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2026 Repress

Demon Records are proud to present Osmium Deluxe - the first recordings credited to the funk-rock ensemble Parliament-Funkadelic.

Since its re-release in 1990, Osmium has been distributed numerous times by various labels in America, Europe and Japan under alternate titles – including Rhenium and First Thangs. A number of these reissues have featured material that was not included on the original album, such as unreleased tracks and singles that were taken from the same time.

This in-demand, black-vinyl version of the Record Store Day 2024 sell-out compiles together everything from that period 2 LPs and includes; the full Osmium album, the single sides that never made the album, unreleased tracks, demos and jams – all of which made their debut vinyl appearance as one package in 2024.

Many of these recordings are still as far-out as they sounded when first released. However, the tracks here represent the genesis of what would become P-Funk and the entity that would give the world ground-breaking albums Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978). An essential addition to anyone’s collection.

Rave At Your Fictional Borders is not beyond borders. The band simply denies any notion thereof. Driven by a sense of community, it defines human existence as one bio-organism with planet Earth. Now comprising members Dave De Rose, Marius Mathiszik, and Salim Akki, this incarnation of Rave At Your Fictional Borders first released the 'Entanglement' and 'Utopia' tracks in March 2025. Analogue Nomadism is the project's first album release. Recorded in Morocco and then co-produced and mixed by Dan Nicholls, it is an album of dizzying, trance-inducing scope. Rave music stripped of all external signifiers. Repetition, noise, krautrock, avant-garde sensibilities. This is a search for a groove that both connects and interlocks. The soul of improvisation and exploration runs through all seven pieces on Analogue Nomadism. Genres are referenced and transcended. The open-ended is perpetually embraced.

It is neither night nor day, but there is a half-light all the time. What used to be disconcerting is now not alien anymore. The sky boasts a faint light. Certain shapes are laid out, but get changed through communal ritual. Analogue Nomadism is the music of a feeling of community. It builds and breaks down. It is accepting of the psychedelic standards of the groove. Transportative and vertiginous. Endless.

Manilla Road's »The Courts Of Chaos« album was originally released in 1990. It was the band's last release for Black Dragon and also the last release before the band temporarily split up (if we do not take 1992's »Circus Maximus« into account, which was actually supposed to be a solo album). All in all it was a very tough time for Manilla Road. When he was still alive, Mark Shelton commented in an exclusive interview: "Yes, you are correct with all of that. Our releases were not selling as well as they had years before and it seemed like metal in general was having a hard time surviving the times that followed the conversion to CD technology. Right after Manilla Road broke up, I started putting together a solo project that accidentally turned into a band. So we named it Circus Maximus and signed a deal with Black Dragon but they decided to release it as a Manilla Road album because they thought it would sell better. »The Courts Of Chaos« was the last album that was a real Manilla Road project on Black Dragon." “»The Courts Of Chaos« was a tough album to get done because the atmosphere within the band was tense, to say the least”, continued The Shark. ”We all knew it was going to be the end of an era and that this line-up would most likely never do another album.” Although »The Courts Of Chaos« might not be the strongest Manilla Road effort, Mark did not consider it a “throwaway album” whatsoever: “It does not seem to get mentioned as much as many other albums of The Road. But when it does come up, it seems like that person is really sold on the project being one of our better ones. It does, in my opinion, have some really killer songs on it. 'Dig Me No Grave' is still in our show. It's always a challenge to play but I love doing that one live and it still seems to appeal to our audience. “ Another highlight on »The Courts Of Chaos« is "DOA", a cover of a Bloodrock number. Manilla Road were not known for playing too many covers. Mark Shelton explained: "I grew up in that era and yes, I love that old stuff and could be called a collector of sorts, I guess. This was the only cover song that Manilla Road has ever put on an album. We chose this song because it was the only one that all three of us could agree upon. I wanted to do some obscure hit from the old days and turn it into a Manilla Road style song. I'm still fairly fond of the version and still like to listen to it every once in a while."

A century-old grand piano, a secluded house surrounded by the greenery of Brittany, no internet connection, and a reel-to-reel recorder.L'Écho de Bretagne, the new EP by Niklas Paschburg, set for release from fall 2025 via Nettwerk Music Group, is a solo piano record as essential as it is intense. An album made of silences, space, slowness. A music that doesn't chase impact, but truth.

the album release is march 26th - 2026.

If his previous work, Mexican Alps (2025), marked the first time the German composer and producer created an ambient-electronic album without his instrument of choice, the piano, L'Écho de Bretagne emerges as a direct response to that absence. "It was exactly the lack of piano that brought about the need for this new record, which instead puts that instrument, so vital to me, at the very center, stripping everything else away," Niklas explains.

Born in 1994, Paschburg has shaped over the years a musical path deeply connected to travel, nature, and introspection. From his debutTuur Mang Welten(2016) toOceanic(2018),Svalbard(2020),Panta Rhei(2023), and the aforementionedMexican Alps— alongside soundtracks, remixes, and collaborations with artists like RY X, Hania Rani, Ásgeir, and Bryan Senti — his sound bridges neoclassical, electronic, ambient, and pop-driven composition.

WithL'Écho de Bretagne, the Hamburg-born, Berlin-based musician continues his exploration by seeking solitude in nature, much like he did onSvalbard, but this time with an even more radical choice: disconnecting completely from the internet, and switching off both computer and smartphone for a while, in order to fully immerse himself in his new music. "I rented an old cottage in Paimpol, Brittany, where I knew there was a grand piano," he recounts. "When I got there, I discovered that not only was the piano more than a hundred years old, but it was also of an unknown brand, never restored, and quite difficult to play. But that gave it a unique character, and I didn't give up. Sure, it was an instrument left to its own fate, I couldn't play anything too fast. But how fascinating was that? I'm convinced that setting limits, instead of giving yourself total freedom when composing, can become an extraordinary source of inspiration."

As for the decision to temporarily detach from a life that demands we stay constantly connected, Niklas describes it as both a creative and human experiment. "I had my laptop and phone with me, just in case, but I kept them turned off. That choice made me wantL'Écho de Bretagneto be a fully analog work, even in how it was recorded." A way of clearing the mind. "I don't think I've ever been as calm as I was during those days in Paimpol. Even though I was working on a very specific project and didn't have much time, that period was more relaxing than any vacation."

Not that it was free of hiccups. "I'd borrowed a reel-to-reel recorder small enough to travel with me, but after recording a session on the piano, I realized it wasn't working properly, the sound was distorted, full of crackles. I got worried, because I wasn't near any big city where I could find a technician. Luckily, I figured out the problem was the old tape reels I had brought along. That was the only time I had to go online, to order new ones. But it was just for a moment. I shut everything off again right after." At that point, Niklas was waiting for the new tapes to arrive. He found out, completely by chance, from a local UPS courier that they had been delivered to a nearby village. "Since my phone was off, I couldn't track the shipment. So one day I asked this delivery guy, who didn't know anything about it. But from that point on, we'd see each other daily and talk… That's what being disconnected also means: reconnecting with people around you, even strangers. It was thanks to that courier that I found out where the tapes had ended up. And he even helped me get them back, writing directions for me on a scrap of paper."

But there's another element that makes this new EP unique.L'Écho de Bretagnewas recorded entirely live; its tracks are all improvised, complete with their imperfections. This approach leads to a sound that is pure, profoundly organic, and deeply authentic, intentionally preserved to give the listener the feeling of a live performance happening in their own living room. The touch of fingers on the keys, the breath of the wood, the tension of the vibrating string, all become part of the music. There is no construction, only expression. "Even now, when I listen back to it, I feel that moment I gave myself to step away from everything: from reality, from words, from noise." The result is a collection of suspended melodies and atmospheres, reflecting a state of the soul. A refuge from the rush of time. A pause from the world.

Erleben Sie das pulsierende Lebensgefühl der 80er Jahre mit der farbigen 2LP-Compilation „ZYX Italo Disco History 1984“. Diese exklusive Vinyl-Ausgabe entführt Sie direkt in das goldene Zeitalter der Italo Disco und vereint die größten Dancefloor-Hits eines unvergesslichen Jahres.

