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Felix Walworth wurde in der Broome Street geboren. Bevor sie zu einer festen Größe in der New Yorker DIY-Szene der 2010er Jahre wurden, bevor sie ihr Markenzeichen - das auf einem Keyboardständer montierte BMSS-Schlagzeug - einführten, bevor sie eindringliche Reflexionen über Identität schrieben, die ihnen eine Kult-Anhängerschaft unter den Kids auf Tumblr einbrachten, waren sie ein Kind, das in den verschiedenen Stadtbezirken aufwuchs und eine Stadt liebgewann, die schließlich bis zur Unkenntlichkeit veränderte. ,What's Up" ist Walworths viertes Album als Told Slant, unter diesem Namen haben sie seit 2012 eindringliche Alben mit weitläufigem, nervenblanken Indie-Rock veröffentlicht. Das ist ihr New-York-Album: eine Sammlung von Songs darüber, wie man zusehen muss, wie sich die Heimatstadt verändert, und wie man spürt, wie sie einen im Gegenzug selbst verändert hat. Es ist ein Album über die Hingabe an ein prekäres Musikleben und all die Schönheit und Demütigungen, die damit einhergehen. Während es auf den ersten drei Told-Slant-Alben um Selbstreflexion und den Versuch ging, als Künstler zu überleben, handelt ,What's Up" davon, was passiert, wenn man sich ,fast schon manisch dem Projekt des Selbstausdrucks und der Subkultur in einer der feindseligsten Umgebungen der Welt" verschrieben hat und sich mit all den Menschen, Orten und Träumen auseinandersetzen muss, die auf diesem Weg verloren gegangen sind. In Songs wie ,Manhattan", ,Draw Blood", ,Three Anchovies" und dem Titeltrack fängt Walworth Trauer, Wut, Hingabe und flüchtige Momente der Verbundenheit ein und zeichnet das Verschwinden geliebter Stadtviertel, DIY-Räume, Freundschaften und Lebensweisen mit gleichermaßen schwerer und humorvoller Hand nach.,What's Up" ist zudem das bisher kollaborativste und abenteuerlichste Album von Told Slant. Es entstand über einen Monat hinweg in einem provisorischen Studio im Upstate New York und wurde größtenteils auf einem Acht-Spur-Spulenband aufgenommen - damit ist es die erste überwiegend analoge Veröffentlichung des Projekts, an der Hannah Pruzinsky, Jonny Baker, Ceci Sturman, Hellen Ballentine, Emily Sprague, Mari Maurice und Elijah Wolf mitgewirkt haben. Die Songs entstanden zum Teil aus Walworths Arbeit als Porträt- und Straßenfotograf während der Pandemie, als er die Straßen, Parks, Veranstaltungsorte und Ladenfronten, die sein Leben geprägt hatten, erneut besuchte - nur um festzustellen, dass viele davon verschwunden waren. Dieses Gefühl des Verlusts zieht sich durch das gesamte Werk, das mit ,Still Water" (2012) begann, sich über ,Going By" (2016) und ,Point the Flashlight and Walk" (2020) fortsetzte und seit langem von schmerzlich ehrlichen Songs über Selbstfindung, Freundschaft, Sterblichkeit und den langsamen Verlust der Verbundenheit mit der Gemeinschaft geprägt ist. Auf ,What's Up" richtet Walworth diesen Blick nach außen und dokumentiert nicht nur ihre eigene Beziehung zu New York, sondern auch die Kosten des Bleibens, des Schaffens und des Glaubens an eine Stadt und eine Musikkultur, die sie mitgeprägt haben.

Confessions of a Sinner builds on the foundation of Rebirth and pushes further into the chaos: heavier, sharper, and more confrontational.

Native James continues to carve out his own lane: grime-rooted vocal delivery over full-throttle alt-metal production. Still breaking the mould on his own terms, but now with serious industry attention and a rapidly growing live audience off the back of extensive touring.

Sex Magick Wizards is a Norwegian-Sámi quartet blending psychedelic rock, free improvisation and joik into hypnotic, ritualistic soundscapes. For years they have stormed Europe's underground and experimental music scenes, earning acclaim for intense and unpredictable live performances. The double album Suola ja Noaidi (The Thief and the Shaman) draws on themes of colonisation, weaponised religion and Sámi resilience. Working from this cultural material, Sex Magick Wizards have created a double album combining traditional joik elements with their signature experimental rock sound and freeform avant-garde improvisation. By combining fragments of Northern Sámi from the original poem with new lyrics in both English and Northern Sámi and focusing more heavily on vocals, the band creates a highly distinctive sonic language rarely heard within experimental rock. The album also contains a new interpretation of an old traditional joik from guitarist/singer/joiker Viktor Bomstad's childhood home, Ivgorássa.

Ein Meilenstein des französischen Rap ist zurück! 25 Jahre nachdem MC Solaar die Regeln des französischen Hip-Hop neu definiert hat, feiert sein legendäres Album „Cinquième As“ eine spektakuläre Rückkehr. Mit Songs wie „Solaar pleure“, „Hasta La vista“ und „La belle et le bad boy“ ist das mehrfach mit Platin ausgezeichnete Meisterwerk längst ein absoluter Klassiker. Ab sofort ist der Bestseller als Deluxe Double Vinyl und Deluxe CD erhältlich – eine essenzielle Bereicherung für jedes Sortiment, Sammler und eine neue Generation von Rap-Fans.

Sofie Royer - laut *The Guardian* "einer der faszinierendsten und unterschätzten Popstars Europas, mit fesselnder Stimme und einem eigenwilligen, aristokratischen Glamour" - meldet sich mit einem neuen Album zurück! ,before/after" ist das vierte Studioalbum der österreichisch-iranischen Künstlerin. Es steckt voller Electro-Pop-Ohrwürmer und wurde gemeinsam mit Matt Cohn (SZA, The Weeknd), Jorgen Odegard (Sabrina Carpenter) und Eli Hirsch (Suki Waterhouse) produziert. Nach der Veröffentlichung dreier gefeierter Alben haben sich Songwriting und Produktion der Wiener Musikerin weiterentwickelt: Sie sind komplexer und ausgefeilter geworden, ihre Texte schärfer und humorvoller. *before/after* ist ihr bislang prägnantestes Werk. Es setzt sich mit den Schattenseiten des Künstlerlebens auseinander und verwebt die eigene Selbstreflexion mit kultureller Zeitkritik. Auch wenn sich Sofie von der Lo-Fi-Produzentin zur ernstzunehmenden Popmusikerin gewandelt hat - die bereits als Support-Act für Lana Del Rey, Air und LCD Soundsystem auftrat -, fühlt sie sich nach wie vor nirgendwo so recht zugehörig. Sie nimmt bei ihrer Kritik an der Musikbranche kein Blatt vor den Mund - "Ich bin zu sehr Pop für die Kunstwelt und zu sehr Indie-Liebling für den Mainstream" -, doch am härtesten geht sie mit sich selbst ins Gericht. In zwölf eingängigen Popsongs geht Royer der Frage nach, ob die Konflikte zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft nicht eigentlich Kämpfe mit dem eigenen Ich sind. "Wir befinden uns in einem ständigen Kampf zwischen dem Vorher` und dem Nachher`, wir beschäftigen uns intensiv mit diesen beiden zeitlichen Zuständen. Doch indem wir in ihnen gefangen bleiben, stehen wir uns oft selbst am meisten im Weg. Letztlich heißt es im Zustand des Vorher/Nachher immer: Du gegen dich selbst." Für Freunde von Suki Waterhouse, Lykke Li, Smerz, CMAT

