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SAISEI founder Junki Inoue continues his vital archival work uncovering the riches of Japan’s distinctive electronic music scene and bringing them to new audiences around the world. The Sounds Of Transonic compiles six tracks recorded in Tokyo between 1991 and 1995 and released by the pioneering Transonic label, founded in 1994 by Kazunao Nagata and active until 2004.

Transonic’s catalogue is a glittering roll call of the scene’s major players, whose inventive and genre-blending work established forward-thinking house and techno in Japan in a way that would shape the country’s electronic sound for years to come. Transonic was instrumental in giving exposure to the work of these artists with its emblematic series of CD compilations, released over a short couple of years in the mid 90s. Beginning with 970-1450km/h, Feedback and Range, the series also included The Roots Of Transonic, featuring music from parent label Trigger. Alongside these compilations came much sought-after solo albums each packaged with striking cover art that makes the discs a visual treat for collectors to this day.

The Sounds Of Transonic brings together six tracks from the catalogue into one breath-taking package. The influence of hi-tech jazz and machine funk from Detroit is undeniable in ‘Dream Trance’ (Mind Design) and ‘Blasting Soul’ (Interferon), while ‘Under The Ground’ (Palomatic) and ‘Chelsea’ (Suzukiski) are permeated by the artificial intelligence and trip hop emanating from the UK at the time. The compilation is bookended by two tracks by Nagata himself (as Organization): ‘Space Ball’, a Model 500-worthy chase through the cosmos, and ‘Call’, an eerie echo of Kraftwerk’s telephone, transmitting expectantly out into the void and, finally, receiving its celestial answer.

With The Sounds Of Transonic these formative pieces of music will now be available internationally and, for the first time, on vinyl.

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

repressed !

Some people are just not destined to have enough sleep.When you don't sleep enough the world appears to be a different place, compared to the way it is when the mind is fully rested. In such cases very different scenarios may occur.
Starting with a dreamy melody of Roma Zuckerman's 'Sleep not found', which inspired the entire 008 album, and ending with a thirteen minute live recording by a_000, the side project of Alex Backdrop, the entire record has a dreamy and tripped out flow. 008 continues the tradition of gatefold double EPs as conceptual album.All tracks are selected around a particular story, a trip, and presented as a continuous sonic landscape.All tracks are structured in a way that they can be mixed one with another an endless amount of times making a continuous loop, a trip, that needs only end when the party stops. Kraviz works without release dates or deadlines, enabling her to achieve a certain sound bank to shape the story, unmasking the thoughts and unravelling like a dream. A1. Roma Zuckerman - Sleep Not found (North Edit) Apart form the fact that he leaves in Krasnoyarsk in the middle of Russia, very little is known about Roma (short version of the name Roman). But listening to his music and engaging in random short conversations late at night makes it clear that there are really a lot of things going on Romas mind... Minimalistic yet emotionally complex, his music always stands out with it's murkiness and signature moodiness that Roma creates like nobody else.
A2. Deniro - G Deniro continues the record's journey with his new live cut that like pretty much everything he did so far is a beautiful sparse atmospheric groover. He says he wanted it to be angry and it its done with triggering synths from the tr909 and tr808.
B1. Maayan Nidam - Infinite Rattle
Maayan was born in Tel-Aviv. She does not like computers and prefers to record her music live using hardware only. In order to do so she built her incredible studio in Berlin where she recorded "Infinite Rattle'.There is much more to come from Maayan on
B2. Bbbbbb - Prins Polo Caramel milkshake.
Side project by Bjarki-bbbbbb. Like any other normal Icelander, Bjarki really likes ice cream. In Iceland they are absolutely crazy about it.They walk the streets, ice cream in hand, even when its freezing cold outside. But even more than that Icelanders like Milkshakes with all sorts of added cookies and candies. Bjarki's favourite is called Prince Polo after the name of a chocolate bar. He always believed Prins Polo was an Icelandic brand but a couple of months ago somebody proved him wrong.
C1. Exos- dub jazz
In Iceland Exos is a legend. Everybody knows him there. He's been playing incredibly powerful and technically advanced techno sets since the late 90s and releasing delicious dub techno on Icelandic label Thule. Nina always appreciated his subtler, dubbier side, and this short recording a the continuation of it.
C2. Maaayn Nidam - Justice for some
This second live recording was a perfect fit for this album. Maayan has managed to create a particular mysterious night time dreamer here. Sound wise it's even more unique. It took a few times to get the master right, because we wanted to keep the original breathing of the machine that has captured a seriously freaky vibe. Maayan has always been one of Nina's favourite DJs as they share a similar attitude towards music. But after this tune she has also reserved a place in Nina's collective of favourite producers. D1. A_000
This is a side project of Italian native Alessio Meneghello (Alan Backdrop) & Enrico Voltan. . A beautiful 13-minute sonic journey.

The Minneapolis-raised DJ/Producer’s second album following 2014’s ‘Monoliths’ lands on Radio Slave’s Rekids imprint in November.

Although based in Berlin for several years, Dustin Zahn has continued to exert influence over the fertile but steadfastly underground Minneapolis techno scene as part of the Intellephunk collective whilst cultivating a worldwide rep via releases for Blueprint, Token and his own Enemy Records. The ‘Gain of Function’ LP sees Zahn channelling the groove-fuelled techno of the late ’90s and early ’00s and shaping eight powerful but funky contemporary techno tracks that display the decades of experience under his belt.

Forged from a series of live jams with two drum machines and two synths, the album is a refined collection of raw, purist techno brilliance. Across the A-side ‘Tell Me About Paradise’ brings shimmering staccato chops under bright and airy percussion before ‘Tangie Groove’ picks up the pace with floating pads, vocal slices, and a rumbling bassline. On ‘Lucid Dreams’, scattered percussion plays with hypnotic synth licks, while ‘Smoking in Silence’ sees off-kilter leads dancing between emotive vocals and evolving drum loops.

Opening the second disc is the deep and shuffling ‘Crimson Cheeks’, with trance-inducing samples nestled between sharp drum hits and rolling synthesis, and ‘Days Like These’ takes a darker turn as twinkling arps and droning pads carry the track. ‘Shark Rodeo’ featuring Jeremy Black mangles samples into a dense rolling affair, before closing number ‘Next Level Looseness’ drops the 4/4 pattern for a raucous club track, combining oddball sound sources and unruly production techniques for a trippy finish to the album.

Since the late ’90s, Zahn’s hypnotic and driving techno has consistently caught the ears of top DJs and labels worldwide, with anyone catching his marathon sets at the likes of Berghain exposed to expansive sets. In addition to his techno-heavy catalogue and DJing prowess, Zahn has lent production and engineering skills to bands and singers, recently working with Poliça and on Carm’s Pitchfork approved eponymous album. Beyond this, his vital work with Intellephunk includes the nearly two decades long running Communion after-hours events, cementing his invaluable contributions to the scene.

Repress!

