Search:eth

Back in print after 30 years, the 2nd and final album from Canada's Shotmaker, 'Mouse Ear Forget-Me-Not', stands as a pillar of mid 90s hardcore—balancing the crushing weight of Karp with the angular intensity of Unwound, all firmly rooted in the band's DIY hardcore ethos. Includes new photos and liner notes from the band.

Four transmissions tuned somewhere between deep-psy, tribal techno and spatial ambience. Built for late-night systems and inward journeys, moving through dense sonic textures, low-end pressure and evolving atmospheres.

“Contact” drops you straight into the wormhole: driving techno architecture fused with goa-leaning psychedelia. Layered percussive detail and richly sculpted atmospheres spiral around a hypnotic groove designed for locked eyes and smoke-filled rooms at unreasonable hours.

“Lifeforms” operates with an organic sense of motion. Its groove stretches and contracts like a living system, driven by a supple bassline and rhythmic interplay that feels ritualistic rather than mechanical. Resonant synth work and texture mutates across the stereo field like microscopic organisms coming into focus.

“Deepfield” unfolds within deep psy-trance territory, shaped with restraint and intention. Shimmering harmonics move through a saturated haze into a slow-burning progression that carries a faint melancholy woven through a slowly evolving tonal structure. Meditative yet still built to pull bodies forward.

“Neurobloom” dissolves the propulsion into an evolving ambient soundscape. Ethnic-inflected motifs drift through blooming synth layers, crystalline atmospheres, and gradually unfolding sonic nuances. A controlled descent in that liminal zone where audio starts functioning as a living environment.

2026 Repress

SHDW presents 'Federation Of Rytm IV': a bumper 30-track collection spanning the past, present, and future of techno.

Offering powerful standalone club cuts and a cohesive deep-dive, the expansive VA lands on 24th October 2025.

The fourth edition of SHDW's flagship 'Federation Of Rytm' VA series has been carefully curated by the DJ/ producer and head honcho over more than a year, with close attention to detail given to sequencing. It is a balance of label regulars and debutants that represents the past, present, and future, both sonically and through the generational diversity of the artists involved. There are plenty of surprises along the way while always remaining true to the Mutual Rytm ethos and reflecting the journey of the night from start to finish, whether that's in intimate, sweaty clubs or on big festival stages.

Across 30 tracks in the digital collection and 24 on four sides of wax, the release explores the full breadth of the Mutual Rytm sound. Driving grooves and relentless percussion set the pace, gradually unfolding into hypnotic and atmospheric passages that invite deeper immersion. Pulsating low-end power alternates with eerie minimalism, while bursts of futuristic energy and cavernous kick drums keep the tension high. Elsewhere, dub textures and moments of introspection provide balance, creating a narrative arc that moves fluidly between intensity and release, atmosphere and tension, darkness and light.

Previously unreleased jazz funk from Suriname, recorded in 1981 by keyboardist Sonny Khoeblal and his band Thalamus.

The music of Thalamus is a time capsule and the best kept secret of post-independent Suriname. During this turbulent time, the band used the language of jazz to express their desire for unity and freedom.

The generation of Thalamus envisioned a future beyond the ethnic divide their parents knew as social barriers. After independence, young people met at work or in universities and shared principles of unity and international solidarity. Jazz played an important role in translating tensions and experimenting with a sound of the future.

The band members of Thalamus shared interests in jazz-fusion from Weather Report, Chick Corea, Bob James and Carlos Santana. Compared to contemporaries with more pop appeal, their sound remained obscure in Suriname. Still, people listened to them bending conventional rules of jazz, pop, latin, rock and funk. This fusion reflected the band, its diverse members and their country: Suriname is a multi-ethnic country by colonial force. If diamonds are formed under pressure, love and solidarity emerge under oppression.

Thalamus is a unique recording of this revolutionary period, with new people finding each other based on a universal language: jazz-fusion. It culminated in six songs, two of which are 'Summer of Love and Music' and 'Lady Amazone'. This 7" vinyl brings you their story, their experimentation with jazz-fusion and tells the parallel history of Suriname.

The long-awaited vinyl re-issue of ‘Hawk’ from Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan.
Isobel Campbell (ex-Belle & Sebastian) and Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) third album Hawk, will be reissued on November 6th on LP and CD.

Hawk builds on the critical acclaim of 2006’s Mercury Prize-nominated Ballad of the Broken Seas and 2008’s Sunday at Devil Dirt, solidifying the duo's signature dynamic—Campbell’s ethereal, whispery arrangements juxtaposed against Lanegan’s deep, gravelly baritone. Written, arranged, and produced entirely by Campbell, Hawk was recorded across studios in Scotland, England, and the United States. The 13-track record expands their sonic palette far beyond classic country-folk, venturing into dusty Southern soul, garage-rock stomps, and soaring gospel arrangements. "With this record, I wanted to stretch the canvas further," says Isobel Campbell. "Mark and I have built a true shorthand together over the years, which gave us the freedom to push into heavier grooves, raw blues, and sweeping orchestral textures while keeping the core intimacy intact. Album Highlights & Key Collaborations "You Won't Let Me Down Again" — The album’s lead single, driven by a hypnotic rhythm and featuring a searing guitar solo from former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha. "Come Undone" — A moody, slow-burning Southern soul ballad showcasing Lanegan at his most vulnerable. Townes Van Zandt Covers — Faithfully rendered versions of "Snake Song" and "No Place To Fall," the latter featuring guest vocals from American singer-songwriter Willy Mason. "Lately" — A cinematic album closer that swaps the pair's vocal interplay for a rousing, brass-tinged gospel choir.

The unconscious element to the conscious process.

The practice of dub techno and its tendrils is a fundamental for me, both aesthetically and from an engineering perspective.

I start every recording session with a dub inspired jam, the first piece I ever recorded in 1996 was an effort to recreate Phylyps Trak with only a Korg X3 and an Ibanez PUE5 (borrowed from Gary Howell). It was an awesome introduction to jamming, and the footing stones of noise, delay and saturation were explored with my foot hard on the enthusiasm pedal.

These practice jams are in some sense cathartic, the first step taken again & again, which helps me move forwards each session and additionally helps to 'warm the circuits' both of myself and the machines.

After realising the genius of Basic Channel is akin to the genius of peasant food, using every ingredient with nothing left to waste, (up to and including the oft maligned working noise of the machines themselves), this was a watershed moment for my own subjective progression. No longer tied to just emulation of something inspiring, but taking these learned tools into other areas of music helped to break free from a strong current of influence and also to progress into other areas with the new toolbox.

Dub:

The importance of the dub pioneers should never be understated, in modern music and my own practice. Yet with my initial inspiration being two german dudes issuing extreme techno variants with obscured label designs, who then signposted their listeners to their own inspirations (via their Wackies re-issues or nodded to on their Rhythm & Sound/Burial Mix sub-labels), meant that I started late and travelled backwards.

