For more than two decades, Vidmantas ?epkauskas has occupied a singular position within European underground culture. As the driving force behind Opium Club and gallery 1986 in Vilnius, founder of Ant Bangos, Alfavilnius and OLE festivals, curator, label owner, promoter, DJ and artist, he has spent much of his life creating the conditions for other people's music to be heard.
It makes sense then that he has no shortage of friends and collaborators in play. Across ten tracks, V presents shades of Italo, krautrock, post-punk, minimal synth, industrial pop and neon-noir romanticism, arriving somewhere between the dancefloor and a dream-state. The cast of collaborators both contextualize and help sharpen the vision.
First and foremost, much of the album was crafted alongside Frankfurt's Philipp Lauer, whose friendship with V grew through marathon studio sessions. Curses lends his unmistakable blend of dark romance and theatrical energy to "Is This What You Want?", Australian cosmic journeyman Dreems joins for the kaleidoscopic "Blitz Disc," Domenique Dumont brings their unmistakable emotive touch to "Avventura," while Lithuanian artists Noyus and Ruta MUR, both distinctive voices from the country's queer scene, whose vocals add another dimension to the record's emotional palette. As V puts it, "These are the people I've been vibing with."
That he finally delivers a full-length LP with such elusive qualities is more than a clue to his character. The title itself, a nod to Magritte's famous paradox and his years living in Brussels, suggests that any attempt to define V through a single image is destined to fail. At once playful and philosophical, 12:55 (Ceci n'est pas une V) questions ideas of identity and artistic value while marking the closing chapter of the musical persona that followed ?epkauskas' earlier success as Vidis. Neither retrospective nor statement of intent, it feels like a connected set of reflections spanning a lifetime of influences.
Breakbeat Paradise Recordings proudly welcomes back one of the undisputed heavyweights of the international funk and breaks scene, Basement Freaks, for another scorching edition of the Toxic Funk series.
The brainchild of Greek producer George Fotiadis, Basement Freaks has spent more than two decades building a worldwide reputation for infectious grooves, heavyweight beats and dancefloor-destroying funk. With releases on labels including Jalapeño Records, Bombastic Jam, Good Groove Records and many more, Basement Freaks has become a staple in DJ sets around the globe and one of the most respected names in modern funk.
Opening the release is Got That Funky Stuff, an irresistible slice of raw party funk packed with chunky breakbeats, killer basslines and soulful samples that are guaranteed to get any crowd moving. Flipping over, Life For Dat Sweet Ting keeps the energy flowing with another irresistible groove, combining vintage funk flavors, rolling drums and signature Basement Freaks swagger into a certified dancefloor weapon.
Whether you're a funk DJ, breakbeat selector or simply a lover of timeless grooves, Toxic Funk Vol. 25 delivers two expertly crafted cuts that showcase why Basement Freaks remains at the very top of the global Nu Funk scene. Another essential 7-inch for collectors and DJs alike, and another dose of pure funk from Breakbeat Paradise Recordings.
"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."
The Malian virtuoso, indisputably one of the most creative talents of his country, deserved his solo career decades ago. In May 2026, we released his debut solo album SOBRA DANCE featuring his wife Mariam Kouyate on vocals. The groovy and variated electric album, went straight to the top lists of World Music Charts Europe and Transglobal World Music Chart as well as selected for TOP OF THE WORLD by SONGLINES. Gaoussou's solo debut got several 5 star reviews.DJANGO BLUES is a tribute to Gaoussou's father and childhood teacher, who's nickname is Django. On this album the talented guitarist and composer goes deeper into the roots of Malian Dessert Blues, with the variations from the Arabic soundscapes from the north.In Senegal, Gaoussou is nick named "The new Ali Farka Toure". But even though Ali Farka was one of Gaoussou's greatest inspirations, Gaoussou has developed an unmistakable style of his own. He breathes music and goes to his studio every day to work. He uses his composing to reflect, and as a ventilator when things are hard -they often are in his country of contrasts- and as a love declaration to life itself. He is a true Mandingue, a Griot, peaceful and kind, as the philosophy preaches.Accompanying such legends like Toumani Diabate and Kasse Mady Diabate, Gaoussou Kouyate, with his beloved village 'Sobra' as his middle name, has long proven his level. Yet his name has been relatively undiscovered. The trio performed a memorable concert at Dakar Music Expo, led by their producers, Dudu Saar and Lucy Duran. What started being noticed internationally through this exceptional trio was Gaoussou's composing skills.The electric SOBRA DANCE album was released first, to contrast and give space to the acoustic GUITARI BARO album. Now comes the time for DJANGO BLUES. This great album features Gaoussou's band as well as an exceptional Moroccan Ribab- Amazigh violin master and singer, Aziz Ozouss.
The Garden, experimental punk duo made of twin brothers Wyatt and Fletcher Shears and their new album Bootleg is available on vinyl and CD via Epitaph Records. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Wyatt and Fletcher, the 14-track album is packed with The Garden"s eclectic instrumentation and visceral production work. Formed in 2011 by twin brothers Wyatt Shears and Fletcher Shears, The Garden built their signature "Vada Vada" style from the raw foundation of bass, drums, and eerie electronic textures. Their minimalist approach delivers an explosive, genre-defying sound that is equal parts chaotic, precise, and unmistakably original. Blending an uncanny, arthouse-inspired visual identity with fearless creativity, The Garden has become one of alternative music"s most influential cult acts, beloved by Tyler, the Creator and Mac DeMarco. Renowned for their explosive live performances, they"ve cultivated a fiercely dedicated global following while inspiring a new generation of artists and fans drawn to their singular creative vision.
After almost twenty years of releasing music, Sven Tasnadi finds himself circling back to some of the sounds that first drew him into house music. Explorer was written at home following a longer break from producing and after moving out of his studio, a change of setting that coincided with a shift in priorities. "The tracks on this EP came together at home after a longer break from music and after I moved out of my studio," he explains. "Musically they are very deep and minimal, at times almost meditative. They were inspired by a new chapter in my life as well as my never-ending love and connection to artists like Lawrence from Smallville and Frank & Tony from Scissor and Thread."
That sense of returning to something runs through the whole record. For much of Tasnadi's career, producing and DJing were closely connected, with many releases naturally shaped by the club. Things have changed. "DJing is no longer my main focus, so I can dedicate myself to these deep and minimal sounds again, free from pressure or expectations," he says. "In a way, after almost twenty years of releasing music, things have come full circle for me."
"Atlas (Chapter 1)" and "Atlas (Chapter 2)" grew from the same initial idea but followed separate paths during production. Chapter 2 came first, while Chapter 1 emerged later from a variation Tasnadi discovered while the track was still essentially a loop. "I was still looking for the right theme for the original idea when another version suddenly opened up," he recalls. He saved that variation for later so he could stay focused on the first version. When he returned to it, the two had developed distinct enough identities to stand independently. Their shared DNA is still audible in the restrained rhythms, slowly shifting details and the way small changes carry much of the movement.
The title track moves further into dub techno, another longstanding passion for Tasnadi. "Explorer is almost a classic dub techno track," he says. "Subtle movements within a constantly repeating pattern create a particular atmosphere. It feels like the track could just keep going forever." It is a patient approach to repetition that he connects to artists such as Moritz von Oswald and his friend Daniel Stefanik.
"Megasektor", one of the first tracks Tasnadi made at home with a new equipment setup, brings the EP into deep house territory. "To me it's almost classic deep house, or at least how I define deep house for myself." Warm, compact and gently propulsive, it provides a natural closing point for a record that is ultimately less about changing direction than reconnecting with an instinct that has always been there.
Explorer captures Tasnadi at a point where making music has become more personal again. The four tracks come from following ideas for their own sake and from rediscovering the deeper, more minimal sounds that have stayed with him throughout his career.
Following the international praise for their 2024 debut album Where Did You Go?, Sandman Project return with Hearts Forever, the first album entirely composed, arranged and produced by guitarist, composer and bandleader Tal Sandman. Rooted in psychedelic groove, Middle Eastern musicality, funk, jazz and desert rock, it is a record driven above all by a wider spiritual belief in music as a force for connection.
If Where Did You Go? introduced Sandman Project as a borderless, brass-heavy outfit with a cinematic sound, Hearts Forever takes that vision somewhere more intimate and self-assured. Written following Tal's move from Jaffa to Leipzig, the album reflects a period of personal and creative transformation. Arriving in Germany without knowing whether she would find the right collaborators, she gradually assembled a new band through recommendations from fellow musicians, discovering a group capable of bringing her musical vision to life. For Tal, the music is not about drawing neat lines between styles or traditions. It is about taking inspiration from wherever it appears and reshaping it into something honest and alive. "If music touches my heart, it inspires me", she says. "So much music already exists, but what we are doing is creating something new out of inspiration. You take the ingredients and make a new thing".
This is the quiet force behind Hearts Forever. Almost entirely instrumental, the album deliberately leaves space for listeners to find their own stories within it. Without lyrics, the music is never confined to one language, nationality or identity.
Following support for Where Did You Go? from All About Jazz, DJ Magazine, Bayern Radio, Greedy For Best, Pipelines Magazine, Ban Ban Ton Ton and Laurent Garnier, Hearts Forever finds Sandman Project entering a new chapter: more confident, broader in vision and more deeply rooted in Tal Sandman's own creative voice. Rich, restless and full of feeling, Hearts Forever is music for uncertain times; a record about holding on to innocence, choosing compassion and believing, however quietly, that connection is still possible.
Pablo Volt and J.G.G. make dub-folktronica the unpolished way: guitar, horns, drums and synths, recorded loose, drenched in echoes and tape saturation. They met in Barcelona over a shared love of experimental beers and even more experimental sessions, determined to see how far their musical chemistry could take them. "Mordida", their 2023 tape, spent months on repeat at the Pingipung office. Now comes the debut LP: Aqui me quedo. It's a record built on the gap between two childhoods. Pablo Volt (aka Pope, as producer) grew up in Mendoza, Argentina; Jordi Gege aka J.G.G. in a suburb of Barcelona. What they share is a language and a curiosity about each other's memories and musical roots - the studio is where they embrace their different origins in improvisations. A ditch from Pablo's childhood becomes "Zanjon". A mountain Jordi used to roam becomes "Emisora". An ice cream shop, a Sunday market, a football club: small doors into a past the other never lived, but somehow recognises. Aqui me quedo, "I'm staying here", is also the name of the Barcelona bar where they toast after a good session. Two friends, tracing their way back through the past, decide the present is where they'd rather be. Handmade, melodic, unashamed of a smile as they greet from the LP sleeve: this is the spirit in which Pingipung was founded 24 years ago and these two guys, muy simpatico, are living proof of it.
Versteckt in der ruhigen, malerischen Stadt Ipswich an der Ostküste Großbritanniens schwanken die Jungs von Basement zwischen dem Trost des Schönen und Vertrauten und dem Reiz der Flucht. Diese Dualität durchzieht das gesamte Dasein der Band. Während sich der raue Gesang von Frontmann Andrew Fisher über treibende Rhythmen und ergreifende Gitarrenmelodien schlängelt und ausdehnt, wird deutlich, dass Basement gekonnt den Spagat zwischen den Gegensätzen von herzzerreißendem Pop und rauem Post-Hardcore meistern. Ob sie nun einen langsam aufbaubaren Midtempo-Song spielen oder treibenden Punk hämmern - bei Basement webt sich unter der glatten, melodischen Oberfläche eine stille Schicht zerklüfteter Verzweiflung durch die Songs. Ähnlich wie beim Erwachsenwerden sind die Songs mühsam, zerrissen und platzen aus allen Nähten.
There's a moment during every great dance floor experience when the music takes over and everyone becomes part of something bigger. "SHOUT!", the latest release from 2SoulFusion Presents Ascension, captures that feeling in its purest form. Featuring the powerhouse voices and ad-libs of Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, along with an all-star ensemble of master vocalists including Josh Milan, Rahsaan Patterson, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Ramona Dunlap, and Lea Lorien, this joyful anthem is an invitation to let go, lift your spirit, and celebrate through music.
Produced, written, arranged, and mixed by 2SoulFusion—Louie Vega and Josh Milan—"SHOUT!" draws inspiration from the communal spirit of gospel while embracing the energy and freedom of house music. Driven by simple yet powerful affirmations—"Shout," "Sing," "Move," "Love," "Get Up On Your Feet," "Listen Up," and "Let This Music Take You Higher"—the song transforms into an experience where every voice becomes part of the celebration. It's a journey of anthemic hooks, soaring harmonies, infectious grooves, and unforgettable melodies designed to ignite dance floors, uplift hearts, and remind us that music has the power to unite people through rhythm, joy, and love.
The inspiration for "SHOUT!" was born from a creative exchange between Louie Vega and Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of the internationally acclaimed fashion house Casablanca. Introduced by longtime friend Joseph Capriati, Charaf shared a bold vision—to bring together the worlds of fashion, gospel, and house music for one unforgettable Casablanca runway presentation in Paris.
Louie Vega recalls: “Charaf was introduced to me by my friend Joseph Capriati, who said Charaf was looking to meet me about an idea he had. His vision was to marry fashion, gospel, and house music within Casablanca's collection. At first, he wanted me to DJ and play gospel house music. I said, 'Instead of playing existing music, why don't I create an original song with a gospel house flavor?' I immediately got together with my 2SoulFusion partner Josh Milan, and together we came up with 'SHOUT!'”