A MAJOR EXPLORATION OF TOKYO'S CUTTING EDGE 80S SOUND THROUGH THE MUSIC OF CULT JAPANESE LABEL NIPPON COLUMBIA AND ITS BETTER DAYS IMPRINT, SELECTED BY BRITISH RADIO PRESENTER AND DJ NICK LUSCOMBE.

‘Tokyo Dreaming’ is a superb selection picked from the highly collectible Nippon Columbia label and its Better Days sub-label. For the occasion, we’ve teamed up with journalist and Japanese music expert Nick Luscombe who was granted rare access to the much-guarded Nippon Columbia's vaults for a masterful selection encapsulating the fascinating sound of Tokyo in the late 70s and 80s. The selection mixes electro, synth-pop, funk and ambient and features such artists as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mariah, Shigeo Sekito, Juicy Fruits, Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama and Yumi Murata. The tracklist includes many sought-after rarities and hidden gems which have never been released outside of Japan and the set has been newly remastered by Nippon Columbia. The album has been designed by famed London-based designer Optigram and is annotated by Nick.

Nippon Columbia, one of Japan's oldest music labels is also one of its most collectible thanks to its sub-label Better Days which, in the late 70s, became a hotbed for Tokyo's new generation of pop artists eager to experiment with ambient, electro and funk. Armed with a string of new Japanese-made synthesizers and drum machines that would soon take the world by storm, they made cutting-edge music, which has since become highly sought-after by a new generation of Japanese music lovers. Nick Luscombe, who has long been a leading advocate of Japanese music from this era, has handpicked a selection of some of the sharpest music released on these labels at the time.
According to Nick, “Tokyo Dreaming is a look back to an incredible era of Japanese music, that still sounds and feels like the future. It was a moment when brand-new music tech from Japan helped forge new ideas and experiments that permeated pop, soul and jazz and helped create new forms of music including electro and techno. The perfect meeting point that would help create a new soundtrack for modern living.“
?The selection starts with "The End of Asia" by Ryuichi Sakamoto from his 1978 ground-breaking debut "Thousand Knives Of" (reissued last year by Wewantsounds). The track became a staple of Sakamoto's and YMO's live shows and was even re-recorded by the group for their 1980 album 'X Multiplies'. The track is followed by Mariah's cult Armenian folk flavoured synth pop classic "Shinzo No Tobira" (1983), which first spread outside of Japan when the Scottish DJ duo Optimo started playing the track regularly at their shows.
?Chika Asamoto's "Self Control" (1988) and Jun Fukamachi's "Treasure Hunter" (1985) are perfect songs in the synth-pop canon, while Yumi Murata's rendition of Akiko Yano's "Watashi No Bus" and Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama's "Rainy Driver" both from 1981, move closer towards the slicker, funkier sound of City Pop.
?'Tokyo Dreaming' superbly showcases the breadth of 80s Japanese music and the way electro pop was a playing ground for musicians to experiment with many styles, as showcased by Akira Sakata's dub-enfused "Room" from 1980, Kazumi Watanabe's discoid "Tokyo Joe" (1980) and Juicy Fruits' "kawai" robotic Techno pop song "Jenie Gets Angry".
?The selection flows effortlessly between many shades of synth and ends with two cult classics in the form of Yasuaki Shimizu's "Semi Tori No Hi" and Shigeo Sekito's ambient-jazz masterpiece "The Word II" from his highly sought-after album "Kareinaru Electone (The Word) Vol.2" which, although recorded in 1975, perfectly announces the synth revolution to come. Tokyo Dreaming showcases the groundbreaking sounds of a city turned giant sonic lab which was restlessly inventing the music of the future.
Nick Luscombe is a highly respected and in-demand music influencer who discovers great music from all over the world and shares it internationally through his many radio shows and DJ sets. He has been in charge of music selection for various radio programs since 1999, and from 2010 - 2019, was the DJ for the popular BBC Radio music program "Late Junction”. He has also curated and presented music shows for Monocle and British Airways radio stations. He has worked as both Chief Music Editor at iTunes and Director of Music at London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, and is the founder of MSCTY.

Villa Åbo in the alternative solo project of Swedish musician and Villa Åbo in the alternative solo project of Swedish musician and producer Jan Svensson, who has been making electronic music for the better part of 30 years as the artist behind such aliases as Frak, Studio SS and Alvars Orkestra. Svensson also runs legendary Swedish dance and experimental music label Börft, the product of a mutual appreciation for Severed Heads and Terse Tapes. As Villa Åbo he released two records in 1997 on Börft and remained inactive for 17 years until the Dutch label Bio Rhythm coaxed him into revisiting the project and released a double 12 in 2014. Jan has since followed with a steady stream of 12' singles for Kontra-Musik, Noise In My Head and Radio Lundberg. 'Magnetic Moves' is Villa Åbo's debut album, originally released inan limited edition of 65 hand-numbered cassettes by Funeral Fog in 2016. Clocking in at over 46 minutes, this first-ever vinyl edition spreads the 8 ragged techno tracks across four sides for maximum loudness. Some songs are aggressively potent, with cyclical synth riffs and razor-sharp acid lines riding a heavy, funk-fuelled techno groove. Others tracks are more fluid, vintage Underground Resistance or Derrick May with killer drum machine workouts that come in handy as DJ tools. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is housed in a custom made jacket designed by Eloise Leigh, featuring a photograph of Jan's mother's house, the meaning behind 'Villa Åbo'. Each copy includes a double-sided postcard with notes.producer Jan Svensson, who has been making electronic music for the better part of 30 years as the artist behind such aliases as Frak, Studio SS and Alvars Orkestra. Svensson also runs legendary Swedish dance and experimental music label Börft, the product of a mutual appreciation for Severed Heads and Terse Tapes. As Villa Åbo he released two records in 1997 on Börft and remained inactive for 17 years until the Dutch label Bio Rhythm coaxed him into revisiting the project and released a double 12 in 2014. Jan has since followed with a steady stream of 12' singles for Kontra-Musik, Noise In My Head and Radio Lundberg.'Magnetic Moves' is Villa Åbo's debut album, originally released in an limited edition of 65 hand-numbered cassettes by Funeral Fog in 2016. Clocking in atover 46 minutes, this first-ever vinyl edition spreads the 8 rgged techno tracks across four sides for maximum loudness. Soe songs are aggressively potent, with cyclical synth riffs and razor-harp acid lines riding a heavy, funk-fuelled techno groove. Others tracks are more fluid, vintage Underground Resistance or Derrick May with killer drum machine workouts that come in handy as DJ tools. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is housed in a custom made jacket designed by Eloise Leigh, featuring a photograph of Jan's mother's house, the meaning behind 'Villa Åbo'. Each copy includes a double-sided postcard with notes.

Group Rhoda is the solo electronic music project of Mara Barenbaum, based out of Oakland, California. The project started around 2009 with a debut album 'Out of Time, Out of Touch' in 2012 on Night School Records and '12th House' in 2013 on Not Not Fun. She is also one half of Max and Mara who released the album 'Less Ness' in 2013 on Dark Entries Records. She is committed to live performance, situated within the analog synthesizer and drum machine medium.

