Selected by Lea Lisa, Many Shades Of House - Vol 2 is a reflection of time, movement and memory. Built from decades of digging, collecting and playing records, this new chapter captures the many emotional layers of house music.
From uplifting, groove-led moments to deeper, more obscure and cerebral territories. Each track has been chosen not only for its musical strength, but for the stories it carries: nights behind the decks, connections on the dancefloor, and the quiet influence these records have had along the way.
True to the spirit of the first volume, this selection celebrates diversity and timelessness without compromise. It is a tribute to the artists’ vision, to the culture that surrounds this music, and to the shared experience that continues to unite listeners, dancers and selectors across generations.
Lisa O"Neill stammt aus Ballyhaise im irischen County Cavan und lebt heute in Dublin. Ihr Album Heard A Long Gone Song, erschienen auf River Lea (Rough Trade), verbindet traditionelle Folk-Lieder mit eigenen Kompositionen. Durch ihre unverwechselbare Interpretation verschmelzen alte und neue Stücke zu einem zeitlosen Ganzen. Das Album eröffnet mit einer puren, unbegleiteten Version von The Galway Shawl, gefolgt von der düsteren Ballade Along The North Strand, die durch Geige und Concertina eindringlich untermalt wird. Ein weiterer Höhepunkt ist das bewegende Duett The Factory Girl mit Radie Peat von Lankum. 2018 trat O"Neill bei Shane MacGowans 60. Geburtstag in der National Concert Hall in Dublin auf. Auf dem Album interpretiert sie zudem Lullaby Of London von The Pogues, dessen Textzeile dem Album den Titel gab. Zu ihren eigenen Liedern gehören Rock The Machine, das die Folgen der Mechanisierung für ehemalige Hafenarbeiter in Dublin thematisiert, sowie Violet Gibson, die Geschichte einer Irin, die 1926 ein Attentat auf Mussolini verüben wollte. Mit diesen Stücken verleiht O"Neill oft übersehenen Menschen und Geschichten eine Stimme. Aufgenommen in einem ländlichen Studio nahe dem Loiretal und produziert von David Odlum und Lisa O"Neill, knüpft das Album an den Erfolg von Pothole In The Sky (2016) an. Es ist eine zugleich politische, poetische und zutiefst persönliche Folk-Platte, deren Lieder zeitlos wirken.
Mit "All Tied Together" veröffentlichen Ye Vagabonds ihr bislang eindrucksvollstes Album - ein berührendes, cineastisches Werk voller Erinnerungen, Dankbarkeit und Gemeinschaft. Die vielfach preisgekrönten Brüder Brian und Diarmuid Mac Gloinn verweben in ihren neuen Songs Heimat, Verlust und Zusammenhalt zu einem emotionalen Klangteppich, der weit über Irland hinausreicht. Aufgenommen in einem alten Haus in Galway und produziert von Phil Weinrobe (Big Thief, Adrienne Lenker), entfaltet das Album eine organische Intensität - live eingespielt, ohne Kopfhörer, mit bis zu zehn Musiker:innen. Akustische und elektrische Gitarren, Harmonium, Moog-Synthesizer, Trompete, Cello und die unverwechselbare Geschwisterharmonie schaffen einen warmen, zugleich modernen Sound. Von der nostalgischen Erinnerung in "On Sitric Road" über die mitreißende Hymne "The Flood" bis zur zarten Liebeserklärung "Young Again" erzählen Ye Vagabonds von echten Orten, echten Menschen und dem Wunsch nach Zugehörigkeit. In Songs wie "Danny" und "Mayfly" finden die Übersehenen und Gestrandeten eine Stimme, während Stücke wie "Four Walls" Hoffnung und Halt feiern. "All Tied Together" ist eine Ode an Freundschaft, Verlust, Heimat und das gemeinsame Singen - ein Album, das Herz und Seele gleichermaßen wärmt und die verbindende Kraft der Musik spürbar macht.
Wir liegen hier auf unserem Dach und bleiben stundenlang wach - immer wieder auf unserem Dach - unserem Dach - uns trägt das Wir . Das sind Zeilen aus der ersten Single Dach von LEA, die von dem Versprechen, sich niemals zu verlieren, singt. Das Album klingt frei und weit, Stimme und Musik tragen sich gegenseitig. Die junge Sängerin und Texterin schafft es auf ihrem Debütalbum Vakuum , die Zuhörer mit in ihre Welten einzuschließen. Vakuum" erscheint am 22. April 2016 und ist ein Monolog, eine ständige Selbstsuche, das Ausloten eigener Gefühle. Letztes Jahr hat sie bereits Fabian Römer und Johannes Oerding supportet.
“The hand knows best,” the painter Margaux Williamson says. “A shape produces itself, where I go toward what is intuitive, rather than logical.” The shapely, intuitive songs that comprise Ada Lea's third album, when i paint my masterpiece, are surprising, imagistic, tactile. They stand before us and we feel their brushstrokes. Alexandra Levy holds her guitar against the backdrop of a sea of her paintings on the album cover and it’s tempting to ask: is painting a metaphor here, for music or life? No! As ever, she resists tidy metaphors. She’s a master of this kind of thorny lowercase title that germinates and grows with time. In a real, profound way, music and painting go hand-in-hand as she unveils a new style of subversion and surrealism inspired by her transdisciplinarity.
