East Kilbride’s Scott Fraser finally comes good on a 25 year promise to his younger self with his debut solo album on his own label DX Recordings out of London. This record represents the closing of this chapter and the opening of a new one.
A truly international and collaborative project pulling together the help and talent of friends around the world with mastering by Radioactive man Keith Tenniswood, cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery and world class US visual art and design legends, Tim Saccenti and Nick Martin on photography, artwork and design.
Limited to 300 solid red heavyweight vinyl copies, brown kraft sleeves; individually hand stencilled and numbered by the artist, printed inserts feature a collection of moments and images from the last 25 years - the studio, the equipment, the people and the places that came together to make this release. Japanese rice paper inner sleeves.
Limited edition hand printed screen print by Niall Greaves at Newbridge Print Studios in Newcastle on the first 30 copies exclusively available via the DX Recordings Bandcamp page.
Musically diverse, crossing styles, flavours and moods, threaded meticulously with razor sharp Roland TR606 programming and glued together with a Space Echo, Expanded opens with the sub aquatic funk of ‘Eden And After’. Side one takes you through banging electro on ‘Energy In Constitution’, the dark dub techno of ‘To The Letter Of My Oath’, leaves you disappearing through a black hole on ‘The Path Of Helium Rain’ and the sound of aliens talking through FM synthesis on ‘Collected Stills’. On side two: a slice of dark, heavy instrumental hip hop gets things started with ‘Where Is That Perception? ‘. Next we get into some straight 4/4 club techno with cut up drums and bumping baseline in ‘Mi Dominante’ before moving through some blissed out Detroit vibes on ‘Earth Looking Inwards’, a rough as you like TR606 driven experimental electro groover ‘Object of Life’ and finally closing out with the Ectomorph inspired stark electro of ‘Steel (NB_BLOOD cut)’.
Mastered by: Keith Tenniswood at Curve Pusher, Hastings
Cut By: Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London
Distributed by: Rubadub, Glasgow
Artwork by: Timothy Saccenti, Nicholas Martin, Scott Fraser
Photography by: Kate Green, Javier Gonzalez, Scott Fraser, Timothy Saccenti
Solid red vinyl (300 copies), 30 coming with a limited edition screen print designed by Timothy Saccenti, Nicholas Martin and Scott Fraser, hand screen printed by Niall Greaves at Newbridge Print studios in Newcastle.
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Utter presents Marshall Jefferson's previously unreleased meditation opus 'Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation' alongside two remixes from French production maestro Joakim.
Marshall Jefferson: Chicago House music pioneer, creator of the anthemic ‘Move My Body’, an original collaborator of Adonis, Ce Ce Rogers and Roy Davis Jr., production mastermind of countless dancefloor classics such as Phuture’s ‘Acid Tracks’, Sterling Void’s ’It’s All Right’, Hercules’ ‘7 Ways’… and the soothing voice behind a 36 minute healing meditation guide. Yes, really.
But let’s rewind, slightly.
In 2017, Marshall was approached and encouraged by Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball to write his autobiography and the pair set about putting Marshall’s account of the history of House music together. The book, ‘Marshall Jefferson: Diary of a DJ’ was published in 2019.
Following the book’s release, Ian and Marshall's collaboration continued and during the pandemic an outlandish idea arose to create a piece of music combining Ian's interest in meditation (he runs Club Chi specialising in Shibashi Qigong - a form of Tai Chi Qigong - which is a gentle form of movement therapy/exercise) and Marshall's willingness to experiment musically to see what might be possible.
The result is ‘Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation’, where Marshall vocalises Ian’s lyrics in his instantly recognisable voice. The keen-eared out there may also recognise aspects of the music itself as a stripped back, lengthened and far mellower version of Marshall’s 1985 obscurity ‘Vibe’:
“I would take tapes to the Music Box and Ron Hardy would play my music. ‘Vibe’ was one of those tracks. I recorded ‘Vibe’ in 1985, but it became one of my tracks that I just forgot about until some guy on Facebook sent me a recording of it that was taken from a club. The only person who I ever gave a recording of ‘Vibe’ to was Ron Hardy. The other people I know who had copies of the track were Gene Hunt and Emanuel Pippin (DJ Spookie).
"The original version of ‘Vibe’ was made using a Roland 707, Roland JX-8P keyboard and a Roland 727 drum machine. I was still working at the Post Office at the time, and this was pre-‘Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)’. ‘Vibe’ has the building blocks for ‘Move Your Body’ because it was using the instruments on the track that I discovered what I could do with the bass sound, to make a track like ‘Move Your Body’.”
Still, Ian’s initial intention for ‘Yellow Meditation’ was function and it was designed to be a ‘Sequential Relaxation Exercise’ focusing on the Solar Plexus. Bearing this in mind, Marshall took a bare-bones and hypnotic approach to this particular re-recording of ‘Vibe’ so that the voice takes centre stage and listeners (hopefully) find themselves on a meditative journey. In fact, this long-form track was always intended as a private tool purely for meditation at Club Chi rather than released to the public - after all, Marshall had also created and released a more drum heavy, ’traditional’ club-focused 'Vibe Three' instrumental version for that very purpose - but a chance airing of the full 36 minute version changed its path.
