Since its original release, Aging has taken on an interesting wider significance. OCA’s music came to the attention of Kelela, who featured the duo in her Aquaphoria mix before later working with Yo van Lenz and Florian T M Zeisig in their Berlin studio. Those sessions would go on to play an important role in shaping the sound of her acclaimed 2023 album Raven, on which both artists are credited.
2019 Press Release:
Berlin based duo OCA present Aging, their sophomore album and first for Métron Records. Following up last year's Preset Music (recently featured in Kelela's Aquaphoria mix) Aging is an album that focuses on memory, experience and the passing of time.
A collaboration between producers Yo van Lenz and Florian T M Zeisig, OCA formed after the pair met and became friends while studying in Berlin. Originally from small towns in Bavaria, the duo now live and work in the German capital.
Through a series of 10 vignettes, Aging transports the listener on a trip across a series of life events that retain a special personal importance to both of the artists. These emotional touchstones range from the profound to the prosaic - the discovery of something new, the relief from annoyance or the familiarity found in an old companion - and have been fully explored with playful sonic introspection.
Whilst the concept retains a certain ambiguity, it is the sound palette, created solely on an Alesis QS6 synthesiser - that brings these experiences to life. OCA blend and weave classic dance music motifs with shimmering synths, Japanese wet ambient, and even anthemic 80s rock to create a soundscape rich with texture and sensation.
The bass notes and tentative lead of ‘Baby’s First Blade of Grass’ reference the memory of first consciously or subconsciously experiencing something new, whilst the decaying ripples of ‘Stretching in Water’ paired with sounds of flowing streams conjure up images of tranquil pools. Their most developed work to date, Aging showcases OCA as rising stars of progressive pop and modern ambient.
20/20 Vision continues to flourish even well into its third decade. For its next trick, the Leeds label welcomes back Brett Johnson, who was last here 20+ years ago. Releases on Classic Records, DJ Heather collaborations and Derrick Carter championing his work all make him a bona fide house hero and 'Broken Machine' confirms it. 'Unstuck' opens with a mutating disco bassline that refuses to settle, while 'Juiced' dives deep into his signature boompty swing with a drop designed for pure devastation. The title track is the centrepiece - a trippy trip that stretches time entirely before 'iRemember' closes with starry-eyed ambient pads laced above a deep, slow, gorgeous groove. Sophisticated, playful and musical as always.
After our last release with Dub Keyboarder Ao Inoue from Dry&Heavy Tokio/Japan we now are super proud to announce;
Our next Ep coming up in November is done by TURMSPRINGER + 2 heavy weights Producers. QUENUM labelhead of Cadenza delivered an superb minimal 80´s sounding remix and we could convince no further then Neil Fraser aka MAD PROFESSOR to join the Mole Audio Project He´s done a few “versions” on his old smokey dusty console which will come out within the next few month , Keep your ears open for this !
For the last decade and change, Lazarusman has steadily worked his way towards becoming a seminal voice in electronic music. In that time, he has left no genre untouched, bringing his brand of metaphysical, pun-heavy, imagery-driven, uplifting poetry to audiences across the globe.
These exploits have earned him a 2021 Grammy nomination and countless chart-topping records with some of the most remarkable producers in the industry.
His debut album, Skin, is an exploration of identity. Lazarusman questions his place in the world, reflecting on growing up in a now-free South Africa. The album touches on colourism, racism, faith, love and the existential crisis of existing in a divided world.
The album is also a celebration of the many genres that inspire his poetry from deep, tech and Afro house to breakbeats and jazz. But it is equally a celebration of the word, and the power it carries.
“A man is only as good as his word.”This quote epitomises Lazarusman’s honest approach to an album that reflects the last 15 years of his career. With productions from FKA Mash, Stimming, Dwson, Boogie Vice, Zitow Mowa, Axone and Johannes Brecht, Lazarusman presents a kaleidoscope of sounds.
DJ support by Keinemusik, Stimming, Acid Pauli, Xinobi, Stavroz, Xique Xique, Paco Osuna, and many more.
A collection of vinyl and limited digital releases, curated by Millsart, an alias of Jeff Mills, of his most eclectic and transcendent compositions that derive from his Every Dog Has Its Day project as well as new unreleased works. Vernacular creations that fall off from the "other side" of the Electronic Music tree, this project is designed for the experienced Techno music listeners, and its goal is to reflect upon the pure artistry of the craft of storytelling. A realization between music and life. Whereas "dancing" is the goal of Dance Music, the goal of this music is about "reflecting on the complexity and simplification of life".Soundtracks for people in their evolutionary process.
