, toward the sea.


Gradually, he moved away from performance toward a more craft-based approach, extending his practice beyond the studio into a wider space of listening, exchange, and fieldwork. Early footage of sailors broadcasting his work into open water—seemingly answered by whale presence—circulated online, generating fascination, but also a growing unease for the artist regarding what these projections might imply.


This tension became the starting point for a longer period of field experimentation, developed in dialogue with scientists, environmentalists, sailors, and bioacousticians. The resulting 15-track album reflects this open-ended inquiry — not only into whether human-made sound can reach whales, but also into how this process can shape a new form of electronic music, and open it towards new deep-sea soundscapes.


Rather than seeking imitation, Rone works with reduction. Drawing on research into cetacean vocalisation, he pares back his language—focusing on frequency bands, repetition, and suspended structures. Minimalism appears less as reference than as natural convergence.

Paranoid, polyrhythmic ‘crowdrock’ from the not-too-distant future. Synthesised under the supervisory signal of an all-knowing, unofficially named, classified dialup modem that Wah Wah Wino have nicknamed "Sworx”, tasked with sifting through coded waveforms and neatly sorting into a secret filing cabinet. Post-fibre-optic technology idm wav. tablé. Your dreams are being monitored. Tip.

TRACKLISTING AS ON ARTWORK:







d a4. statecellar 641Amix


g b1. Western_intel frontier 2056

Towa Mafune is a rare singer-songwriter known for her gentle voice and warmly embracing melodic sensibility. As suggested by the title, means "Sleeping with the sea in my arms",
this record is a conceptual work inspired by Mafune’s upbringing in a seaside town and her lifelong connection with nature.
The album imagines a dialogue between the artist herself and natural elements such as the sea, wind, and light.

Layered arrangements featuring the album’s striking introductory piano, along with strings, horns, acoustic and nylon-string guitars, and rich vocal ensembles, create a liberating and
expansive soundscape. The album also marks new artistic territory for Mafune, supported by trusted musicians including paya (Yūtai Communications), Kota Yamauchi, and
Keitaro Kanamine.

New collaborative project from Lawton Browning (Woolen Men), blending melodic indie rock, lo-fi experimentation, and postpunk energy with a raw DIY spirit. Change Life moves between jangly guitars, textural pop, and reflective songwriting, balancing immediacy and experimentation. Change Life is the new creative project from Portland-based multi-instrumentalist, writer, and longtime Woolen Men leader Lawton Browning. Formed in 2023 in the aftermath of the pandemic years, the project emerged as a collaborative and fluid outlet centered around reinvention, experimentation, and collective creativity. Rather than functioning as a fixed band, Change Life operates as an evolving collective of musicians and visual artists. The self-titled debut album channels melodic indie rock, lo-fi textures, experimental pop, and reflective songwriting through a conceptual lens informed by anarchist and surrealist traditions. Across the record, Browning and collaborators explore uncertainty, transformation, and cultural dialogue while maintaining a strong sense of immediacy and creative freedom. Before launching Change Life, Browning spent over a decade fronting Woolen Men, releasing six acclaimed albums and touring extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad. With Change Life, he opens a new chapter rooted in collaboration, artistic experimentation, and new creative possibilities. For fans of Pavement, Sebadoh, The Clean, Guided by Voices, The Fall, Silver Jews

The album takes its name from the seaside neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba, where Maza was born. Written and composed by the Maza, Alamar unfolds through a singular dialogue between voice and cello, blending musical traditions from the Americas with a refined, modern sensibility. The album tells a coherent story - an artistic journey shaped by roots, departure, healing and joy. Sung in Spanish, French, Portuguese and English, Alamar reflects the international path of a world-class independent artist capable of transforming intimate history into a shared emotional experience.

After a year of silence since the last catalog a new record is now coming to life, notes from the imaginary-world played & programmed by So-Fi.

“Mind Migration” is So-Fi’s debut release on Superluminal Recordings, four tracks inspired by unexplored old and modern techno sectors. Tribal rhythms are wildly unleashed in dialogue with obscure-spectral textures, a musical composition within its influences being reflected also by the artist’s prowess as DJ been witnessed in many clubs.

α1 ѕтrαɴɢε ѕyѕтεм
α2 ɴεѕтιɴɢ
в1 voιd ѕυɴ & ѕтorм
в2 ѕwεαтy coɴvεrѕαтιoɴѕ

Written and produced by So-Fi
Master & Cutting by Analog Cut Mastering Studio
Artwork by Cleymoore
Front cover photo by Elena Tredici
Catalog: superluminal02
©+Ⓟ Superluminal

A 1972 German jazz-rock quintet incredibly tight, fully instrumental, rendered with phenomenal sound engineering. Hammond, Electric piano, tenor sax, bass, drums and percussion locked in propulsive, telepathic dialogue. The spirit of Miles Davis' In A Silent Way meets early Nucleus and Soft Machine.

