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Liquid Memory returns with Stephan Bazbaz – Lithium EP, a collection of three dancefloor-certified heavy hitters.


Packed with deep grooves and undeniable energy, this record is destined for the record bags of the most discerning DJs and clubbers—a must-have for those who appreciate expertly crafted club weapons.

A long-time praised producer, Stephan Bazbaz makes a true comeback with this release, marking his first in four years after over a decade of delivering top-tier music. With extensive experience behind the decks and in the studio, he has honed a sound that seamlessly blends minimal dub and crisp house. From his celebrated residencies to his own vinyl-only label, No Waves, his deep understanding of club culture shines through in every groove.

The first new Electro Clash tracks from Break 3000 since 2003! After a string of re-issues of old gems on Italy's "Mondo Phase", the Argentinian label "Calypso's Dream" and his own "Electron Feel" last year, Break 3000 is finally back with some new original cuts!

The A-side "Electronique" has all the ingredients you would want from a hard-hitting Electro Clash track. EBM style drums and a powerful raw bass line topped with soaring rave leads and pads and added original (Vocoder) vocals by Break 3000 himself. This one is road tested already on dance floors and big systems and a guaranteed crowd pleaser! Second up is the driving "Continua", leaning more towards Break 3000 Techno classics like "Flash" and "Fix" this filtered rave lead will make a wild crowd go even wilder. Dark and twisted Electro Techno at its best.

The B-side opens with another aspect of the Break 3000 sound spectrum. We look back to the early years here and to songs like "The Wait" and "Spacemaschinenreise" that were produced in 1999. In a Detroit meets Rotterdam styled Electro setting this song uses a lot of the old sounds from 26 years ago, mostly coming from his original EMU sampler used at the time and a great 80s vocal sample gives this track it's title. We are transported back to the golden era of Cold Wave here. Closing out this new EP is the wonderful Marcello Giordani from Parma, Italy who build a strong reputation with his "Italo Deviance" label over the years. He gives the original "Electronique" a great funky "Proto House" bass line in best "Bobby Orlando" manner, what a brilliant crossover track this one is! With the Vermona drum sounds his - Dark Disco meets Early House - jam will certainly be on many DJ's want list.

We hope you enjoy these new tracks! There is more to come… stay tuned!


All tracks are mastered by Salz Mastering in Cologne. Music, Photography & Art by Break 3000.

Right on time once again, the fifth outing on Punctuality welcomes Irish producer Drua to the fore. In typical Punctuality fashion the release draws influence from the canon of golden era late 90s and early 2000s dance music with an entirely modern production aesthetic, engineered for big rigs and sweaty dancefloors alike.

Nightfire is a fully realised vision of Drua’s sound that could best be described as contemporary hard house. All four tracks are laden with punchy, rolling basslines, detailed low end, vibrant stabs, sultry vocals, undulating rhythms and sprinklings of quintessential club sparks.

The nouveau handbag styling of UP kicks off the EP. Stuttered vocals, M1 organs and solid grooves are fused together with clever sampling that is sure to make this one a hit for the festival season of s/s ‘25, as early support from the likes of Roza Terenzi, Confidence Man, Spray, Sally C and Maara would indicate.

Job 2.3 has all the elements of a Punctuality anthem and maintains the big tune mood of the EP: skippy bass notes, low end wubs, subtle breaks, catchy vocal hooks and precise drums nail the brief in executing this prog-hard-house hybrid heater.

On the flip, Nightfire nods to classic leaning deep house through a peak time lens. Introspective pads make way for pulsing subs, sensuous vocal chops and hip catching basslines. This is one of those tracks that can shift the arc of a DJ set to the next level. Big tip here.

The EP concludes with Arch In Ur Back which has all the elements to work a dancefloor: multiple grooves, rolling breakbeats, party starting vocals and the modern sound design that punctuality has gained worldwide notoriety for. An all killer no filler EP in the form of four well rounded club tools from Drua that are sure to be mainstays for discerning DJs and Punctualists

"Throughout all my time as a musician and producer, ever since Jack the Tab, I've been focused on developing a single idea: Blending psychedelic sounds and effects with rhythm." Richard Norris, Strange Things Are Happening White Rabbit 2024

Over the past few years Eskimo Recordings have invited some of thebest crate diggers around to curate compilations that don't just reveal the hidden contents of their record bags but something about themselves too. Now, following in the footsteps of the likes of Bill Brewster and Psychemagik, producer, musician, DJ, writer and more, Richard Norris, takes us on a globetrotting psychedelic journey with the epic 42 track collection, Mr Norris Changes Brains.

