quête:everything for eve

Audaciously innovative sound designer/producer/live artist Enrico Sangiuliano reaches #0 in his countdown from ‘NINETOZERO’ on his eponymous ephemeral imprint, triggering its built-in autodestruct by the release of provocative 3-track EP ‘Absence’, out March 19th on vinyl & digital. The digital EP will also feature an Edit of ‘Step Into The End’.

The Italian tech maestro and artistic pioneer eschews populism, yet still storms charts & wins hearts – notably/recently in his unsettling, compelling manifesto x battle cry ‘The Techno Code’. Says Enrico of his label, ‘NINETOZERO is a cycle of listening, making, and letting go. Born from silence, shaped by space, directed by reflection, altered by change, revealed by glitch, unified through interconnection, lifted toward transcendence, refined by discipline, clarified by chaos, and finally returned to absence.’

On his ‘Absence’ EP: ‘With ‘Absence’ we come full circle, back to the womb of nothingness but charged with the echo of everything we have experienced. It is an ending, yes, but also an invitation. A new kind of silence is born, shaped by the memory of every frequency we unleashed.’ Enrico Sangiuliano can thrill listeners with his music, but dares to challenge, to trust them.

Main track ‘Step Into The End’: a full-on barrage of trustworthy techno danceability & energy, bookended by soulful violin, high horns & sirens, with spoken incantations as if summoning to a sacred rite. A ten-minute timeless dance track as ‘all we’ve learned converges into a single point where presence & silence merge.’

Title track ‘Absence’: The (Techno Code-esque) Voice speaks of sound, space, absence, trace... the track’s background noise is the almost- silence of his studio ‘through a magnifying glass’.. His breathing can just be heard in the recording. Melodic, beautiful, free-form chords in the middle section act like a breakdown in reverse. ‘A provocation, a track of silence, incidental noise. A tale of a story that just finished, but also a background for a story to be shaped. No one is intentionally performing for us. Here, the responsibility and work of listening is on you, to figure out what you can hear and what to make of it, to craft your own soundtrack based on the sounds that surround you, beyond the track. You can perform your own version yourself. Close your eyes and just listen. Engage with your environment. Be present. Expand your senses. Enjoy absence.’

‘The Aftermath’: a 40-second provocative coda. A snatch of stirring conversation signing off the EP and label alike. What will be launched post-zero by Enrico Sangiuliano? Watch this space, this absence.

Celebrating 20 years since it’s original release.

Ben is a Detroit-based producer who makes up half of Symptoms of Love, along with BPT records alum Ryan Spencer. He here brings us a 4 tracker of the absolute highest order. It both sounds like music that no one else is making, while also sounding like a pastiche of everything that you've ever liked in the past. The magic formula baby!!!!!!! Shall we walk thru the music together?

BPT founder and music's #1 man Jeremy Castillo has described the EP absolutely brilliantly as such: "YMO style dissonant electro with a Detroit touch on the a side, with pitched down Patrick Cowley psychedelic Macarena on the B-side.

The A1 and title track is an incredible statement of intent from Ben - it really does sound like if Hosono grew up in Detroit listening to Electrifying Mojo. It's an absolute blast of sunlight coming through your headphones. Press play and watch your vitamin D levels rise baby!!!

A2 cut "Music Remembers" is a groovy joy ride reminiscent of Galaxy II Galaxy, complete with re-pitched vocal chops and 808 claps galore. This will hit SO hard on a spring day if you live in a city currently blanketed in snow.

On the flip, B1 "Whose Water" will be a big hit with anyone who dug Dam Funk's Garret project. Introspective downtempo synth fans rejoice!!! And we wrap a stellar outing with B2's "New Sun" - a propulsive Cosmic workout that will open up any dancefloor. The psychedelic Macarena is right baby!!!

Jack’s House Recordings kick starts 2026 with a brand new VA featuring talent from all corners of the globe, with artists coming from Portugal, to Australia, the USA and Ibiza !

First up is Alex Arnout with “Baby Let You Know” which is another solid production giving punchy and techy energy with a baseline that will wake you right up when it drops in ! It’s dark, edgy, and has a powerful signature sound that is perfect for the big dance floors as well as your underground intimate ones. Alex is no stranger to the imprint, having been the first artist signed to the label which is about to celebrate it’s 10th year as an independent record label.

Next up, we welcome back popular and talented producer Carlo Gambino with “Time Of Need” which takes you through 6 and a half minutes of a lovely gritty underground groove, and vocal snippets of the track title throughout the arrangement with his warm and unmistakable signature sound.

