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"ABYSSUS stand as one of the most significant forces within the Greek Death Metal scene, having forged their path since 2011. Drawing profound inspiration from genre-defining pioneers such as DEATH, OBITUARY and BOLT THROWER, the band preserves the unadulterated spirit of old school death metal while imprinting their own distinct identity.

From the very outset, ABYSSUS placed equal emphasis on studio output and live performance. A steady stream of EPs and split releases established their presence within the international Underground metal community. Their debut full-length, „Into the Abyss“ (2015), garnered widespread acclaim and marked a pivotal moment in the band’s evolution - leading to increasingly frequent appearances both in Greece and across Europe, often sharing the stage with renowned acts, like POSSESSED, SINISTER, SUICIDAL ANGELS and ROTTING CHRIST.

With renewed creative vigour and greater maturity, ABYSSUS unveiled their sophomore album „Death Revival“ in 2022 via Transcending Obscurity Records. Adorned with an arresting cover by the legendary Andreas Marschall (KREATOR, BLIND GUARDIAN, IN FLAMES a.o.), the album was met with universal praise, further cementing the band’s reputation for delivering unrelenting, yet masterfully crafted, death metal. More shows with a.o. ASPHYX, TANKARD, GRAVE DIGGER and THE CROWN followed.

Now in 2026, ABYSSUS return with their third full-length opus, “The Reign” - a ferocious testament to their artistic evolution. The album encapsulates all the core elements that have defined death metal through the decades: raw aggression, blistering riff-work, and a suffocating, commanding atmosphere. Once again, the visual narrative is entrusted to Andreas Marschall, whose artwork enhances the band’s sonic vision with striking intensity.

Relentlessly evolving, ABYSSUS remain true to their roots while continuing to push the boundaries of the genre. With a prolific discography and an ever-growing presence on the live circuit, they have rightfully earned their place as a formidable name within the global death metal landscape."

Brussels composer and organist Sander De Keere debuts on Phantom Limb with evocative, elegant new works for solo church organ The Manual Stop, mosaicking patterns of minimalism, IDM, electronic, and sacred music with utmost symbiosis and reverence for the instrument. Recorded entirely on a centuries-old Contius baroque organ at the historic St. Catharina Church in the town of Wondelgem (Ghent, Belgium), The Manual Stop is described by Sander De Keere as “an homage to the organ’s ancient craftsmanship and sonic experiment in itself.” While remaining in keen veneration to the instrument, its heritage, and its spiritual gravitas, De Keere’s works employ the church organ as the centrepiece of a broad compositional superstructure coloured by the influence of many contrasting music.

FORBIDDEN’s legacy is one of being the youngest, hungriest and most ambitious of the Bay Area brethren that has launched metal paradigm-shifters from Metallica to Machine Head. With a reconstituted lineup, guitarist Craig Locicero and bassist Matt Camacho, have crafted an hour-plus masterpiece of thrashy predilection, emotive musical movements, and prog-scraping sonic ambitions. From the intensity of opening track, “Single Point Failure” to the philosophical shades of 9-minute closer, “Flower of Life”, this is FORBIDDEN not merely stretching beyond the steely foundations of 1988’s classic Forbidden Evil or the quantum leap of 1990’s Twisted Into Form, but the sound of a band with a new sense of scope and purpose. Produced by Zach Ohren (Machine Head), Forbidden isn’t merely a revival for quintet whose membership has included players from Machine Head, Voivod and Imagika, but full-blown reinvigoration and purgative endpoint for this Bay Area metal institution.

FORBIDDEN’s legacy is one of being the youngest, hungriest and most ambitious of the Bay Area brethren that has launched metal paradigm-shifters from Metallica to Machine Head. With a reconstituted lineup, guitarist Craig Locicero and bassist Matt Camacho, have crafted an hour-plus masterpiece of thrashy predilection, emotive musical movements, and prog-scraping sonic ambitions. From the intensity of opening track, “Single Point Failure” to the philosophical shades of 9-minute closer, “Flower of Life”, this is FORBIDDEN not merely stretching beyond the steely foundations of 1988’s classic Forbidden Evil or the quantum leap of 1990’s Twisted Into Form, but the sound of a band with a new sense of scope and purpose. Produced by Zach Ohren (Machine Head), Forbidden isn’t merely a revival for quintet whose membership has included players from Machine Head, Voivod and Imagika, but full-blown reinvigoration and purgative endpoint for this Bay Area metal institution.

You know the pattern: someone calls their album "Balearic," and you immediately expect chill-out terraces, pan-flute samples, and the umpteenth return of the Café del Mar sunset. Devi G. refuses this reflex almost maliciously. The title is a trick—an invitation to disappointment for those hoping for postcard exoticism. What is actually being negotiated here is erosion, but that of the body itself: the abrasion one inflicts upon oneself in the excess of the night, when partying turns into wear and tear, and a rush becomes a graze that only becomes visible in the morning. No backdrop, then, but a wound one has voluntarily acquired.

Instead of the usual Ibiza xylophones, Devi G. digs into the rift between idyll and wear. The result reads like a séance—less José Padilla, more as if Kevin Martin had re-recorded a Manuel Göttsching record on a dying four-track deck. The target area lies somewhere between the waterlogged ambient sketches of Huerco S. and the faded dub-afterglow of Actress, but Devi G. remains consistently on his own, grainier frequency.

Balearic Abrasions (title track) opens without haste, demanding almost without impatience: no motif, no rhythmic handhold, just a slowly tilting balance between warm texture and rough surface. The grain never feels forced—it is not a lo-fi costume, but an integral part of the statics themselves. Where other ambient producers strive for perfection, Devi G. consciously seeks the breaking point. Rhythm remains a tool, never an ambition. Those expecting quick resolution will be disappointed; those willing to listen will receive a depth effect that is rarely this vivid.

Exit Through Thee Gift Shop tips into harder territory: dub-techno reduction meets industrial edge, carried by a stoic kick drum that knows no mercy. Metallic textures slice through the sub-bass, while repetitive chords hypnotize like a defective loop. Central to this is a rare Terence McKenna recording, which functions less as spoken-word ornamentation and more as a disruptive spirit between memory and media archaeology. The title—Banksy reference included—turns this into a biting punchline: radical electronic abstraction positioned against the hyper-commercialized art world.

