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The highly acclaimed U.K post- punk band Joy Division was originally called Warsaw . Formed in Manchester, England in the late 1970s, the group consisted of Ian Curtis on vocals, Bernard Albrecht (aka Sumner, aka Dicken) on guitar, Peter Hook on bass and Stephen Morris on drums. Hook, Albrecht and Curtis hooked up at a local concert and later formed the group Warsaw. The band's name was taken from a David Bowie- Brian Eno composition, "Warszawa". The 5 bonus tracks on this album are demos cut by the group at Pennine Studios in Manchester on July 18, 1977 with Steve Brotherdale on drums. The first eleven tracks presented here were the result of a recording session for that album that took place in early May of 1978. Rehearsals leading up to the session resulted in two new songs being added to the group's existing repertoire: "Interzone" and "Transmission." "Interzone" was based on the backing track of the song "Keep On Keepin' On," to which the band added their own lyrics. The result was a song distinctively their own. "Transmission" was written by the band during the final week of rehearsals. The first verse contains a quotation from Alistair Crowley's The Book Of Thoth. The two recordings are interesting renditions of songs which would later became famous.

California’s beloved Brainstory returns with a new EP celebrating the end of an era. Shoebox Days is an homage to the time spent and the recordings made at their now defunct Long Beach studio, aptly named Shoebox. As the name suggests, the space was tiny and stuffed with gear. While charming, it was riddled with constraints. But, as has been proven time and time again, great art often comes from difficult circumstances, and this new 7 song EP is further proof. The first track, “The Watchers,” opens with an earworm horn melody that immediately pulls you in. The crunchy drums and G Funk bass tones put a bop on it, lush orchestration weaves in and out and sets a mellow vibe. “Blend,” one of only two vocal tracks on the EP, is a California sunshine soaked love song walking the lines of psych rock ballad and B side soul. ”Twin Kitchen” leans you right back into your seat, with Eric Hagstrom’s in-the-pocket drumming carrying the tune.

“Home Alone” is singer Kevin Martin’s ever so relatable tribute to time by himself, time by today’s standards as “disconnected,” but in reality, much more connected… The fellas let some of the jazz background take front stage on “Lone Traveler,” starting out with an air tight groove, and letting loose over it as the track progresses. “Gravity Hill” named after the famed California oddity begins the ending of the EP as Brainstory takes it deep and brings us with them. “Necessary Loss” serves as the closer to this gorgeous journey.

California’s beloved Brainstory returns with a new EP celebrating the end of an era. Shoebox Days is an homage to the time spent and the recordings made at their now defunct Long Beach studio, aptly named Shoebox. As the name suggests, the space was tiny and stuffed with gear. While charming, it was riddled with constraints. But, as has been proven time and time again, great art often comes from difficult circumstances, and this new 7 song EP is further proof. The first track, “The Watchers,” opens with an earworm horn melody that immediately pulls you in.

The crunchy drums and G Funk bass tones put a bop on it, lush orchestration weaves in and out and sets a mellow vibe. “Blend,” one of only two vocal tracks on the EP, is a California sunshine soaked love song walking the lines of psych rock ballad and B side soul. ”Twin Kitchen” leans you right back into your seat, with Eric Hagstrom’s in-the-pocket drumming carrying the tune. “Home Alone” is singer Kevin Martin’s ever so relatable tribute to time by himself, time by today’s standards as “disconnected,” but in reality, much more connected… The fellas let some of the jazz background take front stage on “Lone Traveler,” starting out with an air tight groove, and letting loose over it as the track progresses. “Gravity Hill” named after the famed California oddity begins the ending of the EP as Brainstory takes it deep and brings us with them. “Necessary Loss” serves as the closer to this gorgeous journey.

2026 repress!

Here is the debut, self-titled album from a.s.o., singer/songwriter Alia Seror-O'Neill, and producer Lewie Day. 'a.s.o.' is a thematic consolidation of the previous three singles and an impressive artistic progression. Day and Seror-O'Neill show they've mastered the format of the radio-friendly pop song and found how to subvert it completely. Across eleven songs, they have built a rich and compelling body of work.

We know where we are now, emotionally complex, trip-hop torch songs for club freaks. But the palette has broadened to encompass ethereal dream pop à la Cocteau Twins, slow- burning AOR-soul, and dubwise stylings. As a result, 'a.s.o.' is a satisfyingly coherent listen but never a musical monoculture. Variously there are nods toward Julee Cruise, Fleetwood Mac, and the uneasy listening of Portishead. It's an album that wears its influences lightly, is never weighed down by them, and always sure of its own identity.

It's anchored by Alia's unique voice. Her words speak of restraint and release, taking us from the elegiac to the euphoric. This elegantly crafted, perfect pop music sounds like it has had enough of your shit. And Day's music is the perfect foil; deep, slightly menacing, restrained, and powerful. The album has a cinematic texture, as with David Lynch; the seemingly familiar becomes uncanny and strange the closer we look. a.s.o. take our emotions for a joyride before leaving us floating in space.

'a.s.o.' is a journey; by its end, we all are changed

Landing on the 4th of September via his own imprint Knee Deep In Sound, ‘Obsessions’ is less a traditional dance record and more a reckoning — with where Daley Padley finds himself now, as an artist and as a person. Written across a period of constant movement, touring and introspection, the album holds the push and pull between intensity and stillness that has come to define his world.

This is an artist who started making music in Barnsley — long nights, small rooms, total commitment to sound. Those early marathon sets weren’t a stepping stone to something else. They were the foundation of everything that followed: global tours, chart success, the creation of Knee Deep In Sound, a career built entirely on instinct rather than expectation. Hot Since 82 has never followed a fixed path. He’s carved out a space that sits somewhere between underground credibility and global reach — and it’s that same restless, uncompromising approach that shaped this album.

“Some days feel heavier, some thoughts harder to hold. But music still reaches the places words can’t. It’s therapy and a reset button.”

That sense of release runs through the entire record. While rooted in house music, Obsessions doesn’t sit in one place for long — not to prove a point, but because that’s simply how Padley hears music. It moves between deep house, breakbeat, melodic electronica and full club focus as naturally as a conversation shifts tone. Moments of euphoria give way to reflection and tensions dissolves into release.

The album opens with ‘All That Matters’ — a track that feels immediately both expansive and intimate and sets the emotional register for everything that follows. From there it unfolds like a journey rather than a sequence.

Lead single ‘Shaded’, landing on the 12th June taps directly into classic house lineage while feeling unmistakably current — a bridge between where this music began and where it’s heading. Elsewhere, ‘Life’s Too Short’ and ‘Eternity’ introduce warmth and movement, weaving piano, breakbeat and subtle Afro influences into the album’s wider palette.

As the record progresses, the light changes. ‘Wow’ leans into darker, late-night territory — tension, restraint, a hypnotic centre. The collaborations with Kuuda on ‘State Of Mind’ and ‘Time’ bring the album back into full club focus: driving, physical, built for scale.

Amsterdam-based Moody Mehran captures the atmosphere of a soft Mediterranean sunset perfectly. Just in time for late summer, the Dutch-Iranian artist debuts on SEVEN with four trance-infused, uplifting cuts, alongside a remix by Maruwa. The EP channels a distinct Balearic-leaning, '90s trance sensibility. Melodic, sun-drenched and emotionally direct. Built for open-air floors and festival moments, these tracks are driven by shimmering synth sequences, rolling basslines, crisp percussion and psychedelic sound design. It’s a sound reminiscent of trance’s golden era reduced to its essence: simple, euphoric, and highly effective.

Siân Pottok is a citizen of the world.


Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, to a mother of Indian and Congolese heritage and a father of Slovak and Belgian descent, Siân grew up between Belgium and New York before finally letting her travelling wings come to rest in Paris. What could have become a story of fragmentation instead became a source of creative strength. Singer, songwriter, composer and photographer, Siân has always turned borders into bridges.