Then we have AMO (um) & Mills with the more minimal track of the VA, “Therapy” This is a stripped back track but instantly memorable after just one listen. Driven by a simple kick, snare, haunting fills and a riding dark baseline, the track also presents a conversation between two Women having a slightly confusing conversation in a therapy session.

Last up, it is a pleasure to introduce and welcome USA’s Jordan Bernardo & Sharktooth from the Tasteless Thieves crew to the label with their excellent collaboration on the track “So Sorry” This is the light on the VA with this massively uplifting infectious groove. The track is giving skippy swinging beats, filtered vocals which tease in and out of the arrangement, and a great energy that takes you back to the early 2000’s era.

In a nut shell, this fresh Jacks Tracks VA offers 4 unique tracks that can serve any DJ at various points of the night, from warming up, a hands up moment, 3am pushing energy, and a perfect afterparty vibe too. That is always the aim with the Jacks Track VA series, to give vinyl buyers a bit of everything while maintaining talent and the nature of the underground.

Circus Operandi is the project of Donatas Chipak and Tumosa, two figures of the Vilnius electronic music scene, and residents at legendary clubs Opium (RIP) and Gallery 1986, where Ivan Smagghe & Niv Arzi (who jointly run Customs & Faces) met them countless times at countless hours. We’re not keen at describing the music we release at C & F, no need for pigeonholing ourselves but this EP completely ticked our boxes : electro, techno and everything in between, punch and deepness included.

Blah Blah has been played in every Ivan Smagghe set for the last 6 months and picked up by, amongst others, Shonky and Francesco Del Garda. Some kind of hit rambling about ordering a pizza is quite something. Fantast and Hints are slightly moodier pieces of emotional 4/4 electro while Denter subtly hits at non-cheesy trance. Expect much more from these two very soon.

Much like the duo’s music, the story of Rural France is both mundane and magical. Tom Brown (also of transatlantic janglepunks Teenage Tom Petties) and Rob Fawkes moved to London in their mid-twenties. Despite living under the same roof, they never picked up a guitar – except for one drunken, failed attempt at writing a Spoon song (“Big Chops” …don’t ask). It was only after both separately relocating to Wiltshire and starting families that they began assembling songs as a way of meeting up. Tom had amassed a pile of sprightly slacker jams that were calling out for Fawkes’ messily melodic guitar lines. Rural France was born.

After a debut album on their hero, ex-Lemonhead Nic Dalton’s Half-a-Cow Records, they retreated to a garage to record their next two albums: RF (2021) and Exacamondo! (2024), both released on much-respected jangle label Meritorio Records. Despite being lo-fi in the truest GbV sense, both records were warmly received by the DIY indie blogosphere, with their short, scrappy, but supremely melodic songs landing on numerous AOTY lists. RF even won Album of the Year at Janglepop Hub.

Raven Sings The Blues probably summed up the sound best: “With drunken visions of Beach Boys harmonies playing in the back of their heads and hooks that consume Teenage Fanclub cheeriness with the same beautiful brevity that drives Tony Molina, the pair have knocked out eleven rumpled classics.” Album four, SLOTHS, arrives via Meritorio Records and Safe Suburban Home Records on 08/05, and is a slightly different beast. For one, it’s been mixed by a professional – Rob Slater (Westside Cowboy, Yard Act, Thank) – giving the guitars and drums room to breathe. It’s easily their most high-fidelity record to date. It’s also their jangliest, most baroque and thoughtful album yet. But alongside added organ, horns and mellotron – and drums from Tom’s Teenage Tom Petties bandmate Jeff Hamm – it still retains the buzzes, hums and little freak-outs that stick to the duo’s original “Pavement playing Teenage Fanclub” mission statement. “Rob and I both wanted to do something a little slower and a little more melancholy,” says Tom. “We resisted our usual urge to hit the distortion pedal and made something that fitted where we are now and celebrates how we still listen to Meatloaf when we get drunk.”

SLOTHS is also the most thematically consistent Rural France record to date. While it wouldn’t be right to call it grown-up, it definitely has homeowners’ insurance. From the Silver Jews-esque Americana of “Slab” and mid-life rallying cry of “Thirty Seven Forever”, to the horn-embossed loser anthem “Lonely Heart Pyramid Scheme,” the songs celebrate (and rail against) the absurdities of getting older, forming a band in your thirties, and the strange phenomenon of time passing. Because no matter how slow you move, everything else goes fast. SLOTHS.

