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UK producer Dennis Huddleston goes by the artist name of 36. He is a much-loved producer with a fine back catalogue which is investigated here with The Box, a new collection of his earliest and perhaps most admired works. They were all written between 2005 and 2012 and are drawn from albums such as 2009's Hypersona, 2010's Hollow and 2012's Lithea. The bumper six vinyl collection also features a bonus album, Orphans, of all new and previously unreleased tracks. There is a real depth of range and emotion to these tracks so it is no wonder the artist says they are some of the most personally cherished works he has written.

If you find the time, please come and stay a while in abracadabra’s beautiful neighbourhood; a magically wonky wonderland where strangers leave as friends to a block party soundtrack as eclectic as it is infectious. The California duo’s album shapes & colors is a dazzling collage of psych-fuelled synthscapes and contemporary Baroque-pop of anti-capitalist movements and escapism, precisely pieced around their own working lives in a blue-collar town.
In the heart of Oakland’s industrial Jingletown above a former auto-repair shop in what was once a mechanics’ break room where poker rounds ensued, Hannah Skelton (Vocals, Synthesizers) and Chris Niles, (Bass, Synthesizers) constructed the angular 80s-tinged anthems (think John Hughes montages to Talking Heads) of their new album, to positively offset the pandemic’s amplification of dysfunctional society. “It reflects our current reality: a huge mess that is systematically broken but isn’t entirely lost,” Hannah tells. “We’re inviting listeners to conjure up every drop of hope and willpower left inside them, pour that into the giant vat of anger and frustration bubbling inside us all, and with this potion collectively enact the necessary change to bring love and light into this dark space.”
When Covid forced Hannah from her salon in San Francisco to become a backyard mobile hairdresser, what she saw inspired them both and the lyrical foundations for their new record. “I’d drive to mansions and people would complain about how hard the pandemic had been next to their swimming pool and tennis courts.” First meeting after the album’s co-producer Jason Kick (Mild High Club, Sonny and the Sunsets) recruited the pair for a Halloween band covering Eurythmics’ art-rock debut ‘In The Garden,’ the pair hit it off and shapes & colors is a product of the years that followed. It combines Chris’ own rhythmic demos following years on the road touring and opening for Amon Tobin, Matthew Dear and Generationals in Maus Haus with Hannah’s lyrical musings honed from project Cassiopeia, so even when topics are as heavy as the beats, they’re met with luminously positive arrangements of hope and warmth.
The by-product of a psychedelic New Year’s Eve escaping a monotonous 2020 reality, the title track itself captures fireworks over East Oakland as viewed from the pair’s couch whilst listening to Mort Garson’s Plantasia for 6 hours straight. The daydream collage of ‘inyo county’ is “a little souvenir taking me back into the bottled-up essence of a slow lazy morning, waking up in bed far from home,” Hannah tells recalling those enforced stay-at-home days. “It fell out of me because I was craving that blissful flavour.” Meanwhile ‘dawn of the age of aquarius’s new parallel reality evolved from a happy accident when their demos had reset to a drone which Jason reworked into a Laurie Anderson-esque breathy vocoder effect. Even bloops and beeps from a forgotten recording session at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Emeryville can be heard, where the pair used Mini Moog, Fairlight EMI and ARP 2600 to arrange their sound into shapes whilst distortion and dirt from mixing on 1979 Neve 5313 Console added to the recordings’ color.
Casting a brighter rainbow still, in all its pastel-hued glory, Hannah, also illustrated a self-portrait of the band for the album artwork. “It reflects our makeshift recording studio to encapsulate all aspects of that time and space,” she shares of their abode where, over an intense two-week period and fuelled by the aroma of fermenting vino from the winery below, their single chord, bass and drum-heavy, groove-first momentum took them on an unexpected journey whilst the next-door couple would fire pizzas in their yard and a grandfather across the road would sweep the street clean. “We’d drink coffee and start the day, consistently working, without interruption,” Chris tells of finding their flow. “The loft is a cool space with skylights, tall ceilings and no shared walls so we could be as loud as we wanted to be.”
Just as well. Diving into decades of electronica and crunchy sound effects, field recordings and animal sounds, blended with an infectious Latin influence, shapes & colors is bolstered by live percussionists Greg Poneris (drums), K. Dylan Edrich (Vocals, Percussion: congas, bongos, chimes, cow bells and wood blocks, tone drum and tri-tone whistle) and Tom Smith (Guitar, Synthesizers, Vocals).
NIMBY crews grab those earplugs now. abracadabra is your new noisy neighbour, and there’s no turning this party down.

