Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure's Vince Clarke, Blancmange's Neil Arthur and the electronic producer-writer-synth-nerd Benge have joined forces to form the new project Doublespeak. Set to be released on May 29th, their self-titled debut album revisits eleven of their favourite songs from the past four decades, each reimagined and renewed in the timeless space of gleaming analogue electronica.
The 'Doublespeak' album is divided between songs from the postpunk netherworld brought blinking into the light (Fad Gadget, The Sound, Young Marble Giants), pop radio monsters ushered back down a dark stairway into the club (ABBA, David Essex, The Carpenters) and buried treasures from the 1990s onwards (The Magnetic Fields, Ed Dowie and Laptop).
Collectively, the album amounts to a shadow autobiography of the three collaborators' continuing musical education. Doublespeak is the great human songbook, synthesised.
Empathic vocals, bold arrangements and glowing analogue electronics turn familiar and forgotten songs into a personal, forward-looking electronic statement.
Be The Mountain (2026) is the latest release from Detroit-based musician STS. The record explores a serene and introspective world shaped by organically morphed textures and slowly evolving soundscapes.
While largely drumless, the album maintains a subtle rhythmic backbone - not through traditional percussion, but through modulated pads, shifting synths, and carefully sculpted ambience. The music moves and breathes without overt propulsion, finding tension and momentum through tone, density, and motion rather than beats.
Much of the record was written during a period of sustained physical and mental strain. A time when daily effort fought against perceived limits. Instead of responding with heavier or more aggressive material, the music became a quiet counterweight to the intensity. These tracks function as an escape from chaos. They are built from patience, repetition, and a gradual transformation.
The title reflects a central idea behind the record: confronting something that initially feels insurmountable, only to realize that the enduring force is the one within us all.
Be The Mountain is about endurance, not as struggle, but as presence.
For his sixth solo album, Ezéchiel Pailhès returns with a new collection of songs infused by a sunny wandering spirit.
Within each of the twelve songs on SOL is a thread of melancholic happiness that has permeated much of Pailhès’ music and songwriting. He addresses love, the passing of time, hope, lost illusions, fleeting moments of grace, the temptation of forgetting, a need to escape, and desire. All this is
insulated by understated orchestrations that blend acoustic and electronic instrumentation with deft confidence.
The Portuguese and Brazilian concept of saudade—a form of melancholic longing and nostalgia— pervades, thanks in part to Pailhès decision to record the album in Rio de Janiero and to reinterpret some of the finest works of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB). In particular, he revisits a handful of
lesser known classics from the mid-century samba and bossa nova era—originally written or performed by talents including Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto, Tom Zé, Dorival Caymmi, João Donato, Os Tincoãs, and Ataulfo Alves.
The shift from Brazilian Portuguese to French and the decision to adapt rather than perform a straightforward cover versions, allows Pailhès to invent a form of prosody and euphony (the musicality and harmonious combination of words) that feels vibrant and unlike anything else in today’s French
chanson landscape.
“Some lyrics are simple translations from Portuguese, in what I’d call an expanded version. For others, I started from a single word or a single phrase and embroidered an entirely new text that carried me elsewhere,” explains Pailhès. “I allowed myself great interpretive freedom, while preserving the humanist dimension of the original songs. I’ve always been deeply moved by the way Brazilians transfigure reality through heightened emotion. I love this visceral and spontaneous country, which always seems to live through emotion. And above all, I love its music both popular and unifying,
bringing together all social classes. In that sense, it’s very political music, but even more so utopian, made by the people and for the people.”
On this new album, however, the French artist was keen to avoid cliché. Each song is therefore built around a carefully balanced interplay between Pailhès’ piano and synthesizers, alongside restrained arrangements of percussion, brass, bass, and cavaquinho (a small four-string plucked guitar). These parts were recorded in Rio de Janeiro with two musicians who regularly perform alongside the legendary Caetano Veloso—Kainã Do Jêje and Alberto Continentino—joined by Thomas Harres, Antônio Neves, Eduardo Neves, and Gabriel Loddo.
Since the 1960s, France and Brazil have shared a long-standing cultural and musical relationship. Some Brazilian artists, most famously Gilberto Gil, took refuge in France during the dictatorship years (1964–1985). But above all, French chanson quickly fell in love with the richness and ingenuity of
bossa nova and samba, translating and reinventing them in the language of Molière. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, albums and hits by Henri Salvador, Georges Moustaki, Pierre Barouh, Pierre Vassiliu, and Claude Nougaro all drew from the MPB repertoire.
Fifty years later, with SOL, Ezéchiel Pailhès reinvents this rich Franco-Brazilian musical legacy, bringing to it a personality and modernity that stand confidently alongside those of his forbears.
VA – Paradisi Artificiali brings together four distinct sound compositions, each resisting the urge to resemble the others but united by the way they manipulate perception.
Polygonia crafts shifting rhythmic paths where the groove warps and regenerates in real time, maintaining an organic tension that keeps the body in motion without ever truly settling into place.
Feral operates through subtraction, slowing time and excavating sound’s spatial depth. Its tracks don’t progress so much as they envelop, drawing the listener inward into a layered, introspective space.
Agonis introduces a more unstable, sensory thread, weaving transitions and accumulations that build in stages. Frequencies become tangible matter, and the progression unfolds without ever erupting entirely.
Crossing Avenue weaves these directions together without hardening them, infusing the record with a more rooted, almost ancestral rhythmic element that surfaces in the structure of the patterns and the choice of timbre.
