Buscar:digital base

Not one to be pigeonholed, highly respected DJ and producer WILL SAUL has always run the gamut of electronic dance music: from deep house to techno and UK bass, his sets and tracks like to rock the boat of any given genre, taking in contemporary impulses as well as classic inspirations. As label honcho for iconic imprints like Simple or Aus Music, he further honed his ear for the perfect groove and was invited to bring his expert selection to the revered DJ Kicks mix series in 2014. A remix collaboration with fellow UK producer October for Michael Mayer's MANTASY REMIXE 2 (KOMPAKT 272) turned out to be a fine first foray into Kompakt territory - now to be succeded by the LOST IN TIME EP, for which he teamed up with Bristol-based soundsmith KOMON. Komon & Will have been collaborating for many years, resulting in tracks on Will's DJ Kicks and remixes for labels such as Ninja Tunes (Kelis) and Houndstooth (Throwing Snow). Komon has been a mainstay on Will's Aus Music imprint, with solo releases and regular collaborations with Appleblim. For Kompakt, they turn in a swooping trio of floor-versed cuts that are no strangers to atmosphere and experimentation, but like to keep the crowd in check with outbursts of pressurized funk. Leading the pack is the title cut featuring quality vocals from BEN WESTBEECH (aka Breach), flanked by the introspective DRONE and immersive mover DIGITAL PARADISE - a versatile and powerful outing from two artists that know perfectly well how to set the scene.
(de) Als einer, der sich nie leicht kategorisieren ließ, hat der hochrespektierte DJ und Produzent WILL SAUL stets die gesamte Bandbreite der elektronischen Tanzmusik zum Thema gemacht: von Deep House zu Techno und UK Bass findet alles den Weg in seine Sets und Tracks, jenseits von Genregrenzen und gerne inspiriert von zeitgenössischen wie klassischen Impulsen. Der Macher hinter gefeierten Labels wie Simple oder Aus Music ist bekannt für sein feines Ohr am Groove der Zeit und hat seine Expertise in 2014 für die berühmte DJ Kicks Mix-Reihe zum Einsatz gebracht. Eine Remix-Kollaboration mit dem befreundeten Klangschmied October für Michael Mayer's MANTASY REMIXE 2 (KOMPAKT 272) entpuppte sich als grossartiger erster Ausflug in Kompakt-Gefilde - nun der Schritt zum eigenen Release mit der LOST IN TIME EP, für die er sich mit dem Bristol-Produzenten KOMON zusammengetan hat. Komon & Will arbeiten seit vielen Jahren zusammen, was bereits zu Tracks auf Will's DJ Kicks and Remixen für Labels wie Ninja Tunes (Kelis) und Houndstooth (Throwing Sbow) geführt hat. Dank seiner Solo-Releases und der Kollaborationen mit Applebim ist Komon ein gern gesehener Gast auf Will's Aus Music. Für Kompakt liefern die beiden ein bissfestes, tanzflur-erprobtes Track-trio ab, das gerne in experimenteller Atmosphähre badet, den Tänzern aber auch gerne mit Hochdruck-Funk Beine macht. Der Titeltrack brilliert mit wundervollen Vocals von BEN WESTBEECH (aka Breach), flankiert vom introspektiven DRONE und dem mitreissenden Schieber DIGITAL PARADISE - eine vielschichtige und kraftvolle Darbietung von zwei Künstlern, die ganz genau wissen wie man den Beat in Szene setzt.

"Wired" ist ein harter Neustart für Basement. Es markiert das erste Album der britischen Band seit acht Jahren, eine Wiedervereinigung mit ihrem ursprünglichen Label Run For Cover Records und eine Rückkehr zu jener ungebändigten Leidenschaft und kreativen Intuition, die schon immer ihr bestes Material ausgezeichnet hat. Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2009 besteht Basement aus denselben fünf Freunden - Sänger Andrew Fisher, den Gitarristen Alex Henery und Ronan Crix, Bassist Duncan Stewart und Schlagzeuger James Fisher - und derselben alchemischen Verbundenheit. Das Einzige, was sich in den letzten Jahren verändert hat, ist ihr erneuertes Gefühl von Zielstrebigkeit. Und das macht ihr neues Album deutlich hörbar. "Wired" ist das dynamischste, mutigste und inspirierteste Werk, das Basement je geschaffen haben, und bewahrt zugleich die zeitlosen Grundlagen ihres einzigartigen Sounds: grollende Gitarren, mitreißende Refrains und eindringliche emotionale Sprache. Basement sind zurück und laufen auf allen Zylindern, aber sie haben kein Interesse daran, alte Erfolge zu wiederholen. Die gesamte Band war entschlossen, dass "Wired" ihr bisher klarstes künstlerisches Statement werden musste. Der Titelsong ist das drängendste Stück ihrer Karriere - ein sicherer Live-Favorit, getragen von stechenden Gitarren, einem wuchtigen Schlagzeug und einem himmelhohen Hook, bei dem Fishers Stimme in Bestform ist. "Broken By Design" zeigt den gegenteiligen Charakter: düster, zart, bassgeführt, aber dennoch typisch Basement in seiner sofortigen Eingängigkeit und stimmungsvollen Atmosphäre. Nichts auf Wired klingt stagnierend, kein Teil wirkt unausgereift. Die Band ließ sich von einer Vielzahl abenteuerlustiger Vorbilder inspirieren (R.E.M., Interpol, Smashing Pumpkins, um nur einige zu nennen), ohne jemals wie eine dieser Bands zu klingen - und auch nicht wie eine Kopie ihrer selbst. Der Albumtitel fasst all das in einem einzigen Wort zusammen. Die texturalen Konnotationen von "Wired" - metallisch, scharf, zackig - spiegeln die stählernen Klangwelten des Albums wider. Auf konzeptioneller Ebene spricht der Titel für die unerschütterliche Zähigkeit der Band: eine analoge Band, die in einer immer digitaleren Welt erfolgreich bleibt, ohne sich auf nostalgische Bequemlichkeit zu verlassen. Fünf Freunde, die mehrere Trennungen und Neuanfänge überstanden haben und dabei als Menschen und musikalische Einheit gewachsen sind. Basement müssen ihr Schicksal akzeptieren: Sie sind einfach dafür gemacht.