She first honed her voice in the jazz clubs of Paris and New York, performing alongside renowned artists such as Richard Bona, Jon Batiste and Mike Stern. Yet her path has always extended far beyond the stage. For nearly a decade, she led cultural initiatives with women and children living through exile, violence and poverty across India and Southern Africa, weaving together music, photography and artistic transmission as tools for dialogue and empowerment.
The true turning point came when she discovered the kamele ngoni, the West African harp whose ethereal sound seemed to echo something long buried within her. The instrument became her musical alter ego—the invisible thread binding together her many inheritances. Guided by Malian master Abou Diarra, Siân embarked on an inward journey towards her African roots. Yet this return to her origins was never an act of retreat into identity. Instead, it gave rise to a body of work that remains profoundly open to the world, where Africa enters into conversation with jazz, folk, soul, alternative pop and the rhythms of Brazil.
Along the way, she has crossed paths with remarkable artists including Rogê, Chico César, Fatoumata Diawara, Lokua Kanza, Flavia Coelho, Thomas de Pourquery and Philippe Baden Powell. On stage and in the studio, Siân continues to shape a musical universe that refuses labels. Like artists such as Björk, Joni Mitchell and Laura Mvula, she moves forward as an explorer, guided not by genre but by intuition.


Today, Siân stands as one of the most distinctive voices of the new Francophone music scene an artist capable of uniting musical sophistication with emotional power, introspection with collective celebration, depth with an irresistible urge to dance.


Animal — The New Album


With Animal, produced by British musician Tom Excell (Nubiyan Twist, Africa Express...), Siân delivers her most intimate and assured work to date. Every song feels like a shedding of skin, a quiet metamorphosis, exploring self-acceptance, femininity, the freedom to be oneself, cultural heritage, and the reconciliation of one's own imperfections.
From Stereotype, a fearless manifesto against the expectations imposed on women, to the title track Animal, an anthem celebrating the beauty of imperfection ("I've turned my cracks into a crown"), the album gives a voice to everyone who refuses to fit into predefined boxes. In Terre, je danse sur toi, featuring Fatoumata Diawara, Siân pays tribute to Mother Earth and to the roots that unite us all. Oh! Congo, recorded with Lokua Kanza, reconciles her cultural heritage with an ancestral homeland that feels both distant and intimately familiar. En équilibre, with Flavia Coelho, embraces the exhilaration of risk and the courage to leap, while Put a Mask and I Could Kill confront hidden wounds and the invisible violences that quietly shape who we become.
In ADé, Siân addresses Adenomyosis as though speaking to an unwanted housemate. "My body is your battlefield," she sings, giving voice to an intimate shadow lodged deep within herself. This bittersweet lullaby transforms a pain so often left unspoken into an act of profound tenderness towards oneself.
The album also holds a rare treasure: Reste tel(le), an unpublished text by Pierre Barouh, the founder of the Saravah label. Never before set to music or performed, this elusive poem of free love finds new life through Siân's voice, becoming a dialogue across time between two artists united by the same devotion to freedom, métissage and openness to the world.
Driven by Tom Excell's vibrant Afro-pop pulse, the spiritual breath of the kamele ngoni, organic arrangements and deeply personal songwriting, Animal is an album of liberation. It invites us to lay down our masks, embrace our contradictions and reconnect with the free, instinctive and powerful animal that lies dormant within us all. More than a collection of songs, it is a radiant manifesto for the richness of identity, the passing on of memory, and reconciliation with oneself.
Animal is not simply the title of an album, it is a declaration of independence. An invitation to live fully, unapologetically, and without instructions.
A citizen of the world, travelling freely between continents, languages and memories, Siân Pottok delivers with Animal her most personal, and perhaps her most universal work to date: an album that reminds us that our fragilities, our roots and our differences are, beyond doubt, our greatest strength.
— Christophe Tison

The Swedish dream-pop masterpiece returns to vinyl - introducing the 20th Anniversary Edition of The Radio Dept.’s Pet Grief.


"In the right mood, there is something shy and lovely about Pet Grief, ghosts of the C86 sound that make you want to grab a cardigan and sway." – The Guardian

"Melodies so easy to fall for; they barely feel like effort." - Pitchfork

"A rich, evocative mood piece, still eminently worth hearing.” - Allmusic

What makes a life well lived? Career, home, savings, family: these are the milestones that make adulthood legible as success. Friendship, meanwhile, is often treated as something that either endures or doesn’t, more a matter of luck than a relationship requiring its own devotion, maintenance, and care. When really, as the world becomes more isolated and artificial by the day, friendships may be the most important thing a person ever builds.


“A lot of times in life I feel like a late bloomer, like I'm still trying to get my shit together in a way that other people have already figured out,” says Chastity Belt drummer/vocalist Gretchen Grimm. “But then I reflect on my adulthood, and my top priority has largely been my friends, which I do not regret at all.” That priority feels like the guiding principle on the band’s sixth album, All My Friends. Not that they set out to make an album about friendship—during mixing the band's longtime collaborator and engineer, Samur Khouja, pointed out that a lot of the songs referenced the subject. Which makes a lot of sense.


Julia Shapiro (guitar/vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar/vocals), Hunter Truscott (bass/vocals), and Grimm have been making music together for 15 years. Friendship has sustained the Chastity Belt project as its members have grown alongside one another, both as people and as musicians. Across a resonant catalog, they’ve moved from the raucous wit of their early records toward the lush, introspective moods they’ve refined on each album since via trademark intertwining guitars, meticulous rhythms, and double exposure of melancholy and optimism.


All My Friends comprises songs recorded across multiple years, time zones, and studios, including Seahorse Sound in LA, Way Out in Woodinville, and a centuries-old house on the Greek island of Hydra. The oldest track dates back to around 2018; the newest were finished within the past year. These days, the band spans three cities (Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago); less writing/rehearsal time means songs are often worked out in the studio, relying on the spontaneity and instinct that comes from knowing one another so well. The result is rawer and less polished than their last couple of records, closer in spirit to the band’s roots.

Land of Talk is still here. That wasn’t always a guarantee. Over the multi-faceted twenty year history of their project, Lizzie Powell has drifted from and back to music, always interrogating their role as an artist. In the time since 2023’s Performances, they found themselves utterly worn down by the vicissitudes of the music industry and wracked with worry around their aging parents. Yet the music didn’t stop: Powell heard songs in traffic and in birds chirping, in their downstairs neighbor’s daily prayers and in the babble of children on the street. Melodies slowly cohered over time. “Life can become so unbearable, and music is where I go to metabolize it,” they explain. “I know the music was the only thing that was going to help me.” Soon Powell reemerged with the sixth Land of Talk album, LASTS.

LASTS is full of double meanings — both resilience and finality, acting as a noun and a verb. Though LASTS is haunted by crises including climate collapse, political upheaval, and genocide, the mangitude of global turmoil led Powell towards smaller, humane depictions of suffering and grief. As both their parents became ill, Powell reflected on the last time a person might walk, might talk to a loved one. Yet watching their parents near the other side of life’s arc also made Powell consider all they had survived across their own decades on this earth, their new songs channeling both gratitude and rage. LASTS became a phrase, honoring Land of Talk’s circuitous route and all Powell’s reckoned with through the years. “I think of this record as a love letter to life,” they say.

The end result is an album both lean and winding, allowing Powell’s words and melodies to take centerstage, uncrowded in visceral, shot-no-chaser arrangements. LASTS jumps right in with “Broken Tongue,” a wiry track built on thrumming electric guitar and ghostly synths as Powell rails against the lack of justice for victims of abuse. The trio’s interplay is readily evident in “Saffron” and “4:44,” two earworm songs that also allow themselves to unspool into extended instrumental codas. Early in the record, there are seething tracks like “Dogs” — “Just your basic instinct / Even dogs know better,” Powell growls in the chorus, before the song quiets into a plaintive plea of “Leave us alone now” — and later there are more vulnerable, wandering moments. In “Projections” and “Cedars,” Powell ventures deep into their head, inviting their co-conspirators and listeners alike to follow the songs wherever they meander.

2026 Repress

Robag Wruhme, working on the material. On the very same piece. And performing two different movements. First, thinking in category Album: who will hear it where? also: mood, position, length. Second, thinking in category Maxisingle: a spinning-tool for the club – another form of another functionality: accelerating the rhythm, lowering the harmonicmelodious, still preserving the nature of the song. And each version should make you HOT for the other!
Nata Alma, a voice loses itself in the infinite, a car brakes, a horse whinnies, the sun scorches relentless. Further, further on, towards the flickering, stoically. Water, flames on the horizon, Fata Morgana, a mirage. »And you might say, we've got no place to go?« - okay? no notokay at all!: Shuffle!
Nata Alma, melancholic Eight-minute-forty. A love song, a wave good-bye: »And you might say, that you need me no more?« sings Sidsel Endresen alongside Bugge Wesseltoft's swells and ebb-aways – metal never sounded so longing; a buzzing swing, a siren call from afar.
Robag Wruhme takes a seat at the organ and plays minor bass notes. He gets up, leaves the room and lays down a dry rock of funk: wooden kick on wooden snare, tight-cut voices, driving hi-hats and shakers, gated synth danglers and percussion loops. Relentless, stoically. »And you might say, that it's over?« – relentless, maybe, but that's how he creates the Further: keep going! dance it off! a new day rising!
And right here. Flip it and keep on moving: Venq Tolep. A summer meadow, grass-stains, a gentle breeze, an early smell of hay. Venq Tolep. Endorphins tickle under the skin. A
percussive spectacle, dance of the insects. Hopping around in flat shoes, the beat is phat and reverberated by a cluster of trees. Stabs on the e-piano set in, picturing the euphoric moment when Loving-feelings walk hand-in-hand with a Hint of Melancholy.
Robag Wruhme, Nata Alma and Venq Tolep - music for dance floors, inside and outside, music for the summer, day and night, and for convertibles on the way there.

