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In an engrossing lattice of polyrhythmic beat science and deep atmospheric meditation, Samurai Music is thrilled to welcome Marco Shuttle to the fold for the Sumud EP.

Since his early years locked into the 00s London techno scene, Marco Sartorelli has developed as an artist entirely on his own terms. Through the rush of new ideas and cross-pollination that has characterised cutting-edge techno over the past 20-odd years, Sartorelli has travelled as Marco Shuttle from one considered stylistic concept to the next. On his own Eerie label and across expansive releases for respected outposts such as Spazio Disponibile, Incensio and Astral Industries, he's taken an exploratory approach to rhythm and spatial design while always drawing on intentional thematic frameworks, creating distinctive and immersive dance music in the process.

As Samurai Music continues to celebrate the rich seams of inspiration where deep techno and drum & bass intersect, Sartorelli's malleable, mysterious strain of drum work fits right in and sets a captivating tone for the label's operations in 2026. 'Sumud' is a steely drum mantra dealing in fractured patterns with the primal patina of the early Artificial Intelligence era, while 'Las Dunas de Taroa' leans on gently pulsing melancholia undulating at a half-time pace. 'Iso 50' taps into raw, analogue minimalism once more, evoking the sound of Roman Flugel's Ro70 records in their icy, alien formation. Completing the set, we're guided towards the tense electronica of 'Polylayering What I've Got', where uneasy melodic chimes interlock with intricately programmed drum machines.

There's a distinct sense of golden-era, mid-90s electronica coursing through Sumud EP, but Sartorelli shrouds the classic tools at his disposal in his subtle signature atmospherics, pushing towards a plain of expression that transcends time.

Sun Electric - the legendary Berlin duo of Tom Thiel and Max Loderbauer - returns with Episodes, an enticing new album. While the pair has been active and creating over the years (remember their track 'Every Now And Then' on the 10 Years De:tuned compilation in 2019), Episodes marks their first album of original material in nearly 20 years. Now, with a renewed way of working together, they present fresh and captivating music on the Belgian De:tuned label, built from recordings made with the vintage 1960s Subharchord Synthesizer. Across 6 tracks, Sun Electric takes listeners on a strange yet wonderful journey through shifting moods and sonic textures, capturing their unmistakable sense of exploration and atmosphere. With kind support of the Studio for Electroacoustic Music of the Akademie der Kunste. Stay tuned!

The wonderful Ian Anderson at The Designers Republic created all the graphic work. Mastered by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering. Available on 180g vinyl and CD, with a separate digital release through all the usual online stores.

Sun Electric - the legendary Berlin duo of Tom Thiel and Max Loderbauer - returns with Episodes, an enticing new album. While the pair has been active and creating over the years (remember their track 'Every Now And Then' on the 10 Years De:tuned compilation in 2019), Episodes marks their first album of original material in nearly 20 years. Now, with a renewed way of working together, they present fresh and captivating music on the Belgian De:tuned label, built from recordings made with the vintage 1960s Subharchord Synthesizer. Across 6 tracks, Sun Electric takes listeners on a strange yet wonderful journey through shifting moods and sonic textures, capturing their unmistakable sense of exploration and atmosphere. With kind support of the Studio for Electroacoustic Music of the Akademie der Kunste. Stay tuned!

The wonderful Ian Anderson at The Designers Republic created all the graphic work. Mastered by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering. Available on 180g vinyl and CD, with a separate digital release through all the usual online stores.