The result isn’t a neat synthesis, but a coexistence. The tracks unfold along a shared line without ever converging, articulating a dynamic balance between tension and release. It’s an album that works through gradual alterations, through subtle slippages in perception, as in “Les Paradis Artificiels”. The point isn’t escape, but intensification. The sound burrows deep, reshaping how things are experienced, until a denser, more ambiguous, more alive reality emerges.
DJ Support: Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, Dave Lee, Dj Spen, Terry Hunter, Jimpster, Kevin Yost, Brian Tappert and more.
For the true listeners who still value the art of the record.
This project pays homage to the funk-disco aesthetic that defined the 70s and 80s crime-thriller genre. Paolo Fedreghini’s personal, cinematic journey through the American cityscape: an atmospheric landscape of high-speed chases, corrupt lawmen, and V8-powered escapes. The narrative weaves through gritty criminal underworlds and shady dealings, always balanced by the allure of the disco era. Rather than a mere imitation, the album distills the essential Blaxploitation sound for a modern audience, blending jazz-funk and disco with subtle, sophisticated electronic layers.
'We Fell In Turn' is the solo debut from Brooklyn-based trombonist, composer, and quartet leader Kalia Vandever. Vandever, who plays with Harry Styles and Japanese Breakfast, “sculpts her trombone’s golden tones into dazzling compositions” (Pitchfork), writing music that tends to “dip you into a feeling or a pattern or a breathing speed, and keep you there” (The New York Times). In 2022, Vandever released Regrowth, an album that “features the ecstatic, brilliant melodies that have become Vandever’s signature sound” (Bandcamp). This spring, Vandever brings contemplative reflection to We Fell in Turn, a brave and understated work from an ascending voice in American jazz.
Recorded over three days in upstate New York, 'We Fell In Turn' is improvisational — a stark palate of solo trombone, voice, effects, and little more. “My solo process has always been heavily rooted in improvisation,” says Vandever. “I wanted the process to feel similar to the way I perform. Lee Meadvin, who engineered and produced the album, had a heavy hand in the creative process as well. He would dictate prompts before I started improvising and those pieces ended up shaping a lot of the imagery that comes up throughout the record.”
Connecting the dots between Jeff Parker’s 'Forfolks', and early releases from Grouper, 'We Fell In Turn' is a study of space and patience, embracing vulnerability in its sparse adornment. At times, the album is reminiscent of Patrick Shiroishi’s 'Hidemi', both in its familial inspiration and solo instrument study, while sharing the ineffable feel of William Basinski’s 'The Disintegration Loops' — the traces of her trombone folding in on themselves in an organic loop. Emotionally generous throughout, Vandever acts as a torchbearer for jazz’s historical yearning for connection.
On 'We Fell in Turn' Vandever draws inspiration from childhood memories — events that shaped her approach to love, community, and partnership, and her maternal homeland of Hawaii. “We were exploring childhood memories, earliest experiences with disappointment and pain, and my Hawaiian roots,” says Vandever. “We Fell In Turn came after I titled the track "We Wept In Turn". Both come from the intangible feeling of waking up from vivid dreams, particularly the experience of falling right before waking up or waking up in tears.”
Through this exploration into her heritage, Vandever also found guidance. “In Hawaiian mythology, ‘aumākua are known as ancestral spiritual guides that manifest in different forms, whether physical or intangible,” says Vandever. “My ‘aumākua visits me in my dreams, usually with a reassuring hug or a reminder of my past. Memories and early experiences seem to escape me, but find their way back in dreams.” And now they’ve found their way into 'We Fell in Turn', Kalia Vandever’s stunning solo debut.
Italy via Atlanta, say hello to Titino and “Sun Splicer”, the latest release on The Comfort. Three separate ideas connect this EP across 4 tracks. It toys with the expectations of its listener — core features morph as tracks progress, stable kick patterns turn to breaks and in reverse, simple stabs progress to melodic junctions. Acid permeates this record, not as a clear motif but a tinged essence. And it’s sincere, both to the setting of these pieces and where they’ll be listened to and what it honors.
“Shblasted” — a back-and-forth groove machine filled with dub sirens and stepped up acid. Clubby introduction meant for sacred dance floors.
“Ouachita” on the A2 is controlled chaos, snares fly around, synth lines seem to want to escape their own confines and it just bursts onto the listener. Then the keys come in, the groove stabilizes, pads become bigger and new life is given.
The B-side is playful. “Sun Splicer” is perhaps most aptly categorized by a now notorious idea of ‘electro house’, and the pure aggressive euphoria this track carries just might be that, but as we all know the Italians do it differently — it’s a heady dark excursion. “Existenz” is all-smiles no matter how menacing its first contact, a hook of a track that reimagines the weirder side of Italian trance — think Interactive Test at its most wonderful. The dusty snares feel like a balancing tool instead of an homage.
Outstanding monimal grooves! In Spanish, Salida means “exit”, but in this EP, it becomes a metaphor for emergence. Not a way out, but a way through. From beneath layered emotions and dormant states, a new force begins to pulse. Textures rise from the underlayer. Grooves fracture silence. Each track is a signal of rebirth, slow, deep, inevitable. The artwork reflects this moment. From cracks of vivid red, new life pushes forward in green. It’s not escape. It’s transformation. This is Salida, the first breath of something real.