Morning Depth pushes the claustrophobia further, somewhere between post-industrial and deep-sea dub. The track refuses any peak-time logic, preferring to disintegrate into itself, subcutaneously, methodically. At the end, a casual, almost banal vocal sample (“i defiantly prefer chocolate”) breaks into the cool machinery—a small, profane fissure that makes the coldness of the rest of the piece all the more apparent.

Desiré Algorithmic is the album's most calculated moment: a stoic, repetitive bassline as a foundation, topped with fragile melody fragments that flash like glitches in faulty code. The title reads like a promise from nightlife—a figure that suggests much and delivers nothing, because behind the façade there is simply nothing, only simulation. The track carries exactly this principle: promise without substance, desire without body, just rendering. Only in the final third does a melancholic saxophone break into the sterile structure—organic, imperfect, and for that very reason more credible than everything before it. It is the moment in which the real briefly flashes through the surface of the dummy before it closes again.

All-inclusive Residue concludes the album as sedimentation rather than dramaturgy: dub-techno remnants, industrial patina, salty ambient surfaces that settle rather than compose. The refusal of consumption as a sonic principle—brittle, stubborn, with a gravity that lingers long after.

Verdict: Balearic Abrasions is not easy listening with a sea view, but an exercise in patience and friction. The restraint with which Devi G. avoids climaxes will frustrate some—for everyone else, that is exactly where the record's strength lies. No sunset. Rather, what remains on the rocks afterward.

Delsin is pleased to announce the second volume of their extensive compilation series combing through the catalogue of landmark Dutch techno label Djax-Up-Beats. The series, curated by Rush Hour co-founder Christiaan Macdonald, continues with a look at the label's legacy in the development of Dutch techno through the early 90s. This second volume in the Djax-Up-Beats 1990-2005 series comprises 25 tracks, presented again as a main triple-vinyl album plus three additional 12" EPs. The compilation also features again all-new illustration from Alan Oldham, design by Lost Communication and liner notes from music journalist Oli Warwick. Crucially, every track featured on the series has been carefully mastered by Johanz Westerman, bringing the best out of tracks that often had very little post-production treatment before they were originally pressed to wax. Volume 2 - The NL Connection takes a deep dive in the development of Dutch techno. Saskia Slegers didn't run her label with a specific focus on any one place, but she naturally connected with artists close to home. Emergent producers from across the Netherlands found a vital outlet in Djax-Up whether they were short-lived dabblers or dance music devotees on their way to lifelong careers. Volume 2 - The NL Connection looks at the first outings in Dutch techno by originators such as Stefan Robbers as Terrace, Dylan Hermelijn as Planet Gong and Edge Of Motion (with Gert-Jan Schonewille) and Sander Friedeman as Random XS. Whether it was sensitive, melodious machine dreaming, gnarly acid tweaking, jackhammer techno or oddball outliers, you could count on Slegers' label to point you to the best underground club music coming out of the Netherlands. With four more, equally extensive, volumes to come in this series, Djax-Up-Beats 1990-2005 is a thorough exploration of a true totem of techno culture -- a renegade label that operated on its own terms and carried surprises and slammers in equal measure.

At the heart of ‘Diese Fragile Praesenz’ lies a melancholic yet propulsive drone, constructed from a field recording and drenched in white noise. Around this softly glowing orb Kelovolt constructs a vast, shifting, sombre soundscape. Lush, magisterial pads, starry-eyed synth work, cold washes of tape hiss and static melt in and out of the mise-en-scène. Crumbling walls of bass and distortion collapse in slow motion even as rich, brasslike harmonies elevate the listening mind. Long keening synth notes emerge from the fog, intertwining with falling tubular figures, a journey through a wormhole of sound both monumental and fragile.
The accompanying reinterpretations approach this deeply rich source material with discerning reverence. Voltmar's version deepens the grain of the original, with sharper percussion and washes of static that blow through the mix like little gales of dust. Anthony Linell's PM and AM remixes delve into a darker emotional core, placing at the centre a low, shadowy synth pulse around which mists of tape hiss and distortion swirl. Black Merlin steers the track down the path of eerie psychedelia, echoing clicks and dubwise space around a groove often found in the deeper chasms of contemporary techno.
Elsewhere, Die Wilde Jagd stretches the original into a mesmeric landscape of drones, occasional distant percussion and heavy fog, punctuated by fleeting moments of melodic clarity and beautifully resonant bell tones. CV313's pair of reworks complete the collection by exploring two complementary dimensions of the original through his signature dub approach. The Gravitational Pull mix feels the most true to the title track, amplifying its starry-eyed, celestial qualities, with a softer, hazier version built around a deep bass groove, while the Dimensional Dub descends into vast caverns of echo, resonance and alien texture - strong dub-techno sensibilities loom large in this mix.
Endlessly contemplative, endlessly exploratory, minimood027 is a trip to its own sonic galaxy that spirals inexorably outward, carrying the mind to ever wider astral planes. But at the core is that ever-pulsing drone, the black abyss that draws consciousness powerlessly back into the great nothingness.

Pulsinger & Irl is the collaboration between Austrian producer and techno pioneer Patrick Pulsinger and Bavarian producer and sound engineer Sam Irl.

After ten years of dub-driven live explorations, Pulsinger & Irl are now focusing on a raw, uptempo, and sample-driven take on techno.
Their new album and live set is stripped to the essentials — two classic samplers, the SP-1200 and MPC2000XL, and a 16-track mixer. By pushing these machines beyond their intended boundaries, they craft a gritty and textural sound.
This is first of two 4-track EPs that will make up the entire album („AALLIIAASS“).


The duo met in 2012 at Pulsinger's Feedback Studio in Vienna, where Sam began as his assistant engineer before becoming a studio partner.
Coming from different musical backgrounds, they found common ground in experimental techno, dub, sampling culture, and analogue gear.

Since their debut album Mud (2016), they've released the EPs Function Creep/Woodpecker (2017), Exu (2018) and Retrieval (2019), along with several remixes — most recently a rework of iO's 1994 classic Claire (2024). Their music has received support from Move D, Gilles Peterson, Mr. Scruff, Lefto, among others.

