Search:dro

Broshuda returns on the newly born label Ballads Infinite with another array of absurdist vignettes, lowercase hi-tech ambience and textural degradations of radio transmissions from the bicameral mind. Weaving multiple sonic timelines into silky yet slippery articulations, he sculpts each sound with deliberate care making it breathe, slither and shimmer. Spells conjures a subterranean force through its vanishing presence, with the restraint in the sonic palette feeling utterly refreshing, as watering, drop by drop, a ghostly flower in the dromoscopic netscape of overreaching stimuli.

Deliriously patching fragments of unnoticed memories, gliding freely— slightly inebriated—through the ocean of sound: what does it take to capture the transitory entities inhabiting the latent space of this hyperconnected manifold? An assemblage of mechanical debris reduced to their bare-bone essentials; the Tao of discharge brings life to corrupted data, unpacked through textural ruminations.

Broshuda doesn’t just cast the spell, he patiently coils it around you, dissolving each and every thought in the hiss, manipulating subtle energies by making them move beyond and outward. What’s the sound of matter silently falling apart? The serpent sheds its subtle yet solid armor, revealing the space between each spire blooming with gentle eruptions of broken melodies. Where do we land now? What are we turning into? An ontological enigma still awaits to be solved.

Mastered by: Inner Lakes @ Tapewave Studio

In the wake of the acclaimed Inland See, the on-growing analog ecosystem being animated for ten albums now by Bitchin Bajas boasts new high energy views. "Isle Peaks" speaks of directions in beats of time, weather and the heart to wherever coast they found themselves when they got it all laid out. Sourced from Inland See sessions, these cuts were subjected to further edits and tweaks, with electroacoustic textures of sampled kalimba, field recordings, autoharp and EWI to activate and transport divergent quadrants of the Bajas cinematic universe. The first two songs were previously released digitally on Qobuz in Jan "26. "Watch your Step" has been added to balance scales and acidity for the "Isle Peaks" vinyl edition. "Isle Peaks," throbs with the heat and humidity of an unknown landmass, ascending to signal-splitting heights on both atmospheric and ecstatic scales, the most wired ever but calm, then trancing ambiently in heavy modern electronic church thick with drone and atmosphere. High-energy music, first to dance, then to dream! The escaped & wild stepchild of Inland See is a half-hour highlight of the rest of your life to be: "Isle Peaks".

In the wake of the acclaimed Inland See, the on-growing analog ecosystem being animated for ten albums now by Bitchin Bajas boasts new high energy views. "Isle Peaks" speaks of directions in beats of time, weather and the heart to wherever coast they found themselves when they got it all laid out. Sourced from Inland See sessions, these cuts were subjected to further edits and tweaks, with electroacoustic textures of sampled kalimba, field recordings, autoharp and EWI to activate and transport divergent quadrants of the Bajas cinematic universe. The first two songs were previously released digitally on Qobuz in Jan "26. "Watch your Step" has been added to balance scales and acidity for the "Isle Peaks" vinyl edition. "Isle Peaks," throbs with the heat and humidity of an unknown landmass, ascending to signal-splitting heights on both atmospheric and ecstatic scales, the most wired ever but calm, then trancing ambiently in heavy modern electronic church thick with drone and atmosphere. High-energy music, first to dance, then to dream! The escaped & wild stepchild of Inland See is a half-hour highlight of the rest of your life to be: "Isle Peaks".

The album's centerpiece, the delightfully breezy "Flowers," has racked up 26 million Spotify plays on its own, with the full album cracking an astonishing 37 million and The Deli himself gaining 1.7 million monthly listeners. In The Deli's case, this success in the digital realm only whets an appetite for the physical. Now Cold Busted is remastering and repressing the out-of-print Vibes 3 LP on vinyl. And it's purple vinyl to boot. The album's 18 cuts serve up proper old school vibes, dropping beats that'll make one reminisce while also anticipating the new. In addition to "Flowers," the album contains other worthy contenders like the smooth "Luv Shxt," which grooves with gentle jazz guitar and a lonely horn under a snappy beat; "Rain" and its simple introspection; the lovely lazy ride of "4Tina;" and album opener "1B4W" which sets things properly on the smoky late-night-lounging tip.

Keith Freund’s music occupies a space where careful musicianship and homebrewed experimentation meet and shake hands. On “Window Left Open,” spacious melodies drift through dense fields of electronic activity: saxophone lines rise above buzzing circuitry, percussion flickers at the edges of the frame, and clustered glitch textures dart through the music like insects in tall summer grass. Every sound feels vividly animated, a charged part of the same mercurial ecosystem.

Freund’s talent lies in balancing warmth and unpredictability with remarkable ease. Patient motifs recall the exploratory spirit of early folktronica, while bit-reduced textures, degraded loops, and idiosyncratic synthesis techniques continually reshape the terrain beneath them. Rather than treating acoustic and electronic elements as opposing forces, Freund allows them to intermingle until distinctions dissolve, creating compositions that reward close listening while retaining immediate warmth. This record finds Freund working with a fully formed vocabulary that is truly his own, transforming glitch, melody, improvisation, and atmosphere into songs that are both fundamentally curious and disarmingly engaging.

T-Spoon is a Dutch Eurodance project founded in 1991 by rapper Shalamon Baskin (known as Shamrock) and producer Remy de Groot (known as Prince Peration). They had multiple hits in the UK, Australia, Canada, Israel, Ireland, Scandinavia, South America, and, of course, their home country, the Netherlands.

The group released its debut single, “No Time To Waste,” in 1993, which became a European top‑10 hit. In the years that followed, T‑Spoon scored a series of international successes with tracks such as “A Part of My Life,” “Where R U Now" and “Take Me 2 the Limit.”

In 1997, they became known for the summer hit "Sex on the Beach" which reached the charts in the Netherlands as well as Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom.

This brand new Greatest Hits collection is now available on vinyl and features all of T‑Spoon’s biggest successes, plus an exclusive bonus mix of “Sex on the Beach.”

T-Spoon's Greatest Hits is available as a limited edition of 1000 copies on white marble vinyl.

There's a confidence in calling something 'cheesy' before anyone else gets the chance to. The Lazy Eyes lean into it, they have an understanding that sincerity, when left out in the open long enough, will always risks ridicule. But what's remarkable on Cheesy Love Songs is how little they flinch for a young band dropping a sophomore album.
This is a record that understands its inheritance. You can hear the ghosts of bedroom psych, of records made by young people who discovered that distortion could double as a shield, that reverb could make even the most fragile confession feel infinite. But Cheesy Love Songs doesn't hide inside those textures, it lets them bloom until they almost overwhelm the room, like a feeling you tried to downplay that instead insists on becoming the only thing you can hear.

The kaleidoscopic guitars, the melodies that feel like they've been unearthed rather than written, the way it treats love as both spectacle and small disaster. These are songs that circle the same emotional drain: wanting too much, too quickly, and then sitting in the quiet aftermath of having said it out loud. The band doesn't pretend that intensity is sustainable; instead, they document the crash with the same care as the ascent.

In that way, Cheesy Love Songs feels like a document of early belief — the kind that arrives before irony calcifies, before restraint feels like wisdom. It's a record made by a band still willing to risk the embarrassment of being 'cheesy' in pursuit of something louder, brighter, and more honest than cool. And maybe that's what makes it an iconic modern Australian sophomore album: not just that it captures a moment in time for the band, but that it refuses to outgrow it.