Despite its title, Ratboys’ new album Singin’ to an Empty Chair is not defined by what’s missing. Rather, it’s the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved one, vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on the band’s sixth studio album – its first for New West Records – fills the space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers — twangy, effervescent, as confident as they’ve ever been, and perhaps more emotionally interrogative than ever before. The four-piece Chicago band followed up 2023’s highly acclaimed The Window by reconvening with co-producer Chris Walla to begin tracking at a rural Wisconsin cabin before taking the songs to Steve Albini’s famed Electrical Audio studios in Chicago and later to Rosebud Studio in Evanston, Illinois. The results veer from bubbly power-pop on “Anywhere” to irresistible post-country on “Penny in the Lake,” along with heart-piercing ballads like “Just Want You to Know the Truth” and an exhilarating detour into the extraterrestrial on “Light Night Mountains All That,” which Steiner dubs the band’s mammoth “wormhole jam.” Singin’ to an Empty Chair also marks the first Ratboys album written since Steiner began therapy, which the singer/lyricist credits for the clarity found across the album’s unflinching examinations of relationship and self. Fittingly, as the album begins by extending a hand into the void, it concludes with a scene of serenity – all while weaving candid honesty, humor, chaos, and whimsy along the way. “It's not all doom and gloom,” Steiner says. “The experience of making this record definitely gives me hope for whatever happens next.”

Synthpop, minimal wave, post-punk, goth, new romantic - fans and critics alike have dug deeply into their vintage thesauruses to describe the beguiling work of Nation of Language. And if you can't precisely define the band, that's the point. Frontman Ian Richard Devaney has become prodigious in expanding what synthesizer-driven music can evoke, such that his output is as much an extrasensory journey as it is an all-too-human destination. With that experience in mind, he wrote the band's fourth album - the spectral, spacious Dance Called Memory - in the most humble of ways: chipping away at melancholia by sitting around and strumming his guitar. Nation of Language's first two albums, Introduction, Presence (2020), and A Way Forward (2021), came as pandemic godsends: gorgeous, relatable soundtracks to our collective doldrums. But it was their last LP, Strange Disciple (2023), that catapulted the group from cultural standouts to critical darlings, with the album being named Rough Trade's Album of the Year. With that release, Pitchfork wrote that the band "are learning what it means to get bigger and better." This is Devaney's calling: soulfully translating individual despair into a comforting, collective mourning. The single "Now That You're Gone," which radiates and reverberates with a devastating wistfulness, was inspired by witnessing his godfather's tragic death from ALS, and his parents' role as caretakers for this ailing friend. At its heart, the song is a reflection of how friends can be there for each other, and also highlights a theme throughout the record: the pain and lost promise of friendships that fall apart. On Dance Called Memory, the band once again collaborated with friend and Strange Disciple producer Nick Millhiser (LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost!). "What's so great about Nick is his ability to make us feel like we don't need to do what might be expected of us," says synth player Aidan Noell, who, along with bassist Alex MacKay, rounds out the Nation of Language lineup. They imbued Dance Called Memory with a shifted palette - sampling chopped-up drum breaks on "I'm Not Ready for the Change" for a touch of Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine or smashing all of the percussion of "In Another Life" through a synthesizer to cast a shade of early-2000s electronic music. Ultimately, the hope was to weave raw vulnerability and humanity into a synth-heavy album. "There is a dichotomy between the Kraftwerk school of thought and the Brian Eno school of thought, each of which I've been drawn to at different points. I've read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human," Devaney says. "As much as Kraftwerk is a sonically foundational influence, with this record I leaned much more towards the Eno school of thought. In this era quickly being defined by the rise of AI supplanting human creators I'm focusing more on the human condition, and I need the underlying music to support that_ Instead of hopelessness, I want to leave the listener with a feeling of us really seeing one another, that our individual struggles can actually unite us in empathy."

Symphony album which recorded the song of the image album 'The girl who came down from the sky' as a symphony composed of 60 orchestras in total. Performance: Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra / Conductor: Katsuaki Nakatani.

"deathcrash’s third album, Somersaults, glimmers with an everyday euphoria. The London-based slowcore/ post-rock quartet has always had an affinity for building worlds only to crush them. From their breakout EP, People thought my windows were stars (2021), through two critically acclaimed studio albums, Return (2022) and Less (2023), they have been both the architects and the destroyers, the creationists and the ones manning the flood barrier. But, recorded between Black Box Studio in the Loire Valley and Haggerston’s Holy Mountain, Somersaults is almost joyful.