They've performed at Berghain/Panorama Bar (2016–2018), Sonar Barcelona, ://about blank, Golden Pudel, Blitz, Sziget, Elevate Graz, Lighthouse Croatia, Rote Sonne, Ars Electronica Linz, Zukunft, and more.

Over the past three decades, Patrick Pulsinger has released music on his own label Cheap Records as well as R&S, M Plant, Disko B, Compost, and has produced for DJ Hell, Hercules & Love Affair, Elektro Guzzi, Fennesz and others.
Sam Irl has released music since 2007 on labels such as Freerange, Jazz & Milk, Brownswood, Pulver and Frank Music.

Anlässlich des 10-jährigen Jubiläums von ,Lost Themes II" präsentiert Sacred Bones stolz eine neue, erweiterte Kunstausgabe von John Carpenters gefeiertem zweitem Album mit Nicht-Soundtrack-Kompositionen. Mit neu in Auftrag gegebenem Artwork von Randy Ortiz vereint diese Jubiläumsausgabe das Originalalbum auf limitiertem "Violet Sunrise" Vinyl mit einer Bonus-7"-Single, die ,Real Xeno" enthält - nun zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich, abseits der ursprünglichen, limitierten Veröffentlichung der Sacred Bones Society. Die B-Seite zeigt ein exklusives, speziell für diese Ausgabe entworfenes Gravurdesign. Die ,Lost Themes"-Reihe hat sich zu einem der prägendsten Kapitel in Carpenters Karriere entwickelt. Befreit von den Zwängen der Leinwand haben diese Kompositionen ein Eigenleben entwickelt und Carpenters Vermächtnis über Filmmusik hinaus erweitert. Das 2016 erschienene ,Lost Themes II" erweiterte die Klangwelt seines Vorgängers und verband Carpenters unverkennbares Gespür für Atmosphäre und Spannung mit seinem charakteristischen Minimal-Synth, reichhaltigeren Arrangements sowie elektrischen und akustischen Gitarren. Ein Jahrzehnt später bleibt ,Lost Themes II" ein Meilenstein in einer Reihe, die weit über imaginäre Soundtracks hinausgewachsen ist und als unverzichtbare Werke in Carpenters Katalog gilt - ein Zeugnis seiner musikalischen Vision und seiner bemerkenswerten Fähigkeit, Welten zu erschaffen, die weit über den Film hinausreichen.

Shape of the Unknown’ is kind of a double LP that fully embraces the idea of exploration. It is CHLOÉ’s most expansive and immersive work to date. ‘Shape of the Unknown’ is CHLOÉ’s fourth proper studio album. Its predecessor, ‘Endless Revisions’, was released in 2017. Nine years have passed. Nine years during which CHLOÉ has continued digging for music, DJing at internationally renowned clubs and festivals including Rex Club, Robert Johnson, Panorama Bar, Nuits Sonores, Glastonbury and many more, releasing EPs and remixes, while also allowing herself the time to explore entirely new creative paths.


The challenge is to capture the unknown, make it her own, endlessly reshape its textures, and ultimately preserve its mystery.


The first single ‘Drifter’, released back in June, already offered a striking glimpse of the sonic territories the album would venture into, driven by its hypnotically contoured basslines. The album's two other singles offer different windows into her world. 'Shapeshifter' captures CHLOÉ at her most hypnotic, balancing stripped-back techno and melodic house through deep rolling grooves, expansive bass chords and subtle rhythmic shifts that constantly reshape the listener's perception without ever disrupting the flow. Later, 'Repeating The Obvious' takes a more leftfield route, pairing staggered rhythms with retro-inspired harmonics and an understated indie dance pulse that feels simultaneously familiar and unpredictable.
CHLOÉ has ventured into live performance through new formats, notably alongside percussionist Vassilena Serafimova; immersed herself in film scoring with soundtracks for Paris la Blanche, Arthur Rambo, The Mountain, Blanquita, Guru and Unsubmissives; and developed compelling collaborations, from High Season, her project with Ben Shemie of Canadian band Suuns (which resulted in the album The Call), to her own organic, experimental audiovisual performances under the name Slo/Mo AV.


Throughout Shape of the Unknown, CHLOÉ blurs the boundaries between deep house, hypnotic techno, electronica and cinematic sound design with remarkable fluidity. The album unfolds as a continuous narrative rather than a sequence of tracks, moving effortlessly between beatless ambient passages, rolling analogue grooves and emotionally charged club music. Organic percussion, sweeping bass movements, melancholic harmonies and richly textured synthesisers create a body of work that constantly evolves, where no section feels static and every transition reveals another layer of depth. There is an unmistakable warmth running through the record, with grainy analogue textures and spacious production giving even its most driving moments an intimate, almost tactile quality.
The album’s title is no coincidence. It evokes a form that has yet to be named, something language itself struggles to grasp. CHLOÉ approaches it through an organic creative process. Each piece must first be performed in the studio, almost as if it were being played live. The album will be followed by a series of live performances and DJ sets, including a show at the Olympia on March 18, 2027.


She is joined by a handful of steadfast collaborators. Jazz trumpeter David Enhco appears on two tracks, ‘Undertow’ and ‘Inner Bass’. But above all, there are the voices: Ben Shemie lends his unmistakable presence to the radiant ‘More Than Just a Feeling’. Olivia Merilahti, singer, songwriter and one half of The Dø, appears on the otherworldly ‘TWYR’. Working with Olivia’s already hypnotic voice, CHLOÉ has approached it like a sculptor, enhancing its strangeness and dreamlike quality.
And finally, impossible to miss is the instantly recognizable voice of Kittin. A longtime accomplice, she lends her distinctive phrasing to CHLOÉ’s music here for the very first time. The strongest collaborations are often those that take their time, arriving only when the moment is right. Same kind, same bass, same vibe, same pride.


The result is an enigmatic, nocturnal record, drifting between introspective listening and dancefloor functionality, revealing an artist who remains far more interested in atmosphere, movement and emotional storytelling than conventional club structures. It is an album that invites us to dream more deeply and to dance again, both within ourselves and out in the open.

CYBERPHUNK CLAUSURA (2LP) is the closing chapter of the CYBERPHUNK saga, following CYBERPHUNK and CYBERPHUNK EXPANSION.

