After releasing their first LP on PPU under the name of CEEOFUNK, Spaced Out Knew and Orion Westbrook are releasing a brand new 6-track EP entitled "Friends, Love, Freak."
Watch out: an "unidentified sonic object" is heading your way!
It’s a funky anomaly that pays tribute to 80's grooves while asserting a fresh style all its own—decidedly "offbeat." The sound blends unique touches of cosmic soul-funk and European 80's synth-pop influences with a "DIY" approach, sitting somewhere between "disco-not-disco" and unconventional grooves.
Vocals are performed in Italian, French, and English, featuring the excellent Ghostape, Lydie Gaga, Marius Cyrilou, and Chérie Bibi. Themes include love, desire, and bonds of brotherhood...
On the menu: fat slap-bass lines, funky guitars, smooth electric piano, sparkling analog synths / Solina String Machine, and on top, an abundance of Casio SK-1 synth and lo-fi sampling gadgets.
The vibe oscillates between boundless energy and laid-back grooves, all served up with a non-conformist freshness and a touch of originality that can be read "between the lines."
CHIWAX CLASSIC EDITION prouldy presents Boo Williams - Lost Of Time.
This fantastic release from 1995 came originally out on legendary Relief Records.
The 2026 version contains a new mastering.
Don't feed the Discogs Sharks!
Dive into the ultra deep field with the fourth release by Alphawaves.
A0910EP showcases Alphawaves' characteristic ability to fuse the organic and the synthetic into a cohesive, hypnotic whole. Across two tracks, a subtle but insistent surge of energy powers both dancefloors and hi-fidelity systems. Dubby and repetitive yet undeniably playful, a sound that feels both intimate and expansive. A sonic space rooted in past, present, and future, echoing far beyond the moment.
Rio de Janeiro producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Fabio Santanna returns with Copa Astral, an eight-track journey through modern Brazilian boogie, disco and Balearic grooves. Released by Rio’s Onda Boa, a label founded by Joutro Mundo, the album captures the warmth of the city's sunlit days and the cinematic glow of its nights, blending lush synths, live horns, percussion and rich vocal arrangements into an unmistakably Brazilian sound.
Opening with the slow-burning title track, introduced by the unmistakable cry of a cuíca, Copa Astral sets the mood before unfolding into the rolling grooves of "Ponto de Areia" and the Afro-Brazilian pulse of "Odoya Beat". Elsewhere, "Nesse Tempo" drifts into dreamy nostalgia, while side B moves effortlessly through the carefree boogie of "Jabuticaba", inspired by Brazil's beloved fruit; the warm, enveloping feeling of longing in "Senti Saudade"; the seaside romance of "À Beira Mar"; before closing with "Cantagalo", a heartfelt tribute to the neighbourhoods, memories and spirit that continue to shape Santanna's music.
Inspired as much by Rio's beaches as its neon-lit avenues, Santanna draws from Brazilian boogie, 1980s cinema, vintage record sleeves and classics such as Junior Mendes' Copacabana Sadia, filtering those influences through the city's unique rhythm. Produced at his Copacabana studio with live brass, percussion and vocal harmonies, Copa Astral is both timeless and contemporary - an album equally at home on the dancefloor, by the ocean or during a late-night drive along the coast.
When Network Records originally issued “Innovator” in 1991 we knew that the music contained within was timeless. At that time, of course, we had no grasp of how well Derrick’s epic soundscapes would time travel. We christened the collection - “Soundtrack For The Tenth Planet” - because it seemed like the music (and Derrick) had indeed arrived from another world.
The release has been acclaimed as iconic because Derrick, the madcap and maverick philosopher of Detroit Techno, introduced the concept of dance music with a musical and emotional agenda way beyond anything that had come before. Beats with beauty. Literally the strings of life. Where fellow musical geniuses Chic had previously urged everybody to simply "Dance, Dance, Dance" mood alchemist Mayday merged simple yet cerebral dreamscapes with strange and urgent complex dance rhythms and invited us all to Dance And Dream. And in a strange juxtaposed way helped birth the hedonistic Acid House scene with classics “Nude Photo” and “Strings Of Life”
The energy is frenetic, but merged with a new age ambience. The gems collected on this offering were iconic in 1991, now they cause mass hysteria when Derrick turns his one time musical experiments, created in a tiny room in Detroit, and turns them into epic concerts with orchestras and musicians across the globe. “Hand In Hand” existed in 1991 and we wanted to release it then, but it’s taken until now for the complete 13 minute recording to finally meet the world.
It will be revered, because like all of Derrick May’s music it is life affirming. Emotions Electric indeed.
The original “Innovator” release was housed on one single slab of wax. This time around we have expanded it to two discs to make space for “Hand Over Hand” and also so everything elsewhere - masterpieces remastered - can be presented in a complete and superior fashion. Whatever the tweaks, changes and updates etc all these years on, this music still sounds gloriously alien and groundbreaking. But there’s still no Tenth Planet.
"Innovator" remastered by Curvepusher, London 2019. Re-presented by Network Records in conjunction with Derrick May.
BERG AUDIO is happy to welcome back one of our favorite producers, Havantepe. In the past few years, the Turkish artist’s output has become rare, greatly increasing our excitement to finally share these masterfully crafted pieces on the label. The release includes a superb collaboration with Christopher Ledger, and a remix from one of Romania’s key artists, Cristi Cons – Artwork by Juli Jah.
D. Diggler joins the Kontakt family with two smoked-out dub techno cuts, drifting through hazy chords, submerged delays and weighty low-end motion. On remix duties, Per Hammar turns in a deep and hypnotic remix, true to the sound of his release on Dirty Hands and Sushitech. Limited coloured vinyl.
When the first JIM album Love Makes Magic was released in 2023, it was the end product of an experiment that had begun during the strange days of the pandemic. Cooped up in his studio, James Baron started fiddling about with an as-yet unnamed new album idea. It became Vicious Charm’s first LP release. Labelled variously as Balearic, folktronica, blue-eyed soul and Laurel Canyon, Love Makes Magic was perhaps all and none of those things: a record rooted less in Californian mythology than in Baron’s own musical world, somewhere between Sherwood, Nottingham, classic songwriting, electronic soul and the no-nonsense good times that have long run through his work under his other monikers (principally the anagrammatic Ron Basejam and, of course, Crazy P) One thing was indisputable, it connected with people... and still does.
The album was a minor hit, appearing in many a Best of 2023 chart and voted Album of the Year in Bill Brewster’s Furtive 50. A tour and a few memorable festival appearances – his 2024 We Out Here Festival being one of those wonderfully timed ‘moments’ - perfectly captured the horizontal vibes on the album, while injecting some live energy into its delivery. While there was a follow-up remix album for Love Makes Magic, JIM was already preparing a sophomore LP: “I wrote the majority of The Curious Case Of Existence in a couple of months at the beginning of 2024, then it was just a case of making the record over the next couple of years in between everything else.”
Rocco Universal presents four cuts of cosmic machine funk on Cosmic Tiger.
Lovingly recorded using analogue synthesis, the floor-focused music favours feeling over control, with saturated drums, thick bass notes and slow-burning melodies loosely entwined over intuitive arrangements. Shaped patiently amid Rocco’s long-running residency at Potato Head Bali, the tracks meander through cosmic disco, proto-house, electro-funk and psychedelic chug, each finding its place beneath evolving twilight skies.
Rocco Universal is the alter-ego of Patrizio Cavaliere — DJ, producer and journalist serving the roots of music from the space in between. His cultured turntable curation alongside years in conversation with some of the scene’s architects and ambassadors inform freeform productions that have previously arrived on labels including Leng, Soul Clap and Adeen Detroit.
Originally launched as a blog, Cosmic Tiger now surfaces only occasionally through interviews and original releases, operating as a slow-moving but trusted archive of influences, conversations and dancefloor oddities.
The eighth helping of these Perro Bueno Edits is as delicious as Kinder Buenos (we have kids, don't judge us). Once again it is an anonymous affair from the in-house team, whoever that may be, and this one opens with 'SDBO', which is a new flip of, we're told, a "rare African cover version of a much-loved disco classic". It has a perfect mix of disco glam and Afro earthiness with soaring melodies and funk drums that can't fail to get you locked in. 'LEHA' on the B-side is another Afro-funk gem that is rebuilt with layers of chunky percussion and drums, interplay between male and female vocals and fat bass that anchors the whole thing perfectly.
Hot Digits main guy Fingerman - a veritable of the UK nu-disco and disco re-edit scenes - is the man at the controls on the latest missive from the imprint's vinyl-focused Wax Digits offshoot. He's in prime form from the off, offering a deliciously chunky, effects-laden, dub disco style rework of a New York no-wave era 'downtown' disco classic. He doffs a cap to pal Chewy Rubs and their joint love of heavy, looped bass guitar lines on the stretched-out funk-goes-deep disco wonder that is 'Bestest Beat', before cunningly rearranging a more string-laden slab of disco-funk grandiosity on closing cut 'We Love It'. We certainly do, and there's a fair chance you will too.
Following the events of Pussy Disco (SCCD 021) ...
The nights in Hong Kong did not remain a secret for long. Word spread silently through the feline world, and the gatherings grew until the music no longer belonged to a single hidden basement. The cats had found something of their own.
Their new destination became Macau. Long after midnight, when the casino floors fall silent and the roulette wheels come to rest, they emerge from hidden passages and forgotten service corridors to throw their own secret parties. The gaming tables become dance floors.
The remixes played during these nights were all commissioned by the legendary feline Primadonna Disco Queen Beast (PDQB), reimagining tracks from the original Pussy Disco album. The most celebrated DJ cats perform with nothing but their claws, tracing the grooves like perfectly balanced styli. Their oversized ears become living loudspeakers, carrying every microscopic detail through the vast halls.
Before dawn, the music fades. The cats disappear without a sound, leaving the roulette tables exactly as they found them. When the first employees arrive, there is no sign that anything happened during the night.
Over the years, PDQB commissioned countless remixes of tracks from Pussy Disco. The eleven collected on this double vinyl were all played during the legendary Sunrise Sessions - the final hours before daybreak, when the parties reached their absolute peak. These are the remixes the cats returned to again and again, making them the undisputed classics of Macau's underground feline nightlife.
Riva Starr teams up with Australian duo Close Counters for a sun-soaked debut on Heist.
What do you get when you put an Italian house legend in the studio with 2 of the most talented artists from Melbourne? Have a listen to the newest release on Heist and you’ll find out. On their ‘Push your luck’ EP, Riva Starr, Close Counters and UK soul singer Andre Espeut bring a heavy dose of jazz & soul and most of all, upbeat dancefloor energy. Whether it’s the deep soulful vibe of the title track or the house meets jazz-funk energy of ‘Gearbox’, this EP brings together everything we love about house music.
‘Push your luck’ comes right in the middle of Close Counters’ world tour, just after Riva Starr’s album ‘Keep me on the dancefloor’ and is the follow up to their recent collab ‘Jinga’ on Riva Starr’s own Snatch Records. We all know Riva Starr from his 2013 Fatboy Slim collab ‘Eat sleep rave repeat’, his work with Groove Armada, and more recently his collab with Prunk on his PIV records debut album. Close Counters have already worked with Heist mainstays Fouk and had their breakthrough moment with their 2023 album ‘Soulacousta II’, which got wide support ranging from Gilles Peterson to Jyoto and Folamour.
Their ‘Push your luck’ EP kicks off with the title track featuring the silky vocals of Andre Espeut. When we first heard this song, we immediately got transported to the soulful sound of the mid 2000s led by Recloose’s unique track ‘Dust’ with Fat Freddy’s Drop singer Joe Dukie. It’s moody, stripped back, and bouncy at the same time. The lush chords, disco bassline, and vocal harmonies all make for a track that goes beyond genres and trends. This is a future classic.
‘Gearbox’ is a disco-tinged piano jam full of live elements, rolling congas and disco bleeps, where the musicality of the Close Counters boys comes in at full speed. This song takes its inspiration from the Brazilian jazz-funk of legends Marcos Valle and Azymuth, with a clear sense of modern-day dancefloors and a love for electronic noise. Also; 10/10 for creatively naming the track after the glitchy electronic sound that freaks & funks throughout the track.
On the flip, ‘Dizzy’ sees the trio go more into disco-house territory, again teaming up with Andre Espeut for a track that blends catchy vocal loops with a tight groove and lush chords. The EP finishes with a club dub of ‘Push your luck’ for those in favor of more groove and less vocals.
We’ve had Riva Starr and the Close Counters boys on our radar for a while, and they landed on Heist with the perfect combination of musicality and dancefloor power. We hope you like this release as much as we do!
Brighton-based DJ and producer Sophie Lloyd, renowned for her soulful, uplifting house and disco sound, revisits four gems from the London Records catalogue. The collection brings fresh interpretations of East 17’s UK Top 3 hit, It’s Alright, Carmel’s soulful and genre-blending More, More, More, Maria Rowe’s house / R&B crossover anthem Sexual - famously remixed by Graeme Park - and Carlton’s Bristol deep house classic Do You Dream, originally produced by Smith & Mighty.
Following a striking introduction, Nick Fasoli returns with FT002, the second release on Freaking Tricks. Building on the label's opening statement while pushing into darker, more adventurous territory, the record pairs hypnotic grooves with razor-sharp percussion, warped textures, and unmistakable character. Confident, uncompromising, and built for the dancefloor, FT002 further defines the sound of Freaking Tricks and signals that the label is only just getting started.
Hailing from Paris, Wonderkidz reveals their very first Various Artists compilation, a project featuring exclusively producers from the Parisian scene. Through this compilation, the collective spotlights a new generation of artists who share a common vision of electronic music, while asserting an identity deeply rooted in the capital.
Spanning house, tech house, and minimal, the tracks explore different facets of contemporary club culture while maintaining a distinctly Parisian flair. Each track reflects the energy, diversity, and creativity of a constantly evolving local scene.
This debut release naturally centers on artists close to the collective, in keeping with the philosophy Wonder Kidz has upheld since its inception: building bridges between the talents in its circle, showcasing producers with whom it shares a history, a vision, or a common artistic sensibility, and providing a platform for expression to a vibrant independent scene.
Berlin-based edit specialist Voodoocuts knows exactly how to tease out the best bits of any of the source tunes he works with. He's been doing it for years now on labels like Juice on Wax and Uluru, and now heads to Ritmo for his latest 7" bomb. 'Riddim Freak' gets this one going with a reggaeton rework of a Missy Elliott classic. It's an inspired pairing that has elastic bass and trampoline-like kicks with rave horns, fat-assed brass band energy and plenty of that original Missy attitude. 'Work This' takes another of the rap queens' most welcome jams and flips and reverses it into an early electro and hip-hop blend with old school drums and many magnificent samples all bringing it to life in full colour.
Needlewreckordz drops a heavyweight 7" for hip-hop and funk lovers with a great collision of source materials, making for sharp edits with undeniable groove. Opener 'Doin It (In The Park)' features a classic refrain from a Detroit jazz great, but layered over a funky groove that never quits. On the flip, 'Madness' slows the tempo with a more deep cut and rolling groove that brings slick r&b vocals that tug at the heart while bumping kicks and hip-hop fragments further flesh out the fun. Plenty of familiar touches dropped into irresistible grooves make this a gem for party-starting sessions.
»Memorial« grew out of Nate Wooley’s work alongside Annea Lockwood recording the Columbia River, and in particular from a visit to Kettle Falls in northern Washington, once one of the river’s great salmon fishing and meeting grounds and a place of enormous importance to the Sinixt and other Indigenous peoples of the Upper Columbia. The falls disappeared from view following the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in 1940, submerged beneath what is now Lake Roosevelt, yet beneath the still surface of the reservoir, a fast current continues to move across the buried cliffs. That tension between what remains and what can only be recovered through memory runs throughout »Memorial«.
In the essay accompanying the record, Wooley returns repeatedly to the idea of translation: the attempt to carry an experience from one form into another, from river to recording, memory to sound, landscape to music. He moves between Lockwood’s sound maps, John Ashbery’s rain falling on canal machinery, Ravel’s attempts to make water move through a piano, Christian Wolff’s »Stones«, and the Sinixt First Salmon Ceremony, where rocks struck together recall the sound of salmon once moving through the river in their thousands. These translations cannot restore what has been lost; however, they allow us to revisit what remains beneath in another form.
»Memorial« exists as an uncertainty, concerned with the distance between a place and its recording, between an event and what survives of it, and with the way listening itself becomes entangled with memory. Kettle Falls remains submerged, the river constrained and radically altered, but the water continues to move over the old rock beneath the reservoir. »Memorial« tries to listen for that persisting memory.
Bosconi Records reissues one of its most sought-after releases: BOSCO004 by the British duo 100Hz (Lee Renacre & James Chapman), a three-track EP seamlessly blending Robert Hood-style minimal Detroit techno with dubstep/techno crossover influences.
At the heart of the record is “The Field”, a rediscovered DJ-favorite driven by a deep, trippy groove and the magnetic vocals of Patrick Stanley (AKA “The Voice”), accompanied by the sleek, suspenseful atmospheric vibe of “Tension”. Rounding out the EP is “Cinqo”, a timeless 137 BPM avant-garde smasher originally released in 1995 on Format Records that bridges the gap between Benga, Tobias, and Marcel Dettmann.
Slippery Yard’s third ecosystem lands with “The future is behind”, a very specific immersion into Lugo-based Javier Marimon’s own dub take. We have been fans of Javier’s music for years, one of those who makes up his own palette through experimentation. Textural low end, immersive granular synthesis and groove development in a way nobody approaches, sketchy yet very personal.
Amsterdam based fellow producer Bas Dobbelaer provides us a very different clean perspective of the surface of Slippery Yard biome. Biggest mention to our beloved ecosystem designer Fredonné for such a high quality 3D artwork of the new discovered ecosystem.
Futurismo präsentiert das legendäre Debütalbum "Only Theatre Of Pain" (1982) der Gothic-Legenden Christian Death in neuen limitierten Deluxe-Formaten - remastert und erweitert um frühe Demos und rarem Material, samt Poster. "Only Theatre Of Pain" gilt als Meisterwerk und Ursprung des Deathrock - ein wegweisendes Epos von unheiliger Kraft und tiefschwarzer Emotionalität. Obwohl seine Wurzeln im Punk liegen – die Ursprünge der Christian Death-Originalbesetzung liegen in der Früh-1980er Hardcore-Explosion in Südkalifornien –, kann die Bedeutung dieses Werks für die nachfolgende Musiklandschaft nicht hoch genug eingeschätzt werden. Wie ein Adrenalinstoß ins Herz der Finsternis entspringt diese ungezügelte und geheimnisvolle Aufnahme bis heute jeder Kategorisierung. Mit dem visionären Rozz Williams (damals noch Teenager) sowie Punk-Legende Rikk Agnew (Adolescents), James McGearty und George Belanger präsentiert "Only Theatre Of Pain" eine musikalische Erkundung, geprägt von psychosexueller Lyrik und einem tiefen Glaubenskampf, aufgenommen innerhalb weniger Tage mit Produzentenlegende Thom Wilson. Klanglich und visuell seiner Zeit voraus, ist dieses Stück sakrilegischer US-Punk ein absolutes Muss für alle, die sich für Gothic begeistern, für Fans von The Misfits, Bauhaus und The Cramps.
*Originally pressed in 2021 - this is a brand new master and cut.**
In partnership with Analogue Foundation, Oshu Records is proud to present the exclusive vinyl repress of "Laroyê" in a thick cardboard tip-on gatefold jacket on 2x 180g vinyl.
Acclaimed Hungarian, Berlin-based producer, composer and pianist Àbáse (AKA Szabolcs Bognár) returns, sharing a special, 5 anniversary remaster of his breakthrough project 'Laroyê'. Releasing on Friday 1 May via Bridge The Gap & Oshu Records, this sensitive exploration of Afro-Brazilian culture originally began as an audio diary, documenting Szabolcs’ travels and collaborations in Brazil through a collection of voice memos, fragmented beats, sketches and field recordings. As his journey progressed, and his collaborations and research deepened, the music project started to take on its own life:
"Laroyê evolved through weeks and months of research and collaborations into the album that it is now. That means that all the sessions were done in different apartments, small studios, often with borrowed equipment, which all adds to the character, but makes the creation of a coherent sound a challenge. Benjamin Tierney, Erik Breuer and Analogue Foundation did an incredible job with the mixes and with this new remaster. I truly believe that we are able to hear the tracks in a new light, with even more depth and clarity."
Coming from the West African Yoruban language, Àbáse stands for "collaboration" – a key element of the music perfectly encapsulated on 'Laroyê'. Recorded in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, Àbáse spent five months working with diverse artists, from young talents to veterans of the Brazilian scene including Letieres Leite, Luciane Dom, Dofono d'Omolu, Afrojazz and more. The album explores the rich heritage of afro-brasilian culture through samba, MPB and Candomblé, mixing these with broken beat, hip hop and afrobeat, creating a contemporary homage to the classic Brazilian sound. Szabolcs shares:
"Despite already leading and managing musical projects that are close to my hearth, I always felt that one day I would like to start a solo project, where I could take full responsibility for the artistic direction and the music would reflect a truly personal vision. In 2017, I decided to take five months to fulfil a childhood dream and travel to Brazil to expand my creative horizon and expose myself to new influences."
An album standout is the bass-heavy, afro-brazilian ‘Agangatolú, which Àbáse describes as "best exemplifying the story and concept of Laroye as a collaborative effort - a research project exploring the rich heritage of Afro Brazilian culture through my own lens." The track features singers and percussion players Jadson Xabla and Gabriel Santana - two artists based out of one of the oldest terreiros (houses of worship) in Bahia, whilst drummer Jorge Dubman is an integral part of one of the most famous afrobeat bands from Salvador IFA. The contributions of one of Szabolcsoldest collaborators - Hungarian flautist Fanni Zahar - also made the track a full-circle moment.
On a quest for cosmic grooves of unity, Àbáses music pulls from an eclectic blend of global reference points, including modal jazz, Hungarian folk, West African, Brazilian, hiphop and underground electronic music. His work has drawn widespread critical acclaim from the likes of MOJO, Songlines, Soulection and The Guardian, and been supported by key tastemakers including Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova and BAMBII. As a keyboard player, Szabolcs has also collaborated with the likes of Wayne Snow, Dele Sosimi, Patti Smith, Emmanuel Wilkins, Gulty Simpson and Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange.
'Laroyê' (2026 Remaster) will release on Friday 1st May via Bridge The Gap & Oshu Records.
Intersecting sharpness and passion. An innovative work born from the collision of two rare and extraordinary talents.
On one side was Hiroshi Suzuki, a trombonist in such demand that people said, “If you want to record a good work, secure his schedule.” On the other hand was Masahiko Togashi, a drummer who rose to prominence at a young age and dominated the jazz world, from modern jazz to free jazz. The collision of these two personalities and talents created a new current in the Japanese jazz scene. From "Castle Cats," which moves between jazz rock and free jazz, to "Suzu No Uta," where Yuji Ohno’s piano spins a beautiful melody amid the sound of bells falling like rain, and "Passion," where each musician cuts in with sharp intensity, the entire work is filled with creativity and passion. Recorded in 1969, this is said to be the first work in Japan in which new jazz and free jazz were recorded and released as an album. From this turning point, Japanese jazz began to move in a major way.
First release on brand new imprint 'Picture Dis'. The label will reissue classic tracks only on Limited Edition picture disc. First release is none other than "Pump It Up" by Danzel, one of the defining dance records of the 2000s and a global club favourite that continues to ignite dancefloors around the world. Including Marnik Remix, A Cappella version and another hit by Danzel: "Put Your Hands Up In The Air!".
The eye of the storm: welcome to Tornado Wallace's debut album! The accumulation of about four years of work, with tracks written in Berlin and Melbourne, 'Lonely Planet' is nothing like you may have expected from the Australian expat. No stranger to fans and followers of ESP Institute, Beats in Space and Music From Memory's sister Label Second Circle, Tornado Wallace's strain of releases so far merged functionality with a musical playfulness that led him to find himself as one of the producer's behind José Padilla's International Feel album. Here, he leaves the needs of the dance floor behind in order to create a magical mystery tour de trance into his and our inner jungle. How about some references New Age sounds meet new wave melodies, Grace Jones runs into the Dire Straits at Compass Point, while a Korg Mini Pops and a Roland CR78 make amends for Sly & Robbie's absence, Michael Mann pictures Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', Robert Rauschenberg tries his luck at naturalism and an imagined Wally Badarou echoes through all of it. Sandwiched between the title track and the yearning beauty of the album's final point 'Healing Feeling', you get all of that as well as collaborations with and contributions of NO ZU, David Hischfelder and the voice of Sui Zhen on 'Today', who would easily make Anna Domino take her proverbial hat off. Tornado Wallace created an album that supersedes the requirements and expectations of a debut. Like a lost Island Records or a never released Made to Measure album, 'Lonely Planet' soundtracks notions and ideas that recall the nostalgic future in the past as much as it looks ahead.