That vision came to life during Casablanca's spectacular Paris presentation inside a breathtaking cathedral, where Louie Vega premiered the original twelve-minute and nine-second composition live. As the music echoed through the cathedral, Dames Brown joined the London House Gospel Choir in a soul-stirring performance while the models walked the aisle on Casablanca's carpet made of their signature green color and a dashing vibrating giant mirror echoing the runway visually. Renowned DJs Luciano and Chloé Caillet were among those who walked the runway, while friends of Charaf Tajer and special guests—including Jaden Thompson, Folamour, Dimitri From Paris, Kapela, and many others—were in attendance, making it an unforgettable gathering where music, spirituality, fashion, and culture merged into one extraordinary experience.
Inspired by that magical evening in Paris, Louie Vega and Josh Milan returned to the studio to expand the original composition into the powerful recording heard today. Built around rich live musicianship, Josh Milan's keyboards, organ, piano and synth bass provide the foundation alongside Axel Tosca's expressive grand piano recorded live, Sherrod Barnes' soulful guitar, and Gene Perez's unmistakable bass groove. Together they create an infectious, organic driving sound that allows the vocals to soar while delivering the unmistakable musical depth and musicianship that define 2SoulFusion.
Leading the celebration are Dames Brown and Dawn Tallman, whose commanding performances are elevated by an extraordinary choir of world-class vocalists. Dames Brown's spirited sermon and ad-libs, and Dawn Tallman’s powerful ad-lib vamping out together with the soaring harmonies of Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Rahsaan Patterson, Ramona Dunlap, Lea Lorien, and Josh Milan, recreate the feeling of a joyful gospel congregation—not confined to four walls, but alive on dance floors around the world. Every chorus encourages listeners to get up, listen up, feel it, sing, move, love, and become part of the experience. Recorded between Honeycomb Studios in Pennsylvania, The Hub Ibiza and Manhattan Center Studios, New York City, and mixed at The Hub Ibiza, "SHOUT!" reflects the continuing vision of the Ascension project, where spirituality, musicianship, community, fashion, and dance music become one.
UK experimental multi-instrumentalist Oli Heffernan (aka Ivan The Tolerable) returns to independent label Riot Season Records on October 23rd, 2026, with The Planets, a fierce, tension-fuelled reinterpretation of Gustav Holst’s iconic orchestral suite tailored for the modern age.
Originally composed over a century ago to capture the astrological characters of the cosmos, Holst's masterpiece receives a radical, uneasy update. Where the original composition leaned on grand symphonic sweeps, Ivan The Tolerable strips away the comfort of the orchestra, replacing it with fracturing analog synthesisers, claustrophobic tape loops, and the hypnotic, nervous pulse of modern kosmische music and avant-garde noise.
The Planets is an album forged in the specific dread of 2026—a year defined by geopolitical instability, climate weariness, and pervasive societal tension. Rather than looking up at the stars in awe, Heffernan turns the telescope back toward a fractured Earth. From the staggering, industrial-tinged dread of "Mars" to a hollow, melancholic take on "Jupiter," the album transforms familiar motifs into an immersive exploration of collective psychological fatigue.
Recorded in isolation by Heffernan, the project captures the signature solo vulnerability seen on his recent landmark releases like Psychogeography. It balances moments of deep, meditative stillness with sudden, jarring eruptions of noise, offering listeners a space to both confront and process the overwhelming static of the everyday world.
The Liber series was always about the dancefloor. Dark rooms, loud systems, repetition, pressure and the point where the machinery takes over. Liber Eleven continues that idea. The tracks have been remastered and are now available again on CD, vinyl and download.
This is The Black Dog in full techno mode. Hypnotic, physical and built for big systems, with enough strange corners to keep things interesting when the lights go down.
The Liber series started with Liber Kult, Liber Temple and Liber Nox, followed by Liber Dogma and Liber Chaos. Eleven picks up that thread and carries it forward.
No nostalgia trip. No archive dusting for the sake of it. Just The Black Dog making techno...
Brutal, uncompromising Slam from Greece. Years of obsession, ignorance, and absolute contempt spent keeping slam locked in its lowest, most primitive caveman state. Through collapse, and complete disregard for ourselves, we persevere. The "Embryectomy" project clawed its way from a deranged slam duo into a fully armed three-body beatdown slam monstrosity through uncompromised fury alone. No trends. No mercy. No concern for acceptance. Anyone who stood in the wreckage with us knows what it took to get here. We are now signing with Unique Leader Records. What you will endure in our next release is not meant to inspire or connect. It was composed in a chaotic state of antipathy, and absolute emotional absence. This is the most brutal material we have ever created—not for everyone, not for growth, but for those who understand that misanthropy is the only constant. We thank Unique Leader Records, who pushed us beyond what we thought possible: brutality to its limit while stripping away anything human. No benevolence. No empathy. No relief. Only violence, executed with intent.
The title of the fourth full‑length by A SECRET REVEALED already serves as a dark omen: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" sounds powerful, oppressive, and inescapable. And that very weight permeates all eight songs of the album. The band from Würzburg crafts a sonic landscape defined by immense emotional force, urgent intensity, and a density that feels almost impossible to contain. Their wall of sound is never an end in itself, but the foundation of an existential expression that hits immediately and resonates long after. Stylistically, the quintet moves within the tension field of post‑metal - a sound that doesn’t deny its core roots, yet highlights more clearly than ever their affinity for black metal, melodic death metal, and modern, forward‑driving heaviness. Time and again, fragile, searching passages open up, giving the massive sound room to breathe, occasionally interwoven with subtle, almost folkloric accents. Fittingly, the opener 'Disheartened' sets an early exclamation mark: with Nikita Kamprad of Der Weg einer Freiheit as guest vocalist, the track gains additional depth and sharpness. "The Ruin I Summoned Forth" marks the band’s third release on LIFEFORCE RECORDS, following "Sacrifices" (2019) and "When The Day Yearns For Light" (2021). Their debut "The Bleakness" was released in 2015 via Bastardized Records. Across all four records, a clear narrative thread emerges: A SECRET REVEALED consistently strive to craft strong thematic arcs and a massive, uncompromising sound that grips listeners from the very beginning and leaves a lasting impact. Once again, the band presents a cohesive work in which individual elements rise into an overwhelming whole, until, in the end, the inevitable unfolds: "The Ruin I Summoned Forth".
Dusky return to Anjunadeep with their forthcoming studio album ‘Signals’. The London duo first debuted on Anjunadeep in 2011 with their critically acclaimed album Stick By This. Expanding the boundaries of deep house and UK club music, the record marked the beginning of Dusky’s rise as one of the scene’s most respected acts. Their breakout track ‘Careless’, released via Aus Music, further cemented their reputation, amassing more than 14 million streams and becoming one of the defining UK house records of its generation. In 2014, the pair launched their own imprint, 17 Steps, which has since hosted releases and remixes from artists including Nathan Micay, LTJ Bukem, Interplanetary Criminal, Denham Audio and Shed. Since then, Dusky have released two further studio albums, Joy and Pressure, alongside a string of acclaimed singles. Their music has earned support from Pete Tong, Danny Howard and Sarah Story on BBC Radio 1, as well as widespread backing from leading DJs including Jamie Jones, Peggy Gou, Gorgon City, TEED and TSHA. While 'Signals' represents a natural continuation of the Dusky story, it also ventures into more reflective territory than previous releases. The album's wider range of influences and more contemplative mood offer a fresh perspective on the duo's sound, while also paying subtle homage to their acclaimed debut album ‘Stick By This’. Featuring multiple collaborations with vocalist Rromarin, alongside a contribution from Nadeem and Pritt, 'Signals' reflects a creative process that unfolded over many years. Some tracks grew from ideas first sketched long ago, while others emerged more recently, giving the album a sense of both history and momentum. Across its 13 tracks, 'Signals' balances Dusky's club-rooted instincts with downtempo offerings. Tracks such as 'Next Life', 'Kadhalan' and 'Lab' showcase the duo's signature combination of bold basslines, driving rhythms and emotional resonance. Elsewhere, 'Elm' and 'Bindweed' slow the tempo and draw on the warmth of soul, the deeper edges of disco and richly textured live instrumentation.
This compilation took almost four years to come together. For the residency, the band Alexander Flood composed three new pieces, which they developed with the ensemble over two rehearsal days before performing them across three concerts. The core ensemble - Lucy Liebe, Franka Fairy, Tara Sarter, Raffaelo Visconti and Nonny Smith - remained together throughout the summer of 2024, growing into something far greater than just a band. This compilation not only documents the music played by the Residence Band, but also captures the wider story of the other bands that we recorded while they were on tour and who came to the studio with me the following day. Kai appears here after performing at Holidays in 2024. Sonic Interventions recalls a special milestone: the band's first concert outside Berlin, which took place at Holidays in 2023. Sasha Berliner performed at the Jazz Klub, which is illustrated throughout the comic included in this booklet. Benedikt Montiel Mathews joined the Jazz Montez project through a year-long internship and a record we released together. Hind Ennaira led the successor to the Residence Band during a weekend at El Barrio in 2024. However, her recording was not made in Frankfurt, but in Essaouira, Morocco, during a spontaneous late-night session.
Inlcuding: Pressed on high quality 150g vinyl, the record comes packaged in a beautiful cover, designed by artist Verena Mack. It features a 20 page booklet that includes a fictional comic on the making of a Jazzklub.
Includes unlimited streaming of Jazz Montez Presents Vol. III via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Fukuoka, early '80s. In the backstreets of Hakata, between neon lights and moonlight, three figures shaped darkness and grey shades from the Far East. The "Moonlight" EP and all the Neo Museum rarities finally collected in one vinyl release: the most ritualistic and lunar side of Japanese new wave shines again.
“Slide in the party like three monkeys wearing a trench,” GDP says in the opening seconds of Cross Off Matthew, his first solo album in over a decade. The line is indicative of the New Jersey emcee/ producer’s relationship with music, one that’s ebbed and flowed throughout his career and eclectic discography. Entirely self-produced, Cross Off Matthew feels like a reintroduction as well as an expansion of what makes the cult rapper so beloved. GDP came up in the respective punk, hardcore, and skateboarding scenes of New Jersey, roots that inspired his DIY approach to making hip-hop. He applied a decidedly punk ethos to his brand of neo- boom bap on early releases like 2009’s Realistic Expectations and 2011’s Useless Eaters, albums that celebrated his youthful indiscretions but also signaled an old soul lying beneath the surface.
He opted to release them on punk/indie labels (including Run For Cover and Ride The Fury Records) instead of more traditional hip-hop outlets, and along with an ambitious touring schedule, he carved out a dedicated fanbase throughout the early 2010’s. Cross Off Matthew is a slow-cooked labor of love, born out of taking enough time away from something to understand the journey with greater perspective and appreciation.“I’m older, arguably wiser, but that creative fire stayed with me,” he says. “I wanted to make something that felt nuanced, something that I could feel proud of.” Throughout the album, the production toggles between foreboding and facetious just as deftly as his bars. Tracks like “Island In The Sky” and “Location Therapy” make rap confetti out of caustic guitars and glaring distortion, while “Seroquel” and “Rock For Light,” (the latter a nod to NJ rap royalty, The Outsidaz) embrace GDP’s signature blend of East Coast hip-hop and punk sensibilities, with lyrics that highlight the sharp wit and heady philosophizing that he made his name on. GDP examines vices, interpersonal relationships, the collective dread of late-stage capitalism as well as the pitfalls and rewards of trying to lead a creative life throughout it all. The wiseman that peaked out from beneath the shield of debauchery on his early releases has now come to the forefront, as GDP’s trademark humor and commentary feel refined by years of life lived experience
Revisiting the sound and spirit of Jazzy Sport, rooted in Japan and carried forward by a new generation. Compiled by Nina Yamada, featuring Cro-Magnon and Grooveman Spot, with remixes by DJ Mitsu the Beats and Idjut Boys.
Founded in 2002, Jazzy Sport emerged at a particularly fertile moment in Japanese music. Beginning as an independent label and record shop, with its first store in Morioka and Jazzy Sport Music Shop Tokyo opening in Shibuya the following year, it became a home for artists including GAGLE, DJ Mitsu the Beats, Cro-Magnon and Grooveman Spot. Its releases moved freely between hip-hop, house, jazz, broken beat and live musicianship, helping define a distinctly Japanese strain of open-minded club culture.
But the music was only the beginning. Jazzy Sport developed into a network of record shops across Japan, alongside its label and distribution work, apparel and design, dance studios, and a Morioka record shop joined to a bouldering gym. These were not unrelated side projects. They expressed the same founding idea: that music, sport and everyday life could come together to create community.
PAST FORWARD: SILVER marks the first release on the Jazzy Sport London label, distributed by Time Capsule. Established in 2022, the London project first took shape through parties, radio shows and community collaborations connecting Japan and the UK. This compilation carries the Jazzy Sport archive and its values forward through a new generation.
At the centre is Nina Yamada, the daughter of one of Jazzy Sport’s core members. She grew up within the community that shaped the collective, and her selection is not a conventional greatest-hits survey, but an inside view of the catalogue and an intergenerational handover made audible.
The music moves naturally between hip-hop and house, electronic production and live performance. That openness has always been central to Jazzy Sport, where club music, musicianship and community are part of the same conversation rather than separate scenes.