What began as an exploration through Electro, Breakbeat and Acid now reaches its final form: a convergence of SubBass pressure, fractured rhythms and dystopian energy condensed into a complete double LP experience.

Across 12 tracks, Calagad 13 expands the sonic language of the series — combining high-impact breaks, hypnotic sequences, acid mutations and darker atmospheric structures into a body of work designed to be experienced as a continuous journey.

Pressed as a limited edition of 150 copies, CLAUSURA stands as both a collector’s piece and a defining release within the COSMIC TRIBE catalogue.

While this release concludes the main CYBERPHUNK narrative, the universe will continue evolving through forthcoming reinterpretations and remix transmissions.

Final chapter. Final signal.

“Carl layers willowy guitar arpeggios, foggy keyboards, and chimes over Windy’s murmured intonations and rippling basswork. Everything sounds fresh and unaffected in the careful hands of these two gentle souls. Pick it up, lie back, and allow it to lull you into an undisturbed reverie.” Big Takeover

At the time of original release it was written that the album "will transport the listener to other plains of reality.” (Acid Test). Meanwhile, Alternative Press called it “alluring and addictive.” and CMJ called it "expansive, daydream enhancing music.”

The pair have also recently released their collaborative album with Optigan Conservatory, which can be revisited here. A beautiful and hermetic energy larger than the sum of its parts was captured in the collaborative process of making this album. There are echoes of the earliest releases from Windy & Carl as well as refractions of the same opacity that surfaced in the early kranky catalog.

A fine time to be shining a light on these label stalwarts as the dark Autumn evenings roll in

Mikkel Rev returns to A Strangely Isolated Place with Evocation, his third full-length album shaped deep within the forests of Norway. 
Since Mikkel’s debut, The Art of Levitation first arrived on ASIP in 2023, Mikkel has been quietly building his own corner of the label’s catalog. Last year's Journey Beyond expanded that vision further, revealing an artist increasingly comfortable balancing the emotional pull of early trance with a more reflective, ambient-leaning approach. While his work elsewhere naturally gravitates towards the dance floor through his own collective, Ute Recordings and other club-focused outlets, his ASIP releases have always evolved differently. Beginning with a larger body of material that’s gradually shaped together, each album seeks to find a narrative without a dancefloor in place; one that moves naturally between momentum and stillness, carrying something of the spirit found in those early-'90s records that drifted effortlessly between peak-time energy and the quiet hours in room two. 
Long-form compositions like "Step Inside" and "MRI" favor gradual development over immediate impact, while "Dream Sand" introduces shimmering rhythms that subtly shift the album's momentum and pace. The piano-led "The Infinite" offers a definitive nod to the enduring emotional pull of classic trance before "Sanitorium" closes the record with one of Mikkel's most restrained and affecting pieces to date.
Evocation continues Mikkel Rev's remarkable run on ASIP, extending a catalog where echoes of trance's formative years find new expression through the communal energy and natural surroundings of the Nordic forest gatherings that have become an integral part of his world.
Ventral Is Golden returns on artwork duties, with Lupo handling the mastering and cut. Released on August 28th as a gatefold double LP on dusty purple smoke and digital.

Esteemed DJ & Producer Joris Voorn sets aside his dance floor sensibilities for his latest body of work as he looks deeper into his production capabilities with ‘Melatonin’.

The 17-track record serves as a direct, downtempo companion piece to his 2025 dancefloor-focused album, ‘Serotonin’. By stepping away from high-energy techno, Voorn uses this body of work to explore cinematic sound design, rich textures, and weightless, slower-paced arrangements.

Drawing from his years of studio experience, the new album focuses on the Dutch producers influence from ambient and down-tempo soundscapes. Working with long term collaborators and musicians Bram Stadhouders (braem) and Michiel Borstlap, ‘Melatonin’ delivers a thought-provoking listening experience making this an essential purchase to complete the set.

After a few years of silence, the London-based label resurfaces from the depths of the underground with a new split EP, the fifth in the series, merging nu-skool breaks and futuristic electro from the like of two firmly established talents.

The Brussels-based artist and founder of ZwaarteKracht Records - Arsonist Recorder.With standout releases on Diffuse Reality, 20:20 Vision and Specimen he takes control of the A-side to deliver two finely crafted electro gems. Spanish producer Sigma_ALgebra, co-founder of Tensor Norm and already featured on Science Cult, Elektrodos Recordings, Anti Gravity Device, Digital Distortions or Urban Connections is slamming the Side B with two experimental yet powerful electro assaults, unmistakably stamped.

Ranging from dancefloor-oriented electro to industrial breakbeats and lo-fi textures, this fifth chapter offers a deep dive into raw, hammering rhythms and pulsating grooves crafted for sweat-drenched, late-night sessions.

,Manifold of Partially Actualized Realities" ist das neue Album bei Kou Records von Randall Dunn - Produzent, Komponist und einer der markantesten Gestalter von Low-End- und räumlichen Klängen in der zeitgenössischen Musik, bekannt für seine Arbeit mit Sunn O))), Oneohtrix Point Never, David Torn und unzähligen anderen aus den Bereichen Heavy-, Experimental- und Avantgarde-Musik. Das Album ist eine Meditation über zerbrochene Realitäten, Zeit und Sterblichkeit - ein Spiegel, der sich auf sich selbst zurückfaltet und darüber, wie zukünftige Ereignisse die Vergangenheit beeinflussen. Sein tragender Geist ist Philip K. Dicks ,Pink Light Experience" von 1974, in der der Autor berichtete, eine Übertragung von einer gewaltigen, außerirdischen Intelligenz empfangen zu haben: informationsreich, uralt und überwältigend. Dunn nähert sich dem sowohl als Konzept als auch als kompositorische Logik - Musik, die in Schichten auftaucht, zusammenbricht, sich neu formiert und sich einer Auflösung verweigert.? In vier Stücken setzt Dunn ein ganzes Arsenal an Vintage-Synthesizern ein - Korg MonoPoly, Korg MS-20, PPG Wave, CS-80, Juno-60, Waldorf Strings, Fizmo - neben einer außergewöhnlichen Ensemblebesetzung. Spoken-Word-Beiträge von Jim Jarmusch (basierend auf PKDs Prosa) und Laima Leyton (basierend auf Robert Graves' ,Time") verankern zwei der vier Stücke in Sprache, ohne sie zu erklären. Das Album bewegt sich von orchestraler Kammermusik über elektroakustische Abstraktion hin zu einem abschließenden Stück - ,Ayn" -, das sich zu ekstatischem Jazz entfaltet, mit Cyro Baptista, Briggan Krauss, Henry Fraser, Charmaine Lee und Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. Wahre elektroakustische Komposition im vollsten Sinne: spektral, körperlich und weit offen. Produziert und gemischt von Randall Dunn bei Circular Ruin, April 2026. Aufgenommen und gemastert von Ben Greenberg. Dolby-Atmos-Mischungen von Ben Greenberg. Lackschnitt von Paul Gold bei Salt Mastering. Cover- und Rückseitengestaltung von Steve Rude.