Its ten tracks are more vocal heavy than any of the band’s catalogue – think Mark Linkous via The Kinks – but lyrically, Somersaults resists revelation. For all its abrasion, phrases appear half-swallowed, broken off at the edge of meaning, consumed by the smaller textures of living. “Thirty, no career, it fucking worries me / And doing the band doesn’t help,” Banks sings in ‘NYC’. But, “This life is the best life,” he finishes in ‘CMC’ on top of the ambient white noise of an office printer, thankful that the band is still there, “still making noise in the doorway.”

Their role as caretakers of Duster, Low and Codeine’s slowcore lineage is all across Somersaults – songs scud to a narcotic crawl, sound monolithic and inwards before spotlighting a crystalline nothing. Cathartic builds are muddied with tenderness, the bass a heavy grounding, the drums an exhausted heartbeat grasping for air. But more so than ever, even the silence feels collaborative – a gesture of communal trust – friends celebrating the room they’ve made for each other’s ghosts, and some of the biggest, brightest songs they’ve made to date."

"Rough and ready blues played with unmitigated intensity…scorching and soulful, joyous and stomping.
—Living Blues

Electrifying and raucous…one of the few authentic links to pure Chicago blues.
—Chicago Tribune

Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the reigning champions of raucous, slide-stoked Chicago blues. They’ve achieved legendary status with over 40 years of critically acclaimed recordings and raucous foot-stomping gigs on club, theatre and festival stages all over the world. Slideways is a tour-de-force of old-school Chicago blues played with contemporary urgency.

Shows in support begin on street date in Chicago, followed by Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, New York and Syracuse amongst others. Touring will continue throughout Spring and Summer.

Press, radio and social media focus on album and tour dates, pitching stories and reviews to over 1000 print and internet media contacts around the world. Over 1400 radio programmers worldwide will be serviced and solicited for blues specialty show and selected Triple A and Americana rotation airplay. The album is certain to be welcomed with open arms by the blues media.

Slideways is bursting with Lil’ Ed’s rollicking slide-work and rough-hewn vocals on a joyous blend of smoking slide guitar boogies, raw-boned shuffles, and heart-stopping slow blues. As always, The Blues Imperials supply rock-solid, road-tested and gloriously riotous backing."

"Nearly two decades after their 2007 debut and a 2010–2022 hiatus, Austin, TX’s Voxtrot return with Dreamers in Exile, a new LP that turns an underdog story into a true second act.

The band who quietly became cult heroes in the streaming era deliver a record that carries the electric rush longtime fans remember while speaking directly to the new era of youth who discovered them through playlists and word of mouth.

Musically, Dreamers in Exile folds Voxtrot’s classic DNA—C86 sparkle, Sarah Records romanticism, the pulse of The Velvet Underground, the elegance of Felt—into a sharper, more confident sound.

Guitars chime and sprint, rhythms push forward, and Ramesh Srivastava’s literate, heart-forward lyrics trace the distance between youth and maturity, exile and home, regret and renewal. Mixed by Dean Reid (Lana Del Rey, James Blake), it reads as both reintroduction and redemption.

For a band born of the 2000s blog wave alongside Vampire Weekend, The National, and Grizzly Bear, Dreamers in Exile is less nostalgia than proof of life. It’s the sound of a beloved group returning on their own terms and finding their songs resonating more widely than ever."