For over forty years Richard has played a part in many of the UK's most important music subcultures. Whether sharing stages with the likes of Tracey Thorn as a pubescent punk in St. Albans, or running freakbeat nights in Liverpool and working at the pioneering psychedelic label Bam Caruso, co-producing the UK's first acid house inspired LP with Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P. Orridge or riding the wave of creativity that the second summer of love unleashed all the way to the Top of the Pop studios as The Grid, Richard's career has continually seen him work to expand both his own and the public's musical horizons.

With Mr Norris Changes Brains it's the most recent part of his mercurial career that he's focused on. Drawing inspiration from his post 2006 adventures as one half of Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, alongside Trash's Erol Alkan, this compilation shows how a more connected world has blown the dust off a paradoxically sometimes straightjacketed scene. The result is a dizzyingly wide-ranging collection that explores the further out there reaches of worldwide psychedelia and dancefloor mayhem.

"A lot of these tracks are fairly recent discoveries, things that I've discovered from around the time I started working with Erol and going right up to today," Richard explains. "Whether that's from going out to play and finding new records in places like Istanbul or just connecting with people online from all around the world. Psych can sometimes be a sort of narrow-minded field, with everything having to sit in its specific niche, but more and more people are open to new sounds and that's allowed for a much broader selection."

Despite their disparate origins what does unite these tracks is that they aren't just there to zone out to on a bean bag as projections of swirling coloured oils and psychedelic patterns wash over you. Mr Norris may change brains but his DJ sets also move feet, and whether it's their killer guitar riffs, oscillating synths floor shaking drums or soulful Hammond organs these are all cuts that from festival tents to underground clubs have proven time and time again to get people dancing.

"With a lot of these tracks there's a kind of fun element in them," says Richard. "It's still psychedelia, but they've also got these solid, funky grooves. They sound phenomenal on the dancefloor and as much as these records might excite old psych heads, this compilation is also for a new generation out there who might have never heard anything like this before and, just like when I was 18 and heard The 13th Floor Elevators for the first time, think 'Oh, my God, what on earth is this and more importantly what else is out there?'"

"Throughout all my time as a musician and producer, ever since Jack the Tab, I've been focused on developing a single idea: Blending psychedelic sounds and effects with rhythm." Richard Norris, Strange Things Are Happening White Rabbit 2024

Over the past few years Eskimo Recordings have invited some of the best crate diggers aroundto curate compilations that don't just reveal the hidden contents of their record bags but something about themselves too. Now, following in the footsteps of the likes of Bill Brewster and Psychemagik, producer, musician, DJ, writer and more, Richard Norris, takes us on a globetrotting psychedelic journey with the epic 42 track collection, Mr Norris Changes Brains.

For over forty years Richard has played a part in many of the UK's most important music subcultures. Whether sharing stages with the likes of Tracey Thorn as a pubescent punk in St. Albans, or running freakbeat nights in Liverpool and working at the pioneering psychedelic label Bam Caruso, co-producing the UK's first acid house inspired LP with Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P. Orridge or riding the wave of creativity that the second summer of love unleashed all the way to the Top of the Pop studios as The Grid, Richard's career has continually seen him work to expand both hisown and the public's musical horizons.

With Mr Norris Changes Brains it's the most recent part of his mercurial career that he's focused on. Drawing inspiration from his post 2006 adventures as one half of Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, alongside Trash's Erol Alkan, this compilation shows how a more connected world has blown the dust off a paradoxically sometimes straightjacketed scene. The result is a dizzyingly wide-ranging collection that explores the further out there reaches of worldwide psychedelia and dancefloor mayhem.