"Wired" ist ein harter Neustart für Basement. Es markiert das erste Album der britischen Band seit acht Jahren, eine Wiedervereinigung mit ihrem ursprünglichen Label Run For Cover Records und eine Rückkehr zu jener ungebändigten Leidenschaft und kreativen Intuition, die schon immer ihr bestes Material ausgezeichnet hat. Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2009 besteht Basement aus denselben fünf Freunden - Sänger Andrew Fisher, den Gitarristen Alex Henery und Ronan Crix, Bassist Duncan Stewart und Schlagzeuger James Fisher - und derselben alchemischen Verbundenheit. Das Einzige, was sich in den letzten Jahren verändert hat, ist ihr erneuertes Gefühl von Zielstrebigkeit. Und das macht ihr neues Album deutlich hörbar. "Wired" ist das dynamischste, mutigste und inspirierteste Werk, das Basement je geschaffen haben, und bewahrt zugleich die zeitlosen Grundlagen ihres einzigartigen Sounds: grollende Gitarren, mitreißende Refrains und eindringliche emotionale Sprache. Basement sind zurück und laufen auf allen Zylindern, aber sie haben kein Interesse daran, alte Erfolge zu wiederholen. Die gesamte Band war entschlossen, dass "Wired" ihr bisher klarstes künstlerisches Statement werden musste. Der Titelsong ist das drängendste Stück ihrer Karriere - ein sicherer Live-Favorit, getragen von stechenden Gitarren, einem wuchtigen Schlagzeug und einem himmelhohen Hook, bei dem Fishers Stimme in Bestform ist. "Broken By Design" zeigt den gegenteiligen Charakter: düster, zart, bassgeführt, aber dennoch typisch Basement in seiner sofortigen Eingängigkeit und stimmungsvollen Atmosphäre. Nichts auf Wired klingt stagnierend, kein Teil wirkt unausgereift. Die Band ließ sich von einer Vielzahl abenteuerlustiger Vorbilder inspirieren (R.E.M., Interpol, Smashing Pumpkins, um nur einige zu nennen), ohne jemals wie eine dieser Bands zu klingen - und auch nicht wie eine Kopie ihrer selbst. Der Albumtitel fasst all das in einem einzigen Wort zusammen. Die texturalen Konnotationen von "Wired" - metallisch, scharf, zackig - spiegeln die stählernen Klangwelten des Albums wider. Auf konzeptioneller Ebene spricht der Titel für die unerschütterliche Zähigkeit der Band: eine analoge Band, die in einer immer digitaleren Welt erfolgreich bleibt, ohne sich auf nostalgische Bequemlichkeit zu verlassen. Fünf Freunde, die mehrere Trennungen und Neuanfänge überstanden haben und dabei als Menschen und musikalische Einheit gewachsen sind. Basement müssen ihr Schicksal akzeptieren: Sie sind einfach dafür gemacht.

WRWTFWW Records presents an ultra limited (100 copies !) vinyl edition of Meemo Comma’s Decimation Of I album, originally released digitally in 2024 on Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu label. The collector’s pressing is housed in a heavyweight sleeve.
Decimation Of I is the fifth album by Brighton-based electronic musician Meemo Comma. It's a work based on the Strugatsky brothers‘ 1971 novel Roadside Picnic, a book that was also turned into the Russian cult classic Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. The inspiration came from reading the book alongside the backdrop of global climate disasters where an environment is rapidly becoming less habitable, all while powerful nations occupy and commit genocide.