On her third album, Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer and sound designer Aimée Portioli, aka Grand River, asks what guiding forces might be driving, enticing, and affecting us. “All Above” is rooted in her deeply personal philosophy as an artist, blurring the boundaries between electronic music and acoustic music and sculpting familiar ambient forms into personal themes painted with rich emotional colours. Written painstakingly over the last two years, the album is the most ambitious and divergent set of music Portioli has assembled so far, with a wide variety of instrumentation (including voices, strings, organs, guitars, and synthesisers) focused around the piano. She‘s keen to assure listeners that while that instrument isn‘t always heard, it‘s constantly at the forefront of the album, shepherding its emotions and anchoring its mood. It makes sense then that on the opening track ‘Quasicristallo’, the acoustic piano is the first element we hear, recorded closely, so its characteristic rattle and creak can speak as loudly as the familiar tones themselves. When the music blooms into abstraction and processed electronics, it‘s almost imperceptible: reverb mutates into ghostly vapour trails, and distortion forms the keys into another instrument entirely.

“All Above“ follows 2020‘s acclaimed “Blink A Few Times To Clear Your Eyes“ and 2018‘s “Pineapple” released on Donato Dozzy and Neel‘s Spazio Disponibile imprint. Having garnered praise from outlets like Resident Advisor, XLR8R, The Quietus, Inverted Audio, and The Verge, Portioli operates in a unique space within the electronic music scene, straddling the art world and the wider electronic music scene. She‘s developed sound art installations for Rome‘s La Galleria Nazionale and the Terraforma Festival-related Il Pianeta, and has appeared at Barbican, MUTEK, Le Guess Who?, Kraftwerk, and other internationally renowned venues and festivals, often collaborating with Marco Ciceri on A/V presentations. Ciceri also maintains the visual identity of Portioli‘s label One Instrument, a concept imprint that asks artists to create music only using a single device. All this experience is poured into “All Above”, a richly visual album that‘s far more than just an imaginary film score. While on ‘Human’, her piano punctuates a rhythmic synthesised bassline and smudged choirs that can‘t help but trace out the silver screen. The composer is keen to clarify that she doesn‘t think of her music (or sound in general) in visual terms.

Portioli studied as a linguist and used her art to develop an emotional language that‘s not bound by expected cultural constraints. When she adds a different instrument or process, it‘s not to reference a visual cue but to mark a journey through different states of being. Each element embodies a different emotion or mood: the electric guitar represents strength or violence, synthesisers shuttle us into the dream world, and the acoustic instruments highlight intimacy and warmth – even heart. Read like this, the tracks are like meditative poems rather than cinematic vignettes: ‘The World At Number XX’ is seemingly centred around a chugging synthesised arpeggio, but the cosmic, Klaus Schulze-esque pads, strangled guitar and evocative organ tones hint at the open-hearted, literate psychedelia of the 1970s; ‘In The Present As The Future’ meanwhile is breathy and windswept, juxtaposing urgent rhythmic phrases with light, flute-like gusts of harmony.

Dedicated to Editions Mego founder Peter Rehberg, who died suddenly last year, “All Above” demands engagement and refuses to evaporate into the background. The album asks listeners not just to absorb the album as a whole but notice the cracks in the structure and discern the tension they cause. That‘s never more evident than on the closing track ‘Cost What It May’, a piece of music almost jarring when Portioli chops into noisy waves of electric guitar. In the wrong hands, this might sound like a power move – some rock posturing to act as a finale. But Portioli‘s expression is different. She‘s forcing a level of engagement that perceives the negative space as just as necessary as the saturated positive, and what could be more haunting and emotionally resonant than that?

