Norwegian instrumental art/prog/post-rock quintet The Samuel Jackson Five return with their first full length album in nearly a decade, "A Passage to Elsewhere", it's their most expansive and exploratory work to date, and the first release in collaboration with Norwegian label Karisma Records. Drawing from Kosmische Musik, '70's progressive rock, vintage library music, the jazz-inflected post-rock of Chicago and Toronto, imaginary folk, and experimental electronica, the result is a rich sonic tapestry. Rather than building towards predictable crescendos, "A Passage to Elsewhere" unfolds as an adventurous evershifting melodic journey, inviting the listener deeper in with each turn.
Berlin-based trio Roomer weave noise, melody, and memory into expansive guitar-driven songs. Formed by long-time friends and collaborators Ronja Schößler, Ludwig Wandinger, and Luka Aron, the band brings together distinct voices from across Europe's avant-garde, folk, and electronic scenes, folding these lineages into a sound that moves between shoegaze density, diaristic songwriting, and sonic exploration. Their music often holds opposites in suspension: clarity and blur, structure and drift, intimacy and collapse.
Their debut album Leaving It All to Chance (2025,) introduced this language in full, pairing emotionally direct songs with shifting textures and dense layers of distortion. With Staircase Made of Rope, their second album on Squama, Roomer widen the frame further. Built largely from improvisations and first takes, the record embraces instability as method, moving between density and silence while allowing melodies to surface and dissolve in unexpected ways.
Synth driven perpetual punk rock, darkened by atmospheric touches in its production and songwriting, yet uplifted by its intention to distill that darkness into light. Pop music from France on either side of the punk explosion has never shy’d away from electronic elements and on Nuits Blanche’s Helás LP there is plenty to remind us of that legacy. The sounds we are given rub against neither pop or dance, but instead absorbs the impact of quite tough sounding street punk. Four on the floor drums, like Disco’s ghost stamped across the face by the weight of the electric guitar run with songs not out of place if “A Country Fit For Heroes” got shoved inside the sleeve of “Wanna Buy A Bridge” and the two became one. Helás has the heft and the violence of boots treading across concrete en masse but within that is the lightness and the style of a dark smokey room filled with people wearing dark glasses and considering the inevitability of the pointlessness of existence…off the dance floor anyway. (Jonah Falco)
CFUNK 050 is presented as a special collector edition commemorating the 50th Cyberfunk release. The package celebrates more than two decades of the label's music, artwork and visual identity.
The accompanying booklet brings together artwork from across the Cyberfunk catalogue, including labels from some of Quest's biggest and most memorable releases, alongside a personal retrospective from DJ Quest looking back at the creation of the label, the artists who shaped it and the journey back to vinyl.
Dedicated artist pages introduce DJ Quest, Paket, Destroyers, Code BreakerZ and Groovebox, connecting the artists behind release 050 with the wider story of Cyberfunk and the international breakbeat community that continues to support it.
More than simply a four-track 12", CFUNK 050 is designed as a physical celebration of Cyberfunk: its records, its artwork, its artists and the people who have kept the sound alive.
Cyberfunk reaches release number 50. To mark the milestone, DJ Quest opens up the Cyberfunk archives for a special four-track vinyl release featuring new interpretations from Paket, Destroyers, Code BreakerZ and Groovebox.
CFUNK 050 connects the label's original UK Bassline Breaks foundations directly with a new generation of producers. Each artist has been given the freedom to reinterpret classic Quest material in their own style while retaining the character, bass pressure and dancefloor attitude that made the originals unmistakably Cyberfunk.
From Paket's reworking of Muffled Mayhem and Destroyers' take on Cybanet, through to two very different versions of Back To The Old Skool from Code Breakerz and Tech House maestro Groovebox, the release moves across modern breaks, heavyweight club production and rolling groove-led territory.
It is both a celebration of 50 Cyberfunk releases and a statement about what comes next.
A1. DJ Quest feat. Yoof - Muffled Mayhem (Paket Remix)
Spanish breaks heavyweight Paket takes on Muffled Mayhem, retaining the attitude and personality of the original while rebuilding it for contemporary dancefloors with heavyweight drums, powerful bass and the polished low-end pressure that has made him a leading figure in the new generation of Andalusian Breakbeat.
A2. DJ Quest - Cybanet (Destroyers Remix)
Destroyers turns his attention to Cybanet, pushing one of Quest's darker electronic productions firmly into modern club territory. Futuristic electronics, heavyweight rhythm programming and serious dancefloor pressure meet the machine-driven character of the original.
B1. DJ Quest - Back To The Old Skool (Code BreakerZ Remix)
Code BreakerZ completely re-engineer one of Quest's defining tracks for a new generation. Their acid-tinged, hard-hitting approach injects fresh energy into Back To The Old Skool while keeping the hooks and attitude that made the original such an important Quest record.
B2. DJ Quest - Back To The Old Skool (Groovebox Remix)
Groovebox closes the release with a deeper, tech house, groove-led interpretation. Built around movement, rhythm and rolling dancefloor momentum, his remix takes the original somewhere different while preserving the unmistakable old-skool spirit at its core.
Mit ihren ersten beiden Alben verwandelten Dream Unending die vertraute Architektur des Death Doom in einen eigenen Ort. Eine Sprache, in der tiefste Schwere mit Progressive Rock, Ambient-Musik, jazzinspirierter Improvisation und unverblümter emotionaler Offenheit koexistieren konnte.
Auf dem neuen Album 'Certain Uncertainties' bleibt dieser Ausdruck intakt, doch der Blick hat sich verändert. Wo frühere Werke oft nach oben und außen zu greifen schienen, kehrt dieses auf die Erde zurück: schlanker im Aufbau, rauere Kanten und von einer ausgeprägt nächtlichen Atmosphäre geprägt. Man könnte es vielleicht 'Adult Contemporary Doom' nennen; Musik von erheblichem Gewicht, die dennoch gelernt hat, wie viel gesagt werden kann, indem man bestimmte Dinge ungesagt lässt.
Aufgenommen mit weniger Schichten und einem bewusst unmittelbaren instrumentalen Ansatz, gibt 'Certain Uncertainties' den einzelnen Darbietungen Raum zum Atmen. Derrick Vellas Gitarren bewegen sich mit ungewohnter Freiheit durch Blues-, Jazz- und Progressive-Vokabular und tragen zuweilen den offen geführten Charakter amerikanischer Roots-Musik in Gefilde, die man im Doom selten antrifft. Justin DeTores Schlagzeug ist durchgehend präsent, verleiht dem Album eine physischere Dynamik und hilft den Kompositionen, ihre Ziele mit größerer Sparsamkeit zu erreichen. Dennoch hat die Prägnanz die Vorliebe von Dream Unending für Entladung nicht geschmälert: Insbesondere das Eröffnungs- und das Schlussstück steuern auf enorme Druckpunkte zu, während die Zwischenräume Vellas Spiel zum Wandern, Reagieren und gelegentlichen Unvollkommenheiten einladen. Jeder Song funktioniert als eigene Vignette – teils Wüsten-Träumerei, teils After-Hours-Noir – durchzogen von Spuren westlicher Landschaften, dämmrigen Räumen und leeren Straßen.
Diese erdgebundene Qualität passt zu einem Album, das sich im Kern mit Instabilität und Wiederaufbau beschäftigt. Entstanden in einer Phase, in der Vella sein eigenes Vertrauen ins Risikoeingehen neu aufbaute, trägt 'Certain Uncertainties' Zweifel in sich, ohne der Verzweiflung zu verfallen. Die versehrte Balladenhaftigkeit von 'I Carry Your Burden' (mit Gastgesang von Brendan Radigan), die improvisatorische Offenheit des Titeltracks und die hässlicheren Ausbrüche des Death Doom gehören alle zum selben emotionalen Terrain: Schönheit und Unbehagen dürfen denselben Rahmen einnehmen. Wenn das frühere Werk von Dream Unending eine andere Welt jenseits der Grenzen schwerer Musik imaginierte, findet 'Certain Uncertainties' etwas ebenso Seltsames in der Welt unter unseren Füßen. Ein Album voller trockener Luft, langer Schatten, ungelöster Fragen und dem sturen Impuls, sich weiter durch sie hindurchzubewegen.
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.
Phillip George Allison was born and raised in Denham Town, West Kingston, the last of six children and the only boy. As a boy he sang hymns at his mother's side. Before long he was singing radio hits at school concerts, where he did Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendricks in a falsetto so close to theirs that friends called him "George Smokey."
With Delroy Williams and Shirley Forbes he formed The Mad Lads. Leroy Sibbles auditioned them at Studio One and called Coxsone Dodd over to listen, and they recorded the same day, with Sylvan Morris as engineer and the Sound Dimensions backing them. Ten To One, Losing You and You Never Know were big with the sound systems. George then left music to study electrical engineering at CAST. Years later producer Carl Prince of Gibbous Records asked him to re-record Ten To One, and that brought him back into the studio for the 1984 album So Unusual, where both of these sides first appeared.
Gypsy Woman was one of the first songs he ever sang in class. "Gypsy Woman was originally done by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, one of my favourite groups. I chose to do it a little differently, in my falsetto style, like Ten To One that I recorded while singing lead with the Mad Lads."
War Is Ugly "I wrote War Is Ugly during the politically motivated tensions and killings between rival gangs and gunmen all over the island in that period. My message was to the gunmen: turn in their arms and come. War is ugly, love is lovely."
New York-based Japanese jazz and electronic music polymath Takuya Nakamura presents his debut album Shape The Future - almost 35 years into his storied musical journey.
An expansive double album, the album’s first LP documents a spellbinding live performance by Nakamura recorded at fabric. A hybrid set combining DJing, live electronics, vocals, and trumpet, the set also features studio versions of special collaborations with Shigeto, Currency Audio and Tim Reaper. The second LP complements the first by assembling studio recordings of select album tracks. Altogether the two volumes make for a definitive display of Nakamura’s exceptional musicianship across jazz, DnB, jungle, broken beat, deep techno and more.
Across his career, Nakamura has played Brazilian music, merengue, salsa and straight-ahead jazz. He’s opened for Sun Ra Arkestra, performed with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Wu-Tang Clan, and Arto Lindsay, appeared on sessions with Terry Riley, ASAP Rocky, Goldie, and TV On The Radio, and remixed the likes of Quincy Jones, Sun Ra, Billie Holiday, and The Streets. He’s also played under director and playwright Robert Wilson.
Although the musical past and present of the Tokyo-born, New York-based DJ and trumpet player is undoubtedly eclectic, Nakamura is abidingly steeped in the sounds of jazz and jungle. This’ll be obvious to casual observers who may have seen any viral videos of him. But there’s more to this. The depth of Nakamura’s engagement with these kinds of music, the way they’ve made him into the person he is, the decades-long path they’ve taken him on; to now arrive at the summit of a solo album is all truly remarkable. Shape The Future resonates with every chapter in this story.
In high school, Nakamura’s friends started listening to jazz and jazz fusion, which piqued his interest, especially when they started going to clubs to see it live, where they managed to see US legends like Sonny Rollins play. Eventually he began to play jazz every day and his musical skill emerged early. He soon became obsessed with getting closer to the source of this music, which led to his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with George Russell, an influential figure who had taught Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Nakamura drank it in: not only the technical aspects but the sense of a direct connection to “a music culture where Russell and his friends changed harmony forever. I wanted to know how that was possible!”.
This was a radical experience in itself, but then another revolution happened for Nakamura. He was playing in a venue called The Western Front, near Boston and discovered that the elderly owner had his own soundsystem and was playing what was then - in 1992 - only just becoming known as jungle. This was as freeing a musical revelation as his proximity to the giants of jazz was, and in that instant the two things fused. He understood that using technology to fill a dancehall with sound and a jazz musician’s reflexes are all working to the same ends: “You’re always making decisions,” he says, “but it doesn’t have to be really difficult. It’s the truth of the frequencies, and how they’re affecting people’s minds.”
From that moment on, his life path was set. Moving to New York City, he sought out jungle and its offshoot sounds wherever he could find them, gigging and collaborating relentlessly, and gradually developing his own live and hybrid live/DJ shows. Through regular appearances at New York fixtures Zebulon and CBGBs, and continual shows elsewhere in the city, Nakamura developed his live performance and DJing and it was in these environments that he gradually weaved together his twin loves without compromising either, building an international reputation in the process.
It’s only fitting then that his first album, almost 35 years after he first found his musical direction, should be a live one: a window into this never-ending process. Even here, he had to be persuaded that he should make a record. A member of the fabric team got turned on to his music after their daughter saw him play. Of course, as a jungle lover, Nakamura knew fabric – which has a special place in the history of jungle and drum’n’bass – and “had wanted to play there since I was very young.” You can hear the club in the record: this isn’t just a live show, in keeping with his jungle roots, it’s Nakamura duetting with the soundsystem, and you can feel how the emotions in the room would have ebbed and flowed.
This dynamic translates to a transfixing record. Setting the tone with lushly textured ambient and reverberant jazz, Nakamura segues into cinematic breakbeat and stellar fusion, infusing it all with intoxicating low end and hypnotic rhythms. The LP’s midway point locks into mesmeric percussion heightened by resonant echoes of piano and trumpet. There’s an endless pull to this music. Nakamura adjusts the levels for maximum impact throughout, and the overall effect begins to evoke some harmonious hybrid between a jazz ensemble, a classic Metalheadz 12” and a Theo Parrish DJ set. His electric form continues through surreal jazz, intricate electronics and rolling sub-bass velocity, right up to the subtly devastating final cover of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s ‘Don’t Give Up’, with Nakamura’s fragile vocal sitting in the heart of a huge sound.
