Cerca:emotion

,Paradessence", das dritte Album von Visible Cloaks, ist ein Werk der Entstehung und Illusion. Die vierzehn Songs des Albums verschieben, heben und schimmern vor einem schwach leuchtenden Hintergrund der Nacht, einem höhlenartigen Raum, der durch spärliche hyperreale Darstellungen der natürlichen Welt geformt wird. Die Arrangements sind gleichzeitig grandios und zerbrechlich, sowohl eine Umkehrung als auch eine Kulmination dessen, was zuvor kam, und so abenteuerlich wie alles, was sie bisher produziert haben. Seit ihrer Umwandlung von Cloaks zu Visible Cloaks im Jahr 2014 haben Spencer Doran und Ryan Carlile eine komplexe Matrix gegensätzlicher Konzepte entworfen: organisch und künstlich, zufällig und bewusst, authentisch und repliziert. Der Albumtitel, der aus dem satirischen Portmanteau des Autors Alex Shakar aus ,paradox" und ,essence" stammt, spiegelt diese Spannungen direkt wider: Die Paradessence von Konsumgütern ist der ,schismatische Kern", der ihre Attraktivität ausmacht (in Shakars Beispiel ist Kaffee begehrt, weil er gleichzeitig entspannend und anregend wirkt). Der Balanceakt von Paradessence verleiht diesen Spannungen eine größere Dringlichkeit, da das Leben im 21. Jahrhundert durch eben diese Spannungen neu geordnet wird. Stille ist ein wichtiger Charakter in Paradessence, der nicht nur in der Gestaltung des Klangs zu spüren ist, sondern auch in dem Druck, den er auf alles und alles, was entsteht, ausübt. Die Gruppe ließ sich vom Konzept des ,positiven Raums" des Architekturtheoretikers Christopher Alexander beeinflussen, einer Idee, dass der Form der Leere um ein Objekt herum die gleiche Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden kann wie der Konstruktion des Objekts selbst. Wir hören, wie Klänge ihre eigene Stille in sich tragen, zwischen Existenz und Nicht-Existenz oszillieren und wie Mikroorganismen Lebenszyklen durchlaufen. Die Instrumente, die Paradessence untermauern, haben etwas Kollektives an sich. Sie bewegen sich wie eine Herde, so wie wenn der Wind über ein Feld voller Blätter weht und die Luft in der Abwesenheit von Bewegung sichtbar wird; mehrere Arten leben in derselben Melodie zusammen, treten hervor, ziehen sich zurück und verwandeln sich im Laufe von mehreren Minuten. ,Anstatt Stücke zu schaffen, die horizontal als Umgebungen funktionieren", sagt Doran, ,wollten wir sie als lebendes Material konzipieren, das sich im Raum verändert und ständig im Fluss ist." Die Songformen entfernen sich von der Atmosphäre und tendieren zur reinen Abstraktion. Utopismus schwebt am Rande; eine Beziehung zu imaginären Zukünften, die weder naiv, zynisch noch nostalgisch ist. Die Welt, die Visible Cloaks im Laufe der Zeit aufgebaut haben, wird oft von Mitwirkenden physisch umgesetzt, von denen eine vertraute Besetzung für Paradessence zurückkehrt. Motion Graphics (Joe Williams) ist auf ,synthetic woodwinds" zu hören und hat das Album mitgemischt, wobei er ihm mit seinem charakteristischen Glanz Kontur verliehen hat. Die miteinander verbundenen Stücke ,Shapes" und ,Thinking" wurden zusammen mit den Innovatoren der Umweltmusik Yoshio Ojima und Satsuki Shibano entwickelt, die auch mit dem Duo an der generationsübergreifenden FRKWYS-Kollaboration serenitatem gearbeitet haben. Das letztere Stück enthält einen von Ojima verfassten gesprochenen Text, der von Shibano auf Japanisch und von der Komponistin und langjährigen Freundin Félicia Atkinson auf Französisch gelesen wird. Das Componium Ensemble, Dorans Projekt für ,unbestimmte Kammermusik" mit selbstspielenden Software-Instrumenten, bildet die Grundlage für ,System" in einem Moment von Pessoa-scher Heteronymie. Auf dem Album ist auch Ioana Selaru zu hören, eine rumänische Komponistin und Violinistin, die ,Intarsia" mit ihrer Stimme und ihrem Streicherspiel bereichert. Doran beschreibt ihre Zusammenarbeit als ,eine Übung in illusorischer Präsenz", die sie gemeinsam aus ,der Idee entwickelt haben, ihr reales Instrumentenspiel virtuellen Instrumenten gegenüberzustellen, um die Grenzen zwischen synthetischen Streichinstrumenten und denen, die in der Realität existieren, zu verwischen". Selarus energiegeladene Darbietung in ,Intarsia" ist ein deutlicher Beweis für den dramatischen Kern von Paradessence: ein dringliches skulpturales Unterfangen, ein Instrument und eine menschliche Stimme, moduliert von einem Meer synthetischen Wachstums. Doran beschreibt, wie für ihn ,dieses Verschieben zwischen dem Realen und dem Virtuellen etwas ganz anderes einfängt, etwas Seltsames und Unbeschreibliches, das ein fester Bestandteil des Lebens in der digitalen Moderne ist, sowohl online als auch im realen Leben". Es ist elektronische Musik, die nicht nur durch ihre wechselnden Formen eine abstrakte Darstellung unserer aktuellen Traumrealität heraufbeschwört, sondern auch imaginäre Räume schafft, die emotional nuanciert sind und zu Momenten der Anmut führen.