Learning to notice the live mixing of Mikey Dread or Lee Perry when the faders are bleeding through even when turned down, (echoed in BC's Quadrant Dub), or the brash send effects literally thrown into the mix also taught me that 'rough' mixing can inject a recording with life, uniqueness and the most right wrongness. Looking back Basic Channels very few elements helped me realise that the rules to be understood, are also the best ones to be broken.

Push the mixer into the red.

Amp that noise up from the tape delay cos it sounds sick.

Pseudo side-chain effects cos the kicks are way too loud and the mixer can't sum it nicely.

Spam the send knob into the delay units now, now and now.

Carelessness.

Noise:

Once I wrapped my head around the intrinsic 'noise' element that set those records apart, this became a torchlight into the alt noise movements which I was tentatively exploring at the time, and also is evidently a connection or thread into them.

Whether the Industrial/Post Punk UK scene (This Heat, TG, A Tent, F.E.) or the prolific output of the US Noise scene (Wolf Eyes, Live & Shave in LA, and subsequently following the lineage all the way back to Chrome's Alien Soundtracks), I had finally discovered a connection from techno to this 'free for all' corner of music.

This input from the Noise arena of sound is, in my experience, an all important step for a sonic artist, taking it's roots and extending out from Stockhausen/Pierre Henry and utilised/warped/mangled by thousands of adventurous pioneers ever since, I now see the line separating the high brow and the low brow is actually an artery carrying information from the head to the heart.

Vault is a selection of these jams that precede each of my solo recording sessions, for 30 years I've recorded hundreds of these 'workouts'. They are never intended as serious statements, just moments of naive enjoyment, yet most importantly they are time & space captured as practice.

The objective is always a warm up exercise, but sometimes those exercises turn a different corner, with a certain focus or direction dependent on what random samples are left in my machines from the previous session, instead of conscious choices, these unconscious elements can facilitate those 'positive mistakes' that make a piece of sound retain a different feel or colour and thus become special, or at least special to the creator.

I am quite conscious that the 'record everything' aspect of my ethos has been invaluable in cataloguing and saving these jams, while the attitude of carelessness during this process (after all, it's only a warm up jam) invites more enjoyment than seriousness ever could. Even if you don't feel the piece at the time, record it, because some years later it may well fit, or become relevant in a way you never intended.

-Miles

'La Proyección' is the debut LP by Jose María Lluch, featuring 11 compositions developed between 2015 and 2024. Recorded and assembled in his home studio, the album combines fingerpicked guitar, field recordings, tape manipulation, and ethereal soundscapes into a deeply personal listening experience. A reflection on memory, imperfection, and the freedom to create without external expectations. 'La Proyección', the debut LP by Jose María Lluch, an architect and musician from San Sebastián, emerges as a transition-a gradual shift that unfolded over time. Intimate and innocent, disconnected and erratic at times, the 11 compositions presented here are drawn from recordings spanning nine years, between 2015 and 2024. Humbly assembled in his home studio, the music invites listeners to let their minds drift as the processes of composition, recording, and editing intertwine. Field recordings from everyday life, fingerpicked guitar, soothing harmonics, tape manipulation, and ethereal soundscapes are combined with a naïve openness. The album reveals the joy found in imperfection. Rarely do we have the chance to glimpse someone's work in its most unguarded form, without a specific context, after years spent making music simply as a way to break away-not for anyone else, but for oneself. The songs on 'La Proyección' reveal that very essence, shaped by a shared memory.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Across a glitching, glimmering constellation of 10 tracks, the record redraws the boundaries of her own subconscious through daring harmonic modulations, glitchy electronica, and frenetic orchestral sequencing. Deeply informed by Nordic folklore, it moves through a journey confronting body dysmorphia, control, and a staccatoing sense of self - reaching toward creative and emotional liberation through ethereal, amorphous avant-pop.

Within the work, the artist made the deliberate choice to take the focus away from her physical self - a protest, but also a tribute to the countless versions that form one person. "It's not about disappearing or being anonymous," she says, "more about loosening the grip of appearance, and letting the work exist without being defined by it."

Named for Bach's Inventions - played on piano growing up - Inventio carries a Baroque sensibility: trilling polyphonic textures and lush vocal harmonies rising above it all. Sonic touchstones include Björk, Elizabeth Fraser, and the kulning-style singing of Lena Willemark. Made across three years in Sweden, the album was built without Murex knowing it would become one. Collaborators including Pelle Westlin, Isak Hedtjärn, and Elvira Anderfjärd gave the work what Murex calls "extra arms." All music videos are directed by Murex herself.


"Making this album gave me back authority and power. I hope it's just as freeing to listen to."

After releasing two EP, Charles Dollé reveals an ambitious and cinematographic album with his label Tricatel. He reinvents his musical language, undulating across ethereal sound landscapes in a style bordering film music. The self-titled "singing composer" lets his dreamy lyricism lead his creations: at the crossroads between indie pop, soft rock, electronic music, and ambient, Charles bends music genres with subtlety and contrast.

Recorded in Los Angeles over the course of a single day at a studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, Dois Desertos was produced by Mario Caldato Jr. and emerged without a predetermined plan or schedule. The project took shape during Portuguese musician João Pimenta Gomes' stay in Los Angeles with his family. During that time, through Rodrigo Amarante, João met Mario and Samantha Caldato, as well as musicians Abe Rounds (drums and percussion) and Gabe Noel (bass and cello). From those encounters, the album began to unfold organically.

Working from simple scores—some containing little more than chord progressions—the sessions left plenty of room for improvisation. Every performance was captured live, in a single take, with no overdubs. The mixing process, also carried out live by Mario Caldato Jr., followed the same philosophy: effects and level adjustments were performed in real time and printed directly to the final two-track master.

At the heart of the album's sound is the Cristal Baschet, a rare instrument played by rubbing glass rods with the hands, causing metal resonators to vibrate and produce an ethereal, resonant tone. João describes its sound as "a trace, almost like a shadow." Rather than taking the lead, the instrument serves as a textural foundation, while the bass and cello carry the melodic lines. Some of these melodies are original compositions, while others draw from traditional Portuguese fado, reimagined through an open and exploratory approach.

The album has a dreamlike atmosphere, reflecting the perspective of someone experiencing Los Angeles from the outside—not in a rush to belong, but fully receptive to the city's unique energy. Two films helped shape this imaginary landscape: Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969), in which the French filmmaker uses Los Angeles as a pretext to simply observe and inhabit the city, and Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself. The result is Dois Desertos, an album that, in João's own words, "could never have been made anywhere else."

With Dois Desertos, João Pimenta Gomes invites listeners into a deeply immersive experience, revealing a more exploratory side of his artistic practice while reinforcing Amor in Sound's commitment to releasing original works that engage with the many languages of contemporary music.