From Tokyo jazz nights to formative studies and encounters in Boston to his artistic development in New York, Nakamura reaches another milestone with his monumental debut album. It’s a release that happened just the way a Takuya Nakamura record should. In the same way his instincts led him to musical revelations, taking his own sweet time has led him to make one of the most extraordinary debut albums imaginable, all executed in his own singular style. In Nakamura’s world, the universe finds a way.
Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Brigitte Fontaine’s landmark 1970 Saravah album Comme à la Radio, recorded with Areski Belkacem (who sadly died last June), Wadada Leo Smith and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This deluxe 2-LP edition pairs the original album with a second LP of rare bonus material. The release is accompanied by a lavish 24-page bilingual booklet featuring an introduction by journalist Andy Beta, essays by Wadada Leo Smith, Brigitte Fontaine biographer Benoît Mouchart and Benjamin Barouh, plus a recent interview with Brigitte Fontaine and the late Areski Belkacem. The booklet also includes complete lyrics and a selection of rare archival photographs by Jean-Pierre Leloir and Philippe Gras. The reissue is announced alongside its companion, the deluxe 2-LP set Comme à la Radio "On Air", featuring previously unreleased ORTF live recordings and additional studio rarities.
Wewantsounds pursues its Brigitte Fontaine reissue program with Comme à la Radio, originally released in 1970 on Pierre Barouh’s cult Saravah label, fusing Fontaine’s radical lyricism with Areski Belkacem’s minimalist compositions and the fearless improvisations of the Art Ensemble of Chicago + Wadada Leo Smith. Its title track has since become a cult classic in jazz and groove circles.
The album has been newly remastered from the original tapes and is reissued in a deluxe 2-LP edition featuring 11 bonus tracks. The first LP presents the original album in restored clarity, while the second gathers rare non-album singles, English-language takes, alternate versions and previously unreleased instrumental recordings showcasing the Art Ensemble's artistry, including the elusive English version of Comme à la Radio, and a striking early version of L’été L’été.
Also included is a 24-page bilingual booklet featuring rare archival photographs by cult photographers Jean-Pierre Leloir and Philippe Gras, complete lyrics, and contributions by Andy Beta, Wadada Leo Smith, Benoît Mouchart and Benjamin Barouh, plus a recent interview with Brigitte Fontaine and the late Areski Belkacem. The reissue is announced alongside its companion Comme à la Radio "On Air", a deluxe 2-LP set presenting previously unreleased ORTF live recordings and additional studio rarities.
Comme à la Radio stands as a visionary landmark of French music and a defining statement in Brigitte Fontaine’s career. This expanded edition confirms its enduring influence more than fifty years after its original release.
a A1. Comme À La Radio 8.03
b A2. Tanka II 2.04
c A3. Le Brouillard [3.24]
[d] A4. J'ai 26 Ans [3.04]
[e] B1. L'été L'été [3.56]
[f] B2. Encore [1.34]
[g] B3. Léo [3.50]
[h] B4. Les Petits Chevaux [0.43]
[i] B5. Tanka I [1.45]
[j] B6. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare De La Tour De Carol [6.04]
[l] C1. Comme À La Radio – English Version [8.08]
[m] C2. J’ai 26 Ans – English Version [3.56]
[n] C3. Le Goudron – 7’’ Single [4.12]
[o] C4. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choisi – 7" Single [5.03]
[p] D1. Les Beaux Animaux – 7’’ Single [3.16]
[q] D2. L'été L'été – Early version [4.38]
[r] D3. L'été L'eté – Instrumental Version [4.23]
[s] D4. Tanka I – Instrumental Version [1.47]
[t] D5. Tanka II – Instrumental Version with Flute [1.40]
[u] D6. Le Brouillard – Instrumental Version [3.57]
[v] D7. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare – A Cappella English Version [2.46]
[a] A1. Comme À La Radio [8.03]
[b] A2. Tanka II [2.04]
[c] A3. Le Brouillard [3.24]
[d] A4. J'ai 26 Ans [3.04]
[e] B1. L'été L'été [3.56]
[f] B2. Encore [1.34]
[g] B3. Léo [3.50]
[h] B4. Les Petits Chevaux [0.43]
[i] B5. Tanka I [1.45]
[j] B6. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare De La Tour De Carol [6.04]
[l] C1. Comme À La Radio – English Version [8.08]
[m] C2. J’ai 26 Ans – English Version [3.56]
[n] C3. Le Goudron – 7’’ Single [4.12]
[o] C4. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choisi – 7" Single [5.03]
[p] D1. Les Beaux Animaux – 7’’ Single [3.16]
[q] D2. L'été L'été – Early version [4.38]
[r] D3. L'été L'eté – Instrumental Version [4.23]
[s] D4. Tanka I – Instrumental Version [1.47]
[t] D5. Tanka II – Instrumental Version with Flute [1.40]
[u] D6. Le Brouillard – Instrumental Version [3.57]
[v] D7. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare – A Cappella English Version [2.46]
[a] A1. Comme À La Radio [8.03]
[b] A2. Tanka II [2.04]
[c] A3. Le Brouillard [3.24]
[d] A4. J'ai 26 Ans [3.04]
[e] B1. L'été L'été [3.56]
[f] B2. Encore [1.34]
[g] B3. Léo [3.50]
[h] B4. Les Petits Chevaux [0.43]
[i] B5. Tanka I [1.45]
[j] B6. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare De La Tour De Carol [6.04]
[l] C1. Comme À La Radio – English Version [8.08]
[m] C2. J’ai 26 Ans – English Version [3.56]
[n] C3. Le Goudron – 7’’ Single [4.12]
[o] C4. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choisi – 7" Single [5.03]
[p] D1. Les Beaux Animaux – 7’’ Single [3.16]
[q] D2. L'été L'été – Early version [4.38]
[r] D3. L'été L'eté – Instrumental Version [4.23]
[s] D4. Tanka I – Instrumental Version [1.47]
[t] D5. Tanka II – Instrumental Version with Flute [1.40]
[u] D6. Le Brouillard – Instrumental Version [3.57]
[v] D7. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare – A Cappella English Version [2.46]
[a] A1. Comme À La Radio [8.03]
[b] A2. Tanka II [2.04]
[c] A3. Le Brouillard [3.24]
[d] A4. J'ai 26 Ans [3.04]
[e] B1. L'été L'été [3.56]
[f] B2. Encore [1.34]
[g] B3. Léo [3.50]
[h] B4. Les Petits Chevaux [0.43]
[i] B5. Tanka I [1.45]
[j] B6. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare De La Tour De Carol [6.04]
[l] C1. Comme À La Radio – English Version [8.08]
[m] C2. J’ai 26 Ans – English Version [3.56]
[n] C3. Le Goudron – 7’’ Single [4.12]
[o] C4. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choisi – 7" Single [5.03]
[p] D1. Les Beaux Animaux – 7’’ Single [3.16]
[q] D2. L'été L'été – Early version [4.38]
[r] D3. L'été L'eté – Instrumental Version [4.23]
[s] D4. Tanka I – Instrumental Version [1.47]
[t] D5. Tanka II – Instrumental Version with Flute [1.40]
[u] D6. Le Brouillard – Instrumental Version [3.57]
[v] D7. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare – A Cappella English Version [2.46]
[a] A1. Comme À La Radio [8.03]
[b] A2. Tanka II [2.04]
[c] A3. Le Brouillard [3.24]
[d] A4. J'ai 26 Ans [3.04]
[e] B1. L'été L'été [3.56]
[f] B2. Encore [1.34]
[g] B3. Léo [3.50]
[h] B4. Les Petits Chevaux [0.43]
[i] B5. Tanka I [1.45]
[j] B6. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare De La Tour De Carol [6.04]
[l] C1. Comme À La Radio – English Version [8.08]
[m] C2. J’ai 26 Ans – English Version [3.56]
[n] C3. Le Goudron – 7’’ Single [4.12]
[o] C4. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choisi – 7" Single [5.03]
[p] D1. Les Beaux Animaux – 7’’ Single [3.16]
[q] D2. L'été L'été – Early version [4.38]
[r] D3. L'été L'eté – Instrumental Version [4.23]
[s] D4. Tanka I – Instrumental Version [1.47]
[t] D5. Tanka II – Instrumental Version with Flute [1.40]
[u] D6. Le Brouillard – Instrumental Version [3.57]
[v] D7. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare – A Cappella English Version [2.46]
[a] A1. Comme À La Radio [8.03]
[b] A2. Tanka II [2.04]
[c] A3. Le Brouillard [3.24]
[d] A4. J'ai 26 Ans [3.04]
[e] B1. L'été L'été [3.56]
[f] B2. Encore [1.34]
[g] B3. Léo [3.50]
[h] B4. Les Petits Chevaux [0.43]
[i] B5. Tanka I [1.45]
[j] B6. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare De La Tour De Carol [6.04]
[l] C1. Comme À La Radio – English Version [8.08]
[m] C2. J’ai 26 Ans – English Version [3.56]
[n] C3. Le Goudron – 7’’ Single [4.12]
[o] C4. Le Noir C'est Mieux Choisi – 7" Single [5.03]
[p] D1. Les Beaux Animaux – 7’’ Single [3.16]
[q] D2. L'été L'été – Early version [4.38]
[r] D3. L'été L'eté – Instrumental Version [4.23]
[s] D4. Tanka I – Instrumental Version [1.47]
[t] D5. Tanka II – Instrumental Version with Flute [1.40]
[u] D6. Le Brouillard – Instrumental Version [3.57]
[v] D7. Lettre À Monsieur Le Chef De Gare – A Cappella English Version [2.46]
Vokabularium returns with leksikon vol. 2, the second instalment of the label’s evolving VA series - a carefully curated body of work that reflects the deeper philosophy behind the Copenhagen-based imprint: emotionally driven electronic music built for introspection as much as the dancefloor.
Following the success of the first leksikon compilation, this new chapter expands the label’s sonic identity further, bringing together a diverse collection of artists whose productions move fluidly between melodic techno, leftfield electronica, deep house and experimental club music. Across the compilation, there’s a consistent thread of tension, atmosphere and storytelling - records designed less around fleeting trends and more around lasting emotional resonance.
Founded by Denis Horvat, Vokabularium has steadily established itself as a platform for detailed, synth-led electronic music rooted in analogue textures and cinematic depth. The label has become an extension of Horvat’s own musical language - one shaped by releases on respected imprints including Innervisions, Afterlife and Diynamic, alongside his increasingly distinctive output on Vokabularium itself.
Pure loveliness. Proper music-making,
DIY Classical, but nothing slapdash or posey. Intimate and tentative, seamed with risk, occasional mis-steps, dodgy tuning, minor technical fuck-ups; but driven by gripping, stilled dedication and deep musical understanding.
Double bass, electric guitar, flute, melodica, singing; recorded at home in NYC, on dodgy gear, with snug, woody, shhshh-ing, analogue-style ambience.
The trio hovers between cheerful relish - who’s that giggling at the back - and hushed, humble reverence, basking in the processes of musical communion and learning. They play like they are gingerly passing on a precious, fragile gift; but without prissy conceit.
Luminous selections from the last six hundred years - John of Dunstable meets Friedrich Nietzsche - are lovingly arranged by the group, with a bent for stripped-to-the-bone, emotionally restrained sublimity, steady as she blows.
Very warmly recommended. Soul food.
SELN Recordings is proud to present Sillons, the debut release from French musician Pierre François.
Straight from Nantes with love and sadness; Sillons is the soundtrack to being shut inside and sheltered from all the dread beyond your bedroom door. What may at first appear as a collection of abstract loops unravels into something much greater throughout its entirety.
Underneath a thick atmosphere of tape hiss and crackle, minimal synth explorations emerge and float away while the occasional guitar-esq riff ebbs in and out of the foreground like waves at the shore. Percussive refrains come through with perfect timing, their occasional rudimentary timbre all in the spirit of ‘do it yourself magique’.
Picture the following: it’s been decades and you’ve forgotten how to communicate with the world outside, all you have left are message-songs which leave behind a story of what it was like to be separated from everything you’d ever known during an existential sabbatical. This is very near to the audio experience that Sillons gives and thus makes it so real. On this merit alone François deserves his flowers.
Even the shortest of songs manage to conjure up visceral imagery. For example ‘Abouile’, with an impressive runtime of 51 seconds, dives straight into the eeriest corners of a Cold-War era ‘Numbers Broadcast’ being sent out from malfunctioning military personnel venturing off into the depths of their consciousness.
All in all there is something distinctly ambitious and positive within Francois’ work. It takes you to a place where little else matters except the mood and feeling the music provides, a hopeful and emotive landscape.
Anna Almani might be your new favourite producer. IFYKYK.. If you don't, then let's get to know..
Anna Almani is a Berlin based “Drag-DJ & Fun-House-Queen”. She is “Big Sister” at ‘Love Letter’ an imprint “for flinta & queer sonic goodness” and she is the alter ego of deep house producer and Poker Flat & Watergate artist ‘Iorie’.
Anna says “This EP is part of my queer expression. It’s all about the attitude to resist, it’s about being yourself unapologetically. It’s a big hug to the queer community and a love letter to resistance on the dancefloor. Be radical, have an attitude and lose yourself.”
When we picked the tracks for this EP we were completely spoiled for choice. There’s so much personality in Anna’s music that every track list made sense. And that’s because there’s a common thread that runs through all of Anna’s music - Balance. Ying & Yang. Dark & Bright, Passive & Assertive, Masculine & Feminine, Fun & Depth all in kept in amazing dynamic balance.