Outstanding monimal grooves! In Spanish, Salida means “exit”, but in this EP, it becomes a metaphor for emergence. Not a way out, but a way through. From beneath layered emotions and dormant states, a new force begins to pulse. Textures rise from the underlayer. Grooves fracture silence. Each track is a signal of rebirth, slow, deep, inevitable. The artwork reflects this moment. From cracks of vivid red, new life pushes forward in green. It’s not escape. It’s transformation. This is Salida, the first breath of something real.
“An irresistibly narcotic sonic palette… Low-lit sounds for blissed-out ravers.” FACT LA electronic artist Holodec debuts on Phantom Limb with hypnotic new album TRU FOLK, a subtle and environmentally sensitive documentation of everyday life for distant synthesis, interwoven field recordings, and urban haze. Described as “both a folk record and an audio document” by Holodec - aka West Coast producer Jieh - TRU FOLK draws from 15 years of field recordings that capture a range of environments from city life to the domestic everyday. These audio narratives form the foundation of the considerately textured representation of the same spaces that make up the record - full of earthen, grounding synthesis, semipresent melodies, and smogged-out tonal palettes. It occupies a zone somewhere between tangible and dreamlike, treating sound as evidence of living rather than an escape from it.
In 2025, Off The Grid celebrated 10 years of existence, throwing several events throughout the world.
It's now time to put a seal on these celebrations with a curation of music, gathering old and new faces orbiting the OTG galaxy, divided into two compilations.
For Part 1, deeper and deeper we go, focusing on delicate aesthetics and dubby grooves, trippy sounds and dreamy atmospheres. A soundtrack for early mornings and initial stages of the night.
Off The Grid was born around this sound and this is a tribute to it.
Part 2 will be announced in Spring.
Stay tuned!
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Mastering & Lacquer Cut by Marco Pellegrino at Analogcut Mastering Studio Berlin
Graphic Design by Guillaume De Ubeda
Pressed at Mother Tongue in Verona
The Buddha Bar collection is the one of the most emblematic electronic compilation series with over several million copies sold over the years. Discover the 27th Buddha-Bar Compilation, Mixed by DJ Ravin. Immerse yourself in the captivating and unique world of Buddha-Bar with this new « haute couture » selection. This latest edition, masterfully mixed by the iconic DJ Ravin, takes listeners on a mesmerizing sonic journey, blending sophisticated electronic beats, worldwide sounds, and deep chill and house vibes. More than just an album, it’s an immersive experience perfect for setting the mood at any gathering or accompanying moments of pure relaxation. With a legacy of globally acclaimed compilations, the Buddha-Bar series has already captivated millions, creating a lifestyle phenomenon like no other. Available on March 28th, Buddha-Bar XXVII is a must-have for fans of lounge and electro music. Give your customers the chance to escape into this musical adventure
Through his tracks, Jumo explores nostalgia and memory, from phili to memory, blending memories of youth and fleeting sensations. Tgthr encourages living the moment, while lula unfolds like a raw, cinematic road movie. The synthetic voices of sirens create a hypnotic theme, reflecting free souls suspended between a desire to escape and the fear of falling back. Euphoria tackles the madness of man's race to innovate and his indifference to the world, mixing mechanical urgency and emerging awareness. Each track plays with contrasts; melancholy and euphoria, darkness and light; combining synthesizers, persistent bass, and saturated textures. Together, they form a sonic journey where dancing becomes an act of memory and emotional survival.
Audience’ was a 14-track record that signalled a shift back to Hayes Bradley's dancefloor roots. It was a collision of breakbeats, trip-hop, and ambient textures that perfectly balanced nostalgia and forward-thinking sounds, and now it gets spun into all new worlds by some of the scene's most acclaimed contemporary stars.
Special Request, aka UK powerhouse Paul Woolford, has shaken up the scene with his thrilling mix of jungle, bass, techno, rave, and hardcore in recent years. The hugely prolific producer knows exactly how to blow up the club and does that here with two reworks of '& I Love U'. The Special Request Extended Mix is a meticulously crafted jungle workout, featuring precision drums, rising synth tension, and gorgeous melodies that dart throughout and will appear on the vinyl release only. The VIP version focuses more on celestial memories for a heavenly escape.
Next is Shanti Celeste, a house and garage favourite who crafts emotional, high-impact sounds on her own Peach Discs. Her remix of 'Play It As It Lay' is a bubbly, soft-focus, late-night sound with earworm synth motifs and rich bass that sinks you in deep for a nice, heady trip.
Piori is an alias of Canadian musician Francis Latreille, who has built a sprawling discography full of hyper-detailed techno steeped in science fiction and fantasy. He flips 'Awareness' into a zoned-out affair, with broken beats and cosmic synth waves over a bold bassline that shows, once again, why his productions are in such demand.
Last but not least is Kaifeng-born sound artist, DJ, and producer Yu Su, whose truly unique sound has made her a cult underground star. She flips 'Dear Treasure' into a slow motion and sleazy chugger with dark disco energy and raw live drums, shady vocal loops and otherworldly melodies that seep into your consciousness.