The Montréal psych-ambient synth-droners return with Sequence Three, their first album in five years and the final instalment in the group's opening trilogy of records that began with Sequence One in 2019. The spectral supergroup co-founded by Stephen Ramsay (Young Galaxy) and Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes), usually joined in some capacity by Lasek's Besnard bandmate Olga Goreas, deliver another dose of its trademark longform slowburn jams, forged from restored vintage synths and analogue electronic gear. Lasek and Ramsay don their seasoned producer hats to apply rockist sound design to minimalist tracks, saturated with tube compression, drenched in pink and brown noise, all queasy modulation, sparse beats, and languorous melodic lines. Evoking a humid dawn on a gas giant, these alien drone anthems meld the numinous transcendentalism of Spiritualized and Cluster with the eroded grit of William Basinski and GAS. Light Conductor has been tagged "heavyweight analogue synth nirvana" by Uncut Magazine and praised for its "fabulous, epic, shimmeringly radiant kosmische" by Electronic Sound, among other accolades. Sequence Three consolidates these strengths, while leaning into the darker disquietude that has always been an undercurrent of Light Conductor's aesthetic. Opener "She Glitters The Dust" fades up slow with intertwining detuned synth loops, a languorous lullaby beat dropping at the 3-minute mark, accompanied by insectoid shimmers and a tease of melody that's eventually given free reign over the song's second half. Aptly titled, it's as if a transmission captured within a cosmic dust cloud has provided the raw material for the band to jam on, tease out, and terrestrialize. An echo of that beat sets the tranced pulse for "Omenize", the centerpiece of Side One and the fulfilment of Light Conductor's one-vocal-track-per-album directive. With layered harmonies by Goreas and Lasek, this is the group at its ethereally anthemic best, the devotional floating-in-space bliss attenuated by another gently warped denouement. "Ghost City Radio" closes out Side One with the band's most overtly anxious tune to date, deceptively stolid in its simple bass guitar riff and filter-swept hi-hat: groove stripped to its minimum as the foundation for an extended spokenword sample of a doomsaying prepper/preacher, a sort of homage to that early hallmark of their Godspeed compatriots, done up through the lens of Light Conductor's inimitably destabilized celestial ambience. (Lasek mixed the most recent two GY!BE albums.) Side Two offers up "High In The Orange Air", a beatless, squelching, bubbling ostinato drone and the album's most orthodox ambient kosmische track. This provides the set and setting for 15-minute closer "Supercontinent", which starts off in similar territory but gradually yields to a submerged and reversed techno pulse pumping through coruscated chordal drone, gaining in woozy mesmeric psych intensity over its inexorable hypnagogic trajectory. Sequence Three rounds out a satisfying trio of full-lengths that Light Conductor has released on Constellation, featuring vibrantly minimal geometric cover art designed by label co-founder Ian Ilavsky that integrates the trilogy as a visual series as well. In keeping with the previous two albums in the set, the Deluxe 180gLP includes a 12"x24" art poster. Thanks for listening.

Baltimore's End It is telling it like it is on their debut album, Wrong Side Of Heaven, set for release this summer. The hardcore band has built a reputation through being unapologetically outspoken, playing fast, ripping songs, and putting on an electrifying live show. Now they're ready to enter their next era. Formed in 2017, the band consists of vocalist Akil Godsey, drummer Chris Gonzalez, guitarist Ray Lee, and bassist Patrick Martin. Signed to Flatspot Records, End It came out strong with the release of their self-titled EP the same year they started, and followed it up with 2020's One Way Track EP. In the summer of 2022, the band took the hardcore world by storm with their Unpleasant Living EP, solidifying the Baltimore outfit as one of the most exciting acts in the genre. Following the release, End It embarked on a packed touring and festival schedule across North America and Europe, playing alongside No Warning, Terror, Cold World, Drain, Speed, Angel Du$t, Scowl, and many more. The band's reach goes even farther with breakout single "New Age Slavery" featured on the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. No matter where they are and what they're doing, End It is true to keeping things authentically them and that shines through on the forthcoming Wrong Side Of Heaven. Entering Salad Days Studio with renowned producer Brian McTernan (Turnstile, Snapcase, Hot Water Music) the band came in with a few demos and wrote the majority of the album during the two month recording process in early 2025. Taking direction from classic hardcore, thrash, and soul music, End It has crafted a 15 song magnum opus centered on "Spreading awareness of the change that's coming to Americans, personal growth, and maintaining the ethics and integrity of hardcore."

Founded in 2019 by Nick Whaley and Luca Tantari, Piss Drunk Records was born in Northern California from a shared passion for underground electronic music and the DIY ethos that has always driven independent scenes.

Rather than waiting for opportunities, the label was created with a simple philosophy: if nobody releases the music you believe in, do it yourself. Every release represents that independent spirit, putting artistic freedom before commercial expectations.

Nick Whaley has been an active figure in the Northern California underground electronic scene for many years, continuously releasing music, cutting lathe records, and performing live sets while keeping the local DIY spirit alive. Luca Tantari, originally from Italy, lived in California where the idea for Piss Drunk Records was born. After returning to Italy, he continued developing the label, expanding its international reach while preserving its original vision and underground identity.

Although founded in California, Piss Drunk Records has always maintained strong roots in both the United States and Italy, creating a bridge between two underground communities.

The label embraces a broad spectrum of electronic music, from raw industrial techno, experimental electronics and noise to old-school hardcore, gabber and more dancefloor-oriented productions. Style is never the priority—authenticity is.

The first five releases were issued as hand-cut lathe records and a limited cassette, reflecting the label's commitment to small-run, handcrafted formats. PDR006 marks Piss Drunk Records' first professionally pressed vinyl release, representing a new milestone while remaining true to the DIY philosophy that inspired the project from day one.

Piss Drunk Records exists for one reason only: to release music that deserves to exist—without compromise, without trends, and without waiting for permission.

Some recordings herald the future in ways that are impossible to see in real time. Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር), by the artist Teodros Makonnen, also known as Teddy Mak, is one of those. Today, electronic sounds, synthesizers, and digital production are taken for granted in Ethiopian music, but in the early 1980s, they were novelties that polarized opinion. Even to this day, the story of Teodros Makonnen’s legacy has never been properly told. He played a decisive role in defining the sound of the digital era of Ethiopian music that emerged in the 1980s and beyond, both as a keyboard player and as a producer, songwriter, performer, and sound designer.

Ethiopian music was at a crossroads in the early 1980s. Much like music in the rest of the world, technology and automation heralded either a quantum leap in musical development or the annihilation of musicianship, depending on who you’d ask. The changes were incremental nonetheless, but with the benefit of hindsight one can clearly see that the changes meant different things in different contexts. Drum machines and electric organs came to replace many hotel bands because, all of a sudden, one musician could control drums, melody, and accompaniment. Teodros was one of the first musicians in Ethiopia to explore the possibilities this opened up.

Teodros’ father, Captain Makonnen Beri, was a chief pilot at Ethiopian Airlines and a music enthusiast at that. This would prove important to his development, as Makonnen brought back a piano from Germany, which would lead to the first steps in Teodros’ long musical career. Captain Makonnen’s work as Head of Flight Operations and as a pilot exposed him to the wider world that was far from commonplace for most Ethiopians. In a house where music captivated the whole family, the piano gave Teodros’ talent an outlet. Not only was a piano at home rare in Ethiopian households, his father also brought an Indian teacher to their home to teach Teodros and his brother, Captain Samuel Makonnen, music theory (solfeggio or ear training) and piano. Teodros and his youngest brother, the late great Dereje, a member of both the legendary Ibex Band and the Ethiopian reggae group Dallol, took up music from that point onward, with Teodros beginning to develop his proficiency at the age of eight. His father encouraged him to practice tirelessly at home, and Teodros later received musical schooling at the German School in Addis Ababa.