Levy is a Renaissance woman, and Ada Lea’s albums have been swelling in scope alongside the evolution of her artistic life. Her recent turn toward pedagogy—teaching a songwriting course at Concordia University and co-facilitating a community-based group called The Songwriting Method—weaves another vivid thread into her multifaceted practice. Her debut LP, what we say in private, blurred the lines between interior and performative worlds. Her sophomore record, one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden, featured vignettes centered on Montreal. On this sprawling and ambitious album, written over three years and whittled down from over 200 songs, she asks: what happens when you… pause? How can a life be held suspended in song? The album is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the transformations art can bring: the vision of an uncompromising artist dancing bravely and freely between registers and across mediums.
The album marks a reset—a quiet revolution. After years of relentless international touring, Levy felt an urgent need for community and renewal. Gruelling road schedules with very little support left her wondering: who am I really doing all this for? The system was uncaring and broken, and so it was that she came to envision a new healthy and healing mode of musical genesis. “For me, that looked like resting, extending my creative reach, going back to school, studying painting and poetry,” she explains. “Taking a step away from music as guided by industry expectations. Simplifying things. Getting a job, starting to teach. Engaging with the process rather than the product.” This need for a more deliberate creative renewal was rejected by her existing systems of support, so she began the search for an alternative.
Poor Creature is comprised of Ruth Clinton, Cormac MacDiarmada and John Dermody, all three are members of other bands (Landless and Lankum respectively) who have built a large following on re-interpreting songs from the past Songs that have existed for centuries can seem immutable and anchored to time. A new generation of Irish musicians are keen to acknowledge that musical legacy, while reimagining the songs within a contemporary context. Poor Creature's sound - particularly in the context of contemporary Irish folk - offers something unique. There's the gauzy, underwater, almost psychedelic seams of 'Bury Me Not' and 'Adieu Lovely Erin'. 'All Smiles Tonight' and 'Hicks' Farewell' nod to the influence of American folk/bluegrass acts like Doc Watson and the Louvin Brothers. These shifting sounds are made possible by producer John 'Spud' Murphy, who has produced all of Lankum's albums, and worked with Junior Brother, OXN, Pretty Happy, Ye Vagabonds as as well as the final two albums by The Jimmy Cake, with whom John has played for over 20 years. "There's something about the everyday and the fantastical, being entangled, which I think Irish music does so well." This also sums up All Smiles Tonight, moving through stories and loss and history to create an otherworldly and timeless album for the ages.
French singer, songwriter and producer Léa Sen’s debut album Levels, is a deeply immersive journey through memory, self-discovery, and emotional growth—imagined as a surreal, liminal hotel where each room holds a different chapter of her life.
Created in collaboration with her brother, Florian Fourlin, and inspired by Léa's own coming-of-age, Levels blends experimental pop with slinky R&B, woozy trip-hop, and warm, smudged guitars. The album plays with the tension between reality and dreamlike abstraction, examining the mysterious ups and downs of existence.
Sam Amidon is a singer and multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, fiddle). New album, Salt River finds Amidon reinterpreting and regenerating 10 familiar pieces of music that he has collected together over time, ranging from traditional English shanty Golden Willow Tree to Lou Reed's Big Sky. It was recorded in collaboration with saxophonist and producer Sam Gendel. Sam has released 7 acclaimed albums plus collaborated with The National, Bon Iver, Beth Orton, Marc Ribot & The Blind Boys of Alabama.
Das zweite Album »Zwischen meinen Zeilen« von LEA erscheint pünktlich zum 5. Geburtstag in einer wunderschönen Re-Edition; erstmals mit den Songs der »Zwischen meinen Zeilen Live EP« auf Vinyl. Ein weiteres besonderes Highlight ist die bisher unveröffentlichte 2023er Version von »Halb so viel«. Die Doppel-Vinyl wird individuell gefertigt mit einzigartigem, buntem Design für jede einzelne Platte.
The pair have impressive resumes. In the last five years alone, English has collaborated with William Basinski, Loscii and Merzbow, and Bertucci has, over a decade-plus, released numerous wide-ranging, innovative releases and presented her music at prestigious museums around the world (MOMA, Walker Museum, ReWire, Unsound). Here they branch out into new approaches (trans-hemispheric collaboration) and instruments (Bertucci plays cello, flute, violin and lap steel).
The results are deeply compelling and rooted in vastness of geological scale and time. It's all here - the emotion, the scale, the density, the fear, the wonder, the dirt. Chthonic is for everyone, but if you're a head, you already know this is a special release. Get in quick while there's enough wax to go around.