Much like those 1985 ‘Vibe’ cassettes, Marshall had sent the track to a few close contacts, one of whom was Kieran at Phonica Records who aired it over the shop’s basement soundsystem. Its unorthodox nature caught the ear of colleague Alex (of Utter) and the seeds of a physical release were planted.
Eventually, with the full-version carefully whittled down to a vinyl friendly length of 24 minutes, full track parts in hand and a b-side to fill, Alex sought out one of his favourite producers to take up the remix reigns: Joakim. The Tigersushi co-founder and Crowdspacer boss has a long history of boundary-pushing remixes that straddle both dancefloor functionality and experimentation. This time the original material resulted in Joakim coming up with a number of ideas and he finally delivered two versions - one club focused (‘Vertical’), the other more introspective and meditative (‘Horizontal’), both of which appear on the final 12”.
The limited edition 12” also includes a download code giving buyers access to all of the vinyl tracks plus an 18 minute extended version of Joakim’s ‘Horizontal’ remix, its instrumental counterpart (for those who can live without Marshall's voice) and full 12 minute acapella (for those who can't!)
Alex
a A1. Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Edit) 24:00
b B1. Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Joakim's Vertical Remix) 9:09
9:05
Heith's music has always been infused with sacred mystery, striking a delicate balance between lived experience and imagination. On Escape Lounge, his second full-length release for PAN, Heith draws inspiration from contemporary digital spirituality and interpretations of experience that are crossing over from cultural niches into the mainstream - including internetbased conspiracy theories and psychological operations. The album presents a sonic diary recorded across Milan, Berlin, London, and Stockholm, crafting a post-informational folklore while exploring new territories in personal songwriting. The title Escape Lounge, inspired by airport waiting areas, serves as a metaphorical waiting room of the mind. Its hidden passages can lead either to peril and loss or to enlightenment and kaleidoscopic mental landscapes. This liminal space echoes the mysterious realms of Twin Peaks or the viral "Backrooms" phenomenon. Within it, contributing musicians - including frequent collaborators Leonardo Rubboli, Aase Nielsen, and 33 drummer Alexander Iezzi - move like ethereal presences, creating intangible soundscapes that leave traces of post-hypnotic melancholia. Notably, the vocal contributions from Price and James K enhance the otherworldly atmosphere, their multifaceted timbres adding layers of intentional ambiguity. Throughout the album, Heith masterfully blends acoustic instruments, human voices, and digital technology along an uncharted path that references the experimental pop of 90s trip-hop, 2000s indie-folk songwriting, and lush Mediterranean psychedelia. The sounds are meticulously crafted, combining synthesizers with guitar-based compositions in a computational songwriting approach that creates a collage across eras and landscapes. Each track unveils new dimensions of this delicate hallucinogenic narrative, delivering an immersive listening experience. As reality continuously shifts, Escape Lounge emerges as both sanctuary and confinement - a space of momentary connections and endless potential. In 2025, Heith will debut a new live show and audiovisual collaboration titled 'The Talk' with James K and Günseli Yalcinkaya, commissioned and premiering at Sonar Festival, Terraforma, Nuit Sonores, and Reworks.
Útil Records vuelve con su referencia número 7, un split ep que comparten Bad Pad de Barcelona y Spectrums Data Forces de Granada.
Bad Pad (Cyberdom y The Bandit) firman dos tracks desenfadados, con una particular visión del electro en la que cabe cierta experimentación. Exploración de pads, bajos cuadriculados siguiendo lineas rítmicas bien marcadas que construyen estructuras matemáticas. Devoción por el mundo gatuno, cambios de vida y sensibilidad.
Spectrums Data Forces nos entrega tres tracks contundentes. Tres armas de gran calibre con ritmos duros y sincopados, cargadas de energía y distorsión, acompañadaspor potentes líneas de sintetizador arpegiadas, arreglos que evocan paisajes apocalípticos, melodías que transmiten sensibilidad y secuencias repetitivas que harán vibrar cualquier pista de baile.
En definitva, un disco muy completo que no deberías dejar escapar.
Edición limitada 300 copias.
- A1: Yellow Days
- A2: Find A Way
- A3: Everyday Words
- A4: It’s Ok, Feel It
- A5: Windup
- B1: Get Along
- B2: Smile Today
- B3: Inner Meaning
- B4: Nostalgia
'Find a Way' is the new album from Manchester-based pianist, composer, and producer Matt Wilde, released via his own imprint Hello World Records. The album serves as a reminder that creativity should be accessible and the importance of opening yourself to the unexpected as you 'Find a Way' through all endeavours. Digging into improvisation and jazz harmony on the LP, he crafts a sound that bridges jazz, hip hop, and electronic music, adding: "The creative act is not a matter of waiting for the perfect conditions, but of moving gently, insistently, through the imperfect".