DOGMA marks a new beginning for Coloray. As the name suggests, the project explores the endless search for meaning in a world that does not always offer one. Across 11 tracks, the artist reflects on queer romance, grief, youthful hope, and melancholic joy. Emotional, chaotic, and imperfect, DOGMA mirrors both the artist and the messy reality of a life unfolding. Rather than forcing rigid structures, the album embraces looseness and human presence. Live recordings and improvised songwriting take center stage- every lyric was written in the moment, and the tracks remain intentionally raw to preserve their imperfections.

In this way, the album is both personal and political. It calls for belief in keeping humanity alive and for dismantling the societal dogmas that push artists away from the core of their creative identity. DOGMA is an honest journey of self-authorship, unfolding through the sounds of new wave, disco-punk, electro, and ambient music.

2026 Repress on Yellow Vinyl



Flirty Ghost is an evocative LP by Rachel Kitchlew, a jazz and contemporary harpist known for pushing the boundaries of her instrument. A blend of jazz, ambient, and experimental sounds, the album was crafted in a spontaneous, deeply personal atmosphere, recorded late at night in the cozy, smoky setting of SFJ headquarters

featuring Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Dave Bardon, SFJ, Sholto ....



Inspired by everything from Henry Mancini to Dorothy Ashby, this LP captures an eerie, playful essence, like a ‘flirty ghost’, while celebrating exploration and self-expression. The album holds emotional depth, particularly in tracks like ‘Truncate’ and ‘Cyclical’, which were recorded shortly after the passing of Rachel's grandmother, Sheila Horton, whose work is featured on the back cover.



With the collaboration of close friends and talented musicians, ‘Flirty Ghost’ represents a new chapter for Rachel, marking a joyful departure from her solo harp work into a collective, experimental musical journey.

Future Islands feiern ihr 20-jähriges Bestehen mit From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, einer besonderen Sammlung aus Raritäten, alternativen Versionen und Fanlieblingen, von denen viele erstmals digital verfügbar sind. Statt eines klassischen Best-of-Albums zeigt die Band damit ihre Entwicklung und künstlerische Tiefe jenseits ihrer bekanntesten Momente. Die 20 Songs spiegeln 20 Jahre Bandgeschichte wider - von frühen Auftritten in kleinen Clubs bis hin zu einer gefestigten, zeitlosen Klangidentität. Der Titel steht sinnbildlich für diesen Weg: vom Alltag ("Hole in the Floor") hin zur Verwirklichung von Träumen ("Fountain of Youth"). Musikalisch bleibt die Band ihrem Stil treu: treibende Basslinien, atmosphärische Synthesizer und der eindringliche Gesang von Samuel T. Herring sorgen für einen roten Faden. Themen wie Sehnsucht, Liebe, Vergänglichkeit und emotionale Erinnerung durchziehen das Album. Die Veröffentlichung ist keine nostalgische Rückschau, sondern eine bewusste Neupositionierung. Sie macht verborgene Facetten sichtbar und zeigt eine Band, die in ihrer Zurückhaltung, Reife und Beständigkeit überzeugt. Gleichzeitig wird deutlich, dass ihr Erfolg nicht nur auf Musik, sondern auch auf langjähriger Freundschaft und echter Verbundenheit beruht. So entsteht ein vielschichtiges Porträt, das die Geschichte von Future Islands vervollständigt und ihre besondere künstlerische Identität unterstreicht.