Composed, produced and mixed by Aimée Portioli.
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu.
Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin.
Photography by Federico Boccardi.
Design and layout by Riccardo Piovesan.

Modal Analysis proudly presents Het Zweet - Archives Volume 1: 1982-1988, a compilation of the Dutch outsider legend painstakingly picked from over 100 hours of unheard tape. An early electronic pioneer who deployed an array of homemade instruments alongside synths and a tape recorder to craft his searching sound, Marien Van Oers occupies a lonely branch on the tree of this music's early efforts, sliding between pounding industrial grooves, ambient fragments, and extended, entrancing compositions bridging this divide. Most closely akin to Muslimgauze, Test Dept. or Fad Gadget, who shared his outsider practice while remaining thoroughly entrenched in contemporary sounds, Het Zweet is striking for his diversity and for its meticulous composition, formed of carefully arranged layers of sonic detritus culled from his collection of homemade devices and electronic distortions. Finally rising to greater exposure since his death in 2013, Modal Analysis passionately continues this mission with our first volume of archives dedicated to the memory of this bold innovator gone before his time.

The unmistakable Skatebård classic “The Bells of Mist” has received special remix treatment by Bård’s friend and co-conspirator Lauer. Twice! Accompanying the original are two new takes on the tune, stirring up the heavy grit of the original with some complimentary upbeat melodic rhythms. “Lauer Flute Mix” is a punched up house version with melodic keys and a spacey backdrop, enhancing the playful elements of the track. The “Marshall Mix” adds a distorted gritty touch topped off with classic piano riffs. Together with the memorable dubbed-out disco tune “Farver/Flimrer” also found on CDIII, this release reunites us with two Skatebård hard-to-find-on-wax originals and hot interpretations by Lauer. On red vinyl!

Bartosz Kruczyński, also known as artist Earth Trax, is arguably among the leading names in Poland’s current electronic music scene. Based in Warsaw, his music is deeply emotive and explores a wide-ranging sonic palette that is complemented by well-defined artistic concepts. He has already featured on labels including Phonica Records, Growing Bin, Into The Light and Shall Not Fade –with whom he released his acclaimed debut album in 2020–.

His Lapsus release 'Closer Now', takes a different trajectory to his previous album 'The Sensual World' Shall Not Fade, 2022, fundamentally an energetic and high tempo club record. In contrast, 'Closer Now' focuses on fresh and disparate ideas, with tracks that could typically be classified as more unrestrained B-sides that deconstruct sounds aimed at the dancefloor.

‘Closer Now' is influenced by liminal spaces and cultivates surreal and dreamlike qualities. Conversely it also possesses a sense of strength and grit, highlighted by moments where electronic distortion bares its teeth. It is an album that both refers both to IDM and chill out rooms.

The title, nature morte, is the French term for still life paintings whose literal translation is "dead nature." BIG|BRAVE color the songs of nature morte with unease, creating an air of beauty in decay, chords suspended in contemplative stillness. Robin Wattie"s experiences structuring lyrics and song forms on The Body & BIG|BRAVE"s Leaving None But Small Birds informed her work on nature morte, creating stories that, like many folk tales, are at once specific and universal. Wattie"s voice manages to be commanding and vulnerable with impressive range and intimacy. Even her gasps carve their way through the tidal crash of Mathieu Ball"s distortion wail and the pummel of Tasy Hudson"s drums. The momentum of nature morte conjures the image of a beast collapsing beneath its own weight before resiliently staggering upright to thunder onward. BIG|BRAVE convey heft from silence as deftly as they do from swaths of feedback and distortion to cathartic ends. "Distortion is key," notes Ball The three members recorded primarily live over the course of a week at Machines with Magnets with Seth Manchester, pushing the potential of their instruments beyond expectations. For each song, the trio"s songwriting and attention to detail deliver its simple but devastating emotional power. Across the album"s six pieces BIG|BRAVE create a tension between immediacy and patience, invoking the essence of disquiet, while conveying anguish through inventive arrangements and nuanced performances. nature morte captures BIG|BRAVE at their heaviest and their mournful fury is at its zenith, an album where each moment is so immense and consuming that it possesses its own gravitational pull.