Die beiden vorherigen Captured-Tracks-Alben von The Lemon Twigs, "A Dream Is All We Know" (2024) und "Everything Harmony" (2023), deuteten bereits auf eine Art Neubeginn in ihrer damals fünf Alben umfassenden Karriere hin. "Es war der Beginn davon, Platten zu machen, die wir selbst anhören würden", sagt Michael D'Addario, der jüngere der Twig-Brüder, heute 26 Jahre alt. Spätestens mit "A Dream Is All We Know" und dem zukünftigen Michael-Klassiker "My Golden Years" hatte die neue Ära der Lemon Twigs wirklich begonnen. Und nun erscheint das dritte Lemon-Twigs-Album für Captured Tracks, "Look For Your Mind!", das unter seiner poppigen Oberfläche einen unterschwelligen Strom aus Paranoia und Misstrauen trägt. Der Opener, der titelgebende Track "Look For Your Mind", ein beschwingtes Stück von Michael, führt die Hörer*innen in den gitarrengetriebenen Harmonie-Sound ein, der das zentrale Thema des Albums bildet. Vieles, was auf "A Dream Is All We Know" erreicht wurde, ist auch hier präsent - nur noch fokussierter. Es sind klassische Twigs, geprägt vom goldenen Zeitalter des Gitarrenpops, aber in keiner Weise sklavisch nachempfunden. Neu auf diesem Album ist die Einbindung der Live-Mitglieder Reza Matin (Schlagzeug) und Danny Ayala (Bass) sowie Eva Chambers von Tchotchke in die Rhythmusgruppe. Während die Brüder zuvor im Studio alles selbst eingespielt hatten, zeigt dies ein neues Gefühl von Freiheit. "Gather Round" ist eine der größeren Produktionen auf "Look For Your Mind!" - ein Brian-Song mit freudigen Orchestrierungen, der wie ein Wahlkampflied aus der Jahrhundertwende wirkt. Der Songwriter sucht nach einer unverdorbenen Führungsperson, kommt aber zu dem Schluss, dass kollektives Handeln der einzige Weg nach vorn ist. Musikalisch ist er opulent und herrlich 1967, doch Stimmung und Aussage sind unverkennbar 2026. "Jedes Mal, wenn wir versuchen, etwas völlig Geradliniges zu schreiben, können wir nicht anders, als ein Element hinzuzufügen, das völlig aus dem Rahmen fällt", erklärt Brian. Brians "Fire And Gold" beginnt mit einem klingenden Power-Pop-Riff, bevor alles auf den Kopf gestellt wird. Es ist auch der erste Song des Albums, auf dem der energiegeladene Drummer Reza Matin zu hören ist, den die Brüder mit Größen wie Jody Stephens von Big Star, Jim Bonfanti von The Raspberries und Bev Bevan von The Move vergleichen. Den Abschluss der ersten Seite der Vinyl-Ausgabe bildet Michaels wunderschöne Ballade "Mean To Me", mit Gesangsparts, die The Beach Boys vor 60 Jahren gerne aufs Band gebracht hätten - eingesungen von Michael, Brian und Danny. Der Abschluss der zweiten Seite, "Your True Enemy", wirft schließlich alles über den Haufen. "Wir haben den Song zunächst als einfache Rocknummer angelegt, aber das passte nicht zur düsteren Stimmung des Textes", sagt Brian. "Also haben wir begonnen, experimenteller zu werden." Das sechste Studioalbum der Lemon Twigs mag auf den ersten Blick wie eine direkte Fortsetzung der beiden Vorgänger wirken, ist aber zugleich viel mehr: mit Verweisen auf frühere Werke, einem neu entdeckten kollektiven Geist und vor allem großartigem Songwriting.