DJ Mitsu the Beats’ remix of Cro-Magnon’s “Eclipse” brings the refined, soulful depth that makes him such an important figure in Japanese beat music. Idjut Boys’ deep, dubwise Cro-Magnon rework reflects the long exchange between Japan and the UK, while Grooveman Spot’s “Do The Dance” finds a sweet spot between acid-tinged 808 groove and warm soulfulness.
Elsewhere, Nubian Lady’s “In☆Flu☆Enza” draws on Detroit techno and Chicago house but sharpens those influences into something lean and distinctive. Physical Sound Sport’s “Magical Kalimba” captures the communal energy and openness of a live session. Bottom Fly’s “Rhyme Or Reason,” rooted in Morioka, pairs rough-edged beats with mellow samples and a quiet sense of nostalgia.
What comes through is not only the strength of the individual tracks, but the sensibility that connects them. That keeps PAST FORWARD: SILVER from feeling like a nostalgic best-of. For longtime followers, it offers rediscovery; for new listeners, a way into the breadth of Jazzy Sport; and for DJs, a selection made for the record bag, not just the archive.
Mit "Intoxicated Man" widmet sich diese umfangreiche 2LP-Edition den fruhen Jahren von Serge Gainsbourg und dokumentiert die Entstehung eines der einflussreichsten Kunstler der franzosischen Musikgeschichte. Lange bevor Gainsbourg mit seinen provokanten Pop-Produktionen internationale Bekanntheit erlangte, entwickelte er aus Jazz, Chanson und literarischen Einflussen eine unverwechselbare musikalische Handschrift. Die Sammlung vereint zentrale Aufnahmen seiner fruhen Karriere, darunter Klassiker wie "Le Poinconneur des Lilas", "La Chanson de Prevert", "L'Eau a la Bouche" und "Black Trombone". Begleitet von hochkaratigen Musikern wie Alain Goraguer, Marcel Zanini und Hubert Rostaing zeigen diese Aufnahmen bereits den scharfsinnigen Texter, stilistischen Grenzganger und musikalischen Innovator, der Gainsbourg spater werden sollte. Eine sorgfaltig kuratierte Retrospektive eines pragenden Kapitels franzosischer Musikgeschichte.
Green Vinyl, limited to 300 copies. REPRESS of LOS NATAS third album Corsario Negro. Corsario Negro was another milestone in the band's career. A true monolith, build of heavy psych riffs, big grooves and extensive jams, showcasing the pure essence of stoner rock. The album was produced by the mighty Billy Anderson (The Melvins, Neurosis, Acid King & many more) - The Obelisk
REPRESS of LOS NATAS album El Hombre Montaña This release is an epic slice of doom-laden pie fresh from Argentina, as the first fuzz-a-licious track "El Bolsero" proudly testifies. Waves of riff lick at the shores of melody as the vocals dive in and out of the mix, quite delicately so for this style of music. The production job was handled by one of the stoner scene's greatest recording affeciandos Billy Anderson, who has worked with The Melvins, Neurosis, Acid King, Fantomas and High On Fire previously, to name but a few! The production job is really quite superb, effectively capturing all the elements of the Los Natas sound and bringing each instrument to the fore in turn. - Roadburn Magazine
Blue vinyl, limited to 300 copies. REPRESS of LOS NATAS album El Hombre Montaña This release is an epic slice of doom-laden pie fresh from Argentina, as the first fuzz-a-licious track "El Bolsero" proudly testifies. Waves of riff lick at the shores of melody as the vocals dive in and out of the mix, quite delicately so for this style of music. The production job was handled by one of the stoner scene's greatest recording affeciandos Billy Anderson, who has worked with The Melvins, Neurosis, Acid King, Fantomas and High On Fire previously, to name but a few! The production job is really quite superb, effectively capturing all the elements of the Los Natas sound and bringing each instrument to the fore in turn. - Roadburn Magazine
SPIKE & THE GIMME GIMMES sind zweifellos die unterhaltsamste Coverband aller Zeiten. Die Band, die bis letztes Jahr noch unter dem Namen ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES umherreiste, hat sich den Titel Supergroup redlich verdient: Jedes der fünf Gründungsmitglieder konnte bereits auf eine ernstzunehmende Musikkarriere zurückblicken. Ursprünglich fanden Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters), Fat Mike (NOFX), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), Joey Cape (Lagwagon) und Dave Raun (Lagwagon) durch ihre gemeinsame Liebe zum Punk zusammen. Mittlerweile tritt die Band in wechselnder Besetzung rund um Sänger Spike Slawson auf. "Shit the Bed", das Debüt von Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, bietet genau das, was man von einer Veröffentlichung der Gimmes erwartet: sofort eingängige Songs und herausragendes musikalisches Können - ihre Versionen deiner Lieblingslieder musst Du einfach lieben. PUNKt. Alle Einnahmen aus der hochkarätig besetzten Version von "We Are the World", die hier als Abschluss des Albums enthalten ist, gehen an den Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, du bist also moralisch dazu verpflichtet, mindestens ein Exemplar zu kaufen. Falls die Unterstützung notleidender Musiker als Grund nicht ausreicht: Die fantastische Gruppe von Sängern, die für dieses Projekt zusammengekommen ist, besteht aus den Gimmes mit Spike, CJ, Swami, Pinch and Jake as well as Milo, Nikki Corvette, Tony Reflex, Har Mar Superstar, Dani Miller, Dickey Barrett, Robert "El Vez" Lopez, Stacey Dee, Greg Antista, Johnny Bonnell, Joe Principe, Jolie Holland, Darius Koski, Jesse Wagner, Eva Walker, Chaki Funk Wizard, Jim Lindberg, Efram Schulz, Matt Caughthran, Jon Snodgrass, Blag Dahlia & Miss Guy! Auf Europatour im Oktober/November 2026. EU exklusive braune Vinyl-LP sowie CD mit Falt-Booklet erhältlich.
SPIKE & THE GIMME GIMMES sind zweifellos die unterhaltsamste Coverband aller Zeiten. Die Band, die bis letztes Jahr noch unter dem Namen ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES umherreiste, hat sich den Titel Supergroup redlich verdient: Jedes der fünf Gründungsmitglieder konnte bereits auf eine ernstzunehmende Musikkarriere zurückblicken. Ursprünglich fanden Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters), Fat Mike (NOFX), Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters), Joey Cape (Lagwagon) und Dave Raun (Lagwagon) durch ihre gemeinsame Liebe zum Punk zusammen. Mittlerweile tritt die Band in wechselnder Besetzung rund um Sänger Spike Slawson auf. "Shit the Bed", das Debüt von Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, bietet genau das, was man von einer Veröffentlichung der Gimmes erwartet: sofort eingängige Songs und herausragendes musikalisches Können - ihre Versionen deiner Lieblingslieder musst Du einfach lieben. PUNKt. Alle Einnahmen aus der hochkarätig besetzten Version von "We Are the World", die hier als Abschluss des Albums enthalten ist, gehen an den Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, du bist also moralisch dazu verpflichtet, mindestens ein Exemplar zu kaufen. Falls die Unterstützung notleidender Musiker als Grund nicht ausreicht: Die fantastische Gruppe von Sängern, die für dieses Projekt zusammengekommen ist, besteht aus den Gimmes mit Spike, CJ, Swami, Pinch and Jake as well as Milo, Nikki Corvette, Tony Reflex, Har Mar Superstar, Dani Miller, Dickey Barrett, Robert "El Vez" Lopez, Stacey Dee, Greg Antista, Johnny Bonnell, Joe Principe, Jolie Holland, Darius Koski, Jesse Wagner, Eva Walker, Chaki Funk Wizard, Jim Lindberg, Efram Schulz, Matt Caughthran, Jon Snodgrass, Blag Dahlia & Miss Guy! Auf Europatour im Oktober/November 2026. Die goldige Vinylversion ist nur dem Indie-Handel vorbehalten!
Despite the widespread popularity of reggae music in the UK, following its explosion onto the international music scene in the late 1960s, many of these in charge of Britain's mainstream media were reluctant to give the exciting new sound coverage, wither in print or over the airways.
In an attempt to counter this prejudice, Trojan Records took the bold step of embellishing recordings from Jamaica with sophisticated orchestration, with the resultant ‘commercial reggae’ sound immediately finding favour with the country’s reggae fans.
Consequently, the company not just maintained, but in fact extended the procedure, employing producers to record the country’s finest British-based reggae acts. The result was the release of an abundance of superbly crafted recordings, the production values of which rated with the best that British pop had to offer.
Mit „Tranquilo II“ schlagen In Extremo ein neues Kapitel ihrer beeindruckenden Erfolgsgeschichte auf. Am
23. Oktober 2026 erscheint das außergewöhnliche Akustikalbum mit 17 Songs, die mehr als drei Jahrzehnte
Bandgeschichte in überraschend neuem Klang präsentieren.
Statt ihre Klassiker lediglich leiser zu spielen, haben In Extremo Stücke wie „Spielmannsfluch“, „Frei
zu sein“, „Störtebeker“, „Liam“ und „Feine Seele“ komplett neu arrangiert. Swing, Rockabilly, Ska, Reggae und osteuropäische Einflüsse treffen auf historische Instrumente und den unverwechselbaren Sound der
erfolgreichsten Mittelalter-Rockband der Welt. Eingespielt wurde das Album in einem kleinen Studio in
Dornbirn – live, unmittelbar und mit viel Raum für spontane musikalische Ideen.
Unterstützt werden In Extremo von hochkarätigen Gästen: Metal-Ikone Doro Pesch verleiht „Feine Seele“
besondere Intensität, Jan „Monchi“ Gorkow und Max Bobzin von Feine Sahne Fischfilet sorgen bei „Störtebeker“ für eine ebenso ungewöhnliche wie mitreißende Begegnung, während Faun-Sängerin Laura Fella
den Klassiker „Liam“ bereichert. Mit „Heute wird der Himmel brennen“ enthält das Album außerdem einen
brandneuen Song.
Ein besonderes Highlight für Fans ist die exklusive Bonus-EP „Sternhagelvoller“, die der Deluxe-CD sowie
dem streng limitierten Vinyl-Bundle beiliegt. Das Herzstück bildet eine sechsminütige XXL-Version des
Partyklassikers „Sternhagelvoll“, aufgenommen mit zahlreichen Weggefährten aus der Mittelalter-Rock- Szene – darunter Mitglieder von Feuerschwanz, d’Artagnan, Faun, Tanzwut, Subway to Sally, Versengold,
Fiddler’s Green und Corvus Corax. Ergänzt wird die EP durch den exklusiven neuen Song „Amontillado“
und eine besondere Version von „Ave Maria“ mit der kroatischen Vokalformation Metaklapa.
Im November und Dezember bringen In Extremo „Tranquilo II“ auf große Akustiktour. In ausgewählten
Spielstätten wie dem Berliner Admiralspalast, der Hamburger Laeiszhalle, der Alten Oper Frankfurt und
dem Circus Krone in München stehen Nähe, Atmosphäre und musikalische Feinheiten im Mittelpunkt.
„Tranquilo II“ ist weit mehr als eine Reise durch die Vergangenheit: Es ist ein mutiges, vielseitiges und
überraschendes Album, das bekannte Hymnen neu entdecken lässt und zugleich eindrucksvoll zeigt, warum
In Extremo auch nach mehr als drei Jahrzehnten musikalisch unberechenbar bleiben.
Zwanzig Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres Debütalbums „Mount A“ greift Hildur Guðnadóttir auf „This
Will Be Us“ die Musik wieder auf, die ihren frühen künstlerischen Werdegang geprägt hat. Zusammen mit
dem Dirigenten Robert Ames und dem Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin interpretiert sie Titel aus
„Mount A“, „Without Sinking“ und „Saman“ neu und präsentiert zudem zwei neu komponierte Werke. Auf
„This Will Be Us“ ist Hildur als Solocellistin und Produzentin zu hören. Das Album vereint Musik aus ihrem
frühen Schaffen und präsentiert diese zutiefst persönlichen Kompositionen in neuen Orchesterarrangements.
Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, diesmal Chuck Berry ”Back Home” und Muddy Waters ”Sing ”Big Bill” Broonzy.
Wie Amerika selbst ist auch die Geschichte von Chess Records eine Geschichte von Chancen in neuen Ländern, in denen Grenzen zwischen Hautfarbe und Kultur überwunden wurden, um Rhythm and Blues-Musik
zu schaffen, die Zuhörer auf der ganzen Welt beeinflusste. Das beeindruckende Künstleraufgebot von Chess
– und seine Gründer – haben den Blues von Volksmusik zu populärem Sound weiterentwickelt und verändert.
Chess Records wurde 1950 von den polnischen Einwanderern Leonard und Phil Chess gegründet und entstand im Süden Chicagos, aber der Einfluss ist weltweit und über Generationen der Popmusik hinweg spürbar
– von Acts der British Invasion wie den Beatles, den Rolling Stones und Eric Clapton, die Chess-Künstler
als ihre Vorbilder nannten, bis hin zu den heutigen Stars wie Beyoncé, Jack White, Questlove und Bruce
Springsteen.
Die fortlaufende monatliche Serie wird Veröffentlichungen von legendären Künstlern aus dem renommierten
Chess-Kader präsentieren, diesmal Chuck Berry ”Back Home” und Muddy Waters ”Sing ”Big Bill” Broonzy.