Shaped from fragile, emotionally charged piano motifs that distort, disappear and transform into dense, cinematic textures, 'CANALS' is a debut that's finely matured, the result of years of friendship and growth. Italian artist Vanja Sturno and Montréal-based Belgian-Spanish composer Pablo Geeraert (aka Sanea Ima) have worked together extensively on various projects up until now, but 'CANALS' is their first official release as a duo. Having both studied music academically, the pair were eager to work more intuitively, so applied their well-honed set of skills to sound that, instead of fitting into a conceptual box, reflected more personal experiences.

Back in 2023, Geeraert travelled to Rome to support his friend at a difficult time and, during the trip, received some bad news of his own. The complicated feelings unconsciously surged through a series of delicate Ryuichi Sakamoto-inspired piano improvisations and a new project began to coalesce. They didn't realize it at the time, but once the record was finished, Sturno and Geeraert began to understand that the entire process had been a form a joint catharsis - a release of pressure. They were able to function so effortlessly and swiftly because they had already provided the space for each other to resonate emotionally and the music flowed from that point.

So the album's title, while remaining ambiguous, suggests its formation: a sequence of eight interconnected channels that feed a creative whole. On the first segment, Sturno and Geeraert's initial recordings can be perceived most nakedly, the melancholy, Satie-like phrases floating peacefully for a moment before the tranquility is agitated by stormy distortions and swelled into thick waves of harmony. The piano provides the record with its emotional anchor, offering focus and clarity as multi-dimensional noise wells up around it before inevitably dissipating, leaving gentle, unadorned sounds once again.

And the familiar instrument is reshaped into a wheezing artificial organ on the animated 'CANALS III', punctuated by percussive, tape-warped pitch fluctuations that seem to bite into its very essence. Gauzy acoustic granulations snowball into a powerful, bass-heavy crescendo on the fourth part, setting the tenor for the album's second half. But after the crushing 'CANALS VI', possibly Sturno and Geeraert's heaviest track, a brief tremolo-heavy vignette that ripples through experimental rock and ambient music's braided history, the duo clear the air with a jazzy diversion, introducing soft woodwind blasts as a palate cleanser before an epic, widescreen finale.

It's an album that's best absorbed as a whole, a vortex of ritualistic, rhythmic repetitions that Sturno and Geeraert appropriately refer to as "spiral listening".

Peach’s Soak Vol. 1 is a cross-Canadian link-up with Mood Hut that moves through slower, deeper waters.

The mini-LP was written after a tour through Asia that opened up something new in how Peach approaches making music. The turning point, as she tells it, came during a visit to a neighbourhood sento in Tokyo, while surrounded by steam rising in suspended time, something clicked about the relationship between the body and the sounds she wanted to make.

She’d been learning about cycle synching and working out with the phases of her hormonal cycle, respecting energy fluctuations throughout the course of a month, and decided to apply the approach to writing music. She allowed shifts in energy to guide tempo, density, and emotional tone rather than strictly answering to the floor.

Soak came out of this exploration, sketched and layered with field recordings from her trips to Vietnam and the Philippines during a challenging time in her life. Fragments of heat, air, and shoreline are absorbed into the music itself. Vapourous pads, low-end weight, fractured percussion, and melodies hover at the edge of dissolution. Water runs structurally through the record in surges, in tidal pacing, in the slow accumulation of texture.