This is Share Now & Save for Later… Gratification immediate and delayed. .. . four tracks to take you through from open to close. From Berlin to NYC and round again
‘See Me Walk’ is gonna be the track that grabs the attention and connects with dancers everywhere. Fast, fun and full of attitude it’s a 909 workout with the energy and syncopation of Ballroom Vogue aaaaand a fabulous diva vocal to match. ’Tender T’ counters the audaciousness with some tenderness. Energetic yet embracing, this introspective proggy, dubby afterhours roller is a proper trip! Full of colour but hazy af.
On the flip ‘Gimme Some’ ramps up the tempo. Fast, urgent and cyclic grooving techno - with a strut - that’s both dubbed out and in your face. ‘Anladın mı’ is a collaboration between Anna and German/Turkish producer Zettka. Low slung house that both jacks and grooves. Rolling basses balanced with playful chords. “Anladın mı” it translates as “Do you understand? or “Got it?”. By now I think we do understand.. That certain je ne sais quoi… Anna Almani has definitely got it.
'AMEN is a word that moves between the sacred and the ordinary, across languages and cultures. An ancient, universal expression, born in prayer yet living beyond it - in daily life, especially in the Italian language, where it has become part of ordinary speech, used to accept, conclude, affirm, and let things be.
'The sixth release on e s p e r p e n t o opens a gateway into a timeless, transcultural dimension through a continuous, immersive sonic flow. While conceived as an intimate listening journey, this record emerged from a shared experience within the walls of Frequenze Studio (Monza). ESPER006 is the result of a three-hour improvised live session that brought together experimental music trio MYS and London-based producer Big Hands.'
Originally released in 2000 on Smalltown Supersound, Kim Hiorthøy’s first record Hei captures an artist who had made very little music before – yet it seemingly was the starting point of a musical career that would stay away from easy categorisation. Now, Hei (2026 Remaster) returns on blickwinkel, released digitally and on vinyl on 30 October 2026, as part of an ongoing series revisiting and reissuing Hiorthøy’s work.
Made in Copenhagen with little equipment — an Akai MPC2000, a stereo microphone and a DAT machine — Hei was assembled from samples, sequences and rhythms, with no outboard mixing or processing. Without really knowing what he was doing, the music was created intuitively while drawing inspiration from instrumental hip-hop he was listening to, the techno and drum & bass he admired but did not yet know how to make, and a broader fascination with music that felt personal, homemade and slightly uncertain of its own identity. Hei sits somewhere between those impulses. It is beat-driven without belonging entirely to beat music, experimental without announcing itself as such, but unmistakably coming from a playful series of events and decisions.
In that regard, the title of the closing track might be a fitting description of the album itself and, in hindsight, also of how we can look at Hiorthøy’s subsequent work. Taken from a story by Tove Jansson, the title evokes a state of openness and curiosity, a state where thoughts and impressions are simply given the space to unfold:
“He didn't care to get up, all day he let new images and ideas come and go as they pleased, now and then slept a little and woke up again and had no idea who he was. It was a peaceful and very exciting day.”
There is something of Hei in that state of mind: a willingness to follow an idea without knowing exactly where it might lead, a willingness to follow guts and the heart rather than ratio. Perhaps that is also what makes Hei still feel relevant today. As Hiorthøy puts it when reflecting on the music he made then and the music he makes now: “If I compare the music on Hei to music I’m making now, the general sentiment or smell or air or tree or pull of what I’m looking for and listening after when I work is, I think, for better or worse, more or less the same.”
All music by Kim Hiortøy
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Portraits by Kim Hiorthøy
Design by Jelle Martens
Musique Pour La Danse presents a raw, euphoric, and totally essential document of British rave history. LIVE IN MANCHESTER captures like nothing else the pure energy and essence of an era.
Featuring the unstoppable duo Mark Franklin and Nigel Champion, and vocalist Saffron, this legendary 1992 live set delivers iconic tracks like "Anthem", "Adrenaline", and "Malfunction" in their most ecstatic form and many exclusive tracks.
Often copied and sampled, never surpassed, because it simply can't be. If you're only owning one rave record, this is the one.
Includes liner notes by Matt Anniss, re-designed in Büro Destruct with an historical collectible flyers poster 12"x36", with the help of Phatmedia.
Newly mastered and cut at Transition Studios for maximum impact. Simply the best thing for your warehouse soundsystem.
EPILOGUE is the culmination of more than four decades of music-making by Japanese composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ken-ichiro Isoda, an album in which environmental sound, electronics, contemporary classical composition and memory converge into a deeply personal late-career statement. Isoda moved through video-game music, film composition, classical production, Okinawan music, television and collaborative projects, continually developing an approach in which acoustic instrumentation, field recordings and electronics could coexist naturally.
His collaborative album Interwoven with aus, released through WRWTFWW, further demonstrated the openness of a musical philosophy Isoda describes as being rooted in fluctuation, imperfection and organic movement.
EPILOGUE brings those threads together while refusing to function simply as a retrospective. The album consists largely of older compositions that Isoda has returned to, reconstructed and reinterpreted from the perspective of the present.
Opening track “TANEKOMA” refers to the Izu Robin, a rare bird native to Hachijō-jima, the volcanic island where Isoda lives. Its song, recorded by Isoda in the mountains, becomes part of the composition itself. Placed at the beginning of the album, “TANEKOMA” becomes both document and prayer.
Elsewhere, “Circulation 2” develops from a work created around the relationship between forest, sea and the movement of water. Flutist Dogen Kinowaki replaces Isoda’s original piano melody with a performance that gives the piece a distinctly Japanese sense of place. Kinowaki also appears on a newly reimagined version of “Beach of the Pliocene”, one of Isoda’s most recognised compositions.“STEPS”, first composed for film in 2008, looks back toward the electronica of that period. For this definitive version, Tsutomu Sonoda of maya ongaku provides vocals, bringing new emotional and lyrical depth to a piece Isoda had wanted to properly complete for more than a decade.
The title track from Isoda’s 1991 New Age album “Yume no Sazanami” is similarly reconsidered. Originally recorded with a small chamber orchestra, the new arrangement replaces elements of the harp and cello with layers of nylon-string guitar performed by Tatsuro Murakami. Perhaps the album’s clearest meeting point between past and present is “WATERWAYS.”The mysterious European ambient artist Aiko Takahashi, transforming an abandoned demo into what is simultaneously the oldest and newest work on the album.
“A Flowering Tree,” written for film in 2013, is reconstructed around multi-tracked flute performances by Dogen Kinowaki. Isoda carries that association into his own arrangement, allowing the piece to function as another quiet meditation on memory, loss and hope.
The album closes with “EPILOGUE” —less a grand conclusion than a moment of acceptance. Isoda chose it as the album’s title piece to hold what he describes as the complex emotions that accompany the twilight of a life spent making music. EPILOGUE is not simply a look back. It is the sound of older music continuing to move, change and breathe in the present: a lifetime of ideas distilled into Isoda’s own form of pure music, shaped by memory, collaboration, nature and the world immediately outside his home on Hachijō-jima.
Zum 100. Geburtstag von John Coltrane verneigt sich Miguel Atwood-Ferguson mit “ANANTA: Spirit
of Coltrane” vor einer seiner wichtigsten musikalischen und spirituellen Inspirationsquellen. Der in Los
Angeles beheimatete Komponist, Arrangeur und Multiinstrumentalist ist ein Grenzgänger zwischen Jazz,
Klassik, Hip-Hop und elektronischer Musik und arbeitete bereits mit Künstler wie Flying Lotus, Kamasi
Washington, Thundercat und Anderson .Paak.
Gemeinsam mit einem 21-köpfigen Ensemble und Gästen wie Brandee Younger, Shabaka, Immanuel Wilkins,
Jeff Parker, Flying Lotus und Aja Monet überführt er Coltranes Musik ins Hier und Jetzt. Klassiker wie
“Naima”, “My Favorite Things”, “A Love Supreme” und “Giant Steps” erscheinen in neuen Klangfarben.
Mehr als eine reine Hommage versteht Atwood-Ferguson “ANANTA” als spirituelle “Cosmic Music” – und
als zeitgenössische Weiterführung von Coltranes grenzenloser musikalischer Vision.
Gi Gi describes his process as “dubwise sampledelia.” It begins with fragments and ends somewhere else entirely, destabilizing its source material until it stops pointing backward. A borrowed sound, looped and bent, eventually forgets where it came from; it stops referencing anything but itself.
This liquid sensibility shaped his earlier work, music that hovered between drift and propulsion, suggesting the dance floor without fully stepping onto it. Presence was implied, edges stayed soft. The center was always there, but diffused like mist on a screen.
With In Lieu, that center comes into focus. Half written in Texas, half in Australia, the shift isn’t simply geographic, but internal. The record moves with a coiled, anticipatory energy; the drums arrive with more force and the bass organizes the room instead of melting into it. It's dense with the feeling of more bodies in the frame. Textures still smear and refract, but they move around a clearer axis.
Where past records circled their core, these inhabit it, pulling closer to the body. “Some Of” and “Arque” lean into low-end pressure without abandoning his instinct for drift. "Pink Dirt" circles around mechanical drums and dizzying vocal chops, head-down and visceral. Elsewhere, voices gain newfound contour, materializing in “Downswept” with intimate musings and nearly forming a lead vocal on the title track before dissolving again.
In Lieu moves with a newfound confidence, compressing inward, sounding closer to the source of its own pulse.
Dutch label Send — a techno sub-label of the spclnch imprint — presents its debut vinyl release. The "Tharsis EP" marks the first appearance of Cromper, the new moniker of producer Special Zip.
The four tracks are driven by the raw groove of the Roland TR-909 drum machine and a straight beat at 140 BPM. Stripped of obvious melodies, the music focuses on a hypnotic structure, dense analog atmosphere, and cosmic energy.
The record concludes with a minimalist techno remix by ANDC.
The release is pressed on classic 12" black vinyl. Both sides of the sleeve feature a shot of hardened lava from an Icelandic volcano, visually referencing the landscapes of Mars.
Agents Of Time return to Afterlife with two heartrending audio expeditions.
Italian act Agents Of Time have established a sterling reputation over the years. Their mesmerising approach to club music blends emotive melodies and transcendent rhythms, with dance floor-centred beats.
The Mirage EP begins with its title cut; enveloping the listener is a swathe of atmospheric synth and pad work from the off. Oscillating frequencies complement the sultry rhythms while a life-affirming riff forms the stirring centrepiece. On the flip ‘Northern Lights’ is a sensitive, emotive composition which gradually increases its emotional impact as it builds and evolves.
Pariter continues its acclaimed archive series with another essential London tech house reissue from the Strange Weather Studios catalogue. Produced by two of the scene's key figures, Timmy S and Justin Bailey, this release captures a defining moment in the evolution of the UK sound.
Originally released on Wiggle in 2001, the EP arrived during the golden era of Nathan Coles and Terry Francis's legendary Fabric residency, when Strange Weather was helping shape the future of London's underground tech house. More than twenty years on, these tracks have lost none of their impact.
Meticulously remastered from the original DAT masters, the EP features three deep, tripped-out, acid-tinged tech house cuts, now presented on heavyweight 180g vinyl for the first time. Gold.
Deas joins the CROWD family with 'Silent Tension', a refined EP that channels the Polish producer's signature blend of hypnotic groove and hardware driven production. Known for his precise studio craftsmanship and deeply intuitive approach to groovy techno, Deas has steadily built a reputation as one of the standout figures of the contemporary Polish scene. Through years of releases and international touring, he has developed a sound that feels both timeless and unmistakably personal, as proven on the label's 12th record. Opening track 'I Won't Cry' immediately sets the tone with classy vocal sampling from Loleatta Holloway, warm chord progressions and rolling swung percussion anchored by Deas' characteristically rich bass. Following up, 'Waterfall' introduces bleepy modular sequences and chopped vocal fragments, with a sweeping drone synth cutting through the mix above the track's rolling bass. On the flip side, 'Silent Tension' continues deeper into minimal territory, combining crisp clap fills, subtle vocal chops and delayed chord repetitions into a slow burning groove. The vinyl's closing cut 'Where Do They Go' brings dense low end weight and fast dubby chord stabs, accompanied by sharply placed vocal cuts, creating a track that balances restraint and impact. The digital addition 'Here Again' is a classic Deas production, characterised by repetitive synth stabs that gradually transform the cut into a hypnotic hook, while stripped back percussion and a powerful kick give the track a commanding presence. Throughout CROWD012, Deas remains firmly focused on groove and subtlety, while retaining a strong impact. The tracks unfold patiently, with a focus on tension, repetition and gradual escalation, maintaining the hypnotic functionality that has become both Deas' trademark and a defining characteristic of the sound of the label founded by FJAAK and Ellie Acula. The 'Silent Tension' EP stands as a sophisticated and deeply effective club record that further cements Deas as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary techno.
Zoo Brazil’s “Stockholm to Paris EP” on Phonogramme80 channels that deep, classy house energy tied to Laid’s timeless sound.
Written, mixed and produced by John Andersson, it carries the same refined groove and club weight that made “Punch Up” stand out.
Warm, sharp, and built for the floor, this EP moves with real purpose from start to finish.
A proper house record for heads who know the classics and want something with lasting impact.
Italian duo Ivan Iacobucci & Stella Fiore, now based in Berlin, make their debut on Griffé with the captivating "Ode Al Sole" EP. Following two acclaimed releases on the legendary Perlon and their own imprint, Klopfgeist Records, the pair return after a two-year hiatus.