Freuen Sie sich auf ikonische Tracks von Künstlern wie P. Lion, Scotch und Valerie Dore – Namen, die für eingängige Melodien, treibende Beats und den unverwechselbaren Sound der Italo Disco stehen. Jeder Song dieser Sammlung spiegelt die Energie und den Glamour der internationalen Clubszene von 1984 wider. Ein besonderes Highlight ist der enthaltene 15-minütige Megamix der Italo-Disco-Legende Flemming Dalum. Mit seinem einzigartigen Gespür für Rhythmus und Atmosphäre verbindet er die größten Hits zu einem mitreißenden Mix, der nahtlos durch die Klangwelt der 80er führt. Die farbige Doppel-LP macht diese Compilation nicht nur musikalisch, sondern auch optisch zu einem echten Sammlerstück – perfekt für Vinyl-Liebhaber und Fans elektronischer Klassiker

KITCHEN. LABEL is proud to present AGATE, the latest album by Japanese artist MEITEI, marking a deepening of the world he first shaped through his Kofū trilogy released between 2020 - 2023.

Named after the mineral agate, a stone formed through slow accumulation, pressure, and time, the album reflects MEITEI’s patient approach to sound. AGATE brings together extended and newly rearranged works from across the Kofū cycle alongside new compositions and passages, refining material developed through years of performance and sustained practice.

The album presents seven tracks:

HAŌ (Previously unreleased track)
SHIN-OIRAN (Remodeled from Oiran I, Kofū 2020)
SHIN-SADAYAKKO (Remodeled from Sadayakko, Kofū 2020)
SHIN-WAROSOKU (Remodeled from Wa-rōsoku, Kofū III 2023)
KYŪGEKI (Remodeled from Shinobi and Akira Kurosawa, Kofū II 2021)
SHIN-OIRAN II (Remodeled from Oiran II, Kofū 2020)
SHIN-EDOGAWARANPO (Remodeled from Edogawa Ranpo, Kofū III 2023)
Across these works, MEITEI expands the musical vocabulary first introduced in Kofū, a sound he once described as “lost Japanese mood.” While Kofū drew from fragments of folklore, theatre, ghost stories, and forgotten urban memory, it was never an act of historical reconstruction. Rather, it reflected a sensibility of the past observed from the present. With AGATE, this worldview is clarified as Shinpu, a process of discovery in which historical awareness becomes a foundation for contemporary creation rather than a constraint.

During five years of Kofū tours across Japan, Europe, and Asia, MEITEI performed this material in a wide range of spaces, from underground live houses and listening rooms to culturally significant sites. These environments influenced pacing, dynamics, and structure, shaping how the material evolved over time. AGATE is therefore not only a studio album, but the result of material refined through repeated performance.

If the Kofū albums were windows into forgotten eras, AGATE explores what lies beneath, sediment and strata formed through time and pressure. MEITEI’s approach to sound mirrors the nature of agate itself. Grains become texture. Texture becomes narrative. Voices drift through decaying layers of sound, while ancient instruments are used in non-traditional ways, forming distinctive percussive rhythms and melodies that appear and vanish without fixed resolution.

The album’s visual materials were developed under MEITEI’s direction through physical art-making processes. The cover artwork originates from a letterpress print created by Kamisoe, a Karakami atelier in Nishijin, Kyoto, using Kyo-karakami paper. The original artwork, produced through traditional woodblock techniques on handmade washi, was subsequently reproduced on print for the album edition. Kamisoe continues to reinterpret this historical Kyoto craft with a contemporary sensibility.

The title calligraphy was created by Bio Xie, whom MEITEI personally invited to participate in the project. During his performances abroad, MEITEI encountered in Taiwan a lingering atmosphere reminiscent of “Shitsunihon” — a sense of old Japanese memory that quietly endures beyond time. He was deeply drawn to Bio Xie’s distinctive use of Chinese characters, which resonated with this experience, and asked him to contribute to the visual expression of AGATE.

In parallel, MEITEI continues to reinterpret Japanese sensibility through his concept of “Shitsunihon,” presenting it as a contemporary musical language. The refined Kyoto motifs envisioned by Kamisoe and the distinctive calligraphic expression by Bio Xie intersect with MEITEI’s singular artistic direction, weaving together a newly articulated worldview.

The accompanying visual imagery, including the liner photographs, was created by photographer Hiroshi Okamoto, who was also responsible for the visual direction of MEITEI’s previous work, “Sen'nyū.” It draws from MEITEI’s lived experiences of winter seas, solitary cliffs, and breaking waves. These scenes symbolize the inner conflicts of the ten years he spent living in Hiroshima, and his confrontation with solitude and the sounds he creates.

AGATE will be released on 17 April 2025 via KITCHEN. LABEL on 180g vinyl, CD, and digital formats. The album is mastered by Kelly Hibbert, known for his work with Flying Lotus, Madlib, and J Dilla.

With AGATE, MEITEI returns to the material of Kofū with greater focus and discipline, continuing an ongoing process of working forward with inherited material.

Fresh from releasing projects on Method 808 and Future Classic, landing a huge collaboration with Chloé Caillet, and delivering an official remix for Fatboy Slim, PPJ are entering a new chapter in full force. Their expansive take on global street sounds, ranging from neoperreo to Miami bass, gets a cool re-coating.

Led by the magnetic vocalist Páula, with production from Povoa (individually supported by Four Tet, Ben UFO, and Barry Can't Swim, with recent releases on Live From Earth), the duo operates in maximalist mode: playful, sensual, and slightly unhinged.PPJ’s new era, JOKER, embraces a figure that appears everywhere from card decks to carnival culture as a symbol that mirrors their own DNA: funny, eerie, seductive, unpredictable. The EP leans further into club territory, but rather than polishing their edges, PPJ amplify them.

At the emotional core of the record sits “Coeur,” co-produced with Chloé Caillet. It begins with an MPB-tinged foundation flirting with bossa nova. It’s unmistakably Brazilian, bathed in sunset hues before being sped up and twisted into a dance-floor-ready electronic form. The groove shimmers with tension: warm percussion, elastic basslines, and Páula’s voice hovering between intimacy and tease. It feels like a remix of itself, romantic, but slightly untrustworthy.

If “Coeur” glows, “To Nem Ai” is a slow burner. A very deep and downtempo house cut, it unfolds slowly, almost luxuriously, guided by sensual vocals that feel whispered directly into the ear of the listener. A hypnotizing piano sample that feels like a late-night confession. It’s the kind of record that transforms a dancefloor into something tactile.

Elsewhere, “Me Pega” is a high-energy reinterpretation of the tech-house sounds from Santa Catarina, one of southern Brazil’s most feverish party states, twisted and accelerated for ferocious impact. Drawing direct inspiration from Sarro, a raw and vibrant Brazilian street dance, the track captures physical intensity in its purest form: sweat, bass pressure, collective release.

Its counterpart, “Tem Carnaval” channels Páula’s vivid storytelling into a thunderous ode to Rio’s carnival spirit, euphoric, chaotic, cinematic landed just in time for this year’s celebrations.

On “Sexy Doce,” rugged electroclash melodies collide with unexpected references. “It was inspired by Budots, which is dance music from the streets in the Philippines,” Povoa explains. “Then we mixed it with Páula’s Brazilian vocals. Baile funk is similarly from the streets, so there is a connection.” The result is raw yet futuristic, a cross-continental flirtation that feels both underground and explosive.

With this new EP, PPJ make music like they’re tuning into a dozen pirate frequencies at once. Pirate radio from Rio to Berlin to Manila intercepting fragments of street culture, sensuality, and chaos, and stitching them into something deliriously cohesive.
JOKER doesn’t just nod to club culture. It challenges it, twists expectation and leaves a lasting impression.

180g Vinyl

The album features the group playing Gary McFarland arrangements of Kuhn's compositions, accompanied by a string section on several tracks, with Kuhn delivering stream of consciousness lyrics in an unplanned and largely improvised fashion in the studio. However, that wasn't the only surprising aspect to the session. Airto Moreira's appearance was more by chance than design, he having just popped by the studio, again, unplanned. The 'Steve Kuhn' album is all the stronger for these extemporaneous and serendipitous elements and showcases a band at the top of their game; tight and funky yet relaxed and flowing like molten gold, with stabs and washes of keyboard from Kuhn. Splashes of free playing enter the session, but the band never stray too far from a melodic and harmonious centre of gravity. Kuhn's deft keyboard skills provide melodic embroidery to the impressive rhythmic textures and tonal colours of Carter, Cobham and Moreira. As if the music wasn't enough, the album is given extra significance by the fact that, within a few months of the recording, McFarland would die after being mysteriously poisoned by methadone in a New York bar. In a sense, it is a valedictory album from McFarland, channeled by Kuhn and the band. It's among the hardest of Kuhn's albums to find so this reissue is most welcome. Luxuriate in the glow of Kuhn's Fender Rhodes and the pliant funky bass of Ron Carter; immerse yourself in the percussive interplay of Moreira and Cobham, a pairing that has rarely sounded so good. This is such an exquisite album; you will lose yourself in its delicate power and find yourself coming back to it again and again. "It's a beautiful picture, and it helped me to comprehend things, life a bit, you know. And as I'm thinking about it, I hope it does that for whoever listens to it too." - Thundercat, Musician Details: Heavyweight Vinyl 45 RPM Cut / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer / 30x60 cm insert printed on 300 gram DNS paper with interview to Steve Kuhn by Tony Higgins.