The rough story of both film and novel is about a select group of characters exploring a land that has been transformed by alien visitors. We never meet the extraterrestrials, nor is it important to, we only have the artefacts left behind. The environment itself becomes the character, neither wholly Earth-like nor alien, but a surreal blend of both, inviting introspection on our insignificance amidst profound change. Within this land’s rebirth, our characters confront ego death, a necessary step towards the profound revelation, the discovery of one's true desire in the absence of ego.

The album opens with the innocent flutes of ’They, spoke,‘ and the disorienting electronica of ‘The Soldier‘ building towards the Terry Riley like undulating clarinets of ‘The Poet’, whose intertwining synth organ drones set the scene. Nods to the seventies electronica of Wendy Carlos and Eduard Artemyev can be heard with the use of Bach melodies in ‘P3Alpha Exotoxin‘ and ‘Area X,‘ however each of these songs draw the listener to primal noise undercurrents, their disintegrating melodies hinting at humanity's gradual dissolution, unveiling profound revelations beyond our comprehension.

As the album reaches its midpoint, ‘Spectral Alignment‘ paints a hazy morning prairie scene with Aaron Copland style French horn, restful woodwinds, spatial arpeggios and a warm drone culminating in an emotional pitstop as the soldiers wake in the dewy morning of this alien landscape, unaware the last of their humanity remains.

The last sentence in Roadside Picnic “HAPPINESS FOR EVERYBODY, FREE, AND MAY NO ONE BE LEFT BEHIND!” is the inspiration for ‘As It Is Written.’ We can either take from this the total annihilation of self has been filled with propaganda from their homeland, or the epiphany of their own autonomy in the war against a land and its inhabitants.

First Word Records proudly present the second single from Above The Clouds (aka kidkanevil & Magic Manfred), taking on another underground hip hop classic, 'Change'.

'Change' was originally performed by Shadez of Brooklyn, produced by Da Beatminerz and most notably appeared on DJ Premier's legendary 'New York Reality Check 101' mix compilation back in 1997.

This 7" vinyl release follows on from last Summer's MF DOOM cover 'Arrow Root', which received strong support from the likes of Japan's DJ Koco and Philadelphia's DJ Jazzy Jeff.

This new instrumental reinterpretation also features cuts by Leicester-based turntablist, Jon1st - a DMC World Online Champion, as well as being a producer & musician in his own right, collaborating on music with a number of hip hop, D&B and electronic artists.

One of the original First Word roster, UK Producer/DJ and all-round laptop music geek kidkanevil has developed a distinctive and progressive sound over the years, gleefully exploring the beats and bleeps of the electronic music universe to international recognition. Leeds born, sound system bred and raised on a (un)healthy diet of video games and anime, his solo work inhabits the curious space between bass frequencies and otaku culture. But as a devoted teenage backpack rap nerd, somewhere in the back of kid's mind was a lingering desire to reconnect with his first love, hip hop.

Not long after moving to Berlin he joined a studio space in graffiti plastered Kreuzberg, where he met multi instrumentalist wizard Magic Manfred; a disciple of all things boogie, disco, funk and soul. Born and raised in Berlin, and currently a touring musician for many an act, Manfred's musical map joins the dots from piano lessons at four, to starting a band with his teenage friends, leading him to his true calling - the bass - via the club vibrations of his hometown, which introduced him to the world of DJing and production, and a stint studying in the explosive London jazz scene to finalise his Jedi training.

Bonding over their mutual love of '90s hip hop, a friendship and musical kinship developed, coupled with a desire to honour past eras but push things forward, Above The Clouds was born; named after their joint favourite DJ Premier beat, with a touch of irony regarding their basement based studio of a windowless variety.

kidkanevil explains further "We started the project with a few covers, just as a way to get warmed up and in a certain creative headspace, of which 'Change' by Shadez Of Brooklyn was one. We both loved DJ Premier's 'New York Reality Check 101' mix when we were teenagers and this track was a favourite. The elements really lent themselves to live interpretation, and as an instrumental there was space to bring some nice movement with the bass and stuff. Hopefully we found the balance between paying tribute and finding our own pocket. For the final seasoning we hit up the homie and turntable wizard Jon1st to recreate the cuts, of which he did an immaculate job of course.

The b-side 'Urgh' is one of our favourite beats we've made so far; the title is just how it makes us feel! We actually recorded the piano with two iphones as left and right and it sounded kinda cool so we went with it..."

'Change / Urgh' is released on limited 7" vinyl & digital platforms, April 24th 2026.

First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome back Kaidi Tatham, with a brand new 12-track album entitled 'Don't Rush The Process'.

This is Kaidi's 4th solo album under his own name, following on from 'An Insight To All Minds' (2021), 'It's A World Before You' (2018), and 'In Search Of Hope' (re-pressed in 2020), all released on First Word, along with several EPs from 2017 onwards.