Wherever this music finds you, please enjoy the Soak.

Berlin-based duo Mug present their debut album 'The Well'. With a range of influences from no-wave, shoe-gaze, rock, and ambient, “Mug’s” emotional rawness refracts through a lens of spectral soundscapes and austere textures.
Intimate and sincere, 'The Well' is about licking your wounds after a breakup, finding light within the cracks and letting it grow.
Ludwig Wandinger and Yves B Golden began their musical collaborations based on mutual respect and interest in each artist's vastly different backgrounds. Golden grew up singing in her grandmother’s pentecostal church, but is known widely for published essays and poetry. Wandinger, is an internationally acclaimed drummer, music producer and visual artist, interacting in various fringe music scenes.
What began as long distance collaborations released under various outlets such as Caterina Barbieri´s light years, Wandinger and Golden, now living in the same city, morphed into a protracted exploration of songwriting and improvisation, a process defined by immediacy and unfiltered expression: “first thought, best thought.”
Though “The Well” marks the first release from this impulse driven duo, this album promises an ongoing evolution, or discovery, wherein genre specificity is inconsequential.

‘Sings Again’ is the fifth album from British electronic musician Will Samson. After starting the decade with a pair of largely instrumental albums, Samson… sings again.

The familiar collection of old tape machines that have characterised much of Samson’s sound remain (with a 1971 Seinnheiser microphone for the vocals), firmly rooting ‘Sings Again’ in an organic sonic landscape of electronic and acoustic influences.

Taking inspiration from the early works of Bjork, Four Tet and Efterklang, much of the album was built upon recording and then sampling organic sounds such as twigs, rocks and paintbrushes to create percussion. An empty glass bottle was transformed into the otherworldly organ on raw opener ‘0333AM, and his own voice became the moody synth sound on the sparse electronica of ‘Darabuka.’ Elsewhere, the hypnotic, emotionally resonant ‘Time Used To Feel Like’ and grandiose album finale ‘Julian’s Rocks’ offer a raw and direct insight into the most vulnerable parts of himself – a long-established artist beginning again.

Crimson Roots schöpfen tief aus dem Blues und erschaffen weiträumige, eindringliche Musik, in der progressive Strukturen und psychedelische Klangfarben auf Emotion und Erzählkunst treffen. Ihr Sound entsteht aus gefühlvollem Gitarrenspiel, ausdrucksstarkem Gesang, markanten Basslinien, warmen Vintage-Keyboards und dynamischem Schlagzeugspiel. Jedes Instrument dient dem Lied und formt eine Musik, die lebendig, ehrlich und zutiefst menschlich wirkt. Jedes Stück ist ein Spiegel ihrer gemeinsamen Reise - aufrichtig und stets im Wandel, genau wie die Band selbst.

Nach ihrer gemeinsamen Interpretation von I See A Darkness mit Perfume Genius kündigt Anna Calvi die neue EP Is This All There Is? an, die am 20. März erscheint. Die vier Songs versammeln Kollaborationen mit Perfume Genius, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson und Matt Berninger.

Eröffnet wird die EP von God’s Lonely Man, in dem Calvi Iggy Pop die Stimme eines zerstörerischen inneren Monologs überlässt. Der Song ist von nervöser Energie getragen: kantige Gitarren, antreibende Drums, eine direkte Konfrontation mit emotionaler Stagnation. Pop verkörpert dabei genau jene rohe Präsenz, die Calvi für die Erzählung suchte.

Seht und hört "God´s Lonely Man" HIER.

Is This All There Is? bildet den ersten Teil einer geplanten Trilogie, die Identität als etwas Veränderliches begreift, geformt durch Nähe, Liebe und biografische Brüche. Ausgangspunkt ist Calvis eigene Erfahrung des Mutterwerdens, die ihren Blick auf Sicherheit, Verantwortung und Möglichkeiten verschoben hat. Die EP kreist um grundlegende Fragen moderner Existenz: Wie lässt sich Intimität neu denken? Was bedeutet es, sich wirklich verbunden zu fühlen? Und wann fühlt man sich wach?

