Natural Goofy makes his debut on Unearthed with a raw four-track vinyl cut shaped through analog machines, instinct, and lived moments across Europe and Asia. From late nights in Barcelona to concrete mornings in Berlin, Early Hours EP captures warmth, tension, and that fleeting energy between movement and memory.
Now based in Spain and running Planka Records, Nando delivers a sound that is dry, emotional, playful, and deeply human — no plug-ins, no edits, just hardware and moments recorded as they happened.
Repress 2026
The Visions EP is the debut release from London based DJ/Producer duo Suburban Architecture. Drawing heavily on influences from one of Drum & Bass' most innovative and rapidly changing eras, the mid to late 90s, the duo's productions place a contemporary spin on sounds rooted in this golden era of dance music.
This 4 track EP explores a selection of sounds that meet at the intersection of nostalgia and modern production: "Visions '96" fuses atmospheric jazz samples and haunting horns with fractured drums in a manner reminiscent of Source Direct, Photek et al. "Equilibrium" meanwhile gives a modern take on the classic roller, complete with lush synth pads and rolling Amens. On the flip are a pair of jazzy steppers: "Cubic Nature" delivers more lush pads, this time paired with subtle vocals and deep atmospherics whilst "Pulses" brings some bounce to proceedings fusing 80s soul style keys and jazzy horn licks giving stylistic reference to material by the likes of Alex Reece.
Muyei Power or Orchestre Muyei (muyei means 'our country') was one of the top dance bands of the1970s in Sierra Leone. Soundway Records' first collection of music from this West African country ('Muyei Power: Sierra Leone in 1970s USA') is an album of rock-infused, 'afro' music from a group that traveled the world throughout the mid 1970s. Fusing elements of electric Congolese and Nigerian music with fast, syncopated, uptempo modernised arrangements of traditional music, Muyei Power produced a series of unique single-only releases that have been unavailable for 35 years. The rare recordings featured here are a glimpse of a dynamic and powerful band at the very height of its powers.
Even though lyrically Orchestre Muyei focused on traditional themes and songs, the arrangements and formulation of the instrumental side of things still very much reflected the mixed nature of urban Sierra Leone music, exemplified by a small collection of bands that also included Afro National, Sabanoh 75 and Super Combo.
For the early part of 1970s the band toured extensively throughout Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire before making a handful of 45s in local TV and radio studios. The recordings featured here however come from a period of touring the college circuit in California during late 1975 and early 1976. Later that year, as they played the colleges of the east coast, they gave the tracks to the owner of the African Record Centre in Brooklyn, New York. He initially released two of them on his in-house Makossa Records label as 7-inch 45rpm singles in 1976. The tracks from 1975/6 were then not heard of again until 1979/80 when the African Record Centre released many of them on a series of Makossa Records 12's that sounded far superior than the records that had been released a few years earlier.
Orchestre Muyei Power finally split up in 1979 leaving no proper album releases and only a handful of recordings for us to enjoy all these years later.
180g Heavy double vinyl LP with liner notes by Tyran Grillo. Limited Japanese Obi for the first pressing. Original artwork by Russell Mills and photography by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
The third Time Capsule is a body of dub reinterpretations by celebrated producer Bill Laswell of Ethiopian singer Gigi. Curated by Tokyo record collector, music researcher and seasoned reissue supervisor Ken Hidaka, it is the first time Illuminated Audio is pressed to vinyl after its CD release in 2003.
Ejigayehu Shibabaw was born in 1974 in Chagni, northwestern Ethiopia and by pursuing a career as a singer, went against her father’s strict, traditional gender roles. As Gigi, she embraced the same musical freedom she had strived for in her personal life, incorporating the Ethiopian church, funk, hip-hop, West and South African music into her work. She first settled in Nairobi, then Addis Ababa, where she quickly established herself as one of the city’s leading singers. A move to San Francisco in 1998 led to a long and fruitful creative partnership with bassist and producer Bill Laswell.