Ohio’s 156/Silence return with From a Distance, their crushing new full-length and first release for Pure Noise Records, arriving September 4. Produced by Josh Schroeder (King 810, Lorna Shore, The Plot In You), the album expands on the breakout success of People Watching with a darker, more cinematic approach that balances punishing heaviness, eerie atmosphere, and emotional depth. Featuring guest appearances from Mike Hranica (The Devil Wears Prada) and Alex Reade (Make Them Suffer), From a Distance pulls influence from horror, prestige television, and retro game soundtracks while moving seamlessly between hard rock, experimental textures, and the band’s chaotic mathcore roots. Atmospheric, unpredictable, and unbound by genre, From a Distance pushes 156/Silence further into their own lane while cementing them as one of heavy music’s most fearless rising acts.

Purple Vinyl, inkl. Poster. The Black Wizards, das in Porto beheimatete Trio bestehend aus Joana Brito (Gitarre/Gesang), José Gomes (Bass/Gesang) und Helena Peixoto (Schlagzeug), kündigt sein neues Album ,Force Majeure & The Acts of God" an, das am 4. September über Hassle Records erscheinen wird. Force Majeure & The Acts of God ist von einem dunklen Humor geprägt. Der Titel bezieht sich auf den juristischen Begriff für unkontrollierbare oder nicht beeinflussbare Umstände und spiegelt damit das Chaos wider, das die Entstehung des Albums begleitet hat. Gleichzeitig deutet er auf den verschmitzten, widerständigen Geist der Band hin.Das Album entstand in einer Zeit, in der politische Landschaften weltweit zunehmend ins Chaos abzugleiten schienen. Es kanalisiert Frustration und Dringlichkeit, ohne dabei in Hoffnungslosigkeit zu verfallen. Für die Texte ließ sich Frontfrau Joana Brito von Büchern über Politik, Geschlechterrollen und toxische Männlichkeit inspirieren. Diese Themen finden sich in Songs wieder, die sich kritisch mit leerer Führung und gesellschaftlicher Spaltung auseinandersetzen. Besonders ,Killing The Buzz" durchschneidet das politische Spektakel mit scharfem Humor und energiegeladenem Punk-Spirit. Musikalisch markiert Force Majeure & The Acts of God einen deutlichen Wendepunkt für die Band. Anstatt den ausufernden Klangnebeln ihres früheren Heavy-Psych-Sounds zu folgen, setzen The Black Wizards nun auf einen kompakteren, raueren und direkteren Ansatz. Das Album vereint die Attitüde des Garage Rock, die nervöse Spannung des Proto-Punk und einen unaufhaltsamen rhythmischen Antrieb. Getragen wird dies von Britos kantigem und durchsetzungsstarkem Gesang, den rauen Gesangsantworten von José Gomes sowie dem kraftvollen Schlagzeugspiel von Helena Peixoto. Aufgenommen wurde das Album während einer intensiven fünftägigen Session mit Cooper Crain in Porto. Das Ergebnis lebt von Dringlichkeit, ungeschliffenen Kanten und einer explosiven Live-Energie.

Das Gründungsmitglied von Black Sabbath und der „Godfather of Heavy Metal“ kehrt mit seiner ersten
neuen Solomusik seit 21 Jahren zurück – zugleich seine erste vollständige Studioveröffentlichung seit dem
letzten Black-Sabbath-Album *13*. „World Alone“ ist die erste Single aus dem gleichnamigen Album;
es handelt sich um einen rasanten, gitarrenbetonten Song, der von Tonys unverkennbaren, gewaltigen
Riffs angetrieben wird. Der Track ist hart und doch eingängig, und dank des Textdichters und Sängers
Jørn Lande wirkt er zudem aufbauend. Dies ist klassischer Iommi: Er vereint alle Markenzeichen seines
legendären Gitarrenspiels mit einer modernen Note.

Zur Feier des 25-jährigen Jubiläums von Stainds Klassiker-Album *Break The Cycle* veröffentlicht die
Band *Break The Cycle 25th Anniversary* – eine Live-Aufnahme, bei der die Band das legendäre Album in
voller Länge spielt. Die Performance umfasst jeden Song des Albums, einschließlich der klassischen Singles
„It’s Been A While“, „Outside“ und „Fade“.

In Thin Air, forms a musical companion piece to Robert and Jackie's book The Book of Birds - a book that is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. The music was created within the contemplative green oak roundhouse of Ty Sanctaidd (Sacred House) in the grounds of Ty Trefacwn in South West Wales, and recorded at Castle Sound Studio in Pencaitland, East Lothian. As with our other albums In Thin Airhas been recorded and produced by Andy Bell of Hudson Records. Throughout The Book of Birds there runs a gentle mantra - " Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight, Migration -- these are the Seven Wonders that together conjure the miracle of Bird ". Intrigued by this concept, the seven musicians have created an intricate new album that has an overarching narrative, capturing the remarkable world of birds from birth to flight.

In Thin Air, forms a musical companion piece to Robert and Jackie's book The Book of Birds - a book that is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. The music was created within the contemplative green oak roundhouse of Ty Sanctaidd (Sacred House) in the grounds of Ty Trefacwn in South West Wales, and recorded at Castle Sound Studio in Pencaitland, East Lothian. As with our other albums In Thin Airhas been recorded and produced by Andy Bell of Hudson Records. Throughout The Book of Birds there runs a gentle mantra - " Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight, Migration -- these are the Seven Wonders that together conjure the miracle of Bird ". Intrigued by this concept, the seven musicians have created an intricate new album that has an overarching narrative, capturing the remarkable world of birds from birth to flight.