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Die Berliner "Bülowstrasse" wirkt auf den ersten Blick unspektakulär. Ein typischer Schmelztiegel in der Großstadt, irgendwo zwischen Kreuzberg, Charlottenburg und Schöneberg. Doch spätestens mit dem gleichnamigen Album von LEA, welches am 05.05.2023 erscheinen wird, bekommt die Strasse ihren festen Platz in der an musikalischen Anekdoten und Erzählungen so reichen Hauptstadt. Gemeinsam mit ihrem Kreativteam erzählt LEA auf ihrem mittlerweile fünften Studioalbum die Heldenreise einer imaginären Protagonistin aus Westberlin.
Ever spent Christmas in New
York City? It’s pure magic…the
department store decorations,
the nip in the air putting color in
the cheeks of eager shoppers, the
general spirit of bonhomie that
pervades the street and subway,
and—if you’re lucky—the silent
beauty of a fresh snowfall reflecting
in the streetlights. Having grown
up in New York, Lea Michele knows
well just how spectacular New York
can be during the holiday season;
and on this, her Top 40 2019
album, the Glee star (currently
playing Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway)
captured a sleigh-full of that Yuletide joy. The centerpiece of the
record is “Christmas in New York,” an original that, in her words,
“paints this beautiful picture of New York, but it also is really about
what it means to be with your family and friends and engaged in that
holiday spirit.” The rest of the record, which is produced by Glee
producers Alex and Adam Anders, is equally transcendent, featuring
duets with fellow Glee stars Jonathan Groff (the voice of Kristoff
in Frozen) and Darren Criss, plus a showstopping vocal display on
“Angels We Have Heard on High” with Cynthia Erivo. For its vinyl
debut, Christmas in the City comes to you in a gatefold album jacket
containing a printed inner sleeve featuring beautiful shots of Lea
spreading some Christmas cheer. A snow white vinyl pressing limited
to 1500 copies…Merry Christmas!
After her stunning release on our deeper House focused Karakul label, we are over the moon to welcome back Swiss producer Lea Lisa on our main Phonica imprint.
The ‘Love To The End EP’ takes influence and inspiration from a particular early 90s UK Techno rarity by Mark Goddard titled ‘The End’ (The Truth EP), a beautiful and emotive take on the classic sound of UK Techno that’s been much loved and highly sought after for decades, even being a particular favourite of Aphex Twin. It’s an ode to the original, rather than a remix or cover. The two mixes re-imagine the sound of soulful and deep Techno, combining driving basslines and drum machine grooves with atmospheric and nostalgic synth lines.
On the A-Side’s ‘Manchester Club Mix’, the focus is laser focused on peaktime dancefloors with a slowly building level of euphoria matched with rolling drums until the breakdown chills the mood and the plucky, earth shaking bassline returns before the tension is released and the melodies float effortlessly around the pounding rhythm.
Over on the B-Side, the ‘Sunset Mix’ jacks up the drums with kicks and claps that shake your spine. The bassline rolls steadily throughout the mix but the melodic lines this time are more restrained, introspective and subtle, echoing and harking to past rave memories with ease...
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Ye Vagabonds release their second album for Rough Trade's River Lea
label.Nine Waves was recorded in the Dublin Mountains at Hellfire
Studios, produced by John 'Spud' Murphy (whose previous work includes records by black midi, Lankum and caroline)
The album features 11 tracks of both traditional and original songs and tunes. Nine Waves follows the duo's standalone single I'm A Rover, which won them an RTE Radio One Folk Award for Best Traditional Folk Track. Ye Vagabonds were also named Best Folk Group for the second time at the 2021 ceremony, where they hold the record for most awarded artists.The brotherly harmonies and multiinstrumental abilities of Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn were joined on Nine Waves by Kate Ellis (cello) and Caimin Gilmore (double bass), both members of the Irish contemporary classical group Crash Ensemble, and Ryan Hargadon (Anna Mieke, Rachael Lavelle, Kojaque) on piano and saxophone.
River Lea (a division of Rough Trade) releases Fire Draw Near - an album of
Irish traditional songs and music from the archives, compiled by Ian Lynch
of Dublin band Lankum.
“This LP is a collection of 13 rare, strange and wonderful gems from the Irish
tradition. Recorded in various parts of the country over a period of over 60
years between 1947 and 2013.
They show us a strong, multi-faceted and vibrant musical tradition in the country; one that still exists in the present day. The settings are varied - bars, living rooms, campsites, recording studios - as are the backgrounds of those who
perform.
The music of the Travellers, who tended to the flame of tradition while the rest
of society began to lose interest is well-represented, as are styles ranging from
sean-n s singing in Connemara, Donegal fiddle-playing, uilleann piping from
Dublin and English language singing of ballads both bawdy and beautiful from
across Ireland.” - Ian Lynch.
Fire Draw Near - An Anthology of Traditional Irish Song and Music is the fifth
album to be released by River Lea, following records by Lisa O’Neill, Br ghde
Chaimbeul, Ye Vagabonds and John Francis Flynn.