Ramjac Corporation, aka Paul Chivers, emerged from the UK's late-'80s rave underground, performing live at parties like Sunrise, Energy, Back to the Future, Fun-da-Mental and Synergy. Building tracks with an Atari computer and an E-MU 12-bit sampler, turning severe technical limitations into raw, elastic club music, 88-92: It is What it Was gathers music born in bedrooms then tested in front of crowds at warehouse raves, while the culture was still inventing itself without boundaries, completelyfree.
Ramjac was the original artist on Irdial Discs, following label founder Akin Fernandez's Aqua Regia, and introduced Lee Purkis' In Sync and Neuropolitique to the label, shaping the singular catalogue of that extraordinary imprint alongside Luke Slater's Morganistic, Thee J Johanz and Anthony Manning.
That legacy is now revisited by Musique Pour La Danse, with the release of a limited edition vinyl and digital edition featuring extended liner notes by Nick Halkes of XL Recordings, Positiva and Kicks Like A Mule fame, who witnessed the early Ramjac period first-hand. The release is illustrated by Grant Fulton, who created the visual identity for The Shamen's Synergy events and Orbital albums.
This album presents music written exclusively between 1988-92 and forms the foundation of Ramjac Corporation's ongoing live performances. Restored from the original floppy discs, the recordings preserve the uniquerelationship between early digital technology, sampling culture and live improvisation that defines the Ramjac approach.
Mixed for release for the first time by Trevor Lancaster-Smith, whose 90s engineering work encompassed Leftfield, Faithless and Roni Size, the album brings these compositions into sharp focus while preserving the character of the original instruments and performances. Not just a historical document, 88-92: It is What it Was is a living body of work: music created then, realised now, and continuing to surprise and evolve.
A defining vocal trance classic of the late '90s, Lost Witness' "Happiness Happening" broke into the UK Top 20 and became a staple of the era's euphoric sound. This timeless favourite returns to vinyl, ready to light up the dancefloor once again.
Twenty-five years after its original release, Markus Guentner's debut album In Moll returns in a special anniversary reissue on Black Knoll Editions, reaffirming its place as one of the defining ambient recordings of the early 21st century.
Released in 2001 during the formative years of Kompakt's influential Pop Ambient series, In Moll emerged from a period of rapid transformation in electronic music. New technologies, expanding digital networks, and shifting creative possibilities allowed artists to imagine entirely new sonic worlds. Amid this fertile landscape, Guentner's music stood apart. Combining delicate melodic fragments, slow-moving harmonies, and a remarkable sense of spatial depth, In Moll introduced a distinct artistic voice whose impact can still be felt a quarter-century later.
The album arrived shortly after Guentner's contributions to the inaugural Pop Ambient compilation, including the now-beloved "Regensburg 1," named after his Bavarian hometown. Those early recordings immediately captured the attention of Kompakt founders Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt. Recalling his first encounter with the music, Mayer describes listening to a demo CDR with Voigt while wandering through Cologne late into the night, replaying the tracks for hours. "We knew that we had found something outrageously beautiful and we wanted the whole world to listen."
Across its running time, In Moll unfolds like a series of dreamlike landscapes, inviting the listener into a world that feels both familiar and strangely other. Bells, hisses, distant textures, and slow-moving bass tones drift through vast expanses of atmosphere while luminous synthesizer washes seem to blur the horizon in a fine digital mist. The album's transportive qualities are matched by a remarkable sense of compositional discipline. Every gesture feels deliberate, every texture carefully placed. Balancing warmth and melancholy with restraint, Guentner created a body of work that rewards both close listening and complete surrender.
Reflecting on the album twenty-five years later, Wolfgang Voigt describes Guentner as "one of the first, but also one of the most important ambient artists" associated with Kompakt, calling his music "an integral, timeless part of the long history of pop ambient." Music critic and former Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Mark Richardson, who reviewed In Moll upon its original release, similarly noted that the album "marked the arrival of an important new voice," and today regards it as "one of the finest ambient releases of the decade."
The album's influence continues to extend far beyond its original audience. For many listeners, In Moll served as an entry point into a new understanding of what ambient music could be. Black Knoll boss Rafael Anton Irisarri first encountered the album shortly after its release in 2001. "It immediately opened a door to a world of music I didn't know existed," he recalls. "At a time when I was still discovering my own creative voice, Markus showed me entirely new possibilities for what electronic music could communicate." Simply put, "The Sight Below would not have existed without In Moll paving the way."
Far from a historical curiosity, In Moll continues to feel strikingly contemporary. What once sounded futuristic now feels timeless, its patient pacing, attention to detail, and sense of wonder remaining entirely intact. The album's enduring power lies not only in its influence, but in the curiosity it continues to inspire, inviting listeners to step inside its world and lose themselves within it.
To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Black Knoll Editions presents the most complete edition of In Moll to date. Newly remastered in full analog by Rafael Anton Irisarri, this expanded release pairs the original album with a newly reworked interpretation by Markus Guentner himself, revisiting the material through the lens of twenty-five years of artistic development. The anniversary edition also features a new visual presentation designed by Guentner, offering a visual counterpart to the album's continued evolution. Together, these recordings and visuals celebrate both the enduring legacy of In Moll and its ability to reveal new dimensions twenty-five years later.
This 25th Anniversary Edition on Black Knoll Editions celebrates a recording whose quiet impact has only grown with time, preserving a work that remains as evocative, singular, and essential today as it was in 2001.
Twenty-five years after its original release, Markus Guentner's debut album In Moll returns in a special anniversary reissue on Black Knoll Editions, reaffirming its place as one of the defining ambient recordings of the early 21st century.
Released in 2001 during the formative years of Kompakt's influential Pop Ambient series, In Moll emerged from a period of rapid transformation in electronic music. New technologies, expanding digital networks, and shifting creative possibilities allowed artists to imagine entirely new sonic worlds. Amid this fertile landscape, Guentner's music stood apart. Combining delicate melodic fragments, slow-moving harmonies, and a remarkable sense of spatial depth, In Moll introduced a distinct artistic voice whose impact can still be felt a quarter-century later.
The album arrived shortly after Guentner's contributions to the inaugural Pop Ambient compilation, including the now-beloved "Regensburg 1," named after his Bavarian hometown. Those early recordings immediately captured the attention of Kompakt founders Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt. Recalling his first encounter with the music, Mayer describes listening to a demo CDR with Voigt while wandering through Cologne late into the night, replaying the tracks for hours. "We knew that we had found something outrageously beautiful and we wanted the whole world to listen."
Across its running time, In Moll unfolds like a series of dreamlike landscapes, inviting the listener into a world that feels both familiar and strangely other. Bells, hisses, distant textures, and slow-moving bass tones drift through vast expanses of atmosphere while luminous synthesizer washes seem to blur the horizon in a fine digital mist. The album's transportive qualities are matched by a remarkable sense of compositional discipline. Every gesture feels deliberate, every texture carefully placed. Balancing warmth and melancholy with restraint, Guentner created a body of work that rewards both close listening and complete surrender.
Reflecting on the album twenty-five years later, Wolfgang Voigt describes Guentner as "one of the first, but also one of the most important ambient artists" associated with Kompakt, calling his music "an integral, timeless part of the long history of pop ambient." Music critic and former Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Mark Richardson, who reviewed In Moll upon its original release, similarly noted that the album "marked the arrival of an important new voice," and today regards it as "one of the finest ambient releases of the decade."
The album's influence continues to extend far beyond its original audience. For many listeners, In Moll served as an entry point into a new understanding of what ambient music could be. Black Knoll boss Rafael Anton Irisarri first encountered the album shortly after its release in 2001. "It immediately opened a door to a world of music I didn't know existed," he recalls. "At a time when I was still discovering my own creative voice, Markus showed me entirely new possibilities for what electronic music could communicate." Simply put, "The Sight Below would not have existed without In Moll paving the way."
Far from a historical curiosity, In Moll continues to feel strikingly contemporary. What once sounded futuristic now feels timeless, its patient pacing, attention to detail, and sense of wonder remaining entirely intact. The album's enduring power lies not only in its influence, but in the curiosity it continues to inspire, inviting listeners to step inside its world and lose themselves within it.
To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Black Knoll Editions presents the most complete edition of In Moll to date. Newly remastered in full analog by Rafael Anton Irisarri, this expanded release pairs the original album with a newly reworked interpretation by Markus Guentner himself, revisiting the material through the lens of twenty-five years of artistic development. The anniversary edition also features a new visual presentation designed by Guentner, offering a visual counterpart to the album's continued evolution. Together, these recordings and visuals celebrate both the enduring legacy of In Moll and its ability to reveal new dimensions twenty-five years later.
This 25th Anniversary Edition on Black Knoll Editions celebrates a recording whose quiet impact has only grown with time, preserving a work that remains as evocative, singular, and essential today as it was in 2001.
Faitiche presents the debut solo album by cellist, sound artist, and composer Topu Lyo: “quiet scenes from tokyo” brings together sixteen miniatures for solo cello and tape echo that oscillate between abstracts drones and rhythmic pizzicato sketches – all recorded at Topu’s Tokyo apartment. The constant traffic noise from a nearby highway has become an accompanying soundtrack for his compositions and can be heard on the recordings. Topu’s playing is marked by a distinctive idiom oriented more towards abstract electronic studio effects than classical technique.
The artist spoke to Jan Jelinek about his work:
JJ: A solo cello album may seem like an odd fit for a label that has to date released only music that is electronic in the broadest sense. But I think “quiet scenes from tokyo” complements the Faitiche repertoire exceptionally well. Its sixteen miniatures showcase the cello in all its complexity: the bowed passages sometimes recall a tape feedback drone; the pizzicato playing conjures up the percussion recordings of Moondog; and the abstract textures might be mistaken for the product of a granular sampler rather than rapid finger work on the cello. I’m constantly surprised by just how rich and varied this album is – without ever losing the charm of its sketch-like quality. Could you say a few words about the making of your album – first of all, from a rather technical perspective: what production tools did you use, and why?
TL: My production tools were very sparse. Just a solo cello and my Roland 301 Space Echo, which I only used at the end, running everything through it during mixing, tape only. After years of working with electronics, pedals, and synthesizers, moving to Tokyo pushed me toward minimizing my setup. But my aesthetics shifted too, toward simplicity. I wanted to strip everything back to just the acoustic cello and see how far I could push it — replicating some of my favorite electronic effects through extended technique: slow portamento, LFOs, filters, detune, noise. I’d also been listening to a cassette of ocean sounds for years. When I moved to Tokyo I was horrified to find myself living directly across from a freeway. Eventually the freeway started sounding almost identical to the ocean — and that ended up playing a prominent part in the recording.
JJ: That’s super interesting: mimicking electronic production as a compositional idea for the cello! You say the sound of the freeway is crucial to the album: I, too, tend to interpret steady traffic noise as a positive soundscape – do we hear the freeway on the album? I can also hear other field recordings, for example on “a street car with announcements”. Can you say a bit about how these field recordings influence your playing?
TL: Yes, you can hear the freeway on the album! The freeway is most prominent in “old trees in lonely spring”, “yuyake koyake”, and “the moon” (you can clearly hear individual cars). When I first began recording I had my balcony door shut tightly, but after a while I began leaning into the highway sound and slowly opening the door little by little to control the amount of noise. “streetcar with announcements” was a moment I was recording and a car passed by making announcements in the background. I loved how it sounded! Same thing with “yuyake koyake”, and later I realized that every day at 5pm the same song plays to mark sunset, telling children it’s time to go home. Having this bedrock of sound puts less pressure on me to put music on top or to play more notes.
JJ: It’s astonishing how much this differs from what I’d imagined: I’d been picturing peaceful landscape recordings, but had never thought of a freeway. Which goes to show how open to interpretation traffic noises are. So the room by the freeway had a major influence on the album – how are you going to perform it live?
TL: The contrast between the freeway and the beautiful landscape in my head couldn’t have been starker. I too was imagining a beautiful landscape in which to create the album, but somehow it still worked out. I've been going back and forth a lot on live shows and I think the most honest way is to have it the most stripped down. I was thinking of using traffic samples etc., but I think the duet really comes from the background sounds from every unique venue/environment. So as it stands, I’ll just be doing acoustic solo cello.
This album is thirty years old; it was the first release in the Tricatel catalog. We expected to sell more copies back then (only 30,000 copies upon its release, which would be fantastic by today's standards), but we've never stopped reissuing it, and it has also found an audience in Japan as well as in the United States, where it was also pressed. We're celebrating this anniversary with an exclusive edition-and, for the first time on vinyl, the original cover art as well as Valérie's cover of a song by Mireille and Jean Nohain.
"Thank Goodness brings together an overdubbed ‘chamber band’ of bass guitar, viola, piano, harpsichord, voice and drums. Made on my own in London and Ireland between 2023-26 as a slow channelling inward of a lot of social energy.”
Seán Being is a committed figure at the sharp edges of Irish music, including being the key instigator of the band Princ€ss, touring bass player with Maria Somerville, and a long-time affiliate of Dublin label wherethetimegoes. Their various collaborations include contributions to live and recorded projects with the likes of Spellcaster, Nashpaints, Florian TM Zeizig, Jennifer Moore, Olan Monk, Dylan Kerr, Asa Nisi Masa, Life is Beautiful, Polido, Adriana João and Usof.
Not always in the business of ‘popular music’, Seán also has Gregorian Chant and car horn performances in their repertoire.
Aspects of all of this activity have made their way, directly or otherwise, into this first full-length album.
21 Bum Salute is the fifth album from Sydney experimental psych-noise-pop duo Party Dozen. The work of Kirsty Tickle (saxophone, vocals) and Jonathan Boulet (drums, loops, production), 21 Bum Salute finds the critically-acclaimed, semi-improvised duo feeling liberated - from their peers, their worries, and what the nell they're supposed to sound like now.
Emerging in 2017 from the warehouses of the Sydney experimental noise-rock scene, Party Dozen arrive at the release of their fifth album, 21 Bum Salute, in peak form. Over the course of four, increasingly perverse albums of psych-tinged rock peppered with pop noise and bursts of doom in equal measure, they've transformed from gleeful noise-makers producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville, NSW, to globe-hopping, critically-adored favourites - producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville.
As well as tours with Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tropical F*ckstorm, Algiers and more, Party Dozen had Nick Cave appear on 2022 single Macca The Mutt', collabed with New York rapper billy woods, performed an incendiary live set on KEXP, signed international deals, firstly with Temporary Residence LTD (Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky,
Along the way Party Dozen self-released their first two albums, The Living Man (2017) and Pray For Party Dozen (2020), struck a chord internationally with album The Real Work (2022), which sent them on tours of Europe, North America, Japan, China and New Zealand, while fourth LP, Crime in Australia (2024), an ode to Aussie noir that leaned beyond rock into moodier moments, repeated it.
Party Dozen recorded, mixed and mastered 21 Bum Salute completely themselves, over a three month span. Inspired by spooky "old recordings" as well as the primal impulses of acts like ESG and Bikini Kill, 21 Bum Salute - named after a peculiar, larrikin ritual in Australia's arid Northern Territory - condenses consecutive years of jam sessions, loops and improvisations into just over half an hour's worth of fizzing, strutting, striking sonics from the fringes.
21 Bum Salute is the fifth album from Sydney experimental psych-noise-pop duo Party Dozen. The work of Kirsty Tickle (saxophone, vocals) and Jonathan Boulet (drums, loops, production), 21 Bum Salute finds the critically-acclaimed, semi-improvised duo feeling liberated - from their peers, their worries, and what the nell they're supposed to sound like now.
Emerging in 2017 from the warehouses of the Sydney experimental noise-rock scene, Party Dozen arrive at the release of their fifth album, 21 Bum Salute, in peak form. Over the course of four, increasingly perverse albums of psych-tinged rock peppered with pop noise and bursts of doom in equal measure, they've transformed from gleeful noise-makers producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville, NSW, to globe-hopping, critically-adored favourites - producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville.
As well as tours with Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tropical F*ckstorm, Algiers and more, Party Dozen had Nick Cave appear on 2022 single Macca The Mutt', collabed with New York rapper billy woods, performed an incendiary live set on KEXP, signed international deals, firstly with Temporary Residence LTD (Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky,
Along the way Party Dozen self-released their first two albums, The Living Man (2017) and Pray For Party Dozen (2020), struck a chord internationally with album The Real Work (2022), which sent them on tours of Europe, North America, Japan, China and New Zealand, while fourth LP, Crime in Australia (2024), an ode to Aussie noir that leaned beyond rock into moodier moments, repeated it.
Party Dozen recorded, mixed and mastered 21 Bum Salute completely themselves, over a three month span. Inspired by spooky "old recordings" as well as the primal impulses of acts like ESG and Bikini Kill, 21 Bum Salute - named after a peculiar, larrikin ritual in Australia's arid Northern Territory - condenses consecutive years of jam sessions, loops and improvisations into just over half an hour's worth of fizzing, strutting, striking sonics from the fringes.
If Sylvie’s New Season were a movie, Ben Schwab would be the auteur, screenwriting and directing the vision, articulating his story through a cast of actors. In truth, New Season is a record of the freewheeling country-rock variety, Sylvie’s first with Ghostly International, and it finds the Los Angeles-based artist at the helm of a rotating ensemble, arriving at pure, joyous expression and renewed faith in the face of hardship. It’s a rare and refined kind of musical gesture, both intimate and all-embracing, self-produced, penned singularly, delivered collectively. An invitation to find beauty in life's trials and to trust that even the longest winters can give way to a new season. Like Sylvie’s self-titled effort, New Season still rings of the sunny, lighthearted, and smooth 1960s and ’70s pop, rock, and country sonics that have become the project’s signature. While Schwab constructed that 2021 project mainly with friends in his orbit, stemming from his time playing in Drugdealer’s band and other peripheral projects, he has broadened the scope tenfold for his full-length debut, New Season. The shapeshifting collective executes on an alluring mix of nostalgic and modern sensibilities, recalling the free-spiritedness of Laurel Canyon and bohemian-era Nashville with a contemporary sheen.
Nashville’s Jess Kerber focuses on the profound resonances of simple moments, pairing delicate acoustic guitar lines with her rich and captivating tenor. The World Is Dark, but I Want It to Be Funny, her second LP for Felte, is a deeply affecting collection of homespun poetry and natural artistry that finds the artists reflecting on personal history, the emotional intricacies of relationships, and the value of cosmic perspective. She explains,“These songs come from a space of feeling a little left behind, so a lot of the album is about realizing and accepting impermanence, and learning how to be good to yourself and to others.”
Opening with “Familiar Strangers”, Kerber gets to the heart of her greatest talents: fluid fingerpicking, emotive vocal cadences, feather-light touches of piano, and subtle harmonies. “Louisiana Song” positions a lyrical chain of childhood recollections up against the literal rising waters that will one day submerge a cherished place: “I think about being southern / and the sand on the gulf coast / When I think about returning / I am wading in a graveyard”.
Throughout The World Is Dark, Kerber navigates an emotional tightrope, fully aware of the ills of the world while trying to find connections and peaceful corners. Even with all their nuances and challenges, she suggests, our relationships are essential to staying grounded, even when we lose them. “Much of my writing is about facing the struggles head-on, balancing what you need to do to survive while remaining true to yourself,” she says. There are echoes of influences like Joni Mitchell, Gillian Welch, and Lomelda, though Kerber injects her own unique wit, wonder, and humility into every passage, allowing the listener into her head for a spell while quietly taking up residence in theirs.
The music on ‘Remanens’ is the result of a commission by Art Cinema OFF off and B.A.A.D.M to score the short silent film ‘Positano’ made by french actor and filmmaker Pierre Clémenti in 1969. The film itself is an ever-shifting series of glimpses, without much context, of a family vacation to the island Positano. The short cuts are similar to a dream or obscured, residual memories where chronology has fallen apart.
The score was reworked into album format on ‘Remanens’, the title being the Swedish word for remanence. The word has several meanings, most commonly residual magnetism left behind in a material. It is consequently used when referring to residue on magnetic tape, as well as data remanence, which is the residual digital data that remains even after attempts have been made to erase a hard drive. The music was reworked with remnant traces of memory in mind, of the film, but also of how glimpses of memories from another life, when the future was undecided, can make a person feel – and how it can unveil one’s own traces of what the future felt like.
Linus Hillborg (b. 1989) is a Swedish composer, musician and multidisciplinary artist based in Stockholm. His diverse creative practice spans experimental music across both electronic and acoustic realms, as well as compositions for film, theatre, and interactive installations. In 2021 he released his acclaimed solo-debut 'Magelungsverket' through Moloton, derived from the installation 'Orphan Works' which he built with an obsolete computer game engine. In 2023 he released 'Four Works' through Kali Malone and Maria W Horn’s label XKatedral, which featured a series of instrumental works by himself and Theodor Kentros.
In a cultural landscape trending toward mindless diversion, Your Old Droog has defied the odds, building a thriving career through musical depth and captivating songwriting. In pursuit of hip-hop immortality, the Brooklyn artist engages listeners with inventive metaphors, genuine reflections, and sophisticated rhyme architecture. Now, Your Old Droog is back with his tenth full length album, Bread & Butter. Recalling his humble immigrant family stretching caviar across slices of bread shortly after arriving from Ukraine, YOD has crafted a testament to making the best of any situation. This philosophy runs throughout Bread & Butter, as Droog chronicles the turbulence of rap success, ruminates on youthful memories, and dismisses unworthy challengers with clever precision. The project’s rich sonic texture is shaped by beats from Flying Lotus, Conductor Williams, Ohbliv, and more, while hip-hop luminaries Evidence, Oddisee, and Masta Ace make memorable appearances, along with South African star A-Reece and acclaimed singer Georgia Anne Muldrow. Grounded in resilience, perspective, and self-determination, Bread & Butter is an inspired statement from a truly distinct talent. Transforming personal history into universal truth, the album reaffirms Your Old Droog's place among the most thoughtful and compelling voices in modern hip hop.
On November 6th, Asthmatic Kitty Records will release Worst Christmas Ever!, a single-LP collection that distills Sufjan Stevens’ expansive holiday catalog—drawn from the box sets Songs for Christmas and Silver & Gold—into one definitive collection. The album pairs fifteen favorites, selected from more than one hundred Christmas recordings, with the newly released original song "On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)," Sufjan's first new Christmas song in nearly fifteen years.
Available on LP, CD, and cassette, Worst Christmas Ever! is the perfect introduction for new listeners and an essential addition for longtime Sufjan Christmas devotees.
"Part of what makes Sufjan Stevens' contributions to the Christmas canon so enduring and remarkable is that they're almost overpoweringly effort-intensive. He views the holidays as a labor of love—worthy of creativity and care, hard work and an ocean of ideas."
— NPR
"9 EPs and 100 recordings later, Stevens has undoubtedly accepted his reputation as a Bing Crosby for the thirtysomething NPR listener."
— Consequence of Sound
On November 6th, Asthmatic Kitty Records will release Worst Christmas Ever!, a single-LP collection that distills Sufjan Stevens’ expansive holiday catalog—drawn from the box sets Songs for Christmas and Silver & Gold—into one definitive collection. The album pairs fifteen favorites, selected from more than one hundred Christmas recordings, with the newly released original song "On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)," Sufjan's first new Christmas song in nearly fifteen years.
Available on LP, CD, and cassette, Worst Christmas Ever! is the perfect introduction for new listeners and an essential addition for longtime Sufjan Christmas devotees.
"Part of what makes Sufjan Stevens' contributions to the Christmas canon so enduring and remarkable is that they're almost overpoweringly effort-intensive. He views the holidays as a labor of love—worthy of creativity and care, hard work and an ocean of ideas."
— NPR
"9 EPs and 100 recordings later, Stevens has undoubtedly accepted his reputation as a Bing Crosby for the thirtysomething NPR listener."
— Consequence of Sound
Devotional and visceral, patient and euphoric, a poem, a hymnal. Shygirl calls Swallow! a reintroduction. Her 2022 debut Nymph announced an artist fluent in sonic languages: slippery club structures, toothy pop hooks, juicy production—music that invites you to come closer, pay attention, keep up. That magnetism took her from the electronic underground to the foreground of contemporary pop. She’s collaborated with producers Sega Bodega and Mura Masa, Charli xcx, Arca, SOPHIE, fka twigs, and Björk, and performed on stages across the globe. Swallow! is a new kind of rapturous indie songwriting, woven through the electronica she came from, recorded with Karma Kid and Casey MQ. It is the scripture of the cult of falling in love—radiant, clear-eyed, all-encompassing, divine transformation. “I want people to remember how big the world is even when you feel so small and singular,” she says. “Swallow! is the soundtrack to that experience. “This record is my message in a bottle. Let’s see who picks it up.”