Around the same time, Chris Blackwell had stepped away from Island Records to start the art house film company and label Palm Pictures. He took an interest in Gigi and together with Laswell, pulled together an all-star cast of musicians for her self-titled US debut album, including Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders and Wayne Shorter. It won international critical acclaim, not just for its musicianship but for making Gigi a “defining voice for the Ethiopian expatriate community”, as journalist Tyran Grillo praises in his Time Capsule liner notes. From the nation-defining 1896 victory over Italian invaders to the quiet revolutionaries who wear simple shemma garments, Grillo believes the themes in Gigi make it “a shower of sunlight on her homeland for those ignorant of its struggles.”
After its success, Blackwell encouraged them to go back into the studio to rethink the album and Illuminated Audio was born. “Anyone can make a voice sound worldly”, Grillo remarks, “but rare are those who can make one sound inner-worldly.” Gigi was clear with Laswell to give her vocals a minor role “because it’s already been done.” Instead her Amharic verse is fleeting, exhaling through the textures like ghostly fragments; soaring yet muted. Yet the album is still titled under her name, an assertion by Laswell of her central role in the album’s creation. Not only was it a fully endorsed project by Gigi, but she would be present throughout its development, giving feedback on half-finished ideas as Laswell played them back in the studio. “It works perfectly”, she reflected after the album’s release. “We wanted to capture the whole spirit of each track, and Bill’s remixes create a different music language that really puts you in a pleasant place”.
This new vocabulary takes its lead from a technical approach that Laswell had been perfecting during a furtive creative period at the turn of the millennium. Much like his ambient interpretations of Miles Davis (Panthalassa, 1998), Bob Marley (Dreams of Freedom, 1997), and Carlos Santana (Divine Light, 2001), Laswell approached Illuminated Audio by returning to the original multitrack masters. Gigi wasn’t just reworked, but recomposed into an expansive lattice of instruments, submerged in a watery ambience of dub and trance undercurrents.
Sonically, this new language that Gigi refers to, is manifested by the original album’s more understated parts being pushed to the fore. Explaining his contrasting methods, Laswell saw Gigi as being “put together in a way that fits”. Contrastingly, in Illuminated Audio, “a lot of things that I featured in the remix weren’t as audible in the original.” Instrumentation laying near-dormant, deep in the mix, are brought to the fore: the acid rock guitar and Wayne Shorter’s saxophone on ‘Tew Ante Sew’, Graham Haynes’ flugelhorn on ‘Nafekeñ’, Laswell’s bass on ‘Kahn’, the melodica in Mengedegna or the floating synths and talking drums in ‘Gud Fella’.
Brought to his attention by mentor DJ Nori, Hidaka describes Illuminated Audio as a “masterful sonic exploration into ethereal ambience and dub” and made sure this reissue also contained a full remaster to give its “deep musicality” much better dynamics and density in the overall sound. Hidaka admits that Laswell's music “is sometimes so out-there, it is often misunderstood” and, indeed, to dub album non-believers this might seem like a prolific producer imposing himself on another artist’s work; eternally developing rearrangements that never quite get to its destination. But that’s missing its true power and triumph. This is more than the reissue of a remix, but “a wholly unique musical entity”, as Hidaka describes. Illuminated Audio refers to the illuminated manuscripts that comprise the major part of Ethiopian art and its new compositions stand in proud solitude as a rare body of reworks that both informs and enhances their originals.