Artist and multi-instrumentalist Flaer looks to the landscape to explore pastoral melancholy on debut release, Preludes. It is released in a second edition black vinyl, with an alternate cover artwork.

Ensconced in his family home in rural Leicestershire in the early months of 2020, painter and musician Realf Heygate (b. 1994) picked up his childhood cello for the first time in several years and began to play. Setting himself parameters to only record onto 4-track tape with acoustic instruments – cello, piano and acoustic guitar – he assembled a suite of instrumental compositions that form the basis of Preludes, his debut album as Flaer and the inaugural release on Odda Recordings.

Channelling the tension and unease between the pastoral idyll of the English countryside and the darkness which lurks beneath the surface, the mini-album draws inspiration from the analogue aesthetic of 1970s folk horror films, weaving field recordings of birdsong, church bells and the natural environment into chimerical melodies that reflect on Heygate’s childhood experiences of rural England.

“It was really important not to isolate the sound from its environment,” he explains, describing the compositional and recording process as “site-specific”. Developed over a series of intuitive musical enquiries, the mini-album’s uncanny quality emerges from combining raw demo takes with overdubs of almost orchestral grandeur.

Heygate points to the final track as indicative of the work as a whole: “‘Follow’ really is the mantra for the release and embodies the practical approach I was taking to music making: not to force the music but see where it takes you.”

As a painter, Heygate’s practice takes artefacts through sequences of reproduction that embrace the fluctuating materiality of the copy. Since obtaining a degree in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2017, he has exhibited solo at Peter von Kant and Springseason galleries in London, and has participated in group shows at Saatchi Gallery, Cob Gallery and Senesi Contemporanea.

Describing his artistic practice as one of self-erasure, music instead provides Heygate with a more personal and autobiographical outlet. Where the two worlds combine is on Preludes’ striking artwork, which features paintings of 13th century stone carvings from the font of the church in the town where he grew up.

Speaking to a time where people were connected to the land in a more profound way, each symbol is assigned to a track on the album, which Heygate likens to giving them a title.

“To add that one juxtaposition might open a whole new interpretation or language that might be hard to find otherwise,” he explains.“Over time it might reveal itself to you, which is why I'm excited about it being released. To throw them out there and see what comes of it.”

On their seventh studio album, Lost Cause Lover Fool (due April 24th on Far Cry/Thirty Tigers), The Milk Carton Kids deliver 9 songs that, more than ever, invite listeners to lean in close and hover in the small moments the album magnifies. Much has changed since The Milk Carton Kids — Los Angeles-based singer-songwriters Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan — burst on the Folk scene in 2011. And The Milk Carton Kids have changed too. But at least one constant remains. Pattengale and Ryan continue to make music that entices us turn down the volume on a chaotic world and dwell as long as possible on what matters most. With rootsy arrangements, Lost Cause Lover Fool expands on the duo’s signature minimalist sound their fans love while also, somehow, making it even smaller. Lost Cause Lover Fool begins with the lonesome pluck and strum of the banjo on “Blue Water.”

Often employed either for lightning-speed or rhythm, here the banjo is handled carefully, with reticence, so that it feels more like light cast across a stretch of grass than a whole bluegrass instrument. Lyrically, this album-opener zooms in on a snapshot of a man walking along a riverside, remembering the child that used to lay on his chest who has now grown to share his worried mind. It’s a moment so small it might easily have been dismissed, except that it holds an emotion as universal as it is fleeting. Lost Cause Lover Fool magnifies many such small moments, turns them into mesmerizing worlds, and reminds us — pleads with us — to pay attention to them as they go by.

Purple Haze started out in Linköping in 1981. When singer Christer Göransson joined them towards the end of the year, they soon changed their moniker to Genocide (after the Judas Priest song of the same name) and supported local metal heroes Axewitch. A final name change was to follow: In August 1983, the band, now called Mindless Sinner, recorded a four-track demo entitled »Master Of Evil«, consisting of the title track, “Broken Freedom”, “Key Of Fortune” and “Screaming For Mercy”. This attracted Swedish label Fingerprint Records, and they in turn released the NWOBHM-inspired material as a mini-album with an awful cover and getting the band’s name wrong (spelling it Mindless Sinners). By then, the line-up of the band was Anders Karlsson (bass), Magnus Danneblad (guitar), Jerker Edman (guitar), Tommy Johansson (drums) and vocalist Christer Göransson. »Master Of Evil« originally saw the light of day on Fingerprint in January 1984. Christer Göransson takes us back to the early days of Mindless Sinner saying: “We wanted to record an album, but we couldn’t afford the studio cost. We were lucky to win a music contest, and the price money paid for the studio. I remember walking into the studio, and we thought it was like a spaceship in there, with all the buttons and flashing lights everywhere. We recorded the four songs that would become »Master Of Evil«. We then gave the tape to the Axewitch guys, and they played it to their record label at the time Fingerprint/Web Records and they liked it so much that they signed us as well.” Over the years, the music of Mindless Sinner has often been compared to the Tygers Of Pan Tang from England but Christer Göransson doesn’t see too many similarities: “We really love Tygers Of Pan Tang but I don’t think they were a big influence. It was more Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Dio etcetera. That kinda stuff.” In addition to the four tracks of the original edition of »Master Of Evil«, the current High Roller Records pressing also contains the five songs of the band’s first demo tape from early 1983 (including “Mindless Sinner”, “Higher And Higher”, “We All Go Back”, “Heavy Metal Will Never Die” and “City Games”). All nine tracks were mastered by Patrick W. Engel at his Temple Of Disharmony in November 2025. Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for maximum quality on all levels ... The ultimate audiophile re-issue of this Swedish metal classic!

Das vierte Album von Big Harp, "Runs To Blue", kommt mit Songs über Fernweh und Verlust, Liebe zu den eigenen Kindern und zum Partner, der Akzeptanz des Älterwerdens und der gleichzeitigen Wehmut darüber, dass wir nie wieder so sein können wie früher, genau zum richtigen Zeitpunkt. Es ist, als würde man Stefanie Drootin und Chris Senseney eines Abends zu Hause besuchen und ihnen zuhören, wie sie lachend und weinend Geschichten aus ihrer Vergangenheit erzählen und Hoffnungen für die Zukunft schmieden. Nur Akustikgitarre, Bass und zwei Stimmen, die sich blind verstehen: "Runs To Blue" ist das schlichteste Album von Big Harp. Gleichzeitig ist es aber das emotional komplexeste – zwei lange verbundene Leben, verdichtet zu zehn offenen und berührenden Songs. Eine Momentaufnahme im Leben eines Paares, dessen Beziehung mit Musik begann und ihr bis heute treu bleibt. Es klingt nach Folkmusik, weil es genau das ist: eine ehrliche Sammlung von Erlebnissen, vertont mit schlichten Melodien, die man mitsingen und immer bei sich tragen kann – kleine Erinnerungen an die Vergangenheit, die den Weg ins Unbekannte weisen.