The title, nature morte, is the French term for still life paintings whose literal translation is "dead nature." BIG|BRAVE color the songs of nature morte with unease, creating an air of beauty in decay, chords suspended in contemplative stillness. Robin Wattie"s experiences structuring lyrics and song forms on The Body & BIG|BRAVE"s Leaving None But Small Birds informed her work on nature morte, creating stories that, like many folk tales, are at once specific and universal. Wattie"s voice manages to be commanding and vulnerable with impressive range and intimacy. Even her gasps carve their way through the tidal crash of Mathieu Ball"s distortion wail and the pummel of Tasy Hudson"s drums. The momentum of nature morte conjures the image of a beast collapsing beneath its own weight before resiliently staggering upright to thunder onward. BIG|BRAVE convey heft from silence as deftly as they do from swaths of feedback and distortion to cathartic ends. "Distortion is key," notes Ball The three members recorded primarily live over the course of a week at Machines with Magnets with Seth Manchester, pushing the potential of their instruments beyond expectations. For each song, the trio"s songwriting and attention to detail deliver its simple but devastating emotional power. Across the album"s six pieces BIG|BRAVE create a tension between immediacy and patience, invoking the essence of disquiet, while conveying anguish through inventive arrangements and nuanced performances. nature morte captures BIG|BRAVE at their heaviest and their mournful fury is at its zenith, an album where each moment is so immense and consuming that it possesses its own gravitational pull.

Futurismo present their new anthology series: Altered Vision, beginning with SUBURBAN ANNIHILATION The California Hardcore Explosion / From The City To The Beach: 1978-1983.

This aggressive collection draws from California’s rich history of punk, more specifically hardcore: a new sound that eschewed melody for intensity, a sound that took punk harder and faster, a sound intrinsically American. Whilst hardcore was also burning over on the East Coast, it was in California that it had ignited and sprawled, a sonic punch in the face that raged socio-political disdain and total abandonment for commercialism, fuelled by a crumbling American Dream and the collapse of family values.

Suburban Annihilation takes you from the major cities, to the coastal towns, to the SoCal suburbs, showcasing some the most important bands of the West Coast. Blasting off with the Adolescents ‘I Hate Children’, it heads from the year zero of Middle Class’s ‘Out Of Vogue’ to the surf punk of Agent Orange’s ‘Bloodstains’, from the blues tinged outlaw of The Gun Club’s ‘She’s Like Heroin to Me’ to the classic anti-anthems: ‘Live Fast Die Young’ by the Circle Jerks, lifted from their seminal Group Sex album, and the hardcore staple ‘California ÜberAlles’ by the Dead Kennedys. Also present are so many other bands integral to the era: T.S.O.L, Wasted Youth, Germs, Social Distortion, Suicidal Tendencies, Negative Trend, Flipper and many more.

Though the music was designed to repel, this historical document has been lovingly designed to remind us that this genre created some of the most immediate and acutely-realised music ever produced. Making this collection of choice cuts essential for long-time fans of hardcore and punk, just as those new and inquisitive about one of the most angry and pissed off genres to have given birth in America.

This 2xLP comes in a choice of limited edition coloured vinyl, it has a tracklist co-curated by Henry Rollins, it contains liner notes by Lisa Fancher of Frontier, a bio by award winning author Benjamin Myers, and contains a booklet featuring an array of images by the legendary punk photographer Edward Colver.

Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band's Wede Harer Guzo is the third release on Awesome Tapes From Africa for Ethiopian keyboard and accordion maestro. In the years since Shemonmuanaye, Mergia has revamped his touring career, playing festivals and clubs worldwide, including a recent tour supporting Beirut. By 1978, Addis Ababa's nightlife was facing challenges. The ruling Derg regime imposed curfews, banning citizens from the streets after midnight until 6:00 am. But that didn't stop some people from dancing and partying through the night. Bands would play from evening until daybreak and people would stay at the clubs until curfew was lifted in the morning. One key denizen of Addis' musical golden age, Hailu Mergia, was preparing a follow-up to his seminal Tche Belew LP with the famed Walias Band. It was the band's only full-length record and it had been a success. But his Hilton house band colleagues were a bit tied up recording cassettes with different vocalists. Still Mergia, amidst recording and gigs with the Walias, was also eager to make another recording of his instrumental-focused arrangements. So he went to the nearby Ghion Hotel, another upmarket outpost with a popular nightclub. Dahlak Band was the house band at Ghion at the time. Together they made this tape Wede Harer Guzo right there in the club during the band's afternoon rehearsal meetings, with sessions lasting three days. Dahlak Band catered to a slightly more youthful, local audience, while Mergia's main gig with the Walias at Addis' swankiest hotel had a mixed audience that included wealthy Ethiopians, foreign diplomats and older folks from abroad. Therefore, their sets featured lighter fare during dinnertime and a less rollicking selection of jazz and r&b. Meanwhile, Dahlak was known more for the mainly soul and Amharic jams they served up for hours two nights a week to a younger crowd. Mergia released Wede Harer Guzo ("Journey to Harer," a city in eastern Ethiopia) with Sheba Music Shop, which was located in the Piazza district but has long since shut down. His cassette copy is the only known source we could find. Jessica Thompson at Coast Mastering managed to restore the recording to clean up layers of hiss, flutter and distorted frequencies, made worse by years of storage. Although there are some remaining sonic artifacts of the era's recording and cassette duplicating quality, this reissue captures the band's inimitable vibe. Recalling the audience's positive reaction to Wede Harer Guzo's novel arrangements, he says it sold well and found many fans. However, as no trace of the tape can be found online, there's no indication as to why the cassette appears largely forgotten until now

This 40 year anniversary collection traces Brother Culture's career and includes some of his biggest hits, with remastered versions of these classics. The album includes his hits Jump Up Pon It (25 million streams), Supanova (15 million streams), My Selecta (2 million streams), and some of his most listened-to tracks ever released on vinyl.

A composition simply means things being put together. In music, we usually think of composition as a classical idea. But in recent years, the possibilities of what ‘composing’ can be, have dramatically increased. Based in Oslo, Norway, Deathprod (aka Helge Sten) has been making his own forms of music with no compromise since the early 90s. His specialty is a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself. This music can sound forbidding and alien at first, but compared to his more brutal output, it’s an extraordinarily close and intimate experience. The first new Deathprod studio project since 2019’s OCCULTING DISK, Compositions is the result of an intense period at his legendary Audio Virus Lab studio in central Oslo. All tracks are released in chronological order – in other words, the order in which they were recorded. Helge used a personal, unique combination of obsolete digital audio processors and sound generators, combined with his own secret-sauce tuning system. Like gazing at the wonders revealed by an electron microscope with Helge compositional control directs your attention to a succession of ever more spellbinding details and textures. Helge adopted the Deathprod alias in 1991. A complex array of homemade electronics, samplers, sound processing and analogue effects – cumulatively known as the ‘Audio Virus’ – combined with obsolete samplers and playback devices, to distort and transform sounds into unrecognizable relatives of their former selves. On the new album Compositions, the virus has evolved into even more fascinating and kaleidoscopic new strains. Electronically generated sounds vibrate and tremble like undiscovered metals ringing and resonating together. Sonic forms attract or repel each other as if under the influence of a strange magnetism. None of the tracks are over four minutes, but no way are these ‘miniatures’. Each one contains its own fully-formed galaxy of tones and clusters, while all tracks audibly belong in the same universe. These are 17 compositions in search of a sonic ideal. His off-grid audio control centre created a parallel acoustic universe which he filled with mutated samples and electronic textures. Even the gaps between the tracks are part of that universe. Helge left the almost silent, twitching crackles of his snoozing analogue gear intact, ensuring a smoother transition between them. Helge is continually striving to find new parameters and possibilities for what music can be – what you can affect with the medium of sound. From the intricate homemade miniatures of Treetop Drive to the bonecrushing electronic barrage of Morals and Dogma and OCCULTING DISK, the different sides of Deathprod are all products of the same obsessive focus and self-discipline in pursuit of sonic exploration. His Compositions are private rather than public music: like introspective chamber or solo compositions instead of the more strident, outward-looking tones of a symphony. Helge is a founder of Norwegian improvising group Supersilent and has produced records by Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen and others. He recently composed music for Harry Partch’s legendary instruments, which can be heard on Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth, released in 2022 on Smalltown Supersound.