Focus and title track "Find a Way" encapsulates this journey of process. Humans are known for adaptation and response when they face challenges, seeking solutions towards a better world. "Find a Way" leans into our instinctive reaction to improvise and reshape, taking the listener on an unexpected journey. The opening loop could as easily feel at home as part of an electronic soundscape, developing into a clock-like effect from the drums. This keeps time, allowing a duet between keys and trumpet to unfold, symbolising the individual, imperfect and non-linear paths we all carve out day to day.
The album was funded by Arts Council England and created in close collaboration with trumpeter and composer Aaron Wood, with the pair recording in Aaron's rural DIY studio in Huddersfield. Through improvising upright piano, Rhodes and trumpet over intricately programmed beats, the duo captured the spontaneity that makes jazz feel alive, but with the forward-facing touch of Ableton live production. "I actually had live drums recorded for this project and then deleted all of them and instead programmed intricate drums on Ableton live myself to create the kinds of drum sounds I could hear in my head," Matt adds, explaining the onerous process that truly made 'Find a Way' a labour of love.
Matt Wilde discovered jazz through an unconventional journey, and 'Find a Way' is an introspective map of this musical development. Starting out as a self-taught beatmaker, growing up Matt made tracks for friends in the grime scene before falling in love with jazz through the sample-heavy works of Madlib, J Dilla, and Pete Rock. Hints of this influence can be found on "Windup", driven by a deeper bass and a glitchy intensity not commonly associated with jazz. There are also nods to the weekly DJ residencies Matt had in his late teens, establishing a love for club music at iconic Manchester venues like Sankeys. "It's Ok, Feel it" incorporates pitched-up kicks and crisp, papery snares that pay tribute to UK dance culture and the foundation of connection in this world.
Guided by values of accessibility and creativity, Matt has become a key voice in the UK's boundary-pushing jazz and beats scene. His debut album 'Hello World' alongside EPs and single releases, have been championed by the likes of BBC Radio 1, Jamie Cullum and Soweto Kinch (BBC Radio 2), 'Round Midnight (BBC Radio 3), and across BBC 6Music, Jazz FM and Worldwide FM. He has performed headline shows at Band on the Wall (Manchester) and The Lower Third (London) and showcased his music at Brick Lane Jazz Festival and London's iconic Jazz Café.
A proud Mancunian with Polish roots, Matt's values-driven approach reflects his passion for community and empowering others through the arts. Matt founded the UK's first youth-led charity and is a trustee of Manchester music charity Brighter Sound. Driven by these values of equality and inclusion, Hello World Records strives to champion grassroots music with a backbone of fairness built into the business model. The imprint is named after Matt's debut album, released via Band on the Wall Recordings; simultaneously championing the music scene and global musical footprint of Manchester and highlighting the importance of artists reminding people: Hello World, I've made it. I'm still here.
- Martha Cleary, Glow Artists
Fetter’s Body of Noise erupts at the threshold between ravey hypnosis and avant-pop experiment, slithering through the hinterlands of unconscious desire. Nine shape-shifting tracks conjure haunted landscapes where beauty refuses clarity and dancefloor logic warps underfoot. Vocals swoon, drift, and demand—stacking into fragments that multiply and weave through saturated pulses and shimmering, snarling synths.
Opening track "Like a Rose" traces a dreamer’s transition into the unstable physics of a perplexing but familiar dream world, where they gradually become lucid. “Beast” follows up humming with shadowed urgency, threading a path through self-sabotage and metamorphosis. “Spathiphyllums” drifts a while in a lush lostness, aching for something new before fracturing into wild, cathartic collapse. Side B’s “Do I Exist? (D.I.E)” and “The Longing” spiral into existential wonder, searching for a human origin story—both personal and collective—against a backdrop of uncertainty, while “Headache” thrusts forward as an absurd and insistent manifesto to stay the course and harness one’s own power within the madness.
Body of Noise is crafted not only for sweating bodies in motion, but for distorting time and opening psychic portals, where surrender becomes strategy and uncertainty transforms into ecstatic navigation. Rooted in all-hardware improvised production and shaped by Fetter’s years of boundary-blurring visual and performance art, their debut LP feels alive and in flux. Reminiscent of a spectral pop chorus trapped in a loop of broken machinery, or a lost broadcast from a dancefloor in a parallel realm, Body of Noise is a journey into chaos, transformation, and a bold refusal to be contained.
About Fetter:
Fetter makes clubby self-destructing noise pop to dance and weep to. Oscillating between ethereal and pounding, their all-hardware, largely improvised live sets take listeners through a foggy wilderness of saturated rhythms and menacing synth lines, a golden voice guiding the way through. Fetter is the stage moniker of multimedia artist Jess Tucker. Their performances take place in clubs as well as galleries, often incorporating video, installation, and interactive performance art elements to create other-worldly surrounds of mesmerizingly unhinged bodies and faces.