'Wilderless' is Group Rhoda's third full length and first for Dark Entries Records. Each of the these 7 songs draw forth tones of tropical darkwave and soft industrial, while negating the sound of conformity and control. The album explore themes of societal and spiritual displacement, contemporary serfdom, the depths of empathy, regeneration through destruction, and the tyranny of claiming recognition and power. Lyrics are poetically expressed through allegory and explore archetypes rooted more in abstract observation rather than hard line experience. Through transgression and imagination, Group Rhoda explores the arc of songwriting interwoven into stark electronic environments, and creates a bridge between the corporeal and the dream worlds.

Each song was mixed by Mark Pistel at Room 5 in San Francisco and mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is packaged in a jacket featuring a colorful custom made collage by Hugo Barros and includes a full color sticker and digital download card.

On his brand new studio effort Styles P proves his key to success has always been consistency. The born in Corona, raised in Yonkers, NY native has really worked harder than most to earn the name GOAT, and by naming his album “S.P. The GOAT: Ghost Of All Time” you know he’s not bragging about it, in fact he’s getting his flowers while he’s alive from Hip Hop connoisseurs who know fire bars when they hear them. With productions by Vinny Idol, Termanology, Dayzel the Machine, and Noah Idol among others and guest appearances by Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Nino Man, Fame of M.O.P, Whispers and Cris Streetz, the legendary LOX and D-Block member proves once again he’s aging like fine wine.

On his brand new studio effort Styles P proves his key to success has always been consistency. The born in Corona, raised in Yonkers, NY native has really worked harder than most to earn the name GOAT, and by naming his album “S.P. The GOAT: Ghost Of All Time” you know he’s not bragging about it, in fact he’s getting his flowers while he’s alive from Hip Hop connoisseurs who know fire bars when they hear them. With productions by Vinny Idol, Termanology, Dayzel the Machine, and Noah Idol among others and guest appearances by Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Nino Man, Fame of M.O.P, Whispers and Cris Streetz, the legendary LOX and D-Block member proves once again he’s aging like fine wine.

Following the success of Naturalisten’s release “Forms”, E2-E8 is back with the latest offering from Milan-based artist Joseph Tagliabue. “Espansione” presents a meticulously crafted sonic exploration that transcends conventional genre boundaries. It is a double LP consisting of four distinct parts: an ambient concept presented in Part 1 & 2, and four techno tracks in Part 3 & 4. This structure makes for a multifaceted listening experience, seamlessly blending organic textures with synthetic manipulations.

Part 1 & 2 delve into immersive, post-natural ambient soundscapes. Tagliabue constructs a vaporous, dreamlike environment through the interplay of modular synthesis, analog effects, and meticulously designed soundscapes. The journey into the forest is not a merely thematic narrative, but rather a visceral sonic realisation. These expansive compositions, devoid of clear demarcations, invite the listener to a lysergic, meditative retreat, where ritualistic and mystical elements converge. The blurring of lines between machine and nature is a central motif, achieved through ethereal layers seamlessly integrated with ambient textures.

The album as a whole is a sophisticated sound collage, highlighting Tagliabue’s mastery of sonic manipulation. The dense sonic flow, characterised by echoes of distant temples and molten synthetic modulations, creates a compelling auditory and potentially visual experience. The interplay between organic and synthetic, combined with the album’s thematic depth, makes Espansione a noteworthy evolution in Joseph’s artistic expression. A work designed to be both deeply listened to, and physically experienced.

Early support comes from Vladimir Ivkovic, Marco Shuttle, Konduku, among others.

New full-length album from Posthuman, veering deeper into electro and leftfield territory than usual. The A side opens with the Drexciyan ‘What U Need’ then straight into the Rother-style machine funk of Test 14 and Reps, through to the downtempo dubby closer of Torus Dreams. The flipside starts more heavy duty with industrial rave in Break Bones before dropping back to chilled ambient house with Chronophobe. Facts Not Opinions and Detramental close off the album with more classic electronica sounds reminiscent of Posthuman’s early 2000s releases on Seed and Skam. Released on unique starburst/splatter/glitter coloured 12” vinyl. It may be computer music, but no humans were harmed in the making of this album; 100% guaranteed AI free material.

Surfing on a sun-drenched wave of psychedelia comes Brighton's very own Merry Pranksters, Wax Machine. Primarily recorded and mixed in a closet room directly above a mortuary, their self-produced album Hermit's Groove is a heady trip through progressive psychedelia, kitsch Italian library music and Brazilian tropicalia.

Jason Dungan (aka Blue Lake) and Johan Carøe find beauty in the rhythms
and repetitions of domestic life for collaborative album, 'Routine' - out September 25

Copenhagen-based multi-instrumentalists Jason Dungan and Johan Carøe didn't set out to make an album. Instead, as the title 'Routine' suggests, they found their way there through a process of habitual making and listening, developing an intuitive musical language to reflect the dreamlike meanderings and creative play of life's quiet moments. 'Routine' blends pop orientated sounds, Avant-garde minimalism, folk and new age with the emotive depth of film-score.

Their meeting was not entirely coincidental. Previously in bands such as Squares and Triangles, Jason Dungan has since recorded multiple albums under the moniker Blue Lake, including the lauded 'Sun Arcs', pursuing his passion for self-built percussion and multi-string instruments. Johan Carøe meanwhile is a composer whose film soundtrack work has seen him collaborate with Angelo Badalamenti, Arp, and Sofie Birch, at whose Andersabo residency (curated by Dungan) the pair first met, resulting in the highly praised album 'Repair Techniques' written by Birch and Carøe.

'Routine' emerged organically over many years against the backdrop of great personal change. As Carøe said goodbye to his father and welcomed his first child, the pair sent each other fragments of melodies and patterns, working up responses when time allowed to assemble a sonic palette that combined acoustic instrumentation of zither, clarinet, cello, saxophone (among others) with the textures of tape, drum machine and Yamaha DX7 synth. Inspired by the vulnerability and DIY ethos of Arthur Russell's home recordings, the vision of labels like Disques de Crepescule, and the art pop, experimentation inherent to late '70s and early '80s recordings from NYC and Japan alike, Dungan and Carøe conjured new forms for their folk, leftfield pop and avant garde influences from the low-lit living rooms of Copenhagen and rural Sweden. "I'm very interested in the ways in which music and art emerge from our wider experiences as people, workers, parents and in the daydreaming activity of making music," Dungan explains of a process which allowed the duo's individual styles to drift apart and merge together seamlessly. "I think the process was definitely capturing moments in time, but over a long time," Carøe adds. "It was a bit like improvisation, but with time stretched."