***
and the color in my eyes
has gone back into the sea.
***

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, XL Recordings today announce a special, expanded version of Leila’s acclaimed second album Courtesy Of Choice. Originally released on 11th September 2000, the album followed the success of her Rephlex Records debut Like Weather and felt like a broadcast from a futuristic radio station no one else could tune into. Twenty-five years on, alongside collaborations with the likes of Bjork, Aphex Twin and Terry Hall and iconic performances at the likes of the V&A and Venice Biennale, more and more listeners have found the frequency. While Courtesy of Choice's influence continues to transmit through contemporary culture. the Iranian-born, London-raised producer remains utterly singular:

"I realised very early on that people don't really belong anywhere. That's what gives me the freedom to do any kind of music...I don't feel any commitment or loyalty to anything. My commitment is to noise." – Leila


This new version, Courtesy Of Choice… asides and besides, re-presents the original 14 track album — including the previously vinyl-only “Relax the Pleasuredome” — alongside a wealth of unreleased material. Leila chose to re-edit rather than remake the album (she has all the original data… midi and audio), choosing to set the parameters of only recovering buried details while preserving its spirit. “I wanted this reissue to be honest,” she explains. “Nothing added, just making sure the performances came through as they were meant to.” Among the twenty unheard tracks are Roya Arab’s striking collaboration on Cabaret classic “Mein Herr,” the surrealist collage “A Reasoning” with a sample of Max Ernst, the hypnotic “Acid Frog Fave,” the digi rave blowout “Birdie Rave,” and “techyarr”’s future forever funk from the realm of primetime Neptunes. Together they reveal both the breadth of Leila’s vision and the enduring power of an album that continues to sound ahead of its time.

repress!

Seasoned musical maestro Argy unleashes his long-player, New World. Argy’s varied back catalogue showcases his versatility and deep knowledge of electronic music. An experienced producer and DJ, he channels a lifetime of skill and natural talent into his LP New World. Across 14 tracks, we enter ‘Dreamstates’, utilising ‘Mental Powers’ to explore the ‘Wilderness’ and connect with a ‘Higher Power’. Rooted in an underground sound with an array of impassioned vocals, highly emotive arrangement and potent rhythms, the album demonstrates Argy’s artistic maturity. Join him as he leads us on a voyage into a New World…

On and on, the beat goes on. Sound System culture plays a huge part in the history of House music, shaping Mysticisms, its founders and the music it brings into the spotlight. Continuing the dive into that history, in all its forms and permutations, Tranquil Elephantizer’s 1995 classic Zombie Dawn is reissued here in its original form.

A name that has been getting noticed on recent releases for the likes of legendary San Francisco collective Wicked Records and Manchester’s cult Red Laser label, the project has, in fact, been around for several decades.

Morphing out of the late 80s Acid House revolution, members Alexis Worrall, brothers Caspar and Darius Kedros and focal point, David Jenkins aka DJ Shakra came together in the South London melting pot of free parties and DIY anything is possible ethos.

Born of a collaboration between the short-lived Camberwell Butterflies project – featuring Alexis Worrall and DJ Shakra amongst others – and the Kedros’ bothers downtempo/trip hop forbears Slowly. With a shared label, on the ground-breaking Chill Out Records, and Thursday late-night encounters at London’s legendary Megatripolis club, they decided to pool studio resources and Tranquil Elephantizer was born.

Mixing lo-fi 808 heavy analog jams of the Butterflies, with the studio sophistication from the Slowly crew, sparked something new and Zombie Dawn was the first result. Local producer Crispin J Glover dropped by the studio, riding high with his Caucasian Boy project’s hypnotic Northern Lights (featuring DJ Shakra on Roland 303) – recently out on Strictly Rhythm – he offered to remix both Zombie Dawn and the Slowly album cut No Slo Dub for release on his own Matrix label and an underground hit on the London and West Coast 90s party scene was born.

Coming in the original “Saxmental Mix”, alongside Glover’s storming “Nu Dawn Club Mix” Zombie Dawn was a correlation of the past, present and future in one record. The history of British House can be heard in the bumpin’ nature of the beats, the sharp hats encompassed around dub overtones that give it added warmth. The slightly quirky, left field touches of the tracks, set against the then weekly overload of sharp US imports, brought the mix of influences from the Tonka and Sugarlump Sound Systems they had partied and been involved with, on to vinyl, adding touches of jazz keys and disco’s heritage for good measure.