Four years on from the much-loved Shelter EP, Orphic return with the Mambe EP, a long-awaited follow-up that sees the duo push further into their signature world of deep, dubwise techno and hypnotic club music. The record opens with the title track, a slow-burning piece of stripped-back techno that unfolds through submerged chords, rolling percussion and finely detailed sound design. Sitting alongside it are two solo productions from each half
of the Orphic project.

Kieran Jandu’s Back To Mine veers into deep, bass-heavy electro, all cavernous sub pressure, fractured drum programming and smoked-out atmosphere, landing somewhere between the weight of Digital Mystikz and the hypnotic, off-centre psychedelia of a Craig Richards set.

DJ Space Taxi takes a different route with Dream Cycle, an introspective, dreamlike cut where shimmering textures, drifting melodies and restrained rhythm combine to quietly draw
you in.

Flipping the record over, two of the underground’s most distinctive voices reinterpret the title track. Polygonia brings her unmistakable fluid, organic touch, stretching the original into a beautifully detailed, living groove, while Konduku strips things back into a
deeply hypnotic, psychedelic excursion that feels tailor-made for the outer edges of the dancefloor.

A beautifully restrained return from Orphic that more than justifies the four-year wait. Four artists, four distinct perspectives, held together by a shared appreciation for depth, space and subtle movement.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of one of the true cult classics of the Italo Disco universe: Mike Mareen’s “Love Spy.” Released in 1986, the track sounded strikingly different from much of the dance music around it: futuristic, dramatic, playful and instantly recognisable. It quickly found its way into DJ cases across Europe and became one of the records that would define Mike Mareen’s electronic sound.

But the story actually began under a different name. An early incarnation of the song was called “Batman,” with lyrics inspired by the adventures of the famous comic-book hero and the villains surrounding him. A small number of promotional copies circulated before copyright concerns meant that the concept had to be abandoned. The title and lyrics were rewritten and “Love Spy” was born. The early “Batman” version has since become one of the most fascinating curiosities in Mike Mareen’s catalogue.

Four decades later, we felt an anniversary like this deserved something special.
LOVE SPY 40th Anniversary will therefore arrive in two parts, bringing together some of our favourite producers from today’s Italo, synth and electronic scene.

Part One features brand-new remixes by Luca Dell’Orso, Flemming Dalum, Also Playable Mono and Disco Computer. And enthusiasm was never going to be a problem here. “Love Spy” is not simply an ’80s classic, it remains a genuine DJ favourite, loved by old-school collectors and a new generation of Italo-wave selectors alike.

Alongside four killer new interpretations, we are bringing back the original Badman Mix, plus the highly sought-after “MAKE YOUR OWN MIX” material – rare set of individual elements created for DJs to deconstruct, combine and rebuild “Love Spy” themselves. These samples have become particularly desirable among collectors and make the perfect addition to the first chapter of our anniversary edition.

Four new remixes. Two pieces of history. Forty years of LOVE SPY.

And we are only halfway there.

LOVE SPY 40th Anniversary Part Two, featuring another line-up of major names from our scene arrives in November.

Bogdan Ra's Love Affair label is still in its infancy, but thus far has yet to make a misstep. On his previous EP for the imprint, the Lisbon-based artist explored his love of TB-303 powered acid house insanity; here, he drops a much more diverse but no less impressive five tracker. He begins with 'Tour De Acid', a punchy electro-meets-acid house workout featuring nods aplenty to Kraftwerk, before blurring the boundaries between formative acid house, bleep and deep nu-disco on title track 'Light Boom'. 'Take Your Time' and 'Manic and Cool' are both peak-time ready slabs of peak-time-ready house nostalgia, while closing cut 'Strictly Business' is a brilliant blend of bass-heavy breaks and acid-fired dancefloor psychedelia.

From the label ran by the influential SHERELLE and NAINA, and lovers of Underworld, Tim Reaper and Aphex Twin, this explosive jungle techno EP does exactly what it promises - drum damage. Dev/Null is a part of the new Jungle resurgence elevating the sound of faster music. Moving seamlessly between Breakcore, Jungle and underground club sounds, and with the use of a multifaceted range of intriguing samples, sounds from the worlds of house, danchall and trance, this will be one of 2026's most exciting jungle techno releases.

Unlock the allure of The Hot Spot through its unforgettable soundtrack, a captivating collection that brings the film's sultry ambiance to life.

Set against the backdrop of a small Texas town, The Hot Spot follows Harry Madox, a charming drifter with a dark past. As he arrives in town, he becomes embroiled in a web of seduction and deceit, navigating his way through a love triangle involving the sultry waitress, Gloria, and the alluring femme fatale, Dolly. Tensions rise and passions ignite, leading to a thrilling climax where desire and danger intertwine. Directed by the visionary Dennis Hopper, the film is a masterclass in mood and atmosphere, capturing the essence of 1990s neo-noir.

The Hot Spot has garnered acclaim for its stylish cinematography and gripping narrative, but it's the music that truly sets it apart. It's an amalgamation of swampy blues, jazz and rock — all mixed and recorded in a sparse, bloomy and eerie sort of way.

Critics hailed the soundtrack as "an electrifying fusion of jazz and blues that perfectly complements the film's seductive undertones." The blend of sultry melodies and haunting instrumentals creates an immersive experience that resonates long after the credits roll.

This recording is just so damn fine, so airy and warm. And the musicians aboard on this Dennis Hopper film are a who's who, including Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Roy Rodgers, Earl Palmer and Tim Drummond. This has long been a highly sought-after and collectible record among audiophiles. This soundtrack is essential for any music lover or film buff, capturing the very essence of the film's seductive spirit.

Lex Walton (née Alex) is an American songwriter, actress, prose poet, and filmmaker whose work is unflinchingly confessional, and whose live performances are filled with ecstatic masochism and flailing. In addition to her catalog of a dozen or so mostly home-recorded albums, EPs, and singles, she has recorded collaborations with Devi McCallion (Black Dresses, Girls Rituals), Geese, and Ezra Furman, written the pop music manifesto The Sound Rocker's Prayer, and starred in Louise Weard's five-hour epic film Castration Movie Anthology II: The Best Of Both Worlds.


ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER is Lex’s unwavering, iconoclastic Sub Pop debut. Some of the tracks already have fans and the music press heated up, so we’ll let the critics do the talking! PASTE: “Walton’s wiggly, anxious power pop wades through pages of dead links and forum threads to get to its incendiary hooks... anachronistic collage of Edwardian portrait artists, country greats, and noise rock heroes… a roadside altar… with its lo-fi hissing and tongue-twisting one-liners.” The Quietus: "For fans of early Jonathan Richman, NYC gutter punks Dollhouse, or staring at the fluorescent lights of the Walgreens ceiling on your third day withdrawing from psych meds, barely able to parse the words ‘Medicaid coverage has lapsed’ as a pharmacist misgenders you. And also, later Jonathan Richman."


ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER was written by Lex Walton, produced by Lex and Dan Boeckner, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ben Greenberg at Thump and Circular Ruin in Williamsburg, with assistant engineer Alice Cohen. ULTIMATE LOVE FOREVER features appearances from Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs), Emerson Borakove, Alice Cohen, Brendan Dunphy, Emily Green (Geese), Greenberg (Uniform, The Men), Scotty Malcolm, Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire), and Sam Revaz (Geese).

