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Not all music can cope with physical reality. Instruments can be pushed until they lose grip. Eventually, they will slip so far that their untethered voice is all that remains. Panoram follows up on his Pianosequenza series engaging in seventeen excursions into playing the part of the piano that doesn't exist, coaxing out inarticulate feelings in lieu of familiar characteristics. Sounds and rhythms resulting from thoughts that can't be put into quite the right words.

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

2026 Repress

Laurie Torres is a Canadian musician and composer raised in Montréal, Québec by Haitian parents. Since 2008, she has been a trusted stage and studio performer for Julia Jacklin, Pomme, and Land of Talk, as well as being a founding member of Folly & The Hunter, with whom she recorded four studio albums and toured Canada, Europe and the UK.

In 2023, Laurie shifted focus to work on her own creations, a process of making time - the will and the need becoming omnipresent. Drawing creative inspiration from contemporary artists like Tirzah, Gia Margaret, Valentina Magaletti, Tara Clerkin Trio and ML Buch, 'Après coup' finds Torres intersecting at a pivotal moment where artists whose marginalized identities are at the forefront in creating a beautiful array of "other options".

"Being othered and tokenized as a woman who plays music, as well as a queer and black person, takes a toll, while also positively feeding a strong urge to push and be seen."

Centering around piano, drums and synthesizer with interweaving field recordings, 'Après coup' follows the precursor ep 'Correspondances' in the form of a sprawling 11-track album. Translating directly from French - afterwards, after the event - its title subliminally points at something deeper between the lines. Recorded in 2023 between tours in a small window of time where 'normal' life hadn't quite recommenced, Torres meticulously crafted her debut solo material in view of surrounding nature, all providing the perfect nourishment for long streams of improvisation. Built right up to the edge of a lake, Studio Wild in St-Zénon, Québec offered an unparalleled location and set up for her freeform creativity.

Instrumental music seemed like a natural response and evolution for Torres who had long basked in the world of "pop music" as she elaborates: "I had an urge to use creativity as a sort of resting place, a place where things can unfold slowly and take time to reveal themselves. In other worlds words, I felt the need to make something slower, more elusive"

The immediacy of Torres' recorded takes doubled with minimal overdubs create a fiercely direct, intimate and unpolished lo-fi beauty. 'Après coup' then is self-reflective, open and inclusive with Torres allowing herself to be fully seen. An album to be felt at close distance with unrivalled authenticity. This album stands as a testament to Laurie's artistic evolution and serves as a beacon, inspiring her to continue nurturing her own creative pursuits and finding exhilarating freedom.

Death Is Not The End collaborate with Uzbek label Maqom Soul to deliver an LP counterpart to last year's mixtape of the same title, compiling specially picked & fully licensed individual belters from the ex-soviet studios of Central Asian republics between 1978 and 1989 - incl. Uzbek, Tajik, Kurdish & Uyghur artists pulling traditional folk motifs together with pop & rock and psych elements.

"These recordings do not form a smooth or coherent history. They feel more like a sequence of discoveries made at different moments and in different circumstances. Songs and instrumental pieces that once lived inside specific contexts radio broadcasts, philharmonic programs, touring routes now sit side by side, revealing hidden connections as well as clear fractures between them.

Nasiba Abdullaeva appears here as a voice from the end of an era. Trained within a conservatory system, she worked inside the format of the Soviet pop song while filling it with melodic logic that did not come from Moscow or Leningrad. Her voice is soft and sustained, shaped by Eastern melisma, and it never functions as decoration. Even in tightly structured songs there is a sense of resistance, an effort to preserve a musical language rooted in Uzbek tradition rather than fully adapted to an all Union standard.

The ensemble Sintez, later renamed Navo, represents a different path. Beginning as a student rock group, the band was gradually absorbed into the official VIA system with all its limitations and compromises. Yet it was precisely within those boundaries that Sintez and Navo developed a recognizable sound. Electric guitars and jazz rock harmonies do not overpower the folk material but remain in tension with it. Their recordings feel like negotiations between what the musicians wanted to play and what they were allowed to perform.

The Tajik ensemble Gulshan reflects an institutional approach carried to a high professional level. Formed under television and radio structures, the group treated folk material almost as a written score. Carefully constructed arrangements, close attention to orchestration, and restrained use of pop techniques define their sound. There is less spontaneity here, but a strong sense of discipline and structure, where national melody becomes part of a carefully controlled sonic framework.

Koma Wetan occupies a very different space. Formed in the 1970s, this Kurdish rock group approached poetry and folklore as tools of cultural assertion. Their psychedelic rock never feels like a stylistic borrowing. Instead it functions as a contemporary vessel for language and themes that might otherwise have remained unheard. Even today these recordings sound fragile and stubborn at the same time.

The Uyghur ensemble Yashlik, closely connected to a musical drama theatre, operated somewhere between stage performance and popular music. Their songs are built on folk melodies but shaped for wide audiences. What emerges is a constant attempt to preserve the recognizability of Uyghur musical identity without freezing it in a folkloric frame. Yashlik's music exists in a state of balance between representation and development.

Digging Central Asia does not attempt to establish hierarchies or offer a single wayof listening. Names and dates matter less than the sound itself. Tape noise, abrupt transitions, and unexpected timbres remain part of the material rather than flaws to be corrected. This music existed at the crossroads of multiple routes geographic, cultural, and ideological. Heard today in a new context, it no longer feels peripheral. Instead it stands as a reminder that the history of popular music is far more fragmented, layered, and polyphonic than it is usually allowed to be."

Conscious and intentional. The Transnationality EP marks the first release of TEMAS Records, fully composed and mixed between Paris and Lisbon, featuring artists from both countries: Paul Cut (FR), Flabaire (FR), Sara Wual (PT) and Mayan (PT). Within the spectrum of House Music, each artist captured a selection of oldschool aesthetics using gear from different eras. The intention is to praise the references that shaped their path as artists, where they find beauty. Mastered by DJ Steaw at Rutilance Lab Paris. TEMAS Records is an independent music label founded by Sara Wual, Paul Cut and Cíntia Aguiar Pinto. The label prioritizes a slower release schedule for a more sustainable music industry, with only 1 vinyl record release per year. The albums are mindfully produced in Portugal through the use of recycled vinyl left-overs, that otherwise would go to waste. Funded by the European Union via Goethe-Institut.

2026 Repress

London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Akusmi announces 'Lines', an exhilarating new collection of works born from the desire to take where the acclaimed debut album 'Fleeting Future' left off - in search of new forms.

" 'Secant', I must have listened to this tune 3 times in a row, this one soundtracked my night drive through the winding roads" - Benji B, BBC Radio 1

'Lines' is presented as a Limited edition clear vinyl (500 copies only worldwide), printed in heavy-weight reverse board sleeve with a hand-numbered edition sticker. The vinyl edition also features 'Oblique' (A2), an exclusive version for the vinyl format, plus the now revered 'Longing for Tomorrow' - (Brandt Brauer Frick Remix), previously unreleased physically and now pressed on vinyl format, ending side B. The cover artwork features another collaboration with Dutch visual artist Sigrid Calon and design by label founder Adam Heron.

Formed with a sense of urgency and a reductive approach 'Lines' is almost entirely comprised of alto saxophone, clarinet and piano with embellishments of ambience and minimal percussive elements. Recorded in full at his home studio in London, Pascal Bideau speaks about the process:

"I wanted to go a bit more a bit more horizontal and ambient, work with layers of lines, might they be dotted or straight, and leave them to unfold and see where they would take me."

Akusmi uniquely finds the spaces in between experimental jazz, crossover classical and ambient music.

In this post Sounds world, the boundaries of Post Punk have not only broadened but splintered. And over the course of (now) four releases, Index For Working Musik have seen to using the sprawling boundaries to great effect, flexing a polyglot of styles to convey the language of the moment. On Which Direction Goes The Beam, the murky, distant ambience that was 2023's Indexé has been fleshed out, incorporating everything from the Brian Aldiss laced, ground lightning shudder of Dome, to the chamber-like arrangements of This Kind Of Punishment. There's even a candle flickering in the window for Think Fellers Union Local 282 that warmed these ears. And if you're a fan of the great Dutch band, Trespassers W (who isn't?), the collective consciousness IFWM enunciates on here is a similar testament of a band growing more sure footed in the pursuit of not only knowing all the ways in, but carving a few of their own on the way out. And it's discerning releases like Which Direction Goes The Beam that keep us in the hunt. Long may they forge. - Tom Lax. RIYL: Brian Jonestown Massacre, Velvet Underground, TOY, John Cale, Wire, Dome

2026 Repress

Akusmi is the project moniker of French-born, London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pascal Bideau, who signs to the new Tonal Union imprint for the release of his album 'Fleeting Future.' With its hallucinatory, genre-defying blend of minimalism, cosmic jazz and Fourth World influences, and in its quest for optimism in the face of unknown and limitless possibility. 'Fleeting Future' stands apart as an inventive and inspirational debut.

The creation of the album's richly colourful and multi-layered sound world was originally inspired by Bideau's journey to Indonesia, where he immersed himself in traditional Gamelan and gong music. Many of the themes, motifs and melodies on 'Fleeting Future' seed from the 'Slendro' scale, one of the essential tuning systems used in Gamelan. However it is not musical scales, but scales as in the size or extent of things that most fascinates Bideau, specifically he explains; "the compelling way things dramatically change when you shift from any given scale to another."

The album connects directly to nature and the wider world in its evocation of perceptive shifts and transitions from microscopic to macro scale, as evidenced by the opening title track 'Fleeting Future', on which a simple dotted saxophone line morphs and billows into synths, brass and strings, indicating the musical voyage that lies ahead. Like the start of a journey or adventure it is full of anticipation, its arborescent growth conveying the optimism of the unknown and of limitless possibility. The album centrepiece 'Neo Tokyo' is a vibrating, ebullient mass of colliding elements which feels like zooming in to the electron level, as it teeters on the edge of chaos. The title is a reference to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a dizzying work of art set in a sprawling futuristic metropolis.

'Yurikamome', meanwhile, is an imaginary soundtrack inspired by Bideau's yearning to visit Japan which he fuels by watching Youtube videos of drives and rides through Japanese landscapes and cities. "It's amazing" he adds, "that we have the ability to access almost anywhere in the world and see what it's like, that people document it and upload it. It's never going to be any replacement for the real thing, but with places that really touch you, it works." The track is named after a Japanese monorail train line which rides from Shinbashi to Toyosu, a last journey that feels like a new beginning.


'Fleeting Future' was composed and recorded by Bideau between 2017 and 2019 in his North London studio and features additional contributions recorded in Berlin by Florian Juncker (trombone), Ruth Velten (saxophone) and regular collaborator Daniel Brandt of Brandt Brauer Frick (drums / electronic percussion). Having been living through uncertain times, one thing that keeps spiralling into the unknown is the future, about which Bideau leaves us with a final thought:

"The future is fascinating: It is constantly readjusting to new events. I feel we left a linear approach to the future to enter an arborescent one where all the data and information we have about what could happen is exponentially ever-growing. Following a branch might allow you to glimpse into what it may become, but the evolution of the whole picture might very well render the prediction totally obsolete, and even meaningless. In that sense, there is not one future but innumerable ones all cancelling each other. That's what makes it fleeting."

French deep house royalty Franck Roger makes another tasteful return to Seasons Limited with more of his timeless sounds for real heads only. 'It's Time To Care' captures a sweet spot between dreamy depths and dancefloor drive, with a nagging vocal hook and bubbly bass working in union to capture body and mind. 'The Magic Of Love' is a roomy groove peppered with gentle percussion and soft toms as chords infuse it with the glow of late-night romance. Last of all is 'They Comin'' which brings the EP to a close with more stripped back, finessed synth work that has you lost in reverie.

Saxophonist, producer and composer Brian Allen Simon explores darker hues, transposing waking and altered states under his studio veil Anenon. On the deeply evocative new album 'Dream Temperature', he shifts electronic processing to the foreground, introducing digitized wind instruments and unworldly atmospherics, not heard since his innovating mid-late 2010s output.

A longtime Los Angeles resident, born and raised, Brian Allen Simon has expressively operated under the moniker Anenon, releasing the highly revered 'Petrol' (2016), 'Tongue' (2018) and the viscerally beautiful 'Moons Melt Milk Light' (2023), in a line of unwavering musical dialogues. While the penultimate album was a deliberate, reductive, entirely acoustic detour that was born out of a want to unplug, 'Dream Temperature' sees Brian primed with a newly discovered wind synthesizer as his central compositional tool, alongside acoustic piano and tenor saxophone. The entirety of the album's electronics are triggered by Brian's lungs, generating otherworldly synths modulated by expressive breath control, channelled through the laptop as the core processing chamber for added textural components and field recordings.

A free floating and heavy emotional resonance marks 'Dream Temperature' from beginning to end, invoking the feeling of waking up, still heavy from a night of half-remembered dreams, and continuing one's day in this state. Simon maps out the album's spatial voice early on the statement title track, a deep, yet compact cut, generated from digital saxophone rasps that whistle by in close proximity, along with haze filled textures and sub bass. There is a sonic oscillation of urban grit and pastoral drift throughout as tracks pass by like introspective thoughts, fueling both a tense and ethereal quality that underpins the album. Interluding solo and part-solo piano improvisations 'Last Sun 1' and '2' are positioned adjacent to the buffering digital soundscapes. Their softer, still processed timbres pierce the melancholic exterior, offering a contrasting tenderness that could echo the grace of Ry?ichi Sakamoto, the spiritualist rigor of ECM's Keith Jarrett and a touch akin to Aphex Twin's piano miniatures. 'Nulle Part 1+2' signals the first appearance of an acoustic wind instrument, as tenor saxophone flourishes are juxtaposed against noisy drones, all shouting at the void, with notes resurfacing like lost digital data.