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.

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.

Peter 'Baby' Ford's legendary Trelik Records taps up Martinez for some gently persuasive minimal and tech on this new Dream Scheme EP. First out of the blocks is 'Outta Da Sky' (Ethereal mix), which marries honours bell sounds and gently cascading synth with a weighty deep house groove and spoken words that bring things to life. 'Laughter Land' has more intent but is still a shimmering sound with soft edges and plenty of late-night warmth. 'Gravy Disputes' sounds like the problem to have but in fact plays out like a serene, playful groove that gives a little nod and a wink across the dance floor as it persuades you to start moving more seriously.

California’s beloved Brainstory returns with a new EP celebrating the end of an era. Shoebox Days is an homage to the time spent and the recordings made at their now defunct Long Beach studio, aptly named Shoebox. As the name suggests, the space was tiny and stuffed with gear. While charming, it was riddled with constraints. But, as has been proven time and time again, great art often comes from difficult circumstances, and this new 7 song EP is further proof. The first track, “The Watchers,” opens with an earworm horn melody that immediately pulls you in. The crunchy drums and G Funk bass tones put a bop on it, lush orchestration weaves in and out and sets a mellow vibe. “Blend,” one of only two vocal tracks on the EP, is a California sunshine soaked love song walking the lines of psych rock ballad and B side soul. ”Twin Kitchen” leans you right back into your seat, with Eric Hagstrom’s in-the-pocket drumming carrying the tune.

“Home Alone” is singer Kevin Martin’s ever so relatable tribute to time by himself, time by today’s standards as “disconnected,” but in reality, much more connected… The fellas let some of the jazz background take front stage on “Lone Traveler,” starting out with an air tight groove, and letting loose over it as the track progresses. “Gravity Hill” named after the famed California oddity begins the ending of the EP as Brainstory takes it deep and brings us with them. “Necessary Loss” serves as the closer to this gorgeous journey.

California’s beloved Brainstory returns with a new EP celebrating the end of an era. Shoebox Days is an homage to the time spent and the recordings made at their now defunct Long Beach studio, aptly named Shoebox. As the name suggests, the space was tiny and stuffed with gear. While charming, it was riddled with constraints. But, as has been proven time and time again, great art often comes from difficult circumstances, and this new 7 song EP is further proof. The first track, “The Watchers,” opens with an earworm horn melody that immediately pulls you in.

The crunchy drums and G Funk bass tones put a bop on it, lush orchestration weaves in and out and sets a mellow vibe. “Blend,” one of only two vocal tracks on the EP, is a California sunshine soaked love song walking the lines of psych rock ballad and B side soul. ”Twin Kitchen” leans you right back into your seat, with Eric Hagstrom’s in-the-pocket drumming carrying the tune. “Home Alone” is singer Kevin Martin’s ever so relatable tribute to time by himself, time by today’s standards as “disconnected,” but in reality, much more connected… The fellas let some of the jazz background take front stage on “Lone Traveler,” starting out with an air tight groove, and letting loose over it as the track progresses. “Gravity Hill” named after the famed California oddity begins the ending of the EP as Brainstory takes it deep and brings us with them. “Necessary Loss” serves as the closer to this gorgeous journey.

For over three decades, Berlin-based DJ, producer, and curator Marcel Dettmann has remained a central force in electronic music, continuously pushing the boundaries of the craft. Deeply rooted in early influences ranging from post-punk and industrial to synth-pop, his dynamic DJ sets and expansive discography, including seminal releases on Ostgut Ton and Dekmantel, effortlessly weave together raw techno, Chicago house, electro, and avant-garde soundscapes.

Far beyond club booths and releases on his own imprints, MDR and Bad Manners, Dettmann’s multidisciplinary ethos has led him into artistic territories spanning gallery soundscapes, ballet compositions, and cinematic film scores. This relentless creative curiosity defines a career built at the intersection of dancefloor functionality, collaborative experimentation, and perpetual sonic evolution.

Dettmann introduced My Own Shadow last year, a project where music, visual art, and photography converged in two EPs, Approaching (2025) and Faultline (2026) prior to the release of the full album this coming Autumn. More than just a name, this project lets sound, image, and vision blend organically, reflecting his intuitive process of deconstruction, resonance, and emotional discovery.

Speaking about the project Marcel says “My Own Shadow wasn’t born from a big concept. I simply liked the idea of working under another name and started following it. Different things I was doing - music, photography, visual work - slowly began to connect.

It happened quite naturally. My Own Shadow is me - just seen from another perspective.” Neither an alter ego nor a departure, My Own Shadow: Album is an intimate reflection of the artist; a transient, ever-shifting form that dances with the light and subtly reshapes its contours to reveal new depths.

My Own Shadow: Album is built with textural minimalism through rhythm, tension and release, embarking on a path through the recollections and experience of the dancefloor. This space remains the ultimate proving ground where history, instinct, and transcendence collide, guiding Dettmann through his musical interests.

My Own Shadow - Album is driven by rhythm, texture, space and tension. Across tracks such as ‘Gravitational Scar’ and ‘Resolution Vector’, these elements are constantly reshaped, connecting Dettmann’s past with a sound that remains firmly in motion.

2026 has been the year of Deeparture as we have approached this milestone moment for the producer; quality releases from the Dutch artist have pathed the way to his debut album ‘City Reverie’.