St. Panther is the recording project of Dani Bojorges-Giraldo (they/them), a Mexican/Colombian artist, producer, singer, rapper, and multi-instrumentalist living in East Los Angeles. On their full-length debut, East Side Love Story, they dedicate an effervescent, soulful set of love songs to the place they call home.
The project has developed over the past six years within the walls of their East Los Angeles apartment. Friends, lovers, sounds, and songs, the essence of the East Side pours through the windows as an endless stream of distinctly Latino taste. Chicano soul, Motown classics, G-funk anthems, and other feel-good oldies fill the air with warmth and romance. Everything imbues the timeless East Side Love Story, arriving in 2026 on the art-forward label drink sum wtr.

Arriving in Dundee via Berlin, Daribone lands on Exiled with Love is Sick – an EP that sees a perfect matrimony between the Body Music and New Beat styles that we know and love. Driving bass lines, downtempo chuggers and nightmare vocals included.

You asked for one more. Laibach duly oblige with MUSICK : ENCORE, a follow-up album to their 2026 record MUSICK, out on Mute.

They answer the crowd's demand with six brand new tracks and reworks of songs from the original album, reimagined by an eclectic line-up. Vinyl takers get the core 10-track experience, pairing new songs with four key reworks from the band, Richard X, PUNCHBAG, and Balžalorsky. The CD goes further, expanding to 13 tracks with additional remixes, including a rework of new track ‘#US’ from SILVERWINGKILLER, an Algorithm remix of fan-favourite ‘Allgorhythm’, and a bonus version of ‘Love Machine’ courtesy of The Lincolnshire Poacher.

Where MUSICK turned maximalist, hyper-driven pop into a reflection on our oversaturated, AI-warped media landscape, ENCORE pushes further into that fractured hall of mirrors – glitching, distorting, and rebuilding the original tracks into new shapes, from pulsing electropop to warped Eurodance detours and everything stranger in between.

Ihr habt nach einer Zugabe gefragt. Laibach liefern: Mit MUSICK : ENCORE erscheint auf Mute das Nachfolgealbum zu ihrem 2026 veröffentlichten Werk MUSICK.

Als Antwort auf die große Nachfrage präsentiert die Band sechs brandneue Tracks sowie Neuinterpretationen von Songs des Originalalbums, umgesetzt von einer vielseitigen Auswahl an Künstler. Die Vinyl-Version umfasst zehn Tracks und kombiniert neues Material mit vier ausgewählten Reworks von Laibach, Richard X, PUNCHBAG und Balžalorsky.

Die CD-Version erweitert das Programm auf insgesamt 13 Tracks und bietet zusätzliche Remixe. Darunter befinden sich eine Neuinterpretation des neuen Tracks „#US“ von SILVERWINGKILLER, ein Algorithm-Remix des Fan-Favoriten „Allgorhythm“ sowie eine Bonusversion von „Love Machine“ von The Lincolnshire Poacher.

Während MUSICK maximalistischen, hochenergetischen Pop als Spiegel unserer reizüberfluteten und durch KI zunehmend verzerrten Medienlandschaft inszenierte, führt ENCORE diesen Ansatz konsequent weiter. Die ursprünglichen Tracks werden zerlegt, verfremdet und neu zusammengesetzt – von pulsierendem Elektropop über verschobene Eurodance-Ausflüge bis hin zu allem, was dazwischen noch eigenwilliger und unerwarteter wird.

Fourteen years have passed since Woollen Kits released two albums in a single year (Woollen Kits and Four Girls, both 2012), but Melbourne/Naarm’s beloved Kits are back to remind us what we’ve been missing all this time.

Weather the Storm still draws from the same deck of cards, but opens the door to some more classically renowned influences like The Velvet Underground, Television Personalities, Beat Happening ,Marine Girls, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, et al.

Across ten tracks it’s clear just how well they can write a hook, a verse, a chorus, a song; bringing together themes of everyday life, love and sincerity with aphorisms, stories and the classic sound we know and love.

Woollen Kits’ approach is almost as minimal and primitive as it was back in 2007, when singer/guitarist Tom Hardisty first sent a few channels into the red on an old Tascam tape machine. Simple chords, strong melodies, witty lyrics and a clear message. It’s a hell of a combination when it’s done well, and one they would only refine from there.

Tom (Hardisty) recruited a second Tom (Ridgewell, drums) and a Leon (Applebee, guitar) to help guide his new Cramps/Half Japanese- worship bedroom project into a real-life band, playing their first gig on NYE ’08 before launching into 2009 to record their first canon release, the Teenage Love 7”.

Yes, much time has passed since the band’s last record, Four Girls, came out in late 2012, but in the interim members have released plenty of other music across numerous projects, including Constant Mongrel, Nun, Canine Apathy, The UV Race, TB Ridge as The Director, Calamari Girls & more.

10 years since his first edits outing on RNT, label co-founder JKriv digs into his deep well of reworks for a four-tracker of cheeky dancefloor madness. Coming in hot on the A side, I Feel Amor is modern twist on the disco classic anthem, a peak time weapon of epic proportions with hard-hitting beats and churning synths, and the inimitable sing-along vocal (pero en Español). Love Dub is a stripped down deep house affair, a solid driving groove with thunderous bass, synth accents and acapella flourishes. On the B-side, Cuando Bailo is the edit you didn’t know you needed; a callback to a bygone era of one-hit wonder magic, flipped masterfully to be all-club and just a sprinkle of camp. And rounding off the record Dance Sexy takes an obscure purple-hued cover into hypnotic red-light territory, with funky synth stabs riding a pulsing and infectious bass line, in classic JKriv fashion.

What's Left is the new album by Tom Henry, releasing November 20th, 2026 on Royal Oakie Records. Where his debut album Songs to Sing and Dance To leaned into big dreams, What's Left is a record about what remains once the dust settles, delivered with the wit and charm of a young rocker in his prime. The familiar influences are still there — Paul McCartney and Big Star loom large (though there's a little more Third/Sister Lovers this time around), but now the songs are lush and polished, with new sounds creeping in around Henry’s trademark power pop hooks. On a handful of tracks you can even hear strains of Syd Barrett influenced acid-folk alongside psychedelic rock that recalls The Brian Jonestown Massacre or The Beatles at their most lysergic.

Produced in collaboration with David Glasebrook (Patti Smith, Peter Case, Sugar Candy Mountain), and engineered by Glasebrook and Stephen Shirk, the album was tracked across two cities at Shirk Studios in Chicago, IL and The Garden Shed in Oakland, CA, where Glasebrook also handled mixing and mastering. The record's cross-continental origins reflect the movements of Tom’s own life over the past half decade, which found him departing his native Chicago for Los Angeles before returning home four years later, and lend the album its distinctive sound of Midwestern grit mixed with California sunshine across all twelve tracks.

Opener "Someone I Need" sets the tone: an old-fashioned, up-beat rocker built for a roadside diner jukebox somewhere out along the backroads of your mind — it's crunchy tape tones and horn arrangement lending warmth to the song as the narrator asks for a dance and beckons the listener along for the ride. By "It's Not Meant to Be," the record turns inward, wrestling with the exhaustion of trying to find love in the modern age — especially for someone who wears their heart on their sleeve and often comes to find their suitor's wardrobe doesn't have room. "Silverlake Song," reminiscent of early Donovan, kicks off with otherworldly sitar — a wry postcard from the west, tracing how the shimmering promise of L.A.'s Silver Lake enchants, bargains with, and ultimately tries to ruin the starry-eyed dreamer — and very nearly succeeds.

In addition to Tom–who sang and played guitar, bass, and keys–the album features musical contributions from co-producer David Glasebrook, Brian Daley, Joe Daley, Finn Swingley, Lewis Patzner, and labelmates Graham Patzner, Charles Lloyd, and Simon Beins. Liner notes come courtesy of Ian F. Svenonius, who — in the guise of one Johnny Sincere of Integrated Star Management Ltd. — recounts his company's failed attempt to sell Tom Henry a gimmick: a space suit, a coal miner's neckerchief, a lounge pianist's dead-eyed shades. Tom turned them all down. As Svenonius tells it, when reminded that every story's been told and every gimmick's been used, that all that's left is to admire the photographs of what's gone before, Tom simply shrugged: rock 'n' roll is an eternal spring, and if this is what's left, that's just fine with him — it's what he likes to do.

Half a century after its original release, legendary Lebanese musician and singer Marcel Khalife—renowned oud player and global icon of both music and activism—returns with a new recording. On this album, he reinterprets four of the five tracks from his debut, Promises of the Storm. A bold defiance of time and history.


Why revisit the same album, 50 years later? The reasons are many, but one stands above the rest: history itself seems to be repeating. The narrative unfolds once more in the same dire circumstances as half a century ago, as if time has folded in on itself, returning everything to its starting point. The urgency, the necessity—it all remains, pressing and inescapable. We must begin again.