High Focus Records are proud to present the latest collaboration from Verb T & Illinformed. ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ both continues and completes the trilogy that began back in 2015, with ‘The Man with the Foggy Eyes’, before broadening the horizons with last year’s release ‘The Land of the Foggy Skies’. This final chapter returns to the same conceptual landscape as its predecessors, but also sees Verb T & Illinformed returning to a more classic approach to album making. In spite of its concept, the Foggy Trilogy is something of a personal outpouring for Verb T, with the original aim being to vicariously discuss the trials and tribulations that play a part in his life, including his struggles with chronic illness and the feeling of alienation from leaving his hometown, while also reflecting on the state of the world as a whole. Their approach to making the album meant taking it back to the most natural form, where the idea for the track would be outlined, Illinformed would make the beat, Verb T would write to it and then they would tweak and adjust accordingly. The result is 19 of the most finely crafted tracks to emerge from the UK shores this year. As with the previous albums, ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ finds Illinformed moving away from the more rugged sound that has shrouded the British scene over the last few months, thanks to his collaborations with the likes of Datkid and Wish Master, instead providing Verb T with an arguably more mellow backdrop. From the string and piano driven introduction on ‘Legacy’, to the blissful head-nod vibes of the closing track, ‘Blind Faith’, the union between beats and rhymes sits at the perfect level. The album also boasts one of the most impressive guestlists of the year, one that is very much a product of both players’ worlds. Thanks to Illinformed’s Bristol connection, there are features from the likes of Res One, Datkid, Leaf Dog, Smellington Piff and Chillman, as well as some locally sourced cuts from DJ Rogue. While on Verb T’s side of the fence, we have features from Rye Shabby and Moreone, along with a collaboration that reignites the same creative spark he found in his early days, as King Kashmere steps into the booth on Feeling Strange. All in all, ‘Stranded in Foggy Times’ does exactly what it sets out to do, by drawing the trilogy to a close while also providing insights into Verb T’s personal world and the world at large. The fact that it also happens to be one of the strongest rap albums of the year is the icing on the cake
Vinyl Packaging: Gatefold LP + download card. Indie Exclusive Transparent Orange vinyl in gatefold jacket Limited to 1000. CD 6 panel Digipak. Gnosis is the highly anticipated 8th full length from Russian Circles. Across the span of their previous seven studio albums, Chicago-based instrumental trio Russian Circles traversed a diverse topography of sounds, moods, and approaches with their limited armory of drums, bass, and guitar. It’s difficult to chart an evolution in their sound when their records have always felt like well-curated playlists. It wasn’t uncommon to hear drone-heavy meditations, dazzling prog exercises, knuckle-dragging riff-fests, haunting folk ballads, and tension-baiting noise rock all within the span of one album. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the progression from the pensive and intricate melodies of Enter (2006) to the layered distorted dirges of Blood Year (2019). It’s been a gradual sonic shift owing to the band’s rigorous tour schedule and a predilection towards playing their more authoritative material on stage. But with their latest album, Gnosis, Russian Circles eschew the varied terrain of their past work and bulldoze a path through the most tumultuous and harrowing territory of their sound. As was the case for so many artists in the age of COVID, the obstacles of geography and isolation forced Russian Circles to reevaluate their writing process. Rather than crafting songs out of fragmented ideas in the practice room, full songs were written and recorded independently before being shared with other members, so that their initial vision was retained. While these demos spanned the full breadth of the band’s varied styles, the more cinematic compositions were ultimately excised in favor of the physically cathartic pieces. Gnosis was engineered and mixed by Kurt Ballou. Drums and bass were tracked at Electrical Audio in Chicago to maximize the natural room sounds of the rhythm section. Guitar and synth overdubs were conducted at God City in Salem, MA to take advantage of Ballou’s vast inventory of amps and effects pedals. Despite the entirety of the album being written remotely, the songs were recorded with the full band playing together to retain the live feel of the material. Owing to the climate of the times and a new writing method, Russian Circles created their most fuming and focused work to date—an album that favors the exorcism of two years’ worth of tension over the melancholy and restraint that often colored their past endeavors. European Co-Headline tour with Cult of Luna slated for Marc 2023 (Dates TBA). Russian Circles have received coverage from most notable press including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, FADER, AV Club, Consequence, Decibel, Revolver and much more.
Dire Straits' arresting self-titled debut arrived in the midst of punk's reign but couldn't have been further removed from the era's slash-and-burn style. Recorded in West London in February 1978, the band's tasteful, jazz-inflected set embraces folk, blues, and pub rock while also tracing a direct line back to the beat-oriented sound of early rock n' roll. Country and roots accents further distinguish the British quartet's stripped-down music from any 1970s peers, as does the transparent production, which has remained revered among audiophiles the world over – and which has never been better than on this meticulous pressing.
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's 180g 45RPM 2LP version of Dire Straits features natural tonalities, superb balances, you-are-there imaging, deep-black backgrounds, and pristine clarity. Even if you've heard this album hundreds of times before, you've never experienced it with such lifelike sonics and premium richness. This numbered-edition collector's set immerses you within the smoky, laidback atmospherics of every song. This is how all vinyl should sound.