Bondage-Music proudly welcomes back Mihai Popoviciu with his latest EP, “Pick Up The Phone.” A familiar name on the label, Popoviciu returns with another refined selection of deep, groove-driven house music, combining his trademark rolling rhythms, warm basslines and subtle atmospheric elements.
With a sound that effortlessly balances depth, hypnotic grooves and dancefloor energy, Mihai Popoviciu has established himself as one of the distinctive voices of contemporary house music. “Pick Up The Phone” continues this signature approach across four tracks, delivering a focused and timeless club release.
For this edition, Bondage-Music presents the EP as a Limited Splatter Edition on 180G vinyl. Adding to its collectability, two tracks are available exclusively on vinyl, making BOND12086 a special release for DJs and vinyl enthusiasts alike.
From deep in the hard funk pocket, the Winston Brothers return to Colemine after four years with a second helping of sounds rooted in horn-heavy, 70s-style soul cinema, taking cues from the soundtrack work of Issac Hayes, Willie Hutch, Roy Ayers, and JJ Johnson. Helmed by multi-instrumentalist/producer Sebastian Nagel and longtime collaborator Lucas Kochbeck on drums, Sweets serves as a timely reminder of how Hamburg, Germany’s music scene helps shape and influence today’s soul sound.
Ultimately, bringing musicians like Kimo Eiserbeck (sax and flute) and Hans Stephan (trumpet), alongside some additional drum contributions by Max Whitefield (née Weissenfeldt), demonstrates the close-knit nature of these musicians. From influential bands like Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band to Angels of Libra and the Mighty Mocambos, Hamburg’s deep groove scene has sired its share of worthy soul and funk acolytes.
These musicians have shared stages and studios over the years, with various
configurations finding their way in the aforementioned bands. “We started as a school project… we were just kids,” Sebastian recalls. “It’s a family thing, and we really know each other well.” Sweets is more than just another addition to this scene’s collective musical canon; it is a vibrant dispatch from funk’s leading edge.
From deep in the hard funk pocket, the Winston Brothers return to Colemine after four years with a second helping of sounds rooted in horn-heavy, 70s-style soul cinema, taking cues from the soundtrack work of Issac Hayes, Willie Hutch, Roy Ayers, and JJ Johnson. Helmed by multi-instrumentalist/producer Sebastian Nagel and longtime collaborator Lucas Kochbeck on drums, Sweets serves as a timely reminder of how Hamburg, Germany’s music scene helps shape and influence today’s soul sound.
Ultimately, bringing musicians like Kimo Eiserbeck (sax and flute) and Hans Stephan (trumpet), alongside some additional drum contributions by Max Whitefield (née Weissenfeldt), demonstrates the close-knit nature of these musicians. From influential bands like Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band to Angels of Libra and the Mighty Mocambos, Hamburg’s deep groove scene has sired its share of worthy soul and funk acolytes.
These musicians have shared stages and studios over the years, with various
configurations finding their way in the aforementioned bands. “We started as a school project… we were just kids,” Sebastian recalls. “It’s a family thing, and we really know each other well.” Sweets is more than just another addition to this scene’s collective musical canon; it is a vibrant dispatch from funk’s leading edge.
Although nearly two decades after its release the legendary album Eksel by D'Arcangelo has achieved cult status, it is worth remembering that it all started in the early 90s in Rome. The twin brothers Fabrizio and Marco D'Arcangelo sculpted this electronic IDM treasure with a minimalist arsenal of hardware and analog synthesizers, achieving a raw though sophisticated sound that immediately caught the attention of Aphex Twin & Grant Wilson Claridge, Rephlex record label heads themselves.
While in 1993 and 1994 a large part of the European scene was carried away by the faster, more commercial rhythms of hardcore or eurodance, the D'Arcangelo brothers preferred to look toward the mental landscapes and abstract textures coming out of Detroit and Warp Records. By fusing the machine-like coldness of electro with melancholic melodies and complex rhythm structures, the Italian duo became one of the undisputed pioneers of braindance music in Mediterranean Europe.
Looking back, Eksel—released on Rephlex in 2007—stood as a challenge to the listening habits of its time. Positioned between mental experimentation and dancefloor functionality, the album moves effortlessly between hypnotic club contexts and intimate, detail-rich home listening. Now twenty years later, its legacy continues to resonate among collectors and lovers of analog sound. Eksel stands as proof that electronic innovation extended far beyond the major hubs of London or Berlin, strengthening the dialogue between British IDM and the Italian school, and establishing D'Arcangelo as architects of a distinctive sound.
Marco D'Arcangelo looks back on the album's origins with characteristic wit: "Eksel was conceived to celebrate our 40th Birthday. At Rephlex, they thought we should include a Roman attribute, just to remind people of our so-called 'ancestry'—which isn't really anything, but being born in Rome did sound cool. The XL in Roman numerals is 40, spelled 'Eksel'. And funnily enough, this year we are turning 60 (oh my god!), and 60 in Roman numerals is LX, spelled 'Leks'."
For this release, the partnership brings together a range of elements into a cohesive and refined sonic language. D'Arcangelo seamlessly blend leftfield electronica, avant-garde techno, and glitch, shaping a forward-thinking sound. Vintage synthesizers intertwine with crisp programmed percussion, while melodic structures interact with classic 808 rhythms. This deluxe reissue also exclusively includes RFLX1902 and Electronic Lounge, two tracks from the same era never before pressed on vinyl. The result is a warm and reflective body of work, deeply rooted in electro's legacy, yet unmistakably oriented toward the future.
,Smoking the Bunny" ist das zweite Album einer geplanten Trilogie von Wilder Maker und verbindet Avant-Pop, Indie-Rock, Free Jazz und Ambient zu einem vielschichtigen, nächtlichen Klangbild. Bandleader Gabriel Birnbaum setzt auf experimentelle Kompositionen, die aus improvisierten Bandsessions entstanden und anschließend kreativ neu zusammengesetzt wurden. Die 17 Songs begleiten eine Figur durch eine Nacht voller Erinnerungen, Selbstreflexion und Rauschzustände. Inhaltlich kreist das Album um Themen wie Familie, Identität, Vergänglichkeit und das Älterwerden. Mit zahlreichen Gastmusikern und einem atmosphärischen, genreübergreifenden Sound präsentiert sich ,Smoking the Bunny" als ambitioniertes und emotionales Werk, das 2027 mit dem dritten Teil der Trilogie seinen Abschluss finden soll.
,Settle Down City" war 2006 das Debütalbum von Young Widows und markierte den Neubeginn der Musiker nach dem Ende der Hardcore-Band Breather Resist. Die Gruppe aus Louisville entwickelte darauf ihren charakteristischen Stil aus Post-Hardcore, Noise Rock und düsterem Post-Punk, geprägt von schweren, basslastigen Grooves, kantigen Gitarren und einer intensiven, oft beklemmenden Atmosphäre. Einflüsse von Bands wie Fugazi, Hoover, The Jesus Lizard und den Melvins sind deutlich hörbar, werden jedoch zu einem eigenständigen Sound verarbeitet. Im Zentrum stehen das kreative Gitarrenspiel von Sänger Evan Patterson sowie das kraftvolle Zusammenspiel der Rhythmussektion mit Nick Thieneman und dem damaligen Schlagzeuger Geoff Paton. Die Songs verbinden rohe Energie mit ungewöhnlichen Songstrukturen und legten den Grundstein für die spätere Entwicklung der Band zu einer der wichtigsten Noise-Rock-Formationen ihrer Generation. Zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum erscheint ,Settle Down City - Anniversary Edition" in einer umfassend überarbeiteten Fassung. Das Album wurde von James Plotkin neu remastert, mit restauriertem Original-Artwork versehen und um den bislang unveröffentlichten Bonus-Track ,White Water" erweitert, der bereits während der ursprünglichen Aufnahmesessions entstand. Die limitierte Neuauflage auf opak-gelbem Vinyl bietet damit die definitive Version eines Albums, das den Beginn der inzwischen zwei Jahrzehnte andauernden Karriere von Young Widows dokumentiert.
,Noah's Ark" ist das zweite Album von CocoRosie, dem Schwestern-Duo Bianca und Sierra Casady. Nach ihrem Debüt ,La Maison de Mon Rêve" entstand das Album während zahlreicher Reisen und Aufnahmen an unterschiedlichsten Orten, von Frankreich über Brooklyn bis Paris. Die Songs verbinden experimentellen Folk, verspielte Klangcollagen und intime Geschichten mit Beiträgen von Freunden und Gästen wie Antony Hegarty sowie dem französischen MC Spleen. Ursprünglich 2005 veröffentlicht, fängt ,Noah's Ark" das Gefühl eines rastlosen, nomadischen Lebens ein und verbindet fantasievolle, emotionale Momente mit der unverwechselbaren Klangwelt von CocoRosie.
,The River" ist das erste Hello Shark-Album von Lincoln Halloran seit zehn Jahren. Nach einer schwierigen Phase, geprägt von Alkoholabhängigkeit, Orientierungslosigkeit und dem Rückzug aus dem Musikleben, fand Halloran nach seiner Rückkehr nach Maine wieder zum Songwriting zurück. Musikalisch verbindet das Album reduzierte Singer-Songwriter-Klänge mit Slowcore-Elementen und erzählt in ruhigen, ehrlichen Songs von Verlust, Sehnsucht, Heilung und persönlicher Veränderung. Statt sich ausschließlich auf seine Genesung zu konzentrieren, blickt Halloran reflektiert auf die Vergangenheit und die Menschen in seinem Leben zurück. Mit seiner direkten, berührenden Sprache und den minimalistischen Arrangements zählt ,The River" zu den persönlichsten und reifsten Veröffentlichungen von Hello Shark.
A quiet intensity permeates Chantal Michelle’s music, like a veiled flame. Even at its most spare and delicate, an undulating tension unsettles the ear through wavering microtonal interference and uncanny spatial juxtaposition. She takes seriously the mandate of the composer to foster new relationships between various types of sounds, bringing together disparate field recordings, instrumental stems, and the sounds of circuitry in unheard configurations. Resolution is elusive, in its place a sense of oblong cyclicality and prickly uncertainty. When the veil is pulled back, we find more depth, more complexity, and more mystery.
Unit of Heart, Michelle’s second album of 2026, presents two interrelated pieces that highlight diverging compositional modes. Here she brings in two key collaborators: Patrick Shiroishi, who contributes flutes and saxophones throughout, and poet Funto Omojola, whose words and voice bookend the title composition. Both compositions unfold gradually, but where the album’s a-side “Sudden Oceans” presents a minimal tonal palette focused entirely on the subtle grain of wind instruments, “Unit of Heart” proceeds linearly, moving through passages of synthesizer, environmental recordings, and full-cheeked wails of saxophone. Both encourage a state of focused listening as the scope of the music deepens and widens.
“Sudden Oceans” allows the listener to hover in rippling currents of air, breath overlapping breath in a shimmering patchwork. All flutes and saxophones on the piece are played by Shiroishi, which are molded by Michelle into a pattern that resembles the flow of tidal waters, surging and receding moment to moment as the tonal density increases. Expansive and recursive, it reflects both the restorative awe and eerie disquiet of encountering the sublime. The first and last sounds we hear are the gentle rush of unmediated breath as Shiroishi connects and disconnects from his flute.
Michelle’s skill at presenting the familiar as preternatural comes to the fore on “Unit of Heart, ” one of her most ambitious works. Omojola’s voice begins with a melody that could be a lullaby, but as it’s bounced around the stereo field it takes on a haunted quality. Their poem, reprinted on the LP’s inner sleeve, hints at a similar type of transformation: “I mean this is where our mouth turns saliva into spears only a throat can recognize. ” Pads of downy synthesizer billow and are subsumed by a discordant ringing. The climactic section features atonal electronics and field recordings, first of water and then the evening call of insects, processed in such a way to transform them into pulsating bursts of noise. What we think we know about the world, what is elemental, can change with even the slightest adjustment of the lens.
Endlich wieder auf Vinyl erhältlich! Im Jahr 2000, sechs Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung von "Heute ein König", erschien ein "Männer Rock'n'Roll". "Ein rockiges, gereiftes Werk voller Poesie von Männern im besten Lokalmatadorealter!!! Neunzehn Überhits bekannter, vielleicht etwas rockiger Machart inkl. musikalischen Ausflügen in den Garagenrock-, Schlager- und Country-Bereich. Die Coverfotoserie entstand schon Jahre vorher und fiel wohl auch einer Band namens Turbonegro in die Hände... Das "Sgt. Pepper"-Album des Punkrocks" - OX-Fanzine //
,Oru Ye Ye Ye" des nigerianischen Musikers Prince Omo Lawal-Osula ist ein herausragendes Werk des Edo-Highlife und verbindet traditionelle westafrikanische Rhythmen mit experimentellen Gitarrenklängen und mitreißenden Call-and-Response-Gesängen. Gemeinsam mit seiner Familienband erschafft er ausgedehnte, hypnotische Kompositionen voller Percussion und Energie. Aufgenommen im legendären Joromi Studio von Sir Victor Uwaifo, zeichnet sich das Album durch seinen innovativen Sound und seine kraftvollen Drum-Breaks aus, die weit über Nigeria hinaus bekannt wurden. Die Neuauflage wurde direkt von der Familie des Künstlers lizenziert und sorgfältig remastert.
“I am not sure which of us it is that's writing this page” - Jorge Luis Borges. There are places where a river runs through the story even when you cannot see it. Austin Cash grew up in the Arkansas Delta, and Nathan Smerage in the Chicago suburbs, their paths crossing years later in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where both became members of the Ozark Free Music Society, a loose congregation of musicians who made free and experimental music in non-traditional venues across the city. ‘River Season’ began as an impulsive text sent to Smerage in the summer of 2024, Cash suggesting they should make an album of guitar duets. Calling his bluff, Smerage returned a folder of recordings within a week. Cash had a handful of pieces of his own, originally written for an unreleased film about an Ozarks ceramicist. The songs began traveling back and forth between them by email, however, after opening for the Magic Tuber String Band and playing the compositions live for the first time together, realised the decision to record them live was the only true option. For four days, in the basement apartment where Cash lived, they recorded River Season live. The result is a meticulously composed collection of steel-string guitar music: part folk record, part road map.
Fahey and Ackerman are somewhere in the distance, alongside Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, Marisa Anderson, Nathan Salsburg, Loren Connors, and others. But River Season belongs to neither Arkansas nor Chicago entirely. Cash grew up in Arkansas before moving to Chicago, whereas Smerage grew up in Illinois before moving to Arkansas. River Season catches the two musicians at an intersection in their paths; it belongs to the stretches of road and rivers between them, real and imagined. "This new collaboration between Austin and Nathan is intimate and tonally diverse. Many of the tracks see Austin playing acoustic and Nathan on electric. The statements are succinct (all but two clock in under four minutes) and idiosyncratic. "Bell Harp" and "Painting Friend" are two stand out examples for me in which the textures of the electric/acoustic pairing play off each other in a way that I can't say I have encountered before." -Evan Morgan (Magic Tuber Stringband)
Lower the drawbridge, raise the gates. Texas-based composer Graham Reynolds (A Scanner Darkly, Before Midnight, Hit Man) returns to the world of The Portcullis with a brand-new LP of music. This deluxe edition brings together the original album and The Portcullis Expansion Pack across two LPs, housed in a die-cut slipcase.
Following the original album’s release in May 2026, the Expansion Pack ventures deeper into a medieval world of knights and merchants, almoners and thieves. Percussive medieval textures, fretted guitars, brass fanfares, atmospheric strings and piano reshape dungeon synth into something vividly Reynolds’ own: an imagined soundtrack steeped in folklore, fantasy and adventure.
What began as an investigation into Reynolds’ family lineage, tracing his name back to Launceston Castle, has grown into a world extending beyond the record.
Released via Fire Records as part of the Weird Walk Record Cult, the deluxe edition arrives alongside an expanded dice game and a special Portcullis porter created with Skipton Brewing Company.
“One of the most unique and addictive albums of 2026 so far” - Loud and Quiet
“Of all the RPG-infused dungeon synth, medieval ambient records released this year, Graham Reynolds’ will be the finest.” - Loud And Quiet
“Ominous, stark environment that rumbles with sounds evocative of the natural world, in both its beauty and despair” - The New York Times
“A work of great scope, subtlety, and powerful suggestion. (…) Prepare yourself for an immersive experience, full of color and personality.” - Time Out
DJ Support: Louie Vega, Terry Hunter, Kenny Dope, Jazzy Jeff, Natasha Diggs, Wayne Williams & More
Broken at the Chosen Few Picnic in Chicago by Terry Hunter, where 40,000 people were singing along to it, after which the label received dozens of requests from a who’s who of DJ’s asking for a copy.
It’s since become one of the biggest tracks around played from Chicago to Ibiza.
In alten Zeiten, wenn sich Nebel um ein Schiff legte, war der einzige Weg nach vorne, langsamer zu werden und zuzuhören. Vögel, brechende Wellen, Schiffsklokken, Gongs und Hörner wurden zur neuen Sprache der Navigation, neben Tiefensondierungen, die den Meeresboden mit einer Bleileine abtasteten und seine verborgenen Formen enthüllten. Die Technik hat diese Methoden zwar weitgehend überflüssig gemacht, aber es hat immer noch etwas Faszinierendes, wenn man das Sehen gegen Hören und Fühlen eintauscht. Dieser Wandel steht im Mittelpunkt von AEAEA dem neuen Duo aus Patrick Higgins & Nicolas Jaar und ihrem Debütalbum Mist", einem Album, das fragt: Wie findest du dich zurecht, wenn die Welt um dich herum verschwimmt? Die Anfänge des Duos reichen zurück bis zum Le Guess Who?-Festival 2019, bei dem Higgins als Künstlerkurator fungierte. Benannt nach dem nebligen, mythischen Land der Eichen- und Buchenwälder, wurden die Insel und die sie umgebenden Geschichten zu einer Inspirationsquelle für beide Musiker, die schon lange eine Mischung aus altertümlicher Harmonie und elektronischem Experimentieren bevorzugen. Das Album entsteht aus der Erforschung einer neuen gemeinsamen Sprache durch das Duo, bei der Higgins' Gitarre und Percussion live durch Jaars Echtzeit- Effektketten geleitet werden, wodurch Sampling, Dubbing und Verarbeitung zu eigenständigen Musikinstrumenten werden. Aufgenommen über drei Jahre hinweg in Berlin und in Higgins' Studio im Bundesstaat New York, verwebt Mist" die neblige, intuitive Logik von Bearbeitungsketten und Improvisation in den Kern der Komposition. Die Platte entwickelt eine Reihe melodischer Themen, die aus Higgins' Gitarre hervorgehen und sich in ein Meer aus Elektronik, Percussion und schließlich einem volleren Ensemble aus Keyboards, Orgeln, Schlagzeug und den Cello-Improvisationen der Komponistin Judith Hamann brechen. Die Klanglandschaften von Mist" sind traurig und langsam, mit Tönen, die oft von einem blaugrauen Dunst umhüllt sind. Manchmal nehmen wir Strahlen fernen Lichts wahr, die die Unschärfe durchdringen, doch meist hören wir Echos ferner Ufer, deren Rhythmen es uns vielleicht endlich ermöglichen, ohne zu sehen zu sehen.
Initially recorded in 1996 and officially released February 1997, 2nd Family's Killaz from the Blackside tape is one of the most distinctive examples of unpolished, stripped-back & paranoid mid-90s Memphis rap. Recorded by King JC together with 2nd Family MCs Pistol Grip & Killa Chrome in a home-studio set up at the group's base in Southern Hills Apartments in Whitehaven, South Memphis (known locally as Blackhaven or the Blackside, a short trip from Graceland) the sparse, brooding and somewhat introspective production sets the record apart from the more raucous, overdriven precedent of the period. Pressed on vinyl for the first time via Death Is Not The End in an edition of 300 copies.
With “Rides Again Again And Again” US born and London resident singer, songwriter, producer, arranger und multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Shawn Lee releases the third part in a series of very personal albums.
“Returning to my ‘Rides Again’ project feels like a home coming of sorts-familiar yet completely different from how I remembered it,” Shawn Lee says. “This time out it felt really fresh and freewheeling. Discovering things which were already there but somehow had remained hidden just out of sight. The genius of JJ Cale provided a lot of inspiration for this album. I had to pay tribute with the song ‘JJ’ in his honour. I also wrote a song for my dad called ‘Helluva Way’ who sadly passed while I was finishing the album. Multiple US tours last year with Young Gun Silver Fox informed lyrics on several tunes particularly ‘Hot Food’ and ‘Plastic Forks and Paper Plates’. The latter features a motley cast of characters on the ‘hell yeahs and the outro sing -a-long. My wife Kiren, Andy ‘Young Gun’ Platts, his wife Jodie and daughter Frankie plus all the live members of YGSF band, Ederlezi, as well as Smith & Liddle and our tour manager Claire Darling all contributed to the cause on ‘Plastic Forks’. Songs about Evel Knievel, my dog Carla, Tacos and Abilene Kansas round out the album as-well as a few instrumentals to boot. Three albums into the ‘Rides Again’ trilogy and I feel like I’m just getting started. So saddle up partners and join me on this musical ride!”
Amidst their illustrious presence in dance music, Âme have been - and seen - a tumultuous evolution in all that surrounds. Genres have splintered and sharpened, melodies reinvented.
Yet, Frank and Kristian continue to stay true to their own meticulously individual art form. The pair muse on all that's been in latest album, "Love Is The Dance", where they reflect on a multitude of sounds that have shadowed their career for 20 years and counting - presenting a collection of tracks that flicker between different worlds and feelings, whilst harmoniously paying tribute to icons such as Underground Resistance and Compass Point Studios.
Between slower gems such as "Water Be My Crown" and "Of Courage", where buttery chords melt into sleek solitude, comes catchy pop-leaning numbers like "Shadow Of Love" and "Pha Na Pha" that carve their own vibrancy; having already painted endless dance floors with endless memories following individual releases. Cemented with club-focused cuts "Asa" and "Love Is The Dance", the album also moves towards familiar Âme territory; and still, threaded through its DNA is the art of collaboration. A substantial essence to Âme's work throughout the years, the duo level-up, as they invite a curated list of friends and artists, including RY X, Henrik Schwarz, Curses and Busiswa. The result forms a curious, all-expansive record that sees Âme creating avenues bolder, stronger - and even more musically diverse.
Amidst their illustrious presence in dance music, Âme have been - and seen - a tumultuous evolution in all that surrounds. Genres have splintered and sharpened, melodies reinvented.
Yet, Frank and Kristian continue to stay true to their own meticulously individual art form. The pair muse on all that's been in latest album, "Love Is The Dance", where they reflect on a multitude of sounds that have shadowed their career for 20 years and counting - presenting a collection of tracks that flicker between different worlds and feelings, whilst harmoniously paying tribute to icons such as Underground Resistance and Compass Point Studios.
Between slower gems such as "Water Be My Crown" and "Of Courage", where buttery chords melt into sleek solitude, comes catchy pop-leaning numbers like "Shadow Of Love" and "Pha Na Pha" that carve their own vibrancy; having already painted endless dance floors with endless memories following individual releases. Cemented with club-focused cuts "Asa" and "Love Is The Dance", the album also moves towards familiar Âme territory; and still, threaded through its DNA is the art of collaboration. A substantial essence to Âme's work throughout the years, the duo level-up, as they invite a curated list of friends and artists, including RY X, Henrik Schwarz, Curses and Busiswa. The result forms a curious, all-expansive record that sees Âme creating avenues bolder, stronger - and even more musically diverse.