The album was recorded at home during either sunset or nocturnal hours between September of 2024 and October of 2025, a period in which Brian found himself craving more lengthy and intimate studio time as he searched for more pronounced textural qualities amidst his new sonic ambitions. 'When The Light Appears, Boy' shows further evidence of this deeper universe, revealing a grittier edge as the album's essential blueprint is sonically inked. A sprawling expanse of wind synths rhythmically encircle the listener before a dreamy, ghostly ambience blankets 'Toyama'. The sound is evocative of the productions of post dubstep era luminaries such as Burial or the productions of HTRK's Nigel Yang. More isolating and enveloping than the previous all acoustic record, this is music both disorienting and yet warmly inviting all at once. A sonic diarist at heart, personal field recordings were also taken from Sardinia, Japan, Big Sur and LA which intersect at unexpected moments throughout the album's 31-minute play time.

'Dream Temperature' is a vital coalescence of both Simon's electronic and acoustic practices with repositioned electronics akin to earlier works, both haunting and elegant, yet still profoundly personal. Simon continuously resonates as an experimental outlier treading an enthralling, non-linear musical path. This music resolutely glows with an unknowing aura, like an untapped energy source waiting to be discharged.

Rock legend John Corabi—renowned for his work with Mötley Crüe, The Scream, Union, ESP, and The Dead Daisies—steps into the spotlight with “New Day” his first full-length solo album of original material. Recorded in Nashville during the summer of 2025 and produced by multi-platinum songwriter and producer Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Buckcherry), the album fuses classic ’70s rock, soul, and blues influences into a sound that is both timeless and deeply personal. The record features the previously released singles “Così Bella (So Beautiful)” (2021) and “Your Own Worst Enemy” (2022), now fully integrated into a rich collection of tracks that showcase Corabi’s commanding vocals, heartfelt lyrics, and masterful songwriting.

Throughout the album, Corabi is joined by Marti Frederiksen, who adds backing vocals, guitars, piano, and percussion; Evan Frederiksen, providing drums, bass, B3 organ, electric guitar, mandolin, and programming; Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses) on lead guitar; and Paul Taylor (Winger, Steve Perry) contributing piano, organ, and clavinet. Together, they create an organic, instrument-driven sound built on real performances, melodic interplay, and soulful energy. A trip down to memory lane mostly with a nostalgic mood offering intimate everything that is in between acoustic moments to richly layered arrangements rockers: “New Day” is a journey through the heart of rock, infused with soul and blues sensibilities, and inspired by the melodic grandeur of early Boston and Queen. With a European tour planned for February/March 2026 and additional shows through late spring and summer, Corabi is poised to bring this music directly to fans, delivering both powerful live energy and emotional resonance. More than just a solo debut, “New Day” is John Corabi’s personal testament to rock’s enduring spirit—an exploration of melody, soul, and authenticity, played with passion and conviction at every turn.

Namastrange and Pletnev debut on Earth Dog with the transatlantic tek of Desire Machine. Four supple rollers featuring a remix from label co-founder Jek.
Based separately in San Francisco and Barcelona, Namastrange and Pletnev collaborate sans studio to instead combine ideas virtually from afar. It’s a remarkable union in this respect; a fully-formed sound where heritage, influence and realities all collide to form an inimitable club-ready racket with Namastrange’s vocals sprinkled in to the mix. Sonically, this finds solace with Jek and djfix’s burgeoning tek stable of Earth Dog.
Desire Machine zones in from the parallel; its pulsating bassline grounding the evolving rhythm amidst Namastrange’s hypnotic mantra. Jek’s refix tramlines the shuffling groove to a psy-chotic break, with added dub delirium and prog attitude. Ego Collapse on the flip finds minimal solitude, gliding a dastard squelch with a sass’d up step. Splitting then gets it together for curtain call, a subversive pump with flirtatious persuasion that rides a phat tek bounce towards the finale.

2026 Repress

Anenon's tenor saxophone breathes an emotive contemplation on loss, meshed with sustained piano and field recordings. 'Moons Melt Milk Light' is a hyper-personal statement contained in a visceral beauty.

LA native Anenon returns with a highly anticipated new album 'Moons Melt Milk Light' on Tonal Union, bearing his most personal, expressive, and arresting works to date. Anenon is the ongoing solo studio and live project of Brian Allen Simon, whom since 2010 has released multiple albums and EPs to critical acclaim, including the highly revered 'Tongue' (2018) and 'Petrol' (2016).

'Moons Melt Milk Light' is direct, efficient, and unwavering in its immediacy. Anenon departs from the electronics of previous works, and embarks on a reductive, almost entirely acoustic approach consisting of piano, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and field recordings. All of the music was improvised with everything recorded as either a first or second take with no edits. Any layering happened fast and in the moment, and yet the sonic architecture of the whole feels both planned and refined.

"I feel a kinetic and messy honesty that doesn't exist in any of the other music I've ever made. There is also a sense of being settled, of calm. There is no faking it here."

They Came Like Swallows is the first album-length collaboration between Thurston Moore and Kramer (now officially Bonner Kramer), two giants of alternative/ experimental music. The accomplishments and influence of these two artists in the world of independent music cannot be overstated and the result of their artistic union is a startlingly cohesive statement that burns through landscapes of primitive outsider rock, avant-garde composition, progressive ambient and further locales boldly and beautifully unnamable. “Kramer and I reconnected in Miami, Florida, a few years back, many many years after each of us had departed NYC on separate life adventures. It was only a matter of time before Kramer and I started making plans to record together and with his irrepressible due diligence he quickly set up a mobile recording contraption in the pad I was decamped in, the Florida sunshine flowing through the palm leaves, lithe lizards skittering across the windowsills, and we just went for it.

Kramer had the idea to cover a Joy Division tune, a left turn from the improvisations we had been tracking, though wholly in keeping with both our sensibilities of light and dark unifying in transcendent songwriting, both of us devotees of 'the song' as well as 'the freedom.’ What transpired is They Came Like Swallows, a session we immediately felt should exist as a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide. We agreed beyond words to offer our music as a sonic activism and as a beneficent energy. This album is our duo exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.” ~ Thurston Moore “For the first time in our nearly 45 years of friendship, we had identical time windows open to make a record together,” recounts Kramer. After all this time not a moment is wasted as the duo immediately taps into the heightened core of improvisational tension across these seven offerings. Volcanic opener “Urn Burial” notches a similar historic union (John Cale and Terry Riley) to meet the circumstances of the moment, with swirling mists of organ and pounding toms over guitar that thickens the atmosphere with jagged, grimy dissonance.

Solemn strings open the second track, “The Redness In The West,” with Kramer’s cello and viola in dueling bow beneath the high tension drive and sustain of Thurston’s electric guitar, tapping out a Morse code of tension that mounts endlessly into a fog of inevitable war by the end. Moore and Kramer’s sense of experimentalism is in free and full grandeur throughout They Came Like Swallows, though the duo keep a strong and constant sideways eye on melody, composition and architecture, to the ends that any strict lines between song and improvisation are blurred beyond qualification.

As if to punctuate this point, Swallows closes with a nightwork cover of Joy Division’s “Insight,” a doleful coda that breathes out with a solemn inner grace under Thurston’s instantly stylistically recognizable guitar melodies as they weave into he and Kramer’s unison voices. As the lone vocal piece and only traditional ‘song’ form on the album, “Insight” is unique to this set and as a closing statement draws connective lines back to the kind of dynamic, electrified melodicism that wove deep, melancholy patterns into the untamed fire of Sonic Youth’s Sister and Daydream Nation. In the album’s final moments, the two voices repeat the lyric “I’m not afraid anymore” as mantra, underscoring the heavy, unsettled themes and methods that preceded it. Kramer describes the creative process of They Came Like Swallows: “I had composed and recorded a few pieces at my home studio over the course of a couple weeks. Thurston was spending the winter in South Florida, so I flew down and spent a few days recording his guitar parts in his home there. Watching him spontaneously compose his parts was pretty astonishing, to say the least. Once we'd finished working on those pieces, we began improvising and following wherever the music pointed us, and another few pieces were born. We got straight to it, without anything driving us other than the joy of finally working together.

My personal goal was to remain present and catch as many surprises as I could from Thurston's guitar work, and there were plenty during those few days. We had a fucking blast.” Thurston’s contributions here will be readily familiar to any acolytes of his other works, the through-line between his inspired playing, cradled in Kramer’s meticulous, solid arrangements. “If I had to make this record again, I'd do it all exactly the same way,” Kramer says. “It’s like jazz, you don't think about it. You just do it. It was miraculous, and you don't fuck with a miracle.”

They Came Like Swallows is the first album-length collaboration between Thurston Moore and Kramer (now officially Bonner Kramer), two giants of alternative/ experimental music. The accomplishments and influence of these two artists in the world of independent music cannot be overstated and the result of their artistic union is a startlingly cohesive statement that burns through landscapes of primitive outsider rock, avant-garde composition, progressive ambient and further locales boldly and beautifully unnamable. “Kramer and I reconnected in Miami, Florida, a few years back, many many years after each of us had departed NYC on separate life adventures. It was only a matter of time before Kramer and I started making plans to record together and with his irrepressible due diligence he quickly set up a mobile recording contraption in the pad I was decamped in, the Florida sunshine flowing through the palm leaves, lithe lizards skittering across the windowsills, and we just went for it.

Kramer had the idea to cover a Joy Division tune, a left turn from the improvisations we had been tracking, though wholly in keeping with both our sensibilities of light and dark unifying in transcendent songwriting, both of us devotees of 'the song' as well as 'the freedom.’ What transpired is They Came Like Swallows, a session we immediately felt should exist as a prayer to the war-torn souls of the families of Palestine continually decimated by the brutality of genocide. We agreed beyond words to offer our music as a sonic activism and as a beneficent energy. This album is our duo exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.” ~ Thurston Moore “For the first time in our nearly 45 years of friendship, we had identical time windows open to make a record together,” recounts Kramer. After all this time not a moment is wasted as the duo immediately taps into the heightened core of improvisational tension across these seven offerings. Volcanic opener “Urn Burial” notches a similar historic union (John Cale and Terry Riley) to meet the circumstances of the moment, with swirling mists of organ and pounding toms over guitar that thickens the atmosphere with jagged, grimy dissonance.

Solemn strings open the second track, “The Redness In The West,” with Kramer’s cello and viola in dueling bow beneath the high tension drive and sustain of Thurston’s electric guitar, tapping out a Morse code of tension that mounts endlessly into a fog of inevitable war by the end. Moore and Kramer’s sense of experimentalism is in free and full grandeur throughout They Came Like Swallows, though the duo keep a strong and constant sideways eye on melody, composition and architecture, to the ends that any strict lines between song and improvisation are blurred beyond qualification.

As if to punctuate this point, Swallows closes with a nightwork cover of Joy Division’s “Insight,” a doleful coda that breathes out with a solemn inner grace under Thurston’s instantly stylistically recognizable guitar melodies as they weave into he and Kramer’s unison voices. As the lone vocal piece and only traditional ‘song’ form on the album, “Insight” is unique to this set and as a closing statement draws connective lines back to the kind of dynamic, electrified melodicism that wove deep, melancholy patterns into the untamed fire of Sonic Youth’s Sister and Daydream Nation. In the album’s final moments, the two voices repeat the lyric “I’m not afraid anymore” as mantra, underscoring the heavy, unsettled themes and methods that preceded it. Kramer describes the creative process of They Came Like Swallows: “I had composed and recorded a few pieces at my home studio over the course of a couple weeks. Thurston was spending the winter in South Florida, so I flew down and spent a few days recording his guitar parts in his home there. Watching him spontaneously compose his parts was pretty astonishing, to say the least. Once we'd finished working on those pieces, we began improvising and following wherever the music pointed us, and another few pieces were born. We got straight to it, without anything driving us other than the joy of finally working together.

My personal goal was to remain present and catch as many surprises as I could from Thurston's guitar work, and there were plenty during those few days. We had a fucking blast.” Thurston’s contributions here will be readily familiar to any acolytes of his other works, the through-line between his inspired playing, cradled in Kramer’s meticulous, solid arrangements. “If I had to make this record again, I'd do it all exactly the same way,” Kramer says. “It’s like jazz, you don't think about it. You just do it. It was miraculous, and you don't fuck with a miracle.”

Today, visionary artist Jesca Hoop announces her new album Long Wave Home due out 1st May via Last Laugh and available to preorder now. Staying true to her folk roots, though never purely, Hoop delivers strikingly original songwriting showcasing her innovative vocals augmented by imaginative arrangements. Long Wave Home is energized and rings with the promise of a fresh new chapter for the artist. To accompany today’s announcement Hoop has shared the album’s compelling first single, “Designer Citizen”, alongside a charming video directed by James Slater.
 
Additionally, Hoop has announced news of a 10-date UK tour in May including a performance at London’s Union Chapel.

Today, visionary artist Jesca Hoop announces her new album Long Wave Home due out 1st May via Last Laugh and available to preorder now. Staying true to her folk roots, though never purely, Hoop delivers strikingly original songwriting showcasing her innovative vocals augmented by imaginative arrangements. Long Wave Home is energized and rings with the promise of a fresh new chapter for the artist. To accompany today’s announcement Hoop has shared the album’s compelling first single, “Designer Citizen”, alongside a charming video directed by James Slater.
 
Additionally, Hoop has announced news of a 10-date UK tour in May including a performance at London’s Union Chapel.

Nonesuch Records releases Let X=X, by Laurie Anderson with Sexmob. This triple-LP/double-CD set was recorded live during a 2023 tour by Anderson and the jazz band Sexmob – Steven Bernstein and Briggan Krauss on brass, Kenny Wollesen on percussion, Douglas Wieselman on winds and guitar, and Tony Scherr on bass. Its cover and interior packaging feature paintings by Anderson. The album features 23 songs, including many favourites from throughout Anderson’s career, performed in new arrangements – plus one by Lou Reed and Metallica, ‘Junior Dad’. Anderson and Sexmob play more US and international dates this spring and summer (details below).

The New York Times said Anderson and Sexmob’s concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) ‘wasn’t a historical recreation of past recordings; Sexmob’s sound is a beefier one than on Anderson’s albums. With musicians who can double on electric guitar and bass clarinet, its members offered a rich range of textural variation throughout the evening.’

Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring – creative pioneers. Her work, which encompasses music, visual art, poetry, film, and photography, has challenged and delighted audiences around the world for more than 40 years. In a recent 60 Minutes profile, Anderson Cooper said she ‘is a pioneer of the avant-garde, but... that doesn’t begin to describe what she creates... It’s experienced by audiences who come to see her perform: singing, telling stories, and playing strange violins of her own invention... she blends the beautiful and the bizarre, challenging audiences with homilies and humor. She blurs boundaries across music, theater, dance, and film.’ The Washington Post has said she ‘doesn’t just tell stories; she draws out every word with a kind of physical pleasure, tasting its flavor as she probes the everyday mysteries of life.’

Anderson released her first album with Nonesuch Records, the critically lauded Life on a String, in 2001. Her subsequent releases on the label include Live in New York (2002); Homeland (2010); the soundtrack to her acclaimed film Heart of a Dog (2015); and her Grammy-winning collaboration with Kronos Quartet, Landfall (2018). Nonesuch released a re-mastered edition of Big Science in 2007 for its 25th anniversary, followed by a vinyl LP re-issue in 2021; the album includes Anderson’s beloved, surprise hit, song, ‘O Superman’, which also is featured on Let X=X. Her recent Nonesuch release was 2024’s Amelia, about renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart’s tragic last flight.

Anderson’s virtual-reality film La Camera Insabbiata, with Hsin-Chien Huang, won the 2017 Venice Film Festival Award for Best VR Experience, and, in 2018, Skira Rizzoli published her book All the Things I Lost in the Flood: Essays on Pictures, Language and Code, the most comprehensive collection of her artwork to date. Recent exhibitions and installations of Anderson’s work include Habeas Corpus at New York’s Park Avenue Armory; her largest exhibition to date, The Weather, at Washington, DC’s Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art; and Looking into a Mirror Sideways at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, which was her largest European exhibition to date.

Laurie Anderson was awarded the 2024 Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, along with Christopher Nolan and David Attenborough, and the International Astronomical Union named a minor planet in her honour: Asteroid 270588, Laurieanderson. That same year, she was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

A Profound Non-Event, the debut album by Sydney-based three piece Daily Toll, comprises 11 songs traversing three years of forged friendships, collaborative experimentation and a shared love of growing through words and song.

Those attuned to the ever-vibrant Australian underground may already be well familiar with Daily Toll, their consistent live presence since their inception in 2021 embroidered by a handful of (mostly) home-recorded, (mostly) digital self-releases that have steadily accumulated an appreciative following. Initially the project of self taught musician, poet & artist Kata Szász-Komlós(they/them) and Jasper Craig-Adams(he/him), and expended to a three piece with the more recent addition of friend Tom Stephens(he/him), Daily Toll represents the union of three unique creative dispositions, of relationships blooming through the push and pull of creative practice. Mapping the band’s existence through their recorded output is to bear witness to the flux of three people learning to respond to one another and gently ossify into a collective vision that at once calls to mind folk song intimacy, post-punk dynamics and the artful poeticism of an adjacent Flying Nun legacy.

If those earlier recordings reflect a band imagining themselves into being in real time, A Profound Non-Event observes a clear shift in both conviction and approach. Recorded in just three days with Alex Bennett at the purely analogue Sound Recordings studio in Castlemaine and holing up at night in the century old cottage situated beside the studio, sheltering from the late-June wind and rain within walls littered with instruments and microphones, lighting fires to stay warm. Kata describes the experience as defined by “candle light and creative camaraderie”, an idyllic account of a collection of songs that glide with an undeniably warm, easy charm, evidenced in particular in the record’s second half as the tone turns increasingly introspective, the very sound of a cold evening’s drift into night. When contrasted with the moody swirl and sing-song bounce of the opening trio of tracks, there’s clear evidence of a band not simply in the process of becoming, but committed to finding their truth in that process.
Still, if Daily Toll display a reluctance to be wholly defined, then album centerpiece ‘Killincs‘ (positioned in the middle for a reason) might just be their Rosetta Stone. A verbose rumination on unsettled feelings of isolation and longing, exploring the challenges in making peace with one's decisions amidst the uncertainty of an often harsh world and the realisation that some things remain best unresolved - “I have the keys still, but I’ve buried the path”.

William Onyeabor was born outside Enugu, a small, rural town in Eastern Nigeria, he created his own genre of African electronic funk in the late 70s and early 80s, making music completely unique for his time. Today, he is reaching cult status among a growing list of admirers, including everyone from Damon Albarn and Hot Chip to Carl Craig and Madlib, with some likening him to the Kraftwerk of West Africa, or a precursor to LCD Soundsystem.

Among the crate-digging few that knew of him, he is considered a complete myth. While he has never performed live and almost never given interviews, his fantastical biography is scattered and has to this day not been verified. And, though he is still alive, he refuses to speak about anything regarding the past.

According to various rumors, he left home following the Biafran War and went to study cinematography in the Soviet Union, returning in the mid-70s to start his own film company and record label, Wilfilms. He then self-released eight remarkable records from 1978-1985. He wrote and produced everything on his own, and possibly played every instrument himself. Then, at some point of his life, he became born again and denounced his earlier music, deciding it is something he would never speak about.

2026 Repress

To enter the world of Sally Townes and Roberta Vandervort is to be swept away into a dimension of unique sound. Embellishments of smoldering jazz funk, seductive soft rock, breezy AOR, and misty folk, all paint a picture of the worlds which they inhabited; from the endless flat expanse of Dallas, the hot and humid bustle of a Bourbon Street night club, to the late night buzz of a Los Angeles studio session.
While Sally Townes and Roberta Vandervort never crossed paths in our reality, their supernatural union on this compilation feels like the meeting of old, yet familiar friends, set in a parallel dimension with lives intertwined. The songs feel like old friends, too — a comforting time capsule of the popular sounds of the era, yet offering something completely new. Bridged by the striking similarities in their musical confidence, vocal conviction, and boundless creativity, both women encapsulate an uncompromising passion for living, loving, and creating on their own terms.

Falls Sie Lowertown - die faszinierende Band bestehend aus Olivia Osby und Avsha Weinberg - noch nicht kennen, ist jetzt der ideale Zeitpunkt dafür dies zu ändern. Es hat einige Jahre gedauert, bis das in New York ansässige Duo wieder zu Atem gekommen ist: Nachdem die Band aufgrund von Streitigkeiten mit ihrem Label, kreativen Frustrationen und einer ungesunden Bindung an ihre künstlerische Partnerschaft jahrelang am Rande des Zusammenbruchs stand, war es Zeit für einen Neuanfang. Ihr neues Album ,Ugly Duckling Union" beginnt mit einem gelassenen Ausatmen von Osby, einem symbolischen Moment, der die Bühne für ihre bisher nachdenklichste, ungehemmteste, eingängigste und exzentrischste Sammlung von Songs bereitet. ,Ugly Duckling Union" ist ein Konzeptalbum, das auf den eigenen Erfahrungen der Band basiert, durch ihre Musik eine Gemeinschaft zu schaffen. Der Protagonist Dale und seine Gefährten schließen sich zusammen, um LBH zu besiegen, ein tyrannisches Medienunternehmen, das in seinem Streben nach Kontrolle auf Spaltung und Isolation setzt. Das Album enthält ein Handbuch mit Überlieferungen und illustrierten Comics von Doctor Nowhere (Silias Orion). Darüber hinaus können Fans mit Plüschpuppen und einer spielbaren Minecraft-Welt, die von ,Ugly Duckling Union" inspiriert ist, noch tiefer in die Materie eintauchen. Inspiriert von der konzeptionellen Kreativität von Bands wie Gorillaz und der Betonung des gemeinschaftlichen Konzerterlebnisses von Fugazi, verbindet Lowertown Online- und Offline-Fandoms zu einem umfassenden Erlebnis.,Ugly Duckling Union" wurde vollständig von Osby und Weinberg geschrieben, aufgenommen, produziert und gemischt. Obwohl Lowertown die alleinigen Hüter ihrer Kunst sind, ist der Titel ihres neuen Albums eine Hommage an die bedeutungsvolle Gemeinschaft, die sie aufgebaut haben.

Falls Sie Lowertown - die faszinierende Band bestehend aus Olivia Osby und Avsha Weinberg - noch nicht kennen, ist jetzt der ideale Zeitpunkt dafür dies zu ändern. Es hat einige Jahre gedauert, bis das in New York ansässige Duo wieder zu Atem gekommen ist: Nachdem die Band aufgrund von Streitigkeiten mit ihrem Label, kreativen Frustrationen und einer ungesunden Bindung an ihre künstlerische Partnerschaft jahrelang am Rande des Zusammenbruchs stand, war es Zeit für einen Neuanfang. Ihr neues Album ,Ugly Duckling Union" beginnt mit einem gelassenen Ausatmen von Osby, einem symbolischen Moment, der die Bühne für ihre bisher nachdenklichste, ungehemmteste, eingängigste und exzentrischste Sammlung von Songs bereitet. ,Ugly Duckling Union" ist ein Konzeptalbum, das auf den eigenen Erfahrungen der Band basiert, durch ihre Musik eine Gemeinschaft zu schaffen. Der Protagonist Dale und seine Gefährten schließen sich zusammen, um LBH zu besiegen, ein tyrannisches Medienunternehmen, das in seinem Streben nach Kontrolle auf Spaltung und Isolation setzt. Das Album enthält ein Handbuch mit Überlieferungen und illustrierten Comics von Doctor Nowhere (Silias Orion). Darüber hinaus können Fans mit Plüschpuppen und einer spielbaren Minecraft-Welt, die von ,Ugly Duckling Union" inspiriert ist, noch tiefer in die Materie eintauchen. Inspiriert von der konzeptionellen Kreativität von Bands wie Gorillaz und der Betonung des gemeinschaftlichen Konzerterlebnisses von Fugazi, verbindet Lowertown Online- und Offline-Fandoms zu einem umfassenden Erlebnis.,Ugly Duckling Union" wurde vollständig von Osby und Weinberg geschrieben, aufgenommen, produziert und gemischt. Obwohl Lowertown die alleinigen Hüter ihrer Kunst sind, ist der Titel ihres neuen Albums eine Hommage an die bedeutungsvolle Gemeinschaft, die sie aufgebaut haben.

Falls Sie Lowertown - die faszinierende Band bestehend aus Olivia Osby und Avsha Weinberg - noch nicht kennen, ist jetzt der ideale Zeitpunkt dafür dies zu ändern. Es hat einige Jahre gedauert, bis das in New York ansässige Duo wieder zu Atem gekommen ist: Nachdem die Band aufgrund von Streitigkeiten mit ihrem Label, kreativen Frustrationen und einer ungesunden Bindung an ihre künstlerische Partnerschaft jahrelang am Rande des Zusammenbruchs stand, war es Zeit für einen Neuanfang. Ihr neues Album ,Ugly Duckling Union" beginnt mit einem gelassenen Ausatmen von Osby, einem symbolischen Moment, der die Bühne für ihre bisher nachdenklichste, ungehemmteste, eingängigste und exzentrischste Sammlung von Songs bereitet. ,Ugly Duckling Union" ist ein Konzeptalbum, das auf den eigenen Erfahrungen der Band basiert, durch ihre Musik eine Gemeinschaft zu schaffen. Der Protagonist Dale und seine Gefährten schließen sich zusammen, um LBH zu besiegen, ein tyrannisches Medienunternehmen, das in seinem Streben nach Kontrolle auf Spaltung und Isolation setzt. Das Album enthält ein Handbuch mit Überlieferungen und illustrierten Comics von Doctor Nowhere (Silias Orion). Darüber hinaus können Fans mit Plüschpuppen und einer spielbaren Minecraft-Welt, die von ,Ugly Duckling Union" inspiriert ist, noch tiefer in die Materie eintauchen. Inspiriert von der konzeptionellen Kreativität von Bands wie Gorillaz und der Betonung des gemeinschaftlichen Konzerterlebnisses von Fugazi, verbindet Lowertown Online- und Offline-Fandoms zu einem umfassenden Erlebnis.,Ugly Duckling Union" wurde vollständig von Osby und Weinberg geschrieben, aufgenommen, produziert und gemischt. Obwohl Lowertown die alleinigen Hüter ihrer Kunst sind, ist der Titel ihres neuen Albums eine Hommage an die bedeutungsvolle Gemeinschaft, die sie aufgebaut haben.

Details marks SCHiLLiNG's return after years of research, above all on himself. It brings together the practices that have become essential to him: composition, sampling, sonic patchworks, and a palette that mirrors the full spectrum of his musical identity, from Rock'n'Roll to Trip-Hop and Ambient. Details is rich in small edits, hidden layers, fragile textures, and fragments that reveal themselves slowly. Yet the word carries a deeper meaning: what truly matters is often the smallest element, what doesn't appear clearly at first glance or on first listen, yet quietly holds the core of everything. The detail as the very pulse of one's inner world. Across 14 tracks, the album unfolds as a diverse journey, carefully shaped yet open enough to allow unexpected elements and subtle imperfections to remain part of its flow. The structure is not binding, you can begin from any track and embark on your own path through it. Each piece contributes to a wider arc without overpowering the others. The album includes collaborations with several artists who lent their talent to the project; their names appear in the credits of the physical release. In many ways, they embody the very idea behind the title: individual presences, each bringing their own nuance, forming a whole together. After all, fragments, in their union, shape the larger totality. Details doesn't ask to be consumed in a specific way, fast or slow, close or distant. It simply is what it is

Kaiso Power is a collection of rare jazz, calypso and percussive gems from Trinidad and Tobago from the revolutionary generation of the 1970s, bringing radical new political vision and reclaiming ancient spiritual consciousness through music. At the dawn of the 70s a shift was taking place all around the world. The streets of Port of Spain thronged with Black Power marches, trade union demonstrations and Carnival protest bands - one epicentre in a growing global exchange of ideologies and strategies among Pan Africanist circles in Jamaica, Guyana, London, New York, Montreal, Lagos, Accra and beyond. And when the meetings were over, the revolution moved to the cramped secret dance halls, the Carnival fetes, the steelband yards. The music always had a sharp edge. Searing commentary has always been part of the various types of music in Trinidad, and in the absence of lyrics, the defiant use of the drum maintains the resistance, as well as the re-framing of the playing of European instruments to the needs of the message. Lancelot Layne, Delano Abdul Malik De Coteau, Andre Tanker, Clive Zanda, Mansa Musa were more than artists, they were teachers, community workers and advocates for justice. These recordings are as raw as an all-night Carnival jam, the horns loud, the percussion ringing out, the bass dripping with joy and rebellion. Under the modern influences is a solid rhythm, an unbroken connection to Africa, the songs and keys and cadences brought across the middle passage. These songs are a peep into the untapped treasures of a revolutionary generation, looking at the world with fresh eyes and believing that music was a central part of the mission to build consciousness and regain confidence.