This is the story of an artist in search of sound and breath: an artist who dares to question the rhythm of silence—an invitation to rethink music, sound, and musical collaboration. This is the story of a journey that, after opening countless paths, has finally found its vessel—and its messengers. Three artists of profound musical truth and radical freedom, merging into an exceptional trio that crosses genres and transcends words in a journey toward pure emotion.
Le Rythme du Silence is the culmination of this long search. Yom delivers it here with violinist Théo Ceccaldi and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi—kindred spirits in sound. “I’ve been working on this idea of the ‘rhythm of silence’ for years,” Yom explains. “I first heard the phrase from a Sufi master, describing the foundation of meditation. It struck something deep in me. I’ve practiced meditation for a long time, and we often think of it as a kind of stillness—opposed to noise and life. But in truth, the rhythm of silence enables meditation. It means accepting that the world continues to move and live around you, even as you try to be still. I wanted to compose from that place. To imagine sound as vibratory matter—the primal substance of creation. That required letting go of fixed structures: forgetting melodies, abandoning the idea of a constructed solo. I needed to leave behind music as a system, and touch sound as a living, breathing entity. It took years. Many projects led me elsewhere. But with the Ceccaldi brothers, I finally found the right resonance. Working with them was simply obvious—it was indredibly powerful.”
Yom first rose to prominence reimagining Jewish traditional music with his 2008 debut New King of Klezmer Clarinet. Since then, his path has led through rock (With Love, 2011; You Will Never Die, 2018), electronic utopias (The Empire of Love, 2013), meditative and sacred soundscapes (Prière, 2018), and countless unclassifiable hybrids (Unue, 2009; Green Apocalypse, 2010). It was inevitable that he would eventually cross paths with the free-spirited Théo and Valentin Ceccaldi—two artists who also place collaboration and genre-blurring at the heart of their artistic development. Their projects are always bold, demanding, and full of life (Kutu, Tricollectif, ONJ, Velvet Revolution, Grand Orchestre du Tricot, Lagon Noir, Constantine, etc.). And so, when the three met within the iXi string quartet, something clicked.
“I was seated between the two of them in the quartet,” Yom recalls, “and I could feel their energy flowing from both sides—it was wild! They’re so tuned into each other, they don’t need words. It’s like they’re connected by musical Wi-Fi. The groove happens instantly. They’re precise when they want to be—thanks to their experience in pop-influenced projects —but they can also let go completely, diving into pure sound. That’s exactly what this project needed.”
Without a single rehearsal, the trio formed instinctively. They began performing Yom’s compositions live, unfolding them into a single continuous piece, where clarinet and strings stretch the limits of sound and breath.
Bowed, plucked, or prepared with clothespins, the Ceccaldi strings engage in a playful and intense dialogue with Yom’s custom B-flat clarinet. Through their imaginative listening and fearless invention, air and space open into a vast new soundscape—one that lies somewhere between meditation and healing music.
“When Yom shared the concept of the rhythm of silence, we were immediately drawn in,” says cellist Valentin Ceccaldi. “There’s a deep intensity and spiritual commitment in his music that really spoke to me. With this trio, we’re trying to dive into the core of sound—but also to create a kind of communion with the audience. It’s like gradually turning up the volume on silence, and realizing it’s made of countless tiny sounds—the music of particles in motion" This stripped-down intensity demands full presence—body and mind—of these three musicians, vibrationally connected in a state close to trance. With them, we enter a journey - not religious, but sacred nonetheless.
The Rhythm of Silence becomes an echo of our most intimate, most distant inner landscapes.
An album—and a trio—to return to without end.
With their musical roots deeply immersed in the fertile soil of Afro-American music, the Buttshakers have found a new direction for their nostalgia-heavy soul music. With Lessons In Love, their third album on Underdog Records, their early heartaches and furies have faded in favor of a more composed harmony – a sound enveloped in love and soaked in the blues. Guided by their singer Ciara Thompson, the Buttshakers have taken a more intimate path, whose compass, in the chaos of emotions and the modern world, points only in one direction: the light.
Seen from the sky, the view appears limitless. Accentuated by the sun, the ochre and sandy hues of the open road only reinforce this feeling of immensity. The sky stretches and the green stands out in striking contrast. In lighter tones, a road is drawn -- without bends or contours. This is the worn and weary road of soul music, which The Buttshakers explore on each album in new and unique ways. Soul music – a rare place to find a French band.
Vast, the musical direction could have taken them to lighter pastures. Yet the Buttshakers chose to evolve in a different way; to take a heavier load. Two paths – one sparked by social unrest, the other purely sentimental, Lessons In Love explores the deep roots of soul music, in the steps of Curtis Mayfield or Al Green. It is here that the heart and mind cross paths, merge, and become one. A weary road -- that brings together the agitation of a world where good intentions never rise above the level of digital outrage, and a faith in love which, however it manifests and expresses itself, remains the only truth that never loses its power.