Crucial to every arrangement, Mark Knopfler's winding guitar lines emerge with supreme transparency and multi-hued textural detail. His intricate playing comes across as if it's being transmitted via his 60s-era Fender Vibrolux amplifier placed right before you. The cleanliness, dimensions, and live feel are that good. His bandmates, too, benefit from the extra groove space afforded by this 45RPM edition. Rhythms skate and swirl; percussive effects resonate with crispness and attack; the leading edges of notes naturally decay.
Dire Straits' strong, well-edited batch of original material further enhances the overall enjoyment and makes the record one whose pleasures go far beyond the organic sonics. Just as Knopfler's narratives pour forth with poetic and surrealist texts, the musical settings – an intoxicating combination of easygoing shuffles, back-hall boogies, and pop-honed ballads – mirror the old-fashioned soulfulness inherent in the classic recordings of the late 50s and early 60s. The lyrics are equally captivating.
Drawing from his time as a youth in Newcastle, Leeds, and London, Knopfler invests tunes with an autobiographical slant and emotional connectivity that become obvious the moment he opens his mouth to sing. "Down to the Waterline," "Wild West End," and "Lions" all feature colloquial touches that add to their reach. By extension, "In the Gallery" functions as a tribute to Leeds sculptor Harry Phillips (father of future Knoplfer collaborator, Steve Phillips) while the record's breakout smash, "Sultans of Swing," pays homage to struggling bar bands.
Through it all, Dire Straits performs with a subtle cool and clever poise that no band ever matched. Just how good is the chemistry? Bob Dylan heard the quartet and invited Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to play on Slow Train Coming. But even Dylan himself didn't hear Dire Straits sound this magnetic back in its original heyday. Now, everyone can.
Originally released in 1981, La folie is the 6th studio album by English new wave band the Stranglers. Available for National Album Day on 1LP translucent pink vinyl for a limited run.
In 1996, Busta Rhymes delivered his debut album, The Coming, three years after the Leaders of the New School unofficially disbanded. Though his talents were evident on those Leaders of the New School releases, Busta went on a series of features that only built up the public's desire for a solo Busta album. Right out of the gate, Busta dropped his classic debut single "Woo Hah!! (Got You All in Check)" that made it abundantly clear he was to be mentioned among Hip Hop's greatest solo artists. The energy and originality packed on that one song set a tone for the album that displays Busta's raw talent and ability to bend words with his ever rambunctious flow. The album features production by Easy Mo Bee, DJ Scratch, Q-Tip, and J Dilla. Songs such as "Everything Remains Raw", "Abandon Ship", and "Still Shining" all rise above as The Coming's stand-out tracks, but "Ill Vibe" is the album's crown jewel moment. Busta sounds right at home over this J Dilla beat, trading verses with his Native Tongue cohort Q-Tip. The Coming was a critical and commercial success for Busta Rhymes. It reached #6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1996 and has since received a platinum certification from RIAA. As mentioned, The Coming boasts the hit single "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check " which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1996. It was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. It also ended up sporting another hit single, It's a Party featuring Zhané. The Coming shows amazing variety where Busta can break free from the bells and the whistles of the Busta Dungeon Dragon flow to explore other ways of leaving our jaws open by his incredible lyricism. The Coming surely lives up to its title, as Busta delivers a performance that ignited his impeccable solo career.
This fourth album, released on 01 January 2002, features hit singles such as "Evolution" "M" and "Dearest"
This masterpiece features many of Ayumi Hamasaki's signature hits and showcases Ayu's explosive creativity, including her work composing under the name
CREA.
Dez Andrés, Detroit’s underground legend and genre-blurring maestro is back with another batch of reworked old skool bangers.
Since the late '90s, Dez has built a respectable catalog that blurs the boundaries between genres. One of motor city’s most prolific artists, his music can be summed up in one word: quality. Now he returns to DFM with a two-sided heater.
Dez flips Odyssey’s classic Native New Yorker into a gritty dembow style club weapon. With iconic vocal lines and signature piano riff, Dez injects his signature bounce and percussive punch, turning this disco anthem into a raw dancefloor destroyer.
Diving deeper, Dez revives Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band’s classic Sun Showers, transforming it into a rhythmic, power groove tailor-made for sweaty basements, rooftop sets and smoke filled dance floors on red-lit nights that refuse to end.