A bedfellow for the emerging UK House sound coming on the likes of Luxury Service (Rob Mello / Zaki Dee), Other (A Man Called Adam / DJ D) and Nuphonic (Faze Action / Idjut Boys), that shaped and defined London clubs and far beyond. Some 30 years later, with a new album on the way, here is debut Tranquil Elephantizer’s release, remastered especially for this reissue, ready to bring that optimistic thinking back.

Tranquil the Mystery.

“Mi Manifesto” = “I just show up”. No warning.

MI MANIFESTO is an album slow-cooked—actually, really slow-cooked—pretty much over a match flame. It’s a little peek into my everyday life. If you stumble into it, you might bolt… or sit down, watch it unfold, and let this train hit you head-on. It’s not an album for everyone—only for those who walked in, got it, and decided to stay.

Pressed on a brilliant acid-yellow 12”, this special release is packed with surprises:
Each copy includes a custom insert by Pan Dan featuring the album’s lyrics. Inside every package, you’ll also find a personalized surprise gift — a small creative token straight from Pan Dan’s imagination. It might be playful, poetic, unexpected… or all of these at once. In any case, it will always be yours alone.

The second release from Irish label IL Corpo Records comes from Dublin native Dave Hughes. The Fastplay E.P. sees the accomplished audio engineer and Dj return to production duties with 4 carefully crafted excursions into mid tempo deep house with elements of dub and techno. Having had multiple releases on John Tejada’s legendary Palette label and iRecords amongst others, the production values are top notch and well executed making this an interesting listen indeed.

Fastplay chugs along building gradually before sultry vocals from Svelte weave their way into the mix and beckon the listener to the dance floor for the night ahead.

Feel Better is a downtempo dubby experiment inflected with a dose of rave nostalgia.

Walk Alone sees more atmospheric chord work and well chosen percussion that cements the sentimental feel of the E.P.

Tabouli rounds out the release with broken beats wrapped up in mid eastern rhythms. Moody chords and a G Funk lead line keep the groove evolving to the end.

Following on from Studiotek’s relaunch last year, the seminal UK tech-house label combines a repressed collaborative project between Dave Brennan and label owner, Darren Roach with two new and unreleased tracks on the other side.
Rolling, prime-time energy on the A side with more dubby, low-slung flavours in the form of ‘Let’s Search’ and ‘Kambo’. The original pressing of ‘Ride The Riddem’ (STUK002) has fetched a fair sum on Discogs and is now available for the first time again since 2004.

2025 Repress

DJ Support: Kerri Chandler, Chris Stussy, Archie Hamilton, Fabe, Groovesh, Vlad Caia, Andrey P Ush Krav, Thor, Masimillano Pagliara, Dubtil, Reboot, East End Dubs, IULY.B, Josh Wink

Chris Stussy ‘A Glimmer Of Hope’ EP in now being re-issued due to demand on LTD edition transparent red vinyl.

Amsterdam based producer and DJ Chris Stussy has become one of the most eminent figures in the contemporary house scene of the Netherlands and across the globe over the past 10 years, racking up releases on the likes of Eastenderz, Moscow, PIV, Contstant Sound and most recently his own Up The Stuss imprint.

Leading the release is ‘Central Frenzy’, laid out across six and a half minutes with skippy percussion, a snaking bass groove, intricate synth sequences and sweeping vocal chants. ‘Riva De Biasio’ follows and tips the focus over to airy atmospherics a jazz-tinged bass groove and squelchy acid licks atop swinging drums.

‘Deviant Shadow’ opens the flip-side and merges an amalgamation of expansive dub chords and bouncy sub bass tones with a robust 4/4 rhythm. Lastly to round things out is title-cut ‘A Glimmer Of Hope’, wrapping up the release on a deeper tip courtesy of ethereal pad swells, metallic synth licks and shuffled drums.