Celebrating 50 years of dancing, Amnesia represents the heart and soul of electronic music in Ibiza. Telling a story that spans five decades, the 50th anniversary vinyl/CD compilation is a window into a legendary venue that has helped establish some of the world's biggest tracks.
From the iconic piano riff of Eric Prydz' 'Pjanoo' to the laid-back groove of 'Benediction' by Hot Natured. A club that spans eras and genres - the disco of Chic's 'Good Times', the synth-pop of New Order's 'Blue Monday', or the gritty electro of Alter Ego's 'Rocker'.
The soundtracks of 50 summers are represented across 50 tracks spanning 10 vinyl/5 CDs. A hand-picked selection that reflects the incredible breadth of Amnesia's cultural influence, featuring music from Calvin Harris, Donna Summer, Paul van Dyk, Candi Staton, Fred Again.., Robert Miles, Laurent Garnier, Binary Finary, and many more.
Following the success of the inaugural all-Jiri Jiri edition, Batov Records returns with the second instalment of its Give Me Disco series, once again curated by label co-founder and globe-trotting selector DJ Kobayashi. Rather than revisiting familiar disco classics, Give Me Disco Vol. 02 digs deeper, bringing together four dancefloor discoveries from across Europe and Asia, including two previously unreleased tracks available here for the first time.
Spanning Portuguese jazz-funk, Norwegian cosmic oddities, Japanese-inspired psychedelic disco and cinematic groove, the EP reflects the breadth of Kobayashi's record bag - a carefully assembled selection of tracks that have soundtracked his DJ sets for years alongside exclusive material rescued from the vaults.
Opening the record is The Bam Jam Band's brilliantly understated "Theme", a soaring slice of jazz-infused disco from Portuguese musicians Sérgio Alves and Pedro Tenreiro. Originally released only as a now long-sold-out 7 inch on Mad About Records, the track has become one of Kobayashi's trusted secret weapons, championed by discerning selectors including Darryn Jones and Red Greg. Built around Alves' dazzling synthesiser work, "Theme" finally gets the wider audience it deserves. The EP's first exclusive arrives courtesy of D. Apal, instrumentalist and member of Norway's Flammer Dance Band. His only solo release, issued on the band's Lysketrekk Records, has become a cult favourite among adventurous record collectors. Batov now unveils the previously unreleased "60 Meter'n (Rytme)", an extended instrumental dub that strips away the vocals to let the handclaps, cavernous bassline, dub effects and wonderfully eccentric synthesisers breathe, transforming an underground favourite into an irresistible dancefloor weapon.
Side B opens with YĪN YĪN's "Tokyo Disco", taken from the band's acclaimed third album Mount Matsu on Glitterbeat Records. Long-time admirers of the Dutch quartet, Kobayashi has championed them since first hearing the breakthrough pairing of "Dis ̄ kô Dis ̄ kô" and "Dion Ysiusk" on Bongo Joe. Since then, he has hosted the band twice on Soho Radio and supported them live in London. "Tokyo Disco" perfectly captures YĪN YĪN's distinctive blend of Japanese-inspired psychedelia, Southeast Asian influences, post-punk funk and shimmering disco grooves, making it a natural fit for the Give Me Disco series.
Closing the EP is another exclusive from Jiri Jiri, whose contribution helped launch the series on Vol. 01. Ahead of their forthcoming album later this year, the duo unveil the previously unreleased "Spaghetti Western", a wonderfully off-kilter fusion of Morricone-esque cinematic atmosphere, taut funk rhythms and the soulful modern groove of SAULT. Equal parts soundtrack and dancefloor curveball, it provides a fitting finale while offering another tantalising glimpse of what's still to come. With two exclusive cuts sitting alongside two carefully chosen modern classics, Give Me Disco Vol. 02 is another lovingly curated snapshot of DJ Kobayashi's musical universe: borderless, groove-driven and unapologetically built for adventurous DJs, discerning collectors and open minded dancefloors alike.
The songs of Jules de Corte are condensed, folky gems with an almost effortless charm. Poised between the intimate and the universal, between lightness and darkness, they touch on religion, love, loss, and the small dramas of everyday life. Yet they resist easy translation. Packed with wordplay, de Corte’s signature alliterations, humor, and local cultural references, the songs inevitably lose something in another language. Still, when a Belgian quartet of improvisers takes them on, joined by American songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, the songs are reborn rather than merely transposed: literal fidelity gives way to interpretation, and what is lost in words is often gained in spirit.
Even without tracing every change, their overall effect is fascinating. Songs are slowed down, often doubled in length, and filled with unexpected musical intrusions. They gain fuller arrangements and are placed in an entirely new context. Replacing de Corte’s piano with guitar can create a radically different vibe, as in “Mariska.” An added solo can heighten the contrast between childlike perspective and the almost matter- of-fact brutality of “Little Anita.” In “The Stranger,” another use of contrast unsettles the everyday harmony, transforming it with a subtle, disorienting twist.
Ultimately, these performances show that interpretation is not successful simply because it is literal. With the groundwork laid by Linus, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy further liberated the songs from their original versions. Lyrics and melodies become malleable, shaped by his recognizable cadences, timbre, and personal quirks. Like his collaborators, he allows himself the freedom to bend the material to his own approach. There is no radical break between this performance and his other records. Listeners familiar with the originals may be puzzled at first; for those new to de Corte, it is a wholly different experience.
Does it really matter that the original “Little Jesus, Mighty God” is a 100-second nugget combining playful naivete with biblical fervor? In the hands of these five explorers, the song becomes an intriguing contemplation, with subtle musical shades and a recitation in which every syllable carries a maturity that offers a new perspective. Then there is “The Outsider,” which feels as genuine as any original American folk song. The musicians’ process is more than reinterpretation—it is reimagination, bringing new musical compatibility and emotional depth. Whether that depth was there from the start, waiting to be uncovered, or created in the process is beside the point. What matters is that Linus and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have made the essence of these songs their own, paying homage yet dancing to their own tune.
Linus is the Belgian duo of guitarist and banjo player Ruben Machtelinckx and reedist and synthesiser player Thomas Jillings. Across five previous albums — Onland (2014), Linus + Skarbø / Leroux (2015), Felt Like Old language at the crossroads of folk, jazz, minimalism, chamber music and free improvisation. Their music is adventurous, shaped by a particular sensitivity to texture, timbre and the subtle interaction between musicians.
What began as a duo gradually grew into a flexible musical world, bringing Linus together with musicians such as Nils Økland, Ingar Zach, Niels Van Heertum, Øyvind Skarbø and Frederik Leroux. Yet each new constellation has remained recognisably Linus: music in which carefully considered forms leave space for intuition, interaction and the unexpected.
For their sixth album, Linus takes a new step by moving into the world of song and text. Inspired by a shared love for the late Dutch songwriter Jules De Corte, the album is a reimagining of De Corte’s unique repertoire. More than simply interpreting De Corte’s songs, they absorb and reshape them, bringing them into dialogue with their own musical language. In keeping with this open approach, they are joined by celebrated vocalist Bonnie “Prince” Billy. With albums such as 1999’s I See a Darkness appearing on several greatest album lists, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a cult figure in the alternative folk scene, and his highly intuitive way of singing seamlessly matches the subtle interplay Linus has developed over more than a decade.
Influential UK Jazz/Funk/Disco outfit THE COOL-NOTES' biggest hit 'Spend The Night', originally released in 1985, is back on Dafia Records with a set of brand new, never before released remixes by French Disco icon DIMITRI FROM PARIS.
The original, which reached #11 in the UK Top 40 in the Spring of 1985, is regarded as a mid-tempo UK classic by many since its first appearance. Known for his luxurious, groove-driven productions and remixes, Dimitri From Paris has reworked tracks for artists including Björk, Quincy Jones, Chic and New Order, while helping define the sound of modern disco and house music in a way only he can.
When he got the chance by Dafia label head Mannix to get his hands on the original multitrack tapes, he didn't hesitate to deliver two classic DFP revisions in the making. His Main version leaves all the essential elements of the timeless Original, highlights the parts that have deserved more exposure whilst adding crisp beats and nice effects to the game. The result is a greatly updated version that surely will have many fans within the Soul/Funk/Disco scene.
On his Dub Dimitri Form Paris delivers a spaced out stripped back version with great use of vocal snippets to great effect on any dancefloor.
For ONO006 we welcome born ‘n’ based Palermo producer, DJ, record shop owner and label head Riccardo Schirò to the ever evolving ONO roster. The Sicilian madman plates a killer exxxtended single, Raga Della Sera, complete with a royal remix treatment from downright hero DJ Sotofett.
Riccardo’s Raga Della Sera is a ritualistic summoning of the 303s and 808s of the past, calling on the sounds of old to conjure up a thrilling 11-minute freakout. Signor Schirò combines an acid-inflected proto-trance and a certain Gregorian Giallo flavour to bring forth one truly unique piece of music. Bellissimo!
On the flip, DJ Sotofett reshapes Raga Della Sera with a signature 909 dub, tried and tested at his preferred romping grounds, Globus. The maestro contorts, unravels and reassembles the mystical original into a club demon – ferociously dance-direct and itching to possess heads around the world.
Riccardo has been producing and releasing music on his excellent Gravity Graffiti imprint since 2019, with more than 20 records under his belt he is a hard working and brilliant musician and label curator in our humble opinion. We are proud to be welcoming him to the family and have this brilliant record as a part of the ONO arsenal.
We are beyond excited to unleash this disc upon the world, with both versions coming to a dancefloor near you very, very soon! Let it rip and turn it up!
Even if Ancient Greek isn’t part of general knowledge anymore, the word mega is. Hence, you might admire our modesty to say that Roman Flügel’s first outing on Running Back in 2022 is perfectly headed. Greta, large, mighty and somewhat the love- or brainchild of his earlier Garden Party and the previous D.I.S.C.O., Mega pulls out all the stops: hi-nrg melodies, circus bells, cowboy funk and honey hooks at 140 beats per minute. While it is nearly impossible not to take this bait or decorate it with the Bobby-O medal of honor, Roman proves one more that you can be catchy and classy at the same time.
Rules on the other hand, puts some of these stylistic devices in reverse or down-tempo mode and feels like brushing your teeth after an extended feast or the perfect hors d’oeuvre.
Completing the picture with Film 1, Film 2 and Film 3, Flügel flexes his freethinking muscles and lands in-between art school new wave bands and soundscape science. Music that is masterly made, magical in its impact and perfectly described with a misquoted line from Get The Balance Right: it’s never predictable.
“Bajka” is a Slovenian word for a folk tale stories shaped by unusual events and imagination. The label launches with a trilogy titled Zybelka, starting with its first chapter, Zybelka 1.
Based in Slovenia, Bayka brings together local artists Devai and Tzena, alongside international support from Marcus Holder and Hustache.
A new chapter in underground house and visual artistry, rooted in Slovenia.
Bruno + Bruno = Dynamic Forces and are back on the Dolly TS series with their new EP Metal Space! Metal it is and in space we fly with these 4 sinister, visceral, floor-shaking smashers. Yet another great selection of stark rhythms and brooding atmospheres, designed for the nocturnal gravity of the warehouse straight from the Italian techno soil!!!
Quiet, from the Latin quies, evokes a state of being still. In its verb form, quiet means to clear so that something can gradually come into focus. Kind Stranger by Amedeo Cappelletti is where quiet materializes in a more transient, even foreign, way. Each track takes a step back from noise, borne out of a slow return to music, a different pace, and a familiar place left behind for years.
Kind Stranger, released on Aurora Edition on July 24th, is about the strangeness of a return. Cappelletti's melodic scores work their way between faint noise and disquiet, and sonically muse upon the familiar. That is, when given enough time and distance, the familiar can become unrecognizable, demanding stillness to resituate oneself within it.
The album began taking shape when Cappelletti performed at Aurora Edition at Silent Green, just after he had returned to music following a three-year hiatus. In one month, he wrote forty-five minutes of new material from scratch. Then Cappelletti left Berlin after eight years and returned to the Tuscan countryside where he had grown up, back into slowness.
The album develops as an atmosphere in the truest sense. Resampled voices, found sound, and years of sound design practice converge as compositions form by overlapping texture with spatial depth. Kind Stranger cultivates a quietude that envelops the listener.
Vocal recordings made with Matthew Walsh and Sarah McInerney, collaborators Cappelletti met by chance in a Berlin ice cream shop, appear throughout the album like a current, shaped during a residency at MONOM, Berlin's spatial sound institute. Thematically, the record moves through digital addiction, fragmented attention, and the grief of work done in the darkness.
Kind Stranger is an offering to whoever finds themselves here within the quiet, in this particular quality of sound between return and lingering.
Every coastline develops its own rhythm. The Adriatic is no exception.
For decades, Italy’s eastern coast has been shaped by funk, Cosmic Disco, Balearic sounds, Italo Disco, House, Latin rhythms, Brazilian music and countless other influences. Rather than blending into a single style, these musical worlds have lived side by side, constantly inspiring new generations of DJs, musicians and dancers. For more than fifteen years, Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini have explored that landscape from different perspectives. Founded by Claudio Cavallaro in 2013, Soul Fingers grew into a vinyl-driven community where groove matters more than genre. Its philosophy has always been simple: if the groove is right, genres stop mattering. Brothers Ricky and Francesco Cardelli developed Funk Rimini into a project rooted in funk, disco, live performance and electronic production. Anima Adriatica is where these two journeys meet.