This release 'Drifter' is about 'Hype'.
Hype
An animal that prowls on the vulnerable - it excites those who might be looking the other way or with their eyes and minds wide shut.
What is life without hype?
As a transitional tool, hype can be most effective especially when impulse reactions are at play. Something of a psychological currency, there is a lot to gain by giving people what they want - the rush that comes with taking part in a process of making something bigger, more successful and more preferred. Even if there is nothing there.
What's wrong with getting exciting about something?
There are only a few rare masterclass cases that have lasted a lifetime.
As Andy Warhol proclaimed that "everyone will be World famous for 15 minutes" rings darkly true in an era when each one of us can be the talent scout, artist, critic, audience.......and then a revisionist, hoping to bring hype back again by reminding people how great the first round felt.
We are all free to use our attention and time anyway we please. This is the freedom we have, right?
In most cases, we wake up and at some point, the question of justification becomes a debate between those who found unconditional solace and those who re-discovered the subject of substance and "kicked the tires".
Should I care if others like or dislike something?
For some, the hype of something never ends. It hardens and becomes part of a foundation like a cement podium. Something to be stood on to speak over all dissenting voices.
Groovedeep, the international supergroup comprised of Toronto’s Ciel and DC stars James Bangura and Jackson Ryland aka JR2k, brings Fixed Rhythms a 12” of four racing, groovy, energetic, funky and lush techno cuts. This is the second vinyl outing by the group, the first one being the recent “Funk Solo” on Turbo Recordings featuring remixes by Batu, Shed, and Mark Broom.
“Speed Queen” opens up the EP with hypnotizing techno that eschews any four-on-the-floor demands. Up-tempo with a touch of house and handdrums and a tantalizing vocal clip. “Witness” has a similar structure…handdrums, non four-on-the-floor kick drum composition, rhythmic vocal chop-work, but whereas A1 is the leap into the deep, “Witness” has us diving down, exploring the eerier depths.
Whip to the B-side with “Flashback”, a slightly more east coast club track while also incorporating a bit more of a pummeling kick. The aforementioned Groovedeep sonic signatures are there, and…can’t get enough of the handdrums?!?! Well then just let that last “Witness (Bongo Heavy VIP)” track slide in, a slightly meaner (and of course bongo-ier) boom of a take on the A2.
"Collect Records welcomes Byron the Aquarius to the family! Hailing from Alabama, Byron the Aquarius has established himself as one of the most respected names in contemporary underground house music. Classically trained as a pianist, his productions effortlessly blend deep house, jazz, soul and broken beat, earning support from artists such as Theo Parrish, Moodymann, Gilles Peterson and Floating Points, while releasing on labels including Sound Signature, Wild Oats, Shall Not Fade and Atjazz Record Company. Last Dance in Church features five original productions that perfectly capture Byron's unmistakable sound, warm, soulful and deeply musical. From stripped-back dancefloor grooves to rich harmonic compositions, the EP is a timeless journey through deep house, house and jazz-infused rhythms."
On Last Night At Marienbad's latest, the imprint brings together three of the brightest souls found within the realms of Jazz, namely Mauricesax, 9ick and Milan93, with their collective talents synergising effortlessly on 'A Garden Between Us', alongside a stellar cast of remixers who add even further delight between the grooves….
As a genre, Jazz has perhaps lent itself the most to other musical universes, in that its curious heart, endlessly experimental nature, and parameter-defying spirit have wrapped itself deep within the core of countless albums, scenes, and music makers. It's a genre that welcomes reinvention, consistently defying its contents and always reaching out to find new methods of expressionism. Electronic music, in its many forms, has truly embraced Jazz perhaps like no other movement of music has, with a truly astonishing array of records surfacing in the past 40 years which have blended Jazz's unique motifs with grooves, chords, and emotive excellence. From 90s Jazz house and UR Techno, through to Future Jazz, downtempo, and Hip Hop, and around many other suns, there remains such an intrinsic and symbiotic relationship between the two musical realms that caters to those who wish to live music both within and out with themselves.
As practitioners of blending electronica and Jazz, few do it like the trio of Mauricesax, 9ick, and Milan93. All three are known for their distinctive soundscapes, yet share commonalities in terms of musical language, feel, and sense of progression. Bringing them together allows for overlaps in their sounds to emerge, and just like Jazz itself, this is where the intrinsicness of sound begins to blossom. 9ick brings his softly evolving vibe to the table, one which was so prevalent and celebrated on his 2025 album 'SMIL'; Milan93 draws from his focal point of exploring fill-laden grooves and a myriad of emotive sensibilities; and Mauricesax draws up his extensive musicality that exists at the corner of jazz, electronic, and experimental music, along with running musical workshops all over the globe.