Lisa O"Neill stammt aus Ballyhaise im irischen County Cavan und lebt heute in Dublin. Ihr Album Heard A Long Gone Song, erschienen auf River Lea (Rough Trade), verbindet traditionelle Folk-Lieder mit eigenen Kompositionen. Durch ihre unverwechselbare Interpretation verschmelzen alte und neue Stücke zu einem zeitlosen Ganzen. Das Album eröffnet mit einer puren, unbegleiteten Version von The Galway Shawl, gefolgt von der düsteren Ballade Along The North Strand, die durch Geige und Concertina eindringlich untermalt wird. Ein weiterer Höhepunkt ist das bewegende Duett The Factory Girl mit Radie Peat von Lankum. 2018 trat O"Neill bei Shane MacGowans 60. Geburtstag in der National Concert Hall in Dublin auf. Auf dem Album interpretiert sie zudem Lullaby Of London von The Pogues, dessen Textzeile dem Album den Titel gab. Zu ihren eigenen Liedern gehören Rock The Machine, das die Folgen der Mechanisierung für ehemalige Hafenarbeiter in Dublin thematisiert, sowie Violet Gibson, die Geschichte einer Irin, die 1926 ein Attentat auf Mussolini verüben wollte. Mit diesen Stücken verleiht O"Neill oft übersehenen Menschen und Geschichten eine Stimme. Aufgenommen in einem ländlichen Studio nahe dem Loiretal und produziert von David Odlum und Lisa O"Neill, knüpft das Album an den Erfolg von Pothole In The Sky (2016) an. Es ist eine zugleich politische, poetische und zutiefst persönliche Folk-Platte, deren Lieder zeitlos wirken.

“The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn’t have an audience when we were making them,” Oberst says. “But from Lifted on, I was definitely aware of an audience. Lifted was well-received right away, and then everything happened with Wide Awake and Digital Ash.” Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles – “Take It Easy (Love Nothing),” from the austere, remote Digital Ash, and “Lua,” from the warm, folky Wide Awake – debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. “First Day of My Life,” also from Wide Awake, would later be voted the Number One love song of all time by NPR Music’s reader’s poll. Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band’s careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, “When The President Talks To God.” These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this era’s releases, extremes that reflected the polar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworked Digital Ash tracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full of “harmonica and mandolins – folky vibes,” Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of the Wide Awake songs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

Rasco are Eden Atiya on guitar and vocals, Gaya Wajsman on bass and vocals, and Itay Hamudi on drums. Named after Charlie Megira’s “At the Rasco”, the trio draw on the melodic language of sixties surf, garage rock and pop, alongside the heavier textures of shoegaze and psychedelia. Influenced by artists including The Cramps, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and April March, their music is defined by electric guitar lines, close vocal harmonies and direct, melodic songwriting. The contrast between urban life and the natural world remains central to their work, reflected in songs that move between raw rhythmic energy and more intimate, atmospheric arrangements. Following their debut album Dmaot, Rasco’s forthcoming second album develops this sound through a broader dynamic range, more spacious production and a more focused approach to songwriting, while retaining the warmth and immediacy at the core of the band.

A Collision of Worlds. A Convergence of Sound.

Czarface opens another portal. On Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, the boundary between comic book canon and hip-hop reality dissolves. Frankie Pulitzer, also known in certain dimensions as FacePuller, is no ordinary collaborator, character, or catalyst. He is a hybrid entity: part human, part alien force, fully embedded in the expanding Czarface universe.

Following landmark team-ups with MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah, Czarface continues its “Meets” saga with a full-scale crossover event that pushes deeper into story and sound. Frankie’s presence is both lyrical and mythological, bringing a chaotic, shape-shifting energy that challenges and complements Czarface’s razor-sharp precision. Dusty drums, cinematic soundscapes, and razor-edged bars bring the classic Czarface sound, yet mutated.

The universe widens with appearances from Busta Rhymes, Method Man, and El-P (of Run the Jewels), each adding their own gravitational pull to the project, thus grounding it in hip-hop legacy while amplifying its larger-than-life scope.

LOVE, das neue – und möglicherweise letzte – Album von Dexys Midnight Runners, ist eine leuchtende Sammlung zutiefst persönlicher Geschichten aus Kevin Rowlands Leben: über Familie, Liebe und die Schicksalsschläge des Daseins. Songs aus drei Jahrzehnten treffen auf brandneues Material – von der irischen Einwanderer-Kindheit über einen Brief an seine Enkelkinder bis zur Zeit mit einem sterbenden Elternteil. Liebeslieder im weitesten Sinne, jenseits gängiger Pop-Romantik: keine Wird-sie-wird-sie-nicht-Romanze, sondern etwas Tieferes, das die volle Bandbreite menschlicher Beziehungen und Emotionen abbildet.
„Ich dachte plötzlich: Das sind alles Liebeslieder – nur eben verschiedener Art", sagt Kevin Rowland über die Entstehung des Konzepts. „Da wusste ich: Es muss LOVE heißen." Ein Liebesleben in Songform, erzählt von jemandem, der mit seiner wunderbaren Autobiografie Bless Me Father bereits gezeigt hat, wie offen er über sein Leben sprechen kann.
LOVE ist zugleich das erste Album unter dem vollen Namen Dexys Midnight Runners seit Don't Stand Me Down (1985). Produziert von David Holmes – langjähriger Fan und Wegbegleiter der Band –, mit Songwriting-Unterstützung der langjährigen Weggefährten Sean Read, Mike Timothy und Jim Paterson sowie Streichern von Brian Irving.

"Psychedelia in White", das dritte Album des ehemaligen Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Mitglieds Mick Harvey und seiner langjährigen musikalischen Partnerin Amanda Acevedo, knüpft an ihr 2023 erschienenes Duett-Debüt Phantasmagoria in Blue an.

Das überwiegend aus Eigenkompositionen bestehende Album bewegt sich zwischen Mystik, Mythologie, Liebe und Verlust. Mit vielschichtigen Arrangements und opulenten Klangtexturen erkundet das Duo neue, experimentellere musikalische Räume. Traumartige Bilder und mythologische Motive verbinden sich mit einer persönlichen Botschaft der Hoffnung und der Sehnsucht nach einem Ausweg aus dem Chaos der Gegenwart.

Zu den Höhepunkten zählen „Perfect Storm“, entstanden in Zusammenarbeit mit dem kanadischen Komponisten Peter McNestry, „Song for Aurora“, eine Glam-Rock-Hommage an Marc Bolan und T. Rex, sowie „The Greatest Delight“, inspiriert von Acevedos Visionen von Schattenwesen und jenseitigen Liebenden.

Das britische Experimental-Rock-Kollektiv Abrasive Trees bündelt die eindringliche Kraft von Experimental-Rock, Post-Rock und düsterer Psychedelia zu einem fesselnden und emotionsgeladenen Klangerlebnis.
Unter der Leitung von Matthew Rochford (Silver Moth, Rothko) verwebt die Band hypnotische Stimmungen, gewaltige Crescendos, filmische Klangtexturen und überwältigende Dynamik zu Songs, die sich mit Verlust, Verwandlung und spirituellem Erwachen auseinandersetzen. Ihr Debütalbum „Light Remaining“ ist ein zutiefst bewegendes Werk, das zerbrechliche Schönheit mit überwältigender Intensität in Einklang bringt und so eine Reise schafft, die noch lange nach dem letzten Ton nachhallt.