Following his well-received label debut Sideways, Seliga returns to Trance-Atlantyk with his latest release, Lush. This four-track package features three versatile club cuts alongside a heavyweight remix from fellow mustache-sporting maestro, Pablo Bozzi.

The title track, “Lush,” continues the dreamy-yet-euphoric path blazed on his previous record, expertly blending dubbed-out tech house rhythms with evocative, Orbital-esque soundscapes and sparkling melodic leads. Taking the energy up a gear, Pablo Bozzi delivers a remix that remains respectful to the original’s core while injecting it with his trademark high-octane “bozziness” and playful nods to speed garage.

On the B-side, “Tech House 3000” offers a more direct, straightforward club banger. Reminiscent of the early-2000s tech house sound, the track is seasoned with tripped-out bleeps and classic dub sirens for a psychedelic touch. Finally, the EP rounds out with “That HOR Track,” a piece originally drafted for Seliga’s live set during Trance-atlantyk’s HÖR takeover. It serves as a sophisticated take on classic 90s house, driven by that iconic Korg M1 organ bassline, syncopated percussion, and sweet, luscious synth pads.

Originally released in 1988 on the compilation Acid Tracks Vol. 3 via Needle Records, "The Other Side" has long been recognised as a potent example of early Chicago acid house. Now, more than three decades later, the track receives its first official 12" release - and, crucially, its first release with the original artists correctly credited. While historically attributed to Maurice Joshua, "The Other Side" was in fact produced by Da Posse (Hula Mahone), with vocals by Martell. This forthcoming release marks the first time that the original production has been properly acknowledged and presented in its intended standalone 12" format, restoring authorship to the artists responsible for the record's creation. The release is issued by Island Life Records, a Bali-based label with a growing reputation for carefully curated projects that bridge foundational dance music history and contemporary club culture. By formally reintroducing "The Other Side" with accurate credits, Island Life Records contributes an important corrective to the historical record of Chicago house and acid house music. Musically, "The Other Side" remains a striking artefact of its era: minimal, hypnotic, and emotionally charged, balancing raw machine-driven groove with an atmospheric vocal presence. It exemplifies the experimental, DJ-led ethos of late-1980s Chicago, where tracks were built for function, feeling, and longevity on the dancefloor rather than commercial visibility. The release is accompanied by a set of new remixes that respectfully extend the track's legacy into the present day. Remix duties come from Island Life Records founder Garry Todd under his Clouds Of Kouros alias, Johnny Aux (one half of Paranoid London), and Age Of Hyperion, with the digital including a remix from Garry Todd, each offering a distinct contemporary interpretation while retaining the spirit and tension of the original recording. This release stands not only as a long-overdue physical edition, but as a historically significant moment: the first time the original production has been released on 12", and the first time the correct creative contributors have been formally recognised.

(Early support by Ben Klock, DVS1 & Rene Wise) DHÆÜR makes his debut on Dustin Zahn's Enemy Records with 4 stripped down Techno tools ranging from "relentless and heavy" to "grooving and introspective." Each track offers a different approach to minimalistic Techno, all rich in moody atmospherics.

In classic A1 fashion, "Bayes Theorem" is the heaviest track on the record. Throbbing sub bass meshes together with pedaling hi hats while vocal chops and modulating synth work cover the top end. It's sinister and pounding, yet retains a sense of groove without becoming too aggressive. "Perception" closes the A side with a deeper and more introspective approach. The bass fills in only where necessary,leaving the pads and bleepy synths to do all the heavy lifting.

"Scanning" kicks off the B-side, defined by a rolling bass line and moody chord stabs. It gives the dance floor exactly what it needs and nothing more. The record comes to a close with "5th Avenue." It's deep, steady, rolling, and dripping in polymeter synth pulses. Brief glimpses of vocal phrases offset the darkness, giving it a bit of funk and playfulness...making it essential for deeper late night sets.