Die beiden vorherigen Captured-Tracks-Alben von The Lemon Twigs, "A Dream Is All We Know" (2024) und "Everything Harmony" (2023), deuteten bereits auf eine Art Neubeginn in ihrer damals fünf Alben umfassenden Karriere hin. "Es war der Beginn davon, Platten zu machen, die wir selbst anhören würden", sagt Michael D'Addario, der jüngere der Twig-Brüder, heute 26 Jahre alt. Spätestens mit "A Dream Is All We Know" und dem zukünftigen Michael-Klassiker "My Golden Years" hatte die neue Ära der Lemon Twigs wirklich begonnen. Und nun erscheint das dritte Lemon-Twigs-Album für Captured Tracks, "Look For Your Mind!", das unter seiner poppigen Oberfläche einen unterschwelligen Strom aus Paranoia und Misstrauen trägt. Der Opener, der titelgebende Track "Look For Your Mind", ein beschwingtes Stück von Michael, führt die Hörer*innen in den gitarrengetriebenen Harmonie-Sound ein, der das zentrale Thema des Albums bildet. Vieles, was auf "A Dream Is All We Know" erreicht wurde, ist auch hier präsent - nur noch fokussierter. Es sind klassische Twigs, geprägt vom goldenen Zeitalter des Gitarrenpops, aber in keiner Weise sklavisch nachempfunden. Neu auf diesem Album ist die Einbindung der Live-Mitglieder Reza Matin (Schlagzeug) und Danny Ayala (Bass) sowie Eva Chambers von Tchotchke in die Rhythmusgruppe. Während die Brüder zuvor im Studio alles selbst eingespielt hatten, zeigt dies ein neues Gefühl von Freiheit. "Gather Round" ist eine der größeren Produktionen auf "Look For Your Mind!" - ein Brian-Song mit freudigen Orchestrierungen, der wie ein Wahlkampflied aus der Jahrhundertwende wirkt. Der Songwriter sucht nach einer unverdorbenen Führungsperson, kommt aber zu dem Schluss, dass kollektives Handeln der einzige Weg nach vorn ist. Musikalisch ist er opulent und herrlich 1967, doch Stimmung und Aussage sind unverkennbar 2026. "Jedes Mal, wenn wir versuchen, etwas völlig Geradliniges zu schreiben, können wir nicht anders, als ein Element hinzuzufügen, das völlig aus dem Rahmen fällt", erklärt Brian. Brians "Fire And Gold" beginnt mit einem klingenden Power-Pop-Riff, bevor alles auf den Kopf gestellt wird. Es ist auch der erste Song des Albums, auf dem der energiegeladene Drummer Reza Matin zu hören ist, den die Brüder mit Größen wie Jody Stephens von Big Star, Jim Bonfanti von The Raspberries und Bev Bevan von The Move vergleichen. Den Abschluss der ersten Seite der Vinyl-Ausgabe bildet Michaels wunderschöne Ballade "Mean To Me", mit Gesangsparts, die The Beach Boys vor 60 Jahren gerne aufs Band gebracht hätten - eingesungen von Michael, Brian und Danny. Der Abschluss der zweiten Seite, "Your True Enemy", wirft schließlich alles über den Haufen. "Wir haben den Song zunächst als einfache Rocknummer angelegt, aber das passte nicht zur düsteren Stimmung des Textes", sagt Brian. "Also haben wir begonnen, experimenteller zu werden." Das sechste Studioalbum der Lemon Twigs mag auf den ersten Blick wie eine direkte Fortsetzung der beiden Vorgänger wirken, ist aber zugleich viel mehr: mit Verweisen auf frühere Werke, einem neu entdeckten kollektiven Geist und vor allem großartigem Songwriting.

New vinyl-only 7" series dedicated to razor-sharp edits for true heads sets it off with a cheeky dancehall flip of an unearthed hip-hop gem primed for peak-time shellings. On the flip, a jazzy house workout built for deep-cut selectors. Raw, soulful & built for sound systems.

Mercurial Swede Axel Boman debuts on Aus Music with four spellbinding deep house beauties

Swedish artists pbeatgirl and Joakim Åhlund & Jockum Nordström feature on one track each
Axel Boman has brought playful charm to the underground for nearly two decades. His colourful, emotive sound marries melodic whimsy with warm, cuddly grooves and is underpinned by invention and experimentation in sound design, rhythm and mood. The Studio Barnhus co-founder is an artist who can make you laugh and cry at the same time, as continually shown across more than 20 EPs and four full-length albums on a tasteful array of labels. He strides into 2026 with a first EP for Aus that embodies everything that makes him easy to love and hard to pin down.

First up is 'Night Blooming' feat pbeatgirl - a provocative figure in Sweden's post-pop underground. The sensual late-night lullaby has soft drums and even softer spoken words whispered in your ear. Add in the dreamy synths, and you have perfect house hypnosis. 'Someone Stop Me' slows the tempo but ups the texture with raw, tumbling drum loops, incidental guitar licks and sustained pads that help you zone out and gaze into the distance on a summer's afternoon.