To bring you up to speed, Kaidi Tatham is a legendary multi-instrumentalist born in the Midlands and based in Belfast. Once dubbed "the UK's Herbie Hancock" by Benji B, he's a virtuoso on the keys and a true innovator in sound production as one of the original creators of the Broken Beat sound. Over the years his musical prowess has blessed numerous projects, recently with the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff, Andrew Ashong and with longtime accomplice, Dego. This in addition to session and remix work for artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Slum Village, Marcos Valle, Amy Winehouse, Soul II Soul, Nubya Garcia, Rosie Frater-Taylor and Leroy Burgess, along with First Word label mates Eric Lau, Children of Zeus, Allysha Joy and Darkhouse Family. Kaidi is also a revered DJ known for rocking parties globally, whilst his solo catalogue spans tons of EPs and releases for labels such as Dego's 2000 Black, Alex Nut's Eglo Records and Theo Parrish's Sound Signature.

This new album 'Don't Rush The Process' opens with an intro of sweet strings on 'Mystery Solved', ahead of lead title track, which is on a mid-tempo boom bap vibe, before switching to a more uptempo boogie vein, with the assistance of The Easy Access Orchestra, who also appear on 'We Chillin' Out', which is on a similar boogie tip. 'All I Need' is some gospel flavoured hip hop, whilst 'Knocknee Donkey' steps things up in a jazz-funk fashion. The second half of the album takes on a very Brazilian flavoured stance, with a set of delicious latin flavoured grooves on 'Any Flavour', 'Runnin' Tru', 'What A Dream' and 'Sooretama', the latter featuring the additional prowess of pianist Robert Mitchell. There's a touch more of the hip hop beats thrown in via 'Funky Fool' and the album closes out in inimitable Kaidi style with a short message: 'Mind Yourself'.

A hugely prolific artist, here he adds to an already impressive catalogue, a body of work that falls within the cracks of jazz and dance music, exemplifying modern British black brilliance; uncompromising, innovative, groundbreaking, intricately sophisticated and deeply funky. His fanbase expands on every release and it's no surprise that that fanbase includes a diverse set of peers such as Madlib ("ahead of his time"), Gilles Peterson ("a key part of an entire movement"), K15 ("a limitless source of inspiration") and Kyle Hall.

'Don't Rush The Process' is released on vinyl & digital worldwide, July 2022 via First Word Records.

Power began as a challenge.

Zachary Fairbrother began Countach to collect the unfinished scraps and fragments from his band GHÖSH, the digital hardcore duo that broke up in 2023. But when Feel The Four, the Philadelphia-based label run by Cristian Adams and Jarrett Dougherty (ex-Screaming Females), asked him for a proper 12”, he saw an opportunity to push the project in an ambitious new direction.

The result is Power - EP, which finds Fairbrother exploring the freedom of longer run-times and varied textures, all while maintaining the post-industrial vision of his previous work. Across 20 minutes, he runs through propulsive acid house, harsh electro, and ‘90s big beat, using 303s and 808s to build an upbeat but haunting record that’s as indebted to the forebearers of those genres as it is to the grim landscapes of Phillip K. Dick and Paul Verhoeven.

Trajectories collide in a wormhole as Tokyo-based Igaxx and Amsterdam-based Gropina converge on a crepuscular four-track 12-inch and digital release for Paesaggi Records. Igaxx drifts through near-beatless, spiralling psychedelia: “The Perception” is a slow-burn ascent, suspended in a state of perpetual anticipation, forever circling a climax that never arrives. “Someday in Time” settles into a steady pulse that glides outward, dissolving into the distance as if lost in quiet contemplation.

On the flip, Gropina reshapes the two pieces through his own sonic lens, like stepping through the looking glass. “The Perception (Version)” brings a supernatural, Kraut-inspired vibe, opening with a deceptive 2:35 intro before unfolding into Mother Sky-esque drums, primitive flutes, and reversed guitars. “Some Day In Time (Version)” is a dubby reinterpretation driven by a ’70s Ace Tone drum machine, a funky bassline, dub-soaked guitars, noir alto saxophone, and subtle details swirling through the mix.

* Edition of 500 colored vinyl (transparent purple)
* Artwork developed in collaboration with Paris-based visual artist Caroline Ventura
* Including download code

i got a song, it’s gonna make us millions is the highly anticipated new album by Sirens Of Lesbos, led by sisters Jasmina and Nabyla Serag. The dynamic release is a vibrant showcase of the group's expansive musical range, blending R’n’B/Soul, Afrobeats, electronic music, and lo-fi indie pop into a rich, genre-defying experience. With its eclectic sound and captivating melodies, the album solidifies Sirens Of Lesbos as a standout force in modern music.