Alt-rap dissident Jam Baxter announces his newest solo venture, Fetch the Poison. Conceived during a state-wide alcohol ban in Mexico, the album is Baxter’s first to be composed in complete sobriety — though his hallucinatory style of storytelling and cast of monstrous characters make a welcome return. Lyrics on Fetch the Poison meld Baxter’s Latin American experience with visions of a grisly alternate dimension: sun, sea and glittering vistas are sullied by hollow-eyed addicts, shady bar tenders and duplicitous lovers. Amongst deft bars, the rapper includes a number of spoken word pieces that echo the prose in his now sold out book Off-Piste. The album also features Blah Records' Nah Eeto & Black Josh, as well as DJ Sammy B-Side and Jehst, alongside Brazil’s NOG, Black Alien and Xamã. Baxter reunites with frequent collaborator Chemo on production — now under the moniker Forest DLG — for much of the album, with appearances from Jack Danz, Dr Zygote, Wundrop (CMPMD) and Midlands' electronic stalwart Lenkemz. Despite its diverse credits, tracks are connected by icy, spaced-out electronics with beats twisted through tape distortion and anchored by chest- rattling bass. Baxter began writing the album in Mexico just before the pandemic began while holed up in the city of San Cristobal De Las Casas, Chiapas, as the world shut down. “All the streets were eerily empty and it was amazing. I had the city to myself,” he says. “Then suddenly there was a state- wide alcohol ban and I could no longer casually sip tequila as I went about my business. I didn’t really have a choice but to write” With no alcohol to fuel him, and San Cristobal largely silent, the rapper says he was surprised to find himself in a deeply creative — and prolific – state. “I took to it amazingly well, and I wrote this whole album in three months of clear-headed bliss in the same apartment. I would sit and write all day, and occasionally walk up a mountain when I got stuck ... or go and feed the stray dogs at the church on top of the hill. It was weirdly the most fun I’d had in years.” Fetch the Poison is Baxter’s seventh solo album.

Red Vinyl

Ghost In The Machine make their long awaited return to Perc Trax with their first full release for the label since their debut album 'Breaking The Seal' was unleashed at the start of 2020. Since then they've released multiple EPs on their own Genosha Basic label, remixed Marc Acardipane, Dahryl and Torque and given their remix of Paula Temple the vinyl release it always deserved. As DJs they have toured Europe and South America, tearing down dance floors with their powerful kick driven sound. From small intimate clubs to huge festival stages their depth of musical knowledge and razor sharp mixing have made them the highlight of any line-up.

For this first Perc Trax release of 2023 Ghost In The Machine take their sound and production to the next level. EP opener 'Come One' is a tour de force of giant kick drums, distorted breakbeats and the kind of drops most techno acts can only dream of. 'Ensnared' takes a more groove based approach with rolling snares over a classic Ghost In The Machine kick assault. Lastly 'Break' gives us a chance to breathe (at least in comparison to the first two tracks) with droning tones layered over an assortment of classic drum breaks brought up to date by Ghost In The Machine's untouchable production skills.

Maceo Plex's Lone Romantic label signs up new school techno innovators Any Act for the powerful Deti Techno EP.

Since their self-released protest EP ‘Civil Act’, Yaroslavl-based collective Any Act have put out music that is physically, socially and politically powerful. That debut from the TRAM Planet Records associates was an evocative offering that paired dynamic guitar riffs with samples of a policeman's voice and acid-laced basslines. They now continue their mission to unite and strengthen young music communities in their native Russia, as well as around the world, with this new standout release.