"I got to know visual artist, musician, and producer Guido Erfen and sound engineer, acoustic artist, and percussionist Michael Springer as part of a group of five by the name of SHM1. The members of the group organised concerts at Rhenania, a disused grain silo, where I performed with The Absurd in 1988 and 1989. The band was also featured on one of Erfen's tape releases. Erfen and Springer met when they were still at the same secondary school and soon became close friends and musical allies. With the other members of SHM they built an independent network for creating and distributing music beyond the mainstream in Cologne. Rent at Rhenania was incredibly low, allowing a recording studio to be established there.

The first traces of the Ukrainian Underground arrived at Erfen's door via a cassette tape with three bands from Kharkiv and Kyiv, the package including a long essay which detailed the rock scene in the two cities by Sergey Myasoyedow. In 1986, Myasoyedow, together with Sasha Panchenko, had founded the “Novaya Scena“ rock club in Kharkiv, presenting bands inspired by punk, the avant-garde, dadaism, and even medieval melodies. If Erfen hadn't been part of the independent mail-art scene, he wouldn't have had the chance to discover this unorthodox music. It was the summer of 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became an independent state the following year.

In 1991, singer and keyboard player Soloveyka from Kharkiv arrived in Cologne and gave Erfen half a dozen cassettes with underground bands from Ukraine and a handful with bands from the Soviet Union. Intrigued by the original music of many of the acts, he visited Ukraine twice, made friends there, compiled a tape with his favourite tracks and finally succeeded in convincing Hamburg label boss Alfred Hilsberg to present underground music from Ukraine on the CD “Novaya Scena“ via his label What's So Funny About (the original home of Einstürzende Neubauten).
The album compiled 20 tracks recorded between 1986 and 1992 by 14 bands out of Kharkiv and Kyiv– music beyond the usual Perestroika records, often with jarring dissonances over grooves that fans of Captain Beefheart or The Fall would certainly enjoy.

On the other hand, there are tracks featuring flute and trumpet that seem inspired by folk, classical music, and punk. Ghostly chamber prog miniatures by Cukor Belaya Smert (lit. Sugar White Death) from Kyiv featuring, among others, the classically trained pianist and singer Svitlana Nianio (née Ochrimenko) and guitarist, visual artist, and spokesman Yewgeny "Yenia" Taran. Nianio sang in her native Ukrainian, as did two more of the bands. Today, this seems more relevant than ever, more culturally and historically significant from a Ukrainian point of view than it was even in 1993. Young Ukrainians were amazed at that time that rock music sung in their native tongue could work!

It is in the aftermath of the “Novaya Scena“ album that the music on this LP was created. About a year after the release of the CD in August 1993, Nianio and Taran came to Cologne to work on music for the dance production "Transilvania Smile" by the dance theatre ensemble Pentamonia2.
The seeds for the Traces of Ukrainian Underground in Cologne were sown. Starting in 1994, a series of informal recording sessions took place at Michael Springer’s Phanton Studio and at SHM studio in Rhenania. Together, these sessions formed the basis of the four different incarnations of the Ukraine-Cologne connection heard on STROOMS’s compilation.

The union of Antwerp synthesist David Edren and Tokyo minimalist Hiroki Takahashi is a fit so natural as to feel preordained. Both traffic in subtle shades of contemplative electronics, marked by patience, space, and poetic restraint. And both have rich histories of curation and collaboration – Edren in the duo Spirit & Form alongside Bent Von Bent, and Takahashi as proprietor of the Kankyō record shop, as well as one fourth of cosmic ambient quartet UNKNOWN ME. Mutual fans of one another’s work, they began sharing stems in the latter half of 2020, which slowly blossomed into a collection of multi-hued compositions inspired by notions of connectivity and impermanence, translated for east and west: Flow | 流れ.

Opener “Dusk Decorum | 黄昏 礼節” maps the mood of what’s to come, elegantly pirouetting and percolating through an expanding vista of looming stars and half-light horizons. Takahashi describes Edren’s arrangements as evoking “a strange feel, something we haven't heard much of before.” The sensation is one of “in-betweenness,” a restless current whispering beneath the beauty, like seasons seen in time-lapse footage: flickering but infinite, transience turned permanent. Takahashi’s signature sculpture garden tones plot spiral patterns over which Edren cascades dazzling pointillist synthesizer coloration. The pieces veer between delicate and dilated, micro and macro, their aperture forever softly in flux.

From the oscillating orchestral lullaby of “Stalactime | 鍾乳石時計” to the sweeping, sparkling dream sequence closer, “Shift Register | シフトレジスタ,” the album achieves the elusive goal of being more than the sum of its parts. This is music of rare air, elevated and amorphous, shimmering just out of reach. Though Edren and Takahashi have yet to cohabitate the same room in person (a fact that should be rectified soon by an astute festival booker), their palettes and poise are perfectly paired, twin fragilities woven into seven radiant and regenerative vibrational states. The cover design of a beatific, beaded leaf rippling on the surface of a hidden pond aptly captures the record’s muted majesty. Takahashi’s quiet pride is justified: “We are very happy with this time-consuming and carefully crafted work.”

This release represents the musical union of two friends who, despite the distance, have always found in music the place where they stay close. This EP is the proof that when the connection is real, sound becomes common ground - a space to share moments, ideas, and energy beyond geography.

Both artists have been devoted to physical formats from the very beginning, especially vinyl. They have always been record collectors, and that passion shapes the intention behind this project: a work conceived with the depth, respect, and materiality that only vinyl can convey. This EP is more than music; it is a cultural object that preserves a way of understanding techno.

Creatively, Truncate and Pushmann set out to merge their sonic identities. The result is an EP charged with strength, built for the dancefloor, and defined by a clear aesthetic: raw energy, firm rhythm, and a contemporary reading of hardgroove and jackin. These are intense, direct tracks - the kind that emerge when two visions complement each other effortlessly.

In a scene often driven by speed and overstimulation, this release stands out for its authenticity. It is fast, funky techno, yes, but crafted with soul, intention, and emotional depth. It does not chase trends; it delivers groove, substance, and a recognisable sonic character from the first bar.

Inspired by rave culture and the pure roots of hardgroove, this EP offers a journey that blends functionality, sensitivity, and force. A project that reinforces LILA's philosophy: preserving the essence of techno and supporting those who create it with passion.

ANiML comprises accomplished and storied electronic artists. Their Stratasonic label has become a respected home for their freeform musical explorations, with no genre restrictions. They often call on friends and influential pioneers to collaborate on releases, and the originals they produce are defined by improvisation, creative songwriting, and intentional collisions of different moods and grooves.

'Unioness' is a tender but crisp late-night sound. Soft, jazzy melodies drift over orchestral swells with drum breaks cascading below. Abstracted vocals and serene strings further enrich this sophisticated sound, which draws on soundtracks and instrumental soul groups.

Stoned Autopilot is an alias of long-time studio magician Martin Buttrich, who is also part of Better Lost Than Stupid and has a fulsome catalogue on many of the scene's most recognisable labels. His dub rides smooth waves with aching vocals melting into the mix, and the melodies looped, smudged, and smeared in hypnotic fashion.

The second rework comes from DJ Sneak, the hugely prolific and consistent Chicago house innovator whose famously raw, tracky sound keeps him in a class of one. His fantastic Big Bawse Re-Rub brings a rolling four-four groove, a delicate sprinkling of percussion, and a loopy rhythm that locks you in and zones you out as curious melodies unfurl up top.

Downtown Boys have pushed relentlessly forward as an artistic and political project since their founding. Singer Victoria Marie and guitarist/singer Joey La Neve DeFrancesco first met at union meetings while working together at a hotel in Providence, RI, writing many of the band's early songs about labor organizing and exploitative workplaces. The quintet is completed by Joe DeGeorge (sax/synth), Mary Jane Regalado (bass), and Joey Doubek (drums). Over years of touring, and three acclaimed albums, Downtown Boys have continued to grow as artists, musicians, and organizers. Now, the band has arrived with Public Luxury, an enthralling album that keeps politics front and center while summoning the band's most urgent and powerful sound to date. The definition of Public Luxury falls very much in line with that of the title of the second Downtown Boys LP, Full Communism. Straight up, Public Luxury means, "everything for everyone." It's the stubborn insistence that a better world is possible, while fully recognizing the horrors we witness daily, and the individual and collective responsibility to resist the nihilism and hopelessness we all feel. Sentiments like "everything for everyone," and "we will have it all" perfectly represent the cathartic, communal live experience this cadre of multi-instrumentalists create. These sentiments also encapsulate the inclusive, joyful sonic fusion that defines the album: anthemic punk and indie rock mix with Latin traditions, drum machines blend with acoustic drums, saxophones punctuate riffs, and layers of synths add flourishes from new-wave to industrial. The amount of ground covered on Public Luxury can't be overstated, and yet the album feels totally vital and cohesive. Public Luxury is a revisitation of the band's past for the sake of their future. It was co-produced by DeFrancesco with recording engineer and longtime Downtown Boys supporter Seth Manchester (Lambrini Girls, Lightning Bolt, Model/Actriz) at the Pawtucket, RI studio and arts space Machines With Magnets, not far from the band's first home of Providence, RI. Victoria Marie's grandmother-a monumental figure for the band throughout their existence-passed away in May of 2025, and her influence looms large over the album; the songs "No Me Jodas" and "Sirena" are crystallized representations of the love between a woman and her ancestor. Beyond the loss, rage and frustration of the present, Public Luxury points boldly towards a vibrant, open-hearted vision of both music and the world: "Our music is simply for anyone and everyone who believes in the new future we can make together," Victoria Marie declares. "A world that will be awkward, inconsistent, yet truly free when it comes to all that matters."

Versions Visions, the third EP from Umanuto, is an artistic union between rising producer Sirius Topic and label founder Javas. Blending psychedelic-tinged house with minimal and retrospective vibes, the EP showcases a unified sonic vision despite differing creative approaches. Parsec opens with Detroit-inspired melancholy and minimalist depth.

Sellerhausen ramps up with acid energy and rhythmic drive, evoking a mysterious Leipzig night. Navigation offers a reflective, sway-inducing stroll through sound. Mindset wraps up the EP with a house groove, weaving joy into layers of introspection. A thoughtful, genre-blurring exploration of mood and movement

Over the past decade, East London artist Kojey Radical has cemented himself as one of the most creative and unique voices in British music. His debut album Reason to Smile (2022) was released to critical acclaim, and saw him emerge as one of the defining voices in UK culture. Now, the 32-year-old readies to release his second album Don’t Look Down.

“I wanted to make this album more personal and more honest,” he says, “we have to be able to accept that the messenger has flaws and all.

16-tracks long, Don’t Look Down, set for release on 19th September 2025, is a musically rich and deeply introspective reflection on the shifting tides, lows and joys that have passed through his life since his emergence into the public eye.

Sonically, the album provides the most experimental and eclectic music of his career, with influences ranging from golden age Hip Hop to disco, grime to Indie, Jazz to Ska. Together, these strings combine to give a pertinent insight into Kojey’s inner world, and a timestamp documenting the feelings, emotions and experiences that arise when many reach the milestone of their 30s.

“When you’re younger, certain ages seem so grown,” he says, “you feel like you’re supposed to have your life together and all figured out by 30. Then especially when you're in the spotlight you feel extra pressure to have it figured out because so many people are looking towards you.”

Don’t Look Down follows debut album Reason to Smile (2022). A critical success, it landed at No.11 on the UK Album Charts and was nominated for the Mercury Prize as well as two MOBO Awards. In the following year came a nomination for Best New Artist at 2023 BRIT Awards and Best Contemporary Song at the Ivor Novello Awards. He toured across the UK, as well as hitting the festival circuit.

This sense of growth was not limited to music. Kojey was tapped by the British Fashion Council to host the 2023 and 2024 editions of The Fashion Awards as his stock in music and wider culture continued to rise.

The album he says, is a reflection of “the experiences I’ve had over the past few years. That shaped the direction I took going forward. It’s given me the opportunity to tell new stories from newer perspectives. It was liberating, and it was very necessary to keep me in love with the process and to keep making music.”

The result is his most innovative album yet, a project where a sense of profound personal interrogation and introspection dance in union with the rich musical tapestry. Don’t Look Down is a story of purpose lost and then found, of what happens in the aftermath of achieving your childhood dreams, and the ranging flux of emotions that rise to the surface once the music stop

Blue Lake reveals his most ambitious album yet, which finds its visionary creator Jason Dungan harnessing the collective alchemy of his band, with ten spirited tracks that resonate with a powerful directness, evoking an ecological connection to the wider world.

The solo project (Blue Lake), now on its fifth album, found its name and inspiration via Don Cherry's 1974 live album, sparking a creative epiphany in Dungan, who set off on a path into his own untapped sonic world, guided by what he cited as the emotional potential found within non-lyrical composition. With a newly inspired ethos aimed toward creating direct and simple instrumental music imbued with a deep sense of feeling, Jason began combining an array of musical elements that gave rise to his highly revered album 'Sun Arcs' (2023), with its "ornate, zither-led lattices" (Pitchfork, Best New Music). Conceived in the blissful isolation of a Swedish cabin set in the woods, this was music that soundtracked spring in full bloom. Then, in contrast to the solitary approach of 'Sun Arcs', the highly lauded mini-album 'Weft' (2025) began to set the tone for a more band-oriented approach to delivering the Blue Lake sound. Jason had by this time experienced a special collective energy with his band during a swathe of live performances, which he then sought to harness and distill on 'The Animal', leading him to take the project into a traditional recording studio (The Village) and its limitless potential along with his gifted cohorts.