The West Coast's contribution to hardcore punk is undeniable. That tradition of aggression, passion, and scrappy melodicism continues with The Barbarians Of California, an engaging new manifestation of iconoclastic spirit and true bombast. Born from the shared passion of Aaron Bruno (AWOLNATION) and his longtime engineer Eric Stenman - who cut his teeth in the same Sacramento community that eventually launched diverse and disparate acts like Deftones, Far, Will Haven, Team Sleep, Hella, Dance Gavin Dance, Death Grips, and Trash Talk - the spirit of the underground and the personal catharsis delivered through metallic hardcore never left either of them. So, when Aaron learned that Eric crafted a batch of throwback bangers combining impassioned angst with modern sensibilities, he wanted in immediately. The Barbarians of California was born.

In 2024, the band released their debut album, And Now I'm Just Gnashing My Teeth, and celebrated with a high-energy show at the iconic Troubadour in Los Angeles, cementing their place in the hardcore scene's next chapter. Since then, they've continued to build momentum with headline shows across LA, a summer 2025 arena tour with Deftones and other festival appearances that brought their explosive live presence to a wider audience. Dropping two new singles in 2025 including a collaboration with Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die/Many Eyes), The Barbarians Of California are gearing up in 2026 for the release of their sophomore album, MEGATONS. With their second full length, The Barbarians of California are unleashing fresh chaos straight from the sun-soaked, teeth-gnashing heart of the Golden State. Blending raw hardcore energy, razor-sharp riffs, and that signature mix of ferocity and tongue-in-cheek humor, these new songs hit like a caffeine-fueled fever dream.

It’s no disrespect to the man to not believe, in part or in whole, every word that Ray Wylie Hubbard writes, sings, or speaks — and frankly, he’d probably respect you a little less if you did. As celebrated songwriters of the outlaw poet/down-home-country-blues persuasion go, Hubbard’s credibility is unimpeachable. And to be fair, even as a somewhat notorious raconteur, his overall truthiness is a lot more bankable than your average politician or fundamentalist grifter.

But fold your cards every time he goes all in across a table from you, or swallow as fact every nugget of wisdom he sharpens into verse or stretches into a yarn without catching the gleam in his eye or wry tell between the lines, and odds are you’ve been played. But honestly, that’s all just part of what makes Hubbard so damn fun. “You know, a lot of artists when they put out a record, they go, ‘This is the best record I’ve done up to this point,’” the Americana legend considers sagely after a pause when asked how to best sum up Reel 2 Reel 4 Real, his 20th album in a recording career stretching back to the mid-70s. “But I’m not going to say this is the best record I’ve done. I’ll say it’s the best record I’ve ever heard.” No matter how many awards and Hall of Fame inductions others might honor him with (he’s a member of both the Austin Music HOF and the Texas Heritage Songwriters HOF), Hubbard never swaggers or sings his own praises without keeping his tongue planted firmly in cheek.

But after brushing aside his bluff with a chuckle, Hubbard gets real. “I am very proud of it,” he answers sincerely. “Everybody that played on it put a lot of work into it, and it just felt right doing it. I’m very grateful.” Set for release August 21, 2026 (with the first taste, “Cassette Mix Tape,” dropping May 29, followed later this summer by a second single, “Dog or Wolf”), Reel 2 Reel 4 Real marks Hubbard’s return after a two-album major-label joyride on Nashville’s Big Machine Records. “They treated me great, and did everything they could,” he says, “but it was kind of limited because I’m an old guy. I’m no longer a country hunk, you know?”

The highly original free jazz / avant garde trio Sulida, featuring three of Norway's most visionary musicians in Marthe Lea, Dag Erik Knedal Andersen and Jon Rune Strøm, played an amazing show together with the legendary trumpeter Axel Dörner at Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2025. Luckily the show got recorded, and have now been processed into full proper album being released on Sauajazz August 21!

On Squirrel Flower's new album, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Ella Williams, delivers her most transcendent and instantly classic record to date. It's an album full of hope and beauty, with themes of staying in constant motion, electric love, and knowing when to leave, but also when to stick around. After touring in support of 2023's Tomorrow's Fire, Williams remained on the road, following instinct over itinerary_passing through Gary, Indiana; Los Angeles; Putney, Vermont; Silver City, New Mexico; and Hudson, New York. Each stop became a site of creative renewal. She ended up recording the album at two locations: a makeshift studio in rural Wisconsin, and at Drop of Sun in Asheville, NC, featuring friends and collaborators such as Dimitri Giannpolous (Horse Jumper of Love), Sofia Jensen (Free Range), Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks, Hazel City), and many others along the way. Standouts like "Reelin" and "Highway Woman" showcase the push and pull of life as a musician; the constant need for embarking on a hero's journey in search of reflection and freedom. Others like "Not Me" and "Cleveland" are classic Squirrel Flower, but with a sharper and more concentrated writing style paired with some of Williams' strongest vocal delivery of her career. Mixed and co-produced by Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday), Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is the sound of cosmic rebirth, looking behind to illuminate what's ahead. "Pack your life and your guitar," Williams sings on "Highway Woman." "You can change it as you go. You do not plan on dying." In addition to her seemingly nonstop DISABLED touring across North America and Europe, Squirrel Flower has been featured in outlets such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, Paste, and many others, as well as performances at NPR's Tiny Desk & KEXP. Williams' music has been streamed millions of times around the globe, proving her to be an undeniable force as a songwriter. FOR FANS OF Indigo De Souza, Soccer Mommy, Katy Kirby, Julia Jacklin, Tomberlin, Hand Habits, Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee, PJ Harvey, Grouper, Chelsea Wolfe, Moses Sumney, Cat Power, Liz Phair, Alex G, Mazzy Star, Julie Byrne, Big Thief.

On Squirrel Flower's new album, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Ella Williams, delivers her most transcendent and instantly classic record to date. It's an album full of hope and beauty, with themes of staying in constant motion, electric love, and knowing when to leave, but also when to stick around. After touring in support of 2023's Tomorrow's Fire, Williams remained on the road, following instinct over itinerary_passing through Gary, Indiana; Los Angeles; Putney, Vermont; Silver City, New Mexico; and Hudson, New York. Each stop became a site of creative renewal. She ended up recording the album at two locations: a makeshift studio in rural Wisconsin, and at Drop of Sun in Asheville, NC, featuring friends and collaborators such as Dimitri Giannpolous (Horse Jumper of Love), Sofia Jensen (Free Range), Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks, Hazel City), and many others along the way. Standouts like "Reelin" and "Highway Woman" showcase the push and pull of life as a musician; the constant need for embarking on a hero's journey in search of reflection and freedom. Others like "Not Me" and "Cleveland" are classic Squirrel Flower, but with a sharper and more concentrated writing style paired with some of Williams' strongest vocal delivery of her career. Mixed and co-produced by Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday), Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is the sound of cosmic rebirth, looking behind to illuminate what's ahead. "Pack your life and your guitar," Williams sings on "Highway Woman." "You can change it as you go. You do not plan on dying." In addition to her seemingly nonstop DISABLED touring across North America and Europe, Squirrel Flower has been featured in outlets such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, Paste, and many others, as well as performances at NPR's Tiny Desk & KEXP. Williams' music has been streamed millions of times around the globe, proving her to be an undeniable force as a songwriter. FOR FANS OF Indigo De Souza, Soccer Mommy, Katy Kirby, Julia Jacklin, Tomberlin, Hand Habits, Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee, PJ Harvey, Grouper, Chelsea Wolfe, Moses Sumney, Cat Power, Liz Phair, Alex G, Mazzy Star, Julie Byrne, Big Thief.

