Italian cinematic funk heroes Calibro 35 announce a limited edition 45 rpm vinyl featuring two previously unreleased singles. The record is pressed on clear orange vinyl, limited to 600 copies, making it a must-have collector’s item.
On the A side, Calibro 35 reimagine Grover Washington Jr.’s jazz-funk classic “Mister Magic” with an ultra-groovy cinematic funk stormer, perfect for DJs and collectors alike. On the B side, the Milan-based combo revitalizes Can’s krautrock anthem “Vitamin C” with a fresh jazz-punk energy, a track recently brought back into the spotlight through Kanye West’s sampling. Both tracks are taken from the Deluxe Edition of their latest studio album Exploration, set for digital worldwide release on February 6th via Record Kicks.
Praised by Rolling Stone as “the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that has happened to Italy in the past few years,” Calibro 35 have built an international reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. Their music has been sampled by Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and The Child of Lov (featuring Damon Albarn), and they’ve collaborated with icons such as PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, and Stewart Copeland, continuing to push their cinematic funk universe further.
To celebrate the release, Calibro 35 will hit the road starting mid-October, with two special U.S. shows in Miami and Los Angeles, followed by a European tour including Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, and London.
Fast-rising pianist and producer Yoni Mayraz presents his debut LP ‘Dybbuk Tse!’ revealing the story of a malicious possession that is taking over one’s body and soul.
Dybbuk, known from Jewish folklore, is a malevolent wandering spirit that enters and possesses the body of a living person. It’s a cursed soul of a dead one that wanders tirelessly for sins committed during their life. The most vulnerable victims are the young and the sinful. Possession can be taken literally or as an analogy to the burden that young people carry generations back, which they have no influence on, and which they have to accept. Dybbuk can only be removed by exorcism. The titular ‘Dybbuk Tse!’ is a command to remove the spirit from the possessed body. The album is a story about possession but also about exorcism through music.
Recorded live with his band over the course of a spring week last year, ‘Dybbuk Tse!’ is indeed experimenting with the ‘darker side of things’, but yet with a somewhat lighthearted approach which is so typical of Yoni’s work. He easily combines jazz with the sound of 90’s New York hip hop and raw old school breakbeat. The album interweaves unique Middle Eastern melodies, sophisticated structures and sounds, and beautifully crafted solos played by some of the promising talents on the scene.
London based Israeli born pianist and producer Yoni Mayraz has set foot in the instrumental music scene with his EP ‘Rough Cuts’ released in 2020. Since then, Yoni and his band have been playing major venues and festivals around the world including the legendary Ronnie Scott’s and The Jazz Cafe, to name a few, bringing raw energy to stage with live versions of the studio materials, and stretching the melodies and structures into a Dancefloor-focused take on jazz.
Midway through Martin Luther King, Jr's historic speech at the 1963 March on Washington, a voice rang out from behind him: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" That voice belonged to Mahalia Jackson, King's close friend and one of the most revered gospel singers of the 20th century - Glorious Mahalia, a visionary tribute to Jackson's life by the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, uses that moment as a springboard to explore the depth of Jackson's musical craft and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement, including her relationship with Clarence Jones and Studs Terkel, other luminaries of the time
Swedish visionary Boko Yout is releasing their long-awaited debut album GUSTO, out via Hoopdiggas Recordings.
GUSTO is Boko Yout’s debut album – a kaleidoscopic journey through memory, trauma, humour and healing. Framed as a fictional therapy programme led by the eccentric Dr. Gusto, each track represents a confrontation with a different shadow of the self: unspoken fears, inherited burdens, or unresolved inner conflicts. But GUSTO is not just about darkness – it’s also about hope, longing and the light that makes those shadows visible in the first place.
Boko Yout weaves together raw emotion, spiritual symbolism and bold experimentation. Referencing vodun philosophy, Jungian archetypes and post-genre production, they draws inspiration from artists like Yves Tumor, Odd Future and LCD Soundsystem. The result is a debut that feels more like a sonic manifesto – driven by love, intention and a deep commitment to artistic freedom.