Inspired by the many journeys Ivan and Stella have taken across the globe over the past two years, Ode Al Sole reflects a rich fusion of influences from Latin America and Africa, seamlessly intertwined with raw, forward-thinking electronic sounds of our times.
The EP is infused with hypnotic vocal elements that create a deep, trippy atmosphere, making each track both immersive and emotionally resonant.
Marcal has emerged as one of the most distinctive voices of a new generation of techno producers, combining rhythmic precision with an instinct for detail, tension and movement. On Four Small Escapes, he delivers four tracks built around subtle shifts and carefully placed moments of surprise, where intricate sound design and groove remain in constant dialogue. Opening with Smoke from Respawn, Marcal immediately establishes the record's character. Syncopated rhythms, intricate percussion work and subtle sound design details unfold within a streamlined framework, creating a groove that feels both spacious and forward-moving. Wooden rimshots and glassy textures interact across an open arrangement, giving the track a fluid and trippy quality. Arapuca shifts into darker territory while maintaining the same sense of control. Organic percussion, rolling low-end momentum and sharply placed accents continuously reshape the groove, creating a track that feels alive through movement rather than dramatic intervention. On Ultimamente, Marcal introduces one of the record's most immersive moments. Fleeting sonic details appear and disappear throughout the arrangement, while a carefully integrated vocal element adds depth and emotional weight without disrupting the flow. The result is a track that invites complete immersion while remaining firmly focused on the dancefloor. Closing the EP, The Surprise Test delivers its most direct statement. Rough and driving without leaning into industrial aesthetics, the track is powered by rolling energy, syncopated claps and a series of subtle electronic details that continuously animate its surface. The contrast between rawness and precision gives the record a powerful closing moment. Across all four tracks, Four Small Escapes highlights Marcal's ability to create tension through detail rather than excess. Reduced yet expressive, the EP balances functionality with a strong sense of character, allowing small gestures and unexpected shifts to leave a lasting impact.
Curses' dark, romantic take on electronic music is often linked to EBM, new beat, synth-pop, and the offshoots in between - but, as the artist states, it's feelings, not genres, that motivate his music. Especially the underground and its niche sounds, brimming with collective energy, drive and passion, make for a major impetus. It's no coincidence that he's drawn to the era when man turned to the machine, as a collaborative force, and a new kind of liveliness, timelessness, emerged. In Curses' practice, this synergy translates into an enticing mix of synthesisers and voices, electronic drums and guitars. Nostalgia operates as an influence rather than a motive, though: despite its affinities with the past, his music is stridently contemporary and idiosyncratic. On the "Perfect High" EP, this approach is rendered in a resolutely dancefloor-oriented selection. It's rich in detail and constantly evolving; each time a new element appears, it's treated with such delight and care that you could imagine the track to flit off and turn it into the main theme. This doesn't happen, however, as the sense of cohesion and momentum is paramount: there's a relentless forward drive that keeps engagement tight from start to finish. The detuned, chorus-heavy leads of title track "Perfect High" and the clockwork-tinged percussion of "Weapon Of Time" jell with lustrous hooks. The ominous choirs on "Dare To Dream" and the proto rolling-and-scratching squelches of "Killer Instinct" similarly fall into place. Bravado never stands in the way of flow. Everything is kept in check by gated R-50 rhythms, and in the vocal department, Curses finds the sweet spot between his own voice and a slew of off-kilter samples. On closer "Blasted" NYC royalty Andi joins for a slab of synth-driven groove. It's shiny and sensuous, like patent leather - a perfect distillation of club music channeled through pop aesthetics, and thus a right coda for ALT028.
New artist on the label, the talented Argentinian producer TOBI, who has already made some noise with his own imprint Nila's Quest. For his Slow Life debut, he delivers a powerful mix of tracks that blend genres, showcasing both his dancefloor instinct and his deeper, more atmospheric side.
Uyama Hiroto, one of the most important artists behind Nujabes works, released his debut album 'a son of the sun' on 2LP after 12 years.
Uyama Hiroto provided "Letter From Yokosuka" for Nujabes "metaphorical music" released in 2003 and was featured on the title track of "modal soul" released in 2005.
A son of the sun" was released in 2008 and continues to fascinate many listeners to this day.
One year after the release of his debut album Harap-Alb, Articulat returns with Harap-Alb: The Reworks – a companion record that continues the story rather than simply revisiting it.
Based on the original album Harap-Alb by Articulat. Reimagined by friends and fellow travelers.
Just as Harap-Alb leaves home, travels through unfamiliar lands, and meets companions who each shape his story, the music has now found new fellow travelers. Eight artists, each with their own signature, reinterpret one track from the original album, transforming it into something entirely their own while preserving the album’s essence.
The result is a richly varied collection that moves between dreamy synth landscapes, nostalgic strings, hypnotic excursions, broken rhythms, and straight-up dancefloor bangers. Every remix reflects the personality of its creator, turning the album into a conversation between artists connected by a shared appreciation for the original work.
If the first Harap-Alb was a personal retelling of a timeless story, The Reworks is proof that stories continue to evolve once they are shared.
Ezra Feinberg's third album Soft Power sees the composer-guitarist enlist an impressive array of fellow musicians including Mary Lattimore, David Moore (Bing & Ruth), Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Robbie Lee and share the life affirming lead single 'Future Sand'.
Defined by its abundance of melodies, repeating figures and ecstatic improvisations, Soft Power exudes an enlightened and transformative spirit to empower the listener. Feinberg, a practising psychoanalyst and former founding member of the San Francisco psychedelic collective Citay (Dead Oceans / Important Records) resides in the artistic enclave of upstate New York's Hudson River valley. Initial recordings emerged in the late summer of 2020, before added synthesis with collaborator John Thayer (Arp, Sunwatchers) during early 2021. Soft Power follows previous albums 'Recumbent Speech' (2020) and 'Pentimento and Others' (2018).
Feinberg artfully transcends the listener to an enriched place, his compositions distinguished by the deep humanity that lies at their core, plugging the listener into a state of wide eyed being, open and alive. Soft Power then is Ezra's own mantra but also one of power giving - a colourful catharsis translated into music.
Feinberg's music always speaks to the listener, but Soft Power, in whispering, speaks loudest.
"Much like everyday life, I wanted to convey these very plain, simple, tranquil, nearly quotidian aspects, but each piece contains this arc in which that form expands, is broken out of, so what starts out like a painting of flowers in a seaside motel turns into a riot of color and sound, or you feel slipped into a dream that feels like it could go on forever"
Father Hervé and son Louis return as FRONTMASCHINE with “Rühren”, their most accomplished and refined work to date. United by a shared passion for the rawest and most uncompromising forms of EBM, the duo continues to explore the essence of body music while pushing their sound to a new level of maturity.
On “Rühren”, cold, almost chilling polyphonic synthesizer melodies intertwine with their classic relentless drum programming that sits somewhere between the militant precision of DAF and the mechanical drive of the “Commando days” of Front 242. Every track is built around pure functionality: no unnecessary ornamentation, no concessions—just stripped-down, commanding rhythms designed to move bodies.
This is an exceptionally DJ-friendly record. Each cut is crafted for maximum impact on the dancefloor, making “Rühren” an essential tool and a true secret weapon for any DJ devoted to uncompromising body music. Martial, hypnotic and brutally effective, FRONTMASCHINE once again prove that the most direct approach is often the most powerful.
“When the flesh gets cut off the soul, it’s not the end.”
More than forty years after hardCORPS emerged from a Brixton basement, ‘Metal & Flesh’ returns in a new expanded edition on double vinyl and CD, newly remastered with the full involvement of surviving members Rob Doran and Clive Pierce. Born from the collision of punk, analogue synthesisers, sequencers, disco, reggae and experimental studio techniques, hardCORPS created electronic music that was as physical and emotional as it was mechanical. The arrival of French vocalist Regine Fetet gave the group its defining identity, placing her raw, uncompromising voice against the dense machinery of Hugh Ashton, Clive Pierce and Rob Doran. Working mainly with a Roland System 100, several Roland MC4 sequencers and later an additional MC500 and Atari ST 1040 computers, etc. pp., hardCORPS always transformed limitations, accidents, distortion and human imperfection into part of the music itself. Although rooted in the early 1980s, ‘Metal & Flesh’ refuses easy nostalgia, retaining the tension, space and character that made hardCORPS unlike their contemporaries. Yet, shall we eventually mention Kraftwerk, maybe let’s quote Ian Shirley from Record Collector magazine: „’Je Suis Passée‘ was not only a love letter to Kraftwerk but penned with such verve, passion and precision that Ralf and Florian probably would have accepted a blind date at a Düsseldorf cocktail bar (…).“ And as Martin Rushent famously said in 1990: “Hard Corps were ignored in their time. Perhaps it is the burden of the adventurous and the innovative to be ignored in their time, which is sad. Don’t ignore them now.”
This new edition has been carefully remastered to preserve that character and dynamics rather than simply making the recordings louder or more ‘modern’, while the artwork has likewise been developed to reflect the band’s original identity. Metal & Flesh’ is not merely an artefact of the 1980s, but a rare and fiercely individual document of four people discovering what happens when human instinct and machines collide.
Remastered by Martin Bowes. Graphic design by hard CORPS and Steve Lippert.
Gatefold sleeve gloss lamination, printed inner sleeves with lyrics, two double-sided hand-numbered.
Xistence Records reaches its eighth release with what may be its most important record so far, bringing together four artists whose music carries the spirit and evolution of Detroit techno. With selections reaching back three decades alongside new material, the EP connects different eras of tracks that exemplify the raw soul, machinery and futuristic thinking at the style's core. Sean Deason opens with 'Time Warp', originally appearing on his Matrix label in 1996 and finally receiving its first vinyl release. Thirty years later, its dramatic entrance and surging rhythm have aged perfectly. Energy is matched by genuine depth and soul, with its futuristic energy at the heart of it all. Label owner Arbilla follows with 'Electric Storm', harnessing the power of a great techno groove creates a blend of infections elements working in harmony. The second side reaches back to 1998 for a previously unreleased DX-9 production. A pounding Chicago warehouse beat meets the mechanical precision of Detroit, while a heavily over-arching acid line fuses the marriage these two deep-rooted cities. Legendary producer, Orlando Voorn closes proceedings under his Basic Bastard alias with 'Alone Together'. Perhaps the sickest groove of the EP. opens up a spacious atmosphere that gives the track an almost celestial quality. Inspired by Detroit techno’s evolution and its key figures, Xistence continues to show why it has become one of the rare trusted homes for proper techno.”
Adam Ten and Yamagucci team up on Rekids with ‘Keep Workin’’. Label head Radio Slave steps up with a remix.
Frequent collaborators Adam Ten & Yamagucci drop 'Keep Workin’' on Rekids, with a remix from label boss Radio Slave. The single is an irresistible club tool with immeasurable bass weight. Bold, rubbery drums and grinding low-end combine in bouncy fashion while a vocal fragment loops up top to create perfect dance floor tension. Brighter chords eventually rise through the mix, providing emotional release that will get hands in the air and take things to the next level.
On the remix, Radio Slave strips the original ‘Keep Workin’’ back to dusty, shuffling drums with jazzy flourishes. The track has a live, lived-in feel, complete with vulnerable piano keys that haunt the spaces above its weighty groove and transfix any crowd with eerie beauty.
Adam Ten is a long-time House innovator, Maccabi House co-founder and Upon You Records and Higher Ground artist, with over twenty Top 10 Beatport releases and millions of streams to his name. He blends the grit of Techno with escapist melodies in versatile, curious sets and productions that have earned him bookings worldwide. Yamagucci has made an equal impact on the world stage through his field recordings and organic percussion, adding a unique twist to his tracks on labels like Disco Halal, as well as Diynamic and Crosstown Rebels, labels that Adam Ten and Yamagucci have also collaborated on together.
2027 marks two decades since musician and producer Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy struck out on his own and launched Claremont 56, a label initially dedicated to “music by Mudd and friends” and named after the house he grew up in. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Murphy has assembled the label’s first ever decades-spanning vinyl retrospective: a six-LP re-mastered collection bringing together key cuts, cult classics, personal favourites, hard-to-find gems and inspired remixes from across the catalogue.
Unlike the label’s previous 10th anniversary box set, which focused on unreleased material and never-before-heard remixes, 20 Years of Claremont 56 traces the musical story of the imprint to date. Across six records, it showcases the distinctive Claremont 56 sound in all its many forms: acoustic, electric and electronic instrumentation, Balearic sunshine, krautrock grooves, folk-inflected psychedelia, slow-burning chuggers and deeply considered dancefloor music.
The set comes housed in a custom box featuring cover art by long-term label illustrator Mark Warrington. Inside are six slabs of vinyl across three gatefold sleeves, accompanied by liner notes from music journalist and author Matt Anniss, Murphy himself, and many of the artists whose music features in the collection.
The journey begins with a selection of formative late-noughties releases, including Mudd & Pollard’s chugging, picturesque ‘Villa Stavros’, the folksy beauty of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Shulme’ and Murphy’s exotic reworking of Ahmed Fakroun’s ‘Drago’. From there, the collection moves freely through deep cuts, overlooked gems, album highlights and some of the most inspired remixes in the label’s catalogue.
Among those remixes is Murphy’s own über-Balearic rework of Zee Erf’s cover of ‘Southern Freeez’, a mix dedicated to his partner Emma; an extraordinary 22-minute, Manuel Göttsching-meets-ambient-dub revision of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Vegetable Square’ by friends-of-the-family Idjut Boys; Larry Heard’s typically deep and immersive house treatment of Jack Cutter’s ‘Serpent Strut’; and Quiet Village’s ambient-house ‘deep space dub’ of Mudd’s ‘Spielplatz’. Also included are lesser-celebrated but no less rewarding reworks by Recloose, Jex Opolis, Felix Dickinson and Deep88.