Neben dem bereits veröffentlichten I See A Darkness interpretiert Calvi gemeinsam mit Laurie Anderson Kraftwerks Computer Love neu. Mit Andersons Stimme im Zentrum und choralen Arrangements entsteht ein Stück über digitale Nähe und emotionale Distanz. In ihrer Gesamtheit wirkt die EP wie ein zusammenhängender filmischer Bogen – vier Songs, vier Perspektiven, eine fortlaufende Erzählung.
Is This All There Is? versteht Kollaboration nicht als Zusatz, sondern als Strukturprinzip: Die Stimmen der Beteiligten werden zu Figuren innerhalb eines gemeinsamen Klangraums, in dem Fragen offen bleiben dürfen.

We Release JAZZ is very happy to announce the limited vinyl edition of Obad’s powerful new album Suspended, a vivid document of the Tehran ensemble’s endlessly evolving sonic universe — now available as a limited LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve with an Obi strip and featuring original artwork by Iranian painter Sadra Baniasadi.
Suspended is a superbly spontaneous, improvisational blend of exploratory jazz fusion, progressive funk-rock, and transcendental groove. Built from lived experience and shaped by Tehran’s pulse, Obad’s music is kinetic and intuitive — an ever-morphing dialogue between rhythm and texture, emotion and message.
With Farid Farzian Pour on drums, Siavash Karimi on electric guitar, Kiarash Radmehr on bass guitar, and Hamidreza Keshavrpajuh (aka Pajuh) on tenor saxophone, Obad creates a soundworld where hypnotic basslines meet thunderous, free-flowing percussion; where searing guitar motifs coil around saxophone phrases that move from whispered invocation to explosive catharsis. Suspended captures the quartet at full creative stretch: alive, unguarded, and deeply attuned to one another.
Sadra Baniasadi’s striking cover painting mirrors the album’s energy — bold, dreamlike, charged with movement, and extending Obad’s world into the visual realm.
Suspended stands as a major statement from one of Iran’s most compelling contemporary ensembles, marking Obad’s first release on We Release JAZZ and continuing the label’s commitment to boundary-pushing music born from profound listening, place, and collective intuition.

Somewhere long ago in a vinyl galaxy near you We Play House Recordings released an E.P. called ‘This Is Still Belgium Vol 1’. The release was called like that because the music on it could only have been made by Belgians. Vol 2 never happened…until now. Label boss Red D has always been inspired by the rich Belgian club music of the 90’s and inevitably those influences have sneaked into his own productions, but never as clear as on the three tracks you are reading about now.

And so the original WPH series has been revived with WPH 024.5, aptly called ‘This Is Still Belgium Vol 2’. The music is situated somewhere between house, progressive house and early trance music, basically club music with soul & melody at its core.

On the A-side we find Red D teaming up with his friend Mona Lee, a soul sister who has been making waves in recent years in soulful house circles and who comes up with the vocal prowess to match Red D’s emotional trip of a track and heartfelt lyrics. Can you handle the break?

The B-side opens up with ‘Tides’, a deep hypnotic builder for late night eyes-closed dance floors and closes with ‘Papillon’, a track that came to life long ago in the minds of Telepaticos (Marcos Salon & Sandro Valcke). When Red D heard a demo version of this one the melody got stuck in his head and never really left him. Many moons later he rediscovered the parts of this one on a hard drive and got to work on his interpretation that features on this E.P. Safe to say the track holds a special place in Red D’s heart and we’re sure you’ll feel it as well!

2026 Repress

French DJ and producer Hemka makes a striking solo debut on Mutual Rytm with 'Introspection'.

Born in Marseille and based in Paris, Hemka has been shaping her take on techno for over a decade, steadily growing her international presence with music on respected imprints such as Token. Her music fuses the raw energy of 90s techno with modern textures and is fast-paced, groovy and laced with subtle psychedelia. By weaving in her own vocals, Hemka adds a deeply personal and authentic layer that resonates with both the body and mind. Following the strong reception of her track 'Fragrance' on the 'Federation Of Rytm III' compilation, this potent new EP is a powerful reflection of her bold, emotional and forward-thinking artistic voice and the start of an exciting new chapter with SHDW's Mutual Rytm.