Für Fans von: Swans, Slint, Crippled Black Phoenix, Gutter Twins

Shoal corrals three original solo productions into ISOTOOP’s fourth record, each demonstrating refinement of the artist’s sound and technique, finished by a fitting retelling of ‘Interlocking’ by Antony Linell.

It begins with helical hypnotism; ‘Strange Blue Knots’ drives directly forward on muscular bass, but pointillistic synthwork creates an aural illusion of a spiral aperture tightening; the landscape remains broad, but focus is drawn down to the loci of motion. All containment is blown away by the incomparable force of ‘Roxellana’. Here, the forward motion is not illusory but the irrefutable command of hurricane tailwinds. Thunder heralds full-band waves of unbridled sound, and though the rudder is surrendered to the billowing storm, no part of the weapon is directionless chaos.

Shoal’s tale concludes with ‘Interlocking’, a step back from the monstrous energy of the preceding track (anything and all would be); attention is built again on guile and quiet magnetism, commonly felt attributes throughout the artist’s repertoire. This concept of restraint as force receives a sharpening by Antony Linell, whose sonic influence is present throughout the record, like fossilised footprints. In the calm, sheltered lee of the mountain, the slope behind the wave’s punching crest, Linell’s calmer, stripped-back version feels like a fireside retelling of a myth; still full of the magnitude of the original events, the space surrounding the action is foregrounded. 

Every tale may be reduced to the same core elements: the hand; the knife it holds; vivid silence presaging the moment of action. Fitting that the tale of three parts is summarised by a fourth, wider perspective.

Spanish producer Notzing joins Alpenglühen with Vermiström, a four-track EP exploring the deeper edges of experimental dance music.
Over the past few years, Notzing has established himself as one of the most compelling voices in Spain's underground techno scene. His sound is stripped back yet immersive, built from hypnotic drones, stretched loops, and subtle rhythmic developments that gradually pull the listener into a trance-like state.
With Vermiström, each of the four tracks unfolds organically, evolving with patience and precision. Intricate, unconventional rhythms intertwine with long-form sequences and richly processed textures, creating a constantly shifting sonic landscape.
What truly defines this EP, however, is its profound sense of depth and its unmistakable dub aesthetic. Every element occupies its own carefully crafted space: textured atmospheres, meticulously sculpted percussion, and syncopated sequences that seem to exist at two different tempos simultaneously. Creative use of delays and spatial effects subtly references the language of Jamaican dub, while an exceptional level of sound design and mixing gives the record remarkable clarity and dynamic range.
Rather than revealing everything at once, Vermiström unfolds gradually. Each listen brings new details to the surface, as subtle shifts in texture, rhythm and space slowly reshape the music from within.

Ondrǣdan is the second aesthetic proposal by Sediments’ owners Pajaro Dune. This work is the result of a deep artistic experimentation and a thorough compositional refinement. Some of these materials have been distlilling in the studio for almost a decade of sound engineering and constant debate to make the experience much more profound.

From old English language, ondrǣdan it is a direct reference to our most primordial fears. Both an emotional yearning and a postapocalyptic kubriesque tale, the five works of this record capture five shades of rhythm and mood, where ambient, dub and downtempo meet in immersive narrative experiences. All them crowned with the luxurious sculptural artwork by Blanco Anyò who forces us look beyond the visceral to intuit the transcendent.

Pajaro Dune is the product that combines the creative minds of Jaime Romero aka Estrato Aurora and David Ortolà aka Syoqh aka d_o_ppelgaenger. More than half a life producing together from València, their multifaceted approach crystallizes in renowned works for Alpenglühen, Grabaciones Perpendiculares, The Monkey Bar, Eleve Music and now their own label.

|| We
become more from what is left,
deliver else than just the now,
build sound stories for the then. ||

Acid Pauli returns to the curious world of Gwar Is Not The Answer (originally released 2006 on Smaul) with a carefully remastered re-release that includes two new remixes from Jonathan Kaspar and Acid Pauli. The title track unfolds at an unhurried pace, weaving loose acid traces through warm percussion and off-centre melodic fragments that seem to appear and dissolve before settling into place. It drifts forward with a quiet sense of momentum, balancing eccentric textures with a groove that remains firmly grounded throughout. With his new remix Jonathan Kaspar takes the original into leaner territory, sharpening its contours and drawing out its tension while preserving the peculiar character at its core. His remix stretches the track into a more focused club framework where rolling low-end pressure meets finely tuned rhythmic movement, allowing small details to carry unexpected weight. On the flip Acid Pauli revisits the track from a different angle. The remix opens up the source material into a spacious and fluid arrangement where shimmering tones circle around a deep pulse and subtle harmonic shifts gradually reveal themselves over time. Together the three versions explore different dimensions of the same musical language, moving between psychedelic house, understated dancefloor functionality and the kind of idiosyncratic storytelling that has long defined Acid Pauli's work.

The most beautiful thing we’ve ever released?

It is virtually impossible to describe with mere words how emotionally powerful this work of art is. Just listen. Listen, listen, listen...

A blissed-out 80-minute epic, Hatchback's Phaser For The Ocean, Chorus For The Moon is his magnum opus, a sprawling masterwork that encompasses ambient, new age and environmental music to wondrous effect. Moving, hypnotic and deeply meditative, it's FFO Mike Brooks, Deuter, Klaus Weiss, Innovative Communication, Harmonia, Cluster, Ashra's New Age of Earth, Stomu Yamashta, Haruka Nakamura, Yoshimura, Hosono, the works.

A record truly deserving of the deluxe Be With treatment, the vinyl was specially cut at Abbey Road Studios whilst the original stunning artwork has been pleasingly expanded. Now, an eye-catching holographic-foil layer moon is set against the original tones, wrapped up in a sumptuous double-gatefold jacket.

Soaked in Californian consciousness and limited to a run of just 500 copies for the world, this release is a treasured balm like no other for these troubled times.

Hatchback is the atmospheric, melodious ambient alias of California-based artist Samuel Milton Grawe. Sam creates music that sings of the Cosmos, full of deep resonant tones, glistening arpeggios, lush pads and harmonic motifs.

"When I first was getting into the creative side of music making in my teens, I was heavily influenced by concept albums like Quadrophenia and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, as well as epic pieces that took up an entire side of a record: Pink Floyd’s Echoes, Yes’ Close To The Edge, Klaus Schulze’s Nowhere Now Here, Miles Davis' Shhh/Peaceful and He Loved Him Madly. In the extreme, these ideas coalesced in double albums where each side of each record is occupied by a single title - Yes’ Tales From Topographic Oceans and Tangerine Dream’s Zeit being primary examples. When I returned to making music after moving back to Northern California in 2020, the first piece I recorded landed around the 20-minute mark, and the idea of creating three other long pieces to realize a full album felt like a natural - if indulgent - goal. From there, each new piece followed sequentially. Four songs. My fourth album." - Sam Grawe

Phaser For The Ocean Chorus For The Moon is a pure expression, informed by a lifetime of deep listening unbound by algorithms or AI. These are songs for the sunrise and the sunset - and every colour in between.