"Big Harp war schon immer eine der besten und am meisten unterschätzten Bands unter meinen vielen talentierten Freunden aus dem Umfeld von Saddle Creek. Ihre Musik verbindet authentische Americana mit dem rebellischen Punk-Ethos, mit dem wir alle aufgewachsen sind. Chris und Stef sind für mich Helden." – Conor Oberst

Purple Haze started out in Linköping in 1981. When singer Christer Göransson joined them towards the end of the year, they soon changed their moniker to Genocide (after the Judas Priest song of the same name) and supported local metal heroes Axewitch. A final name change was to follow: In August 1983, the band, now called Mindless Sinner, recorded a four-track demo entitled »Master Of Evil«, consisting of the title track, “Broken Freedom”, “Key Of Fortune” and “Screaming For Mercy”. This attracted Swedish label Fingerprint Records, and they in turn released the NWOBHM-inspired material as a mini-album with an awful cover and getting the band’s name wrong (spelling it Mindless Sinners). By then, the line-up of the band was Anders Karlsson (bass), Magnus Danneblad (guitar), Jerker Edman (guitar), Tommy Johansson (drums) and vocalist Christer Göransson. »Master Of Evil« originally saw the light of day on Fingerprint in January 1984. This was followed by the second album »Turn On The Power« in 1986 as Christer Göransson explains: “Well, »Turn On The Power« was actually recorded in October 1984, the same year as »Master Of Evil« was released. But the record label was almost out of business by 1985, so as a result »Turn On The Power« didn’t come out until January 1986, and shortly after the label went bust.” Just like on the debut, the cover was once again pretty weird. “Same story,” says the singer. “Blame the label again. We wanted a band photo for the cover but once more Fingerprint didn’t listen. We didn’t know who this girl was at all. And once again we saw the cover for the first time when we visited our local record store.” “I guess »Turn On The Power« was more of a straight heavy metal album compared to »Master Of Evil«,” describes Christer Göransson the band’s follow-up record, “better playing and better songs on »Turn On The Power«. Even though we love »Master Of Evil«. I guess it didn’t sell that much as the label went bankrupt, but the reactions were great.” Mindless Sinner played as much as they could in Sweden at the time but didn’t venture outside their home country. Over the years, their music has often been compared to the Tygers Of Pan Tang from England but Christer Göransson doesn’t see too many similarities: “We really love Tygers Of Pan Tang but I don’t think they were a big influence. It was more Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Dio.” Shortly after the release of »Turn On The Power«, the band cut their name short to Mindless. According to Christer Göransson, this is why: “It was the sign of the times really. We wanted a more melodic kinda style and we just thought it was better to change the name to Mindless. But looking back now we should have stuck to our guns.”

Following the success of the first vinyl release from the Moroccan label Sotor Records, featuring Zadig, Perc & Oscar Mulero, Sotor writes a new chapter in its discography with its second vinyl release. Meaning "lines" in Arabic, Sotor reflects its commitment to championing the diversity of the techno genre.
The label's ninth release, "Processing Range," is a musical ode to the lines of space-time. With four original tracks from the Portuguese producer, Sotor invites you on a techno journey between mental tension and physical release.
The album opens with DJ Dextro's "Controle," which delivers a massive, sharp rhythm, dystopian synths, and a true immersion into a techno black hole.
The journey continues with the second track on side A. This time, DJ Dextro unleashes an uncompromising version of "Blue Dot," achieving a precarious balance while showcasing his signature percussive style. The Portuguese artist delivers the perfect track to unleash a crowd.
On the B-side, DJ Dextro offers us the eponymous track, "Processing Range." We're quickly drawn into an allegory of this decadent modern world where humanity is rushing towards its own destruction. Expect dusty techno rhythms and that sumptuous synth that sounds like the end of times. Probably a future classic!
And you'll finish on a gentler but no less dynamic note from DJ Dextro. He concludes the EP with "31 Atlas," which will leave you weightless with its galloping bassline and abyssal synth.

With acute focus on dance floor hypnotism and percussive pressure, SIDEB003 offers German collaboration IGLO and Paul Hauck's debut vinyl release. A third project for this duo, 'Stable Fusion' plays to the producers strengths as biting sound design unfolds through reliable groove.

'Stable Fusion' - and, in turn, its title track - presents as an uncompromising dance floor record, complete with pressing arrangements and powerful tension shifts. The infectious nature of club music comes largely from the power and insistence of its minimal elements and IGLO & Paul Hauck put chisel to stone to showcase just that. To add soul to skill, 'Neustadt' claims the A2 with added color and a silver lining in the its mood. Festive chord stabs stutter along with percussion riding up and down the spectrum, maintaining energy without losing impact. Flipping sides, 'Initiator' returns to minimalism and spaced out sequences. Dub chords boom through a low lying swing, complete with unfolding ambient textures. The track is focused and its intentions aren't shy, the slow creep to the EP's conclusion 'Celestis' is met with intrigue. Warbly synth work warms up a pulsating core, creating a more tonal sound system experience than any of its predecessors. Here, ferocity hides behind humility, and 'Celestis' is a crowd pusher with deceptive arrangement to close out 'Stable Fusion' with confirmation of quality and effect.

Words by Noah Hocker

Niemand hätte jemals die Entwicklung voraussehen können, die Hardcore nehmen würde, als diese Bewegung entstand. Und Anfang der 2000er Jahre hätte niemand vermutet, dass eine Band wie TERROR auch 24 Jahre nach ihrer Gründung noch immer eine der einflussreichsten Bands des Subgenres sein würde. Ihre Aggressivität, gepaart mit ihrer Liebe und Wertschätzung für die Szene, die so viele gekommen und gegangen sind oder sogar ganz vergessen haben, hat ihnen Erfolg beschert - nun veröffentlichen sie ihr zehntes Album, STILL SUFFER, das am 24. April bei Flatspot Records erscheint. TERROR stammt aus Los Angeles, Kalifornien, aus einer Zeit, als Hardcore eine Band brauchte, um wieder auf Kurs zu kommen, da das Genre aus der Bahn geraten war. TERROR stürmte herein, machte sich sofort einen Namen und ließ nicht mehr locker. Die Band hat ihren Ursprung in der kalifornischen Hardcore-Szene, die sich in den späten 1980er und frühen 1990er Jahren von der Punk-Szene abspaltete. TERROR stammt aus Los Angeles, Kalifornien, und entstand zu einer Zeit, als Hardcore eine Band brauchte, um die Dinge wieder ins Lot zu bringen, da das Genre aus der Bahn geraten war. TERROR stürzte sich in die Szene, hinterließ sofort seine Spuren und gab sie nie wieder auf. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten (und ehemaligen Gitarristen) Todd Jones schuf die Band zehn schnelle, aggressive, provokative Tracks, die die Themen aufgreifen, die TERROR überhaupt erst so einflussreich gemacht haben. Songs über Selbstermächtigung, Überleben und den unerbittlichen Willen, sich Herausforderungen mit den Werten und der Unterstützung zu stellen, die innerhalb dieser Mauern zu finden sind. STILL SUFFER wurde durch die Technik und zusätzliche Produktion von Taylor Young im The Pit Recording Studio, das Mixing von Jon Markson und das Mastering von Brad Boatright bei Audiosiege vervollständigt, mit zusätzlicher Vocal-Technik von Jay Zubricky bei GCR Audio und Drum-Technik im Studio 606 von Taylor Young und Oliver Roman. Die Gastvocals auf dem Album stammen von Jay Peta von Mindforce bei ,Beauty in the Losses", Brody King von God's Hate und Dan Seely von King Nine bei ,Deconstruct It", zusammen mit Hot Water Music's und Drum-Technik im Studio 606 von Taylor Young und Oliver Roman. Die Gastvocals auf dem Album stammen von Jay Peta von Mindforce bei ,Beauty in the Losses", Brody King von God's Hate und Dan Seely von King Nine bei ,Deconstruct It", zusammen mit Hot Water Music's Als Gastsänger auf dem Album sind Jay Peta von Mindforce in ,Beauty in the Losses", Brody King von God's Hate und Dan Seely von King Nine in ,Deconstruct It" sowie Chuck Ragan von Hot Water Music zu hören, der in ,Fear The Panic" eine selbstbewusste Performance liefert. Dieser Song wurde auch von Chad Gilbert von New Found Glory co-produziert. Von Anfang an hat TERROR nie den Dingen den Rücken gekehrt, die diese Band seit ihrer Gründung so wichtig gemacht haben. Mit der Veröffentlichung von STILL SUFFER wird deutlich, dass die Band keine Anzeichen einer Schwäche zeigt und weiterhin mit den Werten und der Unterstützung, die sie innerhalb dieser Mauern findet, Herausforderungen direkt angeht. Die Songs handeln von Selbstermächtigung, Überleben und dem unerbittlichen Willen, sich Herausforderungen mit den Werten und der Unterstützung, die innerhalb dieser Mauern zu finden sind, direkt zu stellen. Von Anfang an hat TERROR nie den Dingen den Rücken gekehrt, die diese Band seit ihrer Gründung so lebendig gemacht haben. Mit der Veröffentlichung von STILL SUFFER wird deutlich, dass die Band keine Anzeichen einer Schwäche zeigt und weiterhin erfolgreich ihre Mission verfolgt, authentischen Hardcore zu liefern und der Welt zu zeigen, dass dies viel mehr als nur Musik ist. Diese Gemeinschaft und Bewegung, die niemand wirklich in Worte fassen kann, ist genau der Ort, aus dem die Energie stammt, die TERROR antreibt, mit STILL SUFFER weiter zu wachsen und sich weiterzuentwickeln. ,Die Ewigkeit ändert sich nicht, du bist genauso beschädigt wie ich."