The bristling title track opens up with a killer electro-techno groove. Distorted synth stabs and dark vocal samples make for an intense and edgy atmosphere that will fire up any club. 'Jug A Jug' is another visceral track with razor-sharp synths ripping up the groove as busted bass blasts down low. Add in angular riffs and booming kicks and you have an explosive techno rave-up.

The excellent 'Bayla' is another no-frills, lo-fi, high-impact banger with thumping drums and brain-frying synth textures that are all coated in grit and grime. 'Till I Die' shows a different side with its sleazy feel and ghetto bass. A freaky female vocal and pixelated melodies bring late-night rave vibes before closer 'Chin Chin De' takes off on rugged electro drum programming. It's an explosive cut with raw attitude and unbound energy that places you at the heart of a strobe-lit warehouse.

This is a direct and potent EP from the hotly tipped Any Act.

Úlfúð stammen aus dem Land des Eises und des Feuers und sind der jüngste Neuzugang in Dark Descents makellosem, sich ständig erweiterndem Roster. Mit ihrer persönlichen Mischung aus Black und Death Metal (mit Betonung auf Ersterem) fängt das Debütalbum Of Existential Distortion die trostlose Weite der vulkanischen Einöde auf einzigartige Weise ein, wie es nur die Isländer können.

Das erste Album von Úlfúð ist bereits Meisterklasse in Sachen Songwriting und zeigt eine atemberaubende Balance aus betörender Atmosphäre, eindringlicher Melodie und tödlicher Gewalt. Für das atemberaubende Artwork wurde der Künstler Bahrull Marta engagiert, während Fotografien von Alma Líf Þorsteinsdóttir das Inlay mit den Visionen der einzelnen Stücke schmücken.

"Wir freuen uns sehr, mit Dark Descent unser erstes Album in voller Länge zu veröffentlichen! Dieses Album kündigt unsere Entität an und verkündet unsere Absicht, euch in unser Ritual der Katharsis und Kakophonie einzutauchen! Wir können es kaum erwarten, unsere Musik mit euch zu teilen. Die Zeit ist reif!"

Úlfúðs, was so viel wie Feindseligkeit oder Feindschaft bedeutet, wurde Anfang 2015 in Reykjavik, Island, gegründet. Die Band hat 2018 ihre Debüt-EP First Sermon selbst veröffentlicht und 2020 ihr Debüt Of Existential Distortion aufgenommen. Eine Veröffentlichung, auf die sich das Warten wirklich lohnt!

Deadpool 2 is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. It is the sequel to Deadpool (2016) and the eleventh installment overall in the X-Men film series. The film was directed by David Leitch and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds, who stars in the title role alongside Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, and Jack Kesy. In the film, Deadpool forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant from the time-traveling soldier Cable.

Bates approached the score with a slight rock sensibility and created an “obvious superhero theme” that he felt fit within the established X-Men franchise. He attempted to write music that stayed out of the way of the film’s comedy and complemented its dialogue, which was a challenge due to the constant changes being made to the film throughout the post-production process. For the score, Bates used a distorted guitar run through a wah-wah pedal, microsynths to add “unique colors”, and a choir.

Deadpool 2 is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on transparent pink coloured vinyl. It is housed in a high-quality sleeve with silverfoil and spot-varnish with embossing on the front cover. Additionally, this release includes a 4-page booklet and fridge magnet of the film’s logo.

“Booze for Blues! No time to think, time to drink!”
That’s the motto of the Spanish heavy fuzz rock
and psychedelic power blues trio Blues Weiser.
They stay true to their motto on album number
three – ‘Obey The Booze’.
‘Obey The Booze’ is now available on red vinyl.
Blues Weiser unleash a vibrant blend of Fu
Manchu / Nebula fuzzy stoner blues jams, 70s Jimi
Hendrix-infused wah-wah solos, thunderous 90s
rock riffs and big grooves.
Sometimes crystal clear and laid-back and
sometimes exploding in a face melting distortion,
Blues Weiser do know how to shake grounds with
their sound; “It’s been a wild ride since we started
recording it, while trying to settle on making a
fuzzy, bluesy, psychedelic, feelgood, but at times
yet dark but honest record. Let’s have some good
time!”
For fans of Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, Karma
To Burn, Nebula, Snail, Brant Bjork.