"Ed DMX has been part of Shipwrec since the label's inception. Under his DMX Krew moniker, this analogue wizard has released four Eps and one LP on the Nijmegen imprint. DMX Krew returns to Shipwrec for a brand new album, a collection that displays yet another side of this sculptor's sound. Brutal and cold, shadows are long and shades dark from the outset. Drum patterns twist in tempo and intent, from hard and punishing to gentle and fragile. Elements of breaks and industrial are also present in the percussion, this fragmenting allowing deep and soulful melodies to counter the battery. In fact, echoes of electronica permeate the harmonies across the LP such as deep and divergent "Interrupt." No single style is adhered to. Instead, the full palette of machine music is employed. From the squelchy Tudor electrofunk of "I Wonder Why" to the melancholic braindance of "Rephlections in Time", genre boundaries are given little credence. Instead, Ed DMX draws on his decades of experience to create sounds that are both familiar and completely one of a kind. The deep-sea dive of "Final Comedown" is juxtaposed with the ambling calypso of "Dinosaur Reaction", styles reimagined and reshaped to the creator's evolving purpose. Echoes of the halcyon days of Rephlex permeate the 2LP. The harshness and softness of the Cornwall imprint being present throughout, those more subtle tones coming to the fore in the delicate beauty of the "Phaser Level 2." A transcendent album and a certified future classic. To accompany this very special release, there will be a limited edition run with full cover art by Ruwedata. An artist very close to Shipwrec's heart, Ruwedata was responsible for the sleeve work on DMX Krew's Cosmic Awakening."
Zum 40. Jubiläum des ersten Teils des stylischen Actionspiel-Klassikers DEVIL MAY CRY erscheint der Killer-Soundtrack des Capcom Sound Teams - bekannt für seine Musik zur Resident Evil-Serie - spezielle für 180g Vinyl gemastert. Der OST ist eine genreübergreifende Meisterklasse, die von Rock über Techno zu Ambient und weiteren Paletten wechselt. Erhältlich als 2LP-Format mit 34 Tracks auf transparent-rotem und ockerfarbenem Doppelvinyl, sowie als luxuriöses 4LP-Boxset mit den kompletten 73 Tracks auf schwarzem 4fach-Vinyl.
The long-awaited sequel to Ophidian's cult classic Blackbox (2003) arrives: "Blackbox: Kasamaan" picks up where the original left off, and strays further into the darkness.
Expect Industrial Hardcore and Hard Techno with grinding, distorted kicks, warped percussion, detailed rhythms and intricate sound design, all while being cloaked in haunting, eerie atmospheres.
Billy Wooten's 'In This World' is a long-overdue gem from the golden age of soulful jazz-funk. Originally from his cult 1972 album, this P-Vine reissue makes it available on 7" wax for the first time ever, and Wooten's vibraphone magic is brought to life in full analogue warmth. Channelling that same mellow, sunlit energy as Roy Ayers, male-female vocal number 'In This World' drifts between blissed-out groove and spiritual elevation and is a track that feels like walking through light. Silky percussion, deep bass and those unmistakable Wooten vibes make this a wonderful winter escape to sunnier times and climes.
Dennis Huddleston is 36, a prolific ambient producer who releases albums on a prolific basis but never lets the quality levels dip. He often roams around different labels and for this one lands on Pure Life with six more sublime and subversive sounds. 'Pre-Dream Condition' is a slow awakening that sharpens your senses then 'Manual Dream Transmission' continues the heavenly ascent with lush arps shimmering across an infinite horizon. 'A Bright & Tranquil Light' is soft focus and beautiful and 'Night Language' brings sharper melodic focus with 80s nostalgia ripping through the keys. Two more long-form and unhurried but dense ambient soundscapes close out a pure escape.
Since first forming in 2016, London's High Vis have steadily polished their palette of progressive hardcore with shades of post-punk, Brit pop, neo-psychedelia, and even Madchester groove, mapping a middle ground between hooks and fury, melodies and mosh pits. Singer Graham Sayle describes their third album 'Guided Tour' as an axis of competing forces: "It's trying to be a hopeful record, while also being incensed." Rounded out by drummer Edward 'Ski' Harper, guitarists Martin MacNamara and Rob Hammaren, and bassist Jack Muncaster, the band's deep roots in the UK and Irish DIY hardcore scenes have kept them grounded but growing, inspired equally by restlessness and righteous anger. As Sayle puts it, "Everyone's scratching, everyone's working all the time, and their idea of relaxing is just getting fucked and avoiding reality. This album is an escape from that."From its opening seconds of a cab door slamming, a car revving away, and a baggy rhythm swinging to life, 'Guided Tour' sounds like a band reaching for new heights, bristling with energy. Recorded across a few weeks at Holy Mountain Studios in London with producer Jonah Falco and engineer Stanley Gravett, the results feel dynamic and dialed-in, like anthems burned into sense memory through sweat and repetition. Harper cuts to the chase: "We had a clear idea going in, every moment got used. Maybe when we're 60 we can sit around and get a drum sound right, but for now it's about getting things done."The album's 11 songs span the spectrum of contemporary guitar music, sharpened by experience, camaraderie, and societal frustrations. From swaggering street punk ("Drop Me Out," "Mob DLA") to jangling indie sneer ("Worth The Wait," "Deserve It") to heavy alt ("Feeling Bless," "Fill The Gap") to shoegazey spoken word ("Untethered"), the group's chemistry transmutes any style to their unique intensity. Sayle champions this evolving fusion: "For years coming from hardcore, we had pretty clear boundaries - other scenes were separate worlds. Now things are getting more blended, drawing from different places."Nowhere is this sentiment flexed more boldly than on "Mind's A Lie," a dance- punk anthem inspired by Harper's love of house, garage, and pirate radio. Stabs of sampled female vocals (by celebrated South London singer and DJ Ell Murphy) build into a razor wire rhythm of low-slung bass, tense drums, and sparkling guitar before Sayle's staunch voice starts barking harsh truths ("Face to face with all I've known / I can't call these thoughts my own"). After a sudden breakdown, the track regroups and takes off, cruising into the horizon in a haze of chiming guitars and Murphy's ascendant voice, from the streets to somewhere beyond.