'The Animal' at its core vividly celebrates human collaboration and is deeply rooted in a sense of community and non-hierarchical connectivity. The group's creative alchemy transcends outwards and beyond the musicians performing together, to summon an inclusive, existential and ecological connection to the wider world and its inhabited spaces. The album contemplates the idea of the human as an animal as Dungan explains: "I'm quite fascinated in thinking about humans more as part of the animal environment and not as something that's so separated into a "human" realm, or sitting on top of a hierarchical pyramid. So the Animal is also me, or us - that we are just living, existing, in the same way as a piece of moss or a sparrow or a cow.

'The Animal' is a form of musical metamorphosis, still acoustic, yet more amplified, elevating it to new dimensions. The Blue Lake project takes on a new lease of life to encompass collaboration with Jason Dungan bound in a universal connectivity, resulting in his most ambitious album to date. A harmonious rejoicing that cements his reputation as a transformative presence in contemporary music.

Since 2020, 12 Inch Lovers have been releasing new samplers every year, eagerly anticipated by collectors. These samplers have now become a staple and are easily added to vinyl collections across Europe. They offer timeless classics and rare tracks that are often hard to find elsewhere.

With Samplers 9 & 10, they surprise again with a mix of modern classics and tracks that have never been released on vinyl or are difficult to find. By adding unique and exclusive tracks, the 12 Inch Lovers samplers remain innovative and high-quality. They are a must-have for DJs, collectors, and fans of contemporary classics!

SAMPLER 10

A1) GusGus - Crossfade (Maceo Plex Remix) (Original Release 2014)

Released in 2014 on the German label KOMPAKT, this remix by Maceo Plex features Ten Walls-like horns, vocals, and pumping drums, making it a true Ibiza floorkiller. The vocals are by Konstantin Sibold. This remix was only released as a white label (Kompakt Exclusive) and has yet to have an official vinyl release. Despite this, it remains a favorite among DJs and clubbers worldwide, regularly played at festivals and clubs.

A2) Plaything - Into Space (Original Release 2001)

This groovy track, released in 2001, contains a sample from Sheila & B. Devotion's Spacer, with Nile Rodgers as one of the producers. The original trackSpacer is an iconic disco hit from the 1970s, and Plaything put a contemporary spin on this classic. The track was a hit in Belgian clubs in the early 2000s, often played by prominent DJs. It has since been released on various labels and remains a timeless favorite in the electronic music scene.

B1) Ion - W.B. (Original Release 2002)

This trance classic by DJ Ion was first released in 2002 on the Belgian label B². The track quickly became a beloved classic within the trance community. Danny Casseau, the producer behind this track, is also known for other legendary works, including the trance classic Ion 98 - Tructure, which had a significant impact on the trance scene. W.B. is a pure, old-school trance track, crafted in the way only tracks from that era were!

This vinyl is extremely rare and hard to find, making it a sought-after item for collectors and trance lovers. It is still played in the sets of DJs who cherish the older trance sound, and it fits perfectly in contemporary sets as well!

B2) Subaltern - Forever (Ledge Forever Remix) (Original Release 2007)

This club banger was released in 2007 on the French label Voices Records and was a popular track in well-known Belgian clubs like Illusion and La Rocca. The Ledge Remix added an energetic, infectious vibe that made it a true hit on the dancefloor. It received an official vinyl release in 2007, but it is now difficult to obtain. Subaltern's Forever remains an unforgettable club classic still appreciated by electronic music lovers.

C1) Lykke Li - No Rest For The Wicked (Joris Voorn Remix) (Original Release 2014)

Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li scored a worldwide hit with I Follow Rivers, but also had great success with the powerful track No Rest For The Wicked. The Dutch producer Joris Voorn gave his own tech-house spin to the track in his known style!

Voorn's remix keeps the atmospheric mood of the original but adds a new, dancefloor-friendly dynamic that makes it suitable for the electronic music world.

This is the first time this remix is being released on vinyl since the original release in 2014, making it a rare and desirable item for both collectors and DJs. Thanks to the powerful mix of melody and rhythm, this remix of No Rest For The Wicked remains a timeless favorite that has found its place both in clubs and in vinyl collections of music enthusiasts and DJs.

C2) The Roc Project feat. Tina Arena - Never (Filterheadz Luv Tina Remix) (Original Release 2002)

This Spanish dance track hit Europe in 2003, thanks in part to the legendary remix by the Belgian techno duo Filterheadz. Brothers Bert and Maarten Wilmaers, known for their distinctive techno sound, gave the track their own twist with strong beats and an uplifting bassline, creating a timeless club hit that was heard everywhere in the early 2000s.

The vocals by Tina Arena add an emotional layer, while the Filterheadz Luv Tina Remix has stood the test of time and still gets everyone moving. At 12 Inch Lovers parties, this track never goes unnoticed and often brings the night to a high point. This track is a must-have for both collectors and DJs who love a mix of emotion, energy, and a solid techno sound.

D1) Soul Syndicate - Inside Of Me (Steel Union Remix) (Original Release 1995)

Speaking of a trance classic, this one is a true gem! Inside Of Me was released in 1995 during the golden years of Belgian trance music on the legendary Belgian label Aquatic Records. The Steel Union Remix by Zzino is an absolute favorite among trance lovers.

With its iconic sound and unmatched energy, this track is a true ode to the Belgian trance scene. It remains an unadulterated classic that still makes an irresistible impact, not only at retro trance events but also in the sets of contemporary DJs. Since its release, this remix has been hard to find, making it an even rarer piece of trance history. A track that has stood the test of time and is a must-have for collectors and fans of old-school trance.

D2) Ken Laszlo vs. Disco Dice - Hey Hey Guy (House Dub) (Original Release 2003)

Ken Laszlo, the Italian singer who became globally famous in the 1980s with the iconic Italo-disco hit Hey Hey Guy, received a re-release in 2003 on the house label Dubmental. This version was reimagined by Disco Dice, who gave the track a fresh house vibe with a more modern sound. Belgian DJ Jean, known for his influence on the Belgian nightlife scene, introduced this track into the clubs and transformed it into a club classic.

This release, although released in 2003, is now very rare and hard to find on vinyl. It's a hidden gem that continues to withstand the test of time, making it a valuable collector's item for lovers of both Italo-disco and house.

D3) Icehouse - Hey Little Girl (Infusion Remix) (Original Release 2002)

The Australian band Icehouse released the iconic track Hey Little Girl in 1982 on the British label Chrysalis. This synth-pop track was a big hit and still remains one of the classics from the 1980s. The original track was later included in the remix album Meltdown in 2003, where the Australian duo Infusion created a contemporary electronic remix that gave the track a new dimension.

The Infusion Remix adds a modern, danceable twist to the original synth-pop sound. This version surprised both fans of the original hit and lovers of electronic music, remaining a sought-after track in DJ sets.

This track has been unavailable on vinyl since its original release in 2003, making it a rare collector's item.

Continuing the epic journey through three decades of trance excellence, Platipus 30 Years – Volume 11 lands as the penultimate installment in the acclaimed anniversary vinyl series. This edition brings together a stunning selection of classics and remixes that embody the unmistakable Platipus sound: the power of Union Jack – Cactus (Original Mix), the modern reimagining of Art of Trance – Before The Storm (Gai Barone Remix), the euphoric depth of Moogwai – Viola (Original Mix), and the psychedelic force of Quietman – The Sleeper (Man With No Name Remix). With its mix of legendary originals and visionary reinterpretations, Volume 11 stands as a testament to Platipus’ enduring influence and offers collectors another essential piece of electronic music history.

The highly anticipated Platipus 30 Years – Volume 10 arrives to mark a landmark chapter in the anniversary vinyl series, celebrating three decades of timeless electronic music from one of the UK’s most influential labels. This special release features four standout tracks that showcase the depth and diversity of the Platipus sound: the hypnotic Art of Trance – Easter Island (Cygnus X Remix), the progressive brilliance of POB & Taylor – Baba (Marc Mitchell’s ‘Human Movement’ Remix), the melodic journey of Union Jack – Papillon (Original Mix), and the driving energy of Jamnesia – She’s My Friend (Original Mix). Volume 10 is both a tribute to the label’s rich heritage and a must-have collector’s item for fans of classic trance and progressive house.

Support by Green Velvet, Rebolledo, Dr. Rubinstein, Cormac, DJ Hell and many more! Summer 2013, Comeme label's studio - The District Union. Behind the analog console and hardware - 20-year-old Philipp Gorbachev and Djs Pareja from Buenos-Aires. No plugins, reels, or LTE. Sweltering heat, peak of summer EU tour, the musicians had just a few hours to record. The track drops on the label's compilation and immediately lands in a mix by Chicago legend Green Velvet. It spreads afterwards in all possible ways - Do You Believe in House Music? is blasting in bars, DIY spaces, raves, cars and street parties, the lyrics get sprayed on walls or inked as tattoos System 108 proudly presents the official reissue of the original, boosted with brand-new remixes from shining artists of the Russian dance scene - those whose journeys also began in the 2010s and who, in some way, crossed paths with either the track itself or that very vibe of faith and love, without which a dancefloor can hardly pulse with life. A house is not a home, when there's no one living there

“sitting in the terminal at Barcelona airport, health safety warnings echo through empty architecture. feeling slow, and fast, out of sync with rituals and routines. structure and rhythm disintegrate into micro gestures appearing in random order, a daily psychedelia... amid all of the chaos and distraction in the last few years, it’s only through letting go that I've found solid ground to stand on.”

These are some of the experiences and reflections that gave shape to Slipstream, a hallucinatory mini-album by the artist PVAS and the fourth release on Objekt's label, Kapsela. Slipstream is an aural document of PVAS's interior life, conceived not as a grab-bag of DJ-friendly tracks (although it’s clearly inspired by the club) but as a single, delicately crafted artistic statement. The entire record is shrouded in a flickering haze, worn through by smudged breakbeats and wiry drum machines. “Wetland”, with its swampy percussion and crystalline arps, echoes T++ and Kraftwerk. The radiant incandescence of “Gathering Drift” recalls GAS or Monolake's “Hong Kong.” Sampled breakbeats dip and swerve asymmetrically through “Boba” and “Terminal”. Across the record, textures and voices are reshaped by PVAS's homemade algo-software, UMT, which, in PVAS’ own words, “reconstructs one audio file by sampling another, resulting in output that merges their aesthetic qualities, creating rhythm with non-rhythmic sound files and abusing the stereo field.” But the most striking union of technology and poetic self-exploration comes at the end of the record, in the title track, from words murmured through a classic vocoder:



“when i stop framing myself as a boundaried stone

immovable, and powerful, and heavy

when i stop figuring my deepest space as my own

something which i am solely responsible

i surrender, i surrender”



PVAS is Jordan Juras, a Berlin-based artist who grew up outside of Windsor, Ontario. He has released solo EPs on Isla and xpq?, and is half the duo NUG (3XL, West Mineral Ltd.). In addition to developing music software professionally, he has used his UMT software on records by Lyra Pramuk and Dylan Kerr. Slipstream was recorded from 2022 to 2025.

Written and produced by PVAS

Mixed by TJ Hertz

Mastered by Anne Taegert at D&M

Artwork and design by Brodie Kaman

Demi Riquísimo welcomes esteemed Amsterdam based producer & DJ Retromigration to Semi Delicious for the label’s 24th edition. The 'Half Fried’ EP is a perfect union of the sounds synonymous with both the label and artist. Littered with playful nods to the roots of house and techno that’ are sleekly assembled with all the modern trimmings. Deepness in 2025 at it’s finest with finely tuned dynamics ready to rattle bassbins throughout the autumn and beyond.

Platipus 30 Years – Volume 7 is finally set to drop, continuing the acclaimed anniversary vinyl series that celebrates the legacy of one of the UK’s most iconic electronic music labels. This latest edition brings together a collection of timeless and highly sought-after tracks from the legendary Platipus catalogue, including Union Jack’s unforgettable “Red Herring” (Original Mix), Art of Trance’s hypnotic “Kaleidoscope” (Oliver Lieb Remix), Simon Berry’s powerful “Maelström” (Torsten Fassbender Remix), and Moogwai’s classic “5 Wishes” (Original Mix). A must-have for collectors and fans alike, Volume 7 delivers a perfect blend of history and timeless trance energy.

26th May 1980. We were kids, or we were not even born yet. This day changed the thinking and the future of an entire nation. That day one man carried the weight of history and all the hope of a whole country, to infinity and back.

Bertalan Farkas was the first Hungarian to make a successful landing aboard SOYUZ-36 as part of the Interkosmos program led by the Soviet Union. Together with his partner Valery Kubasov, on 26th May 1980 he launched into outer space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. With this space travel Hungary became the seventh nation to enter outer space.

In addition to his professional knowledge and merits, an entire country celebrated him for his humanity and loyalty to his people. The national hero of the 80's inspired generations. As children we wanted to be astronauts, and as adults we look up to the stars and the endless sky with the same childlike enthusiasm.

“Magic Happens” is the very first release by Fabrizio Fattore on his new label Life Cycle.
Life Cycle embodies the sacred union between Life and Music, both flowing within an eternal cycle of experiences, adventures, and dimensions — a boundless musical journey beyond time and space.
This debut release, Magic Happens, marks the moment when, within the act of creation, the unseen unveils itself — when magic arises and everything reconnects with the Universe through the language of music.
A true journey to be listened to and danced to, with three unique tracks, each one carrying its own vibration, inviting you to lose yourself in the infinite shades of sound.