Fresh off of their 2020 offering Adult Themes, El Michels Affair is back with a new full-length release. Titled Yeti Season, this newest album has everything we've come to expect from EMA's patented cinematic style of instrumental soul music. Where Adult Themes inspired a soundtrack to an imaginary film, Yeti Season brings us to a different place in time_with new inspirations. Taken with Turkish-styled funk and an almost Mumbai-esque take on soul, El Michels Affair offers us a different kind of drama and imagination with Yeti Season. If you've been following along, this shouldn't be viewed as too far a departure for El Michels Affair. The first single off of Yeti Season showed their hand back in 2018. A double-sided banger, that release brought the musical textures to the fore that dominate this record. The first song, titled "Unathi," is fully realized with the beautifully haunting-yet-hopeful vocals of Piya Malik, formally of 79.5_another Big Crown artist. Singing in Hindi, Piya's ethereal voice is telling us to work and strive together toward progress. Even if you don't understand her language, you can still hear the urgency of purpose, creating a lasting vibe that sits on top of it all. Leon Michels explains that Piya had a vital influence on this record: "When Piya started singing in Hindi, she had a different voice, a different tone. I knew we had to do something together." And so Piya appears on three other songs on Yeti Season: "Zaharila," "Murkit Gem," and "Dhuaan." Each providing particular signatures to the album. "Zaharila" is a building and changing love song punctuated by blaring trumpets, driving drums, and Piya's pleading lyrics. While the more upbeat "Murkit Gem" opens with a fuzzed out, Wu-Tang-esque baseline that buoys Piya's stylings. The psychedelic guitar and Piya's changing tones and textures singing about an all-consuming love are what pushed "Dhuaan" on to the second single from Yeti Season. There is also a vocal appearance from Shannon Wise of The Shacks, yet another Big Crown artist. Her song called "Sha Na Na," lies more in the familiar EMA vein: melodic, hypnotic, soulfully visual. But between Shannon's airy singing, the jumpy baseline, moody vibes, the active drum lines, it sounds like a pensive walk home after a strangely dramatic night. So what is Yeti Season? It could be more of a feeling than an actual place or time of year. It's a heavy album_as evidenced by the signature musicianship and dramatic vocal expressions. But it's also a hopeful record, with phrasings, textures, and chord changes that hint at something better_or fuller_coming our way. You hear it in songs like "Ala Vida," with its stabby, pulsing chords laying a bedrock for EMA's bright, atmospheric horn lines. Or even in "Fazed Out," which leaves you with a feeling of determination, a striving for resolution even though the driving, march-like song structure should accompany some conquering army. This persistence has to come from the fact that Leon Michels and company finished this record during the lockdown. It was a tough and troublesome time. But look at what has come of it: Yeti Season_a record of high and heavy drama, but also one of hope and promise. It may take a year like 2020 behind us to find hope in a winter big footed creature like a Yeti, but that's where we are.

Nein, neu im Geschäft ist El Michels Affair nicht. El Michels hat hart gearbeitet, in unzähligen mitternächtlichen Studiosessions und auf einer Welttournee für den Wu-Tang Clan. Und eins ist klar: Die Band ist dabei auf eine gute Art gealtert. Nachdem es 2005 wie aus dem Nichts mit dem Instrumentalalbum "Sounding Out The City" aufschlug, hat sich das Studio-konzentrierte Kollektiv, angeführt vom Multiinstrumentalisten und Komponisten Leon Michels, Fans auf allen Kontinenten erspielt. Die Gruppe ist für ihre schwelgerischen Soul-Instrumentals bekannt, aber auch für ihre Wu-Tang-Covers, wie die explosive Reaktion auf ihre zwei Alben "Enter The 37th Chamber" (2009) und "Return To The 37th Chamber" (2019 beweist. Das alles ist aber längst Geschichte, denn das rundeste und reifste Album der Band mit dem passenden Titel "Adult Themes" beweist, welche neuen instrumentalen Höhen sie erklommen hat. Das Album, das Michels als "Soundtrack für einen imaginären Film" beschreibt, ist eine Sammlung von opulenten, abgründigen, komplexen und oft sehr funkigen Stücken, die die Ohren zum Schwingen und die Köpfe zum Nicken bringen.

Noch bevor Brian Eno dies tat, schuf Mort Garson zurückhaltende Musik. Garson, der an der Juilliard School ausgebildet wurde und in der Nachkriegszeit als Session-Musiker tätig war, komponierte Lounge-Hits, schrieb die Musik zur Mondlandung von 1969 und schuf opulente Arrangements für Doris Day sowie die sehnsuchtsvollen ,Countrypolitan"-Streicherbegleitungen für Glen Campbells ,By the Time I Get to Phoenix". Mitte der 1970er Jahre fegte eine Naturgewalt über die kontinentalen Vereinigten Staaten hinweg, die alle Schichten unabhängig von Rasse und Klasse durchdrang und sich in unseren Köpfen, unseren Häusern und unserer Kultur festsetzte. Es war weder ,Der Exorzist", noch ,Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" oder gar Schlaghosen, sondern ein Buch mit dem Titel ,Das geheime Leben der Pflanzen". Das Werk des Okkultisten/ ehemaligen OSS-Agenten Peter Tompkins und des ehemaligen CIA-Agenten und begeisterten Wünschelrutengängers Christopher Bird schoss an die Spitze der Bestsellerlisten und breitete sich wie Kudzu über das Land aus, bis es zu einem Phänomen wurde. Scheinbar über Nacht blühte das Geschäft mit Zimmerpflanzen in voller Pracht auf, und photosynthetische Eukaryoten aller Gattungen hingen an den Wänden, thronten über Bücherregalen und sonnten sich auf sonnigen Fensterbänken. Die wissenschaftlichen Ansätze hinter ,Secret Life" waren fadenscheinig: Pflanzen können unsere Gebete hören, sie sind Lügendetektoren, sie sind telepathisch, in der Lage, Naturkatastrophen vorherzusagen und Signale aus entfernten Galaxien zu empfangen. Doch das hielt Millionen Menschen nicht davon ab, ihre neuen Pflanzen zu kaufen und zu pflegen. Die vielleicht verrückteste Behauptung des Buches war, dass Pflanzen auch Musik mögen. Und ganz gleich, ob Sie eine Schlangenpflanze, einen Spargelfarn, eine Friedenslilie oder was auch immer bei ,Mother Earth" auf der Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles erwarben (oder eine Simmons- Matratze bei Sears kauften) - Sie nahmen auch ,Plantasia" mit nach Hause, ein Album, das speziell für sie aufgenommen wurde. Mit dem Untertitel ,Warm Earth Music für Pflanzen _ und die Menschen , die sie lieben" war es voller idyllischer, charmanter, kiff-freundlicher und entschieden unwissenschaftlicher Melodien, die auf einem neumodischen Gerät namens Moog eingespielt wurden. Das Album erlangte Jahrzehnte nach seiner Veröffentlichung eine enorme Kult-Anhängerschaft. Die Neuauflage von Sacred Bones aus dem Jahr 2019 trug dazu bei, ,Plantasia" einem breiteren weltweiten Publikum bekannt zu machen, und bescherte Garsons ungewöhnlichem Meisterwerk ein bemerkenswertes zweites Leben. Was einst ein seltsames Relikt der Pflanzenbegeisterung der 1970er Jahre war, ist zu einem geliebten Evergreen geworden, der von einer neuen Generation von Hörern wiederentdeckt und neu geschätzt wird und weit über seinen ursprünglichen Moment hinaus gedeiht, wobei er sich von einer obskuren Kuriosität zu einem geliebten Kultklassiker und einem Meilenstein des Streaming-Zeitalters entwickelt hat. Nun, 50 Jahre nach seiner ursprünglichen Veröffentlichung, markiert ,Plantasia" von Mother Earth einen bedeutenden Jubiläumszeitpunkt. Ein halbes Jahrhundert später hallt es weiterhin nach - eine bleibende Erinnerung an Mort Garsons Fähigkeit, das Synthetische seltsam lebendig und das Skurrile auf merkwürdige Weise tiefgründig wirken zu lassen.