'Svalor Radiosignal (Axel's Dub)' features Joakim Åhlund, who is currently on tour of Australia with his band Les Big Byrd, and is also a guitarist and lead singer in the Caesars band he founded, as well as being a prolific producer. World-renowned multi-disciplinary artist Jockum Nordström works across painting, sculpture and collage and also features. There's a signature Boman innocence and charming naivety to the melodies here. They leave wispy, painterly trails above the smooth, dubby groove and fill you with warmth and comfort. Closer 'Spooky' journeys later into the night with a more rickety, edgy mood, but beautiful, shape-shifting synths are like a tender hand guiding you into darkness.

This is Axel Boman at his most intimate and expressive, a quietly powerful EP for heads-down moments and after-hours warmth.

Italian producer Gledd has been quietly carving out a reputation for groove-led house music that balances raw dancefloor energy with rich musicality.

Drawing on influences that span gospel, afrobeat, and classic deep house, his productions channel both heritage and forward-thinking club culture. My House Is Your Church marks his debut release on Delusions Of Grandeur - a fitting home for his expansive, souldrenched sound - and signals a bold new chapter in his evolution as an artist. The EP opens with On His Way, a percussion-heavy deep roller built for maximum dancefloor impact. Anchored by fat, heavyweight production and a massive low-end presence, the track surges forward with relentless energy. An incredible gospel vocal cuts through the mix, elevating the groove into something transcendent - equal parts spiritual and physical.

On It’s Not That Easy, Gledd leans further into his gospel house influences. Highimpact and rhythmically rich, the track weaves together organ fills and subtle tropical flourishes, creating a vibrant, sun-soaked energy while keeping the pressure firmly on the floor.

It’s a track that feels both uplifting and commanding. Flipping to the B-side, Habibi Gospel pushes into more “outernational” territory. A wild, expressive lead vocal takes center stage, riding atop a heavy, driving groove. Organ stabs punctuate the rhythm, locking dancers into a hypnotic flow that bridges cultures and styles with effortless confidence. Closing the EP, Can You Hear My Noise? brings things to a richly textured finale. Slightly more organic in feel, it blends echoing synth stabs, percussive melodic lines, and chopped vocals into a melting pot of sound. The result is a seamless fusion of gospel, afrobeat, and classic house - deep, emotive, and undeniably danceable. With My House Is Your Church, Gledd delivers a statement of intent: music as ritual, the dancefloor as sanctuary.

Repress

The Collaboration - Having toured together over the years, Lattimore and Barwick now join forces to co-write and record this full-length album. Their creative synergy brings together harp, voice, and analog synths in a deeply emotional, immersive sound journey. The album was recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris with co-producer Trevor Spencer (Fleet Foxes, Beach House). This album continues a unique series of collaborations between the label and the Musée de la Musique, featuring historical instruments in contemporary composition. Since 2017, InFiné and the Philharmonie de Paris have co-developed a series of albums designed to highlight the extraordinary instrument collection of the Musée de la Musique. Following the albums InBach by Arandel (2020) and Saturn 63 by Seb Martel (2022), this third release is a meeting of two iconic contemporary ambient voices: Mary Lattimore and Julianna Barwick. The project offers the artists full access to the museum’s playable instruments for recording, sound conservation, and creative reinterpretation.



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Tragic Magic brings together Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore, two of contemporary ambient, experimental and electronic music’s most celebrated composers, for a unique collaboration at the Philharmonie de Paris, with extraordinary access to the Musée de la Musique’s instrument collection, in partnership with the French label InFiné. The album features seven immersive, evocative compositions guided by the human spirit – intimate, grounded in friendship, both earthly and cosmic – and part of a greater continuum, reflecting the solace and transformative power of artistry across generations.

Co-produced by Trevor Spencer (Fleet Foxes, Beach House), Tragic Magic was created in just nine days, a testament to the “musical telepathy” that has developed between Barwick and Lattimore over years of touring and friendship. Arriving in Paris from Los Angeles shortly after the 2025 wildfires, their sessions combined improvisation with the emotions and experiences they carried, in a setting both inspiring and deeply supportive. Lattimore selected harps tracing the instrument’s evolution from 1728 to 1873, while Barwick chose several iconic analog synthesizers, including the Roland JUPITER and Sequential Circuits PROPHET-5. In freeform dialogue between voice and instrument, they create a meditation on tragedy, wonder, and the restorative power of shared experience.

The duo, often joined by Spencer, also explored the city, sharing meals and visiting museums and landmarks, each encounter leaving an impression on their next session. The experience allowed them to work intimately with rare instruments, blending their personal sensibilities with centuries of history, resulting in music that honors the past while remaining a deeply authentic expression of the present.
Throughout Tragic Magic, Barwick and Lattimore find something beyond themselves: a sense that while everything may not be okay, beauty persists. Their approach – transforming life into music, observing, feeling, and creating – continues a lineage of creative expression and visionary invention, embodied in the very instruments they employed for this project.