It was the 90s. Paris had the blues, French rap was beginning its slow rise, and a new musical genre was emerging: Acid Jazz. Imported from England by DJ Gilles Peterson, this groovy style blended 70s funk with a certain idea of jazz tailored for the dancefloor. Its heroes were Galliano, Brand New Heavies, Incognito, and the James Taylor Quartet. Jamiroquai topped the charts, MC Solaar recorded with Urban Species, and suddenly, France was swept up in the swing whirlwind. Starting in 1993, Parisian clubs embraced this union of jazz and groove, and in 1994, a compilation was released: Paris Groove Up. Around ten groups delivered the French version of this British style: Mellowman, Mad In Paris, Vercoquin, Ready Made... and Dis Bonjour À La Dame. The band wasn’t new—their roots went back to the late 80s, when bassist Marc Israël brought together a brass section and some seasoned musicians. But the real beginning of DBALD came in 1992 with the arrival of singer Sital. "Christophe Denis joined on guitar and songwriting. In 1993, we opened for Jamiroquai and Maceo Parker, and that’s when the major labels interested in the acid jazz market started noticing us," recalls Marc. Their track Chris’tal, the centerpiece of the compilation, was released as a single, and Dis Bonjour À La Dame's album began production in late 1994 in London, at Roundhouse Studio. “We must’ve been among the last sessions there—it was demolished shortly after. It was a very 70s studio, with old gear, a Fender Rhodes, everything was vintage! We recorded for a month, all playing together live, then added the brass and finally Sital’s vocals. We were lucky to have two exceptional backing singers, Sarah Brown and Mark Anthoni, who worked with Incognito and Urban Species.” The self-titled album came out in early 1995, and it had all the ingredients of a hidden funky gem from the 90s: Hey Mama with its ironclad groove, the irresistible instrumental Sheherazade Groove opening the record, Soul Body with its R\&B sensuality... The hip-hop touch came courtesy of Lee Rick’s, the MC from Mellowman, who laid down rhymes on Hall Blues. The brass section was on fire, the bass went wild, and Sital added a sensual spark to the whole thing. In short, a solid album produced by Fred Versailles (producer of NTM’s first album) and mixed by Paul Borg (Urban Species, UFO, -M-, Mory Kanté), a testament to a time when big funky bands made Paris groove—with Dis Bonjour À La Dame leading the charge. Nearly thirty years later, it’s time to (re)discover DBALD.

One of the most politically charged terms of the 20th century, the Iron Curtain was a metaphor for political and cultural division. In a post-war telegram Winston Churchill referred to the fault line that ran through Europe between East and West as "an Iron Curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind".



In this two-part album, as far as jazz is concerned, we will showcase, describe and celebrate exactly what was 'going on behind'. We see that music is the power supreme, with the ability to transcend all barriers, be they physical, political or metaphorical.



Our liner notes illustrate the complex and contradictory history of Soviet jazz, and the tracks we've chosen cover the key period of the early 1960s to the 1980s. It was during these dark years of the Cold War that the Soviet Union and its satellite states produced a number of outstanding artists playing in a variety of styles. The impact of modernism, from hard bop and Latin to modal and cool jazz, had found its way through cracks in the curtain. The deeply-felt ancestral strains of traditional European folk music were combined with the exciting new and progressive sounds of the West, and a radical, intoxicating brew was created that no amount of guns, tanks or polonium tea could overcome.



We chronicle the triumph of jazz at a time of extreme geopolitical conflict. What went on behind the Iron Curtain in these countries was once mysterious and unknown to the West, but the perseverance of their artists provided sound and light amid the secretive, dark days of the communist-capitalist standoff. There was no end of life-affirming spiritual jazz behind the Iron Curtain.



"Whether it's by improvisation in the African-American jazz tradition, or by a village kobza player standing on top of a damn hill - he feels connected to the stars."

Mathame Unveil Their Latest Masterpiece: "ANGEL"

Renowned for their groundbreaking contributions to electronic music, Italian duo Mathame is set to captivate audiences once again with their latest single, "ANGEL" Conceived in January 2024 amidst their vibrant tours across Mexico and Asia, the track marks a new pinnacle in Mathame's illustrious career. Critics have lauded "ANGEL" as a real summer anthem, perfectly capturing the essence of summer vibes with its infectious energy and uplifting melodies.

In February 2024, Mathame's journey took them to the heart of Manhattan, NYC, where they collaborated with the equally illustrious Italian duo Parisi. Known for their collaborations with industry giants like Fred Again and Swedish House Mafia, Parisi has been close allies of Mathame since Mathame invited them to perform their first-ever live shows in London and NYC during 2023 and 2024 at Mathame’s events.

This union of brotherhood and musical genius birthed "ANGEL" a track co-written by both duos and perfected through electrifying live performances during the spring. The creative process culminated in the iconic setting of Ibiza, where the final touches were added, ensuring "ANGEL" would emerge as the definitive summer anthem of 2024.

Critics have hailed "ANGEL" as a testament to the innovative spirit and profound synergy. The track showcases their ability to blend mesmerizing melodies with pulsating rhythms, creating an unforgettable experience for listeners worldwide.

180 G. BLACK VINYL WITH LINER NOTES IN CREOLE, FRENCH, ENGLISH

Originally released in 1979, "Spiritual Sound" lives up to its name, a soaring, triumphant album, six tracks of spirit magic from Guadeloupe.

Telluric, intense, terribly alive, the gwoka drums of Guadeloupe carry the identity of a painful and fervent island. Marked forever by the crime of slavery, Guadeloupe's créolité cherishes the ka drums and their natural environment: the low-pitched boula drum with male goatskin, the high-pitched soloist makè drum with female goatskin, the chacha, ti bwa, triangle, calabash and other percussion instruments that surround them, and the voices - the fiery, proud, timbred, urgent voices of the gwoka.



This album is also a legend for its voices: in his then dazzling youth, singer Lukuber Séjor was one of the first gwoka artists to largely feminize the chorus of répondè, who converse with his text delivered in a straight and powerful voice.

And everything here sets new standards. In 1979, Mizik Filamonik - Spiritual Sound proclaimed a spiritual patriotism of ferocious intensity. The album by Lukuber Séjor - whose spelling alone is a battle - sets out to give Guadeloupe the intangible weapons of self-respect and self-knowledge, through a singular practice of traditional music.

The genesis of gwoka music is less straightforward than one might imagine... The drums performed the servile task of accompanying the work of slaves in the fields and during the “corvées” imposed by the administration, before being freely practiced by the common people after the abolition of 1848. At the heart of the conviviality of the Guadeloupeans furthest from the cities - geographically and socially - the gwoka drums come out for carnival, funeral wakes and neighborhood celebrations, but also during strikes, fits of anger and armed vigils of the riots and revolts that have punctuated the island's history. For generations, governors of the colony and then the prefects of the overseas department of Guadeloupe have been viewing the gwoka as a potential for turbulence and a threat to public order.

But as the Beatlesmania, “chanson engagée” and rock revolutions unfolded in Europe, young people turned to the drums of mizik a vié nèg (“bad negro music”, in Creole), which Guadeloupeans had learned to despise by following the “assimilation” process advocated by the school system and most of the political class. At the end of the sixties, in a Guadeloupe mourning the deadly repression of the May 1967 social movement, they played traditional music, refusing to wrap it up in tourist prettiness and madras folk costumes. Instinctively, they played a rough and contemporary gwoka, led by the incendiary Guy Konkèt. This was the era of decisive 45 rpm records such as Robert Loyson's Kann a la richès, which brought to light the fieriest words of union rallies.

At his home in Sainte-Anne, Lukuber Séjor played with flautist Olivier Vamur and his brother Claude Vamur, who cobbled together a drum kit from tin crockery and became, a few years later, the most influential drummer in Kassav'.

These were the years of the Bumidom program, when young Guadeloupeans were encouraged to emigrate to mainland France. At the age of twenty, Lukuber Séjor embarked on the liner Irpinia, disembarking at Le Havre and taking the train to the Gare Saint-Lazare - the route taken by thousands of young West Indians who went on to study or looked for work, all the while trying to maintain a link with their homeland. In this case, it's at the Antony university residence, where Lukuber played the drum and participated in a thousand gwoka updates and aggiornamentos, while exile reinforced the need for a spiritual link with the native land.

In 1978, Guy Konkèt played at the Salle Wagram, a historic event for West Indian music. After serving as répondè - i.e. backing vocalist - on one of his home-recorded albums, Lukuber joined his live band. Little by little, he became one of the key artists on a circuit parallel to French show business. At a student party in Caen, he met a young woman from Martinique who, at the time, was more motivated by her ambitions as a visual artist than by her vocation as a musician. Her name was Jocelyne Béroard and, a few years before she plunged into the Kassav' adventure and became the greatest West Indian singer of her generation, she designed the cover of Lukuber Séjor's LP.

This ambition was obvious and imposed its will. A more or less regular band was formed, with Roger Raspail, Rudy Mompière and Éric Danquin on ka drums, Claude Vamur on ti bwa, Olivier Vamur and Françoise Lancréot on flutes and Annick Noël on keyboards. Lukuber Séjor is set on wanting to extend the gwoka palette to other instruments, as the jazz-rock revolution opens a thousand new doors. Annick Noël will play a wide range of timbres and textures on electric piano and synthesizer. Another novelty: the répondè are two men and two women, Roger Raspail, Olivier Vamur, Françoise Lancréot and Maryann Mathéus ...

Mizik Filamonik - Spiritual Sound is a self-production in which the singer and leader sank all his savings, allowing him no more than a single day in the studio. The first side is more of a musical manifesto, with the first two tracks, Éritage and Penn é plézi, being instrumentals. The third, Son, forcefully celebrates the need for Guadeloupeans to connect with the gwoka. In fact, Jocelyne Béroard's cover shows a tambouyé in the shadow of a cloudy sky, against which a radiant sun is rising and whose light will soon flood the entire landscape. The silhouette and face of this man strongly evoke the immense Vélo, master of the ka, rejected at the time on the fringes of society.

The second side of the LP is surprising. Formally, three tracks are explicitly linked like the three parts of a triptych. Primyé voyaj evokes the appalling tribulation of Africans deported as slaves to Guadeloupe; dézyèm voyaj speaks of the Bumidom program and the economic, political and social forces driving young Guadeloupeans towards the mirage of prosperity in France; twazyèm voyaj closes the cycle with the emigrants' return from Europe after years away from their island...

This gwoka, obsessed with the need to save Guadeloupe spiritually, appeals far beyond the politicized audience. Mizik Filamonik - Spiritual Sound instantly became a classic, although Lukuber Séjor never really made a career for himself as a musician.

After all, the album was released in 1980, with no promotional resources in France or Guadeloupe - and therefore no concerts. The thirty-two-year-old author, composer and performer made his own third trip back to Guadeloupe. He set up a small woodworking business, which he lost in Hurricane Hugo in 1989. His other activity, teaching in a medical-educational institute, became the core of his professional life. He continued to be an active campaigner - a campaigner for the Creole language, a campaigner for the reawakening of identity, a campaigner for special education, a campaigner for a thousand causes that he ignited with his generous and perceptive enthusiasm, such as the defense of breadfruit fries...

The echoes of his 1979 album have not died down. Of course, the use of Penn é plézi as the theme tune for Radio Guadeloupe's funeral notices from 1980 to 1992 kept him in the collective memory, but he continues to sing and compose sporadically, as with his all-female

vocal group Vwapoulouéka... Still convinced that music is a means of liberating the spirit, he continues the journey of a young man eager to deploy the power of Creole music and language.

Bertrand Dicale

Poni Hoax, a French band born in the early 2000s under the impulse of Laurent Bardainne, immediately emerged as the union of converging forces: on one side, the precision of a composer and instrumentalist breaking away from jazz conservatory traditions; on the other, the magnetic presence of Nicolas Ker, a terminal new wave crooner with a sepulchral voice. Surrounded by Arnaud Roulin on keyboards, Vincent Taeger on drums, and Nicolas Villebrun on guitar, they made an instant mark with Budapest—dark and haunting—followed by the unstoppable She’s on the Radio, crafting a unique identity that blended the venomous elegance of Roxy Music, the tension of New Order, and the fervor of Larry Levan. With Images of Sigrid, Poni Hoax achieved the miracle of an instant classic before continuing their journey with A State of War and Tropical Suite, sonic odysseys haunted by memory and distant horizons. On stage, it was either an apocalypse or a revelation—a Formula 1 driven by a gang of Gremlins, a blazing energy leaving only burning embers in its wake. The adventure came to a tragic end with the passing of Nicolas Ker in 2021, as the notes of Laurent Bardainne’s saxophone rose into the gray skies of Père-Lachaise, the final echo of a dazzling odyssey.In 2025, Poni Hoax celebrates its 20th anniversary with the release of Greatest Hits: Everything is Real.

22_23 Live Sessions features 11 captivating live performances from FKJ's global tour, recorded over the past two years at iconic venues and festivals. 4 of the tracks are live renditions of well-known fan favorites, while 7 tracks present unique improvisations, exclusive to specific shows. Each improvisation is named after the location where it was performed, making it a distinct snapshot of that moment. This collection offers fans who couldn’t attend a chance to experience these special performances and hear new music for the first time.

Collected by Charles Aznavour is a wonderful collection of hits and classics by the French chansonnier, that touches your soul at every moment. It’s an overview of his work during the sixties, seventies and duets with Johnny Hallyday on “Il Faut Savoir” and with Frank Sinatra “Young At Heart”. Also his English versions of “How Sad Venice Can Be”, “The Old Fashioned Way”, “She” and four more English songs are included on this deluxe Trifold 3LP album.

In the early 1950s a man of short stature attempts to win over his audience. With a hoarse voice he delivers songs that do not catch on. People jeer at him. Tomatoes fly through the air. The Frenchman with Armenian roots slinks off the stage, but does not quit. Ironically, the song that makes him a household name is the song in which he recalls his agonising trial. The audience reacted indifferently when Charles Aznavour decided to try out his new song on stage. But when he went on to greet the audience for one final time they all stood and gave him a thundering standing ovation.