Featuring on the album are the singles “Room 333” feat. Kendrick-Lamar-collaborator Zacari, a futuristic R’n’B song with progressive club beats; the epic “Call Me Back” (feat. Drake-co-signed rapper SadBoi and the Kabusa Oriental Choir); and dub-infused reggae song “Let It Hurt”, plus new song “My Moon”, which draws inspiration from artists like Bruce Hornsby, Justin Vernon, and Jai Paul. Sirens Of Lesbos have earned widespread acclaim from outlets like CLASH, COLORS, Dork, Tsugi and Earmilk, with BBC 1Xtra’s CassKidd calling the collective “magical.”

As Black women living in the diaspora, Jasmina and Nabyla navigate the intersection of their parents’ collectivist North-East African culture and the Western emphasis on individuality. Questions of identity have always been central to their journey. While society often demands clear-cut definitions, the sisters have come to embrace their multifaceted identities: “We have always been many things.”

Both artists are deeply rooted in the technical and philosophical dimensions of sound. Jasmina recently completed her Sound Arts degree, and Nabyla is now finishing hers. Their academic pursuits have included creating abstract sound installations in exhibition spaces. However, their focus for the foreseeable future is on elevating the Sirens Of Lesbos project, writing and producing standout indie pop tracks, performing live, and delivering unforgettable experiences for their audiences.

—

The vinyl version of i got a song, it’s gonna make us millions is published by Präsens Editionen, a Switzerland-based publishing house and music label. Founded in 2011 in the process of launching zweikommasieben Magazin, Präsens Editionen has since released music on vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital formats—alongside magazines, books, and other printed matter. Recent audio releases include works by Martina Lussi, spalarnia, Magda Drozd, Anom Vitruv, Belia Winnewisser, and Red On, among others.

Meeting vulnerability with persistence, Lucerne-based musician Remo Helfenstein presents Spite, his first solo album on Präsens Editionen. Whereas his 2022 debut EP, Comforting Katharina, traced raw, devotional impulses, Spite expands the terrain—balancing psychedelic drift with sudden moments of clarity, wounded grandeur with flashes of pop transcendence.

The record thrives on contradiction: oscillating between the no wave austerity of Suicide and the meditative (and dadaist) expanses of Bitchin Bajas and Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s collaborative work, while opening into passages of gospel-infused spaciousness. At times intimate and porous, at times expansive and ecstatic, Helfenstein shapes a sound world that fuses analog and digital processes—both deeply personal and insistently collective. This duality comes to life most strikingly in recordings with fellow musicians Klara Germanier (background vocals and guitar), Raphael Loher (k

Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

Certain paths necessitate and call for one singular long sequence in order to arrive at a fully formed conversation or reasoning. Nothing seems to broadcast it more clearly than the trajectory Brussels based Italo-Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Zen Mỹ embarked on during the last decade as Radio Hito.

After a string of highly cherished and sought out tape releases, Radio Hito’s new album ‘L’uso e gli attributi del cuore’, co-released by Maple Death & Meakusma, unfolds with devastating
clarity, a profound balance of depth, minimalism and emotional grounding. A ten-sequence song cycle for voice and MIDI soundfonts adapted from the 2021 book by French poet Claude
Royet-Journoud.

Written and recorded between January 2023 and August 2025, the cycle evolved through nearly 80 live performances from Galicia to Kazakhstan before arriving at its recorded form. Set to an Italian libretto adapted from Royet-Journoud’s text ‘L'usage et les attributs du cœur’ (POL, 2021), the work revisits the tradition of the 19th-century Lied — art song built on existing poetry— transposed into a radically economical contemporary setting: voice and Casio CTK workstations.

"I was interested by this incompleteness CRJ mentions - by the ‘suspension’ of meaning questioning readability and intelligibility. I ‘resisted’ to CRJ’s texts since I met him and got to know his work. … It seems to me that when playing the songs, I submit an object to be completed by the audience."

Radio Hito’s distinctive approach to setting poetry to music — spare arrangements, strophic repetition, and a voice suspended between recital, fm transmission and canzone — creates a language of its own, reaching new heights on ‘L’uso e gli attributi del cuore’, songs that are formally rigorous, emotionally restrained, and shaped by the discipline of sustained live performance, interlocking into a coherent cycle.

Rather than illustrating the poem, Radio Hito approaches it as a space of suspension. Royet-Journoud described poetry as a “profession of ignorance” where meaning remains incomplete; these songs extend that trembling state, allowing repetition, digital timbre, and restraint to hold the text open.

Often misread as minimal synth or romantic chanson, Radio Hito’s practice is rooted instead in the lineage of the art song and song cycle: open structures, close attention to language, and a live performance economy that pushes the voice at the heart of the stage. The choice of accessible keyboard workstations — light, portable, and embedded in contemporary popular culture — replaces the historical piano.