Fire Draw Near is also a monthly podcast and radio show, hosted by Ian Lynch
which investigates Irish traditional music in all its myriad forms.
one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden is the name of the second album by Canadian songwriter Alexandra Levy, publicly known by the moniker Ada Lea. On one hand, it’s a collection of walking-paced, cathartic pop/folk songs, on the other it’s a
book of heart-twisting, rear-view stories of city life. Ada Lea has followed up the creative, indie-rock songcraft of her debut what we say in private with surprising arrangements and new perspectives. The album is set in Montreal and each song exists as a dot on a personal history map of the city where Levy grew up. Due on September 24th from Saddle Creek and Next Door Records in Canada, the physical record will be released alongside a map of song locations and a songbook with chords and lyrics, inspired by Levy’s love of real book standards.
Levy penned and demoed this batch of songs in an artist residency in Banff, Alberta. After sorting and editing she made her way to Los Angeles to record with producer/engineer Marshall Vore (Phoebe Bridgers) who had previously worked on 2020’s woman, here E.P. After a long walk to the studio each morning, Levy spent her session days diving into the arrangements, playfully letting everything fall in place with complete trust for her collaborators. She notes “Marshall’s expertise and experience with drumming and songwriting was the perfect blend for what the songs needed. He was able to support me in a harmonic, lyrical, and rhythmic sense.” Other contributors that left a notable fingerprint on the soundscape include drummer Tasy Hudson, guitarist Harrison Whitford (of Phoebe Bridgers band), and mixing engineer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett). Many songs came together with a blend of studio tracks and elements from the pre-recorded demos.
The resulting sounds range from classic, soft-rock beauty to intimate finger-picked folk passages and night-drive art-pop. And the textures are frequently surprising due to the collage of lo-fi and hi-fi sounds that tastefully decorate the album without ever clouding the heart-center of the song. Tracks like “damn” and “oranges” feel timeless with their AM gold groove and 70’s studio sheen, while songs like “my love 4 u is real '', “salt spring” and “can’t stop me from dying” sound completely modern in their use of electronics, sound effects, and pitched vocals. In their subtle, sonic variety, all of the album’s songs flow together with ease into one big, romantic dream for Levy’s silken vocals to float above.
Inspired by personal experience, daydreams, and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, the lyrics of one hand... center storytelling on a bigger scale. The experience and emotions of a year are communicated through Levy’s vignettes of city life. Her prose is centered in its setting of the St Denis area of Montreal as it draws up memories from local haunts like Fameux, La Rockette, and Quai des Brumes in rearview reverie. Levy creates a balance through the album’s year by splitting her songs evenly into four seasons. Opening track “damn”, as a song of winter, kicks off the narrative with the events of a cursed New Year’s Eve party. Immediately this timeline becomes jumbled into a Proustian haziness. The listener is then led through the heat-stricken, brain fog of Summer song, “can’t stop me from dying” and then into the autumnal romanticism of “oranges” before returning back to New Year’s on “partner,” which Levy describes as “a woozy late-night taxi blues reflection on moments when timing can be so right, yet so wrong…”. These collected stories as a whole chart the unavoidable growth that comes with experience. “All is forgiven in time. All is forgotten in time. And when the music stopped, I heard an answer” (from “my love 4 u is real”).
Whether to consider these songs fiction or memoir remains unknown. On one hand, Levy says “Why would I try to write a story that’s not my own? What good would that do?” but on the other hand, she is quick to note the ways that language fails to describe reality, and how difficult this makes it to tell an actually true story. The poetic misuse of the word “sewing” in the album’s title serves as a nod to the limitations words provide. What does it mean to sew the garden? And how can we appreciate its carefully knit blooms when the rearview mirror is so full of car exhaust?
one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden is the name of the second album by Canadian songwriter Alexandra Levy, publicly known by the moniker Ada Lea. On one hand, it’s a collection of walking-paced, cathartic pop/folk songs, on the other it’s a
book of heart-twisting, rear-view stories of city life. Ada Lea has followed up the creative, indie-rock songcraft of her debut what we say in private with surprising arrangements and new perspectives. The album is set in Montreal and each song exists as a dot on a personal history map of the city where Levy grew up. Due on September 24th from Saddle Creek and Next Door Records in Canada, the physical record will be released alongside a map of song locations and a songbook with chords and lyrics, inspired by Levy’s love of real book standards.
Levy penned and demoed this batch of songs in an artist residency in Banff, Alberta. After sorting and editing she made her way to Los Angeles to record with producer/engineer Marshall Vore (Phoebe Bridgers) who had previously worked on 2020’s woman, here E.P. After a long walk to the studio each morning, Levy spent her session days diving into the arrangements, playfully letting everything fall in place with complete trust for her collaborators. She notes “Marshall’s expertise and experience with drumming and songwriting was the perfect blend for what the songs needed. He was able to support me in a harmonic, lyrical, and rhythmic sense.” Other contributors that left a notable fingerprint on the soundscape include drummer Tasy Hudson, guitarist Harrison Whitford (of Phoebe Bridgers band), and mixing engineer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett). Many songs came together with a blend of studio tracks and elements from the pre-recorded demos.