In the sixties, hits and classics succeed one another. Nobody is bothered any more by his husky voice, by his small stature or his rugged characterful face. The croony “For Me Formidable” (1963), the heart breaking “Et Pourtant” (1963) and the nostalgic “Hier Encore” (1964) confirm his standing as a fan favourite. “La Bohème” (1965) and “Emmenez-moi” (1967) turn Aznavour into a superstar. In “La Bohème”, there are impressionist painters strolling in the shadows of the Sacré-Coeur, the compelling “Comme Ils Dissent” (1972) is the first chanson after Vichy France to overtly endorse homo sexuality and in the present “France Of La Manif Pour Tous” (the movement that opposes gay marriage), does it again to sound particularly topical. “Camarade” (1977) was about the nomenklatura, the ruling elite in the Soviet Union and is a social and historical topic. “Avec Un Brin De Nostalgie” is an Aznavour grand cru, maybe even the best he has made over the last thirty years.

Charles Aznavour Collected is available as a limited pressing of 1000 individually numbered copies on gold vinyl. The package includes a 4-page booklet with liner notes and photos.

As the tenth candle flickers atop the torta alla panna, Archeo Recordings play the Uno reverse card, breaking with tradition to give us a gift in celebration of its birthday: the first in a series of exquisite EPs on which the label's favourite contemporaries pay homage to past masters. Each re-polished gem is plucked either directly from the beatific back catalogue of the fine Florentine label or is at least Archeo-adjacent, perhaps a sign of future wonders to come. Like a musical version of Janus, who can be found at the heart of Bertoldo di Giovanni's frieze in the Medici villa, Archeo Recordings will continue to look forwards and backwards to provide sublime sounds for us all.
Pepe Maina officially joined the Archeo family in 2019 with the much-needed reissue of his 1979 masterpiece Scerizza (AR015), but his astounding music has been a constant companion to label head Manu for much longer. An inter-dimensional, multi-instrumental maverick, Maina weaves the frayed edges of prog rock, new age, organic jazz and global minimalism into a shimmering tapestry all of his own. The results are spread across fifty years and almost as many albums, largely self-released and always absolutely untarnished by commercial concerns.
Based in a small village in the hills of Brianza, just north of Milan, Maina translates the beauty of his surroundings into transformative tone poems, and the folkloric fusion of "The Infinite", originally released on his 2014 CD Tales From The Hill, is the perfect example of his practice. It opens with a recitation of Giacomo Leopardi's 1825s poem "L'Infinito" by famed Italian actor Vittorio Gassman. A leading figure in the romantic movement, Leopardi explores the idea of time and space within the natural world, and the peace that comes with an appreciation of the immensity of eternity. Manu, longtime digger and now a burgeoning producer, expands upon the original with tribal percussion, chirping electronics and a spheric bassline, folding Maina's elegant strings and gossamer pads into a new arrangement suited for a slow dance under the stars.
Unless you had a well-trained ear tuned to Italy's avant-jazz scene, chances are your first encounter with innovative flautist Roberto Aglieri came via the 2017 Archeo reissue of hisalmost untraceable LP Ragapadani (AR011). It's a true testament to Manu's digging credentials that he snatched this masterpiece out of the esoteric atmosphere and brought it attention it so richly deserved. A delicate union of digital synthesis and versatile flute - be it soft and silvery or
brilliant and clear - the 1987 album was a shapeshifting masterpiece, replaying scenes from Virgil, Verdi, Visconti and Pasolini with a neon glow. Quintessentially Italian, but uncanny and previously unimagined - Penthouse and Portico perhaps. Powered by a percolating prototechno sequence, cascading keys, hallucinogenic vocal snippets and a variety of tonal timbres from Roberto's reed, "Danza N. 1" long deserved the praise reserved for Jean-Luc Ponty's pinnacle, so many thanks to Manu for our collective introduction. The tall task of reinterpreting this particular paragon falls to Perugian polymath Daniele Tomassini AKA Feel Fly, whose peerless skills as both producer and musician have delighted DJs and dancers alike. Hot on the heels of his diverse and definitive remixes of Tony Esposito for AR027, Daniele delivers a radical rework of "Danza N. 1" perfect for both day rave sunshine and full moon party alike. Enhanced by snapping breaks and a rattling kick, the bassline gurgle emerges as a progressive powerhouse, laying the foundation for the trilling flute and circular keys to cast a psychedelic spell. As the slow-Goa revival picks up pace, this one is way ahead of the pack.
Archeo take us all the way back to the start of its story here - well almost. Though it bore the stamp AR001 (2015), this Radio Band reissue actually hit shelves months after Tony Esposito's "Je-Na' / Pagaia"; a false start perhaps but a true classic all the same. Radio Band were a group of DJs from Florence who all sailed the airways of Radio Fantasy in 1984 and whose one and only release was this super groovy slice of Italo-boogie. Following the example of Milanese DJs Band of Jocks but far surpassing their formulaic funk fizzle, Radio Band employed an intergalactic bassline, cosmic keys and that undeniably Italian style of rapping to deliver a sophisticated party-starter which even found its way to disco deity Ron Hardy. Back to the here and now, and if you've found yourself pumping an ecstatic fist to a supercharged Italian epic of late, chances are its from the mind of the mysterious Radiomarc. Operating on the ascendent Popcorn Groove imprint, this shadowy figure steers his country's lost classics into peaktime territories, finding a sweet spot between late Italo-disco, early Italo-house and contemporary cool. Pushing the tempo with a club-ready 4/4, setting the sequencer to stun and supplementing the original melodies with a series of synth riffs, the mystery producer send this one into orbit. Radio Band - Radio Rap - Radiomarc, the circle is complete.
Few have done more to develop cross-cultural musical exchange than Futuro Antico. A collaborative venture from musician, archeologist and ethnomusicologist Walter Maioli, keyboardist and tonal theoretician Riccardo Sinigaglia and multi-disciplinary artist and composer Gabin Dabiré, Futuro Antico formed in Milan in 1979, combining ancient international folkloric traditions with otherworldly electronics. The result is an arresting melange of Mediterranean, African and Asian instrumentation, mimicked by esoteric synth tones and hypnotic minimalism, which the group perfected on their acclaimed 1990 LP Dai Primitivi All'Elettronica. The meditative and transportive "Pan Tuning" belongs to their largely overlooked 2005 CD only release Intonazioni Archetipe, and has been amongst Manu's most loved tracks from the first moment he heard it. Who else is better placed to reshape this evocative opus into an immersive, transcendental dance floor journey than label favourites Mushrooms Project? The duo sows the original elements into a sprawling fifteen minute fusion of séance and science, at times propulsive with a ritualist rhythm of tuned percussion and crunching drum machine at others drifting off into ethereal ambience. Mushrooms Project continue to push the boundaries of the Afro-cosmic style, and this remix marks a new zenith.

Part 3 in Legowelt's latest project "Hermit in a Rave Cave". Even lower slung house tracks with a twist from the unpredictable and unparalleled brain that roams the dunes of the Hague. Also responsible for Salamandos, Squadra Blanco, Polarius and a swath of other mysterious aliases.

The 15th black label release on Limited White Label marks a
powerful union between Yerevan-based producer Scruscru
(Anton Bogomolov) and the mesmerizing vocalist Henna
Onna. Joined by the talents of Dwaal and Jehan, this
collaborative effort promises a genre-bending exploration
that seamlessly blends house, disco, jazz, and hip-hop
in§uences. Get ready to experience a harmonious collision of
styles, where each track offers a unique and captivating
soundscape.

Platipus Records proudly announces the highly anticipated release of the 4th vinyl installment in the Platipus 30 Years series, featuring four iconic tracks that epitomize the label's storied sound.

Leading the collection is Libra presents Taylor's timeless classic "Anomaly / Calling Your Name," produced by the legendary BT. This is followed by POB featuring Xavia's "The Awakening" in a captivating Quietman Remix. The B-side showcases fresh talent from label head honcho Simon Berry with the track "Gargantua," alongside a rediscovered gem, Union Jack's "Cockroach." This release is a celebration of Platipus' enduring legacy in the electronic music scene.

‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born.
In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Institute of General Education). He was 22 years old when he arrived in Diré. Idrissa has always been nostalgic for this beautiful place in the 333 Saints of Timbuktu region. As Idrissa sings in ‘Diré taga’ (Going to Diré), the track that opens the album, the city evokes deep emotions for the artist, as if it were a long-lost friend or lover. Celebrating the memory of the city of Diré leads the artist to retrace stories and lived situations that marked and animated him in years gone by: ‘I really miss the people, the colleagues, the friends and that period. Despite the time that has flown by, I would ardently wish to see Diré again’. Today, at the difficult time Mali is experiencing, remembering the city of Diré in the 1970s also means for the artist not giving up hope for peace: ‘The memory of Diré, a beautiful town in northern Mali, strengthens my hope for peace, union and real independence for the happiness of my people’; as he sings in ‘Sababou’, ‘Without hope, there is no life. Together we will succeed’.
The ten highly original compositions of the album are strongly based upon traditional music of Mali, but Idrissa’s life experiences, travels, education, collaborations and personal musical career have led him to compose and perform music with other influences. As Idrissa quotes: ‘My inspiration generally comes from the donso n'goni, a Bambara instrument played by and for hunters throughout Mali. This is a pentatonic instrument, similar to the blues exported to the USA by black African slaves. I've also spent so much time playing a variety of music that my music also reflects rumba, salsa (as well as Bamanan blues and a few derivatives: jazz, country, soul, rhythm and blues) etc. I have looked for and hope to have found my own form of expression from these influences’.
Throughout the album, his strong, clear voice sings in French, Bambara and English. It rides seamlessly upon a complex rhythmic sea of distinctly West African stringed instrumentation and percussion with accents of flute and balafon. There are keyboards in a few songs, but these, happily, do not dominate the music as we hear so often in today’s music. This album presents the music of a mature artist who has ‘been there, done that’ and returned to celebrate his country, his roots and his dreams in a flawlessly produced collection of songs of love, reassurance, fatherly advice and hope.
The album already has a long history: it was initiated in 2012 by Marc-Antoine ‘Marko’ Moreau, former producer and manager of Amadou and Mariam. Moreau had plans to produce the album and invited Idrissa Soumaoro to start recording in Manjul's studio in Bamako. When Moreau suddenly passed away, work on the album was still missing. The pandemic still added time for the production to continue. With the help of Climax Orchestra, arrangements and orchestrations were finalized in France. At the artist's behest, 'Diré' will finally be presented to the public by Mieruba, the independent label based in Ségou, the home of the blues in Mali. 'Let's stand together so that Mali can flourish': from conception to production and distribution, this is the message that 'Diré' carries.

"Rationalizing our place amongst the Stars is a referendum. A mandate in the scale of a space-time continuum, which is a task that might seem infinitely cavernous to most, but a lifelong mandate to others. As nature's allowance of time just isn't favorable to an average human lifespan of a 100 years, this task must be inherited and handed down in the method of an acoustical trust. Rhythm considered as a safe depository.

Neo Tantric Parts is about high premium thought processes about simplicity and oneness. Diagnostic in the way it blends time, rhythm and harmony together as a proposal to consider placement in this moment of time". - Millsart



Footnote translations:

"Rationalizing our place amongst the Stars is a referendum".

The human lineage only diverged from our most recent common ancestor about 5 million years ago; less than half of 1% of that time, and modern Homo sapiens is only between 200,000 and 50,000 years old, depending on your definition. Such vast spans of time are hard for us to comprehend.

"A mandate in the scale of a space-time continuum, which is a task that might seem infinitely cavernous to most,but a lifelong mandate to others".

The singularity had no dimensions and space and so it stands to reason that it had no dimension in time. In other words, there was no time so there was no such thing as "before". By that reasoning, time itself is the same age as the universe, which is about 13.8 billion years

"As nature's allowance of time just isn't favorable to an average human lifespan of a 85 years"

The world average age of death is a few years lower at 68.9 years for men and 73.9 years for women. Within the European Union, these are 77.7 and 83.3 years respectively.

"This task must be inherited and handed down in the method of an acoustical trust. Rhythm considered as a safe depository".

A legal arrangement or understanding by which a person or organization looks after money or property for somebody else until that person is old enough to control it.

There's a saying amongst the elders: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!" When you first hear the pulsating rhythms of "Joy (Hallelujah)," you realize that the darkness of the night has ended, and the glory of morning has arrived. Produced by the legendary DJ Marley Marl and lifted by the soulful lead vocals of House music empress Lady Alma and the powerful refrains of the iconic Kenny Bobien, "Joy (Hallelujah)" delivers nothing less than a pure soul-stirring, hand-clapping celebration. As gospel means glorious good news, and House denotes body jacking, heart pumping and high-energy rhythms, this union gives birth to a spectacular anthem that will serve as a reminder that all music can heal, inspire, convey thanks and give praise all at once. "Joy (Hallelujah)" is an expression of nothing but love!

Spanning a decade of sophisticated funk from the Motor City, two midtempo picks from the crates of Mr. K get his trademark classy edit treatment on this Detroit-themed 7-inch.

G.C. Cameron was a solid singer in the Motown stable, a vocal chameleon whose range extended from clear tenor to soaring falsetto. Though this agility is most easily heard via his lead vocal on the Spinners’ “It’s A Shame,” he shows off the same versatility in the rare groove classic “No Matter Where,” a 1973 Curtis Mayfield-esque burner that’s the subject of Mr. K’s latest release on Most Excellent. For Krivit this has been a lesser known & hard to find floor filler for years. Intro cleanly extended, now ready for the big stage and modern club play.

Our flip side stays in midtempo, rare groove Detroit territory but jumps ahead a decade to the early ’80s with Candye’s “Time Is What You Need.” Candyce Edwards got her start in the Detroit funk powerhouse One Way (her predecessor was Alicia Myers) and soon became connected with the group’s wunderkind songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Kevin McCord. McCord had already taken Myers to the top with “I Want To Thank You,” and seeing if lightning could strike twice with Edwards. Although only resulting in this solo debut, time and the untiring excavations of latter-era vinyl junkies have subsequently made her collaboration with McCord (a union that briefly included marriage) a sought-after boogie gem in the rough. Mr. K plucks perhaps the most winsome LP-only cut and subtly extends intro and outro to provide a useful 7-inch version that should get plenty of warm weather play.

Both tracks have been carefully remastered for this release & have never sounded better.