In 1976, a young Marcel Khalife found himself exiled in Paris, fleeing the Lebanese Civil War and his family’s Christian village, where his progressive, left-wing ideas had placed him under a kind of house arrest. He was one of the few to openly and unwaveringly champion the Palestinian cause. The situation quickly became untenable, especially since, just a month before the war began in March 1975, Khalife—fresh out of the conservatory—had given his first public concert to great acclaim. Then, everything collapsed. What does one do when trapped at home? Read books, play the oud, and turn those readings into songs. In his family’s de facto prison, Khalife began setting the poetry of the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish to music. These songs, born of confinement, he carried with him into exile, driving to Paris where a producer offered him the chance to record an album. Naturally, the tracks were the ones he had been improvising at home from Darwish’s poems. The album’s title, Promises of the Storm, echoed the war that was just beginning. Khalife recalls that the album became a hit after a concert at the Fête de l’Huma, where 500 copies were sold in a single day. “Everything started there, and it never stopped,” he remembers. He would meet Mahmoud Darwish shortly after, at a dinner organized by mutual friends. From that moment, a deep friendship blossomed between the two men.


With Darwish’s words and Khalife’s music, the songs of Promises of the Storm are imbued with a powerful evocative force—melancholy, tenderness, and poetic resistance in the face of violence. The album catapulted Khalife to international stardom, leading to endless tours and recordings, yet he never abandoned his commitments.


Now, 50 years later, Promises of the Storm returns in a fresh recording, because history is repeating itself. After the Israeli bombings in Lebanon at the end of 2024, Khalife, who was on tour, found himself stranded in Paris. He remembered a recurring request from his son, musician Bachar Mar-Khalife, who had often urged him to re-record his now-classic debut album. One morning, oud in hand, Marcel knocked on his son’s door and said, “Shall we? I’m ready to record.”
These new versions are stripped down, raw, and intimate—just the solitary strings of the oud. Khalife sings as never before, his voice no longer marked by the fragility of youth but imbued with something deeper, freer, unshackled. It soars high yet resonates low, always clear, as if to escape sadness, to evoke love and violence, desire and exile. In just four songs, Khalife encapsulates a lifetime, and a philosophy of life. Rita tells of a love of Darwish’s, with the haunting line (translated from Arabic): “Between Rita’s eyes and mine, a rifle.” Oummi invokes the figure of the mother as a metaphor for the lost land. Promises of the Storm is a meditation on revolution, the hope for change, the melancholy of defeat, and the power of thought. Passport captures, through poetry, the feeling of being stateless—a citizen of everywhere and nowhere.
Time has only strengthened these texts and this music. History never repeats itself without a valid, indispensable reason for the present. That reason is fully contained in Marcel Khalife’s new interpretations, which have never sounded so clear, so right, so essential.

DJ Tails & Noizer is a legendary Dutch hardcore and rave duo consisting of Marc (Tails) Oudijn and Michel (Noizer) van der Padt. Rising to prominence in the mid-1990s, they became essential figures in the Early Rave and Happy Hardcore scenes.

"Drum & Basz" is their signature anthem, widely regarded as a genre-defining track.

They have performed at the world's most iconic hardcore events, including Thunderdome, Mysteryland, and the Love Parade.

Available in the Hardcore Legends series on black vinyl!

DJ Support: Glenn Underground, Crazy P, Terry Farley, Aroop Roy, Chris Coco, Frank Tope, Greg Wilson, Dom Servini, Francois K, Max Essa, Oliver Dollar, Pete Herbert and many more

Danny Ward’s Balaphonic project, one of many the long-serving performer, producer, percussionist, drummer and DJ has utilised over a career spanning over three decades, has evolved considerably since his first release under the alias 11 years ago. Conceived as a platform to explore his love of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian musical culture, it gathered new impetus during lockdown and the recording of superb first album Resolution Revolutions, which fused these influences with nods to Balearica, dub, dancehall and deep house.

On the Organic Matters EP, Ward’s follow-up to that critically acclaimed set, the Balaphonic musical universe has expanded once more, with the Manchester native showcasing a wealth of eye-catching collaborations and an even more intricately layered and sonically detailed sound rich in live percussion and instrumentation. It’s an ambitious and widescreen musical vision wrapped in sun-soaked melodies, morning-fresh motifs and simmering, sunset-friendly soundscapes.

The dizzying new heights scaled by Ward on Organic Matters is evident from the opening bars of ‘Dew Drops’, a piece created in unison with internationally renowned composer and arranger Robin Dewhirst. Between them, the pair have conjured up a yearning, life-affirming samba shuffler where picturesque piano, xylophone and balafon melodies rise above Ward’s dense, layered Latin percussion and warming bass.

Next, Ward delivers a thrillingly different take on his 2005 composition ‘Switch’, featuring legendary Brazilian jazz vocalist Flora Purim and her equally talented daughter Diana Moreira Booker. Whereas that was a jazzy deep house workout, Ward’s Balaphonic re-make is a shuffling, gentle exploration in 7/4 time – a heartfelt tribute to the Brazilian records with which Purim first made her name in the 1960s and ‘70s.

‘Balaventurers’ sees Ward join forces with an old friend from the North-West scene, R.S.L founder Joe Botham AKA Baleardelica – a multi-instrumentalist and producer whose Flamenco-inspired acoustic guitar motifs provided the starting point for another vividly colourful exploration rich in layered vocalisations, twinkling keys and impeccably arranged percussion.

It’s followed by ‘Life of Strings’, a more up-tempo and dancefloor-leaning excursion written and recorded alongside Amsterdam-based violinist, and composer Katya Gabeli. While Ward’s percussion-rich groove provides propulsion and a rock-solid foundation, it’s Gabeli’s evocative string arrangement that provides the focal point and emotional resonance. It’s a genuinely brilliant collaboration.

To round off a second stunning Balaphonic release on NuNorthern Soul, Ward delivers two simmering, slow-motion delights: the Afro-Cuban rhythms, cascading melodies and melodic percussion motifs of ‘Boxfresh’, and stunning EP closer ‘Home’ – an almost overwhelmingly poignant and beautiful number that gently ebbs and flows on waves of tracked piano, dreamy chords and a comforting sense of closure. It’s a genuinely sublime conclusion to another wonderful Balaphonic release.

One of the most influential dub albums ever made. The remixing techniques used – radically new for 1973 – helped transform the role of the producer and the engineer to that of creative artists in their own right.

First released in Jamaica in December 1972, Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle is widely regarded as one of the first full-length dub albums and a true landmark in reggae history. Produced by the visionary Jamaican innovator Lee “Scratch” Perry, it marks the decisive moment when dub evolved from incidental B-sides into a fully realized long-playing art form. At a time when Jamaican sound system culture was flourishing, producers were beginning to strip down popular reggae tracks into instrumental “versions,” emphasizing the bass and drums for sound system deejays to toast over while adding echo and reverb effects to make things more interesting and dynamic. While King Tubby, who was in charge of mixing the tracks, was pioneering the technical foundations of dub, Perry expanded the approach by adding the hypnotic and psychedelic sound effects that made this record so rich in ideas, rendering the album more conceptually bold.

The album reworked previously released rhythm tracks by the Upsetters, which were recorded between 1970 and 1972, shortly before Perry opened his own studio – the legendary Black Ark Studio in Kingston. Their tight, groove-driven playing provided a solid backbone for these radical studio manipulations. Using the mixing desk as an instrument, tracks were deconstructed in real time – dropping vocals in and out, isolating drumbeats, pushing bass lines to the front of the mix, and sending fragments of sound spiraling into space through the heavy use of a spring reverb and tape delay effect units. Silence became as important as sound, and the interplay of rhythm and echo created a hypnotic, immersive listening experience.

Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle established dub as a genre defined by creative studio intervention. It demonstrated that the remix itself could be the main attraction, influencing generations of reggae producers and resonating far beyond into the techniques and aesthetics of post-punk, electronic music, hip-hop, and ambient sound design. By transforming the studio into a creative laboratory and elevating the “version” to an art form, this foundational album reshaped not only Jamaican music, but the whole of modern music production culture.

Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer and musician Aimée Portioli aka Grand River presents the new album Temporary, returning to the renowned Editions Mego label with her most expansive and focused LP yet.