When Elder Island went into the studio to record the followup to their critically acclaimed 2021 album, Swimming Static, they were determined to "turn everything on its head". The trio are celebrated for their brooding indie-electronica that draws on their Bristol roots, creating vastly detailed and immersive soundscapes. But Hello Baby Okay marks a new era for the band, fuelled by a longing for transcendence and euphoria. An effervescent counterpoint to the current times, their new Music is threaded through with a liberated energy, lilting funk-Pop guitars, danceable beats and a renewed sense of play.

Nacar02: Totem Pulse EP


Totem Pulse emerges as a coded breath slow, persistent, alive.
A rhythm not built for time, but for alignment.
The pulse does not command.It attunes.

Bodies orbit the frequency.
Thought dissolves into motion.
The totem stands invisible,
yet everything moves around it.

LIMITED EDITION 200 COPIES

WARNING: THIS IS FLATCORE AND HAS TO BE PLAYED LOUD !

Let's start by explaining what "FLATCORE" is; which is represented on this 3rd vinyl from this special serie on Flatlife Records: Flatcore is a cross between Hardcore, Progressive Trance, ACID and Hard Trance with a wink to the '90s. A concept from the mind of Jack Wax, who himself is incredibly fascinated and passionate about the more progressive hard trance movements of the '90s.

First track from Jack: "What The World Is Becoming To" is a serious question. AI, robots that do everything for you, wars, the internet; so much that has happening in the past 50 years, and where is it all becoming to?
Jack is supported on this release by "Dysistor"; this artist has also released music as DJ Hidden and Scorch and is also one half of "The Outside Agency." Then there's fresh talent on the B-side: TRIPHAZ from France. A fantastic, dark flatcore banger; he sent it as a demo, and Jack immediately jumped up and started screaming that he wanted it for this project.

So in total; a fantastic flatcore release, limited to 200 copies pressed on white vinyl. If you
like the harder stuff... check this one out.

Kreng transports us through the swirling darkness and into the unknown with “Wormhole”, his first album in over a decade.

What does a trip towards another world sound like? We’re about to find out. The master of tension, melancholy, and the deranged is back after a long period working in the worlds of theatre and cinema. Last seen on Miasmah with the grief stricken The Summoner, Kreng now returns with Wormhole, following closer in the footsteps of the cult classics L’Autopsie Phénoménale de Dieu and Grimoire.

Starting with “You Are Here”, the listener travels through a vacuum of spacious minimalism and edge-of-your-seat tension. Within the journey, we are pulled and lured towards a mystic inner core and beyond, encountering drifting fragments of old-world nostalgia on the way: echoes of empty jazz bars sit alongside hellish, Hieronymus Bosch-like scenarios.

Surrendering to the album reveals a surprisingly reflective beauty beneath its darkness; it's a true home-listening gem that unfolds like a Lovecraftian cosmic horror-mystery in the way only Kreng could deliver. Forget everything you know and enter the secret door…

Selection of IKIGAI Album by Nadia Struiwigh. IKIGAI was born in the quiet space between grief and remembering... Made entirely on hardware, from my living room in Berlin near Hermannplatz (my dad's name is Herman -- the odds), in the months my father passed away. Every sound, every sequence, every texture carries his fingerprint. Not because he made music, but because he made me love gadgets. Circuits, signals, blinking lights. He was the man who opened me up to machines and taught me how, eventually, to listen to them and use them for my craft. The name IKIGAI, a Japanese word for ''reason for being,'' found me when I was at a crossroads. The kind where you ask yourself: Why am I still here? What am I still creating for? What part of me still believes in beauty when everything feels like it's falling apart? These pieces came through slowly, on Japanese gear like Yamaha SEQTRAK, KORG, Roland -- like threads weaving a tapestry I didn't know I was making. Each track is a kind of purge... to him, to myself, to the listeners who find themselves in the in-between. The space where you're not who you were, and not yet who you're becoming. I found myself back into soundscapes and Ambient with a touch of Electronica. I weaved in sounds I captured from daily life, memories -- like the laugh of my sister. I built in silence and let the machines cry for me and let them tell the story I couldn't find the words for. IKIGAI is spacious. It's not trying to impress anyone. It's trying to just be, and hold space for all kinds of emotions. It moves like memory... slow, sacred, shifting. This release needs to be close to home, and will be released on my own imprint Distorted Waves, on the day 11.11 -- which refers to my first album that my dad had hanging up in his shed. For my father. Nadia