The project didn’t begin with the ambition of making an album. It began behind the turntables. As DJs, Claudio Cavallaro and Ricky Cardelli found themselves constantly searching for records capable of connecting distant musical worlds inside their sets; from Afrobeat into disco, from hip hop into Latin, from Brazilian grooves into boogie, from cosmic electronics into deep funk. Sometimes those records existed. More often, they didn’t. So they stopped searching and started writing them. Not records designed to belong to one genre, but records designed to travel between genres. That space between musical worlds became Anima Adriatica.
The music grew through spontaneous jam sessions with Ricky and Francesco Cardelli, drummer Enrico Mao Bocchini and, gradually, a wider circle of musicians, singers and longtime friends, making Anima Adriatica less a traditional band than the beginning of an open collective. Recorded at SynthPosio Studio, founded by Ricky and Francesco Cardelli inside Rimini’s iconic skyscraper, the project also carries a symbolic connection to the building itself, where many Italo Disco classics (including records by Betty Miranda, The Creatures and many others) were recorded decades earlier.
Betty Miranda returns not as a nostalgic guest, but as a bridge between generations. On the title track she performs a spoken-word text written by Claudio Cavallaro, reflecting on the invisible thread connecting the Adriatic dancefloor across time. From Baia degli Angeli to Cocoricò, from the legendary clubs of Riccione to today’s independent communities gathered around projects such as Soul Fingers and Funk Rimini, the places have changed, but the dancefloor continues to tell the same story. Much like Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s Rimini captured the Adriatic through literature, Anima Adriatica imagines its soundtrack.
Brazilian musician Daniel Plentz (Selton) expands that vision on Açúcar and Alegria, bringing another coastline into the story. Across its four tracks, the EP moves naturally between analogue funk, boogie, Brazilian music, underground disco, cosmic textures and the wider Black musical tradition, with All Down The Line paying tribute to the Paradise Garage era.
Released by Bordello A Parigi, the project found its natural home through a shared love of adventurous dance music, records and club culture. More than the title of an EP, Anima Adriatica marks the beginning of an open collective; a meeting point where musicians, DJs, producers and friends continue building bridges between genres, generations and communities.
Because Anima Adriatica doesn’t live inside a genre. It lives between genres. If soul music has always reflected the places where it was born, Anima Adriatica is simply our own Adriatic Soul.
“Simply put, it’s unlikely we’ll encounter a mix that leaves a cultural footprint and defines the sound of a generation quite like Northern Exposure again. Both mixes are absolutely 100% astoundingly brilliant”
DJ Mag
“Their best-loved mix CD is a trippy traipse through the verdant world of progressive house, a genre with one foot in the rave and the other somewhere in the great beyond” Rolling Stone - The 30 Greatest EDM
Albums Of All Time
Originally released on 27th September 1996, ‘Northern Exposure’ is widely regarded as one of the greatest mix compilations ever made. Thirty years on, it sounds as vital as ever - a testament to the fearless vision that went into its creation.
At a time when DJ culture was still writing its own rules, Sasha and John Digweed pushed against the grain. Drawing on sounds discovered during early trips to America - from Rabbit in the Moon to Future Sound of London - they built something that prioritised atmosphere over dancefloor convention. DJ Mag panned it on release. History changed their tune.
Northern Exposure Redux marks the 30th anniversary with a definitive reissue of both original mixes. The CD version also includes a newly created ambient mix. Shaped by the spirit of Bill Laswell and Mad Professor, it explores the deeper, more hypnotic DNA that always ran beneath the surface. Northern Exposure Redux North includes classic tracks by Keiichi Suzuki, The Future Sound Of London, and Banco de Gaia. Northern Exposure Redux South includes classic tracks by Dope On Plastic, Pete Lazonby, and a newly recreated version of ‘Dark And Long (Dark Train)’ by none other than Darren Emerson himself. Both vinyl versions also include a download code for both the North And South mixes, as well as the individual tracks.
“Simply put, it’s unlikely we’ll encounter a mix that leaves a cultural footprint and defines the sound of a generation quite like Northern Exposure again. Both mixes are absolutely 100% astoundingly brilliant”
DJ Mag
“Their best-loved mix CD is a trippy traipse through the verdant world of progressive house, a genre with one foot in the rave and the other somewhere in the great beyond” Rolling Stone - The 30 Greatest EDM
Albums Of All Time
Originally released on 27th September 1996, ‘Northern Exposure’ is widely regarded as one of the greatest mix compilations ever made. Thirty years on, it sounds as vital as ever - a testament to the fearless vision that went into its creation.
At a time when DJ culture was still writing its own rules, Sasha and John Digweed pushed against the grain. Drawing on sounds discovered during early trips to America - from Rabbit in the Moon to Future Sound of London - they built something that prioritised atmosphere over dancefloor convention. DJ Mag panned it on release. History changed their tune.
Northern Exposure Redux marks the 30th anniversary with a definitive reissue of both original mixes. The CD version also includes a newly created ambient mix. Shaped by the spirit of Bill Laswell and Mad Professor, it explores the deeper, more hypnotic DNA that always ran beneath the surface. Northern Exposure Redux North includes classic tracks by Keiichi Suzuki, The Future Sound Of London, and Banco de Gaia. Northern Exposure Redux South includes classic tracks by Dope On Plastic, Pete Lazonby, and a newly recreated version of ‘Dark And Long (Dark Train)’ by none other than Darren Emerson himself. Both vinyl versions also include a download code for both the North And South mixes, as well as the individual tracks.
RAWAX welcomes Clouds of Kouros aka Garry Todd to the artist family!
We are very happy to present you this great artist on our label. The firrst felease is simply a Killer!
Highly recommended!
"After a couple of years shaping her sound in the studio, Budino lands the "Signal EP", a record that grew out of the desire to make music for her own sets. Citing the journey she aims to create in the club as a key inspiration, she certainly put in the mileage, with a booking schedule tirelessly spanning all points of the compass. Although this is her first label-released original record, it's no novice effort: ALT027 shows a confident artist, fully in control, with a distinct vision and the technical expertise to bring it to life. On opener "Stay More", a trippy trance rendition, the sturdy kick and distorted sines leave ample room for mid-bass acid lines to roam freely. In its company, a myriad of risers, gated white noises and delayed fills appear - signifiers within the artist's palette, as will become apparent. "Wireless" features similar crafty sub movement, but this time the drums are infused with conga patterns and other exotic slices of battery. Because of the zest these rhythms bring, the track can keep building for several minutes until a synthesised lead emerges. When that finally happens, the affair really takes off. On the other side, "Alpha 7" rides the call-and-response dynamics between different formant and deep-vibrating leads, its shimmering arpeggios and atmospheric pads adding colour. Closer "1031" provides an organic touch with its live guitar bass pulse and enigmatic, eerie vocals. Amidst ever-evolving micro-frills, a sturdy square lead thrusts it forward. The groove, again, is endlessly seductive. This characterizes Budino's skilled approach: it's often so hypnotic it feels unclear whether the themes materialise from the surrounding, seemingly fluid compositions - or dissolve into them. In any case, these are multi-dimensional cuts you will love getting lost in on a nearby dancefloor."
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.
Only Music Matters continues its staunchly no-frills approach to releasing music under the eponymous production moniker and with no fancy track titles, but a high-quality and weighty vinyl pressing designed for serious club business. 'AAA001A' is a beefy minimal cut with voices turned into ghostly trails that shimmer amid dusty percussion in a sleek tech groove that dances just above the floor. 'BBB001B' has a bubbly feel thanks to airy pads that gently circle the zoned-out and dubby groove. 'BBB002B' is a more heads-down flip that revels in great snares and funky double kicks.
Take a trip back to the golden age of popular music with Golden Oldies, a 2LP collection bringing together 40 timeless favourites from the 1950s and early ’60s. Featuring legendary artists including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Etta James and Bobby Darin, this hit-packed set captures an unforgettable era of rock ’n’ roll, pop, soul and rhythm & blues. Highlights include Johnny B. Goode, Heartbreak Hotel, The Wanderer, Mack The Knife, Crying and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – classic recordings that still sound as good today as they ever did.
Based in Cornwall, Blind Yeo emerged from the isolation of lockdown. Built as an open collective, the project brings together musicians, visual artists and performers, developing a practice rooted in improvisation, live energy and shared creation. The Lemoine Point, their debut album, was recorded on a disused airfield near St Agnes. The title refers to a hidden geometric centre where lines converge, a metaphor that runs through the record as past, present and future meet within a single moment. Much of the album was captured live by a core ensemble including Sam Pert, Phil Self, Henry Greenham, Philippa Blum, Jake Sheridan, Will Greenham and Anouska Helm. These recordings are balanced by more intimate sessions, shaping a sound that moves between reworked folk traditions, electronic textures and raw, organic energy. Across the album, fragments of stories and emotions intertwine, exploring themes of love, duality and disorientation in time. Rooted in the Cornish landscape yet open in form, The Lemoine Point unfolds as a space where place, people and memory converge into a fluid and immersive whole.
„Zarro“ war die erste Studioaufnahme des verstorbenen jamaikanischen Sängers Wayne Smith, der 1985 mit „Under Mi Sleng Teng“ zur Stimme der digitalen Revolution des Dancehall werden sollte. Diese Aufnahme aus dem Jahr 1980 für den Produzenten Prince Jammy, der auch „Sleng Teng“ produzierte, verwendet denselben Begleittrack wie Lacksley Castells „What A Great Day“, das ebenfalls auf 7-Zoll-Single (VPGS7107) erhältlich ist. Smiths Version wurde vor dieser 7-Zoll-45er-Single noch nie veröffentlicht und war nur gelegentlich auf Jammys Soundsystem in Jamaika zu hören. Der „Zarro“, auf den er sich bezieht, ist der TV-Selbstjustizler Zorro, ein maskierter Popkultur-Held aus den Disney-Western der 1950er und 60er Jahre, den Smith aus den „Spätabendfilmen“ zitiert. Neben dieser ersten Aufnahme und dem bekannteren „Under Mi Sleng Teng“ nahm Smith auch herausragende, aber wenig bekannte LPs für Jammy auf, darunter „Youthman Skanking“ aus dem Jahr 1982 (VPGSRL7098) und „Smoker Super“ aus dem Jahr 1985 (VP4269).
A limited edition clear vinyl pressing for Vol. 1 of DINTE's critically acclaimed collection of pirate radio adverts & idents, taken from recordings of London stations between 1984 & 1993.
The Bratislava-based band 52 Hertz Whale release their new album Present Sense Impression in a collaboration of the labels Weltschmerzen and Full Moon Forum.
Three years since their album I've Met a Lot of People, the band brings forth a lot of new ideas, finding a new resonant space, and utilising the fierceness // savageness of their live shows, in an intimate stare at contemporary guitar music.
52 Hertz Whale is a band well known in the Central European music context. Their ferocious sound, mixing the intensity of post-punk, heavy guitar wails, and melancholic // stark vocals of Dominik Prok has been tearing down the fixtures of many festivals and venues, all the while being a great example of a band driving at 200mph nonstop. On Present Sense Impression, the band, composed of Dominik Prok, Dominik Fabian, Patrik Nagy, Tomáš Tabiš and Adrián Krišák, have arrived at a record full of manifold manifestations of their live sound, but at times recalling the more marginal waves of 80s pop // rock sound. Resolute drums, heavyweight guitar and bass riffs now deem closer to the lightness of early ethereal darkwave, just to indulge in the classic melancholic heaviness they are known for only seconds after.
Some of the songs have been produced by "Prague's favorite rock'n'roll enfant terrible" Lazer Viking as well as Pulp Studio's Jakub Hríbik, and one features a special guest - the cemballo virtuoso Marcel Comendant. The traditionally stunning artwork was created by the accomplished Martin Mesaroš.
Present Sense Impression is the 20th album released under the Slovak romantic // experimental label Weltschmerzen focused on emotionally hypercharged, humanely intertwined, and acutely sounding contemporary music. This time in collaboration with the czech label Full Moon Forum. It releases August 26th on limited edition baby pink, standard edition black vinyl and on all streaming platforms.
The creation and release of this record have been supported using public funding by the Slovak Arts Council, and SOZA. Fullmoon Forum project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
DJ DIE SOON is the apocalyptic alter-ego Daisuke Imamura, whose performances of masked malice have been a fixture in the Berlin underground for the past decade. His latest record My Brothel The Wind takes inspiration from Sun Ra at his most grotesque, conjuring a distorted phantasmagoria with an eclectic crew of compatriots like Rully Shabara, Sara Persico, and longtime collaborator Kiki Hitomi. Film director Hiroo Tanaka’s visual contributions in the album art, poster, and music video complete the album’s narrative, telling a story not of villainy but of phantom caprice in a dying world.
My Brothel The Wind shows DJ DIE SOON as an alchemist of distortion, transmuting the club-forward beats of his 2020 debut Kappa Slap and the seething horrorscapes of DIEMAJIN, his 2022 collaboration with Tokyo vocalist MA. Imamura’s obsession with noise stems from his upbringing in Tokyo, where he grew up hearing the deafening roar of trains every day. “The buildings were really tall, so the sounds reflected so much and it was so loud that you couldn’t even have a conversation on the phone. Hearing this noise every minute when living in this flat, it became a normal thing,” he says. While most would content themselves with avoiding loudness, DJ DIE SOON seeks to unpack its visceral potential.