His obvious talent led to studies and formal education at the Yared School of Music, followed by continued studies in American jazz at Northern Virginia Community College in Virginia. Teodros cut his teeth professionally in his mid-teens, not only as a keyboardist, but also as an arranger for the Wabi Shebelle and Dahlak bands in the 1970s. He mastered electronic sequencing early, rising to prominence through the midnight recording sessions held during the military curfew. The pressures imposed by the curfew required precise and disciplined recordings, and Teodros delivered just that. This, in turn, led to collaborations with iconic artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Aster Aweke, Menelik Wossenachew, Tilahun Gessesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Alemayehu Eshete.

In those days, he sat in as a keyboardist with the Dahlak Band when Dawit Yifru took a hiatus to study in Russia, and also with the Ethiostar Band. He secured a residency at the Wabi Shebelle Hotel with the Shebele Band, together with Zelalem Tadese (drums), later succeeded by Elias Bekele, Mulugeta Hailu (bass), Teferi ‘Bibisha’ Mengesha (guitar), Kumelachew G/Selassie (trumpet), and Teshome Deneke (saxophone). A friendly competition developed between the bands associated with the Ras Hotel (the Ibex Band), Ghion Hotel (the Dahlak Band), and Wabi Shebelle Hotel (the Shebele Band). The music scene at Wabi Shebelle saw teenagers commanding the spotlight in an industry otherwise dominated by musicians of an older generation.

At the Wabi Shebelle Hotel, Teodros met a diplomat from Saudi Arabia and later visited him at his home in Addis Ababa, a meeting that had unexpected musical consequences. The man owned a Yamaha double-deck keyboard. That evening, they recorded Teodros Makonnen With His Organ (ቴዎድሮስ መኮንን ከኦርጋኑ ጋር) in one take. This recording, a cornerstone in the early digital sound of Ethiopian music, came about almost by chance, simply because Teodros got the opportunity. Traditional Ethiopian songs were cast in a wholly electronic style.

Once freed from backing duties, Teodros’ keyboards could explore dreamlike soundscapes that took Ethiopian music in new directions. Even though the cassette contained well-known Ethiopian songs, they were given highly original arrangements, performed on an electric organ with drum machine backing and rhythm patterns that left the listener with suggestive, lingering sounds. “Libesh Kabashen” (also known as “Anchi Bale Game”) and “Odu Gol Golesa” wrap you in the very stuff that dreams are made of.

Originally released on cassette only, this recording exudes a mystique that surpasses even some of the most obscure Ethiopian recordings of the day. It remained more or less unknown outside of Ethiopia until now. Some of the tracks, like “Addis Fikir,” are permeated with an almost naive buoyancy, free-floating sounds that lost contact with the ground the moment they were conceived. Others, like “Meche New Hageren Yemayew” and “Lelitu Alnega Alegn,” carry a moodier, quirkier timbre, with pulsating rhythms in the background. Yet even the darker pieces contain an unmistakable wave, something essentially Ethiopian. If most recordings of Teodros’s contemporaries at the time were teeming with atmosphere, his songs seem instead at home in the stratosphere, almost ethereal. Some of the music here could be filed under “lullabies,” were it not for the recurring, almost brooding feeling that engulfs the listener on the aforementioned tracks. You could easily be forgiven for drifting into a blissful haze as the music washes over you.

Up to the advent of electronic music production, Ethiopia was totally dominated by big bands on the one hand, and small groups on the other. The former were tied to large institutions such as the military, the latter emerged from the entertainment industry, in hotel bars and nightclubs. These groups were commercially driven, and bands ultimately had to foster a mercenary approach to employment, albeit not to the passion for music. In the light of this, Teodros’ musical legacy can be seen in two ways. On the one hand, he is a key player in Ethiopian music from the 1970s onwards, leaving an indelible mark through hundreds of compositions and arrangements, including soundtracks for numerous documentary films and advertisements for different companies. On the other hand, the way he and others employed electronics brought Ethiopian music onto a fork in the road.

The replacement of traditional instruments with electronic equipment was seen as impending doom by some. Others, like Teodros, saw new avenues for performance, production, and creativity. Just as later producers like Abegasu Shiota of Admas, Teodros was a trailblazer who opened paths that it took Ethiopian music as a whole more than a decade to rush into. The hotel scene had already been pushed toward electronic music by financial necessity and cost-cutting. Today’s revived global interest in Ethiopian music from the seventies and eighties, alongside a broader resurgence, has changed the reasons for using digital means of music production. They have become tools for musical dreaming. This is where the dreaming began.

The jaded daughter of a dead preacher-man caught in an exodus, Ethel Cain winds her way through a dizzying attempt at escape from her suffocating upbringing only to find herself crushed within its jaws in the end. Hayden Anhedönia, the woman behind the curtain, serves as the architect for the visceral and haunting world of Ethel Cain. After over four years of meticulously constructing her debut album and the graphic visual world that accompanies it, Preacher’s Daughter, was released in May 2022 to critical acclaim, catching fire with her reverent fanbase of daughters and the adoration of The New York Times, Vogue, NPR, Billboard, Vice, TheFADER, NYLON, Paper Magazine, Pitchfork, W Magazine, V Magazine and more.

2026 repress of classic Alpha Steppa album.

Raise The Ark - The new album from Alpha Steppa, marking ten years of Steppas Records. This vocal-dub album defies convention and introduces the listener to a new world of soundsystem music. Raise The Ark evolves and expands the distinct avant-guard dub style of Alpha Steppa, exploring the realms of Hip Hop, Trap, Trad, Folk and Bass Music. True to the Steppas Records ethos, the music carries a deep and crucial message, covering current and timeless topics; from the climate crisis, sociopolitical issues, to roots, culture and spirituality. Working closely with known artists from the Steppas imprint and as we have come to expect, introducing us to new and emerging talent from across the globe. Raise The Ark features include; Pupa Jim of Stand High Patrol (France), Sista Awa (Italy/Senegal), Cian Finn (Ireland), Ras Tinny (Suriname), Nai-Jah (Nigeria), Tenor Youthman (Russia), Eva Keyes (Ireland) and Block Mameli (Italy/Ghana). The collection features 12 evocative and provocative vocal tracks and 10 thundering instrumental / dub mixes. Raise The Ark is a truly eclectic, profound and exciting album not to be missed.

In partnership with onetreeplanted.org we will plant a tree in Ethiopia for every record sold.