First repress ever

180g virgin vinyl pressing

Original artwork

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the "Surf Rider" EP (originally released in 2015 on Lumière Noire), Dialect Recordings publishes a limited vinyl edition featuring an exclusive edit of "Lies" by Blackjoy. For the occasion, Il Est Vilaine’s long time collaborator Apollo Thomas has designed a brand-new cover and created a mini comics included with the vinyl. A beautiful collector’s item to honor this classic!

Kennedy continues to sketch out imaginary worlds where thoughts and sensations are converted into sound via the power of machines. On this fifth instalment of Hi-Tech Soul, the Dutch producer channels fragments of midnight memories and daytime visions into something tactile yet elusive. As with previous chapters, the process remains shaped by surprise as hands and hardware entwine in a quiet, freeform dialogue.

The music itself drifts rather than drives, unfolding like shifting cloud forms that never quite settle. Loose, frayed house patterns hover in a state of flotation as basslines anchor just enough to stop everything dissolving completely. Each track has a sense of elevation where melodic synths filter through the mix like heavenly sunbeams breaking overhead. There's a constant progression to something that never comes, instead leaving you free to find your own meaning as textures blur into something soft, indistinct and gently euphoric.

A pure state of celestial suspension, 'Dream 5' is the newest offering in a series that takes you to a weightless world of infinite interpretations.

ReVINYL Random Color Edition. Concrete is a bracing jolt of a song, racing forward on a tightly wound post-punk riff, its call-and-response vocals capturing the turmoil and schizophrenic internal dialogue of the song's subject matter."It's about someone who's trapped in a relationship and they're being pummelled into surrender," says singer and lyricist Charlie Steen. "It's not about a physically abusive relationship - more an emotionally and psychologically draining one. The call-and-response vocals between Steen and bassist Josh Finerty is the central figure's own internal dialogue. They are dealing with two different things that they don't want to address."The band cite The Fall, Country Teasers, Television Personalities and Wire among their biggest influences, and the icily claustrophobic sound of Concrete sets it in a lineage with Magazine, Joy Division. As a lyricist, Steen is a modern flâneur, forensically observing the lives of others around him as they unspool and fracture, with Hubert Selby Jr and Irvine Welsh his primary literary influences. "That graphic and harsh style of writing always interested me," he explains. "It's not about the shock factor; it's about the fact they are talking about these things in such great detail without stripping anything back."The London five piece have swiftly earned a reputation as one of the most visceral and exhilarating live bands in the UK, their combustible shows being honed through a heavy touring schedule in the UK and across Europe. Cutting their teeth on the squat-punk scene in the Queen's Head in Brixton in 2015, where they were taken under the wing of Fat White Family, the white heat of their gigs quickly landed them support slots with Slaves and Warpaint. They were also personally invited by Billy Bragg to play the Left Field stage at Glastonbury this year.Following two singles - the AA single The Lick/Gold Hole and Tasteless on Fnord Communications as well as the digital-only Theresa May-baiting Visa Vulture (described by Steen as "the worst love song ever") - Concrete is the first track to be released as part of their record deal with Dead Oceans."We started this band as a joke that went too far," deadpans Steen. "What we do is quite strange and quite weird, but I get to meet a lot of people and I get to hear a lot of things. I am interested in the surrealism of reality."

Newly signed to indie heavyweights Heist or Hit (Westside Cowboy, Her’s) EP two: ‘Marionette’ has been produced by Daniel Fox (Sprints, Melts, Psychotic Monks, Naked Lungs, Nerves, Ronan Group) and it’s set to be seminal. A set text for future musicians with aspirations of innovation. “The theme of the marionette is present throughout each song, involving some aspect of a power struggle and a lack of control within oneself.” Opener ‘Chocolate’ bounces in on a synth line as slippery and hyperactive as anything Aphex Twin ever cooked up. Crispy offbeat electronic cymbals play counterpoint to atonal guitars and pugilistic drumming before the track dry-wretches its way into a nauseating cacophony of euphoria. It’s a tale of crippling social anxiety and a preference for an unflattering, lonely reality. The muted guitar pluck in the intro to ‘Crows’ is the sonic equivalent of biting one’s nails. An anxious, involuntary tic that speaks to the theme of guilt, especially surrounding digital culture: “children can watch what they please, just with viewer discretion.” The track lurches between textures, weaving themselves in and out of focus. Guitars blare like sirens, interrupting paranoid urban centres at 2am, while the bass sounds like the inside of an insomniac’s head on day four of a REM drought.