The collection represents every corner of Claremont 56’s self-contained musical universe, from the Murphy-assembled in-house collectives Hillside, Paqua and Bison - whose members famously included the late Holger Czukay and his life partner Ursula, to long-serving label artists such as Almunia and Hear & Now, as well as later additions and artists who took some of their first steps on the label through its much-loved Claremont Editions compilations.
That means the deeply cosmic krautrock of Bambi Davidson, the folk-meets-Americana of Torn Sail and the samba-electrofunk of Jpye sit alongside baggy Balearic sing-alongs such as Bel’s ‘Ready To Die’ and Sillyboy’s Ghost Relatives’ ‘In a Small Place’, recent high-profile guest releases such as Chaz Jankel’s ‘Rhumba Jam’, and string-laden ambient pieces such as Four Hands’ wonderful ‘Hizou’.
Packed with classic cuts, formative gems and overlooked treats, 20 Years of Claremont 56 is not only a fabulous label retrospective, but also an essential collection of timeless music from a label whose output has remained distinctive and unique for two decades.
The universe of Muovo Musica is a world of its own, a sonic space where Dove Quiete has learned how to make us move while holding our hand. His upcoming EP, “Guardo La Luna EP.”, explores the artist’s different facets through an unpredictable journey where minimal techno is a constant presence, but far from enough to define the release. Moving between driving tools, ghetto tech influences and trip-hop atmospheres, the tracks naturally cross genres and blend different influences. Rhythm and experimentation coexist throughout a cohesive yet unpredictable EP, always keeping impact at its core.
JUNO & Jamek Ortega link up for ‘Deep Breath’ on Crosstown Rebels.
Following an impressive label debut earlier this year alongside Alex Wann on ‘Allo’, crowned Pete Tong’s Essential New Tune, Germany’s JUNO returns to Crosstown Rebels with ‘Deep Breath’ in collaboration with longtime production partner Jamek Ortega. Immediately drawing listeners into a hypnotic, percussive world, snaking rhythms and rattling cowbells build steadily beneath an atmospheric backdrop, before a commanding vocal emerges to anchor the groove. The release continues a relationship that has seen the pair produce across labels including Arodes’ Unreleased Records, Wired World, and more, as well as regular back-to-back performances. On the flip, ‘Sloppy Disk’ sees JUNO step up solo, locking into a driving four-to-the-floor groove where a rolling bassline provides the foundation for pensive chords to drift alongside subtle melodic flourishes, steadily expanding the track’s atmosphere before tumbling into a sweeping, cinematic finale.
JUNO has accelerated onto the scene with hits like ‘Last Dance’ on Magnifik Music and a Hot Mix for Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1, firmly earmarking him as one to watch. Meanwhile, DJ/producer Jamek Ortega continues to connect with audiences worldwide with outings on Three Six Zero, MoBlack, Abracadabra, Madorasindahouse, and more, picking up heavy rotation from the likes of Keinemusik, Solomun, Tiësto, and Black Coffee. Here, the pair show no signs of slowing down as they join forces once again, stepping onto Damian Lazarus’s imprint and marking a major milestone in their respective trajectories.
Originally released as three stunning 12inches on Dataphysix records in the mid '??90s, the LP edition of 'Gesamtkunstwerk' on Clone Classic Cuts will be available again. Including iconic tracks like '??Scientist'??, '??Pornoactress'??, '??Sterilization'??, 'Rocket Scientist'??, 'Cellular Phone'?? and '??Speak & Spell'??. '??Gesamtkunstwerk'?? is almost as important for the techno generation as Kraftwerk'??s 'Computerworld' and 'Autobahn' were for many in the '70s.
Jos & Eli debut on HABITAT with the I Can See EP, led by “Refraction”—a cinematic, peak-time melodic house & techno weapon blending hard kicks, shimmering pads, and euphoric breakdowns.
With a decade-long track record on Diynamic, Stil vor Talent, and Watergate Records, and support from Mind Against and Adriatique, the duo delivers a confident, club-ready statement built for both emotion and impact.
Brooklyn-based producer and lathe-cut specialist P-Sol returns to his own imprint (as he does on an impressively frequent basis, frankly) with another irresistible double-sided 7". Both tunes continue to carve out his own soulful, sample-driven corner of hip-hop and r&b, starting with 'A Little Personal' with its elegant strings and classic boom-bap era drums topped with a silky smooth and loved-up vocal. The B-side, 'Pete's Soul' is a fitting tribute and nod to make great from this world and bumps gently but with a catchy vocal edge. Another heady crate-digger's delight from a man whose purple patch continues.
Following a hugely successful debut, the LA collective Boogie Down Edits return with a second volume that turns its attention to one of hip-hop's most untouchable catalogues - A Tribe Called Quest. The approach remains as tasteful as ever: the defining vocal fragments and musical DNA of the originals stay fully intact, while the grooves and rhythms get subtly reworked for DJ-friendly, peak-time impact. 'Award Tour' opens proceedings with that unmistakable vocal hook gliding over a chunky, rolling house beat built for packed floors, while '4Momz' takes things deeper and more atmospheric, warm bass pressure and dreamy textures giving it a genuine late-night feel. Golden-era hip-hop attitude meets contemporary house production. Mad respect.
Hot Digits main guy Fingerman - a veritable of the UK nu-disco and disco re-edit scenes - is the man at the controls on the latest missive from the imprint's vinyl-focused Wax Digits offshoot. He's in prime form from the off, offering a deliciously chunky, effects-laden, dub disco style rework of a New York no-wave era 'downtown' disco classic. He doffs a cap to pal Chewy Rubs and their joint love of heavy, looped bass guitar lines on the stretched-out funk-goes-deep disco wonder that is 'Bestest Beat', before cunningly rearranging a more string-laden slab of disco-funk grandiosity on closing cut 'We Love It'. We certainly do, and there's a fair chance you will too.
Bristol, UK-based Soul artist Scarlett Fagan presents her authentic and alluring sound through two fresh tracks produced by Tom Emerald aka Endemic. Scarlett takes cues from Soul / Jazz icons such as Etta James and Amy Winehouse, infusing her unique sultry flair. After touring Europe as the front-woman of the Hawkmen and featuring on several of their 12" Vinyl singles, she released her debut solo album in 2022 titled 'Conscious' - Scarlett Fagan is clearly poised to leave her imprint.
Side A’s “Awaken” reveals Scarlett’s vast range of vocal abilities floating over the deep horn and organ laced break-beat track, this portrays a soulful confession about moving away from chaos and moving towards purpose. The song represents the shift from insecurity to confidence. Side B’s “Arise” displays resilience. Although appearing vulnerable and honest the overall theme is perseverance, blending Scarlett’s sultry side with the melodic rhythm provided by Tom Emerald.
Melbourne producer Jordan Brando releases his new Fixation EP today via DJ Tennis’ Life and Death. The four-track project marks Brando’s debut on the label and arrives as he continues to establish himself as one of Australia’s top new club exports.
Fixation is built around raw, bass-driven grooves, moving between the shuffling percussion and hypnotic vocal hook of the title track, the tougher techno edge of “Vibration,” and the classic house influence running through “The Bassline.” “After Dub” eases the pace without losing that foundation, closing the EP on a warm, melodic note.
The release extends a growing connection between Life and Death and the current wave of Australian producers making an impact worldwide. It follows recent projects from Brando’s Not Without Friends collaborators Luke Alessi and William Kiss, who both joined the label at the end of 2025. Together, the three have built momentum around a shared strain of forward-thinking club music and recently reunited in New York City for a Raw Cuts event this summer.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Brando has developed a reputation for the breadth of his productions and DJ sets, with his original music and remixes appearing across dance charts around the world. While his solo work has earned support from international tastemakers such as Pete Tong (via his BBC Radio 1 show), he’s performed with Kiss and Alessi at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Beyond the Valley, London’s Night Tales and Rippon Lea Estate.
After a run of performances spanning Australia, New Zealand and Europe—including Lost Village, Beyond the Valley, Night Tales and Melbourne’s Collingwood Town Hall—Fixation finds Brando entering his next chapter with one of electronic music’s most respected labels, further cementing his place among a generation of Australian artists reshaping the international club landscape.
San Francisco’s 21 st century take on disco has long tended towards the cosmic and
psychedelic, a reflection of the Bay Area’s long association with trippy, mind-altering music.
Over the years, Leng Records has periodically dived into these fertile waters, delivering
inspired slabs of cosmic-minded and dub-flecked excellence from 40 Thieves and, more
recently, Marshall Watson and Cole Odin.
It’s to Watson, a long-serving producer and sound designer whose work has previously
appeared on labels including Sprechen, Shades of Sound, Seven Villas, Italians Do It Better, Highpoint Lowlife and NuNorthern Soul, that Leng has turned this time around. It marks his first solo appearance on the imprint and lands two years on from his inspired Odin collaboration, Voyager. ‘Little Monster’ is Watson at his most potent, club-focused best. Built around rock-solid
disco drums and a deliciously dubby, low-slung bassline, the track slowly builds via waves of intergalactic electronics, spaced-out and echoing vocal samples, audible nods to cosmic rock and bursts of starry synth melodies. Thickening and increasing in effects-laden intoxication as it progresses, ‘Little Monster’ not only lives up to its name but also cements Watson’s growing reputation as one of 21st century cosmic disco’s most distinctive talents.
Fittingly, the accompanying remix comes from Leng regulars and fellow San Francisco
residents 40 Thieves. Delivering a genuinely epic, near nine-minute excursion, the veteran
collective drag Watson’s inspired original mix further towards Daniele Baldelli style dub
disco-meets-Afro-cosmic territory. Expect bolder, funkier bass, echoing synth motifs, eyes-
closed electric guitar solos, echoing synth snippets and wild, sustained organ chords. It’s
cosmic disco in dub… and the perfect accompaniment to Watson’s future cosmic disco
classic.
Who would expect that a new Krautrock release on Macadam Mambo would come from a Japanese band called Heavenphetamine?! The duo/couple have been touring all over Europe in the past two years, and started to build a serious fan base, as every performance they deliver is leaving an imperishable memory. This is on a date in Belgrade at Karmakoma that they met with Sacha. They had this album recorded and auto-release on tape but not on vinyl, and it came completely naturally to decide to release it as a LP on Macadam Mambo. The tracks on the album are new versions a bit different from the tape, let’s say a bit more mature and minimal than from the first ones recorded and give the feeling of listening to a masterpiece in the genre. It can be dark and profound but also enough light to bring back this little sun that has trouble to shine in the winter. This album has been highly influenced by their experience with the war in Ukraine, and the friendship they made there, where it has been recorded, and it express this mix of emotions due to the feeling of exasperation and the hope to see someday this conflict come to an end and the relief of the peace…
Michael J. Blood makes his second appearance on a Clone subsidiary! The enigmatic producer, rumored to be from Manchester, UK, draws on the two cities that influenced so many before him: classic Detroit and Chicago vibes and deepness, with a fresh, timeless twist. A perfect fit for our Royal Oak imprint.
Limpe Fuchs performs a live improvised score to an almost-lost silent western action film in a darkened Brussels theatre, continuing the tradition of the silent film pianist. Intimate and poetic: moonlight, projected images reflecting on the audience's faces, and a family connection (her grandfather once played violin for silent films) make this a uniquely personal recording.
»Memorial« grew out of Nate Wooley’s work alongside Annea Lockwood recording the Columbia River, and in particular from a visit to Kettle Falls in northern Washington, once one of the river’s great salmon fishing and meeting grounds and a place of enormous importance to the Sinixt and other Indigenous peoples of the Upper Columbia. The falls disappeared from view following the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in 1940, submerged beneath what is now Lake Roosevelt, yet beneath the still surface of the reservoir, a fast current continues to move across the buried cliffs. That tension between what remains and what can only be recovered through memory runs throughout »Memorial«.
In the essay accompanying the record, Wooley returns repeatedly to the idea of translation: the attempt to carry an experience from one form into another, from river to recording, memory to sound, landscape to music. He moves between Lockwood’s sound maps, John Ashbery’s rain falling on canal machinery, Ravel’s attempts to make water move through a piano, Christian Wolff’s »Stones«, and the Sinixt First Salmon Ceremony, where rocks struck together recall the sound of salmon once moving through the river in their thousands. These translations cannot restore what has been lost; however, they allow us to revisit what remains beneath in another form.
»Memorial« exists as an uncertainty, concerned with the distance between a place and its recording, between an event and what survives of it, and with the way listening itself becomes entangled with memory. Kettle Falls remains submerged, the river constrained and radically altered, but the water continues to move over the old rock beneath the reservoir. »Memorial« tries to listen for that persisting memory.
Back by popular demand, Shawn Ward's sought-after Forward Motions EP returns on vinyl, giving collectors and DJs another chance to secure a modern deep house favourite.
A respected figure in underground house for more than two decades, Ward has developed a distinctive sound built on warmth, musicality and understated sophistication. Forward Motions EP continues that tradition with four impeccably produced cuts that balance dancefloor energy with timeless listening appeal.
With original copies becoming increasingly difficult to find, this long-awaited repress makes an essential release available once again for a new generation of listeners, while giving longtime fans the opportunity to replace worn copies or finally complete the collection.
Available in the following Territories: Wordwide minus Japan & Korea
NOTON is pleased to announce12 Conversations, a collaborative album by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto to be released on 18 September 2026.