Mike Ladd. Diejenigen, die ihn kennen, sprechen diesen Namen mit einer gewissen Ehrfurcht aus. Wenn du mir eine unvollkommene Analogie gestattest: Ladd ist der Terrence Malick des Underground-Hip-Hop - ein kompromissloser Autor, dessen frühe Werke sowohl unkonventionell als auch von der Kritik gefeiert waren, bevor er sich abrupt aus der Szene zurückzog, die er mit aufgebaut hatte, und nach Paris abhob, um nie wieder von sich hören zu lassen. Natürlich ist die Realität komplexer als die Legende. Mike Ladd hat nie aufgehört, Musik zu machen; im Laufe der Jahre ist er bei allerlei unerwarteten Kollaborationen aufgetaucht - wer könnte seinen mitreißenden Auftritt auf billy woods' ,Aethiopes" vergessen -, hat den Soundtrack zu einer Netflix-Serie beigesteuert und mit bildenden Künstlern an Orten wie dem Pantheon in Paris zusammengearbeitet. Dabei sind all die Bühnen, auf denen er als Teil verschiedener Tournee-Bands und Live-Acts für Furore sorgte, noch gar nicht mitgezählt. Dennoch liegt Ladds letztes Soloalbum mehr als zehn Jahre zurück, und sein Meisterwerk ,Welcome to the Afterfuture" erschien Anfang 2000. Wenn wir der Analogie folgen wollen, ist ,Nonechosen" Mike Ladds ,The Thin Red Line. Ein unerschütterlicher Beweis dafür, dass sich der Künstler weiterentwickelt und gewachsen ist, dabei aber dieselbe Gravitas bewahrt hat, die seinen Namen zu dem gemacht hat, was er ist. Hier sind wir nun, tief in der ,Afterfuture", und es ist, als hätte Ladd schon immer auf diese Zeit gewartet und auf diesen Moment hingearbeitet. ,Jetzt weißt du, warum ich auf meinem Posten geblieben bin", rappt er auf ,Nonechosen", überzeugt davon, dass sich seine Geduld ausgezahlt hat. ,Nonechosen" ist ein Soloalbum, aber Ladd wird dir als Erster sagen, dass er es nicht allein geschafft hat; er hat schon immer mit alten Freunden zusammengearbeitet. No Surrender und Tom Degeeter haben an jeweiligen Tracks mitgewirkt. Sobald Mike das Album mit seiner eigenen Produktion zu 95 % fertiggestellt hatte, gab er es an Preservation weiter, der das Projekt mit ein paar gut platzierten Feinschliff-Maßnahmen auf ein neues Niveau hob. Backwoodz Studioz fühlt sich geehrt, Teil von Ladds kometenhaftem Comeback zu sein, und freut sich darauf, diesen wegweisenden Künstler einer neuen Generation von Hip-Hop-Fans gebührend vorzustellen, wenn wir schon dabei sind.
Mike Ladd. Diejenigen, die ihn kennen, sprechen diesen Namen mit einer gewissen Ehrfurcht aus. Wenn du mir eine unvollkommene Analogie gestattest: Ladd ist der Terrence Malick des Underground-Hip-Hop - ein kompromissloser Autor, dessen frühe Werke sowohl unkonventionell als auch von der Kritik gefeiert waren, bevor er sich abrupt aus der Szene zurückzog, die er mit aufgebaut hatte, und nach Paris abhob, um nie wieder von sich hören zu lassen. Natürlich ist die Realität komplexer als die Legende. Mike Ladd hat nie aufgehört, Musik zu machen; im Laufe der Jahre ist er bei allerlei unerwarteten Kollaborationen aufgetaucht - wer könnte seinen mitreißenden Auftritt auf billy woods' ,Aethiopes" vergessen -, hat den Soundtrack zu einer Netflix-Serie beigesteuert und mit bildenden Künstlern an Orten wie dem Pantheon in Paris zusammengearbeitet. Dabei sind all die Bühnen, auf denen er als Teil verschiedener Tournee-Bands und Live-Acts für Furore sorgte, noch gar nicht mitgezählt. Dennoch liegt Ladds letztes Soloalbum mehr als zehn Jahre zurück, und sein Meisterwerk ,Welcome to the Afterfuture" erschien Anfang 2000. Wenn wir der Analogie folgen wollen, ist ,Nonechosen" Mike Ladds ,The Thin Red Line. Ein unerschütterlicher Beweis dafür, dass sich der Künstler weiterentwickelt und gewachsen ist, dabei aber dieselbe Gravitas bewahrt hat, die seinen Namen zu dem gemacht hat, was er ist. Hier sind wir nun, tief in der ,Afterfuture", und es ist, als hätte Ladd schon immer auf diese Zeit gewartet und auf diesen Moment hingearbeitet. ,Jetzt weißt du, warum ich auf meinem Posten geblieben bin", rappt er auf ,Nonechosen", überzeugt davon, dass sich seine Geduld ausgezahlt hat. ,Nonechosen" ist ein Soloalbum, aber Ladd wird dir als Erster sagen, dass er es nicht allein geschafft hat; er hat schon immer mit alten Freunden zusammengearbeitet. No Surrender und Tom Degeeter haben an jeweiligen Tracks mitgewirkt. Sobald Mike das Album mit seiner eigenen Produktion zu 95 % fertiggestellt hatte, gab er es an Preservation weiter, der das Projekt mit ein paar gut platzierten Feinschliff-Maßnahmen auf ein neues Niveau hob. Backwoodz Studioz fühlt sich geehrt, Teil von Ladds kometenhaftem Comeback zu sein, und freut sich darauf, diesen wegweisenden Künstler einer neuen Generation von Hip-Hop-Fans gebührend vorzustellen, wenn wir schon dabei sind.
Following their self-proclaimed LP trilogy (2020-2024), Straw Man Army returns with a new songwriting experiment in the form of True North; a collection of 11 songs written for acoustic instruments over three 72 hour sessions at a cabin, isolated in the woods north of NYC. The result is a concept album in practice as opposed to subject alone. Attuned to both the spiritual and political dimensions of seeking refuge in our times, it asks what exactly we mean by “peace” in this era of increasing violence, incarceration, and skepticism towards a future worth living. Does it feel like relaxation, does it tend towards silence? Is it the cooling of our collective rage? Not here. On True North, peace is a spiritual contradiction; a chimera incorporating our innermost desires and the brutality of the world that surrounds us. The album’s central character is a “sleepwalker” trudging through the waking nightmares that have defined daily life since the release of 2024’s Earthworks. Because True North is music that dreams. Sonically, the band toys with the aesthetics of psychedelia, folk, and kosmiche music for contrast, creating a still pool into which their deepest anxieties ripple and flow and flower into ever darker shapes. And while the musical palette plays on tropes of peace—lush piano instrumentals, fingerpicking guitars, gong, vocal harmony—the subject remains steeped in environmental collapse, death, mental breakdown, and the rejection of our most closely held myths. The clash of these forces is the engine that turns the musical wheel. True North is the sound of music mourning a future that never took place and a bout of anticipatory grief for something that’s only just begun…
Eine limitierte 7"-Single von ARMITAGE SHANKS! Die A-Seite stammt von der kommenden LP "Charge Of The Shite Brigade" Die B-Seite gibt's exklusiv auf dieser Veröffentlichung! Limitiert auf nur 300 Exemplare! Die neue Besetzung von Armitage Shanks (zu der jetzt auch Billy Childish und Wolf Howard gehören) veröffentlicht eine brandneue 7"-Single als Vorab-Single zum neuen Studioalbum Charge Of The Shite Brigade. Eine der beliebtesten und dienstältesten Bands von DAMAGED GOODS. Armitage Shanks gibt es schon fast seit den Anfängen des Labels. Wir sind total begeistert, dass sie immer noch dabei sind und brillante Platten machen! Diese hier gehört definitiv zu ihren Besten! ENG A limited 7" from ARMITAGE SHANKS! A-side taken from the forthcoming LP Charge Of The Shite Brigade B-side is exclusive to this release! Limited to 300 copies only! The new line-up of Armitage Shanks (which now includes Billy Childish and Wolf Howard), releases a brand-new 7" ahead of the new studio album Charge Of The Shite Brigade. One of DG's most loved and longest serving bands. Armitage Shanks have been around almost since the start of the label. We're dead chuffed they're still around and making brilliant records! This one is up there with the best of them!
Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch’s Bocca di Lupo and Mouth of the Wolf were recorded in July 2025 in Bologna, Italy. The recording sessions took place just after several live dates in New York and Chicago, and a week before they began a short European tour which included Paris, London, Ghent, Porto, and a first date in Bologna.
Below are notes from Jozef and Jim directly.
“With thanks to Gian Luca Farinelli and Rosanna Mordini from the extraordinary Cineteca di Bologna, we were able to secure recording days in the very cool Fonoprint Studios — located on Via Bocca di Lupo in Bologna, hence the titles of these two LPs. (“In bocca al lupo” — in the mouth of the wolf — is the Italian idiom for wishing one good luck; equivalent to “break a leg” in English.)
Bocca di Lupo starts with a new version of our own “Only Lovers Left Alive,” and “Apology” is a new version of a pre-existing piece by Jozef. All other tracks are new originals. We were honored to have guest duet vocals from the iconic Courtney Barnett on “Never Like You Said.” The lyrics of the song arrived spontaneously in a single take in the studio. It’s not directed at a specific person, but more an emotional response to several disingenuous, deceitful people — a closing of the door on their toxic behavior. And a casually recorded conversation (concerning the haunted auras of particular pieces of vintage women’s clothing) between Adriana Coppi and Veronica Mayrr (from Deux Femmes) is woven as a background into the track titled “Pour Deux Femmes.” “Black Roses” is an original poem written in Bologna, and recited from within its own musical setting. All other tracks are instrumentals.
Mouth of the Wolf, the second LP, consists of two longer, darkly ecstatic instrumental studio tracks — “In A” and “Massa Damnata.” Both were created with two electric guitars, and derived from our live performances. We consider it to be a musically separate album, and is therefore presented in its own sleeve and with its own artwork.
Our music has many inspirations — everything from our friends in Sunn O))) and Swans to Terry Riley and Morton Feldman; from Hildegard Von Bingen and WIlliam Lawes to Psychic Ills and Spacemen 3; from Les Rallizes Dénudés and NEU! to Nadja and Glenn Branca; from Ian Svenonius and Dead Skeletons to Son House and Gwenifer Raymond…from sunset to sunrise…full moon to new moon…”
a 01. Only Lovers Left Alive 4:36
b 02. Never Like You Said 5:23
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]
[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]
[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]
[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]
[a] 01. Only Lovers Left Alive [4:36]
[b] 02. Never Like You Said [5:23]
[c] 03. Apology [5:11]
[d] 04. Black Roses [2:44]
[e] 05. On Twofold Nature [9:37]
[f] 06. Pour Deux Femmes [8:09]
[g] 07. In Bocca Al Lupo [5:58]
[h] 01. In A [12:56]
[i] 02. Massa Damnata [17:51]
A legendary figure of the Belgian electronic scene and one of the iconic DJs of the famous Lagoa, DJ HS returns to Ghoststyle with Booty Shake EP, a four-track release showcasing the sound that has made him a favourite among clubbers for decades.
Featuring Booty Shake, Spectrum, Shut Up and Acid Twist, the EP delivers four driving cuts packed with infectious grooves, pounding rhythms and unmistakable acid flavours. Staying true to DJ HS's signature style, each track is built for maximum dancefloor impact while preserving the raw spirit of authentic underground electronic music.
Whether you're looking for energetic peak-time weapons or timeless club grooves, Booty Shake EP is a solid addition to any DJ bag and vinyl collection.
Français
DJ HS présente "Booty Shake EP" sur Ghoststyle
Figure emblématique de la scène électronique belge et DJ incontournable du mythique Lagoa, DJ HS signe son retour sur Ghoststyle avec Booty Shake EP, un EP de quatre titres qui reflète parfaitement le son qui fait vibrer les clubs depuis des décennies.
Composé de Booty Shake, Spectrum, Shut Up et Acid Twist, cet EP rassemble quatre productions percutantes mêlant grooves entraînants, rythmiques puissantes et touches acid irrésistibles. Fidèle à l'univers musical de DJ HS, chaque morceau est pensé pour offrir un impact maximal sur le dancefloor tout en conservant l'esprit brut de la musique électronique underground.
Que ce soit pour les DJs à la recherche d'armes redoutables pour le peak time ou les amateurs de vinyles électroniques authentiques, Booty Shake EP trouvera naturellement sa place dans toute collection.
Remix by Shubostar, artwork by Neasden Control Centre
We're thrilled to welcome Lauer to XXX the label with XXX018.
Delivering his unmistakable blend of driving rhythms, uplifting melodies and club energy, Lauer presents three originals that capture his signature sound: fast-paced, euphoric and built for the dancefloor.
On remix duties, Shubostar takes things into deeper territory with a slower, hypnotic interpretation, stretching the originals into a cosmic journey while preserving their infectious groove.
A meeting of two distinct yet complementary visions, this is XXX018. Wrapped in an original artwork by Neasden Control Centre, the release finds its visual counterpart in bold shapes, playful abstraction and a touch of surrealism.
Rubbermaidxxx is a recent music performance project by the Irish artist Anna McCarthy, rather than simply the title of one autonomous artwork. Rubbermaidxxx is a character or unstable identity, an emancipatory underdog with a heart for daredevilry. The project sits naturally within McCarthy’s larger practice, which moves between drawing, assemblage, happenings and collective actions.
Clad in a black balaclava and fetish climbing wear, she abseils from buildings before entering the stage. For the first performance in New York City, she was invited by Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio to perform at his club Francis Kite Club in Alphabet City, NYC and since has continued to make a name for herself hanging off façades, singing, dancing and mopping the floor together with her performance collaborators Miss Philip a.k.a. Philip Errico and Michael Tapper at Pianos NYC, Kottbusser Tor and Genezarethkirche Berlin or the Villa Stuck Museum in Munich.
The album was produced in Munich and New York in 2025 in collaboration with her brother Nick McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand) and Anton Kaun (Rumpeln). What started as a quick improv turned into a high-energy 4-hour session of the siblings playing manic ball with beats, bass, guitars and vocals resulting in what laid the basis to this album. In the weeks following, Anna McCarthy, who is known for her cut-up production style, reminiscent of albums such as White Noise or Flying Lotus, continued to develop the vocals, performance and music by mixing in an amalgam of field recordings with her narrative spoken word, including sounds of protests, dollar stores or ice-cream trucks, as well as collaborating with the noise artist Rumpeln for the last two tracks of the album.
McCarthy is also known as the lyricist and singer of What Are People For? (debut 2022 on Alien Transistor) with its dystopic dance music candy-cane shows and equally humorously critical tongue-in-cheek bangers such as Bring back the Dirt, Drones or Partytime. Anna McCarthy's spoken word, social urgency and enthusiasm to experiment across mediums is comparable to other contemporaries such as Moor Mother, Miho Hatori, Gonjasufi, Tricky, or Cibo Matto.
The name itself is telling. Rubbermaidxxx evokes elasticity, artificiality, domestic labour and the commercial world of cleaning and garbage. It suggests a body capable of stretching, absorbing filth and cleaning up after society – only to revolt against the role it has been assigned.
Rubbermaidxxx is a master of deception, juggling fact and fiction as a reflection of our times – a diamond thief, a protester, or even responsible for the Louvre heist? This album invites the listener and viewer in, playfully dismantling hierarchies and power structures as she goes through a hopeful amalgam of dance, protest & love songs.
****COVER WITH AUGMENTED REALITY**** Argentinian producer Translate synthesises states of consciousness and perceptions into his semantics of sound, creating a distinct language of mental techno through hypnotic repetition, precision and deeply immersive atmospheres. His presence in this realm extends through his label Relativity, whose latest EP brings together tracks by Mike Parker and Oscar Mulero, while his own productions have appeared on Svreca’s Semantica Records. For his DIG release, Translate shifts into a broader spectrum, revealing a side of his production that has remained unexplored until now. DIG Curated captures this moment of a new sonic expansion between his signature hypnotic journeys and a stripped-down techno sound. Expansive opens the record with Translate’s distinct mental techno, pushed into an added psychedelic dimension. With a vast and trippy sound, the track steadily fills the space, inviting the dancers to go inward and simultaneously reach out into a collective morphic field. With Discursive, the coordinates shift, introducing a very stripped-down techno side of Translate’s production and a palette rarely heard from him before. Reduced to its essential elements, the track cuts directly through the floor with a functional groove, whilst retaining the tension embedded in his sonic DNA. On the B side, Fuse accelerates with fast-moving pads, mechanical drums and swerving loops that gradually lock the body into trance. Quirky textures spiral throughout, with robotic glitches sounding like organic beings. Coefficients closes the record by pulling the listener into rich bass and expanding loops over a cold melody that guides the final journey into a cosmic unfold. Hypnotic sci-fi vocals emerge from an interplanetary future, traversing space in search of earthly traces. The record ends suspended somewhere between the transmission and unknown, like a sonic threshold. Words by Lora Mateeva Animation/Artwork - Marcin Pospiech Master - Nihad Tule Graphist - Ferdinand Prat
Celestial Echo Records presents Nathaniel Best – Set Your House In Order, an incredible gospel soul LP from 1986, finally back in circulation.
Originally released on Spirit Records of Nevada, the album is very much of its time in the best way — gospel music with drum machines, warm synths and basslines that push it right into modern soul and boogie territory. Nathaniel Best’s voice carries the whole record with real conviction, joined by group vocals and arrangements that give the album that rich, uplifting 80s gospel soul sound.
For us, the standouts are clear. “Call Him” is the boogie dancer — bright, driving and full of movement, the kind of gospel cut that sits perfectly in a modern soul or boogie set. The title track, “Set Your House In Order”, is something else entirely: a beautiful downtempo soul glider, deep and heartfelt, with that slow-burning quality that makes the whole LP feel so special.
Those two tracks tell the story, but the magic runs through the whole record. Scattered across the album are these amazing slower gospel soul moments, balanced with enough groove and lift to keep it moving. It’s not just a one-tracker, it’s a proper LP with feeling, range and a sound that collectors have been chasing for years.
Best’s musical story runs deep. He grew up around gospel, recorded from a young age, played piano in church, sang with the Love Center Choir under Bishop Walter Hawkins, and later worked with names including The O’Jays and The Fairfield Four.
Original copies have always been hard to come by, and the album has built a serious reputation with gospel, soul and boogie collectors over the years.
DJ Support: Ben Wal, Lammer, Helena Lauwaert, Kyle Starkey, Two Faced, OLLIE LISHMAN
Smoke Signals is a cornerstone release in my discography — five tracks that trace the arc of the biggest run of my career to date, from the closing weeks of his second European tour through into an Australian summer that felt like a genuine turning point for me personally. The A-side carries three of the biggest tracks from that run, road-tested in front of crowds from Europe to home soil long before they ever had a release date. The B-side turns inward, a more introspective look at his sound and the world behind it. Five tracks, one defining period of my life.
Celestial Echo Records presents Nathaniel Best – Set Your House In Order, an incredible gospel soul LP from 1986, finally back in circulation.
Originally released on Spirit Records of Nevada, the album is very much of its time in the best way — gospel music with drum machines, warm synths and basslines that push it right into modern soul and boogie territory. Nathaniel Best’s voice carries the whole record with real conviction, joined by group vocals and arrangements that give the album that rich, uplifting 80s gospel soul sound.
For us, the standouts are clear. “Call Him” is the boogie dancer — bright, driving and full of movement, the kind of gospel cut that sits perfectly in a modern soul or boogie set. The title track, “Set Your House In Order”, is something else entirely: a beautiful downtempo soul glider, deep and heartfelt, with that slow-burning quality that makes the whole LP feel so special.
Those two tracks tell the story, but the magic runs through the whole record. Scattered across the album are these amazing slower gospel soul moments, balanced with enough groove and lift to keep it moving. It’s not just a one-tracker, it’s a proper LP with feeling, range and a sound that collectors have been chasing for years.
Best’s musical story runs deep. He grew up around gospel, recorded from a young age, played piano in church, sang with the Love Center Choir under Bishop Walter Hawkins, and later worked with names including The O’Jays and The Fairfield Four.
Original copies have always been hard to come by, and the album has built a serious reputation with gospel, soul and boogie collectors over the years.
Hope & Sorrow turns 20: Wax Tailor announces a limited collector's edition in Orange & Black Marbled double vinyls.
Twenty years ago, Wax Tailor released Hope & Sorrow, his second album. Following the success of Tales of the Forgotten Melodies, this new record confirmed and amplified a trajectory already well underway. Gold record certification, a world tour, an Indie Music Award in the United States, and a nomination at the Victoires de la Musique in the "Best Electronic Artist" category: Hope & Sorrow would firmly establish his singular world, blending trip-hop, finely cut samples, and cinematic arrangements, far beyond French borders.
Two decades later, Hope & Sorrow has lost none of its power. To celebrate this anniversary, Wax Tailor unveils a limited collector's edition on double gatefold vinyl, crafted both for those who have followed the album since its release and for those discovering it today.
An opportunity to revisit a pivotal record in his discography, one that played a major role in establishing Wax Tailor on the international stage.
This 1981 album marks the debut of the most revered and iconic figure in Peruvian chicha: Chacalón. His music combines fuzz- and wah-wah-drenched distorted electric guitars with tropical percussion and even elements of huayno. This passion for electric guitars also fueled his admiration for the British band Cream -- and, of course, Eric Clapton -- which ultimately inspired the name of his band: La Nueva Crema.
His songs speak to the working classes who migrated from rural areas to the major cities in search of better employment opportunities and portray the hardships they faced. The lyrics tell stories of heartbreak, drunken nights amid everyday struggles, and marginalization -- common experiences in the poorer communities of Peru. Chacalón became a cult figure among the most disadvantaged sectors of Peruvian society, a devotion that remains strong years after his death. The album is essential listening for anyone interested in psychedelic cumbia and the roots of Peruvian chicha. This reissue preserves the album's original artwork as it appeared on Discos Horóscopo and includes liner notes by genre expert Víctor Zela (La cumbia de mis viejos).
The 2018 album Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale is the adaptation by Roger Waters (co-founder of Pink Floyd) on the 1918 same-titled theatrical work. Waters recorded this version with members of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church.
The original theatre work is one “to be read, played, and danced” by three actors (the soldier, the devil, and a narrator) and dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. The libretto relates the parable of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited economic gain. The music is scored for a septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet or trumpet), trombone, and percussion. The libretto is adapted by Roger Waters from the translation by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black, based on the original text by Charles-Ferdinand Ramus.
The Soldier's Tale is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on green vinyl and comes in a gatefold sleeve with linen laminate finish. The vinyl package includes a 4-page booklet with lyrics and pictures.
Herbie Hancock is one of the most prolific jazz pianists of the 20th century. A child prodigy, he played with the greats such as Donald Byrd and Miles Davis. He was one of the first to embrace and master the electric piano, but he always stayed true to the acoustic sound. In fact, he always bounced back and forth between his electronic and acoustic sound, touching upon almost every development in R&B, funk and jazz while retaining an original and distinctive voice.
Sextant from 1973 was recorded just before Headhunters, and can be seen in the same vein, but it’s more than just an introduction to a masterpiece. It features a kind of post-modal, free impressionism while gracing the edges of funk. Three long instrumental tracks explore how far minimalism in jazz can go.
Sextant is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on blue marble vinyl.
For the seventh edition of the Vega Records 5 Pack Unreleased series, Louie Vega once again opens the vault to reveal a special collection of unreleased recordings, alternate versions, remixes, demos, tribute reworks and deep cuts from the Vega Records musical family.
5 Pack Unreleased VII brings together 15 tracks across five 12-inch records, showcasing the wide musical spectrum that has always been part of the Vega Records story. From soulful house and deep grooves to jazz, soul, Brazilian influences, live instrumentation, Latin influences, powerful vocals, disco-rooted rhythms and the freedom to experiment in the studio, this collection moves through many different sides of the music.
Some of these recordings have been waiting patiently in the vault. Others represent alternate versions of songs that continue to evolve through different interpretations. Together, they create another musical journey through the sounds, collaborations and ideas that have shaped the Vega Records universe.
These final recordings speak to something that has always been important to Louie’s musical journey: respecting the music that came before while finding a way to reinterpret it through his own musical language.
From Loleatta Holloway and Duane Harden to Elements Of Life, 2SoulFusion, Domo Domo, Brutha Louie & Brutha Basil, and the tribute recordings, 5 Pack Unreleased VII brings together different generations, different voices and different musical influences under one roof.
The Elements Of Life sound continues throughout the collection, with “Sunshine (I Can Fly),” “Every Step” and “Dreamer” offering special previews into the musical direction of the forthcoming 2027 Elements Of Life album.
This is the seventh chapter of the series, but the philosophy remains the same:
Open the vault.
Share the music.
Let the DJs discover it.
Let the dancers feel it.
Five records.
Fifteen tracks.
A collection of unreleased music, special versions, studio discoveries, tributes and musical experiments from the world of Vega Records — with plenty more waiting inside the vault.
A soaring new chapter unfolds from the forthcoming Elements Of Life album with the release of “Soar,” an uplifting and deeply moving collaboration featuring the incomparable Lisa Fischer. Written by Josh Milan and Louie Vega and produced by 2SoulFusion—Louie Vega and Josh Milan—the song is a powerful testament to resilience, transformation, and the limitless possibilities that emerge when spirit, soul, and music unite.