Techno trailblazer Amelie Lens presents her new EP 'In My Mind' on her own Lenske imprint, containing three explosive techno tracks.

Belgium's Lenske Records presents its next EP from label head Amelie Lens. The release marks a considerable high point of Lens' career, hot on the heels of the launch of her radio show and dropping just before her debut Ibiza residency with sister label EXHALE. 'In My Mind' will mark Amelie's first solo release on the label since 2020 and follows her collaboration with Airod on 'Raver's Heart' EP late last year. The EP also was inspired by electrifying visuals that Amelie takes on the road and showcases at selected gigs.

Title track 'In My Mind' opens proceedings with blasts, bangs and heavy reverbs whilst Amelie's voice swirls above. The build-up gives way to furious claps, and spiking synths that continue to dance around the vocal sample in a ruthless march. The beat is unrelenting with a venomous, pulsing bassline that creates this raw and atmospheric techno cut, while bubbling keys maintain vitality and lightness with their careful arrangement.

Multiple elements come into play for subsequent track 'First Light'. A stripped back kick synchronizes with distorted pads for the opening, soon accompanied by a heavier kick-drum counterpart and lick of acid to inject some sharpness. The true DNA of the track is the programmed claps and dark pads that rise and fall menacingly throughout, as splashes of effects are thrown into the mix.

Final track on the record 'Trippin'' undoubtedly packs a punch. Blasting off with a dominant kick and oscillating spring reverb that swipes through Amelie's wistful vocals, the harder elements gradually succumb to the softness of her voice. The listener's focus is momentarily shifted during an early breakdown before the kick returns with more vigor accompanied by hurried hi-hats and distortion that sends you into a frenzy.

Italian mastermind based in Berlin, Kaoslog, has been meticulously working on this project for well over one year, gathering top artists to finally achieve a superb 9 track album.

Grab your copy before its too late!

The impact Belfast born duo Bicep have had on Irish music is unmeasurable, capturing the hearts and minds of the next-gen with their future-facing sonics. The pairing started their FMB label in 2012, going on to support a plethora of Irish artists in the process, from Cromby and Hammer to Brassica and Brame & Hamo.

The label's latest record comes from yet another Irish artist. Swoose, a name that should be familiar to any Irish electronic lover, began his career handing out flyers for legendary club Stiff Kitten. From here Swoose went on to become a resident of Shine and AVA Festival, and has released a string of killer records on Shall Not Fade and Lost Palms. Now residing in London, his record on FMB brings the OG Belfast dance music community back together for a fittingly euphoric release.

Title track ‘Breathe’ produces poignant undertones and contemplative thought, meditative breaks channeling the producer's fascination with wild flora and fauna. The track's interior begins to distort our sense of time and self, liquid textures forming over celestial harmonies like psilocybin. ‘Hyphae’ takes a 4/4 approach, while keeping the EP’s emotional personality present. Its pulsating bassline is balanced by far-reaching syths and dancing hi-hats, resting in a unified space of motion and colour.

Rotterdam via Belfast based artist Kessler has been on the tip of everyone's tongue since the return of clubbing. He has released music on Sherelle’s BEAUTIFUL black and LGBTQ+ label and his debut Shall Not Fade release was one of the most celebrated EPs of 2021. Kesslers knackt to create beautiful, other-wordly soundscapes that are both functional and edge on the side of melancholy are unmatched. His flip of title track ‘Breathe’ swaps gentler tones for his signature UK-sound inspired drums and crowd-evaporating atmospherics. The arrangements gentle ebb and flow, maintaining that signature blend of pace and etherealness.

Toronto’s Peach is on hand for the second remix – ‘Hyphae – a stripped-back early-morning groover that mixes psychedelia with flexible percussion. The track gives off a subtly uplifting vibe that blends heads-down club with minimal, punchy aesthetic. Just when you thought it was time to go home too...