“One of the most prolific and inventive dub producers around” Wire

“A serious player in the soundsystem world” Mixmag

“Obliteratingly heavy bass” Q Mag

“Album of The Month” MIXMAG (March 2013 & October 2014)

Clear Vinyl


Her sound remains vast and yearning, with gut-punch drums pushing through explosions of colored powder; her voice is a chrome-plated sigh, and her agile melodies soar effortlessly. - Pitchfork *BEST NEW MUSIC*
she achieves some serious cinematic grandeur. - Stereogum
Simply too sublimely crafted to ignore. - Consequence of Sound
A catchy ethereal piece of pop - Brooklyn Vegan
Rose's layered, reverb-laden vocals hit like waves of sunlight, warming her lines almost to the point of wordlessness. - Paste Magazine


"Hila. A record about loss. What persists beyond the range of ordinary perception? The place mourning keeps returning to - not quite transcendence, not quite doubt. The edge of what we can see."
Frankie Rose has spent fifteen years building one of the most quietly distinctive bodies of work in American independent music. Bursting out of the shackles of her legacy on 2024's Love As Projection, 2026's Hila builds on the muscular, dance-ready songwriting and transcendent melodies to result on Rose's most exploratory and affecting record of her career. Imbued with yearning melodies and brooding post-punk dynamics, Hila is Frankie Rose at her most impressionistic and expansive.

Self-produced at her home studio featuring collaborations with drummer Justin Welch (Elastica/Lush), Hila was recorded following extensive touring with The Jesus & Mary Chain and Swervedriver. The result is the most confident, searching music Rose has produced; muscular in its production yet emotionally vulnerable in its diffracted neon glow. A record informed by loss and the way grief mutates our senses, it's fitting that Rose channels the nuanced darkness of later Coil, at times the pounding EBM-production of Skinny Puppy and the near-spiritual alien-ness of Cocteau Twins. On Hila, the doors of perception are constantly melting, revealing the porous nature of the seen and unseen. The result is a synesthesia that flips the senses.

If Love As Projection was an outward-looking record looking to embrace the world, Hila brings the dark cosmos into inner space. Rose's love for 80s production and soaring melodies remain, they're cornerstones to her craft after all, but there's something more assured and gothic underneath the massive waves of sound. Opener Olo shimmers into a pulsating, cinematic brooder, Rose's vocal transcending and swan diving between registers in the chorus breakdowns. First single Cant Be Wrong serves as a transition from the optimistic pop of Rose's previous album, introducing a thumping 80s funk rhythm track under the soaring vocal performance. The ebullient Shadow Twin is that song's sibling, recalling major label-era Strawberry Switchblade melancholy mixed with Robin Guthrie's twinkling guitar work.

Hila blossoms darkly from here on in, blowing out into a glacial wide-screen sonic dynamic. On Rainman and the title track the listener is transported to a rain-soaked, nocturnal cityscape ridden with desire, moonlight cutting through blinds, intoxicating chasms without bounds. Rose's use of saxophone and digital synthesis recalls the nightmusic of Hats-era Blue Nile or the more ambient end of Emeralds' catalog. Indeed, in the towering synthetic cello sounds that climb into the mind on Hila, there's a distinct flavour of the instrumentals on Bowie's Low. This is musick to play in the dark, to light the way a little, just enough to trick the senses.
Leading into the strobe-filled haze, single Manifest pounds forward with a massive Industrial 4/4 beat and post-punk/goth musicality, an exercise in unlit ecstasy. For Best Of Times, the liberal saxophone passages feel like a suppressed, 80s Michael Mann soundtrack with Frankie Rose's effortless, melodic vocal performance probing, searching for connection. Navigating through the dry, iced landscape into a rising sun, closer Velvet Refrain flips the melancholy of the preceding passages. With a massive sound dripping with harmony, the clanging guitar and vocal duet feels they're sound-tracking an unexpected happy ending after bouts of darkness."

Wraz. is a man on a mission.

Not only has the Montreal native cemented his place as one of the most talented producers in the dubstep scene, but his incredible work ethic, energy, and passion—matched by his undeniable talent—mean his ascension is quite simply inevitable.

DDD has been proud to play our part in his career journey, and things are taking another step forward with the phenomenal album Rites.

A tour de force of audio sorcery, savagery, and sacrilege, Rites subjects the listener to Wraz.’ trademark mix of filthy 140 dubstep, thumping trap flavours, and industrial grittiness.

This is expertly melded with stunning, captivating, suspense-filled interludes that provide counterpoints to the bass punishment in ways that are both tension-inducing, yet beautiful.

Featuring collaborations with label bossmen Truth and DDD favourite Hypho, Wraz.’ sonic understanding of his craft feels unparalleled throughout. Each track brings its own unique flavour, while sitting together as a body of work with remarkable cohesion.

Keep a lookout for this as the first DDD vinyl drop of 2026—alongside its full digital release—Rites marks a seismic moment for both Wraz. and the 140 scene.

Wraz. is putting the world to Rites, while we’re living in his universe.

Josephine Foster’s distinctive instrumentation and balladry coupled with her remarkable soprano brings an otherworldly and ethereal sound to her esoteric sound. “Few artists have crafted a niche for themselves quite like Josephine Foster” The Guardian / “Foster stands alone with a markedly dark enchantment and seems to revel in her own cocktail of nocturnal folk spells” Drowned In Sound..

After nearly two years, Okonski returns with Entrance Music — an album that finds the trio at the height of their improvisational prowess and celebrating the spontaneous and meditative. On the heels of 2023’s debut Magnolia, pianist and leader Steve Okonski has reconvened long-time musical collaborators (Durand Jones and the Indications bandmate Aaron Frazer on drums and bassist Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery) for another session in the spirit of artists like the Bad Plus, Gerald Clayton, and The Breathing Effect. Ultimately Entrance Music serves as an invitation to early hours, where songs linger in the doorway, announcing their presence before returning to the air, in a meticulous drift into the next.
Recorded over a five day session, Entrance Music was one of the first albums committed to tape at Portage Lounge, Terry Cole’s studio in Loveland, OH. “It was a new setup, but with Terry behind the dials it was very familiar,” says Okonski. “I can’t emphasize enough how much Terry feels like a fourth member of the band because of the space he’s curating, the energy he is bringing, and the production ideas.” The energy and sound created with the Colemine labelhead at the helm makes for a listening experience equally at home with ECM or Stones Throw catalogs.
From the rippling notes of the pastoral opener, “October,” Entrance Music is lush with anticipation, both band and listener feeling the tension in the tranquility — where the interplay of jazz improvisation and boom bap beats never shortchanges the musicianship but the talent is ever in service of the song.
While the band does not play together as often as they would like, not much time is needed for the three to lock in. Montgomery’s bass opening to “Passing Through” bends and moves with a singular meditative grace before piano and percussion joins the daylight filling a room with breath and light. If Magnolia resonated with last calls and late nights, Entrance Music counters with early mornings and first cups of coffee.
Whereas much of the debut resonates with his time in New York, Entrance Music “feels a little less ‘on the streets at 2 A.M.’ and a little more nature-based…a little more ethereal,” says Okonski. “It’s definitely age, environment, and family — all of that does come through in the music.”

Composed by Forever Pavot for the film *L'Engloutie*, this soundtrack for Louise Hemon's film reveals a more intimate and cinematic side of Forever Pavot's universe.