The partnership between the legendary musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and the German artist Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto) has produced some of the most distinctive and enduring works in contemporary electroacoustic music. Beginning with Vrioon in 2002, the artists spent more than two decades fusing and expanding their disciplines, with Sakamoto's evocative, sustain-drenched piano compositions finding their counterpart in Nicolai's skilful and sensitive electronic detailing.
Each successive project further deepened their artistic dialogue: from the five studio albums of the V.I.R.U.S. series (Vrioon, Insen, Revep, Utp_ with Ensemble Modern, and Summvs), to their score for Alejandro G. Iñárritu's The Revenant; Glass (2017), a wholly improvised performance inside Philip Johnson's iconic Connecticut landmark, in which the pair fixed contact microphones to the glass walls, playing the architecture itself as an instrument; and Two (2019), a document of their live performance at the Sydney Opera House.
Across these works, their distinct approaches achieved a rare synthesis, a brilliantly sustained dialogue between piano and electronics, Sakamoto's warmth and melodic finesse meeting Nicolai's abstract electronic formalism to invoke a mesmeric quietude as deeply satisfying in its melodic resolutions as in the merger of its filmic romanticism and meditative subtlety.
12 Conversations brings together musical exchanges recorded in November and December 2022. Rooted in the same creative period that gave rise to Sakamoto's final solo album 12, these recordings were not originally intended as a standalone release. It was only after the completion of 12 that Sakamoto and Nicolai decided to present these exchanges as a work in their own right.
The album reflects the vitality and curiosity that defined more than two decades of shared inspiration: fluid, exploratory, and forward-looking. Created with openness and trust, it captures a creative process in constant transformation - sounds expanding, altering, and evolving through attentive listening.
Conceived as the continuation of an artistic dialogue extending beyond the physical, 12 Conversations honours Sakamoto's wish that these encounters should exist beyond the archive, offering an enduring testament to one of contemporary music's most revered collaborations.
Carsten Nicolai writes:
"A heavy breath can be heard in the recordings. Yet this work is not about remembrance but continuation, vitality, curiosity, and the spirit of experimentation that shaped an artistic relationship over decades.
The twelve pieces we exchanged in November and December 2022 possess extraordinary density: sounds expanded, altered, recontextualized. Initially, every intervention felt almost inappropriate. Yet this was part of our openness and trust: adding, shifting and radically yet softly transforming.
Even in these final exchanges, plans for future projects continued to take shape, mindful of finite yet firmly believing in the power of new ideas. We chose the name Conversations, which has become a space of memory and vision, where past, present and future intertwine.
For a long time, releasing this music seemed impossible. The loss felt too sudden, and the emotional connection too profound. As time passed, it became clear that these twelve musical encounters should have life outside the archive. To honor Ryuichi's wish, these pieces are now being released as the continuation of a dialogue that extends beyond the physical."
The first single, Conversation 3, will be released on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The second single, Conversation 6, will be be released on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
12 Conversations will be available worldwide on vinyl, CD and digitally. A Japanese edition will be available on Ryuichi Sakamoto's commons.
Marion Poncet delivers his heartbeats in full length format as 2x12“ on Smallville's Fuck Reality.
While Traumer might be the most prominent moniker of Romain Poncet- and the one he is currently touring the world as- there is countless other musical projects that the artist is operating as. And its the lesser-known side-projects, that complete the picture of a truly versatile musical mind. So next to Traumer, you'll meet Brako, Amine Laje, Jinger, Redspecs- Marion Poncet - and even more side-projects within the world of Romain. He has always seen his monikers as a form of expression and to showcase his musical broadness. Of course there is House music in all different shades & moods- but Romain also released techno, downbeat & trippy things for the heads as well as broken beat material.
„The Raging Swells Crushing The Cliff Of My Love” was written during a period of longing for his love – so here is a deeply personal album as a musical dedication. Expect thoughtful-but-crunchy house music with a chunk, that sounds as if it was made for Smallville's Fuck Reality imprint.
Fuck Reality LP 02 comes as a 2x12”, as always with a full cover artwork by Stefan Marx.
Love from Smallville - stay positive – Fuck Reality!
Since emerging from Italy's underground over a decade ago, Ninos Du Brasil (Nicolò Fortuni and contemporary artist Nico Vascellari) have developed a potent sound that blends live batucada percussion, electronics, punk energy, and visceral vocals sung in an imagined language. Along the way, they've built a reputation for incredibly intense and unpredictable live performances.
This fifth full-length follows Antro Pop, released on Codalunga / Hospital Productions in 2021 in the middle of covid lockdowns with a canceled world tour leaving the world in wait. Out of that imposed hiatus Orden Micelial began to take shape.
The trademark Ninos elements remain intact: frenetic drumming, ritualistic chants, and relentless percussive intensity, while exploring new sonic territory. Most notably on "Innaya Som," the duo embrace a full-blown guitar-driven rock assault, revealing the hardcore roots that have always underwritten their music.
Recorded and produced by longtime collaborator Rocco Rampino, the album achieves a veritable wall of sound—dense and overwhelming, yet retaining remarkable clarity and separation throughout.
Part carnival rave, part punk freak-out, Orden Micelial finds Ninos Du Brasil expanding their mythology without losing any of the wild energy that has made them one of contemporary underground music's most distinctive acts.
Portugal's Dextro returns for second EP of stylish deep techno on Mutual Rytm with ‘Planets And Stars’. Dextro’s tunes have long been a staple of Mutual Rytm label head SHDW's sets, with the esteemed veteran previously landing on the label with his ‘Covil Dos Abutres’ EP last year. His return with ‘Planets And Stars’ features a selection of his most requested IDs from recent times, with the Portuguese DJ/producers featuring as a longstanding favourite within the European underground since the 90s through his stripped-back, economical sound that is rooted in masterful design and intuitive grooves. He is a true studio craftsman, whether going deep or more destructive, and that range is on show here as he makes a splash for his sophomore outing. SHDW notes, “‘Planets And Stars’ feels like his most refined and focused work to date. It also further strengthens our relationship, rooted in a shared vision and values around music and how it should be presented.” The EP kicks off with the heavyweight ‘1000 Places’, a track that will rattle walls as eerie synth whispers and sonar blips snake through the mix. ‘Industria Acéfala’ is just as hypnotic with a deep blend of rolling bass and rooted kicks, while unsettling tension comes in the one-note synth loops and scratchy texture. ‘Planets and Stars’ provides an intergalactic trip with cosmic dust, conscious spoken words and an infinite horizon that has you gazing off into the distance. The all-consuming ‘Perpendicular’ is shadowy with impish motifs darting about the mix as watery droplets fall into cavernous kicks. ‘Winter Letter’ is the final 12”cut and is perfectly deep, linear techno with gorgeous ambient details that turn your thoughts inwards. Three digital bonuses expand the trip: ‘Torresmos com Pão’ is unsettling and sparse, ‘Historia da Vida’ ramps up the tension with oversized hi-hats and rising synth turbulence and finally ‘Ghost Particles’ has shimmering bell sounds evoking a spooky moon-lit church in the dead of night.
This is Acid – for the deep, driving, uplifting after-hours. It's also a pure Acid remedy, sorely needed to elevate today's Techno dancefloors. With absolutely hands-in-the-air stabs, the Moon Creator EP nods to the best of the '90s Dutch club scene, while always staying true to the Acid game with its continuous double-303 sequencing. Swedish trio The Sysop – aka Pascal Mayet, Jonas Månsson, and Erik Jäähalli (of Börft Records) – present a beautifully melodic EP. In the right hands, this will impress dancers with their eyes closed.
A DJ, producer and significant figure in contemporary electronic music, Marcel Dettmann steps forward to contribute to Running Back’s ongoing Mastermix series. Whereas previous editions of Mastermix have taken an ear to the sound of lapsed, legendary clubs such as Wild Pitch and Front, Dettmann’s curation deftly captures the man himself in ongoing perpetual motion, raiding the vault for his own precision-tooled edits, long-employed on dancefloors to devastating effect. Alongside a continuous mix, this release arrives as a 3LP gatefold, and as a limited edition cassette.
Closely associated with Berlin’s techno landscape, Dettmann was born and raised in the former GDR, then later immersed in the bleary-eyed counter cultural landscape of post-unification Berlin. Initially oriented by post-punk, industrial and new-wave music, Dettmann has been DJing since 1993, always expanding and perfecting his repertoire. He later began working behind the counter at the city’s tastemaking rave boutique Hard Wax, and a decade after he first dropped a needle, became (and remains) resident at notable local nightspot Berghain/Panorama Bar, where his instincts have helped sculpt the signature sound of both main dancefloors.
Of course, you’re probably not asking, “Who is Marcel Dettmann?” More importantly, you might want to know; just what treats has he gifted us here? The trip begins with a simple pitch-shift skywards, transforming Identified Patient’s creeping ‘The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania’ into a peak-time freakout, before an alternate take on Toctronic’s ‘Bis uns das Licht vertreibt’ emerges from the vaults for the first time. Dating from 1995, and one of Dettmann’s all-time favourites, Cristian Vogel’s ‘Untitled’ clambers back into the box with respectable cuts, while John Bender’s ‘Victims of A Victimless Crime’ kicks off the flip sporting a new arrangement, transporting us back to the foundations of a confident, stripped-back sound.
A few subtle edits to Clark’s perilously funky ‘Dirty Pixie’ takes us to Dettmann’s remix of Junior Boys. Produced in 2010, it transposes the Canadian duo’s sophisticated pop with our curator in his minimal prime, and has since become an irresistible prize for high-minded diggers. The same can be said for Experimental Products’ explosive proto-electro anthem ‘Who Is Kip Jones?’, empowered from pricey Discogs purgatory with just the slightest of tweaks. It’s deservedly sandwiched between the guiding influences of Chicago and Detroit in the form of Mutant Beat Dance’s raw ‘The Human Factor’ and a shimmering new version of previous solo production ‘Water’, featuring close friend and Ostgut Ton ally, Ryan Elliot.
The second half of the Mastermix seamlessly connects the mechanical past and digital present of EBM and industrial in the dance, with Dettmann’s instincts as a guiding hand. Severed Heads’ iconic ‘We Have Come To Bless This House’ emerges with mere nips and tucks, while Nitzer Ebb’s ‘Shame’ is significantly reimagined as a highwire act of rhythm and tension, setting up a sensual second take on a 2017 remix of ‘Limbo’ from Swiss synth heroes, Yello.
Core musical memories are shaken and stirred with a context-shifting take on Frank Duval’s emotional classic ‘Ogon’, while Ian North’s ‘Sex Lust You’ and Ford Proco’s notable Coil collaboration ‘Expansion Naranja’ effectively throb with only minor adjustments, respectfully imagined as “shadow versions”. Meanwhile, a simple breakbeat lifts Albert Kuningas’s ‘Astraalprojektio’ in the direction of wide-eyed dancefloors, while a fresh take on K-Alexi Shelby’s ‘Season of The Real’ inexplicably emerges somehow even funkier than before.
The conclusion of the compilation leads back to Das Tier from the prolific experimentalist Conrad Schnitzler, whose swirling synths and hypnotic vocals are duly tightened by Dettmann, but only as he puts it, “in conversation with the original.” Concluding three discs and thirty years of commitment to the dancefloor, this Mastermix not only offers us the opportunity to eavesdrop on this endless exchange, but to gain some sought-after material for our own record collections.
New Jersey born and Brooklyn-based Manny Steelo lands on Zero Trace with a fivetracker EP. A propulsive, percussion-led groove with warm, psychedelic dreaminess!
Limen brings together two artists whose musical paths converge around a shared sensitivity to listening, resonance, and the evocative power of sound.
Recorded at Ritmo e Blu Studio during a five-day residency between spring and summer 2025, the album emerged from a series of spontaneous encounters free from predetermined structures. The pieces preserve their original form, retaining the immediacy and temporal flow of the dialogues as they first unfolded.
Subsequent interventions were conceived not as revisions, but as an exploration of the open spaces already present within the recordings—deepening what remained unspoken and extending resonances without altering the music's natural evolution.
The title, derived from the Latin word for “threshold,” reflects the nature of the project itself: a place of passage between improvisation and composition, silence and vibration, memory and imagination. Limen inhabits a suspended territory where listening becomes an experience of openness, presence, and transformation.
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Lino Capra Vaccina
Lino Capra Vaccina is one of the most distinctive voices in Italian experimental music. A percussionist, composer, and pioneer of minimalist and meditative sound practices, he first emerged in the early 1970s as a founding member of the influential group Aktuala, whose visionary fusion of ancient traditions, improvisation, and contemporary research anticipated what would later become known as world music.
Over a career spanning more than five decades, Vaccina has cultivated a unique artistic language centred on vibration, resonance, and the transformative power of sound. His landmark 1978 album Antico Adagio remains a touchstone of European minimalism, while his collaborations have included figures such as Franco Battiato, Juri Camisasca, Markus Stockhausen, Keith Tippett, Paolo Tofani, and many others.
Whether working with percussion, piano, electronics, or voice, Vaccina's music seeks a state of suspension and contemplation. His compositions unfold as immersive sonic environments whereancient echoes and contemporary sensibilities meet, inviting listeners into an experience that is at once intimate, spiritual, and timeless.
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Luca Formentini
Luca Formentini is an Italian composer, sound artist, and improviser whose work unfolds at the intersection of experimentation, atmosphere, and deep listening. Active since the late 1990s, he has developed a highly personal language in which guitar, voice, field recordings, and electroacoustic processes become tools for exploring memory, perception, and the expressive potential of sound itself.