DJ DIE SOON’s subterranean productions form a monstrous gestalt with the eclectic contributions of his network of co-conspirators. “Unfinished” and “Directions” are pulsating chimeras that highlight animalistic vocalizations from Hitomi and Shabara; Italian MC Franco Franco’s verses snake underneath the noisy onslaught. The tectonic textures of “Dandelion Crackers” are courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Laure Boer’s handmade stone synth. Sara Persico’s mangled vocables hang as fleshy reminders of human fragility on “SAQ4IME”; in the Hiroo Tanaka-directed music video, the track’s sonic uncanniness is made cinematic, with an ambient dread that references Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1964 psychological thriller Woman in the Dunes.
While Sun Ra’s intergalactic Moog reached for the stars, DJ DIE SOON plunges into the depths of hell. “Everybody, Shake Your Body, We Chill At Party” feels like the sonic equivalent of a wax museum burning to the ground, rigid smiles melting into the fire. Rather than a vision of the future, My Brothel The Wind is a laugh-cry of despair in the face of a Hadean present. DJ DIE SOON confronts the world with a new hand-made mask, reborn in the ashes.
SIMPLR is a dab hand when it comes to editing, tweaking and touching up classics tracks just enough to make them bang on contemporary flors, but not so much that they lose the essence of what makes them standout in the first place. Already this month he kicked off this label with a doozy rework of a soul great and now offers two more gems - 'Downtown Soul' is steamy and hot house with big trumpets and funky bass loops and 'Those Days' gets deeper, with louche, live-feeling grooves that loop back on themselves and bring the funk.
The Five Green Moons present Moon 3. The third sphere to find its way into orbit. On its surface the evolution of a many faceted creature has taken place. Now with long, long tentacles and a million mouths the creature dances and sings. Its voice is the sound of the ghost dub ritual. The echo of spirits passing through the translucent veil. The chants of souls lost in the vampire woods. The clap, clap of its limbs colliding is the sound of frequencies being bent into fascinating new shapes by machine/ human hybrids. Post punk dubwise angular electro folk, Pastoral dub, whatever name you give to this music is of no consequence. It is alive and spinning in orbit.
The third Five Green Moons album sees Justin Robertson's sonic pallet blossoming into new exciting shapes. These 11 tracks offer a wide vista of across the frequencies including a truly remarkable and uncanny tale from celebrated author David Keenan on ' To Haunt of the Dark Earth A Spot' that brings to mind a vision of M.R. James merging with African Headcharge. Another refreshing collaboration can be found on 'Message from the Tone Generator' where underground electronic producer Nickelle adds her magical poetry to the psychedelic swirl. This is a bold and magical offering in a time of pastiche where new shapes are drawn from the sketches of the past.
If you need a sonic shorthand imagine Public Image Limited meeting the haunting chants of a new age Incredible String Band. The spiritual tones of late 70's Don Cherry. The whispering psych swooshes from Planet Gong and most importantly a solid bass foundation straight out of King Tubby's studio.
Belfast artist ffolliott draws on family archive and analogue sounds for debut album full of life and texture.
In a world awash with AI slop, here is the antidote. Written and recorded over five years in a Belfast home studio, ffolliott’s debut album Gree leaves the hiss, crackle and instability of life intact - pairing a deeply personal record with decades of artwork and sketches from his late father’s archive.
Released via Kitto Records, Gree is built from vinyl samples, analogue equipment, and intimate guitar with vocals laced with fragments of childhood memory. The album also features unexpected contributions from Grammy Award winning artist Kaidi Tatham. Gree is just the second release from the idiosyncratic artist ffoliott, following IDKWHY, which was released quietly as part of Rhythm Section's Shouts 2021 compilation, and went on to garner millions of streams and support from tastemakers across KCRW, NTS and BBC Radio.
“I generally found that the more I leaned into anything I didn’t like about my music, the more I would end up writing songs that meant a lot to me.” - ffolliott
It’s that time of year again! Are your copies of “Now! That’s What I Ca l Christmas” and “A Motown Christmas” finaly feeling worn out? Strut has the ideal antidote this year, as we dive into the world of festive records made by African artists spanning the late 1960s to the 1980s with our new Krismasi: Christmas Sounds From Africa compilation.
Taking in music from across the continent from Nigeria and Ghana to South Africa and Zimbabwe, Krismasi draws from a wide range of sounds from fun novelty records and spur-of-the-moment jams to spiritual and gospel favourites. Featured artists include Ghanian great Kwadwo Donkoh with a meditative highlife praise song from his much-loved Christmas Africana album. Elsewhere, pop star turned pastor, Jerry Boifraind, has some fun with a song celebrating seeing friends at Christmas and Nigerian pop favourite Martha Ulaeto features with the lilting lead track from her own Christmas Africana release. We pick out some choice Central and East African sounds with Kakai Kilonzo’s bri liant Kilimambogo Brothers Band and Congolese legend Baba Gaston’s Orchestra Baba National capturing the joy of the festive season. We stop off in Zim for a rare Dorothy Masuka acoustic piece and one of the country’s great musicians post-independence, Paul “Dr. Love” Matavire with ‘Christmas Yaswedera’ (‘Christmas Is Near’). Township jazz star Reggie Msomi appears with a joyous township instrumental and, fina ly, we couldn’t release a Christmas co lection without some carols. Here we include here a great version of ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ by UK-based Nigerian highlife musician Flash Dominci and a hi-octane funky medley of favourite festive hymns by Ghana’s Oscar Suley.
The compilation is the first in-depth co lection of rare African Christmas recordings, uncovering a rich and often overlooked chapter of the continent's musical history. Krismasi is available on Red & White Inkplosion Vinyl LP and CD. Vinyl restoration is by Colin Young at See Why Audio, mastering is by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, and the album features striking new artwork by Liam Large.
Ghanaian producer, songwriter, and cultural innovator Delasi has earned international recognition for his forward-thinking blend of traditional Ewe rhythms, soul, jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music, with recent releases on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings and support from outlets including Bandcamp Daily, CLASH, CRACK, COLORS, and BBC Radio 6 Music. His music has also appeared in the indie feature Dreams in Nightmares and the UK Premier League. Joining him are Tokyo's acclaimed experimental pop outfit TAMTAM, whose distinctive fusion of reggae, dub, jazz, soul, exotica, and electronic music has drawn praise from Gilles Peterson, Bandcamp, NTS, Mr. Bongo, and Rolling Stone Japan, alongside performances at Fuji Rock and international tours across Canada, Australia, and South Korea.
This limited 7" brings the two artists together across two richly textured collaborations. A-side "Guardian of The Green" blends alternative soul, downtempo electronica, trip-hop, and cinematic post-rock into a lush, organic soundscape where futuristic electronics meet live instrumentation. On the flip, "Celestial Bodies" explores dream pop, ambient electronica, and jazz-inflected soul, pairing hypnotic rhythms with shimmering synths, expressive guitars, and warm lo-fi grooves. Together, the release showcases a cinematic, globally minded approach to contemporary electronic music that will appeal to fans of Bonobo, Khruangbin, Little Dragon, and Cinematic Orchestra.
Soul Quest Records opens a new chapter with Re:Quest Vol.1, the first instalment in a new remix series dedicated to revisiting, reimagining, and breathing fresh life into music from the label’s growing back catalogue. True to Soul Quest’s ethos of deep, soulful, and jazz-tinged sounds, Re:Quest brings together four new interpretations from a diverse cast of producers, each offering their own perspective while retaining the spirit of the original recordings.
Continuing his compelling exploration of dubwise pressure at 170, the relentlessly prolific Brendon Moeller returns to Samurai Music with six stunning demonstrations of purposeful minimalism and spatial intrigue. Arriving in tandem with a second EP of introspective meditations on Samurai sub label SAIBAI, Codebreaker finds Moeller's peerless run of shadowy broken dub techno yielding startling new forms as the upstate New York artist continues to mine a rich seam of inspiration.
There's a pronounced economy of sound exacted on Codebreaker that binds the tracks together aesthetically, taken to the furthest reaches of subtlety on 'Dorian Grey Frequencies' as filigree slithers of percussion skitter across a brooding surface of sub bass with little in the way of distraction. This approach allows the microscopic detail of Moeller's engineering to shine through, as every inflection and murmur crackles with lithe movement to give each track its captivating energy.
Fractured beatdowns creep into earshot on 'Static Possession', edging towards Gescom-informed B-boy structures head-spinning in cryo-stasis surrounded by the hum of machines from a distant future and punctuated with occasional bullet points of delay soaked acid. Even when the bass starts to snarl and the hi-hats start ticking faster on 'Interzone Pulse', they're managed with brutal precision and a narrative flow of anti-build-ups that maintains a nail-biting tension throughout.
The decision to lean into a stripped-back sound on Codebreaker shows the faith Moeller places in his particular interpretation of bassweight 170, as his jaw-dropping sound design speaks volumes with the most modest of lexicons in a dialect never heard before.
In Dead Deities, SATANIC PLANET’s new album for Relapse Records, we see a band coming into its own while offering an aggressive, pitch-black, deeply surly call-to-arms against autocracy in the age of Christian Nationalism. Lucien Greaves (The Satanic Temple co-founder and spokesperson), Luke Henshaw (Planet B, Sonido de la Frontera, First Power Crew, Variations In the Key of the Afterlife), Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Misfits, Mr. Bungle, Dead Cross), and Justin Pearson (The Locust, Swing Kids, Deaf Club) are now a fully together-in-the-studio band with razor-sharpened focus, creating a sound and lyrical catalog of ideas that Greaves says is both more personal and even closer aligned to the goals of The Satanic Temple, which through art, action, and activism seeks to “encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practiced common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.” The Satanic Temple and SATANIC PLANET are here to empower all those who are needed in the ongoing battle against theocracy, apathy, and inequality. Dead Deities begins as a brooding, doomy soundscape with backwards ritualistic vocals that churn forward like a barbaric horror flick scene before launching into the aptly named “Antichrist,” with a hypnotic, screamy post-post-post-hardcore intro that melds into a slow, nasty, heavy vision of what pop music might sound like in Hell. This 11-track stygian brute of an album is a journey through modern dark music with tolling bells, blackened synth, diabolical noise interludes, drums as heavy as a mountain, and group vocals torn straight out of your best-worst nightmares.
The Oak Ridge Boys are paying tribute to their favorite songs without losing sight of their gospel roots in a stunning and inspiring new album, Buried Treasures. Produced by Anderson East and executive produced by Dave Cobb, Buried Treasures gathers together classic songs made popular by seminal voices such as Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole, as well as essential songs written by Billy Joe Shaver, Paul Simon, and Bill Withers. The vocal group’s spiritual side shines through on recordings of “Deep River,” “How Great Thou Art,” and “Softly and Tenderly,” yet there’s also a hint of romance in the enduring ballad, “You Are So Beautiful.” The album’s only new song, “Buried Treasure,” was written specifically for the project by GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter Aaron Raitiere. “Every song on the album is about something that’s dear to us,” Oaks member Duane Allen says.
'A little grungy, a little groovy…after 25 years of making music, ELIZA has finally written her first real love song.
'Fifteen years on from her platinum-selling debut, the music she is making now feels far more authentic to the soundtrack of her teenage years: D’Angelo, Radiohead, Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and The Smashing Pumpkins.'