Rooted in existential ideas of impermanence and flux, Temporary is a deeply emotive work centred on the rich interplay between resonant guitar work and innovative electronics. Written in the wake of profound personal grief and loss, the album sees Portioli infuse her music with a raw, expressive intensity anchored in this experience. Across eight strikingly melodic and affecting soundscapes, Portioli powerfully embodies a dramatic encounter with mortality.

Temporary reprises Portioli’s exceptional streak of material across acclaimed labels including Donato Dozzy and Neel’s Spazio Disponibile, Caterina Barbieri's light-years, Ghostly International, Tresor and Umor Rex. The LP represents the latest tour de force in her distinctive electronic practice. Alongside a raft of lauded releases, Portioli has devised visionary multichannel installations which dissolve the boundary between the art gallery and the performance space.

Her new album signifies a culmination of her work, imbued with the depth of Portioli’s artistry. Shaped by a paradigm shift rising from loss, the record reflects a contemplation of the human condition and the ephemeral nature of existence. Ruminating on the thoughts and experiences that have fed into the record, Portioli reveals a consequential recognition underpinning the record:

"Sometimes, when travelling in places far from home that I know I will most likely never return to, or while accompanying someone I loved towards the end of their life, I become intensely aware of the singularity of the moment, and of how precious and sad this feels at the same time. It carries a particular weight because it will never happen again in quite the same way. Through experiences like these, I have gradually come to understand the temporary nature of all things. They taught me that to live is to experience the present while already feeling the trace of its disappearance, something both painful and blissful." - Aimée Portioli, Grand River

The album is invested with a potent mood and momentum from the outset. Establishing an evocative tone with the subtle, pulsating synthesis, rustling undertow, and oceanic low end of 18 circles to heaven, Portioli gradually ascends through the incandescent modular majesty of Come to stay, and the turbulent, brooding guitar figures of The crossing of the body, the crossing of the mind. The album progresses through the rapturous electronic phasing of The little we last into the coruscating synth grandeur of Let me know when you’re pure, before a thrilling endgame.

Closing with the wavering harp runs, heavy percussive thud, and cataclysmic guitar discordance of Maybe I am dead and this is paradise, and the evanescent atmospherics and beautiful acoustic refrains of Work of ending, Portioli takes the listener through vast landscapes of sound and mercurial emotional states. Intimate and immersive in equal measure, the record traces a compelling sensory journey.

Each part of the album is part of a larger poetic sentence, with track titles forming fragments that together articulate a meditation on transience. From 18 circles to heaven and Come to stay through From the other side and Work of ending, they read like quiet statements about being human, about loving, losing, remembering and eventually fading. The record moves through these states as a continuous passage, depicting a poignant soundworld guided by temporality.

The awareness that our time is limited sharpens the value of what remains. Each encounter, each gesture, each fleeting moment becomes more vivid. Temporary lingers in the space where presence and disappearance coexist, where everything is already passing away and therefore becomes infinitely precious. Things matter because they do not last. Mortality does not diminish life; it intensifies it. In confronting these ideas, Temporary feels irrepressibly alive.

Composed, produced and mixed by Aimée Portioli
Production and mixing assistance by Luca Sammartin
Acoustic piano on Maybe I am dead and this is paradise by Andert Tysma
Mastered by Rashad Becker
Cut by Marta De Pascalis at Schnittstelle, Berlin
Artwork by Nicola Tirabasso
Layout by Riccardo Piovesan

WOW! An early ’80s New Wave, Electro, Proto-Electronica, Industrial and Kraut-Pop album that has never been released before is now coming out on Elaste Records and it’s a perfect fit! History is being made.

Quotes: “A pearl” (Hans Nieswandt) / “Great album” (Hell, Gigolo) / “Awesome album” (Patrick Pulsinger) / “Magnificent material” (Roman Flügel) / “An ’80s electronic gem… an ’80s Krautpop highlight” (Sankt Otten).

In the early eighties, Michael Heinkel was one of those quiet electronic musicians hardly anyone knew — at least outside of Munich. While machine rhythms were being perfected in Düsseldorf, dilettantism was elevated into an art form in Hamburg and West Berlin was soundtracking its own feverish coldness, Munich seemed to be a place where, apparently, nothing was happening. Or almost nothing. Because beneath the radar, far removed from the grand narratives of those years, Michael Heinkel was already creating his own electronic cosmos — stripped-down, idiosyncratic and often ahead of its time. Electronic minimalist music, born somewhere between a home studio, nightlife and the longing for a future that could only just be imagined back then. But the recordings disappeared into drawers, onto cassettes and tape reels. For decades, they remained a secret shared only among friends, insiders and a handful of close companions. It was only 45 years later that Andreas Dorau and Ralf Hertwig (Palais Schaumburg) — two defining figures of that early avant-garde — insisted that the recordings finally be made accessible. Not as an exercise in nostalgia, but as the overdue release of a missing piece in the history of German electronic music. This music is not a nostalgic retrospective. It is a delayed signal from a future that had already begun back then. Format: Heavyweight black vinyl incl. printed inner sleeve + download card



Quotes: -"Michael Heinkel's long-lost LP is a treasure trove. I'm constantly amazed at the musical gems from the early '80s that are still waiting to be discovered." - Hans Nieswandt (Whirlpool Productions) - „Some München musical history that somehow got missed at the time finally gets released after 40 years. Great album.“ - Hell (Gigolo) - “Awesome album! Today, we can only imagine just how groundbreaking electronic music at this level was back then. When gems like these are heard for the first time in perfect sound quality, it’s like a trip back in time to the early days of electronic music. Back to the future!!!” - Patrick Pulsinger (Cheap / iO / Sluts’n‘ Strings & 909 / The Private Lightning Six) - “Terrific material!” - Roman Flügel (Acid Jesus / Alter Ego / Sensorama / Warp 69) - “ELASTE has unearthed an 80s electronic gem! A German minimal wave gem-freshly unearthed! Minimal, rare, brilliant - an 80s Krautpop highlight.” - Sankt Otten - „Pure and delicious 80s Electronics from Munich. We love it.“ - Gorilla Aktiv

2026 Repress

Coming in hot on Berlin's Toy Tonics label: a new EP by the talented duo ALMA NEGRA!

Founded in 2013, Alma Negra is a Swiss collective centered around the brother duo Dersu and Diego Figueira, whose diverse roots in Switzerland and Cape Verde inform their sound. The project was launched with the ambitious vision to explore the world's diverse rhythms and drive musical innovation by mixing different styles. Their work is anchored in a process of digging and sampling, skillfully blending traditional sounds-from Fela Kuti-influenced Nigerian afrobeat and Angolan Lamento to Caribbean Zouk and the Maloya sound of Réunion-into a contemporary dance music context.

The Figueira brothers' eclectic DJ sets embody this ethos, peppering disco and house with salsa, samba, jazz, and Afro-Caribbean carnival rhythms, all under their guiding motto: "As long as it's Funky."

Since 2014, Alma Negra has made an important contribution to intercultural exchange in their hometown of Basel. Their international presence began in 2015 with their first shows abroad in countries like France, the Netherlands, and Portugal. From 2016 to 2019, their reach expanded significantly, with performances in major hubs like London, Paris, and Berlin, as well as Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and Tunisia. Highlights from this period include sets at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Dimensions Croatia, and Fuse Club in Brussels. Their standing is further cemented by releases on respected labels like Heist Recordings, Sofrito, and Basic Fingers, alongside remixes from an elite group of peers, including Soulphiction, Kuniyuki, and Yuksek.

Parallel to their studio and DJ work, the project expanded into the Alma Negra Live Band, formed with jazz musicians from Basel. While the band is currently on hiatus, this collaboration made live instrumentation increasingly central to their productions, creating a dynamic they feel is essential for any dancefloor. The live band has performed in cities like London and Hamburg and has led to collaborations with artists such as French singer Pat Kalla and jazz trumpeter Bodo Maier.

Balaise was the original title of Vers le Nord’s debut album. In French slang, balaise means something in between badass and flamboyant. The word keeps popping up throughout the record, like a teenager’s graffiti scrawled on a bus shelter after a few drinks. Balaise robots. Balaise ghosts lurking in the shadows. Balaise is the barfly who fantasies about becoming a street vigilante. In many ways, Matthieu Pellerin's new solo project is entirely contained within that word: a gigantic piece one man against the world cobbled together, a monument shaped by hand using layers of synthesizers sounding like cathedral organs cast in concrete.