Built upon a rich tapestry of live musicianship, “Soar” embodies the signature sound that has made Elements Of Life a beloved musical movement around the world. At its core is Lisa Fischer’s breathtaking vocal performance, delivering a message of hope, elevation, and self-discovery with the emotional depth and conviction that have made her one of the most revered voices of her generation.
At the heart of “Soar” is a message of encouragement, resilience, and unconditional support. Through its uplifting lyrics and soaring melody, the song speaks to anyone navigating life's uncertainties while striving to become their fullest self. Lines such as “Clouds hang low, but the sky's still wide” acknowledge the challenges we all face, while the recurring refrain, “I just want you to soar,” serves as a powerful affirmation of faith in another person's journey. Equally moving is the song's central sentiment, “The more you do for you, the better I feel,” expressing a selfless form of love that celebrates growth, healing, and personal fulfillment. Universal in its message yet deeply personal in its spirit, “Soar” reminds us that one of the greatest gifts we can offer is the encouragement to rise, evolve, and embrace our own potential.
The production blends organic instrumentation with sophisticated arrangements, creating a timeless soundscape that feels both expansive and intimate. Multi Grammy Award-winning bassist Christian McBride anchors the composition with his masterful upright bass work, while Josh Milan's lush keyboards, piano, organ, clavinet, and atmospheric textures provide the song's harmonic foundation. Live drums from Tony Cintron and vibrant percussion from Luisito Quintero infuse the track with an irresistible pulse, while Ivan Renta's expressive soprano saxophone solo adds another layer of emotional richness, and a tasteful guitar groove by Sherrod Barnes.
The song's message is elevated further through a powerful vocal ensemble featuring background vocals from Lisa Fischer, Dawn Tallman, Ramona Dunlap, and Lea Lorien, creating moments of communion and uplift that echo the song's central theme of hope, growth, and believing in the possibilities that lie ahead. For Louie Vega and Josh Milan, “Soar” represents another defining moment in their longstanding creative partnership. Through Elements Of Life, they have continually blurred the boundaries between house music, soul, jazz, Latin rhythms, gospel, and global influences, creating music that resonates as deeply on the dance floor as it does in the heart. “Soar” continues that tradition, offering listeners a song that inspires movement, reflection, and renewal.
Recorded at Honeycomb Studios in Pennsylvania and Manhattan Center Studios in New York City, and mixed at Daddy's Workshop in New Jersey, the production benefits from the expertise of recording engineers Yas Inoue & Josh Milan, with final mastering by the Maestro of mastering Herb “Pump” Powers for PM Mastering.
As anticipation builds for the forthcoming Elements Of Life album slated for February 2027, “Soar” offers a powerful glimpse into the project's next evolution— a celebration of musical excellence, spiritual connection, and the enduring power of song to lift us higher.
DJ Support: Vladimir Ivkovic, Calm, LefTo, Dawn Again, Dream Chimney, Alexis Le-Tan, Afterlife, Sofa Elsewhere, Kreggo, Froid Dub, Johan Blende, Sean Johnston, Fabio De Luca, Dr. Rob, Leo Mas, Mark Broadbent, Patch, Stefano Tucci, DJ Nova
Three years after dropping Rapido Super studio on Hell Yeah, Caramel 3000 has slowed things down even further for his new eight-track LP, Super Tempra. This playful work gets stranger but even more inviting than ever with his signature OB-6 synth and the Eurorack modular, oodles of springy reverb, delayed balafon and scattered spoken-words. Caramel 3000 splits his time between the muddy waters of the Barene, south of the Venice Lagoon, and the dim light of a studio in Anderlecht. When not cruising in his sun-bleached wooden boat, he cherishes in the little light that reaches him at his shelter in Anderlecht. Renata and Piero, the couple on the artwork, once passed through that studio. This irregular sonic fusion of this EP came out of that visit. It's a fantastical collage that dissolves the boundaries between devotion and daydream with syrupy choir voices and fragments of Nancy Fraser lectures drifting in and out like the plot of a half- remembered hallucination. Quotes from legendary Italian singer Ornella Vanoni, children’s percussion and mystic melodies are looped and modulated into slow-burning psych - outs.
After the ancient sci-fi dub of the opener, 'Corsa Nudi' pairs the occult with the primitive, 'Arena Deriva' melts to watery droplets and glacial waves, and 'Acqua Tofana' is polyrhythmic tribalism from another dimension. 'Lente Virtus' marries melodic innocence to trippy humid density and 'Soft-shell Crab' is a woozy kaleidoscope with the happy accidents left in. 'Cacciatore di Frodo' is a haunting apparition from the deep and 'Vittoria Foresta' suspends you between the earthly and the otherworldly. Super Tempra is half the speed but twice the depth and full of wonder.
Joe Davies back on Smallville, providing his skills to double the magic on the fly!
Soundscapes that will tickle your sweetspots. straight-but-quirky, far-out but still to the point – Joe is a master of his craft. His highly-acclaimed 2023 longplayer „Shields In Full Sunlight“ is still on the plates of oh-so-many heads out there, same for us. We are truly happy to present his latest vision of a cloudy night- all with Wonderful Tempo.
Comes with a stunning full cover artwork from Stefan Marx.
Do not adjust your tuning! Cowper emerges disc in hand from the liminal static, exposing us all to his peculiar brand of outsider club chaos. Boldly, slowly, Goa-ing into the fray, these three tracks chew your ear off in the sonic language of acid, trance and progressive house, churning and gurning their way deep into the darkness. In the time since the first dispatch of edit excellence, Cowper’s Between Stations has firmly established itself as an essential underground outpost, adding tape releases by Tolouse Low Trax, Zato and Miles J Paralysis to a growing catalogue of genre-fluid mayhem, consistently captured by his essential Noods Radio shows. Introducing itself with a gut punching kick and gurgling prog throb, the first track here is simultaneously upbeat and downcast, a glorious gloom-core ode to narcotic indulgence.
Extra-terrestrial pads and choral synth hark back to childhood days of Perfect Dark before a trance lead interrupts all remaining neural connections. When that snare lands in the second half we’re in fully fledged techno-pagan mode, red-faced and rushing right till the end. Assuming that even xenomorphs dance sometimes, this end of the world apocalypso is absolutely their jam. Track 2 tunnels further into the planetary core, 16bit woodblocks and bells sitting atop synthetic swells and hoover-ish vamps, before a hooning bassline drops like a sledgehammer on your unsuspecting ear drums. An unexpected, but very welcome left turn into mid track breakbeat provides a moment of airy reprise before we lock back into the cavern-shaking groove until the run out abates. For the encore, Cowper didgeri-doesus with the oscillating bass and molasses-apache break of a techno-tribal, prog-frog delicacy. Complete with the type of mantra vocal usually found on pound-bin trance or superspenny Dream House rarities, and a little acid-gwamph resonance abuse Josh Wink would be proud of, this chug-athon sounds a bit like Psychic TV tuning into Psy-trance, which is a very good thing indeed. Dark, dense and musky stuff that will drive a proper dance floor wild.
Really very exciting to introduce this new project by Dadada & Eden Burns.
Together they offer their first collaborative outing with „Your Gonna Lose Vol 1“ that contains fabulous (dance)music
mixxed up w/ some fun, social studies.
Coming from deep within the city that brought us Master P’s legendary No Limit Dynasty and Lil Boosie comes an artist who uniquely encapsulates the crossing point between lowslung Hip Hop and forward thinking, emotive electronic music. 22-year-old New Orlean’s based Suicideyear AKA James Prudhomme brings his own Southern Gothic perspective to the table with new album ‘Color The Weather,’ set for release on July 6th via LuckyMe. Although not his debut album per se - 2015’s ‘Japan’ on OneOhTrix Point Never's Software label was a collection of previously released beats – ‘Color The Weather’ represents the first time Suicideyear has specifically sought to create a complete body of work, further developing different textures and sounds that were hinted on last year’s critically acclaimed ‘Hate Songs’ EP. Within these tracks lie the ghosts of Prudhomme’s past - a difficult childhood truncated in his teens by his family home burning down. When he left Baton Rouge for his new home in New Orleans he found himself further entrenched in the Southern Rap scene whilst he soaked up the avant-garde electronic music he found online. Balancing his tender instrumentation alongside some of the tightest drum programming in the game - these tracks twist and turn - new elements are built and destroyed constantly encompassing a huge emotional range. On the records’ two vocal features he expounds on this innovative and ambitious duality – Domino Records own Georgia filling the track with longing and hope whilst Prudhomme deconstructs the track around her. The Casey MQ featured ‘Said and Done’ goes further - the last third of the track slowing to a codeine induced haze paying a nod to the Chopped and Screwed sound of James youth. “Color The Weather is about the ability to build or form security after trauma/betrayal & building personal coping mechanisms to get through said traumas. Doing what it takes to control your life when powers are working against it. The total resilience of the human spirit.” James Prudhomme
Talking with the Taxman About Poetry is the third album by Billy Bragg, originally released in September 1986.
This long overdue vinyl reissue comes in a gatefold sleeve and was remastered by John Webber at Air Studios using high-resolution transfers made from master tapes in Billy's archives. There will also be a limited edition run of coloured vinyl albums.
For Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, Bragg embraced a more fully realised band sound with the help of special guests Kirsty MacColl and Johnny Marr and production courtesy of John Porter (Roxy Music, The Smiths) and Kenny Jones. ‘Taxman…’ was his first top ten album and gave the world some of his most enduring songs in ‘Greetings To The New Brunette’ (his first top 40 hit), live favourite “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” about a victim of domestic abuse taking comfort in the music of the Four Tops, and classic workers’ anthem “There Is Power in a Union”.
Workers Playtime is the fourth album by Billy Bragg, originally released in September 1988. This long overdue vinyl reissue comes in a gatefold sleeve and was remastered by John Webber at Air Studios using high-resolution transfers made from master tapes in Billy's archives. There will also be a limited edition run of coloured vinyl albums.
Helmed by legendary producer Joe Boyd (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention et al) and his former Riff Raff bandmate Wiggy, Workers Playtime saw Bragg deliver his most tender and empathetic collection. The band featured the legendary Danny Thompson on double bass, BJ Cole on pedal steel, Bruce Thomas (Elvis Costello & The Attractions) on bass and Micky Waller on drums. Licking his wounds after another victory for Margaret Thatcher at the ’87 general election, he wrote ‘Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards’, one of his most enduring songs, while the stunning a capella ‘Tender Comrade’ confronts the ugly prejudice of the moral majority. Melancholy and disillusionment are part and parcel of Bragg’s songwriting, but always with a healthy dash of optimism.
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Amir ElSaffar has achieved international renown for his work combining the Maqam of Iraq and the Arab world with jazz. With Ashwaaq, he displays a new facet of his work with a composition for string quartet, santur, and vocalist Khaled AlHafez, a master of the musical tradition of Aleppo, Syria. This dialogue between AlHafez’s warm voice and interpretive style that blends rigor and grace and string quartet explores the microtonal resonances of the maqam and the possibilities of a polyphony rooted in Arab traditions.
The texts come from Turjuman Al-Ashwaaq (Translator of Desires) a collection of mystical and ecstatic love poems written by the revered 12th century Sufi mystic, Ibn Arabi, and explore the universal power of love, the inner quest, and the search for unity in the diversity of the world.
Ashwaaq is a captivating moment of celebration, where poetic and musical heritages intersect beyond cultural and disciplinary boundaries.
LA producer/vocalist Sweet Love Under Tyranny arrives with her self-titled EP (à La Carte Records, 11/6) — four tracks, nineteen minutes of nocturnal dance music built on coldwave and Italo pulled through new romantic melodrama. Co-produced with Matia Simovich (Inhalt) at Infinite Power Studios, mastered by Josh Bonati. The reference points span the pop confidence of Stacey Q and early Madonna, the airtight vocal architecture of Yazoo, and the coldwave romance running through the artist's own history as co-writer on Kontravoid's "Maskerade" (~200k Spotify streams since 2021's "Faceless" LP). Her voice cuts from aching falsetto to guttural growl over synth lines placed with the precision of someone thinking hard about where a chorus should sit in a mix. Post-punkcom: "a nocturne of neon-kissed bliss, a siren's serenade whispered through the haze of LA's twilight pulse." Pressed as a limited single-sided 12" in two variants (black-in-clear; clear).
Toronto’s Lammping is a project built on the idea that music can exist across timelines. Founded by Mikhail Galkin and Jay Anderson, the band’s sound draws equally from heavy psych rock, hip-hop, classic songwriting, and experimental collage, creating records that feel both familiar and impossible to place within a single era or genre.
Their latest album, So What, What?, is the clearest expression of that approach. Built from fragments of memory, influence, and lived experience, the record moves seamlessly between sampled textures, personal storytelling, and adventurous songwriting. References to everything from Soviet-era recordings to golden-age hip-hop sit alongside reflections on family, parenthood, and the uncertainty of the present moment. Yet despite its wide-ranging influences, the album remains firmly rooted in songcraft rather than nostalgia.
Rekombinant is the solo project of Rome based composer and sound artist Alfonso Montagnese. Blending electroacoustic composition, analogue electronics, magnetic tape and sound design, his work explores the physical qualities of sound, embracing imperfection, transformation and degradation as expressive compositional tools.
Borrowing its title from the physical principle of parity symmetry, the album is less interested in scientific theory than in the possibility that an identity may endure even after profound change. Sound is treated as matter, it is stretched, reflected, saturated, compressed and displaced, yet never entirely separated from its origin.
Magnetic tape is the medium through which this question unfolds. Magnetic tape does not preserve sound faithfully, it reshapes the sound. It compresses, saturates, colours and gradually erodes it, producing not a copy but another state of the same material. Every recording becomes both document and transformation.
Most of the instruments used throughout the album were selected from more recent generations of electronic equipment compared to previous works. Their character is not defined by nostalgia, but by their functional and sonic qualities: instruments chosen for how they behave under pressure.
The album consists of fourteen compositions, each one approaching sound as a material in continuous state of alteration and was conceived within what feels like a new Middle Ages, one that is still unfolding. An era marked by increasing fragmentation, uncertainty and the erosion of shared cultural references. The music does not illustrate this condition; it absorbs and inhabits it.
Throughout these fourteen pieces, sound continuously changes its appearance without abandoning its identity. What remains after every inversion, every saturation and every layer of magnetic degradation is not certainty, but persistence.
Parity Symmetry is Conserved is ultimately an exploration of that persistence: the fragile possibility that memory, identity and human experience may continue to exist, even after passing through irreversible transformation.
Thirty tracks to celebrate three decades in the game, the LP is home to music from artists that have helped shaped the sound of the label over the years. Featuring a mixture of both original tracks and iconic catalogue remixes, expect to hear top-shelf cuts from the likes of Netsky, Grafix, S.P.Y, Etherwood, Nu:Logic, Lens, Hoax, Gabriella Bongo and more.
Pressed across five 12" white vinyl records and housed in a premium two-piece lift-off box, this special 30th anniversary edition is the ultimate collectors item.
Three years after the release of their debut album, Do Nothing return with their much anticipated sophomore, 'Friend World'. The Nottingham four piece consisting of Chris Bailey, Kasper Sandstrøm, Charlie Howarth, Andrew Harrison, emerge bolder, self-assured and more energetic than ever.
Lead single 'Stars' gives an insight into the upcoming LP, synth-laden with hypnotic riffs, meandering vocals and bouncing basslines. The single, already a fan favourite, paves the way for listeners to enter the 'Friend World' that Do Nothing have created. At first glance, the album is overflowing with hard hitting guitars, infectious rhythms and frontman Bailey's signature razor-sharp witted lyricism, but dive deeper into tracks such as These People Want Blood and standout track Loner, to find an alternative take on the album, representing a softer and more pensive side of the band's writing.
The chart-topping, multi-Platinum and Ivor Novello-winning Passenger returns with a new album ‘Wild Love’. Passenger - real name Mike Rosenberg - was inspired by recently (and unexpectedly) becoming a husband and father. ‘Wild Love’ captures the whirlwind of emotions as their relationship developed - the excitement, the upheaval, the trepidation and the joy. Passenger says, “Going from a working relationship to a romantic one is scary. The older you get, the more of the spikier sides of love you’ve seen. Things go sour for all sorts of reasons and with someone so close, the stakes are so much higher. ‘Wild Love’ is the title track because it sums up the theme of the album. Do you give in to your doubts and do nothing, or do you face your fears and go for it? I wrote the song as I was realising that the choice was obvious.” While the ‘Wild Love’ album charts the couple’s personal experiences - taking the plunge, cherished early memories together, the realisation that this new love could be one that lasts - the single ‘It Was Gonna Be You’ is an outlier from a previous chapter in his life, a story of discovering that relationships can rapidly unravel. It is set to a classic Passenger sound of bright, buoyant melody coloured with flourishes of piano and Americana-tinged guitar twangs. The uplifting, energised atmosphere of the ‘Wild Love’ album opens with its most direct moment, the infectious ode-to-change of the live favourite ‘Boomerang’. The title track and centrepiece ‘Wild Love’ will also be familiar from shows, a delicate piano-based country song which taps into the elation and fear that came as the couple’s relationship took shape. There are sonic surprises too, such as the way in which the frisky ‘Caution To The Wind’ draws on both ‘70s Elton John and the insistent keys of Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s ‘The Way It Is’, or the ‘80s synth embellishments on ‘Lightning Strikes’. A rare cover is also included with his take on Taylor Swift’s ‘Willow’, the song that soundtracked the couple’s blossoming love.
The chart-topping, multi-Platinum and Ivor Novello-winning Passenger returns with a new album ‘Wild Love’. Passenger - real name Mike Rosenberg - was inspired by recently (and unexpectedly) becoming a husband and father. ‘Wild Love’ captures the whirlwind of emotions as their relationship developed - the excitement, the upheaval, the trepidation and the joy. Passenger says, “Going from a working relationship to a romantic one is scary. The older you get, the more of the spikier sides of love you’ve seen. Things go sour for all sorts of reasons and with someone so close, the stakes are so much higher. ‘Wild Love’ is the title track because it sums up the theme of the album. Do you give in to your doubts and do nothing, or do you face your fears and go for it? I wrote the song as I was realising that the choice was obvious.” While the ‘Wild Love’ album charts the couple’s personal experiences - taking the plunge, cherished early memories together, the realisation that this new love could be one that lasts - the single ‘It Was Gonna Be You’ is an outlier from a previous chapter in his life, a story of discovering that relationships can rapidly unravel. It is set to a classic Passenger sound of bright, buoyant melody coloured with flourishes of piano and Americana-tinged guitar twangs. The uplifting, energised atmosphere of the ‘Wild Love’ album opens with its most direct moment, the infectious ode-to-change of the live favourite ‘Boomerang’. The title track and centrepiece ‘Wild Love’ will also be familiar from shows, a delicate piano-based country song which taps into the elation and fear that came as the couple’s relationship took shape. There are sonic surprises too, such as the way in which the frisky ‘Caution To The Wind’ draws on both ‘70s Elton John and the insistent keys of Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s ‘The Way It Is’, or the ‘80s synth embellishments on ‘Lightning Strikes’. A rare cover is also included with his take on Taylor Swift’s ‘Willow’, the song that soundtracked the couple’s blossoming love.
Futurismo are proud to present DEVO’s NITROUS NIGHTMARE, Halloween Live ‘75. Never before released, or heard in it’s entirety, this legendary live performance is presented here in it’s full chaotic glory on limited edition 2xLP and 2xCD. The live release all hardcore Devo fans have been waiting for, Nitrous Nightmare demonstrates a band harnessing their artistic greatness in the purest of forms. This mythic performance captures Devo perfecting some of their most iconic concepts in the raw. Expertly restored, this live recording makes for a thrilling experience, it also captures Devo as a lightening rod for hostility. On Halloween 1975, Devo took the stage at the WHK Auditorium in Cleveland, in a supporting capacity for jazz legend Sun Ra, to perform for a raucous crowd dressed in the finest of Halloween cliché. Already riding high on Nitrous Oxide and booze supplied by the sponsoring radio station, this unaware horde was expecting to see a slick cover band churning out renditions of Bad Company hits, only to be subjected to an act of subversive performance art that would send the growingly aggravated crowd into eventual meltdown. Physical threats ensued, but Devo played on. Acting as a live companion release to Futurismo’s much lauded Art Devo, the tracklist featured here showcases the origins of de-evolution theory in a live setting. These songs would become some of their most famous material, with this recording believed to be the very first time ‘Jocko Homo’ was performed in front of a live audience; the full 12 minute version documented here is sure to please fans, even if it displeased the urban hippies and horror masked onlookers that evening. Whilst Devo may have felt they were trapped inside a negative energy vortex during that era, it is clear in retrospect that the band was using this energy to carve out the genesis of a sonic and visual art that has truly stood the test of time. The music performed that evening would mutate culture for decades to come, long after the denizens of the auditorium packed away their cheap vampire costumes and returned to their day jobs. Spanning 2xLP’s of unreleased live material, most of which has never been heard before, this wondrous performance draws purely from that integral early history. Mixed and mastered directly from recordings kept in the bands personal vaults, this live collection showcases why Devo was, and still is, one of the most important bands in American history. De-evolution is real. The art of DEVO is real. Here is the evidence. This 2xLP is housed in a gloss laminated wide spined sleeve. It has a tracklist that has been sourced directly from the archives, and contains colour inner sleeves and a fold-out containing archival imagery and liner notes by Gerald V Casale.
Futurismo are proud to present DEVO’s NITROUS NIGHTMARE, Halloween Live ‘75. Never before released, or heard in it’s entirety, this legendary live performance is presented here in it’s full chaotic glory on Super Limited edition Deluxe cassette format!
The live release all hardcore Devo fans have been waiting for, Nitrous Nightmare demonstrates a band harnessing their artistic greatness in the purest of forms. This mythic performance captures Devo perfecting some of their most iconic concepts in the raw. Expertly restored, this live recording makes for a thrilling experience, it also captures Devo as a lightening rod for hostility.
On Halloween 1975, Devo took the stage at the WHK Auditorium in Cleveland, in a supporting capacity for jazz legend Sun Ra, to perform for a raucous crowd dressed in the finest of Halloween cliché. Already riding high on Nitrous Oxide and booze supplied by the sponsoring radio station, this unaware horde was expecting to see a slick cover band churning out renditions of Bad Company hits, only to be subjected to an act of subversive performance art that would send the growingly aggravated crowd into eventual meltdown. Physical threats ensued, but Devo played on.
“These songs were written just before and while in my first stint in rehab at 20 years old. They were recorded about 4 days after I got out. Broke, walking on freshly sober baby giraffe legs, I sold my car and moved back in with my mom to make that recording happen. At a time where I had no direction, the mission of capturing sonically the love that unraveled my heart at that age became my North Star. These songs have sat in the vault for 8 years, and somehow never managed to collect dust. Anytime I’d revisit them, the glow they carried upon conception still shined bright. For years I’ve known there would be a time to let them loose, and that time has finally come. It took nearly a decade of gaining life experience and perspective to truly appreciate the beauty of young love, courage in the face of unknowning at such a formative time in a lifespan, and belief in magic that can break your heart as quickly as it can mend it. I hope these songs can serve as a reminder of the lessons we all learn from early heartbreak and that belief, and even more so, a looking glass at how our hearts are capable of forever expanding to find love that’s true.”
— Briston Maroney
“These songs were written just before and while in my first stint in rehab at 20 years old. They were recorded about 4 days after I got out. Broke, walking on freshly sober baby giraffe legs, I sold my car and moved back in with my mom to make that recording happen. At a time where I had no direction, the mission of capturing sonically the love that unraveled my heart at that age became my North Star. These songs have sat in the vault for 8 years, and somehow never managed to collect dust. Anytime I’d revisit them, the glow they carried upon conception still shined bright. For years I’ve known there would be a time to let them loose, and that time has finally come. It took nearly a decade of gaining life experience and perspective to truly appreciate the beauty of young love, courage in the face of unknowning at such a formative time in a lifespan, and belief in magic that can break your heart as quickly as it can mend it. I hope these songs can serve as a reminder of the lessons we all learn from early heartbreak and that belief, and even more so, a looking glass at how our hearts are capable of forever expanding to find love that’s true.”
— Briston Maroney
Physically tethered to this reality, yet creatively unmoored from any earthly restraints, Holy Fawn freely slip in and out of metal, shoegaze, electronic, alternative, and rock as if inhabiting multiple states of sonic existence all at once. Blazing new trails both seen and unseen as well as heard and unheard (but always felt), the Arizona quartet—Ryan Osterman, Evan Phelps, Alexander Rieth, and Austin Reinholz—continue to cover uncharted territory on their second full-length offering, Dimensional Bleed.