Niemand hätte jemals die Entwicklung voraussehen können, die Hardcore nehmen würde, als diese Bewegung entstand. Und Anfang der 2000er Jahre hätte niemand vermutet, dass eine Band wie TERROR auch 24 Jahre nach ihrer Gründung noch immer eine der einflussreichsten Bands des Subgenres sein würde. Ihre Aggressivität, gepaart mit ihrer Liebe und Wertschätzung für die Szene, die so viele gekommen und gegangen sind oder sogar ganz vergessen haben, hat ihnen Erfolg beschert - nun veröffentlichen sie ihr zehntes Album, STILL SUFFER, das am 24. April bei Flatspot Records erscheint. TERROR stammt aus Los Angeles, Kalifornien, aus einer Zeit, als Hardcore eine Band brauchte, um wieder auf Kurs zu kommen, da das Genre aus der Bahn geraten war. TERROR stürmte herein, machte sich sofort einen Namen und ließ nicht mehr locker. Die Band hat ihren Ursprung in der kalifornischen Hardcore-Szene, die sich in den späten 1980er und frühen 1990er Jahren von der Punk-Szene abspaltete. TERROR stammt aus Los Angeles, Kalifornien, und entstand zu einer Zeit, als Hardcore eine Band brauchte, um die Dinge wieder ins Lot zu bringen, da das Genre aus der Bahn geraten war. TERROR stürzte sich in die Szene, hinterließ sofort seine Spuren und gab sie nie wieder auf. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten (und ehemaligen Gitarristen) Todd Jones schuf die Band zehn schnelle, aggressive, provokative Tracks, die die Themen aufgreifen, die TERROR überhaupt erst so einflussreich gemacht haben. Songs über Selbstermächtigung, Überleben und den unerbittlichen Willen, sich Herausforderungen mit den Werten und der Unterstützung zu stellen, die innerhalb dieser Mauern zu finden sind. STILL SUFFER wurde durch die Technik und zusätzliche Produktion von Taylor Young im The Pit Recording Studio, das Mixing von Jon Markson und das Mastering von Brad Boatright bei Audiosiege vervollständigt, mit zusätzlicher Vocal-Technik von Jay Zubricky bei GCR Audio und Drum-Technik im Studio 606 von Taylor Young und Oliver Roman. Die Gastvocals auf dem Album stammen von Jay Peta von Mindforce bei ,Beauty in the Losses", Brody King von God's Hate und Dan Seely von King Nine bei ,Deconstruct It", zusammen mit Hot Water Music's und Drum-Technik im Studio 606 von Taylor Young und Oliver Roman. Die Gastvocals auf dem Album stammen von Jay Peta von Mindforce bei ,Beauty in the Losses", Brody King von God's Hate und Dan Seely von King Nine bei ,Deconstruct It", zusammen mit Hot Water Music's Als Gastsänger auf dem Album sind Jay Peta von Mindforce in ,Beauty in the Losses", Brody King von God's Hate und Dan Seely von King Nine in ,Deconstruct It" sowie Chuck Ragan von Hot Water Music zu hören, der in ,Fear The Panic" eine selbstbewusste Performance liefert. Dieser Song wurde auch von Chad Gilbert von New Found Glory co-produziert. Von Anfang an hat TERROR nie den Dingen den Rücken gekehrt, die diese Band seit ihrer Gründung so wichtig gemacht haben. Mit der Veröffentlichung von STILL SUFFER wird deutlich, dass die Band keine Anzeichen einer Schwäche zeigt und weiterhin mit den Werten und der Unterstützung, die sie innerhalb dieser Mauern findet, Herausforderungen direkt angeht. Die Songs handeln von Selbstermächtigung, Überleben und dem unerbittlichen Willen, sich Herausforderungen mit den Werten und der Unterstützung, die innerhalb dieser Mauern zu finden sind, direkt zu stellen. Von Anfang an hat TERROR nie den Dingen den Rücken gekehrt, die diese Band seit ihrer Gründung so lebendig gemacht haben. Mit der Veröffentlichung von STILL SUFFER wird deutlich, dass die Band keine Anzeichen einer Schwäche zeigt und weiterhin erfolgreich ihre Mission verfolgt, authentischen Hardcore zu liefern und der Welt zu zeigen, dass dies viel mehr als nur Musik ist. Diese Gemeinschaft und Bewegung, die niemand wirklich in Worte fassen kann, ist genau der Ort, aus dem die Energie stammt, die TERROR antreibt, mit STILL SUFFER weiter zu wachsen und sich weiterzuentwickeln. ,Die Ewigkeit ändert sich nicht, du bist genauso beschädigt wie ich."

Repress 2026

We’re very happy to announce the vinyl release of kuniyuki’s masterpiece “all these things”.

Originally it’s released on only cd in 2007. it was his 2nd album but it’s substantially his first album because the first album was a col-lection of kuniyuki’s early productions.

The first track “the guitar song” is one of our most favorite song of kuniyuki,it’s like a real good mixture of jazz, fusion, world music and electronic music.

The second track featuring african vocalist and percussionist “omar guaindefall”,we still love amazing henrik schwarz remix.

The third track “you get me” featuring our favorite singer “josee hurlock”,we’ve knew about her from the fantastic album “residue” by hefner in 2000. she is featured to the fourth track “all these things” too. we’re hoping to repress an amazing joe claussell remix.

The fifth track “flying music” featuring our good friend “alex from tokyo” as poetry reading and shuichiro sakaguchi( a popular trumpeter in tokyo) as a trumpeter. this long version was put to single cut release on 12inch.

The sixth track “the session” is a collaboration of song with henrik schwarz. they have met at mule musiq’s party in tokyo and clicked immediately.

The seventh track “touch” sounds very nostalgic african jazz or spanish fusion which is popular these days as balearic music.

The last track “rain of ocean” is a primitive african minimal deep house.this song is put to the single cut from this album(not put to the album) and we almost forgot this song but when we’re compiling the vinyl edition of album, we noticed how this song is beautiful.

Here are the collection of eight timeless and genreless music.

Around 1983 it looked as if Tokyo Blade were destined to become the next Iron Maiden. But somehow it wasn’t to be – history was not kind to them! In the end Tokyo Blade never became the next superstars of the glorious New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement. “Night Of The Blade” was the follow-up to Tokyo Blade's extremely successful self-titled debut album. The band's second record was originally released in 1984 on the English Powerstation label and contained classic Tokyo Blade songs such as “Lightning Strikes”, “Unleash The Beast” or the title track. On the other hand, Tokyo Blade presented some more melodic numbers such as “Someone To Love” or “Rock Me To The Limit”. This slight alteration of the band's musical direction was partly due to the change of the vocalist (Alan Marsh was substituted by Vicki Wright). Guitarist Andy Boulton comments on the differences between Marsh and Wright: “Vic was a different person to Alan, but Alan had been a friend I had known for quite a long time and was a key figure in the band's early success, it was a sad day when we parted ways. Alan was just different from Vic and he had his own distinct sound. I don't want to talk about who was better or whatever, it's for the fans to decide. The material on 'Night Of The Blade' was all brand new, no leftovers from from Killer or Genghis Khan.” Tokyo Blade's debut (1983) and “Night Of The Blade” (1984) are two of the best albums of the entire New Wave Of British Heavy Metal period. “Night Of The Blade” was recorded by Vicki James Wright (vocals), Andy Boulton (guitar), John Wiggins (guitar), Andy Wrighton (bass) and Steve Pierce (drums). High Roller Records is proud to re-issue this long-deleted classic once again on glorious vinyl.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER: THE LONG-LOST RECORDINGS OF BIRMINGHAM ROOTS REGGAE PIONEERS NATRUS Mastered from the original tapes by Guy Davie at Electric Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the archival release of newly-discovered recordings by Birmingham reggae band Natrus. Comprising members of the same family – seven in total – Natrus were a ubiquitous presence of the live circuit within and beyond the West Midlands in the late 1970s. Used as an ad hoc “Wrecking Crew” by local producer and promoter Toney Owens, NATRUS frequently provided live accompaniment to visiting Jamaican artists such as Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne and Freddie McKay. With an age span ranging from 9 to 25, NATRUS’S live work had to be structured around the educational obligations of their younger members. But when they weren’t playing live, they would frequently hone their own compositions at Owens’ studio in Saltley, Birmingham.