His music resists easy categorization, moving freely between ambient, contemporary composition, improvisation, and sound art. Throughout his career he has released numerous solo works and collaborated with a wide range of internationally acclaimed musicians, including Holger Czukay, Robert Rich, Markus Stockhausen, Steve Jansen, Theo Travis and Steve Lawson.His recordings have appeared on labels across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States.
Rooted in a practice of attentive listening and sonic exploration, Formentini creates evocative musical landscapes that invite reflection rather than certainty, opening spaces where silence, texture, and resonance become as meaningful as melody itself.
Macedonia's own Stojche is Fuse's next guest for the club's freshly made imprint. The long standing DJ and producer has been known to keep Detroit's playfully hybrid style as the focus of his work and 'Metaphor' is the case in point. His four tracks bounce through a nostalgic balance of techno, house, and more with a modern crisp. A refreshing take on club music, Stojche keeps techno's sometimes nonchalant attitude at arms length with a charismatic record that hits its mark with every measure.
The record's first track 'Counterpunch' features heavily lined percussion but still brews up a storm far and wide with resonant dub stabs and open hi hats. The drum machine boasts a full spectrum, rolling through a light show of melodic flashes, perfect for a room compressing soundsystem. The maximalist, vintage detail that Stojche brings to his compositions blurs the lines between classic genres in a time of hasty hybridization, which gives it a sort of authenticity that can't be taken for granted. 'Chordal Tribe', on the other hand, raises the general euphoria of the EP. Luring in the listener with bright pads and full-on drums, Stochje's work is reliable main slot material that adds color to any mix while providing a persuasive low end. Shimmering hi hats give it an ethereal quality making it an appropriate interlude for almost any context. Moving on to the B side, the producer sharpens up his rhythm and emphasizes the hardgroove influence in 'Signal Drive'. Softening the pace of his drums with free use of melodic chord stabs, Stojche opens up his dance floor for a crowd bonding record once again, complete with filter transitions and pummeling toms. As the final contribution, his title track 'Metaphor' begins with a more obscure opening to conclude his EP for Fuse. Leaning more to a techno cut, the record remains flamboyant as ever with open hats and rides shuffling through his arrangement. A muted main synth becomes apparent to focus the energy of the track while allowing for liveset-like drum flickering to take shape beneath, claiming the immortality of old club records with the technical precision of a seasoned modern producer.
Twenty-five years after its original release, Markus Guentner's debut album In Moll returns in a special anniversary reissue on Black Knoll Editions, reaffirming its place as one of the defining ambient recordings of the early 21st century.
Released in 2001 during the formative years of Kompakt's influential Pop Ambient series, In Moll emerged from a period of rapid transformation in electronic music. New technologies, expanding digital networks, and shifting creative possibilities allowed artists to imagine entirely new sonic worlds. Amid this fertile landscape, Guentner's music stood apart. Combining delicate melodic fragments, slow-moving harmonies, and a remarkable sense of spatial depth, In Moll introduced a distinct artistic voice whose impact can still be felt a quarter-century later.
The album arrived shortly after Guentner's contributions to the inaugural Pop Ambient compilation, including the now-beloved "Regensburg 1," named after his Bavarian hometown. Those early recordings immediately captured the attention of Kompakt founders Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt. Recalling his first encounter with the music, Mayer describes listening to a demo CDR with Voigt while wandering through Cologne late into the night, replaying the tracks for hours. "We knew that we had found something outrageously beautiful and we wanted the whole world to listen."
Across its running time, In Moll unfolds like a series of dreamlike landscapes, inviting the listener into a world that feels both familiar and strangely other. Bells, hisses, distant textures, and slow-moving bass tones drift through vast expanses of atmosphere while luminous synthesizer washes seem to blur the horizon in a fine digital mist. The album's transportive qualities are matched by a remarkable sense of compositional discipline. Every gesture feels deliberate, every texture carefully placed. Balancing warmth and melancholy with restraint, Guentner created a body of work that rewards both close listening and complete surrender.
Reflecting on the album twenty-five years later, Wolfgang Voigt describes Guentner as "one of the first, but also one of the most important ambient artists" associated with Kompakt, calling his music "an integral, timeless part of the long history of pop ambient." Music critic and former Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Mark Richardson, who reviewed In Moll upon its original release, similarly noted that the album "marked the arrival of an important new voice," and today regards it as "one of the finest ambient releases of the decade."
The album's influence continues to extend far beyond its original audience. For many listeners, In Moll served as an entry point into a new understanding of what ambient music could be. Black Knoll boss Rafael Anton Irisarri first encountered the album shortly after its release in 2001. "It immediately opened a door to a world of music I didn't know existed," he recalls. "At a time when I was still discovering my own creative voice, Markus showed me entirely new possibilities for what electronic music could communicate." Simply put, "The Sight Below would not have existed without In Moll paving the way."
Far from a historical curiosity, In Moll continues to feel strikingly contemporary. What once sounded futuristic now feels timeless, its patient pacing, attention to detail, and sense of wonder remaining entirely intact. The album's enduring power lies not only in its influence, but in the curiosity it continues to inspire, inviting listeners to step inside its world and lose themselves within it.
To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Black Knoll Editions presents the most complete edition of In Moll to date. Newly remastered in full analog by Rafael Anton Irisarri, this expanded release pairs the original album with a newly reworked interpretation by Markus Guentner himself, revisiting the material through the lens of twenty-five years of artistic development. The anniversary edition also features a new visual presentation designed by Guentner, offering a visual counterpart to the album's continued evolution. Together, these recordings and visuals celebrate both the enduring legacy of In Moll and its ability to reveal new dimensions twenty-five years later.
This 25th Anniversary Edition on Black Knoll Editions celebrates a recording whose quiet impact has only grown with time, preserving a work that remains as evocative, singular, and essential today as it was in 2001.
Twenty-five years after its original release, Markus Guentner's debut album In Moll returns in a special anniversary reissue on Black Knoll Editions, reaffirming its place as one of the defining ambient recordings of the early 21st century.
Released in 2001 during the formative years of Kompakt's influential Pop Ambient series, In Moll emerged from a period of rapid transformation in electronic music. New technologies, expanding digital networks, and shifting creative possibilities allowed artists to imagine entirely new sonic worlds. Amid this fertile landscape, Guentner's music stood apart. Combining delicate melodic fragments, slow-moving harmonies, and a remarkable sense of spatial depth, In Moll introduced a distinct artistic voice whose impact can still be felt a quarter-century later.
The album arrived shortly after Guentner's contributions to the inaugural Pop Ambient compilation, including the now-beloved "Regensburg 1," named after his Bavarian hometown. Those early recordings immediately captured the attention of Kompakt founders Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt. Recalling his first encounter with the music, Mayer describes listening to a demo CDR with Voigt while wandering through Cologne late into the night, replaying the tracks for hours. "We knew that we had found something outrageously beautiful and we wanted the whole world to listen."
Across its running time, In Moll unfolds like a series of dreamlike landscapes, inviting the listener into a world that feels both familiar and strangely other. Bells, hisses, distant textures, and slow-moving bass tones drift through vast expanses of atmosphere while luminous synthesizer washes seem to blur the horizon in a fine digital mist. The album's transportive qualities are matched by a remarkable sense of compositional discipline. Every gesture feels deliberate, every texture carefully placed. Balancing warmth and melancholy with restraint, Guentner created a body of work that rewards both close listening and complete surrender.
Reflecting on the album twenty-five years later, Wolfgang Voigt describes Guentner as "one of the first, but also one of the most important ambient artists" associated with Kompakt, calling his music "an integral, timeless part of the long history of pop ambient." Music critic and former Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Mark Richardson, who reviewed In Moll upon its original release, similarly noted that the album "marked the arrival of an important new voice," and today regards it as "one of the finest ambient releases of the decade."
The album's influence continues to extend far beyond its original audience. For many listeners, In Moll served as an entry point into a new understanding of what ambient music could be. Black Knoll boss Rafael Anton Irisarri first encountered the album shortly after its release in 2001. "It immediately opened a door to a world of music I didn't know existed," he recalls. "At a time when I was still discovering my own creative voice, Markus showed me entirely new possibilities for what electronic music could communicate." Simply put, "The Sight Below would not have existed without In Moll paving the way."
Far from a historical curiosity, In Moll continues to feel strikingly contemporary. What once sounded futuristic now feels timeless, its patient pacing, attention to detail, and sense of wonder remaining entirely intact. The album's enduring power lies not only in its influence, but in the curiosity it continues to inspire, inviting listeners to step inside its world and lose themselves within it.
To mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, Black Knoll Editions presents the most complete edition of In Moll to date. Newly remastered in full analog by Rafael Anton Irisarri, this expanded release pairs the original album with a newly reworked interpretation by Markus Guentner himself, revisiting the material through the lens of twenty-five years of artistic development. The anniversary edition also features a new visual presentation designed by Guentner, offering a visual counterpart to the album's continued evolution. Together, these recordings and visuals celebrate both the enduring legacy of In Moll and its ability to reveal new dimensions twenty-five years later.
This 25th Anniversary Edition on Black Knoll Editions celebrates a recording whose quiet impact has only grown with time, preserving a work that remains as evocative, singular, and essential today as it was in 2001.
Over 10 years ago, Leon Michels released his first full length record, Sounding Out The City. It was Michels' first full length record under the moniker El Michels Affair. At the time, the budding retro soul scene consisted of mostly organ quartets a la The Meters and of course, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings were in the early days of their ascent to world domination. Leon Michels, who was 18 when recording Sounding Out The City began, had just released Thunder Chicken, the first record by his high school band The Mighty Imperials. At the time of SOTC, Michels was just discovering early rocksteady, afrobeat, and 60's garage rock, which inevitably crept its way into the songwriting. He purchased a Tascam 388, an 80's 1/4" reel to reel 8 track intended for home recordings, and began recording music in a 10x10 box with no windows that also doubled as his childhood bedroom. Along with fellow Mighty Imperials Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and Sean Solomon, and Michael Leonhart, Thomas Brenneck, and some of the musicians from The Dap Kings, Michels recorded the LP over a two year period. Upon it's release, it received some rave reviews and the small deep funk community ate it up, but due to the lack luster promotion and distribution the rest of the world was slow to catch on to the instrumental gems featured on SOTC, which Michels appropriately labelled as "cinematic soul". However, in 2005 it found it's way into the hands of the people who were organizing a series of concerts for Scion that paired bands with MC's. El Michels Affair was contacted about playing one show with Raekwon The Chef of Wu Tang Clan fame. The show was such a success it led to a tour, and then to another set of concerts that featured multiple members of the Wu-Tang Clan. This eventually led to the release of El Michels Affair's second record, "Enter the 37th Chamber" which introduced them to a much larger audience and has been their most successful release to date. Michels has since gone on to produce and co-produce numerous records for powerhouse soul artists like Lee Fields. He shares songwriting credits with Adele, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Aloe Blacc, and has played on records by Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys and Dr. John.
A legendary figure of the Belgian electronic scene and one of the iconic DJs of the famous Lagoa, DJ HS returns to Ghoststyle with Booty Shake EP, a four-track release showcasing the sound that has made him a favourite among clubbers for decades.
Featuring Booty Shake, Spectrum, Shut Up and Acid Twist, the EP delivers four driving cuts packed with infectious grooves, pounding rhythms and unmistakable acid flavours. Staying true to DJ HS's signature style, each track is built for maximum dancefloor impact while preserving the raw spirit of authentic underground electronic music.
Whether you're looking for energetic peak-time weapons or timeless club grooves, Booty Shake EP is a solid addition to any DJ bag and vinyl collection.
Français
DJ HS présente "Booty Shake EP" sur Ghoststyle
Figure emblématique de la scène électronique belge et DJ incontournable du mythique Lagoa, DJ HS signe son retour sur Ghoststyle avec Booty Shake EP, un EP de quatre titres qui reflète parfaitement le son qui fait vibrer les clubs depuis des décennies.
Composé de Booty Shake, Spectrum, Shut Up et Acid Twist, cet EP rassemble quatre productions percutantes mêlant grooves entraînants, rythmiques puissantes et touches acid irrésistibles. Fidèle à l'univers musical de DJ HS, chaque morceau est pensé pour offrir un impact maximal sur le dancefloor tout en conservant l'esprit brut de la musique électronique underground.
Que ce soit pour les DJs à la recherche d'armes redoutables pour le peak time ou les amateurs de vinyles électroniques authentiques, Booty Shake EP trouvera naturellement sa place dans toute collection.
Menace II Society is a 1993 American hood film and the directorial debut of the Hughes brothers. The movie was a huge box office success and featured an impressive cast, including Tyrin Turner, Jada Pinkett Smith, Larenz Tate and Samuel L. Jackson. Upon its release it received critical acclaim for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.
The soundtrack was equally impressive and perfectly captured the state of hip-hop in 1993 with essential artists like Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Boogie Down Productions, MC EIht and DJ Quik. It was an instant hip hop classic and peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number 11 on the Billboard 200.
The soundtrack of Menace II Society is available on black vinyl and includes an insert.
A torrent of brilliance released from the fingertips. The art of the piano trio by a giant of arrangement.
In 1968, Norio Maeda, the genius arranger once described as being able to “write different scores with his right and left hands at the same time,” welcomed his close musical allies Takeshi Inomata and Tatsuro Takimoto and took on the piano head-on in his first piano trio work as a pianist. This album brings together the refined melodies of the new mainstream style that led the jazz scene at the time, experimental elements using prepared piano, and even a strikingly inventive recording approach in which as many as seven microphones were placed inside the piano. With the outstanding structural power of a composer and arranger and the sharp instincts of a performer woven together at a high level, this is an important work that deserves to be engraved in the history of Japanese jazz.