'Abyss' kicks off with tightly coiled, heavy-hitting drum funk and eerie synths that never let up while ghoulish vocals layer in extra darkness and anxiety. 'Time' is another sleek, stripped-back but banging wedge of linear techno excellence and 'I Can't Shine' layers up paranoid vocals with high-speed glitches and rubbery drums to ensure maximum impact in the club. The excellence continues with 'The Bad Place' with booming drums and moody synth atmospheres, getting you up on your toes and keeping you there. Last, 'Unchanged' fizzes with static electricity as wordless vocals refract around the mix next to wispy synths and icy hi-hats. Digital bonus cuts 'Voice In My Head' and 'Eternity' round things out with more heady and intense techno for driving deep into the night.

Wolfgang Haffner is one of Europe's most respected jazz drummers, known for his impeccable sense of timing, groove, and atmosphere. Though rooted in jazz, his musical language transcends genre boundaries, guided by pulse and subtle nuance rather than tradition alone. For Cocoon Recordings, he now enters an entirely new dialogue, offering warm, organic reinterpretations that honor the spirit of the source material while opening a fresh sonic horizon. The result is a meeting of two artistic worlds where Sven Väth's timeless energy and Haffner's refined touch flow naturally into a new musical form, an encounter between two artistic universes, merging into something both unexpected and deeply musical.

Fusion is a groove driven piece built around a clear, flowing melody, allowing Haffner to reinterpret it acoustically through a jazz lens. Its straight, driving pulse lets him explore the track's rhythmic and melodic interplay with clarity and nuance.

L'Esperanza, originally a dreamy, trance like track, envelops listeners in strings, filtered downbeats, and a playful synth melody, a perfect canvas for Haffner's warm, organic touch. Its ethereal layers and subtle tension allow him to explore the track's emotional depth while preserving its entrancing charm.

Barbarella, emblematic of Sven Väth's early 90s vision, carries the energy and innovation of a club classic. Haffner's reinterpretation transforms it into a rich, acoustic exploration that honors its hypnotic essence. By emphasizing the track's iconic motifs and underlying drive, and by drawing out the track's essential elements, he bridges its electronic origins with a new, organic perspective.

Together, these three reinterpretations form a cohesive journey that celebrates the timeless essence of Sven Väth's music while revealing a new dimension through Haffner's masterful touch, a release that invites listeners to experience familiar classics in a completely new light.

Apollo Records proudly present the vinyl reissue of ‘Morning Light’, the acclaimed 1997 album from Mark Van Hoen’s Locust project; a work that blurred the boundaries between ambient electronics, trip-hop, and dream-pop with an emotional precision few have matched since.

Originally issued during the label’s pioneering late-’90s era, ‘Morning Light’ marked a bold evolution for Van Hoen, best known at the time for his dark, abstract ambient work under Locust and as a member of Seefeel. Seeking to create something more human and melodic, Van Hoen assembled a rotating cast of collaborators, including Zoe Niblett, Craig Bethell, Neil Halstead (Slowdive/Mojave 3), and Wendy Roberts, blending fractured dance rhythms, live instrumentation, and intimate vocal performances into something both deeply personal and effortlessly cinematic.

From the haunting reimagining of The Carpenters’ ‘No-One In The World’ to the slow blooming emotional arcs of ‘All Your Own Way,’ ‘Folie’, and ‘The Girl With The Fairytale Dream’, the album’s 13 tracks form a widescreen narrative of melancholy and beauty. Reviewers at the time hailed it as “a subtle delight” and “sheer God-given genius”, comparing its mood and texture to Massive Attack, This Mortal Coil, and Portishead, yet noting its entirely singular voice.

This reissue restores Morning Light to vinyl for the first time in over two decades. A crucial artefact from the fertile intersection of experimental electronica and ethereal pop, ‘Morning Light’ stands today as one of the label’s most quietly influential releases.

London-based producer IZCO is set to release his latest single, “Guiding Star (feat. Reek0)”, blending soulful nostalgia with the raw energy of the capital’s underground sound.