Stitching this type of freak together took time. Five years, or what sounds like forever in an age obsessed with career trajectories and content strategies. But for Matthieu Pellerin, it was never about career plans or taking the easy road. Or he would have dug up the rotting corpse of Oi Boys, his now-defunct band, whose brief existence and explosive popularity once united sullen skinheads, gothic street punks, and old school punks alike. Or he would have fully embraced the Metz scene, now that the Great International Triple Alliance of the East (Noir Boy George, The Dreams, The Feeling Of Love...) and rising solo acts like Tune Zitoune, Josy Bazar, Fantôme Josepha, and Tony Gerrano have somehow transformed this sprawling open-air heroin camp into an unlikely capital of cool. But Vers le Nord doesn't point East, and it is as a lone rider that Matthieu Pellerin can fully reveal his songwriting scope.


With Le Seul Élément, his first solo project, the Lorraine native had already shown a rare gift for crafting worlds. Picture vast sonic masses stretching like industrial zones, noise-filled fog pierced by pale neon lights and landscapes caught somewhere between the gnarliest dive bar and a doomsday bunker. And slipping through the soul-crushing slowness and fractured blackened atmospheres, one could perceive a throwback to his years plotting in black metal-tinged Loth and Bishop.

Vers le Nord populates those landscapes that once were rough sketches. Damaged characters reign supreme, with a plethora of exquisite mutts brought to life, rather than outcasts committed to the cause. Where Nuits Blanches —his new supergroup featuring members of Rixe, Lion's Law, Headbussa and La Femme— pulls no punches with raw confessions, Pellerin switches gear for tales of robot apocalypses, vagrants and fam-seeking school shooters, delivered with William Sheller-esque rhymes and striking images. Yet even within fiction, he manages to create something deeply intimate, almost defining, showing very little effort: he is a natural. All in all, à l’aise (at ease). Songs resonate deeply with the listener, perhaps because of Pellerin’s odd way or always addressing someone without ever really naming them, a floating, obsessive and inescapable “you” calling us out.


Despite all of the darkness, Vers le Nord stirs deep emotions. There is something of Type O Negative or Anna von Hausswolff in its constant collision of the ludicrous and the epic gothic, its bleak romanticism that never tells a sordid tale. While the vocals remain rooted in a distinctly French punk lineage—think No Class, La Souris Déglinguée and OG Bérurier Noir—the reactor core is hidden somewhere else. Oneohtrix Point Never feels like a closer relative with his ultra-emotional music made of cold synths and disembodied anthems, swallowing and regurgitating forty years of icy, contemplative new wave across ten songs. It comes as no surprise that Lila Ehjä and Aimable, two rising specialists in lowering the temperature below seasonal norms, appear on “Enterrez-moi bordel” (“Bury Me, for fuck's sake”), a grandiose, spectral and magnificently arrogant finale. And in the end, Vers le Nord starts where the original idea was hiding all along: somewhere amid the ruins, definitely balaise and yet somehow, completely à l'aise.

As a longtime member of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem, Al Doyle has spent decades working alongside two of the most distinct vocalists in modern pop: Alexis Taylor and James Murphy. If he’s had a song or an idea, there’s always been someone else he’d rather have sing it.
But on November 20, 2026, the British multi-instrumentalist will release Hollywood Saviour, an album that drove him to finally embrace his own voice. “It’s me discovering a way to write and sing stuff that I could live with,” he says of his first-ever solo outing.
Recorded in his East London studio, Relax and Enjoy, Hollywood Saviour has the feeling—the rush and release—of a breakthrough, of an artist letting go. Doyle’s found freedom in simplicity here, leaning into the many pleasures of guitar-bass-drums, indulging wholeheartedly in the weird, spontaneous, raucous, and raw. He sounds free.
That sense of fun and rampant possibility can be felt in every groove, Doyle finding added inspiration in the loose and the louche, from Sexual Harassment’s 1983 electro-funk raunch-o-rama “I Need A Freak” to Throbbing Gristle’s locomotive 1980 paean to jerking off, “Something Came Over Me,” which is lovingly covered here.
At times, this album feels like a delirious response to the darkness of our current moment. On opener “Hard Times in America,” Doyle offers us a psychedelic window into his experiences traveling back and forth to the United States in recent years, feeling fascism’s hold tighten with each visit.
That sense of character comes through in Doyle’s vocal approach, a giddy combination of Iggy Pop, Pete Shelley, and PIL-era John Lydon. On “All I Want for Christmas”—a dark and devastating highlight—he takes on the shape of a drug addict come holiday season, “both dead and alive,” abandoned by his family, stumbling through a garden of drum machine and piano. It’s a pop song, lovely and lovingly rendered. It just wouldn’t be the same without his voice.

Diese Doppel-Vinyl-Compilation lädt ein in die warme, entspannte Welt des Lo-Fi-Sounds - eine Musik, die entschleunigt, Atmosphäre schafft und Nähe erzeugt. Versammelt sind prägende Künstler des Genres, die Lo-Fi, Downtempo, Jazz-Einflüsse und elektronische Gelassenheit miteinander verbinden. Mit Beiträgen von FKJ, Darius, Kid Loco, St Germain, The Mighty Bop, DJ Cam, DJ Spinna und weiteren wichtigen Namen entsteht ein vielschichtiges Panorama zwischen organischen Grooves, sanften Beats und subtilen Melodien. Die Auswahl richtet sich gleichermaßen an langjährige Liebhaber wie an neue Hörer, die Lo-Fi als eigenständige, zeitlose Form elektronischer Musik entdecken möchten. Ein stimmiger, sorgfältig kuratierter Sampler für entspannte Hörsituationen, stilbewusste Sets und alle, die elektronische Musik lieber fühlen als konsumieren. ENGThis double-vinyl compilation invites listeners into the warm, comforting world of lo-fi music - a sound defined by relaxed rhythms, organic textures and understated emotion. Featuring leading artists of the genre, the collection blends downtempo beats, jazz influences and laid-back electronic production. With tracks by FKJ, Darius, Kid Loco, St Germain, The Mighty Bop, DJ Cam, DJ Spinna and others, the album offers a broad yet coherent overview of lo-fi aesthetics. It appeals both to seasoned listeners and newcomers seeking a timeless, atmosphere-driven listening experience. A carefully curated selection designed for calm moments, focused listening and stylish musical environments

a A1 Rhiannon 4:11
b A2 Don’t Stop [3:11]
[c] A3 Go Your Own Way [3:38]
[d] A4 Hold Me [3:45]
[e] A5 Everywhere [3:43]
[f] A6 Gypsy [4:25]
[g] A7 As Long As You Follow [4:17]
[h] B1 Say You Love Me [4:10]
[i] B2 Dreams [4:14]
[j] B3 Little Lies [3:38]
[k] B4 Sara [6:22]
[l] B5 Tusk [3:30]
[m] B6 No Questions Asked [4:36]
[n] C1 Landslide [3:19]
[o] C2 Big Love [3:39]
[p] C3 Over My Head [3:35]
[q] C4 Oh Diane [2:39]
[r] C5 You Make Loving Fun [3:32]
[s] D1 The Chain [4:30]
[t] D2 Think About Me [2:44]
[u] D3 Seven Wonders [3:42]
[v] D4 Never Going Back Again [2:14]
[w] D5 Silver Springs (Live) [5:42]

[a] A1 Rhiannon [4:11]
[b] A2 Don’t Stop [3:11]
[c] A3 Go Your Own Way [3:38]
[d] A4 Hold Me [3:45]
[e] A5 Everywhere [3:43]
[f] A6 Gypsy [4:25]
[g] A7 As Long As You Follow [4:17]
[h] B1 Say You Love Me [4:10]
[i] B2 Dreams [4:14]
[j] B3 Little Lies [3:38]
[k] B4 Sara [6:22]
[l] B5 Tusk [3:30]
[m] B6 No Questions Asked [4:36]
[n] C1 Landslide [3:19]
[o] C2 Big Love [3:39]
[p] C3 Over My Head [3:35]
[q] C4 Oh Diane [2:39]
[r] C5 You Make Loving Fun [3:32]
[s] D1 The Chain [4:30]
[t] D2 Think About Me [2:44]
[u] D3 Seven Wonders [3:42]
[v] D4 Never Going Back Again [2:14]
[w] D5 Silver Springs (Live) [5:42]