Blair French shifts course with The Migration, his debut release on Choose Better Friends Records. The title track unfolds as a leftfield disco chant, driven by Jess Minnick’s vocals—hypnotic, ritualistic, and rooted in the idea of returning to the source. On the flip, Thermal Soaring moves into deep, soulful jazz-dance territory. Named for the moment a bird rides rising warm air, it lands as a hard-earned metaphor: French lifted without escape, moving forward by feel rather than force.
Posh End Music boss Fear-E returns with his second album ‘Descent into Ascension (Snapshots of a Mental State)’ this February. Recorded during a period of withdrawal and isolation, the release serves as a diary of a mental state as the producer worked through a period of challenging mental health. Here, he hones in on his primary love of techno bringing in influences of Bangaltar-ish French house and disco and also pays homage to EBM originators Nitzer Ebb.
There is a breaking point where the mind yields and the body takes command. This is precisely the territory of Frenetic Habits EP.
Asymetric80 lands at INDUSTRIAS MEKANIKAS with an unapologetic statement: a direct immersion into the aesthetics of collapse and extreme habits. The work places you in the center of a post-apocalyptic scenario, where survival no longer relies on calm, but on your ability to endure mechanical tension.
The sound is built upon solidity and saturation. You won’t find fragility here, but rather an architecture of EBM, New Beat, and Industrial Techno designed to dominate any sound system that dares to play it.
Side A establishes the hierarchy with Frenetic Habits. Far from linear, the track unfolds a broken, demolishing rhythm, generating a devastating sonic pressure that completely envelops you. It is a piece of constant drive, an armored machine advancing over the very ground you stand on. It is followed by Exile and Unmasked, which shifts the strategy towards depth: a hypnotic immersion where industrial textures densify, creating a dark atmosphere that traps you with no escape.
On Side B, Bleak materializes the heaviness of the environment. A slow-burning, corrosive track with deep bass, which you can feel advancing with the force of concrete. To close, Dementia releases the accumulated tension with overflowing kinetic energy; a final outburst of controlled aggression that closes the cycle with maximum intensity.
Frenetic Habits EP is a record of ironclad textures and terminal atmosphere. A work that documents not defeat, but the brute force needed to remain standing when everything around has come crashing down.
Stay True Sounds supremo Allan Nicoll, aka Kid Fonque, and legendary UK producer Charles Webster have brought together the cream of the South African deep house scene for a unique album. The record was recorded at Flame Studios, a facility built inside a prison at Constitution Hill in South Africa, which is very significant to South Africans, because that's where the Constitution was written. “It's a remarkable institution,” says Charles. “Mandela was in there; you can really feel the history. You're working in a prison cell from a brutal regime. It's an important place. So, I didn't want the album to be too light, because you can't escape from politics anywhere, but especially somewhere like here - and you shouldn't.”
Were FEX the Wildest & Weirdest German New Wave Band in 1984?
Few cult mysteries in modern music have captured the internet's imagination quite like "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet." Eventually identified as "Subways of Your Mind" by the elusive German band FEX, the track became a viral sensation decades after its creation-and even made its way into a recent Hollywood blockbuster (Black Phone 2).
Now, two more lost FEX recordings have emerged from an old demo cassette: "Dead End" and "Sarah." And they're every bit as electrifying as the legend suggests.
On both songs, guitarist and main songwriter Ture Rückwardt joins forces on lead vocals with his former wife and musical partner Ilona Rückwardt, forming a vocal pairing that channels raw energy and eerie chemistry. What they deliver are two of the most urgent, adrenaline-fueled post-punk artifacts you're likely to hear this year-even if they were recorded more than forty years ago.
Opening with a sharp, melodic guitar solo, "Dead End" bursts forward with uptempo drive-catchy, fierce, and full of momentum. Apparently inspired by Orwell's 1984, its lyrics depict urban desolation-loneliness, homelessness, hopelessness-yet still shimmer with defiance in lines like, "Truth is amazing - hoping is like waiting."
The second track, "Sarah," dives even deeper into darkness. Mixing post-punk intensity with psychedelic textures, Rückwardt tells an imaginary story of a couple lost in drugs and spiraling through a bad trip, only to wake and realize that sobriety offers little comfort-the real world itself can be just as brutal and offers no easy escape.
Neither song makes the slightest concession to commercial trends. Instead, they feel utterly uncompromising-wild, strange, and defiantly timeless. In a world obsessed with polish and playlists, "Dead End" and "Sarah" sound like transmissions from a different planet.
Both tracks were originally recorded as demos in 1984 in the band's rehearsal room, with Hase engineering. The newly restored versions preserve the raw spirit of the original tapes while adding subtle layers to enhance their atmosphere without losing the authentic 1980s sound. FEX hint that the untouched demo versions might surface later, possibly on a second volume of their archival
After a longtime interest in the beguiling music of Nathan Dawidowicz, Hell Yeah now hooks up with the leftfield downtempo producer for their second full-length album, FLUFF. The immersive record features three long, winding and mystical soundscapes that blend trance and experimental into spiritual and ritualistic escapes.