The music floats with grace and humility, remaining sophisticated yet acutely introverted.
Whether on 'Clouds', where soft layers of zither and clarinet are moved along by a featherlight bass riff and the hypnotic clip-clop of the primitive groovebox, or the gentle grandeur of cello rising and falling through 'Routine 1', the album reveals itself over 10 instrumental tracks, evoking the ineffable calm that descends when the light changes and the world turns inwards. The act of time passing became a key creative ingredient to the evolution of the album, enriched with the exciting challenge to transform their passing rounds of home recordings via a slow release musical dialogue. Jason found creative moments in the twilight hours to lay down zither, melodica, acoustic guitar to name but few, while Johan utilising "line-in and headphones" would manipulate, stretch and pitch Jason's melodic pathways during newly born naptimes.

Carøe rhythmically plucks and slides the stringed cello instrument, leaving palpable foundations on 'Hymn' and 'Chords', in a treated, stylistic approach akin to Mabe Fratti, while 'Silence' draws to a close with a gospel touch. Dungan's harp-motion zither flourishes reveal more classical connotations on 'Reunion' with inspiration of Bedroom Community's Nico Muhly as organs rise with Moogs, culminating with a climatic choral outro from friend, mezzo-soprano Anna Caroline Olesen.

'Routine' then is their first collaboration, an album of deep and sincere reflection with inviting overtones that gesture with unrushed authenticity. A document of a new-found friendship that opens a window into the most personal of spaces, where the daily practices of music and life exist side-by-side to wondrous effect.

At the outset of the project, Jupp assembled a palette of instruments and sounds which evoke a moment in musical history when digital studio technology just started to take over from analogue. Eschewing Belbury Poly’s earlier mid 70s obsessions, to focus on that period around 1983, when artists who could afford it started to experiment with samplers. It was a musical moment dominated by the sounds of Prophet 5, DX7 & PPG synthesizers, Fairlight & Synclavier music computers, TR808 drum machine & Simmons Drums (those ubiquitous hexagonal drum pads) and of course the much-maligned fretless bass.

It’s also an era that’s now seen as something of a golden age for fantasy, sci-fi, comics, book, TV, movies and games (particularly in Britain where it was often fuelled by a post punk reaction to Thatcher’s regime). In Jupp’s memory these things go hand in hand; as a child his nerdy fandom was soundtracked not as it was for most by Heavy Metal, but by the electronic pop of Bill Nelson, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan, and Frank Chickens. Also, by otherworldly TV soundtracks & production music of the era: Elizabeth Parker and Paddy Kingsland at the BBC, The Parry Music Library, Rod Argent’s new age library albums and even Clannad’s Robin of Sherwood score.

Featuring a prestigious line-up of guests, the album Sonars brings together iconic voices alongside Maxime Dangles and Tommy Rizzitelli: Oxmo Puccino (Continent plastique), Craig Walker, former lead singer of Archive & Power of Dreams (Bug and Delusion), and Aur (Reef).



Conceived during the Art/Science project of the same name, Sonars draws inspiration from reflections on ecology and the shifting biodiversity of our oceans and rivers. It was in Rimouski, on the shores of Quebec’s Saint Lawrence River, that the duo immersed themselves in the imagery and sensations that breathe life into this record. The result is a collection of breathless, driving tracks—a masterly fusion of machines and drums where organic textures meet the urgency of the climate crisis.

Tape Source’s Romain Da Silva Santos further enriches the album with his guitar work, while the visual identity is graced by the work of photographer Jean Gaumy, whose iconic photography features on the cover.

Archimboldos have clawed their way out of the starcaves of their primordial past and into the tranquil light of a coral garden on their third full length album, Crusta Arcana, a gumbo stewpot of transcendent electronica suffused with tribal rhythms and liquid ambience. Across a stereo field smeared with tolling bells, post-industrial folk percussion, and tinkling keys, Archimboldos soundtrack a science fictional journey, not into the depths of space, but deep beneath the waves.

In the past the Chilean duo of Nicolás Carcavilla and Felipe Crocco have described their music as “liminal shrimp folk.” Here they continue this strange exploration when they visit the court of the prawns, producing stately electronic chamber orchestrations. Perhaps these are the frequencies used for ritual dream initiation into the mystery schools of drowned Atlantis. Weaving an ancient sacred science, Archimboldos take listeners on a mystic vovage into their singular crustacean mythology, the crusta of their hidden arcana.

Archimbolodos are masters of conjoining cyclonic and centrifugal lines of electricity into spellbinding incantations. These deep-sea transmissions envelope the listener into aquamarine forcefields that are as hallucinatory as they are hypnotic. Navigating these strange fantasias could lead one to getting lost at sea, but the work is buoyed by the somnolent melodies of lonely harpsichords and swelling synth pads whose sustained tones reach towards distant shores. Sailing across a vast expanse of oceanic harmonies and percolating percussion, these pieces are as precise as the hand of a sailor on the rudder, moving with the tide.

Casting their net wide across eight pieces, Archimboldos have made a big catch. From the emotive electronic counterpoint found on “Bursting Armor” to the blocks of seaweed tangled sonic sculpture trawled up from the ocean floor on “Aphelion IX.” Other songs are like samples of biological ambience collected from luminous tide pools: resplendent tones placed into a Petri dish of sound, swirled, cultured and fermented until it undulates with the rhythmic movement of microscopic lifeforms. Alternating between rippling minimalist sonority and pounding, progressive, synth-heavy entrancement, Crusta Arcana charts its own idiosyncratic itinerary of instrumental invention.

All the while light is down streaming from the heavens to pierce the waters, here calm, there choppy. The intrepid musical captains commanding Archimboldos have laid a course for new archipelagos of the imagination, guided by heavenly constellations.

-Justin Patrick Moore, author of The Radio Phonics Laboratory, Telecommunications, Speech Synthesis and the Birth of Electronic Music

Emerging from the Hungarian underground, POST ANALOG DISORDER inhabits the fractured space where EBM, hard-beat techno and post-punk converge. Cold, spectral melodies collide with relentless machine rhythms, dissolving the boundaries between body music, industrial tension and guitar-driven darkness into a singular, uncompromising language.

Driven by heavy analogue basslines, razor-sharp sequencers, haunting female vocals and hypnotic guitar motifs, the duo shapes a sound that is both mechanical and deeply human. Each composition unfolds through constant friction, balancing disciplined repetition with emotional instability, where raw physical force meets moments of haunting introspection.

Rather than revisiting the vocabulary of classic EBM, POST ANALOG DISORDER deconstructs and reconfigures it through a contemporary, forward-looking perspective. The result is an immersive work of hypnotic intensity, suspended between industrial ritual, post-punk melancholy and uncompromising electronic experimentation—a record conceived not only for the darkest dancefloors, but for those drawn to the outer edges of underground electronic music.

Erin LeCount returns with the release of EP PAREIDOLIA, now on limited edition transparent glitter vinyl and with the addition of hotly-anticipated track THE CINEMA.

Available for pre-order on the 1st July at 5PM BST and set for release on 11th September 2026.