The group emerged in 2018 as a critical and fan favorite with their debut LP, Death Spells. Stereogum said the music is “all so beautiful,” while Heavy Blog Is Heavy went as far as to christen it “a landmark.” Thrice and Deafheaven each invited the band on tour, and Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe was effusive in his praise.
In 2020, Holy Fawn shared The Black Moon EP, which the Phoenix New Times hailed as “a ferocious slab of twilight guitar crunch.” In the midst of the Global Pandemic, Holy Fawn carefully assembled what would become Dimensional Bleed. Due to the closure of their practice space and de facto headquarters, the bulk of creation and recording happened remotely. Ryan performed vocals and electronics at home, while Austin and Evan tracked and mixed out of Evan’s studio. This time around, they enlisted Mike Watts The Dillinger Escape Plan, Glassjaw, The Dear Hunter for mixing and additional production and Mike Kalajian for mastering.
Forty years of cassette releases, pressed for the first time on vinyl
First of two instalments exploring the previously unreleased sonic archives of one of Poland’s most enigmatic
living artists - with its first volume focused on his deep listening practice and spiritual reverie (recorded 1990–2013)
The last time Andrzej Dudek-Dürer took a banknote bearing the face of the Polish anarchist Jarosław Dąbrowski from his pocket to trade it for a pair of shoes was in 1969. He bought them for 120zł - the equivalent of 100€ today - and never replaced them since then. Only rebuilt them, year after year, drawing a needle and thread through the leather each time it split, closing one wound before the next one opened. It became a ritual of precision, stitching a record of another year into their soles.
That same year, in Wrocław, he arrived at a conclusion that would recalibrate everything that followed. Convinced he was the reincarnation of Albrecht Dürer, he adopted the surname Dudek-Dürer, stopped cutting his hair and began wearing the same garments every day. It was the first ritual of many, though he wouldn't have called it that yet. Look closely enough, over the decades, and it is always the same gesture, returning in different material: hair growing in a single unbroken strand, a needle drawing thread through leather, sitar strings pulled taut across a neck he built with his own hands and magnetic tape spooling forward inside the cassette boxes stacked against his walls.
None of this began in a vacuum. Dudek-Dürer emerged from the Wrocław neo-avant-garde, in a Polish art world where an exhibition could be cancelled overnight by the stroke of a censor's pen. In 1973, his exhibition Auto-crucifixion was shut down by the state, and for a time he found himself blocked from exhibiting his own art at all - the one force in his life that ever came close to cutting the thread.
He seemed to experience it differently. In 1974, after long, patient research into sitar craftsmanship, he built his first prototype with his brother, a knowledgeable luthier. In 1978, in a smoked-out jazz club, he took his first steps into sound recording with the unreleased album Jazz From Underground with his first band. By 1979, recognition started to travel further than he could.
Turning toward Far-Eastern philosophy, meditation and the idea of reincarnation was another language of freedom for him. It was a way of claiming an inner territory the state could not reach, a border it could not close. Mail Art served a parallel function, reaching further out: in a country that restricted travel and expression, sending and receiving art through the postal system became an act of quiet rebellion.
The body, in his understanding, is only an envelope readied for constant transformation. From this came Metaphysical Telepathy: during the years he could not leave Poland, he treated that confinement as a rehearsal room, sending his mind out ahead on the same thread his body would later follow. Living Sculpture grew from the same root with performances of stillness beside static art objects, until the boundary between the object and the man beside it simply dissolved. Camera Meditation extended the same instinct into photography: a shutter click flattening three dimensions into two so that a single instant could be held forever. Inspired by the pioneers of self-portrait photography like Robert Cornelius, he used it to document time itself, and kept explaining to me: "You know. This is not about vanity. This is about observing time passing.”
The isolation did not end suddenly. It ended the way his own philosophy had already predicted it would, from the inside first. Mail Art quietly solved the problem politics couldn't. Correspondence built during years of confinement slowly worked its way through doors the state itself had kept locked. Contacts made through folded paper and stamps became invitations. Ultimately, invitations became passports.
In 1983 he made his first trip outside Poland, to Germany, in search of the audio technology he couldn’t get his hands on before. In 1985, he was invited by the Indian embassy in Poland to give a sitar concert on an instrument he had spent a decade patiently stringing together - half sitar, half tanpura, built from patience and determination. After the collapse of the People's Republic of Poland, the travels kept unspooling: South Korea, then Mexico, then Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and the United States - each stop leaving behind its own small knot of tape, tied off and carried home.
In the decades since, recognition arrived at the same unhurried pace: he conducted workshops at UC Berkeley, served as vice-president for artistic affairs of the Union of Polish Art Photographers and the Union of Polish Visual Artists between 2010 and 2014 and received the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis. His visual work gradually entered collections including the National Museums of Warsaw, the Stedelijk Museum, Tate Modern, MoMA and the Venice Biennale. His musical practice, by contrast, never found that kind of room - left to circulate quietly, sharing his cassette tapes directly, waiting for someone willing to follow it further.
It took months before I could find a way to reach Andrzej Dudek-Dürer - his presence online is very close to nonexistent. Surprisingly, LinkedIn turned out to be the only door still open, a faintly absurd irony given everything else about him. I packed the strict minimum for a three-day trip and an empty notebook and made my way to Wrocław. His headquarters sits in the neighbourhood of Grabyszyn: a two-storey pre-war house that has belonged to his family for generations. The man who opened the door was long-haired, long-bearded, in his trademark leather shoes and patched jeans. We sat in his living room, in front of a computer where decades of recordings sat organised in cryptically named files, surrounded by books and objects that had arrived one layer at a time, leaving room for only two chairs in the middle. His shoes sat by the door, rebuilt so many times they had become their own quiet sculpture. Cassette tapes filled boxes against the walls, almost unlabelled, each one a spool of thread holding decades of sound that had never once been asked for, until now.
I listened for hours: meditating in front of strangers on the porch of a Seoul temple until the tourists stopped taking photos and simply waited with him; a stand-off with border guards at the US–Mexico crossing over an instrument they couldn't identify and didn't trust; a session with the Stockhausen family that he still, decades later, describes like it happened last week. All of it interrupted, occasionally, by the smell of soup boiling and fresh bread warming on the ceramic stove. After two days, it felt like being handed the end of a very long thread and asked, gently, to keep following it. I left with a USB drive holding his full discography, signed with his unmistakable signature.
Astral Meditations From A Living Statue is a length of that thread, drawn out from the boxes stacked against his walls - recordings gathered from different rooms, different countries, different decades. This first record breathes slowly: incense-thick, meditative, built for stillness. A cutting-edge séance in outer space where machines learn how to dream.
It begins with the neo-classical improvisations of Andrzej, space-delayed, recorded at Klub Muzyki i Literatury in Wrocław in 2002. 'When..So' opens the curtains with a deep-rooted meditation accompanied by slow-decaying piano figures illuminated by a candle-lit spirit gathering.
Los Angeles, 1990: a dormant villa, a grand piano, the voice of Bonnie Barnett. 'Exception' is captured in a single room, in a single afternoon - voice and keys circling each other, neither one leading, until the silence between the notes starts to feel like the instrument.
'The Meta...' and 'Tired Of...', recorded at Studio Morandi in Ponte Nossa, Italy, in 1992, settle into a sitar drone built entirely from patience - overtones stacking and beating against each other, strung by a man who never once set foot in India. 'Mastery Of...' follows, recorded the same year at Studio Suski in Łomianki, pushing that same hum further still, until pitch dissolves into a spectral reverie. 'Transcendental Sound', from 2000, closes the first record in a slow bath of celestial frequency - better heard beside the shores of the Odra river.
More than fifty years after deciding that a life could become an artwork, Andrzej Dudek-Dürer continues to inhabit that decision. His shoes keep wearing thin against the earth's crust. His hair keeps growing, one strand at a time. His cassette tapes keep spooling in the dark of their boxes.
Now the thread finds its last shape: a single unbroken groove, spiralling inward from the outer edge to the label at the centre. Never cut - the way nothing else in his life ever was. Drop the needle and it will find that groove and follow it, the same way a needle once followed leather, once followed a border it couldn't cross, once followed string into an instrument that didn't exist until he built it. This record is the other end of a thread that has been travelling for fifty years. For the length of both sides, it rests here, in your hands. This is a timeless proof that the Lord of the New Age was never lost."
DJ Support: Kenny Larkin, Francois Kevorkian, Laurent Garnier, Ben UFO, Joseph Capriati, Fra Soler, Carista, Slam, Uncertain, DJ Bone, Christian Smith, Anthony Pappa, Radio Slave, Alienata, Marco Faraone, Christian Varela, James Zabiela, Anika Kunst, Carlos Valdes, Ame, Pushmann and Chris Fortier
Vince Watson Announces ‘The Force’, to launch his forthcoming 30 year compilation VW30 Introspection II.
As the build up to Vince Watson's huge forthcoming VW30 Introspection II compilation begins, the Scottish born Amsterdam based Artist releases a new track, a huge track 'The Force' as the exclusive.
Building on his Detroit inspired heritage and mixed with his energy infused Dancefloor material, 'The Force' is a monster.
With hints and shades of E-dancer with its big baselines, this track is sure to rip up some dancefloors.
Backing this up on the vinyl only, is Bon Voyage and Towards The Light, 2 tracks originally from the Via LP and featuring on vinyl for the first time.
Over the last 30 years, Vince Watson has produced some of the standout tracks of underground house and techno culture, from ‘Eminesence’ to ‘Aurelon’ to 'Mystical Rhythm’ and the new summer hit ‘The Awakening’ and has worked with some of the most renowned artists and labels to ever grace the scene.
To celebrate this incredible milestone and respect this legacy, Vince Watson is announcing a new compilation album showcasing new versions of some of the classics from his catalogue over the last 3 decades.
NOW Music proudly presents the next release in the ‘ERA’ series with NOW That's What I Call An Era - Ballroom Blitz: 1967-1976 celebrating the colourful world of glam rock, pop and unforgettable chart hits that defined the early-to-mid 1970s, with a selection of pop gems from the late 1960s. Pressed across three stunning coloured vinyl LPs – red, white and gold – showcasing the era’s biggest stars, instantly recognisable anthems, novelty favourites and enduring singalongs from one of the most distinctive periods in UK pop history.
Ed Davenport (aka Inland) marks 20 years of dedication to the craft with a Double-LP of unreleased material on his Globuli-LTD label. 8 simmering cuts spanning minimal, tech-house and dub-techno from the archives, dating as far back as 2005. Produced between London, Poulsbo (WA) and Berlin.
We are finally ready to unveil one of the most exciting projects we have worked on in our label's history: a new release by legendary disco project Hudson People, best remembered for their essential classic "Trip to Your Mind" - which just received its anniversary issue on our label!
Now it's time for "Hold On" - a brand-new single featuring several mixes based on an original recording from the late 1980s, with the completely unheard yet incredibly soulful voice of singer Rickey Owens, whom composer and producer Reginald Hudson worked with at the time.
When we first got in touch with Reg Hudson several years ago, we were originally interested in releasing his "Shake It - Make It Loose" album, which he recorded with John Davis (later known as one of the real voices behind Milli Vanilli). While talking about John Davis (RIP) and other great GI singers such as Karl Keaton, Reginald Hudson immediately mentioned Rickey Owens as one of the best singers he had ever worked with.
Of course, we had never heard of him, as none of his music had ever been released. But when Hudson showed us some old demos and sent us the original DAT recordings, we were immediately hooked.
"Hold On" was recorded in or around 1988 with a simple drum machine and keyboard accompaniment - essentially a demo intended to be recorded properly in a better studio. But the vocal performance was simply stunning, complete with beautifully recorded ad-libs. Owens had a truly remarkable, clear voice with an incredible amount of soul. Luckily, Hudson had his old DAT tapes digitized several years ago, so the acapella recordings survived in excellent shape.
We immediately reached out to several producers to create reworks of the track. The 12" EP compiles some of the most club-friendly of these new mixes - but there is more to come…
First up is Thomas Redfern, a senior producer, professional studio musician and keyboardist from London, UK. His version is a catchy, funky yet deep House track that could easily become a favourite on dancefloors around the globe. Redfern also blessed us with a dub mix that takes things even deeper.
But it gets even catchier on side B of the vinyl. Tom Quick sped up the tempo, added filters and delivered a rework that could make fans of Chromeo, Daft Punk, Stardust and any late-'90s French House afficionado go completely nuts. Yes, we mean it! With a fresh twist on the original, the track has a massive club appeal that we hope both DJs and dancers will dig.
The vinyl single is completed by a mix from German legend DJ Friction, whose version is based on synth layers from the Tom Quick mix. Friction added new drums and bass, giving the track the distinctive modern electro boogie funk vibe he is known for. His mix brings to mind classics such as Shannon's "Let the Music Play" and works of Freestyle's Tony Butler.
The vinyl 12" with 4 mixes is released on The Outer Edge's brand-new sublabel, 1st Floor Records, which focuses on more dancefloor-oriented material. More mixes are available digitally and should not be missed.
PR Feedback:
„Killer“ – Gilles Peterson
„Disco, deep house and boogie all in there! Superb!“ – Groove City Radio
„Dope!!“ – DJ Craze
„The boogie mixes are so good!“ – Selvagem
„Awesome and Huge Package“ - Leon El Ray
„Wow, Trip to Your Mind is so good and this is a real grower“ - Ibiza Sonica
„Really liking the Balearic & Redfern Mix, thanks!“ – Mystic Bill
„Both Thomas Redfern mixes are ace!“ – Deeper Shades of House
Minutiae is the first full-length release form Stockholm’s Ināra Quartet, made up of brothers Kasper (guitar, banjo, mandolin) and Mauritz Agnas (bass, cello), Johan Graden (piano, harmonium, synths) and Mischa Grind (percussion). Drawing on wide performance and composition experience in free improvisation, jazz, and composed new music, the quartet have carved out a unique niche where radical approaches to rhythmic organisation and group interaction are wedded to immediately accessible, folkish melodic and harmonic material. Unfolding briskly across eight pop-song length tracks, Minutiae places these folk fragments under a microscope, expanding them into intricate patterns of group interplay by turns austere and lushly psychedelic.
The quartet’s layering of independent rhythms, pulses, and tempi suggests a range of precedents, from Ligeti’s ticking clock textures to the pulse music of John McGuire, the repeating asynchronous cycles of The Necks, and the intricate irregular crosshatching of Banda music. Rhythm, harmony and melody shade into one another within each of the instrumental layers that overlap to form the music’s rippling surface. At points guitar, bass, percussion, and keyboards can seem each to occupy their own world, each player moving independently according to their own internal tactus, but attention to the details of group interplay reveals carefully planned collective movement. On ‘Klapparen’, strummed acoustic guitar chords and clinking percussion accelerate and decelerate in unison, washed over by floating synth lines. At other points, the quartet as a whole suddenly shift direction like a This Heat tape edit. Check the opener ‘Box Pieces’, where a brief percussion tag cues an unexpected cut from frenetic layering of percussive attacks undergirded by slow moving synth and bass foundations to a rumbling, locked-in dirge.
The eight pieces span a range of tones, from plaintive abstraction to surging minimalism. Touches of whimsy relieve any threat of over-seriousness: witness the wacky electric guitar glissandi that open ‘Tilting’ or the lovely, almost Pascal Comelade-esque fairground wobbles that begin the wayward journey of ‘Cadence: not even,’ before it stumbles into a totally different zone of spacious Paul Bley balladry sprinkled with banjo plucks. Recorded across two days at Stockholm’s Atlantis studios, Minutiae’s minutiae truly sparkle thanks to the careful mixing work of Ghosted drummer extraordinaire Andreas Werliin. A wonderfully approachable document of the richness of the next generation of contemporary creative musicians from Sweden, Ināra Quartet’s debut also looks back to 70s touchstones like Archimedes Badkar in its joyful embrace of musical collectivity.
12 Inch Lovers - Celebrating 15 Years of Vinyl Culture!
Belgian vinyl-only event concept 12 Inch Lovers celebrates its 15th anniversary with two new additions to its established sampler series. Now entering its seventh year, the series reflects the music and atmosphere of the events, combining dancefloor favourites with carefully selected discoveries.
Samplers 13 & 14 bring together sought-after classics, hard-to-find gems and selected tracks and versions making their vinyl debut. Each volume features nine full-length tracks across two 12-inch records, making both releases essential additions for DJs and collectors alike.
Sampler 13 includes Sorry I Am Late by Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Marea (We've Lost Dancing) by Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna, and Lifetimes by Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer. Further highlights include Tocadisco's Morumbi and the Martijn ten Velden Remix of Guitarra G.
Sampler 14 features Dreams by Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks, All That Matters by Kölsch feat. Troels Abrahamsen, and the NiCe7 Remix of It's Yours by Jon Cutler feat. E-Man. Belgian favourites Decoy & Roy with Inner Life and The Mackenzie with Higher In The Sky add to the selection.
Rooted in 15 years of vinyl-only events, these two compilations capture the distinctive sound of 12 Inch Lovers, offering lasting appeal for long-time fans, record collectors and DJs looking to bring proven classics back to the dancefloor.
Nothing But (Future) Classix, Straight From Vinyl!
Sampler 13 opens with Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Sorry I Am Late, the club track many will recognise from Solomun's legendary Boiler Room set in Tulum. Its unmistakable bassline sets the mood straight away. Next comes Skape D'Jear - Everything In You (Dedicated Clubba Mix), a
lesser-known house gem making its first appearance on vinyl.
Side B features Karmon feat. Terry Shand - Take My Hand, a melodic house track with a strong vocal performance that remains hard to find on vinyl. Tocadisco - Morumbi then takes things up a notch. With its driving percussion, this is a record that has blasted through the speakers of countless Belgian clubs and beyond.
Side C brings Fred again.. x The Blessed Madonna - Marea (We've Lost Dancing). A track about missing the shared experience of dancing, it became closely linked to the return to the dancefloor for many. Next, we head to Berlin with Kotai - Sucker DJ (Marcin "Highfish" Kozlowski Remix), a distinctive club classic that still holds its own. Daddy's Groove & Little Nancy - It's Not Right, But It's Okay closes this side with a groovy reworking of Whitney Houston's well-known song, now available on vinyl for the first time.
Side D captures the spirit of Ibiza with G Club presents Banda Sonora - Guitarra G (Martijn ten Velden Remix). Its recognisable guitar lines and gradual build make this a track to lose yourself in. This remix makes its vinyl debut here. Closing the sampler is Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer -
Lifetimes. Palmer's distinctive voice and the Scottish duo's outstanding production make this a record that still hits home after all these years.
Nine tracks across two 12-inch records, each in its full-length version. Much-loved classics, lesser-known gems and tracks making their vinyl debut. Selected with the same love for music that has driven 12 Inch Lovers' events for 15 years.
Welcome to a new series of various artist EP’s titled ‘Sistema Sprezzatura’
We are always working hard in the background on the art of making difficult actions, complex skills, or highly curated choices appear completely natural, unforced, and spontaneous… do we pull it off we aren’t sure.. hopefully you can be the judges.
On this first EP the A- side features a new project ‘Sprezzatura' Hailing from Little Italy, Norton Street in Sydney (just a short Vespa ride from the Sicilian Coastline). Sprezzatura serves up Italo disco originals, edits and deep, carefully curated party sets built for long nights and discerning dance floors. The name is Italian, the postcode isn’t. The sound lands somewhere between sleek synths, driving basslines and just the right amount of drama. Expect strong espresso, stronger basslines and the firm belief that Sicily is less a place than a state of mind.’
And on the B -side Boxcar and the Space Jockeys return after their last well received release on Sosilly Edits with some tasteful psych rock reworks.
The modern day torch carriers of electric Brazilian jazz-funk. Fans of Azymuth, Marcos Resende, Antonio Adolfo and Cesar Mariano look no further !
Ultracooked infuses the Sao Paulo trio’s deep understanding of Brazilian music history with their consummate musicianship and infectious joy of playing. Their distinctly electric jazz-funk flavour rises to the top, as they pay homage to some of their musical heroes and teachers.
Where previous albums nodded to the lineage of Azymuth, Antonio Adolfo, Cesar Camargo Mariano and Marcos Resende, Ultracooked walks ! ! straight up to the greats and shakes their hands. Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso are here, with fresh versions of Espresso 2222 and Odara respectively. Garoto - the great choro guitarist and composer whose harmonic imagination quietly laid the ground for bossa nova - is here too, and honoured with a deconstructed reading of "Jorge do Fusa".
Recorded in the wake of the passing of both João Donato and Hermeto Pascoal, each has a song on the album named after them. Listen to Caixa Cubo and you can see why, their playfulness echoes Donato’s mischievous cheek, while their creative openness is clearly Hermeto inspired. But with both “Hermeto” and “Dontao” each featuring the sampled voice of the late masters themselves, the songs read more as conversations than eulogy. Caixa Cubo carry forward these legacies with care.
In good company, Zé Leônidas, who lit up 2023's Agora, returns to sing on "Expresso 2222", "Essa é Pra Tocar no Rádio" and "Cortejo", while guitarist Edson Woiski brings his sinewy sound to those Gil interpretations and to "Cabaré", before adding his voice to the closing chorus.
Ultracooked was produced by Caixa Cubo alongside Frederico Pacheco, who recorded and mixed the album at O&O Studios in São Paulo, with mastering by Casper Sutton at Gearbox Studios in London.
Bristol trio Jabu return with their first release for two years. Following on from their widely acclaimed third LP ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star’, this stand-alone double A-side Disco Mix 12” features four exclusive new tracks, while signposting fresh material currently being written, recorded and mixed for their forthcoming LP, due 2027.
If 2023 LP ‘Boiling Wells’ documented Jabu learning to be a live band, leaning into writing collectively in-the-moment, ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star’ took that record’s ad-hoc/mixtape blueprint, and fleshed out their transformation from an outfit rooted in hiphop and dubstep, to a guitar-based band with a unique take on dream-pop. It saw them described by The Face as “an experiential trio blending the raw edge of industrial dub with dreamy layers of ambient pop and shoegaze", and by The Wire as “like Mazzy Star remixed by The Mad Professor“.
Jabu have continued to grow in the space between releases, touring regularly for the first time, playing festivals such as Rewire and Le Guess Who?, and supporting the likes of Maria Somerville and AR Kane. Their extended live line-up now regularly incorporates those that contributed to ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star’, with new material often further developed as it gets passed back and forth between collaborators. Cellist Josh Horsley (Powders / Nightingale Floor) and multi-instrumentalist Will Yates (aka Memotone) both feature here, under the guiding hand of Birthmark’s mixing.
Titled after the rural, estuarine landscape bordering their Bristol hometown, ‘Severn Flood Plain’ sees the band pivot towards a more jagged and up-tempo, post-punk sound. It runs on a nagging drum machine pulse that feels closer to Joy Division than Sly Stone; while the echo-laced vocals and tremolo guitar phrasing hark back to the ‘50s slapback sound of Lee Hazlewood or Duane Eddy. Written and sung by Jasmine Butt, the lyrics describe a visit to a friend near the mouth of the Severn, and hint towards a darkness that can also be felt across that tidal landscape.
Dropping the pace to a languorous, sensual sprawl, ‘Where You Run To’ is plaintive and yearning, an opiated, ethereal flipside to ‘Severn Flood Plain’s more urgent, anxiety-laced opener. Alex Rendall’s vocals glide over a stripped, metronomic backdrop, eventually entwining with Memotone’s ghostly, processed clarinet.
If the band’s musical reference points appear to have shifted, their process remains indebted to dub and still very much rooted in the multicultural cross-pollination peculiar to their home city of Bristol. Both tracks are extended, with dub versions courtesy of Birthmark. The band sat in on those sessions, completing the circle that began with J’s on-stage mixing of their live sets. The strands provided by Will and Josh provide introspective counterpoint to the sound system leanings.
Jabu’s influences are threaded together as naturally here as on their long-running NTS radio show, ‘Music For Lovers’, which now occasionally guests on the Early Bird show slot. They are due to play World of Echo’s ‘Expected Music 2.0’ at London’s Walthamstow Trades Hall on 21st November with Loopsel, Insides, Giulio Erasmus, Thomas Bush, and Raime amongst others.
Sucata Tapes and Annihaya proudly present Delia, the hypnotic new album by Munda (Selu Herraiz), following up on foundational explorations of ritual and territorial memory.
Recorded in September 2021 during a residency at Konvent—an old convent set within an abandoned industrial colony in Cal Rosal, deep in the lower Catalan Pyrenees—Delia is forged from the physical ghosts of a former textile factory. Within high ceilings, terracotta floors, and walls vibrating with low frequencies, Herraiz captured the remnants of another time: shards of glass, rusted iron, corrugated plastics, and the sonic echoes of a place where hundreds of women once worked the looms.