Geometrik Records is delighted to once again play a part in the exclusive recovery of Marcelo Expósito's previously unpublished work, which had been lost since its original creation in the 1980s. Marcelo Expósito is one of Spain's most internationally renowned contemporary artists, whose work is regularly exhibited across Europe and Latin America. He began his career at a very young age during the era of sound experimentation that flourished in the wake of so-called industrial culture, which found particularly fertile ground in Spain. As co-editor of legendary publications such as the fanzine Experiencias (1983) and, above all, the cassette-fanzine publisher Necronomicón (1983-1987), which operated on an international scale, Marcelo Expósito has, in recent years, been reconstructing those of his sound experiments that had been lost for decades. The album we are now presenting brings together material previously released on cassettes as EGK023 in a very limited edition. These tracks have now been remastered and expanded to complete this record, which noise musician Mattin has described as "secret recordings that constitute a gem from the rich Spanish underground of the 1980s". In the words of Luis Alvarado, editor of the Peruvian label Buh Records, this album allows us to appreciate how "Expósito developed a style of his own that understood sound as a malleable material open to chance. The recordings gathered on The Lost Tapes reveal an artist who moves as much through territories of unsettling textures and atmospheres as through zones of abstraction and radical noise". Influenced by the early work of figures such as Maurizio Bianchi, Nurse With Wound, and La Otra Cara de un Jardín, the release of this album provides a key piece in reconstructing the genealogical puzzle of Spanish experimental music. This carefully curated edition-in Spanish and English-includes a lengthy essay by Marcelo Expósito on the creative processes behind his work and the historical context of the industrial culture of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as extensive liner notes contributed by Vittore Baroni, editor of the legendary Italian label Trax; Francisco Felipe, co-founder of the Ars Sonora programme on Radio Clásica (Radio Nacional de España) and one of the most active names on the Spanish experimental scene of the 1980s; Mattin and Susana López (Susan Drone), key figures in the sound experimentation of the generation that emerged in the 2000s; as well as the aforementioned Luis Alvarado.

A long-overdue return to one of the most singular moments in Nurse With Wound's sprawling discography. Originally issued in 1994, Rock 'n' Roll Station marked a turning point - the album where Steven Stapleton's decades-long engagement with collage, musique concrète, and the outer limits of post-industrial sound first met the hypnotic, rhythm-driven studio sensibility of Colin Potter. What began as a request to rework some of the more percussive sections of 1992's Thunder Perfect Mind mutated, under Potter's hand, into something else entirely: an hour of swivelling grooves, warped exotica, and looping psychedelia, channelling the ghosts of Pérez Prado, Graham Bond, Joe Meek, and Jacques Berrocal into the most rhythm-conscious work the group had ever made. Three decades on, it remains one of the most beloved entries in the NWW catalogue. Issued by United Dirter as a limited LP, this new VIP edition reframes the album through four extended remixes and reworkings, each running close to or beyond ten minutes - a deep re-engagement with the source material by the extended Nurse With Wound family. Joining the usual suspects of Colin Potter, Matt Waldron, Andrew Liles, and Diarmuid MacDiarmada is an unexpected and historically significant presence: Jean-Jacques Birgé, the French composer, filmmaker, and co-founder of Un Drame Musical Instantané, whose GRRR imprint (founded 1975) famously appeared on the original Nurse With Wound List nearly half a century ago. A quiet circle, closing. The LP arrives as forerunner to a more ambitious project still to come: The Iron Lung Gives Way To The Surgical Stocking, a 5CD set due later in 2026, of which these reworks offer a first glimpse. Housed in striking new full-colour artwork by Babs Santini - Stapleton's longstanding visual alter ego. 500 ww copies in black & orange vinyl. Genre/Style: Electronic / Dark Ambient / Experimental / Drone

Hot off the heels of a stack of fine singles, they found love with the likes of Nels Hylton, Amy Lame, John Kennedy, Visions, NTS, Bring The Noise, Upset, arts culture, Distorted Sound, The Punk Site and many more - building a buzzing community, touring with Don Broco and Weakened Friends, finding favour with scribes at the likes of Kerrang, Rock Sound and Clash and popping up on the BBC Radio 1, Radio X and BBC 6 Music airwaves with alarming regularity... Signed to Alcopop! (UK/ ROW) and Grand Hotel van Cleef (GAS) they drop fiery choruses, grungy riffs and catchy hollering britpop sensibilities. With these future anthems all wrapped around vocalist jim heffy's lyrics of angst, depression and medication, break- ups, drinking and problematic housemates, it's prescient to remember the most important message that resides in the beating heart of these songs - 'be kind and be free to express yourself, no matter who you are'.

Coming in hazy and heady, an end-of-summer cosmic jammer from Nick Mitchell Maiato, full of big choruses, blazing guitars, country honk, and deep grooves—replete with funky horn section. It’s been four years since Poolside, the last release by One Eleven Heavy (Mitchell Maiato’s sometimes-band with James “Wooden Wand” Toth), and that time has clearly been used for some serious woodshedding on the auteur’s part. On Náquera, named after the Spanish pueblo in which he resides, Mitchell Maiato’s songwriting, vocals, and guitar playing all come into sharp focus as he mans the wheel on an ocean drive of interwoven electric guitar dueling, funky multi-movement jams, bittersweet odes to uncomplicatedness, and rolling rockers. Featuring an effortlessly graceful preface by Macon, GA piano prodigy Gavin Rushing, “Riki Rachtman” is a cosmic americana ballad examining the state of heavy metal in contemporary pop culture from the perspective of a disgruntled first-person narrator. “Critical Mass” is a soaring, two-chord ode to dropping out, with an opening organ salvo by Grateful Dead midi-tech Bob Bralove, a monster, key-changing guitar duel at its core, and a fat, snaking bass groove by Otto Wilberg (Mitchell Maiato’s former colleague in Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura).“Flamebait” is one of the record’s big surprises with its almost Lennon-esque rock-and soul slab of technocracy bashing, its woozy, three-part horn section, and its improvised, sun-scorched guitar solo slap-dab in the middle.And, on “The Angle,” we get an homage to rock-and-roll pool hustler narratives framed within an expansive country-funk jam that nods to Mitchell-Maiato’s love of Parliament and Grateful Dead in equal measure.

A decade after its original release, Be Nothing. still stands as the breakout record that launched Boston Manor from the UK underground onto the global alternative scene. Blending emo vulnerability, pop-punk energy, and sharp post-hardcore intensity, the album became a defining release of the 2010s with fan-favorite tracks like “Lead Feet,” “Burn You Up,” and the massive “Halo.” Now, this 10 Year Anniversary Edition celebrates the legacy of Be Nothing. with newly recorded acoustic versions of the band’s biggest songs, reimagining the album’s most emotional moments with a raw, stripped-back approach. Equal parts nostalgic and refreshed, it’s a tribute to the record that changed everything for Boston Manor while showcasing how timeless these songs have become.