Between hypnotic melodies, ethereal Morricone-esque choirs, delicate orchestrations, and psychedelic textures, these tracks accompany the images with a unique elegance. Both contemplative and mysterious, this music extends the film's enigmatic charm far beyond the screen.

Limited edition of only 300 copies

Frazer Ray lands on Time Is Now with Masha EP. Four tracks of killer, stripped back FWD facing proto/future garage effortlessly pushing the sound into a new direction.

FACTS:

1. Frazer Ray knows how to make a dance. IYKYK…. Recently he’s been shelling Live UKG cooked right in front of you on a custom modular rig. Mad energy. 100% party business.

2. Frazer Ray knows a thing or two about making UK soundsystem music. The artist FKA Soundbwoy Killah is now a decade deep in his discography. And first as ‘Soundbwoy Killah’ and now as ‘Frazer Ray’ he is 2 for 2 with aliases that never miss.

3. New Frazer Ray is always something to get excited about. For 10+ years he’s kept it super tight. Quality over quantity. Always holding dubplates. When releases have landed they drop on only the best labels; including both Rinse and Rinse’s new INGRAM imprint, Ninja Tune’s Technicolour imprint, Sneaker Social Club, Interplanetary Criminal’s Locked On and IPC & Main Phase’s ATW Records. (side note - his Soundbowy Killah - ‘Halcyon Daze’ LP on Sneaker is IMO an all time classic - do not sleep on that one). Aaaannd… if the dubplates got too heavy he’s also occasionally dropped weight on his own U-Phorix label.

Also…..what has always struck me about Frazer’s music is that it’s simultaneously integral in the hardcode continuum while also pushing it forward. It’s always complete. Fully formed. You never bristle. There’s no failed experiments. Just a firm nod to the future for anyone looking.

OK… Run the tracks.

Masha’s vocal licks tell it straight, this one is “Fire”. Proper club business to test the stacks. The drums roll steady in front of a wall of sub bass. A killer mix of post dubstep era goodness, techno sound design and the shuffle & swing of proto dubstep.

Settle Down There’s something 90’s tek step about this one. Dark and moody with a wall of bass. It bristles with texture and atmosphere before – a moment of reprieve in this absolute weapon – Frazer opens up into a dubwise oasis before skittering back into the darkness.

Syren Song is exactly what it says on the tin, alluring Dancehall vocals chatter and roll. Who knew auto-tune and Garage paired so well… Frazer did that’s who.

No Reasons Left is an ethereal closer for the end of the night / start of the morning after. Gliding warm & introspective dubwise breaks with a Reese bassline that hangs in the space between garage and hardcore.

Frazer says…

“This EP feels like I've finally nailed integrating my modular setup (and VCV rack for all you nerds out there) into my productions. I wanted to create deeper production while still ensuring the tracks translate well in the club.”

If this is only the beginning then strap in.

Sempra makes his debut on Up Ya Archives with tracks imbued with his signature blend of jungle and breakbeat, interpreted through his unmistakably soulful lens. Warm vocal melodies and ethereal instrumentation ride smoothly atop the rolling waves of breakbeats and warping basslines. It all culminates in a soulful take on ragga jungle sound, setting Sempra apart from his junglist peers. When asked on his process behind ‘Wicked N Ruff’,

Sempra said:
“I’m really proud of this release! I love the fusion of genres and feeling, these tracks really show my love for contrasts. You get the soft with the hard without losing any of the euphoria”.

Having released consistently across labels including Future Classic, Headroom and Hardcore Energy, Sempra continues to refine a unique sound that draws equally from soundsystem culture and contemporary soul.

The Rascals are a British indie rock trio formed in 2006 by Miles Kane (guitar and vocals), Joe Edwards (bass) and Greg Mighall (drums), hailing from The Wirral on Merseyside. Before becoming The Rascals, all three members spent their formative years playing together in The Little Flames, gaining valuable experience touring with prominent contemporaries such as The Coral, The Zutons and, most significantly, Arctic Monkeys. It was while supporting Arctic Monkeys—drawing inspiration from their fiercely independent, DIY ethos and refusal to compromise—that the trio decided to trust their instincts and strike out on their own.

In September 2006, Kane, Edwards and Mighall began writing and jamming as a three-piece, giving birth to The Rascals. The band quickly developed a sound rooted in strong pop melodies and psychedelic flourishes, but distinguished by a darker, more introspective undercurrent. Influenced by artists such as Scott Walker, their music carries a sweeping, epic quality, while their lyrics often evoke a David Lynch–like atmosphere. As Kane explains, The Rascals were never content with skimming the surface, instead preferring to explore subtler, shadowy themes that reveal themselves over time.
Released on Deltasonic Records, Rascalize showcases clear influences from labelmates and peers such as The Coral, as well as echoes of bands like The Inspiral Carpets. Standout tracks including “The Glorified Collector,” “Does Your Husband Know That You’re On The Run?” and lead single “Freakbeat Phantom” highlight the band’s knack for catchy hooks, layered guitar effects and driving rhythms.

Recorded in Los Angeles over the course of a single day at a studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, Dois Desertos was produced by Mario Caldato Jr. and emerged without a predetermined plan or schedule. The project took shape during Portuguese musician João Pimenta Gomes' stay in Los Angeles with his family. During that time, through Rodrigo Amarante, João met Mario and Samantha Caldato, as well as musicians Abe Rounds (drums and percussion) and Gabe Noel (bass and cello). From those encounters, the album began to unfold organically.

Working from simple scores—some containing little more than chord progressions—the sessions left plenty of room for improvisation. Every performance was captured live, in a single take, with no overdubs. The mixing process, also carried out live by Mario Caldato Jr., followed the same philosophy: effects and level adjustments were performed in real time and printed directly to the final two-track master.

At the heart of the album's sound is the Cristal Baschet, a rare instrument played by rubbing glass rods with the hands, causing metal resonators to vibrate and produce an ethereal, resonant tone. João describes its sound as "a trace, almost like a shadow." Rather than taking the lead, the instrument serves as a textural foundation, while the bass and cello carry the melodic lines. Some of these melodies are original compositions, while others draw from traditional Portuguese fado, reimagined through an open and exploratory approach.

The album has a dreamlike atmosphere, reflecting the perspective of someone experiencing Los Angeles from the outside—not in a rush to belong, but fully receptive to the city's unique energy. Two films helped shape this imaginary landscape: Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969), in which the French filmmaker uses Los Angeles as a pretext to simply observe and inhabit the city, and Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself. The result is Dois Desertos, an album that, in João's own words, "could never have been made anywhere else."

With Dois Desertos, João Pimenta Gomes invites listeners into a deeply immersive experience, revealing a more exploratory side of his artistic practice while reinforcing Amor in Sound's commitment to releasing original works that engage with the many languages of contemporary music.

Wondrous ethereal folk songs by a reclusive pen pal of Maxine Funke, first introduced to A Colourful Storm by Funke while sharing music and ideas during her Australian tour. Ghost faced pansies. A moth coloured cat. Cauliflowers, cabbages undying. I hear the spine of the dictionary crack. Is what they call a creature who only wakes at dusk. And turning backs. My afternoon has turned pitch black. For a trace. For a shape. I wipe the steam from the window like the bloom on a grape. Ghost faced pansies. A moth coloured cat. Light of stars long since died.