"A lot of these tracks are fairly recent discoveries, things that I've discovered from around the time I started working with Erol and going right up to today," Richard explains. "Whether that's from going out to play and finding new records in places like Istanbul or just connecting with people online from all around the world. Psych can sometimes be a sort of narrow-minded field, with everything havingto sit in its specific niche, but more and more people are open to new sounds and that's allowed for a much broader selection."

Despite their disparate origins what does unite these tracks is that they aren't just there to zone out to on a bean bag as projections of swirling coloured oils and psychedelic patterns wash over you. Mr Norris may change brains but his DJ sets also move feet, and whether it's their killer guitar riffs, oscillating synths floor shaking drums or soulful Hammond organs these are all cuts that from festival tents to underground clubs have proven time and time again to get people dancing.

"With a lot of these tracks there's a kind of fun element in them," says Richard. "It's still psychedelia, but they've also got these solid, funky grooves. They sound phenomenal on the dancefloor and as much as these records might excite old psych heads, this compilation is also for a new generation out there who might have never heard anything like this before and, just like when I was 18 and heard The 13th Floor Elevators for the first time, think 'Oh, my God, what on earth is this and more importantly what else is out there?'"

*all original recordings from mid 90s Estonian released cassettes. Fascinating interpretations of the UK breakbeat and Jungle sounds recorded when the world felt like a much bigger place.

Since hearing the first breakbeats via the Finnish radio nightly shows introducing the burgeoning UK scene, Virko Veskoja, later head figure of Lu:k, was completely swept away by this new technological language that sounded like machines trying to initiate contact with people. The fluttering rhythm patterns, strings and vocal lines haunting the pathways of the infinite network. Like hip hop taken over by Skynet.

Reimagining it all in mid-90’s Estonia, a fresh and dirt-poor republic newly welcomed to the family of sovereign states on the outskirts of Eastern Europe, was challenging, to say the least. Finally, with the help of entry level music programs, custom-made soundcards and self-built computers by the other Lu:k-head Tõnis Valk, Lu:k took the first tentative steps in the history of Estonian jungle.

Eight Lu:k cuts have been compiled into a handy selection, a true sign of the times when uncertainty came with certain hope and optimism – new territories to chart, new frontiers to conquer. A time of innocence captured so sublimely in Lu:k’s music.

The compilation starts with menacing orchestration that sounds like the birth of a civilization, like in „2001: A Space Odyssey“, or the arrival of Godzilla, only to give way to sweeeet strings and the inimitable Minnie Riperton in “Lovin U”, combining all the essential elements of Lu:k in a track that has remained uncorroded by time since its inception in 1994.

The following “Demo 3” is its antithesis – fast and nervous, a harbinger of the darker days of neurofunk and techstep ahead. More in line with the social realities of the time, when something (or someone) could materialise out of thin air and attack you just as violently as those beats here.

“La:v” was Lu:k’s signature track throughout their brief career that went on only for a few years, 1994-1997. Lifted to heaven’s by Petula Clarks’s wonderful vocals, it perfectly captures the pure essence of creation. “I made it in my bedroom. Something like that just came out. Sorry”, says Virko apologetically.

From the themes of love we are led towards darker scenarios again with “Drunk-Drive”, a more vengeful cut reminiscent of early Ram Records’ nocturnal dangers, skylines shaped by basslines. Previously only available on the uber-rare “Raadiomaja valvelauas” CD compilation from 2005.

“In the Limelight” is lifted from their second album “Dreams in Drums” from 1996 (only released on cassette), and if it’s meant to address their new-found underground celebrity status in Estonia, there is surprisingly little elation here – the track rather consists of introspective strings and beats that sound almost melancholic.

Out of the remaining three tracks, “Proov2mix” and “Kadunud leitud” are the result of a treasure hunt amongst the old, obsolete harddrives – little nuggets that were condemned to obscurity until now. Between them, another vocal-led cut “010”, a non-album track only featured on two comps until now, is a strong reminder of Lu:k’s prodigious ability to handle vocal lines and morph them together with their own weaving synthetic melodies, strong pads and commanding beats.

Lu:k’s music has been largely unavailable for the better part of this century, with original tapes and CD’s changing hands for a small fortune. This vinyl release couldn’t come at a better time, bringing a seminal chapter of Estonian dance music’s mythical history to light again, both for the old-school acolytes and new converts.