Melaina Kol, das Pseudonym des in Nashville lebenden Musikers Logan Hornyak, ist ein Projekt, das sich ständig wandelt. Es ist heute nicht mehr wiederzuerkennen im Vergleich zu dem, was es beispielsweise 2018 war, als er das Lo-Fi-Twee-Pop-Album ,Bird Kill Worm" veröffentlichte, und es hat sich auch von den Folktronica-Songs auf dem 2021 erschienenen Album ,AMOSAT" weiterentwickelt. Hornyak mag es nicht, sich auf eine Sache festzulegen; jedes Album soll anders sein als das vorherige. ,Ich greife gerne Motive oder Ideen auf, so wie ein Thema, und ich ändere gerne jedes Mal die Art und Weise, wie ich aufnehme", sagt er. Für sein neues Album ,Okay that's a great idea because if I do that then" hat Hornyak beschlossen, fast ganz auf Gitarre und Elektronik zu verzichten. Stattdessen brachte er sich selbst Cello und Harfe bei und kehrte zu seinem Klavierunterricht aus Kindertagen zurück. Er wollte seine langjährige Liebe zur klassischen Musik mit seinem Interesse an Ambient- und House-Musik verschmelzen, mit der Idee, ein Album zu schaffen, das den Ansatz der elektronischen Musik mit organischen Klängen verbindet. Klassische Instrumente werden zerhackt, geloopt und um einen rhythmischen Puls herum geschichtet. Der Effekt kann verwirrend und aus dem Gleichgewicht bringend sein, ist aber gleichzeitig entwaffnend schön. Hornyak nahm das Album zwischen seinem Zuhause in Tennessee und einem nahegelegenen Studio auf. Es war das erste Mal, dass er für Melaina-Kol-Songs ein richtiges Studio nutzen konnte, und er wollte, dass der Sound hochauflösend ist. Bei all seiner rastlosen kreativen Energie repräsentiert ,Okay that's a great idea because if I do that then " Hornyak in einer ruhigeren Lebensphase. ,Es ist viel ruhiger als die letzten beiden Alben. Ich habe all diese Alben in meinen frühen 20ern gemacht, als ich manische Phasen durchlebte und mit Drogen und so anfing", sagt er. ,Aber ich würde sagen, dieses Album ist sozusagen das andere Ende davon - das Herauskommen aus dieser Phase, würde ich sagen. In meinem Leben fühle ich mich viel friedlicher, und ich habe das Gefühl, dass das Album das widerspiegelt."

Crossing borders between traditions, sonic territories, and instruments, musicians Tomáš Niesner and Aldana Duoraan created their first collaborative album Plot. The sound of khomus meets guitar melodies simplified into pentatonic scales, intertwining in a dialogue that remains playful while moving between meditative passages and bewitching, hypnotic moments. Solid yet ever-changing, these melodies explore a delicate relationship between the present interactions, their past, and possible futures. “I feel that the essence of our collaboration is not to close the songs off, but to leave them open so that they can develop and be interpreted a little differently each time, depending on the circumstances,” Niesner explains when describing the duo’s artistic approach. The recording therefore captures only the most essential moments and ideas, which continue to unfold in new directions during live performances.

Each segment of Plot, word meaning “fence” in Czech, while also referring in English to a narrative structure or hidden plan, represents a different constellation shaped by the pairing of specific khomuses and guitar tuning. The track titles, such as The Key of Radiance or The Key of Humbling, are inspired by the ancient Chinese text I Ching (usually translated as Book of Changes). Like the classical cosmological text itself, the compositions meditate on similar fundamental principles. The ideas explored in the chapters of the I Ching are thus loosely translated into musical language. Themes of Radiance, Attending, or Nearing thus loom over the reflective realm of Aldana and Tomáš.

The two musicians first met in 2021 through a collaboration organized by Konektiv, an event series that aims to create new connections between genres and musicians with diverse backgrounds. Aldana Duoraan is a Prague-based artist born in the Sakha Republic, whose experiments with the khomus (also known as the jaw harp) draw on the traditional music of her homeland. Tomáš Niesner, a sound artist and guitarist based in Brno, navigates the realms of American primitive guitar while incorporating influences ranging from folk to drone. Because the duo rarely finds themselves in the same city, an important moment in the development of Plot was a showcase at Cafe OTO, organized by mappa. The album, capturing the fleeting energy of this encounter and several others, has now been released on the Slovak experimental label, which helped bring the collaboration to life.

Michaela Turcerová’s compositions unfold in slow motion. The saxophonist and composer’s glacial music zeroes in on the granularities of each note as it rings, soaking in every subtle shift in texture and pitch.

Šumum exemplifies this patient approach to writing music, branching out from themes of loss and togetherness into an intricate tapestry of introspective sound. These four pieces invite deep collaboration between performers, who together shape the music through the shared process of listening and interpreting Turcerová’s relatively open scores. And while these works often grow from long, stretched-out tones, they also foreground forward direction: no note stays in one place, no melody is without action. Instead, Šumum chronicles how the tiniest shifts can lead to major transformation.

Šumum builds from Turcerová’s longheld interests in place and minimalism. Many of the composer’s works explore perception: how a room can shape the music we hear, and how repetition alters a melody. Like the music of Éliane Radigue, Šumum embraces the rainbow of colors that appear when close listening with the wave-like flow of looped melodic and rhythmic patterns. All the album’s pieces observe the subtle changes that happen as music grows.

Group communication yields the constant evolution that defines Šumum. The album feels like a conversation, with each instrumentalist swapping phrases or trading places when the moment feels right. “Straty” builds from a series of strongly accented drones that appear as quickly as they fade away; underneath them is a perpetual rhythm that drives the color of each long held note, from melancholy into radiance and back again. With “Vlny,” pitch eventually disappears, leaving a delicate rhythm, and with “Masy,” a matrix of brassy tones link together and eventually burst. No matter where the music goes, one thing remains true: Šumum invites close listening, and in the process, reveals the beauty of continual motion.

After the wild Afro-jazz fusion of Trancedance (reissued as BT118) and the meditative solo Christer Bothén Donso n’goni (BT133), legendary Swedish multi-instrumentalist Christer Bothén returns to Black Truffle as part of a dream quartet completed by the three members of Ghosted: Oren Ambarchi (guitar), Johan Berthling (bass) and Andreas Werliin (drums). Recorded at a rustic studio built by Werliin and Hans Fredriksson in the sylvan surrounds of Hamburgsund, Sweden across a few days in September 2023, Serpentine offers up four generous slices of hypnotic repetition and shimmering resonance, cut through with wild bursts of Bothén’s bass clarinet.

The depth and ease of the quartet’s rapport is evident from the first moments of the opening title-track. Berthling’s resonant upright bass locks into a head-nodding ostinato that makes sensitive use of a prominent end-of-phrase rest, opening spaces through which Werliin’s continually shifting statements of the pulse shine through. Having worked together in various groups for many years, Berthling and Werliin are masters at playing subtle games of difference and repetition, creating a driving rhythmic flow animated by perpetually changing details: here, you can never step in the same groove twice. Weaving through it all is Ambarchi’s now-signature Leslie-cabinet guitar tone, sounding out long chords at times strikingly close to a Hammond, while also creating intricate cross-rhythms through the play of his tremolo modulations against the bass and drums. When Bothén enters five minutes in, the growl of his bass clarinet at first works deep in the collective brew, carving off brief staccato phrases and twisting them into fragmented melodies. As he moves into the instrument’s higher registers, Bothén’s playing becomes wilder, twinning with Ambarchi’s guitar in shimmering arcs like a 21st century update of the Garbarek-Rypdal pairing immortalised on Sart.