Tim Maia’s self-titled 1973 album is one of those records that hits you from the very first groove and doesn’t let go. Originally released on Polydor Brazil, this was the fourth in a series of Tim’s self-titled albums and many fans and critics still consider it the crown jewel. Packed with irresistible hooks, lush arrangements, and that unmistakable Tim Maia swagger, the album captures the singer at the peak of his creative powers.If you’re new to Tim Maia, here’s the quick story: born in Rio de Janeiro, Tim was a larger-than-life icon whose music married American soul and funk with Brazilian samba and pop long before “fusion” was a buzzword. A true musical polymath, he absorbed everything from Curtis Mayfield to Motown and translated it into a sound entirely his own, gritty, passionate, and full of groove.



He didn’t just introduce soul to Brazil; he made it Brazilian.On this 1973 release, Tim pushes everything up a notch. The arrangements are bigger, slicker, and surprisingly majestic, without losing the raw spirit that earned him a devoted following. From the moment ‘Réu Confesso’ opens the album, you know you’re in for something special—smooth, funky, and heartfelt in all the right ways. The bittersweet ‘Gostava Tanto de Você’ remains one of his most beloved classics, while ‘O Balanço’ bursts with Brazilian flavor that practically dares you not to move. And with tracks like ‘Do Your Thing, Behave Yourself’ and ‘Over Again,’ Tim shows just how naturally the soul idiom fit him, even when he switched to English.This record has everything: deep grooves, soaring strings, magnetic vocals, and that unmistakable sense of joy that Tim Maia carried into every session. It’s a front-to-back winner—one of those albums that deserves a spot not just in Brazilian music history, but in any collection that celebrates great soul, funk, and timeless grooves.If you’re a longtime fan, it’s a reminder of why Tim Maia is legendary. If you’re discovering him for the first time, this is the perfect place to start. Either way: press play, turn it up, and let Tim do his thing.

As Nathan Fake rises from the nocturnal subterranea and rave catharsis of his previous records, on Evaporator, he resurfaces into the domain of daylight, bringing a tangible sense of air rushing against your face, of big skies, and endless landscapes. The idea of pop accessibility that trickled into 2023’s Crystal Vision is refracted here through the prism of sweeping ambient, deep electronica, and trance uplift. Evaporator is Fake’s idea of “airy daytime music”, with each track a different barometer reading across the album’s varying atmospheres, which range from vibrant sunbursts, bracing rainscapes, and fine mists of clement melodics. “It’s not overtly confrontational electronic club music,” states Fake. “It’s quite pleasant, it’s accessible. As I was progressing through making the tracklist, I called it a daytime album. It doesn’t feel like an afterparty album.” For the past decade Fake has been gingerly introducing collaborations with heroes and friends alike into his lone, idiosyncratic working process. Border Community alumni Dextro AKA Ewan Mackenzie transmutes his ferocious drumming for Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs into the blurred choral thump of ‘Baltasound’. ‘Orbiting Meadows’, meanwhile, is his second collaboration with Clark, an eerily idyllic duet where microtonal 18EDO piano clangs slowly twirl around wailing pads. Evaporator marks the junction point of old technology and ever fresh creativity for Nathan. The trusty “dinosaur” age software, particularly Cubase VST5, that has powered two decades of music is rarely updated. “I used to sort of feel a bit ashamed of using such old software, and then I kind of had an epiphany – that’s just how I work”, comments Fake. “That’s just how I play. I’m very fond of these old tools, and I get the most joy out of them, but now I’ve incorporated new technology too.” When an artist accumulates so much synergy with their instrument, music making becomes instinctual. By Fake’s account, much of Evaporator just fell into place. The album title arrived randomly in his head (“it felt completely perfect. Airy.”), ideas looped and developed until things locked into place and just felt right. ‘The Ice House’ is a fleeting glimpse of the sonic world he taps into in this creative state, its glassy FM synths built around a counterpoint between rough-hewn crystalline arpeggios and sparse yet gravitas-bearing bass. “That riff I just wrote out on the keyboard, I just played it forever and ever and ever. The original track ended up being really short. Here you go, and it’s gone!” These unplanned channellings of sound call forth records from Fake’s past while he looks ahead, perhaps getting at the very essence of his musicianship. The opener ‘Aiwa’ (“the breeziest,” he muses) reminds of the introspection that characterised Providence, excited by the fire and grit of Steam Days’ textural experiments, its chunky slams and clatters surging into a flood of harmonic buzzing as they reach out for old wisdom. ‘Hypercube’ stampedes in a similar chronological confluence, infusing an incessant synth line reminiscent of the golden age of rave with the crackling, ecstatic energy of modern festival anthems. Like the vaporisation of liquid to particles, everything that Evaporator presents has a mutant desire to be amorphous. Sounds rarely settle; the irradiated garage beat of ‘Bialystok’ is pitched downwards to driving, rebounding effect, while ‘You’ll Find a Way’ warps static into shivering energy, cinematic synth strings building anticipation into a gradual gush of chords. This translates into a more expansive stereo field than Fake has explored before. ‘Slow Yamaha’ saves the wildest, most kinetic transformations for last with a cornucopia of crispy melodies and fried drums; a sibilance of cymbals on the left, a susurrus of shakers on the right, and kaleidoscopic lasers pulsing and fizzing all around. Evaporation culminating in pure excited atoms. In a world where music has increasingly become background content, making albums remains lifeblood for Fake: “It makes me realise how long; twenty years is ages! It’s weird to see how much the world has changed. Release day back then you did fuck all, now you spend all day on socials. When I grew up the people who made the electronic music I was into were quite mysterious, and the artwork was very abstract. There was a massive distance between you and that music, and that was a key part of it, really. Now it helps to be an extrovert, and I'm just not, but the album marks the first time my face has graced the cover art. I’ve never wanted to do this before, I'm very shy, and generally I don’t like being seen,” he professes. “But, twenty years in, I supposed I could try something new. I'm very lucky that I'm somehow surviving in this world, where the media world favours extroverts and interesting looking people. It’s not my world but somehow I’m still in it.” Evaporator continues to prove Nathan’s necessary presence, with some of his most engaging, varied, and magical music yet.