The resulting sounds range from classic, soft-rock beauty to intimate finger-picked folk passages and night-drive art-pop. And the textures are frequently surprising due to the collage of lo-fi and hi-fi sounds that tastefully decorate the album without ever clouding the heart-center of the song. Tracks like “damn” and “oranges” feel timeless with their AM gold groove and 70’s studio sheen, while songs like “my love 4 u is real '', “salt spring” and “can’t stop me from dying” sound completely modern in their use of electronics, sound effects, and pitched vocals. In their subtle, sonic variety, all of the album’s songs flow together with ease into one big, romantic dream for Levy’s silken vocals to float above.
Inspired by personal experience, daydreams, and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, the lyrics of one hand... center storytelling on a bigger scale. The experience and emotions of a year are communicated through Levy’s vignettes of city life. Her prose is centered in its setting of the St Denis area of Montreal as it draws up memories from local haunts like Fameux, La Rockette, and Quai des Brumes in rearview reverie. Levy creates a balance through the album’s year by splitting her songs evenly into four seasons. Opening track “damn”, as a song of winter, kicks off the narrative with the events of a cursed New Year’s Eve party. Immediately this timeline becomes jumbled into a Proustian haziness. The listener is then led through the heat-stricken, brain fog of Summer song, “can’t stop me from dying” and then into the autumnal romanticism of “oranges” before returning back to New Year’s on “partner,” which Levy describes as “a woozy late-night taxi blues reflection on moments when timing can be so right, yet so wrong…”. These collected stories as a whole chart the unavoidable growth that comes with experience. “All is forgiven in time. All is forgotten in time. And when the music stopped, I heard an answer” (from “my love 4 u is real”).
Whether to consider these songs fiction or memoir remains unknown. On one hand, Levy says “Why would I try to write a story that’s not my own? What good would that do?” but on the other hand, she is quick to note the ways that language fails to describe reality, and how difficult this makes it to tell an actually true story. The poetic misuse of the word “sewing” in the album’s title serves as a nod to the limitations words provide. What does it mean to sew the garden? And how can we appreciate its carefully knit blooms when the rearview mirror is so full of car exhaust?
Singer, guitarist, flautist (and practitioner of the double tin whistle), John is
also a member of celebrated traditional group Skipper’s Alley and is joined
here by bandmate Ultan O’Brien (also of Slow Moving Clouds).
Also contributing to the record are singer Consuelo Breschi of the duo Varo,
sean n s singer Saileog N Ceannabh in, Phil Christie (O Emperor / The Bonk) on
keyboards, and drummer & composer Ross Chaney who created many of the
Tascam tape-loop drones that bind the album together.
The record was produced, engineered and mixed by Brendan Jenkinson (Villagers / Cloud Castle Lake) who also joins in on a host of instruments for the record. It was recorded and mixed at Oxford Lane and Sonic Studios, Dublin. The
material John Francis Flynn has chosen to record includes songs learned from
recordings of Shirley Collins, Frank Harte and settled Traveller Paddy Quilligan,
two songs written by activist and folk revivalist Ewan MacColl, and a West Indies halyard shanty published by “Last Working Shantyman” Stan Hugill, alongside in-studio improvisations and tunes picked up by John along the way
A fresh and open music, delicate and space-conscious, is shaped as
drummer Thomas Stronen and Ayumi Tanaka, previously heard in the
ensemble Time Is A Blind Guide on ‘Lucus’, resurface in a new trio with clarinettist/singer/percussionist Marthe Lea.
The group first came together at Oslo’s Royal Academy of Music, where for two years the players would meet each week for exploratory music making.
Stronen: “We always played freely- drifting between elements of contemporary classical music, folk music, jazz, whatever we were inspired by. Sometimes the music was very quiet and minimalistic: playing together generated some special experiences.”
The spontaneous spirit of the music is reflected in the trio’s debut recording, which was made at the Lugano radio studio and produced by Manfred Eicher.
With the exception of the title piece, based on a traditional Norwegian tune, the music on Bayou was collectively created in the moment.
First track by 4Q is a wicked Breakbeat tune ! Then comes C-Cil Fakom with a techno sweetie groove... The flip starts solid with Nkod and a Hardtek acid.. and finally Na Mash K closes the affair in a banging acid hardtek track ! A fat one !
Remixes from Ruede hagelstein & Amin Fallaha, Scuba, Julien Bracht and Tom (Alt-J) Hymn to the Night is the debut album from rising electronic post-punk duo, Lea Porcelain. The album was writt en and recorded over a two year period in Berlin's FUNKHAUS, a broadcasti ng house created under Soviet supervision that now houses the world's biggest recording studio. We are proud of what we have made and we have learned a lot through the process,' recall the band. The spectrum of the album is extremely wide.