Less rage and more compassion, it is through the haunting words and now tempered inflection of Ciara Thompson's voice, which opens to distinct emotions and perspectives, that the listener is guided. With its gaze fixed on the horizon, the acoustic guitar of Gotta Believe invites us on an intimate stroll through the open plains, while Dream On carries us away with a clavinet riff and a possessed saxophone; reconnecting the electric heat and neurosis of a city full of dreams. The senses are moved by the conjuring potion of the guitar which distills throughout Troubled Waters; the body is brought back into a visceral dance by the keys and brass section that are put to the test by Sure As Sin and its irrepressible rhythm. Passing through clouds of dust and sand has left a bluesy imprint on their groove: the miles travelled became hundreds, then thousands.
All of this leaves the listener bewitched by the halo of resilience that now surrounds Ciara's performance, as the ten tracks let the light fade. But certainly not hope in a better day. Like the sunflower that always lifts its head towards the sun’s rays, the Buttshakers continue to resource their sounds in the deep roots of soul music. Into the rich layers of African-American music of the 60s and 70s, The Buttshakers capture the spirit as much as the musical aesthetics of the epoch. A sound that reaches into the meanderings of the soul, bringing light to dark places and hope for all. A sound for the most parched of hearts, living in a damaged world, Lessons In Love confirms that even the tiniest beam of light can illuminate one’s path.
Braiden, an artist synonymous with the UK’s underground continuum, makes a powerful return after his hiatus with Raindance, a four-track EP of original productions on his own Off Out imprint. First emerging during the post-dubstep era with standout releases on Joy Orbison’s Doldrums and iconic Dutch imprint Rush Hour, Braiden carved a unique path as both DJ and producer through long-standing residencies on Rinse FM and NTS, where his boundary-pushing selections became essential listening.
The record channels the energy of the club and the scene he emerged from, blending freshly explored influences into a focused yet diverse body of work.
The EP opens with its title track, an unruly and visceral cut that channels early grime’s skeletal power into a hypnotic techno landscape. Clattering claps, cascading strings and a guttural bassline drive it forward, shimmering with movement and wired with an unpredictable edge. Touch The Sky, featuring a vocal contribution from multidisciplinary artist KESH, follows as a meditative centrepiece — a weightless, emotional interlude hovering with restrained melancholy and awe. X5x ramps up the energy again, urgent, euphoric, and devastatingly effective, its acid-licked synth line and thunderous kicks recalling the vastness of late-night warehouse catharsis. Lagrangian Point closes the EP on a different axis altogether; a time-dilating drone that strips away the percussion entirely while retaining the physicality and ethereal tone that runs through the EP.
Also a visual artist and photographer, Braiden’s finely tuned aesthetic runs through the record, with him self-designing and photographing the artwork printed on a full colour sleeve. Raindance arrives as a meticulously crafted statement: fierce and cinematic, a notable evolution from his earlier single-led releases, with additional mix engineering support from friends Joy Orbison and Objekt.
b A2. Touch The Sky ft. KESH
In 2025, Roger 23 makes his return to Night Defined Recordings. Following his 2022 album “Bounds of a Moral Principle and Established Standard Behavior”, the unmistakable Saarländer revisits his teenage memories of the Saarbrücken-Leicester connection through a collaboration with his UK kindred spirit, Tom Dicicco. In just two months, the duo has created a collection of ten tracks rich in sonic depth, embodying their dedication to and belief in the power of exploration.
In a world where it’s easy to point fingers or resist change, Tom Dicicco and Roger 23 choose a different path. They see creativity not just as self-expression but as a way to inspire future generations. Their mission is to challenge norms, trust the process, and create with purpose.
This album is more than just a musical project — it’s a statement that true innovation arises from freedom and risk-taking. The journey has taught them more than music production — it has reinforced the importance of conviction and trusting their vision. Their work serves as a reminder that leadership is about breaking new ground and inspiring others to do the same.
WE CANNOT COMPLAIN, IF WE DON’T DO IT BETTER
for UK: please contact Rubadub
Wrong Filament embodies Robert Piotrowicz's creation of fictional traditional music - not studied but invented, a utopian and oniric construct that becomes tangible in sound. These imagined traditions act as communal forces of music-making, resisting dominant structures of power.
The album unfolds in six dense compositions built on rhythm, repetition and minimal melodic gestures that draw on archetypal patterns of Eastern European traditions. Entirely synthetic yet strikingly instrumental in character, they develop as autonomous sound events, expanding into multi-part forms that evoke the physicality of ensemble performance - as if played by an imagined community of musicians.
Rather than reconstruction, Piotrowicz invents forged dances - a pre-techno of sorts, where complex meters and dense textures point to a parallel history of collective sound beyond industrial uniformity. They imagine a utopian and fictional genealogy of collective sound: one where industrial modernity yields to more unstable, communal energies.
This is celebratory music with invocatory charge: calls to dance, echoes of ceremony, microtonal melodies shaped by emotional weight, and traces of Eastern ornamentation stretched through synthetic means. Wrong Filament sacralises performance through sound alone, spinning a world where spectres of collective experience vibrate against the limits of rupture and resistance.