All music by Virko Veskoja

In an ever-expanding musical universe, Azymuth have long existed as a celestial giant, drawing countless artists, musicians and followers into their orbit. Marking fifty years since their 1975 debut album Azimuth, their new album Marca Passo proves that the band’s alchemic brew of Brazilian jazz-funk and cosmic samba soul remains as vital as ever, as the group honours the profound legacy of their departed founders.

Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Marca Passo is the first full-length release since the passing of founding drummer Ivan "Mamão" Conti in 2023, following the earlier loss of keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami in 2012. Alex Malheiros, the sole remaining original member, sees his stewardship of the band’s musical legacy as his spiritual duty. He is joined by the equally devoted Kiko Continentino (Milton Nascimento, Djavan) on keyboards, who has been with the group since 2016, and new recruit Renato Massa (Marcos Valle, Ed Motta) on drums.

Yet since their earliest recorded music, Azymuth have always been far greater than the sum of their parts. The "three-man orchestra’s" unmistakable sound is rooted in Brazil's MPB studio scene of the 1970s and early 1980s—a time when artists blended traditional Brazilian rhythms with global jazz, rock, and emerging psychedelic and progressive elements. Marca Passo continues this legacy, seamlessly fusing Brazilian musical traditions with global influences while showcasing the exceptional musicianship that powers Azymuth's distinctive, multi-dimensional sound.

The album is produced by studio mastermind Daniel Maunick, responsible for Azymuth’s two previous studio albums, Fênix in 2016 and Aurora in 2011. Daniel’s credits also include albums by Marcos Valle, Sabrina Malheiros and Terry Callier. Azymuth also invited Daniel’s father, British jazz-funk royalty Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick, of Incognito, to play guitar on a new version of Azymuth’s eighties classic “Last Summer In Rio”, in tribute to the song’s composer, José Roberto Bertrami. Equally, “Samba Pro Mamao” is a new composition dedicated to Azymuth’s beloved original drummer, Ivan “Mamão” Conti.

Credits:

Alex Malheiros - Bass, Acoustic Guitar & Vocals: 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Kiko Continentino - Keyboards, Organ, Vocoder & Vocals: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Renato Massa - Drums & Vocals: : 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10
Ian Moreira - Percussion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10
Sidinho Moreira - Percussion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10
Dudu Viana - Keyboards & Vocals: 1
Victor Bertrami - Drums: 1
Mangueirinha - Repinique: 3
Jean Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick - Electric Guitar: 5
Jose Carlos Bigorna - Soprano Sax: 9
Daniel Maunick: Additional Percussion, Synths & EFX: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Arranged by Daniel Maunick
Co-Produced & Arranged by Alex Malheiros
Executive Producer: Joe Davis


Recorded by:
Daniel Maunick & Leonardo Vieira @ Estúdio Nos Trilhos, Santa Teresa, Rio, Brazil
Daniel Maunick & Amadeu Signorelli @ Sigstudio, Niterói, Rio, Brazil
Daniel Maunick & Alex Malheiros @ Estúdio Basslab, Piratininga, Rio, Brazil
Mixed by Daniel Maunick @ The Sugar Shack, Carluke, Scotland


Artwork & Design: Tyler Askew

When you’re running a label, a demo occasionally comes across your desk that makes you reconsider everything you thought your label was all about. For Balmat, such was the case with this stunning album from Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty, and Hahn Rowe. It sounds like nothing we’ve released so far—and that very otherness opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.

Fans of ambient, experimental electronic music, and sound art will be familiar with Vitiello, a New York native, long based in Virginia, who has collaborated with a cross-generational list of greats: Taylor Deupree, Steve Roden, Lawrence English, Tetsu Inoue, Nam June Paik, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pauline Oliveros, and many more. On labels like 12k, Room40, and Sub Rosa, he has explored a wide range of minimalism, microsound, lowercase, ambient, improv, and other styles. But this album is something different. It may begin in ambient-adjacent territory, but it quickly veers off, and it just keeps zigzagging, taking on elements of krautrock, post-punk, dub, and the groove-heavy interplay of groups like Natural Information Society and 75 Dollar Bill.