Radio Hito creates fantastical, mirage-like songs, intimate yet elusive. Her music is forlorn chanson for the digital age; bringing her haunting and beautiful vocalisations into conversation with MIDI soundfonts and humble-yet-deep casio compositions. Music that strides for simplicity, yet lands miraculously within an entire new universe, a uniqueness achieved from like-minded spirits such as Ghedalia Tazartès, Savina Yannatou & Lena Platonos, Dorothy Carter, cycles that trickle down into estuaries.

“Radio Hito's set is superb. Sitting on the altar steps with a synth, her fabulously expressive vocals colour sparse, pensive compositions.” The Wire

Ola Tunji is a young French quintet based in Brussels. Together, they explore the boundaries between spiritual jazz and free jazz, following in the footsteps of their great heroes John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Albert Ayler. At the forefront is the still only 24-year-old Ornella Noulet, whose saxophone playing can both rasp and soothe with the authority of a seasoned jazz veteran.

The band describes their music as collective meditations, in which they express love, compassion, joy, and serenity through improvisation. By making music together, they search for a deeper sense of humanity.

Their self-titled EP was initially released only digitally on Bandcamp, but it was immediately met with enthusiastic international acclaim, including praise from the American platform All About Jazz. Bandcamp itself also highlighted the release as a jazz standout. While awaiting their first full-length album, W.E.R.F. records is releasing this outstanding EP on vinyl for the first time.

Cathartic avant-rock, literate DIY folk & experimental composition exploring displacement, love, climate change, belonging & the places we call home - RIYL Jim O’Rourke, Richard Youngs, This Heat, Richard Dawson, Flying Nun. ‘Real Home’ is the new album by the Manchester-born, London-based artist Kiran Leonard. His sixth album proper (not including innumerable tour-only CD-Rs and short-run cassettes), since his precocious debut in 2013, ‘Real Home’ finds Leonard invigorated by inspiration and experience, making passionate, literate, and mercurial music that explores displacement, love, memory, climate change, connections to home and more. Encompassing songs recorded after moving to South London, ‘Real Home’ reflects on ideas of belonging and domesticity through folkloric, stream-of-consciousness songwriting. Across nine tracks, Leonard traces lived impressions of the household and the city, expressing sentiments of dislocation, alienation and stasis, but contentment too. Infusing the avant-rock effervescence, terraced dynamics and visionary lyricism of his music with what he defines as a greater sense of openness, Leonard is as versatile, fervent and imaginative as ever on ‘Real Home’, yet his music is somehow more intimate, affecting, and acutely expressive. Shaped by dual considerations of simplicity and formalism, ‘Real Home’ is by turns beautiful, allusive, and ruminative, an album on which Leonard considers what his songs have resembled in the past and what they mean now. In recent years, Leonard has crafted eloquent chamber music inspired by the likes of James Joyce and Clarice Lispector (‘Derevaun Seraun’), responded to contemporary politics and communication breakdown in the digital age (‘Western Culture’), and compiled solo works and ensemble recordings for a longform ode to Jonas Mekas and to one of Leonard’s enduring themes; home (‘Trespass On Foot’). On ‘Real Home’, Leonard reiterates this abiding thematic focus yet ascends to new, different heights, in music of cathartic delicacy and dissonance where all the myriad dimensions of his work to date seem to crystallize. There are sinuous songs about struggle and defying the pace of city life through drift and diversion (‘Pass Between Houses’), stirring songs of intense feeling and crescendo, described as a form of speculative detective fiction (‘Theatre for Change’). There are touching solo piano ballads (the title track), symbolic contentions with carbon capture and climate change (‘Utopia of Bog’), modes of experimental minimalism (‘Void Attentive’), and other profuse feats of compositional range, embroidered with wild tendrils of narrative and lyrical depth. A record to pore over, and get lost in. Exemplifying the vast aesthetic scope of Leonard’s music, lead single ‘My Love, Let’s Take The Stage Tonight’ is inspired by country lodestar Hank Williams, Russian poetry and a late period love poem by William Carlos Williams. Yet for Leonard, the song signals a sense of accessible materiality, and is the product of a more linear approach to writing songs: “My imitation of the great Hank Williams, in spirit if not in substance…This is one of the best efforts on Real Home at a song-as-object. Looking at it now I realise I was trying to write a song that made itself known as a song to the listener, and I wonder whether that’s crucial if you want a song to transcend its context. And that this is either accomplished through a total openness – by being inviting, by laying the tricks of the song out plain to see, as Williams and his many ghostwriters did so well – or by adopting a knowing aloofness, positioning oneself against the listener but letting it be known that that’s what it’s doing. In this song I try both, but mostly the former: as in, I wanted to write a song where every line follows on from the next.” Imbuing the endlessly elaborate and inventive qualities of his music with a newfound streak of candid, clear-cut melodicism, Leonard has reached a special place in his artistry, on a record that feels familial, and expresses closeness. Assembled with affiliates including Lauren Auder, Otto Willberg, Jasper Llewellyn (caroline), Tom Hardwick-Allan (Shovel Dance Collective), Magda McLean (caroline, The Umlauts), Alex Mckenzie (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective), Isabelle Thorn (Dear Laika) & more, the recording process had a significant influence on the subject matter of ‘Real Home’, in sessions defined by close-knit camaraderie and artistic eccentricity: “The theme of the home obviously recurs throughout the record; the album was mostly recorded in domestic spaces with friends, and the name of the album is Real Home. I like the qualifier ‘real’, like you’re getting past the cloak of the word and towards the thing-itself…also nearly all the percussion in this record was recorded on items from my dad’s shed (jam jars, sandpaper, blocks of wood, etc). Real home record!” ‘Real Home’, like anything by Kiran Leonard, is a record of dazzling multiplicity. Yet it’s a companionable prospect with a central premise; a collection of songs where listeners old and new can find a home. An album led by a scene; of Leonard standing at the threshold, ready to welcome you inside. “Exceptional songs that linger” - The Guardian // “An autodidact of amazing talent & energy” – Pitchfork // “A ridiculous amount of talent…confrontational, celebratory, provocative or perverse – he manages all of these emotions & more” - The Quietus /