In Gianfranco Rosi’s portrait of Naples, Sotto le Nuvole, the ground shakes periodically. Between Mount Vesuvius and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields hiss volcanic gas and steam. Below the sleeping volcano, modern day Naples emerges in black and white and fills with voices, with lives. From the traces of history and the concerns of the present, Rosi documents a city immersed in its continuous past, with Daniel Blumberg’s minimal soundscape hovering in a sonic space between liquid and air.
Tasked with creating a soundscape that would suspend space within Rosi’s film, Blumberg called upon the extended technique of saxophonists Seymour Wright and John Butcher to create a gossamer fabric of traces and sounds abstracted from their instruments. Having transitioned from theoretical physics to the saxophone, John Butcher has always deeply considered space in the context of his playing. His concerns are with flow, density and how the saxophone is situated in the living world. Zeroing in on the core sonic properties of the mechanical and acoustic components of the saxophone, Seymour Wright has integrated its every breath, reed vibration, keypad clatter and hissed microtone of his alto into his own, unique improvisational language. In his work with these two seminal players, Blumberg makes his most concentrated soundtrack to date - reinforcing the film's sense of overlapping time and space, and pushing at the limits of experimentation.
Initially recorded in Daniel’s flat in London, Butcher and Wright centre themselves around long, consistent tones, so soft that it seems breath is being gently pulled from the saxophone's bell by an invisible hand. Blumberg himself adds haunting bass harmonica, and recordings of Wright’s launeddas - a traditional and ancient triple pipe polyphonic reed instrument from Sardinia, Italy. Blumberg then travelled to the volcanic region of Baia, next to Pompeii. Once a flourishing classical Roman city loved by Nero, Baia slowly sank under hydrothermal pressure, leaving the city in a kind of geological purgatory. Using specialised geophones and hydrophones, Blumberg took those initial recordings and amplified them underwater, sending them calling out across the ruins of Baia’s mosaics, Nymphaeum statues and villas.
“It was important to me that the music was whispered in the same landscape that Gianfranco has worked for the past three years, so that you can hear the volcanic air gulping, the lapping of the waves, the steam and bubbles popping against John and Seymour’s saxophone breaths – an echo from a suspended time.”
What emerges is deeply melancholic, tender, subtle and right at the edges of audio technology. Submerged in an aquarian mausoleum, the mysterious vibrations of the saxophone and its bell become an echo of an echo, wading from the future into the past. ‘Sotto le Nuvole’ is less a soundtrack than a process of aeration - a sonic puncture in the material of the film which allows its central message to breathe, and a remarkable experiment at the limits of the saxophone’s possibility.
Das wandlungsfähige Trio Vanishing Twin präsentiert sein neues Album ,Archives" - eine Collage aus postmoderner Songkunst, die im gemeinsamen Schaffensprozess Transzendenz findet. Der Albumtitel spielt auf den unverwechselbaren Ansatz von Vanishing Twin an, tägliche Aufnahmesessions anzuhören, zusammenzufügen und neu zu bearbeiten. Gründungsmitglied Cathy Lucas beschreibt den Prozess so: ,Material sammeln, damit herumspielen, es auf den Kopf stellen, versuchen, die Teile zusammenzufügen und daraus eine Geschichte zu erschaffen". Da Lucas mittlerweile ins ländliche Frankreich gezogen ist und Valentina Magaletti sowie Susumu Mukai in London leben, verbinden sich die drei, indem sie Songs und Instrumentalfragmente in einem virtuellen Studio austauschen. Die geografische Distanz wird durch ihre kollektive Kreativität überbrückt, wobei jedes Mitglied als Multi-Instrumentalist seinen Beitrag leistet. Jeder Musiker bringt umfangreiche Erfahrung in Zusammenarbeit und Improvisation mit, wobei das Anhören und Bearbeiten von Studio-Sessions ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des kreativen Prozesses ist. Konzepte von Urheberschaft und Eigentumsrechten lösen sich in der Musik von Vanishing Twin auf, während die Mitglieder Instrumente tauschen und sich ganz dem Moment der Zusammenarbeit hingeben. Die ,Archive", die dem Albumtitel seinen Namen geben, werden zu Dokumenten der kollektiven Intelligenz des Trios. Die chaotische Energie von ,Archives" treibt Vanishing Twin in ungewohnte Formen und Richtungen. Außerhalb ihrer Komfortzonen findet das Trio neue Momente der Erleuchtung und Freude. Tief im Mix hörst du vielleicht, wie Magaletti zum Bass greift, Mukai unerwartet am Schlagzeug einspringt oder Lucas chamäleonartig durch die Lücken gleitet. ,Archives" verfeinert Vanishing Twins Modell des kollektiven Musizierens, bei dem Egos in spielerischen Mix-and-Match-Spielen in den Hintergrund treten und die Kreativität zwischen den drei Multi-Instrumentalisten fließt. Sie bewegen sich zwischen und außerhalb konventioneller Genrekategorien und reihen sich neben Weggefährten wie dem Tara Clerkin Trio und Still House Plants ein, wodurch sie die Vorstellung vom zeitgenössischen Musikensemble erweitern. Nach einem Jahrzehnt ihres Bestehens sind Vanishing Twin wandelbarer denn je.