2025 Repress

140g vinyl, remastered, double LP with the original LP along with a second record of 14 rare tracks

Sweet And Nice is the vital debut album from Jamaica’s undisputed first lady of song Marica Griffiths. It’s reggae at its most soulful. Slinking through a tight ten tracks of R&B and pop-sourced material, it became an instant best seller. 45 years after its initial release the LP is available again on vinyl, now as a double LP, with an extra record collecting 14 rare tracks.

Sweet And Nice has appeared over the years with a revised running order and under different titles. But the original’s opening sequence of loping soul is legendary, even beyond reggae circles. These songs are now returned to how they were presented on that first Jamaican release, and under their intended album title. Be With doesn’t mess with magic.

Marcia’s version of “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” has long been lusted after, played by genre-hopping selectors to snapping necks for decades now. It’s followed by the sophisticated, rollicking wah-wah funk of “Everything I Own” and the slice of smooth lovers soul par excellence that is “Green Grasshopper” and her ace, lilting Neil Diamond cover “Play Me”.

The thundering, humid funk of “Children At Play” “sounds uncannily like a precursor of Massive Attack”, as FACT Mag astutely noted when they put Sweet And Nice at number 16 in their list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. Otherworldly, moody and essential.

Side two keeps the fire burning. “Sweet, Bitter Love” should leave you swooning, and is also one of the album’s alternate titles. Curtis Mayfield’s already-eternal “Gypsy Man” is up next, recast as proto-lovers rock.

“There’s No Me Without You” is elevated to canonical status by the majestic, forlorn horns of the Federal Soul Givers and Marcia’s heartbreaking delivery. And if this doesn’t get you then surely the next track will: arguably the definitive version of Ewan MacColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. Yes, seriously.

“I Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely” re-takes its rightful place at the end of the LP’s second side… but we couldn’t leave it at that. So we added an entire second record of rare material recorded around the same time as Sweet And Nice, much of it unavailable since it was originally released. Some of these songs have only ever been found on now unattainable 7" singles and no, rarity doesn’t always correspond with quality, but in this case we’re talking about some seriously jaw-dropping music.

Amongst 14 extra tracks you’ll find the exquisite late-60s singles “Melody Life” and “Mark My Word” which, along with the sumptuous reading of “Band Of Gold”, are now £100 records, if you can find them! Just sayin’. There‘s also a fantastic version of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” and an alternate take of “Play Me” with producer Lloyd Charmers adding his own vocals.

Everything’s been remastered of course, including the original LP, so Sweet And Nice now sounds even sweeter, and even nicer.