Dawidowicz was born in Milan to a Polish-Lithuanian mother and a Cameroonian father, but grew up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. Because of that, their sound is deeply rooted in childhood experiences playing the piano at religious ceremonies, as well as taking inspiration from their father’s DJing throughout the '80s and '90s. Now based in Berlin, Dawidowicz has explored expression through music on labels like Luspoderosa, where they released their debut solo album, Sanctuary of Ideas.
It was when Calm and David Holmes started playing the epic, 23-minute 'Capricorn Rising Over Jerusalemite Temple' from that album that Hell Yeah founder Marco was encouraged to get in touch with Dawidowicz. A few months later, talk turned to releasing this new album, which comes with artwork by Spain's Alicia Carrera.
'Skeptic Afro Jr.' kicks off and soon sinks you into slinky, ever-evolving rhythms. It's a slowly evolving work of sound where the focus shifts from snaking basslines to lumpy drums, cosmic leads to life-affirming chords. 'Scintilla (Feat. Hannah Schraven)' is a deep and downtempo trip into dub and techno, with undulating drums and exotic melodies that escort you into otherworldly realms of spiritualism. Last of all are 'Deep Fluff' and a hidden track (Feat. Leo Börger), two cinematic explorations of deep space where acoustic frequencies and molten synths rewire your brain and connect you to a higher power.
FLUFF is another deeply personal and inward journey packed with transcendental experiences.
DJ FEEDBACK:
"That's such an outstanding piece of work - played two at the beginning on Saturday. Probably my favourite release of the year so far!" Sean Johnston ALFOS
"this is great! 3rd repeat. It’s so nice" Vladimir Ivkovic
"Just listened to Nathan's record and it really sounds amazing... Probably the best thing you've put out to my ears ;-) I love the way he bridges the sounds of the past with contemporary storytelling, taking you on a very long trip which you never want to leave!" Alexis Le Tan
Hiver completes a trilogy of EPs on Gudu with ‘Blue Hell’, another transmission of space-age machine funk from a duo who are truly shaping their own soundworld.
If you’ve followed Hiver, you should know the deal by now: they’ve spent the last decade honing a sound that draws heavily from dance music history – namely the starry-eyed synthesizer funk of classic techno and electro – that drips in colour and emotion without ever feeling retrograde. ‘Blue Hell’ is their third EP for Gudu, and maybe their most accomplished yet.
In Hiver’s words, “this EP was shaped by a mix of late night club energy and the more introspective, melodic ideas we’ve been exploring in the past years. A big part of it also comes from the tension between how people connect today. This constant, hyper-connected flow of networks, media, and online exchanges and our own way of creating music, which is very physical and personal. We’re always bouncing ideas through messages and files, but the real magic still happens when we meet in the studio, face to face. That contrast between digital connection and human presence became a sort of hidden theme behind the EP.”
“With Blue Hell, our third chapter on Gudu, we wanted to capture a moment of clarity, something direct yet still drifting. In a way, this release completes the excursion we began with the first two records: three points that trace the contours of the sounds we’re drawn to. Each track feels like a fragment of that journey, grounded in rhythm but always leaning toward depth and escape.”
PROMISE is the latest album from Brooklyn-based producer Ibe Soliman, aka Bad Colours. Known for his blend of house, proto-techno, rap, and soul, Bad Colours delivers a dynamic, emotionally resonant record. Driven by hypnotic rhythms and personal storytelling, PROMISE explores themes of vulnerability, desire, and transformation. It's a versatile album designed for both dancefloors and introspective listening.
PROMISE is the fourth LP from Bad Colours on Bastard Jazz, following 2024's collaborative album with Cor.ece, Been Here Before. Soliman's career spans over a decade—DJing alongside artists like James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip, and producing for Kendrick Lamar, Faith Evans, Keyshia Cole, and Rick Ross. His work has received support from KCRW, KEXP (including multiple Midnight in a Perfect World mixes), and CBC Radio 3, and has charted on both the NACC Top Electronic and Top 200 charts. Bad Colours has been featured in press outlets like NYLON, Nonderland, Resident Advisor, Electronic Groove, and Fusicology. His music has appeared in Netflix's Escape from Spiderhead, Hulu's Woke, Disney's Chang Can Dunk, Showtime's American Gigolo, Valorant's Rising Stars, and more.
Renowned for his visceral work with HIGH-FUNCTIONING FLESH, Greg Vand dives deep into the experimental proto-industrial with his solo project NEWBOY, revealing a darker, looser, and more hypnotically unstable side of the music machines. “The Color of Everything” is a transmission compilation with cracked circuitry, lysergic funk, warped tape hiss, and urban hallucinations.Think Cabaret Voltaire jamming with Bourbonese Qualk, Ike Yard, and Esplendor Geométrico: a mutant rhythm ritual for abandoned clubs and alleyway rites. This is rhythm as both weapon and escape. A dystopian groove engine primed for fans of the avant-garde, the unstable, and the underground, all tuned into the fractured future of dance music.presented in ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl.
Venice, Italy – 2025 Paolo Mosca, the Italian producer, composer, and DJ acclaimed for his soulful approach to electronic music, unveils his new alias I.O.N with the forthcoming debut EP Signals, set to be released on Ritmotherapy. Known for releases on Slow Life, Altered Circuits, and a recent collaboration with Alex Neri, Mosca now steps into uncharted territory fusing experimental electronics with rock-inspired textures and raw energy for the dancefloor.