Indie shops only. Limited red vinyl rerelease. 500 for the World (just 80 copies for the UK) After falling out with Sir Coxsone, the legendary head of the Kingston label Studio One, Lee Perry first founded his own band and then, in 1973, set up his own studio in his backyard. What was born out of necessity developed into a unique success story. With both the Upsetters and the Black Ark, Perry made music history - most notably with the 1976 release of the album Super Ape, on which he made the genre of dub bubble and boil from the mixing desk in previously unheard ways. For Perry, the studio is like a living organism. Whether he truly experiences it that way or simply lets too much ganja go up in smoke, for Perry the equipment is organic, empathetic, and intelligent. The catch is that the results sound exactly like that as well. Long before sampling was invented, he layered tracks of deep basslines, echoes, and reverb with various self-recorded sound sequences – often played in reverse - on top of, into, and beneath each other. In other words, Perry was the first producer who made the music instead of the band. Among other things, this earned him the title ‘Salvador Dali of Dub.’
Building up from his multiple appearances on the label, one of our closest producers, Luca Durán, makes his full studio album debut on TraTra. This work is meant to showcase the vast world of influences the diasporic experience comes with: his rhythm-driven tracks coexist in high contrast, but fluidly, with the experimental and textures of his european school of sound. The title itself works amongst these two edges of Luca's aesthetic existence, the softness from the flight of a Mariposa with the harsh hit of a death blow.
Killing Mariposas is filled with seemingly clashing techniques, field recordings, acoustic instruments, and analogue synthesis, which converge with modern and forward-thinking production tools to build heavily layered music. Constructing an emotional narration from the contemplative to the euphoric. A sort of contextual shapeshifter, with hints of cumbia, grasps of reggaetón and dembow, but always submerged deeply in a windy and fragmented memory.
This whole project gets rounded up by the packed lineup of collaborators, both vocal features and production partners. Astute minds from distinct internet niches: Kelman Durán, Gavsborg, Iceboy Violet, Debit, Rosa Pistola, BEBE YANA, Kamohelo & Kacha.
One true reflection of Luca's production abilities and sonic poetry.
Often credited as the father of multi-media theatre, Alwin Nikolais (1910-1993) took complete creative control over his productions - including cutting-edge approaches to lighting and costume that transformed human bodies into shifting sculptural shapes, while also composing wildly innovative electro-acoustic and synth-based audio as accompaniment.
After initially experimenting with musique concrète and tape manipulation (as demonstrated on the 1959 LP Choreosonic Music of the New Dance Theatre of Alwin Nikolais) Nikolais became the first owner of Robert Moog's synthesizer at the Audio Engineering Society convention in New York in late 1964. Relying heavily on the Moog and later the Synclavier synth/sampler, these 21 tracks document Nikolais' highly-prescient compositions across the mid 1960s through to the late 1980s - existing not only as extensions of his other-worldly choreographic productions, but standalone pieces of foundational mid-century American electronic and experimental music.
"Born in Southington, Connecticut in 1910, Nikolais’s early years and early career were in acting, music and puppetry. It was not until the late 1930s that he began his work as dancer/choreographer in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was commissioned by the Avery Memorial Theatre, a part of the Wadsworth Atheneum, to create an evening-length work to the music of Ernst Krenek. Previously his work and study as a pianist-organist found him accompanying silent films. This sort of accompaniment required from the musician not only a playing skill but also a versatility in improvisation, matching movement to sound, and evoking mood to situation.