First coming to prominence purely as a drum & bass artist, with the likes of Metalheadz, Digital's Function and Klute's Commercial Suicide labels all over his material, veteran Slough producer Amit has, in more recent years, spread his stylistic base via his Amar label to take in deep dubstep and a touch of acid as well as ruffneck junglist behaviour. This 12", his first for more than five years, is heavyweight dub business, with echo chambers set to maximum dubbage and shuddering sub causing potential structural damage to all but the sturdiest buildings in a five mile radius. 'Dem Rude', with its gunshots and sonic soup, takes the A-side, while the flip tune 'Hush Up' marries more aural abstractions with another stepping rhythm, the hi hats fizzing and sizzling like they're encased in a deep fat fryer. Great to have this vastly underrated underground trooper back in the ranks - and well worth the wait.

Bunker Intimations II by London-based anti-formalists Index For Working Musik is a sister record to their second album Which Direction Goes The Beam, originally issued as a limited edition cassette with early copies of the vinyl pressing of that record. The 50-minute long collection of recordings was made across an intense three day period in March ‘25 under the duress of a very strict deadline. All tracks were improvised and mixed-down on the spot, a genuine document of a moment in time. Some of us think that it’s better than the record that it was trying to sell. And so here it now stands for wider judgment. Bunker Intimations II is released digitally and on vinyl via Tough Love.

mixed by aloisius

mastered by Amir Shoat

tracklist poem written by Isaiah Hull

releasing on digital + physical (Vinyl, CD & Cassette) 9th April 2026. Physical editions will feature a secret unlisted bonus track.

aloisius is a prolific, artist and producer, who recently produced a full length album for Pretty V, which released via life is beautiful records (and sold out at Big Love & Rough Trade). aloisius has also collaborated with artists such as: James Massiah, CTM, Nova Varnrable, DJ Spanish Fly, Cities Aviv, zukovstheworld, Kenichi Iwasa & many others.

‘vernacular’ is the debut studio album by improvisation-based artist, and founder of life beautiful, aloisius.

Built entirely from layers of improvised instrumentation recorded via laptop microphone, using various instruments such as guitar, piano, cello, trumpet, saxophone, drums & voice. vernacular is inspired by the spirit of collective improvisation, and embodies aloisius' instinctual & organic approach to musical composition.

Crafted solely by aloisius (except for track 6, which features a layer of piano by life is beautiful member, friend & collaborator Bianca Scout).

To celebrate the release of the album, a semi-improvised interpretation of the project will be performed live by ‘orchestra379’ (a collective improvisation project curated by aloisius, consisting of a fluctuating lineup that differs on each occasion of performance). Initially in London, then at a select few cities across Europe.