‘City Reverie’ is all about Amsterdam – an album created, inspired and born in the great city. Deeparture finds home there but over the years it has been a place where his music has developed and grown into the stunning style he has created throughout this body of work. As an artist on Zerothree, he has been an important part of the label family and working on this album has really seen unique creative aspects, impressive themes and a work ethic that just inspires.

The album features collaborations alongside Lazarusman, Tim Morrison, Jantine, Yves La Rock and plenty of solo material that brings a retro proggy take on 2026 dance music. A real touch of genius and a great body of work that will be timeless.

Portuguese experimental musician António Feiteira returns to Perf with Amuleto Apotropaico’s sophomore album. Língua Espúria (Spurious Tongue) withdraws from the guitar-and-drums interplay that anchored the self-titled debut, moving toward fully electronic arrangements of concrète mechanics. What was once shaped through shared physical gesture now condenses into a singular current: a hermetic pulse carving its own labyrinth through the pandemonium.

The album draws inspiration from Milford Graves's visionary mapping of the body's secret rhythms into function generators. Amuleto Apotropaico has engineered a system that emulates Feiteira's own improvisational drumming language such that muscle memory becomes stochastic digital precision.

Língua Espúria opens with 'Abafador'. A track relishing in burnt afterimages as it patiently leads the listener into Amuleto Apotropaico’s new sound world. Its insistent double-tapped rhythm splinters into four cascading versions of itself, a pulse folding & refolding until it becomes its own perforated haze.

'Carpideira' follows as an algorithmic lamentation set in motion by shimmering temporal reversals: motion-captures of cyclic grief. The track persistently builds until only a few pure tones remainder.

The album's most pared-down moment is 'Espinha de Vidro'. It is the clearest statement of the system underlying Língua Espúria. Here, Feiteira's rhythmic concern is laid bare, every detail exposed in a distilled form, its melodic thread emerging with equal exactness.

'Apotropia III' begins as a subtle hinge in the catalogue, its brutalist‑liturgical atmosphere recast in a divined, techgnostic register. A narrative, gestural drift threads through the piece that connects it to Feiteira’s 'Killswitch Counterpoint', which appeared on his Eastern Nurseries release Performing the Heimlich on an Ouroboros. Shared samples cross-feed his parallel projects, letting them momentarily run on the same signal path. Stuttering percussion, flickers of glitched air & a brooding bass melodic line fill out the margins before the track finally shears off into harsh, serrated noise.

Die in Kalifornien beliebte Band Brainstory kehrt mit einer neuen EP zurück, die das Ende einer Ära feiert. ,Shoebox Days" ist eine Hommage an die Zeit und die Aufnahmen, die in ihrem inzwischen geschlossenen Studio in Long Beach entstanden sind, das treffend den Namen ,Shoebox" trug. Wie der Name schon andeutet, war der Raum winzig und mit Equipment vollgestopft. Das hatte zwar seinen Reiz, war jedoch mit zahlreichen Einschränkungen verbunden. Doch wie sich immer wieder gezeigt hat, entsteht großartige Kunst oft aus schwierigen Umständen, und diese neue EP mit sieben Titeln ist ein weiterer Beweis dafür. Der . Titel, ,The Watchers", beginnt mit einer eingängigen Bläsermelodie , die einen sofort in ihren Bann zieht. Die knackigen Drums und die G-Funk-Basstöne sorgen für Schwung, während sich üppige Orchestrierungen hin und her schlängeln und eine sanfte Atmosphäre schaffen. ,Blend", einer von nur zwei Gesangstiteln auf der EP, ist ein von kalifornischer Sonne durchtränktes Liebeslied , das die Grenze zwischen Psych-Rock-Ballade und B-Seite-Soul beschreitet. ,Twin Kitchen" drückt einen regelrecht in den Sitz zurück, wobei Eric Hagstroms präzises Schlagzeugspiel den Song trägt. ,Home Alone" ist Sänger Kevin Martins überaus nachvollziehbare Hommage an die Zeit, die er allein verbringt - Zeit, die nach heutigen Maßstäben als ,abgekoppelt" gilt, in Wirklichkeit aber viel verbundener ist _ Die Jungs lassen bei ,Lone Traveler" einen Teil ihres Jazz-Hintergrunds in den Vordergrund treten, beginnen mit einem wasserdichten Groove und lassen sich im Verlauf des Stücks darüber hinweg gehen. ,Gravity Hill", benannt nach der berühmten kalifornischen Kuriosität, leitet den Ausklang der EP ein, während Brainstory tief in die Materie eintaucht und uns mitnimmt. ,Necessary Loss" bildet den Abschluss dieser herrlichen Reise.

Portugal-based percussionist Gabriel Ferrandini spent years honing his skills in various free jazz ensembles, where he demonstrated his absorption of the styles of pioneering rhythm liberators like Sunny Murray and Milford Graves while forging his own energetic and agile sound. During this time, Ferrandini performed with everyone from Evan Parker and Alexander von Schlippenbach to Thurston Moore and Dirty Beaches' Alex Zhang Hungtai. At some point, the percussionist grew restless and began taking a more compositional approach, using his drums as primary sources from which to produce spectral tones and timbres via electronic manipulation.

In Ferrandini's hands, cymbals become generative instruments with endless reverb tails and choir samples are distilled into vapor. With its subtle evocations of light and color and meticulous editing, Romance suggests an almost cinematic scale. The strings and grainy synthesizer of "Crying Game" lend an air of giallo dread to the deep sub-bass rumbles; "Afters Lisboa" processes cymbal crashes through a Leslie speaker to create a siren-like Doppler effect; "Fallen Angels," one of the few tracks to feature Ferrandini's mostly untreated percussion work, stacks layers of reverb effects of varying lengths (an old Autechre trick) to add friction and give the spatialized sounds a dissociative quality. Album highlight "Cova da Vaporwave" utilizes creative sidechaining, warbly VHS-like tones and drums amplified through a Fender Twin to gather apocalyptic momentum.

Romance is a formidable artistic statement, establishing Ferrandini as one of the most vital composers on the contemporary avant-garde music scene. He is influenced by Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, whose passionate yet dissonant chromatic approach can be detected throughout the album's seven uncanny tracks.