Every song works together, playing with very different moods. We would describe it as atmospheric, cinemati c and melancholic'. Including the singles, 'Bones', 'Out Is In', and 'Warsaw Street' The song is rich in vibrant synthesizers and gentle vocals laced with percussion as lively as a marching band, creati ng a track as quixoti c as a lucid dream. - Stereogum
Ominous motorik kraut rumblings and the thudding electronic trickery of prime era Underworld. - Godisinthetvzine
Music-wise, we're thinking of smooshing together Joy Division with Echo & The Bunnymen (sure) coupled with the modern-downbeatness of The XX. So everything dressed in black basically. Brilliant stuff . - Killing Moon
An electronic duo from Frankfurt, Lea Porcelain have a dark, twisted yet oddly enti cing sound. - Clash Magazine
The next installment on Aus Music sees the return of a relatively new addition to the roster Rob Glassett aka Fold. Throughout previous 12s on Manmakemusic and Electric Minds and on his outstanding 'Netflix & Chill' debut for Aus last year - Fold has laced together dusty House grooves built with a classic approach to sampling Funk, Disco and Soul records. Next up - his 'Lenny's Jam' EP starts up with a dub techno groove built with delayed and panned stabs and sharp, pacy drums. 'Rosie Lea' lays out a rich and sunny groove as a playful sample filters into focus over deftly treated drum kit samples and a buoyant bass line. 'Tracksuits and Tennis Shoes' then follows up with a no-nonsene party jam - a short funk link is set over a booming kick that closes up a nicely varied package".
'My last record was a break up record and if I had to label this one I would call it a make up record. I'm making up with myself. making up for lost time. making up for everything I ever did and never did.'
Adele is set to release '25,' her highly anticipated new album, which will be available globally on Friday November 20th and is the first new music from her since her Oscar winning single 'Skyfall' in 2012.
'Hello,' the debut single from '25,' will be available to buy and stream on Friday October 23rd. The cinematic video for 'Hello' will also be revealed on Friday October 23rd. It was shot in the countryside surrounding Montreal and is directed by the celebrated young Canadian director Xavier Dolan (Mommy, Tom at the Farm).
For over 30 years the Midwest machine menace that is Paul Birken has been developing and exploring his love for the limitless potential that exists when you chain together synths, sequencers, samplers and beat makers, he is a true audio explorer communicating his own unique sonic exploration through his machines + odd dreams. Starting out back in the day merely with a Commodore 64 computer and a few synths, his studio gear arsenal has constantly evolved over the years into a myriad of unfathomable boxes, cables and bangin’ in his attic allowing him to freely manipulate his random audio creations into the most serious and fun grooves anywhere in the techno realms. Along-with his own imprint Tonewrecker Recordings, Paul’s appeared on a huge stack of the most impressive labels including Don’t Recordings, Fun In The Murky, Earwiggle, Mord and of course a plethora of remixes and tracks on our very own RIOT Radio Records.
From within a tomb in ancient lands comes this 'Bandage Boogie.' A hallowed homage to all things that are non-stop breakin' n' stompin' n' boppin' to the RIOT beats that have now manifested themselves on a 'Mummificated' dance floor near you. This aint street life, this is tomb life, and you'll need as many sacred tanna leaves to keep you movin’ as your fiendish high priest will bestow upon you. This brewed techno fluid that we're administering will ultimately invoke 'The Curse of RIOT’ and you’ll be doomed to eternal bouncin' aboot to its 'Pyramid Pongo' beats that go mysteriously THUMP in the night. Each track on here, and especially in his infamously legendary live sets, are unique in that they get erased from his machines after their creation and won’t ever be spawned again, but ssssssssssssssh, Mummy's the word.
The full digital release also features two bonus immortal tracks delving you deeper into the life-giving sounds of this ‘Mummy Wrapsody.’
WARNING: THESE UNWRAPPED TECHNO BEATS CREATE A WONK-A-THON YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE FROM
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.
Big welcome to Time is Now for J Wax for a bit of a statement EP and I am coming out swinging here cos this is a really good record. There’s good, and then there’s this, the kind of good that stays good.
You know that feeling when something’s just right. When flow state becomes clarity. Well listening to this EP from J Wax gives me that feeling. This is proper Goldilocks business. It’s equal parts Gun Fingers and Loved up hugs. Just right.
By now we all know that something very special happens when Speed Garage collides with 1st wave UK Hard House - but - what makes this just right is that J Wax didn’t stop there, just like the Dutch 2nd Wave of Hard House he’s slid onwards into euphoric trance and oh boy am I here for it. In 1997 we got Double99’s Rip Groove and Nalin & Kane’s Beach Ball and for me this EP has as much in common with perfectly formed ‘97 Trance as it does with Speed Garage. Who says you can’t have it all!
We’ve been following J Wax’s output for years. He has been grafting hard. And for me he’s already firmly a part of the long lineage of globally significant Scottish party starting producers and DJ’s. So when we signed this EP to Time is Now I was gassed. Four big tunes. Sick EP. For me it’s crystal. J Wax is now a producer operating in rarefied air.
Run the Tracks….
A1. The dubplate of ’Peaches’ has been causing mayhem for a minute. Gliding in smooth before that big diva vocal screams down the bassline.
A2. J Wax tags in Edinburgh local RUA.DJ. The pair double up on ‘Shift’ for a slice of Trance infused but no-nonsense Speedy G. Reece bass & gun shots + bouncy synthline & ethereal chords. Lose it and yourself.
B1. ‘Soul Movement’ is a big room weapon. Serious levels on this one that leave no doubt - this is a producer at the top of his game, writing high energy weapons to destroy the dance.