Nik was drawn initially to dance by his involvement with the percussion scores used by the illustrious early twentieth century German dancer Mary Wigman. In trying to learn more about percussion, he was lured into dance class and thus his career began. His development of music and dance occurred simultaneously. His introduction to the twelve-tone technique opened his mind to the expanding areas of atonal music, and his dealing with music as sound per se. In 1948, after being appointed director of the Henry Street Playhouse in New York, Nikolais formed the Playhouse Dance Company, later known as the Nikolais Dance Theater, and began his aesthetic orientation toward dance as a study of motion. By the 1950s, he had ceased creating literal dances and began his explorations and eventual milieu as an abstractionist.
Sound became an important part of his abstract theatre. For his first dances, which involved his new thinking of dance as both a visual and kinetic art, he used live percussion scores in which he directed his dancers to play instruments of all nature. There was a combination of children’s toy instruments as well as harsh and resonant automobile brake drums, and other pitched auto parts which he also used to accompany classes. Once he installed his own tape recording machines, he quickly used the limited range these instruments provided in a new way, slowing and increasing speed and reversing sound. He also made the sounds adhere to the choreographic structure (not the other way around), thereby giving the dance its independence from the musical phrasing. But the real need remained: the search for new sound. Nik made a sound library, recording noises and percussion and vocal sounds, which the French aptly called musique concrète. Needless to say, he became a master at splicing bits and pieces.
From 1956 to 1962 Nikolais composed eleven major scores for his theatre pieces using such techniques. In 1963, James Seawright, who at the time was assisting Nik in his productions and also working at the Columbia-Princeton Center for Electronic Music, recorded a sound bank for the production Imago (1963). With this material, Nikolais created his first synthesizer score. Imago won the Paris Grand Prix in 1968 and launched the Nikolais Dance Theatre towards its national and primarily international acclaim.
During the same period, Seawright came to Nik and told him of a young man who had invented and constructed a simplified synthesizer and insisted that Nik visit the electronic fair currently being held in New York. Nik did so and met Robert Moog. He was completely taken by the new machine and after making some suggestions to Moog, (which Moog made), Nik bought the inventor’s first machine with the aid of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Moog himself was astonished by what his machine could produce for Nik. This machine was later acquired by the Museum of Musical Instruments at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as the first Moog synthesizer. The Synclavier was Nik’s next source of sound and since the mid-1970s remained the major instrument in the Nikolais soundroom.
Alwin Nikolais has been honored and awarded throughout the world. He has received the French Legion of Honor, the Kennedy Center Honors, National Medal of the Arts, two Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as Mellon, Ford, and Rockefeller grants. He has been a recipient of NEA grants since 1966, been awarded five honorary doctorates, all for his remarkable achievements in Dance Theater. His genius has influenced several generations of artists."
—Murray Louis
Hidden Sounds Record store – with the help of Emotional Recordings – launches the Dark Times label with the first of two club orientated EPs from Canadian brother-production duo Lex and Rew MacCrimmon and their project Alkahest.
Released on their own Post Contemporary label between 1994 – 1996, Alkahest contrasted with the spacious electronica of their influential and still on-going project, Legion Of Green Men.
Growing up in suburban city life in Burlington, Ontario, the MacCrimmon brothers’ interest in music and collecting records started early, always looking for interesting sounds in new places. With a limited local music scene or record stores, the alternative and college radio stations were the only way to discover new music or the type of music they sought.
The German electronic sounds of Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream were early obsessions, alongside Neu, Cluster (& Eno) and the post punk and synth pop emanating from Britain. The Flying Lizards, John Foxx / Ultravox, Gary Numan and The Normal were favourites, before diving into the 80s industrial experiments of Cabaret Voltaire, Severed Heads, Nurse With Wound and Throbbing Gristle.
Making their own music soon followed, first experimenting with 4 track cassette and digital delay, drum machines and synths soon followed, steadily building their own studio. All these influences merged in the early 90s with the dawn of house and techno and the progression to start the Post Contemporary label launched in 1992.