'A Garden Between Us' represents the trio's core tenets, with this immediately obvious from the record's opener, 'Rhodora'. A gentle solo piano quickly evolves into a series of powerful rhythmic pulses, with brass lines bringing vitality and feel to proceedings. The track shifts gears with purpose, transitioning between musical vignettes of the highest order, with the synth work doing much to bind the transitions together. 'Tulip' emerges slightly differently, with glossy Rhodes tones and an unravelling rhythmic undercurrent setting an enthralling stage. The track flourishes amongst sweeping textures, coming up for air amongst a deeply hypnotic rhythmic section that holds on and never lets up. 'Honeysuckle' lands next, which sees the trio emerge with a boundless, dynamic soundscape. The drums shift within the undertones, as keys, chords, horns and hip-hop vocal samples dance around the pulse, capturing the imagination with their narrative-like placement. Wrapping up the A side comes 'Camellia'. A dazzling array of harmonic sounds converges around the transfixing rhythm section, which emerges from deep below to lavishly roll out over the midsection, with the delicateness of the instrumentation a real highlight here.
The B side features two exquisite remixes, with Pacific Coliseum's version of 'Tulip' landing first. Beginning with a signature four to the floor to get things going, his careful handling of the source material is seen in the tactful introduction of the blissful elements that made the original cut so impactful, with great focus placed on emotive fidelity. The result is a summer-bound house number that reimagines the original in all the right ways, flipping it into a euphoria-driven jazz-laden pacer that reaches for the heavens as much as it drives right into the heart. Teuteu then showcases their take on 'Honeysuckle', and at 9 minutes long, represents the longest cut on the record - and the experience is all the richer for it. Leaning heavily into dance music flavours, Teuteu shifts perspective totally into the realm of the club, with the walls beating hard to the kicks. The sax lines that drift ethereally up top keep eyes closed and souls full, as the dance shifts into the next phase.
An experience that drifts from the daydreaming, to soul-warming through to the club shaking - what else is left to experience, except for 'A Garden Between Us' and how it will brighten up life itself….
After 10 years of Andy Shauf"s The Party... it"s time for the afterparty. The Party (10th Anniversary Edition) adds nine never-before-released tracks to the original studio version of this essential indie album of the last decade, including two brand new songs plus alternate cuts and demo recordings. With The Party, Shauf masterfully creates a cast of memorable and unique characters. They show up "Early to the Party," reveal secrets ("To You") or try to reveal nothing ("The Magician"). In "a city the size of a dinner plate," everyone knew the guy who keeled over after smoking what he promised would be his last pack of cigarettes ("Alexander All Alone"). There"s the girl dancing by herself in the middle of the room, with the "Eyes of Them All" upon her. One moment you"re dancing with someone who bears an uncanny resemblance to your ex ("Martha Sways") and later slagging your best friend as way of endearing yourself to his recently dumped ex ("Quite Like You"). All of this is set to ornate arrangements of fuzzed-out guitars, string sections, clarinets and dreamy synths, all draped over delicate piano, acoustic guitars and rainy-day drums.
Label co-founder CRYME releases his third solo EP on the Berlin-based imprint, paving the way for a new, more subtle direction. Across these four tracks we find the artist diving deeper into a sound he's been shaping over the last few months. More adventurous, experimental, still driving and dancefloor-focused. This one is for the early mornings at festivals - that moment when the sunlight starts to break through the fog and the night turns into day. From bubbly, techy and quirky minimal on the A-side to more dubbed and spaced-out cuts on the B-side with a more atmospheric feel. Overall complex music full of movement that's still easy to listen to but keeps the crowd moving.
Label co-founder CRYME releases his third solo EP on the Berlin-based imprint, paving the way for a new, more subtle direction. Across these four tracks we find the artist diving deeper into a sound he's been shaping over the last few months. More adventurous, experimental, still driving and dancefloor-focused. This one is for the early mornings at festivals - that moment when the sunlight starts to break through the fog and the night turns into day. From bubbly, techy and quirky minimal on the A-side to more dubbed and spaced-out cuts on the B-side with a more atmospheric feel. Overall complex music full of movement that's still easy to listen to but keeps the crowd moving.
Live Ones is an LP compilation of refixes and remixes of older material and brand new tracks that have all featured in New Jackson live sets in recent years available on vinyl for the first time.