B2. ‘Smokin’ is peak time bizness. Harder darker house with a diiirty dirty south vocal chop. This one is heads down & lock in…
They say 3 is the magic number so here we are with Part 3 of our 'Back To The Old School' 12" series. Four cuts of the finest Disco-Rap remixes by Dave 'Love' Lee, we start things right off with some uptempo disco in the shape of Eddie Cheeba's " Lookin' Good" with it's clav stabbing & synth jabbing funk, ready to rock any dance floor with it's brilliant part-rapped, part-sung vocal play. Two versions are included of the B-Boys early 80's breakers anthem 'Rock The House'. First up is the breakbeat underpinned 'Magic Funk' mix that utilises one of the funkiest basslines of all time. On the flip the 'Roller Rink' mix is a mid tempo floor filler reprising a much loved 90s r&b jam to great effect. Finishing affairs is the 'Maximus Boogie Mix' of Maximus Three, leaning heavily into the classic disco-rap sound of fat Good Times bass, squelching synths under the bragging raps of TJ Swann and Pee Wee Mel.
The Saint Wax label branches out with a new series of edits from founder Eduardo Barbi aka Gledd, who traverses funk, disco and soul across five irresistible cuts. 'Street Preacher' has a spoken word that reminds of early rap days paired with a rousing choral backing, then 'Stevie's Word' turns up the funk with a chunky bassline. 'Do It For Me' is another gospel-fuelled pumper with big stabs ramping up the intensity and then 'Under The Moonlight' is a classy disco stomper lead by florid and chunky funk in the drums. 'Your Love' is an excitable finish with big horns, bigger chords and even bigger vocals. It's big, basically.
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.
Charlotte de Witte now unleashes her slamming three-track EP ‘The Resistance’, featuring Theo Nasa and XSALT, out on KNTXT. It follows the astonishing summer tour of her new audiovisual show ‘The Resistance’, including a spectacular ‘XXL’ version at Belgium’s Rock Werchter in July, for a 40,000 audience watching from inside and outside the tent.
World #1 techno artist Charlotte de Witte’s new show continues a standout year of experimental ventures and celebrations, global pop-up shows, monster street parties, incredible new music (EPs and Deluxe LP)… and most recently ‘The Resistance’ AV show world premier at UNVRS Ibiza and the EU tour. The new ‘The Resistance’ EP is hard, fast, and uncompromising. It features Theo Nasa, whose raw, deep techno EP ‘Lifeline’ was released on her KNTXT label; vocal artist / longtime collaborator XSALT, (previously on ‘No Division’, ‘Overdrive’, ‘Roar’, ‘How You Move’); and Charlotte’s own vocals on a personal track ten years in the making.
‘The Resistance’ EP title track feat. Theo Nasa is urgent, demanding, unapologetic. Juddering main theme, rattling hyperspeed beat, spacey hoover swoops form a matrix for the deep, amused authoritative voice of Nasa – ‘we are unity, we are techno’. The brief ‘The Resistance (Intro Version)’ opens with futuristic FX and Nasa’s voice to the fore introducing the techno credo.
‘Never have I ever teased a track this much as I teased ‘The Resistance’. From the moment the track was being made in the studio, I knew this was going to be a special one. Theo Nasa captures the spirit of the underground and guides you through the essence of club culture like no one did before. An entire A/V show grew out of this feeling, this philosophy. It’s one of the biggest tracks I’ve ever made.’ Charlotte de Witte
‘See Through The Lies’ feat. XSALT: futuristic FX, fast stabby synth theme, and XSALT intoning ‘see through the lies. It’s time to take control’. A message of defiance. ‘XSALT delivers again on ‘See Through The Lies’, offering his own take on the EP's theme. Open your eyes. Break the illusion, see through the lies. Release the pressure. It’s time to take control!’ de Witte says.
‘Another Place’ has relentless pace, twanging pizzicato synth, and de Witte’s whispered phrases becoming full voice. ‘’Another Place’ has been in the making for over a decade. It saw the light of day in Brussels, where the lyrics took shape together with my friend One Track Brain. The track was forgotten and resurfaced years later, leading to an entirely new track created around that magical vocal from all those years ago. This is an EP very close to my heart.’
At the heart of ‘The Resistance’ EP and AV show is a message central to de Witte’s work: Protect Club Culture and the communities that sustain it. That’s why de Witte is donating all proceeds from The Resistance EP to The Nighttime Foundation, a global nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding and shaping the future of nightlife, empowering grassroots communities and promoting nightlife as a vital form of culture worldwide.
CLUB U NITE RECORDS PRESENTS: HIS MASTER’S VINYL EP
Club U Nite Records takes it straight back to the early ’90s with four raw and swinging house cuts.
Manhattan Project opens with “Shufflin’ On” – a fat, slamming shuffle groove packed with jazzy touches, swinging drums and a classic old-school organ. “Everybody Move” follows with chunky Rhodes loops, soulful samples and a straight-up floor-moving vibe. Killer!