With the project Legion Of Green Men achieving early success, their diversion with Alkahest explored a post-industrial techno hybrid. Unsubtle, night music, the rhythm and sonic textures are more prominent over melody.
Contact High covers this Alkahest sound, from the 133 bpm trippy, psychedelics of opener Black Tabs, the acid breaks of Ground Zero or the charging nature of closing Séance 333, where all bets are off – together this 4 track EP perfectly captures the early spirit of Canada’s electronic music scene finding its place in dance culture, from the raves of the Toronto’s outer rim to the beaches of Anjuna.
However, in the title cut Contact High, there is something else happening, as electronic dub is explored, where the space in the music, between the beats, is as important at what happens on the surface. A love of this ethereal feeling would lead the brothers to head further in this direction and here is a perfect example of that early journey.
Hackney based Hidden Sounds Records launches – with support from Emotional Recordings – it’s Dark Times label by diving in the the music of Alkahest, a short-lived project from Canadian brother-production duo Lex and Rew MacCrimmon.
For the second EP, the Twisted Up release is re-examined, with a tweaked track list to represent the times and how their sound continues in relevance today. Released in 2 years (1994-1996), Alkahest was the darker side of the MacCrimmon’s productions and allowed them to focus on twisted, psychedelic electronics, away from their main Legion Of Green Men project.
Self-described music obsessives from a young age – lying under a home-made harpsichord, with their heads in the resonator box was an early indication of a love outside the norm. Experiments with forks and pencils on strings – totally unaware of the likes John Cage – highlighted an interest in sound from unusual places.
Anything with a synth notably grabbed their attention, going to the public library to take out BBC Sound Effects and Morton Subotnick albums, sat alongside contacting European mail order catalogues, to grow their knowledge and record collections.
As early productions formed, working under the sound production name of Incarnate, their love of art was just as influential as music. The likes of M.C. Escher, Salvador Dali, Bridget Riley and the Op Art movement, was all part of brothers in their progression to form the Post Contemporary label in 1992.
Following the DIY ethos of the music they had long been buying, their “indie ethic” influences all coalesced in the label, not conforming to one sound or tempo, placed them within the electronic music coming from Canada, but also, out on their own.
Twisted Up expands the Alkahest sound, the title cut a stomping anthem, it’s unrelenting drums and lifting strings a call to arms. The compelling Shake arrives, acid techno rewiring synapsis, dub static between the beats.
On the flip, Twisted Another is just that, a reversion excursion, pushing the psychedelic synthesis to the forefront, stabs call and respond. Closing the EP with the perfectly titled, Kiss My Acid, a journey of industrial bang, reflexed, Alkahest showing their sound is pulsating, widescreen overtures.
Preceded by his reputation as a rap experimentalist, Bladee is a prolific and highly inventive entity with work spanning and intersecting the worlds of music, art and fashion.
He began his career as a teenager, trading art and lyrics with close friends. After releasing his first projects, international recognition came quickly and his network of Stockholm innovators soon arrived at the vanguard of a new era in music culture.
333 is Bladee's fourth solo album. Produced by Whitearmor, Gud, Mechatok, Lusi of Ripsquad and Joakim Benon of JJ, the album has no guest appearances.