It features contributions from Rory Sweeney and Rita Lynn and long-term collaborator Richie 'Jape' Egan. Cover photography shot by long time collaborator Rich Gilligan at a New Jackson show in Dublin.
According to New Jackson himself 'This started out as a way to put out new tracks and remixes of older stuff as quickfire digi releases without the pressure of making a cohesive body of work that normally comes with making an album yet ironically I feel this works better as a cohesive vinyl release then my last album proper and features some of my favourite music I've made.'
Marlon Plein also known as Driven By Attraction, one half of Watching Airplanes is releasing a new solo EP on klakson! Watching Airplanes' 'blue is dope' was already one of the pleasant surprises featured on the klakson 20in20 compilation and the journey continues with 'Last Days Of Innocence'. 4 distinguished contemporary electro funk driven dance floor stompers with an ultra deep twist. Mandatory for serious record bags!!!!!!
Six years after their last full-length release, Satoshi & Makoto return with Mirage Café, the highly anticipated new album on 8mm Records, in collaboration with Standart Magazine.
A carefully crafted and long-awaited work, Mirage Café is more than an album — it is a fully immersive sensory experience. The Japanese duo expand their signature sound into deeper and more cinematic territory, blending refined electronica, ambient textures, subtle jazz inflections and understated groove with remarkable elegance and control.
The title evokes an imaginary café — a space of contemplation, connection and inspiration. The partnership with Standart Magazine reinforces this conceptual layer, bridging music and coffee culture into a cohesive narrative that feels both intimate and international. The result is an album that unfolds like a slow ritual: warm, enveloping and meticulously detailed.
Throughout the record, Satoshi & Makoto demonstrate a mature and confident songwriting approach. The production is rich yet restrained, atmospheric yet rhythmically engaging — balancing introspection with forward motion. Lush harmonies, delicate arrangements and immersive sound design create a listening experience that rewards both focused attention and late-night drifting.
With Mirage Café , the duo not only meet expectations after a six-year silence — they surpass them. This is a masterwork of nuance and vision, poised to become a defining chapter in their discography and a standout release in the contemporary electronic landscape.
Sublime frequencies from the golden era of ambient electronica.
Plumbing hidden depths beneath a deceptively tranquil surface, MLO's mid-90s masterpiece Io is an overlooked gem from a golden era for ambient electronic music. Originally released in 1994, Jon Tye and Pete Smith's collaborative album responded to the growing chill-out movement by leaning into classical and avant-garde influences from Satie, Debussy and Cage through to Soft Machine, Incredible String Band and Eno. Recorded across various studios stacked with classic and rare synths, Io was patiently composed into slowly unfolding suites punctuated with ripples of arrhythmic interference to arrive at a purist vision of true ambient.
The next instalment in Forever Records' ongoing reissue series shines a light back on this landmark piece of UK electronica with the first official reissue since its original edition on Rising High. As well as the original double LP pressing and a new CD digipak version, there will also be a uniquely numbered, limited edition housed in a gatefold sleeve that comes with a bonus 10" featuring two previously unreleased versions of the album's opening cut, 'Wimborne'.
Press response to Io:
"Not so much ambient, more environmental music, Io lets you bring as much (or as little) of your surroundings in as suits your mood. Every listen can be different. Interactive ambient at last.”
IO is pure ambience. Relying on motif as opposed to melody, MLO have produced a truly evocative album.
Peter McIntyre, Mixmag, UK 1994.
"MLO's influences range from the likes of Eric Satie and the intellectual salon music of his era to the more predictable reference point of dubby, modern techno, though they feel, perhaps rather contentiously, that "ambient music can exist in isolation from the rest of the dance music arena". Can it? Take a trip to Io, and find out."
Generator Magazine, UK 1994.
"If you like your ambient deep and moody with long chords that creep along at approximately the speed of drying paint then check out MLO’s Io."
Mixology, UK 1994.
"MLO set the controls for the heart of headspace for their first full album release. Io is top grade ambient brain… Ace album…"
Select, UK 1994.
Sublime frequencies from the golden era of ambient electronica.
Plumbing hidden depths beneath a deceptively tranquil surface, MLO's mid-90s masterpiece Io is an overlooked gem from a golden era for ambient electronic music. Originally released in 1994, Jon Tye and Pete Smith's collaborative album responded to the growing chill-out movement by leaning into classical and avant-garde influences from Satie, Debussy and Cage through to Soft Machine, Incredible String Band and Eno. Recorded across various studios stacked with classic and rare synths, Io was patiently composed into slowly unfolding suites punctuated with ripples of arrhythmic interference to arrive at a purist vision of true ambient.