Signals is a daring reimagining of 90s sonic aesthetics, drawing inspiration from the breakbeat and hip-hop influences of cult films like Blade & The Matrix. Each track on the EP blurs the line between nostalgia and innovation, layering hypnotic riffs, rolling basslines, and gripping vocal samples with futuristic precision.
The EP kicks off with “Camouflage” , where breakbeat rhythms and hip-hop flavors meet futuristic atmospheres. A grabbing vocal, heavy low-end, and hypnotic riff drive the track into a world of cinematic tension and release.
“Escape” follows with a slower tempo, but its restrained pulse only builds anticipation. Classical violin lines cut through break-driven drums, leading to a long-awaited drop that delivers an overwhelming yet deeply satisfying release.
Next, “Neo” builds momentum with a gritty 303 bassline and sharp synths, locked into a relentless 4x4 rhythm. The track feels like an expedition through acid-soaked landscapes, equal parts raw and refined.
“They Are Looking at You” closes the EP with explosive energy, bursting with hip-hop vocals that command “don’t stop. ” Propelled by a nasty bassline and oriental-inspired synth melodies, it’s a track built to ignite dancefloors and spark spontaneous breakdance energy.
With Signals, I.O.N presents more than just an EP; It's a manifesto for a new era of club music. It’s heavy yet soulful, experimental yet deeply physical, and above all, a fresh signal to the global electronic scene that something new has arrived. Reserved for their official release on Ritmotherapy, the anticipation around this project signals a bold new chapter for both artist and label.
DYSTORTION
Extrawelt's Latest and Longest-Brewing Album Lands This December on Cocoon
In this beautiful world marked by rising chaos, sometimes the simplest way to escape its troubles is through sonic relief. Germany's renowned electronic duo Extrawelt will offer exactly that with their 5th full-length album, DYSTORTION, via Cocoon Recordings this December.
For over two decades, the humble duo behind Extrawelt, who shy away from making music for clicks, have been a steadfast presence in electronic music. Known as serious studio and tour-focused artists who craft timepiece albums, each a work of enduring craft, that go on to create atmospheric, out-of-the-box live acts, they've been shaping and redefining electronica since their first release.
DYSTORTION is their most diverse and evocative album to date. Imagined over six years and shaped by a world in flux through COVID, political upheavals, social media, and AI, it reflects the contrasts and twists we've all felt while offering surges of serenity and hope. From brooding tension to playful relief, it moves through different states in an evolved Extrawelt manner.
The album's opening credit, "Grand Départ," as if a cinematic prelude, invites us into a world of creeping bass, an explicitly Extrawelt sound that's synonymous with the "anti-genre genre" they work within. The album's second track, "Clapland," sees Extrawelt joining forces with Jimi Jules, a name synonymous with excellence in electronic music, creating a rare collaboration that is felt in every note. Soon, the mood shifts into softer melodies as heard in "Surrounded By Miracles," "Hope Sounds Good," and "Sir Stringalot," which bring bright euphorics to balance the darker moments in an album echoed by industrial influences. Later, as "Dystortion" (the album's title track) unfolds, we're drawn into something few electronic artists can create: raw emotion. This is a gritty landscape as reflective as it is pulsing, glitchy, intense, and richly textured.
DYSTORTION is a reflection of a complex, divided world, carried through dramatically with Extrawelt's signature techno tension. Like the world right now, it is full of contradictions, surprises, and moments of introspection, an essential listen for fans of mature electronic music that may or may not need a reminder of why, after 20 years, we're still listening.
The new vinyl release by Monaks is the perfect companion for sets — filled with captivating grooves, hypnotic synths, and an atmosphere you won’t want to escape. Four originals, all unified by the aesthetics of warm, danceable house music, unfold like a day-long journey — from a sunny morning to a hypnotic night. Side A delivers uplifting and elegant house with fresh melodies and subtle nods to genre classics. Side B dives deeper — into a world of groove, dub textures, and tight rhythms, perfect for late-night and afterhours vibes. VAM12 isn’t just a collection of tracks. It’s a thoughtful, cohesive release that fits seamlessly into any part of your set. A true delight for DJs and collectors alike.
Mastering by Kashatskikh Studio
Design by Kirill Kashatskikh
Vinyl Only
After the EPs "Collapsar" on Shipwrec released in 2023 and "Beyond the Invisible Spectrum"released on Dax J's label Monnom Black in Spring 2025, Umwelt returns on his own imprintback with a new explosive solo EP. As always on New Flesh Records and following his lastsolo releases on his label with "Escape The Future" EP in 2020 and the beautiful dystopianalbum "Subversive Territory" in 2022, expect nothing less than an epic collection ofuncompromising electro assaults from the master of darkness.
"Echoes Of The Broken Future" delivers an ecstatic fusion of sonic landscapes and innovativemelodies, further erasing the boundaries between electro and techno. From the metallicsynthesis of the title track, to the cinematic and almost nightmarish tension of "BlackoutAlgorithm", through the hypnotic depth of "Synthetic Nightfall" or the relentless energy of"Zero Point Machine", Umwelt once again showcases his unmatched savoir-faire in craftinghaunting atmospheres over punishing beats.
Get ready for an unforgettable descent into the shadows. This is only the beginning !
Otto Taimela returns with his second album for London ambient free divers SWIMS, following 2024's celebrated "Inner Beauty".
"Uncommon & Fragile" departs from Otto's meadowed, ivory-centric introspections, reaching further into binaural sound design, trance pointillism, and groundswells of angular percussion. This is less a club record, more something to soothe post-rave tinnitus on the bus home.