Drawing from influences that span UK dance music, hip hop, and soul, IZCO’s music captures both the energy of the dancefloor and the emotion of lived experience. Over the years, IZCO has become a key figure in London’s cross-genre underground scene, collaborating with artists like Reek0, Greentea Peng, Sam Wise, Liam Bailey, and Novelist, and performing at iconic venues and festivals across the UK and Europe.

His previous releases, including tracks like soulboy - IZCO Remix, Beauty Inside, and OBiNRin - IZCO Remix, showcase his knack for crafting warm, sample-rich productions that balance classic influences with a distinctly modern edge. Whether behind the decks or in the studio, IZCO continues to push boundaries, creating music that feels timeless, authentic, and deeply rooted in community.

“Guiding Star” is no different. It pairs warm, vintage soul textures with the sharp percussion and bass-driven pulse that have defined IZCO’s sound across his discography. Featuring long-time collaborator Reek0, the single bridges eras and styles; a homage to the past while firmly rooted in the energy of today’s London.

Speaking on this release, IZCO says:
“Guiding Star. That classic shit, Combining the soulful sample with the London grit, real London track. Inspired by a mixture of 70s soul, US hip hop and UK grime.

Made this track without thinking much, the sample spoke for itself.
Reek0’s vocal was from one of the first sessions we ever did years ago, and it had never been released but it sounded perfect on this track. A taste of nostalgia, this track reminds me of good memories and friendships. Simple but meaningful. And an honour to use such a beautiful sample”

Later this year, fans will be able to own an exclusive 7-inch vinyl edition of Guiding Star, featuring both the original and instrumental versions - a collector’s piece for crate diggers and fans alike. Out on the 5th December.

With “Guiding Star (feat. Reek0)”, IZCO continues to carve out his place as one of the most versatile and soulful producers in UK production, grounding every beat in authenticity, emotion, and connection

The return of Jonne Lydén aka 53X is an exhilarating welcome for Emotional Especial with 4 more seismic analogue psychedelic jams that are becoming recognisably a unique and hypnotic statement.

Lydén’s studio time is distillation for personal contemplation and perfection just 3 releases in 5 years that are worth the wait. The heady demand for his debut ‘Synapse’ and the following ‘Zen ‘23’ on Especial (limited repress incoming!) show constant development a sound of widescreen technoscope where dub beats trance pyrotechnics and 303 mind-melt swirling in a cosmic matter.

His return takes this further his music heritage in Finland’s hardcore punk scene to finding the techno of Detroit and Berlin before submerging in synths and drum programming jamming recording and mixing these trip-out electronic journeys live.

This heavy 4/4 jack is apparent on opening Sanctuary. Like his recent outings ‘Radar’ found on the Especial 50th “sampler” release ‘Gracias Especial’ (EES050) and also ‘Simulaato’ hidden away on blink and you miss it cult label Avidya (AVI003) this is a pure undiluted bang. Straight forward heavy bass kicking charged with acid 303 and monotonic vocal insights the track is a flourishing temple a call of embrace.

The eponymous Cyan Haze showcases 53X’s cinematic finest panoramic audio and sound design creating expansive phonics. BPMs drop samples flourish around break drops and rolling bass – breathing looping shouting lifting.

Owls enlightens. Hardware rumbles cerebral a temporal universe awakening. The collage of found sound successive sequential all encased by hypnotic broken chords rolling bass and melancholic piano refrain. Meta worming braindance ecstatic tribal industrial gliding by Shiva into the night.

Dust closes apt its basement collage pounds Lydén to techno genesis. Proto-zeitgeist steppa dark room incantation pulling and expanding the fantasy to strange dreamscapes. Reincarnation and hope in 2026.