The next instalment in Forever Records' ongoing reissue series shines a light back on this landmark piece of UK electronica with the first official reissue since its original edition on Rising High. As well as the original double LP pressing and a new CD digipak version, there will also be a uniquely numbered, limited edition housed in a gatefold sleeve that comes with a bonus 10" featuring two previously unreleased versions of the album's opening cut, 'Wimborne'.
Press response to Io:
"Not so much ambient, more environmental music, Io lets you bring as much (or as little) of your surroundings in as suits your mood. Every listen can be different. Interactive ambient at last.”
IO is pure ambience. Relying on motif as opposed to melody, MLO have produced a truly evocative album.
Peter McIntyre, Mixmag, UK 1994.
"MLO's influences range from the likes of Eric Satie and the intellectual salon music of his era to the more predictable reference point of dubby, modern techno, though they feel, perhaps rather contentiously, that "ambient music can exist in isolation from the rest of the dance music arena". Can it? Take a trip to Io, and find out."
Generator Magazine, UK 1994.
"If you like your ambient deep and moody with long chords that creep along at approximately the speed of drying paint then check out MLO’s Io."
Mixology, UK 1994.
"MLO set the controls for the heart of headspace for their first full album release. Io is top grade ambient brain… Ace album…"
Select, UK 1994.
Das 2016 erschienene "Teens of Denial" markiert einen entscheidenden Wendepunkt in der Karriere von Car Seat Headrest und insbesondere von Frontmann Will Toledo. Nach einer Reihe von lo-fi Bedroom-Produktionen, die Toledo größtenteils allein aufgenommen hatte, war es das erste Album, das mit voller Bandbesetzung und größerem Studioaufwand entstand. Veröffentlicht wurde es über das renommierte Indie-Label Matador Records, bei dem Toledo kurz zuvor unter Vertrag genommen wurde. Das Album verbindet introspektive Texte mit energiegeladenem Indie-Rock und greift Themen wie Selbstfindung, Angst, Isolation und Jugendkultur auf. Songs wie "Fill in the Blank", "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" und "Destroyed by Hippie Powers" wurden schnell zu Publikumslieblingen und halfen der Band, ein deutlich größeres Publikum zu erreichen. "Teen Of Denial: (Joe"s Story)" ist nun ein komplettes Remake dieses 10 Jahre alten Klassiker. Toledo, der seinen Songbook gerne neuinterpretiert, wechselt hier die Perspektive und erzählt die Geschichte aus der Sicht von Joe. Auf dem Originalalbum verwendete Toledo häufig den Namen "Joe" als Pseudonym - eine subtile Hommage an Daniel Johnston. Als er Teens im Vorfeld seines 10-jährigen Jubiläums erneut aufgriff, verspürte er den Drang, Joe eine eigene Hintergrundgeschichte zu geben, und begann, das Album entsprechend anzupassen, um diese Geschichte zu erzählen. Die Band kehrte gemeinsam mit dem Teens-Produzenten Steve Fisk ins Studio zurück, um das Werk zu überarbeiten - mit angepassten Texten, überarbeiteten Arrangements und neuen Aufnahmen im "Denial-Stil", darunter "Optimistic Son" und die hymnische Single "Joe Drives Again". Das Ergebnis bewahrt die düstere Note und den jugendlichen Zynismus von Teens, lässt aber zugleich eine Spur mühsam errungener Mitmenschlichkeit in den Gesamtklang einfließen.
Das dritte Studioalbum von Holy Motors, ,Heaven's Night", verbindet die für die Band typischen westlichen Traumlandschaften mit eingängigen Pop-Melodien und New-Wave-Klängen, die für die estnische Band Neuland darstellen. Bemerkenswert ist vor allem eine neue Sanftheit in den Songs auf ,Heaven's Night", in denen Figuren vorkommen, die sich von den düsteren Sonnenuntergängen und der Outback-Melancholie des 2020 erschienenen Albums ,Horse" lösen. Wie die Band selbst sagt, ist ihr neuer Sound ,süß wie tropfender Honig, traurig wie Sommerregen". Zweifellos ist ,Heaven's Night" das bisher abwechslungsreichste Album von Holy Motors. Vom rasanten Galopp von ,The Last Ones" bis zum poppigen Herzstück ,Hellishly Hot" verleiht ,Heaven's Night" der Welt der Band eine neue Wendung - eine, die etwas weniger gespenstisch und dafür etwas gefährlicher ist.