This vinyl compilation brings together some of the key pillars of Mexican Tribal and celebrates the artists who helped shape one of the most distinctive languages in electronic music made in Mexico.

Produced by Sabotaje Media, Trucha Soul Records, and La Chekera Records, the record works as a physical archive of Tribal's history, connecting generations, territories, and visions that have kept the genre alive and in motion.

The wait is over ... The long-awaited Rebirth EP lands on vinyl only.

Four deep cuts each with their own identity. No fillers, no compromises - just quality music built for serious selectors and late dancefloors.

Vinyl Only

BUCHLA MEETS ORCHESTRA IN QUADRAPHONIC SPACE ON CIANI/ORKEST

Suzanne Ciani, Metropole Orkest and Simon Dobson release historic immersive performance in multiple immersive formats including quad vinyl.

Silverlake, CA \\ June 4, 2026 – Electronic music pioneer and five-time Grammy nominee Suzanne Ciani joins the internationally acclaimed Metropole Orkest, conducted by Simon Dobson, for the release of CIANI/ORKEST, a landmark live album composed entirely of new work, created specifically for this unprecedented collaboration.

Recorded at Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) before a rapt audience, CIANI/ORKEST is not a retrospective. It is a bold, immersive meeting of the Buchla electronic instrument and 50-piece orchestral sound. The result is a sweeping sonic landscape, at once intimate and monumental.

Under the direction of the Metropole Orkest, renowned for its genre-defying collaborations with artists from jazz to contemporary classical - strings shimmer, brass swells and woodwinds echo the organic, fluid qualities that have always defined Ciani’s sound. “This project feels like a homecoming,” says Ciani. “The Buchla was always orchestral to me, an instrument capable of infinite color. Hearing those colors unfold through the Metropole Orkest has been profoundly moving.”

At the heart of CIANI/ORKEST lies Ciani’s lifelong commitment to quadraphonic sound. From her early Buchla performances in the late 1960s to her 2018 release LIVE Quadraphonic, Ciani has treated space as a primary compositional parameter. Working alongside immersive producer KamranV, Ciani continues to explore immersive sound as both artistic and human gesture. Kamran’s decades of work in spatial formats, converge here in service of a singular goal: to let sound behave as it does in the physical world. “For both of us, quad is musical,” Kamran notes. “The way Suzanne works, quadraphonic is nested in — not the technology per se — but the intent you bring to the work.”

The recording stands as a meditation on legacy, evolution, and the enduring dialogue between technology and human expression. The live album captures the electricity of performance, the immediacy of touch plates under Ciani’s hands, the collective of musicians responding in real time, and the audience’s shared immersion in quadraphonic-inspired space.

CIANI/ORKEST is released by Atmospheric/AKP Recordings/CyKiK in multiple double-disc quadraphonic 12” Record packages designed by grammy-nominated designer Rebeka Arce. Each pressing is made regionally to minimize carbon emissions and also contributes to nature via Brian Eno's EarthPercent, the music industry's climate and nature foundation.

The release is encoded using the dublab Quadraphonic Universally Accessible Resource Kit (QUARK). QUARK enables binaural listening via standard 2-channel playback or 4-speaker playback via Involve Audio hardware decoders, vintage Regular Matrix quadraphonic receivers, Dolby Pro-Logic II/Dolby Surround Upmixer (DSU) receivers, or any multi-channel audio interface equipped computer. This album is immersive via all formats: digital download, streaming (Qobuz, Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp), radio broadcast, vinyl and high-resolution Dolby Atmos (Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon HD, IIA), Sony 360RA (Nugs, Amazon HD) and Eclipsa Audio (YouTube).

About Suzanne Ciani
Suzanne Ciani is a composer, pianist, sound designer, and electronic music pioneer whose work spans experimental, new age, classical, and cinematic sound. A five-time Grammy nominee and recipient of the Moog Innovation Award, she continues to perform internationally, captivating audiences with immersive modular synthesis performances.

About Metropole Orkest
Based in the Netherlands, the Metropole Orkest is one of the world’s leading genre-crossing orchestras, known for collaborations with artists including Brian Eno, Herbie Hancock, Snarky Puppy, Jacob Collier, and within contemporary classical and electronic spheres.

Manonmars’ 3rd album sees him at his most amorphous and psychedelic, at points sharper and laser focused, and at others more blurred and impressionistic than his previous records. Many of the core players remain the same, all of the production is once again handled by O$VMV$M (the duo of Neek and Amos Childs of Jabu) while Paulina Korobkiewicz (also of Young Echo) makes a return handling both the album’s cover artwork and contributing a series of diaristic field recordings and voice notes.

‘The project references movies, cartoons, fictional characters and video games, among other things. The album title is open to interpretation but all of these elements are forms of visual entertainment which have their own unique ability to transcend things like language barriers and cultural divides. The visual element is key because those details bridge the gap on a communicative level.’ - Manonmars

The album blends abstract, blurred braggadocio with more immediate personal details such as on ‘Volcanic Shield’ a posse cut of sorts featuring Bristol improv luminary Dali de Saint Paul and Franco Franco (½ of cyborg rap duo Kinlaw & Franco Franco) - where Mars recalls;

‘Memories of brighter days, happy meal hit the spot
Mum was spinning vinyl playing Super Ape or Pressure Drop
I would spend the weekend with the Turkish mandem on the block
single parent household, mum was studying or on the job
money came and went always was an on and off
made it back from school time to see what’s on the box’


The beat fades away to leave one of Korobkiewicz’s recordings of Mars’ mum talking about her life in London in the 80s, spending her money on reggae records as an ambient chord fades in like an echo of a jungle intro – stretching out as a link between generations of UK music.