Erin LeCount is a 23-year-old self-taught artist and producer. A visionary sonic architect and the sole writer and producer of her music, her sound ranges from luscious baroque-pop arrangements to alluring gothic-pop. At the foreground of her music are diaristic lyrics and captivating synths which offer an enchanting interplay of vulnerability and power. The themes within her music explore everything from identity to relationships and the meaning of life. Erin’s influences include Fiona Apple, Kate Bush, Lorde, Imogen Heap, Charli xcx, and Sampha.

The newest sound suite by Night Foundation, the solo project of visual artist and Noir Age label owner Richard Vergez. Inspired by reality and light. Mental objects that traverse our minds in the form of sound. Things familiar, but new to your ears. Interest in the things left behind. Some were just accidents that fell on the tape. Manipulations of time.

A memory archive containing exposed wires, slightly broken machines, and those slow, morose moments in film or the happy accidents in dreams. Live, improvised sequences for liminal synths, one-string guitar, mutated trumpet, metal objects, drum box. That type of thing. Under the spell of Brussels, Leeds, and Berlin.

Night Foundation is a current collaborator with Little Annie and has releases on labels such as Psychic Liberation, Jungle Gym, and Amulet of Tears.

For fans of:

Bourbonese Qualk, Klaus Schulze, x.y.r., Tomaga

Limited edition cassette with Rispgraph cover and newsprint insert.

Set for release Sept. 11, 2026

This is a concept record that reflects on events that have had a calculable effect on a generation:
‘’By 83 and 84, it felt that nuclear war was going to happen. Not could happen but was going to.’’
Stephen Brotherstone
"What would you do in the event of a Nuclear war?"
I remember having discussions about what we would do when we heard the four minute warning siren. We would raid the sweet shop. I was 8 or 9 years old. The absurdity of this vivid memory encapsulates the concept of the record. It would take at least four minutes to get to the shop!
The record starts with an early memory of circling a church on a Raleigh Budgie (the smaller lesser known iconic Chopper bicycle) in 1981 and ends with staring up at a clear sky on Oldham Lows in 1990.
The record identifies and plays with the effects of an underlying fear of oblivion on a generation of children, but also society as a whole: The pieces take in media and government propaganda. Machinery (nuclear submarines) and buildings (nuclear bunkers) but also everyday activities of the civilian population, activities such as shopping, clubbing and staring at the sky. Thematically, the record is made up of personal memories mixed with historical events.
Instruments are mainly from 1980s. DX7 and 808 feature predominantly. The pieces feature numerous melodic motifs that develop and intertwine underlying ideas of espionage and layers of secret messaging. It also mirrors the ways in which governments and civilians interact. Decisions being made in the name of defence whilst people go about their daily lives. I am exploring the everyday experiences of the masses whilst major political decisions are taking place. For example, shopping on a Saturday afternoon versus heated Cold War tensions in 1983.
Although taking place conceptually in the years 1979-1991, this record mirrors current events. History repeating. It also mirrors the helplessness or maybe some oblivious everyday normality state that we adopt as a community whilst major political decisions are being made.
The idea that life goes on oblivious to larger scale politics, or on the other hand, the idea that we are all very aware but in a state of unreal normality. Adam Curtis goes into great detail about such things in his film 'Hyper Normalisation'.

MOTORSLICE is the original soundtrack to the viral hit indie video game of the same name, composed and produced by Pizza Hotline. Built around high-speed movement, razor-sharp parkour, and a blue haired girl slicing machines in half with a bad ass chain saw, the album pushes Pizza Hotline’s video game-inspired sound into a harder, faster, and more cinematic space.

Blending jungle, drum and bass, sci-fi ambient pads, and Y2K game soundtrack nostalgia, MOTORSLICE captures the feeling of launching yourself across gaps, slicing through enemies, and chasing perfect momentum over huge post apocalyptic vistas. The soundtrack draws inspiration from games like Mirror’s Edge, Prince of Persia, and Shadow of the Colossus while maintaining a glossy electronic character that defined that era.

To celebrate the release, MOTORSLICE is being pressed as a full length vinyl LP featuring the complete soundtrack on striking orange vinyl, chosen to match the main character’s iconic outfit. It turns the soundtrack into a proper physical artefact from the game's palpable world, tying the music directly to the visual identity of the game.

Where albums like Level Select and Dream Select explored imaginary game worlds, MOTORSLICE is the sound of a real one: a breakout indie game that has already made a huge impact online through viral gameplay clips and a growing community of players. The result is a soundtrack that feels both nostalgic and immediate, built for speed, precision, and impact while still carrying the melodic, emotional, and playful qualities that define Pizza Hotline’s music.

Power Electronics, for the most part, stays within its lanes of transgressive misanthropy, with a blackened explosiveness of tortured psyches and nightmarish reflections for the darkest facets of the human condition. Since Whitehouse introduced the phrase, concept, and framework to Power Electronics, its authorship has been primarily male. But within the past decade or so, a diverse web of voices - female, feminist, non-binary, queer - has thrust the PE aesthetic beyond that of the tortured male artist. As such, the notion that Power Electronics is synonymous with true crime worship, political ugliness, degraded sexual fantasies, and misogynistic perspectives has been somewhat dispelled (though many still pursue such ignoble agendas).

Enter Ester Kärkkäinen. For close to a decade now, she has developed her own voice, tread her own path, and exorcised her own demons in her unique take on Power Electronics, recording as Himukalt. A Power Electronics album based on the collapse of a relationship is probably not as uncommon as one might think. The sexual violence portrayed through Power Electronics may very well have had its origins in the heartbroken, scorned, or otherwise romantically mistreated. Kärkkäinen gives us two very different perspectives on these themes through two rather different sounding records. There is Last Wish from the plague year of 2020, and there is Torn Asunder: The Half Girl, recorded in 2019. Where the 2020 record is a long-form fever dream of the erotic gone horribly wrong and turned morally questionable, Torn Asunder is the more fractured, yet more concise extrapolation of Kärkkäinen's anger, horror, confusion, and depression from the end of a sexless relationship. She nakedly reveals a psyche that has been shattered, scarred, and broken as she alternates between deadpanned proclamations and barked sermons amidst the harrowing articulation of heavy industrial electronics, laced with shrill feedback tones, disjointed rhythms, and harsh noise outbursts. Torn Asunder stands as a significant milestone in Himukalt's catalogue, but remains one her most rarely heard documents given it was originally published as part of Helen Scarsdale's instantly out of print, 10 cassette On Corrosion boxset. With this vinyl reissue, Torn Asunder can get a proper re-evaluation as one of her strongest works.

Hailing from Las Vegas, Himukalt began in 2016 as a vehicle for Kärkkäinen's noise constructs and crude programming that found references to Puce Mary, Anenzephalia, and Atrax Morgue’s Mörder Machine. Since then, she has maintained a manic schedule with releases for Tesco Organisation, Cloister Recordings, Old Europa Cafe and her own EK Verlag. With the release of Torn Asunder, Helen Scarsdale terminates the mission for the On Corrosion reissue campaign.

Lonely Man's Dream marks a milestone for Forager Records: our tenth release, and perhaps our most personal. More than a compilation, it is a self-portrait. A reflection of the musical obsessions, late-night discoveries, and restless digging that have defined this label from our first record to this latest one.