Each of the four pieces explore different possibilities of a shared language. On ‘Antigorite’, another hypnotic bass riff emerges gradually from an atmospheric haze, eventually developing into a frenetic rhythmic workout propelled by Werliin’s cowbell. Berthling sits out for ‘Lizardite’, while Bothén moves from bass clarinet to the Donso n’goni, the sacred Wassoulou hunter’s harp he has studied for half a century; the resulting performance streamlines the approach heard on other tracks into pure modal propulsion, sparkling with harp-like arpeggios from Ambarchi’s guitar. On the closing ‘Chrysotile’, the bottom drops out, leaving a swampy, churning mass of wavering organ-like chords, roaming bass runs, and distant toms, over which Bothén floats bass clarinet figures by turns bluesy and abstract, the whole thing landing somewhere between classic ECM and the most blasted freeform moments of early Amon Düül II. Bearing a delicate calligraphic abstraction by Bothén on its cover and beautiful documentation of the recording sessions on its inner sleeve, Serpentine is a powerful reminder of the magic that can happen when inventive musicians just get together and play.

From the heart of the Australian psych scene... rainbow rockers BABE RAINBOW return with their 7th studio album ‘ACID AND HONEY’ recorded on an op shop acoustic on a houseboat in Amsterdam and finished at zen master Mullarky’s Malibu ranch. Exciting country-pop beat production backs wailing Babe rainbow vocals on solid skanking hip-hop hard rocking finger funky sounds. The first single ‘POLYMUCALSACCHARIDE’ is just something Perry Farrell says and it means "drool, like you're dribbling cos the truth is once you hit the road you don’t remember the good shows, they’re just like every other show."

Roy Montgomery, a key figure in the experimental underground rock scene, lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, just a short drive from the sea. Avant-garde vocalist and songwriter Martha Skye Murphy is based in London. Though geographically worlds apart, the pair inhabit an intimate and almost tactile shared sonic world. Their collaboration feels transformative, like the gradual shifting spell from night to day.

What draws them together is the emotional force of each other’s music. Montgomery’s cyclical, decaying compositions are shaped through intricate guitar and piano work, blending post-rock, folk, and drone. Murphy, meanwhile, possesses a rare gift for transformation, from the intimate cracked whispers of 'At Dawn' to the hypnotic drift of 'The Play of Dark and Light'. On the latter, she evokes old maritime folk tales of fishermen lured into the darkness by the sea’s siren call. The song both seduces and warns, finding something magical and frightening in the temptation of drowning. Though her vocals often resemble fragments of words, consonants, or vowels, they frequently function as pure sound, drawing on glossolalia and prioritising feeling over any ‘learnt’ language.

Emotion and intuition are the driving forces behind Nebular, an album that oscillates between the intimate with the unknown. This spirit is reflected in its artwork. Murphy shared a painting by Irish artist Simon English depicting a solitary house bathed in dusky blue light, and the pair quickly settled on it as the cover image. Both were captivated by its atmosphere. Montgomery related it to the isolated, seemingly uninhabited houses he encounters while travelling through rural New Zealand—places that inspire a desire to knock on the door and discover what lies beyond. “Terra incognita springs to mind. A search into the unknown,” Murphy agrees.

The nocturnal and remote nature of the artwork mirrors the process of making Nebular. With Montgomery in New Zealand and Murphy in London, the album was created entirely through remote correspondence, with stems exchanged via email. Their messages were often written and read at different times of day, and, because of the time difference and the demands of daily life, replies usually were sent late at night and the music too often composed at nocturnal hours. Their exchanges took on the quality of pen pals sending letters across great distances. This suspended sense of time is echoed in Nebular’s sound, with its feeling of temporal drift and timelessness.

On Nebular, Montgomery and Murphy have harnessed raw emotion and launched it into a time capsule bound for the stars. It allows you to drift, to be present, and to feel; creating something timeless.

TRACKLISTING

*full sounds later

The blissed family band is back! TENGGER have always moved together, through time, space & genre. 'SKY' arrives as a new chapter: a little more still, a little more inward, while keeping all the warmth that's always been at the heart of what they do.

Embodying the band name meaning "endless sky" in Mongolian and "vast sea" in Hungarian, their 8th album 'SKY' centres on the feelings of boundless, infinite expansion. Conceived as one continuous environment rather than a collection of tracks, the album unfolds slowly through luminous synths, patient drones and Itta's breath-like vocals. 

Like a soft big sky you can actually float on: 'SKY' is vast, warm, and wide open.

"Rather than a specific emotion, we hope the record opens a certain awareness — that the sky is not just something to be seen. Through it, we sense a connection to something much larger — a feeling of being linked to the wider universe. This sense of connection runs through the entire record."

'Devotional music and its devotees all do a bit of "buying in"; that while one's on the ground reality may appear anything but celestial, through this music, one can reach ecstatic space, ecstatic peace. However, devotional music is not solely concerned with a skyward glance - what does it look like to raise up the rust, look upon fractured branches, gaze at the density of a low fog across a field? Instead of us looking up at the land, what if the land was looking back at us? Old Saw brings together a brigade of New England silt sifters to raise up the land not as excavators, but as preparators. Tending and caring for the simple mess that our world discards. Throughout Country Tropics four pieces, the crew stretches and bends chords to their resting place before setting forth towards a new one. Fiddle drone, wistful tape loops of pedal steel, pipe organ hums, and clattering bells call us to scenes of observation, a water tower, a mechanical bull rental agency, a back porch, a taxidermy shop, a local church choir, a garden with singing vines, voltage hum of the electric fence on Pulp mill bridge road.
'The funny thing about devotion is the absence of sight, of source. We place trust in the guide or guides to bring us to a place of seeing, feeling, and hearing. The music on Country Tropics calls out to those in search of such places, but also doesn't demand we conjure some fantastical, celestial vision of understanding. Rather, Old Saw points our gaze downward towards the terrafirma unconsidered, and guides our hands into the dirt.'

Drone returns for his fourth release on his Evil Sky imprint with Normal Ways, a 4-track EP that further pushes the boundaries of bass-heavy music. The EP blends 2-step, breaks, and dubstep, showcasing Drone’s ever-evolving sound while staying true to his distinctive style.

Opening with Ralph’s Theme, a euphoric breaks-driven track, Drone explores a more melodic and emotional side of his production with soaring synths and vocal chops.

Blurred Vision follows, a bass-heavy 2-step anthem with powerful low-end and driving drums that capture Drone’s signature intensity.

Atom Bomb is a dubstep weapon, a club-focused track loaded with hard-hitting bass and all the weight you expect from Drone’s productions.

Closing out the EP is the title track, Normal Ways — a stripped-back, weighty cut with a deep sub, vocal chops, and grooving percussion, marking a return to a more minimalistic yet dynamic sound. Normal Ways sees Drone push forward into new sonic territories while maintaining his signature style, making this EP another standout release on Evil Sky.