This stylistic turn is thanks in large part to Vitiello’s choice of collaborators. “We’re coming from three different schools,” Vitiello says: “sound art, art rock, and punk rock.”

Active since the early 1980s, Rowe—a violinist, guitarist, and producer/engineer—has played with, or manned the boards for, a frankly jaw-dropping list of musicians: Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron, the Last Poets, Roy Ayers, John Zorn, Glenn Branca, Swans, Live Skull, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Anohni, R.E.M., Yoko Ono, and many more. But he might be most closely associated with Hugo Largo, a one-of-a-kind New York quartet—two basses, vocals, and Rowe’s violin—that in the late 1980s helped lay the groundwork for what would eventually become known as post-rock.

Canty, of course, is the legendary drummer of Fugazi, the visionary DC post-hardcore group, as well as Rites of Spring before them, and, currently, the Messthetics, a Dischord-signed instrumental trio with guitarist Anthony Pirog and Fugazi bassist Joe Lally.

Vitiello’s trio first collaborated on First, a 17-minute piece released on the Longform Editions label in 2023. Second picks up where the freeform drift of First left off, channeling the trio’s exploratory energies into more intentionally structured tracks and—in a real first for Balmat—some almost shockingly muscular grooves. “Sometimes my projects are more conceptually driven,” Vitiello says, “but I think this was more musically geared. I just wanted to open up the references and bring in an incredible drummer, bring in some melodies, and I’m sort of the center.” But his collaborators, he stresses, are “vastly creative in making anything I might suggest better.”

Like its predecessor, Second took shape in phases, shifting between improvisation and collage. Vitiello laid down the skeleton of the music at home, sketching out initial ideas on Rhodes keyboard and acoustic and electric guitar; he then fed the parts through samplers and his modular system, recording 10- or 20-minute jams. Once he had edited them into more structured forms, he hit the studio with Canty, who added not just drums but also bass and piano; finally, Vitiello took the results of those sessions to Rowe, who played violin, viola, electric bass, and 12-string acoustic and bowed electric guitar, and assisted in some of the final structuring and mixdown.

A few more surprises along the way: Reanimator’s Don Godwin, the studio engineer where Vitiello recorded with Canty, contributed what he calls “resonant dustpan”; and none other than Animal Collective’s Geologist, who just happened to be in the studio that day, sits in on hurdy gurdy on “Mrphgtrs1,” the album’s gorgeous, stunningly atmospheric drone closer. “I love these chance encounters,” Vitiello says. “Somebody I admire, a group I admire—that was an unexpected gift.”

An unexpected gift is a great way of describing Second as a whole: three veteran musicians venturing outside their usual zones and finding a new collaborative language together. The results can’t be neatly slotted into any given genre; they belong not to any given category, but to the spirit of conversation itself.

After a couple of years of silence, the Colombian label Insurgentes, operated by DJ Lomalinda and Verraco, and responsible for putting several South American sound explorers on the map to the world in the past decade, is back for one last release, one last dignified death: la última vez.

And for this last installment, one last album. ‘Fiera’ is the name of the LP that Seph wrote and programmed during 2022 and 2023. For us, his greatest work so far: an energetic and impulsive journey, it's an active listening that never stops, you can never trust the loop. 8 tracks that do honour to the Insurgentes catalogue and consolidate the sound of the celebrated and respected Argentine artist who has been in force for more than two decades, crossing the territories of techno, 90s IDM, dub and ambient. Tags that are masterfully captured and collided in the grooves of these 300 vinyls.

Today is both a happy and a sad day. But the feeling of contradiction has always been the main alkaloid of our artistic work and the result of our search for identity. Without Insurgentes there would be no TraTraTrax. Without Insurgentes, no platform would have been created for many of the dreams that today are a fact and that even dictate our future. We would like to thank all those who have been linked anywhere along the way with our sonic fiction, with our desire to build bridges, with our thirst to connect ass and mind.

Que la tierra te sea leve, querido INS

This 59 minute piece was conceived as part of a total environment for the exhibition Deus Ex Machina.



The project as a whole seeks to define and articulate the emotional, cultural and aesthetic manifestations of man’s uneasy relationship with technology. The music takes the form of a film score complete with stylized dialogue and actions.