Spanning the dreamy psychedelic folk of the 1970s to the cool shimmer of 1980s synth pop, Lonely Man's Dream traces a decade of curatorial wandering. Eleven artists. Eleven songs. Each one rare, obscure, or otherwise lost to the margins of music history. Among them, two tracks surface here for the very first time: “Never Say Goodbye” by Cocktails and Dreams, a synth pop transmission from Norway, luminous and weightless as the skies on the cover. “True Love” by Keith Jones, a drum machine backed demo that pulses with a late night intimacy.

What unites these songs across genre and era is the same quality we have always chased; a transporting ache, the sound of someone searching, or the feeling of a memory you can't quite place. Like every record before it, this one asks nothing of you but your full attention and an open ear.

Ten releases in, we are still looking for the same thing we started with. We hope you feel it too.

* Featuring a selection of songs sourced from rare records of the 70s & 80s reissued for the first time.
* Includes 2 unreleased songs from the 80s
* Original artwork by Eric Thompson
* Very limited initial first pressing

K' Alexi Shelby is a prominent figure in electronic music with a career spanning decades. The cultivation of his massive music catalogue has overflowed into albums and the three labels he heads. It's also led to legendary collaborations with artists like The Pet Shop Boys, Robert Owens, Kenny Dixon, Roy Davis Jr., Joe Smooth, Steve Silke Hurley, Tyree Cooper, Ron Trent, Glenn Underground, Larry Heard, DJ Pierre, Carl Craig, Felix da Housecat, Marshall Jefferson and more. He makes a welcome return to COD3 QR with the jazzy house of opening track, "House Music de Chicago".

Voltaire has built his career through passion and a perfectionist approach to music, creating a richly emotional eclecticism, with inspiration from the pioneers of Detroit to the glorious electro decades of the 2000s and 2010s. Today he's a COD3 QR regular and released his debut album, "Echoes" on the label last year. He leans into the realms of house with a deep techy edge, for new track "Some House".

Finder is the alias of Radial (Jeroen Liebregts), originally from The Netherlands but today residing in Spain. He started mixing records around '98 and in 2002 teamed up with Bas Mooy to started the now legendary label, Audio Assault. He's also released on Token, Perc Trax, Mote-Evolver, Numb, Drumcode, Planet Rhythm, Mord, Will & Ink and MDR, alongside his label, Radial Records. As Finder he goes in a new direction with "Team Dream".

Benny Rodrigues a.k.a. ROD's other moniker, The Lost Souldancer has already seen him drop "No More Voices" and "Life and Death" for the label. In his own words, Benny says: "The Lost Souldancer is about coping with the loss of what once was. Finding comfort in the invisible rather than what can be seen. Disconnect to connect in order to be loved rather than liked." He returns with another emotional journey on "Magnolia".

Producer and manager of Slates Records, Squal G is a French artist who has been passionate about electronic music since the '90s. Initially a DJ, he soon turned to machines and computers. This enabled him to progress with his production and remixes. He never tries to stick to a single style, which, depending on his inspiration, can lead him to be more or less hard, while remaining in the spirit of techno. A popular COD3 QR regular, he's back with the intense techno of "Crackle".

French producer, DJ and live artist, Electric Rescue is world renowned. His productions have been signed on labels like Cocoon, Virgo, Arts, F Communications, COD3 QR, Soma, Sci + Tec, Boys Noize and his own Skrypto¨m. Ahead of his forthcoming artist album (to be released on COD3 QR in October) he closes the vinyl with the electro-tech and wonderfully wonky machine funk of "Internet Was an Illusion".

Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Menagerie, Rare Groove Spectrum) presents his lush Exotica inspired 2016 album on LP for the first time in a limited edition deluxe gatefold sunset swirl coloured vinyl edition, with each pressing having a unique pattern.

For fans of Air, Martin Denny & DJ Shadow.

'The Double Sunrise' is a re-imagining of Exotica seen through Ferguson’s own lens, which includes Pop and Hip Hop elements plus samplers, synths and drum machines thrown into the mix. That combination of beats and lush cinematics owes as much to Exotica pioneer Martin Denny as it does to Air and DJ Shadow.

Guest vocalists include Melanie Pain (Nouvelle Vague), who brings a sweet Francoise Hardy and Jane Birkin influence to her songs, and Australian singer Meg Washington. As well as her own successful career, Bamboos fans would know Washington from her vocals from “The Wilhelm Scream” and “King Of The Rodeo”, as well as “Beautiful Trash” from the 2011 Lanu album ‘Her 12 Faces’.

Ferguson's own instrumentals are also gems of lush, nostalgic delight.

Reviews for ‘The Double Sunrise’

“Even with the clear influence of South Pacific exotica, this second LP is still typical Ferguson: tight, snappy and doused in retro airs.” - Rolling Stone Magazine

“Bamboos supremo Lance Ferguson uses South Seas exotica as a jumping-off point for a record that deftly crosses datelines. Giddy effervescent soundscapes such as “Tiny Dots” sit back to back with breakbeat grooves like “Nightmarchers””. The Age

“This is one of those summer albums you will return to every year. Stunning.” The Daily Telegraph

“The concept for The Double Sunrise is very specific, but it's executed brilliantly...It's one of those records that evokes a place and a feeling that most of us only ever dream about.” - Double J Radio (Feature Album)

Odysee’s vinyl release schedule for 2026 kicks off with this superb 3-track E.P. from none other than the labels founder, T-Mirage. Following up from his 2024 release Dark Rhodes, this E.P. is an embodiment of the raw Mirage sound; a melting pot of Atmospheric D&B with hard hitting dance-floor sensibilities, where 70's OST & Film Noire sounds are blended with deep Techno and electronica elements.

From the blistering amens and deep textures of 'Expressive Thoughts', to the dreamy atmosphere of 'Dawnbreaker' and the dystopian menace of the breakbeat-driven 'Machines Of London', this E.P. is an absolute must for all true Odysee fans!

In 1994, Tilla was just 17 years old, and an integral part of the original St Albans collective that comprised Jim Baker & Phil Aslett (Source Direct) and Rupert Parkes (Photek), when he set up the Odysee imprint and released the first Source Direct record (Future London/Shimmer). With a follow-up release from Photek (Phaze 1/Try A Style) and a second from Source Direct, the profile of the label began to grow exponentially.

It was the 3 Mirage releases however that really put the label on the map. These tracks were engineered by Jim Baker but heavily co-produced by Tilla himself with a major focus on his keen ear for dark 70’s Noire samples and eerie abstract electronica pitted against soulful R&B vocals. In hindsight, the impact of this rather different soundscape on the Source Direct material that followed is unmistakable.

Odysee’s vinyl release schedule for 2026 kicks off with this superb 3-track E.P. from none other than the labels founder, T-Mirage. Following up from his 2024 release Dark Rhodes, this E.P. is an embodiment of the raw Mirage sound; a melting pot of Atmospheric D&B with hard hitting dance-floor sensibilities, where 70's OST & Film Noire sounds are blended with deep Techno and electronica elements.