Yassokiiba returns with two tracks of heavyweight modular dub pressure recorded in his Tokyo apartment! Fresh from last year's sell out drop, here we are treated to a progression in the unique blend of electronix + classic dub flavours. DUB 11 kicks off with upbeat chubby chords rubbing up against heavyweight bassline + FX! On the flip, DUB 15 goes a little deeper - beatless shards of metallic echoes float above rolling baselines and subtle glitch FX - the sound of MODULAR DUB NOW!

CusCus Limited drops its debut with a four-way tracker on blue wax. Mark Jackus and Marcus Sur lay down the blueprint; G-Man & Gez Varley, D.Diggler, and Soodmann each tear it apart in their own image. Dub-soaked atmospheres collide with deep tech house grooves, a statement of intent pressed on 140g blue vinyl.

Figure marks its latest chapter with X54, a gripping new EP from French production talent KUSS.

Known for his meticulous work with hypnotic rhythms and tactile textures, his debut release for the label thrives in the darker, more introspective corners of the club. X54 is a perfect example of tension-building-balancing forward-thinking sound design with the kind of dancefloor efficiency that Figure is known for.
While the EP is defined by the heavy, metallic undertones that K.U.S.S. has made his own, the record also features two collaborations with Clotur. These tracks bridge K.U.S.S.'s clinical percussion with Clotur's knack for expansive, cinematic atmosphere. Together, they create a sound that feels both surgically clean and sonically massive.
Built for the late-night hours and the depths of the club, X54 is an uncompromising addition to the Figure catalog.

Collaborations have always been an aspect of music I enjoy a lot, it can bring out the best in both artists when done well. It's a privilege to return the favour for one of the most exciting producers around in my opinion and to put out some of our music on my label after I released 'Reflections' on his excellent Temple of Sound back in 2019.

Tom and I came up through similar circles of music, inevitably connecting. We started to chat online and send ideas back and forth, immediately finding a shared enthusiasm for production and music in general. With a similar ethos of DIY and letting the music speak for itself, this EP was formed from the track 20-25 aptly named due to the stems being bounced back in 2020 but it eventually came together in 2025. We exchanged a few ideas and quickly realized we had a pretty strong EP in the works combining the best of both our sounds.

The EP consists of 4 hypnotic & rolling bass music tracks around 130 BPM merging influences from broken & deep Techno styles, Breakbeat & House. Perfect for deep listening or wiggling air in the club.

20-25 is a crunchy broken beat roller with lush pad work, stabs and slinky grooves before dubbed out bongos crank the energy up a notch and solidify the groove. 5 years in the making, but definitely worth the wait!

Strings on the A2 leans heavier into repetition and hypnotic grooves with slinky synthetic percussion and cavernous atmospherics. The track gradually evolves with elements filtering in and out whilst the groove anchors the track before the breakbeat science and pitchy bass comes into play. It's low and slow, building the tension before weaving in the full power of the track with haunting dissonance and dark melodics.

The title track takes the EP in another direction with it's delicate melodies and vocal, ushering in thunderous kicks. Around 2 mins in, the full weight of the track is noticeable with the low sub bass and modulating percussion. The track slowly morphs into an insatiable groove with peaks and troughs before a full send on the 2nd drop with additional percussion, intensifying the energy and taking the track into more dancefloor territory.

Finally we have Depth Charge on the B2, eyes down, dubby with a wonkified groove. This one is a slow burner, coming in at over 8 mins long. The rhythmic prowess is on full display with counter balanced rhythms, an interesting bassline and dubby pads and stabs. The track has a noticeable energy shift around 3.30 with a key change, and the slow meshing of subtle elements culminate in an easeless hypnotism where 8 mins feels like a lot less, a perfect closer.

We hope you enjoy, keep it deep!

Das gefeierte Hip-Hop-Experimentalisten-Duo Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals aus Baltimore meldet sich mit dem neuen Album "A City Drowned In God's Black Tears" zurück - einer explosiven, unwiderstehlichen Rap-Platte, die unerschrockenen Diskurs mit mutiger und unvorhersehbarer Produktion verbindet. Ihr Vorgänger "King Cobra" wurde von Magazinen wie Spin und Loud & Quiet zu einem der besten Hip-Hop-Alben des Jahres 2022 gekürt.

First ever commercial / retail release of debut album by acclaimed rap duo Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals. Follows their beloved two albums King Cobra and A City Drowned in God's Black Tears, which have received glowing press from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the BBC, Anthony Fantano, Spin, Loud & Quiet and many many more.

Spectral death metal conjurations will grasp you with their doom-tinged tendrils from the onset of this record. The gritty, booming riffs open a chasm of darkness for the punishing drums to cast skulls into. Met by otherworldly vocals, this is certain to grip any fan of sepulchral music with its enchanting and intense abyssal atmosphere. Do not be fooled by the slower lumbering moments into thinking this will be an easy listen. Stampeding ferocity and wild madness soon erupt from the charnel openings to give a burst of frantic psychopathy to the experience. Churning doomed violence and convulsive bestial onslaughts entwine around each other to project forth arcane death metal violence with huge dynamics and an utterly savage feeling to every second. With a natural, organic production to convey the filthy nature of the music perfectly; this is not a record that will hold your hand rather drop you into a void of souls with malicious intentions.

From the devastating drum work and monstrous riffing to the wickedly contorting bass lines; each instrument complements the others in this storm of triumphant vitriol while the commanding vocals spew malice to superb effect. The low end murmurings and rusted blades of the leads are an idyllic balance of inhospitable sounds that will surely satisfy any real underground lunatic seeking dark music. These five pieces clock in at 35 minutes and the sheer intensity is upheld for every second. Crypt-lurking doomed despair and utter ferocity become companions while the groove of the more mid tempo sections tie everything together. There is certainly nothing missing for an impactful and memorable experience. Allowing itself to decay and reform throughout; you will see, hear, feel, smell and maybe even taste the stages of cranial decay and the anguish of the brain matter breaking down into nothingness. This is a record which doesn’t follow predictable patterns nor rules but wildly possesses you with the malignant spirits from death metal’s darkest corners…

Within the broad church of metal and its many offshoots – rock, doom, stoner and all the rest – it remains a minor thrill to stumble across a group who seem to exist at a slight tangent to everything else. Crumbling Ghost is one such anomaly. Crumbling Ghost are not newcomers. They've been operating for some time, releasing records sporadically, Four' is in fact their fourth release. Along the way they've accumulated a fervent coterie of followers, not to mention the occasional nod of approval from tastemakers such as Stuart Maconie, Stewart Lee and Tom Ravenscroft. And though they've appeared at Roadburn, shared stages with Hawkwind and even Damo Suzuki, they remain (possibly by design) curiously under the radar.
The group's core idea is deceptively simple: traditional folk material refracted through the haze and heft of heavy, fuzzy stoner rock with a chunk of psyche and a smattering of doom. But crucially, this is done without the costumery and theatrical tics that often accompany such collisions. No mock pagan pageantry, no graveyard cosplay, no cartoon Satanism.
What Crumbling Ghost latch onto is not folk as a museum piece, but as a lived experience, the dramas rooted in the culture, stories, and daily lives of ordinary people, the folklore, the tales of love and death, murder and adultery, freedom and oppression. Singer Katie Harnett says. "Doting mothers, possessive, violent partners, vulnerable women, seasonal workers and Royal scandals this album is our representation of the trials and tribulations of human existence and universal experiences that still feel relevant today.