These pieces confront the traces of violence inscribed in body and memory, yet also affirm freedom, emancipation and integration. They manifest celebration, identity and resistance while opening a path toward liberation and shared needs that exceed social, private and intimate categories.
- A1: When I Sing, I Slip Into The Microphone. Into That Void, I Bring Comrade "Prayers", Then, Turning To Face The Outside, Together We Explode. Part I
- B1: When I Sing, I Slip Into The Microphone. Into That Void, I Bring Comrade "Prayers", Then, Turning To Face The Outside, Together We Explode. Part Ii
- C1: When I Sing, I Slip Into The Microphone. Into That Void, I Bring Comrade "Prayers", Then, Turning To Face The Outside, Together We Explode. Part Ii (Continued)
- D1: When I Sing, I Slip Into The Microphone. Into That Void, I Bring Comrade "Prayers", Then, Turning To Face The Outside, Together We Explode. Part Ii (Conclusion)
- D2: When I Sing, I Slip Into The Microphone. Into That Void, I Bring Comrade "Prayers", Then, Turning To Face The Outside, Together We Explode. Part Iii
Among the true Keiji Haino devotees, Nijiumu’s Era of Sad Wings (released on P.S.F. in 1993) has always held a special place in the pantheon. Operating for only a few years in the early 90s and apparently only performing a handful of shows, Nijiumu operated at the opposite end of the dynamic spectrum to Haino’s famed power trio Fushitsusha, dwelling in a hushed, meditative realm of mysterious droning sonorities and free-floating melodies that occasionally erupts into violence. Black Truffle is pleased to announce a new double-LP edition of a lesser-known 1994 Nijiumu recording, When I sing, I slip into the microphone. Into that void, I bring comrade “prayers”, then, turning to face the outside, together we explode. Here, Nijiumu is the trio of Haino, Tetuzi Akiyama and the obscure Takashi Matsuoka, the three performing on a wide variety of string, wind and percussion instruments, as well as electric guitar and bass, and Haino’s unmistakeable voice.
Like on the early solo Haino album that shares the group’s name (released on P.S.F. in 1993), the instrumentation swims in reverb (the use of which Akiyama recalls as ‘a kind of point of the band’), often obscuring the instrumental sources. On the short opening piece, a distant reed instrument arcs long buzzing melodies over a bed of cymbals and gongs, like a psychedelic take on Tibetan music. The epic second part, occupying almost 50 minutes, begins as a splayed, near-formless cloud of electric guitar and bass, shadowed by bowed and plucked strings, the three elements working through twisting atonal shapes. At various points in the recording, we hear what seems to be the sounds of musicians moving between instruments, their shuffling and bumps fitting seamlessly into this radically open music. Eventually, what sounds like electric guitar moves closer to the foreground, fixing on a repeated melodic cell around which hover mysterious clouds of long tones and a sporadic shaker. At the half-hour mark, the music begins to build to a violently emotive climax, Haino’s impassioned vocal cries punctuating a lumbering, bass-heavy murk, contrasted at points by what sounds like a tin whistle. Suddenly, the volume drops to a near-whisper, opening the way for the stunning final moments, which touch on the slow-motion balladry of Haino’s classic Affection, here given an eccentric twist by an occasional woodblock hit. The third piece opens with a hazy trio of rumbling bass, bowed strings and abstracted slide guitar, the latter calling to mind some of Akiyama’s later solo work. Eventually joined by Haino’s voice, its fragile, haunted tone might remind the listener of the man in black’s documented love of the madrigals of the murderous Count Gesualdo, before the recording abruptly breaks off mid-note. In this new edition, the Nijiumu trio recording is supplemented by a piece recorded solo by Haino in 1973, a bracing electronic blowout stretching almost half an hour. Using a homemade electronics setup to unleash a barrage of crunching distortion and shuddering harmonic fuzz, it takes its place in the canon of extreme live electronics next to Robert Ashley’s Wolfman and Walter Marchetti’s Osmanthus fragrans, looking forward to extreme noise years before Merzbow. Taken as a whole, these four sides of music are a stunning document of some of the lesser-known waystations of Haino’s singular creative path.
- A1: Alice Ruby - Neptune
- A2: Flavour - Lespag
- A3: Raffa - Drowning In Your Love
- A4: Dj Dean - Higher
- A5: Noneohone - Knew It All Along
- B1: Roka. - D Beam
- B2: Gabriel Griffith - P’s & T’s
- B3: Shep - M1 Sun
- B4: Sharksss - Morning Star
- B5: Manoah Kenna - Just A Bit Of Rain
- B6: Mélanger Le Miel (Ft. Alice Ruby) - Bloom
Mélange is a new community and online platform for young emerging artists based between Europe and Australasia.
The first of the label’s VA compilation album, just released,spans corners of electronic and world music and weavesbetween classical/ambient sounds and UKG, Jungle & Disco. It’s a commitment to multi-genre discographies and the need for more established career paths for young, gifted artists.