[a] A1 | Rhiannon [4 11]
[b] A2 | Don’t Stop [3 11]
[c] A3 | Go Your Own Way [3 38]
[d] A4 | Hold Me [3 45]
[e] A5 | Everywhere [3 43]
[f] A6 | Gypsy [4 25]
[g] A7 | As Long As You Follow [4 17]
[h] B1 | Say You Love Me [4 10]
[i] B2 | Dreams [4 14]
[j] B3 | Little Lies [3 38]
[k] B4 | Sara [6 22]
[l] B5 | Tusk [3 30]
[m] B6 | No Questions Asked [4 36]
[n] C1 | Landslide [3 19]
[o] C2 | Big Love [3 39]
[p] C3 | Over My Head [3 35]
[q] C4 | Oh Diane [2 39]
[r] C5 | You Make Loving Fun [3 32]
[s] D1 | The Chain [4 30]
[t] D2 | Think About Me [2 44]
[u] D3 | Seven Wonders [3 42]
[v] D4 | Never Going Back Again [2 14]
[w] D5 | Silver Springs (Live) [5 42]

[a] A1 | Rhiannon [4 11]
[b] A2 | Don’t Stop [3 11]
[c] A3 | Go Your Own Way [3 38]
[d] A4 | Hold Me [3 45]
[e] A5 | Everywhere [3 43]
[f] A6 | Gypsy [4 25]
[g] A7 | As Long As You Follow [4 17]
[h] B1 | Say You Love Me [4 10]
[i] B2 | Dreams [4 14]
[j] B3 | Little Lies [3 38]
[k] B4 | Sara [6 22]
[l] B5 | Tusk [3 30]
[m] B6 | No Questions Asked [4 36]
[n] C1 | Landslide [3 19]
[o] C2 | Big Love [3 39]
[p] C3 | Over My Head [3 35]
[q] C4 | Oh Diane [2 39]
[r] C5 | You Make Loving Fun [3 32]
[s] D1 | The Chain [4 30]
[t] D2 | Think About Me [2 44]
[u] D3 | Seven Wonders [3 42]
[v] D4 | Never Going Back Again [2 14]
[w] D5 | Silver Springs (Live) [5 42]

This release is a homage to the Turbo label.

Turbo was a part of Joe Robinson and Sylvia Robinson’s All-Platinum Records set up in New Jersey which operated from 1967 to 1979. At one stage the fiercely independent and proudly black owned label threatened to become another Motown or Philadelphia International. That never happened, but the Robinson’s dream of worldwide success came later when Sylvia discovered Rap, recorded Rappers Delight by The Sugarhill Gang and Sugar Hill records was born.

Music historian Steve Guarnori describes All Platinum as "probably the most unusual record company there ever was. Dysfunctional, but at the same time wonderful."

The All-Platinum chaos extended to Turbo. But despite anarchy - some superb albums went straight from manufacture to be deleted and sold as cut-outs - sublime music was created. This 10" 6-track release collects together some of the most hallowed Turbo releases which between them have become cherished by collectors.

Brother to Brother "The Bottle" captures the label at its most astute. Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s original version was an album only track on Strata-East so Turbo seized the opportunity to quickly make a worthy cover version and rush release it a single which enjoyed success.

"Ton Of Dynamite" by Frankie "Love Man" Crocker was Turbo’s debut release in 1968 (it actually sounds a later recording). At the time Frankie was a DJ on WWRL radio station in New York and the release was essentially a reward for his previous support of All-Platinum releases. The record (a b-side) is actually made Willie & The Mighty Magnificent who went on to re-record it as

"Funky 8 Corners". It took until 1975 for "Ton Of Dynamite" to get recognition when it became an anthem as the UK Northern Soul scene adopted it as part of the movement away from old skool 1960’s Soul. Whatever its’ provenance, "Ton Of Dynamite" is now revered by the Rare Soul and Funk communities.

The Optimistics "Man" from 1971 is another b side single. The group specialised in smooth harmony Soul but "Man" is a funkier affair which won support from Rare Soul aficionados and will cost you £600 plus if you are lucky enough to locate a copy of the hard to find 45.

Willie & West "Attica Massacre", also from 1971, is an even more elusive single. It is a powerful protest against the killing of 29 prisoners, many black, following a riot at a prison - Attica Correctional Facility in New York. The deaths and a subsequently discredited cover up caused outrage. John Lennon was amongst the first musicans to make a recording about the bloodbath, but the most emotional protest is this Willie & West track. Only 300 copies were manufactured of one of the most powerful civil rights recordings ever made. The vocal sounds like anti-War Edwin Starr at his most bristlingly aggressive.

Perhaps the strangeness of All-Platinum is best illustrated by the later success of Lonnie Youngblood "Sweet Sweet Tootie" which is essentially the backing track of "Attica Massacre" plus exquisite sax playing by Lonnie. Despite it selling 100,000 plus copies the label did not see this as a reason to reissue "Attica Massacre". Strange. Or as Marvin asked "What’s Going On"?

The New Sounds "Don’t Take Your Love From Me" was only issued by Turbo as an album track. Despite good music on it the LP was poorly (it at all)/ promoted and flopped. The superb "Don’t Take Your Love From Me" is a long time Northern Soul / X-Over favourite.

Larry Saunders mesmerising "On The Real Side" made no impact when released on Turbo in 1974 but was nevertheless issued in the UK by London Records. The Northern Soul discerning dancers instantly latched on to its combination of uplifting lyrics, heartfelt vocal and clomping beat and since then its’ appeal has extended across the whole of the Soul community. Without doubt an all time classic.

So six treasures from a label that despite frequently advocating cash out of chaos frequently conjured up awesome music.

ANORAX is grateful to have the opportunity to present this very special Soul selection.

The latest in our series of Limited Edition 7x7" Soul Box Sets celebrates the work of Dave Hamilton.

Dave's musical career in Detroit stretched from the 40s into the 80s. He was involved in all black music styles during that period - blues, jazz, and gospel as well as soul music.

A talented songwriter, he wrote or contributed to ten of the fourteen compositions here and produced them all in his studios.

Though his released output was modest, considering the amount of recording he did, the gems in his tape vaults have been surprising and entertaining black music lovers since they were accessed by Ace in 1990.

That purchase came about due to Richard “Gilly” Gilbert’s detective work in discovering that a big covered-up Northern Soul spin at Wigan Casino was actually Dave’s production on “Little Ann” Bridgeforth. The ensuing years have seen soul tracks in all genres, issued on Kent and BGP and we are still discovering great tracks 36 years on. Witness ‘You Got Me Where You Want Me’ by Chico & Buddy, a fabulous funky number from around 1970 that would have been a soul fan’s favourite whenever it was issued; this is its first public appearance.

Funk crosses over to all dance scenes these days and even jazzier tracks like Dave’s own ‘Soul Suite’, a close relation of his coveted ‘Pisces Piece’ will pick up plays now it is on vinyl. Northern Soul lovers have been demanding J T Rhythm’s ‘I Love The Way You Walk’ on a seven, as have Motown connoisseurs with Rita DuShay’s original of ‘All I Need (Steal Away Tonight)’ as covered by Barbara McNair on her 1966 Motown LP.

Original copies exist of the Ravins ‘Your Love Is What I Want’ but unless you have several grand to spare on this fast and furious dancer, our audio-enhanced release is a great substitute; especially with the Kent 45 deleted.

OC Tolbert delivers a tough and menacing Clarence Reid song ‘Along Came A Woman’ which has huge dancefloor potential, like Dave’s own bluesy vocal on his similarly gritty, R&B composition ‘Take Care Of Your Own Business’.

Dave’s accomplishments into the 70s and 80s are admired by modern soul lovers and his ‘Ride The Disco Train’ by the Moderations, hit a perfect groove for progressive clubs of the genre. Both the Felecia Johnson and New Experience tracks thrive on the laid-back atmosphere Dave was able to conjure up in his home studios and the talented singers present his thoughtful songs with panache.

With enhanced audio for both of Little Ann’s uptempo and ballad classics ‘What Should I Do’ / ‘Deep Shadows’ this box set is irresistible as well as being a tribute to the unsung heroes of Detroit Soul music.

Finnish-American producer Tin Man aka Johannes Auvinen has spent much of his career updating 80s Chicago acid house for a new era and on 2006's now reissued 'Love Sex Acid', the three 303-driven cuts recall the acid work of Laurent Garnier and Ludovic Navarre. 'Falling Acid' opens with a gloomy intro before building into clattering snares and a slowly intensifying 303 wig out. 'Let's Do It Acid' writhes hypnotically with a snake-like bassline and a haunting whispered sample, while 'Love And Sex Acid' leans into deep house, with tasty electric piano licks over acid textures. A still well-crafted new take on acid's roots that hasn't aged in the 20 years since the revered Finnish label Sahko first issued it.