The production by and large is brighter and more kinetic than earlier Manonmars records – with O$VMV$M drawing on everything from modern underground rap and drill through to jazz and acid ambient passages.

London is also a central character here, bustling and constantly shifting, either when bleeding in through field recordings, or as an ever-present backdrop in the lyrics;

‘I’m a fusion of Tippa Irie and Topper Harley
Hit the target like the black Atari
I dropped a tab now shit’s A Scanner Darkly
Got the munchies, Imma yam a sarnie
Pour the Wray and Ting like man at Carni
Exit Peckham Rye and turn left, walk past Hannah Barry
Get your (w)raps up like its January’

‘I've always considered London my home, despite spending some time in the South West of England too. My mum had been living in London for 25 years (...) That was a pretty big deal in some ways because it removed us from multicultural society during the period which overlapped with my teenage years. (...) I never got used to how quiet it was in the countryside (...) Bristol was the closest city to where we lived and it was through travelling there and making connections that I became involved in making music and playing gigs.’ - Manonmars

Mars’ practice as a painter (under his given name Jack Martyn Richardson) and photographer also loom heavy over the album, he cites Paul Verhoeven, Abdul Mati Klariwein and H.R Giger as influences – as well as Miles Davis, Drakeo the Ruler and DJ Rashad.

As with much of Richardson’s work the raps at times feel blurred to a point of almost inscrutability, creating a distance between the audience and himself. A process that ties into his visual work and the way he experiences the world as mainly abstract colour without his glasses. He explores this further in an ongoing visual collaboration with Korobkiewicz, ‘Fun and Games’ which serves as a visual archive of one of London's largest and oldest travelling fairgrounds.

‘I was diagnosed with very severe short-sightedness at the age of seven. I remember my early formative years as visually blurred. Some of my photography reflects this experience of partial vision and uncertainty, referencing memory and perception rather than fixed representation.’

Manonmars’ first public outing as a rapper was at a Young Echo radio event, broadcast shambolically from a practice room just off Jamaica street, Bristol in 2011, as much as things have moved on both stylistically and in terms of focus - strong links back to the city remain a key foundation throughout the collaborations and guest appearances.

‘I have no problem with being an outsider looking in. One of the things I enjoy about London is the anonymity (...) it's easy to be a stranger here when so much is happening. I feel like thats more valuable than people may realise.’

Detroit's mythic architect Walt J surfaces on Lost Control 2097 with three cuts steeped in deep emotional drama and late-night intensity. 'Resonance' lands with razor-sharp drums and weightless, ethereal chords, elevated by Prince of Hydro's poetic vocal transmissions that feel like signals from another realm. 'Love Petals' resurfaces from Walt's vault, a reworked version of an already transcendent classic, refined, deeper, and glowing with subterranean energy. 'Origin' channels the spirit of Larry Heard-style melodies while anchoring itself firmly in the grit and gravity of the Motor City. Prince of Hydro closes it out by activating full ultra-sonar mode, delivering a remix that drags you into crushing ocean depths where the pressure builds and something immense is about to break through.

'Palle Mikkelborg (b. 1941) - a spiritual jazz legend, acclaimed composer, trumpet player and electronic music pioneer - is back in the studio recording his first solo album in more than 25 years. Working with him as a producer is Jakob Bro, with whom he has recorded the great ECM albums Returnings with Jon Christensen and Thomas Morgan, and Strands with Marilyn Mazur.
'"When Palle decided to stop touring and performing live, I suggested that we sit down together and listen through the many MiniDiscs and DAT tapes he had tucked away, hoping we might find a new direction for making music together. We went through everything - recordings of orchestras and choirs, soundscapes, and so on - material he had worked on throughout his career,” says Jakob Bro. “I can still remember the first time we said it out loud. Suddenly, it made perfect sense in my mind: a solo album. An album devoted entirely to Palle - his sound, his vision, his voice. It felt like something the world truly needed.”
'This final opus sees Palle Mikkelborg re-interpret and record his own orchestral works and two pieces by Per Nørgaard and Thomas Laub as 'meditations' on solo piano, trumpet and flugelhorn mixed with soundscapes and guest performances by longtime collaborators Helen Davis, Jakob Bro and Thomas Li.
'As a soloist his sound on trumpet and flugelhorn is both much loved and familiar after decades at the forefront of Nordic Music, but on Light one is struck by the weight Palle Mikkelborg has given his soundscapes and the grand piano. Forever curious on what's ahead, the album underlines his spiritual and ever-seeking approach to free improvisation, classical composition, choral works and experimental sound landcapes.'

Am 15. Februar 2026 feierte Posaunist und Sänger Nils Landgren seinen 70. Geburtstag – wie es sich für einen der erfolgreichsten europäischen Musiker seines Fachs gehört mit einem oppulenten Orchesteralbum »Love of My Life« und einer Tour durch die großen Konzerthäuser.

ACT-Gründer, Förderer und Freund Siggi Loch machte Nils Landgren ein besonderes Geschenk: Einen Abend in der von ihm kuratierten Reihe »Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic« im großen Saal der Berliner Philharmonie. Im ersten Teil des Konzertes spielten Mitglieder der ACT Family für »Mr. Red Horn«.

Nach der Pause betrat Nils Landgren unter großem Jubel selbst die Bühne – mit einem exklusiven Programm, dass seinem großen Idol und Weggefährten Joe Sample gewidmet war. Mit dabei: Michael Wollny, Lars Danielsson, Wolfgang Haffner, China Moses und Mitglieder der Berliner Philharmoniker mit Arrangements von Magnus Lindgren.

Es wurde eine Soul-Jazz-Party im Klassiktempel, bei der am Ende der ganze Saal tanzte – jetzt nachzuhören auf »Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic – Nils Landgren 70«

For years, singer-songwriter Riley Downing has collected stories about life’s overlooked moments and underappreciated people. He’s unearthed these tales of castaway truths and once-faded recollections for Landfill Poetry, a sophomore solo album and Oh Boy Records debut.??A native of small-town Missouri who once worked as a backroad trashman before becoming one of music’s weathered journeymen, the husky-voiced Downing may be best known as a member of noisemaking Americana outfit The Deslondes, a New Orleans-born band that he co-founded after a clandestine meeting with likeminded musicians at a folk festival in Oklahoma.??On Landfill Poetry, his six-string worldbuilding takes listeners to the back of the trash truck (“Landfill Poetry”), inside the lonely hours of the graveyard paycheck (“Night Shift”) and to the quiet moments after a hard day of work (“Porch Song”). He sings for the restless ones who stay up way too late (“Hay Hay Hay”) and the grandchildren who admire a hard-working compassion once shared between late loved ones (“Helen & Gene”). With each song, Downing uncovers sketches of life that once might’ve been lost to the landfill but instead?are shared anew.