A cocktail of rebellious queer vocal fragments, deceptive percussive granules and swaying hammered vibrations, upsammy and Valentina Magaletti's first collaboration trembles with suspense. The seeds of 'Seismo' were sown following a commission from Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum to soundtrack an exhibition of work from the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the duo didn't want to approach their collaboration flippantly. So, wandering the museum's maze of rooms, they recorded various improvised percussive sounds with their arsenal of microphones, using the space to inform various rhythms and textures that were sculpted later into electroacoustic vignettes. This was just the starting point, though; as Magaletti and upsammy began performing together, the project evolved and 'Seismo' began to take shape. The duo had struck on a salient aesthetic concept, using mostly digital and acoustic mallet instruments to blur the boundary between their roles and create friction between the synthetic and the authentic. And the finished record is a phantasmagoric push-and-pull between its various conflicting elements: harmony and dissonance, randomness and predictability, openness and constraint. 'Seismo' isn't the first time that upsammy has studied her environment in search of revelation. On her acclaimed second album, 2024's 'Germ in a Population of Buildings', the Amsterdam-based DJ, producer and multidisciplinary artist erected her complex, unorthodox rhythms and eerie melodies around a modernist frame of field recordings collected in various cityscapes, countering heavyweight basslines with subtle, microscopic sounds. London-based Italian vanguard Magaletti, meanwhile, has applied her unique logic to innumerable projects at this point, working with everyone from batida icon Nídia and hardcore-dub outfit Moin to French writer Fanny Chiarello and British bass scientist Shackleton. For years she's approached the drums with criticism, attempting to challenge any preconceptions, something that's most visible on 2020's 'A Queer Anthology of Drums'. And both artists' thoughtful perspectives are welded together seamlessly on 'Seismo', a dizzying suite of eight eccentric statements that's fragile but never insecure, gauzy but not indistinct. An unnerving sense of space characterizes 'It Comes to an End' as Magaletti's in situ improvisations herald for upsammy's microscopic glitches and chiming pitch-bent melodies. It's almost unbalancing to witness the track's impossible dimensionality, the interplay between reverberant marimba hits and bone-dry synths, or percussion that's been recorded and processed in consciously different settings. A new architecture emerges in the sound itself that the two artists scan and explore meticulously, testing its boundaries with undulating hybridized rhythms on the invigorating 'Superimposed' and offsetting the powdery drums with liquified smacks and alien voices. The duo's vibrations are knotted with piano flourishes on 'Hyperlocalize', balanced with artificial clanks and clangs that disappear into the track's sonorous atmosphere, replaced by whispers and half-hallucinated insectoid chirps. 'Seismo' is an album that feeds off the energy generated by its juxtapositions: the tension and anticipation that's melted by rapid, hyperactive movement and the finely drawn rhythms disrupted by a layer of indistinct, barely perceptible microsounds. It's a collaboration that sounds like two minds challenging each other but not wrestling, each peering from their own distinct vantage point and imagining a third landscape shaped by optimistic, queer vibrations.

How do losers dance? According to Helmut, almost weightlessly, with soft feet, warm gestures, sometimes alone, sometimes together. Content Creatures, Helmut's fourth album, evokes the pop archetype of the "beautiful loser", who had almost disappeared from view in so-called late capitalism. In a present in which even suffering is often similarly instrumentalised and tailored to clicks like a competitive sport, this album sets a counterpoint: those who listen to it suddenly want to be enchanting losers again, useless and joyfully messing up, losing something beloved, having their hearts broken, giving up a dream, sinking into beauty.
You don't sink alone. Comforting harmonies envelop you, the voices of friends appear, accompany you for a while and then disappear again. Warm grooves, floating synths and delicate guitar lines characterise an indie sound that remains open and breathes.
Self-produced for the first time in his home studio in Neukölln, 'Content Creatures' sounds thoughtful and light at the same time. The album will be released digitally and on vinyl on 10 April 2026 on Berlin-based label St.Vladimir. There are four songs on one side and four songs on the other. The cover is adorned with an exceptionally pretty guinea pig. Helmut shows the special in the seemingly ordinary: a child's pet, the most ordinary of all, is his cover star and headstrong protagonist.

Wie tanzen Verlierer? Wenn man nach Helmut geht, dann fast schwerelos, mit weichen Füßen, warmen Gesten, manchmal allein, manchmal gemeinsam. Content Creatures, Helmuts viertes Album, evoziert den Pop-Archetypus des "beautiful loser", der im sogenannten Spätkapitalismus fast aus dem Blick geraten war. In einer Gegenwart, in der sogar das Leid oft ähnlich durchinstrumentalisiert und auf Klicks getrimmt ist wie ein Leistungssport, setzt dieses Album einen Kontrapunkt: Wer es hört, möchte auf einmal gern wieder ein bezaubernder Verlierer sein, nutzlos und freudvoll abkacken, etwas Geliebtes verlieren, das Herz gebrochen bekommen, einen Traum aufgeben, in Schönheit versinken.
Man versinkt nicht allein. Tröstende Harmonien legen sich um einen, die Stimmen von Freundinnen tauchen auf, begleiten einen ein Stück weit und verschwinden wieder. Warme Grooves, schwebende Synths und feine Gitarrenlinien prägen einen Indie-Sound, der offen bleibt, atmet. Erstmals in seinem Neuköllner Homestudio selbst produziert, klingt "Content Creatures" bedacht und leicht zugleich.
Das Album erscheint digital und auf Vinyl am 10.04.2026 auf dem Berliner Label St.Vladimir. Es hat vier Songs auf der einen und vier Songs auf der anderen Seite. Das Cover ziert ein außergewöhnlich hübsches Meerschweinchen. Helmut zeigt das Besondere im scheinbar Gewöhnlichen: Ein Kinderhaustier, das normalste von allen, ist bei ihm Coverstar und eigensinnige Protagonistin.