During their collective lifetime, NATRUS released one very limited edition single Mash It, with a stellar guest vocal from deejay Ranking Glad(Stone). Featured alongside Mash It on this release are a selection of recordings previously thought lost by the group who laid them down. They were only discovered after Toney Owens’ alerted Needle Mythology’s Pete Paphides to the existence of some 60 quarter-inch reels featuring all the music recorded by Owens over a period of ten years or so. When Paphides finally tracked down NATRUS rhythm guitarist Owen Taylor, he was stunned to hear of their existence. After a meeting with Taylor and his siblings, Needle Mythology collaborated with NATRUS on the restoration and remastering of the tracks featured on this, their very belated debut album. As well as Mash It and its original flipside Come From Africa, highlights on ‘NATRUS’ include a superb version of Slim Smith’s The Time Has Come and the deep roots entreaties of Freedom Inna Babylon, both showcasing the soulful vocal of lead singer Fitzdonald “Fitz” English and the almost psychic sense of musical attunement that percolates right down the the formidable rhythm section of Beverley Stewart (bass) and Clinton Gordon (drums).

Cathartic avant-rock, literate DIY folk & experimental composition exploring displacement, love, climate change, belonging & the places we call home - RIYL Jim O’Rourke, Richard Youngs, This Heat, Richard Dawson, Flying Nun. ‘Real Home’ is the new album by the Manchester-born, London-based artist Kiran Leonard. His sixth album proper (not including innumerable tour-only CD-Rs and short-run cassettes), since his precocious debut in 2013, ‘Real Home’ finds Leonard invigorated by inspiration and experience, making passionate, literate, and mercurial music that explores displacement, love, memory, climate change, connections to home and more. Encompassing songs recorded after moving to South London, ‘Real Home’ reflects on ideas of belonging and domesticity through folkloric, stream-of-consciousness songwriting. Across nine tracks, Leonard traces lived impressions of the household and the city, expressing sentiments of dislocation, alienation and stasis, but contentment too. Infusing the avant-rock effervescence, terraced dynamics and visionary lyricism of his music with what he defines as a greater sense of openness, Leonard is as versatile, fervent and imaginative as ever on ‘Real Home’, yet his music is somehow more intimate, affecting, and acutely expressive. Shaped by dual considerations of simplicity and formalism, ‘Real Home’ is by turns beautiful, allusive, and ruminative, an album on which Leonard considers what his songs have resembled in the past and what they mean now. In recent years, Leonard has crafted eloquent chamber music inspired by the likes of James Joyce and Clarice Lispector (‘Derevaun Seraun’), responded to contemporary politics and communication breakdown in the digital age (‘Western Culture’), and compiled solo works and ensemble recordings for a longform ode to Jonas Mekas and to one of Leonard’s enduring themes; home (‘Trespass On Foot’). On ‘Real Home’, Leonard reiterates this abiding thematic focus yet ascends to new, different heights, in music of cathartic delicacy and dissonance where all the myriad dimensions of his work to date seem to crystallize. There are sinuous songs about struggle and defying the pace of city life through drift and diversion (‘Pass Between Houses’), stirring songs of intense feeling and crescendo, described as a form of speculative detective fiction (‘Theatre for Change’). There are touching solo piano ballads (the title track), symbolic contentions with carbon capture and climate change (‘Utopia of Bog’), modes of experimental minimalism (‘Void Attentive’), and other profuse feats of compositional range, embroidered with wild tendrils of narrative and lyrical depth. A record to pore over, and get lost in. Exemplifying the vast aesthetic scope of Leonard’s music, lead single ‘My Love, Let’s Take The Stage Tonight’ is inspired by country lodestar Hank Williams, Russian poetry and a late period love poem by William Carlos Williams. Yet for Leonard, the song signals a sense of accessible materiality, and is the product of a more linear approach to writing songs: “My imitation of the great Hank Williams, in spirit if not in substance…This is one of the best efforts on Real Home at a song-as-object. Looking at it now I realise I was trying to write a song that made itself known as a song to the listener, and I wonder whether that’s crucial if you want a song to transcend its context. And that this is either accomplished through a total openness – by being inviting, by laying the tricks of the song out plain to see, as Williams and his many ghostwriters did so well – or by adopting a knowing aloofness, positioning oneself against the listener but letting it be known that that’s what it’s doing. In this song I try both, but mostly the former: as in, I wanted to write a song where every line follows on from the next.” Imbuing the endlessly elaborate and inventive qualities of his music with a newfound streak of candid, clear-cut melodicism, Leonard has reached a special place in his artistry, on a record that feels familial, and expresses closeness. Assembled with affiliates including Lauren Auder, Otto Willberg, Jasper Llewellyn (caroline), Tom Hardwick-Allan (Shovel Dance Collective), Magda McLean (caroline, The Umlauts), Alex Mckenzie (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective), Isabelle Thorn (Dear Laika) & more, the recording process had a significant influence on the subject matter of ‘Real Home’, in sessions defined by close-knit camaraderie and artistic eccentricity: “The theme of the home obviously recurs throughout the record; the album was mostly recorded in domestic spaces with friends, and the name of the album is Real Home. I like the qualifier ‘real’, like you’re getting past the cloak of the word and towards the thing-itself…also nearly all the percussion in this record was recorded on items from my dad’s shed (jam jars, sandpaper, blocks of wood, etc). Real home record!” ‘Real Home’, like anything by Kiran Leonard, is a record of dazzling multiplicity. Yet it’s a companionable prospect with a central premise; a collection of songs where listeners old and new can find a home. An album led by a scene; of Leonard standing at the threshold, ready to welcome you inside. “Exceptional songs that linger” - The Guardian // “An autodidact of amazing talent & energy” – Pitchfork // “A ridiculous amount of talent…confrontational, celebratory, provocative or perverse – he manages all of these emotions & more” - The Quietus /

Fifteen years after their first album "Time for a Change", and drawing on the experience of two others ("Elephanz" 2017, and "Rien de personnel" 2023), ELEPHANZ now returns with a fourth album that carries the scent of first loves, the kind you sing from the heart with your hands gripping a guitar.

"Love. Hurt. Repeat." tells, across ten songs, the story of a return to oneself, like coming home after years spent roaming the world, only to realize that everything you needed to understand yourself was already there at the starting line.

To help you understand what this new album makes me feel, I'd like to tell you about my first meeting with Jon and Max in 2009, when I became the band's bassist. Sixteen years ago, I discovered these two young men and set off in their family Kangoo van on my very first tour.

Through our early rehearsals around the piano of their childhood, I discovered their love for pop music in all its breadth, always in search of harmonies and melodies that touch the heart in the simplest way and gently ease your sorrows along the way. With them, I learned to appreciate the mainstream hits I had previously dismissed on principle, and I discovered the demanding art of melody as I listened to them sing about love and friendship through unforgettable catchphrases.

Listening today to some of the songs from their new album, I think back to those two young men with a big-city rock look, shut away in the living room of their family home, talking only about leaving that dull countryside behind to live the big life in the capital (Streets of Rage). What I once took for a kind of revenge against the hostile environment of their adolescence was in fact an almost vital need to find their place among others, to feel understood in order to feel at ease in their own skin.

Today, I find them again with the same guitar and the same inexpensive Juno as back then, but with the confidence shaped by years of concerts, writing, studio encounters, and all kinds of experimentation. The music of this fourth album has never been so close to that of their earliest days, but their voices have been set free. They no longer sing about who they dreamed of becoming, but about who they have always been, their most distant concerns, sometimes even their darkest ones, yet always in search of the light.

It is as if ELEPHANZ had to travel all the way around the world to come face to face with themselves again. There is no longer any shame in being who you are, and it is even the best way to understand yourself, to exist and to heal. To heal from grief and heartbreak, to understand the child you once were and the one who carried them (Mother), to forgive yourself and finally learn to love yourself.

That is what makes this record as sensitive as it is powerful and strikingly truthful. It was written and recorded like a cry, live, in just a few weeks, using the instruments of their beginnings: sharp bass and drums, powerful guitars, and synthesizers that are at times soaring, at times carriers of liberating melodies. The art of ballads remains, as does that of universal pop songs.

There is a beautiful urgency here, the urgency of finding oneself again in order to understand oneself through both pain and beauty, and "Love. Hurt. Repeat." is its most perfect expression.

Increasingly essential US artist Ben Hixon drops sublime deep house EP on Kai Alce's faultless NDATL Muzik. The six classy tracks will appeal to those who appreciate the subtleties of the classic Midwestern sound.