Skilled guitar dances over the ultimate groove by Marcus Miller and Omar Hakim.
This important Japanese fusion album was recorded by guitarist Kiyoshi Sugimoto, who was extremely busy at the time as a first-call musician, together with Marcus Miller, Omar Hakim, and Warren Bernhardt, who were in Japan for Kazumi Watanabe’s "TO CHI KA" tour. The lively playing of Marcus Miller, then 21 years old and just before being discovered by Miles Davis, is a must-hear.
First release on brand new imprint 'Picture Dis'. The label will reissue classic tracks only on Limited Edition picture disc. First release is none other than "Pump It Up" by Danzel, one of the defining dance records of the 2000s and a global club favourite that continues to ignite dancefloors around the world. Including Marnik Remix, A Cappella version and another hit by Danzel: "Put Your Hands Up In The Air!".
Ariadne's Labyrinth returns with Endless Corners on Adepta Editions. Classically trained yet shaped by London's illegal rave scene, her distinct sonic language is born from live improvisation. Following acclaimed releases on Detroit Underground and Touched Music, this EP seamlessly intertwines the dense, physical pulse of underground club culture with breathtakingly beautiful string arrangements. It is a visceral journey, bridging heavy dancefloor tension with vulnerable, chamber-esque introspection.
Ramjac Corporation, aka Paul Chivers, emerged from the UK's late-'80s rave underground, performing live at parties like Sunrise, Energy, Back to the Future, Fun-da-Mental and Synergy. Building tracks with an Atari computer and an E-MU 12-bit sampler, turning severe technical limitations into raw, elastic club music, 88-92: It is What it Was gathers music born in bedrooms then tested in front of crowds at warehouse raves, while the culture was still inventing itself without boundaries, completelyfree.
Ramjac was the original artist on Irdial Discs, following label founder Akin Fernandez's Aqua Regia, and introduced Lee Purkis' In Sync and Neuropolitique to the label, shaping the singular catalogue of that extraordinary imprint alongside Luke Slater's Morganistic, Thee J Johanz and Anthony Manning.
That legacy is now revisited by Musique Pour La Danse, with the release of a limited edition vinyl and digital edition featuring extended liner notes by Nick Halkes of XL Recordings, Positiva and Kicks Like A Mule fame, who witnessed the early Ramjac period first-hand. The release is illustrated by Grant Fulton, who created the visual identity for The Shamen's Synergy events and Orbital albums.
This album presents music written exclusively between 1988-92 and forms the foundation of Ramjac Corporation's ongoing live performances. Restored from the original floppy discs, the recordings preserve the uniquerelationship between early digital technology, sampling culture and live improvisation that defines the Ramjac approach.
Mixed for release for the first time by Trevor Lancaster-Smith, whose 90s engineering work encompassed Leftfield, Faithless and Roni Size, the album brings these compositions into sharp focus while preserving the character of the original instruments and performances. Not just a historical document, 88-92: It is What it Was is a living body of work: music created then, realised now, and continuing to surprise and evolve.
21 Bum Salute is the fifth album from Sydney experimental psych-noise-pop duo Party Dozen. The work of Kirsty Tickle (saxophone, vocals) and Jonathan Boulet (drums, loops, production), 21 Bum Salute finds the critically-acclaimed, semi-improvised duo feeling liberated - from their peers, their worries, and what the nell they're supposed to sound like now.
Emerging in 2017 from the warehouses of the Sydney experimental noise-rock scene, Party Dozen arrive at the release of their fifth album, 21 Bum Salute, in peak form. Over the course of four, increasingly perverse albums of psych-tinged rock peppered with pop noise and bursts of doom in equal measure, they've transformed from gleeful noise-makers producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville, NSW, to globe-hopping, critically-adored favourites - producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville.
As well as tours with Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tropical F*ckstorm, Algiers and more, Party Dozen had Nick Cave appear on 2022 single Macca The Mutt', collabed with New York rapper billy woods, performed an incendiary live set on KEXP, signed international deals, firstly with Temporary Residence LTD (Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky,
Along the way Party Dozen self-released their first two albums, The Living Man (2017) and Pray For Party Dozen (2020), struck a chord internationally with album The Real Work (2022), which sent them on tours of Europe, North America, Japan, China and New Zealand, while fourth LP, Crime in Australia (2024), an ode to Aussie noir that leaned beyond rock into moodier moments, repeated it.
Party Dozen recorded, mixed and mastered 21 Bum Salute completely themselves, over a three month span. Inspired by spooky "old recordings" as well as the primal impulses of acts like ESG and Bikini Kill, 21 Bum Salute - named after a peculiar, larrikin ritual in Australia's arid Northern Territory - condenses consecutive years of jam sessions, loops and improvisations into just over half an hour's worth of fizzing, strutting, striking sonics from the fringes.
21 Bum Salute is the fifth album from Sydney experimental psych-noise-pop duo Party Dozen. The work of Kirsty Tickle (saxophone, vocals) and Jonathan Boulet (drums, loops, production), 21 Bum Salute finds the critically-acclaimed, semi-improvised duo feeling liberated - from their peers, their worries, and what the nell they're supposed to sound like now.
Emerging in 2017 from the warehouses of the Sydney experimental noise-rock scene, Party Dozen arrive at the release of their fifth album, 21 Bum Salute, in peak form. Over the course of four, increasingly perverse albums of psych-tinged rock peppered with pop noise and bursts of doom in equal measure, they've transformed from gleeful noise-makers producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville, NSW, to globe-hopping, critically-adored favourites - producing DIY albums from a tiny room in Marrickville.
As well as tours with Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tropical F*ckstorm, Algiers and more, Party Dozen had Nick Cave appear on 2022 single Macca The Mutt', collabed with New York rapper billy woods, performed an incendiary live set on KEXP, signed international deals, firstly with Temporary Residence LTD (Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky,
Along the way Party Dozen self-released their first two albums, The Living Man (2017) and Pray For Party Dozen (2020), struck a chord internationally with album The Real Work (2022), which sent them on tours of Europe, North America, Japan, China and New Zealand, while fourth LP, Crime in Australia (2024), an ode to Aussie noir that leaned beyond rock into moodier moments, repeated it.
Party Dozen recorded, mixed and mastered 21 Bum Salute completely themselves, over a three month span. Inspired by spooky "old recordings" as well as the primal impulses of acts like ESG and Bikini Kill, 21 Bum Salute - named after a peculiar, larrikin ritual in Australia's arid Northern Territory - condenses consecutive years of jam sessions, loops and improvisations into just over half an hour's worth of fizzing, strutting, striking sonics from the fringes.
Nashville’s Jess Kerber focuses on the profound resonances of simple moments, pairing delicate acoustic guitar lines with her rich and captivating tenor. The World Is Dark, but I Want It to Be Funny, her second LP for Felte, is a deeply affecting collection of homespun poetry and natural artistry that finds the artists reflecting on personal history, the emotional intricacies of relationships, and the value of cosmic perspective. She explains,“These songs come from a space of feeling a little left behind, so a lot of the album is about realizing and accepting impermanence, and learning how to be good to yourself and to others.”
Opening with “Familiar Strangers”, Kerber gets to the heart of her greatest talents: fluid fingerpicking, emotive vocal cadences, feather-light touches of piano, and subtle harmonies. “Louisiana Song” positions a lyrical chain of childhood recollections up against the literal rising waters that will one day submerge a cherished place: “I think about being southern / and the sand on the gulf coast / When I think about returning / I am wading in a graveyard”.
Throughout The World Is Dark, Kerber navigates an emotional tightrope, fully aware of the ills of the world while trying to find connections and peaceful corners. Even with all their nuances and challenges, she suggests, our relationships are essential to staying grounded, even when we lose them. “Much of my writing is about facing the struggles head-on, balancing what you need to do to survive while remaining true to yourself,” she says. There are echoes of influences like Joni Mitchell, Gillian Welch, and Lomelda, though Kerber injects her own unique wit, wonder, and humility into every passage, allowing the listener into her head for a spell while quietly taking up residence in theirs.
In a cultural landscape trending toward mindless diversion, Your Old Droog has defied the odds, building a thriving career through musical depth and captivating songwriting. In pursuit of hip-hop immortality, the Brooklyn artist engages listeners with inventive metaphors, genuine reflections, and sophisticated rhyme architecture. Now, Your Old Droog is back with his tenth full length album, Bread & Butter. Recalling his humble immigrant family stretching caviar across slices of bread shortly after arriving from Ukraine, YOD has crafted a testament to making the best of any situation. This philosophy runs throughout Bread & Butter, as Droog chronicles the turbulence of rap success, ruminates on youthful memories, and dismisses unworthy challengers with clever precision. The project’s rich sonic texture is shaped by beats from Flying Lotus, Conductor Williams, Ohbliv, and more, while hip-hop luminaries Evidence, Oddisee, and Masta Ace make memorable appearances, along with South African star A-Reece and acclaimed singer Georgia Anne Muldrow. Grounded in resilience, perspective, and self-determination, Bread & Butter is an inspired statement from a truly distinct talent. Transforming personal history into universal truth, the album reaffirms Your Old Droog's place among the most thoughtful and compelling voices in modern hip hop.
Polygonia and Simon Popp present ‚Apiformes‘, the second collaborative release from the two Munich-based artists.
As with 2023‘s ‘Candid’, ‘Apiformes’ was born from pure improvisation. Originating from the stems of four concerts, additional elements were built on from a foundation of live recordings — an intuitive endeavor by the musicians with such integrated effects to give one the impression of a sole sonic organism, and mystifying which sound is coming from which performer. Rapid creative decisions create an intriguing sense of aliveness, producing a uniquely vibrant buzz of jazz and electronic influences.
The duo set an otherworldly tone in their latest release, with leanings towards acoustic and percussion-heavy instrumentation, combined with playful synthetic musings which create a sense of opening up: an intriguing and earnest exploration of the ethereal, and what is available in nature as a window to the divine. Named for the scientific name for bees, the project’s mix of warm, dynamic improvisation and sequenced synth instrumentalisation mimic the similarly complex mathematical structures of a bee colony: a visual and sonic world made up of geometric shapes, mating dances and navigation patterns, sensations perhaps most energetically available through a sense of wonder rather than logical extrication.
Efdemin and Vril. revisit Endless / Purge, originally released in 2021 as the only release on the short-lived Sun Sad imprint, launched by Kinzua’s Lucas Brell. Five years later, it returns on Confusion Is Next To Happiness in a revised and expanded edition. The original recordings have been newly mixed and remastered by Rashad Becker and are complemented by a previously unreleased Vril. reinterpretation of Endless.
Throughout the record, arpeggiated sequences drift through layers of finely textured dub haze, balancing physical momentum with an floating sense of weightlessness. While retaining the artists’ unmistakable sonic signatures, the record subtly channels the melancholic futurism and machine-driven pulse of techno's Motor City tradition.
,Smoking the Bunny" ist das zweite Album einer geplanten Trilogie von Wilder Maker und verbindet Avant-Pop, Indie-Rock, Free Jazz und Ambient zu einem vielschichtigen, nächtlichen Klangbild. Bandleader Gabriel Birnbaum setzt auf experimentelle Kompositionen, die aus improvisierten Bandsessions entstanden und anschließend kreativ neu zusammengesetzt wurden. Die 17 Songs begleiten eine Figur durch eine Nacht voller Erinnerungen, Selbstreflexion und Rauschzustände. Inhaltlich kreist das Album um Themen wie Familie, Identität, Vergänglichkeit und das Älterwerden. Mit zahlreichen Gastmusikern und einem atmosphärischen, genreübergreifenden Sound präsentiert sich ,Smoking the Bunny" als ambitioniertes und emotionales Werk, das 2027 mit dem dritten Teil der Trilogie seinen Abschluss finden soll.
“I am not sure which of us it is that's writing this page” - Jorge Luis Borges. There are places where a river runs through the story even when you cannot see it. Austin Cash grew up in the Arkansas Delta, and Nathan Smerage in the Chicago suburbs, their paths crossing years later in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where both became members of the Ozark Free Music Society, a loose congregation of musicians who made free and experimental music in non-traditional venues across the city. ‘River Season’ began as an impulsive text sent to Smerage in the summer of 2024, Cash suggesting they should make an album of guitar duets. Calling his bluff, Smerage returned a folder of recordings within a week. Cash had a handful of pieces of his own, originally written for an unreleased film about an Ozarks ceramicist. The songs began traveling back and forth between them by email, however, after opening for the Magic Tuber String Band and playing the compositions live for the first time together, realised the decision to record them live was the only true option. For four days, in the basement apartment where Cash lived, they recorded River Season live. The result is a meticulously composed collection of steel-string guitar music: part folk record, part road map.
Fahey and Ackerman are somewhere in the distance, alongside Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, Marisa Anderson, Nathan Salsburg, Loren Connors, and others. But River Season belongs to neither Arkansas nor Chicago entirely. Cash grew up in Arkansas before moving to Chicago, whereas Smerage grew up in Illinois before moving to Arkansas. River Season catches the two musicians at an intersection in their paths; it belongs to the stretches of road and rivers between them, real and imagined. "This new collaboration between Austin and Nathan is intimate and tonally diverse. Many of the tracks see Austin playing acoustic and Nathan on electric. The statements are succinct (all but two clock in under four minutes) and idiosyncratic. "Bell Harp" and "Painting Friend" are two stand out examples for me in which the textures of the electric/acoustic pairing play off each other in a way that I can't say I have encountered before." -Evan Morgan (Magic Tuber Stringband)