Richard Laviolette (1982–2023) released his second record "a little less like a rock, a little more like home" on CD in 2006 on Burnt Oak Records, an artist-run co-operative and independent record label co-founded by Brad MacInerny, Ryan Newell and jiaqing wilson-yang, active between 2005 and 2007. Burnt Oak was based out of a rented house at 127 Grange Street in Guelph, Ontario, where the collective lived, rehearsed, hung out, and hosted all ages shows, also recording each others’ music, packing and mailing CD orders, and silk-screening and sewing the covers for the albums they released.

Combining folk, rock, and country influences, a little less like a rock, a little more like home is a beloved lo-fi classic of brilliant songwriting and powerful vocals, animated by Richard’s deeply held anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, DIY, and community-based ethos. It includes some of Richard’s most timeless songs and performances, including the unclassifiable magic of Qq, the shockingly intimate and utterly cosmic Ants vs. Universe, and the beautifully fingerpicked folk-song Oncoming Trains.

You’ve Changed Records is proud to present this first ever vinyl pressing of "a little less like a rock, a little more like home" . This Limited Edition LP features audio newly mastered for vinyl by Kevin Parks, recreated artwork by artist sophia bartholomew, and includes a full lyric insert

Long Slow Distance is an album about finding peace, and making peace where it can’t be found. It’s inspired by change, grief, acceptance, forgiveness, love, and running.

Dawson began running around the same time he started making records. At this point it’s unclear where one practice ends and the other begins. The album’s title has become the ethos he’s embraced for all things in life.

Long Slow Dance unravels the woven collage of his previous work. Here each song consists of three long guitar takes, panned across the stereo-field with minimal overdubs. “I remember my grandmother always kept a rain barrel on the farm. Just a simple vessel that served as a means for gathering water for the garden and the flowers. I wanted to instill that sentiment on this record. Other than some panning and recreational EQing, the computer was just a vessel to gather sounds.”

There is a distant grace to the album. A soft expanse, a quiet contrast. Guitars dissolve and then recalibrate. Sparse melodic motifs bloom and fracture. Warm chords clash and make amends. Alpenglow textures shimmer against tones that feel weathered by salt air. The songs are lightly propulsive, yet drift at a glacial pace. Fields and artifacts ground the material, like keeping your eyes on the horizon. Long Slow Distance feels intuitive, sentimental, and like Dawson is one step closer to whatever distance he is chasing.
Downloadable Assets

When one thinks of the terms “mass” and “massive” in music, especially contemporary music, perhaps certain aural images come to mind: generic metal heaviness; dynamics-bereft noise; ear-battering dance floor madness; the multitudinous forms of drone darkness. All of these are massive in their own fashion. However, this newstudio album from 7FO (pronounced “nana f o”), a composer-performer based in northern Osaka, investigates and inhabits a different aspect of the massive. A glorious combination: dense low frequencies; sculpturally condensed blocks of sound, subtly swinging gravitational fields ― and a surprising sense of rolling and rollicking joyfulness and play. “Massive” doesn’t have to mean “dark” ― consider the sun. This is the third 7FO release on EM Records, following the well-received Ryu no Nukegara (Dragon's Husk) (2018). On these 2024-25 recordings, 7FO focuses his drum machines, synths and musical vision into eight compact structures which were partially inspired by the intense essence of American pre-war blues and the shining soul of traditional Ethiopian music, especially the works related to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. While not obviously evident, the glowing core of these musics has been captured and condensed here; another inspiration is the massive sculptural 1980s works of Yoshi Wada ― although there are obvious differences, there is a similar material tangibility to the vibration of the air. The final piece, “Shirohebi”, is an update of the b-side of 7FO's 7-inch single "Healing Sword" (2023), featured on Henry Rollins’ radio program. We invite you to experience and enjoy these eight massive blocks of sound, imbued with 7FO’s heartfelt warmth and humour, dense but not dark; shifting, rolling, appearing and disappearing: 7FO once picked up a roadside stone, which split as it sat in his palm. This experience, referenced in the release’s title, hints at the metaphysical magic of music, a realm beyond mere coincidence: even the massive density of stone can split, and reveal the magic within. Available on CD, LP and digital download.

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.

For its 24th release, Daydream welcomes rising talent Soha to the label. Across four refined cuts, the Belgian artist explores a deep and understated sound built on lush textures, ethereal pads and dense, rolling grooves. The EP unfolds with patience, balancing dreamy atmospheres and restrained club energy. A timeless collection crafted for both intimate listening and late-night dancefloors.

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.

Originally released on Philips Ethiopia in 1973. A mixture of modern and traditional instruments marks the stages of an Amhara wedding. Wedding photos and liner notes inside.

Piece of Me, das zweite Album von Lady Wray, ist so etwas wie eine Heimkehr für Nicole. Während ihr Solo-Debüt Queen Alone aus dem Jahr 2016 mehr in Richtung Soul und R&B mit einem Hauch von HipHop tendierte, ändert sich dies bei diesem Album. Es ist immer noch R&B mit den Texturen von analogem Soul, doch zeichnet sich ein starker HipHop-Einfluss ab, der Nicoles Schaffen für die Zukunft definieren wird. Boom-Bap-Drums und deepe Basslines stehen im Vordergrund und bilden den perfekten Hintergrund für Lady Wray, die sich auf ihrer bisher persönlichsten Sammlung von Songs mit dem Guten, dem Schlechten, dem Schwierigen und dem Freudvollen auseinandersetzt. Der Titelsong Piece of Me, der seit seiner Veröffentlichung 2019 bereits zum Klassiker geworden ist, handelt von den Menschen in deinem Leben, die mehr brauchen, als du zu geben bereit bist. Dieses Stück und die B-Seite der 7" Come On In waren die ersten Songs, die für dieses Album aufgenommen wurden - als Nicole im achten Monat schwanger mit ihrer Tochter war. Ihre Stimme ist so kraftvoll, so rau bei diesen ersten Songs, erstaunlich, wenn man sich vor Augen führt, wie sie aufgenommen wurden. Und noch verrückter ist es, zu wissen, dass sie sie alle in einem einzigen Take aufgenommen hat. Ihr langjährige Mitstreiter und Produzent Leon Michels entwirft das musikalische Fundament gekonnt zurückhaltend, um Lady Wray ausreichend Raum zu geben. Während die energiegeladenen Songs Under The Sun und Through It All mit Sicherheit zu Hits werden, die Lady Wray wieder mit ihrer R&B-Fangemeinde aus den 90ern connecten, zeigt Where Were You, wie ihre Jugendjahre wirklich waren. in dem poetischen und kraftvollen Beauty In The Fire setzt sich Nicole mit den Spannungen zwischen den Ethnien in Amerika auseinander und lässt sich im Showstopper Thank You stark von ihrem Glauben und ihrempfindet und in Joy & Pain feiert sie die Höhen und Tiefen des Lebens. Im Jahr 2021 ist es eher selten, ein eklektisches und doch zusammenhängendes Album ohne ,Ausreißer" zu hören - aber genau das ist Piece Of Me. Die bewährte Chemie zwischen Lady Wray und Leon Michels hat unbestreitbar das nächste Level erreicht, dieses Album ist ein Zeugnis ihrer Entschlossenheit und Hingabe.