You wake up abruptly on cold floorboards, your body aching as if from a great fall. White light floods your vision. Where are you? Last thing you can remember you were hurtling through the Genesis Domain at breakneck speed, but this is definitely somewhere different. As your eyes come into focus you see the hall is grand, intimidatingly opulent. A full house of seated onlookers peers at you expectantly. You’re on a stage, you realize. Flames creep up the walls, engulfing the room and lighting the faces in the audience; the heat is oppressive, but nobody seems to notice. A voice booms out.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Presenting: a performer of great renown all across the land, yours for one night only… introducing—”
Tiny bells jangle around your head as you shift your weight, obscuring whatever name the announcer just called out. You try to sit up. The jester’s hat tumbles off with a clatter. Not this again, you groan. Your head spins with vertigo. You grimace, trying to remember something. You had just gleaned an urgent and existential truth in the Genesis Domain, but it’s slipping away now… what was it?
Off to your left, a whip cracks. The impresario glares at you from the wings, fist clenched around a diamond-encrusted whip, mouthing at you to get up.
You try to run, but the weight of an incorporeal authority bears down upon you. The impresario cracks his whip again, an impish smirk forming on his lips.
With resignation, you begin to work the room. What else can you do? Tendrils of giggling and gossip creep through your periphery. The heat is suffocating and the smoke stings your eyes, but the show goes on. Remembering your bag of tricks as if from a dream, you raise your hands in the air, invoking the universal call to audience participation. The crowd goes wild. You feel the rush of a familiar thrill. Being the Fool comes naturally to you, you realize, as the palace burns around you.
Duke Harrison is based on the Gold Coast, where he cooks up irresistible garage house tunes with a retro flavour but new school flair. This latest highly effective EP comes on Rhythm N Vibe and kicks off with 'Movin On', a full-blooded vibe with a kicking low end, scraping percussion and liquid synths that bring warmth and soul. 'Givin U' has kicks that swing low and hit hard, natty chords that are busy and ever on the move while a fat bassline adds the weight. 'Deep In' then turns up the heat with more brilliant synth work - its lithe and neon and brings great movement to the groove before the deeper 'Let's Testify' closes with a humid, dusty swagger and aching r&b vocal. Super stuff for summer and beyond.
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.
ICE CASTLES, Larry Heard's downtempo ambient, deep house masterpiece available on vinyl again. After nearly three decades out of print, Larry Heard's Ice Castles is finally getting the reissue people have been asking for. Originally released in 1995 (as Sceneries Not Songs - Volume Tu), Ice Castles stands out as one of the most overlooked, but essential records in deep house and downtempo. A hazy, RnB, jazz-inflected suite of tracks from the genre's original architect. Forming a blueprint for his release in the decades to come. From the shimmering ''Crystal Fantasy'' to the aching title track, this is Heard at his most intimate: less dancefloor, more personal. Now, for the first time since 1998, it's back on vinyl. Remastered and expanded to a full double LP with all tracks.
Jus-Ed's Underground Quality label has been living up to its title for more than 20 years now. The brief is simple - deep, smoky house music with soul, and it keeps coming at a steady rate from a blend of newer names and more established stars. Next up this late summer is a three-part remix package that revisits a gorgeous original by Nathalie Capello and Rose Lonegran. TrackHeadz kicks off with a nice swaying and dubby rework that is blissed out and spine-tingling, while Melchior Sultana taps into a melodic and Mediterranean sound perfect for sunset. DJRYDER's closer is a more percussive and prickly affair and Patrice Scott locks you into a zoned-out, late-night roller. Top-notch deep house.
The third and final volume of remixes of 'Come Into My Life' by Nathalie Capello and Rose Lonegran is yet another doozy for lovers of emotive, meaningful deep house. Another bunch of heavyweights step up, starting with Mystic Bill who teases out a steamy-hot lead and builds a vibe around it. UK mainstay Jimpster plays with a dubby and bubbly low end, while Move D finds jazz-funk in the squelchy bass. Last of all, Underground Quality head DJ Jus-Ed steps up with his remix and explores more dusty textures, a slightly unsettling synth vibe and roomy, hypnotic grooves for late-night dancing.