"On her best record yet, Eliza strips her songwriting to its bones” - Shatter The Standards (★★★★☆)
"The Darkening Green feels like a natural deepening of her voice and vision, balancing intimacy, social awareness and quiet hope” - Wordplay
"Serious, stylish, but also effortlessly cool” - Song Bar
Repress of since last 2025 sold out box set. Ltd edition Gold vinyl, 4 X 140g LP Box set, 24pp booklet, DL card. or Ltd edition 4xCD Bookback. Trees classic albums, beautifully packaged as a four-disc anniversary edition includes 12" book with liner notes from founder member David Costa and comedian Stewart Lee - Features two new discs of alternate mixes, early demos, BBC session tracks and 2018 live recordings in London - Includes lost demos of 'Polly On The Shore' and 'Streets Of Derry' It's now over fifty years since Trees' formation and, although 'Acid Folk' has now become a sub-category in the lexicon of record dealers and music critics, and although founder member David Costa feels the original noughties reissue helped consolidate a gathering wave of curiosity, they themselves remain in the shadows. Earth's new Trees collection brings together both albums adding shiny alternate mixes of key tracks along with a selection of radio sessions and demos, all sounding brighter and cleaner than ever before. Trees first album, 'The Garden of Jane Delawney' (1970) snuggles nicely into contemporary nu-folkies' idea of the genre, and shares some of the pastoral-whimsy that characterised The Incredible String Band or Donovan, offset by some stunning interpretations of traditional material and Bias' own songs, which were somehow part of the tradition Trees had adopted. Readings of 'Lady Margaret', 'Glasgerion' and the old standard 'She Moved Thro' The Fair', and the extended fade of the group's own 'Road', presage the explosive instrumental duelling that would come to characterise the follow up album, 'On The Shore'. There's a definite shift between the records, the second being darker and more ambivalent. Here Trees don't tell you what to think. You're left to formulate your own response to this odd, opaque music. The 'Streets of Derry' session version leans into the brain vibrating drone-groove they somehow found at the traditional tune's centre. 'Polly On The Shore', another traditional tune, is one of the definitive moments of English folk rock. This special expansive collector's edition celebrates the bands 50th anniversary. "A beautiful hybrid, Trees found a unique space between intimate folk and freewheeling psychedelia. Musically ambitious yet brilliantly balanced, they have left an enduring legacy for those lucky enough to be in on the secret" - Edd Gibson, Friendly Fires
Andreas Tilliander returns to Kontra-Musik in a grand style with his second TM404 album. Titled 'Acidub', this highly anticipated release is much more of an evolution than a repetition of the first superbly self-restricted album, where Tilliander even decided to use only one of the two Roland TB-303 waveforms. Acidub is a more playful and open listening experience, no doubt inspired by his extensive live touring with the TM404 concept. In fact, you can almost hear Tilliander's flock of acid machines breaking free from the restrained modus operandi. Every sound is like a migratory bird with a heart yearning for high altitude and favourable winds. The opening track Alinge paints a lucid picture of these acid birds leaving a cold industrial landscape behind, the flickering black shadows from their wings against the white smoke rising from a forest of chimneys below. The very last seconds of Alinge even echo of the place the silver birds are longing for, but that will remain a secret between Kontra-Musik and the avid listener. Sufficient to say, we can follow these birds of passage as they're heading south towards a warmer climate, fleeing the cold discipline of the North. Mutron Mantra, for instance, brings us to a rainforest full of serpentine lianas, giant leaves dripping with moist and green pools of water bubbling with organic life. Don't Defend Mascot guides us through a steaming savannah at dusk with hundreds of yellow eyes following our every step while Pade vividly describes the perils of the flight and the pace and courage needed to press on. In all, Acidub is a surprisingly exuberant follow-up to the more introspective TM404 album. But while the musical journey of this second album is quite different, the experience of sheer aural eminence remains the same. Andreas Tilliander has done it again, and Kontra-Musik couldn't be prouder.
History has shown that the greatest bands–bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power–neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records–their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins
Nach „EBM“ aus dem Jahr 2022, einer Zusammenarbeit mit dem Elektronik-Produzenten Benjamin John Power alias Blanck Mass, haben Editors auf „Surface, Echo & Sound“ völlig neue Wege eingeschlagen. Als sich die Band im Sommer 2025 wieder zusammenfand, um an einem Nachfolger zu arbeiten – nachdem die drei vorangegangenen Alben weitgehend als Studio-Projekte geschrieben und aufgenommen worden waren –, hatten die Editors das Bedürfnis, zu einem natürlicheren Ansatz zurückzukehren, der an ihre Anfänge erinnerte: als sie in einem Proberaum in Stafford saßen und sich gegenseitig gegenüberstanden, während sie gemeinsam an den Songs arbeiteten.
Ähnlich wie bei seinem letztjährigen Soloalbum „There is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light“ verfolgte Frontmann Tom Smith auch bei dem neuen Material der Editors einen ähnlich reduzierten, akustikbasierten Ansatz: Er brachte eine Auswahl an Songs zur Band, damit sie diese gemeinsam spielen konnten, probierte verschiedene Dinge aus und schaute, wohin die Reise ging. Was die Entstehung des Albums angeht, „war es ein sehr produktiver Sommer“, sagt Smith. „Die Sonne schien die meiste Zeit, wir waren im grünen Gloucestershire, nicht weit von meinem Wohnort entfernt, in diesem unscheinbaren kleinen Gewerbegebiet – es war so ziemlich das Gegenteil von Berghain!“
„Surface, Echo & Sound“ ist als LP, Ltd. Col.LP CD und digital über Play It Again Sam erhältlich.
Info Englisch:
Following on from 2022’s EBM, a collaboration with electronic producer Benjamin John Power, aka Blanck Mass, on Surface, Echo & Sound, Editors have found themselves somewhere new entirely. When the band regrouped in summer 2025 to work on a follow-up, after three albums written and recorded very much as in-the-studio projects, Editors felt they wanted to go back to a more natural approach, something that harked back to their earliest days, sat in a practice room in Stafford, facing each other as they worked through songs together.
Like on last year’s solo record There is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light, frontman Tom Smith took a similar stripped back, acoustic-based approach to the new Editors material, bringing a selection of songs to the band for them to play together, trying different things out, and seeing where they went. In terms of creating the record, “It was a very productive summer,” says Smith. “The sun was out for the most part, we were in greenest Gloucestershire, not far from where I live, on this innocuous little industrial estate – it was pretty much the opposite of being in Berghain!”
Surface, Echo & Sound is available on LP, Ltd. Col. LP and CD & Digital via Play It Again Sam.
Nach „EBM“ aus dem Jahr 2022, einer Zusammenarbeit mit dem Elektronik-Produzenten Benjamin John Power alias Blanck Mass, haben Editors auf „Surface, Echo & Sound“ völlig neue Wege eingeschlagen. Als sich die Band im Sommer 2025 wieder zusammenfand, um an einem Nachfolger zu arbeiten – nachdem die drei vorangegangenen Alben weitgehend als Studio-Projekte geschrieben und aufgenommen worden waren –, hatten die Editors das Bedürfnis, zu einem natürlicheren Ansatz zurückzukehren, der an ihre Anfänge erinnerte: als sie in einem Proberaum in Stafford saßen und sich gegenseitig gegenüberstanden, während sie gemeinsam an den Songs arbeiteten.
Ähnlich wie bei seinem letztjährigen Soloalbum „There is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light“ verfolgte Frontmann Tom Smith auch bei dem neuen Material der Editors einen ähnlich reduzierten, akustikbasierten Ansatz: Er brachte eine Auswahl an Songs zur Band, damit sie diese gemeinsam spielen konnten, probierte verschiedene Dinge aus und schaute, wohin die Reise ging. Was die Entstehung des Albums angeht, „war es ein sehr produktiver Sommer“, sagt Smith. „Die Sonne schien die meiste Zeit, wir waren im grünen Gloucestershire, nicht weit von meinem Wohnort entfernt, in diesem unscheinbaren kleinen Gewerbegebiet – es war so ziemlich das Gegenteil von Berghain!“
„Surface, Echo & Sound“ ist als LP, Ltd. Col.LP CD und digital über Play It Again Sam erhältlich.
Info Englisch:
Following on from 2022’s EBM, a collaboration with electronic producer Benjamin John Power, aka Blanck Mass, on Surface, Echo & Sound, Editors have found themselves somewhere new entirely. When the band regrouped in summer 2025 to work on a follow-up, after three albums written and recorded very much as in-the-studio projects, Editors felt they wanted to go back to a more natural approach, something that harked back to their earliest days, sat in a practice room in Stafford, facing each other as they worked through songs together.
Like on last year’s solo record There is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light, frontman Tom Smith took a similar stripped back, acoustic-based approach to the new Editors material, bringing a selection of songs to the band for them to play together, trying different things out, and seeing where they went. In terms of creating the record, “It was a very productive summer,” says Smith. “The sun was out for the most part, we were in greenest Gloucestershire, not far from where I live, on this innocuous little industrial estate – it was pretty much the opposite of being in Berghain!”
Surface, Echo & Sound is available on LP, Ltd. Col. LP and CD & Digital via Play It Again Sam.
We Shine In The Darkness have made a superb start to life with two first EPs that both sold out. Their third is another hot one with dancefloor-savvy reworkings set to light up summer floors. The A-side reimagines 'Beachball', the beloved 1997 Ibiza house anthem that here becomes a smooth, nu-disco bumper with fine-grain synths and an electro-funk vibe that is finished with a great vocal from Ukrainian singer Teya Flow, lending the track fresh emotional pull. The B-side shifts into 'Gulf Dream', a deeper, more hypnotic and cosmic disco sound that takes its time to unfold, before closer 'Shining Star' channels New York's Neo funk lineage into something super cool and loved up, swaggy and full of summer heat. Vital cuts for vibey selectors.
Simon Reynolds erzählt von der letzten großen Blütezeit der analogen Musikkultur und schließt damit direkt an sein Standardwerk zum Post-Punk, 'Rip It Up and Start Again', an. In einer Zeit, in der Musik noch greifbar war - als Schallplatte, als Zeitschrift, als Objekt -, war jeder neue Tonträger ein Ereignis, jede Ausgabe eines Magazins ein Ritual. Zwischen den späten Achtzigern und den frühen Neunzigern entfaltete sich ausgehend von diesen Objekten und Ereignissen eine musikalische Revolution, in der die Underground-Szene die Gitarrenmusik neu erfand und langsam in den Mainstream einsickerte, während sich politisch statt Utopien und Zukunftsentwürfen der Konservatismus festgesetzt hatte.
Reynolds erzählt von der Explosion des Noisepop, von Shoegaze, Slackern und Grunge - von My Bloody Valentine und Sonic Youth, die mit atemberaubenden Sounds eine zweite Psychedelic-Welle entfachten, den Cocteau Twins und Slowdive, die in Traumwelten entführten. Außerdem treten auf: Dinosaur Jr., Björk, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Felt, R. E.M., Hüsker Dü, Talulah Gosh, Big Black, Butthole Surfers, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Galaxie 500, Mercury Rev, Pavement, Stereolab, Stone Roses, Pussy Galore und viele mehr.
'Still in a Dream' ist der sehr persönliche Blick eines Journalisten, der damals als Autor diverser Musikmagazine dabei war, diese musikalischen Entwicklungen zu begleiten und ihnen Namen zu geben. Simon Reynolds beschwört die Magie der analogen Welt, bevor das Internet, Streaming und soziale Medien die Spielregeln der Musik für immer verändert haben. Ein Buch für alle, die sich fragen, was verloren ging - und was vielleicht nie ganz verschwunden ist.
Das neue Album "The Lying Swans" der deutsch-brasilianischen Musikerin und bildenden Künstlerin Gloria de Oliveira entfaltet sich wie ein Werk des Magischen Realismus - bevölkert von Vögeln, Heiligen, Sirenen, blutigen Gesichtern, Geisterschiffen und gespenstischen Erscheinungen - und lädt die Hörer*innen in ihr bislang unmittelbarstes und komplexestes Werk ein. De Oliveiras drittes Album aber eigentliches Debut wirkt wie ein Werk der Gothic-Literatur, angestoßen durch das Bild einer Frau, die aus einem Spukhaus flieht; dieses zentrale Motiv prägte auch die visuelle Welt des Albums. Produziert von Randall Dunn (Anna von Hausswolff, Sunn O))), Marissa Nadler) und aufgenommen zwischen Island, New York und Berlin, ist das Ergebnis eine traumhafte Welt, in der Zauber und Gefahr nebeneinander existieren. Nach der EP-Compilation "Fascination" (2020, Reptile Music) sowie "Oceans of Time" (2022, Sacred Bones) - ihrer Zusammenarbeit mit David Lynchs langjährigem Sounddesigner Dean Hurley - führt "The Lying Swans" de Oliveira in neues Terrain. Sowohl thematisch als auch klanglich scheinen diese neun Songs aus den nebligen Gefilden von Hall und ätherischem Fuzz-Sound herauszutreten und eine erdige, greifbarere und damit verletzlichere Seite zu offenbaren. Dennoch bleibt ihre seraphische, sehnsuchtsvolle Stimme der Mittelpunkt, flankiert von einer beeindruckenden Riege an Musikern: Schlagzeuger Matt Chamberlain (David Bowie, Tori Amos, Pearl Jam), Gitarrist Lennard Zander, Cellistin Gyda Valtysdóttir (múm), Harfenistin Marilu Donovan (LEYA, Eartheater, Julie Byrne) und Keyboarder Ulfur Hansson wirken mit, während Ambient-Ikone Tor Lundvall eine seltene Spoken-Word-Darbietung beisteuert. Lina Andonovskas Querflöte spielt eine tragende Rolle und verleiht den Songs einen ebenso luftigen wie beunruhigenden Klang - inspiriert sowohl von de Oliveiras brasilianischen Wurzeln als auch von den Giallo-Soundtracks der 1970er und 1980er Jahre, jenen atmosphärischen italienischen Horror-Krimis, die stilisierte, drastische Gewalt und Voyeurismus mit prachtvoller Schönheit verbinden. Inspiriert von Lyrik, Literatur, Film und bildender Kunst ebenso wie von Musik, haben de Oliveira und Dunn ein Album geschaffen, das sich mühelos zwischen dem Spektralen und dem Pastoralen bewegt - ein Werk, in dem Anklänge an Fantasy- und Giallo-Soundtracks, alte Folk-Traditionen sowie die rhythmische Zartheit von Bossa Nova, MPB und Tropicália verschmelzen. Auch die Texte verweben Mythologie mit Anspielungen auf Miltons Paradise Lost*sowie die Lyrik von John Keats, Emily Brontë und Anne Sexton. Ein durchweg erhabenes Werk. Als CD (Digisleeve) mit Booklet oder auf LP (in klassisch Schwarz, Coke-Bottle-Green oder weiß-blau marmoriert) mit bedruckter Innenhülle & inside-out Sleeve.