Paraiso has been doing vital work in Portugal - documenting the underground dance scene's history and pioneers in various mediums while also showcasing equally brilliant artists from newer generations. And they've been doing it for a decade now: we all know that a label dedicated to its local scene through and through is something rare and should be celebrated. This compilation 'X - 10 Years of Underground House Music from a Paradise Called Portugal' is a manifestation of that cross-generational spirit, with ten never-before-heard pieces of music by initiators and legends like The Advent alongside more recent veterans like Roundhouse Kick and Vil or younger talent like Phoebe or Van Der. Things start off with Salbany's 'Trax 10', oozing a techno elegance and irrefutable groove that wonderfully portrays the spirit of the Lisbon sound: raw yet ethereal, disarming in its simplicity while containing rave, romance and rhythmic complexities. Label founders Maria Amor & Shcuro firmly carry on the torch with 'Intracellular', gelled by dubby washes, syncopated drums, infectious rhythmic sense and layered with a melodic vocal motif. Vil's 'Cave' brings in stone-cold tight percussion offset by rich, evocative pads and technoid know-how for days. The Advent steps in with an ode to acid-minimalism, raw and slow-burning, with curious and twisted moments peppered with the skill of an expert. Van Der storms in with a piece of hybrid qualities, impeccably blending a swing onto industrial territories for a hypnotic-yet-banging hands in the air dancefloor moment. Scam Dust (the duo of Tiago and Shcuro, from adjacent generations) picks up on the industrial flavours, adds furious jacking rhythmics and live sonic experimentation that takes us to peak-quality effect and noise manipulation. 'Subvert' follows and goes deeper, as if into the depths of the ocean, with aquatic arpeggios and sparse drums that morph into an 303-driven state of mysterious oceanfloor mania - Roundhouse Kick sending us messages from the South. Violet and her 'Dream Machine' emerge with its mutant noisy motif, delay-drenched percussion and steady beat interrupted by keys, drum variations - and a u-turn to its paranoid loopy beginnings. Phoebe enters the chat and brings sonic sun rays in 'Galaxia 2000', a wide-eyed moment lead by colourful, open synthesisers with gates and filters taking us on a beautiful ride on tense, swingy drum patterns. The tenth track comes from Lisbon's rkeat and is full of closing act ear-candy with its beautifully chiseled, groovy as hell percussion, organic sonics and metallic instruments that seem to announce that the next decade is about to be just as good, if not better than this lovely 2016-2026 stint of boundary and scene-pushing.
Richard Sen debuts on Phantasy with ‘Space 1999 / Bergen Light Rail’, the first transmission from the illustrious DJ and producer since his vinyl-only solo LP, 2024’s ‘India Man’.
Deeply invested in electronic music for over thirty years, first at the intersection of London’s acid house and graffiti art scenes, evolving in cult duos Padded Cell and Bronx Dogs, and now generously sharing his formidable knowledge of club culture on London’s Do!! You!!! Radio, Sen is known to take listeners anywhere. On this occasion, he locks into two distinct influences from his winding creative journey, with ecstatic results.
The title of ‘Space 1999’ mirrors Sen’s own hand-painted accompanying artwork, yet its sonic influence sits much closer to our own orbit; A tribute to a slice of London nightlife history, Space at Bar Rhumba was a midweek party led by residents Luke Solomon and Kenny Hawes, whose selections helped sculpt the deep house scene at the turn of the millennium. ‘Space 1999’ transports contemporary dancers back there in no less than ten minutes, led by a deep bassline and swinging drums, while an intergalactic melody slowly takes hold, resulting in pure satisfaction.
‘Bergen Light Rail’ embraces a different kind of kosmische, looking to the northern light of space disco and following the tram route of its namesake to the Norwegian city’s beloved Club Ostre, riding a rhythm of pogoing toms and crashing drums. Conjuring a dreamy tête-à-tête between ever-expanding, heavenly synths and tightly-wound arpeggiators, Sen’s transmission to the stars is a deeply human call to dance.
The high-energy momentum continues with Whodamanny’s new double single on his own Biloba Catalogue. Capturing the post-summer ache of an obsessive love, "Obsesiòn" channels that deep-rooted Southern intensity, where obsession isn't a flaw, but a vital, positive drive to love endlessly. Turning up the heat, "Corazón Caliente" hits with a raw, sweat-soaked proto-house rhythm and heavy workstation brass stacks built to set hearts on fire. On the flip side, both tracks receive DJ-ready treatments with the specially named dub version "Dub Pasión" and the instrumental take "Sueño De Verano."
Following on from his electric appearance on Diamonds in the Night, Tallac returns with a four‑tracker of low‑orbit elation. Tessitura blends floor‑facing energy with sleek space synths, elegant undercurrents washed in bold bars to produce a one‑of‑a‑kind sound. Drums hit hard on “Carbon Copy,” driving percussion providing the launchpad for synthlines to swoop and soar. Tempos are taken down a notch for the analogue embrace of “Kiss Me Quick.” Notes bend and flow in this smoky dreamscape, samples pulling the listener ever deeper. The rumbling kicks and hissing hi‑hats of “Pythia” are punctured by a throbbing beat; gliding above the rolling snares and luxurious breaks is a melody that thrums with palpable intensity and unbridled joy, a track made to ignite audiences. Never adhering to genre tags or style pigeonholes, Tessitura closes with “Cybersyn.” Touches of cosmic melt into late‑night glow‑stick energy, dawn’s light piercing the warehouse windows while the speakers continue to bounce blissfully.