For fans of Lorenzo Senni, Lusine ICL, Huerco S., Shinichi Atobe...
Great Vacation! are just that: a momentary escape from a crazy world. Sunshine permeates every note, with good times abound when the band throws down. Both “Yellow Gold Diamond Fire” and “You Make It Look Easy” were recorded old school style with the whole band live in the studio to capture that special magic.
Artist Bio:
Great Vacation! was formed by Riley Geare in 2023. The lineup has rotated a bit but always includes Riley and guitarist Topher Mohr. Currently the group includes drummer Sheldon Reed (who appears on Yellow Gold Diamond Fire). Dedicated to an old school aesthetic, the band performs together live in the studio and has only ever done 2 takes of a song. Every track is recorded to tape for maximum stank. We thrive in the Southern California climate- lots of sunshine, classic cars, palm trees and love vibrations pervade the vibe.
Johnny Sais Quoi releases his debut release on Music From Memory - a 7-track LP entitled ‘Love On Ice.’ Channelling the spirit of Italo-pop and New Wave, ‘Love On Ice’ was crafted in the whirlwind of spontaneity and energy that changing circumstances often bring. Born from transition and exploring themes of leaving, arriving, coming together, and breaking up, ‘Love On Ice’ serves as an outlet to process, escape, and celebrate the challenges of a new life.
Johnny crafts exquisite dancefloor-focused pop—familiar yet unique, imbued with his own touch, a distinctive sensibility, and a knack for infectious hooks. The opener, ‘No Guilty Pleasures,’ sets the tone immediately as Johnny works his magic with a palette of synths, drum machines, picked guitar, and processed vocals. The title track, ‘Love On Ice,’ delivers a classic Italo-infused dancefloor bomb, featuring a driving synth bass line overlaid by hypnotic arpeggios. There is much here for the dancer, but ‘Love On Ice’ also ventures beyond the dance floor; the closing tracks ‘Ref 23’ and ‘Let's Find A Home’ are prime examples, both showcasing Johnny’s depth and range with their melancholic, mellow atmosphere.
The first volume in a two-part collection of pirate radio adverts & idents, taken from recordings of London stations between 1984 & 1993.
Many thanks to Wayne Anthony, Simon Reynolds, Stephen Hebditch & The Pirate Radio Archive.
Black vinyl LP. Following 2019's acclaimed self-titled debut album, Metal Preyers take the left hand path into a gloomy backwater filled with haunted creatures and fraught with peril. "Shadow Swamps" again finds London-based Jesse Hackett handling the music and Chicago's Mariano Chavez fashioning the album's visual identity, which this time includes a short film and book for a fully immersive experience. "Shadow Swamps" is the soundtrack to a pitch-black fairy tale about a father and daughter as they journey through a swamp avoiding gremlins, red swines and crater creatures. Musically, it pivots between the clattering Czech new wave experimentation of "Valerie and her Week of Wonders" composer Luboš Fišer, or the magical, eccentric lounge of Birmingham's Broadcast, and the grinding industrial grot of Italian pioneer Maurizio Bianchi. This time around, Hackett has roped in production assists from his six year-old-daughter wonder Nyasha hackett who used phone memos to record herself singing - veteran Metal Preyers collaborator Lord Tusk, and Manchester-based painter, DJ and producer Richard Harris, aka Sockethead. The crew inks an unsettling, richly textured sonic landscape, with claws of rhythmic smoke curling around chiming otherworldly xylophone, disembodied fiddle drones echoing over screwed 'n chopped beatbox dirt and half-heard magical vocals buried under clouds of white noise. Track listing: 1 Murking Shadows 2 Ecto Green Code 3 The Preyers Forest 4 Scream Dreamer 5 Red Swines 6 Crate Creature 7 Carpenters Cabin 8 Slime Things Accent 9 Wasp Faced Invasion 10 Metal Mans Revolt 11 On Her Way 12 Gremlin Gurgle 13 Shadow Swamps 14 Escape - The Sunrise
10 years ago in 2015, The Golden Lion in Todmorden opened its doors under the guidance of Gig & Waka, Cloudwater brewed their first ever beers, the dance floors of Manchester got introduced to the world of Supernature Disco and from his spare room at home in Bolton Chris Massey started Sprechen.
What followed over the next decade has been a wild ride of amazing people, memorable (though fuzzy!) parties, creativity, art, expression, performance and at the centre of it all of course, the music.
Sprechen has never been one style or sound. A reflection of varied musical tastes without any limitations of style or genres, just a passion to share good music.
Over the last decade, Sprechen has been lucky enough to both work with and meet many like-minded cosmic creatives that share this mindset and that have all played a major role in the story.
Ein Null is a collection of original tracks from some of Sprechen's nearest & dearest who, for the last 10 years, have helped shaped the label via releases, remixes or performing at events.
It's wonky & weird, banging & beautiful, cosmic & consciousness-expanding and it continues to connect the invisible dots of club music and more abstract listening experiences.
From basements & beyond to sunsets & psychedelic socials...we are pleased to present this electronically charged selection of soundscapes courtesy of like-minded musical humans including; The Utopia Strong, A Certain Ratio, Lena C., Gina Breeze, Low Pulse, Psychederek, Lindstrøm, Supernature Disco, PBR Streetgang and of course Chris Massey.
Limited to a run of 300 vinyl with double-sided screen-printed sleeve.