Using a dynamic microphone placed before the speaker of a battered Yamaha Electone organ with broken keys, Herraiz transformed these industrial ruins, raw materials, and acoustic traces into an immersive electroacoustic journey. Blending primitive textures, analog synthesis, and the deep resonance of territorial history, Delia stands as a profound meditation on memory, space, and alchemic listening.
Dutton Ranch is a Paramount+ series set in the world of the Dutton family, expanding the story and legacy of the family-owned ranch first introduced in Yellowstone. The series takes viewers back to Montana, where the Duttons face new challenges as they fight to protect their land and their way of life. The first season introduces a new chapter in the Dutton story, bringing together a new generation of characters and further exploring the world of the Yellowstone universe.
The original score is composed by Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian. Tyler is a well-renowned Hollywood composer, known for blockbuster scores including Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Mummy and several films in the Fast & Furious franchise. Together with Vivian, he also created the music for Yellowstone, 1883 and 1923. Vivian has become closely associated with the Yellowstone universe, having co-composed the scores for the series.
The soundtrack of Dutton Ranch is available as a limited edition on brown vinyl and includes an insert with liner notes by the composers.
Immersive, roots-infused dub-reggae power from Jamaica meets heavyweight instrumentation from Denmark on a landmark collaborative album out now via Recall Reality.
Rooted in the rich traditions of classic Jamaican sound yet pulsing with a hypnotic, contemporary organic weight, Signs of the Time brings together the evocative vocal artistry of rising roots talent Azizzi Romeo and the master craftsmanship of Denmark's formidable instrumental 11 piece band Guiding Star Orchestra. Built for sound systems and vinyl purists alike, featuring lush tape saturation, spring reverbs, and spacious dub mixes.
Released on Recall Reality, the album is a masterclass in modern roots reggae and deep dub dynamics. Rather than relying on rigid digital presets, Signs of the Time champions warm analogue textures, sprawling horn arrangements, and rolling basslines that echo the golden age of Studio One, Joe Gibbs, Bunny Lee and Channel One while carving out an entirely fresh, meditative space for the listener.
Azizzi Romeo carries forward a legendary musical lineage as the son of the late roots icon Max Romeo, bringing a captivating blend of spiritual urgency, conscious lyricism, and soulful conviction to the microphone. His delivery cuts straight through the mix, offering profound reflections on modern society, unity, and resilience in a changing world.
Backing him are the Guiding Star Orchestra, renowned for their authentic analog production ethos, deep-crate sensibilities, and musicianship that treats the mixing board as an instrument in its own right. The result is a seamless symbiotic project where every bubbling organ skank, hypnotic drum drop, and reverberating tape delay serves the song's core message.
To bring the record home, producer CHLLNGR spent a week in the spring working alongside UK dub maestro in his London studio - Prince Fatty, who mixed the entire album. Fatty invited legendary drummer Winston "Horseman” Williams into the sessions, and Horseman percussion added the final glue to the record.
Track highlights:
"Signs of the Time": Azizzi is joined by his late father, the legendary Max Romeo, on a prophetic warning of what awaits the world if we don't soon unite in peace and love.
"Thanks and Praises": An anthem of gratitude for everything life brings, and of rising up even when others want to see us fail.
"Jah Jah Disciples": A meditation on following Jah, and the strength that faith gives in the midst of adversity.
Signs of the Time is available now on Vinyl LP and Digital streaming platforms via Recall Reality.
Manchmal beenden Nicole Mitchell und Joe Westerlund gegenseitig ihre Sätze. Genau diese telepathische Verbindung prägt ,Written in the Universe", ein Album, das aus jahrelangen gemeinsamen Auftritten in Durham, North Carolina, entstanden ist. Mitchell - eine international gefeierte Flötistin, Komponistin und ehemalige Vorsitzende der Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago - und Westerlund, ein Schlagzeuger, dessen Werk von experimentellem Rock über Jazz bis hin zu elektroakustischer Improvisation reicht, schaffen Musik, die sich gleichzeitig geerdet und weitläufig anfühlt: echo-getränkte, elektronisch geprägte Improvisationen, die von Westerlunds tief verwurzelten Polyrhythmen getragen werden. Das Album wurde an zwei Tagen bei ,Betty's" aufgenommen, einem ländlichen Studio mitten im Wald außerhalb von Chapel Hill, und fängt die Spontaneität einer Live-Performance ein. Anstatt die Aufnahmen durch Overdubs oder umfangreiche Bearbeitung zu verfeinern, hat das Duo die intuitive Energie jedes Takes bewahrt. Die umgebende Landschaft - ihre Wälder, die freie Natur und das Gefühl von Weite - wurde zu einem stillen dritten Mitwirkenden, der den organischen Fluss der Musik subtil prägte. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, bei dem es mehr um die Entdeckung als um das Ziel geht. Auf ,Written in the Universe" verweben sich Mitchells ausdrucksstarke Flöte und Live-Elektronik mit Westerlunds einfallsreicher Percussion zu einer Musik, die sich in Echtzeit entfaltet und die Zuhörer zu einem gemeinsamen Hörerlebnis einlädt, bei dem spontane Komposition und Intuition untrennbar miteinander verschmelzen.
Die City Saints wurden 2012 nach dem Ausstieg von Magnus Jonsson bei Perkele zusammen mit Stefan Johansson gegründet und sind mittlerweile seit fast 15 Jahren eine der umtriebigsten und bekanntesten schwedischen RocknRoll-Punk-Oi Bands mit sechs Alben und über ein Dutzend EP's und Samplerbeiträgen. Jetzt erscheint mit "Sods & Odds" eine üppige Doppel-LP mit 25 non album-Songs und Raritäten. Von exklusiven Songs ab der ersten Single "Spitting Blood", diversen Split-Singles u.a. mit den Hommage "On the Radio"-EP's, die sie mit Evil Conduct und Peter & the Test Tube Babies eingespielt haben, bis hin zu "I hope Santa Dies" vom "Cashing on Christmas Sampler" hat die Band eine eindrucksvolle Werkschau auf Doppel-LP zusammengestellt. Auf ihren limitierten und mittlerweile unter Sammlern stark gesuchten 7inch Vinyls veröffentlichten die City Saints auch exklusive Coversongs ihrer musikalischen Helden. Bands, die ihren eigenen Stil selbst geprägt haben und mit einer Bandbreite von RocknRoll, Glam, Sleaze bis Punk, Oi und Underground weit gefächert sind. Viele dieser Songs entstanden mit Beteiligung der Originalmitglieder. Auch diese Juwelen findet man auf "Sods & Odds". Von Slade's "Mama weer all crazy now" über Cock Sparrer (I got your number), Rancid, The Clash bis zu den Perverts, einer Band aus den Anfangstagen der schwedischen Punkbewegung. "Sods & Odds" erscheint im wunderschönen Gatefold-Sleeve - entworfen von Malwi / Old School Designs - auf 2LP 180gr, in klassisch schwarzem oder auf Silber mit Splatter Vinyl, jeweils limitiert auf nur 150 Exemplare bei ihrem Stammlabel Sunny Bastards.
Die City Saints wurden 2012 nach dem Ausstieg von Magnus Jonsson bei Perkele zusammen mit Stefan Johansson gegründet und sind mittlerweile seit fast 15 Jahren eine der umtriebigsten und bekanntesten schwedischen RocknRoll-Punk-Oi Bands mit sechs Alben und über ein Dutzend EP's und Samplerbeiträgen. Jetzt erscheint mit "Sods & Odds" eine üppige Doppel-LP mit 25 non album-Songs und Raritäten. Von exklusiven Songs ab der ersten Single "Spitting Blood", diversen Split-Singles u.a. mit den Hommage "On the Radio"-EP's, die sie mit Evil Conduct und Peter & the Test Tube Babies eingespielt haben, bis hin zu "I hope Santa Dies" vom "Cashing on Christmas Sampler" hat die Band eine eindrucksvolle Werkschau auf Doppel-LP zusammengestellt. Auf ihren limitierten und mittlerweile unter Sammlern stark gesuchten 7inch Vinyls veröffentlichten die City Saints auch exklusive Coversongs ihrer musikalischen Helden. Bands, die ihren eigenen Stil selbst geprägt haben und mit einer Bandbreite von RocknRoll, Glam, Sleaze bis Punk, Oi und Underground weit gefächert sind. Viele dieser Songs entstanden mit Beteiligung der Originalmitglieder. Auch diese Juwelen findet man auf "Sods & Odds". Von Slade's "Mama weer all crazy now" über Cock Sparrer (I got your number), Rancid, The Clash bis zu den Perverts, einer Band aus den Anfangstagen der schwedischen Punkbewegung. "Sods & Odds" erscheint im wunderschönen Gatefold-Sleeve - entworfen von Malwi / Old School Designs - auf 2LP 180gr, in klassisch schwarzem oder auf Silber mit Splatter Vinyl, jeweils limitiert auf nur 150 Exemplare bei ihrem Stammlabel Sunny Bastards.
At 23, daine has spent the last few years drifting between scenes faster than the internet could fully name them: digicore, emo revivalism, hyperpop, bloghouse nostalgia. But "In Endless Awe & Agony", her debut album arriving this November, feels less like another pivot than a consolidation - the point where all those fragments collapse into something strangely singular.
From our brother and close friend of the label, Omar Fayyad, comes Perpetual State EP, his first solo EP on vinyl Three personal tracks that unlock previously unfathomable levels of deepness.
,X3" von Amina Hocine greift schrittweise, subtil und unaufhaltsam auf die Komplementarität verschiedener Klangmaterialien zurück. Durch die geduldige und feinfühlige Verschmelzung von reinen Sinuswellen, Feldaufnahmen und Klängen, die mit einer ,Nebelhorn-Orgel" (einem von Hocine selbst entwickelten Instrument) erzeugt wurden, lädt ,X3" sowohl zur Selbstreflexion als auch zur Kontemplation ein. Inspiriert von einem Symbol des dänischen Mystikers Martinus Thomsen, das die Entwicklung eines Wesens in der physischen Welt darstellt, nimmt uns Amina Hocine mit auf eine lange Reise, die mit seltener Eleganz und Anmut zwischen dem Statischen und dem Wandelnden, zwischen dem fast Unwahrnehmbaren und dem Grandiosen balanciert. Es ist eine Musik des Übergangs, die Amina Hocine uns bietet, eine Musik, in der die Vermittlung von Klang, Welle für Welle, zur Meditation wird. In ,Until the Fish Eyes Shine" wirft Espen Sommer Eide einen inspirierten, umfassenden und rückblickenden Blick auf sein musikalisches Schaffen, das er oft unter dem Pseudonym Phonophani produziert hat. Indem er die Klänge seiner frühen Jahre vor dem Hintergrund der Ambient-Techno-Szene in Tromso Ende der 1990er Jahre neu aufgreift und neu interpretiert, beschwört Eide eine Musik herauf, die alles andere als nostalgisch ist, sondern vielmehr eine Art ,geologische Schichtung" bietet, in der Epochen und Stilrichtungen aufeinanderprallen, sich überschneiden und ergänzen und so die bemerkenswerte Einzigartigkeit der Klangpalette des norwegischen Künstlers offenbaren. Das Stück bringt zudem die extreme Beständigkeit und Authentizität seiner musikalischen Vision zum Ausdruck - einer Vision, in der technologische Innovationen, die reflektierte Umgebung und gelebte Emotionen in einem eigenen Raum zusammenfließen: dem der traumhaften Musik, die immer neu erfunden wird, immer in Bewegung ist, immer im Wandel begriffen ist.
In ,An Iris Crackled Like Eyelids" erkundet Jules Négrier zwei Sätze, zwei innere Momente, die durch die schwebende Zeit eines ,knisternden" Augenlids voneinander getrennt sind. Der erste Satz beginnt, wie eine Geschichte endet - mit einem Ausbruch roher Emotionen -, um dann in eine weite Fläche harmonischer Divergenzen zu münden. Der zweite Satz führt erneut eine Verflechtung aus Rhythmen, Verdrehungen, Abwärts- und Aufwärtsbewegungen ein, um einen paradoxen Raum zu offenbaren, der sich in der Zeit einer ungelösten Beruhigung entfaltet. Indem er auf inspirierte und komplexe Weise Klänge offenlegt, die zugleich durchscheinend und gewunden sind, komponiert Jules Négrier eine geheimnisvolle Musik - eine Musik, die aus den Qualen elektronischer Materie schöpft, aus Formen und Werden, die allmählich in den Bereichen der Einfachheit Fuß fassen. In ,All Solids Melt Into Aether" verwebt Maria W Horn Akkorde, die mit einer bis an ihre Grenzen getriebenen Orgel erzeugt wurden, mit den unerbittlichen Texturen computergenerierter Klänge. Zwischen der extremen, kalten Präzision der elektronischen Töne und der Instabilität der warmen Orgelakkorde, die Druckschwankungen ausgesetzt sind, entfaltet sich ein stilles Drama, aus dem eine komplexe Welt entsteht, die aus harmonischen Zuständen besteht, welche von ihrer Entstehung bis zu ihrem Zusammenbruch eine kraftvolle und ergreifende Metapher hervorrufen und Bilder eines ewigen, urzeitlichen Kampfes heraufbeschwören. Dieser Kampf ist derjenige, der in jedem Augenblick zwischen zwei gegensätzlichen Energien stattfindet: Die eine bildet das Verlangen nach einem stabilen Zustand, sucht ein zerbrechliches Gleichgewicht - eine Energie, die unerbittlich durch die Kräfte der Entropie und des Chaos eingeschränkt und widerlegt wird. In dieser Hinsicht liefert Maria W. Horn mit ,All Solids Melt Into Aether" ein Werk von suggestiver und introspektiver Kraft, das wahrhaft faszinierend ist.
Mit Spirales präsentiert Dominique A ein neues Album, das zu den kraftvollsten und unmittelbarsten Werken seines jüngeren Schaffens zählt. Begleitet von seinen langjährigen Weggefährten Julien Noel (Keyboards), Sebastien Boisseau (Kontrabass) und Etienne Bonhomme (Schlagzeug) kehrt der französische Singer-Songwriter zu einem raueren, gitarrenbetonten Klangbild zurück. Die 16 neuen Songs bewegen sich zwischen persönlicher Reflexion und aufmerksamer Beobachtung gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungen und zeigen einmal mehr die besondere Fähigkeit des Künstlers, poetische Tiefe mit musikalischer Direktheit zu verbinden. Als einer der prägenden Vertreter des modernen französischen Chansons hat Dominique A über Jahrzehnte hinweg Generationen von Musikerinnen und Musikern beeinflusst. Spirales unterstreicht eindrucksvoll seine anhaltende künstlerische Relevanz und seine besondere Stellung innerhalb der französischsprachigen Musiklandschaft.
Die großen Eurodance-Hits der 90er gibt es jetzt auch auf Vinyl! Mit der „90s Eurodance Collection“ erscheint die beliebte Compilation-Serie erstmals im klassischen VinylFormat und bringt das unverwechselbare Feeling der 90er zurück auf den Plattenteller.
Mit dabei sind einige der größten Namen dieser Ära: Ace of Base, Rednex, Gigi D‘Agostino und Whigfield sorgen für jede Menge Dancefloor-Nostalgie und unvergessliche Melodien. Ob treibende Beats, große Refrains oder die typischen Sounds der 90er – diese Vinyl-Compilation versammelt die Hits einer Zeit, in der Eurodance die Charts und Clubs eroberte.
„90s Eurodance Collection“ auf Vinyl – die großen 90er-Hits, jetzt im kultigen Vinyl-Format! Für alle Fans von Eurodance, 90s-Nostalgie und dem ganz besonderen Sound einer legendären Dekade.
Tiger Stripes continues the ‘A Tiger Never Loses Its Stripes’ EP series on Rekids, with part two arriving 30th October 2026. The EP follows part one, released earlier this month, and previews his upcoming sophomore album, his first in two decades, due out later this year.
First up, Tiger Stripes’ 'Strike' is a raw, heavy, swinging warehouse cut with stark lasers and a moody vocal refrain that will lock the floor into a steady march. 'ID' flips the script with funkier bass riffs and dub effects hanging above a lighter, funkier groove, but still locked into irresistible loops. There is a playful touch to 'Nothing To Do', too, where dusty drums, darker synths and prying bass motifs all shuffle and swing with confidence. The soulful 'Free As A Bird' closes with a delightfully dubby skip, lush chords, and expert sound design that brings immeasurable character alongside a well-worked vocal.
Founder of the Strange Idols label, Tiger Stripes has spent over two decades forging his own path with standout releases on Hot Creations, Kaoz Theory, Kwench Records, and more. After stepping back to focus on his indie-rock project Little Lies, he made a full return in 2024 and quickly recaptured the form that’s made him an international favourite.
Radio Slave’s Rekids was founded in 2006 and has since spawned successful offshoots with the Techno-focused Rekids Special Projects in 2017 and its newest sublabel, REK’D, in 2024. With Matt Edwards as the sole A&R, Rekids has been crucial in developing early artist careers and has become a haven for established acts in House and adjacent genres, recently featuring Harry Romero, Tal Fussman, DJ Minx, The Hacker, and many more.
Early DJ Support: Massimiliano Pagliara, Paranoid London, Logan Fisher, Terry Farley, James Holroyd, Rocky (X Press 2), Francois K, Marcel Vogel, Sean Johnston, Austin Ato, Ron Basejam, Richard Rogers, Oliver Dollar, Crazy P and many more
Creating an international name for itself over the past decade as a sample pack label, Samples From Mars made its inevitable venture into the music world originally as a home for founder Teddy Stuart’s work. Long before making samples, Stuart garnered credits working as a grammy-nominated recording engineer in the hip hop world, and DJing / producing with Justin Strauss as A/JUS/TED, for labels such as DFA, Domino Records and Southern Fried Records. Now the label is set to release a variety of genres - house, disco, techno, ambient, all with a vintage tinge and a focus on high quality, analog production.
Enter Salt Queen. Visual artist and musician Magali van Caloen together with Samples From Mars founder, Teddy Stuart. Based in New York, the duo combine hardware dance aesthetics with dry, salty takes on familiar club moments into music that sits somewhere between funny, raw and unpredictable.
Salt Queen’s debut ‘ARE U OK’ is an acid-laced, deadpan spoken word track with an opening line that snaps any room to attention. A disorienting club encounter unfolds over Italo-inflected 808s and a relentless 303 bassline. There are no chords and no melodies - just a skeletal groove and an intimate voice circling the dancefloor. Drifting between concern and provocation, the vocal runs through cliché club conversations before destabilizing completely into a siren-laden crash out. The ‘Freak Nasty Club Mix’ ditches the plot and lets the hardware breathe, with a thick SH-101 bassline anchoring the first half before a sudden switch into an unrelenting acid pattern that refuses to settle. Two versions of the same wild night out.
Mit POPSTAR SPEEDRUN legt THEA ihr Debütalbum vor und etabliert sich endgültig als eine der spannendsten neuen Stimmen im französischen Pop. Zwischen Emocore, Hyperpop und zeitgenössischem Alternative Pop verbindet die Künstlerin rohe Emotionen mit einer kompromisslos modernen Klangästhetik. Die Songs zeichnen das Bild einer jungen Generation zwischen Selbstfindung, Unsicherheit und Befreiung, während eingängige Melodien und energiegeladene Produktionen für unmittelbare Zugänglichkeit sorgen. Dabei stehen persönliche Erfahrungen ebenso im Mittelpunkt wie die Suche nach Identität und Zugehörigkeit. Bekannt für ihre intensiven Live-Auftritte und eine stetig wachsende Fanbasis, hat sich THEA innerhalb kurzer Zeit zu einer prägenden Figur einer neuen französischen Pop-Generation entwickelt. POPSTAR SPEEDRUN vereint emotionale Offenheit, zeitgemäße Produktion und hohe Pop-Affinität zu einem Album, das den aktuellen Wandel französischer Popmusik eindrucksvoll widerspiegelt.
Berlin-based producer and live act Volkan Akin lands on Secret Society with a brace of finely tuned minimal house sounds for the small hours. 'Famosus' is stripped back but not lacking in clout: the drums and bass are tightly coiled while the hits pop out of the mix as a soft acid line wiggles endlessly in the middle of the mix. Franco Cinelli remixes with a bolder sense of swing and trippy vocals that are like voices in your head. '2SHY4' is the other original and is dry, dusty tech house with jazzy chords softening the edges and bringing some warmth, then Thomas Melchior remixes with his masterful touch and distils everything into deft, hypnotic grooves.
Armada Music and PDD proudly continue the brand-new A State Of Trance Classic Series, celebrating some of the most legendary and influential records in trance history. Following the success of Volume 1, Volume 2 once again dives into the archives to bring three essential trance classics back to life on fresh vinyl.
Kicking things off on Volume 2 is “Chicane feat. Moya Brennan - Saltwater”, a true trance classic that showcases the sound and energy that helped define the genre during its golden era. Originally released in 1999 on Xtravaganza Recordings, the track quickly became a favourite among DJs and trance fans, and now returns to wax as part of this essential new series.
On the flip is “Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Extended Mix)”, another highly regarded classic from the A State Of Trance catalogue. Originally released in 1999, the track has stood the test of time and remains a firm favourite with trance DJs and collectors, making its return to vinyl a welcome addition to the series.
Last but not least is “Insigma - Open Our Eyes (Original Mix)”, completing another carefully selected trio of timeless trance records. Originally released in 2000 on A Trance Communication Release, this classic perfectly captures the euphoric, driving sound that made the era so influential and continues to resonate with trance fans today.
Volume 2 continues the series in style, bringing together three essential trance classics on one piece of wax and making this a must-have for both long-time A State Of Trance fans and a new generation discovering these timeless anthems.
Kings of Leon return with 10th album, ‘O My Beloved’.
For this release, the four-time Grammy-winning family band draws from their own history and builds on their storied legacy to deliver their most personal effort to date.
Frontman Caleb Followill describes this—their first self-produced studio album—as “emotional" and a “love letter to family” that explores themes of "gratitude and appreciation."
Available on 2LP and CD, featuring packaging adorned with vintage family photos.
Kings of Leon return with 10th album, ‘O My Beloved’.
For this release, the four-time Grammy-winning family band draws from their own history and builds on their storied legacy to deliver their most personal effort to date.
Frontman Caleb Followill describes this—their first self-produced studio album—as “emotional" and a “love letter to family” that explores themes of "gratitude and appreciation."
Available on 2LP and CD, featuring packaging adorned with vintage family photos.
With the stunning Planes In Reverse, Sascha Funke, the Berlin-born producer and DJ, and long-time member of the Kompakt family, releases his first album in almost a decade, since 2017’s Lotos Land. It’s a welcome return for one of the most eloquent and elegant producers in electronic and dance music, someone who’s always been able to say more with less, and the ten tracks here, moving effortlessly between techno, house, minimalism, disco house, and home listening tunes, are all gorgeously sculpted miniatures. With guest appearances from partner Julienne Dessagne (Fantastic Twins), with whom Funke has also worked in Saschienne, there’s something homely and family about it, too; a family of sounds, a home of tone. There’s also something consummate about Planes In Reverse, as though Sascha Funke has perfected the album format. There’s no flab here, no excess – it plays out like a perfectly designed experience, ten tracks, coming in under fifty minutes, an album where every moment matters.
It’s full of variety, but everything has the unmistakable Funke thumbprint, one that was developed during the late ‘90s / early ‘00s minimal techno and microhouse moment, but which was always open to other ideas and other sounds, too. Planes In Reverse came together quickly for Funke: “Last winter, I had two or three new tracks, which gave me a core feeling: ‘Ah, this could be the direction of something like an album.’ Sometimes it can be very easy that you wrap it up and then it becomes something coherent and solid. This happened within two or three months; it was very fast and direct.” Everything fell into place – the ten tracks revealed themselves, the album sat together as a whole, and the final piece of the puzzle was returning home again to Kompakt, who have supported Sascha Funke from the very start, releasing his first single, “Campus”, back in 1999.
Planes In Reverse opens stealthily with “What You See”, where rhythms percolate and bass prowls while gaseous textures fill the sonic spectrum. It’s also the first appearance of Fantastic Twins on the album; here, she speaks a hypnotic mantra, a prelude to the title track, where Dessagne has a pure pop moment, her voice ecstatic and vibrant. Indeed, Planes In Reverse plays out like thesis and antithesis ending in synthesis, the tracks nestling next to each other even as they shuttle between sounds, genres, perspectives. There are some beautiful moments dropped throughout Planes In Reverse – the heavenly textures that make the title track feel so cloud-bound; the glassy and orbital tones that drop from the skies through the disco house inspired “Karat”; the clamour and clatter of hyper-edited voices shuffling through “Splitter”; or the field recordings of Sascha’s son football training session that drop “Zockers” into a different place and space, slowly giving way to a beautifully paced electro-pop mantra. “In Germany,when the kids play a computer game, or when they play football, we describe it as zocken. They’re the players, they’re the Zockers.“ Funke explains.