Step into the backroom of the Bordello, the lights dim and the soundtrack adopts a different tone. L.F.T. leans against the wall. Nestled under his arm, Sonic Boom: four tracks of acid-inflected electro disruption. Love, Fist, Tears is no stranger to the more gnarled side of the machines, and that unadulterated rawness is evident from the needle drop of “Locked in My Head.” From its bent and buckled intro, the track launches a beat that punches before drawing the listener in for more. Vocoder lyrics are mangled with distortion, static soaked chords blighted by corrosive chemicals and industrial decay as the knives are drawn from the outset (and this is only the beginning). Blistered and cracked beats are doused in a pestilent haze for “Las Plagas” and a message of intent is firmly stated: there will be no let up on Sonic Boom, no reprieve. “Ningen” opens the flip. Grisly, petrol smeared beats splutter below a juddering synthline that coils and twists with serpentine menace. A probing tom is lanced before being set alight in the finale. Sinister and unsettling, “Schmutzig Personality” is as physically powerful as it is psychologically gripping. Barrages of drums rain down, barbed snares and sharpened claps, as an assault of acid is further weaponised by machined vocals. L.F.T. doing what he does with an EP that will leave bodies and speakers broken.
Nicolas Balmer reveals the heavy silence of his soul.
Facing his own mirror.
The soundscape unfolds.
Fire sets the tone.
Kindling of the abyss, driven to go on and on.
Passion in his language contains suffering.
A silver lining, found in delicately layered noise.
A myriad of intertwined sounds paint the melodies of a life.
Holding the memories of those who danced with his shadows and light.
Nicolas releases his album “Leben” on Zürich based Subject To Restrictions Discs. While moving between New Wave, Kraut and Electronics, his intuition for ambient oozes from each composition, fast-paced or slow. As Nicolas Balmer lays bare his most intimate sources of inspiration with Leben. He holds nothing back.
The album is shaped by a sense of optimistic melancholy: restless and contradictory, yet full of hope. The music is not about arriving, but about the journey: loss and finding oneself; despair, love, guilt and forgiveness. This is an album that does not seek to explain life, but rather embraces it in all its contradictions.
Nicolas Balmer is a Zurich-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and synthesizer enthusiast who has been exploring contemporary music for over fifteen years. Working across music, theatre and interdisciplinary projects, he moves between genres and forms. His work includes the electronic project Nico Sun, the experimental duo Gūsū with Xueyan Chen, the collaborative project Konstant with Angelo Repetto and Kenel/Sonne. He also composes and produces music for theatre and performance, as well as working in mixing and production. Across his projects, Balmer is driven by raw textures, emotional authenticity and a search for an independent musical language.
2026 Repress
30 years of Fuse means 30 years of road paving.
An ode to the past and a hint to the future, Fuse shares this milestone with its original guests from 1994 all the way to its fresh party goers of the past years as a promise to keep its dance floor focused on quality music and timeless moments.
In over a quarter century, the Brussels club has stood the test of time by rooting itself in ageless music and employing pioneering artists - large or small, international or local - to command the decks of Belgium's longest running dance floor. A celebration of this legacy and the renewed imprint is in order, coming in the form of a 30 track compilation of techno's best and brightest from around the world. One track for one year, this collection of recordings highlights the status quo of enduring club music, beginning with a nod to the past: a re-release of Jeff Mills iconic 'Step to Enchantment' from 1993. This glance to the past quickly shoots us forward into the current state of techno with legendary artists like Planetary Assault Systems, DVS1, Steffi, Rodhad, Donato Dozzy, DJ Nobu and many others who headlined the club in recent years. Cementing itself as a respected escapist institution, Fuse also calls on its growing local scene to prove why Brussels continues to remain a reference in the scene even outside of its own borders.