During the 59 minutes four basic layers repeat in various configurations.The effect is to provide a template of narrative in which the pieces exhibited may become protagonists, situated in hypothetical scenarios which illustrate the contentions of Deus Ex Machina and the transmission of information.



Review:“Paul Schütze’s debut album from 1989 sets his stall out from the start; with a cyber update on Jon Hassell’s notion of ‘Fourth World Music”. Schütze’s music always sounds like it could be an alternative soundtrack to ‘Blade Runner’ (be aware fellow purists, I did state “alternative”), and this album is probably the perfect candidate if in some other dimension the Vangelis OST was no longer deemed satisfactory (such a dimension surely cannot exist). The listener feels like they’re walking through the rain soaked, neon-lit streets of a future LA with Deckard.” – Jay Harper

Bruce returns blistered and ablaze, with three flame-licked, windswept and deadly dancefloor deities on 12” vinyl, for the second edition of Poorly Knit.

Following on from it’s daft and fisty older brothers on The Price / Mimicry, the raw power of wind and fire takes over on Belly / Burned Alive, as we are plunged into devastating sonic worlds, adorned in UK sound-system badness and Mother Nature’s vengeance.

Providing elemental catastrophe catharsis, through sound exploration, Belly’s steppas storm of wailing wind and clattering thunder is backed by Burned Alive’s soaring and demented UK garage inferno, to finally subside to the smoldering, dubbed-out vocal remains from Hot One (Chapped Lips Version).

With a continued emphasis on the importance of physical medium within dance music, the digitals are an abridged edit of the full release; Hot One is vinyl only and only on the vinyl can you hear the full mixes of Belly and Burned Alive. Pressed on eco-friendly “Eco-Mix” reground PVC and sleeved in DIY lino printed sleeves, each record is a unique shade of marbled storm grey. Cut loud at 45rpm, not only does this sustainable slice of dance floor mayhem come at an attractive price tag, you can rest assured that sound quality has not at all been sacrificed.

After over 50 events of Bristol's beloved Club Blanco, the city's anointed high priest of night, Chez de Milo, is crystallising his party's dimension-hopping hedonism into a label, calling on an extended family of esteemed producers and musicians to make it happen.

First up is Johnny Aux, aka Quinn Whalley (Paranoid London, Sworn Virgins, Decius), delivering two offerings accompanied by remixes from Jamie Paton and Chez de Milo himself.

Supersonic blends a hyperspace bassline with euphoric 90s synth elevation that delivers us to a blissful dance floor crescendo, where you've been dancing for hours—maybe days— when the sun appears over the horizon and pierces through the club's blacked-out windows. Chez de Milo's re-rub wraps you up vines of a living, breathing forest, where all your favourite flora and fauna summon you to the dappled light of a clearing, front left of the booth.

On The Train locks you into a rolling groove, and electro slaps and smacks. It feels covered in equal parts space dust and the dust of an old crate of records, where this forgotten banger has been buried deep for 25 years, waiting for the right hands to pull it out. Jamie Paton veers off down a stranger track, conducting a driving Italo beat with eerie soundscapes dissected by lasers and a brooding bassline.

Drumcode veteran Oscar L joins forces with Metodi Hristov, a newer recruit to Adam Beyer’s revered techno label, for their collab two-track EP ‘Gravity’. Madrid’s techno/tech house maestro Oscar L has a long association with Beyer’s twin labels Drumcode (‘Again’ LP, 2023, + performing at DC events) and Truesoul inc. solo EP ‘Vulture’ (2022), Dosem collab ‘Aircargo’ EP (2023), ‘Yapper’ w. Max Styler (2024). As well as Adam Beyer, Oscar’s had support from Richie Hawtin, Nicole Moudaber, Joseph Capriati… and also released on Knee Deep In Sound, Stereo Productions, We Are The Brave et al. Bulgaria-based Metodi Hristov brought his unique techno sounds to Drumcode last year, with his debut DC 2-track EP ‘Build To Destroy’. Both tracks, title track and ‘Flatline’, were included in his Sept 2024 Drumcode Radio Studio Mix live from Sofia. With support including Carl Cox and Enrico Sangiuliano, Metodi’s career is swiftly up and coming. ‘Gravity’: the title track hurls itself into the fray with fast, heavy techno beats, reverb-rich growly hoovers, while a contrasting sweetly melodic chopped and processed female vocal holds its own against a dystopian dialogue between two sinister machines in dark, distorted, industrial juddering synth. There’s a lot going on, dark, powerful, and dance-demanding. ‘Up & Down’: full-on attack from the first nanosecond, with very fast beats, layers of percussion and a dark male voice intoning the title riff. An insistent, reverbing, ‘hammered strings’ synth melody competes with a melodic second voice, high and sweet bringing light to very dark shade. ‘D’you feel it now…’, you surely will.