Ben is a Texas-born, but Brooklyn-based artist who has become a firm favourite of true deep house heads in the last year or so. He has put out several EPs on Dolfin, all of which find a perfect sweet spot between immersive atmospheres and late-night drive. Dusty analogue textures and frayed edges define his drums, while the subtle details are intelligent and add effortless emotion. He is a perfect fit for NDATL Muzik, the Atlanta label that has long been a flagbearer for well-crafted house grooves like these.

'Taping' kicks off with heavy kicks that swing under gentle chords that are perfect for after dark. There's a persuasive bump in the beats that will get early evening dancers primed and ready for more. Next up we have 'Y Do U Get So Nervous' - a mastery of sampling with nagging vocal hooks, cascading piano keys and wet finger clicks all adding soul to another low-key but all-consuming groove. 'Area Code 336 Phone Rings' is a higgledy-piggledy tapestry of toms and stuttering kicks with vocal fragments to match - the thrill is the looseness of it all. The smouldering and meandering 'December Blackout' is for gazing off it into the distance at the busy yet muted jazz keys that twinkle like faraway stars. 'It's Like A Vision' picks up the pace with more closely stacked kicks but still oodles of cuddly warmth and smudged synth work, before '0823' ends with a decidedly heavy feel - spare, lump drums unfurl beneath forlorn synths that feel utterly bruised and heartbroken.

Ben Hixon's deft artistry makes these quiet, texture tunes irresistibly danceable yet emotionally profound.

"Let Me Trouble" by Deborah Haslam (a pseudonym for Italian singer Elena Ferre) is a true cult classic for
Italo Disco and Cosmic/Balearic enthusiasts.
Originally released in 1984, the track features produc(on by Gianfranco Bortolo, Mauro Farina, and
Giuliano Crivellente. It stands out for its hypno(c and more "down-tempo" atmosphere compared to
commercial Italo Disco, a quality that cemented its status as a staple in Afro and Cosmic DJ sets.
Beyond the original 1984 version, the track enjoyed a "second life" in 1987 when it was remixed with an
Afro-Funk vibe and featured as the B-side of the single "Hot Stuff."
Tracklist:

Backwoodz Studioz is excited to announce the release of Crayola Circles, a collaboration between rapper Fatboi Sharif and producer Child Actor. While both artists have long standing connections to Backwoodz, this album marks their first collaboration of any kind and breaks new artistic ground for all parties.


Sharif’s previous album, Decay, released on Backwoodz in 2023, was a haunting experimental rap masterpiece, an acid trip in a mental hospital. On Crayola Circles Sharif trades menacing psychedelia for a simmering stew of blacklight expressionism, his verses slipping effortlessly through the swells and tides of Child Actor’s masterful production. No matter how uneasy the waves grow, Sharif is at ease, a truth teller whispering anti-riddles in your ear. This album feels like a new chamber for Child Actor, as well. The producer has been on an impressive run since dropping CINE- a collaboration with rapper Cavalier- on Backwoodz in late 2024. Child Actor has shown up in the liner notes of everyone from Navy Blue (The Sword & The Soaring) to Earl Sweatshirt (Live, Laugh, Love) to ELUCID (Revelator) to Open Mike Eagle (Neighborhood Gods Unlimited), to Ghais Guevara (A Quest to Self-Mythologize), amongst others. On Crayola Circles Child Actor’s production is dynamic, shifting and sliding into new phases and movements in an instant. The beats are full and knotty, leaning into jazz and folk, while remaining tethered to the tender minimalism that is his signature. It’s a difficult balance for any producer, and here it is executed perfectly, placing us in a world of wood and brass, cowhide and undersea piano. On any other record, this soundscape would steal the show — and it very nearly does — but Sharif’s command never wavers, ever in control; a lucid dreamer in an induced coma.
There are no guests, no skits, and no interludes. There might not even be songs, instead Crayola Circles seems akin to a great river; singular, traversing forest and jungle, mountain and valley, running from mouth to endless sea.

Acknowledge Kindness expands San Francisco based The Reds, Pinks And Purples' distinctive brand of emotional pop, music built for the quiet hours and the restless mind. Evolving naturally from the heavier, melancholic indie rock of previous releases, the mood here feels more exposed and reflective, blossoming into lush dreamscapes that recall the bittersweet sorrow of The Cure or the tenderly gloomy transcendence of California by American Music Club. Created from a new headspace, the album finds main man Glenn Donaldson observing both the present and the weight of what came before it. Songs lean into a deeper sense of nostalgia, allowing him to look back with intent and revisit moments that once carried a sting. Donaldson's vocals are captured in high fidelity, raw and immediate, with lyrical abstraction underpinned by chiming acoustic guitars and achingly beautiful piano. Across its 11 tracks, Acknowledge Kindness expands The Reds, Pinks And Purples' emotional and sonic panorama, with Donaldson's ongoing world-building remaining both warmly nostalgic and strikingly original. "Donaldson's best work hides allure within a bigger picture, like a jangle-pop egg hunt" Pitchfork FFO The Smiths, Guided By Voices, The Chills, Leonard Cohen, The Go-Betweens, Robert Wyatt, Twee-, Jangle- & Sophisticated Guitar Pop. Coloured vinyl LP versions and digisleeve CD available

With one exception, this disc is a recording of a concert given at the Ateliers Claus in Brussels in March 2024. It was preceded by three short hours of improvisation the day before and the day before that, during which ErikM and I made a series of careful observations of each other's playing. It must be said that neither of us had skimped on transporting a few cases, the contents of which would have allowed us to play several concerts in a row without ever repeating ourselves. Erik had brought his turntables to Brussels, as well as sophisticated electronic machines, accompanied by a virtually infinite sound bank. For my part, I had both a mechanical orchestra and a range of acoustic instruments at my disposal. In two sessions, we eliminated the superfluous and the ineffective. On the evening of the concert, it was through close observation-of each sound, each direction taken by one or the other, each intention, each break-that we composed this record in the moment: vigilant and scrutinising, like the pairs of eyes on the cover of this album.

Music To Watch Seeds Grow By continues its second season with Seoul-based left of centre ambient duo Salamanda - Uman Therma (Sala) and Yetsuby (Manda) - and their meditation on the inner life of a basil plant. Seeds 008 is an ambient composition born from quiet domestic observation: a single basil on a windowsill, its days shaped by light, warmth, and the slow passage of time.

The album moves through a full day in the plant's life opening with ‘introduce my atom which is my favorite one’, an act of quiet self-declaration in morning light, before settling into the unhurried rhythmic pulse of ‘to to ki toki tok’- the drip of water, the tick of a clock, the slow beat of photosynthesis. ‘allez, pousse!’ - one of the standouts in this journey - carries the basil's gentle will to grow, to push, to tilt toward the sun, while ‘hungry snail’ captures a moment of creaturely encounter on the glass: an uninvited visitor, moving slowly, wanting. As the afternoon deepens, 'Basil's Ritual' traces the daily ceremony of light and warmth, repeated with calm devotion from root to leaf. Night falls across 'Basil's Dream', and in the stillness something like sleep arrives - the plant resting, imagining tomorrow's sun. The album closes with ‘the blue wine’, a final mysterious reverie in which the basil seems to contemplate its own fate, somewhere between acceptance and wonder.

Powerful lyrics are voiced by Jah Rueben Mystic, with the inspirational Ital Horns brass section.

Jah Rueben Mystic vocal evokes the fighting spirit and hopefulness of a message sent out to defeat the arrogance and greed of the capitalistic leaders of the world.

Lock up riddim, composed by Kieko De Stefanis is an original Roots Dub tune.

The Dub -produced by Gaudi- is a musical journey through the sound of 70's roots, Gaudi here adds his own analogue trademark creativity and psychedelic-dub mastery effects to the track.

Join Kirika and Mireille on their dangerous adventures!

Noir is an anime series created by Ryôe Tsukimura, produced by Victor Entertainment and Bee Train and directed by Kôichi Mashimo. First broadcast in 2001, it enjoyed worldwide success and is now considered a classic of Japanese animation.

It was with this original soundtrack that composer Yuki Kajiura truly defined her signature style, creating a fascinating contrast between the violence of the plot and music imbued with melancholy and sacredness. The music for the series was unanimously acclaimed, particularly for its unforgettable songs Canta per me and Salva nos, performed by Yuriko Kaida.



The Noir original soundtrack is available for the very first time, remastered on vinyl in this double LP collector's edition!