On the 2024 Altered Circuits release Tropicana Tracks Rotterdam-based artist Betonkust paid tribute to the former subtropical pool (now a circular entrepreneurship hub) Tropicana of his hometown. ALT025 is the follow-up: the fallen-from-grace swimming paradise again fuels a club-oriented selection, inspired by, in the artist's words, "the electronic music from 1988 up until now", more specifically "the Benelux-sound". Tropicana Tracks Two kicks off in full gear with the zero swing drums and lately bass rhythms of Don't Think I'll Be Here Too Long setting the stage for intense synth stabs. Its counterpart comes by way of Realxing, which nonetheless uses similar patches. If the A1 is the thrill of the slides, this one feels like blissfully floating in the geothermally heated waters afterwards. Will Support on the reverse side takes on Detroit techno. Minimal in its composition, it is carried by tough, loopy minor fifth synth sections and prominently mixed rides. TV For Lonely People features more big bass catchiness and melancholic, silky melodies, glued together by vintage flanger treatment and chlorine-damp reverb. The production revels in what feels like the quintessential Betonkust sound. Innershades then joins for the encore, and, characteristically, the mood turns a bit darker. Letting Go Of The Dream is an emotional New Beat update, fully equipped with thudding drum works, haunting lo-fi vocals and pivotal 303 programming - a fitting reaffirmation of the long-standing ties between two of Low Countries Electronics's finest ambassadors.

New album by SABA ALIZADEH, a groundbreaking voice in contemporary Iranian music who blends classical Persian traditions with avantgarde experimentation.

Born in Tehran in 1983 as son of the world renowned tar and setar virtuoso HOSSEIN ALIZADEH, SABA ALIZADEH established himself not only as a true master on the Iranian spike fiddle kamancheh but one of the groundbreaking voices in contemporary Iranian music, blending classical Persian traditions with avantgarde experimentation. His music, praised by THE WIRE as "a bridge between the ancient and the contemporary", turns sound and image into powerful narratives of memory and resistance. Over the past years, ALIZADEH (who relocated to the Netherlands a few years ago) has appeared at key festivals and venues such as Reeperbahn Festival, CTM, Flow Festival, Philharmonie Berlin, Kölner Philharmonie, solidifying his reputation as a singular live performer.
After the critically acclaimed releases "Scattered Memories" (his international debut, released on Karlrecords in 2019), "I May Never See You Again" (2021) and last year's "Temple of Hope", his new album fascinates again with a unique artistic voice, weaving together centuries-old sonic heritage and the urgency of the present through deeply immersive, meditative landscapes in two epic pieces. "Rituals Of The Last Dawn" may feel like a sad or resigned title (compared to the positively fierce "Temple Of Hope"), but at the same time the highly meditative music provides a good lot of contemplative strength. Appealing to an open-minded "world music" audience as well as fans of current streams of ambient or drone in its most subtle forms, ALIZADEH's latest work is a strongly needed soul food in bitter times. Created on the spot with his musical partners PIETRO CARAMELLI (guitar and electronics on "First Ritual") and LIEW NIYOMKARN (lap steel and electronics on "Last Ritual"), "Rituals Of The Last Dawn" is a pure, unfiltered emotional expression from one of contemporary Iranian music's leading artists.

2026 Repress

Sicily's SLV is able to merge technical mastery with emotional resonance. His potent techno sounds have come via the likes of SHWD's Mutual Rytm and Slam's Soma, and unite timeless yet forward-thinking sonics.
On 'Fleeting Dreams', he continues to refine his signature sound while channelling introspection and intensity into a collection of meticulously crafted cuts that balance precision and feeling, energy and space. Each track reveals a different side of his sonic identity: hypnotic rhythms intertwine with evolving soundscapes, while layers of distortion and melody merge into a dreamlike tension between the mechanical and the organic.

'Fading Moments' kicks off with a sleek blend of driving, supple kicks and warm synth ripples, while a euphoric vocal cry is buried deep to amp up the emotion. 'Scenario' then brings icy hi-hats and sinewy synths bring a futuristic feel to the unrelenting, high-pressure drums down low. 'Daruma' has a darker energy with menacing textures and paranoid FX bringing the rolling drums to life, while 'Bass Grit' has a hunched up rhythm, with groaning pads and fizzing static electricity that charge up the party. To close, 'Shimmer' sinks down into a muscular and deep rhythm that's marbled with restless synths and ever-rising tension.

In addition, digital bonus cuts 'Trust' and '1990' offer different perspectives with slamming drums, seductive vocals and feisty synth loops making for two more bold, immersive techno weapons.