For years, whispers circulated through the jazz scenes of Denmark and Poland - rumours of a lost recording session featuring the legendary Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and a group of Scandinavian and Polish musicians. Now, nearly a decade after the session and seven years after Stanko's passing, these long-awaited recordings are finally seeing the light of day. The project originated at Vallekilde Højskole in Denmark, where Stanko was invited to teach at JazzDanmark's annual Summer Session. A storied program that has hosted luminaries including Bill Frisell and Anat Cohen, the summer school became the birthplace of this unexpected ensemble. Here, alongside a dynamic ensemble of young musicians, Stanko found renewed inspiration, embracing their compositions as much as his own - a rare occurrence for an artist known for leading his own groups. Scandinavian Art Ensemble with Tomasz Stanko is the result: two albums of expansive, deeply expressive music that merge the melancholic depth of Polish jazz with the spacious, atmospheric qualities of the Scandinavian sound. As trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski recalls, Stanko wasn't just a mentor - he was an equal, driven by curiosity and the desire to push boundaries. "He wanted to play our music. He was always listening, always searching." Across these two albums recorded at The Village Recordings in 2016, listeners will hear Stanko's unmistakable tone interwoven with compositions by both himself and the ensemble members. Pieces like 'The Dark Eyes of Martha Hirsch' and 'Before the Rain' showcase not just his signature lyricism, but also his willingness to step back, listen, and let the younger generation shape the sound. Beyond his unmistakable sound, Stanko's influence was about energy - his presence elevated those around him. Bassist Richard Andersson put it simply: "He brings together the energies, and makes us all play better than usual." This project captures that essence: a legendary artist meeting the next generation on equal footing, creating something entirely unexpected. A decade after the session, the members of the Scandinavian Art Ensemble have forged their own paths, shaping the jazz landscapes of Copenhagen, Malmö, Reykjavik, and beyond. But the impact of their time with Stanko remains profound. "Releasing these albums is about more than just the music," D?browski says. "It's about preserving the spirit of Stanko - his generosity, his curiosity, his way of bringing people together. Even after all these years, his presence can still be felt in every note we played."

An immersive long-form composition in two parts that seamlessly blends a collage of spoken word, field recordings and drones with elements of dub, jazz, fourth world and ambient music.

Son Of Chi is the latest project of Rotterdam-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Hanyo van Oosterom. Van Oosterom’s prolific career spans multiple decades and genres; among countless projects he has been involved in, he is known for founding the Dutch ambient collective CHI in the early eighties, and in recent years for his prolific collaboration with CHI co-founder Jacobus Derwort as Chi Factory. Following Derwort’s passing in 2019, van Oosterom decided to close the CHI circle with the birth of Son Of Chi.

Sonically, the world of ‘We Carry Eden’ is fully immersive; it ripples with depth and shimmers in detail. Motifs, ideas and fragments, arise and disappear like passing thoughts, drawing the listener deeper and deeper inwards. For those familiar with Oosterom’s work as Chi Factory, the depth and meditative nature of the work will come as no surprise; however it is Oosterom’s skill with grooves that shines equally bright here; his infectiously dubby basslines and percussion rise up from the ether, grounding the listener to the earth. ‘We Carry Eden’ at times invokes the fourth world landscapes of Jon Hassell, (with whom Oosterom has collaborated) but as a whole, it remains the unique work of an artist fully in tune with their vision.