Das neue Album "The Lying Swans" der deutsch-brasilianischen Musikerin und bildenden Künstlerin Gloria de Oliveira entfaltet sich wie ein Werk des Magischen Realismus - bevölkert von Vögeln, Heiligen, Sirenen, blutigen Gesichtern, Geisterschiffen und gespenstischen Erscheinungen - und lädt die Hörer*innen in ihr bislang unmittelbarstes und komplexestes Werk ein. De Oliveiras drittes Album aber eigentliches Debut wirkt wie ein Werk der Gothic-Literatur, angestoßen durch das Bild einer Frau, die aus einem Spukhaus flieht; dieses zentrale Motiv prägte auch die visuelle Welt des Albums. Produziert von Randall Dunn (Anna von Hausswolff, Sunn O))), Marissa Nadler) und aufgenommen zwischen Island, New York und Berlin, ist das Ergebnis eine traumhafte Welt, in der Zauber und Gefahr nebeneinander existieren. Nach der EP-Compilation "Fascination" (2020, Reptile Music) sowie "Oceans of Time" (2022, Sacred Bones) - ihrer Zusammenarbeit mit David Lynchs langjährigem Sounddesigner Dean Hurley - führt "The Lying Swans" de Oliveira in neues Terrain. Sowohl thematisch als auch klanglich scheinen diese neun Songs aus den nebligen Gefilden von Hall und ätherischem Fuzz-Sound herauszutreten und eine erdige, greifbarere und damit verletzlichere Seite zu offenbaren. Dennoch bleibt ihre seraphische, sehnsuchtsvolle Stimme der Mittelpunkt, flankiert von einer beeindruckenden Riege an Musikern: Schlagzeuger Matt Chamberlain (David Bowie, Tori Amos, Pearl Jam), Gitarrist Lennard Zander, Cellistin Gyda Valtysdóttir (múm), Harfenistin Marilu Donovan (LEYA, Eartheater, Julie Byrne) und Keyboarder Ulfur Hansson wirken mit, während Ambient-Ikone Tor Lundvall eine seltene Spoken-Word-Darbietung beisteuert. Lina Andonovskas Querflöte spielt eine tragende Rolle und verleiht den Songs einen ebenso luftigen wie beunruhigenden Klang - inspiriert sowohl von de Oliveiras brasilianischen Wurzeln als auch von den Giallo-Soundtracks der 1970er und 1980er Jahre, jenen atmosphärischen italienischen Horror-Krimis, die stilisierte, drastische Gewalt und Voyeurismus mit prachtvoller Schönheit verbinden. Inspiriert von Lyrik, Literatur, Film und bildender Kunst ebenso wie von Musik, haben de Oliveira und Dunn ein Album geschaffen, das sich mühelos zwischen dem Spektralen und dem Pastoralen bewegt - ein Werk, in dem Anklänge an Fantasy- und Giallo-Soundtracks, alte Folk-Traditionen sowie die rhythmische Zartheit von Bossa Nova, MPB und Tropicália verschmelzen. Auch die Texte verweben Mythologie mit Anspielungen auf Miltons Paradise Lost*sowie die Lyrik von John Keats, Emily Brontë und Anne Sexton. Ein durchweg erhabenes Werk. Als CD (Digisleeve) mit Booklet oder auf LP (in klassisch Schwarz, Coke-Bottle-Green oder weiß-blau marmoriert) mit bedruckter Innenhülle & inside-out Sleeve.
Das neue Album "The Lying Swans" der deutsch-brasilianischen Musikerin und bildenden Künstlerin Gloria de Oliveira entfaltet sich wie ein Werk des Magischen Realismus - bevölkert von Vögeln, Heiligen, Sirenen, blutigen Gesichtern, Geisterschiffen und gespenstischen Erscheinungen - und lädt die Hörer*innen in ihr bislang unmittelbarstes und komplexestes Werk ein. De Oliveiras drittes Album aber eigentliches Debut wirkt wie ein Werk der Gothic-Literatur, angestoßen durch das Bild einer Frau, die aus einem Spukhaus flieht; dieses zentrale Motiv prägte auch die visuelle Welt des Albums. Produziert von Randall Dunn (Anna von Hausswolff, Sunn O))), Marissa Nadler) und aufgenommen zwischen Island, New York und Berlin, ist das Ergebnis eine traumhafte Welt, in der Zauber und Gefahr nebeneinander existieren. Nach der EP-Compilation "Fascination" (2020, Reptile Music) sowie "Oceans of Time" (2022, Sacred Bones) - ihrer Zusammenarbeit mit David Lynchs langjährigem Sounddesigner Dean Hurley - führt "The Lying Swans" de Oliveira in neues Terrain. Sowohl thematisch als auch klanglich scheinen diese neun Songs aus den nebligen Gefilden von Hall und ätherischem Fuzz-Sound herauszutreten und eine erdige, greifbarere und damit verletzlichere Seite zu offenbaren. Dennoch bleibt ihre seraphische, sehnsuchtsvolle Stimme der Mittelpunkt, flankiert von einer beeindruckenden Riege an Musikern: Schlagzeuger Matt Chamberlain (David Bowie, Tori Amos, Pearl Jam), Gitarrist Lennard Zander, Cellistin Gyda Valtysdóttir (múm), Harfenistin Marilu Donovan (LEYA, Eartheater, Julie Byrne) und Keyboarder Ulfur Hansson wirken mit, während Ambient-Ikone Tor Lundvall eine seltene Spoken-Word-Darbietung beisteuert. Lina Andonovskas Querflöte spielt eine tragende Rolle und verleiht den Songs einen ebenso luftigen wie beunruhigenden Klang - inspiriert sowohl von de Oliveiras brasilianischen Wurzeln als auch von den Giallo-Soundtracks der 1970er und 1980er Jahre, jenen atmosphärischen italienischen Horror-Krimis, die stilisierte, drastische Gewalt und Voyeurismus mit prachtvoller Schönheit verbinden. Inspiriert von Lyrik, Literatur, Film und bildender Kunst ebenso wie von Musik, haben de Oliveira und Dunn ein Album geschaffen, das sich mühelos zwischen dem Spektralen und dem Pastoralen bewegt - ein Werk, in dem Anklänge an Fantasy- und Giallo-Soundtracks, alte Folk-Traditionen sowie die rhythmische Zartheit von Bossa Nova, MPB und Tropicália verschmelzen. Auch die Texte verweben Mythologie mit Anspielungen auf Miltons Paradise Lost*sowie die Lyrik von John Keats, Emily Brontë und Anne Sexton. Ein durchweg erhabenes Werk. Als CD (Digisleeve) mit Booklet oder auf LP (in klassisch Schwarz, Coke-Bottle-Green oder weiß-blau marmoriert) mit bedruckter Innenhülle & inside-out Sleeve.
Reissued on Pascal Pinkert's new label 'Phantom Sounds'. Originally release 2019, now remastered with bonus track included! TIP!
Excerpt from the original release text
"On the album, you’ll find a touch of the old and a great deal of new material. ‘Geen Genade’, ‘Wat Voel Je Nou’ and ‘Verloren’ still stand strong in pride of place, reminding us why we love De Ambassade so much in the first place. The opener and title track, ‘Duistre Kamers’ has a dark industrial vibe that is a perfect introduction of what is to come. Somehow ‘Zo Hoog Als De Bogen’ feels warm and cold simultaneously, it maintains an almost spooky tone; ‘Malefica’ in comparison sounds raw, uncut and almost upbeat. ‘Niet Van Mij’ is one of the reasons the album is so special. Its unexpected wavering synths create another contrast of the melancholic and the joyful in one, and the heavy percussion and echoing vocals tie it in with the rest. ‘Laatste Uur’ kicks you in the face, again with this industrial, moody feel and beautifully handled synths. The closing track ‘Wapengekletter’ is elegant, and a new favourite here. The dark vocals, haunting melody and cleverly tempoed percussion conclude the album wonderfully. Overall, De Ambassade has hit the nail on the head and produced this autumn’s must have Amsterdam album."
NEUES ALBUM MIT DEN PUNK-ROCK-LEGENDEN CHARLIE HARPER (U.K. SUBS) UND DEL GREENING (PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES) Eine wunderbare neue Punkrock-Partnerschaft! Charlie Harper ist ein langjähriger Bewunderer von Del Greenings Gitarrenspiel und beide leben in Brighton. Da Del nicht mehr mit Peter And The Test Tube Babies auf Tour war und Charlie ,etwas" weniger Gigs mit den U.K. Subs spielte, hatten beide Zeit, etwas Neues und Frisches zu starten. Ohne Proben, ohne Vorproduktion und mit nur ein paar groben Songideen machten sich Del und Charlie zusammen mit Vicky Smith von den Ramonas am Bass und Marley Perez (Charlies Enkel) am Schlagzeug im Oktober 2025 auf den Weg zu den Brighton Road Recording Studios und legten los. Die Songs ,Deadlines", ,Divide", ,Cyber War" und ,Lost" wurden in der ersten sechsstündigen Session geschrieben. Nachdem der Großteil von Marleys Schlagzeug bereits aufgenommen war und er nun auf Tour war, zogen die Sessions in das winzige Studio im Hinterhof von (Toningenieur) Ali Gavin im Dorf Aulburn in Mid Sussex um. ,Ali war für die Tontechnik zuständig. Ich habe Gitarren und Gesang überlagert. Charlie saß hinter uns und warf Ideen, Geschichten, Songtexte oder - je nach Tageszeit - völlige Verwirrung ein. Irgendwie nahm das Album aus all dem Chaos langsam Gestalt an.", so Del zum Aufnahmeprozess. Eine kurze Krankheitsphase von Charlie führte jedoch dazu, dass die Disasters an einigen Songs ohne ihn arbeiteten. ,Wir drei haben schließlich ein paar neue Tracks aufgenommen: ,Scars` und ,The Disasters`. Vicky spielte Bass, während Ali das Mixing übernahm, dann setzte er sich ans Schlagzeug, während ich mich um die Gitarren kümmerte. Wir schickten die Rohaufnahmen an Charlie. Er war begeistert. Bei den letzten Sessions war das Album zu etwas geworden, womit keiner von uns gerechnet hatte. Nicht wirklich ein Subs-Album und auch nicht wirklich mein oder Charlies Soloalbum. Etwas völlig anderes." ,Derik & The Disasters" besteht aus vierzehn Songs, die sowohl an Charlies als auch an Dels musikalisches Erbe anknüpfen und gleichzeitig einen einzigartigen, lebendigen Sound schaffen - mit Texten, die sich nicht scheuen, die vielen Probleme anzusprechen, mit denen die Welt heute konfrontiert ist. Das ist Punkrock im Jahr 2026. Laut abspielen.
NEUES ALBUM MIT DEN PUNK-ROCK-LEGENDEN CHARLIE HARPER (U.K. SUBS) UND DEL GREENING (PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES) Eine wunderbare neue Punkrock-Partnerschaft! Charlie Harper ist ein langjähriger Bewunderer von Del Greenings Gitarrenspiel und beide leben in Brighton. Da Del nicht mehr mit Peter And The Test Tube Babies auf Tour war und Charlie ,etwas" weniger Gigs mit den U.K. Subs spielte, hatten beide Zeit, etwas Neues und Frisches zu starten. Ohne Proben, ohne Vorproduktion und mit nur ein paar groben Songideen machten sich Del und Charlie zusammen mit Vicky Smith von den Ramonas am Bass und Marley Perez (Charlies Enkel) am Schlagzeug im Oktober 2025 auf den Weg zu den Brighton Road Recording Studios und legten los. Die Songs ,Deadlines", ,Divide", ,Cyber War" und ,Lost" wurden in der ersten sechsstündigen Session geschrieben. Nachdem der Großteil von Marleys Schlagzeug bereits aufgenommen war und er nun auf Tour war, zogen die Sessions in das winzige Studio im Hinterhof von (Toningenieur) Ali Gavin im Dorf Aulburn in Mid Sussex um. ,Ali war für die Tontechnik zuständig. Ich habe Gitarren und Gesang überlagert. Charlie saß hinter uns und warf Ideen, Geschichten, Songtexte oder - je nach Tageszeit - völlige Verwirrung ein. Irgendwie nahm das Album aus all dem Chaos langsam Gestalt an.", so Del zum Aufnahmeprozess. Eine kurze Krankheitsphase von Charlie führte jedoch dazu, dass die Disasters an einigen Songs ohne ihn arbeiteten. ,Wir drei haben schließlich ein paar neue Tracks aufgenommen: ,Scars` und ,The Disasters`. Vicky spielte Bass, während Ali das Mixing übernahm, dann setzte er sich ans Schlagzeug, während ich mich um die Gitarren kümmerte. Wir schickten die Rohaufnahmen an Charlie. Er war begeistert. Bei den letzten Sessions war das Album zu etwas geworden, womit keiner von uns gerechnet hatte. Nicht wirklich ein Subs-Album und auch nicht wirklich mein oder Charlies Soloalbum. Etwas völlig anderes." ,Derik & The Disasters" besteht aus vierzehn Songs, die sowohl an Charlies als auch an Dels musikalisches Erbe anknüpfen und gleichzeitig einen einzigartigen, lebendigen Sound schaffen - mit Texten, die sich nicht scheuen, die vielen Probleme anzusprechen, mit denen die Welt heute konfrontiert ist. Das ist Punkrock im Jahr 2026. Laut abspielen.