From the blistering amens and deep textures of 'Expressive Thoughts', to the dreamy atmosphere of 'Dawnbreaker' and the dystopian menace of the breakbeat-driven 'Machines Of London', this E.P. is an absolute must for all true Odysee fans!

In 1994, Tilla was just 17 years old, and an integral part of the original St Albans collective that comprised Jim Baker & Phil Aslett (Source Direct) and Rupert Parkes (Photek), when he set up the Odysee imprint and released the first Source Direct record (Future London/Shimmer). With a follow-up release from Photek (Phaze 1/Try A Style) and a second from Source Direct, the profile of the label began to grow exponentially.

It was the 3 Mirage releases however that really put the label on the map. These tracks were engineered by Jim Baker but heavily co-produced by Tilla himself with a major focus on his keen ear for dark 70’s Noire samples and eerie abstract electronica pitted against soulful R&B vocals. In hindsight, the impact of this rather different soundscape on the Source Direct material that followed is unmistakable.

Bitter Honey is the new album by Eric Silverman. Produced in collaboration with Damien Lewis, the album finds Silverman leaving behind the acid-fried desert rock of 2023’s Stay In It for something far more lush and expansive—a collection of ten psychedelic rock, pop, and folk tracks inspired by Peter Gabriel, John Cale, and Jeff Tweedy. Fittingly, the album is named after the “mad honey” of the rhododendron flower, a rare and potent hallucinogenic found high in the Himalayas.
The process of writing and recording the album started in early 2023, when Silverman and longtime collaborator Lewis retreated to a cabin near Nevada City, CA. Over the course of a week they sketched out the bones of nearly half the album, with Silverman recording the guitar solo for album opener “Anthropocene” live in one take during a particularly inspired moment. Meanwhile, “Get In Where You Fit In”, inspired by a bumper sticker Silverman saw heading up the mountain, was recorded on Jerry Garcia’s old 8-track tape machine and features pedal steel by Jake (Freeman) DeJongh. While at the cabin they also captured the field recordings that bookend the album, starting with the intro of “Anthropocene” and ending with the outro of “Bitter Honey” - an infinite loop.

Later on they decamped to Palomino Sound in LA for a round of sessions – tracking “Light Me Up” and “Trapped In Reverse” while making use of the prodigious assortment of vintage instruments at their disposal, including a 65’ Wurlitzer electric piano that became the centerpiece of a number of tracks. Eventually the pair ended up at 2200 Studios (formerly The Record Plant) in Sausalito, CA—a legendary studio where Prince, The Grateful Dead, and Fleetwood Mac made classic records. It was there that they tracked “New Light”, featuring strings by brothers Graham and Lewis Patzner; recorded all of Adam MacDougall’s (The Black Crowes, Circles Around the Sun) overdubs, including his synth leads on “Living the Dream”; and mixed the album in Studio A.

In a lot of ways Bitter Honey is Silverman’s first proper studio album. It’s also the first time Silverman has sat in the producer’s chair, this time around sharing the credit with Lewis. While his debut album was a product of its environment, all first takes and raw energy, Bitter Honey is thoughtful and focused, the best work Silverman has done and the culmination of his decade plus creative partnership with Lewis.
Highly anticipated sophomore album from Eric Silverman. Press coverage includes reviews and features in Raven Sings the Blues, and more.
“...threading the quicksilver needle of psych, AOR, and ‘70s Cocaine Cowboy territory.” - Raven Sings the Blues.

You Can Believe it ??"

After five years Simone Guerra (aka Relative) returns to the "House of Mikkit" on his own Flexi Cuts imprint. This dancefloor-oriented album is a manifesto of raw obsession and future patterns, crafted for those who’ve stopped chasing trends to find something real.

The record breathes through deep fat analog basslines and hypnotic arpeggios, layered with dreamy synth lines and ghostly vocoder textures.

It’s a gritty, essential dive into the Italian underground—eight tracks where the machine finds its soul.

If you’re feeling down with your things, if you’re always chasing the tail end of the wave and looking back to it saying "wow"… this is a record you might want to listen to.

______________

Packaged in a protective PVC sleeve with a super raw hand-printed cover.

Including a postcard + 8 tracks download code.

******-----**

Produced, composed and mixed by Simone Guerra aka Relative at Studio Noce (Lugo) between dec '24 and sept '25.

Mastered by Francesco Brini

Design by Yari Calanna and Pietro Galeati.

Words by Matteo Garavini

"It's about being really ambitious, and seeing enhanced beauty in the world, and knowing that seeing things in that way isn't unrealistic," she continues. "It's about striving for that ultimate freedom." Recorded in a joyful stay at Wales' residential StudiOwz, 'Tell Me It's A Dream' rings with the audible fizz of friends hanging out and having fun. Though many of its lyrics began during a complicated time for Walton, the record itself is a testament to choosing life and pleasure and the people that make it all worthwhile. "A lot of the record is about stretching outwards and acknowledging how far love can take you; about expressing how I feel about the people I love through music in ways that words can't," she says. "It was important to capture that lightness from the recording, because that spirit is in a lot of the songs." Frequently euphoric and brightly emotional, the songs themselves aim heavenwards. 'Heart To Heartbreak' cracks through the clouds of a break up, taking influence from emotionally-rich bands like The Cure and Prefab Sprout to translate the feeling at its core. "This is a song about feeling like everything in your life has shattered but realising that relationship was holding you back and the world is opening up," she says. "I wanted this song to feel really visual, like things are starting to sparkle and look colourful again.

WRWTFWW Records is thrilled to announce their 5th archival release taken from cult Tokyo label FORM@ RECORDS' catalogue, this time with the first-ever vinyl edition of Re-Form Ver-1.0. The remarkable, yet not widely known, 1999 remix compilation is now available as a limited edition 45rpm cut double LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve, as well as in digital format.
Originally only available on CD in extremely limited quantities, Re-Form Ver-1.0 resurfaces as a fascinating document of FORM@ RECORDS' late-1990s creative peak. Re-imagining key pieces from the label's catalogue, the remix collection offers a rare glimpse into Tokyo's electronic underground, where techno, house, ambient, and IDM breathe freely through FORM@'s soulful and exploratory vision.
Highlights include two remixes of Missing Project's adored gem "Poisson D'Avril" (including its well known ethereal ambient Galaxy Dub which appeared on Music From Memory's Virtual Dreams II) as well as the otherworldly Fossil (aka the legend Virgo) Mix of Penance's "Cure & Soul". Throughout, the compilation balances dancefloor sensibility with introspective listening, embodying the warm human approach to machine music FORM@ RECORDS excels in.
Another essential time capsule from a crucial era of underground music, Re-Form Ver-1.0 echoes the spirit of Warp's Artificial Intelligence era, alongside the forward-thinking energy of Ken Ishii, Carl Craig, The Black Dog, and Ian O'Brien, while keeping its feet and individuality firmly rooted in local context - the magic recipe for creating a universal, timeless language of electronic expression.
Re-Form Ver-1.0 follows the vinyl edition of Virgo's Landform Code (1998) and Remnants (1999), as well as the FORM@ compilations Art Form I (1997) and Art Form 2 (1998), further expanding WRWTFWW's archival series dedicated to uncovering hidden gems of late '90s Japanese electronic music.