Guitarist John adds. "Themes of murder, betrayal, loss, jealousy, and love are found across the record. In particular, the songs of Martin Carthy have been a particular source of inspiration".
The result is a set of murder ballads, supernatural reckonings and cautionary tales, all wrapped in slabs of heavy, thumping fuzz and atmospheric sonics. Harnett's voice sits at the centre: unmistakably folk rooted, but shorn of prettification, melodic yet capable of real bite.

The album opener 'Bows Of London' is a murder ballad of sisterly hatred and grim sibling rivalry, centred on a haunted fiddle fashioned from a dead sister's bones. The loping relentless, hypnotic backing chillingly and perfectly accompanies the narrative. Of course, the story doesn't end well. 'Bill Norrie' follows, a hooky melody propelled by an insistent bassline and a haunting psych tinged haze punctured with sheets of noise.. The story of young Bill Norrie who sends a token to a married woman, whose jealous husband beheads him, without knowing he was his wife's son from an earlier affair. An instrumental palate cleanser arrives in the shape of 'Valtz Efter Tor Lohne' a Norwegian traditional the band jokingly describe as a "banger".
Then we have 'Lovely Joan' which offers a rare note of sly triumph: a quick witted woman outmanoeuvres a predatory nobleman, escaping with his ring and his horse. Muscular riffs give this tale of empowerment a welcome sense of teeth. 'Gower Wassail' is a traditional Welsh folk tune that captures the raucous spirit of communal ritual, noise making and drink fuelled hope for a good harvest. Captured perfectly here by CG complete with wah wah guitar and a drunken groove catching the song's celebratory chaos. Then we have a little gem in 'Last Of All Sleep' , an original band composition and a genuine highlight: a heavy lidded, shoegaze tinged folk reverie, equal parts distortion and delicacy. It's a drop-dead gorgeous shoegaze-tastic psychedelic grunge mini epic. The album closer 'The Unquiet Grave' is a very apt place to finish. It's about a young man whose constant grief at the death of his true love disturbs her eternal sleep so she cannot rest. Even though the playout on this track, complete with a demonic repeated riff and feedback feels suitably bleak, even this song allows a glimmer of release ... we think.
And there we have it, 7 songs, 7 worlds, all honed to perfection by producer Wayne Adams (Green Lung/Big Lad) that will reward every repeated listen.

Folk and metal/heavy rock do have a connection of course, just look at Green Lung and their 'folk horror' infused musical universe, but Crumbling Ghost are a very different beast.
'Four' amply and beautifully demonstrates that when it comes to 'folk horror' there's nothing quite as horrible as folk ... Here, the horror such as it is, and it must be said, the moments of light, comes not from theatrics, but from the songs themselves – which, after all, is where it's always lived.
Crumbling Ghost are John Mosley – Guitar / Donny Hopkins – Guitar / Ruth O’Loughlin – Bass / Katie Harnett – Vocals / Matthew Atkins- Drums.

Fij makes a vibrant return with his new single "Don't Bring Me Sunshine," a bittersweet, high-speed ode to independence and renewal. Described by Fij as an "anti-love song," "Don't Bring Me Sunshine" flips the script on romance. Its sardonic, bah-humbug lyrics are set against a rush of euphoric energy - inspired by the simple thrill of driving fast with the windows down, music blaring, and summer stretching endlessly ahead. As Fij puts it: "Who needs love when you've got a full tank of petrol... and the whole of Summer lying ahead on the heat-hazed open road?" The track is the latest preview of his long- awaited debut solo album, due this September via Tip Top Records. It signals a clear shift in tone and tempo. After years marked by introspection - shaped by personal upheaval, frontline work during the pandemic, and his role as a funeral celebrant - Fij has hit reset.

Re- embracing the electric guitar, raising the BPMs, and rediscovering joy, his new material blends the fuzzed edges of dream-pop with elements of pop and electronica, all delivered with his signature wit and melodic finesse. Fij first emerged in the early 90s with Adorable, whose debut album Against Perfection (Creation Records) became a cult favourite, earning multiple NME accolades and topping the Indie charts. The band's legacy continues to resonate, with artists citing their influence and figures like Noel Gallagher famously calling their label's decision to drop them a major mistake. Following Adorable, Fij explored new sonic territory with Polak and later collaborated with Terry Bickers of The House of Love, producing critically acclaimed releases that reaffirmed his reputation as one of Britain's most distinctive voices. His baritone - often compared to Lee Hazlewood, Lou Reed, and Richard Hawley - remains as rich and compelling as ever, now carrying a renewed urgency.

Fresh from dropping a fine collection of reworks by Scruscru, Blur Records welcome back regular contributor Hotmood. He brings with him a belated sequel to his 2023 EP Disco Power. The Mexican begins in fine form via the tease-and-release, disco-funk powered disco-house slammer 'Give It To Me', before opting for a more elastic and rubbery groove on the similarly-minded peak-time bounce of 'Let Me Dance'. Hotmood decides to breathe new life into a string-laden, cowbell-sporting 1970s disco workout on 'That's What You Had', once more exploring effects-laden disco-house dynamics, while closing cut 'Summer Nights' sees him making merry with loops and samples from an old Earth, Wind and Fire favourite and some suitably powerful beats.

Emotional Rescue returns after a much-needed year hiatus, refreshed and ready, as it moves into its 15th year, to further explore the environs of oft-forgotten musical secrets and present them to new heads and minds.

To celebrate, the label looks back to one of its favourite collaborations, the music of French ‘Ethno-Industrialists’ Vox Populi! in presenting a truly unique EP of “In Dub”, inspired remixes by 4 fellow Paris based artists of today in Full Circle, Froid Dub, Krikor and Shelter.

“In Dub” takes a selection of songs from the series of albums reissued or compiled on Emotional Rescue and sister label, Platform 23, and gives the Master tapes to this talented ensemble to offer their own, unique dub reworks. The project explores the on-going advances in technology offered, mixed with pure talent and a respectful homage.

Formed by Axel Kyrou and including wife Mitra, as well as long-term music and art partners Pierre Jolivet aka Pacific 231 and Francis Lafont aka FR6 Man, they forged a path from obscure, drum and drum-based cassette releases on to fully realized albums and compilations on their now cult Vox Man Records.

Alexis Le Tan and Joakim’s Full Circle project starts, with their electronic dub remake of Soleyman Dub from the ‘Alternatif Réalisme’ compilation (ERC079). With releases on Good Morning Tapes, Offen and their own “Released” label, their plaudits as master diggers and producers of dubby tripped-out inspired electronics – releasing slowed Trance some 10 years before anyone else – is inspired. Tuning in and turning on the original dub into a mantra style slow-breaks (Digi)dub is the perfect experimental flavour.

Jube Man is next, a twisted, psychedelic dub out by rising stars Froid Dub. The stand-out from the ‘Magiques Creations’ release (ERC052), an album that explored Vox Populi’s furtive post-industrial period of 1984 to 1988, Jube Man was the perfect selection by the duo of François Marché and Stéphane Bodin.