With early support on the vinyl from Four Tet and Haai, our goal is to help share and further establish European and Oceanic sounds with music lovers everywhere.
DMA debuts its new series with a vision to showcase the music that shaped their path while fostering a sense of community around the label. The first release is a two-track EP featuring Twovi and Sixam, blending Italo house roots, progressive house textures, and that distinctive touch of nostalgia that runs through the DMA sound. Pressed in a strictly limited edition, DMA & Friends is a platform for music, friendship, and memories.
Next up on Mesh is Throwing Snow’s ‘Jackals’, a five-track EP drawing on echoes of UK subcultures.
Written in Ireland late last year with the London 2010s in mind, ‘Jackals’ is Throwing Snow’s love letter to his time spent there, tapping into a detailed web of sounds and styles through a personal lens, but skillfully produced to resonate with many. Locating memories in a transient city that is constantly reconfiguring itself, each track is an attempt at honouring fragments of recent, but seemingly distant, musical history. Taking us from DMZ at Brixton Mass to FWD at Plastic People, or Future Garage Fridays in Soho (IYKYK) to early days of NTS, the EP captures some of the fleeting moments that continue to play a significant part in the city’s sonic patchwork.
Production-wise, all the tracks share the same sounds twisted in different directions. The hats are vocoded with noise and random LFOs, and much like the chaos of London, every bounce has a unique pattern.
Opening track ‘Jackals’ walks the line between dub and UK bass, quickly overtaken by a wonky synth lead that spirals eternally upwards. ‘Ohnein’ jumps in with a massive pad swirling above a half-time step. In Throwing Snow’s own words, ‘I had to check with Martyn whether I'd ripped him off, turns out I hadn't, but it's a heavy head nod crossed with Un Vingt from my first 12"’. ‘A Cloud Mountain’ - a nod to the timeless James Holden remix of Nathan Fake’s ‘The Sky Was Pink’, leans into a maximalist progression of deep chords and fractured synths. ‘Forged’ steps into a weightier space with sparse drums driven forward by a deep cut of bass and twitchy echoes. Rounding things off, ‘Path Dependency’ speeds things up with touches of DnB in the drums, distant echoes in the forefront and the occasional sub wobble holding things together.
- A1: Murking Shadows
- A2: Ecto Green Code
- A3: The Preyers Forest
- A4: Scream Dreamer
- A5: Metal Preyers Feat Sockethead - Red Swines
- A6: Crater Creature
- A7: Carpenters Cabin
- B1: Slime Things Accent
- B2: Wasp Faced Invasions
- B3: Metal Preyers Feat Lord Tusk - Metal Mans Revolt
- B4: On Her Way 0
- B5: Metal Preyers Feat Lord Tusk - Gremlin Gurgle
- B6: Shadow Swamps
- B7: Escape - The Sunrise
Black vinyl LP. Following 2019's acclaimed self-titled debut album, Metal Preyers take the left hand path into a gloomy backwater filled with haunted creatures and fraught with peril. "Shadow Swamps" again finds London-based Jesse Hackett handling the music and Chicago's Mariano Chavez fashioning the album's visual identity, which this time includes a short film and book for a fully immersive experience. "Shadow Swamps" is the soundtrack to a pitch-black fairy tale about a father and daughter as they journey through a swamp avoiding gremlins, red swines and crater creatures. Musically, it pivots between the clattering Czech new wave experimentation of "Valerie and her Week of Wonders" composer Luboš Fišer, or the magical, eccentric lounge of Birmingham's Broadcast, and the grinding industrial grot of Italian pioneer Maurizio Bianchi. This time around, Hackett has roped in production assists from his six year-old-daughter wonder Nyasha hackett who used phone memos to record herself singing - veteran Metal Preyers collaborator Lord Tusk, and Manchester-based painter, DJ and producer Richard Harris, aka Sockethead. The crew inks an unsettling, richly textured sonic landscape, with claws of rhythmic smoke curling around chiming otherworldly xylophone, disembodied fiddle drones echoing over screwed 'n chopped beatbox dirt and half-heard magical vocals buried under clouds of white noise. Track listing: 1 Murking Shadows 2 Ecto Green Code 3 The Preyers Forest 4 Scream Dreamer 5 Red Swines 6 Crate Creature 7 Carpenters Cabin 8 Slime Things Accent 9 Wasp Faced Invasion 10 Metal Mans Revolt 11 On Her Way 12 Gremlin Gurgle 13 Shadow Swamps 14 Escape - The Sunrise
Space Echo is proud to present the new single by Derane Obika and Go.Soul.Map., arranged and performed by Sicilian
mastermind producer Salvo Dub - an overwhelming fusion of electronic sounds and soulful vibes. This track is a balance
of pulsating rhythms and enveloping melodies, a sonic journey that invites dancing and reflection.
The production stands out with its electronic soul — a rich blend of synthesizers and deep bass lines that pull the listener
into an energetic and immersive atmosphere. Every beat is crafted to move your feet and light up even the most
sophisticated dance floors.