Thematically, storytelling traditions lie at the heart of ‘We Carry Eden’, with van Oosterom’s long-time collaborator Omar Ka playing a central role. Ka, who hails from the West African nomadic Fulani tradition of storytelling, responds to the collage of field recordings and sounds collected by Oosterom. His voice is woven throughout ‘We Carry Eden’, creating a narrative that binds the multiple sound sources of the album together.

As with much of van Oosterom’s musical output, inspiration is drawn from the Greek Island of Patmos and the wisdom and prophecies of the Native American Hopi Tribe. Since his work with CHI in the early eighties, van Oosterom has often incorporated quotes from Hopi Elders into his music. Gods, spirits, animals and humans, all existing in one unchangeable relationship tied to nature; ‘We Carry Eden’ is rooted in this philosophy, serving as a peaceful message of beauty, harmony and respect for the wisdom of the Elders and ancient traditions.

Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.

An artist whose reputation has long been forged by his engagement and musical exchange with local scenes and cultures from across the world. Quantic"s vast discography of electronic releases spans two decades, ranging from focused solo productions and intimate collaborations to expansive ensemble projects. Now, the multi-instrumentalist, DJ, composer and producer Will Holland delivers his DJ-Kicks compilation, which fittingly radiates friends and family energy. The mix bursts with unreleased exclusives and places the art of curation at its core, giving the listeners space to go and dig more of the songs and sonics which resonate the most. Will Holland includes a glistening breadth of new material, including new music from Quantic alongside another of his aliases Sobredosis, creating a mix teeming with vitality.

Welcome to the second edition of Era Specific Noise! This release sees the debut of three talented new artists to the label - there's nothing better than a good VA. With an audible sonic influence and shared appreciation for the originality and love poured into old-school techno, ESPN002 has something for every drum machine lover out there.

We kick things off with Toecruncher's track "Turnstyle", the first of two driving pieces of dancefloor-friendly techno that make up the A side. A classic 16th note bassline, strong percussion, and just the right amount of ear candy and ephemeral pads - this work practically mixes itself into your DJ set. The next output by label head Richardson "Situational Awareness" builds off this style and adds a growling, modulated synthline, a uniqueness which ensures its memorability and slot in your bag.

The clarity in production of B1 "Occhio per occhio" by Alfa Cornae is hard to put into words. There's a mountain of percussion in this hardgroove-inspired piece and yet, everything seems to have its own place - and those squelchy breakdowns don't hurt either. Rounding off the release is "Kintsugi" - a slamming, industrial yet ethereal piece by Andrea Crestani. We personally enjoy a release that tells a story, and this track has all the hallmarks and melancholy of an EP closer.

We hope you enjoy your stay with Era Specific Noise - New school old school.

Auntie Flo finds a natural home for OUTERNATIONAL DANCE on Multi Culti Throughout his long career in music, Brian d’Souza aka Auntie Flo has made a name for himself for his adventurous and open minded approach to music making. Travel and collaboration is key to his work, and over the course of four albums and various singles, he’s showcased music made in Cuba, South Korea, Uganda, Brazil and more, often fusing long standing musical traditions, field recordings and artist collaborations with a modern production techniques. As Auntie Flo, he has bridged not only cultural gaps as a Scottish-Goan in hybrid genres like Afro-disco, Indian Classical and Dub-Techno, but recently crossed over into bioelectrical music, with his Plants Can Dance, Mushroom Music and full-blown ambient psychedelica all housed under his A State Of Flo label and Substack. Outernational Dance helps define this expansive sound with a set of tracks that brings dance culture back to nature, inspired by ‘Esperanto’, a form of universal language created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887. The notion of music as the universal language has always been at the heart of Auntie Flo’s practise and makes this new EP a perfect fit for the boundary dissolving reverie of the Multi Culti ethos: pointing the way to a better world, borderless, free and in symbiosis with nature.

"All I Do Is Dreaming" is the band's third album.

A journey that takes you through various landscapes—gliding over electronic plains, climbing colorful pop hills, and occasionally venturing onto rugged indie rock trails.

Along the way, several encounters: a stop in Mexico with a remix by CLUZ, a collaboration in the UK with boundary-crossing indie artist Just Jack, and in the US with artist Pedro Blue.

Camel Power Club has never been more open to the fusion of ideas and talents—and it suits them perfectly.