The Gates of Slumber’s debut album and EP reissued in August Svart Records continue to reissue the works of Indiana’s true doom metal legends The Gates of Slumber by bringing back their debut album The Awakening and early EP Like a Plague Upon the Land in late August 2026. The 2005 EP Like a Plague Upon the Land is a punchy release praised for its authenticity to the genre. Never before released on vinyl, this hard-hitting fan favorite is heavily rooted in 70s rock-influenced doom. Traditional, slow, and heavy in the vein of Reverend Bizarre and Saint Vitus. The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work, which resulted in the new self-titled album released in 2024 on Svart Records.

The Gates of Slumber’s debut album and EP reissued in August Svart Records continue to reissue the works of Indiana’s true doom metal legends The Gates of Slumber by bringing back their debut album The Awakening and early EP Like a Plague Upon the Land in late August 2026. The 2005 EP Like a Plague Upon the Land is a punchy release praised for its authenticity to the genre. Never before released on vinyl, this hard-hitting fan favorite is heavily rooted in 70s rock-influenced doom. Traditional, slow, and heavy in the vein of Reverend Bizarre and Saint Vitus. The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work, which resulted in the new self-titled album released in 2024 on Svart Records.

This Mirror Weighs a Ton, Interpol’s first album in four years and debut for Partisan Records, finds the band turning inward while continuing to move forward. Across the record, reflection, distortion and perception become a lens through which familiar shapes are refracted into something slightly alien, as if seen through a different kind of light.

Produced with Grammy- and Oscar-winning Andrew Wyatt (ROSALÍA, Charli xcx) and mixed by Dave Fridmann, the album introduces vibrant new textures into Interpol’s world. Synthesizers, strings, acoustic guitars and percussion are integrated into the fabric of the songs, expanding the palette while revealing colors already latent within it. Nothing feels imposed. Instead, the additions deepen the band’s language of restraint, atmosphere and tension. At its center remains the creative relationship between Paul Banks, Daniel Kessler and Sam Fogarino, a partnership now approaching three decades and defined by intuitive alignment and momentum that continues to generate new possibilities. The result is an album that feels expansive, uncanny and alive with forward motion, not a reinvention but an evolution that allows Interpol to continue transforming without losing their identity.

“This Mirror Weighs A Ton” / “See Out Loud” is a study in duality, with Interpol moving fluidly between familiarity and departure. The title track unfolds from a skeletal progression into something vast and textural, built from warped bass, a wordless female voice and a sense of motion that feels tidal, bending the band’s familiar language into somewhere more expansive and unfamiliar. By contrast, “See Out Loud” carries the DNA of Interpol’s earliest work, sharp, propulsive and direct, while complicating it through layered vocals, shifting perspectives and a rare lead vocal turn from Kessler. Both tracks reflect the interplay between structure and spontaneity that defines This Mirror Weighs a Ton, expanding Interpol’s world through fresh textures while keeping the instinctive chemistry between Banks, Kessler and Fogarino at the center.

The double single is accompanied by two visualizers directed by Nick Steinhardt.

This Mirror Weighs a Ton, Interpol’s first album in four years and debut for Partisan Records, finds the band turning inward while continuing to move forward. Across the record, reflection, distortion and perception become a lens through which familiar shapes are refracted into something slightly alien, as if seen through a different kind of light.

Produced with Grammy- and Oscar-winning Andrew Wyatt (ROSALÍA, Charli xcx) and mixed by Dave Fridmann, the album introduces vibrant new textures into Interpol’s world. Synthesizers, strings, acoustic guitars and percussion are integrated into the fabric of the songs, expanding the palette while revealing colors already latent within it. Nothing feels imposed. Instead, the additions deepen the band’s language of restraint, atmosphere and tension. At its center remains the creative relationship between Paul Banks, Daniel Kessler and Sam Fogarino, a partnership now approaching three decades and defined by intuitive alignment and momentum that continues to generate new possibilities. The result is an album that feels expansive, uncanny and alive with forward motion, not a reinvention but an evolution that allows Interpol to continue transforming without losing their identity.

“This Mirror Weighs A Ton” / “See Out Loud” is a study in duality, with Interpol moving fluidly between familiarity and departure. The title track unfolds from a skeletal progression into something vast and textural, built from warped bass, a wordless female voice and a sense of motion that feels tidal, bending the band’s familiar language into somewhere more expansive and unfamiliar. By contrast, “See Out Loud” carries the DNA of Interpol’s earliest work, sharp, propulsive and direct, while complicating it through layered vocals, shifting perspectives and a rare lead vocal turn from Kessler. Both tracks reflect the interplay between structure and spontaneity that defines This Mirror Weighs a Ton, expanding Interpol’s world through fresh textures while keeping the instinctive chemistry between Banks, Kessler and Fogarino at the center.

The double single is accompanied by two visualizers directed by Nick Steinhardt.

Die britischen Alternativ- und Progressive-Rocker von The Pineapple Thief melden sich 2016 mit einem neuen Album zurück. »Your Wilderness« heißt der Nachfolger von »Magnolia« aus dem Jahr 2014.

Mit gerade einmal acht Songs handelt es sich dabei auf den ersten Blick fast schon um ein Minialbum. Bei näherem Hinsehen bzw. Hinhören stellt man aber fest, dass alle Songs zwischen 3:46 und 9:52 Minuten liegen, was eine Durchschnittslänge von rund 5 Minuten pro Song macht. Hier kommt also niemand zu kurz.

Im Gegensatz zu früheren Alben haben sich The Pineapple Thief für »Your Wilderness« zum ersten Mal einen ganzen Haufen illustrer Gäste eingeladen.

Zunächst einmal ist Schlagzeuger Gavin Harrison mit von der Partie, der dem einen oder anderen bereits durch seine Mitgliedschaft bei der Band Porcupine Tree bekannt sein dürfte. Für einige Klarinettenparts stand zudem niemand Geringeres als John Helliwell von Supertramp zur Verfügung. Geoffrey Richardson von den legendären Caravan steuerte unterdessen das Streichquartett bei, das auf dem Album zu hören ist. An der Gitarre unterstützte Darran Charles von Godsticks. Zu guter Letzt sorgte ein vierköpfiger Chor für die Backgroundgesänge.

Produziert wurde »Your Wilderness« komplett in Eigenregie der Band, mit Ausnahme der Drumparts, die Harrison in seinem eigenen Studio einspielte.

Mit »No Man’s Land« haben The Pineapple Thief auch bereits die erste Single des neuen Albums vorgestellt. Und die lässt erahnen, dass die Band sich trotz neuem Personal musikalisch treu bleibt – zur Freude vieler Fans.