It’s an explosion of energy, set against the unmistakable voice of Derane Obika. With his warm, soulful tone reminiscent of
Seal, Derane brings a unique spirit to the track, infusing every word with raw emotion and deep.
Here, Derane and Go.Soul.Map. don’t just celebrate dance music — they invite the listener into a full-bodied sensory
experience, where electronic beats meet soul tradition to create something truly extraordinary.
The lyrics expresses the idea of a complete fulfilment found in someone or something essential. It suggests that this
presence — a person, an emotion, or a spiritual guide — is so fundamental and complete that everything else becomes
unnecessary.
It evokes a profound sense of connection, purpose, and clarity. Like a path that leads directly to the essence of existence,
it conveys the feeling of being guided, inspired, and grounded all at once. It is a declaration of absolute trust, of love or
devotion — where the journey and the destination fully coincide.
Side B features a new version of “Walkin’ a Dream” from the debut album “Peaceful Sound for Broken Minds”. The new
rework 25, offers us futuristic and electronic sounds with 70s and 80s disco influences, mixing with space and cinematic
themes - very interesting!
On September 26th, 2025, two decades and seven albums into his career, American musician, composer, and academic John Maus will release his most transcendent work yet: Later Than You Think. Arriving via his new label YOUNG, the album explores themes of grief, justice, rebirth, transformation, and spiritual warfare - coalescing into a work of confession and confrontation: an aural metaphysics where affect, intellect, and spirit converge in search of the beautiful, the truth and the real. Written, produced, and recorded in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri, Later Than You Think spans 16 tracks and contains multitudes - the lush and the bare, the sacred and the profane, minimalist discipline and maximalist indulgence, counterpoint and simple pop harmony. At its core, the album reaffirms John Maus’ commitment to radical sincerity and emotional truth in an age of alienation. Powered by confrontation, faith and transformation - driven by the urgent belief that meaning still matters, and time is of the essence. Holding a degree in experimental music from CalArts and a PhD in political science from the University of Hawaii, Maus has been dubbed a “philosopher pop star” and “analog futurist” for the way he merges academic rigor with lo-fi synth-pop aesthetics. His influence spans genres and generations—from UK grime icon Skepta, who sampled his track “I’m Only Human,” and Gen-Z rapper nettspend, to filmmaker Josh Safdie, actor Natasha Lyonne, and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. His track “Cop Killer” features in the 2025 film Friendship, underscoring his continued relevance across high and low culture. With five previous albums under his belt - Songs (2006), Love Is Real (2007), We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (2011), Screen Memories (2017) and Addendum (2018) - Maus has carved out a singular path where irony, grief, joy, and absurdity can coexist and gained a cult following along the way. On Late r Than You Think Maus doesn’t just return—he confronts, confesses, and transforms. The result is not only a career-defining work, but a rare artistic offering: one that dares to believe in meaning, beauty, and the possibility of transcendence
There’s not many musical journeys that connect Sligo and Ibiza via Berlin, but this is the unique sonic path that Tiarnan McMorrow has been on in recent years. The Berlin-based Irish producer, also known as Spray, is now releasing new music under the Spriitzz alias. “Spray for the club, Spriitzz for the sunset,” he explains of the two monikers.
And Spriitzz’s debut track, ‘Where R U’, radiates the feeling of sunset from every second of its glistening run time. While it’s unquestionably a piece of uplifting, euphoric and hypnotic trance, it also has that beautifully, hazy, dreamy and woozy feeling that most perfectly captures the feeling of a night ending and a new day beginning. “When I wrote it I was in Ibiza,” he explains. “And I wanted to make something that sounded like it could have been on an Ibiza sunrise compilation CD. One of those one-off tracks by an artist you can’t find any other music by. It’s a bit of an ode to an old Ibiza that I romanticize that doesn’t really exist any more but I’m still always chasing when I visit.”
Gwenan Spearing, known for her perceptive, groove-oriented DJ sets, and more recently as a live performer working with hardware improvisation, launches a new imprint, Phase Space, with Degrees of Freedom, a debut album diving deep into generative electronics, modular systems, and real-time response. Composed and recorded in 2019-2020, the album treats constraint as creative fuel, floating between ambient,
sonic sculpture, and improvisation, mapping Gwenan’s path from rural Wales to Berlin’s outer zones of experimental sound.
Sync opens with a theme on a slow triangle wave, expanding the space as it evolves. Some Pluck explores generative counterpoint using LFOs and Euclidean rhythms. Generator I unfolds in an oscillating time where keyboard and bass circuits cross-modulate. Sleep Pressure is a lullaby for grown-ups, capturing that eerie threshold before sleep, followed by Loper, where time flows fluid and unstable. The closer, Generator II, holds machine heartbeats in delicate equilibrium before unraveling into graceful decay, a soft farewell. (That’s the Universe waving.) Degrees of Freedom is algorithmic music with a pulse: visceral, hand-wired, and built for deep listening.




