On the flip, Black Chunes Productions delivers “Jerk Yu Body”, channeling the raw swing and chord-driven energy of the early-’90s New Jersey vibe. Shuffled hi-hats, snares and dark leads bring the groove of that era straight back.
Reign Of Rhythm closes things out with “Organic Pressure” – stripped-down, driving, dope organ house. Minimal, but seriously fat.
Special poster on 250gram paper. Postcard with photo taken by Sandrien. Hand-numbered sticker. Shrinwrap
After more than a decade without releasing new music, Amsterdam DJ and producer Sandrien returns with her debut album Compass, released on her own new label, inspi. Created during a stay in Spain, where she finally found the space to create freely again, the album marks a new chapter: no genres, no expectations, just music made purely on feeling. Compass is an album about finding your own path, personally and musically, a cycle of searching and finding, letting go and beginning again. Lead single 'Life' laid the foundation for it all. The visual world of the album is just as personal: photographs Sandrien took around her house formed the basis for its artwork and imagery. With 27 years of experience behind her, Compass proves that mastery doesn't lead to routine, but to exploration. This double LP includes a beautiful double-sided poster featuring two original artworks of ‘Compass’ by Dutch artist Pieter Jan Boterkoek. Releases October 9, 2026 Written and produced by Sandrien Mixed by Julien Chaptal Mastered by Giuseppe Tillieci at Enisslab Artwork by Studio Pieter Jan Boterhoek This album is made with love in Spain, Volkshotel Amsterdam and Groenekan.
The premise of this compilation is simple: music we’d like to hear at the airport.
The idea came after learning that Honolulu’s international airport has been playing AI-generated music over its speakers since November 2025. First reported by Civil Beat, the news has caused frustration and disappointment among residents and visitors, as well as within the local music community.
Everyone knows Hawaii is one of the most musically rich regions in the world — why then is the airport using AI music? 'Music For The Airport' is our response.
Located in the middle of the Pacific at the outskirts of one the most remote cities on the planet, Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) is for most people the first place they encounter when they arrive in Hawaii. Warm sun, tropical tradewinds, playful palm trees and majestic mountains welcome every traveler, as do the sounds of birds, familiar music from Hawaiian artists like Aunty Genoa Keawe and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, and—at least for now—seventeen “island-themed” AI-generated songs.
In late 1977, while sitting in Germany’s Cologne Bonn Airport on a Sunday morning, Brian Eno noticed how terribly uncomfortable he felt hearing the airport’s “muzak” overhead. For a harried, hurried place like the airport where travelers scramble to their gates, stand in long border control lines, and wait impatiently for their luggage at the carousels, music can create more anxiety than calm. Asking himself, "What should we be hearing here?", Eno soon created ‘Ambient 1: Music For Airports’, a sonic remedy aimed at reducing nervousness in public spaces.
When we heard the news that HNL airport is playing AI-generated “muzak”, we were immediately reminded of Eno’s genre-defying 1978 album. And we were similarly inspired to react. But how? Recreating an ambient masterpiece wasn’t in our wheelhouse. We started digging through our catalog of licensed music which we haven’t yet re-released. We quickly realized this was our chance to highlight some of favorite songs from the so-called CD era: the 1990s and 2000s (with a few exceptions). In less than 20 minutes, we pulled 17 original songs recorded by local artists between 1984 and 2017.
The speed at which this project came together surprised us; reactionary gut instinct often produces swift and lasting results. Ironically, our new compilation likely took less time than it did for the state Department of Transportation to commission its AI songs in question. But even though ‘Music for the Airport’ came together in less than one week, the truth is that this collection of 17 songs is the result of years of hard work, trust, sacrifice, patience, and understanding. Building relationships with and licensing music from artists doesn’t happen overnight, but more importantly: these songs are the result of people pouring their hearts and souls into something they believe in. This music wouldn’t exist today without the artists and their loved ones who supported them along the way.
As of this writing, the DOT states its intention in creating AI-generated songs is to “highlight different aspects of the islands, aviation and the airport” and that “no state funds were used to produce them”. Okay, but at what cost? Technology disrupting the music industry isn’t news to anyone. AI music in public spaces are cost-saving measures, since its users (airports, for example) don’t have to pay the licensing fees typically required, which can be a worthwhile source of revenue for artists. But what happens when a place like HNL airport, which hosts more than 21 million passengers annually, uses music created by machines instead of people to represent Hawaii? The identity of a place beings to erode, diluted by a language learning model’s conceptual summary of what a people and its culture sounds like. To echo Brian Eno: what should we be hearing here? In other words: what should the music of Hawaii sound like?
We believe in the power of music, especially when it comes from the soul. We believe in supporting artists, especially as AI disrupts our lives. We believe that Hawaii must be represented authentically, especially when it comes to song. And of course we believe in vinyl, especially since it was a record from 1978 (Mackey Feary Band’s debut LP) that inspired Aloha Got Soul’s origins in 2010.
We hope you find as much joy in this compilation as we have. Perhaps it’ll soundtrack your next journey to Hawaii. At the very least, we hope some people take a moment to hear these sounds: in your headphones for now‚ maybe someday overhead at the airport in Honolulu.