UGHH – Underground Hyper Hero is the moniker of Vítězslav Špalek — composer, multi-instrumentalist, and singular sonic architect hailing from Karviná, a gritty coal-mining town in industrial Silesia, now living out his days under the sundrenched skies of southern Corfu. He improvises across synthesizer, trumpet, and voice, weaving musical collages from poetic texts spanning genres and movements. His collages carry an unsettling depth and pull you somewhere you didn't plan to go. They are distant lands beyond the water — where the trumpet cuts through space and time lurches forward in a sudden rush, only to nearly freeze and turn inward, listening to the echo of a far-off voice calling out from nowhere. A flock of birds drifts over a vast landscape while a powerful, repetitive beat pulses through all matter — living and dead alike. EP 49.923827, 14.221380 takes its name from the coordinates of its creation, and marks the first released material from the artist's yet-to-be-unveiled catalog. Three original tracks are joined by an eclectic postpunk remix from Berlin-based Menqui, an ethereal minimalist take from fellow Berliner Nadia D'Aló aka DALO, and local scene staple Mike.H — a devoted digger of obscure trance.

A personal record for Mike shaped by memory, places, and renewal. Walking the streets of his birthplace, St. Louis, Zito reconnects with the sounds, stories, and hard lessons that forged his signature blend of soul-driven blues and fearless storytelling. Thirteen years after Gone to Texas, this album feels like a defining moment, marking a new chapter for Mike, his family, and a life reclaimed in the city that started it all. The songs paint vivid snapshots of city life and personal reckoning, from late- night regret and self-awareness to raw portraits of neighbourhood survival and street-level truth. Tracks like "Downtown at Midnight" and "Grand Avenue" capture the grit, temptation, and consequences of the past with unflinching honesty, grounding the album in lived experience and emotional weight . Zito's writing is direct and cinematic, pairing tough reflection with compassion and hard-earned wisdom.

At its heart, Outside Or The Eastside is a celebration of second chances, an album dedicated to better days, family, friendship, love, and joy found in everyday moments. Life's unpredictable paths open doors you never expect, and for Mike Zito, this record embraces that truth with warmth, humour, and swagger. It's a record about choosing connection over chaos and moving forward with gratitude, purpose, and the volume turned up

It's a realisation that the ground beneath our feet is alive, and we're all just passengers on its pulse. It's that hum of dread and wonder that defines Armed For Apocalypse's fourth full- length album: a towering, grooved- out, post- metal monolith carved from grief, power, and purpose. Formed in Chico, California between longtime friends Nick Harris (drums) and Cayle Hunter (guitar), Armed For Apocalypse is a what- if turned war machine. Over the years, the band has endured enough shakeups and setbacks to bury most acts: relocations, divorces, day jobs, family changes and not to mention complete lineup overhauls. But where others fractured, AFA sharpened.

'Matsuli Music is proud to announce the first vinyl reissue of Philip Tabane’s Sangoma ("Spiritual Healer") since its 1978 release. Remastered from the original tapes with lacquers cut by Frank Merrit and pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl at Pallas in Germany, this definitive edition re-asserts the power of one of South Africa’s landmark recordings. Featuring new liner notes by cultural critic Kwanele Sosibo and artwork restoration by Siemon Allen, Sangoma returns in full force through an extended Malombo line-up, fronted by Tabane's spellbinding guitar - ancestral, timeless, and unbound.
'Philip Tabane (1934–2018), the mercurial guitar genius of South African music, forged a sound that was as rooted in the spirit world as it was in daily life. With the Malombo Jazzmen of the 1960s, Tabane disrupted Western notions of “jazz,” bringing the resonant rhythm of cowhide malombo drums into the foreground. While outsiders and the uninitiated often reached for labels like “primitive yet sophisticated,” Tabane and his collaborators named it more truthfully: “music of the spirit.”
'By the time of Sangoma, Tabane stood at a crossroads. Fresh from a period of three years’ touring in the United States where he graced the Newport Jazz Festival, and played alongside Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders and others, he brushed off comparisons with characteristic self-assurance: “No, I don’t play like Miles. Miles plays like me.” Back home in South Africa, and with a newly signed international distribution deal with WEA Records, he harnessed this momentum into a larger band setting, capturing a rare intensity.
'The result was Sangoma—an album that bridges contradictions: expansive yet intimate, celebratory yet haunted by exile and return. Tracks such as “Sangoma,” “Hi Congo,” and “Keya Bereka” are not simply performances but living testaments, songs that would remain in his repertoire for decades. Unlike the moody, immersive character of much of his work, here Tabane is on the move—urgent, restless, uncontainable. As he announces on the second track, “Maskanta wa tsamaya” (“something that kicks ass”).
More than four decades on, Sangoma is both an historical document and a timeless invocation. From his home in Mamelodi to the world and back again, Tabane’s spiritual healing endures—raw, electric, and unbowed.'

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present DEMON SPELL’s highly anticipated debut album, Blessed Be the Dark, on CD and vinyl LP formats. After the cursed EP Evil Nights in 2024, the coven of DEMON SPELL returns, unleashing a vision of dark, occult heavy metal born from dust, bone, and shadow. Appropriately titled Blessed Be the Dark, the Italians’ debut album is a descent into ritual fire and ancient doom, where the echoes of the grave sing once more. This is music for disciples of the timeless art of darkness.

With Blessed Be the Dark, DEMON SPELL deepen their devotion to a shadowed form of heavy metal rooted in the classic tradition yet veiled in occult and arcane tones, all performance with a provocative theatrical presence. Wholly untouched by modernity, their sound draws from the primordial essence of early heavy metal; one can imagine the cutoff year at 1985, or perhaps earlier. The record presents a more mature and refined vision of the band’s sound as first displayed on the quick-hitting Evil Nights, here exploring darker, more occult atmospheres while also offering raw, energetic passages that bring moments of levity and drive. Listening to DEMON SPELL in full-length form feels like entering an endless Sabbath, where past and present dissolve and the flame never dies. Blessed Be the Dark stands as a testament to heavy metal as ceremony—timeless, solemn, and possessed by the Spirit of the Night.

With Texas- sized defiance and drive, he's spent four decades flying the flag for his own brand of honky-tonk, outlaw country, western swing, and rockabilly. That signature sound has a name -- "Ameripolitan" -- and its originator is Watson himself: a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor, cultural architect, and rulebreaking traditionalist for the modern world, championing the traditions that fly in the face of the homogenous mainstream. With Unwanted, he fires another doublebarreled shotgun blast of country twang and honky- tonk bang fueled by the heartaches, hard- won lessons, and high- speed thrills of a life largely logged on the road. Singing with a booming voice that could cut through the chaos of a packed dancehall, Watson runs the show like a roots-rock ringleader. He salutes his vices on the galloping "Willie Waylon and Whiskey," reflects upon a lifetime of loss with the gorgeous ballad "If You Really Loved Me (Outlive Me)," and gets wistfully contemplative on "Life is Like a Song." Entirely written and produced by Watson, Unwanted is the sound of an Ameripolitan diehard with plenty of life left in the tank, speeding toward a horizon of his own making.

Julia Cumming’s solo debut Julia opens with an unadorned declaration of independence: her voice and a piano uniting for a liberating proclamation of self that rejects doubt, misogyny, and the notion of being “too much.” Julia unlocks a creative door years in the making for the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean bassist, culminating after nearly two decades of bands, releases, labels, and relentless touring. As Sunflower Bean’s Headful of Sugar era ended in 2023, Cumming decamped to Los Angeles, where a two-year, deeply healing collaboration with producer Brian Robert Jones — her “second artistic puberty” — took shape. Drawing freely from formative influences: Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Brian Wilson. Julia emerges as a joyful, anti-cool coming-out: a celebration of the dorks, the misfits, and the enduring truth of being enough.

Julia Cumming’s solo debut Julia opens with an unadorned declaration of independence: her voice and a piano uniting for a liberating proclamation of self that rejects doubt, misogyny, and the notion of being “too much.” Julia unlocks a creative door years in the making for the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean bassist, culminating after nearly two decades of bands, releases, labels, and relentless touring. As Sunflower Bean’s Headful of Sugar era ended in 2023, Cumming decamped to Los Angeles, where a two-year, deeply healing collaboration with producer Brian Robert Jones — her “second artistic puberty” — took shape. Drawing freely from formative influences: Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Brian Wilson. Julia emerges as a joyful, anti-cool coming-out: a celebration of the dorks, the misfits, and the enduring truth of being enough.