Pageant flexes his D&B production skills on this spatial themed 4-track EP.

Synaptic Cliffs proudly welcomes Annie Hall for her label debut. With the Future Sports EP, she once again expands the boundaries between machine funk, speculative sound design, and forward-thinking club music. Delivering her signature fusion of IDM, electro, fractured breakbeats and experimental electronics, she sculpts a metallic, high-definition vision that feels as though it has been transmitted directly from centuries ahead.

Future Sports imagines the sonic landscape of sport in the year 3024. In a future where society has paradoxically stripped itself back to the essentials, aesthetics have returned to the elegance and restraint of the 18th and 19th centuries. Amid this cultural shift, fencing has emerged as the defining global sport, elevated from historical discipline to mass obsession.

Throughout the EP, the sounds of these future arenas become musical raw material: the sharp clash of advanced foils, the resonant impact of engineered protective gear, the tension of ritualized competition, and fragments of other, unnamed sports from a distant age. Annie Hall transforms these imagined athletic acoustics into intricate rhythmic structures and futuristic melodies, allowing the machinery and choreography of competition to shape the record's sonic identity.

The result is a vivid soundtrack to a world yet to come - precise, kinetic, and unmistakably futuristic, where sport, technology and sound merge into a singular vision. Future Sports is both a speculative narrative and a club-ready statement from one of electronic music's most distinctive voices.

As a special bonus, the EP features an animated picture label. When played at 45 RPM and viewed under a stroboscopic light operating at 9 Hz, the artwork comes alive, revealing a hidden motion sequence. Blurring the boundaries between sound, design and optical illusion, this kinetic visual layer extends the EP's futuristic narrative into the physical realm, transforming the record itself into an artifact from the year 3024.

Gravity Pleasure welcomes Maude Vôs for their most intimate EP offering to date, Medicinal Properties. Dripping in serenity and grounded in connection, Medicinal Properties is a musical elixir concocted with the healing modalities of the natural world and derived from the intentional planting and nurturing of sapphic seeds. Through minor modes, swimming cinematics and mineral-rich textures, Vôs traverses an ecosystem of sensuality and bonding, a symbiotic journey of long-distance love colored and shaped by their affinity for the earth.

Taking root in California and continuing throughout Ireland, Iceland, and Montreal, the EP translates this cross-continental connection by blurring the lines of timezones, genres, and natural landscapes. Inspired by sea swims, country oyster cottages, diner pancakes, snow flurries, geothermal soaks, mossy mornings, and adventures to igneous formations, Vôs invites you to experience this potent body of work, which forms the harmonious emotional bedrock of both kinship and creation.

Support comes from Yushh (“LOVE, so good!!!”), Jossy Mitsu (“Incredible <3”), Mixtress (“v pretty”), Peder Mannerfelt (“hot”), Batu (“like Maude Vos, downloading”), Vladimir Ivkovic (“Good! Thank you”), and OM UNIT (“Orr kore is lush”), amongst others.

The free folk/jazz sound of modern Los Angeles. Featuring a heavy bunch of musicians and vocalists including Moor Mother.

"Fearlessly Accessing the Divine Spirit From Here on Out" is the vinyl debut from pianist, composer, and producer Diego Gaeta. He has previously released projects as Club Diego and with the trio Human Error Club (whose members Mekala Session and Jesse Justice helped produce this record). He has quickly become a fixture in a number of Los Angeles musical environments, working with Lionmilk, The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Carlos Niño, Black Nile among others. This album is a synthesis of these many LA environments, and carries chamber, jazz, ambient, and folk influences, ultimately giving it an uncategorizable feel similar to works by Arthur Verocai or David Axelrod.

Gaeta recorded the initial ideas for the album by himself after experiencing a burst of creativity during the lockdown of 2020, in the aftermath of a season of protests in Los Angeles, on a piano at his home in El Sereno. "I was constantly not in tune with myself, always awaiting outrage and tragedy in a very unstable world. However, hitting the streets in support of various ongoing pandemic community actions felt necessary and it marked a point in time that ushered in large societal changes. The weight of that era made me feel allergic to making art at the time. All of these ideas came after that period, expressing my reflections subconsciously. I remember that the ideas came in a short amount of time, and then they developed."

Once he had created the tracks as Ableton sessions, he realized the gravity and context of how he was processing his ideas so he, as he puts it, "felt like taking them outside the hands of midi and into the hands of friends." Gaeta was able to assemble his dream band, which ended up being a 9-piece ensemble, or a nonet. "I felt that at some point I was channeling the geometrical balance of that nonet...it's almost as if I had a sextet and then the three of the sextet that's not the rhythm section were doubled. It's a really dense sextet, that's how I see it."

The recording process began the following summer in June 2021 as the musicians were all adjusting to the newfound dynamic of getting tested for COVID, waiting a few days, and then meeting up to record. "We were eating Indian food, some of us were smoking, it was a nice memory, but I felt a little stressed, because I was the bandleader, and I felt the emotional weight of my music."

The title track and single, featuring vocals by Jimetta Rose, begins with a speech by Gaeta delivered when playing with Black Nile in 2019 at the Levitt Amphitheatre in MacArthur park. Gaeta provides the following account: "Even though it was in 2019, socio-political tensions and issues were at the forefront for me at that time. I wrote a speech that was intended to be critical of the US but it ended up becoming a collage inspired by different women that had messages of freedom that spoke to me the most. I quoted Nina Simone and Georgia Anne Muldrow, it wasn't something that I read but something that she said "kicking it with consciousness and style" that phrase stuck with me, so I used it in that speech. Although critical, the speech had a positive feeling to it, and it was hopeful. I gave that speech while fireworks were going off."

Moor Mother & Zeroh are found on their respective tracks, Memory Screen & Eccolo - both delivering a distinct, commanding vocal performance. Low Leaf colors the track Soft Spot with harp, a beautiful ballad nestled in the center of the album. Other players include Gregory Uhlmann on guitar, Jon Kaye on violin, Devin Daniels on alto saxophone, Caleb Buchanan on bass, Dante Luna on vibraphone, Patrick Behnke on viola, Bryan Baker on tenor saxophone/flute, and Mekala Session on drums.