10 songs from No You - the debut, self-titled LP by Davy Kehoe (Wah Wah Wino, IE) and Diego Herrera (Suzanne Kraft, US). Sharing both vocal and instrumentation duties, D & D venture somewhat off of their respective musical paths - with the collab throwing up a big, small-studio sound. They are maybe at their most melodic on ‘Baby’ where their voices play off each other over bent feedback and crunching drum machine. There’s a real low slung swagger to ‘So Far Gone’ and ‘Miracle Mile’ met with a blown out and blasted approach on songs such as ‘Invisible’ and ‘Side Effect’. The song ‘Put Up A Dream’ exhibits the duo’s more unhinged side.

The new label R.I.T.M.O. launches its journey with a clear statement of intent: VOID RIFT QUANTUM, a six-episode cosmic voyage by WHITE SOLAR DOG, complemented by two premium remixes from UNIVAC and PROMISING YOUNGSTER. The EP opens with “VOID RIFT QUANTUM” a dark, expansive electro exercise where crushing basslines, syncopated rhythms, and a dialogue between vocoders and acid lines evoke an interplanetary landscape. On “I.N.S.I.D.E.” the intensity ramps up through driving percussion, tribal voices, razor-sharp breaks, and an almost ritual force that propels the body into physical and mental trance.

UNIVAC’s reinterpretation of the title track unleashes his full arsenal: a steely remix of relentless energy that pushes the original into a hard-edged industrial realm, stamped with the unmistakable signature of the Catalan producer. “MOVE YOUR BODY” showcases WHITE SOLAR DOG’s most direct side: classic electro with heavy bass, pads, and bright melodies, where the machine calls the dancefloor to action without compromise. The journey reaches its most ethereal point with “SING TO ME” where a female vocal intertwines with broken rhythms, crystalline atmospheres, and fresh acid incursions—cementing WSD’s personal hallmark: equal parts intensity and spirituality. The release closes with Promising Youngster’s remix, which takes the vocal elements of “SING TO ME” and guides them into a hypnotic state, suspended between the dreamlike and the club. With VOID RIFT QUANTUM, R.I.T.M.O. presents its inaugural catalog, distilling the power of contemporary electro and the otherworldly vision of WHITE SOLAR DOG. A debut that clearly establishes its coordinates: impact, exploration, and progressiveness, introduces itself to the world through an inaugural catalogue that distills the present and future of electro: mysticism, power, and precision.

All covers are handmade. They feature a fluorescent strip along the sides for easy identification, and under black light, the Spanish version of the cover is visible. Each disc contains three handmade inserts: a pop-up of R.I.T.M.O., a template, and a paper synthesizer model based on the actual synthesizers used to create the album (a different one on each disc). Each disc comes in a plastic sleeve.

All covers are handmade. They feature a fluorescent strip along the sides for easy identification, and under black light, the Spanish version of the cover is visible. Each disc contains three handmade inserts: a pop-up of R.I.T.M.O., a template, and a paper synthesizer model based on the actual synthesizers used to create the album (a different one on each disc). Each disc comes in a plastic sleeve.

Some grooves don’t rush to the dancefloor — they crawl there, slow and heavy, like smoke wrapping around a bassline. With Fragments of Reality, The Balek Band sculpt an electronic funk that lives between shadow and light — an end-of-the-world fever dream, a Barjavel-style Ravage where chaos turns nihilistic.

No sequencer grid here — just four musicians sharing the same room, shaping air and tension together: drums locked tight with a slap bass, a guitar dripping with echo and heat, and a one-man orchestra behind his machines, weaving acid lines and synth arpeggios while mixing the band live — drenching it in delay, reverb, and saturation, like a dub producer in a Kingston studio, Lee Scratch Perry or King Tubby conjuring ghosts through smoke.

This isn’t fusion — it’s friction. A living ritual where the TB-303 hums, and machines don’t dominate but converse with the human pulse. Each track feels like a night that refuses to end — that humid in-between where trance slips into languor, and the body starts to think for itself.

The record recalls the cosmic jazz of Alain Mion or Eddy Louiss meeting the fiery energy of West African afrobeat musicians freshly arrived in a smoky Belleville basement in the mid-’80s. When The Balek Band summon ghosts, it’s only to reshape them — bending the past into something futuristic, alive, and strangely refreshing. Both disciplined and delirious, Fragments of Reality feels like a promise at dawn: dark funk for the late hours, slow acid for warm blood.

This EP isn’t nostalgic, though it remembers. It’s a transmission from a parallel past — a moment when jazz players met drum machines and decided never to stop playing. Each note sweats, each rhythm breathes. You can almost see the light cutting through the haze, faces half-awake, half-possessed.

The Balek Band aren’t recreating a moment — they’re keeping it alive.
Flesh and cables. Impulse and patience.
A band, not a loop.
A trip, not a format.

While brothers Simon and Robin Lee have kept themselves busy, both with EPs as Faze Action and numerous offshoot and solo projects, it's been almost 12 years since we last heard a fresh, full-length excursion from the long-serving duo - at least under their most famous moniker. Predictably, Distant Dreams was worth the wait, with the Lee siblings continuing their richly organic approach - think live bass, guitars, strings, keys, flute and percussion alongside synth sounds and drum machine beats. Musically, it draws on their now well-known influences - warming disco, jazz-funk and Balearica with nods to other musical cultures - and delivers eight impeccable tracks that undoubtedly sit amongst their classiest work to date. It's good to have them back.

After releasing their third album, Maintenant Jamais, and touring in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2025, Population II now announces Gimmicks, a new synthedelic rock EP.
Blending vocal and instrumental tracks, Gimmicks is a companion piece to the Montreal band's latest full-length. It's an extension of the electronic sounds we explored on Maintenant Jamais, with tracks like “13 1 3 1” and “Poudreuse Blues, explains Pierre-Luc Gratton. Even though we added upright piano and fuzz bass to some of the songs, our number one rule for this project was: keyboards and synthesizers, first and foremost! This is why they decided to ditch the guitar completely on these new songs, once again demonstrating the extent of their versatility.
Rhythm-wise, the use of a drum machine allowed the musicians to push their own boundaries and take this exercise in style to a higher level. It made us rethink our rhythmic habits and add bursts of intensity by experimenting with timbres and sound dynamics. The result is an EP at times unsettling, at times dreamy, but perfectly calibrated, where constraint gives way to ingenuity, freedom, and friendship. Although prog and krautrock fans will recognize the influence of Syrinx, Tangerine Dream, and Cluster, Gimmicks is, above all, the affirmation of a band capable of looking back to move forward.