Planes In Reverse winds down with the beautiful “Kruso”, where ticklish, loving arpeggios careen around the room, and drift-work chords shimmer and shuttle between your ears. It’s a perfect comedown to an album that feels breathes in and out at an organic pace, nothing above 130 BPM, everything sitting together just so. Indeed, that’s the feeling you take away from Planes In Reverse; it sums up the spirit of Sascha Funke productions perfectly, while also existing beautifully as its own world dreamt unto itself. It’s Sascha Funke down to the very essence. Nothing unnecessary, nothing extraneous: Pure Funke.
The rock band Golden Earring is one of the world’s best-known Dutch bands. During the 70's, they made it to the Billboard charts with their hit "Radar Love". Over the years, they became known for their powerful live performances and timeless hits, playing to large audiences around the world.
During their acoustic touring in 1994, the Golden Earring recorded the album Face It. The album consists of a surprisingly fresh and versatile collection of songs. Recorded live at guitarist George Kooyman's home studio, it has a great vibe and brought the band three hit singles, “Hold Me Now”, “Angel”, and “Johnny Make Believe”. The last one grew into a classic by playing it dozens of times during concerts. Influences from the country music can be found on “The Unforgettable Dream”. Those experiments ensured that this band was still developing and could record a lot of different music styles.
Face It is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on white vinyl. The sleeve is finished with leather laminate, and the package comes with an A4 insert.
MIO: Memories in Orbit is one of 2026 best games so far. With a synthwave-induced melody, blissful choir voices echoing the main theme of the game, buzzing electronic noises and a hint of groovy patterns, this track captures the very essence of the game. Reminiscent of other iconic OST like Power Glove’s Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and Ben Prunty’s FTL: Faster Than Light.
Scott Fagan’s new album Soon, 55 years in the making, revives songs from his lost 1971 Broadway rock opera.
Alongside songwriting partner Joe Kookoolis, Fagan conceived and wrote the rock opera, an age-old story of an artist forced to make a devil’s bargain between their principles and success, intending it to be the follow-up to his classic 1968 debut, South Atlantic Blues. But fate intervened. The production (which starred Fagan and a young Richard Gere) closed early, the album was shelved, never to be recorded or heard. Until now.
Recorded over seven days in July 2025 at the hallowed Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis with a crack rhythm section, the thirteen songs on Soon illustrate Fagan’s extraordinary facility and range as a singer and songwriter of great sensitivity, passion, and humour.
From its rousing gospel opener (“Let The World Begin Again”), through fiery, protest songs (“Faces Names and Places”, “Straight”), and tender-hearted ballads (“Child of Sympathy”, “To Touch the Sky”), the album is by turns, uplifting, mournful, righteous, giddy, soulful (title track, “Soon), and anthemic (closer, “Please Be Well”). This feels like an album of lost classics waiting to be rediscovered.
Scott Fagan has been waiting a long time for the world to hear these songs. The long, long wait is over, Soon.
Power Ballads and The Wash is the sophomore album from London-based multi instrumentalist James Howard, due for release on 6th November 2026 via boutique
label Faith & Industry. James is known as founder of critically acclaimed 2010’s band Blue House and collaborator with luminaries such as Rozi Plain, Dana Gavanski, Kate Bollinger and Alabaster Deplume.
For Power Ballads and The Wash James has worked with producer Mike Lindsay, co-founder of folktronica group Tunng. Power Ballads and The Wash follows James's debut solo album Peek-A-Boo, released to great acclaim in April 2023.
All eight songs of Power Ballads and The Wash began life as intimate live takes of
guitar or piano and voice, recorded at Howard’s studio in Deptford, south London.
Steeped in the energy of the local environment, each session was preceded by a visit to the Thames to ask for its muddy blessing, with the DLR rumbling by. The sessions at Lindsay’s Margate studio built a widescreen world around Howard’s original performances, from the restless Eventide vocal treatments on Seven Seconds to the Hollywood string samples of The Moon In The Movies and the Moog bass that quietly anchors the record throughout. Howard also praises violinist Magdalena MacClean's (Caroline) contributions.
Beneath this gentle absurdity, though, lies something quietly powerful. Howard’s
song-writing explores the notion that, despite our ever-shortening attention spans,
there is still the possibility of quiet reflection and the discovery therein of revelations hidden in plain sight. The world of these lucid dream-esque reveries is unmistakably London. The record began with a wing-and-a-prayer visit to the Thames, and ends there too: the wash from the Thames Clipper / nearly breaks through your shoe / like some feelings sometimes do.
Wewantsounds is proud to present the first official release of a legendary 1977 concert capturing Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Leon Thomas in their only documented performance together. Recorded live on March 5, 1977, at Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the performance featured the three musicians playing an immersive hypnotic set, joined for part of the evening by the rest of Oregon. Long circulating among a few Don Cherry fans, the full concert is now available as a deluxe, remastered 2-LP gatefold set featuring Moki Cherry artwork and new liner notes by Jason Weiss—licensed by the Don Cherry Estate and producer James Quinlan.
Don Cherry’s huge influence has steadily grown over the years, as fans and new generations of listeners continue to uncover the vast breadth of his global musical vision. Sunrise captures Cherry during a particularly fertile late-1970s period, when the American jazz trumpeter blended global and Eastern spiritual concepts into his "Organic Music" philosophy, drawing deeply from Eastern and African traditions. Moving fluidly between trumpet, the West African doussn'gouni (a traditional hunter's harp from Mali), bamboo flutes, percussion, and vocals, Cherry creates a deeply resonant world music soundscape.
Recorded live on March 5, 1977, at Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the show took place just a month after Don Cherry participated in the recording of Collin Walcott's ECM album Grazing Dreams. With Walcott playing alongside Cherry and vocalist Leon Thomas, bringing his unmistakable yodel-style vocal approach—and joined for part of the night by the rest of Oregon (Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless and Glen Moore)—the performance stands as a stunning, hypnotic forerunner to the formation of CODONA. The newly remastered audio is so vivid and intimate that it feels as though you are sitting directly in the room with the musicians.
The release also serves as a vibrant homage to Don and Moki Cherry’s creative partnership, featuring a reproduction of Moki’s striking 1975 Mandala tapestry on the front cover.
The concert was produced by James Quinlan, a central pillar of the U.S. Jazz and World Music scene who worked as a sound engineer for Carla Bley, booked Fela Kuti’s major U.S. tour in the 1980s, and went on to direct the Creative Music Studio and found Miami’s Rhythm Foundation. In the album's liner notes, Quinlan reflects in conversation with writer Jason Weiss on the surprise magic of that night:
"Don brought Leon Thomas with him... as a guest, unannounced. It was not part of the advertisement or contract... I don't know of any other time that they recorded or performed together. So, that was completely unique... The audience had no idea what was coming... It was a sound that was just mesmerizing, almost like a mantra."
Licensed by the Don Cherry Estate and James Quinlan, Sunrise is available as a deluxe 2-LP gatefold set featuring new liner notes by Jason Weiss—an essential document in the rich, ever-evolving Don Cherry musical journey.
Swiss saxophonist Gilles Torrent may have been initially smitten by the sounds of US jazz giants like Coltrane, Shepp and Sanders, but as he’s developed and matured he’s cast his creative net much wider. After teaching himself the sax at 21 he spent the next 11 years studying the concepts and innovations of Coltrane before moving on to take the next logical step - exploring and soaking up the many styles music from around the world, and incorporating them into his Coltranesque vision of jazz.
Atestament to that workis the opening theme,‘La Longue Traversée Du Désert’whereTorrent directs an impressive ensemble of musicians – known collectively as World Jazz Sound - on a global trip from the plains of Africa to the pastures of England and even the mountains of his homeland Switzerland. Tracks like ‘Osso Varourn Ta Sidhera’, which pairs Beuna Vista-style Cuban rhythms with Grappelli-esque violin, or the transcendental calm of ‘Fridhia Mou’, complete with dainty harp and sultry Indian female vocal part, see the ensemble immersing themselves in the traditions and atmospheres of a panorama of different cultures, joining the dots between them all and gathering them up into one cohesive whole.
From the ancient and traditional – their effortlessly swung take on ‘Scarborough Fair’ for example – to the inspired but unconventional use of yodelling on ‘Chant des Alpes’, eventually giving way to a sensational modalworkout, this is an album full of widescreen freshness, surprises and, above all, the joy of discovery and experimentation. Originally released onCD in 2010, the sheer overwhelming beauty of the music withinhas compelled us at Jazzman to deliver these sanctified sounds onaudiophile standard 180g vinyl, for all to enjoy.
2x180g LPs featuring 8 tracks in total, housed in a single sleeve + download code.
When Swingrowers released their debut in Sept 2012, electro swing was a bubbling cultural zeitgeist. This Italian band were among the earliest pioneers who helped shape the sound of the vintage-influenced genre. Their debut 12 track collection paved the way for the brilliant albums that followed and indeed for the ongoing popularity of the genre. A little rougher around the edges but with all the early promise on show, this album completes a 4 piece set for fans and collectors.
Swingrowers went on to release a further 3 studio albums, toured internationally, playing major festivals includingMontreux Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, Boomtown and Tokyo’s Blue Note Festival. Their music has to date amassedmore than 100 million streams worldwide on Spotify alonewith videos clocking up many millions more.
Pronounceditself is a revelation. It stood the test of time as one of the earliest complete and fully-realised Electro Swing albums that seamlessly blend 20’s and 30’s influences - violin, gypsy jazz guitar, saxophones and swing music - with polished contemporary production. Here, superb musicianship meets great songwriting meets a unique modern sound from Swing Hop to Drum n Bass with jazz-inflected vocals in English and Italian.
As we approach the 15 year anniversary, Pronounced is being released on wax for the first time.
This releasecompletes Swingrowers’ entire album discography on vinyl, joining existing editions of Remote, Outsidein and Hybrid.
For long-time fans, collectors and anyone who discovered electro swing through artists such as Caravan Palace and Parov Stelar, Pronounced is a chance to finally own the sound of a young band (and indeed an up-start young genre) at the very start of their career.
Giri is back on No Signal Records with four cuts of driving, hypnotic Techno. Rolling rhytms, intricate percussion and evolving sequences shape the release, accompanied by a superb remix from Neel that takes thinkgs deeper and immersive.
12 Inch Lovers - Celebrating 15 Years of Vinyl Culture!
Belgian vinyl-only event concept 12 Inch Lovers celebrates its 15th anniversary with two new additions to its established sampler series. Now entering its seventh year, the series reflects the music and atmosphere of the events, combining dancefloor favourites with carefully selected discoveries.
Samplers 13 & 14 bring together sought-after classics, hard-to-find gems and selected tracks and versions making their vinyl debut. Each volume features nine full-length tracks across two 12-inch records, making both releases essential additions for DJs and collectors alike.
Sampler 13 includes Sorry I Am Late by Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Marea (We've Lost Dancing) by Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna, and Lifetimes by Slam feat. Tyrone Palmer. Further highlights include Tocadisco's Morumbi and the Martijn ten Velden Remix of Guitarra G.
Sampler 14 features Dreams by Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks, All That Matters by Kölsch feat. Troels Abrahamsen, and the NiCe7 Remix of It's Yours by Jon Cutler feat. E-Man. Belgian favourites Decoy & Roy with Inner Life and The Mackenzie with Higher In The Sky add to the selection.
Rooted in 15 years of vinyl-only events, these two compilations capture the distinctive sound of 12 Inch Lovers, offering lasting appeal for long-time fans, record collectors and DJs looking tobring proven classics back to the dancefloor.
Nothing But (Future) Classix, Straight From Vinyl!
Sampler 14 opens with Jon Cutler feat. E-Man - It's Yours (NiCe7 Remix). This remix pairs the recognisable vocal with a punchy house groove. A fresh take on a familiar classic that sets the tone straight away. Next comes Sterac Electronics - Destination Reached, with Steve Rachmad
showcasing his feel for electronic funk. Tight rhythms and an infectious groove make this a record with lasting appeal.
Side B features Swen Weber - Maya (Rerub), a powerful club track whose build and driving rhythm keep the dancefloor moving. Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks - Dreams then delivers a familiar moment. Stevie Nicks' distinctive voice and Deep Dish's warm, immersive house sound
give this well-known song a character all of its own.
Side C brings Kölsch feat. Troels Abrahamsen - All That Matters, a melodic track in which the vocaland gradual build complement each other beautifully. The kind of record that feels equally at home deep into a club night or under the first rays of sunshine at a festival. Next is Chew Fu feat. Steve Clisby - Purple Rain (Mousse T.'s Home A Lone Mix). Mousse T. gives this interpretation of the Prince classic a warm, soulful house groove, leaving plenty of room for Steve Clisby's voice to shine.
On side D, Jürgen Paape - We Love takes over. Playful, melodic and full of character, it adds a different flavour to the selection. Decoy & Roy - Inner Life follows with a generous dose of nostalgia and a sound that perfectly reflects a love for Belgian club classics. Closing the sampler is The Mackenzie - Higher In The Sky, whose dreamy melodies and uplifting energy provide a fitting finale.
Nine tracks across two 12-inch records, each in its full-length version. Much-loved classics, inspired remixes and lesser-known gems, brought together withthe same love for music that has driven 12 Inch Lovers' events for 15 years.
One of the few artists who has seen the Cécille story unfold from the very beginning is Joey Daniel.
From our side, Joey has always been someone we wanted to work with and have on the label. So we’re really happy that the time has finally come. We have huge respect for him - not only as an artist, but just as much as a person - which makes finally welcoming him to the Cécille family even better.
We’ve been working closely together on this EP for quite some time, taking our time to get it exactly where we wanted it to be, and we’re sure we’ve ended up with a seriously massive club EP.
The Need I Say More EP brings together three proper club records - pure groove, built for the dancefloor and connecting Joey’s signature sound with what Cécille has always been about.
Scott Fagan’s new album Soon, 55 years in the making, revives songs from his lost 1971 Broadway rock opera.
Alongside songwriting partner Joe Kookoolis, Fagan conceived and wrote the rock opera, an age-old story of an artist forced to make a devil’s bargain between their principles and success, intending it to be the follow-up to his classic 1968 debut, South Atlantic Blues. But fate intervened. The production (which starred Fagan and a young Richard Gere) closed early, the album was shelved, never to be recorded or heard. Until now.
Recorded over seven days in July 2025 at the hallowed Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis with a crack rhythm section, the thirteen songs on Soon illustrate Fagan’s extraordinary facility and range as a singer and songwriter of great sensitivity, passion, and humour.
From its rousing gospel opener (“Let The World Begin Again”), through fiery, protest songs (“Faces Names and Places”, “Straight”), and tender-hearted ballads (“Child of Sympathy”, “To Touch the Sky”), the album is by turns, uplifting, mournful, righteous, giddy, soulful (title track, “Soon), and anthemic (closer, “Please Be Well”). This feels like an album of lost classics waiting to be rediscovered.
Scott Fagan has been waiting a long time for the world to hear these songs. The long, long wait is over, Soon.
Lewis Fautzi and The Advent join forces on "Gravity Won't Hold Me", a four-track Sci-Fi techno journey that breaks through the limits of sound and space.
Fusing mechanical energy, futuristic tension, and cosmic textures, the EP unfolds with relentless precision and force, a statement of pure propulsion beyond gravity itself.
A DJ, producer and significant figure in contemporary electronic music, Marcel Dettmann steps forward to contribute to Running Back’s ongoing Mastermix series. Whereas previous editions of Mastermix have taken an ear to the sound of lapsed, legendary clubs such as Wild Pitch and Front, Dettmann’s curation deftly captures the man himself in ongoing perpetual motion, raiding the vault for his own precision-tooled edits, long-employed on dancefloors to devastating effect. Alongside a continuous mix, this release arrives as a 3LP gatefold, and as a limited edition cassette.
Closely associated with Berlin’s techno landscape, Dettmann was born and raised in the former GDR, then later immersed in the bleary-eyed counter cultural landscape of post-unification Berlin. Initially oriented by post-punk, industrial and new-wave music, Dettmann has been DJing since 1993, always expanding and perfecting his repertoire. He later began working behind the counter at the city’s tastemaking rave boutique Hard Wax, and a decade after he first dropped a needle, became (and remains) resident at notable local nightspot Berghain/Panorama Bar, where his instincts have helped sculpt the signature sound of both main dancefloors.
Of course, you’re probably not asking, “Who is Marcel Dettmann?” More importantly, you might want to know; just what treats has he gifted us here? The trip begins with a simple pitch-shift skywards, transforming Identified Patient’s creeping ‘The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania’ into a peak-time freakout, before an alternate take on Toctronic’s ‘Bis uns das Licht vertreibt’ emerges from the vaults for the first time. Dating from 1995, and one of Dettmann’s all-time favourites, Cristian Vogel’s ‘Untitled’ clambers back into the box with respectable cuts, while John Bender’s ‘Victims of A Victimless Crime’ kicks off the flip sporting a new arrangement, transporting us back to the foundations of a confident, stripped-back sound.
A few subtle edits to Clark’s perilously funky ‘Dirty Pixie’ takes us to Dettmann’s remix of Junior Boys. Produced in 2010, it transposes the Canadian duo’s sophisticated pop with our curator in his minimal prime, and has since become an irresistible prize for high-minded diggers. The same can be said for Experimental Products’ explosive proto-electro anthem ‘Who Is Kip Jones?’, empowered from pricey Discogs purgatory with just the slightest of tweaks. It’s deservedly sandwiched between the guiding influences of Chicago and Detroit in the form of Mutant Beat Dance’s raw ‘The Human Factor’ and a shimmering new version of previous solo production ‘Water’, featuring close friend and Ostgut Ton ally, Ryan Elliot.
The second half of the Mastermix seamlessly connects the mechanical past and digital present of EBM and industrial in the dance, with Dettmann’s instincts as a guiding hand. Severed Heads’ iconic ‘We Have Come To Bless This House’ emerges with mere nips and tucks, while Nitzer Ebb’s ‘Shame’ is significantly reimagined as a highwire act of rhythm and tension, setting up a sensual second take on a 2017 remix of ‘Limbo’ from Swiss synth heroes, Yello.
Core musical memories are shaken and stirred with a context-shifting take on Frank Duval’s emotional classic ‘Ogon’, while Ian North’s ‘Sex Lust You’ and Ford Proco’s notable Coil collaboration ‘Expansion Naranja’ effectively throb with only minor adjustments, respectfully imagined as “shadow versions”. Meanwhile, a simple breakbeat lifts Albert Kuningas’s ‘Astraalprojektio’ in the direction of wide-eyed dancefloors, while a fresh take on K-Alexi Shelby’s ‘Season of The Real’ inexplicably emerges somehow even funkier than before.
The conclusion of the compilation leads back to Das Tier from the prolific experimentalist Conrad Schnitzler, whose swirling synths and hypnotic vocals are duly tightened by Dettmann, but only as he puts it, “in conversation with the original.” Concluding three discs and thirty years of commitment to the dancefloor, this Mastermix not only offers us the opportunity to eavesdrop on this endless exchange, but to gain some sought-after material for our own record collections.
Back by popular demand, Shawn Ward's sought-after Forward Motions EP returns on vinyl, giving collectors and DJs another chance to secure a modern deep house favourite.
A respected figure in underground house for more than two decades, Ward has developed a distinctive sound built on warmth, musicality and understated sophistication. Forward Motions EP continues that tradition with four impeccably produced cuts that balance dancefloor energy with timeless listening appeal.
With original copies becoming increasingly difficult to find, this long-awaited repress makes an essential release available once again for a new generation of listeners, while giving longtime fans the opportunity to replace worn copies or finally complete the collection.
The second EP from the Permanent Vacation XX series for the label's 20th anniversary is a star studded affair full of heavy hitters featuring tracks from the extended PV family by Zombies In Miami, Alinka, Rhode & Brown x COEO, Clint and Baldo. Five Dancefloor essentials.
DJ Support: Danny Krivit, Dj Spen, Tony Humphries, Simon Dunmore, John Morales, Dr Packer, Cj Mckintosh, Kevin Yost, Groovy P, Hector Romero, Souldynamic,
Micky More & Andy Tee are back on wax with Analog Dreams, an exceptional 4-track EP that bridges the gap between classic club heritage and modern dancefloor sophisticated heat. Far from a simple collection of loops, this release delivers four fully realized, 100% original compositions crafted alongside top-tier collaborators.
The title Analog Dreams says it all. In a digital world dominated by sterile, point-and-click production, this EP feels like a vivid, living dream for vinyl purists. It is a sonic love letter to the warmth, depth, and texture that only real studio hardware, live instrumentation, and analog mixing can provide.
PANORAMA Records heads to South Africa for its next release, shining a light on one of the country's great unsung talents, Mpharanyana. Born Jacob Radebe, Mpharanyana was one of the defining voices of South African soul, disco and funk during the 1970s, recording with both The Cannibals and The Peddlers while helping shape a uniquely South African take on dance music. Working alongside future legends including Ray Phiri, his records fused soul, disco, mbaqanga and funk into something entirely his own.
On the A-side, "Get Down" by Mpharanyana And The Cannibals delivers exactly what the title promises. An irresistible blend of modern soul, boogie and disco, it's the kind of record that feels like sunshine from the first bar.
The flip features "Disco" by Mpharanyana And The Peddlers, a super-funky slice of South African Afro-disco that wont leave the record bad.
Despite Mpharanyana's cult status among collectors, "Get Down" has never previously been officially reissued, while the B side was introduced by Kalita Records, both sides remain incredibly rare.
Driven by tight musicianship, infectious hooks and a groove that refuses to quit, this is a genuine dancefloor record for the heads.
Together these two sides tell the story of an artist whose music deserves to be heard far beyond collector circles. As always, PANORAMA Records continues its mission of uncovering rare and essential music from around the world, bringing overlooked gems back into circulation for DJs, collectors and anyone who loves records with real soul.
Channeling his honed sample craft towards the ominous portent of modern times, Romare returns with his fifth album Oblivion, with the previous 3 out of 4 LP's appearing on Ninja Tune. Across a suite of downtempo, broken beat, bubbling grooves and brooding reveries Archie Fairhurst threads a narrative that wrestles with the big questions of the present moment — the tipping points of the planet and technology, the fight for social justice and the power structures that govern our existence. While his trademark source material continues to cast a long line back through recorded history, this is Romare at his most contextual.
Nothing is placed by accident. 'Machines' hums its throbbing 4/4 pulse along to a German language recital of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 'Blessed Longing' — an enduring reflection on the human condition that rings true from way back in the 19th Century when it was written. 'Computer Love' slinks into a sumptuous trip-hop lull laced with sci-fi flourishes sculpted from samples of old computer documentaries — a bittersweet romantic backdrop to our complicated situationship with the devices in our lives. 'Take Us' goes one step further on its hard-stepping boom-bap strut as a subtle tale of possession by screens unfolds around Romare's signature strain of technicolour mutant funk.
There is space for optimism in the message on Oblivion as well — the strength of the suffragettes as a benchmark for social justice and activism amidst the speakeasy slink of ‘Deeds, Not Words', and spring-loaded acid house joint 'Change' pointing to the need for positive action in the face of imminent calamity.
The artwork for the album follows Fairhurst's thought process, drawing on Edvard Munch's iconic 'The Scream' along with Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dali’s ‘Voluptuous Death’ to help render the ideas of the album visually.
The wild ride of Oblivion races towards a final beguiling opiate on 'The Last Lullaby' — the perfect sedative after the rush of information and emotion that comes with a full-length trip through Romare's vivid, uniquely creative world of sound.
The Sound Of Slip ’n’ Slide, Vol. 2 continues the new series from the legendary Slip ’n’ Slide catalogue, bringing together another selection of timeless house and deep house cuts from some of the genre’s most influential artists.
Featuring standout productions and remixes from Masters At Work, Blaze, Kings Of Tomorrow, Booker T and Cassio Ware, the release showcases the soulful, groove-led sound that has made Slip ’n’ Slide a cornerstone of underground house music.
Including classics such as Funky People, Open Your Mind and Breathe, this second volume brings together a selection of proven dancefloor records in one DJ-friendly vinyl package.
With warm grooves, uplifting vocals and timeless club arrangements throughout, these tracks continue to resonate with both long-time house collectors and DJs looking for reliable dancefloor material.
As the second edition in The Sound Of Slip ’n’ Slide series, this release builds on the success of the collection, bringing more essential catalogue favourites back to fresh black 12" vinyl.
A strong catalogue addition for stores supporting classic house, deep house and soulful underground sounds.