After our last release titled “jazz Baileys” we are back with House Experience Vol.2., this time in Ep format, presented by Bs As deep.
The previous volume was clearly dedicated to being a various artists, also with the participation of Bs As deep.

We have been working since vinyl number 4 with musicians, who have a participation in almost all the tracks released.

When we talk about musicians, we are including keyboardists, saxophonists, percussionists, guitarists or bassists.

Our goal or common thread has always been to achieve a warm and forceful sound, so that it can be heard in any environment, and at the same time be used at any time of the night, on a dance floor.
With those involved in both past and current releases, we share a common idea, which guides us in the interpretation of each song.
We also base ourselves on house influences from the late 90s (96,97,98,99)

Personally, we are moved by those times in which the sounds become more sophisticated, more elaborated in detail, and that is when we believe that the house that we listen to today with soul and jazz sounds, take on more relevance.

They also promote Afro and Latin percussion, leaning towards that New York and Puerto Rican fusion.

For all this, we like to include classic instruments, such as roland rhodes, the much-loved Juno, or korg packages with their inevitable M1.

Many shots are made live through a session expressed by the musician, who improvises for a while, from there we extract some part, which can be used several times in several tracks.

It is always necessary to do an editing job to adapt and correct any dissonance or variation in time that implies desynchronization in the beat. All this working in the sequencer of the daw to use.
On this album you will be able to hear soulful house sounds strongly impacted by keyboards, flutes and session basses, as well as some perfectly adapted percussion samples.

DJ Frankie, future reality: LNCY001 is music for the megalopolis. After a brief but bloody desynchronisation in ‘Cobwebs of Blood’, we are back to life. Welcome to the club, welcome to the slaughterhouse – this feverish dreamspace of inverted nightmares is a divine comedy of lacerated lust. A visceral affair, the A2 invokes the fleshy body horror Cronenberg without breaking stride. Young’uns take note: this is a masterclass of retrograde futurism. A high NRG macro trip ‘Sweet Chainsaw’ is the coronary artery of the bustling cityscape capturing the pulsating romance of the underground: a frenzied maze of industrial estates, a reclamation of the forgotten spaces, and above a call to arms – let’s be having ye.

This is a feeling which DJ Frankie continues to thread on the flipside, in equal measure sexy and sentimental, balancing the serious futurism of US electro with the nostalgic optimism of UK hardcore. Re-historicising seemingly disparate strands of electronic music into something of ‘Ravers Guide’ – The Future Sound of the Past.

In essence, ‘Cobwebs of Blood’ is an ode to dunted dancefloors – for those looking to escape & those looking to connect. Big luv to all the original party crews and dancefloor young teams who have kept the fire at 38 Gower Street burning for seven years.

First vinyl issue from this french label, artisan of the Eurotrance revival. Compilation of contemporary producers' works, deeply rooted in the 00's.

Played by Ellen Allien, Nina Kraviz, in among others.


Thanks to a perfect balance between a good dose of madness and genius, Union Trance Mission has become the playground of some of the rising talents of the european rave scene in a few years.

Launched in 2018 by DJ Reiz & Tonni 3000 with the desire to take the techno scene off-balance, UTM quickly laid the foundations of an hybrid style where oldschool vibes perfectly combine with contemporary sounds. A colorful and formidable cocktail of efficiency, where techno blithely rubs shoulders with nostalgic trance synthesizers.

After a couple of years of digital releases (singles, EP and compilations), UTM decides to take another step by releasing its first 2x12", gathering the residents DJ Reiz, Tonni 3000, Red Scan and Walfroy on one hand, and the guest artists Pawlowski, Jaëss, Tranceman2000 and Alpha Tracks on another hand, in a wish of being eclectic and exploring Trance music in all its forms.

Nicaraguan-American artist Dagmar Zuniga makes music that feels both intimate and expansive: songs drift like disrupted signals, carried by harmony, tape hiss, and a strong sense of touch. Her debut solo album in filth your mystery is kingdom / far smile peasant in yellow music — written and recorded in New York, Norway, and Athens, Georgia over a period of five years on her longtime companion, the Tascam 424 — was uploaded to Bandcamp and YouTube in January 2025, quickly garnering over two hundred thousand views and the attention of artists such as Mount Eerie, who invited her to tour with them that summer. This year, what was once a jewel of tapped-in algorithms and message boards will meet the world at large, with in filth arriving digitally on March 4, and physically on April 10, via AD 93.

in filth is an atmospheric, devotional collage where one voice multiplies into a chorus of selves, sometimes delicate, sometimes severe; an effect created by Zuniga’s masterful layering of texture and complex harmonies. Synths glitter out like spears of sunlight from beneath clouds of moody, time-distorted guitars, and songs spin about themselves like tightly-wound music boxes, making use of a kind of hypnotic repetition, before melting apart into their components or slipping into the following track.

Zuniga began recording to tape as a teenager, drawn to the physicality of the medium — how a tape recording is fragile, mutable, and alive. Though her ethereal sound may draw easy comparisons to other female pioneers of psychedelic folk, she is influenced just as much by the darker sounds of Syd Barrett and The Fall. Like Barrett, Zuniga is a painter, and she is interested not only in recording music but in creating a full, self-contained artistic universe: she creates her own artwork, merchandise, music videos, and bootleg tapes of new and unfinished music that she exclusively sells at live shows (“If something is not material, it does not exist,” she insists). Her world has not gone unvisited, garnering her a monthly show on NTS Radio ‘World of Pain’, as well as a forthcoming appearance at Rewire Festival in April 2026.

Though Zuniga’s work explores themes of solitude and suffering, the suffering in her songs is not borrowed or displayed; it is held, then opened outward through empathy — an exacting practice of attention that insists on shared ground. Solitude, in her work, is not withdrawal but a starting point for connection. Likewise, over time, her recording process has become increasingly communal, with in filth featuring musicians Hayes Hoey, Austyn Wohlers (Tomato Flower), and Zach Phillips (Fievel Is Glauque). Newer recordings widen the circle even more. For Zuniga, collaboration is a way to “find a place between worlds,” echoing Badiou’s idea of love as a vision refracted through the prism of difference. Meaning emerges there — in the space between voices, between artist and listener. “I hope my music helps people work through difficult experiences,” she says. “The same way it helps me.”

Yellow Vinyl

Blue Lake reveals his most ambitious album yet, which finds its visionary creator Jason Dungan harnessing the collective alchemy of his band, with ten spirited tracks that resonate with a powerful directness, evoking an ecological connection to the wider world.

The solo project (Blue Lake), now on its fifth album, found its name and inspiration via Don Cherry's 1974 live album, sparking a creative epiphany in Dungan, who set off on a path into his own untapped sonic world, guided by what he cited as the emotional potential found within non-lyrical composition. With a newly inspired ethos aimed toward creating direct and simple instrumental music imbued with a deep sense of feeling, Jason began combining an array of musical elements that gave rise to his highly revered album 'Sun Arcs' (2023), with its "ornate, zither-led lattices" (Pitchfork, Best New Music). Conceived in the blissful isolation of a Swedish cabin set in the woods, this was music that soundtracked spring in full bloom. Then, in contrast to the solitary approach of 'Sun Arcs', the highly lauded mini-album 'Weft' (2025) began to set the tone for a more band-oriented approach to delivering the Blue Lake sound. Jason had by this time experienced a special collective energy with his band during a swathe of live performances, which he then sought to harness and distill on 'The Animal', leading him to take the project into a traditional recording studio (The Village) and its limitless potential along with his gifted cohorts.

'The Animal' at its core vividly celebrates human collaboration and is deeply rooted in a sense of community and non-hierarchical connectivity. The group's creative alchemy transcends outwards and beyond the musicians performing together, to summon an inclusive, existential and ecological connection to the wider world and its inhabited spaces. The album contemplates the idea of the human as an animal as Dungan explains: "I'm quite fascinated in thinking about humans more as part of the animal environment and not as something that's so separated into a "human" realm, or sitting on top of a hierarchical pyramid. So the Animal is also me, or us - that we are just living, existing, in the same way as a piece of moss or a sparrow or a cow.

'The Animal' is a form of musical metamorphosis, still acoustic, yet more amplified, elevating it to new dimensions. The Blue Lake project takes on a new lease of life to encompass collaboration with Jason Dungan bound in a universal connectivity, resulting in his most ambitious album to date. A harmonious rejoicing that cements his reputation as a transformative presence in contemporary music.

In many ways, OLDE OUTLIER rise from the legacy of Australia’s late Innsmouth — a cult band whose 2014 debut Consumed by Elder Sign endures as an underground classic. The connection is more than symbolic: guitarist Askew, vocalist Appleton, and bassist Greenbank all passed through Innsmouth’s ranks, while Beau Dyer now leads this new incarnation after years spent shaping the sound of Innsmouth and the earlier project Grenade.

From Shallow Lives to Shallow Graves marks OLDE OUTLIER’s recorded debut, a four-track, thirty-five-minute descent into their own cavernous realm. While faint echoes of Innsmouth’s inspirations — Armoured Angel and early Samael — linger, the band draw from a broader and far more obscure constellation. Shades of Amon Goeth, Martyrium, Head of the Demon, and Florida’s Equinox collide with the spectral drift of Ophthalamia and early Katatonia and Tiamat, all eroded and blackened into something untraceable.

Despite these depths, OLDE OUTLIER avoid any sense of technical indulgence. Their sound carries a rough, deliberate simplicity — a raw and smoky power that pushes each of the four long tracks forward with unhurried certainty. The songwriting unfolds through patient repetition and subtle shifts, allowing motifs to seep into place and gradually hypnotise. Appleton’s low gutturals bring a grim, expressive edge reminiscent of early Septic Flesh or Thou Art Lord, while the more open, lead-driven riffing imparts a distinctly archaic heavy metal aura that separates this band from their origins.

At many moments, that union of grit and atmosphere surpasses even Innsmouth’s achievements. Accented by well-placed clean and chorused guitar lines, From Shallow Lives to Shallow Graves becomes an immersive and strangely timeless work — a glimpse into an ancient, dimly lit world where OLDE OUTLIER feel less like a new formation and more like something unearthed from a forgotten past.

Ten years after their last collaboration, Jacques Duvall and Benjamin Schoos return with Plein Sommeil, a duo album that is at once melancholic, ironic, and tender—a poetic mirror of the fatigue of the modern world.

The legendary lyricist for Lio, Chamfort, and Daho meets the indie pop producer and sonic adventurer of Freaksville, in a generational union as improbable as it is natural.
Between Brussels and Paris, they weave songs about slowness, worn-out love, and resistance through gentleness.

Blending original compositions and delicate covers (The Kinks, Higelin, Daho), the album evokes a sensual and lucid refuge amid the overheating of everyday life.
Recorded with Bertrand Burgalat, The Loved Drones, and lush string arrangements, Plein Sommeil embraces a handcrafted, timeless aesthetic.

Its motto: “Slow business” — a manifesto against the speed and emptiness of contemporary times.

Each song, balancing irony and elegance, celebrates fragility and humanity.

Repress.

Just one week after the outbreak of the First Intifada in 1987, Riad Awwad brought his sisters Hanan, Alia and Nariman together in their living room and began recording The Intifada album on equipment he had made himself. One of these was co-written with their friend, the acclaimed Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish. Riad printed 3000 copies of the cassettes which he began distributing in the Old City of Jerusalem and across the West Bank. The Israeli Army immediately confiscated all the copies they could find, the vast majority of which remain in the military archives to this day. Riad was arrested, interrogated and detained for several months. Straight after his release, he formed a band, Palestinian Union, and put out a new album. He then founded a school, offering kids in the West Bank an alternative musical education, teaching them how to create their own electronic equipment. In 2005, Riad was tragically killed in a car accident. His legacy lives on through his family, his timeless music and his powerful story, which continues to inspire to this day.

Over several years, Mo’min Swaitat has amassed an archive of rare tapes and vinyl from Palestine and beyond. Many of these were acquired from a former record label in his hometown of Jenin, in the north of the West Bank. The Majazz Project is a research project and record label borne out of the archive, focused around sampling, remixing and reissuing vintage Palestinian and Arabic cassettes and LPs, shedding new light on the richness and diversity of Arabic musical heritage.

Un-easy listening from »anti-singer« and improviser Sofia Jernberg, a celebration of the voice in its rawest, most malleable form. Jernberg was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Vietnam and Sweden, so one can only imagine these diverse languages opened up a wealth of phonetic possibilities before she entered academia to study jazz and composition. If you dive into her catalogue you’ll clock her startling range – working as a jazz soprano and as an improviser, collaborating with everyone from Stefan Schneider to Mats Gustafsson, as well as appearances on the stage and screen, most notably in Matthew Barney, Erna Ómarsdóttir, and Valdimar Jóhannsson’s »Union of the North«.

On »Voice«, Jernberg provides a ground-level entry point to her work, meticulously running through a litany of unconventional techniques (non-verbal vocalisation, split tones, toneless singing, and distortion) without any effects, just pure batshit sonics designed to show off the voice’s scope as an experimental instrument. On »Mouth Synthesizer« she purses her lips to make ratcheting pops like some analog oscillator, hoarsely mimicking the sort of blustery, Merzbow-coded distortions you might get if you patched a RAT pedal into a broken guitar amp. It isn’t an act of caricature, it’s Jernberg’s way of demonstrating that expensive modular rigs aren’t an essential tool for experimental music, before throwing a side-eye to the field recording industrial complex on »Birds«, transforming her vocal chords into a nightmare aviary. But it’s Jernberg’s startling »multiphonic« experiments that hit hardest. The album opens on »Multiphonic I«, and it’s difficult to tell that you’re listening to a human voice at first – you could just as well be on Colin Stetson’s overblown sax airstreams. Jernberg creates a captivating spiral of crooked, phased tones and hoarse, guttural croaks that she develops over three movements. On »Multiphonic II«, her voice is turned into a storm of pained shrieks, and on the third and final segment, it almost resembles Arve Henriksen or Jon Hassell’s muted brass curlicues. Each track pulls a different musical muscle, whether it’s »One Pitch« with its unsettling yodel-like quivering drones or »Gurgle«, sounding like a close mic-ed recording of a small pot gently simmering.