The metallic intent of ‘Discipline’ squats on the chest as though Steve Albini is your sleep paralysis demon. The pain of accountability spews from the industrial regularity of the beat, apt to the narrative of a soldier coming to terms with the lies that made him commit atrocious, violent acts. EP closer ‘Servant’ starts like a Spectrum loading screen. Dial-up modem-coded, it pauses for moments of white-noise-vomit and existential bloops. Fitting for a more abstract take on the idea of the power struggle filtered through religious imagery and self-awareness of one’s own actions, coupled with an inability to exert control over them. The band pile on the textures with sadistic glee until the evil is exorcized and the modem melts. Connection severed. Across the EP, vocalist Joseph has a tendency to hyper-fixate on themes of control and unhappiness. Creating rooms in which doom and isolation ricochet. Not that it’s all bad news “we like to think that by shedding light on the negative, it commands a sense of hope.” Influenced as much by the liminal-space horror and uncanny dread of Silent Hill as the existentialist theatre of The Twilight Zone or the absurdity of Twin Peaks, they occupy a space between unease and impulse. Makeshift Art Bar are not a band interested in being liked. They’re a band interested in being necessary. There’s so much eating and drinking in their work that multiple listens simply don’t satisfy; something new reveals itself on each return visit. Audacious. Idiosyncratic. Vital. A young band carrying identity, defiance and an uncompromising vision as if it isn’t a rare cargo.

Newly signed to indie heavyweights Heist or Hit (Westside Cowboy, Her’s) EP two: ‘Marionette’ has been produced by Daniel Fox (Sprints, Melts, Psychotic Monks, Naked Lungs, Nerves, Ronan Group) and it’s set to be seminal. A set text for future musicians with aspirations of innovation. “The theme of the marionette is present throughout each song, involving some aspect of a power struggle and a lack of control within oneself.” Opener ‘Chocolate’ bounces in on a synth line as slippery and hyperactive as anything Aphex Twin ever cooked up. Crispy offbeat electronic cymbals play counterpoint to atonal guitars and pugilistic drumming before the track dry-wretches its way into a nauseating cacophony of euphoria. It’s a tale of crippling social anxiety and a preference for an unflattering, lonely reality. The muted guitar pluck in the intro to ‘Crows’ is the sonic equivalent of biting one’s nails. An anxious, involuntary tic that speaks to the theme of guilt, especially surrounding digital culture: “children can watch what they please, just with viewer discretion.” The track lurches between textures, weaving themselves in and out of focus. Guitars blare like sirens, interrupting paranoid urban centres at 2am, while the bass sounds like the inside of an insomniac’s head on day four of a REM drought.

The metallic intent of ‘Discipline’ squats on the chest as though Steve Albini is your sleep paralysis demon. The pain of accountability spews from the industrial regularity of the beat, apt to the narrative of a soldier coming to terms with the lies that made him commit atrocious, violent acts. EP closer ‘Servant’ starts like a Spectrum loading screen. Dial-up modem-coded, it pauses for moments of white-noise-vomit and existential bloops. Fitting for a more abstract take on the idea of the power struggle filtered through religious imagery and self-awareness of one’s own actions, coupled with an inability to exert control over them. The band pile on the textures with sadistic glee until the evil is exorcized and the modem melts. Connection severed. Across the EP, vocalist Joseph has a tendency to hyper-fixate on themes of control and unhappiness. Creating rooms in which doom and isolation ricochet. Not that it’s all bad news “we like to think that by shedding light on the negative, it commands a sense of hope.” Influenced as much by the liminal-space horror and uncanny dread of Silent Hill as the existentialist theatre of The Twilight Zone or the absurdity of Twin Peaks, they occupy a space between unease and impulse. Makeshift Art Bar are not a band interested in being liked. They’re a band interested in being necessary. There’s so much eating and drinking in their work that multiple listens simply don’t satisfy; something new reveals itself on each return visit. Audacious. Idiosyncratic. Vital. A young band carrying identity, defiance and an uncompromising vision as if it isn’t a rare cargo.

REBIRTH is the brand new album of the Australian hard rock band CHILD. With the release of their fourth full-length album, Rebirth, CHILD marks a definitive shift in their creative trajectory. Moving beyond their established sound, the band showcases a refined focus on songwriting-stripping back the noise to reveal the heart of their message. The record serves as an unfiltered dialogue with the self, confronting the obstacles that block our evolution and demanding the strength to overcome them. It is a gritty, honest document of survival and the messy beauty of becoming who you are meant to be.