Froid Dub have steadily developed their “cold” Digidub style to acclaim –

releasing a steady flow of dub inspired electronics on their own label Delodio, as well as recently appearing on sister label Emotional Response’s 10th year anniversary collection, ‘All Trades’. Their haunting, shuffling and murky acid / piano dub, with the drifting “Space Echoing” of Mitra’s vocals from the live desk mix, creates a ghostly version to effect.

Next, master mixer, producer and engineer Krikor serves a steppers remake with his “OverDub” of Zen-Dub. With a career that spans releases on Tigersushi, LIES and Soul Jazz, his sound has developed from Electro, House and Techno, to Acid, Bleep, Dancehall, Dub and touches of Gabba.

Taken from Vox Populi!’s master-opus Aither (ERC030), the first of our reissues dating back to 2016, Zen-Dub’s pacey, lo-fi dub experience is transformed and overdubbed into an incessant sound system throb, a true bass quaking “steppa”.

To close, Micro Climax is put through Shelter’s increasing avant dub exposition. Appearing on the likes of Growing Bin, Emotional Response and his own Protopost, as well for – and being in-house designer – on the much-missed Séance Centre, Alan Briand aka Shelter productions have developed from Balearic, Edits and House to explore Avant, Raga and live Dub productions.

Appearing on the recent ‘Ethniques Pyschedeliques’ compilation on Platform 23 (PLA032), in original form Micro Climax is a sprawling 10-minute ethno-dub of whispered vocals, drone and sub bass. Shelter strips it back, keeping background effects, adding live bass and percussion to create a wonky, slow, shuffling ska-lite excursion to complete a true “In Dub”.

For the very first time, the energy of So W'Happy Festival is captured on vinyl with the So W'Happy – Vinyl Sampler 2025.

Produced in collaboration with Babaorum Records, this release brings together a selection of the festival's most iconic anthems, including the official So W'Happy Festival anthems from 2022 to 2025.

Featuring tracks by Frontliner, Rayzen, DRS, Sandy Warez, Unsyn, D-Charged, JNXD and Carola, the sampler reflects the evolution of the festival through the artists and productions that have helped shape its identity. From euphoric hardstyle melodies to uncompromising hardcore and uptempo energy, every track captures the passion, intensity and atmosphere that define the So W'Happy experience.

More than just a compilation, this first vinyl edition celebrates the music that has become the soundtrack of one of Belgium's leading harder styles festivals.

French

Pour la toute première fois, l'univers du So W'Happy Festival est immortalisé sur vinyle avec le So W'Happy – Vinyl Sampler 2025.

Réalisée en partenariat avec Babaorum Records, cette sortie réunit une sélection des hymnes les plus emblématiques du festival, dont les anthems officiels des éditions 2022 à 2025.

Avec des titres de Frontliner, Rayzen, DRS, Sandy Warez, Unsyn, D-Charged, JNXD et Carola, cette compilation retrace l'évolution du festival à travers les artistes et les productions qui ont forgé son

identité. Des mélodies hardstyle aux sonorités hardcore et uptempo les plus explosives, chaque morceau retranscrit l'énergie, la passion et l'ambiance qui font aujourd'hui du So W'Happy un rendez-vous incontournable de la scène hard music.

Bien plus qu'une simple compilation, ce premier vinyle célèbre la musique qui accompagne l'histoire d'un festival devenu une référence de la scène harder styles en Belgique

Huxley debuts on Rekids with the ‘MIND G%MES’ EP.

UK DJ, producer, and Dumb Safari label head Huxley joins Radio Slave’s Rekids for the first time with the ‘MIND G%MES’ EP, dropping 25th July 2025. The first track, ‘M%ND’, kicks off with woozy and alluring pads swirling round a cuddly but kicking Deep House groove. Soulful vocals and delicate, cosmic melodies rise out of the mix to bring it to a close in style. 'CLUB SH%T' ups the ante with zippy synths injecting some texture to slamming drums that straddle the House and Techno divide, while wispy stabs and warm daubs of sound dance around the cowbells to make this an evaluated late-night tool.

'FEAR N%THING' is a new school cut, with fi ltered loops, sugary chords, and pent-up energy all surging through the dance fl oor. Last but not least is 'ANY1', a sleazy House pumper featuring moody spoken word, a big, rubbery bassline, and slinky, Garage-infl uenced percussion.

Active in the underground music scene for two decades, former Rinse resident and sometime Aus, Shall Not Fade and Unknown To The Unknown artist has had one hell of a career. From huge breakthrough tracks like ‘Let it Go’ on Hypercolour and ‘Box Clever’ on 20:20 Vision to his 2014 ‘Blurred’ LP on Aus, he’s seen universal critical acclaim as well as massive support from DJs and dancefloors globally. In recent years, his Dumb Safari label, the online community R Trybe (co-founded by Ramin Rezaie/BAKKIS) and collaborations with Steve Bug are just a handful of his projects, while his ‘MIND G%MES’ EP for Rekids is already feeding the fi re with support from Jen Cardini, Cromby, I.Jordan, Jennifer Loveless and big room dons, Michael Bibi and Solomun.

First Word Records proudly bring you the sophomore EP from Ruby Wood - ‘No Rain, No Flowers’.

Ruby is a singer / songwriter hailing from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in the UK. Her soulful yet distinctive voice has enabled her to front numerous projects over the years; perhaps best known as lead vocalist of the critically acclaimed Submotion Orchestra, since 2009.

Her first solo EP ‘Sincerely’ dropped back in 2023, and received love from the likes of Jamie Cullum, Craig Charles, Jyoty, Huey Morgan, Wordplay & saw Ruby named Mi-Soul Radio's 'One to Watch'.

The follow-up EP ‘No Rain, No Flowers’ is a personal tale of growth through adversity. Reflecting on long-term love, fleeting intimacy, grief, and the relationships that shape us. Rather than offering answers, the 8-track EP sits with life as it is. Imperfect, cyclical and shared. The title speaks to the belief that difficult experiences are not separate from growth, but essential to it.

Musically, the project encompasses contemporary flavours within the realms of r&b, soul and hip hop. It features an impressive collective of vocal collaboraters; Illa J, Devin Tracy, Abnormal Sleepz & PRIDO. Each bring their own distinct perspective, whilst complimenting the EP’s introspective tone; favouring warmth, restraint & lyrical authenticity. All are backed by a smooth sonic backdrop of beautifully rich instrumentation, produced primarily by Rob Mitchell of Abstract Orchestra.

Ruby has performed live shows with Nightmares on Wax & Abstract Orchestra as well as with r&b legend Bryson Tiller at his sell-out UK gigs, including Wembley Arena & Manchester Apollo. This is additionally to touring with Bonobo & Nubiyan Twist, and collaborating with the likes of Krept & Konan, Alfa Mist, GLXY and Roska, to name a few.

The diversity of her career, ranging from the intimate to the large-scale performances, gives Ruby a unique balance of vulnerability and musical depth, prioritising authenticity over spectacle. As a solo artist, her work is rooted in honest lived experiences, leading to a focus on songs that resonate long after first listen.

This EP offers a reflection of where Ruby is at now, informed by where she’s been before. It’s a project that embraces imperfection, recognising that those experiences that challenge us the most, shape us the deepest.