"I’d like for us tonight to embody a freedom oriented life. Freedom isn’t just a dream, it’s a place we must all arrive at together, as one by one the people of the Earth help each other to be Free of power, hate, and insecurities. Let’s kick it with consciousness and style. Can y’all dig that? YEAH. I can too. So now we’d like to present to you a spiritual transmission I like to call: 'Fearlessly Accessing the Divine Spirit of Freedom From Here On Out.' YEAH" - Diego Gaeta

Die Musik von Panda Bear und Sonic Boom war schon immer ein Spielplatz: ein Ort, an dem Klangexperimente, Loops und unerwartete Ideen aufeinandertreffen. Während Sonic Boom einst mit Spacemen 3 die Balance zwischen Drone und Pop neu dachte und später mit modularen Synths experimentierte, erschafft Panda Bear, solo oder mit Animal Collective, schillernde Klangwelten zwischen Noise, Folk und Elektronik. Ihr gemeinsames Debüt Reset (2022) wirkte wie ein kreativer Befreiungsschlag im Pandemie-Nebel.

Mit A ? of WHEN setzen sie diese Spielfreude fort, gehen aber noch weiter. Harfen-Loops, Steel Drums, Pedal Steel, sogar Jodeln: Das Duo greift bewusst auf vermeintlich „uncooles“ Material zurück und macht daraus etwas Eigenes. Songs wie „Something Like Dreaming“ oder „Like a Moth to a Flame“ verbinden verspielte Psychedelik mit eingängigen Melodien, als würde man von Station zu Station durch einen musikalischen Abenteuerspielplatz springen.

Gleichzeitig wird der Ton ernster. Die zehn Stücke verhandeln digitale Erschöpfung, politische Verwerfungen und ökologische Fragen, ohne dabei die Leichtigkeit zu verlieren. Inspiriert von einer Welt aus „AI slop“, algorithmischem Dauerrauschen und permanenter Vernetzung, suchen Panda Bear und Sonic Boom bewusst nach anderen Formen der Verbindung: weniger Scrollen, mehr echtes Erleben, mehr Radio, Live-Shows, Listening-Partys und reale Begegnungen. Statt Zynismus setzen sie auf Empathie, Glück und gegenseitige Unterstützung.

Im Kern bleibt das Album jedoch ein Akt der Aneignung: Klänge aus unterschiedlichen Kontexten werden neu zusammengesetzt, getragen von ungewöhnlicher Percussion wie Harfe und Steel Drums. So entsteht Musik, die zugleich verspielt und reflektiert ist. A ? of WHEN blickt auf eine widersprüchliche Welt und verwandelt sie in etwas Verbindendes. Kein großes Heilsversprechen, sondern die Einladung, gemeinsam offline darin aufzugehen.

Konsequenterweise wird das Album nicht auf Streaming-Plattformen verfügbar sein: Panda Bear und Sonic Boom setzen stattdessen auf reale Begegnungen, Listening Sessions und direkten Austausch jenseits algorithmischer Dauerbeschallung.

For their first release, it was pretty obvious for Hypnophone to give a new life to an all-time favorite but forgotten project : GLO. Released in 1995 on CD’s only, « Even As We » is the first and last album of the duo, composed of Stephan Lewry and Gilli Smyth, both ex-members of the legendary rock band GONG and pioneers of psychedelic music.

This double LP, carefully handcrafted and redesigned, is the result of a lovely 2 years collaboration between Hypnophone and Stephan. A cosmic, unique masterpiece, who also features a new thirteen minutes track, specially produced by Stephan while remastering the album in 2025. In the dear memory of Gilli ♡

Note: Includes two printed inner sleeves, transparent red vinyl and an A5 insert.

Aubrey is Allen Saei, a UK techno veteran who shaped the early scene as a DJ and record shop worker, but also with his influential label Solid Groove. It launched in 1991 and burned bright for 13 years with fans including Derrick May and Terry Francis. In 2026, it returns with a brand new EP from the boss himself, following a major studio upgrade. His sound harks back to those golden early days but in subtle ways: 'Timing Shock' has booming kicks and wispy synth details bring a future feel. 'Complex Vortex' is a trippy wormhole, 'Spinning Gravity' is deep, Detroit-style machine warmth and 'Cracker Jacker' burrows into a distant cosmic abyss. A fine return from Aubrey.

SKYLAX RECORDS proudly unveils the final chapter in its monumental 4-part saga — SKYLAX BLACK 4: Enlightenment Theory. This visionary series, bringing together two of France’s most iconic electronic artists — ARNAUD REBOTINI and ACID WASHED — was never just a collection of records. It was a journey through the deepest layers of the underground — a conceptual project where each release was a coded message, each track a fragment of a greater whole. On the A-side, Enlightenment Theory explodes with fierce urgency — an anthem forged in the spirit of Underground Resistance, echoing the soulful intensity of early ’90s Detroit without imitation. It’s bold, emotional, and militantly underground — a future classic cloaked in defiance and elegance. On the B-side: B1. Space Is The Place channels the weightless gravity of dub techno at its purest — all echo chambers and endless delay, a direct line to the Berlin school of Basic Channel, Maurizio, and Deepchord. B2. Beyond Current Biological Constraints closes the chapter in deep space — an electro masterwork evoking Drexciya, full of aquatic melancholy and cybernetic funk. It’s not retro — it’s timeless. With this last installment, the puzzle is complete. The meaning is revealed: R.A.V.E. — four records forming one powerful word. One timeless idea. A tribute to everything this culture stands for: raw energy, emotional truth, sonic innovation, and spiritual depth. This project could only be born on SKYLAX RECORDS — a label that has always stood apart. Uncompromising. Devoted to physical formats. Fiercely loyal to the culture. While others chase trends, SKYLAX continues to chart a different course — one rooted in the sacred codes of house, techno, electro, and beyond. It is no exaggeration to say that SKYLAX is one of the last true purist strongholds of underground music — and this series, with its layered meanings and fearless artistry, is proof. From Redshifts to Blueshifts to Artificial Darwinism then Vision Quest, every chapter has pointed toward this moment. Now, with Enlightenment Theory, the full vision is revealed. RAVE is not just a word — it is the truth. A philosophy. A myth reborn. The circle is complete. The message endures. The legacy lives on.