Big Crown Records is proud to present the debut full length offering from Les Imprimés, Rêverie. The stirring and ethereal sounds of Les Imprimés have been making fans of anyone who hears them since their first 7" single hit the speakers. Morten Martens is the man behind the band. Born, raised, and working in Kristiansand, Norway, he keeps a low prole while making his heart felt, highly infectious, and unique music. This album is a long time coming for Martens and it is sure to make him a name to be reckoned with. The first thing you notice listening to Les Imprimés is the high level of musician-ship. Martens plays nearly every instrument on the recordings and handles the production and arranging. He has been making records for decades, winning a Spellemann Award (aka, the Norwegian Grammy) in 2006 for producing a HipHop album as well as getting nominations across three other genres. While awards and accolades speak to the level of his talent, this new album really shows who he is an artist on his own terms. Moving away from being a hired gun on the touring scene naturally led him to start doing more studio work. Slowly collecting gear and getting more experi-ence behind the boards he built his own studio on the island of Odderoya and was making a living playing with and recording other people's music. As the story goes, after those sessions would end he would work on his own project into the wee hours of the night. From these late night sessions, Les Imprimés was born and Rêverie began to take shape. However, "it wasn't until COVID, when things locked down, that I was really able to nd the time to focus on Les Imprimés" Morten says about creating and leading his own solo project. "It was a scary time. But I knew I had to do something with it." He took the sum of his inuences, combined them with his own vibe and got busy writing the music, playing the instruments, and singing the songs. "It's soul music, but I don't exactly have the soul voice," Morten explains humbly. "But I do it my own way, in a way that's mine. "It is his sound, his fingerprint, his sensibility, that makes his music hard to put in a box. The album showcases both Martens' range and his ability to make a cohesive album. The lead single "Falling Away" starts with a raw drum break and turns into a lushly arranged tune that paints the picture of love when it slips away. On "Still Here" he professes his resilience through life's twists and turns over a thundering track that puts a new spin on the B side ballad genre. Songs like "You" and "Our Love" mix tones from 60s and 70s Soul with arrangement nods to Doo Wop records while Martens' lyrics and delivery leave you singing the melodies long after they finish. "Love & Flowers" finds Martens in a moment of clarity with a song that ts the niche sub genre of happy break up tunes, the four on the floor track will move the dancefloor or while the message will resonate with anyone who put too much effort into the wrong situation in their lives. However, it is songs like "Muse" and "Chess" that really encapsulate the uniqueness of Les Imprimés as they push the boundaries of genre, one a profession of love for music and the other a cover of an electronic record respectively. Martens' lyrics, emotion, and delivery truly make the whole thing come together and stand out from any of his peers. There's an infectiousness and a pop sensibility in the writing that is done with the utmost class and taste giving Les Imprimés the rare quality of immediate attraction that only deepens the more you listen.

Anjunadeep Explorations delivers a third vinyl sampler, marking the label’s 100th release and two years since its launch. Anjunadeep, the imprint’s parent label, has become “one of dance music’s ultimate tastemaker labels” (Billboard), best known for breaking global artists like Ben Böhmer, Lane 8, Tinlicker and Dusky. The ‘Explorations’ imprint is an evolution of the much-loved Various Artist EP series of the same name, which spanned 25 editions between 2016-2023 on Anjunadeep. Responsible for bringing through now-mainstay acts to the label such as Ben Böhmer, CRi, Luttrell, Rezident and Simon Doty, the series also featured underground talents like Theo Kottis, Sam Goku and Gacha Bakradze. Between the label’s launch in July 2024 and the release of this sampler, the label has introduced just under 50 acts to the Anjunadeep label group, comprising just shy of half of the label’s output so far, and with a release schedule booked until 2027 shows no signs of slowing down.

The latest vinyl sampler features six exciting tracks showcasing fresh talent like British duo josh & sam who are twins and Argentina’s Rossie, alongside established names including the widely-respected lo-fi producer dj poolboi. In keeping with the imprint’s ethos, the product also sees three further label debuts from AFFKT, foglight and Giom respectively hailing from Spain, Lebanon and France

A MUCH SOUGHT AFTER SOUNDTRACK, THIS NEW VERSION FROM SILVA SCREEN CONTAINS MUCH NEVER BEFORE RELEASED MATERIAL!!

After a decade of creating pioneering puppet series made for children, Gerry & Sylvia Anderson took their first steps into live-action, with the 1969 feature film Doppelgänger (re-titled outside Britain as Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun). This science-fiction film approached its outer space subject matter with a gritty realism, and would set the tone for what was to be their first live-action television series: UFO. This new series took as a starting point the pioneering work of Dr Christiaan N. Barnard, the surgeon who performed the world’s first heart transplant operation. In UFO a dying race of aliens travel across vast distances of space to harvest organs from human beings to help ensure their own survival. To combat this threat the United Nations created SHADO, a top-secret organisation utilising the latest technology available to defend the Earth.

To complement the series, the Andersons frequent musical collaborator Barry Gray created a multifaceted score that gave the programme its own musical identity. Elegantly crafted and a firm favourite with Barry Gray fans, the sound of UFO, particularly its ethereal “World Music” closing credits is, quite simply, a joy. Includes a bonus track, Trampoline performed by The Spencer Davis Group from the episode Ordeal.

Hand Me My Flowers brings together one of underground hip-hop’s most relentless voices with one of the genre’s most revered producers. The result is a hard-hitting collaboration that bridges generations, uniting Flee Lord’s raw street narratives with Buckwild’s unmistakable golden-era production pedigree.

A cornerstone of the legendary Diggin’ In The Crates (D.I.T.C.) collective, Buckwild has spent decades shaping the sound of East Coast hip-hop, crafting classics for artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., O.C., Big L, Fat Joe, Nas, and countless others. On this project, he delivers a masterclass in gritty, soulful production—dusty samples, hard drums, and cinematic arrangements that provide the perfect backdrop for Flee Lord’s uncompromising lyricism.

Throughout the album, Flee Lord sounds right at home over Buckwild’s expertly crafted soundscapes, weaving vivid tales of survival, loyalty, sacrifice, and perseverance. His commanding delivery and relentless work ethic are matched by production that honors hip-hop’s foundations while remaining timeless and relevant.

More than a producer-and-emcee collaboration, this album represents a meeting of eras. Buckwild’s decades of experience and crate-digging mastery merge seamlessly with Flee Lord’s modern underground sensibilities, creating a project that feels both classic and contemporary. Every track reflects a shared commitment to authenticity, lyricism, and the enduring spirit of New York hip-hop.

For longtime fans of boom-bap and newcomers drawn to today’s thriving underground scene, this collaboration stands as a powerful reminder that real hip-hop never goes out of style.